Encyclopedia of Civil War Biography - Pik-Put
PIKE, James Shepard, 1811-1882, journalist, diplomat, anti-slavery activist. Washington correspondent and associate editor of the New York Tribune. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, p. 18; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 595; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 17, p. 512)
PIKE, James Shepherd, journalist, born in Calais, Maine, 8 September, 1811; died there, 24 November, 1882. He was educated in the schools of his native town, entered mercantile life in his fifteenth year, and subsequently became a journalist. He was the Washington correspondent and associate editor of the New York “Tribune” in 1850-'60, and was an able and aggressive writer. He was several times a candidate for important offices in Maine, and a potent influence in uniting the anti-slavery sentiment in that state. In 1861-'6 he was U. S. minister to the Netherlands. He supported Horace Greeley for the presidency in 1872, and about that time visited South Carolina and collected materials for his principal work, “A Prostrate State” (New York, 1876). He also published “The Restoration of the Currency” (1868); “The Financial Crisis, its Evils, and their Remedy” (1869); “Horace Greeley in 1872” (1873); “The New Puritan” (1878); and “The First Blows of the Civil War” (1879). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 18.
PIKE, Frederick Augustus, 1817-1886, lawyer. Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine. Member of Congress 1861-1869. Active in emancipation of slaves. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 18-19; Congressional Globe)
PIKE, Frederick Augustus, Congressman, born in Calais, Maine, 9 December, 1817; died there, 2 December, 1886, spent two years at Bowdoin, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. He served eight terms in the Maine Legislature, was its speaker in 1860, and was elected to Congress as a Republican, retaining his seat in 1861-'9, and serving for six years as chairman of the Naval Committee. He was active in his efforts for emancipation and for necessary taxation, and the closing sentence of his speech in Congress in 1861—“Tax, fight, emancipate”—became a watchword of his party. He was in the legislature in 1870-'1, and was defeated as a candidate of the Liberal Republican Party in 1872. In 1875 he was a member of the Maine Constitutional Convention. He retired from the practice of law after his congressional service. Mr. Pike was an early and active Abolitionist, a friend of education, and for many years an eminent member of the bar. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 18-19.
PIKE, Mary Hayden Green, born in Eastport, Maine, 30 November, 1825, was graduated at Charlestown Female Seminary in 1843, and married Mr. Pike in 1846. She published her first book—“Ida May,” a novel, dealing with slavery and southern life among the wealthier classes (Boston, 1854)—under the penname of “Mary Langdon,” and 60,000 copies of the book were sold in eighteen months. She must not be confounded with the writer of a song entitled “Ida May,” published simultaneously with the novel, who subsequently issued numerous books as the “author of Ida May.” Mrs. Pike's other works are “Caste," under the pen-name of “Sidney A. Story, Jr.” (1856), and “Agnes” (1858). [Wife of Frederick A. Pike] Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 19.
PILE, William A., soldier, born near Indianapolis, Indiana, 11 February, 1829. He received an academic education, studied theology, and became a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a member of the Missouri Conference. He joined the National Army as chaplain of a regiment of Missouri Volunteers in 1861, and took command of a light battery in 1862. He was subsequently placed at the head of a regiment of infantry, promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, 26 December, 1863, and served till the close of the war, being mustered out, 24 August, 1865. He was elected to Congress from Missouri, and served from 4 March, 1867, till 3 March, 1869, but was defeated as the Republican candidate for the next Congress. Mr. Pile was appointed by President Grant governor of New Mexico, served in 1869-'70, and was minister resident at Venezuela from 23 May, 1871, till his resignation in 1874. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 18.
PILLOW, Gideon Johnson, soldier, born in Williamson County, Tennessee, 8 June, 1806; died in Lee County, Arkansas, 6 October, 1878. He was graduated at the University of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1827, practised law at Columbia, Tennessee, was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1844, and aided largely in the nomination of his neighbor, James K. Polk, as the candidate for president. In July, 1846, he was appointed brigadier-general in command of Tennessee Volunteers in the Mexican War. He served for some time with General Zachary Taylor on the Mexican frontier, subsequently joined General Scott at Vera Cruz, and took an active part in the siege of that city, afterward being one of the commissioners that received its surrender from the Mexican authorities. At the battle of Cerro Gordo he commanded the right wing of the American Army, and was severely wounded. He was promoted to major-general, 13 April, 1847, was engaged in the battles of Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, where he was wounded. He differed with General Scott in regard to the convention of Tacubaya, and the differences led to such results that General Pillow requested a court of inquiry to try him on charges of insubordination that were made by Scott. The court was ordered, and he was honorably acquitted. After the Mexican War he resumed the practice of law in Tennessee, and was also largely engaged in planting. In the Nashville Southern Convention of 1850 General Pillow took conservative ground, and opposed extreme measures. He received twenty-five votes for the nomination for the vice-presidency at the Democratic National Convention in 1852. On 9 May, 1861, he was appointed by Governor Isham G. Harris a major-general in the provisional army of the state of Tennessee, and aided largely in the organization of its forces. On 9 July, 1861, he was made a brigadier-general in the provisional Confederate Army. He commanded under General Leonidas Polk at the battle of Belmont, Missouri, 7 November, 1861, and was second in command under General John B. Floyd at Fort Donelson in February, 1862. He declined to assume the chief command and to surrender the forces at this fort, so, turning the place over to General Simon B. Buckner, he escaped. He was now relieved from command, but subsequently led a detachment of cavalry, and served under Beauregard in the southwest. He was also chief of conscripts in the Western Department. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 20.
PILLSBURY, Parker, 1809-1898, Concord, New Hampshire, reformer, newspaper editor. Garrisonian abolitionist. Wrote and published: Act of the Anti-Slavery Apostles, Rochester, NY, 1883. Wrote: The Church as it is; or The Forlorn Hope of Slavery, Boston, 1847. Agent for the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and American Anti-Slavery Societies. Served as a Manager in the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1853.
(Drake, 1950, p. 177; Dumond, 1961, p. 268; Mabee, 1970, pp. 114-115, 123, 200, 206-208, 214, 215, 221, 223, 233, 250, 262, 297, 329, 333, 335-337, 361-363, 389, 371, 494n24; Sernett, 2002, pp. 213, 218; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 20; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 608)
PILLSBURY, Parker, reformer, born in Hamilton, Massachusetts, 22 September, 1809. He moved to Henniker, New Hampshire, in 1814, and was employed in farm-work till 1835, when he entered Gilmanton Theological Seminary. He was graduated in 1838, studied a year at Andover, supplied the Congregational Church at New N. H., for one year, and then abandoned the ministry in order to engage in anti-slavery work. He was a lecturing agent of the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and American Anti-Slavery Societies from 1840 till the abolition of slavery, and edited the “Herald of Freedom" at Concord. New Hampshire, in 1840 and 1845–’6, and the “National Anti-Slavery Standard ” in New York City in 1866. In 1868–70 he was the editor of the “Revolution,” a woman suffrage paper in New York City. Afterward he was a preacher for Free religious societies in Salem and Toledo, Ohio, Battle Creek, Michigan, and other western towns. Besides pamphlets on reform subjects, he has published "Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles” ( New York, 1883). —His brother, Oliver, born in Henniker, New Hampshire, 16 February, 1817; died in Concord, New Hampshire, 22 February, 1888, was educated at Henniker Academy, taught in New Jersey in 1839–47, occupying a prominent place among the educators of the state, returned to New Hampshire with impaired health, and was a farmer for the next seventeen years. He served three terms in the legislature, was a state councillor in 1862 and 1863, displaying executive ability and energy in business connected with the New Hampshire quota of troops, and in 1869 was appointed the first insurance commissioner of the state, holding the office till his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 20.
PINCHBACK, Pinckney Benton Stewart, governor of Louisiana, born in Macon, Georgia, 10 May, 1837. He is of African descent. In 1846 he was sent to school in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1848 his father died, and he became a boatman. In 1862 he ran the Confederate blockade at Yazoo City and reached New Orleans, then in possession of the National troops. He enlisted, and was soon detailed to assist in raising a regiment, but, owing to his race, he was compelled to resign, 3 September. 1863. He was subsequently authorized by General Nathaniel P. Banks to raise a company of colored cavalry. In 1867 he organized in New Orleans the 4th Ward Republican Club, became a member of the state committee, and was made inspector of customs on 22 May. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, state senator in 1868, and was sent to the National Republican Convention of the last-named year. He was appointed by President Grant, in April, 1869, register of the land-office of New Orleans, and on 25 December, 1870, established the New Orleans " Louisianian." The same year he organized a company for the purpose of establishing a line of steamers on Mississippi River. In March, 1871, he was appointed by the state board a school director for the city of New Orleans, and on 6 December, 1871, he was elected president pro tempore of the state senate, and lieutenant-governor to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Oscar Dunn. He was acting governor during the impeachment of Governor Warmoth from 9 December, 1872, to 13 January, 1873. He was nominated for governor in 1872, but withdrew in the interest of party peace, and was elected on the same ticket as Congressman. He was chosen to the U. S. Senate, 15 January, 1873, but after three years' debate he was disallowed his seat by a vote of 32 to 29, although he was given the pay and mileage of a senator. On 24 April, 1873, he was appointed a commissioner to the Vienna Exposition from Louisiana, and in 1877 he was appointed a member of the state board of education by Governor Francis P. Nichols. On 8 February, 1879, he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional convention of the state. Mr. Pinchhock was appointed surveyor of customs of New Orleans in 1882. and a trustee of Southern University by Governor McEnery in 1883 and 1885. He was graduated at the law department of Straight University. New Orleans, and admitted to the bar in April, 1886. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 21.
PINKERTON, Allan, 1819-1884, Glasgow, Scotland, detective, Union spy, abolitionist. Founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 622)
PINKERTON, Allan, detective, born in Glasgow, Scotland, 25 August, 1819; died in Chicago, Illinois, 1 July, 1884. He became a Chartist in early manhood, came to this country in 1842 to escape imprisonment, and settled in Chicago, Illinois. He was made deputy sheriff of Kane County in 1846, was subsequently deputy sheriff of Cook County, and in 1850 was appointed the first detective for Chicago. He also established Pinkerton's Detective Agency in that year, and from that date till the emancipation was largely engaged in assisting the escape of slaves. He was the first special U.S. mail agent for northern Illinois and Indiana and southern Wisconsin, organized the U.S. Secret Service Division of the National Army in 1861, was its first chief, and subsequently organized and was at the head of the Secret Service Department of the Gulf till the close of the Civil War. He added to his detective agency in Chicago in 1860 a corps of night watchmen, called Pinkerton's preventive watch, Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 622
PITCHER, Thomas Gamble, soldier, born Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana, 23 October, 1824. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1845, and was and assigned to the 5th Infantry, with which he stationed for several years in Boston, where he is served in the military occupation of Texas. He was transferred to the 8th Infantry in 1846, and fairly with the people in their disputes with the during the war with Mexico took part in the soldiery. He took part in the expedition that was engagements at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, San Antonio, Contreras, and Churubusco, for which he was sent in advance was brevetted 1st lieutenant, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec and the capture of the city of Mexico. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 26 June, 1849, and was on duty at posts in Texas and Arkansas until the Civil War, serving as depot-commissary at, San Antonio in 1857–'9, and receiving his promotion, 19 October, 1858. He served in the defence of Harper's Ferry in June 1862, and in the Virginia Campaign of that year, being brevetted major for services at Cedar Mountain, where he was severely wounded. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862, but was disabled by his wound till 10 January, 1863. He was on duty as commissary and provost-marshal was during the rest of the war, attaining the rank of major on 19 September, 1863, and receiving all brevets up to and including brigadier-general in the regular army on 13 March, 1865. He was made the colonel of the 44th Infantry, 28 July, 1866, served as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy till 1 September, 1871, and was governor of the Soldiers' Home at Washington, D.C., in 1871–’7. He was then on special duty or leave of absence till his retirement on 28 June, “for disability contracted in the line of duty.” From 1 March, 1880, till 15 October, 1887, he was superintendent of the New York State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 31.
PITMAN, Benn, stenographer, born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, 22 July, 1822. He was educated in his native town, and in 1837 assisted his brother in perfecting the latter's system of phonography. From 1843 till 1852 he lectured on the system throughout Great Britain, and had a large share in compiling his brother's text-books. At Isaac's request he came to the United States in January, 1853, to give instruction in phonography, and settled at Cincinnati, where he has since resided. In 1855 he discovered the process of producing relief copper-plates of engraved work by the galvanic process known as electrotypes, for which he was awarded a silver medal by the Cincinnati Mechanics’ Institute in 1856. The following year he succeeded, in connection with Dr. J. B. Burns, in producing stereotype plates by the gelatin process in photo-engraving. From his arrival in this country until 1873 Mr. Pitman was chiefly engaged in reporting. In 1865-'7 he acted as the official stenographer during the trials of the assassin of President Lincoln, the “Sons of Liberty,” the “Ku-Klux Klan,” and other similar government prosecutions. He also edited and compiled the printed reports of these trials. In 1873 he abandoned reporting and became connected with the school of design, now the Art Academy, of the University of Cincinnati. His object was to secure the development of American decorative art and to open up a new profession for women. The display of wood-carving and painting on china sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition was the first attempt to give the public an idea of what had been over one hundred pieces were exhibited, including elaborately decorated cabinets, base-boards, bedsteads, doors, casings, mantels, picture-frames, and book-cases—all the work of girls and women. Mr. Pitman still (1888) lectures and teaches in the same institution. Besides many elementary books of instruction on phonography, he has published “The Reporter's Companion” (Cincinnati, 1854); “The Manual of Phonography.” of which 250,000 copies have been issued “Trials for Treason at Indianapolis” and “The Assassination of President Lincoln, and the Trial of the Conspirators” (1865); and, with Jerome B. Howard, “The Phonographic Dictionary” (1883). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 33.
PITTENGER, William, soldier, born in Knoxville, Jefferson County, Ohio, 31 January, 1840. He studied in the county schools until he had reached the age of sixteen, and enlisted as a private in the 2d Ohio Volunteer Infantry on 17 April, 1861. He served in the battle of Bull Run, and took part in the noted Andrews Railroad raid which began on 7 April, 1862. He escaped execution as a spy, was imprisoned until 18 March, 1863, received the medal of honor, was promoted lieutenant, and returned to the army, in which he served until impaired health forced him to resign in August, 1863. In 1864 he entered the Pittsburg conference of the Methodist Church, and in 1870 was transferred to the New Jersey Conference, in which he now (1888) labors. Since 1878 he has been a professor in the National School of Elocution and Oratory in Philadelphia. He is the author of “Daring and Suffering, a History of the Great Railroad Adventurers” (Philadelphia, 1863; enlarged ed., New York, 1887); “Oratory, Sacred and Secular” (Philadelphia, 1881); and “Extempore Speech” (1882). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 34.
PLAISTED, Harris Merrill, soldier, born in Jefferson, New Hampshire, 2 November, 1828. He worked on a farm and taught during his early manhood, and was graduated at Waterville College (now Colby University) in 1853, and at Albany Law-school in 1855. He was then admitted to the bar and began practice in Bangor, Maine, in 1856. He entered the national volunteer service in 1861 as lieutenant-colonel, was commissioned colonel in 1862, participated in McClellan's Peninsular Campaign, commanded a brigade before Charleston, and served with Grant before Richmond. He received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers in February, 1865, and that of major-general of volunteers in March of the same year. He resumed his profession after the peace, was a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1868, and attorney-general of Maine in 1873–5. He went to Congress as a Republican in 1874 to fill a vacancy, served one term, declined re-election, and was governor of Maine in 1881–’3. Since 1884 he has edited and published “The New Age,” in Augusta, Maine. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 38.
PLATT, Franklin, geologist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19 November, 1844. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, but left in 1862, before graduation, and in 1863 served in the 32d Pennsylvania Gray Reserve Regiment. In 1864 he was appointed to the U.S. Coast Survey, and assigned to surveying work with the North Atlantic Squadron during that year. He then was appointed on the staff of General Orlando M. Poe, Chief Engineer of the Military Division of the Mississippi, and was engaged in this duty until the surrender of General Joseph Johnston's army in April, 1865. Subsequently, in July, 1874, he was appointed assistant geologist of Pennsylvania, a post he held until May, 1881, after which he became president of the Rochester and Pittsburg Coal and Iron Company. Mr. Platt is a member of scientific societies, to whose transactions he has contributed frequent papers on geology and kindred subjects. He prepared nine volumes of the reports of the geological survey of Pennsylvania. Those that were his exclusive work are “On Clearfield and Jefferson Counties” (Harrisburg, 1875); “Coke Manufacture” (1876); “On Blair County (1880); and “The Causes, Kinds, and Amount of Waste in Mining Anthracite” (1881). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 38.
PLATT, Zephaniah, 1796-1871, Jackson County, Michigan, jurist, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1840-1850. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, p. 39.
PLATT, Zephaniah, jurist, born in Plattsburg, New York, in 1796; died in Aiken, South Carolina, 20 April, 1871, moved to Michigan in early life, studied and subsequently practised law, and was appointed by the U. S. government its attorney to settle its claims on the Pacific Coast. He was state attorney-general for several years, and took high rank at the bar. He moved to South Carolina at the close of the Civil War, and from 1868 until his death was judge of the 2d Circuit. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V. , p. 39.
PLUMB, Joseph, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
PLUMB, Theron, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
PLUMLY, Benjamin R., Trenton, New Jersey, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1846-1849.
PLUMLY, Rebecca, abolitionist, Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Yellin, 1994, p. 73)
PLEASONTON, Augustus James, soldier, born in Washington, D.C., 18 August, 1808. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1826, and then served on garrison duty at the Artillery school for practice in Fortress Monroe, and on topographical duty until 30 June, 1830, when he resigned from the army. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar, and he has since practised in Philadelphia. He has served in the Pennsylvania Militia, holding the rank of brigade-major in 1833, and becoming colonel in 1835, and he was wounded during the conflict with armed rioters in Southwark, Pennsylvania, on 7 July, 1844. During the political disturbances in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1838-'9, he was assistant adjutant-general and paymaster-general of the state. On 10 May, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of Pennsylvania Militia, and charged with the organization and subsequent command during the Civil War of a home-guard of 10,000 men, including cavalry, artillery, and infantry, for the defence of Philadelphia. In 1839-'40 he was president of the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoy, and Lancaster Railroad Company. He has devoted his leisure to the cultivation of a farm near Philadelphia, where, as early as 1861, he began to experiment on the action of different colored rays upon vegetable and animal life. He claimed to have demonstrated that the blue rays of the sun were especially stimulating to vegetation. His experiments were subsequently applied to animals, and afterward to invalids, and wonderful cures were said to have been wrought. The public became interested in his experiments, and for a time a so-called " blue-glass craze" prevailed, culminating in 1877-'8. General Pleasonton published many papers in advocacy of his theories, and a book entitled " Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky in Developing Animal and Vegetable Life, in Arresting Disease" (Philadelphia, 1876). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 39-40.
PLEASONTON, Alfred, soldier, born in Washington. D. C, 7 June, 1824, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1844, served in the Mexican War, and was brevetted 1st lieutenant for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma." He subsequently was on frontier duty with his company, and was commissioned 1st lieutenant in 1840, and captain in 1855. He was acting assistant adjutant general to General William S. Harney during the Sioux Expedition, and his adjutant-general from 1856 till 1860 in the campaign against the Seminoles in Florida, and the operations in Kansas, Oregon, and Washington Territory. He commanded his regiment in its inarch from Utah to Washington in the autumn of 1861, was commissioned major of the 2d U.S. Cavalry in February, 1862, served through the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, became brigadier-general of volunteers in July of that year, and commanded the division of cavalry of the Army of the Potomac that followed Lee's invading army into Maryland. He was engaged at Boonesborough, South Mountain, Antietam, and the subsequent pursuit, engaged the enemy frequently at Fredericksburg, and stayed the further advance of the enemy at Chancellorsville. On 2 May, when Jackson's Confederate corps was coming down upon the right flank of Hooker's army, and had already routed Howard's corps, General Pleasonton, by his quick and skilful action, saved the army from a serious disaster. Ordering the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry to charge boldly into the woods in the face of the advancing host (see Keenan, Pete), he delayed Jackson's progress a few minutes—just long enough to throw into position all the artillery that was within reach. He ordered the guns loaded with grape and canister, and depressed enough to make the shot strike the ground half wav between their line and the edge of the woods. When the Confederate column emerged, it met such a storm of iron as no troops could pass through. About this time Jackson fell, and before any new Manoeuvres could be undertaken darkness put an end to the day's work. He received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for Antietam in 1862, was promoted major-general of volunteers in June, 1863, participated in the numerous actions that preceded the battle of Gettysburg, was commander-in-chief of cavalry in that action, and was brevetted colonel. 2 July. 1863. He was transferred to Missouri in 1864, drove the forces under General Sterling Price from the state, and in March, 1865, was brevetted brigadier-general in the U. S. Army for gallant and meritorious conduct in that campaign, and major-general for services throughout the Civil War. He resigned in 1868, was U. S. Collector of Revenue for several years, and subsequently president of the Terre Haute and Cincinnati Railroad. In May, 1888, he was placed on the retired list, with the rank of colonel, U. S. A. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 40.
PLUMB, Joseph, pioneer, born in Paris, Oneida County, New York, 27 June, 1791; died in Cattaraugus, New York, 25 May, 1870. He settled in Fredonia, New York, in 1816, and after moving to New York City, and to Ithaca and Geneva, he finally established himself in Gowanda, Erie County, New York, on the border of the Cattaraugus Reservation of Seneca Indians. He was active in benevolent and educational enterprises in behalf of this tribe, and organized the first schools and church in that community. He was a founder of the Liberty Party in 1840, and its candidate for lieutenant-governor in 1844. He owned the land upon which the town of Cattaraugus was built, and disposed of it on condition that no intoxicating liquors should be sold thereon. In one case the matter was carried to the court of appeals, and, after years of litigation, was decided in 1869 in favor of Mr. Plumb, the court sustaining the temperance restriction. He was an early member of the anti-slavery party, and declined a nomination to Congress in 1852, and the office of circuit judge. See his "Memorial" (printed privately, 1870).—His son, Edward Lee, diplomatist, born in Gowanda, New York, 17 July, 1827, has been secretary of legation and charge d'affaires in Mexico, consul-general at Havana, and was the agent in procuring the charter of the International Railway of Mexico. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 41-42.
PLUMB, Preston B., senator, born in Delaware County, Ohio, 12 October, 1837. After receiving a common-school education he became a printer, and in 1856 moved to Kansas. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1861, was a member of the legislature in 1862, subsequently reporter of the Kansas Supreme Court, and in the latter part of that year entered the National Army as a lieutenant. He served throughout the Civil War, and attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was again in the legislature in 1867-'8, was its speaker the latter year, and in 1876 was elected U. S. Senator as a Republican. He was re-elected for the term that will end in 1885. Mr. Plumb has edited and adapted a work entitled " Practice before Justice Courts in Kansas " (New York, 1875). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 42.
PLUMER, William, Congressman, born in Epping, N. H., 9 October, 1789; died there, 18 September, 1854, was graduated at Harvard in 1809, studied law under his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. He was U. S. commissioner of loans in 1816—'17, a member of the legislature in 1818, and was elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving by re-election from 1819 till 1825. He was an ardent Abolitionist, and delivered several speeches in Congress in opposition to the admission of Missouri into the union as a slave state. He was in the New Hampshire senate in 1827-'8, and declined a re-election in 1830, and the appointment of district attorney. He subsequently devoted himself to literary pursuits, and his last public service was as a member of the state constitutional convention in 1850. Mr. Plumer was an accomplished speaker and writer. He gave much time to historical and biographical research, and was an active member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Two volumes of his poems were printed privately (Boston, 1841 and 1843), and he published "Lyrica Sacra" (1845) and "Pastoral on the Story of Ruth " (1847), and, in part, edited the life of his father, mentioned above. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 42.
