Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/692

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STEDMAN
STEDMAN

was rewarded for his services by being appointed Swedish ambassador at St. Petersburg iii 1790, which post he long retained. In 1814 he repaired to Paris in command of the Swedish army, and was the ambassador of the king of Sweden to sign the treaty of peace with France.


STEDMAN, Charles, soldier, b. in Philadel- phia in 1753; d. in London, 26 June, 1812. He entered the army, served as an officer under Lord Percy at Lexington in 1775, and subsequently with Lord Howe in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and with Lord Cornwallfs in the south. During his later years he was a deputy-comptroller of the stamp-office. He published ""The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War" (2 vols., London, 1794; Dublin, 1794). This excellent work is especially valuable for its military maps. William Thomas Lowndes ascribes its au- thorship to Dr. William Thompson.


STEDMAN, Edmund Clarence, poet, b. in Hartford, Conn., 8 Oct., 1833. The son of Edmund B. Stedman, a merchant of Hartford, and Elizabeth C. Dodge, who was a sister of William E. Dodge, and who, subsequently to the death of Mr. Stedman, married William B. Kin- ney. Mr. Sted- man is further re- lated through his mother to Will- iam Ellery Chan- ning, Bishop A. C. C'oxe, Ex-Presi- dent Cleveland, and T. W. Higgin- S0n ' ^ e WSS P re " P arei * for colle S e at Norwich, Conn., and in 1849 en-

(/ tered Yale, where

he distinguished himself in Greek and in English composition. His poem of " Westminster Abbey," published in the" Yale Literary Magazine" in 1851, received a first prize. In his junior year he was sus- pended for irregularities, and did not receive his degree until 1871, when he was restored to his class, and received the degree of A.'M. From 1852 to |sr,:> Mr. Stedman edited successively the Norwich " Tribune " and the " Winsted Herald." He then removed to New York city, where he contributed to " Vanity Fair," " Putnam's Monthly," " Har- per's Magazine "and other periodicals, and finally drifted into journalism. During 1859 his poems " The Diamond Wedding," " How Old John Brown took Harper's Ferry," and similar lyrics appeared in the " Tribune." Their success led him to issue his " Poems, Lyric and Idvllic " (New York. 1860). He joined the editorial staff of " The World," 1860, and was war correspondent for that paper, 1861-'3. Later he accepted an appointment under Attorney- General Bates, but in 1864 he returned to New York and relinquished journalism to adopt some pursuit that would leave him more leisure for lit- erary work. To this end Mr. Stedman soon pur- chased a seat in the stock exchange, and became a broker. His poetry of this period is includrd in " Alice of Monmouth, an Idyll of the Great War " (New York, 1864); "The Blameless Prince" (Bos- ton, 1869) ; " Poetical Works " (1873). With T. B. Aldrich, he edited "Cameos" (Boston, 1874), se- lected from the works of Walter Savage Landor. He also edited, with an introduction, " Poems of Austin Dobson " (New York, 1880). About 1875 Mr. Stedman began to devote attention to critical writing, and contributed to "Scribner's Monthly" a series of sketches, which were later rewritten and published as "Victorian Poets" (Boston, 1875 ; London, 1876 ; 13th ed., with a supplement, bringing it down to 1887). In a similar manner he prepared " Poets of America " (Boston, 1886). With Ellen M. Hutchinson he edited a " Library of American Literature " in eleven volumes (1888- '90). In 1891 Mr. Stedman succeeded Mr. Lowell as president of the American copyright league. In the same year he delivered the initiatory course of lectures of the Turnbull chair of poetry at Johns Hopkins university. These lectures were repeated at Columbia college and at the University of Penn- sylvania, and were afterward published in the volume "The Nature and Elements of Poetry" (1892). In 1895 appeared "A Victorian Anthol- ogy." "An American Anthology" is now in press, the two volumes supplementing their editor's critical reviews of the poetry of Great Britain and the United States during the 19th century. In 1894-'5 Mr. Stedman also edited and brought out. in conjunction with Prof. G. E. Woodberry, a definitive edition of Poe's works, in ten volumes, with a biography, and critical essays on Poe's tales, criticisms, and poems. In 1897 appeared " Poems Now First Collected." Mr. Stedman has delivered many poems on public occasions, the most important of which are " Gettysburg," 1871 ; the " Dartmouth Ode," 1873; The' Monument of Greeley," 1876 ; " The Death of Bryant " ; " Merid- ian, an Okl-Fashioned Poem " (read at the twen- ty-fifth anniversary of the Yale class of 1853), 1878; " Corda Concordia " (read before the Summer school of philosophy), 1881; the "Yale Commencement Ode," set to music by Horatio Parker, 1894. He has also been engaged during many years on a complete metrical translation of the Greek idyl- lic poets. Other publications include " Octavius Brooks Frothingham and the New Faith " (New York, 1876) ; " Hawthorne, and other Poems " (1877) ; " Lyrics and Idylls " (London, 1879) ; " The Raven, with Comments on the Poem " (Boston, 1882). In 1891 Mr. Stedman received the degree of L. H. D. from Columbia, and in 1884 the degree of LL. 1). from Yale. In 1896 he removed from New York city to Lawrence Park, Bronxville, N. Y., where he now resides. His cousin, I. rilli n Alex- ander, soldier, b. in Hartford. Conn., 6 Jan., 1838 ; d. near Petersburg, Va., 6 Aug., 1864, was graduated at Trinity in 1859, and began to study law, but in 1861 entered the volunteer army as captain in the 5th Connecticut regiment. He was transferred to the llth Connecticut as major after seeing service in the Shenandoah valley, and took part in the battle of Antietam, leading half of the regiment in the charge on the stone bridge, and receiving a severe wound. He commanded the regiment at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and at the beginning of the overland campaign of 1864 was placed at the head of a brigade. He re- peatedly won the commendation of his superiors, and was mortally wounded in one of the skirmishes that followed the mine-explosion at Petersburg. Fort Stedman, one of the works near that place, had been named for him. He had been strongly recommended for promotion to brigadier-general, and was given that rank by brevet, to date from 5 Aug., 18(i4. His grave at Hartford is marked by a monument of granite and bronze.


STEDMAN, John Gabriel. British soldier, b. in Holland in 1744; d. in England in 1797. Ilo early lost his paternal estate, and expected to enter