John M. Comstock '77
Life-Long Officer of General Association of Alumni and Emeritus Alumni Editor of MAGAZINE Dies at 88
JOHN MOORE COMSTOCK '77, one of the grand old men among Dartmouth alumni and a member of the editorial board of the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE ever since its founding, died at his home in Chelsea, Vt., on October 30. He was 88 years old and was one of the two surviving members of his class.
His death quietly ended a long career of faithful service to Dartmouth, the town of Chelsea, and the Congregational Church, for all of which he held positions that gave him an opportunity to put to use his rare interest and talent in historical records and statistics. During the entire 70-year period since his graduation Mr. Comstock served as statistical secretary of the General Association of Alumni and in the early years of that position he maintained at his home in Chelsea what amounted to the Alumni Records Office of the College. He also was class secretary since graduation, and last June, on the occasion of the 70th reunion of the Class of 1877, he returned to Hanover to receive a rousing tribute from the Dartmouth men assembled in Webster Hall for the commencement meeting of the General Association. When the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE first began publication forty years ago, Mr. Comstock was named Alumni Editor, a position which he continued to hold until last year, when he retired with the title of Alumni Editor Emeritus.
His unique career as a Dartmouth alumni officer and worker was the subject of a resolution of tribute which the General Association passed in June, hailing him as "without a peer among Dartmouth's life-long workers." Dartmouth's admiration and affection were expressed also in 1932, when the College awarded Mr. Comstock its highest degree, the honorary Doctorate of Laws. President Hopkins on that occasion read the following citation summarizing the unusual place which Mr. Comstock held in the Dartmouth family:
Graduated from Dartmouth's halls 55 years ago, you have since given without stint to enrich the lives of those with whom you have had association and you have diffused throughout your environment the deference to learning and the discipleship of culture which are yours In your north country village you have been teacher, academy principal, town clerk and treasurer; in your county you have been examiner of teachers and register of probate; in your state you have been compiler of important historical data; in the church of your denomination you have been gatherer and recorder of vital statistics; and in your college you have rendered service of incalculable value. For all these things, and upon you as gentleman and scholar, but most of all for the love of Dartmouth men for you, I confer upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
At the time of his death, Mr. Comstock was town clerk and treasurer of the Town of Chelsea, where he had resided since 1886, the year in which he became principal of Chelsea Academy, now Chelsea High School. In spite of his 88 years, he worked regularly at his town office until just a few days before his death. The post of Judge of the Juvenile Court for Orange County was also actively held until shortly before he passed away. He had been Justice of the Peace for nearly fifty years, county examiner of teachers from 1904 to 1909, and register of probate for the Randolph district from 1909 to 1936, as well as library trustee and public servant in many other ways.
Mr. Comstock delighted in historical and statistical studies, which he had the knack of making interesting to others. From 1890 to 1945 he served continuously as statistical secretary of the Vermont Congregational Conference. He published in 1915 a book on The CongregationalChurches of Vermont and Their Ministry,1762-1914, which was again issued in revised form in 1942. In 1918 he prepared for the State of Vermont a revision and enlargement of Deming's Vermont Officers. His history of Chelsea, Vt., appeared in 1944, entitled The Origin of Chelsea, Vt.,and a Record of Its Institutions and Individuals. His researches into the origins and history of Chelsea and Orange County led to many published articles. For Dartmouth College, he prepared the annual necrologies from 1877 to 1897 and edited the General Catalogue of 1880.
Mr. Comstock was born in Williamstown, Vt., May 27, 1859, the son of David and Margaret (Laird) Comstock. After early schooling at Chelsea and Barre, he entered Dartmouth at the age of 14. After graduation in 1877 he remained in Hanover for postgraduate study and some tutoring, and then taught variously at Chelsea, Springfield and Burlington, with a short period of newspaper work in White River Junction in 1879 sandwiched in between his first two teaching jobs. Upon the death of his father he left the Vermont Episcopal Institute in Burlington to return to the familv home in Chelsea.
Mr. Comstock was married August 24, 188 i, to Persis Sylvia of Chelsea, who died in 1940. Of their eight children, three Dartmouth sons and three daughters are now living. They are Harold D. Comstock '03 of Billings, Mont.; Donald L. Comstock 'OB of Cleveland, Ohio; Herbert F. Comstock '15 of Lima, Ohio; Mrs. Dean H. Gilman of Chelsea; Miss Rachel Comstock of Chelsea; and Miss Sylvia Comstock of Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Funeral services were held Sunday, Nov. 2, in the Congregational Church of Chelsea, with burial in Highland Cemetery. The College was officially represented by Miss Charlotte Ford, alumni recorder; Harold G. Rugg '06, assistant librarian; and Charles E. Widmayer '30, editor of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE.
JOHN MOORE COMSTOCK '77
