A Book of the United States / Exhibiting its geography, divisions, constitution, and government ... and presenting a view of the republic generally, and of the individual states; together with a condensed history of the land, from its first discovery to the present time. The biography of about two hundred of the leading men: a description of the principal cities and towns; with statistical tables

by Unknown

DALE, RICHARD, an American naval commander, was born in Virginia, in 1756. At twelve years of age he was sent to sea, and in 1776, he entered as a midshipman on board of the American brig of war Lexington. In the following year he was taken prisoner by a British cruiser, and after a twelve-month confinement he escaped from Mill prison, and succeeded in reaching France. Here he joined, in the character of master’s mate, the celebrated Paul Jones, then commanding the American ship Bon Homme Richard. He was soon raised to the rank of first lieutenant, and signalized himself in the sanguinary engagement between the Bon Homme Richard and the English frigate Serapis. In 1794, the United States made him a captain in the navy, and in 1801, he took command of the American squadron, which sailed in that year from Hampton roads to the Mediterranean. From the year 1802, he passed his life in Philadelphia, in the enjoyment of a competent estate, and much esteemed by his fellow-citizens. He died in 1826, leaving the reputation of a brave and intelligent seaman.

DALLAS, ALEXANDER JAMES, was born in the island of Jamaica, in 1759; and was educated at Edinburgh and Westminster. In 1783, he left Jamaica for the United States, and settled in Philadelphia; taking the oath of allegiance to the state of Pennsylvania. In 1785, he was admittedto practise in the supreme court of the state, and in four or five years in the courts of the Union. During this time he prepared his Reports, and was engaged in various literary pursuits, writing much in the periodical journals. He occupied successively the offices of secretary of Pennsylvania, district attorney of the United States, secretary of the treasury, and secretary of war. On the restoration of peace, in 1816, Mr. Dallas resigned his political situation, and resumed the successful practice of his profession. His services as an advocate were called for in almost every part of the union; but in the midst of very flattering expectations he died at Trenton, in 1817.

DAVIE, WILLIAM RICHARDSON, governor of North Carolina, was born in England, in 1756. He was brought to America at the age of six years, and received his education at Princeton, New Jersey, where he was graduated in 1776. After pursuing for a short time the study of the law, he entered the army as a lieutenant in the legion of Pulaski, and distinguished himself by his efficiency and courage as an officer. On the termination of the war, he devoted himself with eminent success to the practice of the law. In 1787, he was chosen a delegate from South Carolina, to represent that state in the convention which framed the constitution of the United States. Unavoidable absence prevented him from affixing his name to that instrument. In 1790, he was elected governor of North Carolina, and in 1799, was appointed one of the commissioners for negotiating a treaty with France. He died at Camden, in 1820. He was a man of a dignified and noble person, courage as a soldier, and ability as a lawyer.

DEANE, SILAS, minister of the United States to the court of France, was born in Connecticut, and educated at Yale college. He was elected member of congress in 1774, and sent two years after as agent to France, but was superseded, in 1777, and returned. Involved in suspicions from which he could not extricate himself, he lost his reputation, and returning to Europe, died in poverty in England, in 1789.

DECATUR, STEPHEN, a distinguished naval officer, was born in Maryland, in 1779, and received his education in Philadelphia. He entered the navy in 1798, and first distinguished himself when in the rank of lieutenant, by the destruction of the American frigate Philadelphia, which had run upon a rock in the harbor of Tripoli, and fallen into the hands of the enemy. For this exploit, the American congress gave him a vote of thanks and a sword, and the president immediately sent him a captaincy. At the bombardment of Tripoli, the next year, he distinguished himself by the capture of two of the enemy’s boats, which were moored along the mouth of the harbor, and immediately under the batteries. When peace was concluded with Tripoli, Decatur returned home in the Congress, and afterward succeeded commodore Barron in the command of the Chesapeake. In the late war between Great Britain and the United States, his chief exploit was the capture of the British frigate Macedonian, commanded by captain Carden. In January, 1815, he attempted to sail from New York, which was then blockaded by four British ships; but the frigate under his command was injured in passing the bar, and was captured by the whole squadron, after a running fight of two or three hours. He was restored to his country after the conclusion of peace. In the summer of the same year, he was sent with a squadron to the Mediterranean, in order to compel the Algerines to desist from their depredations on Americancommerce. He arrived at Algiers on the twenty-eighth of June, and in less than forty-eight hours terrified the regency into an entire accession to all his terms. Thence he went to Tripoli, where he met with like success. On returning to the United States, he was appointed a member of the board of commissioners for the navy, and held that office till March, 1820, when he was shot in a duel with commodore Barron. He was a man of an active and powerful frame, and possessed a high degree of energy, sagacity, and courage.

