Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
David W. Dennis, A. B., A. M., Ph. D.
For twenty-five years the name of Professor David Worth Dennis has been inseparably interwoven with the history of the educational interests of Richmond. His broad intelligence, scholarly attainments and his full appreciation of the value of knowledge, as a preparation for life’s responsibilities make him one of the ablest educators who have promoted the interests of Earlham College and advanced the intellectual status of his adopted city. The ever broadening influence of his work is, of course, incalculable, for when was ever a measurement for the psychic forces of nature invented? His labors are permeated by broad humanitarian principles which render them not merely a means for gaining pecuniary returns, but a source of assistance to his fellow men, whereby he advances the scheme of our human existence, - the constant uplifting and betterment of the race.
Professor Dennis is a native of Dalton township, Wayne county, and is a son of Nathan and Evelina (Worth) Dennis. Both on the paternal and maternal sides his ancestors were from Nantucket, but his grandparents removed to North Carolina, locating in Guilford county, where the father of our subject was born in 1815, the mother in 1813. The latter was a sister of Governor Jonathan Worth, of North Carolina, whose grandson, Ensign Worth Bagley, was the first man who lost his life in the Spanish-American war. Nathan and Evelina (Worth) Dennis were married in Wayne county, Indiana, and spent the remainder of their days in Dalton township, where the father successfully carried on agricultural pursuits. He was one of the leading men of the locality, was the promoter of many local enterprises, and was an active and consistent member of the Society of Friends; he was for more than twenty-five years clerk of West River preparative meeting of ministers and elders. He was twice married, his first union being with Mary Lamar, by whom he had four children, namely: William, who died in early manhood, in 1871; Osborn, a minister of the Friends’ church in Randolph county, Indiana; Edwin, of Wabash, Indiana; and Mrs. Mary Ebrite, a resident of Muncie, Indiana. After the death of his first wife Mr. Dennis married Evelina Worth, and their only child is Professor D. W. Dennis. The father died in 1872 and the mother in 1887.
Until sixteen years of age Professor Dennis remained on his father’s farm in Dalton township, Wayne county, attending the common schools and those conducted under the auspices of the church to which his people belonged, his father being one of five men who contributed to extend the term of public schools longer than the public funds would permit, and thus gave his and other children the advantage of better educational facilities. When only seventeen years of age David W. Dennis began teaching school, which profession he followed for three years, when he further continued his own education by study in Earlham College. He was graduated in that institution when twenty-four years of age, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and since that time he has taught almost continuously in the Richmond high school and Earlham College, with the exception of one year, 1889-90, which he spent with his family in Europe. He remained for fourteen months, during which time he visited Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, England and Scotland. During six months of that time he was a student in the universities of Bonn and Edinburgh, pursuing a course of embryology in the latter, of biology in the former. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Earlham College in 1878 and that of Doctor of Philosophy at Syracuse University in 1886. For fifteen years he has occupied the chair of biology in Earlham College, and is regarded as one of the most successful and capable professors ever connected with the faculty of that institution. After his graduation he spent two years in Earlham College, then four years as a teacher in the high school at Richmond, and two years as president of Wilmington College. He then spent a year in rest and study, after which he resumed his pedagogic labors as a teacher in the Bloomingdale Academy, where he remained two years. He then returned to Earlham College, where his labors have been continuous, with the exception of the period passed in Europe. Some one has said “Travel is the source of all true wisdom,” and certainly in the year spent abroad Professor Dennis gained a broad fund of knowledge which will enrich his life and its labors for all time. To a mind of great discernment and a nature of broad and acute sympathies, the world is continually offering valuable lessons, and he availed himself of the opportunity to improve, bringing him from the Old World strong impressions and vivid and pleasant memories which are constantly coloring and enriching his view of life.
In addition to the work of the class-room, Professor Dennis lectures frequently on various general educational topics. His services in this regard are in frequent demand for teachers’ institutes, and he often illustrates his lectures with stereopticon views. He is also well known in educational circles by reason of his able articles on pedagogic and scientific subjects, - articles that frequently appear in the leading journals of the country. Not the least important branch of his work is in connection with the different clubs of Richmond organized for intellectual improvement. He has long been vice-president of the Tuesday Club, is a member of the Tourists’ Club and of the University Extension Center. He delivers many addresses in connection with the work of these organizations, and has been chairman of the program committee of the Tourists’ Club. He takes a broad-minded interest in the political situation of the Republican party, but has never sought not desired political preferment. He took a deep interest in the money question during the last campaign, is a stanch advocate of the “gold standard,” and believes most thoroughly in the territorial expansion of our government. Of the Friends’ meeting he is an active lay member and delivers many addresses before the society, on moral questions, but is not connected with the ministry.
In 1876 Professor Dennis was united in marriage, in Parke county, Indiana, to Miss Martha Curl, a daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah (Gifford) Curl, both of Parke county. One son was born to them, William Cullen, who was graduated at Earlham College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts when seventeen years of age. The following year he was graduated at Harvard College with the same degree. Although the youngest man in the class, his standing was very high. He then spent another year within the classic walls of that time-honored institution, won the degree of Master of Arts, and the honor of delivering the oration for the graduate school. He is, now at the age of nineteen, a student in the law department of Harvard. The home life of Professor Dennis and his family was ideal. The most perfect companionship existed, and so strong was the influence of the beautiful Christian character of Mrs. Dennis upon the life of this community that this work would be incomplete without the record of her life, which we herewith append. Professor Dennis is still actively carrying on his life work, continuing his labors among the young, whose thought he directs to nobler, higher things, with a realization of the truth that even intellectual attainments count for naught save as they aid in the development of an upright character.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899