USA > Indiana > Daviess County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Martin County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 12
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324
JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY.
325
BRANDER MATTHEWS.
YOUNG man though he be, it is doubtful if among the writers and critics of the United States any one is more widely known than Brander Matthews. He was born in New Orleans, La., Febru- ary 21, 1852, but his education was attained in the North. He grad- uated at Columbia College in 1871, and studied law in 1873, being admitted to the bar in the same year. Then, instead of practicing law, he promptly turned his attention to literature. He wrote plays, and later contributed freely to periodicals, using the pseudonym "Arthur Penn." He has been active in all things pertaining to the profession. He is one of the founders of the Authors' Club, and was prominent in organizing the American Copyright League and the Dun- lap Society. Among his publications have been "The Theatres of Paris," "French Dramatists of the Nineteenth Century," "The Home Library," "The Last Meeting," "A Secret of the Sea," pen and ink essays on subjects of more or less importance, and several other works of equal quality. His plays include "Margery's Lovers," "This Pic- ture and That," "A Gold Mine," and others of relative importance. He has edited various publications, such as the "Rhymster," "Poems of American Patriotism," "Sheridan's Comedies," "Ballads of a Book," and others of their class. He is a most industrious editor as well as writer. He, as a critic, is becoming daily more and more widely known and becoming so, to a great extent, because he is fair and just, giving credit where it is honestly due, whether the work to be criticised is the product of an unknown writer or a prominent author. It is not only his literary ability but his sense of justice which is giving him prominence.
126
BRANDER MATTHEWS.
327
BERTHA HONORE PALMER.
E VENTS proved that no mistake was made in placing at the head of the Woman's Department of the World's Columbian Exposition so popular and capable a lady as Mrs. Potter Palmer. As president of the Board of Lady Managers she filled her position with such grace and dignity, such tact and intelligence, and such rare administrative ability as to excite the admiration of the world. Mrs. Palmer was born in Louisville, Ky., where her childhood and early girlhood were spent. Her father, H. H. Honore, was of French descent, and her mother belonged to one of the oldest and most aristocratic Southern families. She received her education in a convent near Baltimore, Md., and afterward removed with her family to Chicago, where her father became an extensive property owner. In 1871 she was married to Potter Palmer, one of Chicago's wealthiest citizens, and proprietor of the famous Palmer House. Mrs. Palmer has traveled much, and has a large acquaintance among distinguished people at home and abroad. Her mental acquirements and inherited grace and refinement have made her a leader in society, while her contributions to city and state chari- ties are only surpassed by the good she privately does. During the World's Fair of 1893 she gained world-wide fame as president of the Board of Lady Managers, and it was universally conceded that a bet- ter selection for that responsible office could not have been made. Under her administration the Woman's Department attained proportions which formed one of the most remarkable developments of the Exposi- tion. The Palmer residence on the Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, is one of the handsomest in a city noted for its beautiful homes. It is built in the style of an old feudal castle.
328
BERTHA HONORE PALMER.
329
JOSEPH MEDILL.
IN the forefront of American journalism stands a man whose fame is I
as inseparably associated with that of the Chicago "Tribune" as was Horace Greeley's with that of the New York "Tribune" a quarter of a century ago. Joseph Medill was born in New Bruns- wick, Canada, April 6, 1823. He removed with his parents to Stark County, Ohio, in 1831, and until he was twenty-one years of age worked on his father's farm. Subsequently he studied law, and began the practice of his profession at New Philadelphia, Ohio, in 1846. In 1849 he founded a Free-Soil Whig paper at Coshocton, Ohio, and thenceforth devoted himself to journalism. In 1852 he established the "Leader," a Free-Soil Whig paper, at Cleveland, and in 1854 was one of the organizers of the Republican party in Ohio. Shortly after this event he removed to Chicago, and in May, 1855, he and two partners purchased the Chicago "Tribune," which has ever since been conducted as a Republican journal. Mr. Medill was a member of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1870, when the organic law of Illinois was revised, and was the author of the minority representation and several other provisions of that law. In 1871 he was appointed by President Grant a member of the first United States Civil Service Commission, and in the following year was elected mayor of Chicago by an immense majority on the so-called "fire-proof" ticket. He spent a year in Europe in 1873-74, and upon his return purchased the controlling interest in the "Tribune," of which he became and now is editor-in- chief. Mr. Medill has a winter residence in Southern California, where he spends a portion of each year, but is still active and vigorous in the editorial management of his newspaper.
