Encyclopedia of Civil War Biography - Wea-Whe
WEAVER, James Baird, 1833-1912, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Congressman, Civil War Union officer, candidate for U.S. President, opponent of slavery. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 401)
WEAVER, James B., candidate for the presidency, born in Dayton, Ohio, 12 June, 1833. He was graduated at the law-school of Ohio University, Cincinnati, in 1854. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the 2d Iowa Infantry, was elected a lieutenant, rose to be major on 3 October, 1861, and after the senior field-officers had fallen at Corinth was commissioned colonel, 12 October, 1862. He was brevetted brigadier-general on 13 March, 1865, for gallantry in action. After the war he resumed legal practice, was elected district attorney of the 2d judicial district of Iowa in 1866, and was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the 5th district of the state in 1867, serving six years. He became editor of the “Iowa Tribune,” published at Des Moines, and was elected to Congress, taking his seat on 18 March, 1879. In June, 1880, he was nominated for the presidency by the convention of the National Greenback-Labor Party, and in the November election he received 307,740 votes. He was returned to Congress after an interval of two terms by the vote of the Greenback-Labor and Democratic Parties, taking his seat on 7 December, 1885, and in 1886 was re-elected. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 401.
WEAVER, Aaron Ward, naval officer, born in the District of Columbia, 1 July, 1832, was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 10 May, 1848, attended the naval academy in 1853-'4, was graduated, and became a passed midshipman, 15 June, 1854. He was commissioned lieutenant, 16 September, 1855. He cruised in the sloop "Marion," on the coast of Africa, in 1858-'9, and came home in the prize slaver "Ardennes " in command. When the Civil War opened he was assigned to the steamer " Susquehanna" on the blockade, in which he participated in the bombardment and capture of Fort Hatteras and Fort Clarke at Hatteras inlet, in the battle of Port Royal and capture of Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker, and in operations on the coast in command of the armed boats before the fall of Fort Pulaski. He was present at the engagements with batteries on Sewall's point and at the capture of Norfolk, Virginia He was commissioned lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and commanded the steam gun-boat "Winona," in the Western Gulf Squadron, in 1862-'3. He participated in the engagements at Port Hudson in December, 1862, at Plaquemine, Louisiana, at the defeat of the Confederates when they attacked Donaldsonville, and in the engagements below that place after the capture of Port Hudson. He was highly commended by Admiral Farragut for his services. He had the gunboat ' Chippewa," in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in 1864, in which he took part in the first attack on Fort Fisher. He was transferred to command the monitor "Mahopac," in which he participated in the final attack and capture of Fort Fisher in January, 1865, and was recommended for promotion. He went to Charleston, South Carolina, and was in the advanced picket when the city surrendered and its forts were captured. He next took the "Mahopac" up James River, and was present at the fall of Richmond. After the war he served at the Boston Navy-yard. He was promoted and advanced to the grade of commander, 25 July, 1866. He commanded the double-turreted monitor " Terror" in 1870-'l, in which he went to Havana under great difficulties, owing to defective boilers, and arrived in season on the occasion when the Spanish students were executed by order of the government. During the excitement and threatened war with Spain owing to the "Virginius" affair, he was selected to command the sea-going iron-clad "Dictator," then one of the most formidable vessels of the U.S. Navy, in which he was for some time the senior officer of the forces in the harbor of Havana. He remained in command of the " Dictator" until May, 1877. He was commissioned captain, 8 August, 1876, was equipment-officer at the Norfolk Navy-yard in 1879-'80, and captain of the yard in 1880-'l. He commanded the steam sloop " Brooklyn," on the South Atlantic Station, in 1881-'4. He was a member of the naval examining and retiring board in 1885-'6, was promoted to commodore, 7 October, 1886, and is now president of the retiring-board. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 401-402.
WEBB, Alexander Stewart, soldier, born in New York City, 15 February. 1835, was educated at private schools and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated 13th in a class of 34 in 1855, and assigned to the artillery. He served in Florida, Minnesota, and for three years as assistant professor at West Point, became 1st lieutenant in the 2d U.S. Artillery, 28 April, 1861, captain in the 11th U.S. Infantry, 14 May, and major of the 1st Rhode Island Artillery on 14 September. He was present at Bull Run and in the defences of Washington until 1862, when he participated in the battles of the Peninsula Campaign of the Army of the Potomac and as chief-of-staff of the 5th Corps during the Maryland and Rappahannock Campaigns till 23 June, 1863. He was then commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, and placed in command of a brigade of the 2d Corps, serving with great credit at the battle of Gettysburg. At the "angle" he met the famous charge of Pickett's Confederate division, and took the major part in its repulse. He was wounded while leading his men, and received from General George G. Meade a bronze medal for "distinguished personal gallantry on that ever-memorable field. During the Rapidan Campaign he commanded a division in the battle of Bristow Station and auxiliary affairs. General Webb then returned to the command of his brigade, and led it with ability during the Wilderness Campaign, being severely wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania in May, 1864. On his return from sick-leave he was appointed chief-of-staff to General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac in the operations before Petersburg. From June, 1865, till February, 1866, General Webb was acting as inspector-general of the military Division of the Atlantic, and then he was professor at the military academy till August, 1868. On the reorganization of the army he became lieutenant-colonel of the 44th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, and commanded his new regiment in 1868-'9 and (with his brevet rank) the 5th Military District in April, 1869, and was, at his own request, discharged the service, 3 December, 1870. He was brevetted major, U. S. A., 3 July, 1863, "for gallant and meritorious services " at Gettysburg; lieutenant-colonel, U. S. A., 11 October, 1863, for Bristow Station, colonel, U. S. A., 12 May, 1864, for Spottsylvania, major-general of volunteers, 1 August. 1864, "for gallant and distinguished conduct and brigadier-general and major-general, U. S. A., 13 March, 1865, " for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army under General Lee." General Webb has been since 21 July, 1869, president of the College of the City of New York, and in 1870 the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Hobart College. He has published "The Peninsula: McClellan's Campaign of 1862" (New York, 1882) and articles on the Civil War, in the " Century " magazine. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 403.
WEBB, Mary, 1828-1859, African American, orator. Gave dramatic readings of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Dramatic readings were organized by Samuel Gridley Howe, which helped publicize the anti-slavery cause. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 11, p. 552)
WEBB, William Henry, ship-builder, born in New York City, 19 June. 1816. He was educated privately and at Columbia College grammar-school, learned the ship-building trade in the yard of his father, Isaac, and after 1843 carried on the business alone. He has constructed many vessels of great speed and capacity, upon original plans, among them "The General Admiral," a steam frigate for the Russian Navy, two steam screw-frigates for the Italian Navy, and the iron-clad ram " Dunderberg" for the U. S. Navy. He has declined all offers of public office. Mr. Webb purposes to erect in New York a building to be known as "Webb's free academy and home for ship-builders," and has in preparation a work on " Practical Ship-Building." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 404.
WEBER, Gustav C. E., physician, born in Bonn, Prussia, 26 May, 1828. His father, Dr. M. I. Weber, became professor of anatomy in the University of Bonn on its foundation in 1818, and is the author of many professional works. The son studied at the university till the revolutionary movement of 1848 caused him to emigrate to the United States, where he settled near St. Louis, Missouri., and engaged in fanning. He afterward completed his studies in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Paris, and in 1853 began to practice medicine in New York City. In 1856-'63 he was professor of surgery in Cleveland Medical College, and in 1861, as surgeon-general of the state, he organized a system for the better medical care of the troops in the field. In 1864 he organized Charity hospital Medical College, where he became professor of clinical surgery and dean of the faculty, and he was also consulting surgeon to the Charity Hospital, which had been founded chiefly through his efforts. The school subsequently became the medical department of the University of Wooster, Dr. Weber retaining his chair. He is the originator of a new method of closing large arteries in surgical operations without a ligature, and of a method for removing stone from the bladder. In 1859 Dr. Weber established the Cleveland "Medical Gazette," which he conducted for several years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 405.
WEBER, Max, soldier, born in Achern, Baden, 27 August, 1824. He was graduated at the military school of Carlsruhe, in 1843, as a lieutenant of infantry, and held a commission in the army of Baden until 1849, when he served with the revolutionists under General Franz Sigel. He came to this country in the same year, settled in New York City, and on 16 May, 1861, became colonel of the 20th New York Regiment. He was stationed at Fort Monroe and took part in the capture of Fort Hatteras, and from September, 1861, till May, 1862, commanded Camp Hamilton, near the former post, being commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 April, 1862. He was at Newport News during the fight between the "Monitor " and " Merrimac," in anticipation of a Confederate attack by land, took part in the capture of Norfolk in May, and then commanded at Suffolk till September, when he was ordered to the Army of the Potomac. He led a brigade at South Mountain and Antietam, where he received a wound that crippled his right arm for life. He served under General David Hunter and General Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah valley in 1864, and, while commanding at Harper's Ferry, repelled General Jubal A. Early's attack of 4-7 July. General Weber resigned his commission on 13 May. 1865. He was assessor of internal revenue in New York in 1870-'2, and then collector till April, 1883, when he resigned. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 405
WEBSTER, Daniel, 1782-1852, Boston, Massachusetts, statesman, U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Congressman, lawyer, orator, author, strong opponent of slavery. Vice President of the American Colonization Society, 1833-1841. President of the Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade in 1822. (Baxter, 1984; Blue, 2005; Mabee, 1970, pp. 175, 197, 261, 291, 307; Mitchell, 2007; Peterson, 1987; Remini, 1997; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 331-332, 508-509; Shewmaker, 1990; Smith, 1989; Webster, 1969; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 406-415; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 585; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 22, p. 865; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 27, 76, 245; Longacre, James B. & James Herring, National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Philadelphia: American Academy of Fine Arts, 1834-1839).
Biography from Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography:
WEBSTER, Daniel, statesman, born in Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, 18 January, 1782; died in Marshfield, Massachusetts. 24 October, 1802, was the second son of Ebenezer Webster by his second wife, Abigail Eastman. He seemed so puny and sickly as an infant that it was thought he would not live to grow up. He was considered too delicate for hard work on the farm, and was allowed a great deal of time for play. Much of this leisure he spent in fishing and hunting, or in roaming about the woods, the rest in reading. In later life he could not remember when he learned to read. As a child his thirst for knowledge was insatiable; he rend every book that came within reach, and conned his favorite authors until their sentences were in great part stored in his memory. In May, 1796, he was sent to Exeter Academy, where he made rapid progress with his studies, but was so overcome by shyness that he found it impossible to stand up and "speak pieces" before his school-mates. In spite of this timidity, some of his natural gifts as an orator had already begun to show themselves. His great, lustrous eyes and rich voice, with its musical intonations, had already exerted a fascination upon those who came within their range; passing teamsters would stop, and farmers pause, sickle in hand, to hear him recite verses of poetry or passages from the Bible. In February, 1797, his father sent him to Boscawen, where he continued his studies under the tuition of the Reverend Samuel Wood. Although Ebenezer Webster found it difficult, by unremitting labor and strictest economy, to support his numerous family, he still saw such signs of promise in Daniel as to convince him that it was worthwhile, at whatever sacrifice, to send him to college. In view of this decision, he took him from school, to hasten his preparation under a private tutor, and on the journey to Boscawen he informed Daniel of his plans. The warm-hearted boy, who had hardly dared hope for such good fortune, and keenly felt the sacrifice it involved, laid his head upon his father's shoulder and burst into tears. After six months with his tutor he had learned enough to fulfil the slender requirements of those days for admission to Dartmouth, where he was duly graduated in 1801. At college, although industrious and punctual in attendance and soon found to be very quick at learning, he was not regarded as a thorough scholar. He had not, indeed, the scholarly temperament—that rare combination of profound insight, sustained attention, microscopic accuracy, iron tenacity, and disinterested pursuit of truth—which characterizes the great scientific discoverer or the great historian. But, while he had not these qualities in perfect combination—and no one knew this better than Mr. Webster himself—there was much about him that made him more interesting and remarkable, even at that early age, than if he had been consummate in scholarship. He was capable of great industry, he seized an idea with astonishing quickness, his memory was prodigious, and for power of lucid and convincing statement he was unrivalled. With these rare gifts he possessed that supreme poetic quality that defies analysis, but is at once recognized as genius. He was naturally, therefore, considered by tutors and fellow-students the most remarkable man in the college, and the position of superiority thus early gained was easily maintained by him through life and wherever he was placed. While at college he conquered or outgrew his boyish shyness, so as to take pleasure in public speaking, and his eloquence soon attracted so much notice that in 1800 the townspeople of Hanover selected this undergraduate to deliver the Fourth-of-July oration. It has been well pointed out by Henry Cabot Lodge that the enduring work which Mr. Webster did in the world, and his meaning and influence in American history, are all summed up in the principles enunciated in that boyish speech at Hanover, which "preached love of country, the grandeur of American nationality, fidelity to the constitution as the bulwark of nationality, and the necessity and the nobility of the union of the states." After leaving college, Mr. Webster began studying law in the office of Thomas W. Thompson, of Salisbury, who was afterward U. S. Senator. Sometime before this he had made up his mind to help his elder brother. Ezekiel, to go through college, and for this purpose he soon found it necessary to earn money by teaching school. After some months of teaching at Fryeburg, Maine, he returned to Mr. Thompson's office. In July, 1804, he went to Boston in search of employment in some office where he might complete his studies. He there found favor with Christopher Gore, who took him into his office as student and clerk. In March, 1805. Mr. Webster was admitted to the bar, and presently he began practising his profession at Boscawen. In 1807, having acquired a fairly good business, he turned it over to his brother, Ezekiel, and moved to Portsmouth, where his reputation grew rapidly, so that he was soon considered a worthy antagonist to Jeremiah Mason, one of the ablest lawyers this country has ever produced. In June. 1808, he married Miss Grace Fletcher, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire
His first important political pamphlet, published that year, was a criticism on the embargo. In 1812, in a speech before the Washington Benevolent Society at Portsmouth, he summarized the objections of the New England people to the war just declared against Great Britain. He was immediately afterwards chosen delegate to a convention of the people of Rockingham County, and drew up the so-called "Rockingham Memorial," addressed to President Madison, which contained a formal protest against the war. In the following autumn he was elected to Congress, and on taking his seat, in May, 1813, he was placed on the committee on foreign relations. His first step in Congress was the introduction of a series of resolutions aimed at the president, and calling for a statement of the time and manner in which Napoleon's pretended revocation of his decrees against American shipping had been announced to the United States. His first great speech, 14 January, 1814, was in opposition to the bill for encouraging enlistments, and at the close of that year he opposed Secretary Monroe's measures for enforcing what was known as the "draft of 1814." Mr. Webster's attitude toward the administration was that of the Federalist Party to which he belonged; but he did not go so far as the leaders of that party in New England. He condemned the embargo as more harmful to ourselves than to the enemy, as there is no doubt it was; he disapproved the policy of invading Canada, and maintained that our wisest course was to increase the strength of the navy, and on these points history will probably judge him to have been correct. But in his opinion, that the war itself was unnecessary and injurious to the country, he was probably, like most New Englanders of that time, mistaken. Could he have foreseen and taken into account the rapid and powerful development of national feeling in the United States which the war called forth, it would have modified his view, for it is clear that the war party, represented by Henry Clay and his friends, was at that moment the truly national party, and Mr. Webster's sympathies were then, as always, in favor of the broadest nationalism, and entirely opposed to every sort of sectional or particularist policy. This broad, national spirit, which was strong enough in the two Adamses to sever their connection with the Federalists of New England, led Mr. Webster to use his influence successfully to keep New Hampshire out of the Hartford convention. In the 13th Congress, however, he voted 191 times on the same side with Timothy Pickering, and only 4 times on the opposite side. In this and the next Congress the most important work done by Mr. Webster was concerned with the questions of currency and a national bank. He did good service in killing the pernicious scheme for a bank endowed with the power of issuing irredeemable notes and obliged to lend money to the government He was disposed to condemn outright the policy of allowing the government to take part in the management of the bank. He also opposed a protective tariff, but, by supporting Mr. Calhoun's bill for internal improvements, he put himself on record as a loose constructionist. His greatest service was unquestionably his resolution of 26 April, 1816, requiring that all payments to the national treasury must be made in specie or its equivalents. This resolution, which he supported in a very powerful speech, was adopted the same day by a large majority, and its effect upon the currency was speedily beneficial. In the course of this session he declined, with grim humor, a challenge sent him by John Randolph.
