1895
IN APPRECIATION
To Classmates and surviving members of their families who have so kindly expressed sympathy to me and my family early in the tragic days following our bereavement, we take this opportunity to thank you gratefully for your letters, telegrams and telephone calls.
JESSE WARDEN
Members of the Class have received announcement of a biographical sketch of Dr.Jesse K. Marden, by Lucy Morley Marden, his widow, and her sister Bertha B. Morley Arrangement has been made for extra space in '95's column for the privilege of quoting liberally from the printed biography. This will be the first installment:
Jesse Krekore Marden was bora in Aintab, Turkey, March 10, 1872.
"When Jesse was 16 years of age, it was decided that he must go to America to take up his preparation for college. He left Marash in 1888, travelling in company with one of the missionaries. That fall he entered the High School in Leominster, Mass., and the next year he went to St. Johnsbury Academy, Vt., from which he was graduated in 1891.
"There was a question as to the choice of a college in the mind of his guardian, the Rev. F. G. Clark, for his father was personally acquainted with Mr. White of Oberlin and wished for his son the strong, evangelical faith of Principal White.
"But it was decided he had best follow his father's path and go to Dartmouth College. At St. Johnsbury and also at Dartmouth, he met young men of merit, some of whom became life-long friends.
"After finishing the course at Dartmouth in 1895, where he received the Phi Beta Kappa honor, he went to the University of Michigan to take up the study of medicine. While there, he was chosen to be president of the Students' Christian Association; in this capacity he was influential in getting important speakers for the Association. When his medical course was completed and his degree received in 1898, he returned to Aintab, Turkey, to be assistant to Dr. Shepard. The following years were full of valuable experiences in the practice of medicine. Dr. Marden highly prized his friendship with Dr. Shepard, and gained much of value from his association with him, both professionally and in life relationships."
EARLY MARSOVAN DAYS "After a few years, years interrupted by two periods of medical study in Vienna and one year of practice in Marsovan, he accepted an invitation to start medical work in Adana. Here he was associated with Miss Wallace, an English nurse of rarely sweet Christian attainment. In the year 1905, he received an invitation from Dr. Tracy which was signed by every member of the Marsovan Station, urging him to cast his lot with them, which he decided to do.
"Once accepted, Dr. Marden soon said his hasty goodbyes, and was off on his horse for the long ride across Asia Minor to Marsovan."
Dr. Marden was married July 15, 1908. "The year 1912 was remarkable. The coming of a little child into a home is ever an event of heavenly and earthly significance. The coming of our little son on December 4, 1912 was just this. As Mrs. Tracy said, 'The entire countryside rejoiced that a son was given to Dr. Marden.' The child, while still little, seemed to make a place for himself in the hearts of the people, especially the patients who had been benefitted in the hospital and saw him from the windows as he was in the garden. He was called 'the flower of the hospital.' His keen mind took in much more than his parents realized, and he chatted in Armenian with the two little boys who were ever his friends. At about the age of three, I noticed he was using Turkish words also. "Dr. Marden had keen understanding of people, and could size up their financial ability even though they tried to disguise it by donning old clothing. No one was ever turned away because of inability to pay; but everyone was expected to pay according to his ability.
"He related a story of how a wealthy father brought his daughter who was unable to walk. After thorough examination, the Doctor saw it was not physical inability, only mental. He asked the father if he authorized him to use whatever means he deemed advisable; the father freely assented. Doctor then told the girl to walk across the room; she said she could not. Then he prepared a red-hot cautery, approached her as if to apply it to her knee, when she got up in a fright and ran across the room. Then he turned to the father and said, 'She is cured; you can take her home.'
"A certain merchant who sold goods in distant villages reported a conversation with a villager, the subject of which was the curing of sick people by Dr. Marden. The villager said, 'Even more than the skill of Dr. Marden in healing do I admire his character, his Christianity.' And this was from a Moslem."
Secretary, . ... . White River Jet., Vt. Treasurer, 10 Occum Ridge, Hanover, N. H. Class Agent, 1328 Essex Rd., Winter Park, Fla,
