Encyclopedia of Civil War Biography - N
NAGLE, James, soldier, born in Reading, Pennsylvania, 5 April, 1822; died in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 22 August, 1866. In 1842 he organized the Washington artillery Company, and, when war was declared against Mexico, he enlisted with it as the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers. His regiment was stationed at Perote castle to keep open the communication with Vera Cruz during its siege. He assisted in routing a force of guerillas at La Hova, fought at Huamantla, Puebla, Atlixco, entered the city and was finally stationed at San Angel until the close of the war. He was mustered out of service with his company at Philadelphia on 27 July, 1848, and the inhabitants of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, presented him with a sword. In 1851 he was commissioned colonel of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, and in that year organized the 48th Pennsylvania, of which he was made colonel. He served at Fort Monroe, Hatteras Island, and Newborn, and commanded a brigade in the 9th Army Corps in the second battle of Bull Run. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 10 September, 1862, and at Antietam his brigade performed an important part in carrying Antietam bridge, which, according to General McClellan, saved the day. His appointment expired on 4 March, 1863, but was renewed on 13 March, and he served with his brigade in Kentucky until 9 May, when he resigned, owing to impaired health. When General Lee invaded Pennsylvania in June, 1863, General Nagle organized the 39th Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia, was commissioned its colonel, and commanded a brigade, but was mustered out on 2 August, 1863. In 1864 he organized the 149th Pennsylvania Regiment for 100 days' service, became its colonel, and guarded the approaches to Baltimore until the expiration of his service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 475-476.
NAGLEE, Henry Morris, soldier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 15 January, 1815; died in San Francisco, California, 5 March, 1886. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1835, and assigned to the 5th U.S. Infantry, but resigned his commission on 31 December of that year and became a civil engineer. At the beginning of the Mexican War he returned to military service, and on 15 August. 1846, became captain in the 1st New York Volunteers, serving through the war. At its close he engaged in banking in San Francisco, California, until the Civil War, when he was reappointed in the U. S. Army with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the 16th Infantry, 14 May, 1861. He did not join his regiment, but resigned on 10 January, 1862, and was reappointed in the volunteer service with the rank of brigadier-general on 4 February of the same year, he participated in the defence of Washington in 1862, and in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, being wounded at Fair Oaks. He then led a division in the Department of North Carolina and in the Department of the South at St. Helena Island, and in 1863 commanded the 7th Army Corps and the District of Virginia. On 4 April, 1864, he was mustered out of service. He then resumed banking in San Francisco, and also engaged in vine-culture. His vineyard at San Jose included more than fifty acres, and was devoted chiefly to the cultivation of Riesling and Charhonneau grapes, from which the Naglee brandy is made. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 476.
NAST, Thomas, caricaturist, born in Landau, Bavaria, 27 September, 1840. He was brought to the United States by his father in 1846. When a boy of fourteen he spent about six months in the drawing classes of Theodore Kaufmann, and then, with no other preparatory art-instruction, was engaged as a draughtsman on an illustrated paper. In 1860 he went to England as special artist of a New York weekly paper, and thence he went, to Italy, where he followed Garibaldi, making sketches for the “New York Illustrated News," the "London Illustrated News." and " Le Monde Illustre" of Paris. He returned to New York in 1861, and in July, 1862, began drawing war sketches for "Harper's Weekly." His very first political caricature, an allegorical design that gave a powerful blow to the Peace Party, was a success; it brought him at once into public notice, and he immediately became popular. Besides his work for "Harper's Weekly,'' by which he is best known, he has drawn for other comic papers, has illustrated several books, notably those of "Petroleum V. Nasby," and for several years after 1872 he issued "Nast's Illustrated Almanac." In 1866 he executed a series of sixty caricatures of well-known men in water-colors for " Bal d'opera," and in 1873 he lectured in the principal cities of the United States, drawing caricatures on the stage, by way of illustration, in black and white, and also with colored crayons. He appeared again on the lecture platform in 1885, executing landscapes in oil and other sketches with extreme rapidity, and a third time in 1887. In his particular line, pictorial satire, Nast stands in the foremost rank, and his talent in that respect has been productive of some excellent results, as in the overthrow of the Tweed ring in New York City. He has always been a Republican, but in 1884 he gave the Democratic candidate his support. Mr. Nast's friends in the U. S. Army and Navy presented him in 1879 with a testimonial in the shape of a silver cup. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 480-481.
NEAL, Elizabeth, delegate to the (Garrisonian) Anti-Slavery Society, Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Eastern Branch, Philadelphia. Attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in June 1840. (Dumond, 1961, p. 286)
NEALL, Elizabeth, abolitionist leader, women’s rights activist. Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PFASS). Officer, Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society (PASS). Attended World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London, 1840. Wife of abolitionist Daniel Neall. (Sinha, 2016, pp. 288-289; Yellin, 1994, pp. 84, 301-302, 307, 316, 332-333)
NEALL, Rebecca Bunker, abolitionist, member of the New England Non-Resistance Society (Yellin, 1994, pp. 292-293)
NEEDLES, John, Baltimore, Maryland, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840, 1840-41
NEEDLES, Mary, abolitionist, Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Yellin, 1994, pp. 74, 80)
NEGLEY, James Scott, soldier, born in East Liberty, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, 20 December, 1826. He was educated at Western University, enlisted as a private in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment in 1846, and served in most of the important engagements during the Mexican War, at the conclusion of which becoming a fanner and horticulturist. He raised a brigade of three months' volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War, was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers in April, 1861, served in Alabama and Tennessee with the Army of the Ohio, and at the battle of Lavergne, 7 October, 1862, was in command, defeating the Confederates under General Eichard H. Anderson and General Nathan B. Forrest. He was promoted major-general for gallantry at Stone River, 29 November, 1862, was engaged in the Georgia Campaign, and at the battle of Chickamauga, 19-20 September, 1863, held Owen's Gap. He settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, after the war and represented that city in Congress in 1869-'70 and in 1885-'7, being elected as a Republican. He then moved to New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 487.
NEILL, John, physician, born in Philadelphia, 9 July, 1819; died there, 11 February, 1880. His father, Henry, was a well-known physician of Philadelphia. The son was graduated in arts at the University of Pennsylvania in 1837 and in medicine in 1840. He began practice in Philadelphia, spent a short time in the West Indies in 1841, and in 1842 was appointed assistant demonstrator of anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, where in 1845 he became demonstrator. In 1847 he was elected surgeon to Wills Hospital and lectured on anatomy at the. Medical Institute of Philadelphia, and in 1849 he was appointed physician to the Southeastern Cholera Hospital, where his method of treatment formed the basis of a report that was published by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was elected professor of surgery in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, in 1854, surgeon to the Philadelphia Hospital in 1855, surgeon in charge of military hospitals in Philadelphia in 1861, and organized the first eight general hospitals of that city. In 1862 he was commissioned surgeon of U. S. Volunteers, and in 1863 appointed medical director of the forces from Pennsylvania. The same year he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for meritorious services. Dr. Neill established the hospital at Dickinson College after the bombardment of Carlisle, also the hospitals at Hagerstown, and was afterward appointed port surgeon at Philadelphia. In 1874 he became professor of clinical surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, which chair he resigned in May, 1877. In addition to many articles in medical journals he wrote " Neill on the Veins" (Philadelphia. 1852): and. in connection with Professor Francis G. Smith, "Neill and Smith's Compend of Medicine" (Philadelphia, 1848). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 487.
NIELL, Edward Duffield, author, born in Philadelphia, 9 August, 1823. after studying at the University of Pennsylvania, was graduated at Amherst in 1842. He studied theology at Andover and Philadelphia, was a Presbyterian minister in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1849-'60, and has been pastor of the Reformed Episcopal Church of that city since 1884. He was superintendent of public instruction, and chancellor of the University of Minnesota in 1858-'61; chaplain of the 1st Minnesota Regiment, and hospital chaplain in 1861-4: secretary to the president of the United States for signing land patents in 1864-'9; and U. S. consul at Dublin, Ireland, in 1869-70. He was president of Macalester College, Minneapolis, in 1873-'84, and since 1884 has been professor of history, literature, and political economy in that institution. He has received the degree of D. D. from Lafayette College. His principal works are, "History of Minnesota" (Philadelphia, 1858); "Terra Maria;, or Threads of Maryland Colonial History" (1867); "Virginian Company of London" (Albany, 1808): "English Colonization of America " (London, 1871); "Founders of Maryland" (Albany, 1876): "Virginia Vetusta, the Colony under James the First" (1885); "Virginia Carolorum" (1886); and " Concise History of Minnesota" (Minneapolis, 1887). He has written many articles for historical magazines, and has been a frequent contributor to the publications of the Minnesota Historical Society. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 487-488.
