Deaths
Alumni Notes
NECROLOGY
CLASS OF 1866
It is with deep regret that we are called upon to announce the death of our classmate, NATHAN PARKER HUNT. He passed away at his home in Manchester, N. H., April 5, 1931. He had been confined to the house for some time with a lingering case of erysipelas, but no apprehension was entertained as to his ultimate recovery. He went to sleep very peacefully.
Our classmate was a dominating influence in our class, not only while we were in college, but after we graduated, in the long years which have followed, with our diminishing numbers. About every year he called us together with a rather insistent summons, to renew our friendship and to keep alive the spirit of '66. Last year we had a pleasant gathering in Boston, when plans were entered upon to meet in Hanover at Commencement time to celebrate our 65th anniversary. "Man proposes, but God disposes."
Through the direct influence of our esteemed classmate, at our 50th anniversary there was published "The Class of 1866, Dartmouth College, 50th Reunion, 1916," edited by our classmate Kendall. In the sketch of Hunt, Kendall said: "We submit, with due apologies to Brother Hunt's modesty, that it would be hard to find a more useful or serviceable citizen." A prophetic utterance!
Classmate Hunt was a member of one of New England's oldest families, the original progenitor having been born in Amesbury, Mass., in 1655. He was himself born in Manchester, N. H., July 5, 1844, his parents being Jonathan Titcomb Parker and Irene (Drew) Hunt, and he was prepared for college in the public schools of Manchester. In college he was an editor of the Aegis and a member of the Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity.
November 22, 1870, he was married to Elizabeth S. Bisbee of Newport, Vt. There were born of this union three children, Samuel, Dartmouth 1893, Sarah (Mrs. Clough), and Agnes, both graduates of Smith College. Samuel is the surviving member of the immediate family, with a sister, Mrs. William E. Drew, and three grandchildren, daughters of Mrs. Clough.
Studying law and beginning its practice in Manchester, he remained there through life. In the city of his birth and throughout the state our classmate was known as "Judge Hunt." This title was given him in recognition of his service as justice of the Municipal Court. He was appointed to this position in 1876, holding it until 1895. A remarkable record! It will be difficult to find a more diversified life than that of Judge Hunt. There is scarcely a public or private interest with which he was not connected. To read his record is to read the history of Manchester for many years. Here are some of the activities of his long and eventful life. He was city solicitor (1870-1) and judge of the Municipal Court; a member of the school committee (1873-4, 1877-8, 1883-90), and trustee of the city library for many years; a commissioner to compile the school laws of New Hampshire (1885); a member of the board of trustees of the State Industrial School (1896-1907), and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1903); a member of the state legislature (1876), and treasurer of the New Hampshire Fire Insurance Company; and very intimately connected with the fraternal organizations of the state, holding high office in them, and actively connected with the railroads of the state.
He was identified with two of Manchester's most prosperous banking institutions, the Merchants National Bank and the Hillsborough County Savings Bank. "As president and chairman of the board of directors of the former and treasurer of the latter, Judge Hunt established a reputation as a banker which has few parallels in the history of New Hampshire banking institutions. His devotion to these banks was unremitting and continued to the end."
There was no eulogy at the funeral services, which was in accordance with the wish of the Judge. But a great tribute was paid our classmate by a house crowded with men of all degrees of life. The predominant thought was "integrity."
We take the liberty in closing to quote from an article written by Judge William C. Clarke. "The official associates of Judge Hunt had absolute confidence in him, and he never betrayed them. Predominant in his life was his intense loyalty to those associated with him in business; unremitting application to work, love of home and friends stand out conspicuously in his busy life. He lived honestly, industriously, frugally, and honorably for more than four score years, and died respected by everybody who knew him and beloved by many."
HENRY WHITTEMORE
Henry Whittemore, the secretary of the class, who wrote the above sketch of Judge Hunt, was present at the Secretaries Meeting at Hanover in apparent health and vigor. He had intended to remain in Hanover a few days, and died there suddenly on May 6. We greatly regret not being able to give an adequate account of his long and honorable career in this number of the Magazine.
CLASS OF 1868
WILLIAM WALLACE PATTERSON died September 26, 1930, at Oakland, Cal. The son of John Duncan and Hannah (Eaton) Patterson, he was born in Candia, N. H., September 29, 1847. He took the course of the Chandler Scientific Department, and was a member of the Phi Zeta Mu fraternity (now Sigma Chi).
Mr. Patterson made only meager and infrequent reports to his class secretary, and his career can only be sketched in barest outline. For ten years after graduation he was engaged in civil engineering, two years of which was on railroad work in Peru. In 1879 he removed to California, and for many years was occupied in ranching. In 1905 he made his home in Oakland, and was not of late years engaged actively in business.
