PROMIXEXT PERSONS
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1769 he married Detsy Hansford, daughter
of Charles Hansford, one of Nathaniel
Bacon's lieutenants. On the outbreak of
hostilities between Virginia and the mother
country. President Camm would not recog-
nize the authority of the new government,
and in the spring of 1777 .was removed by
the board of visitors, largely dominated by
native born Virginians. He died the fol-
lowing year, and his wife a year later.
Campbell, Alexander, was a resident of Norfolk. Virginia, and an early artist. He painted a portrait of Washington, and the engraving taken from it is said to be the first known engraving of Washington.
Owen, Goronwy, born in Anglesea, North Wales, January 13, 1722, son of Owen Gro- now, a man of some poetic taste. He was attending school near his home, when he was met by the celebrated Lewis Morris, who sent him to Beaumaris, where he proved a most zealous scholar. Later, after the death of his mother, he became one of the masters of a grammar school in Caernarvon- shire. Soon afterward, Mr. Morris sent him tc Jesus College, Oxford, where he made rapid progress in Greek and Latin, and gave evidence of poetical talent in Welsh to such a degree that he was even then regarded as a rising poet, but the attempt to obtain funds enough for their publication had fail- ed. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England, and for a few years was a curate and school teacher. In 1757 he was oflfered by the Bishop of London, through the influence, it is supposed, of the Earl of Powis. the place of master of the grammar school of the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia. The salary of £200 sterling was a tempting consideration
to a half-starved genius, and, with his wife
and three children, he took ship for Amer-
ica. As shown by the faculty minutes,
Owen qualified as master of the grammar
school, April 7, 1758. Of his life at the col-
lege, little is known, save that he married
Mrs. Clayton, a sister of Thomas Dawson,
then president of William and Mary, and
that she was his second wife. After two
years' service, he resigned; it is said that
his **merry habits" necessitated his resigna-
tion. He was soon afterward nominated by
Governor Francis Fauquier minister of St.
Andrew's Parish, in Brunswick county,
where he died, and was buried there in
1776. As to his scholarship, Dr. Porteus,
Dishop of London, spoke of him as "the
most finished writer of Latin since the days
of the Roman emperors.'* His qualifications
as a preacher were indifferent. Of his
poetic talent, his biographer and country-
men speak in unbounded praise. His ode
on "The Last Day of Judgment" (Cywydd
Farn Fawr) is said to be unsurpassed by
any poem in any language. Editions of his
works were published in 1763, in 1817, in
i860, and in 1876. In 183 1 his countrymen
erected a beautiful tablet to his memory in
the Cathedral Church, Bangor, Wales. He
left issue, which are numerously represented
in the South in the present day. A grand-
son, William B. Owen, of Nashville, Ten-
nessee, was a colonel in the Mexican war.
Another grandson, George W. Owen, of
Mobile, Alabama, occupied a seat in con-
gress for several consecutive terms. A
great-grandson, Richard B. Owen, also of
Mobile, Alabama, was a distinguished law-
yer, and served with gallantry in the Con-
federate army.
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