Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/138

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BIERSTADT—BIGELOW.
121

from 1868 to 1871. He was one of the assistant Boundary Commissioners under the Reform Act of 1867, and acted as private secretary to Mr. Cardwell when that statesman was Secretary for War, in 1871–73. From 1873 to 1878 he was Assistant Adjutant-General at headquarters; in March, 1879, he was nominated Her Majesty's Commissioner for arranging the payment due to the Turkish Government under the Convention concluded in the previous year; and in May, 1879, he was appointed High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the island of Cyprus, on the transfer of Sir Garnet Wolseley to Natal. He was nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath (military division) in 1877, and created a Knight Commander of the Order of SS. Michael and George in 1880. He married, in 1864, Sophia, daughter of the Rev. A. L. Lambert, rector of Chilbolton, Hampshire, and widow of Mr. R. Stuart Palmer.


BIERSTADT, Albert, born at Düsseldorf, in Germany, in 1828. His parents emigrated to the United States when he was two years of age, and settled in New England. He went to Germany in 1853, studied painting in the Düsseldorf Academy, spent a winter in Rome, made the tour of Switzerland and the Appennines, and returned to the United States in 1857. In 1858 he accompanied General Lander's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, where he spent several months in making sketches. He was made an Academician in 1860. In 1863 he produced his celebrated picture, "View of the Rocky Mountains,—Lander's Peak," which at once gave him a high reputation. Among his subsequent works, the most noticeable have been—"Sunlight and Shadow," "The Storm in the Rocky Mountains," "Domes of the Yosemite," "Laramie Peak," "Emigrants Crossing the Plains," "Mount Hood," "Mount Whitney," and "Scene near Fort Laramie." In 1873 he visited the Pacific coast, and engaged upon new pictures of that region. In 1871 he was made a member of the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg. His house and studio at Irvington, New York, were destroyed by fire in November, 1882; but, though his loss was considerable, his more valuable pictures were fortunately at his studio in New York City, and so escaped destruction.


BIGELOW, John, born at Malden, New York, Nov. 25, 1817, graduated at Union College in 1835. He was admitted to the bar in 1839, and practised at New York for about ten years. In 1840 he was connected with the Plebian, and in 1843–45 was a frequent contributor to the Democratic Review. He was State Prison Inspector from 1845 to 1848, and originated some important reforms in the discipline of the prisons of New York. In 1850 he became a partner with William C. Bryant, in the ownership and editing of the New York Evening Post, and was the managing editor until 1861. He visited Jamaica, and on his return published "Jamaica in 1850." In 1854 he sailed again for the West Indies. In 1861 he was appointed American Consul at Paris; in Dec., 1864, he became Chargé d'Affaires; and in April, 1865, he was appointed Minister to the Court of France. He resigned in December, 1866, and after spending some time in travel in Europe, returned to the United States in 1868; but in the following year he again returned to Europe, making Berlin his residence for several years. Besides several political essays, he has published a "Life of John C. Fremont." 1856; "Les États-Unis en 1863," Paris, 1863; an edition of the "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin from materials collected in France," 1868; "Some Recollections of Antoine Pierre Berryer,"