Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/246

 DE 8MET

l)H TRUBUIAND

Daniel and Rnth (Christopher) Deshon; and a de- bceiidaiit of Elder Hrewsier of the Maijjlower. He was graduated from the U.S. nulitary aeadeniy in 1{W3, seeond in a class of thirty nine, and was assistant ordnance olticer at Watervliet arsenal, N. Y.. 1S4;J— 41; assistant professor of natural and ext)eriniental philosophy at West Point, 1844 -4."3; iissistant ordnance ollicer at Watervliet, 1845-46; prinoi|xil assistant professor of geography, history and ethics at West Point, 18415-49 ; and assistant ordnance orticer at the Washington, D.C.. arsenal, 18.")0-ol. and at the Allegheny, Pa., arsenal, 1851. He wiis promoted 1st lieutenant, July 10, 1851, and resigne 1 from the army, Oct. 31, 1851. He then studied theology and was ordained a Roman Githolic prie.st, Oct. 31, 1855. He was a member of the Congregation of Redemptorists, 1852-59, and of Paulists from their foundation in 1859. He sui)erinteuded the construction of the Chmch of the Congregation of St. Paul in New York city. In 1897. upon the death of Father He wit, Superior- general of the Paulist fathers, Father Deshon, the last of the original founders of the order, was elected as his successor to serve nine years. He wrote Guide for Catholic Yvunij ]Vomeii (18G0).

DE SMET, Peter John, missionary, was born in Termonde, Belgium, Dec. 31, 1801. He was educiited at the .seminary of Mechlin and deter- mined to devote his life to missionary work among the American Indians. He accompanied Bishop Nerinx to America, sailing from Amster- dam in 1821 and landing in Philadelphia. He entered a Jesuit novitiate in Maryland where he remained two years, when the house was broken up and Bishop Dubourg induced him to accom- pany him to Florissant, where he completed his course and took his vows. He went to St. Louis, Mo., in 1828, helijed to found the University of St. Louis, and afterward was a professor there. He established a mission on Sugar Creek, built a cliapel, log houses and a schoolhouse, and was assisted by Father Verreydt and a lay brother. He converted most of the Pottawattamie tribe and in 1840 he went with the annual caravan of the American fur company to the camp at Peter Valley where he instructed the Flathead Indians, 1600 having assembled there to meet him. He translated the creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the commandments into their language and in two weeks the Indians had committed them to memory. In IH-H, with two missionaries and three lay brothers, he crossed the Platte and at Fort Hall met 800 Flathead Indians who had travelled 800 miles to e.scort them. He estab- lished a mission village on Bitter Root river and named it St Mary's, where they built a church and houses. De Sniet. on his way to Fort Van- couvfT ^^■h'•^^- he sought provisions, visited the

several tribes and learned their dialects and afterward translated the catechism and parts of the prayer book for their use. Not finding supplies at Fort Vancouver, he crossed the wil- derness to St. Louis and thence by way of New Orleans to France and Belgium to obtain help for his missions. He so far succeeded that he left Antwerp in December, 1843, with five Jesuit priests and six sistere, reaching Fort Vancouver in August, 1844, where they established a mission. He revis'ted Europe for help several times and became a great power among the Indians, main- taining peace and settling many serious out- breaks. He was chaplain in the Utah expedition and opened missions in the territory. He was made a knight of the order of Leopold by the King of Belgium. He published among other books: The Oregon Missions and Travels Over the Bocky Mountains; Indian Letters and Sketches; Western 3Iissions and 3Iissionaries ; and New Indian Skf'trhes. He died in St. Louis, Mo., in May. 1872.

DESTV, Robert, law writer, was born in Can- ada, Feb. 17, 1827. His real name was Robert Dail- lebout d'Estimauville de Beaumauchal. He stud- ied law in New Y^ork city and was admitted to the bar, afterward teaching school in Pennsylvania. He served in the Mexican war and in 1849 went to California with the gold seekers. He settled in one of the northern counties of the state and acted as district attornej'^ until 1868, when he removed to San Francisco, whei'e he did some editorial work on " Parker's California Digest " (1869). From that time on he devoted his whole time to legal writing and in 1882 removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he edited the Federal Reporter. In 1887 he removed to Rochester, N.Y., and identified himself with the Lawyer's co-operative publishing company. He was also for a time the editor of the Western Reporter, and later took up the work of annotation on the " Lawyer's Reports Annotated," having sole charge of volumes 1-13 (1888-91). In 1891 he turned his attention to the preparation of a work on. contract law, which was nearly completed at the time of his death. Among his other publications are: California Citations (1874) ; a supplement to Parker's Califor- nia Digest (1875); Federal Procedtn-e (1875); Ship- ping and Admiralty (1879) ; The Federal Constitution (1879); California Constitution (1879); Commerce and Navigation (1880) ; Penal Code, California (L881); Treatise on Criminal Laio (1882); Treatise on Taxation (2 vols., 1884); and Parker's .supple- ment to UittelVs General Laics (edited 1871). He died in Rochester, NY, Sept. 27, 1895.

DE TROBRIAND, Philllpe Regis, soldier, was born in the ('bateau des Rocliettes. near Tours, France, June 4, 1816; son of Gen. Joseph de Trobriand. He became a page of Charles X., then king of FY.uice and was brought up at