Taylor University - Ilium / Gem Yearbook (Upland, IN)

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IIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII THE LATE PRESIDENT THADDEUS CONSTANTINE READE, D. D., L. L. D. B. W. Ayres, Ph. D. How difficult is the appraisal of personality! This can be realized only when one begins thoughtfully to consider the diversity of human in- terests and to evaluate these in their relation to what is conceived to be the supreme end of life. The greatness and dignity of human personality, as well as its uniqueness, its contrast with mere animal consciousness — are revealed in the fact that a destiny may be chosen, a great overmaster- ing purpose may be adopted which will hold the activities of life true to that great purpose like a needle to the magnetic pole. When a man God- led and God-inspired sees a great human need, and commits himself to the task of relieving that need, making yiis concrete expression of a life pur- pose which is grounded in the Will of God; and when a man with such a vision keeps the eye of decision on the goal, ever pursuing through appar- ent failure, ever seeing the star of hope through the clouds, ever holding steady in the face of the calumnies of enemies and the cold indifference or misunderstanding of friends, then personality reveals its real spirit- ual essence. But men are to be appraised in the market of human worth, not only by this godlike determination and fidelity to a chosen task, but al- so by the relation this task, if accomplished, holds to the fundamental spiritual needs of man. It is not always easy to discover the full signi- ficance of a task, hence not always easy to give a comparative value to the work of different men. Some men are over-appraised by their own generation and some men ' s greatness and goodness are not seen until the perspective of history reveals them in their grandeur. Some who achieve fame in this life will find in the fires of the judgment that they have built of wood, hay and stubble; and some who have done the more obscure and sacrificial work will in that day find they have built of gold, silver and precious stones. Christ gave one sure standard of human greatness: Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will V chief among you let him be your servant. in portraying the life of the subject of this sketch no comparisons, implicit or explicit are made. It is an honest attempt to appraise by Christ ' s standard a life, grandly lived, nobly spent. Thaddeus r ' onstantine Reade was born in Steuben County, New York, March 29, 1846. His father ' s name was David Reade, descended from a family of some prominence living near Bath, N. Y. ' A large number of the descendants of this family were ministers. David Reade, the father, moved from New York to Ohio, and Thad- deus, whose mother died when he was a child, went to live at Marion, Ohio, with an old lady by the name of Russell. He was accustomed to call her Grandma Russell. He lived with her till he was about thirteen years of age. In his thirteenth year he was converted and united with the church. At fifteen he was licensed to preach and began as a circuit rider in north- western Ohio. At this age he became a country pedagogue.

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lllllliiliiiiliiiNiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiir II 1 Hebrew and Systematic Theology in Taylor University. The failing health of Dr. Reade made it necessary for him to have relief, consequent- ly Dr. Shilling was made Vice President. When Dr. Reade passed away July 25, 1902, Dr. Shilling became Acting President, serving in that ca- pacity until June 1903, when on account of failing health, he was granted leave of absence. He died Nov. 1904. Prof. B. W- Ayres, who had followed Dr. Clippinger, a greatly beloved teacher and Dean of the institution, now became Acting President of Tay- lor University. In 1906 Dr. Ayres was called to the Central Holiness University at Oskaloosa, Iowa and later accepted the presidency. Re- turning to Taylor University in 1910 as Dean of the institution, he has served the administrative interests of the school most faithfully. As a teacher he has been instrumental in stamping lasting ideals of Chris- tian theory and conduct upon the student body. His influence circles the globe todav. The Rev. Charles W. Winchester, D. D., of Buffalo, New York, was elected president of Taylor University in November, 1903, resigning in 1907. Rev. A. R. Archibald was Acting President for a few months. Rev. Monroe Vayhinger, D- D., became president of the University in 1908. Under the auspices of this consecrated man Taylor University has stead- ily grown through the years. Rich in faith and love, though constantly hampered for funds to re- alize its ideals, the institution has, never-the-less, succeeded in making valuable additions to its possessions. Among the buildings the Music Hall and Swallaw-Robin dormitory and the Central Heating Plant have been added. The seventy acre farm adjacent to the Campus has also been purchased. Perhaps the best thing of all has been the steady adherence of President Vayhinger, Dean Ayres, and their faithful faculty to the early religious standards of the school. Its vital principle — Holiness un- to the Lord, has never lost its power, but is still one of Taylor ' s accepted tenets. One can scarcely close this article without mentioning the name of the president ' s gifted wife, Mrs. Culla Johnson Vayhinger, who by her work for the cause of prohibition, both in Indiana and the nation, has shed lustre on the institution over which her husband has presided for thirteen years. Were I to mention the names and good deeds of all those who have made Taylor University the great institution that it is, time would fail me. Bound by the limitations of space I must be content to recommend them to the Father of us who will say to each of these some glad day, Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things ; enter thou into the joys of the Lord. s° 2 T. U. IN EARLY DAY

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znz iiiiiimimiiiiii iS § Then began his struggle for an education. Being one of the young- er members of a family of fourteen children, he could secure an educa- tion only by working his way through college. He entered Ohio Wesleyan University and, by industry and the most rigid economy, supported him- self, graduating with highest honors in 1869. He earned most of his sup- port by felling trees and sawing wood. His usual meal, prepared and eat- en in his own room was a dish of corn meal mush with molasses. At college he met Miss Ella Dodge — yes, met and loved (a thing that seems to have been a perfectly natural thing to do then as now) and wooed and won her for his wife. She was an earnest Christian, and became a great church worker, giving her husband the heartiest sup- port in his work. She was a poetess, a woman of marked literary tastes and ability, and aided and inspired her husband in his literary efforts. Many of her poems were published in the Western Christian Advocate and other papers. Mr. and Mrs. Reade, in 1870, took charge of The Fairfield Union Acadamy, he as Principal, and she as teacher. They continued in this work two years. In 1872 he became a member of the Central Ohio Conference of the M. E. Church and was stationed at Defiance, 0. While there Mrs. Reade engaged in the Woman ' s Crusade work, praying and singing in the streets before the saloons. From exposure she contracted a heavy cold from which she never recovered. In an attempt to restore her health, she was sent to Lookout Mountain, Tenn., but the effort was futile, and she passed to her reward from this historic spot. The death of his wife was a great blow, and his heart was buried when he buried her. It is said that after her death a certain sad, far- away look which he never wore before came over his face when in repose- But he took up the burden of raising his two motherless children, and did his best to be both father and mother to them. These children were Clara Edith Reade and Bertha Reade. Clara Edith, a remarkably bright child, and a Christian at a very early age, died at the age of seven. Bertha Reade is still living. She married a man by the name of Lackey. Her daughter Nancy M. Lackey, now twenty-three years old is Dr. Reade ' s only grandchild. Mrs. Lackey has a second husband and lives in San Antonio, Texas. To her I am indebted for much of the mate- rial for this brief biography of her father. She inherits the poetic instinct of her parents and has written many songs, both words and music. Soon after his wife ' s death, he was called as pastor to Sidney, 0- Conference was held there that year. It was the custom to give the church that entertained the Conference the choice of ministers from the entire Conference for the following year. The Sidney church chose Dr. Reade. This incident shows his high standing in the estimation of the people. It was at Sidney he met Mrs. Laura F. Kirkley, a widow with four children, who became his second wife, and who outlived Dr. Reade by a number of years. After two years at Sidney he was compelled, by failing health, to give up the regular ministry. For the succeeding five years he travelled extensively, as salesman mostly through the Southwest. On regaining his strength he resumed work in his Conference. One charge he served mpn inmuHHii nm iiiiiiiiii iii iuks) mi