San Francisco Call, Volume 80, Number 19, 19 June 1896 — GENERAL DIMOND DIES IN NEW YORK. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GENERAL DIMOND DIES IN NEW YORK.

His Leading Career in Civil and Military Life. SERVICE AT THE FRONT. He Tendered \ a Company . -; of Troops to President Lincoln. NATIONAL GUARD DUTIES. Ex-Superintendent of the Hint and President of the Chamber of Commerce. Major-General William i Henry Dimond, division commander of the National Guard of California and* one of the bestknown merchants of San Francisco, died

at the Gilsey House, New York, yesterday morning at 7:30 o'clock. During his last days, while he lay unconscious, his life gradually passing away, he was attended by his son, Harry Dimond, also by business partners in New York and one of his old family physicians.

. General Dimond had been failing in health for years, and some months ago his constitution began to weaken perceptibly, so on the advice of his physicians he surrendered active business employment at his office. He had two or three sinking spells of late, and members of his family were pained by premature newspaper articles to the eftect that he was dying.

When General Dimond left San Francisco early in June expecting to sail from New York to "Europe, - June 13, he appeared to ; be able to stand the journey without distress. , He ; was accompanied by his son, Harry Dimond. The disease, an ailment of the kidneys, akin to Bright- disease, assumed a dangerous phase- immediately after his arrival in New York, and it was .soon plain that, he could not undergo' the voyage across the Atlantic. He, had survived several attacks which threatened to sever the thread of life and displayed such wonderful recuperative energy that his son, Edwin R. Dimond, and ■ his . business associates, Messrs. ChesebrougU, Sewell and. Clarke, entertained hopes for several days that the general would again rally. y. ..,-. y, William Henry Dimond was born in Honolulu, November 11, 1838, and was therefore in his 58th year. His father, a man of New England birth, went to Hawaii as a missionary. General Dimond's ancestors, dating back to his great, greatgrandfather,' were New England people, who participated in the French and Indian wars and y valiantly fought in : the Revolutionary war for American independence. 'His great-grandfather, Jesse Dimond, served -. in - the war of : 1812-15, fighting against the British. When the great civil war of 1861 came in the United States, William Henry Dimond was living in Hawaii. He espoused the cause of the Union and tendered his services to President Lincoln, offering to bring 100 men with him. At that particular time England was seeking a pretext to quarrel with tbe United States, so Secretary Seward ' advised , against 'j the acceptance of volunteers recruited on a foreign shore, and Dimond's offer was kindly declined by President Lincoln. y yAs the war progressed young Dimond resolved to enter the contest himself, so he traveled 7000 miles from Honolulu to Washington and asked; to be assigned to duty. He was commissioned 'captain and ordered for .* duty ; on > the ! staff ; of „ MajorGenerel Rufus Saxton, then \ commanding the Federal *. force with •■"' headquarters *at Beaufort,- S. C. After ,; the * surrender of Lee and : Johnston Captain Dimond .< resigned,' declining to accept a commission in the regular army. y .„',' , V "■ After the war he made a tour of Europe and then resumed his ; business : career in Honolulu. In 1867 he came to San Francisco, establishing ~; business connections with ; the "firm] of * Williams, Blanchard & Co. - In 1880, on the ; retirement of , Mr. Blanchard, the firm '\ became : Williams, Dimond & Co. :^ :y?X,X :Y~ -X ' '-'• AX-\ .In 1880 he was appointed ;: lieutenantcolonel on the staff of Governor George C. Perkins, and on December 1881 he was commissioned '* brigadier-general, y Second Brigade, N. i. G. C., succeeding . General John McComb, who ; bad ? been appointed warden of the Folsom Prison. He was re-" appointed brigadier-general by Governor Bartlett. and appointed major-general of the ! division rby Governor,*; Waterman: on September. 28,' 1887. He was i reappointed major-general by, Governor Markham.and held that rank at the time of } his death, as 'his resignation," tendered ■ a short ' time

since, : > was hot accepted *by ..'-.'• Governor Budd.y V y , " y ■ yy/Y-YYYY'y .'•' General Dimond was an active companion of ;. the Loyal ;; Legion, and was elected commander of the California Commandery of the order in 1882. He was a comrade of the Grand Arm y of the Republic, belonging to George H. Thomas Post, He was chairman! of the finance committee of the National encampment held in San Francisco, and rendered excellent service. He also served one campaign as chairman of the Republican State .Central '; Committe. He served three years as Park Commissioner, resigning that "•' position * when he was appointed by President Harrison on lhe recommendation of United States Senator Stanford Superintendent of the United States Mint in Ban Francisco. John Daggett was appointed by. President Cleveland to succeed General Dimond in the Mint. ; General Dimond's highly honorable and active career as a merchant in this City is well known. By personal y attention -to business affairs, - by .2 intelligent industry and strict integrity he gained the highest rank in '■. commercial ;. circles. yHe ; prized highly the distinction which his fellowmerchants bestowed upon him when they elected him president of the Chamber, of Commerce in 1894. ~ y Ten years ago. at the. Republican State Convention held in Los Angeles, General Dimond was a , prominent i candidate . for the gubernatoral ■ nomination." He was warmly. sustained by * large number. of delegates, but the prize was won by John Swift. He was greatly disappointed in the outcome of the proceedings, but did not sulk in his tent or threaten to bolt Two years later, in 1888, he went to the National Republican Convention at Chicago as a delegate from California. - , , Two daughters and two sons of General Dimond reside in San Francisco and one son, Henry, the eldest, lives in Honolulu. One daughter is the wife of Paul Jarboe and the other is the wife of Joseph Tobin. Edwin R. is a partner in the house of .Williams, Dimond & Co. Harry Dimond is in New York. The general's body, will be embalmed and brought to San Francisco.

It is common belief that General Dimond was fairly well to do in the sense of worldly possessions, although he was not by any means a millionaire. . He owned stock in various enterprises and controlled a large interest in the shipping and commission house of Williams, Dimond & Co. hie was a geneious man iv every sense of the term. He gave freely to his comrades of the Grand Army, and. contributed to the support '; of many local institutions. In club circles he was particularly well known. He belonged to the Pacific- Union, the Bohemian and the Union League. : His death will be greatly regretted in the National Guard, as he always manifested a deep interest in the welfare of that organization. In respect to his memory armory flags throughout ' the state were halfmasted yesterday. In due time an official order announcing his death will be promulgated from general headquarters at Sacramento. -: ■ -"; *: ■•:".' -i£-st?;':*-':' r.XIXY- X" 'YYX', The body of General Dimond, after the embalment, will be forwarded to San Francisco attended by a- proper escort. The car bearing the casket will leave New York to-day and" is expected' to reach San Francisco next Tuesday.l j A meeting of the division staff has been called by Colonel A. E. Castle, assistant adjutant-general. Y Proper :A steps will- be taken to receive the remains of the late major-general.

THE LATE MAJOR-GENERAL W. H. DIMOND.