Born in Hanover County Virginia, in 1807; of Quaker descent from Barclay of Ury, in Scotland; friend of Washington and Jefferson.

He was a student at the Staunton Academy and the University of Virginia, and took his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1830 he married Mrs. Julia A. Sowers, of Staunton. Virginia, and bought Monticello. Jefferson's old home, which he occupied for a time, hut finally sold.

He adopted the religious tenets of Alexander Campbell, and was sent by his sect to Jerusalem at a missionary. He returned after three years and later made a second journey to Palestine.

After the civil war, he was a teacher at Bethany College, and later went to Alabama, where he remained until his death, preaching, writing and teaching.

His "City of the Great King" is regarded as the most authentic work relating to Jerusalem. He frequently contributed to the "Millenial Harbinger." the organ of his sect.

His daughter Sarah was in Palestine with him, and was a great aid as a sketch artist. It is said that, disguised as a Mohammedan, she gained access to the tomb of David, of which she made an illustration for her father's book. She married J. Augustus Johnson, consul-general to Syria. She published "The Howadji in Syria."