USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume II > Part 24
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JOHN HEYL VINCENT, D. D., D. S. T .-
And I think of the scores and scores of those Here and there, and over the sea,
Who have fought and won in the Battle of Life, And touched the Divine, because of thee, O Leader and Lover of Men!
John H. Vincent lived long, and lived well. Vigorous and virile, he dreamed great dreams, and saw them converted into reality. Life's bitter-sweet of hope and disappointment, failure and success, victory and defeat was a flavor known to him from his early days. Re- viewing his career, it is seen as a notable record of achievement; not the life of a saint but the life of a saintly man, a man who strove for good things that, once gained, seemed so naturally and inseparably his. He was a man; a man of men, a living monument to the best that manhood holds.
Those who aspired to finer manhood saw in him ever a living example. Those who did not care to emulate him could but own his qualities admirable, worthy of respect. His armor was whole, his godliness com- manded tribute of respect, his manliness won love.
If tears are shed for Bishop Vincent they are gentle tears of sorrow, void of bitterness. The works he did live after him. His monument is imperishable; for long after the buildings made by his hands have decayed and been replaced the ever spreading influence of his spiritual force shall persist, doing good in the worid.
John H. Vincent made the name Chautauqua im- mortal and he made hundreds of thousands of men and women happy by showing them that education should not end with youth and that vacations need not imply vacuity of mind. No person who ever visited the mother of all the Chautauquas in the days of the Bishop's reign can ever forget the founder. He was a strong man, typical in mind and body of his ereed; an impressive figure of a purposeful age.
John Heyl Vincent was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Feb. 23, 1832, and died at his home, No. 5700 Blackstone avenue, Chicago, Il1., May 9, 1920. When he was six years old his parents moved to Northumberland county, Pa., and in that State he attended Milton and Lewisburg academics. In an article by himself in the "Forum," Bishop Vincent said concerning his education :
I never was "educated" in the sense in which the term is usually understood ...... During these school years I studied all that any boy under fifteen or six- teen was expected to study. I mastered Kirkman's "English Grammar," and Murray's also. I was drilied in Town's "Analysis." I read and re-read the old "English Reader" and Porter's "Rhetorical Reader." I studied Latin in those days, and knew the grammar well; translated the "Reader," "Cornelius Nepos," and "Cæsar;" recited in Natural Philosophy (Comstock's), and in Chemistry and Astronomy. I wrote composi- tions and made declamations.
The religious element was an important factor in my early training. My father was a strict disciplinarian and a firm Christian believer. My mother was an in- carnation of consistency, fidelity, self-sacrifice and serenity. She believed with her whole soul in the truths of religion as taught by Jesus of Nazareth, and her daily life was controlled by her faith. Therefore I could never think of education as a mere disciplin- ing or finishing of the intellect. To my thought it embraced the developing and ordering of the whole manhood.
Nature was full of wonder to me, and wieided a strange influence over my life. The stars, the night winds, the thunder, the clouds piled up like towers at the sunset, the ripples on the bosom of the river, the dark outline of the Montour mountain in full view from my home-all these, and everything else in nature, took hold upon me, filing me with unrest and longing, that grew at times Into sort of torture.
I was nineteen years old; college had been aban- doned through the pressure of church influence and of personal conscientious conviction. Whatever I did must be done alone. I rode on horseback over what was called a four weeks' circuit. I would ride for hours without seeing a house or meeting a traveler, and here I studied diligently. Among those Pennsylvania forests I would read the articies on Comte's Philosophy, the book notices and editorials in the Quarterly, and compared my sermons with the strength and wealth of thought, and the vigor of ex- pression on those scholarly pages. . .
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During my early ministerial life I conceived the plan reaching through the years by which, in connection with professional duties, I might turn my whole life into a college course.
Since the struggles of those early days peace has come. The old and apparently irreconcilable conflict between studies secular and sacred has ceased. Life ia no longer filled with Insatiable longinga. I am at school now as a student everyday; and unfinished curricula reach out into undefined futures. I shall never "finish" my education.
