" Text-Book of Intellectual Philosophy " (Boston, 1860); "First Principles of Ethics" (1861); a "Text-Book of Political Economy" (New York, 1868) ; " Scripture Reading Lessons," with notes (Hartford, Conn., 1876); and "Constitution of the United States, with Brief Comments'*' (Boston, 1880). He was a contributor to the " Christian Review" from 1850.
CHAMPLIN, John Denison, author, b. in
Stonington, Conn., 29 Jan., 1834. He was
educated at the Hopkins grammar-school, New Haven,
and at Yale, where he was graduated in 1856. In
the following year he began the study of law in
the office of Gideon H. Hollister, Litchfield, Conn.,
was admitted to the bar in 1859, and subsequently
became a member of the firm of Hollister, Cross
& Champlin, in New York city. In the autumn of
1860, what seemed an advantageous business offer
took him to New Orleans, where he was a witness
during the following spring of the opening scenes
of secession in that city. Satisfied that New
Orleans was no place for the practice of his profession,
he returned to the north in the autumn of
1861, and after some desultory literary work
became, in 1864, associate editor of the Bridgeport,
Conn., “Standard,” with special charge of the
literary department. In 1865 he established, in
Litchfield, a weekly newspaper in the interest of
the Democratic party, entitled “The Sentinel,”
which he edited until 1869, when he sold it and
removed to New York to enter upon other literary
pursuits. He wrote for several periodicals until
1873, when he edited, from the papers of Joseph
F. Loubat, secretary to Gustavus V. Fox in his
mission to present the congratulations of congress
to the Emperor Alexander II. on his escape from
assassination, the work entitled “Fox's Mission to
Russia” (New York, 1873). In the same year he
became a reviser and in 1875 associate editor of
the “American Cyclopædia,” having special charge
of the maps and engravings till the revision was
completed. Mr. Champlin is the author of “Young
Folks' Cyclopædia of Common Things” (New
York, 1879); “Young Folks' Catechism of Common
Things” (1880); “Young Folks' Cyclopædia
of Persons and Places” (1880); “Young Folks'
Astronomy” (1881); and “Young Folks' History
of the War for the Union” (1881). In 1884 he
visited Europe, and accompanied Andrew Carnegie
in a coaching trip through southern England,
which he has described in his “Chronicle of the
Coach” (New York, 1886). He is now editor of
Scribner's art cyclopædias, of which two volumes
of the first part, “Cyclopædia of Painters and
Paintings,” were published in 1886.
CHAMPLIN, Stephen, naval officer, b. in
South Kingston, R. I., 17 Nov., 1789 ; d. in Buffalo,
N. Y., 20 Feb., 1870. He was a cousin of Com.
Perry. When he was five years old his parents re-
moved to Lebanon, Conn., where he was employed
on his father's farm, and received a common-school
education. At the age of sixteen he ran away from
home to become a sailor, and at twenty-two was
captain of a fine brig in the West India trade. Pie
was appointed a sailing-master in the U. S. navy,
22 May, 1812. placed in command of a gun-boat
under Com. Perry at Newport, and soon after or-
dered to Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., where he soon
attracted the attention of his superior officers by
his remarkable promptness. On 18 July, 1813, he
was ordered to take charge of seventy-four officers
and men and report to Com. Perry at Erie, Pa.,
going by way of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and
marching across the country from Niagara to Buf-
falo. He made the entire distance, using only set-
ting-poles and oars for propulsion, in five days.
He was ordered, on 25 July, to take command "of
the " Scorpion," and engaged with that vessel in
the battle of Lake Erie, 10 Sept., 1813, being at
that time under twenty-four years of age. The
" Scorpion " fired the first shot on the American
side, and was fought with great bravery, keeping
its place near the Lawrence throughout the en-
gagement. At ten o'clock in the evening of 13
Sept. Champlin captured the " Little Belt," and in
so doing fired the last shot in the battle. He- was
afterward placed in command of two of the cap-
tured prize-ships, the " Queen Charlotte " and the
" Detroit." In the spring of 1814 he commanded
the " Tigress," and blockaded, with Capt. Turner
in the " Scorpion," the port of Mackinac. They
cruised for some months in the service, cutting off
the supplies of the British garrison ; but both ves-
sels were surprised and captured at nine o'clock on
the evening of 8 Sept. by a superior force of In-
dians and British, sent from Mackinac in five boats
to raise the blockade. Every American officer was
severely wounded, and Champlin was crippled for
life by a canister-shot, which passed through the
fleshy part of the right thigh and embedded itself
in the left thigh, shattering the bone and remain-
ing lodged in the limb for eigliteen days. He was
taken prisoner and carried to Mackinac, where he
lay suffering for thirty-eight days, and was then
paroled and sent to Erie, and then, by easy stages,
to Connecticut, arriving there in March, 1815. He
was prevented by his wounds from seeing much
active service after this. He had been made lieu-
tenant on 9 Dec, 1814, and in 1815 was attached
to Perry's flag-ship, the " Java." He commanded
the schooner " Porcupine" from 1816 till 1818, and
was employed during 1816 in surveying the Canada
boundary-line. He then retired to Connecticut,
still suffering from his wound, and undergoing
several operations without relief. He lived here,
with the exception of a short service on the receiv-
ing-ship " Fulton," from 1828 till 1834, when he
removed to Buffalo, and remained there till his
death. He was promoted to commander, 22 June,
1838, put in charge of the rendezvous at Buffalo in
1842, and commanded the " Michigan " from 1845
till 1848. He was made captain, 4 Aug^ 1850, and
placed on the retired list in 1855. He became com-
modore in 1862, and, except Hugh Nelson Page,
was the last survivor of the battle of Lake Erie.
CHAMPLIN, Stephen Gardner, soldier, b. in
Kingston, N. Y., 1 July, 1827 ; d. in Grand Rapids,
Mich., 24 Jan., 1864. He was educated in the com-
mon schools, and at Rhinebeck academy, N. Y.,
studied law, and admitted to the bar in Albany in
1850. He removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., in
1853, where he became judge of the recorder's
court and prosecuting attorney of Kent co. He
entered the army in 1861, as major in the 3d
Michigan infantry, and became its colonel on 22
Oct. Among the battles in which he took part
were Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Groveton, and
Antietam. He received at Fair Oaks a severe
wound, which prevented him from seeing active
service after his promotion to the rank of briga-
dier-general, 29 Nov., 1862, and he was placed on
detached duty in command of the recruiting-sta-
tion at Grand Rapids, dying in the service, from
the effects of his wound.
CHAMPNEY, Benjamin, painter, b. in New Ipswich, N. H., 20 Nov., 1817. He was graduated at Appleton academy, in his native town, in 1834. He went to Boston in that year, worked in Pendleton's lithographic establishment in 1837-'40, studied and painted at the Louvre, Paris, in 1841-'6, then
