Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/31

ABBOTT.ABELL. ABBOTT, Samuel Appleton Brown, lawyer, was born in Lowell, Mass., March 6, 1846; son of Josiah Gardner (q.v.) and Caroline (Livermore) Abbott. He was educated at the Boston Latin school, and was graduated at Harvard, A.B., 1866, A.M., 1869. He studied law, 1866-68; was admitted to the bar in 1868 and engaged in practice in Boston. He served as a member of the Boston board of license commissioners in 1877, as a trustee of the Boston public library, 1879-88, and as president of the board, 1888-95. He was a member of the examining committee in 1880 and 1894; and acting librarian for several years. He took charge of the American College of Architecture at Rome, Italy in 1897. He was married in 1869, to Mary Goddard, in 1873 to Abby F. Woods, and in 1897 to Maria Dexter. ABBOTT, Samuel Warren, surgeon, was born in Woburn, Mass., June 12, 1837. He was graduated at Brown, A.B., 1858, A.M., 1861, and at Harvard medical school in 1862. He was an assistant surgeon in the U.S. navy, 1861-64; resigning to enter the army, where he served as assistant surgeon and surgeon of the 1st Massachusetts cavalry, 1864-65. At the close of the war he engaged in practice in Woburn, and subsequently in Wakefield, Mass. He was coroner of Middlesex county, 1872-77; medical examiner, 1877-84, and secretary of the Massachusetts state board of health from 1886. He was married in 1864 to Martha W., daughter of Thomas V. Sullivan of Woburn, Mass. He became a member of the American Medical association; American Public Health association; American Statistical association; Royal Statistical Society of Great Britain, and an associate of the Societe Francaise d'Hygiene. He published several papers on hygiene. ABEEL, David, missionary, was born in New Brunswick, N. J., June 12, 1804. After his graduation from Rutgers college, he studied at the theological seminary of the Reformed Dutch church, and in 1827 was ordained to the ministry. For two years he was pastor of a church at Athens, N.Y., leaving there in 1829 for Canton, China, as a missionary. While in that country and in Java, Singapore and Siam he did much good work in spreading Christianity. In 1845 he returned to America, and on Sept. 4, 1846, died in Albany, N.Y. An account of his life has been written by the Rev. G. R. Williamson. His published works include: "The Claims of the World to the Gospel," "Residence in China," and "The Missionary Convention at Jerusalem."' ABEEL, Gustavus, clergyman, was born in New York city, June 6, 1801, son of John Neilson Abeel, clergyman, and grandson of Col. James S. Abeel, revolutionary soldier. In 1826 he became a minister of the Reformed church, and preached for a short time in English Neighborhood and in Belleville, N. J. He then removed to Geneva N. Y., where in 1829 he was installed, and where he remained until 1844, when he accepted a call to preach at the new second Reformed church. There he labored successfully for twenty years, retiring at the end of that time to devote his remaining years to study. He was an active member of the New Jersey historical society. He died at Stanford, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1887. ABELL, Arunah S., journalist, was born at East Providence, R. I., Aug. 10, 1806, son of Caleb Abell, a quartermaster in the war of 1812. His ancestry is traced to Robert Abell of England, whose four sons settled in Massachusetts in the early days of the colony. One of the sons, Preserved Abell, grandfather of Arunah S., settled at Seekonk, a town then known as Rehoboth, situated on the Providence river. Arunah S. acquired a common school education in his native place, and after two years' employment in a store, served out an apprenticeship in the printing department of the Providence Patriot. He then went to Boston, and later obtained employment in New York city, where he became acquainted with William M. Swain and Azariah H. Simmons, with whom he formed a co-partnership for the publication of the Public Ledger in Philadelphia, the first copy of which was issued March 25, 1836. It was the first successful penny paper published in Philadelphia. A visit to Baltimore resulted in the founding of the Sun under the personal control of Mr. Abell, who issued the first number May 17, 1837. In two years the paper had outgrown its original quarters, and a larger building was fitted up for its use. A few years later Mr. Abell built the Sun iron building, the first of the kind erected in the United States. At the death of Mr. Simmons in December, 1855, Mr. Swain and Mr. Abell formed a new partnership, continuing the publication of the Public Ledger in Philadelphia and the Sun in Baltimore. In 1864 Mr. Abell sold his interest in the Public Ledger, and at the death of Mr. Swain in 1868, became sole proprietor of the Sun. He was the first printer to adopt the rotary printing machine, and received for publication the first document transmitted over the telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington. The Sun's telegraphic copy of the message was reprinted by the academy of sciences in Paris, side