Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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He was ever a welcome guest and favorite speaker at Tech gatherings. On many occasions he was glad to lecture to the classes in Government and Econ¬ omics, to the great satisfaction of the students. In more than fifty years since his own graduation, he has been absent from Com¬ mencements on only two or three occasions, when important engage¬ ments necessitated his being out of town. For many years he has in¬ variably represented the Trustees in making the award of the Salis¬ bury prizes to six members of the graduating class. Many hundreds of Tech graduates recall that presentation speech as the most entertaining feature of the Com¬ mencement program. For here— as at other intimate Tech gather¬ ings—he has always “improved the occasion.” He kept the audi¬ ence ever on the qui vive, for his stately presence and deliberate utterance made his hearers wholly unprepared for the next turn which his discourse might take. Jokes at the expense of the Fac¬ ulty, whimsical reminiscences of his own student days, satirical forecasts of Tech’s future mingled with humorous but sage counsel to the graduating class. But from that Commencement platform no one else has ever expressed more hearty commendation of the manly efforts by which many a graduate, faced by seemingly in¬ surmountable difficulties, has won his way to the goal, nor a more discerning sympathy in the pride and gratification felt by parents in the successful achievement which their own heroic struggles and sacrifices have made possible for the sons in whom their hopes were centered. No one who was present at the Tech Banquet held but a short time before Mr. Washburn’s death can fail to recall the spirit of the last public speech to Tech men which he made there. By a sud¬ den and characteristic shift from the humor of his opening sen¬ tences, he raised the whole tone of the evening’s thought by words which might appropriately be his last message to his Tech friends. In effect he said: “The mere amassing of money is no worthy ambition for a young man to set before himself. He can take none of the money with him, and, to those to whom he leaves it, it may bring more harm than good. Fet him strive to amass friendships. Fet him fill his life with worthy service to his fellows. These are the things that make life worth while. These alone yield the satisfactions that endure as life nears its close.” His whole community bears witness to the fidelity with which Charles Grenfill Washburn’s prac¬ tice squared with his precept. George H. Haynes. Page

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January 28, 1857—May 25, 1928 C HARLES GRENFILL WASH¬ BURN was born in Wor¬ cester, the son of Charles Francis and Mary Elizabeth (Whi- ton) Washburn. He attended the public schools and prepared for the Worcester Polytechnic Insti¬ tute at the Worcester High School. Graduated from Tech in 1875, with the degree of bachelor of science, he finished his college education at Harvard from which he received his degree of bachelor of arts in 1880. He then took up the study of law, and was ad¬ mitted to the bar of Suffolk County in 1886. It was character¬ istic of the man that for several years he devoted the only time his business left to him, his evenings, to the study of law. Trained both as engineer and lawyer he naturally chose to specialize in patent law. But he also entered the manufacturing field. It was in his blood that he should do so, and that wire should be the chosen line. As a manufacturer he estab¬ lished the Wire Goods Company, now the Washburn Company, and had a large share in the develop¬ ment of what is now the Wor¬ cester works of the American Steel and Wire Company. Mr. Washburn’s political career began in 1897. He served for two terms in each branch of the Massa¬ chusetts legislature and for five years represented his district in the National House of Representa¬ tives. In the years since his active re¬ tirement from politics, Mr. Wash¬ burn has devoted a great deal of energy to biographical and his¬ torical research. His “Theodore Roosevelt: The Logic of His Career” is one of the most dis¬ criminating studies of his life¬ long friend. His memoir of an¬ other friend, Henry Cabot Lodge, is a notable characterization. Jt was while attending the an¬ nual convention of the Episcopal diocese of Western Massachusetts at Lenox, that he was stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage and on May 25, 1928, he passed away. To the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Mr. Washburn’s relations were unique, and his services manifold. Graduated as a mere boy, he was active in the early days of the Alumni Association, and later became its president. Many years ago he became a trustee of the Institute, and served long both as treasurer and as president of the Corporation. During those years he was a bearer of heavy burdens. He was a frequent contributor to meet special needs. It was his effective presentation of the Institute ' s claims which had most weight in securing from the Commonwealth grants which increased to $50,000 a year. When these subsidies were ended by the “Anti-Aid Amendment” of 1917, he was active in the drive for the new endowment fund, to which he made generous contribution. Page fifteen

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