COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY OF CELEBRATED AMERICANS   GEORGE WASHINGTON, the first president of the United States, called the " Father of his Country," was one of the most celebrated characters in history. He was born February 22, 1732, in Washington Parish, Westmoreland county, Virginia. His father, Augustine Washington, first married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, and March 6, 1730, he married Mary Ball. Of six children by his second marriage, George was the eldest. Little is known of the early years of Washington, beyond the fact that the house in which he was born was burned during his early childhood, and that his father thereupon moved to another farm, inherited from his paternal ancestors, situated in Stafford county, on the north bank of the Rappahannock, and died there in 1743. From earliest childhood George developed a noble character. His education was somewhat defective, being confined to the elementary branches taught him by his mother and at a neighboring school. On leaving school he resided some time at Mount Vernon with his half Copyright 1897, by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. brother, Lawrence, who acted as his guar., dian. George's inclinations were for a seafaring career, and a midshipman's warrant was procured for him; but through the opposition of his mother the project was abandoned, and at the age of sixteen he was appointed surveyor to the immense estates of the eccentric Lord Fairfax. Three years were passed by Washington in a rough frontier life, gaining experience which afterwards' proved very essential to him. In 1751, when the Virginia militia were put under training with a view to active service against France, Washington, though only nineteen years of age, was appointed adjutant, with the rank of major. In 1752 Lawrence Washington died, leaving his large property to an infant daughter. In his will George was named one of the executors and as an eventual heir to Mount Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece, soon succeeded to that estate. In 1753 George was commissioned adjutant-general of the Virginia militia, and performed important work at the outbreak of the French and Indian war, was rapidly promoted, and at the close of that war we find him commander-in-chief of 18 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. all the forces raised in Virginia. A cessation of Indian hostilities on the frontier having followed the expulsion of the French from the Ohio, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, and then proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the Virginia Assembly, of which he had been elected a member. January 17, 1759, Washington married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Curtis, a young and .beautiful widow of great wealth, and devoted himself for the ensuing fifteen years to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, interrupted only by the annual attendance in winter upon the colonial legislature at Williamsburg, until summoned by his country to enter upon that other arena in which his fame was to become world-wide. The war for independence called Washington into service again, and he was made commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and was the most gallant and conspicuous figure in that bloody struggle, serving until England acknowledged the independence of each of the thirteen States, and negotiated with them jointly, as separate sovereignties. December 4, 1783, the great commander took leave of his officers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where the congress of the States was in session, and to that body, when peace and order prevailed everywhere, resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. It was in 1789 that Washington was called to the chief magistracy of the nation. The inauguration took place April 30, in the presence of an immense multitude which had assembled to witness the new and imposing ceremony. In the manifold details of his civil administration Washington proved himself fully equal to the requirements of his position. In 1792, at the second presi dential election, Washington was desirous to retire; but he yielded to the general wish of the country, and was again chosen president. At the third election, in 1796, he was again most urgently entreated to consent to remain in the executive chair. This he positively refused, and after March 4, 1797, he again retired to Mount Vernon for peace, quiet, and repose. Of the call again made on this illustrious chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon and take command of all the United States forces, with rank of lieutenant-general, when war was threatened with France in 1798, nothing need here be stated, except to note the fact as an unmistakable testimonial of the high regard in which he was still held by his countrymen of all shades of political opinion. He patriotically accepted this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop to all action under it. He again retired to Mount Vernon, where he died December 14, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His remains were deposited in a family vault on the banks of the Potomac, at Mount Vernon, where they still lie entombed. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, an eminent American statesman and scientist, was born of poor parentage, January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was apprenticed to his brother James to learn the printer's trade to prevent his running away and going to sea, and also because of the numerous family his parents had to support (there being seventeen children, Benjamin being the fifteenth). He, was a great reader, and soon developed a taste for writing, and prepared a number of articles and had them published in the paper without his brother's knowledge, and when the authorship became known it resulted in difficulty for the COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 19 young apprentice, although his articles had been received with favor by the public. James was afterwards thrown into prison for political reasons, and young Benjamin conducted the paper alone during the time. In 1823, however, he determined to endure his bonds no longer, and ran away, going to Philadelphia, where he arrived with only three pence as his store of wealth. With these he purchased three rolls, and ate them as he walked along the streets. He soon found employment as a journeyman printer. Two years later he was sent to England by the governor of Pennsylvania, and was promised the public printing, but did not get it. On his return to Philadelphia he established the " Pennsylvania Gazette ," and soon found himself a person of great popularity in the province, his ability as a writer, philosopher, and politician having reached the neighboring colonies. He rapidly grew in prominence, founded the Philadelphia Library in 1842, and two years later the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennsylvania. He was made Fellow of the Royal Society in London in 1775. His world famous investigations in electricity and lightning began in 1746. He became postmaster general of the colonies in 1753, having devised an inter-colonial postal system. He advocated the rights of the colonies at all times, and procured the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. He was elected to the Continental congress of 1775, and in 1776 was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, being one of the committee appointed to draft that paper. He represented the new nation in the courts of Europe, especially at Paris, where his simple dignity and homely wisdom won him the admiration of the court and the favor of the people. He was governor of Pennsylvania four years; was also a member of the convention in. 1787 that drafted the constitution of the United States. His writings upon political topics, antislavery, finance, and economics, stamp him as one of the greatest statesmen of his time, while his " Autobiography " and " Poor Richard's Almanac " give him precedence in the literary field. In early life he was an avowed skeptic in religious matters, but later in life his utterances on this subject were less extreme, though he never expressed approval of any sect or creed. He died in Philadelphia April 17, 1790. DANIEL WEBSTER.—Of world wide reputation for statesmanship, diplomacy, and oratory, there is perhaps no more prominent figure in the history of our country in the interval between 1815 and 1861, than Daniel Webster. He was born at Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, January 18, 1782, and was the second son of Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster. He enjoyed but limited educational advantages in childhood, but spent a few months in 1797, at Phillip Exeter Academy. He completed his preparation for college in the family of Rev. Samuel Wood, at Boscawen, and entered Dartmouth College in the fall of 1797. He supported himself most of the time during these years by teaching school and graduated in 1801, having the credit of being the foremost scholar of his class. He entered the law office of Hon. Thomas W. Thompson, at Salisbury. In 1802 he continued his legal studies at Fryeburg, Maine, where he was principal of the academy and copyist in the office of the register of deeds. In the office of Christopher Gore, at Boston, he completed his studies in 18o4-5, and was admitted to the bar in the latter year, and at Boscawen and at Portsmouth soon rose to eminence in his profes- 20 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. sion. He became known as a federalist but did not court political honors; but, attracting attention by his eloquence in opposing the war with England, he was elected to congress in 1812. During the special session of May, 1813, he was appointed on the committee on foreign affairs and made his maiden speech June 10, 1813. Throughout this session (as afterwards) he showed his mastery of the great economic questions of the day. He was re-elected in 1814. In 1816 he removed to Boston and for seven years devoted himself to his profession, earning by his arguments. in the celebrated " Dartmouth College Case " rank among the most distinguished jurists of the country. In 1820 Mr. Webster was chosen a member of the state convention of Massachusetts, to revise the constitution. The same year he delivered the famous discourse on the " Pilgrim fathers;" which laid the foundation for his fame as an orator. Declining a nomination for United States senator, in 1822 he was elected to the lower house of congress and was re-elected in 1824 and 1826, but in 1827 was transferred to the senate. He retained his seat in the latter chamber until 1841. During this time his voice was ever lifted in defence of the national life and honor and although politically opposed to him he gave his support to the administration of President Jackson in the latter's contest with nullification. Through all these years he was ever found upon the side of right and justice and his speeches upon all the great questions of the day have become household words in almost every family. In 1841 Mr. Webster was appointed secretary of state by President Harrison and was continued in the same office by President Tyler. While an incumbent of this office he showed consummate ability as a diplomat in the negotiation of the "Ashburton treaty " of August 9, 1849, which settled many points of dispute between the-United States and England. In May, 1843, he resigned his post and resumed his profession, and in December, 1845, took his place again in the senate. He contributed in an unofficial way to the solution of the Oregon question with Great Britain in 1847. He was disappointed in 1848 in not receiving the nomination for the presidency. He became secretary of state under President Fillmore in 1850 and in dealing with all the complicated questions of the day showed. a wonderful mastery of the arts of diplomacy. Being hurt in an accident he retired to his home at Marshfield, where he died October 24, 1852. HORACE GREELEY. — As journalist, author, statesman and political leader, there is none more widely known than the man whose name heads this article. He was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, February 3, 1811, and was reared upon a farm. At an early age he evinced, a remarkable intelligence and love of learning, and at the age of ten had read every book he could-borrow for miles around. About 1821 the family removed to Westhaven, Vermont, and for some years young Greeley assisted in carrying on the farm. In 1826 he entered the office of a weekly newspaper at East. Poultney, Vermont, where he remained. about four years. On the discontinuance of this paper he followed