586 



OBITTJAKIES, UNITED STATES. 



Dec. 23. MURBAY, Colonel J. B. 0., United 

 States Inspector at Panama, died in Panama 

 Bay, on board the steamer Salvador. At the 

 commencement of the war he was appointed 

 captain in the Ninth regiment of New York 

 State Volunteers, and served as adjutant- 

 general on General Keyes's staff. During the 

 war he held several other responsible positions. 

 Dec. 24. BUFFUM, EDWAED GOULD, an Amer- 

 ican journalist and author, died in Paris, 

 France. He was a native of the State of Rhode 

 Island, and the son of Arnold Buffum, the well- 

 known philanthropist who for a long series of 

 years occupied a high position in the humani- 

 tarian circles of New England. In early life he 

 became connected with the New York Herald, 

 and at once displayed an ability of a high order. 

 He continued .his connection with this journal 

 until the breaking out of the Mexican War, 

 when his patriotic feelings induced hmi to join 

 Colonel Stevenson's regiment of New York 

 Volunteers, with which he went to California in 

 1846 as a lieutenant. He served with his com- 

 mand during the contest on the Pacific side of 

 Mexico, and at the close of the war he returned 

 to California, then a comparatively unknown, 

 region. He was there on the discovery of the 

 gold-mines which have since so enriched the 

 world, and he at once took an active part in 

 pushing explorations for the precious metal in 

 that State. The fruits of. his -observations he 

 subsequently embodied in an interesting and 

 valuable work, the first of its kind, on the gold- 

 mines of California. When \h&Alta California 

 newspaper" was founded, Mr. Buffum became 

 its editor-in-chief, and continued for a long 

 time in that position. He was elected a mem- 

 ber of the Legislature from San Francisco, and 

 was the leading candidate for the speakership 

 of the House, whicli honor he declined, al- 

 though his election was assured. In the Legis- 

 lature he displayed great ability as a debater, 

 and a thorough knowledge of the wants of 

 the new community, with a just conception of 

 the true means to attain the desired ends. 

 While in California he wrote a history of Colo- 

 nel Stevenson's regiment, in which he gave a 

 very graphic and interesting description of 

 life in California in its early days. From the 

 Pacific he went to Europe as special correspond- 

 ent of the New *Yorlc Herald, and had resided 

 in Paris in that capacity for more than eight 

 years, up to the time of his death. He was a 

 gentleman of extensive and 'varied acquire- 

 ments, thoroughly versed in European politics., 

 master of several of the modern languages, and 

 possessing a knowledge of men and things that 

 made him a most valuable correspondent. He 

 was a frequent contributor to the leading maga- 

 zines of Europe and America. 



Dec. 25. GOODWIN, Rev. DANIEL LE BABOX, 

 an Episcopal clergyman, died in Providence, 

 E. I. He was born in 1800, graduated at 

 Brown University, and at the Theological 

 Seminary at A.ndover, Mass. After spending 

 nearly thirty years in the ministry of the 



Protestant Episcopal Church in Wilkinsonville, 

 Mass., he removed to Providence in 1854, 

 where he continued to reside until his death. 



Dec. 25. HARPER, General KENTON, died at 

 Augusta, Va. He had held many impor- 

 tant positions of trust in the State. In 1823 

 he established the Staunton Spectator, and after 

 conducting it with great success for sixteen 

 years, was appointed an Indian Agent by Pres- 

 ident Fillmore, and shortly afterward became 

 the confidential assistant of the Secretary of 

 the Interior, under the same administration. 

 A. H. H. Stuart. In the war with Mexico he 

 was captain of the volunteer company from 

 Augusta, and during the campaign of the Vir- 

 ginia regiment his soldierly demeanor was so 

 marked that General Wool appointed him to a 

 military governorship in Northern Mexico, 

 with a brigadier-general's command. In 1861 

 he was major-general of the Virginia militia, 

 and instantly upon the secession of his State, 

 on authority by telegraph from Governor Letch- 

 er, he took the field, marched to Harper's 

 Ferry, captured that post, and accomplished the 

 removal of ordnance stores and machinery from 

 that point. When the militia was superseded 

 by the volunteer system, General Harper ac- 

 cepted the position of colonel of the Fifth Vir- 

 ginia Infantry. 



Dec. 25. MTJRPHT, WILLIAM, died in Taunton, 

 Mass., at the advanced age of 108 years. He 

 was a native of Ireland, and led a life of activ- 

 ity until after passing his century. He left 

 descendants to the fifth generation. 



Dec. 25. SANTFORD, Hon. JONAH, died at 

 Hopkinton, New York, in the 78th year of his 

 age. He was a native of Cornwall, Vt., but re- 

 moved to Hopkinton in 1811. In 1829 and 1830 

 he represented the county in the State As- 

 sembly, and served the unexpired term of the 

 late Hon. Silas Wright, in Congress, from De- 

 cember, 1830, to March, 1831. He was also one 

 the Associate Judges of the Court of Com- 

 mon Pleas of the county for a time. The open- 

 ing of the war aroused the military zeal and 

 patriotism of the old man, and he sought and 

 obtained leave to raise a regiment of volunteers 

 for bis country's service, and in the fall of 

 1861 commenced the arduous task, which he 

 prosecuted with such vigor that on the 1st day 

 of February, 1862, the Ninety-second regiment 

 was organized and left the county of St. Law- 

 rence to be mustered into the service of the 

 United States, with General Sanford at its head 

 as colonel. But strong and active, he was not 

 exempt from the laws of his being, and illness 

 induced by age and great exertion compelled 

 him to leave his regiment in Virginia, and he 

 returned to his home with impaired health, 

 which he never regained. 



Dec. 26. STEWARD, Rev. IRA R., a Baptist 

 clergyman, died in New York, aged 72 years. 

 He had been thirty-seven years in the ministry, 

 and for many years past .had labored success- 

 fully among the mariners of the port of New 

 York, and was widely known by the title of . 



