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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/shortsketchoflifOOpick 
 
. 
 
 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 Matthew Thompson Scott, 
 
 OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS. 
 
 PREPARED AS 
 
 A MEMORIAL FOR HIS CHILDREN, 
 
 AND OTHER YOUNG RELATIVES AND NEAR FRIENDS, 
 
 -BY- 
 
 MAJOR GEORGE B. PICKETT. 
 
 INCLUDING BRIEF MEMORIAL PAPERS FROM THE THIRD VOLUME OF 
 “THE SCOTCH IRISH IN AMERICA,’’ 
 
 WRITTEN BY 
 
 Hon. a. E. STEVENSON, 
 
 AND 
 
 Rev. W. L. GREEN, D. D. 
 
 Bloomington, 111.: 
 
 THE BULLETIN PRINTING COMPANY. 
 
 189I. 
 
B 
 
 S ^t30p 
 
 I 
 
 c*o 
 
 
 “He joined 
 
 Each offiqe of the social hour 
 
 To NOBLE MANNERS, AS THE FLOWER 
 And NATIVE GROWTH OF NOBLE MIND; 
 
 And thus he bore without abuse 
 The grand old name of Gentleman.’ 
 
 15 
 
 q3 
 
 (to 
 
 cy" 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 These pages have been compiled and printed for private distribution among 
 the friends of Mr. Scott, and especially for his children, that hereafter they may 
 know what manner of man their father was, and how he was esteemed in his life- 
 time by those who knew him. I may claim some fitness to write this introductory 
 note. I knew him for twenty years. I took to him from the first. Our friendship 
 soon became deep, constant, confidential, and it grew in strength to the last. Out- 
 side of his own immediate family, there was no one, perhaps, who enjoyed so close 
 and affectionate an intimacy with him as myself. This is said, that it may be 
 understood that my estimate of him is based upon thorough knowledge of the man 
 as he was. Matthew T. Scott was well-descended, and well-bred. Such a man is 
 not the product of a single generation. His sires were gentlemen. Valliant blood 
 was in his veins. His grandfather was an officer of the Revolution. He was born 
 in an ample, and a religious home. His father was a man of the highest char- 
 acter and standing. The qualities that were in his blood; the traditions of his 
 family; the influences that came in upon his early years, all helped to make him 
 what he was, a high-souled, large-minded, noble-hearted, Christian gentleman. 
 
 He had a sturdy, stalwart, powerful physical frame, and was a man of great 
 bodily strength and agility in his early days. He had a very vigorous, and well- 
 disciplined mind. He was a close observer of men and things; an acute thinker; 
 alert, shrewd, discriminating, not easily deceived, quickly piercing to the core of 
 the matter, and discerning between the genuine and the spurious, the true and the 
 false. He was a man of large intelligence, and highly interesting and entertaining 
 to those who enjoyed an intimacy with him. 
 
 As touching his moral qualities, he was strong, bold, steadfast in every good 
 sense of the words. A more fearless man it would not be easy to find. A gentler, 
 kinder, more considerate and affectionate man it would be equally hard to find. 
 Like all such men, in his affections and antipathies alike, he was intense and endur- 
 ing. Whatever, or whomsoever he loved, he loved with the whole strength of his 
 powerful nature, and his loyalty would stand a tremendous strain. His hatreds 
 were according to the same rule. His self-sacrificing devotion to his friends was 
 remarkable. I have never known any man who would so quickly and cheerfully 
 put himself out, sacrifice his own ease, convenience and self-interest, to oblige a 
 friend, as would this man. In my own experience, I have had illustration of this in 
 more than one instance, which makes his memory peculiarly dear to me Particu- 
 larly, had he a very uncommon respect to woman. There was a high-bred chivalry 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 in his nature which never failed to show itself in the most gracious courtesy and 
 deference to even the humblest of womankind. All meanness, mendacity, cowardice 
 and cruelty, he despised and detested. While polite and obliging to all, h& 
 did not at once disclose himself to everybody. It took time to find him out, to get 
 into his rich nature, and know the man as he was within. Those who knew him 
 best, esteemed him most. He was built on a large model in all good respects, and 
 was full of warm affections, generous sympathies, high and noble impulses. H e 
 was a strong staff to lean upon; a brave, faithful, effectual friend to confide in to tha 
 uttermost. Upon the whole, a more valiant, loyal, brotherly soul mine has never 
 come in contact with in this world. Now he has gone into the presence of the Great 
 Master, Whom he implicitly trusted and reverently worshipped. His going brought 
 a great grief to me. The world seems lonesome without him. The loss and grief 
 to his family, words cannot tell. Into their sacred sorrow, I can enter in part, at 
 least, with tender and tearful sympathy. 
 
 John Walker Dinsmore. 
 
 My Dear Mrs. Scott: — I send you the enclosed, as a brief tribute to the 
 memory of a man whom I loved as I have few others. I feel deeply that it is not 
 worthy of him, but I have felt somewhat restrained by what I knew was his severe- 
 taste iu such matters. Affectionately Your Friend, 
 
 San Jose, California, Sept. 14, 1891. John W. Dinsmore. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 41 The just keeps something of his glory in his dust." 
 
 When a few weeks ago, the press of Bloomington made 
 known the fact that Matthew T. Scott was dangerously ill at 
 his home in that city, perhaps the first and strongest im- 
 pression it produced, was that of surprise, that a man of his 
 robust constitution, vigorous health, cheerful temper com- 
 bative courage, and strong will, could be so rapidly brought 
 near the point of yielding to the power of any disease. But 
 as from day to day his condition was announced as becoming 
 more serious, anxiety took the place of confidence, an anxiety 
 which soon spread beyond the large circle of his warm 
 friends, to the public generally. For it gradually dawned 
 upon the public mind, as it recalled his past relations with 
 important public interests — his public spirit, his broad 
 benevolence, his generous charity, that the threatened 
 result would not be simply a private bereavement, but a 
 public misfortune. 
 
 It is but just to gratefully acknowledge, in this con- 
 nection, the kindliness of the press of Bloomington, of all 
 parties. Their notices, both at this time and later, were as 
 generous as they were just; as grateful to his family and 
 friends, as they were creditable to the hearts which inspired 
 them. 
 
 When the sad, and to many, unexpected news spread 
 through the city in the early morning of May 21, 1S9 1, that 
 this honored and useful citizen had indeed passed away, it is 
 
no figure of speech to say that a feeling of gloom settled over 
 the community. As the news of his death spread through 
 the country by mail and telegraph, letters and telegrams 
 expressive of sorrow and sympathy, began to pour in upon 
 the family from all directions. Many of these were from 
 distant cities and states, and from persons of various ranks 
 in life — some whose names even were unknown to the 
 family, but who at some time or place had been the recipients 
 ot kindness or courtesies from him. These kindly remem- 
 brances were deeply appreciated by the family and near 
 friends, who felt that they demanded a more prompt response 
 than it was possible at the time to make, did not the number 
 of them, forbid the attempt to acknowledge each one separ- 
 ately. It was therefore suggested, that a short sketch should 
 be prepared by some friend, familiar with his life, which 
 should respond to these kindly letters and inquiries, and at 
 the same time serve as a memorial to be preserved by his 
 children and other young relatives and friends, to show the 
 style of man he was, how he served, and how he was 
 regarded by his generation. 
 
 His widow and two daughters, Mary Letitia and Julia 
 Green, survive him. He also left one brother — the eldest — 
 Mr. I saac W. Scott, a gentleman of the highest character, 
 who for many years was a leading and successful business 
 man in Lexington Kentucky, but who for some years past 
 has been a resident of Bement Illinois. Three sisters also 
 survive him, Mrs. Di*. Ethel bert Dudley, Mrs. Dr. Henry Skill- 
 
man and Miss Lucy W. Scott, all residents of Lexington 
 Kentucky. His next older brother, Dr. John W. Scott, was 
 for many years a successful physician in New York, but 
 returned to his old home in the latter years of his life, where 
 he died, and where his family still reside. His next younger 
 brother, Dr. Joseph T. Scott, died unmarried in the flush of 
 young manhood, many years ago. He was a man of fine 
 promise, and of a very noble type ot character. His youngest 
 brother, Lieut. Col. Wm. T. Scott, was a gallant soldier in 
 the late war, on the Union side, with many noble qualities. 
 He also died many years ago, at his home in Frankfort 
 Kentucky, where his widow and two children still reside. A 
 widowed sister, Mrs. Charles Gallagher, died in Texas, in 
 1886, leaving one son and two daughters. 
 
MATTHEW T. SCOTT. 
 
 “ Honest, truth-loving, chivalrous, those whose convictions compelled them to 
 antagonize him, could love and honor him, nevertheless ” 
 
 Matthew Thompson Scott was born on February 24, 
 1828, at Lexington Kentucky, which was then, probably the 
 most prominent religious, educational, intellectual, and 
 political focus of the undeveloped, but rapidly developing 
 country, west ot the Alleghanies, as well as a focus for 
 wealth and refinement. It was the home ot the greatest 
 political leader ot the day, Henry Clay, and a center of the 
 most active political and religious influence. It was some- 
 thing at that day, for a youth susceptible as was Matthew 
 Scott to the good influences ot such surroundings, to be so 
 fortunately placed. He imbibed the ennobling stimulus of 
 these environments in his youth, and illustrated them in all 
 his after life. 
 
 His father, Mr. Matthew T. Scott, Sr., was one of three 
 brothers, who emigrated from Pennsylvania, at an early day 
 to Kentucky; all men of sterling virtues and force of char- 
 acter -in this illustrating the characteristic qualities of the 
 revolutionary stock of the Scotch-Irish blood from which 
 they were descended. One of these brothers, Dr. Joseph 
 Scott, settled at Lexington, where he was for many years, 
 and until his death, a leading physician as well as a leading 
 citizen. The other brother, Dr. John Scott, was the confi- 
 dential friend, and served on the personal staff ot Gen. W. H. 
 Harrison, afterwards President Harrison. These gentlemen 
 
each named his oldest son after the other, Hon. Scott 
 Har rison, of Indiana, being the father of the present presi- 
 dent of the United States, and Dr. Harrison Scott, a promi- 
 nent physician of Illinois, being the eldest son of the elder 
 Harrison’s friend. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott, Sr., the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, became connected with the Northern Bank of 
 Kentucky at its incorporation, and for about thirty years, or 
 until his death, in the capacity of cashier, or president, 
 guarded its interests and directed its policy. When it is 
 remembered that the business of this bank extended from 
 New York to New Orleans, its transactions embracing a 
 large part of the Ohio Valley, the responsibility of this trust 
 can be understood. And when it is added, that this bank 
 passed through several financial storms, which wrecked the 
 business of the country, and ruined its industries, without 
 ever suspending specie payment, or having its credit 
 impaired, or omitting its regular dividend of S per cent, the 
 skill and fidelity with which its affairs were conducted may 
 be appreciated. The name of Matthew T. Scott became a 
 synonym in Kentucky, for the highest personal and com- 
 mercial honor, for scrupulous integrity— for sound judgment, 
 and for all that is admirable in conduct and in character. 
 
 This little recital concerning Mr. Scott’s father and 
 uncles is given, to show the stock of people from which he 
 sprang, and to indicate the kind of principles that were bred 
 and cultivated in him in his father’s house, and which it will 
 be seen he illustrated in his own life. 
 
 Mr. Scott’s mother, who died when he was only five 
 
years old, was a woman of remarkable personal beauty, and 
 of great sweetness and strength of character. She was the 
 daughter ot Mr. Isaac Webb, a Virginia gentleman, also of 
 an old colonial family of prominence in that state, who 
 came to Kentucky at an early date. He settled near Lex- 
 ington, where he left many descendants who have maintained 
 the reputation ot the older generations, by their high social 
 and business standing. One of his sons, Dr. James Webb, 
 became the father of the wife of President Hayes. 
 
 Mr. Scott was prepared for college in the schools at Lex- 
 ington, and was then sent to Centre College, at Danville. 
 Those were days of strong sectarian pride and rivalry, and 
 this college, then under the presidency of Dr. John C. Young, 
 the distinguished divine and teacher, was the educational 
 pride of the Presbyterian church, to which his family 
 belonged. From this college he graduated at the early age 
 of 18, in the class ot 1846, with a high reputation for scholar- 
 ship. 
 
 He was gifted with a strong constitution, and had the 
 strenth and activity of an athlete. He was generous tem- 
 pered, fearless and manly, and of the most exuberant spirits. 
 While singularly free from all the small vices which youths 
 of his age so early affect — never indulging in liquor, tobacco 
 or profanity — nor, though fond of games, in gambling in any 
 form — he never affected any canting superiority to his 
 associates, but was always popular with them, and a leader 
 in their boyish sports. 
 
 At the age of 19 he went to Ohio to take charge of a 
 large landed property belonging to his father, in which he 
 
was given an interest. He remained here several years, 
 when, impressed with the possibilities ot early and great 
 developments in the then sparsely settled state ot Illinois he 
 invested for himself and different members of his family, in 
 a large amount of government lands, and at once, with the 
 boldness, and confidence, and resolution, which characterized 
 all his business ventures, proceeded to reduce them as rapidly 
 as possible to cultivation. 
 
 About this time he formed pleasant acquaintances with 
 Judge Davis, Judge Logan, Hon. Jesse W. Fell. Mr. Lincoln, 
 that noble old Roman, Major John T. Stuart, and many others 
 prominent in the earlier history of Illinois With some of 
 these, acquaintance ripened into friendship of a lifetime. 
 Mr. Lincoln managed several lawsuits for him, and in one — a 
 case of litigation with Governor Matteson — declined any fee, 
 saying with characteristic honesty, that he had not earned 
 it, the evidence was so plain. 
 
 The writer has heard Judge Davis recall with great 
 amusement, some sport witnessed one afternoon, when 
 business was dull about the Danville Land Office, and some- 
 body proposed a running, jumping and wrestling match. 
 The three Kentucky boys, Will, Joe and Matt Scott were 
 chosen for one side. At the first round, Matt laid his man 
 Hat, Joe, with a run, jump and whoop, left his competitor 
 away behind, and Will, who was fleet-footed as a hound, 
 looked over his shoulder, and whistled at the champion who 
 was trying to race with him. 
 
 As an illustration of the crude justice meted out in those 
 early days, William Scott, one of the handsomest and most 
 
8 
 
 popular men of his clay, out hunting near Elkhart, rode across 
 a man’s field, and was sued by him for trespass. The old 
 justice who tried the case acquitted him on this charge, no 
 damage evidently having been done, but all the same, brought 
 in a verdict against him for $2.50, for a harrow, he alleged 
 one of Mr. Scott’s tenants had borrowed from the plaintiff. 
 No appeal was taken from such even-handed distribution of 
 reward and punishment. 
 
 Not very long before his death, in reply to the question 
 of his old friend — Mr. Abel Harwood, of Champaign, Illinois — 
 who asked him how much ditching and fencing he had made, 
 and how much land he had broken up in his life, he answered 
 after a moment’s reflection, that he had made and owned 
 from 275 to 300 miles of hedge fence. That he had reduced 
 to cultivation for himself and others, as much as 16,000 acres 
 of prairie land in Illinois and Iowa; that he had built on 
 these lands between 160 and 200 houses. That he had made 
 over 250 miles of ditch; by plows, by horse scrapers, by 
 ditching machines, by spades. Many of these ditches being- 
 very large, and made by oxen, as many as 40 large cattle to a 
 team which drew the great ditching plow; besides having 
 made the tile drains for thoroughly tiling 5,000 acres. And 
 that single-handed, he had conducted the largest business 
 transaction ever consummated in the state of Tennessee by 
 one man, the purchase and sale, of 46.000 acres of mineral and 
 timber lands. 
 
