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 5
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University of Pennsylvania, A. B., 1857, A. M., 1860, and took a post-graduate course in chemistry. With his fellow stu- dents, Charles R. Hale and Samuel H. Jones, he translated the Hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek texts on the Rosetta Stone, and prepared the report on the same published by the Philomatheon So- ciety in 1859, for which he made all the chromo-lithographic drawings. He studied law, 1857-59, and was instructor in chem- istry and physics at the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadel- phia, 1859-69. He was lecturer on me- chanics at the Franklin Institute in Phila- delphia ; was professor of chemistry in the Philadelphia Dental College in 1863; was appointed professor pro tempore of chem- istry and physics in the University of Pennsylvania during the absence abroad of Professor John E. Frazer in 1867-68, and in 1869, when the professorship was divided, he filled the chair of chemistry. He was appointed resident secretary of the Franklin Institute in 1864, delivering many lectures on light in the Academy of Music and Opera House, Philadelphia, which attracted much notice in Europe and America, and was made editor of the "Journal" of the Franklin Institute in 1867. He became president of Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey, founded from a bequest of Edwin A. Stevens in 1870. The building was then being constructed, and President Morton selected the faculty and arranged the course of instruction. He was in charge of a party under the auspices of the United States Nautical Almanac office, which made photographs of the total eclipse of the sun in Iowa, August 7, 1869, securing many successful plates. In this connection he discovered the true cause of the "bright line" seen on photo- graphs of "partial phases" during solar eclipses. His paper on this subject was presented by M. Fay to the French Acad-
emy. (See Comptes Rendus, Volume 69, page 1234). He was a member of a private expedition to observe the total solar eclipse, July 29, 1878, at Rawlins, Wyoming Territory. He was appointed a member of the lighthouse board in 1878, to succeed Joseph Henry, deceased, held the office until 1885, and conducted inves- tigations on fog signals, electric lighting, fire extinguishers and illuminating buoys. The honorary degree of Ph. D. was con- ferred on him by Dickinson College in 1869 and by the College of New Jersey in 1871; also the degree of Sc. D. by the University of Pennsylvania and LL. D. by Princeton University, both in 1897. He was elected a member of the Ameri- can Philosophical Society in 1867; the National Academy of Science ; the Amer- ican Chemical Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1873. He is the author of many articles on chemistry and physics, published in scientific journals of America and Europe. He was one of the ninety-seven judges who served as a board of electors in Octo- ber, 1900, in determining the names entitled to a place in the Hall of Fame, New York University. He served as a scientific expert in numerous important cases of patent litigation, and by reason of the revenue so derived was enabled to contribute to the endowment and enlarge- ment of the Stevens Institute, to an aggre- gate amount of $140,000 up to 1901. This includes, besides a workshop fitted up in 1880, contributions to the fund for the erection of a chemical building and an endowment fund for the same of $80,000, as well as a new boilerhouse and boilers to supply the entire group of buildings, costing over $15,000. In 1901 he took a lively interest in the expedition to ex- cavate the ruins of Ur of the Chaldees, and to secure the early setting out of the same he guaranteed the expenses for the first year. On February 6, 1902, the
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institute was further enriched through the efforts of President Morton by the Car- negie Laboratory of Engineering erected at a cost of $65,000 by Andrew Carnegie. He was married, in 1863, to Clara Whit- ing Dodge, of New York City. She died September 20, 1901, at his country resi- dence, Pine Hill, Ulster county, New York. Dr. Morton died in New York City, May 8, 1902.
MURRAY, David, Educator, Litterateur.
This distinguished scholar and teacher was born at Bovina, Delaware county, New York, October 15, 1830. His parents were Scotch, of the old Murray clan of Perthshire. They came to America in 1818 and joined the Scotch colony settled near Delhi. His mother's name was Jean Black.
With his elder brother, the late Judge Murray, David Murray, attended the Delaware Academy, at Delhi, New York. He prepared for college at the Ferguson- ville Academy, and entered the sophomore class of Union College, graduating in 1852, being one of the orators. His class- mates speak of his personal influence for good during his student life, as well as his perfect standing in all of his recita- tions. He was president of the literary and debating societies, and of his class at its meetings and other functions.
