.,/
LAMB S
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OP THE
Search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man ; its publication a duty."
Madame de Stael.
VOLUME VI.
NEWTON SEARS
BOSTON, MASS.
FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY OF BOSTON
372 BOYLSTON STREET
1903
Copyright, 1003,
BY FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY, or BOSTON
Q. a LT~J\-
FULL PAGE POETRAITS.
JOHN SIXGER SARGENT
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY
FRANKLIN PIERCE
JAME.S Kxox POLK
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN
A rtisl
Naral Officer
President
President
President
Educator
PAGE
Frontispiece
Facing 223
258
288
542
643
111745
LAMB S
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE
TJNITKD STATES.
N.
NEWTON, John Brockenbrough, coadjutor
bishop of Virginia and 174th in succession in the
American episcopate, was born at his father s
home " Linden," in Westmoreland county, Va.,
Feb. 7, 1839 ; son of "\Villoughby and Mary
(Brockenbrough) Newton ; grandson of Wil-
loughby and Sally Bland (Poythress) Newton
and of Judge William Brockenbrough of the Vir
ginia court of appeals, and his wife, Judith
White, daughter of Rev. John White and grand
daughter of Carter Braxton, the signer. On his
father s side he was descended from Col. Rich
ard Bland of Revolutionary fame, who was
the son of Theodorick Bland, one of the earliest
settlers in Virginia. His earliest Newton ances
tor in America, John Newton, came to Virginia
in 1670, and settled in Westmoreland count}". He
was a student at the Episcopal high school
near Alexandria, and was graduated at the
Medical College of Virginia, M.D., in 1860.
He served as assistant and full surgeon in the
Confederate States army, 1861-65, and after the
close of the war practised his profession in West
moreland county until 1870, when he determined
to enter the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal
church. That his family might not suffer, he
continued to practise medicine while studying
the prescribed course at his home in Westmore
land, taking the regular examinations with the
class at the Virginia Theological seminary. He
was ordained deacon, June 25, 1871, and priest,
June 29, 1872, by Bishop Whittle. He was
rector of St. John s and St. Paul s churches,
South Farnham parish, Tappahannock, Essex
county, Va., 1871-76; of St. Luke s church,
Norfolk, Va., 1876-84, and of Monumental
church, Richmond, Va., 1884-94. He was a
delegate to the General convention at Chicago
in 1886, at New York in 1889, at Baltimore in
1892, and present as a member of the House of
Bishops at Minneapolis in 1895. He was elected
coadjutor bishop of Virginia, Jan. 31, 1894,
and was consecrated in Monumental church,
Richmond, Va., May 16, 1894, by Bishops Whit
tle, Dudley, Peterkin, Randolph, Jackson and
Capers. The degree of D.D. was conferred on
him by Washington and Lee university and by
the University of the South, in 1896. He died in
Richmond. Va.. May 28, 1897.
NEWTON, John Thomas, naval officer, was
born in Alexandria, Va., May 20, 1793. He was
appointed to the U.S. navy as a midshipman Jan.
16, 1809, and served as acting lieutenant of the
Hornet in the engagement with the Peacock, Feb.
24, 1813. He was promoted lieutenant, July 24,
1813, and first lieutenant of the Hornet during
her action with the Penguin, March 23, 1815.
He was promoted commander, March 3, 1827 ;
captain, Feb. 9. 1837, andcommanded the steamers
Fulton and Missouri, and the navy yard at Pen-
sacola, Fla., 1848-52. He was flag-officer of the
home squadron, 1852-55, which gave him the title
of commodore, and commanded the navy yard
at Portsmouth, N.H., 1855-57. He died in Wash
ington, D.C., July 28, 1857.
NEWTON, Richard, clergyman, was born in
Liverpool, England, July 25, 1813 ; son of Richard
and Elizabeth (Cluett) Newton. He immigrated
to the United States with his parents in 1823, and
settled in Philadelphia, Pa. He was graduated
at the University of Pennsylvania, A.B. 1836,
A.M. 1839, and at the General Theological semi
nary, New York city, in 1839. He was married
July 31, 1834, to Lydia, daughter of Lawrence
Greatorex of Philadelphia, Pa. He was ordered
deacon in 1839, was rector of the Church of the
Holy Trinity, West Chester, Pa., 1839; was or
dained priest in 1840, and was rector of St. Paul s
church, Philadelphia, 1840-62 ; of the Church of
the Epiphany, Philadelphia, 1862-81, and of the
Church of the Covenant, Philadelphia, 1881-87.
