Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/307

Rh DYER, Alexander Brydie, soldier, b. in Rich- mond, Va., 10 Jan., 1815 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 20 May, 1874. He was graduated at the U. S. mili- tary academy in 1837, served in garrison at For- tress Monroe, Va., in the Florida war of 1837-8, and on ordnance duty at various arsenals in 1838-46, was chief of ordnance of the army mvading New Mexico in 1846-'8, during a part of which time he was on the staff of Gen. Sterling Price, and was engaged at Canada, Taos, where he was wounded 4 Feb., 1847, and Santa Cruz de Resales, Mexico, receiving for his services the brevets of 1st. lieu- tenant and captain. He was afterward in com- mand of North Carolina arsenal. At the begin- ning of the civil war Capt. Dyer was active in promoting the efficiency of the ordnance depart- ment. He invented the Dyer projectile for cannon. He was in command of the Springfield armory in 1861-'4, and greatly extended the manufacture of small-arms for the army. In 1864, as chief of ord- nance, U. S. army, he was placed in charge of the ordnance bureau in Washington, D. C, with the rank of brigadier-general, and he retained this office till his death. In March, 1865, he was bre- vetted major-general, U. S. army, for faithful, meritorious, and distinguished services.

DYER, Charles Giffurd, artist, b. in Chicago in 1846. He was graduated at the U. S. naval acade- my, then in Newport, R. I., and saw some service in the civil war, but resigned his commission on account of impaired health, went to Europe, and studied art in Paris under Jacquesson de la Chev- reuse. He entered the Royal academy at Munich in 1871, and has spent most of his professional life there and in Paris, with the exception of six winters in Rome, four summers in Venice, and prolonged working-tours in Egypt and Syria. Among his more important works are " St. Mark's, Venice, with Armenian Chapel," "On Linden when the Sun was Low," " Venice at Birth of Day," " Morn- ing on the Riva, Venice," '• Historical Still-Life of the Seventeenth Century," and " Among the Domes of St. Mark's."

DYER, Charles Voluey, Abolitionist, b. in Clarendon, Vt., 12 June, 1808 ; d. at Lake View, near Chicago, 24 April, 1878. He was graduated at the medical department of Middlebury college in 1830, and began practice in Newark, N. J., in 1831, but removed in 1835 to Chicago, and soon became acting surgeon in Port Dearborn. He was successful in his practice and business adventures, retiring from the former in 1854, and becoming agent for the " underground railroad " in Chicago. One instance illustrates the courage of Dr. Dyer : In 1846 a fugitive from Kentucky was caught in Chicago by his master and an armed posse, bound tightly with ropes, and guarded while a man went for a blacksmith to rivet the manacles that were to be put iipon him. Dr. Dyer, hearing of the arrest, went hurriedly to the Mansion house and to the room where the victim was confined, burst open the door, cut the cords, and told the fugitive to go, which he did before his captors recovered from their surprise and bewilderment at such un- expected and summary proceedings. A bully, with brandishing Bowie-knife, rushed toward the doc- tor, who stood his ground and knocked down his assailant with his cane. Sympathizing friends subsequently presented the doctor a gold-headed hickory cane of gigantic pi-oportions, appropriately inscribed, which is now in the library of the Chi- cago historical society. At an anti-slavery conven- tion in 1846 at Chicago, Dr. Dyer was chairman of the committee for establishing the "National Era" at Washington, an organ of the Abolition party, established 7 Jan., 1847. Dr. Dyer had a genial nature, which manifested itself in ready witticisms and pleasant conversation, except when he chanced to come in contact with shams, impostors, or hypo- crites, for which he had a most profound contempt and abundant words to express his detestation. In recognition of Dr. Dyer's sterling integrity and the great service he had rendered the cause of anti- slavery. President Lincoln, who knew him well, appointed him in 1863 judge of the mixed court at Sierra Leone, for the suppression of the slave- trade, after which appointment he passed two years travelling in Europe.

DYER, David Patterson, lawyer, b, in Henry county, Va., 12 Feb., 1838. He removed to Missouri in 1841, and was educated at the common schools and at St. Charles college, studied law at Bowling Grreen, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1859. He was elected district prosecuting attorney in 1860, and in 1862-5 was a member of the legisla- ture. He recruited and commanded the 49th regi- ment of Missouri volunteer infantry during a part of the civil war, participated in "the campaigns against Mobile in 1865, and in 1866 was chosen secretary of the state senate. He was a delegate to the Chicago national Republican convention in 1868, and in the same year was elected to congress from Missouri, serving on the committees on ter- ritories and agriculture, and was U. S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri in 1875-'6.

DYER, Eliphalet, jurist, b. in Windham, Conn., 28 Sept., 1721 ; d. there, 13 May, 1807. He was graduated at Yale in 1740, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1746. after which he was town clerk and justice of the peace in Wind- ham. He was many times member of the legis- islature between 1747 and 1762, and was the origi- nal promoter of the project to establish a Connecti- cut colony in the valley of the Susquehanna. In 1753 he was a member of the committee to pur- chase the title to the land selected for the proposed colony at Wyoming, and in 1755 was agent to pe- tition the general assembly in its behalf. The French and Indian wars interrupted the plan, and in August, 1755, Mr. Dyer was lieutenant-colonel of a regiment sent to reduce Crown Point. He was colonel of a regiment sent against Canada in 1758, and in 1762-'84 was annually elected an assist- ant. As an active member of the Susquehanna land company, he was sent as their agent, in 1763, to England, liut failed in his effort to obtain con- firmation from the crown of the title to the Wyo- ming region. On his return he became comptroller of the port of New London, and in September, 1765, he was the first of the commissioners sent to the stamp-act congress from Connecticut. After- ward, with a majority of the Connecticut assist- ants, he withdrew from the governor's house rather than assist in his taking the oath to carry out the provisions of the act. Col. Dyer was elected judge of the superior court in 1766, and held that office till 1793, serving during the last four years as chief justice. He was a delegate to the 1st Continental congress in 1744, and was re-elected to each succeeding congress, with the exception of those of 1776 and 1779. He became a member of the state committee of safety on its formation in May, 1775, and in December, 1776, declined an appointment as brigadier-general of militia. Yale gave him the degree of D. D. in 1787. John Adams said of him: "Dyer is long-winded and roundabout, obscure and cloudy, very talkative and very tedious, yet an honest, worthy man ; means and judges well." He published a pamphlet entitled "Remarks on Dr. Gale's Letter" (Philadelphia, 1769).