Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/408

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382
SAMOSET
SAMPSON

Wis., 17 Jan., 1874. He studied at the University of Vienna, where he won his doctor's degree, and was ordained a priest in 1842. He came to the United States in 1847. and was appointed pastor of St. Mary's church, Milwaukee. He succeeded Archbishop Henni as president of the Theological seminary of St. Francis, the success of which is in a great measure due to his efforts. He was one of the founders of the ' Seebote," a German periodi- cal published at Milwaukee, to which he was a frequent contributor.


SAMOSET, Indian chief, b. in New England about 1590. He was a chief of the Pemaquids <>n the Maine coast, and learned English from the oolo- ni-t- (if Monhegan island, sent out by Sir 1-Vrdi- nando Gorges. Three months after the landing of the Pilgrims, Samoset entered their settlement at Plymouth with the salutation "Welcome. English- men ! " He informed them that Patuxet, where they had planted their village, was ownerless land. because its former inhabitants had been carried off by pestilence. A week later he brought Squaiito, who had been taken to England, to act as their in- terpreter, and showed his friendly interest in en- deavoring to bring about a treaty of peace with Mas-;issoit, the chief sachem of the Wampanoags.


SAMPLE, Robert Fleming, clergyman, b. in Corning, N. Y., 19 Oct., 1829. He was graduated at Jefferson college, Cannonsburg, Pa., in 1849, and at Western theological seminary, Allegheny City, in 1853. He was pa>l'>r of a Presbyterian church at Mercer, Pa., in ls5o-'(i. and then at Bedford, Pa., till I860, when he removed to Minneapolis. Minn., and after supplying a pulpit for two years was called to the p.-1-t'iraii.' of another, in which he con- tinued until, in 1887, he exchanged it fur a charge 'in New York city. He is a member of various church boards, and a director of the McCormick theological seminary, Chicago, 111. He received the degree of D. D. from Wooster university, Ohio, in 187(1. In 1SS4 he was sent as a delegate to the Presbyterian alliance at Belfast. Ireland. He has been a frequent contributor to the religious press. Besides numerous pamphlets and sermons, he has published several books for the young on Christian experience, and also a "Memoir of Rev. John C. Thorn "(1868).


SAMPSON, or SAMSON, Deborah, heroine, b. in Plympton, Mass, 17 Dec., 17GO; d. in Sharon, Mass., 29 April, 1827. She was large of frame, and accustomed to severe toil, and when not yet eighteen years of age, moved by a patriotic im- pulse, determined to disguise her sex and enlist in the. Continental army. By teaching for two terms, she earned enough to buy cloth from which she fashiitned a suit of male clothing. Sin- was ac- cepted as a private in the 4th Massachusetts regi- ment, under the name of Robert Shurtleff, and served in the ranks three years, volunteering in several hazardous enterprises, and showing unusual coolness in action. In a skirmish near Tarrytown she received a sabre cut on the temple, and four months later she was shot through the shoulder. During the Yorktown campaign she was seized with brain fever, and sent to the hospital in Phila- delphia. The surgeon discovered her sex, took her to his home, and on her recovery disclosed the facts to the commander of her company, who sent her with a letter to Gen. Washington. The commander-in-chief gave her a discharge, with a note of good advice and a purse of money. After the war she married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer of Sharon. During Washington's administration -he was invited I" the capital, and congress, which was then in session, voted her a pension and a grant of lands. She published a narrative of her life in the army, under the title of "The Female Review" (Dedh'am, 1797), of which a new edition was issued by the Rev. John A. Vinton. with an introduction and notes (Boston, 1866).


SAMPSON. Ezra, clergyman, b. in Middle- borough, Mass., 12 Feb.. 1749 : d. in New York city, 12 Dec., 1823. He was graduated at Yale in 1773, studied theology, and was settled in Plympton, Mass., on 15 Feb., 1775. In that year he officiated as chaplain in the camp at Roxbury. and by his vigorous discourses encouraged the patriotic de- termination of the militia. He retained his charge until, at the end of twenty years, his voice failed, when he resigned, removed to Hudson. N. Y., soon afterward, and. in company with Harry Cromwell, began the publication in 1801 of the "Balance," from which he withdrew in 1803. He was editor of the " Connecticut Courant " at Hartford in 1804, and continued to write for the paper till 1817. In 1814 he was appointed a judge of Columbia coun- ty. N. Y., bu{ he soon resigned. He published Sermon before Col. Cotton's Regiment" (1775); "Thanksgiving Discourse" (1795); "The Beauties of the Bible" (1802); "The Sham Patriot Un- masked " (1803); "Historical Dictionary" (1804); and " The Brief Remarks on the Ways of Man." a collection of moral essays originally published in the "Courant" (1817; new ed., 1855).


SAMPSON, Francis Smith, Hebraist, b. in Goochland county, Va., 5 Nov., 1814: d. at Hamp- den Sidney, Va.. 9 April. 1854. He entered the Uni- M T-ity of Virginia in ixil. was graduated M. A. in 1836, and after studying two years at Union theo- logical seminary in Virginia, was appointed teacher of Hebrew there. He was ordained as an evange- list in 1841. He performed all the duties of pro- fessor of oriental languages and literature, but was not given the title of professor till 1849, when he returned from a year's study at Halle and Berlin. Hampden Sidney college gave him the degree of D. D. in 1849. He prepared a " Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews" (New York, 1856).


SAMPSON, John Patterson, author, b. in Wilmington, N. C., 13 Aug., 1837. He is of mixed Scottish and African descent, was graduated at Comer's college, Boston, Mass., in 1856, was for some time a teacher in New York city, and during the civil war conducted a journal in Cincinnati, Ohio, called the "Colored Citizen," in which he advocated the enlistment of negroes in the National army. In 1865 he was appointed assessor at Wilmington, N. C., and was superintendent of the Freedmen's school in 1866. In 1868-'9 he attended the Western theological school at Allegheny, Pa. He took an active part in reconstruction, was a member of the North Carolina constitutional convention, was nominated by the Republicans for both the legislature and congress, and for fifteen years held various posts under the state and U. S. governments. After completing his studies at the National law university. Washington, D. C.. he was admitted to the bar of the U. S. supreme court in 1873. In 1882 he relinquished the practice of law, and entered the ministry of the A trican Methodist Episcopal church. He was appointed to a church near Trenton. N. J., was di. n chaplain of the state senate, and afterward tuck charge of a congregation at Trenton. He re- ceived the degree of D. D. from Wilberforce uni- versity, Ohio, in 18SS. lie was a delegate to Ihe general conference in lo'S s . is known a- a lecturer on social and scientific subjects, and has published in book-form " Common-sense Physiology " (1 lampton, Va., 1880); "The Disappointed Bride" (1883);