Yale University. Class of 1867.
Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record online
. (page 17 of 27)
Online Library → Yale University. Class of 1867 → Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record → online text (page 17 of 27)
Font size
entered the Class of '67 in the Fall of 1863.
His father was a physician, who lived successively in Fitzwilliam, Holden and Princeton,
Mass.
His widowed mother resided in Worcester, Mass., while he was preparing for College,
and removed with him to New Haven during his College course.
He studied Theology for one year in Princeton, N. J., and for the next two years in
Andover, Mass. On February 7th, 1871, he was ordained as pastor of the Davenport Con-
gregational Church in New Haven, where he remained until he accepted a call, in the Fall of
229
1874, to the Second Presbyterian Church in Scranton, Pa. His work there was interrupted
seriously by the state of his health, and in 1876 he resigned, to seek a more favorable climate.
He was first stationed at San Diego, Cal., and then for two years (1877-79) had charge of
the Presbyterian Church in Greeley, Colo. From the Fall of 1879 to May, 1885. he supplied
the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church in Canon City, Colo. He then ventured to try the
climate of the East again, and preached the follow-ing Winter in Scranton, Pa., but his old
lung trouble returned in the Spring of 1886, and he accepted in May an invitation to the
pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Fort Collins, Colo., where he died of pneumonia,
February 25th. 1889, in his forty-sixth year.
Among the floral tributes that were laid on his casket was a handsome anchor, with the
word "Yale" in the centre, from the Yale Association of Colorado, of which the deceased
was President at the time of his death.
Mr. Partridge was a strong Mason, and having expressed a desire, before his death, that
he be buried according to the rites of the Masonic fraternity, his wishes were carried out.
An escort of between sixty and seventy persons accompanied the remains to Greeley, Colo.,
where they were met by a large gathering of citizens and members of the Masonic fraternity,
including twenty Knights. His remains were laid to rest in Linn Grove Cemetery, where the
interment took place according to the solemn and deeply impressive rites of Masonry.
He was twice married. His first wife was Mary E. Partridge, of Worcester, Mass.,
whom he married July 14th, 1871.
CHILDREN.
Edith Davenport, born November 6th, 187 1. New Haven, Conn.
C John Willard, born May 31st, 1873, New Haven, Conn.; died May 6th, 1875, Greeley,
'CoIq.
Leonard E., born September i6th. 1876, Greeley, Colo.; died June i6th, 1879, Greeley,
Colo.
His wife died July 19th, 1879, at Canon City, Colo.
His second wife was Nellie Barnard, of Scranton, Pa., whom he married September 15th,
1883.
CHILDREN.
Mary Barnard, bom August 6th, 1884, Fort Collins. Colo.
Ralph Llewellyn, born October 30th, 1886. Fort Collins, Colo.
Edith finished her education at La Salle Seminary, Chicago, 111., in 1893, and was married
March 21st, 1895, to Harlon Thomas at Fort Collins, Colo.
Ralph and Mary are studying at home, the former preparing for Yale.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, "Sigma Eps," Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave: ist prize Senior
year Linonia Prize Debate, 3rd prize Declamation third term Sophomore. Oration, Phi Beta
Kappa.
230
*HENRY WILLSON PAYNE.
*Hf.nry Willson Payne, son of Hon. Henry B. Payne and Mary (Perry) Payne, was
born at Cleveland, Ohio, March 7th, 1845. Died at Mentone, France, February 8th, 1878.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Cleveland Central High School under Dr. Theodore
Sterling, and entered the Class of '67 in the Fall of 1863.
His mother was a direct descendant of Commodore Perry.
Mr. Payne graduated from the Columbia Law School in May, 1870, and practiced Law
for a short time at his home in Cleveland, Ohio. His health was very poor, and in January,
1877, he sailed for Europe. The Secretary received a letter from him on the 17th of Sep-
tember, 1877, informing him that owing to his continued ill-health he would pass the following
Winter at Mentone, in the South of France. He was at that place at the time of his death,
which occurred in February of the following year.
231
In April of the same year George Adee called and spoke of the propriety of expressing to
the family of our Classmate the sense of loss the Class had sustained in his death, and to
tender to the family the sympathy of the Class. It was thought advisable to appoint a com-
mittee, which was done. That committee consisted of Adee, Elliot, Greenwood Lamb, G.
P. Sheldon and Wetmore.
The following letter was drawn up by the committee, and was endorsed with a note from
the Secretary and sent to the family of Mr. Payne, October 14th, 1878:
New York, September 20th, 1878.
To Hon. Henry B. Payne:
At the earnest solicitation of the members of the Class of 1867, at Yale, we have been
requested to ask, in their name, the sad privilege of sympathizing with you in your great
bereavement. We hardly hope to comfort you in any degree, for we know how weak are
human words in the silence which follows the Voice of God, but we cannot refrain. Harry
Payne was more than a Classmate; he was a friend to each and every one of us. By his
great simplicity of character, the unspotted integrity of his life, his charity, gentleness, gener-
ous and abiding sympathies, he won our hearts.
His influence was ever pure and clean and healthful.
Although some of our members may have been intellectually his superior, yet we all re-
garded him as one of our few representative men, in that he possessed in a remarkable degree
that adjustment and balance of qualities which give assurance of growth and prominence.
He inspired no jealousy. His success would be our success; his life our monument.
We prophesied for him a long and useful career. We believed our country had need of
strong, earnest and pure characters, to keep alive her institutions and bring back the sim-
plicity of earlier times, and in him we expected a worker to that end. And yet God has been
with us. and him, for whom and in whom we hoped. He has taken away.