In June, 1816, he moved to Boston, and at the expiration of his second term in Congress, 4 March. 1817, he retired for a while to private lite. His reason for retiring was founded in need of money and the prospect of a great increase in his law practice. On his removal to Boston this prospect was soon realized in an income of not less than $20,000 a year. One of the first cases upon which he was now engaged was the famous Dartmouth College affair. While Mr. Webster's management of this case went far toward placing him at the head of the American bar, the political significance of its decision was such as to make it an important event in the history of the United States. It shows Mr. Webster not only as a great constitutional lawyer and consummate advocate, but also as a powerful champion of Federalism. In its origin Dartmouth College was a missionary school for Indians, founded in 1754 by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, at Lebanon. Connecticut After a few years funds were raised by private subscription for the purpose of enlarging the school into a college, and as the Earl of Dartmouth had been one of the chief contributors, Dr. Wheelock appointed him and other persons trustees of the property. The site of the college was fixed in New Hampshire, and a royal charter in 1769 created it a perpetual corporation. The charter recognized Wheelock as founder, and appointed him president, with power to name his successor, subject to confirmation by the trustees. Dr. Wheelock devised the presidency to his son, John Wheelock, who accordingly became his successor. The charter, in expressly forbidding the exclusion of any person on account of his religious belief, reflected the broad and tolerant disposition of Dr. Wheelock, who was a liberal Presbyterian, and as such had been engaged in prolonged controversy with that famous representative of the strictest Congregationalism, Dr. Joseph Bellamy. In 1793 Bellamy's pupil, Nathaniel Niles, became a trustee of Dartmouth, and between him and John Wheelock the old controversy was revived and kept up with increasing bitterness for several years, dividing the board of trustees into two hostile parties. At length, in 1809, the party opposed to President Wheelock gained a majority in the board, and thus became enabled in various ways to balk and harass the president, until in 1815 the quarrel broke forth into a war of pamphlets and editorial articles that convulsed the whole state of New Hampshire. The Congregational church was at that time the established church in New Hampshire, supported by taxation, and the Federalist party found its strongest adherents among the members of that church. Naturally, therefore, the members of other churches, and persons opposed on general principles to the establishment of a state church, were inclined to take sides with the Republicans. In 1815 President Wheelock petitioned the legislature for a committee to investigate the conduct of the trustees, whom he accused of various offences, from intolerance in matters of religion to improper management of the funds. Thus the affair soon became a party question, in which the Federalists upheld the trustees, while the Republicans sympathized with the president. The legislature granted the petition for a committee, but the trustees forthwith, in a somewhat too rash spirit of defiance, deposed Mr. Wheelock and chose a new president, the Reverend Francis Brown. In the ensuing state election Mr. Wheelock and his sympathizers went over to the Republicans, who thus succeeded in electing their candidate for governor, with a majority of the legislature. In June, 1816, the new legislature passed an act reorganizing the college, and a new board of trustees was at once appointed by the governor. Judge Woodward, secretary of the old board, went over to the new board, and became its secretary, taking with him the college seal. The new board proceeded to expel the old board, which forthwith brought suit against Judge Woodward in an action of trover for the college seal. The case was tried in May, 1817, with those two great lawyers, Jeremiah Mason and Jeremiah Smith, as counsel for the plaintiffs. It was then postponed till Sept ember, when Mr. Webster was secured by the plaintiffs as an additional counsel. The plaintiffs contended that, in the case of a corporation chartered for private uses, any alleged misconduct of the trustees was properly a question for the courts, and not for the legislature, which in meddling with such a question plainly transcended its powers. Their chief reliance was upon this point, but they also contended that the act of legislature reorganizing the college was an act impairing the obligation of a contract, and therefore a violation of the Constitution of the United States. The state court at Exeter decided against the plaintiffs, and the point last mentioned enabled them to carry up their case to the Supreme Court of the United States. As the elder counsel were unable to go to Washington, it fell to Mr. Webster to conduct the case, which was tried in March, 1818. Mr. Webster argued that the charter of Dartmouth College created a private corporation for administering a charity; that in the administration of such uses the trustees have a recognized right of property; that the grant of such a charter is a contract between the sovereign power and the grantees, and descends to their successors; and that, therefore, the act of the New Hampshire legislature, in taking away the government from one board of trustees and conferring it upon another, was a violation of contract. These points were defended by Mr. Webster with masterly cogency, and re-enforced by illustrations calculated to appeal to the Federalist sympathies of the chief justice. He possessed in the highest degree the art of so presenting a ease that the mere statement seemed equivalent to demonstration, and never did he exhibit that art in greater perfection or use it to better purpose than in this argument. A few sentences at the close, giving utterance to deep emotion, left judges and audience in tears. The decision, rendered in the autumn, sustained Mr. Webster and set aside the act of the legislature as unconstitutional. It was one of those far-reaching decisions in which the Supreme Court, under John Marshall, fixed the interpretation of the constitution in such wise as to add greatly to its potency as a fundamental instrument of government. The clause prohibiting state legislation in impairment of contracts, like most such general provisions, stood in need of judicial decisions to determine its scope. By bringing under the protection of this clause every charter granted by a state, the decision in the Dartmouth College case went further perhaps than any other in our history toward limiting state sovereignty and extending the jurisdiction of the Federal Supreme Court. In the Massachusetts convention of 1820 for revising the state constitution Mr. Webster played an important part. He advocated with success the abolition of religious tests for office-holders, and in a speech in support of the feature of property-representation in the Senate he examined the theory and practice of bicameral legislation. His discussion of that subject is well worthy of study. In the same year, at the celebration of the second centennial of the landing of the Pilgrims, his commemorative oration was one of the noblest ever delivered. In 1825, on the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument (see illustration), he attained still higher perfection of eloquence; and one year later, on the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, his eulogy upon those statesmen completed a trio of historical addresses unsurpassed in splendor. The spirit of these orations is that of the broadest patriotism, enlightened by a clear perception of the fundamental importance of the Federal union between the states and an ever-present consciousness of the mighty future of our country and its moral significance in the history of the world. Such topics have often been treated as commonplaces and made the theme of vapid rhetoric; but under Daniel Webster's treatment they acquired a philosophical value and were fraught with most serious and earnest meaning. These orations were conceived in a spirit of religious devotion to the Union, and contributed powerfully toward awakening such a sentiment in those who read them afterward, while upon those who heard them from the lips of the majestic speaker the impression was such as could never be effaced. The historian must assign to them a high place among the literary influences that aroused in the American people a sentiment of union strong enough to endure the shock of Civil War. In 1822 Mr. Webster was elected to Congress from the Boston district, and he was twice reelected by a popular vote that was almost unanimous. When he took his seat in Congress in December, 1823, the speaker, Henry Clay, appointed him chairman of the judiciary committee. In that capacity he prepared and carried through the "Crimes act," which was substantially a thorough remodelling of the criminal jurisprudence of the United States. The preparation of this bill showed in the highest degree his constructive genius as a legislator, while in carrying it through Congress his parliamentary skill and persuasiveness in debate were equally conspicuous. In 1825 he prepared a bill for increasing the number of supreme court judges to ten, for making ten Federal circuits, and otherwise strengthening the working capacity of the court; but this bill, after passing the house, was lost in the Senate. Of his two most celebrated speeches in Congress during this period, the first was on the revolution in Greece. Mr. Webster moved, 19 January, 1824, the adoption of his own resolution in favor of making provision for a commissioner to Greece should President Monroe see fit to appoint one. In his speech on this occasion he set forth the hostility of the American people to the principles, motives, and methods of the " Holy Alliance," and their sympathy with such struggles for self-government as that in which the Greeks were engaged. The resolution was not adopted, but Mr. Webster's speech made a profound impression at home and abroad. It was translated into several European languages, and called forth much foreign comment. The other great speech, delivered on 1 and 2 April, 1824, was what is commonly called his " free-trade speech." A bill had been introduced for revising the tariff in such a way as to extend the operation of the protective system. In this speech Mr. Webster found fault with the phrase "American policy," as applied by Mr. Clay to the system of high protective duties. "If names are thought necessary," said Mr. Webster, "it would be well enough, one would think, that the name should be in some measure descriptive of the thing; and since Mr. Speaker denominates the policy which he recommends a 'new policy in this country'; since he speaks of the present measure as a new era in our legislation; since he professes to invite us to depart from our accustomed course, to instruct ourselves by the wisdom of others, and to adopt the policy of the most distinguished foreign states—one is a little curious to know with what propriety of speech this imitation of other nations is denominated an 'American policy,' while, on the contrary, a preference for our own established system, as it now actually exists and always has existed, is called a 'foreign policy.' This favorite American policy is what America has never tried; and this odious foreign policy is what, as we are told, foreign states have never pursued. Sir, that is the truest American policy which shall most usefully employ American capital and American labor." After this exordium, Mr. Webster went on to give a masterly exposition of some of the elementary theorems of political economy and a survey, at once comprehensive and accurate, of the condition of American industry at the time. He not only attacked Mr. Clay's policy on broad national grounds, but also showed more specifically that it was likely to prove injurious to the maritime commerce in which the New England states had so long taken the lead; and he concluded by characterizing that policy as "so burdensome and so dangerous to the interest which has steadily enriched, gallantly defended, and proudly distinguished us, that nothing can prevail upon me to [ give it my support." Upon this last clause of his' speech he was afterward enabled to rest a partial justification of his change of attitude toward the tariff. The other chief incidents in his career in the House of Representatives were his advocacy of a national bankrupt law, his defence of William T. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury, against sundry charges brought against him by Ninian Edwards (q. v.), lately senator from Illinois, and his defence of President Adams's policy in the matter of Georgia and the Creek Indians. In polities Mr. Webster occupied at this time an independent position. The old Federalist party, to which he had formerly belonged, was completely broken down, and the new National Republican party, with its inheritance of many of the principles, motives, and methods of the Federalists, was just beginning to take shape under the leadership of Adams and Clay. Between these eminent statesmen and Mr. Webster the state of feeling was not such as to insure cordial co-operation, but in their views of government there was similarity enough to bring them together in opposition to the new Democratic party represented by Jackson, Benton, and Van Buren. With the extreme southern views of Crawford and Calhoun it was impossible that he should sympathize, although his personal relations with those leaders were quite friendly, and after the death of Calhoun, the noblest eulogium upon his character and motives was made by Mr. Webster. There is a sense in which all American statesmen may be said to be intellectually the descendants and disciples either of Jefferson or of Hamilton, and as a representative follower of Hamilton, Mr. Webster was sure to be drawn rather toward Clay than toward Jackson. The course of industrial events in New England was such as to involve changes of opinion in that part of the country, which were soon reflected in a complete reversal of Mr. Webster's attitude toward the tariff. In 1827 he was elected to the U. S. Senate. In that year an agitation was begun by the woollen-manufacturers, which soon developed into a promiscuous scramble among different industries for aid from government, and finally resulted in the tariff of 1828. That act, which was generally known at the time as " the tariff of abominations," was the first extreme application of the protective system in our Federal legislation. When the bill was pending before the Senate in April, 1828, Mr. Webster made a memorable speech, in which he completely abandoned the position he had held in 1824, and from this time forth he was a supporter of the policy of Mr. Clay and the protectionists. For this change of attitude he was naturally praised by his new allies, who were glad to interpret it as a powerful argument in favor of their views. By everyone else he was blamed, and this speech has often been cited, together with that of 7 March, 1850, as proving that Mr. Webster was governed by unworthy motives and wanting in political principle. The two cases, as we shall see, are not altogether parallel. Probably neither admits of entire justification, but in neither case did Mr. Webster attempt to conceal or disguise his real motives. In 1828 he frankly admitted that the policy of protection to manufactures by means of tariff duties was a policy of which he had disapproved, whether as a political economist or as a representative of the interests of New England. Against his own opposition and that of New England, the act of 1824 had passed. "What, then, was New England to dot . . . Was she to hold out forever against the course of the government, and see herself losing on one side and yet make no effort to sustain herself on the other? No, sir. Nothing was left for New England but to confirm herself to the will of others. Nothing was left to her but to consider that the government had fixed and determined its own policy; and that policy was protection." In other words, the tariff policy adopted at Washington, while threatening the commercial interests of New England, had favored the investment of capital in manufactures there, and it was not becoming in a representative of New England to take part in disturbing the new arrangement of things. This argument, if pushed far enough, would end in the doctrine—now apparently obsolete, though it has often been attacked and defended—that a senator is simply the minister of his state in Congress. With Mr. Webster it went so far as to modify essentially his expressions of opinion as to the constitutionality of protective legislation. He had formerly been inclined to interpret the constitution strictly upon this point, but in 1828 and afterward his position was that of the loose constructionists. Here the strong Federalist bias combined with that temperament which has sometimes been called "opportunism " to override his convictions upon the economic merits of the question.
This tariff of 1828 soon furnished an occasion' for the display of Mr. Webster's strong Federalist spirit in a way that was most serviceable for his country and has earned for him undying fame as an orator and statesman. It led to the distinct announcement of the principles of nullification by the public men of South Carolina, with Mr. Calhoun at their head. During President Jackson's first term the question as to nullification seemed to occupy everybody's thoughts and had a way of intruding upon the discussion of all other questions. In December, 1829, Samuel A. Foote, of Connecticut, presented to the Senate a resolution inquiring into the expediency of limiting the sales of the public lands to those already in the market, besides suspending the surveys of the public lands and abolishing the office of surveyor-general. The resolution was quite naturally resented by the western senators as having a tendency to check the growth of their section of the country. The debate was opened by Mr. Benton, and lasted several weeks, with increasing bitterness. The belief in the hostility of the New England states toward the west was shared by many southern senators, who desired to unite south and west in opposition to the tariff. On 1U January, 1830, Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, attacked the New England states, accusing them of aiming by their protective policy at aggrandizing themselves at the expense of all the rest of the Union. On the next day Mr. Webster delivered his " first speech on Foote's resolution," in which he took up Mr. Hayne's accusations and answered them with great power. This retort provoked a long and able reply from Mr. Hayne, in which he not only assailed Mr. Webster and Massachusetts and New England, but set forth quite ingeniously and elaborately the doctrines of nullification. In view of the political agitation then going on in South Carolina, it was felt that this speech would work practical mischief unless it should meet with instant refutation. It was finished on 25 January, and on the next two days Mr. Webster delivered his "second speech on Foote's resolution," better known in history as the "Reply to Hayne." The debate had now lasted so long that people had come from different parts of the country to Washington to hear it, and on 26 January the crowd not only filled the galleries and invaded the floor of the Senate-chamber, but occupied all the lobbies and entries within hearing and even beyond. In the first part of his speech Mr. Webster replied to the aspersions upon himself and New England; in the second part he attacked with weighty argument and keen-edged sarcasm the doctrine of nullification. He did not undertake to deny the right of revolution as a last resort in cases with which legal and constitutional methods are found inadequate to deal: but he assailed the theory of the constitution maintained by Calhoun and his followers, according to which nullification was a right, the exercise of which was compatible with loyal adherence to the constitution. His course of argument was twofold; he sought to show, first, that the theory of the constitution as a terminable league or compact between sovereign states was unsupported by the history of its origin, and, secondly, that the attempt on the part of any state to act upon that theory must necessarily entail Civil War or the disruption of the Union. As to the sufficiency of his historical argument there has been much difference of opinion. The question is difficult to deal with in such a way as to reach an unassailable conclusion, and the difficulty is largely due to the fact that in the various ratifying conventions of 1787-'S) the men who advocated the adoption of the constitution did not all hold the same opinions as to the significance of what they were doing. There was great divergence of opinion, and plenty of room for antagonisms of interpretation to grow up as irreconcilable as those of Webster and Calhoun. If the South Carolina doctrine distorted history in one direction, that of Mr. Webster probably "departed somewhat from the record in the other: but the latter was fully in harmony with the actual course of our national development, and with the increased and increasing strength of the sentiment of union at the time when it was propounded with such powerful reasoning and such magnificent eloquence in the "Reply to Hayne." As an appeal to the common sense of the American people, nothing could be more masterly than Mr. Webster's demonstration that nullification practically meant revolution, and their unalterable opinion of the soundness of his argument was amply illustrated when at length the crisis came which he deprecated with such intensity of emotion in his concluding sentences. To some of the senators who listened to the speech, as, for instance, Thomas H. Benton, it seemed as if the passionate eloquence of its close concerned itself with imaginary dangers never likely to be realized: but the event showed that Mr. Webster estimated correctly the perilousness of the doctrine against which he was contending. For genuine oratorical power, the " Reply to Hayne" is probably the greatest speech that has been delivered since the oration of Demosthenes on the crown. The comparison is natural, as there are points in the American orator that forcibly remind one of the Athenian. There is the fine sense of proportion and fitness, the massive weight of argument due to transparent clearness and matchless symmetry of statement, and along with the rest a truly Attic simplicity of diction. Mr. Webster never indulged in mere rhetorical flights; his sentences, simple in structure and weighted with meaning, went straight to the mark, and his arguments were so skilfully framed that while his most learned and critical hearers were impressed with a sense of their conclusiveness, no man of ordinary intelligence could fail to understand them. To these high qualifications of the orator was added such a physical presence as but few men have been endowed with. Mr. Webster's appearance was one of unequalled dignity and power, his voice was rich and musical, and the impressiveness of his delivery was enhanced by the depth of genuine manly feeling with which he spoke. Yet while his great speeches owed so much of their overpowering effect to the look and manner of the man, they were at the same time masterpieces of literature. Like the speeches of Demosthenes, they were capable of swaying the reader as well as the hearer, and their effects went far beyond the audience and far beyond the occasion of their delivery. In all these respects the Reply to Hayne " marks the culmination of Mr. Webster's power as an orator. Of all the occasions of his life, this encounter with the doctrine of nullification on its first bold announcement in the Senate was certainly the greatest, and the speech was equal to the occasion. It struck a chord in the heart of the American people which had not ceased to vibrate when the crisis came thirty years later. It gave articulate expression to a sentiment of loyalty to the Union that went, on growing until the American citizen was as prompt to fight for the Union as the Mussulman for his prophet or the cavalier for his king. It furnished, moreover, a clear and comprehensive statement of the theory by which that sentiment of loyalty was justified. Of the men who in after-years gave up their lives for the Union, doubtless the greater number had as school-boys declaimed passages from this immortal speech and caught some inspiration from its fervid patriotism. Probably no other speech ever made in Congress has found so many readers or exerted so much influence in giving shape to men's thoughts. Three years afterward Mr. Webster returned to struggle with nullification, being now pitted against the master of that doctrine instead of the disciple. In the interval South Carolina had attempted to put the doctrine into practice, and had been resolutely met by President Jackson with his proclamation of 10 December, 1832. In response to a special message from the president, early in January, 1833, the so-called "Force bill," empowering the president to use the army and navy, if necessary, for enforcing the revenue laws in South Carolina, was reported in the Senate. The bill was opposed by Democrats who did not go so far as to approve of nullification, but the defection of these senators was more than balanced by the accession of Mr. Webster, who upon this measure came promptly to the support of the administration. For this, says Benton, "his motives . . . were attacked, and he was accused of subserviency to the president for the sake of future favor. At the same time all the support which he gave to these measures was the regular result of the principles which he laid down against nullification in the debate with Mr. Hayne, and he could not have done less without being derelict to his own principles then avowed. It was a proud era in his life, supporting with transcendent ability the cause of the constitution and of the country, in the person of a chief magistrate to whom he was politically opposed, bursting the bonds of party at the call of duty, and displaying a patriotism worthy of admiration and imitation. General Jackson felt the debt of gratitude and admiration which he owed him; the country, without distinction of party, felt the same. ... He was the colossal figure on the political stage during that eventful time; and his labors, splendid in their day, survive for the benefit of distant posterity" ("Thirty Years' View," i., 334). The support of the president's policy by Mr. Webster, and its enthusiastic approval by nearly all the northern and a great many of the southern people, seems to have alarmed Mr. Calhoun, probably not so much for his personal safety as for the welfare of his nullification schemes. The story that he was frightened by the rumor that Jackson had threatened to begin by arresting him on a charge of treason is now generally discredited. He had seen enough, however, to convince him that the theory of peaceful nullification was not now likely to be realized. It was not his aim to provoke an armed collision, and accordingly a momentary alliance was made between himself and Mr. Clay, resulting in the compromise tariff bill of 12 February, 1833. Only four days elapsed between Mr. Webster's announcement of his intention to support the president and the introduction of this compromise measure. Mr. Webster at once opposed the compromise, both as unsound economically and as an unwise and dangerous concession to the threats of the nullifiers. At this point the Force bill was brought forward, and Mr. Calhoun made his great speech. 