Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/26

ABBOTT.ABBOTT. astic sportsman, and especially enjoyed fishing on Lake Erie. In one of these piscatorial excursions Mr. Abbott and a companion were shipwrecked and lost their way in the Canadian wilderness, where for a month they were forced to find their diet in the woods and waters. During his absence Mr. Abbott's funeral services were held, and his wife assumed her widow's weeds. Mr. Abbott was the first white landowner in what became Erie county. He was a man of quaint personality, and eminently suited for the pioneer life which he lived. He died in 1822.  ABBOTT, Edward, journalist, was born in Farmington, Me., July 15, 1841, fourth son of Jacob and Harriet (Vaughan) Abbott. He was educated at the university of the city of New York, and was graduated with the class of 1860, being class poet, prophet, marshal, and editor of the Eucleian. He studied theology at Andover, 1861-2, was ordained a Congregational minister, and served as chaplain in the public institutions of Boston, 1863-4. He then founded and became the first pastor of Pilgrim Congregational church (then Stearns chapel) at Cambridge, serving 1865-9, resigning his charge to take the associate editorship of the Congregationalist, in which work he continued from 1869 to 1878, when he accepted the editorial chair of the Literary World, continuing with that periodical until 1903. His religious views underwent a change and he accepted the tenets of the Protestant Episcopal church, was ordained a deacon in 1879, and was advanced to the priesthood in 1880. He became rector of St. James church, Cambridge, and in 1889 was elected by the general convention as bishop to Japan, but declined to serve. He was a member of the Cambridge school committee, chaplain of the Massachusetts state senate 1872-3, member of the board of visitors of Wellesley college 1884, vice-dean of the eastern convocation of Massachusetts, 1889, member of the missionary council of the P. E. church after 1886, and clerical deputy from Massachusetts to the general convention in 1892. He was married (1) Feb. 16, 1865, to Clara E. Davis, and (2) Aug. 21, 1883, to Katharine, daughter of Alfred Kelly. His degrees were conferred by the University of the City of New York, A.B., 1860, and D.D. in 1890. Among his published works are: "The Baby's Things," a story in verse (1871); "Pilgrim Lesson Papers" (1873-74); "The Conversations of Genius" (1875); "A Paragraph History of the United States" (1875); "A Paragraph History of the American Revolution," and "Revolutionary Times" (1876); "Long-Look Books" 3 vols. (1877-80); "Memoir of Jacob Abbott" in "Memorial Edition of Young Christian" (1882); "Phillips Brooks" (1900), besides contributions to American periodicals.  ABBOTT, Emma, singer, was born in Chicago, Ill., Dec. 9, 1850. Her father, Seth Abbott, was a musician, and did all in his power to cultivate the child's voice, which displayed remarkable sweetness and strength at a very early age. Emma was eight years of age when, she made her first appearance on the stage, singing at a concert given in her father's office in Peoria, Ill. At the age of eleven she was told by William B. Bradbury and Parepa Rosa, who chanced to hear her sing, that she had fame and fortune in her voice, and she determined that it should have proper cultivation. In 1867 she introduced herself to Clara Louise Kellogg at the close of a concert given in Toledo, Ohio. Miss Kellogg heard her sing and gave her letters to friends in New York, also personally interceding for her with Errani. By the voluntary contributions of her listeners at parlor concerts Miss Abbott accumulated enough money to buy a suitable wardrobe and pay her board for a short time in New York city, one of her audience, a railroad manager, furnishing her with a round-trip pass. She soon obtained a position as soprano in Dr. Chapin's church, and by this means won the interest and friendship of such men as Horace Greeley, Matt Carpenter, Henry Ward Beecher, S. V. White, Robert G. Ingersoll, and George C. Lake. These and other friends raised a fund of nearly $10,000 to send her to Europe, and after studying a few months at Milan, she went to Paris, studying under Marchesi and Wartel in vocalization, and Charles Fletcher in dramatic acting. At a musicale given by the pupils of Marchesi, the Baroness Rothschild chanced to be present, and was so charmed with Miss Abbott's voice that she presented her with a check for two thousand francs, and a week later with a diamond necklace. On one occasion Madame Patti chanced to sing in Paris, and Miss Abbott with difficulty obtained an audience with her, and induced the great singer to hear her voice. Patti was so delighted with her singing that she presented Miss Abbott with a pair of exquisite diamond ear-rings and with a letter to the impressario Mapleson, who afterwards engaged her to sing under his management. Her debut was made as Marie in "The Daughter of the Regiment," and was a tremendous success. In 1875 she was married to Eugene Wetherell. Her five years' contract with Mapleson was cancelled at the end of two years, because of her refusal to appear in "Traviata," which she considered immoral, and she returned to America in 1877. In 1878 the Abbott English opera company was organized, with Mr. Wetherell as assistant manager. She travelled throughout the country, singing to crowded houses and enthusiastic audiences, and presenting mostly light operas, her favorites being, "The Daughter of the Regiment," 