partment of the West. For the succeeding five years, or until the commencement of the Civil war, he was assigned special duties (with headquarters in Washington and New York) and to the Utah expedition, under General Johnston, as assistant adjutant general and chief of staff. The expedition mentioned covered a period from September, 1857, to February, 1859, and it was largely through General Porter's efforts that a Mormon effort to pass counterfeit checks upon the government was defeated. Upon his return to the East, by order of the Secretary of War, he inspected the defences of Charleston (S. C.) harbor, recommending that they be strengthened and supplied with ammunition and provisions and that Major Anderson occupy Fort Sumter. In February, 1860, he was sent to Texas to raise troops for the garrisons at Key West and Dry Tortugas, Fla., ably performing these duties as well as others connected with operations preliminary to the war. In April, 1861, he was in command of three thousand troops near Cockesville, Md., designed for the protection of the railroad between Baltimore, Md., and Harrisburg, Pa., and the maintenance of communication between Baltimore and Washington. This force, however, was withdrawn to Washington via Philadelphia and Annapolis, President Lincoln fearing "collision and bloodshed." While at Harrisburg and unable to communicate with the Secretary of War, General Porter assumed authority and ordered General Harney, commanding the Department of the West, at St. Louis, Mo. (who had refused local requests), "to muster into the United States service the Missouri troops, arm and equip them and use them for the protection of public property;" thereby, as declared by General Frank P. Blair, he "saved Missouri to the Union." His acts were approved by the Secretary of War and General Scott and he was appointed chief of staff to the United States Headquarters, Department of Pennsylvania, and, after a few months' ser

vice at the front, colonel of the 15th infantry and brigadier general of volunteers. He was engaged in the action of Falling Waters, Va., July 2, 1861; later organized several brigades and was assigned to the command of a division in the defences of Washington. In the Peninsula campaign he commanded a division and the Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac; directed the siege of Yorktown, and was in command at the action of New Bridge, the capture of Hanover Court House, and the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines Mills, Turkey Bend and Malvern Hill. In the campaign of Northern Virginia he commanded the Fifth Army Corps, participating in the battle of Manassas (second Bull Run). After organizing the defences of Washington his command was reinforced by a division of over 8,000 men and sent to join the Army of the Potomac in Maryland. He then became engaged in the battles of Antietam and Shepherdstown, capturing four guns, two of which had been lost to the enemy in the first battle of Bull Run.

As director of the siege of Yorktown he ascended in a balloon to ascertain the position and probable strength of the enemy's defences. Ascending but a hundred yards, the rope attached to the ground suddenly broke and the balloon rose rapidly and high, and passed over Yorktown into the enemy's country. With his usual presence of mind and good judgment, however, he obtained control of the runaway balloon, and, with the desired information, brought it back in safety to the Union.

camp.

General Porter continued in command of his corps, participating in all the operations of the Army of the Potomac until November 12, 1862, when he was relieved from duty and ordered to Washington, where, in January, 1863, he was cashiered and forever disqualified from holding office under the United States government for alleged violation of articles of war. It was only through his continuous efforts and those of his friends, and

after a period of sixteen years, that General Porter was vindicated and restored to his former position, the sentence of the court martial of 1863 being formally set aside June 20, 1878, by a special board of investigation appointed by President Hayes. The board also reported that "Porter's faithful and intelligent conduct that afternoon (August 29), when he was charged with disobedience of orders and cause of defeat, saved the Union Army from the defeat which would otherwise have resulted that day from the enemy's more speedy concentration." After several appeals to Congress, that body, in 1885, authorized the President to restore him to the army. This was done, and he retired, at his own request, as a colonel, U. S. A., with his original commission dated May 14, 1861. Thus his record of former services was counted, the records of the court martial annulled, and his thorough vindication secured.

From the date of the order promulgating the sentence to the spring of 1864 General Porter was virtually without business or professional occupation. He was superintendent of mining operations in Colorado, 1864-65. While there the injury occasioned by the verdict of the court martial followed him, and a bill was even introduced into the legislature of the territory requiring his expulsion therefrom. He was a merchant of New York City in 1865-71; superintendent in the erection of the New Jersey State Asylum for the Insane, Morristown, 1872-75; commissioner of public works, New York, 1875-76; assistant receiver of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, 187782; police commissioner of New York City, 1884-88; fire commissioner, 1888-89; merchant, 1889-93, and cashier of the New York post-office, 1893-97, when he retired to private life.

In 1869 the Khedive of Egypt offered General Porter the position of commander of his army, with the rank of major general. This brilliant offer he declined, preferring to re

main in his own country and secure the vindication as an American soldier which followed a few years later.

NOAH BROOKS.