his father's family to Erie county, Pennsylvania, whither they had moved, and for a time worked at the printer's trade in that neighborhood. In 1831 Horace went to New York City, and for a time found employ-. ment as journeyman printer. January,: 1833, in partnership with Francis. Story, he published the Morning Post, the first penny COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 21 paper ever printed. This proved a failure and was discontinued after three weeks. The business of job printing was carried on, however, until the death of Mr. Story in July following. In company with Jonas Winchester, March 22, 1834, Mr. Greeley commenced the publication of the New Yorker, a weekly paper of a high character. For financial reasons, at the same time, Greeley wrote leaders for other papers, and, in 1838, took editorial charge of the Jeffersonian, a Whig paper published at Albany. In 1840, on the discontinuance of that sheet, he devoted his energies to the Log Cabin, a campaign paper in the interests of the Whig party. In the fall of 1841 the latter paper was consolidated with the New Yorker, under the name of the Tribune, the first number of which was issued April 10, 1841. At the head of this paper Mr. Greeley remained until the day of his death. In 1848 Horace Greeley was elected to the national house of representatives to fill a vacancy, and was a member of that body until March 4, 1849. In 1851 he went to Europe and served as a juror at the World's Fair at the Crystal Palace, London. In 1855, he made a second visit to the old world. In 1859 he crossed the plains and received a public reception at San Francisco and Sacramento. He was a member of the Republican national convention, at Chicago in 1860, and assisted in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President. The same year he was a presidential elector for the state of New York, and a delegate to the Loyalist convention at Philadelphia. At the close of the war, in 1865, Mr. Greeley became a strong advocate of universal amnesty and complete pacification, and in pursuance of this consented to become one of the bondsmen for Jefferson Davis, who was imprisoned for treason. In 1867 he was a delegate to the New York state convention for the revision of the constitution. In 1870 he was defeated for congress in the Sixth New York district. At the Liberal convention, which met in Cincinnati, in May, 1872, on the fifth ballot Horace Greeley was nominated for president and July following was nominated for the same office by the Democratic convention at Baltimore. He was defeated by a large majority. The large amount of work done by him during the campaign, together with the loss of his wife about the same time, undermined his strong constitution, and he was seized with inflammation of the brain, and died November 29, 1872. In addition to his journalistic work, Mr. Greeley was the author of several meritorious works, among which were : " Hints toward reform," " Glances at Europe," " History of the struggle for slavery exten sion," " Overland journey to San Francisco," " The American conflict," and " Recollections of a busy life." HENRY CLAY.—In writing of this eminent American, Horace Greeley once said: " He was a matchless party chief, an admirable orator, a skillful legislator, wielding unequaled influence, not only over his friends, but even over those of his political antagonists who were subjected to the magic of his conversation and manners." A lawyer, legislator, orator, and statesman, few men in history have wielded greater influence, or occupied so prominent a place in the hearts of the generation in which they lived. Henry Clay was born near Richmond, in Hanover county, Virginia, April, 12, 1777, the son of a poor Baptist preacher who died when Henry was but five years 22 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY: old. The mother married again about ten years later and removed to Kentucky leaving Henry a clerk in a store at Richmond. Soon afterward Henry Clay secured a position as copyist in the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, and four years later entered the law office of Robert Brooke, then attorney general and later governor of his native state. In 1797 Henry Clay was licensed as a lawyer and followed his mother to Kentucky, opening an office at Lexington and soon built up a profitable practice. Soon afterward Kentucky, in separating from Virginia, called a state convention for the purpose of framing a constitution, and Clay at that time took a prominent part, publicly urging the adoption of a clause providing for the abolition of slavery, but in this he was overruled, as he was fifty years later, when in the height of his fame he again advised the same course when the state constitution was revised in 1850. Young Clay took a very active and conspicuous part in the presidential campaign in 1800, favoring the election of Jefferson; and in 1803 was chosen to represent Fayette county in the state Legislature. In 1806 General John Adair, then United States senator from Kentucky, resigned and Henry Clay was elected to fill the vacancy by the legislature and served through one session in which he at once assumed a prominent place. In 1807 he was again a representative in the legislature and was elected speaker of the house. At this time originated his trouble with Humphrey Marshall. Clay proposed that each member clothe himself and family wholly in American fabrics, which Marshall characterized as the " language of a demagogue." This led to a duel in which both parties were slightly injured. In 1809 Henry Clay was again elected to fill a vacancy in the United States senate, and two years later elected representative in the lower house of congress, being chosen speaker of the house. About this time war was declared against Great Britain, and Clay took a prominent public place during this struggle and was later one of the commissioners. sent to Europe by President Madison to ne gotiate peace, returning in September, 1815, having been re-elected speaker of the house during his absence, and was re-elected unanimously. He was afterward reelected to congress and then became secretary of state under John Quincy Adams. In 1831 he was again elected senator from Kentucky and remained in the senate most of the time until his death. Henry Clay was three times a candidate. for the presidency, and once very nearly elected. He was the unanimous choice of the Whig party in 1844 for the presidency, and a great effort was made to elect him but without success, his opponent, James K. Polk, carrying both Pennsylvania and New York by a very slender margin, while either of them alone would have. elected Clay. Henry Clay died at Washington June 29; 1852. JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE was one of the most distinguished of American statesmen and legislators. He was born January 31, 1830, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and received a thorough education, graduating at Washington College in 1847. In early life he removed to Maine and engaged in newspaper work, becoming editor of the Portland "Advertiser." While yet a young man he gained distinction as a debater and became a conspicuous figure in political and public affairs. In 1862 he was elected to congress on the Republican ticket in Maine and was re-elected five times. In March, 1869, he was chosen speaker of the COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 23 house of representatives and was re-elected in 1871 and again in 1873. In 1876 he was a representative in the lower house of congress and during that year was appointed United States senator by the Governor to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Morrill, who had been appointed secretary of the treasury. Mr. Blaine served in the senate until March 5, 1881, when President Garfield appointed him secretary of state, which position he resigned in December, 1881. Mr. Blaine was nominated for the presidency by the Republicans, at Chicago in June, 1884, but was defeated by Grover Cleveland after an exciting and spirited campaign. During the later years of his life Mr. Blaine devoted most of his time to the completion of his work "Twenty Years in Congress," which had a remarkably large sale throughout the United States. Blaine was a man of great mental ability and force of character and during the latter part of his life was one of the most noted men of his time. He was the originatorof what is termed the reciprocity idea" in tariff matters, and outlined the plan of carrying it into practical effect. In 1876 Robert G. Ingersoll in making a nominating speech placing Blaine's name as a candidate for president before the national Republican convention at Cincinnati, referred to Blaine as the " Plumed Knight " and this title clung to him during the remainder of his life. His death occurred at Washington, January 27, 1893. JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, a distinguished American statesman, was a native of South Carolina, born in Abbeville district, March 18, 1782. He was given the advantages of a thorough education, graduating at Yale College in 1804, and adopted the calling of a lawyer. A Demo- crat politically, at that time, he took a foremost part in the councils of his party and was elected to congress in 1811, supporting the tariff of 1816 and the establishing of the United States Bank. In 1817 he became secretary of war in President Monroe's cabinet, and in 1824 was elected vice-president of the United States, on the ticket with John Quincy Adams, and re-elected in 1828, on the ticket with General Jackson. Shortly after this Mr. Calhoun became one of the strongest advocates of free trade and the principle of sovereignty of the states and was one of the originators of the doctrine that " any state could nullify unconstitutional laws of congress." Meanwhile Calhoun had become an aspirant for the presidency, and the fact that General Jackson advanced the interests of his opponent, Van Buren, led to a quarrel, and Calhoun resigned the vice-presidency in 1832 and was elected United States senator from South Carolina. It was during the same year that a convention was held in South Carolina at which the " Nullification ordinance " was adopted, the object of which was to test the constitutionality of the protective tariff measures, and to prevent if possible the collection of import duties in that state which had been levied more for the purpose of " protection " than revenue. This ordinance was to go into effect in February, 1833, and created a great deal of uneasiness throughout the country as it was feared there would be a clash between the state and federal authorities. It was in this serious condition of public affairs that Henry Clay came forward with the the famous tariff compromise " of 1833, to which measure Calhoun and most of his followers gave their support and the crisis was averted. In 1843 Mr. Calhoun was appointed secretary of state in President Tyler's cabinet, and it was under 24 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.. his administration that the treaty concerning the annexation of Texas was negotiated. In 1845 he was re-elected to the United States senate and continued in the senate until his death, which occurred in March, 1850. He occupied a high rank as a scholar, student and orator, and it is conceded that he was one of the greatest debaters America has produced. The famous debate between Calhoun and Webster, in 1833, is regarded as the most noted for ability and eloquence in the history of the country. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER, one of America's most brilliant and profound lawyers and noted public men, was a native of New England, born at Deerfield, New Hampshire, November 5, 1818. His father, Captain John Butler, was a prominent man in his day, commanded a company during the war of 1812, and served under Jackson at New Orleans. Benjamin F. Butler was given an excellent education, graduated at Waterville College, Maine, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1840, at Lowell, Massachusetts, where he commenced the practice of his profession and gained a wide reputation for his ability at the bar, acquiring an extensive practice and a fortune. Early in life he began taking an active interest in military affairs and served in the state militia through all grades from private to brigadier-general. In 1853 he was elected to the state legislature on the Democratic ticket in Lowell, and took a prominent part in the passage of legislation in the interests of labor. During the same year he was a member of the constitutional convention, and in 1859 represented his district in the Massachusetts senate. When the Civil war broke out General Butler took the field and remained at the front most of the time during that bloody struggle. Part of the time he had charge of Fortress Monroe, and in February, 1862, took command of troops forming part of the expedition against New Orleans, and later had charge of the department of the Gulf. He was a conspicuous figure during the continuance of the war. After the close of hostilities General Butler resumed his law practice in Massachusetts and in 1866 was elected to congress from the Essex district. In 1882 he was elected governor of Massachusetts, and in 1884 was the nominee of the " Greenback" party for president of the United States. He continued his legal practice, and maintained his place as one of the most prominent men in New England until the time of his death, which occurred January 10, 1893. JEFFERSON DAVIS, an officer, statesman and legislator of prominence in America, gained the greater part of his fame from the fact that he was president of the southern confederacy. Mr. Davis was born in Christian county, Kentucky, June 3, 1808, and his early education and surroundings were such that his sympathies and inclinations were wholly with the southern people. He received a thorough education, graduated at West Point in 1828, and for a number of years served in the army at western posts and in frontier 'service, first as lieutenant and later as adjutant. In 1835 he resigned and became a cotton planter in Warren county, Mississippi, where he took an active interest in public affairs and became a conspicuous figure in politics. In 1844 he was a presidential elector from Mississippi and during the two following years served as congressman from his district. He then became colonel of a Mississippi regiment in the war with Mexico and participated in some of the most severe bat- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 25 ties, being seriously wounded at Buena Vista. Upon his return to private life he again took a prominent part in political affairs and represented his state in the United States senate from 1847 to 1851. He then entered President Pierce's cabinet as secretary of war, after which he again entered the United States senate, remaining until the outbreak of the Civil war. He then became president of the southern confederacy and served as such until captured in May, 1865, at Irwinville, Georgia. He was held as prisoner of war at Fortress Monroe, until 1867, when he was released on bail and finally set free in 1868. His death occurred December 6, 1889. Jefferson Davis was a man of excellent abilities and was recognized as one of the best organizers of his day. He was a forceful and fluent speaker and a ready writer. He wrote and published the " Rise and Fall of the Southern Confederacy," a work which is considered as authority by the southern people. JOHN ADAMS, the second president of kJ the United States, and one of the most conspicuous figures in the early struggles of his country for independence, was born in the present town of Quincy, then a portion of Braintree, Massachusetts, October 30, 1735. He received a thorough education, graduating at Harvard College in 1755, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1758. He was well adapted for this profession and after opening an office in his native town rapidly grew in prominence and public favor and soon was regarded as one of the leading lawyers of the country. His attention was called to political affairs by the passage of the Stamp Act, in 1765, and he drew up a set of resolutions on the subject which were very popular. In 1768 he re- moved to Boston and became one of the most courageous and prominent advocates of the popular cause and was chosen a member of the Colonial legislature from Boston. He was one of the delegates that represented Massachusetts in the first Con, tinental congress, which met in September, 1774. In a letter written at this crisis he uttered the famous words: " The die is now cast; I have passed the .Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with my country, is my unalterable determination.". He was a prominent figure in congress and advocated the movement for independence when a majority of the members were inclined to temporize and to petition the King. In May, 1776, he presented a resolution in congress that the colonies should assume the duty of self-government, which was passed. In June, of the same year, a resolution that the United States " are, and of right ought to be, free and independent," was moved by Richard H. Lee, seconded by Mr. Adams and adopted by a small majority. Mr. Adams was a member of the committee of five appointed June 11 to prepare a declaration of independence, in support of which he made an eloquent speech. He was chairman of the Board of War in 1776 and in 1778 was sent as commissioner to France, but returned the following year. In 1780 he went to Europe, having been appointed as minister to negotiate a treaty of peace and commerce with Great Britain. Conjointly with Franklin and Jay he negotiated a treaty in 1782. He was employed as a minister to the Court of St. James from 1785 to 1788, and during that period wrote his famous " Defence of the American Constitutions." In 1789 he became vice-president of the United States and was re-elected in 1792. In 1796 Mr. Adams was chosen presi- 26 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. dent of the United States, his competitor being Thomas Jefferson, who became vice-president. In 1800 he was the Federal candidate for president, but he was not cordially supported by Gen. Hamilton, the favorite leader of his party, and was defeated by Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Adams then retired from public life to his large estate at Quincy, Mass., where he died July 4, 1,826, on the same day that witnessed the death of Thomas Jefferson. Though his physical frame began to give way many years before his death, his mental powers retained their strength and vigor to the last. In his ninetieth year he was gladdened by .the elevation of his son, John Quincy Adams, to the presidential office. HENRY WARD BEECHER, one of the most celebrated American preachers and authors, was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24,1813. His father was Dr. Lyman Beecher, also an eminent divine. At an early age Henry Ward Beecher had a strong predilection for a sea-faring life, and it was practically decided that he would follow this inclination, but about this time, in consequence of deep religious impressions which he experienced during a revival, he renounced his former intention and decided to enter the ministry. After having graduated at Amherst College, in 1834, he studied theology at Lane Seminary under the tuition of his father, who was then president of that institution. In 1847 he became pastor of the Plymouth Congregational church in Brooklyn, where his oratorical ability and original eloquence attracted one of the largest congregations in the country. He continued to served this church until the time of his death, March 8, 1887. Mr. Beecher also found time for a great amount of literary work, F0r a number of years he was editor of the " Independent " and also the " Christian Union. " He also produced many works which are widely known. Among his principal productions are "Lectures to Young Men," " Star Papers, " " Life of Christ," " Life Thoughts," " Royal Truths " (a novel), " Norwood," " Evolution and Revolution," and " Sermons on Evolution and. Religion." Mr. Beecher was also long a. prominent advocate of anti-slavery principles and temperance reform, and, at a later period, of the rights of women. JOHN A. LOGAN, the illustrious statesman and general, was born in Jackson county, Illinois, February 9, 1824. In his boyhood days he received but a limited education in the schools of his native county. On the breaking out of the war with Mexico he enlisted in the First Illinois Volunteers and became its quartermaster. At the close of hostilities he returned home and was elected clerk of the courts of Jackson county in 1849. Determining to supplement his education Logan entered the Louisville University, from which he graduated in 1852 and taking up the study of law was admitted to the bar. He attained popularity and success in his chosen profession and was elected to the legislature in 1852, 1853, 1856 and 1857. He was prosecuting attorney from 1853 to 1857. He was elected to congress. in 1858 to fill a vacancy and again in 1860. At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Logan resigned his office and entered the army, and in September, 1861, was appointed colonel of the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, which he led in the battles of Belmont and Fort Donelson. In the latter engagement he was. wounded. In March, '1862, he was promoted to be brigadier-general and in the following month participated in the battles. of Pittsburg Landing. In November, 1862, COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 29 for gallant conduct he was made major-general. Throughout the Vicksburg campaign he was in command of a division of the Seventeenth Corps and was distinguished at Port Gibson, Champion Hills and in the siege and capture of Vicksburg. In October, 1863, he was placed in command of the Fifteenth Corps, which he led with great credit. During the terrible conflict before Atlanta, July 22, 1864, on the death of General McPherson, Logan, assuming command of the Army of the Tennessee, led it on to victory, saving the day by his energy and ability. He was shortly after succeeded by General O. O. Howard and returned to the command of his corps. He remained in command until the presidential election, when, feeling that his influence was needed at home he returned thither and there remained until the arrival of Sherman at Savannah, when General Logan rejoined his command. In May, 1865, he succeeded General Howard at the head of the Army of the Tennessee. He resigned from the army in August, the same year, and in November was appointed minister to Mexico, but declined the honor. He served in the lower house of the fortieth and forty-first congresses, and was elected United States senator from his native state in 1870, 1878 and 1885. He was nominated for the vice-presidency in 1884 on the ticket with Blaine, but was defeated. General Logan was the author of "The Great Conspiracy, its origin and history," published in 1885. He died at Washington, December 26, 1886. JOHN CHARLES FREMONT, the first Republican candidate for president, was born in Savannah, Georgia, January 21, 1813. He graduated from Charleston College (South Carolina) in 1830, and turned his attention to civil engineering. He was shortly afterward employed in the department of government surveys on the Mississippi, and constructing maps of that region. He was made lieutenant of engineers, and laid before the war department a plan for penetrating the Rocky Mountain regions, which was accepted, and in 1842 he set out upon his first famous exploring expedition and explored the South Pass. He also planned an expedition to Oregon by a new route further south, but afterward joined his expedition with that of Wilkes in the region of the Great Salt Lake. He made a later expedition which penetrated the Sierra Nevadas, and the San Joaquin and Sacramento river valleys, making maps of all regions explored. In 1845 he conducted the great expedition which resulted in the acquisition of California, which it was believed the Mexican government was about to dispose of to England. Learning that the Mexican governor was preparing to attack the American settlements in his dominion, Fremont determined to forestall him,. The settlers rallied to his camp, and in June, 1846, he defeated the Mexican forces at Sonoma Pass, and a month later completely routed the governor and his entire army. The Americans at once declared their independence of Mexico, and Fremont was elected governor of California. By this time Commodore Stockton had reached the coast with instructions from Washington to conquer California. Fremont at once joined him in that effort, which resulted in the annexation of California with its untold mineral wealth. Later Fremont became involved in a difficulty with fellow officers which resulted in a court martial, and the surrender of his commission. -He: declined to accept reinstatement. He afterward laid out a great road from the Mississippi river to San Francisco, and became: the first United States senator from Califor- 30 - COMPENDIUM BIOGRAPHY nia, in 1849. In 1856 he was nominated by the new Republican party as its first candidate for president against Buchanan, and received 114 electoral votes, out of 296: In 1861 he was made major-general and placed in charge of the western department. He planned the reclaiming of the entire Mississippi valley, and