16-t 



Obituary 



General Samuel C, Lawrence. 

 Horticulture and many of its allied 

 interests has suffered a loss in the 

 death of this distinguished citizen of 

 Medford, Mass. Although never tak- 

 ing any active part in any of the or- 

 ganizations for the promotion of 

 knowledge along gardening lines, few 

 men loved the native Mowers of Amer- 

 ica any better than he did and by his 

 generosity in allowing his large pri- 

 vate estate iii Medford to be a daily 

 playground for the public, he proved 

 it in a manner that so very few of the 

 wealthy do, the privacy of his resi- 

 dence not even being respected by a 

 too eager public, who often take the 

 advantage of a privilege granted by a 

 large-hearted man such as he was. and 

 one day a short time before he was 

 taken sick, on being remonstrated with 

 by a member of his family for allow- 

 ing the public so much freedom, he 

 replied in the hearing of the writer, 

 "well, you know, we that have the 

 privilege of having these things can- 

 not afford to be selfish about them." 

 Many years ago General Lawrence ac- 

 quired about three or four hundred 

 acres of woodlands adjacent to the 

 Middlesex Fells reservation, and built 

 roads and other conveniences all 

 through it, also an observatory on 

 Rams Head Hill, the highest point of 

 it. which commands one of the finest 

 and far-reaching views in the vicinity 

 of Boston. The fight that this public- 

 spirited gentleman put up against the 

 gypsy moth and other insect pests is 

 a matter of the history of these 

 scourges in Massachusetts and need 

 not be dwelt on here. As an employer 

 he was beloved by all his employes. 

 and I will add that the writer has 

 been employed by the rich for about 

 thirty years, and has had the privilege 

 of coming in personal contact with 

 royalty and other titled nobility of the 

 old land, but for all the qualities that 

 make a true gentleman none could 

 surpass this distinguished son of Mas- 

 sachusetts. 



Genl. Lawrence spent his winters 

 in Miami. Fla., and at the time of his 

 death was developing an estate of one 

 thousand acres for the production of 

 fruit and flowers suitable to that grow- 

 ing winter resort. He was a distin- 

 guished free mason having a short 

 time ago resigned from being Sov- 

 ereign Grand Commander of the Su- 

 preme Council of the Ancient and Ac- 

 cepted Scottish Rite. He was also a 

 veteran of the Civil War, being severe- 

 ly wounded at the first battle of Bull 

 Run. General Lawrence was much in- 

 terested in educational matters, being 

 a graduate of Harvard in 1855. keep- 

 ing up his interest in that line by 

 serving for many years as trustee of 

 the Public Library of Medford, con- 

 tributing many valuable books to it 

 each year. He is survived by a 

 widow, a son and daughter, and a 

 brother and sister. His philanthropy 

 was done quietly not allowing his 

 name to be mentioned, and many will 

 mourn his loss along these lines. 



GEORGE F. STEWART. 



HORTICULTURE 



ill but one u.e\ .lust one week be- 

 fore his death he attended a meeting 

 or the v. M. C a., di which he was 



president, and in which he always 



too .in in i « e part, especially the 

 boys' branch. The writer could not 

 but notice his untiring- efforts in this 

 particular work, often walking several 

 miles to and from the meeting place 

 in order to be with the boys, some- 

 times to deliver a lecture on some 

 fitting subject that would educate 

 them in the better and higher things 

 of this life, other times to instruct 

 them in the athletic work of the asso- 

 ciation. He was for many years a 

 member of the Society of American 

 Florists and The New York Florists 

 Club. Mr. Powell was born in Pem- 

 berton, N. J., and when quite young 

 entered the employ of John G. Gard- 

 ner at Jobstown, N. J., on the Ranco- 

 cas Stock Farm, of which Pierre Loril- 

 lard was proprietor, and after serving 

 his apprenticeship was engaged as 

 head gardener to John Wyeth at 

 West town, Pa. From there he entered 

 the employ of Thorley, the New York 



September 30, 1S11 



Isaac L. Powell. 

 Isaac L. Powell, superintendent for 

 Mr. Samuel Thorne of Millbrook. X. 

 Y.. died on Thursday morning, Septem- 

 ber 21st. of pneumonia, after being 



Isaac I.. Poweli . 



florist and afterward to Tuxedo Park 

 as gardener to Pierre Lorillard, also 

 as superintendent of the park. 

