Encyclopedia of Civil War Military Biography – Spr-Sza
SPRAGUE, Charles Ezra, author, born in Nassau, Rensselaer County, New York, 9 October, 1842. He was graduated at Union College in 1860, and since 1878 has been secretary of the Union Dime Savings Institution of New York City. During the Civil War he served in the army, was severely wounded at Gettysburg, and was given the brevet of captain in 1865. He is the inventor of the "Sprague checkbook," has devised numerous account-books and forms, and also a savings-bank system for testing the accuracy of accounts, and has written many articles on the subject, on which he has also lectured at Columbia College. Mr. Sprague is the first prominent advocate in this country of the international language that is called Volapuk. Since 1887 he has edited the " Volaspodel," issued as part of "The Office," and he is the author of "Logical Symbolism" (printed privately, New York, 1882), "The Hand-Book of Volapuk " (1888), and "The Story of the Flag," a poem read before the survivors of the 44th New York Regiment (Albany, 1886). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 637.
SPRAGUE, John Titcomb, soldier, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 3 July, 1810; died in New York City, 6 September, 1878. In 1834 he became 2d lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and served in the Florida War, being twice promoted for meritorious conduct, and brevetted captain on 15 March, 1842. He was given that full rank in 1846, and brevetted major on 30 May, 1848. He was made major of the 1st U.S. Infantry, 14 May, 1861, and, when stationed with his regiment in Texas, was taken prisoner by General David E. Twiggs, but was released on parole, and became mustering and disbursing officer at Albany, New York, and adjutant-general of the state, with the rank of brigadier-general, holding this post until 1865. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 11th U.S. Infantry in March, 1863, and colonel of the 7th U.S. Infantry on 12 June, 1865, and in that year served in Florida and was made military governor, but retired from the army on 15 July, 1870. He was the author of "Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War" (New York, 1848). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 637.
SPRAGUE, John Wilson, soldier, born in White Creek, Washington County, New York, 4 April, 1817. He was educated in common schools, and entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in 1830, but was not graduated. He then became a merchant, and in 1851-'2 was treasurer of Erie County, Ohio. He was made a captain in the 7th Ohio Volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War, became colonel of the 63d Ohio in 1863, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 30 July, 1864, receiving the brevet of major-general, U. S. volunteers, on 13 March, 1865. He also declined a lieutenant-colonelcy in the U. S. Army. After the war he was general manager of the Winona and St. Peter Railroad, Minnesota, but moved to Washington Territory in 1870, having been made general agent and superintendent of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which offices he resigned in 1882. Since then he has engaged in various enterprises, and was for five years president of the National Bank in Tacoma, Washington Territory. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 637.
SPRAGUE, William, 1830-1930, Union officer. Governor of Rhode Island, 1860-1863. Republican U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. (Appletons’, 1888. Vol. V, p. 638; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 457; Congressional Globe)
SPRAGUE, William, governor of Rhode Island, born in Cranston, Rhode Island, 12 September, 1830, received his education in common schools, served in his father's factory, and engaged in making calico-prints. Subsequently he became a manufacturer of linen, woollen goods, and iron, a builder of locomotives, and an owner of railroads and steamships. In 1860-'3 he was governor of Rhode Island. He had served as colonel in the state militia, offered a regiment and a battery of light-horse artillery for service in the Civil War, and with this regiment participated in the battle of Bull Run, where his horse was shot under him. He received a commission as brigadier-general of volunteers, which he declined. He also served in other actions during the Peninsular Campaign, including Williamsburg and the siege of Yorktown. He was chosen to the U. S. Senate as a Republican, was a member of the Committee on Manufactures, and chairman of that on Public Lands, his term extending from 4 March, 1863, till 3 March, 1875, when he resumed the direction of his manufacturing establishments. He operated the first rotary machine for making horseshoes, perfected a mowing-machine, and also various processes in calico-printing, especially that of direct printing on a large scale with the extract of madder without a chemical bath. Governor Sprague claims to have discovered what he calls the “principle of the orbit as inherent in social forces.” He asserts that money is endowed with two tendencies, the distributive and the aggregative, and that when the latter predominates, as before the Civil War, decadence results; but that when the former is in the ascendancy, as was until recently the case, there is progress. He received the degree of A. M. from Brown in 1861, of which university he has been a trustee since 1866. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 638.
STAGER, Anson, soldier, born in Ontario County, New York, 20 April, 1825; died in Chicago, Illinois, 26 March, 1885. At sixteen years of age he entered into the service of Henry O'Reilly, a printer, who subsequently became a pioneer in the building and operating of telegraphs. He followed O'Reilly in his enterprise, and when the latter established a line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg he was placed in charge of the first office at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1846. He then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he made several improvements in the construction of batteries and, the arrangement of wires, and in 1852 he was made general superintendent of the principal lines in the west at that time. After the consolidation of the Western Union Company with these he was still superintendent, and to his industry and ability the success of these lines is much indebted. At the opening of the Civil War he was asked to take the management of the telegraphs in southern Ohio and along the Virginia line, to which he consented and at once prepared a cipher by which he could safely communicate with those who had the key. In October he was called to Washington and appointed general superintendent of government telegraphs in all departments. He remained in service till September, 1868, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers for valuable services. In 1869 General Stager returned to Chicago, and, in addition to his duties as general superintendent, he was the promoter of many enterprises, among which was the Western Electric Manufacturing Company, one of the largest of its kind in the United States. He was also interested in the Babcock Manufacturing Company and several others. He secured a consolidation of the two telephone companies in Chicago, and was president of them and also of the Western Edison Electric Light Company, and a director in many corporations. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 642.
STAHEL, Julius, soldier, born in Csongrad, Hungary, 4 November, 1825. After being educated at Budapest, he entered the Austrian Army and had risen from the ranks to be 1st lieutenant when the Hungarian revolution occurred. Stahcl joined the revolutionists and served on the staffs of General Arthur Gorger and General Richard Debaufre Guyon. After the success of the Austrian arms he went to Germany, thence to England, and finally to New York City. There he essayed journalism, and in 1859 was editor of the "Deutsche Illustrirte Familienbatter," an illustrated German weekly. He became, in May, 1861, lieutenant-colonel of the 8th New York Volunteers, commanded that regiment in the first battle of Bull Run, and was made colonel. He was promoted brigadier-general, 12 November, 1861, given a brigade in General Louis Blenker's German division, and took part in the battle of Cross Keys, Virginia., 8 June, 1862. He was subsequently in command of a division of General Franz Sigel's army corps, the 11th, and on 14 March, 1863, was commissioned major-general. He resigned from the army, 8 February, 1865. In 1866 he was made U. S. consul at Yokohama, Japan, but after three years' residence there he was compelled to return on account of impaired health. He was engaged in mining from 1870 till 1877, when he was again appointed consul to Japan. There he remained until March, 1884, when he was made U. S. consul-general at Shanghai, which latter office he resigned in 1885. He has since been engaged in business in New York City. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 642.
STANLEY, David Sloan, soldier, born in Cedar Valley, Ohio, 1 June, 1828. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1852. and in 1853 was detailed with Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple to survey a railroad route along the 35th parallel. As lieutenant of cavalry from 1855 till his promotion to a captaincy in 1861, he spent the greater part of his time in the saddle. Among other Indian engagements he took part in one with the Cheyennes on Solomon's Fork, and one with the Comanches near Fort Arbuckle. At the beginning of the Civil War he refused high rank in the Confederate Army. In the early part of the war has fought at Independence, Forsyth, Dug Springs, Wilson's Creek, Rolla, and other places, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 September, 1861. He led a division at New Madrid, and the commanding general reported that he was " especially indebted" to General Stanley for his "efficient aid and uniform zeal." Subsequently he was complimented for his "untiring activity and skill" in the battle of Island No. 10. He took part in most of the skirmishes in and around Corinth and in the battle of Farmington. In the fight near the White House, or Bridge Creek, he repelled the enemy's attack with severe loss, and he was especially commended by General William S. Rosecrans at Iuka. At Corinth, he occupied the line between batteries Robinett and Williams, and was thus exposed to the severest part of the attack of the enemy, and, although other parts of the line gave way, his was never broken. General Stanley was appointed major-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862. He bore an active part in most of the battles of the Atlanta Campaign, and as commander of the 4th Army Corps he took part in the battle of Jonesboro'. After General George H. Thomas was ordered to Nashville, General Stanley was directed on 6 October to command the Army of the Cumberland in his absence. Until he was severely wounded at Franklin, he took an active part in all the operations and battles in defence of Nashville. His disposition of the troops at Spring Hill enabled him to repel the assault of the enemy's cavalry and afterward two assaults of the infantry. A few days afterward, at Franklin, he fought a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. Placing himself at the head of a reserve brigade, he regained the part of the line that the enemy had broken. Although severely wounded, he did not leave the field until long after dark. When he recovered he rejoined his command, and, after the war closed, took it to Texas. He had received the brevets of lieutenant-colonel for Stone River, Tennessee, colonel for Resaca, Georgia, brigadier-general for Ruff's Station, Georgia, and major-general for Franklin, Tennessee, all in the regular army. He was appointed colonel of the 22d U.S. Infantry, and spent a greater part of the time up to 1874 in Dakota. In command of the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, he successfully conducted his troops through the unknown wilderness of Dakota and Montana, and his favorable reports on the country led to the subsequent emigration thither. In 1874 he went with his regiment to the lake stations, and in 1879 moved it to Texas, where he completely suppressed Indian raids in the western part of the state. He also restored the confidence of the Mexicans, which had been disturbed by the raid that the U. S. troops made across the boundary in 1878. He was ordered to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1882. and placed in command of the district of New Mexico. While he was stationed there, and subsequently at Fort Lewis, complications arose at various times with the Navajos, Utes, and Jicarillas, all of which he quieted without bloodshed. The greater part of his service has been on the Indian frontier, and he has had to deal with nearly every tribe that occupies the Mississippi and Rio Grande Valley, thus becoming perfectly acquainted with the Indian character. In March, 1884. he was appointed a brigadier-general in the regular army, and assigned to the Department of Texas, where he has been ever since. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 644-645.
STANLY, Edward, statesman, born in New Berne, North Carolina, about 1811; died in San Francisco, California, 12 July, 1872. He was the son of John Stanly, who was several times speaker of the North Carolina Legislature and twice a member of Congress. The son was educated at Captain Alden Partridge's Military Academy in Middletown, Connecticut, studied and practised law, and was elected to Congress as a Whig in 1836, and re-elected for the two succeeding terms. Having left Congress in 1843, he represented Beaufort in the state house of commons from 1844 till 1849, serving during his last term as speaker. In 1847 he was elected attorney-general of the state. He was re-elected to Congress in 1848 and returned for the succeeding term, at the close of which, in 1853, he moved to California, where he practised his profession, and in 1857 was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor. After the capture of New Berne on 14 March, 1862, and the occupation of other points in North Carolina by National troops, President Lincoln appointed Stanly military governor of his native state. The people were embittered by this, and, after vainly endeavoring to consolidate and give effect to the Unionist sentiment in North Carolina, he resigned and returned to California. —His brother, Fabius, naval officer, born in New Berne, North Carolina, 15 December, 1815; died in Washington, D. C, 5 September, 1882, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 20 December, 1831, was promoted to lieutenant, 8 September, 1841, and during the Mexican War was attached to the Pacific Squadron, where he did good service, participating in the capture and defence of San Francisco and other California ports. He assisted at the capture of Guaymas, where he led the storming party, and commanded a night expedition to a fort twelve miles from that place, where with thirty men he passed through the enemy's lines, spiked the guns, and returned in safety. He was also present at the capture of Mazatlan, commanded the outposts, and had frequent skirmishes with the enemy, in one of which he had a hand-to-hand contest, and received a lance wound in the breast. He was highly commended for his zeal and ability, and received the thanks of two secretaries of the navy for his services in the Mexican War. He commanded steamers of the Pacific Mail Company in 1850-'l. During the Paraguay Expedition he commanded the store-ship "Supply," and in 1859-'60 he had the steamer "Wyandotte" on the south side of Cuba. While he was at Key West he prevented what he supposed to be an attempt by the secessionists to seize Fort Taylor in December, 1860; but the rumor was contradicted, and he was relieved from his command for his excessive zeal, and sent to command the receiving-ship "Independence " in California. He was commissioned commander, 19 May, 1861, and was in the steamer "Narragansett in the Pacific in 1862-'4. He received the thanks of the State Department for his diplomatic services in Mexico during this period. He commanded the " State of Georgia on the coast of South Carolina in 1864-'5, co-operated in the expedition up the Santee, and had charge of the expedition of Bull's Bay. He was commissioned captain, 25 July, 1866, commodore, 1 July, 1870, and rear-admiral, 12 February, 1874. He was retired on 4 June, 1874, on his own application. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 646-647.
STANNARD, George Jerrison, soldier, born in Georgia. Vermont 20 October, 1820; died in Washington, D. C, 31 May, 1886. He received an academic education, worked on his father's farm, teaching in winter, and was a clerk in a foundry from 1840 till 1860, when he became joint proprietor of the business. He was a colonel of militia when the Civil War began, and was the first man in Vermont to offer his services after the president's call for volunteers. He was commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Vermont Regiment, which was mustered into the service in May, 1861. He was at the first battle of Bull Run, and while stationed near the Chain Bridge in the following autumn frequently led scouting parties into the enemy's territory. In May, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the 9th Vermont Infantry, which was stationed at Harper's Ferry when Colonel Dixon S. Miles surrendered that post, and on being paroled went into camp at Chicago. On 11 March, 1863, he was commissioned as brigadier-general. His brigade of Vermont troops came up at the close of the first day's battle at Gettysburg. On the second day he held the left slope of Cemetery hill till he was ordered farther to the left in the afternoon to oppose General James Longstreet's assault after the rout of the 3d Corps. His brigade closed the gap speedily, saving two batteries, retaking another, and capturing two Confederate guns. On the third day it opposed a solid front to General George E. Pickett's division, and, when the Confederate column turned slightly to the left, threw the assailants into confusion by a flanking fire. General Stannard was wounded in the action, and could not return to the field till May, 1864. At Cold Harbor he was struck by a rifle-ball, but brought off the remnant of his command. He led the advance on Petersburg, and was assigned to the command of a division, but was again wounded and, moreover, disabled by sickness. When he rejoined the army after a few weeks of absence he led the advance upon the defences of Richmond north of James River, and captured Fort Harrison, for which he was brevetted major-general on 28 October, 1864, but when the enemy attempted to storm the works on the day after their capture a bullet shattered his arm, necessitating amputation. He returned to his home, and in December, 1864, after the raid on St. Albans, was placed in charge of the defence of the northern frontier of Vermont. He resigned on 27 June, 1866, and was appointed collector of customs for the district of Vermont, which office he held till 1872. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 647.
STANSBURY, Howard, explorer, born in New York City, 8 February, 1806; died in Madison, Wisconsin, 17 April, 1863. Early in life he became a civil engineer, and in October, 1828, he was placed in charge of the survey of proposed canals to unite Lake Erie and Lake Michigan with the Wabash River, and was also engaged in other surveys of western rivers. In 1835 he had charge of numerous public works in Indiana, in 1836 he made a survey of James River with a view toward improving the harbor of Richmond, and in 1837 he surveyed Illinois and Kaskaskia Rivers, being afterward engaged upon the survey for a railroad from Milwaukee to Dubuque, and charged with the construction of a road from Milwaukee to Mississippi River. He became 1st lieutenant of U. S. Topographical Engineers on 7 July, 1838, captain in 1840, and in 1841 was engaged in a survey of the lakes. In 1842-'5 he was in charge of the survey of the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a work which for minute accuracy of detail is unsurpassed in this country. In 1847 he was charged with the construction of an iron light-house on Carysfort Reef, Florida, which is the largest light-house on our coast. From 1849 till 1851 he was engaged in the Great Salt Lake Expedition, his report of which gave him a wide reputation. In 1852-'3 he was engaged upon the lake harbors, and in 1856 he was assigned to the charge of the military roads in Minnesota. He was appointed major on 28 September, 1861, and at the time of his death he was mustering and disbursing officer at Madison. Major Stansbury published " An Expedition to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah" (Philadelphia, 1852; 2d ed., 1855). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 647.
STANTON, Edwin McMasters, 1814-1869, statesman, lawyer, anti-slavery activist. U. S. Secretary of War, 1862-1867. Favored Wilmot Proviso to exclude slavery from the new territories acquired by the U.S. after the War with Mexico in 1846. Member of the Free Soil movement. (Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 65, 67, 69, 72, 144, 147-148; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 648-649; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 517; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 20, p. 558)
STANTON, Edwin McMasters, statesman, born in Steubenville Ohio, 19 December, 1814; died in Washington, D. C., 24 December, 1869. His father, a physician died while Edwin was a child. After acting for three years as a clerk in a book-store, he entered Kenyon College in 1831, but left in 1833 to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1836, and, beginning practice in Cadiz, was in 1837 elected prosecuting attorney. He returned to Steubenville in 1839, and was supreme court reporter in 1842-'5, preparing vols. xi., xii., and xiii. of the Ohio reports. In 1848 he moved to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1857, on account of his large business in the U. S. Supreme Court, he established himself in Washington. During 1857-'8 he was in California, attending to important land cases for the government. Among the notable suits that he conducted were the first Erie Railway litigation, the Wheeling Bridge Case, and the Manney and McCormick reaper contest in 1859. When Lewis Cass retired from President Buchanan's cabinet, and Jeremiah S. Black was made Secretary of State, Stanton was appointed the latter's successor in the office of Attorney-General, 20 December, 1860. He was originally a Democrat of the Jackson school, and, until Van Buren's defeat in the Baltimore Convention of 1844, took an active part in political affairs in his locality. He favored the Wilmot proviso, to exclude slavery from the territory acquired by the war with Mexico, and sympathized with the Free-Soil movement of 1848, headed by Martin Van Buren. He was an anti-slavery man, but his hostility to that institution was qualified by his view of the obligations imposed by the Federal Constitution. He had held no public offices before entering President Buchanan's cabinet except those of prosecuting attorney for one year in Harrison County, Ohio, and reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court for three years, being wholly devoted to his profession. While a member of Mr. Buchanan's cabinet, he took a firm stand for the Union, and at a cabinet meeting, when John B. Floyd, then Secretary of War, demanded the withdrawal of the United States troops from the forts in Charleston Harbor, he indignantly declared that the surrender of Fort Sumter would be, in his opinion, a crime, equal to that of Arnold, and that all who participated in it should be hung like André. After the meeting, Floyd sent in his resignation. President Lincoln, though since his accession to the presidency he had held no communication with Mr. Stanton, called him to the head of the War Department on the retirement of Simon Cameron, 15 January, 1862. As was said by an eminent senator of the United States: “He certainly came to the public service with patriotic and not with sordid motives, surrendering a most brilliant position at the bar, and with it the emolument of which, in the absence of accumulated wealth, his family was in daily need.” Infirmities of temper he had, but they were incident to the intense strain upon his nerves caused by his devotion to duties that would have soon prostrated most men, however robust, as they finally prostrated him. He had no time for elaborate explanations for refusing trifling or selfish requests, and his seeming abruptness of manner was often but rapidity in transacting business which had to be thus disposed of, or be wholly neglected. As he sought no benefit to himself, but made himself an object of hatred to the dishonest and the inefficient, solely in the public interest, and as no enemy ever accused him of wrong-doing, the charge of impatience and hasty temper will not detract from the high estimate placed by common consent upon his character as a man, a patriot, and a statesman.
Mr. Stanton's entrance into the cabinet marked the beginning of a vigorous military policy. On 27 January, 1862, was issued the first of the president's war orders, prescribing a general movement of the troops. His impatience at General George B. McClellan's apparent inaction caused friction between the administration and the general-in-chief, which ended in the latter's retirement. He selected General Ulysses S. Grant for promotion after the victory at Fort Donelson, which General Henry W. Halleck in his report had ascribed to the bravery of General Charles F. Smith, and in the autumn of 1863 he placed Grant in supreme command of the three armies operating in the southwest, directed him to relieve General William S. Rosecrans before his army at Chattanooga could be forced to surrender. President Lincoln said that he never took an important step without consulting his Secretary of War. It has been asserted that, on the eve of Mr. Lincoln's second inauguration, he proposed to allow General Grant to make terms of peace with General Lee, and that Mr. Stanton dissuaded him from such action. According to a bulletin of Mr. Stanton that was issued at the time, the president wrote the despatch directing the general of the army to confer with the Confederate commander on none save purely military questions without previously consulting the members of the cabinet. At a cabinet council that was held in consultation with General Grant, the terms on which General William T. Sherman proposed to accept the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston were disapproved by all who were present. To the bulletin announcing the telegram that was sent to General Sherman, which directed him to guide his actions by the despatch that had previously been sent to General Grant, forbidding military interference in the political settlement, a statement of the reasons for disapproving Sherman's arrangement was appended, obviously by the direction of Secretary Stanton. These were: (1) that it was unauthorized; (2) that it was an acknowledgment of the Confederate government; (3) that it re-established rebel state governments; (4) that it would enable rebel state authorities to restore slavery; (5) that it involved the question of the Confederate states debt; (6) that it would put in dispute the state government of West Virginia; (7) that it abolished confiscation, and relieved rebels of all penalties; (8) that it gave terms that had been rejected by President Lincoln; (9) that it formed no basis for peace, but relieved rebels from the pressure of defeat, and left them free to renew the war. General Sherman defended his course on the ground that he had before him the public examples of General Grant's terms to General Lee's army, and General Weitzel's invitation to the Virginia legislature to assemble at Richmond. His central motive, in giving terms that would be cheerfully accepted, he declared to be the peaceful disbandment of all the Confederate armies, and the prevention of guerilla warfare. He had never seen President Lincoln's telegram to General Grant of 3 March, 1865, above quoted, nor did he know that General Weitzel's permission for the Virginia legislature to assemble had been rescinded.
