Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/383

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LAY


LAZARUS


Richmond, Va., by Bishops Meade, Mcllvaine, Polk, DeLancey, Whittingham, Elliott, Cobbs and Atkinson. During the civil war he was recognized as bishop of Arkansas, but in 1865 the old order was re-established. The diocese of Easton was created in 1868; he was translated to its charge April 1, 1869. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Hobart college in 1857, and by the College of William and Mary in 1873, and the University of Cambridge, England, gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1867. He published missionary reports, papers on "Social Science," and occasional sermons, and is the authorof: Letters to a Man Bewildered among Many Counsellors; Tracts for Missionary Work (2 vols.); Studies in the Church (1872); The Lord and His Basket; Church in the Nation (1885); Ready and Desirous (1885). He died in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 17, 1885.

LAY, John Louis, inventor, was born in Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 14, 1832. He was appointed second assistant engineer in the U.S. navy in July, 1862, and was promoted first assistant engineer in October, 1863. He designed the torpedo which was used by Lieut. William B. Cushing to destroy the Confederate ironclad Albemarle in the Roanoke river at Plymouth, N.C., Oct. 27, 1864. After the fall of Richmond in 1865, he was sent in advance of Admiral Porter's fleet to remove obstructions from the James river. At the close of the war he joined the Peruvian service and fortified the harbor of Callao with fixed mines and suspended torpedoes, in order to prevent the entrance of the Spanish fleet, and he also served other of the South American republics as a torpedo expert. He returned to the United States in 1867, and invented the Lay locomotive submarine torpedo, which was purchased by the U.S. government. This torpedo, a cylindrical boat with conical ends, was designed to carry either a spar torpedo or some high explosive and was propelled by a screw driven by a carbon dioxide gas engine. The boat could be connected to the shore or a ship by a coil of rope, enabling the operator to steer, regulate and explode it by means of an electric battery and keyboard. His inventions brought him a large fortune, which he lost in speculation, and his last days were spent in poverty. He died in Bellevue hospital, New York city, April 17, 1899.

LAY, Oliver Ingraham, portrait painter, was born in New York city, Jan. 31, 1845; son of George Cowles and Julia (Hartness) Lay ; grandson of David Lay, of Lymetown, and a descendant of John Lay, who came from England in the seventeenth century and settled in Lymetown. He devoted himself to the study of art early in life ; was a student in the Cooper institute and the National Academy of Design, and was also a pupil of Thomas Hicks for three years. He was made an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1876, and a member of the Artists' Fund society in the same year. He was a regular exhibitor at the Academy, and his works exhibited there include : portraits of James Parton, Edwin Booth as "Hamlet" (owned by the Players club), Cyrus W. Field, Winslow Homer, C. C. Colman, C. C. Griswold, and Miss Fidelia Bridges. The four last named are owned by the National Academy of Design. Among his genre paintings are : The Letter, The Window, Watching the Snow, The Two Friends, and The Last Days of Aaroti Burr (owned by the Century association, New York). He died at Stratford, Conn., June 28, 1890.

LAYTON, Fernando Coello, representative, was born in Anglaize county, Ohio, April 11, 1847 ; son of William Van Rensselaer Mortimer and Rebecca (Waggoner) Layton, and grandson of William M. Layton. He attended the public schools of Anglaize county and Wittenberg college, Springfield, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1869 and practised in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was county school examiner for several years ; was prosecuting attorney, 1875-78, and was a Democratic representative from the fourth district of Ohio in the 52d, 53d and 54th congresses, 1891-97.

LAZARUS, Emma, poet, was born in New York city, July 22, 1849. She was a member of a prominent Jewish family and received a liberal education, acquiring a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the modern languages and studied religious, philosophical and scientific subjects. In 1882, when many Russian Jews were immigrating to New York city, she published in the American Hebrew, a series of articles on occupation for the newcomers. Her plan involved industrial and technical education. She also