Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/474

442 officiating in connection therewith in Sr. Thomas's parish, ten miles distant. He received the degree of D. D. from Washington college, Md., in 1785, was active in the work of settling church affairs, directly after the Revolution, and was a corre- spondent of Bishop White, who valued his sound judgment and accurate acquaintance with the important subject of organizing the Protestant Episcopal church and in revising the liturgy. He was secretary of the convention of Maryland, in June, 1784, and president in May, 1790 ; and was a delegate to the general convention.

WEST, William Edward, artist, b. in Lexington, Ky., 10 Dec, 1788; d. in Nashville, Tenn.. 2 Nov., 1857. He was first a pupil of Thomas Sully in Philadelphia, and in 1819 visited Italy to continue his studies. In 1825 he went, to London, where he remained until 1839. He returned to the United States, going first to Baltimore in 1840, to New York, and in 1855 to Nashville, Tenn. He excelled especially in portraiture, and in Europe executed likenesses of Washington Irving, Lord Byron, and the Countess Guiccioli, Percy B. Shelley, Mrs. Hemans, and many other well-known persons. His' figure-pieces include "Pride of the Village," "Annette de l'Arbre," "Confessional" (belonging to the New York historical society), "The Toilet," and "Judith and Holofernes."

WESTCOTT, James Diament, senator, b. in Alexandria, Va., 10 May, 1802; d. in Montreal, Canada, 12 Jan., 1880. He was the son of James D. Westcott (1775-1841), who was secretary of state in New Jersey in 1830-'40, and his grandfather served in the Revolutionary war as captain of artillery. At an early age he removed with his father to New Jersey, where he received his education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1824, and practised until 1829. Afterward he was a clerk in the consular bureau of the state department in Washington, and in 1830-'4 was secretary of the territory of Florida, occasionally performing the duties of the governor. In 1832 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and in 1834-'6 was attorney-general for the middle district of Florida. He served again in the legislature, was a member of the convention for framing a state constitution in 1838 and 1839, and on the admission of Florida into the Union in 1845 was elected to the "U. S. senate as a Democrat, serving from 1 Dec, 1845, till 3 March, 1849. On the expiration of his term he removed to New York city, where he practised law until 1862, when he went to Canada and remained there until his death. — His son, James Diament, jurist, b. in Tallahassee, Fla., 18 June, 1839, was educated in his native town, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He entered the Confederate service at the beginning of the war, and attained the rank of major. In 1885 he became attorney-general of Florida, Hut resigned this post a year later, and was appointed a justice of the supreme court.

WESTCOTT, Thompson, editor, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 5 June, 1820 ; d. there, 8 May, 1888. He was educated at the English schools of the University of Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1846 he became law-reporter on the " Public Ledger," remaining there until 1851 and frequently acting in an editorial capacity for this journal and for the "Dollar Newspaper." When the " Sunday Despatch " was begun in 1848 he became its editor and served until 1884. In 1863-'9 he was editor-in-chief of the "Inquirer," and he contributed to this journal until 1876. In 1884 he accepted an editorial appointment on the Philadelphia " Record," which he held for several months, after which he contributed to the " Public Ledger" and toother journals. Mr. Westcott was the author of a " Life of John Fitch, the Inventor of the Steamboat" (Philadelphia, 1857); "The Taxpayer's Guide" (1864); "Names of Persons who took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania between the Years 1777 and 1789, with a History of the 'Test Laws' of Pennsylvania" (1865); "The Chronicles of the Great Rebellion against the United States of America," first published in the "Old Franklin Almanac" (1867): "Official Guide-Book of Philadelphia" (1876); "Centennial Portfolio" (1876); "Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia" (1877); and. with J. Thomas Scharf, a "History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884" (3 vols., 1884) ; and contributed to the "Sunday Despatch" a "History of Philadelphia from the First Settlements on the Delaware to the Consolidation in 1854."

WESTERLO, Eilardus, clergyman, b. in Can- tes, Groningen, Holland, in October, 1738; d. in Albany, N. Y„ 26 Dec, 1790. His father, Isaac, was pastor of the church in Cantes. After gradu- ation at the University of Groningen the son was licensed to preach, and in 1760 was made pastor of the Dutch Reformed church in Albany, where he remained until his death, also supplying quarterly the charge at Schaghticoke, N. Y. He was influ- ential in procuring a plan of union for the churches of his denomination. During the Revolution he sympathized with the patriots, and delivered the ad- dress of welcome to Gen. Washington when he visit- ed Albany in 1782. Among his correspondents he numbered the Rev. Ezra Stiles, president of Yale, to whom he frequently wrote in Latin and He- brew. He left in manuscript an autobiography containing references to the years between 1761 and 1790, Greek and Hebrew lexicons, complete, and a translation from the Dutch of Alberthonias's " Catechism " (1790 ; 2d ed„ 1805). In 1775 he married the widow of Stephen Van Rensselaer. — Their son, Rensselaer, b. in Albany in 1775 ; d. there in 1851, was graduated at Columbia in 1795, and was elected to congress as a Federalist, serving from 1 Dec, 1817, till 3 March, 1819.

WESTERMAN, Hans (ves-ter-mon), Alsatian explorer, b. in Hagenau in 1660; d. in Paris in 1721. He studied law in Strasburg and Paris, but early showed a strong desire for travel and visited western Europe, serving as volunteer against the Turks for a few months, and, after publishing a narrative of his travels in Paris, sailed for Manila as supercargo. He afterward visited the East Indies, where, to avoid difficulties with the Spanish and Portuguese authorities, he became a Franciscan friar and received minor orders. Thus enabled to visit South America, he sailed from Manila for Acapulco, going afterward to Mexico and Vera Cruz, made an exploration of the pyramids of Tezcoco, and visited the mines of Pachuca and San Agustin de las Cuevas. He visited Cuba, Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, and several of the Lesser Antilles, returning to Paris in 1708. Besides works that describe his travels in Europe and Asia, he wrote &ldquo;De Manille à Vera-Cruz, à travers le royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne&rdquo; (1710); &ldquo;Essai sur les pyramides de Tezcoco et les mines méxicaines&rdquo; (1710); and &ldquo;Voyage aux Indes Occidentals&rdquo; (1715).

WESTERN, Pauline Lucille, actress, b. in New Orleans, La., 8 Jan., 1843; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 11 Jan., 1877. She made her first appearance on the stage with her sister Helen as &ldquo;change artist&rdquo; at her father's theatre in Washington, D. C., and travelled extensively with her in this country.