|
The children
of Dr. S. O. Van der Poel and Gertrude
Lansing Wendell were: 1. Wendell, born
October 23, 1851, died August 9, 1852. 2.
Samuel Oakley, born August 27, 1853;
married, October 20, 1880, mary Louise
Halsted; died in New York City, April 22,
1912 (see forward). 3. Herman Wendell,
born July 8, 1856, died March 16, 1906, in
Boston, Massachusetts. 4. John, born
February 20, 1858, (see forward). 5.
Elizabeth Wendell, born march 17, 1861, died
September 3, 1861. 6. Lewis Morris, born
June 20, 1862, died August 4, 1863. 7.
Gertrude Wendell, born November 2, 1864;
married, in New York City, October 20, 1892,
Anson Blake Moran, broker, who was born in
Brooklyn, New York, May 2, 1865, son of
Daniel Edward and Annie Augusta (Blake)
Moran; by whom: Gertrude Van der Poel,
born in New York City, September 13, 1894,
died in Cazenovia, New York, September 1912;
and Annette Blake Moran, born in New York
City, March 13, 1899.
(IX) Dr.
Samuel Oakley Van der Poel, son of Dr.
Samuel Oakley and Gertrude Lansing (Wendell)
Van der Poel, was born in Albany, New York,
August 27, 1853, and died at his home, No.
63 East Fifty-fifth Street, New York City,
April 22, 1912.
He completed his education, after preliminary
studies in his native city, at Rutgers
College, graduating with the class of
1873. He received the degree of
Master of Arts the following year, and
acquired his degree of M. D. at the College
of Physician and Surgeons, Columbus University,
in 1876. He served eighteen months
as house physician in Bellevue Hospital,
and then took a post-graduate course in
Vienna. Upon his return to the United
States he began practice in Albany, where
he was appointed adjunct professor of
theory and practice in the Albany Medical
College, and received an honorary M. D.
degree there. In 1885 he removed
to new York City, and was appointed visiting
physician at Randall's Island, as also
at the Charity Hospital, At about
the same time he became assistant surgeon
at the Manhattan eye and Ear Infirmary,
and the throat department of the Vanderbilt
Clinic. In 1888 he was made senior
medical director of the New York Life
Insurance Company, a position he held
with more than satisfactory credit until
the time of his death. The end came
as a great shock to his associates of
that institution and his many friends,
for only the previous day he had gone
for a trip into the country and was feeling
in excellent health. He was a Republican,
and attended the Church of Rev. John Parkhurst.
He belonged to the University, Century
and Rockaway Hunt clubs, and to the St.
Nicholas and Holland societies.
The following minute regarding the death
of Dr. Van der Poel was passed by the
office committee of the New York Life
Insurance Company, May 1, 1912, and only
serves to illustrate in slight measure
in what esteem he was held generally:
"We record the death, on the 22nd
of April, 1912, of our associate, Dr.
S. Oakley Van der Poel. The deceased
was a distinguished physician, a useful
citizen, a model husband and father, a
devoted servant of this institution, and
a loyal friend. He was efficient
and faithful in all the onerous duties
laid upon him during his nearly twenty
years of service here, and his labors
have passed into and become a part
Page
176
of
the practice and history of this company.
We testify to his eminent qualities, and
offer our deepest sympathies to his widow
and sons."
DR. S. O. Van
der Poel married, at
Irvington-on-the-Hudson, October 20, 1880,
Mary Louisa Halsted, who was born in New
York City, January 5, 1857, daughter of
William Mills Halsted, who was born at New
York City, August 30, 1827, died at 47 East
Twenty-fifth Street, New York City, February
28, 1895, and married, at Elizabeth, New
Jersey, February 20, 1851, Mary Louisa
Haines, who was born at New York City, April
10, 1829, and died at 26 East Twenty-second
Street, New York City, January 17, 1883.
William M. Halsted was the son of William
Mills Halsted and Sarah Johnson. Mary
Louisa Haines was the daughter of Richard
Townley Haines and Maria Weed Johnson.
