Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/616

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576
OLIVER
OLMOS

Fredericksburg. Later he again served on Gen. Butterfield's staff, and was present at the battle of Lookout Mountain and in the campaigns to At- lanta. He then became acting provost-marshal of the 5th corps, and was then ordered by Gen. Grant to the headquarters of the U. S. army. He was given the brevet of brigadier-general of vol- unteers on 13 March, 1865. In 1870 he established a powder-factory near Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he has since been engaged in the manufacture of ex- plosives, using for that purpose machinery of his own invention, consisting principally of devices by which powder can be made in small quantities at any time and at any place, thus doing away with the danger of violent explosion and reducing the risk to a minimum. Gen. Oliver's improvements include principally an incorporating-mill, consist- ing of a succession of rollers set in pairs through which the powder is made to pass in very small quantities at a time, and a new mode of pressing and graining. He has also invented a bayonet- fastening and a screw-headed key.


OLIVER. Robert, soldier, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1788 ; d. in Marietta, Ohio, in May, 1810. He removed in early life to Barre, Mass., and was a lieutenant of militia in 1775. He was a captain in the 3d regiment when it marched to Cambridge, and in 1779 was lieutenant-colonel of the 10th Massachusetts Continentals. He distinguished himself at the storming of the German intrench- ments at the battle of Saratoga. For some time he acted as adjutant-general of the northern army, and excelled as a disciplinarian. In 1782 he re- ceived the brevet of colonel. He was one of the first settlers of Marietta, Ohio, in '1788, was chosen a representative in the territorial legislature in 1798, became a member of the council in 1799, and was its president in 1800-'3. He was also a judge of the court of common pleas.


OLIVER, Thomas, lieutenant-governor of Mas- sachusetts, b. in Dorchester, Mass., 5 Jan., 1734 ; d. in Bristol. England, 29 Nov., 1815. He was graduated at Harvard in 1753, and resided at Cambridge, taking little part in public affairs until, on the death of Andrew Oliver, he was ap- pointed lieutenant-governor at the suggestion of Thomas Hutchinson. He was also one of the coun- cillors that were appointed by the crown under a recent act of parliament, and was made president of the board. The attempt to subvert the charter created intense excitement throughout the province. The mandamus councillors were visited by bands of freeholders and, one after another, forced to re- sign. On the seizure by the troops of the public stock of powder that was provided for the militia, the yeomen of the neighboring towns marched to Cambridge, some of them bringing their arms. Gen. Gage prepared to send troops against them. Oliver first endeavored to persuade the people to turn back, and then hastened to Boston and pre- vailed on the general to refrain from military ac- tion. On his return, the resignation of his seat on the council board was called for. He protested that he would sacrifice his property and his life rather than his honor, but yielded when a threat- ening multitude surrounded his mansion, 2 Sept., 1774. He removed then to Boston, and, when the British troops sailed to Halifax, went with them and took passage thence for England. He was proscribed in 1778, and his estate confiscated.


OLLANTAI (ol-yan-ti'), Peruvian soldier, lived in Cuzco in the 15th or, as some authors assert, in the 8th century. According to tradition and a drama translated from the Quechua language by Jose S. Barranca (Lima, 1862), OUantai was gen- eral of the army of Inca Pachacutic, and fell in love with the inca's daughter, Cuci-Ccoyllar, who returned his passion, but the father refused her hand to his subject. The priests, to whom the inca applied, were unable to cure the princess of her love, and when the latter informed her lover that she was about to become a mother, Ollantai revolted and shut himself up in the fortress OUan- taitamba, the colossal ruins of which still exist near Cuzco. (See illustration.)

Pachacutic died of sorrow over the dishonor of his daughter in , and his successor, Inca Yupanqui, besieged the fortress with his whole army and captured the rebel, whom, together with the princess, he kept prisoner for many years. At last, when their daughter, Ima Sumac, had grown to womanhood, she obtained from her uncle the pardon of her parents, and the inca gave his sister in marriage to Ollantai. There is scarcely a doubt of the truth of these facts, but Tschudi, Rivero, and other in- vestigators of inca history contend that the drama is only a version of an extremely old popular tra- dition, and that Barranca adapted it to the reign of Pachacutic and Yupanqui.


OLMEDO, Jos6 Joaquin (ol-may'-do). South American poet, b. in Guayaquil in 1781 ; d. there, 19 Jan., 1847. He studied in Lima in the Uni- versity of San Marcos, was one of the American deputies to the first Spanish cortes, and belonged to the Liberal party. Evading the persecutions of Ferdinand VIL, he returned to his country, and in 1822 was appointed deputy to the congress of Peru. Simon Bolivar appointed Olmedo diplomatic agent to the European courts, in which character he stayed in London till 1828, when he returned to Guayaquil. When the republic of Colombia was dissolved, Olmedo was elected vice-president of the republic of Ecuador, which place he resigned to accept the prefecture of the department of" Guaya- quil. In his country-seat near Guayaquil he gave his time to the cultivation of poetry, and his verses have been highly praised. One of his best poems, " Canto a Bolivar," was published in Paris in 1826. The rest of his works appeared under the title " Obras poeticas de J. J. Olmedo " (Valparaiso, 1848 ; Paris, 1853 ; and Mexico, 1862).


OLMOS, Francisco Andres de (ole'-mos), Span- ish missionary, b. in Burgos, Spain, toward the end of the 15th century ; d. in Tampico, Mexico, 8 Oct., 1571. He studied" in the University of Valladolid, entered the Franciscan order, and went to Mexico as a missionary in 1528. He afterward was called to the principal convent of Mexico, and there com- posed many of his works in the Indian dialects, and a kind of drama on the final judgment, in the Mexican language, which was represented before the viceroy. Later he obtained permission to re- turn to his missions, and died in the convent of Tampico. He wrote " Arte de la lengua Mexi-