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(Used   by   courtesy   of  Henry   A.    Ingram.) 


Famous  Givers  and  Their 
Gifts 


BY 

SARAH  KNOWLES  BOLTON 

AUTHOR    OF    "  POOR    BOYS    WHO    BECAME    FAMOUS,"   "  GIRLS    WHO    BECAME    FAMOUS, 
"  FAMOUS    AMERICAN    AUTHORS,"    "  FAMOUS    AMERICAN    STATESMEN,"    "  FA- 
MOUS   MEN    OF   SCIENCE,"    "  FAMOUS    EUROPEAN    ARTISTS,"    "  FAMOUS 
TYPES  OF  WOMANHOOD,"  "  STORIES   FROM  LIFE,"   "  FROM  HEART 
AND    NATURE"    (POEMS),    "  FAMOUS    ENGLISH    AUTHORS," 
"FAMOUS    ENGLISH    STATESMEN,"  "  FAMOUS  VOYA- 
GERS," "  FAMOUS  LEADERS  AMONG  WOMEN," 
"  FAMOUS     LEADERS     AMONG     MEN," 
"  THE      INEVITABLE,      AND 
OTHER  POEMS,"  ETC. 


For  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself.'' 


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I'v,  .w,u  MMIY    BY    C.   J.    PFTFEK  &   SON, 
BOSTON,   U.S.A. 


TO 

THE     ME  M ORY 

OF 


tlitant   JFrrtirricft   Poole, 


THE   ORIGINATOR 

OF 

POOLE'S    INDEX 


PREFACE. 


While  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  men  have  built 
up  fortunes,  as  a  rule,  through  industry,  saving,  and 
great  energy,  it  is  even  more  interesting  to  see  how 
those  fortunes  have  been  or  may  be  used  for  the  bene- 
fit of  mankind. 

In  a  volume  of  this*- size,  of  course,  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  of  but  few  out  of  many  who  have  given  gene- 
rously of  their  wealth,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

The  book  has  been  written  with  the  hope  that  others 
may  be  incited  to  give  through  reading  it,  and  may  see 
the  results  of  their  giving  in  their  lifetime.  A  sketch 
of  George  Peabody  may  be  found  in  "Poor  Boys  who 
became  Famous ;  "  a  sketch  of  Johns  Hopkins  in  "  How 
Success  is  Won." 

S.  K.  B. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

John  Lowell,  Jr.,  and  His  Free  Lectures  ....  1 

Stephen  Girard  and  His  College  for  Orphans  .     .  29 

-Andrew  Carnegie  and  His  Libraries 58 

Thomas  Holloway;  His  Sanatorium  and  College  .  89 

(Charles  Pratt  and  His  Institute 108 

Thomas  Guy  and  His  Hospital 12S 

Sophia  Smith  and  Her  College  for  Women     .     .     .  153 

James  Lick  and  His  Telescope 173 

Leland  Stanford  and  His  University 201 

Captain  Thomas  Coram  and  His  Foundling  Asylum,  234 

Henry  Shaw  and  His  Botanical  Garden     ....  247 

James  Smithson  and  the  Smithsonian  Institution   .  258 
Pratt,    Lenox,    Mary  Macrae    Stuart,    Newberry, 

Crerar,  Astor,  Reynolds  and  their  Libraries      .  2(14 

Frederick  H.  Rindge  and  His  Gifts 283 

Anthony  J.  Drexel  and  His  Institute 285 

Philip  D.  Armour  and  His  Institute 291 

Leonard  Case  and  His  School  of  Applied  Science,  297 

Asa  Packer  and  Lehigh  University 301 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt  and  Yanderbilt  University,  306 

Baron  Maurice  de  Hirsch 312 

ix 


x  COy  TENTS. 

PAGE 

Isaac  Rich  ami  Boston  University 315 

Daniel  Ji.  Fayerweather  and  Others 318 

catharine  lorillard  wolfe 323 

Mary  Elizabeth  Garrett 326 

Mrs.  Anna  Ottendorfer 328 

Daniel  P.  Stone  and  Valeria  G.  Stone 331 

Samuel  Williston 332 

John  F.  Slater  and  Daniel  Hand 336 

George  T.  Angeli 347 

William  W.  Corcoran 351 

John  I).  Rockefeller  and  Chicago  University  .     .  357 


JOHN   LOWELL,  Jr., 


AND    HIS   FREE    LECTURES. 


There  is  often  something  pathetic  about  a  great  gift. 
The  only  son  of  Leland  Stanford  dies,  and  the  millions 
which  he  would  have  inherited  are  used  to  found  a  noble 
institution  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  only  son  of  Henry  F.  Durant,  the  noted  Boston 
lawyer,  dies,  and  the  sorrowing  father  and  mother  use 
their  fortune  to  build  beautiful  Wellesley  College. 

The  only  son  of  Amasa  Stone  is  drowned  while  at 
Yale  College,  and  his  father  builds  Adelbert  College  of 
Western  Eeserve  University,  to  honor  his  boy,  and  bless 
his  city  and  State. 

John  Lowell,  Jr.,  early  bereft  of  his  wife  and  two 
daughters,  his  only  children,  builds  a  lasting  monument 
for  himself,  in  his  Free  Lectures  for  the  People,  for  all 
time,  — ■  the  Lowell  Institute  of  Boston. 

John  Lowell,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  May  11, 
1799,  of  distinguished  ancestry.  His  great-grandfather, 
the  Bev.  John  Lowell,  was  the  first  minister  of  Newbury- 
port.  His  grandfather,  Judge  John  Lowell,  was  one  of 
the  framers  of  the  Massachusetts  Constitution  in  1780. 
He  inserted  in  the  bill  of  rights  the  clause  declaring  that 
"all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  for  the  purpose,  as 
he   said,  of  abolishing   slavery  in  Massachusetts;   and 

1 


2  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

offered  his  services  to  any  slave  who  desired  to  establish 
his  right  to  freedom  under  that  clause.  His  position 
was  declared  to  be  constitutional  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State  in  1783,  since  which  time  slavery  has  had 
no  legal  existence  in  Massachusetts.  In  1781  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  ap- 
pointed by  President  Washington  a  judge  of  the  District 
Court  of  Massachusetts  ;  in  1801  President  Adams  ap- 
pointed him  chief  justice  of  the  Circuit  Court.  He  was 
brilliant  in  conversation,  an  able  scholar,  and  an  honest 
and  patriotic  leader.  He  was  for  eighteen  years  a  mem- 
ber of  the  corporation  of  Harvard  College. 

Judge  Lowell  had  three  sons,  John,  Francis  Cabot,  and 
Charles.  John,  a  lawyer,  was  prominent  in  all  good 
work,  such  as  the  establishment  of  the  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital,  the  Provident  Institution  for  Savings 
in  the  City  of  Boston,  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
Society,  and  other  helpful  projects.  "  He  considered 
wealth,"  said  Edward  Everett,  "  to  be  no  otherwise  val- 
uable but  as  a  powerful  instrument  of  doing  good.  His 
liberality  went  to  the  extent  of  his  means  ;  and  where 
they  stopped,  he  exercised  an  almost  unlimited  control 
over  the  means  of  others.  It  was  difficult  to  resist  the 
contagion  of  his  enthusiasm ;  for  it  was  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  strong,  cultivated,  and  practical  mind." 

Francis  Cabot,  the  second  son,  was  the  father  of  the 
noted  giver,  John  Lowell,  Jr.  Charles,  the  third  son, 
became  an  eminent  Boston  minister,  and  was  the  father 
of  the  poet,  James  Kussell  Lowell.  On  his  mother's 
side  the  ancestors  of  John  Lowell,  Jr.,  were  also  promi- 
nent. His  maternal  grandfather,  Jonathan  Jackson, 
was  a  generous  man  of  means,  a  member  of  the  Congress 


JOHN     LOWELL,    JR. 
(From  "The   Lowell   Institute,"  by  Harriette   Knight  Sr 
Wolffe  &  Co.,    Boston.) 


ith,  published  by  Lamson, 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  3 

of  1782,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
largely  the  creditor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  the  treasurer  of  the  State  and  of  Cam- 
bridge University. 

John  Lowell,  Jr.,  must  have  inherited  from  such  an- 
cestors a  love  of  country,  a  desire  for  knowledge,  and 
good  executive  ability.  He  was  reared  in  a  home  of 
comfort  and  intelligence.  His  father,  Francis  Cabot,  was 
a  successful  merchant,  a  man  of  great  energy,  strength 
of  mind,  and  integrity  of  character. 

In  1810,  when  young  John  was  about  eleven  years 
old,  the  health  of  his  father  having  become  impaired, 
the  Lowell  family  went  to  England  for  rest  and  change. 
The  boy  was  placed  at  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh, 
where  he  won  many  friends  by  his  lovable  qualities,  and 
his  intense  desire  to  gain  information.  When  he  came 
back  to  America  with  his  parents,  he  entered  Harvard 
College  in  1813,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  He 
was  a  great  reader,  especially  along  the  line  of  foreign 
travel,  and  had  a  better  knowledge  of  geography  than 
most  men.  After  two  years  at  Cambridge,  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  the  course  from  ill  health,  and  seek 
a  more  active  live.  When  he  was  seventeen,  and  the 
year  following,  he  made  two  voyages  to  India,  and  ac- 
quired a  passion  for  study  and  travel  in  the  East. 

His  father,  meantime,  had  become  deeply  interested 
in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  in  America.  The  war  of 
1812  had  interrupted  our  commerce  with  Europe,  and 
America  had  been  compelled  to  manufacture  many 
things  for  herself.  In  1789  Mr.  Samuel  Slater  had 
brought  from  England  the  knowledge  of  the  inventions 
of  Arkwright   for   spinning  cotton.      These   inventions 


4  JOTIN   LOWELL,   JR. 

were  so  carefully  guarded  from  the  public  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  for  any  one  to  leave  England  who  had 
worked  in  a  cotton-mill  and  understood  the  process  of 
manufacture.  Parliament  had  prohibited  the  exporta- 
tion of  the  new  machinery.  Without  the  knowledge  of 
his  parents,  Samuel  Slater  sailed  to  America,  carrying 
the  complicated  machinery  in  his  mind.  At  Pawtucket, 
R.I.,  he  set  up  some  Arkwright  machinery  from  memory, 
and,  after  years  of  effort  and  obstacles,  became  success- 
ful and  wealthy. 

Mr.  Lowell  determined  to  weave  cotton,  and  if  possible 
use  the  thread  already  made  in  this  country.  He  pro- 
posed to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Patrick  Tracy  Jackson, 
that  they  put  some  money  into  experiments,  and  try  to 
make  a  power-loom,  as  this  newly  invented  machine  could 
not  be  obtained  from  abroad.  They  procured  the  model 
of  a  common  loom,  and  after  repeated  failures  succeeded 
in  reinventing  a  fairly  good  power-loom. 

The  thread  obtained  from  other  mills  not  proving 
available  for  their  looms,  spinning  machinery  was  con- 
structed, and  land  was  purchased  on  the  Merrimac  River 
for  their  mills;  in  time  a  large  manufacturing  city  gath- 
ered about  them,  and  was  named  Lowell,  for  the  ener- 
getic and  upright  manufacturer. 

When  the  war  of  1812  was  over,  Mr.  Lowell  knew 
that  the  overloaded  markets  of  Europe  and  India  would 
pour  their  cotton  and  other  goods  into  the  United  States. 
Up  therefore  went  to  Washington  in  the  winter  of  1816, 
and  after  overcoming  much  opposition,  obtained  a  pro- 
tective tariff  for  cotton  manufacture.  "The  minimum 
duty  on  cotton  fabrics,"  says  Edward  Everett,  "  the  cor- 
ner-stone  of  the  system,  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Lowell, 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  5 

and  is  believed  to  have  been  an  original  conception  on 
his  part.  To  this  provision  of  law,  the  fruit  of  the 
intelligence  and  influence  of  Mr.  Lowell,  New  England 
owes  that  branch  of  industry  which  has  made  her  amends 
for  the  diminution  of  her  foreign  trade ;  which  has  left 
her  prosperous  under  the  exhausting  drain  of  her  popu- 
lation to  the  West ;  which  has  brought  a  market  for  his 
agricultural  produce  to  the  farmer's  door ;  and  which, 
while  it  has  conferred  these  blessings  on  this  part  of  the 
country,  has  been  productive  of  good,  and  nothing  but 
good,  to  every  other  portion  of  it." 

At  Mr.  Lowell's  death  he  left  a  large  fortune  to  his 
four  children,  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  of  whom  John 
Lowell,  Jr.,  was  the  eldest.  Like  his  father,  John  was 
a  successful  merchant ;  but  as  his  business  was  carried 
on  largely  with  the  East  Indies,  he  had  leisure  for  read- 
ing. He  had  one  of  the  best  private  libraries  in  Boston, 
and  knew  the  contents  of  his  books.  He  did  not  forget 
his  duties  to  his  city.  He  was  several  times  a  member 
of  the  Common  Council  and  the  Legislature  of  the  State, 
believing  that  no  person  has  a  right  to  shirk  political 
responsibility. 

In  the  midst  of  this  happy  and  useful  life,  surrounded 
by  those  who  were  dear  to  him,  in  the  years  1830  and 
1831,  when  he  was  thirty-two  years  of  age,  came  the 
crushing  blow  to  his  domestic  joy.  His  wife  and  both 
children  died,  and  his  home  was  broken  up.  He  sought 
relief  in  travel,  and  in  the  summer  of  1832  made  a  tour 
of  the  Western  States.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year, 
November,  1832,  he  sailed  for  Europe,  intending  to  be 
absent  for  some  months,  or  even  years.  As  though  he 
had  a  premonition  that  his  life  would  be  a  brief  one,  and 


6  JOHN   LOWELL,   JR. 

that  he  might  never  return,  he  made  his  will  before 
leaving  America,  giving  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  —  half  of  his  property  —  "  to  found 
and  sustain  free  lectures,"  "for  the  promotion  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  and  physical  instruction  or.  educa- 
tion of  the  citizens  of  Boston." 

The  will  provides  for  courses  in  physics,  chemistry, 
botany,  zoology,  mineralogy,  the  literature  of  our  own 
and  foreign  nations,  and  historical  and  internal  evidences 
in  favor  of  Christianity. 

The  management  of  the  whole  fund,  with  the  selection 
of  lecturers,  is  left  to  one  trustee,  who  shall  choose  his 
successor ;  that  trustee  to  be,  "  in  preference  to  all  others, 
some  male  descendant  of  my  grandfather,  John  Lowell, 
provided  there  be  one  who  is  competent  to  hold  the 
office  of  trustee,  and  of  the  name  of  Lowell."  The 
trustees  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum  are  empowered  to 
look  over  the  accounts  each  year,  but  have  no  voice  in 
the  selection  of  the  lecturers.  "  The  trustee,"  says  Mr. 
Lowell  in  his  will,  "  may  also  from  time  to  time  estaly 
lish  lectures  on  any  subject  that,  in  his  opinion,  the 
wants  and  taste  of  the  age  may  demand." 

None  of  the  money  given  by  will  is  ever  to  be  used 
in  buildings;  Mr.  Lowell  probably  having  seen  that 
money  is  too  often  put  into  brick  and  stone  to  perpet- 
uate the  name  of  the  donor,  while  there  is  no  income 
for  the  real  work  in  hand.  Ten  per  cent  of  the  income 
of  the  Lowell  fund  is  to  be  added  annually  to  the  prin- 
cipal. It  is  believed  that  through  wise  investing  the 
fund  is  already  doubled,  and  perhaps  trebled. 

"  The  idea  of  a  foundation  of  this  kind,"  says  Ed- 
ward Everett,   "  on  which,  unconnected  with  any  place 


JOHN  LOWELL,    JB.  7 

of  education,  provision  is  made,  in  the  midst  of  a  large 
commercial  population,  for  annual  courses  of  instruction 
by  public  lectures,  to  be  delivered  gratuitously  to  all 
who  choose  to  attend  them,  as  far  as  it  is  practicable 
within  our  largest  halls,  is,  I  believe,  original  with  Mr. 
Lowell.  I  am  not  aware  that,  among  all  the  munificent 
establishments  of  Europe,  there  is  anything  of  this  de- 
scription upon  a  large  scale." 

After  Mr.  Lowell  reached  Europe  in  the  fall  of  1832, 
he  spent  the  winter  in  Paris,  and  the  summer  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland.  He  was  all  the  time  prepar- 
ing for  his  Eastern  journey,  —  in  the  study  of  languages, 
and  the  knowledge  of  instruments  by  which  to  make 
notes  of  the  course  of  winds,  the  temperature,  atmos- 
pheric phenomena,  the  height  of  mountains,  and  other 
matters  of  interest  in  the  far-off  lands  which  he  hoped 
to  enter.  Lord  Glenelg,  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies,  gave  him  special  facilities  for  his  proposed 
tour  into  the  interior  of  India. 

The  winter  of  1833  was  spent  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  France,  in  visiting  the  principal  cities  of  Lom- 
bardy,  in  Nice  and  Genoa,  reaching  Florence  early  in 
February,  1834.  In  Rome  he  engaged  a  Swiss  artist,  an 
excellent  draftsman  and  painter,  to  accompany  him,  and 
make  sketches  of  scenery,  ruins,  and  costumes  through- 
out his  whole  journey. 

After  some  time  spent  in  Naples  and  vicinity,  he 
devoted  a  month  to  the  island,  of  Sicily.  He  writes 
to  Princess  Galitzin,  the  granddaughter  of  the  famous 
Marshal  Suvorof,  whom  he  had  met  in  Florence :  "  Clear 
and  beautiful  are  the  skies  in  Sicily,  and  there  is  a 
warmth  of  tint  about  the  sunsets  unrivalled   even  in 


8  JOHN   LOWELL,   JR. 

Italy.  It  resembles  whal  one  finds  under  the  tropics; 
and  so  does  the  vegetation.  It  is  rich  and  luxuriant. 
The  palm  begins  to  appear:  the  palmetto,  the  aloe, 
and  the  cactus  adorn  every  woodside;  the  superb 
oleander  bathes  its  roots  in  almost  every  brook  ;  the 
pomegranate  and  a  large  species  of  convolvulus  are 
everywhere  seen.  Tn  short,  the  variety  of  flowers  is 
greater  than  that  of  the  prairies  in  the  Western  States 
of  America,  though  I  think  their  number  is  less.  Our 
rudbeckia  is,  I  think,  more  beautiful  than  the  chry- 
santhemum coronarium  which  you  see  all  over  Sicily; 
but  there  are  the  orange  and  the  lemon."' 

Mr.  Lowell  travelled  in  Greece,  and  July  10  reached 
Athens,  "that  venerable,  ruined,  dirty  little  town,"  he 
wrote,  "of  which  the  streets  are  most  narrow  and  nearly 
impassable;  but  the  poor  remains  of  whose  ancient  taste 
in  the  arts  exceed  in  beauty  everything  I  have  yet  seen 
in  cither  Italy,  Sicily,  or  any  other  portions  of  Greece." 

Late  in  September  Mr.  Lowell  reached  Smyrna,  and 
visited  the  ruins  of  Magnesia,  Tralles,  Xysa,  Laodicea, 
Tripolis,  and  Hierapolis.  He  writes  to  a  friend  in 
America;  "I  then  crossed  Mount  Messogis  in  the  rain, 
and  descended  into  the  basin  of  the  river  Hermus,  vis- 
ited Philadelphia,  the  picturesque  site  of  Sardis,  with  its 
inaccessible  citadel,  and  two  solitary  but  beautiful  Ionic 
columns." 

Early  in  December  Mr.  Lowell  sailed  from  Sm}Trna  in 
a  Greek  brig,  coasting  along  the  islands  of  Mitylene, 
Samos,  Patmos,  and  Rhodes,  arrived  in  Alexandria  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  month,  and  proceeded  up  the  river 
Nile.  On  Feb.  12,  1835,  he  writes  to  his  friends  from 
the  top  of  the  great  pyramid  :  — 


jony  LOWELL.   J 11.  9 

••  The  prospect  is  most  beautiful.  On  the  one  sidi  s 
the  boundless  desert,  varied  only  by  a  few  low  ridges  of 
limestone  hills.  Then  you  have  heaps  of  sand,  and  a 
surface  of  sand  reduced  to  so  tine  a  powder,  and  so  ea- 
sily agitated  by  the  slightest  breeze  that  it  almost  de- 
serves the  name  of  fluid.  Then  comes  the  rich,  verdant 
valley  of  the  Xile.  studded  with  villages,  adorned  with 
-  en  date-trees,  traversed  by  the  Father  of  Rivers,  with 
the  magnificent  city  of  Cairo  on  its  banks :  but  far  nar- 
rower than  one  could  wish,  as  it  is  bounded,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  some  fifteen  miles,  by  the  Arabian  desert,  and 
the  abrupt  calcareous  ridge  of  Mokattam.  Immediately 
below  the  spectator  lies  the  city  of  the  dead,  the  innu- 
merable tombs,  the  smaller  pyramids,  the  Sphinx,  and 
still  farther  off  and  on  the  same  line,  to  the  south,  the 
pyramids  of  Abou  Seer.  Sakkara.  and  Pashoor." 

While  journeying  in  Egypt.  Mr.  Lowell,  from  the 
effects  of  the  climate,  was  severely  attacked  by  inter- 
mittent, fever :  but  partially  recovering,  proceeded  to 
Thebes,  and  established  his  temporary  home  on  the 
ruins  of  a  palace  at  Luxor.  After  examining  many  of 
its  wonderful  structures  carved  with  the  names  and 
deeds  of  the  Pharaohs,  he  was  again  prostrated  by  ill- 
ness, and  feared  that  he  should  not  recover.  He  had 
thought  out  more  details  about  his  noble  gift  to  the 
people  of  Boston ;  and,  sick  and  among  strangers,  he 
completed  in  that  ancient  land  his  last  will  for  the 
good  of  humanity.  "The  few  "sentences,"  says  Mr. 
Everett,  "penned  with  a  tired  hand,  on  the  top  of  a 
palace  of  the  Pharaohs,  will  do  more  for  human  improve- 
ment than,  for  aught  that  appears,  was  done  by  all  of 
that  gloomy  dynasty  that  ever  reigned." 


10  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

Mr.  Lowell  somewhat  regained  his  health,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Sioot,  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  to  lay  in 
the  stores  needed  for  his  journey  to  Nubia.  While  at 
Sioot,  he  saw  the  great  caravan  of  Darfour  in  Central 
Africa,  which  comes  to  the  Nile  once  in  two  years,  and 
is  two  or  three  months  in  crossing  the  desert.  It  usu- 
ally consists  of  about  six  hundred  merchants,  four  thou- 
sand slaves,  and  six  thousand  camels  laden  with  ivory, 
tamarinds,  ostrich-feathers,  and  provisions  for  use  on 
the  journey. 

Mr.  Lowell  writes  in  his  journal  :  "  The  immense 
number  of  tall  and  lank  but  powerful  camels  was  the 
first  object  that  attracted  our  attention  in  the  caravan. 
The  long  and  painful  journey,  besides  killing  perhaps 
a  quarter  of  the  original  number,  had  reduced  the  re- 
mainder to  the  condition  of  skeletons,  and  rendered 
their  natural  ugliness  still  more  appalling.  Their  skins 
were  stretched,  like  moistened  parchment  scorched  by 
the  fire,  over  their  strong  ribs.  Their  eyes  stood  out 
from  their  shrunken  foreheads  ;  and  the  arched  backbone 
of  the  animals  rose  sharp  and  prominent  above  their 
sides,  like  a  butcher's  cleaver.  The  fat  that  usually 
accompanies  the  middle  of  the  backbone,  and  forms  with 
it  the  camel's  bunch,  had  entirely  disappeared.  They 
had  occasion  for  it,  as  well  as  for  the  reservoir  of  water 
with  which  a  bountiful  nature  has  furnished  them,  to 
enable  them  to  undergo  the  laborious  journey  and  the 
painful  fasts  of  the  desert.  Their  sides  were  gored 
with  the  heavy  burdens  they  had  carried. 

"  The  sun  was  setting.  The  little  slaves  of  the  cara- 
van had  just  driven  in  from  their  dry  pasture  of  thistles, 
parched  grass,  and  withered  herbage  these  most  patient 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  11 

and  obedient  animals,  so  essential  to  travellers  in  the 
great  deserts,  and  without  which  it  would  be  as  impos- 
sible to  cross  them  as  to  traverse  the  ocean  without  ves- 
sels. Their  conductors  made  them  kneel  down,  and 
gradually  poured  beans  between  their  lengthened  jaAvs. 
The  camels,  not  having  been  used  to  this  food,  did  not 
like  it ;  they  would  have  greatly  preferred  a  bit  of  old, 
worn-out  mat,  as  we  have  found  to  our  cost  in  the  desert. 
The  most  mournful  cries,  something  between  the  braying 
of  an  ass  and  the  lowing  of  a  cow,  assailed  our  ears  in 
all  directions,  because  these  poor  creatures  Avere  obliged 
to  eat  what  was  not  good  for  them ;  but  they  offered  no 
resistance  otherwise.  When  transported  to  the  Nile,  it 
is  said  that  the  change  of  food  and  water  kills  most  of 
them  in  a  little  time." 

In  June  Mr.  Lowell  resumed  his  journey  up  the  Nile, 
and  was  again  ill  for  some  weeks.  The  thermometer 
frequently  stood  at  115  degrees.  He  visited  Khartoom, 
and  then  travelled  for  fourteen  days  across  the  desert  of 
Nubia  to  Sowakeen,  a  small  port  on  the  western  coast 
of  the  Red  Sea.  Near  here,  Dec.  22,  he  was  shipwrecked 
on  the  island  of  Dassa,  and  nearly  lost  his  life.  In  a 
rainstorm  the  little  vessel  ran  upon  the  rocks.  "  All 'my 
people  behaved  well,"  Mr.  Lowell  writes.  "  Yanni  alone, 
the  youngest  of  them,  showed  by  a  few  occasional  ex- 
clamations that  it  is  hard  to  look  death  in  the  face  at 
seventeen,  when  all  the  illusions  of  life  are  entire.  As 
for  swimming,  I  have  not  strength  for  that,  especially  in 
my  clothes,  and  so  thorough  a  ducking  and  exposure 
might  of  itself  make  an  end  of  me." 

Finally  they  were  rescued,  and  sailed  for  Mocha,  reach- 
ing that  place  on  the  1st  of  January,  1836.     Mr.  Lowell 


12  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

was  much  exhausted  from  exposure  and  his  recent  ill- 
ness. His  last  letters  were  written,  Jan.  17,  at  Mocha, 
while  waiting  for  a  British  steamer  on  her  way  to  Bom- 
bay. India,  From  Mr.  Lowell's  journal  it  is  seen  that 
the  steamboat  Hugh  Lindsay  arrived  at  Mocha  from 
Suez,  Jan.  20 ;  that  Mr.  Lowell  sailed  on  the  23d,  and 
arrived  at  Bombay,  Feb.  10.  He  had  reached  the  East 
only  to  die.  After  three  weeks  of  illness,  he  expired, 
March  4,  1836,  a  little  less  than  thirty-seven  years  of 
age.  For  years  he  had  studied  about  India  and  China, 
and  had  made  himself  ready  for  valuable  research ;  but 
his  plans  were  changed  by  an  overruling  Power  in  whom 
he  had  always  trusted.  Mr.  Lowell  had  wisely  provided 
for  a  greater  work  than  research  in  the  East,  the  benefits 
of  which  are  inestimable  and  unending. 

Free  public  lectures  for  the  people  of  Boston  on  the 
Lowell  foundation  were  begun  on  the  evening  of  Dec.  31, 
L839,  by  a  memorial  address  on  Mr.  Lowell  by  Edward 
Everett,  in  the  Odeon,  then  at  the  corner  of  Federal  and 
Franklin  Streets,  before  two  thousand  persons. 

The  first  course  of  lectures  was  on  geology,  given  by 
that  able  scientist,  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman  of  Yale 
College.  "  So  great  was  his  popularity,"  says  Harriette 
Knight  Smith  in  the  New  England  Magazine  for  Feb- 
ruary. 1895,  -that  on  the  giving  out  of  tickets  for  his 
second  course,  on  chemistry,  the  following  season,  the 
eager  crowds  filled  the  adjacent  streets,  and  crushed  in 
the  windows  of  the  <  Old  Corner  Bookstore,'  the  place  of 
distribution,  so  that  provision  for  the  same  had  to  be 
made  elsewhere.  To  such  a  degree  did  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  public  reach  at  that  time,  in  its  desire  to  attend 
these  lectures,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  open  books 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  13 

in  advance  to  receive  the  names  of  subscribers,  the  num- 
ber of  tickets  being  distributed  by  lot.  Sometimes  the 
number  of  applicants  for  a  single  course  was  eight  or 
ten  thousand."  The  same  number  of  the  magazine  con- 
tains a  valuable  list  of  all  the  speakers  at  the  Institute 
since  its  beginning.  The  usual  method  now  is  to  ad- 
vertise the  lectures  in  the  Boston  papers  a  week  or  more 
in  advance ;  and  then  all  persons  desiring  to  attend 
meet  at  a  designated  place,  and  receive  tickets  in  the 
order  of  their  coming.  At  the  appointed  hour,  the 
doors  of  the  building  where  the  lectures  are  given  are 
closed,  and  no  one  is  admitted  after  the  speaker  begins. 
Not  long  since  I  met  a  gentleman  who  had  travelled 
seven  miles  to  attend  a  lecture,  and  failed  to  obtain  en- 
trance. Harriette  Knight  Smith  says,  "  This  rule  was 
at  first  resisted  to  such  a  degree  that  a  reputable  gentle- 
man was  taken  to  the  lockup  and  compelled  to  pay  a  fine 
for  kicking  his  way  through  an  entrance  door.  Finally 
the  rule  was  submitted  to,  and  in  time  praised  and 
copied." 

For  seven  years  the  Lowell  Institute  lectures  were 
given  in  the  Odeon,  and  for  thirteen  years  in  Marlboro 
Chapel,  between  Washington  and  Tremont,  Winter  and 
Bromfield  Streets.  Since  1879  they  have  been  heard  in 
Huntington  Hall,  Boylston  Street,  in  the  Rogers  Build- 
ing of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  free  lectures,  over  five 
thousand  have  been  given  to  the  people  by  some  of  the 
most  eminent  and  learned  men  of  both  hemispheres,  — 
Lyell,  Tyndall,  Wallace,  Holmes,  Lowell,  Bryce,  and 
more  than  three  hundred  others.  Sir  Charles  Lyell 
lectured  on    Geology,  Professor  Asa    Gray  on   Botany, 


14  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  on  English  Poetry  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century,  E.  H.  Davis  on  Mounds  and  Earthworks 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Lieutenant  M.  F.  Maury  on 
Winds  and  Currents  of  the  Sea,  Mark  Hopkins  (Presi- 
dent of  Williams  College)  on  Moral  Philosophy,  Charles 
Eliot  Norton  on  The  Thirteenth  Century,  Henry  Bar- 
nard on  National  Education,  Samuel  Eliot  on  Evidences 
of  Christianity,  Burt  G.  Wilder  on  The  Silk  Spider  of 
South  Carolina,  W.  D.  Howells  on  Italian  Poets  of  our 
Century,  Professor  John  Tyndall  on  Light  and  Heat, 
Dr.  Isaac  I.  Hayes  on  Arctic  Discoveries,  Richard  A. 
Proctor  on  Astronomy,  General  Francis  A.  Walker  on 
Money,  Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright  on  The  Labor  Question, 
H.  H.  Boyesen  on  The  Icelandic  Saga  Literature,  the 
Rev.  J.  G.  Wood  on  Structure  of  Animal  Life,  the  Rev. 
H.  R.  Haweis  on  Music  and  Morals,  Alfred  Russell  Wal- 
lace on  Darwinism  and  Some  of  Its  Applications,  the 
Rev.  G.  Frederick  Wright  on  The  Ice  Age  in  North  Am- 
erica, Professor  James  Geikie  on  Europe  During  and 
after  the  Ice  Age,  John  Fiske  on  The  Discovery  and 
Colonization  of  America,  Professor  Henry  Drummond  on 
The  Evolution  of  Man,  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege on  Recent  Educational  Changes  and  Tendencies. 

Professor  Tyndall,  after  his  Lowell  lectures,  gave  the 
ten  thousand  dollars  which  he  had  received  for  his 
labors  in  America  in  scholarships  to  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  Harvard  University,  and  Columbia 
College. 

Mr.  John  Amory  Lowell,  a  cousin  of  John  Lowell,  Jr., 
and  the  trustee  appointed  by  him,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Lyell,  a  mutual  friend,  invited  Louis  Agassiz  to  come  to 
Boston,  and  give  a  course  of  lectures  before  the  Institute 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  15 

in  1846.  He  came ;  and  the  visit  resulted  in  the  build- 
ing, by  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  of  the  Lawrence  Scientific 
School  in  connection  with  Harvard  College,  and  the 
retaining  of  the  brilliant  and  noble  Agassiz  in  this  coun- 
try as  a  professor  of  zoology  and  geology.  The  influ- 
ence of  such  lectures  upon  the  intellectual  growth  and 
moral  welfare  of  a  city  can  scarcely  be  estimated.  It 
is  felt  through  the  State,  and  eventually  through  the 
nation. 

Mr.  Lowell  in  his  will  planned  also  for  other  lectures, 
"  those  more  erudite  and  particular  for  students ; "  and 
for  twenty  years  there  have  been  "  Lowell  free  courses 
of  instruction  in  the  Institute  of  Technology,"  given 
usually  in  the  evening  in  the  classrooms  of  the  profess- 
ors. These  are  the  same  lectures  usually  given  to 
regular  students,  and  are  free  alike  to  men  and  women 
over  eighteen  years  of  age.  These  courses  of  instruc- 
tion include  mathematics,  mechanics,  physics,  drawing, 
chemistry,  geology,  natural  history,  navigation,  biology, 
English,  French,  German,  history,  architecture,  and  en- 
gineering. Through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Lowell,  every 
person  in  Boston  may  become  educated,  if  he  or  she 
have  the  time  and  desire.  Over  three  thousand  such 
lectures  have  been  given. 

For  many  years  the  Lowell  Institute  has  furnished 
instruction  in  science  to  the  school-teachers  of  Boston. 
It  now  furnishes  lectures  on  practical  and  scientific  sub- 
jects to  workingmen,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Wells 
Memorial  Workingmen' s  Institute. 

As  the  University  Extension  Lectures  carry  the  col- 
lege to  the  people,  so  more  and  more  the  Lowell  fund  is 
carrying  helpful  and  practical  intelligence  to  every  nook 


16  JOHN  LOWELL,    JR. 

and  corner  of  a  great  city.  Young  people  are  stimu- 
lated to  endeavor,  encouraged  to  save  time  in  which  to 
gain  knowledge,  and  to  become  useful  and  honorable 
citizens.  When  more  "  Settlements  "  are  established  in 
all  the  waste  places,  we  shall  have  so  many  the  more 
centres  for  the  diffusion  of  intellectual  and  moral  aid. 

Who  shall  estimate  the  power  and  value  of  such  a  gift 
to  the  people  as  that  of  John  Lowell,  Jr.  ?  The  Hon. 
Edward  Everett  said  truly,  "  It  will  be,  from  generation 
to  generation,  a  perennial  source  of  public  good,  —  a 
dispensation  of  sound  science,  of  useful  knowledge,  of 
truth  in  its  most  important  associations  with  the  des- 
tiny of  man.  These  are  blessings  which  cannot  die. 
They  will  abide  when  the  sands  of  the  desert  shall  have 
covered  what  they  have  hitherto  spared  of  the  Egyptian 
temples ;  and  they  will  render  the  name  of  Lowell  in  all- 
wise  and  moral  estimation  more  truly  illustrious  than 
that  of  any  Pharaoh  engraven  on  their  walls." 

The  gift  of  John  Lowell,  Jr.,  has  resulted  in  other 
good  work  besides  the  public  lectures.  In  1850  a  free 
drawing-school  was  established  in  Marlboro  Chapel,  and 
continued  successfully  for  twenty-nine  years,  till  the 
building  was  taken  for  business  purposes.  The  pupils 
were  required  to  draw  from  real  objects  only,  through 
the  whole  course.  In  1872  the  Lowell  School  of  Prac- 
tical Design,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  Industrial 
Art  in  the  United  States,  was  established,  and  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility of  conducting  it.  The  Lowell  Institute  bears 
the  expenses  of  the  school,  and  tuition  is  free  to  all 
pupils. 

There  is  a  drawing-room  and  a  weaving-room,  though 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  17 

applicants  must  be  able  to  draw  from  nature  before  they 
enter.  In  the  weaving-room  are  two  fancy  chain-looms 
for  dress-goods,  three  fancy  chain-looms  for  woollen 
cassimeres,  one  gingham  loom,  and  one  Jacquard  loom. 
Samples  of  brocaded  silk,  ribbons,  alpacas,  and  fancy 
woollen  goods  are  constantly  provided  for  the  school 
from  Paris  and  elsewhere. 

The  course  of  study  requires  three  years ;  and  students 
are  taught  the  art  of  designing,  and  making  patterns 
from  prints,  ginghams,  delaines,  silks,  laces,  paper-hang- 
ings, carpets,  oilcloths,  etc.  They  can  also  weave  their 
designs  into  actual  fabrics  of  commercial  sizes  of  every 
variety  of  material.  The  school  has  proved  a  most  help- 
ful and  beneficent  institution.  It  is  an  inspiration  to 
visit  it,  and  see  the  happy  and  earnest  faces  of  the  young 
workers,  fitting  themselves  for  useful  positions  in  life. 

The  Lowell  Institute  has  been  fortunate  in  its  man- 
agement. Mr.  John  Amory  Lowell  was  the  able  trustee 
for  more  than  forty  years ;  and  the  present  trustee,  Mr. 
Augustus  Lowell,  like  his  father,  has  the  great  work 
much  at  heart.  Dr.  Benjamin  E.  Cotting,  the  curator 
from  the  formation  of  the  Institute,  a  period  of  more 
than  half  a  century,  has  won  universal  esteem  for  his 
ability,  as  also  for  his  extreme  courtesy  and  kindness. 

John  Lowell,  Jr.,  humanly  speaking,  died  before  his 
lifework  was  scarcely  begun.  The  studious,  modest  boy, 
the  thorough,  conscientious  man,  planning  a  journey  to 
Africa  and  India,  not  for  pleasure  merely,  but  for  help- 
fulness to  science  and  humanity,  died  just  as  he  entered 
the  long  sought-for  land.  A  man  of  warm  affections, 
he  went  out  from  a  broken  home  to  die  among  stran- 
gers. 


18  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

He  was  so  careful  of  his  moments  that,  says  Mr. 
Everett,  "he  spared  no  time  for  the  frivolous  pleasures 
of  youth ;  less,  perhaps,  than  his  health  required  for 
its  innocent  relaxations,  and  for  exercise."  Whether  or 
not  he  realized  that  the  time  was  short,  he  accomplished 
more  in  his  brief  thirty-seven  years  than  many  men  in 
fourscore  and  ten.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  spend 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  houses  and 
lands,  in  fine  equipage  and  social  festivities;  but  Mr. 
Lowell  had  a  higher  purpose  in  life. 

After  five  weeks  of  illness,  thousands  of  miles  from 
all  who  were  dear  to  him,  on  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  in  an 
Arab  village  built  on  the  remains  of  an  ancient  palace, 
Mr.  Lowell  penned  these  words  :  "  As  the  most  certain 
and  the  most  important  part  of  true  philosophy  appears 
to  me  to  be  that  which  shows  the  connection  between 
God's  revelations  and  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil 
implanted  by  him  in  our  nature,  I  wish  a  course  of 
lectures  to  be  given  on  natural  religion,  showing  its  con- 
formity to  that  of  our  Saviour. 

"For  the  more  perfect  demonstration  of  the  truth  of 
those  moral  and  religious  precepts,  by  which  alone,  as 
I  believe,  men  can  be  secure  of  happiness  in  this  world 
and  that  to  come,. I  wish  a  course  of  lectures  to  be  de- 
livered on  the  historical  and  internal  evidences  in  favor 
of  Christianity.  I  wish  all  disputed  points  of  faith  and 
ceremony  to  be  avoided,  and  the  attention  of  the  lec- 
turers to  be  directed  to  the  moral  doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel, stating  their  opinion,  if  they  will,  but  not  engaging 
in  controversy,  even  on  the  subject  of  the  penalty  for 
disobedience.  As  the  prosperity  of  my  native  land, 
New  England,  which  is  sterile  and  unproductive,  must 


JOTIN  LOWELL,   JR.  19 

depend  hereafter,  as  it  has  heretofore  depended,  first 
on  the  moral  qualities,  and  second  on  the  intelligence 
and  information  of  its  inhabitants,  I  am  desirous  of  try- 
ing to  contribute  towards  this  second  object  also." 

The  friend  of  the  people,  Mr.  Lowell  desired  that 
they  should  learn  from  the  greatest  minds  of  the  age 
without  expense  to  themselves.  It  should  be  an  abso- 
lutely free  gift. 

The  words  from  the  Theban  ruins  have  had  their  ever 
broadening  influence  through  half  a  century.  What 
shall  be  the  result  for  good  many  centuries  from  now  ? 
Tens  of  thousands  of  fortunes  have  been  and  will  be 
spent  for  self,  and  the  names  of  the  owners  will  be  for- 
gotten. John  Lowell,  Jr.,  did  not  live  for  himself,  and 
his  name  will  be  remembered. 

Others  in  this  country  have  adopted  somewhat  Mr. 
Lowell's  plan  of  giving.  The  Hon.  Oakes  Ames,  the  great 
shovel  manufacturer,  member  of  Congress  for  ten  years, 
and  builder  of  the  Union  Pacific  Eailroad,  left  at  his 
death,  May  8,  1873,  a  fund  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
"  for  the  benefit  of  the  school  children  of  North  Easton, 
Mass."  The  income  is  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  part  of  which  is  used  in  furnishing  magazines  to 
children  —  each  family  having  children  in  the  schools 
is  supplied  with  some  magazine ;  part  for  an  industrial 
school  where  they  are  taught  the  use  of  tools ;  and  part 
for  free  lectures  yearly  to  the  school  children,  adults 
also  having  the  benefit  of  them.  .  Thirty  or  more  lec- 
tures are  given  each  winter  upon  interesting  and  profit- 
able subjects  by  able  lecturers. 

Some  of  the  subjects  already  discussed  are  as  fol- 
lows :  The  Great  Yellowstone  Park,  A  Journey  among 


20  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

the  Planets,  The  Chemistry  of  a  Match,  Paris,  its  Gar- 
dens and  Palaces,  A  Basket  of  Charcoal,  Tobacco  and 
Liquors,  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  The  Story  of  the  Jean- 
nette,  Palestine,  Electricity,  Picturesque  Mexico,  The 
Sponge  and  Starfish,  Sweden,  Physiology,  History  of  a 
Steam-Engine,  Heroes  and  Historic  Places  of  the  Revo- 
lution, The  Four  Napoleons,  The  World's  Fair,  The 
Civil  War,  and  others. 

What  better  way  to  spend  an  evening  than  in  listen- 
ing to  such  lectures  ?  What  better  way  to  use  one's 
money  than  in  laying  the  foundation  of  intelligent  and 
good  citizenship  in  childhood  and  youth  ? 

The  press  of  North  Easton  says,  "The  influence  and 
educational  power  of  such  a  series  of  lectures  and  course 
of  instruction  in  a  community  cannot  be  measured  or 
properly  gauged.  From  these  lectures  a  stream  of 
knowledge  has  gone  out  which,  we  believe,  will  bear 
fruit  in  the  future  for  the  good  of  the  community.  Of 
the  many  good  things  which  have  come  from  the  liber- 
ality of  Mr.  Ames,  this,  we  believe,  has  been  the  most 
potent  for  good  of  any." 

Judge  White  of  Lawrence,  Mass.,  left  at  his  death  a 
tract  of  land  in  the  hands  of  three  trustees,  which  they 
were  to  sell,  and  use  the  income  to  provide  a  course  of 
not  less  than  six  lectures  yearly,  especially  to  the  indus- 
trial classes.  The  subjects  were  to  be  along  the  line  of 
good  morals,  industry,  economy,  the  fruits  of  sin  and  of 
virtue.  The  White  fund  amounts  to  about  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hemenway  of  Boston,  who  died  March  6, 
1894,  will  always  be  remembered  for  her  good  works, 
not  the  least  of  which  are  the  yearly  courses  of  free 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  21 

lectures  for  young  people  at  the  Old  South  Church. 
When  the  meeting-house  where  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
baptized,  where  the  town  meeting  was  held  after  the 
Boston  Massacre  in  1770,  and  just  before  the  tea  was 
thrown  overboard  in  1773,  and  which  the  British  troops 
used  for  a  riding-school  in  1775,  —  when  this  historic 
place  was  in  danger  of  being  torn  down  because  busi- 
ness interests  seemed  to  demand  the  location,  Mrs. 
Hemenway,  with  other  Boston  women,  came  forward  in 
1876  to  save  it.  She  once  said  to  Mr.  Larkin  Dunton, 
head  master  of  the  Boston  Normal  School,  "  I  have  just 
given  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  save  the  Old  South; 
yet  I  care  nothing  for  the  church  on  the  corner  lot. 
But,  if  I  live,  such  teaching  shall  be  done  in  that  old 
building,  and  such  an  influence  shall  go  out  from  it,  as 
shall  make  the  children  of  future  generations  love  their 
country  so  tenderly  that  there  can  never  be  another 
civil  war  in  this  country." 

Mrs.  Hemenway  was  patriotic.  When  asked  why  she 
gave  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  Tilest'on  Normal 
School  in  Wilmington,  N.C.,  — her  maiden  name  was 
Tileston,  —  and  thus  provide  for  schools  in  the  South,  she 
replied,  "  When  my  country  called  for  her  sons  to  defend 
the  flag,  I  had  none  to  give.  Mine  was  but  a  lad  of  twelve. 
I  gave  my  money  as  a  thank-offering  that  I  was  not  called 
to  suffer  as  other  mothers  who  gave  their  sons  and  lost 
them.  I  gave  it  that  the  children  of  this  generation 
might  be  taught  to  love  the  flag  their  fathers  tore  down." 

In  December,  1878,  Miss  C.  Alice  Baker  began  at  the 
Old  South  Church  a  series  of  talks  to  children  on  New 
England  history,  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  on 
Saturdays,  which  she  called,   "The   Children's   Hour." 


22  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

From  the  relics  on  the  floor  and  in  the  gallery,  telling 
of  Colonial  times,  she  riveted  their  attention,  thus  show- 
ing to  the  historical  societies  of  this  country  how  easily 
they  might  interest  and  profit  the  children  of  our  public 
schools,  if  these  were  allowed  to  visit  museums  in  small 
companies  with  suitable  leaders. 

From  this  year,  1878,  the  excellent  work  has  been  car- 
ried on.  Every  year  George  Washington's  birthday  is 
appropriately  celebrated  at  the  Old  South  Meeting-house, 
with  speeches  and  singing  of  national  patriotic  airs  by 
the  children  of  the  public  schools.  In  1879  Mr.  John 
Eiske,  the  noted  historical  writer,  gave  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  Saturday  mornings  upon  The  Discovery  and 
Colonization  of  America.  These  were  followed  in  suc- 
ceeding years  by  his  lectures  on  The  American  Revolu- 
tion, and  others  that  are  now  published  in  book  form. 
These  were  more  especially  for  the  young,  but  adults 
seemed  just  as  eager  to  hear  them  as  young  persons. 

Regular  courses  of  free  lectures  for  young  people  were 
established  in  the  summer  of  1883,  more  especially  for 
those  who  did  not  leave  the  city  during  the  long  summer 
vacations.  The  lectures  are  usually  given  on  Wednes- 
day afternoons  in  July  and  August.  A  central  topic  is 
chosen  for  the  season,  such  as  Early  Massachusetts  His- 
tory, The  War  for  the  Union,  The  War  for  Independence, 
The  Birth  of  the  Nation,  The  American  Indians,  etc. ; 
and  different  persons  take  part  in  the  course. 

With  each  lecture  a  leaflet  of  four  or  eight  pages  is 
given  to  those  who  attend,  and  these  leaflets  can  be 
bound  at  the  end  of  the  season  for  a  small  sum.  "  These 
are  made  up,  for  the  most  part,  from  original  papers 
treated  in  the  lectures,"  says  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead  who 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  23 

prepares  them,  "  in  the  hope  to  make  the  men  and  the 
public  life  of  the  periods  more  clear  and  real."  These 
leaflets  are  very  valuable,  the  subjects  being,  "  The  Voy- 
ages to  Vinland,  from  the  Saga  of  Eric  the  Red,"  "  Marco 
Polo's  Account  of  Japan  and  Java,"  "  The  Death  of  De 
Soto  from  the  Narrative  of  a  Gentleman  of  Elvas,"  etc. 
They  are  furnished  to  the  schools  at  the  bare  cost  of 
paper  and  printing.  Mr.  Mead,  the  scholarly  author, 
and  editor  of  the  New  England  Magazine,  has  been 
untiring  in  the  Old  South  work,  and  has  been  the-  means 
of  several  other  cities  adopting  like  methods  for  the 
study  of  early  history,  especially  by  young  people. 

Every  year  since  1881  four  prizes,  two  of  forty  dol- 
lars, and  two  of  twenty-five  dollars  each,  have  been  of- 
fered to  high  school  pupils  soon  to  graduate,  and  also  to 
those  recently  graduated,  for  the  best  essays  on  assigned 
topics  of  American  history.  Those  who  compete  and  do 
not  win  a  prize  receive  a  present  of  valuable  books  in 
recognition  of  their  effort.  From  the  first,  Mrs.  Hemen- 
way  was  the  enthusiastic  friend  and  promoter  of  the  Old 
South  work.  She  spent  five  thousand  a  year,  for  many 
years,  in  carrying  it  forward,  and  left  provision  for  its 
continuation  at  her  death.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  these  free  lectures  have  stimulated  the  study  of  our 
early  history  all  over  the  country,  and  made  us  more 
earnest  lovers  of  our  flag  and  of  our  nation.  The  world 
has  little  respect  for  a  "  man  without  a  country." 

"Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

'  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  ! ' 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand?" 


24  JOHN  LOWELL,  JR. 

Mrs.  Hemenway  did  not  cease  her  good  work  with  her 
free  lectures  for  young  people.  It  is  scarcely  easier  to 
stop  in  an  upward  career  than  in  a  downward.  When 
the  heart  and  hand  are  once  opened  to  the  world's  needs, 
they  can  nevermore  be  closed. 

Mrs.  Hemenway,  practical  with  all  her  wealth,  be- 
lieved that  everybody  should  know  how  to  work,  and 
thus  not  only  be  placed  above  want,  but  dignify  labor. 
She  said,  "  In  my  youth,  girls  in  the  best  families  were 
accustomed  to  participate  in  many  of  the  household  af- 
fairs. Some  occasionally  assisted  in  other  homes.  As 
for  myself,  I  read  not  many  books.  They  were  not  so 
numerous  as  now.  I  was  reared  principally  on  house- 
hold duties,  the  Bible,  and  Shakespeare." 

Mrs.  Hemenway  began  by  establishing  kitchen  gar- 
dens in  Boston,  opened  on  Saturdays.  I  remember  go- 
ing to  one  of  them  at  the  North  End,  in  1881,  through 
the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Hemenway' s  able  assistant,  Miss 
Amy  Morris  Homans.  In  a  large,  plain  room  of  the 
"Mission"  I  found  twenty-four  bright  little  girls 
seated  at  two  long  tables.  They  were  eager,  interesting 
children,  but  most  had  on  torn  and  soiled  dresses  and 
poor  shoes. 

In  front  of  each  stood  a  tiny  box,  used  as  a  table,  on 
which  were  four  plates,  each  a  little  over  an  inch  wide ; 
four  knives,  each  three  inches  long,  and  forks  to  corre- 
spond ;  goblets,  and  cups  and  saucers  of  the  same  dimin- 
utive sizes. 

At  a  signal  from  the  piano,  the  girls  began  to  set  the 
little  tables  properly.  First  the  knives  and  forks  were 
put  in  their  places,  then  the  very  small  napkins,  and 
then  the  goblets.     In  front  of  the  "  lady  of  the  house  " 


JOHN  LOWELL,    JR.  25 

were  set  the  cups  and  saucers,  spoon-holder,  water- 
pitcher,  and  coffee-pot. 

Then  they  listened  to  a  useful  and  pleasant  talk  from 
the  leader  ;  and  when  the  order  was  given  to  clear  the 
tables,  twenty-four  pairs  of  little  hands  put  the  pewter 
dishes,  made  to  imitate  silver,  into  a  pitcher,  and  the 
other  things  into  dishpans,  about  four  or  five  inches 
wide,  singing  a  song  to  the  music  of  the  piano  as  they 
washed  the  dishes.  These  children  also  learned  to 
sweep  and  dust,  make  beds,  and  perform  other  house- 
hold duties.  Each  pupil  was  given  a  complete  set  of 
new  clothes  by  Mrs.  Hemenway. 

Many  persons  had  petitioned  to  have  sewing  taught  in 
the  public  schools  of  Boston,  as  in  London ;  but  there 
was  opposition,  and  but  little  was  accomplished.  Mrs. 
Hemenway  started  sewing-schools,  obtained  capable 
teachers,  and  in  time  sewing  became  a  regular  part  of 
the  public-school  work,  with  a  department  of  sewing  in 
the  Boston  Normal  School ;  so  that  hereafter  the  teacher 
will  be  as  able  in  her  department  as  another  in  mathe- 
matics. Drafting,  cutting,  and  fitting  have  been  added 
in  many  schools,  so  that  thousands  of  women  will  be 
able  to  save  expense  in  their  homes  through  the  skill 
of  their  own  hands. 

Mrs.  Hemenway  knew  that  in  many  homes  food  is 
poorly  cooked,  and  health  is  thereby  impaired.  Mr. 
Henry  C.  Hardon  of  Boston  tells  of  this  conversation 
between  two  teachers :  "  Name  some  one  thing  that 
would  enable  your  boys  to  achieve  more,  and  build  up 
the  school."  —  "A  plate  of  good  soup  and  a  thick  slice 
of  bread  after  recess,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  could  get 
twice  the  work  before  twelve.     They  want  new  blood." 


26  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

Mrs.  Hemenway  started  cooking-schools  in  Boston, 
which  she  called  school  kitchens ;  and  when  it  was 
found  to  be  difficult  to  secure  suitable  teachers,  she 
established  and  supported  a  normal  school  of  cooking. 
Boston,  seeing  the  need  of  proper  teachers  in  its  future 
work  in  the  schools,  has  provided  a  department  of  cook- 
ing in  the  city  Normal  School. 

Mrs.  Hemenway  believed  in  strong  bodies,  aided  to 
become  such  by  physical  training.  She  offered  to  the 
School  Committee  of  Boston  to  provide  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  a  hundred  teachers  in  the  Swedish  system,  on 
condition  that  they  be  allowed  to  use  the  exercises  in 
their  classes  in  case  they  chose  to  do  so.  The  result 
proved  successful,  and  now  over  sixty  thousand  in  the 
public  schools  take  the  Swedish  exercises  daily. 

Mrs.  Hemenway  established  the  Boston  Normal 
School  of  Gymnastics,  from  which  teachers  have  gone 
to  Radcliffe  College,  Cambridge ;  Bryn  Mawr,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Denver,  Colorado ;  Drexel  Institute,  Philadel- 
phia ;  their  average  salary  being  slightly  less  than  one 
thousand  dollars,  the  highest  salary  reaching  eighteen 
hundred  dollars.  Boston  has  now  made  the  teaching  of 
gymnastics  a  part  of  its  normal-school  work,  so  that 
every  graduate  goes  out  prepared  to  direct  the  work  in 
the  school.  Mrs.  Hemenway  gave  generously  to  aid 
the  Boston  Teachers'  Mutual  Benefit  Association ;  for 
she  said,  "  Nothing  is  too  good  for  the  Boston  teachers." 
She  was  a  busy  woman,  with  no  time  for  fashionable 
life,  though  she  welcomed  to  her  elegant  home  all 
who  had  any  helpful  work  to  do  in  the  world.  She 
used  her  wealth  and  her  social  position  to  help  human- 
ity. She  died  leaving  her  impress  on  a  great  city  and 
State,  and  through  that  upon  the  nation. 


JOHN  LOWELL,   JR.  27 

New  York  State  and  City  are  now  carrying  out  an 
admirable  plan  of  free  lectures  for  the  people.  The 
State  appropriates  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  annually 
that  free  lectures  may  be  given  "  in  natural  history, 
geography,  and  kindred  subjects  by  means  of  pictorial 
representation  and  lectures,  to  the  free  common  schools 
of  each  city  and  village  of  the  State  that  has,  or  may 
have,  a  superintendent  of  free  common  schools."  These 
illustrated  lectures  may  also  be  given  "  to  artisans,  me- 
chanics, and  other  citizens." 

This  has  grown  largely  out  of  the  excellent  work  done 
by  Professor  Albert  S.  Bickmore  of  the  American  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History,  Eighth  Avenue  and  Seventy- 
seventh  Street,  Central  Park,  New  York.  In  1869,  when 
the  Museum  was  founded,  the  teachers  of  the  public 
schools  were  required  to  give  object-lessons  on  animals, 
plants,  human  anatomy,  and  physiology,  and  came  to  the 
Museum  to  the  curator  of  the  department  of  ethnology, 
Professor  Bickmore,  for  assistance.  His  lectures,  given 
on  Saturday  forenoons,  illustrated  by  the  stereopticon, 
were  upon  the  body,  —  the  muscular  system,  nervous  sys- 
tem, etc. ;  the  mineral  kingdom,  —  granite,  marble,  coal, 
petroleum,  iron,  etc. ;  the  vegetable  kingdom,  —  ever- 
greens, oaks,  elms,  etc.  ;  the  animal  kingdom,  —  the  sea, 
corals,  oysters,  butterflies,  bees,  ants,  etc.  ;  physical 
geography,  —  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park,  Mexico,  Egypt,  Greece,  Italy,  West  Indies, 
etc.  ;  zoology,  —  fishes,  reptiles,  and  birds,  the  whale, 
dogs,  seals,  lions,  monkeys,  etc. 

These  lectures  became  so  popular  and  helpful  that  the 
trustees  of  the  Museum  hired  Chickering  Hall  for  some 
of  the  courses,  which  were  attended  by  over  thirteen 


28  JOHN  LOWELL,   JR. 

hundred  teachers  each  week.  Professor  Bickmore  also 
gives  free  illustrated  lectures  to  the  people  on  the  af- 
ternoons of  legal  holidays  at  the  Museum,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  State  Department  of  Public  Instruction. 

New  York  State  has  done  a  thing  which  might  well 
be  copied  in  other  States.  Each  normal  school  of  the 
State,  and  each  city  and  village  superintendent  of 
schools,  may  be  provided  with  a  stereopticon,  all  needed 
lantern  slides,  and  the  printed  lectures  of  Professor 
Bickmore,  for  use  before  the  schools.  In  this  way  chil- 
dren have  object-lessons  which  they  never  forget. 

The  Museum,  in  co-operation  with  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation of  the  city  of  New  York,  is  providing  free  lec- 
tures for  the  people  at  the  Museum  on  Saturday  evenings, 
by  various  lecturers.  The  Board,  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Henry  M.  Leipziger,  is  doing  good  work  in  its  free 
illustrated  lectures  for  the  people  in  many  portions  of 
the  city.  These  are  given  in  the  evenings,  and  often  at 
the  grammar-school  buildings,  a  good  use  to  which  to 
put  them.  Such  subjects  are  chosen  as  The  Navy  in  the 
Civil  War,  The  Progress  of  the  Telegraph,  Life  in  the 
Arctic  Regions,  Emergencies  and  How  to  Meet  Them 
(by  some  physician),  Iron  and  Steel  Ship-building,  The 
Care  of  the  Eyes  and  Teeth,  Burns  and  Scotland,  Andrew 
Jackson,  etc.  Rich  and  poor  are  alike  welcome  to  the 
lectures,  and  all  classes  are  present. 

A  city  or  State  that  does  such  work  for  the  people  will 
reap  a  hundred-fold  in  coming  generations. 


STEPHEN   GIRARD 

AND   HIS    COLLEGE   FOR   ORPHANS 


Near  the  city  of  Bordeaux,  France,  on  May  20,  1750, 
the  eldest  son  of  Pierre  Girard  and  his  wife,  Anne  Marie 
Laf argue,  was  born.  The  family  were  well-to-do ;  and 
Pierre  was  knighted  by  Louis  XV.  for  bravery  on  board 
the  squadron  at  Brest,  in  1744,  when  France  and  Eng- 
land were  at  war.  The  king  gave  Pierre  Girard  his  own 
sword,  which  Pierre  at  his  death  ordered  to  be  placed  in 
his  coffin,  and  it  was  buried  with  him.  Although  the 
Girard  family  were  devoted  to  the  sea,  Pierre  wished  to 
have  his  boys  become  professional  men ;  and  this  might 
have  been  the  case  with  the  eldest  son,  Stephen,  had  not 
an  accident  changed  his  life. 

When  the  boy  was  eight  years  old,  his  right  eye  was 
destroyed.  Some  wet  oyster-shells  were  thrown  upon  a 
bonfire,  and  the  heat  breaking  the  shells,  a  ragged  piece 
flew  into  the  eye.  To  make  the  calamity  worse,  his 
playmates  ridiculed  his  appearance  with  one  eye  closed ; 
and  he  became  sensitive,  and  disinclined  to  play  with 
any  one  save  his  brother  Jean. " 

He  was  a  grave  and  dignified  lad,  inclined  to  be  dom- 
ineering, and  of  a  quick  temper.  His  mother  tried  to 
teach  him  self-control,  and  had  she  lived,  would  doubt- 
less  have   softened  his    nature  ;    but   a    second   mother 

29 


30  STEPHEN  GIRARD. 

coming  into  the  home,  who  had  several  children  of  her 
own,  the  effect  upon  Stephen  was  disastrous.  She  seems 
not  to  have  understood  his  nature  ;  and  when  he  rebelled, 
the  father  sided  with  the  new  love,  and  bade  his  son  sub- 
mit, or  find  a  home  as  best  he  could. 

"  I  will  leave  your  house,"  replied  the  passionate  boy, 
hurt  in  feelings  as  well  as  angered.  "  Give  me  a  ven- 
ture on  any  ship  that  sails  from  Bordeaux,  and  I  will  go 
at  once,  where  you  shall  never  see  me  again." 

A  business  acquaintance,  Captain  Jean  Courteau,  was 
about  to  sail  to  San  Domingo  in  the  West  Indies.  Pierre 
Grirard  gave  his  son  sixteen  thousand  livres,  about  three 
thousand  dollars ;  and  the  lad  of  fourteen,  small  for  his 
age,  went  out  into  the  world  as  a  cabin-boy,  to  try  his 
fortune. 

If  his  mother  had  been  alive  he  would  have  been 
homesick,  but  as  matters  were  at  present  the  Girard 
house  could  not  be  a  home  to  him.  His  first  voyage 
lasted  ten  months ;  the  three  thousand  dollars  had 
gained  him  some  money,  and  the  trip  had  made  him 
in  love  with  the  sea.  He  returned  for  a  brief  time 
to  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  then  made  five  other 
voyages,  having  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant  of  the 
vessel. 

When  he  was  twenty-three,  he  was  given  authority 
to  act  as  "  captain  of  a  merchant  vessel,"  and  sailed 
away  from  Bordeaux  forever.  After  stopping  at  St. 
Marc's  in  the  island  of  San  Domingo,  young  Girard 
sailed  for  New  York,  which  he  reached  in  July,  1774. 
With  shrewd  business  ability  he  disposed  of  the  articles 
brought  in  his  ship,  and  in  so  doing  attracted  the  inter- 
est of  a  prosperous  merchant,  Mr.  Thomas  Randall,  who 


STEPHEN  GIRARD.  31 

was  engaged  in  trade  with  New  Orleans  and  the  West 
Indies. 

Mr.  Eandall  asked  the  energetic  young  Frenchman  to 
take  the  position  of  first  officer  in  his  ship  L'Aimable 
Louise.  This  resulted  so  satisfactorily  that  Girard 
was  taken  into  partnership,  and  became  master  of  the 
vessel  in  her  trade  with  New  Orleans  and  the  West 
Indies. 

After  nearly  two  years,  in  May,  1776,  Girard  was  re- 
turning from  the  West  Indies,  and  in  a  fog  and  storm  at 
sea  found  himself  in  Delaware  Bay,  and  learned  that  a 
British  fleet  was  outside.  The  pilot,  who  had  come  in 
answer  to  the  small  cannon  fired  from  Girard's  ship,  ad- 
vised against  his  going  to  New  York,  as  he  would  surely 
be  captured,  the  Revolutionary  War  having  begun.  As 
he  had  no  American  money  with  him,  a  Philadelphia 
gentleman  who  came  with  the  pilot  loaned  him  five  dol- 
lars. This  five-dollar  loan  proved  a  blessing  to  the 
Quaker  City,  when  in  after  years  she  received  millions 
from  the  merchant  who  came  by  accident  into  her  bor- 
ders. 

Captain  Girard  sold  his  interest  in  L'Aimable  Louise, 
and  opened  a  small  store  on  Water  Street,  putting  into 
it  his  cargo  from  the  West  Indies.  He  hoped  to  go.  to 
sea  again  as  soon  as  the  war  should  be  over,  and  con- 
ferred with  Mr.  Lum,  a  plain  shipbuilder  near  him  on 
Water  Street,  about  building  a  ship  for  him.  Mr.  Lum 
had  an  unusually  beautiful  daughter,  Mary,  a  girl  of  six- 
teen, with  black  hair  and  eyes,  and  very  fair  complexion. 
Though  eleven  years  older  than  Mary,  Stephen  Girard 
fell  in  love  with  her,  and  was  married  to  her,  June  6, 
1777,  before  his  family  could  object,  as  they  soon  did 


32  STEPIIEN   GIRARD. 

strenuously,  when  they  learned  that  she  was  poor  and 
below  him  in  social  rank. 

About  three  years  after  the  marriage,  Jean  visited  his 
brother  Stephen  in  America,  and  seems  to  have  appre- 
ciated the  beautiful  and  modest  girl  to  whom  the  family 
were  so  opposed.  Henry  Atlee  Ingrain,  LL.B.,  in  his 
life  of  Girard,  quotes  several  letters  from  Jean  after  he 
had  returned  to  France,  or  when  at  Cape  Francois,  San 
Domingo  :  "  Be  so  kind  as  to  assure  my  dear  sister-in-law 
of  my  true  affection.  .  .  .  Say  a  thousand  kind  things 
to  her  for  me,  and  assure  her  of  my  unalterable  friend- 
ship. .  .  .  Thousands  and  thousands  of  friendly  wishes 
to  your  dear  wife.  Say  to  her  that  if  anything  from 
here  would  give  her  pleasure,  to  ask  me  for  it.  I  will  do 
everything  in  the  world  to  prove  to  her  my  attachment. 
...  I  send  by  Derussy  the  jar  which  your  lovely  wife 
filled  for  me  with  gherkins,  full  of  an  excellent  guava 
jelly  for  you  people,  besides  two  orange-trees.  He  has 
promised  me  to  take  care  of  them.  I  hope  he  will,  and 
embrace,  as  well  as  you,  my  ever  dear  Mary." 

Three  or  four  months  after  his  marriage,  Lord  Howe 
having  threatened  the  city,  Mr.  Girard  took  his  young 
wife  to  Mount  Holly,  KJ.,  to  a  little  farm  of  five  or 
six  acres  which  he  had  purchased  the  previous  year 
for  five  hundred  dollars.  Here  they  lived  in  a  one- 
story-and-a-half  frame  house  for  over  a  year,  when 
they  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  he  resumed  his  busi- 
ness. He  had  decided  already  to  become  a  citizen  of 
the  Eepublic,  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  Oct.  27, 
1778. 

Mr.  Luni  at  once  began  to  build  the  sloop  which  Mr. 
Girard  was  planning  when  he  first  met  Mary,  and  she 


STEPHEN   Gill  ABB.  33 

was  named  the  Water-Witch.  Until  she  was  ship- 
wrecked, five  or  six  years  later,  Mr.  G-irard  believed  she 
could  never  cause  him  loss.  Already  he  was  worth  over 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  made  by  his  own 
energy,  prudence,  and  ability;  but  he  lived  with  great 
simplicity,  and  was  accumulating  wealth  rapidly.  In 
1784  he  built  his  second  vessel,  named,  in  compliment  to 
Jean,  the  Two  Brothers. 

The  next  year,  1785,  when  he  was  thirty-five  years 
old,  the  great  sorrow  of  his  life  came  upon  him.  The 
beautiful  wife,  only  a  little  beyond  her  teens,  became 
melancholy,  and  then  hopelessly  insane.  Mr.  Ingram 
believes  the  eight  years  of  Mary  Girard's  married  life 
were  happy  years,  though  the  contrary  has  been  stated. 
Without  doubt  Mr.  Girard  was  very  fond  of  her,  though 
his  unbending  will  and  temper,  and  the  ignoring  of  her 
relatives,  were  not  calculated  to  make  any  woman  con- 
tinuously happy.  Evidently  Jean,  who  had  lived  in 
the  family,  thought  no  blame  attached  to  his  brother; 
for  he  wrote  from  Cape  Francois  :  "  It  is  impossible  to 
express  to  you  what  I  felt  at  such  news.  I  do  truly 
pity  the  frightful  state  I  imagine  you  to  be  in,  above 
all,  knowing  the  regard  and  love  you  bear  your  wife.  .  .  . 
Conquer  your  grief,  and  show  yourself  by  that  worthy 
of  being  a  man ;  for,  dear  friend,  when  one  has  nothing 
with  which  to  reproach  one's  self,  no  blow,  whatsoever 
it  may  be,  should  crush  him." 

After  a  period  of  rest,  Mrs.  Girard  seemed  to  recover. 
Stephen  and  Jean  formed  a  partnership,  and  the  former 
sailed  to  the  Mediterranean  on  business  for  the  firm. 
After  three  years  the  partnership  was  dissolved  by 
mutual  consent,  Stephen  preferring  to  transact  business 


34  STEPHEN  GIRA11D. 

alone.  As  soon  as  these  matters  were  settled,  he  and 
his  wife  were  to  take  a  journey  to  France,  which  coun- 
try she  had  long  been  anxious  to  visit.  Probably  the 
family  would  then  see  for  themselves  that  the  unas- 
suming girl  made  an  amiable,  sensible  wife  for  their 
eldest  son. 

In  the  midst  of  preparations,  the  despondency  again 
returned;  and  by  the  advice  of  physicians,  Mrs.  G-irard 
was  taken  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  at  Eighth  and 
Spruce  Streets,  Aug.  31,  1790,  where  she  remained  till 
her  death  in  1815,  insane  for  over  twenty-five  years. 
She  retained  much  of  the  beauty  of  her  girlhood,  lived 
on  the  first  floor  of  the  hospital  iu  large  rooms,  had  the 
freedom  of  the  grounds,  and  was  "  always  sitting  in  the 
sunlight."  Her  mind  became  almost  a  blank  ;  and  when 
the  housekeeper  came  bringing  the  little  daughters  of 
Jean,  Mrs.  Girard  scarcely  recognized  her. 

To  add  still  more  to  Mr.  Girard's  sorrow,  after  his 
wife  had  been  at  the  hospital  several  months,  on  March 
3,  1791,  a  daughter  was  born  to  her,  who  was  named 
for  the  mother,  Mary  Girard.  The  infant  was  taken 
into  the  country  to  be  cared  for,  and  lived  but  a  few 
months.  It  was  buried  in  the  graveyard  of  the  parish 
church. 

Bereft  of  his  only  child,  his  home  desolate,  Mr. 
Girard  plunged  more  than  ever  into  the  whirl  of  busi- 
ness. He  built  six  large  ships,  naming  some  of  them 
after  his  favorite  authors,  —  Voltaire,  Helvetius,  Mon- 
tesquieu, Rousseau,  Good  Friends,  and  North  America, 
—  to  trade  with  China  and  India,  and  other  Eastern  coun- 
tries. He  would  send  grain  and  cotton  to  Bordeaux, 
where,  after    unloading,   his    ships   would    reload    with 


STEPHEN   GIRARD.  35 

fruit  and  wine  for  St.  Petersburg.  There  they  would 
dispose  of  their  cargo,  and  take  on  hemp  and  iron  for 
Amsterdam.  From  there  they  would  go  to  Calcutta 
and  Canton,  and  return,  laden  with  tea  and  silks,  to 
Philadelphia. 

Little  was  known  about  the  quiet,  taciturn  French- 
man ;  but  every  one  supposed  he  was  becoming  very  rich, 
which  was  the  truth.  He  was  not  always  successful. 
He  says  in  one  of  his  letters,  "  We  are  all  the  subjects 
of  what  you  call '  reverses  of  fortune.'  The  great  secret 
is  to  make  good  use  of  fortune,  and  when  reverses  come, 
receive  them  with  sang  fro  id,  and  by  redoubled  activ- 
ity and  economy  endeavor  to  repair  them."  His  ship 
Montesquieu,  from  Canton,  China,  arrived  within  the 
capes  of  Delaware,  March  26,  1813,  not  having  heard 
of  the  war  between  America  and  England,  and  was  cap- 
tured with  her  valuable  cargo,  the  fruits  of  the  two 
years'  voyage.  The  ship  was  valued  at  $20,000,  and 
the  cargo  over  $1G4,000.  He  immediately  tried  to  ran- 
som her,  and  did  so  with  $180,000  in  coin.  '  When  her 
cargo  was  sold,  the  sales  amounted  to  nearly  $500,000, 
so  that  Girard's  quickness  and  good  sense,  in  spite  of 
the  ransom,  brought  him  large  gains.  The  teas  were 
sold  for  over  two  dollars  a  pound,  on  account  of  their 
scarcity  from  the  war. 

Mr.  Girarcl  rose  early  and  worked  late.  He  spent 
little  on  clothes  or  for  daily  needs.  He  evidently  did 
not  care  simply  to  make  money ;  for  he  wrote  his  friend 
Duplessis  at  New  Orleans :  "  I  do  not  value  fortune. 
The  love  of  labor  is  my  highest  ambition.  ...  I  ob- 
serve with  pleasure  that  you  have  a  numerous  family, 
that  you  are  happy  in  the  possession  of  an  honest  for- 


36  STEPHEN   GIRABD. 

tune.  This  is  all  that  a  wise  man  lias  a  right  to  wish 
for.  As  to  myself,  I  live  like  a  galley-slave,  constantly 
occupied,  and  often  passing  the  night  without  sleeping. 
I  am  wrapped  up  in  a  labyrinth  of  affairs,  and  worn  out 
with  care.*' 

To  another  he  wrote:  "When  I  rise  in  the  morn- 
ing my  only  effort  is  to  labor  so  hard  during  the  day 
that  when  the  night  comes  I  may  be  enabled  to  sleep 
soundly."  He  had  the  same  strong  will  as  in  his  boy- 
hood, but  he  usually  controlled  his  temper.  He  kept 
his  business  to  himself,  and  would  not  permit  his  clerks 
to  gossip  about  his  affairs.  They  had  to  be  men  of  cor- 
rect habits  while  in  his  employ.  Having  some  suspi- 
cion of  one  of  the  officers  of  his  ship  Voltaire,  he 
wrote  to  Captain  Bowen :  "  I  desire  you  not  to  permit  a 
drunken  or  immoral  man  to  remain  on  board  of  your 
ship.  Whenever  such  a  man  makes  disturbance,  or  is 
disagreeable  to  the  rest  of  the  crew,  discharge  him 
whenever  you  have  the  opportunity.  And  if  any  of  my 
apprentices  should  not  conduct  themselves  properly,  I 
authorize  you  to  correct  them  as  I  would  myself.  My 
intention  being  that  they  shall  learn  their  business,  so 
after  they  are  free  they  may  be  useful  to  themselves 
and  their  country." 

Mr.  Girard  gave  minute  instructions  to  all  his  employ- 
ees, with  the  direction  that  they  were  to  "  break  owners, 
not  orders."  Miss  Louise  Stockton,  in  "  A  Sylvan  City, 
or  Quaint  Corners  in  Philadelphia,"  tells  the  follow- 
ing incident,  illustrative  of  Mr.  Girard's  inflexible  rule  : 
"  He  once  sent  a  young  supercargo  with  two  ships  on 
a  two  years'  voyage.  He  was  to  go  first  to  London, 
then  to  Amsterdam,  and  so  from  port  to  port,  selling  and 


STEPHEN  GIRARD.  37 

buying,  until  at  last  he  was  to  go  to  Mocha,  buy  coffee, 
and  turn  back.  At  London,  however,  the  young  fellow 
was  charged  by  the  Barings  not  to  go  to  Mocha,  or  he 
would  fall  into  the  hands  of  pirates ;  at  Amsterdam  they 
told  him  the  same  thing.  Everywhere  the  caution  was 
repeated ;  but  he  sailed  on  until  he  came  to  the  last  port 
before  Mocha.  Here  he  was  consigned  to  a  merchant 
who  had  been  an  apprentice  to  Girard  in  Philadelphia; 
and  he,  too,  told  him  he  must  not  dare  venture  near  the 
Red  Sea. 

"  The  supercargo  was  now  in  a  dilemma.  On  one  side 
was  his  master's  order ;  on  the  other,  two  vessels,  a  val- 
uable cargo,  and  a  large  sum  of  money.  The  merchant 
knew  Girard's  peculiarities  as  well  as  the  supercargo  did  ; 
but  he  thought  the  rule  to  "  break  owners,  not  orders  " 
might  this  time  be  governed  by  discretion.  '  You'll  not 
only  lose  all  you  have  made/  he  said,  '  but  you'll  never 
go  home  to  justify  yourself.' 

"  The  young  man  reflected.  After  all,  the  object  of 
his  voyages  was  to  get  coffee  ;  and  there  was  ho  danger  in 
going  to  Java,  so  he  turned  his  prow,  and  away  he  sailed 
to  the  Chinese  seas.  He  bought  coffee  at  four  dollars  a 
sack,  and  sold  it  in  Amsterdam  at  a  most  enormous  ad- 
vance, and  then  went  back  to  Philadelphia  in  good  order, 
with  large  profits,  sure  of  approval.  Soon  after  he  en- 
tered the  counting-room  Girard  came  in.  He  looked  at 
the  young  fellow  from  under  his  bushy  brows,  and  his 
one  eye  gleamed  with  resentment.  "  He  did  not  greet  him, 
nor  welcome  him,  nor  congratulate  him,  but,  shaking  his 
angry  hand,  cried,  '  What  for  you  not  go  to  Mocha,  sir  ?  ' 
And  for  the  moment  the  supercargo  wished  he  had.  But 
this  was  all  Girard  ever  said  on  the  subject.     He  rarely 


38  STEPHEN   GIRABD. 

scolded  his  employees.  He  might  express  his  opinion 
by  cutting  down  a  salary,  and  when  a  man  did  not  suit 
him  he  dismissed  him." 

When  one  of  Girard's  bookkeepers,  Stephen  Simpson, 
apparently  with  little  or  no  provocation,  assaulted  a  fel- 
low bookkeeper,  injuring  him  so  severely  about  the  head 
that  the  man  was  unable  to  leave  his  home  for  more  than 
a  week,  Girard  simply  laid  a  letter  on  Simpson's  desk 
the  next  morning,  reducing  his  salary  from  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  to  one  thousand  per  annum.  The  clerk  was 
very  angry,  but  did  not  give  up  his  situation.  When  an 
errand-boy  was  caught  in  the  act  of  stealing  small  sums 
of  money  from  the  counting-house,  Mr.  Girard  put  a 
more  intricate  lock  on  the  money-drawer,  and  made  no 
comment.  The  boy  was  sorry  for  his  conduct,  and  gave 
no  further  occasion  for  complaint. 

Girard  believed  in  labor  as  a  necessity  for  every  human 
being.  He  used  to  say,  "  No  man  shall  be  a  gentleman 
on  my  money."  If  he  had  a  son  he  should  labor.  He 
said,  "  If  I  should  leave  him  twenty  thousand  dollars,  he 
would  be  lazy  or  turn  gambler."  Mr.  Ingram  tells  an 
amusing  incident  of  an  Irishman  who  applied  to  Mr. 
Girard  for  work.  "  Engaging  the  man  for  a  whole  day, 
he  directed  the  removal  from  one  side  of  his  yard  to  the 
other  of  a  pile  of  bricks,  which  had  been  stored  there 
awaiting  some  building  operations  ;  and  this  task,  which 
consumed  several  hours,  being  completed,  he  was  ac- 
costed by  the  Irishman  to  know  what  should  be  done 
next.  '  Why,  have  you  finished  that  already  ? '  said 
Girard ;  <  I  thought  it  would  take  all  day  to  do  that. 
Well,  just  move  them  all  back  again  where  you  took 
them  from ;  that  will  use  up  the  rest  of  the  day ; '  and 


STEPHEN  GIRABD.  39 

upon  the  astonished  Irishman's  flat  refusal  to  perform 
such  fruitless  labor,  he  was  promptly  paid  and  dis- 
charged, Girarcl  saying  at  the  same  time,  in  a  rather 
aggrieved  manner,  '  I  certainly  understood  you  to  say 
that  you  wanted  any  kind  of  work.'" 

Absorbed  as  Mr.  Girard  was  in  his  business,  cold  and 
unapproachable  as  he  seemed  to  the  people  of  Philadel- 
phia, he  had  noble  qualities,  which  showed  themselves 
in  the  hour  of  need.  In  the  latter  part  of  July,  1793, 
yellow  fever  in  its  most  fatal  form  broke  out  in  Water 
Street,  within  a  square  of  Mr.  Girard's  residence.  The 
city  was  soon  in  a  panic.  Most  of  the  public  offices 
were  closed,  the  churches  were  shut  up,  and  people  fled 
from  the  city  whenever  it  was  possible  to  do  so.  Corpses 
were  taken  to  the  grave  on  the  shafts  of  a  chaise  driven 
by  a  negro,  unattended,  and  without  ceremony. 

"  Many  never  walked  in  the  footpath,  but  went  in 
the  middle  of  the  streets,  to  avoid  being  infected  in  pass- 
ing houses  wherein  people  had  died.  Acquaintances 
and  friends  avoided  each  other  in  the  streets,  and  only 
signified  their  regard  by  a  cold  nod.  The  old  custom  of 
shaking  hands  fell  into  such  disuse  that  many  shrank 
back  with  affright  at  even  the  offer  of  a  hand.  The 
death-calls  echoed  through  the  silent,  grass-grown  streets ; 
and  at  night  the  watcher  would  hear  at  his  neighbor's 
door  the  cry,  i  Bring  out  your  dead ! '  and  the  dead 
were  brought.  Unwept  over,  unprayed  for,  they  were 
wrapped  in  the  sheet  in  which  they  died,  and  were  hur- 
ried into  a  box,  and  thrown  into  a  great  pit,  the  rich  and 
the  poor  together." 

"Authentic  cases  are  recorded,"  says  Henry  W.  Arey 
in  his  "  Girard  College  and  its  Founder,"  "  where  parent 


40  STEPHEN   GIBABD. 

and  child  and  husband  and  wife  died  deserted  and 
alone,  for  want  of  a  little  care  from  the  hands  of  ab- 
sent kindred." 

In  the  midst  of  this  dreadful  plague  an  anonymous 
call  for  volunteer  aid  appeared  in  the  Federal  Gazette, 
the  only  paper  which  continued  to  Ik-  published.  All 
lint  three  of  the  "  Visitors  of  the  Poor"  had  died,  or 
had  Bed  from  the  city.  The  hospital  at  Bush  Hill 
needed  some  one  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and  clean- 
liness out  of  filth.  Two  men  volunteered  to  do  this 
work,  which  meant  probable  death.  To  the  amazement 
of  all,  one  of  these  was  the  rich  and  reticent  foreigner, 
Stephen  Girard.  The  other  man  was  Peter  Helm.  The 
former  took  the  interior  of  the  hospital  under  his  charge. 
For  two  mouths  Mr.  Girard  spent  from  six  to  eight 
hours  daily  in  the  hospital,  and  the  rest  of  the  time 
helped  to  remove  the  sick  and  the  dead  from  the  in- 
fected districts  round  about.  He  wrote  to  a  friend  in 
Baltimore:  "The  deplorable  situations  to  which  fright 
and  sickness  have  reduced  the  inhabitants  of  our  city 
demand  succor  from  those  who  do  not  fear  death,  or 
who  at  least  do  not  see  any  risk  in  the  epidemic  which 
now  prevails  here.  This  will  occupy  me  for  some  tunc  ; 
and  if  I  have  the  misfortune  to  succumb,  I  will  have  at 
least  the  satisfaction  to  have  performed  a  duty  which 
we  all  owe  to  each  other.1* 

Mr.  Ingram  quotes  from  the  United  States  Gazette  of 
dan.  13,  1832,  the  account  of  Girard  at  this  time,  wit- 
nessed by  a  merchant  who  was  hurrying  by  with  a, 
camphor-saturated  handkerchief  pressed  to  his  mouth  : 
"A  carriage,  rapidly  driven  by  a.  black  servant,  broke 
the  silence  of  the  deserted  and  grass-grown  street.     It 


STEPHEN   aiBABB.  41 

stopped  before  a  frame  house  in  Farmer's  Row,  the 
very  hotbed  of  the  pestilence;  and  the  driver,  first  hav- 
ing hound  ii  handkerchief  over  his  mouth,  opened  the 
door  of  the  carriage,  and  quickly  remounted  to  the  box. 
A  short,  thick-set  man  stepped  from  the  coach,  and 
entered  the  house. 

"  In  a  minute  or  two  the  observer,  who  stood  at  a 
safe  distance  watching  the  proceedings,  heard  a  shuf- 
fling noise  in  the  entry,  and  soon  saw  the  visitor  emerge, 
supporting,  with  extreme  difficulty,  a  tall,  gaunt,  yellow- 
visaged  victim  of  the  pestilence.  His  arm  was  around 
the  waist  of  the  sick  man,  whose  yellow  face  rested 
against  his  own,  his  long,  danip,  tangled  hair  mingling 
with  his  benefactor's,  his  feet  dragging  helpless  upon 
the  pavement.  Thus,  partly  dragging,  partly  lifted,  he 
was  drawn  to  the  carriage  door,  the  driver  averting  his 
face  from  the  spectacle,  far  from  offering  to  assist, 
After  a  long  and  severe  exertion,  the  well  man  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  fever-stricken  patient  into  the 
vehicle,  and  then  entering  it  himself,  the'  door  was 
closed,  and  the  carriage  drove  away  to  the  hospital,  the 
merchant  having  recognized  in  the  man  who  thus  risked 
his  life  for  another,  the  foreigner,  Stephen  Girard." 

'Twice  after  this,  in  1797  and  1798,  when  the  yellow 
fever  again  appeared  in  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Girard  gave 
his  time  and  money  to  the  sick  and  the  poor. 

In  January,  1799,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  France: 
"During  all  this  frightful  time  I  have  constantly  re- 
mained in  the  city,  and  without  neglecting  my  public 
dutie's,  I  have  played  a  part  which  will  make  you  smile. 
Would  you  believe  it,  my  friend,  that  I  have  visited  as 
many  as  fifteen  sick  people  in  one  day,  and  what  will 


42  STEPHEN  GIB  A  ED. 

surprise  you  still  more,  I  have  lost  only  one  patient,  an 
Irishman,  who  would  drink  a  little." 

Busy  as  a  mariner,  merchant,  and  helper  of  the  sick 
and  the  poor,  Mr.  Girard  found  time  to  aid  the  Repub- 
lic, to  which  he  had  become  ardently  attached.  Besides 
serving  for  several  terms  in  the  City  Council,  and  as 
Warden  of  the  Port  for  twenty-two  years,  during  the 
war  of  1812  he  rendered  valuable  financial  aid.  In 
1810  Mr.  Girard,  having  about  one  million  dollars  in 
the  hands  of  Baring  Bros.  &  Co.,  London,  ordered  the 
whole  of  it  to  be  used  in  buying  stock  and  shares  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  When  the  charter  of 
the  bank  expired  in  1811,  Mr.  Girard  purchased  the 
whole  outfit,  and  opened  "  The  Bank  of  Stephen  Gi- 
rard," with  a  capital  of  one  million  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  About  this  time,  1811,  an  attempt  was 
made  by  two  men  to  kidnap  Mr.  Girard  by  enticing 
him  into  a  house  to  buy  goods,  then  seize  him,  and 
carry  him  to  a  small  ship  in  the  Delaware,  where  he 
would  be  confined  till  he  had  paid  the  money  which 
they  demanded.  The  plot  was  discovered.  After  the 
men  were  arrested,  and  in  prison  for  several  months, 
one  was  declared  insane,  and  the  other  was  acquitted  on 
the  ground  of  comparative  ignorance  of  the  plot. 

Everybody  believed  in  Mr.  Girard's  honesty,  and  in 
the  safety  of  his  bank.  He  made  temporary  loans  to 
the  Government,  never  refusing  his  aid.  When  near  the 
close  of  the  war  the  Government  endeavored  to  float 
a  loan  of  five  million  dollars,  the  bonds  to  bear  interest 
at  seven  per  cent  per  annum,  and  a  bonus  offered  to 
capitalists,  there  was  so  much  indifference  or  fear  of 
future  payment,  or   opposition  to   the  war  with   Great 


STEPHEN   GIRARD.  43 

Britain,  that  only  $20,000  were  subscribed  for.  Mr. 
Girard  determined  to  stake  his  whole  fortune  to  save 
the  credit  of  his  adopted  country.  He  put  his  name 
opposite  the  whole  of  the  loan  still  unsubscribed  for. 

The  effect  was  magical.  People  at  once  had  faith  in 
the  Government,  professed  themselves  true  patriots,  and 
persisted  in  taking  shares  from  Mr.  Girard,  which  he 
gave  them  on  the  original  terms.  "  The  sinews  of  war 
Avere  thus  furnished,"  says  Mr.  Arey,  "  public  confi- 
dence was  restored,  and  a  series  of  brilliant  victories 
resulted  in  a  peace,  to  which  he  thus  referred  in  a  letter 
written  in  1815  to  his  friend  Morton  of  Bordeaux : 
<  The  peace  which  has  taken  place  between  this  country 
and  England  will  consolidate  forever  our  independence, 
and  insure  our  tranquillity.' " 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  on  Sept.  13,  1815, 
word  was  sent  to  Mr.  Girard  that  his  wife,  still  insane, 
was  dying.  Years  before,  when  he  found  that  she  was 
incurable,  he  had  sought  a  divorce,  which  those  who  ad- 
mire him  most  must  wish  that  he  had  never  attempted ; 
and  the  bill  failed.  He  was  now  sixty-five,  and  growing 
old.  His  life  had  been  too  long  in  the  shadow  ever  to 
be  very  full  of  light. 

He  asked  to  be  sent  for  when  all  was  over.  Toward 
sunset,  when  Mary  Girard  was  in  her  plain  coffin,  word 
was  sent  to  him.  He  came  with  his  household,  and 
followed  her  to  her  resting-place,  in  the  lawn  at  the 
north  front  of  the  hospital.  "  I  shall  never  forget  the 
last  and  closing  scene,"  writes  Professor  William  Wag- 
ner. "  We  all  stood  about  the  coffin,  when  Mr.  Girard, 
filled  with  emotion,  stepped  forward,  kissed  his  wife's 
corpse,  and  his  tears  moistened  her  cheek." 


44  STEPHEN  GIRARD. 

She  was  buried  in  silence,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Friends,  who  manage  the  hospital.  After  the  coffin 
was  lowered,  Mr.  Girard  looked  in,  and  saying  to  Mr. 
Samuel  Coates,  "  It  is  very  well,"  returned  to  his  home. 

