Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/234

 DENLSOX

DENNIS

DENISON, Mary Andrews, aiitlior. was born in Cambn.l-c. Ma.ss., Mav •.'. 1!S2»); daughter of Thomas .It'lferson uiul Julia (^Kobbin.s) Andrews; graiiddau;;liler of liobert K. Kobbins. and a descendant of Capt. Joseph Robbnis who came to America alwut 178."). She was eihu-ated in the Ii<>st«Mi pulilic schools and in 1840 was married to Charles Wheeler Denison, at that time assist- ant editor of the Olive Branchy to which she l>ecamo a regular contributor. In 1853 she ac- comjKinied her husband to Britisli Guiana, where ho wa.-i U.S. consul, and while tlicrc contributed letters to various jteriodicals and newspapers. Jklany oi' her works were written under the jien- iiame "Clira Vance." She was a charter niemlM>r of the League of American penwomen, and was elected its corresponding secretary. Her published volumes include: Jlome Pictures (1853); ]Miat Not if Carrie Hamilton; Old Jlep.seij, a Tale of the South (1858); Days and Ways of the Cocked Jlats ^^ISGO); Opposite the Jail (1860); Antoinette (18G0); The Yotunj Sergeant (1861); 2'he Master (186i); LieiUenant Messenger (1863); The Mad Jfunlers (1863); Little Folks at lledbow (1864): Out of Prison (1864); The Lovers' Trials (1865); Bessie Brown (1866); The Blind Princess (1866); Andy Liittrell (1869); Kept from Idols (1870); Strawberry mil (1870); Chantry's Boy (1872); Stolen from Jlome (1873); John Dane (1874); That Husband of Mine (1874); Sunshine Cottage (1875); Hidden Treasure (1877); That Wife of Mine (1877); Poth- inell (1878); Mr. Peter Creicett (1878); Erin go Bragh (1879); Like a Gentleman (1881); No Mother JJke Mine (1881); Glennandale (im'Z); Grandmother Xormandy (1882); Old Folly and Its Inhabitants (1883); His Triumph (1883); Talbury Girls (1884); Z?a r/.nra (1884); What One Boy Can Do (1886); // She Will, She Will (1891); An Evei-y Day Heroine (1896); Cnptnin Molly (1897). Of tliese books, That Hu.ihand of Mine liad plienomenal success.

DENNIE, Joseph, journalist, was born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 30, 1768. He was gradu- ated from Harvard in 1790 and was admitted to the I>ar in 1793. In 1795 he became editor of the Farvvrs' W'ekly Musernn, which lie continued for three years. In 1799 he removed to Philadelphia, ■wliere for a brief period he acted as private sec- retary to Secretary of State Thomas Pickering. He edited the United States Gazette and in 1801 founded the Portfolio, of which lie was editor during the rest of his life, using the pen-name, " Oliver Old School." His best known work is a serie.s of essays. The Lay Preachn- (Walpole. 1790; later .series. Philadelphia, 1817). He died in Philadelphia, Pa., .Tan. 7, 1812.

DENNIS, George Robertson, .senator, was horn in "Wiiite Haven, Somer.set county. Md., April 8, 1M22; son of John Up.shur and Maria (Robertson) Dennis, and grand.son of Judge

Littleton and Elizabeth (Upshur) Dennis. Don- nach Dennis, the lirst American ancestor, settled in Somerset county in 1600 and from him de- scended the Denni.ses of Maryland. George Robertson was graduated at the Rensselaer poly- technic institute, Troy, N.Y., in 1839; from the medical department of the University of Virginia; and received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1843. He practised medicine at Kingston, Md., for many years, later devoting liimself to agriculture. In politics he was suc- cessively a Whig, a Native American, and after 1861, a Democrat. He was a delegate to the American national convention of 1856 which nominated Fillmore and Donelson; was vice- president of the Democratic national convention of 1868, which nominated Seymour and Blair; and was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at St. Louis in 1876 which nominated Tilden and Hendricks. He was a state senator in 1854 and in 1871; a state rei^resentative in 1867, and United States senator from Maryland, 1872-78. He died at Kingston, Md., Aug. 13, 1882.

DENNIS, John, representative, was born at " Beverly, ■' Worcester county, Md., Dec. 17, 1771; son of Littleton and Susanna (Upshur) Dennis; and a descendant in the fourth degree from Don- nach Dennis, the first settler in Maryland, 1666. His mother was a daughter of Col. John Upshur of Northampton county, Va. He was prepared for college at Washington academy, Somerset county, Md., and entered Yale, but was not graduated. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1793, and practised in Somerset county. He was a representative from Maryland in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th congresses, 1797-1807, and was re-elected to the 10th congress. In congress he was one of the five Federalists who withheld their vote in 1801 and thus enabled Thomas Jefferson to be elected President of the United States over Aaron Burr. He was a member of the judiciary committee that framed the present judiciary system of the United States and in the debates attending its passage was one of its ablest advocates. He was married to Elinor, daughter of Henry Jackson, an English- man, who settled in Somerset county, Md. On his way to take his seat in the 10th congress, to convene Oct. 20, 1807, lie died in Philadelphia, Pa., and was buried in the Old Christ Church burying ground in that city. The date of his death is Aug. 17, 1807.

DENNIS, John, representative, was born at "Becklord,'" Somerset county, Md., in 1807; son of the Hon. John and Elinor (Jackson) Dennis. His father was a representative in the 5-9th con- gresses, 1797-1807. The son was prepared for college at Washington academy in his native <;ounty and matriculatetl at the College of New