Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/309

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VERPLANCK
VERPLANCK

He was ordained a priest on 20 Sept., 1828, and shortly afterward became a member of the Sulpi- tian order. He came to the United States in 1830 and was appointed professor in St. Mary's college, Baltimore. In 1853 he was made pastor of Elli- cott's Mills, where he became noted for his devo- tion to the interests of the slaves. He was nomi- nated vicar apostolic of East Florida and conse- crated bishop of Danabe in partibus on 25 April, 1858. He arrived in St. Augustine on 1 June, and at once proceeded to organize congregations. Bishop Verot was among the first to make known the advantages of Florida as afield for emigration, and, by letters, public addresses, and answers to in- quiries, he did much to attract settlers from other states and from Europe. As there were only three priests under his jurisdiction, he sought clerical aid from other quarters and soon had priests enough for his new congregations. He built the Church of St. Louis at Tampa and restored the cathedral of St. Augustine, the chapel of Nuestra Seiiora de la Leche, and the old Spanish cemetery, also en- larging the Church of St. Mary at Key West, be- sides founding churches at Mandarin and Orange Spring. He was translated to the see of Savan- nah in July, 1861, retaining at the same time the vicariate of East Florida. He replaced the Roman Catholic church at Jacksonville, which had been destroyed by fire during the occupation of the city by the U. S. soldiers in the civil war. He founded many missions, and at St. Augustine organized several societies among the colored people. He opened academies for young girls at St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Fernandina, Mandarin, and Palatka, under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and in- troduced the Sisters of the Holy Names, who es- tablished an academy at Key West. In Georgia he made successful efforts to repair the ravages of the civil war. He built the Church of the Holy Trinity in Savannah, and also a church at Albany. He opened an Ursuline convent and school in Ma- con, a house of the Sisters of Mercy in Columbus, and established an orphan asylum at Savannah. Bishop Verot had a high reputation as a theolo- gian and scholar, and his influence in moulding the decrees of the councils of Baltimore and in the council of the Vatican was far-reaching. A series of letters that he published during and after the civil war in the " Pacificator " were effective in promoting peace and reconciliation. He was transferred to the bishopric of St. Augustine on his return from Rome in 1870. His new diocese had not recovered from the disasters of the war, and he made several lecture-tours through the north in order to obtain money for the relief of his people. Bishop Verot published a catechism which is accepted as an authority by the Roman Catholics of the United States. His manuscripts on philosophy, theology, and sacred scripture would, if published, form several large volumes.


VERPLANCK, Daniel Crommelin, member of congress, b. in Dutchess countv, N. Y., in 1761 ; d. near Fishkill, N. Y., 29 March, 1834. He re- ceived a good education, served in congress from 17 Oct., 1803, till 3 March, 1809, and was first judge of the court of common pleas for Dutchess county, from 11 March, 1828, till 16 Jan., 1830. He took great interest in agriculture. His estate at Fishkill had been in the possession of the family since 1682, and the house, which was erected sev- eral years later, is still standing. It is a one-story building of stone and wood, in the Dutch style. This place was the headquarters of Baron Steuben at one time, and in it Col. Lewis Nicola proposed to make Washington a king. (See illustration.) — His son, (Julian Crommelin, author, b. in New York city, 6 Aug., 1786; d. there, 18 March, 1870, was graduated at Columbia in 1801, being the youngest bache- lor of arts that everreceivedhis diploma from that college. He afterward stud- ied law, was ad- mitted to the bar and began practice in New York city. Soon afterward he went to Europe, where he passed several years in travel. On his return he took an active part in state politics,

and became a

member of the legislature in 1820. In 1821 he was appointed professor of the evidences of revealed religion and moral science in the Protestant Episcopal general theological seminary, New York city, and retained this chair four years. He was a member of congress from 1825 till 1833, was a member of the state senate in 1838-'41, and was for many years president of the board of commissioners of emigration. , He was one of the vestrymen of Trinity church, New York city, a governor of the City hospital in 1823-'65, and vice-chancellor of the State university from 1855 till his death. For many years Mr. Verplanck was president of the Century club, and prominent in the annual

conventions of the diocese. He published an anniversary discourse on the earlv European friends of America (New York, 1818); "The Bucktail Bards : containing the State Triumvirate, a Political Tale ; and the Epistles of Brevet Major Pindar Puff," being political pamphlets chiefly aimed at De Witt Clinton, mayor of New York city (1819); "Proces Verbal of the Ceremony of Installation " (1820) ; "Address before the American Academy of Fine Arts " (1824) ; " Essays on the Nature and Uses of the Various Evidences of Revealed Religion " (1824) ; " Essay on the Doctrine of Contracts " (1825) ; " Discourses and Addresses on Subjects of American History. Arts, and Literature" (1833); "Shakespeare's Plays, with his Life, with Critical Introduction and Notes" (3 vols., 1847); and several college orations, the best known of which is " The American Scholar," delivered at Union college in 1836. He prepared also for fifteen years nearly all the annual reports of the commissioners of emigration, and. with Will-