A few days before the president's death Secretary Stanton tendered his resignation because his task was completed, but was persuaded by Mr. Lincoln to remain. After the assassination of Lincoln a serious controversy arose between the new president, Andrew Johnson, and the Republican Party, and Mr. Stanton took sides against the former on the subject of reconstruction. On 5 August, 1867, the president demanded his resignation; but he refused to give up his office before the next meeting of Congress, following the urgent counsels of leading men of the Republican Party. He was suspended by the president on 12 August on 13 January, 1868, he was restored by the action of the Senate, and resumed his office. On 21 February, 1868, the president informed the Senate that he had removed Secretary Stanton, and designated a secretary ad interim. Mr. Stanton refused to surrender the office pending the action of the Senate on the president's message. At a late hour of the same day the Senate resolved that the president bad not the power to remove the secretary. Mr. Stanton, thus sustained by the Senate, refused to surrender the office. The impeachment of the president followed, and on 26 May, the vote of the Senate being “guilty,” 35, “not guilty,” 19, he was acquitted—two thirds not voting for conviction. After Mr. Stanton's retirement from office he resumed the practice of law. On 20 December, 1869, he was appointed by President Grant a justice of the Supreme Court, and he was forthwith confirmed by the Senate. Four days later he expired.
The value to the country of his services during the Civil War cannot be overestimated. His energy, inflexible integrity, systematized industry, comprehensive view of the situation in its military, political, and international aspects, his power to command and supervise the best services of others, and his unbending will and invincible courage, made him at once the stay of the president, the hope of the country, and a terror to dishonesty and imbecility. The vastness of his labors led to brusqueness in repelling importunities, which made him many enemies. But none ever questioned his honesty, his patriotism, or his capability. A “Memoir” of Mr. Stanton is at present in preparation by his son, Lewis M. Stanton. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 648-649.
STANTON, Henry, soldier, born in Vermont about 1796; died in Fort Hamilton, New York, 1 August, 1856. He was appointed a lieutenant in the light artillery, 29 June, 1813, assistant deputy quartermaster-general in July, 1813, military secretary to General George Izard in 1814, deputy quartermaster-general, with the rank of major, 13 May, 1820, acting adjutant-general under General Thomas S. Jesup in Florida in 1836-'7, assistant quartermaster-general, with the rank of colonel, 7 July, 1838, and was brevetted brigadier general for meritorious conduct in the Mexican War, 1 January, 1847. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 649.
STANTON, Oscar Fitzalan, naval officer, born in Sag Harbor, New York, 18 July, 1834. He entered the U.S. Navy as acting midshipman, 29 December, 1849, and was warranted midshipman from the same date. He was graduated at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1855, promoted to master, 16 September, 1855, and commissioned lieutenant, 2 April, 1856, serving in the steamer “Memphis,” on the Paraguay Expedition, in 1858–9, on the coast of Africa in 1859–60, and in the sloop “St. Mary's,” of the Pacific Squadron, from December, 1860, till April, 1862. He was commissioned lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, commanded the steamer “Tioga,” in the special West India Squadron, in 1862–3, and the steamer “Panola,” on the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, in 1863–4. In 1865 he was on ordnance duty at New York, after which he served at the Naval Academy until May, 1867. He was promoted to commander, 12 December, 1867, and had charge of the steamer “Tahoma,” of the North Atlantic Squadron, and the “Purveyor,” on special service, in 1867–9. He commanded the receiving-ship at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1871, the steamer “Monocacy,” on the Asiatic Station, from 1872 until 1874, when he was transferred to the “Yantic.” He was promoted to captain, 11 June, 1879, and in November, 1881, went on duty at the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia, where he remained until November, 1884, when he took command of the steam frigate “Tennessee,” flag-ship of the North Atlantic Station. Since 31 October, 1885, he has had command of the naval station at New London, Connecticut. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 650.
STANTON, Henry Thompson, poet, born in Alexandria, Virginia, 30 June, 1834, was educated at several colleges in Kentucky and at the U. S. Military Academy, but was not graduated. He served as captain and major in the Confederate Army. For several years he has been connected with the U. S. Indian Commissioners in selecting lands for Indian reservations. He has invented an iron tie for binding cotton-bales, and is the author of “The Moneyless Man, and other Poems” (Baltimore, 1872). From 1875 till 1886 he edited the “Kentucky Yeoman.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 650.
STARBUCK, Calvin Washburn, journalist, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 20 April, 1822; died there, 15 November, 1870. He was educated at the public schools of his native city, but, as his parents' means were limited, he began very early to support himself. He learned the printing trade, and, having saved a little money, established, at nineteen, the Cincinnati “Times," an afternoon newspaper. Being the fastest type-setter in Ohio, he prepared a large part of the paper for years, and also assisted m distributing it to subscribers. It rapidly gained success, and its weekly edition had at one time the largest circulation in the west. To his exertions and generosity are mainly due the Relief Union, the Home of the friendless, and other charitable institutions of Cincinnati, while his private gifts were many and constant. During the Civil War he strove by voice and pen to establish the National credit when the government needed money. To the families of the men in his employment who had enlisted he continued their regular pay while they were in the service. When in 1864 the governor of Ohio tendered the home-guards of the state to the country for a hundred days, Starbuck left his business and went into the field. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 651-652.
STARKWEATHER, John Converse, soldier, born in Cooperstown, New York, 11 May, 1830. His father. George Anson (born in Connecticut in 1794; died in Cooperstown, New York, in 1878), was graduated at Union in 1819, held local offices in Otsego, New York, was colonel of the New York 12th Artillery, and was elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving from 6 December, 1847, till 3 March, 1849. After graduation at Union in 1850, the son moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and practised law until 1861. On 17 May, 1861, he was made colonel of the 1st Wisconsin Volunteers, took part in the battles of Falling Waters, 2 July, 1861, and Edward's Ferry, 29 July, 1861, and was mustered out on 21 August, 1861. Reorganizing his regiment for three years, by special order of the War Department he again enlisted, and served in Kentucky and northern Alabama. He participated in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, 8 October, 1862. He was also engaged at Stone River, 31 December, 1862, and 1–2 January, 1863, and remained on duty at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, until 23 June, 1863. He was appointed brigadier-general of U.S. volunteers on 17 July, 1863, commanded brigades and divisions in the Army of the Ohio and in the Army of the Cumberland, participated in the attack at Chickamauga, 19–21 September, 1863, where he was wounded, in battles around Chattanooga, Tennessee, 23–25 November, 1863, and in the assault and capture of Mission Ridge, Tennessee, 23–25 November, 1863. He served on the court-martial that tried General William A. Hammond, surgeon-general, U. S. Army (q. v.), and, after commanding several posts in Tennessee and Alabama, he was mustered out of the army on 11 May, 1865. After farming for several years in Wisconsin, and occupying posts of importance and trust, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he now (1888) practices law, having been admitted to the bar in 1857. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 653-654.
STEARNS, Charles Woodward, physician, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1818; died in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, 8 September, 1887. He was graduated at Yale in 1837, and took his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1840. After practising for some time he entered the army as a surgeon, subsequently travelled and studied in Europe, and at the opening of the Civil War re-entered the service as surgeon of the 3d New York Regiment. He was on service at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Suffolk, Virginia., Fortress Monroe, and in the field. Dr. Stearns was widely known as an enthusiastic Shakespearean student and writer. His principal works are "Shakespeare's Medical Knowledge " (New York, 1865): "The Shakespeare Treasury of Wisdom and Knowledge " (1869); and "Concordance of the Constitution of the United States " (1872). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 655.
STEARNS, George Luther, 1809-1867, Medford, Massachusetts, merchant, industrialist, Free Soil supporter, abolitionist. Chief supporter of the Emigrant Aid Company which financed anti-slavery settlers in the Kansas Territory. Founded the Nation, Commonwealth, and Right of Way newspapers. Member of the “Secret Six” who secretly financially supported radical abolitionist John Brown, and his raid on the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia, on October 16, 1859. Recruited African Americans for the all-Black 54th and 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiments, U.S. Army. (Filler, 1960, p. 268; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 207, 327, 338; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 655; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 543)
STEARNS, George Luther, merchant, born in Medford, Massachusetts, 8 January, 1809; died in New York, 9 April, 1867. His father, Luther, was a teacher of reputation. In early life his son engaged in the business of ship-chandlery, and after a prosperous career undertook the manufacture of sheet and pipe-lead, doing business in Boston and residing in Medford. He identified himself with the anti-slavery cause, became a Free-Soiler in 1848, aided John Brown in Kansas, and supported him till his death. Soon after the opening of the Civil War Mr. Stearns advocated the enlistment of Negroes in the National Army. The 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments, and the 5th Cavalry (colored), were largely recruited through his instrumentality. He was commissioned major through the recommendation of Secretary of War Stanton, and was of great service to the National cause by enlisting Negroes for the volunteer service in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee. He was the founder of the “Commonwealth” and “Right of Way” newspapers for the dissemination of his ideas. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 655.
STEARNS, Ozora Pierson, soldier, born in De Kalb, Lawrence County, New York, 15 January, 1831. He was educated at Oberlin College and Michigan University, where he was graduated in the literary department in 1858, and in law in 1860. Immediately after his graduation he began practice in Rochester, Minnesota, and shortly afterward was elected prosecuting attorney for Clinton County. In August, 1862, he entered the National Army as 1st lieutenant in the 9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and in April, 1864, he was commissioned colonel of the 39th Regiment of U. S. Colored Infantry. His regiment suffered severely at the mine-explosion before Petersburg on 30 July. He accompanied General Benjamin F. Butler on his Fort Fisher Expedition, was with General Alfred H. Terry at the capture of that fort, and afterward remained with his command in North Carolina until he was mustered out of the service in December, 1865. He then returned to Rochester, Minnesota, was soon afterward offered the professorship of agriculture in Cornell University, which he declined, was again elected county attorney, and then appointed register in bankruptcy. In 1871 he was elected U. S. Senator for the unexpired term of Daniel S. Norton, deceased, and served for a short period. In the spring of 1872 he moved with his family to Duluth, and two years later became judge of the 11th Judicial District of Minnesota, which office he has held ever since. He is in favor of granting the right of suffrage to women.—His wife, Sarah Burger, reformer, born in New York City, 30 November, 1836, is the daughter of Edward G. Burger. She was educated chiefly at the Ann Arbor High-School, and the State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1858 and afterward she made formal application to be admitted as a student to the Michigan State University, which, though it was refused, had an influence in finally deciding the regents in 1869 to make their classes open to women. During the Civil War Mrs. Stearns was well known as a worker on the Sanitary Commission, and lectured on behalf of the soldiers' societies in Michigan and elsewhere. She married Colonel Stearns in 1863, and moved to Minnesota in 1866. For many years she has been vice-president for Minnesota of the National Woman Suffrage Association. She is president of the Duluth Home Society, and was instrumental in establishing a temporary home for needy women and children in that city. She has been active for years as an advocate of woman's rights. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 656.
STEDMAN, Edmund Clarence, poet, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 8 October, 1833. He is the son of Edmund B. Stedman, a merchant of Hartford, and Elizabeth C. Dodge, a sister of William E. Dodge, who, subsequent to the death of Mr. Stedman in 1835, married William B. Kinney. Through his mother Mr. Stedman is further related to William Ellery Channing and to Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe. He was prepared for college by his great-uncle, James Stedman, and entered Yale in 1849. As an under graduate he distinguished himself in Greek and in English composition. His poem of "Westminster Abbey," published in the "Yale Literary Magazine" in 1851, received a first prize. In his junior year he was suspended for irregularities, and he did not return to receive his degree, but in 1871 the college authorities restored him to his class, and conferred on him the degree of A. M. He became editor of the Norwich " Tribune " in 1852, and in 1854 of the Winsted "Herald," but two years later he relinquished this post after establishing some reputation for the pure literary tone of his journal. He then moved to New York City, where for many years he contributed to "Vanity Fair," " Putnam's Monthly," "Harper's Magazine." and other periodicals. After a hard struggle for a competence, he drifted into journalism. His poems, " The Diamond Wedding," a widely read satire on a society event, " How Old John Brown took Harper's Ferry," " The Ballad of Lager-Bier," and similar lyrics, appeared in the "Tribune" during 1859, and their success led him to issue his " Poems, Lyric and Idyllic " (New York, 1860). In 1860 he joined the editorial staff of the "World," and he was its war-correspondent in 1861-3. during the early campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, from the headquarters of General Irvin McDowell and General George B. McClellan, and then from Washington. He afterward accepted a confidential appointment under Attorney-General Bates, but in 1864 he returned to New York, and relinquished journalism to adopt some pursuit that would afford him more leisure for literary work. Mr. Stedman soon purchased a seat in the stock exchange, and became a broker. His poetry of this period is included in his "Alice of Monmouth, an Idyl of the Great War, and other Poems" (New York, 1864), which was followed by "The Blameless Prince, and other Poems " (Boston, 1809). A collective edition of his "Poetical Works " was published in 1873. With Thomas B. Aldrich he edited "Cameos " (Boston, 1874), selected from the works of Walter Savage Landor; also, with an introduction, " Poems of Austin Dobson " (New York, 1880). About 1875 he began to devote attention to critical writing, and contributed to "Scribner's Monthly" a series of sketches of the poets and poetry of Great Britain from the accession of Queen Victoria to the present time, which were rewritten and published as " Victorian Poets " (Boston, 1875; London, 1876; 13th ed., with a supplement, bringing it down to 1887). In a similar manner he prepared " Poets of America," a critical review of American poets and poetry (Boston, 1886). At present he is engaged with Ellen M. Hutchinson in editing a " Library of American Literature," to be completed in ten volumes, of which three are now published (1888). Mr. Stedman has delivered several poems on public occasions. Of these the more important are " Gettysburg." read at the annual meeting of the Army of the Potomac in Cleveland in 1871, and the "Dartmouth Ode," delivered in 1873 before that college. In 1870 he read "The Monument of Greeley " at the dedication in Greenwood cemetery of the printers' monument to Horace Greeley, and in 1878 he delivered his poem on "The Death of Bryant" before the Century Club. At the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Yale class of 1853 he read " Meridian, an Old-Fashioned Poem," and in July, 1881, his "Corda Concordia" was read before the Summer School of Philosophy. He has also been engaged at intervals during many years on a complete metrical translation of the Greek idyllic poets. His other publications include " Rip Van Winkle and His Wonderful Nap" (Boston, 1870); "Octavius Brooks Frothingham and the New Faith" (New York, 1876); "Favorite Poems" (Boston, 1877); "Hawthorne, and other Poems" (1877); "Lyrics and Idylls, with other Poems " (London, 1879); "The Raven, with Comments on the Poem" (Boston, 1883); and a "Household Edition" of his poems (1884).—His cousin. Alexander Griffin, soldier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 6 January, 1838; died near Petersburg, Virginia, 6 August, 1864, was graduated at Trinity in 1859, and began to study law, but in 1861 entered the volunteer army as captain in the 5th Connecticut Regiment. He was transferred to the 11th Connecticut as major after seeing service in the Shenandoah Valley, and took part in the battle of Antietam, leading half of the regiment in the charge on the stone bridge, and receiving a severe wound. He commanded the regiment at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and at the beginning of the Overland Campaign of 1864 was placed at the head of a brigade. He repeatedly won the commendation of his superiors, and was mortally wounded in one of the skirmishes that followed the mine-explosion at Petersburg. Fort Stedman, one of the works near that place, had been named for him. He had been strongly recommended for promotion to brigadier-general, and was given that rank by brevet, to date from 5 August, 1864. His grave at Hartford is marked by a monument of granite and bronze. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 658.
STEEDMAN, Charles, naval officer, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 24 September, 1811. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 1 April, 1828, became a passed midshipman, 14 January, 1834, and cruised in the Mediterranean in the frigates "Constitution" and " United States." He was promoted to lieutenant, 25 February, 1841, and during the Mexican War served in the sloop "St. Mary's " in 1846-'7. At the bombardment of Vera Cruz he commanded the siege-guns in the naval battery on shore, and he participated in other operations on the coast and in the boat expedition that captured Tampico. He was commissioned commander, 14 September, 1855, and in the Paraguay Expedition commanded the brig "Dolphin." Notwithstanding the efforts of his family and friends in his native state to induce him to join the seceded states, he remained loyal and rendered valuable service to the Union. He immediately asked for duty, took command of the railroad ferry steamer " Maryland," and conveyed General Benjamin F. Butler with the 8th Massachusetts Regiment from Havre de Grace to Annapolis, Maryland, in April, 1861. He then went to the west temporarily and assisted Admiral Foote in organizing the naval forces that operated on the Mississippi River in the gun-boats. In September, 1861, he commanded the steamer " Bienville," in which he led the second column of vessels at the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, and participated in operations on the coast of Georgia and Florida. He returned north in the spring, and took command of the steamer "Paul Jones," in which he assisted in the capture of Fort McAllister, on Ogeechee River, in August, 1862, and operated on St. John's River, Florida, during the following month. He was promoted to captain, 13 September, 1862, and in the steamer " Powhatan " took part in the blockade off Charleston and in several engagements there. He then towed the captured ram "Atlanta " to Philadelphia, took command of the steamer " Ticonderoga, and went to the coast of Brazil in pursuit of the Confederate cruiser "Florida" until November, 1864. He participated in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, remained in command of the " Ticonderoga" on a cruise in the Mediterranean, and returned in command of the steam frigate "Colorado" in September, 1867. He was promoted to commodore, 25 July, 1866, and was in charge of the Boston U.S. Navy-yard in 1869-'72. He was made a rear-admiral, 25 Mav, 1871, and retired, 24 September, 1873. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 659.
STEEDMAN, James Barrett, soldier, born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 30 July, 1818; died in Toledo, Ohio, 18 October, 1883. He went to Ohio in 1837 as a contractor on the Wabash and Erie canal, and in 1843 was chosen to the legislature of that state as a Democrat. In 1849 he organized a company to cross the plains to California in search of gold, but he returned in 1850, and in 1851 became a member of the Ohio board of public works. During Buchanan's administration he was public printer at Washington, and in 1860 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Charleston, advocating the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas. At the opening of the Civil War he became colonel of the 4th Ohio Regiment, and was ordered to western Virginia. After taking part in the battle of Philippi he joined General Don Carlos Buell in Kentucky, was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, 17 July, 1862, and rendered valuable service at Perryville, arriving on the battle-field just in time to drive back the enemy, who had broken the National line and were pushing a heavy column toward the gap. In July, 1863, he was placed in command of the 1st Division of the reserve corps of the Army of the Cumberland. At the battle of Chickamauga he re-enforced General George H. Thomas at a critical moment, and it has been claimed that he thus saved the day, though credit for ordering the movement is usually given to General Gordon Granger. For his services here he was promoted major-general, 24 April, 1864. He was afterward active in the Atlanta Campaign, relieving the garrison at Dalton and defeating General Joseph G. Wheeler's cavalry in June, 1864. When Sherman marched to the sea he joined General Thomas, and did good service at Nashville. He resigned on 19 July, 1866, after serving as provisional governor of Georgia, and was appointed U. S. collector of internal revenue at New Orleans bv President Johnson, whose close friend he was. Here his lack of business ability involved him in financial trouble, and he returned to Ohio, where in 1879 he was chosen to the state senate, but was defeated in a second canvass. In the May before his death he became chief of police of Toledo, and he was editor and nominal owner of the " Weekly Ohio Democrat." On 26 May, 1887, a fine monument was dedicated to his memory in Toledo. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 659.
STEELE, Frederick, soldier, born in Delhi, New York, 14 January, 1819; died in San Mateo, California, 12 January, 1868. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1843, and served as 2d lieutenant in the Mexican War, receiving the brevets of 1st lieutenant and captain for gallant conduct at Contreras and Chapultepec respectively. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 6 June, 1848, and served in California till 1853, and then principally in Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska till the Civil War, receiving his captain's commission on 5 February, 1855. He was promoted to major on 14 May, 1861, and commanded a brigade in Missouri from 11 June, 1861, till April, 1862, being engaged at Dug Spring and Wilson's Creek, and also in charge of the southeastern district of that state after February. He had become colonel of the 8th Iowa Regiment on 23 September, 1861, and on 29 January, 1862, was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He led a division in the Army of the Southwest from May till November, 1862, being engaged at Round Hill, 7 July, and in the occupation of Helena, Arkansas. On 29 November he was made major-general of volunteers, and, after engaging in the Yazoo Expedition, he commanded a division in the Vicksburg Campaign, taking part in the operations at Young's Point, the advance to Grand Gulf, the attack on Jackson, and the siege of Vicksburg. For his services in this campaign he received the brevet of colonel in the regular army, 4 July, 1863, and on 26 August he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. From July, 1863, till 6 January, 1864, he was at the head of the Army of Arkansas, taking part in the capture of Little Rock, 10 September, 1863, and then till 29 November he commanded the department of that state. He led a column in the Mobile Campaign, and at the close of the war received the brevet of brigadier-general, U.S. Army, for services in the capture of Little Rock, and that of major-general for services during the war. He was then transferred to Texas, and placed in command on the Rio Grande, and from 21 December, 1865, he had charge of the Department of the Columbia. From 23 November, 1867, till his death he was on leave of absence. He had been promoted colonel of the 20th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 659-660.
STEELE, Joel Dorman, educator, born in Lima, New York, 14 May, 1836; died in Elmira, New York, 25 May, 1886. He was graduated at Genesee College in 1858, and then taught at the Mexico Academy, of which institution he was appointed principal in 1859. Soon after the beginning of the Civil War he became captain in the 81st New York Volunteers, and served in the Peninsula Campaign, being severely wounded at Seven Pines. He was chosen principal of the Newark, New York, High-School in 1862, and in 1866 accepted a similar office in the Elmira Free Academy, which place he retained until 1872. Subsequently he devoted his time exclusively to the preparation of text-books. The degree of Ph.D. was conferred on him by the regents of the University of the State of New York in 1870, and during the same year he presided over the New York State Teachers' Association. In 1872 he was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London, and also in 1872 he was chosen by the alumni a trustee of Syracuse University, in which Genesee College had been merged, and to that university he bequeathed $50,000 to found a professorship of theistic science. Dr. Steele was the author of a popular series of scientific text-books, each intended or a course of fourteen weeks, including “Chemistry” (New York, 1867); “Astronomy” (1868); “Natural Philosophy” (1869); “Geology” (1870); “Human Physiology” (1873); “Zoölogy” (1875); and “Key to the Practical Questions in Steele's Sciences” (1871); also “Barnes's Popular. History of the United States” (1875); and with his wife, Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 660.
