476 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (SEIBERT SIGEL.) 



(1884); Men and Letters: Essays in Character- 

 ization (1887) ; The Book of Folk Stories Rewrit- 

 ten (1887); George Washington: An Historical 

 Biography (1889); Childhood in Literature and 

 Art (1894) ; The Book of Legends told over Again 

 (1899); and James Russell Lowell: A Biography. 

 He was a frequent contributor to the Atlantic 

 Monthly, but the larger part of his work there 

 appeared anonymously. 



Seibert, George C., clergyman, born in Wetter 

 Hessia, Germany, Feb. 25, 1828; died at sea, Sept. 

 9, 1902. He studied in Germany; became a 

 private instructor at Wiesbaden; and for two 



S:ars was professor at a gymnasium in Bakmen. 

 e then became an instructor in Hagerstown, 

 Md. When the civil war broke out this school 

 was closed, and he became pastor of the Third 

 German Presbyterian Church, in Newark, N. J. 

 In 1868, when the German Theological Seminary 

 was established in Bloomfield, Dr. Seibert became 

 Professor of Systematic Theology and New Testa- 

 ment Exegesis. He was editor of the German 

 Yolksfreund and of an edition of Schleiermacher's 

 Doctrine of Sin, and was author of Hellenism and 

 Christianity. 



Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, naval officer, born 

 in Boston Mass., April 24, 1804; died in Waverly, 

 Mass., Oct. 15 1902. He entered the navy as a 

 midshipman Jan. 1, 1818; was promoted lieu- 

 tenant, March 3, 1827; commander, April 11, 

 1844; captain, Sept. 14, 1855; and commodore, 

 July 16, 1862; was retired July 25, 1866; and was 

 promoted rear-admiral on the retired list, July 

 26, 1870. He served in the West Indies, Brazil, 

 and the Mediterranean; was assigned to the 

 Columbus, the flag-ship of the East Indian squad- 

 ron, in 1846; and subsequently to the Dale, of the 

 Pacific squadron. He took part in the capture 

 of Matanzas and Guaymas, and at the latter 

 place was wounded so severely as to be unfitted 

 for sea service, and was appointed commandant 

 of the Boston Navy- Yard. In 1861 he received 

 command of the steam frigate Mississippi, of the 

 Gulf squadron, but his wound again disabled 

 him for sea service, and he was made commandant 

 of the navy-yard at Mare Island, California. He 

 continued in active duty for several years after 

 his retirement, as commandant at the Philadel- 

 phia Navy- Yard in 1867-'68; president of the Ex- 

 amining Board in 1869-70; lighthouse inspector 

 in Boston ; and a member of the Examining Board 

 in 1871. At the time of his death he was the 

 oldest officer on the retired list. His son, Thomas 

 Oliver Selfridge, Jr., also reached the grade of 

 rear-admiral and was placed on the retired list 

 in 1898. 



Seward, Theodore Frelinghuysen, musician, 

 born in Florida, N. Y., Jan. 25, 1835; died in 

 Orange, N. J., Aug. 30, 1902. He studied music 

 under Lowell Mason and Thomas Hastings, and 

 became an organist in New London, Conn., in 

 185C; and in Rochester, N. Y., in 1859. He re- 

 moved to New York in 1867, where he conducted 

 the Musical Pioneer and afterward the Musical 

 Gazette. He introduced the Tonic Sol-fa system 

 of musical notation and instruction in the United 

 States and prepared a series of text-books for it; 

 and founded the Tonic Sol-fa Association. He 

 took charge of the concerts of the " Jubilee " sing- 

 ers, and made the tour of Europe with them in 

 1875-76. Besides writing on the Tonk; Sol-fa 

 system and lecturing before gatherings of teach- 

 ers, he edited the Tonic Sol-fa Advocate and The 

 Musical Reform. He was the founder of the 

 American Vocal Music Association; the Brother- 

 hood of Christian Unity (in 1891); the World's 

 Neighbor-Chain (in 1898) ; and the Don't Worry 



clubs; and was the author of The School of Life 

 (1894); Heaven every Day (1896); Don't Worry 

 (1897); and Spiritual Knowing (1900). 



Shepherd, Alexander Robey, administrator, 

 born in Washington, D. C., Jan. 30, 1835; died in 

 Batopilas, Mexico, Sept. 12, 1902. He became a 

 clerk in a store in 1848; later was apprenticed to 

 a carpenter; and in 1852 entered a plumbing and 

 gas-fitting concern, of which he subsequently be- 

 came a partner and the principal. In 1861 he 

 enlisted in the Washington National Rifles, which 

 opened the road by way of Annapolis and brought 

 to Washington the first troops after the Balti- 

 more riots. After his term of enlistment he gave 

 his attention to beautifying Washington. In 

 1861 he was elected to the Common Council; in 

 the following year was reelected; later became 

 president of the Board of Councilmen; and in 

 1867 was appointed a member of the Levy Court. 

 In 1870 he was elected president of the Citizens' 

 Reform Association, which organized the forces 

 that defeated the regular Republican nominee for 

 mayor and secured the legislation establishing 

 the Territorial form of government for the District 

 of Columbia, and in 1873 was appointed Governor 

 of the District. He planned and carried out the 

 extensive improvements, especially in the con- 

 struction of avenues and streets, which trans- 

 formed the city into a wholesome, beautiful 

 district. Charges of corruption were made against 

 him, and he was derisively spoken of as " Boss " 

 Shepherd. An investigation failed to sustain the 

 charges, but in 1874 Congress was led to pass an 

 act changing the form of government for the 

 Federal District from that of a Territory to one 

 under the direct management of a commission. 

 President Grant nominated Mr. Shepherd for one 

 of the three commissioners, but the Senate refused 

 to confirm him. In 1880 Mr. Shepherd went to 

 Batopilas, Mexico, where he passed the remainder 

 of his life as general manager of a corporation 

 that developed a great silver-mine. 



Sigel, Franz, military officer, born in Sins- 

 heim, Baden, Nov. 18, 1824; died in New York 

 city, Aug. 21, 1902. He was graduated at the 

 Military School of Carlsruhe in 1843; served as 

 lieutenant in the German 

 army in 1843-'47; then 

 resigned and studied law. 

 In February, 1848, he 

 joined the Baden revo- 

 lutionists, and raised a 

 corps of volunteers. He 

 led more than 4,000 vol- 

 unteers against Frei- 

 burg, was defeated twice, 

 and fled 'to Switzerland. 

 He returned to Baden 

 in May, 1849, fought in 

 several engagements, and 

 rose to the rank of com- 

 mander-in-chief of the 



revolution. In 1851 he was arrested by the S \vis-4 

 authorities, but escaped, first to France and 

 later to England. He settled in New York in 

 May, 1852, where he conducted Die Revue, a mili- 

 tary magazine, and later in St. Louis, where he 

 edited a similar paper. When the civil war broke 

 out he organized a regiment of infantry and a 

 battery of artillery, which rendered efficient serv- 

 ice at the occupation of the arsenal and the cap- 

 ture of Camp Jackson, St. Louis. With this regi- 

 ment and two batteries he was sent to Rolla, 

 and soon afterward forced the Confederates under 

 Gen. Price to retreat into Arkansas. He was com- 

 spicuous in the battles of Carthage, Dug Springs, 

 and Pea Ridge; was commissioned a brigadier- 



