Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/515

Rh he was appointed commissioner of labor and in- dustrial statistics, and reappointed in 1885. His reports in tiiis connection have received favorable comment. He has also held other appointments, and is curator of the Wisconsin state historical society. Mr. Flower is the author of several local histories, and has published " Old Abe, the Wiscon- sin War Eagle " (Milwaukee, 1880) ; " Life of Mat- thew H. Carpenter" (Madison, 1883); and a "His- tory of the Republican Party " (Springfield, 1884).

FLOWER, George, colonist, b. in Hertford- shire. England, about 1780 ; d. in Grayville, White CO., 111., 15 Jan., 1802. He was born in affluent circumstances, and, after travelling on the Conti- nent for the benefit of husbandry, he came to the United States in 1817 as the associate of Morris Birkbeck, in order to found an English colony in Albion, Edwards co., 111. Here he built an elegant mansion, and his large wealth gave him a com- manding position. In addition to the improved husbandry, this farm was stocked with the finest fleeces of England and Spain. His wisdom and benevolence exerted great influence upon the new settlement. When the attempt to legalize African slavery in Illinois was made in 1823, he was instru- mental in securing its defeat. In the financial changes of the new country his wealth was lost, and for many yeai's he lived in retirement with his children in Indiana and Illinois. In December, 1861, Mr. and Mrs. Flower made a visit to their daughter, Mrs. Aguiel, in Grayville, White co.. 111., and early in January, 1862, they both became ill on the same day, and a week later died on the same day. He wrote a " History of the English Settle- ment in Edwards County, Illinois, founded in 1817 and 1818 by Morris Birkbeck and George Flower " (Chicago, 1882). — His son, Edward Fordham, b. near Hertford, England, 31 Jan., 1805 ; d. in Lon- don, 26 March, 1883, spent his early life in Illinois, and then resided for nearly half a century at Strat- ford-on-Avon, where he was well known for his hospitalities to Shakespearian visitors. Bi-yant, Emerson, Longfellow, and Sumner were among his American guests. He was four times chosen mayor of the borough. Mr. Flower advocated with en- ergy a more humane treatment of horses, especially in the abolition of bearing-reins and severe bits, upon which subject, and also upon the improve- ment of road-making, he published several widely circulated pamphlets. One of his three sons is president of the Zoological society of London.

FLOWER, Roswell Pettabone, congressman, b. in Theresa, Jeft'erson co.. N. Y., 7 Aug., 1835. His ancestor emigrated from England to Hartford, Conn., in 1686. Roswell lost his father when eight years old, became a clerk in a store at four- teen, and afterward received a high-school educa- tion. After working in a brick-yard, and as a post-office clerk, he was for ten years a jeweller, and afterward became a broker in New York city. In 1881-3 he was a member of congress, having been elected as a Democrat over William W. Astor. In 1886 he was appointed one of the electric-sub- way commissioners in New York city. Mr. Flower gave $50,000 for the erection of the St. Thomas home on 59th street. New York.

FLOWERS, Samuel Bryce, physician, b. in Wayne county, N. C, 31 Oct., 1835. He was edu- cated at Wake Forest college, N. C, and was gradu- ated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1859. In that year he settled in Camden, Ark., but returned to North Carolina in 1862, and served as surgeon in the Confederate army during the civil war. He is a member of the board of health of Wayne county, of the Wayne county medical society, of the North Carolina medical society, of which he was elected vice-president in 1875, and of the Eastern medical association, of which he was vice-president in 1877. He has contributed to the " Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reports," and to the " Virginia Medical Monthly."

FLOY, James, clergyman, b. in New York city, 20 Aug., 1806 ; d. there, 14 Oct., 1863, He was educated at Columbia, and then spent three years in Europe studying, especially botany, at the royal gardens at Kew. In 1835 he was received into the New York conference of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and for eighteen years was pastor of churclies in Middletown, New Haven, Brook- lyn, and New York. In 1848 he was placed on the committee to revise the Methodist hymn-book, in 1854 was appointed presiding elder of the New York district of New York east conference, and in 1856 be- came editor of the " National Magazine," and corre- sponding secretary of Tract society, M. E. church. He also edited a denominational paper called " Good News." In 1860 he published his " Guide to the Orchard and Fruit-Garden," and edited the posthu- mous works of the Rev. Stephen Olin, D. D. In 1861 he returned to his pastorate in New York city, in which he continued till his death. Dr. Floy was one of the ablest and earliest of the anti-slavery clergymen, suffering the unpopularity, and after- ward enjoying the success, of the cause.

FLOYD, John, soldier, b. in Beaufort, S. C., 3 Oct., 1769 ; d. in Camden county, Ga., 24 June, 1839. His father was Col. Charles Floyd, who was ruined pecuniarily by the Tories of the Revolution. The family removed to Georgia in 1791, and by boat-building at the mouth of the St. lUa river retrieved their fortunes. John, one of several sons, received little early education, but had a bold and indomitable spirit, which soon made itself felt in the community. In 1813 he was elected brigadier-general of the Georgia militia. He commanded at the battle of Autossee, Ala., against the Creek Indians, 29 Nov., 1813, where he was severely wounded. On 27 Jan. of the next year he commanded at Camp Defiance, in battle with the same Indians. From 1820 till 1827 he was a member of the Georgia legislature, and in 1827-'9 of congress. Afterward he was major-general of militia.

FLOYD, John, statesman, b. in Jefferson county, Va., in 1770 ; d. at Sweet Springs, Va., 16 Aug., 1837. He served in congress from Virginia from 1817 till 1829, as a states rights Democrat, in 1829-'34 he was governor of Virginia. He was a personal friend of Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson, but became incensed by the proclamation of the latter against the nullification of South Carolina, and opposed him for his second term. South Carolina voted for Mr. Floyd for the presidency in 1832. He married Letitia, sister of Gen. Frank Preston, of Virginia. — Their son, John Buchanan, statesman, b. in Blacksburg, Va., 1 June, 1807; d. near Abingdon, Va., 26 Aug., 1863. He was graduated at the College of South Carolina in 1826, removed to Arkansas in 1836, and resided there three years, when he returned to Virginia and practised law in Washington county. He served in the state legislature in 1847-'9 and 1853, and was governor of Virginia in 1850-"3. He was a member of the electoral college in 1850, and a supporter of James Buchanan for the presidency, who appointed him secretary of war. He held this office from 1857 till the autumn of 1860, when, having declared for secession, he resigned, and returned to his home in Abingdon, Va. In the winter of 1861 he was in- dicted in Washington, on the charge of having secretly, during the latter portion of his adminis-