Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

In 1830 he was appointed one of the Lords of the Treasury, holding the office four years, when he relinquished it to become one of the joint secretaries thereof. In 1839 he accepted the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in that capacity took a prominent part in carrying out the arrangement for the pennypostage system, which had been commenced by his predecessor, Lord Monteagle. In 1849

he undertook the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, which he held for a term of three years. At the last general election for members of Parliament, Lord Northbrook, in a graceful address to the electors, declined to be again a candidate. Nearly a year before his death he was raised to the peerage, being created Baron Northbrook of Stratton, in the county of Southampton. He was a man of refined and educated tastes, and particularly fond of classical studies, for which he was distinguished in early life.

NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION. (See GERMANY.)

NORWAY. (See SWEDEN.)

NOTT, ELIPHALET, D. D., LL. D., an American clergyman and educator, for sixty-two years president of Union College, born in Ashford, Windham county, Conn., June 25, 1773; died in Schenectady, N. Y., January 29, 1866. His paternal grandfather was a clergyman of Saybrook, Conn.; and his father was for many years in the mercantile business, but a series of misfortunes reduced him to poverty at a time when the son needed his aid in obtaining a liberal education. His mother, however, was a woman of fine culture, and did much towards stimulating his love for learning, and turning his mental faculties in the right direction. He studied Latin and Greek under the guidance of his brother, Rev. Samuel Nott, for more than threescore and ten years pastor of the Congregational church, of Franklin, Conn. When about sixteen years of age, he took charge of a school in Plainfield, Conn., at the same time pursuing his classical and mathematical studies under the Rev. Joel Benedict, D. D., whose daughter he afterwards married. On leaving Plainfield he spent one year in Brown University, Providence, and during that time was at the head of his class in mathematics and the languages. He graduated out of due course in 1795. Returning to his brother's, at Franklin, he studied theology, and the same year was licensed to preach by the New London Congregational Association, which sent him as a missionary into the then desolate part of New York bordering upon Otsego Lake, when he established a flourishing academy at Cherry Valley, and acted in the double capacity of preacher and teacher for nearly three years. In 1798, upon a visit East, he received and accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church of Albany, where he labored successfully until 1804, when he was invited to assume the presidency of Union College. The institution was yet in its infancy-its corporate exist

ence dating from 1795-and when he took charge of its affairs, it was without funds, suitable buildings, library, or philosophical apparatus, and involved in debt. He devoted all his energies at once to the work of removing these disabilities, and providing for these pressing needs. Through his persistent efforts, the State Legislature passed a law, in 1814, which laid the foundation for the future success of the institution. The amount of financial aid thus afforded to the college was to be derived from a lottery, a method of raising money then regarded as legal and unexceptionable. The management of this lottery was confided to Dr. Nott, and by him conducted with great ability, though the complications which resulted from his investment of the proceeds of it subsequently caused him great trouble and anxiety. The investments, though not in all cases immediately productive, eventually greatly enhanced the amount of the endowment of the college, and when, a few years since, at Dr. Nott's own instance, a searching investigation was made of his whole financial management, extending over a period of almost forty years, his foresight, ability, and care for the interests of the institution, were amply vindicated. After this investigation was concluded, Dr. Nott crowned his years of solicitude and liberality in his management of the affairs of the college, by a further endowment of property valued at $500,000 from his own private fortune. During his long incumbency upwards of 4,000 young men graduated from the institution, and it may safely be said that from no American college of the same age has there gone forth a greater number of men who have conspicuously succeeded in the political, the commercial, the ecclesiastical, or, to speak generally, the more active and business avocations of the land. Widely as they were scattered, various as might be their occupations, and conflicting as were their views on other subjects, all agreed in respect, veneration, and love for him whose teachings and counsels they had so long enjoyed. But preeminent as Dr. Nott stood as an educator, he deserves grateful recognition for his efforts for the good of mankind in other departments. His labors in the temperance reform, both by voice and pen, and his various and long-continued experiments on heat, with the view of applying it to useful and economical purposes for human benefit, if not as successful as he had hoped, evince the fertility of an intellect which loved to task itself for the good of others. As a preacher, his style of thought, his manner, his elocution, his action, were all his own-the chief characteristic being his impressiveness. In 1805 the College of New Jersey conferred upon him the title of D. D., and in 1828 he received that of LL. D. His principal published works are a volume of lectures on temperance, and several occasional discourses, the most celebrated of which are, that on the "Death of Hamilton," and one delivered before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church

OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. Jan. 1.-SKINNER, Dr. P. H., a blind man, editor of the magazine "The Mute and the Blind," died at Trenton, N. J. He was a native of Plattsburg, N. Y., and the first instructor of poor colored deaf mutes and blind, for whose sake he sacrificed all his property.

Jan. 1.-STILLMAN, THOMAS B., an eminent engineer and mechanic, and one of the founders of the Novelty Iron Works, died at Plainfield, N. J., aged 59 years. He may be called the father of coast navigation in this country, having established the first line of steamships on our coast-the Southerner and Northerner-carrying passengers and freight between New York and Charleston, S. C. During the war he was United States inspector of steam-vessels for the New York district, and superintendent of construction of revenue cutters. His last work was to put twelve armed steam-cutters afloat in place of the sailing vessels heretofore used. He was also president of the Metropolitan Savings Bank, trustee for nearly twenty years of the New York Hospital, and associated in many other public charities. His life was one of ceaseless activity and usefulness, and his services in behalf of the Government during the war, and since, have been so arduous, that his life has been as much a sacrifice for his country as if he had fallen on the field of battle.

Jan. 3.-MOKENLY, Hon. JACOB KERLIN, member of Congress from Pennsylvania, died at Douglasville, Pa., aged 42 years. He graduated at Yale College in 1848, and two years later at the Law School; was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania in 1851, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Douglasville, and afterward in Reading. From 1856 to 1859 he was District Attorney for Berks County, and in 1860 member of Congress for the Reading district.

Jan. 5.-HICKEY, Gen. WILLIAM, Chief Clerk of the United States Senate for 42 years, died in Washington, D. C., aged 70 years. He descended from an old Maryland family, and from men who left England with Lord Baltimore, on account of their devotion to the Roman Catholic Church, and was himself a prominent Catholic. He was a man of sterling integrity, and his wonderful knowledge of parliamentary law and political history made him an invaluable officer. He was the author of a work on the Constitution, which was adopted by Congress as a text-book, and was a frequent contributor to the newspapers of the day, He was general of militia in the District of Columbia.

Jan. 5.-STRONG, CYRUS, a banker and prominent citizen of Binghamton, N. Y., died in that place, aged 88 years. He was a native of Colchester, Conn., and at the age of sixteen entered into the iron business, and seven years

after opened a store at Jericho, now Bain. bridge, N. Y. In 1810 he transferred his business to real estate and private banking, and in 1826 removed to Norwich, and became interested in the Chenango Bank, and subsequently in the establishment of the Wayne County Bank. In 1831 he removed to Binghamton, and became president of the Broome County Bank, which office he held until his death.

Jan. 8.-PURDY, Hon. ELIJAII F., a prominent Democratic politician, and popularly known as the "War-Horse of the Democracy," died in New York City, aged 70 years. He was a native of Westchester County, but removed to New York in 1819, commencing business as a carman. Subsequently he entered the grocery trade, and met with much success. His politi cal career commenced during the election campaign when Andrew Jackson was for the first time a candidate for the Presidency, and he was noted for his boldness in the assertion of his principles, his firm adherence to the right, and his never-failing integrity; while his com prehensive knowledge of political history, and his familiarity with the laws and ordinances of the city and county governments, gave his opinions great weight and influence.

Jan. 13.-SOLGER, Dr. REINHOLD, a HDgarian patriot, scholar, and lecturer, died in Washington, D. C. He came to the United States with Kossuth, and for some years was Assistant Register of the U. S. Treasury.

