Class of 1846

Robert Laurenson Dashiell was born June 25, 1825 in Salisbury, Maryland. He attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, graduating in July of 1846 as Salutatorian. Throughout his collegiate years at Dickinson, Dashiell was an active member of the Union Philosophical Society. Following his graduation, he went to teach in Baltimore for two years. For his continued scholarship, Dickinson awarded him a master's degree in 1849.

From 1848 to 1860, Dashiell served as a member of the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and from 1860 to 1868 he served with the Newark Conference. He was named President of Dickinson College in 1868, becoming the first alumnus to hold that position. His term in office is best remembered for the student rebellion of 1870. Dashiell would resign as President on June 25, 1872, and then be named Corresponding Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Missionary Society.

He would occupy that position until his death on March 8, 1880 in Newark, New Jersey at the age of sixty-four.

Alexander Severus Gibbons was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia on September 9, 1822, the sixth child of twelve and third son born to John and Jane Elizabeth Keffer Gibbons. Known to his family and friends as "Sandy," he attended the Dickinson Grammar School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania before enrolling in Dickinson College proper in 1842 with the class of 1846. While at the College he was a solid student and was elected as a member of Union Philosophical Society. He graduated with his class in 1846 and went on to medical school at the University of Maryland, receiving his degree in 1849. He had been developing his faith since college days, however, and soon after completing his medical studies became a minister in the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

John Perdue Gray was born at Half Moon, in Centre County, Pennsylvania on August 6, 1825 the son of a Methodist minister. He was schooled at the Bellefonte Academy and entered Dickinson College in 1842. While at the College he was a member of the Union Philosophical Society. Upon graduation with the Class of 1846 he studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and by 1848 had earned his M.D.

Richard Alexander Fullerton Penrose was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the second son of Charles and Valeria Fullerton Biddle Penrose on March 24, 1827; his elder brother was William McFunn Penrose. He was educated at the local Dickinson Grammar School and entered Dickinson College proper in 1842, graduating with the class of 1846. He went on to the medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and received his medical degree in March 1849.