ing the rudiinonts of the art of war. and were extensively used in connection with the regular books of tactics.
BREWSTER, Benjamin Harris, lawyer. b. in
Salem co., N. J., 13 Oct., 1816: d. in Philadelphia,
Pa., 4 April. 1S88. He was graduated at Princeton and admitted to the bar, of which he became a distinguished member. He was appointed by
President Polk in 1846 a commissioner to examine
into the claims of the Cherokee Indians against
the government. From 1867 till 1869 he was attorney-general for Pennsylvania. He acquired a high
reputation as a prosecutor during his Philadelphian experience, was made attorney-general of the
United States by President Arthur in December,
1881, and served in that capacity until 1885, a
period covering the conclusion of the famous Star
Route trials, to the prosecution of which he
brought to bear all his energy and experience.
When a young man, he risked his life in the effort
to save his sister from death by fire, and was himself terribly burned and disfigured for life.
BREWSTER, Charles Warren, journalist, b.
m Portsmouth. N. H., 18 Sept., 1813 ; d. there, 3
Aug., 1868. He received a common-school education, and began to work for his living as an apprentice in the office of the Portsmouth "Journal."
In fifteen years he had become its proprietor, and
when he died had been connected with his journal
for more than fifty years. He served several terms
in the legislature, and was a member of the State
constitutional convention of 185()-'l. He is the
author of "Fifty Years in a Printing-Office" and
"Rambles about Portsmouth."
BREWSTER, James, manufacturer, b. in Pres-
ton, Conn., 6 Aug., 1788; d. in New Haven, Conn., 22 Nov., 1866. He was the seventh in direct descent from Elder Brewster, who came over in the
" Mayflower." The early death of his father, leaving the family with but limited means, made it necessary for James to follow a trade, and after a
district-school education he was apprenticed, in 1804, to Charles Chajjman, of Northampton, Mass., to learn carriage-making. On attaining his majority, he was offered an interest in his employer's business, but this he refused, preferring to go into business by himself, and circumstances led
him to New Haven. At that time, 1810, few carriages were in use, one-horse wagons being generally employed, and even Gov. Strong, of Massachusetts, rode into Boston on election-day in such a vehicle. Mr. Brewster undertook the improvement of the styles, and soon became known as the manufacturer of "Brewster wagons," which then came
into extended use. He made a specialty of the
better class of vehicles, and was the first maker in
the United States to send a panelled carriage to the
south. In time he established a very large business in the improved forms of buggies, phaetons, victorias, coaches, and similar modern vehicles.
Mr. Brewster early adopted the custom of paying his workmen every Saturday evening, instead of continuing the old practice of giving orders for goods. His respect for religion compelled him to
realize his responsibility to those in his employ,
and he insisted that his workmen should attend
divine service. Drinking habits prevailed among
the journeymen to an unfortunate extent, and he
strongly advocated temperance. In many ways he
endeavored to educate his employees, and he delivered evening addresses to his men on moral and
practical subjects. Later he instituted and sustained a course of scientific lectures by such men as Professors Olmsted, Shepard, and Silliman, of
Yale. These lectures cost him over $5,000 annually, and he built a hall for them, all of which attracted to New Haven a superior class of workmen. In 1827 he opened a branch of his business on Broad street. New York, near the present stock exchange. In 1833 he became interested in railroad-building, and with a number of citizens of New Haven obtained a charter for the construction of a road between New Haven and Hartford. The great fire in New York, which occurred in 1835, made it impossible to collect a portion of the funds subscribed, and Mr. Brewster gave up a fine business in order to devote his entire energies to the building of the road, giving his time and services for four years to the accomplishment of this enterprise. He was president of the company, giving without remuneration such land belonging to him over which the road passed. The rails with which this line was built were imported from England at an expense of $250,000. and he became responsible for them as the importers refused otherwise to deliver them. In 1838 he again established a carriage business, associating with him his son, James B. Brewster, who afterward became head of the New York house, now known as "J. B. Brewster, of 25th Street." The public spirit of Mr. Brewster is further attested by the almshouse and orphan asylum that he built in New Haven.
BREWSTER, William, pilgrim, b. in
England in 1560; d. in Plymouth, Mass., 10 April,
1644. There is a conflict of authorities as to the
dates of his birth and death. Those here given
agree with the official records of the colony as kept
by Nathaniel Morton. Nottinghamshire was the
county of his birth; but whether his father was
William Brewster of Scrooby, or Henry or James
Brewster, vicar of Sutton-cum-Lound, has never
been positively determined. Gov. Bradford says
that Brewster entered Cambridge university and
remained there for a short time, but his college is
not named. He was of good family, and his
coat-of-arms is identical with that of the ancient Suffolk
branch. After leaving Cambridge, probably in
1584, he entered the service of William Davison,
ambassador, and afterward secretary of state to
Queen Elizabeth, and with him visited the Netherlands,
remaining in his service two years. Then,
having become an earnest devotee of the Christian
religion as taught by Hooker and his followers, he
went to Scrooby, and so zealously interested
himself in advancing the cause that he fell eventually
under the ban of the church. First, however, he
became postmaster at Scrooby, an office of much
more consequence then than now, as it involved
the supplying of relays of horses and the entertainment
of travellers. Such offices were in that day
often filled by persons of high social station.
While holding this office, Mr. Brewster occupied
Scrooby Manor, a possession of the archbishop of
York, where royalty had often been entertained,
and where Cardinal Wolsey passed several weeks
after his deposition. His salary was 20d. a day
until July, 1603, when it was raised to 2s. a day.
By this time he and his associate “separatists” had
become obnoxious to the “establishment,” and in
1607 they embarked in a sloop at Boston, bound
for Holland, intending to flee the country; but the
skipper betrayed them, and they were arrested.
Brewster was imprisoned and bound over for trial.
In the summer of 1608 he was more successful,
sailed from Hull, and reached Amsterdam in safety.
Having spent most of his property in effecting his
own escape and aiding his poorer associates, he was
obliged to teach English for a living. With the
aid of friends he set up a printing-press, and did very well in a business point of view by printing
