USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Volume II pt 2 > Part 26
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He is a member of many scientific and literary associations in this country and abroad. During his long residence of twenty years in the South he was actively engaged, outside of his immediate duties as a pro- fessor, in promoting the course of public education, both primary and higher; encouraging and assisting in all departments of scientific re- search, and promoting literary culture, by his own abundant contribu. tions to the best literary periodicals, and by a vast amount of editorial labor. His " Letters on College Government," 1854, is one of the ablest treatises on higher education yet published. Other publications are : " Report on Collegiate Education, " 1834, "Art Culture, " 1854. " History of the American Coast Survey," 1857, " University Education." 1858. " Undulatory Theory of Light," 1862. " Metric System of Weights and Measures." 1871, address before the University Convocation, in 1879, on " Education and the State, " and important annual reports in connection
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
with Columbia College, particularly from 1878 to 1851. President Bar- nard is one of the editors-in-chief of . Johnson's New Universal Cyclo- pedia :" and, as editor of the department of " Mathematics and Ap- plied Sciences " in the Cyclopedia. he has contributed numerous valuable articles to the work.
GENERAL J. G. BARNARD.
J. G. Barnard. brevet major general. United States army, was born in Sheffield, Mass., May 19th, 1815 (younger son of Col. Robert Foster Barnard and Augusta Porter, his wifer. enteret the U. S. Military Academy at the age of 14, and graduated second in one of the strongest classes that ever left the academy. The " General Order" which is ap. pended to this sketch shows the amount of military duty which he per formed and the esteem in which he was held by his brother officers. A quotation from the Armyand Vary Journal, announcing his death. is an evidence of this esteem. " If a marble mounment should be erected. broad enough and long enough to have engraved upon its surface the record, in its most condensed form, of the life work of Gen. John G. Bar- nard, enongh could then be read. not only to satisfy the pride of all his kindred who shall come after him. but to convey a lesson as to how much may be accomplished in the life of one man." A Christian gentleman is perhaps the fittest term to apply to him : the strong man, with the gen- tleness and tenderness of a child. were his chief characteristics.
Removed from Berkshire at such an early age, he always retained a strong love for his native place. and at the close of the war came back to it and made it his summer home. It is now his final resting place. After a most distressing illness of three years his life closed at Detroit, Mich .. on the 14th of May, 1852.
He left four children, two sons and two daughters.
His brother, F. A. P. Barnard, the distinguished president of Colum- bia College in New York city, survives hin.
" HEADQUARTERS CORPS OF ENGINEERS. "UNITED STATES ARMY.
GENERAL ORDERS ? No. 4. WASHINGTON, D. C., May 20, 1882.
" It has become the painful duty of the Brigadier General Commanding, to an- nounce to the Corps of Engineers the death of a brother officer, Colonel John G. Barnard, Brevet Major General, United States Army (retired), who died at Detroit, Mich., on the 14th inst.
" General Barnard was graduated from the Military Academy, and promoted to the rank of Brevet Second Lieutenant in the corps of Engineers, July 1, 1833. He served as Assistant to the Board of Engineers at Newport. R. I., 1833- 34; Assistant Engineer in the construction of Fort Schuyler, 1834-'35; on the fortifications of Pen- sacola Harbor, Fla., 1835; on the improvement of Pascagoula River, 1836; and of Mobile Harbor, Ala , 183 ;- '39: as Superintending Engineer of the Defenses at Gov. ernor's Island, New York Harbor, 1839-'40; of the construction of Fort Livingston,
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Island of Grand Terre, I.a., and of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, La., 1840-'46, 1847. and 1848-'50.
" In the War with Mexico, 18446-'48, he superintended the construction of the defenses of Tampico, and surveyed the battlefields about the City of Mexico.
"He was Chief Engineer for the Exploration and Survey of the projected Tehuantepec Railroad. Mex. 1850-'51; Superintending Engineer of the Delaware Breakwater, of harbor improvements east of Cape Malabar, Mass., and of defenses of Portland, Me .. 1852-'53; of construction of fortifications at the entrance of Sun Francisco Harbor, Cal., and light house at Alcatraz Island, Cal., and Member of the Board of Engineers for fortifications on the Pacific Coast, 1854.
