Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/666

620 tributed about $50,000 to the Western theological Seminary in Pittsburg, Pa.

LAUGHLIN, James Laurence, political econo- mist, b. in Deerfield, Ohio, 2 April, 1850. He was graduated at Harvard with the highest honors in 1873, after which he taught in Boston for five Vears. In 1878 he was appointed instructor in po- litical economy in Harvard, and in 1883 he became Srofessor of this branch. In 1876 he received the egree of Ph. D. from Harvard, presenting a the- sis on " Anglo-Saxon Legal Procedure," which was published in " Essays of Anglo-Saxon Law " (Bos- ton, 1876). He is a member of the International institute of statistics, and other societies, and is correspondent for the "Vierteljahrschrift für Volkswirthschaft," of Berlin. He has contributed reviews and papers upon economic and political subjects to periodicals, and published a new edition of John Stuart Mill's " Principles of Political Economy," abridged, with bibliographical, explanatory, and "critical notes, and a sketch of the history of politi- cal economy (New York, 1884 ; 3d ed., 18*86) ; "The Study of Political Economy : Hints to Students and Readers" (1885) ; "The History of Bimetallism in the United States" (1885) ; and "The Elements of Political Economy, with Some Applications to Questions of the Day " (1887).

LAUMAN, Jacob Gartner, soldier, b. in Taney- town, Md., 20 Jan., 1813 ; d. in Burlington, Iowa, in February, 1867. His early days were spent in "York county, Pa., and he was educated at the academy there. In 1844 he removed to Burling- ton, Iowa, where he engaged in commerce. He was commissioned colonel of the 7th Iowa regi- ment in July, 1861, served under Gen. Grant in Missouri, and was severely wounded at Belmont, 7 '-Nov., 1861. At Port Donelson, where he com- manded a brigade, he was one of the first to storm 'and enter the enemy's works. For his services on this occasion he was made brigadier-general of vol- unteers on 21 March, 1862. Gen. Lauman com- manded a brigade in Gen. Hurlbut's division at the battle of Shiloh, 6 and 7 April, 1862, and a division •at the siege of Vicksburg. He was relieved by Gen. William T. Sherman after the capture of ^Jackson, Miss., 16 July, 1863, and returned to Iowa.

LAUNITZ, Robert Eberhard, sculptor, b. in Riga, Russia, 4 Nov., 1806; d. in New York city, 13 Dec, 1870. His father, a German sculptor, studied under Thorwaldsen, whom he assisted in restoring the Æginetan marbles. The son also studied under Thorwaldsen, and, settling in New York in 1828, became the first instructor of Thomas Crawford. He was made a member of the National academy, and has been called the father of monumental art in America. Among his productions are the Pulaski monument in Savannah, Ga., the Battle monument in Frankfort, Ky., the monument to Gen. George H. Thomas in Troy, N. Y., and other similar works, many of which are in Greenwood cemetery.

LAURENS, Henry, statesman, b. in Charleston, S. C., in 1724; d. there, 8 Dec, 1792. His ances- tors were Huguenots, who had left France at the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He was educated in Charleston and became clerk in a counting-house there, from which he was transferred to a similar house in London in order to acquire a thorough business education. Upon his return he engaged in mercantile pursuits and acquired a fortune. He was conspicuous in his opposition of British aggression, and had frequent contests with the crown judges, especially in respect to their decisions in marine law and in the courts of admiralty, and the pamphlets that he published against these measures gave evidence of great legal ability. He also served in a military campaign against tile Cherokees, of which he left a diary in manuscript. Retiring from business, he went to England in 1771 to superintend the education of his sons, and travelled through Great Britain and on the continent. While in London he was one of the thirty-eight Americans who signed a petition in 1774 to dissuade parliament from passing the Bos- ton port bill. He returned to Charles- ton in that year, was a member of the 1st Provincial congress there in 1775, and drew up a form of association to be signed by all the friends of liberty. He also became pres- ident of the council of safety. In 1776 he was made vice- president of South Carolina under the new constitution and elected a delegate to the Continental congress, of which he became president after the resignation of John Hancock, serving from 1 Nov., 1777, till 10 Dec, 1778. In 1779 he was appointed minister to Holland to negotiate a treaty that had been unofficially proposed to William Lee by Van Berckel, pensionary of Amsterdam. He sailed on the packet " Mercury," which was captured by the British frigate " Vestal," of twenty-eight guns, off Newfoundland. Mr. Laurens threw his papers overboard ; but they were recovered, and gave evidence of his mission. The refusal of Holland to punish Van Berckel, at the dictation of Lord North's ministry, was instantly followed by war be- tween Great Britain and that country. Mr. Lau- rens was taken to London, examined before the privy council, and imprisoned in the Tower, on 6 Oct., 1780, on " suspicion of high treason." for nearly fifteen months, during which his health was greatly impaired. He was ill when he entered, but no medical attendance was provided, and it was more than a year before he was granted pen and ink to draw a bill of exchange to provide for himself. But he obtained a pencil, and frequent communications were carried by a trusty person to the outside world, and he even corresponded with American newspapers.

When his son John appeared in Paris in 1781 to negotiate a loan with France, Mr. Laurens was informed that his confinement would be the more rigorous because the young man had openly declared himself an enemy to the king and his country. It was suggested that if Mr. Laurens would advise his son to withdraw from his commission, such action would be received with favor at the British court ; but he replied that his son was a man who would never sacrifice honor, even to save his father's life. Laurens received attention from many friends, among whom was Edmund Burke. Twice he refused offers of pardon if he would serve the British ministry. While a prisoner he learned of his son John's death in a skirmish in South Carolina, and on 1 Dec, 1781, he addressed a petition to the house of commons, in which he said that he had striven to prevent a rupture between the crown and colonies, and asked for more liberty. He was soon afterward exchanged for Lord Cornwallis and commissioned