STEELE, William, soldier, born in Albany, New York, in 1819; died in San Antonio, Texas, 12 January, 1885. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1840, assigned to the 2d U.S. Dragoons, and served in the Florida War, the military occupation of Texas, and the war with Mexico, being promoted 1st lieutenant, 9 May, 1846, and brevetted captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco. He was stationed in Texas from 1849 till 1852, being promoted captain, 10 November, 1851, and was then in New Mexico till 1854. From that time till the Civil War he was chiefly in Kansas, Dakota, and Nebraska, taking part in several expeditions against Indians. He resigned on 30 May, 1861, joined the Confederate Army as colonel of the 7th Texas Cavalry, and took part in General Henry H. Sibley's Expedition to New Mexico. On its return, he was made brigadier-general, 12 September, 1862, and in January, 1863, was assigned to the command of the Department of Western Arkansas and the Indian Territory. He commanded at Galveston, Texas, in December, 1863, and had charge of a cavalry division in Louisiana in 1864, where he opposed the Red River Expedition of General Nathaniel P. Banks. In 1867 he became a commission merchant in San Antonio, Texas, and for some time after 1874 he was adjutant-general of the state. In this office he did good service by procuring and publishing, at great pains and expense, lists of escaped convicts and other fugitives from justice, which he furnished to the sheriffs of the various counties in the state. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 660-661.
STEINBEL, Roger Nelson, naval officer, born in Middleton, Maryland., 27 December, 1810. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman. 27 March, 1832, and cruised in the schooner " Porpoise" when she was wrecked near Vera Cruz in 1833. He was on duty in New York at the naval school in 1834-'8, and became a passed midshipman, 23 June, 1838. He was commissioned lieutenant, 23 October, 1843, served in the U.S. Coast Survey until 1847, and then was on the Brazil Station, on special duty in Washington, and in the steamer "Mississippi,'' on the East India Station, in 1857-'9. When the Civil War began he went to Cincinnati to fit out river gun-boats, and then rendered good service in the Mississippi River Flotilla. He commanded the river gun-boat " Lexington " at Belmont when General Grant's force was defeated and saved by the gun-boats in November, 1861. From August, 1861, until May, 1862, he participated in several engagements, and contributed greatly to the successes and victories at Lucas Bend, 9 September, 1861, Fort Henry, 6 February, 1862, Island No. 10 from 16 March until its capture on 7 April, 1862, and in the action with the rams at Fort Pillow in May, 1862. In this last engagement his vessel, the " Cincinnati," was sunk, and he was seriously wounded. He then had special duty at Philadelphia and Pittsburg until 1865. He was commissioned captain, 25 July, 1866, and commanded the "Canandaigua " in the Mediterranean in 1866-'7. He next served at the rendezvous in Boston, and was commissioned commodore, 13 July, 1870, and appointed commander-in-chief of the Pacific Squadron in 1872. He was retired on 27 December, 1872, and subsequently promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list, 5 June, 1874. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 661.
STEINER, Lewis Henry, physician, born in Frederick city, Maryland., 4 May, 1827. He was educated at the Frederick Academy and at Marshall College, Pennsylvania, where he received the degree of A. M. in 1849. and was graduated the same year at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He began to practise in Frederick, but in 1852 moved to Baltimore, where for three years he was associated with Dr. John R. W. Dunbar in the conduct of the Baltimore Medical Institute, at the end of which time he returned to Frederick. Soon after he began to practise his attention was especially directed to chemistry and the allied sciences, and during his residence in Baltimore his time was largely occupied in teaching. He was professor of chemistry and natural history in Columbian College, Washington, D. C. and also of chemistry and pharmacy in the National Medical College, Washington. in 1853; lecturer on chemistry and physics in St. James College, Maryland., in 1854; lecturer on applied chemistry in the Maryland Institute in 1855, and professor of chemistry in the Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1850. During the Civil War he was actively employed as an inspector by the U. S. Sanitary Commission, and for a period was in charge of its operations in the Army of the Potomac as chief inspector. In 1871 he was elected by the Republicans to the state senate for four years. He was re-elected for a like term in 1875, and again in 1879. From 1855 till 1858 he was a contributor to, and afterward assistant editor of, "The American Medical Monthly." In 1884 he was appointed librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, which office he now holds. He has published " H. Wills's Outlines of Chemical Analysis," translated from the 3d German edition, with Dr. Daniel Brud (Cambridge, 1855); " Cantate Domino: a Collection of Chants, Hymns, etc., for Church Service." with Henry Schwing (Boston, 1859); " Report containing a Diary kept during the Rebel Occupation of Frederick, Maryland., etc." (New York, 1802); and also translations from the German, with monographs, reports, lectures, and speeches. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 661-662.
STEINWAY, Albert, born in Seesen, Germany, 10 June, 1840; died in New York City, 14 May, 1877, early in the Civil War was advanced to the colonelcy of the 6th Regiment of New York Volunteers, and later became brigadier-general on the staff of Governor John T. Hoffman. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 662.
STEINWEHR, Adolph Wilhelm August Friedrich, Baron von, soldier, born in Blankenburg, duchy of Brunswick, Germany, 25 September, 1822; died in Buffalo, New York, 25 February, 1877. His father was a major in the ducal service, and his grandfather a lieutenant-general in the Prussian Army. Adolph was educated at the military academy in the city of Brunswick, and entered the army of the duchy as lieutenant in 1841. In 1847 he resigned and came to the United States to offer his services to the government during the Mexican War. Failing to obtain a commission in the regular army, he returned to Germany after marrying an American lady. In 1854 he again visited this country and purchased a farm near Wallingford, Connecticut. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised a regiment, the 29th New York, which he commanded at the first battle of Bull Run, forming part of the reserve under Colonel Dixon S. Miles. On 12 October, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers and placed at the head of the 2d Brigade, General Louis Blenker's division, which was attached in May, 1862, to the Mountain Department under General John C. Fremont. When General Franz Sigel assumed command of the corps, after the organization of the Army of Virginia, General Steinwehr was given the 2d Division, and with it took part in the campaign on the Rapidan and Rappahannock in the following August. He also retained it when the command of the corps passed into the hands of General Oliver O. Howard, and under that officer fought in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He remained with the army until the close of the war. His home for several years before his death was in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he prepared an "Eclectic Series" of school geographies that was widely circulated, and published 'A Topographical Map of the United States" and "The Centennial Gazetteer" (Philadelphia, 1873). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 552.
STEPHENS, Alexander Hamilton, statesman, born near Crawfordsville, Georgia, 11 February, 1812; died in Atlanta, Georgia, 4 March. 1883. His grandfather, Alexander, founder of the American branch of the Stephens family, was an Englishman, and an adherent of Prince Charles Edward. He came to this country about 1746, settled in the Penn colony, was engaged in several conflicts with the Indians and in the old French war, serving under Colonel George Washington. His home was at the junction of the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. He was a captain in the Revolutionary Army, and soon after the peace moved to Georgia. Alexander became an orphan at the age of fifteen. Under the charge of his uncle he attracted the attention of Charles C. Mills, a man of means, and after five months at school he was offered a home in Washington, Wilkes County, and a place in the high-school that was taught by the Reverend Alexander Hamilton Webster, pastor of the Presbyterian Church. His middle name, Hamilton, was taken from this gentleman. He regarded this charity as a loan, and afterward repaid the full amount. He also accepted the offer of the Presbyterian educational Society to send him to college, with a view to the ministry, with the proviso that he was to refund the cost in case of his change of mind, and in any event when he should be able. He entered Franklin College (now the State University) in August, 1828, was graduated in 1832 with the first honor, and subsequently earned money by teaching to pay his indebtedness. At that period of his life he was much given to morbid introspection, which was partly the result of constitutionally delicate health. On 22 July, 1834. after two months study, he was admitted to the bar, being congratulated by Senator William H. Crawford and Judge Joseph Henry Lumpkin on the best examination they had ever heard. He lived on six dollars a month, and made $400 the first year. Then he began to win reputation, and he soon owned his father's old homestead, and bought the estate that is now Liberty hall.
In 1836 he was elected to the lower branch of the legislature against bitter opposition because he strove against nullification, while believing in state sovereignty, and opposed vigilance committees and the then common "slicking clubs," the parent of the Ku-Klux Klan. His first speech in the legislature secured the passage of the appropriation for what is now the Western and Atlantic Railway from Atlanta to Chattanooga, the property of Georgia. His advocacy secured a charter for the Macon, Georgia, Female College, the first in the world for the regular graduation of young women in classics and the sciences. In 1839 he was a delegate to the Charleston Commercial Convention, and in 1843 he was nominated for Congress under the "general-ticket system," there being then no division of the state into congressional districts. He was elected by 8,000 majority. His first speech was in favor of the power of Congress to pass an act requiring the states to be divided into congressional districts. He seemed thus to question his own right to sit, as Georgia had not obeyed the law. He won both point and seat. It was, in fact, the entering-wedge of the assertion of the power of the general government to legislate in state domestic affairs, under the plea of regulating its own organization. On the same principle Mr. Stephens, as senator-elect from Georgia, in 1866, was not allowed to sit, Georgia not having complied with the terms of Congress. He advocated the annexation of Texas by legislative resolution as early as 1838-'9, and opposed the John Tyler treaty of 1844, but, with seven other southern Whigs, secured the passage of the Milton-Brown Plan of 1845. He bitterly opposed President James K. Polk on the Mexican War, but adopted all its results as a godsend of southern territory. In 1848 he had a personal encounter with Judge Cone, of Greensboro, which illustrated the physical courage for which he had been noted from youth—the courage that comes, not from principle or duty, but from utter indifference to consequences. The difficulty grew out of a quarrel on the Clayton compromise of 1848. Cone cut Stephens terribly with a knife and cried: "Now, you, retract, or I'll cut your throat." The bleeding, almost dying Stephens said: "Never!—cut," and grasped the swiftly descending knife-blade in his right hand. That hand never again wrote plainly. Few of the witnesses of the affair, which occurred on the piazza of Thompson's hotel, Atlanta, expected him to recover, he did, however, in time to make a speech in favor of Zachary Taylor for the presidency, the carriage being drawn to the stand by the people. In 1850 Mr. Stephens opposed the secession movement at the south, and thought the admission of California as a free state a blessing, as repealing the Missouri restrictions and opening all the remaining territories north and south to slavery. He was one of the authors of the "Georgia Platform" of 1850. Its first resolve was "that we hold the American Union secondary in importance only to the rights and principles it was designed to perpetuate." On the nominations of Franklin Pierce and General Winfield Scott, at Baltimore, the lines of Whig and Democrat were drawn for the last time. Pierce approved the settlement of 1850; Scott did not. Stephens, with Charles G. Faulkner, Walker Brooke, Alexander White, James Abercrombie, Robert Toombs, James Johnson, Christopher H. Williams, and Meredith P. Gentry, killed the Whig Party forever by their famous card of 3 July, 1852, giving their reasons for refusing to support General Scott. Stephens wrote it. Daniel Webster was nominated without a party, but died, and Toombs and Stephens voted for him after he was dead. In 1854 Mr. Stephens defended the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, as embodying the principle of 1850, " the people of the territories left free to form and regulate their own domestic institutions (including slavery), subject only to the Constitution of the United States." In 1859 he retired from Congress, and in a farewell speech in Augusta, Georgia intimated that the only way to get more slaves and settle the territories with slave-holding voters was to reopen the African slave-trade.
Mr. Stephens seemed a bundle of contradictions, but he always acted upon reasons and principles. While a state-rights man, he supported Harrison in 1840. In 1844, though in favor of the acquisition of Texas, he supported Clay, who said it would reopen the slave issue and make war, as it did. In 1845 he voted with the Democratic Party in admitting Texas. In 1846 and 1847 he stood with Calhoun and the Whig Party upon the Mexican War. His house resolutions in February, 1847, became the basis of the Whig reorganization, and General Zachary Taylor was elected president on the same policy in 1848. In 1850 he differed with Fillmore on policy, as he had with Polk, and approved the compromise of Clay. In 1854 he was with Stephen A. Douglas, and In 1856 aided to elect James Buchanan, his extreme foe. In 1859 he resigned his seat in Congress, saying: "I saw there was bound to be a smash-up on the road, and resolved to jump off at the first station." In 1860 he supported Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency against John C. Breckinridge, the professed exponent of state rights, holding that the territorial views of Mr. Douglas were his life-long principles. In 1860 he made a great Union speech, and in 1861 became the Vice-President of the Confederacy of seceded states—both times on principle. By 1862 he was as much at issue with Jefferson Davis as he had been with Mr. Lincoln in 1860, and on the same matter—state rights—and he continued to differ to the end. Mr. Stephens, Governor Joseph E. Brown, and General Robert Toombs, one Union man and two of the bitterest of the original secessionists of 1860, formed the head of the Georgia Peace Party of 1864, and all the three supported by speeches and letters the Linton-Stephens peace, and habeas corpus resolutions passed by the Georgia legislature in that year. In February, 1865, he was at the head of the Peace Commission on the part of the Confederate government in the Hampton Roads Conference. After the downfall of the Confederacy he was arrested and confined for five months in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, as a prisoner of state, but in October, 1865, he was released on his own parole. On 22 February, 1866, he made a strong reconstruction speech and plea for the new freedmen. He had been chosen to the Senate by the legislature, but Congress ignored the restoration of Georgia to the Union under the presidential proclamation of Andrew Johnson, and he did not take his seat. On 16 April, 1866, he was called to testify before the Congressional Reconstruction Committee. He both testified and spoke on his life-long theme.
In 1867 he published the first volume of his "War between the States." In December, 1868, he was elected professor of political science and history in the University of Georgia, but declined from failing health. He was kept in the house by rheumatism nearly four years. In 1870 he completed the second volume of "The War between the States," but in a more partisan and less hopeful tone than the first volume. Later in the year he conceived the idea of a "School History of the United States," which he carried out (1870-'l). He taught a law class in 1871 as a means of support, and edited and became in part proprietor of the Atlanta " Sun," which was published chiefly to defeat Horace Greeley for the presidency. The enterprise proved financially unsuccessful, and exhausted all the profits of his books. By 5 September, Charles O'Conor had declined the "straight-out" nomination in Louisville, and with that died Mr. Stephens's last hope. He was defeated in his canvass for a seat in the U. S. Senate in November, 1871, but in 1874 was elected to Congress. He opposed the Civil Rights Bill in a speech on 5 January, and the repeal of the increase of salary act. He was re-elected in 1876, and continuously served until his resignation in 1882. In the contest before the electoral commission, on the Hayes-Tilden issue, he advocated going behind the returns and setting aside those of Florida and Louisiana, but opposed all resort to force for seating Mr. Tilden. In January, 1878, he reviewed the question in the "International Review." On the announcement that Mr. Hayes was elected he advised acquiescence. His speech on the uncovering of the painting, "The Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation," 12 February, brought praise from all quarters. An old admirer proposed to send his crutches to Congress after he should cease to be able to go. In 1881-'2 he undertook to write a "History of the United States," which he completed and published just before his death (New York, 1883). It had neither the vigor nor the value of his "War between the States," and was a failure, carrying with it his last bonds, in which he had invested part of the proceeds of his really great life-work. He had received a bad sprain in May, 1882, on the capitol steps, and at the close of the session left Washington forever. In 1882 he was elected governor of Georgia, by 60,000 majority, over General Lucius J. Gartrell, a Confederate officer and lawyer. He worked hard and was an excellent governor. He made his last public speech at the Georgia sesquicentennial celebration in Savannah, 12 February, 1883. —His brother, Linton, jurist, born in Crawfordsville, Georgia, 1 July, 1823; died in Sparta, Georgia, 14 July, 1872, was left an orphan at the age of three years, but his education was eared for by friends, and he was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1843. He then studied law at the University of Virginia and at Harvard, was admitted to the bar in his native state, and, taking an active part in politics, represented the counties of Taliaferro and Hancock in the legislature for several years. In 1858 he was appointed to a vacancy in the supreme court of Georgia, and his decisions, contained in three volumes of the " Georgia Reports," are characterized by their precision, perspicuity, and power of logic. Judge Stephens was a delegate to the Georgia Secession Convention in 1861, and opposed that measure, but subsequently proposed a preamble and resolution declaring that the lack of unanimity in the convention was in regard to the proposed remedy and its application before a resort to other means of redress, and not as to alleged grievances. This was adopted, and he signed the ordinance. During the Civil War he was a member of the Georgia Legislature, where he introduced the Peace Resolutions of 1864, and vigorously denounced the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus by the Confederate Congress. He also served in the army, and attained the rank of colonel. He continued his activity in politics during the reconstruction period, and prior to the presidential canvass of 1872 publicly spoke in favor of the selection of a purely Democratic ticket instead of adopting the candidacy of Horace Greeley. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 663-665.
STERETT, Isaac Sears, naval officer, born in Baltimore, Maryland., 28 October, 1801; died in 1863. He entered the United States U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 24 March, 1819, was commissioned lieutenant, 17 May, 1828, and was variously employed on shore duty and also on leave till 1835, when he made a two-years' cruise in the sloop “John Adams" on the Mediterranean Station. He served in the U.S. Coast Survey in 1839-'41. In January, 1842, he sailed as executive of the frigate "United States " to the Pacific Station, and upon arrival at Calluo took command of the "Relief" until April, 1844. During the Mexican War he rendered valuable services in command of the schooner " Reefer," of the Mosquito Division of the U. S. Naval Forces in the Gulf of Mexico. He participated in the expedition against Frontera and Tabasco, 17-27 October, 1846, where he captured the Mexican schooner " Tabasco." On 14 November, 1846, he took part in the attack and capture of Tampico, where five Mexican vessels, forts, and supplies were captured. He was present during the bombardment of Vera Cruz, 10-25 March, 1847, assisted in covering the landing of Scott's army, and engaged the Mexican forts and batteries. After the war he resumed duties at the naval rendezvous in Baltimore, and was promoted to commander, 5 February, 1850. He was governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia in 1852-'3 and in 1854-'5 commanded the sloop " Decatur," protecting New England fisheries. He was placed on the reserved list, 28 September, 1855, and promoted to captain, 2 March, 1857. When the Civil War began he resigned his commission, 23 April, 1861, and entered the navy of the seceded states; but the only record of his services is as a member of the court to investigate the causes that compelled Commodore Josiah Tatnall to destroy the "Merrimac." Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 667.
STERNBERG, George Miller, surgeon, born in Hartwick Seminary, Otsego County, New York, 8 June, 1838. He was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1860, and appointed assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army on 28 May, 1861. His first duty was with General George Sykes's command in the Army of the Potomac, and, after four months' hospital duty in Rhode Island, he joined General Nathaniel P. Banks's expedition to New Orleans, and then served in the office of the medical director of the Department of the Gulf until January, 1864. Subsequently he was on hospital duty in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, till April, 1866, and since he has been stationed at various government posts, being promoted on 1 December, 1875, surgeon with the rank of major. Dr. Sternberg has recently been on duty in Baltimore, where he has been engaged in experimental researches in bacteriology at Johns Hopkins University as a fellow by courtesy in that institution. In 1879 he was sent to Havana as a member of the yellow-fever commission by the National Board of Health, and in 1885 he was a delegate to the International Sanitary Conference in Rome, Italy. Dr. Sternberg is an honorary member of the Royal Academies of Medicine of Rome, Rio Janeiro, and Havana, and a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society of London, and, besides membership in other medical and scientific societies at home and abroad, was in 1887 president of the American Public Health Association. The Lomb prize of $500 was awarded to him by the last association in 1885 for his essay on “Disinfectants,” and he has invented automatic heat-regulating apparatus. Besides contributions to scientific journals on his specialties, he has published “Photo Micrographs, and how to make them ” (Boston, 1883); “Bacteria” (New York, 1884); and “Malaria and Malarial Diseases” (1884). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 667-668.
STEVENS, Aaron Fletcher, Congressman, born in Derry, New Hampshire, 9 August, 1819; died in Nashua, New Hampshire, 10 May, 1887. He was educated at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, moved to Peterborough, afterward studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1845, and gained a high reputation as a lawyer. He was a member of the legislature in 1849, a delegate to the Whig National Convention in 1852, and a representative in the legislature again in 1854. He identified himself with the Republican Party when it was first organized, and was again sent to the legislature in 1856 and the following years. He was one of the first to enlist in the Civil War, and was made major of the 1st New Hampshire Volunteers, subsequently appointed colonel of the 13th Regiment, and brevetted brigadier-general on 8 December, 1864, for gallantry at Fort Harrison, where he was wounded. On his return home he was elected to Congress and re-elected for the following term, serving from 4 March, 1867, till 3 March, 1871. From 1876 till 1884 he was a member of the legislature, and took part in its debates. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 670.