 It was upon the farm at Clienoa, in 1855, that he made 
 the test, and demonstrated the possibility, of cultivating large 
 tracts of land without fences, except around his pasture lots 
 
9 
 
 to con tine his own stock. This was the first large farm in 
 the country, ever made and cultivated in this way. His 
 successful experiment encouraged others — who had been 
 deterred by the cost of fencing in a prairie country— to 
 follow his example, and led to the rapid settlement and 
 improvement of that part of the country. The passage of . 
 the “ no fence ” law by the Illinois legislature, was the result 
 of his testimony before a committee of that body. 
 
 In 1S59 Mr. Scott was married to Miss Julia, daughter of 
 Rev. Lewis Warner Green, I). I)., then president of Centre 
 College, Danville, previously president of Hampden Sidney 
 College, Virginia, and ot Transylvania University, Kentucky. 
 Dr. Green was from an early colonial family of Virginia, 
 whose descendants have ever maintained the highest social 
 prominence wherever they are found; each generation pro- 
 ducing under various names, women noted for natural refine- 
 ment, mental culture, and all the social graces and virtues; 
 and men distinguished for intellect, for high character, and 
 public influence in Virginia, Kentucky, or other states. 
 Among the most distinguished of the latter was Dr. Green.* 
 
 * Note. — Dr. Green was the son of Willis Green and Sarah Reid, Willis Green 
 was the son of Duff Green and Ann Willis, and the grand son of Robert Green, (who 
 married Eleanor Dunn, a Scotch woman), one of the early settlers of the Shenandoah 
 Valley, Virginia, and one of the first vestrymen of St. Mark’s parish, Culpepper 
 county, Virginia. It is stated by Dr. Philip Slaughter, that there has been a contin- 
 uous succession of vestrymen in this family from Robert, of 1731, who was a member 
 of the House of Burgesses, te the present time. Ann Willis, the wife of Duff Green, 
 was the daughter of Mildred Washington, who married, first, Mr. Lewis, second, 
 Roger Gregory, of King and Queen county, Virginia, and for her third husband, 
 Col. Henry Willis, of Fredricksburg. By her second husband, Roger Gregory, she 
 had three danghters, Frances, Mildred and Elizabeth, who married three brothers, 
 
10 
 
 He was a man of brilliant intellect, of high and broad culture, 
 of unsurpassed eloquence, and of that refined, genial, and 
 gentle uature, that makes a man loveable even to his own 
 sex. He was fitted both by nature and culture, for the high 
 and responsible duties to which he devoted his life. 
 
 Mrs. Scott’s mother, Mrs. Mary Peachy Green, was a 
 lineal descendant of Dr. Thomas Walker, of Castle Hill, 
 Albemarle county, Virginia, and of Col. Joshua Fry, who was 
 sent by the English Government from Oxford University, to 
 be first professor of mathematics in William and Mary 
 College Virginia, and who was Washington’s senior — 
 “ Colonel and Commander-in-Chief,” reads his majesty's 
 commission — in command of Virginia’s forces in 1754. Dr. 
 Walker and Col. Fry were closely associated in making 
 sundry and diverse treaties, maps, boundary lines, and 
 explorations, during this early colonial period; all of which 
 have been preserved and published in detail, by Hon. William 
 Cabell Rives, Dr. Philip Slaughter, and Dr. R. Channing M. 
 Page. A son of Col. Fry, Henry, married (in her 17th year) 
 
 Col. Francis Thornton, Col. John Thornton, and Reuben Thornton, all of Spottsyl- 
 vania county, Virginia. By her third husband, she had two children, Col. Lewis 
 Willis, whom she named after her first husband, Lewis, and Ann Willis, who mairied 
 Duff Green. Mildred Washington, who married first, Mr. Lewis, second, Roger 
 Gregory, and third, Col. Henry Willis, was the daughter of Lawrence Washington* 
 who married about 1680, Mildred Warner, of Gloucester county, Virginia. It was 
 from this ancestress Dr. Green received his middle name, given him at his birth, by 
 a relative of his grand mother, Mrs. Lewis, of Fredricksburg, the Lewis being for 
 herself. Lawrence Washington was the son of Col. John Washington and his second 
 wife, Ann Pope. And Col. John Washington was the son of Col. John Washington, 
 son of Leonard Washington, who with his wife Ann, emigrated to America in 1659 
 from Warton, county Lancaster, England. 
 
11 
 
 Susan, (Sukey) second daughter of Dr. Walker, in 1764; and 
 his grand son, Joshua Fry — son ol John Fry and Miss 
 Adams — married Peachy, the youngest child of Dr. Walker, 
 in 1787. It is probably no exaggeration to say of these two 
 men— Dr. Walker and Col. Fry- that lor social position, 
 wealth, capacity, character and public services, they occupied 
 in the colonial history of Virginia and the country, places 
 second to none. 
 
 The law of heredity did not fail in the person of Mrs. 
 Green. The mingled hereditary gifts, graces and virtues of 
 her ancestors descended to her in full measure. The pastor 
 of her later years— Rev. Dr. Dinsmore — wrote of her: “She 
 was a woman ol unusual natural endowments. She had a 
 stately and even majestic presence, rare gilts as a conver- 
 sationalist, a strong and active intellect, great force and 
 energy of character, great courage, spirit, and ambition, 
 unfalteringly loyal too, to whatever person or thing she had set 
 her heart upon. Her mind had been enriched by the 
 education of schools and books, by extensive travel in this 
 and other lands, by life-long association with the best circles 
 of society, and by a large acquaintance with distinguished 
 people in this country and in Europe. For many years she 
 was the wife of a distinguished clergyman, who held various 
 high positions as a pastor, a college president, and a theo- 
 logical professor. She was to him a veritable help-meet, 
 strong, valiant, devoted. Through all her life, even to the 
 last of it, her warm interest in affairs, social, religious, and 
 public, and especially her active sympathy with the young, 
 and her fondness for their society, continued almost undi- 
 
12 
 
 minished. For many years she had been a sincere disciple 
 of Jesus Christ. Her piety was in harmony with her nature, 
 not so much of the effusive and sentimental, as of the stalwart 
 and heroic type. If called upon to suffer or die for her Lord 
 she would not have hesitated for a moment.”* 
 
 If any apology were necessary for narrating so much of 
 family history, it is, that one of the main objects in preparing 
 this sketch is, that it shall serve as a memorial for the 
 children of Mr. Scott — and other young relatives — showing 
 not only what style of man he was, but who and what kind 
 of people his and their ancestors were. In this fast age, and 
 among our migrating population, where families become 
 
 * Note. — Mrs. Green was the daughter of Mr. Thomas Walker Fry, of Spring 
 House, Boyle county, Kentucky, who married Miss Eliza Smith — a famous wit in her 
 day — sister of Hon. Speed Smith, of Richmond, Kentucky. Thomas Walker Fry 
 was the son of Joshua Fry, a man eminent for learning and probity, whose name 
 was a household word in many homes of Kentucky and Virginia. It is related of 
 this Joshua Fry — the son of John Fry and Miss Adams — that he was caked from 
 William and Mary College at the age of 19, by the death of his father, who was 
 supposed to be a very rich man. The estate proved to be insolvent. The creditors 
 agreed to leave the property in young Fry’s hands, and to accept from him as he 
 could pay it, 50 cents on the dollar, in settlement of all claims. In a very few years — 
 three or four — he paid them every one,f ne hundred cents on every dollar, and then, 
 although, by the laws of Virginia at that time, the lands thus redeemed would have 
 belonged to him as the oldest son, divided the entire estate, real and personal, into 
 three equal parts, giving one third to his only brother, William, who died unmarried, 
 and one-third to his only sister, Tabitha, who married Bowler Cocke, of Turkey 
 Island, (on James River) and died without children. The incident is also preserved 
 of him, that on one occasion — after his removal from Virginia to Kentucky — word 
 came to him of the financial distress of an old friend in the former state. He 
 mounted his horse, and attended by his faithful body servant, Morocco, rode back to 
 Virginia, extricated his friend from his difficulties, advancing a large sum of money 
 he never charged or made any account of, and without any ado, or telling any one of 
 
13 
 
 scattered to the tour winds, this kind of information 
 soon becomes lost, though it is very interesting to later 
 generations and not without most salutary influences. 
 There is nothing more contemptible than the lalse pride, that 
 assumes the credit of ancestral virtues without emulating 
 them, and demands consideration which has not been 
 personally and honestly earned. But there is nothing more 
 natural or commendable than an honest pride in an hororable 
 ancestry. It excites laudable ambition. It sets up a high 
 standard ol life and conduct, and stimulates to its attain- 
 ment. When a father shows by his own life and conduct, 
 that he is more anxious to leave to his children the inheritance 
 
 the transaction, mounted his horse, and with Morocco, rode back to Kentucky. Mrs. 
 Green, whose reverence and affection for her grand father were unbounded, was 
 greatly touched once, at the manner in which she was introduced to two very aged 
 and very stately ladies, at Richmond, Virginia : “ This is the grand daughter of the 
 
 man, whom these ladies cherish in their hearts, side by side with General Wash- 
 ington.” Mr. Fry and his wife, Peachy Walker, lie in the cemetery, at Danville, 
 Kentucky, surrounded by a host of their descendants. This Joshua Fry was the 
 grand son of Col. Joshua Fry, of William and Mary College, Virginia, and his wife, 
 Mary Micou-Hill, (a widow 25 years old when married to him) the daughter of 
 Philip Micou, physician and surgeon, a Huguenot exile from persecution in France. 
 “ Paul Micou,” says Dr. Slaughter, “ brought his wife and perhaps some of his elder 
 children from France. He certainly brought his library, pictures and plate.” The 
 wife of Mr. Joshua Fry, and grand mother of Mrs. Green, was Peachy Walker, 
 daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker, of Castle Hill, Albemarle county, Virginia. The 
 first wife of Dr. Thomas Walker and the mother of his twelve children, was Mildred 
 Thornton, who married first in 1798 Nicholas Meriwether, and by him had one 
 child. After his death when she was 19 years old, Mildred Thornton-Meriwether, 
 the widow of Nicholas Meriwether, married Dr. Thomas Walker. Mildred 
 Thornton-Meriwether, who married for her second husband, Dr. Thomas Walker, 
 was the daughter of Col. John Thornton and Mildred Gregory, and Mildred Gregory, 
 her mother, was Mildred Washington — sister of Augustine and John Washington, 
 
14 
 
 of a good name, than to leave them lands or money, he 
 delivers them a stronger and more impressive moral lesson, 
 than is conveyed by any formal precept, however high, or 
 even however sacred its source. And when this good name 
 has been transmitted as a family heirloom through gener- 
 ations, it acts with cumulative force in proportion to the 
 height of the standand, and to the time during which it has 
 been maintained. 
 
 and daughter of Lawrence Washington — who had married for her first husband, 
 Mr. Lewis, for her second husband, 17< 5, Roger Gregory, of King and Queen county, 
 Virginia, and for her third husband, Col. Henry Willis, of Fredricksburg, so that 
 Dr. and Mrs. Green were remotely related by blood. The second wife of Dr. 
 Thomas Walker — Elizabeth Thornton — was the double first cousin of his first wife 
 their mothers being sisters — Frances Gregory and Mildred Gregory — and their 
 fathers being brothers — Col. Francis Thornton and Col. John Thornton. Rev. 
 Philip Slaughter, D. D , who has done so much to rescue from oblivion the names 
 and memoi ies of churches, families and persons who were prominent in the early 
 history of Virginia, tells of the old home of Col. Joshua Fry and his wife, Mary 
 Micou-Hill, the daughter of Paul Micou, the Huguenot exile : "On a beautiful 
 eminence in the Piedmontese Valley, between the two streams, Robinson River and 
 Crooked Run — in old times the Meander — stands a house hoary with a century’s 
 mosses, having in it an historical room, originally dedicated to the muses of music 
 and the dance, in which William Wirt in his youth played his pranks and wrote 
 comedies, and where Thom»s Jefferson in his journeys to and from Washington, in 
 his French Landau, refreshed himself with hospitable cheer. This old mansion was 
 67 feet long, but only one story high, and still belongs to a lineal descendant of Col. 
 Fry. Extensive additions have been made, but the ‘historical room,’ 24x19 feet, 
 remains intact ” Col. Fry died at Will’s Creek, Virginia— near the present city of 
 Cumberland, Maryland — May 31, 1754, while on the march, in command of the first 
 expedition sent by the colony of Virginia, to expel the French from the Upper 
 Ohio Valley. The army attended his funeral, and on a large oak tree, which now 
 stands as a tomb and a monument to his memory, Washington cut the inscription, 
 which can be read to this day, “ Under this oak lies the body of the good, the just, 
 and the noble Fry.” 
 
15 
 
 The child who has not this stimulus to honorable 
 ambition, for at least one generation, is unfortunate indeed, 
 and poor, though he may have inherited millions, until by 
 his own life and conduct, he builds up an honorable name for 
 himself. 
 
 But to return from this digression. Soon after his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Scott brought his young wife to Chenoa, the 
 village he had laid out a few years before. Here he spent 
 several of the happiest years of his life, actively engaged in 
 cultivating and improving his lands, not only there, buf in 
 other counties of the state, and giving the same faithful and 
 careful attention, to the investments he had made for other 
 members ol his family. He and Mrs Scott lived in mutual 
 interchange of neighborly kindnesses and courtesies with the 
 people of the village and surrounding country, entering 
 cheerfully into all social and religious movements, having 
 for their object a healthy, moral tone for the young and 
 formative community. This had the effect to attract the 
 most desirable class of settlers, with the result of building up 
 upon this foundation, a little city, whose population, for 
 intelligence, culture and respect for law — moral and 
 religious — ranks equal to any community in the state. Mr. 
 Scott would repeat with great glee, a remark made to his 
 wife by an old man to whom she had taken some little 
 delicacy, “Why, I heard you was a high-flyer, and you’re a 
 very common woman.” 
 
 Almost the first step taken by the young couple, was to 
 secure the organization of a Presbyterian church, for Mr. 
 Scott, though not a communicant then, nor for many years 
 
16 
 
 later, was its chief supporter and main reliance. The unpre- 
 tending frame structure dedicated with so much courage 
 and faith, has since given place to a commodious and beauti- 
 ful brick church, with graceful spire, stained glass windows, 
 and frescoed walls, second in size and beauty to but one 
 Presbyterian church in McLean county. Among its pastors 
 such honored names have been enrolled as Rev. William L. 
 Green, D. I)., who with his refined and cultured family, 
 accompanied by the lovely household of Mr. E. D. Churchill, 
 made a most delightful and valued addition to the small 
 community; Rev. M. M. Travis, to whose zeal, perseverance 
 and faithfulness the new church building is due, and more 
 recently, the gifted and sainted Rev. Frank S. Rice. 
 
 Upon the death of Dr. Green, Mrs. Green and Miss 
 Letitia — his only child except Mrs. Scott — joined the little 
 circle at Chenoa. Mr. Scott now enlarged the modest cottage 
 into a residence of quite spacious dimensions, and com- 
 menced the practice of that generous but unostentatious 
 hospitality which had distinguished his father’s house, and 
 which continued to make his home throughout his lifetime, 
 the center of all that was cordial and gracious in the enter- 
 tainment, not only of his friends and relatives, but of 
 strangers whenever properly introduced. 
 