15-16 February, in support of the resolutions he had introduced on 22 January, affirming the doctrine of nullification. To this Mr. Webster replied, 16 February, with his speech entitled "The Constitution not a Compact between Sovereign States," in which he supplemented and re-enforced the argument of the " Reply to Hayne." Mr. Calhoun's answer, 26 February, was perhaps the most powerful speech he ever delivered, and Mr. Webster did not reply to it at length. The burden of the discussion was what the American people really did when they adopted the Federal constitution. Did they simply create a league between sovereign states, or did they create a national government, which operates immediately upon individuals, and, without superseding the state governments, stands superior to them, and claims a prior allegiance from all citizens. It is now plain to be seen that in point of fact they did create such a national government; but how far they realized at the outset what they were doing is quite another question. Mr. Webster's main conclusion was sustained with colossal strength; but his historical argument was in some places weak, and the weakness is unconsciously betrayed in a disposition toward wire-drawn subtlety, from which Mr. Webster was usually quite free. His ingenious reasoning upon the meaning of such words as " compact" and " accede" was easily demolished by Mr. Calhoun, who was, however, more successful in hitting upon his adversary's vulnerable points than in making good his own case. In fact, the historical question was not really so simple as it presented itself to the minds of those two great statesmen. But in whatever way it was to be settled, the force of Mr. Webster's practical conclusions remained, as he declared in the brief rejoinder with which he ended the discussion: "Mr. President, turn this question over and present it as we will—argue it as we may—exhaust upon it all the fountains of metaphysics—stretch over it all the meshes of logical or political subtlety—it still comes to this: Shall we have a general government 1 Shall we continue the union of the states under a government instead of a league 1 This is the upshot of the whole matter; because, if we are to have a government, that government must act like other governments, by majorities; it must have this power, like other governments, of enforcing its own laws and its own decisions; clothed with authority by the people and always responsible to the people, it must be able to hold its course unchecked by external interposition. According to the gentleman's views of the matter, the constitution is a league; according to mine, it is a regular popular government. This vital and all-important question the people will decide, and in deciding it they will determine whether, by ratifying the present constitution and frame of government, they meant to do nothing more than to amend the articles of the old confederation." As the immediate result of the debates, both the Force bill and the Compromise tariff bill were adopted, and this enabled Mr. Calhoun to maintain that the useful and conservative character of nullification had been demonstrated, since the action of South Carolina hail, without leading to violence, led to such modifications of the tariff as she desired. But the abiding result was, that Webster had set forth the theory upon which the Union was to be preserved, and that the administration, in acting upon that theory, had established an extremely valuable precedent for the next administration that should be called upon to meet a similar crisis. The alliance between Mr. Webster and President Jackson extended only to the question of maintaining the Union. As an advocate of the policy of a national bank, a protective tariff, and internal improvements, Mr. Webster's natural place was by the side of Mr. Clay in the Whig party, which was now in the process of formation. He was also at one with both the northern and the southern sections of the Whig party in opposition to what Mr. Benton called the " demos krateo" principle, according to which the president, in order to carry out the "will of the people," might feel himself authorized to override the constitutional limitations upon his power. This was not precisely what Mr. Benton meant by his principle, but it was the way in which it was practically illustrated in Jackson's war against the bank. In the course of this struggle Mr. Webster made more than sixty speeches, remarkable for their wide and accurate knowledge of finance. His consummate mastery of statement is nowhere more thoroughly exemplified than in these speeches. Constitutional questions were brought up by Mr. Clay's resolutions censuring the president for the removal of the deposits, and for dismissing William J. Duane, Secretary of the Treasury. In reply to the resolutions, President Jackson sent to the Senate his remarkable " Protest," in which he maintained that in the mere discussion of such resolutions that body transcended its constitutional prerogatives, and that the president is the " direct representative of the American people," charged with the duty, if need be, of protecting them against the usurpations of Congress. The Whigs maintained, with much truth, that this doctrine, if carried out in all its implications, would push democracy to the point where it merges in Caesarism. It was now that the opposition began to call themselves Whip, and tried unsuccessfully to stigmatize the president's supporters as " Tories." Mr. Webster's speech on the president's protest, 7 May, 1834. was one of great importance, and should be read by every student of our constitutional history. In another j elaborate speech, 16 February, 1835, he tried to show that under a proper interpretation of the constitution the power of removal, like the power of appointment, was vested in the president and Senate conjointly, and that " the decision of congress in 1789, which separated the power of removal from the power of appointment, was founded on an erroneous construction of the constitution." But subsequent opinion has upheld the decision of 1789, leaving the speech to serve as an illustration of the way in which, under the stress of a particular contest, the Whigs were as ready to strain the constitution in one direction as the Democrats were inclined to bend it in another. An instance of the latter kind was Mr. Benton's expunging resolution, against which Mr. Webster emphatically protested. About this time Mr. Webster was entertaining thoughts of retiring, for a while at least, from public life. As he said, in a letter to a friend, he had not for fourteen years had leisure to attend to his private affairs, or to become acquainted by travel with his own country. This period had not. however, been entirely free from professional work. It was seldom that Mr. Webster took part in criminal trials, but in this department of legal practice! he showed himself qualified to take rank with the greatest advocates that have ever addressed a jury. His speech for the prosecution, on the trial of the murderers of Captain Joseph White, at Salem, in August, 1830, has been pronounced superior to the finest speeches of Lord Erskine. In the autumn of 1824, while driving in a chaise with his wife from Sandwich to Boston, he stopped at the beautiful farm of Captain John Thomas, by the sea-shore at Marshfield. For the next seven years his family passed their summers at this place as guests of Captain Thomas; and, as the latter was growing old and willing to be eased of the care of the farm, Mr. Webster bought it of him in the autumn of 1831.. Captain Thomas continued to live there until his death, in 1837, as Mr. Webster's guest. For the latter it became the favorite home whither he retired in the intervals of public life. It was a place, he said, where he "could go out every day in the year and see something new." Mr. Webster was very fond of the sea. He had also a passion for country life, for all the sights and sounds of the farm, for the raising of fine animals, as well as for hunting and fishing. The earlier years of Mr. Webster's residence at Marshfield, and of his service in the U. S. Senate, witnessed some serious events in his domestic life. Death removed his wife, 21 January, 1828, and his brother Ezekiel, 10 April, 1829. In December, 1829, he married Miss Caroline Le Roy, daughter of a wealthy merchant in New York. Immediately after this second marriage came the " Reply to Hayne." The beginning of a new era in his private life coincided with the beginning of a new era in his career as a statesman. After 1830 Mr. Webster was recognized as one of the greatest powers in the nation, and it seemed natural that the presidency should be offered to such a man. His talents, however, were not those of a party leader, and the circumstances under which the Whig party was formed were not such as to place him at its head. The elements of which that party was made up were incongruous, the bond of union between them consisting chiefly of opposition to President Jackson's policy. In the election of 1836 they had not time in which to become welded together, and after the brief triumph of 1840 they soon fell apart again. In 1836 there was no general agreement upon a candidate. The northern Whigs, or National Republicans, supported by the anti-Masons, nominated General William H. Harrison; the southern or "state-rights" Whigs nominated Hugh L. White; the legislature of Massachusetts nominated Mr. Webster, and he received the electoral vote of that state only. Over such an ill-organized opposition Mr. Van Buren easily triumphed. In March, 1837, on his way from Washington to Boston, Mr. Webster stopped in New York and made a great speech at Niblo's garden, in which he reviewed and criticised the policy of the late administration, with especial reference to its violent treatment of the bank. In the course of the speech he used language that was soon proved prophetic by the financial crisis of that year. In the summer he made a journey through the western states. In the next session of Congress his most important speeches were those on the sub-treasury bill. The second of these, delivered 12 March, 1838, contained some memorable remarks on the course of Mr. Calhoun, who had now taken sides with the administration. No passage in all his speeches is more graphic than that in which, with playful sarcasm, he imagines General Jackson as coming from his retirement at the Hermitage, walking into the Senate-chamber, and looking across "to the seats on the other side."
The whole of that portion of the speech which relates to nullification is extremely powerful. Mr. Calhoun, in his reply, "carried the war into Africa," and attacked Mr. Webster's record. He was answered, 22 March, by a speech that was a model for such parliamentary retorts. Mr. Webster never sneered at his adversaries, but always rendered them the full meed of personal respect that he would have demanded for himself. He discussed questions on their merits, and was too great to descend to recriminations. His Titanic power owed very little to the spirit of belligerency. Never was there an orator more urbane or more full of Christian magnanimity. In the summer of 1839 Mr. Webster with his family visited England, where he was cordially received and greatly admired. On his return in December he learned that the Whigs had this time united upon General Harrison for their candidate in the hope of turning to their own uses the same kind of unreflecting popular enthusiasm that had elected Jackson. The panic of 1837 aided them still more, and Mr. Webster made skilful use of it in a long series of campaign speeches, during the summer of 1840, in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He accepted the office of Secretary of State in President Harrison's administration, and soon showed himself as able in diplomacy as in other departments of statesmanship. There was a complication of difficulties with Great Britain which seemed to be bringing us to the verge of war. There was the longstanding dispute about the northeastern boundary, which had not been adequately defined by the treaty of 1783, and along with the renewal of this controversy came up the cases of McLeod and the steamer "Caroline," the slave-ship "Creole," and all the manifold complications that these cases involved. The Oregon question, too, was looming in the background. In disentangling these difficulties Mr. Webster showed wonderful tact and discretion. He was fortunately aided by the change of ministry in England, which transferred the management of foreign affairs from the hands of Lord Palmerston to those of Lord Aberdeen. Edward Everett was then in London, and Mr. Webster secured his appointment as minister to Great Britain. In response to this appointment, Lord Ashburton, whose friendly feeling toward the United States was known to everyone, was sent over on a special mission to confer with Mr. Webster, and the result was the Ashburton treaty of 1842, by which an arbitrary and conventional line was adopted for the northeastern boundary, while the loss thereby suffered by the states of Maine and Massachusetts was to be indemnified by the United States. It was also agreed that Great Britain and the United States should each keep its own squadron to watch the coast of Africa for the suppression of the slave-trade, and that in this good work each nation should separately enforce its own laws. This clause of the treaty was known as the "cruising convention." The old grievance of the impressment of seamen, which had been practically abolished by the glorious victories of American frigates in the war of 1812-'15, was now formally ended by Mr. Webster's declaration to Lord Ashburton that henceforth American vessels would not submit themselves to be searched. Henceforth the enforcement of the so-called " right of search" by a British ship would be regarded by the United States as a casus belli. When all the circumstances are considered, this Ashburton treaty shows that Mr. Webster's powers as a diplomatist were of the highest order. In the hands of an ordinary statesman the affair might easily have ended in a war; but his management was so dexterous that, as we now look back upon the negotiation, we find it hard to realize that there was any real danger. Perhaps there could be no more conclusive proof or more satisfactory measure of his really brilliant and solid success. While these important negotiations were going on, great changes had come over the political horizon. There had been a quarrel between the northern and southern sections of the Whig party (see Tyler, John), and on 11 September, 1841, all the members of President Tyler's cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned. It seems to have been believed by many of the Whigs that a unanimous resignation on the part of the cabinet would force President Tyler to resign. The idea came from a misunderstanding of the British custom in similar cases, and it is an incident of great interest to the student of American history; but there was not the slightest chance that it should be realized. Had there been any such chance, Mr. Webster defeated it by staying at his post in order to finish the treaty with Great Britain. The Whigs were inclined to attribute his conduct to unworthy motives, and no sooner had the treaty been signed, 9 August, 1842, than the newspapers began calling upon him to resign. The treaty was ratified in the Senate by a vote of 39 to 9, but it had still to be adopted by parliament, and much needless excitement was occasioned on both sides of the ocean by the discovery of an old map in Paris, sustaining the British view of the northeastern boundary, and another in London, sustaining the American view. Mr. Webster remained at his post in spite of popular clamor until he knew the treaty to be quite safe. In the hope of driving him from the cabinet, the Whigs in Massachusetts held a convention and declared that President Tyler was no longer a member of their party. On a visit to Boston, Mr. Webster made a noble speech in Faneuil hall, 30 September, 1842, in the course of which he declared that he was neither to be coaxed nor driven into an action that in his own judgment was not conducive to the best interests of the country. He knew very well that by such independence he was likely to injure his chances for nomination to the presidency. He knew that a movement in favor of Mr. Clay had begun in Massachusetts, and that his own course was adding greatly to the impetus of that movement. But his patriotism rose superior to all personal considerations. In May, 1843, having seen the treaty firmly established, he resigned the secretary-ship and returned to the practice of his profession in Boston. In the canvass of 1844 he supported Mr. Clay in a series of able speeches. On Mr. Choate's resignation, early in 1845, Mr. Webster was re-elected to the Senate. The two principal questions of Mr. Polk's administration related to the partition of Oregon and the difficulties that led to war with Mexico. The Democrats declared that we must have the whole of Oregon up to the parallel of 54° 40', although the 49th parallel had already been suggested as a compromise-line. In a very able speech at Faneuil hall, Mr. Webster advocated the adoption of this compromise. The speech was widely read in England and on the continent of Europe, and Mr. Webster followed it by a private letter to Mr. Macgregor, of Glasgow, expressing a wish that the British government might see fit to offer the 49th parallel as a boundary-line. The letter was shown to Lord Aberdeen, who adopted the suggestion, and the dispute accordingly ended in the partition of Oregon between the United States and Great Britain. This successful interposition disgusted some Democrats who were really desirous of war with England, and Charles J. Ingersoll, member of Congress from Pennsylvania and chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, made a scandalous attack upon Mr. Webster, charging him with a corrupt use of public funds. Mr. Webster replied in his great speech of 6 and 7 April, 1846, in defence of the Ashburton treaty. The speech was a triumphant vindication of his public policy, and in the thorough investigation of details that followed, Mr. Ingersoll's charges were shown to be utterly groundless. During the operations on the Texas frontier, which brought on war with Mexico, Mr. Webster was absent from Washington. In the summer of 1847 he travelled through the southern states, and was everywhere received with much enthusiasm. He opposed the prosecution of the war for the sake of acquiring more territory, because he foresaw that such a policy must speedily lead to a dangerous agitation of the slavery question. The war brought General Zachary Taylor into the foreground as a candidate for the presidency, and some of the Whig managers actually proposed to nominate Mr. Webster as vice-president on the same ticket with General Taylor. He indignantly refused to accept such a proposal; but Mr. Clay a defeat in 1844 had made many Whigs afraid to take him again as a candidate. Mr. Webster was thought to be altogether too independent, and there was a feeling that General Taylor was the most available candidate and the only one who could supplant Mr. Clay. These circumstances led to Taylor's nomination, which Mr. Webster at first declined to support. He disapproved of soldiers as presidents, and characterized the nomination as "one not fit to be made." At the same time he was far from ready to support Mr. Van Buren and the Free-Soil party, yet in his situation some decided action was necessary. Accordingly, in his speech at Marshfield, 1 September, 1848, he declared that, as the choice was really between General Taylor and General Cass, he should support the former. It has been contended that in this Mr. Webster made a great mistake, and that his true place in this canvass would have been with the Free-Soil Party. He had always been opposed to the further extension of slavery; but it is to be borne in mind that he looked with dread upon the rise of an anti-slavery party that should be supported only in the northern states. Whatever tended to array the north and the south in opposition to each other Mr. Webster wished especially to avoid. The ruling purpose of his life was to do what he could to prevent the outbreak of a conflict that might end in the disruption of the Union; and it may well have seemed that there was more safety in sustaining the Whig party in electing its candidate by the aid of southern votes than in helping into life a new party that should be purely sectional. At the same time, this cautious policy necessarily involved an amount of concession to southern demands far greater than the rapidly growing anti-slavery sentiment in the northern states would tolerate. No doubt Mr. Webster's policy in 1848 pointed logically toward his last great speech, 7 March, 1850, in which he supported Mr. Clay's elaborate compromises for disposing of the difficulties that had grown out of the vast extension of territory consequent upon the Mexican war. (See Clay, Henry.) This speech aroused intense indignation at the north, and especially in Massachusetts. It was regarded by many people as a deliberate sacrifice of principle to policy. Mr. Webster was accused of truckling to the south in order to obtain southern support for the presidency. Such an accusation seems inconsistent with Mr. Webster's character, and a comprehensive survey of his political career renders it highly improbable. The "Seventh of March" speech may have been a political mistake; but one cannot read it to-day, with a clear recollection of what was thought and felt before the Civil War, and doubt for a moment the speaker's absolute frankness and sincerity. He supported Mr. Clay's compromises because they seemed to him a conclusive settlement of the slavery question. The whole territory of the United States, as he said, was now covered with compromises, and the future destiny of every part, so far as the legal introduction of slavery was concerned, seemed to be decided. As for the regions to the west of Texas, he believed that slavery was ruled out by natural conditions of soil and climate, so that it was not necessary to protect them by a Wilmot proviso. As for the fugitive slave law, it was simply a provision for carrying into effect a clause of the constitution, without which that instrument could never have been adopted, and in the frequent infraction of which Mr. Webster saw a serious danger to the continuance of the Union. He therefore accepted the Fugitive-Slave Law as one feature in the proposed system of compromises; but, in accepting it, he offered amendments, which, if they had been adopted, would have gone far toward depriving it of some of its most obnoxious and irritating features. By adopting these measures of compromise. Mr. Webster believed that the extension of slavery would have been given its limit, that the north would, by reason of its free labor, increase in preponderance over the south, and that by and by the institution of slavery, hemmed in and denied further expansion, would die a natural death. That these views were mistaken, the events of the next ten years showed only too plainly, but there is no good reason for doubting their sincerity. There is little doubt, too, that the compromises had their practical value in postponing the inevitable conflict for ten years, during which the relative strength of the north was increasing and a younger generation was growing up less tolerant of slavery and more ready to discard palliatives and achieve a radical cure. So far as Mr. Webster's moral attitude was concerned, although he was not prepared for the bitter hostility that his speech provoked in many quarters, he must nevertheless have known that it was quite as likely to injure him at the north as to gain support for him in the south, and his resolute adoption of a policy that he regarded as national rather than sectional was really an instance of high moral courage. It was, however, a concession that did violence to his sentiments of humanity, and the pain and uneasiness it occasioned is visible in some of his latest utterances. On President Taylors death, 9 July, 1850, Mr. Webster became President Fillmore's Secretary of State. An earnest attempt was made on the part of his friends to secure his nomination for the presidency in 1852; but on the first ballot in the convention he received only 29 votes, while there were 131 for General Scott and 133 for Mr. Fillmore. The efforts of Mr. Webster's adherents succeeded only in giving the nomination to Scott. The result was a grave disappointment to Mr. Webster. He refused to support the nomination, and took no part in the campaign. His health was now rapidly failing. He left Washington. 8 September, for the last time, and returned to Marshfield, which he never left again, except on 20 September for a brief call upon his physician in Boston. By his own request there were no public ceremonies at his funeral, which took place very quietly, 29 September, at Marshfield. The steel engraving of Webster is from a portrait made about 1840. the vignette from a painting by James B. Longacre, executed in 1833. The other illustrations represent the Bunker Hill monument, his residence and grave at Marshfield, and the imposing statue by Thomas Ball, erected in the Central park, New 'fork. See Webster's "Works," with biographical sketch by Edward Everett (6 vols., Boston, 1851); "Webster's Private Correspondence," edited by Fletcher Webster (2 vols., Boston, 1856); George Ticknor Curtis's "Life of Webster " (2 vols.. New York, 1870); Edwin P. Whipple's "Great Speeches of Webster" (Boston, 1879); and Henry Cabot Lodge's "Webster," in "American Statesmen Series" (Boston, 1883).—Daniel's son, Fletcher, lawyer, born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 23 July, 1813; died near Bull Run, Virginia, 30 August, 1862, was graduated at Harvard in 1833, studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar. He was private secretary to his father during part of the latter's service as Secretary of State, secretary of legation in China under Caleb Cushing in 1843, a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1847, and from 1850 till 1861 surveyor of the port of Boston. He became colonel of the 12th Massachusetts regiment. 26 June, 1861, served in Virginia and Maryland, and was killed at the second battle of Bull Run. Besides editing his father's private correspondence, Colonel Webster published an "Oration before the Authorities of the City of Boston, July 4, 1846." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 406-415
Biography from National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans:
DANIEL WEBSTER was born in Salisbury, at the head of the Merrimack River, in the state of New Hampshire, on the 18th of January, 1782. His father, always a farmer, but at one period an officer in the war of the revolution, and for many years judge of the court "of common pleas, was a man of a strongly marked character, full of decision, integrity, firmness, and good sense. He died in 1806, having lived, to see the spot where he had, with great difficulty, established himself; changed from being the frontier of civilization, to be the centre of a happy population, abounding in prosperity and resources.
