Chemung County NY Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice School Memorabilia of the Tri-Counties 1916 and 1913 List of Seniors at Elmira College

School: Elmira College City of Elmira, Chemung County NY Yearbook - List of Seniors Year: 1916 and 1913 Submitted by: Anne Ross

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IN MEMORIAM

“The Rev. Augustus Woodruff Cowles, the first President of Elmira College, died on Saturday, March 15 [1913], after a long life of studious activity. Dr. Cowles was in his ninety-fifth year at the time of his death and until two weeks before that time had never experienced an illness. His funeral was held at 3 o’clock, Tuesday afternoon, in the Elmira College Chapel, in which place the body had lain in state from ten o’clock that morning. The Chapel was filled with friends of the deceased President, with the College students, past and present; the clergy of the city and the members of the College Faculty. President A.C. MacKenzie, of the College, conducted the services, assisted by Rev. W.L. Sawtelle, who read the scripture lesson; Rev. George W. Warren, who offered prayer; and the Rev. William Chapman, who read the resolutions passed by the Elmira Ministerial Association and the Elmira Theological and Literary Society.

Among the guests from out of town were: Charles R. Wheelock, of Albany, and Commissioner of Education of the Regent of N.Y. State; Rev. J. Wilfred Jacks, of Geneva, N.Y.; the Rev. John C. Ball, of Corning, N.Y.; the Rev. A.  Morse, D.D., Troy, Pa.; Superintendent Jacobi, of the Elmira Board of Education; and the Presbyterian clergy of the city. The trustees of the College were also present. The student body in their accustomed seats sang the hymns which were the favorites of the late Dr. Cowles. The floral tributes were exceedingly beautiful and, in part, were in the college colors, purple and gold. They included a purple blanket studded with daffodils, a gift of the Alumnae of the College; a pillow of daffodils and violets from the Faculty; a wreath of bay leaves and yellow roses from the Trustees of the College, and a sheaf of calla lilies from the Student Body. There were numerous other floral pieces from friends.
 The burial service was in Woodlawn cemetery and was private. President MacKenzie read the commitment service, the Rev. Mr. Sawtelle offered prayer and the Rev. Mr. Warren pronounced benediction. The pall bearers were Messrs. H.C. Mandeville, F.M. Howell and Elmer Dean, of the Board of Trustees; and Dr. F. A. Richmond, Dr. H.A. Hamilton and Prof. A.H. Norton of the College Faculty.
 The resolutions read by the Rev. Mr. Chapman were as follows:
 “A joint meeting of the Elmira Ministerial Association and members of the Elmira Theological and Literary Society was held in the parlors of the First Baptist Church this morning. The Rev. William T. Henry presided. The meeting was called to take suitable action on the death of the Rev. Augustus W. Cowles, D.D., L.L.D., President Emeritus of Elmira College. Warm personal tributes to Dr. Cowles’ memory and service were paid by the clergymen present.
 “The translation of the Rev. Augustus Cowles, D.D., L.L.D., after nearly sixty years of useful activity in our city calls for appreciative expression from the Ministerial Association of Elmira, and the Elmira Theological and Literary Club, of which he was a charter member.
 “Well-nigh half this service was rendered before the longest existing pastorate of thirty-seven years was begun. We who have been sharers in any part of this service and fellowship have counted ourselves growing richer because of it, and now that the fellowship is interrupted for a season we shall cherish fond memories.
 “A pioneer blazing the way for the higher education of women, Dr. Cowles has rendered a service to humanity and to civilization, which finds partial memorial in the splendid college he founded and for so long and successfully guided. Yet the college was but a pebble thrown into the ocean of life, whose enlarging circles of influence no man can measure for they shall never cease.
 “But it was in the closer personal relations of Christian minister and brother that Dr. Cowles endeared himself to two generations of pastors in Elmira and the Southern Tier. In spite of the ceaseless energy he spent in the service of the college, the great educator maintained throughout the closest relation with the church in our city. He was a frequent and acceptable preacher in many pulpits; a lover and profound student of the Bible, his service in its exposition was generous and stimulating; and possessing remarkable artistic gifts, his “chalk talks” on many subjects gave instruction and entertainment. In him the ideals of the higher education and refined spiritual religion were harmoniously blended.
 “Though so gifted as a thinker, organizer and leader, never was man more modest and childlike. Holding strong convictions himself on all subjects, he was nevertheless most charitable in dealing with the opinions of others His kindness of feeling was only equaled by his kindness of speech. He was an all-‘round Christian gentleman. Many have been the pastors in this city who have profited by his wise counsels—counsels never volunteered—but cheerfully given when asked.
 “To the household made so desolate and lonely by his going we extend our sincerest sympathy.”

