The eclectic life of Charles Redway Dryer began in Victor, New York, with his birth on August 31, 1850. The son of Daniel and Precepta (Perry) Dryer, he was raised and educated in upstate New York. He received a A.B. from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1871. Upon his graduation from Hamilton, Dryer worked as a school teacher in Canandaigua (NY) and as a law clerk in Iowa. He attended medical school at the University of Michigan in 1871 and 1872. Following another stint of school teaching between 1872 and 1875, Dryer returned to medical school and received his M.D. from the University of Buffalo (NY) in 1876. Dr. Dryer emigrated to Fort Wayne, IN in 1877. For the next sixteen years, he held various positions in that city. He taught at the high school and the local medical college, worked at the Fort Wayne Electrical Works and as a member of the Indiana Geological Service. In 1893, he accepted an offer from President William Wood Parsons to join the faculty at the Indiana State Normal School. He was a professor of Geography and Geology at the Terre Haute School for the next twenty years. Following his resignation from Indiana State Normal in 1913, Dryer returned to Fort Wayne where he remained active until his death. Dr. Dryer was a most active scholar and wrote over 250 books, articles, and pamphlets. He was well known in professional circles and an active member of various professional organizations. He was a scholar who continually made efforts to further educate himself, as is evident from his post-graduate work at Oxford (where he was also to lecture in 1908). His addition to the faculty helped to raise the prestige of Indiana State Normal. Dr. Charles Redway Dryer died on May 25, 1927 in Fort Wayne. A memorial to Dr. Dryer was dedicated at Pokagon State Park near Fort Wayne in 1929.

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