OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (MAPLESON NERAZ.) 



589 



diun, a Parallel in Planes of Culture " (1889) ; " Greet- 

 ing by Gesture " (1891) ; and " Picture Writing of the 

 American Indians " (1893). 



Mapleson, Laura Schirmer, singer, born in Boston, 

 Mass., March 4, 18(32; died in New York city, Jan. 

 24, 1894. She was the daughter of Ludwig A. Schir- 

 iner, a music teacher, and of a German countess, and 

 when only seven years old made her appearance in 

 public in Chickering Hall, Boston, playing the piano 

 and organ and singing difficult music 'from Schubert 

 and Mendelssohn. Her musical education was pur- 

 sued in the United States and in Leipzig, Berlin, and 

 Vienna. She made her first professional appearance 

 on the lyric stage in New York city, at a concert with 

 Franz Eummel, the pianist, on Feb. 9, 1879. The next 

 season she sang in grand opera with John Stetson's 

 Company at the Globe Theater, Boston, and there 

 attracted the attention of Max Strakosch, who en- 

 gaged her for his operatic season of 1881 in New York 

 city. In Boston and New York she sang in " Crown 

 Diamonds," " Lucia di Lammermoor," "Faust," " La 

 Sonnambula," " Fra Diavolo," " Carmen," " A'ida," 

 and " Mignon." She then went to Europe for further 

 study, appeared in Pisa, Italy, on Feb. 17, 1884 ; sang^ 

 in the principal cities of Italy, Russia, Germany, and 

 Turkey, was for some time the court singer at Con- 

 stantinople, and on March 17, 1891, married, in Paris, 

 Col. Henry Mapleson. In the following autumn she 

 returned to the United States with her husband and 

 made a tour under his management ; then sang for a 

 season at the Imperial Opera House in Vienna ; pro- 

 duced "Fadette" in the United States in October, 

 1892, and made a short tour ; gave a series of concerts 

 in Canada ; and from the beginning of the autumn 

 season of 1893 till within two weeks of her death she 

 sang in " The Fencing Master," with the Mapleson & 

 Whitney Opera Comique Company in New York and 

 other cities. 



Mason, George Champlin, journalist, born in Newport, 

 R. I.. July 17, 1820 ; died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 

 30, 1894. He was educated in architecture, but aban- 

 doned its practice for literature. In 1851-'58 he was 

 editor of the Newport " Mercury." He wrote many 

 letters over the signature " Champlin," relating to the 

 early history and development of his native city, and 

 among other works published " Newport and its En- 

 virons," " Newport Illustrated," u Newport and its 

 Cottages," " Reminiscences of Newport," " The Life 

 and Works of Gilbert -Stuart," and " The Application 

 of Art to Manufactures." 



Mead, Edward Spencer, publisher, bora in New York 

 city, Jan. 10, 1847 ; died in Southampton, Long Island, 

 N. Y., Jan. 10, 1894. He was left an orphan when an 

 infant ; was brought up by his uncle, Robert Hoe, the 

 printing-press manufacturer ; was graduated at Yale 

 College in 18(39 ; and married a daugliter of John S. C. 

 Abbott, the historian, soon afterward. In 1870 he suc- 

 ceeded with Frank EL Dodd to the publishing busi- 

 ness established by Mr. Dodd's father under the name 

 Dodd & Mead, subsequently Dodd, Mead & Company. 

 He applied himself to the literary department of the 

 business, translated several works into English for 

 publication, and wrote a number of books under the 

 pseudonym Richard Markham. He was a trustee of 

 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a member of the 

 University, Century, Tuxedo, and other clubs. 



Merrick, Frederick, educator, born in Wilbraham, 

 Mass.. Jan. 29, 1810 ; died in Delaware, Ohio, March 

 5, 1894. He was brought up on his father's farm ; 

 studied for the ministry of the Methodist Church at 

 Wesleyan Academy, near Wilbraham, and at Wes- 

 leyan University, Middletown, Conn. ; and before he 

 was ready for graduation he was elected principal of 

 the Conference Seminary at Amenia, N. Y. He held 

 this office from 1836 till 1838 ; then became Professor 

 of Natural Science in Ohio University at Athens ; and 

 on the suspension of the university in 1842 spent a 

 year in the pastorate at Marietta. While at Ohio 

 University he was the first to suggest and advocate 

 the establishment of a Methodist Episcopal college in 

 Ohio. In 1842 the Ohio Wesleyan University was in- 



corporated. He was first appointed one of two agents 

 to secure the necessary funds and to organize the in- 

 stitution, which was opened in 1844. In the following 

 year he was appointed Professor of Natural Science 

 and placed in charge of the institution for a year; in 

 1851 he was transferred to the chair of Moral Philoso- 

 phy ; and in 18*30 he was elected president of the uni- 

 versity. _ He held the latter office till 1873, when, on re- 

 signing it, he was made professor emeritus. Besides his 

 duties as instructor and president he also dischariri-il 

 those of auditor of the university from 1845 till 1885. 

