Washington Township (part 5 of 21)

Among other of the important works of Professor Agassiz may be mentioned the following: "Outlines of Comparative Physiology," "Journey to Brazil," and "Contributions to the Natural History of the United States." It is said of Professor Agassiz, that, perhaps, with the exception of Hugh Miller, no one had so popularized science in his day, or trained so many young naturalists. Many of the theories held by Agassiz are not supported by many of the naturalists of these later days, but upon many of the speculations into the origin of species and in physics he has left the marks of his own strongly marked individuality.

WILLIAM WINDOM. - As a prominent and leading lawyer of the great northwest, as a member of both houses of congress, and as the secretary of the treasury, the gentleman whose name heads this sketch won for himself a prominent position in the history of our country.

Mr. Windom was a native of Ohio, born in Belmont county, May 10, 1827. He received a good elementary education m the schools of his native state, and took up the study of law. He was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of. his profession in Ohio, where he remained until 1855. In the latter year he made up his mind to move further west, and accordingly went to Minnesota, and opening an office, became identified with the interests of that state, and the northwest generally. In 1858 he took his place in the Minnesota delegation in the national house of representatives, at Washington, and continued to. represent his constituency in that body for ten years. In 1871 Mr. Windom was elected United States senator from Minnesota, and was re-elected to the same office after fulfilling the duties of the position for a full term, in 1876. On the inauguration of President Garfield, in March, 1881, Mr. Windom became secretary of the treasury in his cabinet. He resigned this office October 27, 1881, and was elected senator from the North Star state to fill the va-

DON M. DICKINSON, an American politician and lawyer, was born in Port Ontario, New York, January 17, 1846. He removed with his parents to Michigan when he was but two years old. He was educated in the public schools of Detroit and at the University of Michigan at A.nn Arbor, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one. In 1872 he was made secretary of the Democratic state central committee of Michigan, and his able management of the campaign gave him a prominent place in the councils of his party. In 1876, during the Tilden campaign, he acted as chairman of the state central committee. He was afterward chosen to represent his state in the Democratic national committee, and in 1886 he was appointed postmastergeneral by President Cleveland. After the expiration of his term of office he returned to Detroit and resumed the practice of law. In the presidential campaign of 1896, Mr. Dickinson adhered to the "gold wing" of the Democracy, and his influence was felt in the national canvass, and especially in his own state.

I OHN JACOB ASTOR, the founder of vJ the Astor family and fortunes, while not a native of this country, was one of the most noted men of his time, and as all his wealth and fame were acquired here, he may well be classed among America's great men. He was born near Heidelberg, Germany, July 17, 1763, and when twenty yeais old emigrated to the United States. Even at that age he exhibited remarkable business ability and foresight, and soon he was investing capital in furs which he took to London and sold at a great profit. He next settled at New York, and engaged extensively in the fur trade. He exported furs to Europe in his own vessels, which returned with cargoes of foreign commodities, and thus he rapidly amassed an immense fortune. In 18 11 he founded Astoria on the western coast of North America, near the mouth of the Columbia river, as a depot for the fur trade, for the promotion of which he sent a number of expeditions to the Pacific ocean. He also purchased a large amount of real estate in New York, the value of which increased enormously All through life his business ventures were a series of marvelous successes, and he ranked as one of the most sagacious and successful business men in the world. He d'eci March 29, 1848, leaving a fortune estimated at over twenty million dollars to his children, who have since increased it. John Jacob Astor left $400,000 to found a public library in New York City, and his son, William B. Astor, who died in 1875, left $300,000 to add to his father's bequest. This is known as the Astor Library, one of the largest in the United States.

SCHUYLER COLFAX, an eminent American statesman, was born in New York City, March 23, 1S23, being a grandson of General William Colfax, the commander of Washington's life-guards. In 1836 he removed with his mother, who was then a widow, to Indiana, settling at South Bend. Young Schuyler studied law, and in 1845 became editor of the "St. Joseph Valley Register," a Whig paper published at South Bend. He was a member of the convention which formed a new constitution for Indiana in 1850, and he opposed the clause that prohibited colored men from settling in that state. In 1851 he was defeated as the Whig candidate for congress but was elected in 1854, and, being repeatedly re-elected, continued to represent that district in congress until 1869. He became one of the most prominent and influential members of the house of representatives, and served three terms as speaker. During the Civil war he was an active participant in all public measures of importance, and was a confidential friend and adviser of President Lincoln. In May, 1868, Mr. Colfax was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with General Grant, and was elected. After the close of his term he retired from office, and for the remainder of his life devoted much of his time to lecturing and literary pursuits. His death occurred January 23, 18S5. He was one of the most prominent members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in America, and that order erected a bronze statue to his memory in University Park. Indianapolis, Indiana, which was unveiled in May, 1887.

WILLIAM FREEMAN VILAS, who attained a national reputation as an able lawyer, statesman, and cabinet officer, was born at Chelsea, Vermont, July 9, 1840. His parents removed to Wisconsin when our subject was but eleven years of age, and there with the early settlers endured ail the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life. William F. Vilas was given all the advantages found in the common schools, and supplemented this by a course of study in the Wisconsin State University, after which he studied law, was admitted to the bar and began practicing at Madison. Shortly afterward the Civil war broke out and Mr. Vilas enlisted and became colonel of the Twenty-third regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, serving throughout the war with distinction. At the close of the w'ar he returned to Wisconsin, resumed his law practice, and rapidly rose to eminence in this profession. In 1885 he was selected by President Cleveland for postmaster-general and at the close of his term again returned to Madison, Wisconsin, to resume the practice of law.

THOMAS McINTYRE COOLEY, an eminent American jurist and law writer, was born in Attica, New York, January 6, 1824. He was admitted to the bar in 1846, and four years later was appointed reporter of the supreme court of Michigan, which office he continued to hold for seven years. In the meantime, in 1859, he became professor of the law department of the University of Michigan, and soon afterward was made dean of the faculty of that department. In 1864 he was elected justice of the supreme court of Michigan, in 1867 became chief justice of that court, and in 1869 was re-elected for a term of eight years. In 1881 he again joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, assuming the professorship of constitutional and administrative law. His works on these branches have become standard, and he is recognized as authority on this and related subjects. Upon the passage of the inter-state commerce law in 1887 he became chairman of the commission and served in that capacity four years.

I OHN PETER ALTGELD, a noted eJ American politician and writer on social questions, was born in Germany, December 30, 1847. He came to America with his parents and settled in Ohio when two years old. In 1864 he entered the Union army and served till the close of the war, after which he settled in Chicago, Illinois. He was elected judge of the superior court of Cook count}', Illinois, in 1886, in which capacity he served until elected governor of Illinois in 1892, as a Democrat. During the first year of his term as governor he attracted national attention by his pardon of the anarchists convicted of the Haymarket murder in Chicago, and again in 1894 by his denunciation of President Cleveland for calling out federal troops to suppress the rioting in connection with the great Pullman strike in Chicago. At the national convention of the Democratic party in Chicago, in July, 1896, he is said to have inspired the clause in the platform denunciatory of interfereq.ce by federal authorities in local affairs, and "government by injunction." He was gubernatorial candidate for re-election on the Democratic ticket in 1896, but was defeated by John R. Tanner, Republican. Mr. Altgeld published two volumes of essays on " Live Questions," evincing radical views on social matters.

ican statesman and politician, was born in Christian county, Kentucky, October 23, 1835, and removed with the family to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1852. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, and settled in the practice of his profession in Metamora, Illinois. In 1861 he was made master in chancery of Woodford county, and in 1864 was elected state's attorney. In 1868 he returned to Bloomington and formed a law partnership with James S. Ewing. He had served as a presidential elector in 1864, and in 1868 was elected to congress as a Democrat, receiving a majority vote from every county in his district. He became prominent in his party, and was a delegate to the national convention in 1884. On the election of Cleveland to the presidency Mr. Stevenson was appointed first assistant postmastergeneral. Afte*' the expiration of his term he continued to exert a controlling influence in the politics of his state, and in 1892 was elected vice-president of the United States on the ticket with Grover Cleveland. At the expiration of his term of office he resumed the practice of law at Bloomington, Illinois.

SIMON CAMERON, whose name is prominently identified with the history of the United States as a political leader and statesman, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1799. He grew to manhood in his native county, receiving good educational advantages, and developing a natural inclination for political life. He rapidly rose in prominence and became the most influential Democrat in Pennsylvania, and in 1845 was elected by that party to the United States senate. Upon the organization of the Republican party he was one of the first to declare his allegiance to it, and in 1856 was re-elected United States senator from Pennsylvania as a Republican. In March, 1861, he was appointed secretary of war by President Lincoln, and served until early in 1862, when he was sent as minister to Russia, returning in 1863. In 1866 he was again elected United States senator and served until 1877, when he resigned and was succeeded by his son, James Donald Cameron. He continued to exert a powerful influence in political affairs up to the time of his death, June 26, 1889.