NIELL, Thomas Hewson, soldier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 April, 1826; died there, 12 March, 1885, passed two years in the University of Pennsylvania, and was then appointed to the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1847. He was assigned to the infantry, and served on frontier duty till the Civil War, with the exception of the years 1853-'7, when he was assistant professor of drawing at West Point. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, 31 July, 1850, and captain, 1 April, 1857, and, after doing duty in the mustering and organization of regiments early in the Civil War, became, on 17 February, 1862, colonel of the 23d Pennsylvania Volunteers. He served through the Peninsular Campaign, where he was brevetted major. U. S. Army, for gallantry at Malvern Hill, commanded a brigade in the Maryland Campaign, where he guarded the crossings of the Potomac in September and October, 1862, and on 29 November was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He was in the Rappahannock Campaign, received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for his services at the battle of Chancellorsville, was engaged at Gettysburg after a forced march of thirty-five miles, and took part in the succeeding operations of the Army of the Potomac till the autumn of 1864, being brevetted colonel for gallantry at Spottsylvania. He was acting inspector-general in Sheridan's Shenandoah Campaign, and at the close of the war received the brevets of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, and major-general of volunteers. He then served in various capacities till 1869, when he was made lieutenant-colonel of the 1st U.S. Infantry and commanded the general recruiting depot at Governor's Island, New York, till 1871, when, having been transferred to the 6th U.S. Cavalry, he commanded that regiment on the frontier, operating against the Cheyenne Indians in 1874-'5. He was commandant of cadets at the U. S. Military Academy from 1875 till 1879, when he became colonel of the 8th U.S. Cavalry, and on 2 April, 1883, he was retired for "disability in the line of duty." He was a very handsome man, and was popularly known as " Beau Neill." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 488.
NELL, Lavinia, African American, abolitionist (Yellin, 1994, p. 58n40)
NELL, Louisa, African American, abolitionist (Yellin, 1994, p. 58n40)
NELL, William Cooper, 1816-1874, African American, abolitionist leader, author, civil rights activist, community leader. Wrote Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812. First African American to be appointed a clerk in the U.S. Post Office. Active in equal rights for African American school children in Boston, Massachusetts. (Mabee, 1970, pp. 98, 105, 116, 124, 126, 150, 157, 164, 165, 166, 171-181, 291n24, 295, 337; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 54; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 489; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 413; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 8, p. 429)
NELL, William Cooper, author, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 20 December, 1816; died there, 25 May, 1874. He was of African descent. He was graduated at Boston Grammar-School, winning a medal for scholarship, read law with William I. Bowditch, and was prepared for admission to the bar, but by advice of Wendell Phillips would not take the oath of allegiance to the constitution with slavery. He became a clerk in the Boston Post-Office in 1861, being the first colored man to hold a post under the National government, and remained there till his death. Mr. Nell was active in his efforts for the improvement of his race, obtaining equal school privileges for the colored youth of Boston, and forming many literary societies. Besides several pamphlets, he published “Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776-1812”; and “Colored Patriots of the American Revolution,” with an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Boston, 1855). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 489.
NELSON, Daniel Thurber, physician, born in Milford, Massachusetts, 16 September, 1839. He was graduated at Amherst in 1801, and at Harvard Medical school in 1865. Meanwhile, in 1861-'2, he was a medical cadet at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and in 1863-'5 acting assistant surgeon in the armies of the James and of the Potomac. Dr. Nelson then established himself in Chicago and engaged in general practice, giving special attention to gynecology. In 1866 he was elected professor of physiology and histology at Chicago Medical College, which chair he then held until 1880, and in 1881 he was made adjunct professor of gynecology at Rush Medical College. He is also attending physician at Mercy Hospital. Dr. Nelson has invented an improved trivalve speculum and other surgical instruments. His publications have been restricted to contributions to the medical journals. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 490.
NELSON, David, Quincy, Illinois, abolitionist. American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS).
NELSON, David, 1793-1844, Tennessee, abolitionist leader, Army surgeon, clergyman. Pastor in the Presbyterian Church, Danville, Kentucky, in 1828. Slaveholder who freed his enslaved persons. President of Marion College, Palmyra, Missouri. Advocate of compensated emancipation. Agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS). (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 491; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 414; Dumond, 1961, pp. 92, 135, 199, 223; Mabee, 1970, p. 35; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 617)
NELSON, David, clergyman, born near Jonesborough, Tennessee, 24 September, 1793; died in Oakland, Illinois, 17 October, 1844. He was educated at Washington College, Virginia, and studied medicine at Danville, Kentucky, and Philadelphia, where he was graduated. He went to Canada with a Kentucky regiment as surgeon in the war of 1812, subsequently accompanied the Army of General Andrew Jackson to Alabama and Florida, and after the establishment of peace settled in practice in Jonesborough. He had early in life made a profession of religion, but had relapsed into infidelity. Becoming convinced anew of the truth of Christianity, he left a lucrative professional career to enter the Presbyterian ministry, and was licensed in April, 1825. He preached for nearly three years in Tennessee, and at the same time was connected with the “Calvinistic Magazine” at Rogersville. In 1828 he succeeded his brother Samuel as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Danville, Kentucky, and in 1830 he moved to Missouri and established Marion College, twelve miles from Palmyra, of which he became president. In 1836, in consequence of the slavery question, Dr. Nelson, who was an ardent advocate of emancipation, moved to the neighborhood of Quincy, Illinois, and established an institute for the education of young men. In addition to articles for the religious press, he published “Cause and Cure of Infidelity” (New York, 1836), which has been republished in London and elsewhere. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 491.
NELSON, Homer A., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
NELSON, Samuel, jurist, born in Hebron, Washington County, New York, 10 November, 1792; died in Cooperstown, New York, 13 December, 1873. He was of Scotch-Irish lineage; his ancestor emigrated to this country in 1760, settling in Salem, New York. Samuel was graduated at Middlebury in l813, studied law in Salem under Chief Justice Savage, and in 1817 was admitted to the bar of Madison, New York. In trying his first suit in the court of common pleas he detected an error in practice on the part of his opponent, procured a stay of proceedings, and ultimately gained his cause. This success gave him reputation and clients. His first appearance in politics was in 1820, when he was a presidential elector, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1822, in which he advocated the excision of the property qualification of voters, was circuit judge in 1823-'31, at the latter date became associate justice of the supreme court of New York, and in 1837 was elevated to the chief justiceship, presiding for eight years. he was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1844 which made the office of judge elective, and in 1845 was appointed by President Tyler to succeed Judge Smith Thompson on the Supreme Court of the United States. In this court his decisions commanded the respect of bar and bench. In the famous Dred Scott case he concurred with the decision of Chief-Justice Taney, urging that if congress possessed power under the constitution to abolish slavery, it must necessarily possess the like power to establish it. During the Civil War his conservatism as well as his life-long political affinities led him to regret what he considered the encroachments of the military on the civil power, but his relations with the administration were harmonious, and his loyalty was unquestioned. In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant to serve on the joint high commission to arbitrate the "Alabama" claims on the part of the United States. This duty required a temporary cessation of his attendance on the bench, and exposure during the meetings of the commission caused an illness that compelled his resignation in October, 1872. Judge Nelson was of a grave and dignified appearance, slow in forming his judgments and reluctant to express them if they were unfavorable. He received the degree of LL. D. from Columbia in 1841. —His son, Rensselaer Russell, jurist, born in Cooperstown, New York, 12 May, 1826, was graduated at Yale in 1846, studied law, and in 1849 was admitted to the New York City bar. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1850, became associate justice of the supreme court of the territory in 1857, and in 1858 U. S. District Judge of the state of Minnesota, which office he still (1888) holds. In 1875 an opinion that he delivered on the civil rights bill attracted attention from the liberality of its views. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 490-491.
NELSON, Thomas Amos Rogers, Congressman, born in Roane County, Tennessee, 19 March, 1812: died in Knoxville, Tennessee, 24 August, 1873. He was graduated at. East Tennessee College in 1828, admitted to the bar in 1832, and appointed U. S. District Attorney for the 1st District of Tennessee the next year. He canvassed this district as a candidate for elector on the Clay ticket in 1844 and for General Taylor in 1848. Mr. Nelson was appointed U. S. minister to China in 1851, but declined, and in 1858 was elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving in 1859-'61. During the Civil War he adhered to the Union, and at its close he did much to conciliate conflicting factions. He was one of the counsel that defended President Johnson on his impeachment in 1868, and in 1870 was elected a judge of the state supreme court, but resigned after one year's service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 482.
NELSON, Thomas Henry, diplomatist, born in Mason County, Kentucky, 12 August, 1824. He studied law in Maysville, Kentucky. and moved to Rockville and subsequently to Terre Haute, Indiana. where he was a leader of the Whig Party and afterward a founder of the Republican Party. He served several times in state and national conventions and was a candidate for Congress, but was defeated. In 1861-'6 he was U. S. minister to Chili, and won great personal popularity by his bravery in the rescue of numerous persons at the burning of the Santiago Cathedral, 6 December, 1864. He also took an active part as mediator in the war between Chili and Spain in 1864-'6. He was U. S. minister to Mexico in 1869-'73. Since the expiration of his term of office he has practised law in Washington, D. C, and in Terre Haute, Indiana [Brother of General William Nelson]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 492-493.
