Deaths

(This is a listing of deaths of which word hasbeen received since the last issue. Full notices,which are usually written by the class secretaries,may appear in this issue or a later one.)

Deaths

John Downer- Bridgman died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Carrie L. Hapgood, in Lebanon, N. H., June 21, 1919, of epilepsy.

The son of Daniel and Harmony (Downer) Bridgman, he was born in Hanover July 9, 1834, and prepared for the Chandler Scienti- fic Department at Thetford (Vt.) Academy and Kimball Union Academy.

After graduation he studied law at Lancaster, N. H., and was admitted to the bar in October, 1859. In 1860 he went to Mobile, Ala., and began practice, but at the outbreak of the war returned North. He did not continue his profession, but was engaged in stock shipping in Chicago for several years. He then returned to Hanover, where he spent the rest of his active life as a farmer. He was keenly interested in public questions, local and national, and was for many years a prominent figure in Hanover town meetings. He was a devotee of nature, fond of all created things.

May 17, 1866, Mr. Bridgman was married to Harriet, daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Taylor) Bridge, who died July 28, 1895. They had four children, two of whom are living.

Josiah Howard Hobbs died at his home in Madison, N. H., September 7, 1919. He was born in Eaton, N. H., December 22, 1834, his parents being Samuel Sanborn and Judith (Chapman) Hobbs, and prepared for college at Parsonsfield and Fryeburg, Me. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa.

For the first year after graduation he was principal of Limington (Me.) Academy, and then read law for two years in an office at Albany, N. Y., and at Albany Law School, from which he graduated in 1859. In the spring of 1859 he began practice at Madison, and continued there through life. During his active career he had a wide reputation as an eloquent orator and a successful lawyer. His standard of professional ethics was high, and it was often said of him that he thought in his practice as much of the good he could do as of the material rewards he could gain for himself. Of the poor, especially, he was always a faithful and generous friend and a fearless champion. From 1864 to 1879 he was solicitor for Carroll county, and represented his town in the legislatures of 1861, 1862, and 1883.

January 3, 1878, he was married to Mary E., daughter of John and Lydia B. Erwin of Bethany, N. Y., who died July 5, 1890. They had one son, Irving J. Hobbs, a lawyer at North Conway, N. H.

CLASS OF 1864

Daniel Bryan Russell died of heart disease at his home in Hanover, September 7, 1919.

He was born in Hanover, July 22, 1837, and took the course of the Chandler Scientific Department, being a member of the Phi Zeta Mu fraternity (now Sigma Chi).

September 13, 1864, he enlisted as private in the 18th New Hampshire Volunteers, and was mustered in as corporal. He served in front of Petersburg, Va., during the term of service of his regiment, which was mustered out June 10, 1865.

After his return from military service, he studied for a time at Eastman's Commercial College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was at first employed in a bank at Wells River, Vt., after which he was railroad station agent at Bradford, Vt., and then at Claremont, N. H. In 1874 he returned to Hanover, and in November, 1877, became express agent, and in that capacity was a familiar figure to many generations of Dartmouth students. In 1895 he retired from this position and from active business.

In September, 1864, he was married to Julia. A. Porter, of Lyme, N. H., who died in May, 1868. In 1869 he was married to Elizabeth Haskell of Hanover, who survives him. A daughter also survives.

Mr. Russell was for many years a worthy member of the College church.

Solon Bancroft died at his home in Reading, Mass., November 1, 1920.

The son of Emory and Harriet (Batchelder) Bancroft, he was born in Reading, July 22, 1839. His college preparation was obtained in the schools of Reading, with short periods of study at Phillips Andover Academy and Green Mountain Academy, South Woodstock, Vt. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa, and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa rank.

The first year after graduation he taught in Roxbury (Mass.) Latin School. He then studied law in a Boston office and at Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in July, 1866. He began practice at once in Boston, keeping his home in his native town, and retired from practice only three months before his death. His professional record was highly creditable and successful.

In July, 1874, he was appointed a special justice of the First District Court of Eastern Middlesex County, and held this position for several years. In 1883 he was appointed a trustee of the Danvers Insane Asylum, and in 1884 became a member of the Republican state committee. In 1894, '5, and '6, he was a member of the state House of Representatives. He held the record for the longest period of consecutive service as moderator of Reading town meetings, and was for many years a member of the Reading school board.