Children of
Dr. S. O. Van der Poel and Mary Louisa
Halsted: 1. Samuel Oakley, born in Albany,
New York, August 22, 1881 (see forward).
2. William Halsted, born in New York City,
April 16, 1885 (see forward).
(X) Samuel
Oakley Van der Poel, son of Dr. Samuel
Oakley and Mary Louisa (Halsted) Van der
Poel, was born in Albany, New York, August
22, 1881. He was a graduate of Yale
University, class of 1903, and thereafter
engaged in the banking business for three
years. He then became a mining engineer,
undertaking practical work in Colorado, with
office at No. 30 Broad Street. He was a
member of Squadron A, National Guard New
York. He is a Republican, and attends the
Episcopal Church. He is a member of the
following clubs and societies: Holland, St.
Nicholas, University, Yale, Rockaway Hunt,
New York Yacht, Alpha Delta Phi, Baltusrol
Golf, Strollers, and Squadron A Club. His
resident is at No. 10 West Eighth Street,
New York City.
S. O. Van der
Poel, Jr., married, at Southampton, Long
Island, September 16, 1905, Mildred Moore
Barclay. She was born in New York City,
December 23, 1887, daughter of Henry Anthony
Barclay and Clara O. Wright, of Baltimore.
Henry A. Barclay was born December 14, 1844,
died at New York City, March 8, 1905, and
was the son of Henry Barclay, born April 3,
1794, died March 21, 1863, who married,
April 13, 1842, Sarah Moore, who was born
October 5, 1809, died September 3, 1873,
daughter of Daniel Sackett Moore.
Children: 1. Mildred Barclay, born at
Short Hills, New Jersey, August 5, 1908.
2. Barbara Oldfield, born at New York, New
York, May 22, 1911. 3. Gertrude Schuyler,
born at New York, New York, May 22, 1911
(X)
William Halsted Van der Poel, son of Dr.
Samuel Oakley and Mary Louisa (Halsted) Van
der Poel, was born in new York City, April
16, 1885. He is a member of the St.
Nicholas Society and of the Rockaway Hunt
and Baltusrol Golf Clubs, New York Yacht
Club, Riding, Sleepy Hollow, Piping Rock,
and served his enlistment in Squadron A,
National Guard New York. He is a
Republican, and member of the Episcopal
Church. His office is in the Forty-second
Street Building, and he resides at No. 830
Park Avenue, New York City.
William
Halsted Van der Poel married, in New York,
New York, June 10, 1910, Blanche Pauline
Billings. She was born in Chicago,
Illinois, June 25, 1884, daughter of
Cornelius K. G. Billings and Blanche
Elizabeth McLeish. Issue: Halsted
Billings, born at New York City, August 11,
1912.
(IX) Dr.
John Van der Poel, son of Dr. Samuel Oakley
and Gertrude Lansing (Wendell) Van der Poel,
was born in Albany, New York, February 20,
1858.
His preliminary education was obtained
at private schools and at the Albany Boys
Academy. He graduated from Rutgers
College with the class of 1878, and obtained
the degree of M. D. from the college of
Physicians and Surgeons, New York City,
(Columbia University), in 1881.
He served as house surgeon in the New
York Hospital for eighteen months, as
house physician in the Mount Sinai Hospital
for six months, and following up his post-graduate
studies during the next two years at the
Universities of Berlin, Leipzig and Vienna,
during which time he served as interne
at the Dresden Lying-In hospital for four
months. Upon his return to America,
he practiced in New York City, and associated
himself with the New York University Medical
College, from which he received the appointment
of lecturer on obstetrics in 1888.
In 1896 he was appointed clinical lecturer
in genito-urinary diseases at the same
institution, which position he held for
fourteen years, and during the last four
year of this period served as assistant
attending surgeon at Bellevue
Page 176a-Picture of
Robert R. Livingston-(Caption) Chancellor
of the State of New York, 1777-1801; negotiated
the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, 1781-3; U. S. Minister,
1801-4; associated with Robert Fulton
in furthering steamboat navigation; resident
at Clermont, Columbia County, N. Y.