NELSON, William, soldier, born in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1825; died in Louisville, Kentucky, 29 September, 1862, entered the U. S. Navy in 1840, commanded a battery at the siege of Vera Cruz, and afterward served in the Mediterranean. He became master in 1854, lieutenant in 1855, and in 1858 was ordered to the "Niagara," in which he carried back to Africa the Negroes that were taken from the slaver "Echo." He was on ordnance duty in Washington, D. C, at the beginning of the Civil War, was promoted lieutenant-commander in 1861, and was in charge of the gunboats on Ohio River, but soon exchanged the naval for military service, and in September became brigadier general of volunteers. He organized Camp Dick Robinson, between Garrardsville and Danville, Kentucky, and another in Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, was successful in several engagements in eastern Kentucky, raised several regiments, commanded the 2d Division of General Don Carlos Buell's army, which was the first to join General Grant at the battle of Shiloh, and was wounded at Richmond, Kentucky. He was in command at Louisville when that city was threatened by General Braxton Bragg, and in July, 1862, was appointed major-general of volunteers. He was shot to death by General Jefferson C. Davis in an altercation with that officer at the Galt house, in Louisville, Kentucky [Brother of Thomas Henry Nelson]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 493.
NESMITH, James Willis, 1820-1885, jurist, lawyer. U.S. Senator from Oregon. U.S. Senator 1861-1867. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 494-495; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 430; Congressional Globe)
NESMITH, James Willis, senator, born in New Brunswick, Canada, 23 July, 1820; died in Polk County, Oregon, 17 June, 1885. He was left an orphan at an early age, received no education, and was forced to earn his livelihood. He moved to the United States, and in 1843 went with the first emigrants to Oregon, where he took an active part in forming the provisional government. He was made a judge in 1845, having studied law during two years in Oregon City. He commanded as captain two expeditions against the Indians during the Cayuse War of 1848, and the Yakima War in 1855. In 1853-'5 he was U. S. Marshal for Oregon. He was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon and Washington Territories in 1857, and was elected U. S. Senator for the term from 1861 till 1867, serving on the committees on Military and Indian affairs, a special committee that was appointed to visit the Indian tribes of the west, and those on Commerce and Revolutionary Claims. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia Union Convention of 1866, and subsequently was appointed U. S. minister to Austria, but was not confirmed. While engaged in farming in Oregon he was elected to Congress as a Democrat to fill a vacancy, serving from 1 December, 1873, till 3 March, 1875. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 494-495.
NESMITH, John, manufacturer, born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, 3 August, 1793; died in Lowell, Massachusetts, 15 October, 1869. After serving an apprenticeship in a country store he entered into business with his brother Thomas, and, removing to New York, became a successful merchant. In 1831 he settled in Lowell, Massachusetts, and invested largely in real estate, Purchasing the Gedney estate in Belvidere with its large mansion, the Old Yellow House, which was erected in 1750, and is still in possession of his family. He then laid out several streets, giving his name to one of them, and his purchase, being made soon after the formation of the Merrimac Manufacturing Company, secured him much wealth. He was a large owner in the Merrimac Woollen-Mills Company, and made a large sum by obtaining the supply of water in Winnipiseogee and Squam Lakes as reservoirs for the Lowell Mills in dry seasons. He secured the site for the city of Lawrence, and also the control of water-power there. Mr. Nesmith invented a machine for making wire-fences, and another for making shawl-fringe. He held various political offices in Lowell, and contributed largely to the pecuniary support of the anti-slavery movement. He served as an elector on the Lincoln tickets of 1860 and 1864, was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts in 1862, declined a re-election in 1863, and was appointed collector of internal revenue for his district in 1863, holding this office until a few days before his death. He provided in his will for the foundation of a "Nesmith Fund" for the support, education, and maintenance of the indigent blind of New Hampshire, and also bequeathed money for a public park in Franklin, New Hampshire. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 498.
NEVIN, John Williamson's, William Wilberforce, editor, born in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, 1 March, 1836, was graduated at Franklin and Marshall College in 1853, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1807. He served as captain and assistant adjutant-general of U. S. volunteers in 1861-'5, was editor of the "Philadelphia Press " and president of the " Press" Publishing Company from 1867 till 1878, and since 1880 has been a director in various railroad companies. He has been largely engaged in railway building in Mexico. He is the author of " Vignettes of Travel" (Philadelphia, 1880). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 500.
NEW, John Chalfant, financier, born in Vernon, Jennings County, Indiana, 6 July, 1831. He was graduated at Bethany College, Virginia, in 1851, studied law, and in 1856 was appointed clerk of Marion County Courts. In 1861 he became quartermaster-general of Indiana, and served through the Civil War until his election to the state senate. He was also financial secretary to Governor Oliver P. Morton, and in 1865 became cashier in the First National Bank of Indianapolis, of which he was afterward president. In 1875-'6 he was U. S. treasurer, and he served as assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1882 till his resignation in 1884. Since 1874 he has been a member of the Republican National Committee, and was chairman of the Republican State Committee of Indiana during the presidential canvasses of 1880 and 1884. In 1878 he became editor and proprietor of the Indianapolis " Daily Journal." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 500.
NEWBERRY, John Strong, geologist, born in Windsor, Connecticut, 22 December, 1822. He was graduated at Western Reserve College in 1840 and at Cleveland Medical College in 1848. after which he spent nearly two years in study and travel abroad. Early in 1851 he settled in Cleveland, and there began the practice of medicine, which he continued until 1855. In May of that year he was appointed acting assistant surgeon and geologist to the exploring party under Lieutenant Robert S. Williamson that was sent to examine the count between San Francisco and Columbia River, and his reports on the geology, botany, and zoology of northern California are contained in the sixth volume of the " Reports of Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most Practical and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, made in 1853-6" (Washington, 1857). He accompanied Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives in the exploration and navigation of Colorado River. Entering at its mouth, the party ascended it by steamer 500 miles to the entrance of the great canon, and spent nearly a year in exploring the nation above this point. His observations formed the most interesting material that was gathered by the expedition, and fully half of the "Report upon the Colorado River of the West explored in 1857-'8" (Washington, 1861) was written by him. On the completion of this work Dr. Newberry was assigned to an expedition for the exploration of the San Juan and upper Colorado Rivers under the command of Captain John N. Macomb. In this service he spent the summer of 1859 in travelling over parts of southern Colorado, Utah, northern Arizona, and New Mexico, studying a large area of country that was before unknown, but has since proved to be rich in minerals and to be covered with the traces of an ancient civilization. This information, whose publication was long delayed, was incorporated in a " Report of the Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers" (Washington, 1876). He was elected a member of the U. S. Sanitary Commission on 14 June, 1861, although still on duty in the War Department. His medical knowledge and experience in the army led to his becoming an important member of that commission. The first sanitary inspection of troops in the west was made at Cairo, Illinois, by him, in connection with Reverend Henry W. Bellows and Dr. William H. Mussey. In September, 1861, he resigned from the army and became secretary of the western department of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, having supervision of all the work of the commission in the valley of the Mississippi, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. The first distributing depot in the west was opened in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 8 October, and was the source from which the hospitals at Wheeling, Clarksburg, Parkersburg, and other military points were supplied with a large part of their equipment. Dr. Newberry organized the whole of the comprehensive machinery of the commission in the large section that was committed to his care, and by his practical suggestions and enthusiasm stimulated the formation of the tributary societies. From 1 September, 1861, till 1 July, 1866, he expended more than $800,000 in money, and distributed hospital stores that wore valued at more than $5,000,000. During this time the names of more than 850,000 soldiers were collected and recorded in the hospital directory in Louisville, Kentucky, and food and shelter were given in the various homes of the commission to more than 1,000,000 soldiers, for whom no other adequate provision was made. A full account of this work is given in his report of "The U. S. Sanitary Commission in the Valley of the Mississippi" (Cleveland. 1871). After the war he was appointed professor of geology and paleontology at the Columbia College School of Mines, and took charge of that department in the autumn of 1866. This chair he has since continued to hold, and during his connection with this institution he has created a museum of over 100,000 specimens, principally collected by himself, which serve to illustrate his lectures in paleontology and economic geology. It contains the best representations of the mineral resources of the United States to be found anywhere, as well as many unique and remarkable fossils. In 1869 Dr. Newberry was appointed state geologist of Ohio, which office he filled during the continuation of the survey, and made reports on all of the counties of the state. The results of his work are given in nine volumes, of which six are on the geology, two on the paleontology, and one on the zoology of the state, with a large number of geological maps. Since the completion of this survey he has been associated in the work of the New Jersey Geological Survey, and has reported "On the Fossil Fishes and Plants of the Trias," and "On the Flora of the Amboy Clays" of that state. In 1884 he was appointed paleontologist to the U. S. Geological Survey, and has had charge of parts of the fossil botany and fishes, concerning which he has prepared a monograph on the " Paleozoic Fishes of North America," and on the fossil plants of the cretaceous and tertiary rocks of the far west. Dr. Newberry has been consulted as an expert with reference to raining property, and he has travelled extensively for this purpose through the mining districts of the United States. During the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876 he was one of the judges, and in 1867 he received the degree of LL. D., from Western Reserve College. In January, 1888, the Geological Society of London conferred on him its Murchison Medal. He is a member of scientific societies, both in the United States and Europe. In 1863 he was named by Congress one of the corporate members of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1867 he was president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, delivering his retiring address on "Modern Scientific Investigation: its Methods and Tendencies." He has held the office of president of the New York Academy of Sciences since 1867, and is also president of the Torrey Botanical club. Besides the volumes that have been mentioned, Dr. Newberry's separate papers contributed to various sources include upward of 200 titles, chiefly in the departments of geology and paleontology, but also in zoology and botany. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 500-501.