PLUMLEY, Benjamin Rush, author, born in Newton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 10 March, 1816; died in Galveston, Texas, 9 December, 1887. He was early associated with William Lloyd Garrison in abolition movements, subsequently engaged in literary pursuits, and contributed prose and poetical sketches to the magazines. During the Civil War he served on the staff of General John C. Fremont, and subsequently he was on that of General Nathaniel P. Banks. He afterward settled in Galveston, Texas. His works in manuscript, to be issued in book-form, include "Kathleen McKinley, the Kerry Girl," "Rachel Lockwood," "Lays of the Quakers," which appeared in the "Knickerbocker "; and "Oriental Ballads," in the " Atlantic Monthly." Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 43.
PLUMMER, Joseph B, soldier, born in Barre, Massachusetts, 10 August, 1820; died near Corinth, Mississippi, 9 August, 1862. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1841, served in Florida, on the western frontier, and in the Mexican War, became lieutenant in 1848, and captain in 1853. He rendered important service to General Nathaniel Lyon in the capture of Camp Jackson, Missouri, and was severely wounded at Wilson's Creek in August, 1861. He became colonel of the 11th Missouri Volunteers in September of that year, defeated the Confederates at Fredericktown, Missouri, on 12 October, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers the next day. He subsequently participated in the battles of New Madrid and Island No. 10. He became major of infantry in April, 1862, served in the Mississippi Campaign, at the siege and battle of Corinth, and in pursuit of the enemy to Boonville from 1 till 11 June. His death was the result of exposure in camp. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 43.
POE, Orlando Metcalfe, soldier, born in Navarre. Stark County, Ohio, 7 March, 1832. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1856, and assigned to the Topographical Engineers. He became 1st lieutenant in 1860, and was on lake survey duty till the beginning of the Civil War, when he engaged in the organization of Ohio volunteers. He was Chief Topographical Engineer of the Department of the Ohio from 13 May till 15 June, 1861, being engaged in rcconnoissances in northern Kentucky and western Virginia, participated in the battle of Rich Mountain, on the staff of General George B. McClellan. He became colonel of the 2d Michigan Volunteers in September, 1861, was in command of his regiment in the defences of Washington, and took part in the principal battles of the Virginia Peninsular Campaign. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862, was engaged at Fredericksburg, commanded a division of the 9th Army Corps from February to March, 1863, and became captain of U. S. Engineers in that month, and subsequently chief engineer of the 23d Corps of the Army of the Ohio. He occupied a similar post in the army of General William T. Sherman in the invasion of Georgia, the march to the sea, and through the Carolinas, until the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston. He received the brevet of major for gallant service at the siege of Knoxville on 6 July, 1864, that of lieutenant-colonel for the capture of Atlanta on 1 September, 1864, and that of colonel for Savannah on 21 December, 1864. In March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general for " gallant and meritorious service in the campaign terminating in the surrender of the insurgent army under General Joseph E. Johnston." He was engineer secretary of the U. S. Light-House Board in 1865-70, commissioned major in the latter year, constructed the light-house on Spectacle Reef, Lake Huron, in 1870-'3, and became a member of the Light-House Board in 1874. He was aide-de-camp to General William T. Sherman in 1873-'84, and at the same time was in charge of the river and harbor works from Lake Erie to Lake Superior. In 1882 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of engineers. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 47.
POLAND, John Scroggs, soldier, born in Princeton, Indiana, 14 October, 1836. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1861, and appointed 1st lieutenant of the 2d Infantry on 6 July, 1861. Subsequently he served with the Army of the Potomac, engaging in the battle of Bull Run, and with that army in the following campaigns, until after the battle of Gettysburg, when he was on duty in the defences of Washington. Meanwhile he had been promoted captain, and had received the brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel. In 1865 he was assigned to the U. S. Military Academy, where he remained for four years as assistant professor of geography, history, ethics, and drawing. During the ten years that followed he served principally on frontier duty, becoming, on 15 December, 1880, major of the 18th Infantry, and in 1881-'6, he was chief of the department of law at the U. S. Infantry and cavalry school in Leavenworth. Kansas, where he was also in charge in 1881-'3 of the department of military drawing. On 1 March, 1886, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 21st Infantry. Colonel Poland has published " Digest of the Military Laws of the United States from 1861 to 1868 " (Boston, 1868) and "The Conventions of Geneva of 1864 and 1868, and St. Petersburg International Commission " (Leavenworth, 1886). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 49-50.
POLAND, Luke Potter, jurist, born in Westford. Vermont, 1 November. 1815: died in Waterville, Vermont, 2 July, 1887. He attended the common schools, was employed in a country store and on a farm, taught at Morristown, Vermont, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1843, and prosecuting attorney for the county in 1844-'5. In 1848 he was the Free-soil candidate for lieutenant-governor, and in the same year he was elected a judge of the Vermont Supreme Court. He was re-elected each successive year, becoming chief justice in 1860, until he was appointed in November, 1865, on the death of Jacob Collamer, to serve out his unexpired term in the U. S. Senate. On its conclusion he entered the house of representatives, and served from 1867 till 1875. While in the senate he secured the passage of the bankrupt law, besides originating a bill for the revision and consolidation of the statutes of the United States. As chairman of the committee on Revision in the House, he superintended the execution of his scheme of codification. He was chairman of the committee to investigate the outrages of the Ku-Klux Klan, and of the investigation committee on the Credit Mobilier Transactions; also of one on the reconstruction of the Arkansas State Government. Several times, while serving on the committee on elections, he came into conflict with other Republicans on questions regarding the admission of Democratic members from the south. He was chairman of the Vermont delegation to the Republican National Convention of 1876, and presented the name of William A. Wheeler for the vice-presidency, for which office he himself had been brought forward as a candidate. Mr. Poland was a representative in the state legislature in 1878. He was elected to Congress again in 1882. and served from 1883 till 3 March, 1885. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 50.
POLIGNAC, Camille Armand Jules Marie (po-leen-vak). Count de, soldier, born in France, 6 February, 1832. He is a descendant of the Duchess of Polignac, a favorite of Marie Antoinette. At the beginning of the Civil War he came to this country, offered his services to the Confederate government, and was made brigadier-general on 10 January, 1862, and attached to the Army of Tennessee. Subsequently he was given command of a division and commissioned major-general on 13 June, 1864. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-'l he served with his countrymen, and he has since been engaged in journalism and in civil engineering. On several occasions he has been sent to Algiers in charge of surveying expeditions by the French government, and his work has received special recognition. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 50.
POLK, James Knox, eleventh president of the United States, born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, 2 November, 1795; died in Nashville, Tennessee, 15 June, 1849. He was a son of Samuel Polk, whose father, Ezekiel, was a brother of Colonel Thomas (q. v.), grandson of Robert Polk, or Pollock, who was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States. His mother was Jane, daughter of James Knox, a resident of Iredell County, North Carolina, and a captain in the war of the Revolution. His father. Samuel, a farmer, moved in the autumn of 1806 to the rich valley of Duck River, a tributary of the Tennessee, and made a new home in a section that was erected the following year into the county of Maury. Besides cultivating the tract of land he had purchased, Samuel at intervals followed the occupation of a surveyor, acquired a fortune equal to his wants, and lived until 1827. His son James was brought up on the farm, and not only assisted in its management, but frequently accompanied his father in his surveying expeditions, during which they were often absent for weeks. He was inclined to study, often busied himself with his father's mathematical calculations, and was fond of reading. He was sent to school, and had succeeded in mastering the English branches when ill health compelled his removal. He was then placed with a merchant, but having a strong dislike to commercial pursuits, he obtained permission to return home after a few weeks' trial, and in July, 1813, was given in charge of a private tutor. In 1815 he entered the sophomore class at the University of North Carolina, of which institution his cousin, William (q. v.), was a trustee. As a student young Polk was correct, punctual, and industrious. At his graduation in 1818 he was officially acknowledged to be the best scholar in both the classics and mathematics, and delivered the Latin salutatory. In 1847 the university conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1819 he entered the law-office of Felix Grundy, who was then at the head of the Tennessee bar. While pursuing his legal studies he attracted the attention of Andrew Jackson, who soon afterward was appointed governor of the territory of Florida. An intimacy was thus begun between the two men that in after-years greatly influenced the course of at least one of them. In 1820 Mr. Polk was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Columbia, the county-seat of Maury County. Here he attained such immediate success as fails to the lot of few, his career at the bar only ending with his election to the governorship in 1839. At times he practised alone, while at others he was associated successively with several of the leading practitioners of the state. Among the latter may be mentioned Aaron V. Brown and Gideon J. Pillow. Brought np as a Jeffersonian, and early taking an interest in politics, Mr. Polk was frequently heard in public as an exponent of the views of his party. So popular was his style of oratory that his services soon came to be in great demand, and he was not long in earning the title of the " Napoleon of the Stump." He was, however, an argumentative rather than a rhetorical speaker, and convinced his hearers by plainness of statement and aptness of illustration, ignoring the ad-captandum effects usually resorted to in political harangues. His first public employment was that of chief clerk to the Tennessee house of representatives, and in 1823 he canvassed the district to secure his own election to that body. During his two years in the legislature he was regarded as one of its most promising members, his ability and shrewdness m debate, his business tact, combined with his firmness and industry, secured for him a high reputation. While a member of the general assembly he obtained the passage of a law to prevent the then common practice of duelling, and, although he resided in a community where that mode of settling disputes was generally approved, he was never concerned in an "affair of honor." either as principal or as second. In August, 1825, he was elected to Congress from the Duck River District, in which he resided, by a flattering majority, and re-elected at every succeeding election until 1839, when he withdrew from the contest to become a candidate for governor. On taking his seat as a member of the 19th Congress, he found himself, with one or two exceptions, the youngest member of that body. The same habits of laborious application that had previously characterized him were now displayed on the floor of the house and in the committee-room. He was prominently connected with every leading question, and upon all he struck what proved to be the keynote for the action of his party. During the whole period of President Jackson's administration he was one of its leading supporters, and at times, on certain issues of paramount importance, its chief reliance. His maiden speech was made in defence of the proposed amendment to the constitution, giving the choice of president and vice-president directly to the people. It was distinguished bv clearness and force, copiousness of research, wealth of illustration, and cogency of argument, and at once placed its author in the front rank of congressional debaters. During the same session Mr. Polk attracted attention by his vigorous opposition to the appropriation for the Panama mission. President Adams had appointed commissioners to attend a congress proposed to be held at Panama by delegates appointed by different Spanish-American states, which, although they had virtually achieved their independence, were still at war with the mother-country. Mr. Polk, and those who thought with him, contended that such action on the part of this government would tend to involve j us in a war with Spain, and establish an unfortunate precedent for the future. In December, 1827, he was placed on the committee on foreign affairs, and some time afterward was also appointed chairman of the select committee to which , was referred that portion of the message of President Adams calling the attention of congress to the probable accumulation of a surplus in the treasury after the anticipated extinguishment of the national debt. As the head of the latter committee, he made a report denying the constitutional power of Congress to collect from the people for distribution a surplus beyond the wants of the government, and maintaining that the revenue should be reduced to the requirements of the public service. Early in 1833, as a member of the ways and means committee, he made a minority report unfavorable to the Bank of the United States, which aroused a storm of opposition, a meeting of the friends of the bank being held at Nashville. During the entire contest between the bank and President Jackson, caused by the removal of the deposits in October, 1833, Mr. Polk, now chairman of the committee, supported the executive. His speech in opening the debate summarized the material facts and arguments on the Democratic side of the question. George McDuffie, leader of the opposition, bore testimony in his concluding remarks to the boldness and manliness with which Mr. Polk had assumed the only position that could be judiciously taken. Mr. Polk was elected speaker of the house of representatives in December, 1835, and held that office till 1839. He gave to the administration of Martin Van Buren the same unhesitating support he had accorded to that of President Jackson, and, though taking no part in the discussions, he approved of the leading measures recommended by the former, including the cession of the public lands to the states, the preemption law, and the proposal to establish an independent treasury, and exerted his influence to secure their adoption. He was the speaker during five sessions, and it was his fortune to preside over the house at a period when party feelings were excited to an unusual degree. Notwithstanding the fact that during the first session more appeals were taken from his decisions than were ever known before, he was uniformly sustained by the house, and frequently by leading members of the Whig Party. Although he was opposed to the doctrines of the anti-slavery reformers, we have the testimony of their leader in the house, John Quincy Adams, to the effect that Speaker Polk uniformly extended to him "every kindness and courtesy imaginable." On leaving Congress. Mr. Polk became the candidate of the Democrats of Tennessee for governor. They had become disheartened by a series of disasters and defeats caused primarily by the defection of John Bell and Judge Hugh L. White. Under these circumstances it was evident that no one but the strongest man in the party could enter the canvass with the slightest prospect of success, and it was doubtful whether even he could carry off the prize. On being asked, Mr. Polk at once cheerfully consented to allow his name to be used. He was nominated in the autumn of 1838, but, owing to his congressional duties, was unable fairly to enter upon the canvass until the spring of 1839. His opponent was Newton Cannon, also a Democrat, who then held the office. The contest was spirited, and Mr. Polk was elected by over 2,500 majority. On 14 October he took the oath of office. In his inaugural address he touched upon the relations of the state and Federal governments, declared that the latter had no constitutional power to incorporate a national bank, took strong ground against the creation of a surplus Federal revenue by taxation, asserted that "the agitation of the Abolitionists can by no possibility produce good to any portion of the Union, but must, if persisted in, lead to incalculable mischief," and discussed at length other topics, especially bearing upon the internal policy of Tennessee. In 1841 Mr. Polk j was again a candidate for the governorship, although his defeat was a foregone conclusion in view of the political whirlwind that had swept over the country in 1840 and resulted in the election of William Henry Harrison to the presidency. In Tennessee the Harrison electoral ticket had received more than 12,000 majority. Although to overcome this was impossible, Mr. Polk entered upon the canvass with his usual energy and earnestness. He could not secure the defeat of James C. Jones, the opposing Whig candidate, one of the most popular members of his party in the state, but he did succeed in cutting down the opposition majority to about 3,000. In 1843 Mr. Polk was once more a candidate; but this time Governor Jones's majority was nearly 4,000. In 1839 Mr. Polk had been nominated by the legislature of Tennessee as its candidate for vice-president on the ticket with Martin Van Buren, and other states had followed the example: but Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, seemed to be the choice of the great body of the Democratic Party, and he was accordingly nominated. From the date of Van Buren's defeat in 1840 until within a few weeks of the meeting of the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore in 1844, public opinion in the party undoubtedly pointed to his renomination, but when in April of the latter year President Tyler concluded a treaty between the government of the United States and the republic of Texas, providing for the annexation of the latter to the Union, a new issue was introduced into American politics that was destined to change not only the platforms of parties, but the future history and topography of the country itself. On the question whether Texas should be admitted, the greatest divergence of opinion among public men prevailed. The Whig Party at the north '' sed annexation, on the grounds that it would an act of bad faith to Mexico, that it would involve the necessity of assuming the debt of the young republic, amounting to ten or twelve million dollars, and that it would further increase the area of slave territory. At the south the Whigs were divided, one section advocating the new policy, while the other concurred with their party friends at the north on the first two grounds of objection. The Democrats generally favored annexation, but a portion of the party at the north, and a few of its members residing in the slave states, opposed it. Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Clay '' very nearly in their opinions, being in favor of annexation if the American people desired it, provided that the consent of Mexico could be obtained, or at least that efforts should be made to obtain it. In this crisis Mr. Polk declared his views in no uncertain tones. It being understood that he would be a candidate for vice-president, * letter was addressed to him by a committee of the citizens of Cincinnati, asking for an expression of his sentiments on the subject. In his reply, dated 22 April, 1844, he said: “I have no hesitation in declaring that I am in favor of the immediate reannexation of Texas to the government and territory of the United States. The proof is fair and satisfactory to my own mind that Texas once constituted a part of the territory of the United States, the title to which I regard to have been as indisputable as that to any portion of our territory.” He also added that “the country west of the Sabine, and now called Texas, was [in 1819] most unwisely ceded away”; that the people and government of the republic were most anxious for annexation, and that, if their prayer was rejected, there was danger that she might become “a dependency if not a colony of Great Britain.” This letter, strongly in contrast with the hesitating phrases contained in that of ex-President Van Buren of 20 April on the same subject, elevated its author to the presidency. When the Baltimore Convention met on 27 May, it was found that, while Mr. Van Buren could not secure the necessary two-third vote, his friends numbered more than one third of the delegates present, and were thus in a position to dictate the name of the successful candidate. As it was also found that they were inflexibly opposed to Messrs. Cass, Johnson, Buchanan, and the others whose names had been presented, Mr. Polk was introduced as the candidate of conciliation, and nominated with alacrity and unanimity. George M. Dallas was nominated for vice-president. In his letter of acceptance, Mr. Polk declared that, if elected, he should enter upon “the discharge of the high and solemn duties of the office with the settled purpose of not being a candidate for reelection.” '. an exciting canvass, Mr. Polk was elected over his distinguished opponent, Henry Clay, by about 40,000 majority, on the popular vote, exclusive of that of South Carolina, whose electors were chosen by the legislature of the state; while in the electoral college he received 175 votes to 105 that were cast for Mr. Clay. On 4 March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated. In his inaugural address, after recounting the blessings conferred upon the nation by the Federal Union, he said: “To perpetuate them, it is our sacred duty to preserve it. Who shall assign limits to the achievements of free minds and free hands under the protection of this glorious Union? No treason to mankind, since the organization of society, would be equal in atrocity to that of him who would lift his hand to destroy it. He would overthrow the noblest structure of human wisdom which protects himself and his fellow-man. He would stop the progress of free government and involve his country either in anarchy or in despotism.” In selecting his cabinet, the new president was singularly fortunate. It comprised several of the most distinguished members of the Democratic Party, and all sections of the Union were represented. James Buchanan, fresh from his long experience in the senate, was named Secretary of State; Robert J. Walker, also an ex-senator and one of the best authorities on the national finances, was Secretary of the Treasury; to William L. Marcy, ex-Governor of New York, was confided the war portfolio; literature was honored in the appointment of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy; Cave Johnson, an honored son of Tennessee, was made £: and John Y. Mason, who had been a member of President Tyler's cabinet, was first Attorney-General and afterward Secretary of the Navy. When Congress met in the following December there was a Democratic majority in £ branches. In his message the president condemned all anti-slavery agitation, recommended a sub-treasury and a tariff for revenue, and declared that the annexation of Texas was a matter that concerned only the latter and the United States, no foreign country having any right to interfere. Congress was also informed that the American Army under General Zachary Taylor had been ordered to occupy, and had occupied, the western bank of Nueces River, beyond which Texas had never hitherto exercised jurisdiction. On 29 December, Texas was admitted into the Union, and two days later an act was passed extending the United States revenue system over the doubtful territory beyond the Nueces. Even these measures did not elicit a declaration of war from the Mexican authorities, who still declared their willingness to negotiate concerning the disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. These negotiations, however, came to nothing, and the president, in accordance with General Taylor's suggestion, ordered a forward movement, in obedience to which that officer advanced from his camp at Corpus Christi toward the Rio Grande, and occupied the district in debate. Thus brought face to face with Mexican troops, he was attacked early in May with 6,000 men by General Arista, who was badly beaten at Palo Alto with less than half that number. The next day Taylor attacked Arista at Resaca de la Palma, and drove him across the Rio Grande. On receipt of the news of these events in Washington, President Polk sent a message to Congress, in which he declared that Mexican troops had at last shed the blood of American citizens on American soil, and asked for a formal declaration of war. A bill was accordingly introduced and passed by both houses, recognizing the fact that hostilities had been begun, and appropriating $10,000,000 for its prosecution. Its preamble read as follows: "Whereas, by the act of the republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that government and the United States." The Whigs protested against this statement as untrue, alleging that the president had provoked retaliatory action by ordering the army into Mexican territory, and Abraham Lincoln introduced in the house of representatives what became known as the " spot resolutions," calling upon the president to designate the spot of American territory whereon the outrage had been committed. Nevertheless, the Whigs voted for the bill and generally supported the war until its conclusion. On 8 August a second message was received from the president, asking for money with which to purchase territory from Mexico, that the dispute might be settled by negotiation. A bill appropriating $2,000,000 for this purpose at once brought up the question of slavery extension into new territory, and David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, in behalf of many northern Democrats, offered an amendment applying to any newly acquired territory the provision of the ordinance of 1781, to the effect that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." The Whigs and northern Democrats united secured its passage, but it was sent to the senate too late to be acted upon. During the same session war with England regarding the Oregon question seemed imminent. By the treaties of 1803 with France, and of 1819 with Spain, the United States had acquired the rights of those powers on the Pacific Coast north of California. The northern boundary of the ceded territory was unsettled. The United States claimed that the line of 54° 40' north latitude was such boundary, while Great Britain maintained that it followed the Columbia River. By the Convention of 1827 the disputed territory had been held jointly by both countries, the arrangement being terminable by either country on twelve months' notice. The Democratic Convention of 1844 had demanded the reoccupation of the whole of Oregon up to 54° 40', " with or without war with England," a demand popularly summarized in the campaign rallying-cry of "Fifty four forty or fight! The annexation of Texas having been accomplished, the Whigs now began to urge the Democrats to carry out their promise regarding Oregon, and, against the votes of the extreme southern Democrats, the president was directed to give the requisite twelve months' notice. Further negotiations ensued, which resulted in the offer by Great Britain to yield her claim to the unoccupied territory between the 49th parallel and Columbia River, and acknowledge that parallel as the northern boundary. As the president had subscribed to the platform of the Baltimore Convention, he threw upon the senate the responsibility of deciding whether the claim of the United States to the whole of Oregon should be insisted upon, or the compromise proposed by her majesty's government accepted. The senate, by a vote of 41 to 14, decided in favor of the latter alternative, and on 15 June, 1846, the treaty was signed. Two other important questions were acted upon at the first session of the 39th Congress, the tariff and internal improvements. The former had been a leading issue in the presidential contest of 1844. The act of 1842 had violated the principles of the compromise bill of 1833, and the opinions of the two candidates for the presidency, on this Issue, were supposed to be well defined previous to the termination of their congressional career. Mr. Polk was committed to the policy of a tariff for revenue, and Mr. Clay, when the compromise act was under discussion, had pledged the party favorable to protection to a reduction of the imports to a revenue standard. Previous to his nomination, Mr. Clay made a speech at Raleigh, North Carolina, in which he advocated discriminating duties for the protection of domestic industry. This was followed by his letter in September, 1844. in which he gave in his adhesion to the tariff of 1842. Probably alarmed at the prospect of losing votes at the south through his opposition to the annexation of Texas, and seeing defeat certain unless he could rally to his support the people of the north, Mr. Clay made one concession after another, until he had virtually abandoned the ground he occupied in 1833, and made himself amenable to his own rebuke uttered at that time: "Whatman," he had then asked, " who is entitled to deserve