Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Jan.  1,1874.  J 
Minutes  of  the  College. 
37 
Whilst  still  a  boy,  Henry  showed  evidences  of  a  nobility  of  soul  as  rare  as  it 
was  praiseworthy,  in  his  devotion  to  his  motherless  sisters,  whose  advocate  he 
became,  defending-  them  frequently  with  ability  far  beyond  his  years,  and  with 
a  pertinacity  which  proved  to  be  a  distinguishing  trait  in  future  life. 
The  early  part  of  the  year  1864  found  him  in  Philadelphia,  seeking  for  an  op- 
portunity to  feed  the  ambitious  longings  of  his  nature,  which  could  not  be  sat- 
isfied with  the  quiet  round  of  duties  of  a  life  in  the  country.  He  found  a  posi- 
tion with  B.  F.  Johnson,  a  pharmacist,  doing  business  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  city,  with  whom  he  engaged  as  an  apprentice. 
He  served  here  four  years  and  three  months,  struggling  under  the  disadvan- 
tages of  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  English  literature  ;  but  his  motto  was  ''For- 
ward," and  though  the  hours  allotted  to  business  were  by  no  means  short,  his 
employer  often  found  him  poring  over  his  book  late  at  night  and  early  in  the 
morning. 
Still  anxious  to  perfect  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  he  sought  the  welcome 
walls  of  the  College  ot  Pharmacy,  where,  by  close  study,  he  was  soon  in  the 
foremost  rank. 
His  class  complimented  him  by  electing  him  President  of  the  Zeta  Phi  So- 
ciety, and  although  he  excited  some  opposition  by  his  manner,  he  was  in  the 
main  successful.  The  position  that  he  was  placed  in  early  in  life,  in  caring  for 
his  sisters,  produced  in  him  a  manner  which  seemed  sometimes  rather  patroni- 
zing, but  the  majority  of  his  classmates  were  willing  to  overlook  his  fault,  which 
was  one  that  was  not  sufficiently  glaring  to  be  uncomfortable. 
Graduating  amongst  the  first  in  the  class,  his  friends  thought  that  for  a  time 
at  least  his  ambition  would  be  satisfied  ;  but  new  fields  arrayed  themselves  en- 
chantingly  before  him,  and  although  deeply  attached  to  his  preceptor  and  his 
home,  he  sought  and  obtained  a  position  with  the  well-known  firm  of  Powers 
&  Weightman. 
It  was  not  long  that  his  peculiar  abilities  went  unappreciated  here  ;  honest, 
self-reliant  and  persevering,  he  rapidly  won  his  way.  Soon  after  beginning  his 
engagement  with  them,  Henry  was  selected  to  prepare  and  take  charge  of  a 
valuable  collection  of  chemicals  that  were  to  be  placed  on  exhibition  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in  Chicago. 
Showing  his  aptness  for  this  kind  of  work,  and  the  firm  having  had  many  re- 
quests to  exhibit  their  chemicals  in  various  parts  of  the  country  during  the 
next  three  years,  he  visited  the  more  important  cities  as  their  representative  ; 
whilst  returning  from  Cincinnati  in  the  fall  of  1870,  by  way  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad,  when  near  Grafton,  the  sleeping  car  in  which  he  was  riding  was 
rolled  down  an  embankment  fifty  feet  high  ;  the  accident  occurred  early  in  the 
morning  and  was  caused  by  a  misplaced  switch.  A  number  of  the  passengers 
were  serionsly  injured,  and  among  the  rest  Henry.  With  characteristic 
energy  he  immediately  set  to  work  helping  the  wounded,  and  seemed  to  be  un- 
mindful of  his  own  wounds,  generously  lending  his  services  at  all  times  to  any 
who  needed  them.  He  rescued  a  lady,  who  was  extricated  with  difficulty  from 
the  surrounding  debris,  and  did  not  leave  her  till  she  was  safe  at  her  home  in 
Philadelphia. 
When  he  arrived  home,  it  was  manifest  that  he  had  been  injured  seriously. 
Although  he  regularly  attended  to  his  duties,  those  who  knew  and  were  inter- 
ested in  him  could  not  fail  to  notice  that  his  health  was  gradually  declining, 
and  the  change  which  took  place  recently  was  exceedingly  rapid,  terminating 
in  death  on  the  11th  of  this  month. 
The  College  has  lost  a  valuable  young  member,  the  Alumni  Association  an 
active  and  beloved  officer,  the  firm  whom  he  was  proud  to  serve  a  promising 
business  man,  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member  a  practical  Christian,  and 
the  strings  need  to  be  lightly  touched  when  the  sad  loss  to  his  sisters  is  whis- 
pered. R. 
The  reading  was  listened  to  with  interest,  whilst  a  feeling  ot  sadness  per- 
