H. She was a grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper. She was educated in Cleveland, Ohio, and at a French school in New York City. She lived first at Cleveland, then (1873-79) in Florida and the neighboring States, and thereafter chiefly in Italy, at Rome, Venice, and Florence. Her first literary work appeared in Harper's Monthly in 1870, and here much of her subsequent writing was published. Her volumes were: The Old Stone House (1873); Castle Nowhere: Lake-Country Sketches (1875); Two Women: a Poem (1877); Rodman the Keeper: Southern Sketches (1880); Anne (1882); For the Major (1883); East Angels (1886); Jupiter Lights (1889); Horace Chase (1894), which may be regarded as her best piece of work: and The Front Yard, and Other Italian Stories (1895). “No woman,” says Mr. Stedman. “of rarer personal qualities, or with more decided gifts as a novelist, figured in her own generation of American writers.” Miss Woolson excellently depicted native and local American types.
WOOL′WA. A Central American linguistic stock. See Ulua.
WOOLWICH, wo͞ol′ĭch or -ĭj. A metropolitan borough of London, England, formerly a town, in Kent, on the Thames, 9 miles east of Saint Paul's Cathedral (Map: London, E 9). The royal arsenal, the largest in Britain, contains war stores and establishments for manufacturing them, comprising three departments called the gun factories, carriage department, and laboratory. The arsenal covers 593 acres and employs over 14,000 men. On the common, south of the town, is the Royal Military Academy for the education of cadets for the artillery and engineers. Population, in 1891, 40,860; in 1901, 41,607.
WOON′SOCKET. A city in Providence County, R. I., 16 miles north by west of the city of Providence, on the Blackstone River, here spanned by a fine bridge, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and its leased lines (Map: Rhode Island, B 1). It has the Sacred Heart College and the Harris Institute Library with 15,000 volumes. There are three public parks, and a soldiers' monument. Woonsocket is primarily an industrial city, being especially known for the manufacture of cotton and worsted goods. Other important manufactures include foundry and machine-shop products, knit goods, hosiery, rubber, etc. In the census year 1900 the various industrial establishments had an invested capital of $14,279,361, and a production valued at $15,627,539. The water-works are the property of the city. Population, in 1890, 20,830; in 1900, 28,204. Woonsocket was settled about 1666; in 1867 it was incorporated as a town and in 1888 was chartered as a city. Its area was enlarged in 1871 by the, annexation of a portion of Smithfield. Consult Richardson, History of Woonsocket (Woonsocket, 1876).
WOORALI. A South American vegetable poison. See Curare.
WOOS′TER. The county-seat of Wayne County, O., 52 miles south by west of Cleveland, on the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads (Map: Ohio, G 4). It is the seat of the University of Wooster (Presbyterian), opened in 1870, and has a public library, and the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, which possesses fine buildings and grounds. The principal manufactures include boilers, engines, farm implements, flour, lumber products, pianos, glass, etc. The water-works are the property of the municipality. Wooster (named in honor of General David Wooster, q.v.) was laid out in 1808, and was incorporated in 1817. It received a city charter in 1868. Population, in 1890, 5901; in 1900, 6063.
WOOSTER, David (1710-77). An American soldier. He was born in Stratford, Conn., graduated at Yale in 1738, and, entering the provincial army in 1739, served throughout King George's War (q.v.), acting as captain in the Louisburg expedition of 1745, and commanding for a time the sloop-of-war Connecticut. He became colonel of a Connecticut regiment in 1755, and served throughout the French and Indian War, during which he rose to the rank of brigadier-general. He was appointed collector of customs at New Haven, but resigned on the approach of the Revolutionary War, and was one of the eight brigadier-generals appointed by Congress in June, 1775. After serving in Canada, where for a time, owing to the death of General Montgomery, he held the chief command, he resigned to become major-general of Connecticut militia, and was mortally wounded (April 26, 1777) near Danbury, while defending that place against the attack of General Tryon.
WORCESTER, wụs′tẽr. The capital of Worcestershire, England, in the centre of the Severn Valley, on the eastern bank of the river, 27 miles southwest of Birmingham (Map: England, D 4). The most important public buildings are the cathedral, the shire-hall, the guild-hall, the county prison, the city library, the Worcester museum, the corn exchange, the music-hall, and a city grammar school, founded by Queen Elizabeth. A cathedral, dedicated to Saint Peter, was founded as early as the seventh century. In 1084 Bishop Wulfstan laid the foundation of a new cathedral, which was not completed till 1216. Restored since 1855, it is now distinguished by the simplicity, if not plainness, of the exterior, which is amply compensated for by a fine perspective, the lofty roof, and generally charming effect of the interior. The tombs of King John, of Arthur, Prince of Wales (eldest son of Henry VII.), and of Bishop Gauden (q.v.), are the chief ancient monuments in the building. The city owns the water and electric lighting works, slaughter-houses, markets, and cemeteries, and maintains a large recreation ground, swimming baths, technical and art schools, and a public library. Glove-making, leather dressing and staining, porcelain factories, ironworks, locomotive-engine factories, tanning and currying, horse-hair weaving, vinegar, wine and sauce making, coach-building, and the manufacture of chemical manures and agricultural implements are the chief industries. The frequent discovery of ancient remains proves that Worcester was a Roman station. It became a city under the kings of Mercia, and holds charters from Richard I. and subsequent monarchs. Here Cromwell overthrew a Scotch army under Charles II., September 3, 1651. Population, in 1891, 42,908; in 1901, 46,623.
Consult Curzon, Manufacturing Industries of
