OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



609 



March 7. SMITH, Mrs. REBECCA, an aged 

 and venerable lady of Killingworth, Conn., the 

 widow of a Revolutionary soldier, and a woman 

 of great activity and piety; died in that town, 

 aged 106 years, lacking 14 days. 



March 7. YOST, JACOB S., a prominent citi- 

 zen and political leader of Montgomery Coun- 

 ty, Pa., born in Pottsgrove Township, Mont- 

 gomery County, Pa., July 29, 1801 ; died in 

 Pottstown, Pa., aged "71 years. Mr. Yost 

 was of German stock, and, like his father and 

 grandfather, was an agriculturist, but, having 

 received a good education, he early took an 

 active interest in political matters; represented 

 his county in the State Legislature from 1836 

 to 1840, and in 1842 was elected to Congress, 

 and reflected in 1844. At the close of his 

 second term in Congress he returned to his 

 farm, and devoted himself to the interests of 

 his town, being active and useful in both secu- 

 lar and religious matters. In 1857 he was ap- 

 pointed by his life-long friend, President Bu- 

 chanan, U. S. Marshal for the Eastern District 

 of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. He held this 

 place till the close of 1860, when he resigned 

 in consequence of the infirmities of declining 

 years, and returned to his home. 



March 10. GABFIELD, Rev. JOHNMETCALF, an 

 Episcopal clergyman, and for thirty-three years 

 an eminent and successful teacher, born in Graf- 

 ton, Mass., July 21, 1790 ; died in New Haven, 

 Conn., aged 82 years. He graduated from Yale 

 College in 1816, and had commenced teaching 

 even during his college course, spending nearly 

 two years in that occupation. After graduat- 

 ing, he studied law for a time, and in 1819 es- 

 tablished a Female Seminary in New Haven, 

 which he conducted successfully till 1831, when 

 he was appointed Principal of the Albany Fe- 

 male Seminary, of which he was the able man- 

 ager until 1849, when he resigned, and returned 

 to New Haven. While teaching in New Haven 

 he had pursued theological studies, and was 

 ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church in 

 1822, and priest in 1823. From 1849 until his 

 death, he resided in New Haven, and preached, 

 for the greater part of the time, to a church of 

 colored people in that city. 



March 12. GOODWIN, Captain WILLIAM J., 

 U. S. A. retired list, a brave and gallant sol- 

 dier of the late war ; died in Concord, N. II., 

 aged 49 years. He was born in Limington, 

 Me., in the year 1823, was graduated at Bow- 

 doin College in the class of 1848, and had stud- 

 ied law and devoted himself to literary pursuits 

 for a number of years before the war. He was 

 appointed first-lieutenant of the Sixteenth In- 

 fantry, May 14, 1861. He was brevetted cap- 

 tain for gallant conduct at the battle of Chicka- 

 mauga, May 14, 1864, in which battle he was 

 severely wounded, and was afterward promoted 

 to the full grade. Captain Goodwin was dis- 

 tinguished for his antiquarian and historical 

 researches, and was a large contributor to the 

 Historical Magazine. He was the author of 

 several historical works, among which was a 



VOL. xn. 39 A 



history of Buxton, Me., and a work on the 

 Constitution of New Hampshire. 



March 16. WHITING, JAMES R., an eminent 

 lawyer and jurist of New York ; died at Spuy- 

 ten Duyvil, Westchester County, N. Y., aged 

 69 years. He was born in Brooklyn, April 20, 

 1803, received his early education there and in 

 New York, to which city he removed while yet 

 a lad, and at the age of eighteen commenced 

 the study of the law. He was admitted to the 

 bar in 1824, and soon became distinguished 

 both in his profession and in politics. He was 

 elected alderman at an early age, and in 1836 

 was appointed District Attorney for the county 

 of New York, which oifice he filled with sin- 

 gular ability for many years. It was while he 

 was in this ofiice that he had occasion to try 

 John C. Colt for the murder of Adams, and 

 Monroe Edwards for his extensive and skilful 

 forgeries. On his retirement from the district 

 attorney ship, he was elected one of the Su- 

 preme Court Judges, but resigned after a few 

 months, finding its duties too irksome for his 

 nature.. He subsequently became independent 

 candidate for mayor, but was defeated by a 

 large majority. Since that time he had been 

 quietly practising his profession, but was en- 

 gaged more in chamber than court practice, 

 seldom appeared as counsel in a suit, and in a 

 great measure had retired from political life. 

 A few years ago he purchased the street-clean- 

 ing contract awarded to Brown, Devoe & 

 Knapp for ten years, but afterward resold it to 

 the original owners. Judge Whiting was a 

 man of large wealth, his fortune being estimated 

 at $2,000,000. 



March 18. HEWLETT, SAMUEL M., an emi- 

 nent and eloquent temperance lecturer, a na- 

 tive of England, but for many years past an 

 efficient laborer in the cause of temperance in 

 Canada and the United States ; died suddenly > 

 in Meriden, Conn. 



March 20. MOULTON, CHAELES, a musical 

 composer and scholar of high culture, and ex- 

 quisite taste, the husband of the eminent vo- 

 calist, Mrs. Clara Moulton ; died in New York 

 City. He had composed many of the ro- 

 mances and ballads which had attracted such 

 admiration when sung by Mrs. Moulton. 



March 20. WTLIE, Rev. SAMUEL, D. D., an 

 eminent clergyman of the Reformed Presby- 

 terian Church, fifty-four years in the ministry; 

 died in Sparta, 111., aged about 80 years. He 

 was a native of Ireland, but came to the United 

 States when a lad, and was educated under 

 the supervision of his uncle, the late Rev. D. 

 B. Wylie, D.D., of Philadelphia. He graduated 

 from the University of Pennsylvania, and the 

 Theological Seminary of the Reformed Presby- 

 terian Church, was ordained in 1818, and, go- 

 ing out first as a domestic missionary, was 

 finally settled about 1820 as pastor of a con- 

 gregation in Randolph County, 111., with which 

 he remained until his death, a period of fifty- 

 two years. This congregation had sent out 

 in that period about a dozen colonies to form 



