688 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



SKETCH OF EDWARD L. YOUMANS. 



By HIS SISTER. 



EDWARD LIVINGSTON YOUMANS was bora at Coeymans, 

 Albany County, New York, June 3, 1821. His parents, Vincent 

 Youmans and Catherine Scofield Youmans, were natives of the same 

 county. Livingston, as he was then called, was the first-born of seven 

 children. When he was six months old the family removed to Green- 

 field, Saratoga County, within a short distance of Saratoga Springs. 

 His parents were in narrow circumstances, and belonged to the hard- 

 working class. Vincent Youmans had worked on his father's farm 

 when a boy, but, having some mechanical capacity, he resolved to 

 learn a trade, and accordingly, at the age of sixteen, was indentured 

 for five years as an apprentice to a carriage-maker in Sheffield, Massa- 

 chusetts. He was to be taught the business, and have some schooling. 

 But ' Boss ' Burrill was a hard master, and his apprentice got neither 

 the schooling nor any proper instruction in the business. In all the 

 five years, he attended school not more than three months, and seldom 

 on consecutive days, while most of his time was spent in slavish toil 

 on the Burrill farm. The boy felt outraged by this treatment, and 

 showed signs of restiveness, when the wily wagon-maker lost no time 

 in having the indentures revised, making the father liable for damage 

 if the son ran away. Filial affection made Vincent submit to his lot, 

 but he can not speak of this period of his life without indignation. 

 Although his means were limited, yet, feeling deeply his own lack of 

 knowledge, he was full of sympathy with the mental aspirations of 

 his children, and made extreme sacrifices in furtherance of their edu- 

 cation. He was, moreover, a clear-headed man, of fearless, independ- 

 ent spirit, who took an earnest and intelligent interest in all public 

 questions. Before her marriage Livingston's mother was a school- 

 teacher. Well endowed in body and mind, her long life has been spent 

 in unwearied devotion to her family, and never had mother a more 

 loving and dutiful son than was the subject of this sketch. She made 

 home duties paramount, but she had opinions of her own, was frank in 

 their avowal and spirited in their defense ; and the lively, good-tem- 

 pered canvassing of differences between father and mother were not 

 lost upon their little ones, who early learned to respect and to de- 

 fend their own sentiments. Whatever else may be said of it, the 

 family circle was certainly never dull. 



Livingston was a vigorous, active-minded boy, remarkable from a 

 very early age for his desire to know, and for his readiness in learn- 

 ing. He took to books from the first, and read everything he could 

 find to read. He was also fond of play, and especially of hunting, 

 when old enough to handle a gun ; and he used often to refer, in his 



