556 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (LABRE LOCKE.) 



pointment by President Hayes ; and 1882-'84, comp- 

 troller, by appointment by President Arthur. Dur- 

 ing this period he negotiated many important finan- 

 cial transactions preceding and following the resump- 

 tion of specie payments, and was especially active in 

 securing the issue and sale of the 3i-per-cent. bonds. 

 Since 1884 Mr. Knox had been President of the Na- 

 tional Bank of the Republic in New York city. He 

 published " United States Notes," which was repub- 

 tished in London ; and at the time of his death had 

 nearly completed a " History of Banking in the United 

 States," which has been finished by his widow. 



Labre, Alexander, hero, born in Montreal, Canada, in 

 1846 ; died in New York city, Aug. 12, 1892. He was 

 the son of a French-Canadian shipbuilder, and came 

 to New York city in 1851. When nine years old he 

 was an expert swimmer, and he passed the greater 

 part of his life along the water front of New York, 

 much of the time being employed on ferry boats. Al- 

 together he saved 21 persons from drowning. Twice, 

 unaided, he saved three persons from wrecks of skiff's, 

 and once he dived into a slip and rescued a bridal 

 couple who were on their wedding journey. This 

 latter rescue, on Feb. 28, 1875, excited much interest, 

 and led the Life-saving Benevolent Association of 

 New York to present him with its large silver medal, 

 on which his feat was inscribed. In 1879 a gold 

 medal was presented to him by act of Congress. 



Learning, James Eosebrugh, physician, born in Grove- 

 land, Livingston County, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1820; died 

 in New York city, Dec. 5, 1892. He received an aca- 

 demic education, was graduated at the medical de- 

 partment of the University of the City of New York 

 in 1849, and spent his life in practicing in New York 

 city. In 1852-'62 he was attending physician at the 

 Northern Dispensary ; in 1859-'69 was associate phy- 

 sician in chest diseases in the Demilt Dispensary; in 

 1867-'77 was visiting physician in St. Luke's Hos- 

 pital ; and subsequently was special consulting phy- 

 sician in chest diseases there, an office which was cre- 

 ated especially for him. He held the latter office till 

 his death, and in addition to it was consulting physi- 

 cian for the Orphans' Home of the Protestant Episco- 

 pal Church, and for the Home of Rest for Consump- 

 tives before that institution was merged into St. 

 Luke's Hospital. In 1871 he was elected Professor of 

 the Practice and Principles of Medicine in the Wom- 

 an's Medical College; and was the first President 

 and Professor of Chest Diseases of the New York 

 Poly clinic. Dr. Learning was one of the most famous 

 specialists on chest diseases. He was a contributor to 

 American, foreign, and international medical publi- 

 cations, and was author of numerous mongraphs and 

 essays, including " Diseases of the Chest," "'Thuja 

 Occidentals in Malignant Diseases," " Cardiac Mur- 

 murs," " Plastic Exudation within the Pleura," " Phys- 

 ical Signs of Interpleural Pathology," and " Cough." 



Lee, Stephen States, civil engineer, born in South 

 Carolina in 1812; died in Catonsville, Md., Aug. 22, 

 1892. He was educated as a civil engineer, and en- 



faged in railroad construction at an early age. In 

 835 he superintended the building of the Providence 

 division ot the New York, Providence and Boston 

 Railroad. In the following year, as agent of Eastern 

 capitalists, he examined and reported unfavorably on 

 a project to construct a large railroad mileage in Illi- 

 nois for the State government, the capitalists to com- 

 plete the roads and take State bonds in payment. 

 The panic of 1837 added weight to the value of his 

 judgment on this project. In 1842 he was major and 

 engineer on the staff of Gen. McNeil, commander of 

 the State militia of Rhode Island during the " Dorr 

 rebellion" in that State. In 1843 he began the 

 development of the great Cumberland coal fields, sub- 

 sequently became agent for the Mount Savage Coal 

 and Iron Company, owned by English capitalists, and 

 in 1869 placed the business, which had grown to 

 large proportions, in the hands of two sons and went 

 to Tours, France, for a period of rest. At the begin- 

 ning of the Franco-Prussian War he accepted an 

 urgent appeal by the English National society for 



Aid for the Sick and Wounded in War to represent 

 that society in the neighborhood of Tours. He ac- 

 cepted the office of honorary secretary of the society, 

 and during the war had entire management of its work 

 in that part of France. After the close of the war he 

 received from the French republic the decoration of 

 the Legion of Honor, from the Prussian Government 

 that of the Royal Crown of Prussia, and from the 

 Bavarian Government that of the Cross of Merit. 