Jan. 13.-SWANN, Lieut. ROBERT P., of U.S. receiving-ship Vermont, committed suicide in a fit of insanity, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, aged 25 years. He was a native of Maryland, enlisted early in the war as master's mate, was in most of the naval battles of the Mississippi, and subsequently in the siege of Charleston, and the South Atlantic blockading squadron, when Le commanded the Potomska. He headed several expeditions into the country, and rendered such valuable services, that a general order of thanks was read on the quarter-deck of each vessel. He was for a time in command of the Ladena, afterward the Shawmut, and finally attached to the receiving-ship Vermont, at New York

Jan. 14. JUDAH, Brevet Col. HENRY V U. S. A., Brig.-Gen. Vols., died at Plattsburg N. Y., aged about 42 years. He was a native of Maryland, but was appointed to West Point from New York, and graduated in July, 1848. During the war he was connected with the army in the West as brigadier-general and division commander, and was very active in the pursuit of Morgan in his raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, in 1863. At the time of his death he was commandant at Plattsburg.

Jan. 15.-ROBBINS, GEORGE STILLMAN, E eminent New York banker (G. S. Robbins & Son), died at his residence, aged 70 years. He

was a native of East Granby, Conn., studied law at Hartford, and, removing to New York, entered into the dry goods importing and jobbing business. Since 1842 he has been in the brokerage business.

Jan. 15.-STEVENS, Dr. HIRAM F., an eminent physician, died at St. Albans, Vt., aged 40 years. He was educated at the University of Vermont, was a successful practitioner, and had frequently represented his town and county in the State Legislature; was president of the Vermont Medical Society, and Commissioner for the Insane.

Jan. 15.-CHоATE, RUFUS, Capt. U. S. Vols., died at Dorchester, Mass., aged 32 years. He was a son of the late Hon. Rufus Choate, was born in Salem, Mass., graduated at Amherst College in 1855, was admitted to the bar in Boston, 1858, and in 1861 entered the volunteer service as second lieutenant Massachusetts volunteers. He took part in the prominent battles of Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam, and for good conduct was promoted to a captainey, but in 1862 was obliged to resign on account of ill-health.

Jan. 18.-DAVIS, Hon. JOIN G., member of Congress from Indiana, died at Terre Haute, azed 55 years. He was a native of Fleming County, Ky., but removed with his parents to Indiana when yet a boy. Before attaining his majority he was elected sheriff of his adopted county, and afterward clerk, which office he held twenty-one years. In 1850 he was elected to Congress, in which body he served four years with more than ordinary distinction.

Jan. 20.-MORGAN, Col. CHRISTOPHER A., Inspector-General of the Department of Missouri, died of asphyxia, from the escape of gas from a coal-stove in his room at St. Louis. He entered the service as captain in the Thirty-ninth Ohio Vols., and in August, 1861, was attached to the staff of Maj.-Gen. Pope. Since June 30, 1862, he was an additional aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, and being from time to time assigned to varied and important positions, fulfilled the trusts reposed in him with rare fidelity and ability.

Jan. 20.-OTTOLENGIN, Mrs. HELEN ROSALIE RODRIGUEZ, a Southern authoress and periodical writer of much merit, died in Charleston, S. C., aged 23 years.

Jan. 23.--COOLIDGE, Brevet Lieut.-Col. RICHARD H., surgeon U. S. A., and medical director of the Department of North Carolina, died at Raleigh, N. C., aged about 50 years. He was a native of New York, and was appointed assist ant-surgeon from that State in 1841. He was a man of thorough loyalty and patriotism, and of superior abilities, both as a surgeon and a nedical writer. He was a son-in-law of Commodore Morris.

Jan. 23.--HAWLEY, CHARLES, an eminent lawyer of Connecticut, died at Stamford, Conn., aged 74 years. He was born at Monroe, Conn., graduated at Yale College, in the class of 1813, studied law at Newtown and Litchfield, and in

1816 commenced the practice of his profession in Stamford, continuing it with marked success until his death. He served repeatedly in both branches of the State Legislature, was one of the presidential electors in 1829, and in 1837 was elected Lieutenant-Governor.