the character of an American statesman, would stand up in his place in either house of Congress and disturb the treaty of peace and amity" Mr. Polk, on the other hand, had courted criticism by his Kane letter, dated 19 June, 1844, which was so ambiguously worded as to give ground for the charge that his position was identical with that held by Henry Clay. In his first annual message, however, he explained his views with precision and ability. The principles that would govern his administration were proclaimed with great boldness, and the objectionable features of the tariff of 1842 were investigated and exposed, while Congress was urged to substitute ad valorem for specific and minimum duties. "The terms 'protection to American industry,'" he went on to say, "are of popular import, but they should apply under a just system to all the various branches of industry in our country. The farmer, or planter, who toils yearly in his fields, is engaged in ‘domestic industry,' and is as much entitled to have his labor 'protected' as the manufacturer, the man of commerce, the navigator, or the mechanic, who are engaged also in 'domestic industry' in their different pursuits. The joint labors of all these classes constitute the aggregate of the 'domestic industry' of the nation, and they are equally entitled to the nation's 'protection.' No one of them can justly claim to be the exclusive recipients of 'protection,' which can only be afforded by increasing burdens on the 'domestic industry ' of others." In accordance with the president's views, a bill providing for a purely revenue tariff, and based on a plan prepared by Secretary Walker, was introduced in the house of representatives on 15 June. After an unusually able discussion, a vote was reached on 3 July, when the measure was adopted by 114 ayes to 95 nays. But it was nearly defeated in the senate, where the vote was tied, and only the decision of Vice-President Dallas in its favor saved the bill. The occasion was memorable, party spirit ran high, and a crowded senate-chamber hung on the lips of that official as he announced the reasons for his course. In conclusion he said: "If by thus acting it be my misfortune to offend any portion of those who honored me with their suffrages, I have only to say to them, and to my whole country, that 1 prefer the deepest obscurity of private life, with an unwounded conscience, to the glare of official eminence spotted by a sense of moral delinquency!" Regarding the question of internal improvements, Mr. Polk's administration was signalized by the struggle between the advocates of that policy and the executive. A large majority in both houses of Congress, including members of both parties, were in favor of a lavish expenditure of the public money. On 24 July, 1846, the senate passed the bill known as the River-and-harbor improvement bill precisely as it had passed the house the previous March, but it was vetoed by the president in a message of unusual power. The authority of the general government to make internal improvements within the states was thoroughly examined, and reference was made to the corruptions of the system that expended money in particular sections, leaving other parts of the country without government assistance. Undaunted by the opposition of the executive, the house of representatives, on 20 February, 1847, passed, by a vote of 89 to 72, a second bill making appropriations amounting to $600,000 for the same purpose. It was carried through the senate on the last day of the second session. Although the president could have defeated the objectionable measure by a " pocket veto," in spite of the denunciations with which he was assailed by the politicians and the press, he again boldly met the question, and sent in a message that, for thoroughness of investigation, breadth of thought, clearness and cogency of argument, far excels any of the state papers to which he has put his name. The conflict between the friends and opponents of slavery was also a prominent feature of President Polk's administration, and was being constantly waged on the floor of Congress. During the second session of the 39th Congress the house attached the Wilmot Proviso to a bill appropriating $3,000,000 for the purchase of territory from Mexico, as it had been appended to one appropriating $2,000,000 for the same purpose at the previous session. The senate passed the bill without the amendment, and the house was compelled to concur. A bill to organize the territory of Oregon, with the proviso attached, passed by the hitter body was not acted upon by the senate. A motion made in the house of representatives by a southern member to extend the Missouri compromise-line of 30° 30' to the Pacific was lost by a sectional vote, north against south, 81 to 104. A treaty of peace having been signed with Mexico, 2 February, 1848, after a series of victories, a bill was passed by the senate during the first session of the 30th Congress, establishing territorial governments in Oregon. New Mexico, and California, with a provision that all questions concerning slavery in those territories should be referred to the U. S. Supreme Court for decision. It received the votes of the members from the slave-states, but was lost in the house. A bill was finally passed organizing the territory of Oregon without slavery. During the second session a bill to organize the territories of New Mexico and California with the Wilmot proviso was passed by the house, but the senate refused to consider it. Late in the session the latter body attached a bill permitting such organization with slavery to the general appropriation bill as a " rider." but, as the house objected, was compelled to strike it off. In his message to Congress approving the Oregon Territorial Bill Mr. Polk said: "I have an abiding confidence that the sober reflection and sound patriotism of all the states will bring them to the conclusion that the dictate of wisdom is to follow the example of those who have gone before us, and settle this dangerous question on the Missouri compromise or some other equitable compromise which would respect the rights of all, and prove satisfactory to the different portions of the union." President Polk was not a slavery propagandist, and consequently had no pro-slavery policy. On the contrary, in the settlement of the Oregon question, he did all in his power to secure the exclusion of slavery from that territory, and, although the final vote was not taken until within a few days after his retirement, the battle was fought and the decision virtually reached during his administration. Mr. Polk, in a letter dated 19 May. 1848, reiterated his decision not to become a candidate again for the presidency, and retired at the close of his term of office to his home in Nashville with the intention not to re-enter public life. His health, never robust, had been seriously impaired by the' unavoidable cares of office and his habit of devoting too much time and strength to the execution of details. Within a few weeks after his permanent return to Tennessee he fell a prey to a disease that would probably have only slightly affected a man in ordinary health, and a few hours sufficed to bring the attack to a fatal termination. Thus ended the life of one of whose public career it may still be too soon to judge with entire impartiality. Some of the questions on which he was called upon to act are still, nearly forty years after his death, party issues. Mr. Polk evidently believed with Mr. Clay that a Union all slave or all free was an impossible Utopia, and that there was no good reason why the north and the south should not continue to live for many years to come as they had lived since the adoption of the constitution. He deprecated agitation of the slavery question by the Abolitionists, and believed that the safety of the commonwealth lay in respecting the compromises that had hitherto furnished a modus vivendi between the slave and the free states. As to the annexation of Texas and the war with Mexico, his policy was undoubtedly the result of conviction, sincerity, and good faith. He believed, with John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, that Texas had been unwisely ceded to Spain in 1819, and that it was desirable, from a geographical point of view, that it should be re-annexed, seeing that it formed a most valuable part of the valley of the Mississippi. He was also of opinion that in a military point of view its acquisition was desirable for the protection of New Orleans, the great commercial mart of the southwestern section of the Union, which in time of war would be endangered by the close proximity of a hostile power having control of the upper waters of Red River. Holding these views and having been elevated to the presidency on a platform that expressly demanded that they £ embodied in action, and Texas again made a part of the national domain, he would have indeed been recreant to his trust had he attempted to carry out as president any policy antagonistic to that he had advocated when a candidate for that office. The war in which he became involved in carrying out these views was a detail that the nation was compelled to leave largely to his judgment. The president believed that the representations and promises of the Mexican authorities could not be trusted, and that the only argument to which they would pay attention was that of force. Regarding his famous order to General Taylor to march toward the Rio Grande, it was suggested by that officer himself, and for his gallant action in the war the latter was elected the successor of President Polk. The settlement of the Oregon boundary-line was made equally obligatory upon the new president on taking office. He offered Great Britain the line that was finally accepted; but when the British minister hastily rejected the offer, the entire country applauded his suggestion to that power of what the boundary might possibly be in case of war. But whatever the motives of the executive as to Texas and Oregon, the results of the administration of James K. Polk were brilliant in the extreme. He was loyally upheld by the votes of all parties in Congress, abundantly '' with the sinews of war, and seconded by gallant and competent officers in the field. For $15,000,000, in addition to the direct war expenses, the southwestern boundary of the country was carried to the Rio Grande, while the provinces of New Mexico and Upper California were added to the national domain. What that cession meant in increased wealth it is perhaps even yet too soon to compute. Among the less dazzling but still solid advantages conferred upon the £ Mr. Polk's term of office was the adoption by Congress, on his recommendation, of the public warehousing system that has since proved so valuable an aid to the commerce of the country; the negotiation of the 35th article of the treaty with Grenada, ratified 10 June, 1848, which secured for our citizens the right of way across the Isthmus of Panama; the postal treaty of 15 December, 1848, with Great Britain, and the negotiation of commercial treaties with the secondary states of the Germanic confederation by which reciprocal relations were established and growing markets reached upon favorable terms. Mr. Bancroft, the only surviving member of Polk's cabinet, who has revised this article, in a communication to the senior editor of the “Cyclopaedia,” dated Washington, 8 March, 1888, says: “One of the special qualities of Mr. Polk's mind was his clear perception of the character and doctrines of the two great parties that then divided the country. Of all our public men—I say, distinctly, of all—Polk was the most thoroughly consistent £ of his party. He had no equal. ime and again his enemies sought for grounds on which to convict him of inconsistency, but so consistent had been his public career that the charge was never even made. Never fanciful or extreme, he was ever solid, firm, and consistent. His administration, viewed from the standpoint of results, was perhaps the greatest in our national history, certainly one of the greatest. He succeeded because he insisted on being its centre, and in overruling and guiding all his secretaries to act so as to produce unity and harmony. Those who study his administration will acknowledge how sincere and successful were his efforts, as did those who were contemporary with him.” Mr. Polk, who was a patient student and a clear thinker, steadfast to opinions once formed, and not easily moved by popular opinion, labored faithfully, from his entrance into public life until the day when he left the White House, to disseminate the political opinions in which he had been educated, and which commended themselves to his judgment. His private life was upright and blameless. Simple in his habits to abstemiousness, he found his greatest happiness in the pleasures of the home circle rather than in the gay round of public amusements. A frank and sincere friend, courteous and affable in his demeanor with strangers, generous and benevolent, the esteem in which he was held as a man and a citizen was quite as high as his official reputation. In the words of his friend and associate in office, Vice-President Dallas, he was “temperate but not unsocial, industrious but accessible, punctual but patient, moral without austerity, and devotional though not bigoted.” See “Eulogy on the Life and Character of the Late James K. Polk,” by George M. Dallas (Philadelphia, 1849); “ Eulogy on the Life and Character of £ Knox Polk,” by A. O. P. Nicholson (Nashville, 1849); “James Knox Polk,” by John S. Jenkins (Buffalo, 1850); and “History of the Administration of James K. Polk,” by Lucien B. Chase (New York, 1850).—His wife, Sarah Childress, born near Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, 4 September, 1803, is the daughter of Joel and Elizabeth £ Her father, a farmer in easy circumstances, sent her to the Moravian Institute at Salem, North Carolina, where she was educated. On returning home she married Mr. Polk, who was then a member of the legislature of Tennessee. The following year he was elected to Congress, and during his fourteen sessions in Washington Mrs. Polk's judgment, and moments gave her a high place in society. On her return as the wife of the president, having no children, Mrs. Polk devoted herself entirely to her duties as mistress of the White House. She held weekly receptions, and abolished the custom of giving refreshments to the guests. She also forbade dancing, as out of keeping with the character of these entertainments. In spite of her reforms, Mrs. Polk was extremely popular. “Madam,” said a prominent South Carolinian, at one of her receptions, “there is a woe pronounced against you in the Bible.” On her inquiring his meaning, he added: “The Bible says, “Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.’ ” An English lady visiting Washington thus described the president's wife: “Mrs. Polk is a very handsome woman. Her hair is very black, and her dark eyes and complexion remind one of the Spanish donnas. She is well read, has much talent for conversation, and is highly popular. Her excellent taste in dress preserves the subdued though elegant costume that characterizes the lady." Mrs. Polk became a communicant of the Presbyterian Church in 1834, and has maintained her connection with that denomination until the present time (1888). Since the death of her husband she has resided at Nashville, in the house seen in the illustration and known as " Polk Place." In the foreground is seen the tomb of her husband. —President Polk's brother, William Hawkins, lawyer, born in Maury County, Tennessee, 24 May, 1815; died in Nashville. Tennessee, l December, 1862, was graduated at the University of Tennessee, admitted to the bar in 1839. and began to practise at Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee. He was elected to the legislature in 1841 and again in 1843. In 1845 he was appointed minister to Naples, holding the office from 13 March of that year till 31 August, 1847, when he was commissioned major of the 3d Dragoons, and saw service in Mexico. He resigned. 20 July, 1848. He was a delegate to the Nashville Convention of 1850, and was chosen a member of the 32d Congress as a Democrat, serving from 1 December, 1851, till 3 March, 1853. Major Polk was a strong opponent of secession in 1861. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 50-56.
POLK, Leonidas, P. E. bishop, born in Raleigh, North Carolina, 10 April, 1806; died on Pine mountain, Georgia, 14 June, 1864, was educated at the University of North Carolina, and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1827, and brevetted 2d lieutenant of artillery. Having, in the meantime, been induced by Reverend (afterward Bishop) Charles P. McIlvaine, then chaplain at the academy, to study for the ministry, he resigned his commission the following December, was made deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1830, and ordained priest in 1831. He served in the Monumental Church, Richmond, Virginia, as assistant for a year, when, his health failing, he went to Europe to recuperate. Soon after his return he moved to Tennessee, and became rector of St. Peter's Church, Columbia, in 1833. In 1834 he was clerical deputy to the general convention of the Episcopal Church, and in 1835 a member of the standing committee of the diocese. In 1838 he received the degree of S. T. D. from Columbia, and the same time he was elected and consecrated missionary Bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territory south of 36° 30', with provisional charge of the dioceses of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and the missions in the Republic of Texas. These charges he held until 1841, when he resigned all of them with the exception of the diocese of Louisiana, of which he remained bishop until his death, intending to resume his duties after he had been released from service in the field. In 1856 he initiated the movement to establish the University of the South, and until 1860 was engaged with Bishop Stephen Elliott, and other southern bishops, in perfecting plans that resulted in the opening of that institution at Sewanee, Tennessee. At the beginning of the Civil War he was a strong sympathizer with the doctrine of secession. His birth, education, and associations were alike southern, and his property, which was very considerable in land and slaves, aided to identify him with the project of establishing a southern confederacy. His familiarity with the valley of the Mississippi prompted him to urge upon Jefferson Davis and the Confederate authorities the importance of fortifying and holding its strategical points, and amid the excitement of the time the influence of his old military training became uppermost in his mind. Under these circumstances the offer of a major-generalship by Davis was regarded not unfavorably. He applied for advice to Bishop William Meade, of Virginia, who replied that, his being an exceptional case, he could not advise against its acceptance. His first command extended from the mouth of Red River, on both sides of the Mississippi, to Paducah on the Ohio, his headquarters being at Memphis. Under his general direction the extensive works at New Madrid and Fort Pillow, Columbus, Kentucky, Island No. 10, Memphis, and other points, were constructed. On 4 September, General Polk transferred his headquarters to Columbus, where the Confederates had massed a large force of infantry, six field-batteries, a siege battery, three battalions of cavalry, and three steamboats. Opposite this place, at Belmont, Missouri, on 7 November, 1861, the battle of Belmont was fought, General Polk being in command of the Confederate and General Grant of the National troops. The Confederates claimed a victory. General Polk remained at Columbus until March, 1862, when he was ordered to join Johnston's and Beauregard’s army at Corinth, Mississippi. As commander of the 1st Corps, he took part in the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, and in the subsequent operations that ended with the evacuation of Corinth. In September and October he commanded the Army of Mississippi, and fought at the battle of Perryville, during the Confederate invasion of Kentucky. In the latter part of October and November he was in command of the armies of Kentucky and Mississippi and conducted the Confederate retreat from the former state. In October he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and commanded the right wing of the Army of Tennessee at the battle of Stone River. In the Chickamauga Campaign, he also led the right wing. According to the official report of General Braxton Bragg, it was only through Polk's disobedience of orders at Chickamauga that the National Army was saved from annihilation. He was accordingly relieved from his command, and ordered to Atlanta. Subsequently Jefferson Davis, with General Bragg's approval, offered to reinstate him, but he declined. He was then appointed to take charge of the camp of Confederate prisoners that had been paroled at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. In December, 1863, he was assigned to the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, in place of General Joseph E. Johnston, who was assigned to the Army of Tennessee. By skilful dispositions of his troops he prevented the junction of the National cavalry column under General William Sooy Smith with General Sherman's army in southern Mississippi. General Polk's prestige being restored, he was ordered to unite his command (the Army of Mississippi) with the army of General Joseph E. Johnston, who opposed the march of Sherman to Atlanta. After taking part in the principal engagements that occurred previous to the middle of June he was killed by a cannon-shot while reconnoitering on Pine mountain, near Marietta, Georgia. His biography is in course of preparation (1888) by his son, Dr. William M. Polk, of New York. —Leonidas's son, William Mecklenburg, physician, born in Ashwood, Maury County, Tennessee, 15 August, 1844, was graduated at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, 4 July, 1864, and at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1869. He entered the Confederate Army in April, 1861, as a cadet of the military institute, was commissioned 1st lieutenant in Scott's Battery of artillery in 1862, and in 1863 was promoted assistant chief of artillery in his father's corps, Army of the Tennessee. In March, 1865, he was made captain and adjutant in the inspector-general's department. After his graduation as a physician he practised in New York City, and from 1875 till 1879 he was professor of therapeutics and clinical medicine in Bellevue College. He then accepted the chair of obstetrics and the diseases of women in the medical department of the University of the City of New York, which he still (1888) holds. He is also surgeon in the department of obstetrics in Bellevue Hospital. Dr. Polk has contributed to medical literature “Original Observations upon the Anatomy of the Female Pelvic Organs,” “On the Gravid and Non-Gravid Uterus,” and “Original Observations upon the Causes and Pathology of the Pelvic Inflammations of Women.”—Leonidas's brother, Thomas Gilchrist, lawyer, born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 22 February, 1790; died in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1869, was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1810, and at the law-school at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1813. He soon after began to practise his profession, and for several years was a member of the lower branch of the North Carolina Legislature. He was also at one time in command of the militia. In 1839 he moved to Tennessee, where he purchased a large plantation. Being a stanch Whig in politics, he took an active part in the presidential campaign of 1844 in support of Henry Clay, and against his relative, James K. Polk. Williams grandson, Lucius Eugene, soldier, born in Salisbury, North Carolina, 10 July, 1833, was the son of William J. Polk. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1852. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the Confederate Army as a private under General Patrick R. Cleburne, but was soon commissioned 1st lieutenant, and as such fought at Shiloh, where he was wounded. He was rapidly promoted until he was made brigadier-general in December, 1862, and joined his brigade in time to take part in the battle of Murfreesboro, where his command made a charge, for which he was complimented by General Braxton Bragg in his report of the engagement. General Polk was also present at Ringgold Gap, Georgia, in 1863, and at many other actions. At Kenesaw mountain, Georgia, in the summer of 1864, he was severely wounded by a cannon-ball and disabled for further service. He then retired to a plantation in Maury County, Tennessee, where he has since resided. In 1884 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago, and he is at present (1888) a member of the senate of the State of Tennessee, having been elected on 1 January, 1887. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 57-58.
POLK, Trusten, senator, born in Sussex County, Delaware, 29 May, 1811; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 16 April, 1876. He was graduated at Yale in 1831, and then began the study of law in the office of the attorney-general of Delaware, but completed his course at Yale Law-School. In 1835 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and, establishing himself there in the practice of his profession, soon rose to a high place at the bar. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1845, and in 1848 a presidential elector. He was elected governor of Missouri as a Democrat in 1856, and soon after his accession to office was chosen U. S. Senator, serving from 4 March, 1857, until his expulsion for disloyalty on 10 January, 1862. Meanwhile he had joined the Confederate government and filled various offices of responsibility within its jurisdiction. In 1864 he was taken prisoner, and after his exchange held the office of military judge of the Department of Mississippi. At the close of the war he returned to St. Louis, and there devoted himself to the practice of his profession until his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 58.
POLLARD, Edward Albert, journalist, born in Nelson County, Virginia, 27 February, 1828; died in Lynchburg, Virginia, 12 ..., 1872. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1849, and studied law at William and Mary, but finished his course in Baltimore. Mr. Pollard then emigrated to California and took part in the wild life of that country as a journalist until 1855, after which he spent some time in northern Mexico and Nicaragua, and then returned to the eastern states. Subsequently he went to Europe, and also travelled in China and Japan. During President Buchanan's administration he became clerk of the judiciary committee in the house of representatives, and he was an open advocate of secession in 1860. At the beginning of the Civil War he was without political employment, and was studying for the Protestant Episcopal ministry, having been admitted a candidate for holy orders by Bishop William Meade. From 1861 till 1867 he was principal editor of the “Richmond Examiner,” and, while an earnest advocate of the Confederate cause during the war, he was nevertheless a merciless critic of Jefferson Davis. Toward the close of the war he went to England in order to further the sale of his works, and was then captured, but, after a confinement of eight months at Fort Warren and Fortress Monroe, was released on parole. In 1867 he began the publication in Richmond of “Southern Opinion,” which he continued for two years, and also in 1868 established “The Political Pamphlet,” which ran for a short time during the presidential canvass of that year. Mr. Pollard then made his residence in New York and Brooklyn for several years, often contributing to current literature. His books include “Black Diamonds Gathered in the Darkey Homes of the South” (New York, 1859); “Letters of the Southern Spy in Washington and Elsewhere” (Baltimore, 1861); “Southern History of the War” (3 vols., Richmond, 1862-'4: 4th vol., New York, 1866); “Observations in the North: Eight Months in Prison and on Parole” (Richmond, 1865): “The Lost Cause: A New Southern History of the War of the Confederates” (New York, 1866; written also in French for Louisiana, 1867); “Lee and his Lieutenants” (1867); “The Lost Cause Regained ” (1868); “Life of Jefferson Davis, with the Secret History of the Southern Confederacy” (1869); and “The Virginia Tourist” (Philadelphia, 1870).—His wife, Marie Antoinette Nathalie Granier-Dowell, born in Norfolk, Virginia, married James R. Dowell, from whom she separated during the Civil War on account of political differences. She then made her way, with great difficulty, through the lines of the armies, to her brother's residence in New Orleans, and later returned to Richmond, where she met Mr. Pollard, whom she married after the war. Subsequent to the death of Mr. Pollard, she became a public speaker, and in this capacity she canvassed California for the Democratic presidential ticket in 1876. She has also lectured on the Irish and Chinese questions, advocating greater liberty to these people, and has been active in the temperance movement, holding the office of deputy grand worthy patriarch of the states of New York and New Jersey. Besides contributions to the newspapers, she has published occasional poems.—His brother, Henry Rives, editor, born in Nelson County, Virginia, 29 August, 1833; died in Richmond, Virginia, 24 November, 1868, was educated at Virginia military Institute, and at the University of Virginia. Later he published a new paper in Leavenworth, Kansas, during the troubles in that territory, and thence went to Washington, where he was employed in the office department. At the beginning of the Civil War he was news editor of the “Baltimore Sun,” but moved to Richmond, where he became one of the editors of the “Richmond Examiner.” After the war he was associated in the founding of “The Richmond Times,” and for a time was one of its staff. In 1866 he revived the “Richmond Examiner,” and controlled its editorial columns until 1867, when he disposed of his interest. He then established, with his brother, “Southern Opinion,” of which he continued until his death one of the editors and proprietors. Mr. Pollard was shot at and killed from an upper window on the side of the street by James Grant, who felt himself aggrieved by an article that was published in Pollard's paper. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 58-59.
