|
Porter Cornelius Bliss |
|
Born: December 28, 1838 in New York, United States Died: February 2, 1885 in New York City Occupation: Journalist Source Citation: The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume I and Genealogy of the Bliss Family in America. Porter Cornelius Bliss, journalist, was born in Erie county. N.Y., Dec. 28, 1838; son of Asher Bliss, an Indian missionary. He received an academic education, and was a student at Yale college. When a young man he traveled among the Indian tribes to study their manners and customs. He was private secretary to Guinea Watson Webb, U.S. minister to Brazil, in 1861, and afterwards entered into journalism at Buenos Ayres as editor of the River Plate Magazine. In 1865 President Lopez of Paraguay appointed him historiographer for that country. In 1866 he became private secretary of Mr. Washburn, the United States minister to Paraguay. During the war between Paraguay and Brazil the authorities, believing Bliss to be a spy employed by Brazil, confined him in prison for three months, until rescued by the United States government. He then engaged in journalism in Washington, D.C. From 1870 to 1874 he served as secretary of legation in Mexico, and upon his return to New York was employed for three years as an editor on "Johnson's Cyclopedia," and in 1877 became editor of "The Library Table." Two years later he was sent to South America by the New York Herald, as special correspondent. He wrote numerous papers of historical value, and is the author of a History of the Russo-Turkish war, published in 1877. He died in New York, Feb. 2, 1885. Lineage
|