Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/47

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CULBERTSON
CULLUM
27

"La noche triste," and died of small-pox, which had recently been introduced into Mexico by a slave of Narvaez. Cuitlabuatzin's rule lasted but three months.


CULBERTSON, Matthew Simpson, clergy- man, b. in Chambei'sburg, Pa., IH Jan., 1818 ; d. in China in August, 1863. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1889, and served with theavank of second lieutenant of artillery at Rouse's Point during the Canada border disturbances, and as assistant professor of mathematics at the mili- tary academy. He resigned his commission, 15 April, 1841, studied theology at Princeton, and upon graduation in 1844 was ordained as a mis- sionary to China, and labored in that country until his death. He was engaged for several years in preparing a revised Chinese translation of the Bible (1855). He published " Darkness in the Flowery Kingdom, or Religious Notions and Popular Su- perstitions in North China " (New York, 1857).


CULLOM, Shelby Moore, senator, b. in Mon- ticello, Wayne co., Ky.. 22 Nov., 1839. His father settled in Tazewell county, 111., in 1830, where he became prominent among the pioneers of the state, a member of the legislature, and a trusted fi'iend of Aliraham Lincoln. The son received a classical education, began the study of law in Springfield, 111., in 1853, and as soon as he was ad- mitted to the bar was elected city attorney. He practised law in Springfield, was a candidate for presidential elector on the Fillmore ticket in 1856, elected to the legislature in 1856 and 1860, chosen speaker in his second term, a member of the war commission that sat at Cairo in 1862, and a member of congress from Hlinois from 4 Dec, 1865, till 3 March, 1871, representing the Springfield district, which before his election was democratic. During his third term he served as chairman of the committee on territories, con- ducted an investigation into the question of polyg- amy in Utah, and secured the passage of a bill for the extirpation of polygamy, which failed to come to a vote in the senate. In 1873 he returned to the Illinois house of representatives, was elected speaker in 1873, and in 1874 served another term in the legislature. After his return from Wash- ington he became a banker at Springfield. He was a member of the Republican national conven- tion in 1868, and, as chairman of the Illinois dele- gation, placed Gen. Grant in nomination at Phila- delphia in 1873 and Gen. Logan in 1884. He was elected governor of Illinois in 1876, and re- elected in 1880, serving from 8 Jan., 1877, to 5 Feb., 1883, when he resigned, having been chosen U. S. senator as a republican, to succeed David Davis, independent democrat, for the term expir- ing on 3 March, 1889. Mr. CuUom has been promi- nently connected with the question of railroad regulation. As speaker of the house of representa- tives he appointed the committee that drafted the stringent railroad law of Illinois, which was one of the first states to take action on the subject. During his service of six years as govei'nor it be- came his duty to appoint the Illinois railroad com- missioners, and to see that they secured the en- forcement of the law, which was sustained by the courts and practically put in operation during his administration. As senator he has been zealous and active in eiideavoring to secure national legis- lation upon the same subject, and in 1885, as chair- man of the senate committee on interstate com- merce, conducted an investigation into the ques- tion of the regulation of railroad corporations by national legislation. His report upon this subject, subiiiitted to the senate, 18 Jan., 1886, is an elabo- rate review of the whole subject, and has attracted attention at home and abroad, resulting in the passage by the senate of the bill that bears his name. He was re-elected in 1888 and again in 1894. His term will expire in 1901.


CULLUM, George Washington, soldier, b. in New York city, 25 Feb., 1809; d. there, 28 Feb., 1893. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1833, entered the engineer corps, su- perintended the construction of fortifications and other public works at New London, Conn., and in Boston harbor, organized ponton-trains for the army in Mexico, was engaged in 1847-'8 in pre- paring a " Memoir on Military Bridges with India- Rubber Pontons," and from 1848 till 1855 was in- structor of practical military engineering at the military academy, except two years, during which he travelled abroad on sick-leave. In 1853-'4 he constructed for the treasury department the assay- office in New York city, after which he was em- ployed for five years on fortifications and harbor improvements at Charleston, S. C, and suj^erin- tended works at New Bedford, Newport, New Lon- don, and the eastern entrance to New York harbor. On 9 April, 1861, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief of the army. He was promoted major of engineers on 6 Aug., 1861, commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 1 Nov., appointed chief engineer of the Department of the Missouri, was chief of staff: to Gen. Ilalleck while commanding the Departments of the Mis- souri and the Mississippi, and general-in-chief of the armies, directed engineer operations on the western rivers, was for some time in command at Cairo, was engaged as chief of engineers in the siege of Corinth, and, after accompanying Gen. Halleck to Washington, was employed in inspecting fortifications, examining engineering inventions, and on various engineer boards. He was also a member of the U. S. sanitary commission from 1861 till 1864. In the autumn of 1864 he was employed in projecting fortifications for Nashville, Tenn., which had been selected as a base of operations and depot of supplies for our western armies. From 8 Sept., 1864, till 38 Aug., 1866, he was superintend- ent of the U. S. military academy. He was bre- vetted colonel, brigadier, and major-general for meritorious services during the rebellion on 13 March, 1865, and mustered out of the volunteer service on 1 Sept., 1866. He was a member of the board for improving the defences of New York, and then of the board for fortifications and river and harbor obstructions required for the national defence from 1867 till 13 Jan., 1874, when he was retired from active service, after which he resided in New York, and devoted himself to literary, scientific, and military studies. He was chosen in that year vice-president of the American geo- graphical association, and had been president of the geographical library society since 1880. He published a " Biographical Register of the Offi- cers and Graduates of the United States Mili- tary Academy, from 1803 to 1850," afterward en- larged to cover the period until the army reor- ganization of 1867, with a supplement continuing the register to 1879 (New York, 1879) ; a transla- tion of Duparcq's " Elements of Military Art and History" (1863); "Systems of Militarv" Bridges" (1863) ; " Sketch of Major-General Richard Mont- gomery, of the Continental Army " (1876) ; " Cam- paigns and Engineers of the War of 1813-'5 " (1879); "Historical Sketch of the Fortification Defences of Narragansett Bay since the Founding, in 1638, of the Colony of Rhode Island " (Wash- ington, 1884).