PACA PAGE. 



121 



P. 



PACA, WILLIAM (1740-1799), a signer of the 

 Declaration of Independence, was born at Wye Hall, 

 Harford co., Md., Oct. 31, 1740. He graduated at 

 the College of Philadelphia in 1759, and studied law 

 at Annapolis. He became a leading lawyer in Mary- 

 land, and his opinion on the poll-tax for the support 

 of the clergy was republished in England. In 1771 

 he was elected to the Legislature, in which he ad- 

 vocated the rights of the colonists against the pro- 

 prietor. His activity as a patriot caused him to be 

 sent as delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774. 

 Though employed in important business, he and his 

 colleagues were long restrained by the Convention of 

 Maryland from advocating separation from the 

 mother country. But at the end of June, 1776, per- 

 mission was obtained and Paca signed the Declaration. 

 While still a member of Congress he served in the 

 State Senate for two years. In 1778 he was made 

 chief-judge of the Superior Court of Maryland, and in 

 1780 chief-judge of the Court of Appeals. In 1782 he 

 was elected governor of Maryland and again in 1786, 

 each term being a single year. He was a member of 

 the State Convention which ratified the Federal Con. 

 stitution. Wlieu the U. S. Judiciary was organized in 

 1789, he was made district judge of Maryland, and 

 held this offiee till his death in 1799. 



PACKARD, ALPHEUS SPRING (1799-1884), an 

 American educator, was born at Chelmsford, Mass., 

 Dec. 20, 1799. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 

 1816, and after studying theology returned to it as tutor 

 in 1819. After being professor of Latin and Greek for 

 forty years he was in 1864 transferred to the Collins 

 professorship of natural and revealed religion. On 

 the retirement of Pres. J. L. Chamberlain in 1883 

 he became acting president. He died July 13, 1884. 

 He had been librarian of the Maine Historical Society 

 48 years. Besides contributing to various periodical' 

 he published an edition ef' Xenophon's Memorabilia 

 (1839), a Hixtori/ of tlie Bunker Hill Monument At- 

 tociation, and with Prof. N. Cleveland a History of 

 Bowdoin College (1882). 



His son, ALPHEUS SPRING PACKARD. Jr., noted as a 

 naturalist, was born at Brunswick, Maine, Feb. 19, 

 1839. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1861, 

 studied natural history under Prof. L. Agassiz and 

 the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He also 

 studied medicine, graduating at the Maine Medical 

 College in 1864. He devoted himself chiefly to en- 

 tomology, on which he lectured at Bowdoin College for 

 many years. He has been curator of the Peabody 

 Academy of Natural Sciences at Salem, Mass., and 

 one of the editors of the American Naturalist, and 

 has taken part in several scientific expeditions. He 

 has published Glacial Phenomena of Labrador and 

 Maine (1867) ; Guide to the Study of Insect* (1869) ; 

 Our Common Insect* (1873) ; Half - Hours icith Insects 

 (1875); Zwloyij for Students (1ST 1 .*) ; A Naturalist an 

 the Labrador Coast (1888); Fr<*i <i,,<l Shade-Tree 

 Insects (1888). He has also published numerous 

 monographs and some school-books. See Henshaw's 

 Entomological Writings of A. S. Packard (1887). 



PACKER, ASA (1806-1879), railroad constructor, 

 was born at Groton, Conn., Dec. 20, 1806. In his 

 boyhood he removed to Pennsylvania, and was engaged 

 in canal-boating. As store-keeper, boat-builder, con- 

 tractor, and coal-miner he steadily acquired wealth. 

 In 1844 he was elected to the State Legislature., and 

 was afterwards county judge for five years. About 

 1850 he projected the Lehigh Valley Railroad as an 

 outlet for the anthracite coal region, and secured its 

 eun^t ruction and its subsequent extension to connect 

 with the Erie Railroad and with New York city. In 



1853 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and 

 served two terms. In 1865 he announced his pur- 

 pose to give $500,000 and 115 acres of land for the 

 erection of Lehigh University (q. v.), which was com- 

 menced immediately and attained a fair degree of 

 prosperity in his lifetime. He died at Philadelphia, 

 May 17, 1879. His will increased the endowment of 

 Lehigh University to $1,500,000, and his family have 

 since made further gifts to the institution. 



PADUCAH, a city of Kentucky, county-seat of 

 McCracken co. , is on the Ohio River, 48 miles above 

 its mouth and at the mouth of the Tennessee. It is 

 225 miles by railroad W. S. W. from Louisville, next 

 to which it ranks among the cities of the State. It 

 carries on a large river-trade, and from it several lines 

 of steamboats start. The Newport News and Missis- 

 sippi Valley Railroad also gives facilities for trade, 

 and has established here car-repair shops. The whole- 

 sale trade for 1886 was estimated at $9,000,000 and 

 the retail was still larger. Paducah coatains a U. S. 

 government building, a court-house, 3 national banks, 

 2 hospitals, 1 7 churches, 7 graded schools and a high- 

 school, 2 daily and 2 weekly newspapers. The indus- 

 trial works comprise 2 foundries, 4 saw-mills, 2 plan- 

 ing-mills, marine ways for building and repairing 

 steamboats, and manufactories of soap, vinegar, ice, 

 wagons, carriages, harness, brooms, flour, meal, and 

 tobacco. The city is lighted with gas and has an 

 efficient fire department and is supplied with water 

 from the Tennessee River. The first settlement on 

 the site was in 1 821 , the town was laid out in 1827, and 

 received a city charter in 1856. In September, 1861, it 

 was occupied by Gen. U. S. Grant, then commanding 

 at Cairo, and throughout the war it was held by Union 

 troops, although Gen. N. B. Forrest made a raid 

 upon it in March, 1864. Its population in 1870 was 

 6866, and in 1880 was 8036. 



PAGE, THOMAS JEFFERSON, commodore, was born 

 at Shelly, Va., Jan. 4, 1808. His grandfather, John 

 Page (1744-1808), was governor of Virginia, 1802-5. 

 Thomas entered the U. S. navy in 1827 as midship- 

 man, and was afterwards engaged in the Coast Survey. 

 After a voyage around the world while lieutenant 

 he planned a survey of the China seas, which was 

 eventually changed to the expedition to Japan, com- 

 manded by Com. M. C. Perry. Page declined the 

 second place in the expedition, but in 1853 com- 

 manded the expedition to explore the Rio de la 

 Plata. While thus engaged his steamer was fired 

 upon from a Paraguayan fort in February, 1855. He 

 returned to the United States in May, 1856, having 

 been promoted commander. In 1859 a fleet sent out 

 by his government obtained from Paraguay repara- 

 tion for the attack upon him. He completed his 

 surveys in 1860, and in the next year resigned his 

 commission and entered the Confederate service. He 

 was engaged in resisting Gen. McClellan's advance on 

 Richmond, but. afterwards went to England to take 

 command of an iron-clad. When prevented by the 

 vigilance of the U. S. Minister he obtained a vessel 

 at Copenhagen, which, however, was soon seized in 

 Spain. He then removed to the Argentine Republic 

 and engaged in cattle-farming. That government also 

 employed him to superintend the construction of iron- 

 clads in England. He resides at Florence, Italy. 

 He published the narrative of his South American 

 explorations in La Plata (1859). 



His nephew, THOMAS NELSON PAGE, born m 

 Hanover co., Va., April 23, 1853, has become noted 

 as a writer of stories and poems in the negro dialect. 

 He was educated at Washington and Lee Uni- 

 versity and is a lawyer at Richmond. His first 

 story was Marse Chan (1884), and a collection of 



