Adams, Julius Walker (1812-99)

An American civil engineer. He was born at Boston, Mass., studied for two years at the United States Military Academy, and from 1833 to 1869 was connected as engineer with various railways and public works. From 1869 to 1878 he was chief engineer of the Brooklyn board of city works, and from 1878 to 1889 consulting engineer of the board of public works of New York City. A suggestion of his led to the formation of a company which eventually had charge of building the first bridge over the East River at New York. During the Civil War he for a time commanded the First Long Island Volunteers, and during the New York draft riots of 1863 commanded the troops at Printing House Square.

Backus, Truman Jay (1842---) 

 An American educator. He was born at Milan, N.Y., graduated at Rochester University in 1864, and was professor of rhetoric and English literature at Vassar College from 1867 to 1883. In 1883 he was appointed president of Packer Collegiate Institute (Brooklyn, N.Y.). He was one of the incorporators of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.

Beecher, Edward (1803-95)

An American Congregational divine, born at East Hampton, L.I., the second son of Lyman Beecher. He graduated at Yale, 1822, and in theology at Andover; was pastor of Park Street Congregational Church, Boston, from 1826 to 1830; president of Illinois College from 1830 to 1844. He officiated as pastor of the Salem Street Church, Boston, from 1846 to 1856, and of the Congregational Church at Galesburg, Ill., from 1856 to 1872; then removed to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he engaged in literary and missionary work, and was pastor of the Parkville Congregational Church from 1885 to 1889. He was for six years senior editor of The Congregationalist, and was for several years on the editorial staff of The Christian Union. Dr. Beecher wrote much on the theme that man is in a progressive state, the present being the outcome of a former life and a preparation for a future one to succeed after death; that the struggle between good and evil will not end with this life, but in some future era all conflicts will be ended, evil will disappear, and harmony become established. These views are set forth in The Conflict of Ages and The Concord of Ages (1860). He died in Brooklyn, July 29, 1895.

Beecher, Henry Ward (1813-87).

A Protestant pulpit orator. He was the eighth child and third son of Lyman Beecher and Roxana Foote, a granddaughter of Gen. Andrew Ward, and was born in Litchfield, Conn., June 24, 1813. He received his early education at home, and at a private school in Bethlehem, and was known as a sensitive, diffident child, his talents first showing themselves when he was about 11 years of age, in a debate with an older schoolmate over Paine's Age of Reason, younger Beecher winning the victory. With little aptitude for study, he had a strong desire to go to sea---a plan abandoned on his conversion, during a revival of religion, and in 1826 he entered the Boston Latin School. Completing his preparatory course at the Mount Pleasant School, in Amherst, he entered Amherst College, graduating in 1834, having taken only fair rank in mathematics and the classics, but having displayed marked ability as a writer and debater.

On graduation he studied theology under his father in Lane Seminary ; was in 1837-39 and 1839-47 pastor of Presbyterian churches in Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis, Ind., and in 1847 was called to take charge of Plymouth Church, a new Congregational organization in Brooklyn, N.Y. which soon became noted on both continents for its bold advocacy of unpopular reforms, such as abolition and temperance, and for the generosity and intelligence of its members. His congregation became one of the largest in America, the seating capacity of the church being nearly 3000. But it was not to this audience alone that he preached ; for, as he believed that all things concerning the public welfare are fit subjects for a minister, his opinions on all questions were eagerly read by the public at large.

He disregarded the conventional methods of preparing sermons, did not always rely on notes, even ; and the physical strength that enabled him to deliver several discourses in a day was scarcely less wonderful than the eloquence, dramatic power, pathos, and wit that characterized them. Fierce in his denunciations of injustice, he was, nevertheless, tender-hearted, charitable and catholic. Though a steadfast believer in the divinity of Christ, his theology was not in general accord with that of the Congregational denomination. In 1878 he formally renounced his belief in the eternity of future punishment. He was, perhaps, the most popular lecturer in the country, and was an unrivaled after-dinner speaker. Among his orations are that delivered at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the birthday of Burns (1859) and that (by request of the Government) at Fort Sumter, April, 1865, on the anniversary of its fall.