NEWBERRY, John Stoughton, lawyer, born in Waterville, New York, 18 November, 1826; died in Detroit, Michigan, 2 January, 1887, was graduated at the University of Michigan in 1845, became a civil engineer, and engaged in the laying out and construction of the Michigan Central Railroad on its line west of Kalamazoo. He then studied law and entered on the practice of that profession in 1853 in Detroit, where he soon acquired a large practice in admiralty and maritime cases before the U. S. Courts. Eventually he made a specialty of that department of law, in which he acquired the distinction of being one of the foremost authorities in (he west. In 1864 he became associated with James McMillan (q. v.) in the organization of the Michigan Car Company, a corporation that ultimately became the largest firm of car-builders in the United States, controlling similar factories in St. Louis, Missouri, and London, Ontario. He held the office of president, vice-president, or director in more than a score of incorporated companies that gave employment to more than 5,000 men, thus materially aiding in the development of Michigan. His time became gradually absorbed in the care of these enterprises until he entirely relinquished his law-practice. In 1862 he was appointed provost-marshal for Michigan, and served for two years, during which time he had charge of two drafts, with the forwarding of conscripts and enlisted soldiers to the seat of war. He was elected to Congress as a Republican, and served from 18 March, 1879, till 4 March. 1881, but refused a renomination in order to give his attention more exclusively to his business enterprises. Mr. Newberry accumulated a large fortune, and gave $100,000 toward the building of a public hospital in Detroit. He bequeathed to various benevolent purposes $600,000 in addition to his other legacies. He edited " Reports of Admiralty Cases, 1842-'57 " (New York, 1857). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 502.
NEWCOMB, Harvey, 1803-1863, clergyman, strong advocate for Black and Native American rights. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 502; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 1, p. 450; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 16, p. 328)
NEWCOMB, Harvey, clergyman, born in Thetford, Vermont, 2 September, 1803; died in Brooklyn, New York, 30 August, 1863. He moved to western New York in 1818, engaged in teaching for eight years, and from 1826 till 1831 edited several journals, of which the last was the “Christian Herald,” in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. For the ten following years he was engaged in writing and preparing books for the American Sunday-School Union. He was licensed to preach in 1840, took charge of a Congregational Church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and subsequently held other pastorates. He was an editor of the Boston “Traveller” in 1849, and in 1850-'1 assistant editor of the “New York Observer,” also preaching in the Park Street Mission Church of Brooklyn, and in 1859 he became pastor of a church in Hancock, Pennsylvania. He contributed regularly to the Boston “Recorder” and to the “Youth's Companion,” and also to a religious journal. He wrote 178 volumes, of which fourteen are on church history, the others being chiefly books for children including “Young Lady's Guide” (New York, 1839); “How to be a Man” (Boston, 1846); “How to be a Lady” (1846); and “Cyclopaedia of Missions” (1854; 4th ed., 1856). He also was the author of “Manners and Customs of the North American Indians” (2 vols., Pittsburg, 1835). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 502.
NEWCOMB, J., Braintree, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1839-40
NEWELL, William Augustus, governor of New Jersey, born in Franklin, Ohio, 5 September, 1819. He was graduated at Rutgers College grammar school in 1836, studied medicine, and settled in New Jersey. He was elected to Congress from that state as a Whig, serving from 6 December, 1847, till 3 March, 1851. From 1856 till 1860 he was governor of New Jersey, and he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention in Baltimore in 1864. He was elected to Congress as a Republican representative, serving from 4 December, 1865, till 3 March, 1867, on the committee on Revolutionary Claims, Foreign Affairs, and War Debts of the Loyal States, and was a delegate to the Philadelphia " Loyalists' Convention " of 1866. He originated and procured the first appropriation by Congress of $10,000 for the Life-Saving Stations on the New Jersey Coast, and was superintendent of Life-Saving Stations in New Jersey from 1861 till 1863. He was defeated as a candidate for governor of New Jersey in 1877, and in 1880 was appointed governor of Washington territory for a term of four years. He was Indian Commissioner in that territory in 1884-'6. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 504.
NEWHALL, Benjamin F., 1802-1863, abolitionist. Member, Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1842-1843. Member, Liberty and Free-Soil Parties. Active in Underground Railroad.
NEWMAN, William Henry, surgeon, born in Spencer County, Kentucky, 23 February, 1820; died in Pueblo, Colonel, 17 March. 1883. He was graduated at Jefferson Medical College in 1855, and practised in Bardstown, Kentucky, till 1863, when he moved to Louisville. Entering the National Army in 1862, he served as surgeon of the 3d and 10th Divisions of the Army of the Cumberland, and was in charge of hospitals in his native town until the end of 1863. He also held the rank of major and served on the staff of General James Jackson. In 1864 he was elected professor of obstetrics in the University of Louisville, but immediately resigned. In the autumn of 1865 he delivered a series of nine lectures on the surgical diseases of women, which, it is believed, were the first that were ever given on that subject. In performing ovariotomy in 1870 it is claimed that he first demonstrated the efficacy of carbolic acid as a local anesthetic. For three sessions, 1869-"70, he gave clinical lectures on the diseases of women at Louisville City Hospital. In 1872 he went to Denver, Colorado, on account of his health. He practised there and in Leadville for ten years, when he moved to Pueblo. He was an officer of several professional societies, contributed to medical periodical literature, and invented an obstetrical forceps. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 505.
NEWSHAM, Joseph Parkinson, lawyer, born in Preston, Lancashire, England, 24 May, 1837. He came early to this country, and was educated in the public schools at St. Louis, Missouri studying law, he was admitted to the bar in Illinois and Missouri in 1860, and practised in St. Louis. Entering the National Army, he served on the staff of General John C. Fremont, and afterward on that of General Andrew J. Smith during the entire campaign of the latter from Paducah to Shiloh. He was then adjutant of the 32d Missouri Volunteers, and resigned, 4 July, 1864. The same year he moved to Louisiana and took an active part in the work of reconstruction. He was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 1865, and was a member of the Reconstruction Convention of 1867-'8. He subsequently established and edited " The Feliciana Republican." the first Republican newspaper in that part of the state from 1868 till 1872. He sat in the 40th Congress, serving from 18 July, 1868, till 3 March, 1869, and was a candidate for re-election, but his opponent, Michael Ryan, Democrat, obtained the seat. On Mr. Newsham's asserting that fraud and intimidation had been used, the house, after investigation, declared the latter legally elected, and he consequently served from 25 May, 1870, till 5 December of the same year. Since then he has resided on his plantation at Bayou Sara, Louisiana, and served as parish judge and parish attorney. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 506.
NEWTON, Alexander Herritage, 1837-1921, African American, abolitionist, soldier, clergyman. Minister, African American Episcopal (AME) Church. Worked aiding fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 8, p. 448)
NEWTON, Calvin, Thomaston, Maine, Waterville College, Maine, abolitionist. Manager, 1833-1840, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833. Member, Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS), 1840-1844. (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833)
NEWTON, Isaac, naval architect, born in Schodack, New York, 16 January, 1794; died in New York City, 22 November, 1858. He was the son of Abner Newton, who served as an officer during the Revolutionary War. Early in life he turned his attention to the building of steamboats for navigation on Hudson River and the great lakes. Nearly ninety vessels for this purpose were constructed by him, including "Balloon," "Hendrick Hudson," " Knickerbocker," "North America," " Isaac Newton," and " The New World." The first anthracite coal used on a steam vessel was employed under his direction on the "North America." Mr. Newton was the founder of the People's Line of steamboats between Albany and New York, and he was also interested in the construction of many ocean steamers. He was associated in the development of the great transportation lines between New York and Chicago, including the New York Central and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railways. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 507.
NEWTON, Isaac, civil engineer, born in New York City, 4 August, 1837; died there, 25 September, 1884, studied letters at Hamilton College, civil engineering at the University of the City of New York, and medicine at the medical department of the latter institution, but received no degree. His practical education as an engineer was acquired at the Novelty Iron-Works, and at the Delamater Works, in New York City, after which he served as assistant engineer on the People's Line, and as chief engineer on one of the Collins Line between New York and Liverpool. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed 1st assistant engineer in the U. S. Navy, and in 1861 assigned to the "Roanoke." Subsequently he was associated with John Ericsson (q. v.) in the building of the " Monitor." He accompanied this iron-clad to Hampton Roads, and participated in the fight with the "Merrimac," on 9 March, 1862, having special charge of the engines and turret during the conflict. On the trip from New York to Hampton Roads the ventilation-apparatus of the vessel became deranged, and the gas from the furnaces escaped into the boiler-room, nearly causing the death of the stokers. At the risk of his life he entered the boiler-room, dragged the men out, and performed their work till the immediate danger was past, when he was taken insensible from the place. In his report of the battle, John L. Worden said of Newton: "In the emergency which arose in the passage to Hampton Roads he showed great readiness in resources and quickness in the application of them; in the action with the 'Merrimac' he did his duty with coolness, skill, and energy, thereby contributing largely to the successful result of the combat." Later he became supervising constructor of iron-clads for the U S. government in New York, and in this capacity superintended the building, among others, of the "Puritan" and" Dictator." He resigned from the navy on 8 February, 1865, and thereafter followed his profession in various capacities, until 1869, when he was appointed by Congress to investigate the condition of the navy. Subsequently he assisted General George B. McClellan in the work of reconstructing the Stevens Battery, and in 1872 became his assistant, when General McClellan was chief engineer of the department of public works in New York City. After various private engagements he was appointed one of the Rapid Transit Commission to arrange plans for the transportation of passengers and freight in New York City, out of whose deliberations grew the present system of elevated roads. In 1881 he was appointed chief engineer of the Department of Public Works in New York City, and he was identified with the beginnings of the new Croton Aqueduct. Mr. Newton was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of Mechanical Engineers, and other scientific bodies. His professional articles contributed to current literature were many, and he was an accepted authority in certain directions. [Son of Issac Newton, 1794-1858]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 507-508.