All is well with him. Rest and fulfillment have come. But we must mourn. He was
with us in our days of hope and courage ; he looked with us from the windows of youth and
promise upon the wide, untried, restless world beyond, and his words were kind and gentle
and encouraging.
As the years went by he did not forget us. In health and sickness the old Class was dear
to him. and its memories sacred. Those of us that were present at our Decennial will never
forget the greeting that he sent from beyond the sea. Death was with him then, yet in a letter
full of kindly thought and pleasing remembrances he invoked the spirit of the past and we
were boys again. There was that about his letter which made his presence seem real. h
recalled vividly his genial smile and winning diffidence of manner. It closed with the senti-
ment : "Here's health and good cheer to all." And that kindly message will never be for-
gotten. At all our reunions hereafter his name will unlock and free all the pleasant recol-
lections of our College life, and of us and with us he will ever be.
232
Trusting that our past relations with Harry will permit us to be in a measure sharers of
your grief, and that you will not consider us as wholly strangers.
Yours Sincerely,
Chas. Elliot, G. P. Sheldon,
Albert E. Lamb, Geo. Adee,
Thomas Greenwood, Committee Class '67.
Geo. p. Wetmore, W. H. Morse,
Class Sec'y.
The following notice of his death appeared in the Cleveland "Sunday Leader" of Feb-
ruary loth, 1878:
" Henry W. Payne, youngest son of Hon. H. B. Payne, and widely known in this com-
munity by the familiar name of "Harry," died on Friday evening at Mentone, in the South
of France. The painful intelligence, transmitted by telegraph on the night of his death, was
unexpected even by his family, and has produced a profound and widespread feeling of sor-
row. The deceased went abroad something more than a year ago, and had experienced such
favorable effects from a genial climate and careful treatment, that confident hopes were enter-
tained that he might return completely restored to health. All these anticipations have been
rudely blasted by the news of his sudden death, and his bereaved family will receive the
earnest sympathy of a wide circle of friends, who feel in this sudden news a keen sense of
personal loss.
" Henry Payne was born in this city in 1845. He graduated at Yale in the Class of ^^T,
and subsequently graduated from the Columbia Law School in New York City in 1870. He
had meanwhile studied Law in the office of George Willey, Esq., and soon after gradua-
tion from Columbia was admitted to practice at the Bar of Cleveland. He was a
young man of fine personal qualities. Manly, generous and hospitable, he was a true friend
and liberal benefactor. One of the last letters he ever wrote was to his brother directing that
his agent should return the rents collected of various tenants, and place a liberal sum in the
hands of a friend to be distributed among the poor emigrants who passed through the city.
" He died in a distant land among strangers, but attended in his last moments by his
brother Nathan, who has been his associate during most of his recent journeyings abroad.
He leaves behind the record of an honorable and unsullied life, to which no word of ours can
add aught of endearment or respect."
college societies, honors, rank.
Brothers, Delta Kappa, Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave.
233
WILLIAM ADORNO PECK.
William Adorno Peck, son of Eleazer Adorno and Lucy Elizabelih (AVildman) Peck,
was born at Hartford, Conn., November 20th, 1844.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Troy Institute, New York, under W. H. Martin, and
entered the Class of '67 in the Summer of 1863.
His father's name was Eleazar Adorno Peck. He was not a College man. Had to work
his way up from the time he was thirteen years old. For the last 38 years of his life he was
pre-eminently an Insurance man. He took a local agency for the Connecticut Mutual Life
Insurance in the later 40's about '48 or '49. For several years he included Fire Insurance in
his business, but about 1859 he gave up all but the Life Insurance, and took the general agency
of the above named company for New York State outside of New York City and Long Island.
That was his business till his death in 1887.
His father was a lineal descendant from William Peck, one of the founders of the New
Haven Colony, and was also connected with the Hamilton family.
235
His mother was a lineal descendant of the Boughton or Bouton family, one of the old
families of France, with genealogy, I am told, running back to the 5th Century.
After graduating he studied through the Summer of 1867, and entered Division B of the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., in September, 1867, from which he graduated
in June, 1869, with the degree of Civil Engineer.
About July 15th, 1869, he began work as a draughtsman on the Morrisania Town Survey
(later called North New York), which included the suburbs along the Harlem River, and for
two or three miles north. He was obliged to leave the last week in August of that same year
on account of illness. During the remainder of 1869 and the following years till 1872 he was
unable to do much hard work, but employed the time, partly as assistant to the Professor of
Geodesy in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in helping look after the instruction of
students in the field work, and as he became stronger, in working at his profession as Civil
Engineer.
Having the opportunity offered, he spent the greater part of 1872 in traveling, leaving New
York. May 15th, and returning December 23rd. He traveled through several of the European
countries, and went as far East as Damascus in Syria, then into Palestine and down to Egypt.
The last week in July, 1873, he went to Port Kent, N. Y., and entered the Engineering
party of the New York and Canada R. R., remaining until December ist, when work was
stopped for the Winter. In June, 1874, he again went to Port Kent, but was soon transferred
to Port Kendall, eight miles south, where he remained on the work till it was completed,
November 30th, 1875, when trains commenced running. He returned to Troy, N. Y., and
spent most of 1876 working at his profession, and laid out the greater part of the Camp
Grounds at Round Lake, N. Y., in that year. The Winter of 1876-77 he spent in New York
City, taking a special course in Assaying in the Columbia School of Mines.
