Sauquoit Valley Central High School - Saghdaquadah Yearbook (Sauquoit, NY)

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ASA GIQAY To one of Oneida Countyis most 5- learned and eminent sons, Dr. Asa Gray, distinguished botanist, the junior class deems it a privilege and a pleasure lo dedicate their year book, to com- memorate the 125th anniversary of his birth. The placard affixed to his portrait in- forms us that he was born at Sauquoit, November 18, 1810, and died at Cam- bridge, Mass., January 30, 1888. In the years between these dates he accom- plished an immense amount of hard work, study and research and he attain- ed eminence in his specialty which has not been surpassed by any other Ameri- can. The place where he was born, the site of the tannery where he labored as a boy, the house erected by his father at Paris Furnace lnow the home of ' Miss Clara Wordenj, the home where many of his works were written lnow the home of James Quinn, Sauquoitj, the church which he attended, the oak tree which he planted, remain, dear to those who treasure the memory of Asa Gray and the history of our valley. Our school is also the proud possessor of a fine portrait of Dr. Gray, the gift of his nieces, the Misses Alice and Emily Crayg also of several fine vol- umes of his writings as well as a collection of interesting letters from other famous men of his time. These were the gift of Miss Kathrine Loring, niece of Mrs. Gray. Of himself Dr. Gray writes, H1 was born in a little house which had been a shoe shop on the premises of the tannery yard. My earliest recollec- tions are of Paris Furnace Hollow, for before 1 was a year old my father and mother removed to Paris Furnace and set up a tannery there. Of this l retain some vivid recollections, especially those connected with the first use to which 1 was put, the driving round the ring of the old horse which turned the bark-mill and the supplying the mill with its grist of bark,- a lonely and monotonous occupation. ul was sent to the district school nearby fClayvillej when I was three years old. There was a year or two of early boyhood in which l was sent to a small cselect' or private school at Sauquoit and at the age of twelve 1 was sent off to the Clinton Grammar School, nine miles away where l was drilled in the rudiments of Latin and Creekf, Dr. Cray says also that, following his fatherls wish, he took a medical course. He was graduated with honor, but his beloved botany was more to his taste. So he began his career as a teacher first at Utica and then at Ham- ilton College. lt was not long before he acquired such a widespread reputation as a student and instructor that he was called to Harvard and as long as he lived he retained his connection with that institution. President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard pays him the following tribute:

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DEDICATICN We, the class of '37, dedicate this issue of the Siren to the memory of Asa Gray, world famous hotanist and a native of our valley. Class Motto-uOur Aim: Successg Our Hope: To Win. Class Flower-Yellow Rose. Class Colors-Silver and Blue. The juniors wish to thank all who have con- lrihutcd in any way to the slictress of this hook. EIDITUIQIAL STAFF lfditorssin-c'liief , Business Manager . Advertising Manager Assistants . . . , Sports Editors . Social Editors . Class Editors Ioke Editors ,. Class Adviser , Circulating Manager Assistants .. . .... Marjorie Williams Sarah Pine Mary Pelava . . .. ...,,,,.......,. Kenneth Kirhy ,. . ,, ...,...,,,..,...... Herhert Clough .....Stanley Bowal, William Williams, Barbara Zimm' rman, Edith Williams, ,lane Borden, Ce- cil Champ, Clifford White, Rosahelle Wads- worth. Joseph Cimmillaro Mike Halenar Dorothy Merritt , . . .Georgianna Smith Lucille Schafer . . . . Josephine Novak Agnes O'Brien , . . , Marjorie Boland Lucille Perkins ,, . , ,.,,,....,..... Helene Prichard ........,..,,.......,Mike Halenar . . . . .Robert Sherman, Rosabelle Wadsworth, Doro- thv Merritt. Cornelia Sullivan, Cecil Champ, Clifford White, Marjorie Jensen, Herbert Clough, Barhara Zimmerman, ,lane Borden.

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The life of Asa Gray always seemed to me a singularly happy one. His disposition was eminently cheerful, and his circumstances and occupations gave fortunate play to his natural capacity for enjoyment. From opening manhood he studied with keenest interest in a department of natural history which abounds in beauty, fragrance, and exquisite adaptation of means to ends, and opens inexhaustible opportunities for original observing, experi- menting, and philosophizing. For sixty years he enjoyed to the full this elevating and rewarding pursuit. These years fell at a most fortunate periodg for the continent was just being thoroughly explored and its botanical treas- ures brought to light. Dr Grayis labors therefore cover the principal period of discovery and of accurate classification in American botany. Merely to have one's intellectual life-work make part of a structure so fair and lasting is in itself a substantial happiness. His pursuit was one which took him out-of-doors, and made him intimate with nature in all her moods. lt required him to travel often, and so enabled him to see with delight different lands, skies, and peoples. It gave him intellectual contact with many scholars of various nationalities, whose pur- suits were akin to his own. Intellectual sympathy and cooperation led to strong friendships founded securely upon common tastes and mutual services. All these are elements of happiness-love of nature, acquaintance with the wide earth, congenial intercourse with superior minds, and abiding friend- ships. Although Ur. Cray had no children, his domestic experience was un- usually happy. His life illustrated a remark of his friend Darwin-ethat with natural history and the domestic affections a man can be perfectly hap- py. His way of living was that most agreeable to a philosopherg for it was independent, comfortable, and frcc alike from thc restrictions of poverty and the incumbrances of luxury. With simplicity and regularity of life went health and a remarkable capacity for labor. All appropriate honors came in due course to Ur. Cray from academies, scientific associations, and universities at home and abroad. The stream be- gan to flow as early as lfifl-4, and continued to the end of his life. With these honors came the respect and affection of hundreds of persons who were devoted to the pursuit in which he was a leader. His reputation was larger than that of a specialist, he was recognized as a clear thinker on philosophi- cal and religious themes, a just and sagacious critic, and a skillful and vigor- ous writer. It is the greatest of human rewards to be thus enfolded, as years advance, in an atmosphere of honor, gratitude, and love. Finally, Dr. Cray enjoyed the conscious satisfaction of having rendered, during his long and industrious life, a great and lasting service to his kind. For many years past he could not but know that he had made the largest and most durable contribution to American botanical science which had ever been made, and that he had done more than any other man to diffuse among his countrymen a knowledge of botany and a love for it. He knew, more- over, that by his own work, and by the interest which his labors inspired in others, he had placed on a firm foundation the botanical department of the university which he served for forty-six years, and that the collections he had created there would have for generations a great historical importance. To have rendered such services was solid foundation indeed for heartfelt content.