GEORGE FREDERICK
WRIGHT.
IN MEMORIAM.
In the fullness of years and bearing
the honors of a
life devoted to science and the service
of his fellow
men, Doctor George Frederick Wright, President
Emeritus of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Histori-
cal Society, passed to his final reward
April 20, 1921.
While he had been failing in strength
for a few months
past he was able to continue his work
almost to the day
of his death and was cheerfully looking
forward to a
return to health and planning further
contributions in
his chosen field of interest and
research. In a letter
addressed to the Secretary of the
Society under date of
April 11, 1921, he wrote:
"I was very glad to receive your
letter and learn that you
were going to put Dr. Wilson's article
in the April number of
the QUARTERLY.
"It is true that I have been under
the weather for four
weeks * * *, but I have not been
incapacitated for office
work any of the time, and hope soon to
be out and around as
usual."
The reference in this letter is to the
article which ap-
pears in this issue of the QUARTERLY,
on the serpent
worship and monuments of India and the
serpent mounds
of Ohio-a subject on which Dr. Wright
had thought
much and to which he referred at the last
annual
meeting of the Society. It is worthy of
note in this
connection that at the first annual
meeting of the So-
ciety in 1886 Dr. Wright read a paper
on "The Relation
(162)
George Frederick Wright. 163 of the Glacial Period to Archaeology in Ohio;" that he had since been an active member, contributing fre- quently to the QUARTERLY, serving on different commit- |
|
tees, on the Board of Trustees, and as President froth 1907-1909, when at his own request he was relieved. He was elected President Emeritus, in which position he served till the time of his death. His last contribution, |
164
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
which is introductory to the article by
Dr. Wilson, bears
date of March 31, 1921, and appears
elsewhere in this
issue.
His associates will bear testimony to
his never fail-
ing interest and keen enjoyment in the
work of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society, which he so
signally honored for thirty-five
years. The evident
pleasure that he found in the annual
meeting of last
December will be recalled by all who
met him on that
occasion.
Dr. Wright was a scholar of national
and inter-
national reputation and a student
through life. A bi-
ographer in a recent survey of his
literary work has
said:
"Wright's output was
prodigious. His books number six-
teen volumes and upwards of 5,750
pages. He edited thirty-
eight volumes of Bibliotheca Sacra and fourteen
volumes of
Records of the Past (each involving labors like unto the pro-
duction of a book of his own). His
published magazine articles
listed from 1873 to 1916 number 524;
and from 1913 (age 75)
on, he averaged an article a month, a
pace which he maintained
almost to the end."
Those who for many years were
intimately associ-
ated with him in his varied service
have paid just and
fitting tribute to his worth and
eminence as minister of
the gospel, scientist, teacher, author
and citizen. In
every relation of life he was faithful
to his ideals and
his conception of duty. Judged by these
high standards
he was singularly fortunate and
successful.
Dr. Wright was twice married, first on
August 28,
1862 to Hulda Marie Day, whose death
occurred in
1899. He was united in marriage with
Florence
Eleanor Bedford, who survives him, in
September, 1904.
He had four children, all living and
all graduates of
George Frederick Wright. 165
Oberlin College. They are Mary Augusta,
(now the
wife of Rev. A. A. Berle) Etta,
Frederick Bennett and
Helen.
While Dr. Wright reached a ripe old
age, in spirit
he was perennially young. His was a
healthful and
hopeful optimism. Doubt did not cloud
his future. He
welcomed scientific truth and
reconciled it with rational
and unfaltering faith. He was pioneer
among Chris-
tian ministers to accept the
fundamentals of evolution
and lived to see his position generally
approved.
His funeral occurred on the 23rd of
April. The
following committee of officers and
members were in at-
tendance representing the Ohio State
Archaeological
and Historical Society: Governor James
E Campbell,
President; Honorable Francis W.
Treadway; Dr. W. O.
Thompson; George F. Bareis; E. F. Wood;
Colonel
Webb C. Hayes; Dr. William C. Mills; C.
B. Galbreath.
Services were held in the
Congregational Church at
Oberlin. The tributes of Dr. Henry
Churchill King,
President of Oberlin College, Professor
Azariah S.
