Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/337

 MAYER

MAYER

of Science in 1898, and contributed papers to scientific journals, his subjects including : Esti- mation of the Weight of Very Small Portions of Matter (1857); Researches in Electro-Magnetism (1870); Obsenxitions on the Magnetic Declination in Connection vyith the Aurora of October 11 (1870); and Researches in Acoustics (1871-75). He in- vented the topophone and an acoustic pyrometer. He continued to contribute numerous and impor- tant papers to scientific literature and published the following in book form : Lecture Notes on Physics (1868); The Earth, a Great Magnet (1872); Light ilSll) ; Sound (1878). He edited : Sport with Oun and Rod in American Woods and Waters, writing the chapters : " Shotgun" and "Blow- gun." He died in Maplewood, N.J., July 13, 1897. MAYER* Brantz, author, was born in Balti- more, Md., Sept. 27, 1809; son of Christian and Anne Katharine (Baum) Mayer. He was a student at St. Mary's college, Baltimore, Md. ; studied law during a voyage to China, 1827-28 ; and was graduated LL.B. at the University of Maryland. He was married, Sept. 27, 1835, to Mary, daughter of Daniel S. and Mary (Dunham) Oris wold of St. Mary's, Ga. She died Oct. 30, 1845, and he was married, secondly, Nov. 15, 1848, to Cornelia, daughter of John Henry and Jane (Taylor) Poor of Baltimore. He practised law in Baltimore, Md., 1833-42 ; was secretary of the U.S. legation in Mexico, 1842-44, and prac- tised law in Baltimore, 1844-55. He founded the Maryland Historical society in 1844, and was its president, 1844-70. He served as an executor of the estate of Jolm McDonough, 1851-55, and as a commissioner of the city of Baltimore for the administration, sale and liquidation of the inter- est of the city in that estate, 1855-59, and in 1859 transferred to the city of Baltimore the large bequest accruing, which was devoted to tlie support of the McDonough Educational in- stitution. He was president of the central union committee in 1861, and was active in sus- taining the Federal government. He was ap- l)<)inted brigadier-general of volunteers, 1861 ; was paymaster of volunteers, 1863-^5, and pay- master in the U.S. army with rank of major, 1867-75, when he was retired from active service with the rank of colonel, having reached the age of sixty-two. He was brevetted lieutenant-colo* nel, Nov. 24, 1865, for service during the w^ar. He is the author of : Mexico As It Was and As It Is (1844) ; Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican (2 vols., 1851): Captain Canot, or Twenty-four Years of an African Slaver (1854); Observations 07i Mexican History and Archreology in Smithsoti- ian Contributions to Knowledge (ISr^) ; Mexican Antiquities (1858); Memoir of Jared Sparks <1867); Baltimore As It Was and As It Ts (1871). He died in Baltimore, Md., March 21, 1879. VII. — 21

MAYER, Constant, artist, was born in Be- Sanson, France, Oct. 4, 1832. He entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and continued his studies under Leon Cogniet. He opened a studio in Paris, and in 1857 established himself in New York city, where he remained for some years, subsequently dividing his time between New York and Paris. He was elected an as.so- ciate of the National Academy of Design in 1866, was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France in 1869, and was a member of the S/(1869); Oracle of Vie Field (1875); Song of the Shirt (1875); Song of Twilight (1879); In the Woods (1880); The Vagabonds {\8ii\)\ Lord: s Day (1883); Lawn Tennis (1883); Mandolin Player (1884); The First Communion (1886); Evangeline, Tlie Witch's Daughter and Trilby.

MAYER, Francis Blackwell, painter, was born in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 27, 1827 ; son of Charles Frederick and Elizabeth Caldwell (Blackwell) Mayer, and brother of Alfred Marshall Mayer. He studied art under Alfred J. Miller and Ernest Fischer in Baltimore, Md., was present at the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, Min- nesota Territory, in 1851, then visited the Da- kota Indians, and travelled in the western and northwestern states to study Indian types. He studied under Gleyre and Brion in Paris, 1862-70 ; visited Holland, France, Germany and England, and was in Paris during the siege. He exhibited in the Paris salons between the years 1862-70 ; opened a studio in Annapolis, Md., in 1870, and in 1876 received a medal and diploma from the Centennial Exposition for his pictures Conti- nentals and Attic Philosopher. Among his more important paintings are : The Feast of Mondaufmin (1857); Doing and Dreaming (1858); The Nineteenth Century (1869); Annapolis in 1750 (1876): Talking Business in 1750 (1879): Crowning a Troubadour (ISSo): Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, Minnesota (1886), The Washington Cockade; The Planting of the Colony of Maryland ; The Foun- ders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, an his- torical painting containing twenty-nine portraits (1891) ; and The Burning of the Peggy Stuart. He is the author of contributions to magazines, illustrated by himself.

MAYER, Philip Frederick, clergyman, was born in New York city, April 1, 1781 ; son of George Frederick Mayer, a Swabian and Lutheran, who immigrated to New York and mairied a native of