On his graduation, he commenced his lifework as an educator in the Albany Academy, first as assistant, then as Pro- fessor of Mathematics, and in 1857 he was appointed principal of the institution, which under his charge attained a high reputation for efficiency, also becoming financially prosperous. The trustees gave him the most flattering testimonials in 1863, when he resigned to become Pro- fessor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Rutgers College. Here he built up a dis-
tinguished reputation as a successful organizer and administrator. He was always interested in ways beyond his professorship, and was instrumental in establishing the Phi Beta Kappa, His- torical, and Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation societies, being elected the first president of these several societies. Also in both Albany and New Brunswick he was active in church and Sunday school work. There is abundant testimony from his old students of the lasting impression for good upon their characters. One of them writes: "What astonished us most was the ease and habitual courtesy with which he made us understand that order and close attention to work were neces- sities in his classroom, and how many secrets still undiscovered waited for our search. His approval became our stand- ard. We felt it a privilege to be his student, and we grew to glory in him."
In 1873 he was called to the great work of guiding the Japanese to establish their system of education upon western methods. The embassy from Japan, con- sisting of Prime Minister Iwakura and his associates, who visited America in 1871, invited David Murray to become superintendent of educational affairs in Japan, and adviser to the Imperial Minis- ter of Education. This position he filled, according to the testimony of the officials in Japan, in the most satisfactory and faithful manner from 1873 to 1879. Kindergarten and public schools, un- known under the old empire, were estab- lished throughout the country; normal schools for the male and female teachers ; the Imperial University in Tokio was reorganized on modern methods; and schools for higher education, museums and libraries, were planned and organized. On leaving Japan, the Emperor gave him the following letter: "It is now many years since you accepted the invitation of my government to enter its service. You
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have performed your duty with the ut- most fidelity, and given most important aid to my subjects in the administration of educational affairs. I am, therefore, greatly pleased with your services and highly appreciate your zeal and ability." The Emperor also decorated him with the "Order of the Rising Sun" in recog- nition of his work, December, 1878.
Since his death, his memory has been honored in Japan by a sketch of his life and work, published in the Japanese "Educational Magazine," by Viscount Tanaka, who was vice-minister of educa- tion, associated with Dr. Murray through- out his connection with Japan. Also the Japanese Minister and Peace Commis- sioner Takahira, in public speeches, said David Murray was the man who laid the foundation of their modern system of education. Prime Minister Iwakura said at an official dinner, "you have opened to us a pathway to the world of knowledge. No longer shall we wander from the true way." The Japanese Minister at Wash- ington and Consul-General in New York were represented at his funeral. The "Tokyo Times" in a notice of his depart- ure in 1879 said: "During his extended residence here, Dr. Murray enjoyed a degree of regard and held a position of influence surpassed by no foreigner of any nationality."
Dr. Murray arrived in America, Sep- tember, 1879, and in December was called to Albany as secretary of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. It is said that he established this office on a firm and valuable business working foundation, which it lacked when he undertook it. Unhappily, when his office was moved to the new capitol, the ven- tilation being imperfect, his room became impregnated with sewer gas. His health and physique being most perfect, it was not until 1886 that he broke down with a
severe attack of pachy-meningitis. A long rest and voyage to Europe restored him, however, and he resumed and car- ried on his work until the spring of 1889, when he resigned and took up his resi- dence in New Brunswick. Here he devoted himself to literary work, writing for the Putnam series the "Story of Japan." At the time of his death he was preparing to bring this work down to the present time. Baron Kentaro Kaneko, LL. D., in recognition of Dr. Murray's services to Japan, has made a valuable addition to the book.
About 1896 Dr. Murray wrote for the United States Educational Bureau at Washington the "History of Education in New Jersey." For the extensive book on "The Public Service of the State of New York" he contributed that portion relat- ing to the organization and work of the regents. While in Rutgers he published a "Manual on Land Surveying;" also in "Scribner's Magazine," in 1873, a popular exposition of the transit of Venus; and in 1874 he was with Professor Davidson and party at Nagasaki at the time of the transit.