The early youth of Mr. Webster was passed in the midst of the forest, where the means for forming the character we now witness in him, seemed absolutely wanting; and but for the characteristic policy of New England, which carries its free schools even into the wilderness, he would have passed the "mute inglorious" life, which is entailed upon the peasantry of less favored countries. But the first upward aspiration, notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances in which he was placed, was early given; and the impulse thus imparted to his young mind was never lost. Struggling always with difficulties, and not without great sacrifices on the part of his family, he was prepared for a higher course of education; and, at last, was graduated, in 1801, at Dartmouth College, having already developed faculties, which, so far as his academic career was concerned, left all rivalship far behind him.
His professional studies in the law were begun in his native town, under Mr. Thompson, soon afterwards a member of Congress, and completed in. Boston, under Mr. Gore, afterwards governor of Massachusetts, and one of its senators in Congress, whose whole character, private, political, and professional, from its elevation, purity, and dignity, was singularly fitted to influence a young man of quick and generous feelings, who already. perceived within himself the impulse of talents and the stirring of an ambition, whose direction was yet to be determined. It was in Boston, that Mr. Webster was admitted to the bar, in 1805; and it is a fact worth remembering, that, when Mr. Gore presented him to the court, he ventured to make a prediction respecting his pupil's future eminence, which all his present fame has not more than fulfilled.
Mr. Webster began the practice of his profession at Boscawen, a small village near the place of his nativity; but, in 1807, moved to Portsmouth, the commercial capital of New Hampshire. There he at once rose to the rank of the most prominent in his profession; and under the influence of such intercourse as that with Mr. Smith, then chief justice of New Hampshire, and Mr. Mason, the leading counsel in the state, and of the first order of minds anywhere, he went through a stern intellectual training, and acquired that unsparing logic, which now renders him in his turn so formidable an adversary.
His first entrance on public life, was in 1812, soon after the declaration of war, when, at the early age of thirty, he was chosen one of the representatives of his native state to the Thirteenth Congress. His position there was a difficult one, and he felt it to be so. He was opposed to the policy of the war; the state he represented was earnestly opposed to it; and he had always, especially in the eloquent and powerful memorial from the great popular meeting in Rockingham, expressed himself frankly on the whole subject. But he was now called into the councils of the government, which was carrying on the war itself. He felt it to be his duty, therefore, to make no opposition for opposition's sake; though, at the same time, he felt it to be no less his duty, to take heed that, neither the constitution, nor the interests of the nation, were endangered or sacrificed. When, therefore, Mr. Monroe's bill, for a sort of conscription, was introduced, - he joined with Mr. Eppes, and other friends of the administration, and defeated a project, which, except in a moment of great anxiety and excitement, would probably never have been proposed. But when, on the other hand, the bill, "for encouraging enlistments," was before the house, he made a speech, in January, 1814, in favor of adequate naval defence, arid a perfect military protection of the northern frontier, which, now the passions of that stormy period are hushed, will find an echo in the heart of every lover of his country.
On the subject of a national bank, he took the same independent and patriotic ground, and maintained it with equal vigor and firmness. The administration, having found a bank indispensable, applied to Congress for one, with fifty millions of capital, five only of which were to be in specie, and the rest in the depreciated government securities of the period, with an obligation to lend the treasury thirty millions; but relieved from the necessity of paying its own notes in gold and silver. The project of -such a bank, having passed the Senate, came to the house, and was there discussed, December, 1814, and January, 1815. Mr. Webster opposed it, on the ground, that it would only increase the embarrassments in the fiscal operations of the nation, and the pecuniary transactions of individuals, which were already in confusion, by the refusal of all the state banks south of New England, to pay in specie. He was, no doubt, right; and, probably, nobody now, on reviewing the discussion of the whole subject, would doubt it. But he carried his point, and defeated the bill, only by the casting vote of the speaker, Mr. Cheves.
Mr. Webster's opposition to the bank, however, had not been factious; and, therefore, the very next day, he took the initiative steps for bringing the whole subject immediately before the house again; and a sound, specie-paying bank, was 'almost as immediately agreed to; Mr. Webster, and most of his friends, voting for it. The bill, however, to establish it, was rejected by the president, on the ground, that it was not sufficient to meet the exigencies of the case; which, indeed, we now know no bank would have been able to meet; and thus the question was again brought into a severe and protracted discussion, which was ended only by the unexpected news of the peace, January 17, 1815.
But the peace brought with it other conflicts and trials of the same nature. When the bill for the present bank of, the United States was introduced, Mr. Webster opposed it, on the ground, that the capital proposed was too large, and that it contained a provision to authorize a suspension of specie payments. On both points, his opposition, with that of his friends, was successful; but still, he was not satisfied with the bill; and the suggestions he made, predicting enormous subscriptions to the stock for purposes of speculation merely, and out of all proportion to the real ability of the subscribers, showed the statesman-like forecast, which has marked his whole political course; and were sadly justified by the difficulties that occurred in the early history of the bank itself.
Still less, however, was he satisfied with the condition of the circulating medium of the country, which was then fit neither for the safe management of the concerns of the government, nor for the security of private property. A large part of it consisted in the depreciated notes of the state banks, south of New England, in which even the revenue of the government was receivable, at the different custom houses; so that there was a difference, he declared, of at least twenty-five per cent. in the rates of duties collected in different parts of the country, according to the value of the paper medium in which they were paid. The vast mischief which would follow this state of things were at once foreseen by Mr. Webster; and he introduced a resolution, requiring the revenue of the United States to be collected only in the legal currency of the United States, or in bills equal to that currency in value. The passage of this resolution, the defeat of the paper currency bank proposed in 1814, and the establishment of the present specie-paying bank, have saved us from confusion and disasters, which Mr. Webster so clearly foresaw, and on which, now we understand more of their nature and extent, it is hardly possible to look back with composure.
The same principles and doctrines were again maintained by him, with equal steadiness, when the question of re-chartering the bank came up, in 1832. The objection of too large a capital was then removed, as he conceived, by the increased population, wealth, and wants of the country; and the objection to indiscriminate subscription could not recur, if the charter were renewed. Mr. Webster, therefore, sustained it; and when the president had placed his veto upon it, rejoined, not on the ground sometimes taken, that the president had exceeded his authority; but, on the ground that he had exercised it to the injury of the country, and that the reasons he had given for it were untenable.
In 1816, Mr. Webster determined to retire, at least for a time, from public life, and to change his residence. He had then lived in Portsmouth nine years, and they had been to him years of great happiness in his private relations, and, in his relations to the country, years of remarkable advancement and honor. But, in the disastrous fire, which, in 1813, destroyed a large part of that devoted town, he had sustained a heavy pecuniary loss, which the opportunities offered by his profession in New Hampshire were not likely to repair. He determined, therefore, to establish himself in a larger capital; and, in the summer of 1816, moved to Boston, where he has ever since resided.
His object was now professional occupation; and he devoted himself to it, for six or eight years, with unremitting assiduity; refusing to accept office, or to mingle in political discussion. His success was correspondent to his exertions. He was already known as a distinguished lawyer in his native state, and beginning to be known as such in Massachusetts. The Dartmouth College cause, which he argued, in March, 1818, in the Supreme Court of the United States, placed him in the first rank of American jurists, at the early age of thirty-six; and from that time his attendance on this great tribunal has been constantly secured by retainers in the most important causes ; and the circle of his professional business, which has been regularly enlarging, has not been exceeded, if it has been equalled, by that of any other lawyer, who has ever appeared in the national forum. Few of his arguments, however, are reported, and even those few are exhibited only in a dry and technical outline. Among them, the most remarkable are, the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, in 1824, involving the question of the steam-boat monopoly; and the case of Ogden vs. Saunders, 1827, involving the question of state insolvent laws, when they purport to absolve the party from the obligation of the contract. In these, and in all his other forensic efforts, we see what is most characteristic of Mr. Webster's mind as a lawyer: his clearness and downright simplicity in stating fads; his acute analysis of difficulties; his earnest pursuit of truth for truth's sake, and of the principles of law for the sake of right and justice; and his desire to attain them all by the most direct and simple means. It is this plainness, this simplicity, in fact, that makes him so. prevalent with the jury; and not only with the jury in court, but with the great jury of the whole people.
But, during· the years just passed over, Mr. Webster's success was not confined to the bar. In the year 1820-21, he was a member of a convention of delegates, assembled in Boston, to revise the constitution of Massachusetts, and exercised a preponderating influence in an assembly of greater dignity and talent than was ever. before collected in that ancient commonwealth. On the 22d of December, 1820, the day when the two hundredth year from the first landing of the forefathers, at Plymouth, was completed, Mr. Webster, by the sure indication of the public will, was summoned to that consecrated spot, and, in an address, which is the gravest of his published works, so spoke of the centuries past, that the centuries yet to come shall receive and remember his words. Again, in 1825, fifty years from the day when the solemn drama. of the. American revolution was opened, on Bunker's hill, Mr. Webster stood there, and interpreted to assembled thousands the feelings with which that great event will forever be regarded. Again, too, in the summer of 1826, he was called upon to commemorate the services which Adams and Jefferson had rendered, when they carried through the declaration of independence; and which they so mysteriously sealed, by their common death, exactly half a century afterwards. And finally, on the 22d of February, 1832, at the completion of a century from the birth of Washington, and in the city which bears his name, Mr. Webster exhibited him to the country as standing at the head alike of a new world, and of a new era, in the history of man. These four occasions were all memorable; as memorable, perhaps, as any that have occurred to Americans in our time; and the' genius of Mr. WEBSTER has sent them down, marked with its impress, to posterity.
But, during a part of the period over which we have slightly passed, he was again in public life. From 1823 to 1827, he was a member of the House of Representatives, from the city of Boston, in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses. His first distinguished effort, on this second appearance in the national councils, was his "Greek speech," in which, with the forecast of a statesman, he showed, as plainly .as events have since proved it, that the principles laid down by the great powers in Europe from the Congress of Paris, in 1814, to that of Laybach, in 1821, as the basis on which to maintain the peace of the world, mistook the spirit of the age, and would speedily be overturned by the irresistible power of popular opinion. In 1824, he entered fully into the great discussions about the tariff; and examined the doctrines of exchange, and the balance of trade, with an ability which has prevented them from being since, what they had so often been before, subjects of crude and unsatisfactory controversy in both houses of Congress. In 1825, he prepared and carried through the crimes act, which, as a just tribute to his address and exertions, his great wisdom and patient labor, already bears his name; .and, in the same session of Congress, he defended, as he had defended them in 1816, the principles involved in the exercise of the power of internal improvements by the general government. These, with the discussions respecting the bill for enlarging the number of judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and respecting the Panama mission, were the more prominent subjects on which Mr. Webster exhibited his remarkable powers during the four sessions in which he represented the city of Boston in the House of Representatives.
In 1826, he was reelected, almost. unanimously, to represent the same district yet a third time; but, before he had taken his seat, a vacancy having occurred in the Senate, he was chosen, without any regular opposition, to fill it; an honor, which was again conferred upon him in 1833, by a sort of general content and acclamation.
How he has borne himself as a senator, is known to the whole country. · No man has been found able to. intercept from him the constant regard of the nation; so that, whatever he has said, has been watched and understood throughout the borders of the land, almost as familiarly and thoroughly as it has been at Washington. The speeches he has made on the great questions of the tariff, and of internal improvements; his beautiful defence of the bill for the relief of the surviving officers of the revolution; his report on the apportionment of representatives; and his statesman-like discussions respecting a national bank; are known to all who know anything about the affairs of the country. But, though the eyes of all have thus been fastened on him, in such a way, that nothing relating to him, can have escaped their notice, there are two occasions, where he has attracted a kind and degree of attention, which, as it is rarely given to any man in any country, is so much the more honorable whenever it is obtained. We refer now, of course, to the two great debates of 1830 and 1833, when he overthrew. the doctrine of nullification.
An attempt to put a construction upon the constitution, which has resulted in these doctrines, can be traced back as far as to May, 1828, when two or more meetings, of the South Carolina delegates, were held at General Hayne's lodgings, in Washington; and to the assembling of the legislature of South Carolina, in the autumn of the same year, when, on the 19th of December, a document, called, "An Exposition and Protest," prepared, as is understood, by Mr. Calhoun, then vice president of the United States, was produced, in order to exhibit and enforce those doctrines, on which that state relied for success in the contest into which she was then entering. In January, 1830, in the confident hope of obtaining further sanction to them, they were brought forward in the Senate of the United States, by General Hayne; though the resolution, under color of which they were thus produced, had nothing to do with them. Mr. Webster was, therefore, in a measure, taken by surprise; but his whole life had been a preparation for an encounter with any man, who should assail the great principles of the federal constitution; and his speeches, on this occasion, in reply to General Hayne, though called from him almost without premeditation, are the result of principles which had grown up with him from his youth, and were now developed with all the matured power of his mind and strength.
The same consequences, or consequences even more honorable, to Mr. Webster, followed the attempt made in the winter of 1833.
