OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



603 



When the civil war broke out, he abandoned 

 his place in the Senate, and avowed his adhe- 

 sion to the State of Louisiana. He went to 

 New Orleans in 1861, and was invited by Jef- 

 ferson Davis to the post of Attorney-General 

 in his Cabinet, and afterward was successively 

 Secretary of War and Secretary of State, until 

 the overthrow of the Confederacy; after which 

 he escaped, by way of Nassau, New Providence, 

 to England, arriving there in September, 1865. 

 The next year he was admitted to the bar. He 

 soon acquired a successful practice, and re- 

 ceived a silk gown in June, 1872. In 1868 he 

 published a " Treatise on the Law of Sale of 

 Personal Property," which was received with 

 much favor, and reached a second edition in 

 1873. He met with a serious fall from a tram- 

 way-car several years ago, and his health failed 

 him almost entirely. He rejoined his wife in 

 Paris, after many years of separation, and, 

 having acquired a handsome competency, he 

 built a house there, where he spent the re- 

 mainder of his days. 



Betts, William, an American lawyer, born in 

 Bechsgrove, St. Croix, West Indies, Jan. 28, 

 1802 ; died in Jamaica, Long Island, N. Y., July 

 6, 1884. His early education was obtained in 

 Jamaica ; thence he went to Union College, 

 where he stayed a year, and, entering Colum- 

 bia College, was graduated in 1820. He stud- 

 ied'law with David B. Ogden, and subsequently 

 entered the office of his father-in-law, Beverley 

 Robinson. Mr. Betts was counsel to several 

 old and large corporations in New York, was 

 a trustee of Columbia College and of the Col- 

 lege of Physicians and Surgeons, and from 1848 

 to 1854 was Professor of Law in Columbia Col- 

 lege. He received the degree of LL. D. in 1850. 

 Failure of sight compelled Dr. Betts to give up 

 active service in his profession subsequent to 

 1876, but he retained vigor of mind and body 

 to the last year of his life. 



Bishop, Anna, a singer, born in London, Eng- 

 land, in 1814; died in New York, March 18, 

 1884. Her maiden name was Anna Riviere, 

 and she married Sir Henry Rowley Bishop, 

 a well-known composer and musician. She 

 appeared on the concert stage in 1837, and 

 some years later came to the United States. 

 In 1850 she gave a series of concerts in New 

 York which were very popular and successful. 

 It is said that Madame Bishop had sung in 

 nearly every country in the world, and in the 

 languages of all civilized peoples. Her last 

 tour around the world was begun in 1875, after 

 which she lived in the city of New York with 

 her second husband, Mr. Schultz, to whom she 

 was married in 1858. She appeared in public 

 for the last time in 1883. 



Bowman, Francis Caswell, an American law- 

 yer and author, born in 1834 ; died in New 

 York, Oct. 29, 1884. He was graduated at 

 Brown University, and studied law in New 

 York. On the outbreak of the civil war, he 

 joined the Seventh Regiment, and engaged in 

 the organization and service of the United 



States Sanitary Commission at Washington. 

 Mr. Bowman was a frequent contributor to 

 journals and magazines, and for seventeen years 

 was musical editor of the New York u Sun." 

 He also wrote many articles for the " American 

 Cyclopedia," on musical topics. He was an 

 accomplished musician, and founded the Men- 

 delssohn Glee Club, and was its president for 

 five years. 



Brignoli, Pasqnale, an Italian singer, born in 

 Italy about 1823 ; died in New York, Oct. 29, 

 1884. Sign or Brignoli came to the United 

 States in 1855. He had previously sung with 

 marked success in the principal opera-houses 

 of Europe, but in America he achieved his 

 highest reputation and spent the largest por- 

 tion of his life. His first engagement in New 

 York was in the opera company of Max Ma- 

 retzek. His reputation as a tenor singer was 

 universal, and his popularity was unbounded. 

 He supported Madame Patti on her first ap- 

 pearance in the United States, about twenty 

 years ago, and performed similar service for 

 nearly every great singer that has visited this 

 country. 



Brown, John, an American clergyman, born 

 in New York city, May 19, 1791 ; died in New- 

 burg, N. Y., Aug. 15, 1884. He entered Co- 

 lumbia College and was graduated in 1811; 

 studied for the ministry of the Episcopal 

 Church under Bishop Hobart, and took orders 

 in 1812. His earliest services were at Fishkill. 

 In 1815 he accepted a call to the rectorship of 

 St. George's Church, Newburg, and in this 

 field of labor he spent over sixty years in active 

 duty, during which he not only built up his 

 own congregation into a strong parish, but also 

 largely aided feebler churches in Orange and 

 neighboring counties. Dr. Brown was under- 

 stood to be the oldest Episcopal clergyman in 

 the United States. He was also regarded as 

 the oldest member of the Masonic order in 

 America, having been initiated, June 16, 1817, 

 in Hiram Lodge, Newburg. When General 

 Lafayette visited the United States, in 1824, 

 Dr. Brown, at a reception held at Washing- 

 ton's headquarters, delivered the address of 

 welcome. In subsequent years he held office 

 in the Masonic order, and at the time of his 

 death was Chaplain of Hudson River Lodge, 

 No. 607, in Newburg. 



Burnett, Ward Benjamin, an American soldier, 

 born in Pennslyvania in 1811; died in Wash- 

 ington, D. 0., June 24, 1884. He was gradu- 

 ated at West Point in 1832. He served in the 

 Black Hawk expedition, in garrison at Fort 

 Jackson, La., as an instructor at West Point, 

 and in ordnance duty in Florida. He resigned 

 in 1836, and becara.6 a civil engineer. At the 

 opening of the Mexican war he was made colo- 

 nel of the Second New York Engineers, and 

 was sent to join the army under Gen. Scott. He 

 was engaged with his regiment in the siege of 

 Vera Cruz, and in the battles of Cerro Gordo, 

 Contreras, and Churubusco, in the last of which 

 he was badly wounded. In 1848 he returned 



