Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/641

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
WOODS
WOODS

congratulated by Gregory XVI. for his " excellent Latin and the richness of his discourse," and the Oxford theology having won his approval, he was the theological champion and personal friend of Dr. Edward B. Pusey. " He was even more re- markable, perhaps, for his conversations than for his public addresses," says his biographer, Prof. Edwards A. Park. Having resigned the presi- dency of Bowdoin in 1866 (see the accompanying vignette), he accepted from the legislature of Maine a commission to visit Europe to obtain materials for the early history of the state. He engaged the assistance of Dr. John G. Kohl in the work, which subsequently assumed shape in his " Dis- covery of Maine " (Portland, Me., 1868), and pro- cured the Hakluyt manuscript of the " Westerne Planting." Dr. Woods was preparing this docu- ment for the press when his health declined, and the papers were completed and published by Charles Deane, in the '• Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society" (Portland. 1877). Dr. Woods furnished other valuable matter, which appeared in the 1st and 2d volumes of the publications of that society, and was engaged in further work when his materials were destroyed by a fire that consumed his entire library. Harvard gave him the degree of D. D. in 1846, and Bowdoin that of LL. D. in 1866. Besides the works already referred to, including his translation of George Christian Knapp's " Chris- tian Theology " (2 vols., New York, 1831-'3), Dr. Woods published an " Address on the Life and Character of Parker Cleveland (Portland, Me., 1859), and " Address on the Opening of the New Medical Hall of the Medical School of Maine " (1862). See a " Memorial " of him. by Edwards A. Park (Andover, 1880), and an article by Richard H. Dana in the " Century Magazine " for June, 1881. — The first Leonard's nephew, Alva, educa- tor, b. in Shoreham, Vt., 13 Aug., 1794 ; d. in Provi- dence, R. I., in July, 1887, was graduated at Har- vard in 1817, and at Andover seminary in 1821. Im- mediately upon his graduation at the seminary he was elected professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Columbian college, Washington, D. C. In 1824 he was elected to the same chair in Brown university, where he remained until 1828, when he was made president of Transylvania university, Ky. He continued in this place until 1831, when he be- came president of the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. Resigning this office in 1837, he re- moved soon afterward to Providence, R. L, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was a trustee and fellow of Brown, and a trustee of New- ton theological institution. He founded five fel- lowships in the former, and a lectureship on elocu- tion in the latter. He received from Brown, in 1828, the degree of D. D. Dr. Woods published several inaugural and other addresses.


WOODS, Robert Stuart, Canadian jurist, b. in Sandwich, Ont., in 1819. His grandfather, a Scotch merchant, emigrated to Canada. Robert was edu- cated at Sandwich, took an active part in the re- bellion of 1837, followed Sir Allan N. MacNab through the campaign, and was engaged in the af- fair of the " Caroline." He subsequently studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842, became a queen's counsel in 1872, and continued the prac- tice of his profession till he was appointed junior judge of Kent county in 1885. He was largely in- strumental in securing the construction of the Great Western railway, was an unsuccessful can- didate for parliament in 1854, and is revising-officer of the electoral district of Kent. He is an active advocate of the temperance reform.


WOODS, William, clergyman, b. in Albemarle county, Va., in 1738; d. there in 1819. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and his father, William, came from Pennsylvania with the emigrants that followed John Lewis up Shenandoah valley, and became the owner of large tracts of land in Albe- marle county, Va. The son was a bold and in- dependent thinker, and became a Baptist when that denomination was struggling for existence against great opposition. In 1780 he was ordained a minister of that faith, and founded the old Albe- marle Baptist church, near the University of Vir- ginia. Thomas Jefferson frequently attended his church, and wrote that " it was a model for a re- public." At the request of Jefferson he resigned his charge in 1799 that he might be elected to the legislature. He served during the agitation of 1800 over the Kentucky resolutions of 1798-'9, and his name heads the list of state-rights Republican voters in that body. During his term a bill was passed to increase the pay of the members, but he refused to accept its privileges. — His son, Micajah, jurist, b. in Albemarle county, Va., in 1776 ; d. there in 1837, was for twenty years a member of the justice's court for Albemarle county, and for many years the presiding justice of that county. — His son, John Rodes, phvsician, b. in Albemarle county, Va., 15 Jan., 1815; d. there, 9 July, 1885, was graduated in medicine at the University of Virginia in 1835, but ceased to practise in 1837, devoted his attention to scientific agriculture, and brought large importations of English stock to his estate, " Holkham." He was a member of the old Whig party, a personal friend of Henry Clay, and a member of many Whig conventions. For eight years he was a director of the Virginia Central (now Chesapeake and Ohio) railway company. Dr. Woods was a supporter of the University of Vir- ginia, and a member of its board of visitors from 1867 till 1872.— John Rodes's son, Micajah, law- yer, b. at Holkham, Albemarle co„ Va., 17 May, 1844, has been attorney for the commonwealth of Albemarle county since 1870, and was a member of the board of visitors to the University of Vir- ginia from 1872 till 1876.


WOODS, William Burnham, soldier, b. in Newark, Licking co., Ohio, 3 Aug., 1824; d. in Washington, D. C, 14 May, 1887. His father, Ezekiel S. Woods, was a native of Kentucky, of Scotch-Irish parentage. The son was educated at Western Reserve college and at Yale, where he was graduated in 1845. He afterward studied l;iv in his native place, and practised there, was elected mayor of Newark in 1856 and 1857, and in the latter year was chosen to the Ohio legislature. He was elected speaker of the house in 1858, and re-elected to the legislature in 1859. Soon after the opening of the civil war he entered the National army as lieutenant-colonel of the 76th Ohio volunteers, and from November. 1861, till the close of the war he was continuously at the front, except for a period of three months. He participated in