American Biography

Nelson Hall was born in Belfast, Maine, March 25, 1843. His family moved to Rockland in 1850. Educated in the common schools of Rockland, Nelson followed the sea for a living until 1861. At that time he was on board the ship Coolier, Oliver Amesbury, master, at St. John, N.B. He left the ship and returned home to Rockland and enlisted in Co. D., 2nd Regiment Burdon’s U. S. Sharpshooters, October 1, 1861.

Mr. Hall was ordered to Washington, D.C. On arriving at Washington he was ordered to the front, and participated in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac up to the time of being wounded, at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., where he lost his right arm at the shoulder, caused by the bursting of a rebel shell.

Nelson came home to Rockland on a furlough of thirty days; returned to Washington, remaining there for a while, after which he took his discharge and came home to Rockland. Afterwards he found employment in the store of Hon. G. F. Burgess, Rockport; and he remained there through the winter and spring.

Mr. Hall married Miss Amanda Crockett, daughter of Capt. Elijah Crockett of Rockland, Maine. She died November, 1865. He married second, Rebecca Blake, Dec. 24, 1874. She was the daughter of Warren and Hannah Blake of St. George.

On June 10, 1865, Nelson Hall was appointed Dept. Collector of Customs, at the Port of St. George, by Hon. S. Marble, Collector of Customs, District of Waldoboro. September 1, 1866, he was appointed Collector of Customs and was re-appointed in 1871, ‘75, ‘79, ‘81 and 1885. He was Chairman of the Board of Selectmen in 1889. March 19, 1881 he was again appointed Collector of Customs for St. George District by Capt. W. H. Luce, Collector of Customs of Waldoboro District. Hall was Collector of Taxes for St. George in 1874. He also held the offices of Trial Justice, Notary Public and Justice of the Peace at various times.

Felipe Neri Gomez was born at Monterey in California on May 25, 1832. His father, Rafael Gomez, was a native of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. He was educated for the law, and in 1829 the Mexican government sent him to California on legal business. He died at Monterey in 1839, as a result of blood poisoning.

On March 7, 1831, Rafael Gomez married Josefa Antonia Estrada, daughter of Jose Marino and Ysabel (Arguello) Estrada. Jose M. Estrada was a lieutenant in the State of California. The Estrada and Gomez families came to California as early as 1801 and were in the Government service. The father of Ysabel Arguello was Louis Arguello, of one of the most ancient families of Monterey. Besides Felipe Neri, Rafael and Josefa Gomez were the parents of Ysabel, Juan, Mariana and Rafael.

Felipe Neri Gomez, though only seven years old when his father died, had all the advantages that wealth and social station could bestow. The administrator of his father’s estate was David Spence, who carefully looked after the education of the youth. He sent him to the Hawaiian Islands in order to learn the English language under the direction of the missionaries. On his return he was sent to the Seminary of Law at Guadalajara, Mexico, from which he graduated. This training gave him unusual qualifications to take charge and administer the Gomez estate.

Mr. Gomez in 1872 was appointed postmaster of Monterey, California, and held that office for eighteen years. During ten years of this time his daughter Josefa acted as his assistant. She was the first woman accepted for the duties of assistant postmaster in the records of the postal department. She served as assistant postmaster until her marriage to Mr. Hubbard, who was of German and Scotch ancestry and died in 1919.

Napoleon Collins was a naval officer, born in Pennsylvania, May 4th 1814. He entered the U.S. Navy from Iowa as midshipman in 1834, studied at the naval school in Philadelphia in 1840, and became midshipman on July 16th 1840.

Collins was promoted to master mariner on August 15th 1846, and lieutenant on November 6th 1846. During the Mexican War he took part in the siege of Tuxpan and Tabasco on board the sloop of war Decatur.

In the Civil War Napoleon Collins commanded the Anacosta of the Potomac fleet in 1861, and was transferred to the gunboat Unadilla, with which he joined the South Atlantic squadron in the operations of 1861-62. On July 16th 1862, he was made commander of the Octorora of the West Indian squadron. Collins was transferred to the Wachusett in 1863, and directed his attention to the Confederate cruisers then operating against United States commerce. He captured the Florida in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil, October 7th 1864, under the guns of the Brazilian fleet, and towed his prize out of the harbor. He delivered her to the United States authorities at Hampton Roads, Virginia. While at anchor there she was run into by a transport and sunk. Brazil demanded her rendition, and Secretary Seward disavowed the act of Commander Collins who was tried by court-martial.

