Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/569

Rh October, 1863, he was appointed major of the 6th and in June, 1864, colonel of the 22d U. S. colored troops, being present at the siege of Petersburg with the Army of the James. He was severely wounded in October, 1864. He was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general of U. S. vol- unteers, and colonel and brigadier-general, U. S. army. On 28 July, 1866, he was appointed lieu- tenant-colonel of the 43d U. S. infantry, but owing to his wounds he was unable to serve, and he was retired on 15 Dec, 1870, with the full rank of brigadier-general in the regular army.

KIDERLEN, William Ludwig Joseph, author, b. in Ulm, Würtemberg, Germany, in 1813; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 22 July, 1877. He was educated at the gymnasium in Ulm, and came to this country in 1836. He served in the state department in Washington, was U. S. consul to Stuttgart, and subsequently to Zürich, and from 1860 till 1871 was consul of Würtemberg at Philadelphia, where he resided until his death. He was the editor of several German newspapers in this country, including the Philadelphia &ldquo;Stadtpost&rdquo; and the Cincinnati &ldquo;Republikaner,&rdquo; and published &ldquo;Deutsche Grammatik&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1837); &ldquo;Geographie und Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten&rdquo; (1838); and &ldquo;Advice to Emigrants.&rdquo;

KIDWELL, Zedekiah, physician, b. in Fairfax county, Va., 4 Jan., 1814; d. in Fairmount, Va., 27 April, 1872. He was educated by his father, who was a civil engineer, and also studied at Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia, where he was graduated in 1839. After practising for several years he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1849, and practised in Fairmount, Va. He served in the state house of representatives, was a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1849, and a presidential elector on the Pierce and King ticket in 1852. He was a representative in congress from 1853 till 1857, having been chosen as a Democrat, and was then elected one of the three commissioners that formed the Virginia board of public works, serving for several years. From 1861 until the close of the civil war he held a civil office near Richmond.

KIEFER, Herman, physician, b. in Salzburg, Baden, Germany, 19 Nov., 1825. He was educated at Freiburg, Mannheim, and Carlsruhe, and studied medicine at Freiburg, Heidelberg, Prague, and Vienna, being graduated by the state board of examiners at Carlsruhe. He served as surgeon in the volunteer regiment of Emmendingen during the revolution of 1849, taking part in the battle of Philippsburg and Upstadt. He came to this country in September, 1849, and settled in Detroit, where he has since practised medicine. He has been actively interested in German-American affairs, and was a founder of the German-American seminary, of which he was president and treasurer from 1861 till 1872. In 1866-'7 he was a member of the Detroit board of education, and in 1882 he became a member of the public library commission, being re-elected in 1883 for a term of six years, and adding to the library a large collection of German works. He was chairman of the German Republican executive committee of Utica in 1854, a presidential elector in 1872, and a delegate to the Republican national convention of Cincinnati in 1876. In 1883 he was appointed by President Arthur U. S. consul to Stettin, which office he held till he resigned in 1885. He prepared valuable articles, which were published in the U. S. consular reports, and include &ldquo;American Trade with Stettin,&rdquo; &ldquo;How Germany is Governed,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Labor in Europe.&rdquo;

KIEFFER, Moses, clergyman, b. in Letter-kenny, Franklin co.. Pa., 5 May, 1814. He was graduated at Marshall college, Pa., in 1839, and ordained to the ministry of the German Reformed church. He was pastor of the 1st Reformed church in Hagerstown, Md., from 1840 till 1850, when he was called to found and build the 2d Reformed church in Reading, Pa. In 1855 he became president of Heidelberg college, Tiffin, Ohio, which post he held till 1864, serving as professor in the theological department from 1855 till 1867. After holding pastorates in Sandusky, Ohio, and in Greencastle, Pa., he became connected with a church in Gettysburg, Pa., of which he is now (1887) pastor. The publications of his church were under his care from 1848 till 1863, and he has contributed to religious periodicals.

KIEFT, Wilhelm, governor of New Netherlands, b. in Holland about 1600; d. off the coast of Wales in 1647. He was the fifth Dutch governor of New Netherlands, and was coldly received on his arrival there in " The Herring." 28 March, 1638. It was said that he had failed in the mercantile business in Holland, and had been hanged in effigy, which was, in the Dutch estimation, a lasting disgrace. Subsequently he had been sent by the government as minister to Turkey, and intrusted with money to procure the ransom of Christians that were held in bondage; but these captives were left in their chains, and the money never refunded. Kieft was energetic, but spiteful and rapacious, and utterly ignorant of the true principles of government. He began his ad- ministration by concentrating all executive power in his own hands, with one councillor, Dr. Johannes La Montague. He found New Amsterdam in a wretched condition, and said in his first letter to Holland, "The fort is open at every side, except the stone point; the guns are dismounted ; the houses and public buildings are all out of repair; the magazine for merchandise has disappeared; every vessel in the harbor is falling to pieces; only one wind-mill is in operation ; the farms of the company are without tenants and thrown into commons." Kieft began his reformatory work by pasting proclamations upon the trees and fences. He ordered that no attestations or other public writings should be valid before a court in New Netherlands unless they were written by the colonial secretary. He improved the appearance of the town, and selected Pearl street, then a simple road on the bank of the river, for the best class of dwellings. A wind-mill stood on State street, and not far from it were the bakery, the brewery, and the company's warehouse. He repaired Fort Amsterdam, and erected a private distillery on Staten island in 1640, which produced the first beer that was ever made in this country; but he forbade "the tapping of beer during divine service, and after one o'clock at night." He prohibited illegal traffic and the selling of guns or powder to the Indians, and enforced police ordinances, ordering the town-bell to be rung every evening at nine o'clock to announce the hour for retiring, every morning and evening to call persons to and from labor, and on Thursdays to summon prisoners to court. To promote agriculture he established two annual cattle-fairs, and caused orchards to be planted and gardens cultivated. Owing to the growth of the town and the increasing number of travellers, he concluded to erect a public-house. A clumsv stone tavern was completed in 1642 on the corner of Pearl street and Coenties slip, fronting East river. He was also active in the erection of the stone church in the fort, and caused a mar-