STEVENS, Isaac Ingalls, soldier, born in Andover, Massachusetts, 28 March, 1818; died near Chantilly, Fairfax County, Virginia, 1 September, 1862. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1839, ranking first in his class, and was commissioned as 2d lieutenant of engineers. He was promoted 1st lieutenant on 1 July, 1840, and served as adjutant of the Corps of Engineers during the war with Mexico, being engaged at the siege of Vera Cruz and at Cerro Gordo, at Contreras and Churubusco, where he gained the brevet of captain, at Chapultepec, of major, at Molino del Rey, and at the taking of the city of Mexico, where he was severely wounded. He superintended fortifications on the New England Coast in 1841–27 and in 1848-’9, and had charge of the Coast-Survey office in Washington, D.C., from 14 September, 1849, till 17 March, 1853, when he resigned, having been appointed governor of Washington Territory. He was at the same time placed in charge of the exploration of the northern route for a Pacific Railroad. In 1853, at the head of a large exploring party, he surveyed a route between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Puget Sound, and established the navigability of the upper Missouri and Columbia Rivers for steamers. He was superintendent of Indian Affairs by virtue of his office of governor, and in 1854–5 he made treaties with the Indian tribes of the territory by which they relinquished their titles to more than 100,000 square miles of land. He also crossed the Rocky Mountains to conclude a treaty, in October, 1855, of friendship with the Blackfeet Indians, at the same time intervening successfully to make peace between them and the hunting tribes of Washington and Oregon. While he was absent on this expedition the disaffected Indians of Washington Territory rose against the whites. He returned before January, 1856, called out 1,000 volunteers, and conducted a campaign against the Indians that was so vigorous and successful that before the close of 1856 they were subdued and their chiefs slain. White sympathizers with the Indians were taken from their homes and confined in the towns, and, when Chief-Justice Edward Lander issued a writ of habeas corpus for their release, Governor Stevens declared two counties under martial law, and on 7 May, 1856, caused Judge Lander to be arrested in his courtroom, and held him a prisoner till the close of the war. He resigned in August, 1857, and was elected a delegate to Congress for two successive terms, serving from 7 December, 1857, till 3 March, 1861. In Congress he vindicated his course in the Indian War, and saw his treaties confirmed, and the scrip that he had issued to pay the volunteers assumed by the government. In the presidential canvass of 1860 he acted as chairman of the executive committee of the Breckinridge wing of the Democratic Party. But when the leaders of his party afterward declared for secession, he publicly denounced them, and urged President Buchanan to remove John B. Floyd and Jacob Thompson from his cabinet. At the intelligence of the firing on Fort Sumter he hastened from the Pacific Coast to Washington, and was appointed colonel of the 79th Regiment of New York Volunteers, known as the Highlanders. The regiment had lost heavily at Bull Run, and expected to be sent home to recruit. Disappointment at being kept in the field and commanded by regular army officers caused eight companies to mutiny. The courage and wisdom with which he restored discipline won the respect of the men, who, by their own desire, were transferred to his brigade when he was commissioned as brigadier-general on 28 September, 1861, and took part in the Port Royal Expedition. He attacked the Confederate batteries on the Coosaw in January, 1862, and captured them with the co-operation of the gun-boats. In June he was engaged in actions on Stono River, and commanded the main column in an unsuccessful assault on the enemy's position near Secessionville. After the retreat of General George B. McClellan from his position before Richmond, General Stevens was ordered to Virginia. He commanded a division at Newport News, and was made a major-general on 4 July1862, serving under General John Pope in the campaign in Northern Virginia. He was engaged in skirmishes on the Rappahannock, distinguished himself at Manassas, and while leading his division at the battle of Chantilly was killed with the colors of the 79th Regiment in his hand. He published “Campaigns of the Rio Grande and Mexico, with Notices of the Recent Work of Major Ripley” (New York, 1851), and “Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad near the 47th and 49th Parallels of North Latitude, from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Puget Sound,” which was printed by order of Congress (2 vols., Washington, 1855–60). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 672.
STEVENS, Thomas Holdup, naval officer, born in Middletown, Connecticut, 27 May, 1819, was appointed a midshipman on 14 December, 183*6, served as aide to President Tyler in 1842, received his commission as lieutenant on 10 May, 1849, and in 1852-'5 commanded the schooner " Ewing" in surveys of the California and Oregon Coasts. When the Civil War began he applied for duty at the front, was ordered to command the "Ottawa," one of the ninety-day gunboats then building, raised a crew of volunteers at Erie, Pennsylvania, and joined the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron of Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont. While commanding a division of gun-boats, he drove the fleet of Commodore Josiah Tatnall under the protection of the forts at Port Royal, 4 November, 1861. In the battle of Port Royal he engaged Fort Walker at short range. On 1 January, 1862, he had an engagement with Commodore Tatnall's Mosquito fleet in Savannah River. His command was the leading vessel in a combined attack of the navy and land forces on Fort Clinch, 3 March, 1862, and in the capture of the town of St. Mary's, Georgia, and commanded the first expedition up St. John's River, occupying Mayport, Jacksonville, Magnolia, and Palatka and Fort Steele and Fort Finnegan, and capturing the yacht “America." He left the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron early in May, 1862. to take command of the steamer "Maratanza," was present at the battle of West Point, and commanded the first expedition to Cumberland and White House to open James River, taking part in the demonstration against Petersburg and the battle of Malvern Hill. On 4 July, 1862, he captured the Confederate gun-boat " Teazer." He was promoted commander on 16 July, and ordered to the iron-clad "Monitor," with which he covered the flank of the army on James River and its rear during the withdrawal from the Peninsula. In September, while attached to Commodore Charles Wilkes's Flying Squadron, he captured five prizes, and chased the privateer "Florida" on the Bahama banks. On 7 October, 1862, off St. George, Bermuda, he stopped the steamer "Gladiator, which had the appearance of a blockade-runner, while she was under the convoy of the British sloop-of-war "Desperate," and both commanders cleared their decks for action. Early in August, 1863, he assumed command of the ironclad " Patapsco," and in the engagements with the forts in Charleston Harbor he performed gallant services. After a severe engagement with the batteries on Sullivan's Island, he led a boat attack against Fort Sumter. Afterward he commanded the "Oneida," of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, but was temporarily transferred to the iron-clad "Winnebago” for the operations before Mobile in July, 1864, in which he was conspicuous for the handling of his vessel and his personal daring. He commanded the " Oneida" off the coast of Texas in 1865, was commissioned captain on 26 July, 1866, commodore on 20 November, 1872, and rear-admiral on 27 October, 1879, and, after commanding the Pacific Fleet and acting as president of the Board of Visitors at the U. S. Naval Academy, he was retired on 27 May, 1881.—His son, Thomas Holdup, is a lieutenant in the U. S. Navy. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 678.
STEVENS, Walter Husted, soldier, born in Penn Yan, New York, 24 August, 1827; died in Vera Cruz, Mexico, 12 November, 1867. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1848, and commissioned as lieutenant of engineers. He was engaged in constructing and repairing fortifications at New Orleans, Louisiana. He built two forts on the coast of Texas, moved the great Colorado River raft by order of Congress, and built the Ship shoal light-house in 1855-'6, and superintended the erection of the custom-house at New Orleans after Major Pierre T. G. Beauregard was called away, and also built the custom-house at Galveston, Texas. In May, 1861, having resigned his commission and entered the Confederate service, he accompanied General Beauregard to Virginia as his chief engineer. He was made a brigadier-general, and was the chief engineer of the Army of Northern Virginia until the autumn of 1862, when he was placed in charge of the fortifications of Richmond. He completed these defences and again became chief engineer of Lee's army, and continued as such to the close of the war. He then sought and obtained employment as an engineer on the Mexican Railway between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, and at the time of his death was its superintendent and constructing engineer. An English company was building this road, and during the revolution in which Maximilian was dethroned General Stevens remained in sole charge of it, and he skilfully preserved the property through that difficult period. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 679.
STEVENSON, James, ethnologist, born in Maysville, Kentucky, 24 December, 1840; died in New York City, 25 July, 1888. Before he was sixteen years old he was engaged in geologic work for the government surveys of the northwest under Ferdinand V. Hayden. He spent several winters among the Blackfoot and Sioux Indians, studying their languages, customs, and traditions, and made an exploration of the Yellowstone country. When the Civil War began he joined the National Army, and served till the close of hostilities. He then resumed his explorations in the northwest in connection with the Engineer Corps, and afterward with the U. S. Geological Survey, of which he became the executive officer. He followed Columbia and Snake Rivers to their sources, made the ascent of Great Teton mountain, discovered a new pass across the Rocky mountains, assisted Professor Hayden in the survey of Yellowstone Park, and was instrumental in having it made a government reservation. He was continued as executive officer of the survey, under Major John W. Powell, and detailed for research in connection with the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, exploring the cliff houses of Arizona and New Mexico, and investigating the history and religious myths of the Navajos and the Zuni, Moqui, and other Pueblo Indians. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 680.
STEVENSON, John D., soldier, born in Staunton. Virginia, 8 June, 1821. He spent two years in the College of South Carolina, was graduated, in law at Staunton in 1841, and in 1842 began practice in Franklin County, Missouri. He organized a volunteer company in 1846, and served in General Stephen W. Kearny's invasion of New Mexico. After his return he moved to St. Louis, was frequently a member of the legislature, president for one term of the state senate, and in 1861 was an earnest supporter of the Union. In that year he raised the 7th Missouri Regiment, and during the siege of Corinth commanded the District of Savannah. He then led a brigade in Tennessee, was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862, served in the Vicksburg Campaign, and made a charge at Champion Hill that broke the enemy's left flank. He led a successful expedition to drive the Confederates from northern Louisiana, commanded the District of Corinth, and then occupied and fortified Decatur, Alabama. On 8 August, 1864, being left without a command, he resigned; but he was recommissioned and given the District of Harpers Ferry. During the reconstruction period he was in charge of northern Georgia. At the close of the war he was made brevet major-general of volunteers, and in 1867, for his services at Champion Hill, brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army, in which he had been commissioned a colonel on 28 July, 1866. He left the army in 1871, and has since practised law in St. Louis. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 680.
STEVENSON, Thomas Greely, soldier, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 3 February, 1836; died near Spottsylvania, Virginia, 10 May, 1864. He early entered the militia, and at the opening of the Civil War was major of the 4th Infantry Battalion. He had a high reputation as a drill-master, and trained a large number of young men that afterward entered the National Army. After doing a month's garrison duty at Fort Independence, he recruited the 24th Massachusetts Regiment in the autumn of 1861, and commanded it in the capture of Roanoke Island and New Berne in 1862. After holding the outpost defences of the latter place for several months, he conducted several expeditions within the enemy's lines, and on 6 September successfully defended Washington, North Carolina, against a superior force. He led a brigade against Goldsboro and Kinston later in the year, and in the expedition against Charleston in February, 1863, having been made brigadier-general of volunteers on 27 December, 1862. He aided in the reduction of Morris Island, and led the reserves in the assault on Fort Wagner. After a visit to the north to recruit his health, he was placed at the head of the 1st Division of the 9th Corps. He was killed at the head of his troops in the battle of Spottsylvania. A memoir of General Stevenson was printed privately after his death (Cambridge). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 681.
STEWART, Alexander Peter, soldier, born in Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee, 2 October, 1821. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1842, became 2d lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Artillery, and was acting assistant professor of mathematics at the academy from 1843 till 31 May, 1845, when he resigned. He was then professor of mathematics and natural and experimental philosophy in Cumberland University, Tennessee, in 1845-'9, and in Nashville University in 1854-'5, and became city surveyor of Nashville in 1855. He was appointed by Governor Isham G. Harris major of the corps of artillery in the Provisional Army of Tennessee, 17 May, 1861, and became brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, 8 November, 1861, major-general, 2 June, 1863, and lieutenant-general, 23 June, 1864. He was engaged in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro', and the campaign about Hoover's Gap, Tullahoma, Chattanooga, and through the Dalton-Atlanta Campaign under General Joseph E. Johnston. He was with General John B. Hood in his movements in the rear of General Sherman's army, and destroyed the railroads and captured the garrison at Big Shanty and Acworth. He was at Franklin and Nashville under Hood, and at Cole's Farm, in North Carolina, under Johnston. In 1868 he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in the University of Mississippi, and chancellor of the university. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 681.
STEWART, Charles Samuel, clergyman, born in Flemington, New Jersey, 16 October, 1795; died in Cooperstown, New York, 15 December, 1870, was graduated at Princeton in 1815, when, after studying law, he took a theological course. He was ordained and sent as missionary to the Sandwich Islands in 1823, but, owing to the failing health of his wife, returned in 1825, and afterward lectured through the northern states in advocacy of foreign missions. In 1828 he was appointed chaplain in the U.S. Navy, and during his visits to all parts of the world he collected material for his works. He was subsequently stationed for many years at New York, where, in 1836-'7, he edited the “Naval Magazine.” In 1862 he was retired, and at his death he was the senior chaplain in the Navy. The degree of D.D. was given him in 1863 by the University of New York. His works include “Residence at the Sandwich Islands, 1823–25,” which is an authority on the early history of that mission New York, 1828); “Visit to the South Seas in the . S. Ship ‘Vincennes, with Scenes in Brazil, Peru, etc.” (2 vols., 1831; improved ed., by Reverend William Ellis, 2 vols., 1839): “Sketches of Society in Great Britain and Ireland in 1832” (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1834); and “Brazil and La Plata in 1850–53: the Personal Record of a Cruise” (New York, 1856). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 683-584.
STEWART, Charles Seaforth, soldier, born at sea, 11 April, 1823, was graduated in 1846 at the U.S. Military Academy, where he was assistant professor of engineering in 1849–54. He was made 1st lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers in 1853, serving as assistant engineer in 1 ’7, and as superintending engineer in the construction of fortifications in Boston Harbor till 1861, having been promoted captain in 1860. He served during the Civil War in the Corps of Engineers, was made major in 1863, and was chief engineer of the Middle Military Division in 1864–5. He was made lieutenant-colonel in 1867, colonel in 1882, and was retired in 1886. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 684.
STEWART, Charles, naval officer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 July, 1778; died in Bordentown, New Jersey, 6 November, 1869. His parents were Irish; his father died in 1780, and his mother was left with scant means to provide for four children. He entered the merchant marine as cabin-boy in 1791, and quickly rose to the command of an Indiaman. Entering the U.S. Navy as lieutenant, 9 March, 1798, he served in the frigate “United States” in the West Indies, operating against French privateers. On 16 July, 1800, he was appointed to command the schooner “Experiment” in the West Indies, where he captured the He was also French schooner “Deux Amis.” chased by two French vessels, which he skilfully avoided, and by following them he fought and captured one, the schooner “Diana,” before the other vessel could assist in the engagement. On 16 November, 1800, he took the privateer “Louisa Bridger,” and the next month he rescued sixty women and children that had been wrecked while flying from a revolution in Santo Domingo. The Spanish governor of the island wrote a letter of thanks to the president for Stewart's services. He was retained on the list of lieutenants in the naval reorganization of 1801. In 1802 he served as executive of the “Constellation,” blockading Tripoli, but returned in 1803 and was placed in command of the brig “Siren,” in Preble's squadron, off Tripoli, where he convoyed Decatur in the “Intrepid.” to destroy the “Philadelphia,” and participated in all the attacks on Tripoli, being included in the vote of thanks by Congress on 3 March, 1805, to Preble's officers. While blockading Tripoli, he captured the Greek ship “Catapoliana” and the British brig “Scourge” for violating the blockade. As master-commandant he took charge of the “Essex” and went with the fleet to Tunis, where he convinced his commander-in-chief that it was illegal to make War except by declaration of Congress. He returned home in 1806, commanding the “Constellation,” and was promoted to captain, 22 April, 1806. He superintended the construction of gun-boats at New York in 1806-7, was engaged in the merchant marine in 1808–'12, but returned to the service in 1812, and with Bainbridge dissuaded the cabinet from the proposed policy, of not sending the navy to sea against the British. He was assigned to command the “Arus” and “Hornet” in a special expedition to the est Indies on 23 June, 1812, but the order was cancelled, and he was appointed to command the “Constellation.” In going to Norfolk he met a British fleet, which he skilfully avoided, and then participated in the defence of the town. In the summer of 1813 he took command of the “Constitution,” destroyed the “Pictou,” an armed merchant ship, and the brigs “Catherine” and “Phoenix,” chased several British ships-of-war and the frigate “La Pique,” and narrowly escaped two British frigates near Boston. With new sails he left Boston in December, 1814, captured the brig “Lord Nelson ” off Bermuda, 24 December 1814, and the ship “Susan ” off Lisbon, and on 23 February, 1815, took two British ships-of-war, the “Cyane” and “Levant,” after a spirited engagement of fifty minutes. While he was at anchor at St. Jago, Cape de Verde, a British fleet approached, from which he adroitly escaped with the “Constitution” and “Cyane,” the “Levant” being recaptured by the fleet in the neutral harbor which she had just left. He received from Congress a vote of thanks, a sword, and a gold medal, from the Pennsylvania legislature a vote of thanks and a sword, and the freedom of the city of New York. Like the famous frigate, represented in the illustration, Stewart received the soubriquet of “Old Ironsides.” He commanded the Mediterranean Squadron, in the “Franklin,” in 1816-'20, and the Pacific Squadron in 1820-'4, where he caused a paper blockade to be annulled, and vindicated the rights of American commerce. He was commissioner of the navy in 1830–2, commanded the Philadelphia U.S. Navy-yard in 1838–41, and in 1841 was mentioned as a candidate for president, but was not nominated. He had charge of the Home Squadron in 1842–3, commanded the Philadelphia U.S. Navy-yard again in 1846, and from 1854 till 1861. He was retired as senior commodore in 1856 and flag-officer in 1860, and on 16 July, 1862, was commissioned rear-admiral, after which he was on waiting orders until his death. He was in the service seventy-one years, and the senior officer for seventeen years. On 21 May, 1885, his daughter, Delia Tudor, married Charles Henry Parnell, and she became the mother of Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish home-rule leader in the British parliament. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 684-685.
STEWART, Jacob Henry, physician, born in Clermont, New York, 15 January, 1829; died in St. Paul, Minnesota, 25 August. 1884. He studied at Yale for three years, and was graduated at the medical department of the University of New York in 1851. Four years later he began practice in Peekskill, New York, but in 1855 he moved to St. Paul, where he obtained recognition as one of the most skilful practitioners of that city. In 1856 he was appointed physician of Ramsay County. Minnesota, and in 1857-'63 he was surgeon-general of Minnesota, also serving as a member of the governor's staff and as a member of the state senate in 1858-'9. On 17 April, 1861, he joined the 1st Minnesota Volunteers, which was the first regiment that was received by President Lincoln, thus making Dr. Stewart the ranking surgeon in the volunteer service. He remained on the battle-field of Bull Run, was paroled, and allowed to care for his wounded at Sudley-Church Hospital until they were able to be moved to Richmond, when he was permitted to return home without exchange "for voluntarily remaining on the battle-field in the discharge of his duty." The sword taken from him when he was made prisoner was given back to him by General Beauregard in recognition of his faithfulness to duty. On his return to Minnesota he was appointed surgeon of the board of enrolment, and held that office until the close of the war. In 1864 he was elected mayor of St. Paul, and he was re-elected for four terms (1869-'73). Dr. Stewart was the only Republican that has ever held that office in St. Paul, as the vote of the city is Democratic. From 1865 till 1870 he was postmaster of St. Paul, and he was then elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 15 Oct. 1877, till 4 March, 1879. He was appointed surveyor-general of the state in 1880, and held that office for four years. Dr. Stewart was president of Minnesota State Medical Society in 1875-'6, and president of the board of physicians and surgeons to St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 686.
STEWART, Robert Mercellus, governor of Missouri, born in Truxton, New York, 12 March, 1815; died in St. Joseph. Missouri, 21 September, 1871. He went to Kentucky as a boy, and in 1838 settled in Buchanan County, Missouri. In 1845 he was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention, and for ten years he was a member of the state senate. He was elected governor of Missouri in 1857, and served for four years, during which time he was active in founding the system of railroads that centres in that state. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the National Army, but failing health prevented him from serving and he soon retired. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 686-687.
STILES, Israel Newton, lawyer, born in Suffield, Connecticut, 16 July, 1833. He is a relative of Ezra Stiles. He received a common-school education, began the study of law in 1849, and three years later moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he taught and continued his studies till his admission to the bar in 1855. He was prosecuting attorney two years and a member of the legislature, and became active as an anti-slavery orator during the Fremont canvass, delivering more than sixty speeches. When the Civil War began he enlisted as a private, but was soon made adjutant of the 20th Indiana Regiment. He was taken prisoner at Malvern Hill, but, after six weeks in Libby prison, was exchanged. He was subsequently major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel of the 63d Indiana, and finally brevet brigadier-general, his commission being dated 31 January, 1865. He moved to Chicago, where he has earned a high reputation as a lawyer. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 688-689.
STILES, William Henry, lawyer, born in Savannah, Georgia, in January, 1808: died there, 20 December, 1865, received an academic education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1831, and practised in Savannah. He was solicitor-general for the eastern District of Georgia in 1833-'6, and afterward elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving from 4 December, 1843, till 3 March, 1845. On 19 April, 1845, he was appointed charge d' affaires in Austria, holding this office until 3 October, 1849, and on his return he resumed law-practice in Savannah. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised a regiment for the Confederate Army, in which he served as colonel, but resigned, owing to impaired health. Yale College gave him the degree of A. M. in 1837. He was the author of a " History of Austria, 1848-'9" (2 vols., New York, 1852). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 689.
STILLE, Charles Janeway, historian, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 23 September, 1819, was graduated at Yale in 1839, and, after admission to the bar, devoted his attention to literature. During the Civil War he was an active member of the executive committee of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, of which he afterward became the historian. In 1866 he was appointed professor of history in the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1868 became provost, which place he filled until 1880. While holding this office he convinced the trustees and faculty of the necessity of considering the demands of advanced education, especially in the scientific branches, and largely through his influence the new buildings in West Philadelphia were erected and the scientific department was founded. The edifice shown in the illustration represents the library building erected in 1888-'9 on the university grounds. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Yale in 1868. In addition to numerous addresses and pamphlets, he has published “How a Free People conduct a Long War” (Philadelphia, 1862): “Northern Interest and Southern Independence: a Plea for United Action” (1863); “Memorial of the Great Central Fair for the United States Sanitary Commission” (1864); “History of the United States Sanitary Commission” (1866); and “Studies in Mediaeval History.” (1881). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 689-690.
STOCKBRIDGE, Francis Brown, senator, born in Bath, Maine, 9 April, 1826. He was educated at Bath Academy, and resided in Boston from 1842 till 1847, when he became a lumber merchant in Chicago, Illinois. In 1854 he moved to Saugatuck, Michigan, and since 1863 he has resided in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has served as a colonel of Michigan Militia, was successively in both branches of the legislature in 1869-'71, and in January, 1887, was elected to the U.S. Senate. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 692.
