USA > New York > Encyclopedia of biography of New York, a life record of men and women whose sterling character and energy and industry have made them preeminent in their own and many other states, Vol. 2 > Part 2
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with the publication of miscellaneous books, church hymnals, etc.
Mr. Barnes was in a remarkable degree a man of affairs, active, interested and devoted to all his duties, whether im- posed or assumed. Aside from his large book publishing interests, he was at the time of his death a director of the Han- over National Bank, the Home Fire In- surance Company, the Fidelity and Cas- ualty Company, the Provident Life In- surance Company, Rochester Gas Com- pany, a trustee in the Brooklyn Dime Savings Bank, Cornell University, Ithaca, the Polytechnic Institute and Packer In- stitute, both in Brooklyn, a trustee of the Long Island Historical Society, presi- dent of the Automatic Fire Alarm Com- pany, New York, and was associated with railroads and other institutions. In benevolent work he was president of the Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Soci- ety, connected with the American Board of Foreign Missions, with the American Missionary Society as one of its execu- tive committee, with the Home Mission- ary Society, trustee of the American Tract Society, vice-president of the Soci- ety for the Supression of Vice, and also of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor of Brooklyn, trus- tee of the Faith Home for Incurables, and also of the Aged Men's Home, both of Brooklyn.
Mr. Barnes was always active and heartily interested in religious affairs. In Philadelphia he was connected with Dr. Albert Barnes' church and in New York with Dr. Spring's church. On com- ing to Brooklyn he was made one of the deacons of the Church of the Pilgrims (Congregational), to which he brought his letters soon after the late Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs had been called to its pastorate. Later, in view of changing his residence, he became a member of the
Clinton Avenue Church, and was one of the callers of Rev. Dr. William I. Bud- ington to its pastorate, and still later of Rev. Thomas B. McLeod to the same church upon the decease of Dr. Buding- ton. He served the church as deacon and trustee, and was at different times superintendent of the Sunday school.
Aside from his official positions, he was most liberal in advancing material needs of the church and its various char- ities, and responded to every call liber- ally and ungrudgingly. With Albert Woodruff, of Brooklyn, he inaugurated the Mission Sunday school, as the off- shoot of an established church, and his connection with the Warren Street Mis- sion of Brooklyn, as the pioneer of the undertaking, was always a pleasure to him. He was its first superintendent, and accomplished much for its growth and prosperity thereafter. A very note- worthy incident in connection with his Christian work was the acquirement of the church building on Classon avenue, near Butler street. A mortgage was about to be foreclosed on the property and several persons were interested in buying it in. It became a question of sectarianism, the parties to the purchase representing distinct creeds, and Mr. Barnes, believing the section where it stood was in need of the church of his own faith, and not finding any one to co- operate with him, bought it in himself, and for years kept it in his possession, although giving its use to a company of worshipers and helping to support the minister in charge.
The uppermost desire of his heart was unquestionably to do good, "that the world might be better for his having lived in it." His benefactions will never be fully known; he gave liberally and often. The $25,000 to the Faith Home in Brooklyn, which enjoys its present
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quarters mainly through his gift and efforts, and the $45,000 to the Young Men's Christian Association of Cornell University, which resulted in the erec- tion of Barnes Hall, evidenced some of his larger benefactions. The Young Men's Christian Association of Brooklyn, the Long Island Historical Society, and many of the benevolent and educational objects of the city and elsewhere, also enjoyed his munificence through his life- time, and were as well the recipients of considerable sums at his death.
In politics he took an active interest, though he never filled office, or desired to do so; he was satisfied to support good and able men, and was assiduous in influ- encing others to perform their duty. He was a Republican as to party, but saw fit at times to support one of an opposite faction, but never, it is believed, where national issues were involved. He was a temperance advocate, but thought it not essential to encourage a temperance party. He argued, "raise the standard of one of the dominant parties, and tem- perance and ail good results will surely follow."
