USA > New York > Tompkins County > Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York : including a history of Cornell University > Part 73
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Wilder, Burt Green, B.S., M.D., neurologist and comparative anatomist, was born in Boston, Mass., August 11, 1841. From Nicholas, who in 1497 received from Henry VII. the estate of Shiplake on the Thames, with a coat of arms, he is descended through Thomas, whose widow, Martha, came to America with her children in 1638. His grandfather, David, of Leominster, Mass., published a history of that town, served as State treasurer and in the Legislature, and was the first in his vicinity to break the custom of providing liquor in the harvest field. His father, also David, and member of the Legislature, was State auditor. Inheriting on the paternal side a tendency to seek new facts and to devise original methods; from his mother, a Burt of Longmeadow, the subject of the present sketch has derived a disposition at once active and cautious, an unwillingness to sacrifice principle to expediency, and a tenderness towards animals which has prevented his hunting or fishing for sport, and restricted his physiological experiments to such as are painless. When he was four years old the family removed to Brookline, Mass Impressed by the newspaper accounts of the hanging of Professor Webster for the murder of Dr. Parkman in 1850, he tested the method upon himself, and the experiment would have ended fa- tally but for the approach of another person. His natural history studies began at
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the age of fourteen, with recorded observations upon living spiders. They were brought to the notice of the elder Agassiz by an assistant, James E Mills, and led to an invitation to visit the great naturalist. Encouraged also by the principal of the High School, J. E. Hoar, Harv. 1852, and in company with Carleton A., son of Samuel A. Shurtleff, young Wilder made extensive collections of insects, some of which are still preserved in the Cornell University Museum. A walnut cabinet for them was earned by writing for the Worcester Railroad, of which his father was then auditor. The last two years at the High School was devoted to Latin and Greek, and in the fall of 1859 he entered the Lawrence Scientific School (Harvard) as a special student of comparative anatomy, with Jeffries Wyman, although attend- ing, also, courses by Agassiz and Gray. He became self-supporting early in 1861. He was elected to the Boston Society of Natural History December 7, 1859; served a year as president of the Agassiz Zoological Club, and gave the annual address be- fore the Harvard Natural History Society. In 1860 he gave a few public lectures upon Du Chaillu's African collections, but soon persuaded the explorer that he could do this more acceptably himself. Immediately after receiving the degree of B.S. (in anatomia summa cum laude), upon the invitation of Dr. F. H. Brown, he en- tered Judiciary Square Hospital, Washington, D. C., as acting medical cadet. The hospital experience and hard study under Dr. Brown's directions, enabled him to pass the examinations as Medical Cadet U. S. A. In May, 1863, he passed the ex- amination as licentiate of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and was appointed as- sistant surgeon of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry (colored). In this capacity, and later as surgeon, he served until the regiment was discharged, in September, 1865. While stationed on Folly Island, near Charleston, S. C., August 20, 1863, he discov- ered a large and handsome spider (since named Nephila Wilderi by McCook) from which, while alive, he reeled of one hundred and fifty yards of yellow silk. At the close of the war accounts of this spider were presented to scientific bodies, in lectures before the Lowell Institute, and, at the suggestion of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the Atlantic Monthly for August, 1866. Although not intending to practice, he attended medical courses at Dartmouth and Harvard, and received the degrec of M. D. at the latter, his thesis being read at the Commencement, March 7, 1866. In October of the same year he became assistant in comparative anatomy at the Mu- seum of Comparative Zoology, under an arrangement with Professor Agassiz, by which his time was equally divided between the anatomy of sharks and rays and more general studies. While at the museum he served for a year as curator of herpetology in the Boston Society of Natural History, and in the winter of 1867-68 he gave a course of university lectures on "The morphological value and relations of the human hand." In 1867 he described what is now known as the " slip system of notes," and in 1885 the use of " correspondence slips" was suggested. His elec- tion as professor of zoology in Cornell University at Ithaca took place September 26, 1867; but the university did not open until the following fall. During his connection with Cornell, he has also been professor of physiology in the Medical School of Maine (1874-84), and has lectured on that subject in the medical department of the University of Michigan (1876-77). In 1877 he was selected as chief of the scientific staff of the unrealized "Woodruff expedition around the world;" was lecturer (1873-74) on the comparative anatomy of vertebrates at the " Anderson Summer School of Natural History," and has lectured before the Lowell Institute in Boston, institutes in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, and other cities, and the alumni asso- ciation of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, 1884. He is a member of several scientific bodies; was delegate to the American Medical Associa- tion (1880), and in 1885 vice-president of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science (biological section), and in the same year president of the American Neurological Association. He has tried to improve and extend preliminary medical education, especially from the practical side. With the co-operation of the first pres- dent of Cornell University, Andrew D. White, prominence has always been given to physiology and hygiene, and until 1889 Dr. Wilder lectured upon the latter subject as well, and his little " Emergencies," and "Health Notes for Students," are re- quired for admission, together with elementary physiology. With Prof. S. H. Gage, he is author of "Anatomical Technology as applied to the. Domestic Cat,"
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1882-86-92. His other writings embrace about one hundred and twenty technical pa- pers, about fifty reviews, mostly in the New York Nation, and about fifty articles, mostly illustrated, in various magazines. The following are representative publica- cations: Muscles of the Chimpanzee, 1861; Intermembral Homologies, 1871; The Brain of the Cat, 1881; Garpikes, Old and Young, 1877; The Triangle Spider, 1875; Educational Museums of Vertebrates, 1885; Jeffiries Wyman, 1874; Should Com- parative Anatomy be Included in a Medical Course? Is Nature Inconsistent? 1876; The Brain of the Ceratodus, 1887; The Gross Anatomy of the Brain; Wood's Refer- ence Handbook, 1889-1893. Since 1883 he has given much time to the simplification of anatomical nomenclature, mainly along lines indicated by Barclay and Owen, viz .. (1) to replace ambiguous descriptive (toponymic) terms referring to the erect hu- man body by intrinsic and explicit terms (ventral, dorsal, etc.) applicable alike to all vertebrates in any position ; (2) to replace polonyms (names consisting of two or more words) by mononyms capable of inflection as adjectives, and of adoption with- out essential change into other languages (paronymy); representative new terms proposed by him are: Meson and mesal, ectal and ental, porta (for foramen of Monro), postpeduncle (for posterior peduncle) alinjection (for alcoholic injection), paronym and heteronym.
His lectures are based on compact notes, which are annually re-cast and supplied to the class. The comparatively modern system of the actual study of specimens by general classes, in the shape of practicums, as distinguished from regular laboratory work, has been carried to a high degree in his department. His chief anatomical theses are the symmetrical relations of the two ends of the body; the greater mor- phological value of the heart and the brain, as compared with the skeleton or other organs, and of the brain cavities as compared with their walls; the primitive and morphological subordination of the cerebrum proper to the olfactory portion of the brain: the advantages of fœtal over monkey brains for the elucidation of the human cerebral fissures; the desirability of determining the fissural pattern by the compari- son of many brains of moral and educated persons. Through his influence several such have been secured for Cornell University, or promised in writing by students, graduates, officers, or other friends of the institution. The vertebrate division of the University Museum, of which he is curator, consists largely of specimens pre- pared by him or his assistants and students, and contains a thousand preparations of the vertebrate brain and many preparations of other hollow organs, which are in most cases injected with alcohol (alinjected); an effort is made to illustrate evolution, natural classification, and important functions, by a comparatively small number of specimens, well prepared, displayed and explained. The museum was characterized by an expert in the Fiske will case as the "most perfect in detail" that he had ever seen. As a college officer, his uncompromising antagonism to secret organizations, intercollegiate athletics, class spirit, public smoking, stamping in the class rooms, and the retention of other than earnest students, has made him far from popular with a certain set; but the studious and well-disposed come to him with confidence. Among those who ascribe special inspiration to their work in his laboratory, the fol- lowing are widely known as naturalists or physicians: David S. Jordan, John Henry Comstock, Simon H. Gage, Hermann M. Biggs, Milton Josiah Roberts, Theobald Smith, Eugene R. Corson, William C. Kraurs, Charles G. Wagner. The first has been a trustee of the university, and the second and third have charge of important branches of Professor Wilder's original department.
