Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/371

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
BOYNTON
BOZMAN
343

which was fiercely waged in Cincinnati during the early years of his pastorate. His published books are "Journey through Kansas, with Sketch of Nebraska" (Cincinnati, 1855); "The Russian Empire" (1856); "The Four Great Powers—England, Prance, Russia, and America; their Policy, Resources, and Probable Future " (1866); "History of the Navy during the Rebellion" (New York, 1868). He received the degree of D. D. from Marietta college in recognition of his acquirements as a biblical scholar.—His son, Henry Van Ness, soldier, b. in West Stockbridge, Mass., 22 July, 1835, removed to Ohio when a young man, and was graduated at the Woodward high school, Cincinnati, in June, 1855. Thence he went to the Kentucky military institute, where he passed through a semi-military course of training that prepared him for subsequent service in the field, and became a civil engineer. At the beginning of the civil war he was commissioned major of the 35th Ohio volunteer infantry (27 July, 1861). He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 19 July, 1868, commanded the regiment during the Tennessee campaigns, and was brevetted brigadier for good conduct at the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. He is the author of the most notable of the criticisms called out by Gen. William T. Sherman's "Memoirs," namely, "Sherman's Historical Raid; the Memoirs in the Light of the Record; a Review based upon Compilations from the Files of the War Office" (Cincinnati, 1875).


BOYNTON, Edward Carlisle, soldier, b. in Windsor, Vt., 1 Feb., 1824 : d. in Newburg, N. Y.. 13 May, 1893. He was graduated at the U. 8. military academy in 1846, and ordered at once to join the army in Mexico. He was with Gen. Taylor at the front of the invading force, and participated in the siege of Vera Cruz and the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, in which last engagement he was severely wounded. He was promoted second lieutenant 16 Feb., and first lieutenant 20 Aug., 1847, and was brevetted captain at the same time. He was an instructor at West Point in 1848-'55. In 1855-'6 he accompanied the expedition against the remnant of the Seminole Indians in Florida. He resigned 16 Feb., 1856, and accepted the professorship of chemistry in the university of Mississippi, which he held until dismissed in 1861 for "evincing a want of attachment to the government of the confederate states." He declined the colonelcy of a volunteer regiment, and was reappointed to the U. S. army as captain in the 11th infantry, 23 Sept., 1861. He was at once assigned to duty at the military academy, first as adjutant and afterward as quartermaster, remaining at that post throughout the war, and receiving at its close the brevet of major for faithful services. He was transferred to the 29th infantry, 21 Sept., 1866. Maj. Boynton is the author of "History of West Point and its Military Importance during the Revolution, and the Origin and Progress of the Military Academy" (New York, 1863); a "Guide to West Point and the U. S. Military Academy" (1863); "Register of Cadets admitted to the Military Academy, from its Origin to June 30, 1870" (1870); "Several Orders of George Washington, Commander-in-Chief, etc., issued at Newburg" (Newburg, 1883); and of the military and naval vocabulary in Webster's " Army and Navy Dictionary " (Springfield, 1886).


BOYTON, Paul, nautical adventurer, b. in Dublin, Ireland, 29 June, 1848. From his earliest youth he showed a great fondness for aquatic sports, and after a desultory education entered the navy in 1864, serving until the close of the civil war. He then followed the business of submarine diving for several years, and during the revolution in Sonora, Mexico, he served under Gen. Pedro Martinez. From 1867 till 1869 he was connected with the life-saving service on the Atlantic coast, where he distinguished himself by saving seventy-one lives. In 1870-'1 he served in the Franco-Prussian war with the Franc-tireurs, after which he visited the diamond-fields of South Africa. He then re-entered the life-saving service, where he remained until after his famous leap from a vessel off the coast of Ireland in 1874. This feat was accomplished, in a rubber suit of his own invention, during a furious gale. After remaining nearly seven hours in the water, traversing a distance of forty miles, he reached the land. His dress, which is manufactured from the finest vulcanized rubber, is divided into two parts, the junction being at the waist. The lower half terminates in a steel band, over which the bottom of the tunic fits, with a strap over all, making a perfectly water-tight joint. On each thigh, on the breasts, on the back, and at the back of the head, are five internal compartments, each having a tube for the purpose of inflating with air from the mouth. The only part of the body exposed is the face. His position in the water is on his back, and he drives himself, feet foremost, with a double-bladed paddle, at the rate of about one hundred strokes a minute, sometimes using a sail. He has achieved a world-wide reputation for his exploits, among which are his crossing the English channel in twenty-four hours, on 28 May, 1875. In October, 1875, he paddled on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland, to Cologne, Germany, 430 miles. Early in 1876 he made the run from Alton, Ill., to St. Louis, Mo., on the Mississippi, and from the Bayou Govda to New Orleans,. La.. 100 miles, in twenty-four hours. In May, 1876, he was again in Europe, and made the descent of the Danube from Lintz, Austria, to Budapest, Hungary, 460 miles, in six days. He remained in Europe until November, 1878, navigated the important rivers of the continent, passed through the canals of Venice, and crossed the straits of Gibraltar. Among his important American trips is the voyage from Oil City, Pa., to the gulf of Mexico, 2,342 miles, made in eighty days. During the first portion of this expedition the weather was extremely cold, while toward the end Capt. Boyton suffered severely from the heat. In August, 1879, he crossed from Long Branch to Manhattan beach, and in November he made the descent of Connecticut river from Canada to Long Island sound. During 1880-'1 he was commander of the Peruvian torpedo service. He was captured by the Chilians, and his execution ordered; but managed to escape to the coast, and was picked up by a vessel bound north. His longest voyage, over 3,580 miles, was made from the mouth of Cedar creek, Montana territory, starting on 17 Sept., 1881, to St. Louis, Mo., reaching there on 20 Nov. He has travelled through the United States, giving exhibitions of his feats. An account of his adventures has been published under the title of "Roughing it in Rubber" (1886).


BOZMAN, John Leeds, lawyer and author, b. in Oxford, on the eastern shore of Maryland, in 1757; d. in 1823. He was educated at the university of Pennsylvania, afterward read law in the Middle Temple, London, became an eminent lawyer, and for several years was deputy attorney-general of Maryland. He was the author of "Observations on the Statute of Jac. I., ch. 16, in Relation to Estates Tail"; "A New Arrangement of the Courts of Justice of the State of Maryland"