Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 105

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842

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Much time has been given to clinical work and experimental research, especially in the college dispensary and city hospital, so much so that little attempt has been made to con- tribute to medical literature.

Interest in other things aside from medi- cine has engrossed his attention. He has found time to devote a little leisure to horti- culture and has kept up a liking for fancy poultry. At the present time he is president of the Mid-continental Poultry Association, an organization that not only includes breed- ers in the state of Missouri, but of the four adjacent states.

Dr. Davis was married Sept. 17, 1886, to Alice M., daughter of John K. Kiebler. They have two children : a son and a daughter.

DAVIS, PARK, of Sioux Falls, S. 1)., son of Elijah and Miriam (Park) Davis, was born in Athens, Sept. 24, 1837.

He spent his boyhood days on the farm and attending the district school. He fitted for college at Leland Seminary, Townshend, entering Middlebury in 1858, graduating in due course in 1862. He studied law with Butler and Wheeler at Jamaica, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Windham county at the September term in 1864. He commenced the practice of his profession Feb. 3, 1865, at St. Albans, with Dana R. Bailey under the firm name of Bailey & Davis. In the fall of 1879, with Hiram F. Stevens (who was then his law partner) he went to St. Paul, Minn., where, under the firm name of Davis & Stevens, he continued to practice his pro- fession until Sept. 1, 1881, when he removed to Albany, N. Y., where he engaged in the wholesale provision business with his broth- er-in-law, A. E. Gray (firm name Gray & Davis) where he remained five years. Pre- ferring to pursue his profession, he went to Sioux Falls, S. D., and resumed the practice of law with his first partner, Dana R. Bailey, where he is engaged in a large and success- ful practice.

He cast his first vote at a presidential election for Stephen A. Douglas. Has since, without exception, voted the Republi- can ticket. He represented St. Albans in the Vermont Legislature in 1874.

In college Mr. Davis was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity. He was made a Mason in Blazing Star Lodge, No. 23, Townshend, Feb. 17, 1859; took chapter degrees in Fort Dummer Royal Arch Chapter, No. 12, Brattleboro, March 5, 1863 ; council degrees in Columbus Council, No. 3, St. Albans, 1865 ; commandery degrees in LaFayette Commandery, No. 3, in 1868. He changed his affiliation from the Chapter and Com- mandery at St. Albans, to those bodies in Sioux Falls, still retaining his lodge mem- bership in Vermont.

He held many official positions in the Masonic fraternity, the most important of which was that of grand master of the Masons of Vermont for the years 1872, '73

DEXTER.

and '71, and grand high priest of the Royal Arch Masons of South Dakota in the years 1 800 '01.

Hle was married at Townshend, Oct. 27, 1863, to Delia S., daughter of Manson and Sabuna ( Pool) Gray. Then children are : Henry Park, and May Lonise.

DAVIS THOMAS T., was born in Mid dlebury, August 22, 1810; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1831 ; stnd ied law at Syracuse, and was admitted to the bar in 1833; in 1862 he was elected a representative from New York to the Thirty- eighth Congress, and re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress.

DELANO, COLUMBUS, was born in Shoreham in 1800 ; removed to Mount Ver- non, Ohio, in 1817; was admitted to the bar in 1831. In 1844 he was elected a representative from Ohio to the Twenty- ninth Congress. In 1847 he was a candidate for Governor, but lacked two votes of a nomination. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Chicago convention. In 1861 was ap- pointed commissary general of Ohio, and filled the office until the General Govern- ment assumed the subsistence of all troops. In 1862 he was candidate for United States senator, but again lacked two votes of nomination. In 1863 he was elected to the House of Representatives of Ohio, and was a prominent member of that body. In 1864 he was a member of the Baltimore conven- tion, and chairman of the Ohio delegation, zealously supporting President Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress.

DERBY, PHILANDER, of Gardner, Mass., son of Levi and Sally (Stratton) Derby, was born June 18, 1816, in Somerset.

His career is one which should encourage all. It is a lesson of industry, sobriety and perseverance. Remaining on the home farm until his majority, several years were spent in Massachusetts and at Jamaica, dur- ing which time he learned the business of chair making, when opportunity offered to engage in the business for himself which he quickly embraced. The trying period from 1857 to 1861 found him a young manufact- urer in the town of Gardner, Mass., with the burden of heavy responsibilities resting upon him. Nerving himself to meet the crisis in a manly way, he succeeded in going through the ordeal without serious harm, meeting his obligations, maintaining his credit and his honor unimpeached and firm- ly established before the world. From that time to the present he has gone on in a career of exceptional prosperity, due chiefly to himself rather than to fortunate circum-

stances, his untiring energy and persever ance.