330
JOSEPH MEDILL.
331
WILLIAM RALPH MEREDITH.
A STRIKING figure in the legislature of Canada's great Province of Ontario is William Ralph Meredith, leader of the opposition in that body. He was born in Westminster Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, March 31, 1840, graduated in 1859 at Toronto Uni- versity, and later began the practice of law in London, Ontario, where he soon achieved a high standing. In 1888 he removed to Toronto, of which city he is now city solicitor, and became the head of one of the largest law firms there. In March, 1876, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel by the Ontario Government, and in October, 1880, he received a like honor from the Dominion Government. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Toronto in May, 1889. Mr. Meredith has long been looked upon as one who will surely attain to a high position in the Canadian judiciary, but hitherto he has declined all overtures in that direction, doubtless, it is said, because of the position he occupies as leader of his party in the legis- lative assembly, and also because he looks to Ottawa as a larger field of political possibilities for him. In 1872 Mr. Meredith was elected to represent London in the Ontario Assembly. In 1878, on the elevation to the bench of the late Sir Matthews Crooks Cameron, he was unan- imously chosen as that gentleman's successor in the leadership of the Conservatives in the legislature. He is a man of striking and agree- able personal appearance, a fluent speaker, and has, apparently, the full confidence of the political party to which he belongs and in the coun- cils of which he leads. His position as leader of the opposition in Ontario gives him special prominence, because, as things are, he is in touch with the Ottawa Government.
332
WILLIAM RALPH MEREDITH.
333
WESLEY MERRITT.
A GOOD soldier with a good record is Gen. Wesley Merritt, of the United States army. He was born in New York City, June 16, 1836. He graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1860, was assigned to the dragoons and was promoted to be first lieutenant in 1861 and captain in 1862. He took part in Gen. Stone- man's raid toward Richmond in 1863, and was in command of the reserve cavalry brigade in the Pennsylvania campaign of the same year, being about this time commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. For gallant conduct at Gettysburg he was brevetted major in the Regular army. He took part in various engagements in central Virginia in 1863-64, and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the Regu- lar army and major-general of volunteers for gallantry in the battles of Yellow Tavern, Hawe's Shop and Winchester. He was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general in the Regular army for bravery at the battle of Five Forks, and later was commissioned major-general of volunteers. After the war he was employed chiefly on frontier duty until 1882, when he was placed in charge of the United States Mili- tary Academy at West Point. Here his strictness made him for a time almost unpopular with the cadets, but they learned to know his real quality and to regard him as a great head of a great school. In 1887 he was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and in 1887 became briga- dier-general. His career since the date named has been what was to be expected of such a man with such a record. He is one of the trusted generals of the army of the United States, and is at the pres- ent time commanding the department of Missouri. with headquarters at Chicago. He is a fine soldier.
334
WESLEY MERRITT.
335
CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER.
R ECOGNIZED by all who can read and understand, as a great poetic genius, Cincinnatus Heine (better known as Joaquin ) Mil- ler occupies an admitted position in American literature. Sir Edwin Arnold has declared Joaquin Miller one of the two American poets whose fame will endure. He was born in the Wabash district, in Indiana, November 10, 1841, and when thirteen years old immigrated with his family to Oregon. Three years afterward the boy went alone to California, but returning later to Eugene, Ore., he became the editor of the Democratic "Register" in that town. In 1863 he opened a law office in Canyon City, Ore., and from 1866 to 1870 served as' county judge of Grant County. It was at about this time that his first poems appeared, one collection, entitled "Joaquin et Al.," giving him the name by which he is best known. In 1871 he published, in London, "Songs of the Sierras" and "Pacific Poems." In 1873 appeared "Songs of the Sun Lands" and a prose volume entitled "Life Among the Modocs," "Unwritten History." His later works are the "Ship in the Desert," 1875; "The Danites in the Sierras," "The One Fair Woman," 1876; "Baroness of N. Y.," 1877; "Songs of Far Away Lands," 1878; "Songs of Italy," 1878; "Shadows of Shasta," 1881; "Memorie & Rime," 1884; "Forty-Nine, the Gold- Seeker of the Sierras," 1884, and he has since published other vol- umes, lately adding to his reputation by "The Building of the City Beautiful," appearing in 1893. A new edition of his works appeared in 1890 in response to the increasing appreciation of his undoubted genius. The poet lives on a height, near Oakland. Cal., overlooking the great ocean, of which he sings so well.
336
CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER.
