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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (UNDERWOOD VAN FLEET.) 



and for a year lectured on international law in 

 the University of Michigan ; then went to Cornell 

 University as Associate Professor of the History and 

 Theory of Politics and of International Law ; and sub- 

 sequently was given the chair of Modern European 

 History in Cornell, which he held until his death. 

 His publications include " German Political Leaders" 

 (New York, 1876) ; u History of Prussia to the Acces- 

 sion of Frederick the Great" (Boston, 1884); and 

 " History of Prussia under Frederick the Great "(2 

 vols.. N!-\V York, 1888). 



Underwood, Francis Henry, editor, born in Entield, 

 Mass.. Jan. 12, Is2.:>; died in Edinburgh, Scotland, 

 Auii 1 . 7, 1M*4. An interesting picture of his early 

 surroundings may be found in " Quabbin." His edu- 

 cation in schools was meager, and his college life was 

 limited to one year at Amherst (1843-'44). There- 

 after he removed to Kentucky, where he taught, stud- 

 ied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. In 1848 

 hi- married a Kentucky lady, who died years ago, but 

 their 4 children still survive. .Underwood's dis- 

 taste for the law and his sympathy with antislavery 

 principles prevented his succeeding at the Kentucky 

 bar, and in 1849 he returned to Massachusetts. In 

 1852 he was appointed Clerk of the Massachusetts 

 Senate, and in 1854 was engaged by the publishing 

 house of Phillips. Sampson & Co. as their literary ad- 

 viser. The establishment of the " Atlantic Monthly " 

 by Phillips, Sampson & Co. was Underwood's 

 project, and is best described in his own words: " A 

 few authors who had been invited to write for the 

 magazine met at a dinner given by the publishers in 

 Boston, without having been consulted upon details 

 or upon the choice of an editor. The projector 

 /Underwood,] having privately sounded Mr. Lowell, 

 arose at the dinner table and nominated him as editor 

 in -chief. Excepting Mr. Lowell, no one present, not 

 even the publishers,'knew what he [Underwood], was 

 going to do. The nomination gave as much surprise 

 as pleasure to the company." The name " Atlantic 

 Monthly" originated with Dr. Oliver Wendell 

 Holmes. Underwood was appointed assistant editor, 

 and his close association with Lowell and the "At- 

 lantic " contributors enabled him to become the re- 

 corder of the group. Two years thereafter Messrs. 

 Ticknor & Fields became the publishers of the maga- 

 zine and Underwood was appointed clerk of the Su- 

 perior Criminal Court of Boston, 1859-'70. Immediately 

 after the publication of his " Handbooks of English 

 and American Literature " he received the degree of 

 A. M. from Bowdoin College. His 3 novels are " Cloud 

 Pictures," " Lord of Himself," and " Man Proposes." 

 In 1878 he delivered a course of lectures on American 

 literature at the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, repeat- 

 ing the course in Boston and elsewhere. At a later 

 date were published " The True Story of the Exodus," 

 an abridgment of the work of Dr. Brugsch-Bay ; a 

 "Handbook of English History " based on the lec- 

 tures of Guest, and biographies of Longfellow, Whit- 

 tier, and Lowell. He also served for thirteen years 

 on the school committee of Boston. In 1885 he was 

 appointed consul at Glasgow. While in Scotland he 

 delivered lectures on American literature, and the de- 

 cree of LI,. I), was conferred upon him by the Uni- 

 versity of _Glasirow. He was superseded in 1889, but 

 remained in Scotland and there married his second 

 wife. " Quabbin" was written in Glasgow. On his 

 return to the United States he wrote "Builders of 

 Ainrriran Literature," and was planning to write a 

 series of biographies of Lowell, Emerson, Longfellow, 

 Whittier, and Holmes, entitled " A Northern Con- 

 stellation." "The Poet and the Man" (Lowell) is 

 the only one of the group that has been publish- 

 ed at this date. In 1893 he was appointed^ consul 

 to Edinburgh. Dr. Underwood had a fine phy- 

 sique, being tall and broad-shouldered. His head 

 was massive, features strong and masculin com- 

 plexion fair, eyes brown. Originally his hair was 

 auburn, but it turned white at forty. He was of a 

 genial temperament, had a retensive memory, and 

 possessed the happy faculty of relating, ott'-hand, 



characteristic anecdotes of the celebrated men whom 

 he had met. " Quabbin " and the biographies of 

 Lowell are his greatest works. A novel entitled 

 " Dr. Gray's Quest " was found completed among his 

 papers. 