STOCKTON, Robert Field, naval officer, born in Princeton, New Jersey, 20 August, 1795; died there, 7 October, 1866, studied at Princeton College, but before completing his course he entered the U. S. navy as a midshipman, 1 September, 1811. He joined the frigate “President” at Newport, 14 February, 1812, and made several cruises in that ship , with Commodore Rodgers, with whom he went as aide to the “Guerrière” at Philadelphia; but, as the ship was unable to go to sea, Rogers took his crew to assist in defending Baltimore. Before the arrival of the British, Stockton went to Washington and became the aide of the Secretary of the Navy, after which he resumed his post with Commodore Rodgers and took part in the operations at Alexandria. He then went with Rodgers to Baltimore and had command of 300 sailors in the defence of that city against the British Army. He was highly commended, and promoted to lieutenant, 9 September, 1814. On 18 May, 1815, he sailed in the “Guerrière,” Decatur's flag-ship, for the Mediterranean after the declaration of war with Algiers, but he was transferred soon afterward to the schooner “Spitfire.” as 1st lieutenant, in which vessel he participated in the capture of the Algerine frigate “Mahouda,” and '' the boarders at the capture of the Algerine brig “Esledio” in June, 1815. In February, 1816, he joined the ship-of-the-line “Washington” and made another cruise in the Mediterranean, in the course of which he was transferred to the ship “Erie,” of which he soon became executive officer. The American officers very often had disputes with British officers, and frequent duels took place. At one time in Gibraltar. Stockton had accepted challenges to fight all the captains of the British regiment in the garrison, and several meetings took place. In one case after wounding his adversary he escaped arrest by knocking one of the guard from his horse, which he seized and rode to his boat. Stockton came home in command of the “Erie" in 1821. Shortly after his return the American Colonization Society obtained his services to command the schooner “Alligator” for the purpose of founding a colony on the west coast of Africa. He sailed in the autumn of 1821, and after skilful diplomatic conferences obtained a concession of a tract of territory near Cape Mesurado, which has since become the republic of Liberia. In November, 1821, the Portuguese letter-of-marque “Mariana Flora.” fired on the “Alligator,” which she mistook for a pirate. After an engagement of twenty minutes the Portuguese vessel was taken and the capture was declared legal, though the prize was returned by courtesy to Portugal. On a subsequent cruise in the “Alligator” he captured the French slaver “Jeune Eugenie,” by which action the right to seize slavers under a foreign flag was first established as legal. He also captured several piratical vessels in the West Indies. From 1826 until December, 1838, he was on leave, and resided at Princeton, New Jersey. He organized the New Jersey Colonization Society, became interested in the turf, and imported from England some of the finest stock of blooded horses. He also took an active part in politics, and became interested in the Delaware and Raritan canal, for which he obtained the charter that had originally been given to a New York company, and vigorously prosecuted the work. His whole fortune and that of his family were invested in the enterprise, which was completed, notwithstanding the opposition of railroads and a financial crisis, by which he was obliged to go to Europe to negotiate a loan. He retained his interest in this canal during his life, and the work stands as an enduring monument to his energy and enterprise. In December, 1838, he sailed with Commodore Isaac Hull in the flag-ship “Ohio.” as fleet-captain of the Mediterranean Squadron, being promoted to captain on 8 December. He returned in the latter part of 1839, and took part in the presidential canvass of 1840 in favor of General William Henry Harrison. After John Tyler became president, Stockton was offered a seat in the cabinet as with Mexico was subsequently confirmed, General Secretary of the Navy, which he declined. The U.S. Steamer “Princeton” was built under his supervision and launched at Philadelphia early in 1844. He was appointed command of the ship, and brought her to Washington for the inspection of officials and members of Congress. On a trial-trip down the Potomac River, when the president, cabinet, and a distinguished company were on board, one of the large guns burst and killed the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Navy, the president's father-in-law, and several of the crew, while a great many were seriously injured. A naval court of inquiry entirely exonerated Captain Stockton. Shortly after this event he sailed in the “Princeton ” as bearer of the annexation resolutions to the government of Texas. In October, 1845, he went in the frigate “Congress” from Norfolk to serve as commander-in-chief of the Pacific Squadron, on the eve of the Mexican War. He sailed around Cape Horn to the Sandwich Islands, and thence to Monterey, where he found the squadron in possession under Commodore John D. Sloat, whom Stockton relieved. News of the war had been received by the squadron before his arrival, and Monterey and San Francisco were captured. Stockton assumed command of all American forces on the coast by proclamation, 23 July, 1846. He organized a battalion of Americans in California and naval brigades from the crews of the ships. Colonel John C. Frémont also co-operated with him. He sent Frémont in the “Cyane" to San Diego, while he landed at Santa Barbara and marched thirty miles with the naval brigade to the Mexican capital of California, the city of Los Angeles, of which he took possession on 13 August He then organized a civil government for the state, and appointed Colonel Frémont governor. Rumors of a rising of the Indians compelled him to return to the north in September. The force that he left at Los Angeles was besieged by the Mexicans in his absence, and Stockton was obliged to sail to San Diego after finding all quiet in the northern part of California. The Mexicans had also recaptured San Diego. He landed at that place, drove out the enemy, and sent a force to the rescue of General Stephen W. Kearny, who had been defeated by the Mexicans on the way to San Diego. General Kearny, with sixty dragoons, then served under Stockton's orders, and the force proceeded to Los Angeles, 150 miles distant. An engagement took place at San Gabriel on 8 January, 1847, followed by the battle of La Mesa the next day, in which the Mexicans were routed. Colonel Frémont had raised an additional force of Californians, by which the force under Stockton amounted to more than 1,000 men. Negotiations were opened with the Mexican governor, and the entire province of California was ceded to the United States and evacuated by the Mexican authorities. The treaty was subsequently confirmed. General Kearny raised a dispute with Stockton for his assumption of command over military forces, but Stockton's course was sustained by virtue of his conquest. On 17 January, 1847, he returned to San Diego, and then sailed to Monterey, where he was relieved by Commodore William B. Shubrick. Stockton returned home overland during the Summer. He was the recipient of honors by all parties, and the legislature of New Jersey gave him a vote of thanks and a reception. The people of California, in recognition of his services, named for him the city of Stockton, and also one of the principal streets of San Francisco. On 28 May, 1850, he resigned from the navy in order to settle his father-in-law's estate in South Carolina and attend to his private interests. He continued to take part in politics, was elected to the U. S. Senate, and took his seat, 1 December, 1851, but resigned, 10 January, 1853, and retired to private life. During his brief service in the Senate he introduced and advocated the bill by which flogging was abolished in the navy. He also urged measures for coast defence. After he resigned from the Senate he devoted himself to the development of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, of which he was president until his death. He continued to take an interest in politics, became an ardent supporter of the “American" Party, and was a delegate to the Peace Congress that met in Washington, 13 February, 1861. See his “Life and Speeches” (New York, 1856). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp 694-695.
STOKES, James H., soldier, born in Maryland about 1814. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1835, resigned in 1843, and engaged in manufacturing and railroad business, removing in 1858 to Illinois. After aiding in the equipment of volunteers, he joined the army as captain, and served in Tennessee, and afterward as assistant adjutant-general. He was made a brigadier-general on 20 July, 1865, and was mustered out a month later. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 699.
STOLBRAND, Carlos John Meuller, soldier, born in Sweden, 11 May, 1821. He entered the Royal Artillery in January, 1839, and during 1848–50 took part in the campaign of Schleswig-Holstein with part of his regiment in defence of Denmark. At the close of the war he came to the United States, and in July, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the volunteer artillery. Soon afterward he was appointed its captain and joined the 1st battalion of Illinois Light Artillery, and became chief of artillery under General John A. Logan. He took part in the movements against Corinth, Mississippi., and in 1863, on General Logan's accession to the command of the 15th Corps, was transferred to the command of its artillery brigade. He participated in the campaign of Atlanta and the march to the sea. In February, 1865, he was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers, assigned to a brigade in the 15th Corps, and shortly afterward to one in the 17th Corps. The latter brigade, being reduced in numbers, was re-enforced and reorganized under his charge. In 1865 he went with his brigade to St. Louis, Missouri, and thence to Leavenworth, Kansas, and in February, 1865, he received an honorable discharge from the army. In 1868 General Stolbrand was elected secretary of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina. He was delegate-at-large to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1868, and served as presidential elector. He has made various improvements in steam-engines and steam-boilers, and now resides at Fort Collins, Colorado. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 699.
STONE, Amasa, philanthropist, born in Charlton, Massachusetts, 27 April, 1818; died in Cleveland, Ohio, 11 May, 1883. He began life as an architect, at twenty-one was engaged in the construction of railroad bridges, and while still young became the first bridge-builder in the country. In partnership with two friends he constructed the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, and afterward the Cleveland and Erie, of which railroads he was made superintendent. He was next engaged in building the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad. He was president and director of numerous railroads and other industrial and financial corporations, was frequently consulted by President Lincoln in regard to matters of army transportation, and was offered by him an appointment as brigadier-general. He spent a year in Europe in 1868–'9. Mr. Stone gave large sums in charity to the city of Cleveland. He built and endowed the Home for Aged Women and the Industrial School for Children, and gave $600,000 to Adelbert College of Western Reserve University. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 699.
STONE, Charles Pomeroy, soldier, born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, 30 September, 1824; died in New York City, 24 January, 1887. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1845, assigned to the ordnance, and served in the war with Mexico, being brevetted 1st lieutenant, 8 September, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Molino del Rey, and captain, 13 September, for the battle of Chapultepec. He also participated in the siege of Vera Cruz and the assault and capture of the city of Mexico. He was on duty at Watervliet Arsenal. New York, till 15 September. 1848, on leave of absence to visit Europe for the purpose of improvement in his profession and the gaining of general information till 13 May, 1850, and on duty at Watervliet and Fort Monroe Arsenals in 1850. Under orders of the Secretary of War he embarked men and stores, and conducted them to California via Cape Horn till August. 1851, after which, till 27 January, 1856, he was in charge of construction and in command of Benicia Arsenal, and chief of ordnance of the Division and Department of the Pacific. He resigned, 17 November, 1856, and from March, 1857, till 31 December, 1860, was chief of the scientific commission for the survey and exploration of the state of Sonora, Mexico. On 1 January, 1861, he was appointed colonel and inspector-general of the District of Columbia Militia, and was engaged, under the orders of General Winfield Scott, in disciplining volunteers from 2 January till 16 April, 1861. He was appointed colonel of the 14th Infantry, 14 May, 1861, and given charge of the outposts and defences of Washington. He commanded the Rockville Expedition and engaged in the skirmishes of Edward's and Conrad's Ferry in June, and Harper's Ferry, 7 July, 1861, led a brigade in Gen. Robert Patterson's operations in the Shenandoah Valley, commanded the corps of observation of the Army of the Potomac from 10 August, 1861, till 9 February, 1862, and on 20 October, 1861, was ordered by General McClellan to keep a good lookout and make a feint of crossing the Potomac at Ball's Bluff. General McClellan, in his report of this disastrous affair, says: " I did not direct him to cross, nor did I intend that he should cross the river in force for the purpose of fighting." After having made the feint. General Stone, it appears, was led to believe that the enemy might be surprised, and accordingly caused a part of his command to cross the Potomac in the night. The enemy attacked in force at daybreak of the 21st, and pushed the National troops into the river with great loss. General Stone was continued in the same command until 9 February, 1862, when he was suddenly arrested and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, New York Harbor, where he remained until 16 August, 1862. He was then released, no charge having been preferred against him, and awaited orders until 8 May, 1863, when he was directed to report to the commanding general of the Department of the Gulf, where he served until 17 April, 1864. He participated in the siege of Port Hudson in June and July, 1863, and was senior member of the commission for receiving the surrender of that place, 8 July, 1863. He was chief of staff to General Nathaniel P. Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf, from 25 July, 1868, to 17 April. 1864, participating in the campaign of Bayou Teche, Louisiana, in October, 1863, and the Red River Campaign in March and April, 1864. He was honorably mustered out as brigadier-general of volunteers, 4 April, 1864, and resigned his commission as colonel of the 14th Infantry, 13 September, 1864. In the autumn of 1865 General Stone was appointed engineer and superintendent of the Dover Mining Company in Goochland County, Virginia, where he resided until 1870. He then accepted a commission in the Egyptian Army, and later was made chief of the general staff, in which capacity he bestowed much attention upon the military school that had already been formed by French officers in the Egyptian service. He created a typographical bureau, where a great number of maps were produced and the government printing was executed, and when the reports of the American officers engaged in exploration of the interior were printed. General Stone was placed in temporary charge of the cadastral survey, and was president of the Geographical Society and a member of the Institute Egyptian at Cairo. The American officers were mustered out of the service in 1879, as a measure of economy, by the reform government which succeeded the dethronement of Ismail. General Stone alone remained, and acted as chief of the staff until the insurrection of Arabi and the army, in which he took no active part. He resigned and returned to the United States in March. 1883. General Stone was decorated by Ismail Pacha with the order of the commander of the Osmanieh, was made grand officer of the Medjidieh and Osmanieh. and was created a Ferik pacha (general of division). In May he was appointed engineer-in-chief of the Florida Ship-Canal and Transit Company, and directed a preliminary survey across the northern part of the Peninsula. On 3 April, 1886, he became engineer-in-chief to the committee for the construction of the pedestal of the Bartholdi statue of "Liberty enlightening the World," and upon its successful completion he acted as grand marshal in the military and civic ceremony that accompanied the dedication of the statue. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 700.
STONE, Ebenezer Whitton, soldier, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 10 June, 1801; died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 18 April, 1880. In 1817 he enlisted in the U. S. Army, from which he was discharged in 1821. He was connected with the Massachusetts Militia in 1822-'60, receiving the appointment of adjutant-general in 1851 and filling the post till the close of his service. In 1840 he was a member of the legislature, serving on the military committee. The first full battery of light artillery in the United States, except those in the regular army, was organized by him in 1858, and through his efforts Massachusetts was the first state to receive the new rifled musket of the pattern of 1855. From experiments that he made with this musket. General Stone conceived the idea that cannon could also be rifled, and after successful tests in 1859, he ordered a model from John P. Schenkl, the inventor of the Schenkl shell. It is claimed that this was the first rifled cannon that was made in the United States, and that the invention was original with General Stone, though rifled cannon had been in use in Europe for several years. From April till October, 1861, General Stone, as chief of ordnance, armed and equipped twenty-four regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and three light batteries of artillery. He was for twelve years a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and became its captain in 1841. He prepared, under an act of the legislature, a " Digest of the Militia Laws of Massachusetts" (Boston, 1851), and a "Compend of Instructions in Military Tactics," and "The Manual of Percussion Arms" (1857). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 701.
STONE, Warren, physician, born in New Orleans in 1843; died there, 3 January, 1883, was educated at the Jesuits’ College, New Orleans, and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. On returning to New Orleans, he began the study of medicine, was graduated at the University of Louisiana in 1867, and at the opening of the Charity Hospital Medical College of New Orleans, in 1874, was appointed to the chair of surgical anatomy. In 1873 he made what is thought to be the first recorded cure of traumatic aneurism of the subclavian artery by digital pressure. He gave his services to the people of Brunswick, Georgia, during the prevalence of yellow fever in 1874, and in 1878, when that disease was raging in the southwest, he left his home and large practice and travelled about from one stricken village or town to another, giving his services gratuitously. Dr. Stone became a member of the American Public Health Association in 1880. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 703.
STONEMAN, George, soldier, born in Busti, Chautauqua County, New York, 8 August, 1822. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1846, and entered the 1st U.S. Dragoons. He acted as quartermaster to the Mormon Battalion at Santa Fé, was sent with it to California in 1847, and remained actively engaged on the Pacific Coast till 1857. In March of this year he became captain in the 2d U.S. Cavalry, and served till 1861, chiefly in Texas. In February of that year, while in command of Fort Brown, he refused to obey the order of his superior, General David E. Twiggs, for the surrender of the government property to the secessionists, evacuated the fort, and went to New York by steamer. He became major of the 1st U.S. Cavalry on 9 May, 1861, and served in western Virginia till 13 August, when he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers and chief of cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. He organized the cavalry of that army and commanded during the Virginia Peninsular Campaign of 1862. After the evacuation of Yorktown by the Confederate troops his cavalry and artillery pursued and overtook them, and thus brought on the battle of Williamsburg, 5 May, 1862. He took command of General Philip Kearny’s division after the second battle of Bull Run, succeeded General Samuel P. Heintzelman as commander of the 3d Army Corps, 15 November, 1862, and led it at Fredericksburg on 13 December He was promoted major-general, 29 November, 1862, led a cavalry corps in the raid toward Richmond from 13 April till 2 May, 1863, and commanded the 23d Corps from January till April, 1864. On the reorganization of the armies operating against Richmond by General Grant, General Stoneman was appointed to a cavalry corps in the Department of the Ohio, was engaged in the operations of the Atlanta Campaign in May–July, 1864. and conducted a raid for the capture of Macon and Andersonville and the liberation of prisoners, but was captured at Clinton, Georgia, 31 July, and held a captive till 27 October He led a raid to southwestern Virginia in December, 1864, commanded the District of East Tennessee in February and March, 1865, conducted an expedition to Asheville, North Carolina, in March–April, 1865, and was engaged at Wytheville, the capture of Salisbury, North Carolina, and at Asheville. He became colonel of the 21st U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, and was brevetted colonel, brigadier and major-general for gallant conduct. He retired from the army, 16 August, 1871, and has since resided in California, of which he was governor in 1883-'7, having been chosen as a Democrat. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 705.
STORER, George Washington, naval officer, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1789; died there, 8 January, 1864, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 16 January, 1809, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 24 July, 1813. He served in the ship “Independence,” on the Mediterranean station in 1815— 16, commanded the schooner “Lynx” on the New England Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico in 1817, cruised in the frigates “Congress” and “Java” in the West Indies in 1818– 19, and in the frigate “Constitution” in the Mediterranean in 1820–4. He was commissioned master-commandant, 24 April, 1828, and captain, 9 February, 1837, commanded the receiving-ship “Constellation” at Boston in 1839, the frigate “Potomac,” of the Brazil Station, in 1840–2, the U.S. Navy-yard at Portsmouth in 1843–6, and was the commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron in 1847–’50. He was on leave and served as member of boards, president of the board of inquiry, and other duty in 1851-'4. In 1855–’7 he was governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia. He was retired, 21 December, 1861, on account of age, and promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list, 16 July, 1862. In 1861–2 he served on special duty in Brooklyn, after which he was unemployed for one year. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 707.
STROUGHTON, Edwin Henry, soldier, born in Springfield, Vermont, 28 June, 1838; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 25 December, 1868, was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1859, and assigned to the 6th U.S. Infantry. During 1859–60 he served in Garrison at Fort Columbus, New York, and on scouting duty in the western territories, but he resigned on 4 March, 1861, from the regular army. In September he was commissioned colonel of the 4th Vermont Volunteers, and with his regiment joined the Army of the Potomac. He served during the Peninsular Campaign, and was engaged in the siege of Yorktown, the action at Lee's Mill, the battles of Williamsburg and Savage Station, and the operations before Richmond. His services gained for him promotion to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers on 5 November, 1862, and he was assigned to the command of the 2d Vermont Brigade, covering the defences of Washington. While stationed at Fairfax Court-House, Virginia, he was captured by General John S. Mosby, on 8 March, 1863, but, after confinement for several weeks in Libby Prison, he was released. His commission had expired by constitutional limitations four days before his capture. General Stoughton then resigned from the army and entered on the practice of law in New York City, but failing health compelled his moving to Boston, where he died. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 712.
STOUGHTON, William Lewis, lawyer, born in New York, 20 March, 1827; died in Sturgis, Michigan, 6 June, 1888. He early moved to Sturgis, Michigan, and, after being admitted to the bar in 1851, he settled in the practice of his profession. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney, serving twice, and in 1861 he was appointed by President Lincoln U. S. District Attorney for Michigan. This office he resigned in the beginning of the Civil War, and entered the 11th Michigan Volunteers, in which he became lieutenant-colonel. His services were principally in the west, and at Stone River he attained his colonelcy and commanded a brigade in General George H. Thomas's corps at Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Ruff's Station (where, while directing the fire of a battery, he lost a limb), and Atlanta. He continued with his regiment until wounded, and on 13 March, 1865, he received the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general of volunteers. In 1866 he was elected attorney-general of Michigan, then he was chosen as a Republican to Congress, and served, with re-election, from 4 March, 1869, till 3 March, 1873. Subsequently he retired to Sturgis. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 713.
STOWE, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896, author, reformer, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852 (Adams, 1989; Crozier, 1969; Gerson, 1965; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 466-468; Wagenknecht, 1965; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 713-715; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 115; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 20, p. 906; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 660-664)
STOWE, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 14 June, 1812, is the third daughter and sixth child of Reverend Dr. Lyman Beecher. When she was a mere child of four years, Mrs. Beecher died, yet she never ceased to influence the lives of her children. Mrs. Stowe writes: “Although my mother's bodily presence disappeared from our circle, I think that her memory and example had more influence in moulding her family than the living presence of many mothers.” After her death, Mrs. Stowe was placed under the care of her grandmother at Guilford, Connecticut. Here she listened, with untiring interest, to the ballads of Sir Walter Scott and the poems of Robert Burns. The “Arabian Nights,” also, was to her a dream of delight—an enchanted palace, through which her imagination ran wild. After her father's second marriage, her education was continued at the Litchfield Academy under the charge of Sarah Pierce and John Brace. Of Mr. Brace and his methods of instruction Mrs. Stowe ever speaks with the greatest enthusiasm. “Mr. Brace exceeded all teachers that I ever knew in the faculty of teaching composition,” she writes. “Much of the inspiration and training of my early days consisted not in the things I was supposed to be studying, but in hearing, while seated unnoticed at my desk, the conversation of Mr. Brace with the older classes.” Nor, indeed, were the influences in her home less stimulating to the intellect. Dr. Beecher, like the majority of the Calvinistic divines of his day, had his system of theology vast and comprehensive enough to embrace the fate of men and angels, and to fathom the counsels of the Infinite. His mind was kept in a state of intense and joyous intellectual activity by constantly elaborating, expounding, and defending this system. Consequently his children grew up in an atmosphere surcharged with mental and moral enthusiasm. There was no trace of morbid melancholy or ascetic gloom in Dr. Beecher. He was sound in body, sound in mind, and the religious influence which he exerted on the minds of his children was healthy and cheerful. Under such circumstances it is not surprising to find a bright and thoughtful child of twelve years writing a school composition on the profound theme “Can the Immortality of the Soul be proved from the Light of Nature?” The writer took the negative side of the question, and argued with such power and originality that Dr. Beecher, when it was read in his presence, not knowing the author, asked with emphasis, “Who wrote that?” “Your daughter, sir,” quickly answered Mr. Brace. Says Mrs. Stowe, speaking of this event: “It was the proudest moment of my life. There was no mistaking father's face when he was pleased, and to have interested him was past all juvenile triumphs.”