POLLOCK, James, governor of Pennsylvania, born in Milton, Pennsylvania, 11 September, 1810. He was graduated at Princeton in 1831, and, after studying law, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and opened an office in Milton. In 1835 he was chosen district attorney for his county, after which he held various minor offices. He was elected to Congress as a Whig, and served from 23 April, 1844, to 3 March, 1849, during which time he was an active member of several committees. On 23 June, 1848, he introduced a resolution calling for the appointment of a special committee to inquire into the necessity and practicability of building a railroad to the Pacific Coast. As chairman of that committee he made a report in favor of the construction of such a road. This was the first favorable official act on this subject on the part of Congress. In 1850 he was appointed president-judge of the 8th Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and in 1854 he was elected governor of Pennsylvania as a Union Republican. During his administration the whole line of the public works between Philadelphia and Pittsburg was transferred to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. By this and other means he reduced the state debt by nearly $10,000,000, and this soon led to the removal of state taxation. He convened the legislature in extraordinary session during the financial crisis of 1857, and, acting on his wise suggestions, laws were enacted whereby public confidence was restored and the community was saved from bankruptcy. On the expiration of his term of office he resumed his law-practice in Milton. He was a delegate from his state to the Peace Convention in Washington in 1861, and after the inauguration of President Lincoln he was appointed director of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, which place he then held until October, 1866. By his efforts, with the approval of Salmon P. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, the motto “In God We trust” was placed on the National coins. In 1869 he was reinstated as director of the mint, which place he then filled for years. In 1880 he was appointed naval officer of Philadelphia, but resigned in 1884, and resumed the practice of his profession. Governor Pollock has been active in various movements tending to promote educational and religious reforms. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Princeton in 1855, and from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1857. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 59
POMEROY, Samuel Clarke, 1816-1891, Republican U.S. Senator from Kansas. Active in Kansas “Free State” Convention of 1859. U.S. Senator 1861-1873. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, p. 60; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 54; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 17, p. 649; Congressional Globe)
POMEROY, Samuel Clarke, senator, born in Southampton, Massachusetts, 3 January, 1816. He was educated at Amherst, and then spent some time in New York. Subsequently he returned to Southampton, and, besides holding various local offices, was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1852-'3. He was active in organizing the New England Emigrant Aid Company, of which he was financial agent. In 1854 he conducted a colony to Kansas, and located in Lawrence, making the first settlement for that territory. Afterward he moved to Atchison, where he was mayor in 1859. He was conspicuous in the organization of the territorial government, and participated in the Free-state Convention that met in Lawrence in 1859. During the famine in Kansas in 1860-'1 he was president of the relief committee. Mr. Pomeroy was a delegate to the National Republican Conventions of 1856 and 1860. He was elected as a Republican to the U. S. Senate in 1861, and re-elected in 1867. He was candidate for a third term in 1873, but charges of bribery were suddenly presented before the Kansas Legislature, and in consequence he failed of election. A committee chosen by the legislature reported the matter to the U. S. Senate, which investigated the case, and a majority report found the charges not sustained. The matter then came before the courts of Kansas, and after some months' delay the district attorney entered a nolle prosequi, stating to the court that he had no evidence upon which he could secure conviction. Mr. Pomeroy then made Washington his place of residence. He is the author of numerous speeches and political pamphlets. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 60.
POMEROY, Swan L., Bangor, Maine, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1834-1835, Manager, 1836-1839.
POMEROY, Theodore Medad, born 1824, lawyer. Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York. Re-elected Congressman from March 1861-March 1869. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, p. 61; Congressional Globe)
POMEROY, Theodore Medad, lawyer, born in Cayuga, New York, 31 December, 1824. He was graduated at Hamilton in 1842, and then studied law. Settling in Auburn, he practised his profession in that city, and was in 1850-'6 district attorney for Cayuga County. In 1857 he was elected a member of the lower branch of the New York Legislature. He was then sent to Congress as a Republican, and served, with re-elections, from 4 March, 1861, till a March, 1869. On the resignation of Schuyler Colfax from the speakership Mr. Pomeroy was elected on 3 March, 1869, to fill the vacancy. Subsequently he resumed the practice of his profession in Auburn, and engaged in banking business. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 61.
POND, James, 1838-1903, Cuba, New York, Union Army officer. Received the Medal of Honor in Civil War. Active in Underground Railroad. Helped fugitive slaves. (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 60)
POMROY, Rebecca Rossignol, nurse, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 16 July, 1817; died in Newton, Massachusetts, 24 January, 1884. She was the daughter of Samuel Holliday, and on 12 September, 1836, married Daniel F. Pomroy. Sickness in her own family for nearly twenty years made her an accomplished nurse, and when her only surviving son enlisted in the National Army she offered her services to Dorothea L. Dix (q.v.). She was at once called to Washington, and in September, 1861, assigned to duty in Georgetown Hospital, but was soon transferred to the hospital at Columbian University. Early in 1862 she was called to the White House at the time of the death of Willie Lincoln, and nursed “Tad,” the youngest son, then very ill, and Mrs. Lincoln, until both were restored to health. President Lincoln… Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 61
POND, George Edward, journalist, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 11 March, 1837. He was graduated at Harvard in 1858, and served in the National Army in 1862-'3. From early in 1864 till 1868, and subsequently, he was associate editor of the New York "Army and Navy Journal." He was afterward an editorial writer on the New York "Times," and edited the Philadelphia "Record " from 1870 till 1877. Since the latter date he has been engaged in writing for the press. For nearly ten years he wrote the "Driftwood" essays, which were published in the " Galaxy " Magazine under the signature of "Philip Quilibet." They wore begun in May, 1868. He contributed the account of the engagement between the "Monitor " and the " Merrimac" to William Swinton's "Twelve Decisive Battles," and also wrote "The Shenandoah Valley in 1864" (New York, 1883) in the series of "Campaigns of the Civil War." Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 62.
POND, William Adams, music-publisher, born in Albany, New York, 6 October, 1824; died in New York City, 12 August, 1885. He was educated in private schools in New York City, and at an early age entered his father's music business. He became well known as a publisher, and at the time of his death was president of the United States Music Publishers' Association. Colonel Pond performed some military service as an officer during the Civil War, and was for many years colonel of the veteran corps of the 7th New York Regiment. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 63.
POOK, Samuel Moore, naval constructor, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 15 August, 1804; died in Brooklyn, New York, 2 December, 1878. He was educated in the Boston public schools, and from 1841 till his retirement, 15 August, 1866, was naval constructor in the U.S. Navy. Among other vessels, he built the sloops-of-war “Preble” and “Saratoga,” the frigates “Congress” and “Franklin,” and the steamers “Merrimack.” and “Princeton.” He was also active in fitting out the fleet of Admiral Dupont and others during the Civil War. Mr. Pook was the inventor of numerous devices connected with his profession, and wrote “A Method of comparing the Lines, and Draughting Vessels propelled by Sail or Steam,' with diagrams (New York, 1866).—His son, Samuel Hartt, naval constructor, born in Brooklyn, New York, 17 January, 1827, was graduated at Portsmouth Academy, New Hampshire, in 1842, became a naval architect, and on 17 May, 1866, was appointed constructor in the U.S. He has built many merchant ships, including the well-known clipper “Red Jacket.” When which they received promissory notes drawn on the introduction of iron-clad vessels into the navy was proposed he was one of the party that called on Secretary Gideon Welles to advocate them, and he was made superintendent of the first that was built. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 64-65.
POOL, John, senator born in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, 16 June, 1826; died in Washington, D. C, 18 August, 1884. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1847, and admitted to the bar in the same year. He was chosen to the state senate in 1856 arid 1858, and in 1860 was the Whig candidate for governor of the state. After being returned to the state senate in 1864 as a peace candidate, and again in 1865, he was a member of the state constitutional convention of the latter year, and was chosen to the U. S. Senate, but not admitted. In 1868 he was re-elected, and he then served till the expiration of his term in 1873. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 65.
POOLEY, James Henry, physician, born in Chateris, Cambridgeshire, England, 17 November, 1839. He was brought to this country in early childhood, and graduated at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1860. After service as an assistant surgeon in the regular army in 1861-'3 he practised in Yonkers, New York, till 1875, when he moved to Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of many professional societies, was a delegate to the International Medical Congress of 1876, and professor of surgery in Starling Medical College, Ohio, from 1875 till 1880. Since 1883 he has held the chair of surgery in Toledo Medical College. He has edited the "Ohio Medical and Surgical Journal" since 1876, and has been a voluminous contributor to surgical literature. Several of his articles have been reprinted in pamphlet-form, including "Three Cases of Imperforate Anus" (1870); "Remarks on the Surgery of Childhood " (1872); and "Gastrotomy and Gastrostomy " (1875). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 65.
POOR, Charles Henry, naval officer, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 11 June, 1808; died in Washington, D. C, 5 November, 1882. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 March, 1825, and was promoted lieutenant, 22 December, 1835, commander, 14 September, 1855, captain, 16 July, 1862, and commodore, 2 January, 1863. After serving with different squadrons, and in the Washington and Norfolk U.S. Navy-yards, he was given command of the "St. Louis”, of the home Squadron, in 1860-'l, and in the latter year had charge of an expedition that was sent to reinforce Fort Pickens. During 1861-'2 he was in command of the frigate " Roanoke," of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He was ordered to use the steamer "Illinois" as a ram against the "Merrimac," but did not have an opportunity to test its strength. He subsequently passed the Confederate batteries under fire in the " Roanoke," while proceeding from Hampton Roads toward Newport News, to assist the " Congress" and "Cumberland." From 1863 till 1865 he was in command of the sloop-of-war " Saranac," of the Pacific Squadron, and compelled the authorities at Aspinwall to release a U. S. mail-steamer that had been detained there until she should pay certain illegal dues. He also obliged the authorities at Rio Hacha, New Granada, to hoist and salute the American flag after it had been insulted. In 1866-'8 he was in charge of the naval station at Mound City, Illinois, and he was made rear-admiral, 20 September, 1868. After serving as commandant of the Washington U.S. Navy-yard in 1869, and commanding the North Atlantic Squadron in 1869-'70, he was retired on 9 June, 1870. In 1871—'2 he was a member of the retiring board. Admiral Poor saw twenty-three years and six months of sea-service, and was employed fourteen years and five months in shore duty. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 65.
POORE, Benjamin Perley, journalist, born near Newburyport, Massachusetts, 2 November, 1820; died in Washington, D. C. 30 May, 1887. He was descended from John Poore, an English yeoman, who came to this country and, in 1650, purchased "Indian Hill Farm,'5 the homestead, which still remains in the family. When Perley was eleven years of age he was taken by his father to England, and there saw Sir Walter Scott, Lafayette, and other notable people. Leaving school after his return, he served an apprenticeship in a printing-office at Worcester, Massachusetts, and had edited the Athens, Georgia. " Southern Whig," which his father purchased for him, for two years before he was twenty. In 1841 he visited Europe again as attaché of the American legation at Brussels, remaining abroad until 1848. During this period he acted in 1844-'8 as the historical agent of Massachusetts in France, in which capacity he filled ten folio volumes with copies of important documents, bearing date 1492-1780, illustrating them by engraved maps and water-color sketches. He was also the foreign correspondent of the Boston " Atlas" during his entire stay abroad. After editing the Boston " Bee " and "Sunday Sentinel," Mr. Poore finally entered in 1854 upon his lifework, that of Washington correspondent. His letters to the Boston "Journal" over the signature of "Perley," and to other papers, gained him a national reputation by their trustworthy character. For several years he also served as clerk of the committee of the U. S. Senate on printing records. He was interested in military matters, had studied tactics, and during his editorial career in Boston held several staff appointments. About the same time he organized a battalion of riflemen at Newbury that formed the nucleus of a company in the 8th Massachusetts Volunteers, of which organization Mr. Poore served as major for a short time during the Civil War. He was also in 1874 commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, and had made a collection of materials for its projected history. Major Poore's vacations were spent at Indian Hill, where the farm-house contained sixty rooms filled with historical material, of which its owner was an industrious collector. During thirty years of Washington life he made the acquaintance of many eminent men, and his fund of reminiscences was large and entertaining. He told good stories, spoke well after dinner, and was much admired in society. Among his publications were "Campaign Life of General Zachary Taylor," of which 800,000 copies were circulated, and "Rise and Fall of Louis Philippe " (Boston, 1848); "Early Life of Napoleon Bonaparte (1851); "Agricultural History of Essex County, Massachusetts"; "The Conspiracy Trial for the Murder of Abraham Lincoln " (l866); "Federal and State Charters" (2 vols., 1877); "The Political Register and Congressional Director'" 1878); "Life of Burnside" (1882); and "Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis" (Philadelphia, 1886). As secretary of the U. S. Agricultural Society, he became the editor of its "Journal" in 1857. He began to edit the Congressional directory in 1867, supervised the indices to the " Congressional Record," and brought out the annual abridgment of the public documents of the United States for many years. By order of Congress he compiled "A Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, 1774-1881" (Washington, 1885), and also made a compilation of the various treaties negotiated by the United States government with different countries. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 66-67.
POPE, Albert Augustus, manufacturer, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 20 May, 1843. He was educated at public schools, but even as a boy was compelled to earn his own living. In 1862 he was commissioned 2d lieutenant in the 35th Massachusetts Regiment, with which he continued until the close of the war, when he was mustered out with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. Soon afterward he became head of a shoe-finding business. In 1877 he began to take an interest in bicycles, and during that year ordered eight from Manchester, England. Subsequently he became actively engaged in their manufacture, and it is chiefly due to his enterprise that most of the improvements of the bicycle in this country have been brought about. Colonel Pope was instrumental in founding " Outing," a journal that for several years was published by him. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 67.
POPE, John, naval officer, born in Sandwich. Massachusetts, 17 December 1798; died in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 14 January, 1876. He was appointed from Maine to the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 30 May, 1816, and was promoted lieutenant, 28 April. 1826, commander, 15 February, 1843, and captain, 14 September, 1855. As lieutenant he saw service in the frigate " Constitution," of the Mediterranean Squadron, and subsequently in the West India and Brazil Squadrons. He commanded the brig " Dolphin " on the coast of Africa in 1846-'7, and the " Vandalia" in the East Indies in 1853-'6. He had charge of the Boston U.S. Navy-yard in 1850, and of the Portsmouth U.S. Navy-yard in 1858-'60. In 1861 he commanded the steam-sloop "Richmond." of the Gulf Squadron. He was a prize-commissioner in Boston in 1864-'5, and light house inspector in 1866-9. On 21 December, 1861, he was placed on the retired list, and he was promoted commodore, 16 July, 1862. Commodore Pope passed twenty-one years at sea, and was for seventeen years and eleven months engaged in shore duty. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 68.
POPE, John, soldier, born in Louisville, Kentucky, 16 March, 1822, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1842, and made brevet 2d lieutenant of engineers. He served in Florida in 1842-'4, and assisted in the survey of the northeast boundary line between the United States and the British provinces. He was made 2d lieutenant, 9 May, 1846, and took part in the Mexican War, being brevetted 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Monterey, and captain for his services in the battle of Buena Vista. In 1849 he conducted the Minnesota exploring expedition, which demonstrated the practicability of the navigation of the Red River of the north by steamers, and in 1851-'3 he was engaged in Topographical Engineering service in New Mexico. The six years following he had charge of the survey of the route for the Pacific Railroad, near the 32d parallel, and in making experiments to procure water on the Llano Estacado, or " Staked Plain," stretching between Texas and New Mexico, by means of artesian wells. On 1 July, 1856, he was commissioned captain for fourteen years' continuous service. campaign of 1860 Captain Pope sympathized with the £ and in an £ on the subject of “Fortifications,” read before a literary society at Cincinnati, he criticised the policy of President Buchanan in unsparing terms. For this he was court-martialed, but, upon the recommendation of Postmaster-General Joseph Holt, further proceeding were dropped. He was still a captain of engineers when Sumter was fired upon, and he was one of the officers detailed by the War Department to escort Abraham Lincoln to Washington. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 17 May, 1861, and placed in command first of the In the political district of northern, and afterward of southwestern and central, Missouri. General Pope's operations in that state in protecting railway communication and driving out guerillas were highly successful. His most important engagement was that of the Blackwater, 18 December, 1861, where he captured 1,300 prisoners, 1,000 stand of arms, 1,000 horses, 65 wagons, two tons of gunpowder, and a large quantity of tents, baggage, and supplies. This victory forced General Sterling Price to retreat below the Osage River, which he never again crossed. He was next intrusted by General Henry W. Halleck with the command of the land forces that co-operated with Admiral Andrew H. Foote's flotilla in the expedition against New Madrid and Island No. 10. He succeeded in occupying the former place, 14 March, 1862, while the latter surrendered on the 8th of the following month, when 6,500 prisoners, 125 cannon, and 7,000 small arms, fell into his hands. He was rewarded for the capture of New Madrid by a commission as major-general of volunteers. As commander of the Army of the Mississippi, he advanced from Pittsburg Landing upon Corinth, the operations against that place occupying the period from 22 April till 30 May. After its evacuation he pursued the enemy to Baldwin, Lee County, Mississippi. At the end of June he was summoned to Washington, and assigned to the command of the Army of Virginia, comprised of Frémont's (afterward Sigel's), Banks's, and McDowell's corps. On 14 July he was commissioned brigadier-general in the regular army. On 9 August a division of his army, under General Nathaniel P. Banks, had a severe engagement with the Confederates, commanded by General Thomas J. Jackson, at Cedar mountain. For the next fifteen days General Pope, who had been reinforced by a portion of the Army of the Potomac, fought continuously a greatly superior force of the enemy under General Robert E. Lee, on the line of the Rappahannock, at Bristow station, at Groveton, at Manassas junction, at Gainesville, and at Germantown, near Chantilly. General Pope then withdrew his force behind Difficult creek, between Flint hill and the Warrenton turnpike, whence he fell back within the fortifications of Washington, and on 3 September, was at his own request, relieved of the command of the Army of Virginia, and was assigned to that of the Department of the Northwest, where in a short time he completely checked the outrages of the Minnesota Indians. He retained this command until 30 January, 1865, when he was given charge of the Military Division of the Missouri, which, in June following, was made the Department of the Missouri, including all the northwestern states and territories. From this he was relieved 6 January, 1866. He has since had command successively of the 3d Military District, comprising Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, under the first Reconstruction act, 1867-'8; the Department of the Lakes, 1868–'70; the Department of the Missouri, headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1870–84; and the Military Department of the Pacific from 1884 until he was retired, 16 March, 1886. In Washington, in December, 1862, he testified before a court-martial, called for the trial of General Fitz-John Porter (q.v.), who had been accused by him of misconduct before the enemy at the second battle of Manassas or Bull Run. General Pope was brevetted major-general, 13 March, 1865, “for gallant and meritorious services” in the capture of Island No. 10, and advanced to the full rank, 26 October, 1882. The fullest account of his northern Virginia Campaign is to be found in the report of the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War (Supplement, part xi., 1865). General Pope is the author of “ Explorations from the Red River to the Rio Grande,” in “Pacific Railroad Reports,” vol. iii., and the “Campaign of Virginia, of July and August, 1862” (Washington, 1865). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 68-69.
PORCHER, Francis Peyre, physician, born in St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina, 14 December, 1825. He was graduated at South Carolina College in 1844 and at the Medical College of the state of South Carolina in 1847, where he now holds the chair of materia medica and therapeutics. On graduating he settled in Charleston, where he has since continued in the active practice of his profession, also holding the appointments of surgeon and physician to the marine and city hospitals. During the Civil War he was surgeon in charge of Confederate Hospitals at Norfolk and Petersburg, Virginia. Dr. Porcher was president of the South Carolina Medical Association in 1872, and, besides holding memberships in other societies, is an associate fellow of the Philadelphia College of physicians. He was one of the editors of the “Charleston Medical Journal and Review,” having charge of the publication of five volumes of the first series (1850–5), and more recently of four volumes of the second series (1873-'6). Dr. Porcher was an enthusiastic botanist and has devoted considerable attention to that subject. Besides numerous fugitive contributions to the medical journals, and articles in medical works, he has published “A Medico-Botanical Catalogue of the Plants and Ferns of St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina” (Charleston, 1847); “A Sketch of the Medical Botany of South Carolina" (Philadelphia, 1849): “The Medicinal, Poisonous, and Dietetic Properties of the Cryptogamic Plants of the United States” (New York, 1854); “Illustrations of Disease with the Microscope, and Clinical Investigations aided by the Microscope and by Chemical Reagents” (Charleston, 1861); and “Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Medical, Economical, and Agricultural,” published by order of the surgeon-general of the Confederate states (Richmond, 1863; new and revised ed., Charleston. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 70.
PORTER, Albert G, governor of Indiana, born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, 20 April, 1824. He was graduated at Asbury University, Indiana, in 1843, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1845, and began to practise in Indianapolis, where he was councilman and corporation attorney. In 1853 he was appointed reporter of the Supreme Court of Indiana. He was elected to Congress as a Republican, holding his seat from 5 December, 1850, till 3 March, 1863, and serving on the judiciary committee and on that on manufactures. He was a nominee for presidential elector on the Hayes ticket in 1876. On 5 March, 1878, he was appointed first comptroller of the U. S. Treasury, but he resigned to become governor of Indiana, which office he held from 1881 till 1884. He has published " Decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana " (5 vols. Indianapolis, 1853-'6). and has now (1888) in preparation a history of Indiana. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 71.
PORTER, Alexander, jurist, born near Armagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1796; died in Attakapas, Louisiana, 13 January, 1844. His father, an Irish Presbyterian clergyman and chemist, while lecturing in Ireland during the insurrection of 1798, fell under suspicion of being an insurgent spy, and was seized and executed. His son came to this country in 1801 with his uncle, and settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where, after serving as clerk, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1807. By the advice of General Andrew Jackson, he moved to St. Martinsville, Louisiana, and was elected to the State Constitutional Convention of 1811. In 1821-'33 he was judge of the state supreme court, and rendered service by establishing with others a new system of jurisprudence. He was elected a U. S. Senator as a Whig, in place of Joseph S. Johnston, deceased, serving from 6 January, 1834, till 5 January, 1837, and during his term voted to censure President Jackson for the removal of the deposits from the U. S. Bank, and favored John C. Calhoun's motion to reject petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In March, 1836, he made an elaborate reply to a speech of Thomas H. Benton upon the introduction of "his "expunging resolutions." He also opposed Benton's bill for compelling payments for public lands to be made in specie, and advocated the division of surplus revenue among the states, and the recognition of the independence of Texas. He was again elected to the senate in 1843, and served till his death. For many years before his death he resided on his estate, "Oak Lawn," of 5,000 acres, on Bayou Teche, and the large mansion, where Henry Clay was a frequent visitor, is still (1888) standing in the centre of an extensive park. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 71.
PORTER, Horace, soldier, born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, 15 April, 1837, was educated in his native state, and afterward entered the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard, and while there was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy, and graduated in 1860. He was several months instructor of artillery at West Point, and was ordered to duty in the south at the beginning of the Civil War. He was chief of artillery, and had charge of the batteries at the capture of Fort Pulaski, and participated in the assault on Secessionville, where he received a slight wound in the first attempt to take Charleston. He was on the staff of General McClellan in July, 1862, and served with the Army of the Potomac until after the engagement at Antietam. In the beginning of the next year he was chief of ordnance on General Rosecrans's staff, and went through the Chickamauga Campaign with the Army of the Cumberland. When Grant had taken command in the east, Porter became aide-de-camp on his staff, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and later as colonel. He accompanied him through the Wilderness Campaign and the siege of Richmond and Petersburg, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Afterward, he made a series of tours of inspection, by Grant's direction, in the south and on the Pacific Coast. He was brevetted captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious services at the siege of Fort Pulaski, the Wilderness, and Newmarket Heights respectively, and colonel and brigadier-general, U.S. Army, for gallant and meritorious services in the war. He was assistant Secretary of War while Grant was secretary ad interim, served as secretary to Grant during his first presidential term, and continued to be his intimate friend till the latter's death. He resigned from the army in 1873, and has since been interested in railroad affairs, acting as manager of the Pullman Palace-Car Company and as president and director of several corporations. He was largely interested in building the West Shore Railroad, of which he was the first president. General Porter is the inventor of a water-gauge for steam-boilers and of the ticket-cancelling boxes that are used on the elevated railways in New York City. He has delivered numerous lectures and addresses, made a wide reputation as an after-dinner speaker, has contributed frequently to magazines, and is the author of a book on “West Point Life” (New York, 1866).–George Bryan's son, Andrew, soldier, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 10 July, 1820; died in Paris, France, 3 January, 1872, entered the U. S. Military Academy in 1836, but left in the following year. He was appointed 1st lieutenant of mounted rifles on 27 May, 1846, and served in the Mexican War, becoming captain on 15 May, 1847, and receiving the brevet of major for gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and that of lieutenant-colonel for Chapultepec, 13 September, 1847. Afterward he served in Texas and in the southwest, and in 1860 was in command of Fort Craig, Virginia. At the opening of the Civil War he was ordered to Washington, and promoted to command the 16th Infantry. He had charge of a brigade at Bull Run, and, when Colonel David Hunter was wounded, succeeded him in the command of the 2d Division. On 17 May, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. Subsequently he was provost-marshal-general for the Army of the Potomac, but after General George B. McClellan's retreat from the Chickahominy to James River he was relieved from duty with this army. In the autumn of 1862 he was ordered to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to assist in organizing and forwarding troops, and in November of that year he was assigned to command in Pennsylvania, and charged with the duties of provost-marshal-general of Washington, where he was active in restoring order in the city and surrounding district. He was mustered out on 4 April, 1864, and, owing to impaired health, resigned his commission on 20 April, after which he travelled in Europe. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 72.