December 23, 1868, Mr. Bancroft was married to Ellen M., daughter of Abraham Temple of Reading, who survives him, with their two children, Edith Bancroft of Reading and Edward W. Bancroft, a lawyer of Wellesley, Mass.

CLASS OF 1872

Joseph Paul Otis died June 18, 1920, at Clay Center, Kansas, of general debility,, due to the infirmities of age. His health had been failing for several years.

Mr. Otis was born in Sheffield, Vt., December 19, 1844, his parents being Joseph Young and Judith Edgerly (Chesley) Otis. He prepared for college at Barton Academy and Randolph State Normal School.

For the first year after graduation he was principal of Royalton (Vt.) Academy, and of a graded school at Painted Post, N. Y., in 1873-76. From 1876 to 1879 he read law with Walter P. Smith of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and practiced at West Burke, Vt., from 1879 to 1887. In 1887 he removed to Kansas, establishing himself at Clay Center. From 1893 to 1897 he was county attorney of Clay county, and probate judge for the county from 1909 to 1913. He was trustee of Clay Center township for several years, and a member and clerk of the school board of Clay Center city. He was a Mason and a member of the Methodist church, and highly respected as a lawyer and a citizen.

August 11, 1872, he was married to Alice Charlotte, daughter of Nahum K. and Corrilla Campbell of Sutton, Vt., who died October 29, 1896. They had an adopted daughter Winifred, now Mrs. Mailen of Clay Center. March 4, 1900, he was married to Mrs. Adella L. Gaston. This union was ended by divorce.

CLASS OF 1873

Arthur Kincaid Whitcomb died October 3, 1920, at the Lowell Corporation Hospital, Lowell, Mass., after an operation for trouble of long standing.

He was born July 16, 1846, in Littleton, N. H., the son of Horace and Betsey R. (Farmer) Whitcomb. He came of old New England stock, being the eighth in direct descent from John Whitcomb, an English Puritan, who came to Massachusetts in the first immigration of 1630. Soon after the birth of Arthur, the family moved to Columbia, N. H., and when he was ten years old his father moved to Bethlehem, N. H., where he remained till he was nineteen. His early education was obtained in the district school, but his opportunities for study were very limited, as he worked much of the year on the farm. Leaving his home at the age. of nineteen, he was employed in a wood-turning shop in Franconia, N. H. After his service there he attended school in New Hampton, N. H., for seven terms, and entered college in the fall of 1869. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa, and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa rank. He taught district school every winter during his college course, and during each summer worked on some farm, thus gaining his college education. He was one of the editors of The Dartmouth, then a monthly carried on by each succeeding senior class.

For a year after graduation he was principal of the Classical and Scientific School at Hallowell, Me., and at the close of the school year moved to Lowell, Mass., which was his home for the rest of his life. For two years he was connected with the Lowell Daily Courier, of which George A. Marden (Dartmouth 1861) was editor, and in the spring of 1876 he became assistant editor of the LowellDaily Citizen. After a period of rest on account of trouble with his eyes, he was appointed principal of the Varnum Grammar School, where he remained until 1891, when he became superintendent of schools for the city of Lowell. For twenty years he occupied that important position. Unfortunately this office was dependent upon political considerations, and in the election of 1912 the success of the opposite party gave it the control of the school board, so that Mr. Whitcomb failed of an election. This, however, did not close his service as a teacher, for in 1913, after less than a year's rest, he was elected principal of the Greenhalge School of Lowell, where he remained until he was automatically retired in September, 1920, having reached the age limit established by law. As one of the papers says, "Mr. Whitcomb was an able school man, a fine gentleman, and a true friend." Thus for over forty years he was identified with the educational interests of this one city, and "made for himself a very enduring place in the school annals of the city." He was for many years a member of the county, state, New England, and national teachers' and superintendents' associations, and of the American Institute. He became especially interested in the medical inspection of schools, and at a meeting of the teachers' association of his state he presented the first paper on that subject ever read in New England. He had been in failing health for some time, and although he maintained the same active interest .in his duties as master of the Greenhalge School until his resignation only a short time ago, it was known to his intimate friends that his health prompted him to ask to be relieved from his duty. Funeral services were held at the Eliot-Union Congregational . church, of which he was an active member, and as a special mark of respect the public schools of the city were closed at noon on the day of the service.

