Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/90

70 MABERY, Charles Frederic, chemist, b. in North Gorham, Me., 13 Jan., 1850. He was gradu- ated at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard in 1876, and received his doctorate in course in 1881. Meanwhile he held the place of assistant in chemistry from 1875 until 1883, when he was called to the chair of chemistry in the Case school of applied science in Cleveland. He has published in the " American Chemical Journal " numerous papers giving the results of original researches, with Charles L. Jackson, Henry B. Hill, Rachel Lloyd, and others, in the laboratory at Cambridge. After he removed to Cleveland he became asso- ciated in the recent development of the electric production of aluminium, having been engaged in the early experimental work and in the perform- ance of other chemical investigations for the com- pany controlling the patents. In this connection he has invented a new method for the preparation of anhydrous aluminium chloride. Prof. Mabery is a member of the American academy of arts and sciences and of the German chemical society, and was elected secretary of the chemical section of the American association for the advancement of science in 1887, but did not serve.

MABLY, Gabriel Bonnot de, French author, b. in Grenoble, 14 March, 1709 ; d. in Paris, 23 April, 1785. He was educated in the Jesuit college at Lyons, and lived chiefly in retirement, devot- ing himself to literature. He published numerous works on history and law, and ^' Observations sur le gouvernement et les lois des Etats-Unis d'Ame- rique." embodying his views on the preparation of the constitution, by request of congress (1784). This work contains many sentiments adverse to civil liberty and religious toleration.

MACADAM, John Loudoun, Scottish engineer, b. in Ayr, Scotland, 21 Sept., 1756 ; d. in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, 26 Nov., 1836. On the death of his father he was sent to his uncle, William Macadam, who had settled as a merchant in New York city. The nephew was placed in a counting-house, be- came a successful merchant, and, espousing the royal cause in 1775, was agent for the sale of prizes at the port of New York. In 1783 he was com- pelled to return to Scotland, and purchased an estate in Ayrshire. He began in 1810 to experi- ment on the construction of roads, and, in spite of great opposition, succeeded in carrying into effect the system that is known by his name. This sys- tem depends on Mr. Macadam's discovery that small angular fragments of stone will coalesce or bind into a compact mass under pressure, and his principle that the efficiency of a road is in propor- tion to the thoroughness with which water is ex- cluded from the soil on which it rests. Mr. Mac- adam gave his services and advice without charge on all occasions, and declined many offers of re- munerative offices abroad. In 1825 he was voted £6,000 by parliament toward repaying the expenses that he had incurred in introducing his system, and he declined the honor of knighthood, which was subsequently bestowed on his son James. Mr. Macadam married Margaret Nicoll, of Islip, L. I., during his stay in New York, and after her death in 1827 took for his second wife Charlotte, sister of Bishop de Lancey. He published " Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Public Roads" (London, 1819); "Remarks on the Present State of Roadmaking" (1816) ;, and "Ob- servations on Roads " (1825).

McADOO, William Gibbs, jurist, b. near Knoxville, Tenn., 4 April, 1820. He was gradu- ated at East Tennessee university, Knoxville, in 1845, and in 1845-'6 sat in the legislature. After serving in the Mexican war in 1847 he was ad- mitted to the bar, and was attorney-general of Knoxville judicial district in 1851-'60. He re- moved to Georgia in 1862, served as a captain in the Confederate army, and in 1871 became judge of the 20th judicial district of the state. He has published various addresses, and, with Prof. H. C. White. " Elementary Geology of Tennessee." — His wife, Mary Faith Floyd, b.'in Tennessee, 8 Sept., 1832, is a granddaughter of Gen. John Floyd, who commanded against the Creek Indians in 1813-'14. She was early left an orphan, and married Ran- dolph McDonald, of Georgia, who died in 1854, and in 1858 she married Mr. McAdoo. She has been a frequent contributor to periodicals, both in prose and in verse, and has published " The Nereid," a romance, and " Antethusia."

McAFEE, Robert Breckinridge, lawyer, b. in Mercer county, Ky.. in February, 1784 ; d. there, 12 March, 1849. His ancestors left Sinking Creek, Botetourt co., Va., 1 June, 1773, and settled in Kentucky, where they were conspicuous in the In- dian warfare of the time. Robert was educated at various schools and at Transylvania seminary, studied law, and began practise in Mercer county. He was one of the first Kentuckians to join the northwestern army at the opening of the war of 1812, and became successively sergeant, ensign, and 2d lieutenant. He was quartermaster in Col. Richard M. Johnson's regiment when it relieved Fort Wayne from a threatened Indian attack. In 1813 he became captain in this regiment, and was actively employed on the frontier. At the close of the war he retired to his farm in Mercer county, and in 1819 was elected to the legislature. From 1820 till 1824 he was lieutenant-governor of Ken- tucky. He presided over the senate during the bit- ter and exciting contest knawn as the new and old court controversy, which virtually involved the question of the repudiation of a debt of doubtful legality by the state, and which was decided by the maintenance of all its obligations, though they had been obtained by fraud. He declined an election to congress in 1829, and served again in the legislature in 1831-2. Mr. McAfee was a member of the Baltimore convention of 1832 which nominated Gen. Jackson for president. From 1833 till 1837 he resided at Bogota, Columbia, as U. S. charge d'af- faires. In 1841 he again served in the state senate, and in 1845 he retired from public life. He was a member of the Royal antiquarian society of Den- mark, and an honorary member of the Kentucky historical society. He wrote a " History of the War of 1812 " (Lexington, 1816), and was the au- thor of a private journal containing much infor- mation relative to the early history of Kentucky.

MACALESTER, Charles, merchant, b. in Campbelltown, Argyleshire, Scotland, 5 April, 1765; d. near Philadelphia, Pa., 29 Aug., 1832. He came to this country in 1786, was naturalized as an American citizen, and settled in Philadelphia. From 1786 till 1804 he commanded vessels, generally acting as supercargo, and soon became an owner of the ships in which he sailed. One of these, the " George Barclay," he navigated with great success against the pirates. At the beginning of the 19th century he built a ship called the