Longacre, James BORN & James Herring, National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Philadelphia: American Academy of Fine Arts, 1834-1839
WEBSTER, Edwin H., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
WEBSTER, John Adams, naval officer, born in Harford County, Maryland, 19 September, 1785; died there, 4 July, 1876. He entered the merchant marine, but at the beginning of the war of 1812 became 3d lieutenant on the privateer "Rossie," under Commodore Joshua Barney. Afterward he received a sailing-master's warrant in the navy, and was placed by Barney in command of a barge, of which he had charge till on the advance of the British on Washington he was transferred to shore duty. He commanded a detachment of sailors under Barney at Bladeusburg, serving his guns till the powder was exhausted, and had charge of Battery Babcock, near Baltimore, during the attack on that place. This battery of six guns was old and dilapidated, the guns were corroded, the carriages rusty, and the trucks immovable, the earthworks were defective, and the place was overgrown with briers, but in forty-eight hours Webster had it ready for action. On the night of 13 September, Webster' discovered the British landing-party, and opened fire on it, and his battery, together with Fort Covington, repelled the enemy after a brisk engagement, saving Baltimore. For this service he was specially mentioned in Commodore John Rodgers's report to the Secretary of the Navy, and presented with swords by the citizens of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. On 22 November, 1819, he was commissioned captain in the revenue service, and during the Mexican War he commanded a fleet of eight cutters to co-operate in the campaign on Rio Grande River and before Vera Cruz. In 1865 he retired from active duty, and at his death he was the senior officer in the service.—His son, John Adams, born in the homestead, Mount Adams, Harford County, Maryland. 26 June, 1823; died in Ogdensburg, New York, 6 April, 1875. entered the revenue service in 1842, was promoted captain in 1860, and saved his vessel, the "Dobbin," from capture by the Confederates at Savannah and Hampton Roads. At the latter place she was the only U. S. vessel that escaped, While on the New England coast he received a gold watch from the British board of trade for services to English seamen. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 415-416.
WEBSTER, John C., Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Church Anti-Slavery Society, President, 1859-64
WEBSTER, Joseph Dana, soldier, born in Old Hampton, New Hampshire, 25 August, 1811; died in Chicago, Illinois, 12 March, 1876. His father, Josiah (1772-1837), was pastor at Hampton from 1808 until his death. The son was graduated at Dartmouth in 1832, and read law in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but became a clerk in the engineer and war offices in Washington, was made a U. S. civil engineer in 1835, and on 7 July, 1838, entered the U.S. Army as 2d lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. He served through the Mexican War, and was promoted 1st lieutenant in July, 1849, and captain m March, 1853, but resigned in April, 1854, and moved to Chicago, where he engaged in business. He was president of the commission that perfected the remarkable system of sewerage for that place, and also planned and executed the operations whereby the grade of a large part of the city was made from two to eight feet higher, whole blocks being raised by jack-screws while new foundations were inserted. He entered the service of the state at the opening of the Civil War, took charge of the construction of fortifications at Cairo, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky, in April, and was made paymaster, with rank of major, of U. S. volunteers on 1 June, but in February, 1862. he became colonel of the 1st Illinois Artillery. He was chief of General Grant's staff for several months, was present at the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and at Shiloh was also chief of artillery. At the close of the first day's fight at Shiloh he occupied with all available artillery the ridge that covered Pittsburg Landing, thus checking the hitherto victorious Confederates. He received the highest commendation in General Grant's official report, and continued to be his chief of staff till, in October, 1862, he was detailed by the War Department to make a survey of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862, and, after serving for some time as military governor of Memphis, Tennessee, and as superintendent of military railroads, was again Grant's chief of staff in the Vicksburg Campaign, and from 1864 till the close of hostilities held the same post under General William T. Sherman. He was with General George H. Thomas at the battle of Nashville. General Webster was given the brevet of major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, resigned on 6 November, and returned to Chicago, where he remained during the rest of his life. He was assessor of internal revenue in that city in 1869-'72, and then assistant U. S. Treasurer there till July, 1872, when he became collector of revenue. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 416.
WEBSTER, Joseph Philbrick, musician, born in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1820; died in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, 18 January, 1875. He acquired a good English education at Pembroke Academy, and at ten years of age could play by ear upon the violin and flute. At twenty years of age he went to Boston, where for three years he was under the instruction of Dr. Lowell Mason and other teachers of music, and became known as a singer. At twenty-eight he lost his voice, after which he taught music in Connecticut, and from 1850 till 1855 in the south. While there he became a bitter foe to slavery, and this feeling was subsequently manifested in his many war songs. He afterward moved to Indianapolis, and then to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he died. He composed a great number of sentimental songs. His cantata of " The Rebellion," in which is expressed his sorrow for the death of Lincoln, is one of his best efforts. His war songs were very popular in their day. Among his ballads are "Sweet By and By." " Lorena," and " The Golden Stair." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 416.
WEBSTER, Nathan, Haverhill, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1841-51.
WEBSTER, Warren, surgeon, born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, 7 March, 1835. He was educated in New Hampshire and at medical schools in Boston and Paris, and graduated at the medical department of Harvard in 1860. Dr. Webster was appointed assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army, 23 June, 1860. and after brief service on the frontier was ordered to Washington, where in 1861 he was placed in charge of Douglas General Hospital, at the same time engaging in the organization and superintending the construction of other permanent military hospitals at Washington. He was on duty on the field at the second battle of Bull Run. and: was made a medical inspector in the Army of the Potomac in 1862. Dr. Webster was present in the battle of Fredericksburg and active in the care of the wounded after Chancellorsville (1863), where he organized numerous field hospitals, passing to and fro for the purpose within the opposing lines under flag of truce. He was in charge of McDougall General Hospital, Fort Schuyler. New York, in 1863-4, and then of De Camp General Hospital, where in 1866, during the cholera epidemic, he greatly distinguished himself. He was promoted surgeon with rank of major, 28 July, 1866, was medical director of the 5th Military District in 1868-'70, when he organized a quarantine system for the Texas Coast, and afterward served at various military stations in California and the east. Dr. Webster was brevetted captain "for gallant and meritorious services" at Chancellorsville, major "for faithful and meritorious services" during the war, and lieutenant-colonel "for meritorious and distinguished services at Hart's and David's Islands, New York Harbor, where cholera prevailed." He is the author of "The Army Medical Staff" (Boston, 1865); "Regulations for the Government of De Camp General Hospital" (New York. 1865); "Quarantine Regulations, 5th Military District" (Austin, Texas, 1869): and "Sympathetic Diseases of the Eve." translated (New York, 1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 418.
WEED, Edward, abolitionist, agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), Ohio Area. (Dumond, 1961, p. 185; Filler, 1960, p. 146; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 80, 86, 88, 104, 106, 116, 129, 143, 146, 154, 168, 174, 206, 227, 228, 229; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 513)
WEED, Stephen Hinsdale, soldier, born in New York City in 1834; died near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2 July, 1863. He was graduated at the New York Free Academy in 1851, and at the U. S. Military Academy in 1854, and assigned to the artillery. After frontier duty in Texas, and service against the Seminoles in 1856-'7, he was engaged in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1858, and then on the Utah Expedition, participating in skirmishes with hostile Indians at Egan Canyon, 11 August, 1860, and Deep Creek on 6 September. He was promoted captain on 14 May, 1861, and served in the Peninsular, Northern Virginia, and Maryland Campaigns, in command of a battery. From 3 December, 1862, till 23 January, 1863, he was chief of the artillery corps at Falmouth, Virginia After a short leave of absence he took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, and on 6 June, 1863, was made brigadier-general of volunteers for gallant conduct there. After 10 May, 1863, he commanded an artillery brigade in the 5th Army Corps. At Gettysburg, while holding the position on Little Round Top, he was mortally wounded, exclaiming as he fell: "I would rather die here than that the rebels should gain an inch of this ground." The point was essentially important to retain, and it is historically marked as " Weed's Hill." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 419.
WEED, Thurlow, 1797-1882, journalist, opponent of slavery (Sorin, 1971, p. 63; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 419-420; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 598; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 22, p. 882)
WEED, Thurlow, journalist, born in Cairo, Greene County, New York, 15 November, 1797; died in New York City, 22 November, 1882. At twelve years of age he entered a printing-office in Catskill, New York. Soon afterward he moved with his father's family to the frontier village of Cincinnatus, Cortland County, New York, and aided in clearing the settlement and in farming, but in 1811 returned to the printing business, and was successively employed in several newspaper offices. At the beginning of the second war with Great Britain he enlisted as a private in a New York regiment, and served on the northern frontier. In 1815 he moved to New York City, where he was employed in the printing establishment of Van Winckle and Wiley. They were the publishers at that time of William Cobbett's “Weekly Register,” and Weed became acquainted with the eccentric author by carrying proof-sheets to him. He went to Norwich, Chenango County, New York, in 1819, established the “Agriculturist,” and two years afterward moved to Manlius, New York, where he founded the “Onondaga County Republican.” In 1824 he became owner and editor of the “Rochester Telegraph,” the second daily paper that was published west of Albany. While Mr. Weed was editing that journal Lafayette visited the United States, and Weed accompanied him in a part of his tour throughout the country. Difficulties arising out of the anti-Mason excitement caused Mr. Weed's retirement from the “Telegraph” in 1826, and in the same year he founded the “Anti-Mason Enquirer.” He was a member of the legislature in 1825. In 1830 he established the Albany “Evening Journal,” which took a conspicuous part in the formation of the Whig and the Republican parties, being equally opposed to the Jackson administration and to nullification. During the thirty-five years of his control of that organ it held an influential place in party journalism, and brought Mr. Weed into intimate relations with politicians of all parties. His political career began in 1824 in the presidential conflict that resulted in the election of John Quincy Adams. He succeeded in uniting the Adams and Clay factions, and was acknowledged by the leaders of his party to have contributed more than any other to their success in that canvass. He was active in the nomination of William Henry Harrison in 1836 and 1840, of Henry Clay in 1844, of General Winfield Scott in 1852, and of John C. Frémont in 1856. In 1860 he earnestly advocated the nomination of William H. Seward for the presidency, but he afterward cordially supported Abraham Lincoln, whose re-election he promoted in 1864. He subsequently aided the regular nominations of the Republican Party, and did good service in the canvass of General Ulysses S. Grant for the presidency. Especially in his own state he influenced the elections, and in the constitutional crisis that arose from the presidential election in 1876 he guided in a powerful degree the decisions of his party. He had visited Europe several times before the Civil War, and in 1861 with Archbishop Hughes and Bishop McIlvaine he was sent abroad to prevail on foreign governments to refrain from intervention in behalf of the Confederacy. In this service he stoutly defended the national interests, and, through his influence with English and French statesmen, brought about a result that permanently affected the feeling of Europe toward the United States. His “Letters” from abroad were collected and published (New York, 1866). He became editor of the New York “Commercial Advertiser” in 1867, but was compelled to resign that office the next year, owing to failing health, and did not again engage in regular work. Mr. Weed was tall, with a large head, overhanging brows, and massive person. He had great natural strength of character, good sense, judgment, and cheerfulness. From his youth he possessed a geniality and tact that drew all to him, and it is said that he never forgot a fact or a face. He was a journalist for fifty-seven years, and, although exercising great influence in legislation and the distribution of executive appointments, he refused to accept any public office. He was one of the earliest advocates of the abolition of imprisonment for debt, was a warm opponent of slavery, supported the policy of constructing and enlarging the state canals, and aided various railway enterprises and the establishment of the state banking system. He took an active part in the promotion of several New York City enterprises—the introduction of the Croton water, the establishment of the Metropolitan Police, the Central Park, the Harbor Commission, and the Castle Garden Depot and commission for the protection of immigrants. He gave valuable aid to many charitable institutions, and devoted a large part of his income to private charity. He published some interesting “Reminiscences” in the “Atlantic Monthly” (1876), and after his death his “Autobiography,” edited by his daughter, appeared (Boston, 1882), the story of his life being completed in a second volume by his grandson, Thurlow Weed Barnes (1884). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 419-420.
WEIGHTMAN, Richard Hanson, soldier, born in Maryland in 1818; died near Wilson's Creek, Missouri., 10 August, 1861. He entered the U. S. Military Academy in 1837, but was expelled in the same year for cutting a comrade in the face in a personal encounter. With the same knife he afterward killed a Santa Fe trader in a quarrel. He was a captain in the Missouri Light Infantry Volunteers in the Mexican war. He became an additional paymaster in the U. S. Army in 1848, was honorably discharged in 1849, settled in New Mexico, and was chosen provisionally a senator, when in 1850 the territory unsuccessfully applied for admission into the Union. In 1851-3 he served in Congress, having been elected as a Democrat. At the beginning of the Civil War he became colonel of a regiment of the Missouri state guard, participated in the battle of Carthage, 5 July, 1861, and was killed while commanding a brigade at Wilson's creek. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 421.
WEIGHTMAN, Roger C. librarian, born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1786; died in Washington, D. C., 2 February, 1876. He adopted the printing business, settled in Washington, D. C., and at one time was congressional printer. During the second war with Great Britain he was an officer of cavalry, and subsequently he became a general of District of Columbia Militia. He was mayor of Washington in 1824-'7, became cashier of the Washington bank, and was for many years librarian of the patent office. He commanded the troops that were quartered in that building during the Civil War. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 421.
WEINER, Theodore, radical abolitionist, follower of John Brown (see entry for John Brown).
WEISS, John, 1818-1879, Boston, Massachusetts, author, clergyman, abolitionist, women’s rights activist. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 422; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 615)
WEISS, John, author, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 28 June, 1818; died there, 9 March, 1879. His father, a German Jew, was a barber in Worcester, Massachusetts John was graduated at Harvard in 1837, and at the divinity-school in 1843, meanwhile studying abroad. He then was settled over the Unitarian church in Watertown, Massachusetts, but withdrew on account of his anti-slavery opinions, and was pastor at New Bedford a short time, resigning on account of the failure of his health. After several years of study and travel he resumed his pastorate in Watertown, and preached there in 1859-'70. Mr. Weiss was an ardent Abolitionist, an advocate of women's rights, a rationalist in religion, and a disciple of the transcendental philosophy. He delivered courses of lectures on “Greek Religious Ideas.” “Humor in Shakespeare,” and “Shakespeare's Women.” Of his lectures on Greek religious ideas, Octavius B. Frothingham says: “They were the keenest interpretation of the ancient myths, the most profound, luminous, and sympathetic, I have met with.” He is the author of many reviews, sermons, and magazine articles on literary, biographical, social, and political questions, “Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker” (2 vols., New York, 1864), and “American Religion” (1871). He also edited and translated “Henry of Afterdingen,” a romance by Friedrich Van Hardenberg (Boston, 1842); “Philosophical and Æsthetic Letters and Essays of Schiller,” with an introduction (1845); and “Memoir of Johann G. Fichte,” by William Smith (1846). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 422
WEITZEL, Godfrey, soldier, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1 November, 1835; died in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 19 March, 1884. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855, became 1st lieutenant of engineers in 1860. and was attached to the staff of General Benjamin F. Butler as chief engineer of the Department of the Gulf. After the capture of New Orleans he became assistant military commander and acting mayor of the city. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 August, 1862, routed a large force of the enemy at Labadieville, Louisiana, in October of that year, and was brevetted major in the U. S. Army for that service. He became captain of engineers, 3 March, 1863, commanded the advance in General Nathaniel P. Banks's operations in western Louisiana in April and May, 1863, a division at the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, and a division in the 19th Army Corps in the Lafourche Campaign. On 8 July, 1863, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. Army, "for gallant and meritorious services at the siege of Port Hudson." He joined in the western Louisiana Campaign, and from May till September, 1864, was chief engineer of the Army of the James, being engaged at Swift's Creek, the actions near Drury's Bluff, and in constructing the defences of Bermuda Hundred, James River, and Deep Bottom. In August,1864, he was brevetted major-general of volunteers "for meritorious and distinguished services during the Civil War." He commanded the 18th Army Corps from September till December, 1864, was brevetted colonel in the U. S. Army " for gallant and meritorious services at the capture of Fort Harrison, 30 September, 1864," became full major-general of volunteers on 7 November, was second in command of the first expedition to Fort Fisher, and in March and April, 1865, was in charge of all troops north of Potomac River during the final operations against General Robert E. Lee's army, taking possession of Richmond, 3 April, 1865. In March,1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army for services in that campaign, and major-general in the same rank " for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Civil War." He commanded the Rio Grande District, Texas, in 1865-'6, and was mustered out of volunteer service on 1 March of the latter year. He became major of engineers in 1866, and lieutenant colonel in 1882, and from that date was in charge of various works of improvement in and near Philadelphia, and chairman of the commission advisory to the board of harbor commissioners of that city. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 423.
WELD, Angelina Grimké, 1805-1879, reformer, author, wife of Theodore Weld (Barnes, 1933; Drake, 1950, p. 158; Thomas, 1950; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 425; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936)
WELD, Angelina Emily Grimké, reformer, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 20 February, 1805, is the daughter of Judge John F. Grimké, of South Carolina, but in 1828, with her sister, Sarah M. Grimké (q. v.), she joined the Society of Friends in Philadelphia, afterward emancipating the slaves that she inherited from her parents in 1836. She was the author of an “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South,” which was republished in England with an introduction by George Thompson, and was associated with her sister in delivering public addresses under the auspices of the American anti-slavery society, winning a reputation for eloquence. The controversy that the appearance of the sisters as public speakers caused was the beginning of the woman's rights agitation in this country. She married Mr. Weld on 14 May, 1838, and was afterward associated with him in educational and reformatory work. Besides the work noticed above, she wrote “Letters to Catherine E. Beecher,” a review of the slavery question (Boston, 1837). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 425.
WELD, Ezra Greenleaf, 1801-1874, Hampton, Connecticut, photographer, abolitionist, brother of prominent abolitionist Theodore Dwight Weld.