Mary  Girard's  grave,  and  that  of  another  who  died  in 
1807,  giving  the  hospital  five  thousand  dollars  on  con- 
dition that  he  be  buried  there,  are  now  covered  by  the 
Clinic  Building,  erected  in  18G8.  The  bodies  were  not 
disturbed,  as  there  is  no  cellar  under  the  structure.  As 
a  reward  for  the  care  of  his  wife,  soon  after  the  burial 
Mr.  Girard  gave  the  hospital  about  three  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  small  sums  of  money  to  the  attendants  and 
nurses.  It  was  his  intention  to  be  buried  beside  his 
wife,  but  this  plan  was  changed  later. 

The  next  year,  1816,  President  Madison  having  char- 
tered the  second  Bank  of  the  United  States,  there  were 
so  few  subscribers  that  it  was  evident  that  the  scheme 
would  fail.  At  the  last  moment  Mr.  Girard  placed  his 
name  against  the  stock  not  subscribed  for,  —  three  mil- 
lion one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Again  confidence 
was  restored  to  a  hesitating  and  timid  public.  Some 
years  later,  in  1829,  when  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  was 
in  pressing  need  for  money  to  carry  on  its  daily  func- 
tions, the  governor  asked  Mr.  Girard  to  loan  the  State 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  was  cheerfully 
done. 

As  it  was  known  that  Mr.  Girard  had  amassed  great 
wealth,  and  had  no  children,  he  was  constantly  besought 
to  give,  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Letters  came 
from  France,  begging  that  his  native  land  be  remem- 
bered through  some  grand  institution  of  benevolence. 

Ambitious  though  Mr.   Girard  was,  and  conscious  of 


STEPHEN  GIRARD.  45 

the  power  of  money,  he  had  without  doubt  been  saving 
and  accumulating  for  other  reasons  than  love  of  gain. 
His  will,  made  Feb.  16,  1830,  by  his  legal  adviser,  Mr. 
William  J.  Duane,  after  months  of  conference,  showed 
that  Mr.  Girard  had  been  thinking  for  years  about  the 
disposition  of  his  millions.  When  persons  seemed  in- 
quisitive during  his  life,  he  would  say,  "  My  deeds  must 
be  my  life.  When  I  am  dead,  my  actions  must  speak 
for  me." 

To  the  last  Mr.  Girard  was  devoted  to  business. 
"  When  death  comes  for  me,"  he  said,  "  he  will  find  me 
busy,  unless  I  am  asleep  in  bed.  -If  I  thought  I  was 
going  to  die  to-morrow,  I  should  plant  a  tree,  neverthe- 
less, to-day." 

His  only  recreation  from  business  was  going  daily 
to  his  farm  of  nearly  six  hundred  acres,  in  Passyunk 
Township,  where  he  set  out  choice  plants  and  fruit- 
trees,  and  raised  the  best  produce  for  the  Philadelphia 
market.  His  yellow-bodied  gig  and  stout  horse  were 
familiar  objects  to  the  townspeople,  though  he  always 
preferred  walking  to  riding. 

His  home  in  later  years,  a  four-story  brick  house, 
was  somewhat  handsomely  furnished,  with  ebony  chairs 
and  seats  of  crimson  plush  from  France,  a  present  from 
his  brother  Etienne ;  a  tall  writing-cabinet,  containing 
an  organ  given  him  by  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  brother 
of  Napoleon,  and  the  ex-king  of  Spain  and  Naples,  who 
usually  dined  with  Mr.  Girard  on  Sunday ;  a  Turkey 
carpet,  and  marble  statuary  purchased  in  Leghorn  by  his 
brother  Jean.  The  home  was  made  cheerful  by  his  young 
relatives.  He  had  in  his  family  the  three  daughters  of 
Jean,  and  two  sons  of  Etienne,  whom  he  educated. 


46  STEPHEN  GIRABB. 

He  loved  animals,  always  keeping  a  large  watch-dog 
at  his  home  and  on  each  of  his  ships,  saying  that  his 
property  was  thus  much  more  efficiently  protected  than 
through  the  services  of  those  to  whom  he  paid  wages. 
He  was  very  fond  of  children,  horses,  dogs,  and  canary- 
birds.  In  his  private  office  several  canaries  swung  in 
brass  cages;  and  these  he  taught  to  sing  with  a  bird 
organ,  which  he  imported  from  France  for  that  purpose. 

When  Mr.  Girard  was  seventy-six  years  of  age  a 
violent  attack  of  erysipelas  in  the  head  and  legs  led 
him  to  confine  himself  thereafter  to  a  vegetable  diet  as 
long  as  he  lived.  The  sight  of  his  one  eye  finally  grew 
so  dim  that  he  was  scarcely  able  to  find  his  way  about 
the  streets,  and  he  was  often  seen  to  grope  about  the 
vestibule  of  his  bank  to  find  the  door.  On  Feb.  12, 
1820,  as  he  was  crossing  the  road  at  Second  and  Mar- 
ket Streets,  he  was  struck  and  badly  injured  by  a 
wagon,  the  wheel  of  which  passed  over  his  head  and  cut 
his  face.  He  managed  to  regain  his  feet  and  reach  his 
home.  While  the  doctors  were  dressing  the  wound  and 
cleansing  it  of  the  sand,  he  said,  "  Go  on,  Doctor,  I  am 
an  old  sailor ;  I  can  bear  a  good  deal." 

After  some  months  he  was  able  to  return  to  his  bank  ; 
but  in  December,  1831,  nearly  two  years  after  the  acci- 
dent, an  attack  of  influenza,  then  prevailing,  followed 
by  pneumonia,  caused  his  death.  He  lay  in  a  stupor 
for  some  days,  but  finally  rallied,  and  walked  across  the 
room.  The  effort  was  too  great,  and  putting  his  hand 
against  his  forehead,  he  exclaimed,  "  How  violent  is 
this  disorder!  How  very  extraordinary  it  is!"  and 
soon  died,  without  speaking  again,  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  Dec.  2G,  1831,  nearly  eighty-two  }Tears  old. 


STEPHEN   GIRARD.  47 

He  was  given  a  public  funeral  by  the  city  which  he 
had  so  many  times  befriended.  A  great  concourse  of 
people  gathered  to  watch  the  procession  or  to  join  it,  all 
houses  being  closed  along  the  route,  the  city  officials 
walking  beside  the  coffin  carried  in  an  open  hearse. 
So  large  a  funeral  had  never  been  known  in  Phila- 
delphia, said  the  press.  The  body  was  taken  to  the 
Holy  Trinity  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  placed  in 
the  vault  of  Baron  Henry  Dominick  Lallemand,  General 
of  Artillery  under  Napoleon  L,  who  had  married  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Girard's  brother  Jean.  Mr.  Gi- 
rard  was  born  in  the  Romish  Church,  and  never  severed 
his  connection,  although  he  attended  a  church  but  rarely. 
He  liked  the  Friends,  and  modelled  his  life  after  their 
virtues ;  but  he  said  it  was  better  for  a  man  to  die  in 
the  faith  in  which  he  was  born.  He  gave  generously 
to  all  religious  denominations  and  to  the  poor. 

When  Mr.  Girard's  will  was  read,  it  was  apparent 
for  what  purpose  he  had  saved  his  money.  He  gave 
away  about  $7,500,000,  a  remarkable  record  for  a  youth 
who  left  home  at  fourteen,  and  rose  from  a  cabin-boy  to 
be  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  of  his  time. 

The  first  gift  in  the  will,  and  the  largest  to  any  ex- 
isting corporation,  was  $30,000  to  the  Pennsylvania 
hospital  where  Mary  Girard  died  and  was  buried,  the 
income  to  be  used  in  providing  nurses.  To  the  Institu- 
tion for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Mr.  Girard  left  $20,000 ; 
to  the  Philadelphia  Orphan  Asylum,  $10,000 ;  public 
schools,  $10,000  ;  to  purchase  fuel  forever,  in  March 
and  August,  for  distribution  in  January  among  poor 
white  housekeepers  of  good  character,  the  income  from 
$10,000 ;  to  the  Society  for  poor  masters  of  ships  and 


48  STEPHEN   GIRARD. 

their  families,  $10,000  ;  to  the  poor  among  the  Masonic 
fraternity  of  Pennsylvania,  $20,000 ;  to  build  a  school- 
house  at  Passyunk,  where  he  had  his  farm,  $6,000  ;  to 
his  brother  Etienno,  and  to  each  of  the  six  children  of 
this  brother,  $5,000  ;  to  each  of  his  nieces  from  $10,000 
to  $60,000 ;  to  each  captain  of  his  vessels  $1,500,  and 
to  each  of  his  housekeepers  an  annuity  or  yearly  sum 
of  $500,  besides  various  amounts  to  servants ;  to  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  to  improve  her  Delaware  Eiver 
front,  to  pull  down  and  remove  wooden  buildings  within 
the  city  limits,  and  to  widen  and  pave  Water  Street, 
the  income  of  $500,000  ;  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania, for  internal  improvements  by  canal  navigation, 
$300,000  ;  to  the  cities  of  New  Orleans  and  Philadel- 
phia, "  to  promote  the  health  and  general  prosperity  of 
the  inhabitants,"  280,000  acres  of  land  in  the  State 
of  Louisiana. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  has  been  fortunate  in  her 
gifts.  The  Elias  P>oudinot  Fund,  for  supplying  the 
poor  of  the  city  with  fuel,  furnished  over  three  hundred 
tons  of  coal  last  year ;  "  and  this  amount  will  increase 
annually,  by  reason  of  the  larger  income  derived  from 
the  12,000  acres  of  land  situated  in  Centre  County,  the 
property  of  this  trust."  The  investments  and  cash  bal- 
ance on  Dec.  31,  1893,  amounted  to  $40,600. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  at  his  death,  April  17,  1790, 
gave  to  each  of  the  two  cities,  Philadelphia  and  Bos- 
ton, in  trust,  £1,000  ($5,000),  to  be  loaned  to  young 
married  mechanics  under  twenty-five  years  of  age,  to 
help  them  start  in  business,  in  sums  not  to  exceed  £60, 
nor  to  be  less  than  £15,  at  five  per  cent  interest,  the 
money  to  be  paid    back    by  them  in   ten   annual    pay- 


STEPHEN  GIRARD.  49 

ments  of  ten  per  cent  each.  Two  respectable  citizens 
were  to  become  surety  for  the  payment  of  the  money. 
This  Franklin  did  because  two  men  helped  him  when 
young  to  begin  business  in  Philadelphia  by  a  loan,  and 
thus,  he  said,  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune.  A 
bequest  somewhat  similar  was  founded  in  London  more 
than  twenty  years  previously,  in  1766,  —  the  Wilson's 
Loan  Fund,  "to  lend  sums  of  £100  to  £300  to  young 
tradesmen  of  the  city  of  London,  etc.,  at  two  per  cent 
per  annum." 

Dr.  Franklin  estimated  that  his  $5,000  at  interest  for 
one  hundred  years  would  increase  to  over  $600,000 
(£131,000)  ;  and  then  the  managers  of  the  fund  were  to 
lay  out  $500,000  (£100,000)  says  the  will,  "in  public 
works,  which  may  be  judged  of  most  general  utility  to 
the  inhabitants,  such  as  fortifications,  bridges,  aque- 
ducts, public  buildings,  baths,  pavements,  or  whatever 
may  make  living  in  the  town  more  convenient  to  its 
people,  and  render  it  more  agreeable  to  strangers  re- 
sorting hither  for  health  or  a  temporary  residence."  In 
Philadelphia  Dr.  Franklin  hoped  the  £100,000  would 
be  used  in  bringing  by  pipes  the  water  of  the  Wissa- 
hickon  Creek  to  take  the  place  of  well  water,  and  in 
making  the  Schuylkill  completely  navigable.  If  these 
things  had  been  done  by  the  end  of  the  hundred  years, 
the  money  could  be  used  for  other  public  works. 

The  remaining  £31,000  was  to  be  put  at  interest  for 
another  hundred  years,  when  it  would  amount  to  £4,600,- 
000  or  $23,000,000.  Of  this  amount  £1,610,000  was 
to  be  given  to  Philadelphia,  and  the  same  to  Boston, 
and  the  balance,  £3,000,000  or  $15,000,000,  paid  to 
each    State.     The    figures   are    of    especial    interest,   as 


50  STEPHEN  GIRARD. 

showing  how  fast  money  will  accumulate  if  kept  at 
interest. 

The  descendants  of  Franklin  have  tried  to  break  the 
will,  but  have  not  succeeded.  The  Board  of  Directors 
of  City  Trusts  of  Philadelphia  report  for  the  year  end- 
ing Dec.  31,  1893,  that  the  fund  of  $5,000  for  the  first 
hundred  years,  though  not  equalling  the  sum  which 
Franklin  hoped,  has  yet  reached  the  large  amount  of 
$102,9G8.4S.  The  Boston  fund,  says  Mr.  Samuel  F. 
McCleary,  the  treasurer,  amounted,  at  the  end  of  a  hun- 
dred years,  to  $431,395.70.  Of  this  sum,  $328,940  was 
paid  to  the  city  of  Boston,  and  $102,455.70  was  put  at 
interest  for  another  hundred  years.  This  has  already 
increased  to  $110,806.83.  What  an  amount  of  good 
some  other  man  or  woman  might  do  with  $5,000  ! 

It  remains  to  be  seen  to  what  use  the  two  cities  will 
put  their  gifts.  Perhaps  they  will  provide  work  for 
the  unemployed  in  making  good  roads  or  in  some  other 
useful  labor,  or  instead  of  loaning  money  to  mechanics, 
as  Franklin  intended,  perhaps  they  will  erect  tenement 
houses  for  mechanics  or  other  working  people,  as  is 
done  by  some  cities  in  England  and  Scotland,  following 
the  example  so  nobly  set  by  George  Peabody,  when  he 
gave  his  $3,000,000,  which  has  now  doubled,  to  build 
houses  for  the  London  poor.  He  said,  "  If  judici- 
ously managed  for  two  hundred  years,  its  accumula- 
tion will  amount  to  a  sum  sufficient  to  buy  the  city  of 
London." 

If  Stephen  Girard's  $300,000  to  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania had  been  given  for  the  making  of  good  roads, 
thousands  of  the  unemployed  might  have  been  provided 
with  labor,  tens  of  thousands  of  poor  horses  saved  from 


STEPHEN  GIRARD.  51 

useless  over-work  in  hauling  loads  over  muddy  roads 
where  the  wheels  sink  to  the  hubs,  and  the  farmers 
saved  thousands  of  dollars  in  carrying  their  produce  to 
cities. 

Stephen  G-irard  had  a  larger  gift  in  mind  than  those 
to  his  adopted  city  and  State.  He  said  in  his  will,  "  I 
have  been  for  a  long  time  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  educating  the  poor,  and  of  placing  them,  by  the  early 
cultivation  of  their  minds,  and  the  development  of  their 
moral  principles,  above  the  many  temptations  to  which, 
through  poverty  and  ignorance,  they  are  exposed  ;  and 
I  am  particularly  desirous  to  provide  for  such  a  number 
of  poor  male  white  orphan  children,  as  can  be  trained  in 
one  institution,  a  better  education,  as  well  as  a  more 
comfortable  maintenance,  than  they  usually  receive  from 
the  application  of  the  public  funds." 

With  this  object  in  view,  a  college  for  orphan  boys, 
Mr.  Girard  gave  to  "  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  citizens 
of  Philadelphia,  all  the  residue  and  remainder  of  my 
real  and  personal  estate "  in  trust ;  first,  to  erect  and 
maintain  a  college  for  poor  white  male  orphans  ;  second, 
to  establish  "  a  competent  police  ;  "  and  third,  "  to  im- 
prove the  general  appearance  of  the  city  itself,  and,  in 
effect,  to  diminish  the  burden  of  taxation,  now  most 
oppressive,  especially  on  those  who  are  the  least  able  to 
bear  it,"  "  after  providing  for  the  college  as  my  primary 
object." 

He  left  $2,000,000,  allowing  "  as  much  of  that  sum 
as  may  be  necessary  in  erecting  the  college,"  which  was 
"  to  be  constructed  with  the  most  durable  materials,  and 
in  the  most  permanent  manner,  avoiding  needless  orna- 
ment."     He   gave  the  most   minute  directions  in  his 


52  STEPHEN  GIRARD. 

will  for  its  size,  material,  "  marble  or  granite/'  and  the 
training  and  education  of  the  inmates. 

This  residue  "  and  remainder  of  my  real  and  personal 
estate  "had  grown  in  1891  to  more  than  $15,000,000, 
with  an  income  yearly  of  about  $1,500,000.  Truly 
Stephen  Girard  had  saved  ai\d  labored  for  a  magnificent 
and  enduring  monument!  The  Girard  estate  is  one  of 
the  largest  owners  of  real  estate  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia. Outside  of  the  city  some  of  the  Girard  land  is 
valuable  in  coal  production.  In  the  year  1893,  1,542,- 
652  tons  of  anthracite  coal  were  mined  from  the  Girard 
land.  More  than  $4,500,000  received  from  its  coal 
has  been  invested,  that  the  college  may  be  doubly  sure 
of  its  support  when  the  coal-mines  are  exhausted. 

Girard  College,  of  white  marble,  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  temple,  was  begun  in  May,  1833,  two  years  after 
Mr.  Girard's  death,  and  was  fourteen  years  and  six 
months  in  building.  A  broad  platform,  reached  by 
eleven  marble  steps,  supports  the  main  building.  Thirty- 
four  Corinthian  columns  form  a  colonnade  about  the 
structure,  each  column  six  feet  in  diameter  and  fifty- 
five  feet  high,  and  each  weighing  one  hundred  and  three 
tons,  and  costing  about  $13,000  apiece.  They  are  beau- 
tiful and  substantial,  and  yet  $13,000  would  support 
several  orphans  for  a  year  or  more. 

The  floors  and  roof  are  of  marble ;  and  the  three-story 
building  weighs  over  76,000  tons,  the  average  weight 
on  each  superficial  foot  of  foundation  being,  according 
to  Mr.  Arey,  about  six  tons.  Four  auxiliary  white  mar- 
ble buildings  were  required  by  the  will  of  Mr.  Girard 
for  dormitories,  schoolrooms,  etc.  The  whole  forty-five 
acres    in    which    stand    the    college    buildings    are   sur- 


STEPHEN   GIB  ABB.  53 

rounded,  according  to  the  given  instructions,  by  a  wall 
ten  feet  high  and  sixteen  inches  thick,  covered  with  a 
heavy  marble  capping. 

The  five  buildings  were  completed  Nov.  13,  1847,  at 
a  cost  of  nearly  $2,000,000  ($1,933,821.78);  and  on 
Jan.  1,  1848,  Girard  College  was  opened  with  one  hun- 
dred orphans.  In  the  autumn  one  hundred  more  were 
admitted,  and  on  April  1,  1849,  one  hundred  more. 
Those  born  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  have  the  first 
preference,  after  them  those  born  in  the  State,  those 
born  in  New  York  City  where  Mr.  Girard  first  landed 
in  America,  and  then  those  born  in  New  Orleans  where 
he  first  traded.  They  must  enter  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  ten,  be  fatherless,  although  the  mother  may  be 
living,  and  must  remain  in  the  college  till  they  are  be- 
tween fourteen  and  eighteen,  when  they  are  bound  out 
by  the  mayor  till  they  are  twenty-one,  to  learn  some 
suitable  trade  in  the  arts,  manufacture,  or  agriculture, 
their  tastes  being  consulted  as  far  as  possible.  Each 
orphan  has  three  suits  of  clothing,  one  for  every  day, 
one  better,  and  one  usually  reserved  for  Sundays. 

The  first  president  of  Girard  College  was  Alexander 
Dallas  Bache,  a  great-grandson  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
and  head  of  the  Coast  Survey  of  the  United  States. 
He  visited  similar  institutions  in  Europe,  and  purchased 
the  necessary  books  and  apparatus  for  the  school. 

While  the  college  was  building,  the  heirs,  with  the 
not  unusual  disregard  of  the  testator's  desires,  endeav- 
ored to  break  the  will.  Mr.  Girard  had  given  the  fol- 
lowing specific  direction  in  his  will:  "I  enjoin  and 
require  that  no  ecclesiastic,  missionary,  or  minister  of 
any  sect  whatsoever  shall  ever  hold  or  exercise  any  sta- 


54  STEPHEN   GIRARD. 

tion  or  duty  whatever  in  the  said  college,  nor  shall  any 
such  person  ever  be  admitted  for  any  purpose,  or  as 
a  visitor,  within  the  premises  appropriated  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  said  college  :  —  In  making  this  restriction  I 
do  not  mean  to  cast  any  reflection  upon  any  sect  or  per- 
son whatsoever;  but  as  there  is  such  a  multitude  of 
sects,  and  such  a  diversity  of  opinion  amongst  them,  I 
desire  to  keep  the  tender  minds  of  the  orphans,  who  are 
to  derive  advantage  from  this  bequest,  free  from  the 
excitement  which  clashing  doctrines  and  sectarian  con- 
troversy are  so  apt  to  produce.  My  desire  is  that  all  the 
instructors  and  teachers  in  the  college  shall  take  pains 
to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the  scholars  the  purest  prin- 
ciples of  morality,  so  that  on  their  entrance  into  active 
life  they  may  from  inclination  and  habit  evince  be- 
nevolence toward  their  fellow-creatures,  and  a  love  of 
truth,  sobriety,  and  industry,  adopting  at  the  same  time 
such  religious  tenets  as  their  matured  reason  may  enable 
them  to  prefer."  The  heirs  of  Mr.  Girard  claimed  that 
by  reason  of  the  above  the  college  was  "  illegal  and  im- 
moral, derogatory  and  hostile  to  the  Christian  religion  ;  " 
but  it  was  the  unanimous  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
that  there  was  in  the  will  "  nothing  inconsistent  with 
the  Christian  religion,  or  opposed  to  any  known  policy 
of  the  State." 

On  Sept.  30,  1851,  the  body  of  Stephen  Girard  was 
removed  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  not  with- 
out a  lawsuit  by  the  heirs  on  account  of  its  removal,  to 
the  college,  and  placed  in  a  sarcophagus  in  the  vestibule. 
The  ceremony  was  entirely  Masonic,  the  three  hundred 
orphans  witnessing  it  from  the  steps  of  the  college. 
Over  fifteen   hundred  Masons  were  in  the   procession, 


STEPHEN   GIRARD.  55 

and  each  deposited  his  palm-branch  upon  the  coffin.  In 
front  of  the  sarcophagus  is  a  statue  of  Mr.  Girard,  by 
Gevelot  of  Paris,  costing  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

Girard  College  now  has  ten  white  marble  auxiliary 
buildings  for  its  nearly  or  quite  two  thousand  orphans. 
There  are  more  applicants  than  there  is  room  to  accom- 
modate. Its  handsome  Gothic  chapel  is  also  of  white 
marble,  erected  in  1867.  Here  each  day  the  pupils 
gather  for  worship  morning  and  evening,  the  exercises, 
non-sectarian  in  character,  consisting  of  a  hymn,  read- 
ing from  the  Bible,  and  prayer.  On  Sundays  the  pupils 
assemble  in  their  section  rooms  at  nine  in  the  morning 
and  two  in  the  afternoon  for  religious  reading  and 
instruction ;  and  at  10.30  and  3  they  attend  worship 
in  the  chapel,  addresses  being  given  by  the  president, 
A.  H.  Fetterolf,  Ph.D.  LL.D.,  or  some  invited  layman. 

In  1883  the  Technical  Building  was  erected  in  the 
western  part  of  the  grounds.  Here  instruction  is  given 
in  metal  and  woodwork,  mechanical  drawing,  shoemak- 
ing,  blacksmithing,  carpentry,  foundry,  plumbing,  steam- 
fitting,  and  electrical  mechanics.  Here  the  pupils  learn 
about  the  dynamo,  motor,  lighting  by  electricity,  teleg- 
raphy, and  the  like.  About  six  hundred  boys  in  this 
department  spend  five  hours  a  week  in  this  practical 
work. 

At  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  in 
the  exhibit  made  by  Girard  College,  one  could  see  the 
admirable  work  of  the  students  in  a  single-span  bridge, 
a  four  horse-power  yacht  steam-engine,  a  vertical  engine, 
etc.  The  whole  exhibit  was  given  at  the  close  of  the 
Exposition  to  Armour  Institute,  to  which  the  founder, 
Mr.  Philip  D.  Armour,  has  given  $1,500,000. 


56  STEPHEN   GIRARD. 

To  the  west  of  the  main  college  building  is  the  monu- 
ment erected  by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  the  memory 
of  Girard  College  boys  killed  in  the  Civil  War.  A  life- 
size  figure  of  a  soldier  stands  beneath  a  canopy  sup- 
ported by  four  columns  of  Ohio  sandstone.  The  granite 
base  is  overgrown  with  ivy.  On  one  side  are  the  names 
of  4116  fallen ;  on  the  other,  these  words,  from  Mr.  Gi- 
rard's  will,  "  And  especially  do  I  desire  that,  by  every 
proper  means,  a  pure  attachment  to  our  Republican  in- 
stitutions, and  to  the  sacred  rights  of  conscience,  as 
guaranteed  by  our  happy  constitutions,  shall  be  formed 
and  fostered  in  the  minds  of  the  scholars/' 

On  May  20,  each  year,  the  anniversary  of  Mr.  Gi- 
rard's  birth,  the  graduates  of  Girard  College  gather 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  do  honor  to  the 
generous  giver.  Games  are  played,  the  cadets  parade, 
and  a  dinner  is  provided  for  scholars  and  guests.  The 
pupils  seem  happy  and  contented.  Their  playgrounds 
are  large;  and  they  have  a  bathing-pool  for  swimming 
in  summer,  and  skating  in  winter.  They  receive  a  good 
education  in  mathematics,  astronomy,  geology,  history, 
chemistry,  physics,  French,  Spanish,  with  some  Latin 
and  Greek,  with  a  course  in  business,  shorthand,  etc. 
Through  all  the  years  they  have  "character  lessons," 
which  every  school  should  have  throughout  our  coun- 
try, —  familiar  conversations  on  honesty,  the  dignity  of 
labor,  perseverance,  courage,  self-control,  bad  language, 
value  and  use  of  time,  truthfulness,  temperance,  good 
temper,  the  good  citizen  and  his  duties,  kindness  to  ani- 
mals, patriotism,  the  study  of  the  lives  and  deeds  of 
noble  men  and  women,  the  Golden  Rule  of  pla}^, —  "No 
fun  unless  it  is  fun  on  both  sides,"  and  similar  topics. 


STEPHEN   GIRARD.  57 

Oral  and  written  exercises  form  a  part  of  this  work. 
There  is  also  a  department  of  military  science,  a  two 
years'  course  being  given,  with  one  recitation  a  week. 
A  United  States  army  officer  is  one  of  the  college  fac- 
ulty, and  commandant  of  the  battalion. 

The  annual  cost  of  clothing  and  educating  each  of  the 
two  thousand  orphans,  including  current  repairs  on  the 
buildings,  is  a  little  more  than  three  hundred  dollars. 
On  leaving  college,  each  boy  receives  a  trunk  with  cloth- 
ing and  books,  amounting  to  about  seventy-five  dollars. 

Probably  Mr.  Girard,  with  all  his  far-sightedness, 
could  not  have  foreseen  the  great  good  to  the  nation, 
as  well  as  to  the  individual,  in  thus  fitting,  year  after 
year,  thousands  of  poor  orphans  for  useful  positions  in 
life.  Mr.  Arey  well  says :  "  When  in  the  fulness  of 
time  many  homes  have  been  made  happy,  many  orphans 
have  been  fed,  clothed,  and  educated,  and  many  men 
rendered  useful  to  their  country  and  themselves,  each 
happy  home,  or  rescued  child,  or  useful  citizen,  will  be 
a  living  monument  to  perpetuate  the  name  and  embalm 
the  memory  of  the  dead  l  Mariner  and  Merchant.'  " 


ANDREW   CARNEGIE 


AND    HIS    LIBRARIES. 


"This,  then,  is  held  to  be  the  duty  of  the  man  of 
wealth:  First,  to  set  an  example  of  modest,  unosten- 
tatious living,  shunning  display  or  extravagance ;  to 
provide  moderately  for  the  legitimate  wants  of  those 
dependent  upon  him ;  and  after  doing  so,  to  consider 
all  surplus  revenues  which  come  to  him  simply  as 
trust  funds,  which  he  is  called  upon  to  administer,  and 
strictly  bound  as  a  matter  of  duty  to  administer  in  the 
manner  which,  in  his  judgment,  is  best  calculated  to 
produce  the  most  beneficial  results  for  the  community, 
—  the  man  of  wealth  thus  becoming  the  mere  trustee 
and  agent  for  his  poorer  brethren." 

Thus  wrote  Andrew  Carnegie  in  his  "  Gospel  of 
Wealth,"  published  in  the  North  American  Review  for 
June,  1889.  This  article  so  interested  Mr.  Gladstone 
that  he  asked  the  editor  of  the  Review  to  permit  its 
republication  in  England,  which  was  done.  When  the 
world  follows  this  "  Gospel,"  and  those  who  have  means 
consider  themselves  "  trustees  for  their  poorer  breth- 
ren," and  their  money  as  "trust  funds,"  we  shall  see 
little  of  the  heartbreak  and  the  poverty  of  the  present 
age. 

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ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  59 

"  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 

The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 

Andrew  Carnegie  was  born  at  Dunfermline,  Scotland, 
Nov.  25,  1835,  into  a  poor  but  honest  home.  His 
father,  William  Carnegie,  was  a  weaver,  a  man  of  good 
sense,  strongly  republican,  though  living  under  a  mon- 
archy, and  well-read  upon  the  questions  of  the  day. 
The  mother  was  a  woman  of  superior  mind  and  charac- 
ter, to  whom  Andrew  was  unusually  devoted,  till  her 
death  in  1886,  when  he  had  reached  middle  life. 

When  Andrew  was  twelve  years  of  age  and  his 
brother  Thomas  five,  the  parents  decided  to  make  their 
home  in  the  New  World,  coming  to  New  York  in  a 
sailing-vessel  in  1847.  They  travelled  to  Pittsburg, 
Penn.,  and  lived  for  some  time  in  Allegheny  City. 

Andrew  had  been  sent  to  school  in  Dunfermline,  and, 
having  a  fondness  for  books,  was  a  bright,  ambitious 
boy  at  twelve,  ready  to  begin  the  struggle  for  a  living 
so  as  to  make  the  family  burdens  lighter.  Work  was 
not  easily  found ;  but  finally  he  obtained  employment 
as  a  bobbin-boy  in  a  cotton  factory,  at  $1.20  a  week. 

Mr.  Carnegie,  when  grown  to  manhood,  wrote  in  the 
Youth's  Companion,  April  23,  1896  :  — 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  how  proud  I  was  when  I  received 
my  first  week's  own  earnings.  One  dollar  and  twenty 
cents  made  by  myself,  and  given  to  me  because  I  had 
been  of  some  use  in  the  world  !  No  longer  entirely  de- 
pendent upon  my  parents,  but  at  last  admitted  to  the 
family  partnership  as  a  contributing  member,  and  able 
to  help  them !     I  think  this  makes  a  man  out  of  a  boy 


60  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

sooner  than  almost  anything  else,  and  a  real  man  too,  if 
there  be  any  germ  of  true  manhood  in  him.  It  is  every- 
thing to  feel  that  you  are  useful. 

"  I  have  had  to  deal  with  great  sums.  Many  millions 
of  dollars  have  since  passed  through  my  hands.  But 
the  genuine  satisfaction  I  had  from  that  one  dollar  and 
twenty  cents  outweighs  any  subsequent  pleasure  in 
money-getting.  It  was  the  direct  reward  of  honest 
manual  labor ;  it  represented  a  week  of  very  hard  work, 
so  hard  that  but  for  the  aim  and  end  which  sanctified 
it,  slavery  might  not  be  much  too  strong  a  term  to  de- 
scribe it. 

"  For  a  lad  of  twelve  to  rise  and  breakfast  every 
morning,  except  the  blessed  Sunday  morning,  and  go 
into  the  streets  and  find  his  way  to  the  factory,  and 
begin  work  while  it  was  still  dark  outside,  and  not  be 
released  until  after  darkness  came  again  in  the  evening, 
forty  minutes'  interval  only  being  allowed  at  noon,  was 
a  terrible  task. 

"  But  I  was  young,  and  had  my  dreams  ;  and  something 
within  always  told  me  that  this  would  not,  could  not, 
should  not  last  —  I  should  some  day  get  into  a  better 
position.  Besides  this,  I  felt  myself  no  longer  a 
mere  boy,  but  quite  '  a  little  man ; '  and  this  made  me 
happy." 

Another  place  soon  opened  for  the  lad,  where  he  was 
set  to  fire  a  boiler  in  a  cellar,  and  to  manage  the  small 
steam-engine  which  drove  the  machinery  in  a  bobbin 
factory.  "  The  firing  of  this  boiler  was  all  right," 
says  Mr.  Carnegie  ;  "for  fortunately  we  did  not  use  coal, 
but  the  refuse  wooden  chips,  and  I  always  liked  to  work 
in  wood.     But  the  responsibility  of  keeping  the  water 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  61 

right  and  of  running  the  engine,  and  the  danger  of  my 
making  a  mistake  and  blowing  the  whole  factory  to 
pieces,  caused  too  great  a  strain,  and  I  often  awoke  and 
found  myself  sitting  up  in  bed  through  the  night  trying 
the  steam-gauges.  But  I  never  told  them  at  home  that  I 
was  having  a  '  hard  tussle.'  No  !  no  !  everything  must 
be  bright  to  them. 

"  This  was  a  point  of  honor ;  for  every  member  of  the 
family  was  working  hard  except,  of  course,  my  little 
brother,  who  was  then  a  child,  and  we  were  telling  each 
other  only  all  the  bright  things.  Besides  this,  no  man 
would  whine  and  give  up  —  he  would  die  first. 

"There  was  no  servant  in  our  family,  and  several 
dollars  per  week  were  earned  by  '  the  mother  '  by 
binding  shoes  after  her  daily  work  was  done  !  Father 
was  also  hard  at  work  in  the  factory.  And  could  I 
complain  ?  " 

Wages  were  small,  and  in  every  leisure  moment  An- 
drew looked  for  something  better  to  do.  He  went 
one  day  to  the  office  of  the  Atlantic  and  Ohio  Tele- 
graph Company,  and  asked  for  work  as  a  messenger. 
James  Douglas  Beid,  the  manager,  was  a  Scotchman, 
and  liked  the  lad's  manner.  "  I  liked  the  boy's  looks/' 
said  Mr.  Beid  afterwards ;  "  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
though  he  was  little  he  was  full  of  spirit.  His  pay 
was  $2.50  a  week.  He  had  not  been  with  me  a  full 
month  when  he  began  to  ask  whether  I  would  teach 
him  to  telegraph.  I  began  to  instruct  him,  and  found 
him  an  apt  pupil.  He  spent  all  his  spare  time  in  prac- 
tice, sending  and  receiving  by  sound,  and  not  by  tape 
as  was  largely  the  custom  in  those  days.  Pretty  soon 
he  could  do  as  well  as  I  could  at  the  key,  and  then  his 


62  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

ambition  carried  him  away  beyond  doing  the  drudgery 
of  messenger  work." 

The  boy  liked  his  new  occupation.  He  once  wrote  : 
"My  entrance  into  the  telegraph  office  was  the  transi- 
tion from  darkness  to  light ;  from  firing  a  small  engine 
in  a  dirty  cellar  to  a  clean  office  where  there  were  books 
and  papers.  That  was  a  paradise  to  me,  and  I  bless  my 
stars  that  sent  me  to  be  a  messenger-boy  in  a  Pittsburg 
telegraph  office." 

AYhen  Andrew  was  fourteen  his  father  died,  leaving 
him  the  only  support  of  his  mother  and  brother,  seven 
years  old.  He  believed  in  work,  and  never  shirked  any 
duty,  however  hard. 

He  soon  found  employment  as  telegraph  operator  with 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company.  At  fifteen  he  was 
train-despatcher,  a  place  of  unusual  responsibility  for  a 
boy  ;  but  his  energy,  carefulness,  and  industry  were  equal 
to  the  demands  on  him. 

When  he  was  sixteen  Andrew  had  thought  out  a  plan 
by  which  trains  could  be  run  on  single  tracks,  and 
the  telegraph  be  used  to  govern  their  running.  "  His 
scheme  was  the  one  now  in  universal  use  on  the  single- 
tracked  roads  in  the  country ;  namely,  to  run  trains  in 
opposite  directions  until  they  approached  within  com- 
paratively a  few  miles,  and  then  hold  one  at  a  station 
until  the  other  had  passed."  This  thought  about  the 
telegraph  brought  Andrew  into  notice  among  those 
above  him ;  and  he  was  transferred  to  Altoona,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  general  manager. 

Young  Carnegie  had  done  what  he  recommends  others 
to  do  in  his  "How  to  win  Fortune,"  in  the  ISTeAV  York 
Tribune,  April  13,  1890.     He  says,  "  George  Eliot  put 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  63 

the  matter  very  pithily  :  '  I'll  tell  you  how  I  got  on.  I 
kept  my  ears  and  my  eyes  open,  and  I  made  my  mas- 
ter's interest  my  own.' 

"The  condition  precedent  for  promotion  is  that  the 
man  must  first  attract  notice.  He  must  do  something 
unusual,  and  especially  must  this  be  beyond  the  strict 
boundary  of  his  duties.  He  must  suggest,  or  save,  or 
perform  some  service  for  his  employer  which  he  could 
not  be  censured  for  not  having  done.  When  he  has 
thus  attracted  the  notice  of  his  immediate  superior, 
whether  that  be  only  the  foreman  of  a  gang,  it  matters 
not ;  the  first  great  step  has  been  taken,  for  upon  his 
immediate  superior  promotion  depends.  How  high  he 
climbs  is  his  own  affair." 

Carnegie  "kept  his  eyes  and  ears  open."  In  his 
"Triumphant  Democracy7'  he  relates  the  following  in- 
cident: "Well  do  I  remember  that,  when  a  clerk  in  the 
service  of  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad  Company,  a  tall, 
spare,  farmer-looking  kind  of  man  came  to  me  once 
when  I  was  sitting  on  the  end  seat  of  the'  rear  car 
looking  over  the  line.  He  said  he  had  been  told  by  the 
conductor  that  I  was  connected  with  the  railway  com- 
pany, and  he  wished  me  to  look  at  an  invention  he  had 
made.  With  that  he  drew  from  a  green  bag  (as  if  it 
were  for  lawyers'  briefs)  a  small  model  of  a  sleeping- 
berth  for  railway  cars.  He  had  not  spoken  a  minute 
before,  like  a  flash,  the  whole  range  of  the  discovery 
burst  upon  me.  '  Yes,'  I  said,  '  that*  is  something  which 
this  continent  must  have.7  I  promised  to  address  him 
upon  the  subject  as  soon  as  I  had  talked  over  the  mat- 
ter with  my  superior,  Thomas  A.  Scott. 

"  I  could  not  get  that  blessed  sleeping-car  out  of  my 


C4  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

head.  Upon  my  return  I  laid  it  before  Mr.  Scott, 
declaring  that  it  was  one  of  the  inventions  of  the  age. 
He  remarked,  '  You  are  enthusiastic,  young  man ;  but 
you  may  ask  the  inventor  to  come  and  let  me  see  it.' 
I  did  so ;  and  arrangements  were  made  to  build  two  trial 
cars,  and  run  them  on  the  Pennsylvania  Kail  road.  I 
was  offered  an  interest  in  the  venture,  which,  of  course, 
I  gladly  accepted.  Payments  were  to  be  made  ten  per 
cent  per  month  after  the  cars  were  delivered,  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company  guaranteeing  to  the  builders 
that  the  cars  should  be  kept  upon  its  line  and  under  its 
control. 

"  This  was  all  very  satisfactory  until  the  notice  came 
that  my  share  of  the  first  payment  was  $217.50.  How 
well  I  remember  the  exact  sum ;  but  two  hundred  and 
seventeen  dollars  and  a  half  were  as  far  beyond  my 
means  as  if  it  had  been  millions.  I  was  earning  fifty 
dollars  per  month,  however,  and  had  prospects,  or  at 
least  I  always  felt  that  I  had.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
I  decided  to  call  on  the  local  banker,  Mr.  JAoyd,  state 
the  case,  and  boldly  ask  him  to  advance  the  sum  upon 
my  interest  in  the  affair.  He  put  his  hand  on  my  shoul- 
der, and  said,  '  Why,  of  course,  Andie,  you  are  all  right. 
Go  ahead.     Here  is  the  money.' 

"  It  is  a  proud  day  for  a  man  when  he  pays  his  last 
note,  but  not  to  be  named  in  comparison  with  the  day  in 
which  he  makes  his  first  one,  and  gets  a  hanker  to  take 
it.  I  have  tried  both,  and  I  know.  The  cars  paid  the 
subsequent  payments  from  their  earnings.  I  paid  my 
first  note  from  my  savings,  so  much  per  month  ;  and  thus 
did  I  get  my  foot  on  fortune's  ladder.  It  is  easy  to 
climb  after  that.      A  triumphant   success   was   scored. 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  65 

And  thus  came  sleeping-cars  into  the  world.  '  Blessed 
be  the  man  who  invented  sleep/  says  Sancho  Panza. 
Thousands  upon  thousands  will  echo  the  sentiment, 
'  Blessed  be  the  man  who  invented  sleeping-cars.'  Let 
me  record  his  name,  and  testify  my  gratitude  to  him, 
my  dear,  quiet,  modest,  truthful,  farmer-looking  friend, 
T.  T.  Woodruff,  one  of  the  benefactors  of  the  age." 

Mr.  Pullman  later  engaged  in  sleeping-car  building, 
and  Carnegie  advised  his  firm  "to  capture  Mr.  Pull- 
man." "There  was  a  capture,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie, 
"but  it  did  not  quite  take  that  form.  They  found 
themselves  swallowed  by  this  ogre,  and  Pullman  mo- 
nopolized everything." 

While  a  very  young  man,  Carnegie  was  appointed  su- 
perintendent of  the  Western  Division  of  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad.  As  superintendent  he  became  the  friend 
of  Colonel  Scott ;  and,  together  with  some  others,  they 
bought  several  farms  along  the  line  of  the  road,  which 
proved  very  valuable  oil-lands.  Mr.  Carnegie  says  of 
the  Storey  Farm,  Oil  Creek,  "We  purchased  the  farm 
for  $40,000 ;  and  so  small  was  our  faith  in  the  ability 
of  the  earth  to  yield  for  any  considerable  time  the 
hundred  barrels  per  day  which  the  property  was  then 
producing,  that  we  decided  to  make  a  pond  capable  of 
holding  one  hundred  thousand  barrels  of  oil,  which 
we  estimated  would  be  worth,  when  the  supply  ceased, 
$1,000,000.  Unfortunately  for  us  the  pond  leaked  fear- 
fully, evaporation  also  caused  much  loss  ;  but  we  con- 
tinued to  run  oil  in  to  make  the  losses  good  day  after 
day,  until  several  hundred  thousand  barrels  had  gone  in 
this  fashion. 

"  Our  experience  with  the  farm  may  be  worth  recit- 


bb  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

ing.  Its  value  rose  to  $ 5,000,000 ;  that  is,  the  shares  of 
the  company  sold  in  the  market  upon  this  basis ;  and 
one  year  it  paid  in  cash  dividends  $  1,000,000  —  rather 
a  good  return  upon  an  investment  of  $40,000.  So  great 
was  the  yield  in  the  district  that  in  two  years  oil  became 
almost  valueless,  often  selling  as  low  as  thirty  cents  per 
barrel,  and  not  infrequently  it  was  suffered  to  run  to 
waste  as  utterly  worthless. 

"  But  as  new  uses  were  found  for  the  oil,  prices  rose 
again;  and  to  remove  the  difficulty  of  high  freights, 
pipes  were  laid,  first  for  short  distances,  and  then  to 
the  seaboard,  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  miles. 
Through  these  pipes,  of  which  six  thousand  two  hundred 
miles  have  been  laid,  the  oil  is  now  pumped  from  two 
thousand  one  hundred  wells.  It  costs  only  ten  cents 
to  pump  a  barrel  of  oil  to  the  Atlantic.  The  value  of 
petroleum  and  its  products  exported  up  to  January, 
1884,  exceeds  in  value  $625,000,000." 

Within  ten  years  from  the  time  when  Mr.  Carnegie 
and  his  friends  bought  the  oil-farms,  their  investment 
had  returned  them  four  hundred  and  one  per  cent,  and 
the  young  Scotchman  could  count  himself  a  rich  man. 
Before  this,  however,  he  had  entered  the  iron  and  steel 
industry,  in  which  his  great  wealth  has  been  made. 
With  a  little  money  which  he  had  saved,  he  borrowed 
$1,250  from  a  bank,  and,  with  five  other  persons,  estab- 
lished the  Keystone  Bridge  Works  of  Pittsburg,  with 
the  small  capital  of  $G,000.  This  was  a  success  from 
the  first,  and  in  latter  years  has  had  a  capital  of 
$1,000,000.  It  has  built  bridges  all  over  the  country, 
and  structural  frames  for  many  public  buildings  in  New 
York,  Chicago,  and  other  cities.     From   this  time  for- 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  67 

ward  Mr.  Carnegie's  career  has  been  a  most  success- 
ful one.  He  lias  become  chief  owner  in  the  Union  Iron 
Works,  the  Edgar  Thomson  Steel  Works,  the  Homestead 
Steel  Works,  formerly  a  rival  company,  the  Duquesne 
Works  of  the  Allegheny  Bessemer  Steel  Company,  and 
several  other  iron  and  coke  companies.  The  capital  of 
these  companies  is  about  $30,000,000,  and  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  men  are  employed. 

"  In  1890  Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co.,  Limited,"  says  the 
Engineering  and  Mining  Journal  for  July  4,  1891, 
"  had  a  capacity  to  produce  600,000  tons  of  steel  rails 
per  annum,  or  over  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  total 
capacity  of  all  the  rolling-mills  of  the  United  States, 
while  its  products  of  steel  girders,  plates,  nails,  and 
other  forms  of  manufactured  iron  and  steel  are  greater 
than  at  any  other  works  in  this  country,  and  exceed 
the  amount  turned  out  at  the  famous  Krupp  Works  in 
Germany."  The  company  has  supplied  the  United 
States  Government  with  a  large  amount  of  armor  plates 
for  our  new  ships,  and  also  filled  a  large  order  for  the 
Russian  Government. 

The  Edgar  Thomson  Steel  Works  have  an  annual  capa- 
city of  1,000,000  gross  tons  of  ingots,  600,000  gross  tons 
of  rails  and  billets,  and  50,000  gross  tons  of  castings. 
The  Duquesne  Furnaces  have  a  yearly  capacity  of  700,000 
gross  tons  of  pig-iron ;  the  Lucy  Furnaces,  200,000  gross 
tons  yearly ;  the  Duquesne  Steel  Works,  an  annual  ca- 
pacity of  450,000  gross  tons  of  ingots.  The  Homestead 
Steel  Works  have  an  annual  capacity  of  375,000  gross 
tons  of  Bessemer  steel  and  ingots,  and  400,000  gross  tons 
of  open-hearth  steel  ingots.  The  Upper  Union  Mills 
have  an  annual  output  of  140,000  gross  tons  of  steel 


68  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

bars  and  steel  universal  mill-plates,  etc.  ;  the  Lower 
Union  Mills,  an  annual  capacity  of  65,000  gross  tons 
of  mill-plates,   bridge-work,  car-forgings,  etc. 

The  industrious,  ambitious  boy  was  not  satisfied 
merely  to  amass  wealth.  He  had  always  been  a  great 
reader  and  thinker.  In  1888  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 
published  a  book  by  this  successful  telegraph  opera- 
tor and  iron  manufacturer,  "  An  American  Four-in- 
Hand  in  Britain."  The  trip  was  suggested  by  Mr. 
Black's  novel,  "The  Strange  Adventures  of  a  Phae- 
ton," and  extended  from  Brighton  to  Inverness,  a  dis- 
tance of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-one  miles. 

Mr.  Carnegie  and  his  party  of  chosen  friends  made 
the  journey  by  coach  in  seven  weeks,  from  July  17 
to  Aug.  3,  1881,  and  had  a  most  enjoyable  as  well  as 
instructive  trip.  The  Critic  gives  Mr.  Carnegie  well- 
merited  praise,  saying  that  "he  has  produced  a  book 
of  travel  as  fresh  as  though  he  had  been  exploring 
Thibet  or  navigating  the  River  of  Golden  Sand."  The 
book  is  dedicated  to  "  My  favorite  heroine,  my  mother," 
who  was  the  queen  dowager  of  the  volume,  and  whose 
happiness  during  the  journey  seemed  to  be  the  chief 
concern  of  her  devoted  son. 

This  book  had  so  cordial  a  reception  that  the  follow- 
ing year,  1884,  another  volume  was  published,  "Bound 
the  World,"  covering  a  trip  made  in  1878-1879;  Mr. 
Carnegie  having  sailed  from  San  Francisco  to  Japan, 
and  thence  through  the  lands  of  the  East.  As  he 
starts,  his  mother  puts  in  his  hand  Shakespeare  in 
thirteen  small  volumes ;  and  these  are  his  company 
and  delight  in  the  long  ocean  voyage.  Through  China, 
India,  and   other  countries,  he  observes  closely,  learns 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  .  69 

much,  and  tells  it  in  a  way  that  is  always  interesting. 
"Life  at  the  East,"  he  says,  "lacks  two  of  its  most 
important  elements,  —  the  want  of  intelligent  and  re- 
fined women  as  the  companion  of  man,  and  a  Sunday. 
It  has  been  a  strange  experience  to  me  to  be  for  sev- 
eral months  without  the  society  of  some  of  this  class 
of  women, — sometimes  many  weeks  without  even  speak- 
ing to  one,  and  often  a  whole  week  without  even  seeing 
the  face  of  an  educated  woman.  And,  bachelor  as  I 
am,  let  me  confess  what  a  miserable,  dark,  dreary,  and 
insipid  life  this  would  be  without  their  constant  com- 
panionship." 

Ten  years  later,  in  1886,  Mr.  Carnegie  published  a 
book  that  had  a  very  wide  reading,  and  at  once  placed 
the  author  prominently  before  the  New  World  and  the 
Old  World  as  well,  "  Triumphant  Democracy,  or  Fifty 
Years'  March  of  the  Republic." 

The  book  showed  extensive  research,  a  deep  love  for 
his  adopted  country,  America,  a  warm  heart,  and  an 
able  mind.  He  wrote  :  "  To  the  beloved  Republic,  under 
whose  equal  laws  I  am  made  the  peer  of  any  man, 
although  denied  political  equality  by  my  native  land, 
I  dedicate  this  book,  with  an  intensity  of  gratitude  and 
admiration  which  the  native-born  citizen  can  neither  feel 
nor  understand." 

No  one  can  read  this  book  without  being  amazed  at 
the  power  and  possibilities  of  the  Republic,  and  without 
a  deeper  love  for,  and  pride  in  the  greatness  and  true 
worth  of,  his  country.  The  style  is  bright  and  attrac- 
tive, and  the  facts  stated  remarkable.  Americans  must 
always  be  debtors  to  the  Scotchman  who  has  shown 
them  how  to  prize  their  native  land. 


70  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

Mr.  Carnegie  wrote  the  book  "  as  a  labor  of  love,"  to 
show  the  people  of  the  Old  World  the  advantages  of  a 
republic  over  a  monarchical  form  of  government,  and 
to  Americans,  "a  juster  estimate  than  prevails  in  some 
quarters  of  the  political  and  social  advantages  which 
they  so  abundantly  possess  over  the  people  of  the  older 
and  less  advanced  lands,  that  they  may  be  still  prouder 
and  even  more  devoted,  if  possible,  to  their  institutions 
than  they  are. 

Mr.  Carnegie  shows  by  undisputed  facts  that  America, 
so  recently  a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  has  now  become 
"  the  wealthiest  nation  in  the  world,"  "  the  greatest  agri- 
cultural nation,"  "the  greatest  manufacturing  nation," 
"the  greatest  mining  nation  in  the  world."  "In  the 
ten  years  from  1870  to  1880,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie, 
"eleven  and  a  half  millions  were  added  to  the  popu- 
lation of  America.  Yet  these  only  added  three  persons 
to  each  square  mile  of  territory  ;  and  should  America 
continue  to  double  her  population  every  thirty  years, 
instead  of  every  twenty-five  years  as  hitherto,  seventy 
years  must  elapse  before  she  will  attain  the  density 
of  Europe.  The  population  will  then  reach  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety  millions." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  said  in  his  "  Imperial  Federation," 
published  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  September,  1891, 
"  Even  if  the  United  States  increase  is  to  be  much  less 
rapid  than  it  has  been  hitherto,  yet  the  child  is  born 
who  will  see  more  than  400,000,000  under  her  sway. 
No  possible  increase  of  the  race  can  be  looked  for  in 
all  the  world  combined  comparable  to  this.  Green 
truly  says  that  its  'future  home  is  to  be  found  along 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Mississippi.'" 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  71 

It  will  surprise  many  to  know  that  "  the  whole  United 
Kingdom  (England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland)  could  be 
planted  in  Texas,  and  leave  plenty  of  room  around  it." 

"  The  farms  of  America  equal  the  entire  territory  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Belgium,  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, Hungary,  and  Portugal.  The  corn-fields  equal  the 
extent  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Belgium  ;  while  the 
grain-fields  generally  would  overlap  Spain.  The  cotton- 
fields  cover  an  area  larger  than  Holland,  and  twice  as 
large  as  Belgium." 

The  growth  of  manufactures  in  America  is  amazing. 
In  thirty  years,  from  1850  to  1880,  Mr.  Carnegie  says 
there  was  an  increase  of  nearly  six  hundred  per  cent, 
while  the  increase  in  British  manufactures  was  little 
more  than  a  hundred  per  cent.  The  total  in  America 
in  1880  was  $5,560,000,000;  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
$4,055,000,000. 

"  Probably  the  most  rapid  development  of  an  industry 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie,  "is 
that  of  Bessemer  steel  in  America."  In  1870  America 
made  40,000  tons  of  Bessemer;  in  1885,  fifteen  years 
later,  she  made  1,373,513  tons,  which  was  74,000  tons 
more  than  Great  Britain  made.  "  This  is  advancing  not 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  it  is  one  grand  rush  —  a  rush  with- 
out pause,  which  has  made  America  the  greatest  manu- 
facturer of  Bessemer  steel  in  the  world.  .  .  .  One  is 
startled  to  find  that  more  yards  of  carpet  are  manufac- 
tured in  and  around  the  city  of  Philadelphia  alone  than 
in  the  whole  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  not  twenty  years 
since  the  American  imported  his  carpets,  and  now  he 
makes  more  at  one  point  than  the  greatest  European 
manufacturing  nation  does  in  all  its  territory." 


72  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

Of  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  by  machinery, 
Mr.  Carnegie  says,  "  A  man  can  make  three  hundred 
pairs  of  boots  in  a  day,  and  a  single  factory  in  Massa- 
chusetts turns  out  as  many  pairs  yearly  as  thirty-two 
thousand  bootmakers  in  Paris.  .  .  .  Twenty-five  years 
ago  the  American  conceived  the  idea  of  making  watches 
by  machinery  upon  a  gigantic  scale.  The  principal  es- 
tablishment made  only  five  watches  per  day  as  late  as 
1854.  Now  thirteen  hundred  per  day  is  the  daily  task, 
and  six  thousand  watches  per  month  are  sent  to  the 
London  agency." 

The  progress  in  mining  has  been  equally  remarkable. 
"To.  the  world's  stock  of  gold,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie, 
"America  has  contributed,  according  to  Mulhall,  more 
than  fifty  per  cent.  In  1880  he  estimated  the  amount 
of  gold  in  the  world  at  10,355  tons,  worth  $7,240,000,- 
000.  Of  this  the  New  World  contributed  5,302  tons, 
or  more  than  half.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  veins 
of  metal  known  is  the  Comstock  Lode  in  Nevada.  .  .  . 
In  fourteen  years  this  single  vein  yielded  $  180,000,000. 
In  one  year,  1876,  the  product  of  the  lode  was  $18,000,- 
000  in  gold,  and  $20,500,000  in  silver,  — a  total  of 
$38,500,000.  Here,  again,  is  something  which  the 
world  never  saw  before. 

"  America  also  leads  the  world  in  copper,  the  United 
States  and  Chili  contributing  nearly  one-half  the  world's 
supply.  ...  On  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior  this 
metal  is  found  almost  pure,  in  masses  of  all  sizes,  up  to 
many  tons  in  weight.  It  was  used  by  the  native  In- 
dians, and  traces  of  their  rude  mining  operations  are 
still  visible." 

Mr.  Carnegie  says  the  anthracite   coal-fields  of  Penn- 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  73 

sylvan ia  will  produce  30,000,000  tons  per  year  for  four 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  years ;  and  he  thinks  by  that 
time  "  men  will  probably  be  burning  the  hydrogen  of 
water,  or  be  fully  utilizing  the  solar  rays  or  the  tidal 
energy."  The  coal  area  of  the  United  States  comprises 
300,000  square  miles;  and  Mr.  Carnegie  "is  almost 
ashamed  to  confess  it,  she  has  three-quarters  of  all  the 
coal  area  of  the  earth." 

While  Mr.  Carnegie  admires  and  loves  the  Republic, 
he  is  devoted  to  the  mother  country,  and  is  a  most 
earnest  advocate  of  peace  between  us.  He  writes  :  "  Of 
all  the  desirable  political  changes  which  it  seems  to  me 
possible  for  this  generation  to  effect,  I  consider  it  by  far 
the  most  important  for  the  welfare  of  the  race,  that  every 
civilized  nation  should  be  pledged,  as  the  Eepublic  is, 
to  offer  peaceful  arbitration  to  its  opponent  before  the 
senseless,  inhuman  work  of  human  slaughter  begins." 

In  his  "  Imperial  Federation  "  he  writes  :  "  AArar  be- 
tween members  of  our  race  may  be  said  to  be  already 
banished  ;  for  English-speaking  men  will  never  again  be 
called  upon  to  destroy  each  other.  .  .  .  Both  parties  in 
America,  and  each  successive  government,  are  pledged 
to  offer  peaceful  arbitration  for  the  adjustment  of  all 
international  difficulties,  —  a  position  which  it  is  to 
be  hoped  will  soon  be  reached  by  Britain,  at  least  in 
regard  to  all  the  differences  with  members  of  the  same 
race. 

"Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that,  after  this  stage  has 
been  reached,  and  occupied  successfully  for  a  period, 
another  step  forward  will  be  taken,  and  that,  having 
jointly  banished  war  between  themselves,  a  general 
council   should  be  evolved  by  the  English-speaking  na- 


74  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

tions,  to  which  may  at  first  only  be  referred  all  questions 
of  dispute  between  them  ?  .   .  . 

"  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  is  extolled 
by  the  statesmen  of  all  parties  in  Britain,  and  has  just 
received  the  compliment  of  being  copied  in  the  plan  for 
the  Australian  Commonwealth.  Building  upon  it,  may 
we  not  expect  that  a  still  higher  Supreme  Court  is  one 
day  to  come,  which  shall  judge  between  the  nations  of 
the  entire  English-speaking  race,  as  the  Supreme  Court 
at  Washington  already  judges  between  States  which 
contain  the  majority  of  the  race?" 

Mr.  Carnegie  believes  that  the  powers  of  the  council- 
would  increase  till  the  commanding  position  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking race  would  make  other  races  listen  to  its 
demands  for  peace,  and  so  war  be  forever  done  away 
with.  Mr.  Carnegie  rightly  calls  war  "  international 
murder,"  and,  like  Tennyson,  looks  forward  to  that 
blessed  time  when  — 

"  All  men's  good 
Be  each  man's  rule,  and  universal  Peace 
Lie  like  a  shaft  of  light  across  the  land, 
And  like  a  lane  of  heains  athwart  the  sea." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  also  written,  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can Review  for  June,  1891,  "  The  A.  B.  C.  of  Money,"  ur- 
ging the  Republic  to  keep  "  its  standard  in  the  future,  as 
in  the  past,  not  fluctuating  silver,  but  unchanging  gold." 

In  his  articles  in  the  newspapers,  and  in  his  public 
addresses,  he  has  given  good  advice  to  young  men,  in 
whom  he  takes  the  deepest  interest.  He  believes  there 
never  were  so  many  opportunities  to  succeed  as  now  for 
the  sober,  frugal,  energetic  young  man.     "  Real  ability, 


ANDREW   CARNEGIE.  75 

the  capacity  for  doing  things,  never  was  so  eagerly 
searched  for  as  now,  and  never  commanded  such  re- 
wards. .  .  .  The  great  dry-goods  houses  that  interest 
their  most  capable  men  in  the  profits  of  each  depart- 
ment succeed,  when  those  fail  that  endeavor  to  work 
with  salaried  men  only.  Even  in  the  management  of 
our  great  hotels  it  is  found  wise  to  take  into  partner- 
ship the  principal  men.  In  every  branch  of  business  this 
law  is  at  work;  and  concerns  are  prosperous,  generally 
speaking,  just  in  proportion  as  they  succeed  in  interest- 
ing in  the  profits  a  larger  and  larger  proportion  of  their 
ablest  workers.  Co-operation  in  this  form  is  fast  com- 
ing in  all  great  establishments."  To  young  men  he 
says,  "  Never  enter  a  barroom.  ...  It  is  low  and  com- 
mon to  enter  a  barroom,  unworthy  of  any  self-respecting 
man,  and  sure  to  fasten  upon  you  a  taint  which  will 
operate  to  your  disadvantage  in  life,  whether  you  ever 
become  a  drunkard  or  not." 

"  Don't  smoke.  .  .  .  The  use  of  tobacco  requires 
young  men  to  withdraw  themselves  from  the  society 
of  women  to  indulge  the  habit.  I  think  the  absence 
of  women  from  any  assembly  tends  to  lower  the  tone  of 
that  assembly.  The  habit  of  smoking  tends  to  carry 
young  men  into  the  society  of  men  whom  it  is  not  desir- 
able that  they  should  choose  as  their  intimate  associates. 
The  practice  of  chewing  tobacco  was  once  common. 
Now  it  is  considered  offensive.  I  believe  the  race  is 
soon  to  take  another  step  forward,  and  that  the  coming 
man  is  to  consider  smoking  as  offensive  as  chewing  was 
formerly  considered." 

"  Never  speculate.  Never  buy  or  sell  grain  or  stocks 
upon  a  margin.  .   .   .     The  man  who  gambles  upon  the 


76  ANDREW   CARNEGIE. 

exchanges  is  in  the  condition  of  the  man  who  gambles 
at  the  gaming-table.  He  rarely,  if  ever,  makes  a  per- 
manent success." 

"  Don't  indorse.  .  .  .  There  are  emergencies,  no  doubt, 
in  which  men  should  help  their  friends ;  but  there  is  a 
rule  that  will  keep  one  safe.  No  man  should  place  his 
name  upon  the  obligation  of  another  if  he  has  not  suffi- 
cient to  pay  it  without  detriment  to  his  own  business. 
It  is  dishonest  to  do  so." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  not  only  written  books  and  made 
money,  he  has  distinguished  himself  as  a  giver  of  mil- 
lions, and  that  while  he  is  alive.  He  has  seen  too  many 
wills  broken,  and  fortunes  misapplied,  when  the  money 
was  not  given  away  till  death.  He  says  of  Mr.  Tilden's 
bequest  of  over  $5,000,000  for  a  free  library  in  the  city 
of  New  York  :  "  How  much  better  if  Mr.  Tilden  had  de- 
voted the  last  years  of  his  own  life  to  the  proper  admin- 
istration of  this  immense  sum ;  in  which  case  neither 
legal  contest  nor  any  other  cause  of  delay  could  have 
interfered  with  his  aims." 

Of  course  money  is  sometimes  so  tied  up  in  business 
that  it  cannot  be  given  during  a  man's  life;  "yet," 
says  Mr.  Carnegie,  ''the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
man  who  dies  leaving  behind  him  millions  of  available 
wealth,  which  was  free  for  him  to  administer  during 
life,  will  pass  away  -unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung,' 
no  matter  to  what  uses  he  leaves  the  dross  which  he 
cannot  take  with  him.  Of  such  as  these  the  public 
verdict  will  then  be,  '  The  man  who  dies  thus  rich  dies 
disgraced.' " 

He  believes  large  estates  left  at  death  should  be 
taxed  by  the  State,  as  is  the  case  in  Pennsylvania  and 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  77 

some  other  States.  Mr.  Carnegie  does  not  favor  large 
gifts  left  to  families.  "  Why  should  men  leave  great 
fortunes  to  their  children  ?  "  he  asks.  "  If  this  is  done 
from  affection,  is  it  not  misguided  affection  ?  Observa- 
tion teaches  that,  generally  speaking,  it  is  not  well  for 
the  children  that  they  should  be  so  burdened.  Neither 
is  it  well  for  the  State.  Beyond  providing  for  the  wife 
and  daughters  moderate  sources  of  income,  and  very 
moderate  allowances  indeed,  if  any,  for  the  sons,  men 
may  well  hesitate ;  for  it  is  no  longer  questionable  that 
great  sums  bequeathed  often  work  more  for  the  injury 
than  for  the  good  of  the  recipients.  There  are  instances 
of  millionnaires'  sons  unspoiled  by  wealth,  who,  being 
rich,  still  perform  great  services  to  the  community. 
Such  are  the  very  salt  of  the  earth,  as  valuable  as  un- 
fortunately they  are  rare."  Again  Mr.  Carnegie  says 
of  wealth  left  to  the  young,  "  It  deadens  their  energies, 
destroys  their  ambition,  tempts  them  to  destruction, 
and  renders  it  almost  impossible  that  they  should  lead 
lives  creditable  to  themselves  or  valuable  to  the  State. 
Such  as  are  not  deadened  by  wealth  deserve  double 
credit,  for  they  have  double  temptation." 

In  the  North  American  Review  for  December,  1889, 
Mr.  Carnegie  suggests  what  he  considers  seven  of  the 
best  uses  for  surplus  wealth :  The  founding  of  great 
universities ;  free  libraries ;  hospitals  or  any  means  to 
alleviate  human  suffering;  public  parks  and  flower-gar- 
dens for  the  people,  conservatories  such  as  Mr.  Phipps 
has  given  to  the  park  at  Allegheny  City,  which  are 
visited  by  thousands ;  suitable  halls  for  lectures,  elevat- 
ing music,  and  other  gatherings,  free,  or  rented  for  a 
small  sum  ;  free  swimming-baths  for  the  people  ;  attrac- 


78  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

tive  places  of  worship,  especially  in  poor  localities.  Mr. 
Carnegie's  own  great  gifts  have  been  largely  along  the 
line  which  he  believes  the  "best  gift  to  a  community/' 
—  a  free  public  library.  He  thinks  with  John  Bright 
that  "it  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  bestow  a  greater 
benefit  upon  a  young  man  than  to  give  him  access  to 
boohs  in  a  free  library." 

"It  is,  no  doubt,"  he  says,  "possible  that  my  own 
personal  experience  may  have  led  me  to  value  a  free 
library  beyond  all  other  forms  of  beneficence.  When 
I  was  a  working-boy  in  Pittsburg,  Colonel  Anderson  of 
Allegheny  —  a  name  I  can  never  speak  without  feelings 
of  devotional  'gratitude  —  opened  his  little  library  of 
four  hundred  books  to  boys.  Every  Saturday  afternoon 
he  was  in  attendance  at  his  house  to  exchange  books. 
No  one  but  he  who  has  felt  it  can  ever  know  the  intense 
longing  with  which  the  arrival  of  Saturday  was  awaited 
that  a  new  book  might  be  had.  My  brother  and  Mr. 
Phipps,  who  have  been  my  principal  business  partners 
through  life,  shared  with  me  Colonel  Anderson's  pre- 
cious generosity;  and  it  was  when  revelling  in  the  treas- 
ures which  he  opened  to  us  that  I  resolved,  if  ever 
wealth  came  to  me,  that  it  should  be  used  to  establish 
free  libraries,  that  other  poor  boys  might  receive  oppor- 
tunities similar  to  those  for  which  we  were  indebted  to 
that  noble  man." 

"  How  far  that  little  candle  throws  his  beams  ! 
So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 

Again  Mr.  Carnegie  says,  "I  also  come  by  heredity 
to  my  preference  for  free  libraries.  The  newspaper  of 
my  native  town  recently  published  a  history  of  the  free 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  79 

library  in  Dunfermline,  and  it  is  there  recorded  that 
the  first  books  gathered  together  and  opened  to  the 
public  were  the  small  collections  of  three  weavers. 
Imagine  the  feelings  with  which  I  read  that  one  of 
these  three  men  was  my  honored  father.  He  founded 
the  first  library  in  Dunfermline,  his  native  town;  and 
his  son  was  privileged  to  found  the  last.  ...  I  have 
never  heard  of  a  lineage  for  which  I  would  exchange 
that  of  the  library-founding  weaver." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  given  for  the  Edinburgh  Free  Li- 
brary, Scotland,  $250,000 ;  for  one  in  his  native  town 
of  Dunfermline,  $90,000 ;  and  several  thousand  dollars 
each  to  libraries  in  Aberdeen,  Peterhead,  Inverness, 
Ayr,  Elgin,  Wick  and  Kirkwall,  besides  contributions 
towards  public  halls  and  reading-rooms  at  ISTewburgh, 
Aberdour,  and  many  other  places  abroad.  Mr.  Car- 
negie's mother  laid  the  corner-stone  for  the  free  li- 
brary in  Dunfermline.  He  writes  in  his  "American 
Four-in-Hand  in  Britain,"  "There  was  something  of 
the  fairy-tale  in  the  fact  that  she  had  left  her  native 
town,  poor,  thirty  odd  years  before,  with  her  loved  ones, 
to  found  a  new  home  in  the  great  Republic,  and  was 
to-day  returning  in  her  coach,  to  be  allowed  the  privilege 
of  linking  her  name  with  the  annals  of  her  beloved 
native  town  in  one  of  the  most  enduring  forms  pos- 
sible." 

When  the  corner-stone  of  the  Peterhead  Free  Library 
in  Scotland  was  laid,  Aug.  8,  1891,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Car- 
negie was  asked  to  lay  the  stone  with  square  and  trowel, 
and  endeared  herself  to  the  people  by  her  hearty  inter- 
est and  attractive  womanhood.  She  was  presented  with 
the  silver  trowel  with  ivory  handle  which  she  had  used, 


80  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

and  with  a  vase  of  Peterhead  granite  from  the  employees 
of  the  Great  North  of  Scotland  Granite  Works. 

Mr.  Carnegie  did  not  marry  till  he  was  fifty-two  years 
of  age,  in  1887,  the  year  following  the  death  of  his 
mother  and  only  brother  Thomas.  The  latter  died  Oct. 
19,  1886.  Mr.  Carnegie's  wife,  who  is  thoroughly  in 
sympathy  with  her  husband's  constant  giving,  was  Miss 
Louise  Whitfield,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  John 
Whitfield  of  New  York,  of  the  large  importing  firm 
of  Whitfield,  Powers,  &  Co.  Mr.  Carnegie  had  been 
an  intimate  friend  of  the  family  for  many  years,  and 
knew  well  the  admirable  qualities  and  cultivation  of  the 
lady  he  married.  He  once  wrote  :  "  There  is  no  improv- 
ing companionship  for  man  in  an  ignorant  or  frivolous 
woman."  Miss  Whitfield  acted  upon  the  advice  which 
Mr.  Carnegie  has  given  in  some  of  his  addresses :  "  To 
the  young  ladies  I  say,  '  Marry  the  man  who  loves  most 
his  mother.' "  Mr.  Carnegie  now  has  two  homes,  one 
in  New  York  City,  the  other  at  Cluny  Castle,  Kingussie, 
Scotland.  He  gives  little  personal  attention  to  business, 
having  delegated  those  matters  to  others.  "  I  throw  the 
responsibility  upon  others,"  he  once  said,  "  and  allow 
them  full  swing."  Mr.  Carnegie  is  a  man  of  great 
energy,  with  cheerful  temperament,  sound  judgment, 
earnestness,  and  force  of  character.  He  has  a  large, 
well-shaped  head,  high  forehead,  brown  hair  and  beard, 
and  expressive  face. 

Mr.  Carnegie's  gifts  in  his  adopted  country  have 
been  many  and  large.  To  the  Johnstown  Free  Li- 
brary, Pennsylvania,  he  has  given  $40,000.  To  the 
Jefferson  County  Library  at  Fairfield,  Towa,  he  has 
given  $ 40,000,   which  provides  an  attractive  building 


ANDREW  CAEN  EG  IE.  81 

for  books,  museum,  and  lecture-hall.  The  late  Sena- 
tor James  F.  Wilson  gave  the  ground  for  the  fire- 
proof building.  The  library  owes  much  of  its  success 
to  its  librarian,  Mr.  A.  T.  Wells,  who  has  given  his 
life  to  the  work,  having  held  the  position  for  thirty- 
two  years.  For  many  years  he  labored  without  salary, 
giving  both  time  and  money. 

To  the  Braddock  Free  Library,  Mr.  Carnegie  has 
given  $200,000.  Braddock,  ten  miles  east  of  Pitts- 
burg, has  a  population  of  16,000,  mainly  the  employees 
of  the  Edgar  Thomson  Steel  Works ;  and  the  village  of 
Homestead  lies  just  opposite.  The  handsome  library 
building  has  a  very  attractive  reading-room,  which  is 
filled  in  the  evening  and  much  used  during  the  day  by 
the  families  of  the  employees.  There  is  also  a  large 
reading-room  exclusively  for  boys  and  girls,  where  are 
found  juvenile  books  and  periodicals.  The  librarian, 
Miss  Helen  Sperry,  writes  :  "  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
local  pride  in  the  library,  and  it  grows  constantly  in  the 
affection  of  the  people." 

The  building  was  much  enlarged  in  1894  to  accommo- 
date the  Carnegie  Club  of  six  hundred  men  and  boys. 
The  new  portion  contains  a  hall  capable  of  seating 
eleven  hundred  persons,  a  large  gymnasium,  bathrooms, 
swimming-pool,  bowling-alleys,  etc. 

"In  order  to  encourage  public  spirit  in  Braddock," 
says  the  Revien*  of  J?evi<m-$  mp  October,  1895,  "a  selec- 
tion of  books  oil  municipal  improvement,  streets  and 
roads,  public  health,  and  other  subjects  in  which  the 
community  should  be  interested,  was  placed  on  the 
library  shelves ;  and  it  is  said  tha -  these  books  have 
been   consulted   by   the   municipal   officers,   and   results 


82  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

are  already  apparent."  This  is  a  good  example  for 
other  librarians.  Much  work  is  being  done  in  local 
history  and  in  co-operation  with  the  public  schools. 

To  the  Carnegie  Free  Library  of  Allegheny  City, 
Mr.  Carnegie  has  given  $5300,000,  the  city  making  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $15,000  to  carry  on  its  work. 
The  building  is  of  gray  granite,  Romanesque  in  style, 
with  a  shelving  capacity  of  about  75,000  volumes.  The 
library  has  a  delivery-room,  a  general  reading-room, 
women's  reading-room,  reference-room,  besides  trustees' 
and  librarians'  rooms.  The  building  also  contains,  on 
the  first  floor,  a  music-hall,  with  a  seating-capacity  of 
eleven  hundred,  where  free  concerts  are  given  every 
Saturday  afternoon  on  a  ten-thousand-dollar  organ ; 
there  is  an  art-gallery  on  the  second  floor,  and  a  lec- 
ture-room. The  latter  seats  about  three  hundred  per- 
sons, and  is  used  for  University  Extension  lectures, 
meetings  of  the  Historical  Society,  etc.  A  room  ad- 
joining is  for  the  accommodation  of  scientific  societies. 
The  city  appropriates  about  $8,000  yearly  for  the  music- 
hall,  fuel,  repairs,  etc. 

The  Allegheny  Free  Library  was  formally  opened  by 
President  Harrison  on  Feb.  13,  1890.  Mr.  Carnegie 
said,  in  presenting  the  gift  of  the  library,  "  My  wife,  — 
for  her  spirit  and  influence  are  here  to-night,  —  my  wife 
and  I  realize  to-night  how  infinitely  more  blessed  it  is 
to  give  than  to  receive.  ...  I  wish  that,  the  masses  of 
working  men  and  women,  the  wage-earners  of  all  Alle- 
gheny, will  remember  and  act  upon  the  fact  that  this  is 
their  library,  their  gallery,  and  their  hall.  The  poorest 
citizen,  the  poorest  man,  the  poorest' woman,  that  toils 
from  morn  till  night  for  a  livelihood,  as,  thank  Heaven, 


ANBBEW  CABNEGIE.  83 

I  had  that  toil  to  do  in  my  early  days,  as  he  walks  this 
hall,  as  he  reads  the  books  from  these  alcoves,  as  he 
listens  to  the  organ,  and  admires  the  works  of  art  in 
this  gallery,  equally  with  the  millionnaire  and  the  fore- 
most citizen,  I  want  him  to  exclaim  in  his  own  heart, 
'Behold,  all  this  is  mine.  I  support  it,  and  I  am  proud 
to  support  it.  I  am  joint  proprietor  here.'"  "Since 
the  library  opened  four  years  ago,"  says  Mr.  William 
M.  Stevenson,  the  librarian,  "  over  1,000,000  books  and 
periodicals  have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  readers.  .  .  t 
The  concerts  have  been  exceedingly  popular,  and  inci- 
dentally have  helped  the  library  by  drawing  people  to 
the  library  who  might  otherwise  have  remained  in  igno- 
rance of  the  popularity  and  usefulness  of  the  institution." 

Mr.  Carnegie's  greatest  gift  has  been  the  Pittsburg 
Library.  It  is  a  magnificent  building  of  gray  Ohio 
sandstone,  in  the  Italian  Renaissance  style  of  architec- 
ture, with  roof  of  red  tile.  The  architects  were  Long- 
fellow, Alden,  and  Harlow,  their  plan  being  chosen  from 
the  one  hundred  and  two  sets  of  plans  offered.  The 
library  building  is  393  feet  long  and  150  feet  wide, 
with  two  graceful  towers,  each  162  feet  high,  and  has 
capacity  for  300,000  volumes.  The  entire  "  stack  "  or 
set  of  shelves  for  books  is  made  of  iron  in  six  stories, 
and  is  as  nearly  fireproof  as  possible.  The  lower  stories 
are  for  the  circulating-books ;  the  upper  stories  for  ref- 
erence-books. 

The  library  proper  is  in  the  centre  of  the  building, 
reached  by  a  broad  flight  of  stone  steps.  Above,  cut  in 
stone,  are  the  Avords,  "  Carnegie  Library  ;  Free  to  the 
People."  The  vestibule,  finished  in  marble  with  mosaic 
floors,  is  handsomely  decorated.     On  the  first  floor  are 


84  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

the  circulating-library,  "its  blue-ceiling  panels  bordered 
with  an  interlace  in  orange  and  white/'  a  periodical 
room  on  either  side,  one  for  scientific  and  technical,  the 
other  for  popular  and  literary  magazines,  with  rooms 
for  cataloguing   and  for  the   library  officials. 

"The  reference  reading-room  on  the  second  floor, 
large,  beautiful,  and  well-lighted,"  says  the  efficient  li- 
brarian, Mr.  Edwin  H.  Anderson,  "is  for  quiet  study. 
Here  reference-books,  such  as  encyclopaedias,  diction- 
aries, atlases,  etc.,  are  at  hand,  on  the  shelves  along  the 
walls,  to  be  freely  consulted."  This  room  is  of  a  green- 
ish tone,  with  ivory-colored  pilasters  and  arches,  and  a 
fleur-de-lis  pattern  painted  in  the  wall-panels,  from  the 
"mark"  of  a  famous  Florentine  printer  and  engraver 
four  centuries  ago. 

Across  the  corridor  from  the  reference  reading-room 
are  five  smaller  rooms  for  special  collections  of  books. 
One  is  occupied  by  a  musical  library  of  two  thousand 
volumes,  of  the  late  Karl  Merz,  which  was  bought  and 
presented  to  the  library  by  several  citizens  of  Pittsburg. 
Another  will  contain  the  collection  to  be  purchased  from 
the  fund  left  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Bernd,  and  will  bear  his  name. 
Another  will  be  used  for  art-books,  and  another  for 
science. 

The  children  are  to  have  a  reading-room,  made  attrac- 
tive by  juvenile  books,  magazines,  and  copies  of  good 
pictures.  A  large  and  well-lighted  room  in  the  base- 
ment is  used  for  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  country. 

The  library  has  a  wing  on  either  side,  one  containing 
the  art-gallery,  and  the  other  the  science  museum.  The 
former  has  three  large  picture-rooms  on  the  second 
floor,  painted   in  dull  red,  with  a  wall-space  of  8,300 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  85 

feet  for  the  exhibition  of  paintings  and  prints.  A  cor- 
ridor 148  feet  long,  in  which  statuary  will  be  placed,  is 
decorated  with  copies  of  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon. 
The  basement  of  this  wing  will  be  devoted  to  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  the  art-schools  of  Pittsburg. 

In  the  science  museum  three  large,  well-lighted  rooms 
on  the  second  floor  will  be  used  for  collections  in  zoology, 
botany,  and  mineralogy.  "  The  closely  allied  branches 
of  geology,  the  study  of  the  earth's  crust ;  paleontol- 
ogy, the  study  of  life  in  former  ages  ;  anthropology,  the 
natural  history  of  the  human  species ;  archaeology,  the 
science  of  antiquity  ;  and  ethnology  and  ethnography, 
treating  of  the  origin,  relation,  characteristic  costumes 
and  habits  of  the  human  races,  will,  no  doubt,  receive 
as  much  attention  as  space  and  funds  will  permit." 

It  is  also  expected  that  works  of  skill  and  invention 
will  be  gathered  into  an  industrial  museum  for  the 
benefit  especially  of  the  many  artisans  of  Pittsburg. 
Courses  of  free  lectures  will  be  given  to  teachers,  to 
pupils,  and  to  the  public,  as  in  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History  of  New  York.  Below  the  three 
rooms  in  the  museum  are  three  lecture-rooms,  which 
can  be  used  separately  or  as  one  room. 

In  one  end  of  the  large  library  building,  and  separated 
from  it  by  a  thick  wall  so  as  to  deaden  sound,  is  the 
music-hall,  semi-circular  in  plan,  with  seats  for  two 
thousand  one  hundred  persons,  and  a  stage  for  sixty 
musicians  and  a  chorus  of  two  hundred.  Much  Sienna 
marble  is  used,  the  floor  is  mosaic,  the  walls  are  painted 
a  deep  rose-color,  and  the  architecture  proper  in  a  soft 
ivory  tone,  with  gilded  ornamentation.  Two  free  con- 
certs, or  organ  recitals,  are  given  each  week  through  the 


86  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

year,  on  the  large  modern  concert  organ,  built  expressly 
for  this  hall.  Musical  lectures  are  also  given,  free 
from  technicalities,  illustrated  by  choir,  organ,  and  piano. 
This  is  certainly  taking  music,  art,  and  science  to  the 
people  as  a  free  gift.  To  this  noble  work  Mr.  Carnegie 
has  given  $2,100,000.  Of  this  amount,  $800,000  was 
for  the  main  building,  $300,000  for  the  seven  branch 
libraries  or  distributing  stations,  and  $1,000,000  as  an 
endowment  fund  for  the  art-gallery.  From  the  annual 
income  of  this  art-fund,  which  will  be  about  $50,000, 
at  least  three  of  the  pictures  purchased  are  to  be  the 
work  of  American  artists  exhibited  that  year,  preferably 
in  the  Pittsburg  gallery. 

The  city  of  Pittsburg  agrees  to  appropriate  $40,000 
annually  for  the  maintenance  of  the  library  system. 
Mr.  Carnegie  has  always  felt  that  the  people  should 
bear  a  part  of  the  burden.  He  said  at  the  opening  of 
the  library,  Nov.  5,  1895,  "Every  citizen  of  Pittsburg, 
even  the  very  humblest,  now  walks  into  this,  his  own 
library;  for  the  poorest  laborer  contributes. his  mite  in- 
directly to  its  support.  The  man  who  enters  a  library 
is  in  the  best  society  this  world  affords ;  the  good  and 
the  great  welcome  him,  surround  him,  and  humbly  ask 
to  be  allowed  to  become  his  servants ;  and  if  he  himself, 
from  his  own  earnings,  contributes  to  its  support,  he  is 
more  of  a  man  than  before.  ...  If  library,  hall,  gal- 
lery, or  museum  be  not  popular,  and  attract  the  manual 
toilers  and  benefit  them,  it  will  have  failed  in  its  mis- 
sion ;  for  it  was  chiefly  for  the  wage-earners  that  it  was 
built,  by  one  who  was  himself  a  wage-earner,  and  who 
has  the  good  of  that  class  at  heart." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  said  elsewhere,  "  Every  free  library 


ANDREW  CARNEGIE.  87 

in  these  clays  should  contain  upon  its  shelves  all  con- 
tributions bearing  upon  the  relations  of  labor  and  capi- 
tal from  every  point  of  view,  —  socialistic,  communistic, 
co-operative,  and  individualist ;  and  librarians  should 
encourage  visitors  to  read  them  all." 

The  library  stands  near  the  entrance  of  the  valuable 
park  of  about  439  acres  given  to  the  city  by  Mrs.  Schen- 
ley  in  1889.  "  This  lady,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie,  "  although 
born  in  Pittsburg,  married  an  English  gentleman  while 
yet  in  her  teens.  It  is  forty  years  and  more  since  she 
took  up  her  residence  in  London  among  the  titled  and 
wealthy  of  the  world's  metropolis ;  but  still  she  turns  to 
the  home  of  her  childhood,  and  by  means  of  Schenley 
Park  links  her  name  with  it  forever.  A  noble  use  this 
of  great  wealth  by  one  who  thus  becomes  her  own  ad- 
ministrator." 

Near  the  library  are  the  $125,000  conservatories 
given  to  the  people  by  Mr.  Phipps,  and  a  source  of  most 
elevating  pleasure.  Mr.  Carnegie's  gifts  in  and  about 
Pittsburg  amount  already  to  $ 5,000,000  ;  yet  he  is  soon 
to  build  a  library  for  Homestead,  and  one  each  for 
Duquesne  and  the  town  of  Carnegie.  "  Such  other  dis- 
tricts as  may  need  branch  libraries,"  says  Mr.  Carnegie, 
"  we  ardently  hope  we  may  be  able  to  supply  ;  for  to 
provide  free  libraries  for  all  the  people  of  Pittsburg  is 
a  field  which  we  would  fain  make  our  own,  as  chief  part 
of  our  life-work.  I  have  dropped  into  the  plural,  for 
there  is  one  always  with  me  to  prompt,  encourage,  sug- 
gest, discuss,  and  advise,  and  fortunately,  sometimes, 
when  necessary,  gently  to  criticise ;  whose  heart  is  as 
keenly  in  this  work  as  my  own,  preferring  it  to  any 
other  as  the  best  possible  use  of  surplus  wealth,  and 


88  ANDREW  CARNEGIE. 

without  whose  wise  and  zealous  co-operation  I  often  feel 
little  useful  work  could  be  done." 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  given  $50,000  to  Bellevue  Hospital 
Medical  College,  New  York,  for  a  histological  labora- 
tory. He  is  also  the  founder  of  the  magnificent  Music 
Hall  on  the  corner  of  Fifty-second  Street  and  Seventh 
Avenue,  New  York  City.  The  press  says  his  invest- 
ment in  the  Music  Hall  Company  Limited  equals  nine- 
tenths  of  the  full  cost  of  the  hall.  "  It  was  the  dearest 
wish  of  the  elder  Damrosch  that  a  grand  concert-hall 
suitable  for  oratorio,  choral,  and  symphony  perform- 
ances might  be  built  in  New  York.  The  questions  of 
cost,  endowment,  etc.,  have  been  discussed  many  times 
by  his  associates  and  successors,  without  definite  result. 
It  was  the  liberality  and  public  spirit  of  Andrew  Car- 
negie which  finally  made  possible  the  establishment  of 
a  completely  equipped  home  for  music." 

The  main  hall,  exquisite  in  its  decorations  of  ivory 
white,  gold,  and  old  rose,  will  seat  about  three  thousand 
persons,  with  standing-room  for  a  thousand  more.  In  the 
decorations  1,217  lamps  are  placed.  Of  these,  189  are 
in  the  ceiling  and  the  walls  of  the  stage,  339  around 
the  boxes  and  balconies,  and  689  in  the  main  ceiling. 
When  the  electric  current  is  turned  on  at  night  the 
effect  is  magical.  The  electric-light  plant  consists  of 
four  dynamos,  each  weighing  20,000  pounds.  Besides 
the  main  hall,  there  are  several  smaller  rooms  for  re- 
citals, lectures,  readings,  receptions,  and  studios. 

Mr.  Carnegie  will  need  no  other  monument  than  his 
great  libraries,  the  influence  of  which  will  increase  in 
the  coming  centuries. 


THOMAS   HOLLOW  AY: 


HIS   SANATORIUM    AND   COLLEGE. 


Thomas  Holloway,  one  of  England's  most  munifi- 
cent givers,  was  born  in  Devonport,  England,  Sept.  22, 
1800.  His  father,  who  had  been  a  warrant  officer  in  a 
militia  regiment,  had  become  a  baker  in  Devonport. 

Finding  that  he  could  support  his  several  children 
better  by  managing  an  inn,  he  removed  to  Penzance,  and 
took  charge  of  Turk's  Head  Inn  on  Chapel  Street.  His 
son  Thomas  went  to  school  at  Camborne  and  Penzance 
until  he  was  sixteen. 

He  was  a  saving  lad,  for  the  family  were  obliged  to  be 
economical.  He  must  also  have  been  energetic,  for  this 
quality  he  displayed  remarkably  through  life.  After 
his  father  died,  he  and  his  mother  and  his  brother 
Henry  opened  a  grocery  and  bakery  shop  in  the  market- 
place at  Penzance.  Mrs.  Holloway,  the  mother,  was  the 
daughter  of  a  farmer  at  Trelyon,  Lelant  Parish,  Corn- 
wall, and  knew  how  to  help  her  sons  make  a  living  in 
the  Penzance  shop. 

When  Thomas  was  twenty-eight  he  seems  to  have 
tired  of  this  kind  of  work  or  of  the  town,  for  he  went 
to  London  to  struggle  with  its  millions  in  making  a  for- 
tune.    It  seemed  extremely  improbable  that  he  would 

89 


90  THOMAS   HOLLO  WAV. 

make  money ;  but  if  lie  did  not  make,  he  was  too  poor 
to  lose  much. 

For  twelve  years  he  worked  in  various  situations, 
some  of  the  time  being  "  secretary  to  a  gentleman," 
showing  that  he  had  improved  his  time  while  in  school 
to  be  able  to  hold  such  a  position.  In  1836  he  had 
established  himself  as  "  a  merchant  and  foreign  com- 
mercial agent"  at  13  Broad  Street  Buildings. 

One  of  the  men  for  whom  Mr.  Holloway,  then  thirty- 
six  years  old,  did  business,  was  Felix  Albinolo,  an  Ital- 
ian from  Turin,  who  sold  leeches  and  the  "  St.  Come  et 
St.  Damien  Ointment."  Mr.  Holloway  introduced  the 
Italian  to  the  doctors  at  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  who 
liked  the  ointment,  and  gave  testimonials  in  its  favor. 

Mr.  Holloway,  hoping  that  he  could  make  some 
money  out  of  it,  prepared  an  ointment  somewhat  simi- 
lar, and  announced  it  for  sale,  Oct.  15,  1837.  He  stated 
in  his  advertisement  in  the  paper  that  "  Holloway's 
Family  Ointment"  had  received  the  commendation  of 
Herbert  Mayo,  senior  surgeon  at  Middlesex  Hospital, 
Aug.  19,  1837. 

