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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (POTTER RANSOM.) 



are about eighty species. He was a prolific writer 

 on a wide range of subjects. He was the earliest 

 champion of Finnish literature, and in 1854 drew 

 attention to the similarity in form and spirit be- 

 tween Longfellow's poem Hiawatha and the Fin- 

 nish national epic Kalevala/ He published the 

 Synopsis of the Flora of Colorado and a Botany 

 of Pennsylvania. 



Potter, Eliphalet Nott, educator, born in 

 Schenectady, N. Y., Sept. 20, 1830; died in the 

 city of Mexico, Feb. 6, 1901. He was the young- 

 est son of Alonzo Potter, Protestant Episcopal 

 Bishop of Pennsylvania, and was graduated at 

 Union College in 1801, and at Berkeley Divinity 

 School in 1802. He was rector of the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church of the Nativity, in South Beth- 

 lehem. Pa., from 1802 till 1809. From 1800 till 

 1871 he was secretary and Professor of Ethics in 

 Lehigh University, and from 1809 till 1871 he 

 was associate rector of St. Paul's Protestant Epis- 

 copal Church, Troy, N. Y. In 1871 he was elected 

 president of Union College, and he was chosen for 

 the office of chancellor when through his efforts 

 the college became a university in 1873. He re- 

 signed the chancellorship in 1884, and accepted 

 the presidency of Hobart College, which office he 

 administered till 1897. Later he became presi- 

 dent of the Cosmopolitan University, designed to 

 give university instruction by means of corre- 

 spondence courses. 



Powell, William H., soldier, born in Wash- 

 ington, D. C., Sept. 28, 1838; died in Sacketts 

 Harbor, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1901. At the outbreak 

 of the civil war he was a private in Washing- 

 ton, D. C., Light Infantry, and with his com- 

 pany volunteered for the protection of the capital. 

 The company was mustered into the National 

 service April 17, 1801, and mustered out July 

 17, 1801. He was then appointed 2d lieutenant 

 in the 4th Infantry, Oct. 24, 1801. He was act- 

 ing adjutant from Feb. 14 to 28, 1802, and acting 

 assistant adjutant-general of the 1st brigade of 

 Regular Infantry, 2d division, 5th Army Corps, 

 participating in the Peninsula, the Maryland, and 

 the Fredericksburg campaigns. Sept. 10, 1802, he 

 was appointed 1st lieutenant. He was bre vetted 

 captain Sept. 17, 1802, for gallant and merito- 

 rious services in the battle of Antietam. May 4, 

 1804, he rejoined the Army of the Potomac, par- 

 ticipating in the Wilderness campaign and the 

 Petersburg campaign. He was chief of ordnance 

 and artillery, New York city and harbor, Aug. 

 1 to Oct. 24, 1805, and participated in the sup- 

 pression of the Fenian raid into Canada in 1800. 

 Aug. 5, 1888, he was appointed major of the 22d 

 Infantry, and May 4, 1892, was appointed lieu- 

 tenant-colonel and assigned to the llth Infantry. 

 He was appointed colonel of the 9th Infantry 

 June 27, 1897, accompanied the regiment to Tam- 

 pa in April, 1898, and was made acting briga- 

 dier-general and assigned to the 1st division of 

 the 5th Army Corps. He joined his regiment in 

 Santiago de Cuba, July 20, returned with it to 

 Montauk, Aug. 13, and finally to Madison Bar.- 

 racks, Sept. 11. He was retired at his own re- 

 quest, April 25, 1899. Col. Powell was the author 

 of the following books: History of the Fourth 

 Infantry (1881); Tactical Queries for Infantry 

 (1884); Records of Living Officers, U. S. Army 

 (1890); Officers [Regular] who served in the 

 Civil War (1892); Army Officers' Examiner 

 (1894) ; History of the Fifth Army Corps (1895). 

 He was known as the army historian. 



