The name of Andrew Freese will always hold a place of honor in the
scholastic records of Cleveland. No educator in the city is held in such
affectionate esteem by a large class of former pupils, and none better
deserves the grateful tributes paid to his abilities as a teacher and his
worth as a citizen.
Mr. Freese was born in Levant, Penobscot county, Maine, on November 1st,
1816. His father was a farmer, but Andrew was of such slender frame and
weak constitution that he was completely unfitted for farming life. His
father destined him to be a printer, and took him to the nearest printing
office to show him how types were set and newspapers printed. The boy was
not favorably impressed with what he saw, and begged to be allowed to
enter college. This was considered out of the question, his father being
too poor to provide the necessary funds. But the boy's heart was set upon
it, and he thought that by teaching school for a time he could obtain
money enough to complete his own education. This idea he carried into
execution, and had no sooner entered on the business of teaching than he
realized that he had found his true vocation. He continued to teach and
study until his collegiate course was completed, and then he resolved to
fit himself for the business of teaching by studying the best systems of
education, as laid down in the most approved books and practiced in the
most successful schools. He examined the best school buildings, and
brought away plans of construction, and models of their furniture. The
most thorough teachers were consulted as to the results of their
experience, and when he had thus acquired a thorough mastery of the whole
science of teaching, instead of setting out as an educational empiric, he
resolved to seek the West as a better field for turning his knowledge to
account, than was the East, where educators were far too numerous to make
the business profitable.
[Illustration: Yours Truly, Andrew Freese]
Mr. Freese came to Cleveland in 1840, and offered his services to the
Board of School Managers as a teacher. His rare ability was appreciated,
he was immediately engaged, and was at once recognized as the head of the
schools. There was then only the general school law to work under. The law
as then understood, made it almost a crime to give instruction in the
higher branches of even an English education. There was then no high
schools, or graded schools in the great State of Ohio. To Cleveland, and
to Mr. Freese, belong the honor of establishing the first free high school
in the State. The scholars from that school may now be found in almost
every State in the Union, eminent in all departments of life. They have
been met with as Governors, jurists, mechanicians, and artists, and the
first inquiry from them _all_ has been, "Is Mr. Freese still with you? All
I am, and all I have, I owe to him; may God forever bless him."
The high school was established in July, 1846, and Mr. Freese at once
placed at its head. Those unfriendly to public schools, and especially to
this department, offered him large inducements to engage in a private
school, but Mr. Freese had faith in the success of the experiment, and was
determined not to abandon it until its success was insured. The pay given
by the city was but a beggarly pittance, and his labors inside and out of
the school room were exceedingly arduous, but no discouragement could
daunt his zeal, and he resisted blandishments as he treated opposition,
with indifference. The unexpected and severe labors imposed upon him
shattered his health, but with him love overcame all other considerations,
and he persisted. In June, 1853, the office of Superintendent of
Instruction was created, and tendered to Mr. Freese, who held it until
1861, when his failing health admonished him to retire. Recently he was
summoned from his retirement to take the position of principal of the
Central High school, now grown to proportions its founders scarcely dared
hope for it. It was with extreme reluctance that Mr. Freese consented to
resume his old profession, but he finally did so, working with great zeal
and success until the close of the Summer term of 1869, when, immediately
after re-election by a highly complimentary vote, he was compelled, by the
condition of his health, to resign his position and bid a final farewell
to the profession he so much loved. The proceedings of the Board of
Education in relation to the resignation of Mr. Freese are of interest, as
showing the high value set upon his services to the cause of education.
The following communication was presented to the Board:
To the Honorable the Board of Education of the city of Cleveland:
Gentlemen: I have to submit herewith the resignation of Mr. Andrew
Freese, who has for the past year acted as principal of the Central
High school.
On account of ill health it was with great reluctance that Mr. Freese
went into this position. In accordance, however, with the advice of
friends, he finally yielded to persuasion and entered upon the discharge
of its duties with the well known earnestness of his character. The
result has been marked in the earnestness with which his able corps of
assistants associated with him have co-operated to promote the highest
interests of the school, and of each and all its pupils. It has been
specially marked, too, by the increased devotion of all the scholars to
their studies, and the ready acquiescence with which they have obeyed
all the rules and regulations of your Board.
In taking leave of Mr. Freese it is due to him that I should thus
formally and earnestly record my high appreciation of his services.