PORTER, William David, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 10 March, 1809; died in New York City, 1 May, 1864, was educated in Philadelphia, and appointed to the U.S. Navy from Massachusetts as midshipman on 1 January, 1823. He became lieutenant on 31 December, 1833, served on the “Franklin,” “Brandywine,” “Natchez,” “Experiment,” “United States,” and “Mississippi,” and in 1843 was assigned to the Home Squadron. He commanded the store-ship “Erie" in 1849, and, in 1851, the “Waterwitch.” On 13 September, 1855, he was placed on the reserved list, but he was restored to active duty as commander on 14 September, 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War he was serving on the U.S. sloop “St. Mary's,” in the Pacific. He was ordered to the Mississippi to assist in fitting out the gun-boat flotilla with which he accompanied Commodore Andrew H. Foote up Tennessee River, and commanded the “Essex,” which he had named for his father's ship, in the attack on Fort Henry, 6 February, 1862, during which engagement he was scalded and temporarily blinded by steam from a boiler that had been pierced by shot. He also commanded the “Essex" in the battle of Fort Donelson, 14 February, 1862, and fought in the same vessel past the batteries on the Mississippi to join the fleet at Vicksburg. He attacked the Confederate ram “Arkansas” above Baton Rouge, 15 July, 1862, and disabled her, and her magazine shortly afterward exploded. He was made commodore on 16 July, 1862, and then bombarded Natchez, and attacked the Vicksburg batteries and Port Hudson. Subsequently he served but little, owing to impaired health. He had two sons in the Confederate service. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 74-75.
PORTER, David Dixon, naval officer, born in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 8 June, 1813, studied in Columbian College, Washington, D.C., in 1824, accompanied his father in the “John Adams” to suppress piracy in the West Indies, was appointed midshipmen in the Mexican Navy and served under his cousin, Captain David H. Porter, in the “Guerrero,” which sailed from Vera Cruz in 1827, and had a rough experience with a Spanish frigate, “La Lealtad,” Captain Porter being killed in the action. David D. entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman on 2 February, 1829, cruised in the Mediterranean, and then served on the coast survey until he was promoted to lieutenant, 27 February, 1841. He was in the Mediterranean and Brazilian waters until 1845, when he was appointed to the naval observatory in Washington, and in 1846 he was sent by the government on a secret mission to Hayti, and reported on the condition of affairs there. He served during the entire Mexican War, had charge of the naval rendezvous in New Orleans, and was engaged in every action on the coast, first as lieutenant and afterward as commanding officer of the “Spitfire.” Subsequently he returned to the coast survey, and, on the discovery of gold in California, obtained a furlough and commanded the California mail steamers “Panama” and “Georgia” between New York and the Isthmus of Panama. At the beginning of the Civil War he was ordered to command the steam frigate “Powhatan,” which was despatched to join the Gulf Blockading Squadron at Pensacola, and to aid in re-enforcing Fort Pickens. On 22 April, 1861, he was appointed commander, and subsequently he was placed in command of the mortar fleet, consisting of 21 schooners, each carrying a 13-inch mortar, and, with 5 steamers as convoys, joined Farragut's fleet in March, 1862, and bombarded Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, below New Orleans, from 18 till 24 April, 1862, during which engagement 20,000 bombs were exploded in the Confederate works. Farragut, having destroyed the enemy's fleet of fifteen vessels, left the reduction of these forts to Porter, and they surrendered on 28 April, 1862. He assisted Farragut in all the latter's operations between New Orleans and Vicksburg, where he effectively bombarded the forts and enabled the fleet to pass in safety. Informing the Secretary of the Navy of the surrender of Vicksburg, Admiral Porter writes: “The navy has necessarily performed a less conspicuous part in the capture of Vicksburg than the army; still it has been employed in a manner highly creditable to all concerned. The gun-boats have been constantly below Vicksburg in shelling the works, and with success co-operating with the left wing of the army. The mortar-boats have been at work for forty-two days without intermission, throwing shells into all parts of the city, even reaching the works in the rear of Vicksburg and in front of our troops, a distance of three miles. . . . I stationed the smaller class of gun-boats to keep the banks of the Mississippi clear of guerillas, who were assembling in force and with a large number of cannon to block up the river and cut off the transports bringing down supplies, re-enforcements, and ammunition for the army. Though the rebels on several occasions built batteries, and with a large force attempted to sink or capture the transports, boats with severe loss on all occasions. While the Confederates were making efforts to repair the “Indianola,” which they had captured, Commodore Porter fitted an old scow to look like one of his “turtle” gun-boats, with two canoes for quarter-boats, a smoke-stack of pork-barrels, and mud furnaces in which fire was kindled. This was called the “Turreted Monster” and set adrift with no one on board. A tremendous cannonade from the Confederate batteries failed to stop her, and the authorities at Vicksburg hastily destroyed the “Indianola,” while the supposed monitor drifted for an hour amid a rain of before the enemy discovered the trick. In July, Commander Porter was ordered with his mortar flotilla to Fort Monroe, where he resigned charge of it, and was ordered to command the Mississippi Squadron, as acting rear-admiral, in September, 1862. He improvised a U.S. Navy-yard at Mound City, increased the number of his squadron, which consisted of 125 vessels, and, in co-operation with General Sherman's army, captured Arkansas Post in January, 1863. For his services at Vicksburg Porter received the thanks of Congress and the commission of rear-admiral, dated 4 July, 1863. Soon afterward he ran past the batteries of Vicksburg and captured the Confederate forts at Grand Gulf, which put him into communication with General Grant, who, on 18 May, ''means of the fleet, placed himself in the rear of Vicksburg, and from that time the energies of the army and navy were united to capture the stronghold, which was accomplished on 4 July, 1863. On 1 August, 1863, he arrived in New Orleans in his flag-ship “Black Hawk,” accompanied by the gun-boat “Tuscumbia,” and during the remainder of 1863 his squadron was employed to keep the Mississippi River open. In the Spring of 1864 he co-operated with General Nathaniel P. Banks in the unsuccessful Red River expedition, and through the skill of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey (q.v.) the fleet was saved. In October, 1864, he was transferred to the North Atlantic Squadron, which embraced within its limits the Cape Fear River and the port of Wilmington, North Carolina. He appeared at Fort Fisher on 24 December, 1864, with 35 regular cruisers, 5 iron-clads, and a reserve of 19 vessels, and began to bombard the forts at the mouth of Cape Fear River. “In one hour and fifteen minutes after the first shot was fired,” says Admiral Porter. “not a shot came from the fort. Two magazines had been blown up by our shells, and the fort set on fire in several places, and such a torrent of missiles was falling into and bursting over it that it was impossible for any human being to stand it. Finding that the batteries were silenced completely, I directed the ships to keep up a moderate fire, in hope of attracting the attention of the transports and bringing them in.” After a reconnaissance, General Benjamin F. Butler, who commanded the military force, decided that Fort Fisher was substantially uninjured and could not be taken by assault, and returned with his command to Hampton Roads, Virginia. Admiral Porter requested that the enterprise should not be abandoned and a second military force of about 8,500 men, commanded by General Alfred H. Terry (q.v.), arrived off Fort Fisher on 13 January, 1865. His fleet was increased during the bombardment by additional land and naval forces, and, after seven hours of desperate fighting, the works were captured on 15 January, 1865, by a combined body of soldiers, sailors, and marines. According to General Grant, “this was the most formidable armada ever collected for concentration upon one given point.” Rear-Admiral Porter received a vote of thanks from Congress which was the fourth that he received during the war, including the general one for the capture of New Orleans. He was promoted vice-admiral on 25 July, 1866, and served as superintendent of the U. S. naval Academy till 1869, when he was detailed for duty in the Navy Department in Washington. On 15 August, 1870, he was appointed admiral of the navy, which rank he now (1888) holds. He was promoted vice-admiral on 25 July, 1866, and served as superintendent of the U. S. Naval Academy till 1869, when he was detailed for duty in the Navy Department in Washington. On 15 August, 1870, he was appointed admiral of the navy, which rank he now (1888) holds. He is the author of a “Life of Commodore David Porter” (Albany, 1875); a romance entitled “Allan Dare and Robert le Diable” (New York, 1885), which has been dramatized, and was produced in New York in 1887; “Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War” (1885); “Harry Marline” (1886); and “History of the ": in the War of the Rebellion” (New York, 1887). – his son, Theodoric Henry, soldier, born in Washington, D.C., 10 August, 1817; died in Texas in March, 1846, was appointed a cadet at West Point, resigning after two ears. He was appointed by President Jackson 2d Lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry, served under General Zachary Taylor at the beginning of the war with Mexico, and was the first American officer killed in the conflict, having been sent with twelve men on a scouting expedition near Fort Brown on the Rio Grande, where he was surrounded by a large force of Mexican Cavalry. The commanding officer called upon Lieutenant Porter to surrender, which he refused, and was cut to pieces, only one of his escort escaping. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 75-76
PORTER, Henry Ogden, naval officer, born 'W', D.C., in 1823; died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1872, was appointed midshipman in 1840, resigning in 1847. He served in one of Walker's expeditions to Central America, where he fought bravely, and was wounded several times. Afterward he was appointed lieutenant in the U.S. Revenue Marine, and during the Civil War was made acting master in the U.S. Navy, 24 April, 1862, serving as executive officer on the “Hatteras” when that vessel was sunk by the Confederate steamer “Alabama.” He died from the effect of his wounds. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 76.
PORTER, David H., naval officer, born in New Castle, Delaware, in 1804; died near Havana, Cuba, in March, 1828, entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman on 4 August, 1814, became lieutenant on 13 January, 1825, and resigned on 26 July, 1826. He joined his uncle while commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy, and in 1827 sailed in command of the brig “ Guerrero,” built by Henry Eckford, of New York, taking this vessel to Vera Cruz. He fell in with a fleet of 50 merchant vessels, fifteen miles below Havana, sailing under convoy of two Spanish war-vessels, carrying together 29 guns. Driving them into the port of Little Mariel, after a conflict of two hours he silenced the fire of the two brigs, cutting them severely, and sunk a number of the convoy. A twenty-four pound shot from a battery on shore cut the cable of the “Guerrero,” and the vessel drifted on shore, and went afterward to sea to repair damages. In the mean time she was attacked by the “Lealtad.” of 64 guns, and after a very severe engagement, lasting two hours and a quarter, in which Captain Porter was killed, eighty of his officers and men being either killed or wounded, the masts and sails of the “Guerrero” all shot away and the hull riddled, the “Guerrero” was surrendered and taken into Havana. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 76.
PORTER, Fitz-John, soldier, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 13 June, 1822, is the son of Commander John Porter, of the U.S. Navy. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1845, and assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery, in which he became 2d lieutenant, 18 June, 1846. He served in the Mexican War, was commissioned 1st lieutenant on 29 May, and received the brevet of captain on 8 September, 1847, on at the breaking out of the responsibility of replying in the affirmative to telegrams from Missouri £ permission to muster troops for the protection of that state. His act was approved by the War Department. During this £ he also organized volunteers in Pennsylvania. On 14 May, 1861, he became colonel of the 15th Infantry, a new regiment, and on 17 May, 1861, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and assigned to duty in Washington. In 1862 he participated in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, served during the siege of Yorktown from 5 April till 4 May, 1862, and upon its evacuation was governor of that place for a short time. He was given command of the 5th Corps, which formed the right wing of the army and fought the battles of Mechanicsville, 26 June, 1862, and Gaines's Mills, 27 June, 1862. At Malvern Hill, 1 July, 1862, he commanded the left flank, which mainly resisted the assaults of that day. He received the brevet of brigadier-general in the regular army for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Chickahominy, Virginia, 27 June, 1862. He was made major-general of volunteers, 4 July, 1862, and temporarily attached to General John Pope's Army of Virginia. His corps, although ordered to advance, was unable to move forward at the second battle of Bull Run, 29 August, 1862, but in the afternoon of the 30th it was actively engaged, and to its obstinate resistance it is mainly due that the defeat was not a total rout. Charges were brought against him for his inaction on the first day, and he was deprived of his command, but was restored to duty at the request of General George B. McClellan, and took part in the Maryland campaign. On 27 November, 1862, General Porter was arraigned before a court-martial in Washington, charged with disobeying orders at the second battle of Bull Run, and on 21 January, 1863, he was cashiered, “and forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the government of the United States, for violation of the 9th and 52d articles of war." The justice of this verdict has been the subject of much controversy. General Porter made several appeals for a reversal of the decision of the court-martial, and numerous petitions to open the case were addressed to the president during the succeeding eighteen years, as well as memorials from various legislatures, and on. 28 December, 1882, a bill for his relief was presented in the senate, under the action of an advisory board appointed by President Hayes, consisting of General John M. Schofield, General Alfred H. Terry, and General George W. Getty. On 4 May, 1882, the president remitted so much of the sentence of the court-martial as forever disqualified General Porter from holding any office of trust or profit under the government; but the bill for his relief failed in its passage. A technical objection caused President Arthur to veto a similar bill that was passed by the 48th Congress, but another was passed subsequently which was signed by President Cleveland, and he was restored to the U. S. Army as colonel on 7 August, 1886. General Grant, after his term of service as president had ended, though he had refused many petitions to open the ease, studied it more thoroughly, and published his conclusions in December, 1882, in an article entitled "An Undeserved Stigma," in which he said that he was convinced of General Porter's innocence. After leaving the army, General Porter engaged in business in New York City, was subsequently superintendent of the New Jersey asylum for the insane, and in February, 1875, was made commissioner of public works. In 1884 he became police commissioner, which office he held until 1888. In 1869 the Khedive of Egypt offered him the post of commander of his army, with the rank of major-general, which he declined. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 76-77.
PORTER, James, 1808-1888, clergyman, abolitionist. Member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 77)
PORTER, James, clergyman, born in Middleborough, Massachusetts, 21 March, 1808: died in Brooklyn, New York, 16 April, 1888. At the age of sixteen he entered a cotton-factory in his native town with the intention of learning the business of a manufacturer, but three years later he determined to study for the ministry. He attended the Kent's Hill Seminary at Readfield, Maine, and at the age of twenty-two was admitted a member of the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the early period of his ministry Dr. Porter held many pastorates in and near Boston. For several years he was a presiding elder of the conference, and from 1844 till 1872 he was a delegate to the general conference. From 1852 till 1855 he was a member of the board of overseers of Harvard, being the first Methodist clergyman to hold that office. From 1855 till 1871 he was trustee of Wesleyan University, which conferred upon him the degree of A. M. In 1856 he was elected one of the book agents in New York City, having in charge the Methodist book concern, which office he held for twelve years. From 1868 till 1882 he was secretary of the National Temperance Society, and he was also one of the earlier members of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. He was closely connected with the abolition movement, and was at one time in danger from the mob while delivering a speech in Boston upon the subject. He was a preacher of the old school, colloquial in manner, but of commanding presence. In 1856 he received the degree of D. D. from McKendrick College, Illinois. Besides contributing frequently to various periodicals, Dr. Porter published “Camp Meetings Considered” (New York, 1849); “Chart of Life” (1855); “True Evangelist” (1860); “The Winning Worker; or the Possibilities, Duty, and Methods of Doing Good to Men” (1874); “Compendium of Methodism” (1875); “History of Methodism” (1876); “Revival of Religion” (1877); “Hints to Self-educated Ministers, etc.” (1879); “Christianity Demonstrated by Experience, etc.” (1882); “Self-Reliance Encouraged, etc.” (1887); and “Commonplace Book.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 77.
PORTER, Maria G., abolitionist, Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society (Sernett, 2002, p. 190; Yellin, 1994, pp. 28, 30)
PORTER, Samuel D., Rochester, New York, abolitionist. Manager of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS), 1843-1844. Secretary of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society. Member of the Liberty Party. Active in Underground Railway. (Sernett, 2002, pp. 181-182)
PORTER, Susan Farley, abolitionist, president of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society (RLASS), Rochester, New York, founded 1835 (Sernett, 2002, pp. 58, 60; Yellin, 1994, pp. 26-30)
POSEY, John Wesley, 1801-18 abolitionist, physician (surgeon in the Union Army). Active in Underground Railroad in Indiana. Helped found Anti-Slavery League in Indiana.
POST, Albert L., Montrose, Pennsylvania, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1840-1841. Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1844.
PORTER, James Davis, governor of Tennessee, born in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee, 7 December, 1828. He was graduated at the University of Nashville in 1846, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1851, and practised his profession. He was elected to the legislature in 1859, and served through the Civil War in the Confederate Army as adjutant on the staff of General Benjamin F. Cheatham, after which he resumed the practice of law, was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Tennessee in 1870, and in that year was elected circuit judge for the 12th Judicial Circuit of the state, which post he resigned in 1874. From 1874 till 1879 he was governor of Tennessee. In 1880 he was chairman of the Tennessee delegation to the Democratic National Convention, and from that year till 1884 he was president of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad Company. In 1885-'7 he was assistant Secretary of State. Governor Porter is vice-president of the Tennessee Historical Society for West Tennessee, a trustee of the Peabody Fund, and is president of the board of trustees of the University of Nashville, from which he received the degree of LL. D. in 1879. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 77.
PORTER, Peter Augustus, soldier, born in Black Rock, New York, in 1827; killed in the battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, 3 June, 1864, was graduated at Harvard in 1845, and subsequently studied in the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin. He was a member of the New York legislature in 1862, and in that year he raised a regiment, afterward consolidated with the 8th New York Artillery, was laced in command, and served on garrison duty. When he was offered the nomination for Secretary of State of New York on the Republican ticket in 1863, he declined to leave the army. He was ordered to the field in May. 1864, participated in the battles of Spottsylvania and Totopotomoy, and fell while storming a breastwork at Cold Harbor. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 78.
PORTER, Rufus, inventor, born in West Boxford, Massachusetts, 1 May, 1792; died in New Haven, Connecticut, 13 August, 1884. He early showed mechanical genius. In 1807 his parents apprenticed him to a shoemaker, but he soon gave up this trade, and occupied himself by playing the fife for military companies, and the violin for dancing parties. Three years later he was apprenticed to a house-painter. During the war of 1812 he was occupied in painting gun-boats, and as lifer to the Portland light Infantry. In 1813 he painted sleighs at Denmark, Maine, beat the drum for the soldiers, taught others to do the same, and wrote a book on the art of drumming, and he then enlisted in the militia for several months. Subsequently he was a teacher, but was unable to remain in one place, and so led a wandering life. In 1820 he made a camera-obscura with a lens and a mirror so arranged that with its aid he could draw a satisfactory portrait in fifteen minutes. With this apparatus he travelled through the country until he invented a revolving almanac, when he at once stopped his painting in order to introduce his latest device. His next project was a twin boat to be propelled by horse-power, but it proved unsuccessful, and he turned to portrait-painting again. In 1824 he began landscape-painting, but relinquished it to build a horse flat-boat. He invented a successful cord-making machine in 1825, and thereafter produced a clock, a steam carriage, a portable horse-power, corn-sheller, churn, a washing-machine, signal telegraph, fire-alarm, and numerous other articles. In 1840 he became editor of the "New York Mechanic," which prospered, and in the following year he moved it to Boston, where he called it the "American Mechanic." The new art of electrotyping there attracted his attention, and he gave up editorial work in order to occupy himself with the new invention. He devised at this period a revolving rifle, which he sold to Colonel Samuel Colt for $100. In 1845 he returned to New York and engaged in electrotyping, and about this time he founded the “Scientific American,” the first issue of which bears the date 28 August, 1845. At the end of six months he was glad to dispose of his interest in the paper, and then occupied himself with his inventions. These included a flying-ship, trip-hammer, fog-whistle, engine-lathe, steam valve, rotary plough, reaction wind-wheel, portable house, thermo-engine, rotary engine, and scores of others. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 79-80.
POSEY, Carnot, soldier, born in Wilkinson County. Mississippi, 5 August, 1818; died in Charlottesville, Virginia, 13 November, 1863. He served in the Mexican War as a lieutenant of rifles under Jefferson Davis, and was wounded at Buena Vista. He became colonel of the 16th Mississippi Regiment on 4 June, 1861, and was appointed brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, 1 November, 1862. His brigade was composed of four Mississippi regiments of infantry, and formed part of Anderson's division of Ambrose P. Hill's corps in the Army of Northern Virginia. General Posey received wounds at Bristoe Station, Virginia, 14 October, 1863, from the effects of which he died. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 83.
POST, Amy Kirby, 1802-1889, Rochester, New York, reformer, American Society of Friends, Radical Hicksite, Quaker, abolitionist leader. Active participant in the Underground Railroad, with her husband, Isaac Post, aiding fugitive slaves. Women’s rights activist. Co-founder of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society (WNYASS). Helped form the Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends (YMCF). (Drake, 1950; Sernett, 2002, pp. xiv, 60, 61, 181, 340n50; Yellin, 1994, pp. 27-30, 149)
POST, Isaac, 1798-1872, Rochester, New York, philanthropist, abolitionist leader, reformer, American Society of Friends, Radical Hicksite, Quaker, women’s rights activist. Co-founder of the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society (WNYASS). Served on the Executive Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), 1842-1843. Helped form the Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends (YMCF), which opposed slavery. Helped establish African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York. Active, with his wife, Amy Post Kirby, in the Underground Railroad, aiding fugitive slaves. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 84; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 117; Sernett, 2002, pp. 60, 180-181, 266, 340n50)
POST, Isaac, philanthropist, born in Westbury, Queens County, New York, 26 February, 1798; died in Rochester, New York, 9 May, 1872. Being the son of Quaker parents, he was educated at the Westbury Friends’ School. He engaged in the drug business, and moved to Scipio, New York, in 1823, and to Rochester, New York, in 1836, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a warm adherent of William Lloyd Garrison, and one of the earliest laborers in the anti-slavery cause. His door was ever open to those who had escaped from bondage, and his hostility to the Fugitive-Slave Law was bitter and uncompromising. He was a member of the Hicksite branch of the Quakers, but left that body because, in his opinion, it showed itself subservient to the slave power. Mr. Post resided in Rochester when public attention was first attracted to the manifestations by the Fox sisters, and became one of the earliest converts to Spiritualism. He was the author of “Voices from the Spirit World, being Communications from Many Spirits, by the Hand of Isaac Post, Medium” (Rochester, 1852). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 84.
POST, Joseph, 1803-1880, Westbury, New York, abolitionist, Society of Friends (Quaker). Served on the Executive Committee, 1842-1843, and as a Manager, 1843-1844, of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS). (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 84)
POST, Joseph, born in Westbury, Long Island, 30 November, 1803; died there, 17 January, 1888, resembled Isaac in his profession of abolition principles. He was at one time proscribed and persecuted within his own sect, but lived long enough to witness a complete revolution of sentiment, and to be the recipient of many expressions of confidence and esteem from his coreligionists. When Isaac T. Hopper, Charles Marriot, and James S. Gibbons were disowned by the Society of Friends, on account of their outspoken opposition to slavery, they received encouragement and support from Joseph Post. Mr. Post passed his life in the same house in which he was born and died. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 84.