Dr. Beecher read with enthusiasm, and encouraged his children to read, both Byron and Scott. When nine or ten years of age, Mrs. Stowe was deeply impressed by reading Byron's “Corsair.” “I shall never forget how it electrified and thrilled me,” she writes. “I went home absorbed and wondering about Byron, and after that listened to everything that father and mother said at table about him.” Byron's death made an enduring, but at the same time solemn and painful, impression on her mind. She was eleven years old at the time, and usually did not understand her father's sermons, but the one that he preached on this occasion she remembers perfectly, and it has had a deep and lasting influence on her life. At the time of the Missouri agitation Dr. Beecher's sermons and prayers were burdened with the anguish of his soul for the cause of the slave. His passionate appeals drew tears down the hardest faces of the old farmers who listened to them. Night and morning, in family devotions, he appealed to heaven for “poor, oppressed, bleeding Africa, that the time of deliverance might come.” The effect of such sermons and prayers on the mind of an imaginative and sensitive child can be easily conceived. They tended to make her, what she has been from earliest childhood, the enemy of all slavery. In 1824, when thirteen years of age, Mrs. Stowe went to Hartford to attend the school that had been established there by her eldest sister, Catherine. Here she studied Latin, read Ovid and Virgil, and wrote metrical translations of the former, which displayed a very respectable knowledge of Latin, a good command of English, with considerable skill in versification. At the age of fourteen she taught with success a class in “Butler's Analogy,” and gained a good reading knowledge of French and Italian. As scholar and teacher she remained with her sister in Hartford till the autumn of 1832, when both moved with their father to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Dr. Beecher assumed the presidency of Lane Theological Seminary and the pastorate of the 2d Presbyterian Church. At this time Mrs. Stowe compiled an elementary geography for a western publisher, which was extensively used, and again engaged in teaching with her sister in Cincinnati. She wrote lectures for her classes in history, and, as a member of a literary club, called the Semi-Colon, humorous sketches and poems.
In January, 1836, she married Mr. Stowe. During her residence in Cincinnati she frequently visited the slave states, and acquired the minute knowledge of southern life that was so conspicuously displayed in her subsequent writings. Fugitive slaves were frequently sheltered in her house, and assisted by her husband and brothers to escape to Canada. During the riots in 1836, when James G. Birney's press was destroyed and free Negroes were hunted like wild beasts through the streets of Cincinnati, only the distance from the city and the depths of mud saved Lane seminary and the Yankee Abolitionists at Walnut Hills from a like fate. Many a night Mrs. Stowe sank into uneasy slumber, expecting to be roused by the howling of an angry mob, led by the agents of exasperated and desperate slave-holders. In 1849 Mrs. Stowe published “The Mayflower, or Short Sketches of the Descendants of the Pilgrims” (New York; new ed., with additions, Boston, 1855), being a collection of papers which she had from time to time contributed to various periodicals. In 1850 she moved with her husband and family to Brunswick, Maine, where the former had just been called to a professorship in Bowdoin. It was at the height of the excitement caused by the passage of the Fugitive-Slave Law. It seemed to her as if slavery were about to extend itself over the free states. She conversed with many benevolent, tender-hearted, Christian men and women, who were blind and deaf to all arguments against it, and she concluded that it was because they did not realize what slavery really meant. She determined, if possible, to make them realize it, and, as a result of this determination, wrote “Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly.” In the meantime Professor Stowe was appointed to the chair of biblical literature in the theological seminary at Andover. Massachusetts, and moved thither with his family about the time that this remarkable book was published. Neither Mrs. Stowe nor any of her friends had the least conception of the future that awaited her book. She was herself very despondent. It does not seem to have been very widely read when it appeared in the “National Era,” at Washington, D. C., from June, 1851, till April, 1852, before it was issued in book-form (Boston, 1852). Mrs. Stowe says: “It seemed to me that there was no hope; that nobody would hear; that nobody would read, nobody would pity; that this frightful system which had pursued its victims into the free states might at last threaten them even in Canada.” Nevertheless, nearly 500,000 copies of this work were sold in the United States alone in the five years following its publication. It has been translated into Armenian, Bohemian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Illyrian, Polish, Portuguese, modern Greek, Russian, Servian, Spanish, Swedish, Wallachian, Welsh, and other languages. These versions are to be found in the British Museum in London, together with the most extensive collection of the literature of this book. In reply to the abuse and recrimination that its publication called forth, Mrs. Stowe published, in 1853, “A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, presenting the Original Facts and Documents upon which the Story is founded, together with Corroborative Statements verifying the Truth of the Work.” She also wrote “A Peep into Uncle Tom's Cabin, for Children” (1853). The story has been dramatized in various forms; once by the author as “The Christian Slave; a Drama” (1855). The character of Uncle Tom was suggested by the life of Josiah Henson (q. v.).
So reduced was Mrs. Stowe's health by her severe and protracted labors that complete rest and change of scene became necessary. Consequently, in the spring of 1853, accompanied by her husband and brother, the Reverend Charles Beecher, she sailed for England. In the following year appeared “Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands,” a collection of letters of Mrs. Stowe and. her brother during their travels in Europe (2 vols., Boston, 1854). In 1856 she published “Dred, a Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.” The same book was reissued, in 1866, under the title “Nina Gordon,” but has now been again issued under the original title. About this time, Mrs. Stowe made a second visit to England, and an extended tour of the continent. In the judgment of some critics, by far the ablest work that has come from Mrs. Stowe's pen, in a purely literary point of view, is the “Minister's Wooing” (New York, 1859). It was first given to the public as a serial in the “Atlantic Monthly,” and James Russell Lowell said of it: “We do not believe that there is anyone who, by birth, breeding, and natural capacity, has had the opportunity to know New England so well as she, or who has the peculiar genius so to profit by the knowledge. Already there have been scenes in the ‘Minister's Wooing’ that, in their lowness of tone and quiet truth, contrast as charmingly with the timid vagueness of the modern school of novel-writers as the ‘Vicar of Wakefield’ itself; and we are greatly mistaken if it do not prove to be the most characteristic of Mrs. Stowe's works, and that on which her fame will chiefly rest with posterity.” Mrs. Stowe received letters containing similar expressions of commendation from William E. Gladstone, Charles Kingsley, and Bishop Whately.
In 1864 Professor Stowe resigned his professorship at Andover and moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where the family have since resided, making their winter home in Mandarin, Florida, until Professor Stowe's increasing infirmities made the journey no longer possible. In 1869 Mrs. Stowe published “Old Town Folks,” a tale of New England life, and in September of the same year, moved thereto by reading the Countess Guiccioli's “Recollections of Lord Byron,” contributed a paper to the “Atlantic Monthly” on “The True Story of Lady Byron's Life.” In reply to the tempest of adverse criticism that this paper evoked, she published “Lady Byron vindicated: a History of the Byron Controversy” (Boston, 1869). Her seventieth birthday was celebrated with a garden party, mainly of literary people, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She spent the summer of 1888, in failing health, at North Haven, Long Island. George Sand has paid the following tribute to the genius of Mrs. Stowe: ”I cannot say she has talent as one understands it in the world of letters, but she has genius as humanity feels the need of genius—the genius of goodness, not that of the man of letters, but of the saint. . . . Pure, penetrating, and profound, the spirit that thus fathoms the recesses of the human soul.” The accompanying steel engraving represents Mrs. Stowe as she appeared in middle life; the vignette, at threescore and ten.
Besides the works that have been mentioned, Mrs. Stowe has written “Geography for my Children” (Boston, 1855); “Our Charley, and what to do with him” (1858); “The Pearl of Orr's Island; a Story of the Coast of Maine” (1862); “Agnes of Sorrento” (1862); “Reply on Behalf of the Women of America to the Christian Address of many Thousand Women of Great Britain” (1863); “The Ravages of a Carpet” (1864); “House and Home Papers, by Christopher Crowfield” (1864); “Religious Poems” (1865); “Stories about our Dogs” (1865); “Little Foxes” (1865); “Queer Little People” (1867); “Daisy's First Winter, and other Stories” (1867); “The Chimney Corner, by Christopher Crowfield” (1868); “Men of our Times” (Hartford, 1868); “The American Woman's Home,” with her sister Catherine (Philadelphia, 1869); “Little Pussy Willow” (Boston, 1870); “Pink and White Tyranny” (1871); “Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories” (1871); “My Wife and I” (1872); “Palmetto Leaves” (1878); “Betty's Bright Idea, and other Tales” (1875); “We and Our Neighbors” (1875); “Footsteps of the Master” (1876); “Bible Heroines” (1878); “Poganuc People” (1878); and “A Dog's Mission” (1881). Most of these works have been republished abroad. There is also a selection from her writings entitled “Golden Fruit in Silver Baskets” (London, 1859). In 1868 she became co-editor with Donald G. Mitchell of “Hearth and Home” in New York. Her life will be written by her son, the Reverend Charles Edward Stowe, who is pastor of Windsor avenue Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 713-715.
STRAIN, Isaac G., naval officer, born in Roxbury, Pennsylvania, 4 March, 1821; died in Aspinwall, Colombia, 14 May, 1857. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman in 1837, and was advanced to the grade of passed midshipman in 1843. While in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1845 he led an exploring expedition into the interior of Brazil, and in 1848 he visited the peninsula of Lower California. In 1849 he obtained permission to leave his vessel at Valparaiso for the sake of making the overland journey to Rio Janeiro, where he rejoined his ship. The result of his experiences he gave to the public as “The Cordillera and Pampa: Sketches of a Journey in Chili and the Argentine Provinces in 1849” (New York, 1853). He was promoted lieutenant, 27 February, 1850, and was attached to the commission that in 1850 located the boundary-line between the United States and Mexico. In 1854 he had charge of the expedition to survey the Isthmus of Darien. The extremities to which his party were reduced in that affair, and the heroism with which he sustained his command under extraordinary difficulties, brought him to the notice of the public. In the summer of 1856 he sailed in the “Arctic” on her voyage to ascertain by soundings in the North Atlantic Ocean the possibility of an ocean telegraphic cable between the United States and Great Britain. Lieutenant Strain was a member of the American Ethnological Society, and to its proceedings and those of the American Geographical Society he contributed interesting accounts of his expeditions, including a paper on “The History and Prospects of Interoceanic Communication” (New York, 1856). His death was the result of undue exposure while he was on the isthmus. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 716.
STRIBLING, Cornelius Kinchiloe, naval officer, born in Pendleton, South Carolina, 22 September, 1796; died in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 17 January, 1880. He entered the U.S, Navy as a midshipman, 18 June, 1812, and served in the frigate “Mohawk” on Lake Ontario in 1815, where he participated in the blockade of Kingston. He was commissioned lieutenant, 1 April, 1818, cruised on the Brazil Station in 1819–20, and then in the West Indies suppressing piracy. He commanded the sloop “Peacock” in the East Indies in 1835-'7, and was on leave for two years after his return. He was commissioned commander, 24 January, 1840, and in 1842-'4 had the sloop “Cyane” and frigate “United States” successively on the Pacific Station. For the next two years he had command of the receiving-ship at Norfolk, and he then went out as fleet-captain in command of the ship-of-the-line “Ohio,” of the Pacific Squadron, during the latter part of the Mexican War, returning to New York in April, 1850. He was superintendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1850–3, was commissioned captain, 1 August, 1853, and commanded the steam sloop “San Jacinto” on special service in 1854–5. He was commandant of the Pensacola U.S. Navy-yard 1857–'9, and served as flag-officer in command of the East India Squadron in 1859-'61. When the Civil War opened he returned home, and, notwithstanding the secession of his native state, adhered to the Union. He served on the board to regulate the compensation of government officers in 1861, and on the Light-House Board in 1862. By operation of law he was placed on the retired list in December, 1861, but he continued to render valuable service in command of the U.S. Navy-yard at Philadelphia in 1862-'4, and from February till July, 1865, as commander-in-chief of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron; after which he was a member of the Light-House Board until 1872. He was commissioned commodore on the retired list, 16 July, 1862, and rear-admiral. 25 July, 1866. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 718-719.
STRICKLAND, William Peter, clergyman, born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 17 August, 1809; died in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, 15 July, 1884. He was educated at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, from which he afterward received the degree of D. D. In 1832 he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio, and, after serving in the itinerancy and also for five years as an agent of the American Bible Society, he moved to New York in 1856, where he was connected with the Methodist book concern, and was an associate editor of the "Christian Advocate." From 1865 till 1874 he supplied the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church in Bridgehampton, L. T., and then he was installed as its regular pastor, but three years later he resigned on account of his wife's health. Afterward he labored as an evangelist. In 1862 he served as chaplain of the 48th New York Regiment, at Port Royal, South Carolina. Dr. Strickland published "History of the American Bible Society" (New York, 1849; continued to 1856, 1856); "History of the Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church" (Cincinnati, 1850); "Genius and Mission of Methodism" (Boston, 1851): "Manual of Biblical Literature" (New York, 1853); "Light, of the Temple" (Cincinnati, 1854); "The Astrologer of Chaldea, or the Life of Faith" (1855); "Christianity demonstrated by Facts" (1855); "Pioneers of the West" (New York, 1856). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 719.
STRINGHAM, Silas Horton, naval officer, born in Middletown, Orange County, New York, 7 November, 1798; died in Brooklyn, New York, 7 February, 1876. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 15 November, 1809, and in the frigate "President" participated in the engagements with the " Little Belt" and "Belvidere." He was commissioned lieutenant, 9 December 1814. and served in the schooner "Spark" in the Mediterranean in 1815—'18, participating in the Algerine War. During a storm at Gibraltar, upon one occasion, he went in a boat with six men to rescue the crew of a French brig that had capsized. He succeeded in getting the crew, but was unable to get back to port, and was blown off to Algesiras, where his boat capsized in the surf on the beach, and one of his crew and. two Frenchmen were drowned. In 1819—'21 he served in the sloop "Cyane " on the coast of Africa, and brought home four slavers as prize-master. He was executive officer of the "Hornet" in the West Indies in 1821-'4, for the suppression of piracy, and assisted in the capture of the "Moscow, the most dreaded piratical vessel in those waters. He was commissioned commander, 3 March, 1831, and captain, 8 September, 1841, was commandant of the New York U.S. Navy-yard in 1844-'6, and with the ship "Ohio" took part in the bombardment of Vera Cruz in 1847. He was in charge of the Norfolk Navy-yard in 1848-'52. and the Boston Navy-yard in 1856-'60, and in 1853-'C commanded the Mediterranean Squadron as flag-officer. When the Civil War began he was summoned to Washington to advise upon the preparations for war, especially in relation to the relief of Fort Sumter, which he strongly urged, but his advice was not followed until it had become too late to be feasible. He took command of the North Atlantic Blockading Fleet, and planned the expedition to Hatteras Inlet. General Benjamin P. Butler accompanied him with nine hundred men. The squadron bombarded the forts, sailing in an ellipse, by which means the vessels concentrated their fire on the forts and maneuvered so skilfully that none were hit. Both forts surrendered after the bombardment, and the troops were landed to garrison them on 29 August, 1861. Not one of the National troops was injured. The Confederates lost twelve killed and thirty-five wounded, and seven hundred and fifteen prisoners, and large quantities of guns and stores were captured. This was the first naval victory of importance in the war. Stringham declined further active service on account of his age, and was retired, as commodore, 21 December, 1861. He continued to render valuable service as commandant of the Boston U.S. Navy-yard in 1862-'5. and was promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list, 16 July, 1862. He was port-admiral at New York in 1870-'2, and was on waiting orders until his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp 719-720.
STRONG, George Crockett, soldier, born in Stockbridge, Vermont 16 October, 1832; died in New York City, 30 July, 1863. Losing his father early in life, he was adopted by his uncle, Alfred L. Strong, of Easthampton, Massachusetts. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1857, assigned to the ordnance, and in 1859 became assistant at Watervliet Arsenal, of which he took command in May, 1861. He was ordnance officer on General Irvin McDowell's staff at Bull Run, and was then attached successively to the staffs of General George B. McClellan and General Benjamin P. Butler, whose chief of staff he became in May, 1862. He had previously been engaged in the organization of the New Orleans Expedition, and on 1 October, 1861, had been commissioned major and assistant adjutant-general. He commanded the expedition from Ship Island to Biloxi, Mississippi., in April, 1862, and that to Ponchatoula in September, when he destroyed a large train and inflicted much damage on the enemy. He was made, brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862, was on sick-leave in New York from the following December till June, 1863, and then commanded a brigade in the operations against Charleston, South Carolina. He had been commissioned captain of ordnance, 3 March, 1863. He led the successful attack on Morris Island, where he was the first to land. At the assault on Fort Wagner on 18 July, while he was leading and cheering on the storming column, he was mortally wounded. He was at once moved to New York City. General Strong was the author of "Cadet Life at West Point" (Boston. 1862). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 721.
STRONG, James Hooker, naval officer, born in Canandaigua, New York, 26 April, 1814; died in Columbia, South Carolina 23 November, 1882. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy while he was a student in the Polytechnic College at Chittenango, New York, 2 February, 1829, but remained at the College until he was graduated in 1833. He made his first cruise on the Brazil Station in 1833-'5, and, while attached to the sloop "Lexington," commanded a boat expedition that captured a piratical establishment in the Falkland Islands, where he had a hand-to-hand conflict with the pirates, and won credit by his valor and ability. The vessels that had been captured were restored to their crews, and the pirates were taken to Buenos Ayres for trial by the Argentine government. He became passed midshipman, 4 June, 1836, and lieutenant, 8 September, 1841, and after various cruises commanded the store-ship "Relief " in 1859. He was commissioned commander, 24 April, 1861, and had the steamers "Mohawk" and "Flag," on the South Atlantic Blockade in 1861-'2, and the steamer "Monongahela" on the Western Gulf Blockade in 1863-'5, in which he rendered good service at Arkansas Pass and especially at the battle of Mobile Bay, where he was the first to ram the iron-clad "Tennessee," and was highly commended. After being commissioned captain, 5 August, 1865, he was on duty at the Brooklyn U.S. Navy-yard in 1866-'7, and commanded the steamer " Canandaigua," of the Mediterranean Squadron, in 1869-'70. He was commissioned commodore, 2 March, 1870, and served as light-house inspector for two years. He was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. 10 September, 1873, was commander-in-chief of the South Atlantic Squadron from 1873 till 1875, and was placed on the retired list, 25 April, 1876. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 721.
STRONG, William Emerson, soldier, born in Granville, Washington County, New York, 10 August, 1840, is the son of John E. Strong, a merchant and manufacturer, who in 1853 moved to Wisconsin and became a farmer. The son studied law in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1857–61, and was admitted to the bar in the latter year. He then raised a company, which was assigned to the 2d Wisconsin Regiment, and as its captain served at Blackburn's Ford and Bull Run. He was promoted major of the 12th Wisconsin on 12 September, and saw service in Missouri, Kansas, and New Mexico. He was then on staff duty with the Army of the Tennessee, with rank of lieutenant-colonel, served in the Vicksburg Campaign, and in 1864 became inspector-general of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. He was chief of staff to General Oliver O. Howard in the march through the Carolinas, was promoted colonel, to rank from 22 July, 1864, for “gallantry on the field of battle” at Atlanta, and on 21 March, 1865, was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. He was inspector-general of the Freedmen's Bureau from May, 1865, till September, 1866, and from 1867 till 1873 was secretary of the Peshtigo Lumber Company in Chicago, Illinois, of which he has been president since the latter year. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 723.
STRONG, William Kerley, soldier, grandson of Simeon's first cousin, Josiah, born in Duanesburg, New York, 30 April, 1805; died in New York City, 15 March. 1868, became an extensive wool merchant in New York City, but early retired from business to his estate in Geneva, New York. He returned to his former occupation for a time in 1843, but at the opening of the Civil War was in Egypt. He had been active in politics as a Democrat, but at once set out for France, where he met General John C. Fremont and others, and was instrumental in the purchase of arms for the National government. On his return he made patriotic addresses, and on 28 September, 1861, on the solicitation of merchants in New York, was made a brigadier-general of volunteers. He served for some time under Fremont, and was in command at Cairo, Illinois, but on 20 October, 1863, resigned his commission. On his return to New York, while riding in Central Park, he was thrown from his carriage, receiving injuries that paralyzed him for life, and finally caused his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 723-724.
STRONG, George Templeton, lawyer, born in New York City, 26 February, 1820; died there, 21 July, 1875. He was the son of George Washington Strong (1783-1855), a lawyer of much repute in his day, who was successively the partner of John Wells, George Griffin, and Marshall S. Bidwell. The son was graduated at Columbia in 1838, became a lawyer, and married a daughter of Samuel B. Ruggles. During the Civil War he was treasurer and one of the executive committee, of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, in which capacity he rendered valuable service. Mr. Strong was an accomplished scholar, and his library was among the finest in the city. It was sold in New York City in November, 1878. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 723.
STROTHER, David Hunter, author, born in Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), 16 September, 1816; died in Charleston, West Virginia, 8 March, 1888. In 1829 he went to Philadelphia to study drawing with Pietro Ancora, and seven years later became a pupil of Samuel F. B. Morse in New York. He went to the west in 1838, travelling through various states, and in 1840 visited Europe, remaining five years. On his return he settled in New York, where, under the direction of John G. Chapman, he acquired the art of drawing on wood for the engravers. In 1848 he returned to his native place, and four years later published under the pen-name of "Porte Crayon," the first of his series of papers in "Harper's Magazine." They relate chiefly to Virginia and the south, and were illustrated by himself. Many of them were afterward published in book-form under the title of "The Backwater Chronicle " (New York, 1853) and " Virginia Illustrated" (1857). At the opening of the war in 1861 he joined the National Army as captain and assistant, adjutant-general, became colonel of the 3d West Virginia Cavalry, and resigned in September, 1864. In 1865 he received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers. After his return to his home at Berkeley Springs he continued for several years to furnish sketches to the magazines. He was a clever writer and an artist of considerable ability. His pencil was also occasionally employed in illustrating the works of others, notably John P. Kennedy's " Swallow Barn" and "Rob of the Bowl." In 1879 he was appointed consul-general to Mexico, which post he held until 1885. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 725.