James Donald Cameron was the eldest son of Simon Cameron, and also attained a high rank among American statesmen. He was born at Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania, May 14, 1833, and received an excellent education, graduating at Princeton College in 1852. He rapidly developed into one of the most able and successful business men of the country and was largely interested in and identified with the development of the coal, iron, lumber and manufacturing interests of his native state. He served as cashier and afterward president of the Middletown bank, and in 1861 was made vice-president, and in 1863 president of the Northern Central railroad, holding this position until 1874, when he resigned and was succeeded by Thomas A. Scott. This road was of great service to the government during the war as a means of communication between Pennsylvania and the national capital, via Baltimore. Mr. Cameron also took an active part in political affairs, always as a Republican. In May, 1876, he was appointed secretary of war in President Grant's cabinet, and in 1877 succeeded his father in the United States senate. He was re-elected in 1885, and again in 1891, serving until 1896, and was recognized as one of the most prominent and influential members of that body.

American arctic explorer, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 27, <1844. He graduated from Brown High School at the age of sixteen, and a year later enlisted in Company B, Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry, and was made first sergeant. In 1863 he was promoted to second lieutenant. After the war he was assigned to the Fifth United States Cavalry, and became first lieutenant in 1873. He was assigned to duty in the United States signal service shortly after the close of the war. An expedition was fitted out by the United States government in 1881, under auspices of the weather bureau, and Lieutenant Greeley placed in command. They set sail from St. Johns the first week in July, and after nine days landed in Greenland, where they secured the services of two natives, together with sledges, dogs, furs and equipment. They encountered an ice pack early in August, and on the 28th of that month freezing weather set in. Two of hi's party, Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard, added to the known maps about forty miles of coast survey, and reached the highest point yet attained by man, eighty-three degrees and twenty-four minutes north, longitude, forty-four degrees and five minutes west. On their return to Fort Conger, Lieutenant Greeley set out for the south on August 9, 1883. He reached Baird Inlet twenty days later with his entire party. Here they were compelled to abandon their boats, and drifted on an ice-floe for one month. They then went into camp at Cape Sabine, where they suffered untold hardships, and eighteen of the party succumbed to cold and hunger, and had relief been delayed two days longer none would have been found alive. They were picked up by the relief expedition, under Captain Schley, June 22, 1884. The dead were taken to New York for burial. Many sensational stories were published concerning the expedition, and Lieutenant Greeley prepared an exhaustive account of his explorations and experiences.

LEVI P. MORTON, the millionaire politician, was born in Shoreham, Vermont, May 16, 1824, and his early education consisted of the rudiments which he obtained in the common school up to the age of fourteen, and after that time what knowledge he gained was wrested from the hard school of experience. He removed to

Hanover, Vermont, then Concord, Vermont, and afterwards to Boston. He had worked in a store at Shoreham, his native village, and on going to Hanover he established a store and went into business for himself. In Boston he clerked in a dry goods store, and then opened a business of his own in the same line in New York. After a short career he failed, and was compelled to settle with his creditors at only fifty cents on the dollar. He began the struggle anew, and when the war began he established a banking house in New York, with Junius Morgan as a partner. Through his firm and connections the great government war loans were floated, and it resulted in immense profits to his house. When he was ,again thoroughly established he invited his former creditors to a banquet, and under each guest's plate was found a check covering the amount of loss sustained respectively, with interest to date.

President Garfield appointed Mr. Morton as minister to France, after he had declined the secretaryship of the navy, and in 1 888 he was nominated as candidate for vice-president, with Harrison, and elected. In 1894 he was elected governor of New York over David B. Hill, and served one term.

11 /CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, one lf V_> of the most talented and prominent educators this country has known, was born January 24, 1835, at Derby, Vermont. He !' received an elementary education in the r' common schools, and studied two terms in )_ the Derby Academy. Mr. Adams moved ie with his parents to Iowa in 1856. He was 10 -very anxious to pursue a collegiate course, !l but this was impossible until he had attained |[; the age of twenty-one. In the autumn of -° [1856 he began the study of Latin and Greek at Denmark Academy, and in September, 1857, he was admitted to the University of Michigan. Mr. Adams was wholly dependent upon himself for the means of his education. During his third and fourth year he became deeply interested in historical studies, was assistant librarian of the university, and determined to pursue a postgraduate course. In 1864 he was appointed instructor of history and Latin and was advanced to an assistant professorship in 1865, and in 1867, on the resignation of Professor White to accept the presidency of Cornell, he was appointed to fill the chair of professor of history. This he accepted on condition of his being allowed to spend a year for special study in Germany, France and Italy. Mr. Adams returned in 1868, and assumed the duties of his professorship. He introduced the German system for the instruction of advanced history classes, and his lectures were largely attended. In 1885, on the resignation of President White at Cornell, he was elected his successor and held the office for seven years, and on January 17, 1893, he was inaugurated president of the University of Wisconsin. President Adams was prominently connected with numerous scientific and literary organizations and a frequent contributor to the historical and educational data in the periodicals and journals of the country. He was the author of the following: " Democracy and Monarchy in France," " Manual of Historical Literature," " A Plea for Scientific Agriculture," " Higher Education in Germany. "

JOSEPH B. FORAKER, a prominent political leader and ex-governor of Ohio, was born near Rainsboro, Highland county, Ohio, July 5, 1846. His parents operated a small farm, with a grist and sawmill, hav-

Joseph was reared upon a farm until 1862, when he enlisted in the Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry. Later he was made sergeant, and in 1864 commissioned first lieutenant. The next year he was brevetted captain. At the age of nineteen he was mustered out of the army after a brilliant service, part of the time being on the staff of General Slocum. He participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Kenesaw Mountain and in Sherman's march to the sea.

Lor two years subsequent to the war young Loraker was studying at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, but later went to Cornell University, at Unity, New York, from which he graduated July 1, 1869. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1879 Mr. Loraker was elected judge of the superior court of Cincinnati and held the office for three years. In 1883 he was defeated in the contest for the governorship with Judge Hoadly. In 1885, however, being again nominated for the same office, he was elected and served two terms. In 1889, in running for governor again, this time against James E. Campbell, he was defeated. Two years later his career in the United States senate began. Mr. Loraker was always a prominent figure at all national meetings of the Republican party, and a strong power, politically, in his native state.

LYMAN ABBOTT, an eminent American preacher and writer on religious subjects, came of a noted New England family. His father, Rev. Jacob Abbott, was a prolific and popular writer, and his uncle, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, was a noted

Massachusetts. He graduated at the New York University, in 1853, studied law, and practiced for a time at the bar, after which he studied theology with his uncle, Rev. John S. C. Abbott, and in i860 was settled in the ministry at Terre Haute, Indiana, remaining there until after the close of the war. He then became connected with the Lreedmen's Commission, continuing this until 1868, when he accepted the pastorate of the New England Congregational church, in New York City. A few years later he resigned, to devote his time principally to literary pursuits. Lor a number of years he edited for the American Tract Society, its "Illustrated Christian Weekly," also the New York "Christian Union." He produced many works, which had a wide circulation, among which may be mentioned the following: "Jesus of Nazareth, His Life and Teachings," "Old Testament Shadows of New Testament Truths," "Morning and Evening Exercises, Selected from Writings of Henry Ward Beecher," " Laicus, or the Experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish," "Popular Religious Dictionary," and "Commentaries on Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts."

EORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. - The well-known author, orator and journalist whose name heads this sketch, was born at Providence, Rhode Island, Lebruary 24, 1824. Having laid the foundation of a most excellent education in his native land, he went to Europe and studied at the University of Berlin. He made an e'xtensive tour throughout the Levant, from which he j returned home in 1850. At that early age literature became his field of labor, and in 1851 he published his first important work,

" Nile Notes of a Howadji." In 1852 two works issued from his facile pen, "The Howadji in Syria," and "Lotus-Eating." Later on he was the author of the wellknown " Potiphar Papers," " Prue and I," and "Trumps." He greatly distinguished himself throughout this land as a lecturer on many subjects, and as an orator had but few peers. He whs also well known as one of the most fluent speakers on the stump, making many political speeches in favor of the Republican party. In recognition of his valuable services, Mr. Curtis was appointed by President Grant, chairman of the advisory board of the civil service. Although a life-long Republican, Mr. Curtis refused to support Blaine for the presidency in 1884, because of his ideas on civil service and other reforms. For his memorable and magnificent eulogy on Wendell Phillips, delivered in Boston, in 1884, that city presented Mr. Curtis with a gold medal.

