Peter Vivian Daniel was born on April 24, 1784, at Crow’s Nest, a family estate near the mouth of Potomac Creek in Stafford County. He was the son of Travers Daniel, a prominent planter, and Frances Moncure Daniel. He almost always signed his name with a middle initial, and although relatives and namesakes used the spelling Vivian, there are indications, including a surviving calling card, that he himself may have preferred Vyvian. Among the many family members whom Daniel influenced later in life were two grandnephews, the reformer and writer Moncure Conway and the journalist and diplomat ...