337
DARIUS OGDEN MILLS.
Y "EARS ago the "luck of D. O. Mills" became a proverb on the Pacific coast, but it was luck attended with a reputation for judgment, rapid decision, boldness and absolute integrity. Mr. Mills began at the very bottom of the ladder. Born in North Salem, West- chester County, N. Y., September 5, 1825, he was left without resources at the age of sixteen, and from a poorly paid clerk in New York City became, at twenty-two, cashier and one-third owner of a small bank in Buffalo. Two years later he went to California and established in Sacramento the gold bank of D. O. Mills & Co., which was immedi- ately and conspicuously successful. He became largely interested in mines on the Comstock lode, forest lands and other property, and in 1864 founded the Bank of California, in San Francisco, of which he assumed the presidency. For years this bank had the highest credit in the financial centers both of Europe and Asia. Mr. Mills resigned and withdrew from the management of the concern in 1873, and two years later the bank was wrecked through disastrous speculations on the part of its president, William C. Ralston. Its failure created an
excitement that convulsed the Pacific coast. Ralston committed suicide. Mr. Mills again became president, and in three years had firmly re- established the bank. He then left it, and gradually transferred his heavy investments to the East, where he erected the largest office building in New York, and finally returned to reside near his birth- place. Mr. Mills has made several munificent gifts to the state of California and the city of New York, and gave $75,000 to found the Mills professorship of moral and intellectual philosophy in the Univer- sity of California.
338
DARIUS OGDEN MILLS.
339
ROGER QUARLES MILLS.
TT is high praise to say of any man that he is best liked where he is best known. No better evidence of a man's popularity and influence in his own community could be desired than the fact that he has been chosen to represent that community continuously for a quar- ter of a century in the legislative halls of the country. Such has been the lot of Roger Q. Mills, the junior senator from Texas. Sen- ator Mills was born in Todd County, Kentucky, March 30, 1832. After receiving a common-school education he removed to Palestine, Tex., in 1849, where he studied law, supporting himself in the mean time by serving as an assistant in the postoffice and in the offices of the court clerks. In 1850 he was elected engrossing clerk of the Texas House of Representatives, and in 1852, by a special act of the Legislature-for he was still a minor-he was admitted to the bar. He practiced his profession at Corsicana, and in 1859 was elected to the Legislature. Subsequently he was colonel of the Tenth Texas regiment in the Confederate service. In 1873 he was elected to Con- gress from the state at large as a Democrat, and served continuously in that body until he resigned to accept the position of United States senator, to which he was elected March 23, 1892. In 1876 Mr. Mills opposed the creation of an electoral commission, and in 1887 canvassed Texas against the adoption of the prohibition amendment to its consti- tution, which was defeated. He introduced into the House of Repre- sentatives in 1888 the bill that was known by his name, reducing the duties on imports and extending the free list. Senator Mills is a man of much quiet force, whose opinions in legislative matters have great weight.
340
ROGER QUARLES MILLS.
341
HARRIET STONE MONROE.
B ROUGHT suddenly into prominence as the poet-laureate of the World's Columbian Exposition, Miss Harriet S. Monroe, of Chi- cago, passed safely through the ordeal of criticism thus invited and now occupies a secure place among American poets. A volume of her poems, published under the title of "Valeria, and Other Poems," has won from well known critics pronounced and cordial commendation. Miss Monroe was born in Chicago, December 23, 1860, her parents having moved to that city from central New York five years earlier. Her education was begun in the public schools, and continued in Dear- born Seminary, and at the age of sixteen she entered the Academy of the Visitation, at Georgetown, D. C., where she remained two years. While there she gave special attention to the study of composition, and to some extent indulged her inclination to write verses for her own amusement. After leaving school she engaged seriously in literary pur- suits, but for some time was content to have no other audience than her immediate friends. "Valeria" was first printed for private circula- tion in 1891, but in the latter part of 1892 the work was enlarged and brought out by a Chicago publisher. By request of the commit- tee on ceremonies of the World's Columbian Exposition, Miss Monroe wrote the "Opening Ode" for the dedication of the White City, which occurred October 21, 1892. Parts of the poem were read and parts of it sung by the great chorus on that memorable occasion. In prose Miss Monroe has done considerable journalistic work, chiefly in the line of art and literary criticisms, and has written a number of clever essays on the English poets. She is a graceful writer, and her essays, like her poems, are distinguished by simplicity and sincerity.
342
HARRIET STONE MONROE.