Furthermore, it may not be inappropriate for me testify to the fact,
that much of the hearty earnestness of the corps of teachers with which
I am now laboring, is due to the influence of this gentleman when he
held the office which I now hold.
Andrew J. Rickoff,
Superintendent of Instruction.
The Board of Education having received and accepted the resignation of
Andrew Freese, Esq., principal of the Central High School, Mr. Perkins
offered the following resolutions, which were adopted:
_Resolved_, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to Mr.
Freese, for the valuable services he has rendered in the various
relations he has sustained to the public schools of this city during the
last quarter of a century. In every position he has been called to fill,
he has proved himself faithful to the trust committed to his keeping. To
him more than any other are we indebted for the deservedly elevated
character of our System of graded schools.
_Resolved_, That the president and secretary of the Board be requested
to communicate to Mr. Freese the feeling of regret occasioned by his
withdrawal from our service, together with a certified copy of its
action this evening.
Mr. Freese was the originator of the celebrated outline maps. Many years
before any were published by Mitchell, they were in use here, and may
still be found on some of the walls and floors of our old school houses,
where they were placed by Mr. Freese. What Horace Mann and William Colburn
did for the schools of New England, Andrew Freese has done for the schools
of the West. Almost immediately after commencing his labors he began to
protest to the Board of School Managers against our school laws; under
them he could do no justice to himself or his scholars. His efforts were
aided by the Board of School Managers, and after a hard contest with city
and State authorities, the laws were altered so as to give us one of the
best school systems in the world. The first free high school in the State
was started by Mr. Freese, in the basement of an old church, at a rent of
fifty dollars per annum, and this was regarded by some of our largest tax
payers as so great an outrage that they threatened to resist the payment
of their taxes. The school now enjoys the use of a palatial building, and
our grammar schools have the use of the most elegant and convenient
structures for educational purposes in the State. Many of our citizens
devoted their time and money to bring about this great change, which has
done and is doing so much for the welfare of our city. But perhaps no one
man has done so much as Mr. Freese.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to overrate the services of Mr.
Freese to the cause of education in Cleveland. It was the sole business of
his life, and he entered on it with utter unselfishness. With him the
cause was everything, self nothing. He traveled far, spent his own slender
funds freely, and labored assiduously in the endeavor to secure the best
of everything in plan and machinery, for the city schools. He had no
ambition outside or beyond the school room, and his shrinking modesty
prevented him claiming the credit justly due him for the unintermitted and
successful labors performed within the school walls.
Anson Smyth.
Among the citizens of Ohio, few are more worthy of mention than Rev. Anson
Smyth. There is not a township in the State in which his influence has not
been felt, nor a school district in which his name is not honored. He has
labored to uplift the intellectual, social, and moral status of our great
commonwealth, and his impress is left on the highest and most sacred
interests of the people.
Though born in Pennsylvania, Mr. Smyth is none the less a New Englander.
His parents and older brothers and sisters were natives of New England.
There many of his early years were spent, and there he received both his
collegiate and his theological education. There for two years he taught
school, and for three, was pastor of a church. Thus it is seen, that
while his birth makes him a Pennsylvanian, his blood and education make
him a Yankee.
Mr. Smyth is a self-made man. By his unaided energies he surmounted the
difficulties that stood in the way of his advancement, and has achieved
distinction by a career of great usefulness. His father was a man of high
respectability, and most excellent character. He was a farmer in moderate
circumstances, and being well advanced in life, and declining in health,
when his youngest son, the tenth of twelve children, determined to acquire
a liberal education, he was unable to do anything for his assistance. But
the boy had a brave heart, and he went forward, strong in the idea that
"there is nothing impossible to him that wills." At first by manual labor,
and afterwards by teaching, he contrived to secure funds for meeting those
expenses which demanded ready payment. When he left the theological
seminary he owed several hundred dollars, all of which he paid from his
first earnings.
After preaching for three years at the East, Mr. Smyth accepted a call to
the pastoral charge of a church in Michigan. It was a village of a few
hundred people, in a new and wild region. Society was in a chaotic
condition, and there were but few who had either the ability or the
disposition to do much for the young pastor's support or encouragement.
The locality was unhealthy, and Mr. Smyth suffered severely from prevalent
diseases. But during a ministry there of four years, he was eminently
successful, and he left the church four times as strong as he found it.
