Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/31

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GUESS
GUIGNAS
11

he was convinced that Iturbide desired the inde- pendence of Mexico, he joined him ; but when Itur- bide caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, he opposed him and was defeated and wounded in the battle of Almo- longa, 23 Jan., 1823. Guerrero was appoint- ed a member of the ex- ecutive council when the Republicans were victorious, and exiled Iturbide. Afterward Bravo was elected head of the so-called Esco- ces party, and Guer- rero of the Yorkino. The rivals met in bat- tle, Bravo was defeat- ed, and Guerrero be- ^4/*i7# /jS^'y came president of Mex- ico. But he was soon deposed in favor of

Santa -Anna, fled to

the south, and made war upon the administration until January, 1831, when he was inveigled on board an Italian ship, and delivered to his enemies. He was condemned by a court-martial and shot.


GUESS, George, or SEQUOYAH, a Cherokee half-breed, inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, b. about 1770; d. in San Fernando, northern Mexi- co, in August, 1843. He cultivated a small farm in the Cherokee country of Georgia, and was known as an ingenious silversmith, when, in 1826, he in- vented a syllabic alphabet of the language of his nation of eighty-five characters, each representing a single sound. This is probably the most perfect alphabet ever devised for any language. He used the characters that he found in an English spelling-book as far as they went, though he knew no language but his own. In 1828 a newspaper called the " Phoe- nix " was established, part of which was printed in Guess's alphabet, and it was also used in printing a part of the New Testament. Guess was not a Christian, and is said to have regretted his inven- tion when he heard that it had been used for the latter purpose. He accompanied his tribe in their emigration beyond the Mississippi, and in 1842 went with other Indians to Mexico.


GUEST, John, jurist, b. in England; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 8 Sept., 1707. He received a university education in England, and probably en- gaged in the practice of the law before coming to this country. In 1701, shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia, he was commissioned by William Penn to be chief justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and presiding judge of the courts of common pleas, quarter sessions, and the orphans' court of the city and county of Philadelphia. He served as chief justice in 1701, 1702, and 1705, as an associate justice in the same court in 1704, and as presiding judge of the other courts from 1701 till 1706. He was invited by Penn to a seat in his council in July, 1701, and continued a member of this body until his death.


GUEST, John, naval officer, b. in Missouri in 1821 ; d. in Portsmouth, N. H., 12 Jan., 1879. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1837, and in 1843 became passed midshipman, and was attached to the steamer " Poinsett " in the survey of Tampa bay in 1844-'5. In 1850 he was made lieutenant, and in 1866 captain. He served in 1845-'8 on the frigate "Congress" in the Pacific, on the coast of Mexico during the Mexican war, and took part on shore in several sharp engagements. In 1854 he was second in command of the seamen and ma- rines of the U. S. steamer " Plymouth," boarded at Shanghai a Chinese man-of-war and liberated a pilot-boat crew, and was also in a severe and vic- torious fight with the Chinese rebels, who endeav- ored to plunder the foreign residents of the city In April of the same year. He was in command of the boats of the " Niagara," and cut out the Con- federate steamer " Aid," under the guns of Fort Morgan, in August, 1861. Capt. Guest commanded the "Owasco," of Admiral Porter's mortar flotilla, in the bombardment and passage of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, and commanded the same ves- sel at the bombardment of Vicksburg in the sum- mer of the same year, receiving the highest praise from his superiors. He commanded the iron-clad " Lehigh " and the steamer " Itasca " at both of the Fort Fisher engagements. He was promoted to commodore in 1873. and at the time of his death was commandant of the Portsmouth navy-vard.


GUIDO Y SPANO, Carlos, Argentine poet, b. in Salta, 8 March, 1832. He was graduated in law at the University of San Carlos, Buenos Ayres, in 1853, practised in Buenos Ayres, and in 1862 was elect- ed deputy to the Federal congress, where he became one of the leaders of the National party. In 1865 he was elected president of the national congress, but when the war with Paraguay be- gan he resigned, and served as lieu- tenant-colonel. In 1872 he was elect- ed to the national senate, and was

its president for

four years. During the yellow-fever epidemic of 1871 he was one of the members of the popular commission for the relief of the sufferers. He is now (1887) keeper of the national records in Buenos Ayres. He began to write verses while still in college, and has gained reputa- tion as a poet. The greater part of his poems have been collected in his book " Hojas al Viento " (Buenos Ayres, 1871). Guido is one of the most popular poets of the Argentine.


GUIGNAS, Ignatius, clergyman, b. in France about the end of the 17th century. He was a member of the Society of Jesus, and founded the mission of St. Michael the Archangel among the Sioux, in what is now Minnesota, in 1727. After beginning his mission labors, he was forced to abandon the work, owing to a victory of the Foxes over the French. Fie attempted to reach the Illinois country in 1728, but fell into the hands of the Kickapoos and Mascoutens, allies of the Foxes, by whom he was detained prisoner five months, and was constantly in danger of death. After a time he was condemned to be burned alive, but was saved by an old man who adopted him. He afterward received supplies from the Illinois missionaries, and used these to gain over the Indians, whom he induced to make peace. He was taken to the Illinois country, and left on parole until November. 1729. when the Indians took him back to their canton. On being liberated he seems to have returned to the Dakota mission, where he was laboring in 1736.