Albinolo  warned  the  people  in  the  same  paper  that 
the  surgeon's  letter  was  given  in  connection  with  his 
ointment,  the  composition  of  which  was  a  secret. 
Whether  this  was  true  or  not,  the  surgeon  made  no 
denial  of  Mr.  Holloway's  statement.  A  year  later, 
as  Albinolo  could  not  sell  his  wares,  and  was  in  de'bt, 
he  was  committed  to  the  debtors'  prison,  and  nothing 
more  is  known  of  him  or  his  ointment. 

There  were  various  reports  about  the  Holloway  oint- 
ment, and  the  pills  which  he  soon  after  added  to  his 
stock.     It  was  said  that  for  the  making  of  one  or  both 


THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY.  91 

of  these  preparations  an  old  German  woman  had  con- 
fided her  knowledge  to  Mr.  Holloway's  mother,  and  she 
in  turn  had  told  her  son.  Mr.  Holloway  as  long  as  he 
lived  had  great  faith  in  his  medicines,  and  believed  they 
would  sell  if  they  could  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
people. 

Every  day  he  took  his  pills  and  his  ointment  to  the 
docks  to  try  to  interest  the  captains  and  passengers  sail- 
ing to  all  parts  of  the  world.  People,  as  usual,  were 
indifferent  to  an  unknown  man  and  unknown  medicines, 
and  Mr.  Holloway  went  back  to  his  rooms  day  after  day 
with  little  money  or  success.  He  advertised  in  the  press 
as  much  as  he  was  able,  indeed,  more  than  he  was  able ; 
for  he  got  into  debt,  and,  like  Albinolo,  was  thrust  into 
a  debtors'  prison  on  White  Cross  Street.  He  effected  a 
release  by  arranging  with  his  creditors,  whom  he  after- 
wards paid  in  full,  with  ten  per  cent  interest,  it  is  said, 
to  such  as  willingly  granted  his  release. 

Mr.  Holloway  had  married  an  unassuming  .girl,  Miss 
Jane  Driver,  soon  after  he  came  to  London ;  and  she  was 
assisting  in  his  daily  work.  Mr.  Holloway  used  to 
labor  from  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  ten  at  night, 
living,  with  his  wife,  over  his  patent-medicine  Avare- 
house  at  244  Strand.  He  told  a  friend  years  after- 
wards that  the  only  recreation  he  and  his  wife  had 
during  the  week  was  to  take  a  walk  in  that  crowded 
thoroughfare.  Speaking  of  the  great  labor  and  anxiety 
in  building  up  a  business,  he  said,  "If  I  had  then  of- 
fered the  business  to  any  one  as  a  gift  they  would  not 
have  accepted  it." 

The  constant  advertising  created  a  demand  for  the 
medicines.     In  1842,  five  years  after  he  began  to  make 


92  THOMA S    HOLLOW  A  ) r. 

his  pills  and  ointment,  Mr.  Hollo  way  spent  £5,000  in 
advertising;  in  1845  he  spent  £10,000;  in  1851, 
£20,000;  in  1855,  £30,000;  in  1864,  £40,000;  in 
1882,  £45,000,  and  later  £50,000,  or  $250,000,  eaeh 
year. 

Mr.  Holloway  published  directions  for  the  use  of  his 
medicines  in  nearly  every  known  language,  —  Chinese, 
Turkish,  Armenian,  Arabic,  and  most  of  the  vernacu- 
lars of  India.  He  said  he  "  believed  he  had  advertised 
in  every  respectable  newspaper  in  existence."  The  busi- 
ness had  begun  to  pay  well  evidently  in  1850,  about 
twelve  years  after  he  started  it;  for  in  that  year  Mr. 
Holloway  obtained  an  injunction  against  his  brother,  who 
had  commenced  selling  "  Holloway's  Pills  and  Ointment 
at  210  Strand."  Probably  the  brother  thought  a  partner- 
ship in  the  bakery  in  their  boyish  days  had  fitted  him 
for  a  partnership  in  the  sale  of  the  patent  medicines. 

In  I860  Mr.  Holloway  sent  a  physician  to  France  to 
introduce  his  preparations  ;  but  the  laws  not  being  favor- 
able to  secret  remedies,  not  much  was  accomplished. 
When  the  new  Law  Courts  were  built  in  London,  Mr. 
Holloway  moved  his  business  to  533  New  Oxford  Street, 
since  renumbered  78,  where  he  employed  one  hundred 
persons,  besides  the  scores  in  his  branch  offices. 

"Of  late  years,"  says  the  Manchester  Guardian,  "his 
business  became  a  vast  banking-concern,  to  which  the 
selling  of  patent  medicines  was  allied ;  and  he  was 
understood  to  say  some  few  years  ago  that  his  profits 
as  a  dealer  in  money  approached  the  enormous  sum  of 
£100,000  a  year.  .  .  .  The  ground-floor  of  his  large 
establishment  in  Oxford  Street  was  occupied  with  clerks 
engaged  in  bookkeeping.     On  the  first  and  second  floors 


THOMAS  HOLLO W AY.  93 

one  might  gain  a  notion  of  the  profits  of  pill-making  by 
seeing  young  women  filling  boxes  from  small  hillocks  of 
pills  containing  a  sufficient  close  for  a  whole  city.  On 
the  topmost  floor  were  Mr.  Hollo  way's  private  apart- 
ments." 

Later  in  life  Mr.  Holloway  moved  to  a  country  home, 
Tittenhurst,  Sunninghill,  which  is  about  six  miles  from 
Windsor,  and  on  the  boarders  of  the  great  park  of  eight- 
een hundred  acres,  where  he  lived  without  any  display, 
and  where  his  wife  died,  Sept.  25,  1871,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-one. 

He  never  had  any  desire  for  title  or  public  prominence, 
and  when,  after  his  gifts  had  made  him  known  and  hon- 
ored, a  baronetcy  was  suggested  to  him,  he  would  not 
consent  to  it.  Mr.  Holloway  had  worked  untiringly;  he 
had  not  spent  his  money  in  extravagant  living ;  and  now, 
how  should  he  use  it  for  the  best  good  of  his  country  ? 

The  noble  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  had  been  giving  much 
of  his  early  life  to  the  amelioration  of  the  insane.  He 
had  visited  asylums  in  England,  and  seen  lunatics  chained 
to  their  beds,  living  on  bread  and  water,  or  shut  up  in 
dark,  filthy  cells,  neglected,  and  often  abused.  He  ascer- 
tained that  over  seventy-five  per  cent  may  be  cured  if 
treatment  is  given  in  the  first  twelve  months  ;  only  five 
per  cent  if  given  later.  He  was  astonished  to  find  that 
no  one  seemed  to  care  about  these  unfortunates. 

He  longed  to  see  an  asylum  built  for  the  insane  of 
the  middle  classes.  He  addressed  public  meetings  in 
their  behalf;  and  Mr.  Holloway  was  in  one  of  these 
meetings,  and  listened  to  Lord  Shaftesbury's  fervent 
appeal.  His  heart  was  greatly  moved ;  and  he  visited 
Shaftesbury,    and    together    they    conferred    about    the 


94  THOMAS  HOLLOWAY. 

great  gift  which  was  consummated  later.  It  is  said 
also  that  at  Mr.  Gladstone's  breakfast-table,  Mrs.  Glad- 
stone advised  with  Mr.  Holloway  about  the  need  of 
convalescent  homes. 

In  the  year  1873  Mr.  Holloway  put  aside  nearly 
£300,000  ($1,500,000)  for  an  institution  for  the  in- 
sane of  the  middle  classes,  such  as  professional  men, 
clerks,  teachers,  and  governesses,  as  the  lower  classes 
were  quite  well  provided  for  in  public  asylums. 

A  picturesque  spot  was  chosen  for  the  Holloway  San- 
atorium,—  forty  acres  of  ground  near  Virginia  Water, 
which  is  six  miles  from  Windsor,  though  within  the 
royal  domains.  Virginia  Water  is  a  beautiful  artificial 
lake,  about  seven  miles  in  circumference,  a  mile  and  a 
half  long,  and  one-third  of  a  mile  wide.  The  lake  was 
formed  in  1746,  in  order  to  drain  the  moorland,  by  Wil- 
liam, Duke  of  Cumberland,  uncle  of  George  III.  Near 
by  is  an  obelisk  with  this  inscription :  "  This  obelisk 
was  raised  by  the  command  of  George  II.,  after  the 
battle  of  Culloden,  in  commemoration  of  the  services  of 
his  son  W'illiam,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  success  of  his 
arms,  and  the  gratitude  of  his  father."  This  lake,  with 
its  adjacent  gardens,  pavilions,  and  cascades,  was  the 
favorite  summer  retreat  of  George  IV.,  who  built  there 
a  fishing-temple  richly  decorated.  A  royal  barge,  thirty- 
two  feet  long,  for  the  use  of  royalty,  is  stationed  on  the 
lake. 

In  the  midst  of  this  attractive  scenery  Mr.  Holloway 
caused  his  forty  acres  to  be  laid  out  with  tasteful  flower- 
beds, walks,  and  thousands  of  trees  and  shrubs.  Occu- 
pied with  his  immense  business,  he  yet  had  time  to 
watch  the  growth  of  his  great  benevolent  project. 


THOMAS  irOLLOWAY.  95 

Mr.  W.  H.  Crossland,  who  had  built  the  fine  Town 
Hall  at  Rochdale,  was  chosen  as  the  architect,  and  began 
at  Virginia  Water  the  stately  and  handsome  Sanatorium 
in  the  English  Renaissance  style  of  architecture,  of  red 
brick  with  stone  trimmings.  There  is  a  massive  and 
lofty  tower  in  the  centre.  The  interior  is  finished  in 
gray  marble,  which  is  enriched  with  cheerful  colors  and 
plentiful  gilding.  The  great  lecture  or  concert  hall, 
adorned  with  portraits  of  distinguished  persons  by  Mr. 
Girardot  and  other  artists,  has  a  very  richly  gilded  roof. 
The  refectory  is  decorated  by  a  series  of  beautiful  fancy 
groups  after  Watteau,  forming  a  frieze. 

The  six  hundred  rooms  of  the  building,  great  and 
small,  on  the  four  floors,  are  exquisitely  finished  and  fur- 
nished, all  made  as  attractive  as  possible,  that  those  of 
both  sexes  who  are  weary  and  broken  in  mind  may 
have  much  to  interest  them  in  their  long  days  of  absence 
from  home  and  friends.  Students  of  the  National  Art 
Training  School,  under  Mr.  Poynter,  did  much  of  the 
art  work.     There  are  no  blank  walls. 

The  Holloway  Sanatorium,  which  is  five  hundred  feet 
by  two  hundred  feet  in  extent,  has  a  model  laundry  in  a 
separate  building,  pretty  red  brick  houses  for  the  staff 
and  those  who  are  not  obliged  to  sleep  in  the  building,  a 
pleasure-house  for  rest  and  recreation  for  the  inmates, 
and  a  handsome  chapel. 

Four  hundred  or  more  patients  can  be  accommodated. 
A  moderate  charge  is  made  for  those  who  can  afford  to 
pay,  and  only  those  persons  thought  to  be  curable  are 
received.  As  much  freedom  is  allowed  as  possible,  that 
the  inmates  may  not  unnecessarily  feel  the  surveillance 
under  which  they  are  obliged  to  live. 


9G  THOMAS  HOLLOW  AY. 

The  Sanatorium  was  opened  June  15,  1885,  by  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  accompanied  by  the  Princess,  their 
three  daughters,  and  the  Duke  of  Cambridge.  Mr. 
Martin  Holloway,  the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Holloway,  spoke  of  the  uses  of  the  Sanatorium,  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  replied  in  a  happy  manner. 

Many  inmates  were  received  at  once,  and  the  institu- 
tion has  proved  a  great  blessing. 

To  what  other  uses  should  Mr.  Holloway  put  his 
large  fortune  ?  He  and  Mrs.  Holloway  had  long  thought 
of  a  college  for  women,  and  after  her  death  he  deter- 
mined to  build  one  as  a  memorial  to  her  who  had  helped 
him  through  all  those  daye  of  poverty  and  self-sacrifice. 

In  1875  Mr.  Holloway  held  a  conference  with  the 
blind  Professor  Henry  Fawcett,  Member  of  Parliament, 
and  his  able  wife,  Mrs.  Millicent  Garrett  Fawcett,  Mr. 
Samuel  Morley,  M.P.,  Sir  James  Kay-Shuttleworth, 
Bart.,  Mr.  David  Chadwick,  M.P.,  Dr.  Hague  of  New 
York,  and  others  interested  in  the  higher  education  of 
women.  Mr.  Holloway  foresaw,  with  these  educators, 
that  in  the  future  women  would  seek  a  university  edu- 
cation like  their  brothers.  "  For  many  years,"  says  Mr. 
Martin  Holloway,  "his  mind  was  dominated  by  the 
idea  that  if  a  higher  form  of  education  would  ennoble 
women,  the  sons  of  such  mothers  would  be  nobler  men." 

On  May  8,  187G,  Mr.  Holloway  purchased,  and  con- 
veyed in  trust  to  Mr.  Henry  Driver  Holloway  and  Mr. 
George  Martin  Holloway,  his  brother-in-law,  and  Mr. 
David  Chadwick,  M.P.,  ninety-five  acres  on  the  southern 
slope  of  Egham  Hill,  Surrey,  for  his  college  for  women. 
It  is  in  the  midst  of  most  picturesque  and  beautiful 
scenery,  rich  in  historical  associations.     Egham  is  five 


TKOMAS  HOLLOW  AY.  97 

miles  from  Windsor,  near  the  Thames,  and  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Runnymede,  so  called  from  the  Saxon  Rune- 
mede,  or  Council  Meadow,  where  the  barons,  June  15, 
1215,  compelled  King  John  to  sign  the  Magna  Charta. 
A  building  was  erected  to  commemorate  this  important 
event,  and  the  table  on  which  the  charter  was  signed  is 
still  preserved. 

Near  by  is  Windsor  Great  Park,  with  seven  thousand 
fallow  deer  in  its  eighteen  hundred  acres,  and  its  noted 
long  walk,  an  avenue  of  elms  three  miles  in  length,  ex- 
tending from  the  gateway  of  George  IV.,  the  principal 
entrance  to  Windsor  Castle,  to  Snow  Hill,  crowned  by 
a  statue  of  George  III.,  by  Westmacott.  Not  far  away 
from  Egham  are  lovely  Virginia  Water  and  Staines, 
from  Stana,  the  Saxon  for  stone,  where  one  sees  the  city 
boundary  stone,  on  which  is  inscribed,  "  God  preserve 
the  city  of  London,  a.d.  1280."  This  marks  the  limit 
of  jurisdiction  of  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  over  the 
Thames. 

After  Mr.  Holloway  had  decided  to  build  his  college, 
he  visited  the  chief  cities  of  Europe  with  Mr.  Martin 
Holloway  to  ascertain  what  was  possible  about  the  best 
institutions  of  learning,  and  the  latter  made  a  personal 
inspection  of  colleges  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  Hollo- 
way was  seventy-six,  and  too  old  for  a  long  journey  to 
America. 

Plans  were  prepared  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Crossland  of  Lon- 
don, who  spent  much  time  in  France  studying  the  old 
French  chateaux  before  he  began  his  work  on  the  col- 
lege. The  first  brick  was  laid  Sept.  12,  1879.  Mr. 
Holloway  wished  this  structure  to  be  the  best  of  its 
kind    in  England,  if    not   in   the   world.     The   Annual 


98  THOMAS   HOLLO  WAY. 

Register  says  in  regard  to  Mr.  Hollo  way's  two  great 
gifts,  "  When  their  efficiency  or  adornment  was  con- 
cerned, his  customary  principle  of  economy  failed  to 
restrain  him." 

The  college  is  a  magnificent  building  in  the  style  of 
the  French  Renaissance,  reminding  one  of  the  Louvre 
in  Paris,  of  red  brick  with  Portland  stone  dressings, 
with  much  artistic  sculpture. 

"  It  covers,"  says  a  report  prepared  by  the  college 
authorities,  "  more  ground  than  any  other  college  in  the 
world,  and  forms  a  double  quadrangle,  measuring  550 
feet  by  376  feet.  The  general  design  is  that  of  two 
long,  lofty  blocks  running  parallel  to  each  other,  and  con- 
nected in  the  middle  and  at  either  end  by  lower  cross 
buildings.  .  .  .  The  quadrangles  each  measure  about 
256  feet  by  182  feet.  Cloisters  run  from  east  to  west 
on  two  sides  of  each  quadrangle,  with  roofs  whose  upper 
sides  are  constructed  as  terraces,  the  capitals  being  ar- 
ranged as  triplets." 

No  pains  or  expense  have  been  spared  to  finish  and 
furnish  this  college  with  every  comfort,  even  luxury. 
There  are  over  1,000  rooms,  and  accommodations  for 
about  300  students.  Each  person  has  two  rooms,  one 
for  sleeping  and  one  for  study;  and  there  is  a  sitting- 
room  for  every  six  persons.  The  dining-hall  is  100 
feet  long,  30  wide,  and  30  high.  The  semi-circular  ceil- 
ing is  richly  ornamented.  The  recreation-hall,  which 
is  in  reality  a  picture-gallery,  is  100  feet  long,  30  wide, 
and  50  high,  with  beautiful  ceiling  and  floor  of  pol- 
ished marquetry.  The  pictures  here  were  collected  by 
Mr.  Martin  Holloway,  and  cost  about  £100,000,  or  half 
a   million  dollars.     Sir  Edwin  Landseer's   famous   pic- 


THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY.  99 

ture,  "  Man  proposes,  God  disposes/'  was  purchased  for 
£6,000.  It  was  painted  in  1864  by  Landseer,  who  re- 
ceived £2,500  for  it.  It  represents  an  arctic  incident 
suggested  by  the  finding  of  the  relics  of  Sir  John 
Franklin. 

Here  are  "  The  Princes  in  the  Tower  "  and  "  Princess 
Elizabeth  in  Prison  at  St.  James,"  by  Sir  John  Mil- 
lais;  "The  Babylonian  Marriage  Market"  and  "The 
Suppliants,"  by  Edwin  Long ;  "  The  Railway  Station," 
by  "W.  P.  Frith ;  and  other  noted  works.  The  gallery 
is  open  to  the  public  every  Thursday  afternoon,  and  in 
the  summer  months  on  Saturdays  also.  There  are 
several  thousand  visitors  each  year. 

The  college  has  twelve  rooms  with  deadened  walls 
for  practising  music,  a  gymnasium,  six  tennis-courts 
(three  of  asphalt  and  three  of  grass),  a  large  swimming- 
bath,  a  lecture  theatre,  museum,  a  library  with  carved 
oak  bookcases  reaching  nearly  to  the  ceiling,  and  an 
immense  kitchen  which  serves  for  a  school  for  cookery. 
Electric  lights  and  steam  heat  are  used  throughout  the 
buildings,  and  there  are  open  fireplaces  for  the  students' 
rooms. 

The  chapel,  130  feet  long  by  30  feet  wide,  says  the 
London  Graphic  for  July  10,  1886,  "  is  a  singularly 
elaborate  building  in  the  Renaissance  style.  ...  In  its 
decoration  a  strong  tendency  to  the  Italian  school  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  apparent.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  the  roof,  which  bears  a  kind 
of  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  at  Rome, 
though  it  cannot  in  any  way  be  said  to  be  a  copy  of  that 
magnificent  work.  .  .  .  The  choir,  or  nave,  is  seated 
with  oak  benches  arranged  stall-ways,  as  is  usual  in  the 


100  THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY. 

college  chapels  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  .  .  .  The 
roof  is  formed  of  an  elliptic  barrel-vault,  the  lower  por- 
tions of  which  are  adorned  with  statues  and  candelabra 
in  high  relief,  and  the  upper  portion  b}'  painted  enrich- 
ments. The  former  are  a  very  remarkable  series  of 
works  by  the  Italian  sculpture  Fucigna,  who  had  learned 
his  art  in  the  studios  of  Tenerani  and  Rauch  at  Rome. 
These  were  his  last  works,  and  he  did  not  live  to  com- 
plete them.  The  figures  represent  the  prophets  and 
other  personages  from  the  Old  Testament  on  the  left 
side,  and  apostles,  evangelists,  and  saints  from  the  New 
Testament  on  the  right.  The  baldachino  is  constructed 
of  walnut  and  oak,  richly  carved ;  and  the  organ  front, 
at  the  opposite  end  of  the  chapel,  is  a  beautiful  example 
of  wood-carving." 

The  building  and  furnishing  of  the  college  cost  £600,- 
000,  the  endowment  £300,000,  the  pictures  £100,000, 
making  in  all  about  one  million  sterling,  or  five  mil- 
lion dollars.  The  deed  of  foundation  states  that  "  the 
college  is  founded  by  the  advice  and  counsel  of  the 
founder's  dear  wife."  When  Mrs.  Holloway  was  toil- 
ing with  her  husband  over  the  shop  in  the  Strand,  witli 
no  recreation  during  the  week  except  a  walk,  as  he  said, 
in  that  crowded  thoroughfare,  how  little  she  could  have 
realized  that  this  beautiful  monument  would  be  built  to 
her  memory ! 

Mr.  Holloway  did  not  live  to  see  his  college  com- 
pleted ;  as  he  died,  after  a  brief  illness  of  bronchitis,  at 
Tittenhurst,  Wednesday,  Dec.  26,  1883,  aged  eighty- 
three,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Michael's  Churchyard,  Sun- 
ninghill,  Jan.  4,  1884. 

Mr.  Martin  Holloway  faithfully  carried  out  his  rela- 


THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY.  101 

tive's  wishes ;  and  when  the  college  was  ready  for  occu- 
pancy, it  was  opened  by  Queen  Victoria  in  person,  on 
Wednesday,  June  30,  1886.  The  day  was  fine ;  and 
Egham  was  gayly  decorated  for  the  event  with  flowers, 
banners,  and  arches.  The  Queen,  with  Princess  Beatrice 
and  her  husband,  the  late  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg, 
the  Duke  of  Connaught,  and  other  members  of  the  royal 
family,  drove  over  from  Windsor  through  Frogmore, 
where  Prince  Albert  is  buried,  and  Eunnymede  to 
Egham,  in  open  carriages,  each  carriage  drawn  by  four 
gray  horses  ridden  by  postilions.  Outriders  in  scarlet 
preceded  the  procession,  which  was  accompanied  by  an 
escort  of  Life  Guards. 

Beaching  the  college  at  5.30  p.m.,  the  Queen  and 
Princess  Beatrice  were  each  presented  with  a  bouquet 
by  Miss  Driver  Holloway,  and  were  conducted  to  the 
chapel,  where  a  throne  had  been  prepared  for  her  Maj- 
esty. Princess  Beatrice,  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg, 
and  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  stood  on  her  left,  with  the 
Duke  of  Connaught,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
others  on  her  right.  The  choir  sang  an  ode  composed 
by  Mr.  Martin  Holloway,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury offered  prayer. 

The  Queen  then  admired  the  decorations  of  the  chapel, 
and  proceeded  to  the  picture  gallery,  where  the  architect 
presented  to  her  an  album  with  illustrations  of  the  col- 
lege, and  the  contractor,  Mr.  J.  Thompson,  offered  her  a 
beautiful  key  of  gold.  The  top  of  the  stem  is  encircled 
by  two  rows  of  diamonds ;  and  the  bow  at  the  top  is  an 
elegant  piece  of  gold,  enamel,  and  diamonds.  A  laurel 
wreath  of  diamonds  surrounds  the  words,  "Opened  by 
H.  M.  the  Queen,  June  30,  1886." 


102  THOMAS  HOLLOW  AY. 

The  Queen  was  then  conducted  to  the  upper  quadran- 
gle, where  she  seated  herself  in  a  chair  of  state  on  a  dais, 
under  a  canopy  of  crimson  velvet.  A  great  concourse 
of  people  were  gathered  to  witness  the  formal  opening  of 
the  college.  The  lawn  was  also  crowded,  six  hundred 
children  being  among  the  people.  After  the  band  of  the 
Royal  Artillery  played  to  the  singing  of  the  national 
anthem,  "God  save  the  Queen,"  Mr.  Martin  Holloway 
presented  an  address  to  her  Majesty  in  a  beautiful  cas- 
ket of  gold.  "The  casket  rests  on  four  pediments,  on 
each  of  which  is  seated  a  female  figure,"  says  the  London 
Times,  "which  are  emblematical  of  education,  science, 
music,  and  painting.  On  the  front  panel  is  a  view  of 
Royal  Holloway  College,  on  either  side  of  which  is  a 
medallion  containing  the  royal  and  imperial  monogram, 
V.R.L,  executed  in  colored  enamel.  Underneath  the 
view  is  the  monogram  of  the  founder,  Mr.  Thomas 
Holloway,  in  enamel." 

At  one  end  of  the  casket  are  the  royal  arms,  and  at 
the  opposite  end  the  Holloway  arms  and  motto,  "Nil 
Desperandum,"  richly  emblazoned  in  enamel.  The  cas- 
ket is  surmounted  by  a  portrait  model  of  Mr.  Holloway, 
seated  in  a  classic  chair,  being  a  reduction  from  the 
model  from  life  taken  by  Signor  Fucigna. 

After  the  address  in  the  casket  was  presented  to 
Queen  Victoria,  the  Earl  of  Kimberley,  the  minister  in 
attendance,  stepped  forward,  and  said,  "  I  am  com- 
manded by  her  Majesty  to  declare  the  college  open." 
Trumpets  were  blown  by  the  Eoyal  Scots'  Greys, 
cheers  were  given,  the  archbishop  pronounced  the  ben- 
ediction, and  the  choir  sang  "Rule  Britannia."  The 
Queen  before  her  departure  expressed  her  pleasure  and 


THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY.  103 

satisfaction  in  the  arrangement  of  the  institution,  and 
commanded  that  it  be  styled,  "  The  Koyal  Holloway 
College." 

More  than  a  year  later,  on  Friday,  Dec.  16,  1887,  a 
statue  of  the  Queen  was  unveiled  in  the  upper  quadran- 
gle of  the  college  by  Prince  Christian.  A  group  of  the 
founder  and  his  wife  in  the  lower  quadrangle  was  also 
unveiled.  Both  statues  are  of  Tyrolese  marble,  and  are 
the  work  of  Prince  Victor  of  Hohenlohe-Langenburg. 
The  Rt.  Hon.  Earl  Granville,  K.G.,  made  a  very  inter- 
esting address. 

The  college  has  done  admirable  work  during  the  ten 
years  since  its  opening.  The  founder  desired  that  ulti- 
mately the  college  should  confer  degrees,  but  at  present 
the  students  qualify  for  degrees  at  existing  universities. 
In  the  report  for  1895  of  Miss  Bishop,  the  principal,  she 
says,  "We  have  now  among  our  students,  past  and 
present,  fifty-one  graduates  of  the  University  of  London 
(twenty-one  in  honors),  and  twenty -one  students  who 
have  obtained  Oxford  University  honors.  ...  This  is 
the  second  year  that  a  Holloway  student  has  won  the 
Gilchrist  medal,  which  is  awarded  to  the  first  woman  on 
the  London  B.  A.  list,  provided  she  obtains  two-thirds 
of  the  possible  marks.'7  In  1891  a  Holloway  student 
was  graduated  from  the  Koyal  University  of  Ireland 
with  honors. 

Students  are  received  who  do  not  wish  to  work  for  a 
university  examination,  "  provided  they  are  bona  fide 
students,  with  a  definite  course  of  work  in  view,"  says 
the  college  report  for  1895.  They  must  be  over  seven- 
teen, pass  an  entrance  examination,  and  remain  not  less 
than  one  year.     There  are  twelve  entrance  scholarships 


104  THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY. 

of  the  value  of  £50  to  £75  a  year,  and  twelve  founder's 
scholarships  of  £30  a  year,  besides  bursaries  of  the 
same  value.  The  charge  for  board,  lodging,  and  instruc- 
tion is  £90  or  $450  a  year. 

Courses  of  practical  instruction  are  given  in  cookery, 
ambulance-work,  sick-nursing,  wood-carving,  and  dress- 
making. Mr.  Holloway  states  in  his  deed  :  "  The  curric- 
ulum of  the  college  shall  not  be  such  as  to  discourage 
students  who  desire  a  liberal  education  apart  from  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages ;  and  proficiency  in  classics 
shall  not  entitle  students  to  rewards  of  merit  over  others 
equally  proficient  in  other  branches  of  knowledge." 
While  the  governors,  some  of  whom  rightly  must  always 
be  women,  may  provide  instruction  in  subjects  which 
seem  most  suitable,  Mr.  Holloway  expresses  his  sensi- 
ble belief  that  "  the  education  of  women  should  not  be 
exclusively  regulated  by  the  traditions  and  methods  of 
former  ages." 

The  students  at  Holloway,  according  to  an  article  in 
Harper's  Bazar,  March  10,  1894,  by  Miss  Elizabeth  C. 
Barney,  have  a  happy  as  well  as  busy  life.  She  says, 
"The  girls  have  a  running-club,  which  requires  an  en- 
trance examination  of  each  candidate  for  election,  the 
test  being  a  rousing  sprint  around  the  college  —  one- 
third  of  a  mile  —  within  three  minutes,  or  fail.  After 
this  has  been  successfully  passed,  the  condition  of  con- 
tinued membership  is  a  repetition  of  this  performance 
eight  times  every  two  weeks,  on  pain  of  a  penny  fine  for 
every  run  neglected.  On  stormy  days  the  interior  corri- 
dors are  not  a  bad  course,  inasmuch  as  each  one  meas- 
ures one-tenth  of  a  mile  in  length." 

"  Nor  are  in-door  amusements  less  in  vogue  than  out- 


THOMAS  HOLLO  WAY.  105 

door  sports.  There  are  the  '  Shakespeare  Evenings  '  and 
the  *  French  Evenings/  the  '  Fire  Brigade '  and  the  '  De- 
bating Society/  and  a  host  of  other  more  or  less  social 
events.  .  .  .  The  Debating  Society  is  an  august  body, 
which  holds  its  sittings  in  the  lecture  theatre,  and  deals 
with  all  the  questions  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  the 
most  irreproachable  Parliamentary  style.  They  divide 
into  Government  and  Opposition,  and  pass  and  reject 
bills  in  a  way  which  would  do  credit  to  the  nation  in 
Parliament  assembled." 

The  girls  also,  she  says,  "have  a  string  orchestra  of 
violins  and  'celli,  numbering  about  fifteen  performers. 
The  girls  meet  one  evening  a  week  in  the  library  for 
practice,  and  enter  into  it  more  as  recreation  before 
study  than  as  serious  work.  They  play  very  well  in- 
deed together,  and  sometimes  give  concerts  for  the  rest 
of  the  college." 

A  writer  in  the  Atlanta  Constitution  for  April  3,  1892, 
thus  describes  the  drill  of  the  fair  fire  brigade  :  " '  The 
Hollo  way  Volunteer  Brigade '  formed  in  three  sections 
of  ten  students  each,  representing  the  occupants  of  dif- 
ferent floors.  They  were  drawn  up  in  line  at  '  Right 
turn  !  Quick  march  !  Position  !  '  Then  each  section 
went  quite  through  with  two  full  drills. 

"A  fire  in  sitting-room  No.  10  was  supposed.  At 
command  '  Get  to  work ! '  the  engine  was  run  down  to 
the  doorway,  a  '  chain '  of  recruits  was  formed  to  the 
nearest  source  of  water-supply,  and  the  buckets  were 
handed  in  line  that  the  engine  might  be  kept  in  full 
play.  The  pump  was  vigorously  applied  by  two  girls, 
while  another  worked  the  small  hose  quickly  and  in- 
geniously, so  that  the  engine  was  at  full  speed  in  less 


106  THOMAS  HOLLOW  AY. 

than  a  minute.  When  the  drill  was  concluded  with 
the  orders  '  Knock  off ! '  and  '  Make  up  ! '  everything 
had  been  put  in  its  own  place. 

"Then  came  the  'Hydrant  Drill,'  which  was  con- 
ducted at  the  hydrant  nearest  the  point  of  a  supposed 
outbreak  of  fire.  In  this  six  students  from  each  section 
took  part.  Directly  the  alarm  was  given  one  hundred 
feet  of  canvas  hose  was  run  out,  and  an  additional 
length  (regulated,  of  course, *by  the  distance)  was  joined 
to  it.  At  the  words  *  Turn  on  ! '  by  the  officer  known 
as  '  branch  hoseman/  the  hose  was  directed  so  that,  had 
there  been  water  in  it,  it  must  have  streamed  onto  the 
supposed  fire.  This  drill  was  also  accomplished  in  only 
a  minute ;  and  at  the  commands  '  Knock  off  ! '  and  'Make 
up  ! '  the  hose-pipes  were  promptly  disconnected,  the 
pipe  that  is  always  kept  attached  to  the  hydrant  was 
'flaked  down,'  and  an  extra  one  hundred  feet  'coiled 
up '  on  the  bight  with  astonishing  rapidity.  The  drills 
are  genuine  realities,  and  the  students  thoroughly  enjoy 
them." 

There  is  also  a  way  of  escape  for  the  students  in  case 
of  fire.  The  "  Merryweather  Chute,"  a  large  tube  of  spe- 
cially woven  fire-proof  canvas,  is  attached  to  a  wrought- 
iron  frame  that  fits  the  window  opening.  There  is 
also  a  drill  with  this  chute.  When  the  word  is  given, 
"  Make  ready  to  go  down  chute,"  the  young  woman 
draws  her  dress  around  her,  steps  feet  foremost  into 
the  tube,  and  regulates  her  speed  by  means  of  a  rope 
made  fast  to  the  frame,  and  running  through  the  chute 
to  the  ground.  Fifty  students  can  descend  from  a 
window  in  five  minutes  with  no  fear  after  they  have 
practised. 


THOMAS   HOLLO  WAY.  107 

Mr.  Holloway  and  his  wife  worked  hard  to  accumulate 
their  fortune,  but  they  placed  it  where  it  will  do  great 
good  for  centuries  to  come.  In  so  doing  they  made 
for  themselves  an  honored  name  and  lasting  remem- 
brance. 


CHARLES   PRATT 


AND   HIS   INSTITUTE. 


"  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  famous,  provided  that  the 
fame  has  been  honestly  won.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be 
rich  when  the  image  and  superscription  of  God  is  rec- 
ognized on  every  coin.  But  the  sweetest  thing  in  the 
world  is  to  be  loved.  The  tears  that  were  shed  over  the 
coffin  of  Charles  Pratt  welled  up  out  of  loving  hearts. 
...  I  count  his  death  to  have  been  the  sorest  bereave- 
ment Brooklyn  has  ever  suffered ;  for  he  was  yet  in  his 
vigorous  prime,  with  large  plans  and  possibilities  yet  to 
be  accomplished. 

"  Charles  Pratt  belonged  to  the  only  true  nobility  in 
America,  —  the  men  who  do  not  inherit  a  great  name, 
but  make  one  for  themselves."  Thus  wrote  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler  of  Brooklyn,  after  Mr.  Pratt's 
death  in  1891. 

Charles  Pratt,  the  founder  of  Pratt  Institute,  was  born 
at  Watertown,  Mass.,  Oct.  2,  1830.  His  father,  Asa 
Pratt,  a  cabinet-maker,  had  ten  children  to  support, 
so  that  it  became  necessary  for  each  child  to  earn  for 
himself  whenever  that  was  possible. 

When  Charles  was  ten  years  old,  he  left  home,  and 
found  a  place  to  labor  on  a  neighboring  farm.  For 
three  years  the  lad,  slight  in  physique,  but  ambitious  to 

108 


CHARLES    PRATT. 


CHARLES  PRATT.  109 

earn,  worked  faithfully,  and  was  allowed  to  attend 
school  three  months  in  each  winter.  At  thirteen  he 
was  eager  for  a  broader  field,  and,  going  to  Boston,  was 
employed  for  a  year  in  a  grocery  store.  Soon  after  he 
went  to  Newton,  and  there  learned  the  machinist's 
trade,  saving  every  cent  carefully,  because  he  had  a  plan 
in  his  mind;  and  that  plan  was  to  get  an  education, 
even  if  a  meagre  one,  that  he  might  do  something  in  the 
world. 

Finally  he  had  saved  enough  for  a  year's  schooling, 
and  going  to  Wilbraham  Academy,  at  Wilbraham,  Mass., 
"  managed,"  as  he  afterwards  said,  "  to  live  on  one  dol- 
lar a  week  while  I  studied."  Fifty  dollars  helped  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  a  remarkably  useful  and  noble 
life. 

When  the  year  was  over  and  the  money  spent,  having 
learned  already  the  value  of  depending  upon  himself 
rather  than  upon  outside  help,  the  youth  became  a  clerk 
in  a  paint-and-oil  store  in  Boston.  Here  the  thirst  for 
knowledge,  stimulated  but  only  partially  satisfied  by  the 
short  year  at  the  academy,  led  him  to  the  poor  man's 
blessing,  - —  the  library.  Here  he  could  read  and  think, 
and  be  far  removed  from  evil  associations. 

When  he  was  twenty-one,  in  1851,  Charles  Pratt 
went  to  New  York  as  a  clerk  for  Messrs.  Schanck  & 
Downing,  108  Fulton  Street,  in  the  oil,  paint,  and  glass 
business.  The  work  was  constant ;  but  he  was  happy 
in  it,  because  he  believed  that  work  should  be  the  duty 
and  pleasure  of  all.  He  never  changed  in  this  love  for 
labor.  He  said  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  worth 
millions,  "  I  am  convinced  that  the  great  problem  which 
we  are  trying  to  solve  is  very  much  wrapped  up  in  the 


110  CHARLES  PRATT. 

thought  of  educating  the  people  to  find  happiness  in 
a  busy,  active  life,  and  that  the  occupation  of  the  hour 
is  of  more  importance  than  the  wages  received. "  He 
found  "  happiness  in  a  busy,  active  life,"  when  he  was 
earning  fifty  dollars  a  year  as  well  as  when  he  was  a 
man  of  great  wealth. 

Years  later  Mr.  Pratt's  son  Charles  relates  the  follow- 
ing incident,  which  occurred  when  his  father  came  to 
visit  him  at  Amherst  College  :  "  He  was  present  at  a  lec- 
ture to  the  Senior  class  in  mental  science.  The  subject 
incidentally  discussed  was  'Work,'  its  necessary  drain 
upon  the  vital  forces,  and  its  natural  and  universal  dis- 
tastefulness.  On  being  asked  to  address  the  class,  my 
father  assumed  to  present  the  matter  from  a  point  of 
view  entirely  different  from  that  of  the  text-book,  and 
maintained  that  there  was  no  inherent  reason  why  man 
should  consider  his  daily  labor,  of  whatever  nature,  as 
necessarily  disagreeable  and  burdensome,  but  that  the 
right  view  was  the  one  which  made  of  work  a  delight, 
a  source  of  real  satisfaction,  and  even  pleasure.  Such, 
indeed,  it  was  to  him ;  he  believed  it  might  prove  to  be 
such  to  all  others." 

After  Mr.  Pratt  had  worked  three  years  for  his  New 
York  firm,  in  connection  with  two  other  gentlemen  he 
bought  the  paint-and-oil  business  of  his  employers,  and 
the  new  firm  became  Eaynolds,  Devoe,  &  Pratt.  For 
thirteen  years  he  worked  untiringly  at  his  business  ;  and 
in  1867  the  firm  was  divided,  the  oil  portion  of  the  busi- 
ness being  carried  on  by  Charles  Pratt  &  Co.  In  the 
midst  of  this  busy  life  the  influence  of  the  Mercantile 
Library  of  Boston  was  not  lost.  He  had  become  asso- 
ciated with  the  Mercantile  Library  of  New  York,  and 


CHARLES  PRATT.  Ill 

both  this  and  the  one  in  Boston  had  a  marked  influence 
on  his  life  and  his  great  gifts. 

When  the  immense  oil-fields  of  Pennsylvania  began  to 
be  developed,  about  I860,  Mr.  Pratt  was  one  of  the  first 
to  see  the  possibilities  of  the  petroleum  trade.  He  began 
to  refine  the  crude  oil,  and  succeeded  in  producing  prob- 
ably the  best  upon  the  market,  called  "  Pratt's  Astral 
Oil."  Mr.  Pratt  took  a  just  pride  in  its  wide  use,  and 
was  pleased,  says  a  friend,  "  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buckley 
told  him  that  he  had  found  that  the  Russian  convent 
on  Mount  Tabor  was  lighted  with  Pratt's  Astral  Oil. 
He  meant  that  the  stamp  'Pratt'  should  be  like  the 
stamp  of  the  mint,  —  an  assurance  of  quality  and 
quantity." 

For  years  he  was  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Standard 
Oil  Company,  and  of  course  a  sharer  in  its  enormous 
wealth.  Nothing  seemed  more  improbable  when  he 
was  spending  a  year  at  Wilbraham  Academy,  living  on 
a  dollar  a  week,  than  this  ownership  of  millions.  Now, 
as  then,  he  was  saving  of  time  as  well  as  money. 

Says  Mr.  James  McGee  of  New  York,  "  He  brought  to 
business  a  hatred  of  waste.  He  disliked  waste  of  every 
kind.  He  was  not  willing  that  the  smallest  material 
should  be  lost.  He  did  not  believe  in  letting  time  go 
to  waste.  He  was  punctual  at  his  engagements,  or  gave 
good  excuse  for  his  tardiness.  Speaking  of  an  evening 
spent  in  congratulations,  he  said  that  it  was  time  lost ; 
it  would  have  been  better  spent  in  reviewing  mistakes, 
that  they  might  be  corrected.  It  is  said  that  a  youth 
who  had  hurried  into  business  applied  to  Mr.  Pratt  for 
advice  as  to  whether  he  should  go  West.  He  questioned 
the  young  man  as  to  how  he  occupied  his  time ;  what  he 


112  CHARLES   PRATT. 

did  before  business  hours,  and  what  after ;  what  he  was 
reading  or  doing  to  improve  his  mind.  Finding  that  the 
young  man  was  taking  no  pains  to  educate  himself,  he 
said  emphatically,  'No;  don't  go  West.  They  don't 
want  you.'  " 

Active  as  Mr.  Pratt  was  in  the  details  of  a  great  busi- 
ness, he  found  time  for  other  work.  Desiring  an  educa- 
tion, which  he  in  his  early  days  could  not  obtain,  he 
provided  the  best  for  his  children.  He  became  deeply 
interested  in  Adelphi  Academy,  Brooklyn,  was  a  trustee, 
and  later  president  of  the  Board.  In  1881  he  erected  the 
wing  of  the  main  building ;  and  six  years  later,  in  1887, 
he  gave  $160,000  for  the  erection  of  a  new  building. 

He  gave  generously  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Brook- 
lyn in  which  he  worshipped,  and  from  the  pews  of 
which  he  was  seldom  absent  on  the  Sabbath.  He  be- 
stowed thousands  upon  struggling  churches.  He  gener- 
ously aided  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  He  gave 
to  Amherst  College,  through  his  son  Charles  M.  Pratt, 
about  $40,000  for  a  gymnasium,  and  through  his  son 
Frederick  B.  Pratt  thirteen  acres  for  athletic  grounds. 
He  helped  foreign  missions  and  missions  at  home  with 
an  open  hand. 

"  There  were,"  says  Dr.  Cuyler,  "  innumerable  little 
rills  of  benevolence  that  trickled  into  the  homes  of  the 
needy  and  the  hearts  of  the  straitened  and  suffering. 
I  never  loved  Charles  Pratt  more  than  when  he  was 
dealing  with  the  needs  of  a  bright  orphan  girl,  whose 
case  appealed  strongly  to  his  sympathies.  After  inquir- 
ing into  it  carefully,  he  said  to  me,  '  We  must  be  careful 
when  trying  to  aid  this  young  lady,  not  to  cripple  her 
energies,  or  lower  her  sense  of  independence.' 


CHARLES   PRATT.  113 

"The  last  time  his  hand  ever  touched  paper  was  to 
sign  a  generous  check  for  the  benefit  of  our  Brooklyn 
Bureau  of  Charities.  Almost  the  last  words  that  he 
ever  wrote  was  this  characteristic  sentence  :  '  I  feel  that 
life  is  so  short  that  I  am  not  satisfied  unless  I  do  each 
day  the  best  I  can.'  " 

Mr.  Pratt  was  not  willing  to  spend  his  life  in  accumu- 
lating millions  except  for  a  purpose.  He  once  told  Dr. 
Cuyler,  "  The  greatest  humbug  in  this  world  is  the  idea 
that  the  mere  possession  of  money  can  make  any  man 
happy.  I  never  got  any  satisfaction  out  of  mine  until  I 
began  to  do  good  with  it." 

He  did  not  wish  his  wealth  to  build  fine  mansions  for 
himself,  for  he  preferred  to  live  simply.  He  had  no 
pleasure  in  display.  "He  needed,"  says  his  minister, 
Dr.  Humpstone,  "neither  club  nor  playhouse  to  afford 
him  rest;  his  home  sufficed.  For  those  who  use  such 
diversions  he  had  no  criticism.  In  these  matters  he  was 
neither  narrow  nor  ascetic.  He  was  the  brother  of  his 
own  children.  His  home  was  to  him  the  fairest  spot  on 
earth.  He  filled  it  with  sunshine.  Outside  of  his  busi- 
ness, his  church,  and  his  philanthropy,  it  was  his  only 
sphere." 

He  was  a  man  of  few  words  and  much  self-control. 
Dr.  Humpstone  relates  this  incident,  told  him  by  a 
friend :  "  Some  one  made  upon  Mr.  Pratt,  openly,  a 
bitter  personal  attack.  The  future  revealed  that  this 
charge  was  entirely  unmerited,  and  the  man  who  made 
it  lived  to  regret  his  act ;  but  the  moment  revealed  the 
greatness  of  our  dead  friend's  love.  He  said  no  word ; 
only  a  face  pale  with  pain  revealed  how  determined 
was   his   effort  at   self-control,  and   how  keen  was   his 


114  CHARLES  PRATT. 

suffering.  When  his  accuser  turned  to  go,  he  bade  him 
good-morning,  as  though  he  had  left  a  blessing  and 
not  a  bane  behind  him.  As  I  recall  the  past  at  this 
moment,  I  think  of  no  word  he  ever  spoke  in  my  hear- 
ing that  was  proof  of  an  unloving  spirit  in  him." 

For  years  Mr.  Pratt  had  been  thinking  about  indus- 
trial education ;  "  such  education  as  enables  men  and 
women  to  earn  their  own  living  by  applied  knowledge 
and  the  skilful  use  of  their  hands  in  the  various  pro- 
ductive industries."  He  knew  that  the  majority  of 
young  men  and  women  are  born  poor,  and  must  strug- 
gle for  a  livelihood,  and,  whether  poor  or  rich,  ought  to 
know  how  to  be  self-supporting,  and  not  helpless  mem- 
bers of  the  community.  The  study  of  algebra  and 
English  literature  might  be  a  delight,  but  not  all  can 
be  teachers  or  clerks  in  stores  ;  some  must  be  machin- 
ists, carpenters,  and  skilled  workmen  in  various  trades. 

Mr.  Pratt  never  forgot  that  he  had  been  a  poor  boy. 
He  never  grew  cold  in  manner  and  selfish  in  life.  "  He 
presented,"  says  Mr.  James  MacAlister,  President  of 
the  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia,  "the  rare  spectacle 
of  a  rich  man  in  strong  sympathy  with  the  industrial 
revolution  that  was  progressing  around  him.  His  ar- 
dent desire  was  to  recognize  labor,  to  improve  it,  to 
elevate  it;  and  his  own  experience  taught  him  that 
the  best  way  to  do  this  was  to  put  education  into  the 
handiwork  of  the  laborer." 

Mr.  Pratt  gained  information  from  all  possible  sources 
about  the  kind  of  an  institution  which  should  be  built 
to  provide  the  knowledge  of  books  and  the  knowledge 
of  earning  a  living.  He  travelled  widely  in  his  own 
country,  corresponded  with  the  heads  of  various  schools. 


CHARLES  PRATT.  115 

such  as  The  Rose  Polytechnic  Institute  at  Terre  Haute, 
Inch,  the  Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston,  and  with 
Dr.  John  Eaton,  then  Commissioner  of  Education,  Dr. 
Felix  Adler  of  New  York,  and  others.  Then  Mr.  Pratt 
took  his  son,  Mr.  F.  B.  Pratt,  and  his  private  secretary, 
Mr.  Hemey,  to  twenty  of  the  leading  cities  in  England, 
France,  Austria,  Switzerland,  and  Germany,  to  see  what 
the  Old  World  was  doing  to  educate  her  people  in 
self-help. 

He  found  great  industrial  schools  on  the  Continent 
supported  by  the  city  or  state,  where  every  boy  or  girl 
could  learn  the  theory  or  practice,  or  both,  of  .the  trade 
to  be  followed  for  a  livelihood.  On  leaving  the  schools 
the  pupils  could  earn  a  dollar  or  more  a  day.  Our  own 
country  was  sadly  backward  in  such  matters.  The  pub- 
lic schools  had  introduced  manual  training  only  to  a 
very  limited  extent.  Mr.  Pratt  determined  to  build 
an  institute  where  any  who  wished  to  engage  in  "  me- 
chanical, commercial,  and  artistic  pursuits  "  should  have 
a  thorough  "  theoretic  and  practical  knowledge."  It 
t  should  dignify  labor,  because  he  believed  there  should 
be  no  idlers  among  rich  or  poor.  It  should  teach  "  that 
personal  character  is  of  greater  consequence  than  mate- 
rial productions." 

Mr.  Pratt,  on  Sept.  11,  1885,  bought  a  large  piece  of 
land  on  Eyerson  Street,  Brooklyn,  a  total  of  32,000 
square  feet,  and  began  to  carry  out  in  brick  and  stone 
his  noble  thought  for  the  people.  He  not  only  gave 
his  millions,  but  he  gave  his  time  and  thought  in  the 
midst  of  his  busy  life.  He  said,  "  The  giving  which 
counts,  is  the  giving  of  one's  self.  The  faithful  teacher 
who  gives  his  strength  and  life  without  stint  or  hope  of 


116  CHARLES  PRATT. 

reward,  other  than  the  sense  of  fidelity  to  duty,  gives 
most ;  and  so  the  record  will  stand  when  our  books  are 
closed  at  the  day  of  final  accounting." 

Mr.  Pratt  at  first  erected  the  main  building  six  stories 
high,  100  feet  by  86,  brick  with  terra-cotta  and  stone 
trimmings,  and  the  machine-shop  buildings,  consisting 
of  metal-working  and  wood-working  shops,  forge  and 
foundry  rooms,  and  a  building  103  feet  by  95  for  brick- 
laying, stone-carving,  plumbing,  and  the  like.  Later 
the  high-school  building  was  added ;  and  a  library 
building  has  recently  been  erected,  the  library  having 
outgrown  its  rooms.  In  the  main  building,  occupying 
the  whole  fourth  floor  as  well  as  parts  of  several  other 
floors,  is  the  art  department  of  the  Institute.  Here,  in 
morning,  afternoon,  and  evening  classes,  under  the  best 
instructors,  a  three  yearsj  course  in  art  may  be  taken,  in 
drawing,  painting,  and  clay-modelling;  also  courses  in 
architectural  and  mechanical  drawing,  where  in  the  ad- 
jacent shops  the  properties  of  materials  and  their  power 
to  bear  strain  can  be  learned.  Many  students  take  a 
course  in  design,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  win  good  posi-. 
tions  as  designers  of  book-covers,  tiles,  wall-papers,  car- 
pets, etc.  The  normal  art  course  of  two  years  fits  for 
teaching.  Of  those  who  left  the  Institute  between  1890 
and  1893,  having  finished  the  course,  seventy-six  became 
supervisors  of  drawing  in  public  schools,  or  teach  art 
elsewhere,  with  salaries  aggregating  $47,620.  Courses 
are  also  given  in  wood-carving  and  art  needlework. 
Though  there  were  but  twelve  in  the  class  in  the  art 
department  at  the  opening  of  the  Institute  in  1887,  in 
three  years  the  number  of  pupils  had  increased  to  about 
seven  hundred. 


CHABLES  PRATT.  117 

Mr.  Pratt  instituted  another  department  in  the  main 
building,  —  that  of  domestic  science.  There  are  morn- 
ing, afternoon,  and  evening  classes  in  sewing,  cooking, 
and  other  household  matters.  A  year's  course,  two  les- 
sons a  week,  is  given  in  dressmaking,  cutting,  fitting, 
and  draping,  or  the  course  may  be  taken  in  six  months 
if  time  is  limited ;  a  course  in  millinery  with  five  les- 
sons a  week,  and  the  full  course  in  three  months  if  the 
person  has  little  time  to  give ;  lectures  in  hygiene  and 
home  nursing,  that  women  in  their  homes  may  know 
what  to  do  in  cases  of  sickness ;  classes  in  laundry 
work,  in  plain  and  fancy  cooking,  and  preparing  food 
for  invalids.  There  are  Normal  courses  to  fit  teachers 
for  schools  and  colleges  to  give  instruction  in  house 
sanitation,  ventilation,  heating,   cooking,  etc. 

This  department  of  domestic  science  has  been  most 
useful  and  popular.  As  many  as  2,800  pupils  have 
been  enrolled  in  a  single  year.  A  club  of  men  came 
to  take  lessons  in  cooking  preparatory  to  •  camp-life. 
Nurses  come  from  the  training-schools  in  hospitals  to 
learn  how  to  cook  for  invalids.  Many  teachers  have 
gone  out  from  this  department.  The  Institute  has  not 
been  able  to  supply  the  demand  for  sewing-women  and 
dressmakers  during  the  busy  season. 

Mr.  Pratt  rightly  thought  "that  a  knowledge  of 
household  employments  is  thoroughly  consistent  with 
the  grace  and  dignity  and  true  womanliness  of  every 
American  girl.  .  .  .  The  housewife  who  knows  how  to 
manage  the  details  of  her  home  has  more  courage  than 
one  who  is  dependent  upon  servants,  no  matter  how 
faithful  they  may  be.  She  is  a  better  mistress  5  for  she 
can  sympathize  with  them,  and  appreciate  their  work 
when  well  done." 


118  CHARLES  PRATT. 

Mr.  Pratt  had  another  object  in  view,  as  he  said,  "To 
help  those  families  who  must  live  on  small  incomes, — 
say,  not  over  $400  or  $500  per  year,  —  teaching  the 
best  disposition  of  this  money  in  wise  purchase,  eco- 
nomical use  of  material,  and  little  waste.  One  aim  of 
this  department  is  to  make  the  home  of  the  working- 
man  more  attractive." 

Mr.  Pratt  said  in  the  last  address  which  he  ever  made 
to  his  Institute  :  "  Home  is  the  centre  from  which  the 
life  of  the  nation  emanates ;  and  the  highest  product  of 
modern  civilization  is  a  contented,  happy  home.  How 
can  we  help  to  secure  such  homes  ?  By  teaching  the 
people  that  happiness,  to  some  extent  at  least,  consists 
in  having  something  to  occupy  the  head  and  hand,  and 
in  doing  some  useful  work." 

In  the  department  of  commerce,  there  are  day  and 
evening  classes  in  phonography,  typewriting,  bookkeep- 
ing, commercial  law,  German,  and  Spanish,  as  the  latter 
language,  it  is  believed,  will  be  used  more  in  our  com- 
mercial relations  in  the  future. 

There  is  a  department  of  music  to  encourage  singing 
among  the  people,  with  courses  in  vocal  music,  and  in 
the  art  of  teaching  music ;  this  has  over  four  hundred 
students.  In  the  department  of  kindergartens  in  the 
Institute  Mr.  Pratt  took  a  deep  interest.  A  model  kin- 
dergarten is  conducted  with  training-classes,  and  classes 
for  mothers,  who  may  thus  be  able  to  introduce  it  into 
their  homes.  The  high-school  department,  a  four  years' 
course,  combining  the  academic  and  the  manual  training, 
has  proved  very  valuable.  It  was  originally  intended 
to  make  the  Institute  purely  manual,  but  later  it  was 
felt  to  be  wise  to  give  an  opportunity  for  a  completer 


CHARLES  PRATT.  119 

education  by  combining  head-work  and  hand-work.  The 
school  day  is  from  nine  o'clock  till  three.  Of  the 
seven  periods  into  which  this  time  is  divided,  three  are 
devoted  to  recitations,  one  to  study,  —  the  lessons  are 
prepared  at  home,  —  one  to  drawing,  and  two  to  the  work- 
shop, in  wood,  forging,  tinsmithing,  machine-tool  work, 
etc.  When  the  high  school  was  opened,  Mr.  Pratt  said, 
"  We  believe  in  the  value  of  co-education,  and  are 
pleased  to  note  the  addition  of  more  than  twenty  young 
women  to  this  entering  class." 

The  high  school  has  some  excellent  methods.  "  For 
making  the  machinery  of  National  and  State  elections 
clear,"  says  Mr.  F.  B.  Pratt,  the  secretary  of  the  Insti- 
tute and  son  of  the  founder,  "the  school  has  conducted 
a  campaign  and  election  in  close  imitation  of  the  actual 
process.  .  .  .  Every  morning  the  important  news  of 
the  preceding  day  has  been  announced  and  explained 
by  selected  pupils."  The  Institute  annually  awards  ten 
scholarships  to  ten  graduates  of  the  Brooklyn  grammar 
schools,  five  boys  and  five  girls,  who  pass  the  best 
entrance  examinations  for  the  high  school  of  Pratt 
Institute.  The  pupils  after  leaving  the  high  school  are 
fitted  to  enter  any  scientific  institution  of  college  grade. 

Mr.  Pratt  was  "  so  much  impressed  with  the  far- 
reaching  influence  of  good  books  as  distributed  through 
a  free  library,"  that  he  established  a  library  in  the 
Institute  for  the  use  of  the  pupils,  and  for  the  public  as 
well.  It  now  has  fifty  thousand  ^volumes,  with  a  circu- 
lation of  over  two  hundred  thousand  volumes.  In 
connection  with  it,  there  are  library  training-classes, 
graduates  of  which  have  found  good  positions  in  vari- 
ous libraries. 


120  CHARLES  PRATT. 

A  museum  was  begun  by  Mr.  Pratt  in  1887,  as  an 
aid  to  the  students  in  their  work.  The  finest  specimens 
of  glass,  earthenware,  bronzes,  iron-work,  and  minerals 
were  obtained  from  the  Old  World,  specimens  of  iron 
and  steel  from  our  own  country  to  illustrate  their  manu- 
facture in  the  various  articles  of  use ;  much  attention 
will  be  given  to  artistic  work  in  iron  after  the  manner 
of  Quentin  Matsys ;  lace,  ancient  and  modern ;  all  com- 
mon cloth,  with  kind  of  weave  and  price ;  various  wools 
and  woollen  goods  from  many  countries. 

In  the  basement  of  the  main  building  Mr.  Pratt 
opened  a  lunch-room,  a  most  sensible  department,  espe- 
cially for  those  who  live  at  some  distance  from  the 
Institute.  Dinners  at  a  reasonable  price  are  served 
from  twelve  to  two  o'clock,  and  suppers  three  nights  a 
week  from  six  to  seven  p.m.  Over  forty  thousand  meals 
are  served  yearly.  Soups,  cold  meats,  salads,  sand- 
wiches,  tea,  coffee,  milk,  and  fruit  are  usually  offered. 

Another  thought  of  Mr.  Pratt,  who  seemed  not  to 
overlook  anything,  was  the  establishing  of  an  associa- 
tion known  as  "The  Thrift."  Mr.  Pratt  said,  "Pupils 
are  taught  some  useful  work  by  which  they  can  earn 
money.  It  seems  a  natural  thing  that  the  next  step 
should  be  to  endeavor  to  teach  them  how  to  save -this 
money ;  or,  in  other  words,  how  to  make  a  wise  use  of 
it.  It  is  not  enough  that  one  be  trained  so  that  he 
can  join  the  bands  of  the  world's  workers  and  become 
a  producer;  he  needs  quite  as  much  to  learn  habits  of 
economy  and  thrift  in  order  to  make  his  life  a  success." 

"The  Thrift"  was  divided  into  the  investment 
branch  and  the  loan  branch.  The  investment  shares 
were  $150,  payable  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  a  month  for 


CHARLES  PRATT.  121 

ten  years.  The  investor  would  then  have  $160.  Any 
person  could  loan  money  to  purchase  a  home,  and  make 
small  monthly  payments  instead  of  rent.  As  many 
persons  were  unable  to  save  a  dollar  a  month,  stamps 
were  sold  as  in  Europe ;  and  a  person  could  buy  them 
at  any  time,  and  these  could,  be  redeemed  for  cash.  In 
less  than  four  years,  the  Thrift  had  650  depositors,  with 
a  total  investment  of  over  $90,000.  Twenty-four  loans 
had  been  made,  aggregating  over  $100,000.  The  total 
deposits  up  to  1895  were  $260,000. 

Most  interesting  to  me  of  all  the  departments  of  Pratt 
Institute  are  the  machine-shops  and  the  Trade  School 
Building,  where  boys  can  learn  a  trade.  "The  aim  of 
these  trade  classes,"  says  Mr.  F.  B.  Pratt,  in  the  Inde- 
pendent for  April  30,  1891,  "  is  to  afford  a  thorough 
grounding  in  the  principles  of  a  mechanical  trade,  and 
sufficient  practice  in  its  different  operations  to  produce 
a  fair  amount  of  hand  skill."  The  old  apprenticeship 
system  has  been  abandoned,  and  our  boys,  must  learn 
to  earn  a  living  in  some  other  way.  The  trades  taught 
at  Pratt  Institute  are  carpentry,  forging,  machine-work, 
plastering,  plumbing,  blacksmithing,  bricklaying,  house 
and  fresco  painting,  etc.  There  is  an  evening  class  of 
sheet-metal  workers,  who  study  patterns  for  cornices, 
elbows,  and  other  designs  in  sheet-metal.  Much  atten- 
tion is  given  to  electrical  construction  and  to  electricity 
in  general.  The  day  and  evening  classes  are  always 
full.  Some  of  the  master-mechanics'  associations  are 
cordial  in  their  co-operation  and  examination  of  students 
through  their  committees.  After  leaving  the  Institute, 
work  seems  to  be  readily  obtained  at  good  wages. 

Mr.   Pratt  wished  the  instruction  here  to  be  of  the 


122  CHARLES  PRATT. 

best.  He  said,  "  The  demand  is  for  a  better  and  better 
quality  of  work,  and  our  American  artisans  must  learn 
that  to  claim  first  place  in  any  trade  they  must  be  in- 
telligent. .  .  .  They  must  learn  to  have  pride  in  their 
work,  and  to  love  it,  and  believe  in  our  motto,  '  Be  true 
to  your  work,  and  your  work  will  be  true  to  you.' " 

The  sons  of  the  founder  are  alive  to  the  necessities  of 
the  young  in  this  direction.  If  it  is  true  that  out  of  the 
52,894  white  male  prisoners  in  the  prisons  and  reforma- 
tory institutions  of  the  United  States  in  1890  nearly 
three-fourths  were  native  born,  and  31,426  had  learned 
no  trade  whatever,  it  is  evident  that  one  of  the  most 
pressing  needs  of  our  time  is  the  teaching  of  trades  to 
boys  and  young  men. 

Mr.  Charles  M.  Pratt,  the  president  of  the  Institute, 
says  in  his  Founder's  Day  Address  in  1893  concerning 
technical  instruction  :  "  Our  possible  service  here  seems 
almost  limitless.  The  President  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation of  Boston  in  a  recent  address  congratulated  his 
fellow-citizens  upon  the  fact  that  Boston  has  her  system 
of  public  schools  and  kindergartens,  and  now,  and  but 
lately,  her  public  school  of  manual  training ;  but  what 
is  needed,  he  said,  'is  a  school  of  technical  training  In 
the  trades,  such  as  Pratt  Institute  and  other  similar 
institutions  furnish.  I  sincerely  trust  that  the  next 
five  years  of  life  and  growth  here  will  develop  much 
in  this  direction.  .  .  .  We  are  willing  to  enlarge  our 
present  special  facilities,  or  provide  new  ones  for  new 
trade-class  requirements,  as  long  as  the  demand  for  such 
opportunities  truly  exists.'" 

One  rejoices  in  such  institutions  as  the  New  York 
Trade  Schools  on  First  Avenue,  between  Sixty-seventh 


CHARLES   PRATT.  123 

and  Sixty-eighth  Streets,  with  their  day  and  evening- 
classes  in  plumbing,  gasfitting,  bricklaying,  plastering, 
stone-cutting,  fresco-painting,  wood-carving,  carpentry, 
and  the  like.  A  printing  department  has  also  been 
added.  This  work  owes  its  inception  and  success  to 
the  brain  and  devotion  of  the  late  lamented  Richard 
Tylden  Auchinuty,  who  died  in  New  York,  July  18, 
1893.  Mrs.  Auchmuty,  the  wife  of  the  founder,  has 
given  the  land  and  buildings  to  the  school,  valued  at 
$220,000,  and  a  building-fund  of  $100,000.  Mr.  J. 
Pierpont  Morgan  has  endowed  the  school  with  a  gift 
of  $500,000. 

Mr.  Pratt  did  not  cease  working  when  his  great  Insti- 
tute was  fairly  started.  He  built  in  Greenpoint,  Long 
Island,  a  large  apartment  building  called  the  "  Astral," 
five  stories  high,  of  brick  and  stone,  with  116  suites  of 
rooms,  each  suite  capable  of  accommodating  from  three 
to  six  persons.  The  building  cost  $300,000,  and  is 
rented  to  workingmen  and  their  families,  the  income 
to  be  used  in  helping  to  maintain  the  Institute.  A  pub- 
lic library  was  opened  in  the  Astral,  with  the  thought 
at  first  of  using  it  only  for  the  people  in  the  building ; 
but  it  was  soon  opened  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Green- 
point,  and  has  been  most  heartily  appreciated  and  used. 
Cut  in  stone  over  the  fireplace  in  the  reading-room  of  the 
Astral  are  the  words,  "  Waste  neither  time  nor  money." 

When  Mr.  Pratt  made  his  first  address  to  the  students 
of  Pratt  Institute  on  Founder's  Day,  Oct.  2,  1888,  his 
birthday,  taking  the  Bible  from  the  desk,  he  said,  before 
reading  it  and  offering  prayer,  "  Whatever  I  have  done, 
whatever  I  hope  to  do,  I  have  done  trusting  in  the 
Power  from  above." 


124  CHARLES  PRATT. 

Before  he  built  the  Institute  many  persons  asked 
him  to  use  his  wealth  in  other  ways  ;  some  urged  a 
Theological  School,  others  a  Medical  School,  but  his  in- 
terest in  the  workingman  and  the  home  led  him  to 
found  the  Institute.  He  rejoiced  in  the  work  and  its 
outlook  for  the  future.  He  said,  "  I  am  so  grateful,  so 
grateful  that  the  Almighty  has  inclined  my  heart  to  do 
this  thing." 

On  the  second  and  third  Founder's  Days,  Mr.  Pratt 
spoke  with  hope  and  the  deepest  interest  in  the  work  of 
the  Institute.  He  had  been  asked  often  what  he  had 
spent  for  the  work,  and  had  prepared  a  statement  at 
considerable  cost  of  time,  but  with  characteristic  mod- 
esty he  could  never  bring  himself  to  make  it  public. 
"  I  have  asked  myself  over  and  over  again  what  good 
could  result  from  any  statement  we  could  make  of  the 
amount  of  money  we  have  spent.  The  quality  and 
amount  of  service  rendered  by  the  Institute  is  the  only 
fair  estimate  of  its  real  value." 

In  closing  his  address  Mr.  Pratt  said,  "  To  my  sons 
and  co-trustees,  who  will  have  this  work  to  carry  on 
when  I  am  gone,  I  wish  to  say,  "  The  world  will  over- 
estimate your  ability,  and  will  underestimate  the  value 
of  your  work  ;  will  be  exacting  of  every  promise  made 
or  implied ;  will  be  critical  of  your  failings ;  will  often 
misjudge  your  motives,  and  hold  you  to  strict  account 
for  all  your  doings.  Many  pupils  will  make  demands, 
and  be  forgetful  of  your  service  to  them.  Ingratitude 
will  often  be  your  reward.  When  the  day  is  dark,  and 
full  of  discouragement  and  difficulty,  you  will  need  to 
look  on  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  which  you  will 
find  full  of  hope  and  gladness." 


CHARLES  PRATT.  125 

When  the  next  Founder's  Day  came,  Mr.  Pratt  was 
gone,  and  the  Institute  was  in  the  hands  of  others.  At 
the  close  of  a  day  of  work  and  thought  in  his  New 
York  office,  Mr.  Pratt  fell  at  his  post,  May  4,  1891,  and 
was  carried  to  his  home  in  Clinton  Avenue,  Brooklyn. 
After  the  funeral,  May  7,  memorial  services  were  held 
in  the  Emmanuel  Baptist  Church  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
May  17,  with  addresses  by  distinguished  men  who  loved 
and  honored  him. 

A  beautiful  memorial  chapel  was  erected  by  his  fam- 
ily on  his  estate  at  Dosoris,  Glen  Cove,  Long  Island ; 
and  there  the  body  of  Mr.  Pratt  was  buried,  July  31, 
1894.  The  chapel  is  of  granite,  in  the  Romanesque 
style,  with  exquisite  stained  glass  windows.  The  main 
room  is  wainscoted  with  polished  red  granite,  the  arch- 
ing ceiling  lined  with  glass  mosaic  in  blue,  gold,  and 
green.  At  the  farther  end,  in  a  semi-circular  apse 
reached  by  two  steps  through  an  imposing  arch,  stands 
the  sarcophagus  of  Siena  marble,  with  the  name,  Charles 
Pratt,  and  dates  of  birth  and  death.  The  campanile 
contains  the  chime  of  bells  so  admired  by  everybody 
who  visited  the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  and 
heard  it  ring  out  from  the  central  clock  tower  in  the 
Building  of  Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts.  Few, 
comparatively,  will  ever  see  this  monument  erected  by 
a  devoted  family  to  a  husband  and  father;  but  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  will  see  tlie  monument  which  Mr. 
Pratt  built  for  himself  in  his  noble  Institute.  Every 
year  thousands  come  to  learn  its  methods  and  to  copy 
some  of  its  features,  even  from  Africa  and  South  Amer- 
ica. The  Earl  of  Meath,  who  has  done  so  much  for  the 
improvement  of  his  race,  said  to  Dr.  Cuyler,  "  Of  all  the 


126  CHARLES  PRATT. 

good  things  I  have  seen  in  America,  there  is  none  that 
I  would  so  like  to  carry  back  to  London  as  this  splendid 
establishment." 

One  may  read  in  Baedeker's  "  Guide  Book  of  the 
United  States"  instructions  how  to  find  "the  extensive 
buildings  of  Pratt  Institute,  one  of  the  best-equipped 
technical  institutions  in  the  world.  None  interested  in 
technical  education  should  fail  to  visit  this  institution." 

During  his  life,  Mr.  Pratt  gave  to  the  Institute  about 
$ 3,700,000,  and  thus  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  bear 
fruit.  Of  this,  $2,000,000  is  the  endowment  fund. 
Small  charges  are  made  to  the  pupils,  but  not  nearly 
enough  to  pay  the  running  expenses.  Mr.  Pratt's  sons 
are  nobly  carrying  forward  the  work  left  to  their  care 
by  their  father,  who  died  in  the  midst  of  his  labors. 
Playgrounds  have  been  laid  out,  a  gymnasium  provided, 
new  buildings  erected,  and  other  measures  adopted  which 
they  feel  that  their  father  would  approve  were  he  alive. 

Courses  of  free  lectures  are  given  at  Pratt  Institute  to 
the  public  as  well  as  the  students ;  a  summer  school  is 
provided  at  Glen  Cove,  Long  Island,  for  such  as  wish  to 
learn  about  agriculture,  with  instruction  given  in  botany, 
chemistry,  physiology,  raising  and  harvesting  crops,  and 
the  care  of  animals ;  nurses  are  trained  in  the  care  and 
development  of  children;  a  bright  monthly  magazine  is 
published  by  the  Institute;  a  Neighborship  Association 
has  been  formed  of  alumni,  teachers,  and  pupils,  which 
meets  for  the  discussion  of  such  topics  as  "  The  relation 
of  the  rich  to  the  poor,"  "  The  ethics  of  giving,"  "  Citi- 
zenship," etc.,  and  to  carry  out  the  work  and  spirit  of 
the  Institute  wherever  opportunity  offers. 

Already  the  influence  of  Pratt  Institute  has  been  very 


CHARLES  PRATT.  127 

great.  Public  schools  all  over  the  country  are  adopting 
some  form  of  manual  training  whereby  the  pupils  shall 
be  better  fitted  to  earn  their  living.  Mr.  Chas.  M.  Pratt, 
in  one  of  his  Founder's  Day  addresses,  quotes  the  words 
of  a  successful  teacher  and  merchant :  "  There  is  nothing 
under  God's  heaven  so  important  to  the  individual  as  to 
acquire  the  power  to  earn  his  own  living ;  to  be  able  to 
stand  alone  if  necessary ;  to  be  dependent  upon  no  one ; 
to  be  indispensable  to  some  one." 

About  four  thousand  students  receive  instruction  each 
year  at  the  Institute.  Many  go  out  as  teachers  to  other 
schools  all  over  the  country.  As  the  founder  said  in  his 
last  address,  "The  world  goes  on,  and  Pratt  Institute, 
if  it  fulfils  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  its  founder, 
must  go  on,  and  as  the  years  pass,  the  field  of  its  influ- 
ence should  grow  wider  and  wider." 

On  the  day  that  he  died,  Mr.  Herbert  S.  Adams,  the 
sculptor,  had  finished  a  bust  of  Mr.  Pratt  in  clay.  It 
was  put  into  bronze  by  the  teachers  and  pupils,  and  now 
stands  in  the  Institute,  with  these  words  of  the  founder 
cut  in  the  bronze  :  "  The  giving  which  counts  is  the  giving 
of  one's  self." 


THOMAS   GUY 


AND    HIS   HOSPITAL. 


One  day  the  rich  Matthew  Vassar  stood  before  the 
great  London  hospital  founded  by  Thomas  Guy,  and 
read  these  words  on  the  pedestal  of  the  bronze  statue  :  — 

THOMAS  GUY, 

SOLE   FOUNDER    OF   THIS    HOSPITAL    IN    HIS    LIFETIME 
A.D.    MDCCXXI. 

The  last  three  words  made  a  deep  impression.  Matthew 
Vassar  had  no  children.  He  wished  to  leave  his  fortune 
where  it  would  be  of  permanent  value ;  and  lest  some- 
thing might  happen  to  thwart  his  plan,  he  had  to  do 
it  in  his  lifetime. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  said,  "They  who  give  nothing  till 
they  die,  never  give  at  all."  Several  years  before  his 
death,  Matthew  Vassar  built  Vassar  College  near  Pough- 
keepsie,  N.Y. ;  for  he  said,  "  There  is  not  in  our  coun- 
try, there  is  not  in  the  world  so  far  as  known,  a  single 
fully  endowed  institution  for  the  education  of  women. 
It  is  my  hope  to  be  the  instrument,  in  the  hands  of 
Providence,  of  founding  and  perpetuating  an  institu- 
tion which  shall  accomplish  for  young  women  what  our 
colleges  are  accomplishing  for  young  men." 

To  this  end  he  gave  a  million  dollars,  and  was  happy 
128 


THOMAS   GUY.  129 

in  the  results.  His  birthday  is  celebrated  each  year 
as  "Founder's  Day."  On  one  of  these  occasions  he 
said,  "This  is  almost  more  happiness  than  I  can  bear. 
This  one  day  more  than  repays  me  for  all  I  have  done." 

And  what  of  Thomas  Guy,  whose  example  led  to  Mat- 
thew Vassar's  noble  gift  while  the  latter  was  alive  ?  He 
was  an  economical,  self-made  bookbinder  and  bookseller, 
who  became  the  "  greatest  philanthropist  of  his  day." 

Thomas  Guy  was  born  in  Horselydown,  South wark, 
in  the  outskirts  of  London,  in  1644  or  1645.  His  father, 
Thomas  Guy,  was  a  lighterman  and  coalmonger,  one  who 
transferred  coal  from  the  colliers  to  the  wharves,  and 
also  sold  it  to  customers.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Carpenters'  Company  of  the  city  of  London,  and  prob- 
ably owned  some  barges. 

His  wife,  Anne  Vaughton,  belonged  to  a  family  of 
better  social  position  than  her  husband,  as  several  of 
her  relatives  had  been  mayors  in  Tamworth,  or  held 
other  offices  of  influence. 

When  the  boy  Thomas  was  eight  years  old,  his  father 
died,  leaving  Mrs.  Guy  to  bring  up  three  small  children, 
Thomas,  John,  and  Anne.  The  eldest  probably  went  to 
the  free  grammar  school  of  Tamworth,  and  when  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  years  of  age  was  apprenticed  for  eight 
years  to  John  Clarke  the  younger,  bookseller  and  book- 
binder in  Cheapside,  London. 

John  Clarke  was  ruined  in  the  great  fire  of  Sept.  2, 
1666,  which,  says  H.  R.  Fox  Bourne  in  his  "London 
Merchants,"  "  destroyed  eighty-nine  churches,  and  more 
than  thirteen  thousand  houses  in  four  hundred  streets. 
"  Of  the  whole  district  within  the  city  walls,  four  hundred 
and  thirty-six  acres  were  in  ruins,  and  only  seventy-five 


130  THOMAS   GUY. 

acres  were  left  covered.  Property  worth.  £10,000,000 
was  wasted,  and  thousands  of  starving  Londoners  had 
to  run  for  their  lives,  and  crouch  for  days  and  weeks  on 
the  bare  fields  of  Islington  and  Hampstead,  Southwark 
and  Lambeth." 

What  Thomas  Guy  was  in  his  later  life  he  probably 
was  as  a  boy,  —  hard-working,  economical,  of  good  halt- 
its,  and  determined  to  succeed.  When  the  eight  years 
of  apprenticeship  were  over  he  was  admitted  a  freeman 
of  the  Stationers'  Company ;  and  having  a  little  means, 
he  began  a  business  at  the  junction  of  Cornhill  and 
Lombard  Streets,  where  he  resided  through  his  whole 
life.  His  stock  of  books  at  the  beginning  was  worth 
about  two  hundred  pounds. 

At  this  time  many  English  Bibles  were  printed  in 
Holland  on  account  of  the  better  paper  and  types  found 
there,  and  vast  numbers  were  imported  to  England  with 
large  profits.  Young  Guy,  with  business  shrewdness, 
soon  became  an  importer  of  Bibles,  and  very  probably 
Prayer-books  and  Psalms. 

The  King's  printers  were  opposed  to  such  importa- 
tions, and  caused  the  arrest  of  booksellers  and  publish- 
ers, so  that  this  Holland  trade  was  largely  broken  up. 
It  is  said  that  the  King's  printers  so  raised  the  price 
of  Bibles  that  the  poor  were  unable  to  buy  them.  The 
privilege  of  printing  was  limited  to  London,  York,  and 
the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Then  Lon- 
don and  Oxford  quarrelled  over  Bible  printing,  and  each 
tried  to  undersell  the  other. 

Thomas  Guy  and  Peter  Parker  printed  Bibles  for 
Oxford,  had  four  presses  in  use  within  four  months  of 
their    undertaking  the    Oxford    work,  and   showed  the 


THOMAS    GUY. 


THOMAS   GUY.  131 

greatest  activity,  skill,  and  energy  in  the  enterprise. 
Their  work  was  excellent,  and  some  of  their  Bibles  and 
other  volumes  are  still  found  in  the  English  libraries. 

These  University  printers,  Parker  &  Guy,  had  many 
lawsuits  with  other  firms,  who  claimed  that  the  former 
had  made  £10,000,  or  even  £15,000,  by  their  connection 
with  Oxford.  Doubtless  they  had  made  money ;  but 
they  had  done  their  work  well,  and  deserved  their 
success. 

Concerning  Oxford  Bibles,  a  writer  in  McClure's  Mag- 
azine says,  "  In  these  days  the  privilege  of  printing  a 
Bible  is  hardly  less  jealously  guarded  in  the  United 
Kingdom  than  the  privilege  of  printing  a  banknote.  It 
is  accorded  by  license  to  the  Queen's  printers,  and  by 
charter  to  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge ; 
and  it  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  at  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford that  the  greatest  bulk  of  the  work  is  done.  From 
this  famous  press  there  issue  annually  about  one  million 
copies  of  the  sacred  book ;  copies  ranging  in  price  from 
tenpence  to  ten  pounds,  and  in  form  from  the  brilliant 
Bible,  which  weighs  in  its  most  handsome  binding  less 
than  four  ounces,  and  measures  3^  by  2i  by  §  inches,  to 
the  superb  folio  Bible  for  church  use,  the  page  of  which 
measures  19  by  12  inches,  which  is  the  only  folio  Bible 
in  existence  —  seventy-eight  editions  in  all;  copies  in 
all  manner  of  languages,  even  the  most  barbarous." 

The  choicest  paper  is  used,  and  the  utmost  care  taken 
with  setting  the  type.  It  is  computed  that  to  set  up 
and  "  read  "  a  reference  Bible  costs  £1,000. 

"  The  first  step  is  to  make  a  careful  calculation,  show- 
ing what,  in  the  particular  type  employed,  will  be  the 
exact  contents  of  each  page,  from  the  first  page  to  the 


132  THOMAS   GUY. 

last.  It  must  be  known  before  a  single  type  is  set  just 
what  will  be  the  first  and  last  word  on  each  page.  It  is 
not  enough  that  this  calculation  shall  be  approximate, 
it  must  be  exact  to  the  syllable. 

"  The  proofs  are  then  read  again  by  a  fresh  reader, 
from  a  fresh  model ;  and  this  process  is  repeated  until, 
before  being  electrotyped,  they  have  been  read  five  times 
in  all.  Any  compositor  who  detects  an  error  in  the 
model  gets  a  reward ;  but  only  two  such  rewards  have 
ever  been  earned.  Any  member  of  the  public  who  is 
first  to  detect  an  error  in  the  authorized  text  is  entitled 
to  one  guinea,  but  the  average  annual  outlay  of  the  press 
under  this  head  is  almost  nil." 

As  soon  as  Thomas  Guy  prospered,  he  gave  to  various 
causes.  He  gave  five  pounds  to  help  rebuild  the  school- 
house  at  Tamworth,  Avhere  he  had  been  a  student  a  few 
years  before  ;  and  when  a  little  over  thirty  years  of  age, 
in  1678,  he  bought  some  land  in  Tarn  worth,  and  erected 
an  almshouse  for  seven  poor  women.  A  good-sized  room 
was  used  for  their  library.  The  whole  cost  was  £200, 
a  worthy  beginning  for  a  young  man. 

A  little  later  Mr.  Guy  gave  ten  pounds  yearly  to  a 
"  Spinning  School,"  where  the  children  of  the  poor  were 
taught  how  to  work,  probably  some  kind  of  industrial 
training.  Also  ten  pounds  yearly  to  a  Dissenting  min- 
ister, and  the  same  amount  to  one  of  the  Established 
Church. 

When  Mr.  Guy  was  a  little  over  forty,  he  gave  another 
£200  for  almshouses  for  poor  men  at  Tarn  worth ;  and  the 
town  called  him,  "  Our  incomparable  benefactor." 

When  Mr.  Guy  was  forty-five  years  of  age,  in  1690, 
he  attempted  to  enter  Parliament  from  Tamworth,  but 


THOMAS   GUY.  133 

was  defeated.  This  was  the  second  Parliament  under 
William  and  Mary.  In  1G94  he  was  elected  sheriff  of 
London,  but  refused  to  serve,  perhaps  on  account  of  the 
expense,  as  he  disliked  display,  and  paid  the  penalty  of 
refusing,  £400. 

In  the  third  Parliament,  1695,  Mr.  Guy  tried  again, 
and  succeeded.  He  was  re-elected  after  an  exciting  con- 
test in  1698,  and  again  in  1701  and  1702,  and  in  two 
Parliaments  under  Queen  Anne. 

While  in  Parliament  he  built  a  town  hall  for  the  peo- 
ple of  Tamworth.  In  1708,  after  thirteen  years  of  ser- 
vice, Mr.  Guy  was  rejected.  It  is  said  that  he  promised 
the  people  of  Tamworth,  so  much  did  he  enjoy  Par- 
liamentary life,  that  if  they  would  elect  him  again  he 
would  leave  his  whole  fortune  to  the  town,  so  they 
should  never  have  a  pauper;  but  for  once  they  forgot 
their  "  incomparable  benefactor,"  and  Thomas  Guy  in 
turn  forgot  them. 

"  The  cause  of  Guy's  rejection,"  says  the  history  of 
Tamworth,  "  is  said  to  have  been  his  neglect  of  the 
gastronomic  propensities  of  his  worthy,  patriotic,  and 
enlightened  constituents,  by  whom  the  virtues  of  fast- 
ing appear  to  have  been  entirely  forgotten.  In  the 
anger  of  the  moment  he  threatened  to  pull  down  the 
town  hall  which  he  had  built,  and  to  abolish  the  alms- 
houses. The  burgesses,  repenting  of  their  rash  act, 
sent  a  deputation  to  wait  upon  Jiim  with  the  offer  of 
re-election  in  the  ensuing  Parliament,  1810;  but  he 
rejected  all  conciliation.  He  always  considered  that 
he  had  been  treated  with  great  ingratitude,  and  he 
deprived  the  inhabitants  of  Tamworth  of  the  advan- 
tage of  his  almshouses."     His  will  provided  that  per- 


134:  THOMAS   GUY. 

sons  from  certain  towns  might  find  a  home  in  his 
almshouses,  his  own  relatives  to  be  preferred,  should 
any  offer  themselves ;  but  Tamworth  was  left  out  of 
the  list  of  towns. 

Mr.  Guy  already  had  become  very  wealthy.  During 
the  wars  of  William  and  Anne  with  Louis  XIV.,  the 
soldiers  and  seamen  were  sometimes  unpaid  for  years, 
from  lack  of  funds.  Tickets  were  given  them,  and  they 
were  willing  to  sell  these  at  whatever  price  they  would 
bring.  Mr.  Guy  bought  largely  from  the  seamen,  and 
has  been  blamed  for  so  doing ;  but  his  latest  biographers, 
Messrs.  Wilks  and  Bettany,  in  their  interesting  and  val- 
uable "  Biographical  History  of  Guy's  Hospital,"  think 
he  did  it  with  a  spirit  of  kindness  rather  than  of  avarice. 
"  It  is  at  least  consistent  with  his  general  philanthropy 
to  suppose  that,  compassionating  the  poor  seamen  who 
could  not  get  their  money,  he  offered  them  more  than 
they  could  get  elsewhere,  and  that  this  accounts  for  his 
being  so  large  a  purchaser  of  seamen's  tickets.  Instead 
of  being  to  his  discredit,  we  think  rather  that  it  is  to 
his  credit,  and  that  he  managed  to  benefit  a  large  num- 
ber of  necessitous  men,  while  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
future,  benefiting  himself." 

Mr.  Guy  also  made  a  great  amount  of  money  in  the 
South  Sea  Company.  With  regard  to  the  South  Sea 
stock,  says  the  Saturday  Magazine,  "  Mr.  Guy  had  no 
hand  in  framing  or  conducting  that  scandalous  fraud ; 
he  obtained  the  stock  when  low,  and  had  the  good  sense 
to  sell  it  at  the  time  it  was  at  its  height." 

Chambers's  "  Book  of  Days  "  gives  a  very  interesting 
account  of  this  "  South  Sea  Bubble."  Harley,  Earl  of 
Oxford,  who  had  helped  Queen  Anne  to  get  rid  of  her 


THOMAS   GUY.  135 

advisers,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  the  proud 
Duchess,  Sarah,  with  a  desire  to  "restore  public  credit, 
and  discharge  ten  millions  of  the  floating  debt,  agreed 
with  a  company  of  merchants  that  they  should  take  the 
debt  upon  themselves  for  a  certain  time,  at  the  interest 
of  six  per  cent,  to  provide  for  which,  amounting  to 
£600,000  per  annum,  the  duties  for  certain  articles  were 
rendered  permanent.  At  the  same  time  was  granted  the 
monopoly  of  trade  to  the  South  Seas,  and  the  merchants 
were  incorporated  as  the  South  Sea  Company;  and  so 
proud  was  the  minister  of  his  scheme  that  it  was  called 
by  his  flatterers,  '  The  Earl  of  Oxford's  Masterpiece.7  " 

The  South  Sea  Company,  after  a  time,  agreed  to 
take  upon  themselves  the  whole  of  the  national  debt, 
£30,981,712,  about  $150,000,000.  Sir  John  Blount,  a 
speculator,  first  propounded  the  scheme.  It  was  rumored 
that  Spain,  by  treaty  with  England,  would  grant  free 
trade  to  all  her  colonies,  and  that  silver  would  thus  be 
brought  from  Potosi,  and  become  as  plentiful  as  iron ; 
and  that  Mexico  would  part  with  gold  in  abundance  for 
English  cotton  and  woollen  goods.  It  was  also  said 
that  Spain,  in  exchange  for  Gibraltar  and  Port  Mahon, 
would  give  up  places  On  the  coast  of  Peru.  It  was 
promised  that  each  person  who  took  £100  of  stock 
would  make  fifty  per  cent,  and  probably  much  more. 
Mr.  Guy  took  £45,500  of  stock,  probably  the  amount 
which  the  government  owed  him  for  seamen's  tickets. 
Others  who  had  claims  "  were  empowered  to  subscribe 
the  several  sums  due  to  them  .  .  .  for  which  he  and  the 
rest  of  the  subscribers  were  to  receive  an  annual  inter- 
est of  six  per  cent  upon  their  respective  subscriptions, 
until  the  same  were  discharged  by  Parliament." 


136  THOMAS   GUY. 

The  speculating  mania  spread  widely.  Great  ladies 
pawned  their  jewels  in  order  to  invest.  Lords  were 
eager  to  double  and  treble  their  money.  A  journalist 
of  the  time  writes  :  "  The  South  Sea  equipages  increase 
daily  j  the  city  ladies  buy  South  Sea  jewels,  hire  South 
Sea  maids,  take  new  country  South  Sea  houses ;  the 
gentlemen  set  up  South  Sea  coaches,  and  buy  South  Sea 
estates." 

The  people  seemed  wild  with  speculation.  All  sorts 
of  companies  were  established;  one  with  ten  million 
dollars  capital  to  import  walnut-trees  from  Virginia ; 
one  with  £ve  million  dollars  capital  for  a  "  wheel  for 
perpetual  motion."  An  unknown  adventurer  started 
"a  company  for  carrying  on  an  undertaking  of  great 
advantage,  but  nobody  to  know  what  it  is."  Next 
morning  this  great  man  opened  an  office  in  Cornhill, 
and  before  three  o'clock  one  thousand  shares  had  been 
subscribed  for  at  ten  dollars  a  share,  and  the  deposits 
paid.  He  put  the  ten  thousand  dollars  in  his  pocket, 
set  off  the  same  evening  for  the  Continent,  and  was 
never  heard  of  again.  He  had  assured  them  that  nobody 
would  know  what  the  undertaking  was,  and  he  had  kept 
his  Avord. 