WELD, Theodore Dwight, 1803-1895, Cincinnati, Ohio, New York, NY, reformer, abolitionist leader, anti-slavery lobbyist. Co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) in December 1833. Manager, 1833-1835, and Corresponding Secretary, 1839-1840, of the Society. Weld was a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement. He converted many late leaders to the cause. Among them were the Tappan brothers, Congressman Joshua R. Giddings, Edwin Stanton, Henry Ward Beecher and his wife, future author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriett Beecher Stowe. While at Lane University, Weld led debates on slavery. These were very controversial. As a result, the university ended the debates. This led to many of the students at Lane leaving in protest and going to Oberlin College. Many of these students became Agents for the American Anti-Slavery Society. Weld published American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses (1839). Also wrote The Bible Against Slavery (1839) and Slavery and the Internal Slave Trace in the United States (London, 1841). In the 1840s, he worked with prominent anti-slavery Whig Congressmen.
(Barnes, 1933; Drake, 1950, pp. 138, 140, 158, 173; Dumond, 1961, pp. 161, 176, 180, 183, 185, 220, 240-241; Filler, 1960, pp. 32, 56, 67, 72, 102, 148, 156, 164, 172, 176, 206; Hammond, 2011, pp. 268, 273; Mabee, 1970, pp. 17, 33, 34, 38, 92, 93, 104, 146, 151, 152, 153, 187, 188, 191, 196, 348, 358; Pease, 1965, pp. 94-102; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 42, 46, 106, 321-323, 419, 486, 510-512; Sorin, 1971, pp. 42-43, 53, 60, 64, 67, 70n; Thomas, 1950; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 425; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 625; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 681-682; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 22, p. 928; The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. II. New York: James T. White, 1892, p. 318; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 740-741; Abzug, Robert H. Passionate Liberator: Theodore Dwight Weld and the Dilemma of Reform, New York, 1980; Dumond, Dwight L., ed., Letters of Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld and Sarah Grimké, 1822-144, 1965)
WELD, Theodore Dwight, reformer, born in Hampton, Connecticut, 23 November, 1803. He entered Phillips Andover Academy in 1819, but was not graduated, on account of failing eyesight. In 1830 he became general agent of the Society for the promotion of manual labor in literary institutions, publishing afterward a valuable report (New York, 1833). He entered Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1833, but left that institution on the suppression of the Anti-slavery Society of the seminary by the trustees. Mr. Weld then became well known as an anti-slavery lecturer, but in 1836 he lost his voice, and was appointed by the American Anti-Slavery Society editor of its books and pamphlets. In 1841-'3 he labored in Washington in aid of the anti-slavery members of Congress, and in 1854 he established at Eagleswood, New Jersey, a school in which he received pupils irrespective of sex and color. In 1864 he moved to Hyde Park, near Boston, and devoted himself to teaching and lecturing. Mr. Weld is the author of many pamphlets, and of “The Power of Congress over the District of Columbia” (New York, 1837); “The Bible against Slavery” (1837); “American Slavery as it Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses” (1839); and “Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade in the United States” (London, 1841). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 425.
WELLER, John B., senator, born in Ohio in 1812; died in New Orleans, Louisiana, 7 August, 1875. He was elected to Congress as a Democrat, serving in 1839-'45, was lieutenant-colonel of an Ohio regiment in the Mexican War, becoming its commander on the death of its colonel at Monterey, and a commissioner to Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Afterward he moved to California and was elected U. S. Senator, holding his seat from 17 March, 1852, till 3 March. 1857. He was governor of the state in 1858-'60, II. S. minister to Mexico from 7 November, I860, till 14 May, 1861, and a delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1864. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 426.
WELLES, Gideon, 1802-1878, newspaper editor. Secretary of the Navy, Lincoln’s cabinet. Opposed the extension of slavery. Allowed African American refugees to join the U.S. Navy. Secretary of the Navy 1861-1869. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 427; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 629; Welles’ diaries, manuscripts, Library of Congress)
WELLES, Gideon, Secretary of the Navy, born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, 1 July, 1802; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 11 February, 1878, entered Norwich University, Vermont, but, without being graduated, began to study law. In 1826 he became editor and part owner of the Hartford “Times” with which he remained connected till 1854, though he retired from the responsible editorship in 1836. He made his paper the chief organ of the Democratic Party in the state. It was the first to advocate the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency, and earnestly upheld his administration. Mr. Welles was a member of the legislature in 1827-‘35, and both in that body and in his journal attacked with severity the proposed measure to exclude from the courts witnesses that did not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments. He also labored for years to secure the abolition of imprisonment for debt, opposed special and private legislation, and secured the passage of general laws for the organization of financial corporations. He began an agitation for low postage before the subject had begun to attract general attention. He was chosen comptroller of the state by the legislature in 1835, and elected to that office by popular vote in 1842 and 1843, serving as postmaster of Hartford in the intervening years. From 1846 till 1849 he was chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing in the U.S. Navy department at Washington. Mr. Welles had always opposed the extension of slavery. He identified himself with the newly formed Republican Party in 1855, and in 1856 was its candidate for governor of Connecticut. In 1860 he labored earnestly for the election of Abraham Lincoln, and on the latter's election Mr. Welles was given the portfolio of the U.S. Navy in his cabinet. Here his executive ability compensated for his previous lack of special knowledge, and though many of his acts were bitterly criticised, his administration was popular with the navy and with the country at large. His facility as a writer made, his state papers more interesting than such documents usually are. In his first report, dated 4 July, 1861, he announced the increase of the effective naval force from forty-two to eighty-two vessels. This and the subsequent increase in a few months to more than 500 vessels was largely due to his energy. In the report that has just been mentioned he also recommended investigations to secure the best iron-clads, and this class of vessels was introduced under his administration. In the cabinet Mr. Welles opposed all arbitrary measures, and objected to the declaration of a blockade of southern ports, holding that this was a virtual acknowledgment of belligerent rights, and that the preferable course would be to close our ports to foreign commerce by proclamation. By request of the president, he presented his ideas in writing; but the cabinet finally yielded to the views of Secretary Seward. Early in the war, on 25 September, 1861, he ordered that the Negro refugees that found their way to U. S. vessels should be enlisted in the navy. He held his post till the close of President Johnson's administration in 1869. In 1872 he acted with the Liberal Republicans, and in 1876 he advocated the election of Samuel J. Tilden, afterward taking strong grounds against the electoral commission and its decision. After his retirement from office he contributed freely to current literature on the political and other events of the civil war, and provoked hostile criticism by what many thought his harsh strictures on official conduct. In 1872 he published an elaborate paper to show that the capture of New Orleans in 1862 was due entirely to the navy, and in 1873, a volume entitled “Lincoln and Seward.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 427.
WELLING, James Clarke, educator, born in Trenton, New Jersey, 14 July, 1825. He was graduated at Princeton in 1844, and, after studying law, renounced that profession in 1848 to become associate principal of the New York Collegiate School. In 1850 he was secured by Joseph Gales and William W. Seaton as literary editor of the " National Intelligencer" at Washington, and he was afterward associated with them in the political conduct of that journal, becoming charged in 1856 with its chief management, for which post he was qualified by his accurate scholarship, his facility in writing, and his judicial temperament. His editorship continued through the crisis of the Civil War. Adhering to the old-line Whigs as against the Republican and the Democratic Parties, he supported the Bell-Everett ticket for president and vice-president in 1860. Steadfastly resisting the disunion movement at the south in all its phases, he gave to the war for the Union his loyal support. He advocated Lincoln's proposition of emancipation with compensation to loyal owners, the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and its abolition throughout the Union by constitutional amendment; but he questioned the validity of the emancipation proclamation, and strenuously opposed the constitutionality of military commissions for the trial of citizens in loyal states, which practice was subsequently condemned by the Supreme Court. The discussions of the " Intelligencer during this period often took the form of elaborate papers on questions of constitutional or international law, and exercised an acknowledged influence on public opinion. Some of them have been republished, and are still cited in works of history and jurisprudence. Dr. Welling withdrew from journalism in 1865, and spent the following year travelling in Europe for health and study. He had been previously appointed a clerk of the U. S. Court of Claims, and served in that office till 1867, when he was chosen president of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland. During his presidency the number of students advanced from 90 to 250. In 1868 he received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Columbian College, Washington. In 1870 he was appointed professor of belles-lettres in Princeton, but he resigned the post in the following year to accept the presidency of Columbian College (now University). Under his administration that institution has been enlarged, has received a new charter from Congress, erected a building in the heart of Washington (see illustration), added new professional schools, and laid the foundation of a free endowment. At the same time he has been connected with many literary, historical, and scientific societies. As president of the board of trustees of the Corcoran gallery of art since 1877 he has devoted much time to its development, visiting in 1887 the studios of the chief artists of Europe in its interest. In 1884 he was appointed a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and soon afterward he was elected chairman of its executive committee. He is an active member of the Philosophical and Anthropological Societies of Washington, was chosen in 1884 president of the former, and has contributed valuable memoirs to the published proceedings of both bodies. He is president of the Copyright League of the District of Columbia. For many years he has been a contributor to periodicals. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 427-428.
WELLS, Clark Henry, naval officer; born in Reading, Pennsylvania, 22 September, 1822; died in Washington, D. C., 28 January, 1888. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 25 September, 1840, attended the naval academy at Annapolis in 1846, and became a passed midshipman on 11 July of that year. During the Mexican war he served in the brig "Somers," which was capsized and sank in a squall off Vera Cruz, after which he joined the " Petrel," in which he participated in covering the landing of Scott's army and in the bombardment of Vera Cruz, he also took part in the expeditions that captured Tampico and Tuspan in 1846-'7. He was promoted to master, 1 March, 1855, and to lieutenant. 14 September, 1855, served in the steam frigate "Niagara," laying the first Atlantic submarine cable in 1857. When the Civil War opened he was appointed executive of the steamer " Susquehanna," in which he participated in the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina. He led several boat expeditions in engagements with batteries in the inland coast waters of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and was present at the capture of Fernandina. He commanded the sloop " Vandalia," on the blockade of Charleston, and took the sloop "Dale " home in 1862. He was commissioned a lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, was executive of the Philadelphia Navy-yard in 1863, and commanded the wooden steamer "Galena" in the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1863-'4. He participated in the battle of Mobile, in which his vessel was lashed to the " Oneida." When they were passing the forts a shell from the ram "Tennessee " exploded in one of the " Oneida's" boilers, and he towed her along, in command of both vessels because the commander of the " Oneida" had been wounded. He was highly commended by Admiral Farragut in his official report and by a special letter. He served in the Eastern Gulf Squadron for a few months, was refitted at Philadelphia and joined Admiral Porter's fleet at Hampton Roads, where he remained until the close of the war. He commanded the steamer "Kansas" on the Brazil Station in 1865-6, where he rendered assistance to a British gun-boat that was stranded in the River Plate, and also to a British merchant vessel, for which he received a letter of thanks from the British government through the president. He was commissioned a commander, 25 July, 1866, captain, 19 June, 1871, and with the "Shenandoah " rendered valuable assistance to the iron-clad " Compt de Verde " which had broken from her moorings at Spezia. He received the decoration of the Legion of honor from President Thiers of France for this service. He was chief signal officer of the U.S. Navy in 1879-80, was promoted to commodore, 22 January, 1880, and on 1 August, 1884, to rear-admiral, and he was placed on the retired list, 22 September, 1884. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 428.
WELLS, David Ames, economist, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, 17 June, 1828. He is a lineal descendant of Thomas Welles, governor of Connecticut, and, on his mother's side, of David Ames, who built and established the National Armory in Springfield. In 1847 he was graduated at Williams, and, with others, published a " History and Sketches of Williams College" (Springfield, 1847). For a time during 1848 he was on the editorial staff of the "Springfield Republican." While thus engaged, he suggested the idea, and was associated in the invention, of folding newspapers and books by machinery in connection with power printing-presses. The first machine that was ever constructed and successfully operated was built at his expense, and worked under his direction, in the office of the ' Republican." He then sold his interest, and entered the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard, where he became a special pupil of Louis Agassiz, and was graduated in 1851. Mr. Wells continued at Harvard as assistant, and was lecturer on physics and chemistry at Groton Academy, Massachusetts. In Cambridge he began, with George Bliss, in 1849, the publication of the " Annual of Scientific Discovery," which he continued until 1866. He invented in 1856 improvements in preparing textile fabrics. During 1857-'8 he was a member of the publishing-firm of G. P. Putnam and Company, New York. He compiled " Science of Common Things" (New York, 1857); "Elements of Natural Philosophy" (1857); "Principles and Applications of Chemistry " (1858); and "First Principles of Geology " (1861), of which works two were translated into Chinese, and that on chemistry was adopted as a text-book at the U. S. Military Academy. In 1864 he issued an essay on "Our Burden and our Strength," which was considered "one of the most original and startling brochures of political literature." The Loyal publication society of New York reprinted it, and it was published in England. French and German translations were issued abroad, and its entire circulation probably exceeded 200,000 copies. In 1865 he was called to Washington, and made chairman of a commission to consider the subject of raising by taxation the necessary revenue to supply the wants of the government. On the completion of his report in January, 1866, he was appointed special commissioner of the revenue, which office was created for him, and later under his direction the bureau of statistics was formed, ne visited Europe in 1867, under a government commission, and investigated, industries competitive with those of the United States. Although he was originally a believer in the economic system of protection, his experience resulted in his acceptance of free-trade doctrines, his term of office expired in 1870, and he was appointed chairman of a commission to examine the laws relating to local taxation in the state of New York. In 1872 he was invited to lecture on political science in Yale. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1872 and 1880, and in 1876 was a candidate for Congress from Connecticut. He was appointed by the U. S. Court in 1876 one of the trustees and receivers of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, and in fourteen months rescued the corporation from bankruptcy, and expended a considerable sum for improvements and repairs, without incurring an additional dollar of indebtedness. In 1877 he was appointed by the state board of canal commissioners chairman of a commission to consider the subject of tolls on the New York Canals, and in 1878 made an exhaustive report. He was one of the trustees of the bondholders that bought, under foreclosure and sale, and reorganized the Erie Railway. In 1870 he was elected by the Associated Railways of the United States a member of the board of arbitration, to which they agreed to refer all disputes and arrangements for "pooling" or apportioning their respective earnings. Mr. Wells was invited to deliver the annual address before the Cobden club in 1873, and in 1874 was elected a foreign associate of the French Academy of political science, also in 1877 a foreign associate of the Accademia dei Lincei of Italy, receiving its medal of honor in 1863. The degree of M. D. was given him by Berkshire Medical College in 1863, that of LL. D. by Williams in 1871, and that of D. C. L. by Oxford in 1874. He was president of the American social science association in 1875-'9, president of the New London County (Connecticut) historical society in 1880, and of the American free-trade league in 1881. He has been a prolific writer of pamphlets on economic subjects; some of the best known of which are " The Creed of the Free-Trade " (1875); "Production and Distribution of Wealth " (1875); " Why we Trade and How we Trade " (1878); "The Silver Question, or the Dollar of the Fathers vs. the Dollar of the Sons " (1878) and "Principles of Taxation" (1886). In book-form he has published "Year Book of Agriculture!' (Philadelphia, 1856); "Wells's Science of Common Things" (New York, 1856); "Report of U. S. Revenue Commission" (Washington, 1866), "Reports U. S. Special Commissioners of Revenue (4 vols., 1866-'9); "Robinson Crusoe's Money" (New York, 1876); "Our Merchant Marine: how it Rose, Increased, became Great, Declined, and Decayed" (1882); "A Primer of Tariff Reform " (1884); "Practical Economics, a Collection of Essays " (1885); "A Study of Mexico" (1887); "A Short and Simple Catechism" (1888) and " Relation of the Tariff to Wages " (1888). He has edited Charles Knight's "Knowledge is Power "(Boston, 1856); Richard F. Burton's "Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah " (New York, 1857); "Things not Generally Known "(1857); and Sir Benjamin C. Brodie's "Psychological Inquiries," with notes (1857). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 428-429.
WELLS, Eleazer M., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist. Vice president, 1833-1835, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833. (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833)
WELLS, Henry, expressman, born in New Hampshire, 12 December, 1805; died in Glasgow, Scotland, 10 December, 1878. He early entered the express business, becoming an agent for Henry F. Harnden, and in 1841 suggested to George Pomeroy the desirability of establishing an express from Albany to Buffalo. Subsequently Crawford Livingston acted on the proposition, and weekly trips were made between the two points. Beginning in 1843, railroad communication having been established between the two cities, trips were made daily. The firm-name was at first Pomeroy and Company, but was altered to Livingston, Wells and Pomeroy, and, on the retirement of the latter, became Livingston and Wells. In 1845 the business was extended westward from Buffalo to Chicago, with William G. Fargo in charge of that division, under the name of Wells and Company. Meanwhile they established a letter express to carry communications from New York to Buffalo for six cents, while the government charge for the same distance was twenty-five cents. Every means was taken by the National authorities to destroy the practice, but without success. In 1846 a European express was established, with offices in London and Paris. Competition by various companies resulted in the consolidation of the different organizations in 1850, and the formation of the American Express Company, of which Mr. Wells was elected president. In 1832 he was associated with William G. Fargo and others in forming the firm of Wells, Fargo and Company, for conducting the express business in the far west, and he continued an active officer of that company until its management was transferred to western capitalists after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1860 the American Express Company was reorganized with a capital of $1,000,000, and he acted as its president until 1868. He gave $150,000 to found and endow Wells Female College at Aurora, New York, one of the first collegiate institutions to be established in this country for the higher education of women. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 429-430.
