Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James
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IZARD, Ralph, statesman, born near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1742; died in South Bay, near Charleston, 30 May, 1804. His grandfather was one of the founders of South Carolina. Ralph inherited a large estate in land and slaves, and was graduated at Cambridge, England. He then returned to America, took possession of his estate, and passed much of his time in New York in the society of Lieutenant-Governor James De Lancey, whose niece, Alice, he married. In 1771 he settled in London, where he possessed the friendship of Burke and other distinguished men, and thence retired to the continent in 1774, in consequence of the strained relations between the mother country and the American colonies. While in England his friends there were desirous of presenting him at court, but he always declined the honor, because as a subject it would have been necessary for him to bow the knee, which he said he never would do to mortal man. On 30 December, 1776, congress appointed him a commissioner at the court of the grand-duke of Tuscany. He resided in Paris while so acting, and supported Arthur Lee against Silas Deane, Franklin, and other American agents in France. Izard returned to the United States on 10 July, 1780, and immediately repaired to General Washington's headquarters, where he happened to be when Arnold's treachery was discovered. He was instrumental in securing General Greene's appointment to the southern army, and pledged his large estate as a security for the funds required for the purchase of ships-of-war in Europe. He was a delegate to the Continental congress in 1782-'3, United States senator from South Carolina from 1789 till 1795, and was president of the senate protempore during the first session of the 3d congress. He was a man of marked ability and eloquence, and honest as a legislator, but his hasty temper and want of control rendered him incompetent as a diplomatist. No man enjoyed the confidence of General Washington in a higher degree than he did. His "Correspondence from 1774 to 1784," with a short memoir, was published by his daughter, Anne Izard Deas (Boston, 1844).--His son, Beorge, soldier, born in South Carolina in 1777; died in Little Rock, Arkansas, 22 November, 1828, after completing a collegiate course and making the tour of Europe, was appointed a lieutenant of artillery, 2 June, 1794. He was engineer of fortifications in Charleston harbor in 1798, became captain in July, 1799, and aide to General Hamilton on 16 December, 1799, but resigned in 1803. He was reappointed as colonel of the 2d artillery, 12 March, 1812, became brigadier-general, 12 March, 1813, and major-general, 24 January, 1814. He was governor of Arkansas territory from March, 1825, till his death. He published "Official Correspondence with the War Department in 1814 and 1815" (Philadelphia, 1816).--Another son, Ralph, a lieutenant in the United States navy, was distinguished in the war with Tripoli.--George's son, James F., soldier, born in Pennsylvania in 1811; died in Camp Izard, on Withlacoochee river, Florida, 5 March, 1836, was graduated at the United States military academy in 1828, and appointed 2d lieutenant of infantry. He was in garrison at Jefferson, Missouri, and at Fort, Niagara, was on topographical duty in 1831-'2, and served in the Black Hawk war in 1832. He became 1st lieutenant of dragoons on 4 March, 1833, and served in the Florida war. He died of wounds that he had received in a skirmish.
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