 By his personal efforts the university secured the 

 Thompson Chapel, a library building that cost $15,000, 

 a library book fund of $10,000, the Prescoct cabinet, 

 which cost $10,000, and a large tract of land south of 

 the campus. He was a member of the Commission on 

 the Revised Hymn Book in 1848. Early in his presi- 

 dency he received the degrees of D. D. and LL. D., 

 but for conscientious reasons he declined them. 



Mott, Thaddeus Phelps, military officer, born in New 

 York city, Dec. 7, 1831 ; died in Toulon, France, Nov. 

 23, 1894. He was the last surviving son of the distin- 

 guished surgeon Valentine Mott, and had spent the 

 greater part "of his life in military service. In 1848 

 he entered the Italian army as a sublieutenant; in 

 1850-'55 he served on several clipper ships, before the 

 mast and as mate ; and in 1856-'57 was a soldier in 

 Mexico under Ignacio Comonfort. He entered the 

 National service in 1861 as captain of a battery in the 

 3d Independent New York Artillery ; was commis- 

 sioned captain in the 19th United States Infantry in 

 1862 ; promoted lieutenant colonel of cavalry in 1863 ; 

 was subsequently colonel of the 14th New York 

 Cavalrv and chief of outposts in the Department of 

 the Gulf; and resigned his commission in 1864. In 

 1868 he went to Turkey, where, in 1869, he was ap- 

 pointed a major general in the Egyptian army, and in 

 1870 first aid-de-camp to the Khedive and member 

 of the council of war. On the expiration of his con- 

 tract with the Khedive, in 1874, he declined a renewal, 

 and in 1875 went to Turkey, where he remained till 

 after the Servian and Russo-Turkish wars. For 

 several years he lived in Toulon. 



Munro, Norman L., publisher, born in Millbrook, 

 Pictou County, Nova Scotia, in 1844 ; died in New 

 York city, Feb. 24, 1894. He remained on his father's 

 farm till he was twenty-five years old, when he came 

 to New York city and entered a publishing house. 

 In 1873 he became a publisher on a small scale, and 

 on " Black Friday " in September he issued the first 

 number of the "New \ork Family Story Paper." 

 Within two years his success was such that he took 

 two buildings in Beekman Street. These were de- 

 stroyed by fire in 1876. He then erected a mammoth 

 structure in Vandewater Street and brought out 

 " Munro's Library " and " Munro's Pocket Magazine." 

 His publications met with great favor, particularly the 

 u Family Story Paper," and from them and his large 

 real-estate investments he acquired a fortune esti- 

 mated from $3.000,000 to $5,000,000. For several 

 years he was known as an enthusiastic yachtsman, 

 and he owned the steam yacht " Norwood," which he 

 had constructed on his own plan, the " Vamoose," the 

 " Norma," the steam launch " Now Then," the " Say 

 When," the " Henrietta," and the " So So." 



Naganab, Indian chief, born in 1795 ; died in Fond 

 du Lac, Wis., in June, 1894. He was chief of all the 

 Chippewa Indians, and through his friendly efforts 

 the united States Government gained possession of 

 large tracts of land in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 

 1826, by his persuasion, the Chippewa and Sioux 

 Indians signed a treaty acknowledging the sovereign- 

 ty of the "United States ; in 1856 he negotiated and 

 signed at Bayfield the treaty ceding to the Govern- 

 ment the northern part of Wisconsin and Minnesota ; 

 and the same year he induced the Indians to cede the 

 lands now comprising the rich Vermilion and Mesaba 

 iron ranges. 



Neraz, John Claudius, clergyman, born in Ause, De- 

 partment of the Rhone, France, Jan. 12, 1828; died in 

 San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 15, 1894. He was educated 