It was said that when he was barely eighteen he preached his first sermon, and, developing his talent in that direction, he was licensed as an exhorter at McVey- town, Pa., in 1849. A year later he was licensed as a preacher. In this capacity he traveled the Lucerne cir- cuit of the Methodist church, as mapped out at the Baltimore Conference in 1851. Following this the young clergyman was assigned to duty with the Newark (N. J.) City Mission, serving there a year, in the course of which he was admitted to the New Jersey Annual Con- ference. In 1863 he was transferred to Illinois and successively held pastorates in Joliet, Mount Morris, Galena, Rockford and Chicago, going to the latter pulpit in 1865.
At Galena he numbered Ulysses S. Grant among his parishoners. That was just before the Civil War, and the friendship between them continued until General Grant's death. In 1865 Dr. Vincent established the "Northwestern Sunday School Quarterly." The immedi- ate success of that publication demonstrated the cor- rectness of his belief in the existence of a field for new and better religions publications and a year later he es- tablished the "Sunday School Teacher." With the establishing of these periodicals, devoted solely to fur- thering the work of the Sunday schools, there began to be emphasized in practically all of Dr. Vincent's work the importance of the instruction of the young. He went thrice to Palestine, Egypt and Europe, seeking materials with which to build still further his plans for the American schools.
Upon his return from one of these trips he found that his conference had directed him to assume charge of a congregation in Plainfield, N. J. While in Plain- field his great ambition, some sort of general assembly at which Sunday school teachers could meet and exchange ideas, began to take definite form. He talked his pro- ject from his pulpit, and he interested prominent men in it. His idea, in his own words, was:
The establishment of a summer camp institute for the training of Sunday school workers; a summer in- stitute for thorough normal drill in the interest of the great body of earnest men and women who were in 1874 Sunday school teachers and officers representing all the various church denominations of the country.
One of the first to enlist in support of the plan was Lewis Miller, of Akron, Ohio, and in cooperation the Chautauqua Assembly was organized and a summer in- stitute held at Fair Point, on Chautauqua Lake N. Y., Aug. 4th to 18th, 1874. Out of this has grown the Chan- tauqua Institution and the great work localized in the grounds and buildings of Chautauqua, whence it branches out into a field of influence world-wide.
Seldom in all the history of the world can two men have achieved so effective a partnership as that of John H. Vincent and Lewis Miller in the creation of Chautau- qua Institution. At Mr. Miller's funeral in 1899 the Bishop said :
The name Lewia Miller ia inseparably and forever associated with Chautauqua. There he did pioneer work in laying the very nethermost foundation of the structure. But for him, Chautauqua in its present form could not have been. Whatever other forms and developments the idea which vitalizes Chautauqua might have taken under other circumstances, the fact remaina that the Chautauqua of today owes its exist- ence to his suggestion, its foundation to his liberality, and especially ita early success to his ability and fidelity.
Dr. Vincent was made a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1888. In 1890 he became resident Bishop abroad, with full charge of the church's activi- ties and interests in Europe. He resigned from active episcopate in 1904, but from time to time filled pulpits at Wesleyan, Cornell, Yale and Harvard universities, and in 1912, when past eighty, he preached in South Park Avenue Church, Chicago, Ill., a sermon against the olden time revival that aroused considerable discussion. After his retirement as Chancellor of Chautauqua Insti- tution, he was retained as Chancellor Emeritus and had a place on the Chautauqua program every season, being always received with every mark of veneration and love, especially by the older Chautauquans. His vesper services are especially remembered as times of spiritual uplifting, and his simple, tender addresses revealed the kindly nature of the man. He had a graceful style of public speaking that made him an effective pulpit orator, and his courteous manner won him many friends. He lived to see 20,000 people gathered at one time in the Summer City. His only son, Dr. George E. Vincent, now president of the Rockefeller Foundation, became an officer of Chautauqua Institution upon his gradua- tion from Yale in 1885, was president of the Institution, 1007-1915, and is now its honorary president.
