606 



OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



during the war, United States draft commis- 

 sioner. He was also a man of great piety and 

 benevolence. 



Feb. 5. ELY, WILLIAM MATHER, a promi- 

 nent citizen of Binghamton, N. Y. ; died 

 there, aged 54 years. He was born in Bing- 

 hamton, in 1818, educated at Amherst Col- 

 lege, and after his graduation followed mer- 

 cantile pursuits for some time, but, his health 

 becoming impaired, he turned his attention to 

 farming, in which he attained great success, 

 and was for several years President of the 

 State Agricultural Society. In 1868 he was 

 elected a member of the New York Legisla- 

 ture, and served his constituents with such 

 fidelity that he was reflected till his death. 



Feb. 5. THOMSON, Rev. GEOEGE "W., a Pres- 

 byterian clergyman and teacher ; died in Buf- 

 falo, N. Y., in his 61st year. He was born 

 near Clinton, N. Y., graduated from Hamilton 

 College in 1833, and from Auburn Theological 

 Seminary in 1837, was ordained in 1838, and 

 became a pastor in Stockbridge, N. Y. After 

 a few years, he was induced by ill-health to 

 turn to the profession of teaching, in which he 

 was for many years very successful, and im- 

 pressed upon his pupils his own high aims and 

 thorough scholarship. Compelled at length by 

 bodily infirmities to abandon this profession, 

 he entered upon pursuits less congenial, but 

 better adapted to restore his health, in which 

 he continued until his death. 



Feb. 7. BURNS, JOHN, better known as the 

 " Hero of Gettysburg; " died in that town, in 

 the 78th year of his age. Re was a resident 

 of Gettysburg from his youth, had been a sol- 

 dier in the War of 1812, and, at the battle of 

 Gettysburg, he was living in a small cottage in 

 the village, and, when the Confederates entered 

 the town, though nearly seventy years of age, he 

 could not be dissuaded from going out to fight 

 them "on his own hook." Taking an old 

 State musket, which had seen service, he went 

 out, joined a Wisconsin regiment, and soon ex- 

 changed his musket for a rifle. He did good 

 service. Late in the day, he received several 

 flesh-wounds, one, in the ankle, disabling him 

 so much that he was left on the field, and he 

 was in the habit of saying, was brought home 

 by some of the Confederate soldiers, to whom 

 he had told a mythical story, to account for 

 his presence there among the wounded. After 

 the battle, he became quite noted for his ad- 

 venture, and possibly it was somewhat embel- 

 lished in the frequent repetition. He received 

 a pension from the national Government, and 

 another from the State, for his services in 1812, 

 and many small sums of money from individ- 

 uals. He had husbanded his receipts very 

 carefully, and purchased a farm in Mount 

 Pleasant township for $1,800 ; but for the last 

 year or two his intellect had been somewhat 

 impaired, and he had spent much time in 

 Philadelphia and New York, telling his story 

 very pitifully to whoever would listen, and re- 

 ceiving alms; but his exposure to the severe 



cold in New York brought on pneumonia, and, 

 though tenderly cared for and sent home as 

 comfortably as possible, he had not strength 

 to rally from the disease. 



Feb. 7. KINGSLEY, LEWIS, an eminent ju- 

 rist, journalist, and scholar, deputy naval offi- 

 cer of theipbrt of New York ; died in Brook- 

 lyn, aged W years. He was born in Cincin- 

 natus, New York, in 1825, and, after an aca- 

 demic education, was admitted to the bar. In 

 1850 he represented Cortland County in the 

 State Assembly, and in the ensuing year wns 

 elected judge of that county, serving until 

 1855, when he declined a reelection, and 

 moved to Norwich, Chenango County, enter- 

 ing into a law-partnership with his relative, 

 the Hon. Benjamin Rexford. In addition to 

 his legal labors, Judge Kingsley was the editor 

 and one of the publishers of the Norwich Tele- 

 graph, the leading Republican paper of the 

 county. In the presidential campaign of 

 1868, he was a member of the Republican 

 State Committee, and an earnest worker dur- 

 ing the campaign. In 1869 he was nominated 

 to the State Senate by the Republicans, but 

 was not elected. On the 1st of May, 1870, he 

 was appointed Deputy Naval Officer by Gen- 

 eral Merritt, retaining that position under 

 Messrs. Grinnell and Laflin. Judge Kingsley 

 WJis a man of large ability and fine intellectual 

 culture. He was the compiler of several 

 standard law-books, and a contributor to Har- 

 per's Magazine and other periodicals. His 

 death occurred from hemorrhage of the lungs. 



Feb. 9. SEYS or SEYES, Rev. JOHN, D. D., a 

 Congregationalist clergyman of Ohio, who had 

 been a missionary and a diplomatist; died at 

 Springfield, Ohio, aged 75 years. He was a 

 missionary in Western Africa for many years, 

 making occasional visits to the United States, 

 to recruit his health. In this way, he had 

 crossed the ocean ten times. In 1866 he was 

 appointed minister resident from the United 

 States to the Republic of Liberia, and remained 

 there till 1870. 



Feb. 12. LAPSLEY, Rev. ROBERT A., D. D., a 

 clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, South ; 

 died at New Albany, Ind., in the 73d year of 

 his age. He was a native of Kentucky, and 

 was educated in Transylvania University, pur- 

 suing his theological studies at the Princeton 

 Seminary, whence he graduated in 1821. He- 

 was for many years pastor of the Second 

 Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tenn., but 

 had latterly been preaching in Kentucky and 

 Indiana, He was a man of great ability i:ml 

 fine scholarship. 



Feb. 13. BULKLEY, ELIPHALET ADAMS, a 

 lawyer, political leader, and underwriter, of 

 Hartford, Conn. ; died there, aged 68 years. He 

 was born in Colchester, Conn., June 29, 1803. 

 He graduated from Yale College, in 1824, and 

 studied law and was admitted to the bar in 

 Lebanon, but soon after settled in East Had- 

 dam, where he practised his profession, and 

 was president of a bank. He represented the 





