594 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



navy as midshipman at the age of sixteen, and 

 served in the Brazil squadron, the West India 

 squadron, and the Coast Survey. He was com- 

 missioned as lieutenant in 1840, and was ap- 

 pointed to the frigate Columbus of the Medi- 

 terranean squadron. He did excellent service 

 on the Coast Survey from 1850 to 1855, and 

 was commissioned as commander in Septem- 

 ber, 1855. He was three years longer in this 

 work, and was made captain in 1862. He took 

 command of the steamer Dakota, of the North 

 Atlantic blockading squadron, and partici- 

 pated in the engagement with Fort Caswell, 

 Feb. 23, 1863. He was also present, in com- 

 mand of another steamer, at both attacks on 

 Fort Fisher, 1864 and 1865. He was commis- 

 sioned as commodore in July, 1866, and the 

 year following was appointed Superintendent 

 of the Naval Observatory. He was raised to 

 the rank of rear-admiral in April, 1871, and 

 put on the retired list in 1873. 



Sands, Joshna K., an American naval officer, 

 born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1795 : died in Bal- 

 timore, Md., Oct. 2, 1883. His father was a 

 personal friend of Washington's, and was Col- 

 lector of the Port of New York. He entered 

 the navy at the opening of the War of 1812, 

 as midshipman, served under Commodore 

 Chauncey on Lake Ontario, and was actively 

 occupied all through the war. He was com- 

 missioned lieutenant in 1818, and served on 

 various stations at home and abroad. He was 

 made captain in 1840, and was on duty in the 

 Vixen in the Mexican War. He was in com- 

 mand of the Government vessel which carried 

 the articles for exhibition to the World's Fair, 

 1851, and received several tokens of honor. In 

 1856 he commanded the Susquehanna, and as- 

 sisted in laying the first Atlantic cable. Three 

 years later he was in charge of the squadron 

 on the coast of Brazil. In 1862 he was made 

 commodore, and took in hand the lake defenses. 

 In 1866 he was raised to the rank of rear-ad- 

 miral, and then placed on the retired list. He 

 was port-admiral at Norfolk, Va., from 1869 

 till 1872. During the last ten years of his 

 life he lived chiefly in Baltimore. 



Sharswood, George, formerly Chief-Justice of 

 Pennsylvania, born in Philadelphia, July 7, 

 1810; died there, May 28, 1883. He graduated 

 from the University of Pennsylvania in 1828, 

 and having studied law, he was admitted to 

 the bar in 1831. He served in the Legislature 

 of the State for three years, and in 1843 be- 

 came editor of the u American Law Maga- 

 zine." Mr. Sharswood gave character and 

 standing to this quarterly; but, after three 

 years 1 publication, the publishers discontinued 

 it. He edited Stephens's " Nisi Prius " in 1844, 

 and in the same year appeared his first edition 

 of " Russell on Crimes," which passed through 

 nine editions. In 1845 he was made Judge 

 of the District Court. He was president judge 

 from 1851 to 1867, when he was elected Asso- 

 ciate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 

 vania. Be became Chief-Justice in January, 



1879, and occupied the position until January, 

 1883, when his term expired. He was ap- 

 pointed Professor of Law in the University of 

 Pennsylvania in 1850, and did excellent work 

 in this position. He published " Professional 

 Ethics " in 1856. The same year he brought 

 out " Popular Lectures on Commercial Law," 

 and in 1859 an annotated edition of " Black- 

 stone's Commentaries." Several other valuable 

 law books were edited by him. 



Shelton, William, an American clergyman, bcrn 

 in Bridgeport, Conn., Sept. 11, 1798; died in 

 the same house in which he was born, Oct. 11, 

 1883. His early training was in the home of 

 his father, who was a clergyman of the Epis- 

 copal Church in its very earliest days in the 

 United States, and his education was obtained 

 at Cheshire Academy. Thence he went to the 

 General Theological Seminary, where he was 

 graduated in 1823, among the very earliest of 

 its alurnni. He was ordained deacon the same 

 year, served the church at Plattsburg and 

 Red Hook, N. Y., and joined his father as as- 

 sistant in Fairfield (now Bridgeport), Conn. 

 Here he was ordained priest in May, 1826. In 

 September, 1829, he became rector of St. 

 Paul's Church, Buffalo, N. Y., a post which he 

 held to the day of his death. Buffalo, at the 

 time Dr. Shelton went there, was a frontier 

 town, so to speak, with less than 10,000 in- 

 habitants; but he became identified with its 

 growth and prosperity, took an active part in 

 the duties of good citizens, and was honored 

 and respected by all. He began the building 

 of St. Paul's Cathedral Church in 1848 (which 

 was not fully completed till 1868) ; was a dele- 

 gate to the General Convention of the Church 

 for nearly forty years ; and gave much of his 

 time to educational and missionary work. 



Smith, Erasmus Darwin, an American jurist, 

 born in De Ruyter, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1806 ; died 

 in Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 11, 1.883. While yet 

 a youth, he went to Rochester, entered the 

 law-office of Hon. E. Griffin, and was admitted 

 to the bar in 1827. He was married in 1831 

 to a daughter of Mr. Griffin. After practicing 

 law for several years, he entered into partner- 

 ship with Mr. H. E. Rochester, which lasted 

 for more than twenty years. For a number of 

 years he was Clerk of the State Court of Chan- 

 cery, and was a Democrat in politics. He 

 joined the Whig party in 1855, and was elect- 

 ed a justice of the Supreme Court of the State 

 in November of that year. In 1859 he was re- 

 elected for a second term of four years. His 

 position as Supreme Court judge made him also 

 a member of the Court of Appeals for a part 

 of both his terms. When the time for election 

 came round again, Judge Smith was so accept- 

 able to both parties that, in 1863, he was 

 chosen for a third term. Meanwhile, the term 

 of office had been lengthened to fourteen years, 

 so that he continued on the bench till 1876, 

 when, having become disqualified by age, he 

 retired to private life. His eminently high 

 character as a judge led to his being frequently 