Mr. Barnes married (first) November 10, 1841, Harriet Elizabeth Burr, born at Henderson Harbor, New York, Septem- ber 27, 1820, eleventh child of General Timothy and Mary (Chapin) Burr, of Hartford, Connecticut. Her father re- moved with his family in early life to Western New York, and was stationed at Henderson Harbor, on Lake Ontario, during the war of 1812, and later at the head of the commissary department of the United States army, and while in Hartford, Connecticut, was colonel of the Connecticut regiment. General Burr was a descendant of Benjamin Burr (or Burre, as he spelled the name) the founder of the Hartford branch, who first appeared as one of the original settlers
of Hartford in 1635. His name, which appears in the land division of Hartford in 1630 as an original proprietor and set- tler, is the first evidence we have of his presence in America, but as the first set- tlers there were from Watertown, New- town and other places near Boston, it is certain that he was in Massachusetts some time before his appearance in Hart- ford, and he may have been one of the eight hundred who came to America with Winthrop's fleet in June, 1630. He seems to have been an active, energetic, thor- ough business man, and mingled but little in public affairs, hence but brief mention is made of him in the records of the colony. He was the first of his name in Connecticut, and was admitted a freeman in 1658. His allotment in the land division of Hartford in 1639 was six acres, and he also drew eighteen acres in the land division of East Hartford, in 1666. He died in Hartford, March 31, 1681, and was buried probably in one of the hillside cemeteries, long since oblit- erated. He gave his name to Burr street, Hartford, which runs west from Main street. Mary (Chapin) Burr was a daughter of Deacon Aaron Chapin, of a prominent family of Massachusetts. Mrs. Barnes was interested in many charities, especially in the Home for the Friend- less, and during the civil war greatly assisted the Union army through the san- itary commission.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes first located in Philadelphia, from whence they removed to New York, then to Brooklyn, and in 1853 began the occupancy of a commo- dious house on Clinton avenue. Two children were born to them in Philadel- phia, one in New York, three in Garden street, and four in Clinton avenue, mak- ing in all a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters. In 1866 Mr. and Mrs. Barnes celebrated their silver
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wedding. From 1875 to 1881 their sum- mer home was the attractive cottage at Martha's Vineyard, and the time he was able to be there gave Mr. Barnes perfect relaxation and contentment. On Octo- ber 27, 1881, only a few weeks prior to the fortieth anniversary of their mar- riage, Mrs. Barnes died, this being the first severe blow Mr. Barnes had experi- enced.
Mr. Barnes married (second) Novem- ber 7, 1883, Mrs. Mary M. Smith. In the spring of 1884 they went on a European tour, being absent some thirteen months, and a few months after their return moved into their new home on St. Marks avenue, Brooklyn. Early in the year of 1887 Mr. and Mrs. Barnes went on a tour west, extending as far as Alaska. This they carried out, but owing to the excessive heat they encountered and the fatigue incident to so long a journey, together with some anxiety over certain matters forced upon his mind, Mr. Barnes was much prostrated, and on their return to Chicago quite succumbed, being obliged to remain a week at a hotel, and was then brought home, with barely suffi- cient strength to move about. Through all the trying months which followed, no more devoted care and loving ministra- tions, coupled with great self-sacrifice, were possible than those shown by his patient wife. His death occurred Febru- ary 17, 1888.
One of the best and truest tributes to Mr. Barnes as a man and a citizen was paid by the late Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Tal- mage at one of the meetings in his church :
The number of men who built Brooklyn and who have gone into eternal absenteeism is rap- idly increasing. Pausing a moment to-day on the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, I read on a stone pillar the names of those who had been influential in the building of that suspended wonder of the centuries. The president, Mr.
