DAWSON
DAWSOX
regular edition of the Xcirs aiul Courier was
issued September 1, and the following day, when
neither printers nor pressmen could be induced
to enter the building, Captain Dawson, aided
only by one small boy. ran off tlie entire edition.
In 1876 he incurred the severest criticism bj' de-
clining a challenge from Gen. M. C. Butler, the
]>ractice of duelling being directly against his
principles. Captain Dawson used the opportu-
nity for a crusade which resulted in a law de-
claring duelling to be a felony against the state.
For this service Pope Leo XIII. made him a
knight of the order of St. Gregory the Great.
He was married to Sarah Morgan, and after the
death of her husband Mrs. Dawson devoted her-
self to literary work and to the care of her inher-
ited interest in the Xeics and Courier. Captain
Dawson was shot in the back and instantly
killed while endeavoring to secure immunity for
his children's maid from repeated insulting ad-
vances made by an unprincipled man. He died
in Charleston, S.C, March 12, 1889.
DAWSON, George, journalist, was born in Falkirk. Scotland, March 14, 1813. He was brought to America in 1818 by his parents, who settled at Buffalo, X.Y. He found employ- ment in the office of the Xiagara Gleaner in 1824 and in 1826, on the removal of the familj- to Rochester, he was apprenticed in the office of the Anti-JIasonic Enquirer, Thurlow Weed, editor. By private studj- he became proficient in belles- If-flrtfi, history and political economy. In 1831 he became foreman iu the office of the Albany Eceniuij Journal which Mr. Weed had previously established. For five years he filled the position of foreman besides reporting the legislature. In 1836 he removed to Rochester as editor of the Daily Democrat, and in 1839 to Detroit, Mich., as editor of the Daily Advertiser. While in Detroit he was made state printer. In 1842 he returned to Rochester as editor of the Daily Democrat and in 1846 Mr. Weed, who had removed to Albany, made him associate editor of the Evening Journal. In 1862 Mr. Dawson succeeded to the editorial charge of the Evening Journal, retiring in 1871, and resuming editorial charge in 1880. He was po.stmaster of Albany, 1861-67, and was a member of the printing firm of Weed, Parsons & Co., holding his interest at his death, when it was entrusted to the charge of his son, Burritt S. Dawson, who was also a member of the firm. He was an enthusiast in church work and chari- ties in connection with the Bapti.st denomina- tion as teacher, superintendent and lay-preacher. He was interested in the public and commercial enterprises in Albany and held jwsitions as park commissioner, and director in financial insti- tutions. He published : TIte Pleasures of Angling (1876). He died in Albany, N.Y., Feb! 17, 1883.
DAWSON, Henry Barton, historian, was born
in Gosberton, Englantl, June S, 1821. His par-
ents immigrated to the United States in 1834 and
settled in New York. He was educated at the
public schools, and in 1840 began regular news-
paper work on the metropolitan journals. In
184.5—46 he assumed editorial charge of the Crystal
Fount published in the interest of the temper-
ance cause. He contributed a history of the
New York citj- park and its vicinity to the
Corporation Manual (1855), and in 1858 issued
the first numbers of " Battles of the United
States bj- Sea and Land." His criticisms of the
merits of Gen. Israel Putnam called out a con-
troversy in the Connecticut papers, afterward
published in book form and sold at a fabulous
price. The state of Connecticut took action on
the matter of its historical accuracy and made
it the subject of special legislation. He made
from the original vouchers in the city archives,
a transcript of the receipts and disbursements
for municipal purposes during the occupation of
the city by the British troops, 1776-83, which
was published in 1862. He edited the Fed'-ralist
in 1863 by restoring the original text and elimi-
nating unconfirmed and unauthorized additions,
and the controversy as called forth by his work,
especially that with the Jay and Hamilton fami-
lies, led to a series of letters which he published
as "Current Fiction Tested by Uncurrent
Facts" (1864). He became editor of the Yon-
kers Gazette in 1865 and added to it a historical
and biographical feature of much interest. He
assumed editorial charge of the Historical Maga-
zine in 1876. He also published: Becollections
of tlie Jersey Prison Ship, etc. (1866) ; Putgers
against Waddington (1866); and Westchester County
in the Pevolntion (1886). He died in Morrisania,
N.Y., May 23, 1889.
DAWSON, John, representative, was born in Virginia in 1762; son of Mai^tin Daw.son who came from Scotland with his Welsh wife about 1745. He was graduated at Harvard in 1782 and became a lawyer in his native state. He was a presidential elector from Virginia in 1783. a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and a member of the hou.se of burgesses. He served in the executive council, and rejjresented the state in the 5th-13th congresses, 1797-1814. In 1801 he was the bearer of despatches from President Adams to the government of France, and in 1813 he served as an aide to Gen. Jacob Brown, commander-in-chief of the U.S. army. He died in Washington, D.C.. March 30, 1814.
DAWSON, John B., representative, was born in Nashville, Tenn., in 1800. He was educated at Centre college. Ky.. and settled in St Francis- ville, La., where he was a planter, a judge of the parish court, a member of the state legisla-
