GENERAL JONATHAN WILLIAMS.

JONATHAN WILLIAMS, an American citizen and soldier, born in Boston, in 1752, for many years was at the head of the engineer corps of the army. He died in 1815, at the age of sixty-three years, in Philadelphia, where he had resided many years. Among the civil offices which he held was that of member of Congress. His publications comprised,-in 1799, "A Memoir of the Thermometer in Navigation;" in 1801, "Elements of Fortification;" and, in 1808, "Kosciusko's Manoeuvres for Horse-Artillery."

THOMAS WILLING.

BY THOMAS BALCH.

ONE whose integrity, patriotism, and public services have justly commanded the praise and esteem of his countrymen.

Mr. Willing, as appears from a tribute to his memory, understood to be from the pen of Mr. Binney ("Republican Court," 16), was a man who, in all the relations of private life, and in various stations of high public trust, deserved and acquired the devoted affection of his family and friends, and the universal respect of his fellowcitizens.

From 1754 to 1807, he successively held the offices of Secretary to the Congress of Delegates at Albany, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, her representative in the General Assembly, President of the Provincial Congress, Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, President of the first chartered Bank in America, and President of the first Bank of the United States. With these public duties he united the business of an active, enterprising, and successful merchant, in which pursuit, for sixty years, his life was rich in examples of the influence of probity, fidelity, and perseve

rance upon the stability of commercial establishments, and upon that which was his distinguished reward upon earth,—public consideration and esteem.

To such a comprehensive summary of his public and patriotic services, little, except in illustration or proof, can be added, except, perhaps, to mention that Mr. Willing, who had read law in the Temple, although he pursued the profession of a merchant, was a Justice of the Supreme Court, and had occupied a place on that bench for many years before the Revolution, having received his commission in September, 1761. As a judge, he was pure and intelligent; added to which, he possesssed an amenity of manner which rendered him popular with the Bar, and attractive in society.

As Mr. Willing's remaining in the city gave offence to some of the furious Whigs, as one of the political parties is called in a newspaper of the day, the following extracts are, perhaps, proper to be inserted :—

"Mr. Willing and his partner, Mr. Morris, had been, from the beginning of the war, the agents of Congress for supplying their naval and military stores. Their disaffection to their sovereign and their rebellious principles were proved by a number of letters intercepted by your noble brother, and therefore Mr. Galloway called on Mr. Willing in Philadelphia, by your express order, to take the oath of allegiance; and, although he refused, yet he found so much favor in your sight as to obtain a countermand of that order, and a dispensation from taking the oath."*

"At a critical period of the Revolutionary War, when there was great danger of the dissolution of the American Army, for want of provisions to keep it together, a number of patriotic gentlemen in Philadelphia, subscribed to the amount of about two hundred and sixty thousand pounds, payable in gold and silver, for procuring them. The provisions were procured. The two highest subscriptions were those of Robert Morris, for £10,000, and Blair McClenachan, £10,000. Thomas Willing subscribed £5000."†

"Mr. Willing and his associate in commerce, Robert Morris, as well as his connection, Mr. Clymer, were all members of Congress

A Reply to the Observations of Lieutenant-General Sir William Howe. By Joseph Galloway, Esq. Philadelphia. Reprinted by Enoch Story, 1787, pp. 954-956. Littell's Saturday Magazine (1821), vol. i, p. 455.

of 1776. To the great credit and well-known patriotism of the house of Willing & Morris, the country owed its extrication from those trying pecuniary embarrassments so familiar to the readers of our Revolutionary history. The character of Mr. Willing was in many respects not unlike that of Washington, and in the discre tion of his conduct, the fidelity of his professions, and the great influence both public and private which belonged to him, the destined leader (Washington) was certain to find the elements of an affinity by which they would be united in the closest manner." He died January 19th, 1821, aged seventy-nine years and thirty days.

RICHARD WILLING.

RICHARD WILLING, ESQ., was one of the oldest representatives of one of the oldest and most distinguished Philadelphia families. He expired at 2 o'clock, 18th June, 1858, at his residence in Third Street, corner of York Court. Mr. Willing was a son of Thomas Willing, former President of the old United States Bank. He was born at the old family mansion, Peale Hall, on the 25th of December, 1775, so that he was in the eighty-third year of his age.

