USA > Indiana > Daviess County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 9
USA > Indiana > Martin County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 9
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was the Senate postmaster. On September 1 of that year he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Fifth district of Maryland, which office he held until March, 1869. Three months later he was made a director in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, of which he became president in 1872. In November, 1869, he was elected to the Maryland Legislature as a Democrat, re-elected in 1871, and chosen Speaker of the House during the ensuing session. He was elected to the State Senate in 1875, and served four years. In 1880 he was chosen to represent the state in the United States Senate, succeeding William Pinkney Whyte, and was re-elected in 1886 and 1892. His term of service will expire in 1899. In the Senate, Mr. Gorman wields a powerful influence. He is eloquent and forcible in debate, and his remarks always receive the closest attention. When a compli- cated or momentous question is under discussion, it is usually the speech of Senator Gorman that clears the atmosphere like a thunder- shower at the close of a sultry day, pointing the way to a solution of the problem.
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ARTHUR PUE GORMAN.
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ELISHA GRAY.
L ABORERS in the field of electrical science do not often rise to the position attained by Prof. Elisha Gray in the development of that science. His works have made an impression scarcely less important than that of any other whose name might be mentioned. Professor Gray was born at Barnesville, Belmont County, Ohio, August 2, 1835. At the age of twenty-one he went to Oberlin College, where he stud- ied for five years. It was not until his thirtieth year that he first turned his attention to electrical mechanism, with which he soon became fascinated. His first invention of practical importance was that of the nech annunciator for hotels, which was invented in 1870 and perfected in 18/2. This was followed by the electrical annunciator for elevators, and laver by the private telegraph line printer, so well known to this day. From 1873 to 1875 his attention was largely absorbed in devel- oping a system of electro-harmonic telegraphy for the transmission of sounds over telegraph wires. On February 14, 1876, he filed at Washington a caveat for "Art of transmitting vocal sounds telegraph- ically." But Prof. A. Graham Bell, though probably anticipated in point of time by the caveat of Professor Gray, was granted a broad patent for speaking telephones, March 8, 1876, and sixteen years of litigation failed to deprive him of the credit as the inventor. Professor Gray's latest invention is the telautograph, for the transmission of writ- ten language in fac-simile. He resides at Highland Park, near Chicago, and is one of the most affable and genial of men. In his profession he is universally esteemed, both as a man and as a scientist and inventor of the highest rank. The world owes him much for his valuab'~ discoveries.
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ELISHA GRAY.
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GALUSHA AARON GROW.
R ENOWNED as a fearless and patriotic statesman during a critical period of the country's history-modestly retiring at the end of that period, only to be taken up thirty years after and elected to Con- gress by an unprecedented majority such is the record of Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Grow was born in Ashford (now East- ford), Windham County, Conn., August 31, 1824, but when ten years old removed with his family to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. He was graduated at Amherst in 1844, after which he studied law and practiced at Towanda until 1850, when his health failed and he became a farmer. In that year he declined a unanimous nomination for the Legislature, but was soon after elected to Congress as a Dem- ocrat and served for twelve successive years, although in the mean time severing his connection with the Democratic party on the repeal of the Missouri compromise bill. His period of service was distin- guished by much important legislation. His first speech was delivered upon the Homestead bill, a measure which he continued to urge at every Congress for ten years, when he had at last the satisfaction of signing the law as Speaker of the House. He served as Speaker from July 4, 1861, until March 4, 1863, when, upon retiring, he was given a unanimous vote of thanks, a most unusual proceeding. Mr. Grow was a delegate to the National Republican conventions of 1864 and 1868. In 1871 he settled in Houston, Tex., as president of the International and Great Northern railroad, but returned to Pennsylvania in 1875, and in 1876 declined a mission to Russia. In 1894 he was elected Congressman-at-large to succeed William Lilly, deceased, receiv- ing the astonishing plurality of 188,294 votes over his strongest opponent.
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GALUSHA AARON GROW.
241
GERTRUDE ATHERTON.
