Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/81

Rh quently prepared for colloije, and was graduated from Yale in 1738, remaining there three years as tutor, and also studying law. After his admission to the bar he settled in Suffield, then a part of Massachusetts, and at once took high rank in his profession. Through his exertions Suffield was in 1749 added to Connecticut. He was for seven years elected to the upper house of tlie legislature, and during that period was repeatedly charged with important civil trusts. In March, 1755, he was appointed major-general and commander-in- chief of the Connecticut forces, 1,000 in number, that were sent against Crown Point, and in accept- ing he gave up the largest law practice in the col- ony. In the following summer a fort was built under his direction on the east bank of the Hud- son, and was at first called Fort Lyman in his honor, although the name was afterward changed to Fort Edward. In the important battle that was fought at the head of Lake George, 8 Sept., 1755, the command devolved on Gen. Lyman al- most at the beginning of the action, Sir William Johnson, his superior oificer, having been wounded and compelled to retire. Although Lyman fought gallantly for five hours and a half, frequently showing himself in front of the defences to en- courage his men, he received no credit, his name not appearing in Gen. Johnson's official report. In 1756 he was again placed in command of the Connecticut contingent, this time composed of 2,500 men, to operate against Crown Point, but the plan was finally abandoned. In the campaign of 1757 he was for a time in command at Fort Edward, and in 1758, at the head of 5,000 Connec- ticut troops, he shared in Gen. Abercrombie's re- pulse, and was with Lord Howe when he fell. In 1759 he was again commissioned major-general, and, at the head of 4,000 Connecticut troops, aided Gen. Amherst in taking possession of Ticonder- oga and Crown Point. He was also present at the reduction of Fort Louis at Oswego and the cap- ture of Montreal. In 1701 he was ordered to Can- ada, and in 1762 he was sent with 2,300 men to as- sist in the capture of Havana, and subsequently placed in command of the entire provincial force during that unlucky expedition. At its close he was deputed by the surviving officers and soldiers to proceed to England and receive the part of the prize money that remained due. A company of " Military Adventurers " had also been formed by his exertions, chiefly composed of those who had served in the late wars, whose object was to obtain from the British government a tract of land on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. Soon after his arrival in England in 1763 a change of ministry took place, and so many obstacles appeared in the way of accomplishing his design that he remained abroad until 1772, unwilling to return home and admit failure. He was at last taken back by his son, the wreck of his former self, but not until he had obtained permission from the crown to settle on a tract of land twenty miles square east of the Mississippi and south of the Yazoo. The " Mili- tary Adventurers " having been reorganized. Gen. Lyman began, in December. 1773, with a few com- panions, to make a preliminary survey. The party settled near Natchez, but Lyman soon died.

LYMAN, Theodore, philanthropist, b. in Bos- ton, Mass., 20 Feb., 1792; d. in Brookline, Mass., 18 July, 1849. His father was also Theodore Ly- man, and the son is generally called Theodore Ly- man, Jr. He was graduated at Harvard in 1810, after which he spent two years in literary pursuits at the University of Edinburgh, and then passed a, few months on the continent of Europe. In 1817 he again visited Europe and spent two years travelling with Edward Everett through Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria. On his return he studied law. after which for the three years following he held the office of aide-de-camp to the governor of Massachusetts, and in 1823 had command of the Boston brigade with the rank of brigadier-generaL Under his strict dis- cipline this organ- ization became a creditable body of troops. He also at this time participat- ed in public affairs, and in 1820 became a member of the lower branch of the state legislature, where he continued until 1825, except in 1824, when he was in the state sen- ate. In 1834, and again in 1835, he was elected mayor of Boston. His ad- ministration was marked by the destruction of the Ursuline convent in Boston and by the adoption of his recommendation that a sinking fund for the payment of city debt should be established. In 1835 he rescued William Lloyd Garrison from an infuriated mob at the risk of his own life. On the completion of his second term he retired entirely from public life. He was president of the Boston farm-school, to which he bequeathed $10,000, and an active member of the State horticultural society, to which organization he left a similar sum. The object of his greatest benevolence was the State reform-school in Westborough which he founded and to which he gave $22,500 during his lifetime and $50,000 at his death. His Works include " Three Weeks in Paris " (Boston, 1814) ; "The Political State of Italy " (1820) : "Account of the Hartford Convention " (1823) ; " The Diplomacy of the United States with Foreign Nations" (2 vols., 1828).— His son, Theodore, third of the name, naturalist, b. in Waltham, Mass.. 23 Aug., 1833, was graduated at Harvard in 1855, and at the Lawrence scientific school of that university in 1858. after which he continued his scientific studies in Europe until 1863. Soon after his return he entered the military service, and was made aide-de-camp on Gen. George G. Meade's staff, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, on 2 Sept., 1863, in which capacity he served until 20 April, 1865, being present at the movements on Centerville and Mine Run, the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-House, and Cold Harbor, the investment of Petersburg, the pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia, and its capture at Appomattox Court-House. From 1865 till 1882 he was fish commissioner of Massachusetts, making the first scientific experiments that were undertaken for the cultivation and preservation of food fishes by any state in the Union. The annual " Reports of the Commissioners on Inland Fisheries of Massachusetts" during his administration were wholly or in part written by him. In 1883 he was elected to congress as an Independent on the issue of reform in the civil service, and served until 3 March, 1885. He has been active in the interests of Harvard, being an overseer of that university from 1868 till 1880, and from 1881 till 1887, and he has also been interested in the administration of chari-