Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/29

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COZZENS ►


CRAFTS


True Histrry of Xev rhjmnuth. His inter publi- cations include a Memorial of Col. Peter A. Forter (1865); SmjUujs of Br Biishichacker (1867); and Fitz-Greene Halleck : a Memorial (1868). He died vn Brooklyn, N.Y., Dec. 23, 1869.

COZZENS, William Cole, go-ernor of Rhode Island, was born in Newport, R.I., Aug. 26, 1811. He was educated at Levi Tower's school and became a successful merchant. In 185-1 he was elected mayor of Newport and represented his town in the general assembly for se veral years. He was state senator, 1861-63, and in 1863 was president of the senate and when Lieutenant- Governor Arnold succeeded Governor Sprague first as governor and then as U.S. senator, Cozzens became governor of the state and served from March 4, to May 1, 1863, during an unportant period of the civil war. He died in Newport, R.I., Dec. 17, 1876.

CRABB, George W., representative, was born in Botetourt county, Va., Feb. 22, 1802. He was admitted to the bar in Tuskaloosa county, Ala., and served for a time as assistant secretary of the state senate. He was elected controller of the state treasury in 1829, and held the office for several years. In 1836 he was lieutenant - colonel of the Alabama troops sent to Florida and in the same year was elected a member of the state senate. He was a representative in the 25th and 26th congresses, 1837-41. He sub- sequently removed to Mobile, Ala., in 1845 was elected judge of the criminal court of the city, and in 1843, judge of the Mobile county court. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 15, 1846.

CRABB E, Thomas, naval officer, was born in Maryland, in 1788. He was appointed midship- man, U.S.N., Nov. 15, 1809, and served through- out the war of 1812. He was pror^oted lieuten- ant, Feb. 4, 1815; commander, March 3, 1835; and captain, Sept. 8, 1841, having served in the Florida war against the Seminole Indians in 1837. He was retired July 10, 1862, with the rank of commodore ; was prize commissioner, 1864-05; and on July 25, 1866, was given the rank of rear-admiral on the retired list. He died In Princeton, N.J., June 29. 1872.

CRABTREE, Lotta Mignon, actress, was born in New York city, Nov. 7, 1847. In 1854 she was taken to California, where in 1855 she sang at a public concert at Laport. Her debut as an actress was made in 1858 at Petaluma, Cal., where she assumed the role of Gertrude in "The Loan of a Lover."' Billed as " La Petite Lotta, the infant prodigy," she travelled two years as a star and then played for several seasons in va- riety in California. Her first appearance in New York city was in a spectacular production at Niblo's Garden. June 1, 1864. The following August she played at McVicker's theatre, Chi-


cago, in "The Seven Sisters," subsequently ap- peared in Boston, Mass., and then toured the United States. Her second engagement in New York cit}- was in the summer of 1867, at Wal- lack's theatre, durhig which John Brougham's dramatization of Dickens's "Old Curiosity Shop" was brought out under the title "Little Nell and the Marchioness," with Lotta in the dual title role. From that time till 1891 she toured as a star, spending one season in England. Among the most successful of the dramas in which she appeared were "Firefly," "Musette," and "The Little Detective." By judicious investment of her earnings she acquired valuable real estate and devoted herself to its management after re- tiring from the stage.

CRADDOCK, Charles Egbert, see Murfree, Mary 31.

CRAFTS, James Mason, chemist, was born in Boston, Mass., March 8. 1839; son of R. A. and Marianne (Mason) Crafts; grandson of Jeremiah Mason, the lawyer, and a descendant of Capt. John Mason who took a prominent part in the Indian wars of New England. He was grad- uated a B.S. at Harvard in 1858, and spent two years in Germany studying at Freiberg and Heidelberg, after- ward spending four years in the school of medicine. University of Paris. He returned to the United States in 1865 and accepted the chair of general chemistry at Cornell in 1868, resigning in 1C70 to become pro- fessor of organic chemistry in the Massachusetts insti- tute of technology. In 1874. retaining his connec- tion with the Institute as non-resident professor, he revisited Paris, and made chemical investiga- tions in the laboratories of France, working chiefly with Prof. Charles Freidel in the School of mines. He was decorated by the French gov- ernment with the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1885. Upon his return to America in 1890 he began independent investigations in the labora- tory of the Institute. He was elected a member of the corporation of the Massachusetts institute of technology in the same year. In 1892 he was made professor of organic chemistry, and in October, 1897, he was elected president of the institution to succeed Gen. Francis A. Walker, deceased. He was elected a member of the National academy of sciences in 1872 and Harvard conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1898.


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