GRUN'DY, FELIX ( 1777-1840). An Ameri can lawyer and politician, born in Berkeley Coun ty, Va. In 1779 his father removed with his family to western Pennsylvania, and in the fol lowing year to Kentucky, where Felix, one of seven brothers, was brought up amid the perils and privations of a frontier life. He was edu cated at Dr. Priestly's academy at Bardstown, and studied law. In 1799 he became a member of the Kentucky Legislature, where he met Henry Clay in debate, but resigned in 1806 to accept an appointment as judge in the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals. The next year he became Chief Justice, but, owing to the insufficiency of the salary, resigned from the bench in 1SOS and settled in Nashville, Tenn., where he achieved a wide reputation as a criminal lawyer. In 1811 and 1813 he was elected, as a Democrat, to Con gress, and in 1819 was a member of the Tennessee Legislature, where he successfully advocated the establishment of a State bank. In 1829 he was
elected to the United States Senate, to fill the unexpired term of James H. Eaton, who had entered Jackson's Cabinet as Secretary of War, and in 1832 was reelected for a full term. In the Senate he was chairman of the Judiciary Commit tee, and was a strong advocate of most of Jackson's measures, although he maintained a somewhat neutral position in the Nullification controversy. He was a consistent opponent of Clay's 'American policy' and of the United States Bank. In September, 1838, he entered Van Buren's Cabinet as Attorney-General, but held office only until December, 1839, when he re signed to enter the Senate again, serving therein until his death, which followed an electioneering tour in behalf of Van Buren's reelection in the fall of 1840.