OBENCHAIN
O'BRIEN
OBENCHAIN, William Alexander, educator,
was born in Buchanan, Va., April 27, 1841; son
of Thomas Jefferson and Elizabeth Ann (Sweet-
land) Obeuchain. His motlier was a lineal
descendant of "William Sweetland, captain of
the ship J(n/(rs trading between London, England,
and New York, 1C78-79, who settled in Salem,
Conn., before the beginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and the family intermarried with the Van
Meterens,an old Knickerbocker family, and with
the Bordens and Becks. On the jiaternal side he
descended from Reinhold Abendschon from the
Palatinate, Germany, who settled in Berks
county, Pa., in 1749, and from the Goulds of New
Enghuid. William was graduated at the
Virginia Military institute with the first honors of
the class of 18G1. He served as instructor in light
artillery at Camp Lee, Richmond, Va., April,
18G1: was appointed 2d lieutenant of artillery in
the Confederate army; was transferred to the
corps of engineers in September, 1S61, contrary
to his wishes; was ordered to the Department of
the Cape Fear, N.C., under Gens. S. G. French
and W. H. C. Whiting, and to the Army of
Northern Virginia in 1864. He served on the
right flank of the Confederate army at Petersburg,
and subsequently constructed the defence be-
tween the Newmarket and Williamsburg roads,
where he was promoted captain of the corps of
engineers by General Lee, for " efficiency and
meritorious conduct." He was professor of
mathematics and of civil and military engineei-ing
in the Hillsboro Military academy, N.C., 1866-68;
professor of mathematics and commandant of
cadets in the Western Military acadamy, under
Gen. E. Kirby Smith, at Newcastle, Ky., 1868-70,
and professor of German and French and com-
mandant of cadets in the University of Nashville,
Tenn., 1870-73. He engaged in civil engineering
and the real estate business in Texas, 1873-78,
became professor of mathematics in Ogden
college, Bowling Green, Ky., in 1878, and was
elected president of that institution in 1883. He
was married, July 8, 188"), to Eliza Hall, daughter
of Thomas Chalmers and Margaret (Younglove)
Calvert of Bowling Green, Ky., author of "Sally
Ann's Experience " and other short stories under
the pen name " Eliza Calvert Hall."' He was
elected a member of the American Institute of
Civics in 1887; of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science in 1891; of the
Britisli Economic as.sociation in 1892; hon-
orary member of the American Whig Society
of the College of New Jersey in 1883, and one of
the honorary vice-presidents and secretary of the
Department Congress of Higher Education,
World's Columbian exposition, in 1893. He re-
ceived the honorary degree A.M. from Centre
college, Ky., in 1885.
OBER, Frederick Albion, author, was born in
Beverly, Mass., Feb. 13, 1849; son of Andrew K.
and Sarah (Hadlock) Ober; grandson of Andrew
and Sarah (Smith) Ober, and of Elijah and Hui-
dah (Herrick) Hadlock, and seventh in direct de-
scent from Richard Ober, who emigrated from
England to Massachusetts and settled in Beverly
in 1663. Frederick Albion Ober attended the
public school, and in 1862 engaged in business.
He attended the Massachusetts Agricultural col-
lege for one year and thei'eafter devoted himself
to the study of natural history, exploring the
Lake Okeechobee region of Florida, 1872-74;
making an ornithological exploration of the
southern West Indies in 1876-78 and 1880, where
he collected birds for the Smithsonian Institution,
and discovered twenty-two new species. He
visited Mexico in 1881, 1883 and 1885, gather-
ing material for several books, and traveled in
Spain and northern Africa in 1888, South America
in 1889, and in the West Indies again in 1891-92,
as commissioner for the Columbian exposition.
He lectured on JMexico and the West Indies for
nearly ten years in various parts of the country.
He is the author of: Camps in the Caribbees (1 879);
Young Folks' History of Mexico (1882); The Silver
City (1882); Travels in Mexico (1883); Mexican
Resources, A Guide to and Through Mexico
(1885); 3Iontezuma's Gold Mines (1885); The
Knockabout Club in the Antilles, Everglades, etc.
(6 vols., 1887-92); In the Wake of Columbus (1893);
Josephine, Empress of the French (1895); Under
the Cuban Flag (1896); My Spanish Siveet heart
(1897); Crusoe's Island (1898); Puerto-Rico and
Its Resources (1899); A Brief History of Spain
(1899); History of the West Indies (1900); The
Last of the Arrawaks (1901); Tommy Foster's Ad-
ventures (1901), and contributions to magazines.
O'BRIEN, Fitz=James, author, was born in county Limerick, Ireland, in 1828. His father was an attorney-at-law. He was educated at the University of Dublin, and then went to London., where in the course of two years he spent his in- heritance amounting to about £8,000. While in college he wrote verse, edited a paper in London, 1851, and in 1852 came to the United States, where he contributed to the Lantern, edited by John Brougham, and to the leading literary magazines and newspapers. He wrote for J. W. Wjillack " A Gentleman from Ireland;" prepared " The Ty- coon" for Laura Keeue's theater, and traveled as a literarj' assistant with H. L. Bateman. He joined the 7th regiment. N. G. S. N. Y., and marched with the regiment to Washington. D.C., returning to New York with the rank of captain after six weeks' service. He then engaged in recruiting for MoClellan's volunteer rifles; was appointed on the staff of General Lander with the rank of lieutenant, and served with him