POTTER, Alonzo, 1800-1865, Beekman, New York, clergyman, college president, temperance advocate, opponent of slavery. (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 124)
POWELL, William F., New York, New York, American Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1841-44
POWELL, William Peter, 1807-c. 1879, African American, abolitionist leader, activist, born a slave, Garrisonian abolitionist. Active member of the American Anti-Slavery Society and the New England Anti-Slavery Society since early 1830s. Served on the Executive Committee of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS), 1841-1844. Helped Committee of Thirteen in New York City to oppose Fugitive Slave Act. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 9, p. 207)
POST, Philip Sidney, soldier, born in Florida, Orange County, New York, 19 March, 1833. He was graduated at Union College in 1855, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He then travelled through the northwest, his parents having meanwhile moved to Illinois, and took up his abode in Kansas, where he practised his profession, and also established and edited a newspaper. At the opening of the Civil War he was chosen 2d lieutenant in the 59th Illinois Infantry, and in 1862 he became its colonel. He was severely wounded at the battle of Pea Ridge, and made his way with much suffering, and under many difficulties, to St. Louis. Before fully recovering, he joined his regiment in front of Corinth, Mississippi, and was assigned to the command of a brigade. From May, 1862, till the close of the war he was constantly at the front. In the Army of the Cumberland, as first organized, he commanded the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, of the 20th Army Corps from its formation to its dissolution. He began the battle of Stone River, drove back the enemy several miles, and captured Leetown. During the Atlanta Campaign he was transferred to Wood's division of the 4th Army Corps, and when that general was wounded at Lovejoy’s station, Post took charge of the division, and with it opposed the progress of the Confederates toward the north. On 16 November, 1864, in a charge on Overton Hill, a grape-shot crushed through his hip, making what was for some days thought to be a mortal wound. On 16 December, 1864, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. After the surrender at Appomattox he was appointed to the command of the Western District of Texas, where there was then a concentration of troops on the Mexican border. He remained there until 1866, when the withdrawal of the French from Mexico moved all danger of military complications. He was then earnestly recommended by General George H. Thomas and others, under whom he had served, for the appointment of colonel in the regular army; but he did not wish to remain in the army. In 1866 he was appointed U.S. consul at Vienna, and in 1874 he became consul-general. His official reports have been quoted as authority. In 1878 he tendered his resignation, which, however, was not accepted till the year following. He then resided at Galesburg, Illinois, and in 1886 he was elected to Congress as a Republican. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 84.
POTTER, Robert B., soldier, born in Schenectady, New York, 16 July, 1829; died in Newport, Rhode Island, 19 February, 1887, spent some time at Union College, but was not graduated. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and at the beginning of the Civil War was in successful practice in New York City. He was commissioned major of the 51st New York Volunteers, led the assault at Roanoke Island and wounded at Berne, commanded his regiment at Cedar Mountain, Manassas, and Chantilly, and carried the stone bridge at Antietam, where he was again wounded. He was also engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862, and was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1863. He had previously been commissioned lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He led a division at Vicksburg, and took part in the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers in June, 1864. In the Wilderness Campaign, his division was constantly under fire, and in the final assault on Petersburg, 2 April, 1865, he was severely injured. After the war he was assigned to the command of the Connecticut and Rhode Island District of the Department of the East, and on his wedding-day his wife was presented by Secretary of War Stanton with his commission as full major-general of volunteers, dated 29 September, 1865. He was mustered out of the army in January, 1866, and acted for three years as receiver of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. After spending some time in England for his health, he returned to Newport, Rhode Island, where he resided until his death. General Grant refers to General Potter in flattering terms in his “Memoirs,” and General Winfield S. Hancock said of him that he was one of the twelve best officers, including both the regular and volunteer services, in the army. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 86-87.
POTTER, Edward Eells, naval officer, born in Medina. New York, 9 May, 1833. He entered the U. S. Navy as a midshipman on 5 February, 1850, and after service in the Home and African Squadrons during 1850-'5, spent a year at the U.S. Naval Academy. On 9 July, 1858, he was commissioned lieutenant, in 1861 he was attached to the " Niagara," of the Western Gulf Squadron, and in 1861-'2 he was executive officer of the " Wissahickon," of that squadron, during the bombardment and passage of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the capture of New Orleans. He also passed the Vicksburg batteries twice and participated in the engagement with the ram "Arkansas." On 10 July. 1862, he was promoted lieutenant-commander and attached to the " De Soto," of the Eastern Gulf Squadron, then passed to the "Wabash," of the North Atlantic Squadron, and in 1864-'5 he had command of the iron-clad "Mahopac." He was given the "Chippewa," of the North Atlantic Squadron, in 1865, and took part in the engagement at Fort Fisher and in the bombardment of Fort Anderson, after which he was executive officer of the " Rhode Island " in 1865-'7. He was executive officer of the "Franklin," Admiral Farragut's flagship, in 1867-'8, on the admiral's last cruise. Subsequently he was on shore duty until 1871, having in the meanwhile been promoted commander on 3 June, 1869. He then had command of the "Shawmut," of the North Atlantic Squadron, during 1871-2. and then until 1879 was on shore duty. In 1880 he commanded the "Constellation," on her voyage to Ireland, carrying supplies to the sufferers, and he was commissioned captain on 11 July, 1880. He then served at the Brooklyn U.S. Navy-yard in 1881-'3, and commanded the "Lancaster," of the European station, until September, 1886. Captain Potter was made commandant of the U.S. Navy-yard at League Island, Pennsylvania, in December, 1886. "and now (1888) fills that place. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 88.
POTTER, Edward Elmer, soldier, born in New York City, 20 June, 1823. He was graduated at Columbia in 1842, studied law, and after spending some time in California he returned to New York and turned his attention to farming. Early during the Civil War he was appointed captain and commissary of subsistence from New York, which commission he held from February to October, 1862. Subsequently he recruited a regiment of North Carolina troops, of which he was made colonel, and was engaged chiefly in the operations in North and South Carolina and east Tennessee, receiving the promotion of brigadier-general of volunteers on 9 November, 1862. He resigned on 24 July, 1865, and was brevetted major-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1865. Since the war General Potter has lived in Madison, New Jersey, and New York City. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 88-89.
POTTER, Hazard Arnold, surgeon, born in Potter township, Ontario (now Yates) County, New York, 21 December, 1810; died in Geneva, New York, 2 December, 1869. He was graduated at the medical department of Bowdoin in 1835, and began the practice of his profession in Rhode Island, but soon returned to his native town. he performed successfully many critical surgical operations, and in 1837 he called attention to the attention of arterial blood in the veins of parts that had been paralyzed in consequence of injury to the spinal cord. He trephined the spine for depressed fracture of the arches of the fifth and sixth vertebrae in 1844, and subsequently he performed the same operation four times, twice successfully. Later he performed ligature of the carotid artery five times, four times successfully, and removed the upper jaw six times and the lower five times. Dr. Potter was early convinced of the safety of operations within the abdominal cavity, and in 1843 performed gastrostomy for the relief of intussusception of the bowels with perfect success. He removed fibrous tumors of the uterus from within the abdominal cavity five times, in three cases successfully. He extirpated by ovariotomy twenty-two ovarian tumors, fourteen of them successfully, and in one of the successful cases both ovaries were removed at the same time. In another case, also successful, the operation was repeated upon the same patient twice with an interval of seventeen months. Dr. Potter served as regimental surgeon of the 50th New York Engineers in 1862. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 89.
POTTER, John Fox, lawyer, born in Augusta, Maine, 11 May, 1817. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, and, after studying law, was admitted to the bar in 1837. Settling in East Troy, Wisconsin, in 1838, he began the practice of his profession, and during 1842-'6 he was judge of Walworth County. In 1850 he was a member of the legislature of Wisconsin, and he was then elected as a Republican to Congress, serving from 7 December, 1857, till 4 March, 1863. In 1850, after Owen Lovejoy's speech in Congress, concerning the assassination of his brother, Elijah P. Lovejoy, Mr. Potter, at the close of an angry discussion with Roger A. Pryor, was challenged to a duel by the latter. Mr. Potter chose bowie-knives as the weapons, which were promptly objected to by the other side, and in consequence the matter was dropped. Considerable newspaper discussion followed. It is said that at the roll-call of Congress at the time of the proposed meeting, when Potter's name was reached, the response came: “He is keeping a Pryor engagement." When Pryor's name was called, the answer was: " He has gone to be made into Potter's clay." In 1861 Mr. Potter was a delegate to the Peace Congress, and on his defeat for re-election to Congress he was tendered the governorship of Dakota. This offer he declined, and he received in 1863 the appointment of consul-general to British North America at Montreal, which he held until 1856. He has since resided in Wisconsin. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 90.
POTTER, Joseph Haydn, soldier, born in Concord, New Hampshire, 12 October. 1822. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1843, standing next below General Grant in class rank. In 1843-'5 he was engaged in garrison duty, and he then participated in the military occupation of Texas and the war with Mexico. He was engaged in the defence of Fort Brown, and was wounded in the battle of Monterey. Subsequently he was employed on recruiting service, was promoted 1st lieutenant in the 7th Infantry on 30 October, 1847, and served on garrison duty until 1856, becoming captain on 9 January of that year. He accompanied the Utah Expedition in 1858-'60, and at the beginning of the Civil War was on duty in Texas, where he was captured by the Confederates at St. Augustine Springs on 27 July, 1861, but was exchanged on 2 August, 1862. The command of the 12th New Hampshire Volunteers was given him, and he took part in the Maryland and Rappahannock Campaigns with the Army of the Potomac, receiving his promotion of major in the regular army on 4 July, 1863. He took part in the battle of Fredericksburg, and at Chancellorsville was wounded and captured. His services in these two battles gained for him the brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel respectively, he was exchanged in October. 1863. and was assistant provost-marshal-general of Ohio until September, 1804, when he was assigned a brigade in the 18th Corps of the Army of the James, with command of the Bermuda Hundred front during the attack on Fort Harrison. He afterward was assigned to command of brigade in the 24th Corps and continued at the front as chief of staff of the 24th Corps from January, 1865, until the surrender of General Lee, receiving the brevet of brigadier-general in the U. S. Army on 13 March, 1865, and promotion to brigadier-general of volunteers on 1 May, 1865. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on 15 January, 1866, and appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Infantry, 28 July same year. After holding various posts in the west he received his promotion as colonel on 11 December, 1873, and then continued with his regiment, with the exception of four years, from 1 July, 1877, to 1 July, 1881, when he was governor of the soldiers' home, Washington, D. C, until 1 April, 1886, when he was made brigadier-general in the regular army. He then had command of the Department of Missouri until his retirement on 12 October, 1886. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 90.
POWELL, John Wesley, geologist, born in Mount Morris, New York, 24 March, 1834. He is the son of a Methodist clergyman, and passed his early life in various places in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois. For a time he studied in Illinois College, and he subsequently entered Wheaton College, but in 1854 he followed a special course at Oberlin, also teaching at intervals in public schools. His first inclinations were toward the natural sciences, particularly natural history and geology, and he spent much of his time in making collections, which he placed in various institutions of learning in Illinois, The Illinois State Natural History Society elected him its secretary and extended to him facilities for prosecuting his researches. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in the 20th Illinois Volunteers, and he rose to be lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Illinois Artillery. He lost his right arm at the battle of Shiloh, but soon afterward he returned to his regiment and continued in active service until the close of the war. In I865 he became professor of geology and curator of the museum in Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, but he resigned to accept a similar post in Illinois Normal University. During the summer of 1867 he visited the mountains of Colorado with his class for the purpose of studying geology, and so began a practice that has been continued by eminent teachers elsewhere. On this expedition he formed the idea of exploring the canyon of the Colorado, and a year later he organized a party for that purpose. The journey lasted more than three months and they passed through numerous perilous experiences, living for part of the time on half rations. Major Powell's success in this undertaking resulted in the establishment by Congress in 1870 of a topographical and geological survey of the Colorado River of the West and its tributaries, which was placed under his direction. During the following years a systematic survey was conducted, until the physical features of the Colorado Valley, embracing an area of nearly 100,000 square miles, had been thoroughly explored. This expedition, at first conducted under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, was transferred to the Department of the Interior, and given the title of the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region. In 1874 four separate surveys were in the field, and in 1879, after much agitation, the National Academy of Sciences recommended the establishment under the Department of the Interior of an independent organization to be known as the U. S. Geological Survey. Action to this effect was at once taken by Congress, and Clarence King (q. v.) was appointed director. From the beginning of the controversy Major Powell was the leading advocate of consolidation. Meanwhile he had devoted more attention to American ethnology in the prosecution of his work than the other surveys had done. He had collected material on this subject which he had deposited with the Smithsonian institution, and had already issued three volumes as "Contributions to North American Ethnology." In order to prevent the discontinuance of this work, a bureau of ethnology, which has become the recognized centre of ethnographic operations in the United States, was established under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. Major Powell was given charge of the work, and has since continued at its head, issuing annual reports and bulletins. In 1881 Mr. King resigned the office of director of the U. S. Geological Survey, and Major Powell was appointed his successor. Since that time he has ably administered the work of this great enterprise, which includes, besides special investigations in geology, the general study of economic geology, paleontology, and geography. In connection with the survey there is also a chemical division, where the necessary analytical work is conducted. Major Powell received the degree of Ph. D., from the University of Heidelberg in 1886, and also during the same year that of LL. D. from Harvard, and he is a member of many scientific societies. In 1880 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and he was president of the Anthropological Society of Washington from its organization in 1879 till 1888. He became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1875, vice-president in 1879, when he delivered his retiring address on "Mythologic Philosophy," and in 1887 was elected to the presidency. His publications include many scientific papers and addresses, and numerous government volumes that bear his name, including the reports of the various surveys, the bureau of ethnology, and the U. S. Geological Survey. The special volumes that bear his own name are "Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and its Tributaries explored in 1869-'72" (Washington, 1875); "Report on the Geology of the Eastern Portion of the Uinta Mountains and a Region of Country Adjacent Thereto" (1876); "Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States" (1879); and "Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages, with Words, Phrases, and Sentences to be collected " (1880). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 94-95.
POWELL, Lazarus Whitehead, senator, born in Henderson County, Kentucky, 6 October, 1812; died there, 3 July, 1867. He was graduated at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1833. attended law lectures at Transylvania University, and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He then practised his profession, and at the same time engaged in planting. Mr. Powell served one term in the legislature in 1836, was a presidential elector in 1844, on the Polk and Dallas ticket, and was governor of Kentucky in 1851-'5. He was appointed by President Polk one of the peace commissioners to Utah in 1857, and issued the proclamation that offered pardon to all Mormons that would submit to the U. S. government. He was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Democrat in 1858, served till 1865, and was a presidential elector in 1864. Mr. Powell was a clear and forcible debater and an excellent working member of the Senate. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 95.
POWELL, Levin Myne, naval officer, born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1800; died in Washington, D. C, 15 January, 1885, was appointed midshipman in the U. S. Navy in 1817, became lieutenant in 1826, was in several engagements against the Seminole Indians in 1836-'7, was wounded on Jupiter River in January of the latter year, and received the thanks of Congress for his services during that campaign. He became commander in 1843, was on ordnance duty till 1849, and was executive officer of the Washington U.S. Navy-yard in 1851-'4. He became captain in 1855, was retired in 1861, commissioned commodore in 1862, and rear-admiral in 1869. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 95.
POWELL, Thomas, editor, born in London, England, 3 September, 1809; died in Newark, New Jersey, 13 January, 1887. He was a successful playwright, and engaged in various literary pursuits in London for many years, aiding Leigh Hunt, William Wordsworth, and Richard II. Home in their" Modernization of Chaucer," and Home in his new " Spirit of the Age" (London, 1844). He came to this country in 1849, and from that date till his death was connected with Frank Leslie's publications. He was the first editor of " Frank Leslie's Weekly." which he established in 1853, and of "Frank Leslie's Ladies' Magazine " in 1857. He was subsequently connected also with various short-lived journals in New York City, and wrote several plays that were successfully produced in New York and Loudon. His publications in this country include 'The Living Authors in Great Britain" (New York, 1849); "Living Authors in America" (1850); and "Pictures of the Living Authors of Great Britain " (1851). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 95-96.
POWELL, William Henry, artist, born in New York City, 14 February. 1823; died there, 6 October, 1879. He began the study of art at the age of nineteen under Henry Inman. in New York, and afterward studied' in Paris and Florence. He exhibited first at the Academy of design, New York, in 1838, and was elected an associate in 1839. His name was erased from the list in 1845 "for non-compliance with the terms of election," but he was re-elected in 1854. His historical paintings include " De Soto discovering the Mississippi." at the capitol, Washington (1848-'53); "Perry s Victory on Lake Erie," painted for the state of Ohio (1863; and again on an enlarged scale for the capitol, completed in 1873); "Siege of Vera Cruz"; "Battle of Buena Vista "; "Landing of the Pilgrims "; "Scott's Entry into the City of Mexico "; "Washington at Valley Forge": and "Christopher Columbus before the Court of Salamanca." He also executed numerous portraits, among them those of Albert Gallatin (1843) and Erastus C. Benedict (1855); Peter Cooper (1855); Washington Irving, Major Robert Anderson, and General George B. McClellan, in the City-hall, New York; Lamartine, Eugene Sue (1853); Ab'd el Kader, General Robert Schenck, Peter Stuyvesant, Edward Delafield. and Emma Abbott. Many of his paintings have been engraved. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 96.
POWELL, William Henry, soldier, born in Pontypool, South Wales, 10 May, 1825. He came to this country in 1830, received a common-school education in Nashville, Tenn., and from 1856 till 1861 was general manager of a manufacturing company at Ironton, Ohio. In August, 1861, he became captain in the 2d West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, and he was promoted to major and lieutenant-colonel in 1862, and to colonel, 18 May, 1863. He was wounded in leading a charge at Wytheville, Virginia, on 18 July, and left on the field, whence he was taken to Libby Prison and confined for six months. After his exchange he led a cavalry division in the Army of the Shenandoah, being made brigadier-general of volunteers in October, 1864. After the war he settled in West Virginia, declined a nomination for Congress in 1865, and was a Republican presidential elector in 1868. General Powell is now (1888) president of a manufacturing company in Belleville, Illinois. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 96.
POWERS, Eliza Howard, philanthropist, born in 1802; died in Washington, D. C.,25 August, 1887. During the Civil War she was distinguished for deeds of charity, and for her unselfish devotion to the sick and wounded. From November, 1862, till August, 1864, she was associate manager of the U.S. Sanitary Commission of New Jersey, and acting president of the Florence Nightingale Relief Association of Paterson, New Jersey. She collected $8,000, and 20,000 articles for the soldiers’ hospitals, and contributed $2,500 of her own money to the same purpose, without receiving any compensation. The 48th Congress voted her a pension. The committee favoring her claims said in their report that from 28 April, 1861, till 14 August, 1864, she devoted her whole time, energy, and means to the service of the soldiers of the National Army and for the success of the Union cause. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 97.
POWERS, Hiram, sculptor, born in Woodstock, Windsor County, Vermont, 29 July, 1805; died in Florence, Italy, 27 June, 1873. He passed his youth on his father's farm, and in 1819 emigrated to Ohio with the family. On his father's death he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was in turn a clerk, a commercial traveller, and a clockmaker's apprentice. Having acquired from a German sculptor a knowledge of the art of modelling in clay, he executed several busts and medallions of some merit. Later he took charge of the wax-work department in the Western museum at Cincinnati, which post he held for seven years. In 1835 he went to Washington, where, for some time, he was employed in modelling busts of well-known men. Owing partly to the assistance of General John Preston, he was enabled to go abroad in 1837, and he established himself in Florence, where he thereafter resided. For some time he devoted himself chiefly to modelling busts, but within a year produced his statue “Eve Tempted,” which was pronounced a masterpiece by Thorwaldsen. Another statue with the same title was executed in 1850. In 1843 he produced the “Greek Slave,” the most widely known of all his works. Of this statue six duplicates in marble have been made, besides innumerable casts and reduced copies in Parian. It was exhibited in England in 1845, and again at the Crystal palace in 1851, and also in this country. His other statues include “The Fisher Boy” (1846), which was three times repeated in marble; “America” (1854), '' for the top of the capitol at Washington, and destroyed by fire in 1866; “Il Penseroso” (1856); “California” (1858); and “The Last of the Tribe,” also known as “The Indian Girl” (1872). Of his ideal busts the best known are “Ginevra.” (1840; 1865); “Proserpine” (1845): “Psyche” (1849); “Diana” (1852); "Christ" (1866); “Faith” (1867); “Clytie” (1868); “Hope” (1869): and “Charity” (1871). The greater part of his work consists of busts of distinguished men, including John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, John Marshall, and Martin Van Buren (1835); Edward Everett and John Preston (1845); and Henry W. Longfellow and Philip H. Sheridan (1865). He executed also statues of Washington for Louisiana, of Daniel Webster for Massachusetts, of John C. Calhoun for South Carolina (1850), and of Benjamin Franklin (1862) and Thomas Jefferson (1863). Powers had much mechanical skill, and was the author of several useful inventions, among which is a process of modelling in plaster which greatly expedites the labors of the sculptor by doing away with the necessity of making a clay model.—His son, Preston, born in Florence, Italy, 3 April, 1843, studied modelling under his father in 1867-'73. His first important work was the statue of Jacob Collamer (1875), which was originally ordered of his father. It was placed in the old hall of representatives in Washington. He executed also, in 1881, a statue of Reuben Springer for Music Hall, Cincinnati. Like his father, he works principally in portraiture, and has made numerous busts, including those of Louis Agassiz, in the museum at Cambridge; John G. Whittier, in the Public library, Haverhill, and a replica in the Boston public library; Emanuel Swedenborg, four times repeated; Charles Sumner, owned by Bowdoin College; Ulysses S. Grant, in the War Department, Washington; and Langdon Cheves. Of his ideal works the figure “Maud Muller" and the busts “Evangeline" and “Peasant Girl” are best known. His professional life has been spent in Florence and in the United States. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 97-98.
PRATT, Calvin Edward, soldier, born in Princeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 23 January, 1828. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1852, and practised for several years in Worcester. He was a member of the Cincinnati Convention which nominated James Buchanan for president. In 1859 he moved to New York City and practised till 1861, when he raised the 31st Regiment of New York Volunteers, and commanded it at the first battle of Bull Bun. With his regiment he afterward took part in the battles on the Peninsula, the second battle of Bull Run, and the battle of Antietam. On 10 September, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and he resigned, 25 April, 1863. After the war he held the post of collector of internal revenue in the Brooklyn District, which he resigned to resume his law-practice. In the autumn of 1869 he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of the state of New York, and he was re-elected in 1877 for fourteen years. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 101.
PRATT, Thomas George, governor of Maryland, born in Georgetown, D. C., 18 February, 1804; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 9 November, 1869. He was educated in his native place, studied law, and in 1823 moved to Upper Marlborough, Maryland, where he engaged in practice. He was in the legislature in 1832-5, and in 1837 was chosen president of the last executive council that was held under the state constitution of 1776. In 1838-'42 he was in the state senate, and in 1844 he was the Whig candidate for governor on a platform that opposed the repudiation of the state debt. He was successful after one of the fiercest political contests that was ever waged in Maryland, and during his term the finances of the state were placed on a solid basis. On the expiration of his service he practised his profession in Annapolis till 1849, when he was elected to the U. S. Senate in place of Reverdy Johnson, who had resigned on being appointed Attorney-General. He was re-elected, and field his seat from 14 January, 1850, till 3 March, 1857. During his term he became an intimate friend of Daniel Webster, and he often entertained Webster and Henry Clay at his home in Annapolis. Subsequently he moved to Baltimore. At the beginning of the Civil War Governor Pratt was a strong advocate of secession, and was confined for a few weeks in Fort Monroe. Virginia. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago in 1864, and to the Philadelphia Union Convention of 1866. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 103.
