Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/486

 AVORDEN

WORMELEY

boat was a sqnare iron structure, so small as to aocoininoilate only three men, the commander, pilot anil quarter-master. It was on the deck, directly in front of the turret, thus preventing tiring ahead; and was connected with the turret by a speaking tube, which was destroyed early in the action, thus making communication between the commander and the executive officer difficult. Worden fouglit at close quarters, maneuvered his boat skillfully, availed himself of all the advan- tages possessed by his boat, withdrew at one time to allow the turret to replenish its supply of sliot. and then renewing tiie conflict, fought un- til a large siiell, striking the pilot-house and ex- ploding, blinded him. He was cared for by the physician on the Monitor, and was sent to Wash- ington, D.C. Although the Merrimac was not destroyed, she was roughly used, and the ability of the Monitor to cope with her prevented her prosecuting the campaign that had been planned. Worden was received as the popular hero; was given a vote of tlianks by congress on July 11,

1862, and the following day promoted commander. On Feb. 3, 1863, he received another vote of thanks from congress, and was promoted captain. He gradually recovered his sight, and in January,

1863, was assigned to the command of the Mon- tank, a boat of the monitor type, but of improved pattern, with which he joined the Soutli Atlantic squadron under Du Pont, who was planning an attack on Cliarleston. In order to ascertain the ability of monitors to withstand the fire of land batteries, Du Pont ordered WorJeu to attack Fort McAllister on the Great Ogeechee river. On Jan. 27, 1863, "Worden steamed up the river, and anchoring, fired on the fort four hours, until his ammunition was gone. The trial was successful as far as showing the invulnerability of the boat, but tiie slight amount of damage done to the fort was disappointing. The Confederate steamer yasJiville, designed as a commerce destroyer, was at this time hiding in the Ogeechee river, await- ing an opportunity to run the blockade. When the J/o«faHfc sailed up the river, she withdrew out of range, but on February 27, Worden dis- covered her to be aground, and the following morning, steaming up under the guns of the fort, fired across a neck of land and although continu- ally under fire from the fort, he caused the ex- plosion of the magazine of the Nashville by his siiells, and withdrew uninjured, until, running into a tiirpedo, he blew a hole in the bottom of the Montnnk. The boat was later repaired, and took part in Du Font's attack on Charleston, .•\.pril 7, 1863. Worden was on duty at New York, 186.3-66; served in the Pacific squadron, 1866-67: was promoted commodore. May 27, 1868; was superintendent of the Naval academy, 1870- 74; was promoted rear-admiral, Nov. 20, 1872;

commanded the European squadron, 1875-77;and was retired, with the highest sea-paj' of his grade, at liis own request, Dec. 23, 1886. He died in Washington. D.C, Oct. 18, 1897.

WORMAN, James Henry, editor, was born in Germany, Feb. 28, 1845; son of Maurice and Bertha (von Kaskel) Worman. He attended Ber- lin university, and the Sorbonne, Paris; emigrated to the United States in 1865; was professor of modern languages at Knox college, Galesburg, 111., 1865-67; librarian and instructor at Drew Theological seminary, 1868-72; professor of mod- ern languages and history at Vanderbilt uni- versity, 1884-86; senior professor of the Summer university at Chautauqua, 1879-85; organized the Southern Chautauqua Summer university at Monteagle, Tenn., in 1883, and was its director, 1883-85, and director of the Summer schools at Round Lake, N.Y., 1885-87. He was an editorial writer for secular and religious papers, 1867-87; an associate editor of the National RepositoTy, 1876-79; editor of the Saratoyian, 1885-87, and editor-in-chief of tiie Outing, 1887-99. On Feb. 10, 1899, he was appointed U.S. consul at Munich, Bavaria, serving until July, 1902, when he was promoted consul-general. In this capacity he labored to suppress an illegal traffic in American diplomas, and effected the appointment of an in- ternational commission of bacteriologists and trade experts to formulate new rules and regula- tions for the import of articles requiring chemi- cal treatment. He was twice married: first, Sept. 10, 1866, to Emma Parker, daughter of Paris Davis and Emily (Parker) Davis, of Norwich, Chenango county, N.Y., who died in 1896; and secondly, April 4, 1898, to Mary Alice, daughter of Daniel F. and Alice (Merriam) Payne, of Wadhams Mills, N.Y. The honorary degree of A.M. was conferred on him by Dickinson college in 1867; that of Ph.D. by DePauw university in

1882, and that of LL.D. by Mt. Union college in

1883. He is the author of: Complete Gra mmar of the German Language (1868); Elementary Gram- mar (1867); Echo de Paris (1870); German Echo (1873), and the Chautauqua Language Series in French, German and Spanish, besides several other text books. He also edited McClintock & Strong's "Cyclopaedia"' (1870-85) and was edi- torial contributor to other cyclopa>dias.

WORMELEY, Katharine Prescott, author and translator, was born in Ipswich, England, Jan. 14, 1830; daughter of Rear-Admiral Ralph Ran- dolph and Caroline (Preble) Wormeley, and sister of Mary Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer (q.v.). She came to the United States in 1848; and was in the hospital service during the civil war in connection with the U.S. sanitarj' commission. Miss Wormeley lived in Newport, R.I., 1848-84, and subsequently made her home in Jackson,