Hoffman

Hoffman Family (1899) ; Ogden Hoffman, 1793-1856:
A Coll. of Tributes from the Daily Journals of May
1856 (n.d.) ; A. Oakey Hall, "Ogden Hoffman," Green
Bag, July 1893 ; Am. Statet Trials, vol. XII (1919), ed.
by J. D. Lawson; Biog. Dir* Am. Cong, (1928) ; C. E.
Fitch, Encyc. of Biog. of N. Y. (1916), I, 277-78; D.
McAdam, Hist, of the Bench and Bar of N. Y., vol. I
(1897) ; L. B. Proctor, Bench and BarofN.-Y. (1870) ;
M. A. Hamm, Famous Families of N. Y. (1902), I,
181-82; N. Y. Times, May 2,1856. A few of Hoffman's
letters are in the N. Y. Hist. Soc., including two legal
opinions in the Verplanck collection.] R. B M

HOFFMAN, RICHARD (Mar. 24, 1831-
Aug. 17,1909), concert pianist, composer, teach-
er, was the son of Richard Hoffman Andrews, an
English composer, and his wife, Helen Harries.
He was born in Manchester, England, and ap-
peared in public at the age of six, playing the
piano, violin, and concertina. After studying
with his father and with Leopold de Meyer, he
came to New York in 1847 and as a boy of six-
teen made his debut in the Old Broadway Taber-
nacle in a program of bravura numbers including
Leopold de Meyer's "Senuramis." Shortly af-
terward he played Mendelssohn's G minor con-
certo with the New York Philharmonic Society.
In 1848 he undertook a concert tour through the
upper part of the state and into Canada, with
Burke, the Irish actor-violinist, and on his re-
turn to New York in 1850 he was engaged by P.
T. Barnum to serve as accompanist and solo art-
ist for Jenny Lind in her first series of concerts
in America. After this tour he established him-
self in New York as a concert pianist, composer,
and teacher, his attainments soon securing his
election to honorary membership in the Philhar-
monic Society. For years he was an outstand-
ing figure among New York pianists and was
associated with some noteworthy events in the
musical history of the city. He played with Louis
Moreau Gottschalk, when the latter appeared in
New York during his concert tour of 1853; and
in 1875 he played with von Biilow, Bach's
"Triple concerto" in D minor. For many years
he appeared regularly in the Philharmonic con-
certs. On Dec. i, 1897, he was tendered a testi-
monial concert at dickering Hall to celebrate
the fiftieth anniversary of his first appearance
in New York. He was undoubtedly a pianist of
distinction, and his playing, while it had the
brilliance of his virtuoso teachers, was always
marked by fastidious good taste. In his last
years he gradually gave up playing in public,
though he continued his teaching, at which he
was very successful. Like his playing, his teach-
ing reflected the most valid traditions of his
earlier period. The same might be said of his
compositions, of which there were many. Aside
from various piano transcriptions, a set of "Cuban
Dances," and some part songs and anthems, he

Hoffman

wrote nearly a hundred salon compositions, typi-
cal of the virtuoso age at its best. Hoffman was
married, on Mar. 29, 1869, to Fidelia Marshall
Lamson. He died at Mt. Kisco, N. Y. His
reminiscences were posthumously published un-
der the title Some Musical Recollections of Fifty
Years (1910).

[There is a biographical sketch of Hoffman by his
wife in the Introduction to Some Musical Recollections
of Fifty Years. A sketch of Hoffman's father appears
in J. D. Brown, British Musical Biog. (1897). See
also Musical America. Aug. 28, 1909, and the N. K,
TimeSjAug. 19, 1909-] F.H.M.

HOFFMAN, WICKHAM (Apr. 2, 1821-
May 21, 1900), army officer, diplomat, was born
in New York City, the son of David Murray
Hoffman [#.#.], eminent jurist, and Frances
Amelia (Burrall) Hoffman. After an excellent
early education, he entered Harvard in 1837 and
graduated in 1841. Shortly afterward he was
admitted to the bar of New York and practised
law there until the outbreak of the Civil War.
He was then appointed aide-de-camp to Gov-
ernor Morgan and was ordered to Fortress Mon-
roe to inspect the New York troops in 1861.
Commissioned assistant adjutant-general in the
United States volunteer service in March 1862,
he was assigned to the staff of Brig.-Geru Thom-
as Williams and in this capacity served through
the expedition which captured New Orleans and
later went with Williams to assist in the opera-
tions at Vicksburg. On the expedition to Baton
Rouge, he was with General Williams until the
latter was killed. He was then ordered to the
staff of Gen. W. T. Sherman as assistant ad-
jutant-general, serving until late in 1863, when
he went with Maj.-Gen. W. B. Franklin ia the
expedition to Sabine Pass, Tex., to Opelousas,
La., and through the Red River campaign. Fol-
lowing this service he was on the staff of Major-
General Gillmore in Virginia until his appoint-
ment by General Butler in 1864 as assistant ad-
jutant-general of the district of Eastern Virginia
and North Carolina. In March 1865 Gen. W. T.
Sherman applied for him, and he was ordered to
duty in New Orleans. There he served as adju-
tant-general and chief of staff to Major-General
Canby, who commanded the department of Loui-
siana and Texas, extending from Florida to
Texas and from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.
For gallant and meritorious service during the
war he was commissioned colonel of volunteers
on Mar. 13, 1865.

On June 8, 1866, Hoffman was mustered out
of the service and in October of the same year,
upon the warm recommendation of General
Canby, he was appointed assistant secretary of
the legation git Paris by Secretary Seward. With

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