Noah Brooks, journalist and author, Castine, Maine, was born in that town October 24, 1830. He was educated in the common schools of New England, subsequently studying art and literary composition. From 1859 to 1862 he was a journalist in California, and, during the last three years of the Civil war, Washington correspondent of the Sacramento Union. During the following two years he was naval officer of the port of San Francisco, after which he returned to newspaper work as editor, first of the San Francisco Times, then of the Alta California. In 1871 he removed to New York, and from that date until 1875 he was upon the editorial staff of the Tribune, when he took a place on the staff of the Times; in 1884 he left that paper to take the editorship of the Newark Daily Advertiser. Since 1894 he has pursued general literature, being widely known as an author of juvenile stories, of special interest and value to boys. He has written numerous tales and essays for the standard periodicals, and is the author of the following books: "The Boy Emigrants," "The Fairport Nine," "Our Baseball Club," "Life of Abraham Lincoln," "The Boy Settlers," "American Statesmen,” "Tales of the Maine Coast," "Abraham Lincoln and the Downfall of American Slavery," "How the Republic Is Governed," "Short Studies in American Politics," "Washington in Lincoln's Time," "The Mediterranean Trip," "The Story of Marco Polo," two volumes of "Scribner's History of the United States," and "A Soldier of the American Revolution: A Life of General Henry Knox, Major General in the Continental Army, Washington's Chief of Artillery," etc.

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

Charles Francis Adams, lawyer, congressman and author, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1807. After passing ten years in Europe, while his father, John Quincy Adams, was minister to Russia and England, he entered the Boston Latin School, and in 1825 graduated from Harvard College. He studied law with Daniel Webster and was admitted to the bar in 1828. In 1831 he was sent to the State Legislature and served three terms in the House and two in the Senate. In 1848 he was a candidate for vice-president on the ticket with ex-President Van Buren, and in 1858 was elected to Congress. In 1861 he was appointed minister to England, and managed the American affairs with much success through the crisis of the war. In 1876 he was a candidate for governor of Massachusetts, but was defeated. He wrote much for magazines and the press generally, but his main work was the biography of his grandfather and editing the writings of both his grandfather and father. He died November 21, 1886, in Boston, Mass.

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, JR.

Charles Francis Adams, Jr., railroad president and historical writer, Boston, Mass., was born in that city May 27, 1835. In 1856 he graduated from Harvard and in 1858 was admitted to the bar. During the Civil war he commanded a regiment of colored men and was mustered out with the brevet rank of brigadier general. He subsequently became identified with railroad development, and in 1869 was appointed a member of the board of railway commissioners of Massachusetts. In 1884 he became president of the Union Pacific Railway. He was president of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1895 and is the author of "Chapters on Erie and Other Essays," "Railroads, Their Origin and Problems," "Notes on

Railway Accidents," "Massachusetts, Its Historians and Its History," "Three Episodes in Massachusetts History," etc.

DAVID BENNETT HILL.

David Bennett Hill, lawyer, ex-governor and ex-United States Senator, Albany, N. Y., was born in Havana, N. Y., August 20, 1843. After receiving a fair education, not only in the public schools, but at the academy of his native place, he removed to Elmira and began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1864. Before he had been six months in practice he was elected city attorney; in 1868 he was appointed delegate to the Democratic State convention, thereafter attending every succeeding convention, being president of the body in 1877 and 1881; in 1876 he was a delegate to the National convention. In 1870-71 he was in the State Legislature. In 1882 he was elected mayor of Elmira; served as lieutenant-governor of New York from 1882-85; governor from 1885-91 and United States Senator from 1891-97.

EMIEL CONNIE UNDERBURG.

Emiel Connie Underburg, M. D., Stanton, Neb., was born in Chicago, Ill., April 26, 1862. He was educated in Chicago, at the University of Iowa City and at Keokuk, Ia. After receiving his degree of M. D., at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1890, Dr. Underburg commenced the practice of his profession at Stanton, Neb., removing to Stanton April 1st, 1890. Here he has become known as a most energetic, able and versatile citizen. He has served as mayor for four terms; has been county coroner and county physician and at the present time holds. the position of examining physician on the board of insanity. Dr. Underburg is so widely known as an actor and author of comedies that

he is professionally recognized in Donaldson's Theatrical Guide. He has three comedies already staged and copyrighted, viz.: "Corrigan's Conclusion," "Folklore," and "How They Loomed Up." As an actor he has also taken many star parts in amateur and manuscript plays and is the principal owner and manager of Stanton's stock company. He is a musician and is the business manager of the Stanton military band.

ALEXANDER AGASSIZ.

Alexander Agassiz, naturalist, Cambridge, Mass., was born in Switzerland December 17, 1835, and is the son of Louis J. R. Agassiz, one of the most distinguished of modern naturalists. In 1848 he joined his father in Boston and entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1855. From 1859-60 he was on the coast survey of California and from 1860-65 was assistant in zoology at Harvard. He was superintendent of the Anderson school of natural history, member of the scientific expedition to Chili and Lake Titicaca, chief of the United States dredging expedition in the West Indies and one of the overseers of Harvard College. He has written largely upon ichthyology and in 1896 was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honor.

