OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



the North Carolina Department, 1863 ; took 

 command of the Seventh Army Corps in July, 

 1863 ; and served in the Department of the 

 Tennessee until he was mustered out in April, 

 1864. He then resumed the banking business 

 in San Francisco, and became deeply interested 

 in viniculture in the Santa Clara valley. 



Neumann, Gnstavns A., an American journalist, 

 born in Silesia, Prussia, in 1805 ; died in Sulli- 

 van County, N. Y., Dec. 11, 1886. While en- 

 gaged in theological study at Jena, he was pro- 

 voked into a student's duel, and immediately 

 afterward emigrated, landing in America about 

 1830. Settling in New York city, he estab- 

 lished a small newspaper in the German lan- 

 guage, which was the first and for many years 

 the only one in the city. Under his editorial 

 and financial management the paper attained 

 an influential position, and became the New 

 York "Staats Zeitung" of to-day. Mr. Neu- 

 mann was an ardent Democrat, and by the aid 

 of his newspaper was soon recognized as the 

 leader of the German adherents of the party in 

 the city. In 1852 President Pierce appointed 

 him head-weigher in the Custom-House, when 

 he severed his connection with the paper. 

 Three years later he was forced by ill-health 

 to resign the office and retire from active life. 

 His Democratic friends then made up a purse 

 of $10,000 for him, which he invested in a 

 farm near Narrowsburg, where he spent the 

 remainder of his life. 



Nevin, John Williamson, an American clergyman, 

 born in Shippensburg, Pa., Feb. 20, 1803 ; died 

 in Lancaster, Pa., June 6, 1886. He was grad- 

 uated at Union College in 1821, and entered 

 the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, to 

 take a theological course, in 1823. While pur- 

 suing his studies there, he became distinguished 

 as an able Hebrew scholar, and developed a 

 marked interest in Oriental and Biblical litera- 

 ture. After he had completed his course, he 

 remained at the college as a tutor until 1826, 

 when he was invited to occupy temporarily the 

 chair of Oriental and Biblical Literature, made 

 vacant by the absence of Dr. Hodge in Europe. 

 He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery 

 of Carlisle in October, 1828, and in the follow- 

 ing year was appointed Professor of Hebrew 

 and Biblical Literature in the theological semi- 

 nary then recently established by the General 

 Assembly in Allegheny City, Pa. He re- 

 mained in this place ten years. In 1840 he ac- 

 cepted a professorship in the theological semi- 

 nary of the Eeformed Church at Mercersburg, 

 Pa., and was shortly afterward made President 

 of Marshall College, at that place. In 1843 he 

 published his celebrated tract, entitled " The 

 Anxious Bench," which provoked a remarkable 

 and serious controversy in the Church on the 

 subject of revivals, and led to what has been 

 called the " Mercersburg theology." He re- 

 signed the direction of the theological semi- 

 nary in 1851, and the presidency of Marshall 

 College on its removal to Lancaster and con- 

 solidation with Franklin College in 1853. In 



1866 he was elected President of Franklin and 

 Marshall College, and held the place until 187fi, 

 when he retired to private life. Dr. Nevin's 

 whole career was one of marked mental ac- 

 tivity. He exercised an independent judgment, 

 and wielded a facile pen from his student days. 

 He edited a quarterly literary journal called 

 "The Friend " in 1833-'34, and the "Mercers- 

 burg Review," in 1849-'53. His writings, 

 which are very numerous, display a strong love 

 of controversy, as well as an exceedingly critical 

 mind. Among his best-known works are: 

 "The Mystical Presence" (1846); "The His- 

 tory and Genius of the Heidelburg Catechism" 

 (1847) ; " Anti-Christ, or the Spirit of Sect and 

 Schism " (1848) ; " The Doctrine of the Re- 

 formed Church on the Presence of Christ in the 

 Lord's Supper " (1848) ; " The Dutch Crusade " 

 (1854) ; " Review of Dr. Hodge's Commentary 

 on the Ephesians" (1857); "Vindication of 

 the Revised Liturgy" (1867); "Answer to 

 Prof. Dorner, of Berlin, Germany " (1868) ; 

 "Revelation and Redemption" (1870); and 

 "Revelation of God in Christ" (1871). 



Nichols, Edward T., an American naval officer, 

 born in Georgia, March 1, 1823 ; died in Pom- 

 fret, Conn., Oct. 12, 1886. He was appointed 

 to the Naval Academy in 1836, and served as a 

 passed-midshipman in the Mediterranean, Bra- 

 zil, Pacific, and home squadrons from 1842 till 

 1850. At the outbreak of the civil war he 

 was appointed to the command of the steamer 

 "Winona," in the Western Gulf blockading 

 squadron, and participated in the bombard- 

 ment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, receiv- 

 ing the surrender of the latter April 28, 1862. 

 In the same year he took part in the attack 

 and passage of the batteries at Vicksburg, and 

 was commissioned commander on July 16. 

 On June 16, 1864, while in command of the 

 steamer " Mendota," he took part in the en- 

 gagement with the Confederate battery at 

 Four-Mile creek, on James river. After the 

 war he was on special duty at New York in 

 1866-'68; commissioned as captain July 25, 

 1866 ; appointed chief of staff in the Asiatic 

 squadron in 1870; commissioned as commo- 

 dore and appointed commandant of the Bos- 

 ton Navy Yard in 1872 ; commissioned as rear- 

 admiral, Feb. 26, 1878, and appointed to the 

 command of the South Atlantic squadron; 

 and placed on the retired list March 1, 1885. 

 He was an admirable executive officer. 



Nichols, William Ripley, an American chemist, 

 born in Boston, Mass., April 30, 1847; died in 

 Hamburg, Germany, July 14, 1886. He was 

 graduated at the Roxbury Latin School in 1863, 

 after which he spent two years abroad in study, 

 and then was graduated at the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology in 1869. His relations 

 as teacher began with this institution during 

 his senior year, and continued through the 

 different grades of instructor and assistant pro- 

 fessor until 1872, when he became Professor 

 of General Chemistry, in which capacity he 

 continued until his death. Prof. Nichols was 