The  South  Sea  stock  rose  in  one  day  from  130  per 
cent  to  300,  and  finally  to  1,000  per  cent.  It  then  be- 
came known  that  Sir  John  Blount,  the  chairman,  and 
some  others  had  sold  out,  making  vast  fortunes.  The 
price  of  stock  began  to  fall,  and  at  last  the  crisis 
brought  ruin  to  thousands.  The  poet  Gay,  who  had 
been  given  £20,000  of  stock,  and  had  thought  himself 
rich,  lost  all,  and  was  so  ill  in  consequence  that  his 
life  was  in  danger.     Some  men  committed   suicide  on 


THOMAS   GUY.  137 

account  of  their  losses,  and  some  became  insane.  Prior 
said,  "  I  am  lost  in  the  South  Sea.  The  roaring  of  the 
waves  and  the  madness  of  the  people  are  justly  put 
together.'7  The  people  were  now  as  wild  with  anger  as 
they  had  been  intoxicated  with  hope  for  gain.  They 
demanded  redress,  and  the  punishment  of  the  directors 
of  the  South  Sea  Company.  Men  high  in  position  were 
thrown  into  the  Tower  after  it  was  found  that  the 
books  of  the  company  had  been  tampered  with  or  de- 
stroyed, and  large  amounts  of  stock  used  to  bribe  men 
in  office.  The  directors  were  fined  over  ten  million  dol- 
lars, and  their  fortunes  distributed  among  the  sufferers. 
Sir  John  Blount  was  allowed  but  £5,000  out  of  a  for- 
tune of  £183,000.  The  fortune  of  another,  a  million 
and  a  half  pounds,  was  given  to  the  losers.  One  man 
was  treated  with  especial  severity  because  he  was  re- 
ported to  have  said  that  "he  would  feed  his  carriage 
horses  off  gold." 

Mr.  Guy,  fearing  that  there  was  trickery  when  the 
stock  rose  so  rapidly,  sold  out  when  the  prices  were 
from  three  to  six  hundred,  and  thereby  saved  himself 
from  financial  ruin.  He  was  now  very  rich,  having 
always  lived  economically.  When  he  was  a  bookseller 
it  is  said  that  he  always  ate  his  dinner  on  his  counter, 
using  a  newspaper  for  a  tablecloth. 

The  following  story  is  told  by  Walter  Thornbury  in 
his  "  Old  and  New  London  :  "  — 

" '  Vulture  '  Hopkins,  so  called  from  his  alleged  desire 
to  seize  upon  gains,  and  who  had  become  rich  in  South 
Sea  stock,  once  called  upon  Mr.  Guy  to  learn  a  lesson, 
as  he  said,  in  the  art  of  saving.  Being  introduced  into 
the    parlor,    Guy,    not   knowing   his    visitor,    lighted    a 


138  THOMAS   GUY. 

candle;  but  when  Hopkins  said,  'Sir,  I  always  thought 
myself  perfect  in  the  art  of  getting  and  husbanding 
money,  but  being  informed  that  you  far  exceed  me,  I 
have  taken  the  liberty  of  waiting  upon  you  to  be  satis- 
fied on  this  subject.'  Guy  replied,  '  If  that  is  all  your 
business,  we  can  as  well  talk  it  over  in  the  dark,'  and 
immediately  put  out  the  candle.  This  was  evidence 
sufficient  for  Hopkins,  who  acknowledged  Guy  to  be  his 
master,  and  took  his  leave." 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Guy's  penuriousness,  he  had 
the  grace  of  gratitude.  Thousands  forget  their  helpers 
after  prosperity  comes  to  them.  Not  so  Thomas  Guy. 
The  Saturday  Magazine  for  Aug.  2,  1834,  relates  this 
incident :  "  The  munificent  founder  of  Guy's  Hospital 
was  a  man  of  very  humble  appearance,  and  of  a  melan- 
choly cast  of  countenance.  One  day,  while  j>ensively 
leaning  over  one  of  the  bridges,  he  attracted  the  atten- 
tion and  commiseration  of  a  bystander,  who,  apprehen- 
sive that  he  meditated  self-destruction,  could  not  refrain 
from  addressing  him  with  an  earnest  entreaty  not  to 
let  his  misfortunes  tempt  him  to  commit  any  rash  act ; 
then,  placing  in  his  hand  a  guinea,  with  the  delicacy  of 
genuine  benevolence  he  hastily  withdrew. 

"  Guy,  roused  from  his  revery,  followed  the  stranger, 
and  warmly  expressed  his  gratitude,  but  assured  him 
that  he  was  mistaken  in  supposing  him  to  be  either  in 
distress  of  mind  or  of  circumstances,  making  an  earnest 
request  to  be  favored  with  the  name  of  the  good  man, 
his  intended  benefactor.  The  address  was  given,  and 
they  parted.  Some  years  later  Guy,  observing  the  name 
of  his  friend  in  the  bankrupt  list,  hastened  to  his  house, 
brought  to  his  recollection  their  former  interview ;  found 


THOMAS   GUY.  139 

upon  investigation  that  no  blame  could  be  attached  to 
him  under  his  misfortunes ;  intimated  his  ability  and 
also  his  intention  to  serve  him  ;  entered  into  immediate 
arrangements  with  his  creditors  ;  and  finally  re-estab- 
lished him  in  a  business  which  ever  after  prospered  in 
his  hands,  and  in  the  hands  of  his  children's  children, 
for  many  years  in  Newgate  Street." 

Those  who  knew  Mr.  Guy  best  declared  that  "his 
chief  design  in  getting  money  seems  to  have  been  with 
a  view  of  employing  the  same  in  good  works."  He 
gave  five  guineas  to  Mr.  Bo  wye  r,  a  printer,  who  had 
lost  everything  by  fire,  "  not  knowing,"  said  Mr.  Guy, 
"how  soon  it  may  be  our  own  case."  He  also  gave  in 
1717  to  the  Stationer's  Company  £1,000,  to  be  distrib- 
uted to  poor  members  and  widows  at  the  rate  of  £50 
per  annum. 

"  Many  of  his  poor  though  distant  relations  had  stated 
allowances  from  him  of  £10  or  £20  a  year,  and  occa- 
sionally larger  sums  ;  and  to  two  of  them  he  gave  £500 
apiece  to  advance  them  in  the  world.  He  has  several 
times  given  £50  for  discharging  insolvent  debtors.  He 
has  readily  given  £100  at  a  time  on  application  to  him 
on  behalf  of  a  distressed  family." 

In  1704  Mr.  Guy  was  asked  to  become  the  governor 
of  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  partly  because  he  was  a  prom- 
inent and  able  citizen,  and  partly  because  he  might  thus 
become  interested  and  give  some  money.  Mr.  Guy 
accepted  the  office,  and  soon  built  three  new  wards  at 
a  cost  of  £1,000,  and  provided  the  hospital  with  £100 
a  year  for  the  benefit  of  its  poor.  When  patients  left 
the  hospital  they  were  often  unfit  for  work,  and  this 
money  would  provide  food  for  them  for  a  time.     He  had 


140  THOMAS   GUY. 

given  already  to  the  steward  money  and  clothes  for 
such  cases  of  need.  He  also  built,  in  1724,  a  new  en- 
trance to  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  improved  the  front, 
and  erected  two  large  brick  houses,  these  works  costing 
him  £3,000. 

Mr.  Guy  seems  to  have  given  constantly  from  his 
youth,  and  always  with  good  sense  in  his  gifts.  He 
was  growing  old.  He  probably  had  meditated  long 
and  carefully  as  to  what  use  he  should  put  his  wealth. 
Highmore,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Public  Charities 
of  London,"  tells  this  rather  improbable  story :  "  For 
the  application  of  this  fortune  to  charitable  uses  the 
public  are  indebted  to  a  trifling  circumstance.  He 
employed  a  female  servant  whom  he  had  agreed  to 
marry.  Some  days  previous  to  the  intended  ceremony 
he  had  ordered  the  pavement  before  his  door  to  be 
mended  up  to  a  particular  stone  which  he  had  marked, 
and  then  left  his  house  on  business. 

"  The  servant,  in  his  absence,  looking  at  the  work- 
men, saw  a  broken  stone  beyond  this  mark  which  they 
had  not  repaired ;  and  on  pointing  to  it  with  that  design, 
they  acquainted  her  that  Mr.  Guy  had  not  ordered  them 
to  go  so  far.  She,  however,  directed  it  to  be  done, 
adding,  with  the  security  incidental  to  her  expectation 
of  soon  becoming  his  wife,  '  Tell  him  I  bade  you,  and 
he  will  not  be  angry.'  But  she  soon  learnt  how  fatal  it 
is  for  one  in  a  dependent  position  to  exceed  the  limits 
of  his  or  her  authority ;  for  her  master,  on  his  return, 
was  angered  that  they  had  gone  beyond  his  orders, 
renounced  his  engagement  to  his  servant,  and  devoted 
his  ample  fortune  to  public  charity." 

In  1721,  when  Mr.  Guy  was  seventy-six  years  of  age, 


THOMAS   GUY.  141 

he  leased  a  large  piece  of  ground  of  St.  Thomas's  Hos- 
pital for  a  thousand  years  at  £30  a  year,  to  erect  upon 
it  a  great  hospital  for  incurables ;  "  to  receive  and  en- 
tertain therein  four  hundred  poor  persons,  or  upwards, 
laboring  under  any  distempers,  infirmities,  or  disorders, 
thought  capable  of  relief  by  physic  or  surgery ;  but 
who,  by  reason  of  the  small  hopes  there  may  be  of  their 
cure,  or  the  length  of  time  which  for  that  purpose 
may  be  required  or  thought  necessary,  are  or  may  be 
adjudged  or  called  incurable,  and  as  such  not  proper 
subjects  to  be  received  into  or  continued  in  the  present 
hospital,  in  and  by  which  no  provision  has  been  made 
for  distempers  deemed  or  called  incurable." 

While  Mr.  Guy  had  primarily  in  mind  the  poor  and 
incurable,  and  the  insane  as  well,  in  his  will  he  directed 
the  trustees  to  use  their  judgment  about  the  length  of 
time  patients  should  remain,  either  for  life  or  for  a 
short  period.  Mr.  Guy  at  once  procured  a  plan  for  his 
hospital,  and  in  the  spring  of  1722  laid  the  founda- 
tions. He  went  to  the  work  "with  all  the  expedition 
of  a  youth  of  fortune  erecting  a  house  for  his  own  resi- 
dence." The  original  central  building  of  stone  cost 
£18,793.  The  eastern  wing,  begun  in  1738,  was  com- 
pleted at  a  cost  of  £9,300  ;  the  western  wing,  in  1780, 
at  a  cost  of  £14,537. 

Mr.  Guy  lived  to  see  his  treasured  gift  roofed  in  be- 
fore his  death,  which  occurred  Dec.  27,  1724,  in  his 
eightieth  year.  In  a  little  more  than  a  week  after- 
wards, Jan.  6,  1725,  his  hospital  was  opened,  and  sixty 
patients  were  admitted. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Guy  one  thousand  guineas 
were  found  in  his  iron  chest;  and  as  it  was  imagined 


142  THOMAS  GUY. 

that  these  were  placed  there  to  defray  his  funeral  ex- 
penses, they  were  used  for  that  purpose.  His  body  lay 
in  state  at  Mercer's  Hall,  Cheapside,  and  was  taken 
with  "  great  funeral  pomp "  to  the  Parish  Church  of 
St.  Thomas,  Southwark,  to  rest  there  till  the  chapel  at 
the  hospital  should  be  completed.  Two  hundred  blue- 
coat  boys  from  Christ's  Hospital  walked  in  the  proces- 
sion, and  sang  before  the  hearse,  which  was  followed  by 
forty  coaches,  each  drawn  by  six  horses. 

Mr.  Guy  had  not  forgotten  these  "  blue-coat  boys  " 
in  his  will,  and  left  a  perpetual  annuity  of  £400  to 
educate  four  children  yearly,  with  preference  for  his 
own  relatives.  The  boys  from  Christ's  Hospital  al- 
ways interest  tourists  in  London.  They  wear  long  blue 
gowns,  yellow  stockings,  and  knee-breeches.  No  cover 
is  worn  on  their  heads,  even  in  winter. 

This  school  was  founded  by  the  boy  king,  Edward 
VI.,  for  poor  boys,  though  his  father,  Henry  VIII., 
gave  the  building,  which  belonged  to  the  Grey  Friars, 
to  the  cit}'  of  London,  but  Edward  caused  the  school  to 
be  established.  It  is  a  quaint  and  most  interesting 
spot,  where  four  queens  and  scores  of  lords  and  ladies 
are  buried,  —  Margaret,  second  wife  of  Edward  I. ;  Isa- 
bella, the  infamous  wife  of  Edward  II. ;  Joan,  daughter 
of  Edward  II.,  and  wife  of  David  Bruce,  King  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  others.  Twelve  hundred  boys  study  at  the 
hospital.  Lamb,  Coleridge,  and  other  famous  men  were 
among  the  blue-coats.  The  latter  tells  some  interesting 
things  about  the  school  in  his  "Table-Talk."  "The 
discipline  at  Christ's  Hospital  in  my  time  was  ultra- 
Spartan  ;  all  domestic  ties  were  to  be  put  aside.  '  Boy  ! ' 
I  remember  Boyer  saying  to  me  once  when  I  was  crying 


THOMAS   GUY.  143 

the  first  clay  of  my  return  after  the  holidays,  '  boy  !  the 
school  is  your  father  ;  boy  !  the  school  is  your  mother ; 
boy !  the  school  is  your  brother ;  the  school  is  your 
sister  ;  the  school  is  your  first  cousin,  and  your  second 
cousin,  and  all  the  rest  of  your  relatives.  Let's  have 
no  more  crying  ! ' 

"No  tongue  can  express  good  Mrs.  Boyer.  Val  Le 
Grice  and  I  were  once  going  to  be  flogged  for  some 
domestic  misdeed,  and  Boyer  was  thundering  away  at 
us  by  way  of  prologue,  when  Mrs.  B.  looked  in  and 
said,  '  Flog  them  soundly,  sir,  I  beg ! '  This  saved 
us.  Boyer  was  so  nettled  by  the  interruption  that  he 
growled  out,  'Away,  woman!  away!'  and  we  were  let 
off." 

While  Mr.  Guy  remembered  the  blue-coat  orphans,  he 
seemed  to  have  remembered  everybody  else  in  his  will. 
So  much  were  the  people  interested  in  the  lengthy  doc- 
ument with  its  numerous  gifts,  that  the  will  went 
through  three  editions  the  first  year  of  its  publication. 
Mr.  Guy  gave  to  every  living  relative,  even  to  distant 
cousins  —  in  all  over  £75,000.  These  were  mainly  gifts 
of  £1,000  each  at  four  per  cent,  so  that  each  one  re- 
ceived £40  a  year.  These  legacies  were  called  "  Guy's 
Thousands."  If  the  recipients  were  under  age,  the  in- 
terest was  to  be  used  for  his  or  her  education  and 
apprenticeship. 

One  thousand  pounds  were  given  for  the  release  of 
poor  prisoners  for  debt  in  London,  Middlesex,  or  Surrey, 
in  sums  not  to  exceed  five  pounds  each.  About  six 
hundred  persons  were  thus  set  at  liberty.  Another 
thousand  pounds  were  left  to  the  trustees  to  relieve 
"  such    poor    people,    being    housekeepers,    as    in    their 


144  THOMAS   GUY. 

judgments  shall  be  thought  convenient."  The  interest 
on  more  than  £2,000  was  left  for  "  putting  out  children 
apprentices,  nursing,  or  such  like  charitable  deed." 

Then  followed  the  great  gift  of  nearly  a  million  and 
a  half  dollars  for  the  hospital.  After  the  buildings 
were  erected,  the  remainder  was  to  be  used  "in  the 
purchase  of  lands  or  reversions  in  fee  simple,  so  that 
the  rents  might  be  a  perpetual  provision  for  the  sick." 
Considerably  over  a  million  dollars  were  thus  expended 
in  purchasing  over  8,000  acres  in  Essex,  a  large  estate 
of  the  Duke  of  Chandos,  for  £60,800,  and  other  tracts 
of  land  and  houses. 

About  six  years  after  the  death  of  the  founder,  a 
bronze  statue  of  him  by  Scheymaker  was  erected  in  the 
open  square  in  front  of  the  hospital,  costing  five  hundred 
guineas.  On  the  pedestal  are  representations  of  the 
Good  Samaritan,  Christ  healing  the  sick,  and  Mr.  Guy's 
armorial  bearings.  In  the  chapel  a  marble  statue  of 
Mr.  Guy,  costing  £1,000,  was  erected  by  Mr.  Bacon  in 
1779.  The  founder  is  represented  as  holding  out  one 
hand  to  raise  a  poor  invalid  lying  on  the  earth,  and 
pointing  with  the  other  hand  to  a  person  carried  on  a 
litter  into  one  of  the  hospital  wards.  On  the  pedestal 
is  an  inscription  beginning  with  these  words, — 

UNDERNEATH   ARE   DEPOSITED   THE   REMAINS   OF 

THOMAS   GUY, 

CITIZEN    OF   LONDON,    MEMBER   OF   PARLIAMENT,    AND   THE   SOLE 
FOUNDER   OF   THIS    HOSPITAL   IN    HIS    LIFETIME. 

In  1788  the  noble  John  Howard  visited  Guy's  Hos- 
pital ;  and  while  he  found  some  of  the  wards  too  low, 
being  only  nine  feet  and  a  half  high,  in  the  new  wards 


THOMAS   GUY.  14.*) 

he  praised  the  iron  bedsteads  and  hair  beds  as  being 
clean  and  wholesome. 

For  over  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  Guy's  Hos- 
pital has  done  its  noble  work.  Departments  have  been 
added  for  special  treatment  of  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  teeth, 
the  throat,  etc.,  while  thousands  of  mothers  are  cared 
for  at  their  homes  at  the  birth  of  their  children. 

In  1829,  at  his  death,  another  governor  of  Guy's 
Hospital,  Mr.  William  Hunt,  left  £180,000  to  the  hos- 
pital. He  was  buried  in  the  vault  under  the  chapel  by 
the  side  of  Thomas  Guy.  After  some  years,  Hunt's 
House,  a  large  central  block,  with  north  and  south 
wings  of  brick  with  stone  facings,  was  erected,  the 
whole  costing  nearly  £70,000.  From  time  to  time 
other  needed  buildings  have  been  added,  such  as  labo- 
ratories, museums,  etc.  There  are  now  in  the  hospital 
over  seven  hundred  beds.  Only  a  few  beds  are  reserved 
for  those  who  can  afford  to  pay;  with  this  exception 
patients  are  admitted  to  all  parts  of  the  hospital  free 
of  charge.  "  The  Royal  Guide  to  London  Charities," 
compiled  by  Herbert  Fry,  says,  " "No  recommendation  is 
needed  for  admission  to  this  hospital.  Sickness  allied 
to  poverty  is  an  all-sufficient  qualification."  A  fund 
has  been  established  for  relieving  the  families  of  de- 
serving and  poor  patients  while  they  are  in  the  hospital. 
This  is  not  only  a  blessing  to  the  dependent  ones,  but 
prevents  the  anxiety  and  worry  of  the  suffering  inmates. 

Guy's  Hospital  now  receives  into  its  wards  yearly 
over  6,000  patients,  and  affords  medical  relief  to  about 
70,000.  The  annual  income  of  the  hospital  is  about 
£40,000.  Saving,  industrious  Thomas  Guy  wrought 
even  better  things   for  humanity  than   he  could   have 


146  THOMAS   GUY. 

hoped.  It  paid  him  to  use  a  newspaper  on  his  counter 
instead  of  a  tablecloth  for  his  meals,  if  every  year 
thousands  of  poor  men  and  women  could  be  cared  for 
in  sickness  without  money,  walk  about  his  pleasant  six 
acres  during  convalescence,  and  bless  forever  the  name 
of  Thomas  Guy.  What  a  contrast  such  a  life  to  that 
of  one  who  spends  his  wealth  in  fine  houses,  parties, 
expensive  yachts,  and  self-indulgence ! 

In  1825  Guy's  Medical  School  was  opened  in  connec- 
tion with  the  hospital,  and  has  proved  a  great  success. 
"  It  has  become  world-famed,"  write  Messrs.  Wilks  and 
Bettany,  "  and  has  received  pupils  from  all  English- 
speaking  lands,  and  not  a  few  foreigners."  Of  Guy's 
Hospital  Keports  which  began  to  be  published  in  1836, 
they  say,  "  Nothing,  perhaps,  has  done  more  to  estab- 
lish the  reputation  of  Guy's  Hospital  abroad  than  these 
Reports.  They  may  be  found  in  the  best  libraries  in 
Europe  and  in  America,  and  have  been  well  perused 
by  many  of  the  leading  men  on  the  Continent." 

Those  who  wish  to  study  medicine  at  Guy's  have  to 
pass  a  preliminary  examination  in  arts,  and  take  a  five 
years'  course.  During  four  years  "  the  time  is  equally 
divided  between  the  study  of  the  elements  of  medical 
science  and  clinical  instruction  in  the  practice  of  the 
profession."  The  last  year  is  chiefly  devoted  to  hospital 
practice.  With  this  amount  of  study  it  is  easily  seen 
why  Guy's  Medical  School  takes  high  rank. 

On  March  26,  1890,  a  college  built  of  red  brick  was 
formally  opened  by  Mr.  Gladstone.  It  cost  £21,000, 
and  is  for  the  resident  staff  and  students.  A  gymnasium 
was  built  also  in  1890. 

Guy's  Hospital  has  been  fortunate  in  the  noted  men 


THOMAS   GUY.  147 

who  have  been  connected,  with  it.  One  of  its  early  sur- 
geons, John  Belchier,  lies  buried  in  the  same  vault  with 
Thomas  Guy.  He  fell  in  his  office  ;  and  his  servant,  not 
being  able  to  lift  him,  as  he  was  a  heavy  man,  offered 
to  go  for  assistance.  "  No,  John,  I  am  dying,"  he  said. 
"  Fetch  me  a  pillow ;  I  may  as  well  die  here  as  any- 
where else."  It  is  related  of  him  that,  seeing  the  van- 
ity of  all  earthly  riches,  he  desired  to  be  buried  in  the 
hospital,  with  iron  nails  in  his  coffin,  which  was  to  be 
filled  with  sawdust. 

The  learned  Dr.  Walter  Moxou,  who  has  been  called 
from  his  combination  of  tenderness  and  ability  "  the  per- 
fect physician,"  was  associated  with  Guy's  Hospital  for 
twenty  years.  Dr.  Wilks  says,  in  the  garden  of  Dr. 
Moxon,  "  In  the  winter  lumps  of  suet  and  cocoanut  sawn 
in  rings  were  hung  upon  the  arches  and  boughs  for  the 
benefit  of  the  tits,  and  loaves  of  bread  were  broken 
up  for  the  blackbirds,  thrushes,  finches,  and  sparrows. 
Always  before  taking  his  own  breakfast  oh  a  winter's 
morning,  Moxon  first  saw  to  the  feeding  of  his  feathered 
friends." 

Dr.  Eichard  Bright,  whose  name  is  given  to  the  dis- 
ease which  he  so  carefully  studied,  was  for  years  con- 
nected with  Guy's  Hospital.  He  wrote  valuable  books, 
and  was  an  untiring  student.  "  He  was  sincerely  reli- 
gious, both  in  doctrine  and  in  practice,  and  of  so  pure  a 
mind  that  he  never  was  heard  to  Utter  a  sentiment  or  to 
relate  an  anecdote  that  was  not  fit  to  be  heard  by  the 
merest  child  or  the  most  refined  woman." 

Sir  Astley  Paston  Cooper  was  associated  with  Guy's 
for  twenty-five  years.  His  father  was  a  clergyman,  and 
his  mother  an  author.     It  is  said  that  he  was  first  at- 


148  THOMAS   GUY. 

tracted  towards  surgery  by  an  accident  to  one  of  his 
foster-brothers.  The  youth  fell  from  a  heavy  wagon, 
the  wheels  of  which  passed  over  his  body,  tearing  the 
flesh  from  the  thigh  and  injuring  an  artery,  from  which 
the  blood  flowed  freely.  Nobody  seemed  to  know  how 
to  stop  the  blood,  when  Astley,  a  boy  scarcely  more  than 
twelve,  took  out  his  handkerchief,  and  tied  it  tightly 
around  the  thigh  and  above  the  wound,  thus  staying 
the  blood  till  a  surgeon  could  be  brought.  Sir  Ast- 
ley used  to  say  this  accident,  which  resulted  so  well, 
created  in  his  mind  a  love  for  surgery.  His  uncle, 
William  Cooper,  was  a  surgeon  at  Guy's,  and  encour- 
aged his  nephew's  inclination  for  the  medical  profes- 
sion. At  twenty-three  Sir  Astley  married  a  lady  of 
wealth,  lecturing  on  surgery  on  the  evening  of  his  wed- 
ding-day without  any  of  the  pupils  being  aware  of  his 
marriage.  The  first  year  of  his  practice  he  received 
£5  5s. ;  the  second  year,  £26 ;  the  third  year,  £54  ;  the 
fourth  year,  £96  ;  the  fifth  year,  £100  ;  the  sixth  year, 
£200  ;  the  seventh,  £400 ;  the  eighth,  £610  ;  the  ninth, 
£1,100.  When  he  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame  he  re- 
ceived £21,000  in  one  year.  One  merchant  paid  him 
£600  yearly.  For  a  successful  operation  he  was  some- 
times paid  one  thousand  guineas.  Each  year  he  is  said 
to  have  given  £2,000  or  £3,000  to  poor  relations. 

"  In  his  busy  years,"  writes  Dr.  Samuel  Wilks,  "  he 
rose  at  six,  dissected  privately  until  eight,  and  from 
half-past  eight  saw  large  numbers  of  patients  gratui- 
tously. At  breakfast  he  ate  only  two  well-buttered  hot 
rolls,  drank  his  tea  cool,  at  a  draught,  read  his  paper  a 
few  minutes,  and  then  was  off  to  his  consulting-room, 
turning  round  with  a  sweet,  benign  smile  as  he  left  the 


THOMAS   GUY.  149 

room."  At  one  o'clock  lie  would  scarcely  see  another 
patient.  "  Sometimes  the  people  in  the  hall  and  the 
anteroom  were  so  importunate  that  Mr.  Cooper  was 
driven  to  escape  through  his  stables  and  into  a  passage 
by  Bishopsgate  Church.  At  Guy's  he  was  awaited  by 
a  crowd  of  pupils  on  the  steps,  and  at  once  went  into 
the  wards,  addressing  the  patients  with  such  tenderness 
of  voice  and  expression  that  he  at  once  gained  their  con- 
fidence. His  few  pertinent  questions  and  quick  diag- 
nosis were  of  themselves  remarkable,  no  less  than  the 
judicious,  calm  manner  in  which  he  enforced  the  neces- 
sity for  operations  when  required." 

At  two  o'clock  Sir  Astley  Cooper  went  across  the 
street  to  St.  Thomas's  Hospital  to  lecture  on  anatomy. 
"After  the  lecture,  which  was  often  so  crowded  that 
men  stood  in  the  gangways  and  passages  near  to  gain 
such  portion  of  his  lecture  as  they  might  fortunately 
pick  up,  he  went  round  the  dissecting-room,  and  after- 
wards left  the  hospital  to  visit  patients  or  to  operate 
privately,  returning  home  at  half-past  six  or  seven. 
Every  spare  minute  in  his  carriage  was  occupied  with 
dictating  to  his  assistants  notes  or  remarks  on  cases  or 
other  subjects  on  which  he  was  engaged.  At  dinner  he 
ate  rapidly,  and  not  very  elegantly,  talking  and  joking ; 
after  dinner  he  slept  for  ten  minutes  at  will,  and  then 
started  to  his  surgical  lecture,  if  it  were  a  lecture  night. 
In  the  evening  he  was  usually  again  on  a  round  of  visits 
till  midnight." 

Sir  Astley  received  a  baronetcy  and  a  fee  of  £500  for 
successfully  removing  a  small  tumor  from  the  head  of 
George  IV.  He  wrote  several  books,  and  was  president 
of  various   societies.     He  was  as  famous  abroad  as  at 


150  THOMAS    GUT. 

home.  The  king  of  the  French  bestowed  upon  him  the 
decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  He  died  of  dropsy 
in  1841  in  his  chair,  surrounded  by  his  friends,  saying, 
as  he  passed  away,  "  God  bless  you ;  adieu  to  you  all," 
and  was  buried  under  the  chapel  near  Thomas  Guy. 
His  only  child  died  in  infancy.  There  is  a  statue  of 
Sir  Astley  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  a  bust  of  him  in 
the  museum  of  Guy's.  He  said  of  himself :  "  My  own 
success  depended  upon  my  zeal  and  industry ;  but  for 
this  I  take  no  credit,  as  it  was  given  to  me  from 
above."  He  is  said  to  have  left  a  fortune  of  half  a 
million  of  dollars. 

The  beloved  Frederick  Denison  Maurice  was  elected 
chaplain  of  Guy's  Hospital  in  1836,  when  he  was  thirty - 
one.  He  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  If  I  could  get  any  influ- 
ence over  the  medical  students  I  should  indeed  think 
myself  honored ;  and  though  some  who  have  had  expe- 
rience think  such  a  hope  quite  a  dream,  I  still  venture 
to  entertain  it."  There  seems  no  reason  why  a  medical 
student,  or  any  student  indeed,  should  be  rough  in  man- 
ner or  hard  of  heart.  A  true  man  will  be  a  gentleman 
not  less  in  the  dissecting-room  than  in  the  parlor.  He 
will  be  humane  to  the  lowest  animal,  and  tender  and 
considerate  in  the  presence  of  suffering. 

Sir  William  Withey  Gull,  the  son  of  a  barge-owner 
and  wharfinger  in  Essex,  who  rose  to  eminence  by  his 
power  of  work  and  will,  was  for  twenty  years  physician 
and  lecturer  at  Guy's  Hospital.  Going  there  as  a  stu- 
dent when  he  was  twenty-one,  he  was  told  by  the  treas- 
urer, "  I  can  help  you  if  you  will  help  yourself."  He 
used  to  say  that  his  real  education  was  given  him  by 
his  sweet-faced  mother.     He  won  many  prizes,  acted  as 


THOMAS   GUY.  151 

tutor  to  gain  the  means  of  living,  and  made  friends  by 
his  winsome  manner  as  well  as  his  knowledge.  The 
lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged  died,  but  her  father  was 
so  attached  to  young  Gull  that  he  left  him  a  consider- 
able legacy.  Mr.  Gull  afterwards  married  a  sister  of 
his  friend  Dr.  Lacy.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession, 
and  was  made  F.R.S.  in  1869,  having  been  made  LL.D. 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  the  previous  year. 

His  knowledge  was  profound  on  many  subjects,  — 
poetry,  philosophy,  and  of  course  medicine.  His  indus- 
try was  astonishing  to  all,  and  his  personal  influence  re- 
markable. "  Not  many  years  ago,"  says  Dr.  Wilks,"  we 
heard  an  old  student  of  Guy's  descant  on  his  beau- 
tiful lectures,  and  especially  those  on  fever.  On  being 
questioned  as  to  what  Gull  said  which  most  struck  him, 
he  said  he  could  not  remember  anything  in  particular, 
but  he  would  come  to  London  any  day  to  hear  Gull  reit- 
erate the  words  in  very  slow  measure,  '  Now  typhoid, 
gentlemen.'  .  .  .  When  Gull  left  the  bedside  of  his  pa- 
tient, and  said  in  measured  tones,  '  You  will  get  well/  it 
was  like  a  message  from  above.  ...  It  was  not  pene- 
tration only  which  Gull  possessed,  but  endurance.  It 
was  ever  being  remarked  with  what  deliberate  care  he 
went  over  every  case,  as  if  that  particular  one  was  his 
sole  charge  for  the  day." 

Dr.  Gull  attended  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  his  very 
severe  illness  from  typhoid  fever  in  1871,  when  his  life 
was  despaired  of  ;  and  for  this  he  was  created  a  baronet, 
and  Physician  Extraordinary  to  the  Queen.  He  died  of 
apoplexy,  Jan.  29,  1890,  leaving  a  fortune  of  £344,000 
(over  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars),  largely  earned  by 
his   own  industry  and  ability.      His   son,  Sir  Cameron 


152  THOMAS   GUY. 

Gull,  has  founded  a  studentship  of  pathology  at  Guy's, 
worth  about  £150  per  annum.  Sir  William  was  buried, 
by  his  own  desire,  in  his  native  village,  Thorpe-le-Soken, 
beside  his  father  and  mother. 

Thomas  Guy  has  slept  for  over  a  century  in  the  midst 
of  the  great  work  which  his  fortune  began  and  still  car- 
ries forward.  "Who  shall  estimate  the  good  done  every 
year  to  six  thousand  suffering  persons,  mostly  poor,  who 
need  the  care  and  skill  of  a  great  hospital,  and  to  sev- 
enty thousand,  or  two  hundred  daily,  who  come  for 
medical  treatment  ?  The  fact  that  Thomas  Guy  be- 
came rich  through  industry,  economy,  and  business 
sagacity  will  be  forgotten;  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
member  of  Parliament  for  thirteen  years  is  of  little 
moment ;  but  the  fact  that  he  gave  his  wealth  to 
bless  the  world  will  be  remembered  as  long  as  Eng- 
land lasts,  or  humanity  suffers. 


SOPHIA  SMITH 


AND    HER    COLLEGE    FOR    WOMEN. 


Miss  Sophia  Smith,  the  founder  of  Smith  College, 
came  from  a  family  of  savers  as  well  as  givers.  Self- 
indulgent  persons  rarely  give. 

She  was  the  niece  of  Oliver  Smith,  whose  unique  char- 
ities have  been  a  blessing  to  many  towns.  Mr.  Smith, 
who  died  at  Hatfield,  Mass.,  Dec.  22,  1845,  left  to  the 
towns  of  Northampton,  Hadley,  Hatfield,  Amherst,  and 
Williamsburg,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  Deer- 
field,  Greenfield,  and  Whately,  in  the  county  .of  Franklin, 
about  a  million  dollars  to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  to  be  used 
as  follows :  — 

To  be  set  aside  for  sixty  years  from  the  time  of  his 
death,  so  as  to  double  and  treble  itself,  for  an  Agricul- 
tural School  at  Northampton,  $30,000.  In  1894,  forty- 
nine  years  after  Mr.  Smith  died,  this  fund  had  become 
$190,801.15,  so  rapidly  does  interest  accumulate.  This 
will  be  used  to  purchase  two  farms,  one  a  Pattern  Farm, 
to  become  a  model  to  all  farmers ;  the  other  an  Experi- 
mental Farm,  to  aid  the  Pattern  Farm  in  the  art  and 
science  of  husbandry  and  agriculture.  Buildings  are  to 
be  erected  on  the  grounds  suitable  for  mechanics,  and 
workshops  for  the  manufacture  of  implements  of  hus- 
bandry of  the  most  approved  models.     If  the  income 

153 


154  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

will  warrant  it,  tools  for  other  trades  may  be  manu- 
factured. 

There  is  also  to  be  a  School  of  Industry  on  the  farms 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  The  boys  to  be  aided  must 
be  from  the  poorest  in  the  town,  are  to  receive  a  good 
common  education,  and  be  taught  in  agriculture  or  in 
some  mechanic  art  in  the  shops  on  the  premises.  When 
twenty-one  years  of  age  they  are  to  be  loaned  $200 
each,  and  after  paying  interest  for  five  years  at  five 
per  cent  are  to  receive  the  $200  as  a  gift,  if  they  have 
proved  themselves  worthy.  Three  years  before  they 
are  twenty-one,  each  is  to  to  have  a  portion  of  his  time 
to  earn  for  himself. 

After  a  bequest  of  $10,000  to  the  American  Coloniza. 
tion  Society,  Mr.  Smith's  will  provided  that  his  property 
should  go  to  poor  boys  and  girls,  poor  young  women 
and  widows.  The  boy,  not  under  twelve,  of  good  moral 
character,  should  be  bound  out  to  some  respectable 
family,  and  receive  at  twenty-one,  if  he  had  been  a 
faithful  apprentice,  a  loan  of  $500,  and  after  five  years 
the  gift  in  full  to  help  him  make  a  start  in  the  world. 

The  girl  so  bound  out,  if  maintaining  a  good  moral 
character,  should  receive  $300  as  a  marriage  portion,  if 
the  man  she  was  -to  marry  seemed  a  worthy  man.  If  he 
was  unworthy,  the  girl  was  to  be  aided  in  sickness  or 
mental  derangement  up  to  the  full  amount  of  the  mar- 
riage portion. 

Each  young  woman  in  indigent  or  moderate  circum- 
stances, if  she  were  to  marry  a  sober  man,  could,  by 
applying  to  the  trustees,  receive  a  marriage  portion  of 
fifty  dollars,  to  be  expended  for  necessary  articles  of 
household  furniture.     Each  widow,  with  a  child  or  chil- 


SOPHIA    SMITH. 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  155 

dren  dependent  on  her  for  support,  could  receive  fifty 
dollars ;  and  this  might  be  given  yearly  if  the  trustees 
thought  wise. 

Mr.  Smith  lived  and  died  unmarried;  but  he  knew 
that  the  pathway  of  many  struggling  lovers  would  be 
made  easier  if  the  young  woman  had  even  fifty  dollars, 
or,  if  the  girl  had  been  bound  out  with  strangers,  $300 
would  make  many  a  little  home  after  marriage  com- 
fortable. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  dead  over  half  a  century,  but  his 
quaint  and  beautiful  gift  has  been  doing  its  work.  Dur- 
ing the  year  1894,  51  boys  and  17  girls  were  placed  in 
good  homes,  and  reared  for  useful  lives.  Nine  received 
their  marriage  portion,  and  sixteen  were  helped  in  sick- 
ness. Thirty  boys  received  their  loan  of  $ 500  each, 
and  thirty  their  gift  of  a  like  amount.  There  are  now 
apprenticed  137  boys  and  38  girls.  Marriage  gifts  were 
made  to  118  young  women,  and  $50  were  paid  to  each 
of  116  widows.  Last  year  289  persons  received  gifts  to 
the  amount  of  $30,785.  AVhat  happiness  this  money 
means  to  those  for  the  most  part  just  looking  out  into 
the  cares  and  work  of  life  !  How  many  fortunes  are 
built  on  that  first  $500  so  difficult  to  accumulate ! 
How  many  homes  kept  from  dire  poverty  by  that  first 
$300  with  which  to  make  the  place  attractive  as  well 
as  comfortable  !  What  an  incentive  for  a  boy  or  girl  to 
be  industrious,  saving,  temperate,  and  upright !  What 
a  comfort  to  feel  that  after  we  are  silent  our  work  can 
speak  for  us  through  a  whole  State,  and  even  a  whole 
nation  ! 

Mr.  Oliver  Smith  depended  much  upon  his  nephew, 
Austin  Smith,  a  successful  and  wealthy  man,  to  carry 


156  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

out  his  wishes.  Austin  and  his  brother  Joseph  were 
members  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts.  When 
their  father  died,  though  he  was  not  wealthy  like  Oliver, 
he  left  his  two  sons  the  larger  part  of  his  fortune,  and 
his  two  daughters,  Harriet  and  Sophia,  enough  to  sup- 
port them  with  close  economy.  The  father  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  and  the  grandfather, 
Samuel  Smith,  was  commissioned  lieutenant  in  1755 
by  Governor  Phipps. 

Sophia,  who  must  have  been  a  sweet-faced  girl,  judg- 
ing from  her  appearance  in  later  life,  was  eager  for 
study ;  but  there  was  little  chance  for  a  girl  to  obtain  an 
education,  and  little  sympathy,  as  a  rule,  with  those 
girls  who  desired  it.  She  was  born  in  Hatfield,  Mass., 
Aug.  27,  1796.  When  Sophia  was  a  little  girl,  Abigail 
Adams,  the  noble  wife  of  John  Adams,  our  second 
president,  wrote  to  a  friend  in  England,  "  You  need  not 
be  told  how  much,  in  this  country,  female  education  is 
neglected,  nor  how  fashionable  it  is  to  ridicule  female 
learning." 

Mrs.  Samuel  D.  (Locke)  Stow,  in  a  history  of  Mount 
Holyoke  Seminary,  shows  how  meagre  were  the  early 
advantages  for  girls.  "  Boston  did  not  permit  girls  to 
attend  the  public  schools  till  1790,  and  then  only  during 
the  summer  months,  when  there  were  not  boys  enough 
to  fill  them.  This  lasted  till  1822,  when  Boston  became 
a  city.  An  aged  resident  of  Hatfield  used  to  tell  of 
going  to  the  schoolhouse  when  she  was  a  girl,  and  sitting 
on  the  doorstep  to  hear  the  boys  recite  their  lessons. 
No  girl  could  cross  the  threshold  as  a  scholar.  The 
girls  of  Northampton  were  not  admitted  to  the  public 
schools  till  1792.     In  the  Centennial  Hampshire  Gazette 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  157 

it  was  stated  :  l  In  1788  the  question  was  before  the 
town,  and  it  was  voted  not  to  be  at  any  expense  for 
schooling  girls.'  The  advocates  of  the  measure  were 
persistent,  however,  and  appealed  to  the  courts ;  the 
town  was  indicted  and  fined  for  this  neglect.  In  1792 
it  was  voted  by  a  large  majority  to  admit  girls  between 
the  ages  of  eight  and  fifteen  to  the  schools  from  May  1 
to  Oct.  31.  It  was  not  till  1802  that  all  restrictions 
were  removed." 

These  summer  schools  from  May  to  October  were  of 
comparatively  little  worth.  All  children  brought  their 
work,  braiding,  sewing,  and  knitting,  and  were  taught  to 
read  and  write,  and  to  have  "  good  manners,"  according 
to  the  accepted  notions  of  the  time.  "  At  first  arithme- 
tic and  geography  were  taught  only  in  the  winter,  for 
a  knowledge  of  numbers  or  ability  to  cast  accounts  was 
deemed  quite  superfluous  for  girls.  When  Colburn's 
Mental  Arithmetic  was  introduced,  some  of  our  mothers 
who  desired  to  study  it  were  told  derisively,  <If  you 
expect  to  become  widows,  and  have  to  carry  pork  to 
market,  it  may  be  well  enough  to  study  mental  arith- 
metic' 

"The  first  school  in  New  England,"  says  Mrs.  Stow, 
"  designed  exclusively  for  the  instruction  of  girls  in 
branches  not  taught  in  the  common  schools,  is  said  to 
have  been  an  evening  school  conducted  by  William 
Woodbridge,  who  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1780.  His 
theme  on  graduation  was, '  Improvement  in  Female  Edu- 
cation.' Reducing  his  theory  to  practice,  in  addition 
to  his  daily  occupation  he  gave  his  evenings  to  the 
instruction  of  girls  in  Lowth's  Grammar,  Guthrie's 
Geography,  and   the  art  of  composition.     The  popular 


158  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

sentiment  deemed  him  visionary.  '  Who,'  it  said,  l  shall 
cook  our  food  and  mend  our  clothes  if  the  girls  are  to 
be  taught  philosophy  and  astronomy  ?  '  In  Waterf  ord, 
N.Y.,  in  1820,  occurred  the  public  examination  of  a 
young  lady  in  geometry.  It  was  the  first  instance  of 
the  kind  in  the  State,  and  perhaps  in  the  country,  and 
called  forth  a  storm  of  ridicule.  Her  teacher  was  Mrs. 
Emma  Willard." 

Sophia  Smith's  girlhood  was  passed  during  this  indif- 
ference or  opposition  to  education  for  women.  When 
she  was  fourteen,  in  1810,  she  went  to  school  in  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  for  twelve  weeks ;  and  four  years  later,  at 
eighteen,  she  was  for  a  short  time  a  pupil  in  the  Hopkin  ■, 
Academy  in  Hadley.  She  studied  diligently  with  her 
quick,  eager  mind,  and  was  thankful  for  these  crumbs 
of  knowledge,  though  she  lamented  through  her  life 
that  her  opportunities  had  been  so  limited. 

Year  by  year  went  by  in  the  quiet  New  England 
home,  her  sister  Harriet  taking  upon  herself  the  burden 
of  household  cares  and  business,  as  Sophia  was  frail, 
and  at  forty  had  become  very  deaf.  Her  mind  had  been 
broadened,  and  her  heart  kept  tender  to  every  sorrow, 
by  her  Christian  faith  and  devotion  to  duty.  The  town 
of  Hatfield  had  capable  ministers,  who  were  intellectual 
as  well  as  spiritual  helpers,  and  Sophia  Smith  enjoyed 
cultivated  minds. 

"  By  reading  mostly,"  says  the  Rev.  John  M.  Greene 
of  Lowell,  Mass.,  "  she  kept  herself  familiar  with  the 
common  events  and  occurrences  of  the  day.  Probably 
what  she  and  others  called  a  calamity  was  a  blessing  to 
her.  She  had  fortitude  to  bear  the  trial,  and  the  wis- 
dom to  improve  the  reflective  and  meditative  powers  of 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  159 

her  mind,  far  beyond  what  the  fashionable  and  gossip- 
ing woman  attains.  Deafness  is  an  admirable  remedy 
for  insincerity,  shallowness,  and  foolish  talking.  It 
sifts  what  we  hear,  and  compels  us  to  try  to  say  what 
is  worth  attention." 

Miss  Smith  attended  the  services  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  of  which  she  was  a  member ;  and  though 
she  could  not  hear  a  word  of  the  sermon  perhaps,  she 
felt  accountable  for  the  influence  of  her  presence.  She 
loved  the  Bible,  and  would  quote  the  words  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones  :  "  The  Bible  contains  more  true  sublimity, 
more  exquisite  beauty,  more  pure  morality,  more  impor- 
tant history,  and  finer  strains  of  poetry  and  eloquence, 
than  can  be  collected  from  all  other  books,  in  whatever 
age  or  language  they  have  been  written."  She  had  the 
strength  of  character  of  the  typical  New  England 
woman,  yet  possessing  gentle  manners  and  most  refined 
tastes. 

She  loved  nature  ;  and  in  Hatfield,  with  its  magnificent 
elms  and  beautiful  river,  Miss  Smith  had  much  to  enjoy. 
Some  of  these  great  elms  measure  twenty-eight  feet  in 
circumference,  three  yards  from  the  ground. 

In  this  charming  scenery,  reading  her  books,  and  do- 
ing good  as  she  had  opportunity,  Miss  Smith  was  grow- 
ing old.  Her  sister  Harriet  had  died  a  little  before  the 
time  of  our  Civil  War,  and  the  lonely  woman  bent  her 
energies  towards  helping  other  -aching  hearts.  She 
worked  with  her  own  hands  to  aid  the  soldiers  and  their 
families,  and  when  she  had  the  means  used  it  gene- 
rously. 

Her  brother  Austin  died  March  8,  1861 ;  and  very  un- 
expectedly Sophia  Smith  became  the  possessor,  through 


160  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

his  gift,  of  over  $200,000.  "  God  permitted  him,"  says 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Greene,  to  "  gather  the  gold,  preparing  all 
the  while  the  heart  of  a  devout  and  Christlike  sister 
to  dispense  it." 

Miss  Smith  at  once  felt  her  great  responsibility. 
Some  persons  living  all  their  lives  most  carefully  would 
have  rejoiced  at  the  opportunity  to  buy  comforts, — a 
carriage  for  daily  riding,  attractive  clothes,  more  books, 
or  take  a  journey  to  the  Old  World  or  elsewhere.  But 
Miss  Smith  said  at  once,  "This  is  a  large  property  put 
into  my  hands,  but  I  am  only  the  steward  of  God  in 
respect  to  it."  She  very  wisely  sought  the  advice  of 
her  pastor,  the  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  a  man  of  broad 
scholarship  and  generous  nature.  Dr.  Greene  was  a 
lover  of  books ;  and  finding  so  much  happiness  for  him- 
self in  a  student's  life,  he  rightly  thought  that  woman 
should  have  the  bliss  of  possessing  knowledge  for  her 
own  sake,  as  well  as  for  her  increased  influence  in  the 
world. 

Miss  Smith  desired  so  to  give  as  would  accord  with 
the  wishes  of  her  brother  Austin  were  he  alive,  but 
could  not  be  sure  what  were  his  preferences.  She 
wished  to  give  the  money  for  education  ;  for  that  was 
her  great  joy,  mingled  with  regret  that  her  way,  as  that 
of  every  other  woman  at  that  time,  had  been  so  hedged 
up  by  mistaken  public  opinion. 

She  longed  to  build  a  college  for  women,  even  when 
learned  doctors  wrote  books  to  show  that  girls  would  be 
ruined  in  health  by  study,  and  that  they  were  mentally 
inferior  to  the  other  sex.  It  was  said  that  women 
would  not  care  for  higher  education ;  that  if  they  went 
to  college  they  would  not  marry,  and  would  cease  to  be 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  161 

attractive  to  men ;  that  in  any  event  the  -intellectual 
standard  would  be  lowered  if  women  were  admitted  to 
any  college. 

Miss  Smith  said,  "There  is  no  justice  in  denying 
women  equal  educational  advantages  with  men.  Women 
are  the  natural  educators  and  physicians  of  the  race, 
and  they  ought  to  be  fitted  for  their  work."  When  the 
foolish  and  untrue  argument  was  used,  that  educated 
women  do  not  make  good  wives  and  mothers,  Miss 
Smith  would  say,  "  Then  they  are  wrongly  educated  — 
some  law  is  violated  in  the  process." 

Miss  Smith  had  read  history,  and  she  knew  that  the 
Aspasias  and  the  De  Maintenons  are  the  women  who 
have  had  the  strongest  power  with  men.  She  knew 
that  an  educated  woman  is  the  companion  of  her  chil- 
dren and  their  intellectual  guide.  She  knew  that 
women  ought  to  be  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
state,  rather  than  in  a  round  of  parties  and  amuse- 
ments. She  had  no  love  for  display,  though  she  had 
taste  in  dress  and  in  her  home ;  and  she  longed  to  see  all 
women  have  a  purpose  in  life  other  than  frivolity  and 
pleasure-seeking.  But  Miss  Smith  feared  that  $200,- 
000  would  not  be  sufficient  to*  found  a  college  for 
women,  and  gave  up  the  idea.  Two  months  after  her 
brother  died  she  made  her  will,  giving  $75,000  for  an 
Academy  at  Hatfield,  $100,000  to  a  Deaf  Mute  Institu- 
tion in  Hatfield,  and  $50,000  to  -a  Scientific  School  in 
connection  with  Amherst  College.  Six  years  later  Mr. 
John  Clarke  provided  a  deaf  mute  institution  for  the 
Commonwealth,  and  Miss  Smith  was  at  liberty  to  turn 
her  fortune  into  another  channel. 

The  old  idea  of  a  real  college  for  women,  a  project  as 


162  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

dear  to  Dr.  Greene  as  to  herself,  was  again  upon  her 
mind.  She  read  all  she  could  find  upon  the  subject. 
She  loved  and  believed  in  her  own  sex,  and  knew  the 
low  intellectual  standard  of  the  ordinary  boarding-school. 
She  said,  "  We  should  educate  the  whole  woman,  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual."  She  insisted 
that  the  education  given  in  the  college  which  she  hoped 
to  found  should  be  equal  to  that  obtained  in  a  college 
for  men. 

"There  is  a  good  deal  that  is  heroic,"  says  a  writer  in 
Scribner's  Monthly,  May,  1877,  "  in  the  spectacle  of  this 
lonely  woman,  shut  out  in  a  great  measure  by  her  in- 
firmity and  secluded  life  from  so  many  human  interests 
and  pleasures,  quietly  elaborating  a  plan  by  which  she 
could  broaden  and  enrich  the  lives  of  multitudes  of  her 
sex,  and  give  increased  dignity  and  power  to  woman  in 
the  generations  to  come." 

In  July,  1868,  Miss  Smith  made  her  last  will,  stating 
the  object  for  which  she  wished  her  money  to  be  used  : 
"  The  establishment  and  maintenance  of  an  institution 
for  the  higher  education  of  young  women,  with  the  de- 
sign to  furnish  them  means  and  facilities  for  education 
equal  to  those  which  are  afforded  in  our  colleges  for 
young  men." 

"  The  formal  wording,"  says  M.  A.  Jordan  in  the 
New  England  Magazine  for  January,  1887,  "  hardly 
tells  the  story  of  self-denial,  painful  industry,  common- 
place restriction  and  isolation,  that  lies  behind  it  in  the 
lives  of  this  brother  and  sister." 

Miss  Smith  wished  the  college  to  be  Christian,  "  not 
Congregational,"  she  said,  "or  Baptist,  or  Methodist,  or 
Episcopalian,   but    Christian"      She   hoped   the    Bible 


SOPHIA   SMITH.  163 

would  be  studied  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  in  her  col- 
lege, so  that  the  students  could  know  for  themselves  the 
truth  of  the  translations  which  we  have  to-day. 

Miss  Smith  gave  about  $400,000  for  the  founding  of 
Smith  College,  — -  the  fortune  left  by  her  brother  had 
increased,  —  with  the  express  condition  that  not  more 
than  half  the  amount  should  be  used  in  buildings  and 
grounds.  It  required  much  urging  to  allow  the  college 
to  bear  her  name.  After  counselling  with  friends,  Miss 
Smith  decided  that  the  college  should  be  built  at  North- 
ampton, which  George  Bancroft  thought  "  the  most 
beautiful  town  in  New  England,  where  no  one  can  live 
without  imbibing  love  for  the  place,"  with  the  provision 
that  the  town  should  raise  $25,000,  which  was  done. 
Northampton  seemed  preferable  to  Hatfield,  because 
more  easy  of  access,  and  possessed  of  a  public  library 
and  other  intellectual  attractions.  After  her  brother's 
money  came  into  her  hands,  Miss  Smith  continued  to 
economize  for  herself,  but  gave  generously  to  others. 
Often  in  her  journal  she  wrote,  "  I  feel  the  responsi- 
bility of  this  great  property." 

She  subscribed  $5,000  to  the  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural College  if  it  should  be  located  at  Northampton, 
$300  for  a  library  for  the  young  people's  Literary  Asso- 
ciation in  Hatfield,  $1,000  towards  the  organ  in  the 
church,  $30,000  for  the  endowment  of  a  professorship 
in  Andover  Theological  Seminaiy,  and  to  many  other 
objects.  "  She  gave  to  them  all"  says  Dr.  Greene, 
"  Home  Missions  and  Foreign  Missions,  the  Bible  So- 
ciety and  Tract  Society,  the  Seamen  and  Freedmen,  — 
to  all  the  objects  presented.  In  her  journal  she  writes  : 
'  I  desire  to  give  where  duty  calls.'  .  .  .     Before  her 


164  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

death  she  had  great  satisfaction  and  comfort  in  her 
Andover  donation.  .  .  .  When  she  was  considering 
whether  or  not  to  make  her  donation  to  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Professor  Park  asked  her  if  he  might 
consult  a  mutual  friend,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  business 
man,  about  it.  With  uplifted  hands  and  almost  a  re- 
buking gesture  she  replied,  '  No,  no ;  I'll  make  up  my 
mind  myself.'  One  of  her  most  intimate  friends,  a 
graduate  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  remarked,  <  I 
never  was  acquainted  with  a  person  who  felt  more 
deeply  than  Miss    Smith  her  accountability  to  God.'  " 

Miss  Smith's  life  declined  pleasantly  and  happily. 
In  1866  she  wrote  in  her  journal :  "  Sunday  afternoon. 
It  is  a  most  splendid  day ;  have  been  to  church,  although 
I  have  not  heard.  I  feel  the  presence  of  Him  who  is 
everywhere,  and  who  is  all  love  to  him  that  seeketh 
Him  and  serves  Him.  ...  I  resolve  with  His  blessing 
to  give  myself  unreservedly  anew  to  Him,  to  watch  over 
my  thoughts  and  words,  and  to  strive  after  a  more  per- 
fect life  in  all  my  dealings  with  my  fellow-men,  and 
strive  to  make  this  great  affliction  [deafness]  a  means  of 
sanctification,  and  make  it  a  means  of  improvement  in 
the  divine  life." 

May  9,  1870,  she  made  her  last  record  in  her  journal : 
"  I  resolve  to  begin  anew  to  strive  to  be  better  in  every- 
thing; to  guard  against  carelessness  in  talking;  to  strive 
for  more  patience  and  sense,  and  to  strive  for  more 
earnestness,  to  do  more  good ;  to  strive  against  selfish- 
ness, and  to  cultivate  good  feelings  in  all ;  to  live  to 
God's  glory,  that  others,  seeing  our  good  works,  may 
glorify  our  Father  in  heaven." 

Such  golden  words  might  well  be  cut  on  the  walls  of 


SOPHIA   SMITH.  165 

Smith  College,  that  the  students  might  imitate  the  re- 
solve of  the  founder,  who  believed,  as  she  said  in  her 
will,  "  that  all  education  should  be  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  good  of  man.  ...  It  is  not  my  design  to  render 
my  sex  any  the  less  feminine,  but  to  develop  as  fully  as 
may  be  the  powers  of  womanhood,  and  furnish  women 
with  the  means  of  usefulness,  happiness,  and  honor,  now 
withheld  from  them." 

One  month  after  writing  in  her  journal,  June  12, 
1870,  Sophia  Smith  passed  to  her  reward,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five.  She  was  in  her  usual  health  till  four 
days  before  her  death,  when  she  was  prostrated  by 
paralysis.  She  was  buried  in  the  Hatfield  Cemetery 
under  a  simple  monument  of  her  own  erecting.  She 
had  provided  for  a  better  and  more  enduring  monument 
in  Smith  College,  and  she  knew  that  no  other  was 
needed.  The  seventy-five-thousand-dollar  academy  at 
Hatfield  would  also  keep  her  in  blessed  remembrance. 

The  thought  of  Miss  Smith,  after  her  death,  began 
to  shape  itself  into  brick  and  stone.  Thirteen  acres  of 
ground  were  purchased  for  the  site  of  the  college,  com- 
manding a  view  of  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Connecti- 
cut River ;  and  the  main  building,  of  brick  and  freestone, 
was  erected  in  secular  Gothic  style,  the  interior  finished 
in  un painted  native  woods.  On  the  large  stained-glass 
window  over  the  entrance  of  the  building  is  a  copy  of 
the  college  seal,  a  woman  radiant"  with  light,  with  the 
motto  underneath  in  Greek  which  expressed  the  desire 
of  the  founder  :  "  Add  to  your  virtue  knowledge." 

The  homestead  which  was  on  the  estate  when  pur- 
chased was  made  over  for  a  home  for  the  students,  as 
the  plan  of  small  dwellings  to  accommodate  from  twenty 


166  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

to  fifty  young  women  had  been  decided  upon  in  prefer- 
ence to  several  hundreds  gathered  under  one  roof. 

The  right  person  for  the  right  place  had  been  chosen 
as  president,  the  Bev.  Dr.  L.  Clark  Seelye,  at  that  time 
a  professor  in  Amherst  College.  He  had  made  a  care- 
ful inspection  of  the  principal  educational  institutions 
both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  his  plans  as  to 
buildings  and  courses  of  study  were  adopted. 

Smith  College  was  dedicated  July  14,  1875,  and 
opened  to  students  in  the  following  September.  Presi- 
dent Seelye  in  his  admirable  inaugural  address  said, 
"  One  hundred  years  ago  a  female  college  would  have  been 
simply  an  object  of  ridicule.  .  .  .  You  have  seen  ma- 
chines invented  to  do  the  work  which  formerly  absorbed 
the  greater  portion  of  woman's  time  and  strength.  Fac- 
tories have  supplanted  the  spinning-wheel  and  distaff. 
Sewing-machines  will  stitch  in  an  hour  more  than  our 
grandmothers  could  in  a  day.  I  need  not  ask  you  what 
we  are  to  do  with  force  which  has  thus  been  set  free. 
The  answer  comes  clearly  from  an  enlightened  public 
opinion,  saying,  '  Put  it  to  higher  uses ;  train  it  to 
think  correctly ;  to  work  intelligently ;  to  do  its  share 
in  bringing  the  human  mind  to  the  perfection  for 
which  it  was  designed.'  " 

Dr.  Seelye  emphasized  the  fact  that  this  college  was 
to  give  women  "  an  education  as  high  and  thorough  and 
complete  as  that  which  young  men  receive  in  Harvard, 
Yale,  and  Amherst."  "  I  believe,"  he  said,  "  this  is  the 
only  female  college  that  insists  upon  substantially  the 
same  requisites  for  admission  which  have  been  found 
practicable  and  essential  in  male  colleges."  He  disap- 
proved of  a  preparatory  department,  and  other  colleges 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  167 

for  women  have  wisely  followed  the  standard  and  exam- 
ple of  Smith.  Secondary  schools  have  seen  the  neces- 
sity of  a  higher  fitting  for  their  students,  that  they  may 
enter  our  best  colleges. 

Greek  and  the  higher  mathematics  were  made  an 
essential  part  of  the  course.  To  this,  exception  was 
taken ;  and  Dr.  Seelye  was  frequently  asked,  "  What 
use  have  young,  women  of  Greek  ?  "  He  answered,  "A 
study  of  Greek  brings  us  into  communion  with  the  best 
scholarship  and  the  acutest  intellects  of  all  European 
countries.  ...  It  would  simply  justify  its  place  in 
our  college  curriculum  upon  the  relation  which  it  has 
had,  and  ever  must  have,  to  the  growth  of  the  human 
intellect.7' 

Dr.  Seelye  favored  the  teaching  of  music  and  art,  but 
not  to  the  exclusion  of  other  things,  unless  one  had  spe- 
cial gifts  along  those  lines.  "  Musical  entertainments/' 
he  said,  "  have  generally  been  the  grand  parade-ground 
of  female  boarding-schools.  All  of  us  are  familiar  with 
the  many  wearisome  hours  which  young  ladies  ordi- 
narily are  required  to  spend  at  the  piano,  —  time  enough 
to  master  most  of  the  sciences  and  languages ;  and  all 
of  us  are  familiar  with  the  remark,  heard  so  frequently 
after  school-days  are  over,  '  I  cannot  play ;  I  am  out  of 
practice.' " 

President  Seelye  had  to  meet  all  sorts  of  objections 
to  higher  education  for  women.  -  When  he  told  a  friend 
that  Greek  was  to  be  studied  in  Smith  College,  the 
friend  replied,  "  Nonsense !  girls  cannot  bear  such  a 
strain  ;  "  "  and  yet  his  own  daughters,"  says  Dr.  Seelye, 
"were  going,  with  no  remonstrance  from  him,  night 
after  night,  through  the  round  of  parties  and  fashion- 


168  SOPHIA   SMITH. 

able  amusements  in  a  great  city.  We  question  whether 
any  greater  expenditure  of  physical  force  is  necessary 
to  master  Greek  than  to  endure  ordinary  fashionable 
amusements.  Woman's  health  is  endangered  far  more 
by  balls  and  parties  than  by  schools.  For  one  ruined 
by  over-study,  we  can  point  to  a  hundred  ruined  by 
dainties  and  dances." 

Another  said  to  President  Seelye,  "Think  of  a  wife 
who  forced  you  to  talk  perpetually  about  metaphysics, 
or  to  listen  to  Greek  and  Latin  quotations  !  "  This 
would  be  much  more  agreeable  conversation  to  some 
men  than  to  hear  about  dress  and  servants  and  gossip. 

When  Smith  College  was  opened  in  1875,  there  were 
many  applicants ;  but  with  requirements  for  admission 
the  same  as  at  Harvard,  Yale,  Brown,  and  Amherst, 
only  fifteen  could  pass  the  examinations.  The  next 
year  eighteen  were  accepted. 

Each  year  the  number  has  increased,  till  in  the 
year  1895  there  were  875  students  at  Smith  College. 
The  professorships  are  about  equally  divided  between 
men  and  women.  The  chair  of  Greek,  on  the  John 
M.  Greene  foundation,  "is  founded  in  honor  of  the 
Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  D.D.,  who  first  suggested  to 
Miss  Smith  the  idea  of  the  college,  and  was  her  con- 
fidential adviser  in  her  bequest,"  says  the  College 
Calendar. 

There  are  three  courses  of  study,  each  extending 
through  four  years,  —  the  classical  course  leading  to  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  the  scientific  to  Bachelor  of 
Science,  the  literary  to  Bachelor  of  Letters.  The  maxi- 
mum of  work  allowed  to  any  student  in  a  regular  course 
is  sixteen  hours  of  recitation  each  week. 


SOPHIA   SMITH.  169 

Year  by  year  Miss  Smith's  noble  gift  has  been  supple- 
mented by  the  gifts  of  others. 

In  1878  the  Lilly  Hall  of  Science  was  dedicated,  the 
gift  of  Mr.  Alfred  Theodore  Lilly.  This  building  con- 
tains lecture  rooms,  and  laboratories  for  chemistry, 
physics,  geology,  zoology,  and  botany.  In  1881  Mr. 
Winthrop  Hillyer  gave  the  money  to  erect  the  Hillyer 
Art  Gallery,  which  now  contains  an  extensive  collec- 
tion of  casts,  engravings,  and  paintings,  and  is  provided 
with  studios.  One  corridor  of  engravings  and  an  alcove 
of  original  drawings  were  given  by  the  Century  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Hillyer  gave  an  endowment  of  $50,000  for 
his  gallery.     A  music-hall  was  also  erected  in  1881. 

The  observatory,  given  by  two  donors  unknown  to 
the  public,  has  an  eleven-inch  refracting  telescope,  a 
spectroscope,  siderial  clock,  chronograph,  a  portable  tele- 
scope, and  a  meridian  circle,  aperture  four  inches. 

The  alumnae  gymnasium  contains  a  swimming-bath, 
and  a  large  hall  for  gymnastic  exercises  and  in-door 
sport.  A  large  greenhouse  has  been  erected  to  aid  in 
botanical  work,  with  an  extensive  collection  of  tropical 
plants. 

There  are  eight  or  more  dwelling-houses  for  the  stu- 
dents, each  presided  over  by  a  competent  woman,  where 
the  scholars  find  cheerful,  happy  homes.  The  Tenney 
House,  bequeathed  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Tenney,  for  experi- 
ments in  co-operative  housekeeping,  enables  the  students 
to  adapt  their  expenses  to  their  means,  if  they  choose 
to  make  the  experiment  together.  Tuition  is  $100  a 
year,  with  $300  for  board  and  furnished  room  in  the 
college  houses. 

Smith  College  is  fortunately  situated.     Opposite  the 


170  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

grounds  is  the  beautiful  Forbes  Library,  with  an  en- 
dowment of  $300,000  for  books  alone,  and  not  far  away 
a  public  library  with  several  thousand  volumes,  and 
a  permanent  endowment  of  $50,000  for  its  increase. 
The  students  have  access  to  the  collections  at  Amherst 
College  and  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College, 
also  at  Mount  Holyoke  College,  about  seven  miles  dis- 
tant. 

There  are  no  secret  societies  at  Smith.  "  Instead  of 
hazing  newcomers,"  says  President  Seelye,  "  the  second 
or  sophomore  class  will  give  them  a  reception  in  the 
art-gallery,  introduce  them  to  the  older  students  with 
the  courteous  hospitality  which  good  breeding  dictates." 

There  are  several  literary  and  charitable  societies  in 
Smith  College.  Great  interest  is  taken  in  the  working- 
girls  of  New  York,  and  in  the  college  settlement  of 
that  city. 

None  of  the  evil  effects  predicted  for  young  women 
in  college  have  been  realized.  "  Some  of  our  best 
scholars,"  says  President  Seelye,  "have  steadily  im- 
proved in  health  since  entering  college.  Some  who 
came  so  feeble  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  they  could 
remain  a  term  have  become  entirely  well  and  strong. 
.  .  .  We  have  had  frequently  professors  from  male  in- 
stitutions to  give  instruction ;  and  their  testimony  is  to 
the  effect  that  the  girls  study  better  than  the  boys,  and 
that  the  average  scholarship  is  higher." 

"  The  general  atmosphere  of  the  college  is  one  of 
freedom,"  writes  Louise  Walston,  in  the  "  History  of 
Higher  Education  in  Massachusetts,"  by  George  Gary 
Bush,  Ph.D.  "  The  written  code  consists  of  one  law,  — 
Lights  out  at  ten  ;  the  unwritten  is  that  of  every  well- 


SOPHIA    SMITH.  Ill 

regulated  community,  and  to  the  success  of  this  method 
of  discipline  every  year  is  a  witness. 

"  This  freedom  is  not  license.  .  .  .  The  system  of 
attendance  upon  recitation  at  Smith  is  in  this  respect 
unique.  It  is  distinctively  a  '  no-cut '  system.  In  the 
college  market  that  commodity  known  as  indulgences  is 
not  to  be  found;  and  no  student  is  expected  to  absent 
herself  from  lecture  or  recitation  except  for  good  rea- 
sons, the  validity  of  which,  however,  is  left  to  her  own 
conscience.  Knowledge  is  offered  as  a  privilege,  and  is 
so  received." 

As  Miss  Smith  directed  in  her  will,  "  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures are  daily  and  systematically  read  and  studied 
in  the  college."  A  chapel  service  is  held  in  the  morn- 
ing of  week-days,  and  a  vesper  service  on  Sunday. 
Students  attend  the  churches  of  their  preference  in 
Northampton. 

All  honor  to  Sophia  Smith,  the  quiet  Christian 
woman,  who,  forgetting  herself,  became  a  blessing  to 
tens  of  thousands  by  her  gifts.  At  the  request  of  the 
trustees  of  Smith  College,  Dr.  Greene  is  preparing  a 
volume  on  her  life  and  character. 

•All  honor,  too,  to  the  Rev.  John  M.  Greene,  who  for 
twenty-five  years  has  been  the  beloved  pastor  of  the 
Eliot  Church  in  Lowell,  Mass.  His  quarter  century  of 
service  was  fittingly  celebrated  at  Lowell,  Sept.  26, 
1895.  Out  of  five  hundred  Congregational  ministers 
in  Massachusetts,  only  ten  have  held  so  long  a  pasto- 
rate as  he  over  one  church. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  congratulations  and  testi- 
monies to  Dr.  Greene's  successful  ministry,  the  able 
Professor  Edwards  A.  Park  of  Andover,  wrote   to   the 


172  SOPHIA    SMITH. 

congregation :  "  The  city  of  Lowell  has  been  favored 
with  clergymen  who  will  be  remembered  by  a  distant 
posterity,  but  not  one  of  them  will  be  remembered 
longer  than  the  present  pastor  of  Eliot  Church.  He 
was  the  father  of  Smith  College,  now  so  nourishing  in 
Northampton,  Mass.  Had  it  not  been  for  him  that 
great  institution  would  never  have  existed.  For  this 
great  benefaction  to  the  world,  he  will  be  honored  a 
hundred  years  hence." 


JAMES   LICK 


AND   HIS  TELESCOPE. 


James  Lick,  one  of  the  great  givers  of  the  West,  was 
born  in  Fredericksburg,  Penn.,  Aug.  25,  1796.  Little 
is  known  of  his  early  life,  except  that  his  ancestors 
were  Germans,  and  that  he  was  born  in  poverty.  His 
grandfather  served  in  the  Revolutionary  AVar.  James 
learned  to  make  organs  and  pianos  in  Hanover,  Penn., 
and  in  1819  worked  for  Joseph  Hiskey,  a  prominent 
piano  manufacturer  of  Baltimore. 

One  day  Conrad  Meyer,  a  poor  lad,  came  into  the 
store  and  asked  for  work.  Young  Lick  gave  him  food 
and  clothing,  and  secured  a  place  for  him  in  the  estab- 
lishment. They  became  fast  friends,  and  continued 
thus  for  life.  Later  Conrad  Meyer  was  a  wealthy  man- 
ufacturer of  pianos  in  Philadelphia. 

James  Lick  in  1820,  when  he  was  twenty-four,  went 
to  New  York,  hoping  to  begin  business  for  himself,  but 
rinding  his  capital  fcoo  limited,  in  the  following  year, 
1821,  went  to  Buenos  Ayres,  South  America,  where  he 
lived  for  ten  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  went 
to  Philadelphia,  and  met  his  old  friend  Conrad  Meyer. 
He  had  brought  with  him  for  sale  $40,000  worth  of 
hides  and  nutria  skins.  The  latter  are  obtained  from  a 
species  of  otter  found  along  the  La  Plata  River. 

173 


174  JAMES  LICK. 

He  intended  settling  in  Philadelphia,  and  rented  a 
house  on  Eighth  Street,  near  Arch,  but  soon  abandoned 
his  purpose,  probably  because  the  business  outlook  was 
not  hopeful,  and  returned  to  Buenos  Ay  res  to  sell 
pianos.  From  the  east  side  of  South  America  he  went 
to  the  west  side,  and  remained  in  Valparaiso,  Chili,  for 
four  years.  He  spent  eleven  years  in  Peru,  making  and 
selling  pianos.  Once,  when  his  workmen  left  him  sud- 
denly to  go  to  Mexico,  rather  than  break  a  contract  he 
did  all  the  work  himself,  and  accomplished  it  in  two 
years. 

In  1847  he  went  to  San  Francisco,  which  had  only 
one  thousand  inhabitants.  He  was  then  about  fifty 
years  old,  and  took  with  him  over  $30,000,  which,  fore- 
seeing California's  wonderful  prospects,  he  invested  in 
land  in  San  Francisco,  and  farther  south  in  Santa  Clara 
Valley. 

In  1854,  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  the  quiet,  parsi- 
monious James  Lick  built  a  magnificent  flour-mill  six 
miles  from  San  Jose.  He  tore  down  an  old  structure, 
and  erected  in  its  place  a  mill,  finished  within  in  solid 
mahogany  highly  polished,  and  furnished  it  with  the 
best  machinery  possible.  It  was  called  "  The  Mahogany 
Mill,"  or  more  frequently  "  Lick's  Folly."  He  made 
the  grounds  about  the  mill  very  attractive.  "  Upon  it," 
says  the  San  Jose  Dally  Mercury,  June  28,  1888,  "  he 
began  early  to  set  out  trees  of  various  kinds,  both  for 
fruit  and  ornament.  He  held  some  curious  theories  of 
tree-planting,  and  believed  in  the  efficiency  of  a  bone 
deposit  about  the  roots  of  every  young  tree.  Many  are 
the  stories  told  by  old  residents  of  James  Lick  going 
along  the  highway  in  an  old  rattletrap,  rope-tied  wagon, 


JAMES    LICK. 
(Used   by  courtesy   of  "The  Overland    Monthly.") 


JAMES   LICK.  175 

with  a  bearskin  robe  for  a  seat  cushion,  and  stopping 
every  now  and  then  to  gather  in  the  bones  of  some  dead 
beast.  People  used  to  think  him  crazy  until  they  saw 
him  among  his  beloved  trees,  planting  some  new  and 
rare  variety,  and  carefully  mingling  about  its  young 
roots  the  finest  of  loams  with  the  bones  he  had  gathered 
during  his  lonely  rides. 

"  There  is  a  story  extant,  and  probably  well-founded, 
which  illustrates  the  odd  means  he  employed  to  secure 
hired  help  at  once  trustworthy  and  obedient.  One  day 
while  he  was  planting  his  orchard  a  man  applied  to  him 
for  work.  Mr.  Lick  directed  him  to  take  the  trees  he 
indicated  to  a  certain  part  of  the  grounds,  and  then  to 
plant  them  with  the  tops  in  the  earth  and  the  roots  in 
the  air.  The  man  obeyed  the  directions  to  the  letter, 
and  reported  in  the  evening  for  further  orders.  Mr. 
Lick  went  out,  viewed  his  work  with  apparent  satisfac- 
tion, and  then  ordered  him  to  plant  the  trees  the  proper 
way  and  thereafter  to  continue  in  his  employ."  Nine- 
teen years  after  Mr.  Lick  built  his  mill,  Jan.  16,  1873, 
he  surprised  the  people  of  San  Jose  again,  by  giving  it 
to  the  Paine  Memorial  Society  of  Boston,  half  the  pro- 
ceeds of  sale  to  be  used  for  a  Memorial  Hall,  and  half 
to  sustain  a  lecture  course.  He  had  always  been  an 
admirer  of  Thomas  Paine's  writings.  The  mill  was  annu- 
ally inundated  by  the  floods  from  the  Guadalupe  River, 
spoiling  his  orchards  and  his  roads,  so  that  he  tired 
of  the  property. 

An  agent  of  the  Boston  Society  went  to  California, 
sold  the  mill  for  $18,000  cash,  and  carried  the  money 
back  to  Boston.  Mr.  Lick  was  displeased  that  the  prop- 
erty which  had  cost  him  $ 200,000   should  be  sold  at 


176  JAMES   LICK. 

such  a  low  price,  and  without  his  knowledge,  as  he 
would  willingly  have  bought  it  in  at  $50,000. 

It  is  said  by  some  that  Mr.  Lick  built  his  mill  as  a 
protest  against  the  cheap  and  flimsy  style  of  building  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  but  it  is  much  more  probable  that  he 
built  it  for  another  reason.  In  early  life  it  is  believed 
that  young  Lick  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  a  well- 
to-do  miller  for  whom  he  worked.  When  the  young 
man  made  known  his  love,  which  was  reciprocated  by 
the  girl,  the  miller  was  angry,  and  is  said  to  have  re- 
plied, "  Out,  you  beggar  !  Dare  you  cast  your  eyes  upon 
my  daughter,  who  will  inherit  my  riches  ?  Have  you 
a  mill  like  this  ?  Have '  you  a  single  penny  in  your 
purse  ?  " 

To  this  Lick  replied  "  that  he  had  nothing  as  yet, 
but  one  day  he  would  have  a  mill  beside  which  this  one 
would  be  a  pigsty." 

Lick  caused  his  elegant  mill  to  be  photographed  with- 
out and  within,  and  sent  the  pictures  to  the  miller.  It 
was,  however,  too  late  to  win  the  girl,  if  indeed  he  ever 
hoped  to  do  so ;  for  she  had  long  since  married,  and  Mr. 
Lick  went  through  life  a  lonely  and  unresponsive  man. 
He  never  lived  in  his  palatial  mill,  but  occupied  for  a 
time  a  humble  abode  near  by. 

After  Mr.  Lick  disposed  of  his  mill,  he  began  to  im- 
prove a  tract  of  land  south  of  San  Jose  known  as  "  The 
Lick  Homestead  Addition."  "  Day  after  day,"  says  the 
San  Jose  Mercury,  "  long  trains  of  carts  and  wagons 
passed  slowly  through  San  Jose  carrying  tall  trees  and 
full-grown  shrubbery  from  the  old  to  the  new  location. 
Winter  and  summer  alike  the  work  went  on,  the  old 
man  superintending  it  all  in  his  rattletrap  wagon  and 


JAMES  LICK.  177 

bearskin  robe.  His  plans  for  tins  new  improvement 
were  made  regardless  of  expense.  Tradition  tells  that 
he  had  imported  from  Australia  rare  trees,  and  in  order 
to  secure  their  growth  had  brought  with  them  whole 
shiploads  of  their  native  earth.  He  conceived  the  idea 
of  building  conservatories  superior  to  any  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  for  that  purpose  had  imported  from  England 
the  materials  for  two  large  conservatories  after  the  model 
of  those  in  the  Kew  Gardens  in  London.  His  death 
occurred  before  he  could  have  these  constructed;  and 
they  remained  on  the  hands  of  the  trustees  until  a 
body  of  San  Francisco  gentlemen  contributed  funds  for 
their  purchase  and  donation  to  the  use  of  the  public  in 
Golden  Gate  Park,  where  they  now  stand  as  the  wonder 
and  delight  of  all  who  visit  that  beautiful  resort." 

Mr.  Lick  also  built  in  San  Francisco  a  handsome 
hotel  called  the  Lick  House.  With  his  own  hands  he 
carved  some  of  the  rosewood  frames  of  the  mirrors. 
He  caused  the  walls  to  be  decorated  with  pictures  of 
California  scenery.  The  dining-room  has  a  polished 
floor  made  of  many  thousand  pieces  of  wood  of  various 
kinds. 

When  Mr.  Lick  was  seventy-seven  years  old,  and 
found  himself  the  owner  of  millions,  with  a  laudable 
desire  to  be  remembered  after  death,  and  a  patriotism 
worthy  of  high  commendation,  he  began  to  think  deeply 
how  best  to  use  his  property. 

On  Feb.  15,  1873,  Mr.  Lick  offered  to  the  California 
Academy  of  Sciences  a  piece  of  land  on  Market  Street, 
the  site  of  its  present  building.  Professor  George  Da- 
vidson, then  president  of  the  academy,  called  to  thank 
him,    when   Mr.    Lick  unfolded  to  him  his  purpose  of 


178  JAMES  LICK. 

giving  a  great  telescope  for  future  investigation  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  He  had  become  deeply  interested 
from  reading,  it  is  said,  about  possible  life  on  other 
planets.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  while  Mr.  Lick 
lived  his  lonely  life  in  Peru,  a  priest,  who  gained  his 
friendship,  interested  him  in  astronomy.  Others  think 
his  mind  was  drawn  towards  it  by  reading  about  the 
Washington  Observatory,  completed  in  1874,  and  noticed 
widely  by  the  press. 

Mr.  Lick  was  not  a  scientist  nor  an  astronomer ;  he 
had  been  too  absorbed  in  successful  business  life  for 
that ;  but  he  earned  money  that  others  might  have  the 
time  and  opportunity  to  devote  their  lives  to  science. 

Mr.  Lick  appears  to  have  had  a  passion  for  statuary, 
as  shown  by  his  gifts.  At  one  time  he  thought  of 
having  expensive  memorial  statues  of  himself  and  fam 
ily  erected  on  the  heights  overlooking  the  ocean  and 
the  bay,  but  was  dissuaded  by  one  of  his  pioneer 
friends,  according  to  Miss  M.  W.  Shinn's  account  in 
the   Overland  Monthly,  November,  1892. 

"  Mr.  D.  J.  Staples  felt  it  his  duty  to  tell  Mr.  Lick 
frankly  that  his  bequests  for  statues  of  himself  and 
family  would  be  utterly  useless  as  a  memorial ;  that 
the  world  would  not  be  interested  in  them  ;  and  when 
Mr.  Lick  urged  that  such  costly  statues  would  be  pre- 
served for  all  time,  as  the  statues  of  antiquity  now 
remained  the  precious  relics  of  a  lost  civilization,  an- 
swered, almost  at  random,  '  More  likely  we  shall  get 
into  a  war  with  Russia  or  somebody,  and  they  will 
come  around  here  with  warships,  and  smash  the  statues 
to  pieces  in  bombarding  the  city.' " 

Mr.  Lick  conferred  with  his  friends,  but  had  his  own 


JAMES  LICK.  179 

decided  wishes  and  plans  which  usually  he  carried  out. 
On  July  16,  1874,  he  conveyed  all  his  property,  real 
and  personal,  over  $3,000,000,  by  deed  of  trust  to  seven 
men ;  but  becoming  dissatisfied  with  some  members  of 
the  Board  of  Lick  Trustees,  he  made  a  new  deed,  Sept. 
21,  1875,  under  which  his  property  has  been  used  as  he 
directed.  A  year  later  he  changed  some  of  the  mem- 
bers, but  the  deed  itself  remained  as  before. 

One  of  the  first  bequests  under  his  deed  of  trust  was 
for  the  telescope  and  observatory,  $700,000.  Another, 
to  the  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum  of  San  Francisco, 
$25,000. 

For  an  Orphan  Asylum  in  San  Jose,  "free  to  all 
orphans  without  regard  to  creed  or  religion  of  parents," 
$25,000. 

To  the  Ladies'  Protective  and  Relief  Society  of  San 
Francisco,  $25,000. 

To  the  Mechanics'  Institute  of  San  Francisco,  "  to  be 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  scientific  and  mechanical 
works  for  such  Institute,"  $10,000. 

To  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  for  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Animals,  of  San  Francisco,  $10,000,  with 
the  hope  expressed  by  him,  "  that  the  trustees  of  said 
society  may  organize  such  a  system  as  will  result  in 
establishing  similar  societies  in  every  city  and  town 
in  California,  to  the  end  that  the  rising  generations 
may  not  witness  or  be  impressed  with  such  scenes 
of  cruelty  and  brutality  as  constantly  occur  in  this 
State." 

To  found  in  San  Francisco  "  an  institution  to  be 
called  The  Old  Ladies'  Home,"  $100,000.  For  the 
erection  and  the  maintenance  of  that  extremely  useful 


180  JAMES  LICK. 

public  charity,  Free  Public  Baths,  $150,000.  These 
baths  went  into  use  Nov.  1,  1890. 

For  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  be  placed  in 
Golden  Gate  Park,  "to  the  memory  of  Francis  Scott 
Key,  the  author  of  'The  Star-Spangled  Banner,'"  $60,- 
000.     This  statue  was  unveiled  July  4,  1888. 

To  endow  an  institution  to  be  called  the  California 
School  of  Mechanical  Arts,  "  to  be  open  to  all  youths 
born  in  California,"  $540,000. 

For  statuary  emblematical  of  three  important  epochs 
in  the  history  of  California,  to  be  placed  in  front  of  the 
San  Francisco  City  Hall,  $100,000. 

To  John  H.  Lick,  his  son,  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
June  30,  1818,  $150,000.  The  latter  contested  the 
will;  and  a  compromise  was  effected  whereby  he  re- 
ceived $533,000,  the  expense  of  the  suit  being  a  little 
over  $60,000.  This  son,  at  his  death,  founded  Lick 
College,  Fredericksburg,  Penn.,  giving  it  practically  all 
his  fortune.  It  is  now  called  Schuylkill  Seminary,  and 
had  285  pupils  in  1893,  according  to  the  Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education.  A  family  monument  was 
erected  at  Fredericksburg,  Penn.,  Mr.  Lick's  birthplace, 
at  a  cost  of  $20,000. 

Mr.  Lick  set  aside  some  personal  property  for  his 
own  economical  use  during  his  life.  After  all  these 
bequests  had  been  attended  to,  the  remainder  of  his 
fortune  was  to  be  given  in  "  equal  proportions  to  the 
California  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Society  of  Cali- 
fornia Pioneers,"  to  be  expended  in  erecting  buildings 
for  them,  and  in  the  purchase  of  a  "  suitable  library, 
natural  specimens,  chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus, 
rare  and   curious  things  useful   in  the  advancement  of 


JAMES   LICK.  181 

science,  and  generally  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  objects 
and  purposes  for  which  said  societies  were  respectively 
established."  Each  society  has  received  about  $800,- 
000  from  the  Lick  estate.  These  were  very  remark- 
able gifts  from  a  man  who  had  been  a  mechanic, 
brought  up  in  narrow  circumstances,  and  with  limited 
education. 

The  California  School  of  Mechanical  Arts  was  opened 
in  January,  1895,  and  now,  in  the  spring  of  1896,  has 
230  pupils.  The  substantial  brick  buildings  are  in 
Spanish  architecture,  and  cost,  with,  machinery  and  fur- 
niture, about  $115,000,  leaving  $425,000  for  endow- 
ment. The  Academic  Building  is  three  stories  high, 
and  the  shops  one  and  two  stories.  The  requirements 
for  pupils  in  entering  the  school  are  substantially  the 
same  as  for  the  last  of  the  grammar  grades  of  the  public 
schools.     There  is  no  charge  for  tuition. 

Mr.  Lick  in  making  this  bequest  stated  its  object :  "To 
educate  males  and  females  in  the  practical  arts  of  life, 
such  as  working  in  wood,  iron,  and  stone,  or  any  of  the 
metals,  and  in  whatever  industry  intelligent  mechanical 
skill  now  is  or  can  hereafter  be  applied." 

In  view  of  this  desire  on  the  part  of  the  giver,  a  care- 
ful survey  of  industrial  education  was  made ;  and  it  was 
decided  to  "  give  each  student  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  technique  of  some  one  industrial  pursuit,  from  which 
he  may  earn  a  living." 

The  school  course  is  four  years.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  third  year  the  student  must  choose  his  field  of 
work  for  the  last  year  and  a  half,  and  give  his  time  to 
it.  Besides  the  ordinary  branches,  carpentry,  forging, 
moulding,    machine    and    architectural    drawing,    wood. 


182  JAMES  LICK. 

carving,  dressmaking,  millinery,  cookery,  etc.,  are 
taught.  It  is  expected  that  graduates  will  be  able  to 
earn  good  wages  at  once  after  leaving  the  school,  and 
the  teachers  endeavor  to  rind  suitable  situations  for 
their  pupils. 

Miss  Caroline  Willard  Baldwin,  at  the  head  of  the 
science  department,  who  is  herself  a  Bachelor  of  Sci- 
ence from  the  University  of  California,  and  a  Doctor 
of  Science  from  Cornell  University,  writes  me :  "  The 
grade  of  work  is  much  the  same  as  that  given  in  the 
Pratt  Institute  in  Brooklyn,  and  the  entire  equipment 
of  the  school  is  excellent." 

The  Lick  Bronze  Statuary  at  the  City  Hall  in  San 
Francisco  was  unveiled  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  Thurs- 
day, Nov.  29,  1894.  Mr.  Lick  had  specified  in  his  deed 
of  trust  that  it  should  "represent  by  appropriate  de- 
signs and  figures  the  history  of  California ;  first,  from 
the  early  settlement  of  the  Missions  to  the  acquisition 
of  California  by  the  United  States ;  second,  from  such 
acquisition  by  the  United  States  to  the  time  when  agri- 
culture became  the  leading  interest  of  the  State ;  third, 
from  the  last-named  period  to  the  first  day  of  January, 
1874."  He  knew  that  there  is  no  more  effective  way 
to  teach  history  and  inculcate  love  of  city  and  nation 
than  by  object-lessons.  A  great  gift  is  a  continual  sug- 
gestion to  others  to  give  also.  The  statue  of  a  noble 
man  or  woman  is  a  constant  educator  and  inspirer  to 
good  deeds. 

The  Lick  Statuary  is  of  granite,  surmounted  by  bronze 
figures  of  heroic  proportions.  The  main  column  is  forty- 
six  feet  high,  with  a  bronze  figure  twelve  feet  high, 
weighing  7,000  pounds,  on  the  top,  representing  Eureka, 


JAMES  LICK.  183 

a  woman  typical  of  California,  with,  a  grizzly  bear  by 
her  side.  Beneath  are  four  panels,  depicting  a  family 
of  immigrants  crossing  the  Sierras,  a  vaquero  lassoing 
a  steer,  traders  with  the  Indians,  and  California  under 
American  rule. 

Below  these  panels  are  the  heads  in  bronze  of  James 
Lick,  Father  Junipero  Serra,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and 
John  C.  Fremont ;  and  below  these,  the  names  of  men 
famous  in  the  history  of  California,  —  James  W.  Mar- 
shall, the  discoverer  of  gold  at  Sutter's  mill,  and  others. 
There  are  granite  wings  to  the  main  pedestal,  the  bronze 
figures  of  which  represent  early  times,  —  a  native  Indian 
over  whom  bends  a  Catholic  priest,  and  a  Spaniard 
throwing  his  lasso ;  a  group  of  miners  in  '49,  and  figures 
denoting  commerce  and  agriculture.  The  artist  was 
Mr.  Frank  Happersberger,  a  native  of  California.  Mem- 
bers of  the  California  Pioneers  made  eloquent  addresses 
at  the  unveiling  of  the  beautiful  statue,  the  band  played 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  the  children  of  the 
public  schools  sang  "America." 

"  The  benefactions  of  James  Lick  were  not  of  a  pos- 
thumous character,"  said  the  Hon.  Willard  B.  Farwell 
in  his  address.  "  There  was  no  indication  of  a  desire 
to  accumulate  for  the  sake  of  accumulation  alone,  and  to 
cling  with  greedy  purpose  and  tenacity  to  the  last  dollar 
gained,  until  the  heart  had  ceased  its  pulsations,  and  the 
last  breath  had  been  drawn,  before  yielding  it  up  for 
the  good  of  others.  On  the  contrary,  he  provided  for  the 
distribution  of  his  wealth  while  living.  .  .  .  There  was 
no  room  for  cavil  then  over  the  manner  of  his  giving. 
He  fulfilled  in  its  broadest  measure  the  injunction  of 
the  aphorism,   '  He  gives  Avell  who  gives  quickly.' " 


184  JAMES  LICK. 

The  gift  nearest  to  Mr.  Lick's  heart  was  his  great 
telescope,  to  be,  as  he  said  in  his  deed  ef  trust,  "  superior 
to  and  more  powerful  than  any  telescope  yet  made,  with 
all  the  machinery  appertaining  thereto,  and  appropriately 
connected  therewith." 

