638 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



on Finance and Hours of Labor" (1868) ; and letters 

 on "Causation and Freedom in Willing." addressed 

 to John Stuart Mill (1809). He received the degree 

 of LL. D. in 18G'J from Brown University. 



Hecker, Isaac Thomas, clergyman, born in New York 

 city, Dec. 18, 1819; died there, Dee. 22, I*s8. He 

 received a meager education, was compelled to sup- 

 port himself from an early age, and became connected 

 with his two brothers in the flour business. While 

 so engaged, he was led to the study of metaphysics 

 and theology by reading Kant, and, withdrawing 

 from business life, joined the Brook Farm Commu- 

 nity. He soon be- 

 came dissatisfied with 

 tliat life, and on at- 

 taining his majority 

 returned to mercan- 

 tile pursuits with his 

 brothers. Up to his 

 twcntv - second year 

 he had been a Pr 

 tant in religious be- 

 lief and association. 

 At that time he was 

 drawn to a study of 

 the Roman Catholic 

 faith, and a year later 

 became a convert. 

 1 !e again relinquished 

 his business interests, 

 went to Germany, 

 studied for the priest- 

 hood, was ordained in 1849, passed two years as a 

 novitiate at the retreat of the Redemptorist Fathers at 

 St. Troud, Belgium, performed missionary service in 

 England, and returned to the United States in 1851. 

 After continuing his missionary labors here several 

 years, he came to the belief that the United States 

 and Canada offered a good field for a new society 

 which should be wholly American and composed of 

 converts from Protestantism. In 1857 he went to 

 Rome, laid his plans before the Pope, was released 

 from the Redemptorist Order, and received authority 

 to organize his projected society, to which the name 

 of" The Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle" was 

 given. The founder was appointed Superior of the 

 Paulist Fathers, returned to New York city, collected 

 funds, and erected a church, home, and cluster of 

 schools. In 1865 he founded " The Catholic World," 

 which has since been conducted by members of the 

 congregation ; in 1869 was a member of the Roman 

 Catholic Congress at Malines; in 1870-'71 attended 

 the Vatican Council as theologian to Archbishop 

 Spalding ; in 1871-'75 traveled through Europe, 

 Egypt, and the Holy Land ; and in 1875 returned to 

 New York city, and was elected superior of the con- 

 gregation for a term of nine years. Besides his edito- 

 rial writings and an article in the " Revue GeneVale," 

 of Brussels (1869), setting forth the relations that 

 should and did exist between the Roman Catholic 

 Church and democracy in the United States, he pub- 

 lished "Questions of ' the Soul" (New York. 1855); 

 "Aspirations of Nature" (1857); "Catholicity in 

 the United States" (1879); and "Catholics and 

 Protestants agreeing on the School Question" (1881). 

 Heilprin, Michael, born in Piotrkow, Poland, in 

 1823; died in Summit, N J., May 10, 1888. He was 

 a son of Phineas Mendel Heilprin, an eminent 

 scholar and native of Russian Poland, removed to 

 Hungary early in life, received a classical education, 

 and became an active member of the revolutionary 

 party in 1848. During the brief provisional govern- 

 orship of Louis Kossuth, he was on the literary staff 

 in the interior department. He settled in the United 

 States in 1856, and soon attracted attention by his 

 literary abilities, his scholarship, and his linguistic 

 accomplishments. He was a contributor to the " Na- 

 tion," of New Yorkj from its fourth number, and to 

 other literary periodicals, and did a large amount of 

 work on the " American Cyclopaedia" from its second 



volume. It is believed that his death was hastened 

 by his untiring labor in behalf of the Russian Jews, 

 whose attempts at colonization in the United States 

 he very materially promoted. He published " The 

 Historical Poetry of the Ancient Hebrews" (2 vols., 

 New York, 1879-'80). 



