Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/80

58 Propositions "of church discipline, in which he had the assistance of Mr. Shepherd, of Cambridge, and also a "Defence of the Synod of 1662 against President Chauncey," besides a large number of sermons and addresses.

ALLISON, Burgess, clergyman, b. in Bordentown, N. J., 17 Aug., 1753: d. in Washington. 20 Feb., 1827. He became a convert to the Baptist faith early in life, and began to preach when he was sixteen years old. He studied at Rhode Island college (now Brown university) in 1777, and subsequently had charge of a small congregation at Bordentown, N. J., where he established a classical boarding-school, which attained great reputation. In 1790 he withdrew from his teaching and devoted his time for several years to inventing. Some improvements in the steam-engine and its application to navigation are due to his efforts. In 1801 he resumed his school, and soon afterward his pastorate, but ill health compelled him to relinquish both. He was elected chaplain of the house of representatives in 1816, and later became chaplain at the navy-yard, Washington, where he remained until his death. Dr. Allison had considerable mechanical and artistical ability. He was for some time one of the secretaries of the American philosophical society, and was a constant contributor to periodical literature.

ALLISON, William Boyd, senator, b. in Perry, O., 2 March, 1829. He spent his early years on a farm, and was educated at Alleghany college, Pennsylvania, and Western Reserve college, Ohio. He studied law, and practised in Ohio until 1857, when he went to Dubuque, Iowa. He was a delegate to the Chicago convention of 1860, a member of the governor's staff in 1861, and rendered valuable service in raising troops for the war. He was elected in 1862 to the 38th congress, as a republican, and returned for the three succeeding congresses, serving in the house of representatives from 7 Dec, 1863, till 3 March, 1871. In 1873 he was elected to the U. S. senate, as a republican, and he has been re-elected four times. His term of service will. expire in March. 1903.

ALLOUEZ, Claude Jean, explorer, b. in France, in 1620; d. near St. Joseph's river, in the state of Indiana, 27 Aug., 1689. He went to Quebec from France in 1658. As a Jesuit missionary he traversed the regions of Lake Superior and parts of the Mississippi valley, and left interesting records of his experiences and observations. He founded a mission at Chemorniegon, on Lake Superior, in 1665, and in 1676 reestablished permanently at Kaskaskia, Ill., the mission that was begun by Marquette but abandoned on the approach of La Salle. His observations on the Indians were printed in the Jesuit "Relations."

ALLSTON, Robert Francis Withers, statesman, b. in All Saints' parish, S. C., 21 April, 1801; d. near Georgetown, S. C, 7 April, 1864. In 1821 he was graduated at West Point, ranking so high in his class as to be assigned to the artillery; but after a year's service he resigned, and became a rice-planter, civil engineer, and surveyor in South Carolina. From 1823 to 1827 he was state surveyor-general. In 1828 he was elected to the legislature, and in 1832 to the senate, of which he became successively acting president and president (1847-'56). He was deputy adjutant-general in 1831-38, trustee of South Carolina college, Columbia, 1841-64, and governor of the state in 1856-'58. He was a progressive agriculturist, an active member of various societies, and the author of a "Memoir on Rice" (1843); "Report on Public Schools" (1847); and "Essay on Sea-Coast Crops" (1854). In politics he advocated state sovereignty. His study of rice-culture was of much advantage to that industry.

ALLSTON, Washingrton, painter, b. in Waccamaw, S. C, 5 Nov., 1779; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 9 July, 1843. In early boyhood he removed to Newport, R. I., and there attended school. He then studied at Harvard college, and was graduated in 1800. In the following year he went abroad and became a student at the Royal academy, and three years later he removed to Rome and there studied the works of the old masters, meanwhile gaining for himself a high reputation as a colorist. He returned to the United States in 1809 and married a sister of Dr. William Ellery Channing. His second wife was a sister of R. H. Dana. From 1811 to 1818 he resided in England, and during these years produced some of his best pictures. Of these, " The Dead Man Revived " gained a prize of 200 guineas from the British institute. His " Uriel in the Sun," " Jacob's Feast," and other smaller pictures, now owned in Eng- land, were produced at this time. In 1818 he opened a studio in Boston. His best -known works in the United States are "Jeremiah," "The Witch of Endor," "Miriam," "Rosalie," "Madonna," "Spanish Girl," "Spalatro's Vision of the Bloody Hand," and " Belshazzar's Feast," an unfinished composition now in the Boston athenæum. Among the portraits painted by him are those of Benjamin West, Coleridge the poet, and one of himself. His works show a high imaginative power, and his ability as a colorist earned for him the name of the "American Titian." He was also a man of fine literary tastes, and in 1809 he delivered a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge. "The Sylphs of the Seasons," which was published in London in 1813, and later "The Paint King" and "The Two Painters," appeared. In 1841 he published "Monaldi," a romance illustrating Italian life, and in 1850 a volume of his "Lectures on Art, and Poems." See Ware's "Lectures on the Works and Genius of Washington Allston" (Boston, 1852), and "Artist Biographies, Allston" (1879).

ALLSTON, William, soldier, b. in 1757; d. in Charleston, S. C, 26 June, 1839. He was a captain during the revolutionary war under Marion, the famous partisan leader. After the return of peace he married the daughter of Rebecca Motte, and became a successful planter and a large slave-owner. He was for many years a member of the South Carolina senate.— His son, Joseph, statesman, b. in South Carolina in 1778; d. 10 Sept., 1816. He was for several years a prominent member of the South Carolina state legislature, and governor in 1812-'14. He married Theodosia, daughter of Aaron Burr, and from this fact arose unjust suspicions regarding his patriotism. During his term as governor his wife, a charming and accomplished woman, was lost at sea during a voyage from New York to Charleston.