Life span: 01/24/1826 to 01/01/1897Dickinson Connection: Class of 1848; Trustee, 1864-1876, 1894-1897TabsLife SummaryFull name: William DanielPlace of Birth: Deal Island, MDBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: EstimatedGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Slave StateEducation: Dickinson (Carlisle College)Occupation: PoliticianAttorney or JudgeRelation to Slavery: White non-slaveholderPolitical Parties: RepublicanAmerican Party (Know Nothings or Nativists)OtherOther Political Party: Prohibition PartyOther Affiliations: Temperance (Prohibition)Government: State legislature Note Cards William Daniel (Dickinson Chronicles) ScholarshipWilliam Daniel was born on remote Deal's Island in Somerset County, Maryland on January 24, 1826. He was educated locally and then matriculated at Dickinson with the class of 1848. While at the College he was a member of the Union Philosophical Society. Following graduation he studied law and began practice in Maryland in 1851. He was elected to the state legislature in 1853 and, following attempts to bring local choice temperance laws to the floor, was reelected as a member of the American Party, moving to serve the Maryland Senate in 1858. He resigned before the year was out, moved to Baltimore, and became an avid anti-slavery Republican. During the Civil War, he took part in the Maryland constitutional convention on the emancipation of the slaves in the state. He also continued his energetic work to bring local choice prohibition to Maryland. When the Maryland Temperance Alliance was formed in 1872, he became its president. Local choice eventually became law in the state with thirteen of the twenty-three counties opting for temperance. By 1876 a National Prohibition Party had been formed and Daniel served as chairman of its July 1884 convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That same gathering nominated him as vice-president of the United States on the presidential ticket of Governor John P. St. John of Kansas. The success of the ticket was marginal but a crowded and controversial election perhaps meant crucial Republican votes lost to the Prohibition Party ticket contributed to the narrow Democratic victory. Daniel served two terms as a trustee of Dickinson College, from 1864 to 1867 and from 1896 till his death the following year at the age of 74.John Osborne and James W. Gerencser, eds., “William Daniel,” Dickinson Chronicles, http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/d/ed_danielW.html. Events Major TopicsDickinson CollegeKnow Nothings Documents Images William Daniel William Daniel, detail Bibliography
William Daniel (Dickinson Chronicles) ScholarshipWilliam Daniel was born on remote Deal's Island in Somerset County, Maryland on January 24, 1826. He was educated locally and then matriculated at Dickinson with the class of 1848. While at the College he was a member of the Union Philosophical Society. Following graduation he studied law and began practice in Maryland in 1851. He was elected to the state legislature in 1853 and, following attempts to bring local choice temperance laws to the floor, was reelected as a member of the American Party, moving to serve the Maryland Senate in 1858. He resigned before the year was out, moved to Baltimore, and became an avid anti-slavery Republican. During the Civil War, he took part in the Maryland constitutional convention on the emancipation of the slaves in the state. He also continued his energetic work to bring local choice prohibition to Maryland. When the Maryland Temperance Alliance was formed in 1872, he became its president. Local choice eventually became law in the state with thirteen of the twenty-three counties opting for temperance. By 1876 a National Prohibition Party had been formed and Daniel served as chairman of its July 1884 convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That same gathering nominated him as vice-president of the United States on the presidential ticket of Governor John P. St. John of Kansas. The success of the ticket was marginal but a crowded and controversial election perhaps meant crucial Republican votes lost to the Prohibition Party ticket contributed to the narrow Democratic victory. Daniel served two terms as a trustee of Dickinson College, from 1864 to 1867 and from 1896 till his death the following year at the age of 74.John Osborne and James W. Gerencser, eds., “William Daniel,” Dickinson Chronicles, http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/d/ed_danielW.html.