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AARON THOMAS BLISS 
 
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 Born May 22, 1837, in Smithfield, Madison County, New- 
 York. 
 
 Enlisted, as a volunteer in Company D, Tenth New York 
 Cavalry, October 11, 1861, sergeant; later commissioned 
 first lieutenant; captain, 1862; in service three years and 
 five months, six months of which were passed in captivity 
 as a prisoner of war. 
 
 Senator, 25th district, Saginaw county, 1883-84. 
 
 Member, Board of Managers of the Michigan Soldiers' 
 Home, 1885-89. 
 
 Representative in 51st Congress, eighth district, 1889-90. 
 
 Department commander, Michigan, Grand Army of the 
 Republic, 1897. 
 
 Governor of Michigan, 1901, 02, 03, 04. 
 
 Died, September 16, 1906. 
 
The select committee of the Senate and House of Rep- 
 resentatives, appointed to arrange a program of exercises 
 in memory of the late ex-Governor Aaron T. Bliss, make 
 the following recommendation : 
 
 That the Senate and House of Representatives convene 
 in joint session in the Hall of Representatives on Wednesday, 
 April 24, 1907, at 2:10 p. m., and that the memorial exer- 
 cises be made a special order for that day. 
 
 The committee further report that Rev. Luther Ellsworth 
 Lovejoy, D. D., of Saginaw, will deliver an invocation, 
 and that Hon. Washington Gardner, Rev. August F. Bruske, 
 D. D., president of Alma College, Hon. Arthur Hill, former 
 Governor John T. Rich, Governor Fred. M. Warner, Hon. 
 Charles Smith, Hon. M. H. Moriarty and Hon. O. B. Fuller 
 will take part in the exercises. 
 
 The state officers, the justices of the Supreme Court, 
 the officers of the Military Department of the G. A. R., 
 and of the Spanish War veterans, will be invited to attend. 
 Cards of invitation will be furnished the members of the' 
 two houses severally for distribution. 
 
 A detailed program of exercises is in preparation and 
 will be in readiness on the day appointed for the memorial. 
 
 The report was accepted and adopted. 
 
 Lansing, April, 24, 1907. In the House of Represen- 
 tatives. 
 
 The Speaker announced the arrival of the hour for the 
 Memorial Exercises in honor of Former Governor Aaron 
 T. Bliss. 
 
 The Speaker appointed Representatives J. H. Monroe, 
 
Harris and Woodruff a committee to notify the Senate 
 that the House was ready to meet in joint convention. 
 The Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate 
 were admitted and conducted to seats in the Hall of Repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
ilmnt Hfomnrial Hixmi&tB 
 
and employed at various remunerative employments, 
 thus providing them with a measure of independence otherwise 
 impossible to many persons in their condition. 
 
 The following communication received by Mr. Greusel 
 of the joint committee was read: 
 
 Detroit, Mich., April 23, 1907. 
 Hon. Joseph Greusel, 
 
 Lansing, Michigan. 
 My dear Sir: — 
 
 Your esteemed favor of the 18th duly received, also formal 
 invitation to attend the memorial exercises of ex-Governor 
 Bliss. I had made my plans to be present, but at the last 
 moment find that circumstances beyond my control will 
 prevent my doing so. I regret to lose the opportunity of 
 being present on this occasion to listen to and take part in 
 these proceedings in memory of our distinguished friend. 
 I am the only living ex-Governor and regret that the former 
 Governors of Michigan should fail of representation on this 
 memorable occasion. I also desire to show my personal 
 respect and appreciation of the man and his life work. How- 
 ever, old tried and true friends of Governor Bliss will do 
 this more exhaustively and eloquently than I could possibly 
 do and I must be content to send my sincere regrets. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 John T. Rich. 
 
Senator Fyfe, on behalf of the joint committee, offered 
 the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That the Legislature of the state of Michigan 
 expresses its profound sorrow on account of the death of 
 Honorable Aaron T. Bliss, ex-Governor of Michigan, at 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the sixteenth day of September, 
 A. D. 1906. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of 
 the deceased, the business of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, in joint convention assembled, be 
 now suspended to enable those associated with him in 
 his civil, military and public career, to pay proper tribute 
 to his high character and distinguished services; and be 
 it further 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the mem- 
 ory of the deceased, the joint convention, at the con- 
 clusion of the exercises of this day, shall stand adjourned: 
 and 
 
 Resolved further, That as a mark of the approval by 
 the people of the state, of the life and character of Aaron 
 T. Bliss, and their devotion to his memory, as well as 
 an expression of their sympathy in their great bereave- 
 ment, a copy of these resolutions, suitably engrossed, be 
 prepared and transmitted to the family of the deceased. 
 The question being on the adoption of the resolution, 
 Governor [Fred M. Warner, Congressman Washington 
 Gardner, Senators Oramel B. Fuller, Charles Smith and 
 Michael H. Moriarty, Hon. Arthur Hill and Rev. August F. 
 Bruske, President of Alma College, addressed the joint 
 convention. 
 
 The resolution was then unanimously adopted. 
 
On motion of Senator Fyfe, the joint convention adjourned, 
 the time being 4:30 o'clock p. m. 
 The exercises were arranged by the joint select committee: 
 Senate. 
 
 Andrew Fyfe, Grand Rapids. 
 
 Joseph H. Whitney, Merrill. 
 
 Augustus C. Carton, East Tawas. 
 House. 
 
 Joseph Greusel, Detroit. 
 
 Grant M. Hudson, Schoolcraft. 
 
 Charles H. Waters, Saginaw. 
 
 The exercises were in accordance with the following: 
 
programme 
 
 Invocation Rev. Luther Lovejoy, D. D. 
 
 Pastor First M. E. Church Saginaw, W. S. 
 Double Quartette, "Lead, Kindly Light " 
 
 School for the Blind 
 Opening Remarks Hon. P. H. Kelley 
 
 Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 
 Resolutions Hon. Andrew Fyfe 
 
 Chairman Joint Committee 
 Arion Quartette, Saginaw, Michigan 
 
 "Nearer, My God to Thee" 
 Address Hon. Fred M. Warner 
 
 Governor of Michigan 
 Address Hon. Oramel B. Fuller 
 
 Acting Lieutenant Governor under Ex-Gov. Bliss 
 Solo, "Abide with Me" (Smith) Mrs. James Sheldon 
 
 Address Hon. Washington Gardner 
 
 Member of Congress, Third District, Michigan 
 Address Rev. August F. Bruske, D. D. 
 
 President of Alma College 
 Arion Quartette, Saginaw "Coming Down the Valley" 
 
 Address Hon. Arthur Hill 
 
 Saginaw, Michigan 
 Address Hon. Charles Smith 
 
 State Senator, Thirty-Second District, Michigan 
 Address Hon. Michael H. Moriarty 
 
 State Senator, Thirty-First District, Michigan 
 Chorus, "The Lord is Great" School for the Blind 
 
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 This service here to-day is not intended as the service of 
 individuals. We are not here acting for ourselves. We 
 have come here on behalf of the state of Michigan to speak 
 a word concerning the life and public service of former Gov. 
 Bliss, and to assure those near of kin whom he has left behind 
 of the kindly sympathy of the people of our state and his. 
 
 It is not our purpose here to-day to say that Gov. Bliss, 
 in the administration of the high offices to which he had been 
 called by the people made no mistakes — for who is there who 
 makes no mistakes? 
 
 It can always be said, however, for former Gov. Bliss, that his 
 moral character and business ability, his remarkable progress 
 from obscurity to power in public and private life, his loyalty 
 to a friend, his faithfulness to a promise, his sympathy for 
 the weak and those in distress, his love for his home and 
 family, for his state and for his country insure for him a 
 permanent place in the history of this commonwealth. 
 
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 The one whose memory we honor to-day was of that type 
 who, born amid humble surroundings and denied the ordinary 
 opportunities for education and development in their earlier 
 years, nevertheless, through sheer native energy and persist- 
 ence, press manfully onward until they make for themselves 
 places of honor and distinction among their fellows. 
 
 The early life of Aaron T. Bliss was fraught with many 
 hardships. Born on a rugged New York State farm, his 
 parents were not able to permit him to enjoy to the full even 
 the meagre educational advantages afforded by the rural 
 school system of that early day. His services, as soon as 
 he was able to perform any manual labor, were needed on 
 the farm. Here he labored faithfully, attending the nearby 
 country school at such times as he could be spared from the 
 farm, contributing of his brawn to the support of a large 
 family of brothers and sisters and otherwise manifesting his 
 love for his parents and his regard for their commands. 
 Forced by circumstances to leave home at an early age he 
 found himself when seventeen years old thrown entirely 
 upon his own resources. Thenceforward he carved his own 
 way to success and fortune, depending wholly upon himself 
 and guided alone by his own judgment. 
 
 The breaking out of the war of the rebellion found him 
 clerking in a village store. The President's call to arms 
 brought from him an early response. Enlisting as a private, 
 
he was soon promoted to a lieutenancy and was finally given 
 a captain's commission for gallant conduct on the field of 
 battle. Captured at the close of a fiercely fought rear- 
 guard action he suffered for six months as a prisoner of war 
 in the prison pens at Salsbury, Andersonville, Macon, Charle- 
 ston and Columbia. What horrors he endured during this 
 long confinement no tongue can tell. In common with his 
 fellow prisoners he suffered every indignity hostile human 
 ingenuity could devise, yet with them he remained ever loyal 
 to his country and his flag, casting a black bean for Abraham 
 Lincoln in the face of threats that this action meant prolonged 
 imprisonment and increased hardships. 
 
 Finally the opportunity long sought presented itself and 
 he made his escape from Columbia prison only to wander, 
 beset with the gravest perils and constantly facing starva- 
 tion for eighteen weary days and nights before reaching the 
 Union lines and safety. 
 
 No soldier of the rebellion had a better record than Aaron 
 T. Bliss and it was due to that same tireless energy and faith- 
 fulness to duty that characterized his conduct in all the 
 walks of life. 
 
