OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (SNEAD-STEVENS.) 



667 



tietam. In 1882 he resigned his commission. Among 

 his numerous medical and surgical publications are : 

 " Anatomical Atlas to Minor Surgery," " System of 

 Operative Surgery," and " Practice of Surgery." 



Snead, Thomas Lowndes, lawyer, born in Henrico 

 County, Va., Jan. 10, 1828; died in New York city 

 Oct. 17, 1890. He was graduated at Eichmond Col- 

 lege in 1846, and at the University of Virginia in 1848, 

 studied law, removed to St. Louis, Mo., in 1850, was 

 editor and proprietor of the St. Louis "Bulletin" in 

 I860-' 61, and at the outbreak of the civil war entered 

 the Confederate service as aide-de-camp to Gen. Clai- 

 borne F. Jackson and as adjutant-general of the Mis- 

 souri State Guard. He took part in the battles of 

 Booneyille, Carthage, Wilson's Creek, and Lexington ; 

 was Missouri commissioner in the military convention 

 with the Confederate States in October, 1861 ; and 

 served through the greater part of the war under Gen. 

 Price in the Southwest. He was elected a Representa- 

 tive from Missouri in the Confederate Congress in 

 May, 1864. In 1865 he removed to New York city, 

 in 1866 was admitted to the bar, and for several years 

 was an editor on the " Daily News" staff. 



Solomon, Margaret, last of the Wyandotte Indians, 

 born on the reservation on Sandusky river, in 1816 ; 

 died near Opper Sandusky, Ohio, Aug. 18, 1890. She 

 was a full-blooded Wyandotte, daughter of John 

 Gray Eyes, a noted chief. In 1821, when the Eev. 

 Mr. Finley opened a mission school on the reservation, 

 she was the first Indian girl taken to him to be edu- 

 cated. When the remnant of her tribe were moved 

 farther west, in 1843, she accompanied her people, 

 and afterward married John Solomon. On his death 

 she returned to the Sandusky river. 



Speer, Robert Milton, lawyer, born in Cassville, Hunt- 

 ingdon County, Pa., Sept. 8, 1838; died in New York 

 city, Jan. 17, 1890. He was educated in Cassville 

 Seminary, was admitted to the bar in 1859, and re- 

 moved to Huntingdon to practice. In 1863 he was 

 chosen assistant clerk in the Pennsylvania House of 

 Representatives, in 1870 and 1872 was elected to Con- 

 gress from the 17th Pennsylvania District as a Demo- 

 crat, and in 1872 and 1880 was a delegate to the Demo- 

 cratic national conventions. In Congress he was a mem- 

 ber of the committees on elections, invalid pensions, 

 and expenditures in the Department of Justice. 



Spinner, Francis Elias, ex-Treasurer of the United 

 States, born in German Flats (now Mohawk), N. Y., 

 Jan. 21, 1802 ; diedin Jacksonville, Fla., Dec. 81, 1890. 

 He was the son of a clergyman, who educated him 

 with a view of having him follow a mechanical trade, 

 and first apprenticed him to a confectioner in Al- 

 bany. N. Y., and afterward to a harness maker in 

 Amsterdam, N. Y. In 1822 he established himself in 

 mercantile business in Herkimer, N. Y.; in 1829 was 

 appointed deputy sheriff of Herkimer County ; in 1834 

 was elected sheriff and appointed major-general of the 

 3d Division of New York State Artillery ; in 1838 was a 

 commissioner for building the State Lunatic Asylum 

 at Utica ; and in 1839 became cashier of the Mohawk 

 Valley Bank, which he served as cashier and president 

 for twenty years. He was auditor and deputy naval 

 officer of the port of New York from 1845 till 1849, 

 and was elected to Congress as an anti-slavery Demo- 

 crat in 1854, serving on the Committee on Privileges 

 and Elections, and on the special committee to investi- 

 gate Preston S. Brooks's assault on Charles Sumner. 

 By re-elections as a Republican he remained in Con- 

 gress till March 3, 1861, his last committee service 

 being as chairman of the Committee on Accounts. On 

 March 16, 1861, on the recommendation of Secretary 

 Chase, he was appointed Treasurer of the United 

 States, and he held the office till June 30, 1875, when 

 he resigned, and passed the remainder of his life near 

 Jacksonville, Fla. He suggested, and successfully 

 urged against much opposition, the employment of 

 women in the Treasury Department. When, on resign- 

 ing, his accounts were specially examined at his re- 

 quest, an apparent shortage of one cent was dis- 

 covered. He claimed an even balance, and a re-exam- 

 ination proved that he was right. 