" He was on duty at the United States Military Academy, 1855-'56, as Instructor of Practica! Military Engineering, Commandant of Sappers, Miners, and Pontoniers, and Superintendent.
" He was Superintending Engineer of defenses of New York Harbor, and of the improvement of the Hudson River and of New Jersey Harbors, 1856-'57; of Forts Gaines and Morgan, Mobile Harbor, Ala., 1857-'58; and of the construction of l'orts Wadsworth and Tompkins, Staten Island, N. Y., and of the inner defenses of New York Harbor, 1858-'59. 1860-61; and Member of Board of Engineers for Atlantic Coast Defenses, 1857-'61.
" He served during the late Civil War, 1861-'66. He was Chief Engineer of the Department of Washington, 1861, and in the Manassas Campaign of July, 1861, being present at the action of Blackburn's Ford, and Battle of Bull Run; Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, and superintending the construction of the defenses of Washington, D. C., 1861-'62.
"In the Virginia Peninsula Campaign, 1862, he was engaged in directing the Siege Works at Yorktown, and offensive and defensive works on the Chickahominy: reconnoitered and selected the position upon which was fought the battle of Gaines' Mill; reconnoitered the passage of the White Oak Swamp and the position of Mal- vern Hill for defense, and took part in the Battle of Williamsburg, Combat on Wil- liamsburg Road, and Battle of Malvern Hill.
" He was Chief Engineer of the defenses of Washington, D. C., 1862-'64; recon- noitering for, and devising the defenses of Pittsburg, Pa., 1863; examining south shore of Lake Erie, to devise measures to prevent raids from Canada, 1863. and Member of the Board of Engineers to reorganize our System of Sea.Coast Fortifica- tion, 1864.
" He served as Chief Engineer ' of the Armies in the field,' on the staff of Lien- tenant General Grant, General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, 1864-'05, in the Richmond Campaign, being engaged in the siege of Petersburg, and operations before Richmond, and participated in various engagements before Petersburg; assault and capture of Fort Harrison; combat near Hatcher's Run; assault of Petersburg, and its capture, and in the pursuit and at the surrender, at Appomatox Court- House, of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Lee.
" After the close of the war, he was Senior Engineer of the defenses of New York Harbor, and in charge of the construction of the fortifications on Staten Island, N.Y., 1865-'66; Member of Board to conduct experiments on the use of Iron in Permanent Defenses, 1866-'67, and Member of the Board of Engineers for Fortifications and Harbor and River Improvements from 135; antil My retirement from active service, January 2, 1881.
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
" He was a Member of the Lighthouse Board from IS;o to IS;9; Member of the Commission, on behalf of the Tehuantepec Railway and Canal Company, to examine the principal waterways of Europe, IS71, and Member of miny Special Boards and Commissions for the consideration of a great variety of professional questions con- nected with the public interests Committed to the Corps of Engineers.
"General Barnard was promoted successively from the grade of Lieutenant to that of Colonel, Corps of Engineers, and Brigadier General, United States Volunteers. He received the brevets of Major, United States Army, 'for meritorious conduct while serving in the Enemy's Country,' in the war of Mexico, IS4S, Colonel. United States Army, 'for gallant and meritorious services in the Campaign of the Peninsu',' 1862, Major General, United States Volunteers, 'for meritorious and distinguished services during the Rebellion,' 1864. Brigadier General, United States Army, 'for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army under General R. E. Lee,' 1865, and Major General, United States Army, 'for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Rebellion,' 1865.
"Hle was a Member and an original Corporator of the National Academy of Sciences; a Member of the American Institute of Architects, and an Honorary Mem- ber of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by the University of Alabama in 1838, and of I.L. D. by Yale College in 1864.
" He was the author of various works, among which are ' Dangers and Defenses of New York,' 1859; 'Notes on Sea-Coast Defense,' 1861, and (jointly with the late General Barry), of ' Reports of the Engineer and Artillery Operations of the Army of the Potomac,' 1863; also, of 'Report (jointly with General Wright and Colonel Michie) on the Fabrication of Iron for Defensive purposes,' 1871-'72; 'Report on the Defenses of Washington,' 1871; 'Report on the North Sea Canal of Holland,' 1872, and of other scientific and professional papers.
" A service of nearly fifty years in the Corps of Engineers has been closed by the death of one of the most prominent of its members.
