OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (OoLESBY ORTON.) 



on ordnance duty in Pittaburg, on the Coast 

 Survey in 1870-77, on the European station 

 in 1878, and again on the Coast Survey, as com- 

 mander of the Hassler, in 1880-'84. In 1880- 

 '87 he was inspector of one of the new steel cruis- 

 ers, in 1887-'90 again on the Coast Survey, and in 

 1897 took command of the Bennington, with 

 which he joined Admiral Dewey's ileet at Manila 

 in July, 1898. On Jan. 20, 1899, he received com- 

 mand of the double-turret monitor Monadnock, 

 on which he performed an unusual amount of 

 work, as his vessel was especially relied on to 

 assist the army in the movements north of Ma- 

 nila. For nearly two months prior to his death 

 the Monadnock had been lying off Paranaque, 

 under fire almost daily from the insurgents. The 

 heat was intense, and officers and crew suffered 

 so severely that Admiral Dewey wished to re- 

 lieve the Monadnock with another ship, but Capt. 

 Nichols and his men preferred to remain till 

 Paranaque was captured. On June 10 the Monad- 

 nock was engaged all day in shelling the insur- 

 gent trenches. While the fight was in progress 

 Capt. Nichols was overcome by the heat, and he 

 died a few hours later. 



Oglesby, Richard James, lawyer, born in Old- 

 ham County, Kentucky, July 25, 1824; died in 

 Elkhart, 111., A.pril 24, 1899. At eight years old 

 he was taken into the family of an uncle, with 

 whom he removed to Decatur. 111., in 1830. He 

 learned the carpen- 

 ter's trade, and 

 worked at it, at farm- 

 ing, and at rope mak- 

 ing till 1844, mean- 

 while applying all his 

 spare time to study. 

 In the autumn of 1845 

 he was licensed to 

 practice law. He en- 

 listed in the 8th Illi- 

 nois Infantry in 1846, 

 was elected a lieuten- 

 ant before leaving 

 home, and with his 

 regiment took part in 

 the siege ofVeraCruz 

 and the battle of Cerro Gordo. Returning to 

 Decatur in 1847, he took an additional course 

 of study at the Louisville Law School, where 

 he was graduated in 1848. In 1849 he went 

 to California, where he worked two years in 

 the mines, and then resumed practice in De- 

 catur. He was elected to the State Senate in 

 1800, and served during that session, but early 

 in 1861 he resigned to enter the army as colonel 

 of the 8th Illinois Volunteers. He commanded 

 a brigade at the capture of Forts Henry and 

 Donelson ; was promoted brigadier general of vol- 

 unteers, March 21, 1862; distinguished himself at 

 the battles of Pittsburg Landing and Corinth, 

 where he was wounded and disabled from duty 

 till April, 1863; and was promoted major general, 

 to date from Nov. 29, 1862, and assigned to the 

 command of the 16th Corps. In May, 1804, he 

 resigned his commission because of his wounds, 

 leaving the service with the reputation of being 

 the most-beloved officer in the Western army. 

 He was elected Governor of Illinois as a Repub- 

 lican in November, 1864, and in 1872 was elected 

 for a second term. A few days after his second 

 inauguration he was elected to the United States 

 Senate, and in 1878 declined a re-election. In 

 November, 1884, he was again elected Governor, 

 and after this term he retired to private life. 

 During his first term as Governor he was active 

 in carrying out war measures. 



O'Hara, William, clergyman, born in Linia- 

 vady, County Deny, Ireland, in 1S17; died in 

 Scranton, Pa., Feb. 3, 1HJM). In 1820 he accom- 

 panied his parents to Philadelphia, lie was grad- 

 uated at Georgetown College, and there spent 

 several years at the Urban College of the Propa- 

 ganda, Rome. In 1843 he was ordained, and dur- 

 ing the following thirteen years he was pastor of 

 St. Patrick's Church, Philadelphia, lie was also 

 for many years rector and professor in the Theo- 

 logical Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo. In 

 1800 he was appointed vicar general of the dio- 

 cese of Philadelphia, and in 1808, when the dio- 

 cese of Scranton was set off, he was chosen its 

 first bishop. His jurisdiction comprised Lu/erne, 

 Lackawanna, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, 

 Tioga, Sullivan, Lycoming, Pike, and Monroe 

 Counties, which then together had only 50 Roman 

 Catholic churches, 28 priests, and 1 religious com- 

 munity. Twenty years afterward the diocese had 

 74 churches, 79 priests, 46 stations, and 12 con- 

 vents. 



Ormiston, William, clergyman, born in 

 Symington, Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 23, 1821 ; 

 died near Los Angeles, Cal., March 19, 1899. 

 When thirteen years old he went with the family 

 to Canada, settling about 40 miles from Toronto. 

 He was graduated at Victoria College, Cobourg, 

 Canada, in 1848, and in 1849 was ordained to the 

 ministry of the United Presbyterian Church. 

 During 1849-'53 he held a pastorate at Clark, 

 Canada; in 1853-'57 he was mathematical mas- 

 ter and lecturer in natural philosophy and chem- 

 istry in Toronto Normal School; in 1854-'57 was 

 examiner in Toronto University; and in 1853- 

 '63 was superintendent of classical schools in the 

 province of Ontario. From 1857 till 1870 he was 

 also pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church 

 in Hamilton, Ontario. In the last year he ac- 

 cepted a call to the Collegiate Reformed Church 

 in New York city, where he ministered till 1888, 

 when a throat affection caused him to resign. He 

 then removed to California, and for six years dis- 

 charged pastoral duties in the Presbyterian 

 Church at Pasadena. In 1859, while Moderator 

 of the United Presbyterian Synod of Canada, he 

 initiated a movement that resulted in 1861 in 

 the union of the United Presbyterian and the 

 Free Churches, and in 1869 he was Moderator 

 of the united synods. He received the degree of 

 D. I), from the University of the City of New 

 York in 1865, and that of LL. D. from Victoria 

 College in 1881. 



Orton, Edward, geologist, born in Deposit, 

 N. Y., March 9, 1829; died in Columbus, Ohio, 

 Oct. 16, 1899. He was graduated at Hamilton 

 College in 1848, and studied theology at Lane 

 and Andover Seminaries, after which he studied 

 in Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard. In 

 1856 he was called to the chair of Natural Sci- 

 ence in the normal school in Albany, N. Y., where 

 he remained until 1865, when he accepted a simi- 

 lar chair in Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 

 of which institution in 1873 he became president. 

 On the organizing of the Ohio State Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College in 1873 he was called to 

 its presidency, with special charge of the depart- 

 ment of geology. In 1880 he resigned the higher 

 office, but retained his professorial charge. The 

 splendid collection of specimens from every part 

 of the State was gathered by him, and \yhen a 

 building was erected to receive the collections it 

 was named Orton Hall. In 1869 he was appointed 

 an assistant on the Geological Survey of Ohio, 

 and he continued in that service until 1875. Later 

 he returned to the survey, and in 1881 was made 

 State geologist, in which* office he continued until 