In January, 1905, he was married to Mary Groden of Geneva, N. Y., who presumably survives him.
CLASS OF 1869
The death of REV. HENRY CALVIN CRANE, which occurred December 24, 1929, at his home at Floral City, Fla., has only recently become known to the College. The cause of his death was septicaemia.
He was born in Norton, Mass., November 30, 1845, the son of John Calvin and Eliza (Pratt) Crane, and prepared for college at Bristol Academy, Taunton, Mass. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa.
For the first year after graduation he was principal of the high school at Chatham, Mass., and then entered Andover Theological Seminary, taking the three years' course and graduating in 1873. He then entered the Congregational ministry, and served in succession the following churches: Nantucket, Mass., 1873-4; Franklin, Mass., 1874-6; Plymouth church, Allegheny, Pa., 1877-83; First and Central churches, Springfield, Mass., 1883-6; Hillside church, Omaha, Neb., 1887-91; Port Townsend, Wash., 1892; Courtland St. church, Everett, Mass., 1893; Pepperell, Mass., 1894-5; United church, East Providence, R. I., 1896; Central Village, Conn., 1897-9.
Deafness caused his leaving the active ministry, and for some years he gave most of his attention to writing, lecturing, book reviewing, and selling standard works, mainly dictionaries. He made his home for some years at Winthrop, Mass., and then at Stoughton, Mass. For some years he spent his winters at Floral City, Fla., and finally in 1915 removed there, engaging in the raising of citrus fruits.
Mr. Crane was three times married. The first marriage (to Evelyn Morey) was soon after graduation, and his wife died about a year later. The second marriage was to Josephine Carter Austin, who died a good many years ago. There were two children of this marriage, a daughter, who died in childhood, and a son, Mendell W. Crane, who is now a lawyer in Providence, R. I. June 1, 1904, he was married to Hattie D., daughter of James Freeman and Esther (Perkins) Mason of Oak Bluffs, Mass., who survives him. A brother is also living, Charles N. Crane of Mansfield, Mass.
CLASS OF 1874
AIFEED WADIJEIGH BEASLEY died April 26, 1931, at the home of his son in Kellogg, Idaho. Death came very suddenly while he was engaged in a game of chess. He had seemed to be in excellent health.
He was born in Ripley, Ohio, March 27, 185$, the son of Dr. Nathaniel K. and Susan (Kirker) Beasley. When he was three years old, his parents removed to Peoria, Ill., which was thereafter his home for the greater part of his life, and obtained his college preparation at the high school of that city. He was a member of Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa.
For the first four years after graduation he was engaged in the saddlery hardware business in Peoria. He then abandoned business pursuits and entered upon a career as an educator, in which he was notably successful. For one year he was teacher of an ungraded school in South Peoria. In 1879 he became instructor in mathematics and science in Peoria High School. He was then principal of the Franklin School, and in 1889 was elected principal of the High School. In 1916 he left this position to become superintendent of schools, and continued as such until his resignation in 1923. Soon after this he went to Idaho to make his home with his son, Alfred P. Beasley, who is superintendent of the Bunker Hill smelter at Kellogg.
November 29, 1876, he was married to Mary Ramsay of Peoria, who died April 26, 1927. One son, mentioned above, survives them, and two grandchildren. An older son, Fred, died in 1928. The burial was at Spokane, Wash., where the wife and son are buried.
The following is taken from a Peoria paper: "Hundreds of graduates of Peoria High School knew and loved him as 'Uncle Al.' He had the kindness of a strong man, a student, and a lover of the out-of-doors, and was a loyal friend to his students.
"Fishing was his hobby. He spent most of his summers fishing the mountain streams in the West and Northwest. Only last summer he took a fishing trip to Montana. One who frequently fished with him in this vicinity said that he was the most expert fly fisherman in central Illinois.
"After his graduation from Dartmouth, Mr. Beasley continued his rowing for several years. He became national single scull champion of the United States. He was closely identified with all river sports during his early years after he finished college, and took part in the activities of the Peoria Boat Club."
CLASS OF 1883
REV. EDWARD LEEDS GULICK died after a brief illness at his home in Brookline, Mass., April 27, 1981.
He was born in Honolulu, T. H., March 21, 1862, the son of Rev. Luther Halsey and Louisa (Lewis) Gulick. His parents were missionaries, and he was early sent to this country for his education, making his home in the family of Rev. Dr. S. P. Leeds in Hanover. The latter part of his preparatory training was obtained at St. Johnsbury Academy. In college he became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Phi Beta Kappa.
