Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/43

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Capt. S. O. Buddington, bound for Cumberland gulf. The ship sailed from New London, Conn., Maj- 29, 1860, and when blocked by the ice a few weeks later, Hall left the vessel and made his way over the ice to the northwest, with his outfit and provisions. He discovered relics of the Franklin expedition of 1877-78, lived over two years among the Esquimaux, acquired their language and learned their habits and returned to the United States, reach- ing New London, Conn., Sept. 13, 1863. Then by lecturing and by personal ap- peals he succeeded in equipping a second expedition, and again finding passage on a whaler he sailed July 1, 1864, and his boat and provisions were landed at Depot island, 64° N., 90° W. He passed five years with the Esquimaux, obtaining oc- casional supplies from chance whalers, and in May. 1869, he reached the southeastern coast of King William's Land. His Esquimaux compan- ions refvised to give him over four days in which to search for Franklin expedition relics, but in that time he accumulated many positive memen- tos of the lost explorers, including a human skele- ton, supposed to be that of an officer of the Erebus, and with these undisputed evidences of his partial success he retraced his steps and soon after took voyage in a whaler bound for the United States, fully convinced that no member of the Franklin expedition survived at that time. He continued his lectures, advanced the theory of an open polar sea and proposed to congress an expedition in the interests of geographical knowledge. He pleaded his vievv-s with effect, as congress voted §.50,000 and directed an expedition fitted out under the direction of Mr. Hall bj' the U.S. navy depart- ment. The Polaris was equipped at an expense of $90,000 and was commanded by Captain Hall. Capt. S. O. Buddington, who had commanded the whaler George Henry on the first expedition of Hall, was made sailing master; Dr. Emil Bessels was chief scientist, and with twenty-four others the expedition set out from New London July 3, 1871, under consort of the U.S. frigate Cotigress, the frigate leaving the Polaris at God-haven, Greenland, Then the route of the Polaris was through Smith soimd, Kane sea, Kennedy and Robeson channels to latitude 82° 16' N., on Aug. 29, 1871, the highest point attained by any vessel up to that time. Unable to proceed further the

Polaris foimd winter quarters at Thank God Har- bor, 80°, 38' N. During the winter Mr. Hall made a journey on sledges, reaching 80^ N., which he named Cape Bi-evoort, and tlien returned to the ship, where he was stricken with apoplexy and died, and the party, left without a leader, soon after turned their faces homeward and were wrecked. Some escaped on an icefloe and were rescued April 30, 1872, and June 3, 1873. The Soci- ete de Geogi'aphie of Paris conferred upon Mr. Hall the Roqueth medal in 1875, and the British polar expedition of 1876 marked his grave, the farthest north of any then known to have been closed with a Christian prayer, and an epitaph on the tomb reads: "who sacrificed his life in the advancement of science." He published: Arctic Pesearches and Life among the Esquimaux (1864). Congress purchased his MS. for $15,000 and from it published Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition (1879). He died at Thank God Harbor, Greenland, Nov. 8, 1871.

HALL, Charles Henry, clergyman, was born in Augusta, Ga., Nov. 7, 1820; son of Charles and Margaret C. C. (Reid) Hall. He was brought up in the Presbyterian faith, was prepared for college at Phillips academy, Andover, Mass., and was graduated at Yale in 1842. He studied the- ology at Andover, 1842-43, and at the General theological seminary, 1843-44, but did not gradu- ate. He was ordained a deacon in the P.E. church Aug. 24, 1844, continued his studies at his home in Augusta, Ga., and was ordained a priest, Nov. 12, 1845, while minister of St. Jolm's church, Himtington, L.I., 1845-47. He was then rector of the Church of the Holy Innocents and chaplain of the U.S. military academy. West Point, N.Y., 1847-48; St. John's church, John's Island, S.C, 1848-57; church of the Epiphany, Wash- ington, D.C., 1857-69, and of the church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1869-95, declining a call to Emmanuel church, Boston, in 1869. He served as president of the standing committee in the diocese of Long Island; as deputy to the gen- eral convention, and as chancellor of the Cathe- dral of the Incarnation, Garden City, L.I. In politics he was a Democrat and spoke and worked for the election of Grover Cleveland, 1884, 1888 and 1892. He was a member of the Long Island historical society and for many years a director on the board of management; a member of the civil service and park commissions; and chaplain of the 23d regiment, N.Y.S.M. He was a neighbor and friend of Henry Ward Beecher and preached his funeral sermon, in performing which service he carried out a mutual arrangement that had existed for many years between the two friends. He received the degree of A.M. from Trinity in 1847; that of S.T.D. from Hobart and St James colleges in 1860, and from Columbia in 1861; that