gathered an army of thirty thousand men, with plenty of artillery, and was ready to move upon the confederate General Price, when he was deprived of his command. He was nominated for the presidency at Cincinnati in 1864, but withdrew. He was governor of Arizona in 1878, holding the position four years. He was interested in an engineering enterprise looking toward a great southern trans-continental railroad, and in his later years also practiced law in New York. He died July 13,1890. WENDELL PHILLIPS, the orator and abolitionist, and a conspicuous figure in American history, was born November 29, 1811 Boston, Massachusetts. He received a good education at Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1831, and then entered the Cambridge Law School. After completing his course in that institution, in 1833, he was admitted to the bar, in 1834, at Suffolk. He entered the arena of life at the time when the forces of liberty and slavery had already begun their struggle that was to culminate in the Civil war. William Lloyd Garrison, by his clearheaded, courageous declarations of the antislavery principles, had done much to bring about this struggle. Mr. Phillips was not a man that could stand aside and see a great struggle being carried on in the interest of humanity and look passively on. He first .attracted attention as an orator in 1837, at a meeting that was called to protest against the murder of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. The meeting would have ended in a few perfunctory resolutions had not Mr. Phillips by his manly eloquence taken the meeting out of the hands of the few that were inclined to temporize and avoid radical utterances. Having once started out in this career as an abolitionist Phillips never swerved from what he deemed his duty, and never turned back. He gave up his legal practice and launched, himself heart and soul in the movement for the liberation of the slaves. He was an orator of very great ability and by his earnest efforts and eloquence he did much in arousing public sentiment in behalf of th anti-slavery cause—possibly more than any one Oman of his time. After the abolition of slavery Mr. Phillips was, if possible, even busier than before in the literary and lecture field. Besides temperance and women's rights, he lectured often and wrote much on finance, and the relations of labor and capital, and his utterances on whatever subject always bore the stamp of having emanated from a master mind. Eminent critics have stated that it might fairly be questioned whether there has ever spoken in America an orator superior to Phillips. The death of this great man occurred February 4, 1884. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN was one of the greatest generals that the world has ever produced and won immortal fame by that strategic and famous " march to the sea," in the war of the Rebellion. He was born February 8, 1820, at Lancaster, Ohio, and was reared in the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, as his father died when he was but nine years of age. He entered West Point in 1836, waF wasduated from the same in 1840, and appointed a second lieutenant in the Third COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 31 Artillery. He passed through the various grades of the service and at the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth Regular Infantry. A full history of General Sherman's conspicuous services would be to repeat a history of the army. He commanded a division at Shiloh, and was instrumental in the winning of that battle, and was also present at the siege of Vicksburg. On July 4, 1863, he was appointed brigadier-general of the regular army, and shared with Hooker the victory of Missionary Ridge. He was commander of the Department of the Tennessee from October 27th until the appointment of General Grant as lieutenant-general, by whom he was appointed to the command of the Department of the Mississippi, which he assumed in March, 1864. He at once began organizing the army and enlarging his communications preparatory to his march upon Atlanta, which he started the same time of the beginning of the Richmond campaign by Grant. He started on May 6, and was opposed by Johnston, who had fifty thousand men, but by consummate generalship, he captured Atlanta, on September 2, after several months of hard fighting and a severe loss of men. General Sherman started on his famous march to the sea November i5, 1864, and by December 10 he was before Savannah, which he took on December 23. This campaign is a monument to the genius of General Sherman as he only lost 567 men from Atlanta to the sea. After resting his army he moved northward and occupied the following places: Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville, Ayersboro, Bentonville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, and April 18, he accepted the surrender of Johnston's army on a basis of agreement that was not received by the Government with favor, but finally accorded Johnston the same terms as Lee was given by General Grant. He was present at the grand review at Washington, and after the close of the war was appointed to the command of the military division of the Mississippi; later was appointed lieutenant-general, and assigned to the military division of the Missouri. When General. Grant was elected president Sherman became general, March 4, 1869, and succeeded to the command of the army. His death occurred February 14, 1891, at Washington.. ALEXANDER HAMILTON, one of the most prominent of the early American statesmen and financiers, was born in Nevis, an island of the West Indies, January 1757, his father being a Scotchman and his. mother of Huguenot descent. Owing to the death of his mother and business reverses which came to his father, young Hamilton was sent to his mother's relatives in Santa Cruz; a few years later was sent to a grammar school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and in 1773 entered what is now known as Columbia College. Even at that time he began taking an active part in public affairs. and his speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper articles on political affairs of the day at tracted considerable attention. In 1776 he received a captain's commission and served in Washington's army with credit, becoming-aide-de-camp to Washington with rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1781 he resigned his-commission because of a rebuke from Gen eral Washington He next received command of a New York battalion and participated in the battle of Yorktown. After this Hamilton studied law, served several terms in congress and was a member of the convention at 'which the Federal Constitution was drawn up. His work connected with " The Federalist " at about this time attracted . much attention. Mr. Hamilton 32 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. was chosen as the first secretary of the United States treasury and as such was the author of the funding system and founder of the United States Bank. In 1798 he was made inspector-general of the army with the rank of major-general and was also for a short time commander-in-chief. In 1804 Aaron Burr, then candidate for governor of New York, challenged Alexander Hamilton to fight a duel, Burr attributing his defeat to Hamilton's opposition, and Hamilton, though declaring the code as a relic of barbarism, accepted the challenge. They met at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 11, 1804. Hamilton declined to fire at his adversary, but at Burr's first fire was fatally wounded and died July 12, 1804. ALEXANDER, HAMILTON STEPHENS, vice-president of the southern confederacy, a former United States senator and governor of Georgia, ranks among the great men of American history. He was born February 11, 1812, near Crawfordsville, Georgia. He was a graduate of the University of Georgia, and admitted to the bar in 1834. In 1837 he made his debut in political life as a member of the state house of representatives, and in 1841 declined the nomination for the same office; but in 1842 he was chosen by the same constituency as state senator. Mr. Stephens was one of the promoters of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. In 1843 he wad sent by his district to the national house of representatives, which office he held for sixteen consecutive years. He was a member of the house during the passing of the Compromise Bill, and was one of its ablest and most active supporters. The same year (1850) Mr. Stephens was a delegate to the state convention that framed the celebrated Georgia Platform," and was also a delegate to the convention that passed the ordinance of secession, though he bitterly opposed that bill by voice and vote, yet he readily acquiesced in their decision after it received the votes of the majority of the convention. He was chosen vice-president of the confederacy without opposition, and in 1865 he was the head of the commission sent by the south to the Hampton Roads conference. He was arrested after the fall of the confederacy and was confined in Fort Warren as a prisoner of state but was released on his own parole. Mr. Stephens was elected to the forty-third, forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-sixth and forty-seventh congresses, with hardly more than nominal opposition. He was one of the Jeffersonian school of American politics. He wrote a number of works, principal among which are: " Constitutional View of the War between the 'States," and a " Compendium of the History of the United States." He was inaugurated as governor of Georgia November 4th, 1882, but died March 4, 1883, before the completion of his term. ROSCOE CONKLING was one of the most noted and famous of American statesmen. He was among the most finished, fluent and eloquent orators that have ever graced the halls of the American congress; ever ready, witty and bitter in debate he was at once admired and feared by his political opponents and revered by his followers. True to his friends, loyal to the last degree to those with whom his interests were associated, he was unsparing to his foes and it is said " never forgot an injury." Roscoe Conkling was born at Albany, New York, on the 30th of October, 1829, being a son of Alfred Conkling. Alfred Conkling was also a native of New York, COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 33 born at East Hampton, October 12, 1789, and became one of the most eminent lawyers in the Empire state; published several legal works; served a term in congress; afterward as United States district judge for Northern New York, and in 1852 was minister to Mexico. Alfred Conkling died in 1874. Roscoe Conkling, whose name heads this article, at an early age took up the study of law and soon became successful and prominent at the bar. About 1846 he removed to Utica and in 1858 was elected mayor of that city. He was elected representative in congress from this district and was re-elected three times. In 1867 he was elected United States senator from the state of New York and was re-elected in 1873 and 1879. In May, 1881, he resigned on account of differences with the president. In March, 1882, he was appointed and confirmed as associate justice of the United States supreme court but declined to serve. His death occurred April 18, 1888. WASHINGTON IRVING, one of the most eminent, talented and popular of American authors, was born in New York City, April 3, 1783. His father was William Irving, a merchant and a native of Scotland, who had married an English lady and emigrated to America some twenty years prior to the birth of Washington. Two of the older sons, William and Peter, were partially occupied with newspaper work and literary pursuits, and this fact naturally inclined Washington to follow their example. Washington Irving was given the advantages afforded by the common schools until about sixteen years of age when he began studying law, but continued to acquire his literary training by diligent perusal at home of the older English writers. When nineteen he made his first literary venture by printing in the " Morning Chronicle, " then edited by his brother, Dr. Peter Irving, a series of local sketches under the nom-de-plume of " Jonathan Oldstyle." In 1804 he began an extensive trip through Europe, returned in 1806, quickly completed his legal studies and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced the profession. In 1807 he began the amusing serial " Salmagundi," which had an immediate success, and not only decided his future career but long determined the character of his writings. In 1808, assisted by his brother Peter, he wrote " Knickerbocker's History of New York," and in 1810 an excellent biography of Campbell, the poet. After this, for some time, Irving's attention was occupied by mercantile interests, but the commercial house in which he was a partner failed in 1817. In 1814 he was editor of the Philadelphia " Analectic Magazine." About 1818 appeared his " Sketch-Book," over the nom-de-plume of "Geoffrey Crayon," which laid the foundation of Jr. ving's fortune and permanent fame. This was soon followed by the legends of " Sleepy Hollow," and " Rip Van Winkle," which at once took high rank as literary productions, and Irving's reputation was firmly established in both the old and new-worlds. After this the path of Irving was smooth, and his subsequent writings appeared with rapidity; including " Brace-bridge Hall," " The Tales of a Traveler," " History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus," " The Conquest of Granada," "The Alhambra," " Tour on the Prairies," " Astoria," " Adventures of Captain Bonneville," " Wolfert's Roost," " Mahomet and his Successors," and "Life of Washington," besides other works. Washington Irving was never married. 