T O be intensely natural, yet to impart to her creations a touch of ideality which may often be invisible in real life, although exist- ing in an imperfect medium, is one of the literary principles of that delightful writer of California stories, Mrs. Gertrude Atherton. Of her favorite field-California before the American occupation Mrs. Atherton has made an exhaustive study, living in the old towns with the rem- nants of the race of which she writes, and storing up knowledge of their customs and traditions. She was born on Rincon Hill, San Francisco, and was educated by her grandfather, Stephen Franklin, who was a nephew of Benjamin Franklin. Her father was Thomas L. Horn, one of the original Vigilance Committee. As a child she com- posed stories, and at fifteen she wrote a play which was acted by schoolmates at St. Mary's Hall, Benicia, Cal. Her education was completed at Sayre Institute, Lexington, Ky., and soon thereafter she was married to George H. B. Atherton, of California. She continued her persistent pursuit of knowledge, however, with an ambition to one day take a place in American literature. Her first published story, "The Randolphs of Redwoods," appeared in the San Francisco " Argo- naut." But her best work is in her stories of old California, "The Doomswoman" and the eleven shorter ones that have been collected under the title, "Before the Gringo Came." Some of her stories have
appeared in "The London Graphic," "Blackwood's" and other English periodicals, and the "London Speaker" recently referred to her as one of the pioneers of the true American literature. Mrs. Atherton, who now resides at Yonkers, N. Y., has in preparation a novel to be enti- tled, "Patience Sparhawk and Her Times."
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GERTRUDE ATHERTON.
243
HATTIE TYNG GRISWOLD.
R EADERS of current literature have for many years been familiar with the name of Mrs. Hattie Tyng Griswold, the talented author of many charming poems, stories and sketches. Mrs. Griswold, though known as a Western woman, is a native of Boston, Mass., where she was born January 26, 1842. Her father removed to Wis- consin while she was yet a child, and her life has been spent in that state. At the age of fifteen she began writing for the press, and a little later became a contributor to the New York "Home Journal," then edited by N. P. Willis, and to the Louisville "Courier-Journal," edited by George D. Prentice. These two men were literary lions in those days, and when they put the stamp of their approval on a pro- duction, there could be no question of its merit. She also wrote for the "Knickerbocker Magazine," and became quite a favorite of its ed- itor, Charles G. Leland. In 1863 she was married to Eugene Sher- wood Griswold, of Columbia, Wis., where she has continued to reside to the present time. Her pleasant home is the resort of many of the
famous men and women of the day, for she has an extensive personal
acquaintance with literary and other celebrities. Mrs. Griswold's first volume of collected poems was published in 1878, under the title of " Apple Blossoms." An edition of her later poems has been prepared for the press. In 1886 she published "Home Life of Great Authors," one of the most successful books of recent years. Among her works of fiction may be mentioned two stories for girls, "Waiting on Des- tiny" and "Lucile and Her Friends," and a novel entitled "Fencing with Shadows," which have added not a little to the author's reputa- tion.
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HATTIE TYNG GRISWOLD.
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HORACE GRAY.
P RESIDENT ARTHUR made good appointments. The tact and sense of that typical man of the world made him, perhaps, a better judge of men than was more than one other of the presidents possibly surpassing him in genius. Not the least sensible and satisfac- tory among the appointments made by President Arthur was that of Horace Gray, of Massachusetts, to be associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Horace Gray was born in Boston, Mass., March 24, 1828. He received a thorough preliminary education and was a graduate from Harvard in 1845, and from the Harvard Law School in 1849. He was admitted to the bar in 1851, and found himself at once in a field congenial to his special talents and inclina- tions. He was appointed reporter of the supreme judicial court of Massachusetts in 1854, and held that position until 1861, when he was appointed associate justice of the same court August 23, 1864. His remarkable legal ability was manifested in his position on this digni- fied bench, and in 1873 he was appointed chief justice of the court. In that position he became widely known because of his legal learning and the thoughtfulness and fairness of his decisions, and December 19, 1881, he was commissioned associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He has filled the difficult position with all the ability and fairness that was expected of him, and is a distinguished member of the highest judicial tribunal of the world. He is one of the hardest working members of a body where hard work has been the rule for a long time, in fact from the beginning of the govern- ment, and his opinions are respected by his associates as highly as is his character by the country.
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HORACE GRAY.
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ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER.
