Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/208

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FRENCH

FREMONT, John Charles, naval officer, was born in San Francisco, Cal., April 19, 1851; son of Gen. John Charles and Jessie (Benton) Fre- mont ; and grandson of John Charles and Anne Beverly ( Whiting) Fremont, and of Thomas H. and Elizabeth (McDowell) Benton. He was edu- cated at The Gunnery, Washington, Conn., and at the Peekskill military academy, N.Y., and was graduated from the U.S. naval acad- emy, midshipman, June 1, 1873. He was or- dered to the Wabash on a European trip, 1872-7-4; promoted ensign July 15, 1873; ordered to the Powhatan, in service in the North Atlantic station. 1876-78; promoted master, Nov. 25, 1877; was on special lighthouse duty, 1878- 81 ; promoted junior lieutenant, March 3, 1883 ; on the coast sm'vey, 1881-84; ordered to the

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Hartford, in the Pacific station, 1884-86, and was promoted lieutenant, Sept. 2, 1884. He served in the hydrographic office, 1886-88 ; was recorder of the board of inspection, 1888-89; on ordnance duty at the navy yard, Washington, D.C., 1889- 90; in service on the Philadelphia, in the North Atlantic station, from July, 1890, to June, 1893; on leave of absence from June to September, 1893, and superintendent of the harbor of New York from September, 1893, to August, 1898. He commanded the torpedo boat Porter in the Spanish-American war in 1898, and was present at the destruction of Cervera's fleet, but in that affair, as in the blockade duty leading up to it, the torpedo boats found no service to which they were especially adapted. He was later super- visor of New York harbor. He was married in October, 1877, to Sally Anderson.

FRENCH, Alice, author, was born at Andover, Mass., March 19, 18.")0; daughter of George Heni-y and Frances (Morton) French; and grand- daughter of George and Mary (Richardson) French and of Marcus and Charlotte Tillinghast (Hodges) Morton. Among her ancestors are William French and George Morton, the Pil- grims; Jonathan Danforth, the Rev. John Loth- rop. Pardon Tillinghast, and others well known in the early history of New England. She was educated at Abbot academy, Andover, Mass., and resided in the southwest after 1883. She acquired a reputation as a writer of short stories, in which she depicted western character. She wrote under the pen name Octave Thanet and

her publislied works include: Knitters in the Sun (1881); Otto the Knight (1883); Expiation (1886); We All (1888); Stories, of a Western Town (1891); An Adventure in Photography (1893) ; Missionary Sheriff (lSi)r)) ■ A Book of 'I'rue Lovers (1897) ■ The Heart of Toil (1898); A Slave to Duty and Other Women (1898); and contributions to the leading magazines in the United States.

FRENCH, Benjamin Franklin, hi.storian, was born in Richmond, Va., June 8, 1799. He at- tended a classical school and afterward studied law. In 1830 he removed to Louisiana where he engaged in planting, commercial pursuits and literary work, collecting a library which he pre- sented to the Fiske free library, New Orleans, La. In 1853 he removed to New York and gave his whole time to historical research. Among his published books are: Bingraphia Americana (1835); Memoirs of Eminent Female Writers {1821) ; Beauties of Byron, Scott and Moore (1838) ; His- torical Collections of Louisiana (1846-58) ; History and Progress of the Iron Trade of the United States (1858) ; and Historical Annals of North America (ISOl). He died in New York city, May 30, 1877.

FRENCH, Calvin Hervey, educator, was born in Williamsburg, Ohio, June 13, 1863 ; son of the Rev. Charles P. and Mary (Brown) French; and grandson of George French of Washington county, Pa. He was graduated from Lake Forest university, 111., in 1888, and from the Union theological .seminary in New York in 1891. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister, Nov. 17, 1891, and was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Scotland, South Dakota, 1891-98. He was principal of the Scotland academy, 1897-98, and in the latter year was elected president of Huron college, Huron, South Dakota. He was secretary of the Presbytery of South Dakota, 1896-98.

FRENCH, Daniel Chester, .sculptor, was born in Exeter, N.H., April 30, 1850; son of Henry Flagg and Anne (Richard.son) French; and grandson of Daniel and Sarah (Flagg) French and of William M. and Bet.sy (Smith) Richardson. His paternal grandfather was attorney-general of New Hampshire and his maternal grandfather was chief -justice of the same state. He removed to Cambridge, Mass. , in 1860, to Amherst in 1865 and to Concord in 1867. He early became a prac- tical ornithologist. In 1867 he studied in the Massachusetts in.stitute of technology. At the age of eighteen he carved from a turnip a gro- tesque figure of a frog in clothes, which attracted the admiration of Miss May Alcott, then a draw- ing teacher in Boston. She loaned him her modelling tools and from that time he devoted his life to sculpture, first attending Dr. William Rimmer's artistic anatomy classes. In 1870 he made his first exhibition, a bas-relief of his sister,