had scarcely reached the front and assumed command at the advanced line when his right leg was shattered by a rifle-ball. Amputation followed, and, although his life was saved, he was no longer capable of active military service. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 10 Nov., 1864, and mustered out of service at his own request on 22 Dec. of that year, refusing to remain in the army on light duty as he was urged to do. He repeatedly declined promotion that would have taken him away from his own regiment, feeling bound to remain with the men whom he had enlisted. In civil life Gen. Beaver has attended closely to his practice at the bar. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania State College, in 1873, and has been very influential in increasing its usefulness and prosperity. He has taken active part as a speaker in the campaigns of the republican party, and at the state convention of June, 1882, was nominated as its candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, and again nominated for the same office in 1886. He is a prominent member of the Grand army of the republic. See “Life of James A. Beaver,” by Frank A. Burr (Philadelphia, 1882).
BÉBIAN, Roch Ambroise Auguste, educator,
b. on the island of Guadeloupe in 1789; d.
there in 1834. He was the son of a merchant, and
was encouraged to devote himself to the instruction
of the deaf and dumb by his godfather, the Abbé
Sicard, under whose direction he qualified himself
for the task. He published “Essai sur les sourd-muets
et sur le langage naturel” (1817), and
afterward became a professor in the royal institution
for deaf-mutes. His zeal for reform excited
much jealousy, and, in 1825, he was compelled to
resign his professorship and return to his native
island. His other publications were “Mimographie,
ou Essai d'écriture mimique” (Paris, 1822);
“Manuel d'enseignement pratique” (1827); and
“Éloge historique de l'abbé de l'Epée.”
BECERRA, Diego, Spanish navigator, d. in
1533. He was an officer in the army of Cortés,
conqueror of Mexico. When the ship “Concepcion”
was built at Tehuantepec by order of Cortés,
Becerra was given command of her, and went, 30
Nov., 1533, to explore the coasts of the southern
sea. A short time after he had begun the work his
pilot treacherously assassinated him.
BECERRA, Francisco (be-ther'-rah), Spanish
architect, lived in the latter part of the 16th century.
He established himself in Puebla de los
Angeles, Mexico, and built there the cathedral and several
convents. The famous cathedral of Lima, the
church of Cuzco, and several bridges, are also
numbered among his works, which rank with the
best specimen of architecture in Spanish America.
BECHLER, John Christian, Moravian bishop,
b. on the island of Oesel, 7 Jan., 1784; d. in Herrnhut,
Saxony, 18 April, 1857. He was educated at
the Moravian college and theological seminary in
Germany, came to the United States in 1806, and
entered the boarding-school of Nazareth Hall, at
Nazareth, Pa., as a tutor. In the following year
the American Moravian theological seminary was
founded, and he was appointed one of its first
professors. Afterward he accepted the principalship
of Nazareth Hall, and subsequently had charge of
various churches in Pennsylvania and on Staten
Island. He was consecrated to the episcopacy at
Lititz, Pa., 17 May, 1835, and presided over the
southern district. In the following year he went
to Europe as a member of the general synod, and
did not return, but proceeded to Russia, where he
stood at the head of the Moravian establishment
at Sarepta, and subsequently was the principal of
a similar establishment at Zeist, in Holland. Bishop
Bechler was endowed with rare musical talent, and
composed various anthems and tunes, some of
which are still in use.
BECK, Charles, educator, b. in Heidelberg,
Germany, 19 Aug., 1798; d. in Cambridge, Mass.,
19 March, 1866. After completing his theological
studies at Berlin and Tübingen, he was employed
for some time as tutor at the university of Basle,
Switzerland; but his republican sentiments
endangered his liberty, and he took refuge in the
United States, arriving in New York in December,
1824. Soon afterward he became connected, as
teacher, with the Round Hill school at Northampton,
Mass., until, in 1830, he, in connection with
two other teachers, established a school at Phillipstown,
on the Hudson, opposite West Point. In
1832 Prof. Beck was elected to the chair of Latin
language and literature at Cambridge, and, on his
retirement from that professorship in 1850, he
devoted himself to literary pursuits and classical
studies. In 1863 he published “The Manuscripts
of the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, described
and collated.” He was for two years a representative
of Cambridge in the state legislature. He was
specially interested in the soldiers' fund, the
sanitary commission, and the agencies for the care and
education of the freedmen.
BECK, George, poet, b. in England in 1749;
d. in Lexington, Ky., 24 Dec., 1812. He was
instructor in mathematics at Woolwich from 1776,
but was afterward dismissed. He emigrated to
the United States in 1795, and was employed in
painting pictures. He wrote short poems, made
poetic translations from Anacreon, Homer, Virgil,
and Horace, and in 1812 published “Observations
on the Comet.” In 1795 he served as a scout in
Wayne's campaign against the Indians. With his
wife, who was also an artist, he conducted for many
years a female seminary in Lexington, Ky.
BECK, James Burnie, U. S. senator, b. in
Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 13 Feb., 1822; d. in Washington,
D. C., 3 May, 1890. He received an academic
education in his native country, and, with his parents,
settled in Lexington, Ky., and was graduated
at the law school of Transylvania university in that
place in 1846. He then practised law in Lexington,
and in 1866 was elected to congress, serving four
successive terms, from 1867 till 1875. In May, 1876,
he was appointed a member of the commission to
define the Virginia and Maryland boundary, and in
the same year was elected to the U. S. senate. He
took his seat on 4 March, 1877, was re-elected in
1882 for the term ending in March, 1889, and was
re-elected for a third term. During his congressional
career Mr. Beck served on important
committees, and was prominent in important debates.
He was specially interested in questions relating to
the tariff and the currency.
BECK, Paul, philanthropist, b. in Philadelphia
about 1760; d. there, 22 Dec., 1844. His father
emigrated from Nuremberg in 1752. The son
acquired a large fortune in the wine-trade, and for
several years filled the office of port warden of
Philadelphia. He was one of the founders of the
Philadelphia academy of fine arts, a benefactor
of the deaf and dumb institution of that city,
president of the American Sunday-school Union,
and a contributor to various other charitable and
religious undertakings.
|
|
BECK, Theodoric Romeyn, physician, b. in Schenectady, N. Y., 11 April, 1791; d. in Utica, N. Y., 19 Nov., 1855. He was a son of Caleb Beck, and of English descent. He was graduated at Union in
