The Days of a Man * 1899 



My mother died at my sister's home in Minneapolis, 

 iher ' s at t j ie r jp e a g e O f eighty-six, having survived not 

 only my father but three of her five children as 

 well. Her last years were spent as a welcome visitor 

 alternating between Minnesota and California. At 

 Stanford in 1896 she regularly attended courses in 

 Modern History, while Mrs. Mary C. Dulley, an 

 American lady of the same age, also with grand- 

 children enrolled in the University, was her com- 

 panion in the lecture room. 



The Hail In 1899 I was appointed one of the hundred elec- 

 O f Fame tors o f The Ha ii of Fame f OT Q reat Americans," 



of New York University, which institution had re- 

 cently received (from a person whose name is still 

 withheld) the sum of $250,000 for the erection of 

 an edifice suitable for the end in view. This took 

 the form of a long colonnade encircling the library 

 on University Heights, overlooking the Hudson, 

 provision being made therein for 150 bronze tablets 

 to commemorate the same number of "great Ameri- 

 cans." The persons thus honored are chosen by a 

 two-thirds majority of those voting, except in a few 

 cases when, in a sort of primary among the electors 

 especially familiar with the records concerned, the 

 descriptive phrase, "most justly famous," has been 

 agreed upon in which case only a majority is 

 necessary. It should be added that no one not at 

 least ten years deceased is eligible for election; and 

 until 1915 all born in foreign countries were ex- 

 cluded. 



Five ballots have now (1920) been taken. The 

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