Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/714

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DAVIS
DOMEYKO

subject in Winnipeg. In 1881-'2 he was secretary to the royal commission appointed to inquire into all matters connected with the Canadian Pacific railway, and in 1884-'5 was secretary to the Chi- nese commission, in which capacity he visited San Francisco, Cal., and Victoria, B. C. Mr. Davin served as a volunteer during the Canadian rebellion of 1885, and was elected to the parliament in 1887 from Western Assiniboia. He has published "The Irishman in Canada " (1877), and other works.


DAVIS, Alexander Jackson, architect, b. in New York, 24 July, 1803. He passed some time in the study of architecture, and in 1826 opened an office. He was in partnership with Ithiel Town in 1829-'43, and the two introduced many novel- ties and improvements in building in this country. Mr. Davis designed the executive department and fatent-office in Washington (1834), the capitals of Uinois and Indiana (1837), Ohio (1839), and North Carolina, the University of Michigan, and the Vir- ginia military institute. In 1831 he was elected an associate member of the National academy.


DAWSON, Æneas MacDonell, Canadian author, b. in Redhaven, Scotland, 30 July, 1810. He was educated in Scotland and France, entered the Roman Catholic priesthood on 2 April, 1835, and has held charges in Canada. The University of Kingston gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1886. He is the author of " The Temporal Sovereignty of the Pope " (London, 1860) ; " Our Strength and their Strength " (Ottawa, 1870); "Life and Time of Pius IX." (1880); " The Last Defender of Jeru- salem," a poem (1882) ; " Zenobia," a poem (1883) ; and several translations.


DELAND, Margaretta Wade, author, b. in Alleghany, Pa., 23 Feb., 1857. Her maiden name was Campbell. She was educated at Pelham priory, New Rochelle, N. Y., then studied at Cooper Union, and in 1878-'9 taught industrial design in the Girls' normal college. On 12 May, 1880, she married Lorin F. Deland, of Boston, Mass. Mrs. Deland has published " The Old Gar- den." a volume of verses (Boston, 1886), and " John Ward, Preacher," a novel that has attained great success (1888).


DEMAREST, Mary Augusta Lee, b. in New York city, 26 June, 1838; d. in Los Angeles, Cal., 8 Jan., 1888. She was a daughter of Thomas R. Lee, and became the wife of Theodore F. C. Dem- arest. For many years she was a resident of Pas- saic, N. J. Mrs. Demarest bequeathed $10,000 to various religious institutions. She was the author of many poems, a volume of which was published (New York, 1882). The best known of these is " My Ain Countrie," which first appeared in the New York " Observer" in December. 1861.


DE VARENNES, Pierre Gauthier, Sieur de la Verendrye, French traveller, b. in France ; d. in Quebec in 1749. He emigrated to Canada, and was for some time engaged in trading in peltry with the Indians. M. de Beauharnais, governor of Canada, originated a scheme to reach the Pacific, and its execution and expense were undertaken by De Varennes, who discovered the Rocky mountains in 1731. While on this tour he discovered, among massive stone pillars, a small stone bearing on two sides graven characters of an unknown language. The stone was afterward sent to Paris, and there the resemblance the characters were thought to bear to the Tartaric was regarded as supporting the hypothesis of an Asiatic immigration into America. The king of France conferred the cross of St. Louis upon De Varennes, and at the time of his death he was about to resume, by the king's desire, his attempt to reach the Pacific ocean.


DEWEY, Joel Allen, soldier, b. in Georgia, Franklin co., Vt., 20 Sept., 1840; d. in Knoxville, Tenn., 17 June, 1873. He entered Oberlin in 1858, but left in 1861 to enter the National army, and served as 1st lieutenant and captain of Ohio volun- teers under Gen. John Pope in the west, and then with Gen. William T. Sherman. He was at one time on the staff of Gen. William S. Rosecrans. He became colonel of the 111th U. S. colored regi- ment in 1863, and led a brigade near Huntsville. He was captured near Athens, Ala., in September, 1864, after a day's severe engagement with Gen. Forrest's cavalry. After his liberation in Novem- ber he served in Tennessee and northern Alabama till the close of the war. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 Dec, 1865, and was mustered out, 31 Jan., 1866, after declin- ing a captain's commission in the regular army. Gen. Dewey then entered the law-school at Albany, N. Y., where he was graduated in 1867, and prac- tised in Dandridge, Tenn. In 1869 he was elected attorney-general of the state, which office he held till his death.


DEWING, Thomas Wilmer, artist, b. in Bos- ton, Mass., 4 May, 1852. He studied in 1876-'9 under Jules J. Lefebvre in Paris. His more im- portant paintings are " Young Sorcerer " (1877) ; "Morning" (1879); "Prelude" (1883); "A Gar- den " (1884) ; " The Davs," which gained the Clarke prize in 1887 (1884-'6); and "Tobias and the An- gel " (1887). He has produced, among other por- traits, those of Mrs. Lloyd Bryee, Mrs. Robert Goe- let, and Mrs. Delancey Kane. He is a member of the Society of American artists, and was elected an associate member of the National academy in 1887, and an academician the year following. — His wife, Maria Richards, whose maiden name was Oakey, b. in New York, 27 Oct., 1855, studied at the National academy and under John Lafarge, and, in 1876, Thomas Couture. She has painted numerous figure- and flower-pieces, among which are "Violets" (1878) and "Mother and Child"" (1880), and a number of portraits, including " Por- trait of a Boy " (1875) ; " Portrait of her Father " (1877) : and " Sleeping Child " (1878).


DICKINSON, Donald McDonald, cabinet officer, b. in Port Ontario, Oswego co., N. Y., 17 Jan., 1847. He was graduated at the University of Michigan in 1867, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and has been engaged in many important cases. He became chairman of the Democratic state committee of Michigan in 1876, and in 1880 was chairman of the Michigan delegation in the Democratic national convention. Since 1884 he has represented Michigan on the national Democratic committee. On 17 Jan., 1888, he became postmaster-general of the United States.


DOMEYKO, Ignaz, Chilian scientist, b. in Poland in 1802. He received his primary education in Cracow, and in 1817 continued his studies in the University of Vienna, where he was graduated. Taking part in the Polish insurrection of 1830-'l, he was obliged to emigrate to France, where he labored in the mines of Alsace, and afterward finished special studies at Paris. In 1838 he accepted the professorship of physics and chemistry at the lyceum of Serena, Chili. In 1846 he was called to the same chair in the National institute and the University of Chili, of which he was rector from 1876 till 1883. He was an associate editor of "El Araucano," "Los Anales de Minas," and " El Semanario de Santiago," and in 1888 began a scientific journey through Europe. He is the author of " Tratado de ensayes " (Serena, 1843 ; Santiago, 1873) ; " Elementos" de ^lineralogia " (1844) ; "La