He allied himself with the Republican Party as soon as it was formed, lent his pen and his pulpit to further its aims, and during the canvass of 1856 traveled far and wide to speak at mass-meetings. In 1863 he visited Europe for his health, and when in Great Britain addressed vast audiences on the purposes and issues of the Civil War, speaking in one instance for three hours consecutively, and changing materially the state of public opinion. In 1884 he supported heartily the Democratic candidate for President. In 1874 suit was brought against him for adultery by his former in ballots, in a disagreement of the jury, nine of the twelve voting in Mr. Beecher's favor.

Mr. Beecher was a strong advocate of free trade and of woman suffrage. His last public speech was in favor of high license, at Chickering Hall, New York, February 25, 1887. He died in Brooklyn on March 8th following, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. His summer home for many years previous had been at Peekskill, on the Hudson, where he indulged his taste for farming and horticulture. He was fond of art, gems, flowers, and animals. He was chaplain of the Thirteenth Regiment, National Guard, 1878-87. In 1837 Mr. Beecher was connected with an anti-slavery paper in Cincinnati, and while in Indianapolis contributed to an agricultural publication the papers afterwards issued as Fruit, Flowers, and Farming. On coming to Brooklyn he began, in the Independent, the series known as the "Star Papers," so called from his signature ( * ), and published in two volumes (New York, 1855-58) ; was the editor of The Independent, 1861-63, and the editor of the Christian Union, 1870-81.

He contributed frequently to the New York Ledger ; one series of essays, called "Thoughts As They Occur," being republished as Eyes and Ears (Boston, 1864). His sermons, reported regularly after 1859, form the numerous volumes entitled Plymouth Pulpit. His first book, Lectures to Young Men (discourses delivered at Indianapolis), was published in 1850. Among other works are Industry and Idleness ; Sermons on Freedom and War ; The Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes : Speeches on the American Rebellion (London, 1864) ; Norwood, a novel (1868) ; Yale Lectures on Preaching, three series, delivered at New Haven on the Lyman Beecher foundation. (1872-74, 3 vols.) ; The Life of Christ (Vol. I. 1871, Vols. II. and III., 1891) ; The Strike and its Lessons (1878) ; A Circuit of the Continent (1884) ; Doctrinal Beliefs and Unbelief's, Evolution and Religion (1885).

In 1868 Lyman Abbot published two volumes of selected Sermons, which were revised by their author, and these will be found to represent his pulpit work at its best. The phonographically reported Prayers from Plymouth Pulpit (1867), should also be read, as Mr. Beecher was very felicitous in his public prayers. Among numerous compilations from his sermons are Life Thoughts (2 vols., 1859) ; Morning and Evening Devotional Exercises, edited by Lyman Abbot (1870) ; and Comforting Thoughts (1884). For his biography consult Samuel Scoville (New York, 1888), and T.J. Ellinwood, his private stenographer for thirty years, to whom we owe the reports of Mr. Beecher's sermons and prayers and speeches), Autobiographical reminiscences of Henry Ward Beecher (New York, 1898). Mr. Beecher married, 1837, Eunice White Bullard, born West Sutton, Mass., August 26, 1812, and author of From Dawn to Daylight (1859), etc., who died in Stamford, Conn., March 8, 1897.

Brewer, John Hyatt (1856---)

An American organist and composer, born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He studied under Dudley Buck, was organist of various Brooklyn churches, and in 1881 was appointed organist of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. Subsequently he became professor of vocal music in ADELPHI COLLEGE (Brooklyn). His compositions include principally church music, but also secular works for voice, organ, piano, and orchestra.

