Background
Samuel Jordan Cabell was born on December 15, 1756 in Amherst County, Virginia, United States; the son of Col. William Cabell and Margaret Jordan, his wife.
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Samuel Jordan Cabell
Edit ProfileEducation
He was educated at The College of William & Mary, but left with his brother William Cabell, Jr. to join the Revolutionary Army in 1775.
Career
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, S. J. Cabell left the College of William and Mary to assume command as captain of a company of expert riflemen of Amherst County. Upon his arrival at Williamsburg in March 1776, his company was assigned as light infantry to the 6th Virginia Regiment, in Gen. Andrew Lewis's brigade, and during the same year it was sent to join Gen. Washington in New Jersey.
Washington placed it in Gen. Morgan's body of expert riflemen, which he sent to aid Gen. Gates at Saratoga. For his skill and bravery in this campaign, Cabell (not yet twenty-one years old) was commissioned major. He then rejoined Washington's army, was at Valley Forge, and in Washington's campaigns of 1778 and 1779. In the latter year he was made lieutenant-colonel and was dispatched to Gen. Lincoln at Charleston. Here he was made prisoner in May 1780 and remained in prison fourteen months, until paroled.
He was, in 1784, county lieutenant of Amherst County, and represented that county in the Virginia legislature of 1785-86, and in several subsequent sessions. He and his father were elected, almost unanimously, to the Convention of 1788. They both followed Patrick Henry in opposing the adoption of the Constitution. In 1795 S. J. Cabell was elected to the federal House of Representatives. He retained his seat until he retired from active politics in 1803.
The Virginia legislature, prompted doubtless by Jefferson, responded with a vigorous protest, a prelude to Madison's famous Resolutions of 1798.
When Nelson County was created out of Amherst, Cabell, who had served as justice in the latter, became one of the first justices in the former. The last thirty-three years of his life were spent at his home, "Soldier's Joy, " in Nelson County.
Achievements
Politics
After the war, Cabell served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1785 to 1792. In 1788 Amherst county voters elected Cabell and his father to represent them in the Virginia Ratification Convention, where both Cabells voted against the proposed United States Constitution, although the convention as a whole ratified it.
Membership
He was a member of the federal House of Representatives.
Personality
He was impulsive, kind-hearted, hospitable, and fluent in speech.
Connections
He was married in 1781 to Sally Syme, daughter of Col. John Syme of Hanover County, a half-brother of Patrick Henry.
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Born
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Died
August 4, 1818 (aged 62) -
Nationality
American -
Political Party
Democratic-Republican