Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/56

 FANNING

FARGO

the Mission of the Conception, Oct. 38, 1835. He declined a position as colonel on the staff of Gen. Sam. Houston in November, 1835, and led a factious party opposed to the leadership of Hous- ton. As a compromise he was made govern- ment agent and placed in command of 500 Texans, the bulk of the insurgent army. When the Alamo was besieged he was at Goliad, design- ins; to march and cajsture Matamoras. On March 6 the Alamo fell, and on the 13th Fannin received his orders froni Houston, who was at Gonzales with only 300 men, to fall back to Victoria on the east bank of the Guadalupe. On the 19th he began his retreat, but the same day was halted by a col- umn of Mexicans. He fought desperately until darkness put a stop to the carnage. Sixty of his men were either killed or disabled and Faunin himself was severely wounded. He was within two miles of water and the protection of a foi'est of oaks, which he could have easily reached in the darkness, but he refused to leave his dead and wounded and the next morning he surren- dered his entire force under promise of being sent back to the United States. They were marched back to Goliad and on March 37, by an order from Santa Anna, the Mexican commander, the captured force was put to death. In the excite- ment of the slaughter about twenty-six es- <'aped. Fannin met his death at the hands of his captors while in the prison at Goliad, Texas, March 27, 1836.

FANNING, John Thomas, civil engineer, was born in Norwich, Conn., Dec. 31, 1837; son of John Howard and Elizabeth Fanning, grandson of Capt. John Fanning, and a descendant of Ed- mund Gilbert Fanning of Groton, Conn., who came to America in 1653. He was educated for the profession of ' ' - architecture and civil

engineering. During the civil war he served in the 3d Con- necticut volunteers and later as a field officer in the 3d Con- necticut militia. He began his professional practice in Norwich, Conn., in 1863, and planned in eastern New England manj' public and private buildings, mills and bridges. He was for eight years acting city engineer of Nor wicli and planned the city's water .-nipply, ceme- tery and other public improvements. He resided in IManchester, N.H., while constructing the public water supply for that city, and while

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there was a member of the board of education and chairman of the high school committee. He removed to Minneapolis, Minn., in 1886, and be- came agent aud chief engineer of the Saint An- thony Falls water power company, consulting engineer of the St. Paul, Minneajjolis & Mani- toba railway, and of the Great Northern railway; vice-president of the Minneapolis union railway, and later was employed as consulting engineer and expert in connection with various large water powers and public water supplies. He originated a comprehensive plan for the drainage of 3000 square miles of the valley of the Red River of the North, in the five river counties in Minnesota; the construction of the great dam, public water supply and electric lighting of Aus- tin, Texas; the large water power on the Missouri river at Great Falls, Mont., and on the Spokane river at Spokane Falls, Wash., and a large water power on the Missoiu-i river near Helena, Mont. He was elected a fellow of the Amer- ican association for the advancement of science; director of the American society of civil engi- neers and ijresideut of the American waterworks association. He is the author of: Treatise oh Hy- draulic and M'atcr Supply Engineeriny (12th ed., 1897) and many papers on engineering topics.

FARAN, James J., representative, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1799. He was graduated at Sliami university in 1831, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and settled to practise law in Cincin- nati. He was a member of the Ohio house of representatives, 1835-36 and 1837-39; speaker of the same, 1838-39; a member of the state senate, 1839-43, and sjieaker of the senate, 1841^3. He was a Democratic representative in the 29th and 30th congresses, 1845-49. He was mayor of Cin- cinnati, 1855-57: postmaster for several years, and associate editor and proprietor of the Cincin- nati Eiiqidrer, 1844-81. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dec. 13, 1893.

FARQO, William George, expressman, was born in Pompey, N.Y., May 20, 1818. He ac- quired a limited education, worked in a countiy store and in 1841 became freight agent at Au- burn, N.Y., for the Auburn & Sjracuse rail- road company. In 1843 he engaged as messenger for Pomeroy's express between Buffalo and Al- bany and in 1843 made his home in Buffalo. In January, 1844, with Henry W^ells and Daniel Dunning he oi-ganized the Wells express com- pany between Buffalo and Detroit, gradually extending it as far as St. Louis. In 1845 the firm became Livingston & Fargo, and in 1850 the American Express company united the interests of the various firms. Henry Wells was elected president and Mr. Fargo secretary. Upon its consolidation with the Merchants Union express company in 1868, Mr. Fargo became president of

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