Augusta Military Academy - Recall Yearbook (Fort Defiance, VA)

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into life at Mt. Sidney, a small town one mile north of here, on May 8, 1889. A native product of our soul, he may very truly be called an American of Americans. His memorializers tell us that ‘he was a bright, hopeful and athletic boy, with an inquiring, eager mind that drew attention.’ From his earliest years he was noted for his thoroughness and his progressive views and for a certain self-reliance. “The Creator endowed him with a strong mind and a retentive memory which he early began to develop. To this end he diligently used the advantages of school and college. To many youth itself is so sweet a siren that in hearing her voice they forget all but the pleasure of listening to it. But the sibyl saved no scroll from young Roller; he had the wisdom to seize themall. His class-mates, gayly returning late at night, saw the student’s light shining through his window. The boy was hard at work, already in the plastic years storing his mind and memory with the best of literature and historic lore. He seems to have acted upon the teaching of Gay when he sings ‘“Learning by study must be won; ’T was n’er entailed from son to son.’ “So faithfully did he apply himself while attending Parkins Classical School and later the Mossy Creek Academy, that when, in 1859, he became a student of the University of Virginia at the ten- der age of twenty years, he was found prepared for its course as a few of its students have ever been. In each of these three institu- tions he ranked high and graduated with distinction. “But his life of mental discipline did not cease with his gradua- tion. No doubt he had, during his student days found and laid to heart those sane lines of Pope! ““A little learning is a dangerous thing, Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring, There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.’ “Practically to the end of this earthly existence he was a con- stant, patient, and devoted student. He was a great lover of books. They were his most intimate life companions. He had a fine judg- ment in their selection. -The great English classics he read and re-

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“When such men die, it is well to pause, and looking at what they have been, calling up their virtues, their achievements, their characters, fix in our hearts the memory of these and thus put our- selves to fresh obligations for their existence. And just this is the explanation of our gathering here today where our friend won love and respect by his well-spent life of industry, integrity and devotion to the cause of education and human progress, and as I address myself to the delectable task assigned me, well may I borrow those ele- quent words of John Temple Graves spoken of Henry Grady when he said: ‘No fire that can be kindled upon the altar of speech can resume the radiant spark that perished. No blaze born in all eulogy can burn beside the sunlight of his useful life. After all, there is nothing grander than such living—the grandest thing next to the radiance that flows from the Almighty throne is the light of a noble and beautiful life wrapping itself in benediction around the desti- nies of men and finding its home in the blessed bosom of the ever- lasting God.’ “Charles Summerville Roller was a fair representative of the age in which he lived; an age which forms one of the greatest and brightest eras in the history of man; an age teeming with new dis- coveries and developments, extending in all directions the limits of human knowledge: an age of marvelous growth of the brotherhood of man in the amalgamation of the different races of the world. The spirit of that age found a happy personification in the founder of this Academy. Providence was kind to him even in birth. “He was fortunate in starting out in life with the enviable asset of having mingled in his ancestry the blood of English, Scotch-Irish and German stock; hardy, pure-minded and stout-hearted men and women who sought in this new world that liberty of conscience and freedom of worship denied them by the state and the church of their respective mother countries. Moreover from both his paternal and maternal side he sprang from heroic soldiers of the American Revo- lution. The eldest son of Jacob Roller, a prominent and influential citizen of independent means of Augusta County, and blessed with a mother of rare accomplishments and a superior character, he began life under most favorable circumstances, having made his advent 6

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read many times. In his handling of books one could see that he felt that, as Milton had said, ‘a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.’ “Mr. Roller had a decided social nature. His love for books never cut him off from a wholesome intercourse with his fellows. He entered fully into the college spirit of his day and indulged freely in the healthful sports of his colleagues. He had a charming per- sonality and attracted to him many warm personal friends. He was happily married to one who proved a true help-mate in life. He | made his home bright and cheerful. There was a charm about his home influence that was most delightful. There are those around me who have breathed the air of his home—that atmosphere of re- finement, taste, friendship and warm-hearted hospitality. Right well do we remember the conversations at his hospitable board, genially inspired and directed by him, on education, art, literature, politics, books and great times and great men. We distinctly recall his far outstretched hand of welcome when you arrived, and the glad exclamation: ‘Iam so glad to see you,’ and the beseeching tone when you departed entreating you to tarry longer or to return soon again. He had a keen sense of wit and humor and enjoyed a joke hugely. “Tn polities, Mr. Roller was a pronounced Republican, but could hardly be called a politician. He never held but two political offices, serving as a member of the State Legislature during the years 1871-3 and as Principal of the State Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, at Staunton for the years 1883-5, both of which positions he filled with marked ability and success. Other than this, his political zeal was confined to a keen interest in the welfare of his party in the state and the nation. “Our friend was endowed by nature with a remarkable firmness of character. He could bring his mind to a more complete state of discipline than any man I ever knew. He had such a just and com- prehensive view of all moral questions that he could readily distin- guish between the right and the wrong. Sturdy and uncompromis- ing in his character, he set his standard of life high and made his de- 8