Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/549

Rh FOX, Mary Hewins, actress, b. in Hartford, Conn., in 1843. Her maiden name was Hewins. She made her first appearance on the stage at the old Museum in Troy, N. Y., and afterward ap- peared at Laura Keene's Varieties in New York. She married Charles K. Fox, the comedian, but separated from him, and afterward married Mr. Burnham, of New York city, and retired from the stage. She has written many poems of merit, and dramatized several works, which have been suc- cessfully produced on the stage.

FOX, Thomas Bailey, clergyman, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1808; d. in Dorchester, Mass., in 1876. He was graduated at Harvard in 1828, and at the Cambridge divinity-school in 1831, and became pastor of the first religious society of Newburyport, ^lass., where he remained until 1845. He then re- moved to Boston, where he gathered a con^'ega- tion, and established a church in Indiana Place, which was soon afterward merged into the Church of the Disciples, to which it transferred its house of worship. He began to write for the press while yet an undergraduate, and was for several years a regular correspondent of the " Christian Inquirer," of New York. He was for three years the editor of the "Christian Register" in Boston, and for a much longer period an assistant editor and con- tributor to the " Christian Examiner," of which he was for six years proprietor, and much of the time actually, though not nominally, the editor. He was for many years editor of the " Boston Tran- script," and furnished not only articles on topics of the day, but many on subjects of enduring in- terest, together with numerous book-notices and biographical sketches. His first book was a " Sketch of the Reformation," which was repub- lished in England with some worthless alterations. His other publications were " The Ministry of Jesus " (Boston, 1837) ; " The Sunday-School Prayer- Book " ( ls:jS) ; " Hints for Sunday-School Teachers " (1840) ; "Allegories and Cliristian Lessons for Cliil- dren" (1845); '-The Acts of the Apostles" (1846); and " The School Hymn-Book, for Normal, High, and Grammar Schools " (1850).

FOXCROFT, George Augustus, humorist, b. in Boston in 1815 ; d. 13 March, 1878. He received an academic education, was clerk in a Boston store in 1831-'6, and in 1837 purchased a farm in Ded- ham, and lived on it till 1846. Subsequently, for some years, he was a broker in Boston, but finally devoted himself almost exclusively to journalism. He wrote many articles for the daily press on monetary topics, and amusing sketches of domestic life and character, under the pen-name of "'Job Sass." He may be regarded as the originator of what has lieen called " phonetic humor."

FOXCROFT, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Cam- bridge, Mass., 26 Feb., 1697 ; d. iii Boston. 18 June, 1769. He was graduated at Harvard in 1714, and on 20 Nov., 1717, became pastor of the 1st Congrega- tional church in Boston, where he remained till his death. He was learned, devout, and a good logician, and was admired both for his talents and for the elegance of his manners. He published thirty-two sermons, including " Observations, Historical and Practical, on the Rise and Primitive State of New England, a Century Sermon" (1730). — His son, Samuel, d. 2 March, 1807, was graduated at Har- vard in 1754, and was for twenty-eight years min- ister of New Gloucester, Me.

FOYE, James Clark, educator, b. in Great Falls, N. H., 1 March, 1841. He was graduated at Williams in 1863, and in 1868-5 was professor of natural science in Wesleyan female college, Cincinnati. For two years he was president of the Jonesborough female college, and in 1867 was elected to the chair of chemistry in Lawrence university, becoming in 1879 vice-president of that institution. He has published " Tables for Deter- mination, Description, and Classification of Miner- als " (Chicago, 1875) ; " Chemical Problems " (New York, 1879) ; and " Handbook of Mineralogy" (1886).

FRAILEY, James Madison, naval officer, b. in 3Iaryland. 6 May, 1809 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 26 Sept., 1877. He entered the U. S. navy as a midshipman, 1 May, 1828, became passed midship- man in 1836, lieutenant in 1839. commander in 1861, captain in 1866, and a commodore in 1872. He served in the naval battery before Vera Cruz, and commanded the steamer " Quaker City," of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, in 1862-'4. This vessel was struck by a shell and partially dis- abled in an attack by Confederate rams off Charles- ton, 31 Jan., 1863. He commanded the "Tusca- rora" in both attacks on Port Pishei", and the steam sloop " Saranac," of the North Pacific squad- ron, in 1867-8. He was appointed to the command of League Island naval station on 30 April, 1870, and was retired from the service, 6 May, 1871.

FRALEY, Frederick, merchant, b. in Phila- delphia, Pa., 28 ]\[ay, 1804. After studying law for his own gratification, he engaged in business. In 1824 he was one of the founders of the Franklin institute, a.nd was for many years its treasurer. He was elected to the city council in 1834, and, as chairman of its finance committee in 1837, when the suspension of specie payments had brought the city to the verge of insolvency, he proposed, as a measure of relief, the issue of certificates of debt in small denominations, which was successfully adopted. In the same year he was elected by the Whigs to the state senate. During his term of service in Gov. Joseph Ritner's administration the trouble known as the *' Buck-shot war " arose, and, at the re(|uest of his colleagues, Mr. Praley pre- paredan address to the people giving an account of it, and afterward served as chairman of the committee of investigation. In 1847, on the com- pletion of Girard college, he was elected one of the board of directors of the institution, prepared the plaia that was adopted for its organization and management, and for several years remained at the head of its direction. During a vacancy in the presidency he took that place in the college for six months. He was active in the movement that culminated in 1854 in the consolidation of the city with all the districts within the bounds of the county. Mr. Praley was one of the founders of the Union club, and its successor, the Union League of Philadelphia. He was chosen a delegate in 1868 to the commercial convention held in Boston for the establishment of a National board of trade, and was chosen first president of that board, and by unani- mous re-election has continued in that office until the present time (1887). He was one of the most active promoters and organizers of the Centen- nial exhibition of 1876, and in 1873 was elected treasurer of the Centennial board of finance. He has been a trustee of the University of Pennsyl- vania since 1853, which in 1880 gave him the de- gree of LL. D., and since 1879 he has been presi- dent of the American philosophical society.

FRANCE, Joseph, French soldier, b. in Fort de France, Martinique, in 1797 ; d. there in December, 1868. In 1815 he entered the colonial gendarmerie of the island, and in 1834 had attained the rank of colonel. He commanded for ten years all the armed police force of the island. In 1844 he published " La verite sur les faits, ou I'esclavage a nu," which created a sensation, for it