Some of Bishop Vincent's books are: "The Modern Sunday School;" "Studies in Young Life;" "Little Foot- prints in Bible Lands ;" "Earthly Footprints of the Man of Galilee;" "Family Worship for Every Day of the Year ;" "Outline History of Greece;" and "The Church at Home." His book, "The Chautauqua Movement," is a remarkable volume-a clear, cogent statement of the founder's plans and hopes for this great institution of popular education. Seldom is a man's personality so fully and freely transferred to the printed page. Harvard University conferred upon him in 1896 its de- gree of Sacred Theology, an honor peculiarly gratifying to this self-educated friend of college education.
Bishop Vincent married at Portville, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1858, Elizabeth Dusenberry, whom he long survived.
President Arthur F. Bestor, who succeeded to the executive management of Chautauqua Institution in 1915 paid tribute to Chautauqua's beloved Chancellor at the forty-seventh annual assembly in these words:
The first word that ought to be spoken in opening this assembly is a word in memory of our beloved Chancellor, who died on the ninth of May. We meet in sorrow, to a certain extent, as is always the case when a human being dear to us passes into the great beyond; but we do not sorrow as over a man taken in his prime. or as for one who had not lived to see the full fruition of the work he had dreamed about and worked upon.
The Bishop had passed his forescore and almost ten; his name was known throughout the English-speaking world. and many of the institutions he founded had come to have world-wide prominence. As much as any man he energized the Sunday school movement at its beginning. and had a large part in its development. He had the highest honor which comes to any man in his own church. He was to all who came in contact with him an inspiration. With Lewis Miller as his
Arthur E. Bestor
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constant co-laborer he laid deep and permanent the foundations of this great institution. Starting the second summer school in the country, they Ilved to see it the otdest and the model for all others.
The Bishop has gone, but his work, his memory and his friendship live on. While we think of him as a great educator and preacher, we also think of his courtesy, his kindliness, his interest in everything that concerned humanity, and the other qualities that made him so greatly beloved by thousands of people who had seen and heard him on this platform year after year.
Memorial services to Bishop Vincent were held at Chautauqua, Aug. 1, 1920. At the C. L. S. C. vesper service the tribute paid was by his friend of many years, his co-worker and kindred spirit, Rev. Jesse L. Hurl- burt, D. D. The following is taken from his address in the Hall of Philosophy :
Among the many aspects of this great man let us first look upon him as a preacher. John H. Vincent was a great preacher in large measure because he was a Biblical preacher. He found his tovic not in the questions of the day, but by a close study of the ever- living Word; then, finding his text in the Word. he interpreted it by an understanding of the time, and made its application to the time.
His line of thought was always distinctly marked, his language always crystal-clear. His hearers not only knew what he was preaching about, but knew also precisely what he meant to express. He was never contented with the surface meaning of a Scripture passage, but always penetrated into its depths.
Every sentence was perfect as it came from his lips; every sentence, even of his extemporaneous speeches, was finished and fit to print as first spoken., And then, that voice, rich and mellow, unmatched in its quality, sounding like music to the ears, and entering into every heart with an undertone of emotion-that voice was a fiery chariot for the message that it bore.
It may be said that the routine duties of the episco- pate, its mechanical attention to details, the finding of men for places and especially of places for men, were not precisely to his taste. He was an idealist in his visions rather than an administrator In care of the churches. But as a Bishop he still made his mark in a sphere of his own. At all his conferences he held Bible interpretations which drew throngs to the churches at an early morning hour; and more than that, everywhere he laid his spell upon young men, inspiring a desire for education and culture, and there- by enlarging the scope of many lives.
Upon the pages of the Bible, that book which this man studied more closely and looked into more deeply than any other. wide as his readings were, we find the record of prophets, men of vision, such seers as Moses and Samuel, and Isaiah and Paul. In a spirit of deep- est reverence I would name John H. Vincent as one of that goodly fellowship of the prophets. While others were groping upon the plain, his eyes were ever upon the mountain summits crowned with glory, his hand was evor pointing upward, and his voice was the voice of a leader calling men onward, toward the heights.