Mr. Derby though closely confined to the building up and development of his business interests has not been disposed to ignore his relations to the public nor the welfare of the community. He has been ready and happy to do his full share in supporting the institu- tions of society, to contribute to benevolent and charitable objects, and to help in enter- prises which he deemed conducive to the good order and enduring welfare of the community.

PHILANDER DERBY.

Declining invitations to public office, he has however consented to act as director of the national bank and is trustee of the sav- ings bank in his own town. A man of prin- ciple, he shares the confidence and regard of his fellow-citizens ; a friend of temper- ance, he commends the cause by precept and example.

A Republican in politics, he is true to his convictions. An orthodox Congregational- ist in religion, he is tolerant of all faiths and seeks to honor his Christian profession by a Christian life.

Mr. Derby was married, Feb. 27, 1839, at Petersham, to Viola Dunn, daughter of John and Abigail Dunn. Of this union were three children : Mary Augusta, John Baxter (deceased, July 11, 1842), Ella Viola, and Arthur Philander.

DEXTER, DANIEL GILBERT, of San Francisco, Cal., son of David and 'Chloe

DEXTER.

(Hazeltine) Dexter, was born in Dover, March 29, 1833.

He was educated in the common schools of his native town, the Dover high school, and Brattleboro Academy. When nearly fitted to enter college business pursuits at- tracted his attention. He was always a student, and every leisure hour from business was employed among books, and leading periodicals of the day. At an early age he became a contributor to various leading newspapers and magazines, which has em- ployed many happy hours through life.

While in his teens he was a clerk in a store in his native town, and before reaching his majority was a partner in the firm under the name of Perry & Dexter. A few years later he removed to Wilmington, and was con

DANIEL GILBERT DEXTER.

nected with the mercantile house of E. & O. J. Gorham, and afterwards became sole owner of the establishment. For a time he con- ducted a mercantile house in Jamaica, but returning to Wilmington he continued busi- ness under the firm name of Walker & Dex- ter. In 1866 he closed a most successful business career in his native state and re- moved to Boston, Mass., where he engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe business. He was the financial manager of Mellendy, Dex- ter & Co. He retired from mercantile pur- suits in 1871 with large property interests, having accumulated a fair fortune. The great Boston fire fell heavily upon him. The panic of 1873 followed, and seriously im-

DEXTER.

paired his fortune, leaving him almost penniless.

In leisure hours he has devoted much time to literary pursuits, his mind and pen being always busy. He appears in Miss Hemmenway's " Poets and Poetry of Ver- mont " and has been a contributor to the leading magazines and periodicals of the day. In 1878 through the urgent solicitations of leading literary and business friends he founded the Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge, Mass., a successful journal from its initial number. The list of contributors was un- surpassed. This enterprise stamped the editor and publisher with ability of the first order. In 1885 Mr. Dexter sold the Tribune on account of failing health and a few months after went to California. The genial climate of the Golden State restored him to health and two years later ( 1887) he re- moved his family to Los Angeles with the intention of making California his home.

He has been connected with many lead- ing enterprises in the state and won the esteem of those with whom he has been associated. He has written much for the press since his residence in California. In 1891 he removed from Los Angeles to San Francisco, taking charge of the business of the Massachusetts Benefit (Life) Associa- tion, Boston, Mass., as general agent for the state.

He is connected with the leading societies and clubs, secret and otherwise ; is a mem- ber of the First Congregational Church, San Francisco, and a member of the board of deacons ; a mason and a K. of P.

In politics he is a Republican, having cast his vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856. He has never been an aspirant for public office although an active participant in political affairs. He was a member of the aldermanic board in Cambridge, Mass., for two years, dating from 1869. He was a police com- missioner of Los Angeles for several years, which office he held until his removal to San Francisco.

At the time of the civil war Mr. Dexter was engaged in active mercantile business. He was a generous contributor in many ways to help put down the great rebellion. He largely aided in raising two companies of Vermonters for the army.