He traveled in Europe, 1869-70. He was a
[i]
NEWTON
NEWTON
trustee of the University of Philadelphia, 1869-
87, and received the degree of D.D. from Kenyon
college in 1851. He contributed extensively to
juvenile literature and many of his sermons pre
pared for children have been translated into
French, German, Arabic and other languages.
He is the author of : Rills from the Fountain of
Life (1856) ; The King s Highway (1858) ; Bible
Jewels (1867) ; Nature s Wonders (1872) ; The
King in His Beauty (1875) ; Bible Promises
(1876) ; Natural History of the Bible (1877) ;
Covenant Names and Privileges (1880) ; Leaves
from the Tree of Life ; Giants and Hou- to Fight
The>ii ; The Heath in the Wilderness ; Travels in
Bible Lands ; Heroes of the Early Church ; Heroes
of the Reformation ; The Life of Christ for the
Young ; Bible Animals. He died at Chestnut
Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., May 25, 1887.
NEWTON, Richard Heber, clergyman, was
born in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 31, 1840 ; son of the
Rev. Richard and Lydia (Greatorex) Newton. He
attended the University of Pennsylvania and the
Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal church
in Philadelphia, 1857-62 ; was ordained deacon in
1862 ; was assistant to his father at St. Paul s,
Philadelphia, 1862-63 ;
assistant at the
Church of the Epi
phany, Philadelphia,
1863-64, and deacon
in charge of Trinity
church, at Sharon
Springs, N.Y., 1864-
66. He was married,
April 14, 1804, to
Mary E., daughter of
Charles S. Lewis of
Philadelphia, Pa. He
was ordained priest
in 1866, was rector of
St. Paul s church,
Philadelphia, 1806-69,
and of All Souls church, Ne\v York city, 1869-
1902. He became special preacher at Leland Stan
ford university, Cal., in 1902, but resigned in May,
1903, discouraged in his efforts to harmonize differ
ent creeds. He was charged with heresy as early as
1883 and again in 1891, when he demanded a
regular trial from his bishop, which was not
granted. He was active in philanthropic and re
form movements and became known as a Chris
tian socialist. In 1890 he attempted with Father
Ducey a municipal reform in New York city, be
ing largely instrumental in organizing the
People s Municipal league. His parish bought
the building of the Church of the Holy Spirit,
Madison avenue and 66th street, in 1890. He
served as vice-president of the Liberal Congress
of Religions and director of the New York State
Conference of Religions, also president of the In
ternational Metaphysical league. He received
the degree of D.D. from Union college in 1881.
He is the author of : Children" s Church, a hymn-
book(1872) ; The Morals of Trade (1876) ; Woman
hood (1879) ; Studies of Jesus (1881) ; The Right
and Wrong Uses of the Bible (1883) ; The Book of
the Beginnings, a Study of Genesis (1884) ; Phil
istinism (1885) ; Social Studies (1886) ; Church
and Creed (1891); Christian Science (1898). and
magazine articles, reviews, sermons and ad
dresses.
NEWTON, Robert Crittenden, soldier, was
born in Little Rock, Ark., June 2, 1840: son of
Thomas W. and Eliza (Allen) Newton ; grandson
of Col. John Allen, who was killed while leading
his regiment at the battle of River Raisin, Jan.
22, 1813, and a descendant of Jared Newton, a-n
Englishman, who immigrated to Westmoreland
county, Pa., in the 17th century. Thomas "W.
Newton was cashier of the Real Estate bank,
clerk of Pulaski county, member of the state
legislature in both houses, U.S. marshal and rep-
resentive in the 29th congress. Robert C. Newton
was educated in the Western Military institute,
Tyree Springs, Teiin., in the literary department
of the University of Nashville, and studied math
ematics and languages under a private tutor. He
was admitted to the bar in 1860, and practised in
Little Rock. He entered the Confederate army
as a private in 1861, was promoted lieutenant and
assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Gen.