George W. Curtis, however, is best known to the reading public of the United States by his connection with the Harper Brothers, having been editor of the " Harper's Weekly, " and of the "Easy Chair," in " Harper's Monthly Magazine, ''for many years, in fact retaining that position until the day of his death, which occurred August 3 1 » 1892.

president of the United States, served from 1865 to 1869. He was born December 8, 1808, at Raleigh, North Carolina, and was left an orphan at the age of four years. He never attended school, and was apprenticed to a tailor. While serving his apprenticeship he suddenly acquired a passion for knowledge, and learned to read. From that time on he spent all his spare time in reading, and after working for two years as a journeyman tailor at Lauren's Court House, South Carolina, he removed to Greenville, Tennessee, where he worked at' his trade and was married. Under his wife's instruction he made rapid progress in his studies and manifested such an interest in local politics as to be elected as " workingmen's candidate " alderman in 1828, and in 1830 to the mayoralty, and was twice re-elected to each office. Mr. Johnson utilized this time in cultivating his talents as a public speaker, by taking part in a debating society. He was elected in 1835 to the lower house of the legislature, was reelected in 1839 as a Democrat, and in 1841 was elected state senator. Mr. Johnson was elected representative in congress in 1843 and was re-elected four times in succession until 1853, when he was the successful candidate for the gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. He was re-elected in 1855 and in 1857 he entered the United States senate. In i860 he was supported by the Tennessee delegation to the Democratic convention for the presidential nomination, and lent his influence to the Breckinridge wing of the party. At the election of Lincoln, which brought about the first attempt at secession in December, i860, Mr. Johnson took a firm attitude in the senate for the Union. He was the leader of the loyalists in East Tennessee. By the course that Mr. Johnson pursued in this crisis he was brought prominently before the northern people, and when, in March, 1862, he was appointed military governor of Tennessee with the rank of brigadier-general, he increased his popularity by the vigorous manner in which he labored to restore order. In the campaign of 1864 he was elected vice-president on the ticket with President Lincoln, and upon the assassination of the latter he succeeded to the presidency, April 15, 1865. He retained the cabinet of President Lincoln, and at first exhibited considerable severity towards the former Confederates, but he soon inaugurated a policy of reconstruction, proclaimed a general amnesty to the late Confederates, and established provisional governments in the southern states. These states claimed representation in congress in the following December, and then arose the momentous question as to what should be the policy of the victorious Union against their late enemies. The Republican majority in congress had an apprehension that the President would undo the results of the war, and consequently passed two bills over the executive veto, and the two highest branches of the government were in open antagonism. The cabinet was reconstructed in July, and Messrs. Randall, Stanbury and Browning superseded Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan. In August, 1867, President Johnson removed the secretary of war and replaced him with General Grant, but when congress met in December it refused to ratify the removal of Stanton, who resumed the functions of his office. In 1868 the president again attempted to remove Stanton, who refused to vacate his post and was sustained by the senate. President Johnson was accused by congress of high crimes and misdemeanors, but the trial resulted in his acquittal. Later he was United States senator from Tennessee, and died July 31, 1875.

EDMUND RANDOLPH, first attorneygeneral of the United States, was born in Virginia, August 10, 1753. His father, John Randolph, was attorney-general of Virginia, and lived and died a royalist. Edmund was educated in the law, but joined the army as aide-de-camp to Washington in 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He j 1 was elected to the Virginia convention in 1776, and attorney-general of the state the j , same year. In 1779 he was elected to the V ; Continental congress, and served four years I | in that body. He was a member of the con- j ( vention in 1787 that framed the constitu- ( tion. In that convention he proposed what \ , was known as the " Virginia plan" of con- ( federation, but it was rejected. He advo- | ( cated the ratification of the constitution in 1 ( the Virginia convention, although he had re- , fused to sign it. He became governor of j Virginia in 1788, and the next year Washington appointed him to the office of attorney-general of the United States upon | the organization of the government under i the constitution. He was appointed secretary of state to succeed Jefferson during | Washington's second term, but resigned a ' year later on account of differences in the cabinet concerning the policy pursued toward the new French republic. He died ; September 12, 1813.

INFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1824. He received his early education at the Norristown Academy, in his native county, and, in 1840, was appointed a cadet in the United States Military Academy, at West Point. He was graduated from the latter in 1844, and brevetted as second lieutenant of infantry. In 1853 he was made first lieutenant, and two years later transferred to the quartermaster's department, with the rank of captain, and in 1863 promoted to the rank of major. He served on the frontier, and in the war with Mexico, displaying conspicuous gallantry during the latter. He also took a part in the Seminole war, and in the troubles in Kansas, in 1857, and in California, at the out- break of the Civil war, as chief quartermaster of the Southern district, he exerted a powerful influence. In 1 86 r he applied for active duty in the field, and was assigned to the department of Kentucky as chief quartermaster, but before entering upon that duty, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. His subsequent history during the war was substantially that of the Army of the Potomac. He participated in the campaign, under McClellan, and led the gallant charge, which captured Fort Magruder, won the day at the battle of Williamsburg, and by services rendered at Savage's Station and other engagements, won several grades in the regular service, and was recommended by McClellan for major-general of volunteers. He was a conspicuous figure at South Mountain and Antietam. He was commissioned major-general of volunteers, November 29, 1862, and made commander of the First Division of the Second Corps, which he led at Fredricksburg and at Chancellorsville. He was appointed to the command of the Second Corps in June, 1863, and at the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 2 and 3, of that year, took an important part. On his arrival on the field he found part of the forces then in retreat, but stayed the retrograde movement, checked the enemy, and on the following day commanded the left center, repulsed, on the third, the grand assault of General Lee's army, and was severely wounded. For his services on that field General Hancock received the thanks of congress. On recovering from his wound, he was detailed to go north to stimulate recruiting and fill up the diminished corps, and was the recipient of many public receptions and ovations. In March, 1864, he returned to his command, and in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania led large bodies of men successfully and conspicuously. From that on to the close of the campaign he was a prominent figure. In November, 1864, he was detailed to organize the First Veteran Reserve Corps, and at the close of hostilities was appointed to the command of the Middle Military Division. In July, 1866, he was made major-general of the regular service. He was at the head of various military departments until 1872, when he was assigned to the command of the Department of the Atlantic, which post he held until his death. In 1869 he declined the nomination for governor of Pennsylvania. He was the nominee of the Democratic party for president, in 1880, and was defeated by General Garfield, who had a popular majority of seven thousand and eighteen and an electoral majority'iof fifty-nine. General Hancock died February 9, 1886.

HOMAS PAINE, the most noted political and deistical writer of the Revolutionary period, was born in England, January 29, 1 737, of Quaker parents. Hiseducation was. obtained in the grammar schools, of Thetford, his native town, and supplemented by hard private study while working at his trade of stay-maker at London and other cities of England. He was for a time a dissenting preacher, although he did not relinquish his employment. He married a revenue official's daughter, and was employed in the revenue service for some time. He then became a grocer and during all this time he was reading and cultivating his literary tastes, and had developed a clear and forcible style of composition. He was chosen to represent the interests of the excisemen, and published a pamphlet that brought him considerable notice. He was soon afterward introduced to Benjamin Franklin, and having been dismissed from the service on a charge of smuggling, his resentment led him to accept the advice of that statesman to come to America, in 1774. He became editor of the " Pennsylvania Magazine," and the next year published his "Serious Thoughts upon Slavery" in the "Pennsylvania Journal." His greatest political work, however, was written at the suggestion of Dr. Rush, and entitled "Common Sense." It was the most popular pamphlet written during the period and he received two thousand five hundred dollars from the state of Pennsylvania in recognition of its value. His periodical, the "Crisis," began in 1776, and its distribution among the soldiers did a great deal to keep up the spirit of revolution. He was made secretary cf the committee of foreign affairs, but was dismissed for revealing diplomatic secrets in one of his controversies with Silas Deane. He was originator and promoter of a subscription to relieve the distress of the soldiers near the close of the war, and was sent to France with Henry Laurens to negotiate the treaty v/ith France, and was granted three thousand dollars by congress for his services there, and an estate at New Rochelle, by the state of New York.

In 1787, after the close of the Revolutionary war, he went to France, and a few years later published his " Rights of Man," defending the French revolution, which gave him great popularity in France. Pie was made a citizen and elected to the national convention at Calais. He favored banishment of the king to America, and opposed his execution. He was imprisoned for about ten months during 1794 by the Robespierre party, during which time he wrote the " Age of Reason," his great deistical work. He was in danger of the guillotine for several months. He took up his residence with the family of James Monroe, then minister to France and was chosen again to the convention. He returned to the United States in 1802, and was cordially received throughout the country except at Trenton, where he was insulted by Federalists. He retired to his estate at New Rochelle, and his death occurred June 8, 1809.

JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY was one of J America's noted men, both in the development of the western coast and the building of the Mackay and Bennett cable. He was born in 1831 at Dublin, Ireland; came to New York in 1840 and his boyhood days were spent in Park Row. He went to California some time after the argonauts of 1849 and took to the primitive methods of mining - lost and won and finally drifted into Nevada about i860. The bonanza discoveries which were to have such a potent influence on the finance and statesmanship of the day came in 1872. Mr. Mackay founded the Nevada Bank in 1878. He is said to have taken one hundred and fifty million dollars in bullion out of the Big Bonanza mine. There were associated with him in this enterprise James G. Fair, senator from Nevada; William O'Brien and James C. Flood. When vast wealth came to Mr. Mackay he believed it his duty to do his country some service', and he agitated in his mind the building of an American steamship line, and while brooding over this his attention was called to the cable relations between America and Europe. The financial management of the cable was selfish and extravagant, and the capital was heavy with accretions of financial " water" and to pay even an apparent dividend upon the sums which represented the nominal value of the cables, it was necessary to hold the rates at an exorbitant figure. And, moreover, the cables were foreign; in one the influence of France being paramount and in the other that of England; and in the matter of intelligence, so necessary in case of war, we would be at the mercy of our enemies. This train of thought brought Mr. Maclcay into relation with James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the " New York Herald." The result of their intercourse was that Mr. Mackay so far entered into the enthusiasm of Mr. Bennett over an independent cable, that he offered to assist the enterprise with five hundred thousand dollars. This was the inception of the Commercial Cable Company, or of what has been known for years as the Mackav-Bennett cable.

ELISHA GRAY, the great inventor and electrician, was born August 2, 1835. at Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio. He was, .as a child, greatly interested in the phenomena of- nature, and read with avidity all the books he could obtain, relating to this subject. He was apprenticed to various trades during his boyhood, but his insatiable thirst for knowledge dominated his life and he found time to study at odd intervals. Supporting himself by working at his trade, he found time to pursue a course at Oberlin College, where he particularly devoted himself to the study of physicial science. Mr. Gray secured his first patent for electrical telegraph apparatus on October i, 1867. His attention was first attracted to telephonic transmission during this year and he saw in it a way of transmitting signals for telegraph purposes, and conceived the idea of electro-tones, tuned to different tones in the scale. He did not then realize the importance of his invention, his thoughts being employed on the capacity of the apparatus for transmitting musical tones through an electric circuit, and it was not until 1874 that he was again called to consider the reproduction of electrically-transmitted vibrations through the medium of animal tissue. He continued experimenting with various results, which finally culminated in his taking out a patent for his speaking telephone on February 14, 1876. He took out fifty additional patents in the course of eleven years, among which were, telegraph switch, telegraph repeater, telegraph annunciator and typewriting telegraph. From 1869 until 1873 he was employed in the manufacture of telegraph apparatus in Cleveland and Chicago, and filled the office of electrician to the Western Electric Company. He was awarded the degree of D. S. , and in 1874 he went abroad to perfect himself in acoustics. Mr. Gray's latest invention was known as the telautograph or long distance writing machine. Mr. Gray wrote and published several works on scientific subjects, among which were: "Telegraphy and Telephony," and " Experimental Research in Electro-Harmonic Telegraphy and Telephony."

\A/7HITELAW REID. - Amongthemany V V men who have adorned the field of journalism in the United States, few stand out with more prominence than the scholar, author and editor whose name heads this article. Born at Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, October 27, 1837, he graduated at Miami University in 1856. For about a year he was superintendent of the graded schools of South Charleston, Ohio, after which he purchased the "Xenia News," which he edited for about two years. This paper was the first one outside of Illinois to advocate the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Reid having been a Republican since the birth of that party in 1856. After taking an active part in the campaign, in the winter of 1860- 61, he went to the state capital as correspondent of three daily papers. At the close of the session of the legislature he became city editor of the "Cincinnati Gazette," and at the breaking out of the war went to the front as a correspondent for that journal. For a time he served on the staff of General Morris in West Virginia, with the rank of captain. Shortly after he was on the staff of General Rosecrans, and, under the name of "Agate," wrote most graphic descriptions of the movements in the field, especially that of the battle of Pittsburg Landing. In the spring of 1862 Mr. Reid went to Washington and was appointed librarian to the house of representatives, and acted as correspondent of the " Cincinnati Gazette." His description of the battle of Gettysburg, written on the field, gained him added reputation. In 1865 he accompanied Chief Justice Chase on a southern tour, and published "After the War; a Southern Tour." During the next two years he was engaged in cotton planting in Louisiana and Alabama, and published "Ohio in the War." In 1868 he returned to the " Cincinnati Gazette," becoming one of its leading editors. The same year he accepted the invitation of Horace Greeley and became one of the staff on the " New York Tribune." Upon the death of Mr. Greeley in 1872, Mr. Reid became editor and chief proprietor of that paper. In 1878 he was tendered the United States mission to Berlin, but declined. The offer was again made by the Garfield administration, but again ,he declined. In j 8 78 he was elected by the New York legislature regent of the university, to succeed General John A. Dix. Under the Harrison administration he served as United States minister to France, and in 1892 was the Republican nominee for the vice-presidency of the United States. Among other works published by him were the "Schools of Journalism," "The Scholar in Politics," "Some Newspaper Tendencies," and "Town-Hall Suggestions." the most powerful and effective preachers the world has ever produced, swaying his hearers and touching the hearts of immense audiences in a manner that has rarely been equalled and never surpassed. While not a native of America, yet much of his labor was spent in this country. He wielded, a great influence in the United States in early days, and his death occurred here; so that he well deserves a place in this volume as one of the most celebrated men America has known.

George Whitefield was born in the Bull Inn, at Gloucester, England, December 16, 1714. He acquired the rudiments of learning in St. Mary's grammar school. Later he attended Oxford University for a time, where he became intimate with the Oxford Methodists, and resolved to devote himself to the ministry. He was ordained in the Gloucester Cathedral June 20, 1836, and the following day preached his first sermon in the same church. On that day there commenced a new era in Whitefield's life. He went to London and began to preach at Bishopsgate church, his fame soon spreading over the city, and shortly he was engaged four times on a single Sunday in addressing audiences of enormous magnitude, and he preached in various parts of his native country, the people crowding in multitudes to hear him and hanging upon the rails and rafters of the churches and approaches thereto. He finally sailed for America, landing in Georgia, where he stirred the people to great enthusiasm. During the balance cf his life he divided his time between Great Britain and America, and it is recorded that he crossed the Atlantic thirteen times. He came to America for the seventh time in 1770. He preached every day at Boston from the 17th to the 20th of September, 1770, then traveled to Newburyport, preaching at Exeter, New Hampshire, September 29, on the way. That evening he went to Newburyport, where he died the next day, Sunday, September 30, 1770.

" Whitefield's dramatic power was amazing, " says an eminent writer in describing him. " His voice was marvelously varied, and he ever had it at command - an organ, a flute, a harp, all in one. His intellectual powers were not of a high order, but he had an abundance of that ready talent and that wonderful magnetism which makes the popular preacher; and beyond all natural endowments, there was in his ministry the power of evangelical truth, and, as his converts believed, the presence of the spirit of God."

CHARLES FRANCIS BRUSH, one of America's prominent men in the development of electrical science, was born March 17, 1849, near Cleveland, Ohio, and spent his early life on his father's farm. From the district school at Wickliffe, Ohio, he passed to the Shaw Academy at Collamer, and then entered the high school at Cleveland. His interest in chemistry, physics and engineering was already marked, and during his senior year he was placed in charge of the chemical and physical apparatus. During these years he devised a plan for lighting street lamps, constructed telescopes, and his first electric arc lamp, also an electric motor. In September, 1867, he entered the engineering department of the University of Michigan and graduated in

1869, which was a year in advance of his class, with the degree of M. E. He then returned to Cleveland, and for three years was engaged as an analytical chemist and for four years in the iron business. In 1875 Mr. Brush became interested in electric lighting, and in 1876, after four months' experimenting, he completed the dynamoelectric machine that has made his name famous, and in a shorter time produced the series arc lamps. These were both patented in the United States in 1876, and he afterward obtained fifty patents on his later inventions, including the fundamental storage battery, the compound series, shuntwinding for dynamo-electric machines, and the automatic cut-out for arc lamps. His patents, two-thirds of which have already been profitable, are held by the Brush Electric Company, of Cleveland, while his foreign patents are controlled by the Anglo- American Brush Electric Light Company, of London. In 1880 the Western Reserve University conferred upon Mr. Brush the degree of Ph. D., and in 1881 the French government decorated him as a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

HENRY CLEWS, of Wall-street fame, was one of the noted old-time operators on that famous street, and was also an author of some repute. Mr. Clews was born in Staffordshire, England, August 14, 1840. His father had him educated with the intention of preparing him for the ministry, but on a visit to the United States the young man became interested in a business life, and was allowed to engage as a clerk in the importing house of Wilson G. Hunt & Co., of New York. Plere he learned the first principles of business, and when the war broke out in 1 8(5 1 young Clews saw in 'the needs of the government an opportunity to reap a golden harvest. He identified himself with the negotiating of loans for the government, and used his powers of pursuasion upon the great money powers to convince them of the stability of the government and the value of its securities. By enthusiasm and patriotic arguments he induced capitalists to invest their money in government securities, often against their judgment, and his success was remarkable. His was one of the leading firms that aided the struggling treasury department in that critical hour, and his reward was great. In addition to the vast wealth it brought, President Lincoln and Secretary Chase both wrote important letters, acknowledging his valued service. In 1873, by the repudiation of the bonded indebtedness of the state of Georgia, Mr. Clews lost six million dollars which he had invested in those securities. It is said that he is the only man, with one exception, in Wall street, who ever regained great wealth after utter disaster. His " Twenty-Eight Years in Wall Street " has been widely read.