The first week in May, 1877, he started West, arriving in Denver, Colo., the 15th of that
month. He immediately went to Idaho Springs, about 40 miles west of Denver, in the moun-
tains, and took charge of the Specie Payment Stamp Mill.
In September. 1879, he started East on a vacation. On his return in December he found
the mill closed, all work stopped, and himself out of a job. He remained near the mill till
the last week of January, 1880, looking after the interest of some of the Eastern stockholders.
He then went to Georgetown. Colo., and worked with Frank R. Carpenter, a U. S. Deputy
Mineral Surveyor. He remained with him till March 30th, 1880. when he came to Denver,
and entered the Surveyor General's office and remained in the office till February ist, 1886
A new administration had come in, and his place was wanted for a relation of the new Sur-
veyor General and he was left out. His little boy at that time was sick with scarlet fever, and
he found nothing to do till the boy had recovered. The month of May, 1886, he was with the
Engineering party of the Union Pacific Railroad, stationed at Laramie, Wyo.
The first week of July, 1886. he started with an Engineering party into the mountains for
surveying and locating a line of railroad to the coal and marble regions of Pitkin County.
He was in the Crystal River Valley, and remained until December ist, 1886. He returned to
236
Denver, and worked on the maps of the line surveyed (the Colorado and Utah R. R.) until
the middle of January, 1887.
From then until the last of March, 1887, he worked at odd jobs that he could find in his
profession. The last of March, 1887, he was called East by the death of his father, and re
mained in Troy, N. Y., most of the time until the first week in July of that year. During
May and June he worked with W. & L. E. Gurley, Instrument Makers, experimenting on
Electroplating brass with silver. After returning to Denver he entered the Chief Engineer's
office of the Denver and Rio Grande R. R. in Denver, where he remained until August, 1889.
During the Fall of 1889 he worked with the Town Engineer of Highlands, the largest suburb
of Denver. January ist, 1890, he opened an office of his own as Civil Engineer and Surveyor,
and has followed it with varying success since then. In November, 1895, he was elected
County Surveyor of Arapahoe County, Colorado, and filled out the term until January 12th.
1898.
In February, 1896, he obtained a Commission as a U. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor, and
has been working on Surveys for Mineral Patents in connection with his other work.
Was married to Mary F. Holme, at Denver, Colo., November i6th, 1882.
CHILDREN.
Henry Holme, born April 23rd, 1884; died February 2nd, 1890.
Wm. Adorno, Jr., born August 5th, 1887.
Mildred Armstrong, born June i8th, 1889.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES^ H0N0R.S, RANK.
Brothers, Second Colloquy.
2Z1
GEORGE HENRY PERKINS.
George Henry Perkins, son of Frederick Trenck Perkins (Yale, '39) and Harriet (Olm-
sted) Perkins, was born at East Cambridge, Mass.. September 25th, 1844.
He fitted for College (Yale) in Mr. Lovell's School, New Haven, Conn., and in Knox
Academy. Galesburg, Ills., and entered '67 Yale the beginning of Junior year.
On his father's side his ancestors are quite widely distributed over this country, the
American branch coming from John Perkins, who came to the Bay Colony with Roger
Williams in 1630, and held minor public offices in Boston and Ipswich. His immediate
descendants were all prominent in the offices of the Colony, and were engaged in the Colonial
wars, especially that of the Revolution. A considerable branch of the family still resides in
England.
On his mother's side the Olmsted family is well known as prominent in the history of
Connecticut. Her grandfather, Nathaniel O., was for many years in business in New Haven,
239
and his only brother, Dennison O., was long Professor of Natural Philosophy at Yale, being
the immediate predecessor of Prof. Loomis.
Entered the Class at the beginning of the Junior year. Passed Freshman and Sophomore
years at Knox College, Galesburg, Ills. After graduation spent two years in the Sheffield
Scientific School.
Received the degree of Ph. D. at Yale in 1869; received three appointments to a profes-
sorship: one from the University of Vermont, one from Hanover College, Ind., and one
from the College at Glasgow, Mo. Accepted the first offer, and is now Professor of Geology,
Zoology and Botany in the above named institution. Has written quite a number of scientific
articles in various papers and scientific periodicals, which have been well received. Was ap-
pointed Professor of Biology in October, 1869. In November, 1876, was appointed State En-
tomologist, and in June, 1881, was appointed Howard Professor of Natural History.
Akhough he has not crossed the ocean he has traveled extensively in this country, espe-
cially in the Rockies and California.
Was married to Mary Farnham at Galesburg, Ills., August loth, 1870.
CHILDREN.
Harriet Olmsted, born October 3rd, 1871, Burlington, Vt. ; died December 6th, 1876,
Burlington, Vt.
Henry Farnham, born May loth, 1877, Burlington. Vt.
His son was fitted for College at Burlington, Vt., and entered the College there, where
he graduated in the Class of 1898.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, R.\NK.
Brothers, Clark and Berkeley Classical Scholarships Senior year. High Oration, Phi
Beta Kappa.
240
PETER BYRNBERG PORTER.
Peter Byrnbekg Porter, son of Peter Byrnberg and Elizabeth Deacon (Aldrich) Porter,
was born at Wilmington, Del., January 17th, 1845.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Delaware Military Academy, Wilmington, Del., and
also under private tutors in Wilmington and Philadelphia.