 Twenty years ago he entered the em- 

 ploy of Mr. Samuel Thorne of Mill- 

 brook as superintendent of his estate 

 known as The Crest, which position 

 he has faithfully filled, always work- 

 ing for the interests of his employer 

 with that untiring zeal which charac- 

 terized his whole life. 



Mr. Powell was an expert chrysan- 

 themum grower and was often sought 

 to act as judge at the fall exhibitions 

 and being so well qualified to fill this 

 office that every exhibitor always 

 seemed satisfied to abide by his decis- 

 ion. He has just finished a book on 

 the culture of the chrysanthemum 

 which should be in every gardener's 

 library. 



Funeral services were held in the 

 Thorne mansion on Sunday, the 24th, 

 when between four and five hundred 

 people attended to pay their last tri- 

 bute of respect to the deceased. The 

 floral tributes were many and beau- 

 tiful, among the most noticeable be- 

 ing a large wreath of Richmond roses 

 from the New York Florists' Club, 

 gates-ajar from garden employes, 

 large cross, six feet high, of lilies, 

 gardenias and asters from house em- 



ployes and a beautiful standing wreath 

 of roses and orchids from the Y. M. 

 C, \ Tiie bearers wi re frank Silcoz, 

 George Stewart. Peter Duff, William 

 Smith, Joseph Manda. VY C. Russell. 



Sebastian P. Fischer. 



Death claimed one of the youngest 

 men in the florists' business, Sept. 21st 

 and the news of his sudden death was 

 a shock to the trade who did not gen- 

 erally know of the illness of Sebastian 

 P. Fischer of Evanston, 111. Just a 

 week prior to his death he was taken 

 to St. Francis Hospital and but one 

 day previous to that he was in the 

 market buying flowers but complained 

 of not feeling well and typhoid fever 

 had even then its hold upon him. 



Sebastian P. Fischer was born in 

 Trier, Germany, 27 years ago and with 

 his parents came to this country in 

 childhood. With his father and broth- 

 er John, he was in business in Evans- 

 ton, but two years ago the boys 

 started for themselves and were build- 

 ing up a good business, the manage- 

 ment of \^hich was directed by Sebas- 

 tian. John having charge of the grow- 

 ing and a sister. Paulie, the retail 

 store on Dempster Avenue. On the 

 last day of his life, feeling that he 

 could not get well, he planned the 

 future of the business and gave help- 

 ful advice to those left. His father. 

 Fred C. Fischer, brother and sister 

 survive. He was a member of the 

 Catholic Order of Foresters, Knights 

 of Columbus and of the Evanston 

 Business Men's Association. 



A. A. Hixon, 



Adin A. Hixon, aged 68 years, 6 

 months and 8 days, the librarian and 

 secretary of the Worcester County 

 Horticultural society for 20 years, died 

 on the night of Sept. 25 at his home 

 in Worcester, Mass., from pernicious 

 anemia after a long period of ill 

 health. For 10 months he was con- 

 fined to his home. He leaves a widow 

 and one son. 



Mr. Hixon was a most devoted hor- 

 ticulturist, a companionable gentleman 

 and efficient official. Few men were 

 better known throughout horticultural 

 New England than A. A. Hixon. 



Mrs. A. J. Dorward. 

 Andrew L. Dorward, second vice- 

 president of the Newport Horticultu- 

 ral Society, has lately been the recip- 

 ient of expressions of sympathy from 

 his many friends for the loss of his 

 wife, who recently died in Kirriemuir, 

 Scotland, where she went a year ago 

 for the benefit of her health. 



George M. Langbridge. 

 W. C. Langbridge, who repre- 

 sents The Jerome B. Rice Company 

 among the American seed trade, was 

 called suddenly to New York on ac- 

 count of the illness of his brother, 

 George M. Langbridge, who died on 

 September 15 of bronchial pneumonia 

 and heart failure. 



Mrs. John Geib. 

 Mrs. Geib, wife of John Geib, florist, 

 died at her home in Long Island City, 

 X. Y.. on Saturday, September 23. 



Mrs. A. J. Vescelius. 

 A. J. Vescelius of Paterson, N. J., 

 mourns the loss of his wife, who died 

 on Friday, September 22, after a long 

 illness with cancer of the stomach. 



