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FRENCH
FREMONT, John Charles, naval officer, was
born in San Francisco, Cal., April 19, 1851; son
of Gen. John Charles and Jessie (Benton) Fre-
mont ; and grandson of John Charles and Anne
Beverly ( Whiting) Fremont, and of Thomas H.
and Elizabeth (McDowell) Benton. He was edu-
cated at The Gunnery, Washington, Conn.,
and at the Peekskill military academy, N.Y.,
and was graduated from the U.S. naval acad-
emy, midshipman, June 1, 1873. He was or-
dered to the Wabash on a European trip, 1872-7-4;
promoted ensign July 15, 1873; ordered to the
Powhatan, in service in the North Atlantic
station. 1876-78; promoted master, Nov. 25,
1877; was on special lighthouse duty, 1878-
81 ; promoted junior lieutenant, March 3, 1883 ;
on the coast sm'vey, 1881-84; ordered to the
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DO BOATi
Hartford, in the Pacific station, 1884-86, and was
promoted lieutenant, Sept. 2, 1884. He served in
the hydrographic office, 1886-88 ; was recorder of
the board of inspection, 1888-89; on ordnance
duty at the navy yard, Washington, D.C., 1889-
90; in service on the Philadelphia, in the North
Atlantic station, from July, 1890, to June, 1893;
on leave of absence from June to September,
1893, and superintendent of the harbor of New
York from September, 1893, to August, 1898.
He commanded the torpedo boat Porter in the
Spanish-American war in 1898, and was present
at the destruction of Cervera's fleet, but in that
affair, as in the blockade duty leading up to it,
the torpedo boats found no service to which they
were especially adapted. He was later super-
visor of New York harbor. He was married in
October, 1877, to Sally Anderson.
FRENCH, Alice, author, was born at Andover, Mass., March 19, 18.")0; daughter of George Heni-y and Frances (Morton) French; and grand- daughter of George and Mary (Richardson) French and of Marcus and Charlotte Tillinghast (Hodges) Morton. Among her ancestors are William French and George Morton, the Pil- grims; Jonathan Danforth, the Rev. John Loth- rop. Pardon Tillinghast, and others well known in the early history of New England. She was educated at Abbot academy, Andover, Mass., and resided in the southwest after 1883. She acquired a reputation as a writer of short stories, in which she depicted western character. She wrote under the pen name Octave Thanet and
her publislied works include: Knitters in the Sun
(1881); Otto the Knight (1883); Expiation (1886);
We All (1888); Stories, of a Western Town (1891);
An Adventure in Photography (1893) ; Missionary
Sheriff (lSi)r)) ■ A Book of 'I'rue Lovers (1897) ■ The
Heart of Toil (1898); A Slave to Duty and Other
Women (1898); and contributions to the leading
magazines in the United States.
FRENCH, Benjamin Franklin, hi.storian, was born in Richmond, Va., June 8, 1799. He at- tended a classical school and afterward studied law. In 1830 he removed to Louisiana where he engaged in planting, commercial pursuits and literary work, collecting a library which he pre- sented to the Fiske free library, New Orleans, La. In 1853 he removed to New York and gave his whole time to historical research. Among his published books are: Bingraphia Americana (1835); Memoirs of Eminent Female Writers {1821) ; Beauties of Byron, Scott and Moore (1838) ; His- torical Collections of Louisiana (1846-58) ; History and Progress of the Iron Trade of the United States (1858) ; and Historical Annals of North America (ISOl). He died in New York city, May 30, 1877.
FRENCH, Calvin Hervey, educator, was born in Williamsburg, Ohio, June 13, 1863 ; son of the Rev. Charles P. and Mary (Brown) French; and grandson of George French of Washington county, Pa. He was graduated from Lake Forest university, 111., in 1888, and from the Union theological .seminary in New York in 1891. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister, Nov. 17, 1891, and was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Scotland, South Dakota, 1891-98. He was principal of the Scotland academy, 1897-98, and in the latter year was elected president of Huron college, Huron, South Dakota. He was secretary of the Presbytery of South Dakota, 1896-98.
FRENCH, Daniel Chester, .sculptor, was born in Exeter, N.H., April 30, 1850; son of Henry Flagg and Anne (Richard.son) French; and grandson of Daniel and Sarah (Flagg) French and of William M. and Bet.sy (Smith) Richardson. His paternal grandfather was attorney-general of New Hampshire and his maternal grandfather was chief -justice of the same state. He removed to Cambridge, Mass. , in 1860, to Amherst in 1865 and to Concord in 1867. He early became a prac- tical ornithologist. In 1867 he studied in the Massachusetts in.stitute of technology. At the age of eighteen he carved from a turnip a gro- tesque figure of a frog in clothes, which attracted the admiration of Miss May Alcott, then a draw- ing teacher in Boston. She loaned him her modelling tools and from that time he devoted his life to sculpture, first attending Dr. William Rimmer's artistic anatomy classes. In 1870 he made his first exhibition, a bas-relief of his sister,