PRES. MacKENZIE’S TRIBUTE

 The following address was delivered by President MacKenzie:
 “Dear Friends:--We are here to perform the last solemn rites for one who for long years went in and out among us and those who came before our time. For more than 90 years, his life has been an open book, known and read of all. He was prominent as a student, a clergyman and an educator. For a period approaching 60 years he was associated with this college as president, active or emeritus. So prominent has been his career that of necessity little can be said that is not familiar, as well to those here present as to all Elmirans and former Elmira College students throughout the length and breath of the land. However, it is fitting that to-day we should endeavor to recall some of the wholesome influences that emanated from his life and personality, from his long and unique public service. Thus may we learn some encouraging lesson as from an old master, and apply it to our own lives. To this end the words of one of the world’s wise men come to me—‘The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth  more and more unto the perfect day.’
 “Than this, few literary expressions are more beautiful in imagination, more comprehensive in description. In a single thought is described a long and beautiful life, its morning of ambition, its mid-day of struggle, its evening of mellow calm. In all the universe, with its wonders and worlds, its earth and sky, its continents and countries, its religion and philosophy, its art and sciences, its languages and literatures, its social problems and economic conditions, there is no subject of study so instructive and ennobling as that of an individual, who through long years has traded with his God-given talents and made the greatest possible use of them.
 “We are here assembled to pay a tribute of respect, to bid a long farewell to one whose span of life included within it nearly a century of almost perfect physical being, rare intellectual attainment and wide spiritual vision. It was his experience to have been, for four score of years and more a close and comprehensive student of subjects sacred and secular, and when he saw the shadows lengthening, the evening approaching, the sun setting, he could calmly say—

 My mind a perfect kingdom is,
  Such perfect joy therein I find
  As far exceeds all earthly bliss
  That God and nature hath assigned!

 “This attainment is not so much the result of native ability as of persistent application, of industrious trading with the God bestowed talents. It comes from the earnest and honest use of the smallest talent, which gradually increases the mental and moral and spiritual worth of the individual, In the life of him to whom we bid farewell today, this was made strikingly manifest, and the same is possible to all who with persistency apply themselves as did he.
 “To me there is inspiration and pleasure in going back, in imagination to a home of more than 80 years ago, in which the boy, Augustus Cowles, was being brought up by Godly parents, of wisdom, ambition and piety, who realized that:

 Learning is a fountain pure
 Out from which all glory springs,
 Who so then would glory win
 With learning first must needs begin.

