by it. About one hundred of them were soldiers in the Revolutionary
War. The Macdonough family of Delaware is also of Scottish descent.
Thomas Macdonough, the famous naval officer, was of the third
generation in this country. The Corbit family of Delaware are
descended from Daniel Corbit, a Quaker born in Scotland in 1682. The
Forsyths of Georgia are descended from Robert Forsyth, born in
Scotland about 1754, who entered the Congressional Army and became a
Captain of Lee's Light Horse in 1776. The Forsyths of New York State
trace their descent to two brothers from Aberdeenshire (John and
Alexander). The bulk of the Virginia Gordons appear to have been from
Galloway.

Alexander Breckenridge, a Scot, came to America about 1728, settling
in Pennsylvania and later in Virginia. One of his sons, Robert, was an
energetic Captain of Rangers during the Indian wars, and died before
the close of the Revolutionary War. By his second wife, also of
Scottish descent, he had several sons who achieved fame and success.
One of these sons, John Breckenridge (1760-1808), became
Attorney-General of Kentucky in 1795; served in the state legislature
1797-1800; drafted the famous Kentucky resolutions in 1798; was United
States Senator from Kentucky (1801-05) and Attorney-General in
Jefferson's Cabinet from 1805 till his death. Among the sons of John
Breckenridge were Robert Jefferson Breckenridge (1800-71), clergyman
and author, and Joseph Cabell Breckenridge. John Cabell Breckenridge,
son of Joseph C. Breckenridge, was Vice-President of the United States
(1857-61), candidate of the Southern Democrats for President in 1860,
General in the Confederate Armies (1862-64), Confederate Secretary of
War till 1865. Joseph Cabell Breckenridge (b. 1840), son of Robert J.
Breckenridge, also served with distinction in the Civil War, and took
an active part in the Santiago campaign during the Spanish-American