 Here in the course of a few years, Miss Letitia was 
 married to Mr. Adlai Ewing Stevenson, since representative 
 of this district for several terms in the National Congress, 
 and more recently, First Assistant Postmaster-General, 
 during President Cleveland's administration. 
 
 At this time Mr. Scott was deeply interested in his 
 
17 
 
 business, and inspired by the cheering hopes which the suc- 
 cessful development of his plans justified. His faith in the 
 safety and future value of land investments increased with 
 observation and experience, and lie continued to increase his 
 landed estate whenever his means or his credit would make 
 it possible. The next step was to improve and cultivate. He 
 was never a mere speculator, but a liberal, enterprising, far- 
 seeing business man, whose operations all tended to devel- 
 oping the resources, and building up the prosperity of the 
 community, in which he was interested. His extensive 
 dealings of course involved him in debt, and at times deeply, 
 but the reputation he had established for integrit}^ and 
 sound business judgment with the banks and money lenders, 
 always enabled him to command the means to At meet his 
 obligations without materially reducing his land invest- 
 ments. 
 
 About 1870 the failing health of liis wife induced a 
 change of residence, and Mi*. Scott removed to Springfield, 
 where he and Mrs. Scott had already established many 
 pleasant social relations. During the residence at Spring- 
 field. two little girls, orphan cousins of Mrs. Scott, from 
 Tennessee, joined the family circle. Their father. Col. 
 Edmund Winston, of La Grange — an extensive planter of 
 Alabama and Tennessee- -had been forced fo succumb to the 
 desolations and ruin of the civil war, and these lovely chil- 
 dren found in Mr. Scott’s tender heart, and Mrs. Scott’s 
 motherly affection, all the tenderness, and care, and training, 
 and education, they afterwards lavished so freely on their 
 two daughters by blood. And most sweetly and richly has 
 the response been manifested, in the tenderest devotion. 
 
18 
 
 The younger sister, Miss Nannie, married Mr. W. A. 
 Gardner, of whom it is sufficient to say here, first and 
 emphatically, that he is a gentleman, and second, that he is 
 arising young lawyer of Chicago. Miss Sue vibrates between 
 the two homes, the only cause of dissention being, which 
 shall share the most of her time. 
 
 Two charmed years were spent in this beautiful city, but 
 the demands of his business rendering frequent absence from 
 home necessary, Mr. Scott was most reluctantly forced to 
 change his residence to a point nearer and more convenient 
 to it. He selected Bloomington, where they already had 
 many friends and pleasant acquaintances, and which had 
 become the home of Mr. and Mrs. Adlai Stevenson, and of 
 young Lewis Green Stevenson. 
 
 Having become, as he intended to be, a permanent resi- 
 dent of Bloomington, he bought the beautiful home in which 
 he passed the last twenty years of his life, and in which be 
 died. He soon began to teel identified with the interests of 
 the city, and in conjunction with several other gentlemen, 
 organized a company to mine for coal. Mr. Scott was made 
 president, and Mr. James B. Stevenson, secretary and treas- 
 urer — offices they each filled until death. The importance 
 of this enterprise to the city of Bloomington need not be 
 more than suggested, its subsequent growth, and present 
 prosperity, as well as that of the surrounding country, is due 
 more to that, than to any other enterprise within the county. 
 
 And here it is but just, to refer to two other gentlemen 
 associated with him for twenty years, in the office of the 
 McLean County Coal Company, in the most intimate and 
 
19 
 
 confidential relations — Mr. Lyman Graham, and Mr. David 
 Bowen. He recognized their affectionate interest, and valu- 
 able assistance, as a strength and stay to him, in many an 
 anxious and perilous hour. 
 
 Besides this, Mr. Scott was interested in several other 
 smaller ventures, tending to advance the growth of the city, 
 but was so much absorbed in his more important business, 
 that he took but little concern about them, and was known 
 to but few as having any connection with them. He was a 
 liberal man, and took stock in such enterprises, more from a 
 motive of public spirit, or a generous impulse to assist his 
 friends, than as a matter of judgment. When failure fol- 
 lowed, as was sometimes the case, he pocketed his loss with- 
 out a show of disappointment, still less ol reproach. Noblesse 
 oblige was the key to — the grand unconscious motto of his 
 unselfish life. 
 
 In important operations he acted promptly and boldly, 
 and met difficulties and obstacles with the resolution and 
 tenacity of a remarkably strong will. It may be said that he 
 achieved his successes rather than met them. 
 
 He was more inclined to large operations, especially 
 those which promised to be capable of extensive future 
 development. In all of his investments he looked to their 
 development for his profits, and they all had for their basis, 
 real estate. He was always on the alert for such oppor- 
 tunities, and exhibited great sagacity in estimating them, 
 and great promptness and boldness in seizing them when 
 well satisfied of their soundness. As an illustration of this, 
 in 1876 he became satisfied through the investigation of a 
 
friend,* that there was the opportunity for profitable oper- 
 ation in some Kansas lands, contiguous to the great lead 
 mining region in Southwest Missouri. A company was 
 organized, with Mr. Scott as president, to prosecute this 
 enterprise. Almost insuperable difficulties and obstacles 
 were confronted and overcome, and the result was the 
 development of the celebrated Galena (Kansas) lead mining 
 district, which proved to be the richest district in that 
 extensive and rich lead region. The Bloomington company's 
 lands did not prove as rich as those adjoining but Mr Scott 
 and his associates are entitled to the credit for judgment and 
 nerve in taking the initiative. 
 
 A sketch of the life and character of a strictly business 
 man, must be, to some extent, a sketch of his business 
 history, for it is only thus that his relations to the public can 
 be understood and appreciated. And such a man was Mr. 
 Scott. He was never a public man. in the ordinary sense. 
 He was never an officeholder, or an officeseeker. having no 
 taste for official or political life, even if his business interests 
 would have permitted him to enter it. But during all his 
 business life, he held many important relations to the public 
 interest, through the business enterprises he conducted, for 
 in all of them, the public was a large, indirect beneficiary. 
 In fact, he never sought to figure personally before the 
 public, in any light, or any relation. His influence was felt 
 as a strong, steady, moving force, in the social, moral, and 
 industrial movements of the community, rather than seen, 
 
 * Major George B. Pickett. 
 
and no man of His real influence, and force, made so modest 
 a figure before the public. Though, for several years, the 
 owner of two newspapers, his name rarely appeared in 
 either, and that, while he was among the most useful and 
 influential men in the community. 
 
 Sure it is, if doing his full part in giving a pure tone to 
 communities; establishing a high standard in the business 
 world of which he was a factor, and illustrating it by his own 
 example; if doing a splendid part in developing the interests 
 and material resources of a great state, making it strong and 
 prosperous; by his energy, honesty, skill, and foresight, 
 furnishing a quiet but forceful stimulus to the exertions of 
 others, and by his own enterprise, furnishing to hundreds 
 and even thousands of laborers, the means of gaining an 
 honest livelihood for their families; it to fear God, to be 
 faithful to every trust, to be not only just, but kind and 
 merciful to man, if these things count for anything in life, 
 Matthew T. Scott has not lived in vain. 
 
 As has been so beautifully written of another, it may be 
 truthfully said of him also. “Soft as a woman in speech, 
 tender as a child in heart, stainless in honor, peerless in 
 truthfulness, he lived through the years that God assigned 
 him, and passed from the tumult and toil of earth, to the 
 coronation that awaits the faithful. Aspiring not to civic 
 honors, he was identified with the advancement of his city: 
 stooping not to the deceits of trade, success crowned his 
 business career; not a teacher of divine things, his life was a 
 sermon, and his peaceful death a vindication of his Christian 
 faith.” 
 
As an evidence of the confidence in his judgment and 
 integrity, reposed in him by his friends, it may be stated,, 
 that always in important business in which he was associated 
 with others, he was placed in the management, and that 
 success was always the result. The estate that he left is the 
 fruit of his own energy, his own judgment, his own courage, 
 not one dollar of which was gained by questionable methods,, 
 and with it he has left a character lor integrity and honor, 
 which has never been questioned, or suspected — a reputation 
 of which his children may well be proud. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Scott was, until the war, a whig ol the 
 Henry Clay school, and voted for Beil and Everett in I860. 
 He was a strong advocate of compromise before and during 
 the war, on a basis ol the preservation of the Union. This 
 put him, at the close of the war, in sympathy with the demo- 
 cratic party, ol which he became a strong supporter. He 
 was a man of positive character, and positive opinions, and 
 always had the courage of his convictions. In 1878 he united 
 with some democratic Iriends in forming a company to 
 establish a democratic journal in Bloomington, to become 
 the organ of the party in that congressional district. Mr. 
 Scott was made president of the company, and the Bloom- 
 ington Bulletin was the result, with Hon. John H. Oberly as 
 editor. Mr. Scott subsequently became the proprietor ol the 
 paper, and later disposed of it to Hon. Owen Scott, the 
 present representative in congress from the district, who has 
 conducted it most ably and successfully. 
 
 By inheritance and by conviction, Mr. Scott was a 
 Presbyterian. In lact, he was, by instinct, reverential, and 
 
28 
 
 this instinct was cultivated by his early training and life 
 long associations. He was a man of frank and sincere 
 nature, and despised insincerity and hypocrisy in all its 
 forms; but of all forms of hypocrisy, religious hypocrisy was 
 the most repulsive to him; and this, with his exalted standard 
 of a consistent Christian life, was doubtless one of the con- 
 trolling reasons for postponing so long any public profession 
 of his faith. He was always a reverential worshiper in the 
 house of God, a liberal but unostentatious supporter of his 
 church, and its agencies, equally liberal and unostentatious 
 in the support of charitable and benevolent movements, and 
 generous in his private charities. 
 
 Personally, Mr. Scott was, at all periods of his life, a 
 handsome man, with a large, handsomely shaped head, indi- 
 cating a vigorous and active brain; his features were well 
 proportioned, and regular, and his expression, when in repose, 
 was that of an intelligent, thoughtful, strong-willed, and 
 self-reliant man. At other times, his features showed great 
 flexibility, and animation, and mirrored faithfully, the play 
 of the passing thought, or emotion. 
 
 He was a man of buoyant spirits, of a genial, social dis- 
 position, fond of company, and a welcome addition to any 
 social gathering, with his distinguished bearing, and winning, 
 cordial manners, that no contact with the rough side of 
 pioneer life could ever rob of their courtliness. 
 
 His friendships wound themselves about the strongest 
 fibres of his being. No man, woman or child, who ever had 
 occasion to test this quality, in this man, ever found him 
 lacking. No sacrifice, no inconvenience to himself was too 
 
great, if he could serve a friend. And in this relation, he 
 knew neither politics nor creed, rank or station, poverty or 
 wealth. He was singularly free from that kind of bigotry of 
 opinion on any subject, which would incline him to place 
 those who differed from him, beyond the pale of friendship 
 or of sympathy. 
 
 He simply iollowed his own tastes, his own ideas ot pro- 
 priety, and business judgment, and left others to do the 
 same. 
 
 But it was within his home, and among his intimate 
 friends, that Mr. Scott showed in his most attractive light, 
 and it is the light reflected from these sources which is at 
 once the most searching, and the most significant, of the 
 real character of a man. There the disguises with which 
 insincerity and sham virtues may have deluded the public, 
 are thrown aside. But to his family circle, and to his inti- 
 mate friends, bis character shows in its native quality. 
 
 Here, in his home, the whole wealth of his rich and lov- 
 ing nature was lavished, without stint, upon the dear ones 
 whom he shielded with a love tender as it was strong. It 
 was here that his natural and unaffected courtesy, his chiv- 
 alrous deference to woman — the instinctive chivalry of a 
 manly nature— shone with brightest lustre. As a character- 
 istic illustration of this trait, he went one evening with a 
 friend to a public meeting, where a petition was to be circu- 
 lated they had each fully decided not to sign. As the exer- 
 cises progressed, a sweet-faced, middle-aged lady, with the 
 petition, approached some men near him, who repulsed her 
 very rudely. Mr. Scott instantly sprang up — and with a 
 
25 
 
 look at the roughs, which would have extinguished them, 
 were it not that some forms of coarseness are impervious to 
 rebuke — and with a bow that would have done honor to 
 Chesterfield, said to the lady, “Allow me, Madam, to have 
 your paper a moment,” and wrote his own, and his friend’s 
 name out in full, and handed it back to her. When his friend 
 twitted him with having committed them both to something 
 they did not approve, he said, “Well, I couldn’t knock those 
 fellows down, and there was no other way to relieve that 
 poor woman.” 
 
 For his children, his love was idolatry. He loved them 
 with an abounding affection, which overflowed and embraced 
 all other children with whom he was brought into associ- 
 ation. Indeed, his ready sympathy with little children was 
 one of the beautiful traits of his character. Many a neg- 
 lected little stranger in the street, cheered by his hearty, 
 tender sympathy, has wondered who the great, strong, 
 unknown friend could be. 
 
 He was a man of strong, active intellect, capable of mas- 
 tering any subject in its details and principles, to which he 
 might devote himself, and could have achieved distinction in 
 any of the so-called intellectual pursuits to which he might 
 have applied himself, as he achieved success in the lines of 
 business which he followed. He was deliberate in forming 
 his opinions in important matters, and self-reliant. He 
 sought information, but not advice, except upon technical 
 subjects, and from experts. 
 
 He was also a man of wide and general intelligence, 
 keeping well up with the advancing knowledge and current 
 
26 
 
 history of the times, and in touch with public opinion on all 
 social, moral and political movements in the country. Never 
 having allowed himself to be brought before the public in 
 any way, which would have developed his ability as a public 
 speaker, his talent in that direction was never tested, but as 
 he was a fluent talker and a vigorous writer, with a remark- 
 able power of logical statement and condensation, there is 
 no doubt that with the constant and methodical training 
 which the bar, or the pulpit gives, he would have become a 
 ready, forcible, and effective speaker. 
 
 After what has been said, it is unnecessary to sum up the 
 character of Mr. Scott with a formal array of words, expres- 
 sive of his qualities, and with the strong adjectives with 
 which admiration and friendship would emphasize them. 
 This fashion of eulogy has become so stereotyped as to lose 
 its significance, and sincere esteem and affection shrink from 
 using it. It has be6n the plan and purpose of this paper to 
 show him as he appeared to his friends, and acquaintances, 
 in his home life, in his social relations, in his business con- 
 nections, and in his relation to the public interest, and let 
 him stand forth in the light reflected by these. This is the 
 true light, which casts no delusive tints, and under which no 
 stains can be hidden, and love and friendship are willing that 
 he should be judged by it. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 
 
 To show that the estimate of his life and character as 
 exhibited in the foregoing paper, is not that alone of partial 
 friendship — and that made more partial by sympathy excited 
 by his recent death — but was the judgment formed by the 
 public generally in the communities in which he had lived, or 
 was generally known — we present further, some extracts from 
 the public press, published before and since his death, as 
 well as extracts from private letters from some of his friends 
 who had known him longest and best. Some of these are 
 from persons with whom he had had antagonisms on politi- 
 cal or local questions more or less warm, and are therefore 
 the more valuable and the more grateful to his friends on 
 this account. They are reprinted in a collected form for the 
 benefit of his children especially. 
 