Van Aernam, Henry, physician, born in Marcellus, 

 N. Y., March 11, 1819 ; died in Franklinville, Catta- 

 raugus County, N. Y:, June 1, 1894. He was educated 

 for a physician and surgeon in the Geneva and Wil- 

 loughiby Medical Colleges. In 1858 he was elected 

 to the State Legislature. He entered the National 

 service early in the cival war as surgeon of the 154th 

 New York Volunteers, and during 1862-'64, while on 

 detached service, was surgeon in chief of brigade and 

 surgeon in chief of the 2d division, 20th Army Corps. 

 In 1864 he resigned from the army, and was a dele- 

 gate to the National Republican Convention at Balti- 

 more, and in 1872 was a delegate to the Convention at 

 Philadelphia. He was elected to Congress from the 

 33d New York District as a Republican in 1864, 1866, 

 1878, and 1880, and was United States Commissioner 

 of Pensions in 1869-'71. 



Vance, Zebulon Baird. lawyer, born near Asheville, 

 Buncombe County, N. C., May 13, 1830; died in 

 Washington, D. C., April 14, 1894. He was educated 

 at Washington College, Tennessee, and at the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina, and was admitted to the 

 bar in 1852. The same 

 year he was elected 

 county attorney, and __ 



in 1854 he went to the ilf^ 5 " 



State Legislature. In 

 1858 he was elected to 

 Congress, and in 1859 



was re-elected for a full ' t_7 



term. He was a Union 

 man in the exciting 

 days of 1860, and op- 

 posed the secession of 

 North Carolina ; but 

 after President Lin- 

 coln's first call for vol- 

 unteers he entered the 

 Confederate army as 

 captain in the 14th 

 North Carolina Regi- 

 ment. In August, 1861, 



he was commissioned colonel of the 26th North 

 Carolina Regiment, and in August, 1862, while in 

 the army, he was elected Governor of the State. In 

 this term he sent agents to Europe, who bought a 

 Clyde steamship for blockade running, and arms, 

 clothing, and hospital and general supplies. This 

 vessel made several successful runs and landed large 

 quantities of stores. In 1863 he urged Jeflerson Davis 

 to seek negotiations with the Federal Government for 

 a cessation of hostilities. He also in this term did . 

 much to diminish the suffering of the National sol- 

 diers held as prisoners in his State. In 1864 he was 

 re-elected Governor. On the occupation of North 

 Carolina by the National troops he was arrested and 

 for several weeks was imprisoned in Washington. 

 D. C. In November, 1870, he was elected United 

 States Senator, and, being refused admission, resigned 

 in January, 1872. The same year he was defeat <! 

 for the United States Senate by a combination of Re- 

 publicans and Democrats. He was elected Governor 

 for the third time in 1876, and chosen United State^ 

 Senator in 1879, 1884, and 1890. His political dis- 

 abilities were removed by Congress in 1872, after he 

 had been refused a seat in the Senate by reason of 

 them. At the time of his death he was chairman of 

 the standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, 

 and a member of that on Finance, and of the select 

 ones on national banks, University of the United 

 States, and women suffrage. He was one of the most 

 popular members of the Senate, being a fine speaker, 

 a delightful story-teller, and a pleasing humorist. He 

 was an advocate of tariff reform and of free silver. 



Van Fleet, Abraham, jurist, born in Hillsborough, 

 Somerset County, N. J., Jan. 6, 1831 ; died in Newark, 



