Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/154

PROUD. Robert, historian, b. in Yorkshire. En-land. 10 .May, 1728: tl. in Philadelphia, Pa., 7 July. 1813. Hi- emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1759, and taught Latin and Greek in a Friends' academy in Philadelphia until the Revolution. Charles Brockden Brown was one of his pupils. He was firm in his attachment t" the crown, and believed th:it the Revolution would cause the decline of virtue and prosperity in this country. " Dominie " Proud was a familiar figure for many years in his adopted city. He was tall, with a Roman nose, and " most impending brows," and in his curled wig and cocked hat is described as the " perfect model of a gentleman." His " History of Pennsylvania," which is full of valuable information, although de- ficient in well-sustained narrative, was his pecun- iary ruin (Philadelphia, 1797-'Si.

PROUDFIT, Alexander Monorief. clergy- man, b. in Pequea. Pa.. 10 Nov.. 1770: d. in Xew Mrun-wick. X. J., 23 Nov., 1843. He was gradu- ated at Columbia in 1792, studied theology under Dr. John H. Livingston, and was pastor of the Associate Reformed church in Salem. X. Y.. I'miii 17114 till 1835. He became -ecretaryof the New York colonization society in the latter year, and held office till his resignation in 1N41. Williams gave him the degree of D. D. in 1S12. For a short time during In- pastorate he was professor of pas- tnnil theology in the Associate Reformed seminary in evlmv_'. X. Y. lie published numerous -er- mons and addresses, including "The One Thing Xeedful" (Xew York, 1804): "Ruin and Recovery of .Man" (1806); "Theological Works" (4 vols., 1815) ; and a work on the " Parables " (1820). See a memoir of him by Rev. John Forsyth (Xew York. 1S44). His son, John Williams, clergyman.!), in Salem. X. Y.. 22 Sept.. 1803; d. in New Brunswick, X. -I.. '.! .March. 1*711. was graduated at Union in 1823 and at Princeton theological seminary in 1*24. and was pastor of the Reformed church in e- buryport in 1827-'33. At the latter date he became professor of Latin in the University of Xew Y<>rk, and in 1840-'64 he occupied the chair of Greek in Kinder-. Union college gave him the degree of D. D. in 1841. Dr. Proudfit wrote much for eccle- Mastical literature, and edited the X T ew Bruns- wick Review." He published several sermons, and .Man's Twofold Life" (lSli2).an.l edited " A Com- edy of Plautus, with English Xotes" (1843).

PBOUDFIT, David Law, author, b. in New- burg. N. Y., 27 Oct., 1842; d. in New York city. 2:! l-'di., 1897. At fifteen years of age he went to New York city to engage in business. In 1M12 he enlisted as a private in the 1st New York mounted rifles. In the following year he was appointed a 3d lieutenant in the 22d U. S. colored troops. His regiment accompanied Gen. Butler in his ad- vance up James river, and took part in various engagement-, and at the close of the war he had attained the rank ol major. Later he engaged in business, and afterward took a special interest in |niciimaiic tubes, and he also became president of the Meteor despatch company of New York. His I ms have been extensively used in public recita- tions. He had published in book-form " Love among the Gamins," poems (New York, 1877), and "Mask and Domino" (1888).

PROVANCHER, Leon, Canadian author, b. in Becancour, Quebec, 10 March, 1820. lie was grad- uated at the Nicolet seminary, ordained prie.-t in 1844 in the Roman Catholic church, and held sev- eral past orates. Owing to feeble health he withdrew from the ministry in 1809 and engaged in literary work and the study of natural history, and has de- scribed more than two hundred new species of in- sects, particularly the Hymenoptera. He founded " Le naturaliste Canadien " in 1868. and received the degree of D. Sc. in 1880. Dr. Provancher is the author of " Traite elementaire de botanique" (Que- bec, 1858) : " Flore Canadienne " (1862) : " Le ver- ger Canadien " (1865) ; " De Quebec a Jerusalem " (1882); "Petite histoire du Canada" (iss7i: " Une excursion aux climats Tropicaux " (1890); and other works on botany and natural history.

PROYENCHER. Jean Norbert, Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Nicoiet. Quebec. 12 Feb.. 1787; d. in St. Boniface. Manitoba, 7 June, 185:;. 1 1, ;,- ordained in 1811, and in 1818, at the suggestion of the Earl of Selkirk, was sent to take charge of the [Ionian Catholic settlers on Red river, with the title of grand vicar. He resided at La Fourche mow St. Boniface). Manitoba. The Canadians, who formed the settlement, had married Indian women, and had lost almost all sense of religion, but he was well received, and in a short time suc- ceeded in reviving the Roman Catholic faith. He also labored among the wild Indians, and estab- lished missions in the interior. In 1822 he was nominated vicar apostolic of the northwest and auxiliary to the bishop of Quebec, and he was con- -ecrated under tin' title of bishop of Juliopolis in /iitrtiliii.*. lie returned from Quebec with a few priests, but he did not find them sufficient for the needs of the population that was scattered over his immense vicariate. He afterward obtained the aid of the Oblate fathers, whom he stationed among the Indian tribes, and established schools under the direction of the Grey Sisters. The results of his administration extended to the Pacific ocean, and petitions came in 1835 from the Canadians and Indians of Oregon, asking for missionaries. He could not spare any from his vicariate, but he an- swered them that he would go to Europe to procure aid. He obtained there considerable sums from the Society for the propagation of the faith, and, after his return to Canada, was able to send two mis-ionaries to Columbia river in 1838. In 1848 the Red river was erected into a bishopric, and I'.i-hop Provencher took the title of bishop of St. I'.oiulace. He founded the College of St. Boniface in IMS. and also a convent.

PROVOOST. Samuel, first P. E. bishop of New York, b. in New York city, 24 Feb.. 1742: d. there. 6 Sept., 1815. The Provoosts were of Hugue- not origin and settled in the New World in 1638. John, fourth in descent from Da- vid Provoost, the first settler and father of the fu- ture bishop, was a wealthy New York merchant, and for many years one of the governors of King's college. His wife, Eve, was a daughter of Hermann Bleeck- er. Samuel, their eldest son, was one of the sev- en u'l-aduates of

King's (now Columbia) college at

its first commencement in 17"> winning the honors, although the youngest but one of his class. In the summer of 1 Ml he -ailed for England, and in the - year entered St. Peter's college, Cambridge,