Van Vechten, Abraham – Varnum, Joseph Bradly
Van Vechten, Abraham
lawyer, state legislator, author, was born Dec. 5, 1762, in Catskill, N. Y. He was known as the father of the New York bar, being the first lawyer admitted to practice after the adoption of the state constitution. He was city recorder in 1797-1808; state senator in 1798-1805; member of the assembly in 1805-15; attorney-general in 1810 and 1813-15; and a member of the constitutional convention in 1821. In 1797-1823 he was a regent of the university of the state of New York. He died Jan. 6, 1837, in Albany, N. Y.
Van Vechten, Jacob
clergyman, author, was born in 1788 in Catskill, N.
Y. In 1815-49 he was pastor of the reformed Dutch church in Schenectady, N. Y. He published Memoirs of Dr. John M.
Mason, in two volumes; and An Effective Ministry, a sermon. He died Sept. 15, 1871, in Auburn, N. Y.
Van Vleck, Jacob
Moravian bishop, was born March 24, 1751, in New York city. In 1815 he was consecrated to the episcopacy at Bethlehem, having been appointed president of the executive board of the southern province. He died July 3, 1831, in Bethlehem, Pa.
Van Vleck, John Monroe
educator, author, was born March 4, 1833, in Stone Ridge, N. Y. He was a member of the expedition that was sent out under the auspices of the Nautical Almanac office to observe the total solar eclipse at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1869. His publications include Tables giving the Positions of the Moon for 1855-56, and for 1878-91, and similar Tables giving the Positions of Saturn for 1857 to 1877, contributed to the American Nautical Almanac.
Van Vleck, William Henry
Moravian bishop, was born Nov. 14, 1790, in Bethlehem, Pa. He was consecrated to the episcopacy in 1836 at Bethlehem, and appointed president of the executive board of the southern province and pastor of the church at Salem. He died Jan. 19, 1853, in Bethlehem, Pa.
Van Vliet, Stewart
soldier, was born July 21, 1815, in Ferrisburg, Vt. He served in the Seminole, Mexican and civil wars; and was brevetted major-general in the United States army in 1865.
Van Voorhes, Nelson H
soldier, journalist, lawyer, jurist, congressman, was born Jan. 23, 1822, in Washington county, Pa. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Ohio state legislature; and in 1855 was elected probate judge. He resigned to again become a member of the legislature, and was made speaker; and by re-elections was a member ten years.
In 1861 he entered the army in the volunteer service; and in 1862 was commissioned colonel of the ninety-second regiment of United States troops. In 1871 he was again speaker of the assembly; served in that capacity four years. In 1874 he was elected a representative from Ohio to the forty-fourth congress; and was reelected to the forty-fifth congress as a republican.
Van Voorhis, Henry C
lawyer, congressman, was born May 11, 1852, in Muskingum county, Ohio. He was elected from Zanesville, Ohio, to the fifty-third and fifty-fourth congresses, and re-elected to the fifty-fifth congress as a republican.
Van Voorhis, John
lawyer, congressman, was born Oct. 22, 1828, in Decatur, N. Y. He was a member of the Rochester city board of education in 1857; city attorney in 1859; and was appointed collector of internal revenue in 1862. He was elected a representative from New York to the forty-sixth, forty-seventh and fifty-third congresses as a republican.
Van Wart, Isaac
patriot, was born in 1760 in Greenburg, N. Y. On Sept. 23, 1780, with John Paulding and David Williams, he intercepted Major John André on his return from the American lines. For this service he received the thanks of congress, a pension of $200 per annum for life, and a silver medal bearing on one side the word Fidelity, and on the other the legend Vincit Amor Patriæ. On June 11, 1829, the citizens of Westchester county erected a monument to his memory. He died May 23, 1828, in Mount Pleasant, N. Y.
Van Winkle, Peter G
state legislator, United States senator, was born Sept. 7, 1808, in New York city. He was a member of the legislature of West Virginia from its organization until 1863; and in November of that year was elected a senator in congress from West Virginia for the term ending in 1869. He died April 15, 1872, in Parkersburg, W. Va.
Van Wyck, Charles Henry
soldier, lawyer, congressman, United States senator, was born May 10, 1824, in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was elected a representative from New York to the thirty-sixth congress; and was also elected to the thirty-seventh congress. While in congress he served in the volunteer service as colonel of a regiment; and in 1865 was appointed a brigadier-general by brevet.
