Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 7).djvu/51

Rh BONNEY, Edward, author, b. in Essex oountv, N. Y., 26 Aug., IS(t7; d. in Chicago. 4 Feb., 1864. He reinoveil to Elkhart, Ind., in 1837, and thence to Nauvoo, Ill., in 1844. After the murder of Col. George Uavenport at Koc-k Island, III., on 4 July, 1845, he volunteered to detect, bring to justice, and disperse a widely organized gang of murderers and robbers, thieves and counterfeiters, that then in- fested the .Mississippi valley, and was known as "The Banditti of the Prairies." The story of his success is descriljed in "The lianditti of the Prairies, or the Jlurderer's Doom : A Tale of the Mississippi and the Far West" (Chicago, 185,5), of which it is said that more copies have been sold than of any other publication in the western country. He settled in Hannibal, Mo., in 1860. and at the beginning of the civil war enli.sted in the National army, was 8ssigne<l to the se<Tet ser- vice, and contracted a disease from which he died during the last year of the war. Mr. Bonney pre- pared a second volume, giving a further history of his exploits, but the .MS. was destroyed by fire.

BOOT, Adrien (bote), Flemish engineer, b. in Antwerp about IfiSO; d. there about Id-V). He was a famous hydraulic engineer in Eurofie when he was engaged by the Spanish ambassaected the tunnel that had been executed by Enrique Martinez, and declared it inefflcient fur llie proposed end, and tooexiiensive, advising as a substitute an o|ien cut. lie pre- sentetl a project which, aort, "In- forme 8«l)rc d Pesagile ile Ins Lnguiias de -Mexico y Obras de Enrique .Martinez," was printed (Mexi- co, 1637). and he was also the author of " Descriji- tion (!<• la Nouvclle Esfwgne" (. twerp, 1641).

BOOTH-TUCKER, Frederick St. George de Lauteur, b. in Ioiigliyr, lleiigal. 2! Man'li, 18,5:). He was idiicated at Cheltenham cullege, England, and pa-M'd civil examination in 1874, contiiiiiiiig his .studies in London for two years. He was ap[>ointeeen in charge in t he I'nited States, with heailnuarters In New York. — Hiswife.EmniaMoSfi, daughter of William B'M)th, commander-in-chief of the Salvation arniv, b. in (iateshead, Kngland, 8 Jan., 1N60, was married in 188« to Mr. Tu<ker, who then a<lopted the name of ItiNith. and accom- panied him to India, and later to the l'nlt<-d Stales. She holds the rank of consul in the .Salvation army, and has joint and equal authority with her husband in the dirc'liun of their afTairs in this country-.

BOOTT, Kirk, manufacturer, b. in Boston, 20 Oct., 1790; d. in Lowell, Mass., 11 Apr., 1837. His father, an Englishman, came to Boston in 1783, and engaged in business as a wholesale merchant. The son studied in the Boston schools, and then went to Rugby, in England; returning to this country, he entered Harvard in the class of 1809, but left before graduation to study civil engineering in England, with a view to joining the British army. At the age of twenty-one he received his commission as lieutenant. With his regiment,

the 85th light infantry, he took part in the peninsular campaign, landing in Spain in August, 1813. After Napoleon had been sent to Elba, Boott's regiment was detailed for service against the United States, and took part in the attacks on Washington and on New Orleans. Boott, however, was excused from serving against the land of his birth. After a short visit to this country he returned to England, and studied engineering at Sandhurst. Later he resigned his commission and came to Boston to engage in business with two of his brothers. He was not successful in this venture, however, and when in 1822 Patrick T. Jackson offered him the position of agent of the Merrimack mills at Lowell he accepted the offer eagerly. The man and the opportunity were joined most opportunely. Boott was a man of tireless energy, original, a born leader. The possibilities of Lowell as a manufacturing centre were just unfolding, and Boott at once threw himself into the developing of his particular company and of the town as well. His training as military engineer enabled him to take every mechanical advantage of the water-power offered by the Merrimack river; mills, machinery, looks, canals &mdash; all received his attention. Besides his agency of the Merrimack mills he was also superintendent of the print-works, and agent of the Proprietors of locks and canals. He was moderator of the first town meeting, and was often sent to the state legislature. Naturally he took an interest in church work equally as intense as in municipal affairs and in the immediate business concerns of his mills; he threw himself entirely into the business of the moment, and impressed his personality upon Lowell as few other men have done. He was the pioneer and the leader in the development of manufacturing in this country &mdash; from the small, detached, weak establishments in which it had hitherto been conducted into the great joint-stock companies, to the existence of which is due so much of the wealth of the country. He pushed on with all his powers at extreme tension, until he was suddenly stricken down by a stroke of apoplexy. BORUNDA, José Ignacío, Mexican archæologist, b. in Mexico alx)ut 1740; d. there about 1800. According to the Mexican anti<|uaries Boriinda is the ('ham|H>llion of Anahiiac, and none knew as well the symbolical and phonetical value of the Mexican hieroglyphs which he learned to decipher. After stiidving law in his native city he became attorney oi the royal audiencia. and had charge, in 17fl5, of the case of Father Mier, who was tried for a sermon that he delivereil in the Church of Nuestra Sefiora de Oiiadelouiie, in which Mier de- nied that the Virgin had ever appeared in the lat- ter place. The archbishop of jlcxico, Gonzalo Niifiez lie Haro. appointed Morunda referee in the case by reason of the hitter's knowledge of the ancient hieroglyphs on which the story of the ap- parition is base<l. Borunda's decision, which was favorable to the defendant, brought on him much ferseciition from the ecclesiastical authorities. le wrote " Dissertacion dirigida al Superior Go- bierno de Mexico, sobre las .Minas de Azogne de la Nueva F'spafla." a mantiwript which was formerly in the catheerhaps has Ix-en destroyed in .Spain. In it Ho- runda explained his theory and system of reading hieroglyphs, and contended that they afforded