ized by his writings. He drew up and introduced into congress the iirst resolutions on the culture of silk and wrote the report tiuxt was introduced by Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer as chairman of the committee on agriculture. He returned to the Wyoming valley in 1882. Mr. Miner published a " History of Wyoming," in which the account of the Wyoming massacre was detailed from the tes- timony of eye-witnesses (Philadelphia, 1845) : " Es- says from the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe," which was first contributed to the " Gleaner " ; and the ballad of " James Bird."
MINER, Myrtilla, philanthropist, b. in Brook-
field, Madison co., N. Y., 4 March, 1815; d. in
Washington, D. C, 17 Dec, 1864. She began
teaching when fifteen years of age, and was after-
ward employed in a school for the education of
planters' daughters in Whitesville, Wilkinson co..
Miss. She remained there two years, became fa-
miliar with the evils of slavery, and determined to
devote her life to the elevation of the negro race.
She decided to found a normal school for free col-
ored girls in Washington, although she had but
$100 with which to meet expenses. On 3 Dec,
1851, the school was opened in a small apartment
with six pupils. During the second month the
number of pupils increased to forty, and in 1853 a
permanent location for the school with increased
accommodation was purchased for $4,300, Harriet
Beecher Stowe contributing $1,000 from the pro-
ceeds of the sale of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Thence-
forth the school was a great success. In 1860 in-
dications of approaching civil war led to the tem-
porary abandonment of the school, and in 1861
Miss Miner went to California for the benefit of
her health, but met with an accident there and re-
turned to die in Washington. While she was ab-
sent in California in 1863, congress passed an act
for the incorporation of her normal school. She
had suffered severe persecution in consequence of
her efforts to elevate the colored people.
MINER, Thomas, physician, b. in Middletown,
Conn., 15 Oct.. 1777; d. in Worcester, Mass., 23
April, 1841. He was graduated at Yale in 1796,
taught in Goshen, N. Y., and studied law, which
in 1803 he abandoned for medicine. In the spring
of 1807 he began practice at Middletown, and in
the autumn of 1808 settled at Lynn, Mass. In
1809 a malignant epidemic called spotted fever
prevailed in the Connecticut valley, and in com-
bating it he adopted a new method of treatment,
which was the cause of much discussion. His in-
firm state of health prevented his engaging in the
active pursuit of his profession otherwise than in a
desultory manner. He was a founder of Yale
medical school and of the Connecticut retreat for
the insane, and was president of the Connecticut
medical society in 1834-'7. Dr. Miner contributed
to periodicals "biographical sketches of Connecticut
physicians, medical essays, and translations from
French medical works. With Dr. William Tully
he published " Essays upon Fevers and other Medi-
cal Subjects " (Middletown, 1823) and " Account
of Typhus Syncopalis " (1825).
MINES, Flavel Scott, clergyman, b. in Lees-
bui-g, Va., 31 Dec, 1811 ; d. in San Francisco, Cal.,
in 1852. He was the son of John Mines, D. D., a
Presbyterian clergyman of Virginia, and was grad-
uated at Princeton theological seminary in 1830.
He was pastor of Laight street Presbyterian church,
New York city, but resigned his charge in 1841, and
in 1842 took orders in the Protestant Episcopal
church. In 1849 he organized at San Francisco,
Cal., the first Protestant Episcopal congregation on
the Pacific coast, and built Trinity church, under
the chancel of which he was buried. He was the
author of "A Presbyterian Clergyman looking for
the Church" (New'York, 1850).— His son, John
Flavel, author, b. in Paris, France, 27 Jan., 1835 ;
d. in New York, 5 Nov., 1891, was graduated at
Trinity in 1854. and at Berkeley. He entered the
army as chaplain in 3Iay, 1861, but later retired
from the ministry, was given a commission, and
was mustered out in May, 1865, as a lieutenant-
colonel. He was a contributor to various New York
newspapers, and published "The Heroes of the
Last Lustre," a poem (New York, 1858), and " A
Tour around New York by Mr. Felix Oldboy "
(1888). — Another son, Flavel Scott, clergvman,"b.
in St. Croix, W. I., 24 July, 1843 ; d. in St. Louis,
Mo., 14 Sept., 1878, was educated at Trinity, and
graduated at the General theological seminary.
New York, in 1855. He early espoused what is
known as the catholic school of thought in the
Episcopal church, and was for several years one of
its most active advocates in the city of New York.
He held pastorates in Cherry Valley, N. Y., East-
port, Me., before being called to New York, and
left that city in 1874 to take charge of a church in
Peoria, 111., whence he was called in 1876 to Trinity
church, Mason, Tenn. When " The Church Month-
ly " was developed into '• The Church Weekly
Newspaper," he Isecame one of its editors.
MINIFIE, William, author, b. in Devonshire,
14 Aug., 1805 ; d. in Baltimore, 24 Oct., 1880. He
came to the United States in 1828 and established
himself as an architect and bookseller in Baltimore.
Mr. Minifie was curator of the Maryland academy
of sciences, and professor of drawing at the Mary-
land institute schools of art. He was the author of
" Text-Book of Mechanical Drawing " (Baltimore,.
1849) ; " Text-Book of Geometrical Drawing : Per-
spective and Shadows " (1853) ; " Essay on the The-
ory and Application of Color " (1854) ; and " Popu-
lar Lectures on Drawing and Design " (1854).
MINOR, Lucian, writer, b. in Louisa county,
Va., in 1802; d. in Williamsburg, Va., in 1858,
He was graduated in law at William and Mary in
1823, and was commonwealth attorney for Louisa,
county, Va., from 1828 till 1852. In" 1855 he was
elected professor of law in William and Mary,
which chair he filled till his death. He was a.
strong advocate of temperance, and published
many addresses and contributed to periodicals.
He is the author of part of John A. G. Davis's
" Guide to Justices " (1838), and added notes to
Daniel Call's " Virginia Reports." He also con-
densed the four volumes of Hening and Mum-
ford's " Reports " into one. adding subsequent de-
cisions and enactments, and wrote a tract, " Rea-
sons for Abolishing the Liquor Traffic," which
had a sale of 30,000. His interesting notes of
travel in New England were published under the-
supervision of James Russell Lowell in the '" At-
lantic Monthly" after his death. — His brother,
John Barbee, b. in Louisa county, 2 June, 1813 ;,
d. in Charlottesville, 28 July, 1895, was educated at
Kenyon, and at the University of Virginia, where
he was graduated in law. He was professor of
law in the University of Virginia for ten years,
and then, upon the introduction of another pro-
fessor into the department, assumed the chair of
common and statute law, which he continued to
hold. He was the author of •' The Virginia Report
of 1799-1800" (Richmond, 1850); "Synopsis of
the Law of Crimes and Punishments " (1869j ; and
" Institutes of Common and Statute Law " (1875).
MINOR, Robert Crannell, artist, b. in New York city, 30 April, 1840. He studied six years in Belgium, France, and Italy, and in 1874 was