 After giving nearly four years of his life to the service of 
 his country, he came to Michigan and took up the duties and 
 responsibilities of civil life. Here again his energy and strict 
 attention to the task in hand made for success and he forged 
 steadily forward in the business world until he occupied a com- 
 manding position therein. Constantly enlarging the field of 
 his activities, he came to be identified with many of the 
 enterprises which had so much to do with the development 
 and beautification of the Saginaw Valley. Throughout this 
 important section of our grand state he left his imprint which 
 years will not efface. 
 
Early in life he was called upon by his fellow citizens to 
 represent them in public office, and he served his home city 
 as alderman, supervisor and member of the board of education. 
 Later he was a senator in the legislature of his state, being 
 subsequently advanced to a place in the council halls of the 
 nation. 
 
 In the meantime those who had stood by his side on the 
 battle fields of the civil war and shared with him the horrors 
 of southern prisons manifested their love and respect for 
 him by making him Commander-in-Chief of the Michigan 
 Department of the Grand Army of the Republic, a position 
 than which there can be none more honorable. 
 
 Finally called to the chief magistracy of a great state, this 
 modest, unassuming, faithful servant of the people gave his 
 undivided attention to his new duites and, as in all other 
 positions of trust, gave to the discharge of these duties his 
 best and most conscientious judgment. To say that he made 
 no errors would be to assert that he was more than human, 
 but justice demands that it be said that such errors as he made 
 were on the side of mercy, uninfluenced by all else than the 
 frailties of human judgment. He was an honest man and 
 honesty of purpose characterized his actions in public life 
 and private station. 
 
 The home life of our departed friend was perfect. All 
 who were privileged to know of it were charmed by its 
 purity and simplicity. His benefactions were manifold and 
 unostentatious. Throughout the city of his home and the 
 state he loved there are scattered substantial evidences of 
 his goodness of heart and love for his fellowmen that will 
 serve to keep his memory green for generations yet to come. 
 
 It is well that the representatives of the people of the state 
 he faithfully served in many capacities should pause in their 
 
deliberations for the welfare of the state to do honor to his 
 memory and thus instill in the minds of the rising genera- 
 tion a lesson of patriotism and devotion to duty that will 
 make for better citizenship and better government. 
 
if on. (§rame I $. Jfallpr 
 
^ntt. <§vumzl 8. duller, of Joro Su*r 
 
 Acting Lieutenant Governor during part of the admin- 
 istration of Gov. Bliss. 
 
 I had the honor and also the pleasure of serving in both 
 sessions of the legislature during the administration of 
 Governor Bliss, and I came to know him intimately and 
 well and I always found him to be actuated by a high regard 
 for the welfare of the state. His^was a kind and friendly 
 nature, and when in the course of his duty he could not com- 
 ply with the wishes or grant the requests of a friend, he was 
 greatly grieved. Governor Bliss had his enemies, most of 
 us have, and the man who does not make enemies, cannot 
 make friends. Governor Bliss typified the highest ideal of 
 American citizenship, a patriot, loyal to his country and his 
 flag. He was one of those who in the darkest days of our 
 country's history volunteered for her defence, and losing 
 sight of self he went forth to fight his country's battles for 
 love of country and for the right, and after the war was over 
 when the grand army was mustered out, he took his place 
 in the ranks of those who have by their efforts and achieve- 
 ments advanced our state to the proud position she now 
 holds among our sister states. It was efforts such as these 
 that has made our country the foremost nation in the world. 
 
 As an index to the character of Governor Bliss and his 
 love for his fellowmen, it is related that when his company 
 of which he was captain was captured and the known horrors 
 of Andersonville was before him, he tore off his shoulder 
 
straps and all insignia of his rank so as to share the hardship 
 of his men, though it was known that commissioned officers 
 received better treatment from their Confederate captors. 
 He did not stay in Andersonville very long as a sergeant of 
 his company informed a Confederate officer that their captain 
 was with them and Captain Bliss was transferred to Macon. 
 Governor Bliss may be the last governor of Michigan who 
 saw service in the civil war and it is a melancholy fact to 
 contemplate that all of the actors of those stirring events 
 will soon leave us and be called upon to pass in review before 
 the Grand Commander of all armies and when that sad time 
 shall come and "Taps" have been sounded over the last of 
 our brave defenders, then the people will realize that they 
 did not appreciate them and their services when they should 
 have done so. Michigan has not kept pace with her sister 
 states in honoring her heroes. Governor Bliss served his city 
 and state in the various positions of honor and trust to which 
 he had been called, faithfully and well, and his life will be 
 an inspiration to young American manhood. 
 
 2S 
 
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<E0tt0r*00man WasfytttgUm (&wcbwt, at Album 
 
 For the second time within the current month the repre- 
 sentatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches 
 of the state government assemble to do honor to a deceased 
 governor of the commonwealth. A singular fatality has 
 attended the men whom, in the past, the state has most 
 honored and entrusted with public responsibility. 
 
 Of those who have preceded the present occupant of the 
 executive chair, John T. Rich alone survives. Thomas W. 
 Palmer is the sole living representative of those who have 
 retired from the senate of the United States after a full term, 
 or more, of service therein. A like mortality is seen among 
 the jurists who have occupied places upon our supreme bench, 
 Allen B. Morse being the only one living, not now in 
 active service, who was elected to the state's highest legal 
 tribunal. 
 
 When it is recalled that with rare exceptions the conspic- 
 uous of one generation are unremembered by the next ; when 
 in the quiet hour we reflect that men in public life are often 
 belittled and their faults magnified, their motives questioned 
 and traduced, their faithful and conscientious efforts to 
 serve the people unappreciated and misrepresented, their 
 private lives exposed to the morbid gaze and the inuendoes 
 of an unfriendly public and even the sanctity of the domestic 
 relations invaded and made to do service if their publicity 
 will help or hinder the political ambitions of persons or parties ; 
 when, as is often the case, private welfare must be made sub- 
 
servient to the public good and opportunities to obtain a 
 competency must of necessity be passed unimproved, we 
 are led to ask, what are the compensations commensurate 
 with the interests imperilled? Is it for reputation and 
 possible fame? Then all is "vanity and vexation of spirit." 
 Is it to sip from the delicious nectar of public applause? 
 Then every cup is mingled with wormwood and gall. If 
 the gratification of personal ambition, the pleasures or the 
 emoluments of office, or the fleeting reputation attained 
 were all or the chief results, most men, with knowledge 
 gained by experience, would declare that public life does 
 not pay. 
 
 When, however, we call to mind that government as con- 
 stituted in these United States, and in most of the several 
 states, is the best civic expression of the civilization of the 
 centuries; that it is what it is because of the blood and the 
 tears, the woe and the death, the labor and the sacrifice of 
 the generations that have preceded us, and that its care is 
 a sacred legacy, and its preservation and betterment a solemn 
 duty entrusted to the generation to which we belong, then 
 public service whether municipal, state, or national, whether 
 legislative, judicial, or executive imposes obligations which 
 cannot be honorably or safely ignored or put aside. 
 
 Constitutions, statutes, and institutions have been con- 
 structed, enacted, and built up largely by those entrusted 
 with place and power. What though the builders are for- 
 gotten, if that for which they toiled remains, and that which 
 they builded endures to benefit and bless mankind. An 
 honorable even though an inconspicuous part in the con- 
 structive forces that make for a higher and a better civil- 
 ization is no mean service and is the faithful public servant's 
 chief compensation — his enduring memorial. 
 
The people of Michigan are forever obligated to the men 
 around whom and through whom have grown up and de- 
 veloped those distinctive features which have given our 
 commonwealth honorable rank among the foremost states 
 in the Union. The penal and the reformatory, the eleemos- 
 ynary and the educational institutions are monuments that 
 speak more eloquently than human lips of the character and 
 purpose of those who have lived and wrought during the 
 seventy years of the state's history. The guiding hand, the 
 sagacious brain, the patriotic intent of every governor from 
 Mason to Warner can be traced in these visible evidences of 
 the unfolding purpose and design of those who have builded 
 better even than they knew. In this company of worthy 
 men Aaron T. Bliss will ever hold an honorable place. He 
 was born in the state of New York, the same year Michigan 
 was admitted into the Union. He came from the middle 
 class of society. His parents were neither rich nor poor, 
 but there being a large family the future governor early 
 learned the wholesome lessons of self-help and self-denial. 
 The opening of the civil war found him, a young man of 
 twenty-three, clerking in a village store in his native state. 
 He was vigorous of body, active of mind, and ambitious of 
 purpose. Having an inherited taste for the military, when 
 the call came for volunteers he promptly responded. His 
 career as a soldier, while wholly creditable, was not partic- 
 ularly conspicuous. Patriotism, soldierly intelligence, cour- 
 age, and unflinching fidelity to duty brought him a captaincy 
 of cavalry and an honorable position in the confidence and 
 esteem of his comrades in war which he ever after retained 
 in peace. 
 
 Like so many other soldiers of three or more years' service, 
 the war left him with a commendable military record but 
 
no money. He came to Michigan to reside almost immedi- 
 ately after the end of the great conflict. Henceforth the 
 sphere of his activities was confined largely to his adopted 
 state. 
 
 For many years his thought and energies were given almost 
 wholly to business. As a man of affairs he ranked among 
 the successful men of the state. He had capacity for large 
 enterprises, and in health and when public duties did not 
 interfere, he managed these with sagacity and success. No 
 stain rests upon his financial integrity. 
 
 He was a zealous member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 and always a good friend of his comrades by whom he was 
 elected a department commander for Michigan. To him the 
 veterans of Michigan owe much for the existence of the state 
 soldiers' home. He held the honorary position of colonel 
 on the staff of the late Gov. Alger. 
 
 Deprived of an education, in the modern acceptance of 
 the word, he was solicitous that others should have that 
 which he did not possess. For many years before his death 
 one or more young men or women were constantly in some 
 institution of learning at his expense, and so reticent was he 
 that only by accident or from knowledge gained through 
 others was it known even to his closest friends. At least 
 three institutions of collegiate grade were made the material 
 beneficiaries of his generous liberality. 
 