The first year after graduation he taught mathematics in Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Mass., and then took the three years' course in Union Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1887. In 1887-9 he was sub-master in Lawrence (Mass.) High School, and then for three years pastor of the Congregational church in Groton, Mass. The year 1892-8 he spent in graduate study at Harvard, and received the degree of A.M. in 189$. From 1893 to 1904 he was head of the English department at Lawrenceville School, N. J. From 1907 to 1911 he was pastor of the church at West Lebanon, N. H. He maintained his home for a long time in Hanover, establishing a home in Brookline in 1918.
With Mrs. Gulick he founded and managed for many years the very successful Aloha summer camps for girls and boys at Pairlee, Vt., and this was his chief occupation in his later years.
December 2, 1890, he was married to Harriet Maria, daughter of Rev. Wilson A. and Caroline E. (Palmer) Farnsworth, who were missionaries in Turkey, She survives him, with their four children, Mrs. Donald S. King of Brookline, Mrs. Carol Hulbert of Brookline, Mrs. Eugene M. Pierce of Scranton, Pa., and E. Leeds Gulick (Dartmouth 1913) of Phoenix, Ariz. He leaves also a brother, Rev. Dr. Sidney L. Gulick '83, and a sister. Burial was at Thetford, Vt.
CLASS OF 1884
FREDERICK MARDEN AMBROSE died at South Byfield, Mass., April 3, 1931.
He was born in Deerfield, N. H., September 17, 1857, the son of Alfred E. and Clara M. (Towle) Ambrose. After 1869 his home was at Newbury, Mass., and he prepared for college at Dummer Academy and Phillips Andaver Academy. He left college just before the close of freshman year.
His active life since shortly after leaving college was connected with the text-book publishing business. He was traveling agent for William Ware and Company in 1883-4, and general agent for New England of J. B. Lippincott Company from 1885 to 1891. He then entered Ginn and Company, first as traveling representative and later as a member of the firm. For many years he was in charge of the New York office of the company. At length he left this company, and went into business under his own name, finally retiring on account of his health and making his home at South Byfield in 1928.
During his twenty years' residence in Yonkers, N. Y., he was active in church and civic affairs there, and was a member of the New York Republican Club, St. Andrews Golf Club, and the Campfire Club of America. For fifteen years he was president of the trustees of Dummer Academy, and established there the Ambrose prizes for prize speaking.
June 20, 1883, he was married to Mary D. Cook of Southboro, Mass., who died in 1901. They had six children, all of whom survive: Mrs. Sumner Deane of Burlingame, Colo.; Mrs. George Champney of Bedford, Mass.; Mrs. David Bamsay of Yonkers, N. Y.; Miss Helen Ambrose; Nathaniel Ambrose (Dartmouth 1913); and Frederick Ambrose. There are also thirteen grandchildren. June 22, 1903, Mr. Ambrose was married to Ida A. Elliott of Boston, who died some years ago.
Ambrose was with his class in college only one year. The impression he left on his fellows was that of a man of more than ordinary gifts mentally, endowments that would carry him far in any line of work he chose to follow. He was a clear-headed, active fellow, with an unusual capacity to make friends and keep them. He was a gentleman in all his relations with his classmates, and won not only their respect but their friendship. Men naturally liked Ambrose. His success in his chosen business was in keeping with our expectations of him. Our contacts with him after leaving college were few, but they were invariably pleasant. He had an abiding interest in the College and his class, which he manifested as occasion arose. He was one of us in spirit, and the last letter he wrote to the Secretary told of his intention to so conserve his strength that he could attend the 50-year reunion. The class of '84 is proud of his record, and will hold him in loving memory.
SAMUEL FRANCIS TOWER died at his home in West Newton, Mass., April 28, 1931, after an illness which became serious last fall, and compelled his retirement early in December.
He was born in Boston, February 21, 1861, his parents being Charles Baxter and Harriet Lucinda (Putnam) Tower. The family removed to Hyde Park, Mass., and he fitted for college at the high school there. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi and Phi Beta Kappa.
His life since graduation has been devoted to teaching, in which he achieved success of a high order. For the first two years he was principal of the high school at Southbridge, Mass. He was then for two years teacher of mathematics and science in the University School for Boys in Baltimore, Md., studying also the second year at Johns Hopkins. In 1888 he became junior master in the English High School of Boston, and there taught biology and mathematics for thirty years. While in this position he studied in the biological laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1895-7, and having the benefit of a sabbatical year in 1897-8 he went abroad and studied at the University of Munich. In 1918 he was appointed to the headmastership of South Boston High School, and remained there until his retirement on account of failing health.
