Ross (also Rous, Rouse, or Rows), John (1), usu- ally called "the Antiquary of Warwick," was born in the town of that name in England, and educated there until prepared for the university. He then studied at Baliol College, Oxford, where he took the degree of A.M., and afterwards was installed canon of Osnej'. Eng- lish antiquities became his favorite pursuit, and he travelled over the greater part of the kingdom to ac- quire information. He then took up his residence at Guy's Cliff, in Warwickshire, where he had a posses- sion granted him either by the earl of Warwick or by F^dward IV, and died Jan. 14, 1491. Of the manuscripts left by him the following were published : J ounnis Ros- si Antiquarii Warwiceiisis Historia Renim Anglice De- scripsit (Oxon. 1716, 8vo; 2d ed. 1745, 8vo) : — Joannis Rossi Historiola de Comitihus Warwicensibus (1729, 8vo). See Allibone, Bict. of Brit, ami Amer. A utJwrs, s. v.
Ross, John (2), an English clergyman, was a na- tive of Ilerefordsiiire, and was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree of D.D. In 1756 he became vicar of Frome, Somersetshire, bish- op of Exeter in 1778, and died in 1792. He published six single Sermons (1756-85, 4to) : — a Defence of Epis- tles said to have been Written by Cicero to Brutns : — Jilarci Ttillii Ciceronis Epistolarum ad Familiares Libri X VI (1749, 2 vols. 8vo).
Ross, John (3), a Presbyterian minister, was born in Dublin, Ireland. July 23, 1783, of Roman Catholic parents, but was left in a state of orphanage when quite young. At the age of nineteen he left his friends secretly and went to sea. On his way to Liverpool he was seized by a press-gang and put on board a man-of-war. Afterwards, at Barbadoes and elsewhere, he was pressed a second and a third time. His numerous desertions and wonderful escapes would constitute the staple of a romance. He at last reached the United States, and went to work at his early trade of shoemaker at New London, Conn. He was still a' bigoted Roman Catholic; but as there was no church of that denomination in the town, he was in some degree weaned from his attachment and, through con- tact with Protestants, brought to reflect upon his con- dition, and eventually led to realize tliat he was a sinner, and that something beyond the power of priest- ly absolution was necessary to give his troubled con- science rest. By prayer to the Friend and Saviour of sinners, he found pardon and peace. Soon after his conversion his mind was turned to the ministry, and Providence wonderfidly opened the way for him, as it does for all who are trulv called to that work. Bv the
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aiil of an association of ladies he was enabled to enter Middlebury College, Vt., where he graduated in 1811. He entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1813. After remaining in the seminary over two years, ]\Ir. Koss preached as a missionary for about three months in the suburbs of Philadelphia. lie was educated for the for- eign field, and was in readiness to go to it, but the Board had not the funds to send him. He was therefore sent to Somerset and Bedford, Pa. Having received a call from the Church at Somerset, he was ordained as pas- tor by the Presbytery of Redstone in 1817. From Som- erset he went to Pipley, O., in 1819, where he remained about four years, and afterwards went to Indiana, preach- ing at different points and for various periods of time on his way. In both Ohio and Indiana he did much missionar\' work, travelling on horseback over wild and wide ranges of country. He preached several sermons in the old fort at Fort Wayne, Ind., when there were very few houses in that now large and flourishing city, and he is said to have been the first Presbyterian min- ister that ever preached in that town. In September, 1824, he settled at Richmond. la., and was pastor of Beulah Presbyterian Church for twenty-five years, from 1824 to 1849. From the minutes of the General Assem- bly it appears that in 1849 he was a member of the Presbytery of Minicie, and continued such until his death. In 1849 he was a stated supply at Burlington, la., and in 1850 at Windsor, O., being yet quite vig- orous for his years. After leaving Richmond, he re- sided in New Paris, O., Milton, Connersville, Knights- town, Burlington, IMimcie, and Tipton, la. In labors, he was more abundant as a pioneer in what was then the " far West." As long as he could stand in the pul- pit he was fond of preaching, and sometimes preached with the fire of his younger days long after he had be- come an octogenarian. He lived to be the oldest minis- ter in the Presbyterian Church, and died at the house of his daughter in Tipton, March 11, 187(5. (W. P. S.)
Ross, William, a minister of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, was born in Tyringham, Mass., Feb. 10, 1792. He was converted in his seventeenth year, and was received as a probationer in the New York Confer- ence in 1812. In May, 1824, he attended the General Conference in Baltimore, where he signalized himself as the author of a very able and luminous report, on missions. He died Feb. 10, 1825. He was a diligent student and an eloquent preacher. See Minutes of An- nual Conferences, 1825, p. 476; Sprague, J ft?ja/s of the A nier. Pulpit, vii, 524.