Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/624

place in congress, which was then sitting at York, Pa. He was not elected to the next congress. In the summer of 1779, when the British ravaged the coast of Connecticut, he took the field at the head of a division of militia. In 1780 he was again elected a representative in congress, and continued a member till 1784, although he did not regularly attend the sessions. In 1785 he was appointed one of the commissioners of Indian affairs for the northern department who negotiated a treaty of peace with the Six Nations. He was elected lieutenant-governor of Connecticut in 1786, and re- elected till 1796, when he was chosen governor, which office he held at the time of his death. — Oliver's son, Oliver, secretary of the treasury, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 11 Jan., 1760; d. in New York city, 1 June, 1833, was graduated at Yale in 1778, having in the previous year taken part as a militiaman in encounters with the British who attempted to capture the Continental stores at Danbury. He studied law at Litchfield, at the same time accompanying his father to the coast in 1779 as a volunteer aid, and discharging later the duties of quartermaster at Litchfield. He was admitted to the bar in January, 1781, removed to Hartford, became a clerk in the financial department of the state government, and in 1782 was appointed a member of the committee of the pay-table. In May, 1784, he was commissioned, with Oliver Ellsworth, to adjust the claims of Connecticut against the U. S. government. He was appointed comptroller of public accounts when that office was created in 1788. When the National government was organized under the new constitution, in September, 1789, he received the appointment of auditor of the treasury. He became comptroller of the treasury in the spring of 1791, retaining that office in preference to the presidency of the United States bank, which he was offered on its or in the on in summer of that

year. On 2 Feb.,

he succeeded Alexander Hamilton as secre tary of the treasury. He offered his resignation on the accession of John Adams to the presidency, but was continued in office till 8 Nov., 1800, when he peremptorily resigned. He had been subjected to gross slanders, his political opponents accusing the Federalist officials of burning the treasury build- ings in order to conceal peculations. He therefore called for an investigation, and the hostile com- mittee of the house of representatives kept alive the malicious insinuation by reporting that they had obtained no evidence regarding the fire in the treasury department that enabled them to form a " conjecture satisfactory." President Adams forth- with nominated Mr. Wolcott judge of the U. S. circuit court for the 2d district, embracing the states of Connecticut, Vermont, and New York, and the senate shielded his reputation by unanimously confirming the nomination. In 1802 he lost his judgeship by the repeal of the judiciary act under which he had been appointed. He then engaged in mercantile business in New York city, and in 1803 was elected president of the Merchants' bank, which, however, soon afterward was destroyed by the operation of the law known as the "restraining act." When the charter of the first United States bank expired, Wolcott employed his capital in founding the Bank of North America, and was chosen its first president, holding the office from 1812 till 1814, when he retired, in consequence of political differences between himself and the directors. He was the Democratic candi- date for governor of Connecticut in 1815, and was defeated, but in 1817 he was elected, and in the same year was a member of the convention that framed the new state constitution, and was chosen to preside over that body. He was annually re- elected to the governorship for ten years. Subse- quently he resumed his residence in New York city.

WOLF, George, governor of Pennsylvania, b. in Allen township, Northampton co., Pa., 12 Aug., 1777; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 March, 1840. He was the son of a German emigrant, was educated at a classical school, taught for some time, and then studied law. Attaching himself to the Republican party at the beginning of the administration of Thomas Jefferson, he was appointed postmaster at Easton, and afterward clerk of the Northampton county orphans' court, remaining in that post till 1809. In 1814 he was elected to the state house of representatives. He was elected to congress without opposition, taking his seat on 9 Dec., 1823, and was returned at the two succeeding elections, taking the protectionist side in the debates on the tariff, and serving till 3 March, 1829. In that year he was elected governor. After inducing the legislature to prosecute the construction of canals and impose new taxes for the liquidation of debts that had already been incurred on account of internal improvements, he urged the establishment of a general system of common schools, and by strenuous efforts accomplished this reform where former governors had failed. He was once re-elected, serving six years as governor, and was then defeated as a candidate for a third term, owing to the defection of a part of the Democrats who voted for Henry A. Muhlenberg. In the following year President Jackson appointed him first comptroller of the treasury. He entered on the functions of this office on 18 June, 1836. Retiring on 23 Feb., 1838, he was in the same year appointed collector of the port of Philadelphia, and held that office till he died. He was recognized as the “father of the public-school system” by the erection of a memorial gateway at Easton, which was unveiled on 29 June, 1888.

WOLF, Simon, lawyer, b. in Hinzweiler, Bavaria, 28 Oct., 1836. He emigrated to the United States at an early age, and for several years followed business pursuits, but began to read law, and was graduated at the Cleveland law-school in 1861. In 1862 he went to Washington, and in 1869 he was appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia, holding that office until May, 1878. In July, 1881, he received the post of consul-general in Egypt, which he resigned in May, 1882. He has been active in Jewish charitable and educational movements, and is a frequent lecturer on social, literary, and political topics.

WOLFE, James, British soldier, b. in Westerham, Kent, England, 2 Jan., 1727 ; d. near Quebec, Canada, 13 Sept., 1759. He was a son of Lieut.-Col. Edward Wolfe, an officer distinguished for skill and bravery in Marlborough's campaigns. James was educated at Greenwich. His military life began early, and with such unmistakable evi-