 In his church relations he was modest and unassuming. 
 The divine Father found recognition in his heart and home 
 while the visible church of His son had in him a generous and 
 constant supporter. On a multitude of subscription lists 
 to church building funds in the Saginaw Valley, and not a 
 few outside, will be found his name and opposite a liberal 
 contribution. The poor, and the unfortunate had in him an 
 
unfailing friend and a generous benefactor. These are illus- 
 trative of the character and spirit of the man in private 
 life whose public service we this day commemorate. 
 
 He held many elective positions, each successive one 
 indicating a growing confidence reposed in him by his fellow 
 citizens. Alderman, supervisor and member of the public 
 school board in his home city; state senator, and governor 
 of the commonwealth and member of the national House 
 of Representatives. These tell their own story. While 
 his service in the national ligislature was covered by a single 
 term, it resulted in permanent value to his district. The 
 beautiful federal building in Saginaw and the noble insti- 
 tution for the education of Indian children located at Mount 
 Pleasant, are visible evidences of his energy and his influence 
 among his fellow congressmen. 
 
 As governor, his administration fell upon comparatively 
 uneventful times. He was subjected to criticisms inseparable 
 from the conflicting interests that focus in that funtionary, 
 whoever he may be or whenever he may serve. He sought 
 to give the state a business administration. Its many 
 interests were studied and looked after with the same care 
 and solicitude that successful men give to private enter- 
 prises. How well he succeeded is a matter of record. No 
 scandals attach to his conduct of the state's most important 
 affairs. No charges of public graft were alleged. His 
 personal and official integrity were above suspicion. In 
 the clarifying light of time his administration of the great 
 office of governor stands forth free from serious blemishes. 
 His life will be an inspiration to young men who, unaided 
 and alone, have their way to make in the world. His career 
 and accomplishments have already become a part of the 
 imperishable treasures which its worthy public men bequeath 
 to the state. 
 
Augual 3. Intak? , S. i. 
 
JJrast&eut August JfL Urusltf , i. 1., of Ahua Qlnlkn* 
 
 In the forest of Friedrichsruh, Germany, there is a solitary 
 grave — above it a modest column of marble. The name 
 upon it is that of Otto von Bismark. The inscription be- 
 neath "A servant of William I." Of course the Iron Chancellor 
 had himself dictated the epitaph. In that solemn moment 
 when he was face to face with time and eternity he forgot 
 that he was the founder of an empire, the ruler of Kings, 
 the arbiter of the destinies of Europe. He desired to be 
 remembered only as the servant of a King. 
 
 Even so with almost literal accuracy we may repeat the 
 essentials of the story. In Oakwood Cemetery, in a part of 
 our commonwealth there is a grave, with modest stone above 
 it. Upon it is the name of Aaron T. Bliss, and beneath it 
 the fitting inscription would be "A servant of the people." 
 I venture to say that in the final analysis this was the one 
 ambition of his life — it is the one key to his character, the 
 explanation of what he was and what he did. 
 
 i. This ambition made him a volunteer soldier at the 
 first call to arms. In a little Methodist church at Bonkville, 
 N. Y., there is a bronze tablet. At the top is the coat of 
 arms of the State of New York. The inscription beneath 
 it is "In this meeting house on, Oct. nth, 1861, those whose 
 names are given below offered themselves to their country 
 to save the Union." Immediately beneath are thirty-six 
 names, among them that of Aaron T. Bliss. Let it be re- 
 membered that he enlisted "to save the Union." It was 
 
not because he "sought the bubble reputation in the cannon's 
 mouth," but because he wanted to serve his fellowmen by 
 rescuing the Union from the hands of those who sought to 
 destroy it. He began as a private soldier. Making himself 
 conspicuously useful in the ranks he was soon promoted. 
 For gallantry of service he rose to the office of a sergeant, and 
 lieutenant and a captain. During those awful years 
 of strife and death he was tested in every way that a man can 
 be tried: — in victory and in defeat — in success and in dis- 
 aster — in hunger and in thirst — in weary marches and long 
 nights of vigil. In June, 1864, his command was taken 
 prisoners. Fearful that he might escape, the enemy trans- 
 ferred him from one prison pen to another, from Anderson- 
 ville to Macon — from Macon to Charleston — from Charleston 
 to Columbia. In spite of these changes he succeeded in 
 making his escape. For seventeen days and nights he 
 wandered in forests and swamps till he reached the lines 
 of Sherman's army in their famous and triumphant "March 
 to the Sea." 
 
 When the strife was ended and the same flag floated once 
 more over all the states, he returned to his home with the 
 supreme satisfaction that he had faithfully served his country 
 and had done his utmost to save it from disruption and dis- 
 union. 
 
 These four years of patriotic service he could never forget. 
 No friends were so dear to him as the comrades of the war — ■ 
 no subject of conversation or public address so welcome to 
 him as the story of the great civil war — no emblem was so 
 dear to him as that of the "Stars and Stripes.'' 
 
 2. That Governor Bliss was one of the bravest of soldiers 
 has never been questioned, even by the bitterest enemy. 
 But in 1865 the last gun was fired, the sword was sheathed 
 
and the volunteer soldier was face to face with a different 
 task. He must now become a citizen of the great Republic 
 and seek to snatch victory out of the keen and doubtful 
 contest of business. Aaron T. Bliss the citizen came to 
 Michigan and chose for his vocation that of a lumberman. 
 In this he was both fortunate and wise. Fortunate, for 
 there were hardly such opportunities of certain and large 
 reward in any other sphere of activity. O, what fortunes lay 
 beneath the green plumes of those glorious pine trees ! What 
 wealth in those almost unbroken forests stretching from 
 Saginaw to Mackinaw and from Grand Rapids to the Straits ! 
 These fortunes, however, were not for all. They were for 
 the wise, the prudent, the courageous, the persistent. Many 
 entered into the contest for wealth, few were successful. 
 Very conspicuous among the latter was Aaron T. Bliss, and 
 great was his satisfaction in consequence. Not that he 
 loved money for its own sake. In itself it had no more 
 attraction for him than a heap of shining sand. He rejoiced 
 in its possession as a means of doing good — as a tool with 
 which he could render a larger service to his fellowmen. It 
 made it possible for him to have the happiness of the philan- 
 thropist. Upon this point I can speak with the utmost 
 confidence. For thirteen years I was not only a fellow citizen 
 with him "of no mean city;" I was also his neighbor. 
 We were not of the same church, possibly not of the same 
 faith; but we were often together, where I had abundant 
 opportunity to observe that Aaron T. Bliss was one of those 
 very few men — O, how few! — who are absolutely pleased 
 to have the opportunity of doing good. 
 
 Like Nathan the Wise in Lessing's famous drama, he was 
 so ambitious in benevolence, that he would have every 
 "Thank you, and God bless you" that was uttered in the 
 
world directed toward himself. In this spirit he was most 
 catholic and impartial. Of course it was most frequently- 
 directed toward the old soldiers. They came to him from 
 every part of the State. They came to him with their wounds 
 and their misfortunes, and they went away helped and com- 
 forted. Not less welcome was the stranger from a foreign land. 
 It was enough that he was a fellowman in distress — in need 
 of food, in need of a physician, in need of a friend — the 
 heart, the hand, the purse of Governor Bliss were immediately 
 open. And so in a still larger view, to beautify the city of 
 his home, to multiply the happiness of its citizens — to carry 
 forward the great enterprises of education and Christianity — 
 this was his constant endeavor. To such an amazing extent 
 is this true that he gave almost beyond his ability. His 
 own life habits were simple and economical that he might 
 the more abundantly gratify his love for generosity. I 
 venture to say that among the many public benefactors of 
 our State, there has not yet arisen one who gave to the public 
 good in proportion to his means such large and various gifts 
 as Aaron T. Bliss. Do I need witnesses to corroborate this 
 statement? I call upon the fountains and parks and public 
 buildings of his home city — upon the many comrades in 
 arms delivered from poverty and pain together with their 
 widows and orphans — upon the churches and colleges estab- 
 lished and endowed by his princely generosity, upon those 
 pioneers of civilization, in the home land and in foreign lands, 
 the missionaries, sent forth by the God speed and supported 
 by the benefaction of the man we remember to-day — let 
 them bear witness to the truth here spoken. All honor to 
 the man surrounded by "such a cloud of witnesses." 
 
 As a successful lumberman who used his wealth in the 
 spirit of philanthropy, Aaron T. Bliss is in the best of company. 
 
He belongs to that honored group of men who did not take 
 their fortunes, acquired in Michigan, to the East, where they 
 were not needed; but who remained among us converting 
 the pineries of the past into fertile farms and beautifying the 
 towns and cities of our State with the monuments of their 
 genius and generosity. Of this distinguished company are 
 Russell Alger, of Detroit, Aaron T. Bliss, of Saginaw, Charles 
 Hackley, of Muskegon, John R. Peters, of Manistee, and 
 Ammi W. Wright, of Alma. 
 
