Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/62

40 received a military education in Spain, and in 1793 had become a bri,<i:adier-general. He wrote a v;ilua- ble work entitled " Diccionario geografico liistorieo de las Indias Occideutales 6 America " (Madrid, 1 786).

ALCIBAR, Jose, the last of the painters be- longing to the old Mexican school. Very little is known" about his life, but he executed many works of merit, especially two large paintings in the cathe- dral of Mexico, dated 1779. He must have lived to an old age, as he was already an artist work- ing with Carrera fifty years before that time. ALCOCER, Vidal, Mexican philanthropist, b. in the city of Mexico, 8 April, 1801 ; d. there 22 Nov., 1800. When very young he worked as a bookbinder, and then as a gunsmith, until he entered the army. He fought in the war of independence, at the end of which he retired, but afterward took part in the organization of troops for the war against the French, and then as a soldier in operations to defend his native city from the American army. His chief aim in life was to promote education among destitute children, in pursuit of which he organized, in 1846, an association which, in August, 1853, had established twenty schools for poor children in the city of Mexico, and from 1854 to 1858 the number of these schools was increased to thirty-three, with 7.000 boys and girls receiving a good elementary education. ALCORN, James Lusk, statesman, b. near Golconda, 111., 4 Nov., 1816; d. in Coahoma co.. Miss., 20 Dec, 1894. He was educated at Cumberland college. For five years he was deputy sheriff of Livingston co., Ky., and in 1843 was elected to the legislature. In 1844 he removed to Mississippi and began the practice of law. From 1846 to 1865 he served in one branch or the other of the legislature. In 1853 he was chosen elector - at - large on the Scott ticket, and in 1857 was nominated as governor by the whigs. This he declined, and was a candidate for congress in that year, but was defeated by L. Q. C. Lamar. He was the founder of the levee system in his state, and in 1858 he became president of the levee board of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta. In 1861 he was elected brigadier-general by the state convention, of which he was a member, but his commission was refused by Jefferson Davis on account of old political differences. He was elected to the U. S. senate in 1865, but was not allowed to take his seat. He was elected governor in 1869 on the republican ticket, from which office he resigned on being elected to the U. S. senate, where he served for six years, from 4 Dec, 1871. In 1873 he was defeated as independent candidate for governor of his state. ALCOTT, Amos Bronson, educator, b. in Wolcott, Conn., 29 Nov., 1799; d. in Boston, 4 March, 1888. His father was a farmer. While yet a boy he was provided with a trunk of various merchandise, and set out to make his way in the south. He landed at Norfolk, Va., and went among the plantations, talking with the people and reading their books. They liked him as a companion, and were glad to hold discussions with him on intellectual subjects. They would keep him under their roofs for weeks, reading and conversing, while he forgot all about his commercial duties. But when he returned to the north his employer discovered he had not sold five dollars' worth of his stock. He relinquished his trade in 1823, and established an infant school, which immediately attracted attention. His method of teaching was by conversation, not by books. In 1828 he went to Boston and established another school, showing singular skill and sympathy in his methods of teaching young children. His success caused him to be widely known, and a sketch of him and his methods, under the title of &ldquo;A Record of Mr. Alcott's School,&rdquo; by E. P. Peabody, was published in Boston in 1834 (3d ed., revised, 1874). This was followed in 1836 by a transcript of the colloquies of the children with their teacher, in &ldquo;Conversations with Children on the Gospel.&rdquo;

His school was so far in advance of the thought of the day that it was denounced by the press, and as a result he gave it up and removed to Concord, Mass., where he devoted himself to the study of natural theology, reform in education, diet, and civil and social institutions. In order to disseminate his reformatory views more thoroughly, he went upon the lecture platform, where he was an attractive speaker, and his personal worth and originality of thought always secured him a respectful hearing. In 1842 he went to England, on the invitation of James P. Greaves, of London, the friend and fellow-laborer of Pestalozzi in Switzerland. Before his arrival Mr. Greaves died, but Mr. Alcott was cordially received by Mr. Greaves's friends, who had given the name of &ldquo;Alcott House&rdquo; to their school at Ham, near London. On his return to America, he brought with him two English friends, Charles Lane and H. G. Wright. Mr. Lane bought an estate near Harvard, in Worcester co., Mass., which he named &ldquo;Fruitlands,&rdquo; and there all went for the purpose of founding a community, but the enterprise was a failure. Messrs. Lane and Wright soon returned to England, and the property was sold. Mr. Alcott removed to Boston, and soon after returned to Concord. He afterward led the life of a peripatetic philosopher, conversing in cities and villages, wherever invited, on divinity, human nature, ethics, dietetics, and a wide range of practical questions. These conversations, which were at first casual, gradually assumed a more formal character. The topics were printed on cards, the company met at a fixed time and place, and for a while they attracted much attention. Mr. Alcott throughout his life attached great importance to diet and government of the body, and still more to race and