34 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. He resided during the closing years of his life at Sunnyside (Tarrytown) on the Hudson, where he died November 28, 1859. CHARLES SUMNER.—Boldly outlined on the pages of our history stands out the rugged figure of Charles Sumner, statesman, lawyer and writer. A man of unimpeachable integrity, indomitable will and with the power of tireless toil, he was a fit leader in troublous times. First in rank as an anti-slavery leader in the halls of congress, he has stamped his image upon the annals of his time. As an orator he took front rank and, in wealth of illustration, rhetoric and lofty tone his eloquence equals anything to be found in history. Charles Sumner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 1811, and was the son of Charles P. and Relief J. Sumner. The family had long been prominent in that state. Charles was educated at the Boston Public Latin School; entered Harvard College in 1826, and graduated therefrom in 1830.. In 1831 he joined the Harvard Law School, then under charge of Judge Story, and gave himself up to the study of law with enthusiasm. His leisure was devoted to contributing to the American Jurist. Admitted to the bar in 1834 he was appointed reporter to the circuit court by Judge Story. He published several works about this time, and from 1835 to 1837 and again in 1843 was lecturer in the law school. He had planned a lawyer's life, but in 1845 he gave his attention to politics, speaking and working against the admission of Texas to the Union and subsequently against the Mexican war. In 1848 he was defeated for congress on the Free Soil ticket. His stand on the antislavery question at that time alienated both friends and clients, but he never swerved from his convictions. In 1851 he was elected to the United States senate and took his seat therein December t of that year. From this time his life became the history of the anti-slavery cause in congress. In August, 1852, he began his attacks on slavery by a masterly argument for the repeal of the fugitive slave law. On May 22, 1856, Preston Brooks, nephew of Senator Butler, of South Carolina, made an attack upon Mr. Sumner, at his desk in the senate, striking him over the head with a heavy cane. The attack was quite serious in its effects and kept Mr. Sumner absent from his seat in the senate for about four years. In 1857, 1863 and 1869 he was re-elected to the office of senator, passing some twenty-three years in that position, always advocating the rights of freedom and equity. He died March it, 1874. THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third president of the United States, was born near Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Virginia, April 13, 1743, and was the son of Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson. He received the elements of a good education, and in 1760 entered William and Mary College. After remaining in that institution for two years he took up the study of law with George Wythe, of Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and was admitted to practice in 1767. He obtained a large and profitable practice, which he held for eight years. The conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies then drew him into public life, he having. for some time given his attention to the study of the sources of law, the origin of liberty and equal rights. Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Virginia house of burgesses in 1769, and served in that body several years, a firm supporter of liberal measures, and, although a slave- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 85 holder himself, an opponent of slavery. With others, he was a leader among the opposition to the king. He took his place as a member of the Continental congress June 21, 1775, and after serving on several committees was appointed to draught a Declaration of Independence, which he did, some corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin and John Adams. This document was presented to congress June 28, 1776, and after six days' debate was passed and was signed. In the following September Mr. Jefferson resumed his seat in the Virginia legislature, and gave much time to the adapting of laws of that state to the new condition of .things. He drew up the law, the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government, which secured perfect religious freedom. June 1, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, an office which, after co-operating with Washington in defending the country, he resigned two years later. One of his own estates was ravaged by the British, and his house at Monticello was held by Tarleton for several days, and Jefferson narrowly escaped capture. After the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted the position of plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in 1776. Before leaving he served a short time in congress at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a bill for establishing our present decimal system of currency, one of his most useful public services. He remained in an official capacity until October, 1789, and was a most active and vigilant minister. Besides the onerous duties of his office, during this time, he published " Notes on Virginia," sent to the United States seeds, shrubs and plants, forwarded literary and scientific news and gave useful advice to some of the leaders of the French Revolution. Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia November 18, 1789, having obtained a leave of absence from his post, and shortly after accepted Washington's offer of the portfolio of the department of state• in his cabinet. He entered upon the duties of his office in March, 1791, and held it until January 1, 1794, when he tendered his resignation. About this time he and Alexander Hamilton became decided and aggressive political opponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy with the people in the French revolution and strongly democratic in his feelings, while Hamilton took the opposite side. In 1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of the United States. In 1800 he was elected to the presidency and was inaugurated March 4, 1801. During his administration, which lasted for eight years, he having been re-elected in 1804, he waged a successful war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchased Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public debt, and was the originator of many wise measures. Declining a nomination for a. third term he returned to Monticello, where: he died July 4, 1826, but a few hours before the death of his friend, John Adams, Mr. Jefferson was married January r, 1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died September 6, 1782, leaving three children, three more having died previous to her demise. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, known as " Commodore " Vanderbilt, was the founder of what constitutes the present immense fortune of the Vanderbilt family. He was born May 27, 1794, at Port Richmond, Staten Island, Richmond county, New York, and we find him at sixteen years running a small vessel between his home and New York City. The fortifications of Staten and Long Islands were just in course of 86 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. construction, and he carried the laborers from New York to the fortifications in his " perianger, " as it was called, in the day, and at night carried supplies to the fort on the Hudson. Later he removed to New York, where he added to his little fleet. At the age of twenty-three he was free from debt and was worth $9,000, and in 1817, with a partner he built the first steamboat that was run between New York and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and became her captain at a salary of $1,000 a year. The next year he took command of a larger and better boat and by 1824 he was in complete control of the Gibbon's Line, as it was called, which he had brought up to a point where it paid $40,000 a year. Commodore Vanderbilt acquired the ferry between New York and Elizabethport, New Jersey, on a fourteen years' lease and conducted this on a paying basis. He severed his connections with Gibbons in 1829 and engaged in business alone and for twenty years he was the leading steamboat man in the country, building and operating steamboats on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, on the Delaware River and the route to Boston, and he had the monopoly of trade on these routes. In 1850 he determined to broaden his field of operation and accordingly built the steamship Prometheus and sailed for the Isthmus of Darien, where he desired to make a personal investigation of the prospects of the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, in which he had purchased a controlling interest. Commodore Vanderbilt planned, as a result of this visit, a transit route from Greytown on the At-. lantic coast to San Juan del Sud 0n the Pacific coast, which was a saving of 700 miles over the old route. In 1851 he placed three steamers on the Atlantic side and four on the Pacific side to accommodate the enor- mous traffic occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. The following year three more vessels were added to his fleet and a branch line established from New Orleans to Greytown. In 1853 the Commodore sold out his NicarauguaTransit Company, which had netted him $1,000,000 and built the renowned steam yacht, the " North Star." He continued in the shipping business nine years longer and accumulated some $10,000,000. In 1861 he presented to the government his magnificent steamer " Vanderbilt, " which had cost him $800,000 and for which he received the thanks of congress. In 1844 he became interested in the railroad business which he followed in later years and became one of the greatest railroad magnates of his time. He founded the Vanderbilt University at a cost of $1,000,000. He died January 4, 1877, leaving a fortune estimated at over $100,000,000 to his children. DANIEL BOONE was one of the most famous of the many American scouts, pioneers and hunters which the early settlement of the western states brought into prominence. Daniel Boone was born February 11, 1735, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, but while yet a young man removed to North Carolina, where he was married. In 1769, with five companions, he penetrated into the forests and wilds of Kentucky —then uninhabited by white men. He had frequent conflicts with the Indians and was captured by them but escaped and continued to hunt in and explore that region for over a year, when, in 1771, he returned to his home. In the summer of 1773, he removed with his own and five other families into what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, and to defend his colony against the savages, he built, in 1775, a fort at Boonesborough, COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 87 on the Kentucky river. This fort was attacked by the Indians several times in 1777, but they were repulsed. The following year, however, Boone was surprised and captured by them. They took him to Detroit and treated him with leniency, but he soon escaped and returned to his fort which he defended with success against four hundred and fifty Indians in August, 1778. His son, Enoch Boone, was the first white male child born in the state of Kentucky. In 1795 Daniel Boone removed with his family to Missouri, locating about forty-five miles west of the present site of St. Louis, where he found fresh fields for his favorite pursuits —adventure, hunting, and pioneer life. His death occurred September 20, 1820. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, said to have been America's greatest " poet of the people," was born at Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of fourteen, and graduated in 1825. During his college days he distinguished himself in modern languages, and wrote several short poems, one of the best known of which was the " Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." After his graduation he entered the law office of his father, but the following year was offered the professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin, with the privilege of three years study in Europe to perfect himself in French, Spanish, Italian and German. After the three years were passed he returned to the United States and entered upon his professorship in 1829. His first volume was a small essay on the " Moral and Devotional Poetry of Spain" in 1833. In 1835 he published some prose sketches of travel under the title of " Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage beyond the Sea." In 1835 he was elected to the chair of modern languages and literature at Harvard University and spent a year in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, cultivating a kn0wledge of early Scandinavian literature and entered upon his professorship in 1836. Mr. Longfellow published in 1839 " Hyperion, a Romance," and " Voices of the Night," and his first volume of original verse comprising the selected poems of twenty years work, procured him immediate recognition as a poet. " Ballads and other poems " appeared in 1842, the " Spanish Student " a drama in three acts, in 1843, " The Belfry of Bruges " in 1846, " Evangeline, a Tale of Acadia," in 1847, which was considered his master piece. In 1845 he published a large volume of the "Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1849 " Kavanagh, a Tale," " The Seaside and Fireside " in 1850, "The Golden Legend " in 1851, "The Song of Hiawatha " in 1855, " The Courtship of Miles Standish " in 1858, " Tales of a Wayside Inn " in 863 ; " Flower de Luce" in 1866;" " New England Tragedies " in 1869; " The Divine Tragedy " in 1871; " Three Books of Song" in 1872; ‘‘The Hanging of the Crane " in 1874. He also published a masterly translation of Dante in 1867-7o and the " Morituri Salutamus," a poem read at the fiftieth anniversary of his class at Bowdoin College. Prof. Longfellow resigned his chair at Harvard University in 1854, but continued to reside at Cambridge. Some of his poetical works have been translated into many languages, and their popularity rivals that of the best modern English poetry. He died March 24, 1882, but has left an imperishable fame as one of the foremost of American poets. PETER COOPER was in three particulars—as a capitalist and manufacturer, as an inventor, and as a philanthropist—connected intimately with some of the most 38 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY important and useful accessions to the industrial arts of America, its progress in invention and the promotion of educational and benevolent institutions intended for the benefit of people at large. He was born in New York city, February 12, 1791. His life was one of labor and struggle, as it was with most of America's successful men. In early boyhood he commenced to help his father as a manufacturer of hats. He attended school only for half of each day for a single year, and beyond this his acquisitions were all his own. When seventeen years old he was placed with John Woodward to learn the trade of coach-making and served his apprenticeship so satisfactorily that his master offered to set him up in business, but this he declined because of the debt and obligation it would involve. The foundation of Mr. Cooper's fortune was laid in the invention of an improvement in machines for shearing cloth. This was largely called into use during the war of 1812 with England when all importations of cloth from that country were stopped. The machines lost their value, however, on the declaration of peace. Mr. Cooper then turned his shop into the manufacture of cabinet ware. He afterwards went into the grocery business in New York and finally he engaged in the manufacture of glue and isinglass which he carried on for more than fifty years. In 1830 he erected iron works in Canton, near Baltimore. Subsequently he erected a rolling and a wire mill in the city of New York, in which he first successfully applied anthracite to the puddling of iron. In these works, he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof buildings. These works grew to be very extensive, including mines, blast furnaces, etc. While in Baltimore Mr. Cooper built in 1830, after his own designs, the first loco motive engine ever constructed on this continent and it was successfully operated on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He also took a great interest and invested large capital in the extension of the electric telegraph, also in the laying of the first Atlantic cable; besides interesting himself largely in the New York state canals. But the most cherished object of Mr. Cooper's life was the establishment of an institution for the instruction of the industrial classes, which he carried out on a magnificent scale in New York city, where the " Cooper Union ranks among the most important institutions. In May, 1876, the Independent party nominated Mr. Cooper for president of the United States, and at the election following he received nearly 100,000 votes. His death occurred April 4, 1883. GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, one of the most conspicuous Confederate generals during the Civil war, and one of the ablest military commanders of modern times, was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 19, 1807. In 1825 he entered the West Point academy and was graduated second in his class in 1829, and attached to the army as second lieutenant of engineers. For a. number of years he was thus engaged in en gineering work, aiding in establishing the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan, and superintended various river and harbor. improvements, becoming captain of engineers in 1838. He first saw field service in the Mexican war, and under General Scott performed valuable and efficient service. In that brilliant campaign he was conspicuous for professional ability as well as gallant and meritorious conduct, winning in quick succession the brevets of major, lieutenant- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 89 colonel, and colonel for his part in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, Chapultepec, and in the capture of the city Mexico. At the close of that war he resumed his engineering work in connection with defences along the Atlantic coast, and from 1852 to 1855 was superintendent of the Military Academy, a position which he gave up to become lieutenant-colonel of the Second Cavalry. For several years thereafter he served on the Texas border, but happening to be near Washington at the time of John Brown's raid, October 17 to 25, 1859, Colonel Lee was placed in command of the Federal forces employed in its repression. He soon returned to his regiment in Texas where he remained the greater part of 1860, and March 16, 1861, became colonel of his regiment by regular promotion. Three weeks later, April 25, he resigned upon the secession of Virginia, went at once to Richmond and tendered his services to the governor of that state, being by acclamation appointed commander-inchief of its military and naval forces, with the rank of major-general. He at once set to work to organize and develop the defensive resources of his state and within a month directed the occupation in force of Manassas Junction. Meanwhile Virginia having entered the confederacy and Richmond become the capitol, Lee became one of the foremost of its military officers and was closely connected with Jefferson Davis in planning the moves of that tragic time. Lee participated in many of the hardest fought battles of the war among which were Fair Oaks, White Lake Swamps, Cold Harbor, and the Chickahominy, Manassas, Cedar Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Gettysburg, the battles of the Wilderness campaign, all the campaigns about Richmond, Petersburg, Five Forks, and others. Lee's surrender at Appomatox brought the war to a close. It is said of General Lee that but few commanders in history have been so quick to detect the purposes of an opponent or so quick to act upon it. Never surpassed, if ever equaled, in the art of winning the passionate, personal love and admiration of his troops, he acquired and held an influence over his army to the very last, founded upon a supreme trust in his judgment, prescience and skill, coupled with his cool, stable, equable courage. A great writer has said of him: "As regards the proper measure of General Lee's rank among the soldiers of history, seeing what he wrought with such resources as he had, under all the disadvantages that ever attended his operations, it is impossible to measure what he might have achieved in campaigns and battles with resources at his own disposition equal to those against which he invariably contended." Left at the close of the war without estate or profession, he accepted the presidency of Washington College at Lexington, Virginia, where he died October 12, 1870. JOHN JAY, first chief-justice of the J United States, was born in New York, December 12, 1745. He took up the study of law, graduated from King's College (Columbia College), and was admitted to the bar in 1768. He was chosen a member of the committee of New York citizens to protest against the enforcement by the British government of the Boston Port Bill, was elected to the Continental congress which met in 1774, and was author of the addresses to the people of Great Britian and of Canada adopted by that and the succeeding congress. He was chosen to the provincial assembly of his own state, and 40 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. resigned from the Continental congress to serve in that body, wrote most of its public papers, including the constitution of the new state, and was then made chief-justice. He was again chosen as a member of the Continental congress in 1778, and became president of that body. He was sent to Spain as minister in 1780, and his services there resulted in substantial and moral aid for the struggling colonists. Jay, Franklin, and Adams negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1782, and Jay was appointed secretary of foreign affairs in 1784, and held the position until the adoption of the Federal constitution. During this time he had contributed strong articles to the " Federalist " in favor of the adoption of the constitution, and was largely instrumental in securing the ratification of that instrument by his state. He was appointed by Washington as first chief-justice of the United States in 1789. In this high capacity the great interstate and international questions that arose for immediate settlement came before him for treatment. In 1794, at a time when the people in gratitude for the aid that France had extended to us, were clamoring for the privilege of going to the aid of that nation in her struggle with Great Britain and her own oppressors, John Jay was sent to England as special envoy to negotiate a treaty with that power. The instrument known as " Jay's Treaty " was the result, and while in many of its features it favored our nation, yet the neutrality clause in it so angered the masses that it was denounced throughout the entire country, and John Jay was burned in effigy in the city of New York. The treaty. was finally ratified by Washington, and approved, in August, 1795. Having been elected governor of his state for three consecutive terms, he then retired from active life, declining an appointment as chief-justice of the supreme court, made by John Adams and confirmed by the senate.. He died in New York in 1829. PHILLIP HENRY SHERIDAN was one of the greatest American cavalry generals. He was born March 6, 1831, at Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, and was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated and was assigned to the First Infantry as brevet second lieutenant July I, 1853. After serving in Texas, on the Pacific coast, in Washington and Oregon territories until the fall of 1861, he was recalled to the states and assigned to the army of southwest Missouri as chief quartermaster from the duties of which he was soon relieved. After the battle of Pea Ridge, he was quartermaster in the Corinth campaign, and on May 25 he was appointed colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry. On July 1, in command of a cavalry brigade, he defeated a superior force of the enemy and was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. General Sheridan was then transferred