Bridgman, Herbert Lawrence (1844---)

 An American journalist and Arctic explorer. He was born at Amherst, Mass., graduated in 1866 at Amherst, College, entered journalism and became associate editor of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) STANDARD-UNION. He accompanied and was historian of the Peary auxiliary expedition in 1894; in 1897 assisted Professor Libbey of Princeton University in scaling the Mesa Encantada ("Enchanted Mesa") of New Mexico; and in 1899 commanded the Peary auxiliary expedition on the steamship Diana.

Bristow, George Frederick (1825-98)

An American musician and composer. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., became a violinist in the New York Philharmonic Society in 1842; from 1851 to 1862 was conductor of the New York Harmonic Society, and subsequently conducted the Mendelssohn Union. He was also organist in various churches and a teacher of music in the public schools of New York. His works include Rip Van Winkle, an opera produced in New York in 1855; an overture to an unfinished opera, Columbus; an oratorio, Daniel (1867); an Arcadian Symphony (1874); and a cantata, The Great Republic (1880), with accompaniment for orchestra.

Brown, Henry Kirke (1814-86)

 An American sculptor, well known for works in Bronze. He was born in Leyden, Mass., studied portrait painting in Boston, spent several years in Italy, and then settled in Brooklyn, N.Y. He made the first bronze statue ever cast in the United States. His best-known statues are those of De Witt Clinton ( in GREENWOOD CEMETERY, Brooklyn), of Nathaniel Greene and of General Scott (in Washington), and of Lincoln (in Union Square, New York). In 1857 he undertook the decoration of the State House, Columbia, S.C., which, however, was destroyed during the Civil War. He also made portrait busts of William Cullen Bryant and Dr. Willard Parker.

Douglass, David Bates (1790-1849)

An American civil and military engineer, born at Pompton, N.J. He graduated at Yale in 1813, entered the army, and rendered effective service in the defense of Fort Erie against the British. In 1819-20 he was assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy at West Point. Subsequently he held the professorship of mathematics, and from 1823 that of civil and military engineering, which, together with his commission in the army, he resigned in 1831 to become chief engineer in the Morris Canal Company. His most important engineering work for New York City was the making of surveys and plans for the Croton Aqueduct and for GREENWOOD CEMETERY. He was president of Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio) from 1841 to 1848, when he was made professor of mathematics at Hobart College.

Duffield, George (1818-88)

(1818-88). An American Presbyterian clergyman, born at Carlisle, Pa. He graduated at Yale in 1837, and at Union Theological Seminary (1840). He held pastorates in Brooklyn, N.Y. (1840-47). Bloomfield, N.J., Philadelphia, Pa. (1852-61) Adrian, Mich. (1861-65). Saginaw, Mich. (1869-77), and Lansing, Mich. (1877-80). He became widely celebrated through his hymns, of which "Blest Saviour, Thee I Love" (1851) and "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" (1858) are the best known.

Duffield, Samuel Augustus Willoughby (1843-87)

(1843-87). An American Presbyterian clergyman and hymnologist, son of George Duffield (q.v.). He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was educated at Yale, where he graduated in 1863. After 1882 he preached in Bloomfield, (1870); English Hymns, Their Authors and History (1886); and Latin Hymn-Writers and Their Hymns (1889), a posthumous publication, completed by Robert Ellis Thompson.

Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge  (1843-87)

An American educator and author. He was born in New Haven, Conn., and was educated at Hamilton College, New York, and at Yale Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1838. In 1846 he founded the Congregational church at Joliet, Ill., and after acting for two years as its pastor, removed to BROOKLYN, N.Y., where he established the Dwight High School, which he conducted for twelve years. From 1858 until 1867 he conducted similar schools at Clinton, N.Y., and in New York City. His publications include: Modern Philology (1864); History of the Dwight Family in America (1874); Woman's Higher Culture: The True Doctrine of Divine Providence (1887).

