Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/316

 HOFFMAN

HOFFMAN

admitted to the bar on liis twenty-first birthday, Jan. 10, 1849, and in the fall of that year removed to New York city, where lie formed a partner- ship with Samuel ^M. "Woodruff and Jud-re "Wil- liam 31. Leonard, under the firm name Wood- ruff, Leonard & HofT- man. He was mar- ried in 1854 to Ella, daughter of Henry Starkweather, of New York city. In 1859 liis name was put for- ward as U.S. district attorney, but Presi- dent Buchanan ob- jected to his appoint- ment on account of his youth. In 1860 lie was elected re- corder of the city of New York, the young- est man who had ever lield the place, and he was re-elected in 1863, receiving a large majority of the votes polled. He was elected mayor of New Y^'ork in 1864, and during his term was nominated for governor of the state, but was defeated by Reuben E. Fenton. He was re-elected mayor in 1867 and in 1868, while holding the office, was elected governor of the state, resigning the mayoralty to assume the office. He was re-elected in 1870, serving until 1872. In three sessions of the legislature he vetoed 402 bills, all his vetoes being sustained by the legislature. In July, 1871, he was active in suppressing the Orange riots. He was a trustee of Union college, 1882-86, and re- ceived the degree of LL.D. from that institution in 1869 and from the College of New Jersej^ in 1870. The Public Papers of Governor Hoff- man were published in 1872. He died in "Wies- baden, Germany, March 24, 1888.

HOFFHAN, John Wesley, scientist, was born in Charleston, S.C, Aug. 11, 1869 ; son of Henry and Barbara (Wright) Hoffman. He received his preparatory education in his native city, studied for a time at Wilberforce university, Ohio, and at Albion college, Michigan, and was graduated from Howard university. Washington, D.C., in 1889. He took a post-graduate course in chemistry at Harvard university in 1889, and in 1890 entered the Michigan Agricultural college at Lansing, where he took the regular course in dairy science and agricultural chemistry. He studied dairy bacteriology under Dr. Herbert W. Conn (q. v.), 1890-91, and was the first member of the colored race to introduce the dairy science in the south. He was professor of agricultural biology at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial institute, 1894-96, where he introduced truck

gardening and scientific dairying. He also made a dietary study of the kind, quantity and quality of the food used by the negroes of the "'great black belt of the south," aiul his report was pub- lished by the U.S. department of agricuhvue as a valuable contribution to the dietetic .studies of the different races of the world, and was translated into several languages. In 1895 he introduced among the colored people of the south, farmers' institutes, which proved of great practical benefit in promoting advanced agricul- ture. He was the first scientist in the .south to report to the U.S. department of agriculture the appearance of the parasitic insect called the " San Jose scale." In 1896 he became professor of agricultural biology and director of the de- partment of agricultural science in the State Agricultural and Mechanical college, Orange- burg, S.C. He was elected a fellow of the Microscopical society, Montreal, Canada,. 1893 ; of the Roj-al Agricultural society, 1894 ; a mem- ber of the Torrey Botanical club, Columbia college, 1893; of the National Dairy association, 1894 ; of the National Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experimental Stations, 1894; of the Boston Society of Natural History, 1895 ; of the Royal Societ}' of Biology and Bacteriology of Berlin, 1895 ; of the Massachusetts Horticultural society, 1896, for originating a new variety of strawberiy known as the "Hoffman seedling" ; of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, 1897 ; of the American Society of Naturalists, 1897 ; a fellow of the American Geographical society, 1898, and of the New York Zoloogical society, 1898 ; and a member of the Boston Mj-cological society, 1898. He received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Cincin- nati in 1893. He is the author of numerous re- ports and papers on agricultural economy.

HOFFflAN, nichael, representative, was born at Half Moon, Saratoga count}-, N.Y., Oct. 11, 1787. His father was born in Germany and his mother was an American of Protestant-Irish parentage. He was educated as a phj-sician, re- ceiving his diploma of M.D. in 1810, but after- ward studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1813, and removed to Herkimer, N.Y., where he became the law partner of Aaron Hackley in 1816. In 1819 he went to Waterloo, Seneca county, where he was district attorney, 1823-25. He was a representative in the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22d congres.ses, serving, 1825-33. During a part of the time he was chairman of the com- mittee on naval affairs. He was judge of Seneca county, 1830-33. and canal commissioner for New York state. 1833-30. and while holding the office prepared several able reports. In 1836 he was elected district attorney of the county, but in the same year he removed to Saginaw, III., where he