 3. And now may I ask for the privilege of considering a 
 very different phase of his character? We often say that 
 the office should seek the man, not man the office. Of 
 Governor Bliss it should be said that the office sought the 
 man and the man sought the office. His fellow citizens 
 delighted to do him honor. They made him an alderman for 
 four years, a supervisor for ten years, a member of the school 
 board for twelve years, the treasurer of the Michigan Soldiers' 
 Home for five years, the Vice President of the National League 
 of Republican Clubs, the Commander of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic in Michigan, a member of the fifty-first Congress 
 and twice Governor of this imperial State. These positions 
 the people gladly gave him, but he also coveted them. They 
 gave him the opportunity of serving his fellowmen. In 
 this career of noble ambition he had one great disappoint- 
 ment. He thoroughly understood that the largest and 
 highest places of usefulness were closed to him because of 
 his lack of an early education. The self-made man without 
 college training may still be much, but he may not do every- 
 thing. The invitations to a seat in the United States Senate, 
 to a place in the Cabinet of the President, to the position of 
 our Nation's representative in the courts of kings abroad, 
 — these with rarest exceptions are offered only to men of liberal 
 
education in college or university. This was well understood 
 by Governor Bliss. It was the sorrow of his life. Those 
 four most precious years from 19 to 23 which he glorified by 
 his heroism as a soldier — he nevertheless lost as a citizen. 
 His school fellows entered college and gained a discipline of 
 memory and reason which he ever after coveted, but never 
 could obtain. What a sorrow it was to him that he could 
 not make a speech, that he had neither the language nor the 
 perspective, nor the self-command, nor the poise of the student 
 and the scholar. He was the caged eagle beating his wings 
 against the wires of his early limitations. What larger work 
 would he not have undertaken! What greater service for 
 his country and humanity if he had had a liberal education! 
 The depth of his disappointment we will understand only 
 as we measure the depth of his love for his fellowmen. He 
 would serve them in the largest measure because he loved 
 them with all his heart. I am sure that if the deepest ex- 
 pression of his thought were to be brought to us to-day, 
 the message would be "Speak of me, remember me as one 
 who loved his fellowmen." That love was catholic and 
 universal. There was not a human face divine in which he 
 did not recognize a brother. Lazarus at the gate and Dives 
 at the banquet were alike objects of his love. The million- 
 aire in his automobile, bowing his polite greetings as he passed, 
 and the beggar at the street corner were equally welcome. 
 The getting of a fortune could not alienate him from the 
 poor, nor the losing of one make him envious toward the 
 rich. It has fallen to the lot of few public men within my 
 recollection to be more thoroughly misunderstood and more 
 bitterly misrepresented by political foes than was Governor 
 Bliss. In the midst of it all his spirit remained sweet and 
 his confidence in the goodness of human nature unshaken. 
 
Never have I heard that a word of bitterness escaped his 
 lips in public or in private. He was first, last and all the 
 time a living illustration of that finest stanza in that finest 
 of English poems, the Ancient Mariner: — 
 
 "He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small 
 For the dear God who loveth us 
 He made and loveth all." 
 
 4. Friends and brethren : — Is there anything better that we 
 can say of any man? We have not, as a State, especially 
 distinguished ourselves for the brilliant men we have given 
 to the public service. True it is that a Lewis Cass and a 
 Zach Chandler deserved a place beside a Daniel Webster 
 and a Roscoe Conkling ; but these are the only two who have 
 won the admiration of mankind for their brilliant intellectual 
 achievements. Some deserve our gratitude because of their 
 great courage and superb loyalty to duty. Such was Austin 
 Blair who in the granite strength of his manhood looks down 
 upon your city. Such was Hazen Pingree, whose colossal 
 image stands giantlike in the midst of the city adorned by his 
 genius. These men receive and deserve the reverence of 
 every patriotic citizen of Michigan. But Russell A. Alger 
 and Aaron T. Bliss appeal to our hearts as brothers. They 
 loved and served us with every power of their being. 
 
 A few weeks ago I was in the Capitol of the nation. I 
 had not seen it since the days of the civil war. Of course 
 I found my way into the Senate chamber, into the visitors' 
 gallery of the House of Representatives. I looked down 
 upon those men in the midst of their toil — upon you, Sir 
 (Mr. Washington Gardner). You appeared weary and 
 burdened. I silently prayed that God might give you and 
 
your associates the strength and wisdom to legislate and 
 , carry the burdens of eighty millions of people. I wandered 
 into Statuary Hall, stood before the classic face of Senator 
 Ingalls, thought of his finest sayings, his most brilliant repar- 
 tees — they did not move me in my in my inmost soul. Not 
 far away and yet quite alone, I saw the saddest face on which 
 my eyes have ever rested. I had seen it once before — not 
 in bronze but in the flesh. I saw it in 1865 in an upper cham- 
 ber of the Capitol of Illinois. I saw it on the day of my 
 greatest privilege in life, when I was permitted to march in 
 the procession that carried to its last resting place the body 
 of Abraham Lincoln. More than forty years had passed. 
 Here was the same face in bronze which I saw then in death. 
 The same feelings of love and sorrow thrilled me again. What 
 is the mysterious power that draws all men to this face? It 
 is the face of one who loved his fellowmen. These men we 
 can not forget. The gratitude which they inspire may not 
 always be world wide. It may extend only to a state or a 
 community — depending on the wider or narrower circle of 
 the man's influence. Whosoever loves and serves will be 
 remembered. Among those who deserve this distinction we 
 modestly place the name of Aaron T. Bliss. 
 
 4" 
 
^flti. Arthur ijtll 
 
 
ijrm. Arthur ^Ul, of $axfmtuii 
 
 The last speaker reminds us that we miss "the touch of 
 the vanished hand and the sound of the voice that is still." 
 But fortunate is the man who makes friends who can speak 
 of him so eloquently and justly after he has left us. 
 
 I acknowledge your kind favor, gentlemen of the Legis- 
 lature, in permitting a friend and neighbor of Aaron T. Bliss 
 for over a third of a century to state to this concourse of 
 people what manner of man he was as looked upon by his 
 home people, by those who knew him longest and loved him 
 most. 
 
 When a man dies there is a final reckoning of his accounts 
 with his fellowmen, not only in the probate court where 
 financial matters only are considered, but in that court of 
 broader jurisdiction, which makes a finding as to what his 
 credits are in the line of integrity, unselfish service, true 
 generosity and due consideration of the rights of others. 
 
 If such like acts and qualities predominate then he is morally 
 solvent and leaves along with his property estate, a good 
 name. 
 
 The old Bible saying that "a good name is better than 
 great riches' ' was never more evidently true than now. Men 
 with greater wealth than ancient Croesus are vainly trying 
 to recover reputations lost in the ruthless pursuit of riches, 
 which now pall upon them because they can not, with all 
 they possess, buy back a good name and the respect and love 
 that go with it. 
 
Governor Bliss had a strong business ambition. He 
 labored hard and long and to the end to gain and maintain 
 a fortune. He was industrious, frugal, and persistent, yet 
 never did he grind the faces of the poor, nor directly or in- 
 directly take more than was duly his from any man. 
 
 You may say that this was only common honesty, but 
 may I not mention it in these days of large affairs, when too 
 often the right hand don't want to know what the left hand 
 is doing. 
 
 Mark in this connection the sacrifices our friend made 
 during his business life to public and private service. 
 
 His eloquent comrade has told us of the years spent on 
 the field and in prison, during which time he saw other young 
 men gathering wealth and with his strong business instinct 
 this might have been to him galling. But he treated his 
 army service always, not as a sacrifice rendered but a duty 
 performed. 
 
 When, after the war he came to our State and entered upon 
 his remarkable business career, crowded with vast and varied 
 industrial enterprises, he became known as one of those rare 
 business men who could always find time to serve the public 
 with capacity and conscience in the humblest positions. 
 
 He was, as has been stated, for years alderman, supervisor, 
 school trustee, member of boards and of the various com- 
 mittees which dealt with the public welfare, and that golden 
 thread of unselfish service to country, to community, 
 fraternity and to friends runs through and illumines the warp 
 and woof of his whole life. 
 
 Aaron T. Bliss was a generous man. He gave not only of 
 his substance and his sympathy but once fairly won it was 
 his way to give the work of his own hand; he helped. 
 
 The poor he had always with him for they knew him as 
 a friend. 
 
 5° 
 
A widow, who with her children he had for years befriended, 
 was the first person permitted by the family to look upon 
 him after death. She gazed down into his face tearfully, and 
 as if he heard her, said "You'll be saved, you were so good to 
 me and the children. I know you are not a Catholic, but 
 my prayers and the prayers of the children that you have 
 been like a father to, they will save you.' ' 
 
 I have said that Aaron T. Bliss was a generous man. I 
 shall now say in open frankness a few words about certain 
 public bequests in his will that may not be paid in full. 
 
 When these bequests were made the property back of them 
 was ample to provide for them. But as many of you know, 
 Governor Bliss broke down in health during his gubernatorial 
 administration. 
 
 The day of physical reckoning had come. The under- 
 mining years of army service ; the strenuous labors of public 
 and private life during the interval; the severe wound which 
 shattered his hand received at a patrioitc demonstration, 
 which never ceased to trouble him; a fall from a horse on 
 the asphalt pavement at Washington, from which he was 
 picked up bleeding and unconscious; the disease against 
 which he vainly struggled and from which he finally died all 
 combined to disable him, and in spite of all his efforts most 
 heroic and most pathetic, to carry the burden of public ad- 
 ministration and his large and extended private business, he 
 was no longer equal to himself and to the work that lay before 
 him. Lacking the touch of the master hand, certain large 
 enterprises failed, and death finds his estate much dwindled. 
 
 But as to these bequests, they were written with a generous 
 hand. All of which he died possessed stands dedicated 
 to these noble ends except a modest provision for his family, 
 and whether it be much or whether it be little, when a man 
 
giveth all that he hath, that fills to the brim the measure of 
 human generosity. 
 
 Aaron T. Bliss had great consideration for the rights and 
 the feelings of others. His heart was most compassionate 
 and to the man who was down he never turned his back, 
 but gave his hand instead. 
 
 The one act for which Governor Bliss was severely criticized 
 during his administration was the release from prison of a 
 man who had sinned against the criminal laws of the state. 
 
 Years have now passed and what actual harm has come 
 to the state through this act of the Governor? 
 
 Great hearted Lincoln saved many a condemned man from 
 death when the very life of the Nation seemed to demand 
 the punishment. 
 
 The Secretary of War might rage, the public might rail, 
 but his gentle nature has its merciful sway. 
 
 Governor Bliss never could listen unmoved to the plea of 
 any unfortunate nor to the cry of wife and child. 
 
 Who can now condemn any act of mercy during his ad- 
 ministration when it is judged under the higher law, that 
 law which makes us pray to our Father in heaven not for 
 justice but always for mercy. When the fountain of mercy 
 runs dry we will be indeed athirst. 
 
 This rare and generous quality of consideration for others 
 made him many a friend, and won over to him many an enemy. 
 
