A Book of the United States / Exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government ... and presenting a view of the republic generally, and of the individual states; together with a condensed history of the land, from its first discovery to the present time. The biography of about two hundred of the leading men: a description of the principal cities and towns; with statistical tables

by Unknown

TYLER, ROYAL, a lawyer and miscellaneous writer, was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard college, in 1776. In 1790, he removed his residence to Vermont, and soon distinguished himself in his profession of law. For six years he was an associate judge of the supreme court of that state, and for six years more chief justice. He was the author of several dramatic pieces of considerable merit; a novel called The Algerine Captive; and numerous pieces in prose and verse published in the Farmer’s Museum, when edited by Dennie. In addition to these, he published two volumes, entitled Vermont Reports. He died at Brattleboro’, in 1825.

WALN, ROBERT, a miscellaneous writer, was born in Philadelphia, and was liberally educated, but adopted no profession. He was the author of The Hermit in Philadelphia, a satire; The American Bards, a satire; Sisyphi Opus, or Touches at the Times; a History of China; some of the lives in the Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence; a Life of Lafayette; and an account of the Quaker hospital at Frankford, near Philadelphia. He died in 1824, at the age of thirty-one.

WARREN, JOSEPH, a patriot of the revolution, was born in Roxbury, near Boston, in 1741, and was graduated at Harvard college, in 1759. He pursued the profession of medicine, and soon after commencing the practice, distinguished himself by his successful treatment of the small pox. Early engaging in politics, he obtained great influence, and rendered efficient service by his writings and addresses. He was twice elected to deliver the oration in commemoration of the massacre on the fifth of March. In June, 1775, the provincial congress of Massachusetts, of which he was at this time president, made him a major-general of their forces. At the battle of Bunker’s hill he fought as a volunteer, and was slain within a few yards of the breast-work, as he was among the last slowly retiring from it. He was a man of the most generous and intrepid spirit, much elegance of manners, and of commanding eloquence. His loss was deeply felt and regretted. In 1776, his remains were removed from the battle ground, and interred in Boston.

WARREN, JAMES, was born at Plymouth, in 1726, and was graduated at Harvard college, in 1745. He took an early and active part in the cause of the colonies against the aggressions of the mother country, was a member of the general court, proposed the establishment of committees of correspondence, and, after the death of general Warren, was appointed president of the provincial congress. He was afterwards appointed a major-general of the militia. On the adoption of the constitution of Massachusetts, he was for many years speaker of the house of representatives. He died at Plymouth, in 1808.

WASHINGTON, GEORGE, was born in 1732, in the county of Fairfax, in Virginia, where his father was possessed of great landed property. He was educated under the care of a private tutor, and paid much attention to the study of mathematics and engineering. He was first employed officially by general Dinwiddie, in 1753, in remonstrating to the French commander on the Ohio, for the infraction of the treaty between the two nations. He subsequently negotiated a treaty of amity with the Indians on the back settlements, and for his honorable services received the thanks of the British government. In the unfortunate expedition of general Braddock, he served as aid-de-camp; and on the fall of that brave but rash commander,he conducted the retreat to the corps under colonel Dunbar, in a manner that displayed great military talent. He retired from the service with the rank of colonel; but while engaged in agriculture at his favorite seat of Mount Vernon, he was elected senator in the national council for Frederic county, and afterwards for Fairfax. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, he was selected as the most proper person to take the chief command of the provincial troops. From the moment of taking upon himself this important office, in June 1775, he employed the great powers of his mind to his favorite object, and by his prudence, his valor, and presence of mind, he deserved and obtained the confidence and gratitude of his country, and finally triumphed over all opposition. The record of his services is the history of the whole war. He joined the army at Cambridge in July, 1775. On the evacuation of Boston, in March, 1776, he proceeded to New York. The battle of Long island was fought on the 27th of August, and the battle of White Plains on the 28th of October. On the 25th of December he crossed the Delaware, and soon gained the victories at Trenton and Princeton. The battle of Brandywine was fought on September 11th, 1777; of Germantown, October 4th; of Monmouth, February 28th, 1778. In 1779 and 1780, he continued in the vicinity of New York, and closed the important military operations of the war by the capture of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in 1781. When the independence of his country was established by the treaty of peace, Washington resigned his high office to the congress, and, followed by the applause and the grateful admiration of his fellow-citizens, retired into private life. His high character and services naturally entitled him to the highest gifts his country could bestow, and on the organization of the government he was called upon to be the first president of the states which he had preserved and established. It was a period of great difficulty and danger. The unsubdued spirit of liberty had been roused and kindled by the revolution of France, and many Americans were eager that the freedom and equality which they themselves enjoyed, should be extended to the subjects of the French monarch. Washington anticipated the plans of the factious, and by prudence and firmness subdued insurrection, and silenced discontent, till the parties which the intrigues of Genet, the French envoy, had roused to rebellion, were convinced of the wildness of their measures and of the wisdom of their governor. The president completed, in 1796, the business of his office, by signing a commercial treaty with Great Britain, and then voluntarily resigned his power, at a moment when all hands and all hearts were united, again to confer upon him the sovereignty of the country. Restored to the peaceful retirement of Mount Vernon, he devoted himself to the pursuits of agriculture; and though he accepted the command of the army in 1798, it was merely to unite the affections of his fellow-citizens to the general good, and was one more sacrifice to his high sense of duty. He died after a short illness, on the 14th of December, 1799. He was buried with the honors due to the noble founder of a happy and prosperous republic. History furnishes no parallel to the character of Washington. He stands on an unapproached eminence; distinguished almost beyond humanity for self-command, intrepidity, soundness of judgment, rectitude of purpose, and deep, ever-active piety.