In 1847, Mr. Smyth came to Ohio, and, after spending a few months in
Cleveland, received and accepted a call to the pastorate of the
Presbyterian church in Toledo. He entered upon his new charge with zeal
and energy. He labored faithfully for the advancement of the cause of
Christ in that rising town, but owing to chronic alienation among the
members of his church, from the beginning he felt the need of that degree
of co-operation and sympathy necessary to insure the full benefit of his
labors. Still, the condition of affairs greatly improved under his
ministry; the membership of the church being nearly doubled, and the
congregation largely increased. At the end of three years he resigned his
charge and entered upon that department of public service in which he has
acquired most honorable distinction.
[Illustration: Yours truly, Anson Smyth]
Until 1850, the facilities for education in Toledo were all in the future.
While pastor of the church there, Mr. Smyth felt keenly the need of
establishing a good system of schools ere the town should become confirmed
in the habit of neglecting so important an interest. A few of the citizens
took hold of the business with energy; the "Akron School Law" was adopted,
and a Board of Education elected. Mr. Smyth was placed at the head of the
movement. This was a position he had never expected to fill, but,
regarding it as a field of usefulness, a field in which to serve God and
society, not less sacred than that of the pastoral office, he went to his
new work without a doubt that thereby he was doing the will of God. In
many particulars the business Mr. Smyth found upon his hands was new and
strange to him. He had had no experience in organizing schools upon the
graded plan. Eighteen years ago there were very few good schools in Ohio.
Lorin Andrews, at Massillon, Dr. Lord, at Columbus, M. F. Cowdery, at
Sandusky, Andrew Freese, at Cleveland, and H. H. Barney, at Cincinnati,
were the leaders in the educational reformation, then rising into notice.
Not till three years afterwards was our noble school law enacted. But Mr.
Smyth took hold of the great work entrusted to him with characteristic
energy. He read much and thought more upon the best plan of organizing a
school system for the city, and when he left there, in 1856, the schools
of Toledo had gained a most enviable character. They were regarded as
among the best in the country, and their Superintendent had acquired the
reputation of being one of the wisest and most successful educators in
America. The Board of Education committed the entire management of the
schools to him. The selection of teachers, the classification and
discipline of the schools, the course of study, and the examinations were
just what Mr. Smyth was pleased to make them. He gathered around him a
corps of teachers equal to the best in the State, and the schools were the
pride of the citizens. When he resigned, in closing an article upon the
subject, the Blade remarked: "_We regard the retirement of Mr. Smyth as no
less than a public calamity_."
At a meeting of the State Teachers Association, in December, 1855, Mr.
Smyth was unanimously elected President of that body, also editor of the
Journal of Education. In the following February he removed to Columbus,
and entered upon his editorial duties. His success in his new field was
most satisfactory to all who were interested in the cause which he
represented.
In May, 1856, the Republican State Convention nominated Mr. Smyth for the
office of State Commissioner of Schools. This was an honor as unexpected
by him as it was satisfactory to the people. He was elected by a large
majority, and in February, 1857, entered upon the discharge of the duties
of his new office. In this high position he remained six years, having
been re-elected in 1859.
Mr. Smyth was not disheartened when he found his post at the head of the
educational forces of the State, environed with most serious
embarrassments. The general school law had been in operation three years,
encountering the hostility of a large portion of the people, who were
persistent in their efforts to secure its repeal, or extensive
modification. It was regarded as doubtful whether it could much longer
survive in the face of the antagonism which confronted it. But when Mr.
Smyth turned the office over to his successor, in 1863, the law had become
popular, and strong in the regards of nearly all the people. The changes
which it had experienced were improvements, and it was everywhere working
out its own praise.
In this sketch, Mr. Smyth's labors and successes in the Commissionership
can not be detailed. He spared no pains in promoting the interests which
the State had confided to him. Whether looking after members of the
legislature who were working against the law, or performing ordinary
office duties, or traveling and addressing the people, he showed untiring
industry and enthusiastic devotion to the good cause. When he declined,
another nomination, the State Teachers' Association, at their meeting in
Mount Vernon, passed a resolution highly approving his administration.
David Tod, then Governor, wrote of him to a friend: "The most faithful
manner in which Mr. Smyth has discharged the arduous duties of School
Commissioner of our State for the last six years, involving, as it did,
the expenditure of millions of money, without the loss of a dollar, has
won for him my fullest confidence and profound respect. He is an excellent
business man, and a Christian gentleman." No man ever left an office
stronger in the confidence and esteem of the people.
