Soldier, jurist and statesman, born on the 5th of November 1757, near Philadelphia. He was a student of law when the Revolution began, and, enlisting, was appointed an ensign in the New Jersey line. Made a captain at the battle of Monmouth, he afterward rendered valued service with Sullivan against the Iroquois Indians, was present at Valley Forge and at the siege of Yorktown, at the close of the war retiring with the brevet rank of major. Beginning the practice of law in Delaware, President Washington appointed him territorial judge in 1791. His territory being the region south of the Ohio River, he became prominently identified with the development of Tennessee, taking part in preparing the constitution of that state, and being afterward chosen as United States Senator from 1797 to 1815. At the latter date he was appointed first comptroller of the Treasury, which position he held until 1836. His death occurred in Washington, DC, on the 17th of April 1837.