 As his army comrade has said, he sought office but in the 
 sharp political contests of which he had many, he fought not 
 to kill, not to wound, but to win, and win like a gentleman. 
 
 He never from ambush hurled slur nor slander but fought 
 in the open field according to the rules of honorable warfare. 
 He had been a soldier in the war which ended when Grant 
 and Lee shook hands at Appomattox, good fighters and good 
 friends, and he never proved unworthy of that high example. 
 
My mind now turns to that faithful wife and devoted 
 brother who gave to him of their strength, their sympathy, 
 their love to a degree that I have never seen surpassed. "It 
 seems as if there was nothing left to live for since Cap. is 
 gone," said Dr. Bliss to me a few days after his brother died. 
 It was a sad prophecy, for already he has followed him and 
 when he was buried, though the day was bleak, hundreds of 
 the poor people gathered to pay their tribute of respect and 
 love to their friend who was in heart and deed "The good 
 Physician.' ' 
 
 And his wife, with her fine intelligence and quick and 
 active sympathy with misfortune in whatever form it comes, 
 may she dwell yet many years among us secure in the affec- 
 tion of friends and solaced by the memories of a life nobly 
 spent. 
 
 In Bliss Park, that beautiful ground which was her hus- 
 band's last gift to his city, little children are now playing, 
 the grass is growing green, the grand forest trees are budding 
 and plant and vine are ready to burst into leaf and blossom. 
 May she live to see there builded, a monument to the generous 
 donor. 
 
 If this shall come to pass and on it shall be inscribed "Aaron 
 T. Bliss, Governor of Michigan; Patriot, Philanthropist, 
 Friend of the People,' ' all who knew their lives will remember 
 that her heart warmed always his heart, that her hand upheld 
 always his hand and helped him to an honored name. 
 
ijjM. (Efjarles §>mtii| 
 
IJotu (EJjarUa ^mittj, of Sjubbrll 
 
 An English statesman once said to his auditors when the 
 subject of their colonies was under discussion that they might 
 sneer as much as they liked at the demands of the Americans, 
 but the time would come when would be heard as the proud- 
 est explanation of man, "I am an American." That predic- 
 tion has come true. In a similar train of thought it is now 
 said of such a man as Governor Bliss that he was a true 
 American. A man, energetic, and determined to forge 
 ahead by just means while according to every other man 
 equal and exact justice and consideration. 
 
 Governor Bliss as a young man had just made a small 
 beginning in commercial life when the guns of Sumpter 
 heralded through the land the unwelcome news that our 
 matchless government and free institutions had been assailed. 
 
 Commercialism and all the dreams of personal wealth and 
 independence were cast aside and that patriotic fervor that 
 was a chief characteristic to the day of his demise speedily 
 enrolled his name among those noble warriors who bared 
 their breasts for the defence of old Glory, and won for them- 
 selves the plaudits of their fellow citizens, the admiration of 
 the women of our land and a glorious immortality. 
 
 Returning to commercial pursuits, by industry and energy 
 he succeeded no less than in the line of battle. In the prose- 
 cution of business pursuits, the management of men, or the 
 conduct of civil offices from supervisor to congressman, he 
 always achieved a high standing, amassed a comfortable 
 
fortune, and held a notable rank among the best citizens of 
 the time. He constantly strove to lead an ideal life. He 
 was indeed one whose manhood and generosity will always 
 be remembered with approval and gratitude by people in 
 general, especially those of his own city, which will for all 
 time be better and more beautiful because of his bequests 
 and the noble example of his upright manhood. 
 
 My personal acquaintance with Governor Bliss was during 
 the four years that he occupied the executive chair of our 
 state. He was always approachable and sympathetic but 
 was subservient to one's requests only when comporting with 
 his own high sense of justice and the public welfare. He 
 never, I believe, during his two terms acquiesced in anything 
 or any measure not approved by his innermost conscience. 
 
 The only sure bulwark of the state and nation is when 
 our policies are shaped and our laws executed by men of 
 great capacity who are guided by their own supreme ideals. 
 
 While our citizens generally follow their own best thoughts, 
 as did he, swerving not from the path of rectitude as marked 
 out by his life work, no hindrance will come to the onward 
 march of the cherished institutions of our beloved state or 
 the true welfare of the people, and the splendid manhood 
 American citizenship will ever inscribe prominently on their 
 scroles of honor the name and worth of Governor Bliss. 
 
 58 
 
~%an. Mit^ud % iioriartg 
 
2J0tt. IMirljael If. Ufariartg, of (Ergfltal MIb 
 
 President pro tem. of the Senate 
 
 This day having been fixed by the legislature of Michigan, 
 to honor the memory of our late governor, the honorable 
 Aaron T. Bliss, who died not long ago in the city of Milwaukee, 
 where he had gone in search of health, it may not be improper 
 for me to detain you just a little longer to refer to a few things 
 he did while he was governor of our state. Much has been 
 said of his . military and private life, and therefore, I shall 
 speak only of his official and public career. The day he 
 was nominated for governor by the Republicans of Michi- 
 gan in the city of Grand Rapids, my soul was stirred by the 
 music of fife and drum. I looked down the streets of that 
 city and saw a vast army of gray-haired veterans marching 
 to the step of martial music. At the head of that regiment 
 of old soldiers, the color bearer proudly carried our flag and 
 the stars and stripes was floating in the summer breeze. 
 
 Those veterans, crippled with wounds and scarred 
 with age were trying to march with the same youthful vigor 
 as they used to do, when they were fighting for the black 
 man's freedom. All along the line as far as I could see, 
 those boys of '61 carried in their hands the banner of our 
 dead governor, upon which was printed, "Vote for Aaron 
 T. Bliss." I thought of the love and loyalty of those old 
 heroes, and of the man for whom they were shouting, and 
 it seemed to me that if he could win the love and confidence 
 of his army comrades and hold it for nearly forty years, he 
 was indeed fit to be governor of Michigan. When I came to 
 
the Senate in 1903, I learned to love him for the acts of char- 
 ity and mercy that he performed. He was always doing 
 something to make others happy, and there are many homes 
 in Michigan which he found in tears that he filled with joy. 
 With his own hands he fed the poor, and unsolicited he 
 freely gave large sums to charitable institutions. 
 
 When he was elected to Congress of these United States, 
 he secured an appropriation to build a home for the education 
 of the Indians of this state at Mt. Pleasant. He did not 
 think it was really necessary for an Indian to die in order 
 to be good, but he believed that if they were educated they 
 would be good until they died. That he was right, has been 
 amply demonstrated. His heart bled at the sight of a blind 
 man groping his way along the street, and he thought of a 
 plan to make the lives of these unfortunates less difficult to 
 bear. If he could only induce the legislature to appropriate 
 enough money to build them a home, in some pleasant city, 
 where they could live and do something to help maintain 
 themselves instead of groping their way through the world 
 in total darkness asking alms, his joy would be complete. 
 With this object in view, he prepared a bill providing for 
 an institution for the adult blind, where the state and the 
 blind man could work together in unison for his mainte- 
 nance. Calling me into his office one day he told me of his 
 plans, with his eyes brimful of tears and asked me if I would 
 father the bill. To accomplish this end he worked until the 
 close of the session and finally secured an appropriation for 
 that purpose. Today in the city of Saginaw peacefully sleeps 
 our late governor, free from public and private cares, and 
 standing there is a magnificent institution for all of the adult 
 blind of our beloved state, as an evidence of his last public 
 work and a splendid monument for his grave. 
 
He was as gentle as a woman and his heart was as soft and 
 kind, but when he faced a public or private duty he performed 
 it with the courage of a giant. He never appointed a man 
 to an office who did not perform the duties thus imposed 
 faithfully and well. It is true he was criticized and libelled 
 by the press, slandered and abused by those whom he refused 
 to give offices, whenever he granted a parole or pardon to 
 one whom he found worthy of executive clemency, yet stand- 
 ing here this afternoon, I challenge the world to point to a 
 single spot or place where graft or scandal was ever suspected 
 in any of the departments of state during his terms of office. 
 I want to say, Mr. President, that out there in the dark some- 
 where is the end of life's journey for every living man, and 
 if I were governor of Michigan I would rather tumble head- 
 long into the arms of death with a goodly number of paroles 
 and pardons charged to me as governor of a state, than to 
 appear before my creator without any to my credit. I can 
 think of no sadder beginning of eternal life, Mr. President, 
 than to stand before the judgment throne of Almighty God 
 pleading for the salvation of my soul with the tears of a gray 
 haired mother, the heartaches of a devoted wife and the sobs 
 of little children testifying to my heart of marble here on 
 earth. 
 
 Governor Bliss may have had his faults but they are buried 
 one hundred thousand miles beneath the acts of charity and 
 mercy performed by him while he was governor of our state. 
 His memory may have passed out of the hearts and minds of 
 those to whom I have alluded, but in the homes he made 
 happy with the laughter of little children and in the hearts 
 of those to whom he restored to liberty he will not be forgotten. 
 And today and every day while they live, they will breathe 
 forth a prayer for the salvation of his soul. 
 
 63 
 
IGtft of Aaron ul SltB0 
 
 
liographual £ketrh. nf % £ift of Aaron ®. iBUaa 
 
 By Major Herbert E. Johnson, Secretary to the Gov- 
 ernor for the Years 1901-2-3-4 
 
 Aaron T. Bliss, governor of Michigan for the years 1901-2- 
 3-4, was a man of affairs, accustomed to the solving of knotty 
 problems, and his growth from boyhood years to those of 
 maturity was sturdily rooted in the hard soil of experience. 
 Faithful in service he became high in honors, and praise 
 stands silent in the dignity of his simple life from farmer boy 
 
 to governor. 
 