T HERE can certainly be no question of the popularity of a novel when the demand for it swells the first edition to more than sixty-one thousand copies. Such was the fate of "Mr. Barnes of New York," and of that later production from the same pen, "Mr. Potter of Texas." And yet the author had to turn publisher in order to get his books before the public. Archibald Clavering Gunter is an English- man by birth, having been born in Liverpool October 25, 1847, but at the age of five years he was taken to California by his parents, and was there educated, taking the degree of Ph. B. in University College, San Francisco. From 1867 until 1874 he followed his profession of mining and civil engineering, and then became a stock broker in San Francisco, operating in mining stocks. In 1877 he went to New York, having fully decided to make literature his occupation in life. He had previously written two successful plays, and he now produced several others that were even more successful. His first novel, "Mr. Barnes of New York," was finished in 1885, and published in 1887. It had been refused by all the publishing houses to which he had sub- mitted it, and he finally organized the Home Publishing Company and issued the novel himself. It was a great success, and has been printed in several languages. Mr. Gunter's own dramatization of the story had a remarkable run, and was immensely popular. His later novels, "Mr. Potter of Texas," "Miss Nobody of Nowhere," and oth- ers, have also been very successful. Combining energy and enterprise with marked literary ability, Mr. Gunter has accumulated a fortune from the products of his pen within a few years. His stories are full of dramatic force and interest.
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ARCHIBALD CLAVERING GUNTER.
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JOHN HABBERTON.
T THE author of that interesting and clever book, "Helen's Babies," awoke one morning to find himself famous, and all because he had written something which, rather unexpectedly to him, struck the popular fancy. That work gave him a reputation which he has since sustained. John Habberton was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 24, 1842. He lived in Illinois from his eighth to his seventeenth year, then went to New York, learned to set type in the establishment of Harper & Brothers, and subsequently entered their counting-room. In 1862 he enlisted in the army as a private, rose to the rank of first lieutenant, and served through the war. He was again in the employ of the Harpers, from 1865 to 1872, when he went into business for himself and failed in six months. This led him to become a contrib- utor to periodicals, and later to accept the post of literary editor of the "Christian Union," which he held from 1874 to 1877, when he resigned to take an editorial position on the New York "Herald." His first literary work was a series of sketches of western life. His "Helen's Babies," after being rejected by three publishers, was brought out by a Boston house in 1876, and has sold to the extent of about three hundred thousand copies in the United States. Eleven different English editions of it have appeared, besides several in the British colonies, and it has been translated into French, German and Italian. A few of Mr. Hab- berton's other works are "The Barton Experiment," "The Jericho Road," "The Scripture Club of Valley Rest," "Other People's Chil- dren," "The Crew of the Samuel Weller," "The Worst Boy in Town," "Who was Paul Grayson?" and "Brueton's Bayou." His style is simple and natural and devoid of affectation.
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JOHN HABBERTON.
251
EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
TN the ranks of the literary workers of America there is one figure 1 that deserves the distinguishing title of the "Grand Old Man," of letters. Edward Everett Hale, D. D., is a survivor of that class of writers and thinkers of which Emerson, Lowell and Parkman were such conspicuous representatives. He was born in Boston, Mass., April 3, 1822. After graduating at Harvard, in 1839, he studied the- ology and became a Unitarian minister. He was pastor of the Church of the Unity, of Worcester, Mass., from 1846 to 1856, since which time he has been pastor of the South Congregational Church, Boston. Dr. Hale has published a large number of books. The one that first gave him international fame was "The Man Without a Country," which appeared in 1861. Prior to that he had produced "The Rosary," in 1848, and "America," in 1856. Among his subsequent works may be mentioned "His Level Best," and other stories, 1872; "Ups and Downs," 1873; "Working-Men's Homes" and "In His Name," 1874; "Philip Nolan's Friends," 1876; "Boys' Heroes," 1885; "What is the American People," 1885. He edited a series of stories of the war, sea, adventure, etc., from 1880 to 1885, and (conjointly with Miss Hale ) wrote "A Family Flight Through France, Germany, etc.," in 1881. Mr. Hale has been a frequent contributor to period- icals, was editor of the "Christian Examiner," and the founder and editor of that popular publication, "Old and New." He afterward became editor of "Lend Me a Hand," and his work in the field of literature shows the same vigor and freshness today that characterized it thirty years ago. His stories are interesting and wholesome and show the masterly skill of the scholar.
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EDWARD EVERETT HALE.
253
MURAT HALSTEAD.