November 27, 1902, he was married to Katherine Badger Thome of Philadelphia, who survives him, with their three children, Walter Thorne (Dartmouth 1925), Charles Francis (Dartmouth 1928), and Katherine. "Sam" Tower, or "Purgos" yclept by his classmates, was sui generis. Small in stature with a decided limp in his walk, the left-over of a broken pelvis in childhood, none the less he dominated any gathering of his intimates. He had an unusually keen and versatile mind, his logic was clear-cut and cogent, his wit was scintillating, his camaraderie was contagious. He was loved greatly by his coterie of close associates. He was respected by all who knew him. Faculty and students alike recognized his remarkable talents. He was facile princeps among parliamentarians. He could have sat beside Czar Tom Reed or Uncle Joe Cannon and kept the House in due order. He played an unbeatable game of doubles in tennis with Thurston as his partner. He hiked the hills about Hanover and loved their beauty. He had a keen sense of honor. He proved himself a man, a true friend, a fine student, a great teacher. He was eminently fitted for his life's work in the Boston high schools, where he won distinction for himself and honor for his college and his class. Fondly do we who remain cherish the memory of this man, our classmate—of his quips and pranks and merry jests, but, most of all, of the qualities of mind and heart that made him eminent among his kind.
CLASS OF 1886
Word comes of the death in Boston, on March 18, 1931, of FRANK TENNEY VAUGHAN. Funeral services were held in Keene, N. H., the following Thursday afternoon.
Frank Vaughan was a good student with a good mind and without bad habits. After , college he was admitted to the bar and followed the law the most of his life, serving in many legal capacities. He traveled widely in this country and was a citizen of many communities. He had the brain of a capable attorney.
He also gave much time to engineering, both in the East and in the West. About 1916 he took a Civil Service examination and was sent to Colorado as a civil engineer. Here he was injured by a falling stone, which brought him back to New England about 1922, and for several years he had a position in Boston. As a result of the injury his health broke completely, and he never recovered. For the last two years he has been a confirmed invalid, but without great suffering.
Frank Vaughan left a wife who is an invalid, three sons and a daughter all married, and nine grandchildren. Of this family he was very proud. In all the ups and downs of life he never forgot his home. Even when the exigencies of employment took him afar, he was always returning to the old hearthstone.
Frank was a likable man—intelligent, enthusiastic, and a lover of good things. We knew him well for a good part of his life.
(Mr. Vaughan was born at Taftsville, Vt., May 4, 1864, and prepared for college at St. Johnsbury Academy. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi.)
In the passing of WALTER SAMPSON, on April 24, the class has lost a member who has been most constant in class fellowship and college allegiance. No man more highly prized his college associations than he, and no one could have had greater love for his Alma Mater. Both these qualities were natural products of the process by which he achieved his education, and in keeping with the character and the singleness of purpose of his life's work.
To appreciate what an education meant to him we have only to visualize the boy working on the ancestral farm Mullein Hill in Lakeville while attending country school, and later walking daily back and forth between the farm and the high school in Middleboro, a distance of several miles. A preparatory education purchased at the price of such personal effort was necessarily accounted by him a thing of great value. That the result was commensurate with the effort is proven not only by his accomplishment of the four-year course of the high school in two years, but also by the attainment of the highest honors by graduating as valedictorian of his class. Thus making up for his earlier disadvantages, he completed his fit for college when a little under twenty years of age. To the cost of his preparatory training, measured in effort, may well be attributed not only his high appraisal of the value of scholarship, but also his later determination to devote his life to the work of making an education attainable to the boys and girls of his native section.
Entering college in 1882, he maintained throughout his course a high scholastic standing and easily graduated with Phi Beta Kappa rank. At the same time he found time to serve as an editor of The Dartmouth and
as a member of the College Glee Club, and also to take an active part in fraternity life (Alpha Delta Phi), which in his day in college afforded the major opportunity for extra-curriculum activities.
The winter of 1885 found him, while yet a junior in college, laying a foundation for his future career, as well as helping his exchequer, by teaching the winter school at Stewartstown, N. H., at the same time carrying on his college studies. Immediately upon graduation he entered his chosen calling, becoming principal of the Lyndon (Vt.) Academy, which position he held for four years, 1886-1890. From Lyndon he was called to the principalship of the Middleboro High School in September, 1890. This was to be the great adventure of his life. Here for thirty-three years he carried on in his profession in a manner which has elicited the highest encomiums which could be paid to one in his line of work. Taking charge of the school when the pupils numbered eighty-seven, and the teaching force, including himself, but three, he saw the institution grow under his management until the enrollment had reached two hundred ninety-one and the faculty had increased to eleven members. During his principalship nearly three thousand pupils passed under his control and eight hundred sixty-four were graduated, of whom more than the usual proportion were enrolled in the higher institutions of learning of the country. Of these more than one hundred entered Dartmouth. His certificate carried unusual weight with college authorities. The Middleboro High School was the "apple of his eye," and he guarded it accordingly.
