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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (ROBINSON ROEMER.) 



Georgia campaign and in the sieges of Atlanta and 

 Savannah. lie was promoted brigadier-general of 

 Volunteers in 1864, and was mustered out of the serv- 

 ice with the rank of brevet major-general in 1865. 

 After the war he engaged in railroad building ; was 

 chairman of the Republican State Executive Com- 

 mittee in the campaigns of 1877, 1878, and 1879 ; was 

 appointed State Commissioner of Railroads and Tele- 

 graphs in 1880 ; elected to Congress in 1881 and 1883 ; 

 and was Secretary of State of Ohio in 1884-'88. 



Aug. 30, 1836, possessed of only one sovereign ; took 

 out his naturalization papers on March 7, 1837; en- 

 tered Yale the same year, and was graduated in 1841. 

 He delivered numerous speeches advocating Gen, 

 William Henry Harrison's election to the presidency, 

 and in the same cause wrote prose and poetry for 

 Horace Greeley 's campaign paper, the " Log Cabin." 

 He established the " Yale Banner " and founded Beta 

 Chapter of the Psi Upsilon Society in Yale. He 

 partly paid for his education by writing for the New 

 Haven " Herald " and lecturing throughout the coun- 

 try. In 1842 he had charge of the arrangements for 

 Charles Dickens's reception in New Haven, and Mr. 

 Dickens presented him with an autograph descrip- 

 tion of little Nell's death, written from memory. In 

 1844 he supported Henry Clay for President, deliver- 

 ing one to two speeches daily during the canvass, and 

 became associate editor of the New York " Tribune." 

 From 1844 to 1848 ho was its Washington correspond- 

 ent, writing under the name of " Richelieu." He 

 also wrote during that period for the Richmond 

 " Whig," the Boston " Atlas," the Louisville " Couri- 

 er," and the New Orleans " Picayune." His account 

 in the " Tribune " of an Ohio Representative's sausage 

 luncheon in the House led to Mr. Robinson's expul- 

 sion ; but this action was so ridiculed by the press 

 that he was restored to his seat at the next session by 

 an almost unanimous vote. Mr. Greeley offered him 

 one eighth of the " Tribune" stock for $7,500, but he 

 could not raise the money. In 1846 he was editor of 

 the Buffalo, N. Y., " Express." During the great Irish 

 famine of 1847 he secured the passage of the bill 

 sending the United States war ship '' Macedonian," 

 loaded with provisions, to Ireland, and at his sugges- 

 tion a monster relief meeting was held in Washing- 

 ton, at which Vice-President Dallas presided and 

 Daniel Webster introduced the resolutions. In 1848 

 he was a member of the Irish Directory to aid the 

 Young Ireland revolutionary party. In 1849, with 

 Thomas Devin Reilly, he established a weekly paper, 

 " The People," of which Horace Greeley was the 

 Washington correspondent. In 1850 Daniel Webster 

 offered him the consulate to Belfast. From 1850 to 

 1853 he was editor of the Newark, N. J., "Mercury." 

 On July 30, 1851, before representatives of thirteen 

 colleges assembled at Hamilton College, he delivered 

 an oration on the Celt and the Saxon, to which the 

 " Tribune " devoted eight columns. In the presiden- 

 tial canvass of 1852 he stumped the country for Gen. 

 Scott. In 1853 he married Miss Helen A. Dougherty, 

 of Newark, N. J. He was admitted to the New York 

 bar in 1854, and, although a Presbyterian, was in 1856 

 a member of the Friends of Civil and Religious Lib- 

 erty organized to oppose Know-Nothingism. In 1859 

 he revisited Ireland. In August, 1862, President 

 Lincoln appointed him assessor of internal revenue 

 for the 3d New York District, which office he held 

 till March 4, 1807. In 1865 he was defeated by 600 

 in a vote of nearlv 40,000 for collector of taxes. In 

 1866, 1880, and 188 - 2 he was elected to Congress from 

 the 3d and 4th New York Districts. His most im- 

 portant work in Congress was the passage of the bill 

 which protects abroad the rights of naturalized as well 

 as native-born citizens. He effected this in the face 

 of great opposition and most violent abuse. It finally 

 became a law on July 27, 1868. He was also the au- 

 thor of the East River Bridge bill, passed March 2, 

 1869 ; delivered a powerful speech on reconstruction ; 



i 



advocated penny postage, and the independence and 

 annexation of Cuba; and devoted his utmost energy 

 to secure the passage of a bill for the relief of Mrs. 

