OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (DANFORTH DAVIES.) 



apparently lasting success of his players in the 

 English capital induced him in 1893 to lease a 

 house in that city, which is called Daly's Theater. 

 Of late years. Daly's company having been for 

 Ions periods absent from his New York theater 

 everv vear, that house has been occupied much 

 more frequently by traveling and other companies 

 than bv its own players. Musical comedies, like 

 The Circus Girl and The Geisha, had attracted 

 audiences greatly ditVering in taste from those 

 who filled its seats during the performances ot 

 sterling plays by the company, and the fortunes 

 of the place seemed not as bright as formerly. 

 The energy of the apparently indomitable man 

 who presided with a kind of kingly authority 

 over the methods of this playhouse seemed not 

 to flag, but when sudden death touched him all 

 who knew him wondered how he had borne up 

 unresting under his great life work for so long 

 a time. The list of his plays, original and adapted, 

 is of itself proof of an' apparently tireless in- 

 dustry, presenting the names of about 75 works. 

 He was a rapid as well as careful worker. The 

 managers of the New York Theater Mark Smith 

 and John Lewis Baker were anxious to have 

 an adaptation of Charles Reade's novel Griffith 

 Gaunt in 1808. and Mr. Daly was asked to do 

 the work. He brought the first act to the theater 

 next morning, and it was at once put in re- 

 hearsal. He finished an act each day, and on 

 the night of the fourth day the play was pro- 

 duced with great success. It ran fifty nights. 

 Augustin Daly in all his work aimed at a high 

 standard of dramatic art. Men and women 

 under his direction became accomplished players, 

 and the drama of English speech w r as enriched 

 by the best examples of modern play making. 

 He was an ardent book lover, and his collection 

 of works relating to the drama was one of the 

 finest in the world. He devoted his leisure for 

 several years to the preparation and printing of 

 a life of Peg Woffington, copiously illustrated 

 with reproductions of all the known portraits 

 of that actress. He completed, after years of as- 

 siduous labor and research, a magnificent extra- 

 illustrated copy of the Douai Bible, at a cost 

 of $25,000, which is unique and almost priceless. 

 Danforth, George Franklin, jurist, born in 

 Boston, Mass., July 5, 1819; died in Rochester, 

 N. Y., Sept. 25, 1899. He was graduated at Union 

 College in 1840, and, after being admitted to the 

 bar, began practicing in Rochester. In 1876 he 

 was defeated as the Republican candidate for 

 judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, 

 but in 1878 he was renominated and elected. On 

 the expiration of his term he became a member 

 of the Judiciary Commission. Excepting these 

 offices, he held no public charge, his time being 

 wholly occupied w r ith his extensive practice. He 

 died of apoplexy in the courtroom just as he 

 had finished arguing a case. 



Darche, Louise, educator, born in Ontario, 

 Canada, about 1854; died in London, England, 

 June 1, 1899. She was graduated at the Bellevue 

 Training School for Nurses in New York city, 

 and in January, 1888, was appointed superin- 

 tendent of the Training School for Nurses on 

 Blackwell's island. In the autumn of 1897 over- 

 work and ill health forced her to resign. She 

 sought recuperation by going abroad. Miss 

 Darche was a woman of exceptional energy and 

 executive ability, and had the reputation of being 

 one of the best-trained nurses in the country. 

 While she was in charge of the Blackwell's island 

 school her work was extended from the wards 

 for women to those for men also, because of her 

 improved methods of treatment. She concerned 



herself deeply with the professional interests of 

 the nurse pupils under her charge, and seemed 

 never to spare herself in the execution of her 

 regular and self-imposed duties. The title of F. 

 Marion Crawford's romance Marion Darche was 

 suggested by a visit to the Blackwell's island 

 school. He was impressed with the importance 

 of her work, and combined her family name with 

 his own Christian name in the title of his story. 



Davidge, William, actor, born in Manchester, 

 England, March 11, 1847; died in Chicago, Jan. 

 26, 1899, son of the popular comedian of the 

 same name (1814-'88). He was but three years 

 of age when brought to America. The family 

 settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., and young Davidge 

 was educated in the public schools there. He 

 made his debut at the French Theater, Broadway, 

 as the Widow Meddlenotte in The Lady of the 

 Lions, a burlesque on Bulwer's play. He then 

 ran away from home and played a few months 

 with a stock company in Newark, N. J. His 

 father finally procured an engagement for him 

 as second low comedian of the Brooklyn Park 

 Theater. He was engaged immediately thereafter 

 for the Holman company, with which he remained 

 as comedian for four years. In 1870-71 he was 

 associated with William H. Crane and Frank 

 Drew in an operatic tour in Canada. During 

 this tour he married the popular actress Maggie 

 Harold. He was next engaged as comedian of 

 Wood's Museum, Philadelphia, and subsequently 

 at the Arch Street Theater to replace Stuart 

 Robson. In the summer of 1875 he assumed the 

 management of the Museum. He produced The 

 Two Orphans there in a run of 169 performances 

 in 1877, playing himself the part of Pierre. He 

 was comedian of Kate Claxton's company in the 

 season of 1877-78, and then played the comedy 

 part in a long run of Enchantment at Niblo's 

 Garden, New York. He was then for a season 

 with Augustin Daly, playing Hercules Brown in 

 The Arabian Nights. Mr. and Mrs. Davidge then 

 formed a company of their own, called the Mag- 

 gie Harold Comedy Company, and played come- 

 dies for many seasons on the road. Mr. Davidge 

 from 1881 to 1883 was the comedian and charac- 

 ter actor of the Bijou and Museum Theaters in 

 Philadelphia. He played subsequently several 

 seasons with Roland Reed. His last engagement 

 was with the Dearborn stock company in Chi- 

 cago, where he made his last appearance. 



Davies, Thomas Alfred, military officer, born 

 in Black Lake, N. Y., Dec. 3, 1809; died there, 

 Aug. 19, 1899. He was a son of Thomas John 

 Davies and a brother of Charles Davies, the noted 

 mathematician, and of Henry Eugene Davies, 

 chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals. 

 Thomas Alfred passed his youth on his father's 

 farm, and when sixteen years old was sent to 

 the United States Military Academy, where he 

 was graduated in 1829. He entered the army as 

 brevet second lieutenant in the 1st Infantry, and 

 served at Fort Crawford, in Wisconsin Territory, 

 and at West Point, as post quartermaster, till 

 1831, when he resigned and engaged hi mercan- 

 tile business in New York. Meeting with finan- 

 cial reverses in 1837, he accepted employment as 

 a civil engineer in the construction of the Croton 

 Aqueduct, and spent two years in that work, 

 particularly in the building of High Bridge. He 

 then resumed mercantile life and continued it 

 till the outbreak of the civil war, when he offered 

 his services to the Government and was commis- 

 sioned colonel of the 16th New York Volunteers. 

 After some service in Washington and the or- 

 ganization of the Army of the Potomac, he was 

 assigned to the command of the 2d Brigade, 5th 