Eckford, Henry (1775-1832)

An American naval architect. He was born in Irvine, Scotland, and when sixteen years old became a shipwright in the shipyards of his uncle, John Black, at Quebec. In 1796 he removed to New York and established a shipyard of his own. During the War of 1812 he constructed a fleet of ships of war upon Lake Erie in a remarkably short period of time. He was the builder of the Robert Fulton, which made the first successful ocean trip ever made by a steamship, from New York to New Orleans and Havana. In 1820 he was appointed naval constructor in charge of the BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, where he designed and superintended the construction of six ships of war. Leaving the service of the Government, he engaged again in ship-building on his own account, and constructed vessels for several European and South American countries. In 1831 he built a frigate for the Sultan of Turkey, and accompanied it to Constantinople, where the Sultan offered him the position of chief constructor in his navy. While engaged on plans for some new ships, he died at Constantinople in the following year.

Ford, Worthington Chauncey  (1858--)

An American author and Statistician, born and educated in Brooklyn, N.Y. After several years spent in the publishing and newspaper business, he was appointed, in 1885, chief of the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of State in Washington, continuing in that position until 1891. From 1893 to 1898 he was chief statistician of the Treasury Department, and in the latter year became connected with the Boston Public Library. In 1902 he was also appointed expert accountant to the municipal government of New York City.

Fowler, Frank (1852--)

An American figure and portrait painter, born July 12, 1852, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was educated by private tutors and at the Adelphi Academy in that city. After leaving school he studied for two years in Florence, Italy, under Edwin White. From Florence he went to Paris, where he studied for seven years under Carolus Duran and Cabanel, and at the Ecoloe des Beaux-Arts. He rendered valuable assistance to Duran on the fresco of Marie d' Medici at the Luxembourg. He has painted a number of public men, notably Governors Tilden and Flower, also Archbishop Corrigan Charles A. Dana, and others. He received medals at Paris and Atlanta. His technique is broad, with a fresh and delicate treatment, and he gives a faithful rendering of his subjects, with a poetic and imaginative conception.

MacMonnies, Frederick  (1863---)

An American Sculptor. He was born in Brooklyn, September 20, 1863. His father was of Scotch descent and his mother a niece of the American painter Benjamin West. At the age of seventeen he entered the atelier of Augustus Saint Gaudens in New York as an assistant, studying in the evening at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students' League. In 1884 he went to Europe, where, studying painting at Munich and sculpture at Paris, he entered the atelier of Falguiere, and after two years' study established an atelier of his own in Paris. His statue of Diana won honorable mention at the Salon of 1889. The statue of Nathan Hale, now in City Hall Park, New York, and that of James S.T. Stranahan, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, were exhibited in the Salon of 1891. Each of these works is successful, the clever manner in which the unavoidable realism of the Stranahan statue was managed being especially admired by the French critics.

In the Salon of 1892 Macmonnies exhibited the little fountain figure called "Pan of Rohallion," and the "Boy with a Heron." The most important of his works, and the one which has done most to secure his reputation, was the colossal fountain in the Court of Honor at the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. His statue of a Bacchante, exhibited in the Salon this statue, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, in the court of the Boston Public Library excited much criticism. The activity of Macmonnies has been very great. His best known works, besides the above, are: the statue of Sir Henry Vane, in the Boston Public Library; the two pediments of the Bowery Savings Bank, in New York; the spandrels of the Washington Memorial Arch, in New York; and the Army and Navy groups for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, in Indianapolis. He did much work for the Congressional Library in Washington, including the bronze doors and a statue of Shakespeare.

He also executed the decorations of the triumphal arch at the main entrance to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and the Battle Monument at West Point. The two groups of athletes and horses at the southern entrance to Prospect Park are as fine examples of park sculpture in bronze as can be found. Since 1900, in which year Macmonnies returned to the United States, he has devoted himself increasingly to painting. Besides other honors, he received a medal at the World's Fair, Chicago, in 1893. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1898, and won a grand prize of honor at the Paris Exposition of 1900. He is above all a brilliant technician. His conceptions are always delicate and refined, his composition unique and original. Consult Greer, "Frederick Macmonnies," in Brush and Pencil (1902).

