one time threatened serious consequences to the whole framework of our government. But Mr. Clymer was unawed, and amid many personal dangers he pressed forward in the performance of his duty. At length, when things became quiet, he resigned. In 1796 he was appointed, with Colonels Hawkins and Pickens, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee and Creek tribes of Indians in Georgia. This they effected to the mutual satisfaction of the contending parties. This mission closed the public life of Mr. Clymer, and the remainder of his days were spent in acts of private usefulness,* and a personal preparation for another world. He died on the twenty-fourth day of January, 1813, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His long life was an active and useful one, and not a single moral stain marked its manifested purity. held his power for nearly two years, but at length the "Whisky Insurrection" assumed such a formidable aspect, that an army of fifteen thousand men were placed in the field. The rebellion ceased without a conflict. *Mr. Clymer was one of the projectors of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia, and was its first President, which office he held until his decease. He was also one of the founders of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society; and his name appears conspicuous in many of the benevolent movements of his day. CHAPTER XXXI. JAMES SMITH-GEORGE TAYLOR-JAMES WILSONGEORGE ROSS. These men were bold, and brave as bold: JAMES SMITH was born in Ireland, and was quite a small child when brought by his father to this country. The date of his birth is not recorded, and Mr. Smith himself could never be induced to tell it. It is supposed to be somewhere about 1720. His father, who had a numerous family of children, settled upon the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania, and died there in 1761. James Smith was his second son, and discovering a strong intellect at an early age, his father determined to give him a liberal education. For this purpose he placed him under the charge of Reverend Doctor Allison, provost of the College of Philadelphia. He there acquired a knowledge of Latin and Greek, and, what proved more useful to him, practical surveying. After completing his tuition, he began the study of law in Lancaster, and when admitted to the bar, he removed westward, and practiced both law and surveying. The place where he located was very sparsedly populated, and indeed was almost a wilderness. The flourishing town of Shippensburg has since sprung up there. After a short continuance in his wilderness home, Mr. Smith moved to the village of York, where he found no business competition for many years. He married Miss Eleanor Amor, of Newcastle, Delaware, and became a permanent resident of York, where he stood at the head of the bar until the opening of the Revolution. Mr. Smith early perceived the gathering storm which British oppressions were elaborating here; and when men began to speak out fearlessly, he was among the first in Pennsylvania to take sides with the patriots of Massachusetts and Virginia. He heartily seconded the proposition for non-importation agreements, and for a General Congress. He was a delegate from the County of York to the Pennsylvania Convention, whose duty it was to ascertain the sentiments of the people, and publish an address. Mr. Smith was a member of the sub-committee chosen to prepare the address, which was in the form of instructions to the representatives of the people in the General Assembly of the State. He was earnest in endeavoring to arouse the people to positive resistance, and as early as 1774 he was in favor of cutting the bond that held the Colonies to the British throne.* *He was convinced that reconciliation was out of the question, and that war was inevitable. He accordingly raised and drilled a volunteer corps at York, (the first ever raised in the State,) which was the commencement of a general organization of the militia in that Province. Other companies were formed, and when a sufficient number were organized to form a regiment, Mr. Smith was elected colonel. His age, however, precluded his entering upon active service, and he held the office as an honorary boon. According to the testimony of Mr. Penn before Parliament, the body of military "Associators" thus founded by Mr. Smith amounted in number, before the Declaration of Independence, to twenty thousand, whose services were pledged to the State. When Congress passed a resolution recominending the several Colonies to "adopt such governments as in the opinion of the representatives of the people might best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents," the Pennsylvania Assembly was slow to act accordingly. In fact its instructions to its dele. gates in Congress were not favorable to independence; and it was not until the people of that State spoke out their sentiments in a general convention, that Pennsylvania was truly represented there. The seats of her delegates, who refused to vote for the Declaration of Independence, and withdrew from Congress, were filled with bold men, and one of these was James Smith, who, with George Clymer and Benjamin Rush, took his seat some days after that glorious instrument was adopted. He was there in time, however, to place his signature to the parchment on the second day of August ensuing. Mr. Smith was a member of the convention of Pennsylvania convened to form a constitution for the State after the Declaration of Independence. There he was very active, and it was not until October, 1776, that he was a regular attendant in the General Congress. He was soon after appointed one of a most important committee, whose business was to aid Washington in opposing the progress of General Howe's army.* In the spring of 1777, Mr. Smith declined a re-election to Congress, and resumed his professional business at York; but the unfortunate defeats of the Americans at the Brandywine and at Germantown, and the capture of Philadelphia by the * His associates were James Wilson, Samuel Chew, George Clymer, and Richard Stockton. British, called for his valuable presence in the national council, and he obeyed the voice of duty. Congress adjourned to Lancaster when Howe's army took Philadelphia, and afterward it adjourned to York, the place of Mr. Smith's residence. When the battle of Monmouth in 1778 made the hope of American triumph beam brightly, Mr. Smith retired again from Congress, and resumed his professional business. In 1779 he was called to a seat in the Legislature of Pennsylvania, where he served one term, and then withdrew. This closed his public career, and he lived in the enjoyment of domestic happiness until his death, which occurred on the eleventh day of July, 1806. He is supposed to have been nearly ninety years of age. GEORGE TAYLOR.-The subject of this sketch was born in Ireland, in the year 1716, and came to this country when he was about twenty years of age. He was the son of a clergyman, but whether Roman Catholic or Protestant is not known. He was well educated, but was poor on his arrival, and performed menial service for a livelihood. He afterward became a clerk in the iron establishment of Mr. Savage, at Durham, in Pennsylvania; and some time after the death of his employer, he married that gentleman's widow, by which he came into possession of considerable property and a thriving business. After pursuing the business for some time at Durham, and acquiring a handsome fortune, Mr. Taylor purchased an estate on the Lehigh, in Northumberland County, and erected iron works there. His wealth, education, and business talents, and his urbanity of manner, soon gained for him the esteem and confidence of the people, and he was elected by them a member of the Colonial |