Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/552

524 b. in New York city, 26 Dec, 1835; d. in Newport, R. I., 2o March, 1886, was graclnated at Columbia in 1857, and at the medical department of the Uni- versity of New York in 1860. He began practice in New York city, but subsequently removed to Newport, R. I. He was physician in the New York dispensary in 1860-2, and at other times Dr. Francis patented twelve surgical inventions, and published " Mott's Clinics '" (New York, 1860) ; a medical essay on "Water" (1861); "Inside and Out " (1863) ; " Biographical Sketches of Liv- ing New York Surgeons" (1866); "Biographical Sketches of Living New York Physicians" (1867); " Life and Death " (1870) ; and " Curious Facts Concerning Man and Nature " (1874-'5).

FRANCIS, Joseph, inventor, b. in Boston, Mass., 12 March, 1801 ; d. at Otsego Lake, N. Y., 10 May, 1893. At the youthful age of eighteen he received from the Massachusetts mechanics' institute the first pi-ize for a fast row-boat. He afterward established a boat-yard in New York, and was requested by the secretary of the navy to go to Portsmouth navy - yard and build wooden life-boats for the frigate " Santee " and the line-of-battle ship "Alabama." Soon after this he invented a portable boat that could be taken apart, and a method of building boats over a frame or mould with inch-square strips of cedar nailed edge to edge, the joining show- ing neither nail-heads or seams, and requiring no calking. These boats, all of which were life- boats, came into general use. His greatest achieve- ments were in the construction of life-saving ap- pliances. These consisted of life-boats, life-cars, and surf life-boats. Of the life-boats the first that he made was of wood, and was called the " Hy- drogen " life-boat. The interior was fitted with copper air-tubes, and the invention proved successful. As a result of later ex- periments, the use of wood in the construction of his boats quickly gave way to iron, al- though the use of iron in the manu- facture of vessels of any kind was prac- tically unknown at that time. To Mr. Francis may be conceded the first use of iron floating vessels. Another im- provement was added by having the spaces at the bow and stern of the boats made into reservoirs of air, as well as the spaces at the sides, enabling the boat to sustain a great load in the heaviest sea. In 1838 Mr. Francis invented the life-car by which to land people safely from a wreck. He began with experiments on wooden life-boats, and finally, in 1842, invented the corrugated metallic life-car, with space for four adults. His first perfect me- tallic life-car was placed on the coast of New Jer- sey, near Long Branch, in the autumn of 1849, at his own expense, the government refusing to aid him in any way. The boat was not called into use until January, 1850, when the British emigrant vessel " Ayrshire " was wrecked on Squan Beach in a violent winter storm. There were 201 persons on board, and 200 were saved by means of the life-car. The one loss of life that occurred was that of a man who insisted on attempting to ride through the surf on the outside of the car, when his family were inside. This car was for a long time preserved in the museum in Central park. New York, but on 10 July, 1885, it was deposited, as a relic, in the National museum in Washington. During the first four years of the use of life-boats (1850-'3) they were instrumental in saving 2,150 lives, besides an immense amount of valuable cargo. Mr. Francis's metallic life surf-boat, invented in 1845, was designed for riding lightly on the wildest sea. In 1845 Mr. Francis obtained patents in the United States, England, France, (rermany, and Russia, for his method of constructing vessels of corrugated sheet-metal, and for the machinery by which they were produced. His inventions for the machinery and for the application of the hydraulic press were adjuncts of the greatest im- portance. Life-boats built on the principle of the corrugated sheet-metal were furnished by him for the Dead sea and Arctic expeditions, to the war, navy, and treasury departments, and to several European governments. Mr. Francis extended the application of corrugated metal to the build- ing of steamers, floating docks, harbor-buoys, and pontoon-wagons, and his inventions have been adopted by every civilized country. Among his many other inventions are a military hood made of cloth for the protection of sentinels in a storm, a circular yacht, and a double-joint row-lock. He received numerous medals and decorations from European sovereigns. The order of knight- hood of St. Stanislaus, with its medal and diplo- ma, was conferred upon him in 1861, and on 4 Feb., 1856. he received a gold snuff-box, dia- mond-studded, and valued at 17,500 francs, from Napoleon III. He also received a large number of medals from the American and other institutes, a medal and diploma from the European shipwreck society for all nations, in France in 1842, and a second in England, designated " Benefactor," by the Imperial Royal European society, on 1 July, 1842. In addition to these honors ifrom foreign countries, congress, in March, 1887, a few hours before its adjournment, passed a joint resolution thanking him for his " life-long services to hu- manity and to his country," and authorizing the president to pi'esent him with a gold medal. Presi- dent Cleveland withheld his signature from the bill until the specified time after the adjoui'ument ; but another resolution requiring the medal to be struck was passed in September, 1888. He had written many articles for peilodicals, and published "Life-Saving Appliances" (New York, 1885).

FRANCIS, Tench, lawyer, b. probably in Ire- land; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 16 Aug., 1758. He was the son of John Francis, dean of Sirmore and rector of St. Mary's church, Dublin. His brother, Richard Francis, was an eminent lawyer, and author of "Maxims in Equity," and another brother, Rev. Philip Francis, was the father of Sir Philip Francis, the reputed author of the " Junius Letters." Tench was educated in England, and prepared for the bar, after which he emigrated to Talbot county, Md., and became attorney for Lord Baltimore, in Kent. He was clerk of Talbot county from 1726 till 1734, and in 1734 r-epresented his county in the Maryland legislature. He subsequently settled in Philadel- phia, was attorney-general of Pennsylvania from 1741 till 1755, and recorder of Philadelphia from 1750 till 1755. He was an eminent lawyer, and, according to Franklin's " Gazette," 24 Aug., 1758, served in his several offices " with the highest reputation." — His son, Tench, merchant, b. in