 Septimia R. Meikleham, the sole surviving grandchild 

 of Thomas Jefferson. In 1871 he was editor of the 

 " Irish World." From time to time, almost until his 

 last illness, he wrote under his old signature of 

 " Richelieu " for various papers. 



Bodgers, Christopher Baymond Perry, naval officer, 

 born in Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1819; died in 

 Washington, D. C., Jan. 8, 1892. He came of a family 

 of naval officers, and was a nephew of Commodore 

 Oliver H. Perry, and son 

 of Commodore George W. 

 Rodgers. He entered the 

 United States navy as a 

 midshipman, Oct. 5, 1833 ; 

 was promoted passed mid- 

 shipman, July 8, 1839; 

 lieutenant, Sept. 4, 1844; 

 commander, Nov. 15, 1861 ; 

 captain, July 25, 1866; 

 commodore, Aug. 28, 1870; 

 and rear-admiral, June 14, 

 1874 ; and was retired, Nov. 

 14, 1881. During his naval 

 career he was on sea ser- 

 vice twenty-eight years 

 and nine months ; on shore 

 or other duty, fourteen 

 years and ten months ; and 



was unemployed fifteen years and eleven months. 

 He served on the " Flirt " and commanded the 

 schooner "Phoenix" in the Seminole War in 1839- 

 '41 ; was on blockading duty off the coast of Mexico 

 in 1847 ; and distinguished himself in the trenches 

 at the siege of "Vera Cruz and at the capture of Tux- 

 pan and Tabasco. For some time prior to the civil 

 war he was on coast-survey duty as commander of 

 the " Bibb" and of the " Gallatin." His first notable 

 service in the civil war was as fleet captain of Admiral 

 Du Font's fleet during the battle of Port Royal, where 

 he served on the " W abash." At the capture of Port 

 Pulaski he commanded the naval force that operated 

 in the trenches. After the battle of Port Royal he 

 had the direction of a gunboat fleet organized to oc- 

 cupy important points along the coast farther south, 

 and in 1862 he commanded an expedition to St. Au- 

 gustine and up St. Mary's river. Early in 1863 he 

 was assigned to the " New Ironsides," and during the 

 attack on the Confederate defenses of Charleston, on 

 April 7, he was fleet captain. lie held this appoint- 

 ment till late in 1863, participating meanwhile in the 

 operations of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. 

 He was then assigned to the command of the steam 

 sloop " Iroquois," in which he rendered two years 

 of special service. In 1868-'70 he commanded the 

 frigate " Franklin " in the Mediterranean Squadron ; 

 in 1871 was on special duty in Europe; in 1871-74 

 was chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks ; in 1 874- 

 '77 was Superintendent of the United States Naval 

 Academy ; in 1877-'80 commanded the Pacific Squad- 

 ron ; and from the spring of 1881 till his retirement 

 was again superintendent of the Naval Academy. In 

 1885 he was president of the international conference 

 held in Washington to fix a prime meridian and uni- 

 versal day. 



Boemer," Jean, educator bom in England, about 1806 : 

 died in Lenox, Mass., Aug. 30-31, 1892. It is saia 

 that he was an illegitimate son of William I, King of 

 Holland ; that he was taken to Hanover in infancy, 

 and afterward to Holland, where his early education 

 was conducted by private tutors under the guardian- 

 ship of King William I and Frederica, Princess of 

 Orange. He was destined for the army and was edu- 

 cated accordingly, and in the war of secession between 

 Holland and Belgium he served in the Dutch army. 

 Afterward he visited the principal military establish- 

 ments of France, Prussia, and Austria, completing his 

 military education in Lombardy, under the guid- 

 ance of Field-Marshal Count Radetzky. He spent 



