Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/386

This page needs to be proofread.

MEYEli


MICHEL


founders of Barnard college, among whom Mrs. Meyer was one of the most prominent. She was instrumental in raising the funds for the support of the college during the early years of its exist- ence and was made a charter member of the board of trustees in 1889. She was chairman of the committee on literature at the World's Fair congress, Chicago, 1893, and became well known as a public 8|)eaker. Her published works in- clude : Woman's Work in America (edited, 1891); Helen Brent, M.D. (1893); My Park Book (1898); Robert Annys : Poor lYiest (1901); and many contributions to periodicals.

MEYER, Qeorge von Lengerke, diplomatist, was born in Boston, Mass., June 24, 1858; son of George A. and Grace Helen (Parker) Meyer ;

grandson of George Augustus and (von Len-

gerke) Meyer of New York, and of William and

(Stevens) Parker of Boston, and a descendant

of Heinrich Ernst Lud wig Meyer of Ger- many, and on his mother's side, of Bish- op Parker of Massa- clmsetts. His great nncle, Lieut. -Col. F. L. Meyer of the 3d Hussars, King's Ger- man Legion, was killed at the battle of Waterloo. His father \ -C^f^^C^ was a merchant on

India wharf, Boston, 1848-78. He was graduated at Harvard in 1879. He engaged in business in the office of Alpheus H. Hardy & Co. of Boston, 1879-81, and in 1881 as a member of the firm of Linder & Meyer, Boston. He was married, in Lenox, Mass., June 25, 1885, to Alice, daughter of Charles Hook and Isabella (Mason)

Appleton, and granddaughter of William and

(Cutler) Appleton. He was a member of the city council, 1889-90 ; alderman, 1891 ; represen- tative in the state legislature, 1893-96, and speaker of the house, 1894, 1895 and 1896. Ho was a Republican national committeeman, 1900. In December, 1900, he was named by President McKinley for U.S. atnbassador to Italy as succes- sor to Gen. William F. Draper, resigned, and in January, 1901, he sailed with his family for Rome, presenting his credentials the same month, and establishing the American embassy in Pa- lazzo Brancaccio, Rome.

MICHAUD, John Stephen, R.C. bishop, was born in Burlington, Vt., Nov. 24, 1843 ; son of Stephen and Catharine (O'Rogan) Michaud. He attended Montreal college, Canada ; was gradu- ated from Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., 1870 ;


attended St. Joseph's seminary, Troy, N.Y., and was ordained priest June 7, 1873. He was ap- pointed bishop coadjutor of Burlington, Vt., and was consecrated in the cathedral of the Im- maculate Conception, June 29, 1892, by Arch- bishop Williams, assisted by Bishops Bradley and Gabriels, his title being '* Bishop of Modra." Upon the death of Bishop De Goesbriand, Nov. 3, 1899, he succeeded him as bishop of Burlington.

MICHEL, Richard Fraser, surgeon, was born in Charleston, S.C., Feb. 15, 1827 ; son of Dr. William and Eugenia Ash (Fraser) Michel, and of French and Scotch ancestry. He was educated in his native state and in Philadelphia, graduat- ing at the Medical College of Charleston in 1847. He was professor of materia medica at South Carolina Medical institute, 1847-60 ; demon- strated anatomy for many years in Charles ton to private classes ; was surgeon of General Evans's brigade, C.S.A., 1861-65, and practised in Montgomery, Ala. He was elected surgeon- general of Alabama in 1883, and grand senior life councillor of the State Medical association and vice-president of the American Medical association, 1872. He was married in February, 1854, to Annie Rivers of Charleston, S.C.

MICHEL, William Middleton, surgeon, was born in Charleston, S.C, Jan. 22, 1822 ; son of Dr. William and Eugenia Ash (Fraser) Michel. He pursued classical and medical studies in Paris and at Charleston, and was graduated at the Medical College of South Carolina, 1847. He es- tablished at Charleston with his brother, Dr. Richard F. Michel, the Summer Medical Institute as a private school, and conducted it, 1848-61. He was consulting surgeon to the Confederate hospitals at Richmond, Va., with Dr. Charles Bell Gibson and Dr. J. B. Read, and was surgeon to the South Carolina hospitals in that city, 1861-65. He was married, April 11, 1866, to Cecilia S. Inglesby of Charleston. He was pro- fessor of physiology and histology in the South Carolina Medical college ; a member of the Phila- delphia Academy of Science and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also a corresponding member of the Imperial Society of Natural History, of Paris, his diploma being brought to him by Louis Agassiz on his first visit to the United States in 1846. He made notable discoveries in embryology, and also theo- retically predicted the functions of the rod and cone layer of the retina, before they were demon- strated in Germany. He made researches on the

    • Development of the Opossum," which attracted

attention and led to a discussion between Prof. Agassiz and Dr. Michel. He edited the Confed- erate States Medical and Surgical Journal and the Charleston Medical Journal. He died in Charleston, S.C, June 4, 1894.