Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/616

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WISE
WISE

he supported the Democratic candidates for president. He was elected governor of Virginia in 1855, after a very vigorous canvass, directed es- pecially against the " Know- Nothings," whose progress he did much to check by his vigorous ora- tory. His success, which overturned the calculations of many politi- cal prophets, was due in part to his accusation that the " Know-Noth- ings " were Abo- litionists in dis- guise. Toward the close of his term occurred the seiz- ure of Harper's Perry by John Brown, whose exe- cution on 2 Dec, 1859, was one of

the last acts of his

administration. (See Brown, John.) In February, 1861, he was a member of the State convention, in which, from the committee on Federal relations, he made a report that aimed at compromise and a peaceable adjustment with the seceded states. Af- ter the secession of Virginia he was appointed briga- dier-general in the Confederate army. His force was driven out of Kanawha valley by the National troops under Gen. Jacob D. Cox, and at Gauley Bridge lost a large quantity of arms and stores. Sub- sequently he commanded at Roanoke island, N. C, where his forces were defeated by Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's expedition, his son, Obadiah J. Wise, be- ing among the killed. After the war he resumed the practice of his profession. He published "Seven Decades of the Union : Memoir of John Tyler " (Philadelphia, 1872). — Henry Alexander's son, John Sergeant, politician, b. in Rio Janeiro, Brazil, 25 Dec, 1846, was educated at Virginia military in- stitute, and, while a cadet there, took part in the battle of Newmarket, Va., where he was wounded, afterward serving on staff duty till the end of the war. He studied law at the University of Virginia, was admitted to the bar in 1867, and has engaged in practice in Richmond. From 1882 till 1883 he was U. S. district attorney. He was chosen to con- gress in 1882 as a Readjuster, served one term, and in 1885 was the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, but was defeated by Fitzhugh Lee. — Henry Alexander's nephew, George Douglas, con- gressman, b. in Accomack county, V a., 4 June, 1831, was educated at Indiana university, studied law at William and Mary, and practised at Richmond. He served in the Confederate army as a captain, was commonwealth's attorney of Richmond in 1870-'80, and in the latter year was chosen as a Democrat to congress, where he has since served. — Gov. Wise's cousin, Henry Augustus, naval officer, b. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 12 May, 1819 ; d. in Naples, Italy, 2 April, 1869, was a son of George Stuart Wise, of the U. S. navy. He entered the navy, 8 Feb., 1834, attended the naval school at Philadel- phia in 1839-'40, and became a passed midshipman, 16 July, 1840. He served in the depot of charts, and on special duty in 1840-'3, and cruised in the " Plymouth," of the Mediterranean station, in 1844-'5. He was promoted to master, 31 Oct.. 1846, and lieutenant, 25 Feb., 1847. During the Mexican war he was attached to the razee "Inde- pendence," on the Pacific station, and participated in the operations in the Gulf of California, at Mazatlan, and La Paz. In 1850-'2 he served in the coast survey, and then he cruised in the frigate " Cumberland," of the Mediterranean station, in 1852-'4. He was on ordnance duty at Boston and Washington during the following years until 1860. When the civil war began he was attached to the steam frigate " Niagara " in the first block- ading squadron off Charleston, S. C, in 1861. He Was promoted to commander, 16 July. 1862, and appointed assistant chief of the bureau of ordnance and hydrography, where he served throughout the remainder of the war and until January, 1869, and rendered valuable services. He was promoted to captain, 29 Dec, 1866, and was abroad on leave when he died. He married a daughter of Edward Everett in 1848. Cant. Wise was the author of " Los Gringos, or an Interior View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia" (New York, 1849); "Tales for the Marines " (Boston, 1855) ; " Scampavias ; from Gibel Tarak to Stamboul, bv Harrv Gringo " (New York, 1857) ; " The Story of the Gray African Parrot," for children (1859); and "Captain Brand of the 'Centipede'" (London, 1860 ; New York, 1864).


WISE, Isaac Mayer, clergyman, b. in Stein- grub, Bohemia, 3 April, 1819. After following the usual rabbinical training, and a course of secular instruction at Prague, he was graduated at the University of Vienna in 1843. In the same year he was appointed rabbi of Radnitz, Bohemia, where he remained three years. He then went to New York, and from 1846 till 1854 he officiated in Al- bany. In 1854 Dr. Wise was called to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he has remained. In 1854 he pub- lished the weekly, " The Israelite," and in 1855 a German supplement, " Die Deborah." He has also issued a special ritual called "Minhag America," which has been adopted by a large number of con- gregations, and he has been an industrious writer on Jewish and polemical topics. He has lectured throughout the country, and consecrated a large number of synagogues. He is identified with the reform movement in American Judaism, and his energy led to the union of American congregations and the Hebrew union college, of which he is presi- dent. Among his works are a "History of the Israelitish Nation" (Albany, 1854); "Essence of Judaism" (Cincinnati, I860) ; "Judaism: its Doc- trines and Duties" (1862); "The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth," to prove that the Jews were not responsible for the crucifixion (1874); "The Cosmic God " (1876) : and " History of the Hebrews' Second Commonwealth " (1880).


WISE, John, clergyman, b. in Roxbury, Mass., in August, 1652; d. in Ipswich, Mass., 8 April, 1725. He was the son of Joseph Wise, who, in his younger days, had been a serving-man. John attended Roxbury free school, was graduated at Harvard in 1673, and, after studying theology, was ordained pastor of Chebacco, a new parish of Ipswich, on 12 Aug., 1683, where he remained till his death. In 1688, for leading the citizens of Ipswich in their remonstrance against arbitrary taxation by Sir Edmund Andros, he was imprisoned, fined £50 and costs, and deprived of his ministerial office, but after the revolution of the following year he brought action against Chief-Justice Dudley for refusing him the benefit of the habeas corpus act, and is said to have recovered damages. The town had paid his fine and costs and sent him, as its representative, to Boston, where he took an active part in reorganizing the government. In 1690 he was a chaplain in the unfortunate expedition to