NEWTON, Isaac, commissioner of agriculture, born in Burlington County, New Jersey, 31 March, 1800; died in Washington, D. C, 19 June, 1867. He received a common-school education, and after his marriage settled on a farm in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Here he soon became known for the neatness, order, and productiveness of his land, and he eventually ranked among the model farmers of his state. He early became a member of its agricultural association, was frequently sent as a delegate to the meetings of the United States Agricultural Society, and introduced into the former organization a resolution urging Congress to establish a National Department of Agriculture. He also brought the plan to the attention successively of Presidents Harrison, Taylor, Fillmore, Buchanan, and Lincoln, whose personal acquaintance he enjoyed. To the last named he was indebted for the final adoption of his scheme. When the Agricultural Bureau had been authorized by Congress in 1862, Mr. Lincoln naturally offered the commissionership to Mr. Newton, to whose lot the organization of the department fell, and to whom its present efficiency is largely due. This office he held until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 508.
NEWTON, John, soldier, born in Norfolk, Virginia, 24 August, 1823. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1842, standing second in the class that included Henry L. Eustis, William S. Rosecrans, John Pope, Seth Williams, Daniel H. Hill, Earl Van Dorn, James Longstreet, and others that held high commands during the Civil War. After being promoted into the Engineer Corps as 2d lieutenant, he served as assistant professor of engineering at the U. S. Military Academy, and then in the construction of various fortifications and other engineering works along the Atlantic and Gulf Sea-Coasts until 1860, except during 1858, when he was chief engineer of the Utah Expedition. He had attained the rank of captain on 1 July, 1850. At the beginning of the Civil War he was chief engineer of the Department of Pennsylvania, and then held a similar appointment in the Department of the Shenandoah, and from August, 1861, till March, 1862, was assistant engineer in the construction of the defences of Washington, D. C. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 23 September, 1861, and had charge of a brigade in the defence of the capital. During the Peninsular Campaign he served with the Army of the Potomac, and was engaged in the actions at West Point, Gaines's Mills, and Glendale. He continued with his command in the Maryland Campaign, participating in the forcing of Crampton Gap and the battle of Antietam. General Newton led a division in the storming of the Marye Heights in the battle of Fredericksburg, was made major-general of volunteers on 30 March, 1863, and then took part in the Chancellorsville Campaign and in the battle of Salem Heights. In the subsequent Pennsylvania Campaign he succeeded to the command of the 1st Corps on 2 July, 1863, after the death of John F. Reynolds, and commanded it in the last days of the battle of Gettysburg. He was brevetted colonel for services in this action, and engaged in the pursuit of the Confederate Army to Warrenton, Virginia, and in the Rapidan Campaign during October and December, 1863. He was placed in command of the 2d Division of the 4th Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, under General Oliver O. Howard, in May. 1864, and participated in the invasion of Georgia, taking active part in the engagements, including the battle of Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, that culminated in the capture of Atlanta in September, 1864. Subsequently he had command of various districts in Florida until he was mustered out of volunteer service in January, 1866, after receiving, on 13 March, 1865, the brevets of major-general in the volunteer army, and those of brigadier-general and major-general in the regular army. He received his regular promotion as lieutenant-colonel of engineers on 28 December, 1865, and in April, 1866, was made superintending engineer of the construction of the defences on the Long Island side of the Narrows entrance to New York Harbor; also of the improvements of the Hudson River and of the fort at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. He was also a member of the board of engineers to carry out in detail the modifications of the defences in the vicinity of New York. These and other similar engineering duties, principally in connection with the harbor of New York, occupied his attention until his retirement on 27 August, 1886. His well-known achievement of this kind was the removal of obstructions in Hell Gate Channel, the important water-way between Long Island Sound and East River. These, known as Hallett's Reef and Flood Rock, were duly mined and exploded on 24 September, 1876, and 10 October, 1885. All of the problems that were involved in the preliminary steps of this great work were completely and conscientiously studied, and the accuracy of his solutions was shown in the exact correspondence of results with the objects that he sought. The proposed enlargement, of Harlem River, the improvements of Hudson River from Troy to New York, and of the channel between New Jersey and Staten Island, and of harbors on Lake Champlain were likewise under his charge. He was advanced to the rank of colonel on 30 June, 1879, and to chief of engineers, with rank of brigadier-general, on 6 March, 1884. The office of commissioner of public works in New York City had been for some time awarded by political preferment, and it became necessary to secure for it a man of superior skill and scientific training. In accordance with these requirements, Mayor William R. Grace, on 31 August, 1887, appointed General Newton to that office, which he has since filled. His services as consulting engineer have been repeatedly sought, and he has invented steam-drilling apparatus that have been used in removing rocks in New York Harbor. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1876, and to honorary membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1884. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 508-509.
NEWTON, Robert Crittenden, lawyer, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, 2 June, 1840; died there, 2 June, 1887. He was a descendant of Jared Newton, an Englishman, who emigrated to Westmoreland County, Virginia, in the 17th century. He was educated partly at the Western Military Institute, Tennessee, afterward studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and began to practice in his native city. Enlisting in the Confederate Army as a private, he was successively commissioned lieutenant and assistant adjutant-general on the staff of General Thomas O. Hindman. Subsequently he was made major in the adjutant-general's department, and colonel of the 5th Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry. After the war he took an active part in the work of reconstruction. In 1866 he served as one of the commissioners that were sent by the Arkansas Legislature to Washington, D. C. to ascertain from the Federal authorities on what terms Congressmen from that state would be admitted to seats. In 1868 he canvassed the state against the constitution of that year, and in 1874 he was state treasurer pro tempore from 23 May till 12 November. In May, 1873, when Governor Elisha Baxter decided to reorganize the militia of the state, he appointed General Newton one of two major-generals to carry out the work: but. on the advice of President Grant, he determined to disband nil the military forces of the state. The following year, on the outbreak of the "Brooks-Baxter War" (see Baxter, Elisha), Newton was reappointed major-general in command of the state troops. On 19 May, 1874, the Brooks forces having evacuated the capitol under the proclamation of President Grant, General Newton occupied the yard and grounds, and the next day reinstated Governor Baxter in possession of the public buildings, property, and archives. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 509-510.
NICHOLLS, Francis Tillon, governor of Louisiana, born in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, 20 August, 1834. His father, Thomas Clark (1790-1847). was a member of the general assembly of Louisiana, judge of a district court for many years, and in 1843 was appointed senior judge of the Louisiana court of error and appeals. His mother was a sister of Joseph Rodman Drake. The son was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855, and assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery. He served against the Seminole Indians, was on frontier duty in 1856, and resigned his commission on 1 October of that year. He then practised law in Napoleonville, Louisiana, until 1861, when he joined the Confederate Army as captain in the 8th Louisiana Regiment, of which he became lieutenant-colonel. In 1862 he was made colonel of the 15th Regiment and brigadier-general. He participated in Stonewall Jackson's movements, and lost an arm in the battle of Winchester, Virginia, and a foot at Chancellorsville. He was superintendent of the conscript bureau of the Trans-Mississippi Department in 1864-'5. and practised law in Ascension Parish from 1865 till 1876. He was elected governor of Louisiana as a Democrat, serving from 1877 till 1880, and in January, 1888, was again nominated for this office. He now (1888) practices law in New Orleans. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 512.
NICHOLS, Charles Henry, physician, born in Vassalborough, Kennebec County, Maine, 19 October, 1820. He was educated in the public schools and in the Friends' school. Providence. Rhode Island, taught from his seventeenth to his twentieth year, studied medicine at the University of New York, and was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1843. He practised at Lynn, Massachusetts, from that date until 1847, when he became associate physician to the New York State Lunatic Asylum in Utica. He has since made a specialty of the treatment of mental diseases, and the architecture and hygiene of institutions for the insane. He was physician and superior officer in Bloomingdale Asylum, New York City, in 1849-'52. In October of the latter year he chose the site, subsequently built, organized, and equipped the U. S. government Hospitals for the insane in Washington, D. C, and he afterward enlarged the buildings three times, treated 4,000 patients, and procured the extension of the grounds from 195 to 420 acres. He was acting assistant surgeon during the Civil War, and, in connection with the general government hospital for the insane, conducted a general hospital for U. S. volunteers. During his service in Washington he was president of the first board of school commissioners, of the levy, and of the board of police commissioners for the District of Columbia, vice-president of the board of directors of the Columbia Hospital for women, and a member of many professional and benevolent societies. He was for several years president of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane. At the meeting of the International Medical Congress in Philadelphia in 1870 he read a paper before the section on mental diseases on the ' Best Mode of providing for the Subjects of Chronic Insanity." He resigned the superintendence of the government asylums in Washington in 1877, and since that date has been superintendent of Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane. New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 512.