Jan. 23.-THOMPSON, Hon. OSWALD, an eminent jurist, presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas, died of apoplexy in Philadelphia, aged 57 years. He was a native of Philadelphia, graduated at Princeton College in 1828, studied law under the direction of Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, and was admitted to the bar March 27, 1832. In December, 1851, he was made presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Philadelphia. To this high and important position he brought every requisite qualification. He was ample in learning, penetrating, and full of resource in grappling with difficult cases, but very cautious, fearing to err. His integrity was pure and unswerving, his love of justice surpassing his pride of opinion, and his devotion to the arduous duties .of his position so untiring, that in all probability his life was a sacrifice thereto. Judge Thompson was elected a member of the Historical Society, was a trustee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and received the degree of LL. D. from Jefferson College.

Jan. 24.-BOORMAN, JAMES, an eminent New York merchant and philanthropist, died in that city, aged 83 years. He was a native of Kent County, England, but came to this country with his parents when about twelve years of age. He was first apprenticed to Mr. Divie Bethune, and subsequently entered into partnership with him in 1805. This connection was afterward dissolved, and Mr. Boorman, in connection with John Johnson, formed the well-known firm of Boorman and Johnson, for many years one of the most prominent and influential firms in New York City. For many years they almost entirely controlled the Dundee trade, and their subsequent transactions in Swedish iron and Virginia tobacco were well known. Mr. Boorman was one of the pioneers and prime movers in the construction of the Hudson River Railroad, and was for many years its president. He was also one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce, and his name stands first in the list of the first board of directors of that institution. Retiring in 1855 from the immediate cares of business, he did not lose his interest in the public good, but continued, and perhaps increased, his large and always unostentatious benefactions. The Institution for the Blind, the Protestant Half Orphan Asylum, the Southern Aid Society, and the Union Theological Seminary were among the recipients of his bounty. He was also a liberal supporter of the Church, and of most of the causes peculiarly her own; and in the recent dark hours of his country's trial he was resolute in maintaining her cause, and this while cherishing a warm

regard for many in the South, with whom he had friendly intercourse in happier days.

Jan. 25.-HEYER, Rev. WILLIAM S., a clergyman of the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church, died at Newburg, N. Y., aged 68 years. He was a native of New York City, graduated at Columbia College in 1815, completed his theological course in the spring of 1821, and in 1823 was ordained and installed pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill, where he remained until 1851, when ill-health compelled him to resign, and soon after he removed to Newburg. He was an eminent scholar and an able preacher.

Jan. 27.-CRELE, JOSEPH, the oldest man in America, died at Caledonia, Wisconsin, aged 141 years. He was born of French parents, in what is now Detroit, but which was then only an Indian trading-station, in 1725. The record of his baptism in the French Catholic church in that city establishes this fact. He was a resident of Wisconsin for about a century, and was first married in New Orleans in 1755, when thirty years of age. A few years after his marriage he settled at Prairie du Chien, while Wisconsin was yet a province of France. Before the Revolutionary War, he was employed to carry letters between Prairie du Chien and Green Bay. He bore arms at Braddock's defeat, and was an old man when Jackson defeated Packenham at New Orleans. A few years ago he was called as a witness in the Circuit Court of Wisconsin, in a case involving the title to certain real estate at Prairie du Chien, to give testimony in relation to events that transpired eighty years before, and many years before the birth of the litigants. For some years past he had resided at Caledonia with a daughter by his third wife. He was sixty-nine when she was born. Up to 1864 Mr. Crele was as hale and hearty as most men of seventy. He could walk several miles without fatigue, and was frequently in the habit of chopping" wood for the family use. The only weakness of mind which he ever betrayed was in the last year or two of his existence, when he frequently remarked, with a startling air of sadness, that he feared that perhaps "death had forgotten him."

66

Jan. 28.-CHANDLER, Hon. THOMAS, an American statesman, died at Bedford, N. II., aged 93 years. He was a native of that town, and educated as a farmer. In 1817 he was elected State Senator, and held that office several years. He was also at various times a member of the lower House of five State Legislatures, commencing as early as 1821, and closing with the year 1842. In addition to these civil honors, he was elected a Representative to Congress, in 1829 and reëlected in 1831.

