Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/673

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YANCEY
YANEZ

as it afforded an easy introduction for gunpowder or other explosive. This led to the adoption of the permanent dial and shaft as used in the so- called " combination locks," and subsequently to the perfection of the mechanism that is known as the clock lock. His most radical invention was the double lock, which consisted in practically plac- ing two within one case, to be operated by the same or different combinations so that the unlock- ing of either allowed the bolt to be withdrawn. His improvements in locks and boxes for post-office use are of recognized utility and world-wide adop- tion. He was an exhibitor at the world's fairs of this and other countries, and was the recipient of gold, silver, and bronze medals as first awards at these exhibitions.


YANCEY, Bartlett, member of congress, b. in Caswell county, N. C, about 1780; d. there, 30 Aug., 1828. He was educated at the University of North Carolina, was a tutor in that institu- tion, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, be- coming eminent in his profession. He was a rep- resentative in congress from North Carolina in 1813— '17, was elected a state senator in 1817, was annually re-elected till his death, and generally

>resided as speaker. With John L. Taylor and 

lenry Potter he published " Laws of the State of North Carolina " (2 vols., Raleigh, 1821).


YANCEY, William Lowndes, statesman, b. in Ogeechee Shoals, Ga., 10 Aug., 1814 ; d. near Mont- gomery, Ala., 28 July, 1863. He was the son of Benjamin C. Yancey, a lawyer of Abbeville, S. C, was educated at Williams college, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Abbeville. In 1836 he removed to Alabama, and was admitted to the bar. He edited the " Cahawba Democrat " and the " We- tumpka Argus." He served in both branches of the legislature, and was elected to congress in 1844 to fill a vacancy, and re-elected in 1845, but re- signed in 1847 to devote his entire attention to law. In 1845 he was challenged to a duel by Gen. Thomas L. Clingman, but neither was injured in the encounter that ensued. He was a member of the National Democratic convention that met at Baltimore in May, 1848, a zealous opponent of the compromise measures of 1850, a presidential elec- tor in 1856, and one of the leaders of the extreme party in the south. In a letter written in June, 1858, and published in 1860, he advised the organi- zation of committees of safety in all the cotton states to " fire the southern heart," and ultimately to precipitate those states into revolu- tion ; and in 1859 he urged the call- ing of a conven- tion by the state of Alabama, in the event of the election of the Re- publican candi- date for president in 1860. He was a member of the Democratic con- vention atCharles-

ton, 23 April,

1860, and withdrew with other southern extremists. During the presidential canvass he made a tour through the north and west, speaking at Faneuil hall, Boston, Cooper institute. New York, and else- where, urging the rejection of the Republican can- didate on the ground that the platform adopted by that party would make the south hopeless of jus- tice on the slavery question. In the Alabama con- vention, which met at Montgomery, 7 Jan., 1861, he reported the ordnance of secession, which was passed on 14 Jan. On 27 Feb. he was appointed a commissioner to the governments of Europe to obtain a recognition of the Confederate states, and left New York in March. He returned in Febru- ary, 1862, and was a member of the Confederate senate at Richmond until the time of his death.


YANDELL, David Wendell, physician, b. in Murfreesborough, Tenn., in 1826. He was gradu- ated in medicine at the University of Louisville, Ky., in 1846, was in Europe in 1846-'7, and began practice in Louisville in 1848. He became a pro- fessor in the University of Louisville in 1859, and was a medical director in the Confederate army in 1861— '0. Dr. Yandell was elected president of the American medical association in 1871, and ap- pointed professor of surgery in the Indiana medi- cal college in 1874. In 1870 he established the " American Practitioner."


YANDELL, Lunsford Pitts, physician, b. near Hartsville, Tenn., 4 July, 1805 ; d. in Louisville, Ky., 4 Feb., 1878. He was graduated at the medi- cal department of the University of Maryland in 1825, and in 1826 settled in Murfreesborb', Tenn. In 1830 he removed to Nashville and in 1831 to Lexington, Ky., thence in 1837 to Louisville. He was elected professor of chemistry in Transylva- nia university in 1831, and in 1837 to the same chair in the medical department of the University of Louisville. In 1849 he was transferred to the chair of physiology and pathological anatomy, and in 1859 became professor of the theory and prac- tice of medicine in Memphis medical college. He held the presidency of the Louisville, Lexington, and Kentucky medical societies, and of the Louis- ville college of physicians and surgeons. For six years he edited the "Transylvania Journal of Medicine," and in 1840-'56 the " Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery." He was the author of a prize essay on " Fever " ; a report on " The Medi- cal Sciences" (1849); one on "American Medical Literature " (1873) ; also one on the same subject before the International medical congress held in Philadelphia in 1876; and other medical papers and addresses.


YANEZ, Placido (yahn'-yayth), Bolivian sol- dier, b. in Cochabamba about 1820 ; d. in La Paz, 23 Nov., 1861. He had served from early life in the army, and by his frequent participation in revolutions rose rapidly in rank, being promoted brigadier in 1861 by President Jose Maria Acha. Soon he became infamous by his ferocity and the cruel slaughter of the most noteworthy citizens of the republic. During the absence of Gen. Acha from the capital Yanez was the military comman- dant and minister of war, and on 23 Oct., 1861, under pretext of having discovered a conspiracy against the government, he attacked the defence- less city with his troops, and, driving the principal persons into the square of Loreto, shot down and slowly murdered in cold blood more than fifty, among them Gens. Cordoba and Hermosa. But on 23 Nov. of the same year a popular revolt be- gan, and an infuriated multitude demanded his head. Knowing his peril, he took refuge in the government palace with a few sharp-shooters, and, failing to obtain relief from the garrison of the citadel, which fraternized with the populace, he tried to escape over the roofs, but was discovered. Falling from the roof of the palace, he was crushed on the pavement, and his body was torn to pieces by the infuriated people.