Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/145

Rh a treatise on baptism, a number of controversial letters (1805-'6), and occasional sermons.

AUSTIN, Stephen F., pioneer, b. about 1790; d. in Texas, 27 Dec, 1836. He was the son of Moses Austin, an enterprising pioneer from Connecticut, who in 1830 obtained from Mexico authority to colonize 300 families in Texas, but died before the project could be accomplished. Stephen obtained a confirmation of the grant, and, having already selected the present site of Austin, he founded what soon grew into a thriving settlement. He was entitled to a large tract for each 200 families induced to settle, and proved himself an able diplomatist by inducing unmarried young men to pair off together and call themselves families. In this way he soon acquired a large tract of fertile land, and, being clothed with almost absolute authority, he practically ruled the whole connnunity, and successfully fought the warlike tribes of Indians in the vicinity. In 1833 the American settlers, were so powerful that they became uneasy under Mexican rule, and Austin went so far that he was arrested and imprisoned for several months. On his liberation in 1835 he took jjart with the revolutionists, was appointed commander-in-chief, and straightway undertook to expel the Mexicans, sending for Gen. Sam. Houston to lend his aid. In November of that year he was sent as commissioner to the United States to secure recognition from the government at Washington. In this capacity he acted with prudence and patience, and in his opinion could even then have obtained recognition of Texan independence had he been properly provided with credentials. In July, 1830, he returned to Texas to prosecute the work, but died without witnessing the result of his labors.

AUSTIN, William, author, b. in Charlestown, Mass., 2 March, 1778; d. there, 27 June, 1841. He was graduated at Harvard in 1798, and studied law. His published works are "Oration on the Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill " (Charlestown, 1801); "Letters from London" (Boston, 1804); "Essay on the Human Character of Jesus Christ " (1807); "Peter Rugg, the Missing Man," in the "New England Galaxy," and "The Late Joseph Natterstone," in the "New Englander." The most successful of these was "Peter Rugg," a legendary tale, which made a great sensation. About 1805 he was wounded in a duel with James H. Elliott, caused by a political quarrel.

AVELEDO, Agustin (ah-va-lay'-do), Venezuelan scientist, b. in Caracas, 31 Aug., 1836. He founded a meteorological observatory and an orphan asylum, and later became the director of the Colegio de Santa Maria. He has published articles on meteorological subjects, and is a corresponding member of several European societies.

AYELLANEDA, Gertrndis Gomez de (ah-vail-yahn-ay'-da), Spanish author, b. in Puerto Principe, Cuba, in 1816; d. in Madrid, Spain, 1 Feb., 1876. Her father was a Spanish naval officer, and after his death she went to Spain, where her first drama, "Leoncia," was favorably received at Madrid in 1840. In 1845 she was crowned with laurel in the presence of the court and received a prize, for a poem exalting the clemency of the queen. In 1846 she married Pedro Sabador, a young Spanish politician, who died in the same year, and she afterward lived in retirement at Madrid and Seville. She wrote lyrical poetry (2 vols., 2d ed., Mexico, 1852), sixteen dramas, and eight volumes of prose, which gave her a high reputation.

AYELLANEDA, Nicolas, Argentine president, b, 1 Oct., 1836. When only twenty-five years of age he was made professor of political economy in the university of Buenos Ayres, where he had studied law, as he had studied also at Cordoba. Not long afterward President Sarmiento appointed him a member of his cabinet, and in 1874 Avellaneda himself became president of the republic. His administration was prosperous, notwithstanding some internal troubles, like those which gave cause for a campaign against the Indians in 1876. Avellaneda was president until 2 Oct., 1880, when his minister of war. Gen. Roca, succeeded him. Avellaneda gained considerable fame by his radical reform in the system of division of public lands ; and he is the author of an important work on that subject, entitled "Estudios sobre tierras publicas."

AYERELL, William Woods, soldier, b. in Cameron, N. Y., 5 Nov., 1832; d. in Bath, N. Y., 3 Feb., 1900. His grandfather was a captain in the revolutionary army under Sullivan. Young Averell was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in June, 1855, and assigned to the mounted riflemen. He served in garrison and at the school for practice at Carlisle, Pa., until 1857, when he was ordered to frontier duty, and saw a great deal of Indian fighting, mainly against the Kiowas and Navajos. He was severely wounded in a night attack by the Navajos in 1859, and was on sick-leave until the outbreak of the civil war in 1861. He was promoted to be first lieutenant of the mounted riflemen 14 May, 1861, and was on staff duty in the neighborhood of Washington, participating in the battle of Bull Run and other engagements until 23 Aug., 1861, when he was appointed colonel of the 3d Pennsylvania cavalry, and commanded the cavalry defences in front of Washington. He was engaged with the army of the Potomac in its most important campaigns. In March, 1863, he began the series of cavalry raids in western Virginia that made his name famous. The first notable one was on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of March, and included the battle of Kelly's Ford, on the upper Rappahannock. In August he drove a confederate force over the Warm Spring mountains, passed through several southern counties, and near White Sulphur Springs attacked a force posted in Rocky Gap, for the possession of which a fight ensued, lasting two days (26 and 27 Aug.). Averell was repulsed with heavy loss, but made his way back to the union lines with 150 prisoners. On 5 Nov. he started with a force of 5,000 men and drove the confederates out of Greenbrier co., capturing three guns and about 100 prisoners. In December he was again in motion, advancing with a strong force into southwestern Virginia. On 16 Dec. he struck the Virginia and Tennessee railroad at Salem, Gen. Longstreet's base of supplies. He destroyed the railroad, severing an important line of communication between the confederate generals Lee and Bragg, and burned a large quantity of provisions, clothing, and military equipments. When he began his retreat the alarm had been given, and all