Jan. 28.-GRIER, WILLIAM P., surgeon United States Navy, was lost by the explosion of the Miami, near the mouth of the Arkansas River. He was a son of Justice Grier, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and received an appointment as surgeon in the regular army in

July, 1862, and served in the office of the assistant surgeon-general at St. Louis. He was with Pope in his Virginia campaign, and with McClellan at Antietam. During 1864 and 1865 he was assistant medical director in the De partment of Philadelphia. The only incident known of his death was that a group of officers were seated around the stove on board the steamer Miami, opposite Napoleon, on the Arkansas River, about eight o'clock on the evening of the 28th, when the explosion occurred, and no member of the group was ever seen again.

Jan. 29.-ELMENDORF, Rev. ANTHONY, D. D., an eminent clergyman of the Reformed Dutch Church, died in Brooklyn, N. Y., aged 53 years He was a native of Ulster County, N. Y., and descended from an ancestry connected with the first settlement of that region. He graduatel with honor at Rutgers' College, N. J., in 1886, and afterward at the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick. In 1839 he was licensed to preach, and subsequently was pastor of the churches in Hurlay and Hyde Park, and soon after 1847 removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he labored with great acceptance until 1851, when a new organization was formed under his auspices. This new church grew rapidly, and to its welfare he devoted all his energies for thir teen years, until failing health obliged him to resign. He was an earnest worker, an able preacher, and had a strong hold upon the affec tions of the community.

Jan. --HUBBARD, W. B., an eminent lawyer and millionnaire, died at Columbus, Ohio, aged 71 years. He was a native of Lowvila, N. Y., emigrated to Ohio when a boy, and be came distinguished as a scholar, and also as a financier.

Jan. --ROMAN, ANDRÉ BIENVENT, exGovernor of Louisiana, died in St. James Paris, La., aged nearly 71 years. He was a native of the Parish of St. Landry, La., though his ance tors were originally from Provence, France. In 1818 he was chosen to the House of Represent atives, and continued to be rechosen for sneces sive terms without opponent. He was elected Speaker, and had served four years in that place, when he resigned, on being appointed. Governor Johnson, parish judge for St. James He held the office for two years, resigning it in 1828 to be returned again to the House of Representatives, where he was again elected Speaker. In 1830 he was elected Governor of the State, and entered on the duties of the offe in January, 1831. By the constitution of 1812 the Governor of the State was not eligible for a second term. When Governor Roman retired in 1835, by constitutional limitation, the two Houses of the Legislature voted him thanks for the manner in which he had discharged his high duties, and the citizens of New Orleans entertained him at a public dinner. Governo Roman was a member of the convention which passed the ordinance of secession, but he wa among those who disapproved of the policy of secession, and voted against the passire of the

ordinance. Having done what he could to avert the act, he announced with much feeling his intention to go with his State. Having taken his side, he received immediately from the provisional government, at Montgomery, a commission with the Hon. John Forsyth and Martin J. Crawford, of Georgia, to proceed to Washington and open conference with the Government of the United States. The object was frustrated by the refusal of Mr. Seward to receive them. From that time he resided in Louisiana, and took no part in public affairs.

Feb. 1.-GREENE, Mrs. ELIZABETH C., daughter of John Singleton Copley, the celebrated painter, died in Boston, aged 95 years. She was a native of Boston, and sister of the late Lord Lyndhurst, and the widow of Gardner Greene. Feb. 4.-BURCHARD, Rev. ELY, a Presbyterian clergyman and teacher, died at Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y., aged 78 years. He was a native of West Springfield, Mass., but early removed with his parents to Oneida County, was educated at Hamilton Academy, and graduated at Yale College, with the highest honors. Soon after leaving college, he had for a time charge of the academy at Onondaga, but subsequently devoted his attention to the study of theology, and in 1817 was licensed to preach by the Oneida Association. His first pastorate was over the church in Augusta, N. Y., where he labored with great success for several years. The larger portion of his life, however, was devoted to teaching, for which he was eminently fitted, being a fine scholar, especially in the ancient classics.

