Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/392

 SIMOXDS

SIMONTON

served as cliairman of the committee of irrir^a- tion and reclaiuiitio!! of arid lands and as a mem- ber of the committees on judiciary, pensions, public buildings and grounds, and revolutionary claims.

SIMON DS, Frederic VVIIUam, geologist, was born in Charlestusvn, Mass., July 3. 1853; son of Andrew Waite and Ellen R. (Cox) Simonds; grandson of Warren and Lydia (Waite) Simonds, and of William and Rivchel (Fuller) Cox. He was graduated from Cornell university, B.S., 1875, M.S., 1876; from Syracuse university, Ph.D., 1879; and was instructor in geology and palaeon- tology at Cornell, 1875-77. He was married, Aug. vM. 1877, to Norma A. Wood, of Syracuse, N.Y.. and was professor of geology, zoology, and botany at the University of North Carolina, 1877- 81; special agent of the 10th census in the de- partment of mining statistics, 1880; at the San Jose, Cal., high school, as teacher of science, 1882-83. vice-principal, 1883-84, and principal, 1S84-85; resident graduate, Ithaca, N.Y., 18S6; lecturer on economic geology at Cornell uni- versity, 1887; professor of geology and biology at the University of Arkansas, 1887-90; assist- ant geologist of the Arkansas Geological sur- vey, 1887-93; associate professor of geology in the University of Texas, 1890-95, and professor from 1895. He was a member of several scientific organizations and was president of the Texas Academy of Science, 1899-1800. He received the degree of D.Sc. from the University of Arkansas in 1893. His publications include: The Geology of Ithaca, N. Y. and the Vicinity {\mi); TJie Habitat of Rhododendron Catawhiense (1879); Tlie Discovery of Iron Implements in an Ancient Mine in Xortli Carolina; and Mica Mining in North Carolina (1881 ); The Geology of WashinQto7i County. Arkansas (Annual Report of the Geolo- gical Survey of Arkansas for 1888, V. 4); The Geology of Benton County, Arkansas, with T. C. Hopkins (Annual Report of the Geological Sur- Survey of Arkansas for 1891, V. 2); A Record of the Geology of Texas for the Decade ending December 31, JSf^O; Ferdinand von Roemer, the Father of the Geology of Texas: His Life and Work (1902): The Minerals arid Mineral Locali- ties of Texas (Bulletin of the University of Texas Mineral Survey for Dec. 1902).

SIMONDS, Wiinam Edgar, lawyer, was born at Canton. Conn., Nov. 25, 1841; son of John and Hypliena Simonds. He was graduated from the Connecticut State Normal school. New Britain, 1860; taught school, 1860-62; and Aug. 18, 1862, enlisted as a private in the 25th Connecticut volunteers, in which regiment he was advanced to the grade of sergeant major, and at the battle of Irish Bend, La.. April 14, 1863, was promoted 2d lieutenant and received a congressional medal

for gallantry. He was discharged with his regi- ment on Aug. 26. 1863; was graduated from Yale, LL.B., 1866, and prac-tised patent law at Hart- ford. Elected to the lower house of Connecticut legislature, he served as a member and house chairman of the joint standing committee on railroads, 1883, and in 1885 as speaker of the house. He was a Republican representative from the first Connecticut district in the 51st congress, 1889-91, being defeated for re-election by a small majority. While in congress lie secured the passage through the house after a vigorous fight of the international copyright bill, for which service the French government made him a che- valier of the Legion of Honor in 1898. He was U.S. commissioner of patents, 1891-93, being at the same time prof>^ssor of the law of patents at Co- lumbian University, Washington, D.C. He was lecturer on patent law at Yale, 1884-93, and re- ceived from Yale the honorary degree of M.A. in 1890. He is the author of: Design Patents (1874); Digest of Patent Causes (1888); Digest of Patent Office Decisions (1880); A Surnmai-y of Patent Laic; and Whither: A Study of Immortality [IQOO). He died in Hartford. Conn., March 14, 1903.

SIMONTON, Charles Henry, jurist, was born in Charleston, S.C, July 11, 1829; son of Charles Strong and Elizabeth (Ross) Simonton; grandson of John and Margaret (Strong) Simonton, and of John and Margaret (Law) Ross (who came from Ireland in 1794); great grandson of Ciiarles and Jeannette (Gaston) Strong, and a descendant of John Gaston who lived before the Revolution. John Simonton came to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in 1770. Charles H. graduated from South Carolina college, Columbia, S.C, A.B., 1849; taught school, 1850; was admitted to the bar in 1851, and began practice in Charleston, S.C. He was married, April 27, 1852. to Ella, daughter of Thomas W. and Caroline E. (Jame- son) Glover, of Orangeburg, S.C. He was a member of the state legislature, 1858-76, with the exception of the civil war and reconstruc- tion periods, officiating as speaker, 1865-67. He served as captain of the Washington light in- fantry, C.S.A., and as colonel of the 25th South Carolina volunteers, being held as prisoner at Fort Delaware during the last six months of the war; was U.S. judge of the district of South Carolina, 1886-93, and in the latter year was ap- pointed U.S. judge of the fourth circuit. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by South Carolina college, 1895, and that of D.C.L, by the University of the South, 1895. Judge Simonton is the author of: Lectures on Jurisprudence and Practice in the U.S. Courts (1896); Digest of the Eijuity Decisions, State of S.C. (1857), and The Federal Courts. Organiza tion, Jwrisdiction and Procedure (1898).