Mr. Smyth did not propose to continue longer in the educational field, and
declined many invitations to positions at the head of institutions of
learning. But, very unexpectedly to him, he was elected Superintendent of
Instruction for Cleveland. A strong inclination to reside here, and the
urgency of friends, secured his acceptance. He removed to this city in
July, 1863, and was warmly welcomed by the people.
At that time, the Board of Education was in many things subordinate to
the City Council, and these two bodies not always working harmoniously
prevented the adoption of many reforms advocated by the Superintendant.
Still, Mr. Smyth's administration was a period of great prosperity and
advancement with the Cleveland schools. The gradation and classification
were improved; modes of teaching were introduced which greatly promoted
the purposes of education. Through his influence the use of the rod in the
schools was to a great extent discontinued, while better order was
secured. His success in the selection of teachers was remarkable. He
seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of character, and next to none of
those he placed in charge of schools proved failures. His power over
teachers was very great. While he was exacting in his demands, never
excusing negligence, he knew how to temper authority with kind and
courteous manners.
In the management of schools, Mr. Smyth required that due regard be had to
manners and morals. Arithmetic and grammar were not, in his estimation,
more important than politeness and Christian morality. He encouraged the
ornamentation of the school rooms with plants, flowers and engravings,
which has been so generally adopted, thus rendering them attractive and
conducive to taste and refinement.
For five successive years Mr. Smyth was re-elected, but the last election
he declined to accept, having entered into business arrangements, that he
might pay needed attention to pecuniary interests. During his
superintendence the number of teachers employed in the schools increased
from eighty to one hundred and thirty; the splendid school buildings now
approaching completion, were planned and put under contract, the School
Library was established, and all school interests were most prosperons.
When he retired from the superintendence of the schools, nearly two years
ago, the Leader expressed the public sentiment in regard to his services,
in the following terms: "It is with unfeigned regret that we announce the
resignation of Rev. Anson Smyth, as Superintendent of Instruction in this
city. He has discharged the duties of this office for four years with
ability and efficiency. The educational interests of the city have been
guarded with jealous care; and the excellent condition of our public
schools, the firm, judicious discipline that is enforced, and the thorough
system of instruction well attest his zeal, ability and faithfulness. To
the teachers of the schools and the citizens generally, he has given the
most unqualified satisfaction, and all will sincerely regret the
circumstances which have induced him to retire."
Mr. Smyth has never given up pulpit services, but has averaged to preach
one sermon per Sunday ever since resigning his pastoral charge in Toledo,
eighteen years ago. Though a Presbyterian in doctrine, and loyal to that
church, he is remarkably free from sectarian exclusiveness, and all
evangelical churches seek and obtain his ministerial services.
Within the last year he has given more than twenty addresses at college
commencements, and before literary and educational associations, while he
has been obliged to decline numerous applications for like labors.
The weight of fifty years and the work of a life of very great activity
rest lightly upon him. He is possessed of robust health, and is as marked
for energy and vivacity as he was twenty years ago. But few men, who at
his age have accomplished so much labor, seem still so able to repeat
their life-work.
R. F. Humiston.
The family of Humiston, or Humbastone, as it was originally called, is one
of considerable antiquity, and its American branch dates from an early
period in the history of this country, John Humbastone, its founder,
having settled in New Haven, Connecticut, towards the middle of the
seventeenth century. For over two hundred years the family, or a portion
of it, resided in the same neighborhood, about seven miles out of New
Haven, on the Quinnipiac river. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary
War, several members of the family took part in the struggle on the side
of the patriots, and did good service.
Caleb Humiston (the name had been corrupted in the course of time) was of
the third generation in descent from John Humbastone, the original settler
in New Haven. He was born on the old homestead on the Quinnipiac river,
inherited a portion of it, and lived there until he was thirty years old.
Then he removed to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, settling down in 1816
on a farm he had purchased in Great Barrington. He was at this time a
farmer in comfortable circumstances, but misfortune came upon him, his
property passed from his control, and he was reduced to extremely narrow
circumstances. When this misfortune came upon him he had already been
burdened with a large family. Ten children had been born, one of whom
died, but the others grew up and had to be provided for, the family
consisting of seven boys and two girls. It is a noteworthy fact, that with
the exception of the child who died in infancy, and Caleb Humeston
himself, there has been no death in the family for over half a century,
the youngest of them now living being thirty-eight years old. The family
had been noted for its longevity, the average age of the ancestors of the
present generation being between seventy and eighty years.
