Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/325

Rh 1831, and read law in New York city, but illness interrupted his studies, and, after travelling extensively, he entered mercantile life. He afterward taught in Rahway, N. J., and in 1837-44 was principal of the University grammar-school of the city of New York. He had taken a private course in theology, and was licensed as a Presbyterian minister in 1845. After holding a pastorate at Bridgehampton, L, I., he had charge, from 1853 till 1882, of the Reformed church at Easton, Pa., where he had among his congregation the faculty and students of Lafayette college. Dr. Edgar was an eloquent preacher, and an outspoken opponent of slavery during the war. He frequently lectured on educational topics, and in advocacy of temperance. After his death a tablet in his memory was placed on the wall of his church at Easton. He contributed largely to religious and secular magazines, and published numerous orations and sermons, including "Three Lectures on Slavery " (Easton, Pa., 1862); "Four Discourses occasioned by the Death of Lincoln" (1865) ; " Memorial of Russell S. Chidsey" (1865); "An Exposition of the Last Nine Wars" (1867) ; "Christianity our Nation's Wisest Policy" (1872); "A Discourse occasioned by the Death of President Garfield" (1881); and "The Relation of the Pulpit to Polities" (1884).

EDGAR, James David, Canadian lawyer, b. in Hatley, Quebec, 10 Aug., 1841. He was educated by private tuition, and at Lenoxville grammar-school studied law, was admitted to the bar of Upper Canada in 1864, and subsequently practised in Toronto. In 1874 he was sent to British Columbia by the Dominion government to arrange terms for the postponement of the construction of the Canada Pacific railway. He was first returned to the Dominion parliament in 1872, and sat for two years, unsuccessfully contested Centre Toronto in 1882, and was elected by acclamation for West Ontario in August, 1884. He has contributed frequently to the daily press and to periodicals, and is the author of some spirited lyrics. He has published " The Insolvent Act of 1864, with Notes and Forms" (Toronto, 1864); "An Act to amend the Insolvent Act of 1864, with Annotations," "Notes of Decisions, etc." (Toronto, 1865); a pamphlet on the "Commercial Independence of Canada" (1883); and "White Stone Canoe," a poem (1885).

EDGAR, John Todd, clergyman, b. in Sussex county, Del., 13 April, 1792 ; d. in Nashville, Tenn., 13 Nov., 1860. He removed with his parents to Kentucky early in life, and entered Transylvania university, Lexington, but was not graduated. Pie was graduated at Princeton theological seminary in 1816, and in 1817 ordained as a Presbyterian. He was pastor at Flemingsburg, and Maysville, Ky., in 1827, and Frankfort in 1827-'33, where his preaching attracted much attention. Henry Clay said of him: "If you want to hear eloquence, listen to John T. Edgar." He became pastor of the 1st Presbyterian church in Nashville, Tenn., in 1833, and remained there till his death. At one time he edited the " American Presbyterian," published at Nashville. He was much beloved in Nashville by people of all denominations, and on the day of his funeral there was a general suspension of business in the city, by proclamation of the mayor.

EDGREN, August Hjalmar, author, b. in Wermland, Sweden, 18 Oct., 1840. He was graduated at the University of Upsala, and at the Royal military school of Sweden in 1860, came to the United States, and entered the 99th New York regiment as 2d lieutenant in January, 1862. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, and in August, 1863, was assigned to the engineer corps. He

joined the regular army of Sweden, and served from February, 1864, till August, 1870, having been adjutant from July, 1869. He was a teacher of languages in Riverview academy in 1871-'2, instructor in French, German, and Sanskrit in Yale from 1874 till 1880, and lecturer on Sanskrit in the University of Lund, Sweden, from 1880 till 1884, when he became professor of modern languages and Sanskrit in Nebraska university. He is a member of various learned societies, and is the author of numerous papers relating to Sanskrit, Romance, and Germanic philology, and of value to scholars, which have appeared at various times from 1867-'86 in Sweden, England, and the United States. Among his numerous publications are a Swedish translation of Longfellow's &ldquo;Evangeline&rdquo; (Göteborg, 1875); a &ldquo;German and English Dictionary,&rdquo; with Prof. W. D. Whitney (New York and London, 1877); a work in Swedish on &ldquo;The Literature of America&rdquo; (Göteborg, 1878), and on &ldquo;The Public Schools and Colleges of the United States&rdquo; (Upsala, 1879); &ldquo;Swedish Literature in America&rdquo; (Sweden, 1883); and &ldquo;American Antiquities&rdquo; (1885).

EDISON, Thomas Alva, inventor, b. in Alva, Ohio, 11 Feb., 1847. His mother, who had been a teacher, gave him the little schooling he received, and at the age of twelve he became a newsboy on the Grand Trunk line running into Detroit. While thus engaged he acquired the habit of reading. He also studied qualitative analysis, and conducted chemical experiments on the train till an accident caused the prohibition of further work of the kind. Afterward he obtained the exclusive right of selling newspapers on the road, and, with the aid of four assistants, he set in type and printed the &ldquo;Grand Trunk Herald,&rdquo; which he sold with his other papers. The operations of the telegraph, which he constantly witnessed in the stations along the road, awakened his interest, and he improvised rude means of transmitting messages between his father's home in Port Huron and the house of a neighbor. Finally a station-master, whose child he had rescued in front of a coming train at the risk of his own life, taught him telegraph operating, and he wandered for several years over the United States and Canada, acquiring great skill in this art, but frequently neglected his practical duties for studies and experiments in electric science. At this time he invented an automatic repeater, by means of which a message could be transferred from one wire to another without the aid of an operator, and in 1864 conceived the idea of sending two messages at once over the same wire, which led to his experiments in duplex telegraphy. Later he was called to Boston and placed in charge of the &ldquo;crack&rdquo; New York wire. While in that city he continued his experiments, and perfected his duplex telegraph, but it did not succeed till 1872. He came to New York in 1871, and soon afterward became superintendent of the gold and stock