Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/515

Rh of John Whiting,&rdquo; his father (New York, 1844). His son, (1821-'53), also served in the Mexican war in the artillery, receiving the brevet of 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Buena Vista.

WHITING, Nathan, soldier, b. in Windham, Conn., 4 May, 1724 : d. in New Haven, Conn., 9 April, 1771. His father, Samuel, who was first minister of Windham, died during the son's infancy, and the boy was brought up chiefly by his sister Mary and her husband, Rev. Thomas Clap, who became president of Yale in 1740. Nathan was graduated at that college in 1743, studied there for two years longer, and then became a merchant in New Haven, but accompanied the Connecticut troops to the siege of Louisburg in 1745 as an ensign, and in the same year was commissioned lieutenant. He then formed a business partnership with Thomas Darling, but at the beginning of the French war of 1755 he was appointed, in March of that year, lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Connecticut regiment. His command formed part of the garrison of Fort Edward, and on 8 Sept. he was with Col. Ephriam Williams when the latter was surprised by the French and Indians near Lake George. On the death of Williams the command devolved on Whiting, who led the retreat with much skill and coolness. He was promoted colonel in 1756, and served throughout the war. Col. Whiting was a representative in the Connecticut general assembly in 1769 and 1770, and at the time of his death was a candidate for the upper house. President Timothy Dwight says of him : " He was an exemplary professor of the Christian religion, and for refined and dignified manners and nobleness of mind has rarely been excelled." His portrait is in the rooms of the Connecticut historical society at Hartford. — His elder brother, John, soldier, b. in Windham, Conn., 20 Feb., 1706 ; d. there, 28 Aug., 1786, was graduated at Yale in 1726, and entered the minis- try, but, removing to Newport, R. I., entered the military service of that colony, became captain, and in 1761 had risen to the rank of colonel. He participated in several campaigns against the French, and was wounded at the battle of Lake George in 1758. He afterward returned to Windham, and was made judge of probate there in 1775.

WHITING, Samuel, clergyman, b. in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, 20 Nov., 1597; d. in Lynn., Mass., 11 Dec., 1679. His father, John, was mayor of his native city. The son was graduated at Cambridge in 1616, entered the ministry, and officiated at Lynn, in Norfolk, and in Skirbeck, near his native place, but, after two prosecutions for nonconformity, he emigrated to this country, where he was the first minister of Lynn, Mass., serving from 8 Nov., 1636, till his death. He was a close student and an accomplished Hebrew and Latin scholar. &ldquo;In his preaching,&rdquo; says Cotton Mather, &ldquo;his design was not to please but to profit; to bring forth, not high things, but fit things.&rdquo; He published &ldquo;Oratio quam Comitiis Cantab. Americanis&rdquo; (1649); &ldquo;Treatise on the Last Judgment&rdquo; (1664); and a volume of sermons on &ldquo;Abraham Interceding for Sodom&rdquo; (1666). His second wife was the daughter of Oliver St. John, chief justice of England under Cromwell, and their son, (1633-1713), was graduated at Harvard in 1653 and became the first minister of Billerica, Mass. An &ldquo;Elegy on the Rev. Samuel Whiting, of Lynn,&rdquo; by Benjamin Tompson, &ldquo;ye renowned poet of New England,&rdquo; is printed in Cotton Mather's &ldquo;Magnalia.&rdquo; See also &ldquo;Memoirs of Rev. Samuel Whiting and of his Wife, Elizabeth St. John, with Reference to some of their English Ancestors and

Descendants,&rdquo; by William Whiting, LL. D. (printed privately, Boston, 1871).—His descendant, William, lawyer, b. in Concord, Mass., 3 March, 1813; d. in Boston, Mass., 29 June, 1873, was graduated at Harvard in 1833, and, after teaching at Plymouth and Concord, studied law in Boston and at Harvard law-school, where he was graduated in 1838. He then began practice in Boston, where he soon attained eminence at the bar, and was engaged in many important cases. In 1862 he became solicitor of the war department in Washington, where he served three years. In 1868 he was a presidential elector, and in 1872 he was elected to congress as a Republican, but he died before he could take his seat. Colby university gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1872. He left $5,000 to Harvard for a scholarship. Mr. Whiting was for five years president of the New England historic-genealogical society. His principal work is &ldquo;The War Powers of the President and the Legislative Powers of Congress in Relation to Rebellion, Treason, and Slavery&rdquo; (Boston, 1862; 10th ed., with large additions, 1863; 43d ed., 1871). In this he formulated views that he had urged at the opening of the civil war, namely, that the U. S. government had full belligerent rights against the inhabitants of seceded states, and without going beyond the constitution could confiscate their property, emancipate their slaves, and treat them as public enemies. These opinions were at first received with caution by most public men, but they were finally sanctioned and adopted by the government. The book had a large sale in this country and abroad. Besides this, he published various pamphlets, chiefly legal arguments before the U. S. courts, and a &ldquo;Memoir of Rev. Joseph Harrington,&rdquo; prefixed to a volume of his sermons (Boston, 1854), and was the author of the privately printed memoir of his ancestor, Samuel, mentioned above.

WHITING, William B., naval officer, b. in Troy, N. Y., 13 Nov., 1813 ; d. in Milwaukee, Wis., 16 Dec, 1883. He was appointed a midshipman in the navy, 2 Feb., 1829, and cruised on the Pacific station in 1831-'4, principally engaged on surveys. He became a passed midshipman, 4 June, 1836, served on coast-survey duty in 1837-'43, in the frigate "Macedonian," on the coast of Africa, on surveying duty in 1843-'5, and at the naval observatory at Washington in 1845-'50, during which he drew plans of the defences of Vera Cruz pre- liminary to the expedition of the navy and Gen. Winfield Scott's army. He was again on the coast survey in 1851-'2, and cruised in the sloop "Vandalia," 1852-'6, measuring the coasts of China and Japan. He was placed on the reserved list by the notorious retiring board of 1855 because his entire service had been in surveying duty rather than the military duties of the naval profession. He was then attached to the U. S. naval observatory at Washington until 1871, where he rendered valuable services in astronomical work. In recognition of his scientific attainments, he was promoted to commander and captain in 1867, and to commodore in 1871. After this last promotion he was relieved from active duty.

WHITING, William Danforth, naval officer, b. in Boston, Mass., 27 May, 1823. He entered the navy as a midshipman, 1 March, 1841, and served in the sloop " Levant " in 1846-7. at the capture of Monterey, Cal., when the American flag was first hoisted on that shore, 7 July, 1846. He attended the naval academy in 1847-8, was graduated, and became a passed midshipman, 10 Aug., 1847. He was promoted to master, 1 May, 1855,