Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/126

 DALL

DALLAS

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DALL, William Healey, naturalist, was born in Boston. Mass., Aug. ",'1, lS4.j; son of Cliarles Henry Appleton and Caroline Wells (Healey) Dall. In 1SU8 he became a pupil of Louis Agassiz in natural sciences, and of Jeffries AVynian anil Dr. Daniel Brainerd in anatomy and medicine. He was in Alaska as lieutenant in the In- ternational telegrai>h expedition in 186.1- 68, and was assistant to the U.S. coast sur- vey, 1871-83, making many valuable ob- servations and dis- coveries. In 1885 he I became paleontolo-
 * ^.%',x. ^ •'' gist of the United

iir ™il^:- r^^' States geological sur-

vey and honorary " '.• ' "' curator of the United

M^^-Wr':^~^lyC 6^-^ States national nm- ' ~' '' ^ seum. He was hon-

orary professor of invertebrate paleontology, Wager institute of science, Philadelphia,. 1893- 98. He was elected a member of most of the scientific societies of America and in 1882 and 1885 was vice-president of the American associa- tion for the advancement of science. In 1897 he was elected to the National academy of sciences. His scientific papers, comprising nearly three hundred titles, include descriptions of brachi- opoda, chitonidie, patellidae, and the mollusc- fauna and ethnology of Alaska. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Wesleyan university, Middletown, in 1888. His published volumes include: Alaska and Its liesources (1870); Tribes of the Extreme Northwest (1877); Meteorolo(/y and Blhliociraphy of Alaska (1879); The Currents and Tcmperntures of Berinfj Sea and the Adjacent Waters (1882); Alaska Coast Pilot (1883); List of Marine Mollusca (1885); lieport on the Mollnsra Brachiopoda and Pelecypoda of the Blake Expedition (1886); Mollusca of the Southeast Coast of the United States (1890); Instructions for Collecting Mollusks (1892); Contributions to the Tertiary Fauna of Flor- ida (4 vols., 1890-98); Neocene of North America (1892); Coal and Lignite of Alaska (1896). He also edited the Marquis de Nadaillac's Prehistoric Amtrirn (1HH5).

DALLAS, Alexander James, state.sman, was born on the island of Jamaica, W.I., June 21, 1759; .son of Dr. Robert Charles and Elizalieth (Carmack) Dallas; grand.son of James and Barbara (Cockburn) Dallas; great-grandson of George and Elizabeth rAbercromby) Dallas; and j^reat' grandson of William Dallas of Budyatt, County of Moray, Scotlan<l. The family traces its descent from the Barons of Dallas through

Sir William de Dolyes, Knight Lord of Dolj'es (1289) and John de Dolas, cliief of his name and first of Cantray (1442), down througli William Dallas (1617), whose son, George Dallas, of Saint Martin's, Ross-shire (1630), was an eminent lawyer and the author of the Scottish law book known as '' St. Mar- tin's Styles." He was also keeper of the privy seal of Scotland during the reign of James VII. This seal afterward came into the i)OS- session of the fam- ily of Lieut. -Gen. Sir Thomas Dallas, K.C.B. (1757), a cousin of Alexander James Dallas (1759), who, as an ofTicer in the British army, distinguished him- self in the Carnatic and later at the siege of Serin- gapatam. Dr. Robert C. Dallas was a Scotch phy- sician then practising on the island and soon returned to Edinburgh, where, and at Westmin- ster, his four sons were educated. Alexander read law at the Temple in London, but the death of his father, the great depreciation of his Jamaica estates, and the marriage of his mother, deter- mined him to seek employment as a merchant's clerk with an imcle named Gray, with whom he remained two years. He then procured a com- mission in the army. He was married, Sept. 4, 1780, to Arabella Maria, daughter of Maj. George Smith of the British army and great-grand- daughter of Sir Nicholas Trevanion, a wealthy landowner in Cornwall. He then joined his mother's family who had returned to Jamaica, was appointed master in chancer^' and was promised further advancement, but the con- tinued illness of his wife determined him to take £700, his portion of the patrimony, and find a home in America. On June 8, 1783, he settled in Philadelphia and took the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was not then admitted to the bar on account of a law reciuiring a two years" residence, and he became clerk in the office of the commissioner for set- tling the accounts of the commi.ssary and ijuarter- master's departments in the Revolutionary army. In July, 1785, he was admitted as an attorney and counsellor in the supreme court of Penn.syl- vania. He added to his income by writing plays for Mr. Lewis Hallam, the theatrical manager, and contributing to several literary perio<lical.s, including the Cnhimhinn Ma<in.-ine, which was published under his management. He partici-