Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/25

 RADFORD

RAFINESQUE

RADFORD, William, naval officer, was born in Fiucastle, Va., March 1, 1808; son of Harriet Kennerlj' Radford and stepson of Gen. William Clark (q.v.). He was warranted midshipman in the U.S. navy, March 1, 1825; served on the Brandywine, when that frigate carried the Mar- quis de Lafayette to France; was attached to the Mediterranean squadron, 1837-28, and to the sloop Erie of the West India squadron, 1830-31. He was promoted passed midshipman, June 4, 1831; served on the John Adams of the Mediter- ranean squadron in 1835; was promoted lieuten- ant, Feb. 9, 1837, and served on the Warren of the Pacific squadron, 1845-47. He was stationed on the western coast of Mexico, 1847-48; com- manded the party that cut out a Mexican war vessel at Mazatlan in 1847, and was attached to the store ship Lexington, 1853-53. He was pro- moted commander, Sept. 14, 1855; commanded the Dacotah of the East India squadron, 1860-61; was promoted captain, July 16, 1862. and com-

modore, April 24, 1863. He

OS. SLOOP COMBCRLA/SO.

commanded the Cumberland in 1861, and was on court-martial duty at Old Point Comfort, when that ship was attacked by the ram Merri- mac. He made every effort to reach his ship before the fight-

ing was over, but did not arrive at Newport News until the Cumberland was sinking. He was exe- cutive officer at the Brooklyn navy yard, 1862-64; commanded the New Ironsides, and the iron-clad division of Admiral Porter's squadron at Fort Fisher in December, 1864, and January, 1865. His ability and services in these two attacks were recognized and praised by Admiral Porter in his report to the secretary of the navy. He com- manded the navy yard at Washington, D.C., 1866-68; was promoted rear-admiral, July 25, 1868; commanded the Mediterranean squadron, 1869-70, and was retired, March 1, 1870. He was on special duty in W^ashington, D.C., 1871-72, and died in that city, Jan. 8, 1890.

RAFINESQUE, Constantine Samuel, botanist, was born in Galatz, a suburb of Constantinople, Turkey, Oct. 22, 1783; son of a French merchant from Marseilles. His mother was born in Greece, but was of German parentage, her family name being Schmaltz. In 1784 his parents visited the ports of Asia and Africa, en route to Marseilles, where Constantine spent his boyhood, becoming devoted to the science of botany and filled with a desire to travel. He began an herbarium at

the age of eleven; the following year published "Notes on the Apennines," as seen from the back of a mule on a journey from Leghorn to Genoa, and through his own efforts acquired an exten- sive knowledge of classical and modern languages. Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, with his brother Anthony, he came to Philadel- phia, Pa., 1802, where he first served as a merchant's clerk, devoting his leisure to botany, and subsequently traveled on foot through Penn- sylvania and Virginia, making a collection of botanical specimens. In 1805 he set sail for Sicily, where he established himself as a merchant, and where he discovered the medicinal squill, shipping 200 pounds before the Sicilians discovered that he was not using it for dye. In 1815 his son, Charles Linnseus, died and in the same year his wife, Josephine Vaccaro. left him, taking with her their only daughter, Emily, who became a singer in Sicilian opera at the theatre in Palermo. He then returned to the United States, and on the voyage lost his entire collection of valuable specimens, books and manuscripts in the shipwreck on the coast of Long Island. He traveled throughout the west- ern part of the country, and in 1818 became professor of natural history and modern lan- guages in Transylvania university, Lexington, Ky., receiving from there the honorary degree of A.M. After an extensive lecture tour he eventually settled in Philadelphia again, and thei-e became so absorbed in the discovery of new genera and species, that the scientific value of his work suffered from an undue proportion of their description. He also devised the present arrangement of coupon-bonds, which he called the " divitial invention; " projected many other varied schemes which never materialized, such as steam-ploughs, aquatic railroads, artificial leather; and founded and edited: TJie Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge, 1832-33; "'An- nals," and other serials. He was awarded a gold medal by the French Geological society, on which was imprinted his only known portrait. His writings include: Precis de decouvertes et tra- vaux somiologigues entre ISOO et 18 14 (1814); Analyse de la nature {\S\b)\ Antikon Botanikon (1815-40); Ancient History, or Annals of Ken- tucky (1824); Medical Flora, etc., of the United States (1828-30); Alsographia Americana (1838); Genius and Spirit of the Hebrew Bible (1838). etc. " The Complete Writings of C. S. Rafinesque on Recent and Fossil Conchology " were edited by W^illiam G. Binney and George W. Tryon, Jr., in 1864, and a review of his botanical writings by Asa Gray, was published in Silliman's Journal in 1841. He left an autobiography. His will, discovered more than half a century after his death, left his property, which consisted of in-