NICHOLS, Clarina I. Howard, 1810-1885, Vermont, journalist, educator, reformer, active in abolition, temperance and women’s rights movements. Active in Kansas Free State movement, and in the Underground Railroad, aiding fugitive slaves. (Blackwell, 2010) Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 512.
NICHOLS, Clarinda Howard, reformer, born in Townsend, Windham County, Vermont, 25 January, 1810; died in Pomo, California, 11 January, 1885. She assisted her husband for ten years in editing and publishing the "Windham County Democrat," and in 1847 began to speak in public on the laws of Vermont in regard to the property liabilities of married women. The next year she was instrumental in securing the passage of the first bill in the Vermont Legislature that recognized the civil existence of wives. She afterward emigrated to Kansas, served one term as recording clerk of the state legislature, and moved to Pomo, California, in 1871. (Blackwell, 2010) Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 512.
NICHOL, Edward Tatnall, naval officer, born in Augusta, Georgia, 1 March, 1823; died in Pomfret, Connecticut, 12 October, 1886. He was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy in 1830, became passed midshipman in 1842, lieutenant in 1850, and commander in 1862. At the beginning of the Civil War he was placed in command of the steamer "Winona" in the Western Gulf blockading squadron, participated in the bombardment of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, and received the surrender of the latter on 28 April, 1862. He also took part in the passage of the batteries at Vicksburg, and was commended for " ability, steadiness, and sound judgment." In June, 1864, while in command of the steamer "Mendote" he engaged the Confederate battery at Four Mile Creek, James River, Virginia. He became captain in 1866, commodore in 1872, rear-admiral in 1878, and was placed on the retired list in March, 1885. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 512.
NICHOLS, William Augustus, soldier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 May, 1818; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 8 April, 1869. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1838, became 1st lieutenant in 1844, served throughout the Mexican War as aide to General John A. Quitman, and assistant adjutant-general under General John Garland, and received the brevet of major for bravery at Molino del Rey. He became assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, in 1852, and lieutenant-colonel in 1861. During the Civil War he was adjutant-general of the Department of the East in June and November, 1861, and of the Department of New York in December, assistant in the office of the adjutant-general in Washington, D. C, in 1862-'4, became colonel and brevet brigadier-general in 1864, and brevet major-general in 1865 for meritorious service during the war. At the time of his death he was chief of staff and adjutant-general of the Military Department of Missouri. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 513.
NICHOLS, George Ward, author, born in Mt. Desert, Maine, 21 June, 1837; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 15 September, 1885. He was a journalist in early life, but at the beginning of the Civil War in 1862 he became a member of General John C. Fremont's staff, and remained with him until the battle of Cross Keys. He was then attached to General William T. Sherman's staff, and went with him on his march to the sea. He had some skill as a painter, and excelled as a writer on art and musical subjects. He spent the last sixteen years of his life in Cincinnati, where he projected and accomplished the establishment and endowment of the Cincinnati College of music, of which he was president at the time of his death. He published " The Story of the Great March," of which 70,000 copies were sold in one year (New York, 1865); "Art Education applied" to Industry " (1877); and " Pottery, how it is Made." with a bibliography (1878). See a memorial address delivered by General Jacob D. Cox (Cincinnati, 1887). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 513.
NICHOLSON, Alfred Osborn Pope, senator, born in Williamson County, Tennessee, 31 August, 1808; died in Columbia, Tennessee, 23 March, 1876. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1827, and studied medicine, but, abandoning it for law, was admitted to the bar in 1831, and began practice at Columbia, Tennessee. He edited "The Western Mercury" at Columbia in 1832-'5, "The Nashville Union" in 1844-'6, and "The Washington Union" in 1853-'6. Mr. Nicholson was a member of the state house of representatives from 1833 till 1839, and was appointed a U. S. Senator from Tennessee, in place of Felix Grundy, as a Democrat, serving from 11 January, 1841, till 3 March, 1843. He was chancellor of the middle division of Tennessee in 1845-'51, president of the Bank of Tennessee in 1846-'7, and printer of the House of Representatives during the 33d Congress, and of the Senate during the 34th. He was a member of the convention that met at Nashville in 1850, and delivered there an eloquent address in favor of the compromise propositions that were then before Congress. He was a member of the Democratic National Convention of 1852, and was offered by President Pierce a cabinet appointment, which he declined. In 1857 Mr. Nicholson was elected to the U. S. Senate and served until 3 March, 1861, when he retired, and was formally expelled on 3 July of that year for his connection with the secession movement. During the war he was twice arrested at Columbia and imprisoned. In 1870 he was elected a member of the convention to revise the constitution of the state, and the same year he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Tennessee. He was the author of a letter to aspirants for the presidency in 1848, which became famous under the name of the "Nicholson letter." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 514.
NICHOLSON, William Carmichael, naval officer, born in Maryland in 1800; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 25 July, 1872. He was commissioned a midshipman from his native state, 18 July, 1812, and was on board the "President," under Decatur, in the desperate action off Long Island in January, 1815, when that vessel surrendered to the British Fleet. He was carried to England and not released till the end of the war. He was commissioned a lieutenant in March, 1821, and served on the frigate "United States" in the Pacific Squadron in 1827. He was on duty at the naval station in 1834, he came commander, 8 September, 1841, went out in the sloop "Preble" in the Mediterranean Squadron in 1843, served at the naval rendezvous at Boston in 1840-'6, was attached to the receiving-ship at New York in 1847-'8, and commandant at the U.S. Navy-yard in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1852-'3. He was commissioned as captain, 22 August, 1855, and in the same year acted as fleet-captain of the Pacific Squadron. From 1858 till 1861 he had in charge the steam frigate "Mississippi" in the East India Squadron. In 1861 he was in command of the steam frigate "Roanoke," and from 1861 to 1866 was on special duty. His commission as commodore was signed 16 July, 1862. His courage was manifested upon several occasions, and he was engaged in numerous duels. When the Civil War began he was the commander of the United States Marine Asylum in Philadelphia. [Son of James Nicholson]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 515.
NICHOLSON, James William Augustus, naval officer, born in Dedham, Massachusetts. 10 March, 1821; died in New York City, 28 October, 1887, was the son of Nathaniel Dowse Nicholson (1792-1822), an officer in the navy, who served during the war of 1812 with Great Britain. The son entered the U.S. Navy, 10 February, 1838, as a midshipman, was promoted lieutenant in 1852, and in 1847-'8 was acting master in the Mexican War. In 1853-'5 he was lieutenant of the sloop "Vandalia," of the Japanese Expedition, under Commodore Matthew C. Perry. His first command in the Civil War was the " Isaac Smith," in the Port Royal Expedition, and he was commended by admiral Dupont for coolness and courage. In the winter of 1861-'2 he served in Florida, and in the spring of 1862 he was assigned the command of St. Augustine. In February, 1862, he had an engagement with a Confederate Flotilla in Savannah River. He was promoted commander in July, and in 1862-'3 was ordnance officer on the New York Station. In 1863-'4 he commanded the "Shamrock" in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron before Charleston, and he had in charge the monitor "Manhattan," under Farragut, at the battle of Mobile Bay. He greatly aided in the capture of the Confederate ram "Tennessee," the only shots which penetrated her armor being fired from the 15 inch guns of the "Manhattan." Nicholson afterward attacked Fort Powell at intervals for twelve days, firing 100 shells into it, and bombarded Fort Morgan from 9 till 21 August, when it surrendered. He returned to New York in January, 1865. He commanded the steamer "Mohigan," of the Pacific Squadron, in 1865-'6, and in July of the latter year was made captain. In 1871—'2 he commanded the flag-ship " Lancaster," of the Brazil Squadron, and in 1873 he became commodore. He had charge of the New York U.S. Navy-yard in 1876-'80, and on 1 September, 1881, he was appointed to the command of the European Station, being commissioned rear-admiral on 1 October of that year. He was present during the bombardment of Alexandria, Egypt, by the British fleet, on 11 July, 1882, and on the 14th, after the firing had ceased, he landed 100 marines to protect the U. S. Consulate and to assist in restoring order. Throughout the bombardment and subsequently Admiral Nicholson's conduct was prompt, energetic, and efficient, and received general commendation in Europe, as well as in this country. On 10 March, 1883, he was retired, resigning the European Squadron to his successor, Admiral Baldwin. He received medals, decorations, and thanks from various European sovereigns. When Admiral Nicholson went on the retired list he was the last representative of a family that had been eminent in the naval history of the United States. Since 1755 eighteen of the name and family have been in the service. Three have worn broad pennants, and a fourth died just as he received an appointment to one. [Son of James Nicholson]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 515.
NICKERSON, Frank Stillman, soldier, born in Swanville, Maine, 27 August, 1826. He was educated at East Corinth Academy, Maine, and was a collector of customs at the beginning of the Civil War, when he resigned and became successively captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Maine Regiment. He was commended in general orders by General Oliver O. Howard for bravery at Bull Run, and on 31 December, 1861, was made colonel of the 14th Maine and sent to New Orleans under General Benjamin F. Butler. He was specially mentioned for his services at Baton Rouge, and on 29 November, 1862, was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers. He then served in the Department of the Gulf till his resignation on 13 May, 1865. Since the war General Nickerson has resided in Boston, Massachusetts Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 516.