PRATT, George Watson, soldier, born in Prattsville, New York, 18 April, 1830; died near Manassas, Virginia, 21 July, 1861, was educated in Poughkeepsie, New York, and in Europe, receiving the degree of Ph.D. at the University of Erlangen, Bavaria. He engaged in banking, took an active interest in politics, and served in the state senate. At the beginning of the Civil War he became colonel of the 20th New York Regiment, and at the time of his death, at the battle of Bull Run, he was acting brigadier-general. Colonel Pratt was the author of an elaborate review of General George B. McClellan's report on the Crimean War. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 104.
PREEBLE, George Henry, naval officer, born in Portland, Maine. 25 February, 1816; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 1 March, 1885, entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 10 October, 1835, cruised in the Mediterranean in the frigate "United States" in 1836-'8, became passed midshipman 22 June, 1841. served in the Florida War in 1841-"2, and circumnavigated the world in the " St. Louis " in 18435, when he took ashore the first American force that landed in China. In the Mexican War, in 1846-'7, he participated in the capture of Alvarado, Vera Cruz, and Tuxpan. He became a master. 15 July. 1847, and lieutenant. 5 February. 1848, served in the frigate "St. Lawrence " in 1853-'6, took goods to the London exhibition, joined Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to China, and fought Chinese pirates, for which the English authorities gave him their thanks. He surveyed the harbors of Keelung. Formosa, Jeddo, and Hakodadi, Japan, and prepared sailing directions for Singapore, which were published extensively. In 1856-7 he was light-house inspector, in 1857-'9 he served at the U.S. Navy-yard at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and in 1859-61 he was executive of the steamer "Narragansett" in the Pacific. In January, 1862, he took command of the steamer "Katahdin," in which he participated under Farragut in the capture of New Orleans, and subsequent operations in the Mississippi and Grand Gulf. He was commissioned commander. 16 July, 1862. For failure to capture the Confederate cruiser " Florida" on the blockade he was summarily dismissed the navy, but the captain of the "Florida" testified that his superior speed alone saved him, and the dismissal was revoked, he was restored to his rank, and given command of the "St. Louis," which he joined at Lisbon, cruising after Confederate rovers. The " Florida" again escaped him at Madeira while he was becalmed. He next commanded the fleet brigade from 24 November, 1864, till April, 1865, and co-operated with General William T. Sherman. With the steamer " State of Georgia," in 1865, he rescued six hundred passengers from the wrecked steamer "Golden Rule," near Aspinwall. He became captain on 16 March, 1867, was at the Boston U.S. Navy-yard in 1865-'8, and served as chief of staff and in command of the flag-ship " Pensacola " in 1868-'70 in the Pacific. After being commissioned commodore, 2 November, 1871, he was commandant of the U.S. Navy-yard at Philadelphia in 1873-'5, was promoted to rear-admiral, 30 September, 1876, and on 25 February, 1878, was retired by law, being sixty-two years old. Admiral Preble constantly contributed to the professional periodical press, and was a member of various historical societies. A collection of navy registers, naval tracts, and other works from his library constitute the rarest sets of U. S. naval publications in existence. They are now in the Navy Department, serving in many cases to supply information for the biographies of naval officers that is not otherwise obtainable. His writings, many of which were printed privately and in small editions, include "Chase of the Rebel Steamer of War 'Oreto' (Cambridge, 1862): "The Preble Family in America " (Boston, 1868); "First Cruise of the U. S. Frigate Essex'" (Salem, 1870): " History of the American Flag" (Albany, 1872); and "History of Steam Navigation" (Philadelphia, 1883). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 105.
PRENTISS, Benjamin Mayberry, soldier, born in Belleville, Wood County, Virginia, 23 November, 1819. He moved with his parents to Missouri in 1835, and in 1841 settled in Quincy, Illinois, where he learned rope-making, and subsequently engaged in the commission business. In 1844–5 he was 1st lieutenant of a company that was sent against the Mormons in Hancock, Illinois. He served in the Mexican War as captain of volunteers, and on his return was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress in 1860. At the beginning of the Civil War he reorganized his old company, was appointed colonel of the 7th Illinois Regiment, and became brigadier-general of volunteers, 17 May, 1861. He was placed in command of Cairo, afterward served in southern Missouri, routed a large body of Confederates at Mount Zion on 28 December, 1861, and joined General Grant three days before the battle of Shiloh, on the first day of which he was taken prisoner with most of his command. He was released in October, 1862, and appointed major-general of volunteers on 29 November. He was a member of the court-martial that tried General Fitz John Porter (q.v.). He commanded at the post of Helena, Arkansas, and on 3 July, 1863, defeated General Theophilus H. Holmes and General Sterling Price, who attacked him there. General Prentiss resigned his commission on 28 October, 1863. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 106.
PRESTON, John Smith, soldier, born at the Salt Works, near Abingdon, Virginia, 20 April. 1809; died in Columbia, S. C., 1 May, 1881, was graduated at Hampden Sidney College in 1824, attended lectures at the University of Virginia in 1825-'6, and read law at Harvard. He married Caroline, daughter of General Wade Hampton, in 1830, and settled first in Abingdon. Virginia, and subsequently in Columbia, South Carolina. He engaged for several years in sugar-planting in Louisiana, but also devoted much time to literary pursuits and to the collection of paintings and sculptures. He aided struggling artists liberally, notably Hiram Powers, whose genius had been recognized by his brother William. Mr. Powers, as a token of his appreciation, gave him the first replica of the "Greek Slave." He also became widely known as an orator, delivering, among other addresses, the speech of welcome to the Palmetto Regiment on its return from the Mexican War in 1848, which gained him a national reputation. This was increased by his orations before the "Seventy-sixth Association of Charleston" and the literary societies of South Carolina College, and those at the 75th anniversary of the battle of King's Mountain and at the laying of the corner-stone of the University of the south at Sewanee, Tennessee. He was an ardent secessionist, and in May, 1860, was chairman of the South Carolina delegation to the Democratic Convention that met at Charleston, South Carolina. After the election of President Lincoln he was chosen a commissioner to Virginia, and in February, 1861, made an elaborate plea in favor of the withdrawal of that state from the Union, which was regarded as his greatest effort. He was on the staff of General Beauregard in 1861-'2, participated in the first battle of Bull Run, and was subsequently transferred to the conscript department with the rank of brigadier-general. He went to England shortly after the close of the war, and remained abroad several years. After his return he delivered an address at a commencement of the University of Virginia, which, as a fervent assertion of the right of secession, incurred the criticism of the conservative press throughout the country. His last public appearance was at the unveiling of the Confederate monument at Columbia, South Carolina when he was the orator of the occasion. General Preston was more than six feet in height, and of a powerful and symmetrical frame. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 115.
PRESTON, Thomas Lewis, planter, born in Botetourt County, Virginia, 28 November, 1812, was educated at the University of Virginia, studied law, but never practised, and for many years engaged in Washington and Smith Counties, Virginia, in the manufacture of salt, in which he made material improvements. He was twice a member of the legislature, for many years a visitor of the University of Virginia, and twice its rector. He was on the staff of General Joseph E. Johnston during the first year of the Civil War, and his aide-de-camp at the first battle of Bull Run. He has published " Life of Elizabeth Russell, Wife of General William Campbell of King's Mountain " (University of Virginia. 1880). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 115.
PRESTON, William Ballard, Secretary of War, born in Smithfield, Montgomery County, Virginia, 25 'November, 1805; died there, 16 November, 1862, was educated at the University of Virginia, adopted law as a profession, and achieved signal success in its practice. He served several times in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate, and was never throughout his career defeated in any popular election. He was chosen to Congress as a Whig in 1846, and on the accession of General Zachary Taylor to the presidency he held the portfolio of the navy until General Taylor's death, when he retired to private life, but was several times presidential elector on the Whig ticket. He was sent by the government on a mission to France in 1858-'9, the object of which was to establish a line of steamers between that country and Virginia, and a more extended commercial relation between the two countries. The scheme failed on account of the approaching Civil War. He was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861, and resisted all efforts toward the dissolution of the Union till he was satisfied that war was inevitable. In 1861-2 he was a member of the Confederate Senate, in which he served until his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 115.
PRESTON, William, lawyer, born near Louisville, Kentucky, 16 October, 1806; died in Lexington, Kentucky, 21 September, 1887. His education was under the direction of the Jesuits at Bardstown, Kentucky. He afterward studied at Yale, and then attended the law-school at Harvard, where he was graduated in 1838. He then began the practice of law, also taking an active part in politics. He served in the Mexican War as lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Kentucky Volunteers. In 1851 he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives as a Whig, and in the following year he was chosen to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by General Humphrey Marshall's resignation, serving from 6 December, 1852, till 3 March, 1855. He was again a candidate in 1854, but was defeated by his predecessor, General Marshall, the Know-Nothing candidate, after a violent campaign. He then became a Democrat, and was a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention of 1856, which nominated Buchanan and Breckinridge. He was appointed U. S. minister to Spain under the Buchanan administration, at the close of which he returned to Kentucky and warmly espoused the cause of the south. He joined General Simon B. Buckner at Bowling Green in 1861, and was made colonel on the staff of his brother-in-law, General Albert Sidney Johnston, when that officer assumed command. He served through the Kentucky Campaign, was at the fall of Fort Donelson, the battle of Shiloh, where General Johnston died in his arms, and the siege of Corinth. He was also in many hard-fought battles, especially at Murfreesboro. At the close of the war he returned to his home in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1867 he was elected to the legislature, and in 1880 he was a delegate to the convention that nominated General Hancock for the presidency. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 115-116.
PREVOST, Charles Mallet, soldier, born in Baltimore, Maryland, 19 September, 1818; died in Philadelphia, 5 November, 1887. His father, General Andrew M. Prevost, who commanded the first Regiment of Pennsylvania Artillery in the war of 1812, was born in Geneva, Switzerland, of Huguenot ancestry, and his grandfather, Paul Henry Mallet Prevost, a Geneva banker, came to the United States in 1794 and '' an estate at Alexandria (since called Frenchtown), Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Charles M. Prevost studied law and was admitted to the bar, and shortly afterward was appointed U.S. Marshal for the territory of Wisconsin, and he was subsequently deputy collector of the Port of Philadelphia. He was an active member of the militia, and at the beginning of the Civil War had command of a company. Soon afterward he was appointed assistant adjutant-general on the staff of General Frank Patterson. He was engaged in the Peninsular Campaign, later was appointed colonel of the 118th (Corn exchange) Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and commanded it at Antietam. The severity of the attack compelled his regiment to fall back, and Colonel Prevost seized the colors and ran to the front to rally his men. While encouraging them, he was struck in the shoulder by a Minié ball, and also by a fragment of shell, and so severely wounded that he never recovered. The brevet of brigadier-general of volunteer was conferred on him on 13 March, 1865, for his bravery in this action. After his partial recovery he returned to the command of his regiment, and took part in the battle of Chancellorsville with his arm strapped to his body. After this engagement he was ordered to take charge of a camp at Harrisburg for the organization of the Veteran reserve Corps, and, finding that his health would not permit him to engage in active service, he entered that corps, as colonel of the 16th Regiment, and served in it through the war. On his return home he was appointed major-general of the 1st Division of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 116
PRICE, Hiram, 1814-1901. Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. Congressman 1863-1869, 1876-1881. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 117-118; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 1, p. 212; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 17, p. 860; Congressional Globe)
PRICE, Hiram, Congressman, born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, 10 January, 1814. He received a common-school education, was for a few years a farmer, and then a merchant. He moved to Davenport, Iowa, in 1844, was school-fund commissioner of Scott County for eight years, and as such had the school lands allotted and appraised. He was collector, treasurer, and recorder of the county during seven years of the time when he was school-fund commissioner, and was president of the State Bank of Iowa during its existence, except for the first year. When the Civil War began, the state of Iowa had no available funds, and he furnished from his individual means quarters and subsistence for several months for about 5,000 men, infantry and cavalry. With Ezekiel Clark he advanced about $25,000 to pay to the 1st, 2d, and 3d Iowa Regiments their “state pay,” and carried the same to them, at much personal risk from the “bushwhackers” in northern Missouri. Mr. Price was elected to Congress as a Republican, serving in 1863-'9. He declined to be a candidate again, and spent some time abroad. He was again elected in 1876 and 1878, and then again declined re-election. He was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1881, and served in that office until shortly after the inauguration of President Cleveland. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 117-118.
PRICE, Reese E., Hamilton County, Ohio, Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1835-39
PRITCHETT, E. C., New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
PUCKETT, Clarkson, Winchester, Indiana, abolitionist. American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1846-1852, Vice-President, 1852-1854.
PRICE, Rodman McCamley, governor of New Jersey, born in Sussex County, New Jersey, 5 May, 1816. At an early age he became a student at Princeton, but before completing the course was obliged to leave on account of his health. He afterward pursued for some time the study of the law, and finally, in 1840, was appointed purser in the U.S. Navy. For ten years he was connected with this branch of the service, and in 1848 he was made navy agent for the Pacific Coast. When the American flag was raised in this region, he was the first to exercise judicial functions under it as alcalde. On returning to his home in 1850, he was elected a member of Congress, and served from 1851 till 1853. On 8 November of the latter year he was elected governor of New Jersey, which office he filled for three years. Through his instrumentality mainly the normal school of that state was established, and the militia system greatly improved. In 1861 he was delegate to the Peace Congress. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 118.
PRICE, Samuel, senator, born in Fauquier, County, Virginia, 18 August, 1805; died in Leesburg, West Virginia, 25 February, 1884. He moved to Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia), at twelve years of age, received a common school education, and settled in the practice of law in Nicholas County. After serving two terms in the legislature he moved to Wheeling, and subsequently to Lewisburg, and represented Greenbrier County for many years in the legislature. He was a leader in all schemes for internal improvement west of the Blue Ridge, and an originator of the proposition to establish a railroad from Tidewater, Virginia, to Ohio River. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1851, and of the Secession Convention in 1861, and earnestly opposed disunion in the latter body, but, on the passage of the ordinance of secession, supported the measures that followed. He was elected lieutenant-governor in 1863, and served as president of the state senate till the close of the war. He was appointed a circuit judge in 1865, but declined to take the test oath and did not serve. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the U. S. Senate in 1876, was president of the West Virginia Constitution Convention in 1872, and in 1876 was appointed by the governor to fill out the unexpired term of Allen T. Caperton, deceased, in the U.S. Senate, serving four months. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 118.
PRICE, Sterling, soldier, born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, 11 September, 1809; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 29 September, 1867. He was a student at Hampden Sidney College, read law, moved to Chariton County, Missouri, in 1831, and was speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1840–4. He was elected to Congress in the latter year as a Democrat, but resigned in 1846, and raised the 2d Missouri Cavalry Regiment for the Mexican War, becoming its colonel. He moved his regiment with that of Colonel Doniphan, both under command of General Stephen W. Kearny, from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fé, more than 1,000 miles, the march occupying more than fifty days, and the army subsisting mainly on the country. Colonel Price, with about 2,000 men, was left in charge of New Mexico, General Kearny moving with the remainder of the command to California. An insurrection occurred in Santa Fé, to which Governor Brent and several of his officers fell victims during their absence from the town. Colonel Price now attacked the Mexicans, completed the conquest of the province in several actions, and after promotion to brigadier-general of volunteers, 20 July, 1847, marched to Chihuahua, of which he was made military governor. He defeated the Mexicans at Santa Cruz de Rosales, 16 March, 1848. General Price was governor of Missouri from 1853 till 1857, bank commissioner of the state from 1857 till 1861, and president of the State Convention on 4 March, 1861. He was appointed major-general of the Missouri State Guard on 18 May, and joined by General Ben McCulloch and General Pearce with Confederate troops and Arkansas Militia, they defeated Nathaniel Lyon at Wilson's creek, in south August, 1861. Price then advanced north Lexington, on Missouri River, 12 September, the place, with 3,500 men, on 21 September, but before General John C. Frémont, and went driven by General Samuel R. Curtis, 12 February, 1862, and retreated toward Fort Smith, Arkansas. General Earl Van Dorn assumed command of Price’s and McCulloch’s armies, attacked Curtis at Pea Ridge, 7 March, 1862, and was defeated. Van Dorn was now ordered to around Corinth, retreated under Beauregard to Tupelo, was assigned to the command of the Army of Tennessee. met and fought with General William S. Rosecrans, in but was ordered to report to Van Dorn, and by his direction abandoned Iuka and joined him near Baldwyn. He participate in Van Dorn’s disastrous attack upon Corinth in October, 1862, and in the operations under General John C. Pemberton 1862-’3. He was then ordered to the Trans-Mississippi department, took part in the unsuccessful signed to the command of the District of Arkansas. He was driven from Little Rock by General Frederic toward Red River in March, 1864, and forced him to retreat. He made a raid into Missouri in September, 1864 had made many engagements with the National forces, and reached Missouri River, but was driven out of the state and into southwestern Arkansas. After the surrender of the Confederate Armies he went to Mexico, but he returned to Missouri in 1866.
Fix this error, insert above…
He captured fell back southward into winter-quarters near Springfield, whence he was Dorn assumed command of Price's and McCulloch's Tennessee. Price participated in the engagements of the West in March, 1862, and then to the district command of Grant's right, at Iuka, 19 September, 1862, Baldwyn. He participated in Van Dorn's disin northern Mississippi during the winter of attack upon Helena, 21 July, 1863, and was as Steele, but successfully resisted Steele's advance September, 1864, had many engagements with the ern Arkansas. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 118-119.
PRICE, Theophilus Townsend, physician, born in Cape May 21 May, 1828. He received an academic education, taught school for a time, then studied medicine, was graduated in 1853 at Pennsylvania Medical College, and settled in practice at Tuckerton, New Jersey. In 1863 he served as a volunteer surgeon in the army. Since 1879 he has been acting assistant surgeon in the U.S. Marine Hospital service, the first and only appointment of the kind in New Jersey, the government medical service on the entire New Jersey Coast being under his charge. He is one of the projectors of the Tuckerton Railroad, and since 1871 has been the secretary. He has served in the New Jersey legislature, is one of the trustees of the New Jersey reform school for boys, and of the South Jersey Institute, and a member of the State medical and historical societies. He has contributed to medical journals, and both in prose and poetry to various periodicals. Many of his war songs have become widely known. He is the author of the entire historical and descriptive part of the “Historical and Biographical Atlas of the New Jersey Coast” (Philadelphia, 1877). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 119.
PRICE. Thomas Lawson, contractor, born near Danville, Virginia, 19 January, 1809; died in Jefferson City, Missouri, 16 July, 1870. His father was a wealthy tobacco-planter. In 1831 the son settled in Jefferson City, Missouri He first engaged in mercantile pursuits, and afterward bought and sold real estate. In 1838 he obtained the contract for carrying the mail between St. Louis and Jefferson City, and established the first stage-line connecting those places. Ultimately he gained control of all the stage-routes in the state, and became lessee of the State penitentiary. He was chosen the first mayor of Jefferson City in 1838, and was re-elected. In 1847 he was appointed brevet major-general of the 6th Division of Missouri Militia, and in 1849 he was elected lieutenant-governor on the Democratic ticket. In 1856 General Price headed a Benton delegation to the Democratic National Convention that nominated James Buchanan, but was not admitted. In 1860 he was elected to the state legislature, and on 21 September, 1861, was appointed by General John C. Frémont brigadier-general of volunteers. The appointment expired by limitation, 17 July, 1862. He was elected to Congress in place of John W. Reid, expelled, and served from 21 January, 1862, till 3 March, 1863. In 1864 he was nominated by the Union men for governor, although there was no hope of his election. About this time his health began to fail, and his only subsequent appearance in public life was as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868, where he acted as vice-president when Horatio Seymour was nominated. During the greater part of his career General Price was connected with railroads, both as contractor and officer. When a member of the legislature he was largely instrumental in inducing the state to lend its aid to the construction of the Iron Mountain and Hannibal and St. Joseph roads. He was also identified with the construction of the Missouri Pacific and the Kansas Pacific. Of the former he was one of the first and largest contractors. Besides building the greater part of the Kansas Pacific, he was also a fund commissioner and director of that road, and united with other capitalists in extending the line from Denver to Cheyenne. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 119.
PRIME, Frederick E., soldier, born in Florence, Italy, 24 September, 1829, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1850, and employed on fortifications in New York, California, Alabama, and Mississippi. In 1861 he was taken prisoner at Pensacola, Florida, while he was on his way to Fort Pickens. Having been commissioned captain of engineers, he served during the Manassas Campaign, and the following six months he was successively chief engineer of the departments of Kentucky, the Cumberland, and the Ohio. After being wounded and taken prisoner while on a reconnaissance, he occupied the same post during General Grant's Mississippi Campaign in 1862-'3. He was brevetted major for gallantry at the battle of Corinth, and took part in the siege of Vicksburg. He was also promoted major, 1 June, 1863, brevetted lieutenant-colonel the following month for meritorious services before Vicksburg, and colonel and brigadier-general, 13 March. 1865, for gallant conduct throughout the war. The commission of brevet brigadier-general was declined. On 5 September, 1871, Major Prime was retired through disability from wounds that he received " in line of duty." Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 123.
PRINCE, Henry, soldier, born in Eastport, Maine, 19 June, 1811. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1835, assigned to the 4th Infantry, and served in the Seminole War in 1836-'7. He became 1st lieutenant, 7 July, 1838, assisted in removing the Creek Indians to the west, and then served on frontier duty, in the Florida War of 1841-'2, and in the war with Mexico, in which he received the brevet of captain for services at Contreras and Churubusco, and that of major for Molino del Rey, where he was severely wounded. On 26 September, 1847, he was made captain, and on 23 May, 1855, he was appointed major and served on the pay department in the west, participating in the Utah Campaign in 1858-'9. In the Civil War he took part in the northern Virginia Campaign, was made brigadier-general of volunteers on 28 April, 1862, and received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for services at Cedar Mountain, 9 August, 1862, where he was captured. After his release in December he participated in the North Carolina operations from 11 January till 24 June, 1863, commanded the District of Pamlico from 1 May till 24 June, 1863, pursued the Confederate Army in its retreat from Maryland, served in the Rapidan Campaign from October till December, 1863, pursued General Nathan B. Forrest's raiders in Tennessee and Alabama in 1864, and commanded on the coast of South Carolina from January till May, 1865. He was brevetted colonel and brigadier-general, U.S. Army, on 13 March, 1865. He served on courts-martial in Washington, D. C., in 1865-'6, and was mustered out of volunteer service on 30 April, 1866. He then served as paymaster in Boston till 1869, as chief paymaster of the Department of the East till 1871, and as paymaster in New York City until 1875. He was assigned to the Division of the Pacific on 28 June, 1875, became lieutenant-colonel on 3 March, 1877, and retired on 31 December, 1879. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 123-124.
PRINGLE, Benjamin, jurist, born in Richfield, New York, 9 November, 1807. He received a good education and studied law, but gave up practice to become president of a bank at Batavia, New York He was judge of Genesee County courts for one year, served two terms in Congress in 1853-'7, having been elected as a Whig, and in 1863 was in the legislature. Subsequently he was appointed by President Lincoln a judge of the court of arbitration at Cape Town under the treaty of 1862 with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave-trade. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 125.
