Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/369

 LAVIALLE

LAW

(1894) ; aiul articles ciiiitribiited to tin; Bihliotheca Sacra, the Missio)iaiij liericw of thr World, the Missionanj Herald -.inil Bliss's Ci/clopa'dia of Mis- sions, lie .lietl ill Pioviileiict', ]{.!., Oct. 10, 1«97. LAVIALLE, Peter Joseph, R.C. bishop, was born at Lavialle, in the province of Auvergne, France, in 1820 ; son of Guillaume and Marie Jeanne (Faure) Lavialle. He was educated for the priesthood in Paris under the Sulpician

Fathers, and in 1841 was induced to go to Louisville, Kj'., where he completed his theological stud- ies in St. Thomas's Diocesan seminary, near Bardstown, Ky., and was ordained priest, Feb. 2, 1844, by his relative, Bish- op Chabrat. He was connected with the Cathedral of St. ^^ Louis, Louisville, Kj'.,

"Oi^^^^O-y^CU^ 1844-49 ; was profes- sor in St. Thomas's seminary, 1849-56, and president of St. Mary's college, Marion county, Ky., 1856-65. He was elected bishop of Louisville, Ky., and was con- secrated in that city, Sept. 24, 1865, by Arch- bisliop Purcell, assisted by Bishop McGill and Bisiiop St. Palais. He built four churches in the city of Louisville, and had the personal super- vision of the churches and educational institu- tions in his diocese, 1865-67. He died in Naza- reth, Ky., May 11, 1867.

LAW, George, financier, was born in Jackson, Wasliington county, N.Y., Oct. 25, 1806 ; son of John Law, who emigrated to America from count}-^ Down, Ireland, in 1784. He worked on his father's farm and attended the district schools until 1824, when he walked to Troy, wliere he obtained employment as a hod-carrier. He learned the trade of mason and stone-cutter at Hoosick, N.Y., and engaged in that business in Troy. He was employed on the Delaware and Hudson canal at Kingston, N.Y., in 1827 ; was a quarryman in Pennsylvania, and worked on a canal in Norfolk, Va., until 1828, when he re- moved to New York city and was employed on the construction of tlie Harlem canal. In 1829 he returned to Pennsylvania, and in a few years gained a high reputation as a contractor. In 1837 he entered bids for tliree sections of the Croton aqueduct. New York, obtaining two of them, and in 1839 he was awarded the contract for building the high bridge across the Harlem river. He was elected president of the Dry Dock bank in 1842, and he subsequently purchased the

Harlem railroad and extended it from Williams Bridge to White Plains, N.Y., greatly increasing the value of its stock. In 1843 he engaged in the steamship business, and in 1849 was the first to carry passengers from New York to Chagres, Panama, and when the Pacific Mail Steamship company started an opposition route from New York to the isthmus, he organized a Pacific line to run from Panama to San Francisco. In 1851 he sold out his Pacific line to the Pacific Mail Steamship company, purchased tiieir Atlantic line, and establislied a steamship route to Havana. He was interesteel in the project for the construc- tion of a railroad across the isthmus of Panama in 1851 ; purchased the francliise of the Eighth Avenue street railroad in New York city in 1852, and completed the road within thirty days. He also built otlier street railroads, and became pro- prietor of the steam ferry between Staten Island and New York city and of two ferries between NewYork city and Brooklyn. In 1855 he was sug- gested as an available candidate for President of the United States on the Native American ticket, and was supported by several journals. He died in New York city, Nov. 18, 1881.

LAW, John, jurist, was boi-n in New London,

Conn., Oct. 28, 1796 ; son of Lyman and

(Learned) Law, grandson of Judge Richard and Ann (Prentiss) Law, and great-grandson of Jonathan Law, colonial governor of Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1814, A.M. 1817, and was admitted to the bar in 1817. Itj October, 1817, he .settled in Vincennes, Ind. Ha was pi'osecuting attorney for his circuit, 1818-28; a Whig representative in the state legislature, 1824-25, and judge of the seventh judicial circuit, 1830-44, resigning to accept the appointment o£ receiver of public moneys at Vincennes, in 1844. He removed to Evansville, in 1851, and in con- nection with his brother William Law, James B. McCall, and Lucius H. Scott, he purchased seven hundred acres of land adjoining Evansville. and founded the town of Lamasco, which, in 1857, was made part of Evansville. He was appointed by President Pierce judge of the court of land claims to be held at Vincennes in 1855 and 1856. He was a Democratic repi'esentative in the 37th and 38th congresses, 1861-65, and drew up the bill settling the sum of $100 per annum upon the twelve surviv- ing veterans of the Continental army. He was a member of the Indiana Historical society, and in 1839 he delivered before that body an address on the early history of Vincennes, which was re- published as : Colonial History of Vincennes. He died in Evansville, Ind., Oct. 7, 1873.

LAW, Jonathan, colonial governor of Connect- icut, was born in Milford, Conn., Aug. 6, 1674. He was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1685, re- ceiving his A.M. degree in 1729. He studied law,