Mr. Dexter was married Feb. 6, 1856, to Ellen, daughter of Asa and Sophia (Lyon) Simonds, of Peru, Vt. From this marriage two children have been born : Florence Bell (wife of Prof. Charles H. Wiswell, of Boston, Mass.), and David Hazeltine.

He is a man of untiring energy-a genial and warm-hearted friend and companion. Has a warm hand of welcome to every worthy person and his charity is unbounded. His home is always open to friends of yore and

New Englanders enjoy his hospitality with- ont sunt,

DI: ATER, SOLOMON KING, of Lowell, Mass., son of Parker and Betsey ( King) Hester, was born in Topsham, May 23, 1839, on the old homestead which, with the then adjoining farms, now forms the summer residence of his family,

Ilis education was obtained in the district schools of West Topsham. For the past quarter century business men of Lowell, Mass,, have numbered Mr. Dexter among their shrewdest and most upright produce merchants, where, at 360 Middlesex street,

SOLOMON KING DEXTER.

he early developed a large and successful business of wide extent. A spendid monu- ment to Mr. Dexter's success is the large and elegant building erected by him, for the ise of his business, in 1885. It is a four- story brick building, trimmed with granite stone and terra cotta, measuring forty by one hundred feet, and equipped with every facility for handling his great commission business.

Political honors have come unsought to Mr. Dexter, as a member of the Lowell city council for two terms, and two years repre- sentative in the Massachusetts Legislature, which office he filled with honor to himself, reflecting the worthy confidence reposed by his fellow-citizens. He is also a director of the Traders' National Bank and of the Brad- bury & Stone Electric Storage Battery Co., both of Lowell.

DI KSON.

Mr. Dexter was married at Montpelier, Feb. 24, 1863, to Mary Sophia MeCrillis, of Waits River, There are four children in the family : Nellie May (now the wife of Fred 1 .. Batchelder), born at Waits River, and three others born at Lowell, viz., Jennie V., now deceased, Daisy B., and Royal K.

Mr. Dexter has a fine residence at 343 Wilder street, Lowell, where a welcome hand is always extended to his friends.

DICKSON, JAMES MILLIGAN, of Provi- dence, R. L., was born at Ryegate, Feb. 6, 1831. Ilis parents were from Scotland. His father, Robert Dickson, son of an carly settler, was a successful farmer and a public-spirited citizen, for years town trustee, and also for many years an elder in the Reformed Pres- byterian Church of Ryegate. His mother, who came from a suburb of the city of Glas- gow, was a woman of great refinement and unusually versed in the Scriptures.

James was the sixth of a family of ten children, who have all, we believe, proved worthy of their parentage. His rudimentary education was in the public school, but at fourteen he was sent to l'eacham Academy. Here he was prepared for Dartmouth Col-

JAMES MILLIGAN DICKSON

lege, but instead of at once entering he went West, where he spent some time in study and travel, and taught one term in a private school at Cincinnati. Returning to Dart- mouth he entered an advanced class on ex- amination, and was graduated in 1853.

DILLINGHAM.

DICKSON.

After his graduation at Dartmouth he was offered a Greek professorship in a Western college, but choosing another course he went to New York City, where after teaching one year he entered Union Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1857. He was ordained to the gospel ministry that same year, and has since been constantly engaged in active service, resigning one position only when he felt he was called to another. He has been pastor of churches in Brooklyn, N. Y., Newark, N. J., Montgomery, N. Y., and New York City, and is now pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Provi- dence, R. I.

Shortly after going to New York, in 1883, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

From an editorial sketch of Dr. Dickson in the Treasury (New York) of May, 1889, we quote the following: "To his church here-the Thirty-fourth Street Reformed Church, New York City-he was called on the ground of his ability as a preacher and his previous success in the ministry, and for nearly six years he held the church in its down-town west side location, and left it stronger than he found it, notwithstanding the up-town tendency of population and the lack of any local constituency for a reformed church. To his credit be it said that his most devoted friends are among the people to whom he has ministered. When he came to New York our attention was called to him as a remarkable preacher, and as we have once and again listened to him we have ap- proved the judgment expressed." The fol- lowing is taken from a paper read before the council which installed him at Providence in 1889, which was afterward printed : "I entered the ministry because I could not do otherwise. I was consecrated to the work before I was born by a pious mother who kept her hand on my early life in view of re- sults. I planned lots of other courses, and yet, years after she had gone to her reward, which occurred while I was yet in college, I marched as straight into the service as though there had been no possible alter- native, and I have been happy in it."

