Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/354

 LAPHAM

LAPHAM

new constitution, but only to amend the articles of confederation. Of his two colleagues Judge Yates also withdrew, but Alexander Hamilton remained. He was a delegate to the state con- vention of June, 1788, that met at Poughkeepsie to ratify the Federal constitution, and was a member and speaker of the state assembly in 1789. He was a justice of the supreme court of New York, 1790-98 ; chief justice as successor to Robert Yates, 1798-1801, and chancellor as suc- cessor to Robert R. Livingston, 1801-14, when he was succeeded by James Kent. He was a com- missioner to determine the claims of the city and county of New York to lands in Vermont in 1791 ; a candidate for governor of New York, unanimously nominated by the Anti-federalists in 1804, but after accepting declined tlie nomina- tion. He is the author of : Select Cases in Chan- cery and in the Supreme Court in 1S24 and 1S2S. He mysteriously disappeared after leaving his hotel in New York city, to post a letter on an Albany boat, Dec. 12, 1829.

LAPHAM, Elbridge Qerry, senator, was born in Farmington, N.Y., Oct. 18, 1814. He attended Canandaigua academy, N.Y.; was a civil engineer on the Michigan Southern railroad, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1844, settling in practice at Canandaigua, N.Y. He was a member of the constitutional convention of New York in 1867 ; a Republican representative from the twenty- seventh New York district in the 44th, 45th and 46th congresses, 1875-81 ; and was elected to the U. S. senate, July 22, 1881, to take the place of Roscoe Conkling, who had resigned. He took his seat in the senate, Oct. 11, 1881, and served until March 3, 1885, being chairman of the com- mittee on fisheries. He died at Glen Gerry, Can- andaigua Lake, N.Y., Jan. 8, 1890.

LAPHAfl, Increase Allen, naturalist, was born in Palmyra, N.Y., March 7, 1811 ; son of Seneca and Rachael (Allen) Lapham, and grandson of Increase Allen. His ancestors on his father's side were of English origin, member of the Society of Friends, and settled in America be- fore 1650. His father was a contractor on the Erie canal, and Increase in 1826 entered the engineer service as rodman for his brother Darius, who was an engineer in Canada. He was employed on the Welland and Miami canal until 1827; on the Louisville canal, Ky., 1827-29; as assistant engineer on the Ohio canal, 1829-32, and was secretary of the state board of canal commissioners at Columbus, Ohio, 1833-35. He settled in Milwaukee,Wisconsin Territory, in July, 1836, where he was made register of claims and became a real-estate dealer. He was chief en- gineer and secretary of the Milwaukee and Rock River canal company which work was abandoned when the railroad was begun. He suggested to

the commission of patents the preparation of a catalogue of the grasses of the United States and went to Washington to make arrangements for this work and also for an expedition to the West Indies and South America for the purpose of col-^ lecting improved va- rieties of sugar cane for the planters of Louisiana. The pro- ject failed for want of an appropriation. He observed the fluc- tuations in the level of Lake Michigan as early as 1836, and in 1847 he published

three distinct causes ^^^^jT ^^M^^^M^^ for this, namely : the i/^^^i^^ ii'"-^^- ^^-fi" '^■ force and direction of the wind, the change of seasons, and the periodical changes of the moon, and on Sept. 3. 1849, he an- nounced the discovery of a slight lunar tide oni the lake. He was active in assisting General Meyer in the organization of the department of the signal service known as the division of tele- grams and reports for the benefit of commerce in 1870, and he refused the office of meteorologist- owing to advancing years, but in November, 1871, accepted temporarily that of assistant at Chicago, 111. He was appointed chief geologist of Wiscon- sin by Governor Washburn, April 10, 1873, but. the next legislature failed to confirm his appoint- ment and the commission was annulled, Feb. 16, 1875. In 1846 he donated thirteen acres of land for the purpose of establishing a high school in Milwaukee, but the council neglected the trust, and the property was sold for taxes. He was one of the founders of the Milwaukee Female college and president of its board of trustees ; a founder and president of the Wisconsin Historical society, and a founder of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He was a member of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, the American Philosophical society, an original member of the American En- tomological society, and an honorary member of the Wisconsin Natural History society, and of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians of Copenhagen. He made valuable contributions to the transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricul- tural society, the Wisconsin Historical society, and the Illinois State Agricultural society. His- herbarium contained at the time of liis death over 8000 species of plants, mostly native to Wisconsin. He was a member of the Society of Friends. He received the degree of LL.D. from Amherst college in 1860. His published worksf