STRUVE, Gustav von, German agitator, born in Munich, Bavaria, 11 October, 1805; died in Vienna, Austria, 21 August, 1870. He studied law, spent a short time in the diplomatic service of the duke of Oldenburg, then settled as an advocate in Mannheim, Baden, and soon became known as a Liberal journalist and political speaker. He also gave attention to phrenology, and published three books on the subject. As editor of the "Mannheimer Journal," he was repeatedly condemned to imprisonment. When he was compelled in 1846 to retire from the management of this paper, he founded the "Deutsche Zuschauer," in which he addressed his radical sentiments to a larger circle of readers. He was one of the leaders of the Baden uprising of 1848, and attempted, with Friedrich Hecker, to establish a republic. After the failure of the first insurrection, he fled to France, and thence to Switzerland, where he and Carl P. Heinzen drew up a "plan for revolutionizing and republicanizing Germany." In September, 1848. he returned with a body of followers to Baden, and stirred up a second insurrection. After his defeat at Stauffen, he was arrested, 25 September, 1848, and on 30 March, 1849, was condemned to five years' solitary confinement, for high treason. He was taken to the Bruchsal penitentiary on 12 May, but on the following day the revolutionists took possession of the government, and set him free. He went to the fortress of Rastadt, and stirred the soldiers of the garrison to revolt and fight on the side of the people against the Prussians. He was the leader of the Republican Party in the constituent assembly. When that body was dissolved after the victory of the Prince of Prussia over the armies of Baden and the Palatinate, Struve again escaped into Switzerland. The authorities, after two months, expelled him from that country. He went to France, and afterward to England, and in 1851 emigrated to the United States. He edited the "Deutsche Zuschauer” in New York City, but soon discontinued its publication because of insufficient support. He wrote several novels and a drama in German, and then undertook, with the assistance of his wife, the composition of a universal history from the standpoint of radical republicanism. In the beginning of the Civil War he entered the volunteer service as an officer in the 8th New York Regiment, but retired when Prince Felix Salm Salm succeeded Louis Blenker as its colonel. In 1863 he returned to Germany, availing himself of a general amnesty, and thenceforth he devoted himself to literary pursuits and lectured on phrenology in Stuttgart, Coburg, and Vienna. He was a U. S. consul at Sonneberg in 1865, but the Huringian States refused to issue his exequatur. His publications include “Politische Briefe” (Mannheim, 1846); “Das Öffentliche Recht des Deutschen Bundes” (2 vols., 1846); “Grundzüge der Staatswissenschaft” (4 vols., Frankfort, 1847-'8); “Geschichte der drei Volkserhebungen in Baden.” (Bern, 1849): “Weltgeschichte” (6 vols., New York, 1856–'9; 7th ed., with a continuation, Coburg, 1866–'9); “Das Revolutionszeitalter” (New York, 1859–60); “Diesseits und Jenseits des Oceans” (Coburg, 1864–5); “Kurzgefasster Wegweiser für Auswanderer” (Bamberg, 1867); “Pflanzenkost die Grundlage einer neuen Weltanschauung ” (Stuttgart, 1869); “Das Seelenleben, oder i. Naturgeschichte des Menschen” (Berlin, 1869); and “Eines Fürsten Jugendliebe,” a drama (Vienna, 1870). — His wife, Amalie, died on Staten Island, New York, in 1862, was the author of “Erinnerungen aus den badischen Freiheitskämpfen" (Hamburg, 1850); and “Historische Zeitbilder” (3 vols., Bremen, 1850). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 725-726.
STRYKER, William Scudder, soldier, born in Trenton, New Jersey, 6 June, 1838, was graduated at Princeton in 1858, and began the study of law. In the beginning of the Civil War he assisted in organizing the 14th New Jersey Volunteers, and in February, 1863, was ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he served as aide to General Quincy A. Gillmore, with the rank of major, participating in the capture of Morris Island and in the night attack on Fort Wagner. Returning to the north on account of illness, he became senior paymaster in charge of all disbursements in the District of Columbus, Ohio, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for meritorious services, and resigned on 30 June, 1866. Soon afterward he was placed on the military staff of the Governor of New Jersey, and since 12 April, 1867, he has filled the office of adjutant-general of the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, and for some time was president of the Trenton Banking Company. General Stryker has compiled a “Roster of Jerseymen in the Revolutionary War” (Trenton, 1872) and a “Roster of New Jersey Volunteers in the Civil War” (1876). He has also published many monographs relating to the history of New Jersey, among these being “The Reed Controversy” (Trenton, 1876); “New Jersey Continental Line in the Virginia Campaign of 1781.” (1882); “New Jersey Continental Line in the Indian Campaign of 1779 (1885); and “The New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalists) in the Revolutionary War” (1887). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p.726.
STUART, James Ewell Brown, soldier, born in Patrick County, Virginia, 6 February, 1833; died in Richmond, Virginia, 12 June, 1864, entered the U. S. Military Academy after spending two years at Emory and Henry College, was graduated in 1854, joined the regiment of U.S. Mounted Riflemen that was then serving in Texas, and took a creditable part in actions with the Apache Indians. In 1855 he was transferred to the 1st U. S. Cavalry with the rank of 2d lieutenant. He married Flora, a daughter of Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, on 14 November, 1855, and on 20 December was promoted 1st lieutenant. In 1856 his regiment was engaged in quelling the Kansas disturbances, and in 1857 in Indian warfare, ne was wounded in an action with the Cheyennes on Solomon's River. In 1859 he went to Washington to negotiate with the War Department concerning the sale of a sabre-attachment that he had invented. Going to Harper's Ferry with Robert E. Lee as a volunteer aide, he identified John Brown. He rejoined his regiment at Fort Riley, but in March, 1861, obtained leave of absence, being resolved to direct his course by the action of his state, and sent in his resignation after Virginia seceded. It was accepted on 7 May, just after he had received notification of his promotion to a captaincy, to date from 22 April, 1861. He was commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of infantry in the service of the state of Virginia, and as colonel of cavalry on 16 July. He performed important services in charge of the outposts of General Joseph E. Johnston's army. At Bull Run he contributed to the Confederate victory by efficiently guarding General Thomas J. Jackson's left flank, and driving back the National attacking force. During the long cessation of operations he perfected his system of pickets, was engaged in many cavalry skirmishes, and became brigadier-general on 24 September, 1861. He was defeated by General Edward O. C. Ord at Dranesville. When the Confederates retired from Yorktown to Richmond, his cavalry guarded their rear. In the middle of June, 1862, he conducted a daring raid in the rear of General McClellan's army on the Chickahominy, in order to determine the position of the National right. He was incessantly engaged during the seven-days' fight before Richmond. On 25 July, 1862, he was commissioned as major-general of cavalry. On 22 August, he crossed the Rappahannock, penetrated General John Pope's camp at Catlett's station, captured his official correspondence and personal effects, and made prisoners of several officers of his staff. In the following night he made an attack on Manassas Junction, and sent into the town a brigade of infantry, which took many prisoners and carried off stores of great value. His cavalry was engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, and led the advance of Stonewall Jackson's corps in the ensuing invasion of Maryland. He performed important services at Antietam, guarding with artillery an eminence on Jackson's left that was essential to the security of the Confederate position, and leading the movement that resulted in the repulse of General Edwin V. Sumner's corps. A few weeks later he crossed the Potomac near Williamsport at the head of 1,800 picked troopers, gained the rear of the National Army, rode as far north as Mercersburg and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, returned on the other side of McClellan's position, and recrossed the river below Harper's Ferry. At Fredericksburg Stuart's cavalry guarded the extreme right of the Confederate line. In a raid to Dumfries he ascertained the intended movements of the National troops by means of forged telegrams that he sent to Washington. In March, 1863, he encountered the National Cavalry at Kelly's Ford. At Chancellorsville, the cavalry screened Stonewall Jackson's march to the right of the National Army. After General Jackson was mortally wounded, and General Ambrose P. Hill was disabled, the command of Jackson's corps devolved temporarily on Stuart, who took command in the night of 2 Slay and directed its movements during the severe fighting of the following day. He led two charges in person, and carried the ridge of Hazel Grove, which was the key to the field. He was sent forward to guard the flanks of the advancing columns of Lee's army in the Gettysburg Campaign, but was opposed and checked by the National Cavalry at Fleetwood Hill and Stevensburg, with heavy losses on both sides. At Aldie he was successful in an encounter with the National Cavalry, but at Middleburg and Upperville he was defeated. He was directed to cross the Potomac in advance of the infantry column, and take position on its right. He held the pass in the Blue Ridge for a while, and then made a raid in the rear of the National Army, rejoining the main body at the close of the conflict at Gettysburg. The responsibility for this movement and its influence on the event have been the subject of much controversy. In the retreat from Gettysburg Stuart guarded the gaps in the mountains. While the Confederate Army was intrenched on the northern bank of the Potomac, he engaged in indecisive conflicts with the cavalry of General Judson Kilpatrick and General John Buford. While the cavalry held the line of the Rappahannock, during the rest of the summer of 1863, he evaded General Kilpatrick at Culpeper Court-House, retired from General Buford at Jack's Shop, after a severe conflict, but forced back the National Cavalry under General Alfred Pleasonton at Brandy Station, and bv a ruse routed the brigade of General Henry E. Davies near Buckland. After General Grant crossed the Rapidan, Stuart led the advance of General Ambrose P. Hill's corps. When General Philip H. Sheridan with his cavalry moved on Richmond, Stuart, by a rapid circuitous march, interposed his cavalry, concentrating his forces at Yellow Tavern, where he was mortally wounded in the obstinate engagement that ended in the defeat of the Confederates. See "Life and Campaigns of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart," by his chief-of-staff, Major Henry B. McClellan (Boston, 1885). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 727.
STUART, George Hay, philanthropist, born in County Down, Ireland, 2 April, 1816. He emigrated to the United States in 1831, and became a merchant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he was president of the U. S. Christian Commission. He presided over the international conventions of the Young Men's Christian Associations in 1859 and 1861, and over the Presbyterian National Convention in Philadelphia in November, 1867, has been an officer in the American Sunday School Union, the American Bible Society, and the American Tract Society. He twice declined a seat in President Grant's cabinet, but consented to serve on the first board of Indian Commissioners, and was chairman of its purchasing committee. Mr. Stuart has been a munificent giver to foreign missions and other religious and charitable objects. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 728.
STUART, David, soldier, born in Brooklyn, New York, 12 March, 1810; died in Detroit, Michigan, 19 September, 1868. He moved to Michigan, studied law, and practised in Detroit. He was there elected to Congress as a Democrat, and served from 5 December, 1853, till 3 March, 1855. He subsequently settled in Chicago, Illinois, becoming solicitor for the Illinois Central Railroad. He was appointed colonel of the 55th Illinois Infantry on 31 October, 1861, and commanded the 2d Brigade of General William T. Sherman's division from 27 February till 14 May, 1862. His brigade held the position on the extreme left at Shiloh, and suffered severe loss, while he was wounded in the shoulder. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862, and commanded a brigade of Morgan L. Smith's division during the siege of Corinth and subsequent operations till General Smith was wounded at Chickasaw Bayou, after which he led the division, participating in the capture of Arkansas Post. When the Senate failed to confirm his appointment as brigadier-general, he left the service on 3 April, 1863, and returned to legal practice in Detroit. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 732.
STUCKENBERG, John Henry Wilburn, clergyman, born in Bramsche, Hanover, Germany, 6 January, 1835. He emigrated in early life to the United States, and was graduated at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1857, after which he returned to Germany to study theology in the universities of Gottingen, Berlin, and Tubin General He was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1860, and held pastoral charges in Iowa and Pennsylvania, besides officiating in 1862-'3 as chaplain of the 45th Pennsylvania Volunteers, he was professor of theology at Wittenberg College from 1873 till 1880, and since that time has been pastor of the American Chapel in Berlin, Germany. A memoir was published shortly after his death. […]. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p.
STURGIS, Samuel Davis, soldier, born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 11 June, 1822. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1846, entered the 2d U.S. Dragoons, served in the war with Mexico, and was made prisoner while on a reconnoissance before the battle of Buena Vista, but was soon exchanged. He afterward served in California, New Mexico, and the territories, and was commissioned captain. 3 March, 1855. At the opening of the Civil War he was in command of Fort Smith, Arkansas, but, all his officers having resigned and joined the southern Confederacy, he evacuated the fort on his own responsibility, and thus saved his command and the government property. He was appointed major of the 4th U.S. Cavalry, 3 May, 1861, and served in Missouri under General Nathaniel Lyon, whom Sturgis succeeded in command after his death at the battle of Wilson's Creek. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 10 August, 1861, was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and afterward to the command of the Department of Kansas. In 1862 he was called to Washington to assist the military governor, and was given command of the fortifications around the city. At the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg he commanded the 2d Division of the 9th Army Corps and he was engaged in the operations Kentucky from April till July, 1863. He was chief of cavalry of the Department of the Ohio from July, 1863, till April, 1864, and captured General Robert B. Vance and his command, 13 January, 1864. He was engaged at Bolivar, Tennessee, 10 May, 1864, and in the expedition against General Nathan Forrest, and in the fight near Guntown, Mississippi, 10 June, 1864. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 6th U.S. Cavalry, 27 October, 1863, colonel of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, 6 May, 1869, and was retired, 11 June, 1886. He had been brevetted colonel for Fredericksburg, and brigadier-general and major-general, U.S. Army, 13 March, 1865. – His son, JAMES GARLAND, born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 24 January, 1854, was graduated at the '' States Military Academy in 1875, and was killed in the Indian massacre on Little Big Horn River, 25 June, 1876. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 734.
SUCKLEY, George, physician, born in the city of New York in 1830; died there, 30 July, 1869. He was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1851, served as resident surgeon in the New York Hospital in 1852, and was assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army in 1853-'6. He became brigade surgeon in 1861, and was staff surgeon, U. S. Volunteers, in 1862-'5. He became brevet lieutenant-colonel and colonel, U. S. Volunteers, 15 August, 1865. Dr. Suckley contributed to the transactions of the American Medical Association and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. With James G. Cooper, M. D., he published "Reports on the Natural History, Climate, and Physical Geography of Minnesota, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon Territories" (New York, 1860). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 738.
SULLIVAN, Jeremiah C., soldier, born in Madison, Indiana, 1 October, 1830, served during the Civil War, became brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 April, 1862, and resigned, 11 May, 1865. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 740.
SULLIVAN, Peter John, soldier, born in County Cork, Ireland, 15 March, 1821; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 2 March, 1883. He was descended from General William O'Sullivan of the British Army, came to this country with his parents when he was two years old, passed his early years in Philadelphia, and was educated at the University of Pennsylvania. He omitted the prefix “O” from his name on reaching manhood. He served through the Mexican War, attaining the rank of major, and at its close was appointed an official stenographer in the U.S. Senate. In 1848 he moved to Cincinnati, studied law, and was a draughtsman for the U.S. Topographical Corps. In 1855 he was elected colonel of the German regiment and contributed toward the suppression of the “Know-Nothing” riots of that year. At the opening of the Civil War he raised four regiments at his own expense, was commissioned colonel of the 48th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was present at Shiloh, where he captured a Confederate flag and was wounded three times. In consequence of his injuries he was unfit for service for nine months, but, he was present at the fall and capture of Vicksburg, was post-commander at Memphis and Fort Pickering, and during the last days of the war was the presiding judge of the military court of claims. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services, and immediately after was appointed by President Johnson minister to the United States of Colombia, serving till 1869, when his health compelled him to resign. He subsequently practised occasionally in the U. S. Supreme Court, in the court of claims, and in the government departments at Washington, D. C. He was the author of the “Don Felix Letters, or Pen-Portraits of Members of the Bar.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 742.
SULLY, Alfred, soldier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1821; died in Fort Vancouver, Washington territory, 17 April, 1879, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1841, assigned to the 2d U.S. Infantry, which was then engaged in the Seminole War, and participated with credit in the attack on Hawe Creek Camp, 25 January, 1842. He was on garrison duty on the Great Lakes till the Mexican War, and after the siege of Vera Cruz in 1847 was ordered to the north on recruiting service. He was then stationed in California, and on 22 February, 1849, was promoted to captain. In 1853 he was sent with others to re-enforce the governor of Oregon in his operations against the Rogue River Indians, and in December of that year, while on his way to New York, he was wrecked off the California Coast and remained six days on a desert island. He was then in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Dakota till 1858, and, after spending a year in Europe on leave of absence, took part in operations against the Cheyenne Indians in 1860-'l. He then served in the defences of Washington till 4 March, 1862, when he became colonel of the 3d Minnesota Regiment. He led a brigade during the change of base to James River, and was brevet ted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. Army, for gallantry at Fair Oaks, and colonel for Malvern Hill. After engaging in the northern Virginia and Maryland Campaigns, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 1 October, 1862. He led his brigade at Chancellorsville, and in May, 1863, was assigned to the command of the Department of Dakota, where he soon gained note by his expeditions against northwestern Indians, especially in the engagement at White Stone Hill, 3 September, 1863, that at Tah-kah-hakuty, 28 July, 1864. and the skirmish in the Bad Lands, 8 August, 1864. He was given the brevet of major-general of volunteers, and that of brigadier-general in the regular army, at the close of the war, and subsequently served on the board of promotion, and was on special service in the Interior Department at Washington. He was made lieutenant-colonel, 28 July, 1866, and colonel of the 10th U.S. Infantry, 10 December, 1872. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp 743-744.
SUMNER, Charles Allen, stenographer, born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 2 August, 1835. His father, Judge Increase Sumner, was a distant relative of the Increase that is noted elsewhere. The son studied at Trinity, but was not graduated. He subsequently studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but his chief attention was given to the practice of stenography. In 1856 he sailed for California, and reported for the legislature in 1857–61. He settled at San Francisco, and between the legislative sessions he was engaged in the state and county courts, in law-reporting, and general editorial duties till 1860, when he entered the Republican canvass. The following year he edited the “Herald and Mirror,” in which his opposition to the “Shafter” Land Bill succeeded in defeating it. Removing to Virginia City, Nevada, Mr. Sumner was made assistant-quartermaster in the U.S. forces in 1862, became colonel in 1864, and served as state senator in 1865–8, being pro tempore during one session. Meanwhile he had been twice an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress. He returned to San Francisco in 1868, and began to advocate a government postal telegraph in the “Herald,” of which he was editor. After this he was appointed official note-taker of the city, and in 1875 and 1880 official reporter of the Supreme Court. In 1878 he was defeated as a Democratic candidate for Congress, but he was elected in 1882. There he opposed the Pacific Railroads, and introduced a postal telegraph bill. Trinity gave him the degree of A. M. in 1887. He has published “Shorthand and Reporting” (New York, 1882); “Golden Gate Sketches” (1884); “Travel in Southern Europe” (1885); and “Sumner’s Poems,” with his brother, Samuel B. Sumner (1887). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 750
SUMNER, Edwin Vose, soldier, born in Boston, Massachusetts., 30 January, 1797; died in Syracuse, New York, 21 March, 1863. Young Sumner was educated at Milton (Massachusetts.) Academy, and entered the army in 1819 as 2d lieutenant of infantry. He served in the Black Hawk War, became captain of the 2d U.S. Dragoons in 1833, and was employed on the western frontier, where he distinguished himself as an Indian fighter. In 1838 he was placed in command of the School of Cavalry Practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was promoted major in 1846, and in the Mexican War led the cavalry charge at Cerro Gordo in April, 1847, commanded the reserves at Contreras and Churubusco, and at the head of the cavalry at Molino del Rey checked the advance of 5,000 Mexican lancers. He was governor of New Mexico in 1851–’3, when he visited Europe to report on improvements in cavalry. In 1855 he was promoted colonel of the 1st U.S. Cavalry, and made a successful expedition against the Cheyennes. In command of the Department of the West in 1858 he rendered efficient service during the Kansas troubles. In March, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general in the regular army, and sent to relieve General Albert Sidney Johnston, in command of the Department of the Pacific, but was recalled in the following year to the command of the 1st Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He commanded the left wing at the siege of Yorktown, At Fair Oaks, where McClellan's army was divided by the Chickahominy and the left wing was heavily attacked, the orders to Sumner to cross the river and re-enforce that wing found him with his corps drawn out and ready to move instantly. In the seven days' battles he was twice wounded. In 1862 he was a appointed major-general of volunteers, led the 2d Corps at the battle of Antietam, where he was wounded, and commanded one of the three grand divisions of Burnside's army at Fredericksburg, his division being the first to cross the Rappahannock. At his own request, he was relieved in 1863, and, being appointed to the Department of the Missouri, he was on his way thither when he died. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for Cerro Gordo, colonel for Molino del Rey, and major-general in the regular army for services before Richmond. General Sumner's last words, as he with great effort waved a glass of wine above his head, were: “God save my country, the United States of America.”—His son, Edwin Vose, served with merit through the Civil War, and was appointed major of the 5th U.S. Cavalry in 1879, and inspector of rifle practice, Department of the Missouri, which place he still holds. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 751.
SWAIM, David Gaskill, soldier, born in Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, 22 December, 1834. He was educated at Salem Academy, studied law, and after admission to the bar in 1858 began practice in Salem. At the beginning of the Civil War he left a prosperous law-practice and entered the National service, being commissioned 2d lieutenant in 1861, and 1st lieutenant, 4 November, 1861, in the 65th Ohio Regiment. He was promoted to captain and assistant adjutant-general, 16 May, 1862, and engaged in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Perryville. He was in Washington, D. C, till December, 1862, was assistant adjutant-general on the staff of General William S. Rosecrans and General George Thomas till November, 1863, and was present at Chickamauga, where he was wounded, and at Missionary Ridge. From January till October, 1864, he was on mustering duty at Wilmington, Delaware, and afterward, till September, 1866, was assistant adjutant-general, Department of Missouri, He was brevetted major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel for faithful and meritorious services during the war, and appointed 2d lieutenant in the 34th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, was promoted major and judge-advocate, 9 December, 1869, and became judge-advocate-general of the army with the rank of brigadier-general, 18 February, 1881. In 1884, he was court-martialed on various charges and suspended for ten years. He was the intimate friend and companion of President Garfield. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 3
SWAIN, James Barrett, editor, born in New York City, 30 July, 1820. He learned the printing business with Horace Greeley, with whom he was a partner in the publication of the "Log Cabin" in 1840, and in 1838-'9 was private secretary to Henry Clay. In 1843-'9 he was editor of the "Hudson River Chronicle " in Sing-Sing, serving also as clerk of the state-prison there in 1848-'9. He was city editor of the New York "Tribune" in 1850, of the "Times" in 1851-2, editor of the "American Agriculturist " in 1852, a political contributor to the " Times" in 1853-'9, and its Washington correspondent in 1860-'l. He was also editor of the "Free State Advocate" (a campaign paper published in New York in 1856 by the National Republican Committee), of the Albany " Daily Statesman" from 1857 till 1861, and again of the " Hudson River Chronicle" from 1870 till 1885. He was a railroad commissioner for New York State in 1855-'7, 1st lieutenant in the 1st U. S. Cavalry and also colonel of the 1st U. S. Volunteer Cavalry in 1861-'4, engineer-in-chief of the National Guard of New York in 1865-'6. U. S. weigher in 1867-'70, and post-office inspector in 188l-'5. Mr. Swain is the author of " Life and Speeches of Henry Clay" (2 vols., New York, 1842; 3d ed., 1848); "Historical Notes to a Collection of the Speeches of Henry Clay" (2 vols., 1843); and "Military History of the State of New York " (3 vols.. 1801-'5). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 3.
