Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/490

458 various local public offices. His paper, the &ldquo;Aurora,&rdquo; was begun under the favor of Edward Everett, whose personal friend the editor was for many years. Besides occasional poems, Mr. Wheildon's publications include &ldquo;Letters from Nahant&rdquo; (Charlestown, 1848); &ldquo;Memoir of Solomon Willard, Architect and Superintendent of the Bunker Hill Monument,&rdquo; which he prepared as chairman of a committee of the Monument association (Boston, 1865); &ldquo;Contributions to Thought,&rdquo; a volume of lectures and essays (Concord, 1874); &ldquo;New History of the Battle of Bunker Hill&rdquo; (1875); &ldquo;Siege and Evacuation of Boston and Charlestown&rdquo; (1876); &ldquo;Sentry or Beacon Hill: the Beacon and the Monument of 1635 and 1790&rdquo; (Concord, 1877); &ldquo;Paul Revere's Signal Lanterns&rdquo; (1878); and &ldquo;Curiosities of History&rdquo; (1880). He made the climate of the arctic regions a subject of special study, and in 1860 read a paper before the American association for the advancement of science on an &ldquo;Atmospheric Theory of the Open Polar Sea,&rdquo; which was followed by others on the subject, the last being &ldquo;Remarks on the Last Circular of Dr. Peterman&rdquo; (Portland, 1873).

WHELAN, Charles, clergyman, b. in Ireland about 1745 ; d. in Maryland in 1809. He was a member of the order of Franciscans, and served as a chaplain on one of the French ships of Admiral De Grasse's fleet in the war of the American Revo- lution. Gen. Lafayette, it is claimed, strongly recommended Mr. Whelan to the kindness of the authorities of New York state before he returned to France, and he soon afterward became the first regularly settled priest in the city of New York. Having disagreed with his congregation, he was dismissed in February, 1787, and was subsequently sent by Bishop Carroll on a mission to Kentucky, being the first missionary of the Roman Catholic church in that state.

WHELAN, James, R. C. bishop, b. in Kilkenny, Ireland, 8 Dec, 1823; d. in Zanesville, Ohio, 18 Feb., 1878. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1833, in 1839 entered the Do- minican novitiate in Springfield, Ky., and took the vows in 1842. He finished his course of philosophy and theology in the Dominican convent at Somer- set, Ohio, and was ordained a priest on 2 Aug., 1846. He was engaged in missionary duties in Somerset and its neighborhood until 1852, when he was elected president of St. Joseph's college, Perry co., Ohio. In 1854 he was made provincial of the Dominican province, which included all the United States except the Pacific coast. Having been nominated coadjutor to Bishop Miles, of Nashville, he was consecrated bishop of Marcopolis in partibus on 8 May, 1859. He became bishop of Nashville on the death of Dr. Miles on 21 Feb., 1860, and at once began to enlarge the cathedral, established an academy and boarding-school, and founded schools and an orphan asylum. Having obtained permission to pass through the lines to visit Bishop Spalding at Louisville, he was ac- cused, on his return, of making remarks in the National lines which the Confederates thought had influenced the movements of the National army. The reproaches of which he was the object on Ihe occasion, combined with his inability to find a remedy for the evils around him, affected his mind. In 1864 he resigned his see and retired to St. Joseph's convent for a time. He published " Catena Aurea, or a Golden Chain of Evidences demonstrating, from Analytical Treatment of His- tory, that Papal Infallibility is no Novelty," which is regarded as one of the most learned and exhaust- ive treatises on this question (1871).

WHELAN, Peter, clergyman, b. in County Wex- ford, Ireland, in 1800; d. in Savannah, Ga., 5 Feb., 1871. He received a classical education in his native county, volunteered for missionary duty in the United States, finished his theological course in the diocesan seminary at Charleston, S. C, and was ordained by Bishop England in 1830. He was given charge of the eastern part of North Caro- lina, and in 1833 was transferred to Locust Grove church, a mission that embraced northeastern Georgia, where he remained until 1850. He ad- ministered the diocese of Savannah from 1859 till 1861, and as administrator took part in the eighth provincial council of Baltimore, where he was of- fered the vacant see, but declined. During the civil war he was general chaplain at all the stations in Georgia from Anderson to Tybee. In this capa- city his devotion to the National prisoners was very marked, especially at Andersonville, where he shared with them all he possessed, even to his wearing-apparel. He was engaged in administer- ing the sacraments to the sick at Fort Pulaski when it was taken, and was sent a prisoner to the north. He was confined in Fort Lafayette for some time, and, on his release, returned to Georgia.

WHELAN, Richard Vincent, R. C. bishop, b. in Baltimore, Md., 28 Jan., 1809; d. there, 7 July, 1874. He was educated in Mount St. Mary's col- lege, Emmitsburg, and afterward studied theology in the Seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris. He was ordained a priest in 1832, and after his return to the United States was appointed pastor of Harper's Ferry, at the same time attending neigh- boring missions. He was nominat- ed second bish- op of Richmond on 19 Dec, 1840, and consecrated at Baltimore by Archbishop Eccle- son on 21 March, 1841. There were but 6,000 Roman Catholics and six priests in Virginia, and, in order to increase the number of the latter, he appealed for help to the societies for the propagation of the faith in Europe, receiving a liberal response. He founded schools at Martinsburg. In order to continue the supply of priests for his diocese, he purchased land near Richmond and erected a theological seminary. He established missions at Witheville, Summersville, Kingwood, and Lynchburg. In 1846 he went to Wheeling, where Roman Catholics were increasing in numbers, and labored as a simple priest on this mission. Feeling that his personal supervision was required to build up the church in western Virginia, he removed there, and never returned. He erected a cathedral at Wheeling, founded schools, and opened an ecclesiastical seminary in his own house, in which he trained young men for the priesthood. He attended the seventh provincial council of Baltimore in 1849. In 1850 the bishopric of Wheeling was created, and Dr. Whelan was made its first bishop. His efforts to develop Roman Catholicism in this district involved him in heavy debt, and in 1857 he went to seek assistance in Europe, where he obtained aid that enabled him to labor with renewed