McAlpine, William Jarvis (1812-90)

An American civil engineer. He was born in New York, and after completing his education began engineering and later directed the eastern division of the Erie Canal enlargement until 1846, when he was chosen to construct the dry-dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1852 he was elected State Engineer of New York, and in 1854-56 State Railroad Commissioner. Subsequently he was for two years engineer and acting president of the Erie Railroad, and constructed the water-works of Chicago and Albany. In 1870 he presented plans which were accepted by the Austrian Government for the improvement of the cataracts of the Danube..


Roebling, John Augustus  (1806-69)

An American engineer. He was born at Muhlhausen, Prussia, and studied civil engineering at the Polytechnic School of Berlin. In 1831 he came to America and settled near Pittsburg, Pa. He was made assistant engineer on the slack-water navigation of the Beaver River. After similar engagements in other places, he was appointed to survey the route across the Alleghanies adopted by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He then began the manufacture of wire rope, and in 1844-45 replaced the wooden aqueduct of the Pennsylvania Canal across the Allegheney River by a suspension aqueduct. Afterwards he constructed the Monongahela suspension bridge at Pittsburg, and from 1848-50 four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware and Hudson Canal. He established his works at Trenton, N.J., and in 1851 began the great suspension bridge over the Niagara River. In 1867 he began the Cincinnati suspension bridge, which has a clear span of 1057 feet. His last enterprise was the bridge across the East River, connecting Brooklyn and New York. The designs were completed and work had begun on the bridge when Mr. Roebling died from the result of an injury he had received while directing the construction. He published Long and Short Span Bridges (1869). See Bridge.

Roebling, Washington Augustus (1837---)

 An American civil engineer, son of John A. Roebling. He was born at Saxonburg, near Pittsburgh, Pa., graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, in 1857, worked under his father on the Allegheny suspension bridge, and at the beginning of the Civil War entered the Federal army as a private in the Sixth New York Artillery. Save for the first year of his enlistment he was on staff duty. After the evacuation of Yorktown he built a 1200-foot suspension bridge across the Rappahannock. In the second Bull Run campaign he built a bridge at Harper's Ferry across the Shenandoah River. While reconnoitering from a balloon, he is said to have first discovered Lee's movement from Fredericksburg toward Pennsylvania. 

On retiring from the army he undertook the completion of the Cincinnati and Covington bridge. Having spent some time in Europe studying pneumatic foundations, in 1869 he succeeded to the complete charge of the construction of the great New York and Brooklyn bridge. He considerably changed his father's plans, especially by increasing the size of the anchor plates. His devotion to the work and especially his almost continuous stay in the compressed-air caissons proved too much for an already weakened constitution, and from 1873 to the completion of the bridge in 1883 he had to direct the work from his sick-room. After 1883 he settled in Trenton, as head of the wire business established by his father.

Smith, Munroe (1854--)

An American jurist and historian, born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He graduated at Amherst in 1874, and at Columbia Law School in 1877, and in 1880 received the degree of J. U.D. at Gottingen. He was instructor in Columbia from 1880 to 1883, and adjunct professor of history until 1891, when he was appointed professor of Roman law and comparative jurisprudence. He became an editor of the Political Science Quarterly in 1886, wrote articles on Roman law and cognate subjects for the New International Encyclopedia.

