Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/150

 FOLGER

FOLGER



cliui'ches from 200 to 300 and the number of priests from 143 to 200. At his deatli the legis- lature of Illinois passed resolutions expressing its estimate of his worth and of the loss sustained by the community, and the citizens of Chicago, without regard to creed, voiced their sorrow in public meetings and at their several churches. He died at Cliicago, 111., Feb. 19, 1879.

FOLGER, Charles James, statesman, was born in Nantucket, Mass., April IC, 1818; son of Thomas Folger, and a descendant of John Folger, who came to America from Norwich, England, in 1630, with his son Peter, and settled in Water- town, Mass., removing to Martha's Vineyard in 1641, and to Nan- tucket in 1663. He removed with his parents to western New York in 1831, settling near Geneva. He was graduated at Geneva college in 1836, honor man of liis class, and was admitted to the bar in Albanj-, N.Y., in 1830. He practised in Geneva, was justice /7^ ^ ^ ^ . of the peace, 1839-43;

,/■ /%^~ y; z/i> -CyJA^ judge of the court of common pleas for Ontario county, 1844-45; master and examiner in charge, 1843-46; county judge for Ontario county, 1851-55; state senator and chairman of the judiciary committee of the senate, 1861- 69; and delegate and chairman of the judi- ciary committee in the state constitutional con- vention of 1867. When he entered political life he was a disciple of Silas Wright and afterward of Martin Van Bureu. In 1856 he joined the new Republican party and thereafter was one of its most faithful adherents. Through the influence of Senator Roscoe Conkling, his personal friend, he received from President Grant the appoint- ment of U.S. assistant treasurer at New York in 1869. He resigned the position in 1871, having been elected associate judge of the New York court of appeals, and was made chief judge of the court by appointment of Governor Cornell in 1880, to fill the unexpired term of Sanford E. Church, deceased. He was re-elected to the bench of the New York court of appeals by a majority of 45.000 in 1880 for a full term of four- teen years, but resigned in 1881 to accept the portfolio of the U.S. treasury in the cabinet of President Arthur, which he held iip to the time of his death. He was defeated in the gubernato- rial election of 1882 bj' Grover Cleveland of Buffalo, who received a majority of nearly 200,-

000 votes, caused by a belief that the Republican convention had not been conducted fairly. He was a trustee of Cornell university, 1865-73; a benefactor of the librarj' of Hobart college; and received the degree of M.A. from Hobart in 1840 and that of LL.D. in 1870. He also received the degree of LL.D. from Rutgers in 1870. lie died at Geneva, N.Y., Sept. 4, 1884.

FOLGER, Walter, representative, was born in Nantucket, Mass., June 12, 1765; son of Wal- ter Folger. He was a direct descendant of Peter Folger, the colonist, who came from Norwich, England, in 1630; settled with his father, John, in Watertown, Mass.; removed to Martha's Vineyard in 1641, became a land survej'or, teacher and Baptist preacher; removed to Nantucket in 1663. and died there in 1690. His daugliter Abiah was the mother of Benjamin Franklin and his descendants were mostly seafaring men. Wal- ter was a proficient scholar, mastering higher juathematics, navigation and French without a teacher. He was a clock and watch maker and made an astronomical clock, devoting two years to its construction and completing it in 1790. He studied and practised medicine, surgery and law. He was a state representative one term; a state senator, 1809-15; judge and chief justice of the court of common pleas and of sessions for six years, and a representative for Massachusetts in the 15th and 16th congi-esses, 1817-21. The war of 1812 led to a demand for cotton and woolen goods, and he established a manufactory in his home and set up power looms, which were among the first used in America. With the aid of his sons he carried on an extensive business, producing both woolen and cotton fabrics. He was principal of the academy, taught navigation and astronomy, kept a record of the weather from 1827 to 1848, contributed problems in math- ematics to scientific jiapers, made observations on comets and the solar eclipse of 1811, wrote a description of Nantucket for the Massachusetts historical society (1794), and in his seventieth year (1835) began his genealogy of the people of Nantucket, which he left incomplete. He died in Nantucket. Mass., Sept. 8, 1849.

FOLGER, William Mayhew, naval officer, was Ijorn in Massillon, Ohio, May 19, 1844; son of Robert and Amelia (Hayden) Folger; grandson of Mayhew and Mary (Joj^) Folger; and a de- scendant of Peter Folger of Nantucket, who arrived in America in 1630. He was graduated from the U.S. naval academy, Nov. 22. 1864, and served on board the Jolin Adams and Marion, prac- tice ships, in the latter part of the civil war. He was promoted ensign, Nov. 1, 1866; master, Dec. 1, 1866; lieutenant, March 12, 1868; lieutenant-com- mander, March 29, 1869; and commander, Jan. 26, 1885. He was chief of the bureau of naval