446 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (FERRIS FRENCH.) 



He was graduated at Harvard University in 1864. 

 In 1864-'65 he was principal of Exeter High 

 School; and then became classical master of the 

 Springfield High School. In 1872 he became Pro- 

 fessor of Greek at Williams College, where he re- 

 mained until his death. He edited Selections from 

 the Greek Historians. 



Ferris, Andrew Curtis, inventor, born in 

 Mamaroneck, N. Y.. about 1818; died in the 

 Catskill mountains. New York, Aug. 1, 1902. In 

 1849 he went to the California gold-diggings in 

 command of 200 armed men. He was the first to 

 refine petroleum so that it could be burned as an 

 illuminant without smoke. 



Floyd-Jones, De Lancey, military officer, 

 born in Queens County, New York, Jan. 20, 1826; 

 died in New York city, Jan. 19, 1902. He was 

 graduated at West Point and commissioned a 2d 

 lieutenant in the 7th Infantry July 1, 1846; 

 brevetted 1st lieutenant, Jan. 1, 1848; promoted 

 captain, July 31, 1854; major of the llth Infan- 

 try, May 14, 1861; brevetted lieutenant-colonel, 

 Aug. 1, 1863; colonel, June 25, 1867; and was re- 

 tired at his own request, March 20, 1879. He 

 served with distinction through the Mexican 

 War, taking part in the siege of Vera Cruz, in 

 the capture of the city of Mexico, and in the bat- 

 tles of Cerro Gordo and Molino del Rey. After 

 the war he was on frontier duty and in expedi- 

 tions against hostile Indians till the civil war 

 broke out, when, as major of the llth Infantry, 

 he served in the battles of Yorktown, Gaines's 

 Mill, and Malvern Hill. He was also engaged in 

 the battles of Manassas, Antietam, Chancellors- 

 ville, and Gettysburg. At the close of the war he 

 was again assigned to service against the Indians. 

 After his retirement he devoted much of his time 

 to literature. He was the author of Letters from 

 the Far West. 



Ford, Paul Leicester, author, born in Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y., in 1865; died in New York city, May 

 8, 1902. At about the age of eight he met with 

 an accident that injured his spine and dwarfed 

 his physical growth. But he had a naturally bril- 

 liant mind, which was developed by a love of 

 study and lifelong command of books and lei- 

 sure. He was educated by private tutors in the 

 house of his father, Gordon L. Ford, which con- 

 tained .one of the finest private libraries in the 

 metropolis. He was a skilled bibliographer, and 

 made the catalogue of the fine library that 

 James Lorimer Graham bequeathed to the Cen- 

 tury Association. Mr. Ford edited Thomas Jef- 

 ferson's writings (10 volumes), John Dickinson's 

 writings (3 volumes), and other works relating 

 to American history, and wrote The True George 

 Washington and The Many-Sided Franklin. In 

 fiction he produced The Honorable Peter Stirling, 

 The Great K. & A. Train-Robbery, The Story 

 of an Untold Love, Tattle-Tales of Cupid, W T anted 

 a Match-Maker, Wanted a Chaperone, and 

 Janice Meredith. The last-named, a story of the 

 time of the Revolution, had a remarkable suc- 

 cess, the sale reaching the hundreds of thousands. 

 Mr. Ford married, in 1900, Miss Mary Grace Kid- 

 der, of Brooklyn, and built a beautiful home in 

 New York. He had inherited wealth from his 

 father and had received large returns from the 

 sale of his books. One of his brothers, who had 

 been disinherited because of his devotion to ath- 

 letics, brooded over what he considered the injus- 

 tice done him, until he became undoubtedly a 

 monomaniac if not completely insane. In this 

 condition he visited Paul in liis library and de- 

 manded a large sum of money: when this was 

 refused, or when it appeared' that Paul would 

 refuse, he shot Paul through the breast, and 



then shot himself, dying instantly. Paul died in 

 half an hour. For portrait, see frontispiece. 



Foster, Rebecca S. (popularly known as the 

 "Tombs Angel"), benefactor, born about 1842; 

 died in New York city, Feb. 21, 1902. In 1865 

 she married Gen. John A. Foster, who died in 

 1890, and after his death she undertook the 

 humane work in the Tombs (the city prison in 

 New York) that earned for her the title of the 

 " Tombs Angel." She worked wholly on inde- 

 pendent lines, representing no church, society, or 

 organization, and rendered the prisoners under 

 her care incalculable benefits, especially the wom- 

 en. She was greatly esteemed by the judges, law- 

 yers, reporters, and all others who had business 

 in the Criminal Courts building. Mrs. Foster was 

 one of the victims of the Park Avenue Hotel 

 disaster. 



Fowler, Joseph Smith, lawyer, born in Steu- 

 benville, Ohio, Aug. 31, 1820; died in Wash- 

 ington, D. C., April 1, 1902. He was graduated 

 at Franklin College, Ohio, in 1843, and was for 

 four years Professor of Mathematics there. He 

 then removed to Kentucky, where he was admitted 

 to the bar, and later to Tennessee, where he prac- 

 tised until the civil war broke out, when he re- 

 moved to Springfield, 111., in consequence of Jef- 

 ferson Davis's proclamation ordering all support- 

 ers of the Union to leave the Southern States. In 

 1862 he returned to Tennessee; was made Comp- 

 troller of 'the State; took an active part in re- 

 constructing the State government in the inter- 

 est of the Union; was elected United States Sen- 

 ator in 1865, but was not admitted to his seat 

 till July, 1866; and was one of the 7 Republicans 

 who voted against the impeachment of President 

 Johnson. He practised in Washington, D. C., 

 from 1871 till his death. 



Fremont, Jessie Benton, author, born in Vir- 

 ginia in 1824; died in Los Angeles, Cal., Dec. 27, 

 1902. She was the daughter of United States 

 Senator Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri. She re- 

 moved to Washington at the age of fourteen and 

 was educated at Georgetown Seminary. In 

 Washington she became acquainted with John 

 Charles Fr6mont, a lieutenant in the corps of 

 topographical engineers. She was then about fif- 

 teen years old, and her parents objected to her 

 receiving the addresses of the young lieutenant, 

 and when the latter was assigned to a Govern- 

 ment survey of Des Moines river, the young 

 lovers believed that Senator Benton had obtained 

 the order for the purpose of separating them. 

 The survey was executed rapidly, and on Fr6- 

 mont's return the couple eloped and were mar- 

 ried, Oct. 19, 1841. After a reconciliation with 

 her parents, Mrs. Fremont returned to her 

 father's home, where she remained while her 

 husband was on one of his famous expeditions 

 to explore the Rocky mountains. They removed 

 to California a few years later, and returned to 

 Washington in 1850, when Mr. Fremont was 

 elected to represent California in the Senate. 

 From the close of his senatorial term till his un- 

 successful presidential campaign against James 

 Buchanan, in 1856, they resided in St. Louis. 

 After Gen. Fremont's death (1890) Mrs. Fremont 

 wrote much for the newspapers and magazines. 

 She was the author of The Story of the Guard; 

 A Year of American Travel ; Far West Sketches ; 

 Souvenirs of My Time; Sketch of Senator Ben- 

 ton ; and The Will and The Way Stories. 



French, Thomas Henry, publisher of plays 

 and theater manager, born in New York city, 

 Dec. 7, 1848; died there Dec. 1, 1902. He was 

 educated in the United States and in France, 

 and in 1870 he became a partner in the play-pub- 