Root and Professor Edward Dickinson are
here pre-
sented as a fitting memorial to Dr.
Wright.
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT HENRY CHURCHILL
KING.
"The external record of
Professor Wright's life may be
briefly recounted.
"He was born January 22, 1838, and hence
died in his
eighty-fourth year. His birthplace was
the little village of
Whitehall, New York, at the head of Lake
Champlain. His
early education was in country schools
and a neighboring
academy. He came to Oberlin in 1855,
graduating from the
College in 1859, and from the
Theological Seminary in 1862.
Brown University later gave him the
honorary degree of Doctor
of Divinity, and Drury College that of
Doctor of Laws.
166 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
"At the outbreak of the Civil War
he was one of the first
to enlist in Company C, the first
Oberlin company to be
formed, and entered the service of the
army, but on account of
severe illness due to long exposure, was
given sick-leave furlough
after five months.
"His first pastorate, of ten years,
was in a country parish
at Bakersfield, Vermont, where he laid
the foundations for his
steady growth by sacredly devoting his
mornings to study. His
second pastorate, also of nearly ten
years, was at the Free
Church at Andover, Massachusetts, where
he continued with
great success his glacial studies.
"He was assistant in the
Pennsylvania Geological Survey of
1881-82, and in the United States Survey of 1884-1892.
"He was Corresponding Member from
the Alumni on the
Board of Trustees of Oberlin College for
three years, 1870, and
1876-78.
"He began his teaching at
Oberlin in 1881, holding the chair
of New Testament Language and Literature
until 1892, when a
new professorship was created for him -
that of the Harmony
of Science and Revelation, which he held
from 1892 to his re-
tirement in 1907. He had been Emeritus Professor since 1907,
continuing his scientific investigations
and his editorship of the
Bibliotheca Sacra, which involved an enormous amount of writ-
ing,-as the bibliography of his writings
shows. And he was
elected President of the Ohio Historical
and Archaeological
Society in 1907 and held that
position for twelve years.
"It is evident at once from his
brief record how large a factor
Professor Wright was in the life both
of Oberlin College and
of the Oberlin community.
"In College he was seven years a
student, three years a
Corresponding Member from the Alumni of
the Board of Trus-
tees, twenty-six years an active
teacher, and fourteen years an
Emeritus Professor. His entire direct connection as student
and officer with Oberlin, therefore,
covered fifty years, and he
had personally known sixty-six years of
the history of the Col-
lege. He proved himself one of the most
distinguished alumni
of the College and one of its most
widely known teachers and
investigators. He had an exceedingly
wide acquaintance.
George Frederick Wright. 167
"As one of the first of Oberlin's
young men to enlist for the
Civil War, he has naturally had close
connection with the local
post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
"In church and community the
earnestness of his Christian
conviction, his wide interests and
knowledge, his genuine friend-
liness, his hopeful faith, and the
weight of his own character and
attainments -have
all combined to make him a man to rejoice
in and to be proud of.
"Back of all this pride in him on
the part of his friends
and colleagues lay the remarkable breadth
of his work. His
work included that of preacher and
pastor, of teacher, of in-
vestigator, of author, and of
editor. In almost any one of
these fields he had done work sufficient
to make a solid basis
for an enduring reputation. His writing
was along correspond-
ingly varied lines-apologetic,
theological, critical, biographical,
geological, archaeological, and
aesthetic. And he secured inter-
ested and notable attention in each of
these fields, having real
contributions to make at many points.
"His strong and fine personal
qualities stand out also unmis-
takably in this record. The very amount of his work reveals
indubitably his unusual capacity for
turning off work, and his
unquestionably great intellectual
ability. He had a mind in
rare degree persistently active,
versatile, and productive. His
retirement from teaching meant
apparently no lessening of
mental labor but only change of work.
"Professor Wright had the power
also to take comprehen-
sive views and to use a wide range of
data-to bring many
details together into one inquiry and so
skilfully to handle broad
masses of evidence. His achievements in
glacial geology could
hardly have been possible to him
otherwise.
"In his judgment of men, of means,
and of the changing
times he was not blind to the
limitations of the past, but kept
a good measure of confidence in the new
times, in harmony with
his deep faith in the over-ruling
providence of God.
