Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/808

* WYOMING VALLEY. 688 WYVEBN. killed or captured and the rest taking refuge in the fort. Many of the prisoners were tortured and killed, partly by the Indian squaws, and on the following day the fort surrendered. No more lives were taken, but the settlements were thoroughly devastated, and the inhabitants, en- deavoring to reach the nearest settlements, .suf- fered terrible hardships, a hundred women per- ishing of fatigue and starvation in a swamp since known as the 'Shades of Death.' The settlers returned in small numbers, but after the war the old controversy between Connecticut and Pennsyl- vania was renewed. In 1782 Congress decided in favor of Pennsylvania, but conflicts continued among the settlers until 1788, when the Pennsyl- vania Legislature confirmed their various titles. The long conflict between Connecticut and Pennsylvania is sometimes called the Pennamite- Yankee War (or Wars). A granite obelisk op- posite Wilkes-Barre marks the site of the iattle of July 3, 1778. Consult: Miner, History of Wyominri (Philadelphia, 1845); Stone, Poetry and History of Wyoming (New York, 1844) ; and Hoyt, Seventeen Townships in the County of Luzerne (Harrisburg. 1879). WYSS, Ves, JOHANN KUDOLF (1781-1830). A Swiss professor of philosophy and librarian at Bern, where he was born and died. Wyss is re- membered chiefly if not solely as the author of Der schtceizerische Robinson {The Siciss Family liohinson, 1813), a juvenile classic, still popular in many languages, the sole survivor of numerous imitations of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Wyss wrote also Idyllen, Tolkssagen. Legenden und ErzUhlungen aus der Schirei~ (1815-22); Reise im Berner Oberland (1808); and Yorlesungen liber das hochste Gut (1811). WYTHE, George (1726-1806). An American patriot and jurist; a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was liorn near Hampton. Va., was educated at William and Mary College, and was admitted to the Virginia bar. He was chosen to represent William and Mary College in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and drew up its remonstrance to the British Parliament against the proposed Stamp Act (q.v.) in 1764. He continued a member of the House of Bur- gesses up to the outbreak of the Revolution, and in August, 1775, was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, in which he was one of the most fearless and outspoken advocates of inde- pendence. In the following year he was appointed on a committee with Thomas .Jefl'erson. Edmund Pendleton, and others to revise the laws of Vir- ginia. In 1777 he was Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and shortly afterwards Tvas appointed a judge of the High Court of Chancery. From 1786 until his death he was Chancellor. He was professor of law at William and Mary College from 1779 to 1789, and in 1787 was a member of the convention which framed the Fed- eral Constitution. Subsequently, as a member of the Virginia convention, he aided in securing its ratification by his native State. Late in life he emancipated all his slaves. He published Decisions in Virginia by the High Court of Chati- cery (1795; 2d ed. with Memoir, 1852). WYTHE'VILLE. The county-seat of Wythe County, Va., 131 miles southwest of Lynchburg, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad (Map: Virginia, C 5). It has the McDonald Institute, the Plumer Memorial Female College, and the Wytheville Female Seminary. A short distance from the town is a State fish hatcher}-. The surrounding country is engaged in farming and lumbering, and also has considerable mineral wealth, including iron, coal, lead, and zinc. Knit goods, woolen goods, flour, and iron and lumber products are the principal manufactures. The preparation of mineral waters for shipment is an important industry. The water-works are owned liy the municipality. Population, in 1890, 2570; in 1900, 3003. WYTTENBACH, vit'tcn-baK, D.^niel Albert ( 1746-1820). A Dutch philologist, born at Bern, Switzerland. After studying at Marburg, Giit- tingcn, and Leyden, he became professor of Greek at Amsterdam in 1771, and in 1799 professor of rhetoric at Leyden. In addition to his chief work, a critical edition of Plutarch's Moralia, with copious notes, and an Index Grcecitatis in Plu- iarchi Opera (1795-1830), he published: Epistola Critica (1769); Prweepta Philosophice Logicw (1782; new ed. 1821) ; Eclogw seu Selecfa Prin- eipum Historicorum Capita (1793 and 1829): Vita Ruhnkenii (1800), a masterly biography of his former teacher, ed. by Frotscher, 1846 : and an eilition of Plato's Pha^do (1810; new ed. 1825). Po.sthumously appeared Opuscula Varii Argument! (1821). Consult IMahne, Vita D. Wyttenhachii (Ghent, 1823. ed. by Frotscher, Freiburg, 1846).— His wife, Joh. na (d. 18.30), born at Hanau, was a woman of scientific educa- tion and author of Theagine (1815) ; Das Qast- mnhl der Leontis { 1821 ) ; and of the novel Alexis (1823). WYVEBN. A cluvrge in heraldry (q.v.).