Born at New York, Nov. 27, 1746; died
Feb. 26, 1813. From the H. B. Hall
engraving.
Page 177
Hospital in this department.
He is a member of the University, Century,
New York Yacht, Riding, and Piping Rock
clubs, as also the New York State Medical
Society, New York County Medical Society,
New York Academy of Medicine, American
Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons,
of which he was president in 1910; American
Urological Association, and the "Association
Internationle d'Urologie,"
of which he is at present American Secretary.
He resides at 56 West Fifty-second Street,
New York City.
(Aaron Van der Poel Line).
(VII) Judge
Aaron Van der Poel was the sixth and last
child of Isaac Van der Poel and Moyca Huyck.
He was born in Kinderhook, Columbia County,
New York, February 5, 1799, and died in New
York City, July 18, 1870.
In 1811, he
went to live with his older brother, Judge
James Van der Poel, in the same village, and
there began his classical studies,
continuing them under Levi Gleason, a
celebrated teacher in his day. He took up
the study of law in 1816 in his brother's
office, and was admitted to the bar in 1820,
at the time of his coming of age. Thereupon
he formed a professional connection with his
brother, the firm of young and energetic
lawyers meeting with success. He took
considerable interest in politics, and was
active as a Democrat. In 1824 he was
elected to the assembly, and again in 1828
and 1829. John Van Buren was at this time a
student in his office, and later married his
niece. In 1832 he was elected to the
twenty-third session of congress, and
received endorsement of his efforts by
re-election to the twenty-fourth and
twenty-sixth, the years being 1832, 1834,
and 1838 that he served in Washington. This
was during a period of unexampled interest
ad excitement, throughout which he was a
firm supporter of the administration, having
the full confidence of Presidents Andrew
Jackson and Martin Van Buren, for of both of
whom he was a warm personal as well as
political friend, the latter president
coming from his home town, Kinderhook. This
can be verified more fully by reference to
the files of the congressional debates.
After his third congressional term he
resumed the practice of law in New York,
where his ability won for him high honor at
the bar and great respect amongst his
confreres. He was appointed a justice of
the superior court of New York City in 1843,
was re-elected in 1847, and served until
January 1, 1850, in all for seven years.
The first and second volumes of Sandford's
Superior Court Records contain many of his
opinions and judgments.
He was a
member of the Dutch Reformed Church, as had
been his ancestors for generations back to
the time of their coming to this country;
but later was a member of St. George's
Episcopal Church in New York City. He
traveled abroad, following his marriage, and
on returning built his house at No. 114 East
Sixteenth Street.
Judge Aaron
Van der Poel married (first), September 3,
1821, Harriet Baldwin, who died in April,
1`837, without issue. He married (second),
April 2, 1839, Ellen McBride, who was born
in New York City, August 14, 1815, and died
there December 26, 1891. She was the
daughter of James McBride and Hannah Savage,
the latter born in Spencertown, New York.
Children, born in New York City: 1. James
McBride, born August 2, 1840, died there,
December 27, 1860. 2. John A., born August
22, 1842, died there, April 12, 1866 (see
forward). 3. Aaron Ernest, born February
20, 1846, died there, September 26, 1898.
(VIII) John
A. Van der Poel, son of Judge Aaron and
Ellen (McBride) Van der Poel, was born in
New York City, August 22, 1842, and died
there, April 12, 1866.
Although baptized "John", he
wrote his name "John A.:, in order
to be distinguished from his cousin, bearing
also simply the name of john, which was
but the natural old-fashioned form of
including the father's name to show whose
son he was. It is unfortunate that
his life was a short one, for by inheritance
of intellectual power and his splendid
education he was at the open door of a
life full of promise. He received
his early training in the home of his
parents, and at the Charlier School in
New York City, which at that time was
famous as a private school and where many
who later gained prominence in the metropolis
acquired their preparatory education.
