496 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. ( RICE ROGERS.) 



Bice, Dan (Daniel McLaren), circus clown, born 

 in New York city in 1823; died in Long Branch, 

 N. J., Feb. 22, 1900. He was the son of an Irish- 

 man of the same name, who nicknamed him as 

 a child after the popular old Irish clown Dan Rice. 

 Dan's early life was spent on a dairy farm near 

 Freehold, N. J., under a stepfather named Mona- 

 han, from whom he ran away. After some vicissi- 

 tudes in western Pennsylvania, he set up in the 

 show business with a learned pig. In 1844 he went 

 to New York and was engaged by John Tryon at 

 the old Bowery Amphitheater, as a song-and-dance 

 man. Among his comrades here were Dan Emmett 

 and Barney Williams. His career as a circus clown 

 began with Seth B. Howe's circus in 1845, at 

 Welch's National Amphitheater, Philadelphia, and 

 in a short time he became the most popular man 

 in the city. In 1847 he went to New Orleans, 

 where he was the principal attraction of Spauld- 

 ing's Circus. While filling his engagements with 

 Dr. Spaulding he became an enthusiastic student 

 of Shakespeare, and his familiarity with the great 

 poet won for him the name of the " Shakespearean 

 clown." He became a partner with Spaulding in 

 the circus, and the firm was very successful until 

 1850. He traveled over the entire country during 

 the circus season, and made a large fortune. He 

 was in the South during the first year of the civil 

 war, and on his return to Philadelphia was accused 

 of rebel sympathy. In spite of his denial his season 

 in that city was a failure, and the result was bank- 

 ruptcy. In 1864 he was engaged by Adam Fore- 

 paugh at a salary of $35,000 a year. In 1866 he 

 was with O'Brien's Circus at a salary of $1,000 

 a week. He became careless and dissipated, and 

 in spite of his great popularity throughout the 

 land he gradually lost the respect of his business 

 associates. In 1878 he made a strong effort to 

 regain habits of sobriety, but without lasting suc- 

 cess. He was fond of doing charity work, and 

 gave away a great part of his, money. He built 

 a soldiers' monument in Girard, Pa., his home, at 

 a cost of $35,000, and he gave President Lincoln 

 $32,000 for the benefit of wounded "soldiers and 

 their families. He retired from active life in 1882, 

 and occupied his later years in writing his auto- 

 biography. 



Richardson, Abby Sage, author, born in 

 Massachusetts in 1837 ; died in Rome, Italy, Dec. 

 5, 1900. She made her first appearance at the 

 Winter Garden Theater, New York city, in the 

 company of Edwin Booth, in 1866, as Nerissa in 

 T.he Merchant of Venice. She had been married 

 a few years before to Daniel MacFarland, a lawyer, 

 from whom she was divorced in 1868. Soon after 

 her divorce she was engaged to be married to 

 Albert D. Richardson, formerly war correspondent 

 of the New York Tribune and afterward on the 

 editorial staff of that journal. On Nov. 26, 1869, 

 MacFarland shot Richardson in the Tribune of- 

 fice. Before the latter's death, which followed a 

 few days after the shooting, he and Mrs. Mac- 

 barland were married. Mrs. Richardson never 

 appeared on the stage after this tragedy, but de- 

 voted herself to literature. Her early books were 

 Familiar Talks on English Literature, Old Love 

 Letters, Stories from Old English Poetry, and 

 Abelard and H6loise. She also edited some of 

 Richardson's writings. When the Lyceum stock 

 company was inaugurated by Daniel Frohman in 

 New York city, Mrs. Richardson was engaged 1<> 

 prepare adaptations from the French. Her best 

 works of this character are Americans Abroad 

 and A Woman's Silence. In collaboration with 

 Miss Grace Furniss she wrote The Colonial Girl 

 and The Pride of .Tennico. Her last work was 

 a dramatization of Weyman's novel. Sophia. 



