Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/388

 DYER

DYER

lieutenant -colonel in IHUO, and resip^ninp; in 1871. In lyTJ a new militia law was enforced and lie was placed in command of the combined artillery of the state. He wa.s a state senator in 1878. and a representative in the General as-^^embly in 1881. He wjis elected ad jut;int -general of Rliode Island, Feb. 7. 188'2. and serveil by re-election until Oct. 31. 1895. when he vohmtarily retired. In 1897 he was elected j^overnor of Rhode Island, and was re-elected in 1898 and 1899. He was married to a daujrhter of Col. William and Marj- Brayton fAntliony) Viall of Providence, R.I.

DYER, Heman, clerpjman. was Iwm in Siiaftsbury. Vt., Sept. 24, 1810: son of Henry and Samh (Coy> Dyer: jrrandsonof Edward and Eliza- beth (FL^h) Dyer, and a descendant of William and Mary Dyre. William Dyre was one of the eight- een original oNvners of the state of Rhode Island, and his wife was hanged on Boston Common, June 1, 1660, for her Quaker faith. He was grad- uated from Kenyon college, Ohio, in 1833, \ and was later or- dained a Protestant Episcopal clergyman. In 1840 he became l)rincipal of a school in Pittsburg, Pa., re- signing in 1843 to accept a chair in the Western university of Pennsylvania, of which institution he became president in 1844. In 1849 he removed to Philadelphia, Pa., where he was employed by the American Sunday school union and soon afterward became secretary and general manager of the Evangelical knowledge Sfjcietj' in New York. In 18.54 he was made edi- tor of the Episcopal Qiiarterbj lievieir, and in 1860 declined the bishopric of Kansas. He became a member of the lx)ard of missions in 1868, and in 18"J ) retired from active work. He was married in 1850. to Cornelia Catherine, daughter of Arad Joy. Trinity gave him the degree of D.D. in 1 843. He is the author of: Voice of the Lord upon the Wafers (1870): Rrrnrrl of an Active Life (1886). He difd in New York city. July '.39. 1900.

DYER, Nehemiah Mayo, naval officer, was horn in Provincetown. Ma.s.s., Feb. 19, 1839; son of Henry and Sallie (Mayo) Dyer; grandson of David and Martha (Knowles) Dyer, and of Nehe- miah Doane and Malatiah (Rich) Mayo, and a descendant of the Rev. John Mayo, from Eng- land, who was settled over the old North church, Boston. He entered the volunteer navy, April 4, 1862, as acting master's mate and served in

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that grade in the western gulf squadron until he was promoted acting ensign ft>r " gallant and meri- torious conduct " May 18, 1863. He was then appointed to the command of the EuQcnie, en- gaged in blockading off Mobile, and in despatch duty. On Jan. 12, 1864, he was promoted acting master and on July 19, 1864, was assigned to the 3lf'tacomet, in which vessel, as a consort of the Hartford, which led the attack in the passage of the forts and the capture of the Confederate fleet in Mobile bay, Aug. 5, 1864, he received in person the surrender of the gunboat Selina, after one shell from the Metacomet liad killed nine and wounded eleven of the Selina's men. He was ordered to the Hartford, Fan-agut's flag-ship, Oct. 28, 1864, and shortly afterward was given command of the Randolph, with which he co oper- ated with the forces of General Granger during the winter of 1864-65, in the operations against Mobile and Pascagoula, rendering important ser- vice in this connection in Mississippi sound and Pascagoula river. On April 1, 1865, his vessel was sunk by a tori)edo in Blakely river, during the advance ui^on the defences of Mobile. He was promoted acting volunteer lieutenant, and upon the surrender of the Confederate fleet under Commander Farrand in the Tombigbee river, he was given command successively of two of the surrendered vessels, the Black Diamond and the Morgan. In June, 1865, he was appointed to com- mand the Elk, and in July was transferred to the Stockdale and proceeded to 3Iississippi sound to protect the people along that shore. In Septem- ber he took command of the Mahaska at Appa- lachicola, Fla., and in October was transferred to the Glasf/oio at Pensacola. In April, 1866, he was ordered to report to the bureau of navigation at Washington and remained there on special duty until May, 1868. On March 12, 1868, he was com- missioned a lieutenant, and on August 27, joined the iJarotah at Yalparai.so. He was commissioned lieutenant-commander, Dec. 28, 1868, and from September, 1869, to March, 1870, comniandeil the Cfjane at Sitka, Alaska. He then joined the Pen- sacola at San Francisco, and was .soon transferred to the Ossipee with which he cruised to lower California and Mexico. In September, 1870, he was ordered to the South Pacific station; was sent home, Aug. 22, 1871, and in October. 1871, was assigned to the Charlestown na^•y yard. He