This  telescope  with  its  building  was  to  be  conveyed 
to  the  University  of  California,  and  to  be  known  as  the 
"Lick  Astronomical  Department # of  the  University  of 
California." 

Various  sites  were  suggested  for  the  great  telescope. 
A  gentleman  relates  the  following  story :  "  One  of  the 
sites  suggested  was  a  mountain  north  of  San  Francisco. 
Mr.  Lick  was  ill,  but  determined  upon  visiting  this 
mountain ;  so  he  was  taken  on  a  cot  to  the  station ;  and 
on  arriving  at  the  town  nearest  the  mountain,  the  cot 
was  removed  to  a  wagon,  and  they  started  towards  the 
summit.  By  some  accident  the  rear  of  the  wagon  gave 
way,  and  the  cot  containing  the  old  gentleman  slid  out 
on  the  mountain-side.  This  so  angered  him  that  he  said 
he  would  never  place  the  telescope  on  a  mountain  that 
treated  him  in  that  way,  and  ordered  the  party  to  turn 
back  towards  San  Francisco." 

During  the  summer  of  1875  Mr.  Lick  sent  Mr.  Fraser, 
his  trusted  agent,  to  report  on  Mount  St.  Helena,  Monte 
Diablo,  Mount  Hamilton,  and  others.  In  many  respects 
the  latter,  in  sight  of  his  old  mill  at  San  Jose,  seemed 
the  best  situated  of  all  the  mountain  peaks.  "  Yet  the 
possibility  that  a  complete  astronomical  establishment 
might  one  day  be  planted  on  its  summit  seemed  more 
like  a  fairy-tale  than  like  sober  fact,"  says  Professor 
Edward  S.  Holden,  Director  of  the  Lick  Observatory. 
"  It  was  at  that  time  a  wilderness.     A  few  cattle-ranches 


JAMES  LICK.  185 

occupied  the  valleys  around  it.  Its  slopes  were  covered 
with  chaparral  or  thickets  of  scrub  oak.  Not  even  a 
trail  led  over  it.  The  nearest  house  was  eleven  miles 
away."  It  was  and  is  the  home  of  many  rattlesnakes. 
They  live  upon  squirrels,  and  small  birds  and  their  eggs, 
and  come  up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  in  quest  of 
water. 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  who  visited  Mount  Hamilton,  tells 
this  incident  of  the  "  road-runner/'  the  bird  sometimes 
called  "  chaparral  cock,"  as  it  was  told  to  him.  "  The 
rattlesnake  is  the  deadly  enemy  of  its  species,  always 
hunting  about  in  the  thickets  for  eggs  and  young  birds, 
since  the  '  road-runner  ?  builds  its  nest  on  the  ground. 
When,  therefore,  the  '. chaparral  cocks'  find  a  '  rattler ' 
basking  in  the  sun,  they  gather,  I  was  assured,  leaves 
of  the  prickly  cactus,  and  lay  them  in  a  circle  all  around 
the  serpent,  which  cannot  draw  its  belly  over  the  sharp 
needles  of  these  leaves.  Thus  imprisoned,  the  reptile  is 
set  upon  by  the  birds,  and  pecked  or  spurred  to  death." 

Mount  Hamilton,  fifty  miles  southeast  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, is  near  San  Jose,  twenty-six  miles  eastward,  and 
thus  easy  of  access,  save  the  difficulty  of  reaching  its 
summit,  4,300  feet  above  the  sea.  This  was  overcome 
by  the  willingness  of  Santa  Clara  County  to  construct  a 
road  to  its  top ;  which  road  was  completed  in  December, 
1876,  at  a  cost  of  about  $78,000.  The  road  rises  4,000 
feet  in  twenty-two  miles  ;  and  the  grade  nowhere  exceeds 
six  and  one-half  feet  in  one  hundred,  or  343  feet  to  the 
mile.  Towards  the  top  it  winds  round  and  round  the 
flanks  of  the  mountain  itself. 

The  view  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  is  most  inspir- 
ing.    «  The  lovely  valley  of  Santa  Clara  and  the  Santa 


186  JAMES  LICK. 

Cruz  mountains  to  the  west,  a  bit  of  the  Pacific  and  the 
Bay  of  Monterey  to  the  southwest,  the  Sierra  Nevada 
(13,000-14,000  feet)  with  countless  ranges  between  to 
the  southeast,  the  San  Joaquin  valley  with  the  Sierras 
beyond  to  the  east,  while  to  the  north  lie  many  lower 
ranges  of  hills,  and  on  the  horizon  Mount  Shasta,  or 
Lassens'  Butte  (14,400  feet),  175  miles  away.  The  Bay 
of  San  Francisco  lies  flat  before  you,  and  beyond  it  is 
Mount  Tamalpais  at  the  entrance  to  the  Golden  Gate." 

"  One  of  the  gorges  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Hamil- 
ton," writes  Taliesin  Evans  in  the  May,  1886,  Century, 
"  is  reputed  to  have  been  a  favorite  retreat  of  Joaquin 
Murietta,  the  famous  bandit,  whose  name  was  a  terror 
to  the  early  settlers  of  the  State.  A  spring,  situated  a 
mile  and  a  half  east  of  Observatory  Peak,  at  which  he 
is  said  to  have  drawn  water,  now  bears  the  name  of 
1  Joaquin's  Spring.'  " 

On  June  7,  1876,  Congress  gave  the  land  for  the  site, 
1,350  acres  ;  and  other  land  was  given  and  purchased, 
till  the  Observatory  now  has  2,581  acres.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  remove  72,000  tons  of  solid  rock  from  the  moun- 
tain summit,  which  was  lowered  as  much  as  thirty-two 
feet  in  places,  that  the  buildings  might  have  a  level 
foundation.  Clay  for  making  the  brick  was  found  about 
two  and  one-half  miles  below  the  Observatory  (by  the 
road),  thus  saving  over  $46,000  in  the  2,600,000  bricks 
used.  Springs  also  were  fortunately  discovered  about 
340  feet  below  the  present  level  of  the  summit. 

In  1879,  after  the  site  had  been  decided  upon,  Pro- 
fessor S.  W.  Burnham  of  Chicago  was  asked  by  the 
Lick  trustees  to  test  it  for  astronomical  purposes.  He 
took  his  telescope,  and  remained  there  during  August, 


JAMES  LICK.  187 

September,  and  October.  Out  of  sixty  nights  he  found 
forty-two  were  of  the  very  highest  class  for  making 
observations,  while  eleven  were  foggy  or  cloudy.  He 
discovered  forty-two  new  double  stars  while  on  the  top 
of  the  mountain. 

Professor  Burnham  said  in  his  Report,  "  The  remark- 
able steadiness  of  the  air,  and  the  continued  succession 
of  nights  of  almost  perfect  definition,  are  conditions  not 
to  be  hoped  for  in  any  place  with  which  I  am  acquainted, 
and  judging  from  the  previous  reports  of  the  various 
observatories,  are  not  to  be  met  *with  elsewhere." 

Meantime,  even  before  Congress  gave  the  land  in  1876, 
Mr.  D.  0.  Mills,  one  of  the  first  trustees,  had  visited 
Professor  Holden  and  Professor  Newcomb  at  Washing- 
ton to  determine  about  the  general  plans  for  the  Obser- 
vatory. It  was  agreed  that  the  latter  should  go  to 
Europe  to  investigate  the  matter  of  procuring  the  glass 
necessary  for  a  large  reflector  or  refractor.  It  was 
finally  decided  that  a  refracting  telescope  was  the  best 
for  the  study  of  double  stars  and  nebulae,  the  moon's 
surface,  etc.,  giving  more  distinctness  and  brilliancy, 
and  being  less  subject  to  atmospheric  disturbance. 

Professor  Newcomb  experienced  much  difficulty  in 
Europe  in  finding  a  firm  ready  to  undertake  to  make  a 
glass  for  a  telescope  larger  and  more  powerful  than  any 
yet  made.  The  firm  of  M.  Feil  &  Sons,  Paris,  was 
finally  chosen.  Professor  Newcomb  wrote  an  interest- 
ing report  of  the  process  of  making  the  glass. 

"  The  materials,"  he  said,  "  are  mixed  and  melted  in 
a  clay  pot  holding  from  five  hundred  pounds  to  a  ton, 
and  are  constantly  stirred  with  an  iron  rod  until  the 
proper    combination    is    obtained.       The    heat    is    then 


188  JAMES  LICK. 

slowly  diminished  until  the  glass  becomes  too  stiff  to 
be  stirred  longer.  Then  the  mass,  pot  and  all,  is  placed 
in  the  annealing  furnace.  Here  it  must  remain  undis- 
turbed for  a  period  of  a  month  or  more,  when  it  is  taken 
out ;  the  pot  and  the  outside  parts  of  the  glass  are 
broken  away  to  rind  whether  a  lump  suitable  for  the 
required  disk  can  be  found  in  the  interior. 

"  If  the  interior  were  perfectly  solid  and  homogeneous, 
there  would  be  no  further  difficulty ;  the  lump  would  be 
softened  by  heat,  pressed  into  a  flat  disk,  and  reannealed, 
when  the  work  would  be  complete.  But  in  practice,  the 
interior  is  always  found  to  be  crossed  in  every  direction 
by  veins  of  unequal  density,  which  will  injure  the  per- 
formance of  the  glass ;  and  the  great  mechanical  diffi- 
culty in  the  production  of  the  disk  is  to  cut  these  veins 
out  and  still  leave  a  mass  which  can  be  pressed  into  a 
disk  without  any  folding  of  the  original  surface." 

The  glass  for  a  telescope  is  usually  composed  of  a 
double  convex  lens  of  crown  glass,  and  a  plano-concave 
lens  of  flint  glass.  M.  Feil  &  Sons  made  and  shipped 
the  latter,  which  weighed  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  pounds,  but  broke  the  crown  glass  in  packing  it. 
Then  during  three  years  they  made  twenty  unsuccessful 
trials  before  obtaining  a  perfect  glass. 

The  cutting  away  of  the  clay  pot  and  outside  glass  is 
a  tedious  process,  requiring  weeks  and  even  months. 
No  ordinary  tools  can  be  used.  The  pieces  are  "  sawed 
by  a  wire  working  in  sand  and  water.  .  .  .  When  it  is 
done,"  says  Professor  Newcomb,  "  the  mass  must  be 
pressed  into  the  shape  of  a  disk,  like  a  very  thin  grind- 
stone, and  in  order  to  do  this  the  lump  must  first  be 
heated   to   the   melting-point,  so  as   to   become   plastic. 


JAMES  LICK.  189 

But  when  Feil  began  to  heat  this  large  mass  it  flew  to 
pieces."  He  took  more  and  more  time  for  heating,  and 
finally  succeeded. 

The  noted  firm  of  Alvan  Clark  &  Sons  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  did  the  polishing  and  shaping  of  the  lenses,  a 
labor  requiring  great  skill  and  delicacy  of  workmanship. 
The  objective  glass  was  ordered  in  1880,  and  reached 
Mount  Hamilton  late  in  1886,  having  cost  $51,000.  It 
weighs  with  its  cell  638  pounds.  The  Clarks  would  not 
undertake  any  larger  objective  than  thirty-six  inches. 
This  was  six  inches  larger  than  the  great  glass  which 
they  had  made  for  the  Imperial  Observatory  at  Pulkowa, 
near  St.  Petersburg  in  Eussia. 

The  glass,  though  an  important  part  of  the  telescope, 
was  only  one  of  many  things  to  be  obtained.  In  1876 
Captain  Richard  S.  Floyd,  president  of  the  Lick  trus- 
tees, himself  a  graduate  of  the  United  States  Naval 
Academy,  met  Professor  Holden  in  London;  and  the 
latter  became  the  planner  and  adviser,  throughout  the 
construction  of  the  buildings  and  the  telescope.  Captain 
Floyd  visited  many  observatories,  and  carried  on  a  vast 
correspondence,  amounting  to  several  thousand  letters, 
with  astronomers  and  opticians  all  over  the  world. 

Professor  Holden  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  had 
been  a  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  navy,  one  of  the 
astronomers  at  the  Washington  Observatory,  in  charge 
of  several  eclipse  expeditions  sent  out  by  the  govern- 
ment for  observation,  a  member  of  various  scientific 
societies  in  Europe  as  well  as  America,  and  associate 
member  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society  of  England, 
and  well-fitted  for  the  position  he  was  afterwards  called 
to  fill,  —  the  directorship  of  the  Lick  Observatory.     For 


190  JAMES  LICK. 

some  time  lie  was  also  president  of  the  University  of 
California. 

Between  the  years  1880  and  1888  the  large  astronom- 
ical buildings  were  erected  on  the  top  of  Mount  Hamil- 
ton. The  main  building  of  red  brick  consists  of  two 
domes,  one  twenty-five  feet  and  six  inches  in  diameter ; 
the  other  seventy-six  feet  in  diameter,  connected  by  a 
hall  over  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  feet  long.  This 
hall  is  paved  and  wainscoted  with  marble.  The  rooms 
for  work  and  study  open  towards  the  east  into  this  hall. 
The  library,  a  handsome  room  with  white  polished  ash 
cases  and  tables,  also  opens  into  it.  Near  the  main 
entrance  is  the  visitors'  room,  where  the  visitors  register 
their  names,  among  them  many  noted  scientists  from 
various  parts  of  the  world.  J.  H.  Eickel  in  the  Chau- 
tauqucm,  June,  1893,  says,  "  In  this  room  stands  the 
workbench  which .  Mr.  Lick  used  in  his  trade,  that  of 
piano-making,  while  in  Peru.  Though  not  an  elaborate 
affair,  nothing  attracts  the  attention  of  visitors  more 
than  this  article  of  furniture." 

The  large  rotating  dome  at  the  south  end  of  the  build- 
ing, made  by  the  Union  Iron  Works  of  San  Francisco,  is 
covered  with  sheet  steel,  and  the  movable  parts  weigh 
about  eighty-nine  tons.  It  is  easily  handled  by  means 
of  a  small  engine  in  the  basement.  The  small  dome 
weighs  about  eight  tons. 

Near  the  main  building  are  the  meridian  circle  house, 
with  its  instrument  for  measuring  the  declination  of 
stars,  the  transit  house,  the  astronomers'  dwellings,  the 
shops,  etc. 

In  the  smaller  dome  is  a  twelve-inch  equatorial  tele- 
scope made  by  Alvan  Clark  &  Sons,  mounted  at  the  Lick 


JAMES   LICK.  191 

Observatory  in  October,  1881.  There  are  also  at  Mount 
Hamilton,  a  six-and-one-half-inch  equatorial  telescope, 
a  six-and-one-half-inch  meridian  circle,  a  four-inch  tran- 
sit and  zenith  telescope,  a  four-inch  comet-seeker,  a 
five-inch  horizontal  photoheliograph,  the  Crocker  photo- 
graphic telescope,  and  numerous  clocks,  spectroscopes, 
chronographs,  meteorological  instruments,  and  seismom- 
eters for  measuring  the  time  and  intensity  of  earth- 
quake shocks. 

The  buildings  and  instruments  at  Mount  Hamilton 
are  imbedded  in  the  solid  rock,  so  as  not  to  be  affected 
by  the  high  winds  on  the  top  of  the  mountain. 

In  the  Century  for  March,  1894,  Professor  Holden 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  earthquakes,  and  the 
instruments  for  measuring  them  at  the  Lick  Obser- 
vatory. In  the  Charleston  earthquake  of  1886,  it  is 
computed  that  774,000  square  miles  trembled,  besides  a 
vast  ocean  area.  The  effects  of  the  shock  were  noted 
from  Florida  to  Vermont,  and  from  the  Carolinas  to  On- 
tario, Iowa,  and  Arkansas. 

The  science  of  the  measurement  of  earthquakes  had 
its  birth  in  Tokio,  Japan,  in  which  country  there  are, 
on  an  average,  two  earthquake  shocks  daily.  "  Every 
part  of  the  upper  crust  of  the  earth  is  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant change,"  says  Professor  Holden.  "  These  changes 
were  first  discovered  by  their  effects  on  the  position 
of  astronomical  instruments.  .  .  .  The  earthquake  of 
Iquique,  a  seaport  town  of  South  America,  in  1877,  was 
shown  at  the  Imperial  Observatory  near  St.  Petersburg, 
an  hour  and  fourteen  minutes  later,  by  its  effects  on  the 
delicate  levels  of  an  astronomical  instrument.  I  myself 
have  watched  the  changes  in  a  hill   (100  feet  above  a 


192  JAMES   LICK. 

frozen  lake  which  was  700  feet  distant)  as  the  ice  bent 
and  buckled,  and  changed  the  pressure  on  the  adjacent 
shore.  The  level  would  faithfully  indicate  every  move- 
ment. .  .  . 

"  In  Italy  and  in  Japan  microphones  deeply  buried  in 
the  earth  make  the  earth  tremors  audible  in  the  observa- 
tory telephones.  During  the  years  1808-1888  there 
were  417  shocks  recorded  in  San  Francisco.  The  sever- 
est earthquake  felt  within  the  city  of  San  Francisco 
was  that  of  1868.  This  shock  threw  down  chimneys, 
broke  glass  along  miles  of  streets,  and  put  a  whole  pop- 
ulation in  terror."  The  Lick  Observatory  has  a  complete 
set  of  Professor  Swing's  instruments  for  earthquake 
measurements. 

Accurate  time  signals  are  sent  from  the  Observatory 
every  day  at  noon,  and  are  received  at  every  railway 
station  between  San  Francisco  and  Ogden,  and  many 
other  cities.  The  instrumental  equipment  of  the  Obser- 
vatory is  declared  to  be  unrivalled. 

Interest  centres  most  of  all  in  the  great  telescope 
under  the  rotating  dome,  for  which  the  36-inch  objective 
was  made  with  so  much  difficulty.  Tl^e  great  steel  tube, 
a  little  over  56  feet  long,  holding  the  lens,  and  weighing 
with  all  its  attachments  four  and  one-half  tons,  the  iron 
pier  38  feet  high,  the  elaborate  yet  delicate  machinery, 
were  all  made  by  Warner  &  Swasey  of  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
whose  skill  has  brought  them  well-deserved  fame.  The 
entire  weight  of  the  instrument  is  40  tons.  Its  magni- 
fying power  ranges  from  180  to  3,000  diameters. 

On  June  1, 1888,  the  Observatory,  with  its  instruments, 
was  transferred  by  the  Lick  trustees  to  the  University 
of  California.     The  whole  cost  was   $610,000,  leaving 


JAMES  LICK.  193 

$90,000  for  endowment  out  of  the  $700,000  given  by 
Mr.  Lick. 

Fourteen  years  had  passed  since  Mr.  Lick  made  his 
deed  of  trust.  He  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  site 
chosen  and  the  plans  made  for  the  telescope,  but  died 
at  the  Lick  House,  Oct.  1,  1876,  aged  eighty.  The 
body  lay  in  state  in  Pioneer  Hall,  and  on  Oct.  4  was 
buried  in  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery,  having  been  fol- 
lowed to  the  grave  by  a  long  procession  of  State  and 
city  officials,  faculty  and  students  of  the  University,  and 
members  of  the  various  societies  to  which  Mr.  Lick  had 
given  so  generously. 

He  had  expressed  a  desire  to  be  buried  on  Mount 
Hamilton,  either  within  or  near  the  Observatory.  There- 
fore a  tomb  was  made  in  the  base  of  the  pier  of  the 
great  36-inch  telescope  ;  "  such  a  tomb,"  says  Professor 
Holden,  "  as  no  Old  World  emperor  could  have  com- 
manded or  imagined." 

On  Sunday,  Jan.  9,  1887,  the  body  of  James  Lick 
having  been  removed  from  the  cemetery,  the  casket  was 
enclosed  in  a  lead-lined  white  maple  coffin,  and  laid  in 
the  new  tomb  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  witnessed 
by  a  large  gathering  of  people.  A  memorial  document 
stating  that  "this  refracting  telescope  is  the  largest 
which  has  ever  been  constructed,  and  the  astronomers 
who  have  used  it  declare  that  its  performance  surpasses 
that  of  all  other  telescopes/'  was  engrossed  on  parch- 
ment in  India  ink,  and  signed  by  the  officials.  It  was 
then  placed  between  two  finely  tanned  skins,  backed  by 
black  silk,  and  soldered  in  a  leaden  box  eighteen  inches 
in  length,  the  same  in  width,  and  one  inch  in  thickness. 
This  was  placed  upon  the  iron  coffin,  and  the  outer  cas- 


104  JAMES   LICK. 

ket  was  soldered  up  air-tight.  After  the  vault  had  been 
built  up  to  the  level  of  the  foundation  stone,  a  great 
stone  weighing  two  and  one-half  tons  was  let  down 
slowly  upon  the  brick-work,  beneath  which  was  the  cas- 
ket. Three  other  stones  were  placed  in  position,  and 
then  one  section  was  laid  of  the  iron  pier,  which  weighs 
25  tons. 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  who  in  1892  went  to  see  the  great 
telescope,  and  "  by  a  personal  pilgrimage  to  do  homage 
to  the  memory  of  James  Lick,"  writes  :  "  With  my  hand 
upon  the  colossal  tube,  slightly  managing  it  as  if  it 
were  an  opera-glass,  and  my  gaze  wandering  around  the 
splendidly  equipped  interior,  full  of  all  needful  astro- 
nomical resources,  and  built  to  stand  a  thousand  storms, 
I  think  with  admiration  of  its  dead  founder,  and  ask  to 
see  his  tomb.  It  is  placed  immediately  beneath  the  big 
telescope,  which  ascends  and  descends  directly  over  the 
sarcophagus  wherein  repose  the  mortal  relics  of  this 
remarkable  man,  —  a  marble  chest,  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, 'Here  lies  the  body  of  James  Lick.' 

"  Truly  James  Lick  sleeps  gloriously  under  the  bases 
of  his  big  glass  !  Four  thousand  feet  nearer  heaven 
than  any  of  his  dead  fellow-citizens,  he  is  buried  more 
grandly  than  any  king  or  queen,  and  has  a  finer  monu- 
ment than  the  pyramids  furnished  to  Cheops  and  Ce- 
phrenes." 

Mr.  Lick  wished  both  to  help  the  world  and  to  be 
remembered,  and  his  wish  has  been  gratified. 

From  1888  to  1893  the  Lick  telescope,  with  its  36- 
inch  object-glass,  was  the  largest  refracting  telescope 
in  the  world.  The  Yerkes  telescope,  with  its  40-inch 
object-glass,  is  now  the  largest  in  the  world.     It  is  on 


JAMES  LICK.  195 

the  shore  of  Lake  Geneva,  Wis.,  seventy-five  miles  from 
Chicago,  and  belongs  to  the  Chicago  University.  It 
will  be  remembered  by  those  who  visited  the  World's 
Fair  at  Chicago,  and  saw  it  in  the  Manufactures  and 
Liberal  Arts  Building.  Professor  George  E.  Hale  is 
the  director  of  this  great  observatory.  The  glass  was 
furnished  by  Mantois  of  Paris,  from  which  the  lenses 
were  made  by  Alvan  G.  Clark,  the  sole  survivor  of  the 
famous  firm  of  Alvan  Clark  &  Sons.  The  crown-glass 
double  convex  lens  weighs  200  pounds;  the  plano-con- 
cave lens  of  flint  glass,  nearest  the  eye  end  of  the 
telescope,  weighs  over  300  pounds. 

The  telescope  and  dome  were  made  by  Warner  & 
Swasey,  who  made  also  the  26-inch  telescope  at  Wash- 
ington, the  18-inch  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  10^-inch  at  the  University  of  Minnesota,  the  12-inch 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  others.  Of  this  firm  Professor 
C.  A.  Young,  in  the  Nortlt  American  Review  for  Febru- 
ary, 1896,  says,  "It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  design 
and  workmanship  their  instruments  do  not  suffer  in 
comparison  with  the  best  foreign  make,  while  in  '  handi- 
ness  '  they  are  distinctly  superior.  There  is  no  longer 
any  necessity  for  us  to  go  abroad  for  astronomical  in- 
struments, which  are  fully  up  to  the  highest  standards." 

The  steel  tube  of  the  Yerkes  telescope  is  64  feet  long, 
and  the  90-foot  rotating  dome,  also  of  steel,  weighs 
nearly  150  tons.  The  observatory,  of  gray  Roman  brick 
with  gray  terra-cotta  and  stone  trimmings,  is  in  the 
form  of  a  Roman  cross,  with  three  domes,  the  largest 
dome  at  the  western  end  covering  the  great  telescope. 
Of  the  two  smaller  domes,  one  will  contain  a  12-inch 
telescope,   and   the  other   a  16-inch.     Professor   Young 


196  JAMES  LICK. 

says  of  the  Yerkes  telescope,  "  It  gathers  three  times 
as  much  light  as  the  23-inch  instrument  at  Princeton ; 
two  and  three-eighths  as  much  as  the  26-inch  telescopes 
of  Washington  and  Charlottesville ;  one  and  four-fifths 
as  much  as  the  30-inch  at  Pulkowa;  and  23  per  cent 
more  than  the  gigantic,  and  hitherto  unrivalled,  36-inch 
telescope  of  the  Lick  Observatory.  Possibly  in  this  one 
quality  of  '  light/  the  six-foot  reflector  of  Lord  Eosse, 
and  the  later  five-foot  reflector  of  Mr.  Common,  might 
compete  with  or  even  surpass  it ;  but  as  an  instrument 
for  seeing  things,  it  is  doubtful  whether  either  of  them 
could  hold  its  own  with  even  the  smallest  of  the  instru- 
ments named  above,  because  of  the  reflector's  inherent 
inferiority  in  distinctness  of  definition." 

Professor  Young  thinks  the  Yerkes  telescope  can 
hardly  hope  for  the  exceptional  excellence  of  the  "  see- 
ing" at  Mount  Hamilton,  Nice,  or  Ariquipa,  at  least  at 
night.  The  magnifying  power  of  the  Yerkes  telescope 
is  so  great,  being  from  200  to  4,000,  that  the  moon  can 
be  brought  optically  within  sixty  miles  of  the  observer's 
eye.  "Any  lunar  object  five  or  six  hundred  feet  square 
would  be  distinctly  visible,  —  a  building,  for  instance, 
as  large  as  the  Capitol  at  Washington." 

Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Lick  others  have  added  to  his 
generous  gifts  for  the  purchase  of  special  instruments, 
for  sending  expeditions  to  foreign  countries  to  observe 
total  solar  eclipses,  and  the  like.  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst 
has  given  the  fund  which  will  yield  $2,000  or  more 
each  year  for  Hearst  Fellowships  in  astronomy  or  other 
special  work.  Colonel  C.  F.  Crocker  has  given  a  photo- 
graphic telescope  and  dome,  and  provided  a  sum  suffi- 
cient to  pay  the  expenses  of  an  eclipse  expedition  to  be 


JAMES  LICK.  197 

sent  from  Mount  Hamilton  to  Japan,  m  August,  1896, 
under  charge  of  Professor  Schgeberle. 

Mr.  Edward  Crossley,  a  wealthy  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  Halifax,  England,  has  given  a  reflector  and 
forty-foot  dome,  which  reached  Mount  Hamilton  from 
Liverpool  in  the  latter  part  of  1895. 

Mr.  Lick's  gift  of  the  telescope  has  stimulated  a  love 
for  astronomical  study  and  research,  not  only  in  Cal- 
ifornia, but  throughout  the  world.  The  Astronomical 
Society  of  the  Pacific  was  founded  Eeb.  7,  1889 ;  and 
any  man  or  woman  with  genuine  interest  in  the  science 
was  invited  to  join.  It  has  a  membership  of  over  five 
hundred,  and  its  publications  are  valuable.  The  society 
holds  its  summer  meetings  on  Mount  Hamilton.  Very 
wisely,  for  the  sake  of  diffusing  knowledge,  visitors  are 
made  welcome  to  Mount  Hamilton  every  Saturday  even- 
ing between  the  hours  of  seven  and  ten  o'clock,  to  look 
through  the  big  telescope  and  through  the  smaller  ones 
when  not  in  use.  In  five  years,  from  June  1,  1889,  to 
June  1,  1894,  there  were  33,715  visitors.  Each  person 
is  shown  the  most  interesting  celestial  objects,  and  the 
whole  force  of  the  Observatory  is  on  duty,  and  spares 
no  pains  to  make  the  visits  both  interesting  and  profit- 
able. 

James  Lick  planned  wisely  when  he  thought  of  his 
great  telescope,  even  if  he  had  no  other  wish  than  to  be 
remembered  and  honored.  Undoubtedly  he  did  have 
other  motives  ;  for  Professor  Hold-en  says,  "  A  very  ex- 
tensive course  of  reading  had  given  him  the  generous 
idea  that  the  future  well-being  of  the  race  was  the 
object  for  a  good  man  to  strive  to  forward.  Towards 
the  end  of  his  life,   at  least,  the  utter  futility   of   his 


198  JAMES   LICK. 

money  to  give  any  inner  satisfaction  oppressed  liim 
more  and  more." 

The  results  of  scientific  work  of  the  Lick  Observatory 
have  been  most  interesting  and  remarkable.  Professor 
Edward  E.  Barnard  discovered,  Sept.  9,  1892,  the  fifth 
satellite  of  Jupiter,  one  hundred  miles  in  diameter.  He 
discovered  nineteen  comets  in  ten  years,  and  has  been 
called  the  "  comet-seeker."  He  has  also,  says  Professor 
Holden,  made  a  very  large  number  of  observations 
'•upon  the  physical  appearance  of  the  planets  Venus, 
Jupiter,  and  Saturn ;  upon  the  zodiacal  light,  etc. ;  upon 
meteors,  lunar  eclipses,  double  stars,  occupations  of 
stars,  etc. ;  and  he  has  discovered  a  considerable  number 
of  new  nebulae  also."  Professor  Barnard  resigned  Oct. 
1,  1895,  to  accept  the  position  of  professor  of  astronomy 
in  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  is  succeeded  by  Pro- 
fessor Wm.  J.  Hussey  of  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University. 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  during  his  visit  to  the  Obser- 
vatory, at  the  suggestion  of  Professor  Campbell,  looked 
through  the  great  telescope  upon  the  nebula  in  Orion. 
"  I  saw,"  he  writes,  "  in  the  well-known  region  of  '  Beta 
Orionis,'  the  vast  separate  system  of  that  universe  clearly 
outlined,  —  a  fleecy,  irregular,  mysterious,  windy  shape, 
its  edges  whirled  and  curled  like  those  of  a  storm-cloud, 
with  stars  and  star  clusters  standing  forth  against  the 
milky  white  background  of  the  nebula  like  diamonds 
lying  upon  silver  cloth.  The  central  star,  which  to  the 
naked  eye  or  to  a  telescope  of  lower  power  looks  single 
and  of  no  great  brilliancy,  resolved  itself,  under  the 
potent  command  of  the  Lick  glass,  into  a  splendid  tra- 
pezium of  four  glittering  worlds,  arranged  very  much 
like  those  of  the  Southern  Cross. 


JAMES    LICK.  199 

"At  the  lower  right-hand  border  of  the  beautiful 
cosmic  mist,  there  opens  a  black  abyss  of  darkness, 
which  has  the  appearance  of  an  inky  cloud  about  to 
swallow  up  the  silvery  filigree  of  the  nebula;  but  this 
the  great  glass  fills  up  with  unsuspecting  worlds  when 
the  photographic  apparatus  is  fitted  to  it.  I  understood 
Professor  Holden's  views  to  be  that  we  were  beholding, 
in  that  almost  immeasurably  remote  silvery  haze,  an  en- 
tirely separated  system  of  worlds  and  clusters,  apart 
from  all  others,  as  our  own  system  is,  but  inconceivably 
grander,  larger,  and  more  populous  with  suns  and  planets 
and  their  starry  allies." 

Professor  John  M.  Schaeberle,  formerly  of  Michigan 
University,  has  discovered  two  or  more  comets,  written 
much  on  solar  eclipses,  the  "  canals  "  of  Mars,  and  the 
sun's  corona.  He,  with  Professor  S.  W.  Burnham,  went 
to  South  America  to  observe  the  solar  eclipse  of  Dec. 
21-22,  1889 ;  and  the  former  took  observations  on  the 
solar  eclipse  April  16,  1893,  at  Mina  Bronces,  Chili. 

Professor  Burnham  catalogued  over  one  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  new  double  stars,  which  he  discovered  while 
at  Mount  Hamilton.  He,  with  Professor  Holden  and 
others,  have  taken  remarkable  photographs  of  the  moon ; 
and  the  negatives  have  been  sent  to  Professor  Weinek 
of  Prague,  who  makes  enlarged  drawings  and  photo- 
graphs of  them.  Astronomers  in  Copenhagen,  Vienna, 
Great  Britain,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  are  working 
with  the  Lick  astronomers.  Star  :maps,  in  both  northern 
and  southern  hemispheres,  have  been  made  at  the  Lick 
Observatory,  and  photographs  of  the  milky  way,  the 
sun  and  its  spots,  comets,  nebula?,  Mars,  Jupiter,  etc. 
Professor  Holden  has  written  much  in  the  magazines, 


200  JAMES  LICK. 

the  Century,  McClure's,  The  Forum,  and  elsewhere,  con- 
cerning these  photographs,  "  What  we  really  know  about 
Mars,"  and  kindred  topics. 

Professor  Perrine  discovered  a  new  comet  in  February, 
189G,  which  for  some  time  travelled  towards  the  earth 
at  the  rate  of  1,600,000  miles  per  day.  Professor  David 
P.  Todd  of  Amherst  College  was  enabled  to  make  at  the 
Lick  Observatory  the  finest  photographs  ever  made  of 
the  transit  of  Venus,  Dec.  6,  1882.  As  there  will  not 
be  another  transit  of  Venus  till  Jan.  8,  2004,  so  that  no 
living  astronomer  will  ever  behold  another,  this  transit 
was  of  special  importance.  The  transit  of  Mercury  was 
also  observed  in  1881  by  Professor  Holden  and  others. 

The  equipment  at  the  Lick  Observatory  is  admirable, 
and  the  sight  excellent ;  but  the  income  from  the  $90,000 
endowment  is  too  small  to  allow  the  desired  work.  There 
are  but  seven  observers  at  Mount  Hamilton,  while  at 
Greenwich,  at  Paris,  and  other  observatories,  there  are 
from  forty  to  fifty  men.  The  total  income  for  salaries 
and  all  other  expenses  is  $22,000  at  the  Lick  Observa- 
tory ;  at  Paris,  Greenwich,  Harvard  College,  the  United 
States  Naval  Observatory  at  Washington,  etc.,  from 
$60,000  to  $100,000  is  spent  yearly,  and  is  all  useful. 
Fellowships  producing  $600  a  year  are  greatly  needed, 
to  be  named  after  the  givers,  and  the  money  to  provide 
a  larger  force  of  astronomers.  Mr.  Lick's  great  gift  has 
been  nobly  begun,  but  funds  are  necessary  to  carry  on 
the  work. 


LELAND   STANFORD 


AND   HIS   UNIVERSITY. 


"  The  biographer  of  Leland  Stanford  will  have  to  tell 
the  fascinating  story  of  a  career  almost  matchless  in  the 
splendor  of  its  incidents.  It  was  partly  due  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  time,  but  chiefly  due  to  the  largeness 
and  boldness  of  his  nature,  that  this  plain,  simple  man 
succeeded  in  cutting  so  broad  a  swath.  He  lived  at  the 
top  of  his  possibilities."  Thus  wrote  Dr.  Albert  Shaw 
in  the  Review  of  Reviews,  August,  1893. 

Leland  Stanford,  farmer-boy,  lawyer,  railroad  builder, 
governor,  United  States  Senator,  and  munificent  giver, 
was  born  at  Watervliet,  N.Y.,  eight  miles  from  Albany, 
March  9,  1824.  He  was  the  fourth  son  in  a  family  of 
seven  sons  and  one  daughter,  the  latter  dying  in  infancy. 

His  father,  Josiah  Stanford,  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  moved  with  his  parents  to  the  State  of 
New  York  when  he  was  a  boy.  He  became  a  success- 
ful farmer,  calling  his  farm  by  the  attractive  name  of 
Elm  Grove.  He  had  the  energy  and  industry  which 
it  seems  Leland  inherited.  He  built  roads  and  bridges 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  was  an  earnest  advocate  of 
DeWitt  Clinton's  scheme  of  the  Erie  Canal,  connect- 
ing the  great  lakes  with  New  York  City  by  way  of  the 
Hudson  River. 

201 


202  LELANJ)   STANFORD. 

"  Gouverneur  Morris  had  first  suggested  the  Erie 
Canal  in  1777,"  says  T.  W.  Higginson,  "and  Washing- 
ton had  indeed  proposed  a  system  of  such  waterways  in 
1771.  But  the  first  actual  work  of  this  kind  in  the 
United  States  was  that  dug  around  Turner's  Falls  in 
Massachusetts  soon  after  1792.  In  1803  DeWitt  Clin- 
ton again  proposed  the  Erie  Canal.  It  was  begun  in 
1817,  and  opened  July  4,  1825,  being  cut  mainly  through 
a  wilderness.  The  effect  produced  on  public  opinion 
was  absolutely  startling.  When  men  found  that  the 
time  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  was  reduced  one-half,  and 
that  the  freight  on  a  ton  of  merchandise  was  cut  down 
from  $100  to  $10,  and  ultimately  to  $3,  similar  enter- 
prises sprang  into  being  everywhere." 

People  were  not  excited  over  canals  only  ;  everybody 
was  interested  about  the  coining  railroads.  George 
Stephenson,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  opposition,  land- 
owners even  driving  the  surveyors  off  their  grounds, 
had  built  a  road  from  Liverpool  to  Manchester,  Eng- 
land, which  was  opened  Sept.  15,  1830.  The  previous 
month,  August,  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  sixteen  miles,  was 
commenced,  a  charter  having  been  granted  sometime 
before  this.  Josiah  Stanford  was  greatly  interested  in 
this  enterprise,  and  took  large  contracts  for  grading. 
Men  at  the  Stanford  home  talked  of  the  great  future 
of  railroads  in  America,  and  even  prophesied  a  road  to 
Oregon.  "  Young  as  he  was  when  the  question  of  a 
railroad  to  Oregon  was  first  agitated,"  says  a  writer, 
"  Leland  Stanford  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  measure. 
Among  its  chief  advocates  at  that  early  day  was  Mr. 
Whitney,  one  of  the  engineers  in  the  construction  of  the 


LELAND    STANFORD. 


LELAND   STANFORD.  203 

Mohawk  and  Hudson  River  Railway.  On  one  occasion, 
when  Whitney  passed  the  night  at  Elm  Grove,  Leland 
being  then  thirteen  years  of  age,  the  conversation  ran 
largely  on  this  overland  railway  project ;  and  the  effect 
upon  the  mind  of  such  a  boy  may  be  readily  imagined. 
The  remembrance  of  that  night's  discussion  between 
Whitney  and  his  father  never  left  him,  but  bore  the 
grandest  fruits." 

The  cheerful,  big-hearted  boy  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  with  his  brothers,  rising  at  five  o'clock,  even  on 
cold  winter  mornings,  that  he  might  get  his  work  done 
before  school  hours.  He  himself  tells  how  he  earned 
his  first  dollar.  "  I  was  about  six  years  old,"  he  said. 
"Two  of  my  brothers  and  I  gathered  a  lot  of  horse- 
radish from  the  garden,  washed  it  clean,  took  it  to 
Schenectady,  and  sold  it.  I  got  two  of  the  six  shillings 
received.  I  was  very  proud  of  my  money.  My  next 
financial  venture  was  two  years  later.  Our  hired  man 
came  from  Albany,  and  told  us  chestnuts  were  high. 
The  boys  had  a  lot  of  them  on  hand  which  we  had  gath- 
ered in  the  fall.  We  hurried  off  to  market  with  them, 
and  sold  them  for  twenty-five  dollars.  That  was  a  good 
deal  of  money  when  grown  men  were  getting  only  two 
shillings  a  day." 

Perhaps  the  boy  felt  that  he  should  not  always  like 
to  work  on  the  farm,  for  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
get  an  education  if  possible.  When  he  was  eighteen  his 
father  bought  a  piece  of  woodland,  and  told  him  if  he 
would  cut  off  the  timber  he  might  have  the  money  re- 
ceived for  it.  He  immediately  hired  several  persons  to 
help  him,  and  together  they  cut  and  piled  2,600  cords 
of  wood,  which  Leland  sold  to  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson 
River  Railroad  at  a  profit  of  $2,600. 


204  LELAND   STANFORD. 

After  using  some  of  this  money  to  pay  for  his  school- 
ing at  an  academy  at  Clinton,  N.Y.,  he  went  to  Al- 
bany, and  for  three  years  studied  law  with  the  firm  of 
Wheaton,  Doolittle,  &  Hadley.  He  disliked  Greek  and 
Latin,  but  was  fond  of  science,  particularly  geology 
and  chemistry,  and  was  a  great  reader,  especially  of 
the  newspapers.  He  attended  all  the  lectures  attain- 
able, and  was  fond  of  discussion  upon  all  progressive 
topics.  Later  in  life  he  studied  sociological  matters, 
and  read  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Herbert  Spencer. 

Young  Stanford  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  the 
West.  He  went  as  far  as  Chicago,  and  found  it  low, 
marshy,  and  unattractive.  This  was  in  1848,  when  he 
was  twenty-four  years  old.  The  town  had  been  organ- 
ized but  fifteen  years,  and  did  not  have  much  to  boast 
of.  There  were  only  twenty-eight  voters  in  Chicago  in 
1833.  In  1837  the  entire  population  was  4,470.  Chi- 
cago had  grown  rapidly  by  1848  ;  but  mosquitoes  were 
abundant,  and  towns  farther  up  Lake  Michigan  gave 
better  promise  for  the  future.  Mr.  Stanford  finally  set- 
tled at  Port  Washington,  Wis.,  above  Milwaukee,  which 
place  it  was  thought  would  prove  a  rival  of  Chicago. 
Forty  years  later,  in  1890,  Port  Washington  had  a 
population  of  1,659,  while  Chicago  had  increased  to 
1,099,850. 

Mr.  Stanford  did  well  the  first  year  at  Port  Washing- 
ton, earning  $1,260.  He  remained  another  year,  and 
then,  at  twenty-six,  went  back  to  Albany  to  marry  Miss 
Jane  Lathrop,  daughter  of  Mr.  Dyer  Lathrop,  a  re- 
spected merchant.  They  returned  to  Port  Washington, 
but  Mr.  Stanford  did  not  find  the  work  of  a  country 
lawyer  congenial.     He  had  chosen  his  profession,  how- 


LELAND   STANFORD.  205 

ever,  and  would  have  gone  on  to  a  measure  of  success  in 
it,  probably,  had  not  an  accident  opened  up  a  new  field. 

He  had  been  back  from  his  wedding  journey  but  a 
year  or  more,  when  a  fire  swept  away  all  his  posses- 
sions, including  a  quite  valuable  law  library.  The 
young  couple  were  really  bankrupt,  but  they  determined 
not  to  return  to  Albany  for  a  home. 

Several  of  Mr.  Stanford's  brothers  had  gone  to  Cali- 
fornia in  1849,  after  the  gold-fields  were  discovered, 
and  had  opened  stores  near  the  mining-camps.  If  Le- 
land  were  to  join  them,  it  would  give  him  at  least  more 
variety  than  the  quiet  life  at  Port  Washington.  The 
young  wife  went  back  to  Albany  to  care  for  three  years 
for  her  invalid  father,  who  died  in  April,  1855.  The 
husband  sailed  from  New  York,  spending  twelve  days 
in  crossing  the  isthmus,  and  in  thirty-eight  days  reached 
San  Francisco,  July  12,  1852.  For  four  years  he  had 
charge  of  a  branch  store  at  Michigan  Bluffs,  Placer 
County,  among  the  miners. 

He  engaged  also  in  mining,  and  was  not  afraid  of 
the  labor  and  privations  of  the  camp.  He  said  some 
years  later,  "  The  true  history  of  the  Argonauts  of  the 
nineteenth  century  has  to  be  written.  They  had  no 
Jason  to  lead  them,  no  oracles  to  prophesy  success  nor 
enchantments  to  avert  dangers ;  but,  like  self-reliant 
Americans,  they  pressed  forward  to  the  land  of  prom- 
ise, and  travelled  thousands  of  miles,  when  the  Greek 
heroes  travelled  hundreds.  They  went  by  ship  and  by 
wagon,  on  horseback  and  on  foot ;  a  mighty  army,  pass- 
ing over  mountains  and  deserts,  enduring  privations  and 
sickness ;  they  were  the  creators  of  a  commonwealth, 
the  builders  of  states." 


206  LELANB   STANFORD. 

Mr.  Stanford  had  the  energy  of  his  father ;  he  had 
learned  how  to  work  while  on  the  farm,  and  he  had  a 
pleasant  and  kindly  manner  to  all.  Said  a  friend  of 
his,  after  Mr.  Stanford  had  become  the  governor  of  a 
great  State,  and  the  possessor  of  many  millions,  "  The 
man  who  held  the  throttle  of  the  locomotive,  he  who 
handled  the  train,  worked  the  brake,  laid  the  rail,  or 
shovelled  the  sand,  was  his  comrade,  friend,  and  equal. 
His  life  was  one  of  tender,  thoughtful  compassion  for 
the  man  less  fortunate  in  life  than  himself." 

The  young  lawyer  was  making  money,  and  a  good 
reputation  as  well,  in  the  mining-camps.  Says  an  old 
associate,  "  Mr.  Stanford  in  an  unusual  degree  com- 
manded the  respect  of  the  heterogeneous  lot  of  men 
who  composed  the  mining  classes,  and  was  frequently 
referred  to  by  them  as  a  sort  of  arbitrator  in  settling 
their  disputes  for  them.  While  at  Michigan  Bluffs  he 
was  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace,  which  office  was  the 
court  before  which  all  disputes  and  contentions  of  the 
miners  and  their  claims  were  settled.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  with  all  the  questions  that  came  before  him  for 
settlement,  not  one  of  them  was  appealed  to  a  higher 
court. 

"Leland  Stanford  was  at  this  time  just  as  gentle  in 
his  manner  and  as  cordial  and  respectful  to  all  as  in  his 
later  years.  Yet  he  was  possessed  of  a  courage  which, 
when  tested,  as  occasion  sometimes  required,  satisfied 
the  rough  element  that  he  was  not  a  man  who  could  be 
imposed  upon.  His  principle  seemed  to  be  to  stand  up 
for  the  right  at  all  times.  He  never  indulged  in  pro- 
fanity or  coarse  words  of  any  kind,  and  was  as  consid- 
erate in  his  conduct  when  holding  intercourse  with  the 


LELANB   STANFORD.  207 

rough  element  as  though  in  the  midst  of  the  highest 
refinement." 

Mr.  Stanford  had  prospered  so  well  that  in  1855  he 
purchased  the  business  of  his  brothers  in  Sacramento, 
and  went  East  to  bring  his  wife  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 
He  studied  his  business  carefully.  He  made  himself 
conversant  with  the  statistics  of  trade,  the  tariff  laws, 
the  best  markets  and  means  of  transportation.  He  read 
and  thought,  while  some  others  idled  away  their  hours. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  new  Republican  party, 
which  was  then  in  the  minority  in  California.  He 
believed  in  it,  and  worked  earnestly  for  it.  When  the 
party  was  organized  in  the  State  in  1856,  he  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  it.  He  became  a  candidate  for  State 
treasurer,  and  was  defeated.  Three  years  later  he  was 
nominated  for  governor;  "but  the  party  was  too  small 
to  have  any  chance,  and  the  contest  lay  between  oppos- 
ing Democratic  factions."  Mr.  Stanford  was  to  learn 
how  to  win  success  against  fires  and  political  defeats. 

A  year  later  he  was  a  delegate  at  large  to  the  Repub- 
lican National  Convention ;  and  instead  of  supporting 
Mr.  Seward,  who  was  from  his  own  State  of  New  York, 
he  worked  earnestly  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  with  whom 
he  formed  a  lasting  friendship.  After  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
inaugurated,  Mr.  Stanford  remained  in  Washington  sev- 
eral weeks,  at  the  request  of  the  president  and  Secretary 
Seward,  to  confer  with  them  about  the  surest  means  of 
keeping  California  loyal  to  the  Union. 

Mr.  Blaine  says  of  California  and  Oregon  at  this 
time  :  "  Jefferson  Davis  had  expected,  with  a  confidence 
amounting  to  certainty,  and  based,  it  is  believed,  on 
personal   pledges,  that  the  Pacific  Coast,  if  it  did  not 


208  LELAND   STANFORD. 

actually  join  the  South,  would  be  disloyal  to  the  Union, 
and  would,  from  its  remoteness  and  its  superlative  im- 
portance, require  a  large  contingent  of  the  national 
forces  to  hold  it  in  subjection. 

"  It  was  expected  by  the  South  that  California  and 
Oregon  would  give  at  least  as  much  trouble  as  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  and  would  thus  indirectly,  but  powerfully, 
aid  the  Southern  cause." 

In  the  spring  of  1861  Mr.  Stanford  was  again  nom- 
inated by  the  Eepublicans  for  governor.  Though  he 
declined  at  first,  after  he  had  consented,  with  his  usual 
vigor,  earnestness,  and  perseverance,  with  faith  in  him- 
self and  his  fellow-men  as  well,  he  and  his  friends  made 
a  thorough  and  spirited  canvass ;  and  Mr.  Stanford  re- 
ceived 56,036  votes,  about  six  times  as  many  as  were 
given  him  two  years  before. 

"The  period,"  says  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle, 
"  was  one  of  unexampled  difficulty  of  administration ; 
and  to  add  to  the  embarrassments  occasioned  by  the 
Civil  War,  the  city  of  Sacramento  and  a  vast  area  of 
the  valley  were  inundated.  On  the  day  appointed  for 
the  inauguration  the  streets  of  Sacramento  were  swept 
by  a  flood,  and  Mr.  Stanford  and  his  friends  were  com- 
pelled to  go  and  return  to  the  Capitol  in  boats.  The 
messages  of  Governor  Stanford,  and  indeed  all  his  state 
papers,  indicated  wide  information,  great  common-sense, 
and  a  comprehensive  grasp  of  State  and  national  affairs, 
remarkable  in  one  who  had  never  before  held  office 
under  either  the  State  or  national  government.  During 
his  administration  he  kept  up  constant  and  cordial  in- 
tercourse with  Washington,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
leaving  the  chair  of  state  at  the  close  of  his  term  of 


LELAND   STANFORD.  209 

office  feeling  that  no  State  in  the  Union  was  more  thor- 
oughly loyal." 

There  was  much  disloyalty  in  California  at  first,  but 
Mr.  Stanford  was  firm  as  well  as  conciliatory.  The 
militia  was  organized,  a  State  normal  school  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  indebtedness  of  the  State  reduced  one- 
half  under  his  leadership  as  governor. 

After  the  war  was  over,  Governor  Stanford  cherished 
no  animosities.  When  Mr.  Lamar's  name  was  sent  to 
the  Senate  as  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  many  were  opposed,  Mr.  Stanford  said,  "No  man 
sympathized  more  sincerely  than  myself  with  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  or  deprecated  more  the  cause  of  the  South. 
I  would  have  given  fortune  and  life  to  have  defeated 
that  cause.  But  the  war  has  terminated,  and  what  this 
country  needs  now  is  absolute  and  profound  peace. 
Lamar  was  a  representative  Southern  man,  and  adhered 
to  the  convictions  of  his  boyhood  and  manhood.  There 
never  can  be  pacification  in  this  country  until  these  war 
memories  are  obliterated  by  the  action  of  the  Executive 
and  of  Congress." 

Mr.  Stanford  declined  a  re-election  to  the  governor- 
ship, because  he  wished  to  give  his  time  to  the  building 
of  a  railroad  across  the  continent.  He  had  never  forgot- 
ten the  conversation  in  his  father's  home  about  a  rail- 
road to  Oregon.  When  he  went  back  to  Albany  for 
Mrs.  Stanford,  after  being  a  storekeeper  among  the 
mines,  and  she  was  ill  from  the  tiresome  journey,  he 
cheered  her  with  the  promise,  "  Never  mind ;  a  time 
will  come  when  I  will  build  a  railroad  for  you  to  go 
home   on." 

Every  one  knew  that  a  railroad  was   needed.     Yes- 


210  LELAND   STANFORD. 

sels  had  to  go  around  Cape  Horn,  and  troops  and  prod- 
uce had  to  be  transported  over  the  mountains  and  across 
the  plains  at  great  expense  and  much  hardship.  Some 
persons  believed  the  building  of  a  road  over  the  snow- 
cupped  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  was  possible;  but 
most  laughed  the  project  to  scorn,  and  denounced  it  as 
"a  wild  scheme  of  visionary  cranks." 

"  The  huge  snow-clad  chain  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas," 
says  Mr.  Perkins,  the  senator  from  California  who  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Stanford,  "whose  towering  steeps  nowhere 
permitted  a  thoroughfare  at  an  elevation  less  than  seven 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  must  be  crossed ;  great  des- 
erts, waterless,  and  roamed  by  savage  tribes,  must  be 
made  accessible;  vast  sums  of  money  must  be  raised, 
and  national  aid  secured  at  a  time  in  which  the  credit 
of  the  central  government  had  fallen  so  low  that  its 
bonds  of  guaranty  to  the  undertaking  sold  for  barely 
one-third  their  face  value." 

In  the  presence  of  such  obstacles  no  one  seemed  ready 
to  undertake  the  work  of  building  the  railroad.  One  of 
the  persistent  advocates  of  the  plan  was  Theodore  J. 
Judah,  the  engineer  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  and  other 
local  railroads.  He  had  convinced  Mr.  Stanford  that 
the  thing  was  possible.  The  latter  first  talked  with  C. 
P.  Huntington,  a  hardware  merchant  of  Sacramento ; 
then  with  Mark  Hopkins,  Mr.  Huntington's  partner, 
and  later  with  Charles  Crocker  and  others.  A  fund 
was  raised  to  enable  Mr.  Judah  and  his  associates  to 
perfect  their  surveys ;  and  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  was  formed,  June  28,  1861,  with  Mr.  Stanford 
as  president. 

In   Mr.   Stanford's  inaugural  address  as  governor  he 


LELANB   STANFORD.  211 

had  dwelt  upon  the  necessity  of  this  railroad  to  unite 
the  East  and  the  West;  and  now  that  he  had  retired 
from  the  gubernatorial  office,  he  determined  to  push  the 
enterprise  with  all  his  power.  Neither  he  nor  his  asso- 
ciates had  any  great  wealth  at  their  command,  but  they 
had  faith  and  force  of  character.  The  aid  of  Congress 
was  sought  and  obtained  by  a  strictly  party  vote,  Repub- 
licans being  in  the  majority;  and  the  bill  was  signed  by 
President  Lincoln,  July  1,  1862. 

The  government  agreed  to  give  the  company  the  alter- 
nate sections  of  640  acres  in  a  belt  of  land  ten  miles 
wide  on  each  side  of  the  railroad,  and  $16,000  per  mile 
in  bonds  for  the  easily  constructed  portion  of  the  road, 
and  $32,000  and  $48,000  per  mile  for  the  mountainous 
portions.  The  company  was  to  build  forty  miles  before 
it  received  government  aid. 

It  was  so  difficult  to  raise  money  during  the  Civil 
War  that  Congress  made  a  more  liberal  grant  July  2, 
1864,  whereby  the  company  received  alternate  sections 
of  land  within  a  belt  twenty  miles  on  each  side  of  the 
road,  or  the  large  amount  of  12,800  acres  per  mile,  mak- 
ing for  the  company  nearly  9,000,000  acres  of  land. 
The  government  was  to  retain,  to  apply  on  its  debt,  only 
half  the  money  it  owed  the  company  for  transportation 
instead  of  the  whole.  The  most  important  provision  of 
the  new  Act  was  the  authority  of  the  company  to  issue 
its  own  first-mortgage  bonds  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
those  of  the  United  States,  and  making  the  latter  take 
a  second  mortgage. 

There  is  no  question  but  the  United  States  has  given 
lavishly  to  railroads,  as  the  cities  have  given  their 
streets    free  to  street   railroads ;  but   during  the   Civil 


212  LELANB   STANFORD. 

War  the  need  of  communication  between  East  and  West 
seemed  to  make  it  wise  to  build  the  road  at  almost  any 
sacrifice.  Mr.  Blaine  says,  "  Many  capitalists  who  after- 
wards indulged  in  denunciations  of  Congress  for  the  ex- 
travagance of  the  grants,  were  urged  at  the  time  to  take 
a  share  in  the  scheme,  but  declined  because  of  the  great 
risk  involved." 

Mr.  Stanford  broke  ground  for  the  railroad  by  turn- 
ing the  first  shovelful  of  earth  early  in  1863.  "At 
times  failure  seemed  inevitable,"  says  the  New  York 
Tribune,  June  22,  1893.  "Even  the  stout-hearted 
Crocker  declared  that  there  were  times  when  he  would 
have  been  glad  to  '  lose  all  and  quit ; '  but  the  iron 
will  of  Stanford  triumphed  over  everything.  As  presi- 
dent of  the  road  he  superintended  its  construction  over 
the  mountains,  building  530  miles  in  293  days.  On  the 
last  day,  Crocker  laid  the  rails  on  more  than  ten  miles 
of  track.  That  the  great  railroad  builders  survived  the 
ordeal  is  a  marvel.  Crocker,  indeed,  never  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  the  terrific  strain.  He  died  in  1888. 
Hopkins  died  twelve  years  before,  in  1876." 

With  a  silver  hammer  Governor  Stanford  drove  a 
golden  spike  at  Promontory  Point,  Utah,  May  10, 
1869,  which  completed  the  line  of  the  Central  Pacific, 
and  joined  it  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and 
the  telegraph  flashed  the  news  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  The  Union  Pacific  was  built  from  Omaha, 
Neb.,  to  Promontory  Point,  though  Ogden,  Utah,  fifty- 
two  miles  east  of  Promontory  Point,  is  now  considered 
the  dividing  line. 

After  this  road  was  completed,  Mr.  Stanford  turned 
to  other  labors.     He  was  made  president  or  director  of 


L ELAND   STANFORD.  213 

several  railroads,  —  the  Southern  Pacific,  the  California 
&  Oregon,  and  other  connecting  lines.  He  was  also 
president  of  the  Oriental  and  Occidental  Steamship 
Company,  which  plied  between  San  Francisco  and 
Chinese  ports,  and  was  interested  in  street  railroads, 
woollen  mills,   and  the  manufacture  of  sugar. 

Foreseeing  the  great  future  of  California,  he  pur- 
chased very  large  tracts  of  land,  including  Vina  with 
nearly  60,000  acres,  the  Gridley  Ranch  with  22,000 
acres,  and  his  summer  home,  Palo  Alto,  thirty  miles 
from  San  Francisco,  with  8,400  acres.  He  built  a 
stately  home  in  San  Francisco  costing  over  $1,000,000, 
and  in  his  journeys  abroad  collected  for  it  costly  paint- 
ings and  other  works  of  art. 

But  his  chief  delight  was  in  his  Palo  Alto  estate. 
Here  he  sought  to  plant  every  variety  of  tree,  from 
the  world  over,  that  would  grow  in  California.  Many 
thousands  were  set  out  each  year.  He  was  a  great 
lover  of  trees,  and  could  tell  the  various  kinds  from 
the  bark  or  leaf. 

He  loved  animals,  especially  the  horse,  and  had  the 
largest  horse  farm  for  raising  horses  in  the  world. 
Some  of  his  remarkable  thoroughbreds  and  trotters  were 
Electioneer,  Arion,  Palo  Alto,  Sunol,  "the  flying  filly," 
Racine,  Piedmont  that  cost  $30,000,  and  many  others. 
He  spent  $40,000,  it  is  said,  in  experiments  in  instan- 
taneous photography  of  the  horse ;  and  a  book  resulted, 
"  The  Horse  in  Motion,"  which  showed  that  the  ideas  of 
painters  about  a  horse  at  high  speed  were  usually  wrong. 
No  one  was  ever  allowed  to  kick  or  whip  a  horse  or 
destroy  a  bird  on  the  estate.  Mr.  George  T.  Angell 
of  Boston  tells  of  the  remark  made  to  General  Francis 


214  LELAND   STANFORD. 

A.  Walker  by  Mr.  Stanford.  The  horses  of  the  latter 
were  so  gentle  that  they  would  put  their  noses  on  his 
shoulder,  or  come  up  to  visitors  to  be  petted.  "  How 
do  you  contrive  to  have  your  horses  so  gentle  ?  "  asked 
General  Walker.  "  I  never  allow  a  man  to  speak  un- 
kindly to  one  of  my  horses;  and  if  a  man  swears  at  one 
of  them,  I  discharge  him,"  was  the  reply.  There  were 
large  greenhouses  and  vegetable  gardens  at  Palo  Alto, 
and  acres  of  wheat,  rye,  oats,  and  barley.  But  the 
most  interesting  and  beautiful  and  highly  prized  of  all 
the  charms  at  Palo  Alto  was  an  only  child,  a  lad  named 
Leland  Stanford,  Jr.  He  was  never  a  rugged  boy ;  but 
his  sunny,  generous  nature  and  intellectual  qualities 
gave  great  promise  of  future  usefulness.  Mrs.  Sallie 
Joy  White,  in  the  January,  1892,  Wide  Aivake,  tells 
some  interesting  things  about  him.  She  says,  "His 
chosen  playmate  was  a  little  lame  boy,  the  son  of  peo- 
ple in  moderate  circumstances,  who  lived  near  the  Stan- 
fords  in  San  Francisco.  The  two  were  together  almost 
constantly,  and  each  was  at  home  in  the  other's  house. 
He  was  very  considerate  of  his  little  playfellow,  and 
constituted  himself  his  protector." 

When  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Cooper  was  making  efforts  to 
raise  money  for  the  free  kindergarten  work  in  San  Fran- 
cisco suggested  by  Felix  Adler  in  1878,  she  called  on 
Mrs.  Stanford,  and  the  boy  Leland  heard  the  story  of 
the  needs  of  poor  children.  Putting  his  hand  in  his 
mother's,  he  said,  "  Mamma,  we  must  help  those  chil- 
dren." 

"Well,  Leland,"  said  his  mother,  "what  do  you  wish 
me  to  do  ?  " 

"  Give  Mrs.   Cooper   $500   now,  and   let  her   start  a 


LELAND   STANFORD.  215 

school,  then  come  to  us  for  more."  And  Leland's  wish 
was  gratified. 

"  Between  this  time,  1879,  and  1892,"  says  Miss  M.  V. 
Lewis  in  the  Home  Maker  for  January,  1892,  "  Mrs. 
Leland  Stanford  has  given  $160,000,  including  a  perma- 
nent endowment  fund  of  $100,000  for  the  San  Francisco 
kindergartens."  She  supports  seven  or  more,  five  in 
San  Francisco,  and  two  at  Palo  Alto. 

A  writer  in  the  press  says,  "  Her  name  is  down  for 
$8,000  a  year  for  these  schools,  and  I  am  told  she  spends 
much  more.  I  attended  a  reception  given  her  by  the 
eight  schools  under  her  patronage ;  and  it  was  a  very 
affecting  sight  to  watch  these  four  hundred  children,  all 
under  four  years  of  age,  marching  into  the  hall  and  up 
to  their  benefactor,  each  tiny  hand  grasping  a  fragrant 
rose  which  was  deposited  in  Mrs.  Stanford's  lap.  These 
children  are  gathered  from  the  slums  of  the  city.  It  is 
far  wiser  to  establish  schools  for  the  training  of  such 
as  these,  than  to  wait  until  sin  and  crime  have  done 
their  work,  and  then  make  a  great  show  of  trying  to 
reclaim  them  through  reformatory  institutions." 

Leland,  Jr.,  was  very  fond  of  animals.  Mrs.  White 
tells  this  story  :  "  One  day,  when  he  was  about  ten  years 
of  age,  he  was  standing  looking  out  of  the  window,  and 
his  mother  heard  a  tumult  outside,  and  saw  Leland  sud- 
denly dash  out  of  the  house,  down  the  steps,  into  a 
crowd  of  boys  in  front  of  the  house.  Presently  he  re- 
appeared covered  with  dust,  holding  a  homely  yellow 
dog  in  his  arms.  Quick  as  a  flash  he  was  up  the  steps 
and  into  the  house  with  the  door  shut  behind  him, 
while  a  perfect  howl  of  rage  went  up  from  the  boys 
outside. 


216  LELAND   STANFORD. 

"  Before  his  mother  could  reach  him  he  had  flown  to 
the  telephone,  and  summoned  the  family  doctor.  Think- 
ing from  the  agonized  tones  of  the  boy  that  some  of  the 
family  had  been  taken  suddenly  and  violently  ill,  the 
doctor  hastened  to  the  house. 

"  He  was  a  stately  old  gentleman,  who  believed  fully 
in  the  dignity  of  his  profession ;  and  he  was  somewhat 
disconcerted  and  a  good  deal  annoyed  at  being  con- 
fronted with  a  very  dusty,  excited  boy,  holding  a 
broken-legged  dog  that  was  evidently  of  the  mongrel 
family.  At  first  he  was  about  to  be  angry ;  but  the 
earnest,  pleading  look  on  the  little  face,  and  the  per- 
fect innocence  of  any  intent  of  discourtesy,  disarmed 
the  dignified  doctor,  and  he  explained  to  Leland  that 
he  did  not  understand  the  case,  not  being  accustomed 
to  treating  dogs,  but  that  he  would  take  him  and  the 
dog  to  one  who  was.  So  they  went,  doctor,  boy,  and 
dog,  in  the  doctor's  carriage  to  a  veterinary  surgeon, 
the  leg  was  set,  and  they  returned  home.  Leland  took 
the  most  faithful  care  of  the  dog  until  it  recovered,  and 
it  repaid  him  with  a  devotion  that  wTas  touching." 

Leland,  knowing  that  he  was  to  be  the  heir  of  many 
millions,  was  already  thinking  how  some  of  the  money 
should  be  used.  He  had  begun  to  gather  materials  for 
a  museum,  to  which  the  parents  devoted  two  rooms  in 
their  San  Francisco  home.  He  was  fitting  himself  for 
Yale  College,  was  excellent  in  French  and  German,  and 
greatly  interested  in  art  and  archaeology.  Before  enter- 
ing upon  the  long  course  of  study  at  college,  he  trav- 
elled with  his  parents  abroad.  In  Athens,  in  London, 
on  the  Bosphorus,  everywhere,  with  an  open  hand,  his 
parents  allowed  him  to  gather  treasures  for  his  museum, 


L ELAND   STANFORD.  217 

and  for  a  larger  institution  which  he  had  in  mind  to 
establish  sometime. 

While  staying  for  a  while  in  Rome,  symptoms  of 
fever  developed  in  young  Leland,  and  he  was  taken 
at  once  to  Florence.  The  best  medical  skill  was  of  no 
avail;  and  he  soon  died,  March  13,  1884,  two  months 
before  his  sixteenth  birthday.  His  parents  telegraphed 
this  sad  message  home,  "  Our  darling  boy  went  to 
heaven  this  morning." 

The  story  is  told  that  while  watching  by  the  bedside 
of  his  son,  worn  with  care  and  anxiety,  Governor  Stan- 
ford fell  asleep,  and  dreamed  that  his  son  said  to  him, 
"  Father,  don't  say  you  have  nothing  to  live  for ;  you 
have  a  great  deal  to  live  for.  Live  for  humanity, 
father,"  and  that  this  dream  proved  a  comforter. 

The  almost  prostrated  parents  brought  home  their 
beloved  boy  to  bury  him  at  Palo  Alto.  On  Thanks- 
giving Day,  Thursday,  Nov.  27,  1884,  the  doors  of  the 
tomb  which  had  been  prepared  near  the  house  were 
opened  at  noon,  and  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  was  laid 
away  for  all  time  from  the  sight  of  those  who  loved 
him.  The  bearers  were  sixteen  of  the  oldest  employees 
on  the  Palo  Alto  farm.  The  sarcophagus  in  which 
Leland,  Jr.,  sleeps  is  eight  feet  four  inches  long,  four 
feet  wide,  and  three  feet  six  inches  high,  built  of 
pressed  bricks,  with  slabs  of  white  Carrara  marble  one 
inch  thick  firmly  fastened  to  the  bricks  with  cement. 
In   the   front   slab   of   this  sarcophagus  are  cut  these 

words :  - 

Born  in  Mortality 

May  14,  1868, 

LELAND   STANFORD,   JR. 

Passed  to  Immortality 
March  13,  1884. 


218  LELAND   STANFORD. 

Electric  wires  were  placed  in  the  walls  of  the  tomb,  in 
the  doors  of  iron,  and  even  in  the  foundations,  so  that 
no  sacrilegious  hand  should  disturb  the  repose  of  the 
sleeper  without  detection.  Memorial  services  for  young 
Leland  were  held  in  Grace  Church,  San  Francisco,  on  the 
morning  of  Sunday,  Nov.  30,  1884,  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P. 
Newman  of  New  York  preaching  an  eloquent  sermon. 
The  floral  decorations  were  exquisite ;  one  bower  fifteen 
feet  high  with  four  floral  posts  supporting  floral  arches, 
a  cross  six  feet  high  of  white  camellias,  lilies,  and  tuber- 
oses, relieved  by  scarlet  and  crimson  buds,  and  pillows 
and  wreaths  of  great  beauty. 

"Nature  had  highly  favored  him  for  some  noble 
purpose,"  said  Dr.  Newman.  "Although  so  young,  he 
was  tall  and  graceful  as  some  Apollo  Belvidere,  with 
classic  features  some  master  would  have  chosen  to 
chisel  in  marble  or  cast  in  bronze  ;  with  eyes  soft  and 
gentle  as  an  angel's,  yet  dreamy  as  the  vision  of  a  seer ; 
with  broad,  white  forehead,  home  of  a  radiant  soul.  .  .  . 
He  was  more  than  a  son  to  his  parents,  —  he  was  their 
companion.  He  was  as  an  angel  in  his  mother's  sick 
room,  wherein  he  would  sit  for  hours  and  talk  of  all  he 
had  seen,  and  would  cheer  her  hope  of  returning  health 
by  the  assurance  that  he  had  prayed  on  his  knees  for 
her  recovery  on  each  of  the  twenty-four  steps  of  the 
Scala  Santa  in  Rome,  and  that  when  he  was  but  eleven 
years  old.  .  .  . 

"  He  had  selected,  catalogued,  and  described  for  his 
projected  museum  seventeen  cases  of  antique  glass 
vases,  bronze  work,  and  terra-cotta  statuettes,  dating 
back  far  into  the  centuries,  and  which  illustrate  the 
creative  genius  of  those  early  ages  of  our  race." 


LELANB    STANFORD.  219 

Such  a  youth  wasted  no  time  in  foolish  pleasures  or 
useless  companions.  Like  his  father  he  loved  history, 
and  sought  out,  says  Dr.  Newman,  the  place  where 
Pericles  had  spoken,  and  Socrates  died ;  "  reverently 
pausing  on  Mars  Hill  where  St.  Paul  had  preached 
'  Jesus  and  the  Kesurrection ; '  and  lingering  with 
strange  delight  in  the  temple  of  Eleusis  wherein  death 
kissed  his  cheek  into  a  consuming  fire." 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Newman's  memorial  address  the 
favorite  h}^mn  of  young  Leland  was  sung,  "  Tell  Me  the 
Old,  Old  Story."  From  this  crushing  blow  of  his  son's 
death  Mr.  Stanford  never  recovered.  For  years  young 
Leland's  room  in  the  San  Francisco  home  was  kept 
ready  and  in  waiting,  the  lamp  dimly  lighted  at  night, 
and  the  bedclothes  turned  back  by  loving  hands  as 
if  he  were  coming  back  again.  The  horses  the  boy 
used  to  ride  were  kept  unused  in  pasture  at  Palo  Alto, 
and  cared  for,  for  the  sake  of  their  fair  young  owner. 
The  little  yellow  dog  whose  broken  leg  was  set  was 
left  at  Palo  Alto  when  the  boy  went  to  Europe  with 
his  parents.  When  he  was  brought  back  a  corpse,  the 
dog  knew  all  too  well  the  story  of  the  bereavement. 
After  the  body  was  placed  in  the  tomb,  the  faithful 
creature  took  his  place  in  front  of  the  door.  He  could 
not  be  coaxed  away  even  for  his  food,  and  one  morning 
he  was  found  there  dead.  He  was  buried  near  his  de- 
voted human  friend. 

"  Toots,"  an  old  black  and  tan  whom  young  Leland 
had  brought  from  Albany,  was  much  beloved.  "Mr. 
Stanford  would  not  allow  a  dog  in  the  house  save 
this  one,"  says  a  writer  in  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle. 
" '  Toots '  was  an  exception,  and  he  had  full  run  of  the 


220  LELAND   STANFORD. 

house.  He  was  the  envy  of  all  the  clogs,  even  of  the 
noble  old  Great  Dane.  '  Toots '  would  climb  upon 
the  sofa  alongside  of  Mr.  Stanford,  and  forgetting  a 
well-known  repugnance  he  would  pet  him  and  say, 
'  There  is  always  a  place  for  you ;  always  a  place  for 
you.'  " 

The  year  following  the  death  of  young  Leland,  on 
Nov.  14,  1885,  Mr.  Stanford  and  his  wife  founded  and 
endowed  their  great  University  at  Palo  Alto.  In  con- 
veying the  estates  to  the  trustees,  Mr.  Stanford  said, 
"  Since  the  idea  of  establishing  an  institution  of  this 
kind  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  came  directly  and 
largely  from  our  son  and  only  child,  Leland,  and  in  the 
belief  that  had  he  been  spared  to  advise  us  as  to  the 
disposition  of  our  estate  he  would  have  desired  the  devo- 
tion of  a  large  portion  thereof  to  this  purpose,  we  will 
that  for  all  time  to  come  the  institution  hereby  founded 
shall  bear  his  name,  and  shall  be  known  as  the  "  Leland 
Stanford,  Jr.,  University." 

Mr.  Stanford  and  his  wife  visited  various  institutions 
of  learning  throughout  the  country,  and  found  consola- 
tion in  raising  this  noble  monument  to  a  noble  son  — 
infinitely  to  be  preferred  to  shafts  or  statues  of  marble 
and  bronze. 

This  same  year,  1885,  Mr.  Stanford's  friends,  fearing 
the  effect  of  his  sorrow,  and  hoping  to  divert  him  some- 
what from  it,  secured  his  election  by  the  California  Le- 
gislature to  the  United  States  Senate.  He  took  his  seat 
March  4,  1885,  just  a  year  after  the  death  of  his  son. 
He  did  not  make  many  speeches,  but  he  proved  a  very 
useful  member  from  his  good  sense  and  counsel  and 
kindly   leaning  toward  all    helpful    legislation   for  the 


LELAND   STANFOBT).  221 

poor  and  the  unfortunate.  He  was  re-elected  March  3, 
1891,  for  a  second  term  of  six  years. 

He  will  be  most  remembered  in  Congress  for  his 
Land-Loan  Bill  which  he  originated  and  presented  to 
the  Senate.  "  The  bill  proposed  that  money  should  be 
issued  upon  land  to  half  the  amount  of  its  value,  and 
for  such  loan  the  government  Avas  to  receive  an  annual 
interest  of  two  per  cent  yjer  annum." 

"  Whatever  may  be  thought  by  some  of  the  practical 
utility  of  his  financial  scheme,"  says  Mr.  Mitchell,  a 
senator  from  Oregon,  "  which  he  so  earnestly  and  ably 
advocated,  and  which  was  approved  by  millions  of  his 
countrymen,  for  the  loaning  of  money  by  the  United 
States  direct  to  the  people  at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  tak- 
ing mortgages  on  farms  as  security,  all  will  now  agree 
it  indicated  in  unmistakable  terms  a  philanthropic  spirit, 
an  earnest  desire  to  aid,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
what  he  regarded  as  constitutional  and  proper  govern- 
mental influence,  not  the  great  moneyed  institutions  of 
the  country,  not  the  vast  corporations  of  the  land,  with 
several  of  which  he  was  prominently  identified  in  a 
business  way,  but  rather  the  great  masses  of  producers, 
—  the  farmers,  the  planters,  and  the  wage-workers  of 
his  country." 

In  this  connection  the  suggestion  of  Professor  Rich- 
ard T.  Ely  in  his  book  on  "  Socialism  and  Social  Re- 
form," page  334,  might  well  be  heeded.  After  showing 
that  Germany  and  other  countries  have  used  govern- 
ment credit  to  some  extent  in  behalf  of  the  farming 
community,  and  that  New  York  State  has  been  making 
loans  to  farmers  for  a  generation  or  more,  he  says,  "  A 
sensible  demand  on  the  part  of  farmers'  organizations 


222  LELAND   STANFORD. 

would  be  that  Congress  should  appoint  a  commission  of 
experts  to  investigate  thoroughly  the  use  of  government 
credit  in  various  countries  and  at  different  times,  in 
behalf  of  the  individual  citizen,  especially  the  farmer, 
and  to  make  a  full  and  complete  report,  in  order  that 
anything  which  is  done  should  be  based  upon  the  lessons 
to  be  derived  from  actual  experience." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanford  were  much  beloved  in  Wash- 
ington for  their  cordiality  and  generosity.  They  gave 
an  annual  dinner  to  the  Senate  pages,  with  a  gift  for 
each  boy  of  a  gold  scarf-pin,  or  something  attractive, 
and  at  Christmas  a  five-dollar  gold-piece  to  each.  Also 
a  luncheon  each  winter,  and  gifts  of  money,  gloves,  etc., 
to  the  telegraph  and  messenger  boys.  Every  orphan 
asylum  and  charity  hospital  in  Washington  was  remem- 
bered at  Christmas.  Mr.  Sibly,  representative  for  Penn- 
sylvania, relates  this  incident  showing  Mr.  Stanford's 
habit  of  giving.  "My  partner  and  myself  had  pur- 
chased a  young  colt  of  him,  for  which  we  paid  him 
$12,500.  He  took  out  his  check-book,  drew  two  checks 
of  $6,250  each,  and  sent  them  to  two  different  city 
homes  for  friendless  children ;  and  with  a  twinkle  in 
his  eye,  and  broadly  beaming  benevolence  in  his  fea- 
tures, said,  '  Electric  Bell  ought  to  make  a  great  horse ; 
he  starts  in  making  so  many  people  happy  in  the  very 
beginning  of  his  life.' " 

Mr.  Daniels  of  Virginia  tells  how  Mr.  Stanford  was 
observed  one  day  by  a  friend  to  give  $2,000  to  an 
inventor  who  was  trying  to  apply  an  electric  motor  to 
the  sewing-machine.  Mr.  Stanford  remarked,  "  This  is 
the  thirtieth  man  to  whom  I  have  given  a  like  sum  to 
develop  that  idea." 


LELAND   STANFORD.  223 

After  Mr.  Stanford  had  been  in  the  Senate  two  years, 
on  May  14,  1887,  he  and  Mrs.  Stanford  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  their  University  at  Palo  Alto,  on  the  19th 
anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.  In 
less  than  four  years,  on  October  1,  1891,  the  doors  of  the 
University  were  opened  to  receive  five  hundred  students, 
young  men  and  women ;  for  Mr.  Stanford  had  written  in 
his  grant  of  endowment  "  to  afford  equal  facilities  and 
give  equal  advantages  in  the  University  to  both  sexes." 
In  his  address  to  the  trustees  he  said,  "  The  rights  of 
one  sex,  political  or  otherwise,  are  the  same  as  those 
of  the  other  sex,  and  this  equality  of  rights  ought  to 
be  fully  recognized." 

Mrs.  Stanford  said  to  Mrs.  White  as  they  sat  in  her 
library  at  Palo  Alto,  "  Whatever  the  boys  have,  the  girls 
have  as  well.  We  mean  that  the  girls  of  our  country 
shall  have  a  fair  chance.  There  shall  be  no  dividing 
line  in  the  studies.  If  a  girl  desires  to  become  an  elec- 
trician, she  shall  have  the  opportunity,  and  that  oppor- 
tunity shall  be  the  same  as  the  young  men's.  If  she 
wishes  to  study  mechanics,  she  may  do  it." 

Mr.  Stanford  said  in  his  address  on  the  day  of  open- 
ing, "I  speak  for  Mrs.  Stanford  as  well  as  for  myself, 
for  she  has  been  my  active  and  sympathetic  coadjutor, 
and  is  co-grantor  with  me  in  the  endowment  and  estab- 
lishment of  this  University." 

They  had  been  urged  to  give  their  fortune  in  other 
directions,  as  some  persons  believed  that  much  educa- 
tion would  unfit  people  for  labor.  "  We  do  not  believe," 
said  Mr.  Stanford,  and  the  world  honors  him  for  his 
belief,  "there  can  be  superfluous  education.  As  man 
cannot  have  too  much  health  and  intelligence,  so  he  can- 


224  LELAND   STANFORD. 

not  be  too  highly  educated.  Whether  in  the  discharge 
of  responsible  or  humble  duties  he  will  ever  find  the 
knowledge  he  has  acquired  through  education,  not  only 
of  practical  assistance  to  him,  but  a  factor  in  his  per- 
sonal happiness,  and  a  joy  forever." 

Mr.  Stanford  desired  that  the  students  should  "  not 
only  be  scholars,  but  have  a  sound  practical  idea  of 
commonplace,  e very-day  matters,  a  self-reliance  that 
will  fit  them,  in  case  of  emergency,  to  earn  their  own 
livelihood  in  an  humble  as  well  as  an  exalted  sphere." 
To  this  end  he  provided,  besides  the  usual  studies  in 
colleges,  for  "mechanical  institutes,  laboratories,  etc." 
There  are  departments  of  civil  engineering,  mechanical 
engineering,  electrical  engineering,  besides  shorthand 
and  typewriting,  agriculture,  and  other  practical  work. 

He  wished  to  have  taught  in  the  University  "  the 
right  and  advantages  of  association  and  co-operation. 
.  .  .  Laws  should  be  formed  to  protect  and  develop 
co-operative  associations.  Laws  with  this  object  in 
view  will  furnish  to  the  poor  man  complete  protection 
against  the  monopoly  of  the  rich ;  and  such  laws,  prop- 
erly administered  and  availed  of,  will  insure  to  the 
workers  of  the  country  the  full  fruits  of  their  industry 
and  enterprise." 

He  gave  directions  that  "no  drinking  saloons  shall  be 
opened  upon  any  part  of  the  premises."  He  "  prohib- 
ited sectarian  instruction,  "but  wished  "to  have  taught 
in  the  University  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  exist- 
ence of  an  all-wise  and  benevolent  Creator,  and  that 
obedience  to  His  laws  is  the  highest  duty  of  man."  Mr. 
Stanford  said,  "  It  seems  to  us  that  the  welfare  of  man 
on  earth  depends  on  the  belief  in  immortality,  and  that 


L ELAND   STANFORD.  225 

the  advantages  of  every  good  act  and  the  disadvantages 
of  every  evil  one  follow  man  from  this  life  into  the 
next,  there  attaching  to  him  as  certainly  as  individuality 
is  maintained." 

The  object  of  the  University  is,  he  said,  "  to  qualify 
students  for  personal  success  and  direct  usefulness  in 
life."  Again  he  said,  "  The  object  is  not  alone  to  give 
the  student  a  technical  education,  fitting  him  for  a  suc- 
cessful business  life,  but  it  is  also  to  instil  into  his 
mind  an  appreciation  of  the  blessings  of  this  govern- 
ment, a  reverence  for  its  institutions,  and  a  love  for  God 
and  humanity." 

Mr.  Stanford  wished  plain  and  substantial  buildings, 
"  built  as  needed  and  no  faster,"  urging  the  trustees  to 
bear  in  mind  "  that  extensive  and  expensive  buildings 
do  not  make  a  university ;  that  it  depends  for  its  suc- 
cess rather  upon  the  character  and  attainments  of  its 
faculty." 

Mr.  Stanford  chose  for  the  president  of  his  University 
David  Starr  Jordan,  well-known  for  his  scientific  work 
and  his  various  books.  Though  a  comparatively  young 
man,  being  forty  years  of  age,  Dr.  Jordan  had  had  wide 
experience.  He  was  graduated  from  Cornell  University 
in  1872,  and  for  two  years  was  professor  at  institutions 
in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  In  1874  he  was  .lecturer  in 
marine  botany  at  the  Anderson  School  at  Penikese,  and 
the  following  year  at  the  Harvard  Summer  School  at 
Cumberland  Gap.  During  the  next  four  years,  while 
holding  the  chair  of  biology  in  Butler  University,  In- 
dianapolis, he  was  the  naturalist  of  two  geological 
surveys  in  Indiana  and  Ohio.  For  six  years  he  was 
professor  of  zoology  in  Indiana  University,  and  for  the 


226  L ELAND   STANFORD. 

six  years  following  its  president.  For  fourteen  years  he 
had  been  assistant  to  the  United  States  Fish  Commis- 
sion, exploring  many  of  our  rivers,  and  part  of  that 
time  agent  for  the  United  States  Census  Bureau  in 
investigating  the  marine  industries  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 
He  had  studied  also  in  the  large  museums  abroad. 

Dr.  Albert  Shaw  tells  this  interesting  incident.  "  Pres- 
ident Jordan  had  once  met  the  young  Stanford  boy  on 
the  seashore,  and  won  the  lad's  gratitude  by  telling  him 
of  shells  and  submarine  life.  It  was  a  singular  coinci- 
dence that  the  parents  afterwards  heard  Dr.  Jordan 
make  allusions  in  a  public  address  which  gave  them 
the  knowledge  that  this  was  the  interesting  stranger 
who  had  taught  their  son  so  much,  and  had  so  enkindled 
the  boy's  enthusiasm.  His  choice  as  president  was  an 
eminently  wise  one." 

Mr.  Stanford  wished  ten  acres  to  be  set  aside  "  as  a 
place  of  burial  and  of  last  rest  on  earth  for  the  bodies 
of  the  grantors  and  of  their  son,  Leland  Stanford,  Jr., 
and,  as  the  board  may  direct,  for  the  bodies  of  such 
other  persons  who  may  have  been  connected  with  the 
University." 

Mr.  Stanford  lived  to  see  his  University  opened  and 
doing  successful  work.  The  plan  of  its  buildings,  sug- 
gested by  the  old  Spanish  Missions  of  California,  was 
originally  that  of  Eichardson,  the  noted  architect  of 
Boston ;  but  as  he  died  before  it  was  completed,  the 
work  was  done  by  his  successors,  Shepley,  Kutan,  & 
Coolidge. 

The  plan  contemplates  a  number  of  quadrangles  in 
the  midst  of  8,400  acres.  "  The  central  group  of  build- 
ings will  constitute  two  quadrangles,  one  entirely  sur- 


LELAND   STANFORD.  227 

rounding  the  other,"  says  the  University  Register  for 
1894-1895.  "  Of  these  the  inner  quadrangle,  with  the 
exception  of  the  chapel,  is  now  completed.  Its  twelve 
one-story  buildings  are  connected  by  a  continuous  open 
arcade,  facing  a  paved  court  586  feet  long  by  246  feet 
wide,  or  three  and  a  quarter  acres.  The  buildings  are 
of  a  buff  sandstone,  somewhat  varied  in  color.  The 
stone-work  is  of  broken  ashlar,  with  rough  rock  face, 
and  the  roofs  are  covered  with  red  tile."  Within  the 
quadrangle  are  several  circular  beds  of  semi-tropical 
trees  and  plants. 

Miss  Milicent  W.  Shinn,  in  the  Overland  Monthly  for 
October,  1891,  says,  "  I  should  think  it  hard  to  say  too 
much  of  the  simple  dignity,  the  calm  influence  on  mind 
and  mood,  of  the  great,  bright  court,  the  deep  arcade 
with  its  long  vista  of  columns  and  arches,  the  heavy 
walls,  the  unchanging  stone  surfaces.  They  seemed  to 
me  like  the  rock  walls  of  nature ;  they  drew  me  back, 
and  made  me  homesick  for  them  when  I  had  gone  away." 

Behind  the  central  quadrangle  are  the  shops,  foundry, 
and  boiler-house.  On  the  east  side  is  Encina  Hall,  a 
dormitory  for  315  men,  provided  with  electric  lights, 
steam  heat,  and  bathrooms  on  each  floor.  It  is  four 
stories  high,  and,  like  the  quadrangle,  of  buff  Almaden 
sandstone. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  quadrangle  is  Eoble  Hall,  for 
one  hundred  young  women,  and  is  built  of  concrete. 
There  are  two  gymnasiums,  called  Encina  and  Eoble 
gymnasiums. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  buildings,  the 
especial  gift  of  Mrs.  Stanford,  is  the  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  Museum,  of  concrete,  in  Greek  style  of  architec- 


228  L ELAND   STANFORD. 

ture,  313  by  156  feet,  including  wings,  situated  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  from  the  quadrangle,  and  between  the 
University  and  the  Stanford  residence.  The  collection 
made  by  young  Leland  is  placed  here,  and  his  own 
arrangement  reproduced.  The  collection  includes  Egyp- 
tian bronzes,  Greek  and  Roman  glass  and  statues.  The 
Cesnola  collection  contains  five  thousand  pieces  of  Greek 
and  Roman  pottery  and  glass.  The  Egyptian  collection, 
made  by  Brugsch  Bey,  Curator  of  the  Gizeh  Museum, 
for  Mrs.  Stanford,  comprises  casts  of  statuary,  mum- 
mies, scarabees,  etc.  Mr.  Timothy  Hopkins  of  San 
Francisco,  one  of  the  trustees,  has  given  for  the  Egyp- 
tian collection  embroideries  dating  from  the  sixth  to 
the  twenty-first  dynasty.  He  has  also  given  a  collection 
of  ancient  and  modern  coins  and  costumes,  household 
goods,  etc.,  from  Corea.  There  are  stone  implements 
from  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  and  relics  from  the  mounds 
of  America,  Mrs.  Stanford  is  making  the  collection  of 
fine  arts,  and  a  very  large  number  of  copies  of  great 
paintings  is  intended.  Much  attention  will  be  given  to 
local  history,  Indian  antiquities,  and  Spanish  settle- 
ments of  early  California. 

The  library  has  23,000  volumes  and  6,000  pamphlets. 
Mr.  Hopkins  has  given  a  valuable  collection  of  railway 
books,  unusually  rich  in  the  early  history  of  railways  in 
Europe  and  America,  with  generous  provision  for  its 
increase.  Mr.  Hopkins  has  also  founded  the  Hopkins 
Seaside  Laboratory  at  Pacific  Grove,  two  miles  west 
of  Monterey,  to  provide  for  investigations  in  marine 
biology,  as  a  branch  of  the  biological  work  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

Students  are  not  received  into  the  University  under 


LELANB   STANFORD.  229 

sixteen  years  of  age,  and  if  special  students,  not  under 
twenty,  and  must  present  certificates  of  good  moral 
character.  If  from  other  colleges  they  must  bring  let- 
ters of  honorable  dismissal.  They  are  offered  a  choice 
of  twenty-two  subjects  for  entrance  examination,  and 
must  pass  in  twelve  subjects.  Tuition  in  all  depart- 
ments is  free. 

"The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  is  granted  to  stu- 
dents who  have  satisfactorily  completed  the  equivalent 
of  four  years'  work  of  15  hours  of  lecture  or  recitation 
weekly,  or  a  total  of  120  hours,  and  who  have  also  satis- 
fied the  requirements  in  major  and  minor  subjects." 

