Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/24

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4
LOGAN
LOGAN

lie was one of the founders, and a member of the first board of trustees (1749), of the college in Phila- delphia, now the University of Pennsylvania. In 1725 he became involved in a controversy with Gov. Keith, and, in support of his part, published " The Antidote " (Philadelphia, 1725) ; " A Memo- rial from James Logan, in Behalf of the Propi'ie- tor's Family and of Himself, Servant to the said Family " (1725) ; and also, in the same year, '• A Dia- logue showing. What's therein to be Found," this being an answer to Rawle's " Ways and Means." In 1735 he communicated to Peter Collinson, of Lon- don, an account of his experiments on maize, with a view of investigating the sexual doctrine. This was printed in " Philosophical Transactions." and afterward enlarged and printed in a Latin essay entitled " Experimenta Meleteraata de Plantarum Generatione" (Leyden, 1739; London, 1747). He was also the author of " Epistola ad Virum Clarissi- mum Joannem Albertum Fabricium " (Amsterdam, 1740); " Demonstrationes de Radiorum Lucis in Superficies sphericus ab Axe incidentium a primario Foco Aberrationibus " (Leyden, 1741); and an an- notated translation of Cicero's " De Senectute," with notes and a preface by Dr. Benjamin Frank- lin (Philadelphia, 1744; London, 1750). The first edition of this was printed by Franklin, and is re- garded as the finest production of his press. It was reprinted at Glasgow in 1751 and 1758, at Lon- don in 1750 and 1778, and at Philadelphia in 1758 and 1812, with Franklin's name falsely inscribed on the title-page of the last-mentioned edition. He also rendered Cato's " Distichs " into English verse, wrote numerous essays on ethics and philosophy, and left translations of Greek authors in manu- script. He was a member of the Society of B'riends, and addressed a letter to that body dur- ing the war between Spain and Great Britain, ad- vising it not to procure the election of its mem- bers to the assembly, which letter was not allowed to be read. The following is an extract from his will bequeathing to the city of Philadelphia a li- brary of over 2.000 volumes : " In my library, which I have left to the city of Philadelphia, for the ad- vancement and facilitating of classical learning, are above one hundred volumes of authors, in fo- lio, all in Greek, with mostly their versions; all the Roman classics without exception ; all the Greek mathematicians, viz., Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, both his ' Geography ' and ' Almagest,' which I had in Greek (with Timon's ' Commentary,' in folio, about seven hundred pages) from my learned friend Fabricius, who published fourteen volumes of his ' Bibliotheque Grecque,' in quarto, in which, after he had finished his account of Ptolemy, on my inquiring from him, at Hamburg, how I should find it, having long sought for it in vain in England, he sent it to me out of his own library, telling me it was so scarce that neither price nor prayers could purchase it. Besides these are many of the most valuable Latin authors, and a great number of modern and ancient mathemati- cians, with all the editions of Newton, Dr. Wallis, Halley, etc." This collection was annexed in 1792 to the library that was established by Franklin. It has been kept separate under the name of the Loganian library, and received in 1828 an acces- sion of 5,000 volumes by the bequest of William Mackenzie. See " Memoirs of Logan," by W. Ar- raistead. — His son, WiUiam, lawver, b. in Philadel- phia, Pa., 14 May, 1718; d. there.' 28 Oct., 1776, was sent at the age of twelve to his uncle. Dr. William Logan, in Bristol, England, and on his return to this country became attorney for the Penn family, with his father, upon whose death he became owner of " Stenton," and devoted his life to agriculture. He was a councilman of Philadelphia from 1743 till 1776. when the meetings of the corporation were discontinued. He received Indians at his house, gave the aged a settlement on his land, and educated the young with his own means. He took no active part in the Revolutionary war. With his brother he deeded the library property to Israel Pemberton, Jr.. William Allen, Richard Peters, and Benjamin Franklin, to be with William Logan and his brother, James Logan, the trustees or man- agers ; and acted as librarian until his death. He added to the collection the books bequeathed to him by his uncle, about 1,300 volumes. — William's son, George, senator, b. in Stenton, Pa., 9 Sept., 1753 ; d. there, 9 April, 1821. went abroad and studied three years at the medical school of Edin- burgh, where he received his degree in 1779. He then travelled on the continent, and on his return to this country in the autumn of 1780 devoted him- self to scientific agriculture. He served several terms in the legislature, and in June, 1798, went to France on his own responsibility for the purpose of averting war between that country and the United States. He persuaded the French govern- ment to annul the embargo on American shipping, and prepared the way for a negotiation that ter- minated in peace. On his return he was denounced by the Federalists, who procured the passage in congress of the so-called " Logan act," making it a high misdemeanor for an individual citizen to take part in a controversy between the United States and a foreign power. He vindicated himself in a letter dated 12 Jan., 1799. He was elected U. S. senator from Pennsylvania as a Democrat in place of Peter Muhlenberg, resigned, serving from 7 Dec, 1801, till 3 March, 1807. In 1810 he went to Eng- land as a self-constituted agent to attempt a recon- ciliation between Great Britain and the United States, but was unsuccessful. Dr. I^ogan was a member of the American philosophical society. He was probably the only strict member of the Society of Friends that ever sat in the U. S. senate. He published " Experiments on Gypsum," and " Ro- tation of Crops " (1797), and was also the author of other pamphlets on agricultural subjects.


LOGAN, James Venable, clergyman, b. in Scott county, Ky., 11 July, 1835. After gradua- tion at Centre college in 1854 and at Danville the- ological seminary in 1860, he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church at Harrods- burg, where he remained for eight years. For a short tirne afterward he edited the '• Free Christian Commonwealth," and since then he has identified himself with Central university, Richmond, Ky. In 1873 he was elected to the chair of metaphysics, and in 1879 to that of ethics. The following year he was made president, in which office he contin- ues (1887) to serve. He was active in founding the institution, and contributed $10,000 toward it.


LOGAN, John, Indian chief, b. about 1725; killed near Lake Erie in the summer of 1780. He was the son of Shikellamy, chief of the Cayugas, and bore the Indian name of Tah-gah-jute, but was given an English name taken from that of William Penn's secretary, James Logan, who was a friend of the Indians. Logan was brought up on Shamokin creek, near the Moravian settlement, and lived in familiar and friendly intercourse with the whites. In his early manhood he was known throughout the frontier of Virginia and Pennsylvania for his fine presence and his engaging qualities. He lived for many years near Reedsville, Pa., where he supported his family by killing wild animals in the mountains and dressing the skins in