Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/514

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482
WHITFIELD
WHITING

suggestion, thirty-eight decrees, regulating the con- duct of the Roman Catholic clergy of the United States, the tenure of church property, and other important interests, were adopted. In 1834 he built St. James's church, Balti- more, entirely from his private means. He assist- ed in procuring the incorporation of St. Mary's col- lege, Emmits- burg, founded the Mary Marthian society for the re- lief of the poor, as well as other charitable insti- tutions, finished the Baltimore ca- thedral, the tower of which he de- signed, and erect-

ed an episcopal

mansion. In 1833 he convened the second provin- cial council at Baltimore. In this council the mode of episcopal election was fixed, boundaries of dio- ceses were arranged, and steps were taken for the evangelization of the Indians and negroes of Liberia.


WHITFIELD, Robert Parr, palaeontologist, b. in New Hartford, N. Y., 27 May, 1828. He is of English parentage, and was educated at home and at public schools. In 1835 he went with his family to England, but he returned in 1841, learned the trade of making spindles, and had charge of a factory of telegraphic and philosophic instruments in Utica, N. Y. In 1856 he was appointed assist- ant to James Hall, state geologist of New York, and in 1870 he became first assistant curator, with charge of the geology and palaeontology in the New York state museum in Albany, and much of the work on the palaeontology of the state natural history and regent's report of the New York state cabinet was done by him. In 1872 he began teach- ing geology in Rensselaer polytechnic institute at Troy, and in 1875 he was given the professorship of that branch, which he held until 1878. In June. 1877, he was appointed curator of the geological department of the American museum of natural history in New York city, which office he still fills. Wesleyan university conferred on him the degree of A. M. in 1882, and he has been since 1874 a fellow of the American association for the advancement of science. Prof. Whitfield has de- scribed a large number of new fossils, and has been very successfid in studying the internal struct- ure of fossil brachiopoda. many of which are pub- lished in the New York state palaeontology. He has also reported on specimens gathered by the exploration under Clarence King, the palaeontology of the Black Hills, and fossils from the geological surveys of Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, and other states, and is now engaged on the palaeontology of New Jersey. The value of his work is greatly en- hanced by the drawings of fossils that he has made. His publications, which include nearly thirty me- moirs, besides frequent papers, have appeared in reports of the state surveys with which he has been connected, and in the " Bulletins of the American Museum of Natural History," of which six numbers under his editorship have been issued since 1881.


WHITING, Daniel Powers, soldier, b. in Troy, N. Y., 31 July, 1808. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1832, and assigned to the 7th infantry, with which he served in various garrisons, becoming 1st lieutenant, 8 June, 1836, and captain, 18 April, 1845. During the Mexican war he was engaged at Fort Brown, Monterey, Vera Cruz, and Cerro Gordo, where he was brevetted major. After serving against the Seminoles, on the frontier, and in the Utah expedition in 1859, he attained full rank on 20 Dec, 1860. He was in command of Fort Garland, Col., in 1861-'2, became lieuten- ant-colonel, 15 Feb., 1862, served on a board of examination at Annapolis, Md., in 1862-'3, and on 4 Nov., 1863, was retired " for disability, result- ing from long and faithful service, and from sick- ness and exposure in the line of duty." He has published " The Army Portfolio," a series of litho- graphed views illustrating the Mexican war (Washington, 1849). It was intended to continue the series, but Col. Whiting's sketches were lost on a steamboat that sank in the Mississippi river. WHITING, George Elbridge, musician, b. in Holliston, Mass., 14 Sept., 1842. He went to Hart- ford, Conn., at the age of fifteen, and there founded the Beethoven society. In 1862 he settled in Bos- ton, and later in New York, where he studied with George W. Morgan. Afterward he went to Liver- pool, and became the pupil of William T. Best, and he subsequently studied also in Berlin under Robert Radecke and others. After filling various engagements in Albany and Boston, he became, in 1874, organist of the Music hall in the latter city, and he was also for a time head of the organ de- partment in the New England conservatory of music. In 1878 he became organist of the Music hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, and head of the organ de- partment in the College of music, but after five years he returned to his old post in the New Eng- land conservatory. His compositions include a mass in C minor (1872) ; a mass in F minor (1874) ; " Dream Pictures " (1874) ; " The Tale of the Vi- king" (1878): "Leonora" (1880), three cantatas; some pieces for orchestra ; and several songs. He has also composed music for the organ, and has pub- lished " The Organist " (Boston, 1870), and " The First Six Months on the Organ " (Boston, 1871).


WHITING, Henry, soldier, b. in Lancaster, Mass., about 1790; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 16 Sept., 1851. His father, John (1759-1810), fought in the Revolution, and at his death was colonel of the 5th infantry. The son became a clerk in the dry-goods store of Amos Lawrence in Boston, but on 20 Oct., 1808, entered the U. S. army as a cornet of light dragoons. He rose to be 2d lieutenant in 1809 and 1st lieutenant in 1811, became aide to Gen. John P. Boyd, and served with credit in the capture of Fort George, Upper Canada, 27 May, 1813. He was afterward aide to Gen. Alexander Macomb in 1815, promoted captain in 1817, and in 1821 transferred to the 1st artillery. After 1835 he served in the quartermaster's department, and on 6 July, 1846, he joined the army of Gen. Zachary Taylor as chief quartermaster. He was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. army, on 23 Feb., 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Buena Vista. He was elected a regent of the University of Michigan in 1848. Gen. Whiting was the author of “Ontway, the Son of the Forest: a Poem” (New York, 1822); “Sannillac: a Poem,” with notes by Lewis Cass and Henry R. Schoolcraft (Boston, 1831); “The Age of Steam”; and “Life of Zebulon M. Pike” in Sparks's “American Biography.” He was co-author of “Historical and Scientific Sketches of Michigan” (Detroit, 1834), and edited George Washington's “Revolutionary Orders issued during the Years 1778, 1780, 1781 and 1782; selected from the MSS.