President  Jordan  says,  in  the  Educational  Review  for 
June,  1892  :  "  In  the  arrangement  of  the  courses  of 
study  two  ideas  are  prominent :  first,  that  every  student 
who  shall  complete  a  course  in  the  University  must  be 
thoroughly  trained  in  some  line  of  work.  His  educa- 
tion must  have  as  its  central  axis  an  accurate  and  full 
knowledge  of  something.  The  second  is  that  the  degree 
to  be  received  is  wholly  a  subordinate  matter,  and  that 
no  student  should  be  compelled  to  turn  out  of  his  way 
in  order  to  secure  it.  The  elective  system  is  subjected 
to  a  single  check.  In  order  to  prevent  undue  scattering, 
the  student  is  required  to  select  the  work  in  general  of 
some  one  professor  as  major  subject  or  specialty,  and  to 
pursue  this  subject  or  line  of  subjects  as  far  as  the  pro- 
fessor in  charge  may  deem  it  wise  or  expedient.  In 
order  that  all  courses  and  all  departments  may  be  placed 
on  exactly  the  same  level,  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts  is  given  in  all  alike  for  the  equivalent  of  the  four 
years'  course.  Should  his  major  subject,  for  instance, 
be   Greek,  then  the  title  is  given  that  of   Bachelor  of 


230  LELAND   STANFORD. 

Arts  in  Greek;  should  the  major  subject  be  chemistry, 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  chemistry,  and  so  on." 

In  1895  there  were  1,100  students  in  the  University, 
of  whom  728  were  men,  and  372  women.  Several  of  the 
students  are  from  the  New  England  States. 

Mr.  Stanford  spent  over  a  million  dollars  in  the  Uni- 
versity buildings,  and  gave  as  an  endowment  over  89,000 
acres  of  land  valued  at  more  than  five  million  dollars. 
The  Palo  Alto  estate  has  8,400  acres ;  the  Vina  estate, 
o9,000  acres,  with  over  4,000  acres  planted  to  grapes 
which  are  made  into  wine  —  those  of  us  who  are  total 
abstainers  regret  such  use;  and  the  Gridlcy  estate 
22,000  acres,  one  of  California's  great  wheat  farms.  In 
years  to  come  it  is  hoped  that  those  properties,  which 
arc  never  to  be  sold,  will  so  increase  in  value  that  they 
will  be  worth  several  times  five  millions. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanford  made  their  wills,  giving  to  the 
University  "additional  property,"  that  the  endowment, 
as  Mr.  Stanford  said,  "  will  be  ample  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  university  of  the  highest  grade."  It  has 
been  stated,  frequently,  that  the  "  full  endowment  "  in 
land  and  money  will  be  $20,000,000  or  more. 

Senator  Stanford's  death  came  suddenly  at  the  last, 
at  Palo  Alto,  Tuesday,  June  20-21,  1893.  He  had  not 
been  well  for  some  time ;  but  Tuesday  he  had  driven 
about  the  estate,  with  his  usual  interest  and  good  cheer. 
He  retired  to  rest  about  ten  o'clock;  and  at  midnight 
his  wife,  who  occupied  an  adjoining  apartment,  heard  a 
movement  as  if  Mr.  Stanford  were  making  an  effort  to 
rise.  She  spoke  to  him,  but  received  no  answer.  His 
breathing  was  unnatural ;  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  passed 
away,  apparently  without  pain. 


LELANI)   STANFORD.  231 

Mr.  Stanford  was  buried  at  Palo  Alto,  Saturday,  June 
24.  The  body  lay  in  the  library  of  his  home,  in  a  black 
cloth-covered   casket,   with  these  words    on   the    silver 

plate :  — 

LELAND   STANFORD. 

BORN   TO   MORTALITY   MARCH   9,    1824. 

PASSED   TO   IMMORTALITY,   JUNK  21,    IS!):?. 

AOKD  69  YRS.,    3   MOS.,    12   DAYS. 

Flowers  filled  every  part  of  the  library.  The  Union 
League  Club  sent  a  floral  piece  representing  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  worked  in  red  and  white  in  "  everlasting," 
with  star  lilies  on  a  ground  of  violets.  There  was  a 
triple  arch  of  white  and  pink  flowers  representing  the 
central  arch  of  the  main  University  building.  There 
were  wreaths  and  crosses  and  a  broken  wheel  of  carna- 
tions, hollyhocks,  violets,  white  peas,  and  ferns. 

At  half-past  one,  after  all  the  employees  had  taken 
their  last  look  of  the  man  who  had  always  been  their 
friend, —  one,  seventy-six  years  old,  who  had  worked 
with  Mr.  Stanford  in  the  mine,  broke  down  comrdetely, 
the  body  was  borne  to  the  quadrangle  of  the  Univer- 
sity by  eight  of  the  oldest  engineers  in  point  of  service 
on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  The  funeral  cortege 
passed  through  a  double  line  of  the  two  hundred  or  more 
employees  at  Palo  Alto,  several  Chinese  laborers  being 
at  the  end  of  the  line.  Senator  Stanford  was  always 
opposed  to  any  legislation  against  the  Chinese. 

The  body  was  placed  on  a  platform  at  one  end  of  the 
quadrangle,  the  remaining  space  being  filled  with  several 
thousand  persons.  About  sixteen  hundred  chairs  wore 
provided,  but  these  could  accommodate  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  those  present.     The  platform  was  decorated  with 


232  L ELAND   STANFORD. 

ferns,  smilax,  white  sweet  peas,  and  thousands  of  St. 
Joseph's  lilies.  The  temporary  chancel  was  flanked  by 
two  remarkable  flower  pieces  :  on  the  left,  a  facsimile 
of  the  first  locomotive  ever  purchased  and  operated  on 
the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  the  "  Governor  Stanford," 
sent  by  the  employees  of  the  company.  The  boiler  and 
smoke-stack  were  of  mauve-colored  sweet  peas ;  the 
headlight  and  bell  were  of  yellow  pansies ;  the  cab  of 
white  sweet  peas  bordered  by  yellow  pansies ;  the  ten- 
der of  white  sweet  peas  edged  by  pansies  and  lined  with 
ivy;  on  the  side  of  the  cab,  in  heliotrope,  the  name 
Governor  Stanford.  On  the  right  of  the  bier  was  the 
gift  of  the  employees  of  the  Palo  Alto  stock-farm,  a 
representation  in  sweet  peas  of  the  senator's  favorite 
bay  horse. 

After  the  burial  service  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  a 
solo,  "0  sweet  and  blessed  country,"  and  address  by 
Dr.  Horatio  Stebbins  of  the  First  Unitarian  Church  of 
San  Francisco,  the  choir  sang  "Lead  Kindly  Light," 
and  the  body  of  Senator  Stanford  was  conveyed  through 
the  cypress  avenue  to  the  mausoleum  in  the  ten  acres 
adjoining  the  residence  grounds.  The  tomb  is  in  the 
form  of  a  Greek  temple  lined  with  white  marble, 
guarded  by  a  sphinx  on  either  side  of  the  entrance. 

Here  beside  the  open  doors  stood  another  beautiful 
floral  tribute,  a  shield  eight  feet  high,  of  roses,  lilies, 
and  other  flowers  sent  by  the  employees  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Railroad  shops.  Worked  in  violets  were  the 
words  "The  Laborers'  Tribute  to  the  Laborers'  Friend." 
The  choir  sang,  "  Abide  with  Me,"  the  body  was  laid  in 
the  tomb,  and  the  bronze  doors  were  closed.  A  few 
days  later  the  body  of  Leland  Stanford,  Junior,  the  boy 


LELANI)   STANFORD.  233 

whose  death,  as  Dr.  Stebbins  said  at  the  senator's 
funeral,  "drew  the  sunbeams  out  of  the  day/'  was  laid 
beside  that  of  his  father.  Some  time  the  mother  will 
sleep  here  with  her  precious  dead. 

Mr.  Stanford's  heart  was  bound  up  in  his  University. 
He  said,  after  his  son  died,  "  The  children  of  California 
shall  be  our  children."  Mr.  Sibley  of  Pennsylvania  tells 
how,  three  years  after  Leland  Junior  died,  he  and  Mr. 
Stanford  "  went  together  to  the  tomb  of  the  boy,  and 
the  father  told  amid  tears  and  sobs  how,  since  the  death 
of  his  son,  he  had  adopted  and  taken  to  his  heart  and 
love  every  friendless  boy  and  girl  in  all  the  land,  and 
that,  so  far  as  his  means  afforded,  they  should  go  to  make 
the  path  of  every  such  an  one  smoother  and  brighter." 

Mr.  Stanford  told  Dr.  Stebbins,  in  speaking  of  the 
University :  "  We  feel  [he  always  used  the  plural,  thus 
including  that  womanly  heart  from  whose  fountains  his 
life  had  ever  been  refreshed]  that  we  have  good  ground 
for  hope.  We  are  very  happy  in  our  work.  We  do  not 
feel  that  we  are  making  great  sacrifices.  We  feel  that 
we  are  working  with  and  for  the  Almighty  Providence." 

By  the  will  of  Mr.  Stanford  the  University  receives 
two  and  a  half  million  dollars,  but  this  bequest  is  not 
yet  available.  He  always  felt,  and  rightly,  that  his 
wife  owned  all  their  large  fortune  equally  with  himself ; 
therefore  he  placed  no  restrictions  upon  her  disposal  of 
it.  Inasmuch  as  she  is  a  co-founder  of  the  University, 
she  will  doubtless  add  largely  to  its  endowment.  Should 
she  do  this,  the  power  of  Leland  Stanford  Junior  Uni- 
versity for  good  will  be  almost  unlimited. 

Even  granite  mausoleums  crumble  away;  but  great 
deeds  last  forever,  and  make  their  doers  immortal. 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM 


AND    HIS    FOUNDLING    ASYLUM. 


One  of  the  best  of  England's  charities  is  the  Found- 
ling Asylum  in  London,  founded  in  1739  by  Captain 
Thomas  Coram.  He  was  not  a  man  of  family  or  means, 
but  he  had  a  warm  heart  and  great  perseverance.  For 
seventeen  years  he  labored  against  indifference  and  pre- 
judice, till  finally  his  home  for  little  waifs  and  outcasts 
became  a  visible  fact,  and  for  more  than  a  century  has 
been  doing  its  noble  work. 

Captain  Coram  was  born  at  Lyme  Regis,  in  Dorset- 
shire, in  1668,  a  seapqrt  town  which  carried  on  some 
trade  with  Newfoundland.  It  is  probable  that  his 
father  was  a  seafaring  man,  as  the  lad  early  followed 
that  occupation.  When  he  was  twenty-six  years  old  we 
hear  of  him  in  the  New  World  at  Taunton,  Mass.,  earn- 
ing his  living  as  a  shipwright. 

He  did  not  wait  to  become  rich  —  as  indeed  he  never 
was  —  before  he  began  to  plan  good  'works.  He  had 
saved  some  money  by  the  year  1703,  when  he  was 
thirty-five ;  for  we  see  by  the  early  records  that  he 
conveyed  to  the  governor  and  other  authorities  in  Taun- 
ton, fifty-nine  acres  to  be  used  whenever  the  people  so 
desired,  for  an  Episcopal  church  or  a  schoolhouse.  This 
gift,  the  deed  alleges,  was  made   "  in  consideration  of 

284 


CAPTAIN    THOMAS    CORAM 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  235 

the  love  and  respect  which  the  donor  had  and  did  bear 
unto  the  said  church,  as  also  for  divers  other  good 
causes  and  considerations  him  especially  at  that  present 
moving." 

Later  he  gave  to  Taunton  a  quite  valuable  library,  a 
portion  of  which  remains  at  present.  A  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  is  now  in  the  church,  on  whose  title-page  it 
is  stated  that  it  was  the  gift  "  by  the  Eight  Honorable 
Arthur  Onslow,  Speaker  of  the  Honourable  House  of 
Commons  of  Great  Britain,  one  of  His  Majesty's  most 
Honourable  Privy  Council,  and  Treasurer  of  His  Majes- 
ty's Navy,  etc.,  to  Thomas  Coram,  of  London,  Gentle- 
man, for  the  use  of  a  church,  lately  built  at  Taunton,  in 
New  England." 

About  this  time,  1703,  Mr.  Coram  moved  to  Boston, 
and  became  the  master  of  a  ship.  He  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  colonies  of  the  mother  country,  and  though 
in  a  comparativly  humble  station,  began  to  project  plans 
for  their  increase  in  commerce,  and  growth  in  wealth. 
In  1704  he  helped  to  procure  an  Act  of  Parliament  for 
encouraging  the  making  of  tar  in  the  northern  colonies  of 
British  America  by  a  bounty  to  be  paid  on  the  importa- 
tion. Before  this  all  the  tar  was  brought  from  Sweden. 
The  colonies  were  thereby  saved  five  million  dollars. 

In  1719,  when  on  board  the  ship  Sea  Flower  for 
Hamburgh,  that  he  might  obtain  supplies  of  timber  and 
other  naval  stores  for  the  royal  navy,  Captain  Coram 
was  stranded  off  Cuxhaven  and  his  cargo  plundered. 

Some  years  later,  in  1732,  having  become  much  in- 
terested in  the  settlement  of  Georgia,  Captain  Coram 
was  appointed  one'  of  the  trustees  by  a  charter  from 
George  II. 


236  CAPTAIN  THOMAS   CORAM. 

Three  years  after  this,  in  1735,  the  energetic  Captain 
Coram  addressed  a  memorial  to  George  II.,  about  the 
settlement  of  Nova  Scotia,  as  he  had  found  there  "  the 
best  cod-fishing  of  any  in  the  known  parts  of  the  world, 
and  the  land  is  well  adapted  for  raising  hemp  and  other 
naval  stores."  One  hundred  laboring  men  signed  this 
memorial,  asking  for  free  passage  thither,  and  protection 
after  reaching  Nova  Scotia. 

Captain  Coram  was  so  interested  in  the  project  that 
he  appeared  on  several  occasions  before  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners for  Trade  and  Plantations,  and  was,  says 
Horace  Walpole,  "the  most  knowing  person  about  the 
plantations  I  ever  talked  with."  For  several  years 
nothing  was  done  about  his  memorial,  but  before  his 
death  England  took  action  about  her  now  valuable 
colony. 

About  1720  Captain  Coram  lived  in  Rotherhithe,  and 
going  often  to  London  early  in  the  morning  and  return- 
ing late  at  night,  became  troubled  about  the  infants 
whom  he  saw  exposed  or  deserted  in  the  public  streets, 
sometimes  dead,  or  dying,  or  perhaps  murdered  to  avoid 
publicity.  Sometimes  these  foundlings,  if  not  deserted, 
were  placed  in  poor  families  to  whom  a  small  sum  was 
paid  for  their  board;  and  often  they  were  blinded  or 
maimed  as  they  grew  older,  and  sent  on  the  streets  to 
beg. 

The  young  mother,  usually  homeless  and  friendless, 
was  almost  as  helpless  as  her  child  if  she  tried  to  keep 
it  and  earn  a  living.  People  scorned  her,  or  arrested 
her  and  threw  her  into  prison  :  the  shipmaster  tried  to 
find  a  remedy  for  the  evil. 

He  talked  with   his   friends  and   acquaintances,   but 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  237 

no  one  seemed  to  care.  He  besought  those  high  in  au- 
thority, but  few  seemed  to  think  that  foundlings  were 
worth  saving.  The  poor  and  the  disgraced  should  bear 
their  sorrows  alone.  Some  from  all  ranks  thought  the 
charity  a  noble  one,  and  wondered  that  it  had  been  so 
long  neglected ;  but  none  gave  a  penny,  or  put  forth  any 
effort. 

"  His  arguments,"  wrote  Coram's  most  intimate  friend, 
Dr.  Brocklesby,  "moved  some,  the  natural  humanity 
of  their  own  temper  more,  his  firm  but  generous  exam- 
ple most  of  all ;  and  even  people  of  rank  began  to  be 
ashamed  to  see  a  man's  hair  become  gray  in  the  course 
of  a  solicitation  by  which  he  was  to  get  nothing.  Those 
who  did  not  enter  far  enough  into  the  case  to  compas- 
sionate the  unhappy  infants  for  whom  he  was  a  suitor, 
could  not  help  pitying  him." 

Captain  Coram  finally  turned  to  woman  for  aid,  and 
obtained  the  names  of  "  twenty-one  ladies  of  quality  and 
distinction  "  who  were  willing  to  help  in  his  project  of 
a  foundling  asylum.  Not  all  "  ladies  of  quality  "  were 
willing  to  help,  however ;  for  in  the  Foundling  Hospital 
may  be  seen  this  note,  attached  to  a  memorial  addressed 
to  "H.B.H.,  the  Princess  Amelia." 

"On  Innocents'  Day,  the  28th  December,  1737,  I 
went  to  St.  James'  Palace  to  present  this  petition,  hav- 
ing been  advised  first  to  address  the  lady  of  the  bed- 
chamber in  waiting  to  introduce  it.  But  the  Lady  Isa- 
bella Finch,  who  was  the  lady  in  waiting,  gave  me  rough 
words,  and  bid  me  gone  with  my  petition,  which  I  did, 
without  opportunity  of  presenting  it." 

Finally  Captain  Coram's  incessant  labors  bore  fruit. 
On  Tuesday,  Nov.  20,  1739,  at  Somerset  House,  London, 


238  CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM. 

a  meeting  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  was  held,  appointed 
by  his  Majesty's  royal  charter  to  be  governors  and  guar- 
dians of  the  hospital.  Captain  Coram,  now  seventy-one 
years  of  age,  addressed  the  president,  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, with  great  feeling.  "My  Lord,"  he  said,  "al- 
though my  declining  years  will  not  permit  me  to  hope 
seeing  the  full  accomplishment  of  my  wishes,  yet  I  can 
now  rest  satisfied ;  and  it  is  what  I  esteem  an  ample  re- 
ward of  more  than  seventeen  years'  expensive  labor  and 
steady  application,  that  I  see  your  Grace  at  the  head 
of  this  charitable  trust,  assisted  by  so  many  noble  and 
honorable  governors." 

The  house  for  the  foundlings  was  opened  in  Hatton 
Garden  in  1741,  no  child  being  received  over  two  months 
old.  No  questions  as  to  parentage  were  to  be  asked; 
and  Avhen  no  more  infants  could  be  taken  in,  the  sign, 
"The  house  is  full,"  was  hung  over  the  door.  Some- 
times one  hundred  women  would  be  at  the  door  with 
babies  in  their  arms ;  and  when  only  twenty  could  be 
received,  the  poor  creatures  would  fight  to  be  first  at 
the  door,  that  their  child  might  find  a  home.  Finally 
the  infants  were  admitted  by  ballot,  by  means  of  balls 
drawn  by  the  mothers  out  of  a  bag.  If  they  drew  a 
white  ball,  the  child  was  received ;  if  a  black  ball,  it  was 
turned  away. 

The  present  Foundling  Hospital  was  begun  in  1740, 
and  the  western  wing  finished  and  occupied  in  1745,  on 
the  north  side  of  Guilford  Street,  London,  the  govern- 
ors having  bought  the  land,  fifty-five  acres,  from  the 
Earl  of  Salisbury. 

Hogarth,  the  painter,  was  deeply  interested  in  Cap- 
tain Coram's  benevolent  object.      He  painted  for  the 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  239 

hospital  some  of  his  finest  pictures,  and  influenced  his 
brother  artists  to  do  the  same.  Hogarth's  "  March  to 
Finchley  "  was  intended  to  be  dedicated  to  George  II. 
A  proof  print  was  accordingly  presented  to  the  king 
for  his  approval.  The  picture  gives  "  a  view  of  a  mili- 
tary march,  and  the  humors  and  disorders  consequent 
thereon." 

The  king  was  indignant,  and  exclaimed,  "Does  the 
fellow  mean  to  laugh  at  my  guards  ?  " 

"  The  picture,  please  your  Majesty,"  said  one  of  the 
bystanders,  "  must  be  considered  as  a  burlesque." 

"  What !  a  painter  burlesque  a  soldier  ?  He  deserves 
to  be  picketed  for  his  insolence,"  replied  the  king. 

The  picture  was  returned  to  the  mortified  artist,  who 
dedicated  it  to  "  the  king  of  Prussia,  an  encourager  of 
the  arts." 

So  many  fine  paintings  were  presented  to  the  hospital, 
—  one  of  Raphael's  cartoons,  a  picture  by  Benjamin 
West,  and  others,  —  and  such  a  crowd  of  people  came 
daily  to  see  them  in  splendid  carriages  and  gilt  sedan 
chairs,  that  the  institution  "became  the  most  fashion- 
able morning  lounge  in  the  reign  of  George  II." 

This  exhibition  of  pictures  of  the  united  artists  was 
the  precursor  of  the  Royal  Academy,  founded  in  1768. 
Before  this  time  the  artists  had  their  annual  reunion 
and  dinner  together  at  the  Foundling  Hospital,  the  chil- 
dren entertaining  them  with  music. 

Hogarth,  notwithstanding  his-  busy  life,  requested 
that  several  of  the  infants  should  be  sent  to  Chis- 
wick,  where  he  resided  ;  and  he  and  Mrs.  Hogarth  looked 
carefully  after  their  welfare.  It  was  the  custom  to 
send    the    babies    into    the    country    to    be    nursed    by 


240  CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM. 

some  mother,  as  soon  as  they  were  received  at  the 
hospital. 

Handel,  as  well  as  Hogarth,  was  interested  in  the 
foundlings.  The  chapel  had  been  erected  by  subscrip- 
tion in  1847.  George  II.  subscribed  £2,000  towards 
its  erection,  and  £1,000  towards  supplying  a  preacher. 
Handel  offered  a  performance  in  vocal  and  instrumental 
music  to  raise  money  in  building  the  chapel.  The  most 
distinguished  persons  in  the  realm  came  to  hear  the 
music.  Over  a  thousand  were  present,  the  tickets  being 
half  a  guinea  each. 

Each  year,  as  long  as  Handel  was  able  to  do  so,  he 
superintended  the  performance  of  his  great  Oratorio  of 
the  Messiah  in  the  chapel,  which  netted  the  treasury 
£7,000.  When  he  died  he  made  the  following  bequest : 
"  I  give  a  fair  copy  of  the  Score,  and  all  the  parts 
of  my  Oratorio  called  the  Messiah,  to  the  Foundling 
Hospital." 

A  singular  gift  to  the  hospital  was  from  Omychund, 
a  black  merchant  of  Calcutta,  who  bequeathed  to  that 
and  the  Magdalen  Hospital  37,500  current  rupees,  to  be 
equally  divided  between  them. 

Captain  Coram  lived  ten  years  after  his  good  work 
was  begun.  He  loved  to  visit  the  hospital,  and  looked 
upon  the  children  as  if  they  were  his  own.  He  rejoiced 
in  every  gift,  although  he  had  no  money  of  his  own  to 
give.  He  had  buried  his  wife,  Eunice,  after  whom  the 
first  girl  at  the  hospital  was  named.  The  first  boy  was 
called  Thomas  Coram,  after  the  founder. 

During  the  last  two  years  of  Captain  C Oram's  life, 
when  it  was  known  by  his  friends  that  he  was  without 
funds,  Dr.  Brocklesby  called  to  ask  him  if  a  subscrip- 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  241 

tion  in  his  behalf  would  offend  him.  He  replied,  "  I 
have  not  wasted  the  little  wealth  of  which  I  was  for- 
merly possessed  in  self-indulgence  and  vain  expenses, 
and  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  that,  in  this  my  old  age, 
I  am  poor." 

Mr.  Gideon,  his  friend,  obtained  various  sums  from 
those  interested.  The  late  Prince  of  Wales  subscribed 
twenty  guineas  yearly. 

Captain  Coram,  content  with  supplying  his  barest 
needs,  turned  his  thoughts  to  more  benevolence.  He 
desired  to  unite  the  Indians  in  North  America  more 
closely  to  British  interests,  by  establishing  among  them 
a  school  for  girls.  He  lived  long  enough  to  make  some 
progress  in  this  work,  but  he  was  too  old  to  be  very 
active. 

He  died  at  his  lodgings  near  Leicester  Square,  on 
Friday,  March  29,  1751,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  his 
last  request  being  that  he  might  be  buried  in  the  chapel 
of  his  Foundling  Hospital.  He  was  buried  there 
April  .3,  at  the  east  end  of  the  vault,  in  a  lead  coffin  en- 
closed in  stone.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  a  great 
concourse  of  people.  The  choir  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
with  many  notables,  were  at  the  hospital  to  receive  the 
body,  and  pay  it  suitable  honors.  The  shipmaster  had 
won  renown,  not  by  learning  or  wealth,  bat  by  disinter- 
ested benevolence.  Seventeen  years  of  patient  and  per- 
sistent labor  brought  its  reward. 

In  the  southern  arcade' of  the  chapel  one  may  read  a 
long  inscription  to  the  memory  of 

CAPTAIN  THOMAS   CORAM, 

WHOSE  NAME  WILL   NEVER  WANT  A  MONUMENT  AS 
LONG  AS   THIS   HOSPITAL   SHALL   SUBSIST. 


242  CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM. 

In  front  of  the  hospital  is  a  fine  statue  of  the  founder 
by  William  Calder  Marshall,  R.A. ;  and  within,  in  the 
girls'  dining-room,  is  Coranvs  portrait  by  Hogarth. 

After  fifteen  years  from  the  time  of  opening  the  hos- 
pital,  the  governors,  their  land  having  risen  in  value  so 
that  their  income  was  larger,  and  Parliament  having 
given  £10,000,  determined  that  their  institution  should 
be  carried  on  in  an  unrestricted  manner,  as  is  the  case 
in  Russia  and  some  other  countries  on  the  Continent. 

In  Moscow  the  Foundling  Hospital  admits  13,000  chil- 
dren yearly.  The  mother  may  reclaim  her  child  at  any 
time  before  it  is  ten  years  of  age.  The  state  knows 
that  the  child  has  received  a  better  start  in  life  than  it 
could  have  done  with  the  poor  mother. 

The  Foundling  Asylum  at  St.  Petersburg,  established 
by  Catherine  the  Great,  is  the  largest  and  finest  in  the 
world.  The  buildings  cover  twenty-eight  acres,  and  the 
institution  has  an  annual  revenue  from  the  government 
and  from  private  sources  of  nearly  $5,000,000.  Thir- 
teen thousand  babies  are  sometimes  brought  in  one  year, 
who  but  for  this  blessed  charity  would  probably  have 
been  put  out  of  the  way.  Twenty-five  thousand  found- 
lings are  constantly  enrolled.  In  Russia  infanticide  is 
said  to  be  almost  unknown. 

Married  people,  if  poor,  may  bring  their  child  for  one 
year.  If  not  able  to  provide  for  it  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  then  it  belongs  to  the  state.  The  boys  become 
mechanics,  or  enter  the  army  and  navy  ;  and  the  girls  be- 
come teachers,  nurses,  etc. 

The  Foundling  Hospital  in  London  determined  to 
welcome  all  deserted  or  destitute  infants,  and  save  as 
many  as   possible  from  sin  and  want.     A  basket  was 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  243 

hung  outside  the  gate  of  the  hospital,  and  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  infants  were  put  in  it  the  first  day. 

Abuses  of  this  kind  intention  soon  crept  in.  Parents 
too  poor  to  care  for  their  children  sent  them  from  the 
country  to  London,  and  they  died  often  on  the  way 
thither.  One  man,  who  carried  five  infants  in  a  basket, 
got  drunk  on  the  journey,  lay  all  night  on  a  common, 
and  three  out  of  the  five  babies  were  found  dead  in  the 
morning.  Often  the  carriers  stole  all  the  clothing  of 
the  little  ones,  and  they  were  thrown  into  the  basket 
naked.  Within  four  years  about  fifteen  thousand  babies 
were  received,  but  only  forty-four  hundred  lived  to  be 
sent  out  into  homes.  The  mothers  hated  to  part  with 
their  infants,  and  would  often  follow  them  for  miles 
on  foot.  The  poor  mother  would  leave  some  token  by 
which  her  child  could  be  identified.  Sometimes  it  was 
a  coin  or  a  ribbon,  or  possibly  the  daintiest  cap  the  pov- 
erty of  the  mother  would  permit  her  to  make.  Some- 
times a  verse  of  poetry  was  pinned  on  the  dress  :  — 

"If  Fortune  should  her  favors  give, 
That  I  in  better  plight  might  live, 
I'd  try  to  have  my  boy  again, 
And  train  him  up  the  best  of  men." 

"  The  court-room  of  the  Foundling,"  says  a  writer  in 
"  Chambers's  Journal,"  "  has  probably  witnessed  as  pain- 
ful scenes  as  any  chamber  in  Great  Britain ;  and  again, 
when  the  children,  at  five  years  old,  are  brought  up  to 
London,  and  separated  from  their  foster-mothers,  these 
scenes  are  renewed." 

"The  stratagems  resorted  to  by  women  to  identify 
their  children,"  says  "  Old  and  New  London,"   "  and  to 


244  CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM. 

assure  themselves  of  their  well-being,  are  often  singu- 
larly touching.  Sometimes  notes  are  found  pinned  to 
the  infant's  garments,  beseeching  the  nurse  to  tell  the 
mother  her  name  and  residence,  that  the  latter  may 
visit  the  child  during  its  stay  in  the  country.  They 
will  also  attend  the  baptism  in  the  chapel,  in  the  hope 
of  hearing  the  name  conferred  upon  the  infant ;  for,  if 
they  succeed  in  identifying  the  child  during  its  stay  at 
nurse,  they  can  always  preserve  its  identification  during 
its  subsequent  abode  in  the  hospital,  since  the  children 
appear  in  chapel  twice  on  Sunday,  and  dine  in  public 
on  that  day,  which  gives  opportunity  of  seeing  them 
from  time  to  time,  and  preserving  the  recollection  of 
their  features." 

So  many  children  were  brought  to  the  hospital  after 
all  restrictions  were  removed,  in  1756,  the  death-roll 
was  so  large,  and  the  expenses  so  great,  that  after  four 
years  different  methods  were  adopted.  There  are  now 
about  five  hundred  children  in  the  Foundling  Hospital, 
who  remain  till  they  are  fifteen  years  old,  when  they  are 
apprenticed  till  of  age  at  some  kind  of  labor.  None 
are  received  at  the  hospital  except  when  a  vacancy 
occurs,  as  the  size  of  the  buildings  and  funds  will  not 
permit  more  inmates.  Usually  about  forty  are  received, 
one-sixth  of  those  who  apply.  There  is  a  fund  pro- 
vided to  help  those  in  later  life  who  prove  idiotic  or 
blind,  or  unfitted  to  earn  their  support. 

Sundays  visitors  in  London  go  often  to  hear  the 
trained  voices  of  the  foundlings.  The  girls,  in  their 
white  caps  and  white  kerchiefs,  sit  on  one  side  of  the 
organ,  a  gift  from  the  great  Handel,  and  the  boys,  neatly 
dressed,  on  the  other  side.     There  is  a  juvenile  band  of 


CAPTAIN   THOMAS   CORAM.  245 

musicians  among  the  boys;  and  so  well  do  they  play, 
that,  on  leaving  the  institution,  they  often  find  positions 
in  the  bands  of  Her  Majesty's  Household  Troops  or  in 
the  navy.  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  C.  Hyde  pre- 
sented the  boys  with  a  set  of  brass  instruments,  and 
some  valuable  drawings  of  native  artists  of  India,  for 
the  adornment  of  their  walls. 

Some  time  ago  I  visited  with  much  interest  the  New 
York  Foundling  Hospital,  on  Sixty-eighth  Street,  six 
stories  high,  founded  by  and  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity.  During  the  year  1895  there  were  cared  for 
3,109  infants  and  little  children,  and  516  needy  and 
homeless  mothers.  On  one  side  of  the  Foundling  Hos- 
pital is  the  Maternity  Hospital,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  Children's  Hospital. 

The  cradle  to  receive  the  baby  is  placed  within  the 
vestibule,  so  that  the  Sister,  when  the  bell  is  rung,  may 
talk  kindly  with  the  person  bringing  it,  and  often  per- 
suades her  to  remain  for  some  months  and  care  for  her 
child.  No  information  is  sought  as  to  names,  family, 
etc.  Other  infants  are  taken  into  the  country  to  be 
nursed  by  foster-mothers,  and  the  institution  does  not 
lose  its  close  oversight  of  the  little  ones. 

When  these  infants  are  unclaimed,  they  are  usually 
sent  to  homes  in  the  West  to  be  adopted.  Since  the 
opening  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  in  1869,  twenty-six 
years  ago,  27,171  waifs  have  been  received  and  cared 
for. 

The  "  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital,"  Fifty-first  Street 
and  Lexington  Avenue,  carries  on  a  work  similar  to  the 
Foundling  Asylum,  and,  though  under  Protestant  con- 
trol, is  not  a  denominational  enterprise. 


246  CAPTAIN    THOMAS   CORAM. 

In  Cleveland,  Ohio,  one  of  the  most  interesting  chari- 
ties is  the  "  Lida  Baldwin  Infants'  Rest,"  for  which 
Mr.  H.  R.  Hatch  has  given  an  admirable  building,  at 
1416  Cedar  Avenue,  costing  $17,000  or  $18,000.  Ba- 
bies, if  over  two  years  old,  are  taken  to  the  Protestant 
Orphan  Asylum  on  St.  Clair  Street.  The  "  Rest "  is 
named  after  the  first  wife  of  Mr.  Hatch,  an  enterprising 
and  philanthropic  merchant,  who,  among  other  gifts,  has 
just  presented  a  handsome  granite  library  building,  cost- 
ing nearly  $100,000,  to  Adelbert  College  of  Western 
Reserve  University. 

When  Reuben  Runyan  Springer  died  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  Dec.  10,  1884,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  }^ears,  he 
did  not  forget  to  give  the  Sisters  of  Charity  $20,000  for 
a  foundling  asylum.  His  family  were  originally  from 
Sweden.  When  a  youth  he  was  clerk  on  a  steamboat 
from  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans,  and  soon  acquired 
an  interest  in  the  boat,  and  began  his  fortune.  Later, 
he  was  partner  in  a  grocery  house.  Mr.  Springer  gave 
to  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  $35,000,  Good  Samar- 
itan Hospital  $30,000,  St.  Peter's  Benevolent  Society 
$50,000,  besides  many  other  gifts.  To  music  and  art 
he  gave  $420,000.  To  his  two  faithful  domestics  and 
friends,  he  gave  $7,500  each,  and  to  his  coachman  his 
horses,  carriages,  harness,  and  $5,000.  His  various 
charities  amounted  to  a  million  dollars  or  more. 

Most  cities  have,  or  ought  to  have,  a  foundling 
asylum,  though  often  it  bears  a  different  name.  The 
Roman  Catholics  seem  to  be  wiser  in  this  respect,  and 
more  careful  to  save  infant  life,  than  we  of  the  Protes- 
tant faith. 


HENRY  SHAW 


AND  HIS  BOTANICAL  GARDEN. 


It  is  rare  that  a  poor  boy  comes  to  America  from  a 
foreign  land,  with  almost  no  money  in  his  pocket,  and 
leaves  to  his  adopted  town  and  State  a  million  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  beautify  a  city,  to  elevate 
its  taste,  and  to  help  educate  its  people. 

Henry  Shaw  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  born  in  Sheffield, 
England,  July  24,  1800.  He  was  the  oldest  of  four 
children,  having  had  a  brother  who  died  in  iufancy  and 
two  sisters.  His  father,  Joseph  Shaw,  was  a  manufac- 
turer of  grates,  fire-irons,  etc.,  at  Sheffield. 

The  boy  obtained  his  early  education  at  Thorne,  a 
village  not  far  from  his  native  town,  and  used  to  get 
his  lessons  in  an  arbor,  half  hidden  by  vines,  and  sur- 
rounded by  trees  and  flowers.  From  childhood  he  had 
a  passion  for  a  garden,  and  worked  with  his  two  little 
sisters  in  planting  anemones  and  buttercups. 

From  the  school  at  Thorne  the  lad  was  transferred  to 
Mill  Hill,  about  twenty  miles  from  London,  to  a  "Dis- 
senting "  school,  the  father  being  a  Baptist.  Here  he 
studied  for  six  years,  Latin,  French,  and  probably  other 
languages,  as  he  knew  in  later  life  German,  Italian,  and 
Spanish.  He  became  especially  fond  of  French  litera- 
ture, and  in  manhood  read  and  wrote  French  as  easily 

247 


248  HENRY  SHAW. 

and  correctly  as  English.  He  was  for  a  long  time  re- 
garded as  the  best  mathematician  in  St.  Louis. 

In  1818,  when  Henry  was  eighteen,  he  and  the  rest  of 
the  family  came  to  Canada.  The  same  year  his  father 
sent  him  to  New  Orleans  to  learn  how  to  raise  cotton ; 
but  the  climate  did  not  please  him,  and  he  removed 
to  a  small  French  trading-post,  called  St.  Louis,  May 
3,  1819. 

The  youth  had  a  little  stock  of  cutlery  with  him, 
the  capital  for  which  his  uncle,  Mr.  James  Hoole,  had 
furnished.  His  nephew  was  always  grateful  for  this 
kind  act.  He  rented  a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  a 
building,  and  cooked,  slept,  ate,  and  sold  his  goods  in 
this  one  room.  He  went  out  very  little  in  the  evening, 
preferring  to  read  books,  and  sometimes  played  chess 
with  a  friend.  It  is  thought  that  he  rather  avoided 
meeting  yQiing  ladies,  as  he  perhaps  naturally  preferred 
to  marry  an  English  girl,  when  able  to  support  her ;  but 
when  the  fortune  was  earned  he  was  wedded  to  his  gar- 
dens, his  flowers,  and  his  books,  so  that  he  never  married. 
The  young  man  showed  great  energy  in  his  hardware 
business,  was  very  economical,  honest,  and  always  punc- 
tual. He  had  little  patience  with  persons  who  were  not 
prompt,  and  failed  to  keep  an  engagement. 

Though  usually  self-poised,  possessing  almost  perfect 
control  over  a  naturally  quick  temper,  a  gentleman  re- 
lates that  he  once  saw  him  angry  because  a  man  failed 
to  keep  an  appointment;  but  Mr.  Shaw  regretted  that 
he  had  allowed  himself  to  speak  sharply,  and  asked  the 
offending  person  to  dine  with  him.  His  head-gardener, 
Mr.  James  Gurney,  from  the  Eoyal  Botanical  Garden  in 
Regent's  Park,  London,  said  many  years  ago   of  Mr. 


HENRY  SHAW,  249 

Shaw,  "  In  twenty-three  years  I  never  heard  him  speak 
a  harsh  or  an  irritable  word.  No  matter  what  went 
wrong, — and  on  such  a  place,  and  with  so  many  men, 
things  will  go  wrong  occasionally,  —  he  was  always 
pleasant  and  cheerful,  making  the  best  of  what  could 
not  be  helped." 

Mr.  Shaw  gave  close  attention  to  business  in  the 
growing  town  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  1839,  after  he  had 
been  there  twenty  years,  was  astonished  to  find  that  his 
annual  profits  were  $25,000.  He  said,  "  this  was  more 
money  than  any  man  in  my  circumstances  ought  to 
make  in  a  single  year ; "  and  he  resolved  to  go  out  of 
business  as  soon  as  a  good  opportunity  presented  itself. 
This  occurred  the  following  year,  in  1840 ;  and  at  forty 
years  of  age,  Mr.  Shaw  retired  from  business  with  a 
fortune  of  $250,000,  equivalent  to  a  million,  probably, 
at  the  present  day. 

After  twenty  years  of  constant  labor  he  determined 
to  take  a  little  rest  and  change.  In  September,  1840, 
he  went  to  Europe,  stopping  in  KochesteiylSLY.,  where 
his  parents  and  sisters  then  resided,  and  took  his 
younger  sister  with  him. 

He  was  absent  two  years,  and  coming  home  in  1842, 
soon  arranged  for  another  term  of  travel  abroad.  He 
remained  in  Europe  three  years,  travelling  in  almost  all 
places  of  interest,  including  Constantinople  and  Egypt. 
He  kept  journals,  and  wrote  letters  to  friends,  showing 
careful  observation  and  wide  reading.  He  made  a  third 
and  last  visit  to  Europe  in  1851,  to  attend  the  first 
World's  Eair,  held  in  London.  During  this  visit  he 
conceived  the  plan  of  what  eventually  became  his  great 
gift.     While  walking  through  the  beautiful  grounds  of 


250  HEX  11 Y  SRA  ir. 

Chatsworth,  the  magnificent  home  of  the  Duke  of  Dev- 
onshire, Mr.  Shaw  said  to  himself,  "  Why  may  not  I 
have  a  garden  too?  I  have  enough  land  and  money 
for  something  of  the  same  sort  in  a  smaller  way." 

The  old  love  for  flowers  and  trees,  as  in  boyhood, 
made  the  man  in  middle  life  determine  to  plant  not 
so  much  for  himself  as  for  posterity.  He  had  finished 
a  home  in  the  suburbs  of  St.  Louis,  Tower  Grove,  in 
1849  ;  and  another  was  in  process  of  building  in  the  city 
on  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Locust  Streets,  when  Mr. 
Shaw  returned  from  Europe  in  1851. 

For  five  or  six  years  he  beautified  the  grounds  of  his 
country  home,  and  in  1857  commissioned  Dr.  Engel- 
niann,  then  in  Europe,  to  examine  botanical  gardens 
and  select  proper  books  for  a  botanical  library.  Corre- 
spondence was  begun  with  Sir  William  J.  Hooker,  the 
distinguished  director  of  the  famous  Kew  Gardens  in 
London,  our  own  beloved  botanist,  Professor  Asa  Gray 
of  Harvard  College,  and  others.  Dr.  Engelmann  urged 
Mr.  Shaw  to  purchase  the  large  herbarium  of  the  then 
recently  deceased  Professor  Bernhardi  of  Erfurt,  Ger- 
many, which  was  done,  Hooker  writing,  "  The  State 
ought  to  feel  that  it  owes  you  much  for  so  much  public 
spirit,  and  so  well  directed." 

March  14,  1859,  Mr.  Shaw  secured  from  the  State 
Legislature  an  Act  enabling  him  to  convey  to  trustees 
seven  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  "  in  trust,  upon 
a  portion  thereof  to  keep  up,  maintain,  and  establish  a 
botanic  garden  for  the  cultivation  and  propagation  of 
plants,  flowers,  fruit  and  forest  trees,  and  for  the  dis- 
semination of  the  knowledge  thereof  among  men,  by 
having  a  collection  thereof  easily   accessible  ;  and   the 


HENRY   SHAW.  251 

remaining  portion  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  main- 
taining a  perpetual  fund  for  the  support  and  mainte- 
nance of  said  garden,  its  care  and  increase,  and  the 
museum,  library,  and  instruction  connected  therewith." 

For  the  next  twenty-five  years  Mr.  Shaw  gave  his 
time  and  strength  to  the  development  of  his  cherished 
garden  and  park.  "  He  lived  for  them,"  says  Mr. 
Thomas  Dimmock,  "and,  as  far  as  was  practicable,  in 
them ;  walking  or  driving  every  day,  when  weather 
and  health  allowed,  and  permitting  no  work  of  impor- 
tance to  go  on  without  more  or  less  of  his  personal 
inspection  and  direction.  The  late  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  than 
whom  there  can  be  no  higher  authority,  once  said, 
'  This  park  and  the  Botanical  Garden  are  the  finest 
institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  country;  in  variety  of 
foliage  the  park  is  unequalled.' " 

Once  when  Mr.  Shaw  was  escorting  a  lady  through  his 
gardens,  she  said,  "  I  cannot  understand,  sir,  how  you 
are  able  to  remember  all  these  different  and  difficult 
names."  — "  Madam,"  he  replied,  with  a  courtly  bow, 
"did  you  ever  know  a  mother  who  could  forget  the 
names  of  her  children  ?  These  plants  and  flowers  are 
my  children.     How  can  I  forget  them  ?  " 

So  devoted  was  Mr.  Shaw  to  his  work,  that  he  did  not 
go  out  of  St.  Louis  for  nearly  twenty  years,  except  for  a 
drive  to  the  neighboring  village  of  Kirkwood  to  dine 
with  a  friend. 

Nine  years  after  the  garden  had  been  established,  in 
1866,  Mr.  Shaw  began  to  create  Tower  Grove  Park,  of 
two  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres,  planting  from  year 
to  year  over  twenty  thousand  trees,  all  raised  in  the  ar- 
boretum of  the  garden.     Walks  were  gravelled,  flower- 


252  HENRY  SHAW. 

beds  laid  out,  ornamental  water  provided,  and  artistic 
statues  of  heroic  size,  made  by  Baron  von  Mueller  of 
Munich,  of  Shakespeare,  Humboldt,  and  Columbus.  The 
niece  of  Humboldt,  who  saw  the  statue  of  her  uncle  at 
Munich,  wrote  to  Mr.  Shaw,  saying  that  "  Europe  had 
done  nothing  comparable  to  it  for  the  great  naturalist." 

Mr.  Shaw  used  to  say,  when  setting  out  these  trees, 
that  he  was  "planting  them  for  posterity,"  as  he  did 
not  expect  to  live  to  see  them  reach  maturity.  They 
were,  however,  of  good  size  when  he  died  in  his  nine- 
tieth year,  Sunday,  Aug.  25,  1889. 

"The  death,  peaceful  and  painless,"  says  Mr.  Dim- 
mock,  "  occurred  in  his  favorite  room  on  the  second  floor 
of  the  old  homestead,  by  the  window  of  which  he  sat 
nearly  every  night  for  more  than  thirty  years  until  the 
morning  hours,  absorbed  in  the  reading  which  had  been 
the  delight  of  his  life.  This  room  was  always  plainly 
furnished,  containing  only  a  brass  bedstead,  tables, 
chairs,  and  the  few  books  he  loved  to  have  near  him. 
The  windows  looked  out  upon  the  old  garden  which  was 
the  first  botanical  beginning  at  Tower  Grove. 

"  On  Saturday,  Aug.  31,  after  such  ceremonial  as  St. 
Louis  never  before  bestowed  upon  any  deceased  citizen, 
Henry  Shaw  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  mausoleum  long  pre- 
pared in  the  midst  of  the  garden  he  had  created  —  not 
for  himself  merely,  but  for  the  generations  that  shall 
come  after  him,  and  who,  enjoying  it,  will  '  rise  up  and 
call  him  blessed.' " 

Mr.  Shaw  was  beloved  by  his  workmen  for  his  uniform 
kindness  to  them.  Once  when  a  young  boy  who  was 
visiting  him,  and  walking  with  him  in  the  garden,  passed 
a  lame  workman,  and  did  not  speak,  although  Mr.  Shaw 


HENRY  SHAW.  253 

said  "  Good-morning,  Henry/'  the  courteous  old  gentle- 
man said,  "  Charles,  yon  did  not  speak  to  Henry.  Go 
back  and  say  *  Good-morning '  to  him."  Mr.  Shaw  em- 
ployed many  Bohemians,  because  he  said,  "  They  do  not 
seem  to  be  very  popular  with  us,  and  I  think  I  ought  to 
help  them  all  I  can." 

Mr.  Shaw  was  always  simple  in  his  tastes  and  eco- 
nomical in  his  habits.  He  drove  his  one-horse  barouche 
till  his  friends,  owing  to  his  infirmities  from  increas- 
ing age,  prevailed  upon  him  to  have  a  carriage  and  a 
driver. 

Four  years  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Shaw  he  endowed 
a  School  of  Botany  as  a  department  of  Washington 
University,  giving  improved  real  estate  yielding  over 
$5,000  annually.  He  desired  "to  promote  education 
and  investigation  in  that  science,  and  in  its  application 
to  horticulture,  arboriculture,  medicine,  and  the  arts, 
and  for  the  exemplification  of  the  Divine  wisdom  and 
goodness  as  manifested  throughout  the  vegetable  king- 
dom." 

Dr.  Asa  Gray  had  been  deeply  interested  in  this 
movement,  and  twice  visited  St.  Louis  to  consult  with 
Mr.  Shaw.  By  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Gray,  Mr. 
William  Trelease,  Professor  of  Botany  in  Wisconsin 
University  at  Madison,  a  graduate  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, and  associated  for  some  time  with  Professor  Gray 
in  various  labors,  was  made  Englemann  Professor  in 
the  Henry  Shaw  School  of  Botany. 

Professor  Trelease  was  also  made  director  of  the  Mis- 
souri Botanical  Garden,  and  has  proved  his  fitness  for 
the  position  by  his  high  rank  in  scholarship,  his  contri- 
butions to  literature,  and  his  devotion  to  the  work  which 


254  HENRY  SHAW. 

Mr.  Shaw  felt  satisfaction  in  committing  to  his  care. 
His  courtesy  as  well  as  ability  have  won  him  many 
friends.  Mr.  Shaw  left  by  will  various  legacies  to 
relatives  and  institutions,  his  property,  invested  largely 
in  land,  having  become  worth  over  a  million  dollars. 
He  gave  to  hospitals,  several  orphan  asylums,  Old 
Ladies'  Home,  Girls'  Industrial  Home,  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  etc.,  but  by  far  the  larger  part  to 
his  beloved  garden.  He  wished  it  to  be  open  every  day 
of  the  week  to  the  public,  except  on  Sundays  and  holi- 
days, the  first  Sunday  in  June  and  the  first  Sunday  in 
September  being  exceptions  to  the  rule.  When  the  gar- 
den was  opened  the  first  Sunday  of  June,  1895,  there 
were  20,159  visitors,  and  in  September,  though  showery, 
15,500. 

Mr.  Shaw  bequeathed  $1,000  annually  for  a  banquet 
to  the  trustees  of  the  garden,  and  literary  and  scientific 
men  whom  they  choose  to  invite,  thus  to  spread  abroad 
the  knowledge  of  the  useful  work  the  garden  and 
schools  of  botany  are  doing ;  also  $400  for  a  banquet 
to  the  gardeners  of  the  institution,  with  the  florists, 
nurserymen,  and  market-gardeners  of  St.  Louis  and 
vicinity.  Each  year  $500  is  to  be  used  in  premiums  at 
flower-shows,  and  $200  for  an  annual  sermon  "  on  the 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  as  shown  in  the  growth 
of  flowers,  fruits,  and  other  products  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom." 

The  Missouri  Botanical  Garden,  Shaw's  Garden  as  it 
is  more  commonly  called,  covering  about  forty-five  acres, 
is  situated  on  Tower  Grove  Avenue,  about  three  miles 
southwest  of  the  New  Union  Station.  The  former  city 
residence  of  Mr.  Shaw  has  been  removed  to  the  garden, 


HENRY  SHAW.  255 

in  which  are  the  herbarium  and  library,  with  12,000  vol- 
umes. The  herbarium  contains  the  large  collection  of 
the  late  Dr.  George  Engelmann,  about  100,000  specimens 
of  pressed  plants ;  and  the  general  collection  contains 
even  more  than  this  number  of  specimens  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  The  palms,  the  cacti,  the  tree-ferns,  the 
fig-trees,  etc.,  are  of  much  interest.  There  is  an  obser- 
vatory in  the  centre  of  the  garden ;  and  south  of  this,  in 
a  grove  of  shingle-oaks  and  sassafras-trees,  is  the  mau- 
soleum of  Henry  Shaw,  containing  a  life-like  reclining 
marble  statue  of  the  founder  of  the  garden,  with  a  full- 
blown rose  in  his  hand. 

During  the  past  year  several  ponds  have  been  made 
in  the  garden  for  the  Victoria  Regia,  or  Amazon  water- 
lily,  and  other  lilies.  On  the  approach  of  winter,  over  a 
thousand  plants  are  taken  from  the  ground,  potted,  and 
distributed  to  charitable  institutions  and  poor  homes  in 
the  city. 

Much  practical  good  has  resulted  from  the  great  gift 
of  Henry  Shaw.  According  to  his  will,  there  are  six 
scholarships  provided  for  garden  pupils.  Three  hundred 
dollars  a  year  are  given  to  each,  with  tuition  free,  and 
lodging  in  a  comfortable  house  adjacent  to  the  garden. 
So  many  persons  have  applied  for  instruction,  that  as 
many  are  received  as  can  be  taught  conveniently,  each 
paying  $25  yearly  tuition  fee. 

The  culture  of  flowers,  small  fruits,  orchards,  house- 
plants,  etc.,  is  taught;  also  landscape-gardening,  drain- 
age, surveying,  and  kindred  subjects.  "It  is  safe  to 
predict,"  says  the  Hon.  Wm.  T.  Harris,  Commissioner  of 
Education,  "  that  the  future  will  see  a  large  representa- 
tion of  specialists  resorting  to  St.  Louis  to  pursue  the 


256  HENRY  SHAW. 

studies  necessary  for  the  promotion  of  agricultural 
industry." 

Dr.  Trelease  gives  two  courses  of  evening  lectures  at 
Washington  University  each  year,  and  at  the  garden  lie 
gives  practical  help  to  his  learners.  He  investigates 
plant  diseases  and  the  remedies,  and  aids  the  fruit- 
grower, the  florist,  and  the  farmer,  in  the  best  methods 
with  grasses,  seeds,  trees,  etc.  He  deprecates  the  reck- 
less manner  in  which  troublesome  weeds  are  scattered 
from  farm  to  farm  Avith  clover  and  grass  seed.  He  and 
his  assistants  are  making  researches  concerning  plants, 
flowers,  etc.,  which  are  published  annually. 

The  memory  of  Henry  Shaw,  "  the  first  great  patron 
of  botanical  science  in  America,"  is  held  in  honor  and 
esteem  by  the  scientific  world.  The  flowers  and  trees 
which  he  loved  and  found  pleasure  in  cultivating,  each 
year  make  thousands  happier. 

Nature  was  to  him  a  great  teacher.  In  his  garden, 
over  a  statue  of  "  Victory,"  these  words  are  engraved  in 
stone :  "  0  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works  :  in  wis- 
dom hast  thou  made  them  all." 

The  seasons  will  come  and  go ;  the  flowers  will  bud 
and  blossom  year  after  year,  and  the  trees  spread  out 
their  branches  :  they  will  be  a  continual  reminder  of  the 
white-haired  man  who  planted  them  for  the  sake  of 
doing  good  to  others. 

Harvard  College  received  a  valuable  gift  May,  1861, 
through  the  munificence  of  the  late  Benjamin  Bussey  of 
Boxbury,  Mass.,  in  property  estimated  at  $413,092.80, 
"  for  a  course  of  instruction  in  practical  agriculture,  and 
the  various  arts  subservient  thereto."  The  superb  es- 
tate is  near  Jamaica  Plain.     The  students  of  the  Bussey 


HEN  BY  SHAW.  257 

Institute  generally  intend  to  become  gardeners,  florists, 
landscape-gardeners,  and  farmers.  The  Arnold  Arbore- 
tum occupies  a  portion  of  the  Bussey  farm  in  West  Rox- 
bury.  The  fund  given  by  the  late  James  Arnold  of 
New  Bedford,  Mass.,  for  this  purpose  now  amounts  to 
$156,767.97. 


JAMES   SMITHSON 


AND   THE    SMITHSONIAN   INSTITUTION. 


Another  Englishman  besides  Henry  Shaw  to  whom 
America  is  much  indebted  is  James  Smithson,  the  giver 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at  Washington.  Born  in 
1765  in  France,  he  was  the  natural  son  of  Hugh,  third 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Macie, 
heiress  of  the  Hungerfords  of  Audley,  and  niece  of 
Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset. 

At  Pembroke  College,  Oxford,  he  was  devoted  to 
science,  especially  chemistry,  and  spent  his  vacations  in 
collecting  minerals.  He  was  graduated  May  26,  1786, 
and  thereafter  gave  his  time  to  study  and  original  re- 
search. In  1790  he  was  elected  a  Eellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  and  became  the  friend  of  many  distinguished 
men,  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  where  he 
lived  much  of  the  time.  Among  his  friends  and  corre- 
spondents were  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  Berzelius  (the  noted 
chemist  of  Sweden),  Gay-Lussac  the  chemist,  Thomson, 
Wollaston,  and  others. 

He  wrote  and  published  in  the  Philosophical  Tran- 
sactions of  the  Royal  Society,  and  also  in  Thomson's 
Annals  of  Philosophy,  many  valuable  papers  on  the 
"Composition  of  Zeolite,"  "On  a  Substance  Procured 
from    the    Elm    Tree,    called    Ulmine,"    "  On    a    Saline 

258 


JAMES    SMITHSON. 


JAMES   SMITHSON.  259 

Substance  from  Mount  Vesuvius,"  "  On  Facts  Relating 
to  the  Coloring  Matter  of  Vegetables,"  etc.  At  his 
death  he  left  about  two  hundred  manuscripts.  He  was 
deeply  interested  in  geology,  and  made  copious  notes  in 
his  journal  on  rocks  and  mining.  His  life  seems  to 
have  been  a  quiet  one,  devoted  to  intellectual  pursuits. 

Professor  Henry  Carrington  Bolton,  in  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly  for  January  and  February,  1896,  re- 
lates this  incident  of  Smithson :  "  It  is  said  that  he 
frequently  narrated  an  anecdote  of  himself  which  illus- 
trated his  remarkable  skill  in  analyzing  minute  quanti- 
ties of  substances,  an  ability  which  rivalled  that  of  Dr. 
Wollaston.  Happening  to  observe  a  tear  gliding  down 
a  lady's  cheek,  he  endeavored  to  catch  it  on  a  crystal 
vessel.  One-half  the  tear-drop  escaped  ;  but  he  sub- 
jected the  other  half  to  reagents,  and  detected  what  was 
then  called  microcosmic  salt,  muriate  of  soda,  and  some 
other  saline  constituents  held  in  solution." 

When  Mr.  Smithson  was  over  fifty  years  of  age,  in 
1818  or  1819,  he  had  a  misunderstanding  with  the  Royal 
Society,  owing  to  their  refusal  to  publish  one  of  his 
papers.  It  is  said  that  prior  to  this  he  intended  to 
leave  all  his  wealth,  over  $500,000  to  the  society. 

About  three  years  before  his  death,  he  made  a  brief 
will,  giving  the  income  of  his  fortune  to  his  nephew, 
Henry  James  Hungerford,  and  the  whole  fortune  to  the 
children  of  his  nephew,  if  he  should  marry.  In  case  he 
did  not  marry,  Smithson  bequeathed  the  whole  of  his 
property  "  to  the  United  States  of  America,  to  found  at 
Washington,  under  the  name  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, an  establishment  for  the  increase  and  diffusion 
of  knowledge  among  men." 


2  GO  JAMES   SMITH  SON. 

Mr.  Smithson,  says  Professor  Simon  Newcomb,  "is 
not  known  to  have  had  the  personal  acquaintance  of  an 
American,  and  his  tastes  were  supposed  to  have  been 
aristocratic  rather  than  democratic.  We  thus  have  the 
curious  spectacle  of  a  retired  English  gentleman  be- 
queathing the  whole  of  his  large  fortune  to  our  Govern- 
ment, to  found  an  establishment  which  was  described 
in  ten  words,  without  a  memorandum  of  any  kind  by 
which  his  intentions  could  be  divined,  or  the  recipient 
of  the  gift  guided  in  applying  it." 

Mr.  Smithson  died  June  27,  1829,  in  Genoa,  Italy,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four.  His  nephew  survived  him  only 
six  years,  dying  unmarried  at  Pisa,  Italy,  June  5,  1835. 
He  used  the  income  from  his  uncle's  estate  while  he 
lived,  and  upon  his  death  it  passed  to  the  United  States. 
Hungerford's  mother,  who  had  married  a  Frenchman, 
Madame  Theodore  de  la  Batut,  claimed  a  life-interest 
in  the  estate  of  Smithson,  which  was  granted  till  her 
death  in  1861.  To  meet  this  annuity  $26,210  was  re- 
tained in  England  until  she  died. 

Eor  several  years  it  was  difficult  to  decide  in  what 
way  Congress  should  use  the  money  "for  the  increase 
and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men."  John  Quincy 
Adams  desired  a  great  astronomical  observatory ;  Eufus 
Choate  of  Massachusetts  urged  a  grand  library ;  a  sen- 
ator from  Ohio  wished  a  botanical  garden ;  another  per- 
son a  college  for  women ;  another  a  school  for  indigent 
children  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  still  another  a 
great  agricultural  school. 

After  seven  years  of  indecision  and  discussion  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  was  organized  by  act  of  Con- 
gress,  Aug.    10,   1846,   which    provided    for    a   suitable 


JAMES   SMITHSON.  261 

building  to  contain  objects  of  natural  history,  a  chemi- 
cal -  laboratory,  a  library,  gallery  of  art,  and  geological 
and  mineralogical  collections.  The  minerals,  books,  and 
other  property  of  James  Smithson,  were  to  be  preserved 
in  the  Institution. 

Professor  Joseph  Henry,  whose  interesting  life  I  have 
sketched  in  my  "Famous  Men  of  Science,"  was  called 
to  the  headship  of  the  new  Institution.  For  thirty- 
three  years  he  devoted  his  life  to  make  Smithson's  gift 
a  blessing  to  the  world  and  an  honor  to  the  name  of 
the  generous  giver.  The  present  secretary  is  the  well- 
known  Professor  Samuel  P.  Langley. 

The  library  was  after  a  time  transferred  to  the  Library 
of  Congress,  the  art  department  to  the  Corcoran  Art 
Gallery,  and  the  Smithsonian  Institution  began  to  do 
its  specific  work  of  helping  men  to  make  original  scien- 
tific research,  to  aid  in  explorations,  and  to  send  scien- 
tific publications  all  over  the  world.  Its  first  publication 
was  a  work  on  the  mounds  and  earthworks  found  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  Much  time  has  also  been  given  to 
the  study  of  the  character  and  pursuits  of  the  earliest 
races  on  this  continent. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  now  owns  two  large  build- 
ings, one  completed  in  1855,  costing  about  $314,000, 
and  the  great  National  Museum,  which  Congress  helped 
to  build.  This  building  has  a  floor  space  of  100,000 
square  feet,  and  contains  over  three  and  one-half  mil- 
lion specimens  of  birds,  fishes,  Oriental  antiquities,  min- 
erals, fossils,  etc.  So  much  of  value  has  been  gathered 
by  government  surveys,  as  well  as  by  contributions  from 
other  nations  by  way  of  exchange,  that  halls  twice  as 
large  as  those  now  built  could  be  filled  by  the  speci- 


262  JAMES   SMITH  SON. 

mens.  So  popular  is  the  museum  as  a  place  to  visit, 
that  in  the  year  ending  June  30,  1893,  over  300,000 
persons  enjoyed  its  interesting  accumulations. 

Correspondence  is  carried  on  with  learned  societies 
and  men  of  science  all  over  the  world.  The  official  list 
of  correspondents  is  over  24,000.  The  transactions  of 
learned  societies  and  some  other  scientific  works  are 
exchanged  with  those  abroad.  The  weight  of  matter 
sent  abroad  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at  the  end 
of  the  first  decade  was  14,000  pounds  for  1857 ;  at 
the  end  of  the  third  decade  99,000  pounds  for  the  year 
1877.  The  official  documents  of  Congress,  or  by  the 
government  bureaus,  are  exchanged  for  similar  works 
of  foreign  nations.  In  one  year,  1892-1893,  over  100 
tons  of  books  were  handled. 

The  "  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge  "  now 
number  over  thirty  volumes,  and  are  valuable  treatises 
on  various  branches  of  science.  The  scholarly  William 
B.  Taylor  said  these  books  "  distributed  over  every 
portion  of  the  civilized  or  colonized  world  constitute  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  the  founder,  James  Smith- 
son,  such  as  never  before  was  builded  on  the  foundation 
of  £100,000." 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  has  been  a  blessing  in 
many  ways.  It  organized  a  system  of  telegraphic  mete- 
orology, and  gave  to  the  world  "that  most  beneficent 
national  application  of  modern  sciences,  —  the  storm 
warnings." 

In  the  year  1891  the  Institution  received  valuable  aid 
from  Mr.  Thomas  G.  Hodgkins  of  Setauket,  N.Y.,  by 
the  gift  of  1200,000.  The  income  from  $100,000  is  to 
be  used  in  prizes  for  essays  relating  to  atmospheric  air. 


JAMES   SMITHSON.  263 

Mr.  Hodgkins,  also  an  Englishman,  died  Nov.  25,  1892, 
nearly  ninety  years  old.  He  gave  $100,000  to  the 
Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  and  $50,000  each 
to  the  Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children, 
and  to  Animals.  He  made  his  fortune,  and  having  no 
family,  spent  it  for  "  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
men."    - 

A  very  interesting  feature  was  added  to  the  work  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  1890,  when  Congress  ap- 
propriated $200,000  for  the  purchase  of  land  for  the 
National  Zoological  Park.  As  no  native  wild  animals 
in  America  seem  safe  from  the  cupidity  of  the  trader, 
or  the  slaughter  of  the  pleasure-loving  sportsman,  it 
became  necessary  to  take  measures  for  their  preserva- 
tion. About  170  acres  were  purchased  on  Rock  Creek, 
near  Washington ;  and  there  are  already  more  than  500 
animals  —  bisons,  etc. — in  these  picturesque  grounds. 
These  Avill  be  valuable  object-lessons  to  the  people,  and 
help  still  further  to  carry  out  James  Smithson's  idea, 
"  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men." 


PRATT,  LENOX,  MARY  MACRAE  STUART, 

NEWBERRY,  CRERAR,  ASTOR, 

REYNOLDS, 


AND   THEIR   LIBRARIES. 


ENOCH    PRATT. 

Enoch  Pratt  was  born  in  North  Middleborough, 
Mass.,  Sept.  10,  1808.  He  graduated  at  Bridge  water 
Academy  when  he  was  fifteen  ;  and  a  position  was  found 
for  him  in  a  leading  house  in  Boston,  where  he  remained 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  had  written 
to  a  friend  in  Boston  two  weeks  before  his  school 
closed,  "  I  do  not  want  to  stay  at  home  long  after  it  is 
out." 

The  eager,  ambitious  boy,  with  good  habits,  constant 
application  to  business,  the  strictest  honesty,  and  good 
common-sense,  soon  made  himself  respected  by  his  em- 
ployers and  his  acquaintances. 

He  removed  to  Baltimore  in  1831,  when  he  was 
twenty-three  years  old,  without  a  dollar  at  his  com- 
mand, and  established  himself  as  a  commission  mer- 
chant. He  founded  the  wholesale  iron  house  of  Pratt 
&  Keith,  and  subsequently  that  of  Enoch  Pratt  & 
Brother.  "  Prosperity  soon  followed,"  says  the  Hon. 
George  Wm.  Brown,  "not  rapidly  but  steadily,  because 
it  was  based   on  those   qualities  of  honesty,  industry, 

264 


ENOCH  PRATT.  265 

sagacity,  and  energy,  which,  mingled  with  thrift,  al- 
though they  cannot  be  said  to  insure  success,  are  cer- 
tainly most  likely  to  achieve  it." 

Six  years  after  coining  to  Baltimore,  when  he  was 
twenty-nine  years  old,  Mr.  Pratt  married  Maria  Louisa 
Hyde,  Aug.  1,  1837.  Her  paternal  ancestors  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Massachusetts ;  her  ma- 
ternal, a  German  family  who  settled  in  Baltimore  over 
a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

As  years  went  by,  and  the  unobtrusive,  energetic  man 
came  to  middle  life,  he  was  sought  to  fill  various  posi- 
tions of  honor  and  trust  in  Baltimore.  He  was  made 
director  and  president  of  a  bank,  which  position  he 
has  held  for  over  twoscore  years,  director  and  vice- 
president  of  railroads  and  steamboat  lines,  president  of 
the  House  of  Reformation  at  Cheltenham  (for  colored 
children),  and  of  the  Maryland  School  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  at  Frederick.  He  has  also  taken  active  inter- 
est in  the  Maryland  Institute  for  the  Promotion  of 
the  Mechanic  Arts,  and  is  treasurer  of  the  Peabody 
Institute. 

For  years  he  has  been  one  of  the  finance  commission- 
ers elected  by  the  city  council,  without  regard  to  his 
political  belief,  but  on  account  of  his  ability  as  a  finan- 
cier, and  his  wisdom.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the 
Unitarian  Church. 

For  several  years  Mr.  Pratt  had  thought  about  giving 
a  free  public  library  to  the  people  of  Baltimore.  In 
1882,  when  he  was  seventy-four,  Mr.  Pratt  gave  to  the 
city  $1,058,000  for  the  establishing  of  his  library,  the 
building  to  cost  about  $225,000,  and  the  remainder,  a 
little  over  $833,000,  to  be  invested  by  the  city,  which 


266  ENOCH  PRATT. 

obligated  itself  to  pay  $50,000  yearly  forever  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  free  library.  Mr.  Pratt  also  pro- 
vided for  four  branch  libraries,  which  cost  $50,000, 
located  wisely  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 

The  main  library  was  opened  Jan.  4,  1886,  with  ap- 
propriate ceremonies.  The  Romanesque  building  of 
Baltimore  County  white  marble  is  82  feet  frontage,  with 
a  depth  of  140  feet.  A  tower  98  feet  high  rises  in  the 
centre  of  the  front.  The  floor  of  the  vestibule  is  in 
black  and  white  marble,  and  the  wainscoting  of  Tennes- 
see and  Vermont  marbles,  principally  of  a  dove  color. 
The  reading-room  in  the  second  story  is  75  feet  long, 
37  feet  wide,  and  25  feet  high.  The  walls  are  frescoed 
in  buff  and  pale  green  tints,  the  wainscoting  is  of  mar- 
ble, and  the  floor  is  inlaid  with  cherry,  pine,  and.  oak. 
The  main  building  will  hold  250,000  volumes. 

The  Romanesque  branch  libraries  are  40  by  70  feet, 
one  story  in  height,  built  of  pressed  brick  laid  with 
red  mortar,  with  buff  stone  trimmings.  The  large  read- 
ing-room in  each  is  light  and  cheerful,  and  the  book- 
room  has  shelving  for  15,000  volumes. 

The  librarian's  report  shows  that  in  nine  years,  end- 
ing with  Jan.  1.  1895,  over  4,000,000  books  have  been 
circulated  among  the  people  of  Baltimore.  Over  a  half- 
million  books  are  circulated  each  year.  The  library  pos- 
sesses about  150,000  volumes.  "  The  usefulness  of  the 
branch  libraries  cannot  be  stated  in  too  strong  terms," 
says  the  librarian,  Mr.  Bernard  C.  Steiner.  Fifty-seven 
persons  are  employed  in  the  library,  —  fourteen  men 
and  forty-three  women. 

Mr.  Pratt  is  now  eighty-eight  years  old,  and  has  not 
ceased  to  do  good  works.     In  1865  he  founded  the  Pratt 


JAMES   LENOX.  267 

Free  School  at  Middleborough,  Mass.,  where  he  was 
born.  Ex-Mayor  James  Hodges  tells  this  incident  of 
Mr.  Pratt :  "  Some  years  ago  he  sold  a  farm  in  Virginia 
to  a  worthy  but  poor  young  man  for  $20,000.  The 
purchaser  had  paid  from  time  to  time  one-half  the  pur- 
chase money,  when  a  series  of  bad  seasons  and  failure 
of  crops  made  it  impossible  to  meet  the  subsequent 
payments.  Mr.  Pratt  sent  for  him,  and  learned  the 
facts. 

"  After  expressing  sympathy  for  the  young  man's 
misfortunes,  and  encouraging  him  to  persevere  and  hope, 
he  cancelled  his  note  for  the  balance  due,  —  $  10,000,  — 
and  handed  him  a  valid  deed  for  the  property.  Aston- 
ished and  overwhelmed  by  this  princely  liberality,  the 
recipient  uttered  a  few  words,  and  retired  from  his  bene- 
factor's presence.  Not  until  he  had  reached  his  Vir- 
ginia home  was  he  able  to  find  words  to  express  his 
gratitude." 

The  great  gift  of  Enoch  Pratt  in  his  free  library  has 
stimulated  like  gifts  all  over  the  country  ;  and  in  his 
lifetime  he  is  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his  generosity. 

JAMES    LENOX. 

The  founder  of  Lenox  Library  on  Seventy-second 
Street,  overlooking  Central  Park,  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  Aug.  19,  1800,  and  died  there  Feb.  17,  1880.  His 
father,  Robert,  was  a  wealthy  Scotch  merchant  of  New 
York,  who  left  to  his  only  son  and  seven  daughters 
several  million  dollars. 

Robert  purchased  from  the  corporation  of  New  York 
a  farm   of  thirty   acres   of    land   in   Fourth   and    Fifth 


268  JAMES  LENOX. 

Avenues,  near  Seventy-second  Street.  For  twelve  acres 
on  one  side  he  gave  $500,  and  for  the  rest  on  the  other 
side,  $10,700.  He  thought  the  land  might  "at  no  dis- 
tant day  be  the  site  of  a  village,"  and  left  it  to  his 
son  on  condition  that  it  be  kept  from  sale  for  several 
years. 

The  son  was  educated  at  Princeton  and  Columbia 
Colleges,  studied  law,  but,  being  devoted  to  literary 
matters,  spent  much  time  abroad  in  collecting  valuable 
books  and  works  of  art.  The  only  lady  to  whom  he 
was  ever  attached,  it  is  stated,  refused  him,  and  both 
remained,  single. 

He  was  a  quiet,  retiring  man,  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  a  most  generous  giver,  though  his 
benefactions  were  kept  from  publicity  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. He  once  sent  $7,000  to  a  lady  for  a  deserving 
charity,  and  refused  her  second  application  because  she 
had  told  of  his  former  gift. 

He  built  Lenox  Library  of  Lockport  limestone,  and 
gave  to  it  $735,000  in  cash,  and  ten  city  lots  of  great 
value,  on  which  the  building  stands.  The  collection  of 
books,  marbles,  pictures,  etc.,  which  he  gave  is  valued 
at  a  million  dollars. 

He  gave  probably  a  million  in  money  and  land  to  the 
Presbyterian  Hospital,  of  which  he  was  for  many  years 
the  president.  He  was  also  president  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  to  which  he  gave  liberally.  To  the  Pres- 
byterian Home  for  Aged  Women  he  gave  land  assessed 
at  $64,000.  He  gave  to  Princeton  College  and  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  to  his  own  church,  and  to  needy  men 
of  letters. 

After  his  death,  his  last  surviving  sister,  Henrietta 


JAMES  LENOX.  269 

Lenox,  in  1887  gave  to  the  library  ten  valuable  adjoin- 
ing lots,  and  $100,000  for  the  purchase  of  books. 

The  nephew  of  Mr.  Lenox,  Eobert  Lenox  Kennedy, 
who  succeeded  his  uncle  as  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  library,  presented  to  the  institution, 
in  1879,  Munkacsy's  great  picture  of  "  Blind  Milton 
dictating  '  Paradise  Lost '  to  his  Daughter."  He  died 
at  sea,  Sept.  14,  1887. 

The  Lenox  Library  has  a  remarkable  collection  of 
works,  which  will  always  be  an  honor  to  America.  Its 
early  American  newspapers  bear  dates  from  1716  to 
1800,  and  include  examples  of  nearly  every  important 
gazette  of  the  Colonial  and  Kevolutionary  times.  The 
library  received  in  1894  over  45,000  papers.  The  Bos- 
ton Neivs  Letter,  the  first  regular  newspaper  printed  in 
America,  is  an  object  of  interest.  Several  of  the  news- 
papers appeared  in  mourning  on  account  of  the  Stamp 
Act  in  October,  1765. 

The  library  has  large  collections  in  American  history, 
Bibles,  early  educational  books,  and  old  English  lite- 
rature. "  The  Souldier's  Pocket  Bible  "  is  one  of  two 
known  copies  —  the  other  being  in  the  British  Museum 
—  of  the  famous  pocket  Bible  used  by  Cromwell's  sol- 
diers. Many  of  the  Bibles  are  extremely  rare,  and  of 
great  value.  There  are  five  copies  of  Eliot's  Indian 
Bible.  There  are  2,200  English  Bibles  from  1493,  and 
1,200  Bibles  in  other  languages. 

One  of  the  oldest  American  publications  in  the  library 
is  "  Spiritual  Milk  for  Boston  Babes  in  Either  England," 
by  John  Cotton,  B.D.,  in  1656.  An  old  English  work 
has  this  title :  "  The  Boke  of  Magna  Carta,  with  divers 
other  statutes,  etc.,  1534  (Colophon  :)  Thus  endyth  the 


270  MART  MACRAE  STUART. 

boke  called  Magna  Carta,  translated  out  of  Latyn  and 
Frenshe  into  Englyshe  by  George  Ferrers." 

There  are  several  interesting  books  concerning  witch- 
craft. The  original  book  of  testimony  taken  in  the  trial 
of  Hugh  Parsons  for  witchcraft  at  Springfield,  in  1651, 
is  mostly  in  the  handwriting  of  William  Pynchon,  but 
with  some  entries  by  Secretary  Edward  Eawson.  The 
library  possesses  the  manuscript  of  Henry  Harrisse's 
work  on  the  "  Discovery  of  America,"  forming  ten  folio 
volumes.  The  library  of  the  Hon.  George  Bancroft  was 
purchased  by  the  Lenox  Library  in  1893. 

The  Milton  collection  in  the  library  contains  about 
250  volumes,  nearly  every  variety  of  the  early  editions. 
Several  volumes  have  Milton's  autograph  and  annota- 
tions. There  are  about  500  volumes  of  Bunyan's  "Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  and  books  relating'  to  the  writer, 
containing  nearly  350  editions  in  many  languages. 
There  are  also  about  200  volumes  of  Spanish  manu- 
scripts relating  to  America.  The  set  of  "  Jesuit  Rela- 
tions," the  journals  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries  in 
this  country,  is  the  most  complete  in  existence. 

Many  thousands  of  persons  come  each  year  to  see  the 
books  and  pictures,  as  well  as  to  read,  and  all  are  aided 
by  the  courteous  librarian,  Mr.  Wilberforce  Eames,  who 
loves  his  work,  and  has  the  scholarship  necessary  for  it. 

MARY    MACRAE    STUART, 

At  her  death  in  New  York  City,  Dec.  30,  1891,  gave 
the  Robert  L.  Stuart  fine-art  collections  valued  at 
1500,000,  her  shells,  minerals,  and  library,  to  the  Lenox 
Library,  on  condition  that  they  should  never  be  exhib- 


WALTER  L.    NEWBE1UIY.  271 

ited  on  Sunday.  To  nine  charitable  institutions  in 
New  York  she  gave  $5,000  each;  to  Cooper  Union, 
$10,000;  to  the  Cancer  Hospital,  $ 25,000  ;  and  about 
$5,000,000'  to  home  and  foreign  missions  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  hospitals,  disabled  ministers,  freedmen, 
Church  Extension  Society,  aged  women,  etc.,  of  the  same 
church,  and  also  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
Woman's  Hospital,  Society  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children,  Society  for  Relief  of  Poor  Widows  with  Small 
Children,  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  Bible  Society, 
Colored  Orphans,  Juvenile  Asylum,  and  other  institu- 
tions in  New  York. 

Mrs.  Stuart  was  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  New  York 
merchant,  Robert'  Macrae,  and  married  Robert  L.  Stuart, 
the  head  of  the  firm  of  sugar-refiners,  R.  L.  &  A.  Stuart. 
Both  brothers  were  rich,  and  gave  away  before  Alexan- 
der's death  a  million  and  a  half.  Robert  left  an  estate 
valued  at  $6,000,000  to  his  wife,  as  they  had  no  chil- 
dren ;  and  she,  in  his  behalf,  gave  away  his  fortune  and 
also  her  own.  She  would  have  given  largely  to  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  and  Museum  of  Art  in  New 
York,  but  from  a  fear  that  they  would  be  opened  to  the 
public  on  Sundays. 

WALTER    L.    NEWBERRY. 

Chicago  has  been  recently  enriched  by  two  great  gifts, 
the  Newberry  and  Crerar  Libraries.  Walter  Loomis 
Newberry  was  born  at  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  Sept.  18, 
1804.  He  was  educated  at  Clinton,  N.Y.,  and  fitted  for 
the  United  States  Military  Academy,  but  could  not  pass 
the  physical  examination.     After  a  time  spent  with  his 


212  WALTER   L.    NEWBERRY. 

brother  in  commercial  life  in  Buffalo,  N.Y.,  he  removed 
to  Detroit  in  1828,  and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness. He  went  to  Chicago  in  1834,  when  that  city  had 
but  three  thousand  inhabitants,  and  became  first  a  com- 
mission merchant,  and  later  a  banker.  He  invested 
some  money  which  he  brought  with  him  in  forty  acres 
on  the  "  North  Side,"  which  is  now  among  the  best  resi- 
dence property  in  the  city,  and  of  course  very  valuable. 

Mr.  Newberry  helped  to  found  the  Merchants'  Loan 
&  Trust  Companies'  Bank,  and  was  one  of  its  directors. 
He  was  also  the  president  of  a  railroad. 

He  was  always  deeply  interested  in  education ;  was 
for  many  years  on  the  school-board,  and  twice  its  chair- 
man. He  was  president  of  the  Chicago  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  was  the  first  president  of  the  Young  Men's 
Library  Association,  which  he  helped  to  found. 

Mr.  Newberry  died  at  sea,  Nov.  6,  1868,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-four,  leaving  about  $5,000,000  to  his  wife  and  two 
daughters. 

If  these  children  died  unmarried,  half  the  property 
was  to  go  to  his  brothers  and  sisters,  or  their  descen- 
dants, after  the  death  of  his  wife,  and  half  to  the  found- 
ing of  a  library. 

Both  daughters  died  unmarried,  —  Mary  Louisa  on 
Feb.  18,  1874,  at  Pau,  France ;  and  Julia  Kosa  on  April 
4,  1876,  at  Borne,  Italy.  Mrs.  Julia  Butler  Newberry, 
the  wife,  died  at  Paris,  France,  Dec.  9,  1885. 

The  Newberry  Library  building,  300  feet  by  60,  of 
granite,  is  on  the  north  side  of  Chicago,  facing  the  little 
park  known  as  Washington  Square. .  It  is  Spanish- 
Romanesque  in  style,  and  has  room  for  1,000,000  books. 
There  will  be  space  for  4,000,000   volumes   when  the 


WALTER   L.    NEWBERRY.  273 

other  portions  of  the  library  are  added.  A  most  neces- 
sary part  of  the  work  of  the  trustees  was  the  choosing 
of  a  librarian  with  ability  and  experience  to  form  a  use- 
ful reference  library,  which  it  was  decided  that  the 
Newberry  Library  should  be,  the  Public  Library,  with 
its  annual  income  of  over  $70,000,  seeming  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  people  at  large.  Dr.  William  Frederick 
Poole,  for  fourteen  years  the  efficient  librarian  of  the 
Chicago  Public  Library,  was  chosen  librarian  of  the 
Newberry  Library. 

Dictionaries,  bibliographies,  cyclopaedias,  and  the  like, 
were  at  once  purchased.  The  first  gift  made  to  the 
library  was  the  Caxton  Memorial  Bible,  presented  Sept. 
29,  1877,  by  the  Oxford  University  Press,  through  the 
late  Henry  Stevens,  Esq.,  of  London.  The  edition  was 
limited  to  one  hundred  copies,  and  the  copy  presented 
to  the  Newberry  Library  is  the  ninety-eighth.  Mr. 
George  P.  A.  Healey,  the  distinguished  artist,  also  gave 
about  fifty  of  his  valuable  paintings  to  the  library. 
Several  thousand  volumes  on  early  American  and  local 
history,  collected  by  Mr.  Charles  H.  Guild  of  Somerville, 
Mass.,  were  purchased  by  Dr.  Poole  for  the  library.  A 
collection  of  415  volumes  of  bound  American  news- 
papers, covering  the  period  of  the  Civil  War,  1861-1865, 
were  procured.  An  extremely  useful  medical  library 
has  been  given  by  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  Professor  of  Sur- 
gery in  Push  Medical  College.  A  valuable  collection  on 
fish,  fish  culture,  and  angling,  made  during  forty  years 
by  the  publisher,  Robert  Clarke  of  Cincinnati,  has  been 
bought  for  the  library.  A  very  interesting  collection  of 
early  books  and  manuscripts  was  purchased  from  Mr. 
Henry  Probasco  of  Cincinnati.    The  collection  of  Bibles 


274  WALTER   L.    NEWBERRY. 

is  very  rich ;  also  of  Shakespeare,  Homer,  Dante,  Horace, 
and  Petrarch.  There  were  in  1895  over  125,600  vol- 
umes in  the  library,  and  over  30,000  pamphlets. 

To  the  great  regret  of  scholars  everywhere,  Dr.  Poole 
died  March  1,  1894.  Born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  Dec.  24, 
1821,  descended  from  an  old  English  family,  young 
Poole  attended  the  common  school  in  Dan  vers  till  he 
was  twelve,  helped  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  learned 
the  tanner's  trade.  He  loved  his  books,  and  his  good 
mother  determined  that  he  should  have  an  opportunity 
to  go  back  to  his  studies. 

In  1842  he  entered  Yale  College,  at  the  close  of  the 
Freshman  year,  spent  three  years  in  teaching,  and  was 
graduated  in  1849.  While  in  college,  he  was  appointed 
assistant  librarian  of  his  college  society,  the  "  Brothers 
in  Unity,"  which  had  10,000  volumes.  He  soon  saw 
the  necessity  of  an  index  for  the  bound  sets  of  periodi- 
cals in  the  library,  if  they  were  to  be  of  practical  use, 
and  began  to  make  such  an  index.  The  little  volume  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  pages  appeared  in  1848,  and 
the  edition  was  soon  exhausted.  A  volume  of  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  pages  appeared  in  1853.;  and  "Poole's 
Index "  at  once  secured  fame  for  its  author,  both  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Dr.  Poole  was  the  librarian  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum 
for  thirteen  years,  and  accepted  a  position  in  Chicago, 
October,  1873,  to  form  the  public  library.  In  1882  Dr. 
Poole  issued  the  third  edition  of  his  famous  "  Index  to 
Periodical  Literature,"  having  1,469  pages.  In  this 
work  he  had  the  co-operation  of  the  American  Library 
Association,  the  Library  Association  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  the  able  assistance  of  Win.  I.  Fletcher, 


JOHN  CRERAR.  275 

M.  A.,  librarian  of  Amherst  College.  Since  Dr.  Poole's 
death,  Mr.  Fletcher  and  Mr.  R.  R.  Bowker  have  carried 
forward  the  Index,  aided  by  many  other  librarians. 

Dr.  Poole  was  president  of  the  American  Historical 
Society,  1887,  of  the  American  Library  Association 
1886-1888,  and  had  written  much  on  historical  and 
literary  topics.  The  Boston  Herald  says,  "  Dr.  Poole 
was  a  bibliographer  of  world-wide  reputation,  and  one 
whose  extended  knowledge  of  books  was  simply  wonder- 
ful." His  "  Index  to  Periodical  Literature,"  invaluable 
to  both  writers  and  readers,  will  perpetuate  his  name. 
Dr.  Poole  was  succeeded  by  the  well-known  author,  Mr. 
John  Vance  Cheney,  who  had  been  eight  years  at  the 
head  of  the  San  Francisco  public  library. 

JOHN    CRERAR. 

Was  born  in  New  York  City,  the  son  of  John  Crerar, 
his  parents  both  natives  of  Scotland. 

He  was  educated  in  a  common  school,  and  at  the  age 
of  eighteen  became  a  clerk  in  a  mercantile  house.  In 
1862  he  went  to  Chicago,  and  associated  himself  with 
J.  McGregor  Adams  in  the  iron  business.  He  was  also 
interested  in  railroads,  and  was  the  president  of  a  com- 
pany. He  was  an  upright  member  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  his  first  known  gift  was  $10,000 
to  that  church. 

Unmarried,  he  lived  quietly  ^at  the  Grand  Pacific 
Hotel  until  his  death,  Oct.  19,  1889.  In  his  will  he 
said,  "I  ask  that  I  may  be  buried  by  the  side  of  my 
honored  mother,  in  Greenwood  Cemetery,  Brooklyn, 
N.Y.,  in  the    family  lot,  and   that  some  of   my  many 


276  JOHN  CRERAR. 

friends  see  that  this  request  is  complied  with.  I  desire 
a  plain  headstone,  similar  to  that  which  marks  my 
mother's  grave,  to  be  raised  over  my  head."  The  in- 
come of  $1,000  was  left  to  care  for  the  family  lot.  He 
left  various  legacies  to  relatives.  To  first  cousins  he 
gave  $20,000  each;  to  second  cousins,  $10,000;  and  to 
third  cousins,  $5,000  each.  To  one  second  cousin,  on 
account  of  kindness  to  his  mother,  an  additional  $10,- 
000 ;  to  the  widow  of  a  cousin,  $10,000  for  kindness  to 
his  only  brother,  Peter,  then  dead.  To  several  other 
friends  sums  from  $50,000  to  $5,000  each. 

To  his  partner  he  gave  $50,000,  and  the  same  to  his 
junior  partner.  To  his  own  church,  $100,000,  and  a 
like  amount  to  the  missions  of  the  church.  To  the 
church  in  New  York  to  which  his  family  formerly  be- 
longed, and  where  he  was  baptized,  $25,000.  To  the 
Chicago  Orphan  Asylum,  the  Chicago  Nursery,  the 
American  Sunday-school  Union,  the  Chicago  Relief  So- 
ciety, the  Illinois  Training-School  for  Nurses,  the  Chi- 
cago Manual  Training-School,  the  Old  People's  Home, 
the  Home  for  the  Friendless,  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  each  $50,000. 

To  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  the  St.  Luke's 
Free  Hospital,  and  the  Chicago  Bible  Society,  each 
$25,000.  To  St.  Andrew's  Society  of  New  York  and 
of  Chicago,  each  $10,000.  To  the  Chicago  Literary 
Club,  $10,000.  For  a  statue  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
$100,000. 

All  the  rest  of  the  property,  about  three  millions,  was 
to  be  used  for  a  free  public  library,  to  be  called  "  The 
John  Crerar  Library,"  located  on  the  South  Side,  inas- 
much as  the  Newberry  was  to  be  on  the  North  Side. 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR.  'Ill 

Mr.  Crerar  said  in  his  will,  "  I  desire  the  books  and 
periodicals  selected  with  a  view  to  create  and  sustain 
a  healthy  moral  and  Christian  sentiment  in  the  com- 
munity. I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  there  shall  not  be 
anything  but  hymn-books  and  sermons  ;  but  I  mean  that 
dirty  French  novels,  and  all  sceptical  trash,  and  works 
of  questionable  moral  tone,  shall  never  be  found  in  this 
library.  I  want  its  atmosphere  that  of  Christian  re- 
finement, and  its  aim  and  object  the  building  up  of 
character." 

Mr.  Crerar  was  fond  of  reading  the  best  books.  His 
liberality  and  love  of  literature  helped  to  bring  Thack- 
eray to  this  country  to  lecture. 

Some  of  the  cousins  of  Mr.  Crerar  tried  to  break  the 
will  on  the  grounds  put  forth  for  breaking  Mr.  Tilden's 
will,  whereby  New  York  City  failed  to  receive  five  or 
six  millions  for  a  public  library.  Fortunately  the  courts 
accepted  the  plain  intention  of  the  giver,  and  the  prop- 
erty is  now  devoted  to  the  public  good  through  a  great 
library  largely  devoted  to  science. 

JOHN    JACOB    ASTOR. 

From  the  little  village  of  Waldorf,  near  Heidelberg, 
Germany,  came  the  head  of  the  Astor  family  to 
America  when  he  was  twenty  years  old.  Born  July  17, 
1763,  the  fourth  son  of  a  butcher,  he  helped  his  father 
until  he  was  sixteen,  and  then. determined  to  join  an 
elder  brother  in  London,  who  worked  in  the  piano  and 
flute  factory  of  their  uncle. 

