Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/291

 BENEDICT.

BENEDICT.

1818 to the time of his death he was a trustee of Brown university, and in 1851 Shurtieff college conferred upon him the degree of D.D. He was a writer of force and originality, and his books had a wide circulation. Among these are: " General History of the Baptist Denominations in America and all Parts of the World " (3 vols., 1813); " Abridgment of Robinson's History of Baptism " (1817) ; " Abridgment of History of the Baptists " (1820) ; " History of All Religions " (1834); "Address before the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island " (1830) ; "'Fifty Years among the Baptists " (1860) ; " Compendium of Ecclesiastical History," "History of the Donatists '' (1874), and " Conference Hymn Book."' He was also the author of several poems. He died at Pawtucket, R. I., Dec. 5, 1874.

BENEDICT, Erastus Cornelius, educator, was born at Branford, Conn., March 19, 1800; son of Joel Tyler and Currance (Wheeler) Bene- dict. In 1803 his parents removed to New York, where he acquired a good English education at an early age, and taught school for a short time. In 1831 he was graduated from Williams college with the degree of A.M., and shortly after his graduation accepted a position in Jamestown, N. Y., as principal of an academy. From there he went to fill a similar position at Newburg, N. Y., and returned in 1824 to Williams college, where for a few months he acted as tutor. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, began the prac- tice of the law, and was soon made deputy clerk of southern New York. He was for fifty years a leading authority on admiralty law, and though his practice was large, he was actively interested in local and state politics. He held several municipal offices in New York city, being assist- ant alderman and president of the board of edu- cation, and a member of the state assembly in 1848 and 1864. In 1855 he became a trustee of Williams college and a regent of the University of the state of New York, which office he held until his death. In 1865 Rutgers coUege con- ferred upon him the degree of LL.D. In 1873 he was elected to the state senate, and in 1878 was made chancellor of the University of the state of New York. He was active in philanthropical work, was attached to numerous benevolent soci- eties, and for many years acted as governor of the New York state woman's hospital. He was a mem- ber of the prominent historical societies, and was corresponding secretary and first vice-president of the American geographical society. Among his pubhshed writings are: "American Ad- miralty" (1850); "A Run Through Europe" (1860); "The Hymn of Hildebert and other Medieeval Hymns" (1861), and numerous speeches and addresses in pamphlet form. He died in New York city, Oct. 33, 1880.

BENEDICT, George Grenville, soldier, was

born at Burlington, Vt., Dec. 10, 1837; son of George Wyllys and Eliza (Dewey) Benedict. In 1847 he was graduated from the University of Vermont, and in 1853 became editor and joint proprietor of the Burlington Free Press. In 1862 he enlisted in the 13th Vermont volunteers, serv- ing in the war until July 14, 1863. In January of that year he became 3d lieutenant and aide-de- camp on the staff of the 3d Vermont brigade. In 1863 Congress bestowed upon him a medal of honor " for distinguished conduct in the battle of Gettysburg,"' and in 1866-"67 he served on the staff of Governor Dillingham. In 1869 he was elected state senator, holding the office for two years, and acting for the following three years as postmaster of Burlington. He accepted the ap- pointiuentof state military historian of Vermont in 1880, which position he retained until 1887. He was made secretary of the University of Vermont and of the State agricultural college in 1865. He served as president of the Vermont press association in 1886. He wrote "The Battle of Gettysburg, and the Part Taken therein by Ver- mont Troops" (1867), and" Vermont in the Civil War " (1886-'88).

BENEDICT, George Wyllys, educator, was born at North Stamford, Conn., Jan. 11, 1796; son of Joel Tyler and Currance (Wheeler) Benedict. After his graduation from Williams college, in 1818, he went to Westfield, Mass., where he re- mained for a short time as principal of the acad- emy. He then returned to Williams college, and until 1831 held the position of instructor, going then to New York state to become principal of the Newburg academy. After three years' work there he accepted the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy in the University of Vermont. After more than twenty years of pedagogic labor the condition of his health induced him to engage with Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell uni- versity, in the construction of the telegraph Une between Troy and Canada Junction. He after- wards raised the capital of the Vermont and Boston telegraph company, and was contractor for the construction of the first fine from Boston to Burlington. In 1853, with his second son, he purchased the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, and he edited and managed that journal until 1866, when his youngest son purchased his interest. He served in the Vermont state senate in 1854 and 1855. The University of Vermont conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1857. He was president of the first editors' and publishers' association in Vermont, and a vice-president of the Vermont historical society. He was married Jime 5, 1833, to Eliza, daughter of Stephen and EHzabeth (Owen) Dewey, of Sheffield. Mass. He died in Burlington, Vt.,"Sept. 24, 1871.