Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/235

Rh  member, and was twice re-elected. In 1884 he was a republican presidential elector at large. In 1885-'6 he was a member of the board of state charities. He has written “The Citizen Soldier” (Cincinnati, 1876) and “The Belle o' Becket's Lane” (Philadelphia, 1882).

BEATTY, Samuel, soldier, b. in Mifflin co., Pa., 16 Dec., 1820; d. in Jackson, Stark co., Ohio, 26 May, 1885. He removed with his father, a native of Ireland, to Jackson, Ohio, in 1827, received a limited education in the common schools, and became a farmer. He served nearly two years in the Mexican war as 1st lieutenant in the 3d Ohio volunteers, was elected sheriff of his county in 1857, re-elected in 1859, and on Nov. 16, 1861, became colonel of the 19th Ohio volunteers. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers on 29 Nov., 1862, commanded a division in the battle of Stone river, and was brevetted major-general on 13 March, 1865. In 1866 he returned to his farm in Jackson, where he spent the rest of his life.

BEAUCHAMP, William, clergyman, b. in Kent CO., Del., 26 April, 1772 ; d. in Paoli, Ind., 7 Oct., 1824. He was the son of a Methodist circuit-rider, his boyhood was passed in the western part of Virginia, and he united with his father's church at an early age. He taught school at the age of eighteen, began preaching at nineteen, and at twenty-one was travelling under the direction of the presiding elder. Impressed with the importance of reading and study for a minister of the gospel, he devoted all possible time to intellectual improvement, often studying by torchlight, and became an accomplished classical and Hebrew scholar. In 1794 he joined the itinerants, his circuit lying between the south branches of the Potomac. In 1796 he was ordained deacon, the next year elder, and stationed in New York, and from this time he had the varied experiences of a Methodist preacher, being stationed in Boston, Ohio, Nantucket, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, and elsewhere. In 1801 he married Mrs. Frances Russell of Nantucket, a widow, who thereafter became an important help to him in his ministerial work. Everywhere he preached with great success, and, being a man of wonderful versatility, he turned his hand to every useful work that could bring him into contact with and give him influence with the people. In 1815 he took editorial charge of the " Western Christian Monitor," then the only Methodist Episcopal publication issued in the country ; and in this, as in everything that he undertook, he achieved a decided success. In 1817 he began to build up the town of Mount Carmel, Ill., and during its early days acted as pastor, teacher, civil engineer, lawyer, and master mechanic. In 1823 he was appointed presiding elder of the Indiana district, then embracing nearly the whole state. He exerted a marked influence wherever he went, and always proved himself a natural leader of men. In 1811 he published "Essays on the Truth of the Christian Religion," and a series of "Letters on the Itinerancy," with an introduction by Bishop Soule. appeared after his death.

BEAUGRAND, Honoré, Canadian journalist, b. in Lanoraie, county Berthier, province Quebec, 24 March, 1848. He was educated at Joliette college, and at the military school, entering the latter in 1865, joined the French force under Gen. Bazaine in Mexico, and, after the unfortunate termination of the attempt to install Maximilian as emperor of that country, returned with the French troops to their own country. After remaining nine months in France he went to New Orleans in 1868 and became a journalist. Subsequently he was connected with the press in St. Louis, Boston, Chicago, Lowell, and Fall River. In 1878 he returned to Canada and founded "La Patrie" in Montreal, in place of " Le National," which had recently been discontinued. He is well known as a magazine and political writer, has been decorated by the academy of France, and in 1885 received the cross of the legion of honor from President Grévy of the French republic. M. Beaugrand has been mayor of Montreal for several years, and became conspicuous by his prohibition of the Orange procession in that city in 1878.

BEAUHARNAIS, Alexandre de (bo-har -nav), soldier, b. in Martinique in 1760 ; d. in Paris, 23 July, 1794. This officer, a viscount of France, held a major's commission under Rochambeau in the French contingent during the revolutionary war. Returning to France, he married Josephine de la Pagerie, was chosen deputy to the states-general from the city of Blois, joined the tiers-état, became president of the national assembly, general of division in the army of the Rhine in 1792, and minister of war in 1793. During the reign of terror he fell under the suspicion of the revolutionary tribunal, was falsely accused of having treacherously promoted the surrender of Mentz, and "guillotined." His widow became the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, then a general in the French army, and with him ascended the throne of France.

BEAUHARNAIS, Charles de la Boische de, soldier, b. about 1670; d. 12 June, 1749. He entered the navy as a boy. and was rapidly promoted to the rank of commodore. He was made a marquis of France, governor and lieutenant-general of New France, 11 Jan., 1726; commander of the order of St. Louis, 21 April, 1732; chevalier, lieutenant-general des armies navales, 1 Jan., 1748, at which time he was also governor of Quebec. He was thus for more than twenty years military commander of the French possessions in America. When war was declared against Great Britain by Louis XV. in 1744, he took efficient measures to fortify the approaches to Canada, and ordered the construction of the fort, afterward famous, at Crown Point.

BEAUJEU, Hyacinthe Marie L. de (bo-zhuh), soldier, b. in Montreal. 9 Aug., 1711; killed in action, 9 July, 1755. His first military experience was in the French navy, where he attained the rank of captain and was awarded the cross of St. Louis for distinguished services. He obtained the seigniory of La Colle on Chambly river, Canada, in 1733, succeeded Contrecour in command at Fort Duquesne in 1755, and planned the ambuscade that resulted in Braddock's defeat, 9 July. Beaujeu was in command of the French and Indians, and was killed by the first fire of the British. See "Relations diverse sur la battaille de Monongahela," collected by J. M. Shea (New York, 1860).

BEAUJOUR, Louis Felix de (deb-o-zhoor), author, diplomatist, b. in Provence in 1765; d. in July, 1836. After serving as secretary of legation for France, at Munich and Dresden, and as consul- general in Sweden and Greece, he was appointed consul-general and charge d'affaires in the United States in 1804. During his residence in America he prepared "A Sketch of the United States at the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century," which, with an admirable map, was published in 1814, and is still consulted as one of the more trustworthy of the early foreign books about America.

BEAUMARCHAIS, Pierre Augustin Caron de, French author, b. in Paris, 24 Jan., 1732; d. 18 May, 1799. He was the son of a watchmaker named Caron, and his inventive and musical tal-