PROUDFIT, David Law, author, born in Newburg, New York, 27 October, 1842. He was educated in the common schools, and at fifteen years of age went to New York City to engage in business. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles. In the following year he was appointed a 2d lieutenant in the 22d U.S. Colored Troops. His regiment accompanied General Butler in his advance up James River, and took part in various engagements, and at the close of the war he had attained the rank of major. Later he engaged in business, and a few years ago he became interested in pneumatic tubes, and he is now (1888) resident of the Meteor Despatch Company of New York. His poems have been extensively used in public recitations. He has published in book-form “Love among the Gamins,” poems (New York, 1877) and “Mask and Domino” (1888). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 128.
PRUD'HOMME, John Francis Eugene, engraver, born on the island of St. Thomas, W. I., 4 October, 1800. His parents were French. The son came to this country in 1807 with his family, who settled in New York in the Spring of 1809. When about fourteen years old he turned his attention to engraving, and was a pupil of Thomas Gimbrede, his brother-in-law, but the latter shortly afterward became teacher of drawing at the U. S. Military Academy, which left Mr. Prud’homme to pursue his own course. At the age of seventeen he essayed engraving portraits, and produced several fine plates for Longacre and Herring's “National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans.” He also engraved some plates for the annuals that were fashionable at that time, notably “Friar Puck,” after John G. Chapman; “The Velvet Hat,” after Joseph Inskeep; and “Oberon,” after a miniature by Miss Anne E. Hall. In 1852 Mr. Prud’homme entered a bank-note engraving establishment in New York, and from 1869 till 1885 he was employed as an ornamental designer and engraver at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. He was early elected member of the National Academy of Design, became academician in 1846, and in 1834–53 was its curator. Mr. Prud'homme is a tasteful designer, a good draughtsman, and excellent engraver, in the very fine stipple manner introduced by Caroline Watson toward the end of the 18th century. He resides in Georgetown, D.C., and still (1888) pursues his profession. He is the oldest living American engraver. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 130.
PRUYN, John Van Schaick Lansing, lawyer, born in Albany, New York, 22 June, 1811; died in Clifton Springs, New York, 21 November, 1877. He was graduated at Albany Academy in 1826, became a student in the office of James King, and was admitted to the bar in 1832. At once he took high rank in his profession as one of the attorneys in the once-celebrated James Will case. In 1835 he became a director of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad and its counsel, and in 1853, when the railroads between Albany and Buffalo were united, forming the present New York Central, he conducted the proceedings and drew up the consolidation agreement, in some respects the most important business instrument that was ever executed in the state of New York. He was associated in the Hudson River Bridge case, finally arguing it alone, was sole trustee of the estate of Harmanus Bleecker, and was the financial officer of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, which he carried through many difficulties. In 1861 he was elected state senator as a Democrat, having accepted the nomination on condition that no money should be used in the election. At the close of his term he gave the year's salary to the poor of Albany. He was a new capitol commissioner from 1865 till 1870, and in 1869 laid the first. stone of the new building. He was a member of Congress in 1863– '5 and 1867–'9, serving upon several important committees, and as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. At the first election of General Grant to the presidency he was one of the tellers of the house of representatives suggested such legislation as would have remedied the existing difficulties in counting the presidential vote. He was a regent of the University of the state of New York for thirty-three years, during the last fifteen of which he was chancellor. The establishment of the university convocation and the regents' examinations were largely if not almost wholly due to his efforts. The regents are trustees of the State Museum of Natural History and the State library, and the present value of these collections is largely owing to Mr. Pruyn's personal interest and supervision. Mr. Pruyn was also president of the board of trustees of St. Stephen's College, Annandale, of the State board of charities, of the State survey, and of the Albany Institute. He was also a member of various historical and other societies, and of the Association for the codification of the law of nations. Mr. Pruyn received the degree of M.A. from Rutgers in 1835, and from Union College in 1845, and that of LL.D. in 1852, from the University of Rochester. —His cousin, Robert Hewson, diplomatist, born in Albany, New York, 14 February, 1815; died in Albany, New York, 26 February, 1882, was graduated at Rutgers in 1833, studied law with Abraham Van Vechten, and in 1836 was admitted to the bar. He was corporation counsel of Albany, a member of the city government, and in 1855 became adjutant-general of the state. He was a Whig in politics, and served in the assembly in 1848–50, and again in 1854, when he was elected speaker. It is said that no appeal was made from any of his rulings in the chair. In 1861 he was appointed by President Lincoln U. S. minister to Japan as successor to Townsend Harris. As there were then no telegraphic facilities, months often elapsed before the minister could receive his instructions, and when they did arrive they were frequently inapplicable, circumstances having changed. Our vessels of war then in Japanese waters were placed at the disposal of the minister with instructions prescribed by the U. S. government. In 1863 Mr. Pruyn took the ground that he should regard the tycoon to be the real ruler of Japan, as otherwise foreign intercourse could never be guaranteed unless treaties were ratified by the Mikado. Two naval expeditions were undertaken against the transgressing daimio of Chosu, whose vessels had fired on the American merchant steamer "Pembroke." In the first the U. S. man-of-war " Wyoming," Commodore McDougall, sank the brig " Laurick" and blew up the steamer " Lancefield, at the same time running the gauntlet of shore batteries of eighty guns in the Straits of Simonisaki. In the second expedition the forces of Great Britain, France, and Holland (the daimio having previously fired upon the French and English vessels) took part, the United States being represented by the chartered steamer " Takiang," having on board a part of the crew and guns of the " Jamestown," which had been left at Yokohama for the defence of that place. The allies demolished the fortifications of Chosu and captured the guns. Although it was questioned, this proceeding postponed the dethronement of the tycoon for several years, and enabled him to observe his treaty stipulations which he had not been able to do, owing to the hostility of the Daimio of Chosu. An indemnity was paid by Japan and intercourse was guaranteed. Mr. Pruyn played an important part in securing American rights in the East. Mr. Pruyn's last public post was that of presiding officer of the state constitutional convention of 1872. For the last years of his life he was not greatly identified with public affairs, but was deeply interested in various enterprises, and at the time of his death was president of the National Commercial Bank of Albany. He was a trustee of Rutgers College, to which he gave $10,000. and was president of the board of directors of the Dudley Observatory. He received the degree of M. A. from Rutgers in 1836, and in 1865 that of LL. D. from Williams. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 130-131.
PRYOR, Roger Atkinson, lawyer, born near Petersburg, Virginia, 19 July, 1828. He was graduated at Hampden Sidney College in 1845, and at the University of Virginia, three years later, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but entered journalism. He joined the staff of the Washington "Union," and was afterward editor of the Richmond " Enquirer." He was sent at twenty-seven on a special mission to Greece by President Pierce. In 1856 he opposed William L. Yancey's proposition to reopen the slave-trade. He was an ardent advocate of state-rights, and established a daily paper, the "South." at Richmond, in which he represented the extreme views of the Virginia Democracy. His aggressive course and the intense utterance of his convictions led to several duels. He was elected to Congress in 1859 to fill a vacancy, and was re-elected in 1860, but did not take his seat. While in that body he made various fiery speeches, and in the excited condition of the public mind preceding the Civil War was often involved in passionate discussions with his northern opponents. One of these, John P. Potter (q. v.), replied to him with similar acrimony, and was challenged. Mr. Potter named bowie-knives as the weapons, and the Virginian's seconds refused to allow their principal to fight with arms which they pronounced barbarous. This challenge created an uproar throughout the country, and was accompanied with severe and characteristic comments on the principals from the northern and southern press. Mr. Pryor was eager for war, and visited Charleston to witness the firing on Sumter, and its surrender. He was sent to the Provisional Confederate Congress at Richmond, and elected to the first regular Congress. Soon afterward he entered the Confederate Army as a colonel, and was made a brigadier-general after the battle of Williamsburg. He resigned, 26 August, 1863, was taken prisoner in 1864, and confined for some time in Fort Lafayette. After the surrender of the Confederate armies, he urged on the south the adoption of a policy of acquiescence and loyalty to the government. He went to New York in 1865, settled there as a lawyer, and is still practising. He has taken no part in politics since the war, confining himself exclusively to his profession. He is the author of many speeches and literary addresses, and has been given the degree of LL. D. by Hampden Sidney College. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 131.
PUGH, George Ellis, senator, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 28 November, 1822; died there, 19 July, 1876. After his graduation at Miami University in 1840 he practised law until the beginning of the Mexican War, in which he took part as captain in the 4th Ohio Regiment, and also as aide to General Joseph Lane. In 1848-’9 he served in the legislature, and he was city solicitor of Cincinnati in 1850, and attorney-general of Ohio in 1851. He was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, serving from 3 December, 1855, till 3 March, 1861, and was a member of the committees on public lands, and the judiciary. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860, and made a speech in reply to William L. Yancey. One of his ablest efforts was his appeal in on behalf of Clement L. Vallandigham (q.v.) in 1863, in the habeas corpus proceeding involving the question as to the power and duty of the judge to relieve Mr. Vallandigham from military confinement. He was defeated as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 1863, and for Congress in 1864. In 1873 he was elected to the state constitutional convention, but declined to serve. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 132-133.
PUGH, James Lawrence, senator, born in Burke County, Georgia, 12 December, 1820. In early years he moved with his family to Alabama, where he received a collegiate education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He began to practise in Eufaula, Ala., was a Presidential elector in 1848 and 1856, and was then elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving from 5 December, 1859, till 21 January, 1861, when he retired, on the secession of his state. He was a delegate from Alabama to the House of Representatives in the 1st and 2d Confederate Congresses, serving from 22 February, 1862, till the surrender in 1865. He also served as a private in the Confederate Army, and after the war again practised law. Mr. Pugh was president of the Democratic State Convention of 1874, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875, and a presidential elector again in 1876. He was elected a U.S. Senator from Alabama for the term ending in 1885, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George S. Houston, and was re-elected for the term ending 3 March, 1891. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 133.
PUGH, Sarah, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, abolitionist. Became active in the abolition movement in 1835. Supported William Lloyd Garrison and immediate, uncompensated abolition. Served as a Manager, 1843-1844, and Member of the Executive Committee, 1844-1853, of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS). President, Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Eastern Branch, Philadelphia. Pugh attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, and protested that women were not allowed to be seated. She worked for African American and women’s rights after the Civil War. (Dumond, 1961, p. 286; Yellin, 1994, pp. 11, 74-76, 78, 80, 82, 84-85, 163, 163n, 175, 301-302, 307, 326)
PULITZER, Joseph (pul'-it-zer), journalist, born in Buda-Pesth, Hungary, 10 April, 1847. He was educated in his native city and came to this country in early youth. Soon after arriving in New York he went to St. Louis, where he quickly acquired a knowledge of English, became interested in politics, and was elected to the Missouri legislature in 1869, and to the state constitutional convention in 1874. He entered journalism at twenty as a reporter on the St. Louis "Westliche Post," a German Republican newspaper, then under the editorial control of Carl Schurz. He subsequently became its managing editor, and obtained a proprietary interest. In 1878 he founded the " Post-Dispatch " in that city by buying the " Dispatch" and uniting it with the " Evening Post," and he still retains control of the journal. In 1872 he was a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention which nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and in 1880 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and a member of its platform committee from Missouri. In 1883 he purchased the New York “World," which, after twenty-three years of existence under various managers, had achieved no permanent success, and he has greatly increased its circulation He is at present its editor and sole proprietor. He was elected to Congress in 1884, but resigned a few months after taking his seat, on account of the pressure of journalistic duties. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 134.
PULLMAN, George Mortimer, inventor, born in Chautauqua County, New York, 3 March, 1831. At fourteen he entered the employment of a country merchant, and at seventeen joined an elder brother in the cabinet-making business in Albion, New York. At twenty-two he successfully undertook a contract for moving warehouses and other buildings, along the line of the Erie Canal, then being widened by the state. In 1859 he moved to Chicago and engaged extensively in the then novel task of raising entire blocks of brick and stone buildings. In 1858 his attention was first directed to the discomfort of long-distance railway travelling, and he determined, if possible, to offer the public something better. In 1859 he remodeled two old day-couches of the Chicago and Alton road into sleeping-cars, which at once found favor and established a demand for improved travelling accommodation. In 1863 he began the construction at Chicago of a sleeping-car upon the now well-known model, which was destined to associate his name inseparably with progress in railway equipment. It was named the "Pioneer," and cost about $18,000. From this small beginning he continued to develop his ideas for comfort and safety in railway travel, till Pullman cars are now known all over the world. The Pullman Palace-Car Company, of which he is president, was organized in 1867, and it now operates over 1,400 cars on more than 100,000 miles of railway. In 1887 he designed and established the system of "vestibuled trains." which virtually makes of an entire train a single car. They were first put in service upon the Pennsylvania trunk lines, and are now to be found on many other railroads. In 1880, in obedience to the imperative demand of the Pullman Company for increased shop-facilities, and to give effect to an idea he had long cherished of improving the social surroundings of the workmen, he founded near Chicago the industrial town of Pullman, which now contains over 11,000 inhabitants, 5,000 of whom are employed in the company's shops. Architecturally the town is picturesque, with broad streets, handsome public buildings, and attractive houses, supplied with every modern convenience, for the employes. According to mortality statistics, it is one of the most healthful places in the world. Mr. Pullman has been identified with various public enterprises, among them the Metropolitan Elevated Railway System of New York, which was constructed and opened to the public by a corporation of which he was president. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 134.
PURMAN, William J., jurist, born in Centre County, Pennsylvania, 11 April, 1840. He received a liberal education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but entered the National Army as a private, serving on special duty in the War Department and in Florida. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Florida in 1868, and also of the state senate, judge of Jackson County Court in 1868–'9, and U. S. Assessor of Internal Revenue for Florida in 1870. In 1872 he was chairman of the Republican state executive committee, and was elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 1 December, 1873, till his resignation on 10 February, 1875. He was again elected, serving from 6 December, 1875, till 3 March, 1877, and re-elected, but his seat was successfully contested by Robert H. M. Davidson. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 136-137.
PURPLE, Norman Higgins, jurist, born in Exeter, New York, 29 March, 1808; died in Chicago, Illinois, 9 August, 1863. After attending the district schools, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in 1830, and in 1837 moved to Peoria, Illinois. In 1840-'2 he was state's attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit of Illinois, and from 1845 till 1848 he was associate judge of the supreme court. He was once a candidate for U. S. Senator, and in 1860 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina. He published "Statutes of Illinois relating to Real Estate " (Quincy, 1849) and " A Compilation of the Statutes of Illinois of a General Nature in Force, January1, 1856 " (2 vols., Chicago. 1850). These works were adopted by the general assembly. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 137
PURVIANCE, Hugh Young, naval officer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, 22 March, 1799: died there. 21 October, 1883. He was educated at St. Mary's College in his native city, and in 1818 was appointed a midshipman in the U. S. Navy. He served for two years on the East India Station, in 1821-'4 on the Pacific, and in 1824-'7 in the Mediterranean. In the last year he was commissioned a lieutenant, and he served on the West India Squadron in 1828-'30, and the Brazil Squadron in 1837-'8, commanding the brig " Dolphin." He relieved an American schooner from the French blockade of the river Plate, and received a complimentary recognition from the U. S. government for his services on the occasion. In 1846 he commanded the frigate "Constitution," of the Blockading Squadron in the Mexican War. On 7 March, 1849, he was commissioned commander, and assigned to the sloop-of-war " Marion," on the coast of Africa, where he remained in 1852-'5. He received his commission as captain, 28 January, 1856, commanded the frigate "St. Lawrence," of the Charleston Blockading Squadron, in 1861, and captured the privateer " Petrel" off that port, the first prize of the Civil War. He took part in the fight with the " Merrimac" and in the attack on Sewall's point, Hampton Roads. He was retired, 21 December, 1861, commissioned commodore, 16 July, 1862, and in 1863-'5 was light-house inspector. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 137.
PURVIS, Harriet Davy Forten, 1810-1884, African American, abolitionist leader, social reformer, active in Philadelphia area. Daughter of James Forten. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 9, p. 279)
PURVIS, Joseph, abolitionist, brother of Robert Purvis. Founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833. Served as a Manager of the AASS, 1840-1841. (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Winch, 2002)
PURVIS, Robert, 1810-1898, Philadelphia, African American, benefactor, abolitionist leader, reformer, women’s rights activist, temperance activist. Vice president and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833. Served as a Manager, 1833-1840, 1840-1842, and as a Vice President, 1842-1864, of the AASS. President, Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, 1845-1850. Chairman of the General Vigilance Committee, 1852-1857. Associated with William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips. Active in the Underground Railroad, 1831-1861. Aided thousands of escaped slaves. His home was a station on the Underground Railroad. Friend and supporter of Lucretia Mott and the women’s rights movement. Author, wrote Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens with Disenfranchisement to the People of Pennsylvania. Brother of Joseph Purvis. Husband of Harriet Davy Forten.
(Dumond, 1961, p. 333; Mabee, 1970, pp. 21, 57, 58, 99, 106, 109, 111, 121, 181, 191, 265, 276, 294, 305, 321, 338, 414n11, 422n27; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 45, 161, 162, 464; Winch, 2002; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 137; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. I. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 413; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 9, p. 281)
PURVIS, Robert, benefactor, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 4 August, 1810. His father, William Purvis, was a native of Northumberland, England, and his mother was a free-born woman of Charleston, of Moorish descent. Robert was brought to the north in 1819. His father, though residing in a slave state, was never a slave-holder, but was an Abolitionist in principle. Before Robert attained the age of manhood he formed the acquaintance of Benjamin Lundy, and in conjunction with him was an early laborer in the anti-slavery cause. Mr. Purvis was a member of the Philadelphia Convention of 1833 which formed the American Anti-Slavery Society, was its vice-president for many years, and signed its declaration of sentiments. He was also an active member of the Pennsylvania Society, and its president for many years. His house was a well-known station on the “Underground Railroad,” and his horses, carriages, and his personal attendance were always at the service of fugitive slaves. His son, CHARLES BURLEIGH, is surgeon-in-chief of the Freedmen's Hospital at Washington, D. C., and a professor in the medical department of Howard University. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 137.
PURVIS, Sarah Louisa Forten, 1814-1883, African American, poet, abolitionist leader. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 9, p. 283)
PUTNAM, Caroline, anti-slavery lecturer, worked with co-lecturer Sally Holley (Chadwick 1899; Dumond, 1961, pp. 281, 402n40, 41)
PUTNAM, George, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1840-1841.
PUTNAM, Hiram, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
PUTNAM, Jane, African American, abolitionist (Yellin, 1994, p. 58n40)
PUTNAM, Jesse, Danvers, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Abolition Society, Vice President, 1839-, Manager, 1842-
PUTNAM, Haldimand Sumner, soldier, born in Cornish. N. H., 15 October, 1835; died near Fort Wagner, South Carolina 18 July, 1863. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1857, and entered the army in July as brevet 2d lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. From that time till a few months previous to the Civil War he was engaged in explorations and surveys in the west. When the war began he was summoned to Washington and intrusted with important despatches for Fort Pickens. He accomplished his mission, but, while returning to the north, was seized by the Confederates at Montgomery, Alabama, and imprisoned for several days. On his release he was placed on General Irvin McDowell's staff, participated in the battle of Bull Run, and gained the brevet of major for gallantry. In October he went to his native state and organized the 7th New Hampshire Regiment, of which he became colonel in December, 1861. It was stationed during the first year of its service at Fort Jefferson, on Tortugas Island, and afterward at St. Augustine, Florida, and in South Carolina. In 1863 Colonel Putnam commanded a brigade in the Stono inlet Expedition, and in the capture of Morris Island. In the assault on Fort Wagner, 18 July, 1863, where he led the second storming column, he was killed on the parapet of the work while rallying his men. He was made brevet colonel, U. S. Army, 18 July, 1863. For about four months preceding his death he was acting brigadier-general. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 139.
PUTNAM, George Palmer, publisher, born in Brunswick, Maine, 7 February, 1814; died in New York City, 20 December, 1872, entered the book-store of Daniel and Jonathan Leavitt, New York, in 1828, in 1840 became a partner in the house of Wiley and Putnam, and in 1841 went to London and established a branch. In 1848 he returned to New York, dissolved the partnership with Mr. Wiley and was in business alone. He early interested himself in the production of fine illustrated books, and in 1852, with the assistance of George William Curtis and others, established “Putnam's Magazine.” In 1861 Mr. Putnam planned and organized the Loyal Publication Society. In 1863 he retired from active business to become U.S. Collector of Internal Revenue, which post he held till 1866, when, in conjunction with his sons, he founded the publishing house of G. P. Putnam and Sons (now G. P. Putnam's Sons). Mr. Putnam was for many years secretary of the Publishers Association. As early as 1837 he issued “A Plea for International Copyright,” the first argument in behalf of that reform that had been printed in this country. He was a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of which in 1872 he was honorary superintendent. He had been appointed chairman of the committee on art in connection with the Vienna Universal Exposition. He wrote “Chronology; or, An Introduction and Index to Universal History, Biography, and Useful Knowledge” (New York, 1833); "The Tourist in Europe: A Concise Guide, with Memoranda of a Tour in 1836” (1838); “American Book Circular, with Notes and Statistics” (1843); “American Facts: Notes and Statistics relative to the Government of the United States” (1845); “A Pocket Memorandum-Book in France, Italy, and Germany in 1847” (1848); and “Ten Years of the World's Progress: Supplement. 1850–61, with Corrections and Additions” (1861). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 142.
PUTNAM, George Haven, publisher, born in London, England, 2 April, 1844, studied at Columbia in 1860 and at Göttingen in 1861–2, but was not graduated, as he left College to enter the United States military service during the Civil War, in which he rose to the rank of brevet major. He was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue in 1866, and in this year engaged in the publishing business in New York, in which he has continued ever since, being now (1888) head of the firm of G. P. Putnam's Sons. He has served on the executive committees of the Free-trade League, the Reform Club, the Civil-service Reform Association, and enterprise that resulted in placing the great organ other political organizations, and in 1887-'8 as secretary of the American Publishers' Copyright League. He has written articles on literary property for journals and cyclopaedias: a pamphlet on “International Copyright” (New York, 1879); and, conjointly with his brother, John Bishop Putnam. “Authors and Publishers” (1882). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 142-143.
PUTNAM, James Osborne, lawyer, born in Attica, New York, 4 July, 1818. His father, Harvey (1793–1855), was a representative in Congress in 1838-’9 and 1847–’51, having been chosen as a Whig. The son studied at Hamilton College and then at Yale, where he was graduated in 1839. He read law in his father's office, was admitted as a practitioner in 1842, and the same year began practice in Buffalo. In 1851–’3 he was postmaster there. In 1853 he was elected to the state senate, where he was the author of the bill, that became a law in 1855, requiring the title of church real property to be vested in trustees. In 1857 he was the unsuccessful nominee of the American Party for Secretary of State. He was chosen a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1860, and appointed U. S. consul at Havre, France, in 1861. In 1880 he became U. S. minister to Belgium, and while he was filling this mission he was appointed by the U.S. government a delegate to the International Industrial Property Congress in Paris in 1881. He has published “Orations, Speeches, and Miscellanies” (Buffalo, 1880). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 143
PUTNAM, William Lowell, soldier, born in Boston, 9 July, 1840; died near Ball's Bluff, Virginia, 21 October, 1861, was educated in France and at Harvard, where he studied mental science and law. He entered the 20th Massachusetts Regiment in 1861, was ordered to the field in September, and was killed while leading his battalion to the rescue of a wounded officer. When he was borne to the hospital-tent he declined the surgeon's assistance, bidding him go to those whom his services could benefit, since his own life could not be saved. He was a youth of much promise, possessing remarkable natural endowments and many accomplishments. See the memoir by his mother mentioned above. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 143.
