Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/638

598 1837, was attached for several years to the stations of the Indian ocean. Although only a lieuten- ant, he was appointed in 1849 to the command of the " Pioneer," one of the three ships that were sent out to search for Sir John Franklin, and he made a remarkable sledge-journey to the western extremity of Prince of Wales island. For his services in the Black sea during the Crimean war he was made a K. C. B. and a knight of the Legion of honor, and given the Turkish order of the Medjidieh. After serving as admiral in the Chinese navy in 1862-'3, he was, in 1867-'70. managing director of the Telegraph construction and maintenance company for the construction of a submarine system of telegraphs between Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. He was promoted rear-admiral in 1873, and continued to interest himself in the arctic regions, inducing Arthur H. Markman to visit Baffin bay in a whaler, and published, at his own expense, Markman's report on the possibilities of ice-navigation with the aid of steam. The result was that toward the close of 1874 the lords of the admiralty gave to him, in conjunction with Rear-Admiral Richards and Sir Leopold MacClintock. the power to fit out a new expedition, which sailed in 1875. He published "Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal " (London, 1852) ; " Journals of Robert MacClure, giving a Narrative of the Discovery of the Northwest Passage" (1856); "The Career, Last Voyage, and Fate of Sir John Franklin" (1860): and "The Past and Future of British Relations in China " (1860), etc.

OSBOKN, Thomas Ward, senator, b. in Scotch Plains, N. J., 9 March, 1836 ; d. in New York city, 18 Dec, 1898. He removed to Wilna, N. Y., and was graduated at Madison university in 1860. He studied law in Watertown, N. Y., but as soon as he was admitted to the bar in 1861 he entered the National army, being commissioned captain in the 1st New York artillery, and serving successive- ly as chief of artillery of various army corps and of the Army of the Tennessee. He served as assistant commissioner of the Bureau of refugees and freed men for Florida, with the rank of colonel in 1865-'6. He was three times wounded in battle, and had an arm and shoulder broken in a railway accident. After the war he went to Florida for his health, practised law in Tallahassee, was made a register in bankruptcy in 1867, was a member of the convention that adopted the state constitution which he drafted, and was elected to the upper branch of the legislature. He afterward removed to Pensacola, and was chosen to represent Florida m the U. S. senate as a Republican, serving from 30 June. 1868. till 3 March, 1873.

OSBORNE, Thomas O., soldier, b. in Jersey, Licking co., Ohio, 11 Aug., 1832. He was graduated at the University of Ohio in 1854, studied law with Gen. Lewis Wallace at Crawfordsville, Ind., was admitted to the bar, and began to practise in Chicago. At the beginning of the civil war he offered his services to the government and devoted his time and means to the organization of the 39th Illinois regiment, of which he became lieutenant-colonel and afterward colonel. He was sent to the east with his command and ordered to guard the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road between Alpine and Great Capacon, W. Va. When "Stonewall" Jackson made his first raid into Morgan county in the state in the winter of 1861-2, he kept that officer at bay for several hours, although the latter was at the head of a largely superior force, and succeeded in making good his retreat across the Potomac with but slight loss. He took part in the battle of Winchester in April, 1862, served during the operations in Charleston harbor in 1863, accompanied Gen. Benjamin F. Butler up James river in May, 1S64, and was severely wounded at Drury's Bluff, losing the use of his right arm. At the siege of Petersburg, Va., he commanded the 1st brigade, 1st division, 24th army corps, and on 2 April, 1865. he captured Fort Gregg, the key to the works about Petersburg and Richmond, by one of the most gallant and successful charges of the war. For this service he was made brigadier-general of volunteers. Subsequently by a rapid movement he cut off the Confederate troops from the Lynchburg road and contribtited to the capture of Lee's army. This and his other services throughout the war were recognized by promotion to the rank of brevet major-general of volunteers. At the close of hostilities he returned to the practice of his profession in Chicago. In February, 1874, he was accredited as consul-general and minister-resident to the Argentine Republic, which office he held until June. 1885, when he resigned.

OSCANYAN, Hatchik, author, b. in Constantinople, Turkey, 23 April, 1818. His parents, who were Armenians, christened him Hatchik, which in after-years he changed to Christopher. He learned from private tutors the Armenian, Turkish, and modern Greek languages; to these he soon added Italian and French, and, having heard English spoken, he conceived a desire to acquire it also. To this end he made the acquaintance of the American missionaries that had then lately arrived in Turkey. One of these, Rev. Harrison G. O. Dwight, took an interest in him, and after the death of Oscanyan's mother enabled him to come to this country to obtain a liberal education. He arrived in New York in 1835 and was at once matriculated at the university in that city. Failing health compelled him to leave college in his junior year, and he joined the staff of civil engineers engaged in the construction of the Charleston and Cincinnati railroad. Returning to Constantinople in 1841, he established the first newspaper that was published there in Armenian, the &ldquo;Astarar Püzantian&rdquo; (&ldquo;Byzantine Advertiser&rdquo;). But the authorities would not tolerate the expression of liberal opinions, and he was soon compelled to abandon the undertaking. In 1843 he became the private secretary of Fethi Pasha, son-in-law of the sultan, and minister of ordnance. While he was thus engaged he was appointed special agent to purchase the trousseau of Adilé Sultana, who was about to be married to Mehmed Aali Pasha, and in this capacity he frequently visited the palace. After the ceremony he acted as correspondent for several American and European newspapers. In 1849 he wrote a satirical romance in Armeno-Turkish, or Turkish written in the Armenian character, entitled &ldquo;Acaby.&rdquo; This was followed in 1851 by &ldquo;Veronica,&rdquo; another work of fiction, and by &ldquo;Bedig,&rdquo; a book for children. The same year he published an Armenian translation of &ldquo;the Mysteries of Paris.&rdquo; In 1853, with the assistance of others, he opened an Oriental museum in London, but the enterprise was not successful and he returned to New York. Here he wrote and published &ldquo;The Sultan and His People&rdquo; (New York, 1857), 16,000 copies of which were sold in four months. In 1868 Mr. Oscanyan was made Turkish consul-general in New York city, and he held the office until 1874. Having occasion to visit Constantinople in 1872, he was assigned by the porte as the representative of the sultan in entertaining Gen. William T. Sherman during his visit to Turkey. On resigning his consulship he