L ONG recognized as one of the most powerful and influential expo- nents of Republican principles in the West, the veteran editor of the Cincinnati "Commercial-Gazette" is a striking figure in political journalism. Like the majority of Americans who have achieved dis- tinction by the force of superior abilities, guided by indomitable energy and pluck, Murat Halstead began life as a poor country boy. Born in Paddy's Run, Butler County, Ohio, September 2, 1829, he spent the summers on his father's farm, and the winters in school until he was nineteen years old, and after teaching for a few months, entered Farm- er's College, near Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1851. While in college he had amused himself by contributing to the press, and finding that his articles were well received, and that he had a taste for such employment, he decided to adopt the profession of journalism. He became connected with the Cincinnati "Atlas," and then with the "Enquirer," and afterward established a Sunday newspaper in that city, of which he was editor. This enterprise was soon abandoned, and he obtained employment on the "Columbian and Great West," a weekly paper. He began work on the "Commercial," March 8, 1853, as a local reporter, and soon became news editor. In 1854 the "Commer- cial" was reorganized, and Mr. Halstead purchased an interest in the paper. In 1867 its control passed into his hands. He subsequently allied himself with the Republican party, which he has since supported. In 1890 Mr. Halstead edited a Republican campaign paper in New York, and President Harrison nominated him as Minister to Berlin, but the Senate refused to confirm the nomination. He is a stalwart figure in political journalism.
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MURAT HALSTEAD.
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JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN.
I IN the administration of justice there is probably no man wearing the ermine today who has more thoroughly enlisted the confidence of the people than has John M. Harlan, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. All his life Mr. Harlan has been of a judicial turn of mind. He was born in Boyle County, Kentucky, June 1, 1833, and was graduated at Center College, in that state, in 1850. After studying law at Transylvania University he practiced his profes- sion at Frankfort, and in 1858 was elected county judge. He was afterward an unsuccessful Whig candidate for Congress, and was presi- dential elector on the Bell and Everets ticket. Removing to Louisville, he formed a law partnership with Hon. W. F. Bullock, and in 1861 entered the Union army as colonel of the Tenth Kentucky infantry, serving in Gen. George H. Thomas' division. In 1863 he was elected
attorney-general of Kentucky and filled the office until 1867. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1871, and his name was pre- sented by the Republican Convention of his state in 1875 for the vice- presidency of the United States. Judge Harlan was chairman of the Kentucky delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1876, and afterward declined a diplomatic position as a substitute for the attorney-generalship, to which, before he reached Washington, President Hayes intended to assign him. He served as a member of the Louis- iana Commission, and on November 29, 1877, was commissioned an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, as successor to David Davis. In his particular sphere Justice Harlan occupies a promi- nent place among the great men of America, and is justly honored for his eminent abilities and his pure life.
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JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN.
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WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER.
Y TOUNGER in years than the great majority of men who have gained reputations as scholars and educators, it is yet doubtful if there is a college professor in the United States who stands higher as a Hebraist and master of Biblical literature than William R. Har- per, president of the University of Chicago. Born at New Concord, Ohio. July 26, 1856, President Harper is but thirty-eight years of age. After graduating at Muskingum College, and after three years of study at home, he took a two years' graduate course in Sanskrit, Greek and comparative philology at Yale under Professor Whitney, receiving the degree of Ph. D. In the same year he accepted the principalship of Masonic College, Macon, Tenn., and after teaching there for one year went to Denison University, Granville, Ohio, where he spent three years in teaching. From there he was called to the professorship of Hebrew and the cognate languages in the Baptist Union Theological Seminary at Morgan Park, Ill., near Chicago, where he began teach- ing Hebrew on the inductive method. In 1881 he organized a corre- spondence school of Hebrew, which later developed into The American Institute of Sacred Literature, now having its headquarters in Chicago. He also published "The Hebrew Student," the forerunner of the pres- ent "Hebraica," and "The Old and New Testament Student," now " The Biblical World." In 1886 he went to Yale as professor of Semitic languages and literature, afterward taking the chair of Biblical literature in English. In 1891 he became principal of the Chautauqua System, and in the same year was made president of the University of Chicago. President Harper is the author of several Hebrew, Greek and Latin text-books.
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WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER.