ALFRED VAIL was one of the men that gave to the world the electric telegraph and the names of Henry, Morse and Vail will forever remain linked as the prime factors in that great achievement. Mr. Vail was born September 25, 1807, at Morristown, New Jersey, and was a son of Stephen Vail, the proprietor of the Speedwell Iron Works, near Morristown. At the age of seventeen, after he had completed his studies at the Morristown Academy, Alfred Vail went into the Speedwell Iron Works and contented himself with the duties of his position until he reached his majority. He then determined to prepare himself for the ministry, and at the age of twenty-five he entered the University of the City of New

York, where he was graduated in 1836. His health becoming impaired he labored for a time under much uncertainty as to his future course. Professor S. F. B. Morse had come to the university in 1835 as professor of literature and fine arts, and about this time,

1837, Professor Gale, occupying the chair of chemistry, invited Morse to exhibit his apparatus for the benefit of the students. On Saturday, September 2, 1837, the exhibition took place and Vail was asked to attend, and with his inherited taste for mechanics and knowledge of their construction, he saw a great future for the crude mechanism used by Morse in giving and recording signals. Mr. Vail interested his father in the invention, and Morse was invited to Speedwell and the elder Vail promised to help him. It was stipulated that Alfred Vail should construct the required apparatus and exhibit before a committee of congress the telegraph instrument, and was to receive a quarter interest in the invention. Morse had devised a series of ten numbered leaden types, which were to be operated in giving the signal. This was not satisfactory to Vail, so he devised an entirely new instrument, involving a lever, or "point," on a radically different principle, which, when tested, produced dots and dashes, and devised the famous dot-and-dash alphabet, misnamed the " Morse." At last the machine was in working order, on January 6,

1838. The machine was taken to Washington, where it caused not only wonder, but excitement. Vail continued his experiments and devised the lever and roller. When the line between Baltimore and Washington was completed, Vail was stationed at the Baltimore end and received the famous first message. It is a remarkable fact that not a single feature of the original invention of Morse, as formulated by bis caveat and repeated in his original patent, is to be found in Vail's apparatus. From 1837 to 1844 it was a combination of the inventions of Morse, Henry and Vail, but the work of Morse fell gradually into desuetude, while Vail's conception of an alphabet has remained unchanged for half a century. Mr. Vail published but one work, "American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph," in 1845, and died at Morristown at the comparatively early age of fifty-one, on January 19, 1859.

ULYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth president of the United States, was born April 27, 1822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont county, Ohio. At the age of seventeen he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in June, 1843, and was given his brevet as second lieutenant and assigned to the Fourth Infantry. He remained in the service eleven years, in which time he was engaged in the Mexican war with gallantry, and was thrice brevetted for conduct in the field. In 1848 he married Miss Julia Dent, and in 1854, having reached the grade of captain, he resigned and engaged in farming near St. Louis. In i860 he entered the leather business with his father at Galena, Illinois.

On the breaking out of the war, in 1861, he commenced to drill a company at Galena, and at the same time offered his services to the adjutant-general of the army, but he had few influential friends, so received no answer. He was employed by the governor of Illinois in the organization of the various volunteer regiments, and at the end of a few weeks was given the colonelcy of the Twenty- first Infantry, from that state. His military training and knowledge soon attracted the attention of his superior officers, and on reporting to General Pope in Missouri, the latter put him in the way of advancement. August 7, 1,861, he was promoted to the rank of brigadiergeneral of volunteers, and for a few weeks was occupied in watching the movements of partisan forces in Missouri. September 1, the same year, he was placed in command of the Department of Southeast Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th of the month, without orders, seized Paducah, which commanded the channel of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, by which he secured Kentucky for the Union. He now received orders to make a demonstration on Belmont, which he did, and with about three thousand raw recruits held his own against the Confederates some seven thousand strong, bringing back about two hundred prisoners and two guns. In February, j 1 862, he moved up the Tennessee river with the naval fleet under Commodore Foote. The latter soon silenced Fort Henry, and Grant advanced against Fort D melson and took their fortress and its garrison. His prize here consisted of sixty-five cannon, seventeen thousand six hundred stand of arms, and fourteen thousand six hundred and twenty-three prisoners. This was the first important success won by the Union forces. Grant was immediately made a major-general and placed in command of the district of West Tennessee. In April, 1862, he fought the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and after the evacuation of Corinth by the enemy Grant became commander of the Department of the Tennessee. He now made his first demonstration toward Vicksburg, but owing to the incapacity of subordinate officers, was unsuccessful. In January, 1863, he took command of all the troops in the Mississippi Valley and devoted several months to the siege of Vicksburg, which was finally taken possession of by him July 4, with thirty-one thousand six hundred prisoners and one hundred and seventy-two cannon, thus throwing the Mississippi river open to the Federals. He was now raised to the rank of major-general in the regular army. October following, at the head of the Department of the Mississippi, General Grant went to Chattanooga, where he overthrew the enemy, and united with the Army of the Cumberland. The remarkable successes achieved by him pointed Grant out for an appropriate commander of all national troops, and in February, 1864, the rank of lieutenant-general was made for him by act of congress. Sending Sherman into Georgia, Sigel into the Valley of West Virginia and Butler to attempt the capture of Richmond he fought his way through the Wilderness to the James and pressed the siege of the capital of the Confederacy. After the fall of the latter Grant pressed the Confederate army so hard that their commander surrendered at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. This virtually ended the war.

After the war the rank of general was conferred upon U. S. Grant, and in 1868 he was elected president of the United States, and re-elected his own successor in 1872. After the expiration of the latter term he made his famous tour of the world. He died at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, New York, July 23, 1885, and was buried at Riverside Park, New York, where a magnificent tomb has been erected to hold the ashes of the nation's hero.

JOHN MARSHALL, the fourth chief juscJ tice of the United States supreme court, was born in Germantown, Virginia, September 24, 1755. His father, Colonel Thomas Marshall, served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, while he also served from the beginning of the war until 1779, where he became noted in the field and courts martial. While on detached service he attended a course of law lectures at William and Mary College, delivered by Mr. Wythe, and was admitted to the bar. The next year he resigned his commission and began his career as a lawyer. He was a distinguished member of the convention called in Virginia to ratify the Federal constitution. He was tendered the attorney-generalship of the United States, and also a place on the supreme bench, besides other places of less honor, all of which he declined. He went to France as special envoy in 1798, and the next year was elected to congress. He served one year and was appointed, first, secretary of war, and then secretary of state, and in 1801 was made chief justice of the United States. He held this high office until his death, in 1835.

Chief Justice Marshall's early education was neglected, and his opinions, the most valuable in existence, are noted for depth of wisdom, clear and comprehensive reasoning, justice, and permanency, rather than for wide learning and scholarly construction. His decisions and rulings are resorted to constantly by our greatest lawyers, and his renown as a just judge and profound jurist was world wide.

known more widely as a producer of new plays than as a great actor. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1838, and educated himself as best he could, and at the age of sixteen years became salesman for a Detroit dry goods house. He afterwards began to go upon the stage as a supernumerary, and his ambition was soon rewarded by the notice of the management.

During the war of the Rebellion he was a soldier, and after valiant service for his country he returned to the stage. He went to Europe and appeared in Liverpool, and returning in 1869, he began playing at Booth's theater, with Mr. Booth. He was afterward associated with John McCullough in the management of the California theater. Probably the most noted period of his work was during his connection with Edwin Booth as manager of that great actor, and supporting him upon the stage.

Mr. Barrett was possessed of the creative instinct, and, unlike Mr. Booth, he sought new fields for the display of his genius, and only resorted to traditional drama in response to popular demand. He preferred new plays, and believed in the encouragement of modern dramatic writers, and was the only actor of prominence in his time that ventured to put upon the stage new American plays, w'hich he did at his own expense, and the success of his experiments proved the quality of his judgment. He died March 21, 1 89 f .

ARCHBISHOP JOHN HUGHES, a celebrated Catholic clergyman, was born at Annaboghan, Tyrone county, Ireland, June 24, 1797, and emigrated to America when twenty years of age, engaging for some time as a gardener and nurseryman. In 1819 he entered St. Mary's College, where he secured an education, paying his way by caring for the college garden. In 1825 he was ordained a deacon of the Roman Catholic church, and in the same year, a priest. Until 1 838 he had pastoral charges in Philadelphia, where he founded St. John's Asylum in 1829, and a few years later established the "Catholic Herald." In 1838 he was made bishop of Basileopolis in partibus and coadjutor to Bishop Dubois, of

New York, and in 1842 became bishop of New York. In 1839 he founded St. John's College, at Fordham. In 1850 he was made archbishop of New York. In 1861-2 he was a special agent of the United States in Europe, after which he returned to this country and remained until his death, January 3, 1864. Archbishop Hughes early attracted much attention by his controversial correspondence with Rev. John Breckinridge in 1833-35. He was a man of great ability, a fluent and forceful writer and an able preacher.