Having  no  money,  he  set  out  on  foot  for  the  Ehine; 
and  resting  under  a  tree,  he  made  this  resolution,  which 


278  JOIIN  JACOB  ASTOR. 

he  always  kept,  "  to  be  honest,  industrious,  and  never 
gamble."  Finding  employment  on  a  raft  of  timber,  he 
earned  enough  money  to  procure  a  steerage  passage  from 
Holland  to  London,  where  he  remained  till  1783,  helping 
his  brother,  and  learning  the  English  language.  Having 
saved  about  seventy-five  dollars  at  the  end  of  three  or 
four  years,  John  Jacob  invested  about  twenty-live  in 
seven  flutes,  purchased  a  steerage  ticket  across  the 
water  for  a  like  amount,  and  put  about  twenty-five 
in  his  pocket. 

On  the  journey  over  he  met  a  furrier,  who  told  him 
that  money  could  be  made  in  buying  furs  from  the  In- 
dians and  men  on  the  frontier,  and  selling  them  to  large 
dealers.  As  soon  as  he  reached  New  York,  he  entered 
the  employ  of  a  Quaker  furrier,  and  learned  all  he  could 
about  the  business,  meantime  selling  his  flutes,  and  using 
the  money  to  buy  furs  from  the  Indians  and  hunters. 
He  opened  a  little  shop  in  New  York  for  the  sale  of 
furs  and  musical  instruments,  walked  nearly  all  over 
New  York  State  in  collecting  his  furs,  and  finally  went 
back  to  London  to  sell  his  goods. 

He  married,  probably  in  1786,  Sarah  Todd,  who 
brought  as  her  marriage  portion  $300,  and  what  was 
better  still,  economy,  energy,  and  a  willingness  to  share 
her  husband's  constant  labors.  As  fast  as  a  little  money 
was  saved  he  invested  it  in  land,  having  great  faith  in 
the  future  of  New  York  City.  He  lived  most  simply 
in  the  same  house  where  he  carried  on  his  business,  and 
after  fifteen  years  found  himself  the  owner  of  $250,000. 

In  1809  he  organized  the  American  Fur  Company,  and 
established  trade  in  furs  with  France,  England,  Ger- 
many, and  Russia,  and  engaged   in  trade  with  China. 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOB.  279 

He  used  to  say  in  his  old  age,  "  The  first  hundred 
thousand  dollars  —  that  was  hard  to  get;  but  afterward 
it  was  easy  to  make  more." 

He  died  March  29,  1848,  leaving  a  fortune  estimated 
at  $ 20,000,000,  much  of  it  the  result  of  increased  values 
of  land,  on  which  he  had  built  houses  for  rent.  By  will 
Mr.  Astor  conveyed  the  large  sum,  at  that  time,  of 
$400,000  to  found  a  public  library ;  his  friends,  Wash- 
ington Irving,  Dr.  Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  and  Fitz-Greene 
Halleck,  the  poet,  who  was  his  secretary  for  seventeen 
years,  having  advised  the  gift  of  a  library  when  he 
expressed  a  desire  to  do  something  helpful  for  the  city 
of  New  York.  He  also  left  $50,000  for  the  benefit  of 
the  poor  in  his  native  town  of  Waldorf. 

John  Jacob  Astor's  eldest  son,  and  third  of  his  seven 
children,  William  B.  Astor,  left  and  gave  during  his 
lifetime  $550,000  to  Astor  Library.  His  estate  of 
$45,000,000  was  divided  between  his  two  sons,  John 
Jacob  and  William.  The  son  of  John  Jacob,  William 
Waldorf  Astor,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  ex- 
minister  to  Italy,  is  a  scholarly  man,  and  the  author 
of  several  books.  The  son  of  William  Astor,  John 
Jacob  Astor,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  lives  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York.  He  has  also  written  one  or  more 
books. 

In  1879  John  Jacob,  the  grandson  of  the  first  Astor 
in  this  country,  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  a  stu- 
dent of  the  University  of  Gottingen,  and  a  graduate  of 
the  Harvard  Law  School,  erected  a  third  structure  for 
the  library  similar  to  those  built  by  his  father  and 
grandfather,  and  gave  in  all  $850,000  to  Astor  Library. 
The  entire  building  now  has  a  frontage  of  two  hundred 


280  JOHN   JACOB   ASTOR. 

feet,  with  a  depth  of  one  hundred  feet.  It  is  of  brown- 
stone  and  brick,  and  is  Byzantine  in  style  of  architec- 
ture.    In  1893  its  total  number  of  volumes  was  245,349. 

Astor  Library  possesses  some  very  rare  and  valuable 
books.  "Here  is  one  of  the  very  few  extant  copies  of 
Wyckliffe's  translation  of  the  New  Testament  in  manu- 
script," writes  Frederick  K.  Saunders,  the  librarian,  in 
the  New  England  Magazine  for  April,  1890,  "so  closely 
resembling  black-letter  type  as  almost  to  deceive  even  a 
practised  eye.  It  is  enriched  with  illuminated  capitals, 
and  its  supposed  date  is  1390.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
once  the  property  of  Duke  Humphrey.  There  is  an 
Ethiopic  manuscript  on  vellum,  the  service  book  of  an 
Abyssinian  convent  at  Jerusalem.  There  are  two  richly 
illuminated  Persian  manuscripts  on  vellum  which  once 
belonged  to  the  library  of  the  Mogul  Emperors  of  Delhi ; 
also  two  exquisitely  illuminated  missals  or  books  of 
Hours,  the  gift  of  the  late  Mr.  J.  J.  Astor.  One  of  the 
glories  of  the  collection  is  the  splendid  Salisbury  Missal, 
written  with  wonderful  skill,  and  profusely  emblazoned 
with  burnished  gold.  Here  also  may  be  found  the 
second  printed  Bible,  on  vellum,  folio,  1462,  which  cost 
$9,000." 

Mrs.  Astor  gave  a  valuable  collection  of  autographs 
of  eminent  persons ;  and  the  family  also  gave  "  a  mag- 
nificent manuscript  written  with  liquid  gold,  on  purple 
vellum,  entitled  '  Evangelistarium,'  of  almost  unrivalled 
beauty,  but  no  less  remarkable  for  its  great  age,  the 
date  being  a.d.  870.  This  is  probably  the  oldest  book 
in  America."  Ptolemy's  Geography  is  represented  by 
fifteen  editions,  the  earliest  printed  in  1478. 

John   Jacob  Astor,  the  grandson  of  the   first  John 


MORTIMER    FABRICIUS   REYNOLDS.  281 

Jacob,  died  in  New  York,  Feb.  22,  1890.  He  presented 
to  Trinity  Church  the  reredos  and  altar,  costing  $80,000, 
as  a  memorial  of  his  father,  William  B.  Astor.  Through 
his  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Gibbs  of  South  Carolina,  he 
virtually  built  the  New  York  Cancer  Hospital,  and  gave 
largely  to  the  Woman's  Hospital.  He  gave  $100,000 
to  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  $50,000  to  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  with  his  wife's  superb  collection  of 
laces  after  her  death  in  1887.  The  paintings  of  John 
Jacob  Astor  costing  $75,000  were  presented  to  Astor 
Library  by  his  son,  William  Waldorf  Astor,  after  his 
father's  death. 

MORTIMER    FABRICIUS    REYNOLDS. 

"  On  the  2d  of  December,  1814,  there  was  born,  in  the 
narrow  clearing  that  skirted  the  ford  of  the  Genesee 
River,  the  first  child  of  white  parents  to  see  the  light 
upon  that  '  Hundred-Acre  Tract '  which  was  the  primi- 
tive site  of  the  present  city  of  Rochester.  Mortimer 
Fabricius  Reynolds  was  the  name  given,  for  family 
reasons,  to  the  first-born  of  this  backwoods  settle- 
ment." Thus  states  the  "  Semi-Centennial  History  of 
the  City  of  Rochester,  N.Y.,"  published  in  1888. 

This  boy,  grown  to  manhood  and  engaged  in  com- 
merce, was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  six  children  of  his 
father,  Abelard  Reynolds.  He  was  proud  of  the  family 
name  ;  but  "  his  childlessness,  and  the  consciousness  that 
with  him  the  name  was  to  be  extinct,  had  come  to  weigh 
with  a  painful  gravity."  Abelard  Reynolds  had  made 
a  fortune  from  the  increase  in  land  values,  and  both  he 
and  his  son  William  had  interested  themselves  deeply  in 


282  MORTIMER   FABRICIUS  REYNOLDS. 

the  intellectual  and  moral  advance  of  the  community  in 
which  they  lived. 

Mortimer  F.  Reynolds  desired  to  leave  a  memorial  of 
his  father,  of  his  brother,  William  Abelard  Reynolds, 
and  of  himself.  He  wisely  chose  to  found  a  library, 
that  the  name  might  be  forever  remembered.  He  died 
June  13,  1892,  leaving  nearly  one  million  to  found  and 
endow  the  Reynolds  Library  of  Rochester,  N.Y.,  Alfred 
S.  Collins,  librarian. 

It  is  stated  in  the  press  that  President  Seth  Low  of 
Columbia  College  has  given  over  a  million  dollars  for 
the  new  library  in  connection  with  that  college. 

In  "Public  Libraries  of  America,"  page  144,  a  most 
useful  book  by  William  I.  Fletcher,  librarian  of  Amherst 
College,  may  be  found  a  suggestive  list  of  the  principal 
gifts  to  libraries  in  the  United  States.  Among  the 
larger  bequests  are  Dr.  James  Rush,  Philadelphia, 
$1,500,000;  Henry  Hall,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  $500,000; 
Charles  E.  Forbes,  Northampton,  Mass.,  $220,000 ;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Converse,  Maiden,  Mass.,  $125,000 ;  Hiram 
Kelley,  Chicago,  to  public  library,  $200,000 ;  Silas  Bron- 
son,  Waterbury,  Conn.,  $200,000  ;  Dr.  Kirby  Spencer, 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  $200,000;  Mrs.  Maria  C.  Bobbins 
of  Brooklyn,  N. Y.,  to  her  former  home,  Arlington,  Mass., 
for  public  library  building  and  furnishing,  $150,000. 


FREDERICK   H.   RINDGE 


AND    HIS    GIFTS. 


Mr.  Rindge,  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1857,  but 
at  present  residing  in  California,  has  given  his  native 
city  a  public  library,  a  city  hall,  a  manual  training- 
school,  and  a  valuable  site  for  a  high  school. 

The  handsome  library,  Romanesque  in  style,  of  gray 
stone  with  brown  stone  trimmings,  was  opened  to  the 
public  in  1889.  One  room  of  especial  interest  on  the 
first  floor  contains  war  relics,  manuscripts,  autographs 
and  pictures  of  distinguished  persons,  and  literary  and 
historical  matter  connected  with  the  history  of  Cam- 
bridge. The  European  note-book  of  Margaret  Fuller  is 
seen  here,  the  lock,  key,  and  hinges  of  the  old  Holmes 
mansion,  removed  to  make  way  for  the  Law  School,  etc. 

The  library  has  six  local  stations  where  books  may  be 
ordered  by  filling  out  a  slip ;  and  these  orders  are  gath- 
ered up  three  times  a  day,  and  books  are  sent  to  these 
stations  the  same  day. 

The  City  Hall,  a  large  building  also  of  gray  stone  with 
brown  stone  trimmings,  is  similar  to  the  old  town  halls 
of  Brussels,  Bruges,  and  others  of  mediaeval  times.  Its 
high  tower  can  be  seen  at  a  great  distance. 

The  other  important  gift  to  Cambridge  from  Mr. 
Rindge  is  a  manual  training-school  for  boys.     Ground 

283 


284  FREDERICK  II.    IIIXDGE. 

was  broken  for  this  school  in  the  middle  of  July,  1888, 
and  pupils  were  received  in  September.  The  boys  work 
in  wood,  iron,  blacksmithing,  drawing,  etc.  The  system 
is  similar  to  that  adopted  by  Professor  Woodward  at  St. 
Louis.  The  boys,  to  protect  their  clothes,  wear  outer 
suits  of  dark  brown  and  black  duck,  and  round  paper 
caps. 

The  fire-drill  is  especially  interesting  to  strangers. 
Hose-carriages  and  ladders  are  kept  in  the  building, 
and  the  boys  can  put  streams  of  water  to  the  top  in 
a  very  brief  time.  Mr.  Rindge  supports  the  school. 
The  instruction  is  free,  and  is  a  part  of  the  public- 
school  work.  The  pupils  may  take  in  the  English  High 
School  a  course  of  pure  head-work,  or  part  head-work 
and  part  hand-work.  If  they  elect  the  latter,  they  drop 
one  study,  and  in  its  place  take  three  hours  a  day  in 
manual  training.     The  course  covers  three  years. 

Mr.  Rindge  inherited  his  wealth  largely  from  his 
father.  He  made  these  gifts  when  he  was  twenty-nine 
years  of  age.  Being  an  earnest  Christian,  he  made  it  a 
condition  of  his  gifts  that  verses  of  Scripture  and  max- 
ims of  conduct  should  be  inscribed  upon  the  walls  of 
the  various  buildings.  These  are  found  on  the  library 
building ;  and  the  inscription  on  the  City  Hall  reads  as 
follows  :  "  God  has  given  commandments  unto  men. 
From  these  commandments  men  have  framed  laws  by 
which  to  be  governed.  It  is  honorable  and  praise- 
worthy to  faithfully  serve  the  people  by  helping  to 
administer  these  laws.  If  the  laws  are  not  enforced, 
the  people  are  not  well  governed." 


ANTHONY  J.  DREXEL 


AND    HIS    INSTITUTE. 


The  Drexel  family,  like  a  majority  of  the  successful 
and  useful  families  in  this  country,  began  poor.  An- 
thony J.  Drexel's  father,  Francis  Martin  Drexel,  was 
born  at  Dornbirn,  in  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  April  7,  1792. 
When  he  was  eleven  years  old,  his  father,  a  merchant, 
sent  him  to  a  school  near  Milan.  Later,  when  there  was 
a  war  with  France,  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Switzer- 
land to  avoid  conscription. 

He  earned  a  scanty  living  at  whatever  he  could  find 
to  do,  but  his  chief  work  and  pleasure  was  in  portrait 
painting.  When  he  was  twenty-five,  in  1817,  he  de- 
termined to  try  his  fortune  in  the  New  World,  and 
reached  the  United  States  after  a  voyage  of  seventy-two 
days. 

He  settled  in  Philadelphia  as  an  artist,  with  probably 
little  expectation  of  any  future  wealth.  After  nine 
years  of  work  he  went  to  Peru,  Chili,  and  Mexico,  and 
seems  to  have  had  good  success  in  painting  the  portraits 
of  noted  people,  General  Simon  Bolivar  among  them. 

Returning  to  Philadelphia,  he  surprised  his  acquaint- 
ances by  starting  a  bank  in  1837.  There  were  fears  of 
failure  from  what  seemed  an  inadequate  capital  and 
lack  of  knowledge  of  business  ;  but  Mr.  Drexel  was  eco- 

285 


286  ANTHONY  J.    DREXEL. 

nomical,  strictly  honest,  energetic,  and  devoted  to  his 
work. 

He  opened  a  little  office  in  Third  Street,  and  placed 
his  son  Anthony,  born  Sept.  13,  1826,  in  the  small  bank. 
"  While  waiting  on  customers,"  says  Harper's  Weekly, 
"  the  boy  was  in  the  habit  of  eating  his  cold  dinner 
from  a  basket  under  the  counter."  He  was  but  a  lad  of 
thirteen,  yet  he  soon  showed  a  special  fitness  for  the 
place  by  his  quickness  and  good  sense. 

The  bank  grew  in  patrons,  in  reputation,  and  in 
wealth ;  and  when  Prancis  Drexel  died,  June  5, 1863,  he 
had  long  been  a  millionnaire,  had  retired  from  business, 
and  left  the  bank  to  the  management  of  his  sons. 

Besides  the  bank  in  Philadelphia,  branch  houses  were 
formed  in  New  York,  Paris,  and  London.  "  As  a  man 
of  affairs,"  wrote  his  very  intimate  friend,  George  W. 
Childs,  "  no  one  has  ever  spoken  ill  of  Anthony  J. 
Drexel ;  and  he  spoke  ill  of  no  one.  He  did  not  drive 
sharp  bargains  ;  he  did  not  profit  by  the  hard  necessi- 
ties of  others  ;  he  did  not  exact  from  those  in  his  em- 
ploy excessive  tasks  and  give  them  inadequate  pay. 
He  was  a  lenient,  patient,  liberal  creditor,  a  generous 
employer,  considerate  of  and  sympathetic  with  every 
one  who  worked  for  him.   .   .   . 

"  He  was  a  devoted  husband,  a  loving  parent,  a  true 
friend,  a  generous  host,  and  in  all  his  domestic  relations 
considerate,  just,  and  kind.  His  manners  were  finely 
courteous,  manly,  gentle,  and  refined.  His  mind  was  as 
pure  as  a  child's  ;  and  during  all  the  years  of  our  close 
companionship  I  never  knew  him  to  speak  a  word  that 
he  might  not  have  freely  spoken  in  the  presence  of  his 
own  children.     His  religion  was  as  deep  as  his  nature, 


ANTHONY    J.    DREXEL. 


ANTHONY  J.    DREXEL.  287 

and  rested  upon  the  enduring  foundations  of  faith,  hope, 
and  charity. 

"  He  observed  always  a  strict  simplicity  of  living ;  he 
walked  daily  to  and  from  his  place  of  business,  which 
was  nearly  three  miles  distant  from  his  home.  I  was 
his  companion  for  the  greater  part  of  the  way  every 
morning  in  these  long  walks ;  and  as  he  passed  up  and 
down  Chestnut  Street,  he  was  wont  to  salute  in  his  cor- 
dial, pleasant,  friendly  manner,  large  numbers  of  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  people.  His  smile  was  espe- 
cially bright  and  attractive,  and  his  voice  low  and 
sweet." 

Mr.  Drexel  inherited  his  father's  artistic  tastes,  and  in 
his  home  at  West  Philadelphia,  and  at  his  country  place, 
"  Runnymede,"  near  Lansdowne,  he  had  many  beautiful 
works  of  art,  statuary,  books,  paintings,  bronzes,  and 
the  like.     He  was  also  especially  fond  of  music. 

He  was  a  great  friend  of  General  Grant,  and  Dec.  19, 
1879,  gave  him  and  Mrs.  Grant  a  notable  reception  with 
about  seven  hundred  prominent  guests.  He  was  one  of 
the  pall-bearers  at  Grant's  funeral  in  1885. 

Mr.  Drexel  was  always  a  generous  giver.  He  was  a 
large  contributor  to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  to 
hospitals,  to  churches  of  all  denominations,  and  to  asy- 
lums. With  Mr.  Child  s  and  others  he  built  an  Episco- 
pal church  at  Elberon,  Long  Branch,  where  he  usually 
went  in  the  summer. 

His  largest  and  best  gift,  for  which  he  will  be  remem- 
bered, is  that  of  about  three  million  dollars  to  found  and 
endow  Drexel  Institute,  erected  in  his  lifetime.  He 
wished  to  fit  young  men  and  Avomen  to  earn  their  liv- 
ing ;  and  after  making  a  careful  examination  of  Cooper 


288  ANTHONY  J.    DBEXEL. 

Institute,  New  York,  and  Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  and 
sending  abroad  to  learn  the  best  methods  and  plan  of 
buildings  for  such  industrial  education,  he  began  his 
own  admirable  Drexel  Institute  of  Art,  Science,  and 
Industry  in  West  Philadelphia.  He  erected  the  hand- 
some building  of  light  buff  brick  with  terra-cotta  trim- 
mings, at  the  corner  of  Thirty-second  and  Chestnut 
Streets,  at  a  cost  of  $550,000,  and  then  gave  an  endow- 
ment of  $1,000,000.  At  various  times  he  gave  to  the 
library,  museum,  etc.,  over  $600,000. 

The  Institute  was  dedicated  on  the  afternoon  of 
Dec.  17,  1891,  Chauncey  M.  Depew  making  the  dedica- 
tion address,  and  was  opened  to  students  Jan.  4,  1892. 
James  MacAlister,  LL.D.,  superintendent  of  the  public 
schools  of  Philadelphia,  a  man  of  fine  scholarship,  great 
energy,  and  enthusiastic  love  for  the  work  of  education, 
was  chosen  as  the  president. 

Prom  the  first  the  school  has  been  filled  with  eager 
students  in  the  various  departments.  The  art  depart- 
ment gives  instruction  in  painting,  modelling,  architec- 
ture, design  and  decoration,  wood-carving,  etc.  ;  the 
department  of  science  and  technology,  courses  in  mathe- 
matics, chemistry,  physics,  machine  construction,  and 
electrical  engineering ;  the  department  of  mechanic  arts, 
shopwork  in  wood  and  iron  with  essential  English 
branches ;  the  business  department,  commercial  law, 
stenography,  and  typewriting,  etc.  ;  the  department  of 
domestic  science  and  arts  gives  courses  in  cooking, 
dressmaking,  and  millinery.  There  are  also  courses  in 
physical  training,  in  music,  library  work,  and  evening 
classes  open  five  nights  in  the  week  from  October  to 
April. 


ANTHONY  J.   DREXEL.  289 

The  Institute  was  attended  by  more  than  2,700  stu- 
dents in  1893-1894;  and  35,000  persons  attended  the 
free  public  lectures  in  art,  science,  technology,  etc.,  and 
free  concerts,  chiefly  organ  recitals,  weekly,  during  the 
winter  months. 

The  Institute  has  been  fortunate  in  its  gifts  from 
friends.  Mr.  George  W.  Childs  gave  to  it  his  rare  and 
valuable  collection  of  manuscripts  and  autographs,  fine 
engravings,  ivories,  books  on  art,  etc.  ;  Mrs.  John  E. 
Fell,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Drexel,  a  collection  of  ancient 
jewellery  and  rare  old  clocks ;  Mrs.  James  W.  Paul,  an- 
other daughter  of  Mr.  Drexel,  $10,000  as  a  memorial 
of  her  mother,  to  be  used  in  the  purchase  of  articles 
for  the  museum ;  while  other  members  of  the  family 
have  given  bronzes,  metal-work,  and  unique  and  useful 
gifts. 

Mr.  Drexel  lived  to  see  his  Institute  doing  its  noble 
work.  So  interested  was  he  that  he  stopped  daily  as 
he  went  to  the  bank  to  see  the  young  people  at  their 
duties.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  evening 
classes.  "This  part  of  the  work,"  says  Dr.  MacAl- 
ister,  "he  watched  with  great  eagerness,  and  he  was 
specially  desirous  that  young  people  who  were  com- 
pelled to  work  through  the  day  should  have  opportuni- 
ties in  the  evening  equal  to  those  who  took  the  regular 
daily  work  of  the  Institution." 

Mr.  Drexel  died  suddenly,  June  30,  1893,  about  two 
years  after  the  building  of  the  Institute,  from  apo- 
plexy, at  Carlsbad,  Germany.  He  had  gone  to  Europe 
for  his  health,  as  was  his  custom  yearly,  and  seemed 
about  as  well  as  usual  until  the  stroke  came.  Two 
weeks  before  he  had  had  a  mild  attack  of  pleurisy,  but 


290  ANTHONY  J.    DUE X EL. 

would  not  permit  his  family  to  be  told  of  it,  thinking 
that  he  would  fully  recover. 

Mr.  Drexel  left  behind  him  the  memory  of  a  modest, 
unassuming  man  ;  so  able  a  financier  that  he  was  asked 
to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  but  declined  ;  so  generous  a  giver, 
that  he  built  his  monument  before  his  death  in  hisj 
elegant  and  helpful  Institute,  an  honor  to  his  native 
city,  Philadelphia,  and  an  honor  to  his  family 


PHILIP   D.   ARMOUR 


AND    HIS    INSTITUTE. 


Philip  D.  Armour  was  born  in  Stockbridge,  Madi- 
son County,  N.Y.,  and  spent  his  early  life  on  a  farm. 
In  1852,  when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he  went  to 
California,  and  finally  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he  has 
become  very  wealthy  by  dealing  in  packed  meat,  which 
is  sent  to  almost  every  corner  of  the  earth. 

"He  pays  six  or  seven  millions  of  dollars  yearly  in 
wages,"  writes  Arthur  Warren  in  an  interesting  article 
in  McClure's  Magazine,  February,  1894,  "owns  four 
thousand  railway  cars,  which  are  used  in  transporting 
his  goods,  and  has  seven  or  eight  hundred  horses  to 
haul  his  wagons.  Fifty  or  sixty  thousand  persons  re- 
ceive direct  support  from  the  wages  paid  in  his  meat- 
packing business  alone,  if  we  estimate  families  on  the 
census  basis.  He  is  a  larger  owner  of  grain-elevators 
than  any  other  individual  in  either  hemisphere ;  he  is 
the  proprietor  of  a  glue  factory,  which  turns  out  a 
product  of  seven  millions  of  tons  a  year  ;  and  he  is 
actively  interested  in  an  important  railway  enterprise." 

He  manages  his  business  with  great  system,  and 
knows  from  his  heads  of  departments,  some  of  whom 
he  pays  a  salary  of  $25,000  yearly,  what  takes  place 
from  day  to  day  in  his  various  works.     He  is  a  quiet, 

291 


292  PITTLTP  I).   ARMOUR. 

self-centred  man,  a  good  listener,  has  excellent  judg- 
ment, and  possesses  untiring  energy. 

"  All  my  life,"  he  says,  "  I  have  been  up  with  the 
sun.  The  habit  is  as  easy  at  sixty-one  as  it  was  at 
sixteen  ;  perhaps  easier,  because  I  am  hardened  to  it. 
I  have  my  breakfast  at  half-past  five  or  six ;  I  walk 
down  town  to  my  office,  and  am  there  by  seven,  and 
I  know  what  is  going  on  in  the  world  without  having 
to  wait  for  others  to  come  and  tell  me.  At  noon  I 
have  a  simple  luncheon  of  bread  and  milk,  and  after 
that,  usually,  a  short  nap,  which  freshens  me  again  for 
the  afternoon's  work.  I  am  in  bed  again  at  nine  o'clock 
every  night." 

Mr.  Armour  thinks  there  are  as  great  and  as  many 
opportunities  for  men  to  succeed  in  life  as  there  ever 
have  been.  He  said  to  Mr.  Warren  :  "  There  was  never 
a  better  time  than  the  present,  and  the  future  will  bring 
even  greater  opportunities  than  the  past.  Wealth,  capi- 
tal, can  do  nothing  without  brains  to  direct  it.  It  will 
be  as  true  in  the  future  as  it  is  in  the  present  that 
brains  make  capital  —  capital  does  not  make  brains. 
The  world  does  not  stand  still.  Changes  come  quicker 
now  than  they  ever  did,  and  they  will  come  quicker 
and  quicker.  New  ideas,  new  inventions,  new  methods 
of  manufacture,  of  transportation,  new  ways  to  do 
almost  everything,  will  be  found  as  the  world  grows 
older ;  and  the  men  who  anticipate  them,  and  who  are 
ready  for  them,  will  find  advantages  as  great  as  any 
their  fathers  or  grandfathers  have  had." 

Mr.  Frank  G.  Carpenter,  the  well-known  journalist, 
relates  this  incident  of  Mr.  Armour  :  — 

"He  is  a  good  judge  of  men,  and  he  usuall3T  puts  the 


PHILIP    D.    ARMOUR, 


PHILIP   D.   ARMOUR.  293 

right  man  in  the  right  place.  I  am  told  that  he  never 
discharges  a  man  if  he  can  help  it.  If  the  man  is  not 
efficient  he  gives  instructions  to  have  him  put  in  some 
other  department,  but  to  keep  him  if  possible.  There 
are  certain  things,  however,  which  he  will  not  tolerate ; 
and  among  these  are  laziness,  intemperance,  and  getting 
into  debt.  As  to  the  last,  he  says  he  believes  in  good 
wages,  and  that  he  pays  the  best.  He  tells  his  men 
that  if  they  are  not  able  to  live  on  the  wages  he  pays 
them  he  does  not  want  them  to  work  for  him.  Not 
long  ago  he  met  a  policeman  in  his  office. 

"  '  What  are  you  doing  here,  sir  ? '  he  asked. 

"  '  I  am  here  to  serve  a  paper/  was  the  reply. 

"  '  What  kind  of  a  paper  ?  '  asked  Mr.  Armour. 

" '  I  want  to  garnishee  one  of  your  men's  wages  for 
debt/  said  the  policeman. 

"  '  Indeed/  replied  Mr.  Armour ;  <  and  who  is  the 
man  ?  '  He  thereupon  asked  the  policeman  into  his 
private  office,  and  ordered  the  debtor  to  come  in.  He 
then  asked  the  clerk  how  long  he  had  been  in  debt. 
The  man  replied  that  for  twenty  years  he  had  been 
behind,  and  that  he  could  not  catch  up. 

"  i  But  you  get  a  good  salary/  said  Mr.  Armour, 
'  don't  you?' 

"  <  Yes/  said  the  clerk ;  c  but  I  can't  get  out  of  debt. 
My  life  is  such  that  somehow  or  other  I  can't  get  out.' 

"  '  But  you  must  get  out/  said  Mr.  Armour,  l  or  you 
must  leave  here.     How  much  do  you  owe  ?  ' 

"  The  clerk  then  gave  the  amount.  It  was  less  than 
$1,000.  Mr.  Armour  took  his  check-book,  and  wrote 
out  an  order  for  the  amount.  '  There/  he  said,  as  he 
handed  the  clerk  the  check,  'there  is  enough  to  pay 


294  PHILIP  D.   ARMOUR. 

all  your  debts.  Now  I  want  you  to  keep  out  of  debt, 
and  if  I  hear  of  your  getting  into  debt  again  you  will 
have  to  leave.' 

"The  man  took  the  check.  He  did  pay  his  debts, 
and  remodelled  his  life  on  a  cash  basis.  About  a  year 
after  the  above  incident  happened  he  came  to  Mr. 
Armour,  and  told  him  that  he  had  had  a  place  offered 
him  at  a  higher  salary,  and  that  he  was  going  to  leave. 
He  thanked  Mr.  Armour,  and  told  him  that  his  last 
year  had  been  the  happiest  of  his  life,  and  that  getting 
out  of  debt  had  made  a  new  man  of  him." 

When  Mr.  Armour  was  asked  by  Mr.  Carpenter  to 
what  he  attributed  his  great  success,  he  replied  :  — 

"  I  think  that  thrift  and  economy  have  had  much  to 
do  with  it.  I  owe  much  to  my  mother's  training,  and 
to  a  good  line  of  Scotch  ancestors,  who  have  always 
been  thrifty  and  economical." 

Mr.  Armour  has  not  been  content  to  spend  his  life  in 
amassing  wealth  only.  After  the  late  Joseph  Armour 
bequeathed  a  fund  to  establish  Armour  Mission,  Philip 
D.  Armour  doubled  the  fund,  or  more  than  doubled  it; 
and  now  the  Mission  has  nearly  two  thousand  children 
in  its  Sunday-school,  with  free  kindergarten  and  free  dis- 
pensary. Mr.  Armour  goes  to  the  Mission  every  Sunday 
afternoon,  and  finds  great  happiness  among  the  children. 

To  yield  a  revenue  yearly  for  the  Mission,  Mr.  Armour 
built  "  Armour  Flats,"  a  great  building  adjoining  the 
Mission,  with  a  large  grass-plot  in  the  centre,  where  in 
two  hundred  and  thirteen  flats,  having  each  from  six  to 
seven  room,  families  can  find  clean  and  attractive  homes, 
with  a  rental  of  from  seventeen  to  thirty-five  dollars  a 
month. 


PHILIP  D.   ARMOUR.  295 

"  There  is  an  endowed  work,"  says  Mr.  Armour, 
"  that  cannot  be  altered  by  death,  or  by  misunderstand- 
ings among  trustees,  or  by  bickerings  of  any  kind.  Be- 
sides, a  man  can  do  something  to  carry  out  his  ideas 
while  he  lives,  but  he  can't  do  so  after  he  is  in  the 
grave.  Build  pleasant  homes  for  people  of  small  in- 
comes, and  they  will  leave  their  ugly  surroundings,  and 
lead  brighter  lives." 

Mr.  Armour,  aside  from  many  private  charities,  has 
given  over  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  to  the  Armour 
Institute  of  Technology.  The  five-story  fire-proof  build- 
ing of  red  brick  trimmed  with  brown  stone  was  finished 
Dec.  6,  1892,  on  the  corner  of  Thirty-third  Street  and 
Armour  Avenue ;  and  the  keys  were  put  in  the  hands  of 
the  able  and  eloquent  preacher,  Dr.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus, 
"  to  formulate,"  says  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Oct.  15,  1893, 
"  more  exactly  than  Mr.  Armour  had  done  the  lines  on 
which  this  work  was  to  go  forward.  Dr.  Gunsaulus 
had  long  ago  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  best  way 
to  prepare  men  for  a  home  in  heaven  is  to  make  it 
decently  comfortable  for  them  here." 

Dr.  Gunsaulus  put  his  heart  and  energy  into  this 
noble  work.  The  academic  department  prepares  stu- 
dents to  enter  any  college  in  the  country ;  the  technical 
department  gives  courses  in  mechanical  engineering, 
electricity,  and  electrical  engineering,  mining  engineer- 
ing, and  metallurgy.  The  department  of  domestic  arts 
offers  instruction  in  cooking,  dressmaking,  millinery, 
etc. ;  the  department  of  commerce  fits  persons  for  a 
business  life,  wisely  combining  with  its  course  in  short- 
hand and  typewriting  such  a  knowledge  of  the  English 
language,  history,  and  some  modern  languages,  as  will 


296  rillLIP  D.   ARMOUR. 

make  the  students  do  intelligent  work  for  authors,  law- 
yers, and  educated  people  in  general. 

Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  gymnasium, 
that  health  may  be  fully  attended  to.  Mr.  Armour  has 
spared  neither  pains  nor  expense  to  provide  the  best 
machinery,  especially  for  electrical  work.  "  In  a  few 
years,"  he  says,  "  we  shall  be  doing  everything  by  elec- 
tricity. Before  long  our  steam-engines  will  be  as  old- 
fashioned  as  the  windmills  are  now." 

Dr.  Gunsaulus  has  taken  great  pleasure  in  gathering 
books,  prints,  etc.,  for  the  library,  which  already  has 
a  choice  collection  of  works  on  the  early  history  of 
printing. 

The  Institute  was  opened  in  September,  1893,  with 
six  hundred  pupils,  and  has  been  most  useful  and  suc- 
cessful from  the  first. 


LEONARD   CASE 


AND    THE    SCHOOL    OF    APfLIED    SCIENCE. 


Technological  schools  are  springing  up  so  rapidly 
all  over  our  country  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  name 
them  all.  The  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology  at  Hobo- 
ken,  N.  J.,  was  organized  in  1871,  with  a  gift  of  $650,000  ; 
the  Towne  Scientific  School,  Philadelphia,  1872,  $1,000,- 
000  ;  the  Miller  School,  Batesville,  Va.,  1878,  $1,000,000  ; 
the  Rose  Polytechnic,  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  1883,  over 
$500,000  ;  the  Case  School  of  Applied  Science  of  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  1881,  over  $2,000,000. 

Leonard  Case,  the  giver  of  the  Case  School  and  the 
Case  Library,  born  June  27,  1820,  was  a  quiet,  scholarly 
man,  who  gave  wisely  the  wealth  amassed  by  his  father. 
The  family  on  the  paternal  side  came  from  Holland ;  on 
the  maternal  side  from  Germany.  Mr.  James  D.  Cleve- 
land, in  a  recent  sketch  of  the  founder  of  Case  School, 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  ancestors  of  Mr.  Case. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Leonard  Case,  Leonard  Eck- 
stein, when  a  youth,  had  a  quarrel  with  the  Catholic 
clergy  in  Nuremberg,  near  which^city  he  was  born,  and 
was  in  consequence  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  nearly 
starved.  One  day  his  sister  brought  him  a  cake  which 
contained  a  slender  silk  cord  baked  in  it.  This  cord 
was  let  down  from  his  cell   window  to  a  friend,  who 

297 


298  LEONARD    CASE. 

fastened  it  to  a  rope  which,  when  drawn  up,  enabled  the 
young  man  to  slide  down  a  wall  eighty  feet  above  the 
ground. 

After  his  escape,  the  youth  of  nineteen  came  to  Amer- 
ica, and  landed  in  Philadelphia  without  a  cent  of  money. 
Later  he  married  and  moved  to  Western  Pennsylvania ; 
and  his  daughter  Magdalene  married  Meshach  Case,  the 
grandfather  of  Leonard  Case. 

Meschach  was  an  invalid  from  asthma.  In  1799  he 
and  his  wife  came  on  horseback  to  explore  Ohio,  and 
perhaps  make  a  home.  They  bought  two  hundred  acres 
of  the  wilderness  in  the  township  of  Warren,  built  a  log 
cabin,  and  cleared  an  acre  of  timber  around  it.  The 
following  year  others  came  to  settle,  and  all  celebrated 
the  Fourth  of  July  with  instruments  made  on  the 
grounds.  Their  drum  was  a  piece  of  hollow  pepperidge- 
tree  with  a  fawn's  skin  stretched  over  it,  and  a  fife  was 
made  from  an  elder  stem. 

The  eldest  son,  Leonard,  who  was  a  hard  worker  from 
a  child,  at  seven  cutting  wood  for  the  fires,  at  ten  thrash- 
ing grain,  at  fourteen  ploughing  and  harvesting,  took 
cold  when  heated,  and  became  ill  for  two  years  and  a 
cripple  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  using  crutches  as  he 
walked.  Early  in  life,  when  it  was  the  fashion  to  use 
intoxicating  liquors,  Leonard  made  a  pledge  never  to 
use  them,  and  was  a  total  abstainer  as  long  as  he  lived, 
thus  setting  a  noble  example  to  the  growing  community. 

Determined  to  have  an  education,  he  invented  some 
instruments  for  drafting,  bottomed  all  the  chairs  in  the 
neighborhood,  made  sieves  for  the  farmers,  and  thus 
earned  a  little  money  for  books.  As  his  handwriting 
was  good,  he  was  made   clerk   of   the   little   court  at 


LEONARD   CASE.  299 

Warren,  and  later  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  Trumbull 
County,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  to  study,  and  copy 
the  records  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company. 

A  friend  advised  him  to  study  law,  and  furnished 
him  with  books,  which  advice  he  followed.  Later,  in 
1816,  he  moved  to  Cleveland,  and  was  made  cashier  of 
a  bank  just  organized.  He  was  a  man  of  public  spirit, 
suggested  the  planting  of  trees  which  have  made  Cleve- 
land known  as  the  Forest  City,  was  sent  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  finally  became  president  of  a  bank,  as  well  as 
land  agent  of  the  Connecticut  Land  Company.  He  was 
universally  respected  and  esteemed. 

The  hard-working  invalid  had  become  rich  through 
increase  in  value  of  the  large  amount  of  land  which  he 
had  purchased.  He  died  Dec.  7,  1864,  seven  years  after 
his  wife's  death,  and  two  years  after  the  death  of  his 
very  promising  son  William,  of  consumption.  The  latter 
was  deeply  interested  in  natural  history,  and  in  1859  had 
begun  to  erect  a  building  for  the  Young  Men's  Library 
Association  and  the  Kirtland  Society  of  Natural  History. 
This  project  his  surviving  brother,  Leonard,  carried  out. 

After  the  death  of  father,  mother,  and  brother,  Leo- 
nard Case  was  left  to  inherit  the  property.  He  had 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1842,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1844.  He,  however,  devoted  himself  to  lite- 
rary pursuits,  and  travelled  extensively  over  this  country 
and  abroad. 

Ill  health  in  later  years  increased  his  natural  reti- 
cence and  dislike  of  publicity.  He  gave  generously 
where  he  became  interested.  To  the  Library  Associa- 
tion he  first  gave  $20,000.  In  1876  he  gave  Case  Build- 
ing and  grounds,  then  valued  at  $ 225,000,  to  the  Library 


300  LEONARD   CASE. 

Association.  It  is  now  worth  over  half  a  million  dol- 
lars, and  furnishes  a  good  income  for  its  library  of  over 
40,000  volumes.  Under  the  excellent  management  of 
M  v.  Charles  Orr,  the  librarian,  the  building  has  been 
remodelled,  and  the  library  much  enlarged.  The  mem- 
bership fee  is  one  dollar  annually. 

The  same  year,  1876,  Mr.  Case  determined  to  carry 
out  his  plan  of  a  School  of  Applied  Science.  He  corre- 
sponded with  various  eminent  men ;  and  on  Feb.  24,  1877, 
after  gifts  to  his  father's  relatives,  he  conveyed  his 
property  to  trustees  for  a  school  where  should  be  taught 
mathematics,  physics,  mechanical  and  civil  engineering, 
chemistry,  mining  and  metallurgy,  natural  history,  mod- 
ern languages,  etc.,  to  fit  young  men  for  practical  work 
in  life. 

"  How  well  this  foresight  was  inspired,"  says  Mr. 
Cleveland,  "  is  shown  in  the  great  demand  by  the  city 
and  country  at  large  for  the  men  who  have  received 
training  at  the  Case  School.  Hundreds  are  called  for  by 
iron,  steel,  and  chemical  works,  here  and  elsewhere,  to 
act  in  laboratories  or  in  direction  of  important  engineer- 
ing, in  mines,  railroads,  construction  of  docks,  water- 
works, electrical  projects,  and  architecture.  Nearly 
forty  new  professions  have  been  opened  to  the  youth  of 
Cleveland,  which  were  unavailable  before  this  school 
was  founded." 

Cady  Staley,  Ph.D.  LL.D.,  is  the  president  of  Case 
School,  which  has  an  able  corps  of  professors.  There 
are  nearly  250  students  in  the  institution. 

Leonard  Case  died  Jan.  6,  1880 ;  but  his  school  and 
his  library  perpetuate  his  name,  and  make  his  memory 
honored. 


ASA   PACKER 


AXD    LEHIGH    UNIVERSITY 


In  the  midst  of  twenty  acres  stands  Lehigh  Univer- 
sity, at  South  Bethlehem,  Penn.,  founded  by  Asa 
Packer,  —  a  great  school  of  technology,  with  courses  in 
civil,  mechanical,  mining,  and  electrical  engineering, 
chemistry,  and  architecture.  The  school  of  general  lit- 
erature of  the  University  has  a  classical  course,  a  Latin- 
scientific  course,  and  a  course  in  science  and  letters. 

To  this  institution  Judge  Packer  gave  three  and  one- 
quarter  millions  during  his  life  ;  and  by  will,  eventually, 
the  University  will  become  one  of  the  richest  in  the 
country. 

He  did  not  give  to  Lehigh  University  alone.  "  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  so  well  known  throughout  eastern 
Pennsylvania  for  its  noble  and  practical  charity,"  says 
Mr.  Davis  Brodhead  in  the  Magazine  of  American  His- 
tory, June,  1885,  "  is  also  sustained  by  the  endowments 
of  Asa  Packer.  Indeed,  when  we  consider  the  scope  of 
his  generosity,  of  which  Washington  and  Lee  University 
of  Virginia,  Muhlenburg  College  .at  Allentown,  Penn., 
Jefferson  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  many 
churches  throughout  his  native  State,  of  different  de- 
nominations, can  bear  witness,  we  can  the  better  appre- 
ciate how  truly  catholic  were  his  gifts.    His  benefactions 

301 


302  ASA   PACKER. 

did  not  pause  upon  State  lines,  nor  recognize  sectional 
divisions. 

"  In  speaking  of  his  generosity,  Senator  T.  F.  Bayard 
once  said,  '  The  confines  of  a  continent  were  too  narrow 
for  his  sense  of  human  brotherhood,  which  recognized 
its  ties  everywhere  upon  this  footstool  of  the  Almighty, 
and  decreed  that  all  were  to  be  united  to  share  in  the 
fruits  of  his  life-long  labor/  " 

Asa  Packer  was  born  in  Groton,  Conn.,  Dec.  29, 1805. 
As  his  father  had  been  unsuccessful  in  business  he 
could  not  educate  his  boy,  who  found  employment  in 
a  tannery  in  North  Stonington.  His  employer  soon 
died,  and  the  youth  was  obliged  to  go  to  work  on  a 
farm. 

He  was  ambitious,  and  determined  to  seek  his  fortune 
farther  west ;  so  with  real  courage  walked  from  Connec- 
ticut to  Susquehanna  County,  Penn.,  and  in  the  new 
county  took  up  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner. 

For  ten  years  he  worked  hard  at  his  trade.  He  pur- 
chased a  few  acres  in  the  native  forest,  cleared  off  the 
trees,  and  built  a  log  house,  to  which  he  took  his  bride. 
When  children  were  born  into  the  home  she  made  all 
the  clothing,  and  in  every  way  helped  the  poor,  industri- 
ous carpenter  to  make  a  living. 

In  1833,  when  he  was  twenty-eight  years  old,  Mr. 
Packer  moved  his  family  to  Mauch  Chunk  in  the  Lehigh 
Valley,  hoping  that  he  could  earn  a  little  more  money 
by  his  trade. 

When  he  had  leisure,  his  busy  mind  was  thinking  how 
the  vast  supplies  of  coal  and  iron  in  the  Lehigh  Valley 
could  be  transported  East.  In  the  fall  of  1833  the  car- 
penter chartered  a  canal  boat,  and  doing  most  of  the 


ASA    PACKEB.  303 

manual  labor  himself,  lie  started  with  a  load  of  coal  to 
Philadelphia  through  the  Lehigh  Canal. 

Making  a  little  money  out  of  this  venture,  he  secured 
another  boat,  and  in  1835  took  his  brother  into  partner- 
ship, and  they  together  commenced  dealing  in  general 
merchandise.  This  firm  was  the  first  to  carry  anthracite 
coal  through  to  New  York,  it  having  been  carried  previ- 
ously to  Philadelphia,  and  from  there  re-shipped  to  New 
York. 

With  Asa  Packer's  energy,  honesty,  and  broad  think- 
ing, the  business  grew  to  good-sized  proportions.  Then 
he  realized  that  they  must  have  steam  for  quicker  trans- 
portation. He  urged  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation 
Company  to  build  a  railroad  along  the  banks  of  their 
canal ;  but  they  refused,  thinking  that  coal  and  lum- 
ber could  only  pay  water  freights.  In  September, 
1847,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Delaware,  Lehigh, 
Schuylkill,  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  Company ;  but 
the  people  were  indifferent,  and  the  time  of  the  char- 
ter was  within  seventeen  days  of  expiring,  when  Asa 
Packer  became  one  of  the  board  of  managers,  and  by 
his  efforts  graded  one  mile  of  the  road,  thus  saving 
the  charter.  Two  years  later  the  name  of  the'  com- 
pany was  changed  to  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  Mr.  Packer  had  a  controlling  portion  of  the 
stock. 

So  much  faith  had  he  in  the  project  that  no  one  else, 
apparently,  had  faith  in,  that  he  offered  to  build  the 
road  from  Mauch  Chunk  to  Easton,  a  distance  of  forty- 
six  miles,  and  take  his  pay  in  the  stocks  and  bonds  of 
the  company. 

The  offer  was  accepted ;   and  the  road  was  finished  in 


304  ASA   PACK El! . 

1855,  four  years  after  it  was  begun,  but  not  without 
many  discouragements  and  great  financial  strain.  Mr. 
Packer  was  made  president  of  the  railroad  company, 
which  position  he  held  as  long  as  he  lived. 

Already  wealth  and  honors  had  come  to  the  energetic 
carpenter.  In  1842  and  1843  he  was  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature,  and  became  one  of  the  two  associate 
judges  for  the  new  county  of  Carbon. 

In  1852,  and  again  in  1854,  he  was  elected  to  Congress 
as  a  Democrat,  and  made  a  useful  record  for  himself. 
So  universally  respected  was  he  in  Pennsylvania  for  his 
Christian  life,  as  well  as  for  his  successful  business  ca- 
reer, that  he  was  prominently  mentioned  as  a  presiden- 
tial candidate,  Pennsylvania  voting  solidly  for  him 
through  fourteen  ballots ;  and  when  his  name  was 
withdrawn  the  delegates  voted  for  Horatio  Seymour. 

In  18G9,  Judge  Packer  was  nominated  for  governor; 
but  the  State  was  strongly  Republican,  having  given 
General  Grant  the  previous  year  25,000  majority. 
Judge  Packer  was  defeated  by  only  4,500  votes,  show- 
ing his  popularity  in  his  own  State. 

Two  years  before  this,  in  the  autumn  of  1867,  his 
great  gift,  Lehigh  University,  had  been  opened  to 
pupils.  It  has  now  considerably  over  four  hundred 
students,  from  thirty-five  various  States  and  coun- 
tries. It  was  named  by  Judge  Packer,  who  would 
not  allow  his  own  name  to  be  used.  After  his  death 
the  largest  of  the  buildings  was  called  Packer  Hall, 
but  by  the  wording  of  the  charter  the  name  of  the 
University  can  never  be  changed.  The  Packer  Memo- 
rial Church,  a  handsome  structure,  is  the  gift  of  Mrs. 
Packer   Cummings,   the  daughter  of  the   founder.     To 


.4^   PACKER.  305 

the  east  of  Packer  Hall  is  the  University  Library 
with  97,000  volumes,  the  building  costing  $100,000, 
erected  by  Judge  Packer  in  memory  of  his  daughter 
Mrs.  Lucy  Packer  Linderman.  At  his  death  he  en- 
dowed the  library  with  a  fund  of  $500,000. 

Judge  Packer  died  May  17,  1879,  and  is  buried  in  the 
little  cemetery  at  Mauch  Chunk  in  the  picturesque  Le- 
high Valley.  He  lived  simply,  giving  away  during  the 
last  few  years  of  his  life  over  $4,000,000. 

Said  the  president  of  the  University,  Pev.  Dr.  John 
M.  Leavitt,  in  a  memorial  sermon  delivered  in  Univer- 
sity Chapel,  June  15,  1879,  "Not  only  his  magnificent 
bequests  are  our  treasures ;  we  have  something  more 
precious, — his  character  is  the  noblest  legacy  of  Asa 
Packer  to  the  Lehigh  University.  .  .  . 

"He  was  both  gentle  and  inflexible,  persuasive  and 
commanding,  in  his  sensibilities  refined  and  delicate  as  a 
woman,  and  in  his  intellect  and  resolve  clear  and  strong 
as  a  successful  military  leader.  .  .  .  Genial  kindness 
flowed  out  from  him  as  beams  from  the  sun.  Never  at 
any  period  of  his  life  is  it  possible  to  conceive  in  him  a 
churlish  or  niggardly  spirit.  .  .  .  During  nearly  fifty 
years  he  was  connected  with  our  church,  usually  as  an 
officer,  and  for  much  of  the  long  period  was  a  constant 
and  exemplary  communicant.  .  .  .  Like  the  silent  light 
giving  bloom  to  the  world,  his  faith  had  a  vitalizing 
power.  He  grasped  the  truth  of  Christianity  and  the 
position  of  the  church,  and  showed  his  creed  by  his 
life." 


CORNELIUS   VANDERBILT 


AND    VANDERBILT    UNIVERSITY 


Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  born  May  27,  1794,  de- 
scended from  a  Dutch  farmer,  Jan  Aertsen  Van  der 
Bilt,  who  settled  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  about  1650,  began 
his  career  in  assisting  his  father  to  convey  his  prod- 
uce to  market  in  a  sail-boat.  The  boy  did  not  care 
for  education,  but  was  active  in  pursuit  of  business. 
At  sixteen  he  purchased  for  one  hundred  dollars  a  boat, 
in  which  he  ferried  passengers  and  goods  between  New 
York  City  and  Staten  Island,  where  his  father  lived. 
He  saved  carefully  until  he  had  paid  for  it.  At  eigh- 
teen he  was  the  owner  of  two  boats,  and  captain  of  a 
third. 

At  nineteen  he  married  a  cousin,  Sophia  Johnson, 
who  by  her  saving  and  her  energy  helped  him  to  ac- 
cumulate his  fortune.  At  twenty-three  he  was  worth 
$9,000,  and  was  the  captain  of  a  steamboat  at  a  salary 
of  $1,000  a  year.  The  boat  made  trips  between  New 
York  City  and  New  Brunswick,  N.J.,  where  his  wife 
managed  a  small  hotel. 

In  1829,  when  he  was  thirty-five,  he  began  to  build 
steamboats,  and  operated  them  on  the  Hudson  River,  on 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  on  the  route  to  Boston.  When 
he  was  forty  his  property  was  estimated  at  $500,000. 

306 


^a^^iPpi     %^% 


CORNELIUS    VANDERBILT. 


CORNELIUS    VANDERBILT.  307 

When  the  gold-seekers  rushed  to  California,  in  1848- 
1849,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  established  a  line  by  way  of  Lake 
Nicaragua,  and  made  large  profits.  He  also  established 
a  line  between  New  York  and  Havre. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Vanderbilt  gave  the  Van- 
derbilt, his  finest  steamship,  costing  $800,000,  to  the 
government,  and  sent  her  to  the  James  River  to  assist 
when  the  Merrimac  attacked  the  national  vessels  at 
Hampton  Roads.  Congress  voted  him  a  gold  medal 
for  his  timely  gift. 

In  1863  he  began  to  invest  in  railroads,  purchasing 
a  large  part  of  the  stock  of  the  New  York  and  Harlem 
Railroad.  His  property  was  at  this  time  estimated  at 
$40,000,000.  He  soon  gained  controlling  interest  in 
other  roads.  His  chief  maxim  was,  "  Do  your  business 
well,  and  don't  tell  anybody  what  you  are  going  to  do 
until  you  have  done  it." 

In  February,  1873,  Bishop  McTyeire  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  was  visiting  with  the  family  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt 
in  New  York  City.  The  first  wife  was  dead,  and  Mr. 
Vanderbilt  had  married  a  second  time.  Both  men  had 
married  cousins  in  the  city  of  Mobile,  who  were  very 
intimate  in  their  girlhood,  and  this  brought  the  bishop 
and  Mr.  Vanderbilt  into  friendly  relations.  One  even- 
ing when  they  were  conversing  about  the  effects  of  the 
Civil  War  upon  the  Southern  States,  Commodore  Van- 
derbilt, as  he  was  usually  called,  expressed  a  desire  to 
do  something  for  the  South,  and  asked  the  bishop  what 
he  would  suggest. 

The  Methodist  Church  at  the  South  had  organized 
Central  University  at  Nashville,  but  found  it  impossible 
to  raise  the  funds  needed  to  carry  on  the  work.     The 


308  CORNELIUS    VANDERBILT. 

bishop  stated  the  great  need  for  such  an  institution,  and 
Mr.  Vanderbilt  at  once  gave  $500,000.  In  his  letter  to 
the  Board  of  Trust,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  said,  "If  it  shall 
through  its  influence  contribute  even  in  the  smallest 
degree  to  strengthening  the  ties  which  should  exist  be- 
tween all  geographical  sections  of  our  common  country, 
I  shall  feel  that  it  has  accomplished  one  of  the  objects 
that  has  led  me  to  take  an  interest  in  it." 

Later,  in  his  last  illness,  he  gave  enough  to  make  his 
gift  a  million.  The  name  of  the  institution  was  changed 
to  Vanderbilt  University.  Mr.  Vanderbilt  died  in  New 
York,  Jan.  4,  1877,  leaving  the  larger  part  of  his  mil- 
lions to  his  son,  William  Henry  Vanderbilt.  He  gave 
$50,000  to  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Deems  to  purchase  the 
Church  of  the  Strangers. 

Founder's  Day  at  Vanderbilt  University  is  celebrated 
yearly  on  the  late  Commodore's  birthday,  May  27,  the 
day  being  ushered  in  by  the  playing  of  music  and  the 
ringing  of  the  University  bell. 

Bishop  McTyeire,  who,  Mr.  Vanderbilt  insisted,  should 
accept  the  presidency  of  the  University,  used  to  say, 
"  My  wife  was  a  silent  but  golden  link  in  the  chain  of 
Providence  that  led  to  Vanderbilt  University." 

When  an  attractive  site  of  seventy-five  acres  of  land 
was  chosen  for  the  buildings,  an  agent  who  was  recom- 
mending an  out-of-the-way  place  protested,  and  said, 
"  Bishop,  the  boys  will  be  looking  out  of  the  windows 
there." 

"We  want  them  to  look  out,"  said  the  practical 
bishop,  "and  to  know  what  is  going  on  outside." 

The  secretary  of  the  faculty  tells  a  characteristic  in- 
cident of  this  noble  man.     "  He  once  cordially  thanked 


CORNELIUS    VANDERBILT.  309 

me  for  conducting  through  the  University  building  a 
company  of  plain  country  people,  among  whom  was  a 
woman  with  a  baby  in  her  arms.  'Who  knows  what 
may  come  of  that  visit  ?  '  said  he.  '  It  may  bring  that 
baby  here  as  a  student.  He  may  yet  be  one  of  our 
illustrious  men.  Who  knows  ?  Who  knows  ?  Such 
people  are  not  to  be  neglected.  Great  men  come  of 
them.' " 

Vanderbilt  University  now  has  over  seven  hundred 
students,  and  is  sending  out  many  capable  scholars  into 
fields  of  usefulness. 

Mr.  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  the  son  of  Cornelius, 
gave  over  $450,000  to  the  University.  His  first  gift 
of  $100,000  was  for  the  gymnasium,  Science  Hall,  and 
Wesley  Hall,  the  Home  of  the  Biblical  Department. 
Another  $100,000  was  for  the  engineering  department. 
At  his  death,  Dec.  8,  1885,  he  left  the  University  by 
will  $200,000. 

Mr.  Vanderbilt's  estate  was  estimated  at  $200,000,000, 
double  the  amount  left  by  his  father.  It  is  said  that  he 
left  $10,000,000  to  each  of  his  eight  children,  the  larger 
part  of  his  fortune  going  to  two  of  his  sons,  Cornelius 
and  William  K.  Vanderbilt. 

He  gave  for  the  removing  of  the  obelisk  from  Egypt 
to  Central  Park,  $103,000 ;  to  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  of  New  York  City,  $500,000.  His 
daughter  Emily,  wife  of  William  D.  Sloan,  gave  a 
Maternity  Home  in  connection  with  the  college,  costing 
$250,000.  Mr.  Vanderbilt's  four  sons,  Cornelius,  Wil- 
liam, Frederick,  and  George,  have  erected  a  building  for 
clinical  instruction  as  a  memorial  of  their  father. 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  gave  $100,000  each  to  the  Home  and 


310  CORNELIUS    VANDERBILT. 

Foreign  Missions  of  the  Primitive  Episcopal  Church,  to 
the  New  York  Missions  of  that  church,  to  St.  Luke's 
Hospital,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  the  United 
Brethren  Church  at  New  Dorp,  Staten  Island,  and  to 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  He  gave 
$50,000  each  to  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  the  New  York  Bible  Society,  the  Home 
for  Incurables,  Seamen's  Society,  New  York  Home  for 
Intemperate  Men,  and  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  the  grandson  of  Commodore 
Vanderbilt,  has  given  $10,000  for  the  library,  and 
$20,000  for  the  Hall  of  Mechanical  Engineering  of 
Vanderbilt  University.  He  has  also  given  a  building 
to  Yale  College  in  memory  of  his  son,  a  large  building 
at  the  corner  of  Madison  Avenue  and  Forty-fifth  Street 
to  his  railroad  employees  for  reading,  gymnasium  hall, 
bathrooms,  etc.,  $100,000  for  the  Protestant  Cathedral, 
and  much  to  other  good  works. 

Another  son  of  William  H.,  George  W.  Vanderbilt, 
who  is  making  at  his  home  in  Asheville,  N.C.,  a  collec- 
tion as  complete  as  possible  of  all  trees  and  plants, 
established  the  Thirteenth  Street  Branch  of  The  Free 
Circulating  Library  in  New  York  City,  in  July,  1888, 
and  has  supported  a  normal  training-school. 

A  daughter  of  William  H.,  Mrs.  Elliott  F.  Shepard, 
has  given  to  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
in  New  York  the  Margaret  Louisa  Home,  14  and  16 
East  Sixteenth  Street,  a  handsome  and  well-oppointed 
structure  where  working-women  can  find  a  temporary 
home  and  comfort.  The  limit  of  time  for  each  guest  is 
four  weeks.     The  house  contains  fifty-eight  single  and 


COHNELIUS    VANDERBILT.  311 

twenty-one  double  rooms.  It  has  proved  a  great  bless- 
ing to  those  who  are  strangers  in  a  great  city,  and  need 
inexpensive  and  respectable  surroundings. 

It  is  stated  in  the  press  that  Mrs.  Frederick  Vander- 
bilt  uses  a  generous  portion  of  her  income  in  preparing 
worthy  young  women  for  some  useful  position  in  life,  - — 
as  nurses,  or  in  sewing  or  art,  each  individual  having 
|5500  expended  for  such  training. 


BARON   MAURICE  DE   HIRSCH. 


"  The  death  of  Baron  Hirsch,"  says  the  New  York 
Tribune,  April  22,  1896,  "  is  a  loss  to  the  whole  human 
race.  To  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  illustrious 
branches  of  that  race  it  will  seem  a  catastrophe.  No 
man  of  this  century  has  done  so  much  for  the  Jews 
as  he.  .  .  .  In  his  twelfth  century  castle  of  Eichorn 
in  Moravia  he  conceived  vast  schemes  of  beneficence. 
On  his  more  than  princely  estate  of  St.  Johann  in 
Hungary  he  elaborated  the  details.  In  his  London 
and  Paris  mansions  he  put  them  into  execution.  He 
rose  early  and  worked  late,  and  kept  busy  a  staff  of 
secretaries  and  agents  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  He 
not  only  relieved  the  immediate  distress  of  the  people, 
he  founded  schools  to  train  them  to  useful  work.  He 
transported  them  by  thousands  from  lands  of  bondage 
to  lands  of  freedom,  and  planted  them  there  in  happy 
colonies.  In  countless  other  directions  he  gave  his 
wealth  freely  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  without  re- 
gard to  race  or  creed." 

Baron  Hirsch  died  at  Presburg,  Hungary,  April  20, 
1896,  of  apoplexy.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Bavarian  mer- 
chant, and  was  born  in  1833.  At  eighteen  he  became  a 
clerk  in  the  banking-firm  of  Bischoffsheim  &  Gold- 
schmidt,  and  married  the  daughter  of  the  former.     He 

312 


BARON  MAURICE  BE  HIRSCH.  313 

was  the  successful  promoter  of  the  great  railway  sys- 
tem from  Budapest  to  Varna  on  the  Black  Sea.  He 
made  vast  sums  out  of  Turkish  railway  bonds,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  as  rich  as  the  Rothschilds. 

He  gave  away  in  his  lifetime  an  enormous  amount, 
stated  in  the  press  to  have  been  $15,000,000  yearly,  for 
the  five  years  before  his  death. 

The  New  York  Tribune  says  he  gave  much  more 
than  $20,000,000  for  the  help  of  the  Jews.  '  He  gave 
to  institutions  in  Egypt,  Turkey,  and  Asia  Minor,  which 
bear  his  name.  He  offered  the  Russian  Government 
$10,000,000  for  public  education  if  it  would  make  no 
discrimination  as  to  race  or  religion  ;  but  it  declined  the 
offer,  and  banished  the  Jews. 

To  the  Hirsch  fund  in  this  country  for  the  help  of 
the  Jews  the  baron  sent  more  than  $2,500,000.  The 
managers  of  the  fund  spent  no  money  in  bringing  the 
Jews  to  this  country,  but  when  here,  opened  schools  for 
the  children  to  prepare  them  to  enter  the  public  schools, 
evening  schools  for  adults,  training-schoois  to  teach 
them  carpentry,  plumbing,  and  the  like ;  provided  pub- 
lic baths  for  them ;  bought  farm-lands  for  them  in  New 
Jersey  and  Connecticut,  and  assisted  them  to  buy  small 
farms;  provided  factories  for  young  men  and  women, 
as  at  Woodbine,  N.J.,  where  5,100  acres  have  been  pur- 
chased for  the  Hirsch  Colony,  and  a  brickyard  and 
kindling-wood  factory  established.  The  baron  is  said  to 
have  received  400  begging  letters"  daily,  some  of  them 
from  crowned  heads,  to  whom  he  loaned  large  amounts. 
The  favorite  home  of  the  baron  was  in  Paris,  where  he 
lost  his  only  and  idolized  son  Lucien,  in  1888,  at  the 
age  of  twenty.     Much  of  the  fortune  that  was  to  be  the 


314  BARON  MAURICE  BE  IIIRSCH. 

son's  the  father  devoted  to  charity,  especially  to  the 
alleviation  of  the  condition  of  the  European  Jews,  in 
whom  the  son  wras  deeply  interested.  Many  millions 
were  left  to  Lucienne,  the  extremely  pretty  natural 
daughter  of   his  son  Lucien.   - 


ISAAC  RICH 


AND   BOSTON    UNIVERSITY. 


Isaac  Rich  left  to  Boston  University,  chartered  in 
1869,  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  dollars.  He  was 
born  in  Wellfleet,  Mass.,  in  1801,  of  humble  parentage. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  assisting  his  father  in  a 
fish-stall  in  Boston,  and  afterwards  kept  an  oyster-stall 
in  Faneuil  Hall.  He  became  a  very  successful  fish- 
merchant,  and  gave  his  wealth  for  noble  purposes. 

Unfortunately,  immediately  after  his  death,  Jan.  13, 
1872,  the  great  fire  of  1872  consumed  the  best  invest- 
ments of  the  estate,  and  the  panic  of  1873  and  other 
great  losses  followed ;  so  that  for  rebuilding  the  stores 
and  banks  in  which  the  estate  had  been  largely  invested 
money  had  to  be  borrowed,  and  at  the  close  of  ten  years 
the  estate  actually  transferred  to  the  University  was  a 
little  less  than  $700,000. 

This  sum  would  have  been  much  larger  had  not  the 
statutes  of  New  York  State  made  it  illegal  to  convey 
to  a  corporation  outside  the  State,  like  Boston  Univer- 
sity, the  real  estate  owned  by  Mr.  Rich  in  Brooklyn, 
which  reverted  to  the  legal  heirs.  It  is  claimed  that 
Mr.  Rich  was  "  the  first  Bostonian  who  ever  donated 
so  large  a  sum  to  the  cause  of  collegiate  education." 

The  Hon.  Jacob  Sleeper,  one  of  the  three  original  in- 
315 


316  isaac  rich. 

corporators  of  the  University,  gave  to  it  over  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollars.  The  College  of  Liberal  Arts  is 
named  in  his  honor. 

Boston  University  owes  much  of  its  wide  reputation  to 
its  president,  the  Kev.  Dr.  William  F.  Warren,  a  success- 
ful author  as  well  as  able  executive.  "From  the  first  he 
has  favored  co-education  and  equal  opportunities  for 
men  and  women.  Dr.  Warren  said  in  1890,  "In  my 
opinion  the  co-education  of  the  sexes  in  high  and  gram- 
mar schools,  as  also  in  colleges  and  universities,  is  abso- 
lutely essential  to  the  best  results  in  the  education  of 
youth. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  best  for  boys,  best  for  girls,  best 
for  teachers,  best  for  tax-payers,  best  for  the  community, 
best  for  morals  and  manners  and  religion." 

More  than  sixty  years  ago,  in  1833,  at  its  beginning, 
Oberlin  College  gave  the  first  example  of  co-education 
in  this  country.  In  1880  a  little  more  than  half  the 
colleges  in  the  United  States,  51.3  per  cent,  had  adopted 
the  policy ;  in  1890  the  proportion  had  increased  to 
65.5  per  cent.  Probably  a  majority  of  persons  will 
agree  with  Dr.  James  MacAlister  of  Philadelphia,  that 
"co-education  is  becoming  universal  throughout  this 
country." 

Concerning  Boston  University,  the  report  prepared 
for  the  admirable  education  series  edited  by  Professor 
Herbert  B.  Adams  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  says, 
"  This  University  was  the  first  to  afford  the  young 
women  of  Massachusetts  the  advantages  of  the  higher 
education.  Its  College  of  Liberal  Arts  antedated  Welles- 
ley  and  Smith  and  the  Harvard  Annex.  Its  doors,  fur- 
thermore, were  not  reluctantly  opened  in  consequence 


Isaac  men.  317 

* 

of  the  pressure  of  an  outside  public  opinion  too  great 
to  be  resisted.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  in  advance  of 
public  sentiment  on  this  line,  and  directed  it.  Its  school 
of  theology  was  the  earliest  anywhere  to  present  to 
women  all  the  privileges  provided  for  men.  In  fact, 
this  University  was  the  first  in  history  to  present  to 
women  students  unrestricted  opportunities  to  fit  them- 
selves for  each  of  the  learned  professions.  It  was  the 
first  ever  organized  from  foundation  to  capstone  without 
discrimination  on  the  ground  of  sex.  Its  publications 
bearing  upon  the  joint  education  of  the  sexes  have 
been  sought  in  all  countries  where  the  question  of  open- 
ing the  older  universities  to  women  has  been  under 
discussion." 

Boston  University,  1896,  has  at  present  1,270  stu- 
dents, —  women  377,  men  893,  —  and  requires  high  grade 
of  scholarship.  It  is  stated  that  athe  first  four  years' 
course  of  graded  medical  instruction  ever  offered  in  this 
country  was  instituted  by  this  school  in  the  spring  of 
1878." 


DANIEL   B.   FAYERWEATHER 

AND    OTHERS 


Mr.  Fayerweather  was  born  in  Stepney,  Conn.,  in 
1821 ;  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  farmer,  learned  the  shoe- 
maker's trade  in  Bridgeport,  and  worked  at  the  trade 
until  he  became  ill.  Then  he  bought  a  tin-peddler's 
outfit,  and  went  to  Virginia.  When  he  could  not  sell 
for  cash  he  took  hides  in  payment. 

Afterwards  he  returned  to  his  trade  at  Bridgeport, 
where  he  remained  till  1854,  when  he  was  thirty-three 
years  old.  He  then  removed  to  New  York  City,  and 
entered  the  employ  of  Hoyt  Brothers,  dealers  in  leather. 
Years  later,  on  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Hoyt,  the  firm 
name  became  Fayerweather  &  Ladew.  Mr.  Fayerweather 
was  a  retiring,  economical  man,  honest  and  respected. 
At  his  death  in  1890,  he  gave  to  the  Presbyterian  Hos- 
pital, St.  Luke's  Hospital,  and  Manhattan  Eye  and  Ear 
Infirmary,  $25,000  each ;  to  the  Woman's  Hospital  and 
Mount  Sinai  Hospital,  $10,000  each;  to  Yale  College, 
Columbia  College,  Cornell  University,  $200,000  each; 
to  Bowdoin  College,  Amherst,  Williams,  Dartmouth, 
Wesleyan,  Hamilton,  Maryville,  Yale  Scientific  School, 
University  of  Virginia,  Rochester,  Lincoln,  and  Hamp- 
ton Universities,  $100,000  each;  to  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  Lafayette,  Marietta,  Adelbert,  Wabash,  and 

318 


DANIEL  B.    FAYERWEATHER  AND    OTHERS.      319 

Park  Colleges,  $50,000  each.  The  residue  of  the  estate, 
over  $3;000,000,  was  divided  among  various  colleges  and 
hospitals. 

GEORGE    I.    SENEY, 

Who  died  April  7,  1893,  in  New  York  City,  gave  away, 
between  1879  and  1884,  to  Seney  Hospital  in  Brooklyn, 
$500,000,  and  a  like  amount  each  to  the  Wesleyan 
University,  and  to  the  Methodist  Orphan  Asylum, 
Brooklyn.  To  Emory  College  and  Wesleyan  Female 
College,  Macon,  Ga.,  he  gave  $250,000;  to  the  Long 
Island  Historical  Society,  $100,000 ;  to  the  Brooklyn 
Library,  $60,000 ;  to  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madi- 
son, N. J.,  a  large  amount ;  to  the  Industrial  School 
for  Homeless  Children,  Brooklyn,  $25,000,  and  a  like 
amount  to  the  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  of  that  city.  He 
also  gave  twenty  valuable  paintings  to  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art  in  New  York. 

The  givers  to  colleges  have  been  too  numerous  to 
mention.  The  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton,  has 
received  not  less  than  one  and  a  half  million  or  two 
million  dollars  from  the  John  C.  Greene  estate. 

Johns  Hopkins  left  seven  millions  to  found  a  univer- 
versity  and  hospital  in  Baltimore. 

The  Hon.  Washington  C.  De  Pauw  left  at  his  death 
forty  per  cent  of  his  estate,  estimated  at  from  two  to 
five  million  dollars,  to  De  Pauw  University,  Greencastle, 
Ind.  Though  some  of  the  real  estate  decreased  in 
value,  the  university  has  received  already  $300,000,  and 
will  probably  receive  not  less  than  $600,000,  or  possibly 
much  more,  in  the  future. 

Mr.  Jonas  G.  Clark  gave  to  found  Clark  University, 
Worcester,  Mass.,  about  a  million  dollars  to  be  devoted 


320      DANIEL  B.   FAYER WEATHER  AND  OTHERS. 

to  post-graduates,  or  a  school  for  specialists.  Mr.  Clark 
spent  about  eight  years  in  Europe  studying  the  highest 
institutions  of  learning.  Matthew  Vassar  gave  a  million 
dollars  to  Vassar  College  for  women  at  Poughkeepsie, 
N.Y.  Ezra  B.  Cornell  gave  a  million  to  Cornell  Uni- 
versity at  Ithaca,  N.Y.  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage  has  also 
been  a  most  munificent  giver  to  the  same  institution. 
Dr.  Joseph  W.  Taylor  of  Burlington,  N.J.,  a  physician 
and  merchant,  and  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
founded  Bryn  Mawr  College  for  Women,  at  Bryn  Mawr, 
Penn.  His  gift  consisted  of  property  and  academic 
buildings  worth  half  a  million,  and  one  million  dollars 
in  invested  funds  as  endowment. 

Mr.  Paul  Tulane  gave  over  a  million  to  Tulane  Uni- 
versity, New  Orleans.  George  Peabody  gave  away  nine 
millions  in  charities,  —  three  millions  to  educational  in- 
stitutions, three  millions  to  education  at  the  South  to 
both  whites  and  negroes,  and  three  millions  to  build 
tenement  houses  for  the  poor  of  London,  England. 

HORACE    KELLEY, 

Of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  left  a  half-million  dollars  for  the 
foundation  of  an  art  gallery  and  school.  His  family 
were  among  the  pioneer  settlers,  and  their  purchases  of 
land  in  what  became  the  heart  of  the  city  made  their 
children  wealthy.  He  was  born  in  Cleveland,  July  8, 
1819,  and  died  in  the  same  city,  Dec.  5,  1890. 

He  married  Miss  Fanny  Miles,  of  Elyria,  Ohio,  and 
spent  much  of  his  life  in  foreign  travel  and  in  Califor- 
nia, where  they  had  a  home  at  Pasadena.  His  fortune 
was  the  result  of  saving  as  well  as  the  increase  in  real- 
estate  values. 


DANIEL  B.   FAYERWEATHER  AND   OTHERS.      321 

Mr.  John  Huntington  made  a  somewhat  larger  gift 
for  the  same  purpose.  Mr.  H.  B.  Hurlbut  gave  his 
elegant  home,  his  collection  of  pictures,  etc.,  valued  at 
half  a  million,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Wade  and  others  have 
contributed  land,  which  make  nearly  two  million  dollars 
for  the  Cleveland  Art  Gallery  and  School.  Mr.  W.  J. 
Gordon,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  gave  land  for  Gordon's 
Park,  bordering  on  Lake  Erie,  valued  at  a  million  dol- 
lars. It  was  beautifully  laid  out  by  him  with  drives, 
lakes,  and  flower-beds,  and  was  his  home  for  many 
years. 

MR.    HART    A.    MASSEY, 

Formerly  a  resident  of  Cleveland,  but  in  later  years 
a  manufacturer  at  Toronto,  Canada,  at  his  death,  in  the 
spring  of  1896,  left  a  million  dollars  in  charities.  To 
Victoria  College,  Toronto,  $200,000,  all  but  $50,000  as 
an  endowment  fund.  This  $50,000  is  to  be  used  for 
building  a  home  for  the  women  students.  To  each  of 
two  other  colleges,  $100,000,  and  to  each  of.  two  more, 
$50,000,  one  of  the  latter  being  the  new  American  Uni- 
versity at  Washington,  D.C.  To  the  Salvation  Army, 
Toronto,  $5,000.  To  the  Fred  Victor  Mission,  to  pro- 
vide missionary  nurses  to  go  from  house  to  house  in 
Toronto,  and  care  for  the  sick  and  the  needy,  $10,000. 
Many  thousands  were  given  to  churches  and  various 
homes,  and  $10,000  to  ministers  worn  out  in  service. 
To  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody's  schools  at  Northfield,  Mass., 
$10,000.  Many  have  given  to  this  noble  institution 
established  by  the  great  evangelist,  and  it  needs  and 
deserves  large  endowments.  The  Frederick  Marquand 
Memorial  Hall,  brick  with  gray  stone  trimmings,  was 
built  as  a  dormitory  for  one  hundred  girls,  in  1884,  at  a 


322      DANIEL   B.   FAYEIi WEATHER  AND   OTHERS. 

cost  of  $67,000.  Recitation  Hall,  of  colored  granite, 
was  built  in  1885,  at  a  cost  of  $ 40,000,  and,  as  well  as 
some  other  buildings,  was  paid  for  out  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  Moody  and  Sankey  hymn-books.  Weston  Hall, 
costing  $25,000,  is  the  gift  of  Mr.  David  Weston  of 
Boston.  Talcott  Library,  a  beautiful  structure  costing 
$20,000,  with  a  capacity  for  forty  thousand  volumes,  is 
the  gift  of  Mr.  James  Talcott  of  New  York,  who,  among 
many  other  benefactions,  has  erected  Talcott  Hall  at 
Oberlin  College,  a  large  and  haudsome  boarding-hall  for 
the  young  women. 


CATHARINE    LORILLARD   WOLFE. 


In  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York 
City,  one  sees  an  interesting  picture  of  this  noted  giver, 
painted  by  Alexander  Cabanel,  commander  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  and  professor  in  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  of 
Paris. 

Miss  Wolfe,  who  was  born  in  New  York,  March  8, 
1828,  and  died  in  New  York,  April  4,  1887,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-nine,  was  descended  from  an  old  Lutheran  fam- 
ily, her  great-grandfather,  John  David  Wolfe,  coining  to 
this  country  from  Saxony  in  1729.  Two  of  his  four 
children,  David  and  Christopher,  served  with  credit  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  After  the  war,  David  and  a 
}Tounger  brother  were  partners  in  the  hardware  business, 
and  their  sons  succeeded  them. 

John  David  Wolfe,  the  son  of  David,  born  July  24, 
1792,  retired  from  business  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  and 
devoted  himself  to  benevolent  work.  He  was  a  vestry- 
man of  Trinity  Parish,  and  later  senior  warden  of  Grace 
Church,  New  York.  He  gave  to  schools  and  churches 
all  over  the  country,  to  St.  Johnland  on  Long  Island,  to 
the  Sheltering  Arms  in  New  York,  the  High  School  at 
Denver,  Col.,  the  Diocesan  School  at  Topeka,  Kan.,  etc. 
He  was  a  helper  in  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Museum   of 

323 


324  CATHARINE   LORILLARB    WOLFE. 

Natural  History  in  New  York.  He  was  its  first  presi- 
dent when  he  died,  May  17,  1872,  in  his  eightieth  year, 
leaving  only  one  child,  Catharine,  to  inherit  his  large 
property. 

A  portion  of  Miss  Wolfe's  seven  millions  came  from 
her  mother,  Dorothea  Lorillard,  and  the  rest  from  her 
father.  She  was  an  educated  woman,  who  had  read 
much  and  travelled  extensively,  and,  like  her  father, 
used  her  money  in  doing  good  while  she  lived.  Her 
private  benefactions  were  constant,  and  she  went  much 
among  the  poor  and  suffering. 

She  built  in  East  Broadway  a  Newsboy's  Lodging 
House  for  not  less  than  $50,000 ;  the  Italian  Mission 
Church  in  Mulberry  Street,  $50,000,  with  tenement 
house  in  the  same  street,  $20,000 ;  the  house  for  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese  of  New  York,  29  Lafayette  Place, 
$170,000 ;  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  $30,000 ;  Home  for  In- 
curables at  Fordham,  $30,000 ;  Union  College,  Shenec- 
tady,  N.Y.,  $100,000;  Schools  in  the  Western  States, 
$50,000  ;  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  $100,000  ;  Ameri- 
can Church  in  Rome,  $40,000 ;  American  School  of 
Classical  Studies  at  Athens,  $20,000 ;  Virginia  Semi- 
nary, $25,000 ;  Grace  House,  containing  reading  and 
lecture  rooms  for  the  poor,  and  Grace  Church,  $200,000 
or  more.  She  paid  the  expense  of  the  exploring  expe- 
dition to  Babylonia  under  the  leadership  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Oriental  scholar,  Dr.  William  Hayes  Ward, 
editor  of  the  Independent.  A  friend  tells  of  her  sending 
him  to  New  York,  from  her  boat  on  the  Nile,  a  check 
for  $25,000  to  be  distributed  in  charities.  She  educated 
young  girls ;  she  helped  those  who  are  unable  to  make 
their  way  in  the  world. 


CATHARINE  LOBILLART)    WOLFE.  325 

Having  given  all  her  life,  she  gave  away  over  a  mil- 
lion at  her  death  in  money  and  objects  of  art.  To  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  she  gave  the  Catharine 
Lorillard  Wolfe  collection,  with  pictures  by  Rosa 
Bonheur,  Meissonnier,  Gerome,  Verboeckhoven,  Hans 
Makart,  Sir  Frederick  Leighton,  Couture,  Bouguereau, 
and  many  others.  She  added  an  endowment  of  $200,000 
for  the  preservation  and  increase  of  the  collection. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  to  me  of  all  the  pictures 
in  the  Wolfe  collection  is  the  sheep  in  a  storm,  No.  118, 
"Lost,"  souvenir  of  Auvergne,  by  Auguste  Frederic 
Albrecht  Schenck,  a  member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
born  in  the  Duchy  of  Holstein,  1828.  Those  who  love 
animals  can  scarcely  stand  before  it  without  tears. 

Others  besides  Miss  Wolfe  have  made  notable  gifts 
to  the  Museum  of  Art.  Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  gave, 
in  1887,  Rosa  Bonheur's  world-renowned  "  Horse  Fair," 
for  which  he  paid  $53,500.  It  Avas  purchased  at  the 
auction  sale  of  Mr.  A.  T.  Stewart's  collection,  March  25, 
1887. 

Meissonnier's  "  Friedland,  1807  "  was  purchased  at  the 
Stewart  sale  by  Mr.  Henry  Hilton  for  $66,000,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  museum.  Mr.  Stephen  Whitney  Phoenix, 
who  gave  so  generously  to  Columbia  College,  was  also, 
like  Mr.  George  I.  Seney,  a  great  giver  to  the  museum. 


MISS   MARY   ELIZABETH  GARRETT 

Of  Baltimore  gave  to  the  Medical  School  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University  over  $400,000,  that  women  might 
have  equal  medical  opportunities  with  men. 

President  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  in  an  article  on  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  says,  "  Much  attention  had  been 
directed  to  the  importance  of  medical  education  for 
women ;  and  efforts  had  been  made  by  committees  of 
ladies  in  Baltimore  and  other  cities  to  secure  for  this 
purpose  an  adequate  endowment,  to  be  connected  with 
the  foundations  of  Johns  Hopkins.  As  a  result  of  this 
movement,  the  trustees  accepted  a  gift  from  the  com- 
mittee of  ladies,  a  sum  which,  with  its  accrued  interest,' 
amounted  to  $119,000,  toward  the  endowment  of  a  medi- 
cal school  to  which  '  women  should  be  admitted  upon 
the  same  terms  which  may  be  prescribed  for  men.' 

"  This  gift  was  made  in  October,  1891 ;  but  as  it  was 
inadequate  for  the  purposes  proposed,  Miss  Mary  E. 
Garrett,  in  addition  to  her  previous  subscriptions,  offered 
to  the  trustees  the  sum  of  $306,977,  which,  with  other 
available  resources,  made  up  the  amount  of  $500,000, 
which  had  been  agreed  upon  as  the  minimum  endow- 
ment of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Medical  School.  These 
contributions  enabled  the  trustees  to  proceed  to  the 
organization  of  a  school  of  medicine  which  was  opened 
to  candidates  for  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  in 
October,  1893." 

326 


MISS  MARY  ELIZABETH   GAR  RETT.  327 

Several  women  have  aided  Johns  Hopkins,  as  indeed 
they  have  most  institutions  of  learning  in  America. 
Mrs.  Caroline  Donovan  gave  to  the  university  $100,000 
for  the  foundation  of  a  chair  of  English  literature.  In 
1887  Mrs.  Adam  T.  Bruce  of  New  York  gave  the  sum 
of  $10,000  to  found  the  Bruce  fellowship  in  memory  of 
her  son,  the  late  Adam  T.  Bruce,  who  had  been  a  fellow 
and  an  instructor  at  the  university.  Mrs.  William  E. 
Wood  year  gave  the  sum  of  $10,000  to  found  five  scholar- 
ships as  a  memorial  of  her  deceased  husband.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lawrence  Turnbull  endowed  the  Percy  Turnbull 
memorial  lectureship  of  poetry  with  an  income  of  $1,000 
per  annum. 


MRS.    ANNA   OTTENDORFER. 


"  Whenever  our  people  gratefully  point  out  their 
benefactors,  whenever  the  Germans  in  America  speak  of 
those  who  are  objects  of  their  veneration  and  their  pride, 
the  name  of  Anna  Ottendorfer  will  assuredly  be  among 
the  first.  For  all  time  to  come  her  memory  and  her 
work  will  be  blessed."  Thus  spoke  the  Hon.  Carl  Schurz 
at  the  bier  of  Mrs.  Ottendorfer  in  the  spring  of  1884. 

Anna  Behr  was  born  in  Wiirzburg,  Bavaria,  in  a  sim- 
ple home,  Feb.  13,  1815.  In  1837,  when  twenty-two 
years  old,  she  came  to  America,  remained  a  year  with 
her  brother  in  Niagara  County,  N.Y.,  and  then  married 
Jacob  Uhl,  a  printer. 

In  1844  Mr.  Uhl  started  a  job-office  in  Frankfort  Street, 
New  York,  and  bought  a  small  weekly  paper  called  the 
New-Yorker  Staats-Zeitung.  His  young  wife  helped 
him  constantly,  and  finally  the  weekly  paper  became  a 
daily. 

Her  husband  died  in  1852,  leaving  her  with  six  chil- 
dren and  a  daily  paper  on  her  hands.  She  was  equal  to 
the  task.  She  declined  to  sell  the  paper,  and  managed 
it  well  for  seven  years.  Then  she  married  Mr.  Oswald 
Ottendorfer,  who  was  on  the  staff  of  the  paper. 

Both  worked  indefatigably,  and  made  the  paper  more 
successful    than    ever.     She   was    always   at    her   desk. 

328 


MRS.    ANNA    OTTENDORFER.  329 

"  Her  callers/'  says  Harper's  Bazar,  May  3,  1884,  "  had 
been  many.  Her  visitors  represented  all  classes  of 
society,  —  the  opulent  and  the  poor,  the  high  and  the 
lowly.  There  was  advice  for  the  one,  assistance  for  the 
other ;  an  open  heart  and  an  open  purse  for  the  deserv- 
ing ;  a  large  charity  wisely  used." 

In  1875  Mrs.  Ottendorfer  built  the  Isabella  Home  for 
Aged  Women  in  Astoria,  Long  Island,  giving  to  it 
$150,000.  It  was  erected  in  memory  of  her  deceased 
daughter,   Isabella. 

In  1881  she  contributed  about  $40,000  to  a  memorial 
fund  in  support  of  several  educational  institutions,  and 
the  next  year  built  and  furnished  the  Woman's  Pavil- 
ion of  the  German  Hospital  of  New  York  City,  giving 
$75,000.  For  the  German  Dispensary  in  Second  Avenue 
she  gave  $100,000,  also  a  library. 

At  her  death  she  provided  liberally  for  many  institu- 
tions, and  left  $25,000  to  be  divided  among  the  em- 
ployees of  the  Staats-Zeitung.  In  1879  the  property 
of  the  paper  was  turned  into  a  stock-company ;  and,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Ottendorfer,  the  employees  were 
provided  for  by  a  ten-per-cent  dividend  on  their  annual 
salary.  Later  this  was  raised  to  fifteen  per  cent,  which 
greatly  pleased  the  men. 

The  New  York  Sun,  in  regard  to  her  care  for  her  em- 
ployees, especially  in  her  will,  says,  "  She  had  always 
the  reputation  of  a  very  clever,  business-like,  and  char- 
itable lady.  Her  will  shows,  however,  that  she  was 
much  more  than  that  —  she  must  have  been  a  wonderful 
woman."  A  year  before  her  death  the  Empress  Augusta 
of  Germany  sent  her  a  medal  in  recognition  of  her  many 
charities. 


330  MRS.  ANNA    OTTENDORFER. 

Mrs.  Ottendorfer  died  April  1,  1884,  and  was  buried 
in  Greenwood.  Her  estate  was  estimated  at  $3,000,000, 
made  by  her  own  skill  and  energy.  Having  made  it, 
she  enjoyed  giving  it  to  others. 

Her  husband,  Mr.  Oswald  Ottendorfer,  has  given  most 
generously  to  his  native  place  Zwittau,  —  an  orphan 
asylum  and  home  for  the  poor,  a  hospital,  and  a  fine 
library  with  a  beautiful  monumental  fountain  before  it, 
crowned  by  a  statue  representing  mother-love ;  a  woman 
carrying  a  child  in  her  arms  and  leading  another.  His 
statue  was  erected  in  the  city  in  1886,  and  the  town  was 
illuminated  in  his  honor  at  the  dedication  of  the  library. 


DANIEL   P.    STONE   AND   VALERIA   G. 
STONE. 


When  Mr.  Stone,  who  was  a  dry-goods  merchant  of 
Boston,  died  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  in  1878,  it  was  agreed 
between  him  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Valeria  G.  Stone,  that 
the  property  earned  and  saved  by  them  should  be  given 
to  charity. 

While  Mrs.  Stone  lived  she  gave  generously;  and  at 
her  death,  Jan.  15,  1884,  over  eighty  years  old,  she  gave 
away  more  than  $2,000,000.  To  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  to  the  American  Missionary  Association  for 
schools  among  the  colored  people,  $150,000  each,  and 
much  to  aid  struggling  students  and  churches,  and  to 
save  mortgaged  homes.  To  Wellesley  College  to  build 
Stone  Hall,  $110,000;  to  Bowdoin  College,  Amherst, 
Dartmouth,  Drury,  Carleton,  Chicago  Seminary,  Hamil- 
ton, Iowa,  Oberlin,  Hampton  Institute,  Woman's  Board 
for  Armenia  College,  Turkey,  Olivet  College,  Bipon,  Il- 
linois, Marietta,  Beloit,  Robert  College,  Constantinople, 
Berea,  Doane,  Colorado,  Washburne,  Howard  University, 
each  from  five  to  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  She 
gave  also  to  hospitals,  city  mission  work,  rescue  homes, 
and  Christian  associations.  For  evangelical  work  in 
France  she  gave  $15,000. 


331 


SAMUEL    WILLISTON, 

The  giver  of  over  one  million  and  a  half  dollars  was 
born  at  Easthampton,  Mass.,  July  17,  1795. 

He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Payson  Williston,  first 
pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Easthampton  in  1789,  and 
the  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Noah  Williston  of  West 
Haven,  Conn.,  on  his  father's  side,  and  of  the  Rev. 
Nathan  Birdseye  of  Stratford,  Conn.,  on  his  mother's. 

As  the  salary  of  the  father  probably  never  exceeded 
$350  yearly,  the  family  were  brought  up  in  the  strictest 
economy.  At  ten  years  of  age  the  boy  Samuel  worked 
on  a  farm,  earning  for  the  next  six  years  about  seven 
dollars  a  month,  and  saving  all  that  was  possible.  In 
the  winters  he  attended  the  district  school,  and  studied 
Latin  with  his  father,  as  he  hoped  to  fit  himself  for  the 
ministry. 

