Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/129

 COLUMBUS 125 lege, which in 1871 had 10 professors and 42 students. The Ohio agricultural and mechan- ical college, endowed with the congressional land grant, was opened in September, 1873. The state library contains over 36,000 volumes. There are two musical societies, two daily newspapers, four tri- weekly (one German), five weekly, and four monthly periodicals (two German). One of the weeklies, "The Mute's Chronicle," is published by the institution for the deaf and dumb. The churches, 44 in num- ber, are as follows : 4 Baptist (one for colored people), 4 Congregational, 1 Disciples, 3 Epis- copal, 2 Evangelical Association, 1 Friends, 1 Independent Protestant, 1 Jewish, 4 Luther- an (1 German), 9 Methodist, 5 Presbyterian, 4 Roman Catholic, 4 United Brethren, and 1 Universalist. Columbus was laid out in 1812 ; it was incorporated as a borough in 1816, and as a city in 1834. It became the seat of the state government in 1816, and was made the county seat in 1824. COLUMBUS. I. Christopher, the discoverer of America, born in Genoa, Italy, died in Valla- dolid, Spain, May 20, 1506. The time of his birth is uncertain. The earliest date given (1430), derived from a statement of Eamusio, is irreconcilable with admitted facts, and must be set aside. Peschel has recently endeavored to show that he was born in 1456, the ultimate evidence for which is a letter of Columbus, dated in 1503, stating that he was then 48 years of age. This is so much at variance with admitted facts that it seems probable that there is an error in writing (48 for 58, or even 68). Between 1435 and 1449 there is hardly a year which has not been fixed upon by different au- thors. Beroaldez, whose intimate connection with Columbus gives special weight to his statement, says that he died "at the age of 70 years (setenta, afros), a little more or less." This would fix the date at 1435 or 1436, which has been generally accepted. But D'Avezac has recently argued that instead of 70 (setenta) years should be read 60 (sesenta), and presents plausible reasons for the alteration. This would give the date of his birth at 1445 or 1446. Either date, 1435-'36, or 1445-'6, is reconcilable with ascertained data. According to the custom of the time, he f Latinized his name of Cristoforo Colombo into Columbus, and when he went to Spain adopted the Spanish form of it, Cristobal Colon.- He was the eldest son of Domenico Colombo, a wool comber, and Susanna Fontanarossa. They had two other sons, Bartolommeo and Giacomo (the latter called in Spain Diego), and a daughter. Columbus having early evinced a decided inclination for the sea, his education was mainly directed to fit him for maritime life. Besides the ordinary branches, he was instructed in Latin, and made some proficiency in drawing. For a short time he was sent to the university of Pavia, where he studied geometry, geography, astronomy, and naviga- tion. He then returned to Genoa, and assisted his father hi his trade of wool-combing. When about 14 years of age he began his nautical career with a distant relative of the same name, an admiral in the Genoese service. Little is known of Columbus during the many years he spent at sea. He is supposed to have served in the naval expedition fitted out in Genoa in 1459 by John of Anjou, duke of Calabria, to make a descent upon Naples in the hope of recovering that kingdom for his father, King Ren6; but he appears to have been princi- pally engaged in commercial voyages on the Mediterranean and up the Levant. About 1470 he went to Lisbon, where he supported himself by making maps and charts. He also sailed occasionally in the expeditions to the coast of Guinea. Soon after he had settled at Lisbon he married Dona Felipa, daughter of Bartolommeo Monis de Perestrello, an Italian cavalier, lately deceased, who had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry, and had colonized and governed tlje island of Porto Santo. Colum- bus now resided for some time on that island, where his wife had inherited some property, and where his son Diego was born. Here he studied the papers, charts, and journals which had been left by his father-in-law ; and here he was brought into association with persons interested in maritime discovery, among wnom was Pedro Correo, a navigator of note, who had married the sister of the wife of Columbus. Columbus determined upon sailing west, not to discover a new continent, but to reach India by a new route ; and his confidence in the practicability of this project was greatly en- hanced by the recent application of the astro- labe to navigation. His theory, according to his son Fernando, was founded upon the nature of things, the authority of learned writers, and the reports of navigators. He set down as a fundamental axiom that the earth was a terra- queous sphere or globe, the circumference of which from east to west at the equator he divided into 24 hours of 15 degrees each, ma- king 360 degrees. Comparing the globe of Ptol- emy with the earliest map of Marinus of Tyre, he concluded that 15 hours had been known to the ancients, extending from the Canary islands to the city of Thinse in Asia ; and that the Por- tuguese had advanced the western frontier one hour more, by the discovery of the Azores and the Cape Verd islands ; leaving 8 hours, or one third of the circumference of the earth, un- known and unexplored. This space might in a great measure be occupied by the eastern regions of Asia ; and by pursuing a direct course from east to west through the interve- ning ocean, a navigator would arrive at the ex- tremity of that country. This supposition was corroborated by the narratives of Marco Polo and John Mandeville, who in the 13th and 14th centuries had visited the remote parts of Asia, far beyond the regions laid down by Ptolemy ; and also by the opinion of Strabo, who be- lieved that the earth was surrounded by the