Utherford Birchard Hayes

UTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was the nineteenth president of the United States and served from 1877 to 1881. He was born October 4, 1822, at Delaware, Ohio, and his ancestry can be traced back as far as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford v.'ere two Scottish chieftans fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. The Hayes family had for a coat of arms, a shield, barred and surmounted by a flying eagle. There was a circle of stars about the eagle, while on a scroll underneath was their motto, "Recte." Misfortune overtook the family and in 1680 George Hayes, the progenitor of the American family, came to Connecticut and settled at Windsor. Rutherford B. Hayes was a very delicate child at his birth and was not expected to live, but he lived in spite of all and remained at home until he was seven years old, when he was placed in school. He was a very tractablepupil, being always very studious, and in 1838 entered Kenyon College, graduating from the same in 1842. He then took up the study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow at Columbus, but in a short time he decided to enter a law school at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for two years he was immersed in the study of law. Mr. Hayes was admitted to the bar in 1845 in Marietta, Ohio, and very soon entered upon the active practice of his profession with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont, Ohio. He remained there three years, and in 1849 removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his ambition found a new stimulus. Two events occurred at this period that had a powerful influence on his after life. One was his marriage to Miss Lucy Ware Webb, and the other was his introduction to a Cincinnati literary club, a body embracing such men as Salmon P. Chase, John Pope, and Edward F. Noyes. In 1856 he was nominated for judge of the court of common pleas, but declined, and two years later he was appointed city solicitor. At the outbreak of the Rebellion Mr. Hayes was appointed major of the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, June 7, 1861, and in July the regiment was ordered to Virginia, and October 15, 1861, saw him promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment. He was made colonel of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Infantry, but refused to leave his old comrades; and in the battle of South Mountain he was wounded very severely and was unable to rejoin his regiment until November 30, 1862. He had following December he was appointed to command the Kanawa division and was given the rank of brigadier-general for meritorious services in several battles, and in 1864 he was brevetted major-general for distinguished services in 1864, during which campaign he was wounded several times and five horses had been shot under him. Mr. Hayes' first venture in politics was as a Whig, and later he was one of the first to unite with the Republican party. In 1864 he was elected from the Second Ohio district to congress, re-elected in 1866, and in 1867 was elected governor of Ohio over Allen G. Thurman, and was re-elected in 1869. Mr. Hayes was elected to the presidency in 1876, for the term of four f years, and at its close retired to private life, and went to his home in Fremont, Ohio, I where he died on January 17, 1893.

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN became a celebrated character as the nominee of the Democratic and Populist parties for president of the United States in 1896. He was born March 19, i860, at Salem, Illinois. He received his early education in the public schools of his native county, and later on he attended the Whipple Academy at Jacksonville. He also took a course in Illinois College, and after his graduation from the same went to Chicago to study law, and entered the Union College of Law as a student. He was associated with the late Lyman Trumbull, of Chicago, during his law studies, and devoted considerable time to the questions of government. He graduated from the college, was admitted to the bar, and went to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Baird. In 1887 Mr. Bryan removed ' to Lincoln, Nebraska, and formed a law partnership with Adolphus R. Talbot. He entered the field of politics, and in 1888 j was sent as a delegate to the state con- | vention, which was to choose delegates to 1 the national convention, during which he made a speech which immediately won him a high rank in political affairs. He declined, in the next state convention, a nomination for lieutenant-governor, and in 1890 he was j elected congressman from the First district j of Nebraska, and was the youngest member of the fifty-second congress. He championed the Wilson tariff bill, and served three terms in the house of representatives. He next ran for senator, but was defeated by John M. Thurston, and in 1896 he was selected by the Democratic and Populist parties as their nominee for the presidency, being defeated by William McKinley.

MARVIN HUGHITT, one of America's famous railroad men, was born in Genoa, New York, and entered the railway service in 1856 as superintendent of telegraph and trainmaster of the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago, now Chicago & Alton Railroad. Mr. Hughitt was superintendent of the southern division of the Illinois Central Railroad from 1862 until 1864, and was, later on, the general superintendent of the road until 1870. He was then connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad as assistant general manager, and retained this position until 1871, when he became the general manager of Pullman's Palace Car Company. In 1 872 he was made general superintendent of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He served during 1876 and up to 1880 as general manager, and from 1880 until 1887 as vice-president and general manager. He was elected president of the road in 1887, in recognition of his ability in conducting the affairs of the road. He was also chosen president of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway ; the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, and the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad, and his services in these capacities stamped him as one of the most able railroad managers of his day.

JOSEPH MEDILL, one of the most kJ eminent of American journalists, was born in New Brunswick, Canada, April C, 1823, In 1831 his father moved to Stark county, Ohio, and until 1841 Joseph Medill worked on his father's farm. Later he studied law, and began the practice of that profession in 1846 at New Philadelphia, Ohio. But the newspaper field was more attractive to Mr. Medill, and three years later he founded a free-soil Whig paper at Coshocton, Ohio, and after that time journalism received all his abilities. "The Leader, " another free-soil Whig paper, was founded by Mr. Medill at Cleveland in 1852. In that city he also became one of the first organizers of the Republican party. Shortly after that event he removed to Chicago and in 1855, with two partners, he purchased the " Chicago Tribune." In the contest for the nomination for the presidency in 1860, Mr. Medill worked with unflagging zeal for Mr. Lincoln, his warm personal friend, and was one of the president's stanchest supporters during the war. Mr. Medill was a member of the Illinois Constitutional convention in 1870. President Grant, in 1871, appointed the editor a member of the first United States civil service commission, and the following year, after the fire, he was elected mayor of Chicago by a great majority. During 1873 and 1874 Mr. Medill spent a year in Europe. Upon his return he purchased a controlling interest in the " Chicago Tribune."

CLAUS SPRECKELS, the great " sugar baron," and one of the most famous representatives of commercial life in America, was born in Hanover, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1840, locating in New York. He very soon became the proprietor of a small retail grocery store on Church street, and embarked on a career that has since astonished the world. !He sold out his business and went to California with the argonauts of 1849, not as a prospector, but as a trader, and for years after his arrival on the coast he was still engaged as a grocer. At length, after a quarter of a century of fairly prosperous business life, he found himself in a position where an ordinary man would have retired, but Mr. Spreckles did not retire; he had merely been gathering capital for the real work of his life. His brothers had followed him to California, and in combination with them he purchased for forty thousand dollars an interest in the Albany Brewery in San Francisco. But the field was not extensive ^enough for the development of his business abilities, so Mr. Sprecklas branched out extensively in the sugar business. He succeeded in securing the entire output of sugar that was produced on the Sandwich Islands, and after 1885 was known as the "Sugar King of Sandwich Islands." He controlled absolutely the sugar trade of the Pacific coast which was known to be mot less than ten million dollars a year.

Charles Henry Parkhurst

CHARLES HENRY PARKHURST, famous as a clergyman, and for many years president of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, was born April 17, 3842, at Framingham, Massachusetts, of English descent. At the age of sixteen he was pupil in the grammar school at Clinton, Massachusetts, and for the ensuing two years was a clerk in a dry goods store, which position he gave up to prepare himself for college at Lancaster academy. Air. Parkhurst went to Amherst in 1862, and after taking a thorough course he graduated in 1866, and in 1867 became the principal of the Amherst High School. He retained this position until 1870, whem he visited Germany with the intention of taking a course in philosophy and theology, but was forced to abandon this intention on account of illness in the family causing his early return from Europe. He accepted the chair of Latin and Greek in Wiliiston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and remained there two years. He then accompanied his wife to Europe, and devoted two years to study in Halle, Leipsic and Bonn. Upon his return home he spent considerable time in the study of Sanscrit, and in 1874 he became the pastor of the First Congregational church at Lenox, Massachusetts. He gained here his reputation as a pulpit orator, and on March 9, 1880, he became the pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian church of New York. He was, in 1890, made a member of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and the same year became its president. He delivered a sermon in 1892 on municipal corruption, for which he was brought before the grand jury, which body declared his charges to be without sufficient foundation. But the matter did not end here, for he immediately went to work on a second sermon in which he substantiated his former sermon and wound up by saying, "I know, for I have seen." He was again summoned before that august body, and as a result of his testimony and of the investigation of the jurors themselves, the police authorities were charged with incompetency and corruption. Dr. Parkhurst was the author of the following works: "The Forms of the Latin Verb, Illustrated by Sanscrit," "The Blind Alan's Creed and Other Sermons," "The Pattern on the Mount," and " Three Gates on a Side."

HENRY BERGH, although a writer, diplomatist and government official, was noted as a philanthropist - the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. On his labors for the dumb creation alone rests his fame.

