Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/492

464 in Mexico, and became guardian of the Convent of San Pedro y San Pablo, where he studied the Ta- rasco language, in which he soon became the recog- nized authority in Mexico. Wishing to utilize his knowledge, he was sent to the Sierra Gorda as inis- sionary to the Indians, and was appointed parish priest "f Charapan. and afterward of Queretaro. He wrote " Manual Trilingtie, Latino, Castellano y Tarasco, para administrar los Sacramentos a los Espanoles y a los Indies" (Mexico, 1697); "El Catecisnio ilcl P. I'.artnlouie ( 'a-taim. traducido al' Tarasco" (Queretaro, 1699); and " Arte, Diccion- ario y Confesionario en Tarasco," which was ready for publication at the author's death.

SERRANO Y DOMUNGUEZ, Francisco, Duke de la Torre, Spanish soldier, b. at San Fernando, ii.-ar Cadiz. 17 Oct., 1810; d. in Madrid, 26 Nov., 1885. He was the son of a Spanish general, entered the military college as a cadet in 1822, and in 1825 became ensign. He served till 1833 in the coast- guard, but after the death of Ferdinand VII. he espoused the cause of the child-queen. Isabella II. He was promoted in 1840 major-general and second chief of the captaincy-general of Valencia, and in 1843 elected to the cortes, of which he became vice- president. He joined in the overthrow of the re- gency of Espartero on 24 July, and the declaration that Queen Isabella was of age. In November of the same year he was for ten days minister of war, in 1845 he became lieutenant-general and senator, and after the young queen's marriage in 1846 he obtained such influence over her that a public scandal followed, and he was appointed captain- general of Granada. In order to bring him to Madrid again, the queen appointed him inspector- general of cavalry and captain-general of New Cas- tile; he took part in several short-lived ministries and many military pronuneiamientos, and in Feb- ruary, 1854. was exiled for participation in the in- surrection of Saragossa. In June he returned to take part in the successful revolution under Espar- tero and O'Donnell, and in July, 1856, he joined the latter in his successful i-nii/i il'ttat, and was sent in 1857 as ambassador to Paris. In 1860 he went as captain-general to Cuba, and during his administration the annexation of Santo Domingo to the Spanish crown was brought about. For this, although it cost the nation millions of money and thousands of lives, he was created Duke de la Torre on his return to Spain, and made captain-general of the army. In 1866 he was imprisoned in Ali- cante for his protest, as president of the senate, against the illegal dissolution of the cortes, and in July, 1868. was exiled to the Canary islands, but on HI Sept. he landed at Cadiz, and aided in over- throwing the government of Queen Isabella, van- quishing the royal troops at AlcoJea on 28 Sept. On 8 Oct. he became chief of the provisional gov- ernment, and on 16 June, 1869, he was elected re- gent of the kingdom, which place he occupied till the acceptation of the crown by Prince Amadeo, who in January, 1871, made him prime minister. In 1872 he took the field as commander-in-chief against the Carlists, and, after the proclamation of ill.' republic in 1873, he retired to France. He re- turned to Spain toward the end of the year, and after the coup d'etat of Gen. Pavia was made chief of the executive, 4 Jan., 1874. negotiating private- ly, it is thought, with Martinez Campos the resto- ration of the monarchy under Alfonso XII. on 9 Jan., 1875. He continued to take an active part in politics as chief of the right centre, and in 1883 was appointed ambassador of Spain to l-'ranre. I Ie married a Cuban lady of great beauty, and left a son and two daughters.

SERRELL, Edward Wellman, civil engineer, b. in New York city, 5 Nov., 1826. He was educated at schools in his native city, and then studied surveying and civil engineering under the direction of an elder brother. In 1845 he became assistant engineer in charge of the Central railroad of New Jersey, and he subsequently served in a similar capacity on the construction of other roads. He accompanied the expedition that in 1848 located the route of the railroad between Aspinwall and Panama, and on his return, a year later, was engaged in building the suspension-bridge across the Niagara river at Lewiston; also that at St. Johns, New Brunswick. Mr. Serrell was in charge of the Hoosac tunnel in 1858, and was concerned in the construction of the Bristol bridge over Avon river, in England, which had the largest span of any bridge in that country at the time it was built. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the 1st New York volunteers as lieutenant-colonel, soon became its colonel, and served as chief engineer of the 10th army corps in 1863. He was chief engineer and chief of staff under Gen. Benjamin F. Butler in 1864, and designed and personally-superintended the construction of the &ldquo;Swamp-angel&rdquo; battery that bombarded Charleston. Many valuable improvements of guns and processes, that proved of practical service during the war, were suggested by him, and the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers was conferred on him on 13 March, 1865. After 1865 he settled in New York, and engaged principally in the building of railroads, becoming in 1887 president and consulting engineer of the Washington County railroad. In addition to papers on scientific and technical subjects, he has published nearly fifty reports on railroads and bridges.

SERVIEN, Claude (sair-ve-ang), Flemish mis- sionary, b. in Tournay in 1493 ; d. in Mexico in 1549. After finishing his studies in Brussels, he went to the New World in quest of fortune, and served in Cuba and Mexico. But the cruelty of the conquerors to the Indians so affected him that he resolved to devote his life to their re- lief, and in 1527 entered the Dominican order in Mexico. Later he became secretary of Las Casas, whom he accompanied to Guatemala. In 1539 he established in northern Guatemala a model farm and garden for the benefit of Indians that he had persuaded to lead an agricultural life. But, as he refused, after the departure of Las Casas, to em- ploy them in work for the benefit of the order, he was sent in 1545 to Seville. The vessel that carried him was taken by French corsairs, and he was brought to La Rochelle, whence he set out for Rome. There he presented to the holy see a memoir in which he exposed the evils that had resulted from the course of the Spanish conquerors toward the Indians. The pope ordered inquiries to be made, and sent a commission of two priests to visit the South American missions. Servien accom- panied them, and they proceeded immediate!) I" Mexico. On their arrival he was arrested by the authorities, and imprisoned in the main convent of the Dominican order, where he died.

SERVOSS, Thomas Lowery, merchant, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 14 Oct., 1786; d. in New York city, 30 Nov., 1866. He was educated in his native city, and then engaged in the shipping business. In 1808 he settled in Natdirz. Miss., where he purchased cotton and sold goods that were mn.-ignrd to him from the north, and in 1817 he moved to New Orleans, where he continued his mercantile career. Meanwhile, in 1814, when tho seaports of the United States were threatened by the British navy. Mr. Servoss was in New York, and, on learning