Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/230

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DE LUNIJ


DEMAREST


r


act of conprress. assumed authority for prosecut- ini; a three years* voyage of explonvtion in the Arctic regious. The authorities selected the lieriuK strait route and Lieutenant De Lon<; wjis jilaced in connujind of the ex- jwilition which was equipped and manned with twenty-eight able seamen and five oHicers selected from the U.S. navy list. The vessel sailed from San Francisco, Cal., July 8, 1879, reach- ing Herald Island, 71°35'N. 75°W.,Sept. 5, 1879. Here the Jeannctte took the ice pack and drifted 600 miles to the northwest by a course covering twice that distance, and on June 13, 1)S81, the vessel was crushed by the ice in 77'^ 15' N. ISo"^ E., 150 miles from the nearest known land and 300 miles from the main land (Asia). By sledge and boat the party reached Bennett Island July 28, and Thaddeus Island, one of the New Siberian group, Aug. 20, 1881. Here they formed three boats' crews imder command res[>ectively of De Long, Lieutenant Chipp and Engineer Melville. On September 12, Chipp's boat was lost in a gale. Melville reached the village of Delta, and De Long, Dr. Ambler and twelve others reached the land at the mouth of the Lena river, September 17, after travelling 2800 miles, although the spot on which they landed was only 500 miles from the point at which the ship had been crushed. Here they abandoned the l»oat and travelled overland on foot carrying their sick, and the valuable records of the voy- age. Within twenty-five miles of a Siberian set- tlement they halted Oct. 9, 1881, unable to go further. Two of the party. Noros and Ninder- mann, had been sent in advance to seek relief, and of the entire party they alone survived, the other twelve perishing of exposure and starva- tion. The last record in De Long's journal was made Oct. 30. IH^l. Lieutenant Melville with a searching party found the dead bodies and the records, March 23, 1882. and by orders from the U.S. government the bodies of De Long and his eleven companions were brought to New York where they were buried with honor, Feb. 22, 1884. After a protracted and thorough investi- gation, the court of inquiry appointed, said: "Special commendation is due Lieutenant-Com- mander De Long for the high qualities displayed by him in the conduct of the expedition." A modelled bronze with medallion portrait sur-


rounded by four scenes from his disastrous ex- j)etlition: The Departure, Crushed, Bennett's Island, and The Last Entry, was placed by the class of 1865 on the walls



'I^'


of the chapel of the Naval acad- k emy, Annap- olis, a me- morial to their classmate. See l|! The Voyage of .^ the Jeannette, comprising his journals, edited by Mrs. Emma J. (Wotton) De Long, his widow (1883): In the Lena Delta by George W. Melville (2 vols., 1884); and Onr Lost Explorers (1888). Lieutenant De Long died in Siberia, Oct. 30, 1881.

DEMAREST, David D., educator, was born in Harrington township, Bergen count}-, N.J., July 30, 1819; son of Daniel P. and Leah (Bogert) Demarest; grandson of Peter P. and Leah Dein- arest; and a descendant of David des Marest, born in Picardy about 1620. The family came to America in 1663. He received a conmion school education and was prepared for college at New Brunswick, N.J. He Avas graduated from Rut- gers in 1837, and from the Theological seminary of the Reformed Dutch church. New Brunswick, N.J., in 1840. He was licensed to preach by the classis of New Brunswick; was assistant pastor at Catskill, N. Y., in 1841; pastor of the Reformed Dutch church at Flatbush, N.Y., 1841-43; pastor at New Brunswick, N.J., 1843-52; and at Hudson, N.Y., 1852-65. In 1865 he was elected professor of pastoral theology and sacred rhetoric in the Theological seminary at New Brunswick. He was clerk of the general synod of the Reformed Dutch church from 1862 to 1869; was elected a trustee of Rutgers college in 1858, and became secretary of its board of trustees in 1866. He received from the College of New Jersey the degree of D.D. in 1857, and from Rutgers that of LL.D. in 1892. He is the author of: lieligion in Politics ( 1856); The Be formed Ch urch in America: Its Origin, Development and Characteristics (1856, 4th ed., ISSQ); History of the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick (1884); The Huguenots on the Ilackensack (188Q); Dort and Westminster (1890); and numerous sermons, addresses and articles. He died at New Brunswick, N.J., June 21, 1898.

DEMAREST, John Terhune, clergyman, was born at Teaneck, N.J., Feb. 20, 1813; son of Sam- uel S. and Annatje Demarest; and a descendant of David des Marest and Marie Sohier, who came to America in 1663. He was graduated at Rutgers college in 1H34 and from the Th.eological seminary at New Brunswick, N.J., in 1837. He was ordained to the Reformed Dutch ministry