WELLS, Henry Horatio, lawyer, born in Rochester, New York, 17 September, 1823. He was educated at Romeo Academy, Michigan, studied law in Detroit with Theodore Romeyn, was admitted to the bar in 1846, and in 1854-'6 was a member of the legislature. He entered the army in September, 1862, as colonel of the 26th Michigan Infantry, and served until September, 1866. In February, 1863, he was made provost-marshal-general of the defences south of Potomac River, which office he held until the close of the war. In May, 1865, he received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers, and, settling in Virginia in 1868-'9, was military governor of that state. He was the Republican candidate for governor in the latter year, but was defeated by Gilbert C. Walker. On the assassination of President Lincoln, he took charge of the investigation in Washington that resulted in the capture of the conspirators, and afterward he was associate counsel in the criminal proceedings against Jefferson Davis for treason. In 1870-'l he was counsel, with Henry A. Wise, in the Chohoon and Ellyson mayoralty case, during the trial of which he was almost fatally injured by the falling of a gallery, crowded with people, in the capitol at Richmond. In 1871-'2 he was U. S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and he then moved to Washington, where, in 1875-'80, he was U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 430.
WELLS, William, soldier, born in Waterbury, Vermont, 14 December, 1837. He attended academies in Vermont and New Hampshire, and became a merchant, but in September, 1861, enlisted in the 1st Vermont Cavalry, becoming 1st lieutenant on 14 October, captain on 18 November, 1861, and major, 30 October, 1862. He took part in General Nathaniel P. Banks's Shenandoah Campaign, and General John Pope's Virginia Campaign in 1862, and then served in the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac till the close of the war, except from August, 1864, till March, 1865, when he was under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. He became colonel of his regiment, 4 J line, 1864, was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 22 February, 1865, received his full commission on 19 May, and was brevetted major-general on 30 March. General Wells commanded the 2d Brigade of the 3d Cavalry Division in the Army of the Potomac, and for some time was temporarily at the head of that division. After June, 1865, till he was mustered out, 15 January, 1866, he commanded the 1st separate Brigade of the 2d Army Corps at Fairfax Court House. His regiment took part in numerous battles and skirmishes, and he was twice wounded. General Wells was in the Vermont Legislature in 1865-'6, adjutant-general and inspector-general of the state in 1866-'72, collector of internal revenue in 1872-'85, and state senator in 1880-'7. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 432.
WELLS, Woolsey, Akron, Ohio, abolitionist. Manager, 1834-1836, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833. (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833)
WELSH, John, merchant, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 November, 1805; died there, 10 April, 1886. His father, of the same name, was a Philadelphia merchant. The son received a collegiate education, but was not graduated. After conducting a mercantile business of his own, he entered in 1874, into partnership with his brothers in the West India trade, and was at the time of his death the senior member of the Arm, which had been established since 1834. For many years he was active in public affairs, giving largely of his time and means, service as member of the select council of Philadelphia. For twenty years he was a member of the sinking fund commission, and for the same length of time a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, of which he was also a patron. He was president of the Philadelphia board of trade and of the Merchants' fund for fifteen years. He was one of the founders of the Episcopal Hospital and its largest contributor. In 1862 he was appointed Commissioner of Fairmount park. During the Civil War he was active in measures of relief, and in 1864 he became president of the executive committee of the Sanitary Fair, which disbursed over $1,000,000 for the use of army hospitals and ambulances. His best-known work was as president of the Centennial Board of Finance, to which he was elected in April, 1873. The success of the exhibition was in a great measure due to his executive ability, in recognition of which he was presented by the city with a gold medal and with 150,000. With this sum he endowed the John Welsh chair of English literature in the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Welsh was an active Republican, and in 1878 was appointed minister to England, but he resigned within two years. The degree of L.L.D, was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1878, and by Washington and Lee in 1880, and many foreign decorations were given him for courtesies that he extended during the Centennial exhibition.—His brother, William, philanthropist, born in Philadelphia about 1810: died there, 11 February, 1878, was also a merchant in his native city, where he occupied many public posts, among them those of president of the board of trusts, director of Girard College, and trustee of Wills hospital. He was also largely identified with the philanthropic interests of the city, especially as a member of the Indian peace Commission during General Grant's administration, which place he resigned upon meeting with difficulties in the Indian Bureau. For several years he was proprietor of the "North American" and the "Philadelphia Gazette," which he had purchased in order to elevate the morals of the daily press. Mr. Welsh published, besides various papers, "Lay Co-operation in St. Mark's Church" (Philadelphia. 1861); "Letters on the Homo Missionary Work of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1863); "The Bishop Potter Memorial House" (1868); and "Taopi and his Friends, or Indians' Wrongs and Rights," with Bishop Henry B. Whipple and the Reverend Samuel Dutton Hinman (1869). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 433-434.
WELSH, Thomas, soldier, born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, 5 May, 1824; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 14 August, 1863. He received a common-school education, and engaged in the lumber trade. Enlisting as a private for the Mexican War, he was wounded at Buena Vista, and promoted lieutenant for gallantry. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised a company, was mustered into the volunteer service as captain, and was elected lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Pennsylvania Regiment, which served in the Shenandoah Valley until it was disbanded at the end of three months. He re-entered the service as colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and commanded a brigade at South Mountain and Antietam, as also at Fredericksburg, where he won promotion by his services on the right centre, being commissioned as brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1863. He was transferred to the west with the 9th Army Corps, and. after doing duty for some time in Kentucky, was sent to Vicksburg. After the fall of that place he marched with General William T. Sherman to Jackson, Mississippi, and contracted a malarial fever, from which he died while travelling homeward. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 434.
WENTWORTH, John, 1815-1888, New Hampshire, lawyer, editor, newspaper publisher. Congressman, 1843-1851, 1853-1855, 1865-1867. Mayor of Chicago, Illinois, elected in 1857 and 1860. Anti-slavery advocate. Early co-founder of an anti-slavery political party that became the Republican Party. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 436; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 657)
WENTWORTH, John, journalist, born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, 5 March, 1815; died in Chicago, Illinois, 16 October, 1888, was a son of Paul Wentworth, and the grandson on his mother's side of Colonel Amos Cogswell, a Revolutionary officer. After graduation at Dartmouth in 1836, he settled in Illinois in 1836, attended the first meeting to consider the propriety of organizing the town of Chicago into a city, did much to procure its charter, and voted at its first city election in May, 1837. He studied law at Chicago, attended lectures at Harvard law-school, and was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1841. While studying law he conducted the Chicago “Democrat,” which he soon purchased and made the chief daily paper of the northwest and of which he was publisher, editor, and proprietor until 1861. Being elected to Congress as a Democrat, he served from 4 Dec., 1843, till 3 March, 1851, and again from 5 Dec., 1853, till 3 March, 1855. He introduced in that body the first bill favoring the establishment of the present national warehouse system, was instrumental in securing the grant of land to the state of Illinois out of which was constructed the present Illinois Central Railroad. He was one of the Democrats and Whigs in Congress that assembled at Crutchet's, at Washington, the morning after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise passed the house, and resolved to ignore all party lines and form an anti-slavery party. Out of this grew the present Republican Party, with which he afterward acted. He was elected mayor of Chicago in 1857 and again in 1860, and was the first Republican mayor elected in the United States after the formation of the party, and issued the first proclamation after Fort Sumter was fired upon, calling on his fellow-citizens to organize and send soldiers to the war. He introduced the first steam fire-engine, “Long John,” in Chicago in 1857, and later two others, the “Liberty” and “Economy.” Upon each occasion of his assumption of the mayor's office he found a large floating debt, and left money in the treasury for his successor. In 1861 he was a member of the convention to revise the constitution of Illinois, and he was a member of the board of education in 1861-'4 and in 1868-'72. He served again in Congress from 4 December, 1865, till 3 March, 1867, was a member of the committee of ways and means, and was an earnest advocate of the immediate resumption of specie payments. Mr. Wentworth had been a member of the Illinois State Board of Agriculture, and was the largest real estate owner in Cook County. He received the degree of LL. D. from Dartmouth, to which college he gave $10,000, and was elected president of its alumni in 1883. Owing to his extreme height he was called “Long John” Wentworth. In addition to lectures and writings upon the early history of Chicago, and historical contributions to periodicals, he was the author of “Genealogical, Bibliographical, and Biographical Account of the Descendants of Elder William Wentworth” (Boston, 1850), and “History of the Wentworth Family” (3 vols., 1878). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 436.
WERDEN, Reed, naval officer, born in Delaware County, Pa,. 28 February, 1818; died in Newport, R. I., 13 July, 1886. He was appointed from Ohio a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 9 January, 1834, became a passed midshipman, 16 July, 1840, was commissioned lieutenant, 27 February, 1847, and served in the sloop " Germantown " during the Mexican War in 1847-'8, in which he commanded a detachment of men from that ship in the expeditions against Tuspan and Tampico. When the Civil War began he was attached to the steam frigate "Minnesota," in which he participated in the attacks on the forts at Hatteras Inlet and operations in the sounds of North Carolina in Stringham's squadron. He commanded the steamers "Yankee" and "Stars and Stripes" on the North Atlantic Blockade in 1861-'2, and in the latter led the First Division in the capture of Roanoke Island. He was commissioned commander, 16 July, 1862, had charge of the steamer "Conemaugh," on the South Atlantic Blockade, in 1862-'3, was fleet-captain of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864-'5, and commanded the steamer "Powhatan," in which he blockaded the Confederate ram "Stonewall" in the port of Havana, Cuba, until she was surrendered by the Spanish authorities. He was commissioned a captain, 25 July, 1866, promoted to commodore, 27 April, 1871, was made rear-admiral, 4 February, 1875, and commander-in-chief of the South Pacific Station in 1875-'6. He was then placed on the retired list at his own request. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 436-437.
WESSELLS, Henry Walton, soldier, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 20 February, 1809. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1833, assigned to the 2d U.S. Infantry, and was in the war with the Seminole Indians in 1837-'40, being promoted 1st lieutenant on 7 July, 1838. He served in the Mexican War, taking part in Scott's campaign, and was promoted captain, 16 February, 1847. At Contreras, Captain Wessells, though wounded, seized the regimental flag on the death of the color-sergeant, and led his men against the enemy. For gallant conduct there and at Churubusco he was brevetted major, and on his return from Mexico the state of Connecticut presented him with a jeweled sword "for distinguished services at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco." He served on the Pacific Coast in 1849-'54, and on the northwestern frontier in 1855-'61, being engaged in the Sioux Expedition of 1855. He was promoted major, 6 June, 1861, and from 22 August till 15 February, 1862, was colonel of the 8th Kansas Volunteers, being engaged on the Missouri border. In March, 1862, he was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, and on 25 April he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. After serving in the Peninsular Campaign, being wounded at Fair Oaks, where he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, and commanding the rear-guard from Haxall's to Harrison's landing. 2-3 July, 1862, he engaged in the defence of Suffolk, Virginia, from 20 Sept, till 9 December, and afterward took part in the operations in North Carolina. He was at Kinston and Goldsboro, and in the defence of New Berne, 21 December, 1862, till 1 May, 1863. On 3 May he was placed in command of the sub-district of the Albemarle. On 17 April, 1864, the town of Plymouth, North Carolina, which General Wessells held with a garrison of 1,600 men, was attacked by General Robert F. Hoke with about 7,000 Confederates, assisted by the iron-clad ram "Albemarle." After a fight of four days, in which the enemy was driven back repeatedly, and one refusal to capitulate, General Wessells finally surrendered, with 1,600 troops, 25 cannon, and 2,000 small-arms, besides valuable stores. After the destruction of the "Albemarle" the town fell again into the hands of the National troops. After confinement at Richmond, Danville, Macon, and Charleston, where he was placed under the fire of the National batteries on Morris Island. General Wessells was exchanged on 3 August, and from 11 November, 1864, till 31 January. 1865, was commissary of prisoners. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 16 February, 1865, and received the brevet of colonel, 20 April, 1864, for "gallant and meritorious services during the rebel attack on Plymouth, North Carolina" and that of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, 13 March, 1865, for services during the war. General Wessells then served on the northwestern frontier till his retirement, 1 January, 1871, since which time he has resided in his native place. He has two sons in the army, one of whom, Henry Walton, a captain in the 3d U.S. Cavalry, has attained note as an Indian fighter. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 438-439.
WEST, Joseph Rodman, U. S. Senator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 19 September, 1822. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, but was not graduated, served in the war with Mexico as a captain of volunteers, and emigrated in 1849 to California, where he engaged in commercial pursuits. At the opening of the Civil War he was proprietor of the San Francisco " Prices Current." He entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st California Infantry, saw service in New Mexico, and afterward in Arkansas and the southwest, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 25 October, 1862, and became brevet major-general, 4 January, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. After the war he settled for a short time in Texas, and then moved to New Orleans, where he served as chief deputy U. S. marshal and auditor of the customs, and afterward as administrator of improvements, till he was elected U. S. Senator from Louisiana as a Republican, serving from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1877. Moving afterward to Washington, D. C, he engaged in business, and in 1882-'5 was a commissioner of the District of Columbia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 440.
WEST, Nathaniel, clergyman, born in Ulster, Ireland, in September, 1794; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2 September, 1804. He studied theology in Edinburgh, Scotland, was ordained in 1820, labored there for several years as a missionary, and was one of the founders of the first temperance society in that city. He came to this country in 1834, was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Meadville, Pennsylvania, 11 May, 1836, and after 1838 was pastor successively of churches in Monroe, Michigan, and Northeast, Pittsburg, McKeesport, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In 1853 he received the degree of D. D. from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and he was elected a corresponding member of numerous literary and scientific societies. At the opening of the Civil War he resigned his pastoral charge in Philadelphia, and in May, 1862, was appointed chaplain of the Satterlee U. S. General Hospital at West Philadelphia, one of the largest military hospitals in the country, where he served till his death. He published "The Ark of God the Safety of the Nation" (Pittsburg. 1850); "Popery the Prop of European Despotisms" (1852); "The Fugitive-Slave Law" (1852); "Babylon the Great " (1882); "Right and Left-Hand Blessings of God" (Philadelphia, 1852); "Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible, containing the Whole of the New and Old Testaments " (New York, 1853); "The Overturning of Tyrannical Governments," a sermon preached before Louis Kossuth when he was in the United States, which, by his order and at his expense. was translated and published in Magyar; "Lecture on the Causes of the Ruin of Republican Liberty in the Ancient Roman Republic" (Philadelphia, 1861); and " History of the U. S. Army General Hospital, West Philadelphia" (1863). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 441.
WESTCOTT, James Diament, senator, born in Alexandria, Virginia, 10 May, 1802; died in Montreal, Canada, 12 January, 1880. He was the son of James D. Westcott (1775-1841), who was Secretary of State in New Jersey in 1830-'40, and his grandfather served in the Revolutionary war as captain of artillery. At an early age he moved with his father to New Jersey, where he received his education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1824, and practised until 1829. Afterward he was a clerk in the consular bureau of the state department in Washington, and in 1830-'4 was secretary of the territory of Florida, occasionally performing the duties of the governor. In 1832 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and in 1834-'6 was attorney-general for the middle district of Florida. He served again in the legislature, was a member of the convention for framing a state constitution in 1838 and 1839, and on the admission of Florida into the Union in 1845 was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Democrat, serving from 1 December, 1845, till 3 March, 1849. On the expiration of his term he moved to New York City, where he practised law until 1862, when he went to Canada and remained there until his death.—His son, James Diament, jurist, born in Tallahassee, Florida, 18 June, 1839, was educated in his native town, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He entered the Confederate service at the beginning of the war, and attained the rank of major. In 1885 he became attorney-general of Florida, but resigned this post a year later, and was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 442.
WESTCOTT, Thompson, editor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 5 June, 1820; died there, 8 May, 1888. He was educated at the English schools of the University of Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1840 he became law-reporter on the "Public Ledger," remaining there until 1851 and frequently acting in an editorial capacity for this journal and for the " Dollar Newspaper." When the "Sunday Despatch " was begun in 1848 he became its editor and served until 1884. In 1863-9 he was editor-in-chief of the "Inquirer," and he contributed to this journal until 1876. In 1884 he accepted an editorial appointment on the Philadelphia " Record," which he held for several months, after which he contributed to the " Public Ledger" and to other journals. Mr. Westcott was the author of a " Life of John Fitch, the Inventor of the Steamboat" (Philadelphia, 1857); "The Taxpayer's Guide" (1864); "Names of Persons who took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania between the Years 1777 and 1789, with a History of the 'Test Laws' of Pennsylvania" (1865); "The Chronicles of the Great Rebellion against the United States of America," first published in the "Old Franklin Almanac" (1867): "Official Guide-Book of Philadelphia" (1870); "Centennial Portfolio" (1870); "Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia " (1877): and, with J. Thomas Scharf, a "History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 " (3 vols., 1884); and contributed to the " Sunday Despatch " a " History of Philadelphia from the First Settlements on the Delaware to the Consolidation in 1854." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 442.
WESTON, Anne Warren, Weymouth, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader. Co-founder, Officer, Counsellor, life member of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS). The BFASS “believing slavery to be the direct violation of the laws of God and productive of a vast amount of misery and crime, and convinced that its abolition can only be effected by an acknowledgement of the justice and necessity of immediate emancipation.” Executive Committee, American Anti-Slavery society (AASS), 1843-1864. Counsellor, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1844-1860. Helped organize anti-slavery fairs in Boston. (Dumond, 1961, p. 275; Mabee, 1970, p. 222; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 199; Yellin, 1994, pp. 40n, 41, 43n, 45, 56, 57n, 61-62, 64, 173, 176n, 253n, 258, 259, 289, 294; BFASS Annual Reports)
WESTON, Caroline, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader. Co-founder, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS). Vice President, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1843-1859. Helped organize anti-slavery fairs in Boston. Supported William Lloyd Garrison and immediate emancipation. (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 199; Yellin, 1994, pp. 60, 62, 64n, 65, 172, 176, 253n, 256, 285, 294; BFASS Annual Reports)
WESTON, Deborah, Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist leader. Co-founder, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS). Helped organize anti-slavery fairs in Boston. Supported William Lloyd Garrison and immediate emancipation. (Yellin, 1994, pp. 40n, 43n, 62, 172, 173, 176, 257-259, 285, 294; BFASS Annual Reports)
WESTON, Sullivan Hardy, clergyman, born in Bristol, Maine, 7 October, 1816; died in New York City, 14 October, 1887. He was graduated at Wesleyan University in 1841, was ordained deacon in Trinity Church, New York City, in 1847, and priest in the same church in 1852. His ministerial life was passed in Trinity parish, of which he was an assistant minister, in special charge of St. John's chapel. He was elected bishop of Texas in 1852, but declined the office. He served as chaplain to the 7th New York Regiment, and accompanied that regiment to Washington, in 1861, at the opening of the Civil War, and again when the regiment volunteered in the summer of 1863. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Columbia in 1861. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 443.