to the army of the Ohio, and commanded a division in the battle of Perrysville and also did good service at the battle of Murfreesboro, where he was commissioned major-general of volunteers. He fought with great gallantry at Chickamauga, after which Rosecrans was succeeded by General Grant, under whom Sheridan fought the battle of Chattanooga and won additional renown. Upon the promotion of Grant to lieutenant-general, he applied for the transfer of General Sheridan to the east, and appointed him chief of cavalry in the army of the Potomac. During the campaign of 1864 the cavalry covered the front and flanks of the infantry until May 8, when it was COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 41 drawn and General Sheridan started on a raid against the Confederate lines of communication with Richmond and on May 25 he rejoined the army, having destroyed considerable of the confederate stores and defeated their cavalry under General Stuart at Yellow Tavern. The outer line of defences around Richmond were taken, but the second line was too strong to be taken by assault, and accordingly Sheridan crossed the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, reaching James River May 14, and thence by White House and Hanover Court House back to the army. The cavalry occupied Cold Harbor May 31, which they held until the arrival of the infantry. On General Sheridan's next raid he routed Wade Hampton's cavalry, and August 7 was assigned to the command of the Middle Military division, and during the campaign of the Shenandoah Valley he performed the unheard of feat of " destroying an entire army." He was appointed brigadier-general of the regular army and for his victory at Cedar Creek he was promoted to the rank of major-general. General Sheridan started out February 27, 1865, with ten thousand cavalry and destroyed the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River Canal and joined the army again at Petersburg March 27. He commanded at the battle of Five Forks, the decisive victory which compelled Lee to evacuate Petersburg. On April 9, Lee tried to break through Sheridan's dismounted command but when the General drew aside his cavalry and disclosed the deep lines of infantry the attempt was abandoned. General Sheridan mounted his men and was about to charge when a white flag was flown at the head of Lee's column which betokened the surrender of the army. After the war General Sheridan had command of the army of the southwest, of the gulf and the department of Missouri until he was appointed: lieutenant-general and assigned to the division of Missouri with headquarters at Chicago, and assumed supreme command of the army November 1, 1883, which post he held until his death, August 5, 1888. PHINEAS T. BARNUM, the greatest showman the world has ever seen, was born at Danbury, Connecticut, July 5, 1810. At the age of eighteen years he began business on his own account. He opened a retail fruit and confectionery house, including a barrel of ale, in one part of an old carriage house. He spent fifty dollars in fitting up the store and the stock cost him seventy dollars. Three years later he put in a full stock, such as is generally carried in a country store, and the same year he started a Democratic newspaper, known as the " Herald of Freedom." He soon found himself in jail under a sixty days' sentence for libel. During the winter of 1834-5 he went to New York and began soliciting business for several Chatham street houses. In 1835 he embarked in the show business at Niblo's Garden, having purchased the celebrated " Joice Heth" for one thousand dollars. He afterward engaged the celebrated athlete, Sig. Vivalia, and Barnum made his " first appearance on any stage," acting as a "super." to Sig. Vivalia on his opening night. He became ticket seller, secretary and treasurer of Aaron Turner's circus in 1836 and traveled with it about the country. His next venture was the purchase of a steamboat on the Mississippi, and engaged a theatrical company to show in the principal towns along that river. In 1840 he opened Vaux Hall Garden, New York, with variety performances, and introduced the celebrated jig dancer, John Diamond, to the public. The next year he quit the show 42 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY business and settled down in New York as agent of Sear's Pictorial Illustration of the Bible, but a few months later again leased Vaux Hall. In September of the same year he again left the business, and became puff " writer for the Bowery Amphitheater. In December he bought the Scudder Museum, and a year later introduced the celebrated Tom Thumb to the world, taking him to England in 1844, and remaining there three years. He then returned to New York, and in 1849, through James Hall Wilson, he engaged the " Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind, to come to this country and make a tour under his management. He also had sent the Swiss Bell Ringers to America in 1844. He became owner of the Baltimore Museum and the Lyceum and Museum at Philadelphia. In 1850 he brought a dozen elephants from Ceylon to make a tour of this country, and in 1851 sent the " Bateman Children " to London. During 1851 and 1852 he traveled as a temperance lecturer, and became president of a bank at Pequonnock, Connecticut. In 1852 he started. a weekly pictorial paper known as the " Illustrated News." In 1865 his Museum was destroyed by fire, and he immediately leased the Winter Garden Theatre, where he played his company until he opened his own Museum. This was destroyed by fire in 1868, and he then purchased an interest in the George Wood Museum. After dipping into politics to some extent, he began his career as .a. really great showman in 1871. Three years later he erected an immense circular building in New York, in which he produced his panoramas. He has frequently appeared as a lecturer, some times on temperance, and some times on other topics, among which were Humbugs of the World," Struggles and Triumphs," etc. He was owner of the immense menagerie and circus known as the Greatest Show on Earth," and his fame extended throughout Europe and America. He died in 1891. JAMES MADISON, the fourth president of the United States, 1809-17, was born at Port Conway, Prince George county, Virginia, March 16, 1751. He was the son of a wealthy planter, who lived on a fine estate called Montpelier," which was but twenty-five miles from Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Madison was the eldest of a family of seven children, all of whom attained maturity. He received his early education at home under a private tutor, and consecrated himself with unusual vigor to study. At a very early age he was a proficient scholar in Latin, Greek, French and Spanish, and in 1769 he entered Princeton College, New Jersey. He graduated in 1771, but remained for several months after his graduation to pursue a course of study under the guidance of Dr. Witherspoon. He permanently injured his health at this time and returned to Virginia in 1772, and for two years he was immersed in the study of law, and at the same time made extended researches in theology, general literature, and philosophical studies. He then directed his full attention to the impending struggle of the colonies for independence, and also took a prominent part in the religious controversy at that time regarding so called persecution of other religious denominations by the Church of England. Mr. Madison was elected to the Virginia assembly in 1776 and in November, 1777, he was chosen a member of the council of state. He took his seat in the continental congress in March, 1780. He was made chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and drafted an able memoranda for the use of COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 43 the American ministers to the French and Spanish governments, that established the claims of the republic to the territories between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi River. He acted as chairman of the ways and means committee in 1783 and as a member of the Virginia legislature in 1784-86 he rendered important services to the state. Mr. Madison represented Virgiana in the national constitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787, and was one of the chief framers of the constitution. He was a member of the first four congresses, 1789-97, and gradually became identified with the anti-federalist or republican party of which he eventually became the leader. He remained in private life during the administration of John Adams, and was secretary of state under President Jefferson. Mr. Madison administered the affairs of that post with such great ability that he was the natural successor of the chief magistrate and was chosen president by an electoral vote of 122 to 53. He was inaugurated March 4, 1809, at that critical period in our history when the feelings of the people were embittered with those of England, arid his first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, which finally resulted in the declaration of war, June 18, 1812. In the autumn of that year President Madison was re-elected by a vote of 128 to 89, and conducted the war for three years with varying success and defeat in Canada, by glorious victories at sea, and by the battle of New Orleans that was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814. During this war the national capitol at Washington was burned, and many valuable papers were destroyed, but the declaration of independence was saved to the country by the bravery and courage of Mr. Madison's illustrious wife. A commercial treaty was negotiated with Great Britain in 1815, and in April, 1816, a national bank was incorporated by congress. Mr. Madison was succeeded, March 4, 1817, by James Monroe, and retired into private life on his estate at Montpelier, where he died June 28, 1836. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, a noted American character, was a protege of the great abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, by whom he was aided in gaining his education. Mr. Douglass was born in Tuckahoe county, Maryland, in February, 1817, his mother being a negro woman and his father a white man. He was born in slavery and belonged to a man by the name of Lloyd, under which name he went until he ran away from his master and changed it to Douglass. At the age of ten years he was sent to Baltimore where he learned to read and write, and later his owner allowed him to hire out his own time for three dollars a week in a shipyard. In September, 1838, he fled from Baltimore and made his way to New York, and from thence went to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Here he was married and supported himself and family by working at the wharves and in various workshops. In the summer of 184 I he attended an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, and made a speech which was so well received that he was offered the agency of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society. In this capacity he traveled through the New England states, and about the same time he published his first book called " Narrative of my Experience in Slavery." Mr. Douglass went to England in 1845 and lectured on slavery to large and enthusiastic audiences in all the large towns of the country, and his friends made up a purse of seven hundred and fifty dollars and purchased his freedom in due form of law. 44 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. Mr. Douglass applied himself to the delivery of lyceum lectures after the abolition of slavery, and in 1870 he became the editor of the " New National Era " in Washington. In 1871 he was appointed assistant secretary of the commission to San Domingo and on his return he was appointed one of the territorial council for the District of Colorado by President Grant. He was elected presidential elector-at-large for the state of New York and was appointed to carry the electoral vote to Washington. He was also United States marshal for the District of Columbia in 1876,, and later was recorder of deeds for the same, from which position he was removed by President Cleveland in 1886. In the fall of that year he visited England to inform the friends that he had made while there, of the progress of the colored race in America, and on his return he was appointed minister to Hayti, by President Harrison in 1889. His career as a benefactor of his race was closed by his death in February, 1895, near Washington. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.