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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



dence of his ability and carefulness in the use 

 of his pen. His power as a public speaker was 

 far beyond the average, as was shown marked- 

 ly in an oration delivered by him in the New 

 York Academy of Music, during the civil war, 

 entitled " The Future of Our Country." 



Slater, John F., an American philanthropist 

 and manufacturer, born in Slaterville, R. I., 

 March 4, 1815 ; died in Norwich, Conn., May 

 7, 1884. His father was an extensive cotton- 

 manufacturer, and John was early trained for 

 the business that he afterward carried on so 

 largely and successfully. By energy, diligence, 

 and superior business ability, Mr. Slater en- 

 larged his operations, and in 1872 became sole 

 owner of the mill property he was then con- 

 ducting. He also made excellent investments, 

 and in a few years acquired millions. He was 

 early interested in the cause of education, and 

 gave liberally to the establishing of the Nor- 

 wich Free Academy, and in other quarters; 

 but his crowning work was the placing in the 

 hands of trustees, in April, 1882, of $1,000,000, 

 the interest of which is to be used for the edu- 

 cation of the freedmen in the South. Ex-Presi- 

 dent Hayes, Chief-Justice Waite, Rev. Phillips 

 Brooks, and others, are the trustees. 



Smith, Benjamin Bosuorth, an American clergy- 

 man, born in Bristol, R. I., June 13, 1794; 

 died in New York city, May 31, 1884. He 

 was graduated at Providence College (now 

 Brown University) in 1816. The next year 

 he was ordained deacon, and in 1818 priest. 

 He began his ministerial labors in St. Michael's 

 Church, Marblehead, Mass., and subsequently 

 held other parishes in Vermont, Virginia, and 

 Kentucky. He was rector of Christ Church, 

 Lexington, Ky., from 1830 to 1837, and in 

 October, 1832, was consecrated Bishop of the 

 Diocese of Kentucky. The consecration took 

 place in St. Paul's Church, New York. Three 

 others were made bishops at the same time, 

 viz., Hopkins, Mcllvaine, and Doane. As the 

 first Bishop of Kentucky, Bishop Smith had a 

 field of arduous labor before him, requiring 

 unwearied patience and perseverance, and the 

 encountering of many hardships in the over- 

 sight of the wild and sparsely settled country. 

 He gave himself to his work with zeal and 

 courage, and after more than forty years' serv- 

 ice alone, he was furnished with an assistant, 

 Bishop Dudley, who succeeds him in Ken- 

 tucky. On the death of Bishop Hopkins, in 

 1868, Bishop Smith, being senior, became the 

 presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church. 

 The latter years of his life the venerable prel- 

 ate spent in New York, where, in 1882, was 

 celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his conse- 

 cration. He was State Superintendent of Edu- 

 cation in Kentucky for many years, and urged 

 forcibly the cause of common schools. During 

 the civil war, he arrayed himself on the side 

 of the Union, and endeavored in every way in 

 his power to promote the welfare of the negro 

 population. 



Storey, Wflbur F., an American journalist, 



born in Salisbury, Vt, Dec. 49, 1818; died in 

 Chicago, 111., Oct. 27, 1884. He was early 

 apprenticed to the printing business, and at 

 the age of seventeen went to New York and 

 obtained employment in the office of "The 

 Journal of Commerce." In 1838 he migrated 

 to the West, and made several ventures in 

 journalism in Indiana and Michigan. In 1842 

 he was appointed postmaster in Jackson, 

 Mich., and he was a member of the State 

 Constitutional Convention in 1849. Five 

 years later he removed to Detroit, and pur- 

 chased " The Free Press," which proved very 

 successful in his hands. In 1861 he sold out 

 his interest for $50,000, took up his residence 

 in Chicago, and purchased "The Times" from 

 Cyrus H. McCormick. In this enterprise he 

 brought to bear all his ability and energy, and 

 though the tone of his paper was not to be 

 commended, though he indulged in personali- 

 ties and bitter attacks in various directions, 

 yet he brought "The Times" into the front 

 rank as a news-gatherer, and secured its entire 

 success as a business venture. Mr. Storey 

 amassed large wealth, and built himself a 

 marble palace in Chicago. For three or four 

 years before his death he suffered from a 

 stroke of paralysis. 



Swayne, Noah Haynes, an American jurist, born 

 in Culpeper county, Va., Dec. 8, 1804; died 

 in New York city, June 8, 1884. He received 

 a good academic training at Waterford, Va., 

 studied law in Warrenton, and was admitted 

 to the bar in 1823. Soon afterward he re- 

 moved to Ohio, and in 1825 opened an office 

 in Coshocton. His talents brought him into 

 notice, and he was appointed prosecuting at- 

 torney. In 1829 he was elected to the Ohio 

 Legislature, and the year following was ap- 

 pointed by President Jackson United States 

 Attorney for the District of Ohio. This post 

 he held" for ten years. In January, 1862, he 

 was appointed by President Lincoln one of the 

 Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 

 States. He entered upon his duties and faith- 

 fully discharged them until January, 1881, 

 when he resigned on account of advanced age. 

 The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him 

 by Dartmouth and Yale Colleges. 



Swisshelm, Jane Grey, an American journalist, 

 born in Pittsburg, Pa., Dec. 6; 1815; died 

 there, July 22, 1884. Her father's name 

 was James Cannon. In 1836 she married 

 James Swisshelm, who subsequently obtained 

 a divorce from her on the ground of desertion. 

 She was the author of a series of letters on the 

 Mexican War, which attracted considerable at- 

 tention. In 1848 she established the " Pitts- 

 burg Saturday Visitor," which she edited till 

 1857, when she removed to St. Cloud, Minn., 

 where for a few months she published another 

 "Saturday Visiter," which for its anti slavery 

 sentiments was destroyed by a pro-slavery 

 mob, who broke into the office and threw the 

 press and types into the river in March, 1858. 

 She then established the St. Cloud "Demo- 



