Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/48

 BUEL.

BUELL.

BUEL, Samuel, clergyman, was born in Troy, N. Y., June 15, 1815; sou of Judge David Buel, an eminent lawyer. He received his education at Williams college, from which he was gradu- ated first in the class of 1833. He studied at the EiDiscopal theological seminary at Alexandria, Va. After twenty years of ministerial and mis- sionary work in various parts of the country, he became tutor at Kenyon college, professor of ecclesiastical history at Seabury divinity school, Faribault, Minn., in 1867, and professor of sys- tematic divinity and dogmatic theology in the General theological seminary in New York in 1871, where he continued to teach until poor health compelled him to resign in 1S88, wlien he was made professor emeritus. The General theo- logical seminary gave him the degree of S.T.D. in 1885, the degree having been conferred on him by Colmnbia college in 1862. Of his published writings the best known are : A Treatise of Dogmatic Theology, The Apostolical System of the Church Defended, and Eitcharistic Pres- ence, Sacrifice, and Adoration. He died in New York city, Dec. 30, 1892.

BUELL, Abel, pioneer type-founder, was born at Killingworth, Conn., about 1750. He was a man of many resources, and though little is known of his life, record is found of him as en- graver, jeweller, goldsmith, undertaker, military bugler, teacher of singing and choir leader, before he adopted the business of type-founding and printing. His expert knowledge of engrav- ing led him into the penal offence of altering a colonial note, for which he served a term of im- prisonment. A special act of the legislatiu-e, in return for many honorable services rendered the state, restored to him his civil rights. In 1769, without any other aid than his own ingenuity and some little knowledge derived from books, he began the manufacture of type, and in the course of a few years completed several fonts of long primer. One John Baine, who came to the United States after the revolution, has claimed the honor of being the first tj'pe-founder in America, but the Massachusetts Gazette estab- lished Buell's right to that honor beyond a per- adventure. Under date of Sept. 4, 1769 (some years prior to Baine's advent), that journal says : ' ' We learn that Abel Buell of Killing- worth, in Connecticut, has made himself master of the art of founding types for printing. " He was extremely eccentric and very restless, and was continually getting into trouble. He pub- lished a weekly newspaper, entitled, The Devil's Club or Iron Cane, in which he advocated " the doctrine of eternal progression and endless development." The publication of these views gave great offence to the Puritans, and Biiell was condemned to six months' confinement in Syms-

bury mines, being released at the end of his term oialy on condition that he publicly renounce his heresJ^ and that he agree to carry an iron cane on Sabbath days in token of the sincerity of his repentance. So subdued did he become to all outward appearances that he was known as " the meek man with the iron cane. " Disguised as a Kickapoo Indian he was one of the " Boston Tea Party,"' and at the battle of Lexington he heated to a white heat the point of his iron cane and with it touched off the first cannon fired in the revolution, and he was wounded in the knee at the battle of Bunker Hill. He became a gov- ernment coiner after the revolution, and devised new instruments for conducting the work. Subsequently he visited England, for the pur- pose of studying the machines used in the manu- facture of cotton cloth, and upon his return to America he established at New Haven a cotton factory, which was one of the first erected in the United States. He died at New Haven, Conn., about 1825.

BUELL, Don Carlos, soldier, was born near Marietta, Ohio, March 23, 1818. He was gradu- ated from West Point in 1841 ; was assigned to the 3d infantry, and raised to the grade of 1st lieutenant, June 18, 1846. He was brevetted captain for gallant conduct at ]\Iontere}', and major after Contreras and Churubusco, having received a severe wound in the latter engage- ment. From 1848 to 1861 he was on duty as assistant adjutant-general at Washington, and at various department headquarters. On May 11, 1861, he received a staff appointment as lieu- tenant-colonel, and on May 17 was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He was em- Ijloyed in the work of organizing the troops at Washington. In August, 1861, he was given command of a division of the army of the Po- tomac, and in November, 1861, superseded General Sherman in the command of the depart- ment of the Cumberland, re-organized into the department of the Ohio. An attack upon Gen- eral Buell's pickets at Rowlett station, Dec. 17, 1861, opened the Kentucky campaign, and Feb. 14, 1862, he occupied Bowling Green; February 23 he took possession of Gallatin, Tenn., and on the 25th of the same month entered Nash- ville. On March 21, 1862, he was made major- general of volunteers, and his department became a part of the department of the Mississippi under General Halleck. His opportune arrival at Shiloh on the evening of April 6, following, saved the troops under General Grant from a dis- astrous defeat. He assumed command of the army of the Ohio, June 12, 1862, and early in Sep- tember Bragg advanced into Kentucky, obliging Buell to evacuate central Tennessee and retreat to Louisville, where his army arrived September