Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/435

Rh Kentucky, and inherited from his mother, who was the daughter of Gen. John Tannehill, a fondness for out-door life. In 1838 he went to Texas, then struggling for independence, and was for several years connected with the famous Texas rangers, with whom he saw much wild and adventurous life. He then returned to Kentucky and studied medicine; but this, he soon relinquished, and in 1843 entered Princeton theological seminary with a view to the Presbyterian ministry. This he soon abandoned, and settled in New York city, where he devoted himself to a literary career and became connected with the &ldquo;New World,&rdquo; the &ldquo;Democratic Review,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Sunday Despatch.&rdquo; Subsequently he was joint proprietor and associate editor of the &ldquo;Whig Review&rdquo; for two years. In 1849 he organized an expedition to the region of Colorado and Gila rivers; but, for various reasons, the principal of which was the seizure of the horses by Comanche Indians, it failed. The difficulty in crossing the western deserts led to his efforts to form a camel company, for which he obtained a charter from the New York legislature in 1854. In the winter of 1855-'6 he left New York to join William Walker, who was then endeavoring to maintain himself in Central America. He took part with Walker's forces in the battle of Rivas, and fell in some chance, rencontre or ambuscade in that engagement. In addition to many stories that he contributed to periodicals, he published &ldquo;Old Hicks, the Guide, or Adventures in the Comanche Country in Search of a Gold-Mine&rdquo; (New York, 1848); &ldquo;Gold-Mines of the Gila&rdquo; (1849); &ldquo;The Hunter Naturalist, a Romance of Sporting&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1851); &ldquo;Texan Virago, or the Tailor of Gotham&rdquo; (1852); &ldquo;Wild Girl of Nebraska&rdquo; (1852); &ldquo;Tales of the Southern Border&rdquo; (part i., 1852; complete, 1853); &ldquo;Spiritual Vampirism: the History of Ethered Softdown and her Friends of the New Light&rdquo; (1853); &ldquo;Shot in the Eye&rdquo; (which was his most successful story) and &ldquo;Adventures with Texas Rifle Rangers&rdquo; (London, 1853); &ldquo;Wild Scenes and Song Birds&rdquo; (New York, 1854); and &ldquo;History of Mystery&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1855).

WEBBER, Samuel, educator, b. in Byfield, Mass., in 1759; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 17 July, 1810. He was graduated at Harvard in 1784, taking high rank in mathematics, entered the ministry, and in 1787 was made tutor. In 1789 he was appointed to the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy, which he held till he was raised in 1804 to the presidency of the college. Dr. Webber was one of the commissioners that were appointed to settle the boundary-line between the United States and the British provinces. He was vice-president of the American academy, and Harvard gave him the degree of D. D. in 1806. He was the author of a &ldquo;System of Mathematics.&rdquo; which was intended for use in Harvard, and for a long time was almost the only text-book on that subject in New England colleges (2 vols., Boston, 1801), and a &ldquo;Eulogy on President Willard&rdquo; (1804). He also revised the introduction to Jedidiah Morse's &ldquo;American Universal Geography&rdquo; (1796). See a &ldquo;Eulogy&rdquo; by Henry Ware, D. D. (Cambridge, 1810). &mdash; His son, Samuel, physician, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 15 Sept., 1797; d. in Charlestown, N. H., 5 Dec., 1880, was graduated at Harvard in 1815, taught four years, at the same time studying medicine, and received his medical degree in 1822, after serving as assistant to the professor of chemistry at Harvard for eighteen months. During the rest of his life he resided at Charlestown, N. H., on Connecticut river, where he gave much attention to study, and was elected a fellow of the Royal society of

northern antiquarians of Copenhagen, Denmark. He published several poems, including &ldquo;Logan, an Indian Tale&rdquo; (1821), and &ldquo;War&rdquo; (1824).

WEBER, Gustav C. E., physician, b. in Bonn, Prussia, 26 May, 1828. His father, Dr. M. I. Weber, became professor of anatomy in the University of Bonn on its foundation in 1818, and is the author of many professional works. The son studied at the university till the revolutionary movement of 1848 caused him to emigrate to the United States, where he settled near St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in farming. He afterward completed his studies in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Paris, and in 1853 began to practise medicine in New York city. In 1856-'63 he was professor of surgery in Cleveland medical college, and in 1861, as surgeon-general of the state, he organized a system for the better medical care of the troops in the field. In 1864 he organized Charity hospital medical college, where he became professor of clinical surgery and dean of the faculty, and he was also consulting surgeon to the Charity hospital, which had been founded chiefly through his efforts. The school subsequently became the medical department of the University of Wooster, Dr. Weber retaining his chair. He is the originator of a new method of closing large arteries in surgical operations without a ligature, and of a method for removing stone from the bladder. In 1859 Dr. Weber established the Cleveland &ldquo;Medical Gazette,&rdquo; which he conducted for several years.

WEBER, Max, soldier, b. in Achern, Baden, 27 Aug., 1824. He was graduated at the military school of Carlsruhe, in 1843, as a lieutenant of infantry, and held a commission in the army of Baden until 1849, when he served with the revolutionists under Gen. Franz Sigel. He came to this country in the same year, settled in New York city, and on 16 May, 1861, became colonel of the 20th New York regiment. He was stationed at Fort Monroe and took part in the capture of Fort Hatteras, and from September, 1861, till May, 1862, commanded Camp Hamilton, near the former post, being commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 April, 1862. He was at Newport News during the fight between the &ldquo;Monitor&rdquo; and &ldquo;Merrimac,&rdquo; in anticipation of a Confederate attack by land, took part in the capture of Norfolk in May, and then commanded at Suffolk till September, when he was ordered to the Army of the Potomac. He led a brigade at South Mountain and Antietam, where he received a wound that crippled his right arm for life. He served under Gen. David Hunter and Gen. Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah valley in 1864, and, while commanding at Harper's Ferry, repelled Gen. Jubal A. Early's attack of 4-7 July. Gen. Weber resigned his commission on 13 May, 1865. He was assessor of internal revenue in New York in 1870-'2, and then collector till April, 1883, when he resigned.

WEBER, Paul, German artist, b. about 1823. He studied art in Frankfort, and in 1848 came to the United States, settling in Philadelphia. In 1858 he went to Darmstadt, where he was appointed court painter. Among those of his works that are owned in the United States are &ldquo;A Scene in the Catskills,&rdquo; in the Corcoran gallery, Washington (1858); &ldquo;Morning,&rdquo; in the Pennsylvania academy of fine arts; and &ldquo;Lake Chiemsee, in the Bavarian Highlands.&rdquo;

WEBSTER, Albert Falvey, author, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1848; d. at sea, 27 Dec., 1876. His father was a confectioner in Boston. After engaging for a short time in various kinds of business, he became a writer for the magazines, and