Stephen , Decatur Trenchard (1818-83)

An American naval officer, born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He became a midshipman at the age of sixteen; was promoted to passed midshipman in July, 1840; was wrecked in the Washington off the coast of North Carolina in 1845; was attached to the Saratoga during the Mexican War; became a lieutenant in 1847; and was slightly wounded while serving under Tatnall when that officer assisted the English in their attack on the Pei-ho forts in China. During the Civil War he served on the Rhode Island; was made commander in July, 1862 and participated in the bombardments of Fort Fisher in 1864 and 1865. He was promoted to be captain in 1866, to be commodore in 1871, and to be rear-admiral in 1875; commanded the North Atlantic Squadron in 1876-78; and retired in 1880.

Stiles, Henry Reed (1832--)

An American physician and author, born in New York City. He was educated at the College of the City of New York, and at Williams, subsequently studied medicine, and practiced for a short time. In 1857 he began the publication of The American Journal of Education. In 1859 he resumed his medical practice, and in 1863 became librarian of the Long Island Historical Society. In 1873 he became superintendent of the New York Homoeopathic Insane Asylum at Middletown, N.Y., and from 1877 to 1881 was director of the Homoeopathic Dispensary at Dundee, Scotland. From 1882 to 1885 he was professor of mental and nervous diseases in the New York Woman's Medical College. His publications include: The History of the City of Brooklyn, New York (1867-70), The Wallabout Prison-Ship Series (1865).

Storrs, Richard Slater (1821-1900)

An American Congregational minister, born at Braintree, Mass. He graduated at Amherst College, 1839, and Andover Theological Seminary, 1845; was ordained pastor of the Harvard Congregational Church, Brookline, Mass., the same year; pastor of the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1846, and so remained till his death. He was much sought after as an orator to such demands. But he united learning with oratorical power, and his works have permanent elements.

Thomas, Theodore (1835-1904)

A distinguished German-American orchestral conductor, born in Esens, East Friesland. He received his musical education from his father, and played the violin at public concerts when only six years of age. He came with his parents to America in 1845, and was a member of the orchestra of the Italian opera in New York. He played first violin in the first American concert tour of Jenny Lind. In 1861 he began the formation of his famous orchestra, and in 1864 gave his first symphony concerts in New York. In 1866 he instituted his summer-night festivals. IN 1869 he conceived the idea of traveling during the time unoccupied in New York, and for nine years he made an annual round of the principal American cities.

In 1878 he accepted the position of director of the College of Music at Cincinnati, but in the spring of 1880 he resigned his position to return to New York. From 1878 to 1890 he was the conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, and in 1890 he went to Chicago. The orchestra which he built up in Chicago became one of the recognized great orchestras of the world, and notwithstanding the heavy annual deficit which was a feature of many of the years of its existence, its guarantors supported Thomas in his unswerving determination to present nothing but the best in music. He refused to cater to the popular taste, and finally succeeded in winning the public to his own ideals.

Vandewater, George Roe (1854--)

An American Protestant Episcopal clergyman, born at Flushing, L.I. and educated at Cornell and at the General Theological Seminary, New York City, where he graduated in 1879. He became rector of Saint Luke's Church, in Brooklyn, organized the congregation of Saint Bartholomew, and was appointed general secretary of the parochial mission society. In 1888 he assumed charge of Saint Andrew's, New York City. Dr. Vandewater was chaplain of the Seventy-First New York Regiment, and served with that body during the Spanish-American War, and in 1892 was appointed chaplain of Columbia University.

Vincent, Frank (1848--)

An American traveler and author, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and educated at Yale. He spent many years in traveling in almost all parts of the world, and in 1884 he presented to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art a valuable collection of Indo-Chinese antiquities and art and industrial objects. Among his published works are: The Land of the White Elephant (1874); Through and Through the Tropics (1876); Two Months in Burmah (1877).

Weaver, Henry A. (1832-1903)

An American actor. He was born in London, England, but was brought to the United States when a child. His debut on the professional stage was made in Brooklyn in 1853. During his long career he supported "Lotta" (playing Quilp in her Little Nell and the Marchioness, Boston, 1866), Mme. Janauschek, J. B. Booth, Tommaso Salvini (with whom he played Iago).