24 STATE BOARD OF AGKICULTURE. 



respect and esteem on every liand. The pul)lic press of Mississippi, almost 

 uitlidut exception, made mention of his deatli in terms of sincerest regret. 

 Notably the Jackson Clarion, the leading organ of the State, referred to it as 

 well nigh a public calamity. Tliere is something peculiarly touching in the 

 sentiment thus voiced, suggesting quietly that this brigiit life, so fair in its 

 promises of good, so eaidy taken from the ample fnlfiUinent of those prom- 

 ises, may have had in it a deeper meaning and a nobler mission than even its 

 possessor kne\v. He went not with the olive branch, it is true, but his life 

 may have been none the less a peace offering, pointing as it did to that still 

 uobler emblem, the Wreath of Laurels. 



"George W. Long, a graduate of the class of 1874, died at his home in 

 Dearborn, on the twenty-ninth of October, 1881. He was a young man. 

 genial and true, and beloved by many friends. His life was exemplary in 

 character and fair in its promise of good. 



" For several years after his graduation he was engaged in bee-keeping at his 

 Dearborn home, and at this he gained considerable success. He was twice 

 awarded the fiist prize for excellence in this line upon his exhibits at the fairs 

 of the State Agricultural Society. During these years, also, he devoted his 

 spare time energetically to the study of music, in which art he attained a pro- 

 ficiency which a professional might envy. It; is to his credit that he entered 

 with Zeal into the public affairs of his community, and was on several occa- 

 sions honored with local ofiice, serving for two or three terms as superintend- 

 entof schools in his native township. 



"But he was laudably ambitious, and under these employments he was restive 

 and unsatisfied. He wished for a field, as he imagined, of wider opportuni- 

 ties for advancement. To this end he began the study of medicine, and in 

 1879 entered the medical department of the Michigan University, from which 

 he graduated in 1881. Immediately afterward he formed a partnership with 

 an established physician in Vassar in this Stale, and assumed from the outset 

 professional labors which severely tried his strength. Daring his course of 

 study he had applied himself very closely and continuously, and his standing 

 among his fellow students was exceptionally good. Entering upon new and 

 more laborious duties without needed rest, his health became impaired. Still 

 he continued confidently and faithfully at his work long after one less ambi- 

 tious would have relinquished. He was taken with typhoid fever during a 

 visit to his home, whither he had gone to attend the wedding of his sister; 

 and from this he died but two weeks later. His remains were buried in Wood- 

 mere cemetery near Detroit. 



"William A. Henderson, also of the class of 1874, died on the 18th of Jan- 

 uary, 1881. We used to call him 'Old Jack,' — poor fellow — and there was 

 something about him that made most of us like him. The grip of his hand 

 was firm and the inside of his heart was warm, and in his soul was a pretty 

 good rugged sort of honor. 



"He was born at Dayton, Ohio, August 15, 1848. In early life he seems to 

 have roved around pretty much all over the country; but he landed up in 

 1809 in the old preparatory class of this College, and he graduated with the 

 class of 18T4. In IbTG he purchased a fruit farm at what is known as Peach 

 Plains, a few miles out from Grand Haven ; and heie, from all that the 

 writer can learn, he seems to have worked with great zeal and effectiveness. 

 He built a commodious and pretty house, almost entiiely with his own hands, 

 for he was one of those fellows who can do anything from phiying a guitar to 



