DEUSTER
DEVENS
Toya^o to abandon his roUeoting tour and enter
uiKnx the practice of liis jirt)tV.s.sit)ii in America.
Ho liK-ated ill Allciitown, I'a., uiul in 1818 re-
moved to llellertowu. where he was married to
Eiizjibeth Appel. He was the first physician in
America to practise honioeopatliy, beginning to
use tiiat system in 1828. In 18;{5 lie founded a
medical college at AUentown, l*a., the first of
the "new scliool ' in the United States. In
1844 he aided in establisliing the American in-
stitute of hoiiuL'opatiiy and in 1802 was chosen a
fellow and corresponding member of the Homoe-
opatiiic medical college of Pennsylvania. He
was one of the organizers of the Thomas Iron
company of Hokendauqua, Pa., and of the
Bingen (Pa.) iron comjiany, and was president
of the latter. After the death of his wife in
184;J he visited Europe and on his return settled
at Eiiston, Pa. At the time of his death he was
probably the oldest practitioner in the world.
He died at Easton. Pa., April 21, 1887.
DEUSTER, Peter Victor, representative, was born in Ai.\ la C'liapelle, Rhenish Prussia, Ger- many, Feb. 13, 1831. He immigrated to America in 1847, and located in Milwaukee, Wis., where lie learned the trade of printer. He became editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel in 18.'5G; was a member of the state assembly, 1868; a state senator, 1870-71; a Democratic repre.sent- ative in the 46th, 47th and 48th congresses. 1879-85, and was defeated for the 49th congress. He was subsequently editor and one of the pro- prietors of the Seebote, a Democratic daily and semi-weekly newspaper published at Milwaukee in the German language.
DEVENS, Charles, cabinet officer, was born in Charlestown, Ma.ss., April 4, 1820; son of Cliarles and Mary (Lithgow) Devens, and grand- son of Richard Dev- ens, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and of Col. Arthur Lithgow of Augusta, Elaine. He was grad- uated at Harvard in arts in 1838, and in law in 1840, and prac- tised his profession first in Northfield and later in Green- field, Ma.ss. He was a state senator, 1848- 49, and U.S. marshal for the di.strict, 1849- 53, under appointment of Pre.sident Fillmore. In this position it became his duty to execute the process under which Sims, the fugitive slave, was returned to liis owner, and in 1877, when attorney-general of the United States, he ap-
/i/ti^^"^^-
pointed Sims to a position in the department of
justice. He resumed the practice of law in 1854
locating at Worcester, Mass. He enlisted in the
Federal army in 1861, and on April 19 was made
major of the 3d battalion rifles, and on Julj^ 26
was promoted colonel of the 15th Mass. volun-
teers. He was wounded at Ball's Bluff, Va.,
Oct. 21, 1862, and was with McClellan at York-
town, where he was brevetted brigadier-general
during the siege, and assigned to a brigade in
Couch's division, 4th army corps. At Fair Oaks
he was severely wounded; at Antietam he had a
horse shot under him; for gallant conduct at
Fredericksburg he received commendations from
the division commander, and at Chancellorsvilie
he commanded a division of the 11th corps and
was again wounded. On his return to the field
in 1864 he commanded the third division, 24th
corps, and liis troops were the first to occupy
Richmond after its evacuation. Ujjon the rec-
ommendation of General Grant he was brevetted
major-general of volunteers in April, 1865, for
"gallantry and good conduct at the capture of
Richmond." He commanded the military dis-
trict of Charleston, S.C, 1865-66, was mustered
out of service at his own request in June, 1866,
and returned to the practice of his profession.
He served as a judge of the superior court of
Massachusetts, 1866-73, by appointment of Gov-
ernor Bullock, and as a judge of the supreme
judicial court of Massachusetts in 1873 by ap-
pointment of Governor Washburn. He resigned
from the bench March 10, 1877, to become attor-
ney-general of the United States in the cabinet
of President Hayes. At the close of the admin-
istration he was appointed by Governor Long to
the supreme bench of the state, and held the
position at the time of his death. He was com-
mander-in-chief of the G.A.R. in 1874; a member
of the Massachusetts hi.storical society; presi-
dent and chief orator at the 250th anniversary of
Harvard college, 1889; and received the degree
of LL.D. from Columbian university in 1876, and
from Harvard in 1877. He delivered noteworthy
addresses at the dedit-ation of the .soldiers' monu-
ments at Boston and Worcester; on the occasion
of the centennial celebration of the battle of
Bunker Hill; on the occasions of the death of
Gen. George G. Meade and of Gen. U. S. Grant;
and to his regiment after the battle of Ball's
Bluff. A heroic size bronze statue by Olin L.
Warner, sculptor, was erected to his memory on
the state house grounds, Boston, by the state of
Massachusetts, the legislature aj)propriatiiig $15,-
000 for the purpo.se. His brother, Arthur Lithgow
Devens, was graduated at Harvard in 1840; re-
ceived his LL.B. degree in 1843, and died in
Boston, Mass., in 1867. General Devens died in
Boston, Mass., Jan. 7, 1891.