None the less, Collins was promoted to captain on July 25th 1866 and commodore on January 19th 1871. On August 9th 1874, he was made rear-admiral in command of the South Pacific squadron. He died exactly one year later at Callao, Peru, August 9th 1875.

Michael Aloysius O’Kane was an educator, born in county Clare, Ireland, July 12, 1849. He was the son of Michael O’Kane and Bridget (Casey) O’Kane. Brought to America by his parents in 1852, he received his education in the public schools of Spencer, Mass. He entered Holy Cross college, Worcester, Mass., in 1865, the year of its incorporation; joined the Society of Jesus, July, 1867, and went to Woodstock college, Md., where he pursued theological and philosophical studies, completing his course in 1876.

O’Kane was professor of classics in Georgetown college, D.C., 1876-82; prefect of studies there, 1882-86, vice-president, 1886-87; rector and master of novices in the Novitiate at Frederick, Md., 1887-89, and president of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, 1889-93. He was then transferred to the Missionary Band, and became superior of the band, having his headquarters at St. Francis Xavier, New York city.

Marshall Solomon Snow, educator, was born in Hyannis, Mass., Aug. 17, 1842; son of the Rev. Solomon Pepper Snow and Maria Jane (Pratt) Snow; grandson of John Snow and Abiel (Pepper) Snow and of Seth Pratt and Lydia (Burt) Pratt, and a descendant of Nicholas Snow and Phineas Pratt, both of whom came from England in the Ann in 1623.

M. S. Snow was educated at Phillips Exeter academy and was graduated from Harvard university, A.B., 1865, A.M., 1868. He was sub-master of the high school at Worcester, Mass., 1865-66, and principal of the high school in Nashville, Tenn., 1866-67.

Marshall Solomon Snow was married, July 9, 1867, to Ellen Frances Jewell, daughter of Asa Jewell and Theodate (Page) Jewell of Exeter, N.H. He was professor of Latin and principal of Montgomery Bell academy, University of Nashville, 1867-70; and professor of mathematics in the university, 1867-68. In 1870 he was called to Washington university, St. Louis, Mo., where he was professor of belles lettres, 1870-74; professor of history after 1874, registrar of the college, 1871-77; dean after 1877; and acting chancellor, 1887-91. He was president of the Missouri Historical society, 1894-1900; secretary of the standing committee of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Missouri, and a member of various societies. He was the author of: City Government of St. Louis in the fifth series of “Johns Hopkins University Studies” (1887).

Mary Noailles Murfree, author, was born at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Jan. 24, 1850; daughter of William Law Murfree and Fanny Priscilla (Dickson) Murfree; granddaughter of William Hardy Murfree and Elizabeth Mary (Maney) Murfree, and great granddaughter of Col. Hardy Murfree, an officer in the Revolutionary army.

Mary Murfree became lame in childhood, and thus debarred from active amusements, at an early age devoted herself to books, becoming a hard student, and later earnestly turned her attention to literary work. The family in 1856 moved to Nashville where she was chiefly educated, although she spent some time at school in Philadelphia. In 1872 they returned to Murfreesboro, and from there moved to St. Louis, Mo., in 1881, and back to Murfreesbero in 1890.

She spent her summers in the mountains of eastern Tennessee, and devoted herself principally to the portrayal of human character as connected with life in the Tennessee mountains. Her first story, “The Dancin’ Party at Harrison’s Cove“, appeared in the Atlantic Monthly over the signature “Charles Egbert Craddock.” Other stories and novels followed, published also in book form, and she succeeded in concealing her identity until 1885.