Thomas C. Hindman, and took part in the battles
of Woodsonville, Sliiloh, Corinth. Prairie Grove,
Helena, Little Rock, Jenkins s Ferry and minor
engagements. He was regularly promoted, be
coming colonel of the 5th Arkansas cavalry, and
was acting brigadier-general in command of the
Arkansas state troops at the close of the war. He
was a commissioner from Arkansas to the authori
ties at Washington in 1866, to secure representa
tion for the state in congress ; was appointed
major-general of the state troops by Governor
Baxter in 1873, and filled that position during the
Brooks-Baxter controversy in 1874. Commodore
Thomas Nelson, U.S.N., was his uncle, and his
mother s sister, Ann Maria Allen, married Henry
Crittenden and was the mother of Gov. Thomas
S. Crittenden (q.v.) of Missouri, and by a second
marriage became the mother of Governor Eli
Houston Murray (q.v.) of Utah. General Newton
died at Little Rock, Ark., June 2, 1887.
NEWTON, Thomas, representative, was born
in Norfolk, Va., in 1769 ; son of Thomas and
Martha (Tucker) Newton ; grandson of Thomas
and Amy (Hutchins) Newton, and of Robert
Tucker, and a great grandson of George and
Aphie (Wilson) Newton. George Newton was
mayor of the borough of Norfolk, Va., in 1736
[2]
NEWTON
XICIIOLA
and 1742. Thomas received a good education,
studied la\v and settled in practice in Norfolk.
He was a Republican representative in the 7th-
20th and the 22d congresses, 1801-29 and 1831-33.
He claimed election to the 21st congress, but the
house by a majority of thirteen gave the seat to
George Loyall who had contested it. He retired
the oldest member in point of service in the house,
having also served for m;niy years as chair
man of the committee on commerce and manu
factures. His son, John Newton (q.v.), was the
distinguished soldier and engineer. He died in
Norfolk, Va., Aug. 5, 1*47.
NEWTON, William Wilberforce, clergyman,
was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 4, 1843 ; son
of the Rev. Richard and Lydia (Greatorex) New
ton. He left the University of Pennsylvania
witli other students in 18C3 to serve in Landis
battery in the emergency corps for the defence
of the state against Lee s invasion. He was
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania,
A.B., 185"), A.M., 1808, and at the Divinity School
of the Protestant Episcopal church, Philadelphia,
in 1868. He was ordered deacon in 1868, and
ordained priest, June 19, 1869, and was as
sistant at the Church of the Epiphany, Philadel
phia, during his father s absence in Europe. 1869-
70. He was married, Nov. 16, 1870, to Emily
Stevenson, daughter of the Rev. James Welsh
Cooke, of Philadelphia, Pa. He was rector of
St. Paul s, Brookline. Mass.. 1870-7.-) ; of Trinity,
Newark, N. J., 1875-77: of St. Paul s, Boston,
Mass., 1877-81, and in 1881 became rector of St.
Stephen s, Pittsfield, Mass. He was a member of
the school committee while in Brookline, Mass.,
and field a similar office in Pittsfield, Mass., 1887-
88. He organized the American congress of
churches, which met at Hartford, Conn., in 1885,
and at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1886. He received the
degree of D.D. from the University of Pennsyl
vania in 1890. He is the author of : Little and
TH .s-e (1877) ; Xew Tracts for Xeic Times (1877):
The Wicket Gate (1878); Essays of To-day (1879);
The Interpreter s House (1879) ; The Palace Beau
tiful (1880); Great Heart (1881): TJie Voice of
St. John (1881) ; Troublesome Children (1880);
Priest and Man (1883); Summer Sermons (1885);
Toyland (1885); The Vine Out of Egypt (1887);
Prayers of the Ages (1887); A Father s Blessing
(1888): Rug nar the Sea-King (1888) ; TJte Life of
Dr. Willi tm A. Mtthlenburg, D.D. (1890); TJte
Child and the Bishop (1894); A Run Through
Russia (1894) ; Philip McGregor (189~>). His three
poems in The Voice of St. John: Paradise, Tele-
machus&nd Rag nar, were set to music in cantata
form by Prof. F. J. Liddle, organist of St.
