Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/153

Rh year was appointed hriijadier-general of volunteers, served in the Mississippi campaign in April and May, 1862, and participated in the battle of Cor- inth. He was in command of the northeast dis- trict of Missouri in 1863, and of the district of Kansas from March to August, 1864, was chief of cavalry on the Gulf of Mexico from September till October, and in December was in command of the western district of Florida. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers in March, 1865, and in August mustered out of volunteer service. He then settled near Marion, Iowa, engaged in farm- ing, and in 1869 was appointed pension-agent for the eastern district of the state, but declined. In 1868 he was a delegate to the Chicago National Kepublican convention.

McKEE, George Colin, legislator, b. in Joliet, 111., 2 Oct., 1837 ; d. in Jackson, Miss., 17 Nov., 1890. He was educated at Knox college, and ad- mitted to the bar in 1858. After practising law at Oentralia, 111., he volunteered as a private in April, 1861, in the 11th Illinois regiment, became captain on its reorganization, and served throughout the war in various capacities. He was wounded at Port Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, commanding a picked corps during the siege of tlie latter town. When at the head of his own regiment and other detachments, on the second Yazoo expedition, he defeated the Confederate assault at Yazoo City, 5 March, 1864, after which he was ordered, as briga- dier-general, to enroll and equip four regiments of colored militia. He was appointed register in bank- ruptcy in 1867, and was a member of the Constitu- tional convention of Mississippi. He was elected to the 40th congress, but his state was refused rep- resentation, and, being re-elected, he served from 23 Feb., 1870, till 4 March, 1875. After the close of the war he was postmaster, and practised his profession at Jackson, Miss. Pie invented a cotton- press, which he patented 3 Api-il, 1877.

McKEEN, Joseph, educator, b. in London- derry, N. H.. 15 Oct., 1757; d. in Brunswick, Me.. 15 July, 1807. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1774, and during the eight years of the Revolu- tion engaged in teaching in his native town, ex- cept for a short period of service as a volunteer under G-en. John Sullivan. He then went to Cam- bridge, Mass., and after spending some time in studying mathematics, astronomy, and theology, was licensed and began to preach. In May, 1785, he was ordained pastor of Beverly, Mass., where he remained until he was elected the first president of Bowdoin college in 1802. In 1803 he received the degree of D. D. from Dartmouth. Dr. McKeen possessed a strong and discriminating mind, while his manners were conciliatory though dignified. His proficiency in mathematics was once the means of saving a human life. A man was on trial in Es- sex county, Mass., for housebreaking. The ques- tion to be decided was whether the crime was per- petrated by night or by day, and the man's life hung in the balance. A nice calculation by Dr. McKeen as to the precise moment of dawn saved the culprit from the gallows. Dr. McKeen's pub- lications consisted chiefly of papers in the " Ti-ans- actions of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences " and a few occasional sermons.

McKEEVER, Harriet Burn, educator, b. in Philadelphia, Pa.. 28 Aug., 1807: d. in Chester, Pa., 7 Feb., 1886. She was educated in her native city, and taught there for more than thirty-six years. Necessity compelled her to engage in literary work late in life, and in thirteen years she produced forty volumes of Sunday-school books. She is also" the author of " Twilight Musings, and other Poems " (Philadelphia, 1857), with a commendatory preface by Rev. William B. Stevens, D. D.

McKEEYER, Isaac, naval officer, b. in Penn- sylvania in April, 1793 ; d. in Norfolk, Va., 1 April, 1856. He entered the U. S. navy as mid- siiipman in 1809, was made lieutenant in 1814, and commanded one of a flotilla of five gun-boats under Lieut. Thomas ap Catesby Jones, that was cap- tured by a British expedition on Lake Borgne, La., in December, 1814. The gun-boats mounted collec- tively 23 guns, and were manned by 182 men. The British expedition consisted of 42 large barges and other boats, maimed by more than 1,000 sea- men and marines. The engagement, which was very severe, lasted three hours, and 200 of the Brit- ish were killed and wounded. Lieut. McKeever's vessel was the last one to be attacked, and he was severely wounded, together with most of his offi- cers, before he surrendered. He was commissioned commander in 1830, and captain in 1838, perform- ing much active service in both grades. In 1855 he had charge of the navy-yard at Norfolk, Va., when a pestilence broke out in that city and the adjacent towns. He was authorized by the navy department to suspend operations in the yard and leave for a time, should he see fit, but he decided to remain, that work might be given those who de- pended upon it for support of their families. — His son, Chauncey, soldier, b. in Maryland, about 1828, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1849, and assigned to the artillery. He was pro- moted 1st lieutenant, 24 Dec, 1853, and captain of staff and assistant adjutant-general, 3 Aug., 1861. During the civil war he took part in the battles of Bull Run and other engagements. After being promoted staff major and lieutenant-colonel, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel in 1864, and colo- nel and brigadier-general, 13 March, 1865, for "diligent, faithful, and meritorious services in the adjutant-general's department." On 9 March, 1875, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and assistant adjutant-general, and two years later was made colonel. In 1893 he was retired.

McKELLAR, Archibald, Canadian member of parliament, b. in Glenshire, Scotland, 3 Feb., 1816; d. 12 Feb., 1894. His parents came to Upper Cana- da in 1817, and settled in Aldborough. Archibald was educated at Geneva. N. Y., and at the high- school in Niagara, and afterward engaged in farm- ing and lumbering. He had been a member of the Kent county council for fifteen years, when, in 1857, he was elected to parliament for tiiat con- stituency, and he continuetl its representative till 1867, when he was elected to tlie provincial par- liament for Bothwell, which he represented in 1867-'75. During the last four years of his politi- cal life lie was commissioner of public works, min- ister of agriculture and emigration, and provin- cial secretary. He carried ttirough parliament the charters for the Southern and the Erie and Huron railways, and aided in establishing Ontario college of agriculture. In 1875 he became sheriff of Went- worth county, which office lie long filled.

MACKELLAR, Thomas, type-founder, b. in New York city, 12 Aug., 1812. "His father, an officer in the British navy, emigrated to New York and resided there till his death. The son at the age of fourteen began to learn the printer's trade, and in his seventeenth year became proof-reader in the publishing house of J. and J. Harper. In 1833 he went to Philadelphia, Pa., and entered the type-foundry of Johnson and Smith as proof-reader, and he has since come to be the head of the house which is now known as the Johnson type-foundry, and one of the most important establishments of