OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



C.3.3 



and as a reward was promoted to fall admiral 

 and senior officer of the Confederate i 

 Siil>-i-i|iu-ntly, lio was placed in command of 

 tin- naval defenses <f Mobile, and then- super- 

 intended tin- construction of the iron-clad ram 

 Tennessee. In August, 1864, ho was in com- 

 mand of the Tennessee during the action with 

 in Moliilo Bay. Ho was again 

 womidi-il, and taken prisoner of war, hut was 

 exchanged tin- February following. Since the 

 war, Admiral Huchanan was for a time presi- 

 d.-nt of i !n- Mary land Agricultural College, 

 nnd afterward was for a few months an agent 

 for a St. L.niis life-insurance company. 



May 15. HOYT, EDWIN, a prominent and 

 greatly - esteemed merchant of New York, 

 s.-nii.r partner of Hoyt, Spragne & Co.; died 

 in tliat city, aged 70 years. Ho was horn in 

 Stamford, Conn., May 15, 1804, and at the 

 age of nineteen removed to New York to en- 

 ter upon a clerkship in a dry-goods establish- 

 ment. In less than a year he commenced 

 business upon his own account, in which he 

 was greatly prospered, and in 1858 the great 

 and well-known firm of Hoyt, Sprague & Co. 

 was formed. Mr. Hoyt was a man of sterling 

 honesty and indomitable energy and perse- 

 verance. He was a director of the Manhattan 

 Bank for thirty years, and of the Fourth Na- 

 tional Bank since its establishment. He was 

 also a director of the New York Life and Trust 

 Company, and of the National Fire Insurance 

 Company. 



May 17. ROBERTSON', GEORGE, an eminent 

 Kentucky jurist, born in Mercer County, Ky., 

 November 18, 1790; died at Lexington, Ky., 

 in the 84th year of his age. He was educated 

 at Transylvania University, studied law, and 

 was admitted to the bar in 1809. He was a 

 member of Congress from 1817 to 1821 ; sub- 

 sequently a member of the State Legislature, 

 and Speaker of the House for four sessions, 

 ending with 1827. In 1828 he was Secretary 

 of State, and the same year chosen Judge of 

 the Court of Appeals, and in 1829 commis- 

 sioned Chief- Justice of Kentucky. In 1843 he 

 resigned this position, and in 1845 resumed the 

 practice of law in Lexington. For twenty- 

 three years he was Professor of Law in Tran- 

 sylvania University. He was repeatedly ten- 

 dered diplomatic appointments, such as the 

 mission to Colombia, and that to Peru, as well 

 as other high official positions, but in every in- 

 stance declined them. 



May 20. DYER, Brigadier and Brevet Major- 

 General ALEXANDER B., U. 8. A., Chief of 

 Ordnance since 1864, a brave and meritorious 

 army officer ; died in Washington, D. 0., aged 

 57 years. He was born in Virginia, in 1817, 

 graduated from West Point in 1837, served in 

 the artillery at Fortress Monroe, Va., in the 

 Florida War, in 1837-'88, and on ordnance 

 duty at various arsenals 1838-1846 ; was Chief 

 of Ordnance of the army invading New Mex- 

 ico, from 1846 to 1848; was engaged at Cafla- 

 da, Taos, and at Santa Cruz de Resales, Mex- 



ico, receiving the brevets of first-lieutenant 

 and captain for hu gallant conduct in the*e 

 two battles. He wag on ordnance duty and 

 in command of various arsenals from 1848 to 

 1861, and a member of the Ordnance Board in 

 1650. In 1861 he was appointed to the com- 

 mand of the Springfield Armory, and remained 

 in that position till 1864, greatly extending the 

 manufacture of small-arms demanded for the 

 r.rmy ; from 1860 to 1863 he was a member of 

 the Ordnance Board, and in 1864 was ap- 

 pointed Chief of Ordnance, and placed in 

 charge of the Ordnance Bureau at Washington, 

 with the rank of brigadier-general in the Reg- 

 ular Army. In March, 1865, he was brevetted 

 Major-General, U. 8. A., for faithful, meritori- 

 ous and distinguished services. For a year 

 previous to his death he had been in bad 

 health. 



May 21. BENNETT, Rev. ALVIN, a vener- 

 able and useful Baptist clergyman ; died at 

 Freetown, N. Y., aged 91 years. He was 

 born in Mansfield, Conn., in 1783, and, though a 

 sickly and feeble child, developed vigor as he 

 approached manhood, and, having received a 

 good academical education, entered the min- 

 istry in 1806, and continued to preach very 

 acceptably for sixty-seven years. He was a 

 pastor at Munson and Wilbraham, Mass., for 

 twenty -six years, and thenceforward preferred 

 to be a stated supply. In 1853 he removed to 

 Central New York, and spent the last twenty- 

 one years of his life in Cortland County, 

 preaching regularly until he had completed his 

 ninetieth year. He was an able preacher, a 

 sound reasoner, very clear in his expositions 

 of doctrine, and greatly beloved in private 

 life. 



May 21. DOOLITTLE, CHARLES HUTCIIINS, a 

 New York jurist, one of the Judges of the 

 Supreme Court of the State of New York ; 

 lost overboard at sea on his way to Europe, 

 aged 58 years. He was born in Herkimer, 

 N. Y., February 19, 1816, fitted for college at 

 Fairfield Seminary, New York, and graduated 

 from Amherst College in 1836. He studied 

 law at Little Falls and Utica, N. Y., and was 

 admitted to the bar in 1839. For thirty years 

 he practised law in Utica, and had attained a 

 very high rank in his profession among the 

 very able and distinguished members of the 

 Oneida County bar. In 1869 he was elected 

 by a large majority a Judge of the Supreme 

 Court for the Fifth Judicial District, and main- 

 tained his high reputation to the close of his 

 life. His judicial abilities were of the highest 

 order, and but for his untimely death he would 

 have undoubtedly attained to the highest po- 

 sition on the bench. His voyage to Europe 

 was undertaken for the improvement of his 

 health, which had become seriously impaired 

 by his judicial labors, and he was lost over- 

 board on the second day out 



May 21. STEARNS, WILLIAM F., an enter- 

 prising and wealthy merchant, formerly en- 

 gaged hi the East India trade, and for some 