Stephen s church. Pittsfield.
NIBLACK, William Ellis, representative, was
born in Dubois county, Ind., May 19, 1822 ; son
of John and Martha (Hargrave) Niblack. He
matriculated at Indiana university in the class of
1844, but left at the close of his freshman year,
studied law, was admitted to the bar and after
ward settled in practice in Vincennes. He rep
resented Martin county in the Indiana legislature
in 1849 and 1853, and was a state senator, 1850-52.
He was appointed circuit judge in January, 1854,
and in October, 1854, was re-appointed for a term
of six years, but resigned in October, 1857, hav
ing been elected to the 35th congress from the
first Indiana district to fill the term of James
Lockhart, who died Sept. 7, 1857. He served in
the 35th, 36th and 39th-43d congresses, 1857-61,
and 1865-75. He was a delegate at large from
Indiana to the Democratic national conventions
of 1864, 1868 and 1876 ; a member from Indiana
of the Democratic congressional committee,
1865-72, and a judge of the supreme court for the
first district of Indiana, 1877-89, being defeated
for re-election in 1888 by S. D. Coffey. He was
married to Eliza A. Sherman of Cazenovia, N.Y.,
and of their sons, William Caldwell Niblack, a
lawyer of Chicago, 111., is the author of "Niblack
on Benefit Societies and Accident Insurance ; "
Mason Jenks Niblack, lawyer, Vincennes, Ind.,
was speaker of the house of representatives in
the Indiana legislature, 1889-91, and Albert Par
ker Niblack, lieutenant U.S.N., was inspector of
naval militia, 1895-96, naval attache at Berlin,
Rome and Vienna, 1896-98, served in Cuba, Man
illa and China waters, 1898-1901, and is the au
thor of Coast Indians of Alaska." Judge
Niblack died in Indianapolis, Ind., May 7, 1893.
NICHOLA, Lewis, soldier, was born in Dublin,
Ireland, in 1717. of Huguenot descent. He fol
lowed the calling of his father and grandfather,
entering the British army in 1740 as an ensign,
and was promoted major. He came to America in
1766 and settled in Philadelphia, Pa., where he
was a surveyor. He established and edited the
American Magazine in 1769, and edited the Trans
actions of the American Philosophical society
of which he was a member. He was appointed
barracks-master-general of Philadelphia, in 1776,
and was subsequently given command of the
city guard. He was town-major, with the rank
of major in the state militia, 1776-82. He
planned a river defence boat and drew maps of
the injuries done by the British w.hile they oeu-
pied the city. He offered to congress the sugges
tion that a regiment of invalid soldiers be re
cruited from men disabled in the service, and
used as a camp of instruction or military school.
His plan was acted upon, and in 1777 he was
commissioned colonel and commandant of
the school of instruction. He was brevetted
brigadier-general in NoA ember. 1783. He was
an original member of the Pennsylvania branch,
[3]
NICHOLAS
NICHOLLS
Society of the Cincinnati. He favored a limited
monarchical government, and even suggested to
General Washington that he would best serve his
country by assuming the title of king. For this
suggestion he received a severe rebuke from
Washington. He is the author of : .4 Treatise of
Military Exercise Calculated for the Use of Amer
icans, in which Everything that is Sup2)osed to be
of Use to Them is Retained, and such Maneuvers
as are only for Show and Parade are Omitted
(1777). He died in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 9, 1807.
NICHOLAS, John, representative, was born
in \Villiainsburg, Va., Jan, 19, 1761 ; son of Robert
Carter (q.v.) and Ann (Gary) Nicholas. He was
graduated at the College of William and Mary
and became a planter. He was an Anti-Feder
alist representative from Virginia in the 3d 6th
congresses, 1793-1801, removed to Geneva. N.Y.,
in 1803, where he cultivated a farm, was judge of
the court of common pleas, 1806-19, and served
as state senator, 1807-09. He died in Geneva,
N T .Y.. Dec. 31, 1819.
NICHOLAS, Robert Carter, statesman, was
born in Hanover, Va. , in 1715 ; son of Dr. George
Nicholas, who immigrated to Virginia about 1700.
