American author, born in Monroe, MI, on the 14th of June 1819. For ten years he held a clerkship in a New York mercantile house, and in 1845 became editor of the Monroe (MI) Gazette. In 1846 was on the staff of the Cincinnati Chronicle; in 1847 on the New York Express. Two years later he was appointed librarian of the War Department, and in 1850 became private secretary of Daniel Webster; in 1866 librarian of Congress, and from 1871 to 1882 secretary of the Japanese legation. During this time and until his death he devoted much labor to literary work. Among his books are Essays for Summer Hours (1842); A Summer in the Wilderness (1847); A Tour to the River Saguenay (1848), in which he made this region known to the general public; Private Life of Daniel Webster (1852); The Japanese in America (1872); Haphazard Personalities (1886); and a Dictionary of Congress, which has gone through several editions. Mr. Lanman was also an artist, being elected associate to the National Academy in 1846. He exhibited Brookside and Homestead (1881), Frontier Home (1884), and other pictures. He died in Washington, DC, on the 4th of March 1895.
