Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/326

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298
VINCENNES
VINCENT

having entered Panama in disguise, he was recog- nized, arrested, and, after a short trial, hanged be- fore the palace of the audiencia.


VINCENNES, Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de, Canadian explorer, b. in Quebec in January, 1688; d. in Illinois in 1736. He was the tenth son of Francois Bissot, a rich merchant of Quebec and owner of a Canadian seigniory, and a near relative to the explorer Louis Joliet — some say his nephew, others his brother-in-law. He fought against the Iroquois at Mackinaw at the age of ten, entered the Canadian army as ensign in 1701, and was employed in the west. In 1704 he was sent to the Miami country, where he rendered valu- able services to the crown, rescuing some Iroquois Eioneers from the Ottawas, and otherwise greatly efriending the Indians. In 1712 he saved De- troit from the invasion of the Fox Indians, but came afterward in collision with La Mothe Cadil- lac, the commander of that place, who asked for his recall. Vincennes's fault was overlooked, ow- ing to his services, and, becoming reconciled with Cadillac, he became afterward the latter's most trusted lieutenant. He was employed successively in the Miami country, in Ohio, and in Michigan, but toward 1725 resided on the present site of the city of Vincennes, which is named in his honor, and built there an earth fort and a trading-post. Early in 1736 he was sent to assist in the. expedi- tion against the Chickasaws. Mustering about 100 Miami Indians, he joined D'Artaguette and they entered the territory of the Chickasaws by way of Illinois, and were to co-operate with an invading column from Louisiana. The latter expedition failed, but D'Artaguette and Vincennes, unaware of the danger, pushed forward. Meanwhile the Chickasaws collected all their forces and attacked, but were repelled with great loss, and the French captured several villages. But the Chickasaws brought about the desertion of the Miamis, and the invaders were finally defeated, nearly all being killed or taken prisoners. D'Artagnette, Vincen- nes, Father Senat, and others were burned at the stake in the principal village of the Chickasaws.


VINCENT, Charles (van-song), Baron de St., West Indian soldier, b. in Jeremie, Hayti, in 1739: d. in Leogane in October, 1794. He entered the military service, fought in this country under Rochambeau in 1780-'l, and after the conclusion of peace commanded a regiment in Tobago and Martinique. In 1787 he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief at Cape Francais, where he took an active part in the civd wars that deso- lated the colony, put down the rebellion of Vin- cent Oge and Chavannes, and checked the revolu- tionary movement that was led by Jean Francois and Jean Biassou. He sided afterward with Gov. Galband against Commissioner Etienne Polverel, and was taken prisoner at Cape Francais, but par- doned by Polverel on account of his military tal- ents. St. Vincent was sent to oppose the progress of the British, who had landed at Jeremie, 19 Sept., 1793, and drove them from Tiburon, but was de- feated at Leogane, and killed in the action.


YINCENT, Francis, journalist, b. in Bristol, England, 17 March, 1822; d. in Wilmington, Del., 23 June, 1884. He was partly educated in Eng- land, emigrated at an early age to Dover, Del., where he acquired a knowledge of the classics, was apprenticed to the proprietor of the " Dela- ware Gazette" in 1839, and on 22 Aug., 1845, began the publication in Wilmington of a news- paper which he called the " Blue Hen's Chicken," from a designation that was given to the Delaware soldiers in the Revolution on account of their fighting qualities. He advocated representation according to population, election of all officers by the people, simplification of legal procedure, the abolition of the whipping-post and of lotteries, universal common-school education, the submis- sion of important laws to the popular vote, exemp- tion of household goods and tools from seizure for debt, the ten - hour working-day, and other changes in the constitution and statute law of Delaware. His projects met with opposition from the leaders of parties, but gained ground among the people. In 1850 the Democrats accepted his proposition for a constitutional convention, which met on 4 March, 1853, and adopted the elective principle and other reforms, but left representa- tion disproportionate. Many who approved re- vision voted against the instrument, with the ex- pectation of ultimately securing a better one, but after Vincent sold his paper in 1854 the agita- tion ceased until he temporarily revived the ques- tion in 1862, when he had purchased the "Com- monwealth," and changed its name to the " Blue Hen's Chicken." He was a member of the Re- publican party from its first organization in Dela- ware, and strongly supported the government in his journal until he disposed of it in September, 1864. He began the publication of "Vincent's Semi- Annual Register in 1860, but discontinued it at the beginning of the war. He addressed to the Cobden club an "Essay recommending the Union of Great Britain and her Colonies and the United States, and the Final Union of the World into One Great Nation " (Wilmington, 1868). This scheme he discussed further in a paper that he pre- sented to the European league of peace at its meet- ing at Paris in 1870. In July, 1871, he published a plan for a railroad from New York to London by way of Bering strait, which he also laid before the New York chamber of commerce and the Na- tional board of trade in Baltimore. He wrote a " History of Delaware " (Philadelphia, 1870-'l).


VINCENT, Frank, traveller, b. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 2 April, 1848. He was educated at Yale, from which college he received the honorary de- gree of A. M. in 1875, and was engaged during a period of eleven years in travel and exploration in all parts of the world. Mr. Vincent is a member of many geographical, ethnological, and archaeo- logical societies, and has received decorations from the kings of Burmah, Cambodia, and Siam. His valuable collection of Siamese and Cambodian anti- quities and art and industrial objects he presented in 1884 to the Metropolitan museum of art, New York city. The ruined temples and palaces of Cambodia and Cochin China were described for the first time in his book entitled " The Land of the White Elephant " (New York, 1874). Among his other works are " Through and Through the Tropics " (1876) ; " Two Months in Burmah " (1877) ; " The Wonderful Ruins of Cambodia " (1878) ; "Norsk, Lapp, and Finn" (1881); "Around and about South America " (1888) ; and " The Republics of Central America" (1889).


VINCENT, John, British soldier, b. in England in 1765; d. in London. England, 21 June, 1848. He entered the British army as ensign in July, 1781, was made, a lieutenant in August of the following year, and became a captain in October, 1786. He attained the grade of major in Way, 1795, in January, 1800, that of lieutenant-colonel, in July, 1810, that of colonel, and in June, 1813, was made a major-general. He was one of the ablest British officers in Canada during the war of 1812— '15. He was commandant of Fort George, and when compelled to evacuate that post, in 1813,