At the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of Cornell, Oc- tober 7, 1893, there was presented to Professor Wilder a "Quarter-Century Book, " a volume of 500 pages, 26 plates, 36 figures in the text, and a portrait. It comprises papers prepared for the occasion by fifteen of his former pupils. The ceremony is believed to have been the first of a kind at an English-speaking university.
He has advocated temperance as distinguished from total abstinence, painless ex- periments upon animals as a means of general instruction, the removal of the appen- dix from all young children, and the use of chloroform as a lethal agent for con- demned criminals and animals. He is an evolutionist and a member of the New Church (Swedenborgian denomination). June 9, 1868, he married Sarah Cowell, daughter of Dr. William Nichols, of Boston.
PART II.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HON. HENRY W. SAGE.
IT is extremely difficult within the limits at our disposal in this work to give a just and fair biography of a man who, reaching success by untiring industry and force of character, rounds out his life with benefactions so judiciously chosen, so munificent, and looking to such practical results as those selected by the subject of this sketch. No man in America from youth to age has by his career better illustrated the genius of our institutions, or whose endowments have been on so liberal a scale as not only to attract attention, but to command admiration for their wisdom and far-reaching results.
The early life of Henry W. Sage was like the life of thousands of American youth who by their efforts have reached competence and distinction, and who by individ- ual personality finally stood in the front rank of those building up and controlling great and successful enterprises. But no one within the author's line of research can be shown to have contributed so largely of his wealth and thrown into the manage- ment of any great educational institution the unselfish and absorbing interest which Mr. Sage has devoted to Cornell University. From the date of Mr. Cornell's death Mr. Sage has been chairman of the Board of Trustees and has taken no inconsider- able share of the burden of oversight in Cornell University affairs. With President White and later with President Adams, and an able and industrious Board of Trus- tees, he has been faithful and assiduous in building up and completing the purposes of Mr. Cornell.
From a carefully prepared and exhaustive sketch of Mr. Sage and his benefactions, published in the Troy Times of a recent date, we make copious extracts. The author of the sketch referred to had access to many sources of information not heretofore obtainable by the public, and his statements are entirely authoritative in character :
"Strong character is portrayed in every line of the face which looks out from the pages of the Troy Times as the portrait of Henry W. Sage. And a strong character in every sense of the term is what Hon. Henry W. Sage possesses. He also has a kindly nature and a mind filled with lofty ideas of usefulness to his fellow-men. With such a combination of mental and moral qualities it is not surprising that Mr. Sage has made a record for practical munificence hardly surpassed in the annals of American benevolence. 'His works do praise him,' and they have been those which enlisted not only his well-disciplined business faculties, but his heart and soul as well, in short, labors of love, the achievements of one in whom abounds the milk of hu- man kindness. In writing of such a man the best tribute that can be paid him is to
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enumerate the deeds which make his name illustrious. Fulsome praise or high-sound- ing eulogy would be out of place, as it would be distasteful to the man. But facts speak for themselves, and the facts of Henry W. Sage's career make up a sum of good accomplished that places his name high up on the roll of those who have made the world better for living in it.