WETHERILL, Samuel, inventor, born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, 27 May, 1821, is the son of John Price Wetherill, who was vice-president of the Academy of Natural Sciences in his native city in 1834-'53. In 1850 Samuel began to experiment with the newly discovered product of zinc ores, and to determine whether this could be substituted for white lead as a paint. His experiments led to his engagement with the New Jersey zinc Company in 1850-'2, and in the latter year he invented the "furnace process," which consists in reducing mixed coal and ore by the direct action of heat and a cold blast upon a furnace-lied having small holes, each producing the reducing flame. Subsequently he invented the tower process of separating the solid impurities, in which the velocity of the fan-attachment, which impels the products into the collecting bags, lifts the white zinc seventy feet into a tower, leaving the ashes at the base. This was afterward improved by Mr. Wetherill by causing the products thus treated to pass through a film of water. In March, 1853, with Charles J. Gilbert and several New York capitalists, he entered into a contract for forming the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company, and he erected works under his patents, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to reduce the zinc ores in Lehigh County. These works went into operation on 13 October, 1853, when the first "zinc white" made in the United States was manufactured by Wetherill's process in combination with the bag process of collecting that was previously invented by Samuel T. Jones. The works were conducted by Gilbert and Wetherill in 1853-'7, and in that time delivered 4,725 tons of white oxide of zinc. In 1854-'9 he conducted a series of experiments for the manufacture of spelter, the first spelter from the Lehigh ores being made by him in 1854 by passing the vapor of oxide of zinc through a lied of incandescent coal in a muffle-furnace. Afterward he experimented with vertical retorts, which he patented, and his services were procured for the manufacture of metallic zinc at Bethlehem under the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company. In 1857 he sent an ingot of his spelter to a firm of sheet-iron rollers, and they returned to him the first sheet of zinc that was rolled from metal extracted from Pennsylvania ores. At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Wetherill recruited a squadron for the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and entered service as captain on 19 August. 1861. He became major on 1 October, 1861, and was mustered out on 30 September, 1864. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. volunteers, on 13 March, 1865. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 445.
WETMORE, Lauren, New York, New York, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1851-1853.
WETMORE, Oliver, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
WHALEY, Kellian V., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
WHARTON, Gabriel Caldwell, soldier, born in Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky, 13 June. 1839; died in Louisville, Kentucky, 22 February, 1887. He was the son of a farmer, and was educated at the public schools, the academy of his native town, and the law department of Louisville University. In 1860, at the age of twenty-one. he began the practice of law at Springfield with immediate success. The next year, at the opening of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 10th Kentucky Infantry in the U. S. volunteer army, and in November was commissioned major of that regiment. With the regiment, Major Wharton shared in the engagements and marches of the Army of the Cumberland, and in March, 1863, was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel. He commanded and bore a gallant part in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge and the engagements of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864, until, at the expiration of his three years' service, he was mustered out. He then resumed his law-practice at Louisville, and in 1866 was appointed assistant U. S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky. On the appointment of Benjamin H. Bristow as Secretary of the Treasury, Colonel Wharton succeeded to the district attorney ship, holding that office for ten years. In 1880 he opened an office in Washington, and, after two years practice there, spent some time in Mexico in the interest of a railroad company. Returning, after a year's absence, he resided in New York City, where he soon had a lucrative practice. He was on a visit to Louisville when he died while alone in his room at a hotel. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 446.
WHARTON, Joseph, manufacturer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3 March, 1826. His mother, Deborah Fisher (1795-1888). was an approved minister of the Society of Friends for seventy years, belonging to the branch that has been called Hicksite. She was active in charities and an interested friend to the Indians, defending their rights in Washington and visiting their reservations. After receiving a good education in his native city, the son entered a mercantile house, and afterward engaged in the manufacture of white lead and paints, bricks, copper-mining and spelter, became owner of iron-, glass-, and steel-works, and has been a director in manufacturing, railroad, and banking corporations. He was among the first to establish the manufacture of spelter, nickel, and cobalt in this country, and was the first to make magnetic needles of other substance than steel. He aided in establishing the Bethlehem iron Company, particularly its steel-forging plant for government work. Mr. Wharton owns the deposits of nickel ore in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which he purchased in 1873, and established his works in Camden, New Jersey. He early experimented to produce nickel in a pure and malleable condition, so that it could be worked like iron, and was the first to attain practical success in this direction. He sent to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, and to the Paris Exposition of 1878, samples of nickel ores, nickel-matte, metallic nickel in grains and cubes, cast and wrought nickel, cast cobalt, and electro-plating with nickel and cobalt, which illustrated the progress in the metallurgical development of this substance, and excited much admiration. Mr. Wharton aided in establishing Swarthmore College, of which he is president of the board of trustees, endowing its chair of history and political economy, and also founded the Wharton school of finance and economy in the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Society of Friends. Mr. Wharton has published several pamphlets on the subject of protection to home industry. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 448-449.
WHEATON, Charles A., New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)
WHEATON, Frank, soldier, born in Providence, Rhode Island, 8 May, 1813. He was educated in common schools, became a civil engineer and engaged in California and in the Mexican boundary surveys from 1850 till he was commissioned 1st lieutenant in the 1st U. S. Cavalry, 3 March, 1855. He served at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri., and in Kansas until 1850, and in the field against Cheyenne Indians till 1857, being in action near Fort Kearny, Nebraska. He was on the Utah Expedition till August, 1858, on duty with his regiment in the Indian Territory, and then on recruiting service till July, 1861, having been promoted captain in March. He received permission to accept the commission of lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Rhode Island Volunteers in July, 1861, became colonel in the same month, and took part in the battle of Bull Run, also serving in the principal engagements of the Army of the Potomac, including the Peninsula and Maryland Campaigns. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in November, 1869, commanding a brigade during the operations of the same army in 1863-'4, and then a division of the 6th Corps, distinguishing himself in the operations in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, and those that culminated in the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services at the Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Middletown, Virginia, and received brevets in the regular army to the grade of major-general for the battles of the Wilderness, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg, respectively. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 39th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, was transferred to the 21st U.S. Infantry in March. 1869, and promoted colonel of the 2d U.S. Infantry; 15 December, 1874. Since the war General Wheaton has held commands in Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska. In July, 1866, he was presented with a sword by his native state for gallant services in the above-mentioned battles. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 450.
WHEATON, Josephus, clergyman, Holliston, Massachusetts, anti-slavery advocate. Gave memorable anti-slavery sermon. (Dumond, 1961, pp. 147-149)
WHEELER, Andrew Carpenter, journalist, born in New York, 4 July, 1835. He began his career in journalism as a reporter on the New York "Times," under Henry J. Raymond, but soon afterward went to the west. After several years he settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as city editor of the "Sentinel." Soon after the opening of the Civil War he became a war-correspondent for several eastern and western papers. At the close of hostilities he returned to the east and served on the New York "Leader," and then on the " World." With the latter paper he has been connected ever since, excepting an interval of a few years. On the " World " he first adopted the pen-name " Nym Crinkle." He is best known as a dramatic and musical critic, in which capacity he has served on most of the New York papers. He has written "The Chronicles of Milwaukee " (Milwaukee, 1861), and " The Twins," a comedy, which was produced by Lester Wallack in 1862. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 452.
WHEELER, Ezra, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
WHEELER, Junius Brutus, soldier, born in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, 21 February, 1830; died in Lenoir, North Carolina, 15 July, 1886, was educated at the University of North Carolina, volunteered at the beginning of the Mexican War, and participated in every battle from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. He was promoted lieutenant in 1847. but resigned at the end of the war, entered the U. S. Military Academy, and was graduated in 1855. He was transferred to the Topographical Engineers in 1856, became 1st lieutenant on 1 July, 1860, was assistant professor of mathematics at the U. S. Military Academy in 1859-'61, and principal assistant professor there in 1861-'3. He became a captain in the Engineer Corps in March, 1863, chief engineer of the Department of the Susquehanna in June and September of that year, and chief engineer of the Army of the Arkansas from September, 1863, till May, 1864. He participated in engagements at Elkins Ferry, Prairie D'Ane, the occupation of Camden, and the battle of Jenkins Ferry, on the Saline River, 30 April, 1864, for which he was brevetted major, U. S. Army. In March, 1865, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel for meritorious service during the Civil War. He was chief engineer of the Military Division of the Missouri in May and June, 1865, commanded the engineer depot at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, in July and December of that year, was assistant engineer on the Mississippi levees in 1865-'6, and superintendent engineer of harbor improvements in 1866. He became major of engineers. U. S. Army, in 1866, and was then professor of mining and civil engineering at the U. S. Military Academy, which post he held till his retirement in 1885. He wrote a valuable series of military text-books that were adopted by the U. S. War Department, and published under the titles "Civil Engineering" (New York, 1877): "Art and Science of War, (1878); 'Elements of Field Fortifications" (1882); and "Military Engineering" (2 vols., 1884-'5). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 453.
WHEELER, Joseph, soldier, born in Augusta, Georgia, 10 September, 1836. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1859, and assigned to the dragoons. After a year's service at the cavalry school for practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he received the full rank of 2d lieutenant, but on 22 April, 1861, resigned and entered the Confederate Army. He was made colonel of the 19th Alabama Infantry on 4 September, 1861, and served principally in the west. At Shiloh he commanded a brigade and covered the Confederate retreat from the field. In July, 1862, he was transferred to a cavalry command, and engaged in raiding western Tennessee. During the Kentucky Campaign of that year he had charge of General Braxton Bragg's cavalry, and fought at Green River and Perryville. He commanded the rear-guard of the Confederate Army when it retreated into Tennessee, and on 30 October, 1862. was promoted brigadier-general. At Murfreesboro he was in charge of the cavalry, and thereafter he was continuously active in contesting General William S. Rosecrans's advance, also attacking his flanks, raiding in the rear, and destroying his trains. On 19 January, 1863, he received his commission as major-general and opposed the National advance on Chattanooga. He commanded the cavalry at Chickamauga, and after the battle crossed Tennessee River and fell upon Rosecrans's line of communications, defeating the force that was sent against him and destroying over 1,200 wagons, with stores. On this raid he succeeded in damaging National property to the value of $3,000,000, but, after losing 600 men, was driven back to northern Alabama. Subsequently he took part in the siege of Knoxville and covered Bragg's retreat from Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. During the winter and spring he continually harassed the National troops, and, on the advance of General William T. Sherman's army toward Atlanta, he opposed every movement and fought almost daily, often with his men dismounted. During July 27-30 he fought the raiding force of Generals George Stoneman, General Kenner Garrard, and General Edward M. McCook, and captured many prisoners, including General Stoneman, and all the artillery and transportation. On 9 August, 1864, he was sent by General John B. Hood to capture the National supplies, burn bridges, and break up railways in the rear of General Sherman's army. Passing through northern Georgia, he went into eastern Tennessee as far as the Kentucky line, and thence through middle Tennessee back into northern Alabama. During this raid, which lasted one month, he was continuously engaged and ruined much property. He was unsuccessful in destroying Sherman's communications, and was finally driven back by the National cavalry. When the Confederate commander became convinced of the impossibility of arresting Sherman's advance, Wheeler was sent in front of the army to prevent the National troops from raiding and foraging. He then engaged in the defence of Savannah, and for his defence of Aiken received the thanks of the legislature of South Carolina. General Wheeler received his promotion to the rank of lieutenant-general on 38 February, 1865, and continued in charge of the cavalry under General Joseph E. Johnston until the surrender in April, 1865. The death of General James E. B. Stuart, on 11 May, 1864, made him senior cavalry general of the Confederate Armies. After the war, he studied law, which profession and the occupation of cotton-planting he followed until 1880, when he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and took his seat on 5 December, 1881; but his place was successfully contested by William M. Lowe, and he was unseated, 3 June, 1882. He was re-elected to the same Congress on the death of Mr. Lowe, a few months later, and has served since 4 March, 1885. In January, 1888, he was appointed a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 453-454.
WHEELER, Nathaniel, inventor, born in Watertown, Connecticut, 7 September, 1820. He was educated in the public schools, began life as a carriage manufacturer, and continued in that business till about 1848. In 1850 he made the acquaintance of Allan B. Wilson, who was engaged in perfecting a sewing machine, but needed aid in patenting his invention and introducing it to the public. Wilson induced Mr. Wheeler to join in that enterprise, and in 1852 the machine was patented in the firm-name of Wheeler and Wilson. In 1853 the Wheeler and Wilson manufacturing Company was founded. Mr. Wheeler's knowledge of machinery and his ability as an organizer enabled him to expand the sewing-machine manufacture from the little factory that could make but one machine a day to an establishment that has facilities for producing 600 machines a day. Since 1850, as president of the Wheeler and Wilson sewing-machine Company, he has created a market for more than 1,200,000 sewing-machines. He has served six sessions in the Senate and House of the Connecticut Legislature, and has taken out patents for various inventions in sewing-machines, railway-cars, heating and ventilation of buildings, and wood finishing. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 454.
WHEELER, William Almon, statesman, born in Malone, Franklin County, New York, 30 June, 1819; died there, 4 June, 1887. He studied at the University of Vermont for two years, but was compelled by the death of his father to leave college without being graduated. He then began the study of law under Asa Hascall in Malone, New York, was admitted to the bar in 1845, and succeeded Mr. Hascall as U. S. District Attorney of Franklin County, which post he held till 1849. At that time his political sympathies were with the Whig Party, by which he was chosen to the assembly in 1849, but in the early part of the Fremont canvass in 1856 he supported the newly formed Republican Party, remaining in it until his death. An affection of the throat compelled him to abandon the practice of law in 1851, and from that year till 1866 he was connected with a bank in Malone. He became president of the Northern New York Railroad Company about the same time, and for twelve years was supervisory manager of the line from Rouse's Point to Ogdensburg, New York. He was a member and President pro tempore of the state senate in 1858-'9, and was chosen to Congress in 1860 as a Republican, but, after serving one term, returned to his railroad and banking interests. He was president of the New York Constitutional Convention in 1867, returned to Congress in 1869, and served continuously till 1877. During that time he was chairman of the committees on the Pacific Railroad Company and commerce, a member of those on appropriations and southern affairs, and was the first in either house to cover his back-pay into the treasury, after the passage of the back-salary act. He was also the author of the famous "compromise" in the adjustment of the political disturbances in Louisiana, by which William Pitt Kellogg was recognized as governor, and the state legislature became Republican in the Senate and Democratic in the house. In 1876 he was nominated for the vice-presidency by the Republican National Convention, and he took his seat as presiding officer of the Senate in March, 1877. On the expiration of his term in 1881 he returned to Malone, and did not again enter public life. Mr. Wheeler was a man of most excellent character and of great liberality. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 455.
WHEELOCK, Charles, soldier, born in Claremont, New Hampshire, 14 December, 1812; died in Washington, D. C, 21 January, 1865. He was educated in the common schools of New Hampshire and New York and became a farmer and provision-dealer in Oneida County, New York. Immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter he abandoned business and devoted his time to raising recruits, pledging himself to provide for their families. In the summer of 1861 he had thus given or pledged $5,000, about half of his possessions. Soon afterward he raised the 97th New York Regiment, of which he became colonel on 10 March, 1862, and subsequently he engaged actively in the war in the Army of the Potomac, being taken prisoner at the second battle of Bull Run, and serving, after his exchange, till his death from disease. On 19 August, 1864, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 455.
WHEELOCK, Julia Susan, hospital nurse, born in Avon, Ohio, 7 October, 1833. She was taken to Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1837, and in 1855 went to Michigan, where she was educated in Kalamazoo College. In September. 1862, she was summoned from Ionia Michigan, where she was teaching, to the bedside of her brother, who had been wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, and after his death she continued to serve in hospitals till the end of the war. In 1865-'73 she held a clerkship in the U. S. Treasury Department, and on 28 May, 1873, she married Parter C. Freeman, with whom she has since resided in Middleville, Michigan, and Springfield, Missouri. Her journal was published as " The Boys in White: the Experience of a Hospital Agent in and around Washington " (New York, 1870). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
WHELAN, Peter, clergyman, born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1800; died in Savannah, Georgia, 5 February, 1871. He received a classical education in his native county, volunteered for missionary duty in the United States, finished his theological course in the diocesan seminary at Charleston, South Carolina, and was ordained by Bishop England in 1830. He was given charge of the eastern part of North Carolina, and in 1833 was transferred to Locust Grove church, a mission that embraced northeastern Georgia, where he remained until 1850. He administered the diocese of Savannah from 1859 till 1861, and as administrator took part in the eighth provincial council of Baltimore, where he was offered the vacant seat, but declined. During the Civil War he was general chaplain at all the stations in Georgia from Anderson to Tybee. In this capacity his devotion to the National prisoners was very marked, especially at Andersonville, where he shared with them all he possessed, even to his wearing-apparel. He was engaged in administering the sacraments to the sick at Fort Pulaski when it was taken, and was sent a prisoner to the north. He was confined in Fort Lafayette for some time, and, on his release, returned to Georgia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 458.
