OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



650 





iu raising :m endowment of $100,000 for the 



lie was the lost survivor of the com- 



f ministers who, in IblO, organized the 



Am. ri. an Board of Commissioner for Foreign 



Missions. 



14. LA MOUNTAIN, JOHN, a daring and 

 sc H-utifto aeronaut, died ut South ll.-nd, lnd.. 

 aired -11 \ear~.. lie was an enthusiastic lover 

 icnce, and liopod to make his experi- 

 ments useful in the advancement of science, 

 and especially in the development of meteoro- 

 logical theories. Having conceived the idea 

 tit' an atmospheric current corresponding with 

 the Gulf Stream in the ocean, and flowing 

 steadily from east to west, he believed that 

 he had gained the secret of snccessfnl aerial 

 navigation, and that, by taking advantage 

 of this current, he could cross the Atlantic. 

 For this purpose he built the famous balloon 

 "Atlantic," one of the largest and strongest 

 ever made, and, undertaking a land-voyage 

 first, started from St. Louis in company with 

 a couple of scientific friends, and passing over 

 Lake Erie into New- York State, the balloon 

 was seized by a tornado while crossing Lake 

 Ontario, and was left a wreck in the woods of 

 Jefferson County, N. Y. The result of this 

 voyage induced La Mountain to abandon his 

 idea of crossing the ocean. However, a smaller 

 balloon was built from the remnants of the 

 "Atlantic," and again his life was imperilled. 

 During the late war he turned his attention to 

 military balloons, and was the first aeronaut 

 engaged in the service. His last serious ad- 

 venture probably hastened his death. An im- 

 patient crowd cast him off before he was ready, 

 without an overcoat or instruments, and the 

 valve-rope tied several feet above the basket. 

 He shot like a rocket up into a heavy cloud of 

 mist and sleet, which froze the valve-board 

 fast. He climbed, with frost-bitten fingers, up 

 the net-work, and tore the balloon open with 

 his teeth. The opening extended so far that 

 the balloon collapsed, discharged its gas, and 

 fell with great velocity from a height of nearly 

 two miles, his system receiving a shock from 

 which he probably never fully recovered. 



Feb. 15. DUKAXG, CHARLES, an actor, au- 

 thor, and stage manager ; died in Philadelphia, 

 aged 76 years. He was born in that city, and 

 made his first appearance at the Chestnut 

 Street Theatre, in 1803, and since that time 

 had performed in almost every respectable 

 theatre in the United States. He was the 

 author of a history of the Philadelphia stage 

 from 1752 to 1854, published in the Philadel- 

 phia Sunday Dispatch, 



Feb. 15. WILLIAMS, MARCCB, an American 

 traveller and explorer; died at Maranham, 

 Brazil. He was, previous to 1844, a citizen of 

 Newark, N. J., but since that time had de- 

 voted himself to explorations, performing some 

 of the most perilous journeys among the moun- 

 tains of South America, and amid hostile In- 

 dian tribes. A few years ago, he took a con- 

 tract for supplying the city of Maranham with 



gas, and bad been compelled to import bis ma- 

 rh'mery for it from the United State*. 



Feb. 10. FARMKK, Lieutenant-Colonel GBO. 

 EDOAB, a brave and gallant officer of volunteers ; 

 died in New-York City, aged 30 yean. lie was 

 a native of New York, and early in life entered 

 upon mercantile pursuit*, but upon the break- 

 ing out of the civil war he gave up his busi- 

 ness, and in 1801 was commissioned Second 

 Lieutenant of the Sixth New -York Cavalry. 

 He was subsequently appointed a quarter- 

 master of the regiment, but, before leaving for 

 the seat of war, promoted to a captaincy, and 

 led his company (C) in all the battles in which 

 his regiment participated, including those of 

 Pope's campaigns, of An tietam, Fredericksburg, 

 Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the pursuit 

 of Lee after the latter battle. At the battle 

 of Trevillian Station, during Sheridan's first 

 raid, Captain Farmer was wounded, but contin- 

 ued in the field, and a few days afterward, at 

 the battle of Deep Bottom, ho received a se- 

 vere wound. He rejoined his regiment near 

 Washington in the fall of 1864, after its ren- 

 listment, and participated in all the battles of 

 Sheridan's campaign in the Valley of the Shen- 

 andoah. After the battle of Cedar Creek, he 

 was promoted to the rank of major, and for 

 some time was in command of the regiment. He 

 was engaged in all the subsequent battles of 

 Sheridan's cavalry corps till the surrender of 

 Lee, when he was made a lieutenant-colonel 

 by brevet. At the close of the war he was 

 honorably discharged, after a continuous 

 and faithful service of over four years, hav- 

 ing earned the brevet of lieutenant-colonel. 

 Since the war, Colonel Farmer has occupied a 

 responsible position in the Bowery Savings- 

 Bank. He was a prominent and earnest mem- 

 ber of the Grand Array of the Republic, and 

 at his death was commander of the oldest post 

 in the State. 



Feb. 17. SWEETSEB, HENRY EDWARD, a New- 

 York journalist; died at his residence in that 

 city, aged 83 years. He was born in New 

 York, February 19, 1837, graduated at Yale 

 College in 1858, and, after devoting some time 

 to mercantile pursuits, became a reporter for 

 the New-York Times. In June, 1860, he 

 entered the office of the World and soon be- 

 came night-editor. In November, 1863, in 

 connection with his brother, C. H. Sweetser, 

 he started the Round Table, the publication of 

 which, suspended August, 1864, was re- 

 sumed June, 1865 ; during this interval he re- 

 turned to the office of the World. In May, 

 1866, he withdrew from the Hound Table, 

 and after a short visit to Europe, in September 

 of the same year, returned to his post as city 

 editor, and editor of the weekly and semi- 

 weekly editions until his death, which occurred 

 suddenly. 



Feb. 17. WILLIS, WILLIAM, LL. D., an emi- 

 nent lawyer and historical writer ; died in 

 Portland, Me., aged 76 years. He graduated 

 at Yale College in the class of 1813, after 



