northern antiquaries, Copenhagen, and in 1882 a corresponding member of the New York genealogical and biographical society. Among other works he has published "Harebell Chimes, or Summer Memories and Musings" (1848): "The Beautiful in Nature, Art. and Life" (1857); "The Reasonableness of Faith" (1870) ; "Thomas Chalmers: the Man, his Time and Work" (1878): and "Capital Hints to Boys" (1884). Several of Mr. Symington's books have been republished in this country.
SYMMES, John Cleves, jurist, b. on Long Island, N.Y., 21 July, 1742; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 26 Feb., 1814. He was a delegate from Delaware
to the Continental congress in 1785 and 1786, a judge of the superior court of New Jersey, and afterward chief justice of the same state. In
1787 he was appointed judge of the Northwest territory. In 1788 he obtained from the government a grant of 1,000,000 acres, bounded south by the
Ohio, and west by the Miami, and was the founder of the settlements of North Bend, and Cincinnati thereon. His wife was a daughter of Gov.
William Livingston,
and his daughter Anna became the wife of William H. Harrison. - His nephew, John Cleves, soldier, b. in New Jersey in 1780; d. in Hamilton, Ohio, 28 May, 1829, entered the army as an ensign in the 1st infantry, 26 March, 1802, was a captain in the war of 1812, and served with credit at the battle of Niagara and in the sortie from Fort Erie. He subsequently resided at Newport,
Ky., and devoted himself to philosophical pursuits. In 1818 he promulgated his theory that the earth is a hollow sphere, habitable within, and
open at the poles for the admission of light, and
containing within it six or seven concentric hollow
spheres, also open at the poles. He wrote and
spoke on the subject of his singular hypothesis,
and petitioned congress in 1822 and 1823 to fit out
an expedition to test the truth of his theory. During
the winters of 1826-'7 he lectured on it before
the students and faculty of Union college; but it
was received with general ridicule, and the
supposed aperture at the north pole was popularly
called “Symmes hole.” He published “Theory
of Concentric Spheres” (Cincinnati, 1826). An
abstract of Symmes's theory and arguments appeared
in the “Atlantic Monthly” for April, 1873. In 1876
Symmes's son AMERICUS VESPUCIUS, revived his
theory. - Another nephew of the first John Cleves, Peyton Short, poet, b. in Sussex co., N.J., in 1793; d. in Mount Auburn, near Cincinnati, Ohio, 27 July, 1861, went to Ohio in his childhood as a pioneer, became registrar of the land-office at Cincinnati in 1827, and in 1830-'50 was a member of the board of health of that city. He was one of the trustees of the old Cincinnati college, and a supporter of the Western college of teachers which met annually at Cincinnati from 1833 till 1845. He wrote a life of his uncle, not yet published.
SYMMES, Zechariah, clergyman, b. in Canterbury, England, 5 April, 1599 ; d. in Charlestown, Mass., 4 Feb., 1671. He came from England in 1634, and was ordained as teacher in the church at Charlestown, Mass., on 22 Dec. of that year, succeeding Thomas James as pastor when the latter was dismissed on 11 March, 1636. During his ministry the Antinomian controversy culminated in the banishment of John Wheelwright and the dismissal of his adherents from the church. See "The Symmes Memorial," containing a sketch of his life and a genealogy, by John Adams Vinton (Boston, 1873). — His grandson, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Bradford, Mass., 1 Feb., 1678; d. 6 Oct., 1725, was graduated at Harvard in 1698, and was minister of Boxford from December, 1702, till 1708, when he succeeded his father, Zechariah, as second minister at Bradford. He possessed a strong mind and much learning, and, besides occasional sermons, published "Joco-Serious Dialogue on Singing" (1723); and "Historical Memoirs of the Fight at Piggwacket, 9 May, 1725," with a sermon on the death of Capt. John Lovewell (1725 ; republished with notes by Nathaniel Bouton, Concord, N. H., 1861). See an account of his life by Rev. John Brown, to which is appended his advice to his children and to the members of his church (1726).
SYMONDS, William Law, author, b. in
Raymond, Cumberland co., Me., in April, 1833; d. in New York city, 18 Jan., 1862. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1854, studied theology at Cambridge
divinity-school for two years, and occupied the pulpit of a Unitarian church in Chicopee, Mass., for several months. He then went to New York city and engaged in literary pursuits, contributing to magazines and newspapers, and producing many hundred cyclopædic articles on philosophical, historical, and biographical subjects. He also took charge temporarily of the Astor library.
SYNGE, Millfngton Henry, British author, b. in England about 1820. He was a captain of roval engineers, and was employed on the works at Ottawa in 1848. He published "Canada in 1848" (London, 1848); "Great Britain One Empire" (1852); "The Country vs. The Company" (1861); and "The Colony of Rupert's Land" (1863).
SYPHER, Josiah Rhinehart, journalist, b. in Liverpool, Perry co., Pa., 12 April, 1832. He was graduated at Union college in 1858, and, after mak-
ing a tour of the United States, studied law and was admitted to the bar at Lancaster, Pa., in 1862. While he was travelling he contributed to the Lan-
caster " Express," and he was its associate editor while studying law. In 1862 he was engaged as war-correspondent of the New York "Tribune,"
and he was afterward in charge of the correspondence in the Army of the Potomac. In the winter of 1865 he became associate editor of the "Tribune," and in 1870 he established the "Pennsylvania State Journal" at Harrisburg, but at the end of six months he resumed the practice of law in
Philadelphia. He has advocated public education and temperance reform, and, in addition to articles for the press and several school-books, has pub-
lished " History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps " (Lancaster, 1865), and " School History of Pennsylvania " (Philadelphia, 1868).
SZABAD, Emeric, author, b. in Hungary about 1822. He was secretary under the Hungarian national government in 1849, was a friend of Louis
Kossuth, and gained his first experience as a soldier in his native country. He subsequently served in Italy under Garibaldi, and at the opening of the
civil war came to this country and was appointed on the staff of Gen. John C. Fremont. He served through the war, being on the staff of Gen. Daniel
E. Sickles at Gettysburg, and afterward on that of Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren. He wrote a series of letters on the United States army and its management for the New York "Tribune," and has published "Hungary, Past and Present" (London, 1854); "State Policy of Modern Europe from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Present Time" (2 vols., 1857); and "Modern War: its Theory and Practice" (New York, 1863).
SZKOLNY, John, Polish navigator of the 15th century. His name was also variously written Scolve, Skolnus, and Kolno. He was commander of a Danish vessel on which, according to different accounts, he reached the northwestern coast of Greenland, or the coast of Labrador, in 1476.