He contributed to and edited the "His- tory of Delaware County," New York. For the Philadelphia Centennial he pre- pared the volume on "Japanese Educa- tion ;" and for the American Historical Association an article on "The Anti-Rent Episode." He gave lectures on Japan at Union University and Johns Hopkins University. In 1876 he prepared and published a pamphlet and open letter to Congress, urging the restoration of the Japanese indemnity fund, $750,000. Later this indemnity was returned to Japan.
He was called upon for numerous addresses and monographs. He was a trustee of Union and Rutgers colleges, the Albany Academy; secretary of the trustees of Rutgers College ; treasurer of
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John Wells Hospital for ten years; and secretary and treasurer of the special committee of the New Brunswick Theo- logical Seminary. He held and executed his duties of these later institutions up to March 1, 1905, and died March 6 of that year, ending a life of more than fifty years af almost ceaseless activity.
He was a member of the Fort Orange Club, Albany; University Club, New York City; City Club, New Brunswick; vice-president and councillor of the Asiatic Society, Japan ; honorary member of the Imperial Educational Society, Tokyo, Japan ; the New Jersey Historical Society; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He re- ceived the degree of Ph. D. from the University of the State of New York, and that of LL. D. from Union and Rutgers colleges.
Dr. Murray was a man who, wherever his residence might be, made himself felt in the community for good. He was not a great talker, but the word fitly spoken where it was needed, of appreciation of work well done, of counsel to the student, was never wanting, as the numerous testimonies since his death give evidence with a most pathetic tenderness. He was a wise and calm and self-reliant man, eminently modest, not elated by success or disturbed by failure. He gave time and thought more than he could well spare to the tasks which others devolved upon him, and the days were not long enough for the services which he was ready to undertake in behalf of objects dear to his heart. His motto was "Charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
He married, in 1867, Martha A. Neilson, granddaughter of Dr. John Neilson, of New York City.
HUNTINGTON, Frederic D.,
Prelate, Author.
The Right Rev. Frederic Dan Hunting- ton, first bishop of Central New York, and ninety-third in succession in the American episcopate, was born at Had- ley, Massachusetts, May 28, 1819, the youngest of seven sons of the Rev. Dan and Elizabeth Whiting (Phelps) Hunt- ington, grandson of William and Bethia (Throop) Huntington and of Charles and Elizabeth (Porter) Phelps, and a de- scendant of Simon Huntington, who was born in England in 1629, settled with his mother in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633, and was one of the founders of Nor- wich, Connecticut, 1660. His father, born October II, 1774, was a graduate of Yale College, Bachelor of Arts, 1794, Master of Arts, 1797, and Williams College, Master of Arts, 1798; tutor at Yale, 1796-98; Congregational minister, subsequently Unitarian ; published "Personal Memoirs" (1857), and died in 1864.
Frederic Dan Huntington was gradu- ated at Amherst College as valedictorian in 1839, and received his Master of Arts degree in 1842. He was graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1842, and the same year became pastor of the South Congregational (Unitarian) Church, Bos- ton, Massachusetts, which he served until 1855. He was the first preacher to Har- vard University and Plummer professor of Christian morals, on the Plummer foundations, 1855-60. He was also chap- lain and preacher to the Massachusetts Legislature for one year. In 1860 he re- tired from the Harvard University and in March of that year was confirmed in the Protestant Episcopal church at Cam- bridge, was ordained deacon in Boston in September, 1860, and priest in March, 1861. He was called as rector of Em-
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manuel Parish, Boston, on its organiza- tion in 1861, and was rector there until consecrated bishop of Central New York, April 8, 1869, by Bishops Smith, East- burn, Potter, Clark, Coxe, Neely, Morris, Littlejohn and Doane, after having de- clined the bishopric of Maine in 1866. He organized the "Church Monthly" with the aid of Dr. George M. Randall, in 1861, and became president of St. Andrew's Divinity School, Syracuse, New York, in 1877. Amherst College conferred upon him the honorary degrees of Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Laws, in 1855 and 1887, respectively, and Columbia Univer- sity gave him that of S. T. D. in 1887. Bishop Huntington was the first presi- dent of the Church Association for the Advancement of the Interests of Labor. He was the author of: "Sermons for the People" (1836; ninth edition, 1869) ; "Christian Living and Believing" (1860) ; "Lectures on Human Society as Illustrat- ing the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God" (1860); "Elim, or Hymns of Holy Refreshment" (1865); "Lessons for the Instruction of Children in the Divine Life" (1868); "Helps to a Holy Lent" (1872) ; "Steps to a Living Faith" (1873) ; "Introduction to Memorials of a Quiet Life" (1873); "The Pastoral Letter of the House of Bishops at the General Conven- tion of 1883" (1883) ; "Forty Days with the Master" (1891), and of occasional contributions to church periodicals of. timely topics affecting the interests of the working class.