His father was a publisher and bookseller at Wilmington, Del., the business having
descended from his father, Robert, who in turn received it from his father-in-law, Peter
Byrnberg. The latter published quite a number of small works towards the close of the
i8th Century. He is of old Swedish-English stock on both his father and mother's side.
On the paternal side, the Byrnbergs were among the original settlers in Delaware, who
came from Sweden in 1638. His grandfather, Robert Porter, who married Ann Byrnberg, was
of English extraction, the Porters having come from England to Connecticut and moved thence
to Delaware. His mother's family name was Aldrich. The Aldrichs were Swedes, who
241
settled in Delaware at an early period. One of them, Jacob, was the Governor of the Dutch
Colonies on the Delaware, at the time Peter Stuyvesant was Governor of New York, or
the New Netherlands, as it was called (1655-64).
The Aldrichs married with the Deacons, also of English family, who settled in New
Jersey, and with the Canbys, whose ancestor, Benjamin Canby, came from Thome, Yorkshire,
England, in 1633.
Entered the Class at the commencement of Sophomore year. After graduation attendetl
the Medical lectures at the Universitj'^ of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he graduated in
March, 1869. He then became one of the Resident Physicians of the Philadelphia Hospital,
his term expiring January ist, 1S71. He then continued to practice for a short time in Philadel-
phia, after which he removed to New York City, where he has been practicing ever since.
Has been attending physician to the De Milt and North Eastern Dispensary and the New
York Free Dispensary for sick children.
In the year 1879 he commenced practicing during the Summer months at Southampton,
L. I., returning each Fall to New York City. In February, 1885, he became editor of "Gail-
lard's Medical Journal," a large and important medical magazine published monthly in New
York, which is now in its 44th volume, and has a large circulation in the South and West as
well as in New York.
Since January, 1885, has been Recording Secretary of the New York County Medical
Association, and New York Editor of the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal."
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, "Sigma Eps," Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave. Honorary Wolfs
Head 1892. Dissertation. Phi Beta Kappa.
242
*EDWARD SHELDON REYNOLDS.
*Ed\vard Sheldon Reynolds, son of Judge William Champion and Jane Holberton
(Smith) Reynolds, was born at Kingston, Pa., February 22nd, 1844; died February 8th, 1895,
at the age of 50 years.
He fitted for College (Yale) under Dr. Jas. M. Whiton at the Hopkins Grammar School,
New Haven, Conn., and entered the Class of '67 in the Summ.er of 1863.
His father was prepared for the Sophomore Class of Princeton College, but owing to ill-
ness was prevented from entering, and became a merchant prominent in the business circles
of Wilkesbarre, Pa. On his father's side he is descended from Edward Fuller, of the May-
flower, and on his mother's side from the Barrs, Fayerweathers and Holbertons, of New
England.
Upon graduation read Law and traveled extensively for his health in Europe.
243
He maintained varied interests in Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he resided, after graduation.
In 1887 was elected President of Wilkesbarre Electric Light Co. and soon after President of
Wilkesbarre Water Co. In 1891 was made President of the Wyoming National Bank, in
which institution he had been a director since 1884. These offices he held at the time of his
death. He also was for a number of years prior to his death President of the Wyoming His-
torical Society.
He studied law and was admitted to practice in his native city, but, although he had an
admirable equipment for success in his profession, not being obliged to depend upon it for an
income, he preferred to devote his time to general business and literary and scientific pursuits.
He had rare business qualifications, and possessed the absolute confidence of the community
in which he lived. He took a deep interest in historical matters, and a special pvide in the
Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, to the published volumes of which he contributed.
He was the President of the Society at the time of his death. He was a Democrat in politics
and had served usefully on local committees, but declined nomination for mere public posi-
tions. He had been in poor health for four or five years before his death, and his last illness
from pulmonary trouble dated from the Spring of 1894. He died at Saranac Lake, N. Y., on
February 8th, 1895, at the age of 50.
He was modest in his charities, retiring in his disposition. Many men cultivate a wider
circle of friends, but few can lay claim to such absolute affection and devotion on the part of
intimates.
He was, in all affairs with which he was connected, looked up to as a man of sound
judgment, clear intuition and remarkable executive ability — honored by the community, re-
spected by all who knew him. a great favorite among his intimate friends. The people lose by
his death a worthy citizen and an honored member of society.
He was married at Wilkesbarre, Pa., November 23rd, 1875, to .A.nnie B. Dorrance.
CHILDREN.
Dorrance, born September 9th, 1877. Wilkesbarre, Pa.
Dorrance fitted for Yale at the Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn., and entered Yale in
the Class of 1901.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, Delta Kappa, Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Scroll and Key. Second Colloquy.
Spoonman.
244
*ERNEST ROBINSON.
*Ernest Robinson, son of Charles Robin-on (Yale, 1821) and Nancy (Mulford) Robin-
son, was born at New Haven, Conn., December 20th, 1845. Died there, Friday, November
i8th, 1870, of inflammatory rheumatism in the region of the heart and chest, after an illness
of about three weeks, and was buried the following Monday in the old cemetery in the same
city.
During the last three years Robinson had been engaged in studying medicine, though
just previous to his death he was in the insurance business. His health had been gradually
failing, but though he freely confessed that he was not well, he never seemed dispirited. At
our Triennial meeting, his laugh was as merry and his greeting as cordial as any of the others.
I had met him frequently of late, as he walked along the street with difficulty and pain, and
His father was a physician, who lived successively in Fitzwilliam, Holden and Princeton,
Mass.
