506 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (WILLIAMS WIXG.) 



admitted to the bar in 1833. In 1841 he was made 

 clerk of the county court of Monongalia County, 

 and later was clerk of the circuit court. In 1850 

 he was a member of the Virginia Constitutional 

 Convention. He was a delegate to the State con- 

 vention that met in Richmond in February, 1861, 

 and after the adoption of the ordinance of seces- 

 sion, he was elected to the Unionist Legislature 

 at Wheeling. He was a member of the convention 

 that decided to create the State of West Virginia, 

 and was chosen to represent that State in the 

 United States Senate, taking his seat Dec. 3, 1863; 

 in the following year he was re-elected. He served 

 en the Committees on Naval Affairs, the District of 

 Columbia, and Engrossed Bills, and was chairman 

 of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Of- 

 fice. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him 

 by Allegheny College in 1863. 



Williams. George L., a missionary of the 

 American Board, born in Southington, Conn., Oct. 

 4, 1858; killed in Taku, Shensi province, China, 

 July 31, 1900. He was graduated at Oberlin Col- 

 lege in 1888, and at the Theological Seminary in 

 1891, and went to China July 29 of the same year. 



Williams. Thomas A., botanist, born in Fre- 

 mont County, Iowa, Nov. 25, 1865; died in Ta- 

 koma Park, D. C., Dec. 23, 1900. He was gradu- 

 ated at the University of Nebraska in 1889, and 

 became a teacher. In February, 1891, he was ap- 

 pointed assistant botanist in the Agricultural Col- 

 lege of South Dakota ; he was promoted head of 

 the botanical department, and remained there as 

 Professor of Botany six years. In August, 1896, 

 he was made assistant chief in the division of 

 agrostology of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, which place he held at his death. 

 In addition to his department work he had charge 

 of the classes in botany at Columbian University. 

 In 1899 he became editor in chief of the Asa Gray 

 Bulletin. He was the author of many articles on 

 botany and horticulture. 



Wilmer, Richard Hooker, clergyman, born 

 in Alexandria, Va., March 15, 1816; died in 

 Spring Hill, Ala., June 14, 1900. He was gradu- 

 ated at Yale University in 1836, and studied for 

 the Episcopal ministry, being admitted to the 

 priesthood in 1840. Until his elevation to the 

 episcopate he was rector of the following Vir- 

 ginia parishes successively: St. Paul's, Goochland 

 County, and St. John's, Fluvanna County, 1839- 

 '43; Grace and Wickliffe, Clark County, 1844- 

 '49; Emmanuel, London County, and Trinity, 

 Fauquier County, 1850-'53; St. Stephen's and 

 Trinity, Bedford County, 1855-'58; Emmanuel, 

 Henrico County, 1858-'02. He was consecrated 

 Bishop of Alabama in March, 1862, but as his 

 election and consecration took place during the 

 civil war, when the Southern dioceses were or- 

 ganized as a separate church, he was received into 

 the episcopate of the Church in the United States 

 in 18(55 only after signing an equivalent to the 

 promise of conformity prescribed in the ordinal. 

 When Gen. Thomas issued an order closing all 

 churches in Alabama till Bishop Wilmer should 

 direct the use of the prayer for the President of 

 the United States, the bishop protested that this 

 was secular interference with religious liberty, 

 and declared that he would never use the prayer 

 till the interference ceased. He appealed to 

 higher authorities in turn, including the President 

 of the United States, and finally secured a revo- 

 cation of the order. The matter, as he con- 

 tended, was not a question of his loyalty or dis- 

 loyalty, but concerned the larger issue of re- 

 ligious liberty. He published The Recent Past 

 from a Southern Standpoint (1887) and a Guide- 

 book for Young Churchmen. 



Wilson. George Washington, lawyer, born in 

 Preble County, Ohio, Sept. 13, 1843; died in 

 Washington, D. C., Nov. 27, 1900. He enlisted as 

 a private in the 54th Ohio Volunteers in 1861. 

 served through the war, and was mustered out 

 as first lieutenant. In 1866 he was admitted to 

 the bar and began practice. He served two terms 

 as prosecuting attorney of Madison County, one 

 term in the lower house of the Ohio Legislature, 

 and one in the State Senate. From 1869 till his 

 death he was engaged in the internal revenue serv- 

 ice in various capacities; in 1869 he was made 

 gauger for the third district of Ohio; in 1889 he 

 was appointed deputy commissioner for the 

 United States, and in January, 1899, he was ap- 

 pointed commissioner of internal revenue. 



Wilson, John Wall, naval officer, born in 

 1832; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., Aug. 21, 1900. He 

 was graduated at Annapolis and entered tin- 

 navy. In 1853 he joined the Kane arctic expedi- 

 tion for the relief of Sir John Franklin. He was 

 navigator of the expedition, and after their ship, 

 the Advance, had been beached in Kane Basin, 

 he led a detached expedition into the interior 

 of Greenland. The cold was so severe that he 

 lost part of one foot. The Advance was crushed 

 by an iceberg, and the party returned to the open 

 sea in small boats. He served through the civil 

 war, and took part in the capture of New Or 

 leans. At the close of the war he resigned fron. 

 the navy, and engaged in commercial pursuits. 



Wilson, William Lyne, educator, born in Jef- 

 ferson County, Virginia, May 3, 1843; died in 

 Lexington, Va., Oct. 17, 1900. He was graduated 

 at Columbian College in 1860, and took a post- 

 graduate course at the University of Virginia. 

 In the civil war he served as a private in the 12th 

 Virginia CaA'alry. From 1865 till 1871 he was 

 Professor of Ancient Languages in Columbian 

 College, and at the same time studied law. He 

 was admitted to the bar in 1867. When the test 

 oath for lawyers was abolished in West Virginia, 

 he entered upon practice in Charlestown. He was 

 a delegate to the Democratic National Convention 

 in 1880, and in the same year was elector at large 

 for West Virginia. In September, 1882, he was 

 elected president of the University of West Vir- 

 ginia, and in the same month he was elected to 

 Congress. He resigned the presidency of the uni- 

 versity in June, 1883. He was re-elected to Con- 

 gress five times in succession, but was defeated in 

 1894. He was a member of the Committee of 

 Ways and Means in 1888, during the agitation 

 over the Mills tariff bill, and took part in the 

 debate on that measure. When the Democrats 

 regained control of the Hoiise of Representatives 

 in 1893 he was made chairman of the Committee 

 of Ways and Means, and as such was responsible 

 for the tariff bill that became a law in 1894. Jn 

 1895 he was appointed Postmaster-General, serv- 

 ing two years. In July, 1897, he became presi- 

 dent of Washington and Lee University, and he 

 held that office at the time of his death. Mr. 

 Wilson also served from 1884 till 1887 as a regent 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. He received the 

 degree of LL. D. from Columbian University in 

 1883, and from Hampden Sidney College in ISSG. 



Wing, Josiah Norris. librarian, born in Bed- 

 ford County, Virginia, Sept. 29, 1848; died in 

 New York city, Dec. 20, 1900. His father, a native 

 of Maine, was a bridge builder, and constructed 

 some of the finest bridges in the South. He was 

 a Union man. and after the siege of Knoxville (in 

 the winter of 1863-'64) he removed to New York 

 city. There the son was prepared for college, but 

 in-tcad of entering he became a clerk in the M'T- 

 cantile Library, where he rose by promotion to 