WASHINGTON, BUSHROD, an eminent judge, was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, and was educated at William and Mary’s college.He pursued the study of the law in the office of Mr. Wilson, of Philadelphia, and commenced its practice with great success in his native county. In 1781, he was a member of the house of delegates of Virginia. He afterwards removed to Alexandria, and thence to Richmond, where he published two volumes of the decisions of the supreme court of Virginia. In 1798, he was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, and continued to hold this situation till his death, in November, 1829. He was the favorite nephew of president Washington, and was the devisee of Mount Vernon.

WAYNE, ANTHONY, major-general, was born, in 1745, in Chester county, Pennsylvania. He entered the army as colonel, in 1775, served under Gates at Ticonderoga, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He was engaged in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth; in 1779, captured the fortress at Stony Point, and rendered other important services during the war. In 1787, he was a member of the Pennsylvanian convention which ratified the constitution of the United States. In 1792, he succeeded St. Clair in the command of the western army, and gained a complete victory at the battle of the Miamis, in 1794. He died at Presque isle, in 1796.

WEST, BENJAMIN, an eminent painter, was born, in 1738, at Springfield, near Philadelphia, of Quaker parents. At the age of seven years he began to manifest his pictorial talents, by sketching with pen and ink an infant sleeping in a cradle. From some Indians he obtained red and yellow, and his mother gave him a piece of indigo; and as camel’s hair pencils were wanting, he supplied the want by clipping the fur of the cat. Improving as he advanced in years, he became a portrait painter of considerable repute, and produced some meritorious historical pictures. In his twenty-second year he visited Italy, where he remained for some time. In 1763 he settled in England, where he soon acquired reputation. Among his patrons was archbishop Drummond, of York, by whose means he was introduced to George the Third, who immediately gave him a commission to paint the Death of Regulus, and continued ever afterwards to employ him. In 1791, he was chosen president of the Royal academy. Among his last, and perhaps his best works, are, Death on the Pale Horse, and Christ healing the Sick. He died March 18, 1820.

WHITNEY, ELI, inventor of the cotton-gin, was born at Westborough Massachusetts, in 1765. He received a liberal education, and displayed at an early age great mechanical genius. While a student of law, he invented the cotton-gin, a machine for separating the seed from the cotton, an invention of vast importance to the cotton growing states. It has been worth to them a hundred millions of dollars. In 1798, he commenced the manufacture of firearms, for the United States. In perseverance and inventive power, he has scarcely a parallel among mechanicians. He died in 1825.

WILKINSON, JEMIMA, a bold and artful religious impostor, was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, about the year 1753. Recovering suddenly from an apparent suspension of life, in 1773, she gave out that she had been raised from the dead, and laid claim to supernatural power and authority. Making a few proselytes, she removed with them to the neighborhood of Crooked lake, in New York, where she died in 1819.