Lewis, Edward Parke Cnstis, diplomatist, born in 

 Audley, Clarke County, Va., Feb. 7, 1837 ; died in 

 Hoboken, N. J., Sept. 3, 1892. He was a grandson of 

 Lawrence Lewis, whose father married Elizabeth 

 Washington, sister of the general, and of Eleanor 

 Parke Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington. 

 He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 

 1859 ; studied law in Baltimore, and was admitted to 

 the bar, but never practiced. Though he strongly 

 opposed secession, he went with the Confederacy after 

 the withdrawal of Virginia from the Union. He 

 served for some time in Stuart's " Black Horse Caval- 

 ry " ; became an aid on that commander's staff; was 

 wounded several times in action; and was twice a 

 prisoner of war, once at Camp Chase, in Ohio, and 

 afterward at Fort Delaware. In 1869 he married, for 

 his second wife, the widow of Gen. Garnett, of the 

 Confederate army, a daughter of the late Edward A. 

 Stevens, of HoboKen, and after this marriage he made 

 his home on the Stevens estate. In 1877 he was 

 elected to the New Jersey Legislature, and during 

 President Cleveland's administration was United 

 States minister to Portugal. 



Iiittlejohn, DeWitt Clinton, manufacturer, born in 

 Bridgewater, Orieida County, N. Y., Feb. 7, 1818 ; died 

 in Oswego, N. Y., Oct. 27, 1892. He received a thor- 

 ough preparatory education for college, but changed 

 his mind, and became a member of a firm engaged in 

 transportation and milling. In 1847 he was elected 

 president of Oswego village, and in 1849 and 1855 was 

 mayor. His notable career in the New York Assem- 

 bly began with his first election in 1853. He was re- 

 elected in 1854, 1855, 1857, 1859, 1860, and 1861, and 

 during his last five terms was Speaker. In 1862 he 

 raised" and became a colonel of the 110th New York 

 Volunteers, which he accompanied on the Red River 

 expedition. While in camp in New Orleans he was 

 elected to Congress from the 22d New York District 

 as a Republican, and he resigned his commission to 

 enter that body, in which, however, he served only 

 five months, failing health, resulting from camp ex- 

 posure, leading him to resign. He was nominated by 

 President Lincoln to be United States consul at Liv- 

 erpool, but declined, and in 1866, 1867, 1870, 1871, and 

 1884 was returned to the Assembly, being defeated in 

 1883. In 1872 he united with the Democrats in the 

 support of Horace Greeley for the presidency, and in 

 1874 was an unsuccessful candidate for the Demo- 

 cratic nomination for Lieutenant-Govcrnor on the 

 ticket with Samuel J. Tilden. He subsequently re- 

 turned to the Republican party, and remained in it 

 till his death. At different periods he was connected 

 with railroad interests in New York, and was engaged 

 in the forwarding business in Buffalo, and in the 

 manufacture of lumber, with mills at Oswego and 

 Redfleld. Mr. Littlejohn had a wide reputation as a 

 parliamentarian, and was a popular presiding officer. 



Locke, John Henry, shoemaker, born in North Charles- 

 town, N. H., in 1817 ; died there, Feb. 9, 1892. He 

 was of English ancestry, tracing his lineage in an un- 

 broken line from John Locke, the philosopher, and 

 was widely known as the " learned shoemaker," being, 

 in his way, nearly as remarkable a character as Elihu 

 Burritt, " the learned blacksmith." He had acquired 

 a thorough knowledge of geology and kindred scien- 

 tific studies while working at his trade. For manj 

 years he was engaged in collecting a rare and valu- 

 able cabinet of geological specimens and curios from 

 all parts of the world, the greater part of which he 

 presented to the Farwell High School, in his native 

 town, shortly before his death. He also left a large 

 collection or rare books and manuscripts. 