DENNIE, JOSEPH, born in Boston, in 1768, displayed an early fondness for polite literature, and entered Harvard college in 1787. In 1790, he left this institution, and commenced the study of the law; but made little progress in the practice of his profession, in consequence of a strong attachment to literary pursuits. In the spring of 1795, he established a weekly paper in Boston, under the title of The Tablet, but it died from want of patronage. Soon after, he went to Walpole to edit the Farmer’s Museum, a journal in which he published a series of papers with the signature of the Lay Preacher. In 1799, he removed to Philadelphia, where he had received an appointment in the office of the secretary of state. He subsequently established the Port Folio, a journal which acquired reputation and patronage. He died in 1812. Mr. Dennie was a man of genius, and a beautiful writer, but wanted the industry and judgment, which might have secured him a competent subsistence and a permanent reputation.

DEXTER, SAMUEL, an eminent lawyer and statesman, was born in Boston, in 1761. He received his education at Harvard college, where he was graduated with honor, in 1781. Engaging in the study of the law, he soon succeeded in obtaining an extensive practice. He enjoyed successively a seat in the state legislature, and in the house of representatives and senate of the United States; and in each of these stations he secured a commanding influence. During the administration of Mr. Adams, he was appointed secretary of war, and of the treasury; but on the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency, he resigned his public employments, and returned to the practice of his profession. For many years he was extensively employed in the courts of Massachusetts, and in the supreme court of the United States, where he was almost without a rival. He died suddenly, at Athens, New York, in 1816. Mr. Dexter was tall, muscular, and well formed. His eloquence was clear, simple and cogent; and his powers were such as would have made him eminent in any age or nation.

DICKINSON, JOHN, a celebrated political writer, was born in Maryland, in 1732, and educated in Delaware. He pursued the study of law, and practised with success in Philadelphia. He was soon elected to the state legislature, and distinguished himself as an early and efficient advocate of colonial rights. In 1765, he was appointed by Pennsylvania a delegate to the first congress, held at New York, and prepared the draft of the bold resolutions of that body. His celebrated Farmer’s Letters to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies were issued in Philadelphia, in 1767; they were reprinted in London, with a preface by Dr. Franklin, and a French translation of them was published at Paris. While in congress, he wrote a large number of the most able and eloquent state papers of the time, and as an orator he had few superiors in that assembly. He conscientiously opposed the declaration of independence, and his opinions upon this subject rendered him for a time unpopular; but they did not permanently affect hisreputation and influence. He was afterwards a member of congress, and president of Pennsylvania and Delaware, successively. He died at Wilmington, in 1808. Mr. Dickinson was a man of a strong mind, great knowledge and eloquence, and much elegance of mind and manners.

DORSEY, JOHN SYNG, professor of anatomy in the university of Pennsylvania, was born in Philadelphia in 1783, and received an excellent elementary education at a school of the society of Friends. At the age of fifteen he commenced the study of medicine, and pursued it with unusual ardor and success. In the spring of 1802, he was graduated doctor in physic, having previously defended with ability an inaugural dissertation on the Powers of the Gastric Liquor as a Solvent of the Urinary Calculi. Soon after he received his degree, the yellow fever reappeared in the city, and a hospital was open for the exclusive accommodation of those sick with this disease, to which he was appointed resident physician. At the close of the same season he visited Europe. On his return, in 1804, he immediately entered on the practice of his profession, and soon acquired, by his popular manners, attention and talent, a large share of business. In 1807 he was elected adjunct professor of surgery, and remained in this office till he was raised to the chair of anatomy by the death of the lamented Wistar. He opened the session by one of the finest exhibitions of eloquence ever heard within the walls of the university; but on the evening of the same day, he was attacked by a fever, which in one week closed his existence. He died in 1818. His Elements of Surgery, in two volumes 8vo, is considered the best work on the subject. It is used as a text book in the university of Edinburgh, and was the first American work on medicine reprinted in Europe.

DRAYTON, WILLIAM HENRY, a statesman of the revolution, was born in South Carolina, in 1742. He received his education in England, and on its completion returned to his native state. Taking an early and active part in the defence of colonial rights, he wrote and published a pamphlet under the signature of Freeman, in which he submitted a ‘bill of American Rights’ to the continental congress. On the commencement of the revolution he became an efficient leader; in 1775, was chosen president of the provincial congress; and in March of the next year, was elected chief justice of the colony. In 1777, Mr. Drayton was appointed president of South Carolina, and, in 1778, was elected a delegate to the continental congress, where he took a prominent part, and distinguished himself by his activity and eloquence. He continued in congress until September, 1779, when he died suddenly, at Philadelphia. He left a body of valuable materials for history, which his only son, John Drayton, revised and published at Charleston, in 1821, in two volumes 8vo, under the title of Memoirs of the American Revolution.