Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/27

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EWELL was apprenticed to a tin and copper smith, and about 1819 emigrated to New York. In 1820 he commenced the manufacture of metallic tubing in that city, and retired in 1836 to de- vote himself to literary and scientific pursuits. In 1842 appeared his "Descriptive and Histor- ical xiccount of Hydraulic and other Machines, Ancient and Modern ; including the Progres- sive Development of the Steam Engine," of which the 15th edition was published in 1870. In 1845-'6 he made a visit to Brazil, recording his observations in a work entitled "Life in Brazil," with an appendix descriptive of a col- lection of American antiquities, New York (1856). From 1849 to 1852 he was United States commissioner of patents. He also wrote " The World a Workshop, or the Physical Relation of Man to the Earth " (1855) ; "Thoughts on Matter and Force" (1858); "Reminiscences in the Patent Office" (1859); and a variety of miscellaneous essays on the philosophy and history of inventions, which appeared chiefly in the " Transactions of the Franklin Institute." His "Experiments on Marine Propulsion, or the Virtue of Form in Propelling Blades," was reprinted in Europe. As a member of the commission to examine and report upon the strength of the marbles offered for the extension of the national capi- tol, he made some suggestions which led to the discovery of a means of greatly increasing the power of resistance to pressure in building stones. He was one of the founders of the American ethnological society. EWELL, Richard Stoddard, a general of the Confederate States of America, born in the District of Columbia in 1820, died at Spring Hill, Term., Jan. 25, 1872. He graduated at West Point in 1840, and became lieutenant of dragoons. He served in the Mexican war from 1846 to 1848, and was breveted as captain for gallant and meritorious conduct in the bat- tles of Contreras and Churubusco. In 1859 he was wounded in a skirmish with the Apaches. In May, 1861, he entered the confederate ser- vice, and commanded a brigade at the battle of Bull Run. Early in 1862 he was promoted to major general, and commanded a division in Jackson's campaign in the Shenandoah valley. He was conspicuous in the battles of Gaines's Mill, Malvern Hill, and Cedar Mountain, was worsted by Hooker at Bristoe Station, and lost a leg at the second battle of Bull Run. He was made a lieutenant general in May, 1863, and succeeded to the command of Jackson's corps, with which he was present at Gettys- burg, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania Court House. During the siege of Petersburg, be- ing disabled from active service in the field, he had command of the garrison of Rich- mond. At Sailor's creek, during the con- federate retreat, he was cut off by Sheridan, and surrendered, with 6,000 or 7,000 men, three days before the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. Toward the close of the war he. had married a daughter of Judge Campbell EWING 19 of Tennessee, and subsequently took up his residence in that state, and engaged in stock raising, in which he was very successful. EWING, John, an American clergyman, born in Nottingham, Md., June 22, 1732, died in Philadelphia, Sept. 8, 1802. He was educated in the college of New Jersey, was tutor in that college and instructor of the philosophical classes in the college of Philadelphia, and in 1759 became pastor of the first Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. In 1773 he visited England, and had interviews with Dr. Robert- son, Lord North, and Dr. Johnson ; the last of whom, affirming that the Americans were as ignorant as rebellious, said to Dr. Ewing, " You never read. You have no books there." "Par- don me," was the reply, " we have read the 'Rambler.'" When the college of Philadel- phia was changed in 1779 to the university of Pennsylvania, Dr. Ewing was placed at its head as provost, and remained in this station together with his pastorate till his death. He was vice president of the American philosoph- ical society, and made several contributions to its "Transactions." His collegiate lectures on natural philosophy (2 vols., 1809) and a volume of sermons were published after his death. EWING, Thomas, an American statesman, born in Ohio co., Va., Dec. 28, 1789, died at Lancaster, Ohio, Oct. 26, 1871. In his 20th year he left home and worked in the Kanawha salt establishments, until he had laid up money enough to pay for the farm which his father had purchased in 1792, in what is now Athens co., Ohio, and enabled himself to enter the Ohio university at Athens, where he graduated in 1815. He studied law in Lancaster, Ohio, was admitted to the bar in 1816, and practised with great success in the state courts and the supreme court of the United States. In March, 1831, he took his seat in the United States senate. He spoke against confirming the nom- ination of Van Buren as minister to Great Britain, supported the protective tariff sys- tem of Clay, and advocated a reduction of the rates of postage, a recharter of the United States bank, and the revenue collection bill known as the " force bill." In 1834, and again in 1835, as a member of the committee on post offices and post roads, he presented a majority report on abuses in the post office which re- sulted in the reorganization of that depart- ment. He opposed the removal of the depos- its from the United States bank, and on Dec. 21, 1835, introduced a bill for the settlement of the Ohio boundary question, which was passed March 11 and June 15, 1836. During the same session he brought forward a bill, which became a law, for the reorganization of the general land office ; and on several occa- sions he opposed the policy of granting pre- emption rights to settlers on the public lands. He spoke against the admission of Michigan, and presented a memorial for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia, which he insisted ought to be re-