His brother, John Nicholas, was the progenitor of
the Nicholas family of the Seven Islands in the
James river and was married to Martha, daughter
of Col. Joshua and Mary (Micon) Fry. Robert
Carter Nicholas _was graduated from the College
of William and Mary about 1733, and practised
law in James City, Va. He was married to a
daughter of Wilson Gary and had sons : George
(1755-1799); Wilson Gary (q.v.); John (q.v.).
and Philip Norborne (1773-1849), judge of the
general court of Virginia, 1823-49. He was
treasurer of the colony of Virginia, 1766-77, the
member from James City in the house of bur
gesses until 1777, and a member of the house of
delegates. 1777-79. He was opposed to the stamp
act resolutions proposed by Patrick Henry, hold
ing that the act was void because unconstitu
tional. He was a member of the committee of
correspondence, 1773, and of the various state
conventions, being president pro tempore of the
one of July, 1775. He \vas appointed judge of
the high court of chancery in 1779 and subse
quently became judge of the court of appeals.
He died in Hanover, Va., in 1780.
NICHOLAS, Robert Carter, senator, was born
in Hanover, Va., in 1790 ; son of Col. George
and Mary (Smith) Nicholas, and grandson of
Judge Robert Carter (q.v.) and Ann (Gary)
Nicholas. His father was born in Hanover about
1755 ; graduated at the College of W T illiam and
Mary ; was colonel, 2d Virginia regiment, in the
Revolution ; a member of the convention that rat
ified the Federal constitution ; a member of the
house of delegates, and in 1790 removed to
[4]
Kentucky where he was a member of the state
constitutional convention, April 1, 1792, and
author of the document ; first attorney-gen
eral of the state, and died in 1799. Robert
Carter Nicholas was graduated from the College
of William and Mary in 1810 ; was appointed
captain in the 25th U.S. infantry, March 12, 1812 ;
was promoted major and assigned to the 12th
U.S. infantry, March 3, 1813; lieutenant-colonel
and assigned to the 44th U.S. infantry, Aug. 20,
1814, and was transferred to the 30th U.S. infan
try, Nov. 14, 1814. He served in the war of 1812
and on the Canadian frontier and was mustered
out of service on the reduction of the army in
June, 1815. He retired to a sugar plantation in
Louisiana. He was U.S. charge d affaires to
Naples ; secretary of the state of Louisiana for
several years; U.S. senator, 1830-41, and state
superintendent of public instruction, 1851-57. He
died in Terrebonne parish. La., Dec. 24. 1857.
NICHOLAS, Samuel Smith, jurist, was born
in Lexington, Ky., in 1796; son of George and
Mary (Smith) Nicholas, and brother of Robert
Carter Nicholas (1790-1857). He became a prom
inent merchant of New Orleans and subsequently
removed to Louisville. Ky., where he engaged in
the practice of law. He was appointed judge of
the court of appeals in 1831 and was later elected
a representative in the state legislature. He
assisted in revising the code of Kentucky and is
the author of Constitutional Law (1857). He
died in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 27, 1869.
NICHOLAS, Wilson Cary, governor of Vir
ginia, was born in Hanover, Va., in 1757 ; son of
Robert Carter (q.v.) and Ann (Cary) Nicholas. He
was graduated from the College of William and
Mary in 1774, and served throughout the Revolu
tion as an officer in the Con
tinental army. He com
manded Washington s life
guard ; was a member of the
Virginia convention that
ratified the Federal constitu
tion, and was a friend and
supporter of Thomas Jeffer
son. He was elected U.S. senator from Virginia
in 1799 and resigned in 1804, to accept the collec-
torship of the ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth,
Va., where he served, 1804-07. He was a Demo
cratic representative in the 9th and 10th con
gresses, 1805-09, and was governor of Virginia,
1814-17. He died in Milton, Va., Oct. 10. 1820.
NICHOLLS, Francis Tillou, governor of Louis
iana, was born in Donaldsonville. La., Aug. 20 ;
1834 ; son of Thomas Clarke and Louisa H.( Drake)
NichoIIs, and grandson of Edward Church and
Wilhelmina (Hamilton) NichoIIs. His father was
a member of the general assembly of Louisiana ;
judge of the district court and senior judge of
NICHOLS
NICHOLS
the court of errors and appeals, and his mother
was a sister of Joseph Rodman Drake (q.v.).