 “ I feel that a true and upright man, one of the manliest 
 of men — the soul of honor — has been called away. His 
 genial companionship, his reverence for God’s word, and all 
 things sacred — his tenacious regard for the simple truth, his 
 unostentatious generosity, and large-hearted Christian bene- 
 volence, were among the qualities that greatly endeared him 
 to my heart. 1 never had a better friend among men. I can 
 never forget his kindness in, so many ways, to me and mine.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “I seriously think that Matt Scott was possibly the 
 truest and best friend I have had in this world. A dear, no- 
 ble fellow! ” 
 
28 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ Mr. Scott was one of the best and most generous of 
 friends to me.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ Surely you must find comfort in the reflection that his 
 life was not spent in vain. That those who knew him best, 
 loved him most. That the lives and fortunes of many were 
 made happier by his kindness and generosity. That the 
 community, the state itself, became more prosperous through 
 his wise and philanthropic efforts.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ If w T e could only have been there to pay our last tri- 
 bute of respect to the noblest, best, and kindest man we ever 
 knew — and there is no one whom we loved or honored more.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ I need not tell you how sincerely I feel this as a per- 
 sonal loss. He was my best friend, noble, generous and true. 
 In an intimate friendship of many years, there was nothing 
 in the history of his life that I cannot recall with pleasure, 
 and much that I can recall with gratitude. I need not tell 
 you how sincerely I realize, that I have sustained a personal 
 loss in his friendship, which I can never find in another.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ He was to me the model of a gentleman, a most upright 
 business man, and all that constitutes a pure, brave, and 
 noble man, was embodied in him. His generosity ought 
 never to be forgotten by the many who have been its 
 recipients.” 
 
29 
 
 So many like this: 
 
 “ Our acquaintance with Mr. Scott antedates our com- 
 mencement of business with him, and covers a score of years. 
 Our early acquaintance was strengthened into warm friend- 
 ship, by business relations, so that we feel as all others who 
 enjoyed his friendship, the loss of a man of sterling worth, 
 whose place cannot be filled.” 
 
 And this: 
 
 ‘'I never knew a man who had more entirely, and with- 
 out reserve, my admiration and affectionate regard. He was 
 a gentleman of the old school, candid, faithtul, true and 
 free from all methods of indirection. From my own feel- 
 ings, I can well understand the deep sense of loss and dis- 
 tress in the home where Mr. Scott lived, and was best known.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ He knew how we admired and loved him — and how 
 we shall miss him out of our lives is too distressing to talk of.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “Those who knew Mr. Scott as we knew him, realize too 
 well all that you have lost, and we who possessed in him a 
 friend when one was most needed, feel that it is a privilege to 
 be one with you in this deepest of sorrows. An inscrutable 
 Providence, who has stopped the workings of that master- 
 ful mind, and stilled the beatings of that kind heart can 
 alone comfort and sustain you.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ Since hearing it I can think of nothing else. I knew 
 him well, and knowing him, could only love and admire him 
 
30 
 
 — so noble, so good — my ideal of all that was manly and 
 lovable.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 u I have just learned, to my inexpressible sorrow, of the 
 death of Mr. Scott — one of the very noblest men that ever 
 lived I was very proud of his friendship; I shall deeply 
 mourn his taking off; I will not write the news to my wife to- 
 day - she is not well, and was so devoted to him.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ Words cannot express the shock of grief the sad mess- 
 age brought to me. I have lost one of my truest , best , friends; 
 one who was truly ‘a friend in need.’ I did love him very 
 truly, and the world seems lonelier to me since he has gone.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “As for me and my house, we feel that death has snatch- 
 ed from us one of the truest friends we ever had. I never ex- 
 pect to find a better.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 What a friend he was ! Surely no one ever had a 
 better. God gives us few such. There are few, who have the 
 means to be so generous, and still fewer who have the dispo- 
 sition. I could never when talking ‘face to face’ with him, 
 express the gratitude of my heart, for all his kindness and 
 thoughtful re m e m b ranee.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “For myself I mourn the loss of a true friend, for Mr. 
 Scott was always so kind to me, especially when I most need- 
 ed friends, that I can never forget it.” 
 
31 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ When I first knew Mr. Scott, near thirty years since, at 
 Chenoa, he did not make a profession of religion, and was not 
 a member of the church; but can truely say, his daily walk 
 in life was that of a true hearted Christian, and I know he did 
 far more for the upbuilding of the church, and the cause of 
 Christ there, than any of the church members.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ I knew Mr. Scott only slightly, but admired him great- 
 ly. He was so thoroughly my ideal of a gentleman." 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ He was a good, kind man, a grand man, for he was so 
 noble, generous, and kind to all alike. My son and I hold him 
 in a very sacred remembrance, for all the generosity shown 
 us in an hour of need/’ 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ We mourn the loss of a dear friend, whose place can- 
 not be filled on earth. My husband felt the blow as sorely as 
 if it had been a brother. It is rarely one finds so noble, true 
 a man, and his memory will be precious to his friends. Life 
 is worth living, if one can leave so good a name when called 
 from earth. How gemmed must be his crown, rich reward 
 for all his generous deeds on earth.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ 1 too have lost a good, true friend — even as a brother, 
 one whom I have so loved — his kind, loving heart embraced 
 so many in its affections, and made him beloved as few 
 men are.” 
 
32 
 
 Another: 
 
 “We all loved Mr. Scott, his grand, noble, Christian char- 
 acter has been a ‘living epistle read and known of all men.’ 
 His kind, comforting letter of sympathy sent us when 
 our dear father passed away was a source of pleasure to 
 his children, and I have it to-day in my possession. I know 
 ‘it is well’ with him.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ His strength of character, and intelligence, marked him 
 as one whom men delight to honor. It is a pleasure to 
 know that those whom we love are so worthy, and he won 
 the admiration of all who knew him.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “I never knew him personally, but from others I have 
 heard enough of his noble, useful life — so filled with good 
 deeds— to know that you ‘sorrow not as those who have no 
 hope,’ but have the blessed assurance, that ‘it is well wtih 
 him J | 
 
 Another: 
 
 “We meet with so few of his stamp, it seems as if it 
 would have been a mercy to humanity to have spared him. 
 But oh no! He is gathering the wheat unto himself. One 
 by one they go to reap the harvest of a well spent life — and 
 of the many good deeds done to ‘his little ones.’” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “I had for Mr. Scott much more than an ordinary attach- 
 ment. I am reminded now that long ago I held him in high 
 esteem, and have always been proud to regard him as my 
 
.friend. I recall his high qualities, his many virtues, his 
 marked good sense, his manly bearing, his winning manners 
 and warm attachments.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ My heart goes out to you and yours. I have always 
 admired Mr. Scott’s generous and noble Christian character. 
 My mother, too, so often spoke of him with so much affection.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ His death is a loss to every church and every noble 
 cause in the city.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ In the decease of Mr. Scott the community, the church, 
 and this society have lost a noble man and sympathizing 
 ' member: and we each individually feel bereaved of a friend, 
 whose continuous kindness will ever remain a precious 
 memory. We are assured that with him ’all is well’ and 
 rejoice that he publicly professed his faith in Christ as his 
 personal redeemer, and his loyalty to Him.”* 
 
 Another 
 
 “ How lovely and good he was to us, and how sweet will 
 
 * Note. — He closes a beautiful letter to a cherished friend with these words: 
 “And now, concerning that one thing of chiefest importance to every soul on earth, 
 of greatest interest for the million times millions of years which will make not 
 even a beginning of eternity — I would beg you not to defer making your peace 
 with God. Do not delay, and not only give your heart to Christ, but ‘ confess him/ 
 and you will be better off than all the unconverted crowned heads and millionaires 
 of the earth ; for their glory is so short-lived and so insignificant, compared with the 
 unspeakable, and everlasting blessedness of the saved. Don’t be ashamed to con- 
 fess that you love Christ, who loved you and died that you might be saved, if only 
 you will trust Him.” 
 
34 
 
 ever be our thoughts ot him. We will miss him always. 
 We never had a better friend.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “My husband feels deeply the loss of a warm friend, 
 who, he remarked, ‘ “was the embodiment of so many good 
 qualities, everything courteous, noble and good.’ ” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ It must to all his friends, as to me, seem a personal loss. 
 He was so generous, pure-hearted, and cordial to all his 
 neighbors and friends, it seemed simply a pleasure to him 
 to give pleasure. So many of my pleasantest thoughts and 
 associations connected with our home and life in Blooming- 
 ton, are associated with Mr. Scott.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “While I have not met Mr. Scott for some years, yet I 
 have always remembered him gratefully for the kind feeling 
 he had for me, and the gracious treatment he at all times 
 accorded me, during our association some years ago.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “Besides the deepest sympathy for you, and your daugh- 
 ters, I ieel that we have lost a dear friend, by the passing 
 into the regions of the blessed, of one of the noblest men we 
 ever knew. 
 
 Another: 
 
 “The whole community is to be pitied, which loses a 
 true-hearted, generous and honorable gentleman. I have 
 been thinking, as 1 lay here, ill, of the many times, when a 
 
35 
 
 bashful school girl, 1 was made to feel that he was treating 
 me with all the deference and polite respect that would have 
 been given to a brilliant woman.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “We loved him. He has stood by us through all our 
 days of sorrow and adversity, and his love and sympathy ex- 
 pressed in so many different ways, have helped to smooth the 
 rugged path, and left a memory, that will brighten all the 
 years to come.’ 7 
 
 Another: 
 
 “Eulogy would fail to express to you our idea of him. 
 Utterance of our appreciation and sense of loss would be 
 poor and feeble. By all of mine Mr. Scott was loved and 
 cherished.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ I feel that I have met with an irreparable loss; one 
 whose place can never be supplied.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “Your husband was a faithful friend. It seems as if the 
 world could not spare one so noble, kind and generous in 
 every relation of life. \ can never forget his regal hospital- 
 ity and his touching gentleness to my darling — I can never 
 recall it without my heart welling up into my eyes.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ 1 myself am bereft of a personal friend. I feel indeed 
 that I am one in affliction and bereavement with you and 
 your children.” 
 
36 
 
 Another: 
 
 “Our hearts are too sad for anything we can do or say — 
 such a noble, grand and good man, what a loss to the country, 
 to say nothing of his family and friends.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 ‘‘How feeble is my poor pen to express the esteem for 
 
 your noble husband by both Mr. and myself. His loss 
 
 is not only yours and the dear children’s, but the many 
 friends who loved and honored him, will miss his wise coun- 
 sel and his many unselfish acts of kindness.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “I shall always feel grateful to your husband for his 
 kindness to me. He possessed all the characteristics that 
 form a noble man, with the rare self-depreciation that 
 charms. He has left his precious ones a rich legacy, in a 
 character and career without a blemish.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “I have thought of you and yours so much, and have 
 longed to see you and talk with you of him we all loved so 
 truly. So much seems taken out of my life since he has 
 gone. Such a friend as he was to me; so kind, so thoughtful, 
 I will never have another like him.” 
 
 Another: 
 
 “ 1 cannot think of any man in my wide circle of f riends, 
 that I honored as I did your husband. He was so true , so 
 good! on a higher plane than most men, I was proud to call 
 him my friend. 1 have such sweet and enduring recollec- 
 tions of him, I can never forget him.’ 
 
37 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 M. T. SCOTT. 
 
 When a man of broad, human sympathy, is called from 
 the earth; when a spirit leaves us, which, beyond the age of 
 60 , was bound to us by the ardor, and generous freshness of 
 youth; when we lose a brother, whose great heart made him 
 chivalrous, and full of tender and considerate courtesies, in 
 the most trying circumstances of life; when a keen, self- 
 poised mind, delighting itself alike in truth, for its own 
 beauty, and in the most rigorous and heroic ventures of 
 business competition, is snatched from our companionship, 
 and we lose the pleasures, and profits of the same, we are 
 called upon to mourn with a peculiar sorrow. Such a feeling 
 retifains with us in the death of our brother, Matthew T. 
 Scott. 
 
 Foregoing any further tribute to his worth, but carrying 
 the same in our hearts, we beg to write as his epitaph, in 
 our records: 
 
 Always a gentleman, 
 
 Generous of heart, 
 
 Tender in his attachments, 
 
 Clear and exceptional in his intellect, 
 
 Noble in his life — 
 
 MATTHEW T. SCOTT, 
 
 Born February 24, 1828; 
 
 Died May 21, 1891. 
 
 .James B. Taylor, 
 
 H. S. Swayne, 
 
 Charles L. Capen. 
 
 Committee College Alumni Club. 
 
 B. P. Colton, Secretary 
 
FROM THE NEWSPAPERS, 
 
 Bulletin. 
 
 AT DEATH’S DOOR. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott Experiences a Relapse and is 
 
 Very Low. 
 
 There will be great anxiety and regret throughout the 
 city when it is known that Mr. M. T. Scott, one of our most 
 prominent business men, is in a critical condition. Mr. Scott 
 has been ill with grip for some time, but of late seemed 
 steadily improving. The newspaper statement that he sat 
 out on the porch yesterday was wholly incorrect, as he was 
 unable to leave his bed, nevertheless he was apparently 
 gaining strength. This morning he ate a rather hearty 
 breakfast and soon after fell asleep, and Dr. Taylor, the at- 
 tending physician, found him in a semi-comatose condition, 
 and was unable to rouse him and he has since remained in that 
 state. He seems to recognize those about him, but is unable 
 to speak. Dr. Taylor has remained with him through the 
 day and has had Dr. White, Dr. Parke and Dr. Hill in con- 
 sultation. Relatives have been summoned by telegraph. 
 
 At 4 o’clock Mr. Scott was worse, being in a complete 
 stupor. The physicians do not think he can live till morning, 
 while he may die at any moment. 
 
39 
 
 Pantograph. 
 
 DANGEROUSLY ILL. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott, of this City, Becomes Suddenly 
 Worse and Will Probably Die. 
 
 Ml. M. T. Scott, who has been ill tor a month past, was 
 taken very much worse yesterday morning, shortly after 
 partaking of light refreshments. He had been suffering 
 from what has been commonly termed grip, but what the 
 doctors pronounced to be pneumonia, and a slight bronchial 
 affection. He had been very ill, but was thought to be im- 
 proving some, and yesterday morning his family and friends 
 thought that there was no doubt of his ultimate recovery. 
 After breakfast he fell into a sleep, from which he could 
 scarcely be aroused. His breathing grew stentorian, and 
 although physicians were promptly summoned, he seemed 
 to sink into a comatose state, and all of yesterday aiternoon 
 and night remained in that condition. His physicians say 
 that he is now suffering from paralysis of the brain, and they 
 give but very slight hopes of his recovery. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott, more commonly known as Mr. 
 Matt Scott, is one of the most respected and best known of 
 Bloomington's citizens. He has been a prominent figure 
 here for twenty years, and his character is one of the very 
 highest. He is a very bold, daring, nervy business man, and 
 has been engaged in many and various enterprises, some of 
 them, of very large amount. He is intensely devoted to his 
 family, and to those whom he loves. He is of a very posi- 
 tive and determined nature, and of very abstemious habits. 
 
40 
 
 He never drank a glass of liquor in his life, and never did he 
 use tobacco. 
 
 He is sixty-three years old, and was born in Lexington, 
 Kentucky, and conies from a prominent and honored family 
 of that state. * * * 
 
 His condition last night, up to a late hour, was unchanged. 
 The physicians say that there is a slight chance for his re- 
 cover}^, but some of his most intimate friends, who watched 
 by his bedside last night, fear the worst. 
 
 Pantag raph. 
 