Alone, in the face of indifference, opposition and ridicule, he began the reform which is now recognized as one of the beneficent movements of the age. Through his exertions as a speaker and lecturer, but above all as a bold worker, in the street, in the court room, before the legislature, the cause he adopted gained friends and rapidly increased in power until it has reached immense proportions and influence. The work of the society covers all cases of cruelty to all sorts of animals, employs every moral agency, social, legislative and personal, and touches points of vital concern to health as well as humanity.

Henry Bergh was born in New York City in 1823, and was educated at Columbia College. In 1863 he was made secretary of the legation to Russia and also served as vice-consul there. He also devoted some time to literary pursuits and was the author of "Love's Alternative," a drama; "Married Off," a poem; "'The Portentous Telegram, " "The Ocean Paragon;" "The Streets of New York," tales and sketches.

ENRY BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, one of the most eminent of American divines, was born in Adams, Jefferson county, New York, February 15, 1822. He was brought up in the mercantile business, and early in life took an active interest in political affairs. In 1847 he became a candidate for holy orders and pursued theological studies with Rev. W. D. Wilson, D. D., afterward professor in Cornell University. He was ordained deacon in 1849, in Trinity church, Geneva, New York, by Rt. Rev. W. H. De Lancey, D. D., and took charge of Zion church, Rome, New York, December 1, 1849. In 1850, our subject was ordained priest by Bishop De Lancey. In

1857 he became rector of the Church of the Holy Communion, Chicago. On the 30th of June, 1859, he was chosen bishop of Minnesota, and took charge of the interests of the Episcopal church in that state, being located at Faribault. In i860 Bishop Whipple, with Revs. I. L. Breck, S. W. Mauncey and E. S. Peake, organized the Bishop Seabury Mission, out of which has grown the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior, the Seabury Divinity School, Shattuck School and St. Mary's' Hall, which have made Faribault City one of the greatest educational centers of the northwest. Bishop Whipple also became noted as the friend and defender of the North American Indians and planted a number of successful missions among them.

EZRA CORNELL was oneof the greatest philanthropists and friends of education the country has known. He was born at Westchester Landing, New York, January 11, 1807. He grew to manhood in his native state and became a prominent figure in business circles as a successful and self-made man. Soon after the invention of the electric telegraph, he devoted his attention to that enterprise, and accumulated an immense fortune. In 1865, by a gift of five hundred thousand dollars, he made possible the founding of Cornell University, which was named in his honor. He afterward made additional bequests amountingto many hundred thousand dollars. His death occurred at Ithaca, New York, December 9, 1874.

T GNATIUS DONNELLY, widely known I as an author and politician, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1831. He was educated at the public schools of that city, and graduated from the

Central High School in 1849. He studied law in the office of Judge B. H. Brewster, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. In the spring of 1856, Mr. Donnelly emigrated to Minnesota, then a new territory, and, at Hastings, resumed the practice of law in partnership with A. M. Hayes. In 1857, and again in 1858, he was defeated for state senator, but in 1859 he was elected by the Republicans as lieutenant-governor, and reelected in 1861. In 1862 he was elected to represent the Second district of Minnesota in congress. He was re-elected to the same office in 1864 and in 1866. He was an abolitionist and warmly supported President Lincoln's administration, but was strongly in favor of leniency toward the people of the south, after the war. In many ways he was identified with some of the best measures brought before the house during his presence there. In the spring of 1868, at the request of the Republican .national com- ' mittee, he canvassed New Hampshire and Connecticut in the interests of that party. E. B. Washburne about this time made an attack on Donnelly in one of the papers of Minnesota, which was replied to on the floor of the house by a fierce phillipic that will long be remembered. Through the intervention of the Washburne interests Mr. Donnelly failed of a re-election in 1870. In 1 873 he was elected to the state senate from Dakota county, and continuously re-elected until 1878. In 1886 he was elected member of the house for two years. In later years he identified himself with the Populist party.

In 1882, Mr. Donnelly became known as an author, publishing his first literary work, "Atlantis, the Antediluvian World," which passed through over twenty-two editions in America, several in England, and was translated into French. This was followed by

" Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel," which attained nearly as much celebrity as the first, and these two, in the opinion of 1 scientific critics, are sufficient to stamp the j author as a most capable and painstaking student of the facts he has collated in them. The work by which he gained the greatest notoriety, however, was "The Great Cryptogram, or Francis Bacon's Cipher in the Shakespeare Plays." "Caesar's Column,"

STEVEN V. WHITE, a speculator of Wall Street of national reputation, was born in Chatham county, North Carolina, August 1, 1831, and soon afterward removed to Illinois. His home was a log cabin, and until his eighteenth year he worked on the farm. Then after several years of struggle with poverty he graduated from Knox College, and went to St. Louis, where he entered a wholesale boot and shoe house as bookkeeper. He then studied law and worked as a reporter for the "Missouri Democrat." After his admission to the bar he went to New York, in 1865, and became a member of the banking house of Marvin & White. Mr. White enjoyed the reputation of having engineered the only corner in Wall Street since Commodore Vanderbilt's time. This was the famous Lacka- j wanna deal in 1883, in which he made a profit of two million dollars. He was sometimes called " Deacon" White, and, though a member for many years of the Plymouth church, he never held that office. Mr. White was one of the most noted characters of the street, and has been called an orator, poet, philanthropist, linguist, abolitionist, astronomer, schoolmaster, plowboy, and trapper. He was a lawyer, ex-congressman, expert accountant, art critic andtheo- logian. He laid the foundation for a "Home for Colored People," in Chatham county, North Carolina, where the greater part of his father's life was spent, and in whose memory the work was undertaken.

JAMES A. GARFIELD, the twentieth president of the United States, was born November 19, 1831, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and was the son of Abram and Eliza (Ballou) Garfield. In 1833 the father, an industrious pioneer farmer, died, and the care of the family devolved upon Thomas, to whom James became deeply indebted for educational and other advantages. As James grew up he was industrious and worked on the farm, at carpentering, at chopping wood, or anything else he found to do, and in the meantime made the most of his books.

Until he was about sixteen, James' highest ambition was to become a sea captain. On attaining that age he walked to Cleveland, and, not being able to find work, he engaged as a driver on the Ohio & Pennsylvania canal, but quit this after a short time. He attended the seminary at Chester for about three years, after which he entered Hiram Institute, a school started by the Disciples of Christ in 1850. In order to pay his way he assumed the duties of janitor and at times taught school. After completing his course at the last named educational institution he entered Williams College, from which he graduated in 1856. He afterward returned to Hiram College as its president. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859. November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield and Lucretia Rudolph were married.

On the breaking out of the war, in 1 86r, he became lieutenant-colonel of the Fortysecond Ohio Infantry, and, while but a new soldier, was given command of four regiments of infantry and eight companies of cavalry, with which he drove the Confederates under Humphrey Marshall out of Kentucky. January 11, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general. He participated with General Buell in the battle of Shiloh and the operations around Corinth, and was then detailed as a member of the Fitz John Porter court-martial. Reporting to General Rosecrans, he was assigned to the position of chief of staff, and resigned his position, with the rank, of major-general, when his immediate superior was superseded. In the fall of 1862 Mr. Garfield was elected to congress and remained in that body, either in the house or senate, until 1880.

June 8, 1880, at the national Republican convention, held in Chicago, General Garfield was nominated for the presidency, and was elected, He was inaugurated March 4, 1881, but, July 2, following, he was shot and fatally wounded by Charles Guiteau for some fancied political slight, and died September 19, 1881.

NCREASE MATHER was one of the most prominent preachers, educators and authors of early times in the New England states. He was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, June 21, 1639, and was given an excellent education, graduating at Harvard in 1656, and at Trinity College, Dublin, two years later. He was ordained a minister, and preached in England and America, and in 1664 became pastor of the North church, in Boston. In 1685 he became president of Harvard University, serving until 1701. In 1692 he received the first doctorate in divinity conferred in English speaking America. The same year he procured in England a new charter for Massachusetts, which conferred upon himself the power of naming the governor, lieutenantgovernor and council. He opposed the severe punishment of witchcraft, and took a prominent part in all public affairs of his day. He was a prolific writer, and became the author of nearly one hundred publications, large and small. His death occurred August 23, 1723, at Boston.

COTTON MATHER, a celebrated minister in the "Puritan times" of New England, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, February 12, 1663, being a son of Rev. Increase Mather, and a grandson of John Cotton. A biography of his father will be found elsewhere in this volume. Cotton Mather received his early education in his native city, was trained by Ezekiel Cheever, and graduated at Harvard College in 1678; became a teacher, and in 1684 was ordained as associate pastor of North church, Boston, with his father, having by persistent effort overcome an impediment in his speech. Pie labored with great zeal as a pastor, endeavoring also, to establish the ascendancy of the church and ministry in civil affairs, and in the putting down of witchcraft by legal sentences, a work in which he took an active part and through which he is best known in history. He received the degree of D. D. in 1710, conferred by the University of Glasgow, and F. R. S. in 1713. His death occurred at Boston, February 13, 1728. He was the author of many publications, among which were " Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft," "Wonders of the Invisible World," "Essays to Do Good," " Magnalia Christi Americana," and " Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures." Some of these works are quaint and curious, full of learning, piety and prejudice. A wellknown writer, in summing up the life and character of Cotton Mather, says: ' ' Mather, with all the faults of his early years, was a ; man of great excellence of character. He labored zealously for the benefit of the poor, for mariners, slaves, criminals and Indians. His cruelty and credulity were . 1 the faults of his age, while his philanthro- j phy was far more rare in that age than in the present. " national reputation during the time he was in the United States senate, was j born on a farm in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1831. He drew his education from the public schools of his native state and at the age of fifteen \ taught school in winter, working on a farm in the summer. In June, 1853, while yet a ! young man, he removed to Indiana, and opened up a farm in St. Joseph county.

