Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/304

"Travels in New England and New York " (4 vols., New Haven, 1821 ; London, 1823) was pro- nounced by Robert Southey the most important of his works. His " Theology Explained and De- fended in a Course of 173 Sermons " (5 vols., Mid- dletown, Conn., 1818 ; London. 1819 ; new ed., with memoir by his son. Rev. Sereno E. Dwight, New York, 1846) has gone through a score of editions in this country and at least one hundred abroad, and on it rests his reputation as a theolo- gian. Besides these works and numerous dis- courses he published " America, a Poem " (1772) ; " The Genuineness and Authenticity of the New Testament " (1793) ; " Triumph of Infidelity, a Satire " (1797) ; " Discourse on the Character of Washington " (1800) ; " Observations on Lan- guage " (1816) ; and " Essay on Light " (1816). See, besides, the memoir by his son, and the life in vol. xiv. of Sparks's " American Biography," by Rev. William B. Sprague. Dr. Dwight married, in March, 1777, Mary, daughter of Benjamin Wool- sey, of Long Island, who bore him eight sons. — His brother. Theodore, journalist, b. in iSlortharapton, Mass., 13 Dec, 1764 ; d. in New York cit)', 12 June, 1846, studied law in New Haven with his cousin, Judge Pierrepont Edwards, and began practice at Haddam, Conn., but removed to Hartford in 17^1, and became eminent in hi;" profession. He at one time removed to New York to become the law- partner of his cousin, Aaron Burr, but disagreed with the latter's political opinions and returned to Plartford, where he edited the " Courant " and the " Connecticut Mirror, the organ, in that state, of the Federal party, in which he had become promi- nent. He was also an active member of a club of young poets known as " the Hartford wits," and is •said to have been a principal contributor to the " Political Greenhouse " and the " Echo." In 1806 he was chosen to congress to fill the vacancy caused by John Cotton Smith's resignation, serv- ing till 3 March, 1807, and declining a renomina- tion. While in congress he had several sharp passages of wit with John Randolph. He was a member of the state council in 1809-'15, and secre- tary of the celebrated " Hartford Convention " of 1814. In 1815 he removed to Albany and estab- lished the " Daily Advertiser," but relinquished it after two years, to found the New York " Daily Advertiser," a journal which he conducted until 1886, when, retiring from active life, he removed to Hartford, but returned to New York three years before his death. Mr. Dwight was a brilliant writer as well as able debater. Although he wrote too much and too rapidly for lasting fame, his political articles were bright and spicy, and his satirical and sketchy " New Y^ear's Verses," in the " Mirror," were always looked for with eagerness. Mr. Dwight was a man of unflinching integrity and an outspoken opponent of slavery. In person he was tall and fine-looking. He published a " History of the Hartford Convention " (New York, 1833), and " Character of Thomas Jefferson, as ex- hibited in his own Writings" (Boston, 1839). The latter is written with a strong Federal bias. An outline of this " Life and Writings " was published by the New York historical society (1846), and a sketch of his character by Dr. Francis ap- peared subsequently under its auspices. — His son, Theodore, author, b. in Hartford, Conn., 3 March, 1796 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 16 Oct., 1866, was graduated at Yale in 1814, and began to study theology with his uncle. President Dwight, but ill- ness forced him to abandon it in 1818,"and he vis- ited Europe for his health. He removed to Brook- lyn in 1833, and engaged in various public and philanthropic enterprises, becoming a director of many religious and educational societies, and being active from 1826 till 1854 in multiplying and per- fecting Sunday-schools. In 1854-'8 he engaged with George Walter in a systematic effort to send free-soil settlers to Kansas, and it is estimated that, directly or indirectly, they induced 9,000 persons to go thither. Mr. Dwight was a prolific writer, and at various times was on the editorial staff of the New York " Daily Advertiser," his father's pa- per, the " American Magazine," the " Family Visit- or," the " Protestant Vindicator," the " Christian Alliance," the " Israelite Indeed," and the •' New York Presbyterian," of which he was at one time chief editor and publisher. In his later years he was employed in the New Y^ork custom-house. Mr. Dwight was familiar with six or eight languages. At the time of his death, which was the result of a railroad accident, he was translating educational works into Spanish, for introduction into the Span- ish-American countries. He published " A Tour in Italy in 1821 " (New York, 1824) : " New Gazet- teer of the United States," with William Darbv (Hartford. 1833); "President Dwight's Decisions of Questions discussed by the Senior Class in Yale College in 1813-4" (New York, 1833); "History of Connecticut " and " The Northern Traveller " (1841) ; " Summer Tour of New England " (1847) ; "The Roman Republic of 1849" (1851); "The Kansas War ; or the Exploits of Chivalry in the 19th Century " (1859) ; and the " Autobiography of Gen. Garibaldi," edited (1859). He was also the author of numerous educational works. — Nathan- iel, physician, another brother of President Dwight, b. in Northampton. Mass., 31 Jan., 1770: d. in Os- wego, N. Y., 11 June, 1831, studied medicine in Hartford, Conn., and after practising there became assistant surgeon in the XJ. S. army, and was sta- tioned at Governor's Island, New York harbor. He afterward practised in Westfield, Mass., and New London and Wethersfield, Conn., but in 1812 en- tered the ministry, and was settled at Westchester, Conn., till 1820. He then resumed the medical profession, practising at Providence, R. I., and Norwich, Conn. Dr. Dwight was one of the first, probably the first, to propose the present system of retreats for the insane. As early as 1812, when de- mented persons were still confined in cellars, and exhibited like wild beasts, he proposed, in a com- munication to the Connecticut medical society, the establishment of " a hospital for lunatics." He prepared a school geography, the first published in this country, and was the author of " The Great Question Answered " and a " Compendious History of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence." — President Timothy Dwight's eldest son, Timo- thy, b. in Stratford; Conn., 29 March, 1778; d. 13 June, 1844, was for over foi'ty years a merchant in New Haven, and gave $5,000 to endow the " Dwight professorship of didactic theology " at Yale. — Presi- dent Dwight's second son, Benjamin Woolsey, physician, b. in Northampton, Mass., 10 Feb., 1780; d. m Clinton, N. Y., 18 May, 1850, was fitted for col- lege by his father and graduated at Yale in 1799. He studied medicine in Philadelphia under Dr. Rush and Dr. Physic, and practised in Catskill, N. Y., in 1803-'5, but left the profession on account of his health, and became a merchant in New York and afterward in Catskill. He retired to a farm in Clinton, N. Y., in 1831, and lived there till his death. He was treasurer of Hamilton college in 1831-'50. Dr. Dwight published, in the " Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy" for 1811, the first article ever published in this country on " Chronic Debility of the Stomach," which was highly praised