" Of greatly varied intellectual capacity, of a very high order of scientific attain- ments, considerate and cautious, ripe in experience, sound in judgment General Barnard has executed the important duties with which he has been charged during his long and useful life, with conscientious care and regard for the public interests, and with an enthusiastic devotion to his profession. His corps, the army, and the country, are his debtors.
"Modest and retiring in disposition, considerate and courteous, warm in his sympathies and affections, our deceased associate will be missed as few are missed, and his name, which will be held as one of the foremost names of the Corps of Engineers, will be cherished with peculiar love and affection by his brother officers.
" As a testimonial of respect for the deceased, the officers of the Corps will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
"By command of Brig. Gen. WRIGHT: " GEORGE H. ELLIOT. "Major of Engineers."
EDMUND S. JANES, D. D., L.L. D.
Edmund Storer Janes, D. D., LL. D., a bishop of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, was born in Sheffield, April 20th, 1807. He was the twin
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brother of Edwin L. Janes, who was, during forty-three years. an itiner- ant minister of the same church.
Bishop Janes united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1820. and for ten years engaged in teaching. during which time he prepared himself for the legal profession, but in 1830, his mind having been turned to the ministry, he was received into the Philadelphia Conference, and in 1844 was elected, with Bishop Hamline, to the Episcopal office, in which he served till his death, which occurred at New York on the 18th of Sep- tember, 1876. His friend and cotemporary, Bishop Simpson, in his ". Cy- clopedia of Methodism," pays this high tribute to his memory :
" Bishop Janes was one of the most remarkable men in the history of American Methodism, with no superior and few equals. He possessed a mind of a high order. capable of the broadest discernment and of the most subtle analysis. He was a model platform speaker, ready, earnest, and comprehensive, and a preacher of rare power and grasping eloquence. As an executive officer he especially excelled, pre- siding with great skill and dignity, and attending diligently to all the details of his office. He was a man of inflexible principle, thorough, conscientious, and untiring in labor and devotion. He had a heart of overflowing sympathy for any who were in distress, and endeared himself to many an afflicted preacher by the kindness of his manner. One has well said, he was as practical as James, as cautious as Peter, as tender and loving as John, as many sided and comprehensive as Paul."
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ORREN CURTISS.
Whatever others may think of New Englanders, it is not often that a New Englander derives anything but comfort from his origin. If this were a less just feeling than it really is, it would still be that patriotic temper which touches us all with manly pride. The twenty years that immediately followed the settlement of Plymouth were years of very active migration to New England. A little later, the civil conflict was opened in England, and checked this movement. The core of the popu- lation of New England was transferred in this period. Those who then came were preeminently the forefathers and the founders of the new States.
The Curtiss family and the chief families with which it has been allied-Stevenson, Jacob, Owen, and Standish families-reached New England in these early years of immigration. Thomas Curtiss (the name is so written by himself) was born in England in 1598, and probably came to Massachusetts about 1632. He settled in Wethersfield, Conn .. in 1639, and later, in 1670, removed to Wallingford. Conn., where he was one of the first settlers. The first generation was born in Wethersfield. Three generations were born in Wallingford.
Jonathan Curtiss, belonging to the fourth generation from Thomas Curtiss, and grandfather of Orren Curtiss, the subject of this sketch, re- moved to Sheffield, Mass., about 1760. He married Mary Jacob, of Shef- field, in 1768, and came into possession of the farm of his father-in law, Richard Jacob. This farm was occupied by his son and by his grandson, and is still in possession of the family.
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HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY.
Col. Abijah Curtiss, father of Orren Curtiss, was born in Sheffield. June 7th, 1773. He married Betsey Stevenson, and died February 17th. 1834. Eleven children, five sons and six daughters, were the fruit of this marriage.
Orren Curtiss was born May 17th, 1797. He married, March 24th, 1825, Caroline Owen, daughter of Col. Ira Owen and his wife. Sophia Standish. The children of this marriage were five: Sophia, Emma, Abijah, Orren, and Frank. His wife. Caroline, died May 11th, 1570. On May 19th, 1874, he married Maria L. Hagerman. Orren Curtiss spent his entire life in Sheffield. His constant ocenpation was that of farming. though he added to it other branches of business, as flouring and distilling.
