OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



613 



was Nathaniel H. Belden ; died in New York 

 City, aged 64 years. He was a native of Con- 

 necticut, where he was born in 1808. The 

 son of a clergyman, he was brought up under 

 pious influences, and it was designed that hs 

 should pursue the calling of his father. His 

 taste, however, led him to adopt the profession 

 of the stage, and he came out at the Chatham 

 Garden, in 1830, as Lord Rivers, in "A Day 

 after the Wedding." His career, extending 

 over a period of more than forty years, was 

 chiefly fulfilled in the theatres of the Bowery. 

 He was stage-manager of the New Bowery, 

 under Mr. Lingard's management, during the 

 entire existence of that establishment. Of late 

 years he has been often seen at the Old Bow- 

 ery. His last performance, given there last 

 autumn, was in the play of " Bertha, the 

 Sewing-Machine Girl." Mr. Clarke was es- 

 teemed in his profession, and enjoyed a fair 

 measure of popularity. He was a thoroughly 

 well-trained actor, and very useful in every 

 company that he joined. Worth of character 

 and a copious stock of reminiscences made 

 him an esteemed friend, and an entertaining 

 companion. 



April 14. BENEDICT, JESSE W., an eminent 

 lawyer of New York City, formerly a partner 

 of Charles O'Conor; died at his residence in 

 Audubon Park, New York City, aged 62 years. 

 He was a native of Connecticut, and had long 

 been eminent alike for his legal ability and 

 his eminently pure and exemplary life. 



April 14. POINDEXTER, Rev. A. M., D. D., 

 an eminent Baptist clergyman, formerly sec- 

 retary of the Foreign Mission Board of the 

 Southern Baptist Convention, and one of the 

 founders of Richmond College ; died near Gor- 

 donsville, Orange County, Va. Dr. Poindex- 

 ter was widely known to Christians of all de- 

 nominations in Virginia. He was a man of 

 fine and highly-cultivated intellect ; a faithful 

 pastor, a zealous laborer in the causes of Chris- 

 tian benevolence ; an eloquent and powerful 

 preacher, and withal, an humble Christian. 



April 15. VAN WINKLE, PETER G., late 

 IT. S. Senator from West Virginia; died at 

 Parkersburg, W. Va., aged 64 years. He was 

 born in the city of New York, September 7, 

 1808, removed to Parkersburg in 1835 ; was a 

 member of the Virginia Constitutional Con- 

 vention in 1850 ; of the Wheeling Convention 

 in 1861 ; and of the convention which formed 

 the constitution of West Virginia in 1862. 

 He was a member of the Legislature of the 

 new State from its organization to June. 1863, 

 and in November of that year was elected U. 

 S. Senator for the term ending March, 1869. 

 In the Senate he was chairman of the Com- 

 mittee on Pensions, and a member of several 

 other important committees, and on the im- 

 peachment trial of President Johnson was one 

 of the eight Republican Senators who voted 

 against the impeachment articles. He was a 

 member of the Philadelphia " Loyalists" Con- 

 vention in 1866. 



April 15. WHELPLEY, JAMES DAVENPORT, 

 M. D., an accomplished physician and scientist ; 

 died in Boston, aged 55 years. He was born in 

 New York City, January 23, 1817, was educat- 

 ed in New Haven, and graduated from Yale Col- 

 lege in 1837. After graduation he acted as as- 

 sistant in Rogers's Geological Survey of Penn- 

 sylvania for two years, and then, returning to 

 New Haven, entered the medical department 

 of Yale College, whence he graduated M. D. in 

 1842. He remained in New Haven until 1846, 

 engaged in the study of the sciences, and in 

 literary pursuits. He then went to Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., and began to practise his profession, 

 but was soon obliged to relinquish it from ill- 

 health. In 1847 he removed to New York 

 City, and became the editor and one of the 

 owners of the American Whig Itemeio, to 

 which he had been a frequent contributor 

 since 1845. While thus engaged, in 1849, he 

 formed a project of establishing a commercial 

 colony in Honduras, and, in furtherance of 

 this enterprise, spent two years in San Fran- 

 cisco, purchasing and editing one of the daily 

 papers there. His arrangements were dis- 

 turbed by the presence of the filibuster Walk- 

 er in Honduras, and on going thither he was 

 detained by Walker for nearly a year, enduring 

 great privation, and being impressed into ser- 

 vice as a surgeon. Escaping to San Francisco, 

 he returned early in 1857 to the East, and again 

 devoted himself to literature and to scientific 

 studies. For the last ten years of his life he 

 was a great sufferer from asthma, which 

 gradually developed into pulmonary consump- 

 tion, of which disease he died. Dr. Whelpley's 

 publications show a most original mind, and 

 his unpublished papers are even more remark- 

 able. He was a member of the American 

 Academy. His scientific researches were chief- 

 ly in physics and metallurgy. 



April 16. BUCHANAN, MoKEAN, a well- 

 known tragedian, very popular in the West ; 

 died in Denver, Col., aged 49 years. He 

 was the son of Paymaster Buchanan, and 

 nephew of Admiral Buchanan, U. S. N., and 

 was born in Philadelphia, February 28, 1823. 

 He was educated for the navy, and served 

 three years as midshipman on the sloop-of-war 

 St. Louis. His debut as an actor was made at 

 the St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans, in the 

 character of Hamlet, in which role he made 

 his appearance in New York in 1850, but with 

 little success. He visited England twice, and 

 was not unsuccessful there. His sombre and 

 antiquated style did not, however, please the 

 American metropolis, and during the latter 

 years of his professional life he confined his 

 labors to the Western towns, in many of 

 which he was highly esteemed. Mr. Buchan- 

 an was not devoid of sterling merit as an 

 actor, and as a gentleman made many warm 

 friends in and out of the profession. 



April 18. CLARKE, Rev. CHARLES RUSSELL, 

 an active and useful Presbyterian clergyman, 

 teacher, and writer; died at San Diego, Gal., 