Murphy, gone. The vice-president, Mr. Kings- ley, gone. The treasurer, Mr. Prentice, gone. The engineer, Mr. Roebling, gone. So our useful and important citizens from all depart- ments are passing off. And now, within a few days, Alfred S. Barnes departed. And yet he has not disappeared. When our Historical Hall, and Academy of Music, and Mercantile Library, and our great asylums of mercy, and our churches of all denominations shall have crum- bled-then, and not until then, will our splendid citizen, Mr. Barnes, have disappeared; for his brain and heart and head planned them, and his munificent hand helped support them. When, at II o'clock last Friday night, this noble and gracious soul flashed into the bosom of God, we lost as good a citizen as Brooklyn ever had. If the queenly wifehood that hovered over his suffering pillow for four months, until the fatigue and the devotion became almost a mar- tyrdom, and the prayers and the love and the devotion of his children, and the anxieties of hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens could have hindered his departure, he would again have taken his old place at his family table, and on our philanthropic platforms, and in the pews of our churches. But his work was done. No power could keep him down out of the supernal light or back from the rewards awaiting him. What a bulwark of credit was his name to the financial institutions he trusteed or presidented! What an honor to the universities on whose scrolls of directors his name was permitted to appear! And what a reinforcement to the great benevolence of the day was his patronage. Out of a warm personal friendship of many years, I must speak my gratitude and my admiration. In business circles, for many a long day, his name will be quoted as a synonym for everything honorable and righteous, but my thought of him is chiefly of being the highest style of Christian gentleman. He was one of the few successful men who maintained complete simplicity of char- acter. After gaining the highest position where he could afford to decline the Mayoralty and Congressional honors, and all political prefer- ment, as he did again and again, he was as art- less in his manner as on the day when he earned his first dollar. His illumined face was an index to an illumined soul. I have known many lovely and honorable and inspiring and glorious Chris- tian men, but a more lovely or more honorable or more inspiring or more glorious Christian man than Alfred S. Barnes, I never did know. He entered the Kingdom of God himself and all his family followed him, and upon them may the
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mantle of their consecrated and glorified father fall, as I believe it has already fallen. What a magnificent inheritance of prayers and good advice and Christian example! Well may they cry out as Elisha did when Elijah went up in fiery equipage, "My Father, my Father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!"
MELVILLE, Herman, Author.
Herman Melville, a favorite author of a generation ago, was born in New York City, August 1, 1819, son of Allan and Catharine (Gansevoort) Melville ; grand- son of Major Thomas Melville, a mem- ber of the "Boston Tea Party," and of General Peter Gansevoort. Allan Mel- ville was a man of wealth, a prominent merchant, of literary tastes, and an in- dustrious traveler ; he died in 1832.
Herman Melville passed his youth in the families of relatives at Albany and Greenbush, New York. He was of an adventurous disposition and at the age of eighteen went on a whaling cruise in the South Pacific ocean. He had a sad awakening from his dream of a romantic sea life, for he was subjected to such in- human treatment that in the second year of his voyage he deserted his ship at Nukahiva, in the Marquesas group of islands. With a companion he was taken by a band of cannibals, from whom he was rescued four months later by an Australian whaling vessel after a bloody encounter. For a year he served on board the rescuing ship, then, having reached the Hawaiian islands, he joined the crew of the United States frigate "United States," and reached Boston in 1844. His experiences and observations on these voyages gave him much material which he utilized in subsequent volumes, to the great delight of the youth of that day.
He now took up his residence in Lans- ingburg, New York, where he wrote his first volume, "Typee," which he sold to
John Murray, the English publisher, in 1845, and which as "Melville's Marquesas Islands" passed through several editions. In 1850 he removed to Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, where he formed an enduring friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1860 he voyaged around the world, and after his return in 1863 made his home in New York City. There, three years later, he was appointed to a posi- tion in the United States custom house, but his health began to give way and in 1886 he resigned. Besides the volume mentioned above, he was author of vari- ous works: "Omoo: a Narrative of Ad- ventures in the South Seas" (1847) ; "Mardi, and a Voyage Thither" (1849) ; "Redburn" (1849); "White Jacket; or The World in a Man-of-War" (1850) ; "Moby Dick; or the White Whale" (1851); "Pierre; or The Ambiguities" (1852) ; "Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile" (1855) ; "Piazza Tales" (1856) ; "The Confidence Man" (1858) ; "Battle Pieces, and Aspects of the War" (poems, 1866); "Clarel; a Pilgrimage in the Holy Land" (a poem, 1876) ; "John Marr and Other Sailors" (1888); "Timoleon" (1891). In 1892 Arthur Stedman edited a four-volume edition of "Typee," "Omoo," "Moby" and "White Jacket," prefacing the set with a critical biog- raphy. Melville died in New York City, September 28, 1891.
SLOCUM, Henry W.,
Soldier, Civil Officer, Legislator.
