Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/23

 QUINTON

QUITMAN

QUINTON, Amelia Stone, president of the National Indian association, was born near Sj'ra- cuse, N.Y., daughter of Jacob Thompson and Mary (Bennett) Stone ; grand-daughter of Thomas and Mary (Webb) Stone and of Asa and Chloe (Grow) Bennett ; great granddaughter of Thomas and Rachel (Marsh) Stone and of Darius and Deborah (Palmer) Webb. She was educated at Cortland academy, taught for a year in a semi- nary in Madison, Ga., where she became the wife of the Rev. James Franklin Swanson, upon whose death she removed to Philadelphia where she taught for Mary L. Bonney (aftersvard Mrs. Ram- baut, q.v.). She was prominent in the evangelis- tic department of the new temperance movement; addressed drawing-room and other meetings in London and other English cities in 1877, and in February, 1877, was married to Richard L. Quinton, A.M., a lecturer in London colleges, returning with him in the fall of 1878 to Phila- delphia. In March, 1879, she joined Miss Bonney in work for the Indians in the United States, which eventuated in the Women's National In- dian association. She was its general secretary and organizer, 1879-87, its president, 1887-1903, and editor of The Indian's Friend till 1902. Its first two petitions to congress asked for the faithful keeping of compacts with them ; its third annual petition, circulated in 1881, asking lands in severalty, citizenship, and common school education for them, led tlie popular move- ment which resulted in the passage of the Dawes Severalty bill in 1887. She was a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Sci- ence, the New Century club, and the Mayflower society. •

QUITMAN, Frederick Henry, clergyman, was born on the island of Westphalia in the Rhine river, Germany, Aug. 7, 1760. He graduated in philosophy and theology at the University of Halle, 1779, and was a private tutor of the chil- dren of the Prince of Waldeck, 1779-80. He was ordained to the Lutheran ministry, Amsterdam, Holland, 1781, and sent as a missionary to the Dutch colony, Curagoa Islands, W.I. The insur- rection of 1795 caused him to remove to New York, in order to return to Holland to enjoy a life pension awaiting him. The needs of the Lutlieran church in the new republic determined liim to remain, and he was pastor of congrega- tions in Schoharie and Cobleskill, N.Y., where colonies of German Palatinates had settled, and after two years' service he became pastor of four congregations at and near Rhinebeck, N.Y., serv- ing, 1798-1815. When his co-worker, the Rev. J. C. Hartwick (q.v.) died, July 17, 1796, leaving a large tract of land for the purposes of a Lutheran seminary, Quitman favored its location at Rhine- beck, but other influences carried it to the present

town of Hartwick. He was an original trustee of Hartwick seminary, 1816-28, and for a time a member of its faculty. In 1815 he resigned the charge of two of the congregations, and in 1825 relinquished charge of all except St. Peter's, Rhinebeck, retiring from ministerial duties in 1828. His wife, Elizabeth Hueck, born in 1768, accompanied him to the West Indies and to the United States, and died, Feb. 24, 1805, at Rhine- beck. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Harvard in 1814. He edited a hymn book (1817), and is the author of: A Treatise on Magic (1810); Evangelical Catechism {18li), and Sermoiis on the Reformation (1817). He died at Rhinebeck, N.Y., June 26, 1832.

QUITMAN, John Anthony, soldier, was born in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Sept. 1. 1799; son of the Rev. Frederick Henry (q.v.) and Elizabeth (Hueck) Quitman. He was graduated from Hartwick seminary in 1816, and served as assistant to Dr. E. L. Hazelius, in the literary department of the seminary, 1816-18. He was a professor at Mount Airy college, Germantown, Pa., 1818-19 ; studied law with Piatt Brush of Chillicothe, Ohio, and in 1821 engaged in practice at Natchez, Miss. He was a representative in the Mississippi legislature, 1825-28 ; chancellor of the state, 1828-34; state senator, 1834-36, and served as president of the senate and acting governor of the state, 1835-36. He raised a body of men to assist the Texans in defeating the attacks of the Mexicans in 1836, and upon the capture of Santa Anna, returned to Natchez. He was appointed major-general of state militia, and in 1846 was commissioned brigadier-general in the U.S. army, and joined General Taylor at Camargo. He led the assault on Fort Tenerice, and into the heart of the city ; led tlie assault at the seige of Vera Cruz, March 9-29, 1847, and an expedition against Alvarado, when he co-operated with a naval force under Com. Matthew C. Perry ; stormed the works of Chapultepec and carried Belen gate by assault, Sept. 13, 1847, and was brevetted major-general and presented with a sword by congress for gallantry at the capture of Puebla, Oct. 12, 1847. He served as military gover- nor of the city of Mexico 1847-48, and on his return home in 1850, was elected governor of Mississippi. While serving as governor he was prosecuted for complicity with the Lopez filibus- tering expedition. He resigned his office, and upon his acquittal was re-nominated, but with- drew his name. At the Democratic national con- ventions of 1848 and 1856, he was prominently named as a candidate for the vice-presidency. He was a Democratic representative in the 34th and 35th congresses, 1855-58. J. F. H. Claiborne prepared his Life and Correspondence (1860). He died in Natchez, Miss., July 17, 1858.