Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/469

Rh the steamer " Powhatan," in which he blockaded the Confederate ram " Stonewall " in the port of Havana, Cuba, until she was surrendered by the Spanish authorities. He was commissioned a captain, 25 July, 1866, promoted to commodore, 27 April, 1871, was made rear-admiral, 4 Feb., 1875, and commander-in-chief of the South Pacific station in 1875-6. He was then placed on the retired list at his own request.

WEREAT, John, patriot, b. about 1730 ; d. in Bryan county, Ga., in 1798. He was an early and decided advocate of colonial rights, was a member of the Provincial congress of Georgia in 1775, its speaker in 1776, and after the fall of Savannah in 1779, as president of the executive council, was at the head of the state government till the next election. In 1788 he was president of the Georgia convention that ratified the constitution of the United States. In 1782 Mr. Wereat exerted himself to relieve the wants of the suffering population west of Augusta, employing his negroes and boats in carrying food to them.

WERNICKE, Gottlieb (vair-nick-eh), known also as, German adventurer, lived in the first half of the 18th century. He was a merchant, trading in Brazil, and made several expeditions to the interior. About 1720 he discovered rich gold-mines at the foot of the peak of Itabira, and a few years later he organized a new expedition to explore the mountains north of Itambe. He found a rich gold-mine, which he opened and worked for several years, acquiring great wealth; but the governor of the province of Goyaz claimed that Wernicke had never obtained a grant of the mine. Soldiers took possession of Wernicke's establishments, and he was taken prisoner; but the complaints of his friends secured his release, and he went to Portugal to lodge a complaint against the governor, but died before obtaining justice. His defence, written originally in Portuguese, was translated into French under the title &ldquo;Exposé des explorations et de la découverte des mines du district d'Itabira, par Gottlieb Wernicke, et de leur exploitation, avec un résumé de ses contestations avec les autorités de la province de Goyaz&rdquo; (Amsterdam, 1736).

WERNWAG, Lewis, civil engineer, b. in Alteburg, Würtemberg, Germany, 4 Dec., 1769; d. in Harper's Ferry, Va., 12 Aug., 1843. On leaving school, in order to evade military service, he was secreted by a shepherd in the mountains, who directed his attention to the study of astronomy, natural history, and other scientific subjects. In 1786 he made his way to Amsterdam and thence to Philadelphia. His earliest venture in this country was the building of a machine for making whetstones. Soon afterward he began to build power-mills and bridges. While conducting this business he purchased land containing large quantities of white oak and pine timber in New Jersey, from which he got out, about 1809, the keel for the first U. S. frigate built at the Philadelphia navy-yard. In 1810 he erected a bridge across Neshaminy creek, on the road between Philadelphia and New York, and the next year one across Frankford creek. His third bridge of wood was built across the Schuylkill river in 1812 at Philadelphia. This structure, known as the &ldquo;Colossus of Fairmount,&rdquo; consisted of a single arch, the span of which was 340 feet. In consideration of its length of span (it being the longest ever erected), solidity, and strength, the bridge was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. From that time until 1834 he built twenty-nine additional bridges. In 1813 he removed to Phœnixville, Pa., where he

took an interest in and charge of the Phœnix nail-works, and there invented the first machine for cutting and heading spikes from four to seven inches in length. The other machinery was also remodelled and greatly improved by him. He purchased coal-lands near Pottsville, which led to his experimenting toward the use of anthracite coal. At first he found it almost impossible to ignite it, but he discovered that, by closing the furnace-doors and introducing air from beneath, combustion was possible. He was sanguine of its ultimate use for fuel, and while the Philadelphians drove from the city the person that offered to sell it, believing he offered stone for coal, he invented and used in his own residence a stove for burning it. The canal of the Schuylkill navigation company, one of the first in the United States, was partially constructed by him, and the Fairmount water-works and dam at Philadelphia were erected in accordance with his plans. In 1819 he removed to Conowingo, Md., where he built a bridge and double saw-mill, and prepared the timber for many bridges. Five years later he removed to Harper's Ferry and purchased the Isle of Virginius, where he continued his business of preparing timber for bridges. His last bridge was across the Potomac at Harper's Ferry for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and was built in 1833.

WERTMÜLLER, Adolph Ulric, artist, b. in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1751; d. near Marcus Hook, Pa., 5 Oct., 1811. He worked for some time in France, where he became a member of the academy in 1782, and in 1787 he was made court-painter in Sweden. In 1794 he came to the United States, remaining a year or two, and in 1797 he settled finally in this country. During his first visit he painted several portraits of Washington. Though the work of an excellent artist, they are hardly successful as portraits, for Wertmüller belonged to that ideal French school, which usually sacrificed truth to nature for elegance in execution. Elizabeth B. Johnston, in her &ldquo;Original Portraits of Washington&rdquo; (Boston, 1882), speaks of five portraits of Washington by Wertmüller, of which one, executed in 1797, was purchased by the U. S. government in 1878, and another is owned by the Historical society of Pennsylvania. Among his other portraits are those of Gustavus III. and his queen, and Gustavus IV. His &ldquo;Marie Antoinette and her Children&rdquo; (1785) is in the museum at Stockholm. He was noted especially for his vivid coloring, &ldquo;Danae&rdquo; being a good example of his powers in that respect. When this picture was first exhibited in the United States great indignation was expressed, for public taste and sentiment at that time were against the nude in art.

WESLEY, John, founder of Methodism, b. in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, 17 June, 1703; d. in London, 2 March, 1791. He was graduated at Christ church college, Oxford, in 1727, and the same year he was ordained presbyter and was his father's curate at Epworth, but he returned to Oxford as tutor in 1729, and became the head of the society that had been founded by his brother Charles and others for personal purification by means of &ldquo;prayer, fastings, alms, and labors among the poor,&rdquo; the members of which in derision were called &ldquo;Methodists.&rdquo; In 1735 he accompanied Gen. James Oglethorpe to Georgia as a missionary to the Indians. He began his labors in Savannah, preached and read the liturgy daily, forded rivers, crossed swamps, slept on the ground, fasted, and went barefooted among the children at school to encourage those who had no shoes. His preaching was at first successful, but his rigorous discipline