As to his methods of teaching we can do no better than to adopt the substance of a tribute paid to him by a close observer of his work for a quarter of a century. With him, going to school was serious business; he had no place for "soft snaps" in his courses of study. With him, there was only one way to be a good scholar, and that was by hard, faithful study. He ever held strongly to the belief in the great value of the study of mathematics and the classical languages. In these branches he left his impression as a remarkable instructor upon all who were in his classes. He was a great teacher because he had a fine mind and a fine method of drilling and redrilling, so that by close questioning he held the student to the subject until he was satisfied that the student had mastered it. His idea of a good education was selfmastery, the cultivation of correct habits of mind, which could be acquired only by rigorous discipline of the powers of observation and reason. This idea of education was the controlling impulse in all his teaching, and he knew nothing that could effectively take its place. In discipline he was not a martinet, but the kind and sympathetic friend, more like a father to the boys and girls under his charge, although he was also firm, and for that reason always held the respect of his teachers and pupils.
His preeminence as an educator was recognized by his Alma Mater not only by awarding him the degree of Master of Arts, but also by the bestowal of the well deserved degree of Master of Pedagogy in 1917, the first of its kind to be awarded by the College. The alumni of the Middleboro school evidenced their appreciation of his great service to the cause of education by a reception given him at the close of his twenty-fifth year of service, at which he was presented a gold-lined silver loving-cup containing a substantial gift in gold. The honor, however, most appreciated by him was the act of the Middleboro school board in bestowing upon him, at the close of his long service, the honorary title of Principal Emeritus of the school to which he had devoted his life's work. It was on this occasion that his classmate, George W. Stetson, as chairman, voiced the public feeling that it was a "cause for rejoicing to the town that a man of such sterling qualities of character, such scholastic attainments, such skill as an instructor, should have directed and shaped the lives of so many of the young men and women of the town by his inspiring example of upright manhood, conscientious devotion to duty, loyalty to high ideals, and consecration to the cause of education of a life of service."
Walter was born in Lakeville, Mass., December 1, 1862, the son of Uriah and Betsey J. (Ashley) Sampson, and a direct descendant in the seventh generation from Miles Standish. His boyhood life was saddened by tragedies which overtook the family. His father was one of seven men from his neighborhood who went down to the sea in the schooner Emerald, never to return. No news ever came from the ship. The lake claimed the life of Walter's younger brother. Walter was ever proud of the mother and grandparents, who took over his care, and gave him such opportunities as he had. On January 3, 1883, at Lyndon, Vt., Walter married Emma A. Stevens, who survives him.
As a citizen of Middleboro he served many years as trustee of its public library and as a member of its Chamber of Commerce. In fraternal life he was a Mason and in religion a member of the Congregational church. His sole business venture outside his professional work was fruit-raising, of which he made an intensive study. On the old farm upon Mullein Hill he developed an apple and peach orchard which was recognized as a model of its kind, and which was used by the State Board of Agriculture for demonstration purposes. This proved to be a profitable financial venture; so that upon the sale of his orchard, he was able to carry out a long cherished plan to help found the Walter Sampson scholarship for the high school.
His plan for retirement from his profession was hastened by failing health, which forced him to resign his position as principal of the Middleboro High School on March 23, 1923. His throat trouble, which for several years appeared to yield to treatment, became more pronounced about a year ago, compelling hospital attention at the Palmer Memorial Hospital, Boston, where, for four months preceding his death, he was a great but patient sufferer. There he continued the fight against his disease, as he had done since 1923, with a courage and success which only one of his extraordinary will power could have done. During this last sickness, while yet hoping against hope, he found great comfort in the visits from classmates who called to see him. He found his greatest joy on these occasions in reminiscences of college days.
When his neighbors, former students, and classmates gathered at his home church to pay tribute to his memory, it was manifest that there had passed from among them a man who had made an unusual place in the hearts of those who had been privileged to know him, to whom, as expressed in a tribute paid to him in the press, "he had been, during his long and useful life all that was truest and noblest, a Christian man of unblemished character, a worthy guide, one who was greatly honored as a citizen, teacher, and friend."
The passing of Sampson just before our 45th reunion brings poignantly to mind the loss of Stetson, his old friend and chum, whose death just prior to our 40th brought us like sorrow. The two are as inseparable in our memories as they were in life. They plodded the daily seven miles, together to attend Middleboro High, from which they graduated the same year. They entered Dartmouth together, made the same fraternity, and graduated with like rank. Rooming together, they were constant companions in college, and returning to Middleboro they lived their useful lives and spent their leisure hours together. Sampson counted the loss of his old chum as the greatest sorrow of his life, and now the double loss comes with special force to every member of their class.