Mary Noailles Murfree was the author of: In the Tennessee Mountains, stories (1884); Where the Battle was Fought, a novel (1884); Down the Ravine (1885); The Prophet of the great Smoky Mountains (1885); In the Clouds (1886); The Story of Keedon Bluffs (1887); The Despot of Broomsedge Cove ( 1888 ); In the Stranger-People’s Country (1891); His Vanished Star (1894); The Mystery of Witch-face Mountain and Other Stories (1895); The Phantom of the Foot-Bridge and Other Stories (1895); The Juggler (1897); The Young Mountaineers, short stories (1897); The Story of Old Fort Loudon (1899); The Bush-whackers and Other Stories (1899); The Champion (1902); A Spectre of Power (1902), and numerous contributions to leading magazines.

Dudley G. Stone was a merchant, of Negaunee, Michigan. He was born in New York City, May 9, 1840. His parents were Isaac D. Stone and Elizabeth G. Stone. His father, while young, was a merchant in New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama, and in Richmond, Virginia. At the time of his marriage, teh elder Stone was with Arthur Tappen, in New York City.

When Dudley Stone was very young, he moved with his parents to Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He received a district school and academic education, and, at the age of fifteen years, finished his studies at the Fort Plain Seminary. Two years later he went from home and engaged, first as clerk and then as book-keeper, in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he remained about two years.

In 1860 Dudley G. Stone moved to Michigan and settled in the Lake Superior Country. The first two years and a half he was engaged as bookkeeper at the Collinsville Furnace, near Marquette; and the next year, was with Peter White, at that time a private banker of Marquette.

In April, 1864, Mr. Stone moved to Negaunee, bought out a general store, and began business for himself. Since then, he has continued dealing in merchandise. In 1873, in connection with his other business, he opened the Miner’s Bank, and conducted it two years.

In the fall of 1865, Dudley G. Stone received the appointment of Postmaster of Negaunee; but when Andrew Johnson became President of the United States and changed the politics, Mr. Stone was removed. He is a member of the Republican party, but is not a politician; and has never allowed his name to be used as that of a candidate for office. September 24, 1864, he married, in Richmond, Massachusetts, Mary Cook Dewey; they have two children,–one son and one daughter.

William Passmore Carlin was a soldier, born in Greene county, Ill., Nov. 24, 1829. He was graduated at West Point with the rank of brevet 2nd lieutenant of infantry in 1850, and assigned to duty at Fort Snelling, Minn. He was in active service during the Sioux expedition, and also in the Cheyenne and Utah campaigns, as 1st lieutenant, which rank he received in March, 1855.

In 1858 Carlin marched to California, where he remained in service for two years. In 1861 he received the rank of captain, and entered the volunteer service as colonel of the 38th Illinois volunteers. He was present at the defeat of Gen. Jeff Thompson at Frederickton, Mo., after which he commanded the district of southeastern Missouri. In October, 1862, he won, at Perryville, Ky., the promotion to brigadier-general of volunteers. He took part in the Tullahoma campaign, and the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

In November, 1863, Carlin was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for distinguished service at Chattanooga; and in February, 1864, as major of the 16th United States infantry, was engaged in the Georgia campaign and at the surrender of Atlanta. On Sept. 1, 1864, at Jonesboro, Georgia, he won the brevet of colonel in the regular army; and for his faithful and efficient service in the march to the sea, the surrender of Savannah, and the invasion of the Carolinas, he was made, in March, 1865, brevet major-general U. S. volunteers, and in the same month received the rank of brevet brigadier-general U. S. army.

At the close of the war he was brevetted major-general of the regular army. He left the volunteer service in August, 1865, and was engaged in frontier duty during the Indian troubles, and in April, 1882, was made colonel. He was retired as brigadier-general, in 1893. He died on a train in Montana, Oct. 4, 1903.

The Rev. Anson West, D.D., was the chief Methodist historian of the state. While the work of which he is the author properly relates itself to the history of Methodism in Alabama, there is much collateral history necessarily embraced within its compass which makes it a valuable contribution to the archives of the state. In its scope, his history extends from the earliest settlement of Alabama by the whites, to a period well within the last decade of the nineteenth century a span of well nigh a hundred years.

The history of a people such as the Methodists are, and have been from the fountain source of statehood, and even before, is not without immense value. Methodists have been a mighty force in Alabama, and still are, and the record of their achievements affecting all the orbits of life is a mighty stimulus, as is all history, for, as Goethe puts it, “The best thing which we derive from history is the enthusiasm that it raises in us.”

