Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/176

BACKUS.BACON. BACKUS, Isaac, clergyman, was born at Norwich, Conn., Jan. 9, 1724; son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Tracy) Backus. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Middleborough in 1748, and continued as pastor and evangelist until 1756, when he assumed charge of a newly formed Baptist church in the same town. From 1765 to 1799 he was a trustee of Rhode Island college. In 1774 he was chosen agent of the Baptist churches of Massachusetts, and in this capacity was sent to Philadelphia to enlist in behalf of the Baptists the protection of the Continental Congress. President Manning of R. I. college presented a memorial, petitioning for relief from the persecution and oppression to which the Baptists were at that time subjected, and Mr. Backus made several addresses in behalf of religious freedom. In 1789 he made a tour through Virginia and North Carolina for the purpose of strengthening the Baptist denomination in that section. He published: "History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists" (1777, 2d ed., 2 vols., 1871); "An Abridgement of the Church History of New England, 1602-1804" (1804), and "Church History of New England from 1620 to 1804" (1844). He died Nov. 20, 1806 BACKUS, James, pioneer, was born at Norwich, Conn. July 14, 1764; son of Elijah and Lucy (Griswold) Backus At the age of twenty-four he joined the colony which, under General Rufus Putnam, founded Marietta, and thus was one of the first settlers of Ohio. As agent of the Ohio company he made the first surveys in Marietta, and he is said to have built, at the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, the first frame house that was erected in Ohio, then the Northwest Territory. He was both a civil and military officer in the new settlement, as his journal shows. He was a man of means, and devoted his money without stint to the benefit of the settlement. He erected the first saw and grist-mill at Marietta, and had driven from New England the first yoke of oxen that ever trod the soil of Marietta. Ohio. The mill crank and saw, the grist-mill spindle, and the other irons were made by his father at the Backus iron works, Norwich, Conn. He remained at Marietta about three years, and in March, 1791, he returned to Yantic, to succeed his father in the management of the Backus iron works, which had been established by his grandfather, and carried on by his father, both prior and subsequent to the war of the revolution. He was widely known as a man of character, great energy and executive ability. In 1793 he was married to Dorothy Church, daughter of Charles Church Chandler, of Woodstock, Conn. He died Sept. 29, 1816. BACKUS, Truman Jay, educator, was born in Milan. N.Y., Feb. 11, 1842; son of the Rev. Jay Spicer and Mercy (Williams) Backus, and a descendant of Isaac Backus. He was graduated from the University of Rochester in 1864; attended the Rochester theological seminary, 1864-'65, and was assistant secretary to the American Baptist Home Mission society, 1866-’67. He was professor of rhetoric and the English language at Vassar college, 1867-’83, and president of Packer Collegiate institute. Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1883. He was president of the Long Island state insane hospital. He received the degree LL. D. from Rochester in 1883; rewrote Shaw's "History of English Literature" and published "Great English Writers" (1885); "Outlines of English Literature" (1887). BACKUS, William Woodbridge, philanthropist, was born in Norwich, Conn., Oct. 22, 1803; son of James Backus. He successfully conducted a large grain and stock farm in Norwich, and amassed a fortune. He gave $75,000 to endow the W. W. Backus hospital at Norwich, and bequeathed about $85,000 to Norwich institutions, the rest of the estate going to the Backus hospital. He died in Norwich. Conn., July 13, 1892. BACON, Augustus Octavius, senator, was born in Bryan county, Ga., Oct. 22, 1839. He received a high school education in his native state, and after his graduation from the University of Georgia, in 1859, he studied law in that institution for a year. At the breaking out of the civil war he joined the Confederate army as adjutant, being afterwards commissioned captain, and assigned to general staff duty. In 1866 he was admitted to the bar, and began to practise law at Macon, Ga. He was several times a member of state Democratic conventions, being president of the convention in 1880, and in 1884 was delegate at large to the national convention. In 1868 he was a presidential elector, and in 1871 was elected to the Georgia house of representatives, serving there, by successive re-elections, fourteen years, acting two years as speaker pro tempore, and eight years as speaker. In 1894 he was elected to the United States senate, and was prominent in the 54th congress as an advocate of Cuban independence. He was re-elected in 1900 for the term ending March 4, 1907. BACON, David William, R. C. bishop, was born in New York city, Sept. 15, 1813. He was educated in the parochial schools of his native city and at Mount St. Mary's, Emmittsburg. Md., where he was graduated in philosophy and theology. He was ordained a priest Dec. 13, 1838, and became pastor of the Church of the Assumption in Brooklyn. He was an indefatigable and enthusiastic worker, and lent unwearied efforts to promote the growth of the Roman Catholic