OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (KOEHLER LESTER.) 



485 



Koehler, Sylvester Rosa, art critic, born in 

 Leipsic, Germany, Feb. 11, 1837; died in Little- 

 ton, N. H., Sept. 15, 1900. He came to the United 

 States in 1849. He edited the American Art Re- 

 view during its existence, and contributed largely 

 on art subjects to periodicals in the United States 

 and in Europe. He was for many years curator 

 of the print department of the Museum of Fine 

 Arts, Boston, and he made several trips abroad 

 in the interests of that institution. He was hon- 

 orary curator of the section of graphic arts in 

 the National Museum, Washington, and was a 

 fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sci- 

 ences. He lectured on engraving, etching, etc. He 

 published translations of von Bet/old's Theory of 

 Color, edited by Prof. Edward C. Pickering 

 (1870), and of Lalanne's Treatise on Etching, 

 with notes (1880). He was the author of Art 

 Education and Art Patronage in the United 

 States (1882); Etching, an Outline of its Tech- 

 nical Processes and its History, with Some Re- 

 marks on Collections and Collecting (1895); and 

 of the text for Original Etchings by American 

 Artists (1883); Twenty Original American Etch- 

 ings (1884); and for American Art (1887). He 

 also prepared the Catalogue of the Engravings, 

 Dry Points, and Etchings of Albrecht Diirer, pub- 

 lished by the Grolier Club, New York, and edited 

 the United States Art Directory and Yearbook 

 for 1882 and 1884. At the time of his death he 

 was at work on a history of color printing, which 

 remains incomplete. 



Landis, Charles K., lawyer, born in Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., March 16, 1834; died in Vinelaud, N. J., 

 June 12, 1900. He studied law, and in 1851 was 

 admitted to the bar. He made considerable money 

 in his practice, and in 1857, with the idea of re- 

 tiring to the country and founding a colony, he 

 established the village of Hammonton, N. J. In 

 18G1 he purchased several thousand acres in Cum- 

 berland County, New Jersey, which was sold in 

 building lots, and from this grew the village and 

 city of Vineland. For a time he was the first man 

 in the place, and owned the only newspaper there. 

 Later an opposition newspaper was established, 

 and its editor harassed Mr. Landis so much that 

 the latter shot him. For this Landis was tried 

 and acquitted. Sea Isle City, Landisville, New 

 Italy, and other south Jersey towns were also 

 founded by him. 



Lane, Thomas Henry, artist, born in Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., Feb. 24, 1815 ; died in Elizabeth, N. J., 

 Sept. 27, 1900. Early in life he made the acquaint- 

 ance of Edgar Allan Poe, with whom he was con- 

 nected as business manager in the publication of 

 the Broadway Journal. Later he removed to 

 Washington, where he studied art under Leutze. 

 As an artist Mr. Lane was best known for his 

 dainty and charming miniatures on ivory and por- 

 celain; he did excellent work with his brush till 

 three years before his death. He lived for a time 

 in Westchester, N. Y., and in 1892 removed to 

 Elizabeth, N. J. 



Langlois, Augustus Bartholomew, clergy- 

 man, born in Chavaney, Department of the Rhone, 

 France, April 24, 1832; died in St. Martinville, La., 

 July 31, 1900. He came to the United States in 

 1S55, and, finishing his studies at the College of 

 Mount St. Mary of the West, Cincinnati, was 

 ordained on June 11, 1855. Six months later he 

 was stationed at Point a la Hache, Plaquemines 

 Parish, where he labored thirty years; in 1887 he 

 was transferred to St. Martinville, and he re- 

 mained its rector till the time of his death. When 

 very young he became interested in botany, and 

 at the age of sixteen made an herbarium of 1,200 

 plants gathered in the neighborhood of Mont- 



brison, France. On his appointment to Point 

 a la Hache he renewed his studies, and he was 

 known throughout the scientific world as a botan- 

 ist of rare attainment. His studies of the flowers 

 of Louisiana have covered that field completely. 

 His collection of plants, the work of more than 

 fifty years, was very large; and in addition he 

 supplied museums with the flora of this region, 

 and in recognition of his work several plants have 

 been named for him. He published several vol- 

 umes on the fungi of Louisiana, and his Catalogue 

 Provisoire des Plantes Phanerogames et Crypto- 

 games de la Basse Louisiane is a standard. All 

 his literary work was written in French, and his 

 name is better known to the scientific bodies of 

 Europe than to those of the United States. 



Lawler, Francis Xavarius, clergyman, born 

 in County Cavan, Ireland, June 22, 1822; died in 

 Alexandria, S. D., Sept. 10, 1900. He removed 

 with his parents to Franklin County, New York, 

 in 1824, studied for the priesthood, and was or- 

 dained subdeacon in 1844 and priest, Dec. 26, 1845. 

 He was at once sent on missions. He was vice- 

 president four years and president four years of 

 St. Mary's College, Marion, Ky. After a short 

 vacation he was made master of discipline at 

 Notre Dame, Ind., where he remained two years. 

 Later he served a year as Superior of St. Pius 

 Seminary, in Kentucky. From 1859 till 1870 he 

 was in charge of the church at Laporte, Ind., and 

 from 1871 till 1878 at Logansport. He later served 

 as priest at Lawrence and other places in Kansas, 

 and in 1881 went to Dakota, serving as superin- 

 tendent of the Yankton Indian School till Decem- 

 ber, 1884. He then removed to Alexandria, where 

 he was priest of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy. 

 May 20, 1896, he was appointed domestic prelate 

 to the Pope. He was also vicar general of South 

 Dakota, and one of the deans of the diocese. 



Lawrence. Ada, actress, born in New York, 

 July 7, 1821; died in Quincy, 111., April 1, 

 1900. She was a daughter of Robert Bensell, leader 

 of the orchestra of the Old Bowery Theater. Her 

 first appearance was in this theater, at the age of 

 eleven, and she played in various theaters and 

 companies of the country until her retirement, in 

 1885. Of this time the greater portion was spent 

 in Southern theaters, where before and during the 

 war she was very popular as a leading woman 

 under her second married name of Ada Logan. 

 Her first husband was Samuel Browne, a come- 

 dian of ability. 



Lester, John Henry, inventor, born in Mont- 

 ville. Conn., Sept. 27, 1815: died in Brooklyn. 

 N. Y., Jan. 10. 1900. He invented a lock-stitch 

 sewing machine, and was one of the pioneer sew- 

 ing-machine manufacturers in the United States. 

 He also invented a wood-planing machine and 

 several minor mechanical appliances. In the win- 

 ter of 1859-'60, with Samuel C. Robinson. In- 

 formed a stock company for making wood-plan- 

 ing machines in Richmond, Va. This plant was 

 pressed into service by the Confederates, and the 

 firm was directed to alter arms for the Southern 

 army. Mr. Lester, being a Northerner and a loyal 

 man, objected, and had the plant appraised. The 

 value was fixed at $300,000. which was paid in 

 Confederate money. He obtained an assignment 

 as a purchasing agent for the Confederate Gov- 

 ernment, which enabled him to get through the 

 lines to Washington, where he surrendered his 

 documents to Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, after an 

 interview with President Lincoln. The Govern- 

 ment, however, was not satisfied with his loyalty, 

 and he was sentenced by a military commission 

 to ten years' imprisonment. He was pardoned 

 after serving twenty months. He subsequently 