He was elected to the fortieth congress; and was re-elected to the forty-first congress. He removed to Nebraska in 1874; and was a state senator from 1876 to 1880.
He was elected United States senator from Nebraska for six years from March 4, 1881.
Van Wyck, Samuel
insurance president, was born Dec. 22, 1824, in West Hills, N. Y. In 1887 he was elected president of the La Fayette Fire Insurance company of Brooklyn, N. Y., which position he still holds.
Van Wyck, William W
congressman, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y.
He was a representative in congress from that state from 1821 to 1825.
Van Zandt, Charles Collins
lawyer, state senator, governor, was born Aug. 10, 1830, in Newport, R. I. He was speaker of the Rhode Island state house of representatives in 1858-59, from 1866 to 1869, and from 1871 to 1873; and was lieutenant-governor and ex-officio president of the state senate from 1873 to 1875. He was governor of Rhode Island from 1877 to 1880.
Van Zandt, Marie
vocalist, was born Oct. 8, 1861, in Texas. She was befriended by Adelina Patti, who encouraged her to go on the stage. She has unconsciously copied the style of that great cantatrice. Her voice is clear and melodious and of astonishing compass.
Van Zile, Edward Sims
journalist, author, was born in 1863 in New York.
He is a novelist and journalist of New York city on the staff of The World; and the author of Wanted, a Sensation; The Last of the Van Slacks; A Magnetic Man, and Other Stories; Don Miguel, and Other Stories; The Manhattaners; and A Crown Prince.
Varick, Richard
soldier, was born March 25, 1753, in Hackensack, N. J. He served with distinction during the revolutionary war; and was inspector-general at West Point after 1780. He died July 30, 1831, in Jersey City, N. J.
Varick, Theodore Romeyn
physician, author, was born June 24, 1825, in Dutchess county, N. Y. He was the first to prove the usefulness of cocaine in capital amputations. He published monographs on The Use of Hot Water in Surgery; The Protective Treatment of Open Wounds; and a score of other valuable medical papers. He died Nov. 23, 1887, in Jersey City, N. J.
Varney, Mrs. F. G
poet. She has attained success as a writer of Windham Centre, Maine.
Varney, George Jones
author, was born in 1836 in Maine. He is the author of Young People's History of Maine; Gazetteer of Maine; A Brief History of Maine; and The Story of Patriot's Day.
Varnum, Charles W
lawyer, politician, orator, was born Feb. 25, 1862, in Sanilac county, Mich. He attended the Hillsdale college; graduated with highest honors from the Iowa City Commercial college, and from the law department of the state university of Iowa with the degree of LL. B. He has attained success in the profession of law at Denver, Colo.
In 1891 he organized the Republican league of Colorado, and was its first president. He has been three times a delegate to the National League convention, and secured the national convention of 1894 for Denver. In 1894 he was elected state organizer of the Republican league of Colorado, and in three months organized ninety clubs with over forty thousand members. In 1897 he was elected chairman of the national silver party committee of Denver.
Varnum, James Mitchell
soldier, lawyer, jurist, state legislator, congressman, was born Dec. 17, 1748, in Dracut, Mass. In 1774 he accepted the command of a company called the Kentish guards; and in 1777 was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In 1779 he resigned his commission in the army, and the legislature appointed him major-general of militia. From 1780 to 1782 he was a delegate to the continental congress. In 1786 he was again a delegate to congress, and served one year; and was then appointed judge of the Northwest territory. He died Jan. 10, 1789, in Marietta, Ohio.
Varnum, John
lawyer, state legislator, congressman, was born in 1783 in Essex county, Mass. He was frequently a member of the state legislature; and was a representative in congress from Massachusetts from 1825 to 1831. He died July 23, 1846, in Niles, Mich.
Varnum, Joseph Bradley
soldier, state senator, congressman, was born Jan. 29, 1750, in Dracut, Mass. He was a general in the revolutionary war; and was a representative in congress from 1795 to 1811, being speaker during the tenth and eleventh congresses. He was chosen senator in 1811; served until 1817, and was president pro tempore of the senate. He died Sept. 21, 1821, in Dracut, Mass.
Varnum, Joseph Bradly
lawyer, author, was born June 9, 1818, in Washington, D. C. He is a lawyer and writer of New York city; and the author of The Seat of Government of the United States; and The Washington Sketch-Book. He died Dec. 31, 1874, in Astoria, N. Y.