OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (BAXTER BLAIR.) 



from which she went again to Burton's company 

 at the Chestnut Street Theater. In 1830, with her 

 father, she was a member of the People's Theater, 

 New Orleans. She remained there two years, and 

 became a favorite juvenile leading woman. For 

 many years she played the sympathetic heroines 

 in legitimate and standard drama with the elder 

 Booth, Edwin Forrest, E. L. Davenport. Charlotte 

 Cushman, and Joseph Jefferson in the cities of 

 the southwest. In the summer of 1853 she made 

 her debut at the Bowery Theater. New York, as 

 Pauline in the Lady of Lyons. Shortly before this 

 engagement she had married J. S. Baker, an actor, 

 at Buffalo. After the civil war. her husband 

 having died in 1803. Mrs. Baker " Mamma 

 Baker," as her comrades always affectionately 

 called her became a cherished member of Edwin 

 Booth's successive companies, and occupied the 

 position of old woman therein until about 1890, 

 when she took a similar place in the company of 

 Thomas Keene. Upon Mr. Keene's death, in 1898, 

 she was admitted to the Forrest Home, where 

 she died as gently as she had lived. 



Baxter. Elisha. lawyer, born in Rutherford 

 County. North Carolina, Sept. 1, 1827; died in 

 Batesville. Ark. .June 2,1899. He received a public- 

 school education and removed to Batesville soon 

 after attaining his majority. In 1853 he was elected 

 mayor of the city, and in 1854 and 1858 was sent 

 to the Legislature. At the outbreak of the civil 

 war he espoused the national cause and entered 

 the army, becoming colonel of the 4th Arkansas 

 Mounted Infantry in 1803. In 1864 he was elected 

 United States Senator, but was not permitted 

 to take his seat because Arkansas had not been 

 legally reconstructed. From 1868 till 1872 he 

 was judge of the 3d State Judicial District. In 

 the spring of 1872 he was nominated for Governor 

 by the wing of the Republican party which sup- 

 ported President Grant's administration. The 

 Liberal or Greeley wing nominated Joseph Brooks, 

 who also had the support of the Democrats gen- 

 erally. The campaign that followed was one of 

 intense excitement. On Jan. 6, 1873, Judge Bax- 

 ter was declared elected. His opponent, alleging 

 frauds at the polls, appealed in turn to the Legis- 

 lature, the State Supreme Court, and the United 

 States Circuit Court without success. He finally 

 brought suit against Judge Baxter in one of the 

 State district courts, and on April 15, 1874, in 

 the absence of Judge Baxter's counsel, obtained 

 a favorable judgment. Thereupon he forcibly 

 ejected Judge Baxter from the Governor's office. 

 Both men now claimed the office, issued procla- 

 mations, had armed supporters, and appealed to 

 the President. The situation assumed a serious 

 aspect till Federal troops were sent to Little Rock 

 to preserve the peace. On the opinion of the 

 Attorney-General, President Grant recognized 

 Judge Baxter as the lawful Governor, May 15. 

 The Brooks party immediately disbanded, and 

 Judge Baxter held the office till the autumn of 

 1874, when the provision of the new State Con- 

 stitution, reducing the Governor's term from four 

 years to two, took effect. After retiring from the 

 office Judge Baxter resumed practice. 



Beckley, Fanny (Mrs. Thomas Allston 

 Brown), actress, born in New York city, July 9 

 1842; died there, Jan. 25, 1899. She first ap- 

 peared as a member of the Marsh troupe of chil- 

 dren at the age of sixteen. After two seasons 

 with this traveling company she was for a time 

 a member of Laura Keene's Varieties Theater, 

 from which she went to play juvenile female parts 

 with Edwin Forrest. During the years 1861 and 

 1862 she was a member of a pantomime and 

 ballet company, and in September, 1862, she mar- 



ried Mr. Brow^n, a journalist of New York city, 

 author of a History of the American Stage. After 

 her marriage Miss Beckley retired to private life. 



Bissell, Lora C. (born Lora C. Hudson), army 

 nurse, born in Devereux, N. Y., Aug. 4, 1839; died 

 in Buffalo, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1899. She received a 

 good education, and was a successful teacher in 

 the academy at Schenectady at the breaking out 

 of the civil w r ar. At the 'time of the killing of 

 Col. Ellsworth, in Alexandria, the feeling was in- 

 tense in that part of the State of New r York, and 

 the regiment known as the " Ellsworth Avengers " 

 the 44th New York Volunteers was formed. 

 Miss Hudson was one of those most deeply im- 

 pressed, and she wrote a popular war song, en- 

 titled Ellsworth's Avengers. The volunteers ten- 

 dered the young teacher, as the highest compli- 

 ment, an election as " child of the regiment." Soon 

 after this Miss Hudson volunteered as an army 

 nurse, and she accompanied the 44th to the war 

 and shared in all its fortunes. Her marriage 

 to Lieut. Bissell occurred soon after the war,, 

 and from that time she resided in Buffalo. She 

 was a member of the Society of Army Nurses 

 and an honorary member of the regimental as- 

 sociation of the 44th. 



Blair, Charles W., lawyer, born in George- 

 town, Ohio, in 1829; died in Kansas City, Mo.,. 

 Aug. 21, 1899. For several years he was active 

 in the political affairs of his native State, and 

 he was once defeated for Lieutenant Governor on 

 the Democratic ticket by a small majority. In 

 the civil war he assisted in raising the 2d Kan- 

 sas Regiment, organized the Blair Battery, and 

 became colonel of the 7th Cavalry, and at the 

 close of the war was brevetted brigadier general 

 of volunteers. At the time of his death he was 

 attorney for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and 

 Memphis Railroad Company. 



Blair, John Insley, born near Belvidere, N. J. r 

 Aug. 22, 1802; died in Blairstown, N. J., Dec. 2, 

 1899. The Blair family, from which he descended, 

 came from Scot- 

 land in 1720 and 

 settled in Hunter- 

 don County, N. J., 

 the founder of the 

 American branch 

 being John Blair. 

 In the latter part 

 of thp eighteenth 

 century Samuel 

 Blair, great-grand- 

 father of John I. 

 Blair, was sent by a 

 Philadelphia firm 

 to take charge of 

 the iron works at 

 Oxford Furnace, 

 Warren Co., N. J. 

 Mr. Blair's father 

 moved to the Dela- 

 ware to look after 



the shipping of the iron from this furnace, and 

 there John I. Blair was born. Later --the family 

 moved to a farm on Beaver Creek, a short distance 

 from Hope, where young Blair passed the first few 

 years of his life. As was usual with country boys 

 in those days, he attended the country schools 

 in winter and helped his father during the sum- 

 mer. The first manifestation he gave of his rare 

 business instincts and his indomitable deter- 

 mination was when he announced to his mother 

 that his brothers and sisters needed education, 

 therefore he would have to get rich. This inci- 

 dent, the starting point in his financial career, 

 took place when he was only ten years old. The 



