series of monographs on “Cactus” (Albany, 1875); “Cereus Grandiflorus and Cereus Bonplandi” (1876); “Cereus Triangularis and Phyllocactus Grandis” (1876); “Cardinal Points in the Study of Medical Botany” (New York, 1881); and “The Germination and Vitality of Seeds” (1881).
KURTZ, John D., soldier, b. in the District of
Columbia about 1822; d. in Georgetown, D. C., 16
Oct., 1877. He was graduated from the U. S. military
academy, 1 July, 1842, and entered the corps
of engineers. He was employed in repairing
fortifications in North Carolina and the forts in Charleston
harbor, served on a commission to devise a
project for the improvement of the harbor in 1852,
and was promoted 1st lieutenant in March, 1853,
and captain, 1 July, 1856, serving from 1852 till
1856 as assistant to the chief engineer in Washington,
and then on harbor works in New England
till the civil war. He was promoted major, 3 March,
1863, brevet lieutenant-colonel and brevet colonel,
13 March, 1865, and lieutenant-colonel, 8 Aug., 1866.
He served during the civil war as chief engineer of
the Department of Annapolis from June till July,
1861, and of the Shenandoah in August, 1861, and
then as assistant to the chief of engineers at
Washington, D. C., till 1869, having charge of the bureau
during the absence of the chief engineer. Afterward
he was employed as superintending engineer
of various works, including the defences of Delaware
bay and river in 1870-'7, the Delaware
breakwater in 1871-'2, and the foundation of the
Washington monument from 26 Sept., 1876, till his death.
KURTZ, John Nicholas, clergyman, b. in
Lutzelinden, Nassau-Weilburg, Germany, about
1720; d. in Baltimore, Md., 12 May, 1794. He was
educated in the University of Halle, selected as a
missionary to Pennsylvania, and came to this
country, 15 Jan., 1745. Soon after his arrival he
settled at New Hanover, Montgomery co., Pa.,
where he labored for two years, teaching and
preaching. In 1748, at the first meeting of the
first Lutheran synod in this country, he was
ordained to the ministry, and became pastor at
Tulpehocken, Pa., where he remained for twenty-three
years. In 1771 he removed to York, Pa., where he
continued his pastoral labors until 1789, when he
retired from the active duties of the ministry and
removed to Baltimore, Md., to spend his last days
with one of his sons. By his learning and indefatigable
activity Dr. Kurtz acquired great influence
in the church, and received various marks of
confidence and honor, especially in being selected
senior of the synod. — His son, John Daniel, b. in
Germantown, Pa., in 1763; d. in Baltimore, Md.,
30 June, 1856, studied theology under the direction
of his father, and afterward with Rev. Dr. Gotthilf
Henry E. Muhlenberg at Lancaster, Pa. He was
licensed to preach by the synod of Pennsylvania in
1784, and for some time assisted his father in
pastoral work. He afterward took charge of a
congregation near York, Pa., and in 1786 was installed
as pastor of the principal Lutheran church in
Baltimore, Md., with which he remained till 1832,
when physical infirmities compelled him to resign.
He was one of the founders of the General synod,
a director in the Theological seminary, and
prominently connected with all the benevolent institutions
of the Lutheran church. — His grandson,
Benjamin, b. in Harrisburg, Pa., 28 Feb., 1795; d. in
Baltimore, Md., 29 Dec., 1865, began his studies in
Harrisburg academy, and at the age of fifteen was
an assistant teacher there. At the age of eighteen
he began the study of theology at Lebanon, Pa., in
1815 he was licensed to preach, and immediately
received a call as assistant to his uncle, the Rev. John
Daniel Kurtz, D. D., who was then pastor at Baltimore.
He was then pastor at Hagerstown for
sixteen years, and in 1831-'3 at Chambersburg, Pa.
Retiring from the active duties of the ministry in
1833, owing to failing health, he took charge of
the “Lutheran Observer,” a post which he held for
nearly thirty years. In 1838 he received the degree
of D. D. from Washington college, Pa., and in 1858
that of LL. D. from Wittenberg college, Springfield,
Ohio. Dr. Kurtz was regarded as one of the
most eloquent men of his time. He was a zealous
advocate of revivals, and had very little sympathy
with the confessional writings of the Lutheran
church. He was one of the founders of the general
synod and of the theological seminary at Gettysburg,
and was for more than thirty years one of
the trustees of Pennsylvania college and of the
board of directors of the seminary. He was also
the founder of Missionary institute at Selinsgrove,
Pa. During his two European tours, in 1825 and
1846, he contributed interesting incidents and
reminiscences to the “Lutheran Intelligencer”
and to the “Lutheran Observer,” of which he was
editor at the time. Among his other publications
are “First Principles of Religion for Children”
(Hagerstown, 1821); “Sermons on Sabbath-Schools”
(1822); “Faith, Hope, and Charity” (1823);
“Infant Baptism and Affusion, with Essays on Related
Subjects” (Baltimore, 1840); “Theological
Sketch-Book, or Skeletons of Sermons, Carefully arranged
in Systematic Order,” partly original, partly
selected (2 vols., 1844); “Why are You a Lutheran?”
(1847); “Lutheran Prayer-Book” (1856), etc.
KUYPERS, Warmuldus, clergyman, b. in
Holland in 1732; d. in Schralenburg, N. J., in 1797.
He studied in the University of Groningen, and
was a pastor at Curacoa for some time before 1769,
when he settled in New York, preached for two
years at Rhinebeck Flats, Upper Red Hook, and
the Landing, and in 1771 took charge of that part
of the church in Hackensack, N. J., which belonged
to the Conferentie party and had no representation
in the classis. — His son, Gerardus Arentse,
clergyman, b. in Curaçoa, W. I., 16 Dec., 1766; d. in New
York, 28 June, 1833, came to the United States in
his early childhood, and was educated at Hackensack.
He studied theology first under the direction
of his father, and subsequently under the Rev.
Hermanus Meyer and the Rev. Dirck Romeyn. He
was licensed to preach in 1787, and was ordained,
15 June, 1788, by the classis of Hackensack, as
colleague pastor at Paramus, N. J. In 1789 he took
charge of a church in New York city, where he
remained till his death. Until 1803 his preaching
was exclusively in Dutch; but after that time he
preached in English. He was appointed a teacher
of Hebrew in 1799, received the degree of M. A.
from Princeton in 1791, and that of D. D. from
Rutgers in 1810. He left unfinished “Discourses
on the Heidelberg Catechism.”
KYAN, John H., inventor, b. in England in
1775; d. in New York city, 9 Jan., 1850. He was
the first to introduce a chemical process for the
preservation of wood, finding that, where timber
was steeped in a solution of corrosive sublimate
or placed in an exhausting-cylinder and the solution
forced in under atmospheric pressure, the
wood was rendered capable of resisting decay for
a great length of time. This process he patented
in England in 1832, and subsequently introduced it
into the United States. This method was named
kyanizing, after its inventor. Its expense and the
difficulty of manipulation at first largely prevented
its use, but with improved means it now finds
wide application.
