OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (DAVIS DUN.) 



471 



retired from the, stage in 1882. His last appear- 

 ance was at his own house in Pittsburg, as Alvin 

 Joslin, in June, 1882. 



Davis, Cushman Kellogg, lawyer, born in 

 Henderson, N. Y., June 10, 1838; died in St. Paul, 

 Minn., Nov. 27, 1900. He removed with his par- 

 ents to Waukesha, Wis., and studied at Carroll 

 College, in that town. He was graduated at the 

 University of Michigan in 1857, studied law, was 

 admitted to the bar in 1859, and began to practice 

 in Waukesha. At the outbreak of the civil war 

 he assisted in raising a company for the 28th Wis- 

 consin Volunteers, with which as lieutenant he 

 joined the Army of the Tennessee. Later he served 

 as assistant adjutant general on the staff of Gen. 

 Gorman. He was compelled to leave the army 

 in 1864 by an attack of typhoid fever. In 1865 

 lie went to Minnesota and resumed the practice of 

 law in St. Paul. He was elected to the Legislature 

 in 1867. In 1868 he was appointed United States 

 District Attorney for Minnesota, serving till 1873. 

 In that year he was elected Governor of the State 

 on the Republican ticket. He was an unsuccessful 

 candidate for United States Senator in 1875, and 

 again in 1881, but on Jan. 18, 1887, was elected to 

 the office; and he was re-elected in 1893 and 1899. 

 As chairman of the Committee on Pensions he was 

 the author, in 1890, of the pension act that ended 

 the demand for excessive pension legislation: as 

 chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations 

 he reported to the Senate, April 13, 1898, the reso- 

 lutions which were a practical declaration of war 

 against Spain. In August, 1898, he was appointed 

 a member of the Spanish-American Peace Com- 

 mission. He received the degree of LL. D. from 

 Michigan University in 1886. He was a deep stu- 

 dent of French and English literature, and pos- 

 sessed a library rich in Napoleonana and Shake- 

 speariana. He published The Law in Shakespeare 

 (St. Paul, 1884). See portrait in Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia for 1898, page 772. 



Davis, Francis W., a missionary of the Ameri- 

 can Board, born in Sparta, Wis., Sept. 8, 1857 ; 

 killed in Taku, Shenshi province, China, July 31, 

 1900. He was graduated at Oberlin College in 

 1889, and went to China the same year. 



Detweiler, Isaac C., physician, born in Maxa- 

 tawny, Pa., in 1830; died in Reading, Aug. 29, 

 1900. His ancestors were among the pioneer set- 

 tlers of Pennsylvania. He made a fortune in early 

 life as a builder, and the income from his wealth 

 as well as that from his medical practice he de- 

 voted to charity and the Church. During the 

 Spanish- American War he contributed large sums 

 of money for the purchase of literature for the 

 American troops. 



Dewey, Justin, jurist, born in Alford, Mass., 

 June 12, 1836; died in Springfield, Mass., March 

 16, 1900. He received his early education in the 

 public schools, and was graduated at Williams 

 College in 1858. He read law, and in 1860 was 

 admitted to the bar. He was elected to the 

 Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1862, 

 and again in 1877; and in 1879 he was sent to 

 the State Senate and served on the Committee 

 on Probate and Chancery. He was appointed 

 judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts by 

 Gov. Robinson in 1886, and served with distinc- 

 tion till the time of his death. 



Dickinson, Charles Wesley, inventor, born in 

 Springfield, N. J., Nov. 23, 1823: died in Belle- 

 ville. X. J., July 2, 1900. He was apprenticed 

 to the machinist trade, and early displayed in- 

 ventive talent. Later he became a watch-case 

 maker, and turned his attention to fine machinery. 

 He perfected a bank-note engraving lathe, and in 

 1862 the first of his machines was used by the 





United States Government. He ran the lathe at 

 Washington for a year and a half, after which 

 he returned to Belleville, where he manufactured 

 his lathe for the United States and many foreign 

 governments. Some of his other inventions were 

 the cycloid attachment to the steel-plate ruling 

 machine, a pantagraph tracer, consecutive num- 

 bering machines for coupon or railroad. ticket num- 

 bering, and improved typesetting and type-dis- 

 tributing machines. 



Dickinson, Mahlon H., philanthropist, born in 

 Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 19, 1814; died there, March 

 23, 1900. He was educated in the schools of the 

 Society of Friends, on leaving which he was ap- 

 prenticed to the trade of bricklaying. Later he 

 became a builder, and in 1860 retired with a com- 

 petence. In 1858 he was elected to the City Coun- 

 cil of Philadelphia, and in 1859 was chosen a mem- 

 ber of the Board of Guardians of the Poor. He 

 was for a time a member of the Republican State 

 Central Committee, antl in 1871 was chairman of 

 that body. He was defeated as a candidate for 

 Congress in 1870. He was highway commissioner 

 for many years, and from Nov. 15, 1871, till his 

 death was a member of the Public Building Com- 

 mission. His most important work was that done 

 as a visitor to the insane asylums and penal in- 

 stitutions of the State. He studied the manner 

 of treating inmates and made reports to the Legis- 

 lature, the result of which was the enactment of 

 more humane laws for the government of these 

 institutions. 



Dorion, Thomas Alfred, clergyman, born in 

 St. Andrews, New Brunswick, March 8, 1849; died 

 in Manchester, N. H., March 30, 1900. He was 

 educated in the academy and college of Pointe 

 aux Trembles, Quebec, and he founded and edited 

 a newspaper in St. Andrews. In 1877 he was li- 

 censed as a local preacher in the Methodist 

 Church of Canada., and after four years of theo- 

 logical studies he was ordained. He held charges 

 in Longueuil, Danville, and Sherbrooke, Canada, 

 and in Ware, Mass. From the latter place he 

 went to Manchester, N. H., in 1889, where he 

 founded the French Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 of which he was pastor till the time of his death. 

 He was engaged widely in mission work among 

 the French of Canada and the United States. 

 He founded the only French Sunday-school paper 

 published in America, and was the author of many 

 tracts, books, and pamphlets. The more important 

 titles are History of the Popes: Romanism and 

 the Gospel; The Beast: A Study in the Apoca- 

 lypse; and Translations of the Methodist Cate- 

 chism and Methodist Discipline. 



Dun, Robert Graham, head of a mercantile 

 agency, born in Chillicothe, Ohio.VA.ug. 7, 1826; 

 died in New York city, Nov. 10, 1900. He was 

 educated at a local academy, and at the age of 

 sixteen was employed in a country store at a 

 salary of $2 a week. By means of his application 

 and energy he soon became a partner. He went 

 to New York city in 1850, and found employment 

 in the mercantile agency of Tappan & Douglass. 

 There he was steadily advanced, and in 1854, on 

 the retirement of Mr. Tappan. he became a part- 

 ner of Mr. Douglass, under the firm name of B. 

 Douglass & Co. In 1859 he purchased Mr. Doug- 

 lass's interest, and since then he had been sole 

 proprietor of the agency, which has come to be an 

 indispensable part of the business world. When 

 he took charge of it only 17 branch offices 

 had been established: this number was increased 

 year by year, till in 1900 there \vere 150 offices, 

 thoroughly and regularly equipped in as many 

 cities in Europe. Australia, the United States, 

 Cuba, and Mexico. Its rating book is an invalu- 