R. F. Humiston, whose life we propose briefly to sketch, was born in Great
Barrington, July 29th, 1821. The misfortune suffered by his father
overtook him when R. F. was nine years old, and from that time each one of
the children was capable to do something towards earning a living. Tools
were provided for each, proper work marked out, and every one held
responsible for the faithful performance of the allotted task. As long as
could be afforded, the children were sent to the district school, but the
grade of education provided was low, and the knowledge acquired meagre. In
his ninth year, R. F. Humiston was taken from school and put to earn his
living with a neighbor, with whom he remained a year, and was then placed
to work in a cotton factory at Stockbridge, Mass. His duty in this
establishment was to tend a spinning jenny, and the winter hours of labor
were from six o'clock in the morning to eight at night, with half an
hour's intermission for dinner.
His health failing through the severity of this labor, his parents took
him from this factory and placed him in another factory, for the
manufacture of cotton batting and wadding, in West Stockbridge. Here he
remained several months, but was obliged to leave on account of sickness.
In the Spring of 1833, the family removed to Ohio. After selling his farm
and paying his debts, Caleb Humiston had barely sufficient left with which
to reach Hudson, Ohio. Here he engaged in making brick, the subject of
this sketch, twelve years old, assisting in the brick yard. Change of
climate, hard work, and want brought sickness on the whole family, and
before R. F. Humiston was fifteen years old the physicians pronounced his
constitution entirely broken down, and that he could never do severe
labor. He availed himself of an offer to become clerk of a store in
Hudson, and clerked there and in Cleveland until he was sixteen years
old. When clerk in a Cleveland bookstore, the proprietor failed and the
books were taken to Buffalo, young Humiston receiving an offer of a
clerkship in that city. This he declined, refusing to desert his family,
who were in poverty, and working hard. His health having been partially
restored, he took off his good clothes and re-entered the brick yard,
where he remained until he was eighteen years old. Whilst in the store he
had learned to keep books, and turned this knowledge to account in
arranging his fathers business. A number of the better class of citizens
of Hudson insisted on the boy having an education, and a merchant offered
to bear the expense of a collegiate course, but the boy was too useful in
his father's business to be spared, and so the opportunity was lost.
But the brick-making did not suit the boy, who was ambitious, and desirous
of learning. In the Winter after he was eighteen, he went to learn the
trade of a carpenter, agreeing to pay his father for his unexpired time as
soon as he became of age. He learned the carpenter's trade of Samuel
Johnson, in Ravenna, an intelligent man, who was highly respected by his
neighbors, and whose influence was of great benefit to his apprentice,
forming correct habits, and giving him moral and intellectual training.
Young Humiston was ambitious to excel as a mechanic, and spent his
evenings in studying architecture and examining plans for buildings. There
was no eight or ten hour system in those days. Mechanics worked from
daylight to dark, frequently continuing their labors sixteen hours. Under
this severe strain his health again gave way, and in September, 1841, he
was reluctantly compelled to abandon the trade of a carpenter, except to
work about three days in the week in order to pay his board.
At this point he determined to gain an education, and endeavor to earn a
living by his brain, since his muscles failed him. He returned to Hudson
with the purpose of entering college, his entire capital being ten cents
in money and a few tools, with which he hoped to earn enough to pay for
his board and tuition. He remained at the college five years, working at
his trade by the hour, and doing odd jobs, teaching an occasional term,
and working hard as a carpenter in vacations. His studies and labors were
unremitting, sometimes allowing him but three hours' sleep out of the
twenty-four. As might be expected, his health again gave way, and he was
obliged to leave. The college conferred on him the honorary degree of M.
A., and the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, subsequently conferred
the same degree, both without solicitation.
[Illustration: R. F. Humiston.]
On leaving college he went into the nursery business, not having physical
stamina sufficient to prosecute his studies for the ministry, as intended.
In this business he continued directly for eighteen months, and partially
for five or six years.
