Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/231

Rh na, 26 Sept., 1868. He was graduated at Union in 1827, and studied law at Litchfield. During the same year he married Miss Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper, and, through the influence of Chief-Justice Taney, a personal friend of the family, was appointed, in 1827, receiver for the sale of public lands in the northwest, having his office in Green Bay, Wis. He returned to Cooperstown in 1884, and lived for some years in a beautiful residence called "Woodside," gathering around him a brilliant circle of cultured and refined society, prominent among whom were J. Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, James Watson Webb, and the English ballad-singer Henry Russell. Later he returned to Wisconsin, and was engaged in agriculture, being the first to- introduce blooded cattle into the northwest. About this time his mother died in Maryland, leaving him over thirty slaves and some slight property. Southerner though he was, and straitened in circumstances in comparison with his earlier life, the spirit of the free west led him to liberate his slaves. He further devoted the entire proceeds obtained from the sale of the property to the support of these slaves as long as the means lasted, or until they were able to earn a living for themselves. Li 1846 he was elected to the constitutional convention from the county of Marquette, and was prominent in the organization of the state government. Again, in 1847-'8, he served similarly in the convention then assembled, and in 1850 became lieutenant-governor of the state, serving for two years. He then became Indian agent, and was among the first to take chiefs of tribes under his care to Washington. Among these were the sachems of Munsees and Stockbridge tribes. One chief of the latter tribe, John Quincey, created much interest and wonder by the delivery of an eloquent speech, now recorded iir history as a sample of remarkable power and pathos. This speech was written by Mr. Beall, and taught word by word to the chief, even to the questions, who proved an apt scholar to so able a teacher. The original manuscript is still carefully preserved among the family possessions. In 1859 he led a party to Pike's Peak, and while on this expedition with others located the city of Denver. This place immediately started into rapid growth, and during the following winter Mr. Beall was sent to Washington to obtain a charter for the city. He resided in Denver until 1861, when he returned to Wisconsin. At the beginning of the civil war he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 18th Wisconsin regiment, and he was in the various engagements from Shiloh to Vicksburg. Having been severely wounded, he was then transferred to the invalid corps. Shortly after the war he settled at Helena, where he was shot during an altercation.

BEALL, William Dent, soldier, b. in Maryland in 1755 ; d. in Prince George co., Md., 24 Sept., 1829. He was a major in the revolutionary army, and was distinguished for his services both at Long Island and at Camden, S. C. On 8 Jan., 1799, he was appointed major of the 9th infantry, and in the following year deputy-adjutant-general and deputy-inspector-general. He was made lieutenant-colonel of the 5th infantry 12 Dec, 1808, and on 30 Nov., 1810, colonel of the 3d infantry, from which he was transferred in April, 1812, back to the 5th. He resigned 15 Aug., 1812, but commanded a regiment of militia at the battle of Bladensburg in 1814. He was afterward sheriff of Prince George county.

BEAN, William, the first white settler west of the Alleghanies. He was a companion of Daniel Bocne in his visit to Kentucky in 1760, and returned in 1768 and settled with his family on Boone's creek, a small tributary of the Watauga.

BEARD, George Miller, physician, b. at Montville, Conn., 8 May, 1839 ; d. in JSTew York, 23 Jan., 1883. His father was a clergyman. The son studied at Phillips Andover academy, and was graduated at Yale in 1862. He studied a year in the medical department of Yale, and in 1866 obtained his medical degree at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. For eighteen months, in 1863-'4, he was assistant surgeon on the gun-boat "New London," in the western gulf blockading squadron. In 1865 he settled in" New York and made diseases of the nervous system his specialty. He introduced several new methods of electrization, and was the first to point out and exemplify the tonic effects of electricity. With Dr. Rockwell he published a work on "General Electrization" (1867). He also published an essay on "The Longevity of Brain-Workers" (1867). In 1868 he translated from the German and edited Tobold's "Chronic Diseases of the Larynx," and in the following year published "Our Home Physician." In 1871 he published with Dr. Rockwell "Medical and Surgical Uses of Electricity," which was translated into German by Viiter, of Prague; also two popular treatises, entitled "Stimulants and Narcotics" and "Eating and Drinking," based on a study of the customs of all ages and races. At this time he introduced the method of central galvanization, and published the results of experiments in the electrical treatment of diseases of the skin. In 1873 he published with Dr. Rockwell "Clinical Researches in Electro-Surgery," and a paper on " Atmospheric Electricity and Ozone, their Relation to Health and Disease." He was the author of an important monograph on "Legal Responsibility in Old Age " (1874), based on physiological researches into the relation of age to work. He founded the "Archives of Electrology and Neurology," a semi-annual journal, which was continued two years (1874-'6). In 1874 he entered on a systematic study of animal magnetism, spiritualism, clairvoyance, and mind-reading, in their relation to the nervous system. He explained the performances of the famous Eddy brothers, and also of Brown the "mind-reader," maintaining that what was called mind-reading was nothing more than the unconscious action of mind on body. In 1876 he published a work on "Hay Fever," advancing the nerve theory of that disease, and in 1877 papers on "The Scientific Basis of Delusions," on "Mental Therapeutics," and on the " Physiology of Mind- Reading"; in 1878-9 monographs on "The Scientific Study of Human Testimony and Experiments with Living Human Beings," and "The Psychology of Spiritism." In 1879 he gave the results of a long study of writer's cramp, and in 1880 a monograph on the "Problems of Insanity," and a systematic treatise on "Nervous Exhaustion (Neurasthenia)"; also a work on '• Seasickness, its Nature and Treatment." Dr. Beard gave much attention to the functional nervous disease known as inebriety, and published papers making clear the distinction between the vice of drinking and the disease, and indicating the treatment by sedatives and tonics. He lectured on nervous diseases in the university of New York in 1868. and in 1879 was a delegate to the British medical association at Cork, where he presented a paper on "Inebriety and allied Nervous Diseases of America." He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature on topics relating to psychology and the nervous system, and also delivered popular lectures on psychological and neurological subjects.