NICOLAY, John George, author, born in Essingen, Bavaria, 26 February, 1832. He came to the United States with his father in 1838, lived for some time in Cincinnati, where he attended the public schools, and then moved to Illinois. At the age of sixteen he entered the office of the "Pike County Free Press" in Pittsfield. and before he came of age he was proprietor and editor of the paper. He went to Springfield in 1857 as an assistant to the Secretary of State, and remained there until Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency, when he became his secretary. After the election he was appointed private secretary to the president, and served in that capacity until Mr. Lincoln's death. From 1865 till 1869 he was U. S. consul at Paris, and on his return he edited for a time the Chicago " Republican." He was marshal of the U. S. Supreme Court from 1872 till 1887. He is the author, in collaboration with John Hay, of the "Life of Abraham Lincoln," now (1888) in course of publication in the "Century Magazine." He has also published "The Outbreak of Rebellion," in "Campaigns of the Civil War " (New York, 1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 516.
NILES, Hezekiah, editor, born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 10 October, 1777; died in Wilmington, Delaware, 2 April, 1839. He learned printing, and about 1800 became a member of an unsuccessful publishing firm in Wilmington. He then moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where for six years he edited a daily paper. He is chiefly known as the founder, printer, and publisher of " Niles's Register," a weekly journal published in Baltimore, which he edited from 1811 until 1836, and which is considered so valuable as a source of information concerning American history that the first 32 volumes, extending from 1812 till 1827, were reprinted. The "Register" was continued by his son, William Ogden Niles, and others, until 27 June, 1849, making altogether 76 volumes. He advocated the protection of national industry, and was with Mathew Cary a champion of the “American system." In addition to a series of humorous essays entitled "Quill Driving," published in a periodical, he compiled a work entitled "Principles and Acts of the Revolution" (Baltimore, 1822). The towns of Niles, Michigan, and Niles, Ohio, were named in his honor. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 521.
NISBET, Eugenius Aristides, jurist, born near Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, 7 December, 1803; died in Macon, Georgia, 18 March, 1871. He was of Scotch descent, and his father, Dr. James Nisbet, was a pioneer of Georgia, a member of the Convention of 1798 that framed its constitution, and a representative in the state legislature. The son was educated at Columbia College, South Carolina, and at Franklin College, Athens, Georgia, where he was graduated in 1821. He studied law in Litchfield Law-School, Connecticut, was admitted to the bar by special act of the legislature before reaching the age of twenty-one, practised in Georgia, and represented his county in the legislature for many years. He was elected to Congress as a Whig, and served from 2 December, 1839, till 3 March, 1843, when he resumed his law-practice. In 1845 he was appointed a judge of the newly organized state supreme court. In polities he was a strict constructionist, but supported William H. Harrison in 1840 and Henry Clay in 1844. He was a leader of the American Party in 1855, and in 1860 supported the Bell-Everett ticket. He was a member of the State Secession Convention in 1861, and of the Confederate Provisional Congress. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 524.
NIXON, John Thompson, jurist, born in Fairton, New Jersey, 81 August, 1830. He was graduated at Princeton in 1841, studied law, was admitted to the bar of Virginia in 1844, and to that of New Jersey in 1845, and began to practice in Bridgeton. New Jersey. In 1848-'9 he was a member of the New Jersey Legislature, acting as speaker in the latter year. He was elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 5 December, 1859, till 3 March, 1863, and was an active member of the Committee on Commerce. In 1870 he was appointed by President Grant U. S. judge for the District of New Jersey. In 1863 he delivered the annual address before the two literary societies of Princeton on "Endurance, Individual and National," and in 1864 he was made a trustee of this college. He took an active part in the old-school assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1869, in promoting the reunion of its two branches, and was a member of the general assembly's committee to revise the form of government and book of discipline. Mr. Nixon is one of the four residuary legatees designated by the late John C. Green, charged with the distribution to benevolent objects of an estate exceeding $7,000,000. He prepared the second, third, and fourth editions of Judge Lucius Q. C. Elmer's " Digest of the Laws of New Jersey.'" known as "Nixon's Digest" (4th ed., Newark, 1868); and also " Forms of Proceedings under the Laws of New Jersey" (3d ed., Trenton, 1856). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 526.
NOBLE, John Willock, lawyer, born in Lancaster, Ohio, 26 October, 1831. He was educated at Miami University, Ohio, and at Yale, where he was graduated in 1851, studied law, and was city attorney of Keokuk, Iowa, in 1850-'60. He became 1st lieutenant and adjutant in the 3d Iowa Cavalry in August, 1861, and took part in the battle of Athens, Missouri, as a private before he was mustered into service. He became judge-advocate of the Army of the Southwest, and afterward of the Department of Missouri, took part in the battle of Pea Ridge and the siege of Vicksburg, and served under General Andrew J. Smith against Forrest, and under General James H. Wilson in Alabama and Georgia. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, mustered out at Atlanta in August, and resumed the practice of law, serving as U. S. District Attorney at St. Louis in 1867-'70, and receiving the thanks of General Grant before the cabinet in 1869. He has won reputation in his profession, and has taken part in many important suits. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 528.
NORDHOFF, Charles, journalist, born in Erwitte, Westphalia, Prussia, 31 August, 1830. In 1835 he came with his parents to this country, and attended school in Cincinnati, where he was apprenticed to a printer in 1843. In 1844 he went to Philadelphia and worked in a newspaper office, but he soon shipped in the U. S. Navy, where he served three years, making a voyage around the world. He remained at sea in the merchant, whaling, and mackerel fishery service until 1853, when he again became employed in newspaper offices, first in Philadelphia, and afterward in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1857 till 1861 he was editorially employed by a publishing-house in New York. From 1861 till 1871 he was on the staff of the New York " Evening Post," and he subsequently contributed to the " Tribune." He travelled in California in 1871-'2, and visited the Hawaiian Islands in 1873. Since 1874 he has been the special Washington correspondent of the "New York Herald." He edited an American edition of Kern's "Practical Landscape Gardening" (Cincinnati, 1855),and is the author of " Man-of-War Life: a Boy's Experience in the U. S. Navy" (Cincinnati, 1855); "The Merchant Vessel" (1855); "Whaling and Fishing" (1856); "Nine Years a Sailor" (1857); "Stories from the Island World" (New York, 1857); "Secession is Rebellion: the Union Indissoluble" (1860); "The Freedmen of South Carolina: Some Account of their Appearance, Character, Condition, and Customs" (1863); "America for Free Working Men" (1865); "Cape Cod and All Along Shore," a collection of stories (1868); "California for Health, Pleasure, and Residence" (1872); "Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands " (1874); "Politics for Young Americans" (1875); "The Communistic Societies of the United States" (1875); "The Cotton States in the Spring and Summer of 1875" (1876); and "God and the Future Life " (1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 531.
NORRIS, William Francis, born in Philadelphia, 6 January, 1839, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1858 and at its medical school in 1861, and in the latter year was appointed resident physician to the Pennsylvania Hospital. He was assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army in 1863-'5, and was brevetted captain for meritorious service. In 1865 he resigned and established himself in practice in Philadelphia, making a specialty of diseases of the eyes. Since 1873 he has been professor of ophthalmic surgery in the University of Pennsylvania. He is one of the surgeons to Wills Eye Hospital, fellow of the College of Physicians and of Pennsylvania Academy of Natural Sciences, and a member of numerous medical societies. His publications have been limited to contributions to professional periodicals and to the 'Transactions ' of the several societies of which he is a member. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 533.
NORRIS, Joseph P., abolitionist leader, Committee of Twenty-Four/Committee of Guardians, the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery (PAS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Nash, 1991, p. 129)
NORTH, John W., Northfield, Minnesota, American Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1855-57
NORTH, William, Freetown, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1839
NORTHROP, Lucius Bellinger, soldier, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 8 September, 1811. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1829, and was then appointed 2d lieutenant of U.S. Dragoons and stationed at Fort Gibson and other places in the west for eight years, he was severely wounded while following an Indian trail, After his recovery he returned to Charleston on sick-leave, never resuming active service. He studied medicine at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, and on his return to Charleston practised occasionally for charity only. The War Department, having been informed that he was practicing medicine, dropped him from the army, but when Jefferson Davis became Secretary of War he not only reinstated him, but promoted him to the rank of captain with full pay. When South Carolina seceded he was among the first, to resign his commission, and when a provisional government was established at Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis offered him the place of commissary-general, which, after declining twice, he accepted at the urgent solicitation of Mr. Davis, who had been his classmate at West Point and his friend ever since. When Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy he moved to that city and remained at the head of the commissary department until within a few weeks of the fall of the Confederacy. It is related that, after the first battle of Bull Run, on being requested to make some provision for feeding the prisoners then in Libby Prison, he replied: "I know nothing of Yankee prisoners; throw them all into the James River," and subsequently did all in his power to thwart the efforts of those who were humanely laboring to render the subsistence received by the prisoners less precarious. By the spring of 1864 Northrop had succeeded in having a law passed abolishing the office of commissary of prisons, thus leaving the whole matter of providing food for them in his own hands. "From this date," says Edward A. Pollard in his "Secret History of the Confederacy," " whatever there was of distress for food among the prisoners is to be properly and distinctly charged to one man in the Confederacy, Northrop." He was referred to in the Confederate Congress as "a certain commissary-general who is a curse to our country," " and has attempted to starve the prisoners in our hands." Senator Orr, of South Carolina, with the aid of several Congressmen, attempted to procure his removal from office, but was defeated by the opposition of Jefferson Davis, whose "affection for Northrop " is declared by Mr. Pollard to be " grotesque, inexplicable, insane." After the fall of Richmond, Northrop retired to North Carolina and engaged in farming, but in July, 1865, he was arrested by the National authorities and confined in Richmond until the following November, when he was released. He then bought a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia, upon which he has since resided. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 535.