"None of us need to be told that he
was a man of deep
convictions in many realms and of
profound religious faith, as
the personal Creed, which forms the last
chapter of the inter-
168
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
esting and suggestive story of his life
abundantly reveals. As
truly as Abraham, he believed that God
was 'his shield and his
exceeding great reward' - in this life
and in all lives."
ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR AZARIAH S. ROOT.
"In the few minutes allotted me I
wish to say something of
a side of Professor Wright's work which
I think he would like
emphasized; namely, his work in the
field of science. It will be
understood that I am not speaking as one
who has wide knowl-
edge in this field, endeavoring to
evaluate the worth of Profes-
sor Wright's contribution to this field
of knowledge, but rather
as a loving friend, reviewing with
admiration the accomplish-
ments of an honored colleague.
"That Professor Wright should have
become prominent in
the scientific world was certainly a
great tribute to his individual
initiative and capacity, for scientific
training in the modern sense
he had little. The College catalogue for 1859 indicates that the
following courses in science were
offered to his class:
9 weeks of Botany with no
laboratory. Lectures.
24 weeks of Physics, no laboratory. Olmstead as a text, with
recitations.
24 weeks of lectures on Chemistry. No laboratory.
12 weeks of Astronomy, Olmstead as
text with recitations.
12 weeks of Geology, Hitchcock as
text with occasional lectures.
12 weeks
of Mineralogy.
The entire amount of science offered at
that time was thus less
than five semesters work in six
different fields of science, or less
than a single semester in any one
science.
"His graduation from the College in
1859 was followed by
his years of theological study,
interrupted by service in the Civil
War. He then took his place as a country
minister in Vermont.
"Here the geological formation of
the vicinity interested
him.
His intellectual curiosity would not be satisfied by a
superficial explanation. He gained such information as he
could from books and from correspondence
with geologists in
and out of the state, and supplemented
this by a wide reading
of scientific literature. In this way he was led to a study of the
George Frederick Wright. 169
works of Charles Darwin, just then
coming from the press. As
a result of this study he became a
believer in the general theory
of evolution as taught by Darwin and
both spoke and wrote in
its favor. As an advocate of evolution at a time when many
leading scientists, as for example,
Agassiz, opposed it, and when
nearly every clergyman viewed it with
alarm, he was brought
into acquaintance with and established
friendly relations with,
many of the leading scientific men of
the East, particularly with
Asa Gray of Harvard and Professor C. H.
Hitchcock of Dart-
mouth.
"Because of his advocacy of
evolution, he was invited to
write a series of articles on the
subject for the Bibliotheca Sacra,
the first article appearing in the
number for December, 1875.
This series of articles awakened wide
interest and brought him a
greatly increased reputation. Of his work at this period, Dr.
Tucker, ex-president of Dartmouth
College, in his recent book
My Generation, speaks as follows: 'Especially notable was a
series of articles in the Bibliotheca
Sacra, the leading theological
review of the time, by Professor George
Frederick Wright of
Oberlin, then the young pastor of the
Free Church in Andover,
Mass. These papers were characterized by
a breadth and candor
and above all by a thorough
comprehension of the real questions
at issue, which make them still an
example of fair-minded and
intelligent discussion in place of
controversy.'
"When Professor Wright removed to
Andover, he became
interested in the 'kettleholes' and
other characteristics of the
glacial formation of the region and this
led to an increasing
specialization in that particular field.
As a result he determined
to trace the boundary of the glaciated
region in North America.
Because of articles published by him on
this subject, he was
selected by the Director of the Second
Geological Survey of
Pennsylvania to prepare a volume on the
terminal moraine for
that survey, and later was employed by
the United States Geo-
logical Survey. On his removal to Oberlin he devoted many
of his vacations to the following of
this line through Ohio and
the states west of Ohio. His work was so
conscientiously done,
his ability to assemble and relate the
observations made in these
trips was so unusual, that this work
must rank among the most
170 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
important of his contributions to
Geology. After some years
of such study he was honored by an
invitation to give a course
of lectures on the subject in the Lowell
Lectures of Boston. As
a consequence he prepared and published
the most elaborate of
his scientific contributions, The Ice
Age in North America. This
work was widely reviewed and had a very
large sale. During a
trip through Europe, Dr. Wright had
great satisfaction in find-
ing his work in the libraries of the
scientific men upon whom he
called, and received many assurances of
the value of its con-
tribution to the subject. Only a few months ago he published
the sixth edition of this work, with an
additional chapter re-
viewing the literature of the subject
that had appeared since the
issue of the fifth edition.
