Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/132

 CAPEN.

CAPERS.

the peace congress in 1861 and was a stanch ad- vocate of the Crittenden compromise. He was elected governor of Delaware in 1862 and advised that body to emancipate the slaves in the state. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 1, 1865.

CAPEN, Edward, librarian, was born at Dor- chester, Mass., Oct. 20, 1821, son of the Rev. Lemuel and Mary Anne (Whiting) Capen. He graduated from the Boston Latin school with the Franklin medal in 1838; from Harvard college in 1842, and in 1845 from the Cambridge divinity school. He engaged for one year as minister over the Unitarian society in Westford, but owing to his sympathy with the views of Theo- dore Parker he was obliged to abandon the minis- try. In 1852 he became secretary of the school committee of Boston, and later in the same year was appointed librarian of the Boston public library. In 1853 he resigned tiie office of secre- tary of the scliool committee, and under direction of the library trustees prepared the first catalogue. He resigned in 1874; was librarian at Haverhill, Mass.. 1874-99 and librarian emeritus 1899-1901. He died at Haverhill, Mass., Oct. 20, 1901.

CAPEN, Elmer Hewitt, educator, was born in Stoughton, Mass., April 5. 1838, son of Samuel and Almira (Paul) Capen. In 1856 he entered

Tufts college, and while still an under- graduate the people of his native town elected him to the Massachusetts legis- lature, where he served during 1859- '60, being by some years the youngest representative in the house. He was grad- uated with his class in 1860, was admitted to the bar in 1864, and practised one year. He then studied theology, and in 1865 was ordained a minister in the Independent Christian church of Gloucester, Mass. He subse- quently occupied pulpits in St. Paul, Minn., and in Providence, R. I. In 1875 he resigned pastoral work to accept the presidency of Tufts college. Under his administration the financial resources of the college were greatly augmented, the num- ber of instructors increased more than fivefold, the number of buildings more than threefold, and many beneficial changes were introduced. In addition to the work of administration, he conducted the department of political science and supplied the college pulpit. He was president of the New England commission on col-

lege admission examinations, from its establish- ment in 1885. He was for twenty years a trustee of the Universalist general convention, and from 1888 a member of the Massachusetts state board of education. He was president of the Citizens' law and order league, and in 1888 was a delegate to the Republican national convention. He wi-ote the articles on the Atonement in the Universa- list section of the Columbian congress of relig- ions: was the orator at the unveiling of the John Boyle O'Reilly monument June 20. 1896, and re- ceived the degree D.D. from St. Lawrence uni- versity 1876 and LL.D. from Buchtel college 1899.

CAPEN, Nahum, author, was born in Canton, Mass., April 1, 1804. In 1825 he began business in Boston as a publisher, with the firm of Marsh, Capen & Lyon. He was among the first to agitate the matter of an international copyright, his memorial to Congress on the subject being one of the first presented to that body; a letter of his, printed by the senate, led tO the organiza- tion of the census bureau at Washington, and he estabhshed the custom of collecting letters from street boxes. He was postmaster of Boston from 1857 to 1861. He contributed to the press many articles on history and political economy. He edited a translation of the Works of Dr. Gall (6 vols.); the Annals of Phrenology (2 vols.); the Writings of Hon. Levi Woodbury, LL.D and the Massachnsetts State Records from 1847 to 1851 (5 vols.). He puljlished The Repid)Uc of the United States (1848); Reminiscences of John O. Spurzheim and George Combe, and a Review of the Science of Phrenology (1881). At the time of his death he was engaged on a. History of Democracy, one volume of which was publislied in 1874. He died in Boston, Mass., Jan. 4, 1886.

CAPERS, Ellison, 7th bishop of South Caro- lina and 169th in succession in the American- episcopate, was born in Charleston, S. C, Oct. 14, 1837; son of William and Susan (Magill) Capers. His father was one of the bishops of the southern Methodist church. He was graduated at the South Carolina military academy in 1857, was. appointed assistant professor of mathematics in that college, and resigned in 1861 to serve in the Confederate army. He continued in the service until the close of the war, rising to the rank of brigadier-general. In May, 1867, he was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church, and was priested Sept. 13, 1868, by Bishop Thomas F. Davis. He was rector of Christ church, Green- ville, S. C, from 1867 to 1887, with the exception of one year spent as rector at St. Paul's. Selma, Ala. In 1887, he became rector of Trinity church, Columbia. S. C, where he remained until his elevation to the episcopal office. He was sec- retary and treasurer of the diocesan board of