His widowed mother resided in Worcester, Mass., while he was preparing for College,
and removed with him to New Haven during his College course.
He studied Theology for one year in Princeton, N. J., and for the next two years in
Andover, Mass. On February 7th, 1871, he was ordained as pastor of the Davenport Con-
gregational Church in New Haven, where he remained until he accepted a call, in the Fall of
229
1874, to the Second Presbyterian Church in Scranton, Pa. His work there was interrupted
seriously by the state of his health, and in 1876 he resigned, to seek a more favorable climate.
He was first stationed at San Diego, Cal., and then for two years (1877-79) had charge of
the Presbyterian Church in Greeley, Colo. From the Fall of 1879 to May, 1885. he supplied
the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church in Canon City, Colo. He then ventured to try the
climate of the East again, and preached the follow-ing Winter in Scranton, Pa., but his old
lung trouble returned in the Spring of 1886, and he accepted in May an invitation to the
pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Fort Collins, Colo., where he died of pneumonia,
February 25th. 1889, in his forty-sixth year.
Among the floral tributes that were laid on his casket was a handsome anchor, with the
word "Yale" in the centre, from the Yale Association of Colorado, of which the deceased
was President at the time of his death.
Mr. Partridge was a strong Mason, and having expressed a desire, before his death, that
he be buried according to the rites of the Masonic fraternity, his wishes were carried out.
An escort of between sixty and seventy persons accompanied the remains to Greeley, Colo.,
where they were met by a large gathering of citizens and members of the Masonic fraternity,
including twenty Knights. His remains were laid to rest in Linn Grove Cemetery, where the
interment took place according to the solemn and deeply impressive rites of Masonry.
He was twice married. His first wife was Mary E. Partridge, of Worcester, Mass.,
whom he married July 14th, 1871.
CHILDREN.
Edith Davenport, born November 6th, 187 1. New Haven, Conn.
C John Willard, born May 31st, 1873, New Haven, Conn.; died May 6th, 1875, Greeley,
'CoIq.
Leonard E., born September i6th. 1876, Greeley, Colo.; died June i6th, 1879, Greeley,
Colo.
His wife died July 19th, 1879, at Canon City, Colo.
His second wife was Nellie Barnard, of Scranton, Pa., whom he married September 15th,
1883.
CHILDREN.
Mary Barnard, bom August 6th, 1884, Fort Collins. Colo.
Ralph Llewellyn, born October 30th, 1886. Fort Collins, Colo.
Edith finished her education at La Salle Seminary, Chicago, 111., in 1893, and was married
March 21st, 1895, to Harlon Thomas at Fort Collins, Colo.
Ralph and Mary are studying at home, the former preparing for Yale.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, "Sigma Eps," Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave: ist prize Senior
year Linonia Prize Debate, 3rd prize Declamation third term Sophomore. Oration, Phi Beta
Kappa.
230
*HENRY WILLSON PAYNE.
*Hf.nry Willson Payne, son of Hon. Henry B. Payne and Mary (Perry) Payne, was
born at Cleveland, Ohio, March 7th, 1845. Died at Mentone, France, February 8th, 1878.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Cleveland Central High School under Dr. Theodore
Sterling, and entered the Class of '67 in the Fall of 1863.
His mother was a direct descendant of Commodore Perry.
Mr. Payne graduated from the Columbia Law School in May, 1870, and practiced Law
for a short time at his home in Cleveland, Ohio. His health was very poor, and in January,
1877, he sailed for Europe. The Secretary received a letter from him on the 17th of Sep-
tember, 1877, informing him that owing to his continued ill-health he would pass the following
Winter at Mentone, in the South of France. He was at that place at the time of his death,
which occurred in February of the following year.
231
In April of the same year George Adee called and spoke of the propriety of expressing to
the family of our Classmate the sense of loss the Class had sustained in his death, and to
tender to the family the sympathy of the Class. It was thought advisable to appoint a com-
mittee, which was done. That committee consisted of Adee, Elliot, Greenwood Lamb, G.
P. Sheldon and Wetmore.
The following letter was drawn up by the committee, and was endorsed with a note from
the Secretary and sent to the family of Mr. Payne, October 14th, 1878:
New York, September 20th, 1878.
To Hon. Henry B. Payne:
At the earnest solicitation of the members of the Class of 1867, at Yale, we have been
requested to ask, in their name, the sad privilege of sympathizing with you in your great
bereavement. We hardly hope to comfort you in any degree, for we know how weak are
human words in the silence which follows the Voice of God, but we cannot refrain. Harry
Payne was more than a Classmate; he was a friend to each and every one of us. By his
great simplicity of character, the unspotted integrity of his life, his charity, gentleness, gener-
ous and abiding sympathies, he won our hearts.
His influence was ever pure and clean and healthful.
Although some of our members may have been intellectually his superior, yet we all re-
garded him as one of our few representative men, in that he possessed in a remarkable degree
that adjustment and balance of qualities which give assurance of growth and prominence.
He inspired no jealousy. His success would be our success; his life our monument.
We prophesied for him a long and useful career. We believed our country had need of
strong, earnest and pure characters, to keep alive her institutions and bring back the sim-
plicity of earlier times, and in him we expected a worker to that end. And yet God has been
with us. and him, for whom and in whom we hoped. He has taken away.
All is well with him. Rest and fulfillment have come. But we must mourn. He was
with us in our days of hope and courage ; he looked with us from the windows of youth and
promise upon the wide, untried, restless world beyond, and his words were kind and gentle
and encouraging.