Prentiss, Benjamin Maybury, soldier, born 

 in Belleville, Va. (now W. Va.), Nov. 23, 1819; 

 died in Bethany, Mo., Feb. 8, 1901. He removed 

 with his parents to Missouri in 1835, and in 1841 



settled in Quincy, 111., where he learned rope- 

 making and subsequently engaged in the com- 

 mission business. In 1844 he was 1st lieutenant 

 of a company to be sent against the Mormons at 

 Hancock, 111. As a captain of volunteers he 

 served with distinction through the Mexican 

 War, and was honorably mentioned for his serv- 

 ices at Buena Vista. At the beginning of the 

 civil war he reorganized his old company, and 

 offered its services to the Government, He was ap- 

 pointed colonel of the 7th Illinois Regiment, and 

 May 17, 1801, became brigadier-general of volun- 

 teers. He was placed in command at Cairo, 111., 

 and afterward served in southern Missouri, where 

 he routed a large body of Confederates at Mount 

 Zion, Dec. 28, 1801. He joined Gen. Grant at 

 Pittsburg Landing three days before the battle 

 of Shiloh, in which he commanded the Oth divi- 

 sion, consisting of two regular army brigades and 

 several regiments of volunteers. On the first day 

 of the battle, April 0, 1802, Gen. Prentiss was 

 assigned to a position, and having no orders to 

 retreat, stubbornly held his ground until late in 

 the afternoon, when he was surrounded and cap- 

 tured with almost his entire command. He was 

 a prisoner until October, 1802. On Nov. 29 he 

 was made major-general of volunteers. He served 

 on the court-martial that was convened to try 

 the case of Gen. Fitz John Porter, in November, 

 1802. He commanded the post at Helena, Ark., 

 in 1803, where, on July 3d, he was attacked by 

 the Confederates under Gens. Holmes and Price, 

 whom he signally defeated. Gen. Prentiss re- 

 signed his commission Oct. 28, 1803, and in later 

 life practised law in Bethany, Mo. 



Ramsey, John, soldier, born in New York 

 city, Oct. 7, 1838; died in Jersey City, N. J., 

 Feb. 11, 1901. At the outbreak of the civil war 

 he enlisted in the 2d New Jersey Infantry, and 

 on the expiration of his three months' term of 

 service reenlisted in the 5th New Jersey and 

 was commissioned captain. He was made a 

 major in May, 1802, for bravery in the field, and 

 in October of the same year was appointed lieu- 

 tenant-colonel. In October, 1803, he was made 

 colonel of the 8th New Jersey Volunteers. In 

 December, 1804, he was bre vetted brigadier-gen- 

 eral for conspicuous bravery, and on March 13, 

 1805, was brevetted major-general. He took part 

 in the battles of Bull Run, Yorktown, Chantilly, 

 Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the 

 Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Peters- 

 burg, and Hatcher's Run, and was wounded 

 17 times. At Fredericksburg he attracted the 

 attention of Gen. Miles and was recommended 

 by him for promotion. He was also recommended 

 for promotion by Gen. Meade. He was for a 

 time collector of the port of Jersey City. 



Ranck, George W., author, born in Louisville, 

 Ky., Feb. 13, 1841; died in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 

 2, 1901. He studied at the University of Ken- 

 tucky, and was the historian of his State. His 

 statements as to the location of the original log 

 fort erected near Lexington in pioneer days as a 

 protection against the Indians had been attacked 

 by other historians, and while walking the track 

 near the site, collecting data in support of his 

 argument, he was struck by a railroad tram and 

 killed. He was the author of History of Lexing- 

 ton, Ky. (1872); Girty, the White Indian; The 

 Traveling Church (1891); The Story of Bryan's 

 Station (1890) ; The Bivouac of the Dead and its 

 Author (1898); and Boonesborough (1901). 



Ransom, Chauncey Monroe, insurance under- 

 writer, born in Erie County, New York, April 18, 

 1831; died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 9, 1901. He 

 went to Cincinnati, where from 1858 to 1807 he 