Starkweather, John Converse, lawyer, born in Coop- 

 erstown N. Y., in May. 1830; died in Washington 

 DC., Nov. 15, 1890. He was graduated at Union 

 College m 1850, was admitted to the bar in 1857 and 

 removing to Milwaukee, practiced with success till the 

 beginning of the civil war. He volunteered his serv- 

 ices on the first call for troops, and was commissioned 

 colonel of the First Wisconsin Volunteers in May 

 1 f. 6 ^- 11 . Wit , h r hi8 regiment he took part in the battles 

 of Falling Waters. July 2, and Edward's Ferry, July 

 29. When his regiment was mustered out of the three 

 months' service, he re-enlisted and was ordered to 

 Kentucky for duty. He distinguished himself at the 

 Battle of Perryville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862, and at Stone 

 River, Dec. 31, 1862, and Jan. 1 and 2, 1863; was 

 promoted brigadier-general ; was stationed at Mur- 

 ireesborough, Tenn., July, 1863; and in September he 

 participated in the Battle'of Chickamauga, in Novem- 

 ber in the battles around Chattanooga, and afterward 

 in the capture of Atlanta. Gen. Starkweather was a 

 member of the court-martial that tried Surgeon-Gen- 

 eral William A. Hammond. He subsequently served 

 in Alabama and Tennessee till mustered out of the 

 service in 1865. He then resumed the practice of law 

 in Milwaukee, but soon removed to Washington 

 where he practiced till his death. 



Steedman, Charles, naval officer, born in St. James's 

 Parish, Santee, S. C., 1811 ; died in Washington D. 

 C., Nov. 13, 1890. He was appointed a midshipman 

 in the United States navy April 1,1828; was pro- 

 moted passed midshipman, June 14, 1834; lieutenant 

 Feb. 25,1841; commander, Sept. 14,1855; captain 

 Dec. 13, 1862 ; commodore, July 25, 1866 ; and rear- 

 admiral, May 25, 1871 ; and was retired Sept. 24, 

 1873. During this naval career he was on sea service 

 twenty-four years and one month, on shore or other 

 duty fourteen years and four months, and was unem- 

 ployed twenty-four years. During the Mexican War 

 he served on board the " St. Marys," at the bombard- 

 ment of Vera Cruz he commanded the eight-inch gun 

 battery, and at Tampico he led an attempt to surprise 

 and capture the Mexican gunboats within the bar. In 

 1859-'60 lie commanded the " Dolphin " in the Para- 

 guay expedition ; and at the beginning of the civil 

 war was placed in command of the Baltimore Railroad 

 Company's steamboat "Maryland," with which he 

 kept communication open between Baltimore and 

 Philadelphia. He commanded the "Bienville "at 

 the Battle of Port Royal, S. C., Nov. 7, 1861. and the 

 gunboats that engaged Fort McAllister, on the Ogee- 

 chee river, in August, 1862 ; silenced the batteries of 

 St. John's Bluff, St. John's river, Fla., Sept. 17 ; and 

 co-operated with the land force in capturing the bat- 

 teries on the 30th, and opened and neld St. John's 

 river as far as Lake Beaufort. As commander of the 

 " Ticonderoga " he took part in the attacks on Fort 

 Fisher in December, 1864, and January, 1865, besides 

 contributing to the successful operations at the mouth 

 of Cape Fear river. His last active services were as 

 commandant of the Boston Navy Yard in 1869-'72, and 

 of the South Pacific squadron i'rom October, 1872 till 

 his retirement. 



Stevens, Ezra Lincoln, journalist, born in Grafton 

 County, N. H.,Dec. 30, 1817; died in Asbury Park, 

 N. J., march 8, 1890. He was graduated at Oberlin 

 College in 1843, and began studying law, but soon 

 abandoned it for journalism, and founded the Cleve- 

 land " True Democrat" (now the "Leader"). In 

 1847 he went to Washington, D. C., as correspondent 

 of the Boston " Whig," the New York " Tribune," 

 his own, and other newspapers, and in 1853 was ap- 

 pointed a clerk in the Department of the Interior, and 

 was subsequently transferred to the Bureau of Indian 

 Affairs. With two intermissions, of about two years 

 in all, he remained in the Indian office till Aug. 31, 

 1887, when he resigned. He was successively chief 

 of the finance, civilization, and schools divisions of the 

 bureau, and for five years was chief clerk of the_ bu- 

 reau. He maintained an active connection with jour- 

 nalism, and was an authority on Indian affairs, and a 

 promoter of the present Indian school system. 