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FRANCIS BRET HARTE. 1
A S the founder of a distinct school of American literature, as well as for the truly artistic work that he has done in his chosen field, Bret Harte deserves the fame that he has won. He was born in Albany, N. Y., August 25, 1839, and received a common school education. After the death of his father he went with his mother to California in 1854, and, after unsuccessful ventures at teaching and mining, he became a compositor in a newspaper office at Sonora. In 1857 he went to San Francisco, and while setting type in the office of the "Golden Era" began writing anonymous sketches of his mining camp experiences. The result was that he was invited to join the corps of writers. Soon afterward he became associated in the manage- ment of the "Californian," a literary weekly, short-lived, but of interest as containing his "Condensed Novels." In July, 1868, the publication of "The Overland Monthly" was begun, with Mr. Harte as its organizer and editor. The second issue contained "The Luck of Roaring Camp," the first of those dialect character sketches of Western mining life of which he was the pioneer writer. It was followed by "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and other stories, and the reputation of the author was established. In 1870 appeared his "Plain Language from Truthful James," popularly known as "The Heathen Chinee." His later novels and stories have all been exceedingly popular. He settled in New York in 1871, and became a regular contributor to magazines. In 1878 he was appointed United States Consul to Crefeld, Germany, whence he was transferred in 1880 to Glasgow, Scotland, and continued in that office until 1885. At present he is residing abroad, engaged in literary pursuits.
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FRANCIS BRET HARTE.
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JOSEPH ROSWELL HAWLEY.
Q UITE an exceptional man in his generation, presenting in the very highest form the qualities that are calculated to shine both in the field and in the forum, Senator Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, is one of the most distinguished of the soldier-statesmen of the Republic. He was born in Statesville, N. C., October 31, 1826, removed to Connecticut in 1837, was graduated at Hamilton College in 1847, and began the practice of law in Hartford in 1850. The first meeting for the organization of the Republican party in Connecticut was held in his office, at his call, February 4, 1856. One year later he abandoned law practice and became editor of the Hartford "Evening Press," the new distinctively Republican paper. He responded to the first call for troops in 1861, raising the first company of the First Connecticut volunteers, and is believed to have been the first volunteer in the state. Entering the service as a captain, he made a splendid war record and was mustered out in January, 1866, with the brevet of major-general. In April of that year he was elected governor of Connecticut, serving one year. In 1867, having consolidated the " Press" and the "Courant," he resumed editorial life, and more rigorously than ever entered the political contests following the war. He was always in demand as a speaker throughout the country, and was president of the National Republican convention in 1868. He served in the Forty-third and Forty-sixth Congresses, and in 1881, by the unanimous vote of his party, was chosen United States Senator, being re-elected in 1887, and again in 1893, for the term ending March 3, 1899. In the National convention of 1884 the Connecticut delegation unanimously voted for him for President in every ballot.
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JOSEPH ROSWELL HAWLEY.
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JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
INHERITING much of his distinguished father's talent, imaginative genius and graceful style of expression, Julian Hawthorne has estab- lished a reputation as a fluent and versatile writer. Mr. Hawthorne was born in Boston, Mass., June 22, 1846, was educated at Harvard, and studied civil engineering in the scientific school at Cambridge. In October, 1868, he went to Dresden to study, but the Franco-German war began while he was visiting at home in the summer of 1870, and he obtained employment as a hydrographic engineer under Gen. Geo. B. McClellan, in the department of docks, New York. In 1871 he began to write stories and sketches for magazines, and in 1872, decid- ing to devote himself to literature, went to England and then to Dres- I
den, where he remained two years. While there he published his
novels "Bressant " and "Idolatry." He settled in London in Septem- ber, 1874, writing much for magazines, and for two years was a writer on the staff of the London "Spectator." In 1875 he published the sketches entitled "Saxon Studies" in the "Contemporary Review," and his novel "Garth," which was followed by novelettes and collec- tions of stories entitled "The Laughing Mill," "Archibald Malmaison," " Ellice Quentin," "Prince Saroni's Wife," "Sebastian Strome," and the "Yellow Cap" fairy stories. He returned to New York in 1882, and published "Dust," "Noble Blood" and "Fortune's Fool;" also edited "Dr. Grimshaw's Secret," the posthumous romance of his father, Na- thaniel Hawthorne, and wrote the biography of his father and mother. During the last dozen years he has made his home chiefly in this country, and has done some of his best work for American magazines and syndicates.
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