SWANN, Thomas, governor of Maryland, born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1805; died near Leesburg, Virginia, 24 July, 1883. His father was U. S. district attorney for the District of Columbia. After receiving his education at Columbian College and at the University of Virginia the son studied law with his father, and was made secretary to the Neapolitan Commission. He settled in Baltimore in 1834. and became a director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1836, of which he was president from 1847 till 1853, and he was also president of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad. After his return from Europe he was elected mayor of Baltimore in 1856, and re-elected in 1858. Before the Civil War he emancipated his slaves, and he was an earnest supporter of the Union throughout the contest. He was elected governor of Maryland in 1864, and served from 1 January, 1865, until 1 January, 1869, refusing to leave the executive chair when he was elected U. S. Senator in 1866. He was afterward chosen to Congress as a Democrat for five successive terms, serving from 4 March, 1869, till 3 March, 1879. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 4-5.
SWARTOUT, Samuel, naval officer, born in New York City, 10 May, 1804; died in Brooklyn, New York, 5 February, 1867, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 10 May, 1820, became passed midshipman, 4 June, 1831, and in 1834-'5 cruised in the schooner "Grampus," suppressing piracy in the West Indies, and in 1836-'7 hi the "St. Louis" on the same duty. He was promoted to lieutenant, 9 February, 1837, was inspector of provisions and clothing at the New York Navy-yard in 1841-'5, and cruised in the sloop "Vincennes" in the East Indies in 1845-'7, after which he was stationed at the New York Navy-yard until 1850. In 1851 he served on the coast survey. He was promoted to commander, 14 September, 1855, and had the steamer "Massachusetts," of the Pacific Squadron, in 1855-'7, during which time he had several engagements with Indians in Puget Sound. In 1861-'3 he commanded the sloop "Portsmouth," of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, in which he took part in the engagements with Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the lower Mississippi River, and the consequent capture of New Orleans. He was then placed on waiting orders, his health failed, and he was retired, 10 May. 1866. His sister, Frances, married Admiral Charles H. Bell. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 5.
SWAYNE, Wager, lawyer, born in Columbus, Ohio, 10 November, 1834, was graduated at Yale in 1856, and at the Cincinnati law-school in 1859. On his admission to the bar he practised in Columbus. He was appointed major of the 43d Ohio Volunteers on 31 August, 1861, became lieutenant-colonel on 14 December, 1861, colonel on 18 October, 1862, served in all the marches and battles of the Atlanta Campaign, lost a leg at Salkahatchie, South Carolina, and was brevetted brigadier- general, U. S. volunteers, on 5 February, 1865, becoming full brigadier-general on 8 March, 1865, and major-general on 20 June, 1865. He was made colonel of the 45th regular Infantry on 28 July, 1866, and on 2 March, 1867, was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for gallant and meritorious services in the action of. Rivers Bridges, South Carolina, and major-general for services during the war. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on 1 September, 1867. General Swayne was a commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in Alabama, where he commanded the U. S. forces, and was also intrusted with the administration of the Reconstruction Acts of Congress, organizing an extensive system of common schools for colored children, who had none, and establishing at Montgomery, Selma, and Mobile important high-schools, which still remain, and also Talladega College. He retired on 1 July, 1870, and practised law in Toledo, Ohio, but in 1880 he moved to New York City, where he is counsel for railroad and telegraph corporations. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 5-6.
SWEENY, Thomas William, soldier, born in Cork, Ireland, 25 December, 1820. He came to the United States in 1832. and at an early age was apprenticed to the printing business. When a young man he joined the Baxter blues, a military organization in New York City, and in 1846, at the beginning of the war with Mexico, he became 2d lieutenant in Ward B. Burnett's 1st New York Volunteers. He participated in the campaign under General Winfield Scott from the siege of Vera Cruz to the storming of Churubusco, where he received wounds that necessitated the amputation of his right arm. On his return to New York City he was given a reception ball at Castle Garden by the printers of the city, and he received the brevet of captain from the governor of the state and a silver medal from the city of New York. He was given the commission of 2d lieutenant in the 2d U. S. Infantry, and served in California, in charge of Port Yuma, and elsewhere in the west, being engaged in frequent actions with hostile Indians. While stationed at Fort Yuma, the command under Maj. Samuel P. Heintzelman was compelled to fall back on San Diego for want of supplies, and Sweeny was ordered to remain with ten men. The Indians besieged his camp from 5 June until 6 December, 1851, but he was finally extricated by a government exploring expedition under Captain Lorenzo Sitgreaves. After other duties at various posts he was promoted captain, 19 January, 1861. Soon after the beginning of the Civil War he was ordered to St. Louis and given command of the arsenal, which contained immense quantities of munitions of war of all kinds, sufficient fully to arm and equip 60,000 men, together with over forty tons of powder. Captain Sweeny had but forty unaligned recruits under him. while in St. Loins there were nearly 3,000 hostile minute-men. fully equipped. Advances were made to induce him to surrender the arsenal; but the reply, that if a serious attempt should be made to capture the arsenal he would blow it to atoms, prevented any action on the part of the Confederate sympathizers. He was second in command of the union troops at the surrender of the state forces at Camp Jackson, and conducted the final negotiations, in consequence of General Nathaniel Lyon's having been disabled. Subsequently he was instrumental in the organization of the Missouri three-months' volunteers, and he was appointed brigadier-general on 20 May, 1861. In the campaign that followed he took an active part with General Lyon, and was severely wounded at the battle of Wilson's Creek, and later he was acting assistant adjutant general under General John C. Fremont. He then accepted the command of the 52d Illinois Volunteers, and was attached to the army under General Grant, participating in the capture of Port Donelson, after which he took 6,000 prisoners to Alton, Illinois. At a critical moment toward the close of the first day of the battle of Shiloh a gap existed between the right flank of Sweeny's brigade and General William T. Sherman's left. The defence of this position, which was the key of the situation, was intrusted to him by Sherman, who has since said: "I attach more importance to that event than to any of the hundred achievements which I have since heard saved the day." His commission of brigadier-general of volunteers dates from 29 November, 1862, and thereafter he commanded a division of the 10th Army Corps and was engaged in protecting the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, he was promoted major of the 16th U.S. Infantry, 20 October, 1863, and in the Atlanta Campaign had the 2d Division of the 16th Corps in the Army of the Tennessee. At Snake Creek gap his command took possession of the gap twenty-four hours in advance of the cavalry, and held it in spite of every effort of the enemy. He took part in the battle of Resaca and forced a passage across Oostenaula River at Lay's Ferry, where he fought a successful battle, which action resulted in General Joseph E. Johnston's retreat southward. He also participated in the battles of Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain, and at the battle before Atlanta on 22 July, 1864, his division drove the enemy back with great slaughter, capturing four battle-flags and 900 prisoners. Subsequently he had command of the post of Nashville until July, 1865, and he was mustered out of volunteer service on 24 August of that year. He participated in the Fenian invasion of Canada in 1866, and was present at the battle of Limestone Ridge. During this period he was out of the National service, but was reinstated by the president soon afterward and given posts in the southern states. General Sweeny was presented with a sword by the city of Brooklyn for services rendered in the Civil War. He was retired on 11 May, 1870, with the rank of brigadier-general. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 6-7.
SWEET, Alexander Edwin, editor, born in St. John, New Brunswick, 28 March, 1841. His father, James, moved to San Antonio, Texas, in 1849, and was afterward mayor of that town. He also served in the Confederate Army as a lieutenant-colonel. The son was sent to school in Poughkeepsie, New York, and in 1859 went to Europe and entered the Polytechnic institute, in Carlsruhe. Returning to Texas in 1863, he served in the Confederate Army in the 33d Texas Cavalry. After the war he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in San Antonio for several years. In 1879 he became editor of the San Antonio " Express," and, still practicing law, became city attorney. Afterward he was editor of the San Antonio " Herald." and a contributor of humorous paragraphs to the Galveston "News." In May, 1881, he moved to Austin, Texas, and formed there a partnership for the publication of a weekly journal entitled "Texas Sittings," which was moved to New York in 1884. With J. Amory Knox he has published " On a Mexican Mustang through Texas from the Gulf to the Rio Grande" (Hartford, 1883). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 7.
SWEET, Benjamin Jeffrey, soldier, born in Kirkland, Oneida County, New York, 24 April, 1832; died in Washington, D. C, 1 January, 1874. His father was a clergyman in poor health, and at nine years of age the boy was set at work in a cotton-mill. When he was sixteen his father moved to Stockbridge, Wis., and settled upon a piece of wild forest land, where the son spent a year in clearing a homestead for the family. At the age of seventeen he entered Appleton College, but remained only a year, and then returned home, where he alternately taught and worked on his father's farm, his spare hours he devoted to the study of the law. Before he was twenty-seven he was elected to the Senate of Wisconsin, but at the opening of the Civil War he was commissioned major of the 6th Wisconsin Regiment. Soon afterward he resigned and raised two fresh regiments, the 21st and 22d Wisconsin, of the first of which he became colonel. In the battle of Perryville, where it formed a part of one corps that during all of one day sustained an attack from the whole of Bragg's army, it lost 300 in killed and wounded. Colonel Sweet had been for several days confined to an ambulance by malarial fever, but when the battle began he mounted his horse and took command of his regiment. During the battle he received a wound that was supposed to be mortal. His life was saved by the careful tending of his wife, but his health was permanently shattered. He was given a colonelcy in the Veteran reserve corps, and stationed at Gallatin, Tennessee, building a fort there in the winter of 1862-'3. In May, 1864, he was ordered to take command of the prison at Camp Douglas, Chicago, where about 10,000 Confederate soldiers were confined. In June, he discovered that an outbreak had been planned for the 4th of July which should liberate and arm the prisoners, and result in the sacking and burning of Chicago. He quickly strengthened his defences and re-enforced his garrison, and the attempt I was thus rendered hopeless. Early in November, Colonel Sweet received positive information that the I post was to be attacked on election night, only three days following; 5,000 armed men under competent leaders were then in Chicago, ready for the assault on the camp, and muskets were there in abundance to arm the 9,000 prisoners. Chicago was to be burned, and its flumes were to be the signal for a general uprising of 500,000 well-armed men throughout the western country. Even available soldier had been sent to the front by the government, and Sweet had in the garrison but 796 men, most of whom were unfit for active duty. Moreover, it was too late to receive re-enforcements. His only hope of safety lay in the speedy arrest of the Confederate leaders who were then in Chicago. In this emergency he called to his aid one of his prisoners, a Texas ranger named John T. Shanks, who was well acquainted with the Confederate officers, and engaged him to ferret them out. To gain him confidence with the Confederates, he allowed Shanks to escape from the prison, and made great efforts for his recapture. Colonel Sweet thought he could trust the man; but he had him constantly shadowed by detectives pledged to take his life in case of his treachery. Shanks did his work so well that within thirty-six hours the leaders of the intended assault were in irons, and a large quantity of contraband arms was in the possession of the government. When Chicago awoke to the danger it had escaped, its citizens collected at a mass meeting and publicly thanked Colonel Sweet for the service he had rendered. For it also the government promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers. When he was mustered out of service at the close of the war he resumed the practice of his profession in Wisconsin, but in 1869 he was appointed U. S. pension-agent at Chicago. He held this position till April, 1870, when he was made supervisor of internal revenue for Illinois. This office he held till January, 1872, when he was called to Washington to be 1st deputy commissioner of internal revenue. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 7-8.
SWIFT Ebenezer, surgeon, born in Wareham. Massachusetts, 8 October, 1819;. died in Hamilton, Bermuda, 24 September, 1885. He was graduated at the medical department of the University of the city of New York in 1842, and in March, 1847, became acting assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army. His first service was with the army of invasion and occupation of Mexico, and he was on duty at General Winfield Scott's headquarters until July, 1848. Subsequently he served at various posts in the east, in Texas, and on expeditions against hostile Indians until June, 1856. Meanwhile he had been made captain and assistant surgeon on 30 August, 1852. He had command of Fort Chadbourne, Texas, was on temporary duty at Fort Columbus in New York harbor during the prevalence of the cholera, and accompanied the troops under General Albert S. Johnston to Utah in May,1859. After serving at various stations in Missouri, Kansas, and Dakota, he was made full surgeon on 21 May, 1861, and appointed medical director of General Ormsby M. Mitchel's division of the Army of the Tennessee. In December. 1862. He became medical director of that army, and early in 1863 he was transferred to Philadelphia, where he was chief medical officer and superintendent of hospitals in and around Philadelphia, and from November, 1863, till June, 1864, medical director of the Department of the South. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel on 13 March, 1865, and from February till June, 1865, held the office of medical director with the ranks of lieutenant-colonel and colonel. On 20 June, 1869, he received the additional brevet of brigadier-general for meritorious services voluntarily rendered during the prevalence of cholera at Fort Harker, Kansas. In 1874 he became medical director of the Department of the South, and thereafter, until his retirement on 8 October, 1883, he was assistant medical purveyor in New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 10.
SWIFT, Jonathan Williams, naval officer, born in Taunton, Massachusetts. 30 March. 1808; died in Geneva, New York, 30 July, 1877. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman. 25 August, 1823, and cruised in the sloop "Cyane," of the Mediterranean station, in 1823-'5, and the frigate " Brandywine," of the Pacific station, in 1826-"9. He became passed midshipman, 23 March, 1829, and was then on leave for four years. He was commissioned a lieutenant. 3 March, 1831, and the next year made a short cruise in the sloop "John Adams "in the Mediterranean. After this he was on leave and waiting orders until his death, except for a short cruise in the steamer "Fulton " on the Home station in 1840, and was placed on the reserved list by the action of the board of retirement, 14 September, 1855. He was promoted to commodore on the retired list. 4 April, 1867, and resided at Geneva, N. Y until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 10.
SWINBURNE, John, physician, born in Deer River, Lewis County, New York, 30 May, 1820. He was graduated at Albany Medical College in 1846. and began to practice in that city. In 1861 he was appointed chief medical officer on the staff of General John F. Rathbone, and placed in charge of the depot for recruits at Albany. In May, 1862. he was appointed by Governor Edwin D. Morgan auxiliary volunteer surgeon at the front with the rank of medical superintendent, and was reappointed by Governor Horatio Seymour on 13 June. He was subsequently made a surgeon in the U. S. service, and assigned to duty at Savage's station. He was taken prisoner, 29 June, 1862, and offered his liberty by his captors, but preferred to remain with his patients. He was appointed by Governor Seymour in 1864 health officer of the port of New York, reappointed by Governor Reuben E. Fenton in 1866, and held the post six years. He was surgeon-in-chief of the American ambulance corps in Paris during the siege of that city by the German Army in 1870-'l. In 1882 he was elected mayor of Albany, and in 1884 he was chosen to Congress and served for one term. He has been surgeon-in-chief to the Child's hospital and Homoeopathic hospital at Albany, and has been a frequent contributor to the medical journals and reviews. See "A Typical American, or Incidents in the Life of Dr. John Swinburne" (Albany, 1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 12.
SWISSHELM, Jane Grey Cannon, 1815-1884, abolitionist leader, women’s rights advocate, journalist, reformer. Free Soil Party. Liberty Party and Liberty League. Republican Party activist. Established Saturday Visitor, an abolition and women’s rights newspaper. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 13; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 253; Blue, 2005, pp. 8-9, 50, 138-160, 268, 269; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 217; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 316; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 668-670)
SWISSHELM, Jane Grey, born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 6 September, 1815; died in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, 22 July, 1884. When she was eight years of age her father, James Cannon, died, leaving a family in straitened circumstances. The daughter worked at manual labor and teaching till she was twenty-one, when she married James Swisshelm, who several years afterward obtained a divorce on the ground of desertion. Two years later she moved with her husband to Louisville, Kentucky In this city she became an outspoken opponent of slavery, and her first written attack upon the system appeared in the Louisville “Journal” in 1842. She also wrote articles favoring abolition and woman's rights in the “Spirit of Liberty,” of Pittsburg, for about four years. In 1848 she established the Pittsburg “Saturday Visitor,” a strong abolition and woman's rights paper, which, in 1856, was merged with the weekly edition of the Pittsburg “Journal.” In 1857 she went to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and established the St. Cloud “Visitor.” Her bold utterances caused a mob to destroy her office and its contents, and to throw her printing-press into the river. But she soon began to publish the St. Cloud “Democrat.” When Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency, she spoke and wrote in his behalf and for the principles of which he was the representative. When the Civil War began and nurses were wanted at the front, she was one of the first to respond. After the battle of the Wilderness she had charge of 182 badly wounded men at Fredericksburg for five days, without surgeon or assistant, and saved them all. She was a prolific writer for newspapers and magazines, and published “Letters to Country Girls” (New York, 1853), and an autobiography entitled “Half of a Century” (1881). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. P. 13.
SWORDS, Robert Smith, author, born in New York City, 12 July, 1816; died in Newark. New Jersey, 15 January, 1881. He was graduated at Columbia in 1834, and after studying law for three years with Daniel Lord was admitted to the bar. Soon after this he formed a partnership with Sylvester Ward which lasted ten years, when he retired from the practice of his profession, in the meantime serving during several years as judge-advocate for the city of New York. In 1849 he settled on Passaic River, opposite Belleville, New Jersey, and while living there was for twelve years a magistrate for Union township. Although an earnest Democrat and an opponent of the administration of President Lincoln, he placed his services at the disposal of the government, in August, 1862, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 13th New Jersey Volunteers, and was with his regiment in the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, being wounded in the former engagement. He resigned in 1863 and moved to Newark. New Jersey, where he afterward resided. For many years he was secretary of the Board of trade of Newark, and he was corresponding secretary of the New Jersey state agricultural society, treasurer of the New Jersey society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and treasurer of the Board of proprietors of East. New Jersey. In 1867 he became treasurer of the New Jersey historical society, to whose " Proceedings " he contributed a " Memoir of the Life and Character of John Rutherford'' (1872); "The Bones of Columbus" (1879); "The Cathedral Church of San Domingo"'(1879); and other similar papers. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 13-14.
SWORDS, Thomas, soldier, born in New York City, 1 November, 1806; died there, 20 March, 1886. He was "a grandson of Captain Thomas Swords, a British officer, who died in New York in 1780, and his father was the senior member of the publishing-house of T. and J. Swords, of New York City. The son was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1829, assigned to the 4th U.S. Infantry, and served in various parts of the southern states for four years, when he was appointed 1st lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Dragoons. He was promoted captain, 3 March, 1837, and during nearly the whole of the succeeding twelve years was engaged on frontier duty, serving with General Henry Leavenworth against the Indians in the southwest, and with General Stephen Kearny in the conquest of New Mexico and California, and raised the first American flag over Santa Fe. When General Kearny's force reached San Diego on the Pacific coast in January. 1847, Swords, who was the quartermaster, went to the Sandwich Islands and obtained clothing and supplies for the soldiers. He became captain and assistant quartermaster. 7 July. 1838. major, 21 April, 1846, and lieutenant-colonel and deputy quartermaster-general. 3 August, 1861. He was chief quartermaster of the Army of the West in 1846-'7, was engaged at San Pasqual. California, 6 December, 1846, and at Vera Cruz, and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, 30 May, 1848, for meritorious services in the enemy's country. He was chief quartermaster of the Departments of the Cumberland and the Ohio in 1861-65, was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, and brevetted brigadier-general and major-general, U. S. Army. 13 March, 1865. He was retired from active service, 22 February, 1869. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 14.
SYKES, George, soldier, born in Dover, Delaware, 9 October, 1822; died in Brownsville, Texas, 9 February, 1880. He was appointed from Maryland to the U. S. Military Academy, and on his graduation in 1842 was assigned to the 3d U.S. Infantry, with which he served in the latter part of the Florida war, and then in the west and in Texas. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, 21 September, 1846. and during the Mexican war was engaged at Monterey, Vera Cruz. Cerro Gordo (where he was brevetted captain for gallantry), Contreras, Churubusco, and the capture of the City of Mexico. He was commissary of General Twiggs's division in Mexico in 1847-"8, and was then on frontier and garrison duty till the Civil War, taking part in skirmishes with the Apaches in 1854, and in the Navajo Expedition of 1859, and reaching the rank of captain on 30 September. 1855. He became major of the 14th U.S. Infantry, 14 May, 1861, was at the battle of Bull Run, and then commanded the regular infantry in Washington till March, 1862, and was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 September, 1861. He took part in the Peninsula Campaign at the head of the division of regulars in Fitz-John Porter's corps, receiving the brevet of colonel for gallantry at Gaines's Mills, and in the succeeding operations of the Army of the Potomac, becoming major-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862, and commanding the 5th Corps after the battle of Chancellorsville. He was at the head of this corps at Gettysburg, and so continued till 20 April. 1864, when he was ordered to Kansas. At the close of the war he received the brevet of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for services at Gettysburg, and major-general for "gallant and meritorious services in the field " during the war. He had reached the regular army rank of lieutenant-colonel on 16 October, 1863, and on 12 January, 1868, he became colonel of the 20th U.S. Infantry. From this time till his death he commanded various posts, and after 1877 he was in charge of Fort Brown, Texas On motion of Senator Burnside, H appropriated $1,000 for the removal of his remains to the cemetery at West Point, where he now lies buried, and where a fine monument has been erected to his memory by his many friends. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 14.
SZABAD, Emeric, author, born in Hungary about 1822. He was secretary under the Hungarian national government in 1849, was a friend of Louis Kossuth, and gained his first experience as a soldier in his native country. He subsequently served in Italy under Garibaldi, and at the opening of the Civil War came to this country and was appointed on the staff of General John C. Fremont. He served through the war, being on the staff of General Daniel E. Sickles at Gettysburg, and afterward on that of General Gouverneur K. Warren. He wrote a series of letters on the United States Army and its management for the New York "Tribune." and has published " Hungary, Past and Present " (London, 1854); "State Policy of Modern Europe from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Present I Time"(2 vols., 1857): and "Modern War: its Theory and Practice" (New York, 1863). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 16.
