GELELEMEND, or KILL-BUCK, Delaware chief, b. in Pennsylvania in 1737; d. in Goshen, Ohio, in 1811. His name signifies "a leader." He was chief counsellor of the Turkey tribe of the Dela- ware nation, and, after the death of Capt. White Eyes, became principal chief. He was a strenuous advocate for peace among his people during the Revolution, which drew upon him the animosity of those of his countrymen who took up arms against the Americans. Gelelemend united with the Mo- ravian mission at Salem, Ohio, in 1788, and in baptism was named William Henry, after Judge William Henry, of Lancaster, Pa. A lineal de- scendant is Moravian missionary to Alaska (1887).
GEMMILL, John Alexander, Canadian law-
yer, b. in the County of Lankark, Ontario, 20
March, 1847. He was educated at the Grange
school, Sunderland, England, and at the 'Univer-
sity of Glasgow, Scotland ; was admitted to the
bar of Ontario in 1871, and has since practised as
a parliamentary solicitor in Ontario. He has ed-
ited and published " The Canadian Parliamentary
Companion " (1883 and 1885).
GEMÜNDER, August, violin-maker, b. in
Ingelfingen, Würtemberg, Germany, 22 March, 1814;
d. in New York city, 7 Sept, 1895. His father
being a violin-maker and repairer, August was
brought up to the business, to which he succeeded
on the death of the former. In 1839 he removed to
Regensburg, and, after residing in several other
cities in Germany, he emigrated to the United States
in 1846. He remained in Springfield, Mass., until
1865, and then established himself in New York
city. Mr. Gemünder makes a specialty of copying
the old Italian masters, especially the instruments
made by Antonius Stradivarius, Joseph
Guarnerius, and Paoli Maggini. In 1844 he was asked
by a German violinist to make a violin that should
not be an imitation, as to tone or any other quality,
of the Italian masters. In executing the order,
he succeeded in producing an instrument that he
preserved as a model. His violins have been used
by some of the leading soloists. They possess a
pure, even quality of tone, respond easily, and are
thought to excel the Italian instruments, from
which they are copied, in power. Mr. Gemünder
contributed to the trade journals a series of articles,
in which he discussed “Old and New
Violins,” including a comparison of the tone of those
instruments with the human voice; “The Cremona
Secret,” a disquisition on the wood used in the
manufacture of violins; “The Lost Secret and
Common Sense,” with others on Italian varnish,
violin construction, etc. He was at one time in
partnership with his brother George. — His brother,
George, violin-maker, b. in Ingelfingen, Würtemberg,
Germany, 13 April, 1816, was a pupil of
Baptiste Vuillaume, in Paris, and removed to the
United States in 1847, establishing himself in Boston,
Mass. In 1851 his violins obtained the prize-medal
of the world's fair in London. In 1852 he
removed to New York, where he afterward resided.
Vuillaume, and other European makers of violins,
were in the habit of giving a pseudo-antiquity to
their wood by a chemical process, thus gaining a
desirable quality of tone; but wood thus treated
soon loses its resonance, and after a time the
instruments become worthless. Gemünder, however,
succeeded in making out of natural wood violins
that met every requirement, and in respect of volume,
power, equality, and quickness of tone are
said to be equal to the work of the best old
masters. In the model and finish of his instruments,
and especially in the varnish, he was unusually
successful, so faithfully reproducing the distinctive
characteristics of the old Italian violins that those
made by him are not infrequently mistaken for
genuine Cremonas. One called the “Kaiser,”
finished in 1873 and sent to the Vienna exhibition,
was there pronounced an Italian violin of the
classic period, it being considered impossible to
produce so fine a tone from a new instrument. Mr.
Gemünder has also received medals from exhibitions
held in Paris (1867), New York (1870), Vienna
(1873), Philadelphia (1876 “hors concours”),
Amsterdam (1883), Nice (1883-'4), London (1884),
New Orleans (1884-'5 “hors concours”), and London
(1885). He is the author of “Progress in
Violin-making” (Astoria, N. Y., 1881), to which is
prefixed an autobiographical sketch.
GENEST, Edmond Charles, diplomatist, b. in
Versailles, Prance, 8 Jan., 1705; d. in Schodac,
Rensselaer co., N. Y., 14 July, 1834. Although he
had been brought up at the French court, and al-
though his sisters, Madame Auguie and Madame
Campan, were in the service of Marie-Antoinette,
he early attracted attention by his republican opin-
ions. He was sent, in 1789, as charge d'affaires to
St. Petersburg, where his situation soon became
uncomfortable, and in 1791 he was informed by
Count Ostermann, the minister of Catherine II.,
that he had better not appear again at court, in
view of the excitement then existing in France.
He remained in Russia until July of the year fol-
lowing, when he received his passports. On his
return to France he was appointed minister to
Holland, but before he could proceed thither he
was accredited to the United States in December,
1792. He reached Charleston, S. C, in April,
1793, was cordially welcomed, and in the following
month had a formal reception in Philadelphia,
where he was presented by the citizens with an ad-
dress congratulating France on obtaining the free-
dom she had helped the United States to secure.
Encouraged by these demonstrations of popular
feeling, Genest thought he could easily persuade
the American people to espouse the cause of his
country, notwithstanding Washington's recently
issued proclamation of neutrality. lie openly
maintained that the United States were in duty
bound to side with France against England, and
bitterly denounced the American government for
want of sympathy with the young republic. He
even went so far as to issue commissions to priva-
teers, and ordered that their prizes should be tried
and condemned by French consuls in the United
States. He also planned hostile expeditions against
Florida and Louisiana, which were then colonies of
Spain. In consequence of these imprudent meas-
ures, Washington demanded and obtained his re-
call. Genest, however, decided not to return to
Prance, but was naturalized and settled in the
state of New York, where he married first a daugh-
ter of Gov. George Clinton, and afterward a Miss
Osgood. In his adopted country he took great in-
terest in promoting improvements in agriculture
and in the arts and sciences. At the age of twelve
he translated the "Histoire d'Eric XIV., roi de
^uede," from the Swedish of Celsius, for which he
received a gold medal from Gustavus III. (Paris,
1777). He also translated from the same language
Nicliolas Idman's treatise on the Finns and their
language (Strasburg, 1778).
GENIN, John Nicholas, merchant, b. in New York city. 19 Oct., 1819 ; d. there. 30 April, 1878. His grandfather, John Nicholas, came to this country from France in 1780, as clerk in the commissary department under Gen. Rochambeau. while his uncle, Thomas Hedges Genin, was one of the early
settlers of Ohio, an active abolitionist, a friend of
