OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (UALHIMPLE DELEVAN.) 



543 



!i\, and entered the army as brevet 2d 



i' l'nitc<l Stan--. engineers in 1-.".H; was 



il licutfiiiiiit ivu;, captain l.vts, major 



-ant colonel 1808, nnd colonel 1*117 ; and 



: .Inn. 18, 187-t. In the, volunteer service 



missioned c iloncl iiinl niil de-camp Atiir. 



i;, Isr.i.atid brigadier-general Nov. 1 following; was 



I major-general March 13, Isii.'i; an<l was 



muster.-,! "'it of thr service S.-pt. 1, IMH;. lie was 



I in tlir construction of Fort Admits and other 



tions at Newport, R. I., New London, Conn., 

 and in I 1 .. MII harbor in 1888-'88; was instructor in 



u ciigiiicerini: at the United States Military 



nv in 1st* '.">.">, excepting tor two years which 



it' in studying the principal fortifications in 



Kuropc ; and was in charge of the Atlantic coast de- 



and superintended the construction of fortifi- 

 rations and improvements at Charleston, S. C.. New 

 Bedford, Ma".. Newport, R. I., New London, Conn., 

 and the eastern entrance to New York harbor, in 



l. After serving as nid-de-camp to <HH. 



MI! as chief engineer of the Department of Mis- 

 souri in I-M!!, lie was chief <>f stall to Gen. Henry W. 

 llalleck while the latter was in command of the De- 

 partment of Missouri, and also while he was general 

 in chief of the national armies. He was a member of 

 the United States Sanitary Commission in 1861-'64, 

 directed engineering operations on the Western rivers, 

 ted fortifications for Nashville, and was chief 

 engineer durinir the siege of Corinth. He was Super- 

 intendent of the United States Military Academy from 



1 IM;I;. From 1867 till his retirement he was 

 a member of the board for the construction and im- 

 proM'iuent of the defenses of New York, and of the 

 river and harbor commission of the army. lie was a 

 delegate to the conference of the Association for th 

 Kefonn and Codification of the Laws of Nations, at 

 Cologne, and to the International Geographical Con- 



t Venice in 1&81 ; Vice- President or the Ameri- 

 can Geographical Society from 1874, and of the Geo- 

 graphical Library Association of New York from 1880. 

 Gen. Ciillnm married the widow of Gen. llalleck. 

 Amonir his notable bequests were $250,000 to the 

 Federal Government for the erection on the grounds 

 of the I'nited States Military Academy of a military 

 ' Memorial Hall," and $40,000 with which to purchase 

 busts, portraits, and paintings of military men. and 

 subjects tortlie Hall, as well as to publish decennially 

 his Ki -irister"; more than $100,000 to the Geograph- 

 ical Library Association for a fireproof building; 

 *'j",iHM) to the Metropolitan Museum of Ait; and his 

 books relating to the United States Military Academy 

 and military education to the United States Engineer- 

 ing School at Willctt's Point, New York. Besides 

 numerous memoirs, reports, and miscellaneous papers, 

 Gen. Cullum published "Military Bridges with India- 

 rubber Pontoons' 1 (1849); "Register of Officers and 

 Graduates of the United States Military Academy 

 from 1-o-j to 1850" (1850); translation of Duparcq's 

 ' Klciiicnts of Military Art and History" (1868); 

 ">\ stems of Military "Bridges" (1863): "Biograph- 

 ical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the 

 I'nited States Military Academy " i 1st ed., 1*68; 2d 

 ed., ls:;i; :;,! ,.,[., revued and extended. Iv.'li; and 

 M Campaigns of the Warof 1812 criticised" (1880). 



Dalrlmple, Van pleve ( jurist, born in Morris County, 

 N. J., in 1*2 1; died in Morristown, N. J., Nov. 'J7. 

 Is'.i-j. He \\a> educated at Morristown Academy, was 

 admitted to the bar in 1848, and settled in Morristown. 

 He was api">inti d prosecutor of the pleas in 1852. and 

 held the iitlice five years, and in 1866 was appointed 

 an associate justice of the Supreme Court of New 

 He held the latter office for two successive 

 terms, and then retired from public life. In early 

 life lie was a Democrat in politics, but at the time of 

 the excitement over the rei>eal of the Missouri Com- 

 promise he joined the Free-Soil party, and subse- 

 quently the Republican. 