He then went to the Chateau de Lancey,
in Switzerland; followed that course with
attendance at Columbia University, graduated
there, then graduated at the Columbia
Law School and was acquiring the practice
of Law
Page 178
in the office of his
cousin, Aaron J. Van der Poel, at the time
of his death. He was an Episcopalian, and
throughout his life resided in New York
City.
John A. Van
der Poel married, in New York City, May 22,
1865, Emily Caroline Noyes. She was born in
New York City, June 21, 1842, and in 1913
was residing at No. 22 Gramercy Park, with
summer residence at Litchfield,
Connecticut. She is the daughter of William
Curtis Noyes and Julia Flewwelling
Tallmadge. She is a member of and much
interest in the work of the Colonial Dames
of America, of the Connecticut Daughters of
the American Revolution, and of the National
Arts Society, being on the board of the
latter organization. She studied art with
R. Swain Gifford and William Sartan, and has
written "Color Problems", and "The
Chronicles of a Pioneer School". (This
immediate line of the family use the name
form of Vanderpoel).
William
Curtis Noyes was the son of George Noyes and
Martha Curtis. He was born at Schodack, New
York, August 19, 1805, and died in new York
City, December 25, 1864. His line of
descent traces through his father, George
Noyes, son of William Noyes, and Elizabeth
Gillet, who was the son of William Noyes and
Sybil Whiting (through the latter to
William Pyncheon, John Alden, Governor
William Bradford and others of the earliest
New England families); who was the son of
John Noyes and Mary Gallup; who was the son
of Rev. James Noyes, one of the founders of
Yale College, and Dorothy Stanton; who was
the son of Rev. James Noyes and Sarah Brown,
the last paternal ancestor named having been
born in Choulderton, Wiltshire, England,
came to America in 1634, and settled in
Newbury, Massachusetts.
Mr. Noyes was
one of the most successful lawyers of his
times in New York City, and maintained
prominence among professional and
philanthropic circles of the metropolis. He
was a Republican, and active in the work of
the Union League Club. He was of
Presbyterian faith, and was a trustee of the
University and Tenth Street Church, as well
as one of the founders of the Church of the
Covenant, both of New York City. among
other interests, he was first vice-president
of the New York Law Institute; council of
the University of the City of New York for
many years; counsellor of the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railroad, also of the
Pacific Mutual Insurance Company, and a
member of the Century and Athenaeum clubs.
His career
began at the age of fourteen years with the
study of law, and when twenty-two he was
practicing in Rome, new York, continuing at
Utica, and finally removing to the
metropolis in 1838, where it was not long
ere he became eminent among practitioners.
His life was devoted to his profession. His
management of the North American Trust
cases; his able exposition of the laws of
"Charitable Uses" in the Rose will case, and
his remarkable contest in what is known as
the "Omnibus Suit" of the New York & New
Haven Railroad against Schuyler and others,
were some of his prominent cases. In the
latter, said the Hon. William M. Evarts, at
the meeting of the bar, "speaking literally,
Mr. Noyes was on one side, and all the rest
of us (the bar) on the other."
In the proceedings had before the New
York Court of appeals in memory of Mr.
Noyes, as reported in Volume 32 of the
New York Reports, page 10, the following
tribute was paid to him:
"His experience was various and extensive;
his knowledge of the law and of its history
exact and comprehensive; his apprehension
of legal distinctions clear and precise,
and he was thoroughly furnished for every
trial of strength in those conflicts of
the bar upon which the administration
of justices most intimately depends.
His public life was marked by integrity
of character, firmness of purpose and
adherence to principle. In his social
walk, virtue and benevolence shed their
radiance upon his way. *
* * *
We entertain great satisfaction and pride
in the memory of his wonderful attainments
as a legal scholar and thorough lawyer.
The laborious hours he gave voluntarily
in the service of the State in the discharge
of his duty as a commissioner of the Code,
the munificent spirit exhibited in the
complete and splendid library he collected
and freely opened to his brethren, the
masterly skill and ability wit which he
performed his part in the profession he
adorned, and the lustre which he shed
as a lawyer upon the Bar of New York.
