Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/635

Rh acquired a knowledge of engineering at the West Point foundry, N. Y., entered the navy as a chief engineer, 15 March, 1845, and superintended the construction of the boilers and engines of the steam frigate "Merrimac" in 1854-'7 at Cold Spring, N. Y. During the civil war he rendered valuable services on special duty connected with the steam-engineering service at the navy-yards in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. He was head of the department of steam engineering at the naval academy in 1866-'7, chief engineer of the New York navy-yard in 1868-'9, inspector of machinery afloat in 1870-'2, chief of the bureau of steam engineering from 1872 till 3 March, 1877, and on special duty at Washington until 30 May, 1880, when he was placed on the retired list. He was one of the pioneers in the U. S. steam navy, and held the relative rank of commodore when he was retired as he had served as engineer-in-chief. He was drowned in a boat capsized by a squall.

WOODBERRY, George Edward, author, b. in Beverly, Mass., 12 May, 1855. He was graduated at Harvard in 1877, and was professor of English in the University of Nebraska in 1877-8 and 1880-'2. He was connected editorially with the " Nation," in 1878-'9, and is the author of a " History of Wood-Engraving " (New York, 1883) ; " The North Shore Watch, a Threnody " (printed privately. 1883): and "Life of Edgar Allan Poe," in the "American Men of Letters " series (Boston, 1885).

WOODBRIDGE, John, clergyman, b. in Stan- ton. Wiltshire, England, in 1614; d. in Newbury, Mass., 1 July, 1691. He was the son of the Rev. John Woodbridge, rector of the parish of Stanton, Wiltshire, whose earliest known ancestor was John Woodbridge, born about 1492, and was sent to Ox- ford, where he remained " until the oath of confor- mity came to be required of him, which neither his father nor his conscience approving, he removed thence into a course of more private studies." In 1634 he came to New England in the ship " Mary and John " with his uncle, the Rev. Thomas Parker, and settled in Newbury, Mass., of which he was town- clerk in 1634-'8, and surveyor of arms in 1637. In 1639 he married Mercy, the daughter of Gov. Thom- as Dudley, and in 1643 taught in Boston. With others he negotiated the purchase from the Indians of the land on which the town of Andover was built ; he was chosen the first minister of the place, his ordination, on 24 Oct., 1645, being one of the earliest in New England. In 1647 he returned to England, became chaplain to the parliamentary commissioners who made a treaty with the king at the Isle of Wight, and was afterward minister at Andover, Hants, and at Barford-St. Martin's, Wilt- shire, until he was ejected after the Restoration. In 1663 he was driven from a school that he had established in Newbury, England, and returned to New England. He then served as assistant to the Rev. Thomas Parker until 30 Nov., 1670, when he was dismissed in consequence of dissensions in the church. Subsequently he held other local offices, and was an assistant of Massachusetts colony in 1683-'4. Cotton Mather, in his " Magnalia," speaks of his excellence and piety. His memory is pre- served in the name of Woodbridge island, near the mouth of Merrimac river. He is the progenitor of all the American Woodbridges. — His brother, Benjamin, clergyman, b. in Stanton, Wiltshire, England, in 1622; d. in Inglefield, Berks, Eng- land, 1 Nov., 1684, was graduated at Oxford in 1638, came to New England in 1639, and. enter- ing Harvard, was the first graduate of that uni- versity. After his return to England with his brother in 1647 he became minister at Newbury, Berks, but was ejected in 1662. Being a favorite of the king, he was permitted to preach privately. He was a member of the Savoy conference and for a time was chaplain to Charles II. He received episcopal ordination after the Restoration, but subsequently became a non-conformist. He was called " the first fruits of the college of New Eng- land," and left the reputation of being a " univer- sally accomplished person, of a clear and strong reason, and of an exact and profound judgment." He published several sermons, including " Justifi- cation by Faith" (London, 1652); "The Method of Grace in the Justification of Sinners " (1656) ; and " Church Members set in Joynt " (1656). — John's son, Timothy, clergyman, b. in Barford- St. Martin's, Wilts, Phigland,'l3 Jan., 1656; d. in Hartford, Conn., 30 April, 1732, was graduated at. Harvard in 1675, and became minister of the 1st church in Hartford, Conn., in 1683, but was not ordained until 1685. He introduced infant bap- tism into Connecticut in 1696, and was one of the ten principal ministers of Connecticut colony that were named as trustees and authorized by the general assembly of Connecticut to found Yale college in 1699, and was a fellow of that college in 1700-'32. He was an active member of the Say- brook convention in 1708, and served the colony in many important political affairs. He published an election sermon (1727) and occasional poems. — Another son, Benjamin, clergyman, b. in Med- ford, Mass., 15 Jan., 1710, was minister of Bristol and of Kittery, Me., in 1645. He wrote the ingen- ious lines for the tomb of Cotton Mather. His brother John was minister of Wethersfield, Conn., and died in 1791 ; and for eight generations one of his descendants always bore the name of John and followed the same profession. — The second Benjamin's grandson, Benjamin, merchant, b. in 1709; d. in Boston, Mass., 3 July, 1728, was the son of Gov. Dudley Woodbridge, of Barbadoes. He received a good education in Boston and became a partner of Jonathan Sewall, son of the chief justice. On 3 July, 1728, he fought a duel with swords with Henry Phillips, without seconds and at night, on Boston common, and was killed. Phillips escaped to France. The motive for the duel is not known. It caused great sensation, and severe laws against duelling were enacted. The " Overland Monthly " for October, 1874, gives an account of it. — John's descendant in the fifth generation, Timothy, clergyman, b. in Stockbridge, Mass., 23 Nov., 1784; d. in Spencertown, Columbia co., N. Y., 7 Dec, 1862, was the son of Jahleel (1738-'96), who was graduated at Princeton in 1761, and served in the state senate and as judge of probate in Stockbridge. Mass., from 1789 till 1795, and of Lucy, daughter of Jonathan Edwards. The son entered Williams college in 1799, but during his sophomore year lost his eyesight, and passed the remainder of his life in total blindness. After graduation in 1803 he studied law, but abandoned this to enter Andover theological seminary in 1810, and was graduated there in 1811. In 1816 he became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Green River, Columbia co.. N. Y., remaining there until 1842, when he was called to the Presbyterian church in Spencertown, and held this charge until 1851. In 1852-3 he served as pastor of a Congregational church in Alford, Mass., and he then returned to Spencertown, where he devoted his life to charity, preaching only occasionally. He was known as the " blind minister " ; but, notwithstanding his infirmity, he was very active and cheerful, a hard student, and an interesting preacher. In his method of con-