he desired, he sailed for France, intending to take on board those that lie had left on Sable island, but he was prevented by head-winds from landing. On his arrival in France his pilot was ordered by the parliament of Rouen to go in search of his follow- ers, who would have perished of cold and hunger if tlii-y had not chanced to discover some wrecked vessel's on the coast. The marquis was imprisoned for a year by the Duke de Mercceur, lieutenant of the king iri the provinces of Brittany and Nor- mandy. After his release he endeavored to obtain supplies. in Paris for his colony, but the contempt and indifference of the court were insurmountable obstacles to his enterprise, and he is said to have died from vexation at not being allowed to com- plete his discoveries. Narratives of Roche's expe- dition are inserted in the " Voyages " of Champiain and in the histories of Lescarbot and Charlevoix. Some writers assign an earlier date for the discov- eries and imprisonment of the marquis.
ROCHEFORT, Cesar de (rosh-for), French au-
thor, b. in Belley in 1630: d. there in 1691. Hi.-
real name appears to have been Louis de Poincy.
He lived for some time in the Antilles, and wrote
" Histoire naturelle et morale des iles Antilles,
avec un dictionnaire caraibe" (Rotterdam, 1658;
translated into Dutch, 1662 ; German, Munich,
1664; and English, London, 1666), and "Tableau
de 1'ile de Tabago, ou de la Nouvelle - Oualchre,
1'uue des Antilles de 1'Amerique" (Leyden, 1665).
ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT D’ESTISSAC, Francois Alexandre Frederic, Duke
de la (rosh-foo-co), French publicist, b. in La
Roche-Guyon, 14 Jan., 1747 ; d. in Paris, 28 March,
1827. He" was known in his youth as Count de
la Rochefoucauld, but in 1767 took the title of
Duke de Liancourt, and on 28 May, 1783, succeeded
his father as a peer. He rose to be a lieutenant-
general in 1790, and was knighted in 1784. As ear-
ly as 1775 he carried on agricultural improvements
on his estate of Liancourt, and in 1780 founded
there, at his own expense, a school of mechanical
arts for soldiers' sons, which has become the school
of " Arts et metiers " of France. He was a favorite
of Louis XVI., who reposed much confidence in
him. and sought his advice before concluding a
treaty of alliance with the United States, which the
duke urged him to sign. He was deputy to the as-
sembly of notables in 1788, and to the states-gen-
eral in 1789, presided over the constituent assem-
bly during the night of 4 Aug., 1789, in which the
abolition of titles of nobility was voted, was mili-
tary commander at Rouen in 1792, and endeavored
to save the king. He was dismissed. 12 Aug., 1792,
and passed to'England, where he sojourned till
1794, when he came to the United States. After
travelling through the principal states, he devoted
himself to the study of the agricultural methods of
the country, and bought a farm in Pennsylvania,
where he spent some time in experiments. In 1798
he visited Denmark and Holland, and in 1799 he
returned to live on his estate of Liancourt, which
Bonaparte restored to him ; but he steadily refused
to accept any office at the imperial court, though
he was a member of the corps legislatif during the
whole of Napoleon's reign. At the restoration of
Louis XVIII. he was created a peer, and afterward
he devoted himself to the prosecution of useful
arts and to benevolent institutions. He established
in Paris the first savings-bank, and was also influ-
ential in introducing vaccination in France. To-
ward the close of his life he became an eager op-
ponent of the government, advocating American
principles and American institutions, and acquired
through his benevolence and philanthropic actions
great popularity, which caused the royalists to
Lrii- him the mock surname of the Saint Vincent
Paul of the liberal party." His life has been
written by his son (1829). His works include
"Etudes sur les prisons de Philadelphia " (Phila-
delphia, 1796), and "Voyage dans les Etats-Unis"
" vols., New York, 1795-7).
ROCHESTER. Nathaniel, pioneer, b. in Cople
parish, Westmoreland co., Va.. 21 Feb., 1752; d. in
Rochester, N. Y., 17 May, 1831. He was a desi end-
ant of Nicholas Rochester, who came to the colony
of Virginia from the county of Kent, England, in
1689, and bought
land in Westmore-
land county. When
he was two years of
age his father died,
and when he was
seven his mother
married Thomas
Critcher. and the
family removed to
Gnmville county,
N. C., in 1763. His
means of education
were limited, but he
lost no opportunity
of his busy life to
make g< iod any early
deficiencies. In 1768
he became a clerk in
Hillsboro, N.C., and
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in 1773 entered into partnership with his employer. In 1775 he was appointed a member of the committee of safety for Orange county, and in August, 1775, he attended, as a member, the first provincial convention in North Carolina, and was made pay-master, with the rank of major, of the North Carolina line, consisting of four regiments. On the reassembling of the convention in May, 1776. the provincial force was increased to ten regiments, and a resolution was passed, 10 May, "that Nathaniel Rochester, Esquire, be appointed a Deputy Commissary-General of military and other stores in this county for the use of the Continental army." He entered upon his duties at once; but his health failed, and he was compelled to resign. The same year he was elected to the legislature of North Carolina. He filled other useful offices, and was a commissioner to establish and superintend a manufactory of arms at Hillsboro. the iron for which had to be drawn from Pennsylvania in wagons. In 1778 he began business again with Col. Thomas Hart, father-in-law of Henry Clay, and James Brown, afterward minister to France, and in 17S3, in connection with the former, he be^an the " manufacture of flour, rope, and nails " at Hagerstown, Md. While living in that place he became in succession a member of the Maryland assembly, postmaster, and judge of the county court, and in 1808 he was chosen a presidential elector, and voted for James Madison. He became the first president of the Hagerstown bank that year, and at that time was conducting large mercantile establishments in Kentucky as well as in Maryland. In 1800 he first visited the " Genesee country," where he had previously bought 640 acres, and in September of that year he made large purchases of land in Livingston county, N. Y., near Dansville, in connection with Maj. Charles Carroll, Col. William Fitzhugh, and Col. Hilton. In 1802 he purchased, jointly with Carroll and Fitzhugh, the "100-acre or Allan Mill tract," in Falls Town (now Rochester), and in May, 1810, he removed from Hagerstown and settled near Dans-