58 



aftei- a brilliant rareer in the field, to enlistment in the first facnlty of one of 

 the first colleges to be established under the Morrill Act, where he labored con- 

 tinuously and conspicuously until his death. 



Henry Hill Goodell. son of the Kev. William and Abigail (Joodell. was born in 

 Constantinople. Turkey. May 20. l.s:'.:t. He prepared for college at AVilli.ston 

 <ieminary. Easthampton. Mass.. and graduated from Amherst College in 18G2. 

 He was commissioned second lieutenant Company F, Twenty-fifth Connecticut 

 Volunteers, August IG, 1802, first lieutenant, April 14. ISdo. and was appointed 

 aid-de-camp on the staff of Colonel Bissell, of the Nineteenth Army Corps. July 8. 

 He participated in the engagements in Louisiana of Irish Bend and Vermillion 

 Bayou, in the siege of Port Hudson, and in the Teche campaign, and was mus- 

 tered out of the service August 2G, ISG."*.. 



From 18G4 to 18G7 he was an instructor in Williston Seminary, and at the 

 opening of the :Massachusetts Agricultural College in 18G7 was appointed pro- 

 fessor of modern languages and English literature. In 1S8G he was elected presi- 

 dent of the college ; in 1887 director of the experiment station, filling both these 

 oftices until his death. He was an original member and one of the founders of 

 the Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, president of 

 the association in 1891, member of the executive committee from 1888 to 1902, 

 and chairman of the same from 1894 to 1902. In the si)ring of 1905 he went to 

 Florida to recuperate from an acute illnes«, and, being homeward bound, died 

 on shipboard in Boston Harbor, en route from Savannah to Boston, April 25, 

 1905. 



I pass rapidly these milestones of his career to dwell upon certain traits and 

 achievements which will give us a true picture of the man. During forty-one 

 years he was a teacher, and thirty-eight of these years were given to one insti- 

 tution. But if we thinlv of him as a plodding college professor, performing 

 only his routine tasks during all of this time, we shall do him injusticv. 

 His' character was a rare mixture of energy and enthusiasm, with patience and 

 enduring persistence, of breadth of view and love of detail. He was capable 

 of the utmost self-forgetfulness in rising to the demands of an emergency. 

 He was also able to toil indefinitely at an obscure task which he believed 

 worth doing. He possessed and retained an optimistic and enthusiastic cour- 

 age characteristic of youth, but with him an inborn trait. He was not self- 

 conceited or self-confident, but he was self-reliant, and when he faced any 

 issue with cheerful and hopeful trust in the outcome, as he always did. it was 

 simply an expression of this side of his character — of his faith in the ultimate 

 triumph of right. Those who knew him well had no need to call upon their 

 imaginations to picture him in the midst of a desperate hand-to-hand struggle 

 in the assault on Port Hudson, acquitting himself with signal bravery, nor to 

 see him, after this assault had twice failed, the first man to respond to a call 

 for volunteers to lead a forlorn hope. He had all of the martial si)irit and aban- 

 don to become the foremost figure at such a time, but without boastfulness or 

 swagger, and he had also the greater courage to face the repulses and obstacles 

 of life modestly, but unyieldingly. 



More than twenty years ago he stood face to face with an insidious and fatal 

 disease, the assaults" of which might well have made the stoutest heart sink. 

 But few of his friends knew of it. None ever heard him complain. By sheer 

 determination he repulsed the attack and held the foe at bay for years. The 

 last years of his life were a constant struggle with disease, but few would have 

 guessed the fact, nor would he swerve from the conscientious performance of 

 his duties on this account. Some men possess a courage which is inspired by 

 excitement. Others have that (luiet courage which is firm under the most 

 depressing conditions. President Goodell's courage was a part of himself — 

 dominant and ever present. In the hours of deepest trial he was not cast down. 

 No danger was great enough nor any misfortune so threatening as to drive 

 from his face a cheery smile or from his lips a kindly greeting. 



But this energy and courage were mingled with a genial and sympathetic 

 disposition and were tempered with wisdom. These qualities inspired love and 

 confidence on the part of his associates. In the army his comrades voluntarily 

 placed their pay in his hands and sent him on a long and dangerous journey 

 to bring this large sum to a place of safety. I^ater he was trustee of the relief 

 fund of his (irand Army post. His fellow-citizens trusted him also, and he was 

 identified in a lieli)ful way with all good movements and enterprises in the town 

 of Andierst. where In- lived. 



The excellent jmblic library there exists as a monument to his efforts, and it 

 gives us insight into his industry and energy to know that for many years he 



