Derby, George Horatio, 1823-1861
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Variants
Squibob, John P., 1823-1861
Squibob, 1823-1861
Phoenix, John, 1823-1861
Derby, George H. (George Horatio), 1823-1861
Derby, G. H. (George Horatio), 1823-1861
Derby, George (George Horatio), 1823-1861
Additional Information
Exact Matching Concepts from Other Schemes
Closely Matching Concepts from Other Schemes
Sources
found: His Report in Tyson, Philip T. Geology and industrial resources of Calif., 1851.
found: His Musical review extraordinary, 1960:t.p. (John Phoenix (Lieut. George H. Derby)) p. 3 (Lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers, United States Army)
found: The Museum of the City of San Francisco (website), viewed Oct. 9, 2023:George Horatio Derby (George Horatio Derby (1823-1861) of Massachusetts graduated from West Point in 1846 and served in the Army Topographical Engineers at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo before being sent to California in 1856. He remained there for seven years, leading three exploring expeditions and winning a place as one of the state's first humorists with pieces published in the San Diego Herald and republished around the nation. Phoenixiana was published in 1855. It contains Derby's pieces as "Professor John Phoenixiana" and "Squibob," poking fun at such topics as military surveyors and explorers; contemporary travel accounts of the Mission Dolores, Benecia, Sonoma, San Francisco, and San Diego; literary societies and women's clubs; astronomy; and Army life. Had Lieutenant George H. Derby been a professional fun-maker, the production of such a work as Phoenixiana might possibly have proved a solemn task and a wearisome effort; but this Squibob was not. His real work in life was that of a soldier, and an engineer. He was graduated at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1846. His career was an arduous one. He suffered hardships of the more strenuous order. He was a fighter in the Mexican War. He sustained severe wounds in the battle of Cerro Gordo, and for gallant and meritorious conduct upon that occasion was brevetted first lieutenant. On behalf of the government he conducted surveys and explorations in what at that time were waste places within our borders. Heavy responsibilities devolved upon him--the responsibilities of leadership in pioneer days--and it is the testimony of his record on file at the War Department at Washington that his shoulders bore well the burdens they carried--burdens which in the end cost him his life. His last commission was a surveyor and lighthouse engineer on the Florida coast, in the discharge of the duties of which he suffered a sunstroke, which affected his eye-sight and caused softening of the brain, from which he died in 1861.) - http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/derby.html found: Wikipedia, viewed Oct. 9, 2023:George Derby (George Horatio Derby (April 3, 1823 - May 15, 1861) was an early California humorist. He attended West Point with Ulysses S. Grant. Derby used the pseudonym "John P. Squibob" and its variants "John Phoenix" and "Squibob." Derby served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. In his spare time, he wrote humorous anecdotes and burlesques, often under the guise of his pseudonyms. George Derby was born 1823 in Dedham, Massachusetts, son of John B. and Mary Townsend Derby. George Derby graduated from the Phillips Academy in 1838 and from West Point in 1846. He first served in the Mexican-American War at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. In 1853, Derby arrived in the small outpost of San Diego, California, to begin mapping the region and developing plans for redirecting the San Diego River from the marshy delta of San Diego Bay and directly into the Pacific Ocean with the Derby Dike he had built. This was to avoid floods that periodically silted up the bay and made use of the bay by ships difficult or impossible. While waiting for approval of his San Diego River diversion plans, he had some time on his hands. He supplemented his low military pay by contributing humorous articles to the San Francisco Herald, California Pioneer magazine, and the fledgling local newspaper, the San Diego Herald. He wrote articles that poked fun at the figures and pretenses of high society. These articles were written to appear as if a running narrative from John Phoenix and were the state's first published humor. When another writer started writing articles with his pen name Squibob in a competing San Francisco newspaper, Derby wrote an article "killing off" Squibob and continued to write with a new penname, John Phoenix. In 1855, Derby bought the Herald, which went out of business in 1860. During this time he was promoted to first lieutenant. In 1857 Derby had amaurosis (today, some historians think he had a brain tumor), which prevented him from reading or writing. He requested leave from the Topographical Engineers in 1859 and moved to New York, where he died shortly after the start of the American Civil War.) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Derby
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Change Notes
1980-03-12: new
2023-10-10: revised
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