lieutenant. 9 May. 1N46, anil brcvotted captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churabusco. He was stationed in Texas from 1849 till 1852, being promoted captain, 10 Nov., 1851, and was then in New Mexico till 1854. From that time till the civil war he was chiefly in Kansis, Dakota, and Nebraska, taking part in several expeditions against hostile Indians. He resigned on 30 May, 1861, joined the Confederate army as colonel of the 7th Texas cav- alry, and took part in Gen. Henry H. Sibley's expedition to New Mexico. On its return he was made brigadier-general, 12 Sept., 1862, and in January, 1863, was assigned to the command of the Department of Western Arkansas and the Indian territory. He commanded at Galveston, Tex., in December, 1863, and had charge of a cavalry division in Louisiana in 1864, where he opposed the Red river expedition of Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. In 1867 he became a commission merchant in San Antonio, Tex., and for some time after 1874 he was adjutant-general of the state. In this office he did good service by procuring and publishing, at great pains and expense, lists of escaped convicts and other fugitives from justice, which he furnished to the sheriffs of the various counties in the state.
STEENDAM, Jacob, Dutch poet, b.in Holland
in 1616. It is uncertain when or where he died.
He came to the colony of New Amsterdam about
1632, and stayed there till 1662, when he returned
to Holland. During his residence in the Dutch
settlement he owned farms at Amersfort and
Mespath, a house and lot on what is now Pearl
street, and another on Broadway. He left Holland
several years after his return, and made a voyage
to Batavia, where he may possibly have died. The
little that is known of him is due to the researches
of Henry C. Murphy, who, when he was U. S.
minister to the Hague, discovered some poems written
by Steendam on New Amsterdam, and had them
printed with an English version in the same metre.
The work is entitled “Jacob Steendam noch vaster.
A Memoir of the First Poet in New Netherlands,
with his Poems descriptive of the Colony” (The
Hague, 1861). The poems are “Complaint of New
Amsterdam, in New Netherlands, to her Mother,
of her Beginning, Growth, and Present Condition,”
and “The Praise of New Netherlands: Spurring
Verses to the Lovers of the Colony and Brothership
to be established on the South River of New Netherland.
Peter Cornelison Plockhoy, of Ziereckzee.”
STEENSTRA, Peter Henry, clergyman, b.
near Francker, Friesland, Netherlands, 24 Jan.,
1833. He emigrated to the United States and
entered Shurtleff college, Ill., where he was graduated
in 1858. He then became a minister in the
Baptist church, but afterward united with the
Episcopalians, and was appointed rector of Grace
church, Newton, Mass., in 1864. He became
professor of Hebrew and Old and New Testament
exegesis in the Episcopal theological school of
Cambridge. Mass., in 1868. He translated and
edited “Judges” and “Ruth” in the American
edition of Lange's “Commentary” (New York,
1872). The degree of D. D. was conferred on him
by Shurtleff college in 1882.
STEIGER, Ernst, German-American bibliographer,
b. in Gastewitz, Saxony, 4 Oct., 1832. He
was trained as a book-seller, emigrated in 1855 to
New York city, and in 1863 opened an independent
business. He became the publisher of important
works of German-Americans and of language text-books,
and also a manufacturer and importer of all
that belongs to the Kindergarten system. Mr.
Steiger is the author of “Der Nachdruck in
Nordamerika” (New York, 1860); “Das Copyright-Law
in den Vereinigten Staaten” (1869); and “Periodical
Literature,” a bibliography (1873).
STEIN, Conrad (stine), German historian, b. in
Heidelberg in 1701: d. in Breslau in 1762. He
was for many years professor of history in the
University of Breslau, and afterward made
researches in the state and private libraries of Europe
and America upon the ancient history of the latter
continent. His works include “Abhandlung über
die Atlantida der Alten, und ihren Zusammenhang
mit Amerika” (Breslau, 1750); “Geschichte der
Entdeckungen durch Scandinavische Seeleute vom
12ten zum 15ten Jahrhunderte” (1754);
“Geschichte der deutschen Ansiedelungen in
Nord-Amerika ” (1755); “Abhandlung über die
Spanischen Eroberer Cortes, Pizarro, und Almagro”
(1757); “Historische Notizen über die Eroberung
von Venezuela durch die Welser” (1758); “Kurze
Beschreibung von Amerika” (1759); and
“Abhandlung über die Indianer-Rasse oder Rothhaute,
deren Geschichte und Zusammenhang mit der
germanischen Rasse” (1760).
STEINBEL, Roger Nelson, naval officer, b. in
Middleton, Md., 27 Dec., 1810. He entered the
navy as a midshipman, 27 March, 1832, and cruised
in the schooner “Porpoise” when she was wrecked
near Vera Cruz in 1833. He was on duty in New
York at the naval school in 1834-'8, and became a
passed midshipman, 23 June, 1838. He was
commissioned lieutenant, 23 Oct., 1843, served in the
coast survey until 1847, and then was on the Brazil
station, on special duty in Washington, and in the
steamer “Mississippi,” on the East India station,
in 1857-'9. When the civil war began he went to
Cincinnati to fit out river gun-boats, and then
rendered good service in the Mississippi river flotilla.
He commanded the river gun-boat “Lexington” at
Belmont when Gen. Grant's force was defeated and
saved by the gun-boats in November, 1861. From
August, 1861, until May, 1862, he participated in
several engagements, and contributed greatly to
the successes and victories at Lucas Bend, 9 Sept.,
1861, Fort Henry, 6 Feb., 1862, Island No. 10 from
16 March until its capture on 7 April, 1862, and in
the action with the rams at Fort Pillow in May,
1862. In this last engagement his vessel, the
“Cincinnati,” was sunk, and he was seriously wounded.
He then had special duty at Philadelphia and
Pittsburg until 1865. He was commissioned
captain, 25 July, 1866, and commanded the
“Canandaigua” in the Mediterranean in 1866-'7. He next
served at the rendezvous in Boston, and was
commissioned commodore, 13 July, 1870, and appointed
commander-in-chief of the Pacific squadron in
1872. He was retired on 27 Dec., 1872, and
subsequently promoted to rear-admiral on the retired
list, 5 June, 1874.
STEINER, Lewis Henry, physician, b. in
Frederick city, Md., 4 May, 1827; d. in Baltimore, 18
Feb., 1892. He was educated at Marshall college,
Pa., where he received the degree of A. M. in 1849,
and was graduated the same year at the medical
department of the University of Pennsylvania. He
began to practise in Frederick, but in 1852 removed
to Baltimore, where for three years he was associated
with Dr. John R. W. Dunbar in the conduct
of the Baltimore medical institute, at the end of
which time he returned to Frederick. Soon after
he began to practise his attention was especially
directed to chemistry and the allied sciences, and
during his residence in Baltimore his time was
largely occupied in teaching. He was professor of
chemistry and natural history in Columbian
college, Washington, D. C., and also of chemistry and
pharmacy in the National medical college, Washing-