As the years went by he did not forget us. In health and sickness the old Class was dear
to him. and its memories sacred. Those of us that were present at our Decennial will never
forget the greeting that he sent from beyond the sea. Death was with him then, yet in a letter
full of kindly thought and pleasing remembrances he invoked the spirit of the past and we
were boys again. There was that about his letter which made his presence seem real. h
recalled vividly his genial smile and winning diffidence of manner. It closed with the senti-
ment : "Here's health and good cheer to all." And that kindly message will never be for-
gotten. At all our reunions hereafter his name will unlock and free all the pleasant recol-
lections of our College life, and of us and with us he will ever be.
232
Trusting that our past relations with Harry will permit us to be in a measure sharers of
your grief, and that you will not consider us as wholly strangers.
Yours Sincerely,
Chas. Elliot, G. P. Sheldon,
Albert E. Lamb, Geo. Adee,
Thomas Greenwood, Committee Class '67.
Geo. p. Wetmore, W. H. Morse,
Class Sec'y.
The following notice of his death appeared in the Cleveland "Sunday Leader" of Feb-
ruary loth, 1878:
" Henry W. Payne, youngest son of Hon. H. B. Payne, and widely known in this com-
munity by the familiar name of "Harry," died on Friday evening at Mentone, in the South
of France. The painful intelligence, transmitted by telegraph on the night of his death, was
unexpected even by his family, and has produced a profound and widespread feeling of sor-
row. The deceased went abroad something more than a year ago, and had experienced such
favorable effects from a genial climate and careful treatment, that confident hopes were enter-
tained that he might return completely restored to health. All these anticipations have been
rudely blasted by the news of his sudden death, and his bereaved family will receive the
earnest sympathy of a wide circle of friends, who feel in this sudden news a keen sense of
personal loss.
" Henry Payne was born in this city in 1845. He graduated at Yale in the Class of ^^T,
and subsequently graduated from the Columbia Law School in New York City in 1870. He
had meanwhile studied Law in the office of George Willey, Esq., and soon after gradua-
tion from Columbia was admitted to practice at the Bar of Cleveland. He was a
young man of fine personal qualities. Manly, generous and hospitable, he was a true friend
and liberal benefactor. One of the last letters he ever wrote was to his brother directing that
his agent should return the rents collected of various tenants, and place a liberal sum in the
hands of a friend to be distributed among the poor emigrants who passed through the city.
" He died in a distant land among strangers, but attended in his last moments by his
brother Nathan, who has been his associate during most of his recent journeyings abroad.
He leaves behind the record of an honorable and unsullied life, to which no word of ours can
add aught of endearment or respect."
college societies, honors, rank.
Brothers, Delta Kappa, Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave.
233
WILLIAM ADORNO PECK.
William Adorno Peck, son of Eleazer Adorno and Lucy Elizabelih (AVildman) Peck,
was born at Hartford, Conn., November 20th, 1844.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Troy Institute, New York, under W. H. Martin, and
entered the Class of '67 in the Summer of 1863.
His father's name was Eleazar Adorno Peck. He was not a College man. Had to work
his way up from the time he was thirteen years old. For the last 38 years of his life he was
pre-eminently an Insurance man. He took a local agency for the Connecticut Mutual Life
Insurance in the later 40's about '48 or '49. For several years he included Fire Insurance in
his business, but about 1859 he gave up all but the Life Insurance, and took the general agency
of the above named company for New York State outside of New York City and Long Island.
That was his business till his death in 1887.
His father was a lineal descendant from William Peck, one of the founders of the New
Haven Colony, and was also connected with the Hamilton family.
235
His mother was a lineal descendant of the Boughton or Bouton family, one of the old
families of France, with genealogy, I am told, running back to the 5th Century.
After graduating he studied through the Summer of 1867, and entered Division B of the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., in September, 1867, from which he graduated
in June, 1869, with the degree of Civil Engineer.
About July 15th, 1869, he began work as a draughtsman on the Morrisania Town Survey
(later called North New York), which included the suburbs along the Harlem River, and for
two or three miles north. He was obliged to leave the last week in August of that same year
on account of illness. During the remainder of 1869 and the following years till 1872 he was
unable to do much hard work, but employed the time, partly as assistant to the Professor of
Geodesy in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in helping look after the instruction of
students in the field work, and as he became stronger, in working at his profession as Civil
Engineer.
Having the opportunity offered, he spent the greater part of 1872 in traveling, leaving New
York. May 15th, and returning December 23rd. He traveled through several of the European
countries, and went as far East as Damascus in Syria, then into Palestine and down to Egypt.
The last week in July, 1873, he went to Port Kent, N. Y., and entered the Engineering
party of the New York and Canada R. R., remaining until December ist, when work was
stopped for the Winter. In June, 1874, he again went to Port Kent, but was soon transferred
to Port Kendall, eight miles south, where he remained on the work till it was completed,
November 30th, 1875, when trains commenced running. He returned to Troy, N. Y., and
spent most of 1876 working at his profession, and laid out the greater part of the Camp
Grounds at Round Lake, N. Y., in that year. The Winter of 1876-77 he spent in New York
City, taking a special course in Assaying in the Columbia School of Mines.
The first week in May, 1877, he started West, arriving in Denver, Colo., the 15th of that
month. He immediately went to Idaho Springs, about 40 miles west of Denver, in the moun-
tains, and took charge of the Specie Payment Stamp Mill.