General Henry Warner Slocum, a dis- tinguished soldier of the Civil War, was born in Delphi, New York, September 24, 1827. Graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842, as second lieutenant in the First Artillery, he served in Florida against the Seminole Indians in 1852-53, and was on garrison duty at Fort Moultrie,
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Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, from 1853 to 1856, when he resigned from the army, having then the rank of first lieu- tenant. He practiced law at Syracuse, New York, and sat in the State Assembly in 1859. From 1859 to 1861 he was also an instructor of the State militia, with the rank of colonel. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Twenty-seventh Regi- ment New York Volunteers, and partici- pated in the battle of Bull Run, where he was wounded. In August, 1861, he was commissioned brigadier-general of vol- unteers, and until the summer of 1862 was on duty in the defenses of the national capital. In June he was assigned to the command of the First Division, Sixth Corps, and took part in the Seven Days' battles under General McClellan. On July 4 he was promoted to major- general, and commanded his division in the Maryland campaign. Under General Hooker, he had command of the Twelfth Corps in the Chancellorsville campaign, and under General Meade at Gettysburg, he commanded the right wing of the army during a portion of the battle, and distinguished himself by saving Culp's Hill at a critical moment. After the end of the pursuit of the Confederates into Virginia, General Slocum was sent west and from April to August, 1864, com- manded the District of Vicksburg, Mis- sissippi. In the Atlanta campaign, from May to September, 1864, he commanded the Twentieth Corps, under General Sherman. In the March to the Sea, he commanded the combined Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, under the desig- nation of the Army of Georgia, and also in the subsequent campaign in the Caro- linas. After the close of the war, he re- signed from the service, declining a com- mission as colonel in the regular army, and took up his residence in Brooklyn,
New York, where he engaged in the prac- tice of his profession. In 1865 he was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Secretary of State. He was a presi- dential elector from New York in 1868. He was elected to the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses (1869-73), and was a member of the Forty-eighth Con- gress, elected from the State-at-large. From 1876 to 1884 he was president of the Brooklyn Board of Public Works, and a member of the East River Bridge Commission. He died in Brooklyn, April 14, 1894. A fine bronze heroic equestrian statue of General Slocum stands near Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and receives special honors each Memorial Day from the military and Grand Army bodies making up the procession.
BROOKS, Arthur,
Prominent Divine.
Arthur Brooks, clergyman, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July II, 1845, the fifth son of William Gray and Mary Ann (Phillips) Brooks, and a brother of Phillips Brooks.
He was educated at the Boston Latin School and at Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1867. He pursued his theological course at An- dover for one year, and at the Divinity School at Philadelphia for two years, when he was ordained deacon at Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Boston, in 1870. He accepted the rectorship of Trinity Church, Williamsport, Pennsyl- vania, and was there advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Stevens. In 1872 he accepted a call to St. James parish, Chicago, Illinois, where he rebuilt the church destroyed in the great fire, and greatly advanced the growth of the par- ish. In the summer of 1874 he accom- panied his brother, Phillips, on a visit to
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Europe, and during the next winter de- livered a lecture before the Anonymous Club in Chicago, on stained glass, the result of his observations in the English cathedrals. In the spring of 1875 he accepted a call from the Church of the Incarnation in New York City. The obligations amounting to $54,500 resting upon the church property were liqui- dated, missions were instituted, and nu- merous charities aided. In the spring of 1882, when the prosperity of the parish seemed assured, the church was de- stroyed by fire, involving a loss of $75,- 000. In this emergency he accepted the use of Temple Emmanuel Synagogue, proffered by Rabbi Gottheil, and there he celebrated the festival of Easter. The Church of the Incarnation was rapidly rebuilt, and a magnificent bronze bas- relief of Bishop Brooks was one of the works of art added to its adornments. In 1886, when the work of rebuilding was completed, Mr. Brooks, accompanied by his wife, visited Italy, Greece, Arabia, Palestine, Asia Minor and Egypt, and he preached on Christmas Day of that year in the American church in Rome. He also traversed the desert of Arabia on camel and horseback, and visited Mount Sinai. He returned to his parish in 1887. He took an active interest in the found- ing of Barnard College for women, lend- ing to it his countenance and support. He was present at the church congresses from their institution, and his addresses were listened to with great interest. His last prominent public appearance was the eighty-second anniversary meeting of the Virginia Bible Society, where he made the annual address. In 1891 he was selected to conduct a retreat for the clergy in the pre-lenten season at New Rochelle, New York. The death of Bishop Brooks in 1893 was a severe be- reavement, and it fell upon him to pre-
pare such biographies of his brother as were needed for immediate publication. Meditating the accomplishment of a more considerable work, he labored upon it in- cessantly until his last illness, when it had neared its completion. A volume of his sermons, entitled "The Life of Christ in the World," was published in 1893. The University of the City of New York conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1891, and he was elected to membership in the Victoria Institute. On June 26, 1895, he em- barked on a voyage to England, hoping thereby to recuperate his health, but growing worse, he sailed for home on the same steamer, July 9, and died July 10, 1895.
