Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/335

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EDWARDS
EGAN
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partly selected. In 1842 he edited the works of his grandfather, and in 1850 those of the Rev. Dr. Bellamy (2 vols., Andover). He has prepared for the press " Select Poetry for Children and Youth " (New York, 1851); "Jewels for the Household" (Hartford, 1852) : " The World's Laconics " (New York, 1852) ; " Wonders of the World " (Hartford, 1855) ; and " Anecdotes for the Family." Several of the foregoing have passed through many editions, and been reprinted in England. He has also edited " Charity and its Fruits " from the manu- scripts of the elder President Edwards, and for years had editorial charge of " The Family Chris- tian Almanac." — Pierrepont, lawyer, youngest son of Jonathan, Sr., b. in Northampton, Mass., 8 April, 1750 ; d. in Bridgeport, Conn., 5 April, 1826. From the fact that his father was a mis- sionary to the Stockbridge, Mass., Indians, he early became so proficient in their language that he was wont to say that he "thought in Indian." He was graduated at Princeton in 1768, and began the practice of law in New Haven in 1771. He was frequently elected to the legislature, and was ap- pointed administrator of the estate of Benedict Arnold at the time of his treason. He took an early stand in favor of independence, and served in the Revolutionary army, taking part in two hard- fought battles. He was a member of the Conti- nental congress of 1787-'8, and an able advocate of the constitution of the United States in the con- vention held to ratify it. He was the founder of the Toleration party in Connecticut, and by his ability and perseverance drew upon himself the animosity of the Calvinists. At the tijne of his death he was a judge of the U. S. district court. — Henry Waggainan, senator, son of Pierrepont, b. in New Haven, Conn., in 1779 ; d. there, 22 July, 1847, was graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1797, and studied at the Litchfield law-school. He settled in New Haven, and was twice elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 6 Dec, 1819, till 8 March, 1823. He was apijointed U. S. senator to fill a vacancy, and subsequently elected for a term, serving from 1 Dec, 1828, till 4 March, 1827. He was afterward elected a member of the state senate (1827-'9), and of the state house of representa- tives, of which he was chosen speaker in 1880. In 1883 he was elected governor of Connecticut, and again in 1835 and 1888. In 1838 he received the degree of LL. D. from Yale. During his term of office as governor he recommended a geological survey of the state, which was accordingly made. — Henry Pierrepont, lawyer, son of Henry Waggarnan, b. in 1809 ; d. in New York city, 24 Feb., 1855, was judge of the supreme court of New York for over seven years, and sustained a high reputation for independence and legal ability. — Ogden, lawyer, brother of Henry Waggaman, b. in Connecticut in 1781 ; d. on Staten Island, 1 April, 1862, removed to New York city in the early part of the century, and served for many years as surrogate. He was afterward a member of the legislature, and in 1821 sat in the convention called to revise the constitution of the state. He was subsequently appointed circuit judge of 1he su- preme court, and continued in that office until in 1841 he reached the age when he was no longer eligible. He was at one time candidate of the Whig partv for governor.


EDWARDS, Weldon Nathaniel, politician, b. in Warren county, N. C, in 1788 ; d. there, 18 Dec, 1878. He received an academical education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1810, and settled at Warrenton, N. C. He was a mem- ber of the state house of commons in 1814-'15, and was then elected as a democrat to congress, and re-elected five times, serving from 7 Feb., 1816, to 8 March, 1827. He was chosen to the state senate in 1883, successively re-elected until 1844, and again elected in 1850, when he was chosen president of that body. He was a member of the North Carolina constitutional convention in 1835, and president of the State convention that passed the ordinance of secession in 1861.


EDWIN, David, engraver, b. in Bath, England, in December, 1776; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 23 Feb., 1841. He was the son of John Edwin, a comedian. David was apprenticed to Jossi, a Dutch engraver residing in England, who soon re- turned to Holland, taking his apprentice with him to Amsterdam. Master and boy did not long agree, and the latter left before his term of appren- ticeship had expired. Finding iiimself alone in a foreign land, without either money or friends, he shipped as a sailor on an American vessel bound for Philadelphia, hoping eventually to reach Lon- don. He landed in Philadelphia in December, 1797, obtained emjiloyment from T. B. Freeman, an English publisher, and was also employed by Edward Savage, the painter. He devoted himself to the engraving of portraits, and succeeded in doing the best work that had been produced in this country up to that time. His copies of the por- traits of Gilbert Stuart were especially good. He engraved the pictures of Wasliington, by Stuart and Peale, and made copies of the portraits of prominent men of the day painted by those artists and by Waldo, Wood, Jarvis, Sully, and Neagle. After twenty years of steady application his eye- sight failed, and he was compelled to resort to various methods to obtain a livelihood. He also possessed considerable taste and skill as a musician. A list of Edwin's principal works will be found in "American Engravers" (Phihidelphia, 1875).


EGAN, Maurice Francis, author, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 24 May, 1852. He was graduated from La Salle college, and in 1878 became professor of English literature in Georgetown college. On leaving Georgetown he studied law for a time, but finally became a journalist. He edited "McGee's Illustrated Weekly," which, while under his man- agement, was highly successful. After his connection with this newspaper had ceased he travelled through the western and southern states and Mexico, and embodied his observations of those countries in magazine articles and letters to the press. On his return he became an editor of the "Catholic Review," and in 1881 of the "Freeman's Journal," of which he is now editor-in-chief (1887). He has published "That Girl of Mine," and several other anonymous novels (1879); "Preludes," a collection of his poems that had appeared in various magazines (1880); "Songs and Sonnets" (London, 1885); "The Theatre and Christian Parents" (1885); "Stories of Duty" (1885); "A Garden of Roses" (1886) ; and " The Life around Us," a collection of tales, with a strong religious tendencv (1886).


EGAN, Michael, R. C. bishop, b. in Ireland ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1814. He was educated in Ireland, where he became a. priest of the Franciscan order. He came to the United States in 1802, labored as a missionary at Lancaster. Pa., and in 1804 made an unsuccessful attempt to found a province of the Franciscan order in the United States. Pie was then appointed pastor of St. Mary's church, Philadelphia. In 1810 he was consecrated bishop of the new diocese of Philadelphia, but was able to do little, owing to the opposition of the trustees of his cathedral, who insisted on having a voice in the selection of their pastors.