Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-05-20
Col. Harrison H. Dodge Dies;
Directed Mt. Vernon So Years
Was Stricken Wih Cere.
bral Hemorrhage in
Office May 1.

Col. HARRISON Howell Dodge, dis
tinguished superintendent of Mount
Vernon, the home Of George Wash
ington, died late yesterday in Garfield
Hospital, where he had been under
treatment since being stricken with q
cerebral hemorrhage May in his
office. He was IS years old and had
been in charge of Mount Vernon since
1885,
DR.. G. G. Birdsall, his family physi-
ciaL, who has been in charge of the
case since Col. Dodge arrived at the
hospital, said the aged superintendent
had shown such marked improvement
during the past few days that he had
been allowed to sit up in bed and had
recovered the use Of his arms and
legs and had been able to talk a little
yesterday.
Col. Dodge's death came suddenly,
following a second cerebral hemorrhage
shortly after 5 pm. yesterday. DR..
Birdsall was summoned hurr1edly to
the hospital, but was unable to save
his patient.
Tentative funeral arrangements have
been made for services in st. Johns
Church in Washington at pm. to-
morrow, after which the body will be
carried in state through the Mount
Vernon grounds and on a few miles
to Pohick Church where the interment
will be in the church cemetery. Po-
hick, one of Virginia's historic
churches, numbered George Washing
ton among its parishners.
The Mount Vernon Ladies Associa-
ton, regents, holding their annual
meeting at Mount Vernon, will attend
the services at the church and the
grave in body in tribute to the be-
loved superintendent of the historic
shrine for more than so years.
Col. Dodge was born March 81,
1852, in Georgetown, the son of the
late Alexander Hamilton Dodge,
president of the old Gas Light Co.
He was educated in a private school
in Georgetown and later graduated
from Columbian College, now George
Washington University.
lac " 90 lllull leu AL 40 y W MISS
Elizabeth Knowlton, who came to the
District Of Columbia from Connecticut
as girl. Six children were born to
them, two daughters surviving. One,
Mrs. Elvin r. Heiberg, lives at the
family home, 1920 R street, while an
other daughter, Mrs. William Strong
Gushing, lives at Groton, Mass, where
her husband is head of the Groton
School. He also is surv ed by IL
grandchildren and nine ereat-grand-
children.
Mrs. Dodge, who was not told of her
husbands last illness. has been an in
valid for several years.
Appointed in 1885.
Col. Dodge was first appointed resi-
dent superintendent by the Grand
Council of the Mount Vernon Ladies
Association of the Union at a special
meeting in Philadelphia, June Is, 1885,
and assumed his duties June 80 of the
same year. He has been reappointed
by unanimous vote of the governing
body every year since that time.
He succeeded Col. J. McH. Hollings-
worth, the second superintendent of
Mount Vernon, who resigned The
first superintendent was Col. Upton H.
Herbert, who served from 1859 to 1873,
when Col. Hollingsworth took charge.
The venerable head of Americas
most famous shrine has lived to see his
charge doubled in acreage and the ad-
dition of many valued relics and i'm
provements. 1t was Col. Dodge who
brought about the restoration of the
famous bust of Gen. Washington by
the noted sculptor, Jean Houdon, in
1885, executed at Mount Vernon.
Bust Was Restored.
The bust, considered the most pre-
cious possession at the Washington es-
tate, was found by Col. Dodge to have
been cracked on one shoulder and
across the chest. The queue had part
ed and the lobe of the left ear was
broken. A slight chip at the tip of the
nose added to its disbursement, The