In September. 1879, he started East on a vacation. On his return in December he found
the mill closed, all work stopped, and himself out of a job. He remained near the mill till
the last week of January, 1880, looking after the interest of some of the Eastern stockholders.
He then went to Georgetown. Colo., and worked with Frank R. Carpenter, a U. S. Deputy
Mineral Surveyor. He remained with him till March 30th, 1880. when he came to Denver,
and entered the Surveyor General's office and remained in the office till February ist, 1886
A new administration had come in, and his place was wanted for a relation of the new Sur-
veyor General and he was left out. His little boy at that time was sick with scarlet fever, and
he found nothing to do till the boy had recovered. The month of May, 1886, he was with the
Engineering party of the Union Pacific Railroad, stationed at Laramie, Wyo.
The first week of July, 1886. he started with an Engineering party into the mountains for
surveying and locating a line of railroad to the coal and marble regions of Pitkin County.
He was in the Crystal River Valley, and remained until December ist, 1886. He returned to
236
Denver, and worked on the maps of the line surveyed (the Colorado and Utah R. R.) until
the middle of January, 1887.
From then until the last of March, 1887, he worked at odd jobs that he could find in his
profession. The last of March, 1887, he was called East by the death of his father, and re
mained in Troy, N. Y., most of the time until the first week in July of that year. During
May and June he worked with W. & L. E. Gurley, Instrument Makers, experimenting on
Electroplating brass with silver. After returning to Denver he entered the Chief Engineer's
office of the Denver and Rio Grande R. R. in Denver, where he remained until August, 1889.
During the Fall of 1889 he worked with the Town Engineer of Highlands, the largest suburb
of Denver. January ist, 1890, he opened an office of his own as Civil Engineer and Surveyor,
and has followed it with varying success since then. In November, 1895, he was elected
County Surveyor of Arapahoe County, Colorado, and filled out the term until January 12th.
1898.
In February, 1896, he obtained a Commission as a U. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor, and
has been working on Surveys for Mineral Patents in connection with his other work.
Was married to Mary F. Holme, at Denver, Colo., November i6th, 1882.
CHILDREN.
Henry Holme, born April 23rd, 1884; died February 2nd, 1890.
Wm. Adorno, Jr., born August 5th, 1887.
Mildred Armstrong, born June i8th, 1889.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES^ H0N0R.S, RANK.
Brothers, Second Colloquy.
2Z1
GEORGE HENRY PERKINS.
George Henry Perkins, son of Frederick Trenck Perkins (Yale, '39) and Harriet (Olm-
sted) Perkins, was born at East Cambridge, Mass.. September 25th, 1844.
He fitted for College (Yale) in Mr. Lovell's School, New Haven, Conn., and in Knox
Academy. Galesburg, Ills., and entered '67 Yale the beginning of Junior year.
On his father's side his ancestors are quite widely distributed over this country, the
American branch coming from John Perkins, who came to the Bay Colony with Roger
Williams in 1630, and held minor public offices in Boston and Ipswich. His immediate
descendants were all prominent in the offices of the Colony, and were engaged in the Colonial
wars, especially that of the Revolution. A considerable branch of the family still resides in
England.
On his mother's side the Olmsted family is well known as prominent in the history of
Connecticut. Her grandfather, Nathaniel O., was for many years in business in New Haven,
239
and his only brother, Dennison O., was long Professor of Natural Philosophy at Yale, being
the immediate predecessor of Prof. Loomis.
Entered the Class at the beginning of the Junior year. Passed Freshman and Sophomore
years at Knox College, Galesburg, Ills. After graduation spent two years in the Sheffield
Scientific School.
Received the degree of Ph. D. at Yale in 1869; received three appointments to a profes-
sorship: one from the University of Vermont, one from Hanover College, Ind., and one
from the College at Glasgow, Mo. Accepted the first offer, and is now Professor of Geology,
Zoology and Botany in the above named institution. Has written quite a number of scientific
articles in various papers and scientific periodicals, which have been well received. Was ap-
pointed Professor of Biology in October, 1869. In November, 1876, was appointed State En-
tomologist, and in June, 1881, was appointed Howard Professor of Natural History.
Akhough he has not crossed the ocean he has traveled extensively in this country, espe-
cially in the Rockies and California.
Was married to Mary Farnham at Galesburg, Ills., August loth, 1870.
CHILDREN.
Harriet Olmsted, born October 3rd, 1871, Burlington, Vt. ; died December 6th, 1876,
Burlington, Vt.
Henry Farnham, born May loth, 1877, Burlington. Vt.
His son was fitted for College at Burlington, Vt., and entered the College there, where
he graduated in the Class of 1898.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, R.\NK.
Brothers, Clark and Berkeley Classical Scholarships Senior year. High Oration, Phi
Beta Kappa.
240
PETER BYRNBERG PORTER.
Peter Byrnbekg Porter, son of Peter Byrnberg and Elizabeth Deacon (Aldrich) Porter,
was born at Wilmington, Del., January 17th, 1845.
He fitted for College (Yale) at the Delaware Military Academy, Wilmington, Del., and
also under private tutors in Wilmington and Philadelphia.
His father was a publisher and bookseller at Wilmington, Del., the business having
descended from his father, Robert, who in turn received it from his father-in-law, Peter
Byrnberg. The latter published quite a number of small works towards the close of the
i8th Century. He is of old Swedish-English stock on both his father and mother's side.