The words of "Billy" Williams, contributed for the current class report, well express the estimate of his college classmates. "Sampson was a rare soul. Modest, yet highly sensitive, ambitious, yet conscientious to the last degree, endowed with a strong will power and unfaltering courage . . . How many are the mystic strings of memory which awake to life in the hearts of his classmates as we run back over the years! How can we forget the songs he used to sing and the joy in which we all shared? What escapades we indulged whether at his expense or at our own, yet who ever saw him angry or hurt on taking revenge? How transparently honest and destitute of guile he invariably was, and how intent he was on the good of the other fellow though easily hurt himself! We cannot forget him—what shall we do without him when he no longer responds to the roll call of '86?"
CLASS OF 1891
JAMES HENRY WESTON died suddenly at his home on Oak St., Derry, N. H., on April 21, 1931, following a heart attack.
He was born in Manchester, N. H., July 17, 1868, the son of the former governor James Adams and Anna S. (Gilmore) Weston. He prepared for college in the schools of Manchester, and entered Dartmouth in the fall of 1887, remaining through freshman year. He was a member of Kappa Kappa Kappa.
For a number of years he was affiliated with his father in the Merchants National Bank of Manchester, going to Derry in 1906, where he was cashier of the First National Bank. He retired from active business in 1917 on account of his health.
He was a member of Washington Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Manchester, the Scottish Rite Masons, and of Trinity Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he was treasurer for 25 years, and was a 32d degree Mason.
In 1901 he was married to Alice C. Hathaway, who survives him, as do two brothers, Edwin B. Weston '93, a lawyer in Derry, and Charles A. Weston '96, of Springfield, Mass.
CLASS OF 1892
JOHN ALDEN BLACKWOOD died suddenly of heart disease at his summer home in Croydon, N. H., April 27, 1981.
The son of Benjamin L. and Ellen J. (Pettengill) Blackwood, he was born in Nashua, N. H., January 8, 1867. He fitted for the Chandler Scientific Department at Concord High School, his home having been in Concord since infancy. He left college at the close of freshman year to take charge in his father's absence in California of the New Hampshire State Prison workshop. He remained there until 1894, when the manufacturing business with which he was connected dissolved, and he entered the woodworking business with his father and brothers, continuing until 1920, when he retired from this business and engaged in engineering and surveying.
His activities in civic, political, and fraternal life have been marked with preferment on the part of those with whom he was long associated. A Democrat in politics, he twice represented a strong Republican ward in the city council and board of aldermen, and in 1912 was elected to the state senate. He was a charter member of two of Concord's oldest clubs—the Wonalancet and the Snowshoe—, and in 1919 he was elected tax collector of the city. He was also a member of the Granite Chapter of the Unitarian church, and a trustee of the Concord Public Library. He was deeply interested in Masonry, advancing to the 82d degree, and held high official positions in all the branches of the order in Concord.
September 30, 1930, he was married to Bertha M., daughter of Dr. Irving Allison and Lena Allen (Farr) Watson of Concord, who survives him.
CLASS OF 1901
ROLFE WHEELOCK SMITH was stricken suddenly with an heart attack at noon Saturday, February 12, while returning with a neighbor from the Leominster Club, and passed away shortly afterwards. He was born in Leominster, Mass., January 9, 1879, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry B. Smith. After his high school course, he entered Dartmouth, and was graduated with the class of 1901. Soon after he became associated with his father at the plant of the Richardson Piano Case Company, of which the latter was one of the founders, and succeeded him as treasurer after his death. He was also secretary and treasurer of the Richardson-Bennett Lumber Co., a member of the board of incorporators of the Leominster Savings Bank, a trustee of the trust funds of the city of Leominster, president of the Putnam Woolen Company of Putnam, Conn., director of the Duck Mills of Fitchburg, a director of the M. S. C. Bank of that city, and a member of the board of trustees of the Service Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Boston. He was always intensely interested in Masonry, and was a past district deputy of the 13th Worcester Masonic District, was past master of Wilder Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Leominster, past high priest of Royal Arch Chapter of Fitchburg, and a member of Jerusalem Commandery, Knights Templar, of Fitchburg. He belonged to the Leominster Club, and the Monoosuc Country Club. Besides his wife, Mary M. (Dewey) Smith, he left a son, Justin, and three daughters, Emily D., a student at Connecticut College for Women, Alice W., a student at Howe-Marot Girls School in Thompson, Conn., and Eleanor E., a student at Rogers Hall, Lowell.
