Hiram College - Spider Web Yearbook (Hiram, OH)

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james Garfield Benrv. AMES GARFTELD HENRY was born in Cleveland, Ohio, November Io, 188o. He belonged to one of the best known families in the Hiram fel- lowship. The Hiram spirit dwelt in his parents and grandparents before him. His grandfather on his mother's side, Frederick Vlfilliams, was a member of the first Board of Trustees, and one of the incorporators of the insti- tution. His father, Capt. C. E. Henry, was a student of the Eclectic Institute, as was also his mother, Sophia Williarns Henry. james himself was the last of a family of four children to graduate from Hiram College. Both his father and brother, Frederick A., are members of the present Board of Trustees, the former having served in that capacity for many years. His sister, Marcia, is the present Lady Principal and Assistant Professor of Greek and Latin. . James entered Hiram in 1894, and at the early age of nineteen was graduated with the Class of IQOO. Witli one exception he was the youngest graduate in the history of the College. After his graduation he entered the Law Department of Western Reserve University to prepare himself for his chosen profession. During the vacation following his first year's work in that institution he was taken ill with typhoid fever and died at his father's home near Geauga Lake, August 18, 1901. His death was so sudden and unexpected that it came like a shock to all his acquaintances. The funeral service was conducted by Prof. E. B. Wake- field, and was largely attended by his college friends and former teachers, ac- quaintances of the family and neighbors. ' Throughout his college career james took an active and prominent part in the student life of the college. His genial disposition and affable manners gained for him a large circle of admiring friends from the very beginning. His ready wit and good cheer made his company sought in every social gathering. In fact, a fullness of life, that manifested itself in great activity of mind and body, in a youthful gaiety and enthusiasm, in a hopeful and joyous outlook upon life, was one of the marked traits of his character. It is to such -a nature that religion al- ways makes a strong appeal. It was but natural, then, that, in the course of time, James should respond to the Christian influence of his home and college. This he did, in a revival meeting held soon after he entered college, by a public con- fession of his faith, and baptism along with a large number of his fellow students. I5

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H fl'iblIlQ I0 0lIl' ZIEISS Pl'0fQSS0l'. 66 EYOND all wealth, honor, and even health, is the attachment we form to noble souls, because to become one with the good, generous and true, is to become in a measure good, generous and true ourselves. - Thomas Arnold. Death is always eventful, but it is especially so when it takes from us a dear and noble friend. Then the heart cries out in its loneliness, like Tennyson, for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of the voice that is still. This poet's sweet song has had a deeper meaning to the Class of IQO2, since last August, when our friend and foster-father, Prof. Hugh McDiarmid, arose to tread the way of death. To many of us it was a call unforeseen and sudden, and we did not fully understand its import until at the turning of the leaves we came again to frequent the paths and halls of the Old Hill. Gone were his kindly greetings and kindlier face. Missed were his words of friendship and fatherly counsel. But ever in our hearts we cherished his helpful messages and hold in blessed memory the Christly heritage of his noble life. We honored him for his great intellectual resources, his breadth and reach of thought, his great faith and his wonderful courage, but we loved him for his rugged honesty, his guiltless life, and the genuine kindliness of his heart. To the classg his adopted sons and daughters, as to all men, he was a true friend. His friendship grew upon us. It was bright like the sunbeam and inspir- ing like a brave leader. Like other men he had days when the rough paths of the world wounded his feet and toil tried his spirit, but of that we saw nothing. To us he was ever cheerful and helpful. Having been tempered with fire he knew how to help those who were passing through the fires of doubt and temptation. The very no-bility of his blameless life roused the latent nobleness in every sincere soul that experienced his friendship. Fellowship with him meant wider visions of life and loftier purposes in life. By his uniform kindliness and the royal hos- pitality of his home he wrought the golden chain of friendship that bound all our hearts into a happy helpful fellowship. The inHuence he has spread over our lives will linger long, just as the radiance of the sun lingers at eventide after it has passed below the horizon. But as the sun, during its course, has imparted life and put in operation forces that will never cease, so this noble, manly life has set in motion influences that will ever continue to affect the life and thought of those who have known him as a Christian, a scholar and their well-beloved Class Professor. ' THE CLASS OF 1902. I4

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In athletics his tall and well-built form made him the general favorite of all. In foot-ball and basket ball he was one of the star players. He was a member of the Delphic Literary Society and always prized very highly his society fellow- ship. He possessed rare skill in council and executive ability, and probably, as much as any other member, he helped to mould the policy of his society while an active member. He was an orator of unusual merit, and in his senior year won second place in the local oratorical contest. James was a ready and industrious student. He was never satisfied simply with what he could get from the text-book, but sought the largest knowledge possible on a subject through library references and read- ings. Probably no student in the school used the library more than he. In one term he read Nicolay and Hay's great work on Life of Lincoln, complete. He was exceedingly courteous and deferential to all his teachers. But no trait of his character was more prominent to those who knew him best than his almost passionate fondness for his home. Many a time did he walk from Hiram to his fatheris home, a distance of thirteen miles, that he might spend his Sunday there. He never seemed so happy as when holidays and vacation seasons per- mitted him to renew for a time his home fellowship and to find gratification for his great love of nature in the scenes of his father's farm. I-Ie had large plans for the future, and had he lived he certainly would have made a high place for himself in life. His death in the very prime of young man- hood with powers of mind and body well developed is one of the inscrutable mys- teries of life 5 but where we cannot know we may withhold our judgment, in faith trusting that our Heavenly Father doeth all things well. SNODDY. , r - f ig or - ' fir f 1',, 'fy f ...,4g7 . , ,f'z'-W, e' ,- .ff 4 I 1 . ' ff'. tf e-fm' wf' . I , VW iff . 'M ' ff. W if , f Juv' . ff . ., .LA ,C f ,mga .1a54.1Z1'Z3ff 'feisff , gf iffh -3 : ML J W r J I, -Y - v.: - 't e' New 16