Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/280

 BELKNAP.

BELKNAP.

Riil)iiis. on being mu.stered out of the volunteer service, and was for seven years a member of the b<xird of education, one year mayor, and a mem- ber of the board of control of state school institu- tion for the deiif for four years. He was elected in iaS8 to represent his district in the 51st Congress on the Republii-an ticket, declining a renomina- tion in 1890. but accepting a nomination to fill a vacancy in the 52d Congress on Oct. 12. 1891, when he was elected by sixteen hundred majority in a strongly Democratic district. In November, 1892, he was elected to the 53d Congress. He was author of the " Legends and Myths of the Chip|)ew;i Indians." •• Flower and Plant Myths," and •• War Memories."

BELKNAP, George Eugene, naval officer, w;vs Ijorn at NewiH)rt, N. H., Jan. 22, 1832. In October. 1847, he entered the navy as midshipman from New Hampshire, and was attached to the brig Porpoise, in the African coast squadron. In 1850 he was transferred to the frigate Raritan of the Pacific squadron, and in 1856 to the East India squadron. He was promoted past-midship- man, 1853; master, 1855; lieutenant, Sept. 16, 1855; lieutenant -commander, 1862, and com- mander. 1866. He took an active part in the capture and destruction of the barrier forts in the Canton river, China, in 1856. At the outbreak of the civil war he was conspicuous in the re-enforce- ment of Fort Pickens, April, 1861, and com- manded the Xew Ironsides in the investment of the Confederate forts in Charleston harbor, 1882-'64. He commanded the Seneca in the North Atlantic squadron in 1864, and the ironclad Ca- noniciLS in the attack on Howlett HoiLse battery, Va., and in the first and second attacks on Fort Fisher, firing the last shot at the evacuation of Charleston, in 1865. He then, with the Canon- icHJi, proceeded to Havana, Cuba, in search of the Confederate Stoneicall. He commanded the Ifarf- ford (flagship) in the A.siatic squadron in 1867-"68. He was ordered in 1873 to the steamer Tuscarora to make deep-.sea soundings in the North Pacific between the United States and Japan, to de- termine the feasibility of laying a submarine cable between the two countries. The methods he employed in obtaining soundings at great depths were original and highly successful, and for his valuable discoveries concerning the tojxjg- raphy of the fx-ean-bed he received public recog- nition from eminent scientists in all parts of the world. At the time of the disturbance connected with the election of King Kalakaua in Honolulu, Commander Belknap was senior naval officer of the station and landed forces from the Tuscarora and the Portsmouth for the purpo.se of restoring and maintaining order. He was in command of the Pensacola navy yard until 1881, when he went to South American waters in the Alaska to pro-

tect the interests of the United States in the diffi- culty between Chili and Peru. He was comman- dant at various times of the navy yards at Norfolk, Pensacola and Mare Island, superintendent of the naval observatory, Washington, and president of the torpedo board. He was promoted com- modore in 18S5, and in 1889 was made rear-ad- miral in command of the Asiatic station with headquarters at Yokohama, Japan. He returned to the United States in 1892, and was placed on the retired list Jan. 22, 1894. He published "Deep Sea Soundings" and various magazine articles, and was honored by the Royal scientific societies of Europe ;iiiil the principal gpographical and scientific socictii's of Aiiiericii, for liis investi- gations. He died at Key Wtst. Fla., April 7, 1903.

BELKNAP, Jeremy, clergj-man, was born in Boston, Mass., June 4, 1744. He was graduated from Harvard in 1702, applied himself to the study of theology, and was ordained pastor of a Congre- gational church at Dover, N. H., in 1767. Here he remained for twenty years, during which time he published one of the three volumes of his "History of New Hampshire," the other two volumes appearing in 1791 and 1792. In 1786 he received and accepted a call to the Federal street church of Boston, a charge which he held until his decease. He was the originator and founder of the Massachusetts historical society. He re- ceived the degree of S.T.D. from Harvard in 1792, and became one of its overseers in that j'ear. Dr. Belknap enjoyed a high reputation as a writer, and his books, as well as his published sermons and magazine articles, were very populai'. His works include: " A Life of Watts " (1793); two volvunes of "American Biographies" (1794-"98) ; a collection of psalms and hymns (1795), which passed through several editions, and " The For- esters; or, a Description of the Manners of the People of the Several States" (1796). He pub- lished a number of essays on the African trade, upon civil and religious liberty, and upon the state and settlement of the country. A " Life of Dr. Belknap," with selected letters, was published by his grand daughter in 1847. He died in Boston. Ma.ss., June 20, 1798.

BELKNAP, William Worth, soldier, was born in Newburg, N. Y.. Sept. 22, 1829; .son of William Gold.smith Belknap, an army officer who won dis- tinction under General Taylor in tiie war with Mexico. After his graduation at Princeton col lege in 1848 he studied law in Georgetown. D. C. was admitted to the bar, removed to Keokuk. Iowa, where he practised, and in 1857 was elected to the lower house of the state legislature. Upon the out])reak of the civil war he entered the vol- unteer army as major of the 15th Iowa infantry. He fought bravely at Corinth, where he was seri- ously wounded ; at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and in the