Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/572

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WILLIAMSON
W1LLICH

ports " (Washington, 1853); "On the Use of the Barometer on Surveys and Reconnoissances" (New York, 1868); and "Practical Tables in Meteor- ology and Hypsometry," being an appendix to the foregoing (1869).


WILLIAMSON, Walter, physician, b. in Newtown, Delaware co., Pa., 4 Jan., 1811 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 19 Dec, 1870. He was graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1833, and in 1848 was professor of obstetrics in the Homoeopathic medical college of Pennsylvania. In 1852 he was transferred to the chair of materia medica and therapeutics, which he resigned in 1855 on account of failing health. He held the chair of obstetrics again in 1857-'9, and in 1860 was made Erofessor emeritus, which post he continued to old in Hahnemann medical college when the Ho- moeopathic college was merged in it. In 1869-'70 he lectured there on hygiene. Dr. Williamson was president of the American institute of homoeopathy in 1846 and of the state homoeopathic medical society in 1868. He was the author of "Instructions concerning the Diseases of Females, and the Conduct to be observed during Pregnancy, Labor, and Confinement" (Philadelphia, 1849), and "Diseases of Females and Children, and their Homoeopathic Treatment " (1854 ; revised ed. by George N. Epps, London, 1857), and has contributed to the "Homoeopathic Materia Medica of American Drug Provings" (Philadelphia, 1846), and to the "North American Journal of Homoeopathy," of which he was an assistant editor. He also edited Dr. Joseph Laurie's "Parents' Guide" (1849).


WILLIAMSON, William Durkee, historian, b. in Canterbury, Conn., 31 July, 1779 ; d. in Bangor, Me., 27 May, 1846. He removed with his father in boyhood to Amherst, Mass., and entered Williams coilege, but was graduated at Brown in 1804. He studied law in Amherst, and began to practise in Bangor, Me., in 1807. Afterward he served as attorney for Hancock county in 1808-'16, and as a member of the Massachusetts senate in 1816-'20. On the separation of Maine from that state in 1820 he was the president of its first state senate, and he thus became acting governor on the resignation of Gov. William King. He was then elected to congress as a Democrat, and served in 1821-'3. In 1824-'40 he was probate judge for his county, and in 1838-'41 he was a bank commissioner. Gov. Williamson was for some time president of the Bangor bank, and a member of several historical and literary societies. Besides contributions to the "American Quarterly Register" and to the "Collections" of the Massachusetts historical society, he published a valuable " History of the State of Maine, from its First Discovery to the Separation" (2 vols., Hallowell, 1832 ; 2d ed., enlarged, 1839).


WILLIAMS-REBOLLEDO, Juan, Chilian naval officer, b. in Curacavi, province of Santiago, in 1826. His father was a companion of Admiral Cochrane. The son entered the naval service of his country, and at the opening of the war against Spain had obtained the rank of captain, and was in command of the corvette "Esmeralda." He was at anchor in the port of Papudo on 26 Nov., 1865, when the Spanish gun-boat "Covadonga" passed with despatches, and, after a short chase and half an hour's engagement, Williams captured her with about 110 men. For this victory he was raised to the rank of post-captain, and presented by the people with a sword of honor. He was later a member of the municipality of Valparaiso and elected to congress. When the war against Peru and Bolivia began, he commanded the Chilian fleet as rear-admiral, and on 29 March, 1879, occupied the Bolivian ports of Cobija and Tocopilla, establishing in April the blockade of Iquique with his flag- ship, the iron-clad " Blanco Encalada," and other vessels of the squadron. But after the destruction of the "Esmeralda" by the "Huascar," and the successful cruise of the Peruvian fleet, great discontent arose in Chili with the inactivity of their powerful squadron. According to Admiral Will- iams, this was caused by the condition of the bottoms of his ships and their defective machinery, so that he was unable to cope in speed with the Peruvian vessels. Owing to this and on account of ill health, Williams resigned in September, 1880, and was succeeded by Admiral Galvarino Riveros.


WILLICH, August, b. in Gorzyn, in the Prussian province of Posen, in 1810; d. in St. Mary's, Mercer co., Ohio, 23 Jan., 1878. His father, a captain of hussars during the Napoleonic wars, died when August was three years old. With an elder brother, the boy found a home in the family of Friedrich Schleiermacher, the famous theologian, whose wife was a distant relative. He received a military education at Potsdam and Berlin, and at eighteen years of age was commissioned 2d lieutenant of artillery in the Prussian army, becoming a captain in 1841. In 1846, in company with a number of the younger and more ardent officers of his brigade, he became so imbued with republican ideas that he tendered his resignation from the army in a letter written in such terms that, instead of its being accepted, he was arrested and tried by a court-martial. By some means he was acquitted, and afterward was permitted to resign. When the great revolution of 1848 threatened the overthrow of all European monarchies, Willich, with several former army friends, among whom were Franz Sigel, Friederich K. F. Hecker, Louis Blenker, and Carl Schurz, went to Baden and took an active part in the armed attempt to revolutionize Germany. After its failure, Willich and many of his compatriots became exiles. He escaped to Switzerland, but afterward made his way to England, where several of his fellow-exiles had also found refuge. Here he remained till 1853, devoting much of his time and labor to aiding his distressed countrymen to reach the United States. He had learned the trade of a carpenter while in England, and so earned a livelihood. Coming to the United States in 1853, he first found employment at his trade in the navy-yard at Brooklyn. Here his attainments in mathematics and other scientific studies were soon discovered, and he found more congenial work in the coast survey. In 1858 he was induced to go to Cincinnati as editor of the “German Republican,” in which work he continued till the opening of the civil war in 1861. He enlisted, at the first call to arms, in the 1st German (afterward 9th Ohio) regiment, which within three days mustered about 1,500 men. He was at once appointed adjutant, and, on 28 May, commissioned major. This regiment afterward became one of the best in the service. In the autumn of 1861 Gov. Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana,