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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1897)
Votume VI. No. 13. FRANCIS AMASA WALKER. Tributes from President Dwight and Professor Farnam, In the death of General Francis A. Walker, our University, in common with the Institute of Technology of which he was the honored President, has lost a friend whose service in the cause of learning and science will long be remembered. From 1873 to 1880 he held the chair of Political Economy and Dur- ing this period he was an efficient and History in our Scientific School. unselfish worker for the interests of the School, and a genuine affection for it was awakened within him which con- tinued with equal strength, and was often clearly manifested, in the years that followed his call to another sphere of duty and service. As an instructor here he was ever a stimulating force for his pupils, inspir- ing them by his energy and enthusiasm and guiding their minds by his wisdom and knowledge. to feel the impelling power of the man whom he saw before him, or to be quick- ened in thought and in effort as he witnessed the daily life which the man was living. As a thinker and scholar his ability was recognized here as it was wherever he was known, and more fully and appreciatively the longer he lived among us and the better he be- came known to us, To his wise coun- sels and his generous efforts, the School owed much in the matter of its growing prosperity. The whole University was honored by his presence within its walls and was helped by the influence of his intellectual power and his scholarly cul- ture. To his associates in the Faculty he was always a warm and kindly friend— full of sympathy, ever ready to do good, and constantly adding by his thoughts and his thoughtfulness to the happiness of life. His departure from us was a cause of deep regret, when he was called away from his daily association with us. Butthe kindly friendship re- mained, unchanged on his part, and on ours ; and no man has, in all the years, been a more true and faithful lover of Yale than he has been. It is with most sincere sorrow that we have heard of his death, and our tenderest sympathy goes forth at this time to all who loved and esteemed him. His memory will be cherished by all Yale men who knew him—the memory of a genuine man, a true scholar, a warm-hearted friend, a cultured gentle- man, a highly honored and honorable member of the great University brother- hood. May the life which now opens before him be filled with rich and sweet thoughts and with ‘generous and manly action-—such is the desire and such the No student could fail ‘recall a characteristic incident. NEW HAVEN, CONN., THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1897. prayer of our hearts as we give him our last farewell. TIMOTHY DWIGHT. From Professor Farnam. To the Editor of the Yale Alumni Week- 1. Sir—In the short time allowed me, it is impossible to give any extended sketch of General Walker’s life or a careful estimate of his position as an economist. But I am glad to pay a per- sonal tribute to his character, and to mention a few facts regarding his rela- lations to Yale. | He began his work here in January, 1873, the appointment of Professor Gil- man to the presidency of the University of California having created a vacancy in the Governing Board of the Sheffield Scientific School. Gen. Walker did not, however, fill the chair which President Gilman left. The work was reorganized. Prof. Brewer assumed the instruction in Physical Geography, formerly given by Prof. Gilman, and the chair of Politi- cal Economy and History was especially created for General Walker. During the following year, while I was a Senior in Yale College, I obtained permission to attend General Walker’s jectures on United States History as a guest, and I well remember his ener- getic, earnest manner, and the vividness which he put into his subject. I also One day the appointed time for the lecture came, but General. Walker, who was usually the very embodiment of punc- tuality, failed to appear. At the next exercise he explained that he had been working in his room so zealously that two hours seemed as one and that he went to his lecture-room just an hour late. | His official connection with the Scien- tific School lasted less than nine years, and two of those years he spent in Washington, conducting the 10th cen- sus. Yet he had a warm affection for Yale and a great fondness for New Haven. He was always glad to return to our city and was a loyal supporter of Yale methods and the Yale spirit in matters of scholarship, no less thaninathletics. He regularly attended all of the great football games of the season and knew the names of each member of the eleven and each substi- tute, his athletic record, strong and weak points, and everything else worth knowing about him. He was a con- tributor to the Yale Review, and though ali of our economists here differed with him on the subject of bi-metallism, I have every reason to believe that this difference of opinion never affected the friendliness of his personal feelings. General Walker was one of those remarkable men who have such a capacity for work, and such executive ability, that they never seem in a hurry or short of time. A few years after he had assumed the presidency of the Insti- tute of Technology I had occasion to call on him in his office in Boston. He seemed to be writing industriously at his table, and I therefore apologized for interrupting him and said that I feared he was too busy to see me. But he cordially assured me that he was not busy at all, and with the air of a man who has been killing time in some trivial occupation, told me that he was merely writing a new edition of his Political