Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/513

Rh WHITESIDE, Jenkin, senator, b. in Lancas- ter, Pa,, in 1782; d. in Nashville, Tenn., 25 Sept., 1822. He removed to Tennessee, and became a lawyer of note in the early history of that state, giving special attention to the law of real estate, and acquiring a large property. On the resigna- tion of Daniel Smith from the U. S. senate, Mr. Whiteside was elected to fill the vacancy, and served from 26 May, 1809, till 1 Sept., 1811, when he resigned and returned to the practice of his profession. He was a man of vigorous mind, but of uncouth and rugged manners.

WHITESIDE, Peter, patriot, b. in Puten, England, in 1752 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., in De- cember, 1828. He came to Philadelphia, and was for many years one of the foremost merchants in that city, becoming the partner of Robert Morris. He was a friend of Washington, and at the opening of the Revolution declined the post of aide-de-camp on his staff. During the struggle he advanced a large part of his fortune to procure shoes for the Continental army. Subsequently Washington sent him on a mission to France to arrange for better commercial intercourse between that country and the United States. About the time that John Fitch and James Rumsey were trying their experi- ments on steam navigation, Whiteside and two friends constructed a side-wheel steamboat in Phila- delphia, and tried it successfully on Schuylkill river. With Robert Morris, and his brother, William Whiteside, a wealthy tea-merchant, he sent out the first trading-ship from this hemisphere to the East Indies, the three realizing jointly $30,000 from the venture. In his house in Phila- delphia he often entertained Washington, the French exiles, and other men of eminence.

WHITFIELD, Henry, clergyman, b. in Eng- land in 1597; d. in Winchester, England, after 1651. His father, an eminent lawyer, had destined him for the same profession, and after leaving the university he was entered at the Inns of court, but he subsequently took orders and was minister of Ockham, Surrey, where he also maintained another clergyman out of his private income, that he might devote himself to missionary labors in the adja- cent country. He was much beloved by the Non- conformists, whom he protected from persecution, and finally, after twenty years in the established church, he publicly joined them, and resigned his charge on being prosecuted for a refusal to read the " Book of Lawful Sunday Sports." Disposing of his personal estate, he came to this country with Gov. Theophilus Eaton in 1637, accompanied by many of his former parishioners, and began the settlement of Guilford, Conn., the site of which he purchased from the Indians. The place was named for Guilford in Surrey, the native place of many of colonists. In 1650 returned England, and, says Cot- ton Mather, u at the time of parting, the whole town accom- panied him unto the water-side with a springtide of tears." On his return he became pastor at Winchester, England, where he probably remained until his death. Mr. Whitfield's residence in Guilford, known as the " old stone house," is shown in the illustration. It was built about 1639 to serve both as a dwelling and a fortification. According to tradition, the stone of which it is built was brought by Indians on hand-barrows across a swamp from Griswold's lodge, about eighty rods distant. The walls are three feet thick. The house was kept in its origi- nal form till 1868, when it underwent considerable renovation. Whitfield was the author of "Helps to stir up to Christian Duties" (London, 1634); " The Light appearing more and more toward the Perfect Day, or a Farther Discovery of the Present State of the Indians in New England" (1651); and " Strength out of Weakness, or a Glorious Mani- festation of the Further Progresse of the Gospel among the Indians in New England " (1652). The last two works were reissued in Joseph Sabin's re- prints (New York, 1865).

WHITFIELD, James, R. C. archbishop, b. in Liverpool, England, 3 Nov., 1770; d. in Baltimore, Md., 19 Oct., 1834. His father died when James was seventeen years old, and the boy left England for Italy with his mother, who was in delicate health. He engaged in mercantile pursuits in the latter country and in France, adding largely to the fortune that his father bequeathed him. After the issue of the decree of Napoleon ordering the imprisonment of such Englishmen as happened to be in France, he was arrested and detained at Lyons, where he became intimate with Dr. (afterward Archbishop) Marechal, and his thoughts turned toward the priesthood. He began a course of theology under the guidance of his friend, and was ordained a priest in 1809. Some time afterward he returned to England, and was appointed parish priest of Cosby. He continued in this post until 1817, when, on the invitation of Archbishop Marechal, he went to the United States. He was appointed pastor of St. Peter's church, Baltimore, and in 1825, by a special dispensation from Rome, received the degree of D. D. The same year he was partly instrumental in placing the institution of the Colored Sisters Oblate of St. Francis in a prosperous condition, and began to take a practical interest in the welfare of the negroes. When Arch-bishop Marechal became feeble, Dr. Whitfield headed the list of proposed coadjutors. He was nominated bishop of Apollonia in partibus on 8 Jan., 1828, but the brief did not arrive in the United States until after the death of Archbishop Marechal, and Dr. Whitfield was consecrated arch-bishop on 25 May of the same year. He was also appointed administrator of the see of Richmond. He spent his large private fortune in building churches, supplying priests, and erecting institutions of education and charity. When this resource failed him he appealed for help to the Society for the propagation of the faith, to the king of France, and to ecclesiastics and laymen of that country. Some of the letters that he wrote on these occasions have an important bearing on the history of the Roman Catholic church in the United States. In reply to his first appeal he received 32,000 francs, besides large sums for the support of St. Mary's college. He began to build the Baltimore orphan asylum, and made a visitation of every part of Maryland and Virginia where Roman Catholics resided. In the diocese of Richmond, which extended over 7,000 square miles, he found only three priests. He at once renewed his appeals to Europe for help, and the response that he received enabled him to remedy this state of things. He held the first provincial council of his suffragan bishops at Baltimore on 4 Oct., 1829. Its deliberations were directed by him, and, at his