Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/350

 WASHINGTON

WATERHOUSE

as a national holiday. The nation assembled in New York city to celebrate the lOUth anniver- sary of liis inauguration, and subsetjuently the temporary wooden arcli placed on Washington Square, as a memorial, was duplicated in solid ^,, marble. In lb-18 the cor-

ner stone was laid for the obelisk at Washington, D.C., and the capstone in 1884, the monument being 555 feet high. Statues of Washington have been unveiled in nearly every city in the Union, among the more important of which are Houdon's statue in the capital at Rich- mond, Va., the colossal statue by Horatio Green- ough, at Washington, and the group surmounted by the equestrian statue by Tliomas Crawford at Richmond. Va. Among the numerous portraits of Washington are those by Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull, and both the Peales. His life has been written by John Marshall (5 vols., 1804); Jared Sparks (12 vols., 1834-3:); Washington Irving (5 vols., 1855-59); Edward Everett Hale (1&S7); Worthington C. Ford (U vols., 1888), and Henry Cabot Lodge (1897). He died in Mount Vernon. Va.. Dec. 14. 1799.

WASHINGTON, Martha, wife of President Washington, was born in New Kent county, Va., in May, 1732; daughter of Col. John Dandridge. She received a good education and in 1749 was married to Daniel Parke Custis. a planter of Vir- ginia, and had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Mr. Custis died in 1757 leaving a large fortune, and in January, 1759, she was mar- ried to Ca)\. George Washington in St. Peter's church. New Kent county, Va., the attendance at the cliurch being the largest and the ceremony the grandest ever witnassed in Virginia. Mrs. AV'ashington entertained in queenly style at Mount Vernon, and after her husband became com- mander-in chief she joined hi.na at Cambridge, Mass., in 1775, and thereafter accompanied him from camp to camp. Her daughter, Martha Parke Custis, died in the seventeenth year of her age, and John Parke Custis died in November, 1781, leaving four children; the two youngest, Eleanor Parke and Ge<irge Wasliington Parke Custis. were adopted by General Washington. Mrs. Washing- ton was fifty-seven years of age when called upon to assume the duties of fir.^t lady of the now re- public. She instituted fa'-hionable levers held on Friday evenings, first in New York city and then in Philadelphia, and her great personal dignity was in jierfect •-..nsonanre with the honor of her position. Her portrait was painted by Gil-

bert Stuart. The name Martha AVashington (1732-1802) in "Class O. Distinguished Men and W^omen," received fourteen votes for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, October, 1900. She died at Mount Vernon. Va., May 22, 1802.

WATERBURY, David, soldier, was born in Stamford, Conn., Feb. 12, 1716; son of John (1682-1744), and Susanna (Newkirk) W^aterbury; grandson of John (1650 (?)-16S8), and Mary Waterbury, and a descendant of John and Rose Waterbury of Watertown, Mass., who were among the earliest settlers of Stamford, Conn., about 1646. He served in the French and Indian war as captain of the 9th regiment of Connecti- cut militia, participating in the battle of Lake George under Sir William Johnson, Aug. 6, 1755; was promoted major of the 3d regiment, 1758, and took part in the repulse of General Aber- crombie at Ticonderoga in June of that year. He was married to Mary, daughter of Capt. John Holly of Stamford; was a member of the state assembly, 1774-76, and of the committee of safety, 1775; was commissioned captain and colo- nel of a company, with which he marched to New Y'ork, June 19, 1775, and upon his return from the north in January, 1776, was ordered to raise a company of five or six hundred men to capture the Tories on Long Island, but, although the company was recruited, the orders were coun- termanded. He was commissioned brigadier- general of the northern department by the gen- eral assembly of Connecticut, June 3, 1776. shar- ing the command of the 1st division with General Wadsworth; supervised the construction of a fleet at Skeensborough (Whitehall), N.Y.; of which he was appointed second in command, Sept. 2, 1776, under General Arnold, and was captured, with his vessel, the Washington, at Valcour Bay, Oct. 11, 1776. For his gallantry he was frequently commended by Generals Schuyler and Gates. After his exchange, he commanded a brigade under General Washington until the close of the war. He served as selectman of Stamford, 1781, and was again a member of the general a.ssembly. 1783 and 1794-95. See " His- tory of Stamford," by Elijah B.Huntington and the " Journal " of Lieut. James M. Hadden (1884). He died in Stamford. Conn.. June 29. 1801.

WATERHOUSE, Benjamin, physician, was born in Newport, R.I., March 4, 1754; son of Timothy (1714-1792) Waterhouse. judge of the court of common ple;us for Newport county. He studied medicine in Newport until 1775, holding in the winter of that year the first "life cla.ss" in America, with Gilbert Stuart, the artist, and later in the year went abroad and became the pupil of his maternal great-uncle. Dr. John Fothergill of London, also studying in the uni-