Yale University - Sheffield Scientific School Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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BIOGRAPHIES. I 2 I same delight in clean mirth and sweet humor. Nothing could bear finer testimony of his purity and sweetness of character than that instinctive way in which the shyest of little children sought his companionship .... As boy and man he held opinions strong and true, he hated cant and hypocrisy with a bitter hatred 5 he loved and lived the clean, sincere and Godward life, he was both a hearer and a doer of the VVord 3-in the world, but not of it, he loved not the world nor the things of the world-he loved the folk of the world .... ' Leaving the Hill School in the spring of 1892, Mr. Van Ingen spent some months in preparation, and entered the Columbia Law School, from which he received his degree in 1893. Passing his bar examinations in 1894, he entered the law office of Logan, Clark 81 Demond. In 1896 he accepted a proposal from Masten 81 Nichols, gaining marked success, until 1902, when he became the senior member of the f1rm of V an Ingen, Siebert gl Paddock. His record at the bar left no doubt of the professional distinction that awaited him had he lived. I-Ie was a skillful, persuasive. forcible speaker, and he combined with other valuable endowments the faculty of application, the spirit of industry, and remarkable energy. For several years prior to the time of his death Mr. Van Ingen had taken a deep interest in, andexhibited a natural talent for public affairs, and there is good reason to believe that had he lived, he would have been called to important public stations. lrVhile always a strong Republican, he was the positive and practical foe of party offenses. In 1902 Mayor Low appointed him a member of the City Board of Education, but no sooner had he become a useful member of that important board than another opportunity presented itself for more valuable public service. For years the abuses at Ellis Island, New York, the chief immigrant sta- tion of America, had been notorious. To put an end to these abuses, President Roosevelt appointed Williain Wil-

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120 CLASS OF ISQI S., YALE COLLEGE. throughout his life, and no man was ever graduated from Sheff. who did more to bring these two branches of the University together. After a keen competition he was elected an editor of the N ews in the spring of his Freshman year, and he served on the board until his graduation. It has been said that he originated the idea of the Yale All!-7'l'Z'7Zf Weelelgf, and after this paper was established by the 792 Board, he was selected as one of the Advisory Board, which position he still occupied at the time of his death. He took a keen interest in all branches of athletics, as he did in every phase of college life. He became a member of the Book Sz Snake society, and lived in the Cloister during his Junior and Senior years. His untiring ehforts in the inter- ests' of the Cloister, in which he always took a most active and leading part, especially endeared him to its members. After graduation Mr. Van Ingen spent a year at New Haven in the Law School, but in the fall of 1892 a vacancy occurred among the instructors of the Hill Schoolg Profes- sor Meigs offered him the position, which he accepted and retained until a suitable person could be found to fill it per- manently. Of his life as a scholar and as an instructor at the Hill School Professor Meigs says: 'Entering the Hill School in the autumn of 1885, shy, sensitive, yet strong, he quickly won the interest and affec- tion of his associates,-boys and men. Individual in his thinking, he had a rare sense of community, obligations and service. Public spirited and resourceful in initiative, the boy indicated the man. No enterprise was too large and no service too lowly for his sympathetic devotion. To this day the impress of his touch is recognized in the school's organizations and traditions. Nature studies were his pas- sion, and like a true lover he would not be denied her most intimate conndences. His hercely persistent quest of Indian relics still lingers in the memory of his generation at the Hill. His droll wit was ever hitting off situations with a facility delicious and rare. He had the same capacity for friendship, and for the same reasons, as Stevenson, the

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122 CLASS OF ISQI S., YALE COLLEGE. liams, Yale '84, Immigration Commissioner at New York. Selected by Mr. Williaiiis as his counsel, Mr. Van Ingen entered upon his new work with great zeal, and only those having knowledge of the complicated questions to be solved, both in applying the laws and in ferreting out and securing the dismissal and punishment of the gratters in the service, can appreciate the extent and value of his labors at that time to both the people and the immigrants. I-Ie devoted himself to these tasks for fifteen months, when the demands of his law practice compelled him to resign, but not, how- ever, until he had so systematized his work that an intel- ligent successor was able to carry it on with relative ease. At its last session it became evident that the New York Legislature was likely to pass a mortgage tax bill, which aroused an unusual amount of hostile criticism. There- upon Mr. Van Ingen became president of the Allied Real Estate Interests, and presented arguments to the legislature and the governor against the bill. Although it subsequently became a law, it is generally recognized that his arguments were exceedingly effective. Indeed they were so ably presented that a large number of members of the new legis- lature have given assurance that they will vote to repeal this obnoxious measure. Although a member of several clubs, Mr. Van Ingen's greatest interest was in the University club, and he was a member of its council from March, 1904. In all matters pertaining to the work of the house committee, of which he was chairman for three years prior to his death, he gave unstinted time and careful attention, and the results bore witness to his efforts in years of exceptional prosperity. I-Ie was greatly esteemed by members and employes alike, and his loss is deeply felt in the daily life of the club. The funeral was held in St. Bartholomewls church, on Monday, October 30, and the throng of men and women of every rank of life who filled the church bore conclusive testimony to the place he held in a multitude of hearts. The interment was at VVashington, Connf,