On the paternal side, the Byrnbergs were among the original settlers in Delaware, who
came from Sweden in 1638. His grandfather, Robert Porter, who married Ann Byrnberg, was
of English extraction, the Porters having come from England to Connecticut and moved thence
to Delaware. His mother's family name was Aldrich. The Aldrichs were Swedes, who
241
settled in Delaware at an early period. One of them, Jacob, was the Governor of the Dutch
Colonies on the Delaware, at the time Peter Stuyvesant was Governor of New York, or
the New Netherlands, as it was called (1655-64).
The Aldrichs married with the Deacons, also of English family, who settled in New
Jersey, and with the Canbys, whose ancestor, Benjamin Canby, came from Thome, Yorkshire,
England, in 1633.
Entered the Class at the commencement of Sophomore year. After graduation attendetl
the Medical lectures at the Universitj'^ of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he graduated in
March, 1869. He then became one of the Resident Physicians of the Philadelphia Hospital,
his term expiring January ist, 1S71. He then continued to practice for a short time in Philadel-
phia, after which he removed to New York City, where he has been practicing ever since.
Has been attending physician to the De Milt and North Eastern Dispensary and the New
York Free Dispensary for sick children.
In the year 1879 he commenced practicing during the Summer months at Southampton,
L. I., returning each Fall to New York City. In February, 1885, he became editor of "Gail-
lard's Medical Journal," a large and important medical magazine published monthly in New
York, which is now in its 44th volume, and has a large circulation in the South and West as
well as in New York.
Since January, 1885, has been Recording Secretary of the New York County Medical
Association, and New York Editor of the "Boston Medical and Surgical Journal."
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, "Sigma Eps," Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Spade and Grave. Honorary Wolfs
Head 1892. Dissertation. Phi Beta Kappa.
242
*EDWARD SHELDON REYNOLDS.
*Ed\vard Sheldon Reynolds, son of Judge William Champion and Jane Holberton
(Smith) Reynolds, was born at Kingston, Pa., February 22nd, 1844; died February 8th, 1895,
at the age of 50 years.
He fitted for College (Yale) under Dr. Jas. M. Whiton at the Hopkins Grammar School,
New Haven, Conn., and entered the Class of '67 in the Summ.er of 1863.
His father was prepared for the Sophomore Class of Princeton College, but owing to ill-
ness was prevented from entering, and became a merchant prominent in the business circles
of Wilkesbarre, Pa. On his father's side he is descended from Edward Fuller, of the May-
flower, and on his mother's side from the Barrs, Fayerweathers and Holbertons, of New
England.
Upon graduation read Law and traveled extensively for his health in Europe.
243
He maintained varied interests in Wilkesbarre, Pa., where he resided, after graduation.
In 1887 was elected President of Wilkesbarre Electric Light Co. and soon after President of
Wilkesbarre Water Co. In 1891 was made President of the Wyoming National Bank, in
which institution he had been a director since 1884. These offices he held at the time of his
death. He also was for a number of years prior to his death President of the Wyoming His-
torical Society.
He studied law and was admitted to practice in his native city, but, although he had an
admirable equipment for success in his profession, not being obliged to depend upon it for an
income, he preferred to devote his time to general business and literary and scientific pursuits.
He had rare business qualifications, and possessed the absolute confidence of the community
in which he lived. He took a deep interest in historical matters, and a special pvide in the
Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, to the published volumes of which he contributed.
He was the President of the Society at the time of his death. He was a Democrat in politics
and had served usefully on local committees, but declined nomination for mere public posi-
tions. He had been in poor health for four or five years before his death, and his last illness
from pulmonary trouble dated from the Spring of 1894. He died at Saranac Lake, N. Y., on
February 8th, 1895, at the age of 50.
He was modest in his charities, retiring in his disposition. Many men cultivate a wider
circle of friends, but few can lay claim to such absolute affection and devotion on the part of
intimates.
He was, in all affairs with which he was connected, looked up to as a man of sound
judgment, clear intuition and remarkable executive ability — honored by the community, re-
spected by all who knew him. a great favorite among his intimate friends. The people lose by
his death a worthy citizen and an honored member of society.
He was married at Wilkesbarre, Pa., November 23rd, 1875, to .A.nnie B. Dorrance.
CHILDREN.
Dorrance, born September 9th, 1877. Wilkesbarre, Pa.
Dorrance fitted for Yale at the Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn., and entered Yale in
the Class of 1901.
COLLEGE SOCIETIES, HONORS, RANK.
Linonia, Delta Kappa, Delta Beta Chi, D. K. E. and Scroll and Key. Second Colloquy.
Spoonman.
244
*ERNEST ROBINSON.
*Ernest Robinson, son of Charles Robin-on (Yale, 1821) and Nancy (Mulford) Robin-
son, was born at New Haven, Conn., December 20th, 1845. Died there, Friday, November
i8th, 1870, of inflammatory rheumatism in the region of the heart and chest, after an illness
of about three weeks, and was buried the following Monday in the old cemetery in the same
city.
During the last three years Robinson had been engaged in studying medicine, though
just previous to his death he was in the insurance business. His health had been gradually
failing, but though he freely confessed that he was not well, he never seemed dispirited. At
our Triennial meeting, his laugh was as merry and his greeting as cordial as any of the others.
I had met him frequently of late, as he walked along the street with difficulty and pain, and
Online Library → Yale University. Class of 1867 → Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record → online text (page 17 of 27)
Using the text of ebook Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record by Yale University. Class of 1867 active link like:
read the ebook Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record
read the ebook Report of the trigintennial meeting with a biographical and statistical record
