OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



589 



tors, torpedoes, and other obstructions, and 

 thus opened the sea-way to supply Sherman's 

 army after its "march to the sea," 



BIGLEE, WILLIAM, ex-Governor of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Senator from that State, was born 

 at Shermansburg, Cumberland County, Penn- 

 sylvania, in 1814. His elder brother, John Big- 

 ler, became Minister to Mexico and Governor 

 of California. The family was of Dutch ori- 

 gin, and German was the tongue of his child- 

 hood. William Bigler had few advantages for 

 education, brought up in what was then the 

 backwoods, and forced to labor on a farm for 

 his share in the support of an orphaned family. 

 In 1829 he began to aid his brother John as a 

 printer in the office of the " Center Democrat," 

 published at Bellefonte. In 1833, anxious to 

 push his own fortunes, he removed to Clear- 

 tield, and, with a capital of twenty dollars and 

 some second-hand material, all borrowed, he 

 began the printing, publishing, and editing of 

 what he often described as a " ten-by-twelve 

 Jackson paper." His heart failed him when 

 he arrived, friendless and alone, in a village 

 where -he was an entire stranger. But he was 

 received with a kindness that he never forgot. 

 He managed his affairs with so much ability 

 that the " Clearfield Democrat " became a 

 prosperous and notable paper. He sold it in 

 1830, married, and entered the lumber business. 

 But his editorial career had so extended his 

 reputation that he was already regarded as a 

 political leader, and he was soon called into 

 the public service. In 1841 he was elected to 

 the State Senate by a majority of over three 

 thousand. He received every vote, save one, 

 in Clearfield County, an unprecedented result. 

 He was Speaker of the Senate in 1843-'44. In 

 the latter year he was reflected to the Senate. 

 In 1849 he was appointed one of the Revenue 

 Commissioners. In 1851 he was nominated 

 for Governor, and elected. In this same year 

 his brother John was made Governor of Cali- 

 fornia. He received the gubernatorial nomina- 

 tion a second time, in 1854, but he was defeat- 

 ed by the Native American party. In 1855 he 

 was sent to the United States Senate for a term 

 of six years. He was a member of the Charles- 

 ton Convention in 1860, and strongly opposed 

 the nomination of Judge Douglas. He was 

 temporary chairman of the Democratic Conven- 

 tion of 1864, and voted for General McClellan. 

 He was a member of the Convention of 1868 

 held in New York. In 1873 he was delegate- 

 at-large of the Constitutional Convention at 

 Erie. In 1874 he was a member of the Board 

 of Finance of the Centennial Exhibition, and 

 his management was in great part the cause of 

 its success. Of all the public and private labors 

 of Governor Bigler, that which best shows his 

 patriotism and statesmanship is the position 

 he took in 1860. After the election of Mr. 

 Lincoln, when secession was imminent, Mr. 

 Bigler, then a member of the United States 

 Senate, strove with all the powers of his head 

 and heart to prevent that catastrophe. He 



maintained that the Southern States were 

 bound to exhaust peaceable means for the re- 

 dress of grievances before resorting to extreme 

 measures. Appointed on the Committee of 

 Thirteen to whom the Crittenden Compromise 

 was referred, he strenuously urged its adop- 

 tion. He drew up a bill, and advocated it be- 

 fore the Senate, for submitting this compromise 

 proposition to a vote of the people of the sev- 

 eral States. In the heat of sectional strife the 

 bill was lost, but it is now admitted that it was 

 the one measure that might have preserved the 

 country from the horrors of civil war. After 

 sixty-six years of life spent in usefulness and 

 honor, Governor Bigler died at his home in 

 Clearfield, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of August. 



BLAIE, BARNARD, born in Salem, New York, 

 in 1801 ; died there, May 1st. In 1841 he was 

 elected to Congress, and served until March, 

 1843. He held several political offices in his 

 own township. 



BOARDMAN, Rev. HENRY AUGUSTUS, D. D., 

 died in Philadelphia, on June 15th, aged seven- 

 ty-two. He was during forty-three years the 

 pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in 

 that city. He was born at Troy, New York, 

 in 1808, graduated at Yale College, and studied 

 at the Princeton Theological Seminary. He 

 was an active member of various societies of 

 the Presbyterian organization. He was also a 

 manager of the Deaf and Dumb Institution. 

 Ilis writings were voluminous. In 1839 he 

 published "The Scripture Doctrine of Original 

 Sin," followed in 1855 by "The Great Ques- 

 tion," and in 1857 by " The Society of Friends 

 and the Two Sacraments." Among his other 

 publications were " Correspondence with Bish- 

 op Doane on the Oxford Tracts," "The Chris- 

 tian Ministry not a Priesthood," "The Apos- 

 tolical Succession," and " The Doctrine of Elec- 

 tion." 



BOLL, Professor JACOB, a native of Switzer- 

 land, and a distinguished pupil of Agassiz, died 

 in Wilbarger County, Texas, September 29th. 

 He had been engaged for six years previously 

 in a scientific exploration of Texas. There be- 

 ing no State geologist, Professor Copes, of Phil- 

 adelphia, had induced him to go thither and 

 examine the mineral resources of the State, 

 with a view to introducing capital for their 

 development. He was much esteemed in 

 Texas, and his reputation as a geologist and 

 naturalist is extensive. 



BOND, RICHARD C., was born in Louisiana, in 

 1833. He was educated at the University of 

 Saint Louis, and adopted the legal profession. 

 He was Clerk of the District Court of Ascen- 

 sion, and represented that parish in the Legis- 

 lature. During the war, Colonel Bond was an 

 officer of the First Louisiana Regulars, Heavy 

 Artillery. For some time he was commandant 

 of Fort St. Philip. He was in Vicksburg dur- 

 ing the siege. Afterward he was chief of artil- 

 lery of General Mouton's army in the trans- 

 Mississippi Department. On September 14, 

 1874, he commanded a company of citizen-sol- 