Rolfe Smith was one of the quiet members of the class, but one whom all liked and esteemed. Not given to show, he never appeared in the limelight, but preferred to show his interest in a modest way by regular attendance at all class gatherings, and by loyal contributions. His was a lovable soul, and those to whom he gave his friendship found it most true and sincere. His interest in life was principally centered about his home and family, always thinking and planning about their comfort and care. This heritage left to his children will ever be treasured. We all loved Rolfe Smith, and we shall miss him. The interment was in Evergreen Cemetery, Leominster, with Albert T. Smith, worshipful master of Wilder Lodge, conducting the ritualistic committal. Chan Cox, Andrew Marshall, Warner Crowell, Harry Cook, Ned Warren, and Richard Ward represented the class at the funeral.
CLASS OF 1910
EDWIN GBANT STUART passed away at his home in Colfax, Cal., on March 20, 1931, after an illness which lasted some years. In 1918, while at Camp Dodge as supervising engineer of construction for the government, he contracted tuberculosis. He spent several months at the Oakdale Sanatorium, but did not gain complete recovery.
"Kid" Stuart, as he was known to Dartmouth men, was born in Chariton, lowa, on July 21, 1887, as the youngest son of Theodore M. and Sarah W. Stuart, his father being a lawyer.
He attended the local schools and graduated from St. Albans Boys' School at Knoxville, 111., entering Dartmouth direct from there in the fall of 1906. He was a member of the class of 1910 for one year, and played halfback on the 'O6 football team. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Leaving college, "Kid" became a civil engineer, and in June, 1915, married Mary C. Sprague of Russell, lowa. In 1918 he contracted the disease that brought him long years of suffering.
In 1926 he and Mrs. Stuart moved to Colfax, Cal., where he entered a sanatorium, later moving to Pine View Ranch in the Tokayano Way section, where he spent the remaining years of his life.
At his request his ashes were brought back to lowa and placed by the side of his father and mother in the family plot. Impressive services were held from the Beardsley Funeral Home, conducted by Rev. Mr, Nichol, pastor of the Presbyterian church. His favorite hymns were sung. Surviving relatives are his wife, Mary C. Stuart, and his brothers, Col. George W. Stuart of Denver, Colo., and Theodore M. Stuart of Fresno, Calif.
Although with us only one year, "Kid" Stuart made a host of friends. He possessed the happy faculty of making friends wherever he went. It mattered not whether you met him on the campus, in the classroom, or on the football field, he had that friendly greeting and a smile for everyone.
If he had completed his course at Dartmouth, his athletic career would have been worthy of note. One Tenner who played on the football team with him says, "He was the smilingest, kindest, tough little likeable 'Kid' that one could imagine."
Fighting an incurable disease, he went to California in 1926 to enter a sanatorium after the doctors had given him only a few months to live, but his wonderful determination and vitality kept him alive for over four years after the verdict—and permitted him to see the Dartmouth-Stanford game last fall. Tormented with pain, the trip to Palo Alto was too much for him but after he returned home he said, "As much as it made me suffer, I would do it over again to see Dartmouth play such football as that."
Everyone loved "Kid" Stuart. A patient, devoted husband, a game, smiling classmate, he has passed to the Great Beyond, but such a spirit from such a man will never die.
CLASS OF 1913
EDWARD LAWRENCE BROWN died at Pasadena, CaL, April 30, 1931, after an operation for a mastoid abscess, never regaining consciousness.
He was born in Salem, Mass., July 17, 1891, his parents being Edward Trail and Martha Ellen (Fish) Brown. He prepared for college at Salem High School, being valedictorian of his class. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon.
In the fall of 1913 lie entered the shoe business with his father in the firm of J. Brown and Sons in Salem, where he remained until the United States entered the World War.
In June, 1917, he entered the officers' training camp at Plattsburg, and on July 20 received his commission as second lieutenant. Soon after he went to the camp at Boxford, Mass., where he was assigned to the headquarters company of the 102d Field Artillery, 26th Division. In September the company sailed for France, and after further training in France went into active service. On the second day of the Chateau Thierry drive in July, 1918, he was wounded in the ankle. After various hospital treatment in France and in this country, he received his discharge, and in October, 1918, he lost his leg as a result of the wound.
After his recovery lie entered the employ of the Colonial Trust Company of Philadelphia, and later was in New Jersey. In June, 1930, he removed to Pasadena, Cal.
In June, 1920, he was married to Frances Reade of Philadelphia. They had one child, Cynthia, who was born in 1922. Later they were divorced, and he married Mrs. Evelyn VanWie Billings of South Orange, N. J., in January, 1928. They had a son, E. Lawrence Jr., born in 1929.
The following tribute is from Albert Shiels, Jr. 'l7:
"Larry Brown was my friend. There was no particular reason why he should have accepted me as such, and to me it was always a real compliment. Real friends, true friends, are rare, but his was a real friendship.
