458 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (ALDEN AVERELL.) 



O 



OBITTJ ABIES, AMERICAN. Alden, Alon- 

 zo, soldier, born in Wadham's Mills, N. ., July 

 18, 1834; died in Troy, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1900. He 

 was a lineal descendant of the Puritan John 

 Alden. He received his early education at Keese- 

 ville Academy and Sand Lake Collegiate Institute. 

 He was graduated at Williams College in 1859, 

 and two years later was admitted to the New 

 York bar.' He enlisted as a private in the 30th 

 Ne\v York Volunteers, and on May 14, 1801, was 

 commissioned second lieutenant. In the spring 

 and summer of 1862 his regiment participated in 

 the first occupation of Falmouth and Fredericks- 

 burg. In 1862 Lieut. Alden was invalided home. 

 During his convalescence the 169th New York 

 Regiment was formed in Troy, and he was com- 

 missioned major in that regiment, and saw with 

 it the greater part of his military service. He 

 \\:is in engagements at Edenton Road and Suffolk, 

 Va., and at the siege of Charleston. Feb. 13, 1864, 

 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel. He was 

 shot in the head while leading his men in a 

 brilliant charge at Cold Harbor. Returning to 

 his command, he took part in the construction 

 ami defense of the Dutch Gap Canal. In June, 

 1864, he had been commissioned colonel. He won 

 special distinction in the attacks on Fort Fisher, 

 and after the capture of that fort he was placed 

 in command, and on the morning of Jan. 16, 1865, 

 was severely wounded by the explosion. Gen. 

 A. H. Terry, in command of the expedition, made 

 a special report to President Lincoln, recommend- 

 ing his promotion, and he was brevetted brigadier 

 general. He was mustered out of the service July 

 16, 1865. He was unable to return to the practice 

 of his profession on account of his wounds, from 

 which he suffered till the time of his death. He 

 was for a time in the customhouse in New Y'ork 

 city, and from 1866 till 1874 was postmaster of 

 Troy. 



Allen, John F., inventor, born in England in 

 1829; died in New York city, Oct. 4, 1900. He 

 came to this country when twelve years of age, 

 and learned the trade of an engineer, but devoted 

 his life to the invention of engines and mechanical 

 appliances. He invented the Allen high-speed en- 

 gine, also the Allen valve and the Allen air com- 

 pressor. When he died he had nearly completed 

 a new engine to be iised in a motor vehicle. 



Angell, George Hansom, merchant, born in 

 Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 27, 1837; died in Detroit, 

 Mich., April 18, 1900. He received a common- 

 school education, and learned the machinist's trade 

 in his father's shop, afterward becoming a partner. 

 At a time of financial depression he left the busi- 

 ness and became a newspaper reporter. Finally, 

 in the early sixties, he entered upon a business 

 career in Detroit, where he spent the remainder 

 of his life. He bought and conducted an extensive 

 art store, was at one time president of the National 

 Photographic Merchants' Board of Trade, was for 

 -i\ years president of the Young Men's Christian 

 Association of Detroit, for two years president of 

 the Board of Education, and at the time of his 

 death was president of the Michigan Bankers' As- 

 sociation, president of the City Savings Bank, and 

 a director in several other financial institutions. 

 He was also active in the affairs of the Congrega- 

 tional Church. Mr. Angell was well read in his- 

 tory and general literature, and was a fluent pub- 

 lic speaker. 



Archer, Belle (Mrs. Herbert Archer), actress, 

 born in Easton, Pa., in 1870; died in Warren, Pa., 



Sept. 19, 1900. She made her first appearance as 

 a child singer in a juvenile Pinafore company at 

 Ford's Theater, Baltimore, as Josephine, in 1880, 

 under the name of Belle Makensie. Her family 

 name was Mingle. She remained at Ford's Thea- 

 ter several years, and while there married Herbert 

 Archer, a member of the company. She came to 

 New York, where she became a member of the 

 company of the Madison Square Theater in 1886, 

 and pjayed leading rOles in the repertory of that 

 theater with touring companies. She was the 

 leading lady of E. H. Sothern's company in his 

 first starring tour, and also played the leading 

 roles with Alexander Salvini when he first ven- 

 tured out as a star in 1892-'93. In 1895 she was 

 engaged at Daly's Theater, New York, and for 

 four years before her death was a member of 

 McKee & Hoyt's company, playing A Con- 

 tented Woman, in which she appeared for the 

 last time on the stage at Niagara Falls, Sept. 

 14, 1900. 



Armstrong, Andrew Campbell, publisher, 

 born in Canada, Aug. 16, 1829; died in Stamford, 

 Conn., Oct. 8, 1900. He was one of the oldest 

 publishers in New York city, and in 1870, with 

 Charles Scribner, Dr. Josiah G. Holland, and Ros- 

 well Smith, founded Scribner's Monthly, now the 

 Century Magazine. He was associated with James 

 A. Sparks, publisher of the Churchman, when the 

 firm of Baker & Scribner was organized, in 1846, 

 and he shortly afterward transferred his services 

 to that firm, which upon the death of Charles 

 Scribner, in 1871, was reorganized as Scribner, 

 Armstrong & Co. In 1878 he retired from that 

 firm to become the head of the publishing house 

 of A. C. Armstrong & Son, which still continues 

 in business. Mr. Armstrong was a director of 

 the Bible Society, a member of the Chamber of 

 Commerce, a director of the Merchants' Clerks' 

 Savings Bank, and a director of the Home In- 

 surance Company. 



Atwater, Ernest R., missionary of the Amer- 

 ican Board, born in Oberlin, Ohio, Aug. 20, 1865; 

 Mrs. Elizabeth (Graham) Atwater, born in 

 England; and four children; all killed near Fen- 

 Cho-Fu, Shensi province, China, Aug. 15, 1900. 

 Mr. Atwater was graduated at Oberlin College in 

 1887, and at the Theological Seminary in 1892. 



Averell, William Woods, soldier, born in 

 Cameron, Steuben County, New York. Nov. ."i, 

 1832; died in Bath, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1900. IM> 

 grandfather was a captain in the Revolutionary 

 army under Gen. Sullivan. He was graduated at 

 West Point in 1855, and after two years at the 

 school for practice at Carlisle, Pa., was sent 1" 

 the frontier, where he earned a reputation for brav- 

 ery as an Indian fighter in campaigns against t Iw 

 Crows and Navajoes. In an attack on the latter. 

 in 1859, he was severely wounded, and he remained 

 on sick leave until the outbreak of the civil war. 

 May 14, 1861, he was promoted to a first lien 

 tenancy in the mounted riflemen and put on stall 

 duty with the Army of the Potomac, and lie \\:'~ 

 in the battle of Bull Run and other actions. Ant: 

 23, 1861, he was appointed colonel of the 3d Penn 

 sylvania Cavalry, and placed in command of 1 he- 

 cavalry defenses of Washington. In March, isd:;. 

 he made the first of several successful raids, tin 

 nature of which is indicated somewhat by one "i 

 his dispatches to the department: "Dec. 21 M> 

 column has marched, climbed, slid, and swum :*- 

 miles since Dec. 8." Later in the year he m;idt 

 a raid near White Sulphur Springs, and was de- 