On October 17, 1872, he was married to Elizabeth M. P. Willard, of Williams- port, Pennsylvania.
CARR, Joseph B., Soldier, Man of Affairs.
The name of Carr is illustrious in the military annals of the State of New York, made so by the life and distinguished services of Brevet Major-General Joseph B. Carr, a rank and title conferred "for gallant and meritorious services during the war." He was of the second genera- tion of his family in the United States; his parents being natives of Ireland. They came to this country in 1824.
Joseph Bradford Carr, son of William and Ann Carr, was born in the city of Albany, New York, August 16, 1828, died at Troy, February 24, 1895. He grew up in Albany and Troy, in which latter city he was in the tobacco business from 1842 until 1861. He early displayed his love of a military life. On arriving at the age of twenty-one he joined the Troy Guards, served in the ranks one year, and was commissioned second lieutenant.
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He rose rapidly through successive ranks until he was colonel of the Twenty- fourth Regiment New York State Militia, assuming command July 10, 1859, con- tinuing until the firing upon Fort Sum- ter, when he at once offered his services to his country. April 15, 1861, the Sec- ond Regiment New York Volunteers was organized in Troy; on May 10, he was elected colonel; four days later the regi- ment was mustered into the United States service for a term of two years. On May 24 the regiment camped near Hampton, being the first regiment to en- camp on the "sacred soil of Virginia." Their first battle was "Big Bethel," where they were forced to retreat ; they were at Newport News until May 10, 1862, when Colonel Carr removed his command to Portsmouth, where he was assigned to the command of a provisional brigade consisting of the Second and Tenth New York regiments and How- ard's light battery. June 10 he was ordered with the Second Regiment to report to General McClellan at Fair Oaks. He proceeded to the extreme front, where he was assigned to General Frank Patterson's brigade, Hooker's divi- sion, Third Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Owing to absence of its regular commander, Colonel Carr was temporarily assigned to the Third Bri- gade, familiarly known as the Jersey Brigade, which he led throughout the battle of the Orchards, June 25, and through the historical "Seven Days" fighting. On General Patterson's return Colonel Carr resumed command of his regiment at Harrison's Landing. On July 2, by order of General Hooker, he superseded General Patterson; remain- ing at the head of the brigade until pro- moted by President Lincoln upon the personal recommendation of General Hooker "for gallant and meritorious serv- commander. July 1, 1863, Major-General
ices in the field" to be a Brigadier-Gen- eral of Volunteers, commission dating from September 7, 1862. His courage and coolness under fire was illustrated at the battle of Bristoe Station ; with a mur- derous storm of shot and shell that burst upon his men, General Carr moved about, cheering them on and encouraging them by his own daring. His horse was shot under him; he coolly mounted an order- ly's horse and successfully charged the enemy. He gained on that day the title of "Hero of Bristoe," which ever after- ward clung to him. He took part in the battle of Bull Run, August 30 and 31, and at Chantilly, September 3, when the gallant Kearny fell. In these battles he fully sustained his reputation for cour- ageous, daring conduct. September 17, he was transferred to the First Brigade, composed of troops from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire ; De- cember 13 and 14, participated in the bloody fight at Fredericksburg, where he lost heavily in officers and men. Janu- ary 12, 1863, he commanded an expedi- tion to Rappahannock Bridge. March 30, he was officially notified by the Secretary of War that the Senate having failed to act upon his nomination, he had ceased to be an officer of the army. General Hooker, then in command of the Army of the Potomac, proceeded at once to Washington, and on the following day telegraphed General Carr that President Lincoln had reappointed him, to date from March 3, 1863. At Chancellorsville, May 3, after the death of General Berry, he succeeded to the command of Hook- er's old division, the white-patched heroes. He sustained the reputation he had made on other hard-fought fields, and was made the subject of special, laudatory mention in the official report by Major-General Sickles, the Corps
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