"Dartmouth was his hobby—how he loved it! It seems only yesterday when we were first introduced. The words come to me now, as he said in fun, 'Larry Brown—the most enthusiastic Dartmouth man from coast to coast.' He was all of that. What joy was his, only a few months ago, as we fraternized with players and coaches aboard our special train, after the Dartmouth-Stanford game! What a high light at Christmas when one of the squad sent us greeting cards! At our luncheons he was always cheery, always ready to co-operate, ever anxious to further Dartmouth's good.
"Fundamentally honest—Larry. We were playing golf only recently, a twosome. He was entered in a tournament. An unintended tap in addressing the ball brought forth an immediate corresponding addition in score. He needed that stroke and knew it but then, that's the kind of chap he was.
"Larry was a soldier. His army record, his citation, his regret at being disabled before the show was over, proved that.
"What a thoroughbred! Chateau Thierry cost a leg—but never a whimper. He set out, and succeeded in overcoming what, to most of us, would have seemed a hopeless handicap. Larry cherished no malice—kindly and forgiving—having those fine qualities which at such a time as this one might attribute to another out of consideration, but in Larry's case, truly deserved. Democratic, proud of those in whom he was interested, whatever their estate, rejoicing with them in victories, commiserating in defeats. Such loyalty is priceless.
"You who knew him, who were in college with him, can go on telling of his many virtues far better than I but none more proudly than I—of this man of Dartmouth soldier and gentleman—our friend Larry Brown."
CLASS OF 1924
JAMES EDWARD SWAN was struck by a taxi on April 18, 1931, and died at the Flower Hospital on the 24th.
He was born in Haddonfield, N. J., August 25, 1902, the son of James and Frances Wallace (Barnes) Swan, and prepared for college at the Kent School, Kent, Conn.
After graduation he spent three months in Europe, and then took a position with the Western Electric Company in Philadelphia, remaining there a year. He was then for six months in Florida, and since had been in New York city as a salesman for furniture and similar concerns.
He was expecting to be married the coming summer to Miss Eleanor Harris, of Stoke, Aldis, Va.
His father is living at 70 Kay St., Newport, R. I. His mother died in 1907.
CLASS OF 1930
After a game and cheerful battle foredoomed to defeat, ARNOLD TRASK BOYCE died April 27 at his home in Portland, Me., from an illness of more than two years' duration. He left college in October, 1928, with glandular trouble. He had ten months unavailing treatment at Johns Hopkins University, where medical authorities studied his case, and he spent five months in Orlando, Ela., in an effort to regain his health. Although informed by doctors that he had no chance of recovery, he was quietly cheerful throughout his long painful illness, and died at his home six days after celebrating his twenty-second birthday.
"Andy" was bora in Portland, Me., April 21, 1909, the son of Grace Trask and William E. Boyce. He graduated from the Longfellow Grammar School and the Deering High School in Portland. At Dartmouth he joined Zeta Psi. He was a member of Cabm and Trail and spent a summer at the Moosilauke Summit Camp. His illness came on him at the beginning of his junior year and became steadily worse. There was no respite from the long siege.
RALPH BRITTON BLAKE died in Dick's House during the early morning of Sunday, May 10, as the result of injuries received when the car that he was driving early the night before overturned near Pompanoosuc, Vt., pinning him underneath the car, a roadster. Ralph's wife and a friend, Harry Weston of New York city, were thrown out of the car as it overturned and escaped serious injury. Ralph suffered several fractured ribs and died at 7:40 Sunday morning of internal hemorrhages. He was buried in Saco, Me., May 13
Ralph married Miss Harriet Baker of Saco, Me., on December 30 last. They were living in Jackson Heights, L. 1., while he worked with the New York Telephone Company in New York city. They had come to Hanover to attend the spring house parties, and were returning to Hanover from Fairlee when the accident occurred.
Ralph was born in Stoughton, Mass., January 2, 1909, the son of Helen Maud Britton and Ralph Southworth Blake. He graduated from the Stoughton High School. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi, and his wife is the sister of C. H. Baker '32, a Theta Delt.
Honorary
GEORGE FISHER BAKER, donor in memory of his uncle, Fisher Ames Baker '59, of th e Baker Memorial Library and so one of the greatest financial benefactors of Dartmouth, upon whom the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred in 1927, died at his home in New York city May 2, 1931. The cause of his death was pneumonia and his illness was brief.
It is not necessary in this department of the MAGAZINE to make more than a brief mention of his career. He was born in Troy, N. Y., March 27, 1840. He early embarked in banking, and became one of the most successful men in that calling that the country has ever known. It is said that at the height of his activity he held directorates in forty-three banks and corporations, and was considered to be the third wealthiest man in America.