But the service rendered the state by Dr. Anson West is not to be restricted to his history of Methodism. He was a tower of strength in his generation, a man of commanding pulpit ability, a scholar of decided literary taste, and a character possessed of originality of thought and boldness of expression which challenged admiration, even though it did not always carry conviction. Not unlike most preachers, especially of the Methodist and Baptist of the period when his life dawned into manhood.

Dr. West was a typical polemicist. In those early days of ecclesiastical controversy, the man who could wield the most trenchant blade, and deal the heaviest blows, elicited the most popular applause. Dr. West was a born debater, and every antagonist found him full panoplied and never averse to vindicate lustily any cause which he might espouse. Still he was a cultured gentleman, and numbered many friends among those with whom he denominationally differed. Nor were his disputations directed alone against those of an opposite school of theology, but within the pale of his own people his sword was often brandished in the espousal of a view which he cherished. It was in the field of controversy that Dr. West was at his best. Happily, those days of controversy, often not conducted in the gentlest spirit, are well behind us, but the time was when the clash of ecclesiastical combat resounded the country through. They had the redeeming value of stimulating thought, producing much literature of a sort, and creating schools which else would not have been. Not to be a combatant in those early days, was to be a man of inertness and of narrow influence.

As has already been said, there was an independence of character in Dr. West that awoke admiration in all capable of appreciating force and worth. As firmly rooted as a mountain on its base, he was incapable of a plausibility which veers toward unstableness. No matter in what relation, there was no misunderstanding any position which was taken by Dr. West. His countenance was an index to his firmness. He was sometimes firm even to sternness, an inherent quality of his character which was doubtless strengthened by the controversial period through which much of his early life was passed. But to have known him with any degree of intimacy, was to find that beneath a somewhat rugged exterior beat the heart of a genuine man. Advancing age softened and mellowed much of that which often led to a misunderstanding of his real nature.

Among the productions from his pen was a work entitled “The State of the Dead,” which work reveals much research and profound study on a much-mooted question. In the presentation of his views on divers subjects Dr. West was not unaware of encountering opposition, sometimes on the part of those with whom he was denominationally connected, but his convictions were never bridled in the expression of the independence of thought.

Nor was the life and career of Dr. West confined to his pulpit ministrations, with an occasional excursion into the field of authorship. He was a stalwart citizen and patriot, and with the courage of an Ajax he was ever ready to pronounce his views, and to wield his battle-ax, if necessary, in the advocacy of any question for the public weal. He was a man, and whatever interested men interested Dr. West. He was a citizen as well as a minister.

Dr. West was an ardent advocate of education, and often his tongue and pen were brought into requisition in the advocacy of this great cause. He had his own views of this public interest, and to have them was to express and to defend them.

Dr. West was a devout Methodist, and from his native temperament he could be none other than an intense one, but the compass of his being was too great to circumscribe him to the boundaries of his own denomination in his relations to others. Numerous were his friends and associations beyond the pale of his own people. With the intensity and tenacity with which he clung to his church, there was not sufficient power embodied within the church to restrain him from a criticism of its policies or methods, if they happened to run counter to his own convictions. With the uniqueness of his individuality he impressed all with his earnestness and sincerity, and, much as one might oppose him, he could not withhold regard for his convictions. The sincerity of his convictions did not fail to find vent through his powerful tongue and the sharp point of his pen.

There was a wonderful blend of heroic manhood and unquestioned spirituality in the life and character of Dr. West. This served to make him impressive, and oftentimes powerful. Back of his often stern declarations lay an unquestioned spiritual force, and the combination of the two gave to Dr. West an assertiveness always to be reckoned with. His gifts and acquirements fitted him for a high sphere in the councils of his own communion, and while others differed with him, often widely, his sincerity was never a question, nor was his integrity ever challenged.

He passed through many testing periods during his eventful career, and went from the earth leaving behind him a trail of influence for good, and a vast contribution to the good of the public. He rests from his labors and his works do follow him.

Augustus Gordon Weissert was a well-known member of the Milwaukee bar, and one of Wisconsin’s bravest and most efficient soldiers during the war of the rebellion. He was born in Canton, Ohio, August 7th, 1844, the son of Michael and Magdalene Bernard Weissert.