JOHN LOUIS EWELL, D. D.

John Louis Ewell, D. D., dean of the theological department of Howard University and professor of sacred literature and church history therein, Washington, D. C., was born in Rowley, Mass., September 4, 1840, and is a lineal descendant of Gov. Bradford, Thomas Rogers and John Alden, of the Mayflower. He is a graduate of Yale University, class of 1865, being valedictorian of the class, and the Andover Theological Seminary, class of 1870.

In the Civil war he was corporal of Company F, 60th Mass. Vol. Inf., and has held the following positions: principal of the Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville, Tenn.; professor of Latin, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.; pastor of Congregational churches in Clinton, Ia. (1871-74), Waverly, Mass. (1874-78), and Millbury, Mass. (1878-90). Since the year last named he has been identified with the Howard University, having held the position of dean since June, 1891. He has published articles of travel, history and biography, and has lectured before the National Geographical Society and other organizations upon similar themes. He has traveled extensively in Europe and the East in 1869, 1888 and 1895.

JOHN C. BELL.

John C. Bell, lawyer and congressman, Montrose, Colo., was born in Grundy county, Tenn., December 11, 1851. Attending the public schools of his native county and private schools of Rufus Clark at Alto and of Hampton & Miller, Boiling Fork, Franklin county, Tenn., he commenced to read law in Winchester, that State, and was admitted to practice in 1874, removing in June of that year to Saguache. He was soon afterward appointed county attorney, serving in that capacity until May, 1876. He then resigned and moved to Lake City, Colo., a most prosperous mining city in the San Juan region. In 1878 he was elected to the clerkship of Hinsdale county and subsequently served for two terms as mayor of Lake City. In August, 1885, he resigned the mayoralty, and, forming a partnership with Hon. Frank C. Goudy, removed to Montrose, where he has since resided. In November, 1888, he was elected judge of the seventh judicial district of Colorado, his term being for six years, but before its expiration (in the fall of 1892) he was nominated for Congress from the second district, first by the

Populists and afterward by the Democrats. As a fusionist he was elected to the Fifty-third and subsequent congresses. At the present time he is a member of the committee on appropriations and the United States nonpartisan industrial commission.

JAMES STEPTOE JOHNSTON.

James Steptoe Johnston, Bishop of West Texas, San Antonio, was born at Church Hill, Miss., June 9, 1843. After he had partially completed his education in the common schools and at Oakland College, Miss., and the University of Virginia, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate army. He served generally within the borders of the Old Dominion and at the close of the war was a second lieutenant of cavalry. Ordained as a minister of the Protestant Episcopal church, he served as rector of St. James church, at Port Gibson, Miss., 1870-76; church of the Ascension, Mt. Sterling, Ky., 1876-80, and Trinity church, Mobile, Ala., 1880-88. He was consecrated to his present position January 6, 1888.

CHARLES N. HERREID.

Charles N. Herreid, lawyer and prominent Republican politician of Eureka, S. D., was born in Dane county, Wis., on the 20th of October, 1857. He spent about three years at the Galesville University, in that State; afterward read law in an office for about one year and in 1882 graduated in the law department of the State University of Wisconsin. He was married the same year and located at Eureka, McPherson county, where he has since resided and practiced. He served his county as state's attorney and judge of the county court; lieutenant governor, 1892 and 1894: president of the Senate, 1893 and 1895,

and chairman of the Republican State committee, 1898. His splendid record as lieutenant governor placed him prominently before the people, and his subsequent service brought him into line as the strongest candidate for the gubernatorial chair whom his party could offer. He is conservative, thoughtful, sympathetic; a bimetallist until 1896 and subsequently a supporter of the Republican financial policy, and loyal to his people and his State. He was nominated by acclamation for governor by the Republican State convention which met at Sioux Falls May 23, 1900. He is deeply interested in the Knights of Pythias and Scottish Rite Masonry, having been grand chancellor of the order in South Dakota, and is a Mason of the thirty-second degree and deputy inspector general.

SLASON THOMPSON.

Slason Thompson, journalist (chief of the editorial staff of the Times-Herald since 1898), 328 Superior street, Chicago, was born January 5, 1849, in Fredericton, N. B., Canada. He received his education at the University of New Brunswick and in 1870 commenced practice of the law in his native city. In 1873 he removed to San Francisco, Cal., continuing his professional work as an attorney-at-law and entering upon his journalistic career as reporter for the San Francisco Morning Call. In 1878-79 he was on the New York Tribune and in 1880-81 served as Western agent of the New York Associated Press. In the latter year he was identified with the founding of the Chicago Herald; became chief editorial writer of the Chicago Record in 1883, and continued thus for five years; was editor of the Chicago Journal from 1892 to 1897, and in the following year was appointed chief of the editorial staff of the Chicago Times-Herald. Aside from his work as a journalist, Mr. Thompson has accomplished much as an independent