Two extracts follow, one from a secular newspaper, the other from the official organ of the church he loved :
The death of Bishop Vincent removed a man who probably did more for the promotion of education in America than any other one man that the country has known.
The Chautauqua Movement quickened the underly- ing fertilities and elemental forces, stirred the latent, unsuspected vitalities, flushed the pale pulses of pur- pose with color and charm, gave some play to the im- agination, some uplift and outlook of vision to millions of people.
ARTHUR E. BESTOR, A. B., LL. D .- While Dr. Bestor has been connected with a number of important activities outside Chautauqua, the Institution has always received his first attention, and since the close of the World War his entire time has been devoted to its interests. A strong executive ability, coupled with an engaging personality, has made Dr. Bestor a worthy
successor to Bishop John H. Vincent and his son, Dr. George E. Vincent, who founded and guided the des- tinies of Chautauqua Institution for so many years, he succeeding Dr. George E. Vincent as president. He has won national reputation as head of a great American educational institution devoted to popular instruction, and was called for important patriotic service during the World War.
Arthur E. Bestor was born in Dixon, Ill., May 19, 1879, son of Orson Porter and Laura Ellen (Moore) Bestor. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, class of 1901, and during the two years following graduation he filled the chair of history and political science at Frank- lin College, Franklin, Ind. He was lecturer on political science in the extension division of the University of Chicago, 1904-12. He came to Chautauqua in 1905, serving as assistant general director for two years; di- rector eight years, 1907-15; then was elected president, a high and responsible position he has ably filled during the five years which have since intervened.
When the President declared a state of war existing between the United States and Germany in the spring of 1915 there was no quicker response to his call for service than came from the universities, colleges and institutions of learning all over the country; Chan- tauqua Institution gave the services of its honored president, the executive board authorizing the war activities that have now become a part of the record of the Institution.
Dr. Bestor attended the Congress of Constructive Patriotism held by the National Security League in Washington in January, and became the secretary of the Committee on Patriotism through Education, which position he retained until going to Washington. It was through this connection that the Training Camp for Education in Patriotic Service was held at Chautau- qua during the first week of the season.
In May the War Work Council of the Young Men's Christian Association asked him to become chairman of the committee to have supervision of all lectures, enter- tainments and concerts arranged by the Young Men's Christian Association in the sixteen draft and fifteen militia camps throughout the country. The University of Minnesota loaned the secretary of its Extension Division to aid in this work during the summer. The task which devolved upon the committee was the organ- ization of a bureau to furnish lectures, entertainers, musicians and companies to give at least a week of their time free as a patriotic service. Considerahle pub- licity therefore came to the Institution by reason of this work which was carried on from Chautauqua during the summer.
In September Herbert C. Hoover asked Dr. Bestor to become the director of the Speakers' Bureau of the United States Food Administration, and upon approval of the Executive Board, the Institution released him for as much of his time and energy as might be necessary. When this appointment was made it was expected that a bureau should be created to coordinate all the speaking campaigns carried on under government auspices and by patriotic societies. In late September this was brought about and the approval of the President given in the following letter :
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The White House, Washington, September 25, 1917.
My dear Mr. Creel: I heartily approve of the suggestion you have made that through your committee some effort be made to coordinate the work of the various bureaus, departments, and agencies interested in presenting from the platform various phases of the national task. With the cooperation of the departments, the Food Administration, the Council of National Defense, and the Committee on Public Information, it would seem possible to enlist the many state and private organi- zations who have put the nation's cause above every other issue and stand ready to participate in a speak- ing campaign that shall give to the people that full- ness of information which will enable and inspire each citizen to play intelligently his part in the greatest and most vital struggle ever undertaken by self-gov- erning nations.
Young suggestion of Mr. Arthur E. Bestor, presi- dent of Chautauqua Institution, to direct this work is excellent. You were fortunate to be able to enlist one who has been so intimately connected with a great American educational institution devoted to popular instruction without prejudice or partisanship.
Cordially and sincerely yours, (Signed) Woodrow Wilson.
