Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 7).djvu/332

284 Winfield was the author of " History of Land Titles" (1872); "History of Hudson County" (1874); "Adjudged Words and Phrases" (1882); and "The Founding of Jersey City" (1892).

WINTER, Sir James Spearman, statesman, b. in Lanialine, Newfoundland, 1 Jan.. 1845. He studied at the academies at St. John's and then entered a mercantile office, but soon began the study of law under the late Sir H. W. lioyles. He was called to the bar in 1867, and speedily be- came one of the most successful lawyers on the island. He was a member of the legislature from 1874 until 1879, serving as speaker in 1877-'8 ; he was a member of the council from 1879 to 1889, solicitor-general from 1883 to 1885, and attorney- general from 1885 until 1889. In 1880 he was made a Q. C, and from 1893 until 1896 he was judge of the supreme court of Newfoundland. He was sent to London in 1890 as a delegate on the French fisheries question, and was agent for the <?olony at the Washington fisheries conference in 1887-'8. In 1888 he was made a K. C. M. G. At the general election in October, 1897, the White- way government was defeated ; Sir James had been leader of the opposition, and accordingly was called upon to form a new government. He took office with his colleagues on 17 Nov., 1897. He was a member of the joint high commission which met in Washington in the winter of 1898-'9.

WISTER, Owen, author, b. in Philadelphia, 14 July, 1860. He was educated at St. Paul's .school. Concord, and was graduated at Harvard in 1882. He studied law, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1889. Since that time he has contributed in prose and verse to the magazines, and has published "The Dragon of Wantley " {Philadelphia, 1893); "His Tail" (1894); "Red Men and White " (New York, 1896) ; and " Lin McLean" (1898). — His mother, Mrs. Sarah Wis- ter, who is a daughter of Fanny Kemble {g. v), has made translations from Alfred de Musset, and published a poem entitled " A Boat of Glass."

WOLCOTT, Edward Oliver, senator, b. in Longnieadovv, Mass., 26 March, 1848. He served for a few months as a private in the 1.50th Ohio volunteers in 1864. In 1866 he entered Yale, but was not graduated. He took a course in the law- school of Harvard, where he was graduated in 1871. He removed to Colorado, where he prac- tised law successfully. In January, 1889, he was elected to the U. S. senate as a Republican, to succeed Thomas M. Bowen, taking his seat in March following, and was re-elected in 1895. Together with Charles J. Payne and Adlai E. Stevenson, Mr. Vi'^olcott was appointed by Presi- dent McKinley, in April, 1897, commissioner to European nations for the promotion of an interna- tional agreement for bimetallism.

WOLCOTT, Roger, governor of Massaehusetts, b. in Boston, 18 July, 1847. He is the great-grand- son of Oliver Wolcott {g. v.), signer of the Decla- ration of Independence and governor of Connect- icut. He was graduated from Harvard, and from the law-school of the same university in 1874. He was class-day orator in 1870. and also deliv- ered the oration on commencement-day. He was a mendier of the Boston common council and of the Massaehusetts house of representatives. Prom 1893 to 1896 he was lieutenant-governor, serving as acting governor after the death of Gov. Green- halge, 5 JIarch, 1896. He was elected governor in the autumn elections of 1896, re-elected in 1897, and again elected in November, 1898. He was the first president of the Massachusetts Republi- can club, is an overseer of Harvard, and a trustee of the Massachusetts general hospital. He received the degree of LL. D. from Williams college.

WOOD, Edward Parker, naval officer, b. in Mansfield. Ohio, 16 Aug., 1848; d. in Washington, D. C, 11 Dec, 1899. He entered the U. S. naval academy, and on his graduation was assigned to special service on the " Minnesota." He was pro- moted ensign in 1868, master in 1870, and lieuten- ant in 1871. His service included special work in Europe and elsewhere, also serving on the "Tren- ton," the " Quinnebaug," the " Monongahela." and the "Concord." He was promoted in 1890, and was commissioned as commander, and ordered to the " Petrel," and it was while in that command that he earned the highest praise of Admiral Dewey. Because of her light draught. Commander Wood saw his opportunity to run the " Petrel " close in- shore ofE the entrance to the harbor at Cavite in the battle of Manila Bay. The Spanish ships that remained afloat sought shelter under the guns of the forts, and Dewey's ships could not get at them. The " Petrel," however, steamed into the harbor entrance, sank the remaining boats, and then si- lenced the forts. When the board of naval re- wards recommended that, "for his eminent and conspicuous conduct in battle," Wood should be advanced ten numbers in his grade, a higher measure of reward than was bestowed on any other commander, congress did not withhold it.

WOOD, Leonard, soldier, b. in Winchester, N. H., 9 Oct., 1860. He studied in Pierce acad- emy, Middleboro', Mass., and at the Harvard medi- cal school, from which he was graduated in 1884. During 1883 and 1884 he served as house surgeon in the Boston city hospital. After his graduation he en- tered the U. S. army as surgeon, receiving his commission as 1st lieutenant and assist- ant surgeon on 5 Jan., 1886. becoming cap- tain five years later. During the Geronimo campaign of 1886 Capt. Wood com- manded infantry and Indian scouts, and for his bravery and meritorious services in the campaign he received the congres- sional medal of honor. At the outbreak of the war with Spain in 1898 he recruited at San Antonio, Tex., the 1st regiment of volunteer cavalry, and was appointed colonel on 9 May. This regiment, which included in its ranks western cowboys, Indian scouts, and Indian fighters, as well as men of leisure and wealth from the clubs and colleges of the east, was one of the three volunteer regi- ments selected to take part in the invasion of the province of Santiago de Cuba under Gen. Shafter. Such an excellent account did the regiment give of itself at the engagements of La Guasima on 24 June and El Caney and San Juan on 1-3 July, that on 8 July Col. Vood was promoted brigadier-general, and Theodore Roosevelt, who had been lieutenant- colonel of the regiment, became colonel. After the fall of Santiago, Gen. Wood was made com- manding general of the city on 20 July, which position he held until 7 Oct. following, when he became commanding general of the military department of Santiago. In both positions he