OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (CAVANAGII CIIANMXU.' 



415 



bird-like symbol that was used on all the adver- 

 tisements and books as the trade-mark of the firm 

 first appeared on Thomas Bailey Aldrich's little 

 poem, The Course of True Love Never did Run 

 Smooth, published in the early days of the firm's 

 existence. The story of its origin is told as fol* 

 lows: "Mr. Carleton, who had acquired some 

 knowledge of Arabic, in turning over a volume, 

 looking with Mr. Aldrich for illustrations to his 

 book, found this device, which is an Arabic word 

 signifying ' books.' " Readers puzzled over its 

 meaning, to Mr. Carleton's great amusement. His 

 establishment was the rallying-place of the Ameri- 

 can comic writers, and he published many of their 

 books. Artemus Ward His Book, reached a sale 

 of 40,000 copies, and encouraged Mr. Carleton to 

 follow with an almost equal success in the Life 

 and Adventures of Josh Billings. This was fol- 

 lowed by Billings's Farmer's Allminax; the sale 

 began slowly, but within a year this popular 

 burlesque of the familiar Farmer's Almanac had 

 reached a sale of 130,000 copies, at great profit to 

 both author and publisher. Mr. Carleton pub- 

 lished three humorous books, of his own author- 

 ship: Our Artist in Cuba, Our Artist in Peru, 

 and Our Artist in Spain and Algiers, which con- 

 sisted chiefly of his pictures with brief legends or 

 bits of descriptive text. Among the many native 

 authors introduced to the public through this 

 house were Edmund Clarence Stedman, whose The 

 Diamond Wedding was first brought out in book 

 form by Mr. Carleton; Mary J. Holmes, Marion 

 Harland, Miriam C. Harris (author of Rutledge), 

 May Agnes Fleming, Richard B. Kimball, and 

 Edmund Kirke. Mr. Carleton early turned his 

 attention to the publication in English of popular 

 French books. He made a most successful ven- 

 ture in bringing out a translation of Michelet's 

 L'Amour and La Femme. The second work was 

 translated and delivered to the compositors in 

 seventy-two hours, the translator, Dr. John W. 

 Palmer, having agreed to forfeit ten dollars an 

 hour for every hour beyond that time that the 

 work was kept from the printer. Within thirty 

 days 20,000 copies were sold. The next great en- 

 terprise was the translation of the Les Miserables 

 of Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E. Wilbour. 

 The volumes were published with rapidity, and 

 although the country was in the midst of civil 

 war the book was a great success. Mr. Carleton 

 then planned to publish the complete works of 

 Balzac, at that time the idol of French novel-read- 

 ers. The translations were well written by Frank 

 B. Goodrich, but for some unknown reason the 

 American public would not read Balzac, and at 

 the end of the fourth volume the publishers aban- 

 doned the project. Edward P. Rudd died in 1861, 

 and the elder Rudd having previously retired, Mr. 

 Carleton continued the business alone until 1871, 

 when he admitted his head clerk, the late George 

 W. Dillingham, into partnership. In 1886 Mr. 

 Carleton retired from business, and the firm was 

 reorganized as the G. W. Dillingham Company. 

 After his retirement from active business Mr. 

 Carleton spent most of his time in traveling. 



Cavanagh, James, soldier, born in the County 

 Tipperary, Ireland, about 1830; died in New York 

 city, Jan. 7, 1901. He came to America when 

 sixteen years old, learned the carpenter's trade, 

 and for many years had a shop in Thomas Street, 

 New York. He enlisted in the 69th Regiment, 

 New York National Guard, in 1852, and on March 

 9, 1857, became 1st lieutenant of his company. 

 He was chosen captain of Company C, Jan. 13, 

 1859, and marched at its head down Broadway on 

 April 23, 1861, when the regiment went to the 

 civil war. He was highly commended for leading 



Run. 