NORTHRUP, A. T., New York, American Abolition Society (Radical Abolitionist, Vol. 1, No. 1, New York, August 1855)
NORTHUP, Solomon, born 1808, free African American man. Northup was kidnapped by slavers in Washington City in 1841 and illegally forced into slavery for 12 years. In 1853, he was rescued by Northern abolitionists and returned to his family in Washington. Northup wrote Twelve Years a Slave in that same year. He worked as a member of the Underground Railroad to help escaped slaves to flee to Canada. His book was published by Northern abolitionists, and was used prominently in the abolitionist cause. The date of his death is unknown. His book was made into a major motion picture by the same name in 2013. It was nominated and awarded the Best Picture Oscar in 2014. (Northup, 1853; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 47, 55)
NORTON, Daniel Sheldon, senator, born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, 12 April, 1829; died in Washington, D. C, 14 July, 1870. He was educated at Kenyon College, and served one year in the war with Mexico in the 2d Ohio Regiment. He subsequently studied law, visited California and Nicaragua in 1850-'l, and on his return to Ohio was admitted to the bar in 1852, and began practice. In 1855 he moved to Minnesota, and in 1857 was elected to the state senate, and served in both branches of the legislature till 1865. He was elected U. S. Senator from Minnesota as a Union-Conservative to succeed Morton S. Wilkinson, and served from 4 March, 1866, till his death. Senator Norton was a delegate to the Philadelphia National Union Convention in 1866, and on most questions of national policy voted with the Democrats. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 536.
NORTON, Elihu P., Edgartown, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice-President, 1842-
NORTON, Jesse O., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
NORTON, Charles Ledyard, author, born in Farmington, Connecticut, 11 June, 1837, was graduated at Yale in 1859, and continued his studies in the direction of chemistry until the autumn of 1860. He enlisted as a private in the 7th Regiment, New York National Guard, in 1861, and served in Maryland. In September, 1862, he was appointed a lieutenant in the 25th Connecticut Volunteers and attached to an expedition to the Department of the Gulf under General Nathaniel P. Banks, becoming an aid to General Henry W. Birge. He was promoted captain in February, 1863, and participated in the first Red River Campaign and the siege of Port Hudson. In October, 1863, he was assigned to the 29th Connecticut Volunteers, and organized that regiment in New Haven, Connecticut. He was commissioned colonel of the 78th U. S. Colored Troops in December, 1863, and joined his regiment in Louisiana, serving in the Department of the Gulf until the end of the war, mainly in garrison and outpost duty. Colonel Norton was then given command of a wide district in western Louisiana during the early reconstruction period. In November, 1865, he was ordered to New Orleans and charged with the reception and despatch of troops in transit to the north for discharge. He was mustered out of service in January, 1866, and spent a year in cotton planting in Louisiana and in travel in Europe. On his return he entered journalism in New York City, and was on the staff of the " Christian Union" in 1869-'79, and was managing editor the last three years of that time. In 1881-'4 he was managing editor of the " Continent" magazine. He has since devoted his attention to literature, contributing to magazines on historical and out-of-door topics. He was one of the founders of the New York Canoe Club, and is the author, with John Habberton, of "Canoeing in Kanuckia " (New York, 1878). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 538.
NORTON, John T., Farmington, Connecticut, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-1840, 1840-1841. Vice President, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS).
NORTON, William Augustus, civil engineer, born in East Bloomfield, New York, 25 October, 1810; died in New Haven, Connecticut, 21 September, 1883. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1831, and his military duty included two Years' service as assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy at the military academy, with the exception of a few months during 1832, when he was engaged in the Black Hawk Expedition, holding meanwhile the rank of 2d lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. He resigned from the army on 30 September, 1833, to accept the professorship of natural philosophy and astronomy in the University of the City of New York. This chair he held until 1839, when he was called to a similar office in Delaware College, Newark, Delaware, and in 1849 he became president of that institution. In 1850 he accepted the professorship of natural philosophy and civil engineering in Brown, and in 1852 he was given the chair of civil engineering in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale, which he held until his death. His scientific work included researches in the domains of molecular physics, terrestrial magnetism, and astronomical physics, and appeared chiefly in the "American Journal of Science," or were read at the meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or before the National Academy of Sciences. In 1842 he received the degree of A. M. from the University of Vermont. Professor Norton was a member of various scientific societies, and after 1873 of the National Academy of Sciences. Noah Porter said of him: "Norton was eminently a liberal student, and kept himself fully abreast of the speculations and science of the times." He published "An Elementary Treatise on Astronomy " (New York. 1839) and' " First Book of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy " (1858). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 539.
NORVELL, John, senator born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1790; died in Detroit, Michigan, 11 April, 1850. He was a printer by trade, and edited a paper in Philadelphia, but subsequently moved to Michigan, and was identified with the early history of the state. He was Postmaster of Detroit in 1828-'30, afterward U. S. District Attorney, and on the admission of Michigan into the Union as a state was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Democrat, serving in 1835-'41. Six of his seven sons served with credit in the National Army during the Civil War. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 539.
NOYES, Edward Follensbee, soldier, born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. 3 October, 1832. After an apprenticeship of nearly five years in a printing-office in Dover, New Hampshire, he prepared for college, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1857, and at the Cincinnati, Ohio, law-school in 1858, practising in that city till the beginning of the Civil War. He then turned his office into a recruiting headquarters, and on 27 July, 1861, was commissioned major of the 39th Ohio Infantry. He continued in this command during all its operations in Missouri, and was under General John Pope at the capture of New Madrid and Island No. 10. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and while building bridges in Prospect, Tennessee, he also engaged in securing veteran enlistments, with the result of a larger addition of veterans to his regiment than to any other in the National Army from Ohio. He participated in all the important engagements of the Atlanta Campaign till after the battle of Buff Mills, where he was severely wounded, subsequently suffering the loss of a leg. On his recovery he was assigned to the command of Camp Dennison. He received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers in April. 1865, and was the same month elected city solicitor, and two years later judge of probate of Hamilton County, Ohio. He was chosen governor of Ohio in 1871, but was defeated at the next election, and in 1877 was appointed by President Hayes U. S. minister to France. During his service there he was sent on a special mission to the East, visiting all the countries that border on the Mediterranean. He resigned in 1881, and resumed practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 542.
NOYES, James Oscar, author, born in Niles, Cayuga County, New York, 14 June, 1829; died in New Orleans, Louisiana, 11 September, 1872. He was graduated at Hamilton College in 1850 and at the medical department of Harvard in 1853. He then went abroad, continued his studies in the University of Vienna, visited Wallachia, and was appointed on the medical staff of Omar Pacha, the commander of the Turkish forces. He was afterward correspondent in Turkey, Palestine, and Egypt of the New York "Tribune," the Detroit "Free Press," and other journals. On his return to New York he engaged in literary pursuits, and became proprietor and chief editor of the "Knickerbocker Magazine" in 1858. He went to Fort Monroe, Virginia, as a newspaper correspondent at the beginning of the Civil War, engaged in various army contracts, and subsequently in planting. He settled in New Orleans after the war, was appointed commissioner of immigration for the state of Louisiana, and in that capacity revisited Europe. He was the originator of an enterprise for connecting Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico by a ship-canal below New Orleans, and of one for draining that city. At the time of his death he was an active member of the New Orleans Academy of Arts and Sciences. He published "Roumania " (New York, 1857) and "The Gypsies" (1858). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 543.
NYE, Charles, Sandwich, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1838-40
NYE, Horace, Muskingham County, Ohio, Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1835-39
NYE, James Warren, senator, born in De Ruyter, Madison County, New York, 10 June, 1814: died in White Plains, New York, 25 December, 1876. He was educated at Cortland Academy, Homer, New York, leaving it in 1832 to study law in Troy, N. Y. After being admitted to the bar, he practised in his native county, gained a reputation as an effective speaker before a jury, was chosen district attorney, and in 1840 was elected county judge, serving eight years, he was a Democrat in politics up to the time of the Barn-burner Campaign. In 1848 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress as a Free-Soil Democrat. Moving to Syracuse, New York, he practised there till 1857, when he went to New York City, having been appointed the first president of the Metropolitan Board of Police, which office he held till about 1860. He was a member of the Republican Party from its formation, and was identified with its Radical wing. He was a witty and eloquent platform orator, and during the canvass of 1860 did effective service for his party in a tour through the west in company with William H. Seward. In 1861 President Lincoln appointed him governor of Nevada Territory, where he counteracted the influence of the Pro-slavery Party and, with Thomas Starr King, of San Francisco, did much to keep the Pacific States and Territories in the Union during the early period of the Civil War. On the admission of Nevada as a state, in 1865, he was elected U. S. Senator, and drew the short term, and in 1867 was re-elected. He was noted for his humor and conversational powers. After he retired from public life his mind became impaired. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, p. 547.
