Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/202

 CHENEY.

CHESHIRE.

CHENEY, Ward, manufapturer. was born in Connecticut in I6i6; son of George and Electa (Woodbridge) Clieney. He began his business career in Providence, R. I., and became inter- ested in the culture of silk in Burlington, N. J. , which led to his establishing, with several of his brothers, in 1836, a silk manufactorj^ at Man- chester. Conn. Later they built mills at Hart- ford also, their chief productions being sewing silks, and silk fabrics woven by power looms, both plain -dyed and printed. He was a benevo- lent a.id progressive man, and afforded assistance to many j^oung men entering business life. The relations of Llie firm of Chenej' Brothers with their employees were exceptionally kind and cordial; upon the family homestead they built a model village of homes for their operatives, a school and library, boarding-houses, with pleasure grounds, and a spacious hall and theatre. The firm eventually was incorporated, and Ward Cheney became its president. He died at Man- chester, Conn., March 22, 1876.

CHENOWETH, Caroline Van Deusen, edu- cator, was born near Louisville, Ky., Dec. 29, 1846 ; daughter of Charles and Mary (Hunting- ton) Van Deusen. She was educated in the St. Cliarles institute, New Orleans, and at Moore's Hill college, near Cincinnati. She was married to Colonel Bernard Peel Chenoweth, accompanied him to China, where he acted as vice-consul, and during his last illness herself conducted the affairs of the vice-consulate, being highly compli- mented for this service by Secretary Fish when she returned to Washington to settle Colonel Chenoweth"s affairs. She was afterwards pro- fessor of English literature at Smith college, and taught private classes in Boston. She became a member of the London society for psychical re- search, the Brooklyn institute, the New York Dante society, and an associate editor of the Med- ico-Legal journal. She wrote stories on cliild life in China : Stories of the Saints (1883) ; Col. John Hazeltine an Undistinguislied Citizen (1900).

CHESBROUQH, Ellis Sylvester, civil engi neer, was born in Baltimore, Md., July 6, 1813. His first work was done at the age of thirteen as chainman on the survey of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. He was next employed on the Alleghany and Portage railway, and assisted W. G. McNeill in constructing the Paterson and Hudson River railroad. He became senior assist- ant in the building of the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston railroad in 1837; was appointed chief engineer of the Boston water-works in 1846, and as such planned the Brookline reservoir and other important improvements for the water system. In 1850 he -n^as made sole commissioner of the Boston water department; in 1851 was made city engineer and surveyor of street and

harbor improvements. He planned the sewerage system of Chicago, being appointed engineer for the Chicago board of sewerage commissioners in 1855; he also constructed the river tunnels In 1879 he resigned his position as commissioner of public works. He was considered an expert on water supply and sewerage of cities, being fre- quently consulted by the officials of the great cities in tliat capacity. He was president of th3 American society of civil engineers. He died in Chicago, 111., Aug. 19, 1886.

CHESEBRO, Caroline, author, was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., about 1828. She received an academical education, and after 1848 con- tributed to the magazines and wrote novels. From 1865 to 1873 she was instructor of rhetoric and composition in the Packer collegiate insti- tute. Brooklyn. She published : Dream-Land by Daylight (1851) ; Isa, a Pilgrimage (1852) ; The Children of Light (1853) : The Little Cross- Bearer (1855) ; Philly and Kit (1856) ; Amy Carr and Peter Carradine, The Beautiful Gate, and other Tales (1863), and The Foe in the House- hold (1871). She died in Piermont, N. Y., Feb. 16. 1873.

CHESEBROUQH, Robert A., inventor, was born in London, Eng., Jan. 9, 1837 ; son of Henry A. Chesebrough, and grandson of Robert Chese- brough and of Richard M. WoodhuU. His par- ents were Americans, and he was taken to New York city soon after his birth. He acquired a good education, devoting especial attention to the study of chemistry. In 1858 he established a manufactory of petroleum and coal oil products, and in 1870 discovered the substance called vas- eline. He obtained exclusive rights on this pro- duct, and in 1876 organized a stock company. He originated the New York real estate exchange, and became a prominent member of the consoli- dated stock exchange. He became a member of many prominent clubs of New York city, in- cluding the Exchange, the Union league, the Manhattan athletic and the New York riding. He is the author of A Reverie, and other Poems.

CHESHIRE, Joseph Blount, 5th bishop of North Carolina and 172d in succession in the American episcopate, was born at Tarboro, N. C, March 27, 1850; son of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Blount Cheshire, rector of Calvary church, Tarboro, for half a century. He graduated at Trinitj' college, Hartford, 1869. For two years he followed the occupation of teaching, after which he studied law and was admitted to the bar of North Carolina in 1872. He decided to enter the ministry of the Episcopal church, was ordained a deacon, April 21, 1878, and to the priesthood May 30, 1880. During his diaconate, and for a year after his ordination as a priest he