OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (DURFEE ESHER.) 



423 



.and Surgical Diseases of Children (translated 

 from the French by Guersant). He also edited 

 and began the publication of Dunglison's College 

 and Clinical Record in 1899. 



Durfee, Thomas, jurist, born in Tiverton, 

 R. I., Feb. 6, 1826; died in Providence, R. 1., June 

 6, 1901. He was a son of Job Durfee (1790-1847). 

 Both father and son were graduates of Brown 

 University, and each was Chief Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court of Rhode Island. Thomas Durfee 

 was graduated at Brown University in 1846, was 

 admitted to the bar in 1848, and was reporter of 

 the Supreme Court from 1849 till 1853. He then 

 served as judge in the Court of Magistrates in 

 Providence six years, one year as assistant and 

 five years as presiding judge. He was a member 

 of the Legislature from Providence, was speaker 

 of the House from 1863 till 1865, and was in the 

 Senate the following year, till he went upon the 

 Supreme Court bench. In 1865 he became Asso- 

 ciate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode 

 Island, and in January, 1875, he was elected Chief 

 Justice. From that time till March 14, 1891, when 

 he resigned, Judge Durfee was at the head of the 

 judiciary of the State, and his opinions are nota- 

 ble for their literary quality, force, and logic. 

 During the civil war his pen and voice were pow- 

 erful in the support of the National cause. He 

 was Chancellor of Brown University from 1879 

 till 1888, and a trustee from 1876 till 1888. He 

 received the degree of LL. D. in 1875. In addition 

 to his many legal papers he published The Com- 

 plete Works of Job Durfee, with a Memoir of his 

 Life (1849) ; Reports of Cases in the Supreme 

 Court of Rhode Island, 2 vols. (1851-53); Ora- 

 tion at Providence, July 4, 1853; Treatise on the 

 Law on Highways, begun by Joseph K. Angell 

 and published in 1857; Village Picnic, and Other 

 Poems (1872); Gleanings from the Judicial His- 

 tory of Rhode Island (1883) ; and Some Thoughts 

 on the Constitution of Rhode Island (1887). 



Eaton, C. Harry, artist, born in Akron, Ohio, 

 Dec. 13, 1850; died in Englewood, N. J., Aug. 4, 

 1901. He taught himself his art. Among the re- 

 wards he received were a silver medal in Boston 

 in 1887, a gold medal at the Prize Fund Exhibi- 

 tion at the American Art Galleries in New York 

 city in 1888, and the William T. Evans prize at 

 the American Water-Color Society Exhibition in 

 1898. His home was in Leonia, N. J., and the 

 greater part of his work was done in New York. 

 He was an associate of the National Academy 

 of Design and secretary of the American Water- 

 Color Society. His painting Lily Pond is owned 

 by the Detroit Museum of Art. 



Edwards, Arthur, clergyman and editor, born 

 in Norwalk, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1834; died in Chicago, 

 111., March 20, 1901. He was graduated at Ohio 

 Wesleyan University in 1858, and immediately 

 began work under the Detroit Conference of the 

 Methodist Church, and was stationed at Marine, 

 Mich. At the outbreak of the civil war he was 

 appointed chaplain of the 1st Michigan Infantry, 

 and he remained with the regiment till after Get- 

 tysburg, when he received the command of a cav- 

 alry regiment. After the war he was a publisher 

 of Methodist literature. He became assistant edi- 

 tor of the Northwestern Christian Advocate in 

 1864, and four years later was appointed editor- 

 in-chief of that paper, and served in this place 

 till his death. He was the first to advocate the 

 use of illustrations in the Church press. He was 

 a member of six general conferences, and of the 

 London Ecumenical Conference in 1881. He was 

 also a member of the Baltimore Centennial Con- 

 ference, and for ten years served as secretary of 

 the Detroit Conference. 



Ellicott, Henry J., sculptor, horn n<-;ir Klli- 

 cott City, Md., in 1848; died in V t'>n, !).(;. 



Feb. 11, 1901. He was a grcjt.1 ,; Major 



Andrew Ellicott, who assisted lJ'Kn];n>i in Invin" 

 out the city of Washington. Mr. Kllir-,11 

 his early education in Washington, MUM :ui< 

 studied in the Academy of Design. 

 city. Among his first works of promin* in-.' 

 the bronze statues for the monument.-, of i i 

 and 2d Pennsylvania Volunteers on th.- 1, 

 field of Gettysburg. The equestrian statues of < 

 Hancock, in Washington, and of Gen. McClclh n, 

 in Philadelphia, are probably his best-known 

 productions. He also made busts of many well- 

 known Americans, among others one of the late 

 Zebulon B. Vance, for the State Capitol in Ral- 

 eigh, N. C. 



Emery, John James, local character, born in 

 Fairfield, Me., Aug. 28, 1806; died in Roxbury, 

 Mass., Oct. 4, 1901. He was one of fifteen chil- 

 dren, was educated in the common schools, and 

 studied surveying. He was an extensive farmer, 

 and also carried on a large lumbering business. 

 He was a selectman and county surveyor, and 

 represented his town in the Legislature. In 1870 

 he removed to Turners Falls, Mass., to engage in 

 business, and in later years had resided in Dor- 

 chester and Boston. In 1839 he was the innocent 

 cause of what is known as the Aroostook War. 

 During the boundary dispute with Canada he was 

 sent to look over the ground and make a report 

 upon it. While doing this he was captured by 

 British soldiers and taken into Canada. When 

 the affair became known there w r as great excite- 

 ment, and immediate talk of war. The State 

 troops were ordered out under the direction of 

 the President, and sent to the boundary to secure 

 his release. The Canadian Government released 

 him before the Maine troops reached the scene, 

 but at the same time assembled several regiments 

 of troops on the border. President Van Buren 

 sent Gen. Scott to take command, and he re- 

 mained in the field till the trouble was over. 



Esher, John Jacob, bishop of the Evangelical 

 Church, born in Strasburg, Alsace, Dec. 11, 1823; 

 died in Chicago, 111., April 16, 1901. His family 

 brought him to the United States when he was 

 seven years old, and settled near Warren, Pa. In 

 1836 they removed to Illinois, settling on the 

 banks of Des Plaines river, about 20 miles north- 

 west of Chicago. Bishop Esher was licensed 

 to preach at the first session of the Illinois Con- 

 ference of the Evangelical Church, held in his 

 father's house in 1845. After preaching one year 

 in Illinois, one year in Iowa, and two years in 

 Milwaukee, he was elected presiding elder of the 

 Wisconsin district. At the close of his term the 

 district was made the Wisconsin Conference, and 

 he was stationed as missionary in Chicago and 

 elected presiding elder of the Chicago district. 

 Afterward, at Plainfield, 111., he aided in the estab- 

 lishment of Northwestern College, assisted in its 

 removal to Naperville, 111., and as general solici- 

 tor laid the foundation of its endowment fund. 

 For a time he served as editor of the Sunday- 

 school literature of his Church, in Cleveland, Ohio, 

 and at the same time he was editor of the Christ- 

 liche Botschafter, and he was the first editor of 

 the Evangelical Magazine. At the General Con- 

 ference of 1863, held in Buffalo, N. Y., he was 

 elected a bishop, and he was reelected for ten 

 successive terms, serving till his death. From the 

 time of his elevation to the bishopric his life was 

 largely the history of the Church. He visited 

 Germany in 1864 and again in 1900, and in Feb- 

 ruary, 1865, organized the Germany Conference 

 in Stuttgart. In 1884-'85 he visited Japan to re- 



