582 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (WHITEFIELD WOOD.) 



emy was removed to Newport he became professor of 

 dancing there. Dp to this time he had composed songs, 

 but had never published any. About 1858 he formed 

 a partnership with a friend, at that time clerk in the 

 music-publishing house of Oliver Ditson & Co., and 

 engaged in the same business in Boston. The first 

 success of the friends was with the old and well- 

 known melody "Shoo Fly," and Mr. White's first 

 original composition was " Put me in my Little Bed," 

 of which he wrote both melody and words. This 

 was followed by " Come, Birdie, come," " The Old 

 Home ain't what it used to be," " Moonlight on the 

 Lake," " When 'tis Moonlight," " When 'tis Star- 

 light," "O Restless Sea," "Only tired," his latest 

 composition, and the widely known " Marguerite." 

 Mr. White's songs have been translated into many 

 languages. 



Whitefield, Edwin, artist, born in England in 1816; 

 died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 26, 1892. He came to the 

 United States in early youth, spent several years 

 along the banks of the Hudson river, went to Min- 

 nesota when the Territory was but little more than a 

 wooded wilderness, and subsequently, crossing into 

 Canada, began his life work of making illustrations of 

 all cities and towns possessing historical interest or 

 picturesque elements. From Canada he returned to 

 the United States, and, till within a few days of his 

 death, was constantly at work in the one line. He 

 was author and publisher of very many pictures of 

 cities and towns in the United States, in Canada, and 

 in England, those in the latter country being selected 

 because of their relations to New England. One of 

 his most widely known drawings was a large view of 

 Boston and the inner harbor, published in 1848; and 

 at the time of his death he was superintending the 

 printing of his last work, u The Homes of Our Ances- 

 tors in Massachusetts." Pie had sketched all the 

 noted old buildings in the United States, and left un- 

 published a large mass of colored sketches and de- 

 scriptive manuscript. 



Whiting, Daniel P., military officer, born in Troy, 

 N. Y., in 1808; died in Washington, D. C., Aug. 2, 

 1892. He was graduated at the United States Mili- 

 tary Academy, and appointed 2d lieutenant 7th 

 United States infantry in 1832 ; was promoted cap- 

 tain in 1845, major 10th Infantry in 1862 ; was retired 

 on account of disability from long service and expo- 

 sure in the line of duty in November, 1863, but was in 

 command of Fort Mifflin, Pa., during the greater part 

 of 1864. His army service included frontier and gar- 

 rison duty, participation in the defense of Fort Brown, 

 the battles of Monterey and Cerro Gordo, and the 

 siege of Vera Cruz, in the Mexican War, service in 

 the Seminole War in Florida, and duty on the exam- 

 ining board. He published the " Army Portfolio," a 

 series of views illustrating the Mexican' War. 



Wilkie, Francis Bangs, journalist, born in WestCharl- 

 ton, Saratoga County, N. Y., in 1832; died in Chi- 

 cago, 111., April 12, 1892. He was graduated at Union 

 College in 1857, removed to Davenport, Iowa, and en- 

 gaged in journalism in 1859, and subsequently was 

 connected with the "Herald" in Dubuque till the 

 beginning of the civil war, when he went South as 

 a war correspondent. In Macon City, Mo., he estab- 

 lished a paper called " Our Whole IStation," in a de- 

 serted newspaper olfice, which he conducted only a 

 short time, and then became one of the war corre- 

 spondents of the New York " Times," which he served 

 in the field for four years. After the war he was for 

 seventeen years a leading writer on the Chicago 

 " Times," using the pen name of " Polinto," and was 

 the organizer and first President of the Chicago Press 

 Club. Mr. Wilkie was author of a " History of Dav- 

 enport," u Walks about Chicago," "The History of 

 Great Inventions," " Sketches beyond the Sea," "A 

 Year among the Cockneys," " Pen and Powder," 

 " The Gambler," and "The Waif." 



Williamson, Benjamin, jurist, born in Elizabeth, N. J., 

 in 1808; died there, Dec. 2, 1892. He was a son 

 of Isaac Halsted Williamson, a former judge, Gov- 

 ernor; and Chancellor of New Jersey, and president 



of the convention that revised the State Constitution. 

