552 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (Fox-KANE (TARRETT.) 



Fox-Kane, Margaret, spiritualist, born in Bath, Can- 

 ada, in 1836 ; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 8, 1893. 

 She was the last of the famous Fox sisters, formerly 

 widely known as spiritualistic mediums. In 1847 

 her father removed to Hydeville, N. Y., with his wife 

 and daughters, Leah, Margaret, and Catharine (see 

 FOX-JEKOKEN, CATHARINE, in the "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1892, page 546), and soon afterward, it was 

 alleged, they began to hear mysterious rappings in 

 various parts of their house. On the night of March 

 31, 1848, while a terrific gale was raging, the rappings 

 were of unusual frequency and vigor, and while the 

 parents were searching the house for a cause Marga- 

 ret declared that she saw a spmtj and that as often as 

 she motioned it rapped. The mother inquired the 

 ages of her children, and the correct number of years 

 was successively announced by distinct raps. Neigh- 

 bors and friends of the family were called in, and, 

 as no cause could be discovered, it was decided to 

 send Margaret and Catharine to the home of their 

 sister Leah who had married and settled in Koch- 

 ester. The alleged effect was that the rappings con- 

 tinued in the Hydeville house, and also began in the 

 Kochester house. Both curiosity and excitement fol- 

 lowed the announcement of the manifestations ; vis- 

 itors began crowding the house, forcing the sisters to 

 hold regular seances, and the mystery of the " Koch- 

 ester rappings " attracted the attention of investiga- 

 tors and scientists from all parts of the United States 

 and from Europe. It was said that the sisters had 

 the power of discovering murderers, revealing a vari- 

 ety of mysteries, and forecasting events. Their fame 

 so increased that they were induced to travel, and 

 they gave many seances in the United States and 

 abroad. Leah died in November, 1890, and Catha- 

 rine in July, 1892. In 1856 Margaret became ac- 

 quainted with Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the arctic ex- 

 Elorer, and Subsequently she claimed that she had 

 een married to him according to the Quaker rite, 

 though his relatives never acknowledged the mar- 

 riage. A bout the time of her alleged marriage Marga- 

 ret withdrew from public life, and lived for several 

 years on property left her by Dr. Kane, while Catha- 

 rine continued the seances interruptedly till about 

 1888. In that year Margaret published, an " expo- 

 sure," in which she declared that the rappings had 

 been produced by means of a dislocated trig toe on 

 one of her feet, frequent practice having enabled her 

 to produce audible sounds at will. Tnis exposure 

 was subsequently retracted, and the remainder of her 

 life was passed in destitution, relieved by the kind- 

 ness of the friends among whom she died. 



Francis, Joseph, inventor, born in Boston, Mass., 

 March 12, 1801 ; died in Cooperstown, N. Y., May 10, 

 1893. He showed a marked interest in boat-building 

 early in life; exhibit- 

 ed a fancy boat of his 

 own construction at a 

 fair when eleven years 

 old, and won a prize 

 with, another in a pub- 

 lic competition when 

 eighteen. Soon after- 

 ward he was employed 

 by the Navy Depart- 

 ment at tne Ports- 

 mouth Navy Yard to 

 build wooden life- 

 boats for the frigate 

 " Santee " and the bat- 

 tle ship " Alabama." 

 His work there gave 

 him a high reputation, 

 and greatly stimulated 

 his natural gift for in- 

 vention. In 1842 he 



invented and constructed a metallic life car, the first 

 one ever built, and, failing to dispose of it satisfac- 

 torily to the Government, he sent it to the New Jersey 

 coast, near Long Branch, and kept it in service at his 

 own expense. There was no occasion to use it till 



in January, 1850, when the British emigrant ship 

 " Ayrshire " was wrecked on Squan Beach in a violent 

 storm, and then it was the means of saving 200 out of 

 a total of 201 persons on the vessel. He then ex- 

 tended the application of corrugated metal to the 

 construction of steamboats, floating docks, harbor 

 buoys, and pontoon wagons, receiving decorations, 

 valuable presents, and other honors from various 

 European sovereigns, and having scarcely any notice of 

 his work taken officially in his own country. It was 

 not till age had compelled him to cease work that the 

 United States Government sought to do him honor. 

 On Aug. 27, 1888, Congress passed an act ordering 

 the striking of a special gold medal for presentation 

 to him as ''the inventor and framer of the means for 

 the life-saving service of the country." This medal, 

 which cost $3,000, was presented to him bv President 

 Harrison in the Blue Parlor of the White House 

 on April 12, 1890. A further honor was extended 

 to him on April 1, 1892, when the United States 

 Senate unanimously voted him the freedom of its 

 chamber, and suspended business to give him a re- 

 ception. 



Frazer, James Somerville, jurist, born in Ilollidays- 

 burg, Pa., July 17, 1824; died in Warsaw, Ind., Feb. 

 20, 1893. He removed to Wayne County, Ind., in 

 1837, defrayed the cost of his legal education by 

 teaching, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, set- 

 tling in Warsaw to practice. In 1847, 1848, and 1854 

 he was a member of the State Legislature, and in his 

 last term was chairman of the committee that pre- 

 pared the bill that became the present public-school 

 law of Indiana. In 1851 he was elected prosecuting 

 attorney for his county ; in 1862 was appointed asses- 

 sor of internal revenue; and from 1865 till 1871 was 

 a judge of the Supreme Court of the State. Under 

 the treaty of 1871 between the United States and 

 Great Britain, President Grant appointed him one of 

 the commissioners on the part of the United States to 

 adjust claims for and against the British Govern- 

 ment for damages growing out of the civil war. 

 Judge Frazer was also in the employ of the United 

 States Treasury Department from 1873 till 1875 in 

 the adjustment of claims for cotton captured or de- 

 stroyed by the National troops during the war. 

 In 1879, 1880, and 1881 he was one of three commis- 

 sioners employed, under appointment by the Su- 

 Ereme Court, in revising and codifying the laws of 

 adiana. 



Fryer, Pauline Oushmaa, scout, born in New Orleans, 

 La., June 10, 1833 ; died in San Francisco, Cal., Dec. 

 2, 1893. She was of Spanish parentage, and for sev- 

 eral years before the civil war was an actress of much 

 popularity on the variety stage, especially in the South. 

 Her intimacy with the roads in Tennessee, Georgia, 

 Alabama, and Mississippi made her a valuable aid to 

 the National armies. She entered the service as a 

 scout and spy, and for some time afterward continued 

 her theatrical performances in Southern cities to en- 

 able her to gain information of contemplated Confed- 

 erate movements. In May, 1863, she was captured 

 while in the Confederate lines in Tennessee, and was 

 tried by court-martial and condemned to be hanged ; 

 but before the day set for her execution the National 

 troops drove the Confederates out of Shelbyville, 

 where she was imprisoned, and released her. She 

 rendered very important service to the Army of the 

 Cumberland, and was widely known as Major Pauline 

 Cushman. After the war she lectured, and wrote a 

 book on her war experiences, and a few years before 

 her death she married her second husband, James 

 Fryer, of Arizona. 



Garrett, Emma, educator, born about 1848 ; died in 

 Chicago, 111., July 18, 1893. She was the Principal 

 of the Homo for the Training in Speech of Deaf 

 Children in West Philadelphia, and had achieved 

 such success in her special work that she was induced 

 to remove her entire school to Chicago, where it con- 

 stituted one of the most striking exhibits in the edu- 

 cational department of the exposition. She had 

 been engaged in this line of instruction for fifteen 



