Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/611

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OLIN
OLIN

Saint Sulpice seminary for the training of theo- logical students. In 1655 he drew the plan and laid the foundation of the present magnificent church of Saint Sulpice. In 1636 he obtained from Richelieu permission to found with five asso- ciates the Company of Montreal for the coloniza- tion of that island, which he purchased in 1640 for 20,000 livres, or about $40,000. Toward the close of that year he sent to New France an expedition of eight priests and ninety laborers and mechan- ics ; but they found the island deserted, and several, complaining that they had been deceived as to the condition of the country, returned immediately to Prance. Olier continued to the end of his life to give attention to the missions of Canada, and yearly sent parties of priests and laborers. He ob- tained large sums from the merchants of Paris, Avhich he spent in clearing land around Montreal, building churches, schools, convents, hospitals, and seminaries, some of which still exist. Several ac- counts of Olier's life have been published. The most recent and complete is by the Abbe Faillon, "La vie et les oeuvres de Jean Jacques Olier de Verneuil. cure de la paroisse de Saint Sulpice, 1643-1653 " (Paris, 1855). Olier published several works upon religious subjects, including " Le cathechisme du chretien pour la vie interieure " (1645). His letters, which contain a narrative of the establishments that were founded in Canada by the missionaries of the Congregation of Saint Sulpice, were afterward collected in a volume and published under the title " Lettres et correspon- dance du Pore Olier de Verneuil sur les etablisse- ments de la foi dans la Nouvelle France " (1674).


OLIN, Gideon, member of congress, b. in Rhode Island about 1750 ; d. in Shaftesbury, Vt., 6 Aug., 1822. He settled in Shaftesbury, took an active part in the movement to secure an independent state government, and after the admission of Ver- mont to the Union was elected to the legislature and chosen speaker of the house of representatives. Subsequently he was judge of the county court, and was elected to congress for two successive terms, serving from 17 Oct., 1803, till 3 March, 1807. — His son, Abrain Baldwin, jurist, b. in Shaftesbury, Vt., in 1808 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 7 July, 1879, was graduated at Williams in 1835, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Troy, N. Y., in 1838, and for three years was recorder of that city. He practised in Troy until he was elect- ed as a Republican to congress, and took his seat, 7 Dec, 1857. He was twice re-elected, serving till 3 March, 1863. In that year he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of the District of Co- lumbia. He received the degree of LL. D. from Williams in 1865. — Gideon's nephew, Henry, jurist, b. in Rhode Island in 1767; d. in Salisbury, Vt., in 1837, was brought up in Addison county as a farmer. He was sent to the legislature in 1799, and was a member of the house of representatives, except for four years, until 1825, and of the Consti- tutional conventions of 1814. 1822, and 1828. He was associate judge of the Addison county court in 1801-'6, and chief judge in 1807, and from 1810 till 1824. He was elected to congress to fill a vacan- cy, sitting from 13 Dec, 1824, till 3 March. 1825. In 1827-'9 he was lieutenant-governor. — Henry's son, Stephen, clergyman, b. in Leicester, Vt., 2 March, 1797; d. in Middletown, Conn., 16 Aug., 1851, was graduated at Middlebury in 1820. He taught for three years in Abbeville district, S. C, and became while there a Methodist preacher, joined the South Carolina conference in January, 1824, and was stationed at Charleston. He became known at once as one of the most powerful and fervent preachers in the denomination, but after six months of laborious service his health failed. The " Wesleyan Journal " was established for him in Charleston in October, 1825, but he was not able to assume the edito- rial management. He was ordained as deacon on 13 Jan., 1826, at Milledgeville, Ga., and on 1 Jan., 1827, became professor of belles-lettres in the University of Geor- gia, and while there preached frequently and took part in revivals, being ordained as elder on 20 Nov., 1828. In March, 1834, he was inaugurated as president of Raii(li)lpli

Macon college, a ^Methodist institution that

had been recently established in Mecklenburg county, Va.. where he took charge of the department of mental and moral science, belles-lettres, and political philosophy. In 1832 he received the degree of D. D. from Middlebury college, and in 1834 from the University of Alabama and Wesley- an university. In the spring of 1837 he was forced by infirm health to take leave of the college, which had prospered greatly under his management. He spent a year in Paris, afterward some time in Italy, and then travelled through Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land, returning to the United States in 1840. He had been elected president of Wesleyan university in 1839, but resigned in favor of Rev. Dr. Nathan Bangs, who in 1842 retired in his favor. He introduced a stringent course of disci- pline, restored a religious tone to the college, and secured endowments. Dr. Olin took an active part in the debates of the general conference of 1844, supporting the resolution that called upon his friend. Bishop James 0. Andrew, to desist from the exercise of his olRce while he was connected with slavery. He was strongly censured for this action by many southerners, who recalled the fact that he had once stood in the same position as Bishop Andrew, for his first wife was an owner of slaves. He received the degree of LL. D. from Yale in 1845. He published "Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petra^a, and the Holy Land " (New York, 1843). His two only baccalaureate sermons at Middletown were published soon after they were delivered (1846 and 1851), and afterward in a sin- gle volume entitled " Youthful Piety " (1853). His sermons, sketches, lectures, and addresses were printed under the title of " The Works of Stephen Olin " (1853). A book of travel entitled " Greece and the Golden Horn " was issued posthumously, with an introduction by Rev. John McClintock (1854), and later a work called "College Life, its Theorv and Practice" (1867). See "Life and Let- ters of Stephen Olin" (New York, 1853).— Ste- phen's wife, Jnlia Matilda, author, b. in New York city. 14 Dec, 1814 ; d. there, 1 May, 1879, was a daughter of Judge James Lynch, of New York, and married Dr. Olin in October, 1843. She had been a communicant of the Protestant Episco- pal church from her youth, but united with the Methodist church after her marriage, and thence- forth took an active interest in missionary and Sunday-school work. Mrs. Olin founded Hillside chapel in 1855, near her summer home at Rhine-