282 
MINUTES  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 
the  Insane  has  been  built  upon  a  scale  which  has  made  it  one  of  the  fiuest 
monuments  to  the  philanthropy  and  public  spirit  of  Philadelphia.  In  all 
these  improvements  and  in  the  management  of  the  Institution,  Frederick 
Brown  has  had  an  active  part,  and  his  warmest  interest  and  sympathy 
have  been  called  forth  in  its  behalf. 
As  one  of  the  founders  of  Laurel  Hill  Cemetry,  his  name  will  long  be 
connected  with  the  improvement  of  our  city.  His  attention  appears  to 
have  been  attracted  to  the  utility  of  rural  cemetries  by  visiting  Mount 
Auburn,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  in  1833.  Soon  after,  a  public  meeting 
was  held  in  this  city  to  consider  the  subject,  at  which  about  70  attended; 
at  a  second  meeting  the  attendance  had  dwindled  down  to  about  30,  and 
the  final  meeting  consisted  of  Frederick  Brown,  John  Jay  Smith,  (formerly 
a  member  of  this  College,)  and  Benjamin  W.  Richards  ;  these  three  asso- 
ciated into  a  company,  to  which  Nathan  Dunn  was  afterwards  added,  and 
they  proceeded  to  purchase  the  property,  and  lay  out  the  grounds  which 
now  constitute  the  far-famed  Laurel  Hill. 
In  1858,  his  daughter  being  advised  to  seek  a  restoration  of  health  in 
foreign  travel,  his  arrangements  were  directed  to  a  European  tour:  one 
objection  only  presented;  his  aged  mother,  then  in  her  89th  year,  having 
lost  her  mental  vigor  and  become  physically  helpless,  had  so  long  been 
an  object  of  his  care  and  solicitude  that  he  could  not  willingly  leave  home, 
lest  he  might  lose  the  opportunity  of  himself  closing  her  eyes,  and  laying 
her  under  the  sod.  Yielding  to  his  apparent  duty  as  a  father,  he  had 
written  to  secure  a  passage  by  the  most  popular  of  the  Liverpool  steamers. 
The  hour  had  arrived  for  his  final  determination,  but  his  feelings  over- 
came his  reason.  "I  have  thus  far  fulfilled  my  whole  duty  toward  my 
mother,"  said  he,  "  and  lam  in  doubt  if  I  ought  to  leave  her  now ;  I 
think  no  harm  will  come  if  I  wait  awhile. ;?  So  he  gave  up  the  state- 
room with  the  further  remark,  "  Perhaps  I  may  see  my  way  clear  to  re- 
concile these  opposing  claims. "  That  very  day,  on  arrival  at  his  summer 
home,  he  found  his  aged  mother  speechless  from  paralysis,  and  three  days 
afterwards  he  closed  her  eyes  in  death.  The  journey  was  now  accom- 
plished— his  daughter  restored  to  health — and  many  pleasant  memories 
treasured  to  be  recalled  throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
In  the  autumn  of  1863  his  health  failed.  Distressing  and  enervating 
nausea  seemed  his  chief  symptoms,  which  increased  upon  him  daily.  No 
remedies  seemed  capable  of  arresting  the  progress  of  his  disease,  which 
was  cancerous  ;  and  yet,  from  the  testimony  of  those  surrounding  him,  he 
never  uttered  one  impatient  exclamation  or  repining  thought.  During 
some  months  his  illness  progressed,  till,  on  the  26th  of  February,  he  re- 
marked that  death  was  very  near,  and  with  calm  cheerfulness  bade  fare- 
well to  wife  and  children,  sisters  and  friends,  without  excitement.  No 
fear  of  the  future  darkened  his  path  into  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.     His  feelings  near  his  close  seemed  much  interested  in  the  fate  of 