He  began  his  preparation  at  Phillips  Academy,  An- 
dover,  carrying  thither  his  worldly  possessions  in  a 
bag  under  his  arm.  "  We  were  both  of  us  about  as 
poor  in  money  as  we  could  be,"  said  his  roommate  years 
afterward,  the  Rev.  Enoch  Sanford,  D.D.,  "  but  our 
capital  in  hope  and  fervor  was  boundless."  Samuel's 
eyes  soon  failed  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  the 
project  of  ever  becoming  a  minister.  He  entered  the 
store  of  Arthur  Tap  pan,  in  New  York,  as  clerk ;  but 
ill  health  compelled  him  to  return  to  the  farm  with  its 
out-door  life. 

332 


SAMUEL    WILLISTON  333 

When  lie  was  twenty-seven  he  married  Emily  Graves 
of  Williamsburg,  Mass.  She  brought  to  the  marriage 
partnership  a  noble  heart,  and  every  willingness  to 
help.  The  story  is  told  that  she  cut  off  a  button  from 
the  coat  of  a  visitor,  with  his  consent,  learned  how  it 
was  covered,  and  soon  furnished  work  for  her  neighbors 
as  well  as  herself. 

After  some  years  Mr.  Williston  began  in  a  small 
way  to  manufacture  buttons,  and  the  business  grew 
under  his  capable  management  till  a  thousand  families 
found  employment.  He  formed  a  partnership  with  Joel 
and  Josiali  Hayden  at  Haydenville,  for  the  manufacture 
of  machine-made  buttons  in  1835,  then  first  introduced 
into  this  country  from  England.  Four  years  later  the 
business  was  transferred  to  Easthampton. 

Mr.  Williston  did  not  wait  till  he  was  very  rich 
before  he  began  to  give.  In  1837  he  helped  largely 
towards  the  erection  of  the  First  Church  in  Easthamp- 
ton. In  1841  he  established  Williston  Seminary,  which 
became  a  most  excellent  fitting-school  for  college.  Dur- 
ing his  lifetime  he  gave  to  this  school  about  $270,000, 
and  left  it  at  his  death  an  endowment  of  $600,000. 

He  was  also  deeply  interested  in  Amherst  College, 
establishing  the  Williston  professorship  of  rhetoric  and 
oratory,  the  Graves,  now  Williston,  professorship  of 
Greek,  and  some  others.  "  He  began  giving  to  Amherst 
College,"  writes  Professor  Joseph  H.  Sawyer,  "when 
the  institution  was  in  the  depths  of  poverty  and  well- 
nigh  given  over  as  a  failure.  He  saved  the  college  to 
mankind,  and  by  example  and  personal  solicitation  stimu- 
lated others  to  give."  He  built  and  equipped  Williston 
Hall,  and  assisted  in  the  erection  of  other  buildings. 


334  SAMUEL    WILLISTON. 

He  aided  Mary  Lyon  in  establishing  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  gave  to  Iowa  College,  the  Protestant  College 
in  Beirut,  Syria,  and  to  churches,  libraries,  and  various 
other  institutions. 

He  was  active  in  all  business  enterprises,  as  well  as 
works  of  benevolence.  He  was  president  of  the  Willis- 
ton  Cotton  Mills,  the  First  National  Bank,  Gas  Com- 
pany, and  Nashawannuck  (suspender)  Company,  all  at 
Easthampton.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the  Hamp- 
shire and  Hampden  Railway,  president  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Northampton,  also  of  the  Greenville 
Manufacturing  Company  (cotton  cloths),  member  of 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature  until  he  declined  a 
re-election,  one  of  the  trustees  of  Amherst  College,  of 
the  Westborough,  Mass.,  Reform  School,  on  the  board 
of  an  asylum  for  idiots  in  Boston,  a  corporate  member 
of  the  American  Board,  a  trustee  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  etc. 

Mi'.  Williston  overcame  the  obstacles  of  poor  eye- 
sight, ill  health,  and  poverty,  and  became  a  blessing  to 
tens  of  thousands.  His  wife  was  equally  a  giver  with 
him.  The  Rev.  William  Seymour  Tyler,  D.D.,  of  Am- 
herst College,  said  at  the  semi-centennial  celebration 
of  Williston  Seminary,  June  14-17,  1891,  "  I  knew  its 
founders.  I  say  'founders,'  for  Mrs.  Williston  had 
scarcely  less  to  do  than  Mr.  Williston  in  planning  and 
founding  the  building  and  endowing  the  seminary,  as  in 
all  the  successful  measures  and  achievements  of  his 
remarkable  and  useful  life  ;  and  the  few  enterprises  in 
which  he  did  not  succeed  were  those  in  which  he  did 
not  follow  her  advice.  I  knew  the  founders  from  the 
time   when,  at  the  beginning   of  their  prosperity,  their 


SAMUEL    WILLISTON.  335 

home  and  their  factory  were  both  in  a  modest  wing  of 
Father  Williston's  parsonage,  until  they  had  created 
Williston  Seminary,  made  Easthampton,  following  out 
their  great  and  good  work,  and  entered  into  their  rest." 

Five  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williston, 
but  all  died  in  childhood.  They  adopted  five  children, 
two  boys  and  three  girls,  reared  them,  and  educated 
them  for  honored  positions  in  life. 

Mr.  Williston  died  at  Easthampton,  July  IT,  1874 ; 
and  his  wife,  two  years  younger  than  he,  died  April  12, 
1885.  Both  are  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Easthamp- 
ton, to  which  burying-ground  Mr.  Williston  gave,  at  his 
death,  $10,000.  He  lived  simply,  and  saved  that  he 
might  give  it  in  charities. 


JOHN   F.   SLATER   AND   DANIEL   HAND, 


AND    THEIR    GIFTS    TO   THE    COLORED    PEOPLE. 


One  of  the  best  charities  our  country  has  ever  had 
bestowed  upon  it  is  the  million-dollar  gift  of  Mr.  Slater, 
and  the  million  and  a  half  gift  of  Mr.  Hand,  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  colored  people  in  the  Southern  States. 
Other  millions  of  dollars  are  yet  needed  to  train  these 
millions  of  the  colored  race  to  self-help  and  good  citizen- 
ship. 

Mr.  John  Fox  Slater  was  born  in  Slatersville,  R.I., 
March  4,  1815.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Slater,  who 
helped  his  brother  Samuel  to  found  the  first  cotton 
manufacturing  industry  in  the  United  States. 

Samuel  Slater  came  from  England ;  and  setting  up 
some  machinery  from  memory,  after  arriving  in  this 
country,  as  nobody  was  permitted  to  carry  plans  out  of 
England,  he  started  the  first  cotton-mill  in  December, 
1790.  A  few  years  later  his  brother  John  came  from 
England,  and  together  they  started  a  mill  at  Slaters- 
ville, E.I. 

They  built  mills  also  at  Oxford,  now  Webster,  Mass., 
and  in  time  became  men  of  wealth.  Mr.  Samuel  Slater 
opened  a  Sunday-school  for  his  workmen,  one  of  the 
first  institutions  of  that  kind  in  this  country. 

His  son  John  early  developed  rare  business  qualities, 
336 


JOHN  F.    SLATER   AND  DANIEL  HAND.      337 

and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  was  placed  in  charge  of  one 
of  his  father's  mills  at  Jewett  City,  near  Norwich,  Conn. 
He  had  received  a  good  academical  education,  had  ex- 
cellent judgment,  would  not  speculate,  and  was  noted 
for  integrity  and  honor.  He  became  not  only  the  head 
of  his  own  extensive  business,  but  prominent  in  many 
outside  enterprises. 

His  manners  were  refined,  he  was  self-poised  and 
somewhat  reserved,  and  very  unostentatious,  thereby 
showing  his  true  manhood.  He  read  on  many  sub- 
jects, —  finance,  politics,  and  religion,  and  was  a  good 
conversationalist. 

As  he  grew  richer  he  felt  the  responsibility  of  his 
wealth.  He  gave  generously  to  the  country  during  the 
Civil  War ;  he  contributed  largely  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Norwich  Free  Academy  and  to  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Norwich  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected, and  to  other  worthy  objects. 

He  determined  to  do  good  with  his  money  while 
he  lived.  After  the  war,  having  given  largely  for 
the  relief  of  the  freedmen,  he  decided  to  give  to  a 
board  of  trustees  $1,000,000,  for  the  purpose  of  "up- 
lifting the  lately  emancipated  population  of  the  South- 
ern States  and  their  posterity  by  conferring  on  them 
the  blessings  of  Christian  education." 

When  asked  the  precise  meaning  of  the  phrase 
"Christian  education,"  he  replied,  "that  in  the  sense 
which  he  intended,  the  common  school  teaching  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  was  Christian  educa- 
tion. That  it  is  leavened  with  a  predominant  and 
salutary  Christian  influence." 

He  said  in  his  letter  to  the  trustees,  "  It  has  pleased 


338      JOHN   F.    SLATER   AND   DANIEL    HAND. 

God  to  grant  me  prosperity  in  my  business,  and  to  put 
it  into  my  power  to  apply  to  charitable  uses  a  sum 
of  money  so  considerable  as  to  require  the  counsel  of 
wise  men  for  the  administration  of  it."  In  committing 
the  money  to  their  hands  he  "  humbly  hoped  that  the 
administration  of  it  might  be  so  guided  by  divine  wis- 
dom as  to  be,  in  its  turn,  an  encouragement  to  philan- 
thropic enterprise  on  the  part  of  others,  and  an  enduring 
means  of  good  to  our  beloved  country  and  to  our  fellow- 
men." 

Mr.  Slater's  gift  awakened  widespread  interest  and 
appreciation.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  voted 
him  thanks,  and  caused  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  in  his 
honor. 

Mr.  Slater  lived  to  see  his  work  well  begun,  intrusted 
to  such  men  as  ex-President  Hayes  at  the  head  of  the 
trust,  Phillips  Brooks,  Governor  Colquitt  of  Georgia, 
his  son  William  A.  Slater,  and  others.  He  died  May  7, 
1884,  at  Norwich,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine. 

The  general  agent  of  the  trust  for  several  years  was 
the  late  Dr.  A.  G.  Haygood  of  Georgia,  who  resigned 
when  he  was  made  a  bishop  in  the  Methodist  Church. 
Since  1891  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry  of  Washington,  D.C., 
chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee,  and  author  of 
"  The  Southern  States  of  the  American  Union "  and 
other  works,  has  been  the  able  agent  of  the  Slater  as 
well  as  Peabody  Funds.  Dr.  Curry,  member  of  both 
National  and  Confederate  Congresses,  and  minister  to 
Spain  for  three  years,  has  been  devoted  to  education 
all  his  life,  and  gives  untiring  industry  and  deep  inter- 
est to  his  work. 

The   Slater  Fund   is   used  in   normal   schools  to   fit 


JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DANIEL  HAND.      339 

students  for  teaching  and  for  industrial  education,  and 
much  of  it  is  paid  in  salaries  to  teachers. 

Dr.  Curry,  in  his  Report  for  1892-1893,  gives  a  list  of 
the  schools  aided  in  that  year,  all  of  which  he  visited 
during  the  year.  To  Bishop  College,  Marshall,  Tex., 
with  248  colored  students,  $1,000  was  given  for  normal 
work  and  manual  training;  to  Central  Tennessee  Col- 
lege, Nashville,  with  493  students,  $2,000,  to  pay  the 
teachers  in  the  mechanical  shop,  carpentry,  sewing, 
cooking,  etc.*;  to  Clark  University,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  415 
students,  $2,500,  mostly  to  the  mechanical  department, 
etc.  ;  to  Spelman  Female  Institute,  Atlanta,  with  744 
pupils,  $5,000 ;  the  institute  has  nine  buildings,  with 
property  valued  at  $200,000. 

To  Claflin  University,  Orangeburg,  S.C.,  with  635 
students,  both  men  and  women,  $3,096,  chiefly  to  the 
industrial  department,  —  iron-working,  harness-making, 
masonry,  painting,  etc. ;  to  Hampton  Normal  Institute, 
Hampton,  Va.,  the  noble  institution  to  which  General 
S.  C.  Armstrong  gave  his  life,  $5,000,  for  training  girls 
in  housework,  to  the  machine-shop,  for  teachers  in  natu- 
ral history,  mathematics,  etc.  There  are  nearly  800 
pupils  in  the  school. 

To  the  Leonard  Medical  School,  Shaw  University, 
Raleigh,  N.C.,  $1,000.  The  medical  faculty  are  all 
white  men.  To  the  university  itself,  with  462  pupils, 
$2,500 ;  to  the  Meharry  Medical  College,  Nashville, 
117  men  and  four  women,  $1,500 ;  to  the  State  Normal 
School,  Montgomery,  Ala.,  with  900  students,  $2,500 ; 
to  the  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  Tuskegee,  Ala., 
with  400  men  and  320  women,  $2,100,  given  largely  to 
the  departments  of  agriculture,  leather  and  tin,  brick- 


340      JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DANIEL   HAND. 

making,  saw-mill  work,  plastering,  dressmaking,  etc. 
"  This  institution  is  an  achievement  of  Mr.  Booker  T. 
Washington,  a  graduate  of  Hampton  Normal  Institute," 
says  the  Keport  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education, 
1891-1892.  "Opened,  in  1881  with  one  teacher  and 
thirty  pupils,  it  attained  such  success  that  in  1892 
there  were  44  officers  and  teachers  and  over  600  stu- 
dents. It  also  owns  property  estimated  at  $150,000, 
upon  which  there  is  no  encumbrance.  General  S.  C. 
Armstrong  said  of  it,  'I  think  it  is  the  noblest  and 
grandest  work  of  any  colored  man  in  the  land.' " 

To  Straight  University,  New  Orleans,  La.,  with  600 
pupils,  the  Slater  Fund  gave  $2,000.  The  late  Thomas 
Lafon,  a  colored  man,  left  at  death  $5,800  to  this  ex- 
cellent institution ;  to  Talladega  College,  Talladega, 
Ala.,  with  519  students,  $2,500;  to  Tougaloo  University, 
Tougaloo,  Miss.,  with  392  students,  $3,000.  This  insti- 
tute, under  the  charge  of  the  American  Missionary  As- 
sociation, began  twenty-five  years  ago  with  one  small 
building  surrounded  by  negro  cabins.  Now  there  are 
ten  buildings  in  the  midst  of  five  hundred  acres.  Most 
of  these  institutions  for  colored  people  have  small  libra- 
ries, which  would  be  greatly  helped  by  the  gift  of  good 
books. 

In  nine  years,  from  1883  to  1892,  nearly  $400,000 
was  given  from  the  Slater  Fund  to  push  forward  the 
education  of  the  colored  people.  Most  of  them  were 
poor  and  left  in  ignorance  through  slavery ;  but  they 
have  made  rapid  progress,  and  have  shown  themselves 
worthy  of  aid.  The  American  Missionary,  June,  1883, 
tells  of  a  law-student  at  Shaw  University  who  helped 
to  support  his  widowed  mother,  taught  a  school  of  80 


JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DANIEL   HAND.      341 

scholars  four  miles  in  the  country,  walking  both  ways, 
studying  law  and  reciting  at  night  nearly  a  mile  away 
from  his  home.  When  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  sus- 
tained the  best  examination  in  a  class  of  30,  all  the 
others  white. 

The  Hoivard  Quarterly,  January,  1893,  cites  the  case 
of  a  young  woman  who  prepared  for  college  at  Howard 
University.  She  led  the  entire  entrance  class  at  the 
Chicago  University,  and  received  a  very  substantial  re- 
ward in  a  scholarship  that  will  pay  all  expenses  of  the 
four  years'  course. 

Mr.  La  Port,  the  superintendent  of  construction  of 
the  George  R.  Smith  College,  Sedalia,  Mo.,  was  born  a 
slave ;  he  ran  away  at  twelve,  worked  fourteen  years  to 
obtain  money  enough  to  secure  his  freedom,  is  now 
worth  $75,000,  and  supports  his  aged  mother  and  the 
widow  of  the  man  from  whom  he  purchased  his  freedom. 

The  highest  honor  at  Boston  University  in  1892  was 
awarded  to  a  colored  man,  Thomas  Nelson  Baker,  born 
a  slave  in  Virginia  in  1860.  The  class  orator  at  Har- 
vard College  in  1890  was  a  colored  man,  Clement  Gar- 
nett  Morgan. 

DANIEL     HAND 

Was  born  in  Madison,  Conn.,  July  16,  1801.  He  was 
descended  from  good  Puritan  ancestors,  who  came  to  this 
country  in  1635  from  Maidstone,  Kent,  England.  His 
grandfather  on  his  father's  side  served  in  the  War  of 
the  Revolution,  and  his  ancestors  on  his  mother's  side 
both  in  the  old  French  War  and  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Daniel,  one  of  seven  boys,  lived  on  a  farm  till  he  was 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  Augusta, 


342      JOHN  F.    SLATER   AND   DANIEL   HAND. 

Ga.,  in  1818,  with  an  uncle,  Daniel  Meigs,  a  merchant  of 
that  place  and  of  Savannah.  Young  Hand  proved' most 
useful  in  his  uncle's  business  ;  in  time  succeeded  him, 
and  became  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  the  South. 
Some  fifteen  years  before  the  war  Mr.  Hand  took  into 
business  partnership  in  Augusta  Mr.  George  W.  Wil- 
liams, a  native  of  Georgia,  who  later  established  a  busi- 
ness in  Charleston,  S.C.,  Mr.  Hand  furnishing  the  larger 
part  of  the  capital.  The  business  in  Augusta  was  given 
in  charge  to  a  nephew,  and  Mr.  Hand  temporarily  re- 
moved to  New  York  City. 

When  the  Civil  War  became  imminent,  Mr.  Hand 
went  South,  was  arrested  as  a  "  Lincoln  spy  "  in  New 
Orleans;  but  no  basis  being  found  for  the  charge,  was 
released  on  parole  that  he  would  report  to  the  Confeder- 
ate authority  at  Richmond.  On  his  way  thither,  passing 
the  night  in  Augusta,  he  would  have  been  mobbed  by  a 
lawless  crowd  who  gathered  about  his  hotel,  had  not 
a  few  of  the  leading  men  of  Atlanta  hurried  him  off  to 
jail  in  a  carriage  with  the  mayor  and  a  few  friends  as  a 
guard. 

Reporting  at  Richmond,  Mr.  Hand  was  allowed  to  go 
where  he  chose,  if  within  the  limits  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  chose  Asheville,  N.C.,  for  his  home  until  the  war 
ended,  spending  his  time  in  reading,  of  which  he  was 
very  fond,  and  then  came  North. 

The  Confederate  Courts  at  Charleston  tried  to  con- 
fiscate his  property,  but  this  was  prevented  largely 
through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Williams.  Some  years 
later,  when  the  latter  became  involved,  and  creditors 
were  pressing  for  payment,  Mr.  Hand,  the  largest  cred- 
itor,   refused    to    secure    his    claim,    saying,    "If    Mr. 


JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DAX1EL   HAND.      343 

Williams  lives,  lie  will  pay  liis  debts.  I  am  not  at 
all  concerned  abont  it."  The  money  was  paid  by 
Mr.  Williams  at  his  own  convenience  after  several 
years. 

Mr.  Hand  had  married  early  in  life  his  cousin,  Eliza- 
beth Ward,  daughter  of  Dr.  Levi  Ward  of  Rochester, 
N.Y.,  who  died  early,  as  well  as  their  young  children. 
Mr.  Hand  remained  a  widower  for  more  than  fifty  years. 

Bereft  of  wife  and  children,  fond  of  the  Southern 
people,  yet  heartily  opposed  to  slavery,  and  realizing  the 
helplessness  and  ignorance  of  the  slaves,  Mr.  Hand  de- 
cided to  give  to  the  American  Missionary  Association 
$1,000,894.25,  the  income  to  be  used  "  f or  the  purpose 
of  educating  needy  and  indigent  colored  people  of  Afri- 
can descent,  residing,  or  who  may  hereafter  reside,  in 
the  recent  slave  States  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
...  I  would  limit,"  he  said,  "  the  sum  of  $100  as  the 
largest  sum  to  be  expended  for  any  one  person  in  any 
one  year  from  this  fund."  The  fund,  transferred  Oct. 
22,  1888,  was  to  be  known  as  the  "  Daniel  Hand  Educa- 
tional Fund  for  Colored  People." 

Upon  Mr.  Hand's  death,  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  Dec.  17? 
1891,  in  the  family  of  one  of  his  nieces,  it  was  found 
that  he  had  made  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion his  residuary  legatee.  About  $500,000  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  Association,  to  be  used  for  the 
same  purpose  as  the  million  dollars  ;  and  about  $200,000, 
it  is  believed,  will  eventually  go  to  the  organization 
after  life-use  by  others. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  is  a  noble  so- 
ciety, organized  in  1846  and  chartered  in  1862,  for  help- 
ing the  poor  and  neglected  races  at  our  own  doors,  by 


344      JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DANIEL  HAND. 

establishing  churches  and  schools  in  the  South  among 
both  negroes  and  whites,  in  the  West  among  the  Indians, 
and  in  the  Pacific  States  among  the  Chinese. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo  says,  in  his  book  on  the 
Southern  women  in  the  recent  educational  movement  in 
the  South,  "Perhaps  the  most  notable  success  in  the  sec- 
ondary, normal,  and  higher  training  of 'colored  youth 
has  been  achieved  by  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion. ...  At  present  its  labors  in  the  South  are  largely 
directed  to  training  superior  colored  youth  of  both  sexes 
for  the  work  of  teaching  in  the  new  public  schools.  It 
now  supports  six  institutions  called  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, in  which  not  only  the  ordinary  English  branches 
are  taught,  but  opportunity  is  offered  for  the  few  who 
desire  a  moderate  college  course."  Fisk  University  of 
Nashville,  which  has  sent  out  over  12,000  students,  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  assists  74  schools 
for  colored  people  with  12,000  pupils,  198  churches  for 
the  same  with  over  10,000  members  and  a  much  larger 
number  in  the  Sunday-schools  ;  14  churches  among  the 
Indians  with  over  900  members ;  20  schools  among  the 
Chinese  at  the  West  with  over  1,000  pupils  and  over 
300  Christian  Chinese. 

Mr.  Hand's  noble  gift  aids  about  fifty  schools  in  the 
various  Southern  States  from  its  income  of  over  $50,000 
yearly. 

Mr.  Hand  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  presence,  of  ex- 
tensive reading,  and  wide  observation.  He  gave,  says 
his  relative,  Mr.  George  A.  Wilcox,  "  for  the  well-being 
of  many,  both  within  and  without  the  family  connection, 
who  have  come  within  the  province  of  deserved  assist- 


JOHN  F.    SLATER  AND  DANIEL   HAND.      345 

ance  ;  befriending  those  who  try  to  help  themselves, 
whether  successfully  or  not,  but  unalterably  stern  in  his 
disfavor  when  idleness  or  dissipation  lead  to  want."  He 
gave  the  academy  bearing  his  name  to  his  native  town 
of  Madison,  Conn.  He  joined  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  when  he  was  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  and  was  for  thirty  years  its  efficient  Sun- 
day-school superintendent.  He  organized  a  teachers' 
meeting,  held  every  Saturday  evening,  which  proved  of 
great  benefit. 

He  always  loved  the  Scriptures.  He  said  one  day  to 
a  friend,  as  he  laid  his  hand  on  his  well-worn  Bible,  "  I 
always  read  from  that  book  every  morning,  and  have 
done  so  from  my  boyhood,  except  in  a  comparatively 
few  cases  of  unusual  interruption  or  special  hindrance." 

He  was  often  heard  to  say,  "  I  have  now  a  very  short 
time  for  this  world,  but  I  take  no  concern  about  that ; 
no  matter  where  or  when  I  die,  I  hope  I  am  ready  to  go 
when  called." 

The  temperance  work  needs  another  Daniel  Hand  to 
furnish  a  million  dollars  for  its  labors  among  the  colored 
men  of  the  South,  where,  says  the  thirtieth  annual  re- 
port of  the  National  Temperance  Society,  "  the  saloon  is 
everywhere  working  their  ruin.  It  destroys  their  man- 
hood, despoils  their  homes,  impoverishes  their  families, 
defrauds  their  wives  and  children,  and  debauches  the 
whole  community." 

The  National  Temperance  Society,  whose  efficient  and 
lamented  Secretary,  John  N.  Stearns,  died  April  21, 
1895,  was  organized  in  1865.  It  has  printed  and  scat- 
tered over  900,000,000  pages  of  total-abstinence  litera- 
ture.    With  its  board  of  thirty  managers  representing 


346      JOHN  F.    SLATER   AND   DANIEL   HAND. 

nearly  all  denominations  and  temperance  organizations, 
ever  on  the  alert  to  assist  in  making  and  enforcing  help- 
ful laws  and  to  lessen  the  power  of  the  liquor  traffic,  it 
is  doing  its  work  all  over  the  nation.  Says  one  who  has 
long  been  identified  with  this  organization,  "  T  believe 
there  is  no  Missionary  Society,  either  Home  or  Foreign, 
that  is  doing  more  for  the  cause  of  Christ  than  this  so- 
ciety, especially  in  saving  the  boys  and  girls;  and  yet, 
so  far  as  I  know,  it  receives  less  donations  than  any 
other  society,  and  very  rarely  a  legacy."  Mr.  William 
E.  Dodge,  the  well-known  merchant  of  New  York,  left 
the  Society,  by  will,  $5,000.  Mr.  W.  B.  Spooner  of 
Boston,  and  Mr.  James  H.  Kellogg  of  Rochester,  N.Y., 
each  left  $5,000. 

It  is  a  hopeful  sign  of  the  times  when  laws  are  passed 
in  thirty-nine  States  and  all  the  Territories  requiring  the 
teaching  of  the  nature  and  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks 
upon  the  human  system.  It  is  encouraging  when  a 
million  members  of  Christian  Endeavor  societies  pledge 
themselves  "  to  seek  the  overthrow  of  this  evil  at  all 
times  in  every  lawful  way."  Our  country  has  given 
grandly  for  education ;  it  will  in  the  future  give  more 
generously  to  reforms  which  help  to  do  away  with  pov- 
erty and  crime. 


GEORGE  T.   ANGELL. 


George  T.  Angell,  the  president  and  founder  of 
"  The  American  Humane  Education  Society,"  and  presi- 
dent and  one  of  the  founders  of  "The  Massachusetts 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals/' 
deserves,  with  the  late  lamented  Henry  Bergh  of  New 
York,  the  thanks  of  the  nation  for  their  noble  work 
in  teaching,  kindness  to  dumb  creatures,  and  prevent- 
ing cruelty.  No  charity  can  lie  nearer  to  my  own 
heart  than  the  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty 
to  animals. 

Mr.  Angell,  now  seventy-three  years  of  age,  —  he  was 
born  at  Southbridge,  Mass.,  June  5,  1823,  — the  son  of 
a  minister,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  a  success- 
ful lawyer,  gave  up  his  practice  of  seventeen  years,  in 
1868,  to  devote  himself  and  his  means,  without  pay,  to 
humane  work  all  over  the  world.  He  has  enlisted  the 
highest  and  the  lowest  in  behalf  of  dumb  animals.  He 
has  spoken  before  schools  and  conventions,  before  legis- 
latures and  churches,  before  kings  and  in  prisons,  in 
behalf  of  those  who  must  patiently  submit  to  wrong, 
and  have  no  voice  to  plead  for  themselves. 

Mr.  Angell  helped  to  establish  the  first  "  American 
Band  of  Mercy ;  "  and  now  there  are  nearly  25,000  bands, 
with  a  membership  of  between  one  and  two  million  per- 

347 


348  GEORGE  T.   AN G ELL. 

sons,  all  pledged  "  to  try  to  be  kind  to  all  living  crea- 
tures, and  try  to  protect  them  from  cruel  usage." 

He  has  helped  to  scatter  more  than  two  million  copies, 
in  nearly  all  European  and  some  Asiatic  languages,  of 
Anna  Sewell's  charming  autobiography  of  an  English 
horse,  "  Black  Beauty/'  telling  both  of  kind  and  cruel 
masters.  Ten  thousand  copies  have  recently  been  printed 
for  circulation  in  the  schools  of  Italy. 

A  thousand  cruel  fashions,  such  as  that  of  docking 
horses,  or  killing  for  mere  sport,  will  be  done  away 
when  men  and  women  have  given  these  subjects  more 
careful  thought. 

"  Evil  is  wrought  by  want  of  thought 
As  well  as  want  of  heart," 

wrote  Thomas  Hood  in  "  The  Lady's  Dream." 

"  Our  Dumb  Animals,"  published  in  Boston,  of  which 
Mr.  Angell  is  the  editor,  and  which  should  be  in  every 
home  and  school  in  the  land,  has  a  circulation  of  about 
50,000  to  60,000  a  month,  and  is  sent  to  the  editors  of 
20,000  American  publications.  Over  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  million  pages  of  humane  literature  are  printed 
in  a  single  year  by  the  American  Humane  Education 
Society  and  the  Massachusetts  S.  P.  C.  A. ;  the  latter 
society  has  convicted  about  5,000  persons  in  the  last 
few  years  of  overloading  horses,  beating  dogs  or  incit- 
ing them  to  fight,  starving  animals,  or  other  forms  of 
cruelty. 

In  most  large  cities  drinking  fountains  have  been  pro- 
vided for  man  and  beast ;  transportation  and  slaughter 
of  animals  have  been  rendered  more  humane ;  children 


GEORGE  T.   ANGELL.  349 

have  been  taught  kindness  to  the  weakest  and  smallest 
of  God's-  creatures  ;  to  feel  with  Cowper,  — 

"  I  would  not  enter  on  my  list  of  friends 
(Though  graced  with  polished  manners  and  fine  sense, 
Yet  wanting  sensihility)  the  man 
Who  needlessly  sets  foot  upon  a  worm." 

Some  persons  are  following  the  example  of  Baroness 
Burdett-Coutts  in  London,  who  has  provided  a  home  for 
lost  dogs,  where  they  are  kept  till  their  owners  call  for 
them,  or  are  given  away  to  those  who  know  that  to  have 
a  pet  in  the  home  is  a  sure  way  to  make  people  more 
tender  and  more  noble  in  character.  Such  a  place  is 
found  on  Lake  Street,  Brighton,  Mass.,  in  the  Ellen  M. 
Gifford  Sheltering  Home  for  Animals,  where  each  year 
several  hundred  dogs  and  cats  are  received,  and  homes 
found  for  them.  There  is  a  large  playground  for  the 
dogs,  and  greater  space  for  the  cats.  It  is  stated  in 
the  Report  that  the  Boston  police  "  have  always  gener- 
ously and  humanely  aided  the  work  of  the  Shelter." 
The  objects  of  the  "Sheltering  Home  "  are  :  — 

"  First,  to  aid  and  succor  the  waifs  and  strays  of  the 
city. 

"  Second,  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  sick,  abused, 
and  homeless  animals. 

"  Third,  to  find  good  homes  for  all  those  who  come  to 
the  Shelter,  as  far  as  possible. 

"  Fourth,  to  spread  the  gospel  of  humanity  towards 
dumb  creatures  by  practical  example." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  history  a  truly  great 
person,  like  Wellington,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  or  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  has  not  been  a  lover 


350  GEORGE  T.   ANGELL. 

of  dogs  or  birds  or  cats.  Frederick  the  Great  when 
dying  asked  an  attendant  to  cover  one  of  his  dogs 
which  seemed  to  be  shivering  with  the  cold. 

"Our  Dumb  Animals"  for  May,  1896,  gives  the 
names  of  more  than  a  hundred  persons  who  have  left 
legacies  in  the  last  few  years  to  the  Massachusetts 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals. 
Every  State  and  city  needs  more  of  these  generous 
givers.  A  letter  lies  before  me  from  Mr.  E.  C.  Parme- 
lee,  the  general  agent  of  the  society  in  Cleveland,  Ohio., 
which  says,  "  I  regret  to  say  that  we  have  no  dog  shel- 
ter. .  .  .  We  should  very  much  like  to  have  one,  and 
a  hospital  for  broken-down  and  neglected  horses.  .  .  . 
We  have  very  much  hoped  that  we  should  have  a  be- 
quest at  no  very  distant  day  sufficiently  large  to  build 
such  a  block  as  we  need,  with  dormitories  for  children 
who  are  picked  up  in  the  night,  and  with  an  apartment 
for  keeping  our  horse-ambulance,  with  a  pair  of  horses 
and  driver  always  at  command,  to  remove  such  horses 
as  are  disabled,  and  fall  in  the  streets  from  various 
causes." 

Every  society  needs  more  agents  to  watch  carefully 
the  dumb  creatures  who  carry  heav}^  loads,  or  are  neg- 
lected or  ill  treated ;  and  the  gospel  of  kindness  to 
animals  needs  to  be  carried  to  every  part  of  the  earth. 


WILLIAM   W.   CORCORAN 


AND    HIS    ART    GALLERY. 


William  Wilson  Corcoran  was  born  Dec.  27, 
1798,  at  Georgetown,  D.C.  He  was  the  son  of  Thomas 
Corcoran,  who  settled  in  Georgetown  when  a  youth, 
and  became  one  of  its  leading  citizens.  Hcwas  mayor, 
postmaster,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Columbian 
College,  of  which  institution  he  was  an  active  trustee 
while  he  lived.  He  was  also  one  of  the  principal 
founders  of  two  Episcopal  churches  in  Georgetown, 
St.  John's  and  Christ's  Church,  and  was  always  a 
vestryman  in  one  or  the  other. 

His  son  William,  after  a  good  preparatory  education, 
spent  a  year  at  the  Georgetown  College,  and  a  year  at 
the  school  of  the  Rev.  Addison  Belt,  a  graduate  of 
Princeton.  His  father  desired  that  he  should  complete 
his  college  course  ;  but  William  was  eager  to  enter  upon 
a  business  life,  and  Avhen  he  was  seventeen  went  into 
the  dry-goods  store  of  his  brothers,  James  and  Thomas 
Corcoran.  Two  years  later  they  established  him  in 
business  under  the  firm  name  of  W.  W.  Corcoran  &  Co. 
The  firm  prospered  so  well  that  the  wholesale  auction 
and  commission  business  was  begun  in  1819. 

For  four  years  the  firm  made  money;  but  in  the 
spring  of  1823,  they,  with  many  other  merchants   in 

351 


352  WILLIAM   W.    CORCORAN. 

Georgetown  and  Baltimore,  failed,  and  were  obliged  to 
settle  with  their  creditors  for  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar. 

Young  Corcoran,  then  twenty-five  years  of  age,  de- 
voted himself  to  caring  for  the  property  of  his  father, 
who  was  growing  old.  The  father  died  Jan.  27,  1830. 
Five  years  later,  in  1835,  Mr.  Corcoran  married  Louise 
A.  Morris,  who  lived  but  five  years  after  their  marriage, 
dying  Nov.  21,  1840,  leaving  a  son  and  daughter.  The 
son  died  soon  after  the  death  of  his  mother ;  the  daugh- 
ter grew  to  womanhood,  and  became  a  great  joy  to  her 
father.  She  married  the  Hon.  George  Eustis,  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Louisiana,  and  died  in  early  life  at 
Cannes,  France,  1867,  leaving  three  small  children. 

Mr.  Corcoran  long  before  this  had  become  a  very  suc- 
cessful banker.  Two  years  after  his  marriage,  in  1837, 
he  moved  his  family  to  Washington,  and  began  the 
brokerage  business  in  a  small  store,  ten  by  sixteen  feet, 
on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  near  Fifteenth  Street.  After 
three  years  he  took  into  partnership  Mr.  George  W. 
Riggs,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  man  from  Maryland,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Corcoran  &  Riggs. 

In  1845  they  purchased  the  old  United  States  Bank 
building,  corner  of  Fifteenth  Street  and  New  York  Ave- 
nue ;  and  two  years  later  Mr.  Corcoran  settled  with  his 
creditors  of  1823,  paying  principal  and  interest,  about 
$46,000.  During  the  Mexican  war  the  firm  made  exten- 
sive loans  to  the  government,  which  conservative  bank- 
ers regarded  as  a  hazardous  investment.  Mr.  Riggs 
retired  from  the  firm  July  1,  1848 ;  and  his  younger 
brother,  Elisha,  was  made  a  junior  partner. 

"  In  August,  1848,  having  about  twelve  millions  of  the 
six-per-cent  loan  of  1848  on  hand,  and  the  demand  for  it 


WILLIAM   W.    CORCORAN.  353 

falling  off  in  this  country,  and  the  stock  being  one  per 
cent  below  the  price  at  which  Corcoran  &  Biggs  took  it, 
Mr.  Corcoran  determined  to  try  the  European  markets ; 
and,  after  one  day's  reflection,  embarked  for  London, 
where,  on  arrival,  he  was  told  by  Mr.  Bates,  of  the 
house  of  Baring  Bros.  &  Co.,  and  Mr.  George  Peabody, 
that  no  sale  could  be  made  of  the  stock,  and  no  money 
could  be  raised  by  hypothecation  thereof,  and  they 
regretted  that  he  had  not  written  to  them  to  inquire 
before  coming  over.  He  replied  that  he  was  perfectly 
satisfied  that  such  would  be  their  views,  and  therefore 
came,  confident  that  he  could  convince  them  of  the 
expediency  of  taking  an  interest  in  the  securities  ;  and 
that  the  very  fact  that  London  bankers  had  taken  them 
would  make  it  successful. 

"  Ten  days  after  his  first  interview  with  them,  Mr. 
Thomas  Baring  returned  from  the  Continent,  and  with 
him  he  was  more  successful.  A  sale  of  five  millions  at 
about  cost  (one  hundred  and  one  here)  was  made  to  six 
of  the  most  eminent  and  wealthy  houses  in  London,  viz., 
Baring  Bros.  &  Co.,  George  Peabody,  Overend,  Gurney, 
&  Co.,  Dennison  &  Co.,  Samuel  Jones  Lloyd,  and  James 
Morrison. 

"  This  was  the  first  sale  of  American  securities  made 
in  Europe  since  1837 ;  and  on  his  return  to  New  York 
he  was  greeted  by  every  one  with  marked  expressions 
of  satisfaction,  his  success  being  a  great  relief  to  the 
money  market  by  securing  that  amount  of  exchange 
in  favor  of  the  United  States.  On  his  success  being 
announced,  the  stock  gradually  advanced  until  it  reached 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  and  one-half,  thus  securing 
by  his  prompt  and  successful  action  a  handsome  profit 


354  WILLIAM  W.    CORCORAN 

which  would  otherwise  have  resulted  in  a  serious 
loss." 

On  April  1,  1854,  Mr.  Corcoran  withdrew  from  the 
banking-firm,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  management 
of  his  property  and  to  his  benevolent  projects. 

In  1859  he  began,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue  and  Seventeenth  Street,  a  building  for  the 
encouragment  of  the  Fine  Arts.  The  structure  was  used 
during  the  Civil  War  for  military  purposes.  In  1869 
Mr.  Corcoran  deeded  this  property  to  trustees.  "  I 
shall  ask  you  to  receive,"  he  wrote  the  trustees,  "  as  a 
nucleus,  my  own  gallery  of  art,  which  has  been  collected 
at  no  inconsiderable  pains ;  and  I  have  assurances  from 
friends  in  other  cities,  whose  tastes  and  liberality  have 
taken  this  direction,  that  they  will  contribute  fine  works 
of  art  from  their  respective  collections.  ...  I  venture 
to  hope  that  with  your  kind  co-operation  and  judicious 
management  we  shall  have  provided,  at  no  distant  day, 
not  only  a  pure  and  refined  pleasure  for  residents  and 
visitors  of  the  national  metropolis,  but  have  accom- 
plished something  useful  in  the  development  of  Ameri- 
can genius." 

In  1869  Mr.  Corcoran  also  deeded  to  trustees  the 
Louise  Home,  erected  in  memory  of  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, as  a  home  for  refined  and  educated  gentlewomen 
who  had  "become  reduced  by  misfortune." 

The  deed  specified  that  "  there  shall  be  no  discrimi- 
nation or  distinction  on  account  of  religious  creed  or 
sectarian  opinions,  in  respect  to  the  trustees,  direct- 
resses, officers,  or  inmates  of  the  said  establishment ;  but 
all  proper  facilities  that  may  be  possible  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  trustees  shall  be  allowed  and  furnished  to 


WILLIAM   W.    COIiCOIlAN.  355 

the  inmates  for  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  according 
to  each  one's  conscientious  belief." 

The  building  and  grounds  of  the  Louise  Home  in 
1869  were  estimated  at  $200,000,  and  are  now  worth 
probably  over  $500,000.  The  endowment  consisted  of 
an  invested  fund  of  $325,000. 

Mr.  Corcoran  gave  generously  as  long  as  he  lived, 
having  decided  early  in  life  that  "at  least  one-half  of 
his  moneyed  accumulations  should  be  held  for  the  wel- 
fare of  men." 

In  Oak  Hill  Cemetery  he  erected  a  beautiful  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  John  Howard  Payne,  author  of 
"Home,  Sweet  Home."  It  is  a  shaft  of  Carrara  marble, 
surmounted  by  a  bust  one  and  one-half  times  the  size 
of  the  average  man. 

In  his  old  age  he  purchased  the  Patapsco  Institute  at 
Ellicott's  Mills,  and  gave  the  title-deeds  to  the  two  grand- 
nieces  of  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  who  were  in  re- 
duced circumstances,  that  they  might  open  a  school. 

He  gave  to  Columbian  University,  it  is  stated,  houses 
and  lands  and  money,  amounting  to  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion dollars.  The  University  of  Virginia,  the  Ascension 
Church,  and  other  colleges  and  churches,  were  enriched 
through  his  generosity. 

Mr.  Corcoran  died  in  Washington,  Feb.  24,  1888,  at 
the  age  of  ninety  years.  He  had  given  away  over  five 
million  dollars. 

"  The  treasures  of  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery,"  said  its 
president  in  laying  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  building 
two  years  ago,  "  represent  a  money  cost  of  $346,938 
(exclusive  of  donations),  a  cost  value  which,  of  course, 
is  greatly  below  the  real  value  which  these  treasures 


356  WILLIAM   W.    CORCORAN. 

represent  to-day.  The  total  value  of  the  gallery,  in  its 
treasures,  its  endowments,  and  its  buildings,  is  estimated 
to-day  at  $1,926,938.  The  total  number  of  visitors  who 
have  inspected  the  paintings  and  sculpture  exhibited 
in  the  gallery  from  the  date  of  its  opening  down  to  the 
beginning  of  this  month  [May,  1896]  was  1,696,489." 


JOHN   D.   ROCKEFELLER 


AND    CHICAGO    UNIVERSITY. 


From  our  windows  we  look  out  upon  a  forest  of  beau- 
tiful beech-trees,  great  oaks,  and  maples.  There  are 
well-kept  drives,  cool  ravines  with  tasteful  walks,  a 
pretty  lake  and  boat-house,  and  great  stretches  of  lawn, 
in  the  four  hundred  or  more  acres,  such  as  one  sees  in 
England.  The  gravelled  roadways  are  appropriately 
named.  "Blithedale"  leads  into  a  charming  valley, 
through  which  a  brook  winds  in  and  out,  under  a  dozen 
bridges.  The  "  Maze  "  leads  through  clusters  of  beeches 
and  other  undergrowth,  and  opens  upon  a  magnificent 
view  of  blue  Lake  Erie  at  the  right  and  the  busy  city 
at  the  left.  In  the  distance,  on  a  hilltop,  stands  a  large 
whife  frame  house,  with  red  roof.  Vines  clamber  over 
the  broad  double  porches,  red  trumpet-creepers  twine 
and  blossom  about  some  of  the  big  oaks,  beds  of  roses 
send  out  their  fragrance,  and  the  place  looks  most 
attractive  and  restful. 

It  is  "  Forest  Hill,"  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  summer 
home  of  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  probably  the  greatest 
giver  in  America.  Our  largest  giver  heretofore,  so  far 
as  known,  was  George  Peabody,  who  gave  at  his  death 
$9,000,000.    Mr.  Rockefeller  has  given  about  $7,500,000 

357 


358  JOHN  D.   ROCKEFELLER. 

to  one  institution,  besides  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  each  year  for  the  past  twenty-five  years  to  vari- 
ous charities. 

Mr.  Eockefeller  comes  from  very  honorable  ancestry. 
The  Rockefellers  were  an  old  French  family  in  Nor- 
mandy, who  moved  to  Holland,  and  came  to  America 
about  1650,  settling  in  New  Jersey.  Nearly  a  century 
ago,  in  1803,  Mr.  Rockefeller's  grandfather,  Godfrey, 
married  Lucy,  one  of  the  Averys  of  Groton,  Conn.,  a 
family  distinguished  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
which  has  since  furnished  to  our  country  many  able 
men  and  women. 

The  picturesque  home  of  the  Averys,  built  in  1656, 
in  the  town  of  New  London  (now  Groton),  by  Captain 
James  Avery,  was  occupied  by  his  descendants  until  it 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1894.  A  monument  has  been 
erected  upon  the  site,  with  a  bronze  tablet  containing  a 
facsimile  of  the  old  home. 

The  youngest  son  of  Captain  James  Avery  was  Sam- 
uel, whose  fine  face  looks  out  from  the  pages  of  the 
interesting  Avery  Genealogy,  which  Homer  D.  L.  Sweet, 
of  Syracuse,  spent  thirty  years  in  writing.  Samuel, 
an  able  and  public-spirited  man,  married,  in  1686,  in 
Swanzey,  Mass.,  Susannah  Palmes,  a  direct  descendant, 
through  thirty-four  generations,  of  Egbert,  the  first  king 
of  England.  The  name  has  always  been  retained  in  the 
family,  Lucy  Avery  Rockefeller  naming  her  youngest 
son  Egbert.  Her  eldest  son,  William  Avery,  married 
Eliza  Davison ;  and  of  their  six  children,  John  Davison 
Rockefeller  is  the  second  child  and  eldest  son. 

He  was  born  in  Richford,  Tioga  County,  N.Y.,  July 
8,  1839.     His  father,  William  Avery,  was  a  physician 


JOHN     D.    ROCKEFELLER. 


JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER.  359 

and  business  man  as  well.  With  great  energy  he 
cleared  the  forest,  built  a  sawmill,  loaned  his  money, 
and,  like  his  noted  son,  knew  how  to  overcome  obstacles. 

The  mother,  Eliza  Davison,  was  a  woman  of  rare  com- 
mon sense  and  executive  ability.  Self-poised  in  manner, 
charitable,  persevering  in  whatever  she  attempted,  she 
gave  careful  attention  to  the  needs  of  her  family,  but 
did  not  forget  that  she  had  Christian  duties  outside  her 
home.  The  devotion  of  Mr.  Eockefeller  to  his  mother 
as  long  as  she  lived  was  marked,  and  worthy  of  ex- 
ample. 

The  Rockefeller  home  in  Eichford  was  one  of  mutual 
work  and  helpfulness.  The  eldest  child,  Lucy,  now 
dead,  was  less  than  two  years  older  than  John  ;  the 
third  child,  William,  about  two  years  younger ;  Mary, 
Franklin  and  Frances,  twins,  each  about  two  years 
younger  than  the  others  ;  the  last  named  died  early. 
All  were  taught  the  value  of  labor  and  of  economy. 

The  eldest  son,  John,  early  took  responsibility  upon 
himself.  Willing  and  glad  to  work,  he  cared .  for  the 
garden,  milked  the  cows,  and  acquired  the  valuable 
habit  of  never  wasting  his  time.  When  about  nine 
years  old  he  raised  and  sold  turkeys,  and  instead  of 
spending  the  money,  probably  his  first  earnings,  saved 
it,  and  loaned  it  at  seven  per  cent.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  know  if  the  lad  ever  dreamed  then  of  being 
perhaps  the  richest  man  in  America  ? 

In  1853  the  Rockefeller  family  moved  to  Cleveland, 
Ohio ;  and  John,  then  fourteen  years  of  age,  entered  the 
high  school.  He  was  a  studious  boy,  especially  fond  of 
mathematics  and  of  music,  and  learned  to  play  on  the 
piano ;  he  was   retiring  in    manner,  and  exemplary  in 


360  JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

conduct.  When  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  years  of 
age,  he  joined  the  Erie  Street  Baptist  Church  of  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  now  known  as  the  Euclid  Avenue  Baptist 
Church,  where  he  has  been  from  that  time  an  earnest 
and  most  helpful  worker  in  it.  The  boy  of  fifteen  did 
not  confine  his  work  in  the  church  to  prayer-meetings 
and  Sunday-school.  There  was  a  church  debt,  and  it 
had  to  be  paid.  He  began  to  solicit  money,  standing  in 
the  church-door  as  the  people  went  out,  ready  to  receive 
what  each  was  willing  to  contribute.  He  gave  also  of 
his  own  as  much  as  was  possible ;  thus  learning  early  in 
life,  not  only  to  be  generous,  but  to  incite  others  to 
generosity. 

When  about  eighteen  or  nineteen,  he  was  made  one  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  church,  which  position  he 
held  till  his  absence  from  the  city  in  the  past  few  years 
prevented  his  serving.  He  has  been  the  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Euclid  Avenue  Baptist 
Church  for  about  thirty  years.  When  he  had  held  the 
office  for  twenty-five  years  the  Sunday-school  celebrated 
the  event  by  a  reception  for  their  leader.  After  ad- 
dresses and  music,  each  one  of  the  five  hundred  or  more 
persons  present  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Rockefeller,  and 
laid  a  flower  on  the  table  beside  him.  From  the  first 
he  has  won  the  love  of  the  children  from  his  sympathy, 
kindness,  and  his  interest  in  their  welfare.  No  picnic 
even  would  be  satisfactory  to  them  without  his  presence. 

After  two  years  passed  in  the  Cleveland  High  School, 
the  school-year  ending  June,  1855,  young  Rockefeller 
took  a  summer  course  in  the  Commercial  College,  and  at 
sixteen  was  ready  to  see  what  obstacles  the  business 
world  presented  to  a  boy.     He  found  plenty  of  them. 


JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER.  361 

It  was  the  old  story  of  every  place  seeming  to  be  full ; 
but  he  would  not  allow  himself  to  be  discouraged  by 
continued  refusals.  He  visited  manufacturing  establish- 
ments, stores,  and  shops,  again  and  again,  determined 
to  find  a  position. 

He  succeeded  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  September, 
1855,  and  became  assistant  bookkeeper  in  the  forwarding 
and  commission  house  of  Hewitt  &  Tuttle.  He  did  not 
know  what  pay  he  was  to  receive ;  but  he  knew  he  had 
taken  the  first  step  towards  success,  —  he  had  obtained 
work.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  for  the  three  months, 
October,  November,  and  December,  he  received  fifty 
dollars,  —  not  quite  four  dollars  a  week. 

The  next  year  he  was  paid  twenty-five  dollars  a 
month,  or  three  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  at  the  end 
of  fifteen  months,  took  the  vacant  position  with  the 
same  firm,  at  five  hundred  dollars,  as  cashier  and  book- 
keeper, of  a  man  who  had  been  receiving  a  salary  of 
two  thousand  dollars. 

Desirous  of  earning  more,  young  Eockefeller  after  a 
time  asked  for  eight  hundred  dollars  as  wages ;  and,  the 
firm  declining  to  give  over  seven  hundred  dollars  a  year, 
the  enterprising  youth,  not  yet  nineteen,  decided  to 
start  in  business  for  himself.  He  had  industry  and 
energy ;  he  was  saving  of  both  time  and  money ;  he 
had  faith  in  his  ability  to  succeed,  and  the  courage  to 
try.  He  had  managed  to  save  about  a  thousand  dollars ; 
and  his  father  loaned  him  another  thousand,  on  which 
he  paid  ten  per  cent  interest,  receiving  the  principal 
as  a  gift  when  he  became  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
This  certainly  was  a  modest  beginning  for  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 


362  JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

Having  formed  a  partnership  with  Morris  B.  Clark,  in 
1858,  in  produce  commission  and  forwarding,  the  firm 
name  became  Clark  &  Rockefeller.  The  closest  atten- 
tion was  given  to  business.  Mr.  Rockefeller  lived 
within  his  means,  and  worked  early  and  late,  finding 
little  or  no  time  for  recreation  or  amusements,  but 
always  time  for  his  accustomed  work  in  the  church. 
There  was  always  some  person  in  sickness  or  sorrow  to 
be  visited,  some  child  to  be  brought  into  the  Sunday- 
school,  or  some  stranger  to  be  invited  to  the  prayer- 
meetings. 

The  firm  succeeded  in  business,  and  was  continued 
with  various  partners  for  seven  years,  until  the  spring 
of  1865.  During  this  time  some  parts  of  the  country, 
especially  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  had  become  enthusi- 
astic over  the  finding  of  large  quantities  of  oil  through 
drilling  wells.  The  Petroleum  Age  for  December,  1881, 
gives  a  most  interesting  account  of  the  first  oil-well  in 
this  country,  drilled  at  Titusville,  on  Oil  Creek,  a  branch 
of  the  Alleghany  River,  in  August,  1859. 

Petroleum  had  long  been  known,  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  under  various  names.  The  Indians  used  it  as 
a  medicine,  mixed  it  with  paint  to  anoint  themselves 
for  war,  or  set  fire  at  night  to  the  oil  that  floated  upon 
the  surface  of  their  creeks,  making  the  illumination  a 
part  of  their  religious  ceremonies.  In  Ohio,  in  1819, 
when,  in  boring  for  salt,  springs  of  petroleum  were 
found,  Professor  Hildreth  of  Marietta  wrote  that  the 
oil  was  used  in  lamps  in  workshops,  and  believed  it 
would  be  "a  valuable  article  for  lighting  the  street- 
lamps  in  the  future  cities  of  Ohio."  But  forty  years 
went  by  before  the  first  oil-well  was  drilled,  when  men 


JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER.  363 

became  almost  as  excited  as  in  the  rush  to  California 
for  gold  in  1849. 

Several  refineries  were  started  in  Cleveland  to  prepare 
the  crude  oil  for  illuminating  purposes.  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller, the  young  commission  merchant,  like  his  father 
a  keen  observer  of  men  and  things,  as  early  as  1860, 
the  year  after  the  first  well  was  drilled,  helped  to 
establish  an  oil-refining  business  under  the  firm  name 
of  Andrews,  Clark,  &  Co. 

The  business  increased  so  rapidly  that  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller sold  his  interest  in  the  commission  house  in  1865, 
and  with  Mr.  Samuel  Andrews  bought  out  their  asso- 
ciates in  the  refining  business,  and  established  the  firm 
of  Rockefeller  &  Andrews,  the  latter  having  charge  of 
the  practical  details. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  was  then  less  than  twenty-six  years 
old  ;  but  an  exceptional  opportunity  had  presented  itself, 
and  a  young  man  of  exceptional  ability  was  ready  for 
the  opportunity.  A  good  and  cheap  illuminator  was  a 
world-wide  necessity  ;  and  it  required  brain,  and  system, 
and  rare  business  ability  to  produce  the  best  product, 
and  send  it  to  all  nations. 

The  brother  of  Mr.  Rockefeller,  William,  entered 
into  the  partnership ;  and  a  new  firm  was  established, 
under  the  name  of  William  Rockefeller  &  Co.  The 
necessity  of  a  business  house  in  New  York  for  the  sale 
of  their  products  soon  became  apparent,  and  all  parties 
were  united  in  the  firm  of  Rockefeller  &  Co. 

In  1867  Mr.  Henry  M.  Flagler,  well  known  in  con- 
nection with  his  improvements  in  St.  Augustine,  Fla., 
was  taken  into  the  company,  which  became  Rockefeller, 
Andrews,  &  Flagler.     Three  years   later,  in  1870,  the 


36-4  JOHN  I).    ROCKEFELLER. 

Standard  Cil  Company  of  Ohio  was  established  with 
a  capital  of  $1,000,000,  Mr.  Rockefeller  being  made 
president.  He  was  also  made  president  of  the  National 
Refiners'  Association. 

He  was  now  thirty-one  years  old,  far-seeing,  self- 
centred,  qniet  and  calm  in  manner,  but  untiring  in 
work,  and  comprehensive  in  his  grasp  of  business.  The 
determination  which  had  won  a  position  for  him  in 
youth,  even  though  it  brought  him  but  four  dollars  a 
week,  the  confidence  in  his  ability,  integrity,  and  sound 
judgment,  which  made  the  banks  willing  to  lend  him 
money,  or  men  willing  to  invest  their  capital  in  his 
enterprise,  made  him  a  power  in  the  business  world 
thus  early  in  life. 

Amid  all  his  business  and  his  church  work,  he  had 
found  time  to  form  another  partnership,  the  wisest  and 
best  of  all.  In  the  same  high  school  with  him  for  two 
years  was  a  young  girl  near  his  own  age,  Laura  C.  Spel- 
man,  a  bright  scholar,  refined  and  sensible. 

Her  father  was  a  merchant,  a  Representative  in  the 
Legislature  of  Ohio,  an  earnest  helper  in  the  church, 
in  temperance,  and  in  all  that  lifts  the  world  upward. 
He  was  the  friend  of  the  slave ;  and  the  Spelman  home 
was  one  of  the  restful  stations  on  that  "  underground 
railroad"  to  which  so  many  colored  men  and  women 
owe  their  freedom.  He  was  an  active  member  for  years 
of  Plymouth  Congregational  Church  in  Cleveland,  and 
later  of  Dr.  Buddington's  church  in  Brooklyn,  and  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  New  York,  under  Dr.  Wm. 
M.  Taylor.     He  died  in  New  York  City,  Oct.  10,  1881. 

Mrs.  Spelman,  the  mother,  was  also  a  devoted  Chris- 
tian.    She  now  lives,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six,  with  her 


JOHN  L>.    ROCKEFELLER.  365 

daughter,  grateful,  as  she  says,  for  life's  beautiful  sun- 
set. She  is  loved  by  everybody,  and  her  sweet  face  and 
voice  would  be  sadly  missed.  She  retains  all  her  facul- 
ties, and  has  as  deep  an  interest  as  ever  in  all  religious, 
philanthropic,  and  political  affairs. 

The  Spelman  ancestors  are  English.  Sir  Henry  Spel- 
man,  knighted  by  King  James  I.,  died  in  1641,  and  lies 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Henry  S.,  the  third  son 
of  Sir  Henry,  and  first  of  the  name  in  America,  came  to 
Jamestown,  Va.,  in  1609,  and  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 
Richard  Spelman,  born  in  Danbury,  England,  in  1665, 
came  to  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  1700,  and  died  in  1750. 
Laura's  grandfather,  Samuel,  was  the  fourth  in  line  from 
Richard.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  Ohio,  moving 
thither  from  Granville,  Mass.  Her  father,  Harvey  B. 
Spelman,  was  born  in  a  log  cabin  in  Rootstown,  Ohio. 
Her  mother's  family  came  also  from  Massachusetts,  from 
the  town  of  Blanford ;  and  her  father  and  mother  met 
and  were  married  in  Ohio. 

Laura  Spelman  wras  a  member  of  the  first  graduating 
class  of  the  Cleveland  High  School,  and  has  always 
retained  the  deepest  interest  in  her  classmates.  After 
graduating,  and  spending  some  time  in  a  boarding- 
school  at  the  East,  she  taught  very  successfully  for  five 
years  in  the  Cleveland  public  schools,  being  assistant 
in  one  of  the  large  grammar  schools. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  Mr.  Rockefeller  married 
Miss  Spelman,  Sept.  8,  1864.  Disliking  display  or  ex- 
travagance, fond  of  books,  a  wise  adviser  in  her  home, 
a  leader  for  many  years  of  the  infant  department  in 
the  Sunday-school,  like  her  father  a  worker  for  temper- 
ance and  in  all  philanthropic  movements,  Mrs.  Rocke- 


366  JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

feller  has  been  an  example  to  the  rich,  and  a  friend  and 
helper  to  the  poor.  Comparatively  few  men  and  women 
can  be  intrusted  with  millions,  and  make  the  best  use 
of  the  money.  With  Mr.  Rockefeller's  married  life  thus 
happily  and  wisely  begun,  business  activities  went  on 
as  before,  perchance  with  less  wear  of  body  and  mind. 
It  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  organize  and  carry  for- 
ward a  great  business  without  anxiety  and  care. 

In  Cleave's  "  Biographical  Cyclopaedia  of  Cuyahoga 
County,"  it  is  stated  that,  in  1872,  two  years  after  the 
organization  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  "  nearly  the 
entire  refining  interest  of  Cleveland,  and  other  interests 
in  KeAV  York  and  the  oil-regions,  were  combined  in  this 
company  [the  Standard  Oil],  the  capital  stock  of  which 
was  raised  to  two  and  a  half  millions,  and  its  business 
reached  in  one  year  over  twenty-five  million  dollars, 
—  the  largest  company  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  The 
New  York  establishment  was  enlarged  in  its  refining 
departments;  large  tracts  of  land  were  purchased,  and 
fine  warehouses  erected  for  the  storage  of  petroleum ; 
a  considerable  number  of  iron  cars  were  procured,  and 
the  business  of  transporting  oil  entered  upon;  interests 
were  purchased  in  oil-pipes  in  the  producing  regions. 

"Works  were  erected  for  the  manufacture  of  barrels, 
paints,  and  glue,  and  everything  used  in  the  manufacture 
or  shipment  of  oil.  The  works  had  a  capacity  of  distil- 
ling twenty-nine  thousand  barrels  of  crude  oil  per  day, 
and  from  thirty-five  hundred  to  four  thousand  men  were 
employed  in  the  various  departments.  The  cooperage 
factory,  the  largest  in  the  world,  turned  out  nine  thou- 
sand barrels  a  day,  which  consumed  over  two  hundred 
thousand  staves  and  headings,  the  product  of  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  acres  of  selected  oak." 


JOHN  1).    ROCKEFELLER.  3G7 

Ten  years  after  this  time,  in  1882,  the  Standard  Oil 
Trust  was  formed,  with  a  capital  of  $70,000,000,  after- 
wards increased  to  $95,000,000,  which  in  a  few  years 
became  possessed  of  large  oil-producing  interests,  and 
of  the  stock  of  the  companies  controlling  the  greater 
part  of  the  refining  of  petroleum  in  this  country. 

Ten  years  later,  in  1892,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio 
having  declared  the  Trust  to  be  illegal,  it  was  dissolved, 
and  the  business  is  now  conducted  by  separate  com- 
panies. In  each  of  these  Mr.  Rockefeller  is  a  share- 
holder. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  has  proved  himself  a  remarkable  or- 
ganizer. His  associates  have  been  able  men;  and  his 
vast  business  has  been  so  systematized,  and  the  lead- 
ers of  departments  held  responsible,  that  it  is  man- 
aged with  comparative  ease. 

The  Standard  Oil  Companies  own  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  oil-lands,  and  wells,  refineries,  and 
many  thousand  miles  of  pipe-lines  throughout  the  United 
States.  They  have  business  houses  in  the  principal 
cities  of  the  Old  World  as  well  as  the  New,  and  carry 
their  oil  in  their  own  great  oil-steamships  abroad  as 
easily  as  in  their  pipe-lines  to  the  American  seaboard. 
They  control  the  greater  part  of  the  petroleum  business 
of  this  country,  and  export  much  of  the  oil  used  abroad. 
They  employ  from  forty  to  fifty  thousand  men  in  this 
great  industry,  many  of  whom  have  remained  with  the 
companies  for  twenty  or  thirty  years.  It  is  said  that 
strikes  are  unknown  among  them. 

When  it  is  stated,  as  in  the  last  United  States  Cen- 
sus reports,  that  the  production  of  crude  petroleum  in 
this  country  is  about  thirty-five  million  barrels  a  year, 


368  JOHN  I).    ROCKEFELLER. 

the  capital  invested  in  the  production  $114,000,000, 
and  the  value  of  the  exports  of  petroleum  in  various 
forms  amounts  to  nearly  $50,000,000  a  year,  the  vast- 
ness  of  the  business  is  apparent. 

With  such  power  in  their  hands,  instead  of  selling 
their  product  at  high  rates,  they  have  kept  oil  at  such 
low  prices  that  the  poorest  all  over  the  world  have  been 
enabled  to  buy  and  use  it. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  has  not  confined  his  business  interests 
to  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  He  owns  iron-mines 
and  land  in  various  States  ;  he  owns  a  dozen  or  more 
immense  vessels  on  the  lakes,  besides  being  largely  in- 
terested in  other  steamship  lines  on  both  the  ocean  and 
the  great  lakes ;  he  has  investments  in  several  railroads, 
and  is  connected  with  many  other  industrial  enterprises. 

With  all  these  different  lines  of  business,  and  being 
necessarily  a  very  busy  man,  he  never  seems  hurried  or 
worried.  His  manner  is  always  kindly  and  considerate. 
He  is  a  good  talker,  an  equally  good  listener,  and 
gathers  knowledge  from  every  source.  Meeting  the  best 
educators  of  the  country,  coming  in  contact  with  leading 
business  and  professional  men  as  well,  and  having  trav- 
elled abroad  and  in  his  own  country,  Mr.  Eockefeller 
has  become  a  man  of  wide  and  varied  intelligence.  In 
physique  he  is  of  medium  height,  light  hair  turning 
gray,  blue  eyes,  and  pleasant  face. 

He  is  a  lover  of  trees,  never  allowing  one  to  be  cut 
.down  on  his  grounds  unless  necessity  demands  it,  fond 
of  flowers,  knows  the  birds  by  their  song  or  plumage, 
and  never  tires  of  the  beauties  of  nature. 

He  is  as  courteous  to  a  servant  as  to  a  millionnaire,  is 
social  and  genial,  and  enjoys  the  pleasantry  of  bright 


JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER.  369 

conversation.  He  has  great  power  of  concentration,  is 
very  systematic  in  business  and  also  in  his  every-day 
life,  allotting  certain  hours  to  work,  and  other  hours  to 
exercise,  the  bicycle  being  one  of  his  chief  out-door 
pleasures.  He  is  fond  of  animals,  and  owns  several 
valuable  horses.  A  great  Saint  Bernard  dog,  white  and 
yellow,  called  "Laddie,"  was  for  years  the  pet  of  the 
household  and  the  admiration  of  friends.  When  re- 
cently killed  accidentally  by  an  electric  wire,  the  dog 
was  carefully  buried,  and  the  grave  covered  with 
myrtle.  A  pretty  stone,  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  cut  in 
imitation  of  the  trunk  of  an  oak-tree,  at  whose  base 
fern-leaves  cluster,  marks  the  spot,  with  the  words 
"  Our  dog  Laddie ;  died,  1895,"  carved  upon  a  tiny 
slab. 

It  may  be  comparatively  easy  to  do  great  deeds,  but 
the  little  deeds  of  thoughtfulness  and  love  for  the  dumb 
creatures  who  have  loved  us  show  the  real  beauty  and 
refinement  of  character. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  belongs  to  few  social  organizations, 
his  church  work  and  his  home-life  sufficing.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  New  England  Society,  the  Union  League 
Club  of  New  York,  and  of  the  Empire  State  Sons  of  the 
Kevolution,  as  his  ancestors,  both  on  his  father's  and 
mother's  side,  were  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

His  home  is  a  very  happy  one.  Into  it  have  been 
born  five  children,  —  Bessie,  Alice,  who  died  early,  Alta, 
Edith,  and  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 

Bessie  is  married  to  Charles  A.  Strong,  Associate  Pro- 
fessor of  Psychology  in  Chicago  University,  a  graduate 
of  both  the  University  of  Rochester  and  Harvard,  and 
has  been  a   student  at  the  Universities  of   Berlin  and 


370  JOHN  D.    ItOCKEFELLER. 

Paris.  He  is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Augustus  H.  Strong, 
President  of  Rochester  Theological  Seminary. 

Edith  is  married  to  Harold  F.  McCormick  of  Chi- 
cago, a  graduate  of  Princeton,  and  son  of  the  late 
Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  whose  invention  of  the  reaper 
has  been  a  great  blessing  to  the  world.  Mr.  McCormick 
gave  generously  of  his  millions  after  he  had  acquired 
wealth. 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  is  at  Brown  University,  and 
will  probably  be  associated  with  his  father  in  business, 
for  which  he  has  shown  much  aptitude. 

The  children  have  all  been  reared  with  the  good 
sense  and  Christian  teaching  that  are  the  foundations 
of  the  best  homes.  They  have  dressed  simply,  lived 
without  display,  been  active  in  hospital,  Sunday-school, 
and  other  good  works,  and  found  their  pleasures  in 
music,  in  which  all  the  family  are  especially  skilled, 
and  in  reading.  They  enjoy  out-door  life,  skating  in 
winter,  and  rowing,  walking,  and  riding  in  the  sum- 
mer; but  there  is  no  lavish  use  of  money  for  their 
pleasures. 

The  daughters  know  how  to  sew,  and  have  made 
many  garments  for  poor  children.  They  have  been 
taught  the  useful  things  of  home-life,  and  often  cook 
delicacies  for  the  sick.  They  have  found  out  in  their 
youth  that  the  highest  living  is  not  for  self.  A  recent 
gift  from  Miss  Alta  Rockefeller  is  $1,200  annually  to 
sustain  an  Italian  day-nursery  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Cleveland.  This  summer,  1896,  about  fifty  little  people, 
two  years  old  and  upwards,  enjoyed  a  picnic  in  the 
grounds  of  their  benefactor.  Mrs.  Rockefeller's  mother 
and   sister,   Miss  Lucy   M.   Spelman,  a  cultivated  and 


JOHN  D.   BOCKEFELLEB.  371 

philanthropic  woman,  are  the  other  members  of  the 
Rockefeller  family. 

Besides  Mr.  Rockefeller's  summer  home  in  Cleveland, 
he  has  another  with  about  one  thousand  acres  of  land  at 
Pocantico  Hills,  near  Tarrytown  on  the  Hudson.  The 
place  is  picturesque  and  historic,  made  doubly  interest- 
ing through  the  legends  of  Washington  Irving.  From 
the  summit  of  Kaakoote  Mountain  the  views  are  of  rare 
beauty.  Sleepy  Hollow  and  the  grave  of  Irving  are  not 
far  distant.  The  winter  home  in  New  York  City  is  a 
large  brick  house,  with  brown-stone  front,  near  Fifth 
Avenue,  furnished  richly  but  not  showily,  containing 
some  choice  paintings  and  a  fine  library. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  will  be  long  remembered  as  a  remark- 
able financier  and  the  founder  of  a  great  organization, 
but  he  will  be  remembered  longest  and  honored  most  as 
a  remarkable  giver.  We  have  many  rich  men  in  Amer- 
ica, but  not  all  are  great  givers;  not  all  have  learned 
that  it  is  really  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive; 
not  all  remember  that  we  go  through  life  but  once,  with 
its  opportunities  to  brighten  the  lives  about  us,  and  to 
help  to  bear  the  burdens  of  others. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  began  to  give  very  early  in  life,  and 
for  the  last  forty  years  has  steadily  increased  his  giving 
as  his  wealth  has  increased.  Always  reticent  about  his 
gifts,  it  is  impossible  to  learn  how  much  he  has  given 
or  for  what  purposes.  Of  necessity  some  gifts  become 
public,  such  as  his  latest  to  Vassar  College  of  $  100,000, 
a  like  amount  to  Rochester  University  and  Theological 
Seminary,  and  the  same,  it  is  believed,  to  Spelman 
Seminary,  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  named  as  a  memorial  to  his 
father-in-law. 


372  JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

This  is  a  school  for  colored  women  and  girls,  with 
preparatory,  normal,  musical,  and  industrial  depart- 
ments. The  institute  opened  with  eleven  pupils  in 
1881,  and  now  has  744,  with  nine  buildings  on  fourteen 
acres  of  land.  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry  said  in  his  report 
for  1893,  "  In  process  of  erection  is  the  finest  school 
building  for  normal  purposes  in  the  South,  planned  and 
constructed  expressly  with  reference  to  the  work  of 
training  teachers,  which  will  cost  over  $50,000."  In 
the  industrial  department,  dress-cutting,  sewing,  cooking, 
and  laundry  work  are  taught.  There  is  also  a  training- 
school  for  nurses. 

In  a  list  of  gifts  for  1892,  in  the  New  York  Tribune, 
Mr.  Rockefeller's  name  appears  in  connection  with  Des 
Moines  College,  la.,  $25,000;  Bucknell  College,  $10,- 
000;  Shurtleff  College  $10,000;  the  Memorial  Baptist 
Church  in  New  York,  erected  through  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
Edward  Judson  in  memory  of  his  father,  Dr.  Adoniram 
Judson,  $40,000 ;  besides  large  amounts  to  Chicago 
University.  It  is  probable  that,  aside  from  Chicago 
University,  these  were  only  a  small  proportion  of  his 
gifts  during  that  year. 

An  article  in  the  press  states  that  the  recent  anony- 
mous gift  of  $25,000  to  help  purchase  the  land  for  the 
site  of  Barnard  College  of  Columbia  University  was  from 
Mr.  Rockefeller.  He  has  also  pledged  $100,000  towards 
a  million  dollars,  which  are  to  be  used  for  the  construc- 
tion of  model  tenement  houses  for  the  poor  in  New 
York  City. 

He  has  given  largely  to  the  Cleveland  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  to  Young  Men's  and  Women's 
Christian  Associations  both  in  this  country  and  abroad. 


JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER.  373 

He  has  built  churches,  given  yearly  large  sums  to  for- 
eign and  home  missions,  charity  organization  socie- 
ties, Indian  associations,  hospital  work,  fresh-air  funds, 
libraries,  kindergartens,  Societies  for  the  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  for  the  education  of  the  col- 
ored people  at  the  South,  and  to  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Unions  and  to  the  National  Temperance 
Society.  He  is  a  total  abstainer,  and  no  wine  is 
ever  upon  his  table.  He  does  not  use  tobacco  in  any 
form. 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  private  charities  have  been  almost 
numberless.  He  has  aided  young  men  and  women 
through  college,  sometimes  by  gift  and  sometimes  by 
loan.  He  has  provided  the  means  for  persons  who  were 
ill  to  go  abroad  or  elsewhere  for  rest.  He  does  not  for- 
get, when  his  apples  are  gathered  at  Pocantico  Hills,  to 
send  hundreds  of  barrels  to  the  various  charitable  in- 
stitutions in  and  near  New  York,  or,  when  one  of  his 
workingmen  dies,  to  continue  the  support  to  his  family 
while  it  is  needed.  Some  of  us  become  too  busy  to 
think  of  the  little  ways  of  doing  good.  It  is  said  by 
those  who  know  him  best,  that  he  gives  more  time  to 
his  benevolences  and  to  their  consideration  than  to 
his  business  affairs.  He  employs  secretaries,  whose 
time  is  given  to  the  investigation  of  requests  for  aid, 
and  attending  to  such  cases  as  are  favorably  decided 
upon. 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  usual  plan  of  giving  is  to  pledge  a 
certain  sum  on  condition  that  others  give,  thus  making 
them  share  in  the  blessings  of  benevolence.  At  one 
time  he  gave  conditionally  about  $300,000,  and  it  re- 
sulted in  $1,700,000  being  secured  for  some  twenty  or 


374  JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

thirty  institutions  of  learning  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  said  by  a  friend,  that  on  his  pledge-book  are 
hundreds  of  charities  to  which  he  gives  regularly  many 
thousand  dollars  each  month. 

His  greatest  gift  has  been  that  of  $7,425,000  to  the 
University  of  Chicago.  The  first  University  of  Chicago 
existed  from  1858  to  1886,  a  period  of  twenty-eight 
years,  and  was  discontinued  from  lack  of  funds.  When 
the  American  Baptist  Education  Society,  formed  at 
AVashington,  D.C.,  in  May,  1888,  held  its  first  anniver- 
sary in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  it  was  resolved  "to 
take  immediate  steps  toward  the  founding  of  a  well- 
equipped  college  in  the  city  of  Chicago."  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller had  already  become  interested  in  founding  such 
an  institution,  and  made  a  subscription  of  $600,000 
toward  an  endowment  fund,  conditioned  on  the  pledging 
by  others  of  $400,000  before  June  1,  1890.  The  Rev. 
T.  AV.  Goodspeed,  and  the  Rev.  F.  T.  Gates,  Secretary  of 
the  Education  Society,  succeeded  in  raising  this  amount, 
and  in  addition  a  block  and  a  half  of  ground  as  a  site 
for  the  institution,  valued  at  $125,000,  given  by  Mr. 
Marshall  Field  of  Chicago.  Two  and  a  half  blocks  were 
purchased  for  $282,500,  making  in  all  twenty-four 
acres,  lying  between  the  two  great  south  parks  of 
Chicago,  Washington  and  Jackson,  and  fronting  on  the 
Midway  Plaisance,  a  park  connecting  the  other  two. 
These  parks  contain  a  thousand  acres. 

The  university  was  incorporated  in  1890,  and  Pro- 
fessor AA7illiam  Rainey  Harper  of  Yale  University  was 
elected  President.  The  choice  was  an  eminently  wise 
one,  a  man  of  progressive  ideas  being  needed  for  the 
great  university.    He  had  graduated  at  Muskingum  Col- 


JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER.  375 

lege  in  1870,  taken  his  degree  of  Ph.D.  at  Yale  in  1875, 
been  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  the  cognate  languages 
at  the  Baptist  Union  Theological  Seminary  for  seven 
years,  Professor  of  the  Semitic  Languages  at  Yale  for 
five  years,  and  Woolsey  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature 
at  Yale  for  two  years,  besides  filling  other  positions  of 
influence. 

In  September,  1890,  Mr.  Rockefeller  made  a  second 
subscription  of  $1,000,000 ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  this  gift,  the  Theological  Seminary  was  removed 
from  Morgan  Park  to  the  University  site,  as  the  Divin- 
ity School  of  the  University,  and  dormitories  erected, 
and  an  academy  of  the  University  established  at  Morgan 
Park. 

The  "University  began  the  erection  of  its  first  build- 
ings Nov.  26,  1891.  Mr.  Henry  Ives  Cobb  was  chosen 
as  the  architect,  and  the  English  Gothic  style  is  to  be 
maintained  throughout.  The  buildings  are  of  blue  Bed- 
ford stone,  with  red  tiled  roofs.  The  recitation  build- 
ings, laboratories,  chapel,  museum,  gymnasium,  and 
library  are  the  central  features ;  while  the  dormitories 
are  arranged  in  quadrangles  on  the  four  corners. 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  third  gift  was  made  in  February, 
1892,  "one  thousand  five  per  cent  bonds  of  the  par 
value  of  one  million  dollars,"  for  the  further  endow- 
ment of  instruction.  In  December  of  the  same  year  he 
gave  an  equal  amount  for  endowment,  "  one  thousand 
thousand-dollar  five  per  cent  bonds."  In  June,  1893  he 
gave  $150,000  ;  the  next  year,  December,  1894,  in  cash, 
$675,000.  On  Jan.  1,  1896,  another  million,  promis- 
ing two  millions  more  on  condition  that  the  University 
should  also  raise  two  millions.     Half  of  this  sum  was 


376  JOHN  D.   ROCKEFELLER. 

obtained  at  once  through  the  gift  of  Miss  Helen  Culver. 
In  her  letter  to  the  trustees  of  the  University,  she  says, 
"The  whole  gift  shall  be  devoted  to  the  increase  and 
spread  of  knowledge  within  the  field  of  biological  sci- 
ence. .  .  .  Among  the  motives  prompting  this  gift  is 
the  desire  to  carry  out  the  ideas,  and  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory, of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Hull,  who  was  for  a  considerable 
time  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  old  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago." 

Miss  Culver  is  a  cousin  of  the  late  Mr.  Hull,  who 
left  her  his  millions  for  philanthropic  purposes.  Their 
home  for  many  years  was  the  mansion  since  known  as 
Hull  House. 

The  University  of  Chicago  has  been  fortunate  in 
other  gifts.  Mr.  S.  A.  Kent  of  Chicago  gave  the  Kent 
Chemical  Laboratory,  costing  $235,000,  opened  Jan. 
1,  1894.  The  Ryerson  Physical  Laboratory,  costing 
$225,000,  opened  July  2,  J  894,  was  the  gift  of  Mr. 
Martin  A.  Ryerson,  as  a  memorial  to  his  father.  Mrs. 
Caroline  Haskell  gave  $100,000  for  the  Haskell  Oriental 
Museum,  as  a  memorial  of  her  husband,  Mr.  Frederick 
Haskell.  There  will  be  rooms  for  Egyptian,  Babylonian, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  other  collections.  Mr.  George  C. 
Walker,  $130,000  for  the  Walker  Museum  for  geological 
and  anthropological  specimens  ;  Mr.  Charles  T.  Yerkes, 
nearly  a  half  million  for  the  Yerkes  Observatory  and 
forty-inch  telescope  ;  Mrs.  N.  S.  Foster,  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Snell,  Mrs.  Mary  Beecher,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  G.  Kelley 
have  each  given  $50,000,  or  more,  for  dormitories.  It 
is  expected  that  half  a  million  will  be  realized  from  the 
estate  of  William  B.  Ogden  for  "The  Ogden  (graduate) 
School  of  Science."     The  first  payment  has  amounted 


JOHN  I).    ROCKEFELLER.  377 

to  half  that  sum.  Considerably  over  $10,000,000  have 
been  given  to  the  University.  The  total  endowment  is 
over  $6,000,000. 

The  University  opened  its  doors  to  students  on  Oct. 
1,  1892,  in  Cobb  Lecture  Hall,  given  by  Mr.  Silas  B. 
Cobb  of  Chicago,  and  costing  $150,000.  The  num- 
ber of  students  during  the  first  year  exceeded  nine 
hundred.  The  professors  have  been  chosen  with  great 
care,  and  number  among  them  some  very  distinguished 
men,  from  both  the  Old  World  and  the  New.  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  is  co-educational,  which  is  matter  for 
congratulation.  Its  courses  are  open  on  equal  terms  to 
men  and  women,  with  the  same  teachers,  the  same 
studies,  and  the  same  diplomas.  "Three  of  the  deans 
are  women,'''  says  Grace  Gilruth  Rigby  in  Peterson's 
Magazine  for  February,  1896,  "and  half  a  dozen  women 
are  members  of  its  faculty.  They  instruct  men  as  well 
as  women,  and  in  this  particular  it  differs  from  most 
co-educational  schools." 

The  University  has  some  unique  features.  Instead  of 
the  usual  college  year  beginning  in  September,  the  year 
is  divided  into  four  quarters,  beginning  respectively  on 
the  first  day  of  July,  October,  January,  and  April,  and 
continuing  twelve  weeks  each,  with  a  recess  of  one  week 
between  the  close  of  each  quarter  and  the  beginning  of 
the  next.  Degrees  are  conferred  the  last  week  of  every 
quarter.  The  summer  quarter,  which  was  at  first  an 
experiment,  has  proved  so  successful  that  it  is  now  an 
established  feature. 

The  instructor  takes  his  vacation  in  any  quarter,  or 
may  take  two  vacations  of  six  weeks  each.  The  student 
may  absent  himself  for  a  term  or  more,  and  take  up 


378  JOHN   D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

the  work  where  he  left  off,  or  he  may  attend  all  the 
quarters,  and  thus  shorten  his  college  course.  Much 
attention  is  given  to  University  Extension  work,  and 
proper  preparatory  work  is  obtained  through  the  affilia- 
tion of  academies  with  the  University.  Instruction  is 
also  given  by  the  University  through  correspondence 
with  those  who  wish  to  pursue  preparatory  or  college 
studies. 

"  Chicago  is,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,"  writes  the  late 
Hjalmar  Hjorth  Boyesen  in  the  Cosmopolitan  for  April, 
1893,  "  the  first  institution  which,  by  the  appointment  of 
a  permanent  salaried  university  extension  faculty,  has 
formally  charged  itself  with  a  responsibility  for  the  out- 
side public.  This  is  a  great  step,  and  one  of  tremendous 
consequence." 

A  non-resident  student  is  expected  to  matriculate  at 
the  University,  and  usually  spends  the  first  year  in  resi- 
dence. Non-resident  work  is  accepted  for  only  one-third 
of  the  work  required  for  a  degree. 

The  University  has  eighty  regular  fellowships  and 
scholarships,  besides  several  special  fellowships. 

The  institution,  according  to  Robert  Herrick,  in  Scrib- 
ner's  Magazine  for  October,  1895,  seems  to  have  the 
spirit  of  its  founder.  "  Two  college  settlements  in  the 
hard  districts  of  Chicago,"  he  writes,  "are  supported 
and  manned  by  the  students.  .  .  .  The  classes  and 
clubs  of  the  settlements  show  that  the  college  stu- 
dents feel  the  impossibility  of  an  academic  life  that 
lives  solely  to  itself.  On  the  philanthropic  commit- 
tee, and  as  teachers  in  the  settlement  classes,  men 
and  women,  instructors  and  students,  work  side  by 
side.     The    interest    in    sociological    studies,    which    is 


JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER.  379 

commoner  at  Chicago  than  elsewhere,  stimulates  this 
modern  activity  in  college  life." 

The  University  of  Chicago  has  been  successful  from 
the  first.  In  1895  it  numbered  1,265  students,  of  whom 
493  were  in  the  graduate  schools,  most  of  them  hav- 
ing already  received  their  bachelor's  degree  at  other 
colleges.  In  1896  there  are  over  1,900  students.  The 
possibilities  of  the  university  are  almost  unlimited. 

Dr.  Albert  Shaw  writes  in  the  Review  of  Reviews  for 
February,  1893,  "  No  rich  man's  recognition  of  his  op- 
portunity to  serve  society  in  his  own  lifetime  has  ever 
produced  results  so  mature  and  so  extensive  in  so  very 
short  a  time  as  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller's  recent  gifts  to 
the  Chicago  University." 

The  New  York  Sun  for  July  4, 1896,  gives  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller  the  following  well-deserved  praise  :  "  Mr.  John 
D.  Rockefeller  has  paid  his  first  visit  to  the  University 
of  Chicago,  which  was  built  up  and  endowed  by  his 
magnificent  gifts.  The  millions  he  has  bestowed  on 
that  institution  make  him  one  of  the  very  greatest  of 
private  contributors  to  the  foundation  of  a  school  of 
learning  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world.  He  has 
given  the  money,  moreover,  in  his  lifetime,  and  thus 
differs  from  nearly  all  others  of  the  most  notable 
founders  and  endowers  of  colleges. 

"By  so  giving,  too,  he  has  distinguished  himself  from 
the  great  mass  of  all  those  who  have  made  large  bene- 
factions for  public  uses.  He  has  taken  the  millions 
from  his  rapidly  accumulating  fortune ;  and  he  has  made 
the  gifts  quietly,  modestly,  and  without  the  least  seek- 
ing for  popular  applause,  or  to  win  the  conspicuous 
manifestations  of  honor  their  munificence  could  easily 


380  JOHN  D.    ROCKEFELLER. 

have  obtained  for  him.  The  reason  for  this  remarkable 
peculiarity  of  Mr.  Rockefeller  as  a  public  benefactor  is 
that,  being  a  deeply  religious  man,  he  has  made  his 
gifts  as  an  obligation  of  religious  duty,  as  it  seems  to 
him." 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  latest  gift,  of  $600,000,  was  made 
to  the  people  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  when  that  city  cele- 
brated her  one  hundredth  birthday,  July  22,  1896.  The 
gift  was  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres  of  land  of 
great  natural  beauty,  to  complete  the  park  system  of 
the  city.  For  this  land  Mr.  Rockefeller  paid  $600,000. 
The  land  is  already  worth  a  million  dollars,  and  will  be 
worth  many  times  that  amount  in  the  years  to  come. 

When  announcing  Mr.  Rockefeller's  munificent  gift 
to  the  city,  Mr.  J.  G.  W.  Cowles,  president  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  said  of  the  giver :  "  His  mod- 
esty is  equal  to  his  liberality,  and  he  is  not  here  to  share 
with  us  this  celebration.  The  streams  of  his  benevo- 
lence flow  largely  in  hidden  channels,  unseen  and  un- 
known to  men ;  but  when  he  founds  a  university  in 
Chicago,  or  gives  a  beautiful  park  to  Cleveland,  with 
native  forests  and  shady  groves,  rocky  ravines,  sloping 
hillsides  and  level  valleys,  cascades  and  running  brook 
and  still  pools  of  water,  all  close  by  our  homes,  open 
and  easy  of  access  to  all  our  people,  such  deeds  cannot 
be  hid  —  they  belong  to  the  public  and  to  history,  as 
the  gift  itself  is  for  the  people  and  for  posterity." 

The  Centennial  gift  has  caused  great  rejoicing  and 
gratitude,  and  will  be  a  blessing  forever  to  the  whole 
people,  but  especially  to  those  whose  daily  work  keeps 
them  away  from  the  fresh  air  and  the  sunshine. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  gift  had  been  received,  a  large 


JOHN  D.    KOCKEFELLEE.  08I 

number  of  Cleveland's  prominent  citizens  visited  the 
giver  at  his  home  at  Forest  Hill,  to  express  to  him  the 
thanks  of  the  city.  After  the  address  of  gratitude,  Mr. 
Rockefeller  responded  with  much  feeling. 

"  This  is  our  Centennial  year,"  he  said.  "  The  city 
of  Cleveland  has  grown  to  great  proportions,  and  has  pros- 
pered far  beyond  anything  any  of  us  had  anticipated. 
What  will  be  said  by  those  who  will  come  after  us  when 
a  hundred  years  hence  this  city  celebrates  its  second 
Centennial  anniversary,  and  reference  is  made  to  you, 
gentlemen,  and  to  me  ?  Will  it  be  said  that  this  or 
that  man  has  accumulated  great  treasures  ?  No ;  all 
that  will  be  forgotten.  The  question  will  be,  What  did 
we  do  with  our  treasures  ?  Did  we,  or  did  we  not,  use 
them  to  help  our  fellow-man  ?  This  will  be  forever 
remembered." 

After  referring  to  his  early  school-life  in  the  city,  and 
efforts  to  find  employment,  he  told  how,  needing  a  little 
money  to  engage  in  business,  and  in  the  "  innocence  of 
his  youth  and  inexperience  "  supposing  almost  any  of 
his  business  friends  would  indorse  his  note  for  the 
amount  needed,  he  visited  one  after  another;  and,  said 
Mr.  Rockefeller,  "  each  one  of  them  had  the  most  excel- 
lent reasons  for  refusing  ! " 

Finally  he  determined  to  try  the  bankers,  and  called 
upon  a  man  whom  the  city  delights  to  honor,  Mr.  T.  P. 
Handy.  The  banker  received  the  young  man  kihdl}r, 
invited  him  to  be  seated,  asked  a  few  questions,  and 
then  loaned  him  $2,000,  "  a  large  amount  for  me  to 
have  all  at  one  time,"  said  Mr.  Rockefeller. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  is  still  in  middle  life,  with,  it  is 
hoped,  many  years  before  him  in  which  to  carry  out  his 


382  JOHN  J).   ROCKEFELLER. 

great  projects  of  benevolence.  He  is  as  modest  and 
gentle  in  manner,  as  unostentatious  and  as  kind  in 
heart,  as  when  he  had  no  millions  to  give  away.  He  is 
never  harsh,  seems  to  have  complete  self-control,  and 
has  not  forgotten  to  be  grateful  to  the  men  who  be- 
friended and  trusted  him  in  his  early  business  life. 

His  success  may  be  attributed  in  part  to  industry, 
energy,  economy,  and  good  sense.  He  loved  his  work, 
and  had  the  courage  to  battle  with  difficulties.  He  had 
steadiness  of  character,  the  ability  to  command  the  con- 
fidence of  business  men  from  the  beginning,  and  gave 
close  and  careful  attention  to  the  matters  intrusted  to 
him. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  will  be  remembered,  not  so  much 
because  he  accumulated  millions,  but  because  he  gave 
away  millions,  thereby  doing  great  good,  and  setting 
a  noble  example. 


A'*