Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/494

466 FISHER, Joshua Francis, author, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 Feb., 1807; d. there. 21 Jan., 1873. He was graduated at Harvard in 1825, studied law, and was admitted to the Phihidelphia bar in 1829, but never practised. Mr. Fisher was one of the incorporators of the Pennsylvania institution for the instruction of the blind, the second of its kind in America. He remained one of its trustees until his death, was president for one year, and rendered important services to the institution by his exami- nation of the systems of instruction in Europe during three foreign tours, and the reports of his •conclusions. Early in life he became interested in historical studies, particularly those relating to America and to Pennsylvania, and was one of the earliest and most industrious members of the His- torical society of Pennsylvania. In 1829, when only twenty-two years old, he delivered before the society " An Account of the Early Poets and Poetry of Pennsylvania," which was published in the " Memoirs " of the society. His contributions to the society were numerous and valuable. The most important was his address on the "Private Life and Domestic Habits of William Penn " (188G). Mr. Fisher was one of the earliest advocates of minority representation, and, with perhaps one ex- ception, the first American writer on that subject. He published " The Degradation of our Represent- ative System and its Reform," proposing a plan of reform different from those of all other writers, which attracted much attention among students of the subject in this country and in Europe (1868) ; " Reform of Municipal Elections " (1806) ; and " Nomination of Candidates" (1868).

FISHER, Michael Montgomery, educator, b. near Rockville, Ind., 8 Oct., 1884. He was gradu- ated at Hanover college, Ind., in 1855, and was •chosen professor of Latin at Westminster college, Fulton, Mo. In 1860 he was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian church at Fulton, at the same time retaining his professorship. In 1870 he founded Independence female college. He was also the founder of Bellewood female college, near Louisville, Ky. In 1874 he returned to Westminster •college, and in 1877 became professor of Latin in the University of Missouri. He has published " The Tliree Pronunciations of Latin " (St. Louis, 1878; 8d ed.. New York, 1884), and is also the author of an historical work on " Education," and is now (1887) engaged on a series of Latin text-books.

FISHER, Nathaniel, clergyman, b. in Dedham, Mass., 8 July, 1742; d. in Salem, Mass., 20 Dec, 1812. He was the son of a farmer of Dedham, and was an uncle of f''isher Ames. He was gradu- ated at Harvard in 1763, and employed as a mis- sionary teacher in Nova Scotia about the begin- ning of the Revolutionary war. In 1777 he was ordained by Dr. Robert Lowth, the bishop of Lon- don, and had charge of the churches at Annapolis and Granville, Nova Scotia, from 1778 till 1782, when he returned to Massachusetts. He was im- mediately invited to the rectorship of St. Peter's church in Salem, and installed there after taking the oath of allegiance. He was prominent in or- ganizing the Protestant Episcopal church in New England. A volume of his sermons was published after his death, edited by his friend and parishioner. Judge Joseph Story (1818).

FISHER, Philip, clergyman, b. in Madrid, Spain, at the close of the 16th century ; d. in Mary- land in 1652. Although he was known on the records of the Jesuit society and in Maryland as Philip Fisher, his real name appears to have been Thomas Copley. He was descended from an old English Roman Catholic family. When Lord Baltimore applied to the provincial of the Jesuits in England for missionaries, on behalf of the Roman Catholic settlers. Father Fisher furnished the means by which the first missionaries were sent out and maintained. He came to Maryland, 8 Aug., 1637, accompanied by Father Thomas Knolles. He was appointed superior of the mission, and obtained for it several thousand acres of land under Lord Baltimore's conditions of plantation. These lands were cleared and put under cultivation by his di- rection, and for two centuries met the cost of maintaining worship in these parts of Maryland. In 1639 his term as superior expired, and he was stationed at the chapel of St. Mary's, the capital of the colony, but resumed his office in 1642. During the rebellion of Clayborne he fell into the hands of Ingle, Clayborne's lieutenant, who treated him as a criminal, and put him in irons. After being confined for some time,' he was sent to England, where he was indicted under a statute which made it death for a priest ordained abroad to come into England. He pleaded that he had not come of his own will, and the judges directed an acquittal. He was, however, kept in prison for some time, and on his release was sentenced to perpetual ban- ishment. On the suppression of Claybonie's rebel- lion he returned to America, landed on the coast of Virginia in January, 1648, and made his way with difficulty to St. Mary's. The rest of his life was spent among his Indian converts.

FISHER, Redwood S., statistician, b. in Phila- delphia, Pa., m 1782: d. there, 17 May, 1856. He was a merchant of Philadelphia, but removed to New York city, edited a daily newspaper, and took an active part in public affairs. He published several volumes on political economy and statisti- cal subjects, one of which is " The Progress of the United States of America from the Earliest Pe- riods, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical " (New York, 1854). He also edited a " Gazetteer of the United States" (New York).

FISHER, Samuel Reed, clergyman, b. in Nor- ristown, Pa., 2 June, 1810; d. in Tiflin, Ohio, 5 June, 1881. He was graduated at Jefferson college in 1834, licensed to preach in 1836 by the synod of the Reformed church, and in 1840, after preach- ing four years at Emmettsburg, Md., became con- nected with the publication office of the Reformed church, which had just been established at Cham- bersburg. Pa. During the same year he became associated with the Rev. Dr. Schneck in the editor- ship of the "Reformed Church Messenger," and was chosen stated clerk of the church. From 1845 he had the special management of the publication interests of the church, was most of the time sole editor of the " Messenger," and held the office of stated clerk until his death. Besides several ser- mons preached on special occasions. Dr. Fisher prepared and published the following works : " Ex- ercises on the Heidelberg Catechism " (Chambers- burg, Pa., 1844) ; " Heidelberg Catechism Simpli- fied " (1850) ; " The Rum-Plague," a temperance story, translated from the German of Zsehokhe (New York, 1853); and "The Family Assistant" (1855). His death occurred while he was in at- tendance at the general synod of the church.

FISHER, Samuel Ware, educator, b. in Morristown, N. J., 5 April, 1814; d. at College Hill, near Cincinnati, Ohio, 18 Jan., 1874. His father was a Presbyterian pastor at Morristown. The son was graduated at Yale in 1835, and he entered Princeton theological seminary, but after two years went to the Union theological seminary, New York city, where he was graduated in 1839. Before leaving the seminary he was called to the pastorate