Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/570

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534
KIERNAN
KILLEN

ble slab to be placed in the front wall with the inscription " Anno Domini, 1642. Wilhelm Kieft, Directeur General, Heeft de Gemeente Desen Tem- pel Doen Bonwen." This slab was discovered bur- ied in the earth when the fort was demolished in 1687 to make room for the government house, and removed to the belfry of the old Dutch church in Garden street, where it remained until that church was burned in 1835. In after years, Kieft absented himself from service, and ordered soldiers to prac- tise noisy amusements under the church win- dows, owing to an allusion that Dominie Bogardus had made to his despotism. A more liberal policy in respect to the ownership of land caused emi- gration to increase, the only obligation required from foreigners being an oath of allegiance to the states-general of Holland. Although his measures of reform were of lasting benefit to the colony, Kieft's government was marked by such bold tyranny, and his petty, irritable nature found vent in such cruelty, that he was detested by the peo- ple. The encroachments of the Puritans on the east and the Swedes on the Delaware gave Kieft much concern, and he wrote of them to the com- pany, who deemed Sweden too powerful to attack. Kieft's maltreatment of the Indians caused retalia- tion on their part, and in 1641 the governor called an assembly of the " masters and heads of families " in the town to co-operate with the council. Twelve men were chosen, and this was the first representa- tive assembly in New Netherlands. The assembly, on their third session, in February, 1642, devised a plan for a municipal government in New Am- sterdam, whereupon Kieft was alarmed, dissolved the assembly, and forbade its reorganization. In the winter of 1643 Kieft made an attack at Hobo- ken on the Mohawk Indians, who had made a de- scent to collect tribute from the river tribes. The Long Island tribes now took up arms, and for a time the Dutch colony was threatened. The colo- nists finally petitioned for Kieft's recall, and cele- brated his departure with salutes. He sailed for Holland on 16 Aug., 1647, in the ship " Princess," with more than $100,000. The vessel was wrecked on the coast of Wales, and Dominie Bogardus, Kieft, and 81 others were drowned.


KIERNAN, James Lawlor, physician, b. in New York city in 1837 ; d. there, 26 Nov., 1869. He was graduated at the medical department of the University of New York in 1857, became a teacher in the public schools of New York, and was editor of the "Medical Press" in that city from 1859 till 1861, when he volunteered as assistant surgeon in the 69th New York regiment. He subsequently became surgeon of the 6th Missouri cavalry, serv- ing with Fremont in Missouri and at the battle of Pea Ridge ; but he resigned in 1863, owing to severe wounds that he received near Port Gibson, where he was captured, but escaped. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 1 Aug., 1863, but his resignation was accepted to take effect 3 Feb., 1864, and his name was not sent to the senate for confirmation. He served as surgeon of the U. S. pension bureau, and after the war became U. S. consul to Chin Kiang, China.


KILBOURNE, James, pioneer, b. in New Britain, Conn., 19 Oct., 1770 ; d. in Worthington, Ohio, 9 April, 1850. While apprenticed to a farmer he was instructed in the classics and mathematics by the son of his employer. He became a mechanic, subsequently acquired a competence as a merchant and manufacturer, and about 1800 took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. In 1801 he or- ganized the Scioto company, and in the following year emigrated at the head of a band of 100 persons to Ohio. They settled in 1803 in a place that was afterward called Worthington. There he organized St. John's and other parishes, and at the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal church pro- cured the establishment of a western diocese. He retired from the ministry in 1804, and in 1805 was appointed by congress surveyor of public lands. He was a trustee of Ohio college, Athens, one of the commissioners to locate Miami university, and for thirty-five years president of the trustees of Worthington college. In 1812 he was appointed by the president on the commission to settle the boundary between the public lands and the Virginia reservation. He was also colonel of the frontier regiment. He was afterward elected to congress from Ohio as a Democrat, and served from 24 May, 1813, till 3 March, 1817. The proposition to grant lands in the northwest territory to actual settlers originated with him, and as chairman of a select committee he drew up a bill for that purpose. He was elected to the legislature in 1823, and again in 1828. — His nephew, John, author and publisher, b. in Berlin, Conn., 7 Aug., 1787; d. in Columbus, Ohio, 12 March, 1831. He was graduated at Ver- mont university in 1810, and was for several years principal of Worthington college, Ohio. Subse- quently he became a bookseller and publisher in Columbus, Ohio. He published a " Gazetteer of Vermont," a "Gazetteer of Ohio" (1816), a map of Ohio, a volume of " Public Documents concern- ing the Ohio Canals" (Columbus, 1832), and a " School Geography."


KILBOURNE, Payne Kenyon, author, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 26 July, 1815 ; d. there, 19 July, 1859. He learned the printer's trade, assisted in publishing a literary paper in Hartford, Conn., and was afterward owner and editor of the Litch- field "Enquirer" from 1845 till 1853. In 1857 he was private secretary to Gov. Alexander H. Holley. Mr. Kilbourne was an enthusiastic stu- dent of local history, and wrote both in prose and verse. He published " The Skeptic and Other Poems " (1843) ; " History of the Kilbourne Family, from 1635 to the Present Time " (Hartford, 1845) ; " Biographical History of the County of Litchfield " (New York, 1851); and "Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield," which was put in type entirely by himself (Hartford, 1859). He also com- piled and arranged the appendices to Hollister's "History of Connecticut ' (2 vols., New Haven, 1855), and prepared most of the notes for that work.


KILBURN, Charles Lawrence, soldier, b. in Lawrence ville, Tioga co., Pa., 9 Aug., 1819. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1842 and appointed a lieutenant of artillery, served in the occupation of Texas and the Mexican war. doing good service at Monterey and Buena Vista, and after the war became captain and com- missary of subsistence. He was promoted major on 11 May, 1861, made lieutenant-colonel and as- sistant commissary-general on 9 Feb., 1863, colonel on 29 June, 1864, and served as chief commissary of various departments. At the close of the civil war he was brevetted brigadier-general. After the war he served as chief commissary of the Depart- ment of the Atlantic, and then of the military division of the Pacific until he was retired on 20 May, 1882.


KILLEN, William, jurist, b. in Ireland in 1722 ; d. in Dover, Del., 3 Oct., 1805. He came to this country at the age of fifteen, found a home with the father of John Dickinson, acquired a classical education, and held the office of county surveyor for several years. Subsequently he studied law, and obtained a large practice, especially in