OHIO HISTORY CONFERENCE:
PROCEEDINGS 275
mind gave way completely, Wolfley begged
his superiors to grant him leave
and return him to Ohio. Two days later,
on May 7, 1844, the surgeon was
admitted to the sick list as mentally
deranged.24 When the Decatur put in
at Porto Praya, Wolfley's commander
determined to leave him in the hands
of the United States Agent for the Cape
Verde Islands.
The town of Porto Praya rests on a
table-land, high above the harbor
of St. Jago Island. At the eastern and
western limits of the village, the
ground falls off sharply into deep
ravines. Near the town, and looking down
upon the ocean, stands a fort.25
Wolfley was lodged in the guard-house of
this fort, and keepers were
detailed to watch over him. Early on the
morning of July 21, 1844, he
succeeded in escaping from his prison
and his guards.26 After making his
escape, Wolfley rushed to the edge of a
cliff near the guard-house and hurled
his body into space. His life was
crushed out on the rocks, eighty feet
below.
He was buried with full honors in the
fort at Porto Praya.27 Many
friends of his in the navy joined with
Captain Abbot in regretting the death
of this "excellent and worthy
surgeon."28
Public Session of the Committee on
Archives and Medical
History, 1:00 P. M., April 5, Ohio
State Museum Library,
Jonathan Forman, M. D., Presiding
The second annual meeting of the
Committee on Archives and
Medical History of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society was called to order by Dr.
Jonathan Forman, its chairman,
at 1:00 P. M. on April 5, 1940, in the Library
of the Museum. The
program was concerned with "Ohio
Medical History of the Period,
1835-1858," and was made up of
eight papers which will be pub-
lished in full in the October, 1940, issue of the
QUARTERLY.
General Session, 10:00 A. M., April
6, Ohio State Museum
Frank A. Livingston, Presiding
The final session of the Ohio History
Conference was the
Saturday morning one sponsored by the
Columbus Genealogical
Society and the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society.
24 U. S. Navy Department to Howard D.
Kramer, January 6, 1938.
25 U. S. Hydrographic Office, East
Atlantic Pilot, H. O., no. 134 (Washington,
1918), 331.
26 U. S. Navy Department to Howard D.
Kramer, January 6, 1938.
27 U. S. Senate, Documents, 28 Cong., 2 Sess.,
1844-1845, IX Doc. 150, p. 129.
28 Ibid., 146.