 He was graduated at Princeton in 1827, was admitted 

 to the bar in 1830, was soon afterward appointed 

 prosecutor of the pleas of Essex County, was appointed 

 Chancellor of the State in 1852, and held the office 

 till 1860. In the latter year he was a delegate-at- 

 large to the Democratic National Convention, in 1861 

 was a commissioner from New Jersey to the Peace 

 Congress, and in 1863 lacked but a few votes of being 

 elected United States Senator. He had been the 

 counsel for the Central Eailroad of New Jersey for 

 many years. 



Wilson, Matthew, painter, born in London. England, 

 July 17, 1814; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., Feb. 23, 1892. 

 He was a nephew of Samuel Wilson, once Lord Mayor 

 of London. He came to the United States in 1832, 

 studied painting, and made a specialty of portraiture. 

 Among the persons of whom he painted portraits 

 were Presidents William Henry Harrison, Lincoln, 

 and Arthur, and several members of their Cabinets, 

 Albert Gallatin, Attorney-General Brewster, and three 

 generations of the family of Gov. Fairbanks, of Ver- 

 mont. He resided alternately in Brooklyn and Phila- 

 delphia. 



Winslow, John Flack, manufacturer, born in Ben- 

 nington, Vt., Nov. 5, 1810; died in Poughkeepsie, 

 N. Y., March 10, 1892. He received a private-school 

 education, engaged in commercial business in New 

 York city, and in 1837 formed a partnership with 

 Erastus Corning, at Albany, N. Y., which was con- 

 tinued under various firm names for thirty years, and 

 which controlled the Albany and Eensselaer Iron 

 Works. This firm introduced the manufacture of 

 Bessemer steel into the United States, and made the 

 first steel rails in America. Besides large contract* 

 for railroads and the United States Government, the 

 firm contracted for the construction of Capt. Erics- 

 son's famous " Monitor," which, by dividing the labor 

 of turning out the plate work with another firm, was 

 begun in October, 1861, and delivered to the Govern- 

 ment on March 5, 1862, at a cost of $250,000. Mr. 

 Winslow was President of the Rensselacr Polytechnic 

 Institute in 1863-'67, retired from active business in 

 the latter year, and was a presidential elector in 1888. 



Withers,'David Dunham, turfman, born in New York 

 city, Jan. 22, 1822; died there, Feb. 18, 1892. He 

 was educated in the public schools, was associated for 

 some time with his lather in the banking business, 

 represented the business of Howland & Aspinwall in 

 the South, and in 1846 went into business for himself 

 as a cotton planter near Natchez. He met with suc- 

 cess, and had so many interests, North and South, at 

 the breaking out of the civil war that he resided in 

 Paris through the struggle to avoid taking sides with 

 either party. Mr. Withers first became known on 

 the turf in 1866, when he bought out the runner 

 " Vespucius," and since 1870 he had been one of the 

 best-known breeders in the United States, his stock 

 farm at Brookdale, N. J., being a model in size, 

 arrangement, and management, and the home of one 

 of the best collections of high-bred horses in any 

 country. He was an original director of the American 

 Jockey Club, chairman of the Board of Control of 

 Racing, a member of the New York and Coney Island 

 Jockey Clubs, and an honorary member of the Jockey 

 Club of Paris. Because of his thorough knowledge 

 of racing matters and the widespread confidence in 

 his integrity, he was frequently in demand for judge 

 at race meetings of more than usual interest. At his 

 Brookdale farm he possessed an extensive library on 

 horse racing and breeding. He made a large fortune 

 out of his cotton plantation and his stock farm. 



Woodi James, military officer, born in New York 

 in 1812; died in Dansville, N. Y., Feb. 24, 1892. He 

 was graduated at Union College, was admitted to the 

 bar, and settled in Geneseo to practice, where he had 

 since resided, in 1844. He was district-attorney of 

 Livingston County for several years, and State Sen- 

 ator for two terms. He entered the national army as 

 colonel of the 13(5th New York Volunteers, and after 

 distinguishing himself in various engagements, was 