Dr. Dickson has written considerably for the press. Some sermons have appeared in pamphlet form, and in 1880 he prepared the Goodwill Memorial, a history of the original Presbyterian church, at Montgom- ery, N. Y., which was substantially the early history of the town.

Dr. Dickson has been twice married, first to Miss Agnes Annot Morrison, daughter of John and Mary Nelson of Ryegate, to whom one son was born, Nelson James ; and second to Miss Helen Alzina, daughter of William and Alzina (Holley) West of Dorset, to whom three children were born: William

West (deceased), Clarence Haines and Margarella May.

DILLINGHAM, FRANK, of San Fran- cisco, Cal., youngest son of Paul Dillingham, late Governor of Vermont, and Julia (Car- penter) Dillingham, was born in Waterbury, Dec. 9, 1849.

He was educated in the Waterbury gram- mar school, Montpelier high school and Milwaukee College. Young Dillingham after- ward lived in the family of and studied law with his brother-in-law, Hon. Matthew Hale Carpenter, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin.

At the age of twenty-five years, the subject of this sketch was elected justice of the peace in the First and Seventh districts of Mil- waukee, on the Republican ticket, receiving a majority of two hundred and thirty-eight

FRANK DILLINGHAM.

votes over his Democratic opponent, in dis- tricts which usually gave the Democrats a majority of about fifteen hundred, and was also elected chairman of the Republican ·county committee, which office he held for some time. He was afterward appointed deputy collector of internal revenue for the first district of Wisconsin, which office he held until appointed U. S. Counsel to Italy by President Grant. In 1882 he left Wis- consin for California, and has made San Francisco his home a greater part of the time since.

He organized the Consumers' Ice Co. of San Francisco, and was elected sec-

DODGE.

tetary and general manager of the same, in winch he is still miterested. His associates in this enterprise were ex United States Senator A. P. Williams, E. J. Baldwin, one of the bonanza kings and owner of the cele- brated Baldwin Hotel, Hon. R. G. Sneath, ex-president of the Anglo California Bank, and others.

Mr. Dillingham is now vice-president of the Home Benefit Life Association of San Francisco. He has been four times unani- mously elected president of the Pacific Coast Association Native Sons of Vermont, the largest social organization on the Pacific coast, and still holds that office.

lle is a friend of his native state and encourages sociability among Vermonters. Governor Fuller appointed Mr. Dillingham one of the honorary commissioners from Vermont to the Mid-Winter International Exposition at San Francisco, in 1894, where through Mr. Dillingham's energy and push, Vermont Day was celebrated in a manner most befitting to that state and which re- flected great credit upon its promoter, Mr. Dillingham, to whose efforts may be ascribed the success of the affair. Vermonters from all sections of the country to the number of over three thousand were present on the occasion.

He belongs to the Episcopal denomina- tion, and in church work holds the follow- ing offices : Junior warden of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin ; director in the Church Club of San Francisco; delegate to the Episcopal convention of California in 1892 and again in 1893, and was a member of the general missionary council, composed of the clergy and laity of the Episcopal church of America which met in Chicago in Octo- ber, 1893.

Mr. Dillingham was married June 3, 1883, to Miss Minnie Louise, only daughter of Hon. Richard G. and Anne Kathryn ( Myers) Sneath of San Francisco. Two children, Matthew Carpenter, and Julia Louise, bless their union.

Mr. Dillingham had three brothers, two of whom are living : Col. Charles Dilling- ham, president of the Houston & Texas Central Railway Co., and William Paul Dillingham, ex-Governor of Vermont, and Edwin Dillingham, major 10th Vt. Infantry, who was killed at the battle of the Opequan near Winchester, Va., on the 19th of Sep- tember, 1864.

DODGE, HENRY LEE, of San Francisco, Cal., was born in Montpelier, Jan. 31, 1825. He traces his paternal ancestry back to the earliest settlement of New England. He was a son of Nathan Dodge and Hannah Phin- ney, who were also natives of New England.

Both parents numbered among the early settlers of Montpelier.