 It is with profound sorrow that the Pantag rapli this morn- 
 ing announces the death of Mr. Matthew T. Scott. Bloom- 
 ington has lost one of its most honorable, upright and 
 capable citizens and business men. Mr. Scott was endowed 
 in no ordinary degree by nature to take a prominent rank 
 among his fellow-men. being ol great courage, of strong' 
 personality, and of vigorous mind and body. He brought 
 into his business relations a sound judgment, with great 
 boldness, sagacity and energy, and succeeded to a marked 
 degree. He was a man capable of the largest transactions, 
 and was built for the broader arena of life. He was of a 
 most generous and kindly nature, a warm and steadfast 
 friend, and achieved success without making enemies. Mr. 
 Scott was widely esteemed throughout central Illinois, and 
 his death will be sincerely mourned by hundreds outside of 
 this city and county. His family is bereft of an atfectionate 
 and loving husband and father, and the community has lost 
 a strong and useful man. 
 
41 
 
 Bulletin. 
 
 The death ot Mr. Matthew T. Scott is regarded on all 
 sides in the light of a public calamity. Men of such eminent 
 business qualifications and enterprising spirit are so rare, 
 that when one is cut down in the zenith of activity and use- 
 fulness it is like the breaking of a link in the commercial 
 chain. And aside from such considerations, the loss from 
 the community of a man of pure life, kind heart and high 
 honor, must always be a source of keen regret. Mr. Scott’s 
 name, so prominently identified with the development of 
 Illinois, will not be forgotten. 
 
 Bulletin , May 21st. 
 
 IN PEACEFUL SLEEP. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott Responds to the Last Summons. — 
 The End of a Noble Life. — Sketch of an Eventful 
 Career. — An Important Factor in the Development of 
 Central Illinois. 
 
 The death of Mr. Matthew T. Scott occurred at 8 o’clock 
 this morning, at the residence, corner ot Taylor and Clayton 
 streets. The end was peaceful and painless, the spirit gently 
 going out while loved ones were watching at the bedside. 
 
 Four weeks ago Mr. Scott was in vigorous health, and 
 giving active attention to large business interests. He was 
 taken down with grip, complicated with symptoms of pneu- 
 monia, and bronchial troubles. Last week his condition be- 
 came alarming, and a council of physicians was held. Sub- 
 sequently he rallied, and his friends were encouraged to 
 
believe that he was on the road to recovery. Yesterday he 
 seemed noticeably stronger, with returning appetite, and 
 ate a light breakfast with evident relish. Soon after he fell 
 into a heavy sleep, or stupor. Dr. Taylor, the attending 
 physician, summoned Dr. Parke and Dr. Hill in consultation, 
 but despite all that skill and experience could suggest, the 
 patient lapsed into a comatose condition from which he 
 never recovered, although at times seeming to recognize 
 those about him. It was known that death was at hand and 
 relatives were summoned by telegraph. His only brother, 
 Mr. Isaac Scott, of Bement, arrived yesterday afternoon, and 
 his brother-in-law, Hon. A. E. Stevenson, who was in Ken- 
 tucky, reached home this morning. 
 
 Mr. Scott was born in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 24, 1828, 
 making him 6B years of age. He came from revolutionary 
 stock and from one of the most prominent families of the 
 early Kentucky aristocracy. His father, Matthew T. Scott, 
 Sr., was for many years cashier, and later, president of the 
 Northern bank of Kentucky, and was one of the most wide- 
 ly known and influential financiers of the state. 
 
 The deceased was educated at Centre College, a noted 
 institution at Danville, Ivy., and on May 12, 1859, married 
 Miss Julia Green, daughter of Rev. Dr. Lewis W. Green, 
 president of Centre College, Ky. The union proved most 
 congenial and felicitous, Mrs. Scott being a woman of rare 
 intelligence and culture, and is overcome by grief at the loss 
 of the companion of so many years. 
 
 About forty years ago, Mr. Scott came to Illinois, and it 
 may be truthfully said, that no man gave more earnest effort 
 
43 
 
 toward developing the young and growing state. He located 
 first at Chenoa, and then lived for a time at Springfield, but 
 for a quarter ot a century he has made Bloomington his 
 home, and has been identified with almost every public enter- 
 prise looking to our advancement. It was largely through 
 his instrumentality that the McLean county coal mine was 
 opened, and carried to a successtul issue. He was the presi- 
 dent from the first, and owned * * * a controlling in- 
 
 terest at the time of his death. He was also interested in a 
 a number of enterprises ot lesser moment. To Mr. Scott 
 was largely due the establishment and maintenance of the 
 Bulletin in its early and trying years He was interested 
 in the paper from the start and finally became the owner, 
 erecting the present building and continuing the paper until 
 it was purchased by Mr. Owen Scott. While operating the 
 Bulletin he acquired the Odd Fellows’ Herald ', of which he was 
 still owner at the time of his death. He was a man of rare 
 judgment and foresight and unbounded courage in financial 
 operations, and would make a deal involving a hundred 
 thousand dollars with less flourish than employed by the 
 average business man in the smallest transaction. To em- 
 ploy a trite expression his word was as good as his bond. 
 Mr. Peter Whitmer, the banker, said to the writer this morn- 
 ing, . “ he was generous and enterprising and the soul of 
 honor, and the better one knew him the greater the respect 
 and the warmer the friendship.” 
 
 He was an active member of the Second Presbyterian 
 church and a close personal friend of the pastor, Dr. Dins- 
 more. He was a large hearted man, and no worthy charity 
 
44 
 
 ever appealed to him in vain, and many will bless his mem- 
 ory, although his deeds of kindness were without ostenta- 
 tion. In point of fact he was personally modest and retir- 
 ing, never courting newspaper publicity or taking a con- 
 spicuous place on public occasions, and in politics, while a 
 life-long democrat and a man of strong convictions, and one 
 who carefully studied and intelligently discussed current 
 issues, he was never a candidate for office. 
 
 Mr. Scott will be greatly missed from this community. 
 His high intelligence, courteous bearing and rare business 
 enterprise and sagacity made him a prominent figure with- 
 out the seeking. * * * 
 
 Leader , May 21st. 
 
 DEMISE OF MR, SCOTT. 
 
 After a Severe Illness He Expires This Morning. — Brief 
 Biography of His Long Life. — Death of One of the 
 Foremost Citizens of Bloom cngton, Greatly Esteemed 
 BY ALL, AND HONORED BY HlS FRIENDS. — HlS BUSINESS 
 
 Connections. 
 
 This morning at 8 o’clock Mr. Matthew T. Scott, the 
 large stockholder in the McLean County Coal Company, 
 breathed his last at his beautiful home, at the corner of East 
 Taylor and Clayton streets. The scene at the home was in- 
 deed a pathetic one, and the news of his death is a sad blow 
 to his hundreds of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 About one month ago Mr. Scott was taken with a severe 
 cold, and it took such a violent hold upon him that he was 
 
45 
 
 confined to his home, and later to his bed. He became very 
 ill, but by the heroic treatment of our best physicians, 
 showed signs of improvement and recovery, and up to yes- 
 terday morning was steadily growing stronger. Yesterday 
 morning he partook of a good, hearty meal, after which he 
 laid down upon his couch to take a short rest. He soon fell 
 to sleep from which it was found quite difficult to arouse 
 him. His breathing grew strong and heavy, and although 
 physicians were immediately summoned, he sank into a let h- 
 ergic state, and continued so the remainder of the afternoon, 
 and until within a few hours of his death this morning. 
 Shortly before his death he grew some brighter, and the 
 friends and relatives were again given substance upon which 
 to base hopes for his recovery. The family had gone to 
 breakfast, when the father and husband sank into a sleep of 
 rest, from which he did not awaken. He breathed his last at 
 8 o’clock. * * * 
 
 During the great immigration to the country in 1852 Mr. 
 Scott came to McLean county, and since that time he has 
 been identified with the progressive steps that it has taken 
 since that year. If there ever existed a true representative 
 of the southern gentleman, it was Mr. Scott, for he was a 
 gentleman in every respect, and his character and good acts 
 are such as will add to the memory of his name. He was 
 honest, outspoken and would allow nobody to be more cour- 
 teous and considerate to a friend than himself. Owing to 
 his positive, determined nature he often led the average man 
 to believe that he was gruff and haughty, but such was not 
 the case, for there never lived a more thoughtful, generous- 
 
46 
 
 hearted man than he. It was necessary for a man to thor- 
 oughly know him to appreciate his good nature and high 
 
 character. He was a genuine Christian in every respect. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 His ancestors were distinguished, and ft was a great 
 pleasure to him to tell of them to his friends in his usual 
 entertaining way. 
 
 Thh funeral arrangements are as yet incomplete, but it 
 is quite probable that it will take place Saturday afternoon 
 at 2 o’clock. 
 
 Pantagraph, May 22d. 
 
 AN ACTIVE LIFE CLOSED. 
 
 Mr. Matthew T. Scott, Our Well Known Citizen, Passed 
 Away Yesterday Morning at 8 O’Clock. — A Sketch 
 of the Busy Life and Success of an Earnest, Up- 
 right Man. 
 
 The city received a severe shock yesterday morning 
 when the announcement went forth that Mr. Matthew T. 
 Scott had breathed his last. Although his life had been despair- 
 ed of for the last tew days, yet it was anxiously hoped that his 
 recovery would finally result, and when his death was learned, 
 it dashed to pieces the faint hopes of many anxious friends. 
 It was only four weeks ago that Mr. Scott felt the illness- 
 coming upon him from which he was never to recover. 
 He had been in vigorous health, and considered the slight in- 
 disposition from which he suffered as a light cold, or at the 
 
47 
 
 worst, & slight attack of the grip. This soon became compli- 
 cated with bronchial affections and symptoms of pneumonia, 
 and Mr. Scott was seriously ill for a time, but when he 
 seemed to be recovering he was taken with a relapse, and the 
 physicians realized that he was in a precarious condition. 
 
 Soon after breakfast Wednesday morning Mr. Scott fell 
 into a heavy sleep, from which he could scarcely be aroused. 
 When he was restored to consciousness he had lost all power 
 of speech and the physicians pronounced his latest ailment 
 paralysis ol the brain. He never regained the power of 
 speaking. His life was given up by the physicians. Some of 
 his relatives and a few of his life-long friends were at his bed- 
 side, including the members of his immediate family, and his 
 brother. For a day he lingered in a condition bordering close 
 to death, and at 8 o’clock May 21st, the end came. He indi- 
 cated by motions that he suffered no pain, and his mind 
 seemed clear to the very last. He recognized those about 
 him, but his tongue was sealed. It was a sad moment for 
 those about him, and when the news of his death went abroad 
 over the city the effect was noticeable,— an effect such as is 
 produced only when a community awakens to the fact that 
 one of its busiest, most earnest and whole-souled men has 
 been taken away. * * * 
 
 When Mr. Scott was eighteen years of age he went to 
 Ohio, where his father had much land, which he took charge 
 of and managed. In 1852 he commenced to invest in Illinois 
 lands and soon afterwards came here, locating where Chenoa 
 now is, where he had a good deal of land. He was much 
 interested in getting the Chicago & Alton railroad located 
 
48 
 
 through his land and did much lor that road. * * * 
 
 Some three years ago he became largely interested in 
 the iron mines ol Tennessee, and purchased 47, ( 00 acres of 
 iron lands in the western part of that state. Last summer 
 he sold this property to a syndicate of English gentlemen 
 reserving for himself a one-fifth interest. His whole manage- 
 ment of this gigantic operation showed rare business capabil- 
 ities and skill. He was one of the wealthiest men of this 
 county, and was a businessman of great boldness and energy. 
 
 The people of Bloomington knew Mr. Scott chiefly as a 
 business man of ability, but to his near and dear friends he 
 was a model of courageous, Christian manhood. He was a 
 man of strong and vigorous character, and his dislikes were 
 as pronounced as his likes. He was a thoroughly honest and 
 upright man and it was only those who did not know him, 
 who did not like him. He was intensely devoted to his 
 family, to his friends, and to all whom he loved, and would 
 do all that mortal man could do to oblige a friend. He was an 
 intensely conscientious man, and would die rather than 
 knowingly do a wrong thing. He never drank a glass of 
 liquor in his life, and never even tasted it, although he had 
 no conscientious scruples against doing so, and generally 
 kept some liquor in the house. He used no tobacco, but 
 kept cigars always on hand for his friends. He never used 
 profane or obscene language and objected to others using it 
 in his presence. 
 
 He was very determined and positive, and when he had 
 once made up his mind, he never changed it except for 
 mighty reasons. As a business man, he was extremely bold 
 
49 
 
 and sell-reliant, and much preferred big transactions to small 
 ones. In fact he became interested in transactions in pro- 
 portion to their greatness. Some four b or five years ago he 
 united with the Second Presbyterian church ot this city, since 
 which time he has been a devoted member of that com- 
 munion. * * * 
 
 The business interests of Mr. Scott are said to be in a very 
 satisfactory condition, as for a year past he has been actively 
 engaged in arranging his many business affairs, having 
 realized and spoken of t he uncertainty of life to a person of 
 his years. His loss to this city will be great, and his place 
 will be hard to fill. He will be missed no less as a business 
 man, than as a progressive, earnest citizen, who was anxious 
 tor the welfare of the city and state. He was an uncompro- 
 mising democrat, and always voted the ticket. 
 
 Not only has Mr. Scott voted the democratic ticket, but he 
 has always been an active member of the democratic party. 
 At the time when political affairs were not the brightest in 
 Central Illinois, he, with several others, organized the demo- 
 cratic newspaper, the Bulletin , and when the others dropped 
 away from the undertaking, Mr. Scott staid with it to com- 
 pletion. Hon. John H. Oberlv was secured as editor, and 
 Mr. Scott spared neither effort nor mouey to make it sucess- 
 ful. It was he who built the present home of that paper. 
 
 Mr. Scott carried no life insurance at the time of his 
 death. Active as he had been ail through life, he took an 
 active interest in affairs about him even during his heavy 
 illness, and seemed always to be conscious of his condition. 
 It is needless to say that he will be missed in the city — this 
 
50 
 
 city that he has helped in so many ways. Realizing the bene- 
 fits which he has brought to them, the citizens of the city 
 unite in their sorrow with the members of his own family, 
 who have undergone the deeper bereavement. 
 
 The funeral services will be held Saturday, at 3 p. m., 
 from the residence, corner of Taylor and Clayton streets. 
 
 The Eye. 
 
 DEATH OF MATTHEW T. SCOTT. 
 
 Demise of an Exemplary Citizen and Eminent Business 
 
 Man. 
 
 The death of Mr. Matthew T. Scott occurred last Thursday 
 morning, at his late home in this city. The immediate cause 
 of his death was la grippe, which toward the end, merged 
 into pneumonia. The daily papers of the city have publish- 
 ed sketches of the life of Mr. Scott, and paid fitting and gen- 
 erous tribute to his career as an exemplary citizen and 
 successful business man. Matthew T. Scott deserved, and 
 his memory today, deserves all the commendable things that 
 have been said and written of him. He was a man pecul- 
 iarly adapted by nature to combat and surmount the obstacles 
 of life. His manner inspired confidence, because he was 
 confident of his own ability, and those who followed his 
 counsels in business matters never found cause to regret it. 
 He ventured upon large enterprises, not because he was of 
 a speculative nature, but because of his far-sightedness and 
 his ability to measure large concerns. These traits led Mr. 
 
51 
 
 Scott to organize, at an early day, the McLean County Coal 
 Company, and it was due to his energy and business saga- 
 city that the plant became one of the most successful and 
 prosperous in the west. Through the attributes named he was 
 enabled to accumulate, during an active career of less than 
 average length, a handsome fortune, by purely legitimate 
 methods. One feature conspicuous in his operations, not 
 particularly touched upon, is the great faith that Mr. Scott 
 had in the material resources of the country, and their pos- 
 sibilities in wealth-yielding. This is testified by his found- 
 ing and promoting the coal mine here, and his large invest- 
 ments in mineral lands elsewhere. 
 
