Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/291

 HINMAN

HINSDALE

HINMAN, Royal Ralph, historian, was born in Soutlibury, Conn., June o, 1785; son of Gen. Ephraini and Sj'lvania (French) Hinnian, and grandson of Deacon David Hinnian and of Wil- liam French. He prepared for college under the instruction of Azel Backus, D.D.,and was gradu- ated from Yale in 1804. He taught an academy in Virginia, ISOi-Oo, and then returned to Con- necticut and studied law at New Milford and Litchtield. He was admitted to the bar in 1807, and practised law at Koxbury and Sonthington, Conn. He was married, Sept. 14, 1814, to Lydia, youngest daughter of Maj.-Gen. John Ashley, a descendant of Gov, John Winthrop. He was for ten years postmaster of Roxbur\-, and was judge and clerk of probate at Sonthington. In 1819 he was appointed brigade major and inspector of the 6th infantry of Connecticut. He was a member of the general assembly four sessions, and was once nominated for representative in congress. On being elected secretary of state of Connecti- cut, he removed to Hartford, and held the office, 1835-42. In 1835-36 he was appointed by the legislature cliairman of two committees, the first to revise the public statutes of the state, and the second to prepare and publish the acts of incor- poration or private laws of Connecticut. He was commissioner of deeds for Maine and other states. 1837, and notary public for Connecticut, 1842. In 1844 he was appointed by President Tyler col- lector of customs for the port of New Haven, and superintendent of lighthovises in the district, and held the office until the following March. He was a delegate to the Democratic national con- vention at Baltimore in 1844. He was an original member of the Connecticut Historical society and a member of various other liistorical societies; a member of the Linonian Society of Yale; and was elected an honorary member of the Par- thencm Society of Trinity college in 1843. He received the degree of A.M. from Yale in 1811. He made a special study of the early history of Connecticut, and published: Official Letters be- ticeenthe Kings and Queens of England and the Early Governors of Connecticut in 1635-79 (1836); Historical Recollections of Connecticut in the American Revolution (1842); Catalogue of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecti- cut (1852-58); A Family Record of the De- scendants of Sergeant Edivard Hinman (1856). He died in New York city, Oct. 15, 1868.

HINSDALE, Burke Aaron, educator, was born atWadsworth, Ohio, March 31, 1837; son of Albert and Clarinda (Eyles) Hinsdale, grandson of Elisha Hinsdale, and a descendant of Robert Hinsdale. He attended the district school, and for a few terms the AVestern Reserve Eclectic institute, afterward Hiram college. In 1858 he entered upon a course of liberal study at Hiram,

the head of the institute being then James A. Garfield, of whom he became a favorite pupil and an intimate personal friend. He entered the ministry of the Christian church in 1861; was pastor at Solon, Ohio, 1864;-66; and at Cleveland,

HIRAAA COULEGE.

1866-68; and was assistant editor of the Chris- tian Standard, 1866-69. In 1869-70 he held the chair of history and English literature in Hiram college, and was its president, 1870-82. He was supei'intendent of piiblic schools in Cleve- land, Ohio, 1882-86, and became professor of the science and art of teaching in the University of jMichigan in 1888. He was elected a member of the American Historical association, and received the honorary degrees of A.M. from "Williams college in 1871, Ph.D. from Ohio State univer- sit}' in 1888, and LL.D. from Ohio university in 1892. He is the author of: The Genuineness and Authenticity of the Gospels (1872); The Jeirish- Christian Church (1878); Ecclesiastical Tradition (1879); Repuhlicun Text-Book for the Campaign of ISSO (1880); President Garfield and Education (1881); The Life and Worlcs of James Abram Gar- field (1882-83); Schools and Studies (1884); The Old Northwest (1888; rev. ed., 1899), The Ameri- can Government, National and State (1891; rev. ed., 1895); Hoio to Study and Teach History (1893); Teaching the Language Arts (1896); Horace Mann and the Common School Revival in the United States (1898), and voluminous contributions to journalistic and pamphlet litera- ture. He died at Atlanta. Ga., Nov. 29, 1900.

HINSDALE, John W., soldier and lawyer, was born in Butfalo, N.Y., Feb. 4, 1843; son of Samuel Johnston and Elizabeth (Christopher) Hinsdale, of Fayetteville, N.C.; a grand nephew of George E. Badger, U.S. secretary of the navy, 1841, and a descendant in the ninth generation of Robert Hinsdale, who came to America in 1638, and settled in Deerfield, Mass.; and on his motlier's side a lineal descendant of Gov. William Bradford and Elder Brewster, of the Mayfioiver. He was a student at Donaldson academy, Fayette- ville, at the military school of Colonel Starr, Yonkers, N.Y., 1853-58, and at the University of North Carolina, 1858-61. He joined the Confed-