We recognize among the traits which ennobled
his character his inflexible principle
and rectitude of purpose, his truth as
a man and his severity of conscience,
all tempered by courtesy and illumined
by the light of Christianity."
He had a decided taste for general literature,
and collected a large library of law and
miscellaneous books. The former
he gave to Hamilton college, which had
honored him with an LL.D. Descended
from Puritan an-
Page 178A-Picture of
Geo. W. Rains.
Page 179
cestry, Mr. Noyes
inherited many of their virtues, was a
consistent Presbyterian, and practiced his
belief. He was charitable as a habit,
giving liberally to good objects and
supporting a home missionary for years. He
was on the charity board of the New England
Society, of which he was made president just
before his last illness.
As his father
had been a member of the so-called
underground railroad, he imbibed as a boy an
intense love of freedom. He served as am
ember of the Peace Commission which sat in
Washington in 1861, and made efforts to
avert Civil War. When these were
unsuccessful, he unstintedly gave time and
money to support the government. He was
early a member of the Union League Club. In
1857 the legislature of New York appointed
him, with Alexander Bradford and David
Dudley Field, commissioners to prepare a
civil code, Mr. Noyes taking the main charge
of the Penal Code, which was about finished
at the time of his death.
William
Curtis Noyes married (first) Anne Tracy, of
Utica, New York. He married (second), at
New York City, October 7, 1841, Julia
Frewwelling Tallmadge, who was born in New
York City, July 5, 1818, and died there
march 9, 1899. She was the daughter of
Frederick Augustus Tallmadge and Elizabeth
Hannah Canfield, of Sharon, Connecticut.
The latter was the daughter of Judge Judson
Canfield and Mabel Ruggles. Frederick A.
Tallmadge, was the son of Colonel Benjamin
Tallmadge, head of the secret service under
General Washington, and Mary Floyd, daughter
of William Floyd, Signer of the Declaration
of Independence; who was the son of Rev.
Benjamin Tallmadge and Susanna Smith, of
Long Island; who was the son of James
Tallmadge and Hannah Harrison; son of John
Tallmadge and Abigail Bishop; son of Robert
Tallmadge and Sarah Nash, the last named
paternal ancestor having come to America in
1643, from Newton Stacy, England, was a
planter in Connecticut, where he took the
oath of fidelity in 1664.
William
Curtis Noyes and his wife, Anna Tracy, had
four children, three dying when infants, and
Rachel Tracy, their daughter, born in Utica,
married Charles Edward Whitehead, died in
New York City. the children of William
Curtis Noyes and Julia Frewwelling Tallmadge
were, born in New York City: 1. Emily
Caroline, born June 21, 1842; married John
A. Van der Poel. 2. William Tracy, born in
1848, died when fourteen months old. 3.
Mary Tallmadge, born in 1852, died in New
York City, in 1856.
(IX) John
Arent Van der Poel, son of John A. and Emily
Caroline (Noyes) Van der Poel, was born in
New York City, June 4, 1866, and died in
Boston, Massachusetts, January 18, 1902.
He received his early education in New York,
followed by a special course at Rutgers
College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He
resided in New York and Boston, in the
former place joining the National guard of
New York State and becoming first lieutenant
of the Twelfth Regiment. Passing his
summers in Litchfield, Connecticut, in the
home of his maternal grandmother, Mrs.
William Curtis Noyes, he built there in her
honor, in 1900, the Noyes Memorial
Building, a fire-proof structure, which
houses a public library, an historical
society and a scientific association.
John A. Van
der Poel married, at Washington, D. C.,
January 11, 1888, Elizabeth Crichton
Battelle, who was born May 28, 1862,
daughter of Cornelius Battelle, of
Saugerties, New York. Issue: 1. Floyd
Lewis, born at Saugerties, New York, October
16, 1892.