Bidpath, John Clark, historian, born in Put- 

 nam County, Indiana, April 26, 1841 ; died in 

 New York city, July 31, 1900. He was graduated 

 at Asbury (now De Pauw) University in 1863. 

 During his senior year he had taught in the 

 Thornton (Ind.) Academy, and upon his gradu- 

 ation he was made its principal. In 1866 he was 

 elected Superintendent of Public Instruction for 

 Lawrenceburg, Ind., and in 1869 he was called 

 to the chair of English Literature in his dlina 

 i n <itcr. Two years later he was transferred to the 

 chair of Belles Lettres and History, and later to 

 the chair of History and Political Philosophy. He 

 continued as an instructor till 1885, and was vice- 

 president of the university from 1879. In the 

 latter capacity he was largely instrumental in se- 

 curing the De Pauw endowment. After resigning 

 his professorship he devoted himself to literary 

 work. He was one of the editors of the People's 

 Cyclopaedia (1881), and compiled a library of uni- 

 versal literature. In 1897-'98 he was editor of 

 The Arena. His published works are: An Aca- 

 demic History of the United States (1875): A 

 Popular History of the United States (1876): A 

 Grammar-school History of the United States 

 (1877); An Inductive Grammar of the English 

 Language (1879); A Monograph on Alexander 

 Hamilton (1880); Life and Work of James A. 

 Garfield (1882); Cyclopaedia of Universal History 

 (1884) ; A History of Texas (1884) ; The Life and 

 Work of James G. Elaine (1893) ; The Great Races 

 of Mankind (1894) ; Bishop Taylor's Story of my 

 Life : The Life and Times of William E. Gladstone 

 (1898) ; and An Epic of Life (poem). 



Bobinson, Bowland Evans, author, born in 

 Ferrisburg, Vt., May 14, 1833; died there, Oct. 

 15, 1900. He was brought up on a farm and re- 

 ceived a common-school education. After reaching 

 manhood he went to New York city, where lie 

 learned wood engraving. His eyesight gradually 

 failed, and in 1893 he became blind. His published 

 works include Uncle Lisha's Shop (New r York, 

 (1887) ; Sam Lovell's Camps (1889) ; Vermont: A 

 Study of Independence (Boston, 1892) ; Danvis 

 Folks (1894) ; In New England Fields and Woods 

 (1896) ; Uncle Lisha's Outing (1897) ; A Hero of 

 Ticonderoga (Burlington, 1898) ; and Danvis 

 Pioneer (Boston, 1900). 



Bogers, Fairman, civil engineer, born in Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., Nov. 15, 1833; died in Vienna, Aii^- 

 tria, Avig. 23, 1900. He was a son of Evans Rogers. 

 a merchant in Philadelphia and a member of (lie 

 Society of Friends. He was graduated at the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania in 1853. While an un- 

 dergraduate he devoted his attention specially In 

 mathematics and mechanics, and on graduating lie 

 was appointed lecturer on mechanics in Franklin 

 Institute, which place he held until 1865. Mean- 

 while, in 1855, he was called to the chair of Civil 

 Engineering in the University of Pennsylvania. 

 which he held until 1871. On retiring from thi* 

 chair he was chosen a member of the board <>f 

 trustees of his dliini inatcr, and lie continued MS 

 such until 1886, when, owing to his continued 

 residence abroad, he relinquished his trusteeship. 

 In 1878 he presented to the university a large li- 

 brary of works on engineering. He was tendered 

 the appointment of provost of the university in 

 1880, but declined it. At the beginning of the 

 civil war he was a member of the First Troop. 

 Philadelphia City Cavalry, with which organi/si- 

 tion he saw active service, and he was for a time 

 its commander. Subsequently he served as a vol- 

 unteer engineer officer on the stall's of (Jen. John 

 F. Reynolds and Gen. William F. Smith. Under 

 the auspices of the United States Coast Survey 

 in 1862, he completed the survey of the Potomat 



