6

Hines, Author of Early Recollections of Washington City,' a large land owner in the early days of the District of Columbia. The discussion which followed was participated in by Mr. Topham, Mr. Bryan and President Clark.

172d meeting.

April 16, 1918.

After announcements by the Chair of future papers to be read before the Society, President Clark proceeded to read the communication of the evening, of which he was the author, entitled "General Roger Chew Weightman, a Mayor of the City of Washington." The paper is one of a series of biographies of local Mayors appearing at intervals in the Society's Records. The paper was discussed by Miss James, Miss Morris and Mr. Rogers.

About sixty members and guests were present.

173d meeting.

May 21, 1918.

President Clark presided at this meeting. Owing to very inclement weather, only a small audience was present. The communication of the evening was "The Birth and Growth of the Patent Office" by George W. Evans, who gave a detailed and accurate history of that branch of the government from 1790 to the present time.

The Society adjourned for the summer recess.

174th meeting.

November 26, 1918.

The opening meeting of the fall was attended by an auIdience that filled the Gold Room of the Shoreham Hotel. President Clark presided and welcomed the members and guests after the summer recess, announced the names of new members, and suggested that any remarks, corrections or additions to the papers read before the Society be reduced to writing and sent to Mr. John B. Larner, to be incorporated in the papers or used as foot notes in our Records when published.

President Clark then announced that the author of the paper intended to have been read that evening was abroad in the United States service, and that he himself would read a paper

on "General John Peter Van Ness, a Mayor of the City of Washington, His Wife Marcia, and Her Father, David Burnes." At the conclusion of the paper, seventeen colored lantern slides of prominent persons and places mentioned in the course of the paper, were exhibited. Discussion on the subject followed by Dr. Morgan and Dr. Tindall, the former also reading an original letter from David Burnes to Major L'Enfant.

Note: Owing to inability to secure a suitable place, no meeting of the Society was held in December, 1918.

IN MEMORIAM-WILLIAM HENRY DENNIS, ESQ.

BY JOHN PAUL EARNEST.

In every community there are men who make a lasting impression for good upon their fellows. They are not noisy or self-assertive and rather avoid the spectacular which to them is offensive. They exhibit in a quiet way in their daily lives those qualities of mind and heart which attract men to them and hold their respect and esteem. They are reliable, dependable men, who, by their course of conduct in life, have merited and won the respect and affection of those who have come to really know them. They are satisfied to do their duty, day by day, to the best of their ability, never seeking the acclaim of the multitude or the glare of the limelight. Such men are the backbone of every community. When such a man dies, the community in which he lived realizes what a powerful force for good he was, and the universal tribute to him is that the world is better because he lived in it. No greater tribute can be paid any man.

Such a man was William Henry Dennis, who died March 23, 1919, after an illness of only a few days.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 21, 1856, the only child of Edward Griscom and Katherine (Matthews) Dennis. His grandfather was John Dennis, at one time president of Haverford College, and on his paternal side he was descended from Quaker stock. His mother was Katherine Matthews. She was a daughter of James Matthews, of County Louth, Ireland, who came to this country with his family about the year 1847. His father, Edward Griscom Dennis, died soon after he was born. He lived with his mother in Philadelphia as a boy and attended the public schools of that city. In 1869 they came to Washington and he entered Georgetown University, from which he received the degree of A.B. in 1874, LL.B. in 1876, and M.A. in 1882. He was a diligent and suc