(X) Floyd
Lewis Van der Poel, son of John Arent and
Elizabeth Crichton (Battelle) Van der Poel,
was born at Saugerties, New York, October
16, 1892. He first attended school in
England, the Choate School in Wallingford,
Connecticut, and is now engaged in electric
manufacturing in Bantam, Connecticut.
RAINS.
Major George Washington Rains, an
American soldier and chemist, was born
in Craven County, North Carolina, in 1817,
eighth child of Gabriel and Esther Rains.
His early education was received at the
Newbern Academy, in Craven County, and
at an early age he went out to the Indian
Territory, then a primitive wilderness
inhabited only by savages, to join his
brother, Lieutenant Gabriel J. Rains,
at that time disbursing agent of the United
States in that district. Here he
remained more than a year; and in returning
to Alabama made a voyage of six hundred
miles, in a dug-out, down the Arkansas
River, from fort Gibson to Little
Page 180
Rock. In 1838 he
entered West Point Academy, and having a
strong taste for military life went through
the different grades from corporal to first
captain of cadets, with the highest credit.
He was first in scientific studies, and in
summation of the whole ranked third in his
class. He graduated in 1842, and having
received his commission July 1st
of that year, as second lieutenant of
engineers, he left West Point for Boston,
where, serving under Colonel Thayer, he was
engaged in the construction of Fort Warren,
and it was here that Lieutenant Rains gained
his practical experience in engineering.
Having, however, a predilection for the
parade and excitement of military life the
quiet and monotony of the engineer corps
became irksome to him, and after a year's
experience under Colonel Thayer he resolved
to apply for an exchange. General Scott,
who took a great interest in the cadets and
often visited West Point, had seen and
become acquainted with young Rains, and used
his influence to obtain what had never been
heard of in the Army before, the wished-for
exchange from a higher to a lower grade.
Joining the Fourth Artillery at Fortress
Monroe, he reported to General Walbach then
in command, a perfect soldier and the beau
ideal of a bluff old officer. He remained
with that regiment only about a year, when
an assistant professor being required at
West Point, Lieutenant Rains, by reason of
his brilliant scientific record while at the
Academy, was chosen to fill the position.
Returning then to West Point in 1844, as one
of the assistant professors of chemistry,
geology and mineralogy, he remained there
until the outbreak of the Mexican War in
1846, when he applied to join his regiment,
and embarked with it for Point Isabel, at
the mouth of the Rio Grande, then the great
depot of the army of Mexico. While
stationed at Point Isabel in 1846, he was
made acting assistant quartermaster and
acting commissary of subsistence, but tiring
of the inaction of depot life he wrote to
general Scott that he had left a fine
position at West Point solely that he might
engaged in actual service, and begged the
general us use his influence to that end.
In the meantime General Taylor had detailed
him as bearer of dispatches to the fleet at
Vera Cruz. Quite unexpectedly General Scott
with his staff arrived at the mouth of the
Rio Grande, and sending for him told him tht
he was going to relieve him and take him
into the field, and that he should supersede
those of General Taylor. Accordingly, in
January, 1847, he sailed for Vera Cruz, and
was the first American officer who entered
that city. When he returned General Scott
verbally appointed him his aide-de-camp, but
General Pillow having applied for him,
General Scott decide he must accept the
latter appointment, and he remained on
General Pillow's staff during the campaign,
that commenced with the siege of Vera Cruz,
and until the battle of Cerro Gordo when
General Pillow was wounded and returned
invalided to the United States. . He then
became aide to General Scott during General
Pillow's absence, and was with him during
the march to and occupation of Puebla.
On General
Pillow's return, Lieutenant Rains rejoined
him as aide-de-camp and participated in al
the battles of he valley, receiving his
commission as first lieutenant of the Fourth
Artillery in March, 1847, and as brevet
captain for gallant conduct at the battle of
Contreras and Cherinbusco, on the 20th
of august of the same year. For gallant
conduct at the battle of Chapultepec,
Captain Rains received his commission as
brevet major, and after seven months'
residence in Mexico returned with General
Pillow to New Orleans. As the summer
advanced they were ordered to Pascagoula,
and after some weeks there were sent to
Florida, the Indians having commenced
hostilities. His duties here consisted in
making roads, constructing bridges and
building forts, the Indians keeping
concealed in the hammocks after their
arrival and never appearing in the open
field, so that no engagement took place. He
remained for about eighteen months in the
lower part of Florida, and in the
neighborhood of the Everglades, when a
treaty was made between General Twiggs and
Bowlegs, King of the Seminoles.
