Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/432

 \VILK1NS-FREEMAN

WILKINS

the Euijlish mail steamer Trent. Captain ^loir. oil the coast of Havana, having un board the Confed- erate commissioners. John Slidell and James I\I. M:isou. Wilkes fired a shell across the bows of the Trent, and sent executive officer D. MacNeill Fairfax, with two cutters, to board and demand the surrender of Mason, Slide!! and their secre- taries, with their personal papers and baggage. Tlie commissioners refused to surrender, and were forcibly taken on board the San Jacinto, which proceeded to the Florida coast and tlience to Fort Monroe, where a report of the seizure was made and the vessel ordered to New York and thence to Boston, where the prisoners were confined in Fort Warren during the diplomatic correspon- dence tliat followed. Captain Wilkes, as soon as the seizure became known, received a vote of thanks from congress, and a letter, endorsing his act, from tiie secretary of the navy, and on land- ing w;is received throughout the United States with enthusiastic demonstrations. On the ar- rival of the Trent in England, a demand was made by the Britisli government for the return of the prisoners, on the grounds tliat t!ie seizure was an insult to the British flag and a violation of international law. In consequence of this de- mand, the prisoners were surrendered by Secre- tary Seward, who held that altliough the commis- sioners were contraband of war, Wilkes had technically committed a violation of interna- tional law by not carrying the Trent into a neutral port, where the prisoners could be tried by a prize court. Wilkes was promoted com- modore, July 16. 18G2, and placed in command of the newly organized James River flotilla. He shelled City Point in 1862, and on August 31 the squadron was disbanded. He subse- quently commanded a special squadron in the West Indies ; was retired from active service, June 2"). 1864 : and promoted rear-admiral on the retired list, July 25,1806. The Royal Geo- graphical society presented him with a gold medal in recognition of his explorations. Besides the account of his explorations, he is the author of : TT>s/eni America, Including Califor- nia and Oregon (1849), and Tlteory of the Winds (1856). His name in " Class E, Missionaries and Explorers " received two votes for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, October, 1900. He died in Wasliington. D.C.. F<'li. 8, 1877.

WILKINS-FREEMAN, Mary Eleanor, author, w;us born in Randolpli, Mass. ; daughter of War- ren E. Wilkins. Slie attended the public schools, removed with her jiarents to Brattleljoro, Vt., matriculated at Mount Holyoke seminary (now foUege), South Hadley. Mass.. in the class of 1881, and returned to R;iiid(j!pli in \x^'-\. S!ie liegan atan early age to coTitribute {)oenis and sliort stories to magazines, and later Ijecame known cliietly as a

writer of novels and stories descriptive of New- England life and character. She was married in 1902, to Dr. Freeman of Metuchen, N.J., where she continued to make her home. The titles of her books include: The Story of Ann (1886); A Humble Romance (1887) ; A New England Nun (1891); A Pot of Gold {\%^\) ; Young Lucrelia (1892) ; Jane Field (1892) ; Giles Corey, Yeoman a play published and performed (1893) ; Pembroke (1894) ; Madelon (1896) ; Jerome, a Poor Man (1807) ; reprinted in the Russkoye Bogastro of Russia and in the Journal des Debats of Pai'is ; Silence (18^8) ; The Jamesons (1899); Two Old Lovers ; A Symphony in Lavender ; A Farraicay Melody ; A Pot of Honey ; Once Upon a Time ; Comfort Pease and Her Gold Ring ; In Colonial Days ; The People of Our Neighborhood ; The Love of Parson Lord ; Understudies ; The Por- tion of Labor (1902) ; Six Trees (1903).

WILKINS, Wmiam, cabinet officer, was born in Carlisle, Pa., Dec. 20, 1779 ; son of John Wil- kins (1733-1809), and grandson of John Wilkins, an Indian trader, wlio settled on Cliiques Creek, Pa. Jolin Wilkins, Jr., removed from Donegal, to Carlisle, Pa., in 1763; was establisiied as a merchant in Bedford, Pa., 1773-83, and subse- quently in Pittsburg, Pa. ; served as a captain in the Continental army at Brandy wine and Ger- mantown ; was a member of the state constitu- tional convention, July 15, 1776 ; an associate judge of the Alleghany county court ; a member of t!ie supreme executive council, 1790, and com- missioner of public buildings, and county treas- urer, 1794-1803. William Wilkins matriculated at Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pa., in the class of 1802 ; studied law with Judge Watts and was admitted to the bar, Dec. 28, 1801, at Pittsburg. Pa., where he established himself in practice. He was married secondl}' to Matilda, daughter of Alexander James Dallas of Pliiladelpliia. He was influential in organizing the Pittsburg Manufac- turing comijany in 1810, and was first president of its successor, the Bank of Pittsliurg ; pi-esident of the common councils of Pittsburg. 1816-19; a member of the state legislature, 1820, resign- ing, Dec. 18, 1820. to become president judge of the 5th judicial district of Pennsylvania, in which capacity he served until May 25, 1824, and was judge of the U.S. district court for western Pennsylvania, 1824-31. He was defeated as a candidate for the 20th congress in 1826 ; was elected a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania as a Democrat and anti-Mason in 1831, serving, Dec. 5, 1831, to June 30, 1834, when he resigned to accept his appointment as U.S. minister to Russia. He received the electoral vote of Pennsylvania for Vice-President in 1833, and resigned his diplomatic office, Dec. 24, 1835. He was a Dem- ocrative representative from Pennsylvania in the