Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/646

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WOOLSEY
WOOLSEY

Travels in the Service of the. Gospel " (Philadelphia, 1775, edited, with an introduction, by John G. Whit- tier, 1871). Woolman also published " Some Con- siderations on the Keeping of Negroes " (Philadel- phia, 1753 ; 2d part, 1762) ; "Considerations on Pure Wisdom and Human Policy, on Labor, on Schools, and on the Right Use of the Lord's Outward Gifts " (1768) ; " Considerations on the True Harmony of Mankind, and How it is to be Maintained " (1770) ; and "An Epistle to the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings of Friends" (1772). His* "Serious Con- siderations, with Some of his Dying Expressions," appeared after his death (London, 1773). Various manuscripts that he left were included in an edi- tion of his works (2 parts, Philadelphia, 1774-'5).


WOOLSEY, Melanchton Taylor, naval officer, b. in New York in 1782; d. in Utica, N. Y, 18 May, 1838. His father was an officer in the war of independence and resided at Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, where he was collector of the port. The son studied law, but entered the navy as a midshipman, 9 April, 1800, and cruised in the sloop " Adams " in the West Indies in 1800-'l. He went to Tripoli just before the close of the Tripolitan war, was promoted to lieutenant, 14 Feb., 1807, and went to Washington, where he pre- pared a code of signals for the navy. He was sent to Lake Ontario to superintend the building of three naval vessels, and at Oswego, in 1808, laid the keel of the " Oneida," the first U. S. naval vessel that was ever built on that lake. He commanded the " Oneida," and was in charge of the naval sta- tion at Sackett's Harbor when the war of 1812 began. On 19 July, 1812, a British squadron of five vessels came in sight, when Woolsey attempted to escape into the open sea in the " Oneida " ; but as this was impossible, he returned into Sackett's Har- bor, where he landed half of his battery on shore and repelled the British after an engagement of two hours. Com. Isaac Chauncey arrived soon after this victory, and assumed chief command. Other vessels were built, and in November, 1813, Kingston was attacked, Woolsey commanding the " Oneida " and continuing to serve as second in command. He was promoted to master-comman- dant. 24 July, 1813, and was present at the attack on York and the assault on Fort George. In the schooner " Sylph " he sailed with Com. Chauncey's squadron on 28 Aug., 1813, and chased the British squadron under Sir James Yeo for six days, par- ticipating in numerous engagements during Sep- tember. On 5 Oct., 1813, he captured the cutter " Drummond " and the sloops " Elizabeth," " Mary Ann," and " Lady Gore " off False Ducks. In May, 1814, Woolsey was sent to Oswego in the " Sylph " to transport guns and cables to Sackett's Harbor at a period when the British had again ob- tained control of the lake. The British squadron appeared off Oswego while he was there, and he circulated a report that the destination of the guns and stores had been changed, after which, availing himself of a dark night, he went out with a flotilla of nineteen heavy boats carrying the guns and stores. The British discovered his retreat and followed him to Sandy Creek, where he was land- ing the guns when they appeared. Maj. Daniel Appling, who had accompanied him with a force of riflemen, prepared an ambuscade, and with Woolsey met the British with such a destructive fire that in the end they were all captured. Three gun-boats, two barges, one gig, six guns, and 186 men were taken on this" occasion. Woolsey then took his guns and stores to Sackett's Harbor, and the Americans regained command of the lake. He had charge of the brig " Jones " from the following year until the close of the war. He remained at Sack- ett's Harbor after peace was restored until 1824 in command of that station. He was promoted to captain, 27 April, 1816, had the frigate " Constella- tion " in the West Indies from 1824 till June, 1827, was in chargeof the Pensacola navy-vard in 1827-'31, and commodore commanding the Brazil station in 1832-'4. In 1836-'7 he had charge of the surveys of the Chesapeake bay, after which his health de- clined. — His son, Melanchton Brooks, naval offi- cer, b. in New York, 11 Aug., 1817: d. in Pensa- cola, Fla., 2 Oct., 1874. entered the navy as a mid- shipman, 24 Sept., 1832, attended the naval school at Philadelphia, and became a passed midshipman, 16 July, 1840. He was promoted to master, 22 March, 1847, and to lieutenant, 16 July, 1847, and by action of the retiring board he was placed on the reserved list, 13 Sept., 1855. In 1861 he was assigned to active duty and attached to the re- ceiving-ship at New York. He commanded the steamer " Ellen," on the South Atlantic blockade, in 1861-'2, in which he engaged Fort Pemberton at Wapper creek, S. C, in May, 1862. repelled Confederate cavalry at Secessionville, 1 June, 1862, and participated in the attack on James island, 3 June, 1862. He was commissioned a commander, 16 July, 1862, on the reserved list, and command- ed the sloop "Vandalia" in 1862-'3, and the steamer " Princess Royal," in the West Gulf squad- ron, in 1863-'5. He participated in the engage- ment and repulse of the Confederates at Donald- sonville, La., on 28 June, 1863, and was highly com- mended for this victory. He continued to serve on the blockade until the close of the war, and was placed on the active list and promoted to captain, 25 July, 1866, and to commodore, 20 May, 1871. On 6 March, 1873, he was appointed commandant of the Pensacola navy-yard. In 1874 Woolsey had orders to go to the north on duty, but he declined to leave his post when a yellow-fever epidemic appeared, and he died there.


WOOLSEY, Theodore Dwight, educator, b. in New York city, 31 Oct., 1801. He is the son of William W. Woolsey, a merchant of New York city, and of Elizabeth Dwight. sister of President Timothy Dwight, of Yale. He was graduated at Yale in 1820, studied law for a year in Philadelphia, and theology at Princeton in 1821-'3, and from 1823 till 1825 was a tutor at Y 7 ale. In 1825 he was licensed to preach, and from 1827 till 1830 he studied the Greek language and literature in Germany, France, and Italy. Returning to this country, he was professor of Greek at Yale from 1831 till 1846, when he was appointed president, which post he held till his resignation in 1871. He was a member of the American company of revisers of the New Testament, and its chairman in 1871-'81, was at one time vice-president of the Oriental society, and for several vears a regent of the Smithsonian institution at Washington, D. C. He received the degree of D. D. from Harvard in 1847, and that of LL. D. from the same institution in 1886. He gave to the Yale library 1,000 volumes in Greek literature. His opinions are regarded as of great weight on questions of international law. He edited the " New Englander " for several years after its first appearance in 1843, and wrote for the " North American," " Princeton Review," and the " Century." He published editions of the Greek text, with English notes for the use of college students, of the "Alcestis" of Euripides (Cambridge, 1834); the "Antigone" of Sophocles (1835); the "Prometheus" of ^schylus (1837); the " Electra " of Sophocles (1837) : and the " Gorgias " of Plato (1843) ; " Introduction to the Study