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Wilstach, John Augustine

lawyer, linguist, author, poet, was born July 14, 1824, in Washington, D. C. After receiving his education he studied law and began the practice of that profession in Indiana in 1850. For ten years he was master in chancery; in 1867 was sent to Paris as one of the United States commissioners to the Paris Universal exposition; and during 1867-72 he was commissioner of emigration for the state of Indiana. His orations and speeches have frequently appeared in pamphlet form, and his numerous published works have been well received. He is the author of metrical translations of Virgil and Dante; Dante, the Danteans, and Things Dantean, a prose work; The Battle Forest, an epic poem; and The Angel and the King, and Other Poems.

He has gradually withdrawn from the practice of law, and devotes his time to literary work and the management of his private estate at Lafayette, Ind.