OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



705 



Tnekennan, Edward, an American botanist, 

 born Dec. 7, 1817; died March 15, 1886. He 

 was graduated at Union Colloge in 1837, and 

 at Harvard Law School in 1839. In 1841 he 

 visited Germany and Scandinavia, devoting 

 himself to philosophical, historical, and botani- 

 cal studies. On his return to the United States, 

 he made botanical excursions through New 

 England, and published papers descriptive of 

 his discoveries. In 1846 he entered Harvard, 

 claiming that his father had broken the family 

 tradition by sending him to another college. 

 Later he entered the Harvard Divinity School, 

 and in 1852 became for the third time an alum- 

 nus of Harvard. In 1854 he settled in Am- 

 herst, Mass., and was appointed lecturer in 

 history at that college, and subsequently, until 

 1858, Professor of Oriental History. He was 

 then transferred to the chair of Botany, hold- 

 ing that appointment until his death. Prof. 

 Tuckerman made a specialty of lichenology, in 

 which he had no superior in the United States. 

 His published papers on this subject number 

 nearly fifty, and are devoted to descriptions of 

 the lichens, not only of New England, but also 

 of those found elsewhere in North America. 

 Specimens collected by the United States Ex- 

 ploring Expedition, the Pacific Railroad sur- 

 veys, and later by the United States geological 

 surveys, were referred to him for examination 

 and classification. Early in life Thomas Nut- 

 tall dedicated to him the genus Tuckermania 

 founded upon one of the handsomer of Cali- 

 fornian Compositte. In 1845 he was made a 

 member of the American Academy of Sci- 

 eunces, and in 1868 was elected to the National 

 Academy of Sciences. Prof. Tuckerman con- 

 tributed to the " New York Churchman," be- 

 tween 1834 and 1841, numerous articles under 

 the titles of " Notitia Literaria " and "Adver- 

 saria," on subjects in history, biography, and 

 theology. He also contributed short articles 

 on antiquarian topics to the " Mercantile Jour- 

 nal" in 1832. During 1832-'33 he assisted 

 Samuel G. Drake in the preparation of his 

 " Book of the Indians " and *' Indian Wars." 

 Besides his papers on botany, he edited "New 

 England's Rarities Discovered," by John Josse- 

 lyn (1860), and published "Genera Lichenum: 

 An Arrangement of the North American Li- 

 chens" (Amherst, 1872); "A Catalogue of 

 Plants growing without Cultivation within 

 Thirty Miles of Amherst College " (1875) ; and 

 "A Synopsis of the North American Lichens" 

 Part I, Boston, 1822). 



Van Nostrand, David, an American publisher, 

 born in New York city, in December, 1811 ; 

 died there, June 24, 1886. He entered the 

 book-trade with John B. Havens when fifteen 

 years old, and, after remaining there eight 

 years, established a new house in conjunction 

 with William B. Dwight. This partnership 

 was dissolved three years later, and he found 

 employment for some time with Gen. J. G. 

 Barnard, who was then directing the construc- 

 tion of the fortifications at New Orleans. Be- 

 VOL. xxvi. 45 A 



ing naturally inclined to scientific study, his 

 association with military and professional men 

 gave him an opportunity to extend his study, 

 and at the same time it led him to undertake to 

 procure for military officers standard works on 

 scientific topics published abroad. From this 

 beginning he became a well-known importer, 

 and then publisher, of military and scientific 

 books. He was one of the earliest members 

 of the Union League Club, and was also a 

 member of the Century Club, and of the St. 

 Nicholas and Holland societies. 



Van Raust, Lydia, an American centenarian, 

 born in Stamford, Conn., Feb. 12, 1785; died 

 in New York city, Dec. 14, 1886. Her maiden 

 name was Dann, and she was the youngest of 

 seven children, all of whom attained extreme 

 old age. In 181 1 she married John Van Raust, 

 of New York, and they settled in the fashion- 

 able part of the city at that time, No. 3 Bowl- 

 ing Green. Mr. Van Raust was a gentleman 

 of leisure, had a country-seat near the present 

 Lafayette Place, and was in the habit of shoot- 

 ing over the fields around Greenwich village 

 and the swarnps then existing along Canal 

 Street. Mrs. Van Raust had been a widow 

 sixty years, and a member of the Baptist Church 

 thirty-seven years. She retained all her facul- 

 ties to the last. 



Vodges, William, an American mathematician, 

 born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1802; died there, 

 Jan. 29, 1886. He began life as a teacher, and, 

 after studying law, was admitted to the bar 

 in Philadelphia, in 1832. In 1838 he was ap- 

 pointed Professor of Mathematics in the Phila- 

 delphia High-School, and was so employed till 

 1862, when he resumed the practice of law. 

 He was the author of " United States Arithme- 

 tic," and " Elementary Treatise on Mensuration 

 and Practical Arithmetic" (1845). In late 

 years he became widely known by his de- 

 cisions on legal points in insanity cases. 



Ward, Dnrbin, an American lawyer, born in 

 Augusta, Bracken County, Ky., Feb. 11, 1819; 

 died in Lebanon, Ohio, May 22, 1886. While 

 a boy he removed with his parents to Everton, 

 Ind., and was there brought up on a farm. At 

 the age of eighteen, having acquired, by his 

 own unaided studies, a knowledge of the rudi- 

 ments of Latin, algebra, and geometry, he en- 

 tered Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and 

 maintained himself there for two years. He 

 studied law under Thomas Corwin, whose part- 

 ner he was for three years, till elected Prose- 

 cuting Attorney of Warren County. After hold- 

 ing this office for six years, he was elected to 

 the first Legislature chosen under the new Con- 

 stitution. During this session Judge Bellamy 

 Storer and Hon. William M. Corry endeavored 

 to induce the Legislature to loan the public 

 arms to Louis Kossuth, then an exile in this 

 country. Mr. Ward was one of the most act- 

 ive of those who defeated the measure in the 

 House after it had passed the Senate. From 

 the election of Zachary Taylor to the presi- 

 dency till 1855, Mr. Ward took no active part 



