Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/254

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DREXEL
DRISLER

that year. He was considered the best Irish co- median on the American stage. — His wife, Louisa, actress, b. in London, England, 10 .Jan., 1820, was the daughter of an English actor named Lane, and first appeared in child's parts at eight years of age. In 1828 she came to the United States with her mother, acted in New York and Phila- delphia, and then visited .Jamaica and other West India islands, returning to this country in 1832. In 1833 she again played in the New York theatres, and in 1834, at the age of fourteen, essayed the part of Julia in the " Hunchback," at the Boston theatre. In 1835 Miss Lane went to New Orleans, where she played Lady Teazle in " School for Scan- dal," and other high comedy parts ; as she says, " being leading lady at the pay of twenty dollars per week." She married Henry Hunt, a veteran English opera singer, in 1836, and in 1842-'6 ap- peared at intervals m New York city as a member of the stock companies of various theatres, sustain- ing parts in domestic dramas, burlesques, and light comedy. In 1847 she went to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Mobile, and New Orleans, where, as she says, " cold tea and molasses and water were pro- vided as beverages in plays where the business re- quired actors to partake of liquid refreshments, the management, for once, taking high temperance grounds." In 1848, after separating from her first husband, she married George Mossop, a young Irish comedian, who died in 1849, and in the following year she became the wife of Mr. Drew. In 1857 Mrs. Drew went on a tour through the country with her husband, and in 1861 she assumed the sole manage- ment of the Arch street theatre, which has since been under her conti'ol. In her j^outh, notwithstanding the grace and refinement of her manner, she was too self-conscious, and her acting displayed neither force nor originality. But study, experience, and earnest emulation have finally made her one of the most versatile and finished artists on the English- speaking stage. Her greatest successes have been in high comedy parts. She died September, 1897.


DREXEL, Francis Martin, banker, b. in Dornbirn, Austrian Tyrol. 7 April, 1792 : d. 5 June, 1863. In 1803 he was sent to study Italian and the fine arts in a Catholic institution" near Turin. On his return in 1809 he found his country invaded by the French, and to escape conscription he went to Switzerland and subsequently to Paris. In 1812 he returned to the Tyrol incognito, and, finding the conscription still in force, went to Berne and con- tinued his study of painting. He sailed for the United States in 1817, from Amsterdam, and set- tled in Philadelphia. After a few years he went to Peru and Chili, painting portraits, among which was one of Gen. Simon Bolivar, with whom he contracted a warm friendship. He visited South America twice, and went to Mexico, where he re- mained for some time. After his permanent set- tlement in Philadelphia he founded the banking house of Drexel & Co. in 1837, which represents one of the largest enterprises of that character in the United States. The Paris house, Drexel, Har- jes & Co.. was founded in 1868, and the New York house, Drexel, Rlorgan & Co., in 1871. — His son, Antliony Joseph, banker, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 182(i; d. in Carlsbad, Germany, 30 June, 1893. He was for thirty years the head of the Philadel- phia house, which he entered at the age of thirteen. He was zealous in promoting science and art, and contributed largely to philanthropic and educa- tional interests. — Another son, Joseph Wilhelm, banker, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 24 Jan.. 1833 ; d. in New York city, 25 March, 1888, was educated in the Philadelphia high-school, and travelled extensively. He retired from business in 1876. He held the offices in New York of chairman of sanitary com- mission, commissioner of education, president of the New York philharmonic society, trustee of the Metropolitan museum of art. trustee of the Na- tional academy of sciences, and director of the Met- ropolitan opera-house. Among his philanthropic interests is a 200-acre farm near New York, where persons without work are lodged, clothed, fed, and taught agriculture until places are procured for them. He owned a large tract of land in Maryland, which has been divided into lots, and houses, mills, etc., erected upon them. These farms are sold to poor persons at cost. About 7,000 acres in Michi- gan is destined for the same purpose.


DRINKER, Anna, poet, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 3 Dec, 1827. She was educated in Philadel- phia, and has resided principally in Montrose, Pa. She is best known by her pen-name, " Edith May." Her contributions to " Sartain's Magazine " and to the "Home Journal," about 1848-'50, attracted much attention. She has published " Poems by Edith May" (Philadelphia, 1854); "Tales and Verses for Children " (1855) ; and " Katy's Story."


DRISCOL, Michael, clergyman, b." in Drum- beagh, county Clare, Ireland, in 1805 ; d. in Troy, N. Y., in 1880. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1831, and was ordained in 1840. He exercised his ministry in Kentucky and New York, and attended the victims of the ship-fever in Canada. He was superior of the theological seminary at Fordham, and afterward president of St. Francis Xavier col- lege. New York. He erected the church of St. Michael in Troy, N. Y.


DRISIUS, Samuel, clergyman, b. in 1602; d. about 1673. His name is also written as Dries and Driesch. His parents were Germans, and he was educated in the German language. He was pastor of the Dutch church in London, and could preach in German, Dutch, French, and English. The West India company were anxious to have a min- ister that could occasionally officiate in English, and requested his appointment to New Amsterdam. The Classis asked him deliver a sermon before them in Dutch, iti order to test his pronunciation, and he left Holland on 4 April, 1652, and came to New Amsterdam, having charge of the church until 1673. On account of his knowledge of English he was employed as envoy to the governor of Virginia, to negotiate a treaty. He united with Megapolen- sis in protesting against the Lutherans. In order that the youth might secure a classical education in New Amsterdam, Drisius proposed to establish a Latin school. He was often called to preacii to the French and English, and for a while did so once a month to the Huguenot and Vandois set- tlers on Staten Island, but after a few years was compelled to relinquish these services on account of failing health.


DRISLER, Henry, scholar, b. on Staten Island, N. Y., 27 Dec, 1818 :*d. in New York city, 30 Nov., 1897. He was graduated at Columbia, was classical instructor in the grammar-school of the college, was appointed tutor of Greek and Latin in Columbia in 1843, adjunct professor of those languages in 1845, professor of Latin in 1857, and professor of Greek in 1867. During the absence of President Barnard in 1878 he was acting president of the university. He was engaged with Dr. Anthon in the preparation of a series of text-books, and has re-edited, with additions, Liddell and Scott's edition of Passow's Greek Lexicon, which reached a sale of 25.000 copies in two years after publication (1851-'3). He had in press a greatly enlarged edition of Yonge's English-Greek Lexicon, which