—The ear for rhythm and the talent for graceful expression are the gifts of nature, and they were plentifully endowed on the above named poet. The principal characteristic of his poetry is the thoughtfulness and intellectual process by which his ideas ripened in his mind, as all his poems are bright, clear and sweet. Mr. Bryant was born November 3, 1794, at Cummington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and was educated. at Williams College, from which he graduated, having entered it in 1810. He took up the study of law, and in 1815 was admitted to the bar, but after practicing successfully for ten years at Plainfield and Great Barrington, he removed to New York in 1825. The following year he became the editor of the " Evening Post," which he edited until his death, and under his direction this paper maintained, through a. long series of years, a high standing by the' boldness of its protests against slavery be fore the war, by its vigorous support of the-government during the war, and by the fidelity and ability, of its advocacy of the-Democratic freedom in trade. Mr. Bryant visited Europe in 1834, 1845, 1849 and 1857, and presented to the literary world. the fruit of his travels in the series of "Letters of a Traveler," and " Letters from Spain and Other Countries." In the world. of literature he is known chiefly as a poet,. and here Mr. Bryant's name is illustrious,. both at home and abroad. He contributed: verses to the ''Country Gazette " before he was ten years of age, and at the age of nine-- teen he wrote " Thanatopsis," the most impressive and widely known of his poems. The later outgrowth of his genius was his. translation of Homer's " Iliad " in 1870 and the " Odyssey " in 1871. He also. made several speeches and addresses which have been collected in a comprehensive volume called " Orations and Addresses." He-was honored in many ways by' his fellow citizens, who delighted to pay tributes of respect to his literary eminence, the breadth of his public spirit, the faithfulness of his. service, and the worth of his private character. Mr. Bryant died in New York City. June 12, 1878. WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, the. secretary of state during one of the most critical times in the history of our. country, and the right hand man of President Lincoln, ranks among the greatest. statesmen America has produced. Mr. Seward was born May 16, 1801, at Florida, Orange county, New York, and with such COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 47 facilities as the place afforded he fitted himself for a college course. He attended Union College at Schenectady, New York, at the age of fifteen, and took his degree in the regular course, with signs of promise in 1820, after which he diligently addressed himself to the study of law under competent instructors, and started in the practice of his profession in 1823. Mr. Seward entered the political arena and in 1828 we find him presiding over a convention in New York, its purpose being the nomination of John Quincy Adams for a second term. He was married in 1824 and in 1830 was elected to the state senate. From 1838 to 1842 he was governor of the state of New York. Mr. Seward's next important position was that of United States senator from New York. W. H. Seward was chosen by President Lincoln to fill the important office of the secretary of state, and by his firmness and diplomacy in the face of difficulties, he aided in piloting the Union through that period of strife, and won an everlasting fame. This great statesman died at Auburn, New York, October t0, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his eventful life. JOSEPH JEFFERSON, a name as dear as it is familiar to the theater going world in America, suggests first of all a fun-loving, drink-loving, mellow voiced, good natured Dutchman, and the name of " Rip Van Winkle " suggests the pleasant features of Joe Jefferson, so intimately are play and player associated in the minds of those who have had the good fortune to shed tears of laughter and sympathy as a tribute to the greatness of his art. Joseph Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, February 20, 1829. His genius was an inheritance, if there be such, as his great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, was a manager and actor in England. His grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, was the most popular comedian of the New York stage in his time, and his father, Joseph Jefferson, the second, was a good actor also, but the third Joseph Jefferson outshone them all. At the age of three years Joseph Jefferson came on the stage as the child in "Pizarro," and his training was upon the stage from childhood. Later on he lived and. acted in Chicago, Mobile, and Texas. After repeated misfortunes he returned to New Orleans from Texas, and his brother-in-law, Charles Burke, gave him money t0 reach. Philadelphia, where he joined the Burton theater company. Here his genius soon as serted itself, and his future became promis ing and brilliant. His engagements thr0ughout the United States and Australia were generally successful, and when he went to. England in 1865 Mr. Boucicault consented to make some important changes in his dramatization of Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, and Mr. Jefferson at 0nce placed it in the front rank as a comedy. He made a fortune out 0f it, and played nothing else for many years. In later years, however, Mr. Jefferson acquitted himself of the charge of being a one-part actor, and the parts of " Bob Acres," " Caleb Plummer" and " Golightly " all testify to the versatility of his genius. GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN, a noted American general, was born in Philadelphia, December 3, 1826. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1846 from West Point, and . was breveted second lieutenant of engineers. He was with Scott in the Mexican war, taking part in all the engagements from Vera Cruz to the final capture of the Mexi- 48 - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. can capital, and was breveted first lieutenant and captain for gallantry displayed on various occasions. In 1857 he resigned his commission and accepted the position of chief engineer in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, and became president of the St. Louis & Cincinnati Railroad Company. He was commissioned major-general by the state of Ohio in 1861, placed in command of the department of the Ohio, and organized the first volunteers called for from that state. In May he was appointed major-general in the United States army, and ordered to disperse the confederates overrunning West Virginia. He accomplished this task promptly, and-received the thanks of congress. After the first disaster at Bull Run he was placed in command of the department of Washington, and a few weeks later of the Army of the Potomac. Upon retirement of General Scott the command of the entire United States army devolved upon McClellan, but he was relieved of it within a few months. In March, 1862, after elaborate preparation, he moved upon Manassas, only to find it deserted by the Confederate army, which had been withdrawn to impregnable defenses prepared nearer Richmond. He then embarked his armies for Fortress Monroe and after a long delay at Yorktown, began the disastrous Peninsular campaign, which resulted in the Army of the Potomac being cooped up on the James River below Richmond. His forces were then called to the support of General Pope, near Washington, and he was left without an army. After Pope's defeat McClellan was placed in command of the troops for the defense of the capital, and after a thorough organization he followed Lee into Maryland and the battles of Antietam and South Mountain ensued. The delay which followed caused general dissatisfaction, and he was relieved of his command, and retired from active service. In 1864 McClellan was nominated for the presidency by the Democrats, and overwhelmingly defeated by Lincoln, three states only casting their electoral votes for McClellan. On election day he resigned his commission and a few months later went to Europe where he spent several years. He wrote a number of military text-books and reports. His death occurred October 29, 1885. SAMUEL J. TILDEN.—Among the great statesmen whose names adorn the pages of American history may be found that of the subject of this sketch. Known as a lawyer of highest ability, his greatest claim to immortality will ever lie in his successful battle against the corrupt rings of his native state and the elevation of the standard of official life. Samuel J. Tilden was born in New Lebanon, New York, February 9, 1814. He pursued his academic studies at Yale College and the University of New York, taking the course of law at the latter. He was admitted to the bar in 1841. His rare ability as a thinker and writer upon public topics attracted the attention of President Van Buren, of whose policy and administration he became an active and efficient champion. He made for himself a high place in his profession and amassed quite a fortune as the result of his industry and judgment. During the days of his greatest professional labor he was ever one of the leaders and trusted counsellors of the Democratic party. He was a member of the conventions to revise the state constitution; both in 1846 and 1867, and served two terms in the lower branch of the state leg- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY - 49 islature. He was one of the controlling spirits in the overthrow of the notorious "Tweed ring " and the reformation of the government of the city of New York. In 1874 he was elected governor of the state of New York. While in this position he assailed corruption in high places, successfully battling with the iniquitous " canal ring " and crushed its sway over all departments of the government. Recognizing his character and executive ability Mr. Tilden was nominated for president by the national Democratic convention in 1876. At the election he received a much larger popular vote than his opponent, and 184 uncontested electoral votes. There being some electoral votes contested, a commission appointed by congress decided in favor of the Republican electors and Mr. Hayes, the candidate of that party was declared elected. In 1880, the Democratic party, feeling that Mr. Tilden had been lawfully elected to the presidency tendered the nomination for the same office to Mr. Tilden, but he declined, retiring from all public functions, owing to failing health. He died August 4, 1886. By will he bequeathed several millions of dollars toward the founding of public libraries in New York City, Yonkers, etc. NOAH WEBSTER.—As a scholar, lawyer, author and journalist, there is no one who stands on a higher plane, or whose reputation is better established than the honored gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and was born October 17, 1758. He came of an old New England family, his mother being a descendant of Governor William Bradford, of the Plymouth colony. After acquiring a solid education in early life Dr. Webster entered Yale College, from which he graduated in 1778. For a while he taught school in Hartford, at the same time studying law, and was admitted to the bar in 1781. He taught a classical school at Goshen, Orange county, New York, in 1782-83, and while there prepared his spelling book, grammar and reader, which was issued under the title. of "A Grammatical Institute of the English. Language ," in three parts, —so successful a. work that up to 1876 something like forty million of the spelling books had been sold. In 1786 he delivered a course of lectures on the English language in the seaboard cities and the following year taught an academy at Philadelphia. From December 17, 1787, until November, 1788, he edited the " American Magazine," a periodical that proved unsuccessful. In 1789-93 he practiced law in Hartford having in the former year married the daughter of William Greenleaf, of Boston. He returned to New York and November, 1793, founded a daily paper, the " Minerva," to' which was soon added a semi-weekly edition under the name of the " Herald." The former is still in existence under the name of the " Commercial Advertiser ." In this paper, over the signature of " Curtius ," he published a lengthy and scholarly defense of " John Jay's treaty." In 1798, Dr. Webster moved to New Haven and in 1807 commenced the preparation of his great work, the " American Dictionary of the English Language ," which was not completed and published until 1828. He made his home in Amherst, Massachusetts, for the ten years succeeding 1812, and was instrumental in the establishment of Amherst College, of which institution he was, the first president of the board of trustees. During 1824-5 he resided in Europe, pursuing his philological studies in Paris. He completed his dictionary from the libraries of Cambridge University in 1825, and de-