Economy. He then devoted a good part of his day to showing me what I wanted to see in the Institute. _ More recently it has been my good for- . tune to be associated with him in the work of the Committee of Fifty for investigating the Liquor Problem, and I have been impressed with his willing- ness to spend his time in the service of others. Though an extremely busy man, he always seemed to have time for the meetings of the sub-committee of which he was Chairman; he was -ever prompt in meeting appointments, always courteous, suggestive and help- ful in the transaction of business. He combined in a remarkable degree the trained mind of the scholar, the energy and system of the administrator, and the tact and urbanity of the man of the world. Hence his treatment of economic questions was concrete and practical, not abstract, and his whole influence was wonderfully stimulating to younger men. I regret that in these hasty notes I cannot express more adequately my appreciation of the sin- cerity of his character and the power of his mind, or properly convey to your readers my sense of personal loss in his sudden death. = HENRY W. FaRNAM. Tuesday evening, Jan. 5th, 1897. A Sketch of His Life. General Francis Amasa Walker, Presi- dent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, died suddenly at his home in Boston, Mass., on Tuesday, January 5th, from a stroke of apoplexy. He was born in Boston on July 2nd, 1840, and was the son of Amasa Walker, a well-known political economist. Gen- eral Walker received his early educa- tion in the public schools of North Brookfield, and, in 1856, entered Am- herst, graduating in the class of 1860 with high honors. He began the study of law, but when the war broke out he enlisted, and was made sergeant-major of the 15th Mass. regiment. Gen. Walker served with distinction through- out the war, taking part in many en- gagements and was steadily promoted. He was wounded in the battle of Chan- cellorsville,-and in the battle of Reams’ Station was taken prisoner. Upon his retirement from the army he taught in the Williston Seminary, at Easthampton, Mass., for two years, after which he accepted a position on the editorial staff of the Springfield Republican, where he remained until appointed, by Pres. Grant, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, in 1869. In 1870-72 he held the office of super- intendent of the 9th census, and during the year 1871-72 he was also commis- sioner of Indian affairs. : He was called to the professorship of political economy and history in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- versity in 1873, and held that chair until 1881, when he was elected to the presidency of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. ; Since 1881 he has been president of the Massachusetts Institute of .Tech- -University, ‘Former Price Tren Cents. nology, where he introduced the studies of history and political economy. He was for two years lecturer in Johns Hopkins University and was for a short time a lecturer in political economy at Harvard University. He has been president of the American Statistical Association and president of the Ameri- can Economic Association, was the chief of the Bureau of Awards at the Centen- nial Exhibition of 1876, and commis- sioner from the United States to the In- ternational Monetary conference in Paris in 1878. In 1880 he was elected president of the American Economic Association. President Walker has received the de- gree of LL.D., from Amherst (his alma mater) from Columbia, Yale, Harvard St. Andrews and Edinburgh Universi- ties. The International Geographical Con- gress at Paris in 1875 gave him a medal of the first class for his statistical atlas of the United States. In 1876, he pub- lished one of his most important works, ‘‘The Wage Question.” Service for University Men. Next Sunday a_ service of even greater interest than the Ian Mac- laren meeting, announced in the Weekly a few weeks ago, will be held in New York City and the attention of Yale men is especially called to it. Fresident Gilman of Johns Hopkins, Rishop Potter of New York, Dr. Van DeWater, the Chaplain of Columbia -and President Low .§ of Columbia, will take part in the special service for university men in the Calvary Episcopal, church, Fourth Avenue and Twenty-first Street, Sun- day evening, Jan. 10th at 8 o’clock. -.-members . of. their col- glee. clubs are invited to secure .reserved seat tickets and send their names jn advance as willing to join in the proces- sional with their academic costumes, The disappointment. cf many who lege -failed-to secure admission with tickets at Ian Maclaren’s. service has led to the issuance of a limitednumber of re- served seat tickets, good until 7:15. These may be had upon a} plication. There will be a Yale day at the Students’ Club Sundéey afternoon at 4:30. President Gilman of Johns Hop- kins will meet the Yale men for a quiet social time at 4:30, and at 5 will give a brief address. There will be singing by Yale men. Yale graduates of recent years will act as a Reception Comnuittee to present the men to President Gilman. All Yale alumni are cordially inivited to be present on that occasion. ——_—_>o___—_—_- Scientific Monthly Prize. The editors of the Yale Scientific Monthly have decided to offer a cash prize of twenty-five dollars to the au- thor of the best original article writ- ten for the Monthly, in competition for a position on the Hiditorial Board. This limits the competion for this prize to members of the Junior and Freshman classes. Preference in awarding the prize will be given to the choice of a live subject of general interest, and above all to literary style. The award of the prize will be made in May, 1897, when the Board from the class of ’98 is elected.
