OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



611 



"Bishop of Maryland, she removed to Balti- 

 more with her husband, and established the Pa- 

 tapsco Female Institute. Mr. Phelps died in 

 1848, and for eight years following Mrs. Phelps 

 conducted the institution alone with marked 

 success. After this, having been forty-four 

 years in the service, she gave up active duty, 

 and spent the evening of life in quiet with her 

 family. Her educational works, which had a 

 large sale, were devoted mainly to natural 

 science. Among the others were " The Female 

 Student" and "Hours with my Pupils." 



Phelps, Royal, an American merchant, born in 

 Sempronius, N. Y., March 30, 1809 ; died in 

 New York city, July 30, 1884. He received a 

 good common-school education, and early in 

 life made his way to St. Croix, West Indies. 

 There he entered the office of a coffee-merchant 

 and prospered. In 1840 he went into business 

 on his own account, and established houses at 

 Puerto Cabello and Lagnayra. In 1847 he 

 went to New York and became one of the firm 

 of Maitland, Phelps & Co. He was a very able 

 and energetic business man, and acquired a 

 large fortune. Mr. Phelps was active in sup- 

 port of the Union cause on the outbreak of 

 the civil war. He was Vice- President of the 

 New York Chamber of Commerce, and of the 

 Eye and Ear Infirmary, trustee of Roosevelt 

 Hospital, and filled other similar offices. 



Pierce, George F., an American clergyman, 

 born in Greene county, Ga., in 1811 ; died in the 

 vicinity of Sparta, Ga., Sept. 3, 1884. He was 

 graduated at Franklin College, Athens, in his 

 native State, in 1829. He studied law for a 

 short time, but in 1831 entered the itinerant 

 Methodist ministry. He was at first on the 

 Alcora circuit, but three years later he was 

 transferred to Savannah. In 1839 he was 

 made President of the Wesleyan Female Col- 

 lege at Macon, and later of Emory College, 

 both of which institutions owe much to his 

 labors and abilities. In 1843-'44 he built St. 

 John's Church, Augusta, Ga., and in 1854 was 

 elected Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church South. In 1859 he made an overland 

 journey to San Francisco, on a stage-coach, 

 and other long journeys, in the work in which 

 he was engaged. 



Sehell, Augustus C., an American lawyer, born 

 in Rhinebeck, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1812 ; died in New 

 York city, March 27, 1884. He was graduated 

 at Union College in 1830, studied law, and 

 was admitted to the bar. He entered upon his 

 political career in 1852, when he was made 

 chairman of Tammany Hall General Committee 

 and selected as Democratic candidate for Gov- 

 ernor of New York. He was not elected ; and 

 in 1854, when he was nominated by the party 

 for mayor of the city, he declined. During the 

 Buchanan Administration, 1857-'61, he was 

 Collector of the Port of New York. After 

 this he occupied himself in railroad and other 

 enterprises. In 1862 he was a director of the 

 Harlem Railroad, and as a warm friend of Mr. 

 Vanderbilt he became a director of the Hudson 



River and other railroads. He was also a di- 

 rector of the "Western Union Telegraph Com- 

 pany from 1870, and was largely interested in 

 the management and care of financial trusts, as 

 well as of philanthropic institutions. In 1867 

 he was a member of the convention to revise 

 the Constitution of the State, and did good 

 service in that connection. After the down- 

 fall of the Tweed ring in New York, he aided 

 in reorganizing and strengthening the Demo- 

 cratic party in the city, under the leadership 

 of Tammany Hall. In 1878 he was an unsuc- 

 cessful candidate for mayor. 



Sheldon, Smith, an American publisher, born 

 in Charleston, N. Y., in 1811; died in Nyack, 

 N. Y., Aug. 30, 1884. His first business vent- 

 ure was in the dry-goods trade at Albany, N. 

 Y., where he acquired a considerable fortune. 

 He removed to New York city in 1854, and es- 

 tablished a publishing-house which proved to 

 be a success. Mr. Sheldon was a member of 

 the American Bible Society, a trustee of Vassar 

 College, and also of Rochester University and 

 Madison University, and was an active mem- 

 ber of the Baptist Church. 



Simpson, Matthew,an American clergyman, born 

 in Cadiz, Ohio, June 21, 1811 ; died in Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., June 17, 1884. He was educated at 

 Madison College, Pennsylvania, and became a 

 tutor in that institution. He soon returned to 

 Ohio, where he began the practice of medicine, 

 but finally entered the Methodist ministry. In 

 1837 he was elected Vice-President of Alle- 

 gheny College, where, at the same time, he 

 discharged the duties of Professor of Natural 

 Science. In 1839 he became President of the 

 New Indiana Asbury University, and for nine 

 years labored in building it up. In 1848 he 

 was elected editor of the " Western Christian 

 Advocate," published in Cincinnati. At the 

 General Conference, held in New York in 

 1844, Dr. Simpson took strong ground against 

 slavery, which he always opposed, and in so 

 far aided in the formation of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church South. In 1852 he was 

 elected one of the bishops in the Methodist 

 Church. In 1857 he represented American 

 Methodism at the Irish and British Confer- 

 ences, and the same year was a delegate at 

 the Berlin session of the Evangelical Alliance. 

 He also took the opportunity to make an 

 extensive tour through Europe, Egypt, and 

 Syria, from which he returned to America in 

 1858 with impaired health. Having regained 

 strength, he entered afresh upon his work, 

 and traveled widely in the interests of his 

 church. In 1881 he was a delegate to the 

 (Ecumenical Methodist Conference held in 

 London, and was one of the speakers at Exe- 

 ter Hall. He was intimate with President 

 Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, and was fre- 

 quently consulted by them on questions of im- 

 portance. He was also an industrious writer. 

 His " Hundred Years of Methodism," " Cyclo- 

 paedia of Methodism," "Lectures on Preach- 

 ing" (1882-'83), and other works, afford evi- 



