Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/548

520 stations, on the coast survey, in command of mail stations, and in the war with Mexico until 10 July, 1856, when, after a service of nineteen years, he resigned with the rank of lieutenant, his commission being dated the day previous to his resignation. After leaving the navy he accepted the position of agent of the Bay state woollen mills at Lawrence, Mass. In February, 1861, he was sent for by Gen. Scott, and consulted in reference to sending supplies and troops to Fort Sumter, but the expedition was forbidden by President Buchanan. When Mr. Lincoln became president, Fox was sent to Fort Sumter to communicate with Maj. Anderson, and on his return was directed to carry out the plan previously formed. The plan was virtually thwarted by the withdrawal of one of the ships (the "Powhatan"), which was to have taken part. The expedition had not reached Charleston when the Confederates, notified of its coming, opened fire on Fort Sumter, and the only thing accomplished was the bringing away of Maj. Anderson and his command after the surrender. After communications with Washington had been cut off, Fox applied to William H. Aspinwall and William B. Astor, who fitted out the steamer "Yankee," of which he was appointed acting captain, and in which he sailed for Chesapeake bay. He was at this time appointed by President Lincoln to the post of assistant secretary of the navy, which he held until the end of the war. His services in this position were extremely valuable, and a member of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet once spoke of him as follows: "Fox was the really able man of the administration. He planned the capture of New Orleans, the opening of the Mississippi, and in general the operations of the navy. He had all the responsibility of removing the superannuated and inefficient men he found in charge, had the honor of selecting Farragut, and was often consulted by Gen. Grant. He performed all his duties with an eye only to the requirements of the hour, and with no view to the advancement of any interest of his own." He was an able assistant to Sec. Welles, whose administration of the navy department owed to him much of its success. Soon after the close of the war Capt. Fox was sent on a special mission to Russia to convey to the czar, Alexander II., the congratulations of the U. S. congress on his escape from assassination. The voyage was made on the "Miantonomoh," the first monitor to cross the Atlantic. It is said that Capt. Fox might have obtained from the U. S. government an admiral's commission had he not refused to ask for it. One result of his visit to Russia was the purchase of Alaska by the U. S. government. In the negotiations concerning this purchase Capt. Fox took an active interest. He afterward became manager of the Middlesex mills, and a partner with E. R. Mudge, Sawyer & Co., where he remained several years. See Joseph F. Loubat's "Narrative of Fox's Mission to Russia in 1866" (New York, 1873).

FOX, Henry Stephen, British diplomatist, d. in Washington, D. C., 13 Oct., 1846. He was the son of Gen. Henry Fox, and nephew to Charles James Fox, the British statesman. He was the first minister plenipotentiary of Great Britain to Buenos Ayres, was afterward transferred to Rio de Janeiro, and thence to the United States in 1836. He conducted the difficult negotiation growing out of the burning of the steamer "Caroline," the case of McLeod, and other disputes that were caused by the Canadian rebellion of 1837, which he brought to a happy conclusion, preserving the friendly relations of the United States and Great Britain.

FOX, Luke, navigator, b. in Kingston-upon-Hull, 20 Oct., 1586; d. at Whitby, July, 1635. His thoughts were early turned toward the discovery of a northwest passage, which he continued to believe practicable to the end of his life, notwithstanding his ill success. Having procured a vessel from Charles I., furnished with whatever was necessary for the enterprise, he left Deptford, 5 May, 1631, arriving at Hudson's bay on 22 June following. During the exploration of this bay he discovered, on 27 July, an island, which he named "Sir Thomas Rowe's Welcome," and named the cape which bounded its northern extremity "Wostenholme's Ultima Vale." Proceeding northward, he discovered and named various points situated in the large island since known as Cumberland island, but, despairing of penetrating the polar sea by Hudson's bay, he determined to return, and arrived in the Downs on 21 Oct. He published an account of his voyage (London, 1635).

FOX, Margaret, spiritualist, b. in Bath, Canada, in 1836: d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 8 March, 1893. She and her sister Katharine (b. 1839) were the youngest children of John D. Fox, of Hydeville, Wayne co., N. Y. When Margaret was about twelve years old the family were startled by mysterious rappings. All endeavors to trace them to any physical source proved unavailing. On the night of 31 March, when the raps occurred, Kate Fox imitated them by snapping her fingers, and the raps responded by the same number of sounds. The ages of different members of the family were asked, and the answer in every instance given correctly—a knock for each year. Various experiments were made, but the occult power refused to act save in the presence of the two sisters. The family removed to Rochester, and the raps followed, while heavy bodies were also moved, without appreciable agency. In November, 1849, the sisters appeared in a public hall, when the same phenomena were freely manifested, and subjected to tests. Committees reported that they were unable to trace the sounds to any mundane agency. In May, 1850, the two girls went to New York city, the manifestations became the subject of public discussion, and "mediums" sprang up all over the country. Men of learning followed in the train with the ignorant. The elder of the sisters was dissuaded from following the "spirit mediumship" by Dr. Kane, the Arctic explorer, previous to his expedition to the north in 1853. During his absence her education was provided for by his arrangement and at his expense. On his return in 1855 she asserted that a marriage had taken place, and, although this was denied by his relatives, she continued to bear his name after his death. "The Love Life of Dr. Kane" (New York, 1865), containing letters and facsimiles, was published in proof of her claim. Katharine married an English barrister named Jenckin. In 1888, Margaret appeared in New York city, in a public exposure of her pretended "manifestations," in which she showed how they were produced.