 For the rest, the eminent citizen whose body has just 
 been borne to the tomb, had a character of rare attractive- 
 ness. His personality was inviting, and from first to last, 
 his natural geniality and equable temper continued un- 
 ruffled. He was a true man, a resourceful man, and a man 
 whose success did not arouse envy, because his own upbuild- 
 ing meant the advancement of many others. The death of 
 such a man as Mr. Scott, means a serious loss to the business 
 community every where; it means a lamentable loss to the 
 city of his residence, and an irreparable loss to his family 
 and friends. 
 
 Leader. 
 
 ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETE. 
 
 The Late M. T. Scott to be Interred Tomorrow. 
 
 The funeral arrangements for the interment of the re- 
 mains of the late M. T. Scott are now perfected. 
 
52 
 
 The services will be held at his late home, corner Taylor 
 and Clayton streets, at 3 o’clock tomorrow (Saturday) after- 
 noon, and will be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Dinsmore, 
 pastor of the Second Presbyterian church, of which congre- 
 gation Mr. Scott was a member, and a faithful worker. The 
 funeral procession will move north on Clayton street to 
 Grove, thence west on Grove to Main, and south on Main to 
 the cemetery, where the remains will be buried in the family 
 lot, in the new portion of the burying grounds. 
 
 The death of the husband and father and friend is indeed 
 a hard blow to all, and in this hour of family bereavement, 
 it seems as though the entire populace extends its sympathy, 
 to those from whose midst he was stricken, and expresses its 
 sorrow at the city’s loss. 
 
 Telegrams of condolence have been received from all 
 parts of the country at the residence this morning, and their 
 number shows the esteem in which he was held by so many 
 people. 
 
 There will be a large number of relatives and friends in 
 the city to attend the funeral tomorrow, among whom will 
 be Rev. Dr. Craig and family, of Chicago, relatives of Mrs. 
 Scott. 
 
 The room in which the remains now rest is filled with 
 the choicest of flowers, and the scene is a very impressive 
 one. The funeral tomorrow will undoubtedly be one of the 
 largest held in this city for many years. 
 
53 
 
 Leader. 
 
 CONSIGNED TO EARTH. 
 
 The Remains of Matthew T. Scott Laid to Rest. — The 
 Final Parting a Sad One. — The Funeral This After- 
 noon From the Late Residence of the Deceased. — 
 Loving Friends Bury the Casket Beneath Flowers. — 
 Brief Ceremonies by Dr. Dinsmore. 
 
 It was a large crowd of mourning friends that gathered 
 at the residence of Matthew T. Scott this afternoon, to bid 
 the last farewell to one whom they had loved so dearly. The 
 body reposed in an elegant casket in the east parlor. The 
 floral tributes were many and beautiful. At the head of the 
 coffin was a broken shaft, the gift of the McLean County 
 Coal Company. “ The Gates Ajar,” was the present of the 
 Stevenson children. 
 
 On the casket lay an anchor and a bunch of lilies-of-the- 
 valley from his adopted children, Mrs. Gardner and Miss Sue 
 Winston. A floral pillow inscribed “Friend and Brother” 
 was from the Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson and wile. There was 
 also a wreath from. Mr. Scott’s friends, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman 
 Graham, and numerous other tributes from Mr. and Mrs. 
 Owen Scott, Mr. and Mrs. W. 0. Davis, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. 
 Hanna, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, Dr. and Mrs. Campbell, Dr. 
 and Mrs. J. B. Taylor, Mr. and Mrs Bowen, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Patterson. The most pathetic offering was a pillow of im- 
 mortelles, which reposed near the head of the dead. On it 
 was the single word, “ Papa.” * * * 
 
 The services were simple and impressive. The Misses 
 
54 
 
 Eversole and Evans, and the Messrs. Wilson and Hamilton 
 rendered the music in a touching manner. There was no 
 funeral oration. Dr. Dinsmore, the warm friend of Mr. Scott, 
 made a few sympathetic remarks on the integrity and purity 
 of the dead. With hearts almost bursting with grief, the 
 sorrowing family and friends followed the remains to their 
 final resting place, and laid them tenderly away. 
 
 The honorary pall-bearers were, Judge John M. Scott, R. 
 E. Williams, Dr J. L. White, and W. 0. Davis. The active 
 pall-bearers were' Messrs. H. M. Senseney, R. F. Evans, 
 Peter Wbitmer, James S. Ewing, Owen Scott, and James 
 Colter, of Chenoa. 
 
 Pantag raph. 
 
 BORNE TO THE GRAVE. 
 
 The Funeral of the Late Matthew T. Scott on Saturday 
 Largely Attended by His Old Friends. 
 
 Many sorrowing friends were present Saturday after- 
 noon at the family residence, to show their love and regard 
 for the late Matthew T. Scott. There has probably been no 
 more impressive funeral fora long time in this city, than was 
 that of this man, where so many of the representative citizens 
 were present. Not only from this city, but neighboring 
 towns sent many who had known and honored him in his 
 lifetime, and at his death took this occasion to make a last 
 recognition of their friendship. Mr. Scott was known, not 
 simply as a resident of Bloomington, but as a progressive 
 citizen of the county and central Illinois. 
 
The spacious Scott residence at the corner of Clayton 
 and Taylor streets was crowded Saturday, and many were 
 compelled to remain outside. The services began promptly 
 at 3 o’clock, and were short but very impressive. A brief 
 talk by Dr. Dinsmore, pastor of the Second Presbyterian 
 church, was a beautiful tribute of one who had known Mr. 
 Scott for many years, and had enjoyed the warmest friend- 
 ship with him. Mr. Scott had been a member of the Second 
 Presbyterian church for a number of years, coming for ad- 
 mission into the church in company with his younger 
 daughter. He had always been a faithful and active mem- 
 ber, and was upright in all phases of his life. The speaker 
 told of the pleasure there is in thinking of a man who had 
 left no painful memory behind him. Mr. Scott left such a 
 legacy. In business he was honest and upright, in the house 
 he was good and true, in all things a thorough, consistent gen- 
 tleman. Before Dr. Dinsmore’s address Rev. Dr. Craig, pre- 
 sident of the McCormick theological seminary of Chicago, 
 offered a heartfelt prayer. The music was given by Misses 
 Dora Eversole and Hattie Evans and Messrs. Frank Hamilton 
 and Elmer Wilson. The services were brief, and soon after 
 four o’clock the long procession was on its way to the grave. 
 At the cemetery there was a short prayer by Dr. Craig and 
 the usual benediction by Dr. Dinsmore. The honorary pall 
 bearers were Messrs. R. E. Williams, Dr. J. L. White and W. 
 0. Davis. The active pall bearers were Messrs. H. M. Sense- 
 ney, Peter Whitmer, R. P. Morgan, of Dwight, J. Colter, of 
 Chenoa, and R. F. Evans. 
 
 As said before, there have been few such services in the 
 
56 
 
 city that have called out so many business men. Business 
 generally was laid aside, to do reverence to one who had 
 been most active in its circles. The floral decorations were 
 proluse, and elegant. Among the most conspicuous were 
 “Gates Ajar,” presented by Mr. Lewis G. Stevenson and 
 sisters, nephew and nieces of Mr. Scott; a beautiful piece, 
 bearing the words, “Brother and Friend,” by Hon. and Mrs. 
 A. E. Stevenson; and a piece entitled “Papa,” by the two 
 daughters of Mr. Scott; a scythe, from Mr. Peter Whitmer; 
 a pillow of rosebuds, by the employes ol the McLean County 
 Coal Company; an anchor, by Mr. W. A. Gardner, of Chicago. 
 Wreaths were given by Mr. Lyman Graham, and also by the 
 College Alumni Society, and bouquets of lillies by Miss Grace 
 Cheney, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Swayne, Mrs. Eliza Stevenson, 
 and Dr. and Mrs. Dyson. Besides these, there were many 
 other bouquets and offerings, the tributes of sincere mourn- 
 ers to one whom they regarded most tenderly. 
 
 Many guests were present from other cities, being rela- 
 tives or close acquaintances of Mr. Scott. Mr. Isaac Scott, 
 the oldest and only surviving brother of Mr. Scott, was pres- 
 ent from Lexington. Kentucky. Among others present were 
 Hon. Patrick Joyce, of Louisville, Kentucky, Rev. Dr. W. G. 
 Craig, Professor in the McCormick Theological Seminary, and 
 a cousin of Mrs. Scott; Hon. A. Harwood, of Champaign; Rev. 
 R. C. Conover, of Lexington, a class-mate of Mr. Scott at Cen- 
 tre College, Danville, Kentucky; Rev. S. H. Stevenson, of 
 McLean; Col. R. P. Morgan, of Dwight, and John McWilliams, 
 of Odell; David McWilliams, of Dwight. Chenoa, the town 
 founded by Mr. Scott, and his home for a number of years, 
 
57 
 
 sent down a large number, demonstrating their kindly re- 
 membrance of him, and their sorrow for his death. Among 
 those present were Messrs. E. D. Churchill, Sr., Miss Lily 
 Churchill, James Colter, W. A. Haynes, F. Myers, J. E. 
 Wightman, E. M. Pike, George Harris. A number of the 
 tenants living upon Mr. Scott’s farms were also present, 
 among these being Mr. John Stroll and Mr. George Stroll, of 
 Monticello. A number of the employes of the McLean 
 County Coal Company, of which Mr. Scott has been presi- 
 dent for a number of years, attended also. Telegrams of 
 condolence were received from many who were unable to 
 be present. 
 
 The death of Mr. Scott removes one of our best and 
 most active men. Every citizen of the city, be he rich or 
 poor, is a loser thereby. Upon Mr. Scott’s widow and two 
 daughters the most poignant grief has fallen, his death be- 
 ing peculiarly sudden and distressing. The common sorrow 
 of the city also joins with theirs, and mourns that one in 
 every way so commendable should have been so suddenly 
 called. 
 
 Bulletin , Mai/ 24. 
 
 THE LAST EARTHLY HONORS. 
 
 The Remains of Matthew T. Scott Committed to Mother 
 Earth — A Notable Demonstration of General Sor- 
 row. 
 
 The funeral of the late Matthew T. Scott took place Sat- 
 urday afternoon from the residence, and was one of the most 
 imposing gatherings of the kind seen in Bloomington for 
 
58 
 
 years. The deceased was not a member of any of the or- 
 ders, and the attendance was made up of old friends and ac- 
 quaintances, who claimed the sad privilege of paying the 
 last token of respect. The remains were exposed in the 
 forenoon and the familiar features were calm and peaceful 
 in the long repose. At 3 p. in., the hour of the funeral, the 
 neighborhood was crowded with people and vehicles. The 
 house is large, but only a comparatively small proportion of 
 attendants could secure admission. The casket was hid- 
 den by fair flowers. Music was furnished by members ot 
 the choir from the Second Presbyterian Church, and Dr. 
 Dinsmore, the pastor, made an address, simple and 
 beautiful in diction and sentiment. It was not a con- 
 ventional oration, but the expression of the thoughts of 
 a man of feeling, upon the death of a cherished friend. The 
 remarks were brief and extemporaneous, but came from the 
 heart, and consisted of a strong tribute to a noble life, but 
 just gone out. The procession to the cemetery was an im- 
 posing column, and it was with keenest sorrow that the last 
 farewell was taken. The honorary pall bearers were Judge 
 John M. Scott, R. E. Williams, Colonel R. P. Morgan, Dr. J. 
 L. White and W. 0. Davis. The active pall bearers were 
 Messrs. H. M. Senseney, R. F. Evans, Peter Whitmer, James 
 S. Ewing, Owen Scott, and James Colter, of Chenoa. 
 
 The death of Mr. Scott recalls many things of interest, 
 in connection with the history of commercial enterprises in 
 Central Illinois. In the case of Bloomington, probably no 
 one thing contributed more to the growth of the city than 
 the sinking and maintaining of a coal mine of adequate 
 
59 
 
 capacity. Mr. Scott was the original mover in the enter- 
 prise, and it was his capital and pluck that pulled it through. 
 Old citizens will remember that in the early days, the mine 
 was a very serious problem. It did not pay, and it seemed 
 that it must be abandoned, and it would have gone by the 
 board had not Mr. Scott, with his money and his courage, 
 shouldered the load, and carried it to the splendid success 
 that it is to-day. Without the coal mine, our manufactur- 
 ing industries would cut a small figure. 
 
 Concerning Mr. Scott’s connection with the founding 
 and development of Chenoa, the Pantagraph says: 
 
 The death of Mr. Matt T. Scott has cast a gloom over 
 the city of Chenoa, as Mr. Scott laid out that city, naming it 
 after the Indian name of Chenowa, in 1856. The town was 
 located west of the Chicago & Alton railroad, and business 
 houses and residences were first built there. He offered to 
 give the city land for a park, and it was laid out, but the 
 city did not accept and improve it, and it reverted. Mr. W. 
 M. Hamilton laid out East Chenoa, and business for a time 
 was divided between the two sections, but now all business 
 houses are on land that formerly belonged to Messrs. M. T. 
 Scott, Humphreys & Pickett. Mr. Scott bought a large two- 
 story house there, opposite the M. E. church, and resided in 
 it for a time. He sold it to Green Miller, and moved to 
 Springfield in 1867 or 1868. 
 
60 
 
 From the third volume of u The Scotch-Irish in America .” 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 MATTHEW T. SCOTT. 
 
 Matthew T. Scott, a member of the Scotch-Irish Society, 
 died at his home, in Bloomington, Illinois, May 21, 1891. He 
 was born in Lexington, Kentucky, February 24, 1828; was 
 the fourth son of the late Matthew T. Scott, Sr., for many 
 years president of the Northern Bank of Kentucky, and one 
 of the most eminent financiers ol his day. 
 
 The Scott family was ol Scotch-Irish stock, and emigrat- 
 ed to this country in colonial times, settling first in New 
 Jersey. They were a prolific race, and their descendants 
 became scattered in the surrounding states. It is from a 
 Pennsylvania branch that the subject of this paper came. 
 His ancestors and relatives of the Revolutionary generation 
 showed the love of liberty and manly spirit which is charac- 
 teristic of the Scotch-Irish stock, by serving in the contin- 
 ental armies during the war for indendence. The later 
 generations have, wherever found, always occupied the high- 
 est social positions, and have been distinguished for force of 
 character and integrity, and for ability in the professions or 
 business they followed. 
 
 Mr. Scott himself was a noble representative of the vig- 
 orous intellect, the sterling moral qualities, and the manly, 
 generous self-reliant nature, which seems to be hereditary 
 in the Scotch-Irish blood from which his family sprang. 
 
 He was descended from Robert Scott, an old covenanter 
 hero, who lived in the latter part of the sixteenth century, 
 

LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
61 
 
 and fought at the battle of Bothwell Briggs for the covenant 
 and the crown. Robert Scott was a member of the old Scot- 
 tish Parliament, and opposed the union of the crowns during 
 the reign of Queen Ann, because of the ignoring of the Scot- 
 tish crown and name, in the new Parliament of Great Brit- 
 ain. For this offense he, with a number of others of the two 
 houses of the old Parliament, suffered in the tower of Lon- 
 don with the risk of their heads, until released by an am- 
 nesty of George I, when he was brought over from Hanover 
 to take the throne, in virtue of being a descendant of the 
 Stuarts. Robert Scott and his friend, the Earl of Belhaven 
 — a member of the upper house of the old Parliament — emi- 
 grated in disgust to the north of Ireland. 
 