Francis was graduated from the U.S. Military
academy and assign
ed to the 2d U.S.
artillery, July 1, 1855,
and served in Florida
and at Fort Yuma,
Gal., 1855 - 56. He was
promoted 2d lieuten
ant in the 3d artillery,
Oct. 19, 1855 ; re
signed his commis
sion, Oct. 1, 1856, and
removed to Louisiana,
where he was mar
ried in April, 1860. to
Caroline Z. Guion
of Lafourehe parish.
He practised , law
at Napoleonville, 1856-61. He was commissioned
captain in the 8th Louisiana volunteer regiment
early in 1861, becoming lieutenant-colonel on the
organization of the regiment in the C.S.A ; was
promoted colonel of the 15th Louisiana regi
ment in 1862, and shortly after brigadier-general in
command of the 2d Louisiana brigade. He led
his brigade in the battle of Winchester, Va., where
he lost his left arm, and at Chancellorsville, where
he lost his left foot. He was superintendent of the
conscript bureau, trans-Mississippi department,
1864-65, and after the close of the war returned to
Louisiana and practised law, 1865-76. He was
Democratic governor of Louisiana, 1877-80 and
1888-92, and after the expiration of his first term
as governor, practised law in New Orleans.
He was a member and president of the board of
visitors to the U.S. Military academy in 1886,
and after the expiration of his second term as
governor, he was appointed chief justice of the
supreme court of Louisiana for a term of twelve
years, 1892-1904.
NICHOLS, Edward Leamington, physicist,
was born in Leamington, England, Sept. 14, 1854 ;
son of Edward Willard and Maria (Watkinson)
Nichols ; grandson of Rev. Noah and Mary H.
(Low) Nichols of Rumney, N.H., and of Edward
and Lavinia (Hudson) Watkinson of Hartford,
Conn. , and a descendant of David Nichols of Cohas-
set, Mass, and of the Watkinsons of Black Notely
Hall, England. His parents, who were Amer
icans, were at the time of his birth visiting Eng
land. He attended the Peekskill Military acad
emy and was graduated from Cornell university,
B.S., 1875. He studied at the universities of
Leipzig, Berlin and Gottingen (Ph.D. 1879) and
was appointed a fellow in physics at the Johns
Hopkins university in 1879. He was connected
with Thomas A. Edison at Menlo Park, N.J.,
1880-81, where he was employed principally upon
problems in testing incandescent light. He was
married in 1881 to Ida Preston of South Dover,
N.Y. He was professor of physics and chemistry
in Central university, Richmond, Ky., 1881-83;
professor of physics and astronomy at the Uni
versity of Kansas, 1883-87, and in 1887 became
professor of physics at Cornell university. He
was elected a fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and of the Amer
ican Academy of Arts and Sciences ; member of
the Kansas Academy of Science arid its presi
dent, 1885-86, member of the American Institute
of Electrical Engineers ; the American Physical
society : the Franklin Institute, and the National
Academy of Sciences. He became editor of the
Physical Review and is the author of : The Gal
vanometer (1894) ; Laboratory Manual of Physics
and Applied Electricity (1894); The Elements of
Physics (3 vols., 1895) ; Outline of Physics (1897),
and numerous articles on experimental physics.
NICHOLS, Edward Tatnall, naval officer, was
born in Augusta, Ga., March 1, 1823. He was
appointed midshipman, U.S.N., in December,
1836 ; was promoted passed midshipman in 1842,
and lieutenant in March, 1850. He served in the
Mediterranean squadron, 1853-56 ; in the Home
squadron, 1858-60 ; commanded the U. S. steamer
Winona of the Western Gulf blockading squad
ron, participating in the bombardment of Forts
Jackson and St. Philip, and receiving the surren
der of Fort St. Philip, April 28, 1862. He also
directed the Winona in botii passages of the
Vicksburg batteries and in the engagement with
the Confederate ram Arkansas. He was pro
moted commander in July, 1862, commanded the