(1802); "Essay on the Colonization Society" (Washington, 1822); and "History of Maryland, from 1683-'60," the introduction of which was published in 1811, and the complete work in Baltimore in 1837. He was a frequent contributor of prose and verse to Dennie's "Port-Folio" and other journals; and he wrote also " An Historical and Philosophical Sketch of the Prime Causes of the Revolutionary War," which was suppressed because of its partisanship, praising Washington at the expense of Franklin.
BRACE, John Pierce, educator, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 10 Feb.. 1793; d. there, 18 Oct., 1872.
He was graduated at Williams in 1812, and, after several years of study, took charge of the Litchfield academy, where he remained until 1832, when he became principal of the Hartford female seminary, in which his niece, Catharine E. Beecher, had already become distinguished. In these two institutions Mr. Brace trained many young ladies who became prominent in the different walks of life; among them, Mrs. H. B. Stowe, Mrs. Cyrus W. Field, Mrs. Cornelius Du Bois, Mrs. M. 0. Roberts,
the missionaries Mrs. Bliss and Mrs. Van Lennep,
of Hartford, and Mrs. McCulloch, wife of the U. S.
secretary of the treasury. After teaching for many
years, Mr. Brace became editor of the Hartford "Courant," one of the oldest and best of New England journals, which, under his management, attained a higher literary reputation than it had previously enjoyed. He was thoroughly equipped in
law, medicine, and theology, and his knowledge of
ancient and modern history was wide and minute.
In mineralogy and botany he made extensive researches and collections, and was in correspondence with eminent botanists at home and abroad during most of his life. Even in unusual subjects of investigation, such as heraldry, astrology,
cryptography, and musical composition, he was
singularly well versed. These varied acquirements
were all willingly consecrated to the service of his
pupils. For the last nine years of his life he remained in his old homestead in Litchfield, pursuing his favorite studies. Mr. Brace published several monographs on mineralogy and botany ;
"Lectures to Young Converts"; a learned and humorous work entitled "Tales of the Devil"; and two novels, "The Fawn of the Pale-Faces," and another story of early New England life. Few men of the time have exerted a wider influence than he in the
direction of all that is best in the lives of American women.—His son, Charles Loring, philanthropist, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 19 June, 1826; d. in Campfer, Switzerland, 11 Aug., 1890. He was graduated at Yale and at Union theological seminary in New York. He was afterward a frequent preacher, but was never permanently connected with any church.
In 1850 he made a pedestrian journey in Great Britain and Ireland, also visiting the Rhine, Belgium, and Paris. An account of this journey was published by his companion, Frederick Law Olmsted, under the title of " Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England" (New York, 1852). After spending a winter in study at Berlin, he visited Hungary in 1851, and was' the first American to visit the interior of the country. While in Gros Wardein he was arrested on suspicion of being a secret agent of the Hungarian revolutionists in America, imprisoned in the castle of Gros Wardein, and, without information being given to the American minister, was tried in twelve different sessions before a court-martial. An opportunity, seemingly accidental, enabled him to communicate the fact of his arrest to Charles J. McCurdy, U. S. charge d'affaires at Vienna, who instituted
vigorous efforts for his release, and, after a bitter
diplomatic correspondence with the Austrian ministry, he was discharged with an apology, after an
imprisonment of a month. But no compensation
for his detention was offered by the Austrian government. He afterward visited Switzerland, Italy,
England, and Ireland, giving special attention to
schools, prisons, reformatory institutions, and the
condition of the masses in European countries.
On his return to the United States, in 1852, his attention being especially called to the miserable
condition of the foreign emigrants and the poorest
classes in the city of New York, he associated himself with the Rev. Mr. Pease in missionary work at the Five Points, then the most degraded district of the city, and also labored on Blackwell's island among the prisons, hospitals, and almshouses. It soon became evident to him and the gentlemen
associated with him that nothing could be done
of permanent benefit to New York which did not
especially include the children of the poor. In
1853 Mr. Brace, with others, formed the children's
aid society, and in 1854 he founded, outside of the
society, the first newsboys' lodging-house in this
country. From that time forward he devoted the
greater part of his time for many years to writing
for the journals, delivering public addresses designed to enlist the fortunate classes in the movement in behalf of the children of the poor, and in managing this association. In 1856 Mr. Brace was a delegate to the international convention for children's charities in London, when he also made a journey in Norway and Sweden. In 1865 he carried out a special sanitary investigation in the cities of Great Britain, and subsequently made a pedestrian journey through Tyrol. Pie was a delegate to the international prison convention in London in 1872, and afterward revisited Hungary and Transylvania, where he was received with marked attention. He was a constant contributor
to the press of New York city. The following list includes his published books, which have nearly all been reprinted in England: "Hungary in 1851" (New York, 1852); "Home Life in Germany" (1853); "Norse Folk," a description of the religious, social, and political condition of the people of Norway and Sweden (1857); "Races of the Old World" (1863); "The New West " (1869); "Short Sermons for Newsboys"; and "The Dangerous Classes of New York" (1872; 3d ed., enlarged, 1880); "Free Trade as promoting Peace and Good-will among Men " (1879); and "Gesta Christi" (1883).
BRACE, Julia, a blind deaf-mute, b. in Newington, Conn., 13 June, 1807; d. in Bloomington, Conn., 12 Aug., 1884. At the age of four years and five months she lost sight and hearing, and soon forgot the few words she had learned to speak. No intelligent attempt was made to educate her until she was eighteen, when she was sent to the American asylum for the deaf and dumb. Here she remained for about thirty years, when she went to live with her sister in Bloomington, Conn. She was paralyzed and bedridden the last year of her life. Her case is peculiarly interesting because her natural intellectual endowment was not of a high order, and as she had reached adult years before any attempt at education was made. She was very irascible and sullen, owing probably to over-indulgence when she first came to the asylum, but under judicious treatment became more amiable. She attained considerable skill in sewing, readily threading her own needle, and in the laundry, where she selected and ironed her own clothes. She made her own dresses, being particular to have them “in the fashion,” and did much sewing for