He was married November 24, 1875, to Ella M. Pattee of Wakefield, Mass. They had three children, Winifred and Helen May, who followed their father's profession and have been teachers, and Frank Sumner, Dartmouth 1911. Mrs. Whitcomb and the three children survive him.

Oliver Alvaro Hutchinson died at Yreka, Siskiyou county, California, February 22, 1919, of erysipelas, after a brief illness.

The son of Stillman S. and Emeline G. (Lull) Hutchinson, he was born in Milford, N. H., July 5, 1846, and fitted at Kimball Union Academy. Dr. Herbert S. Hutchinson '75 is a brother. He remained in college until near the end of freshman year.

After leaving college he studied law in the office of Hon. Bainbridge Wadleigh of Milford, and practiced for a short time at Milford and Greenville, N. H. In 1877 he went to California, and practiced in Santa Rosa. Early in his professional career he was led by growing deafness to give up his profession, and spent the rest of his life on a ranch, engaging in mining and farming.

In January, 1876, he was married to Mary C. Wilkins, who died only eleven weeks after their marriage. He was twice married subsequently, but left no children.

CLASS OF 1877

Robert Allen Ray died at his home in Keene, N. H., August 25, 1920, of pernicious anemia, after a long period of ill health.

The son of Alexander Hamilton and Sarah Jane (Maynard) Ray, he was born in Palmer, Mass., April 7, 1851. He fitted for college at Burr and Burton Seminary, Manchester, Vt., his home being then in Peru, Vt., and at Kimball Union Academy. He was a member of Psi Upsilon. He left college at the end of freshman year, intending to return, and keeping up his college work through sophomore year. In 1889 he received from the College the honorary degree of Master of Arts.

In 1874-5 he was principal of the high school at Townsend, Mass. He then began the study of law at Concord, N. H., with J. E. Sargent '40 and W. M. Chase '58. For two years, 1876-8, he taught Greek and mathematics at Concord High School, while pursuing his law studies. In April, 1878, he was admitted to the bar, and the following September began practice in Concord in partnership with Reuben E. Walker. He was city solicitor of Concord from November, 1880, to February, 1885, a member of the legislature in 1885, and associate justice of the Police Court of Concord in 1887-9. During this time he and his partner edited and published "Ray and Walker's New Hampshire Citations," a recognized legal authority.

He gave up practice in 1889 to resume school work; having for most of the year 1888-9 been principal of the graded school in Boscawen. From March, 1889, to November, 1893, he was in charge of the high school at Hinsdale, N. H., and then held a similar position in Keene to June, 1904. In September, 1904, he resumed law practice in Keene, and in February, 1906, he was appointed judge of probate for Cheshire county, a position which he held until his death.

Judge Ray was married January 18, 1881, to Harriet Annette, daughter of Oliver and Emma (Heath) Ballou of Concord, who died March 16, 1900. They had one daughter, who is now Mrs. Fred H. Robbins of Philadelphia. May 23, 1907, he was married to Mrs. Clara Ardell Ireton of Salt Lake City, Utah, daughter of George Washington and Eliza Jane (Turner) Case, who survives him.

Judge Ray was a member of the Baptist church. His college associations were very dear to him, and he was usually an active participant in class reunions.

CLASS OF 1879

Charles Wallace French died at his home in Chicago, November 11, 1920, of disease of the heart and kidneys, after an illness of about a week, the culmination of ill health from which he had not been free for many years.

He was born in Woodstock, Vt., April 5, 1858, his parents being Charles Wallace and Anne (Mackenzie) French. His father died early, but the death of the mother, who made her home with her son, preceded his by only two weeks. He prepared for college at Woodstock High Schook He was a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity.

