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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (GooowiN-TALCOTT HALL.) 



wire, subsequently replaced by a thin copper one, in- 

 side. As this arrangement worked unsatisfactorily, 

 he sought a substitute for the wire filament, and by 

 a chance incident discovered that a piece of carbon- 

 ized wood, used instead of a strip or loop of wire, 

 would produce an excellent light. To secure a per- 

 fect vacuum in the bottles he invented a mercury 

 pump. While the piece of wood gave him the light 

 ne sought, he found that it was apt to become broken 

 by expansion or contraction under changes of the tem- 

 perature ; and to overcome this difficulty he conceived 

 the idea of making his carbonized-wood filaments iu 

 the shape of a horseshoe or a hairpin. Before the 

 civil war he constructed a telescope 20 feet long with 

 an 18-inch object glass, mounted it on a wagon pro- 

 vided with a battery and a row of his electric lamps, 

 and when business was dull gave exhibitions in the 

 vicinity of Union Square or Cooper Institute. In 

 1881 he became interested in a company organized to 

 manufacture electric lamps, but it soon failed for lack 

 of capital. In January, 1893, in one of the many suits 

 brought by the Edison Electric-Light Company 

 against other corporations, for infringement of pat- 

 ents, it was set up as a defense that Goebel, and not 

 Edison, was the inventor of the incandescent electric 

 lamp, and the foregoing statements, among others, 

 were made in support ot the allegation. Mr. Goebel 

 personally asserted that he had made the lamps be- 

 fore Mr. Edison was born ; and in the case of the Edi- 

 son Company against the Columbia Incandescent 

 Company of St. Louis, it was claimed that Judge Hal- 

 lett had expressed his belief that Goebel was twenty- 

 five years ahead of Edison in the invention. The 

 question of priority of invention had not been judi- 

 cially settled at the time of this writing. 



Goodwin-Talcott, H. Bradbury, author, born in Ches- 

 terville, Me., in 1827; died in Boston, Mass., June 1, 

 1893. Before her marriage to George C. Good- 

 win she wrote stories and sketches over the initials 

 II. F. B., and subsequently published the novels 

 " Madge," " Sherbrooke," " Dr. Howell's Family," 

 " One Among Many," " Christine's Fortune," and 

 " Dorothy Gray.'' ftfany of her works appeared in the 

 " Wingood Series." She had taught school in Ban- 



fDr, Me., been Principal of the Charlestown (Mass.) 

 emale Seminary, and traveled and studied in Eng- 

 land, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. During 

 the last sixteen years sue had been intimately associ- 

 ated with Wellesley College. 



Gould, Walter, painter, born in Philadelphia, Pa., 

 in 1829; died in Florence, Italy, in January, 1893. 

 He studied painting with Thomas Sully and J. R. 

 Smith ; was elected to the Artists' Fund Society of 

 Philadelphia in 1846 ; had studios in Philadelphia 

 and in Petersburg, Va. ; and went to Europe in 1849, 

 where he passed the remainder of his life. He had 

 spent many years in Asia Minor and in Constanti- 

 nople, and for more than forty years had lived in 

 Florence, painting portraits and original compositions 

 on Oriental subjects. He was the doyen of the Ameri- 

 can art colony of Florence in Howells's novel " Indian 

 Summer." 



Gregg, Alexander, clergyman, born in Society Hill, 

 S. C., Oct. 8, 1819; died in Galveston, Texas, July 11, 

 1893. He was graduated at South Carolina College 

 in! 1838, began studying law, was admitted to the 

 bar, and became a candidate for orders in the Protes- 

 tant Episcopal Church in 1843. In 1846 he was or- 

 dained deacon, and in the following year priest, and 

 was rector of St. David's Church in Cheraw, S. C., till 

 1859, when he was elected first Bishop of Texas, an 

 office he held till his death. In 1857-'59 he was a 

 clerical trustee of the University of the South from 

 South Carolina, and for many years he was also its 

 proctor. In 1874 the diocese of Texas, which had 

 comprised the whole State, was divided, two mission- 

 ary jurisdictions being set off, and his diocese reduced 

 to its present dimensions. His manv writings include 

 " History of Old Cheraw" (1867) ; "A Brief Sketch 

 of the Church in Texas " (1884) ; two triennial 

 charges ; and special sermons and addresses. 



