Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/490

July, 1870. She was the daughter of Samuel Gouverneur Ogden, a New York merchant, who, having speculated unsuccessfully, was at the time of her birth residing temporarily in Prance. Cora was the tenth of a family of seventeen children. Her life until the age of eight years was passed at a chateau in the neighborhood of Bor- deaux. On her fa- ther's return to New York in 1826, Cora attended school, and at the early age of fourteen attracted, by her precocity, the at- tention of James ^P Mowatt, a young law- c/^6p. .^^^^.^^-x^^-s y^^ o^ ^hai city, who persuaded her to con-

sent to marry him

that he might superintend her studies. Her parents gave their approval, with the proviso that the union should be postponed till Cora had reached the age of seventeen. The young people were secretly mar- ried, but soon afterward obtained parental forgive- ness. The succeeding two years Mrs. Mowatt prose- cuted her studies with great diligence and pub- lished, under the name of " Isabel," " Pelayo, or the Cavern of Covadonga " (New York, 1836). This poetical romance eliciting some adverse criticism, the author responded, still using her pen-name, with a satirical effusion entitled " Reviewers Re- viewed " (1837). Her health failing, she spent a year and a half in Europe, during which time she wrote, for private performance, •' Gulzara, the Persian Slave " (1840), which was first played after her return. Meantime Mr. Mowatt had suffered business reverses, and his wife, to aid him, pro- posed to give a series of dramatic readings. She began in Boston on 28 Oct., 1841, afterward visit- ing Providence and New York. The tacit op- position of her friends, and impaired health, compelled her to abandon the undertaking, al- though it had been entirely successful. Mr. Mowatt having again entered into business, this time as a publisher, she returned to literature and wrote a series of stories for the magazines, under the signature of " Helen Berkley." These attained immediate popularity, were translated into Ger- man, and republished in London. She also wrote " Fashion, a Comedy " (Boston), which met with approval when it was produced at the Park theatre, New York, in March, 1845. Mr. Mowatt having failed in his new venture, his wife was emboldened by the success of her play and the advice of certain of her friends, to try her fortune upon the stage, and made her dehut at the Park theatre, on 13 June of the same year, as Pauline in the " Lady of Lyons." She played several nights with such com- mendation that engagements in other cities fol- lowed. In 1847 she wrote another play, " Armand ; or. The Peer and the Peasant " (New York), which was also well received. Going to England in com- pany with Edward L. Davenport, r;he made her first appearance in London, 5 Jan., 1848, in the " Hunchback." Returning to this country in 1851, in which year her husband died, she continued to act until 3 June, 1854, when she took leave of the stage at a farewell performance at Niblo's Garden, New York. She married, four days afterward, William F. Ritchie, of Richmond, Va. In 1860 she was recalled to New York by the fatal illness of her father. His death left her with health so impaired through constant nursing that she re- turned to Europe, living with relatives in Paris, Rome, and Florence. After the death of her sec- ond husband in 1868 she returned to London. Besides the works mentioned above and several com- pilations. Mrs. Mowatt wrote " The Fortune-Hunter, a Novel," using the pen-name of " Helen Berklev " (Philadelphia, 1842) ; " Evelyn ; or, A Heart Un- masked : A Tale of Domestic Life " (2 vols., Phila- delphia, 1845; London. 1850) ; "The Autobiogra- phy of an Actress ; or. Eight Years on the Stage " (Boston, 1854) ; " Mimic Life : or. Before and Be- hind the Curtain" (1855); "Twin Roses " (1857) ; " Fairv Fingers, a Novel " (New York, 1865) ; " The Mute "Singer, a Novel " (1866); and "The Clergy- man's Wife, and Other Sketches " (1867).

MOWER, Joseph Anthony, soldier, b. in Wood- stock, Vt.. 22 Aug., 1827 ; d. In New Orleans, La., 6 Jan., 1870. He received a common-school educa- tion and became a carpenter. He enlisted as a pri- vate in a company of engineers during the Mexi- can war, was commissioned 2d lieutenant in the 1st U. S. infantry, 18 June, 1855, and became cap- tain, 9 Sept., 1861. He was engaged at the siege and capture of New Madrid, Mo., and at Corinth,. Miss., where he was severely wounded, and was for a time a prisoner in the hands of the Confeder- ates. He had been elected colonel of the 11th Mis- souri volunteers in May, 1862, and for his gallant defence of Milliken's bend was promoted brigadier- general of volunteers in November of the same year. He led a brigade in the attack on Vicksburg- in May, 1863, was at the head of a division under Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks in Louisiana in April, 1864, and the following August was made major- general of volunteers. He was with Gen. Sherman in the Georgia and Carolina campaigns, and rose to the command of the 20th army corps. He was brevetted major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, briga- dier-general, and major-general in the regular army for gallantry at the battles of Farmington, luka, and Jackson, Miss., Fort de Russy, La., and Salkehatehie, Ga., respectively. He was transferred to the 25th infantry m 1869, then to the 39th, and at his death commanded the Department of Lou- isiana, comprising that state and Arkansas.

BIOWRY, Daniel, lawyer, son of Daniel Mowry, b. in Smithfield R. I. i3e studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in his native town. He sat as a member of the Colonial general assembly during the session when an act was passed that renounced allegiance to the king, and took an active part in all the popular movements that preceded the Revolution. He served as judge of the court of common pleas of Rhode Island, and was elected a delegate to the Continental congress, serving from 1780 till 1782.

MOWRY, Sylvester, explorer, b. in Providence, R. I., in 1830 ; d. in London. England, 16 Oct., 1871. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1852, and after a year of frontier duty in California was assigned to exploring work for the Pacific railroad in ]853-'4. He marched through Utah to California in 1854-'5, and served at Benecia and Fort Yuma till 1857. He was 1st lieutenant, 3 March, 1855, and resigned from the army, 31 July, 1858. He then became interested in mining in Arizona, and was elected as delegate to the 35th congress in 1856, but the bill creating a territorial government did not become a law, and he did not take his seat. In 1860 he was appointed by President Buchanan a commissioner to establish the boundary-line between California and Nevada, but he was removed in 1861 on political grounds.