The sober thought and poetic imagination of the world have often lingered about agriculture as the primary, most useful, peaceful, and enjoyable form of human labor. Notwithstanding this deep rooted feel- ing, there has been comparatively little in the history of the race to jos- tify this predilection. More often the work of the farm has been hard. grudgingly rendered, and ill rewarded. Perhaps there has been no terri- tory so extended as New England, that has for so long a time, and in so good a degree, approached the ideal, and won for agriculture its true position.
The industry of New England was from the outset chiefly agri- cultural, and. though late years have brought a great change, there are still, as in Berkshire county, most favorable examples in New Eng- land of intelligent and prosperous agricultural communities.
The under mountain road in Sheffield has long been interesting from its beautiful scenery and well ordered farms. The Curtiss farm is situ- ated at the northern terminns of this road, and is surpassed by no other farm on it, in natural and acquired advantages. An abundant supply of water from the mountain in the rear, careful cultivation, and a large variety of fruit. together with great natural beauties, suffice to make it a beloved homestead, a continual reminder of past labors and pleasures. and a perpetual scene of new gifts.
Mr. Orren Curtiss was preeminently a farmer. He possessed in a high degree all the thoughtful, careful, provident methods which belong to a good agriculturist, with those strong local attachments which make life peaceful and productive. He had also the very rare habit of mind which lies at the basis of a successful pursuit of science, that of seeing the right things in the world, and drawing the right conclusions from them. He was an excellent and constant observer of plants and animals ; and, as is necessarily the case in such observation, knew how to turn his facts into lines of action. He was a farmer by habit of body and of mind. and exerted a very wide influence among farmers, by whom he was ex tendedly known. He was active in the formation of the central and southern agricultural societies of Berkshire, contribute l in many ways
Jaula affectionality
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to their support, and was in faithful attendance on them during a long series of years.
There are few, if any, members of these societies who have taken an equal interest in them. or have received as many prizes as he, on as great a variety of products, and with as uniform fitness of reward. His fresh and thoughtful methods in agriculture fitted him not only to do his own work well. but to be a constant reminder of excellence to others. He ever rendered them willing aid in all forms of improvement. He was precisely such a man as every agricultural community calls for ; working in quiet and steady conflict with all indolent, ignorant, slip shod ways.
Merit of this order is rare, and not at once fully recognized. In the intelligence, independence, and thrift that he brought to farming, he was a model New Englander.
In no one direction did he do more for neighborhood improvement than in fruit raising. This was a passion with him. He was constantly labor- ing to increase the variety and quality of fruits, and his fruit yard was with him as much a place of daily resort and study, as is his office to the successful professional man. The under mountain road has long been famous for its fine orchards.
He was especially interested in redeeming waste land, and added much to the beauty and value of his own farm in this particular. In all these efforts he united ready intelligence with the most untiring indus- try. Crops of every kind received his careful attention. His interest in the improvement of stock. and the protracted attention he gave to the effort, produced in native cows an excellence that in the amount and rich- ness of milk, will favorably compare with the great yields which have been obtained from imported breeds.
To these admirable powers of observation and reflection which made him so superior a farmer, he added high moral endowments, endowments closely affiliating with his occupation.
Somewhat diffident and retiring, he exerted his chief influence over his neighbors in conversation and private intercourse. In 1840 he was elected a member of the Legislature. Busy and self reliant, he never sought and was rarely willing to accept office. He was quietly conserva- tive and democratic in his political creed. He was more interested in measures of immediate amelioration than in promised reforms. His sense of justice was unusually complete, and he strove to render fully and freely to every man his own. Strife of all sorts was very distasteful to him, and he shared in his own inner life the peaceful, progressive move- ment of nature, whose works he so faithfully studied. and loved so well.
He died December 20th, 1883. at the ripe age of 86 years and seven months, having through a long life of complete temperance enjoyed almost uninterrupted health. He possessed the warm regard of his neighbors, and the veneration of his own household. Among the farm- ers of Southern Berkshire his name will long be remembered as one of their most useful, widely known, and universally honored members.
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HISTORY OF BERESHIRE COUNTY.
JOHN LELAND MILLER, M. D.
