Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/691

Rh ister of the Congregational church, and installed pastor of the church at Cambridgeport, Mass., 14 Dec.. 1831. When the Rev. Edward Hitchcock resigned the presidency of Amherst college in ls.">4 Mr. Stearns was chosen to succeed him, and he held

the office till his death. He published " Infant Church Membership" (Boston, 1844): "Infant Church Member's Guide "(1845): "Life and Select Discourses of Rev. Samuel H. Stearns" (1840); "Discourses and Addresses" (185o); "A Plea for the Nation," posthumous (1876) : and sermons and discourses. William Augustus's son, William French, merchant, b. in Cambridgeport, M;iss., 9 Nov., 1834 ; d. in Orange, N. J., 21 May, 1874, was engaged in the East India trade, and for several years was a resident of Bombay, India, as head of the firm of Stearns, Hobart and Co. On his return to this country he established a house in New York for the same class of trade. He rendered great services to the American board of foreign missions during the civil war, built a church for Amherst college, and, as the personal friend and correspondent of Dr. David Livingstone, aided largely in fitting out his last expedition. Another brother of Samuel Horatio, Jonathan French, clergyman, b. in Bedford, Mass., in 1808: d. 12 Nov., 1889, was graduated at Harvard, studied theology at Andover seminary, and was licensed to preach in 1834. He was minister of the Presby- terian church in Newburyport, Mass., in 1835-'49, and in December, 1849, became pastor of the 1st Presbyterian church in Newark, X. J., which con- nection continued about thirty years. In 1836 he was a commissioner from the presbytery of London- derry to the general assembly in Pittsburg, and he was moderator of the general assembly that met in Harrisburg in 1868. fie published "Sermon on the Death of Daniel Webster" (Newark, 1852), and " Historical Discourses relating to the First Presby- terian Church in Newark" (1853). Another broth- er. F.lipu Sperry, educator, b. in Bedford, Mass., in 1821 ; d. in Nashville, Tenn., in 1887, was gradu- ated at Harvard in 1841, was master of the normal school at Framingham, Mass., of the Albany female academy, and in 1875 became chancellor of Nash- ville university. Amherst gave him the degree of D. D. in 1876. Samuel Horatio's cousin, Edward Josiah, author, b. in Bedford, Mass., 24 Feb., 1810 ; d. ii .luly, 18!H. was gradual ed at Harvard in 1833, ordained a clergyman of the Episcopal church, and was professor of modern languages in St. John's college in 1849-'53. At other times he was either teaching or rector of a parish. He had published " Notes on Uncle Tom's Cabin " (Phila- delphia, 1853) ; " Practical Guide to English Pro- nunciation" (Boston, 1857) ; "The Afterpiece to the Comedy of Convocation " (Baltimore, 1870) ; " Birth and New Birth, a New Treatment of an Old Subject" (1872); "The Faith of Our Forefathers, au Examination of Archbishop Gibbon's ' Faith of Our Fathers ' " (New York. 1879) ; and " The Arch- bishop's Champion Brought to Book" (1881).

STEBBINS, Emma, artist, b. in New York city, 1 Sept., 1815; d. there, 25 Oct., 1882. For several years she devoted herself to painting in oil and water-colors, working also in crayon and pastels. She subsequently turned her attention to sculpture. In 1857 she went to Rome, where she studied under an Italian master, and also with Paul Akers. She executed a large fountain representing &ldquo;The Angel of the Waters&rdquo; (1860-'2) in Central park, New York; a statue of Horace Mann in Boston (1860); &ldquo;Joseph,&rdquo; &ldquo;The Angel of Prayer,&rdquo; and a bust of Charlotte Cushman (1859); a bust of John W. Stebbins in the Mercantile library, New York; and other works. While in Rome she won the friendship of Charlotte Cushman, with whom she returned to the United States in 1870. She prepared a memoir of Miss Cushman, at her request, after the actress's death (Boston, 1878).

STECKEL, Louis Joseph Réné, Canadian civil engineer, b. in Wintzenheim, Alsace, 6 Sept., 1844. He was educated at Benfeld, Alsace, and at Laval university, Quebec. He came to Quebec in 1807, and in the following year went to the western part of the United States, remaining till 1860, when he returned to Quebec. After studying civil engineering in Laval university, he practised his profession successfully, and has been chief clerk of the engineering branch of the department of public works, Canada, since July, 1880. In addition to other important work, he carried on extensive hydrographic surveys in 1881-'2 of St. Lawrence ship-channel between Quebec and Cap à la Roche, and from 1884 till 1887 extensive geodetic levelling operations along Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers, from Lake Champlain to tide-water in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He invented in 1868 a perfected flute, called the &ldquo;Harmonic flute,&rdquo; and exhibited at the Indian and colonial exhibition, in London in 1886, a piccolo constructed on his system, and geodetic rods as perfected by him. He has published &ldquo;Treatise on Geometry and Trigonometry&rdquo; (Quebec, 1866), and &ldquo;Essay on the Contracted Liquid Vein affecting the Present Theory of the Science of Hydraulics&rdquo; (Ottawa, 1884).

STEDINGK, Curt Bogrislaus Louis Christopher, Count von, Swedish soldier, b. in his father's castle of Pinnau, Pomerania, 26 Oct., 1740; d. in Stockholm. He was graduated at the University of Upsala in 1768, entered the Swedish army in his youth, took part in the war against Prussia, and, entering the French service in the Royal regiment of Sweden, rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. At Versailles, where he remained on duty, he lived on intimate terms of friendship with Count Axel Fersen. In command of a brigade of infantry he sailed in D'Estaing's fleet in. and gained credit in the operations against the West Indies, especially in the attack upon Granada. In the attack upon Savannah, 9 Oct., 1779, the rashness and probable failure of which he predicted to D'Estaing, he led one of the two principal assaults, and. after planting the American flag on the last intrenchment. was wounded and compelled to retreat with the loss of half his brigade of 900 men. After his return to France the king made him colonel of the regiment of Alsace and knight of the Protestant branch of the Order of St. Louis, while the king of Sweden, in recognition of his services in America, made him colonel of dragoons and knight of the Order of the Sword. He also received the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati. He left France in 1787, took part in the war between Sweden and Russia, and