 His eldest son, John, emigrated to this country about 
 1725, and John’s son, Matthew, married at Carlisle, Pa., in 
 1862 or 1868, Betsy Thompson, daughter of William Thomp- 
 son, commissioned colonel in the Revolutionary army, June 
 25, 1875, promoted brigadier general, March 1, 1876. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated at Centre Col- 
 lege, Kentucky, graduating from that institution in 1846. 
 He soon thereafter removed to Illinois, and by judicious in- 
 vestments, and prudent business management, laid the foun- 
 dation for future success. At the time of his death he was 
 one of the largest landed proprietors in the state 
 
 In his early manhood he foresaw, as did lew of his cotem- 
 poraries, the great future of Illinois. He was the proprietor 
 of the village of Chenoa, in Central Illinois, and its present 
 prosperity is in a large measure due to his foresight and lib- 
 erality. 
 
62 
 
 In the highest sense, Mr. Scott was a man of integrity 
 — in the loftiest sense a man of personal honor. Faithful to 
 every obligation, he was incapable of an ignoble act. He 
 was eminently a just man. Possessing in a marked degree 
 the sturdy characteristics of his Scotch-lrish ancestors, his 
 principle in action was: 
 
 “ For justice all place a temple, 
 
 And all season, summer.” 
 
 Courteous to all with whom he came in contact, he was 
 the highest type of the old school gentleman. 
 
 Declining the nomination tendered him by his party for 
 congress, he chose the quiet of home rather than the turmoil 
 ol political life. He was profoundly interested, however, in 
 public affairs, and in his advocacy of what he believed the 
 right, “ he took consel ever of his courage, never of his fears.” 
 
 Mr. Scott was the founder, and for many years the pro- 
 prietor of the Bulletin , the leading democratic paper of Cen- 
 tral Illinois. He was one of the originators, and the principal 
 owner of the extensive coal mines of Bloomington, to which 
 that city is largely indebted for its present posperity. 
 
 Mr. Scott was married in May, 1859, to Miss Julia, 
 daughter of the late Rev. Lewis W. Green, D. D., president of 
 Centre College, Kentucky. 
 
 His was indeed a happy marriage; his home was ever 
 the abode of refinement and princely hospitality. Many 
 who, in the years gone by, have been guests at his fireside, 
 have heard with sorrow that he is no more. 
 
 Mr. Scott was a devoted member, and steadfast suppor- 
 ter of the Second Presbyterian church, of the city of Bloom- 
 
63 
 
 ington, and the trusted triend and counselor of its pastor, 
 Rev. Dr. Dinsmore. 
 
 Leaving a stainless record, he passed to his grave, fol- 
 lowed in sorrow by almost the entire community, with whom 
 his lot had been cast. He sleeps in the beautiful cemetery 
 near the city he loved; his grave covered with flowers, by 
 those, to whom he had in life, been a friend and benefactor. 
 
 Courageous in life, for him death had no terrors. 
 
 “ Without a sigh, a feature changed, or a shaded smile — 
 
 He gave his hand to the stern messenger. 
 
 And, as a glad child seeks its father’s arms, 
 
 Went home.” 
 
 Manse, Poynette, Wisconsin, [ 
 
 June 9th, 1691. ) 
 
 During a series of years, it was my fortune to be thrown 
 into the most intimate association with M. T. Scott. As 
 memory recalls the unclouded brotherhood in which we 
 walked — the many aspects in which his strong and ardent 
 spirit disclosed itself- — 1 am impressed afresh with the robust- 
 ness and vigor of his nature; with the tenderness and fidel- 
 ity of his loving heart. By nature and habit he was a man 
 of affairs. By nature and habit he was a man of an abound- 
 ing wealth ot affection. The yearning for love was as con- 
 stant a characteristic, as was that redundant vitality of brain 
 which required the stimulus of large business interests. No 
 burden ot care, and no strain of fatigue, were adequate to 
 weigh down, and repress the tides of sweet and tender affec- 
 tion, which were ever flowing spontaneously from the full 
 
64 
 
 and inexhaustable spring within his bosom. No point in his 
 character differentiated him in a more striking way from 
 numbers of men whom I have known, than the union — sin- 
 gular in degree and constancy — of rugged strength, with 
 depth and sweetness of affection. The interplay of these 
 forces was continuous — their fires always aglow — their light 
 and warmth irradiating all his waking hours. 
 
 Another marked feature, was his utter hatred of all du- 
 plicity. He hated a lie as an embodied deviltry. He never 
 met with illegitimate pretension without an instinctive im- 
 pulse to unmask it — to pursue t — -to stone it out of existence. 
 The intensity of this feeling often gave to his countenance 
 the appearance of austerity, which might easily be mistaken 
 for unkind ness — yet the world would be a far safer place to 
 tive in, if more of this heaven-born fire, dwelt in the souls 
 of the children of men. 
 
 As a business man, Mr. Scott was endowed with great 
 fertility of resource. His arithmetic gifts were unusual. As 
 evidence of his remarkable memory, in some directions, he 
 repeatedly stated, that if the records should be destroyed, 
 he could reproduce, from his own recollection, the exact de- 
 scription — section, township, range, and meridian— of every 
 quarter section of land of the 20,000 acres he had located 
 tor himself and others, and also the description of the lands 
 contiguous to them. Poets have dreamed more poems than 
 they have written. He excogitated far more business 
 schemes than he ever attempted to carry out. The play of 
 his mind over business grounds which multitudes of men 
 approach with anxiety, and traverse with toil and difficulty, 
 
65 
 
 was like the rapid and exultant race ol the collegian who 
 drives the football before him. He pursued business with 
 the zest with which the hunter trails the deer. His soul 
 was ever athirst for action. In handling lands and mines he 
 found a thoroughly congenial realm for the exercise of fac- 
 ulties, which delighted in the solution of an endless series ol 
 problems in profit and loss. What men call “speculation,” 
 was to him a prime part of life’s stimulus — aliment- — ro- 
 mance. Speculative schemes came to him as easily as wood- 
 pigeons flock to their feeding grounds, or shaded roosts. 
 The whole affair was one of spontaneous, easy, natural move- 
 ment of inborn faculties. As the bird sings — as the fish 
 swims — as the pointer beats the prairie in quest of game — 
 with kindred ease and elasticity, did he sketch and work out 
 the elements of a business plan. 
 
 A man of this build inevitably cumbers himself more or 
 less. But the endowments to which allusion has been made, 
 are accompanied with this admirable advantage. They for- 
 tify the soul with unflagging serenity, and courage in busi- 
 ness. The unfaltering arithmetic habit of Mr. Scott’s mind, 
 had familiarized him with such a great variety of modes, in 
 which money may be made, that he stood at all times filled 
 with the vivid sense, that a loss here, may be repaired there. 
 My impression is, that the “bother” which the majority of 
 mankind find in the matter of “making a living,” was to him,, 
 through life, one of the mysteries of human inaptitude. 
 
 My habitual impression, throughout years of most inti- 
 mate daily intercourse with Mr. Scott was, that his estimate 
 of the value of money and property, was wisely graduated 
 
66 
 
 — eminently sober — just — and moderated by manifold re- 
 flections. He saw so many methods by which values could 
 be accumulated or enhanced — saw so many ways by which 
 human life may be embittered and ruined beyond money re- 
 demption — valued at so high an estimate, those best en- 
 richments which millions cannot buy — found such genuine 
 satisfaction in helping others and gratifying his family — that 
 he was defended and fortified solidly, on many sides, against 
 contractions of spirit, and growths of avarice. He rises now 
 before my vision, in the prime of his manhood — as one of the 
 most robust, vitalized, brotherly, and generous men, that I 
 have known on this earth. 
 
 Mr. Scott had a very rare gift for the mastering of lan- 
 guages. Had his whole time and strength been given, from 
 earth youth, to that department, he would have made one of 
 our most erudite linguists, — or he would have made a superb 
 statistician, — or once more,- — as a working member of the 
 senate of the United States, he would on all questions of 
 finance have risen to deserved eminence. 
 
 My associations with Mr. Scott were some years prior to 
 his union with the church of God, but not prior to his pro- 
 found reverence for, and interest in the gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. He was during all these years, one of the most 
 regular and devout attendants on the ministry of the Word, 
 and most decided in the avowed conviction that the whole 
 truth revealed by God, should be tenaciously held and 
 preached. The places of such men can not be easily filled, 
 in any community, from which our gracious and Sovereign 
 God may remove them. 
 
67 
 
 GOOD NIGHT. 
 
 Sleep on beloved and take thy rest, 
 
 Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour’s breast; 
 
 We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best — 
 
 Good Night. 
 
 Calm is thy slumber as an infant’s sleep, 
 
 But thou shalt wake no more to toil and weep; 
 Thine is a perfect rest, serene and deep — 
 
 Good Night. 
 
 Until the shadows from the earth are cast, 
 
 Until He gathers in His sheaves at last, 
 
 Until the twilight gleam be overpast — 
 
 Good Night. 
 
 Until the Easter glories gild the skies, 
 
 Until the dead in Jesus shall arise, 
 
 And He shall come, but not in lowly guise — 
 Good Night. 
 
 Until made beautiful by love divine, 
 
 Thou in the likeness of thy Lord shall shine, 
 
 And He shall bring that golden crown of thine — 
 Good Night. 
 
 Only good night beloved, not “farewell,” 
 
 A little while, and all His saints shall dwell 
 In hallowed union indissoluble — 
 
 Good Night. 
 
 Until we meet again before His throne, 
 
 Clothed in the spotless robe He gives His own, 
 Until we know, even as we are known — 
 
 Good Night. 
 
LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOI 
 

ADDRESS 
 
 OX 
 
 THK CHARACTER AND SERVICES OF 
 
 RBV. LBWIS WA.RNBR GRBBN,B>. B. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING OF A TABLET TO HIS MEMORY 
 AS ONE OF THE 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF C ENTRE COLLEGE, 
 
 DAA T V/LLH, KENTUCKY, 
 
 sJune lO, 1&Q1 , 
 
 BY 
 
 Rbv. Willis G. Craig, B>. B. 
 
 PROFESSOR IN 
 
 M'CORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
li^Seriptioi) 09 J a blet. 
 
 So when a o'oor l man die's, 
 
 For years beyond our Icen, 
 
 ' The liu'ht he leaves behind him, lies 
 Upon the paths of men." 
 
If an attempt is made to estimate with critical care and 
 precision, the character and services of a man who has 
 reached even comparative distinction, valuable aid will be 
 derived from a thorough scrutiny of the special features of 
 the region which produced him. 
 
 There is formative power in regional peculiarities, and 
 when a particular vicinage is marked by distinct and easily 
 recognized traits, we may well expect to see a race of men 
 springing from its midst, fitted to give expression to the 
 characteristic qualities with which it has been natively 
 endowed. The great commonwealth, within whose borders 
 we stand to-day, is rich and varied in distinctive features. 
 
 Segregated by its mountain ranges and water courses 
 from neighboring states, it has been called the Switzerland 
 of America. With scenery of unsurpassed beauty — soil of 
 inexhaustible depth, and a climate, which the greatest trav- 
 ellers have declared to be the most delightful and health- 
 giving in America, it received to its virgin bosom a popula- 
 tion well fitted to develope its amazing resources ; to found 
 noble institutions, to establish ideal homes, and to build up 
 and perpetuate a society which has won the admiration of 
 the land. Men of family, of character, of great ability and 
 
4 
 
 liberal training, founded this state on the corner stones of 
 liberty, education and religion ; and cultivated men of high 
 breeding, wide education, solid character, and distinguished 
 ability have stood guard over its destinies from the begin- 
 ning until now. 
 
 From the depths of this mighty productivity has sprung 
 a people of broad mould and rare proportion, who illustrate 
 well the undoubted principle, that a rich, mellow soil must 
 produce a luxuriant growth. 
 
 You have known from the earliest days the jealous 
 concern with which the fathers guarded the reputation of 
 this honorable state. By many a ruddy fireside have you 
 heard worthy sires, instructing ingenuous youth in the 
 sacred principles of courage and cleanness ; of personal 
 honor, and chivalrous devotion to right ; of fidelity to 
 country, religion and home ; of open handed hospitality, 
 graced with the utmost refinements of courteous intercourse; 
 and of well poised ambition to reach honorable distinc- 
 tion in the highest walks of human life ! 
 
 These quick and potent counsels were swift to produce 
 their legitimate results. Successive generations followed to 
 illustrate the principles they were taught to profess, and to 
 adorn the goodly land to which they owed their fortunate 
 birth. 
 
 In the capacity of a great community to reproduce 
 after its kind ; to preserve its fairest forms, its noblest 
 types ; to embellish them, even from age to age, by the 
 
close processes of a regulated culture, you have a right to 
 take a pardonable pride. 
 
 To those illustrious men, who have manifested the 
 peculiar qualities of the region in the most marked and 
 emphatic way, a debt of gratitude is due. 
 
 If dead, their memories should be held in tender rever- 
 ence ; if living, they should be honored. Whether living or 
 dead, their virtues should be imitated ; and their descend- 
 ants should press with accelerated footsteps along the path- 
 way which they have marked out. 
 
 To this exalted circle of great men, born of this 
 favored soil, belonged the subject of my sketch, 
 
 Lewis Warner Green. 
 
 He descended from a long line of worthy ancestors. Born 
 January 28, 1806, on the plantation “Waveland,” near Dan- 
 ville, Kentucky, he grew to manhood on the paternal estate. 
 His great grandfather was Col. Henry Willis, the founder 
 of Fredericksburgh, Virginia; his great grandmother, Mildred 
 Washington, sister of Augustine Washington, aunt of Gen. 
 George Washington. His grandfather was Duff Green, 
 and his grandmother, Anne Willis, both of Virginia. His 
 father, Willis Green, who moved in early manhood to Ken- 
 tucky ; his mother, Sarah Reed. His first wife was Miss 
 Eliza J. Montgomery, of Lincoln county, Kentucky. There 
 were no children by this marriage. In April, 1834, he was 
 again married, taking as his life companion Mrs. Mary Law- 
 
6 
 
 rence, daughter of Mr. Thomas Walker Fry, of Springhouse, 
 Kentucky. His children are Julia, wife of the late Matthew 
 T. Scott, of Bloomington, Illinois, and Letitia, wife of Hon. 
 Adlai E. Stevenson, of Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 In the development of his native qualities, he felt the 
 pressure of influential hands, skilled to mould the glowing 
 materials of his mind and heart into splendid forms. A 
 mother of singular beauty, whether of person or of mind, 
 with ministrations of utmost gentleness, tempered with the 
 firmness of profound conviction, first laid the plastic touch 
 upon his young life. When she was gathered to her rest, 
 his older brother’s wife, another saintly soul, a second 
 mother to him, took up the delicate task of training an 
 uncommon child for the mighty tasks of earth and the still 
 grander labors of heaven. 
 
 And the fine response which he returned to everything, 
 pure, and beautiful, and noble ; the utter hatred and flash- 
 ing scorn with which he struck and trampled upon the 
 coarse, the vile, the loathsome, the treacherous elements of 
 depraved human life, attest the quality and power of the 
 early influence which brooded over his earlier years. 
 