William Miller. the great-grandfather of Dr. John L .. was a surgeon in the British army. He was sent by the English government as a com !- missioner to adjust a question of jurisdiction between Virginia and Mary- land, and during his absence he learned of political disturbances in Eng. land. which determined him to resign his commission and remain in America. He settled in Warren, R. I., where the remainder of his life was passed. His son, William, was born in Warren, and became a ship bnilder there, but during the Revolution he was driven from that place and became a resident of Woonsocket, in the same State. During and after the war he was employed by the American government as a military engineer, and in 1788 he crossed the Alleghany Mountains and built a fort at Marietta, Ohio. After the completion of this fort he was sent with a party to build a fort on the Muskingum River, but none of the party were ever heard of again.
Caleb Miller, the son of William 2d, and the father of John L., was born in Woonsocket. in 1786. After the death of her husband the mother of Caleb removed, with her children, to Adams, in Berkshire county. where she died in 1815, upward of 90 years of age.
In 1809 Caleb married Nancy Mitchel, a daughter of Calvin Mitchel, who was of Scotch origin. Her mother's maiden name was Sprague. She died soon after the birth of Nancy, and at the age of three weeks the latter was taken from her birth place, Smithfield, R. I., to Adams, where she was adopted by her uncle. She died in 1850. Her husband survived her ten years.
John Leland Miller was born in Adams June 2d, 1813. He was of a feeble constitution, and during his childhood his health was so delicate as to incapacitate him for severe labor. His early education was acquired in the common schools of his native town, which, however, his feeble health never permitted him to attend steadily. His studious habits at home compensated in a measure for the lack of instruction at school. He was instructed in the higher branches and in languages by private tutors. He also attended during short periods at the academies in Adams and Williamstown.
At the age of seventeen he became a clerk in a mercantile establish- ment, in the city of New York. but two years later, on the breaking ont of the cholera in that city, his friends prevailed on him to remove to West Troy, where he was a salesman during a year, then purchased the busi- ness of his employer. Within a year his stock of goods was burned.
After an illness of nine months, he commenced the study of medi- cine. He pursned his studies during a year. at West Troy, then for two years as a resident student at the Berkshire Medical College, during which time he attended a course of lectures at Woodstock, Vt. He graduated at the Berkshire institution in 1837. He then went to New Orleans, and was soon engaged as surgeon of a surveying party at the mouth of the Mississippi River, under Captain Talcott of the U. S. Topographical En-
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gineers. Thence he went to Pensacola. Fla .. and soon afterward sailed for New York, where he arrived early in November, 1838. after having been shipwrecked on the rocky island of Gun Key, in the Caribbean Sea. He then engaged, during five years, in the practice of his profession in Providence, R. I. During this time he was appointed surgeon of Gen. Stedman's brigade of State troops that were called out to suppress the " Dorr Rebellion."
Returning to Pittsfield he renewed his studies, and in 1844 he be- came professor of anatomy and physiology in the medical department of Illinois College.
In 1847 he resigned his professorship to accept a position in the army. He was appointed assistant surgeon of volunteers May 27th. 1847, and major and surgeon of volunteers July 13th, in the same year. Ho joined the army at Vera Cruz, Mexico, and was in active service till the close of the Mexican war.
He spent the two years following the war in Pittsfield, Mass., recruit- ing his health, which had become impaired during his service in Mexico. He then went to Illinois and engaged in practice during three years. In this time he purchased 1,100 acres of land, and established a stock farm. On this farm he also laid out the town of Fairbury, in Livingston county, Ill., which has since grown to be a place of some 5.000 inhabitants.
In 1855 he returned to Pittsfield, and in 1856 purchased a farm of 200 acres, now owned by Hon. Edward Learned. During his residence in Pittsfield in 1861. he was appointed surgeon of the First Battalion. Sixth Brigade of Massachusetts militia. He removed to Sheffield in 1866. and purchased the Mount Barnard farm, on which he now resides.
By industry and judicious investments Dr. Miller long since acquired an ample competence, and since his retirement from active business he has employed his income in the gratification of his tastes and the exer- cise of his characteristic public spirit and benevolence.
He was always fond of the sports of the chase, and now, at the age of more than threescore and ten, with his gun and hounds he traverses the valleys and climbs the mountain sides with all the ardor of his youth- ful days.
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