Green, Norvin, executive officer, born in New Al- 

 bany, Ind., April 17, 1818; died in Louisville, Ky., 

 Feb. 12, 1893. As a boy he was engaged in fiat-boat- 

 ing on the Mississippi river, and subsequently earned 

 money to pay for a medical education by chopping 

 wood on a large contract. He was graduated in medi- 

 cine at the University of Louisville in 1840, and prac- 

 ticed in that city for several years. He then entered 

 political life, and served three years in the Legislature 

 as a Democrat. In 1853 he was appointed a United 

 States commissioner in charge of the building of the 

 customhouse and post-office in Louisville, and about 

 the same time became one of the lessees of the tele- 



raph line between Louisville and New Orleans, 

 ubsequently he was elected President of the South- 

 western Telegraph Company, and when it was 

 merged into the American Telegraph Company he 

 was elected vice-president. In 1866 the American, 

 United States, and Western Union lines were consoli- 

 dated, and Dr. Green was vice-president till April 23, 

 1878, when 'he succeeded William Orton in the pres- 

 idency and held the office till his death. 



Groome, James Black, lawyer, born in Elkton, Mdi, 

 April 4, 1838; died in Baltimore, Md., Oct. 4, 1893. 

 He was educated at the College of New Jersey, stud- 

 ied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar 

 in 1861. lie made rapid progress in his profession; 

 became an active worker in the Democratic party ; 

 was elected to the State Constitutional Convention in 

 1867, and to the Legislature in 1871 and 1883; was a 

 Liberal presidential elector in 1872 j and was chosen 

 by the Legislature to fill the unexpired term of Gov. 

 William Pinckney White, who had been elected 

 United States Senator, in 1874. On March 4, 1879, he 

 entered the United States Senate, where he served 

 the full term of six years, and on its expiration was 

 appointed collector of the port of Baltimore. 



Hagen, Hermann August, entomologist, born in Ko- 

 nigsberg, Prussia, May 30, 1817 ; died in Cambridge, 

 Mass., Nov. 9, 1893. He was graduated in Medicine 

 at the University of Konigsberg in 1840; continued 

 his studies in Berlin, Vienna, and Paris, and began 

 practicing in his native city in 1843. For several 

 years he had also studied entomology, and in 1834 

 published his first paper on " Prussian Odontata." 

 In 1867 Prof. Louis Agassiz invited him to take 

 charge of the entomological department in the Mu- 

 seum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge. In 1870 

 he was chosen Professor of Entomology in Harvard 

 University, and held that chair till his death. He 

 received the degree of Ph. D. from the University of 

 Konigsberg ; was a member of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society, a fellow of the American and corre- 

 sponding member of the New York Academies of 

 Science, and honorary member of entomological socie- 

 ties in various parts of the world ; and had published 

 several hundred technical articles and " Bibliotheca 

 Entomologica." 



Hagner, Peter Valentine, military officer, born in 

 Washington, D. C., Aug. 28, 1815 ; died there, March 

 11, 1893. He was graduated at the United States 

 Military Academy and appointed a brevet 2d lieu- 

 tenant in the 1st United States .Artillery in 1836 ; was 

 promoted 2d lieutenant a month afterward ; transferred 

 to the ordinance in 1838 ; promoted 1st lieutenant in 

 1840, captain in 1851, major iu 1861, lieutenant-colonel 

 in 1863, and colonel in 1867 ; and was retired June 1, 

 1881. He was brevetted captain, April 18, 1847, for 

 gallantry at Cerro Gordo ; major, Sept. 13 following, 

 tor Chapultepec ; and colonel and brigadier-general, 

 March 13, 1865, for faithful services in the ordnance 

 department during the civil war. Immediately after 

 graduation he took part in the campaign against the 

 Seminoles in Florida ; during the Canada border dis- 

 turbances in 1837-'38 was on frontier duty ; in the 

 Mexican War was attached to the siege train in Gen. 

 Scott's army, and was wounded in the assault on the 

 city of Mexico. 



Hall, Benjamin Homer, author, born in Troy, N. Y., 

 Nov. 14, 1830; died there, April 6, 1893. He was 

 graduated at Harvard College in 1 851 ; admitted to 



