30 April, 1833, surveyed the site for a fort on Pea Patch island, in Delaware river, in 1834, and was promoted brevet captain of staff in the topographi- cal engineers on 28 Jan. in the same year. He surveyed the route for a ship-canal around the Falls of Niagara in 1835-'6. and performed similar ser- vices on Lake Champlain, at Charleston, S. C, and at Cincinnati, Ohio. He went in 1837 on a mili- tary reconnoissance to the country of the Chero- kees, attained the rank of captain of engineers in 1838, and during the eight succeeding years was engaged in making triangulations and in con- structing harbor works on Lake Erie. He was superintendent of the survey of the northwestern lakes and of the boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin, served under Gen. Zachary Taylor in the war with Mexico as chief of engineers, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Monterey, 21 Sept., 1846, dying the same day. He was an adept in painting, and his literary and scientific attainments were of a high order.
WILLIAMS, William R., clergyman, b. in
New York city, 14 Oct., 1804 : d. there, 1 April,
1885. His father, the Rev. John Williams, came
from Wales in 1795, and was pastor of a Bap-
tist church in New York from 1798 till his death
in 1825. The son was graduated at Columbia in
1822, and studied law with Peter A. Jay, whose
Eartner be became. Religious convictions caused
im to leave that profession and to devote himself
to the Christian ministry. He was ordained pastor
of the Amity street Baptist church in 1832. In this
relation he continued until his death, though often
solicited to accept various chairs in colleges and
theological seminaries. Dr. Williams's library was
one of the largest and choicest private collections in
the country. Though he was a man of very positive
convictions, his temper was gentle and eminently
catholic. He was one of the foremost leaders in
the councils of his own denomination, and an ac-
tive manager in the great societies that are sup-
ported by evangelical Christians in general, as the
American tract society and the American Bible
society. Columbia gave him the degree of S. T. D.
in 1837, and he was a trustee of that college in
1838-'48. The degree of LL. D. was given him by
Union in 1859. His chief works, besides many
sermons and addresses, are "Miscellanies" (New
York, 1850) ; " Religious Progress " (1850) ; and
" Lectures on the Lord's Prayer" (1851). He was
co-editor also of the " Baptist Library."
WILLIAMSON, Hugh, statesman, b. in West
Nottingham, Pa., 5 Dec, 1735 ; d. in New York
city, 22 May, 1819. He was graduated at the Col-
lege of Philadelphia in 1757, studied theology, and
was licensed to preach in 1759 in Connecticut. He
was subsequently admitted to the presbytery of
Philadelphia, and preached altogether about two
years, but, partly in consequence of ill health, he
was never ordained nor assumed a pastorate. He
was professor of mathematics in the College of
Philadelphia in 1760-'3, studied medicine at
Edinburgh and Utrecht, where he took his de-
gree, and on his return to this country practised
successfully at Philadelphia. On 7 Jan., 1769, he
was appointed one of a commission of the Ameri-
can philosophical society, to which he had been
elected in 1768, to observe the transits of Ve-
nus and Mercury, his account of which is con-
tained in vol. i. of the "Philosophical Transac-
tions." In 1772 he visited the West Indies to pro-
cure aid for the academy at Newark, Del., and in
1773 he proceeded to England to solicit further
assistance for that institution. He was examined
in February, 1774, by the privy council on the
subject of the destruction of the tea in Boston
harbor, and other matters relating to the political
state of the colonies. He afterward spent some-
time on the continent, and returned to this coun-
try in 1776, after the Declaration of Independ-
ence, bearing im-
fortant papers,
n 1777 he engaged
in mercantile pur-
suits in Charles-
ton, S. C, with a
younger brother,
and subsequently
he practised medi-
cine at Edenton,
N. C. He served
as surgeon in the
militia of North
Carolina in 1780-
'2, and rendered
aid to the wound-
ed at the battle of
Camden. He was
a member of the
house of commons
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of North Carolina in 1782, was elected to the Con- tinental congress in 1784, 1785, and 1786, and was a delegate to the convention that framed the con- stitution of the United States in 1787, as well as to the State convention to act upon it in 1789. He was elected to the 1st congress as a Federalist, re- elected to the second, and served from 19 March,. 1790, till 2 March, 1793, when he removed to New York. He married there, devoted himself to lit- erary pursuits, and was associated with De Witt Clinton in organizing the Literary and philosophi- cal society in 1814. He was an advocate of the New York canal system, and an active promoter of philanthropic, literary, and scientific institutions. Dr. Williamson was a frequent contributor to the transactions of learned societies in Europe and the United States. He published a series of essays on "Paper Currency" in 1786; fugitive articles on- "Languages in Politics" in the "American Mu- seum " ; " Observations on Navigable Canals," an essay on " Comets " in the " Transactions " of the Juiterary and philosophical society of New York ; " Discourse on the Benefits of Civil History " (New York, 1810); "Observations on the Climate of America" (1811); and "History of North Caro- lina " (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1812).
WILLIAMSON, Isaac Dowd, clergyman, b. in Pomfret, Vt., 4 April, 1807; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 26 Nov., 1876. He was a Universalist minister, on
10 Sept., 1829, at Townsend, Vt., was pastor at Albany, N. Y., from 1830 till 1837, and subsequently held charges in Baltimore, Md., New York city, Philadelphia, Mobile, Ala., Cincinnati, Ohio, Lowell, Mass., and Louisville, Ky. In 1873 he again became pastor at Cincinnati. He composed a large part of the ritual of the Order of Odd-Fellows, of which he was chaplain for many
years. At different times he was editor of the "Gospel Banner," at Troy, N. Y., the "Religious Inquirer," at Hartford, Conn., the "Herald and Era," at Louisville, Ky., and the "Star in the West," at Cincinnati. He published " Argument for the Truth of Christianity" (New York, 1836); "Imposition and Defence of Universalism " (1840) ; " The Crown of Life, a Series of Discourses" (Boston, 1850) ; " Examination of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment " (Cincinnati, 1854) : " The Philosophy of Odd-Fellowship " (ia55) ; " The Philosophy of Universalism" (1866); and "Rudiments of
Theological and Moral Science " (1870).