Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/532

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498
WICKES
WICKLIFFE

cay, where he captured several other English prizes. The British government remonstrated with France, then at peace with England, which necessitated mock sales of the prizes at sea. The French gov- ernment was thereafter obliged to order the Ameri- can cruisers to leave France. Wickes took com- mand of the American squadron, consisting of the brig " Lexington," which had arrived from the United States, and the " Dolphin." Wickes cap- tured fourteen vessels in five days in the Bay of Biscay and in the English channel, all of which were sent to France and sold in June, 1777. Wickes was afterward chased by a British ship of the line, and escaped by throwing his guns overboard. He continued his cruise toward this country in the " Reprisal " alone, as the little squadron had sepa- rated, and was lost in a storm on the banks of New- foundland in 1778. All the crew of the " Reprisal " were lost with the ship except the cook.


WICKES, Stephen, physician, b. in Jamaica, Long Island, N. Y., 17 March, 1813. He is a de- scendant of Thomas Wickes, of the Massachusetts colony of 1635. He was graduated at Union col- lege in 1831. In 1832 he entered the Rensselaer polytechnic institute, Troy, N. Y., where he studied chemistry and natural science one year, and after- ward he was graduated in medicine at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania in 1834. He practised one year in New York, fifteen in Troy, N. Y., and since 1852 has been in Orange, N. J. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Princeton in 1868, and is connected with medical and other learned societies, and is secretary of the New Jersey his- torical society. In February, 1886, he withdrew from the active labor of his profession, and has since devoted himself to literary work. He edited the " Transactions " of the Medical society of New Jersey from 1860 till 1882, also the old transac- tions of the same from 1766 till 1858, and has published "Topography of Orange" (Newark. 1859); " Water-Cure in Orange " (1861) ; " Memoirs of Thomas W. Blatchford, M. D., of Troy " (1866) ; " Memorial Volume, First Presbyterian Church, Orange, N. J." (1870) ; " Living and Dying, their Physics and Psychics " (1874) ; " History of Medi- cine in New Jersey, and of its Medical Men to A. D. 1800" (1879); "Sepulture, its History, Methods, and Requisites " (1884) ; and " History of the New- ark Mountains " (1888). — His brother, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Jamaica, N. Y., 31 Oct., 1814 ; d. in Orange, N. J., 10 Nov., 1870, was graduated at Yale in 1834, studied theology at Princeton and at New Haven theological seminary, and was or- dained as an evangelist in 1839. He became pas- tor of the 1st Congregational church of Marietta, Ohio, in July, 1840, and after a successful pastor- ate of twenty-nine years resigned and was called to the Presbyterian church of Jamestown, N. Y., where he remained only about a year, owing to the failure of his health. He had been active in the formation of the Marietta Congregational con- ference and of the Ohio state conference, and was chosen moderator of the latter in 1853, and again in 1860. In 1849 he was elected a trustee of Mari- etta college, and he received the degree of D. D. from Wabash college in 1860. He published " Ex- position of the Apocalypse" (New York, 1851); " The Son of Man " (Boston, 1868) ; " The House- hold " (1868) ; and " Economy of the Ages " (1869).


WICKHAM, John, lawyer, b. in Southold, Long Island, N. Y., 6 June, 1763 ; d. in Richmond, Va., 17 Jan., 1839. He was intended for the army, but after studying at the military academy of Arras, France, returned to this country, settled in Williamsburg, Va., and in 1785 began to practise law. He removed to Richmond in 1790, and for many years occupied a high place at the bar of that city, engag- ing, among other important cases, in the trial of Aaron Burr for treason against the U. S. govern- ment, in which he was counsel for the defend- ant. Of his and his associate coun- sel's efforts in this celebrated trial, the chief justice said : " The sub- ject has been ar- gued in a manner worthy of its im- portance. A de- gree of eloquence seldom displayed on any occasion

has embellished

solidity of argument and depth of research." Mr. Wickham continued in active practice until his death, and, although he declined political office, it is said he could have obtained any post in the gift of the people. John Randolph of Roanoke refers to him in his will as " My best of friends, without making any profession of friendship for me, and the wisest and best man I ever knew." Mr. Wickham was noted for his fine presence and courtly man- ners, which obtained for him the encomium of the poet Moore that " he was the only gentleman he had found in America, and would have graced any court in Europe." — His grandson, Williams Carter, soldier, b. in Richmond, Va., 21 Sept.. 1820; d. there, 23 July, 1888, was educated at the University of Virginia, adopted the profession of law, served in the state senate, and was an active member of the " old-line " Whig party. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the Confederate army as captain, and became colonel of the 4th Virginia regiment, rising to the rank of brigadier-general. He served in most of the important battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, and was wounded three times, severely at Williamsburg. In 1864 he was a member of the Confederate congress. After the war he joined the Republican party, attaching himself to the conservative branch of that body. He was an admirer and advocate of Gen. Grant, supported him for the presidency, and exerted a pacific influence in the reconstruction of the state. From the first he opposed the adjustment of the state debt as proposed by the followers of William Mahone, and engaged in many controversies with that senator. He was chosen to the state senate in 1882-'3, and in the next election he was returned without opposition. At the time of his death he was a vice-president, general manager, and receiver of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad.


WICKLIFFE, Charles A., politician, b. in Bardstown, Ky., 8 June, 1788 ; d. in Howard county, Md., 31 Oct., 1869. He was educated at the Bardstown grammar-school, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1809, and began practice in Bardstown. He soon achieved distinction as a lawyer. He was aide to Gen. Samuel Caldwell at the battle of the Thames, 5 Oct., 1813, was a member of the state house of representatives in 1814-'23, and sat in congress from Kentucky in 1823-'33, having been chosen as a Henry Clay Democrats