 ' av- 

 York 



a gallant charge at the firsl. batik of llull 

 When the Irish Brigade wa.-, oi^ani/.ed ( upt, 

 anagh was promoted major of t in: 

 Volunteers, and was afterward km 

 "Fighting Little Major." lie ton-! 

 Irish Brigade all through the ea.inj 

 Yorktown to Antietain. With Col. 

 led the noted charge of the Irish I'.n 

 battle of Fredericksburg, and fell si 

 the body within a hundred feet of tin 

 works. Gen. Meagher said in his repoii that: 

 "There never was a brighter intellect, a stouter 

 arm, or a braver heart." Major Cavanagh was 

 discharged in May, 1863, on account of disability 

 resulting from his wounds. In the same year he 

 became lieutenant-colonel of the 69th Regiment, 

 and on Nov. 29, 1867, succeeded Martin T. Mc- 

 Mahon as colonel. He retained command of the 

 regiment till 1893, when he resigned on account 

 of illness. In recognition of his long and distin- 

 guished military career, he was appointed brevet 

 irigadier-general of the National Guard, Nov. 29, 

 Qno He was appointed special customs inspec 



1892. 



tor of the port of New York by President Arthur, 

 and retained the place till his death. In 1875 he 

 was a candidate for the State Senate on the Re- 

 publican ticket, but was defeated. 



Chamberlain, Nathan Henry, clergyman, 

 born at Monument Beach, Sandwich (now 

 Bourne), Mass., Dec. 25, 1830; died there, April 1, 

 1901. He was graduated at Harvard in 1853, and 

 studied theology at Harvard Divinity School and 

 the University of Heidelberg. Entering the Uni- 

 tarian ministry, he was pastor at Canton, Mass., 

 in 1857-'59, and at Baltimore, Md., where he suc- 

 ceeded the Rev. Jared Sparks, in 1860-'63. His 

 theological views underwent a change, and he 

 took orders in the Episcopal Church and was rec- 

 tor in turn of St. Paul's Church, Birmingham, 

 Conn., 1864-'67; Trinity Church, Morrisania, 

 N. Y., 1868-71; St. James's, Milwaukee, Wis., 

 1871-73; Emmanuel, Somerville, Mass., 1874-79; 

 St. John's, East Boston, Mass., 1882-'89. Retir- 

 ing from the ministry in the year last named, he 

 devoted his time mainly to literary pursuits. His 

 published works include The Autobiography of a 

 New England Parish (1864); The Sphinx in Au- 

 brey Parish (1889) ; What is the Matter with Our 

 Tariff and its Taxes? (1890); Samuel Sewall and 

 the World he Lived In (1897) ; Life of Sir Charles 

 Napier; and An Itinerary of Cape Cod. 



Channing, William Ellery, poet, born in 

 Boston, Mass., Nov. 29, 1818; died in Concord, 

 Mass., Dec. 23, 1901. He was the son of Walter 

 Channing, a physician of Boston, and was named 

 for his uncle, the Unitarian theologian. He was 

 educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard 

 University, and after a year or two of experi- 

 ence in the Western States he married a sister 

 of Margaret Fuller, and settled in Concord, where 

 he passed the greater portion of his life, although 

 he was editorially connected with the New York 

 Tribune, 1844-'46, and with the New Bedford Mer- 

 cury, 1855-'56. As one of the contributors to The 

 Dial, Channing was identified with the Transcen- 

 dental movement, and he was the friend and neigh- 

 bor of Emerson and Thoreau. He published 

 Poems, First Series (1843) ; Youth of the Poet and 

 Painter, a series of psychological essays con- 

 tributed to The Dial in 1844; Poems, Second 

 Series (1847) ; Conversations in Rome between an 

 Artist, a Catholic, and a Critic (1847) ; The Wood- 

 man, and Other Poems (1849); Near Koine 

 (1858); The Wanderer: A Colloquial Poem 

 (1871); Thoreau, the Poet Naturalist, with Me- 

 morial Verses (1873); Eliot: A Poem (1885); 

 and John Brown and the Heroes of Harpers Ferry 