 “The learning in that home was both sacred and secular. With interest and profit have I listened to Dr. Cowles as he told me how his mother from his infancy began to develop in him a memory which would not surrender that which came into its posession. His lessons were allotted to him each day, all of which he must recite to his mother in perfect form before retiring. The following morning before going to school and while his boy mind was clear, a perfect recitation was again required. This method of memory training was applied to Sunday and day school lessons, not only while a boy at home but throughout his whole life. His regard for his mother’s method and his own appreciation of that method brought him to follow it until he has developed a memory which led him to say, a few days before he died: ‘My memory has seldom, if ever, played me false.’
 “In his early boyhood, the family of which he was the promising son, moved to Geneva, this state, then a community of rare social culture and of deep spiritual life. Both of these influences entered into those years lying between childhood and young manhood. Dr. Cowles has often told me that nearly every professional man, merchant, artisan, laborer and farmer in or adjacent to the village of Geneva was a pronounced leader in the Christian life. In the midst of such surroundings he was prepared for college, absorbing not only the academic instruction needed, but also the social and religious influences which entered into his personality and continued with increasing effect throughout his life.
 “It was while abiding in Geneva that he discovered and exhibited that artistic talent, which I believe, had it been developed as his major life work, would have made him a painter of renown, throughout the world. But he had a deep spiritual and intellectual conviction that he was called to the highest and holiest of vocations. From Geneva he went to Union College in Schenectady, this State, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar, an artist, and a musician. He was graduated in 1841, and went to Union Theological Seminary, where in addition to pursuing his studies he taught. After completing his studies for the ministry he taught in a classical school for two years. He was then installed as pastor at Brockport, this State, continuing there for two years. It was there it became known that Dr. Cowles possessed in a marked degree those qualities which attach to a great teacher.
 “In 1855 he was asked to become the first president of this college, but he hesitated for some time until he came to realize fully and clearly that the purpose of education, sacred and secular, for young women was to unfold the seed of immortality within; to develop to the fullest extent the capacities of every kind within each. With the conviction that such education alone could conduct his students to that enjoyment which is at once best in quality and eternal in results, Dr. Cowles entered upon what proved to be his life’s greatest work. Here his task was difficult indeed; in all the educational world there was no institution to model after. He was compelled to take the initiative along every line for the college education of women. He was forced to make bricks without straw, there being little or nor funds available for such a novel enterprise, against which there was then strong prejudice among educators and possible benefactors. He fought a hard fight with courage unabated and a feeling of inward assurance of ultimate success coming to the institution which he loved and to which he gave himself unreserved.
 “Unfortunately it is almost universally true in college circles, that in the coming of a new president, while the former one remains connected with the institution, criticism falls upon the new incumbent from his predecessor. This hour gives me opportunity to bear public testimony to the co-operative and magnanimous attitude of Doctor Cowles toward me and my seemingly radical changes in the life and work of this institution. Many of these changes tended to supplant long established usages. Never once, by outward expression or uttered word, did I see or hear the venerable patriarch to whom to-day we bid farewell, disapprove. On the contrary, he always co-operated in the most cordial way in advancing every effort put forth.
 “Those of us who knew him best, know of his devotion to study, that life to him was never irksome, that time never hung heavy upon him, that until the last he held sweet communion with the masters of the ages through their works. To himself he never was a burden, not even in the gloaming, for though he seemed to be alone, he was not alone; his friends of all the past came to him and they took sweet counsel together. Those still amid the activities of the years can bear testimony that his society was not only an interesting pleasure but an inspiration to rich thinking and higher ideals.
 “To confirm the fact that the life of Dr. Cowles was essentially a success, I need on ly call to witness the hundreds of cultivated women graduated from this college during his presidency, who to-day will rise up and call him blessed. All over this broad land and in foreign lands these women will declare that his was the personality which gave them an appreciation of the cultural which makes life and home and society delightful. Beyond all else in life and experience, these will give Dr. Cowles the credit. The blending of great wealth and broad knowledge is the promise and purpose of the future. This is seen in the attitude of the capitalist toward the educator, and of the educator toward universal society. The trend of effort is that all may enjoy the benefits of material competence and the blessing of general culture.
 “To the consummation of this blending, the college education of women, initiated by Dr. Cowles and taken up in various parts of the country in later years, has largely contributed. For the advancement of this movement, our deceased president felt a keen responsibility. Yet he felt that during his active service this time would not come. That it was approaching, with sure and continuous tread, he never doubted. For this faith and foresight, he is and should continue to be regarded as a pioneer who blazed the way for those who were to come after him. Finally, the crowning glory of this good man’s life was his devotion to truth as he understood it. His reverence for God –his loyalty to Christ—his love for his fellow man—his path through the years was that of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. His sun has gone down beyond the western hills of Time, not to set, but to shine upon another, even a spiritural hemisphere.

  “Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard
  Its deep songs of joy,
  Dreams cannot picture that world so fair;
  Sorrow and death cannot enter there;
  Time does not breathe on its fadeless bloom,
  ‘Tis beyond the clouds, beyond the tomb.”

Source: The Sibyl, Elmira College, Elmira NY, Vol. XLII, #6, April 1913 pp. 411-420.
Transcribed by Anne Ross 8/13/2005.