Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/535

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WIGGLESWORTH
WIGHT

Ministers of Christ," which were called forth by Whitefield's preaching at Cambridge, and were printed by request of the students. He was for some time commissioner of the London society for propagating the gospel among the Indians, but resigned the office in 1755. In 1730 he received the degree of D. D. from Edinburgh university. Besides occasional sermons, his publications in- clude " Sober Remarks on a Modest Proof of the Order and Government Settled by Christ and His Apostles in the Church" (1724); "A Seasonable Caveat against Believing Every Spirit," two lec- tures (1735) ; " An Inquiry into the Truth of the Imputation of Adam's' First Sin to his Posterity " (1738) ; two lectures on " The Sovereignty of God in the Exercise of His Mercy " (1741) : " Some Evi- dences of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, from the Testimony of Jesus Christ and His Apostles" (1755); the "Dud- leian " lecture (1757) ; and " The Doctrine of Repro- bation briefly Considered " (1763). — Edward's son, Edward, educator, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 7 Feb., 1732; d. there, 17 June, 1794, was graduated at Harvard in 1749, became tutor there in 1764, and succeeded his father as Hollis professor of theology. In 1779 he was chosen a fellow of the corporation. When the society in Scotland for promoting the gospel among the Indians of North America established a corresponding board in Boston, he was chosen secretary. In 1791 he resigned his professorship in consequence of a paralytic affection, and was made professor emeritus. He received the degree of D. D. from Harvard in 1786, and was an original member of the American academy of arts and sciences. He wrote " Calculations on American Population " (Boston, 1775) ; " Authority of Tradition Considered," being the Dudleian lecture for 1777 ; and " The Hope of Immortality," a sermon on the death of John Winthrop (1779). — Samuel's son, Edward, soldier, b. in Ipswich, Mass., 3 Jan., 1742; d. in Newbury - port, Mass., 8 Dec, 1826, was graduated at Harvard in 1761. He engaged in commercial pursuits, and, in June, 1776, received a commission as colonel of a regiment to be raised in the counties of Essex, York, and Cumberland (of which the two latter are now included in the state of Maine). He took part in the operations of the American fleet on Lake Champlain under Gen. Benedict Ar- nold and Gen. Horatio Gates, being third in com- mand. In the winter of 1777 he returned to his home in Newburyport to raise a second regiment, but such was " the distress of the times " that he was ordered to march to Ticonderoga before the full complement of men could be recruited. Col. Wigglesworth subsequently took part in the battle of Monmouth and other engagements, and in 1778 was made president of a court of inquiry that con- vened to investigate the surrender of Fort Mont- gomery and Fort Clinton on the Hudson by Gov. George Clinton. In 1779 he applied to Gen. Wash- ington for leave to resign, which was granted. Gen. Washington afterward appointed him col- lector for the port of Newburyport, as his pecuni- ary prospects had been ruined by his devotion to his country, and in 1818 he was granted an annual pension of $240 by congress, through the influence of President Monroe, who had served with Col. Wigglesworth in the army in the Jerseys. — The second Edward's grandson, Edward, editor, b. in Boston, 14 Jan., 1804 ; d. there, 15 Oct., 1876, was graduated at Harvard in 1822, and at the law- school in 1825, studied law also with William Pres- cott, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar. After practising for a time, he entered his father's count- ing-room, thereafter devoting his time mainly to mercantile pursuits. He assisted Francis Lieber, from 1827 till 1834, in the preparation of the " En- cyclopaedia Americana" (13 vols., Philadelphia, 1828-32). Intellectual and scholarly culture, with the oversight and administration of a large num- ber of charitable, benevolent, and humane societies, of which he was a generous patron, divided in about equal measure the whole half century of Mr. Wig- glesworth's mature life. He was the author of " Reflections," a collection of apothegms (Boston, 1885) that were published after his death.


WIGHT, Moses, artist, b. in Boston, Mass., 2 April, 1827. He was engaged in portrait-painting until 1851, when he went to Europe. After three years of study under Antoine A. E. Hebert and Leon Bonnat in Paris, he returned to the United States, but went abroad again in 1860, and a third time in 1865. His portraits include those of Alex- ander von Humboldt, Louis Agassiz, Charles Sum- ner, Edward Everett, and Josiah Quincy. Among his ideal works are " Sleeping Beauty," " Eve at the Fountain," " Lisette," " Confidants," " John Alden and Priscilla," and " Pet's First Cake."


WIGHT, Orlando Williams, author, b. in Centreville, Alleghany co., N. Y., 19 Feb., 1824 ; d. in Detroit, Mich., 19 Oct., 1888. He was edu- cated at Westfield academy and Rochester col- legiate institute, New York, engaged in literary work, and was afterward ordained to the Uni- versalist ministry. He was settled in Newark, N. J., for three years, but in 1853 visited Europe, and afterward he engaged in literary work. Sub- sequently he studied medicine, receiving his degree at the Long Island college hospital in 1865, and practised in Oconomowoc, Wis., and then in Mil- waukee. In 1874 he was appointed state geologist and surgeon-general of Wisconsin, and in 1878-'80 he was health commissioner of Milwaukee, also health officer of Detroit for several years. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Yale in 1861. Dr. Wight has published " The Philosophy of Sir William Hamilton" (New York, 1853); " Life of Abelard and Heloise " (1853 ; enlarged as " Lives and Letters of Abelard and Heloise, 1861) ; and has translated Victor Cousin's " His- tory of Modern Philosophy," with Frederick W. Ricord (2 vols., 1852), and " Lectures on the True, the Beautiful, and the Good" (1854); "Pascal's Thoughts " (1859) ; Balzac's novels, in part (6 vols., 1860) ; Henry Martin's " History of France," with Marv L. Booth (4 vols., 1863); and "Maxims of Public Health " (New York, 1884). He also edited and revised " Standard French Classics " (14 vols., 1858-'60), and edited "The Household Library" (18 vols., 1859 et seq.). He left a book of travels entitled " A Winding Journey around the World " (Detroit, 1888).


WIGHT, Peter Bonnett, architect, b. in New York city, 1 Aug., 1838. He was graduated at the College of the city of New York in 1855, and, after studying architecture for eighteen months, went to Chicago in 1858 to practise that profession, but returned the following year to his native city. Between 1862 and 1868 he built the New York academy of design (see vignette), the Yale school of the fine arts, and the Brooklyn mercantile library, now known as the Brooklyn library. In 1862 he planned the first army hospital that was built by the government during the civil war. In 1864 he erected the building of the Union square branch in New York city of the sanitary fair, and managed it until its close. Immediately after the Chicago fire in 1871 he removed to that city, and between 1872 and 1876 was chiefly engaged in the