Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/388

 SILLIMAN

SLMKINS

SILLIMAN, Gold Selleck, soldier, was born in FairfieM, t'oiiii.. May 7. 17o.3; son of Jmlge Ehen- ezer Silliiuan. ami a ilesceiulaiit of Daniel Silliinan, who ininiif,'rate(.l from Ilollaiul and settled in Fairfield. Conn., about 1G:30. He was graduated at Yale, A.B.. 175'3. A.M., 1755, and was appointed attorney for the crown in Fairfield county. In 1775. he was colonel of a local cavalry regiment, became brigadier-general, and defended the south- west frontier of Connecticut from the ravages of the Tories from Westcliester county, N.Y., sup- ported by Howe in New York. He fought in the battles of Long Island and White Plains and on Maj' 1, 1799, lie was surprised and captured in his own house by a party of Tories, was paroled at Flat Bush until 1780 when he was exchanged. His second marriage was in 1775 to Mary (Fish) Noyes. daughter of Rev. Joseph (Harvard, A.B., 172-S, A.M., 1731), and Rebecca (Peabody) Fish and widow of the Rev. Jolui Xoyes of New Haven. She bore him two sons. Gold Selleck (1777-1868) and Benjamin (q.v.). He died at Fairfield, Conn.. July 21. 1790.

SILLIMAN, Justus Mitchell, miningengineer, was born at New Canaan. Conn.. Jan. 25, 18-12; son of Joseph and Martha (Mitchell) Silliman; grandson of Joseph and Martha (Leeds) Silliman and of Slierman and Hannah (Fitch) Mitchell, and a descendant of Daniel Silliman of Geneva, Switzerland, who settled in Fairfield, Conn., about 1650. He was educated at the New Canaan academy: served three years in the civil war in the Armies of the Potomac and of the South, and was wounded at Gettysburg. He taught in the Troy academy, Troy, N.Y".. 1865-70; was grad- uated from the Rensselaer Poh'technic institute with the degree of E.M., 1870. and was professor of mining engineering and graphics in Lafaj^ette college, 1870-96. He was married June 29, 1876, to Harriet, daughter of Ezra and Esther (Dana) Boughton of Troy, N.Y. The American Asso- ciation for the Advancementof Science published his examination of the Bessemer Flame with colored glasses, and with the spectroscope. He died in Easton. Pa.. A]n\\ 15. 1896.

SILLOWAY, Thomas William, architect, was born at Newbury port, Ma.ss., Aug. 7, 1828; son of Thomas and Susan (Stone) Silloway; grandson of Daniel and Anna (Lunt) Silloway and of Rob- ert and Mary (Harris) Stone, and a de.scendant of Daniel Mu.ssilloway (1645-1714) who emigrated from Ireland and resided in Newbury, Mass., in 1665, and of William Stone, who liveil in Ipswich, Mass.. 1693 He attended the Brown High and the I^tin school at Newburyport: studied anihi- tecture under Ammi B. Young in Boston. 1849-50. and established himself there as an architect in 1851. Among the principal public structures erected by him. are: the Capitol at Montpelier,

Vt., 1857-59; the Soldiers' Monument, Cambridge, Mass., designed by Cyrus and Darius Cobb (q-v), 1870; Buchtel college, Akron, Ohio, 1872; God- dard academy, Barre, Vt., and the Jenks Mem- orial library, Conway, N.H., 1901-02. He also erected or remodelled over four hundred churclies during his active business career and supervised the restoring of six of the principal churches in Charleston, S.C, after the earthquake of 1886. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church until 1846 when he became a Universalist and had charge of the Universalist church, Atkin- son, N.H., 1854-60; colleague with the Rev. Seb- astian Streeter, Boston, 1860-63; was ordained in 1863, and was pastor at AUston, Mass., 1864-67, and an occasional preacher during the next twenty years of his life. The honorary degree of A.M. was conferred on him by the University of Vermont in 1862. He was principal founder of the architectural department of Claflin university at Orangeburg, S.C. He prepared a revised edi- tion of " Shaw's Civil Architecture" with George M. Harding (1852), and is the author of: Theog- nis, a Lamp in the Cavern of Evil (1856); Text Book of Modern Carpentry (18.58); Warming and Ventilation (1860): Atkinson Memorial (sermons, 1861); The Conference Methodist (1863); Cantica Sacra (1865); Service of the Church of the Re- deemer, Brighton, Mass. (1867); Cathedral Towns of England, Ireland and Scotland, with Lee L. Powers (1883), besides manj' biographical and historical articles, lectures, sermons, addresses, and notes on travel to the press; several dedica- tion hymns, and short poems, among the latter being the Duxbiiry Pilgrims, and the Country Cobbler.

SILSBEE, Nathaniel, senator, was born in Essex county, Mass., in 1773; son of Nathaniel Silsbee, a Salem sea captain. He received his education at the local school, became a wealthy merchant in Salem, and was elected to eacli branch of the General Court of Massachusetts several times and for three years was president of the senate. He was a Democratic representa- tive in the 15th and 16th congresses, 1817-21, re- fused to serve a third term; was a representative in the general court in 1821; state senator, 1823- 26, and was elected U.S. senator in 1826, in place of James Lloyd, resigned, and was re-elected in 1829, serving 1826-35. He was a firm supporter of John Quincy Adams's administration. He died in Salem. ]\Iass., July 1, 1850.

SIMKINS, Eldred, representative, was born at '^ the Cedar Fields." Edgefield district, S.C, Aug. 29, 1779; son of Capt. Arthur (1742-1809) and Margaret (Smith) Simkins. His father was a representative in the South Carolina legislature; a member of the provincial congress of South Carolina in 1775; an officer in the Continental