The family moved from Ohio to Racine, Wisconsin, when Augustus was but six years of age. In that city the boy received a good education in the public schools, graduating from the high school when but seventeen years of age. On the 5th of September, 1861, when but a month past his seventeenth year, he enlisted in Company K, Eighth Wisconsin infantry, having been several times before that rejected on account of being under age and height. His regiment, known as the “Eagle regiment,” on account of its having a live eagle, which it carried all through the war, left the state on the 12th of October for St. Louis, and went thence to Pilot Knob, and a few days thereafter (October 21st) the regiment had its first experience in real war in the battle of Fredericktown, Mo.

Young Mr. Weissert was with his regiment in the expedition up the St. Francis river, to Sulphur Springs, to Cairo, where it spent the greater part of the winter. After that it joined the forces under Gen. Pope, took part in the siege of New Madrid, the pursuit of the Confederates after the siege of Island No. 10, and thence to Pittsburgh, landing just after the battle of Shiloh, thence to the rear of Corinth. After that it bore the brunt at the action at Farmington (May 28th, 1882), where it received the commendation of the commanding officer for its bravery and discipline. It was at the siege of Corinth, and afterward at the battle at that place, October 3rd and 4th, 1862, where it lost heavily. It participated in the siege and assaults at Vicksburg, was under Sherman, took part in the battle of Jackson, was in the Canton campaign and all other campaigns previous to and during the investment of Vicksburg, and in Bank’s Red river expedition, in the charge at Fort Scurry, at Fort De Russy, and the principal engagements of that ill-fated campaign, forming a portion of Sherman’s contingent under A. J. Smith.

After that the regiment was in pursuit of Price in Arkansas and Missouri, making a march of 816 miles, and participated in the battle of Nashville in December, 1864. Mr. Weissert was made sergeant-major of the regiment and captain by brevet to date from June 6th, 1864, for conspicuous bravery during the Red river expedition, and for gallantry at Lake Chicot, June 6th, and Nashville, December 15th, 1864. In this latter engagement he received a rifle ball in the leg while the regiment was preparing for a second charge upon the Confederate lines. He was carried to the rear and sent to the hospital, from which he was, when able to be removed, sent home on requisition of the governor of the state. Captain Weissert still carries the bullet in his leg and the wound has never healed. No surgeon has ever succeeded in extracting it, and he has suffered more or less from it all these years.

This rapid sketch gives only an outline of the captain’s military service, which was alike serviceable to his country and conspicuously illustrates his undaunted courage, his soldierly qualities and his patriotic devotion.

At the close of the war Captain Weissert was appointed to a cadetship at West Point, but on account of his wound he was compelled to decline it. He then went to the University of Michigan, took a course of study, then entered the law department of that institution, from which he graduated with the degree of LL. B. He had previously read law under the direction of Wm. P. Lyon, long a judge of the supreme court. He was admitted to practice in the circuit courts of the state in 1869, and in the following year to the state supreme court and to the district, circuit and supreme courts of the United States. Since then he has been in continued and successful practice in Milwaukee. He has held positions of trust and honor. For a number of years he was also a member of the city board of school commissioners, and was chairman of the high school committee in that body, and active in his efforts for the promotion of the cause of public education.

In 1886 Capt. Weissert joined the Grand Army of the Republic, and he has been a most active member ever since. He has several times represented his post in the department encampments; was a representative of the Department of Wisconsin at St. Louis in 1887, at the national encampment. He was active at Columbus in securing the encampment for Milwaukee in 1889. Also, he was chosen chairman of the citizens’ committee having in charge the arrangements for the last named encampment, and to his indefatigable efforts was largely due the success of that meeting.

Capt. Weissert has been trustee of Wolcott Post, Milwaukee, for years, and has been twice commander of the Wisconsin department. At the Milwaukee encampment he was unanimously elected senior vice-commander of the G. A. R., and in 1892 he was made commander. In all these positions Col. Weissert did efficient and thorough work and was unsparing of himself in the discharge of his duties. A good lawyer, a public-spirited and most active citizen, a genial a pleasant companion, he has many friends who rejoice in his successes and the honors that have been bestowed upon him.