Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/670

 WHEELING

608

WHIPPLE

former for high treason, the latter for felony. Both refused life and liberty at the price of conformity, and the martyr suffered with great constancy, while Eleanor Hunt was allowed to linger in prison till she died. Dr. Worthington, writing of Ven. Christopher Wharton, specially commends his "humility, fervent charity, and other great virtues".

WoRTHlNQTON, A Relation of Sixteen Martyrs (Douai, 1601) ; Douay Diaries (London. 1878) ; Challoneb, Memoirs of Mission- ary Priests (London, 1741-2); Morris. Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers, III (London), 462.

Edwin Burton.

Wheeling, Diocese op (Whelingnensis), com- prises the State of West Virginia except the following counties, which are in the Diocese of Richmond: Pen- dleton, Grant, Mineral, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson; also the Counties of Lee, Scott, Wise, Dickinson, Buchanan, Washington, Russel, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, CarroU, Wythe, Bland, Floyd, Pulaski, Montgomery, Giles, and a por- tion of Craig Co., in Virginia; square miles in West Virginia, 21,355; in Virginia, 7,817; total 29,172. The Diocese of Wheeling was formed from the Dio- cese of Richmond by Apostolic letters dated 23 July, 1850. The Rt. Rev. Richard Whelan, D.D., at that time Bishop of Richmond, was transferred to Wheel- ing as the first bishop of the newly-created see. He had been consecrated the second Bishop of Richmond, 21 March, 1841. The earliest record preserved in the Wheeling chancery sets forth that Rev. Francis Rolf was appointed pastor of Wheeling in 1829. He records a baptism performed by him on 3 November, 1828. There is evidence of priests having visited Wheeling at an earUer date. Wheeling was estab- lished as a town in 1795, and one vague tradition has it that it took its name from a certain Father Whelan, a Catholic priest, who came occasionally to minister to the spiritual wants of the members of his flock. The western part of Virginia, which in 1863 became the State of West Virginia, had never many Catholic settlers, nor does it appear to have had many pro- fessing any religion. In 1912 the Cathohc popula- tion was estimated at about 50,000, and the total population at 1,000,000. A letter preserved in the archives of the Diocese of Wheeling dated Baltimore, 13 April, 1832, and signed James Whitfield, Arch- bishop of Baltimore, states the inability of securing a priest to be stationed at Wheeling, but the letter goes on: "I desired the jjriest who attends a congrega- tion, on the way to WheeUng, about 40 miles on this side (Brownsville if I remember), to go and give Church once or twice a month. — He seems to say that he would comply, as far as he could, with my wish."

From Feb., 1833, to 1 Jan., 1844, Rev. James Hoerner was in charge of the Cathohcs in the WheeUng district. He was succeeded by Rev. Eugene Comerford, who was in Wheeling till the arriv.al of Rt. Rev. Richard Whelan, Bishop of Richmond, in Nov., 1846. The bishop took charge of the missionary work in the Wheeling portion of the Richmond See till he was transferred as the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Wheeling. The zeal of Bishop Whelan in labouring under the most difficult and trying circumstances for a period of twenty-four years is still remembered by many of the faithful, and often referred to as a strik- ing example of genuine saintly piety. He did much manual labour in addition to the other duties of liis episcopal office. The present \A'heeling cathedral was planned by him, and built under his supervision. He was architect and supervisor, and did much of the actual work in building the edifice. He also estab- lished a seminary of which he took personal charge, and some of (lie priests who were educated by him are still labouring in the diocese. St. Vincent's College for laymen was also instituted under his auspices. Bishop Whelan had among his self-sacrificing clergy one especially conspicuous for his saintly life, the late

Rev. H. F. Parke, V.G. This servant of God met a tragic death by being crushed under the ruins of a falling building, 9 April, 1895. Bishop Whelan (d. 7 July, 1874) was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. John Joseph Kain, D.D., who was consecrated the second Bishop of Wheeling, 23 May, 1875. In 1893 Bishop Kain was appointed coadjutor to the Arch- bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, and became archbishop of that see, 21 May, 1895. He died on 13 Oct., 1903. During the eighteen years of Bishop Kain's adminis- tration, the work, so well begun by his able prede- cessor, was continued and made rapid progress. He was consecrated at the age of thirty-four and devoted his talents and energy to the increase of clergy, the establishing of new missions, and the building of churches and parochial schools, so that, at the time of his transfer, the diocese was well estabUshed, although it was still greatly in need of priests, about thirty-five of whom covered an area of 29,172 sq. miles. The Cathohcs were much scattered and there were but few points at which the necessary support of a pastor could be obtained.

Rt. Rev. P. J. Donahue, D.D., was consecrated the third Bishop of Wheehng, 8 April, 1894. At the time of his appointment he was rector of the cathedral at Baltimore. During the eighteen years of Bishop Donahue's administration the number of clergy has been doubled, many new missions estabhshed, and the following institutions founded in the diocese: Home of the Good Shepherd, situated near Wheehng, where 200 wayward and homeless girls are provided for — the sisters in charge conduct a large laundry and sewing school; the Manual Training School, near Elm Grove, W. Va. (West Virginia), six miles east of Wheeling, con- ducted by the Xaverian Brothers, and St. Edward's Preparatory College, Huntington, W. Va., in charge of the secular clergy of the diocese, of w'hich the Rev. John W. Werninger is the first president. Besides these institutions two large additions have been built to the Wheeling Hospital, and a new orphanage for boys at Elm Grove, W. Va., a largeadditiontoSt. Vincent's Home, Elm Grove, W. Va., St. Joseph's Hospital at Parkersburg, W. Va., and St. Mary's Hospital at Clarksburg, W. Va., have been erected. Prior to 1895 there was one religious order of priests, the Capuchin Fathers, and three religious orders of women, the Sis- ters of St. Joseph, Visitation Sisters, and the Sisters of Divine Providence. Since then, the Marist and the Benedictine Fathers have been introduced, as also the Good Shepherd Sisters, Sisters of St. Francis, and the Fclician Sisters. There are academics for girls at Mt. de Chantal (near Wheeling), Parkersburg, Wytheville, Wheeling, and Clarksburg. There are a Catholic high school at Wheeling, and 16 parochial schools in the diocese.

Edward E. Weber.

Whipple, Amiel Weeks, military engineer and soldier, b. at Greenwich, Massachusetts, 1818; d. at Washington, D. C, 7 May, 1863. He was the son of David and Abigail Pep|)er Whipple. After studying at .\mherst College, he made the course at West Point, gr.aduating 1 July, 1841. His early years of service were spent in surveying the Patapsco River, sounding and majiping the approaches of New Orleans, and in surveying Port.^iinouth llarbour. Later he helped to determine portions of the CMuadianand llie Mexican boundaries of the United ."States. In 1853 he had charge of the explorations for a railroad route near the 35th parallel of latitude to the Pacific Ocean. He became a Catholic about 1857, when he was in Detroit in charge of tlie lighthouse districts from Lake Superior to the St. LawTence. In the war, after engineering under Gen. McDowell, he became chief topographical engineer uiulcr McClellan. His maps were used on many Virginian battli'-fields. In 1S02, as brigadier-general of voliniteirs, he had charge