WILLSON, Forceythe, poet, born in Little Genesee, Alleghany County, New York, 10 April, 1837; died in Alfred, New York, 2 February, 1867. He was christened Byron Forceythe, but dropped the first name in early manhood, his father, Hiram Willson, a native of Vermont, had been a teacher, was afterward postmaster at Little Genesee, and was engaged in the lumber business there. In 1846 he placed his family and his household goods on a raft, and descended the Alleghany and Ohio rivers. They lived for six years at Covington, Kentucky, where Mr. Willson was the chief founder of the common-school system. Subsequently they removed to New Albany, Indiana, where he died in 1859, leaving a comfortable fortune to his four children. Forceythe, the eldest, studied at Antioch and at Harvard, but failing health prevented him from finishing the course. He became an editorial writer for the Louisville "Journal," vigorously sustaining the National cause during the civil war, and his earliest poems also appeared in that paper. In 1864-'6 he lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to superintend the education of a younger brother. He was a firm believer in spiritualism. Ills best-known poem is "The Old Sergeant," originally written as a carrier's address for the Louisville "Journal," 1 January, 1863, which tells a literally true story, even the names being genuine. Ha published a small volume, containing all of his poems that he cared to preserve (Boston, 1866).--His wife, Elizabeth Conwell, born in New Albany, Indiana, 26 June, 1842; died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 13 October, 1864, married him in 1863. Her maiden name was Smith. A volume of her poems was printed privately in 1865. See an article by John James Piatt in the "Atlantic Monthly" for March, 1875.