As an official of the government, Dr. Bestor resided in Washington during the war period, 1917-18, his service ending in September, 1918.
From October until June the office of the Chautauqua Institution is in New York City, and there Dr. Bestor resides. He was executive chairman of the Greater New York Committee of the Interchurch World Move- ment, and one of the three speakers at the inaugura- tion of the Interchurch World Movement's New York campaign, which was held in the Hippodrome, Sunday, April 18, 1920. He is a member of the American His- torical Association; Delta Upsilon; Phi Beta Kappa; his clubs, the University of Chicago, and the City of New York. Late in 1920, Dr. Bestor was elected presi- dent of the Baptist Social Union of New York City, at organization comprising members from the churches of the metropolitan area. In 1919 Colgate University con- ferred upon him the degree Doctor of Laws.
LEWIS MILLER was born in 1828, and died in 1899. In its account of the memorial service held at Chautauqua in August, 1899, the "Chautauqua Assembly Herald" said: "Lewis Miller needs no better monu- ment than Chautauqua." But there was another side to his husy and useful life, and that side is commemorated in the hearts of older citizens of Akron, where Mr. Mil- ler earned an imperishable reputation as a wise and con- structively minded man of business and the best and kindest of employers.
Mr. Miller's business life began at the time of the great industrial awakening in the Middle West. His was one of those creative imaginations which saw in the vast treasure house of farm land, coal mine and oil well, the materials of an advancing civilization. With splendid acumen he foresaw the development of the Middle West and its tremendous importance as a core of American progress.
Lewis Miller began life as a typical young American with no resources on which to draw save those of his own keen mind and splendid body. He possessed the typical American combination of hard, practical sense and exalted idealism. He was no idle dreamer, but one pos- sessed of the forcefulness and perseverance without which dreams, however beautiful, can not attain realiza- tion. This young American, keeping step with the prog-
ress of his time and environment, threw himself with youthful enthusiasm and the zeal and courage of the pio- neers into the work of the new era. His inventive mind turned naturally in the direction of machinery, and those who knew him in his early days record their impressions of his youthful activities. He had his first workshop in a barn; and here he patiently experimented and wrought with undeviating concentration of his rare mental powers, transmuting the thoughts of his restless mind into mechanical devices that would run and do the work for which he had planned them.
It was by no accident that Lewis Miller invented his Buckeye Mower. It was no fortuitous concourse of moulding influences that directed Lewis Miller's way to success. Hard study, careful planning, an honorable shrewdness, and an unwavering sense of purpose, directed his energies. It has often been said that America's crea- tive genius is manifest in her triumphs of engineering science, rather than in her works of art. Her greatest pictures are her skyscrapers ; her poems are her soar- ing bridges that span the severing flood. We are a young people and still in the stage of development where the finest flower of imagination ripens into the fruit of material achievement. And Lewis Miller stands with those who have blessed this prosperous people with the mechanical and material inventions and devices without which this young giant America could not hope to shape his future, making possible those achievements in æsthe- tic beneficence which the longer they may be deferred will the more gloriously shine.
The remarkable thing about Lewis Miller was his ability to turn this materially productive mind to those pursuits and activities in which a quite different tempera- ment is supposed to be reflected. The same desire to benefit his kind that animated Lewis Miller in his me- chanical inventions and his commercial activities, made itself apparent in those other interests and enterprises out of which emerged that institution of education and religion which with all the added growth of intervening years still stands on the original site where Lewis Miller and John H. Vincent wrought the realization of their exalted ambitions-Fairpoint, at Chautauqua Lake.
That Chautauqua Institution could never have existed without Lewis Miller's business sense and guiding influ- ence in its practical affairs has been said on the very highest authority-that of Mr. Miller's associate in the establishment of the Institution, Bishop Vincent. At Mr. Miller's funeral in 1899, Bishop Vincent paid this notable and noble tribute to his co-laborer at Chautauqua :
The name of Lewis Miller is inseparably and forever associated with Chautauqua. There he did pioneer work in laying the nethermost foundation of the struc- ture. But for him, Chautauqua in its present form could not have been. *
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