Passages of the New Testament " (Philadelphia, 1810) ; " An Easy Introduction to the Knowledge of the Hebrew Language" (1812); " Ridgely's ' Body of Divinity,' with Notes, Original and Se- lected " (1814); "An Essay on Grammar " (1817) : " An Essay on the Probation of Fallen Men " (1827) ; " Common Objections to Christianity " and the " Hope of Immortality " (1829) ; and u A Free Conversation on the Unpardonable Sin " (1830). WILSON, Matthew, artist, b. in London, Eng- land, 17 July, 1814. He came to this couutry in 1832, and for several years painted miniatures in Philadelphia. He then became a pupil of Henry Inman, and in 1835 went to Paris, where he stud- ied with Edouard Dubufe. He was elected an as- sociate of the National academy in 1843. Among his numerous portraits are those of Samuel J. Til- den ; Gov. Thomas G. Pratt, of Maryland ; Secre- taries Gideon Welles, George M. Robeson, and William E. Chandler, for the U. S. navy depart- ment ; Albert Gallatin, for the treasury depart- ment; Washington Irving; James Fenimore Coop- er ; Henry Wilson ; and Thaddeus Stevens. He also painted the last portrait of Abraham Lincoln two weeks before the president's death, and has since executed a full-length picture of Mrs. Wash- ington for the White House.
WILSON, Oliver Morris, lawyer, b. in Lo-
gansport, Ind., 16 Aug., 1836. He was graduated
at Hamilton college in 1858 and studied law.
After serving in the civil war as captain and ma-
jor of Indiana volunteers, he was secretary of the
Indiana senate in 1865-'9, assistant U. S. attorney
for the state in 1869-'71, and member of the legis-
lature in the latter year. He was adjutant-general
of the Grand army of the republic for Indiana in
1866-'8, and organized the first department in that
order. Maj. Wilson has published " Digest of Par-
liamentary Law" (Philadelphia, 1869), and "In-
diana Superior Court Reports" (1875).
WILSON, Peter, educator, b. in Ordiquhill,
Banff, Scotland, 23 Nov., 1746 ; d. in New Barba-
does, N. J., 1 Aug., 1825. He was educated at the
University of Aberdeen, where he paid particular
attention to classical studies. Removing to New
York city in 1763, he soon found employment
as a teacher, and was called to be the principal
of Hackensack (N. J.) academy, where, over the
front windows of his residence, his own and his
wife's name are still to be seen cut in the stone.
In 1775 he threw himself with great zeal into the
political movements that preceded the Revolu-
tion, and from 1777 till 1783 he served in the
New Jersey legislature. In the latter year he was
appointed to revise and codify the laws of that
state. In 1789 he was elected professor of Greek
and Latin in Columbia, and he held the office
until 1792, when he resigned to become principal
of Erasmus Hall, Flatbush, L. I. In 1797 he
was recalled to Columbia as professor of Greek
and Latin and of Grecian and Roman antiquities,
which chair he filled until 1820, when he was re-
tired with a pension by the trustees. He received
the degree of LL. D. from Union in 1798. He
published " Rules of Latin Prosody, for the Use of
Schools " (New York, 1810) ; " Introduction to Greek
Prosody " and " Compendium of Greek Prosody "
(1817); together with editions of Sallust, Longi-
nus, the Greek Testament, and revised Dr. Alex-
ander Adams' " Roman Antiquities " (1826).
WILSON, Samuel Farmer, journalist, b. in
Connecticut in 1805; d. in New Orleans, La., 11
March, 1870. He was graduated at Columbia in
1822, studied law in New York city, was admitted
to the bar there in 1826, and at Raleigh, N. C, in
, removed from that place to New Berne, and
from there to Mobile, Ala., in 1832, where he aban-
doned law to become joint editor of the " Register."
He went to New Orleans in 1849, and joined the
staff of the " Crescent," connected himself with
the "Picayune" in the following year, and became
a joint owner and the chief editorial writer of that
newspaper. For several terms he was a member
of the Louisiana legislature. He was the author
of a " History of the American Revolution," which
passed through several editions (Baltimore, 1834).
WILSON, Theodore Delavan, naval construct-
or, b. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 11 May, 1840. He served
an apprenticeship as a shipwright at the Brooklyn
navy-yard, and at the beginning of the civil war
was a non-commissioned officer in the 13th New
York militia regiment for three months. Upon
his return he was appointed a carpenter in the
navy, 3 Aug., 1861, and he served in the steamer
" Cambridge," of the North Atlantic blockading
squadron, in 1861-4, and with Rear-Admiral Greg-
ory as inspector of vessels in the private establish-
ments near New York city. After passing the re-
quired examination he was commissioned as an as-
sistant naval constructor, 17 May, 1866. He served
at the Pensacola navy-yard in 1866-'7, and at Phila-
delphia in 1867-'9, and was instructor in naval
architecture and ship-building at the U. S. naval
academy in 1869-'73. He was commissioned naval
constructor, 1 July, 1873, and served at the Ports-
mouth navy-yard in 1873-'82. He was elected a
member of the Institute of naval architects of Eng-
land, being the first American member of that sci-
entific body. He was appointed chief of the bu-
reau of construction and repair, 3 March, 1872, and
reappointed for a second term of four years, 15 Dec,
. In 1870 he received a patent for " air-pi >rts."'
which have been adopted in the naval service and
merchant-ships, and in 1880 he patented a bolt-
extractor, which is in general use. While chief
of the bureau of construction and repair he has
designed several of the modern ships that have
been recently built and are now building. He de-
signed the " Chicago," " Boston," and " Atlanta,"
to meet the requirements of the advisory board,
and the cruisers " Newark," " San Francisco,"
" Concord," " Yorktown," " Bennington," " Pe-
trel," and " Maine," the latter of which is shown
in the illustration. He is the author of "Ship-
Building, Theoretical and Practical," which is used
as a text-book at the naval academy and by the
profession generally (New York, 1873).
WILSON, Thomas, clergyman, b. in England in 1761 ; d. in Washington county, Ky., in 1824. He was a member of the Dominican order, and was
president of its college at Bornheim, Belgium, in 1803, when the building was attacked and plundered by the French troops. He escaped to England, where he petitioned the general of the order to be allowed to establish a house in the United States. He was employed, for several years after his arrival in this country, on missions in Maryland and the neighboring states, and it was not till 1808 that the first Dominican convent in the United
