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LAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE, second son of Ephraim Elaine and Maria Gillespie, was born at Indian Hill Farm, West Brownsville, Washington County, Pa, January 31, 1830. Descending from a line of hardy and energetic Scotch-Irish ancestors, he inherited many of their characteristics, and carefully cultivated his inheritance by a broad and liberal education/ His great-grandfather, Colonel Ephraim Elaine (1741-1804), was a per- sonal and trusted friend of Washington, an officer of Pennsylvania troops in the Revolutionary War, and for several years (1778-83) the commissary-general of the northern department of his command. He drew liberally upon his private purse, especially during the winter at Valley Forge. His ancestors were among the founders of Carlisle, Pa, and from the Cumberland Valley Mr Elaine's father, Ephraim , removed to Washington County in 1818, having previously traveled in Europe and South America, and inheriting a large fortune in lands in Western Pennsylvania, where he served as a prothonotary. Ephraim's wife, Maria Gillespie, was a woman of superior intelligence and force of character, and a devout Roman Catholic, but their illus- trious son always adhered to the Presbyterian communion and con- victions of his paternal Scotch-Irish ancestry. next |