In 1850 he was ordered to Fort Hamilton,
where he stayed only a year, and after
this, with but short assignments of duty
at each post he was ordered in succession
to Forts Columbus and Mackinaw, back again
to Boston Harbor, and then once more to
Fort Columbus. In 1855 he was made
commandant of recruits at Governor's Island,
and it was white holding his position
that he was married to Frances Josephine
Ramsdell, April 23, 1856. In October
of this year he resigned from the Army
and went to Newburg to live,
Page 181
where he became
president and part owner of the Washington
Iron Works in that city.
In 1861,
being a son of the south, he reported for
duty to Mr. Jefferson Davis, who, knowing
his scientific attainments and being
urgently in need of an officer to take
charge of the manufacture of ammunition,
persuaded him to accept that position. He
was accordingly placed at once on special
duty in the ordinance department and
commissioned July 10, 1861. Gunpowder was
most urgently needed. Carte blanche was
given him as to choice of location, and
nature of plant necessary for its
manufacture, and the result was eminently
satisfactory. By various energetic measures
the troops were temporarily supplied,
pending the erection of the Confederate
Powder Works, and this in the face of almost
insurmountable difficulties, with but
primitive appliances, many of them
improvised for the occasion, and everything
to be commenced de novo. In seven short
months was erected, sufficiently for
operation, at Augusta, Georgia, the largest
and most complete powder manufactory ever
seen on this continent at that time.
Colonel Rains
had also charge of the arsenal at Augusta,.
Georgia, from which small arms and
ammunition were turned out in great
quantities, as well as the foundry and
machine shop, from which twelve-pound
Napoleon guns were made, and shells, hand
grenades and torpedoes in large quantities.
Nothing could have better illustrated the
combination of great scientific knowledge
with marvelous ingenuity in the overcoming
of mechanical difficulties. In 1865 he was
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general.
After the termination of the war, in
November, 1866, he became professor of
chemistry in the medical department of the
University of Georgia, and from it he
received the degree of M. D., March 1,
1867. The university conferred upon him the
degree of LL.D., June 13, 1880. He was
dean of the Medical College until 1884,
when he resigned that position, but remained
a member of the faculty until March, 1894,
when he retired from active life, and upon
his resignation he was made a professor
emeritus. While living in Augusta he
thoroughly identified himself with the
interest of that city and took an active
part in all things pertaining to her welfare
He largely
contributed to scientific literature, his
contributions being scattered through
various periodicals. Among his notable
publications are: "Steam Portable Engines"
(1860); "Rudimentary Course of Analytical
and Applied Chemistry" (1872); "Chemical
Qualitative Analysis" (1879); and "A History
of the Confederate Powder Works" (1882). He
was a born instructor of youth, having a
clear perception of what he taught, and a
magic way of imparting knowledge to others.
General Rains
possessed remarkable originality of mind
with great perceptive and inventive powers;
an omnivorous reader, he kept well abreast
of the times in all departments of
scientific knowledge, and in his bold,
philosophic deductions from the most recent
scientific discoveries was far in advance of
his time. Modest and simple, it seemed
almost strange that so much gentleness and
simplicity of manner could be associated
with so much ability in so many directions
and with such great practical energy.
With a mind of the highest culture,
polished manners, and fascinating address,
he was a great favorite in the social
circle, where his high sense of honor, sound
practical sense, generous nature and
sterling worth endeared him to a host of
warm personal friends.
He married, April 23, 1856, Frances J.,
daughter of homer Ramsdell, of Newburg,
New York (see Ramsdell XIII). Major
Rains died at Newburg, March 21, 1898.
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