From the March 2, 1898 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“San Francisco, Cal.–Captain G.E.D. Dimond, who will be 102 years old on May 1, is about to start on a pedestrian trip to New York. He helped to build the Erie Canal and was formerly United States Quartermaster at St. Louis. He has never married because his intended bride died in his arms at a ball given in honor of President Polk.”