STUART, GILBERT, a celebrated painter, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1755. Soon after becoming of age, he went to England, wherehe became the pupil of Mr. West. He soon rose to eminence as a portrait painter, and obtained a high reputation both in England and Ireland. In 1794, he returned to his native country, chiefly residing in Philadelphia and Washington, in the practice of his profession, till about the year 1801, when he removed to Boston. Here he remained till his death, in 1828. Mr. Stuart was not only one of the first painters of his time, but was also a very extraordinary man out of his profession.
SULLIVAN, JOHN, an officer in the army of the revolution, was born in Maine, and established himself in the profession of law in New Hampshire. Turning his attention to military affairs, he received, in 1772, the commission of major, and, in 1775, that of brigadier-general. The next year he was sent to Canada, and on the death of general Thomas, the command of the army devolved on him. In this year he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and was soon after captured by the British, in the battle on Long island. He commanded a division of the army at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown; and was the sole commander of an expedition to the island of Newport, which failed through want of co-operation from the French fleet. In 1779, he commanded an expedition against the Indians. He was afterwards a member of congress, and for three years president of New Hampshire. In 1789, he was appointed a judge of the district court, and continued in that office till his death, in 1795.
SULLIVAN, JAMES, was born at Berwick, Maine, in 1744, and after passing the early part of his life in agricultural pursuits, adopted the profession of the law. He took an early part in the revolutionary struggle, and in 1775, was chosen a member of the provincial congress. In 1776, he was appointed a judge of the superior court. He was subsequently a member of congress, a member of the executive council, judge of probate, and in 1790, was appointed attorney-general. In 1807, he was elected governor of Massachusetts, and again in the following year, in the December of which he died. He was the author of a History of Land Titles, a History of the District of Maine, and an Essay on Banks. His rank at the bar was in the very first class, and in his private character he was distinguished for piety, patriotism, and integrity.
THOMAS, ISAIAH, a distinguished printer, was born in Boston, in 1749, and at a very early age was bound apprentice to the craft, in which he afterwards became so famous. In 1770, he published the Massachusetts Spy in Boston. Five years afterwards he was obliged to remove it to Worcester. He afterwards entered extensively into the publishing and bookselling business, having at one time sixteen presses in operation, and eight bookstores at different places. He was the founder and president of the American Antiquarian society, and the author of a valuable History of Printing. He died in 1831.
THORNTON, MATTHEW, was born in Ireland, in 1714, and when about two or three years old his father emigrated to America, and finally settled in Worcester, Massachusetts. Young Thornton pursued the study of medicine, and commenced the practice of his profession in Londonderry, New Hampshire. In 1776, he was chosen a delegate to the continental congress, and affixed his name to the declaration of independence. He was afterwards chief justice of the court of common pleas, and judge of the superior court of his adopted state. He died in 1803.
TILGHMAN, WILLIAM, an eminent jurist, was born, in 1756, in Talbot county, on the eastern shore of Maryland. In 1772, he began the study of law in Philadelphia, but was not admitted to the practice of the profession till 1783. In 1788, and for some successive years, he was elected a representative to the legislature of Maryland. In 1793, he returned to Philadelphia, and pursued the practice of the law in that city till 1801, when he was appointed chief judge of the circuit court of the United States for the third circuit. After the abolition of this court, he resumed his profession, and continued it till 1805, when he was appointed president of the courts of common pleas in the first district of Pennsylvania. In the following year he was commissioned as chief justice of the supreme court of that state. He died in 1827.
TOMPKINS, DANIEL D., vice-president of the United States, was born in June, 1774, graduated at Columbia college, in 1795, and settled in New York in the profession of the law. He distinguished himself in the party struggles of 1799–1801, and in 1807 was elected governor of the state. During the late war, he was active and efficient in the cause of the administration and the dominant party. In 1817, he was elected vice-president. He died at Staten island, in June, 1825.
TRUMBULL, JOHN, the author of McFingal, was born in Connecticut, in 1750, and was educated at Yale college, where he entered at a very early age. In 1772, he published the first part of his poem, The Progress of Dullness. In the following year, he was admitted to the bar in Connecticut, and, removing to Boston, continued his legal studies in the office of John Adams. He returned to his native state in 1774, and commenced practice at New Haven. The first part of McFingal was published at Philadelphia, in 1775; the poem was completed and published in 1782, at Hartford, where the author at that time lived. More than thirty editions of this work have been printed. In 1789, he was appointed state attorney for the county of Hartford, and in 1801, was appointed a judge of the superior court of errors, and held this appointment till 1819. In 1820, a collection of his poems was published in two volumes 8vo. In 1825, he removed to Detroit, where he died, in May, 1831.
TRUXTON, THOMAS, a naval officer, was born on Long island, in 1755. In 1775, he commanded a vessel, and distinguished himself by his depredations on British commerce during the revolution. He subsequently engaged in commerce, till the year 1794, when he was appointed to the frigate Constitution. In 1799, he captured the French frigate L’Insurgente; and in the following year he obtained a victory over the La Vengeance. On the close of the French war he retired from the navy, and died at Philadelphia, in 1822.
TUDOR, WILLIAM, a man of letters, was born in the state of Massachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1796. He soon after visited Europe, and passed several years there. After having been some time a member of the legislature of his native state, he was appointed, in 1823, consul at Lima, and for the ports of Peru. In 1827, he was appointed charge d’affaires of the United States at the court of Brazil. He died at Rio de Janeiro, in 1830. Mr. Tudor was the founder, and for two years the sole editor of the North American Review. He was the author of Letters on the Eastern States, and a Life of James Otis, and left a number of volumes in manuscript, nearly prepared for the press.