Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/219

 FRY

FRY

in 1843. He served throughout the Mexican w.ir at the head of the 2d Kentucky volunteer infan- try, which he liad organized. lu 1837 he was made judge of Boyle count}', Ky., and served until the outbreak of the civil war when he or- ganized and became colonel of the 4th Kentucky regiment, U.S. volunteers. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers. March 21, 1862, and served as such until the close of the war. He was a supervisor of internal revenues, 1869- 73. He died in Louisville. Ky., Aug. 1, 1893.

FRY, William Henry, composer, was born in Pliiladelphia, Pa., Aug. 10. 1815; son of William and Ann Penrose (Fleeson) Fry; grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth (Meyers) Fiy, and of the Rev. Thomas and Rebecca (Britton) Fleeson, and brother of Joseph Reese Fry. His first Ameri- can ancestors, John and Elizabeth Fry, came from Devonshire, England, about 1690 and settled in Bucks count}', Pa. He attended the public schools of his native place and was prepared for college at Mount St. Mary's seminary, Emmits- burg, Md. He then entei'ed joiirnalism as an edi- torial writer on the Philadelphia Gazette, published by his father. He received a thorough musical education and devoted his leisure to composing. In 1845 he published his first opera, entitled " Leonora," which was produced in Philadelphia and New York city with marked success. He studied abroad, 1846-53, at the same time acting as foreign correspondent for various newspapers, including the New York Tribune, of which he became musical editor on his return from Eu- rope. In 1853 lie delivered a course of ten ilhis- trateil lectures in New York city, and in the same year composed two symphonies, A Day in the Cotintry and The Breaking Heart. His subsequent compositions include several symphonies, a Stabat Mater and Eleven Violin Quartets (1854-55); Notre Dame (1864); and many solo pieces, vocal and instrumental. He publislied Artificial Fisli Breeding (1854). He died on the island of Santa Cruz. West Indies. Dec. 21. 1864.

FRYE, William Pierce, .senator, was born in Lewiston, Maine, Sept. 2, 1830; son of John March and Alice M. (Davis) Frye; grandson of Joseph and Mary (Robinson) Frye. and great-grandson of Joseph and Mehitable (Poor) Frye. His father was an early settler of Lewiston, a manufacturer, and a leading citizen; and his great-.grandfather, Maj.-Gen. Joseph Frye (1711-1794). made his escape by killing his Indian guard at the capture of Fort William Henry, Lake George. N.Y., in 1757, where he was a colonel in the Colonial army. He was a pioneer settler of Fryeburg, Maine. William Pierce was graduated at Bow- doin in 1850, .studied law under William Pitt Fessenden, and practised at Rockland and after- ward at Lewiston, Maine. He was a representa-

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live from Lewiston in the state legislature, 1861; 1862 and 1867; a presidential elector in 1864, mayor of Lewiston, 1866-67; attorney-general of Maine, 1867-69; member of the Republican na- tional executive committee, 1873, 1876 and 1880; a delegate to the Republican national conven- tions of 1872, 1876 and 1880, and chair- man of the Repub- lican state committee in place of James G. Blaine, 1881. He was a representative in the 42d-46th con- gresses inclusive, 1871-81, and was elected to the 47th congress, but re- signed before the meeting of that con- gress to take his place in the U.S. senate, having been elected to the seat made vacant by the resignation of Senator James G. Blaine, and he took his seat in the sen- ate, March 8, 1881, completing the term of Sen- ator Blaine which expired March 3, 1883. He was re-elected in 1883 for a full senatorial term, be- ginning March 4, 1883, was again re-elected in 1889 and again in 1895. and a fourth time, Jan. 17, 1901. As a representative he served on the library committee as chairman, on the judi- ciary and ways and means committees, and as chairman of the executive committee. He was prominent in the discussion of the Gen- eva award distribution, and through five con- gresses maintained and finally gained the rights of the actual losers, as indicated in the bill originally introduced by him. In the senate he was chairman of the committee on commerce, also serving on the committees on foreign relations; on fisheries; to e.stablish the University of the United States; on the select committee on Potomac river front, and also as chairman of the special committee on Pacific railroads; and was elected president pro tempore of the senate, Feb. 7, 1896. He carried through his bill providing for a congress of American nations and one providing for the maritime con- gress. He was a member of the commission which met in Paris in the autumn of 1898 to negotiate a treaty of peace with Spain. When the 56th Congress met, Dec. 4, 1899, Senator Frye was again elected president of the senate, p7-o tempore and he became acting Vice-President of the United States by reason of the death of Vice-President Hobart. He was a trustee of Bowdoin college from 1880, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Bates college in 1881, and from Bowdoin in 1889.