Herreshoff, Charles Frederick, ship-builder, born in 

 Providence, R. I., July 26, 1809 ; died in Bristol, 

 R. I., Sept. 8, 1888. 'lie was graduated at Brown 

 University in 1828, and in 1833 settled in Bristol, on 

 the Point Pleasant farm. Though he was ostensibly 

 engaged in farming, his real energies were applied to 

 naval construction. In 1856 he removed to Bristol, 

 where shortly afterward his son, John Herreshoff, 

 began boat-building. Within a short time John lost 

 his eyesight, and his father took a more active inter- 

 est in the business, and as the other sons grew up, 

 all with the father's skill in naval architecture, the 

 Herreshoff Manufacturing Company was established. 

 For many years the business was confined to building 

 sailing-vessels, and a number of remarkably fast 

 boats, like the " Qui Vive" and the " Sadie," were 

 en-tructcd. But about 1875 the company began 

 building steam-vessels, and afterward steel yachts, 

 torpedo-boats, and war-vessels. John Herreshoff, 

 now (1889) known as the " blind boat-builder," be- 

 came president of the company, designed the coil- 

 boiler and the fast steam-launch " Stiletto," which 

 was bought by the Navy Department, and by the aid 

 of his father's eyes planned outlines and details with 

 astonishing accuracy. 



Hickok, Laurens Perseus, educator, born in Bethel, 

 Conn., Dec. 29, 1798: died in Amherst, Mass., May 

 6, 1888. He was graduated at Union College in 1820, 

 licensed to preach in 1822, and from that time till 

 1836 held pastorates in Newtown, Kent, and Litch- 

 field, Conn. In 1836 he was elected Professor of 

 Theology in Western Reserve College, Ohio, and 

 served till 1844, when he was chosen to the similar 

 chair in Auburn Theologial Seminary. In 1852 he 

 was elected Professor of Mental and Moral Science, 

 and vice-president of Union College. lie assisted the 

 venerable Dr. Nott in the government of the college till 

 1860, had sole charge till March 1, 1866, and was then 

 elected president, but only served two years, resigning 

 when seventy years of age, and retiring to Amherst. 

 Mass. Of his "numerous works, which have been 

 adopted as text-books inmany of the higherinstitutions 

 of learning in the United States, and translated into 

 several foreign languages, the best known arc: " Ra- 

 tional Psychology, or the Subjective Idea and Ob- 

 jective Laws of' all Intelligence " (1S48) ; " System 

 of Moral Science" (1853)'; "Rational Cosmology" 

 (1858); "Humanity Immortal" (1872); and "Ra- 

 tional Logic" (1875). 



Hinckley, Isaac, railroad president, born in llingham, 

 Mass., Oct. 28, 1815 ; died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 

 28, 1888. He was graduated at Harvard in 1834, and 

 in 1846 was appointed superintendent of transporta- 

 tion of the Boston and Providence Railroad, holding 

 the office two years. From January, 1848, till April 

 1, 1805, he was employed on various railroads in New 

 England, and on the latter date was elected president 

 of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Com- 

 pany. During the first eleven years of the existence 

 of the Eastern Railroad Association he was its presi- 

 dent, and for many years occupied the same office in 

 the Junction Railroad Company, owned jointly by 

 the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, the 

 Pennsylvania, and the Reading Railroad Companies. 



Hitchcock, Robert B., naval officer, born in Cheshire, 

 Conn., Sept. 25. 1803 ; died in New York city, March 

 24, 1888. He was appointed midshipmnn in the United 

 States Navy on Jan. 1 , 1825 ; on March 3, 1 835, was com- 

 missioned lieutenant, and, after serving in the Pacific 

 squadrons, was ordered on ordnance duty in 1846, and 

 given command of the storcship "Relief" in 1853. 

 On Sept. 14, 1855, he was commissioned commander. 

 He was on ordnance duty 1855-'58 ; commanded the 

 steam-frigate "Merrimac" 1858-'60; became captain 



