Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/321

Rh  law ordering the closest possible examination of the weight and fineness of all the coins in the world. It was found that those of the United States were more uniform than the coins of other nations, and thenceforth Mr. Eckfeldt's reputation as an assayer was world-wide. The office to which he was appointed during Andrew Jackson's presidency he held until his death.

ECKFORD, Henry, naval architect, b. in Irvine, Scotland, 12 March, 1775; d. in Constantinople, 12 Nov., 1832. In his sixteenth year he was placed with a naval constructor at Quebec, and in 1796 removed to New York, where he introduced important changes in the art of ship-building, and took the lead in this business, his vessels proving superior in strength and speed. In the second war with Great Britain, 1812-'15, he was employed by the government to construct ships-of-war on the lakes, and filled the contract with expedition and skill. After the war he built the steamer &ldquo;Robert Fulton,&rdquo; which, in 1822, made the first successful voyage by steam to New Orleans and Havana. When afterward rigged into a sailing-vessel she became the fastest and most efficient sloop-of-war in the Brazilian navy. Mr. Eckford was appointed naval constructor at Brooklyn in 1820. Six ships-of-the-line, of which the &ldquo;Ohio&rdquo; was the first, were built after his models. The &ldquo;Ohio,&rdquo; which was one of the old line-of-battle ships, was in her day one of the finest in the world, and Mr. Eckford distinguished himself in designing and building these ships-of-war. The &ldquo;Ohio&rdquo; was three times in special government service; twice a flag-ship; and, finally, as a receiving-ship in Boston in 1850, was the scene of many brilliant festive occasions, being visited by thousands from all parts of the world. He left the government service in consequence of disagreement between the naval commissioners, and began building war-vessels for European and South American powers. President Jackson requested him to submit a plan for the reorganization of the navy, which he did, and he was about to establish a professorship of naval architecture for Columbia college, by giving $20,000 to it, having engaged the first professor, when a disastrous affair swept away his large fortune. In 1831 he built a sloop-of-war for Sultan Mahmoud, of the Ottoman empire, and was solicited to enter his service as chief naval constructor for the empire. This led him to visit Turkey, where he established a navy-yard, and there died. Mr. Eckford's house in &ldquo;Love Lane,&rdquo; now West 26th street, New York, was the resort of the friends and poets Halleck and Drake and Dr. De Kay, two of whom became his sons-in-law. He was a man greatly beloved for a character both forceful and beautiful.

ECKLEY, Joseph, clergyman, b. in England in 1750; d. in the United States in 1811. He was graduated at Princeton in 1772, and ordained pastor of the Old South church, Boston, in 1779. He was an original member of the Society for propagating the gospel among the Indians in 1787, and was for many years one of the Boston association of ministers of Congregational churches when they formed only one association. In 1806 he delivered the Dudleian lecture, which was published. He also published several sermons between 1782 and 1810. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Princeton in 1793.

ECKMAN, Julius, journalist, b. in Rawicz, Prussia, in 1805; d. in San Francisco, Cal., 5 July, 1874. He studied at Berlin, and, after teaching for a few years, came to Mobile, Ala., in 1846. Subsequently he officiated in New Orleans, Charleston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Dr. Eckman established the &ldquo;Gleaner&rdquo; (now the &ldquo;Hebrew Observer&rdquo;) in San Francisco, and worked zealously to arouse the religious sentiment of the community. He belonged to the strict conservative school, and was noted for his scholarship.

EDDIS, William, loyalist, b. in England about 1745. He came to this country in 1769, and settled at Annapolis, under the protection of Sir Robert Eden, governor of Maryland. He held the office of surveyor of customs, and was intimately acquainted with prominent men of all parties " until the un- fortunate misunderstanding which arose between the parent state and the colonies rendered it im- possible for every one like him, sincerely and steadily attached to the former, to continue in the country." On 4 June, 1776, Eddis, with others, was summoned to appear before the patriot '• com- mittee of observation," and on 11 June, refusing to give bonds for his conduct, he was ordered to leave the country before 1 Aug. He was allowed to remain and hold his office, however, till April, 1777, when he made his way to a British man-of- war and returned to England. He published an interesting collection of his " Letters from Ameri- ca" (London, 1792).

EDDY, Ansel Doan, clergyman, b. in Williams- town, ]\Iass., 15 Oct., 1798; d. in Lansingburg, N. Y., 7 Feb., 1875. He was graduated at Union in 1817, at Andover theological seminary in 1822, and held pastorates at Canandaigua, N. Y., Newark, N. J., where he organized the Park Presbyterian church, Chicago, Wilmington, 111., and Seneca Falls, N. Y. From 1865 till 1870 he was agent of the American and foreign Christian union at Lan- singburg, N. Y. He published " The Christian Citizen " (New York) and " Addresses on the Duties, Dangers, and Securities of Youth " (1836).

EDDY, Daniel Clarke, b. in Salem, Mass., 21 May, 1823; d. in Cottage City, Mass.. 26 July, 1896. He was graduated at New Hampton theological institution, N. II., and was ordained to the ministry us pastor of the 1st Baptist church, Lowell, Mass., in which relation he continued for ten years. In 1850 he made a visit to. Europe. In 1854 he was elected by the American or " know-nothing " party to a seat in the Massachusetts legislature, an(l on the organization of the house was chosen, quite unexpectedly to himself, to be its speaker. In 1856 he resigned tlie charge of the church in Lowell, and in the interval between that year and his death had been pastor in Boston, Fall River, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. In 1881 he removed to the last-named place, where he was long pastor of a Baptist church. In 1861 he again went abroad, extending his trip to Palestine and Turkey. JMadison university conferred upon him the degree of I). D. in 1856. Dr. P^ddy published "Young jMan's Friend" (1st series, Lowell, 1849; 2d series, Boston, 1859) ; " The Burman Apostle " (Lowell, 1850) ; "Europa," a book of words (1851); "The Percy Family" (5 vols.. 1852); "Walter's Tour in the East " (6 vols., Boston, 1861) ; " Hero-