Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/205

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department rather than to him. On his retnrn to duty he was refused an active command, and in 1820, Com. Decatur having been instrumental in keeping him on shore, he challenged that officer to fight a duel, killed him, and was at the same time himself severely wounded. The remainder of his life he passed on shore duty and waiting orders. He became senior officer of the navy in 1839.


BARRON, Samuel, naval officer, b. in Hampton, Va,., about 1763; d. there, 29 Oct., 1810. In 1798 he was placed in command of the brig "Augusta," which was equipped by the people of Norfolk, Va., to resist French aggressions. In 1805 he was in command of the squadron of ten vessels operating against Tripoli. He sent three small vessels to aid Haraet, the deposed bashaw; but, after the capture of Derne by Gen. Eaton and Capt. Hull, 27 April, 1805, he refused further direct aid, for fear that the usurping bashaw would retaliate with the massacre of Capt. Bainbridge and his men, then held in captivity. He soon afterward returned to the United States, owing to declining health, being succeeded in the command of the fleet by Com. Rodgers. He was appointed to the command of the navy-yard at Gosport. Va., but died immediately afterward. — His son, Samuel, b. in Hampton, Va., in 1802; d. in Essex co., Va., 26 Feb., 1888. He entered the navy in 1812, attained the rank of lieutenant 8 March, 1827, of commander 15 July, 1847, and of captain in 1855. He was appointed chief of the bureau of detail in the navy department when the southern states seceded, but had already accepted a commission as commodore in the confederate navy. He superintended the defences of North Carolina and Virginia. Being present at the attack upon Forts Clark and Hatteras, 28 Aug., 1861, he assumed direction of the defence by request of the officers of the forts, and, after the surrender, was a prisoner of war in New York until exchanged in 1862. He then went to England, where he engaged in fitting out blockade-runners and privateers. After the war he became a farmer in Virginia.


BARROW, Alexander, senator, b. near Nashville, Tenn., in 1801 ; d. in Baltimore. Md., 29 Dec., 1846. He entered West Point in 1816, but was not graduated; studied law at Nashville, and, after being admitted to the bar, removed to Louisiana. Here he practised a few years and then became a planter. He served for several years in the legislature, and was chosen to the U. S. senate as a whig, serving from 31 May, 1841, till his death.


BARROW, Frances Elizabeth, author, b. in Charleston, S. C. 22 Fel)., 1822 ; d. in New York city, 7 May, 1894. "Aunt Fanny" was the daughter of Charles Benton Mease, of Charleston, and Sarah Matilda Graham, of Boston. She was educated in New York city, where the greater part of her life was passed. She married, 7 Dec, 1841, James Barrow, Jr., of New York. In 1855 she began to write and publish books, and during the next fifteen years something like twenty-five volumes bearing her name were brought out by different publishers. The most popular of these are "Aunt Fanny's Story Book"; "Six Nightcaps"; "Six Mittens"; "Six Popguns"; "Four good little Hearts " ; " Life among the Children"; "Take Heed"; and a novel, "The Wife's Stratagem." The juveniles had a phenomenal success among English readers, and some of them, notably "Six Nightcaps," were translated into French, German, and Swedish. Her miscellaneous literary productions have appeared in numerous periodicals. Her work is characterized by a peculiarly bright and captivating way of presenting homely, every-day scenes and sayings. Perhaps her most famous story is "The Letter G," published in a leading magazine in 1864. The story was very clever in itself, but gained a world-wide reputation through the manufacturers of a certain sewing-machine, then recently placed on the market and known by a trade-mark identical with the title of the story. These enterprising dealers took advantage of the gratuitous advertisement, and scattered the story broadcast over the world.


BARROW, Washington, congressman, b. in Davidson co., Tenn., 5 Oct., 1817; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 19 Oct., 1866. He received a classical education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He was American charge d'affaires in Portugal from 16 Aug., 1841, to 24 Feb., 1844, and was elected to congress from Tennessee as a whig, serving from 1847 to 1849. He edited the Nashville "Banner," was a state senator in 1860-'1, and was a member of the commission that on 4 May, 1861, negotiated a military league with the southern confederacy. He was arrested, 28 March, 1862, by order of Andrew Johnson, governor of Tennessee, on the charge of disloyalty, and was imprisoned in the penitentiary at Nashville, but was released in the following week, by the order of President Lincoln.


BARROWS, Elijah Porter, clergyman, b. in Mansfield, Conn., 5 Jan., 1807: d. in Oberlin, Ohio, 14 Sept., 1888. He was graduated at Yale, and, after teaching, was ordained, and in 1835 he became pastor of the first free Presbyterian church in New York city. Here he remained until 1837, when he accepted the professorship of sacred literature in Western Reserve college (1837-'52). In 1853 he was appointed professor of Hebrew language and literature in Andover theological seminary, retaining the office until 1866. In 1872 he accepted a like appointment in Oberlin, Ohio, theological seminary. Besides twenty-five articles in the "Bibliotheca Sacra," he has published "A Memoir of Evertin Judson" (1852); "Companion to the Bible" (1869); and "Sacred Geography and Antiquities" (1872). He has also been one of the editors of the American Tract Society's "Bible with Notes."


BARROWS, Willard, civil engineer, b. in Monson, Mass., in 1806; d. in Davenport, Iowa, 3 Jan., 1868. His early youth was spent in New England, after which he became a teacher in Elizabeth, N. J., but this occupation he soon relinquished for the profession of civil engineering. He accomplished the government survey of the Choctaw purchase, in Mississippi, finishing that work in 1835. Later he explored Cedar river, which at that time was scarcely known, and in 1837 was engaged on the first surveys of Iowa. In 1840 he surveyed the islands in Mississippi river between Rock Island and Quincy. During the suspension of the surveys he settled in Rockingham; but in 1843, when the surveys were resumed, he was sent into the Kickapoo country. From 1845 till 1850 he was engaged in government work and on county surveys in Iowa. During the latter year he made a journey to the Rocky mountains, and afterward was connected with a banking firm in Davenport. He published several accounts of his experiences, including "Barrows's New Map of Iowa, with Notes" (1854), and "Historical Sketch of Scott County" (1859).


BARRUNDIA, Jose Francisco (bar-roon-de-a). Central American statesman, b. in Guatemala about 1780; d. in New York, 4 Aug., 1854. Many members of his family were eminent in the service of Spain, but he early opposed the mother