Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/259

Rh assigned to the 1st infantry, promoted 1st lieuten- ant in May, 1855, and was in service at the acade- my as adjutant from 2 Sept., 1859, till 13 May, 1861. He served during the civil war in the Northern Virginia campaign in August and Sep- tember, 1862, with the Army of the Potomac in the Maryland campaign, and was chief quarter- master of the Department .of the Gulf from 16 Dec, 1862, till July, 1865. He was present at the siege of Port Hudson in 1863, and on 13 March, 1865, was brevetted major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brigadier-general, for meritorious services dur- ing the war. He was depot quartermaster at New Orleans from 1 Oct. till 16 Dec, 1865, and was chief quartermaster of the Department of Louisi- ana from 1 Oct., 1865, till 7 March, 1866. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel and deputy quarter- master-general 29 July, 1866 ; colonel and quarter- master-general, 22 Jan., 1881, and brigadier-gen- eral and quartermaster-general, 1 July, 1883. Gen. Holabird has translated Gen. Jomini's "Treatise on Grand Military Operations " (1865).

HOLBROOK, Alfred, educator, b. in Derby, Conn., in 1816. He is the son of Josiah Hol- brook, a philanthropic educator and inventor. The son received part of his education at the academy in Groton, Mass. He possessed great in- ventive talents and a taste for civil engineering, but devoted himself to teaching. He founded a large institution at Lebanon, Ohio, principally for the training of teachers, which proved success- ful. He published a volume of " Lectures " on the subject of education.

HOLBROOK, Amos, physician, b. in Belling- ham, Mass., 23 Jan., 1754; d. in Milton, Mass.. 17 June, 1842. Early in life he began the study of medicine, and in 1775 entered the army as a sur- geon's mate in Col. John Greaton's regiment. In March, 1776, he was appointed a surgeon in this corps, and soon afterward accompanied it to New York and then to Albany, with the troops that were intended to re-enforce the expedition against Quebec. In March, 1777, failing health obliged him to apply for a discharge, and he soon after- ward began practice in Milton, Mass. In the summer of that year he procured the place of sur- feon in a privateer under the command of Capt. Truxton, visited France, and returned to Milton in about a year. About this time he established temporary hospitals for the admission of patients who had been inoculated for the small-pox, and was active in introducing and promoting public vaccination in Milton, which was the first town in the country that in a corporate capacity gave its in- habitants the benefits of this protective agent. In 1811 he was elected a foreign member of the Medical society of London. In 1813 the degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by Harvard. HOLBROOK, James, journalist, b. in 1812 ; d. in Brooklyn, Conn., 28 April, 1864. He was to a great extent self-educated, and was a printer by trade. He was for several years editor of the "Norwich Aurora," and in i839 established the "Patriot and Eagle " at Hartford, Conn. In 1845 Mr. Holbrook was appointed special agent of the post-office department, which office he held till his death. He was remarkably skilful as a detect- ive, and brought many mail robbers to justice. In 1859 he established " The United States Mail," a journal devoted to postal matters, which he edited till his death. He is the author of " Ten Years among the Mail-Bags," in which he narrates his experience as a detective (1855).

HOLBROOK, John Edwards, naturalist, b. in Beaufort, S. C, 30 Dec, 1794; d. in Norfolk, Mass., 8 Sept., 1871. He spent his early life in Wren- tham, Mass., which for many years had been the home of his father's family, and was graduated at Brown in 1815. He took his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1818, and then continued his professional studies for two years in London and Edinburgh, after which he spent two more years on the continent, devoting much time to natural history, especially in Paris. In 1822 he returned to the United States, and established himself as a physician in Charleston, S. C. He was chosen professor of anatomy at the Medical college of South Carolina in 1824, and continued to occupy that chair for more than thirty years. Dr. Holbrook attained a high reputation by his lectures, owing to his wonderful knowledge of com- parative anatomy, but seldom performed a surgical operation or attended an obstetric case. During the civil war he was head of the examining board of surgeons of South Carolina. Dr. Holbrook's work as a naturalist made his name widely known. His first contribution to science was " American Her- petology, or a Description of Reptiles inhabiting the United States" (5 vols., 4to, Philadelphia, 1842). The simplicity and precision of its descrip- tions, and the beauty and correctness of its illus- trations, attracted attention not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Through it he became acquainted with Louis Agassiz, with whom he afterward maintained the friendliest of relations, visiting him annually during his summer trips to New England. He then began a " Southern Ich- thyology," to include descriptions of the fishes of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, but, after the publication of two numbers, he found the field too extensive, and therefore confined his studies to the "Ichthyology of South Carolina " (Charleston, 1854 et seq.), of which ten numbers made their appearance. In consequence of the civil war this publication was discontinued. He was a member of the American philosophical society and an early member of the National academy of sciences. — His brother, Silas Pinckney, author, b. in Beaufort. S. C, 1 June, 1796; d*. in Pineville, S. C., 26 May, 1835, was graduated at Brown in 1815, studied law in Boston, and practised at Medfield, Mass. He was one of the most popular contributors to the " New England Galaxy " and the " Boston Courier," to which he furnished sketches entitled " Letters from a Mariner and Travels of a Tin Peddler," under the name of "Jonathan Farbrick," and amusing " Letters from a Boston Merchant," and " Recollections of Japan and China." These, with others, were published as " Sketches by a Traveller " (1834). He also wrote the European part of Peter Parley's " Pictorial Geography," and conducted the "Boston Trib- une, and a comic paper called the " Spectacles."

HOLCOMBE, Amasa, manufacturer, b. in that part of Granby, Conn., that now belongs to Southwick, Mass., 18 June, 1787; d. there, 27 Feb., 1875. He was a farmer's son, and received a district-school education. In 1806 he made surveyors' compasses for his own use, and two years afterward began the compilation of almanacs, which he published for several years. Subsequently he taught surveying, civil engineering, and astronomy, and in 1826 adopted the profession of civil engineering. In 1828 he began to make telescopes, and until 1842 had no competitor in the United States. For his skill he received in 1835 the " Scott Legacy " from the city of Philadelphia, a silver medal from the Franklin institute in 1838, a gold medal from the American institute, New York, in 1839, and a diploma in 1840 from the same institute. He repre-