Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/21

 MOWBRAY

MOWER

Niblo's Garden, New York, as Juliana in " The Honeymoon." She made a tour of the United States, appearing more than two hundred nights in her first year on the stage. She wrote a play " Armand ; or the Peer and the Peasant " in 1847. She appeared in Manchester, England, in 1847, and in London at the Princess's theatre, Jan. 5, 1848, in "The Hunchback " with Mr. E. L. Daven- port. Her husband died in London in 1851, and she acted in the United States until June 3, 1854, when she retired. She was married, June 7, 1854, to William Fouche Ritchie of Richmond, Va., and lived in retirement in France, Italy and Eng- land, visiting the United States in 1860, being called to the death-bed of her father in New York. She is the author of : Pelayo, or the Cavern of Covadonga (1836); Reviewers Reviewed (1837); The Fortune- Hunter, a 7to?;eZ (1842); Evelyn; or a Heart Unmasked, A Tale of Doinestic Life (3 vols., 1845) Autobiography of An Actress (1854); Mimic Life, or before and Behind the Curtain (1855); Twin i^oses (1857); Fairy Fingers (1865); Tlie Mute Singer (1866), and Tiie Clergyman's Wife and Other Sketches{18Q7). She died at Henley on the Thames, England, July 28, 1870.

MOWBRAY, George W., inventor, was born in Lewes, England, May 4, 1815. He became a skil- ful chemist, was employed in the California gold mines, 1853-58, and as a chemist in the oil region of Pennsylvania, 1858-68. He removed to North Adams, Mass., in 1868, where he devoted himself to chemical research and there invented a form of nitroglycerin for blasting purposes and super- intended its manufacture and its use in the construction of the Hoosac tunnel. He also im- proved the method of insulating electric wires, used in discharging the explosive. He invented a smokeless powder and was consulting chemist of the Maxim and Nordenfeld Arms Company of London, England, 1888-91, and chemist of the Zylonite Company of North Adams, 1885-91. He died in North Adams, Mass., June 21, 1891.

MOWBRAY, Henry Siddons, artist, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, Aug. 5, 1858 ; son of George (q.v.) and Mary Anne Mowbray, while his parents were traveling abroad. He attended the com- mon schools of North Adams, Mass., was ap- pointed a cadet at the U.S. Military academy in 1875, but left after one year and studied painting under Bonnat at Paris. He opened a studio in New York in 1885 and engaged in figure painting and decorating. He was elected a member of the Society of American Artists in 1886 and won the Clark prize at the National Academy of Design in 1888. tie was elected a national academician in 1891. Among his paintings are : Aladdin; Even- ing Breeze ; Last Favorite ; Le Destin ; Irides- cence ; Persephone and Demeter ; Lady in Black ; mural decorations in Appellate Court House,

New York ; in the board room of the Prudential Life Insurance company at Newark, N.J., and in private residences in New York city.

MOWER, Joseph Anthony, soldier, was born in Woodstock, Vt., Aug. 22, 1827 ; son of Capt. Samuel Mower (born in Worcester, Mass., in 1782 ; died in Lowell, Mass., April 1 , 1865) , and a descend- ant in the fourth generation from Samuel Mower, who was born in England in 1690 and settled in Maiden, Mass., about 1714, later moving to Wor- cester, Mass., where he died. Joseph Anthony Mower attended the public school, learned the car- penter's trade and was a cadet at Norwich univ- ersity, 1844-46, leaving tliat institution to enlist in 1846, under Capt. Alden Partridge, as a private in a battalion of engineers and served in the Mexican war, 1846-47. He was commissioned second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. infantry, June 18, 1855, was promoted first lieutenant, March 13, 1857, and captain, Sept. 9, 1861. He was engaged in the early operations of the Federal army in Missouri, 1861-62, and was appointed colonel of the 11th Missouri volunteers in May, 1862. At the battle of luka, Sept. 19, 1862, his regiment with those of Colonels Bormer and Holman was forced back just before dark, but bivouacked on the field and found the enemy gone in the morning, when he commanded the 2d brigade of Stanley's division. Army of the Mississippi, under Rosecrans. In the battle of Corinth, Oct. 3-4, 1862, he was ordered by Rosecrans to discover the position of Lovell, and taking a force from the skirmish line he en- tered the woods, was shot in the neck and cap- tured, but recaptured a few hours after with the field hospital of the Confederates. He became known as " Fighting Joe Mower." He was bre- vetted major. May 9, 1862, for his action at Farm- ington. Miss.; lieutenant-colonel, Sept. 9, 1862, for luka, and colonel. May 14, 1863, for the capture of Jackson, Miss. In tlie Vicksburg campaign he commanded the 2d brigade, 3d division, 15th army corps, May 19-July 4, 1863, and was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers for his gallant de- fence of Millikens Bend, June 6-7, 1863. He took part in the Red River campaign, and in the cap- ture of Fort De Russy, March 14, 1864, rode at the head of his attacking column into the fort. On May 15, 1864, he encountered W'halton and Polignac on Yellow Bayou while in command of the rear-guard of the army, and defeated the Con- federate force. He continued to operate with the navy above Alexandria, and was appointed to the command of the 1st division, 16th army corps. On July 13-15, 1864, at Tupelo, Miss., he defeated Forest, and was promoted major-general of vol- unteers, Aug. 12, 1864. He served with Slierman in Georgia and Carolina, commanded the 1st divi- sion, 17th corps, and the 17th corps in South Caro- lina, and the 20th corps at the battle of Benton-