"Mr. Sage's early life was similar in its experiences to that of the large class of self-made, self-reliant men who form such a distinct type of American citizenship. He was born at Middletown, Conn., January 31, 1814, and lived at Bristol, Conn., until 1821, when his family removed to Ithaca, N. Y. It had been his desire to enter Yale College, and he pursued a course of study with that end in view. But a change of plan was necessitated by the removal to this State, and it may be said to have involved the fortunes of the great educational institution which afterward became to him the object of so much affection and liberality. In Ithaca Mr. Sage also began the study of medicine, but ill health forced him to abandon it, and in 1832 he entered the employ of his uncles, Williams & Brothers, becoming a clerk in their extensive merchandise, produce and transportation establishment. Here he developed the business capacity that has marked his whole life since, and in 1837 he succeeded to his uncles' business, and later enlarged it to far greater proportions. He established a large manufactory on Lake Simcoe, Canada, in 1854, and a few years later with John McGraw, built another an Wenona, Mich., at that time the largest in the world. He also purchased timber lands in Michigan and elsewhere until he held al- together over 500,000 acres and ranked as the largest land-owner in the State. All these vast business interests were managed with a vigor and intelligence that assured the greatest success and pushed Mr. Sage forward until he stood in the front rank of the noble guild of the princes of trade.
"Mr. Sage was the steadfast ally and lifelong friend of the late Ezra Cornell, and from the inception of that great philanthropist's plan for a university at Ithaca, his trusted confidant and sympathetic adviser. At the first commencement of the uni- versity the proposition was made by him to Mr. Cornell and President Andrew D. White that 'Cornell University should provide and forever maintain facilities for the education of women as broadly as for men.' The way to carry the suggestion into ef- fect was not immediately opened, but a few years later the building and endowment of Sage College amply attested the sincerity and generosity of this noble-hearted friend of education. After the death of Ezra Cornell Mr. Sage was elected president of the Board of Trustees of the university, which position he has held continuously ever since.
" While Mr. Sage is so conspicuously associated with Ithaca, its business interests and the university of which it is the seat, he has not held an unbroken residence since he located there in boyhood. From 1857 to 1880 he lived in Brooklyn, where he was a member and one of the trustees of Plymouth Church and intimately identified with the social, commercial and religious life of the city. But he never for a moment re- linquished his interest in the university that had so large a place in his heart, and when he returned to make his home in Ithaca it was doubtless with the well-defined intention to dedicate his life to the work in which he has since shown such zeal. In truth, he may be considered the guiding spirit of Cornell University and the one man to whom, next to its founder and its first president, Andrew D. White, it owes its present success and usefulness. He has been its bountiful benefactor, its steadfast,
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
generous friend, its ready helper, when wise counsel, judicious business manage- ment and contributions of ready money were in demand.
" As is well known, Cornell University was founded in the expectation of receiving the benefits of the land grant voted by Congress in 1862. In 1881 the university was in sore straits, needing a large sum of money which was not forthcoming from any other source within reach. Accordingly the trustees determined to sell the land, consisting practically of about 500,000 acres in Wisconsin. They had an offer of $1,250,000 for the property, but the proposing purchaser could not make the first pay- ment, and the trustees would gladly have accepted $1,000,000. But Mr. Sage stren- uously objected, basing his opposition on his personal knowledge of the value of pine lands, and the matter was held in abeyance and referred to him for a special report. He prepared an exhaustive statement showing in detail the exact value of the lands, which he estimated were at that time worth more than $2,600,000 at a fair market price. The thorough manner in which the work was done is demonstrated by the fact that he employed experts to go over the ground, estimating the whole in sections of forty acres, a careful report being made of each section and the amount of stump- age, etc., in the whole vast tract. In this minute, painstaking and systematic man- ner the precise nature and value of the property were established. Mr. Sage's re- port to the trustees June 15, 1881, and the recommendations with which it was accom- panied were convincing as to the wisdom of retaining possession of the land. The policy as to the care of the property and the sale of such portions of it as they deemed it advisable to dispose of from time to time suggested by Mr. Sage was adopted by the trustees and has been adhered to ever since. That his conclusions were sound is shown by the present value of the land, which is estimated, with that already sold, to be not less than $6,000,000. Thus the adoption of Mr. Sage's recommendations saved the university a large sums of money. Since 1881 the care of the university lands has been left mostly in his hands as chairman of the land committee. He had per- sonally attended to the selling, and with the assistance of the treasurer of the univer- sity, to drawing up papers, making collections and all the details connected with this great estate, and without expense to the university other than the clerk's com- pensation. Thus in the entire twelve years he has carried on 'a land office business' for Cornell and it has not cost that institution a single dollar.
