Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/101

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

CABELL.


CABELL.


out the revolution he gave his services and also large contributions of provisions, horses, and money to the patriot cause. He was state sena- tor probably continuously from 1781 to 1785, and a member of the hovise of delegates from 1788 to 1790. Soon after this he removed to Sion Hill, Va., where he died. March 1, 1798.

CABELL, Samuel Jordan, soldier, was born in Virginia, Dec. 15, 1756, son of Colonel William and Margaret (Jordan) Cabell. From 1771 to 1775 he was a student at William and Mary col- lege. In 1776 Amherst county was requested to furnish a company of volunteers, and he was ap- pointed captain. After marching to Williams- burg, he was assigned to the 6th Virginia regi- ment, and fought in many battles, including Tren- ton and Princeton. For his action in the battle of Saratoga in 1777, he was promoted major, and served in Washington's army during the cam- paigns of 1778 and 1779, being promoted lieuten- ant-colonel in the latter year. He was with the Virginia troops under Brigadier-General Wood- ford, who entered Charleston, S. C, on April 7, 1780, after an enforced march of five hundred miles in thirty days. At the surrender of Charleston, May 12, 1780, he was taken prisoner and afterwards returned home, remaining on parole until the close of the war. In 1781 he married Sally, daughter of Col. John Syme, who was a half-brother to Patrick Henry. In 1 783 he was elected deputy adjutant -general of Amherst county, and in 1784 became county-heutenant. From 1785 to 1795 he was a delegate for Amherst county, and when the town of Cabellsburg was founded he was made one of its trustees. In 1794 he was elected to the 4th United States Congress as a representative from Virginia, holding the office until the end of the 7th Congress. For many years he was a justice of Amherst county, and after its division in 1808 he was one of the first justices of Nelson county. A letter from one who knew him personally .says: "His people idol- ized him. For a long time they regarded liim as next to General Washington." He died at "Soldier's Joy, "Nelson county, Va., Aug. 4, 1818.

CABELL, William, pioneer, was born in Warminster, England, Marc^h 20, 1700, the eldest son of Nicholas and Rachel (Hooper) Cabell, and a grandson of William Cabell, who went to War- minster about 1664. and died there in 1704, prob- ably belonging to the Frome-Selwood family. William Cabell, the descendant, was graduated from the Royal college of medicine and surgery in London, and after practising a number of years entered the British navy as a surgeon. He came to America about the year 1723, and settled in Virginia. The first really authentic record of him is in 1726, when he was depiity-sheriff in St. James pari.sh, Henrico county, an office of great


importance at that time. Probably some time in 1726 lie married Miss Elizabeth Burks, and in 1728 removed to a settlement on Licking-Hole Creek, in what is now Goochland county, where he was elected a justice of the first county court, held from May 21 to June 1, 1728. In November of the same year he was made a member of the first grand jury, and in December was quaUfied as a coroner, his knowledge of medicine and surgery fitting him for the office. From 1730 to 1734 he spent much time in locating lands for settlement in the region west of the mouth of the Rockfish river, being the first EngUshman to make such an attempt. In 1733, having located a large tract of land, he "entered for" it, but, before finally .securing the legal right to the land, was obliged to go to England, leaving his wife and two friends as his attorneys. The survey was made in 1737, extending for twenty miles along both sides of the James river. In 1738 a patent for 4,800 acres of land was issued to him by Gov. William Gooch, and, in 1739 a grant of 440 acres was added. Dr. Cabell returned in 1741. In 1743 lie was granted 1,200 acres adjoining his patent of 4, 800 acres, and soon after his return from England he removed from Licking-Hole Creek to the mouth of Swan Creek, in Nelson county. After erecting dwell- ing houses, a mill, a warehouse and other build- ings, he named the place Warminster, and for more than half a century it was a thriving com- mercial centre. In 1744 Albemarle county was formed, and he was one of the first justices; in August, 1746, he was commissioned coroner, and in September assistant surveyor of the county. In December, 1753, having increased his land by about 26,000 acres, he gave up his surveying basi- ness to his son William. He practised in his own county and those adjacent, and charged from one to five pounds, Virginia currency, for each visit. His services were usually engaged with the agree- ment that if the patient was not cured, the doctor would receive no pay beyond the immediate ex- pense incurred. His wife, Elizabeth, died Sept. 21, 1756, and on Sept. 30, 1762, he married Mar- garet, widow of Samuel Meredith. The bulk of his property he left to his son Nicholas, who was married April 16, 1772, to Hannah, daughter of Col. George (^arrington. See The CaheJh and TJieir Kin. by Alexander Brown (1895). Dr. Cabell's deatli occurred April 12, 1774.

CABELL, William, soldier, was born near Dover, on Licking-Hole creek, Goochland county, Va., March 13, 1730; son of William und Ehzabeth (Burks) Cabell. It is probable that his education was finished at William and Mary college. In December, 1749, he began to assist his father in surveying, and continued to do so until 1753. In 1751 he became a vestryman of St. Ann's parish, Albemarle county, and held this office for ten