After graduation he entered upon the work of a teacher, which was practically uninterrupted until his death. For the first year he was principal of Marlow (N.H.) Academy. His health becoming impaired, he went to Michigan, and worked for a few months as tallier in a lumber camp. He was then until 1882 principal of the public schools of Ferrysburg, Mich., and then for two years superintendent of schools at St. Joseph, Mich. In 1884 he entered the schools of Chicago as teacher of history in the West Division High School, and remained in that city with increasing reputation and influence. In 1890 he was made principal of the Lake View High School, and after one year transferred to the charge of the Hyde Park High School, in 1905 he resigned this position on account of the condition of his health, but in 1906 he was able to take an appointment as vice-principal of the Chicago Normal School. From this date until 1910 he was principal of Parker Practice School, and finally from 1917 of Parker High School. He was one of the most beloved and respected school men in the city, and in character and work one of the finest exemplars of the Dartmouth spirit.

He was the author of "Lincoln the Leberator" in the American Reformers Series, and of "The Words of Lincoln". He was also editor of annotated editions of Tennyson's "Idylls of the King", "Macbeth" Macaulay's "Addison" and "Milton", DeQuincey's "Flight of a Tartar Tribe", Irving's "Sketch Book", "Rab and His Friends", and "Bltack Beauty"; he also wrote an "Introduction to Browning".

He held' many offices in educational societies throughout his life. He was actively connected with the Christian Endeavor movement in its early stages, organized the first Christian Endeavor Union and was its vice president, and organized many societies. He was always active in church work, and was for many years until his death an elder in the Woodlawn Park Presbyterian church, at whose house of worship his funeral was held.

July 17, 1889, Mr. French was married to Mary Lake, daughter of Josiah and Mary (Lake) Heartt of St. Joseph, Mich., who died September 9, 1897. They had one daughter, Mary Mackenzie. June 28, 1900, he was married to Fanny K., daughter of James and Julia (Norton) Bartltett of Rockford, Ill., who survives him, with their two daughters, Eleanor Bartlett and Carolyn Norton.

His classmate George H. Rockwood, principal of the Austin High School in Chicago, was an honorary pall-bearer at his funeral, and wrote a fine tribute to his memory, which was published with many others in a memorial number of The Green and White, the weekly paper of the Parker High School..

CLASS OF 1881

William Smith died at his home in Springfield, Vt., October 18, 1920, having been in failing health for about two years.

He was born in Cavendish, Vt., November 19, 1860, his parents being William and Isabel (Proctor) Smith. He fitted for college at Black River Academy, Ludlow, Vt., and at Burlington High School. The first two years of his college course were taken at the University of Vermont, and he entered his Dartmouth class at the beginning of junior year. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi.

During the first year after graduation he taught in his native town. He then went to Stillwater, Minn., where he was employed in a lumber office and studied law. In 1884 he returned to Vermont, and until 1891 was cashier and paymaster of the Vermont Marble Company at Proctor. He was then treasurer of the Proctor Trust Company to 1898, and then became assistant treasurer of the Springfield Savings Bank at Springfield. In 1909 he was promoted to the treasurership, and held this position for the rest of his life.

In his calling as a banker, he was diligent, untiring, and efficient, and his ability and success were unquestioned. He was a man of large public spirit, and entered deeply into the business, financial, social, and religious interests of the town. He was a member of the Masonic order, and a devoted and highly valued member of the Congregational church.

January 19, 1887, he was married to Flora A. Brown of Plymouth, Vt., who survives him. They have had no children.

James Edwin Odlin died November 9 at the Corey Hill Hospital, Boston, after an illness of several months.

He was born in Laconia, N. H., April 10, 1857, the son of Joseph E. and Christiana (Farrar) Odlin. William Odldn '90 is a brother. He prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa.

After graduation he studied for the ministry, spending one year at Andover Theological Seminary and two at Hartford Seminary, graduating from the latter in 1884. For six months following he preached at Mayville and Portland, N. D., and then spent the rest of the year in graduate work at Andover.

In 1885-6 he was pastor of the Congregational church at Pembroke, N. H., and then to 1891 at Goffstown, N. H. From 1891 to 1893 he was pastor of a Presbyterian church at Waukegan, Ill. A change of theological views caused him at this time to leave the ministry, and thereafter his connection was with the Unitarians. He did not take a pastorate in that denomination, but preached occasionally, and had been superintendent of the Unitarian Sunday School in Lynn since 1906.

