406 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



unusual ability, of the highest character, of high spirits, and of 

 great moral courage. He married Harriet Hayes of New York, 

 a gentle lady of sweet character and good mind. She lived to the 

 age of 81, while her husband died in the fifty-fifth year of his age. 

 It was at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1848, that the next 

 Henry Augustus Rowland was born. Here he lived until 1855, 

 when the family moved to Newark, New Jersey. He attended the 

 Newark Academy. Mr. S. A. Farrand under whose teaching he 

 came writes in regard to him: 



"Henry A. Rowland entered the classical department of the 

 Newark Academy in September, 1861, and began his preparation 

 for the academic course in college. I remember him as a rather 

 quiet boy of winning personality. He did well in all his studies 

 excepting Latin, with which he found difficulty from the beginning. 

 This was surprising, for he was a bright, willing boy, showing 

 indications of unusual ability and yet was constantly dragging in 

 this study. After a year of this experience I took him from his 

 class in Latin and for some months heard him recite alone, in order 

 to get a better opportunity to study his mental action and discover, 

 if possible, his difficulty. I found no lack of ability, but so strong 

 an aversion to Latin, while at the same time finding pleasure in 

 other studies, that he could not control his mind and force it to do 

 good work upon the repugnant task. 



"I advised his mother to let Henry drop the distasteful study 

 and to direct his education along those lines so distinctly marked 

 in his nature. But this was before scientific studies had won their 

 present prominence in our colleges. Classical traditions were 

 strong in the family, his father, grandfather, 1 and great-grand- 

 father having been graduates of Yale, and clergymen. His 

 mother had no other thought than that Henry, with his superior 

 ability, would follow in the succession and keep up the traditions 

 of the family. For him to turn away from this and give himself 

 to scientific studies seemed like throwing away her boy, and was 

 not to be considered. He must continue his classical studies, 

 and he would certainly grow to like them. He did continue them 

 for a year or two more, during which time Mrs. Rowland and I 

 had several conferences concerning the matter. Henry's dislike 

 increased and was intensified by the addition of Greek to his 

 studies. I had a deep sympathy with him, for he was struggling 



1 His grandfather was in fact a graduate of Dartmouth. 