In 1859 he made his way to Missouri and settled on a farm in Morgan county, but on account of the war and the unsettled state of the country, he moved to Illinois in February, 1862, and enlisted as a private in Company F, Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, | the following August. He was promoted :

March, 1863, and served successively as quartermaster, adjutant, post adjutant, judge advocate of a military commission, and depot quartermaster in the engineer J department at Nashville. He was mustered out of the service June 26, 1865. He had, during his leisure hours while in the army, studied law, and in August, 1865, he commenced the practice of that profession at Clarksville, Tennessee. He removed to Kansas in 1870 and practiced there until

Mr. Peffer was elected to the state senate in 1874 and was a prominent and influential member of several important committees. He served as a presidential elector in 1880. The year following he became editor of the " Kansas Farmer," which he made a prominent and useful paper. In 1890 Mr. Peffer was elected to the United States senate as a member of the People's party and took his seat March 4, 1891. After six years of service Senator Peffer was succeeded in March, 1897, by William A. Harris.

ROBERT MORRIS. - The name of this financier, statesman and patriot is closely connected with the early history of the United States. He was a native of England, born January 20, 1734, and came to America with his father when thirteen years old. Until 1754 he served in the counting house of Charles Willing, then formed a partnership with that gentleman's son, which continued with great success until 1793. In 1776 Mr. Morris was a delegate to the Continental congress, and, although once voting against the Declaration of Independence, signed that paper on its adoption, and was several times thereafter reelected to congress. During the Revolutionary war the services of Robert Morris in aiding the government during its financial difficulties were of incalculable value; he freely pledged his personal credit for supplies for the army, at one time to the amount of about one and a half million dollars, without which the campaign of 1781 would have been almost impossible. Mr. Morris was appointed superintendent of finance in 1781 and served until 1784, continuing to employ his personal credit to facilitate the needs of his department. He also served as member of the Pennsylvania legislature, and from 1786 to 1795 was United States senator, declining meanwhile the position of secretary of the treasury, and suggesting the name of Alexander Hamilton, who was appointed to that post. During the latter part of his life Mr. Morris was engaged extensively in the China trade, and later became involved in land speculations, which ruined him, so that the remaining days of this noble man and patriot were passed in confinement for debt. His death occurred at Philadelphia, May 8, 1806.

WILLIAM SHARON, a senator and capitalist, and mine owner of national reputation, was born at Smithfield, Ohio, January 9, 1821. He was reared upon a farm and in his boyhood given excellent educational advantages and in 1842 entered Athens College. He remained in that institution about two years, after which he studied law with Edwin M. Stanton, and was admitted to the bar at St. Louis and commenced practice. His health failing, however, he abandoned his profession and engaged in mercantile pursuits at Carrollton, Greene county, Illinois. During the time of the gold excitement of 1849, Mr. Sharon went to California, whither so many went, and engaged in business at Sacramento. The next year he removed to San Francisco, where he operated in real estate. Being largely interested in its silver mines, he removed to Nevada, locating at Virginia City, and acquired an immense fortune. He became one of the trustees of the Bank of California, and during the troubles that arose on the death of William Ralston, the president of that institution, was largely instrumental in bringing its affairs into a satisfactory shape.

Mr. Sharon was elected to represent the state of Nevada in the United States senate in 1875, and remained a member of that body until 1881. He was always distinguished for close application to business. Senator Sharon died November 13, 1885.

HENRY W. SHAW, an American humorist who became celebrated under the non-de-plume of " Josh Billings," gained his fame from the witticism of his writing, and peculiar eccentricity of style and spelling. He was born at Lanesborough, Massachusetts, in 1818. For twenty-five years he lived in different parts of the western states, following various lines of busmess, including farming and auctioneering, and in the latter capacity settled at Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1858. In 1863 he began writing humorous sketches for the newspapers over the signature of "Josh Billings," and became immediately popular both as a writer and lecturer. He published a number of volumes of comic sketches and edited an " Annual Allminax " for a number of years, which had a wide circulation. His death occurred October 14, 1885, at Monterey, California.

JOHN M. THURSTON, well known kJ throughout this country as a senator and political leader, was born at Montpelier, Vermont, August 21, 1847, °f an old Puritan family which dated back their ancestry in this country to 1636, and among whom were soldiers of the Revolution and of the war of 1812-15.

Young Thurston was brought west by the family in 1854, they settling at Madison, Wisconsin, and two years later at Beaver Dam, where John M. received his schooling in the public schools and at Wayland University. His father enlisted as a private in

Young Thurston, thrown on his own resources while attaining an education, supported himself by farm work, driving team and at other manual labor. He studied law and was admitted to the bar May 21, 1869, and in October of the same year located in Omaha, Nebraska. He was elected a member of the city council in 1872, city attorney in 1874 and a member of the Nebraska legislature in 1874. He was a member of the Republican national convention of 1884 and temporary chairman of that of 1888. Taking quite an interest in the younger members of his party he was instrumental in forming the Republican League of the United States, of which he was president for two years. He was then elected a member of the United States senate, in 1895, to represent the state of Nebraska.

As an attorney John M. Thurston occupied a very prominent place, and for a number of years held the position of general solicitor of the Union Pacific railroad system.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, a celebrated kJ American naturalist, was born in Louis- , iana, May 4, 1780, and was the son of an ; opulent French naval officer who owned a j plantation in the then French colony. In his childhood he became deeply interested 1 in the study of birds and their habits. About 1794 he was sent to Paris, France, where he was partially educated, and studied de- 1 signing under the famous painter, Jacques Louis David. He returned to the United States about 1798, and settled on a tucky, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. About two years later he began to make extensive excursions through the primeval forests of the southern and southwestern states, in the exploration of which he passed many years. He made colored drawings of all the species of birds that he found. For several years he made his home with his wife and children at Henderson, on the Ohio river. It is said that about this time he had failed in business and was reduced to poverty, but kept the wolf from the door by giving dancing lessons and in portrait painting. In 1824, at Philadelphia, he met Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who encouraged him to publish a work on ornithology. Two years later he went to England and commenced the publication of his great work, "The Birds of America." He obtained a large number of subscribers at one thousand dollars a copy. This work, embracing five volumes of letterpress and five volumes of beautifully colored plates, was pronounced by Cuvier " the most magnificent monument that art ever raised to ornithology."

Audubon returned to America in 1829, and explored the forests, lakes and coast from Canada to Florida, collecting material for another work. This was his " Ornithological Biography; or, An Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States, Etc." He revisited England in 1831, and returned in 1839, after which he resided on the Hudson, near New York City, in which place he died January 27, 1851. During his life he issued a cheaper edition of his great work, and w-as, in association with Dr. Bachman, preparing a work on the quadrupeds of North America.

the superior British squadron, under Commodore Do wnie, September 1 1, 1814. Commodore McDonough was born in Newcastle county, Delaware, December 23, 1783, and when seventeen years old entered the United States navy as midshipman, serving in the expedition to Tripoli, under Decatur, in 1803-4. In 1807 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in July, 1813, was made a commander. The following year, on Lake Champlain, he gained the celebrated victory above referred to, for which he was again promoted; also received a gold medal from congress, and from the state of Vermont an estate on Cumberland Head, in view of the scene of the engagement. His death occurred at sea, November 16, 1825, while he was returning from the command of the Mediterranean squadron.

CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, one of America's most celebrated arctic explorers, was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, in 1821. He was a blacksmith by trade, and located in Cincinnati, where later he became a journalist. For several years he devoted a great deal of attention to calorics. Becoming interested in the fate of the explorer, Sir John Franklin, he joined the expedition fitted out by Henry Grinnell and sailed in the ship "George Henry," under Captain Buddington, which left New London, Connecticut, in i860. He returned in 1862, and two years later published his " Arctic Researches." He again joined the expedition fitted out by Mr. Grinnell, and sailed in the ship, " Monticello," under Captain Buddington, this time remaining in the arctic region over four years. On his return he brought back many evidences of having found trace of Franklin.

Hall again sailed for the polar regions. He died in Greenland in October, 1871, and the "Polaris" was finally abandoned by the crew, a portion of which, under Captain Tyson, drifted with the icebergs for one hundred and ninety-five days, until picked up by the " Tigress," on the 30th of April, 1873. The other portion of the crew built boats, and, after a perilous voyage, were picked up in J une, 1 873, by a whaling vessel.