Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/152

ARTHURASBURY. Canada. A Canadian journal published this estimate of Mr. Arthur: "Among the labor leaders, Mr. Arthur, of Cleveland, Ohio, is pre-eminent on account of his moderation, sagacity, and enlightened public spirit. He does not admit any essential hostility between labor and capital, but advises arbitration when industrial differences arise, and he advocates peace and harmony between competing interests. His friends claim that the exception of the Burlington strike can be easily explained. The men were eager for the strike, but Mr. Arthur withheld his consent until he had done all in his power to remove the cause. After the strike ended he declared that he would never give sanction to another." He made a considerable fortune from real-estate investment, and as chief of the brotherhood had a salary of $5000. He died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 16, 1903. ARTHUR, Timothy Shay, author, was born near Newburg, N.Y., June 6, 1809. His parents moved to Baltimore, Md., where he was educated, engaged in business, and later became editor of the Athenæum. In 1839 he also edited the Baltimore Literary Monument, and in 1841 removed to Philadelphia, where from 1844 he edited the Ladies' Magazine, and in 1850 was editor of The Sons of Temperance Offering. His stories were largely upon temperance topics. In 1852 he founded Arthur's Home Magazine, which he edited until his death. He wrote, in conjunction with Mr. W. H. Carpenter, a series of histories treating of the separate states, but his tales, of which he published over one hundred volumes, were chiefly of a moral or religious nature, and were extremely popular, being republished both in America and England. He wrote many short stories for Arthur's Magazine and the periodicals. His works include: "Steps Toward Heaven"; "Golden Grains from Life's Harvest Field"; "Temperance Tales" (several volumes); "Lights and Shadows of Real Life"; "Out in the World"; "Nothing but Money"; "Growlers Income Tax"; "Library for the Household" (12 vols.); "Tales for Rich and Poor" (6 vols.); "Ten Nights in a Barroom"; "The Good Time Coming." He died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 6, 1885. ASBOTH, Alexander Sandor, soldier, was born in Keszthely, Zala, Hungary, Dec. 18, 1811. He was educated at Oldenburg, served in the Austrian army, studied law at Presburg, was a civil engineer on the works at Banat, and in 1848-'49 he served under Kossuth in the Hungarian war, and fled with him to Turkey, where he shared his imprisonment. On being liberated in 1851 he accompanied Kossuth to America, and engaged in farming, engineering, and manufacturing until the breaking out of the civil war, when he was given a colonel's commission, and appointed chief of staff to General Fremont. In September, 1861, he was made brigadier-general and commanded the 4th division of Fremont's army. He served with distinguished gallantry, was in command of a division in General Curtis's army in Arkansas, and was severely wounded at Pea Ridge. In 1863 he commanded the military district of West Florida, and was wounded at the battle of Marianna, Fla. In 1865 he was brevetted major-general for his services in Florida. In March, 1866, he was appointed minister to the Argentine Republic and Uruguay. He died in Buenos Ayres, Jan. 21, 1868. ASBURY, Francis, missionary bishop, was born at Handsworth, Staffordshire, England, Aug. 20, 1745. In his fourteenth year he was apprenticed to a trade, and spent his leisure hours in reading and studying. He determined to be a Methodist preacher, and began by holding prayer-meetings in his own neighborhood, preaching with great effectiveness to large numbers of people in his father's house and in the houses of friends. After some four years of successful preaching in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire, he was admitted into the Wesleyan conference, and appointed to labor on a circuit, according to the Wesleyan custom. In August, 1771, he attended the conference held at Bristol, and when John Wesley called for volunteers for the work in America, young Asbury was among the first to respond. He landed in Philadelphia toward the end of the same year, and at once began his labors on a continent on which there were but three Methodist meeting-houses, and about three hundred communicants. He saw a disposition on the part of the preachers to confine their labors to the cities, and to him is due the introduction of circuit preaching in America. In October, 1772, John Wesley appointed him "general assistant in America," with power of supervision over the preachers and societies. The next year, however, he was superseded by Thomas Rankin, an older minister, who soon returned to England, intimidated by the spirit of revolution among the colonists. At the first annual conference held at Philadelphia in 1773, the society was found to comprise eleven hundred communicants and ten ordained preachers. At the second conference held in May, 1774, the number of communicants reported was two thousand, while the ranks of the itinerant preachers had been greatly