Page:One of a thousand.djvu/175

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DAMRELL. DAMRELL. I6l His first connection in business was with his father in the leather business, a short time only, then as clerk to Gove Brothers & Co., Boston, then as salesman to E. B. Hull & Co., Boston, all in the same busi- ness. From this situation he entered the army in 1861, as sergeant, and was mus- tered out as 1st lieutenant in 1864, having served the full term under the three years' call. In March, 1877, he was appointed com- mander of the 2d corps of cadets, and was a member of Gov. Long's staff, being ap- pointed colonel and inspector, December 10, 1881. This office he resigned January 3. 1S83. On January 4, 1883, he was appointed by Gov. Butler adjutant-general of the State of Massachusetts, with rank of briga- dier-general, which position he still holds. Gen. Dalton was married in Salem, March 9, 1863, to Hannah F., daughter of W. F. and Abigail Nichols, of Salem. His family consists of a daughter and son : Edith B. and R. Osborn Dalton. DAMRELL, JOHN STANHOPE, son of Samuel and Ann (Stanhope) Damrell, was born in Boston, June 29, 1828. He attended the public schools of Boston and Cambridge, and worked on a farm in Haverhill until he was ten years of age. His first connection in business was with Isaac Melvin of Cambridge, to whom he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a carpenter. He then came to Boston as a master builder, and in 1856 he formed a partnership with James Long, continuing until the dissolution of the co-partnership in 1874. During an interregnum of three years he made no contracts nor built any buildings, by reason of attachments being placed upon his real estate and working capital, on account of his connection with the explosion of buildings with powder at the great Boston fire in 1872. In 1877 he was appointed by the mayor of Boston as inspector of buildings, which office he holds at the present time. April n, 1850, at Cambridge, he was married to Susan Emily, daughter of John and Susan Snelling (Monks) Hill. The fruits of this marriage were five children : Eliza Ann, John E. S., Carrie M., Charles S. and Susan Emily, of whom only the two sons are now living. It is in the fire department that Mr. Damrell has done conspicuous service and won an enviable reputation. He took an interest in fire matters in his early boyhood, his father and brother being members of the Boston fire department. He joined " Hero Engine Company No. 6," in 1848, and continued through all the grades of membership and official position until 1S58, when he was elected an assistant engineer. In 1 868 he was elected chief engineer of the department, and thus continued until 1874, when the department was placed under a commission. From first to last Captain Damrell has been universally conceded to be a master of the science of the extinguishment of fires, and an expert of advanced ideas con- nected with that important service. He was unanimously elected president of a convention of chief engineers called at Baltimore in 1874 in consequence of the sweeping conflagrations that had taken place in the cities of Portland, Chicago and Boston. He was the first president of the Massachusetts State Firemen's Association. He has also served as president of the Firemen's Charitable Association, Boston Firemen's Mutual Relief Association, Boston Veteran Firemen's Association, and is to-day actively connected with these and kindred organizations. JOHN S. DAMRELL. He has also been connected with the state militia, serving as lieutenant of the old Mechanic Rifles of Boston, an honorary member of the National Lancers, and has been a member of the Ancient and Honor-