Danforth, Peter Swart, juris*, born in Middleburg, 

 N. Y...IUIIC 1!. isiti; died there, July 17, 1 "._. He 

 was graduated at Union College in 1887 ; studied law, 



and was admitted to the bur in 1840; was appointed 



district attorney for Scholniric County in : 



State Senator from Delaware and Scholi. 



in 1 *.':(; and was apjHiinted n justice of the Supreme 



Court of New York in ls7'J.' .lud^c I>anl'rtli had 



been cMiinected with tile Reformed Dutch Church for 



more than half a century, and had been frequently u 

 member of its General .Synod and of imj^orUin' 



lllittees under it. 



Davis, Alexander Jackson, architect, burn in New York 

 city, .Inly - J4, IM>:{; il'n-il in West < >ran_'c. N. .(..Jan. 

 1 t, IS;IL'." He \\as a son of Cornelius Itai-. editor and 

 publisher of the " New York Theological Ma^u/.ine,'' 

 which is said to liuve been the fn>t religious perioa- 

 ieal issued in tliis country. In l*2.'f he began xtudy- 

 inif architecture in the Antique School. One of his 

 best known designs was that for the Customhouse in 

 New York, which was approved by the TrcuMiry Ie- 

 partmcnt, out, as he claimed, was altered and vulgar- 

 ized by the commissioners and builders. Mr. Davit* 

 was the founder of the American Institute of Archi- 

 tects, and secretary of the American Academy of Fine 

 Arts, which was afterward known UA the National 

 Academy of Design. 



Davis, Joseph J., jurist, born in Franklin County, 

 N. C., April 18, 1828; died in Louisburg, N. C., VuL'. 

 7, 1892. He received an academical education, was 

 admitted to the bar in 1850; Served in the Confeder- 

 ate army during the civil war: was elected to the 

 State Legislature in 1866, and was a member of Con- 

 gress from 1875 till 1880. During his last term in 

 Congress he was a member of the committ< 

 Banking and Currency and Public Expenditures. In 

 1886 he was appointed an associate justice of the 

 Supreme Court ot North Carolina. 



Decker, John, fireman, born in New York city. May 

 I.'-, ls-^:5 ; died in Port Richmond, Statcn Island'. N. Y., 

 Nov. 18, 1892. He was brought up in the oyster busi- 

 ness, and for many years was one of the largest whole- 

 salers in the city. In October, 1844, he entered the 

 volunteer fire department of New York citv, joining 

 engine company No. 14; in 1847 wiis elected assistant 

 foreman ; in 1850, foreman ; in 1852, assistant cinr'uiccr : 

 and in 1860 and 1863, chief of the department. He was 

 the last chief of the old volunteer department, serving 

 till the organi/ation of the present paid system. He 

 displayed rare heroism during the draft riots in ls;:i, 

 at onetime was about to be handed by the mob, and by 

 his personal courage saved several public and private 

 buildings from destruction by fire at the hands of 

 drunken incendiaries. He aided in rccruitinir the 

 1st Regiment of Fire Zouaves and in raising *::l.oo<) 

 for its equipment, and personally recruited and main- 

 tained tiie 2d Regiment of firo zouaves. On the 

 organization of the paid tire department the commis- 

 sioners endeavored to retain his services, but he de- 

 clined to hold office longer. He organized the Volun- 

 teer Fire Department Association in !*<;">, und was its 

 president till 1889. Mr. Decker served in the Lciris- 

 lature for five terms. 



Delevan, Charles H., insurance broker, born in si in; 

 N. Y., in 1^10; died in New York city, April 9, 

 Is'.'-j. He was a son of Gen. Daniel Delevan, one of 

 eleven brothers, who served in the Continental army 

 during the Revolutionary War. and was the lust rep- 

 n -dilative of the direct branch of the old Hmjuenot 

 family of that name. In early life he was < \ 

 in the hardware business in New York city with two 

 of his brothers. Duriinr the administration of Presi- 

 dent Pierce he was United States consul at Halifax, 

 and subsequently he held the same office at SL 

 Thomas, West Indies. On returninir t<- New York, 

 he engaged in the fire-insurance business, and retired 

 from active work about TSS-J. Hi \\ as personally ac- 

 quainted with the principal statesmen of his early 

 life, and was well known in New York city and tho 



purchased four coal-black horses and a large brake, 

 decorated in flaming colors, with which he drove 



