Porter Cornelius Bliss

Porter Cornelius Bliss American journalist and diplomat: born on the Cattaraugus Reservation, Erie County, New York of Seneca Indians on December 28, 1838; studied at Hamilton College and Yale College; traveled in Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia 1860-61, investigating the condition of the Indian tribes in behalf of societies at Boston; was employed for some months as clerk in the Indian Bureau, and subsequently in the post-office department at Washington 1861; took part in volunteer organizations for the defense of the capital; visited England the same year; accompanied Gen. James Watson Webb as private secretary on his mission to Brazil 1861-63; was commissioner of the Government of the Argentine Republic for the exploration of the Indian country called the Gran Chaco 1863; edited at Buenos Aires a monthly periodical, "The River Platte Magazine" (1864); was appointed by President López historiographer of Paraguay; became secretary to Hon. Charles Ames Washburn, U. S. minister to Paraguay, 1866; aided him in collecting materials for his "History of Paraguay" (2 vols., 1871); was imprisoned by command of López on a charge of treason and conspiracy for his assassination September 10, 1868; while imprisoned wrote under duress a deliberately falsified account of the U.S. legation's plan ["Historia secreta de la mision del ciudadano norte-americano Charles A. Washburn cerca del Gobierno de la República del Paraguay", 1868?, [http://catnyp.nypl.org/record=b5741219 New York Public Library] , retrieved Jan. 28, 2008] , retracted after his rescue by a U. S. Navy squadron December 10, 1868; appointed translator to the State Department at Washington, March, 1869; editor of the "Washington Chronicle" 1869-70; President Grant appointed him secretary of legation in Mexico 1870-74, and acting minister several months 1872-73 ["A Remarkable Career; Incidents In The Life of an American Journalist", New York Times, January 5, 1885, p. 8,] . He afterward resided in New York, and was vice-president of the American Philological Society and an editor of the "New York Herald". Died in New York, February 1, 1885.

References

This article incorporates text from the Universal Cyclopædia & Atlas, 1902, New York, D. Appleton & Co., a publication now in the public domain.