 Like many another American his life is an incentive to 
 ambitious effort and a spur to accomplishment for the reason 
 that he did things. His indomitable will would not be with- 
 stood and he caught and held opportunity without waiting 
 for it to call upon him. He was elemental in character and 
 an analysis reveals a reverence for the moralities of life so 
 strong as to be an abiding conviction that could not be departed 
 from. He had the keenest respect for the sanctity of a promise 
 and his loyalty to friends was proverbial. During the long 
 years of life that were his the taint of scandal was not upon 
 him, and he stood an honest man in the sight of his fellow- 
 men. He was quick to forgive and to forget, seemed almost 
 incapable of harboring a grudge and even at those times in 
 his political life when he was most bitterly assailed was charit- 
 able to his enemies, ascribing to them more worthy motives 
 than the petty ones by which often they were governed. 
 As a citizen, Mr. Bliss was distinguished for those qualities 
 
 67 
 
which mark the men most prominent in the upbuilding of 
 the typical American community, being interested in affairs 
 and taking an active part in all matters having to do with 
 the common good. His was a considerable part in promoting 
 the growth of the city of Saginaw, where he made his home, 
 in multiplying its industries and adding to its beauties and 
 its pleasures. Large as were his activities he was never 
 too busy to be a good neighbor and friend and many there 
 are who have had occasion to be grateful because of his 
 kindly and generous heart. With his wife he dispensed an 
 unstinted hospitality and their home was always a pleasant 
 place to visit. Though children of their own did not come 
 to them, they gave to the children of relatives the same 
 tender care they would have given to their own and were 
 never so happy as when the voices of childhood were heard 
 about them. Whenever he saw a group of children or young 
 people having a good time he was never satisfied until he had 
 in some way contributed to their enjoyment. 
 
 As governor and as lawmaker, Mr. Bliss was faithful in the 
 discharge of the duties resting upon him and he had a high 
 regard for the solemnity of his oath of office. During the 
 trying days of his governorship, more than once when im- 
 portant and vexatious matters were being pressed upon him 
 for a decision did he retire to his private room and upon bended 
 knees ask Divine Providence for assistance and guidance. 
 Such a man may make mistakes but his rectitude can never 
 be assailed successfully nor his motives be impugned. His 
 administration of the high office of governor of Michigan was 
 without scandal among high or low and was marked by a 
 great degree of economy and efficiency. His chief magistracy 
 embraced four years of unbounded prosperity for Michigan, 
 years when history was not made by lightning flashes but 
 
 68 
 
in contentment and the ingathering of the stores of plenty, 
 a period of relief from strain and stress, long days when the 
 state waxed strong and prosperity abode in her homes. A 
 picture not so lurid as the blazing lights of war and conten- 
 tion, but far more satisfying. He left state affairs in better 
 condition than he found them, and the general circumstances 
 of his gubernatorial incumbency will give him high place 
 among the names of those who have served the state well. 
 He was a peace governor and gave to every interest of the 
 commonwealth jealous care and attention, always mindful 
 of the burdens of taxation and anxious that efficiency and 
 economy should go hand in hand in the conduct of the affairs 
 of state. 
 
 The history of the Bliss family is a long and honorable 
 one, enriched with Puritan traditions and brave service for 
 God and country on both sides of the Atlantic. It is written 
 that the founder of the family came to England with William 
 the Conqueror, receiving signal honors at the hands of the 
 new king, and it is entirely in keeping with the temper of 
 this sturdy English ancestor that when the persecutions of 
 the Puritans became so fierce Thomas Bliss, the founder of 
 the American branch, "desiring to serve God according to 
 the dictates of his conscience, left the country of his birth 
 and came to the new world," settling at Hartford, 
 in 1635. His descendants followed the movement of popu- 
 lation westward and so it came about that in the year 1837, 
 two hundred years later, there was born on the 22nd of May 
 a seventh child in the family of Lyman Bliss who was a 
 Madison county farmer in the state of New York, a child 
 who was destined to become one of the governors of the state 
 of Michigan which was then the youngest member of the 
 federal union. Upon the lad were bestowed the family names 
 
 69 
 
of Aaron and Thomas, and he grew to manhood sharing the 
 blessings and the sorrows of six brothers and two sisters. 
 In those days the educational advantages of western New York 
 were not what they are today, schoolhouses being few and 
 far between, and the children of this large family were more 
 than ordinarily handicapped in the task of obtaining an 
 education. The little red schoolhouse on a neighboring 
 hill was at once grammar school and university, and there 
 they qualified for a place among the thousands from other 
 similar schools constituting the mightiest force that ever 
 wrought for the progress of a nation. 
 
 The ambitions of a lad were impatient to become those of 
 a man, and life upon the farm for Aaron T. Bliss came to an 
 end even before his boyhood had passed. As a boy he had 
 dreamed of the large opportunities offered by the then almost 
 unknown country of the middle west, but for years it was 
 to be only a dream. At 17 years his first chance for partici- 
 pation in the outside life came when he was offered a place 
 as boy of all work in a grocery store in the little village of 
 Morrisville nearby. It is an interesting story, the man coming 
 to the field where Father Bliss and the boys were hoeing corn 
 and asking for the bright-eyed lad who had attracted his atten- 
 tion while on errands to the store. The father objected, said 
 he did not like to spare his son, but the boy said "You know 
 you have promised," and the father was never known to 
 break his word. And so the future governor went bare- 
 footed from the field to the house to wash and dress and 
 kiss his mother good-bye for he was always an affectionate 
 boy and very fond of his mother. As is the boy, so is the 
 man, and it is noted that years afterwards when he had been 
 nominated for governor and was led before the convention 
 to acknowledge the honor, his first act was to kiss his wife. 
 
He remained in Morrisville nearly two years, working in 
 the grocery store at $3.00 a week the later part of the time and 
 when he left Morrisville for Bouckville, a village some nine 
 miles away, he had accumulated the modest sum of $75.00. 
 In his new home he engaged as clerk in the drygoods and 
 grocery store of J. Burhans & Son, as a sort of protege of the 
 uncle for whom he was named, and who had an interest in 
 the store, which later was known by the name of Burhans & 
 Bliss. He was so employed when the civil war broke out 
 and the president called for troops. His name was first upon 
 the muster rolls of the Peterman Guards which he was largely 
 interested in organizing, and which became a part of Company 
 D of the Tenth New York Cavalry. The circumstance of 
 his muster-in is evidenced by a bronze tablet which many 
 years after he caused to be erected in the little Methodist 
 church in Bouckville and whereon it is recorded: 
 
 "In this meeting house the following 24 members 
 of Company D, Tenth New York Volunteer Cavalry, 
 were sworn into the service of the United States 
 October nth, 1861, for the defense of the Union." 
 
 He aided in recruiting the company to its full strength and 
 when it left Elmira for the front he wore upon his shoulders 
 the straps of a first lieutenant having arisen from a sergeancy. 
 A year later Governor Seymour of New York had commis- 
 sioned him captain for gallant conduct upon the field of 
 battle. The Tenth New York served in the Army of the 
 Potomac, and was under Sheridan in the closing battles of 
 the war. It took part altogether in 108 engagements, and 
 lost, in killed and wounded more than 25 per cent of its men, 
 and on the famous battlefield of Gettysburg its monument 
 occupies a commanding position. Active service came to 
 
an end for Captain Bliss at the forks of a dusty country road 
 in Virginia, known as Reams' Station. Here Wilson's troopers 
 on one of their famous raids were brought to bay and so 
 closely were they hemmed in that it became a question of the 
 sacrifice of the few that the escape of the many might be 
 made. A call for volunteers brought Captain Bliss and 200 
 volunteers to the front and so fiercely did they defend the 
 rear of the escaping command that when finally the confeder- 
 ates broke through their hastily constructed entrenchments 
 only a few were left to become prisoners of war. Wounded 
 with a spent ball, Captain Bliss was dragged away to southern 
 prisons, but he had the satisfaction of knowing the fight had 
 not been in vain and that Wilson and his men had escaped. 
 While on the way to Andersonville prison with five others he 
 broke though the floor of the box car in which he was being 
 transferred, and made his way to the woods. Bloodhounds 
 were put on their trail and it became a case of each man for 
 himself. Double twist and turn as he would, the fleeing 
 soldier could not shake the hounds off, and it was not long 
 before Captain Bliss was compelled to take refuge in a tree 
 from which men with muskets dragged him down. Success- 
 ively he was imprisoned in Salisbury, North Carolina, Ander- 
 sonville and Macon, Georgia, and Charleston and Columbia, 
 South Carolina. 
 
 He was in prison at the time of the re-election of Abraham 
 Lincoln, and participating in the prisoners' ballot he dis- 
 regarded the jailer's warning that the election of Lincoln 
 meant a continuation of the war, no exchange of prisoners, 
 and a grave on the hillside for those within the rebel power. 
 And as he cast the black bean, which was the Lincoln ballot, 
 the valient soul within him made light of threats and he 
 resolved on a bold strike for freedom. After several fruitless 
 
attempts he made his escape from Columbia prison, November 
 29, 1864, and for 18 weary days and nights stumbled through 
 the perils that beset him until on the morning of December 
 16, nearly starved, ragged and footsore, he entered Sherman's 
 lines near Savannah. Being without means of identification, 
 he was taken before General Kilpatrick, whose rough welcome 
 at once dispelled all thoughts that he might be a spy. From 
 the headquarters of General Sherman he went to rejoin his 
 regiment which was at Petersburg, but his health had been 
 so undermined that he was compelled to resign from the 
 service in February, 1865. 
 
 Years later when this same rugged prisoner of war had 
 become governor of Michigan, accompanied by a staff many 
 of whom had seen service in the war of the rebellion, by 
 committees of the house and senate, he visited once more the 
 old prison stockade at Anderson ville, and dedicated the 
 monument which the great Peninsular state had caused to 
 be erected in memory of her gallant sons who had died there. 
 I know of nothing more touching than these words from 
 the speech he made that day: 
 
 "It seems as but yesterday that the stockade reared 
 its head about these grounds and the dead line warned 
 'thus far and no farther.' I can see the dense masses 
 of the prisoners and entering into their daily life, know 
 as only experience can know, the life of a prisoner of 
 war. It is one thing to serve as a soldier in the field, to 
 endure the privations of camp and march, to face the 
 madness of battle and endure its carnage; it is another 
 thing to be herded behind walls whose never-sleeping eyes 
 are loaded muskets, to exist beneath skies that are piti- 
 less, dropping alternately scorching heat and the chill 
 
of rain, and to suffer day by day, to see death strike 
 right and left, and to realize that one is helpless to do 
 aught but endure it all as best one can; while outside 
 the walls marches are made, battles are fought, and 
 deeds are done for home and flag." 
 
