Henry Percival Dodge (January 18, 1870 – October 16, 1936) was a United States diplomat who served as resident minister in South America, Northern Africa, and Europe for many years.
Early life
Dodge was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 18, 1870.[1] He was a son of Henry Cleaves Dodge and Alice Almia Lamb.[2] After the death of his mother, his father remarried to Rosalie Cox of Philadelphia.[3]
Dodge was admitted to the bar in 1895. From 1897 to 1898, he studied in France, Germany and Italy.[2] His entire career was spent at various posts in the diplomatic service, first serving at the American legation of Berlin as third secretary from 1899 to 1900, followed by second secretary from 1900 to 1902 and secretary from 1902 to 1906.[6] In 1906, he was made the first secretary of the American legation at Tokyo serving until his appointment to South America in 1907.[6]
On July 1, 1907, during a recess of the U.S. Senate, President Theodore Roosevelt concurrently appointed Dodge as the United States Minister to Honduras and El Salvador.[7] He presented his credentials in El Salvador on December 31, 1907, and in Honduras on June 17, 1908, almost a year after his initial appointment. During his term, he was a resident of San Salvador and served both countries until February 6, 1909, when he was recommissioned to El Salvador only.[8]
In 1910, he was chosen to be the first chief of the U.S. State Department's new Latin American bureau with the responsibility to organize a new unit.[6] President Taft appointed Dodge as the Minister to Panama on July 6, 1911, before presenting his credentials on November 11, 1911. While serving in Panama, he became chairman of the committee supervising Panama's municipal and presidential elections.[6] He continued to serve while Woodrow Wilson was president before leaving his post on June 10, 1913.[8]
During World War I, Dodge was sent to France as a special agent of the State Department to aid the American AmbassadorWilliam Graves Sharp. He also helped in the mission to rescue Americans who had been stranded in Europe because of the war.[6]
In 1917, he was sent to Corfu where Serbia's ministry of foreign affairs had established a temporary outpost.[6] After the war ended, President Wilson appointed him Minister to Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on July 17, 1919. He presented his credentials to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on October 5, 1919. He served during Wilson's presidency, as well as all of Warren G. Harding's presidency and into Calvin Coolidge's term until he left his post on March 21, 1926, after having received his next diplomatic appointment.[8][9]
On February 23, 1926, President Coolidge appointed Dodge to his final diplomatic post as the U.S. Minister to Denmark. He presented his credentials in Denmark on August 24, 1926, and served until he left his post on March 1, 1930.[8]
On February 21, 1903, Dodge was married to Margaret Riché Adams (1876–1920) at Nice, France.[14] Margaret, who was born in Mare Island, California, was a daughter of Rear Admiral James Dexter Adams and his wife, Margaret Jane Phelps (a daughter of Rear Admiral Thomas S. Phelps).[3] Together, they were the parents of Alice Lamb Cleaves Dodge (1905–1985).[15]
Margaret died by falling down an elevator shaft.[16] After her death, he married Agnes Page-Brown in Paris on April 26, 1922. Agnes was a daughter of the late architect Arthur Page-Brown (known for buildings that incorporated classical styles in the Beaux-Arts manner) and the former Lucy Pryor (daughter of Sara Agnes Rice and Justice Roger Atkinson Pryor, a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who served as a General in the Confederate Army).[17]
He died in Zurich, Switzerland on October 16, 1936. His widow died in 1952.[18]
^Thayer, William Roscoe; Castle, William Richards; Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe; et al. (1914). The Harvard Graduates' Magazine. Harvard Graduates' Magazine Association. p. 402.
^"Bulletins from Peace Meeting Eagerly Read by the Crowds". The New York Times. May 21, 1914. Retrieved January 3, 2014. 'Play Ball' sang out an irreverent voice as Frederick W. Lehmann and Justice Joseph R. Lamar, the two American delegates to the Niagara Falls peace conference, arrived here a few minutes before 3 o'clock this afternoon and went upstairs to the sun parlor for the opening session of the conference. ...
^"Governor General and Duchess Give Garden Party for Them in Toronto". The New York Times. May 28, 1914. Retrieved January 10, 2011. A B C envoys and American and Mexican delegates to the Niagara Falls peace conference, together with their wives and daughters, secretaries and attaches, invaded Toronto today to attend the royal garden party given by the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada; the Duchess of Connaught, Sir John Gibson, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and Lady Gibson.
