Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/515

Rh the mayor, with a silver casket and address. He has been active in politics as a Republican orator.

SHAW, Annie Cornelia, artist, b. in West Troy, N. Y., 1(5 Sept., 1852. She studied in Chi- cago, and was elected an associate of the Chicago academy of design in 1873, and an academician in 1876. Her principal works are " On the Calumet " (1874); "Willow Island" and " Keene Valley, N. Y." (1875); "Ebb Tide on the Coast of Maine" (1876); "Head of a Jersey Bull" (1877); " Return- ing from the Fair " (1878)"; " In the Rye-Field " and Road to the Creek " (1880) ; " Close of a Summer Day "(1882); "July Day "and "In the Clearing" (1883); "Fall Ploughing," "Ashen Days," and " The Corn-Field " (1884): and " The Russet Year " (1885). Her " Illinois Prairie " was at the Centen- nial exhibition in 1876.

SHAW, Charles, lawyer, b. in Bath. Me.. in 1782; d. in Montgomery, Ala., in 1828. He was graduated at Harvard in 1805, and practised law for several years in Lincoln county, Me., but re- moved to Alabama, and was judge of a court in Montgomery at the time of his death. He pub- lished a " Topographical Historical Description of Boston from its First Settlement," which was highly praised (1817).

SHAW, Henry, philanthropist. 1). in England, 24 July, 180(1: d.'in St. Louis. Mo.. 25 Aug. 1889. He came to this country in 181!). and in May of that year established himself ill the hardware Im-iness in St. Louis with a small stock of goods. When he was forty years of age he retired from business with what at that time was considered a large for- tune. He then spent nearly ten years in travel, and on his return founded the nucleus of the Missouri botanical garden. As it grew more at- tractive he conceived the idea of making his gar- den a public re.iort, and opened his gates to all comers, maintaining the property, which covered about fifty acres, at his own expense, and ex- tending to all the hospitality of his residence. In 1870 he gave to the city of St. Louis a tract of 190 acres of land adjoining his garden, on condition of its maintenance as a public park by the city. It was laid out under the supervision of Mr. Shaw, who enriched it with many works of art. In June, 1885, he gave to Washington university improved real estate that yields $5.000 yearly income, which, in accordance with his wishes, was used in organ- izing and maintaining a school of botany as a department of the university. At the same time the Missouri botanical garden and arboretum were placed in such relation to the school as to secure their full uses for scientific study and investigation to the professor and students for all time to come.

SHAW, Henry Wheeler, humorist, b. in Lanes- borough, Mass., 21 April, 1818 ; d. in Monterey, Cal., 14 Oct., 1885. His father, Henry Shaw, was a member of the Massachusetts legislature for twenty-five years, and was also a member of congress in "l818-'21. The son was admitted to Hamilton about 1832, but, becoming captivated with stories of western life and adventure, aban- doned all thoughts of college and turned his steps westward. He worked on steamboats on Ohio river, then became a farmer, and afterward an auctioneer. In 1858 he settled in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., as an auctioneer, and in that year he wrote his first article for the senior editor of this work, followed in 1859 by his " Essay on the Mule." No attention was paid to these or other articles written by him, and Mr. Shaw concluded that as an author he was a failure. A year later he was induced to make another effort, and decided to adopt a method of spelling that more nearly represented his style ft. of enunciation. The essay on the mule became "An Essa on the Muel. bi Josh Billings," and was sent to a New York paper. It was reprinted in several of the comic journals, and extensively copied. His most successful literary venture was a travesty on the "Old Farmers' Almanac," published for many years by the Thomas family, "Josh Billings' Farmers' Allmi- nax " (New York, ). Two thou- sand copies were first printed, and for two months few were disposed of, but during the next three months over 90,000 were printed and sold. For the second yearl27.000copies were distributed, and for the ten years of its exist- ence the sales were very large. Hebe- f?" -to. lec. ture in 1863, his lectures being a series of pithy sayings without care or order, delivered in an apparently awkward manner. Their quaintness and droller}', coupled with mannerisms peculiarly his own, made him popular on the platform. For twenty years previous to his death he contributed regularly to the " New York Weekly." and the arti- cles appearing in the " Century " magazine under the pen-name of " Uncle Esek " are said to be his. Besides the books mentioned above, he published "Josh Billings, his Sayings" (New York, 1866); "Josh Billings on Ice" (1875); "Every Boddy's Friend " (1876) ; " Josh Billings's Complete Work's," in one volume (1877); and "Josh Billings's Spice- Box " (1881). See his " Life," by Francis S. Smith (New York, 1883).

SHAW, James Boylan, clergyman, b. in New York city, 25 Aug., 1808 : d. in Rochester, N. Y., 8 May, 1890. He was fitted for the sophomore rla<s at Yale, but. in-iead of entering college, began the study of medicine, then that of law, and afterward prepared for the Presbyterian ministry, being li- censed to preach in 1832. He was for nearly fifty years in charge of the Brick church in Rochester, and then became pastor emeritus. He received the degree of D. D. from the University of Rochester in 1852. Dr. Shaw was moderator of the general as- sembly of his church in 1865, and in 1873 chairman of the first committee that was sent by the Presby- terian church in the United States to the estab- lished church of Scotland. He was a trustee of Genesee college. Hamilton college, and Auburn theological seminary, and a corporate member of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. He published occasional sermons.

SHAW, John, naval officer, b. in Mount Mellick, Queen's county, Ireland, in 1773 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 Sept., 1823. He was the son of an Kimlish officer, and, after receiving an ordinary education, came to this country with an elder brother in December, 1790, and settled in Philadelphia, Pa. He became a sailor in the merchant marine, and in 1797 was master of a brig that sailed to the West Indies. When hostilities with France began, he entered the U. S. navy as a lieutenant, 3 Aug., 1798. In December of the following year he was given command of the Enterprise," one of two schooners that had been