Mr. Willing, having inherited great wealth, never engaged actively in business, though in his younger days he made several voyages to India and to Europe, as supercargo of vessels belonging to the firm of Willing & Francis. In 1814, he was elected Captain of the State Fencibles, who were ordered to Camp Dupont, in anticipation of a British invasion. But he declined the office, and indeed throughout his whole life he avoided public situations of all kinds. He was married in 1804 to Eliza, daughter of Thomas Lloyd Moore. Four daughters and one son survive him. One of the daughters is married to John Ridgeway, Esq., and resides in Paris. He was connected also with other distinguished families in this country and in Europe. A niece of his was the wife of Lord Ashburton.

* Republican Court, p. 255.

He was always regarded as an intelligent, upright, and honorable man, and a worthy representative of the class of courtly gentlemen of the past generation.

JAMES WILLS, JR.

THE elder James Wills, who owned and occupied his property, as well as Nos. 82 and 86 Chestnut Street, was coachman for Anthony Benezet. Having scraped together ten dollars, he commenced the grocery business in Chestnut Street, near Front, and was one of the early pioneers in business in the western part of Chestnut Street, having moved up to near Third Street, at a period when but little traffic, comparatively, was done above Second Street.

When the elder Wills died he left his fortune, with the exception of some trifling legacies, to his son James. The latter was a bachelor, and died January 22d, 1825. By his will one thousand dollars were bequeathed to each of his tenants, and other legacies were left, among which were the following:

Friends' Asylum for Insane Persons, $5000; Four Monthly Meetings of Friends' Society, $2500; Philadelphia Society for Support of Charity Schools, $1000; Magdalen Society, $5000; to the Orphan Society, the house in which he resided, No. 84 Chestnut Street; to the City Dispensary and Dispensaries of Southwark and Northern Liberties, the two dwelling-houses, 82 and 86 Chestnut Street.

His principal bequest was embraced in the following item, which we copy from the will:

"All the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, real, personal, and mixed, both that which I now hold, and all that I may hereafter acquire, I give and bequeath to the Mayor and Corporation of the City of Philadelphia for the time being, and to their successors in office forever, in trust for the purchase of a sufficient plot of ground in the city of Philadelphia, or in the neighborhood thereof, and thereon to erect or cause to be erected suitable buildings and accommodations for an hospital or an asylum, to be denominated The Wills Hospital for the Relief of the Indigent Blind

and Lame.' The funds thus appropriated are to be put out on good mortgage security, or city stock, and after expending the necessary sum for the lot and improvements heretofore mentioned, the income of the remainder is to be exclusively applied to the comfort and accommodation of as many of the indigent blind and lame as the income will admit of, after defraying the necessary expenses incident to such an establishment. And to the aforesaid Mayor and Corporation of the said City and their successors in office is intrusted the duty of appointing Trustees and Managers, and all other matters and things in any wise appertaining to the due fulfilment of the aforesaid bequest, the right of regulating the establishment, and insuring the right application of the funds to the purposes heretofore stated, and for the sole use and benefit of the indigent blind and lame, giving a preference to those persons resident in Philadelphia and its neighborhood."

The heirs-at-law, disappointed in not getting the coveted fortune of the deceased Mr. Wills, disputed the validity of his will, but in 1831 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania put an extinguisher upon their amiable desires by deciding that the will was a good and a legal one, and that it should stand. The "residue" of the estate amounted to over $122,000 at the time the Hospital was ready to go into operation. The building was erected on a lot on Race Street opposite Logan Square, and extending from Eighteenth to Nineteenth Streets, and from Race to Cherry Streets. It was purchased for $20,000, and the corner-stone was laid on the 2d of April, 1832. The following year it was ready to go into operation, and it has since accomplished much good to the class of unfortunates who were the objects of the charity of the benevolent tes

tator.

JAMES WILSON.

PERHAPS few of those now living can recollect James Wilson in the splendor of his talents and the fulness of his practice. Classically educated, and in the outset employed as a tutor in a public seminary, his subsequent success, in a narrow circle of country