that then raged in the Gulf of Mexico between France and England, he remained at Carthagena occupied in arranging his collections till the truce of 1782. Then he resumed his voyage and went to Havana, where he formed a nearly complete collection of the flora of the island. On his return to France in 1785 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of sciences, and that body undertook also the publication of his works. He had made many friends in Peru, and, feeling insecure in Paris during the revolution, he returned in 1792 to Lima, where he taught mathematics till his death. Thibaudin's works include “Description des plantes recueillir dans un voyage au Pérou et au Chili” (2 vols., Paris, 1786); “Mémoire sur la flore de l'ile de Cuba” (1786); “Prodome de la flore du Chili avec herbier explicatif” (4 vols, 1788); and “Prodome de la flore du Pérou avec herbier explicatif” (4 vols., 1790).
THIENPONT, Émanuel, clergyman, b. in Belgium in 1803; d. in Logan, Hocking co., Ohio, 19 Oct., 1873. He came to the United States at an early age, studied for the priesthood, and was ordained in Cincinnati on 20 Jan., 1833. He spent the following year in preparing candidates for the priesthood, was then sent to take charge of the missions along the Miami canal, and for some time had entire charge of all the Roman Catholics in the state of Ohio. He was appointed pastor of St. Mary's, Tiffin, in 1835, and afterward of the German Catholics of Dayton, and then had charge of congregations at Portsmouth, Steubenville, and other places. He was afterward sent to Logan, and formed a new congregation in the neighborhood at Straitville. Father Thienpont was the pioneer secular priest of Ohio, and was the first to build Roman Catholic churches in Dayton, Portsmouth, Steubenville, and other places in the state.
THIÉRY DE MÉNONVILLE, Nicolas
Joseph, French botanist, b. in Saint-Mihiel, France,
18 June, 1739; d. in Port au Prince, Santo Domingo,
in 1780. He studied law, and for some time
practised his profession in his native city, but he soon
abandoned the bar for botany, of which he was
passionately fond. He formed a plan to naturalize
the cochineal insect in the Franco-American
colonies, and after landing in Santo Domingo in 1776,
in order to learn how to cultivate it, he penetrated
to Mexico in the disguise of a Catalonian physician,
at great personal risk, as the Spaniards kept the
knowledge of this branch of commerce jealously
from strangers. With great difficulty he reached
Oaxaca, which, he had learned, produced a finer
specimen of cochineal than could be found
elsewhere, learned the art of planting and raising the
nopal on which the insect feeds, bought a large
quantity of branches and insects, filling eight
chests with them, and succeeded in forwarding
them by different routes to Santo Domingo. He
sent a part of his cochineals to France, and was
successful in rearing and multiplying those that
he retained, in the Jardin du roi, which he founded
at Port au Prince. He received the title of botanist
of the king soon after his return to Mexico.
Shortly after his death the cochineal insect
disappeared from Santo Domingo. The club of “The
Philadelphes” at Cape Français published a
manuscript that he left, entitled “Traité de la culture
du nopal et de l'éducation de la cochenille dans les
colonies françaises de l'Amérique, précédé d'un
voyage à Oaxaca” (Cape Français, 1786).
THOBURN, James Mills, M. E. bishop, b. in
St. Clairsville, Ohio, 7 March, 1836. He was
graduated at Alleghany college. Pa., in 1857, and
began preaching in Ohio as a Methodist minister
in the same year. In 1859 he went to India as a
missionary, where he was stationed successively at
Nynee Tal, Moradabad, Lucknow, and Calcutta.
He preached in
both the native
and European
languages, and built
the largest church
in India. He was
presiding elder of
the Indian conference,
preached for
some time at Simla,
the summer capital
of India, and
was for five years
editor of the
“Indian Witness.” In
consequence of an
injury that resulted
from an
accident, he returned
to this country in
1886. At the
general conference of
the Methodist Episcopal church in New York city
in 1888 he was elected missionary bishop of India
and Malaysia. He has published “My Missionary
Apprenticeship,” being a history of twenty-five
years' experience in India (New York, 1884), and
“Missionary Sermons” (1888).
THOM, George (tom), soldier, b. in Derry, N. H.,
21 Feb., 1819. He was graduated at the U. S.
military academy in 1839, assigned to the
topographical engineers, and became 2d lieutenant in
1840. He served in connection with the survey of
the boundary between the United States and the
British provinces under the treaty of Washington,
in 1842-'7 and on the staff of Gen. Franklin
Pierce in the war with Mexico. He became 1st
lieutenant in 1849, and captain for fourteen years'
service in July, 1853. In 1853-'6 he served in
connection with the survey of the boundary between
the United States and Mexico. At the opening of
the civil war he was a major, but was appointed
colonel and additional aide-de-camp in November,
1861. Col. Thom was continuously employed on
engineer and other duty on the staff of Gen. Henry
W. Halleck till April, 1865, being present during
the siege of Corinth. He was also present at the
battle of Cedar Creek, Va. He was promoted
lieutenant-colonel of engineers in 1866, and was thereafter
in charge of river and harbor improvements
in the New England states till 20 Feb., 1883, when,
having been forty years in service, he was, at his
own request, retired from active service. He
became colonel of engineers in 1880, and was
brevetted brigadier-general U. S. army, “for faithful
and meritorious services during the rebellion.”
THOM, James Crawford, artist, b. in New York, 22 March, 1835. He studied at the National academy, and in 1859 went abroad, where he studied with Édouard Frère, and then with Henri Pierre Picou and Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. His works were frequently exhibited in London, where he gained several medals and other honors at various times. Since his return to the United States in 1872 many of his pictures have found their way into private galleries in this country. Among the paintings that he executed while abroad are “By the River-Side,” “Returning from the Wood,” “Tired of Waiting,” “Going to School,” and “The Monk's Walk.” The last three were exhibited at the Royal academy, London. He has shown more recently at the Academy of design,