He was married, in 1843, to Hannah Dane, daughter of Epes Sargent, and sis- ter of Epes Sargent, the poet. Their son, James O. S. Huntington, founded the Order of the Holy Cross in New York City in 1881, and became known as "Father Huntington." He was rector of the Church of the Holy Cross, New York, and was a missioner and conductor of re- treats in various parts of the country.
The headquarters of the order were re- moved to Westminster, Maryland, in 1892. Another son, the Rev. George P. Huntington, D. D., was rector of St. Paul's Church, Malden, Massachusetts, and St. Thomas' Church, Hanover, New Hampshire, and professor of Hebrew in Dartmouth College, also joint author of "The Treasury of the Psalter." Bishop Huntington died in Hadley, Massachu- setts, September 1I, 1904.
LANDON, Judson S.,
Lawyer, Jurist, Author.
Judson Stuart Landon, third son of William and Phoebe (Berry) Landon, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, De- cember 16, 1832, died in Schenectady, New York, September 7, 1905 He was born in that part of the town known as "Lime Rock," and while an infant was removed to the homestead on "Tory Hill," where his father, grandfather and great- grandfather had lived, and where he passed his early life, attending the little old schoolhouse that stands on the slope of the hill.
He was educated in the Amenia Semi- nary, Dutchess county, New York, and New York Conference Seminary, and in 1853 was a teacher of Latin and mathe- matics in Princetown Academy, south of Schenectady. He spent a year attending Yale Law School in 1854, was principal of Princetown Academy in 1855, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession in Schenec- tady, where he subsequently resided. In 1855 Union College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, and Rutgers College that of Doctor of Laws in 1885. He was a supporter of Republican princi- ples, and in 1856 was elected district attor- ney of Schenectady county, and reelected in 1859. In 1865 he was appointed county judge, and in the same year was elected
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for a term of four years, which he served ; in the meantime was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1867 in the Fifteenth Senatorial District.
His public-spirited liberality as a citi- zen brought his influence to bear in favor of every popular advance. The improve- ment of the water and sewer service of his city owed much to his support, as did also its hospital and public school sys- tems. In 1872-73 he was city attorney, and in the latter year was elected justice of the supreme court of the State of New York, for the fourth district, and on the expiration of his term of fourteen years in 1887, was unanimously and without op- position nominated and reëlected for a second term, of fourteen years, which ex- pired in 1901. From 1884 he served as one of the justices of the general term of the third department, designated by Gov- ernors Cleveland and Hill, until desig- nated by the latter to act as associate judge in the second division of the Court of Appeals in 1891, where he served dur- ing the existence of that division, when he returned to the Supreme Court, where he was assigned to the appellate division of the third department of the Supreme Court by Governor Morton in 1895. In 1889 he was designated an associate judge of the Court of Appeals by Governor Roosevelt, where he served until the ex- piration of the term for which he was elected. In 1902 Governor Odell ap- pointed him a member of a committee of fifteen to report to the next Legislature concerning the condition of the statutes and laws of the State, and in 1904 he was appointed by the legislature a member of the board of statutory consolidation: Among other public services undertaken by him were efforts to arouse the world to secure universal peace and inter- national arbitration. His judicial career was marked by fairness and industry. As a criminal judge, his conscientious, pains-
taking and conspicuous fairness, com- bined with a sympathy for the accused which tempered justice with mercy, as judicial discretion allowed, won the ap- proval and admiration of the people, the bar and the bench. When his second term of office expired, his counsel and advice were sought in important and in- teresting business and litigation, chiefly in the court of appeals.