343
JUSTIN SMITH MORRILL.
O NE of the truly great men in the United States Senate, who com- mands the closest attention whenever he addresses that body on any of the important questions of the day, is the senior senator from Vermont. Senator Morrill has passed his eighty-fourth birthday, and for nearly forty years his voice has been heard in the legislative halls of the national government. He was born in Strafford, Orange County, Vt., April 14, 1810. He received a common-school and academic edu- cation and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1848, when he turned his attention to agriculture. He was elected to Congress in 1855 as a Republican, and was five times re-elected, serving from December, 1855, until March 3, 1867. During the stirring times immediately pre- ceding the Civil war he was looked upon as a leader in the House, and his power and influence never waned thereafter. He was the author of the "Morrill" tariff of 1861, and acted as chairman of the committee of ways and means in 1864 and 1865. In 1867 he was elected United States senator from Vermont, and has served continu- ously in that body from March 4 of that year until the present time. Senator Morrill is the author His present term will expire in 1897. of "Self-Consciousness of Noted Persons," published in 1886, a work which is a most interesting addition to thoughtful and analytical litera- ture. He is a fluent and graceful writer, as he is a forcible and elo- quent speaker. In debate he has few equals in the Senate, and he is especially strong on all questions affecting the tariff, which he has made a special study during his public life, and which has been the subject of some of his ablest oratorical efforts, delivered from the stand- point of a protectionist.
344
JUSTIN SMITH MORRILL.
345
JULIUS STERLING MORTON.
INTIMATELY associated with all the material growth of Nebraska during the last forty years, J. Sterling Morton stepped into Presi- dent Cleveland's Cabinet fully equipped for the intelligent performance of the duties devolving upon him as Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Morton was born in Adams, Jefferson County, N. Y., April 27, 1832, but at an early age removed with his parents to Michigan, and was graduated at Ann Arbor University. He subsequently graduated at the Union College of Law, New York, and after a brief editorial career with the Detroit "Free Press" and Chicago "Times," settled in Bellevue, Neb., in 1854. In the following year he started the Nebraska City "News," and was elected to the territorial legislature. He was re-elected in 1857, and in 1858 was appointed secretary of the territory to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Gov. Thomas B. Cuming, serving in that capacity until May, 1861. In 1860 he was nominated for Congress, and was given the certificate of election, but was unseated by contest. In 1866 he was again defeated as the Democratic candidate for the first state governorship of Nebraska. After a retirement of fifteen years from politics, he was a candidate for the governorship in 1880, 1884 and 1892, each time failing of election, and in 1893 President Cleveland appointed him Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Morton has been the favorite candidate of his party several times for the United States Senate. He is a practical agriculturist and hor- ticulturist, and has contributed largely to the best literature on those subjects. He is also the author of the Arbor Day legislation, which provides that one day in each year, April 22, be made a public holi- day devoted to tree planting.
346
JULIUS STERLING MORTON.
347
JOHN SINGLETON MOSBY.
A FTER a career that reads more like a thrilling romance than a record of actual facts, that once famous Southerner, Col. John S. Mosby, is now engaged in the practice of law on the Pacific coast. He was born in Powhattan County, Virginia, December 6, 1833. While attending the University of Virginia, he shot and seriously wounded a student, who assaulted him. He was fined and sentenced to imprisonment, but was pardoned by the governor, and his fine was remitted. Becoming a lawyer, he practiced at Bristol, Va., until the beginning of hostilities in 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate cavalry, and soon became noted as a fighter. Acting as scout, he guided General Stuart's force in a bold raid in the rear of Gen. George B. Mcclellan's position on the Chickahominy, June 14, 1862. In Jan- uary, 1863, he crossed the Rappahannock into northern Virginia, which had been abandoned to the occupation of the National army, and recruited a force of irregular cavalry, with which he harassed the Fed- eral lines by cutting communications, destroying supply trains in the rear of invading armies, and capturing many cavalry outposts. In March, 1863, he routed a cavalry force much larger than his own, and a month later defeated a detachment sent especially to capture him. Once he was surrounded in the rear of Hooker's army, but cut his way through the lines. He was several times wounded. The Con- federate Congress placed his partisan rangers on the same footing as the cavalry of the line. After the war Colonel Mosby settled at War- renton, Va. He supported Grant in 1872, and Hayes in 1876, for the presidency, and by the latter was appointed consul at Hong Kong, where he remained six years.
348
JOHN SINGLETON MOSBY.
349
LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON.
