554 



OBITUAEIES, HOTTED STATES, 







OBITUARIES, AMERICAN, Jan. 1. SKIN- 

 NER, Dr. P. H., a blind man, editor of the maga- 

 zine " The Mute and the Blind," died at Tren- 

 ton, N. J. He was a native of Plattsburg. N. Y., 

 aril the first instructor of poor colored deaf 

 mutes and blind, for whose sake he sacrificed 

 all his property. 



Jan. 1. STILLMAN, THOMAS B., an eminent 

 engineer and mechanic, and one of the founders 

 of the Novelty Iron Works, died at Plainfield, 

 N. J., aged 59 years. He may be called the 

 father of coast navigation in this country, hav- 

 ing established the first line of steamships on our 

 coast the Southerner and Northerner carry- 

 ing passengers and freight between New York 

 and Charleston, S. 0. During the war he was 

 United States inspector of steam-vessels for the 

 New York district, and superintendent of con- 

 struction of revenue cutters. His last work was 

 to put twelve armed steam-cutters afloat in 

 place of the sailing vessels heretofore used. He 

 was also president of the Metropolitan Savings 

 Bank, trustee for nearly twenty years of the 

 New York Hospital, and associated in many 

 other public charities. His life was one of 

 ceaseless activity and usefulness, and his ser- 

 vices in behalf of the Government during the 

 war, and since, have been so arduous, that his 

 1'fe has been as much a sacrifice for his coun- 

 ry as if he had fallen on the field of battle. 



Jan. 3. MoKENXT, Hon. JACOB KERLIN, 

 * ember of Congress from Pennsylvania, died 

 &t Douglasville, Pa., aged 42 years. He 

 graduated at Yale College in 1848, and two 

 years later at the Law School ; was admitted to 

 the bar of Pennsylvania in 1851, and entered 

 upon the practice of his profession in Douglas- 

 ville, and afterward in Reading. From 1856 

 to 1859 he was District Attorney for Berks 

 County, and in 1860 member of Congress for 

 the Reading district. 



Jan. 5. HICKEY, Gen. WILLIAM, Chief Clerk 

 of the United States Senate for 42 years, died 

 in Washington, D. 0., aged TO years. He de- 

 scended from an old Maryland family, and from 

 men who left England with Lord Baltimore, 

 on account of their devotion to the Roman 

 Catholic Church, and was himself a prominent 

 Catholic. He was a man of sterling integrity, 

 and his wonderful knowledge of parliamentary 

 law and political history made him an invalu- 

 able officer. He was the author of a work on 

 the Constitution, which was adopted by Con- 

 gress as a text-book, and was a frequent con- 

 tributor to the newspapers of the day, He was 

 general of militia in the District of Columbia. 



Jan. 5. STRONG, CYRUS, a banker and prom- 

 nent citizen of Binghamton, N. Y., died in that 

 place, aged 88 years. He was a native of 

 Colchester, Conn., and at the age of sixteen 

 entered into the iron business, and seven years 



after opened a store at Jericho, now Ba.n- 

 bridge, N. Y. In 1810 he transferred his busi- 

 ness to real estate and private banking, and in 

 1826 removed to Norwich, and became inter- 

 ested in the Chenango Bank, and subsequently 

 in the establishment of the Wayne County 

 Bank. In 1831 he removed to Binghamton, 

 and became president of the Broome County 

 Bank, which office he held until his death. 



Jan. 8. PURDY, Hon. ELIJAH F., a prominent 

 Democratic politician, and popularly known as 

 the "War-Horse of the Democracy," died in 

 New York City, aged 70 years. He was a na- 

 tive of Westchester County, but removed to 

 New York in 1819, commencing business as a 

 carman. Subsequently he entered the grocery 

 trade, and met with much success. His politi- 

 cal career commenced during the election cam- 

 paign when Andrew Jackson was for the first 

 time a candidate for the Presidency, and he 

 was noted for his boldness in the assertion of 

 his principles, his firm adherence to the right, 

 and his never-failing integrity; while his com- 

 prehensive knowledge of political history, and 

 his familiarity with the laws and ordinances of 

 the city and county governments, gave his 

 opinions great weight and influence. 



Jan. 13. SOLGER, Dr. REINHOLD, a Hun- 

 garian patriot, scholar, and lecturer, died in 

 Washington, D. 0. He came to the United 

 States with Kossuth, and for some years was 

 Assistant Register of the U. S. Treasury. 



Jan. 13. SWANN, Lieut. ROBERT P., of U. S. 

 receiving-ship Vermont, committed suicide in a 

 fit of insanity, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, aged 

 25 years. He was a native of Maryland, en- 

 listed early in the war as master's mate, was in 

 most of the naval battles of the Mississippi, and 

 subsequently in the siege of Charleston, and the 

 South Atlantic blockading squadron, when he 

 commanded the Potomska. He headed several 

 expeditions into the country, and rendered such 

 valuable services, that a general order of thanks 

 was read on the quarter-deck of each vessel. 

 He was for a time in command of the Ladona, 

 afterward the Shawmut, and finally attached 

 to the receiving-ship Vermont, at New York. 



Jan. 14. JUDAH, Brevet Col. HENEY M., 

 U. S. A., Brig.-Gen. Vols., died at Plattsburg, 

 N. Y., aged about 42 years. He was a native 

 of Maryland, but was appointed to West Point 

 from New York, and graduated in July, 1843. 

 During the war he was connected with the 

 army in the West as brigadier-general and 

 division commander, and was very active in the 

 pursuit of Morgan in his raid into Kentucky, 

 Indiana, and Ohio, in 1863. At the time of his 

 death he was commandant at Plattsburg. 



Jan. 15. ROBBINS, GEORGE STILIJVIAN, an 

 eminent New York banker (G. S. Robbins & 

 Son), died at hie residence, aged TO years. He 



