branch of the Church in which so many of his forefathers had been bright and shining lights. He took a lively interest in educational matters, and in charitable and benevolent institutions. He was president of the American Bible society, and for thirty-four years a trustee of Rutgers College. His published writings are not numerous, nor did he give much time to literary work. Many of his speeches were never written until after they had been delivered; but he never spoke, as he once told the writer, without engraving on his memory, in their exact order, every word that he was about to utter; and so tenacious was that memory that, whenever he deemed it important to commit anything to writing, the manuscript was for him thereafter a useless paper.
FREMIN, Jacques, missionary, b. in Prance; d.
in Quebec, Canada, 2 July, 1691. He was a member of the Society of Jesus, and was sent as a missionary to Canada, but at what time is unknown. In 1656-8 he lived among the Onondagas, was then for two j^ears at Moscow, and next at Three Rivers and Cape de la Madeleine. At the earnest request of the Cayuga chief, Garaconthie (q. v.), he set out in company with Father Pierre Raffein to
establish a mission among the Cayugas in 1666. In 1667 he was selected to renew the mission in the Mohawk valley, which had been founded by Gogues. He remained a month at Fort Saint Anne, on Isle
La Mothe, where he conducted the first Roman Catholic mission in Vermont. He was then taken by his guides to Gandouague, where a congregation of Algonquin and Huron captives had already
been formed. These he gathered in an isolated cabin, and prepared for baptism. He then visited Tionnontoguero, the capital, and in a general assembly of the six villages of the Mohawks, held
14 Sept., he reproached the tribe for their faithlessness and cruelty, and spoke at length on the advantages of peace. Father Fremin, who was already skilled in the Huron and Onondaga dialects, learned the Mohawk very quickly, thus obtaining extraordinary influence among the tribe. As soon as the mission of St. Mary of the Mohawks was firmly established, he sent one of his associates to Albany to gain the friendship of the English, and another to Quebec to announce the results that he had obtained. In October, 1668, set out for the Seneca country, where he was received with great honor. It was at his suggestion that Catharine Ganneaktena {q. v.) founded the village of La Prairie for Indian converts. He was recalled to the St. Lawrence in 1670, but returned to the mission of La Prairie, where he remained several years. Die made numerous voyages to France in the interests of this mission, and is said to have been again employed among the Iroquois.
|
|
FRÉMONT, John Charles, explorer, b. in Savannah, Ga., 21 Jan., 1813; d. in New York city, 13 July, 1890. His father, who was a Frenchman, had settled in Norfolk, Va., early married Anne Beverley Whiting, a Virginian lady, and supported himself by teaching his native language. After his death, which took place in 1818, his widow removed with her three infant children to Charleston, S. C. John Charles entered the junior class of Charleston college in 1828, and for some time stood high, especially in mathematics; but his inattention and frequent absences at length caused his expulsion. He then employed himself as a private teacher of mathematics, and at the same time taught an evening school. He became teacher of mathematics on the sloop-of-war “Natchez” in 1833, and after a cruise of two years returned, and was given his degree by the college that had expelled him. He then passed a rigorous examination at Baltimore for a professorship in the U. S. navy, and was appointed to the frigate “Independence,” but declined, and became an assistant engineer under Capt. William G. Williams, of the U. S. topographical corps, on surveys for a projected railroad between Charleston and Cincinnati, aiding particularly in the exploration of the mountain passes between North Carolina and Tennessee. This work was suspended in 1837, and Frémont accompanied Capt. Williams in a military reconnoissance of the mountainous Cherokee country in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, made rapidly, in the depth of winter, in anticipation of hostilities with the Indians. On 7 July, 1838, while engaged with Jean Nicolas Nicollet in exploring, under government authority, the country between the Missouri and the northern frontier, he was commissioned by President Van Buren as 2d lieutenant of topographical engineers. He went to Washington in 1840 to prepare his report, and while there met Jessie, daughter of Thomas H. Benton, then senator from Missouri. An engagement was formed, but, as the lady was only fifteen years of age, her parents objected to the match; and suddenly, probably through the influence of Col. Benton, the young officer received from the war department an order to make an examination of the river Des Moines on the western frontier. The survey was made rapidly, and shortly after his return from this duty the lovers were secretly married, 19 Oct., 1841. In 1842, Frémont was instructed by the war department to take charge of an expedition for the exploration of the Rocky mountains, particularly the South pass. He left Washington on 2 May, and in four months had carefully examined the South pass and explored the Wind River mountains, ascending their highest point, since known as Frémont's peak (13,570 ft.). His report of the expedition was laid before congress in the winter of 1842-'3, and attracted much attention both at home and abroad. Immediately afterward, Frémont determined to explore the unknown region between the Rocky mountains and the Pacific, and set out in May, 1843, with thirty-nine men. On 6 Sept., after travelling over 1,700 miles, he came in sight of Great Salt lake. His investigations corrected many vague and erroneous ideas about this region, of which no accurate account had ever been given, and had great influence in promoting the settlement of Utah and the Pacific states. It was his report of this expedition that gave to the Mormons their first idea of Utah as a place of residence. After leaving Great Salt lake, he explored the upper tributaries of the Columbia, descended the valley of that river to Fort Vancouver, near its mouth, and on 10 Nov. set out on his return. His route lay through an almost unknown region leading from the Lower Columbia to the Upper Colorado, and was crossed by high and rugged mountain-chains. Deep snow soon forced him to descend into the great basin, and he presently found himself, in the depth of winter, in a desert, with the prospect of death to