Feb. 5.-SAMPSON, WILLIAM M., Chief Justice of Kentucky, died at Glasgow, Ky. He was an able lawyer, and admirably fitted for the exalted judicial station to which he had recently been called.

Feb. 7.—Edwards, Rev. Jesse, a Presbyterian clergyman, died at Plover, Wisconsin, aged 47 years. He was a native of Bath, N. Y., gradnated at Nassau Hall College, Princeton, in 1842, and subsequently became a tutor there. After a few years he settled as a pastor in Western New York, and subsequently removed to the West and became a domestic missionary. From thence he was called to the professorship of the Latin and Greek languages in Carroll College, Wisconsin, and afterward to the pastorate once more. He was distinguished for thorough and profound scholarship, and especially for his knowledge of biblical literature.

Feb. 9.-HINKLEY, HOLMES, a pioneer locomotive builder, died in Boston, aged 75 years. Upon the completion of his first locomotive he found difficulty in obtaining a purchaser, as at that time railroads themselves were an unsolved problem; but his faith in the future wants of the country was so great, that he undertook the construction of four more, and before their completion railroads were felt to be a necessity, and his "Hinkley" engine was among the foremost in the country. Subsequently seven hundred and thirty-seven were delivered from his works.

Feb. 11.-CARY, ROBERT, father of Alice and Phoebe Cary, died at Clovernook, near Cincinnati, aged 80 years. He was one of the first settlers of Cincinnati.

Feb. 11.-MORSE, Hon. ISAAC E., formerly Attorney-General of Louisiana, died in New Orleans, aged 57 years. He was born at Attakapas, Louisiana, first went to school in New Orleans, afterward in New Jersey, and still later joined the Military Academy at Norwich, Vermont, under the direction of Captain Partridge. He removed with the school and its instructor to Middletown, Connecticut, and in the autumn of 1828 entered the senior class at Harvard College. Graduating with high honors in the class of 1829, he engaged in the study of law in New Orleans, and subsequently travelled in Europe. On his return he soon emerged in political life, first as a member of the State Senate, then in the Congress of the United States. He was in his earlier time "a firm and consistent Jackson man," and always a Democrat, strong in his belief, but never bitter in its expression. Having failed of reelection after serving during two sessions of Congress, he received the appointment of Attorney-General of his native State. During the administration of President Pierce, he was a minister to one of the South American states.

Feb. 12.-MURRAY, Col. JAMES B., an eminent New York merchant and politician, died in that city, aged 76 years. He was the last of those who welcomed Gen. Jackson in Tammany Hall after the battle of New Orleans; and he was not the least eloquent or enthusiastic of those who celebrated the semi-centennial of that event among the sachems of Tammany in January last. Col. Murray was one of the oldest members of the Chamber of Commerce, and held during his life many offices of trust and responsibility.

Feb. 13.-HATCH, GEORGE W., President of the American Bank Note Company, died at Dobb's Ferry, N. Y., aged 62 years. His talent as an artist, taste as a critic, and judgment in the business of which he was the head, rendered his services peculiarly valuable in the administration of its affairs, while his genial, cordial nature held the esteem of the community at large.

Feb. 20.-ADAMS, WILLIAM JOSEPH, an eminent teacher, died in Boston, aged 64 years. He was a native of Castine, Me., where he was fitted for college, and in 1822 graduated from Harvard. After leaving college, he taught a private school in New York for several years, and in 1829 was appointed principal of the Franklin School, where he remained two years. He was afterward principal of the Hancock School from 1843 to 1848. He then kept a private school in Boston until 1856. In October of that year he was appointed assistant librarian of the Boston Athenæum, which office ho held until his death.

Feb. 21.-BUELL, Rev. RUFUS F., missionary of the American Bap. Miss. Union in Greece, died in Washington, D. C. aged 53 years. He

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »