Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/419

Rh lectures on philology and educational subjects. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Mount Union college, Ohio, and Alleghany college, Meadville, Pa., in 1861, and that of D. D. by Mount Union in 1868. Besides contributing to reviews and magazines, chiefly on subjects pertaining to the English and Indian languages, he has prepared several school-books. Dr. Watkins is a reader of the historical dictionary of the Philological society now in course of publication in London, and for many years has been preparing an " Etymological Dictionarv of American Geographical Names.'

WATKINSON, David, philanthropist, b. in Lavenham, Suffolk, England, 17 Jan., 1778 ; d. in Hartford, Conn., 13 Dec, 1857. His education was partly conducted by Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld, and he came to this country with his parents in 1795, settling in Middletown, Conn. He was em- ployed in a counting-house in New York city, and in 1800 began business with his brother, William, in Hartford. In 1841 he retired with a fortune. By his will he gave $40,000 to the Hartford hos- pital, $20,000 to the orphan asylum, $40,000 for the foundation of a juvenile asylum and farm school for neglected and abandoned children, and $100,000 for a library of reference in connection with the Connecticut historical society, also mak- ing the trustees of the library of reference residu- ary legatees of his estate.

WATMOUGH, John Goddard, soldier, b. in Wilmington, Del., 6 Dec, 1793; d. in Philadel- phia, Pa.. 27 Nov., 1861. He entered the army as 3d lieutenant in the 2d artillery, 22 Sept., 1813, and was promoted 2d lieutenant, 19 April, 1814. He was present in the Niagara campaign of that year, and served under Capt. Alexander J. Williams at Fort Erie, where he was severely wounded. The effects of this wound he carried with him to the end of his life. For " gallant and meritorious con- duct in defence of Fort Erie " Lieut. Watmough received the brevet of 1st lieutenant, 15 Aug., 1814. The same year Gen. Gaines, who has left on record the most exalted idea of his gallantry, intrepidity, and perseverance in battle, appointed him his aide- de-camp. On 1 Oct., 1816, he resigned his com- mission in the army, and from 1831 till 1835 he represented in congress one of the districts of Philadelphia county. From 1835 till 1838 he was high sheriff of that county, and in 1841 he was appointed surveyor of the port of Philadelphia. When the civil war opened, mortal disease alone prevented him, in spite of his advanced age, from pressing on the government his services for active command in the field. — His son, James Horatio, naval officer, b. in Whitemarsh, Montgomery co., Pa., 30 July, 1822, was an acting midshipman in the navy from 24 Nov., 1843, till October, 1844, and on 12 Dec, 1844, became paymaster. During the Mexican war he was in most of the operations in California, including the bombardment of Guay- mas. From 1849 till 1855 he was on the brig "Perry" and the frigate "Constitution," on the coast of Africa : in 1857-'8 on the steamer " Michi- gan," on the lakes ; in 1859-'60 on the sloop " Sara- toga " and in action with two Spanish steamers, which were taken. In 1864-'5 he was fleet pay- master of the South Atlantic squadron and was in most of the operations of that squadron, including those on Stono river and on James and John isl- ands previous to the evacuation of Charleston, S. C. He was subsequently general inspector, and from July, 1873, till November, 1877, paymaster-general. In 1884 he was retired. — Another son, Pendleton Gaines, naval officer, b. in Whitemarsh, Montgom- ery co., Pa., 3 May, 1828, entered the navy in 1841, served on the Brazil station, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific, and shared in the capture and oc- cupation of California during the Mexican war. He returned home in 1847, the following year was graduated at the naval academy, served in the Mediterranean and Pacific and on the coast of China, and resigned in 1858. In April, 1861, he volunteered for the civil war and was reappointed in the navy. The same month he was sent to plant a battery at Perryville, Md., to cover the transpor- tation thence to Annapolis, and for a short time was in command of a steamer on Chesapeake bay, keeping open communications, and subsequently on other active duty afloat. In October, 1861, he commanded the "Curlew," of Admiral Dupont's fleet, and shared in the capture of Port Royal. Later he was in command of the " Potomska " in the capture of Fernandina and occupation of the inland waters of the South Atlantic In 1863 he was ordered to the " Kansas," was in the two at- tacks on Fort Fisher, and in James river partici- pated in the final operations against Richmond. He resigned as lieutenant-commander in July, 1865, and in 1869 was appointed by President Grant col- lector of the port of Cleveland, Ohio, which post he held for eight years.

WATSON, Alfred Augustin, P. E. bishop, b. in New York city, 21 Aug., 1818. He was gradu- ated at the University of New York in 1837, stud- ied law, and was admitted to practice in the su- preme court of the state of New York in 1841. He followed his profession for little more than a year and then began his studies for holy orders. He was ordered deacon in St. Ann's church, Brooklyn, by Bishop Onderdonk,3 Nov., 1844, and ordained priest in St. John's church, Fayetteville, N. C, by Bishop Ives, 25 May, 1845. He was rector of Grace church, Plymouth, and St. Luke's, Washington county, N. C, soon afterward, and remained there fourteen years. In 1858 he became rector of Christ church, New Berne, N. C. He served as chaplain to the 2d regiment of North Carolina state troops from 1861 till 1863, when he was elect- ed assistant to Bishop Atkinson, in charge of St. James's church, Wilmington, N. C, of which he became rector in 1864, and served there until his consecration to the episcopate. He received the degree of D. D. from the University of North Carolina in June. 1868. Dr. Watson was a mem- ber of the diocesan standing committee, and for many years a deputy from the diocese of North Carolina to the general convention. He was con- secrated bishop of east Carolina in St. James's church, Wilmington, 17 April, 1884.

WATSON, Benjamin Frank, lawyer, b. in Warner, N. H., 30 April, 1826. He lived in Lowell, Mass., from 1835 until 1848, studied law there and in Lawrence and Boston, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He was editor and proprietor of the Lawrence " Sentinel," postmaster of the city under Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln, was nominated for mayor, and subsequently elected city solicitor. He was major of the 6th regiment of Massachusetts militia, and on 19 Jan., 1861, at a meeting of its field and company officers, Col. Edward F. Jones presiding, offered a resolution tendering the services of the regiment to the president of the United States, which was the first offer of any military organization. In April, 1861, the 6th Massachusetts regiment was the first to respond to the president's call for volunteers. The colonel with eight companies passed through Baltimore, on their way to Washington, with no interruption except insulting demonstrations, but as the car that contained Maj. Watson and part of his com-