Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/390

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364
SABINE
SACKETT

1850 he settled in New York city, and in 1856 he went to Philadelphia and sold old and rare books, but at the beginning of the civil war he returned to New York and opened book-shops, where he made a specialty of collecting rare books and prints. His knowledge of bibliography was ex- tended, and he often travelled long distances to secure unique volumes, crossing the ocean as mam- as twenty-five times for this purpose. Two of his sons became associated with him in husines-. ami two others were proprietors of a similar enterprise in London. He prepared catalogues of many valuable libraries that were sold by auction in New York after 1850. among which were those of Dr. Samuel F.Jarvis (1851). William K. Burton (1861). Edwin Forrest (1863), John Allan (1864), and Thomas W. Fields (1875). He also sold the collec- tion' of William Menzies (1877). Mr. Sabin re- published in limited editions on large paper several curious old works of American history, edited and published for several years from isii!) -The American Kibliopolist: a Literary Register and Monthly Catalogue of Old and New Books," con- tributed to the "American Publishers' Circular," and undertook the publication in parts of a " Dic- ry of Books relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time," of which thirteen volumes were issued, and upon which he va- en- gaged at the time of his death.


SABINE, Sir Edward. British soldier, b. in Dublin. Ireland, 14 Oct., 1788 ; d. in Richmond, England. 26 .lunc. 1"-^!. After r iving a military education, he entered the royal artillery as 2d lieu- tenant in 1803, became captain in 1813'. ami serve. 1 in the war with the United States, commanding the batteries in the siege of Fort Erie in 1814. He was appointed astronomer in the first arctic ex- pedition under Sir John Ross in 1818. and accom- panied Sir William Edward Parry's expedition of 1819-'20 in the same capacity, making important researches in terrestrial magnetism. In 1821-'5 he made a series of voyages ranging from the equa- tor to the Arctic circle in quest of data concerning the variations of the magnetic needle, and eon- ducted pendulum experiments, thus laying the basis for an accurate determination of the figure of the earth. His discoveries led to the establish- ment of magnetic observatories in Great Britain and the colonies, the latter being under his super- intendence, and from 1840 till 1860 he published reports of observations at the Cape of Good Hope. Hobart Town, St. Helena, and Toronto. In 1818 he became a fellow of the Royal society, of which he was vice-president from 1850 till l^ill. and president from 1861 till 1871. He was made a knight of the Bath in 1869 and a general in 1870. During one voyage he edited the "North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle." a periodical writ- ten by the officers on the "Heela" in 1819-'20, which was republished (London. 1822). He also aided in the preparation of a " Natural History " (1824), which was appended to Parry's " First Arc- tic Voyage " (1821), and was the author of " An Are. unit of Experiments to determine the Figure of the Earth (1825): "The Variability of the Intensity of Magnetism upon Many Parts of the Globe" (18:js>; and numerous memoirs and scien- tific papers. He was engaged in scientific worl until his death, and. with his wife as assistant, lire- pared reduction tables and charts of all the observa- tions that have been made in terrestrial magnet ism.


SACKET, Delos Beimel, soldier, b. 'in Cape Vincent. N. Y.. 14 April. 1*22: d. in Washington. D. C.. s March, 1885. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in ls|."i. aligned ! the '.'.I dragoons, and served in the Mexican war. being brevetted 1st lieutenant. 9 May. 1840, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Palo Alto and Resaea de la Palma. Tex. On 30 June, 1846. he became 2d lieutenant, and he was made 1st lientenan' u 1848. He was engaged in scouting in 1850. and was assistant instructor of cav- alry tin-tics in the U.S. military academy from 10 Dec., 1850, till 16 April. 1855. On3Mareh.l855, he became cap- tain of 1st cav- alry. He was a member of the board to revise the army regula- tions in Wa-h- iiiLTion in 1856- '7, served on fron-

tier duty in the

Kansas disturbances in lS50-'7, and on the Utah and Cheyenne expedition in 1858. He was ap- pointed major of 1st cavalry on 31 Jan., 1861, lieu- tenant-colonel of 2d cavalry on 3 May, 1861, and in-pi < -tor-ireneral on 1 Oct., 1861. Joining the Army of the Potomac, lie served on the staff of the commanding general in the Virginia peninsula and the Maryland and Rappahannock campaigns, par- ticipating in the chief engagements. He was in charge of the inspector-general's office in Washing- ton. D.C.. from 10. Tan. till 26 May, 1863, and after- ward a member of the board to organize invalid corps and treat for retiring disabled officers. From 1 April. 1864, till August, 1865, he was on inspec- tion duty in the departments of the Ten in --< . Cumberland, Arkansas, and New Mexico. On i:i March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-genera! and major-general for gallant and meritorious ser- vices in the field and during the civil war. After the war he was inspector-general of the Department of the Tennessee and of the divisions of the At- lantic and the Missouri. On the retirement of Gen. Randolph B. Marcy on 2 Jan.. 1881, he became senior inspector-general of the army with the rank of brigadier-general.


SACKETT. William Augustus, congressman, b. in Aurelius, Cayuga co., N. Y., 18 Nov., 1812 ; d. 6 Sept., 1895. His ancestors came from England in 1632, settled in Massachusetts, and continued to live in New England until 1804, when his father moved to Cayuga county, N. Y. He received an academic education, studied law in Seneca Falls and Skaneateles, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and soon secured a lucrative practice. Elected to congress as a Whig, he served from 3 Dec., 1849, till 3 March. 1853. He took part in the controversy in relation to the admission of California as a free stale, am! both spoke and voted for admission. He earne-i ly opposed the fugitive-slave law, and was uncompromisingly in opposition to slavery and the admission of "any more slave states. From the committee on claims he made a report on the power of consuN, which had an intluence in the final modification of those powers. lie removed to Saratoga Springs in 1S57, making his home there. In 1876-'S he travelled extensively in Europe. Kgypt, and the Holy Land, and wrote letters describing his journeys that were published. lie had bceii a Republican since the organization of