In 1893-5 he studied law at Boston University, and was admitted to the bar in 1895. Since that date he had been in successful practice in Lynn, Mass. He engaged actively in politics, being a member of the Republican city committee from 1895 to 1905, and again from 1915 to 1919, and a member of the state House of Representatives in 1900, 1901, 1916, 1917, 1918, and 1919.

He was a member of the Essex Bar Association, a trustee of the Lynn Public Library from 1903 to 1908, a member of the Oxford and Book of the Hour Clubs, a Mason, and a Knight of Pythias. He had been president of the Governor Dudley Family Association and of the Twentieth Century Club of Lynn. He was the author of many occasional articles and addresses, chiefly on historical subjects, in which he was greatly interested. Two volumes from his pen were published: "New Concepts of Old Dogmas," 1892; "Forty Lessons on the Psalms," 1913.

June 1, 1886, Mr. Odlin was married to Mary G. Little of Pembroke, N. H., who survives him, with their three daughters, Margaret (Mrs. Green of New York city), Elizabeth (Mrs. Whittemore of White Plains, N. Y.), and Christiana.

CLASS OF 1898

Carl Henry Chandler, a member of this class during the first two years of the course, was found dead in his apartment in Boston on the evening of June 14, 1920.

Mr. Chandler was employed for many years as a reporter on Boston papers, and had been latterly in the employ of the government as a special treasury agent. Further information has been sought in vain from relatives.

CLASS OF 1913

Walter Robbins died of double pneumonia in Detroit, Mich., September 30, 1920.

The son of Mr. and Mrs. Levi Robbins, he was born in Rockland, Me., March 14, 1889. Soon after his birth the family removed to Massachusetts, and Walter was educated in the schools of Saugus, Mass. When in college, he had a fine record for scholarship, receiving honorable mention in German and French in sophomore year, being an honor man in junior year, and as a senior winning honors in German and the Pray German prize, and being enrolled as a Rufus Choate scholar. He was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa.

For some months after graduation he was with the B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company in Boston. In October, 1913, he became assistant manager of their store in Springfield, Mass. In November, 1915, he went back to the Boston store, and remained there until June, 1916. He then went back to Akron, Ohio, and entered upon work with the Firestone Tire Company. Last July he was sent to Detroit to take charge of their service department and also of advertising. His mother had been making her home with him, and on her return from a visit to California she found him seriously ill, and he passed away four days after her arrival.

CLASS OF 1915

Elmer Forrest Thyng died January 16, 1919, of pneumonia, at Youngstown, Ohio.

He was born May 15, 1893, and came to college from Everett, Mass., where his mother, Mrs. Laura E. Thyng, now lives.

After graduation he entered the employ of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, and was a shipping supervisor for this company when the United States entered the war. He enlisted May 6, 1917, at Youngstown, was commissioned second lieutenant at Fort Benjamin Harrison in the following August, and attended an artillery school at Camp Sheridan from August to December. Then he went to France, and was in an artillery school there from January to June, 1918. He saw active service at St. Mihiel and Chateau Thierry from June to October. He returned to Washington, D. C., as a courier, October 26, 1918, and later was made instructor of .artillery fire at Fort Sill, where he stayed from November 12 until December 20, the date of his discharge from the service.

He was married November 6, 1918, to Muriel Marie McCallum of Midland, Mich.

CLASS OF 1916

Lewis Byron Goodwin, a member of this class in freshman year, died in Hooksett, N. H., as the result of an automobile accident, August 1, 1919.

He was born in Derry, N. H., June 22, 1893, being the son of Elmer D. and Ella L. (Sargent) Goodwin. He received his preparatory education in the schools of Manchester, N. H., and at Phillips Exeter Academy.

After leaving college he was associated with his father in the undertaking business in Manchester. He was much interested in music and theatricals, and with his classmate Bruce Bundy produced the opera "The Golden Isle."

He enlisted in aviation in July, 1917, and was a flying cadet at Rich Field, Waco, Texas. He was ill with pneumonia several months while in service, and was discharged June 3, 1918.

August 15, 1916, he was married to Lynda M. Courser, who survives him, with one child.

CLASS OF 1918

Wei Kuang Chen died of pneumonia in New York city May 7, 1919.

He was born in Canton, China, October 5, 1895. He was a Rufus Choate scholar in senior year, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

He was employed in a bank in New York, and planned to return to China and there continue in banking pursuits.