The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Wheeler, William Adolphus

WHEELER, William Adolphus, American lexicographer: h. Leicester, Mass., 14 Nov. 1833; d. Roxbury, Mass., 28 Oct. 1874. He was graduated from Bowdoin in 1853, was engaged in teaching for several years, and subsequently assisted Joseph E. Worcester (q.v.) in the preparation of his ‘Dictionary’ (1856-59). He was afterward occupied with the revised edition of Webster's ‘Dictionary’ (1864) for which he compiled ‘Explanatory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of the Names of Noted Fictitious Persons and Places, including Familiar Pseudonyms, Surnames, etc.,’ which was issued separately in 1863. In 1867 he was appointed assistant superintendent of the Boston Public Library. He left unfinished an encyclopedia of Shakespearean literature and an index to anonymous literature entitled ‘Who Wrote It?’ The latter, completed by C. G. Wheeler, was published in 1881. He edited Hole's ‘Brief Biographical Dictionary’ (1866); a ‘Dickens Dictionary’ (1873); and also ‘Familiar Allusions’ (1882).