Mr. Dodge received his early education in the schools and in the academy of his native town. For his higher education, he entered the University of Vermont, in 1842, when seventeen years old. In 1847 he entered the law office of Platt & Peck in Burlington, where he continued his studies until the ont- break of the California gold fever in 1849. Led by its spell, Mr. Dodge determined to try his fortunes in the mines. He quickly gathered around him a chosen band of twelve associates from among his friends, and they entered at once with zeal on their prepara- tion for leaving home. They decided to try the unusual and hazardous journey across the

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HENRY LEE DODGE.

Republic of Mexico. On the first day of June, 1849, Mr. Dodge and his companions arrived in San Francisco, having been three months and a half on the way. After land- ing they pushed off for the mines, where they soon separated, each following his own inclinations. Mr. Dodge soon left the mines and returned to San Francisco, seeking em- ployment that would demand something else than mere animal strength.

In August, 1849, the Alcade of San Fran- cisco, John W. Geary, appointed him clerk of his court, and in the following December he received the additional appointment of clerk of the Ayuntamiento, or town council. Mr. Dodge filled both of these positions until the Mexican forms of government were

5 I

DODGE.

dissolved by the organization of California's state government and her admission to the Union. The duties of these positions were large and responsible. It was the time of San Francisco's first growth, when the sale of town lots and of beach and water lots aggre- gated more than a million dollars. To Mr. Dodge fell the task of making and delivering the deeds, of receiving the payments, and of turning the money over to the treasury. Difficult as the demands were, he discharged them all creditably and to the satisfaction of everybody concerned. After California was admitted to the Union, in September, 1850, the government of San Francisco was re- organized on the American system. Colonel Geary was elected mayor and retained Mr. Dodge as his clerk, under the new order of administration. Mr. Dodge retained the position about a year and then abandoned it to take up his profession.

About this time Mr. Dodge returned to his native state, and, in Orwell, was married on Dec. 2, 1851, to Omira, daughter of Hon. Roswell Bottum of the same town.

In May, 1852, Mr. Dodge was admitted at San Francisco to practice in the Supreme Court of California, and in the Federal Courts of the United States. Throwing him- self into his professional work, he soon built up a large and profitable clientage, showing, too, that he had mettle to make a lawyer of no mean ability.

But mercantile pursuits seemed to promise more lucrative results than his professional work. Mr. Dodge therefore closed his law office, and joining his brother, L. C. Dodge, established a wholesale provision house. The business has grown for thirty-five years, with some slight changes in the firm, being now Dodge, Sweeney & Co., and has established a reputation for stability and honor, second to none in San Francisco.

In 1861 Mayor Teschemacher appointed Mr. Dodge on the board of supervisors of San Francisco, to fill the unexpired term of a member, representing the sixth ward ; on the election following he was elected to a full term. He was subsequently elected on the Union ticket to the Lower House of the Legislature, and accordingly resigned his position in the board of supervisors in January, 1862, and took his seat among the lawmakers of the capitol. Having served his term in the Assembly, he was elected two years later to the state Senate for four years. He was appointed in June, 1877, on a Treasury commission, with F. F. Low and H. R. Linderman, director of the mint, as associates, to investigate the condition of the San Francisco Mint and the Custom House. They performed the delicate duty with rare skill and wisdom. Indeed, Mr. Dodge's work was so well done that, in the following

DODGE.

December, he was appointed superintendent of the U. S. Mint at San Francisco. For four years and a half he held this position, and when he relinquished it delivered to his successor upwards of thirty-one million dol- lars, and received from the accounting offi- cers, not only a certificate of the accuracy of his accounts, but also the unusual com- pliment : "The superintendent of the Mint at San Francisco has been and is distin- guished alike for ability, fidelity and accuracy (having returned to the Treasury about $ 100,000 of the appropriation unexpended ). This is an example worthy of commendation and imitation." He was invited by Presi- dent Cleveland, in January, 1886, to serve on the United States Mint Assay Commission, which was to meet at Philadelphia in the following February. He accepted the ap- pointment and served on the commission. In January, 1885, he was called to the presidency of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and on the following January he was re-elected to the same position.

Mr. Dodge has long been connected with the Society of California Pioneers, being president of the society in 1879-'80. He is also a life member of the San Francisco Art Union, and other kindred associations.

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Men of Vermont : an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont, Part 105

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896 Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 842

Author: Ullery, Jacob G., comp; Davenport, Charles H; Huse, Hiram Augustus, 1843-1902; Fuller, Levi Knight, 1841-1896
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Brattleboro, Vt. : Transcript Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 842