OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



659 



subsequently, in 1857, was elevated to the 

 chancellorship, the highest attainable judicial 

 position, the duties of which he continued to 

 discharge up to the time of his death. In 1849 

 he was at the head of the commission appoint- 

 ed to revise and codify the laws of the State, 

 and for the able manner in which he fulfilled 

 his important task received a vote of thanks 

 from the Delaware Legislature. In 1854 he 

 received the honorary degree of LL. D., and 

 has been for some years President of the Del- 

 aware Railroad Company. Through all the 

 long years of the war he was a steadfast and 

 influential supporter of the Government, and 

 did much to strengthen the administration of 

 President Lincoln, whose warm personal advo- 

 cate he was. 



Nov. 29. VAN AMBTTRGH, ISAAC A., the well- 

 known lion-tamer, died in Philadelphia, aged 

 about 50 years. He was a native of Fishkill, 

 N. Y., and early in life became connected with 

 a travelling menagerie, where he had an oppor- 

 tunity of becoming practically acquainted with 

 the habits and dispositions of the brute creation. 

 Finding that the fiercest species in time became 

 familiar with their keepers, and that they were 

 susceptible to the influence of training, it occur- 

 red to him that a striking performance might be 

 produced by entering a den of lions, tigers, etc., 

 properly subdued, and forming them in a series 

 of groups or tableaux. Ambitious, fearless, and 

 energetic, he soon had a collection of perform- 

 ing animals ready for the proposed exhibition, 

 which was most successfully given. He made 

 his first appearance in New York at the Rich- 

 mond Hill Theatre in the fall of 1833, and his 

 performances being then entirely novel in char- 

 acter, created a great excitement. Later, during 

 the same season, he appeared at the Bowery 

 Theatre, under the management of T. S. Ham- 

 blin, in a melodrama written for him by Miss 

 Medina, entitled "The Lion Lord; or, The 

 Forest Monarch," iu which he introduced a 

 royal Bengal tiger, apparently loose, upon the 

 stage. From 1834 until 1838, Van Arnburgh 

 performed every winter at the old Zoological 

 Institute in the Bowery, where there was an 

 extensive menagerie. In the summer of 1838 

 he visited Europe for the first time, making his 

 debut in England at Astley's. Shortly after- 

 wards he was engaged by Bunn for Drury Lane, 

 where his success was of an unprecedented char- 

 acter. Bunn, in his "History of the English 

 Stage," says: "It is impossible to conceive a 

 greater degree of excitement and interest than 

 that which attended Mr. Van Amburgh's exhi- 

 bition up to the close of the year 1838, unless 

 it be that which followed it through the early 

 part of 1839 while he remained with me." Af- 

 terwards, in partnership with a company of 

 Americans, Van Amburgh travelled through 

 England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, with a 

 menagerie, returning to the United States m 

 1845, where he has since remained, except dur- 

 ing several temporary visits to Europe. The 

 deceased was not far from fifty years of age, 



and few public men were more extensively 

 known. Mr. Van Amburgh had not perform- 

 ed for a long time previous to his death, and 

 several years since he surrendered the active 

 management of the firm to the hands of Mr. 

 Hyatt Frost, one of his partners. 



Nov. 30. COXWAY, WILLIAM, a sailor in the 

 United States Navy for forty years, died in the 

 United States Naval Hospital, Brooklyn, L. I., 

 aged 63 years. He was a native of Camden, 

 Maine. In April, 1861, he was stationed at the 

 Warrenton (Pensacola) naval station, Florida, 

 and when ordered to lower the United States 

 flag on the secession of the State, replied, that 

 he " could not do it." Upon a repetition of the 

 order, he replied, "I have served under that 

 flag for forty years, and 1 won't do it." Shortly 

 after Mr. Conway was sent North, where he 

 remained until his death. 



Nov. . SYME, Hon. Jonx W., an editor, 

 died in Petersburg, Va., aged 54 years. He 

 was a native of Virginia, and was for twenty 

 years the proprietor and editor of the " Intelli- 

 gencer," which he conducted with great suc- 

 cess until the Whig party, of which it was 

 an able and influential representative, became 

 weakened and dispersed by the defeats and 

 divisions which befell it during the administra- 

 tions of Pierce and Buchanan. In 1856 he re- 

 moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he 

 purchased the "Register," the Whig organ in 

 that State. There he remained until the fall 

 of 1863, when he returned to Petersburg, where 

 he continued the publication of the " Register." 

 In the mean time the old " Intelligencer " had 

 passed through several hands, and finally ceased, 

 practically, to exist. Mr. Syme continued the 

 publication of the ''Register" until August, 

 1864, when he was compelled to suspend it on 

 account of the difficulty of procuring material. 

 While editor of the "Intelligencer," he at one 

 time represented Petersburg in the General As- 

 sembly. 



Dec. 4. HILL, JOHN H., formerly Clerk of 

 Sussex County, N. J., and for more than fifty 

 years publisher of the Sussex "Register," died 

 at Newton, N. J., aged 75 years. 



Dec. 7. BARCLAY, J. O'Coxxon, surgeon in 

 the U. S. Navy, died on board the flag-ship 

 Susquehanna, off the coast of Brazil, aged about 

 48 years. He was a native of Louisiana, but 

 was appointed to the navy from Pennsylvania, 

 of which State he had become a citizen. He 

 entered the navy as assistant-surgeon October 

 17, 1839, and was commissioned surgeon April 

 4, 1854, and had passed more than twenty-six 

 years in the service, of which nearly fifteen had 

 been afloat. Dr. Barclay was a man of great 

 professional skill, and his scientific and literary 

 attainments were of the highest order. 



Dec. 8. BURNELL, lion. MADISOX, a promi- 

 nent citizen of Chautauqua County, N. Y., 

 died suddenly at Jamestown. He had repre- 

 sented his county in the Legislature witli great 

 ability. 



Dec. 8. WrrnERS, Hon. T. J., a Judge of the 



