Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/480

 Capt. A. Baxter Jones, C.S.A., of Nottoway county, Va. He was a member of the house of delegation in the Virginia legislature, 1891-1)2; register of the land-otlice, 1895-97, and a Democratic representative in the 55th and 56th congress 1897-1901. He was unseated March 23. 1898, but was renominated by his constituents and re elected as representative from the 4th Virginia district to the oGth congress by a majority of 2500.  EPPES, John Wayles, senator, was born in Virginia in 177:1 He attended the public schools and was admitted to the bar in 1794, practising in Richmond, Va. He was married to Maria, daughter of Thomas Jefferson. He was a Democratic representative in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th and i:3th congresses, 1803-11 and 1813-15. In 1817 he was elected a United States senator, and in 1819 resigned that office on account of illness. He then retired to his plantation in Chesterfield county, Va., where he died Sept. 20, 1823.

 ERBEN, Henry, naval officer, was born in New York city, Sept. 6, 1832; son of Henrj' and May (Luff) Erben; grandson of Peter and Eliza- beth (Kern) Erten; and a descendant of Peter Erben and of the Rev. John Michael Kern, all of New York city. He entered the U.S. navy as midshipman, June 17, 1848: and was promoted passed midshipman in June, 1855, master in September, 1855, lieutenant in 1856, lieutenant-commander in 1862, commander in 1866, and captain in 1879. At the beginning of the civil war he was stationed at Pensacola, Fla., and was present when the navy yard was surrendered to the state troops of Alabama. In January, 1861, with a small boats crew he succeeded in rendering Fort Mac Ree inoperative by spiking the guns and destroying 20,000 pounds of powder. He commanded the St. Louis at the siege and bombardment of Fort Pillow, and served on the Sumter at the siege of Vicksburg. At Antietam he commanded a naval howitzer battery under General McClellan, and from that time until the end of the war was actively engaged in the naval operations along the Atlantic coast. In 1867 lie was stationed at the Brooklyn, N.Y., navy yard, and in 1S91 succeeded Rear-Admiral Daniel L. Braine as commandant of the yard. He was promoted commodore April 3, 1892, and on June 1, 1893,

was appointed commander of the European squadron, with the temporary rank of rear-admiral. He was promoted to the full lineal rank, Aug. 2 and was retired. Sept. 6, 1893, having reached the age of sixty-two years. At the beginning of the war between the United States and Spain, in April, 1898, the administrative force of the navy department was reorganized, and Admiral Erben was again called into active service. On April 25 he was placed in charge of the naval defense system of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. He was also given command of the naval militia organization manning the auxiliary fleet, purchasing and changing over the vessels; and on the illness of Commander Horace Elmer, he relieved that officer from the command of the seven mosquito fleet divisions. In May, June and July, 1898, a large number of these small vessels were employed in guarding the mine fields in the harbors along the coast. In the lower harbor of New York alone there were over four hundred of these mines or torpedoes.

 ERDMAN, Constantine Jacob, representative, was born in Upper Saucon township, Lehigh county, Pa., Sept. 4, 1846; son of Enos and Anna (Keck) Erdman; grandson of the Hon. Jacob Erdman; and descendant of Johannes Erdman, who immigrated in 1734. He was graduated from Pennsylvania college, Gettysburg, in 1865, was admitted to the Lehigh bar in 1867, practised at Allentown and was elected district attorney in 1874. He was a Democratic representative in the 53d and 54th congresses, 1893-97.

 ERICH, Augustus Frederick, physician, was born at Eisleben, Prussia, May 4, 1837; son of C. Frederick and Christiana C. Erich. He received his early education in his native place, entered the Gymnasium of Eisleben in 1849, and prepared for a university course in medicine. He re- moved to the United States and was graduated at the University of Maryland, M.D. in 1861. He practiced surgery and gynaecology in Baltimore, Md., and in 1866, on the approach of Asiatic cholera, patented an automatic apparatus to be used in draining cellars. He organized the medical and surgical society of Baltimore in 1871 and was its first president. He was professor of chemistry in the College of physicians and surgeons, 1873-74 and of the diseases of women, 1874-86. He was surgeon-in-chief of the Maryland women's hospital, 1877-86. He was editor of the Baltimore Physician and Surgeon, 1873-86; a member of the Baltimore medical association; of the Pathological society of Baltimore: of the Medical and Chirurgical faculty of Maryland: of the Gynaecological society of Boston; of the Clinical society of Baltimore; of the Academy of medicine of Boston; and of the Maryland academy of science. He died in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 7, 1886. 