In the Fall of 1847, he commenced teaching in the public schools in
Cuyahoga Falls, and in the following Spring established a private school,
the Cuyahoga Falls Seminary. At the end of that year he was elected
Superintendent of Public Instruction and principal of the high school. He
continued his seminary, having assistants, and the privilege being allowed
him of spending a portion of his time in the management of that
establishment. In the Fall of 1849, he came to Cleveland and was appointed
principal of the Rockwell street grammar school, where he remained seven
years, bringing up the school from a low pitch to rank among the foremost
in the city. His salary, when he began to teach in Cleveland was but five
hundred dollars, and out of this he had to provide for two families, his
own and that of his parents. To add to his small stipend, he taught
evening school, and took agencies in the vacation. At the same time he was
repeatedly offered other situations at better salaries, and was invited to
become the principal of a State Normal school. He tendered his resignation
as principal of the Rockwell street school, but was induced to remain on
promise of increase of salary. Finally, becoming weary of that hope
deferred that maketh the heart sick, he resigned and was engaged at a much
higher salary, to establish, under the patronage of an association of
leading citizens, the Cleveland Academy. This enterprise was very
successful, and the position pleasant, a fine corps of assistants being
gathered around him.
After two years labor in this position, some gentlemen connected with the
property on University Heights, requested him to engage in the enterprise
of a school on the Heights, in the building erected for a college under
president Mahan, but which now lay unfinished and unoccupied, the college
scheme having failed. They offered rent and grounds free, but he refused,
until they agreed to sell him the whole property for a nominal sum, if he
could acquire a clear title, the ownership having become badly involved by
the failure of the college. This he eventually accomplished after much
labor, and took possession of the property in 1856.
The task was a gigantic one to a man like Mr. Humiston, with limited funds
and uncertain health. The building was unfinished and needed considerable
expenditure to put it in shape for occupation. The location though very
promising in the distant future, was then very inconvenient of access,
and was therefore objectionable. But Mr. Humiston possessed a determined
will and he set to work without delay. He borrowed money, fitted up a
portion of the building, and opened the Cleveland Institute with strong
hopes for the future, but gloomy prospects in the present.
About the middle of the second year the building took fire and a large
portion of the interior was destroyed. The school was closed for six
months, and with characteristic energy Mr. Humiston went to work to repair
damages, enlarging the building, and again involving himself in debt to
meet the expense. Success crowned his enterprise. The number of scholars
increased rapidly, and again the building had to be enlarged and improved.
The institute was continued ten years, and the gross income in its later
years ranged from $20,000 to $31,000 per year. During nearly the whole
time Mr. Humiston taught himself, and usually five hours out of the six
devoted to studies. At the same time he gave medical lectures at the
Western Homoeopathic College, and managed all the affairs of the
institute, keeping no agent or steward. He purchased and fitted up in
the institute a fine chemical and philosophical apparatus, collected a
good library and several valuable cabinets of specimens in natural
history, geology, and mineralogy. The corps of teachers was large and of
superior talents.
In 1868, Mr. Humiston, considering that he had earned a respite from his
arduous and unremitting labors, accepted an offer from some gentlemen
desirous of establishing a Homoeopathic Hospital, and sold his building'
with half the adjoining grounds for $35,000. He then accepted the tender
of the agency of the American Missionary Association in Great Britain,
and early in 1869 left for Europe, having previously visited the South in
order to acquaint himself with the condition of the freedmen, whose cause
he designed especially to present. After a year or more spent in this
work he designs visiting the remainder of Europe, North Africa, and the
Holy Land.
Mr. Humiston has, since 1859, held the position of Professor of Chemistry
and Toxicology in the Western Homoeopathic College, and has given ten
courses of lectures in that institution. Each year he insisted on
resigning, but the resignation has always been refused. On closing his
educational career he again resigned, but the college again refused to
accept his resignation, promising to supply his place temporarily during
his absence in Europe.
The distinguishing characteristic of Mr. Humiston is his strong will, and
this is well exemplified in the fact that although born with a
constitutional fierce thirst for liquor, he has been able to continue in
right habits of temperance through all temptation, though at the cost of
many powerful struggles with his inordinate cravings. He is a man of
strong religions convictions, and has been so from his youth up. For many
years he was connected with the Methodist church on University Heights. As
an educator he ranks among the best in the State, and was held in
deservedly high esteem by those who had themselves been taught by him, or
whose children had been brought up under his tuition.