"John McGraw was a warm and personal friend of Mr. Sage for over fifty years, and during a considerable part of that period his partner in extensive lumbering operations in the West. Jennie McGraw, his friend's daughter, was beloved by Mr. Sage from her earliest childhood. She united with her father in the purpose to give the bulk of the McGraw estate toward the erection and maintenance of a magnificent library for Cornell University. In 1880 Jennie McGraw married Professor D. W. Fiske, a member of the Cornell faculty, and in 1881 she died. After her death came the suit of Fiske, who claimed the whole cstate. But the McGraw heirs, claiming that their rights were superior to his, commenced another suit, which resulted in a compromise with Fiske and in the complete success of the contestants, who took over $2,000,000 willed by Jennie McGraw to Cornell University. The Board of Trustees entrusted Mr. Sage and the late Judge Boardman with the sole direction and policy of the suit as representatives of the university's interests. In September, 1885, Mr. Sage, fearing the decision would be adverse to the university and that he might die before the settlement of the case, added a codicil to his will in which he bound his
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estate, in the event of the MeGraw legacy being set aside, to ereet a library building at a cost of $260,000, and also to provide the additional sum of $300,000 as an endow- ment fund for the maintenance of the library. But the noble benefactor lived to carry out in person this additional scheme of benevolence, and the library building built in 1891, with its endowment, is the enduring testimonial to his munificence. On a tablet near the main entrance of the building is the following inscription: 'In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske, whose purpose to found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated, this house has been built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage.' A remarkable exhibition not only of a lofty purpose to do good with his money, but of loyalty to and affection for the memory of those he loved.
" Mr. Sage long had a strong determination to found a college of ethics and philos- ophy, and it was his purpose to make it the best and most comprehensive in the land. He suggested that Professor (now President) Schurman visit Europe to study the best methods employed in the various countries as applied to these studies. On his return Professor Schurman presented a report embodying the results of his observa- tions and the recommendations based thereon. To carry into effect the plan sug- gested would necessitate an endowment of $400,000. At that time Mr. Sage, in ad- (lition to other large contributions to the university, had assumed the responsibility of building the library, together with its endowment, representing a total of $560,000, and he felt that the condition of his finances would not warrant him in providing the further sum of $400,000 necessary to found and endow the department of ethics and philosophy. However, his heart was in this work, as in everything else connected with the great institution for which he has done so much, and he was determined to bring about the desired result if possible. Presenting Professor Schurman's report to the trustees, he proposed to give outright the sum of $200,000 toward the necessary endowment if the university would bind itself to maintain the department according to the plan suggested-equivalent to the university giving annually the interest on $200,000 for this purpose.
In a letter addressed to the trustees of Cornell University, dated October 20, 1890, Mr. Sage, referring to his endowment of the Susan E. Linn Sage chair of Christian Ethics and Philosophy, amounting with costs of a house for the permanent use of its occupant to $61,000, offered to endow the Susan E. Linn Sage School of Ethics and Philosophy in the sum of $200,000 provided the university bound itself to forever maintain the department upon the basis proposed, which would praetically demand the interest on $400,000. As Mr. Sage expressed it: 'With these conditions assented to by a proper resolution of this board, and other proper legal obligations, I propose to add to my former endowment $200,000, payable in cash, or approved securities, October 1, 1891, to enlarge the basis of the Susan E. Linn Sage foundation and es- tablish the Susan E. Linn Sage School of Philosophy.' After presenting an outline of the plan suggested, Mr. Sage added: 'I will now discuss briefly the question, Should you accept this proposition ? Can Cornell University afford the department of ethics and philosophy at the cost of so large an annual draft upon its general fund (87,500)? Is the purpose to be accomplished by and through it worthy in itself; will it add value and dignity to our processes of education equal to its cost? Heretofore Cornell has done little at her own proper cost to uplift the moral and religious ele- ments in her students.
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