Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/533

Rh He was then elected again to the state legislature, and was its speaker in 1834. In 1836 he was elected lieutenant-governor of his native state, and in 1839 he became acting governor. In 1841 he was appointed postmaster-general by President Tyler, holding the post till March, 1845, and in the latter year he was sent by President Polk on a secret mission to Texas in the interests of annexa- tion. He was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1845, a member of the Peace congress in February, 1861, served again in congress in 1861-'3, having been chosen as a Union Whig, and was a delegate to the Chicago national Democratic convention in 1864. Mr. Wickliffe was wealthy, and his aristocratic bearing and contempt for the poorer classes won him the name of " the Duke."

WICKSTEED, Gustavus William, Canadian lawyer, b. in Liverpool, England, 21 Dec, 1799. He removed to Canada in 1821, began the study of law in 1825, was admitted as an advocate in 1832, and was made a queen's counsel in 1854. Mr. Wicksteed entered the public service in 1828, be- came law-clerk of the Canada assembly in 1841, and the same year was appointed one of three com- missioners to revise the statutes and ordinances of Lower Canada. In 1856 he was chosen with Sir James B. Macaulay and others a commissioner to revise, consolidate, and classify the public general statutes of Canada, and in 1867 he became law- clerk of the house of commons. In addition to various indexes and tables of the statutes of Cana- da, he has published " Waifs in Verse " (Montreal, 1878). — His son, Richard John, advocate and barrister, is assistant law-clerk and English trans- lator in the Canadian house of commons.

WIDDIFIELD, John Henry, Canadian phy- sician, b. in Whitchurch, Ont., 12 June, 1812. He was graduated as a physician and surgeon at the Royal college of surgeons, England, the Royal college of physicians, Edinburgh, Victoria uni- versity, Canada, and the College of physicians and surgeons of Ontario, and established himself in practice in Newmarket, Ont. He received the Re- form nomination for the Dominion parliament in 1874, and again in 1882, but declined on both occasions. He was elected to the legislature of Ontario in 1875, re-elected in 1879, 1883, and 1886, and was ministerial " whip " under the Mowat government from 1877 till 1883, when he resigned.

WIDMER, Christopher, Canadian physician, b. in England in 1780 ; d. in Toronto, 2 May, 1858. As surgeon of the 14th light dragoons he served through nearly the whole of the peninsular cam- paign, and heid the medal with five clasps. He removed to Canada during the war of 1812, settled in Toronto, and on 15 Aug., 1843, was appointed a member of the legislative council of Canada under a writ of summons from the crown.

WIERZBICKI, Felix Paul, author, b. in Poland; d. in California in 1861. He came to the United States on the failure of the Polish revolution of 1830, and, after teaching for a time, studied medicine and began to practise in Providence, R. I. He emigrated to California in 1848, and turned his attention to metallurgy, publishing one of the first books issued upon the mines of that state. At the time of his death he was employed in the San Francisco mint. He is the author of &ldquo;The Ideal Man, a Conversation between Two Friends upon the Beautiful, the Good, and the True as manifested in Actual Life, by Philokalist&rdquo; (Boston, 1841).

WIGFALL, Louis Trezevant, senator, b. in Edgefield district, S. C, 21 April, 1816 ; d. in Gal- veston, Tex., 18 Feb., 1874. He was educated at the College of South Carolina, but left before graduation to go, as a lieutenant of volunteers, to Florida, where he took part in the operations against the Indians. He subsequently studied law at the University of Virginia, was admitted to the bar, and removed to Marshall, Tex., where he practised his profession. He served in the lower branch of the Texas legislature in 1849-50, and was a member of the state senate in 1857-'8, and again in 1859-60. During the latter session he was chosen U. S. senator, and took his seat, 4 Jan., 1860. In that body he was among the ablest and most uncompromising defenders of the slave power. As he did not take his seat at the called session of the 32d congress, lie was expelled on 11 July, 1861. In the mean time he had been present at the bombardment of Fort Sumter, as a member of Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard's staff. On the afternoon of the second day, 13 April, being on Morris island, and noticing that the fire from the fort had ceased and that the flag had been shot away, Col. Wigfall, with the approval of Gen. James Simons, in command of the forces on the island, embarked in a skiff, and set out across the bay. On reaching Fort Sumter, he made his way through an open port-hole inside the fortification, where he met Mag. Robert Anderson, and demanded the uncon- ditional surrender of the fort, on the ground that the work was no longer tenable and that further resistance would be madness. After some parley, Maj. Anderson consented to have a white flag hoisted, and the surrender was an accomplished fact. Wigfall subsequently became colonel of the 2d infantry in the provisional Confederate army, and was promoted brigadier-general, 21 Oct., 1861. He commanded a brigade composed of three Texas regiments and one of Georgia troops until 20 Feb., 1862, when he resigned. Besides his military ser- vice, he also represented Texas in the provisional Confederate congress from February, 1861, till Feb- ruary, 1862. He was also senator in the Confeder- ate congress from February, 1862, until the end of the war. He then went to England, where he resided for several years. In 1873 he settled in Baltimore. He died while visiting Texas on a lec- turing tour. Gen. Wigfall was a forcible speaker, being remarkable for his impassioned style, and an ardent partisan, and took part in several duels.

WIGGER, Winand Michael, R. C. bishop, b. in New York city, 9 Dec, 1841. He was graduated in 1860 at the College of St. Francis Xavier in his native city, and studied theology at Seton Hall, N. J., where he remained several years. In October, 1862, he entered the seminary of Brignoli Sale, at Genoa, where he completed his divinity studies and won the doctor's cap. He was ordained priest in 1865, and returning to the United States became assistant at the cathedral at Newark, N. J. In April, 1869, he was appointed rector of St. Vincent's church, Madison, N. J., and remained there until May, 1873. After occupying the same office one year at St. John's, Orange, and two years at Summit, N. J., he returned to Madison, where he served as rector until Bishop Michael A. Corrigan was promoted coadjutor of New York in 1881. On the occurrence of this event, the diocese of Newark, over which Bishop Corrigan had presided, was reduced, the rest of the state being erected into the new see of Trenton. To the charge of the former Dr. Wigger was elected, being consecrated in October, 1881. Under his care the diocese, although small in extent, has increased in population, and now contains over 160,000 Roman Catholics, 105 churches, and 184 priests. There are also within its limits three colleges, eighteen seminaries for