He early took an active and efficient in- terest in public affairs and in politics. He attended the Chicago convention of 1860 that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President, and was firm and unwavering in his support of the government during the rebellion. Judge Landon gave twen- ty-seven years' service on the board of trustees of Union College, and four years of that period was president ad interim, administering the college, advising and leading the faculty, giving lectures to the senior classes, and doing all this gratui- tously and continuously for four years. His lectures to the senior class on the Constitution of the United States, and his lectures before the Albany Law School, were valuable contributions to public edu- cation. As an author he produced a widely celebrated work entitled "The Constitutional History and Government of the United States," the fruitage of long and patient study of the principles under- lying American political institutions. He was deeply interested in local history, col- lected many original documents, and pre- pared addresses and monographs such as his "The Burning of Schenectady in 1690." For "Historic Cities of America" he pre- pared the chapter on the old Dutch town of Schenectady. He prepared, delivered and printed many addresses and lectures, and was ever ready to serve the call of the people for instruction or entertainment. It was said of him that he had a faculty for friendship. He married, April 26, 1856, Emily Augusta Pierce.
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WELLS, William,
Educator, Lecturer, Writer.
Professor William, Wells, Ph. D., LL. D., was born in New York City, 1820, died at Schenectady, New York, Decem- ber 12, 1907. His boyhood and youth were passed in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, where his parents removed when he was nine years of age. His academic education was obtained in Philadelphia, where he made good progress toward that mastery of foreign tongues which later made him famous. In 1846 he made his first visit to Europe. He spent a year in Vienna, as an unofficial attachee of the American legation, also pursuing studies at the University. Then he went to Ber- lin, where he matriculated at the univer- sity and entered upon a course of study which led in due time to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1848. Those were the days of revolution in Europe, when Louis Phillipe was driven from the throne of France, when the Crown Prince of Prussia, afterwards the Emperor of Germany, William I., was compelled by popular hatred to leave his country for a time; when Hungary was in open revolt against Austria, and when the Chartist agitation threatened revolution even in England. Professor Wells was deeply interested in these great events happen- ing around him. He had an interesting experience in the Berlin riots that taught him that he was not able to cope with the Prussian cavalry. He next went to the German parliament at Frankfort-on- the-Main, as secretary to the special American Embassy to that body. He re- mained during the entire session as corre- spondent of the "New York Herald," then went to Paris, where he spent a college year as a student at the Sarbonne and the College de France. Afterwards he trav- eled over a large part of Europe, return-
ing to the United States in 1851. He spent a year in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he had the honor and pleasure of making the address of welcome to Louis Kossuth, on the occasion of the Hungarian patriot's visit to that city.
In 1852 he was elected Professor of Modern Languages in Genesee College, Lima, New York. There he remained twelve years, during part of the time act- ing also as principal of the Genesee Wes- leyan Seminary. In 1865 he was called to the Chair of Modern Languages and Literature at Union College, Schenectady, New York, thus beginning the connec- tion that was maintained unbroken for over forty years. In 1872 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the Indi- ana Asbury University, now known as De Pauw University. In 1887 the pro- fessorship at Union College was enlarged by the addition of the lectureship on cur- rent history. In the interest of that work he visited the southern States of the Union, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, Alaska, California, the Rocky Mountain region, and later made an ex- tended tour comprising every country of Europe from the North Cape, with its strange vision of the midnight sun, to Greece and Constantinople, Asia Minor, Egypt, to the Cataracts of the Nile and the other countries of Northern Africa. On his return from this, his fourth visit to the Old World, he was welcomed home by the alumni of Union College with a hearty demonstration in New York har- bor, which attested the deep respect and affection, with which he was regarded by Union College men. The results of his observations and reflection during his tours were embodied in a series of lec- tures, delivered annually to the senior class and the general public.
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