 Soon he came beneath the skillful guidance of one of 
 the few real masters of the day. A man also to the manor 
 born, of powerful intellect, distinguished classical learn- 
 ing, a wonderful love of teaching, and a rare aptitude for 
 its commanding duties, Lewis Marshall had gathered into 
 his school a few lads from the leading families of the state, 
 
who made a family circle around his feet. Among these 
 was Lewis Warner Green. Here first, perchance, were 
 experienced the sacred stirrings and serene pleasures of 
 growing knowledge. Beneath the wise stimulation and 
 accurate direction of the learned teacher, the beauty, the 
 wealth, and the priceless contents of the classic tongues 
 engaged and fascinated the budding intellect of the youth- 
 ful scholar, and from that date it seemed assured that he 
 would, if spared, reach distinguished eminence in the 
 department of linguistic learning. The professors at Tran- 
 sylvania and Centre in turn aroused and directed his inquir- 
 ies along the path of a broad and varied culture. In the 
 early years of his vigorous manhood, he crossed the sea in 
 pursuit of a discipline still more exact and extended, and 
 there in the storied lands of the old world, passed beneath 
 the commanding influence of the greatest scholars of that 
 age. 
 
 One of the chief boons which Providence may grant to 
 an eager, receptive young scholar, is to place him in contact 
 with teachers who are not only masters in the technique of 
 their own departments, and broadly sympathetic with all 
 truth ; but capable as well of entering into the possibilities 
 of the student mind, of perceiving the agitations, and esti- 
 mating aright the thrilling experiences of the ardent spirit, 
 stirred to its very depths by the touch of vivifying knowl- 
 edge. Such a blessing was vouchsafed this young scholar 
 at a time when equal advantages were unusual. 
 
At Halle he listened to the close, severely reasoned, 
 analytic, linguistic processes of Gesenius. At Berlin he fol- 
 lowed with rapt attention the majestic sentences of Neander, 
 the father of modern church history, as he unfolded the 
 unearthly history of the kingdom of God, passing through 
 the nations ; he drank in from the sweet words of the saintly 
 Tholuck the very essence of the Johannean gospel, and 
 soared with Hengstenberg amid the lofty disclosures of 
 Messianic prophecy. Under the conduct of distinguished 
 oriental scholars, at the famous university of Bonn, he gave 
 special attention to the study of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, 
 and Chaldee ; and thus laid the foundation of wide erudi- 
 tion in the department of linguistics. 
 
 Through the medium of these varied disciplines, his 
 taste was formed, large information gathered, his character 
 established, and the man made ready for his life work. 
 
 The brief time allotted to this address will not allow 
 extended notice of Dr. Green’s professional career. His 
 first labors were wrought in this, his native place. The 
 impression made by his fine talents and his polished learn- 
 ing soon brought him into wider notice ; and the broader 
 constituency of the church at large promptly called for 
 his services, in some of the most important centers of 
 Presbyterian influence. Cities like Pittsburg and Baltimore, 
 and a great state like Virginia in turn demanded his pres- 
 ence; now in the professor’s chair; now in the pulpit ; now 
 in the president’s seat. 
 
The country outside of his original district, sat with 
 pleasure beneath the charm of his oratory ; owned with 
 genial confidence the scope and depth of his learning, and 
 yielded with responsive emotion to the rare fascination of 
 his winning manners and elevated life. 
 
 In the full prime of manhood, he returned to his native 
 state, and soon to his early home, and to the presidency of 
 his Alma Mater ; here to yield the richest fruits of his 
 mature powers, and here to die, May 26, 1863, where he 
 was born, secure in the admiration of the entire community, 
 and the tender love of a countless number of dear friends 
 throughout the entire church, who had enshrined him in 
 their heart of hearts. 
 
 In what remains to be said, I may properly ask you, in 
 the spirit of this occasion, to consider Dr. Green 
 
 1. As a man of true genius. 
 
 I shall not attempt, by any subtility of discrimination, 
 to define the concept of genius, as it may be distinguished 
 from talent, or mental ability, or common sense, or general 
 faculty. 
 
 There is, however, among all careful thinkers, a ready 
 admission of that peculiar, fine, exquisite quality, which we 
 call genius. A swift, intuitive apprehension of the harmony 
 and potency of truth in its essence, and in its relations — a 
 keen sensitiveness to beauty in all its varied forms, and a 
 rare facility of expression, enter, at least as elemental par- 
 ticulars, into the idea we have of true genius. Impressions 
 
10 
 
 upon such a soul are instantaneous, vivid, and lasting. 
 Ideas come winged and flashing from afar ; images cluster 
 within the mind, bright and many tinted, illustrating the 
 wealthy thought, and impassioned words give utterance to 
 the living truth, which clamors for expression Such men 
 do net need to await the slow process of painful reasoning ; 
 they do not need the crashing thunder of accomplished 
 events to awaken them to the signs of the times, and their 
 needs ; they see events coming from beyond, and seek to 
 guide them when they come. 
 
 They see truth placarded in large letters where ordi- 
 nary men are dull of sight, or perhaps, see not at all. 
 “ Luther had that true genius, that made him paramount 
 among the men of his time, and left an imperishable influ- 
 ence upon all following times.” Shakespeare had this mar- 
 velous gift, and before his penetrating gaze the labyrinth of 
 human nature stood disclosed. He painted it, played with 
 it, made it do his bidding. He walked with composure 
 amidst its deepest secrets ; unravelled its profoundest per- 
 plexities ; described its highest aspirations and, like a seer 
 standing on the hilltops, prophesied its destiny. Thomas 
 F. Marshall and Richard H. Menafee possessed this sacred 
 fire, and out from their impassioned souls burst the tempest 
 of resistless eloquence, which swept men to conclusion, and 
 to action, with a vigor and certainty unknown to the 
 resources of a cold and passionless logic. To this order of 
 gifted souls belonged the man whose character I seek to 
 portray. 
 
The swift and accurate intuitions; the bold, yet chaste 
 imagination ; the varied, yet skillful combination of fact and 
 illustrative fancy ; the insight into the human heart ; the 
 knowledge of the motives which sway men ; of the fears 
 that affright the race ; of the dauntless hopes which after 
 all bespeak our immortality ; the elegant and copious forms 
 of speech, fitted to express with equal readiness the boldest 
 reasoned thought, the subtle distinction, or the most delicate 
 fancy ; these several capacities, which he manifested with 
 abundant fullness, had their rise within that mysterious 
 endowment, which we call, with admitted vagueness, human 
 genius. 
 
 It remains, in each instance, to determine whether this 
 gift is of certain value. The powers that pertain to such 
 men, unregulated by careful thought and moulding experi- 
 ence, may prove an evil rather than a good ; a curse rather 
 than a blessing. If we would be judicious in our estimate, 
 we must see what use this man made of his peculiar gifts. 
 To this end we may consider him 
 
 2. As a man of learning. 
 
 The snare along the path of specially brilliant men, is 
 an undue tendency to self-confidence. They trust to the 
 inspiration of the moment ; they rely upon their intuitions ; 
 they revel in the luxuriance of a versatile fancy ; they expect 
 to find their account on all occasions in the marvels of a 
 never failing utterance. 
 
12 
 
 But then there is a wealth of valuable information, 
 which is not apprehended by the intuitions, which is not 
 posited by the ultimate principles of belief, and which the 
 most vivid imagination fails to picture. This information 
 must be obtained , and that by the most earnest efforts of 
 studious application. 
 
 When this information has been fully obtained, digested, 
 and applied in any special department of human knowledge 
 by a given man, he may be called learned in that branch. 
 If his inquiry leads him into additional departments with 
 equal care and exhaustiveness, he is more than a specialist ; 
 he is a general scholar. If he essays familiar acquaintance 
 with all knowledge, and succeeds, he is entitled to the dis- 
 tinction of authoritative erudition. Dr. Green was a wide 
 student from the beginning. He reached eminence in the 
 branches which are embraced in the profession which he 
 espoused. He was specially distinguished in the depart- 
 ment of philology, standing in the front rank of oriental 
 scholars in this country. Later in life philosophic studies 
 engaged his attention, and he made himself familiar with 
 the entire circuit of metaphysical and psycological discus- 
 sions. In the general literature of the polite tongues, he 
 was familiarly at home. He had somewhat to say to his fel- 
 low men, because he had found that somewhat by the most 
 painstaking inquiry and long continued study. All honor 
 to the men of real learning, who rise to instruct the world, 
 who lead us wisely because they know the truth, and guard 
 
13 
 
 us safely by the wisdom of their opinions from the folly of 
 the ignorant pretender, and the hurt of the crafty deceiver. 
 
 3. Dr. Green must be considered as a teacher. 
 
 He loved young men, and was deeply interested in 
 their mental and moral growth. He acquainted himself 
 with the special aptitudes of individual men ; sought to 
 arouse their dormant powers ; quickened their ambition for 
 rare and accurate scholarship, and led them skillfully into 
 the rich fields of useful knowledge. He had a passion for 
 knowledge himself. He had experienced the joys of exten- 
 sive acquisition. He recognized the transforming power of 
 liberal culture, and his soul reveled in the delight of ooiidinor 
 aroused youth into the depths of profound inquiry. It was 
 no slavish task which he undertook, as from day to day he 
 met his classes. It was the joy of a master sitting with his 
 disciples in the quiet seclusion of the lecture room, as 
 within a shrine, made sacred by the exalted character of the 
 services as together they sought the very essence of truth. 
 
 His varied and widely extended learning in all the 
 branches of knowledge connected with his profession ; his 
 firm conviction, after thorough examination, of all the truths 
 .which he held and taught ; his generous, devoted affection 
 for young men, and his tact and management in the work of 
 •teaching, secured for him eminent success as an instructor, 
 alike in the theological seminary, and in the different col- 
 leges over which he was called to preside. He was set in 
 the midst of ereat teachers, and he maintained the lustre of 
 the line. 
 
u 
 
 Into the place left vacant here by the death of his 
 illustrious predecessor, he stepped, to take the charge made 
 renowned by the splendid talents and exalted devotion of 
 the great men whom he succeeded, and when death met him 
 in the midst of his brilliant career, not one ray had faded 
 from the shining reputation which had placed this college in 
 the forefront of educational success. 
 
 4. But this estimate would be imperfect, if we did not 
 consider him as a preacher. 
 
 To this great field of labor he was perpetually drawn, 
 as by the force of a resistless magnet. His natural powers, 
 the high integrity, spirituality, and consistency of his Chris- 
 tian character ; his insight into spiritual truth ; the range of 
 his professional acquirements, and his unselfish love for men, 
 combined to make him a great preacher. Sinful, unhappy 
 men were- his brothers ; brothers in the deepest need. The 
 gospel which he was commissioned to preach, provided the 
 only sufficient supply for that dreadful need. And when he 
 heralded that precious gospel w.ith the glow of commanding 
 eloquence to his ruined fellow creatures, the man in his com- 
 pleteness might be observed. 
 
 He was not always equal in his public efforts. Such 
 men rarely are. But when he stood in the midst of a large 
 audience of sympathetic hearers, and had for his theme 
 some lofty doctrine of divine revelation, it may be said with 
 out the slightest trace of exaggeration, that he belonged in 
 the front rank of preachers. Some of you remember him. 
 
He rises before me now, as I have described him elsewhere. 
 “As he spoke, his person, singularly erect and commanding, 
 seemed instinct with life in its supremest emotion; his eye, 
 soft and mellow in repose, kindled, as he summoned his 
 powers for some lofty effort, until it sparkled and shone and 
 burned like a flame; now lustrous with the light of rapt affec- 
 tion; now gleaming with the glow of some grand imagination; 
 now piercing like an eagle’s as he rose to the height of some 
 fiery denunciation of sin or untruthfulness. 
 
 “ We never saw such an eye. It was the shining 
 through of the fires that burned within. In its keen and 
 vivid flashes it announced the coming thought; men sat en- 
 tranced beneath its fascinations and acknowledged the suprem- 
 acy of its power. The intellectual force and vivacity of his 
 character sparkled on his face; his voice rose with the de- 
 mands of his effort; his utterance became rapid, his gestures 
 impassioned, yet the very embodiment of grace ; and his whole 
 mien assumed the commanding posture of an authorized am- 
 bassador of the Most High. We have rarely heard a man, 
 either in the pulpit, on the platform, or at the bar, who sur- 
 passed him in moving eloquence, or who might lay a better 
 claim to the rank of a master of the human heart. By the 
 structure of his mind, and the delicacy of his physical consti- 
 tution, he was necessitated, as it were, to those internal 
 processes by which the very depts of his own soul were 
 sounded until its fearful competency for suffering as well as 
 enjoying was fully realized. As a result, he could tread 
 
those remote and mysterious paths, which take their dark 
 way through the profounder consciousness of the soul with 
 a steadiness and fearlessness of step rarely equalled; and 
 many instances might be recorded of happy relief afforded 
 to doubt-pressed and storm-swept souls, by the keen and 
 satisfactory analysis of their troubles in his public dis- 
 courses.” 
 
 “ But this hasty outline would be incomplete if mention 
 was not made of his exceeding tenderness when he would 
 speak of the comfortable things of the gospel to the children 
 of the covenant. His own views of the unfathomable depths 
 of God’s loving heart were the most profound and touching 
 that the writer has ever heard presented, and no man was 
 more successful in drawing souls under the very shadow of 
 his wing. How wonderfully could he speak of the peace of 
 the gospel. Beautiful is the sea after a storm, with the rays 
 of the sun sparkling upon its dancing waves, or the calm 
 mild beams of the moon sinking into its impenetrable depths. 
 So is the soul after the storm of doubt and passion has 
 passed, settling to rest in the peace of the gospel. So he 
 was accustomed to speak. It is said that in the last year of 
 his life his preaching was more and more permeated with 
 this tenderness, as the horrors of civil war broke loose upon 
 his hitherto happy people, causing them to taste the bitter- 
 ness of life. There never beat a tenderer heart than his; 
 and that thoughtful tenderness to-day brings tears to the 
 eyes of many of his friends, who will pass by the claims of 
 
17 
 
 his genius, to dwell with subdued affection upon his almost 
 womanly tenderness. 
 
 “ One of his most frequent epithets in speaking of Christ 
 was, ‘the gentle Saviour’; and yet the fire and passion of 
 his nature were such, that the lightning would gleam from 
 his eye, and the thunder might be heard in his voice.” Life 
 of Halsey, pp. 96-7. 
 
 The services rendered by Dr. Green to the church and 
 the world were very great. He was a friendly and helpful 
 advisor to the individual. He influenced powerfully large 
 bodies of seminary and college students. The great congre- 
 gations, to which he preached all over the land, were in- 
 structed, edified, and comforted by his sermons, and many 
 souls were turned to Christ by his persuasive appeals. 
 
 The cause of education in this country, especially in its 
 highest forms, is especially indebted to his intelligent advo- 
 cacy — and society at large felt the impress of his noble char- 
 acter, his polished breeding, and his wide spread beneficence. 
 Many lessons profitable to us all may be gathered from a 
 study of Dr. Green’s character and services. 
 
 His patience and courage under the difficulties which 
 beset his youth were admirable. His determination to excel, 
 and that, by means of faithful diligence and laborous appli- 
 cation, should arouse our young men to like fidelity to their 
 increasing opportunities. 
 
 Dr. Green in his early youth determined to make the 
 most of himself. He sought the widest culture. He coveted 
 
18 
 
 the best gifts. He feared not the highest and most respon- 
 sible places. Ah, exclaimed one: Was he not ambitious? 
 Yes, I say: Certainly! Rightfully ambitious; sacredly am- 
 bitious. “ It belongs to the dignity of human nature to aim 
 at and to execute something great, and this tendency he 
 kept on the upward movement.’’ But not for himself did he 
 press on, up the ascending way. He cared for no triumphs, 
 which did not magnify his Lord and benefit mankind. 
 
 He was the most unselfish of men; the gentlest, most 
 affectionate of friends; the humblest of Christians. 
 
 He owed much to the soil from which he sprung. He 
 repaid that much, and with large interest!