 The close of the war brought the day of which Captain 
 Bliss had dreamed when a boy, when he might betake himself 
 to the great west. The autumn of 1865 saw him in the Sag- 
 inaw valley at the beginning of his successful career as a 
 lumberman, penniless but brave in spirit. He went into 
 the woods and the foreman who gave him work started him 
 driving horses. Often in the winter mornings he saw the 
 snow on his blanket where it had drifted in through the cracks 
 in the shanty which sheltered him and his fellows. Almost 
 from those first days in Saginaw there walked with him the 
 brave little woman known and loved the length and breadth 
 of the state, she, who was Allaseba M. Phelps, daughter of 
 Ambrose Phelps, of Solsville, Madison county, N. Y., and 
 whom he married, March 31, 1868. Those first days were 
 very humble days indeed, the wife superintending the affairs 
 of the mill boarding house while the husband was logging 
 contractor, and later for himself, slowly but surely, laid the 
 foundations of the fortune which was to bless not only those 
 to whom its stewardship was given but many others. And 
 as has been said by one who knew the wife well: " She was as 
 tactful and helpful in those days as she was when the social 
 duties of the wife of governor of Michigan devolved upon 
 her. No success came to Governor Bliss to which Mrs. Bliss 
 did not contribute, and no one appreciated it or was more 
 ready to acknowledge it than was the governor." 
 
 Captain Bliss was not one to long remain in the ranks, and 
 
in the fall of 1866 formed a partnership with his next oldest 
 brother, Dr. L. W. Bliss and Dr. J. H. Jerome, and lumbered 
 a tract on the Tobacco river under the name of A. T. Bliss & 
 Co. For many years the firm of A. T. Bliss & Brother was 
 one of the large employers *of the Saginaw valley, and its name 
 a familiar one to all those who sought wealth in the forests 
 of Michigan. A history of its operations would bring into 
 recital the names of most of the men that the Saginaw valley 
 has made known to the lumber world and with whom rela- 
 tions of amity were sustained to the very end. In the early 
 '8o's, Captain Bliss added banking to the list of his activities, 
 being one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank, 
 of which he was president until it was merged in the Bank of 
 Saginaw. He was one of the stockholders and directors of 
 the Commercial National Bank and of the Saginaw County 
 Savings Bank, of which institution he was president at the 
 time he was elected governor. He was largely interested in 
 many lines of business, but lumbering and banking were 
 the principal enterprises to which he gave personal attention 
 except the one favorite pursuit of farming. Born the son 
 of a farmer, he never lost his love for the soil, and with his 
 usual thrift made the farm pay, having under cultivation 
 for years something like a thousand acres. 
 
 With the foundations of his fortune securely laid, known 
 as a keen business man, and backed by a splendid record as 
 a soldier, Captain Bliss was peculiarly available for political 
 honors, and the ladder of preferment once placed at his feet 
 he climbed it round by round until the highest station in the 
 state was his. It was when business life was making most 
 demands upon him that his fellow citizens of Saginaw first 
 called him into service, in turn electing him alderman, super- 
 visor, and member of the board of education. As a memorial 
 
of his later services one of the school buildings of Saginaw 
 bears his name. 
 
 In 1882 he represented the 25th senatorial district (Saginaw 
 county) in the state Legislature, in 1885 he was appointed 
 aide on the staff of Governor Alger with the rank of colonel, 
 and twelve years later came to him one of the honors which 
 he esteemed the most, his election as Commander of the 
 Department of Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic. 
 In the meantime he had been serving as a member of the 
 board of managers of the Michigan Soldiers' Home, and this 
 was his public service when he entered the Fifty-first Congress 
 as representative from the eighth congressional district. 
 The monuments of his service in the congress which concern 
 Michigan most are the splendid federal building at Saginaw 
 and the great Indian school at Mount Pleasant, though in 
 the book of the hereafter it may be that those will not com- 
 pare with the grateful feelings which welled up from the 
 hearts of the many hundreds of civil war veterans whom 
 he aided in obtaining their rights under the pension laws 
 of the United States or when those laws were inadequate, 
 secured the enactment of special pension laws. 
 
 Defeated for reelection in the great Democratic landslide 
 of 1890, Colonel Bliss once more immersed himself in business, 
 and in 1892 became a candidate for the Republican nomi- 
 nation for governor. Though defeated at first, the movement 
 in support of his candidacy grew steadily until, in June, 1900 
 the famous Auditorium at Grand Rapids became the scene 
 of his triumph when the fiercest fought nomination cam- 
 paign in the history of the Republican party of the state of 
 Michigan culminated in the Grand Rapids convention of 
 that year. There were two other leading candidates for 
 the nomination, the Hon. D. M. Ferry of Detroit, and the 
 
 7" 
 
Hon. J. S. Stearns of Ludington, then secretary of state, and 
 besides these there were the Hon. Chase S. Osborn of Sault 
 Ste. Marie, the Hon. James O'Donnell of Jackson, and the 
 Hon. Milo D. Campbell of Coldwater. The shifting and the 
 sifting of the first day and the exciting seventeenth ballot 
 of the second day eliminated all the other candidates except 
 O'Donnell, who came face to face with Bliss in the last great 
 trial of strength, the fighting forces of the convention having 
 arrayed themselves under their banners. The eighteenth 
 ballot was decisive and though another was required it had 
 not progressed far before it became the typical political land- 
 slide. Amid scenes of greatest enthusiasm the nomination 
 of Colonel Bliss was declared, and committees were sent to 
 escort the candidates, victor and vanquished, before the 
 convention. 
 
 William C. May bury, mayor of Detroit, was the Demo- 
 cratic candidate for the gubernatorial office and the national 
 and state campaigns during their course brought to Michigan 
 the rough riding governor of New York, the Republican vice 
 presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt. Enthusiasm 
 was in the air, the triple button "McKinley, Roosevelt and 
 Bliss" was in overwhelming demand and when November 
 came the national and state tickets had swept Michigan by 
 one of the greatest pluralities in [its history. And so the 
 farmer boy of New York became governor of the peninsular 
 state. 
 
 An imposing civic and military display accompanied the 
 governor-elect to Lansing where on New Year's Day, 1901, 
 he took the oath of office as successor to Governor Hazen 
 S. Pingree. He was re-elected in 1902, and served the state 
 four years as chief executive. As has been said, these were 
 years of peace and prosperity and the problems of this 
 
excutive were more those of supervision than of construction. 
 Bringing to the office of governor a superbly trained business 
 mind, Governor Bliss took up the discharge of the manifold 
 duties imposed upon him with an almost painful minuteness 
 of attention, and as the head of a large business pays atten- 
 tion to and gives heed to the advice of the heads of department 
 so did the governor listen with respect to the recommendations 
 of the various great officers of state and aid them with all the 
 powers vested in the office he held. 
 
 As long as his health permitted, Governor Bliss gave 
 personal attention to every matter of importance that reached 
 the executive offices and many of his subordinates have strict 
 recollection of the exactness of his memory with regard to 
 the execution of each and every order made by him. Although 
 appreciating the honor of his high position he had no partic- 
 ular pride of office in the sense that term is many times used 
 and never felt that it demeaned him in the least to wait per- 
 sonally upon the most humble of his callers. It seemed 
 many times to those who knew him most intimately as gov- 
 ernor that memories of his own early days were with him, 
 keeping his heart tender for those who had no one to make 
 a fight for them or obtain audience when the rich and powerful 
 of the state were pressing their demands. More than once 
 the governor interfered personally and gave ear to some 
 shabbily dressed man or woman when by right of priority 
 of call others who exhibited every evidence of prosperity were 
 entitled to be heard under the American law of "first come, 
 first served.' ' I remember well one day during the time the 
 Forty-second Legislature was in session. Matters were at 
 fever heat and many of the biggest men in the state were 
 besieging Lansing with the executive offices as the focal 
 point. A shy, shrinking woman, poorly dressed, her face and 
 
 78 
 
form bearing evidence of coming trial, pressed her way into 
 the governor's offices, half fearfully and was vainly trying 
 to get the attention of the colored guard at the inner door 
 when suddenly that do'or opened and the governor hurried 
 into the public office after some information. His keen eyes 
 searched the crowd instinctively and in an instant had lighted 
 upon the worried face of the woman. Stepping to her side 
 he asked what he could do for her and heard her story of 
 suffering and sorrow. Her husband who had committed 
 some comparatively trifling offense was undergoing im- 
 prisonment in the Detroit House of Correction. Calling the 
 secretary of the Board of Pardons the governor was shortly 
 put in possession of all the information he needed to con- 
 vince him that the woman told the truth and ere the day was 
 done sent her away happy over the release of her husband. 
 Some six months later the wife, husband and baby came to 
 the governor and the parents thanked him most heartily for 
 his clemency. The governor took the babe, crowing con- 
 tentedly, into his arms and said, "This happy little one and 
 a saved father more than repays me. Michigan cannot 
 have too many happy homes.'' 
 
 His tender heart caused him more real grief than all the 
 other troubles that beset him during the course of his admin- 
 istration. A woman whose plea was not as rightly founded 
 as was that of the one he made so happy obtained audience 
 one day. The Board of Pardons had just refused clemency in 
 the case of her husband and she was appealing to the governor. 
 He heard her most patiently and as the tears coursed down 
 her cheeks the governor's eyes melted as his own tears came 
 in sympathy. When finally he had to tell the sorrowing 
 supplicant that her prayer must be denied I doubt not that 
 he was even more affected than was the woman who saw 
 her chance for happiness disappear forever. 
 
