OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (THOMPSON TURINI.) 



643 



son was highly successful in his business rela- 

 tions, and was a constant promoter of educa- 

 tional institutions. He presented Williams Col- 

 lege with two chemical laboratories and a fund 

 to provide a free course of lectures; erected a 

 building for Vassar College at a cost of $200,000; 

 was a large contributor to the funds for erecting 

 the buildings of the Teachers' College in Nfcw 

 York city and the Ontario Orphan Asylum; and 

 for many years had supported four students each 

 in Williams and Vassar. The two last-named 

 institutions were especially dear to him, and be- 

 side his special gifts he aided them liberally 

 whenever there was need. 



Thompson, John Polk, inventor, born in 

 Glasgow, Scotland, in 1838; died in Olneyville, 

 R. I., Sept. 16, 1899. In 1848 he went to New 

 York city. He was graduated at the high school, 

 and then learned the watch-making and jewelry 

 business. A natural aptitude for mechanics led 

 him into the mill business, and at the age of 

 twenty-six he assumed charge of the carding de- 

 partment of the Sprague Cotton Mill, at Baltic, 

 Conn. Afterward he was superintendent succes- 

 sively of the Voluntown Mill, the Robeson Mills, 

 at Fall River, and the Fall River Print Works. 

 For a considerable period he now conducted a 

 watch and jewelry establishment in Fall River, 

 but was induced to return to mill life, starting 

 the Shove Mill, in Fall River. He next went to 

 Phenix, Md., as superintendent, and later to Ol- 

 neyville, R. I., as superintendent and general 

 manager of the five Ross mills. In 1898 he went 

 South to assume control of the Mammoth 

 Springs, Ark., Mills and the Bluff City Mill at 

 Memphis, Tenn. Mr. Thompson invented 14 

 distinct mechanical devices, each of which pro- 

 duced radical improvements in methods of manu- 

 facturing; they include carding appliances, stop 

 and let-off motions, and self-threading shuttles. 



Thomson, Frank, engineer, born in Cham- 

 bersburg, Pa., July 5, 1841 ; died in Merion, Pa., 

 June 5, 1899. He studied at Chambersburg Acad- 

 emy, and then entered the shops of the Pennsyl- 

 vania Railroad at Altoona. He spent four years 

 in obtaining a practical and scientific knowledge 

 of mechanical engineering, and when he left the 

 shops he was able to build a locomotive. During 

 the civil war he rendered valuable service to the 

 Federal Government as chief assistant to the 

 Assistant Secretary of War. He constructed 

 railroads and bridges and directed the transporta- 

 tion of troops. In June, 1864, he was appointed 

 superintendent of the eastern division of the 

 Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. In March, 1873, 

 he was made superintendent of motive power of 

 the Pennsylvania Railroad at Altoona. He re- 

 linquished this place July 1, 1874, to become 

 general manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 system east of Pittsburg and Erie. Here he in- 

 troduced reforms in the management and main- 

 tenance of the road; the standard track and 

 solid roadbed owe their existence to his efforts. 

 Oct. 1, 1882, Mr. Thomson became second vice- 

 president; Oct. 27, 1888, was advanced to first 

 vice-president; and Feb. 3, 1897, was elected pres- 

 ident of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 



Tiemann, Daniel Fawcett, manufacturer, 

 born in New York city, Jan. 9, 1805; died there, 

 June 29, 1899. In 1818 he became clerk in a 

 wholesale drug house. He entered his father's 

 paint factory in 1824 as an employee; in 1827 

 became a partner, arid in 1848 succeeded to the 

 businesSi He was a member of the first board 

 of education of New York city, and was elected 

 several times to the Board of Aldermen. In 1857 

 he was elected mayor on an independent reform 



ticket, in opposition to Fernando Wood. The 

 placing of the mimes of streets on the street 

 lamps was due to a suggestion from him. In 1H71 

 he was elected State Senator, serving one term, 

 after which he retired from political life. He 

 was a sound-money Democrat, and in 1 81)0 cast 

 his first Republican vote. He was a trustee of 

 Cooper Union from its organi/ation. 



Truesdell, Gaylord Sangston, artist, born in 

 Waukegan, 111., in 1859; died in New York 

 city, June 13, 1899. He studied painting at 

 the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, went 

 to Paris in 1885, and, with the exception of a 

 year spent in Washington, lived abroad till early 

 in 1899, when he came to New York city. Some 

 of his best-known pictures are Going to Pasture, 

 now in the Corcoran Art Gallery; Shepherd and 

 Flock, which received a third medal at the Paris 

 Salon; and On the Beach, exhibited in the spring 

 Academy of 1899. 



Tucker, Gideon J., lawyer and journalist, 

 born in New York city, Feb. 10, 1826; died there 

 July 7, 1899. He received a common-school edu- 

 cation, studied law, and was admitted to the bar 

 in 1847. In 1853 he was appointed clerk in the 

 New York customhouse, but in a short time he 

 went to Albany as editor of the Argus. In 1855 

 he sold his interest in that paper and founded 

 the New York Daily News. In 1857 he was 

 elected Secretary of State, and in the next year 

 he became a regent of the university and re- 

 ceived the degrees of A. M. and LL. D. In 1882 

 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the office of 

 surrogate of New York County, and in the fol- 

 lowing year he was re-elected for a full term of 

 three years. He was elected to the Assembly in 

 1865. He drafted and carried through the statute 

 for the prevention of cruelty to animals and the 

 act establishing the New York Free College. In 

 1866 he was again elected surrogate by a ma- 

 jority of 13,500 votes, the only other candidate 

 on the same ticket being defeated by 19,000. 

 He prepared and published Tucker's Surrogate 

 Court Reports. From 1868 until 1875, with the 

 exception of being supervisor of the State cen- 

 sus in 1875, Judge Tucker practiced law in New 

 York city. In 1875 he was one of those who 

 bolted from Tammany Hall and founded Irving 

 Hall. In 1886 he was identified with the mayor- 

 alty campaign of Henry George. He was a mem- 

 ber of the New York State Constitutional Con- 

 ventions of 1867 and 1894. The attention of the 

 whole country was attracted to him in 1886 by 

 a letter of his addressed to President Cleveland, 

 in which he declined the appointment as com- 

 missioner to examine about 100 miles of railroad 

 in Oregon. 



Turini, Giovanni, sculptor, born near Verona, 

 Italy, May 23, 1841 ; died in New York city, Aug. 

 27, 1899. He studied sculpture in Milan and 

 Rome, becoming a professor of the art in the 

 former city. He was a volunteer in Garibaldi's 

 army in 1866. In 1867 he came to New York 

 city^ where he practiced his art until his death. 

 He made several statues for the Venezuelan Gov- 

 ernment, and had received a commission to make 

 three equestrian statues of Venezuelan heroes and 

 a colossal statue of Liberty. One of them that 

 of Marshal Sucre was completed and sent to 

 Caracas; the clay model of the General Palz 

 statue was finished, and the Bolivar statue was 

 cast in plaster and accepted by the art commis- 

 sion for Central Park. For this work he was 

 to have received $75,000, but was paid only 

 $8,000. This failure of the Venezuelan Govern- 

 ment to fulfill its obligations probably hastened 

 his death, which took place while he was at work 