T THE author of many exquisite sonnets, which not a few critics have placed at the head of their kind in America, the literary reputation of Louise Chandler Moulton rests upon her poetry, notwith- standing the excellence and wide range of her prose work. Born in Pomfret, Conn., April 5, 1835, she was educated at Mrs. Emma Wil- lard's Seminary in Troy, N. Y., and began to contribute to periodicals under the name of "Ellen Louise" at the age of fifteen. She was only nineteen when she published her first book, "This, That and the Other," which was very successful, and after her marriage in 1855 to William U. Moulton, a publisher of Boston, she wrote "Juno Clifford," a novel, and contributed many articles and short stories to the maga- zines. In 1873 Roberts Brothers, of Boston, became her publishers, and have issued many volumes of her poetical and prose works, which have had a large sale. From 1870 to 1876 she was the Boston lit- erary correspondent of the New York "Tribune," and for five years she wrote a weekly letter on bookish topics for the Boston "Sunday Herald." Mrs. Moulton's home is in Boston, but she spends her summers and autumns abroad, principally in London and Paris, and her society and literary letters from those cities are much sought after by American newspaper publishers. Since the death of Philip Bourke Marston, in 1887, she has edited two volumes of his verses, "Garden Secrets" and "A Last Harvest," with a preface and biographical sketch of the author. It has been said of Mrs. Moulton that she is in herself two phenomena-the dedicated and conscientious poet, and the poet whose wares are marketable and popular. She is especially happy in her stories for children.
350
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Louise Chandler Moutlow.
LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON.
351
OLIVER MOWATT.
S TURDY man physically as well as mentally is the premier and attorney-general of the province of Ontario, Canada. Oliver Mowatt (now Sir Oliver) was born in Kingston, Upper Canada, July 22, 1820. He received a thorough education, adopted the law as his profession, and was called to the bar in 1842. He was appointed a queen's counsel in 1856, and a bencher of the Law Society for the province in the same year. He became a member of the Senate, and an LL. D. of Toronto University. From 1856 to 1859 he was a commissioner for consolidating the public general statutes of Canada and Upper Canada. He entered political life in 1858, as representative of South Ontario; was provincial secretary in the same year; postmaster- general in 1863-64; and from November, 1864, until October, 1872, was vice-chancellor of Upper Canada. His prominence in the Liberal party of the province grew rapidly, and his acuteness as a political leader was soon recognized after he had fairly entered the political field. He left the bench at the period last named to form a new administration in Ontario, and became premier and attorney-general for the province, and representative of North Oxford in the Legislature. He is the author of many important legislative measures in the pro- vincial parliament, among which is the judicature bill, an act passed for the fusion of law and equity in the courts of Ontario. Time does not seem to tell upon him as upon most men. He is the same genial, alert, and politic director of affairs that he was long ago, and still apparently capable of guiding the destinies of his party successfully for a long time to come. He has been in power for twenty-two years and has just been again triumphant in a hard-fought campaign.
35
OLIVER MOWATT.
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353
THOMAS NAST.
N TO other caricaturist in the world ever gained such wide popularity as Thomas Nast, whose famous autograph and peculiar style of work have for years been familiar to millions of readers of pictorial literature. Mr. Nast was born in Landau, Bavaria, September 27, 1840, and was brought to the United States by his father in 1846. When a boy of fourteen he spent about six months in the drawing classes of Theodore Kaufmann, and then, with no other preparatory art instruction, he was engaged as a draughtsman on an illustrated paper. In 1860 he went to England as special artist for a New York weekly paper, thence to Italy, where he followed Garibaldi, mak- ing sketches for the leading illustrated papers of New York, London and Paris. Returning to New York he began, in July, 1862, drawing war sketches for "Harper's Weekly." His very first political carica- ture, an allegorical design that gave a powerful blow to the peace party, brought him into public notice and he immediately became popu- lar. Besides his work for "Harper's Weekly," by which he is best known, Mr. Nast has drawn for other periodicals, illustrated a number of books, issued "Nast's Illustrated Almanac" for several years, and executed many caricatures in water colors. Since 1873 he has spent much of his time lecturing in the principal cities of the United States, drawing caricatures and sketches on the stage with extreme rapidity by way of illustration. In his particular line, pictorial satire, Thomas Nast stands in the foremost rank, and his talent in that respect has been productive of some excellent results, such as the overthrow of the Tweed ring in New York City, and the arousing of popular sentiment against various iniquities, political and otherwise.
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