Governor Bliss could be very stern and decided when he 
 had resolved upon a course of action. Opposition only whetted 
 his spirit and neither threats nor display of force sufficed to 
 alter his plans. This is a far different picture of the man 
 than his enemies loved to present to the public, but it cor- 
 rectly represents him as the other did not. Had it been 
 otherwise he would sometimes have faltered under the weight 
 of the terrific and undeserved newspaper campaign waged 
 against him. Not once did he open mouth to reply. He 
 never sought to conciliate his enemies in spite of the fact that 
 at times concessions would have brought assistance and 
 might have afforded relief. A square administration was 
 his goal and he had no other purpose in view. Early in his 
 administration he alienated or at least made luke warm in 
 his support certain of the political leaders of the upper penin- 
 sula because he had decided not to appoint the man whom 
 they had agreed to support for member of the State Tax 
 Commission, and in this ran counter to the advice of men 
 who were very close to him and upon whom he leaned as 
 his strongest support. So tremendous was the pressure and 
 so alluring the political advantage to be secured that the 
 wonder is he did not grasp at what other men have grasped 
 before. But he had counted the consequences and made 
 the appointment in his own way. Instances could be multi- 
 plied, varying in character and circumstance but all tending 
 in support of the assertion that had he been merely self- 
 seeking he might have made for himself much easier times. 
 
 Governor Bliss has been absent from the field of action so 
 brief a time and the period since his administration of state 
 affairs terminated has been so short that from the historical 
 point of view the relative importance of things accomplished 
 may not yet be determinable, but it is certain that those four 
 
 80 
 
years contributed materially to the welfare of the people of 
 Michigan. Together with the attorney general he initiated 
 the great legal fight to compel the railroad corporations of 
 the state to pay at the same rate of taxation as that paid by 
 tho other property of the commonwealth and so well laid 
 were the plans, so able the men selected, that the fruits of this 
 contest fought to conclusion under their successors in office 
 were most imposing. He gave aid and assistance in the 
 campaign for improving the system of making party nomi- 
 nations, in speeches, in messages to the legislature and in 
 official sanction of the local primary election measures. He 
 was pronounced in his opposition to local corporation meas- 
 ures under the guise of general laws, and on more than one 
 occasion this ounce of prevention was of more importance 
 than the traditional pound of cure. He warned again and 
 again against the evil of unnecessary legislation, and never 
 lost an opportunity to fight the practice of enacting special 
 laws for localities or to hammer the custom of giving 
 immediate effect to laws regardless of the existence of a 
 constitutional emergency. 
 
 The blind people of Michigan will never forget the governor 
 because to him they owe the creation of the Employment 
 Institution for the Blind, to the organization of which he 
 gave personal attention and in its service enlisted the talents 
 and energies of his close personal friends. He took a deep 
 interest in the institutional works of the state and on more 
 than one occasion commended the members of the various 
 boards of control, who serve practically without compen- 
 sation, for their patriotic devotion to the interests committed 
 to their charge. 
 
 Under his administration came the constitutional changes 
 and legislative enactments that almost revolutionized the 
 
attitude of the state toward its criminal elements through 
 the creation of the law of probation and the indeterminate 
 sentence method of punishment, the basic principle of which 
 is a helping hand for the man or woman who tries honestly 
 to reform. These measures appealed strongly to the gover- 
 nor and every means he could employ legitimately were used 
 to bring about their accomplishment, and his satisfaction 
 was pronounced when the enrolled acts were brought to him 
 for his approval. He used these laws as often as it came 
 within his power, for seemingly it was the bent of his nature 
 to be extending a helping hand to the unfortunate and the 
 erring. If conditions and circumstances would admit opening 
 prison doors he believed that a man who had offended against 
 the law but who had completely repented of his misdoing 
 would be the better off and society more truly served through 
 this man maintaining himself honestly and those dependent 
 upon him, than to harden and embitter through punishment 
 that was retaliation and nothing else. And it was a great 
 satisfaction to him to know that less than one in ten who 
 were released by him under the laws of parole were required 
 to be returned to prison for infraction of the conditions of 
 their release. No work of the state along the line of the pre- 
 vention of crime appealed to him any more than the Industrial 
 School for Boys at Lansing and the School for Girls at Adrian. 
 He visited these institutions frequently, and many times 
 the boys and the girls in those schools have had occasion to 
 be grateful to him for gifts that enabled them to see life from 
 new points of view. 
 
 Governor Bliss had a clear vision of the economics of state 
 affairs, and many of his views have been left of record in his 
 state papers. He spoke, wrote, and gave personal assistance 
 towards the cause of reforestation and was one of the pioneers 
 
in the cause of good roads. He took no mean part in the 
 advancement of the agricultural and dairy interests of Mich- 
 igan, and gave material support towards the establishment 
 of a great state fair. 
 
 At the age when most men obtain an education, Governor 
 Bliss was in the armed service of his country and those years 
 once passed, the opportunity in which every boy who will can 
 share today, was not his again, and out of his loss was born a 
 great desire to help in the education of others. This desire 
 became a passion, and because of it and practical application 
 to their lives scores of well educated men and women in this 
 state today bear reverent witness of the good this man did. 
 Great educational institutions, their work quickened and 
 strengthened because of his generosity, stand as monuments 
 that more than mutely mark the pathway along which he 
 passed, and it can be said of him truly that wherever he 
 rested, blessings grew. He had the creative spirit and under 
 its inspiration there sprang into existence the institution at 
 Mt. Pleasant for the education of the Indian boys and girls 
 and the good it has accomplished will mark for all time his 
 congressional service. Through his membership in the 
 Michigan legislature and subsequent appointment to the board 
 to organize and locate the Michigan Soldiers' Home, much 
 is due for that great pile of buildings at Grand Rapids wherein 
 are sheltered the remnants of those battalions that once 
 were the very life blood of the nation. At Saginaw, fronting 
 the buildings of the Employment Institution for the Blind 
 are the grounds of the splendid recreation park which he 
 gave to the boys and girls of the city wherein they might 
 make merry for all time to come, and again in Saginaw and 
 in the little town of Peterboro, New York, are monuments of 
 stone and iron erected by him in memory of the comrades 
 with whom he served during the civil war. 
 
 83 
 
The first interruption of the governor's activities came 
 near the close of his first term, and when he was residing in 
 Lansing. Lagrippe struck him a deadly blow and for days 
 his life fairly trembled in the balance but his sturdy consti- 
 tution apparently won for him then as it had on other occa- 
 sions as far as could be seen. The ensuing campaign and 
 the challenge to political combat roused the old fighter as 
 nothing else could have done, and he went from a sick bed 
 to the thickest of one of the hottest contests of his career. 
 He did not falter once and when the Detroit convention 
 had resulted in a decisive victory, he appeared before the 
 convention and pledged his best efforts for the common wel- 
 fare, little thinking that he was to be a passive spectator during 
 most of the campaign. The weakened heart was not equal 
 to the demands made upon it, and held the governor in his 
 home. He was not a well man during the greater portion 
 of his second term, but so firmly did he conceal his condition 
 that only a very few realized the difficulties under which he 
 labored, and I verily believe that sometimes he deceived even 
 himself as to his health. He was just as devoted to duty, as 
 considerate and kindly as ever, and not until the last task 
 was completed did he give way in the stern struggle. After 
 he was once more established in his home in Saginaw and 
 surrounded by the scenes to which he had been accustomed, 
 he appeared to recover his strength, and it was there, on the 
 occasion of his 68th birthday anniversary that occurred what 
 was one of the most pleasant experiences of his life, the 
 presentation to him of a silver loving cup by the members 
 of his military staff during his term as governor. The men 
 who assembled in his home that evening to testify their 
 love and admiration, little dreamed that for him the close 
 of life was so near. The first summons came at Flint, 
 
 84 
 
August 31, 1905, when en route to the national encampment 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Denver, he was stricken 
 with apoplexy. A special train carried him back to Saginaw 
 where his devoted brother, Dr. L. W. Bliss, began his tireless 
 vigil and the unequal contest with the "reaper whose name 
 is Death.' ' At times the governor was well enough to attend 
 to business matters that required special consideration, and 
 at others the failing tide of life sank so low that even the 
 tireless brother-physician abandoned hope. An iron will 
 bore up the governor and he was sustained by the deter- 
 mination that had never yet failed. Trips were made to 
 various parts of the country in a vain effort to find relief 
 from the ever present danger but the end came finally at 
 the Sacred Heart Sanitarium in Milwaukee, Sunday, Septem- 
 ber 16, 1906. 
 
 Then came the day of sorrow. The love and esteem in 
 which Governor Bliss was held turned the thoughts of the 
 commonwealth to the home in Saginaw where, under the 
 flag he loved so well he lay on a couch sleeping the last dream- 
 less sleep. The soldiery of the state waited at the portal of 
 that home the while ministers of God brought the last con- 
 solations of religion to the family that were to give up their 
 loved one. The casket was borne to the stately hall of the 
 Masonic Temple, where it was banked with flowers and wrapped 
 in the folds of Old Glory. Soldiers kept watch o'er the silent 
 form while the people of Saginaw, yes, the people of Mich- 
 igan, by thousands took one last look upon the countenance 
 of him who more than anything else during life had desired 
 the love of mankind, and had not wearied in well doing. 
 Side by side with the faltering comrades of the civil war 
 were the chief men of the state, governor and commoner; 
 there were widows and little children who had known of the 
 
 85 
 
tenderness of him who lay there, and so through the long 
 hours of the day walked the good deeds of the man who was 
 gone and which had risen up to call him blessed. 
 
 Words of eulogy from men who had known him many 
 years of his life, glad words of comfort and cheer, song and 
 prayer, the uniforms of Templar and soldier, the tense faces 
 of the multitude that waited in the streets, were but the 
 beginning of the panorama that rolled to the very gates of 
 Forest Lawn Cemetery, where opened the doors of the granite 
 walled chamber of sleep. And when he was lain therein, 
 and the smoke of three volleys had floated over him, and taps 
 had spoken to him the solemn words of the soldier's farewell, 
 the last rays of the sinking sun floated through the western 
 clouds and rested in benediction above his resting place. 
 
 80 
 

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