"This work in the field of glacial
geology led almost
inevitably into another field; namely,
that of pre-historic
archaeology. At the fringe of the terminal moraine or within
the territory covered once by glacial
ice, there came to light from
time to time, evidences of the existence
of pre-glacial man.
Professor Wright's first contribution to
the Bibliotheca (in
April, 1873) was upon this topic. In
this paper he reviews the
recent books in the field and after
stating the conclusions to
which they led, turns to what was then a
much mooted question,
the bearing of these conclusions upon
the then generally accepted
Biblical Chronology of Archbishop Usher.
'It is a principle' he
says, 'which we should keep more
prominently in view than we
do, that the integrity of the divine
revelation should not be made
to depend upon the interpretation of a
few isolated and doubtful
passages. In such a brief and rapid epitome of long periods
of early history as is given in Genesis,
the words 'beget' and
'son of' cannot be so equivocal in their
meaning and limitations,
that the Bible must stand or fall with
the strictest and most
limited interpretation of them. That
feeling of uneasiness which
many students of the Bible have, resting
on Archbishop Usher's
interpretation of equivocal words in a
rapid historical epitome
of little logical importance to the rest
of the book, is not more
unpleasant than it is unfortunate.' In
this spirit he followed
Professor Abbott's discoveries in the
Delaware valley and every
other such discovery that was reported,
usually refraining from
George Frederick Wright. 171
any expression of opinion until he had
personally visited the
spot, and studied all the obtainable
evidence. He published
many articles upon the antiquity of man
and was presently asked
to deliver a course of lectures on the
subject in the Lowell Lec-
tures at Boston. In 1892 these lectures appeared in print in
Appleton's famous International
Scientific Series under the title
Man and the Glacial Period. This
subject never ceased to in-
terest him and he followed it with
keenest interest to the end
of his life. For many years any such discovery was at once
communicated to him and as speedily as
possible he was on the
spot to investigate. The gradual
accumulation of material pres-
ently led him to publish (in 1912) a second
volume on the sub-
ject entitled The Origin and
Antiquity of Man.
"This interest in archaeology led
naturally to his election to
the Presidency of the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical So-
ciety, a position which he held for many
years. Two years ago,
because of increasing deafness, he
insisted upon declining fur-
ther service, and the Society
reluctantly released him. Almost
his last public appearance was in
presenting a paper in this gen-
eral field before the local Social
Science Club. On that occa-
sion he spoke with his wonted
enthusiasm, and, as was his cus-
tom, without manuscript or memoranda.
One of those present
remarked to me as we were leaving, 'How
glad I would be to
be able to believe that at Professor
Wright's age I should speak
with such fire, state my thought so
logically, and be as clear-
headed as he has been this afternoon.'
"I am well aware that I have only
been able to touch upon
a few of the scientific contributions of
Professor Wright. In
our card catalogue there are recorded
ninety-eight books and
pamphlets of which he was the author,
and I suppose there are
many that have not come to us. To these
numerous publica-
tions should be added - as another phase
of his widely extended
influence - his work in the lecture
field. As a popular lecturer
upon scientific topics he was called for
in all parts of the country.
Thus he reached an unusually widely
distributed audience.
"But now he will speak no more, and
we shall only recall
in memory the kindly face, the
straightforward presentation, the
172
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
fine flavor of humor, the graciousness
of personality, the beauty
of spirit which made Professor Wright
one of Oberlin's best
known and most highly esteemed
citizens."
ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR EDWARD DICKINSON.
"Upon this sacred occasion it is
natural to let our minds
linger upon those achievements which
have carried the name of
our departed friend into learned circles
in many lands. And
yet, when we stand as we do at such a
time with our faces
turned towards eternal things,
scientific discoveries, even though
carried to an eminent degree, do not
seem of quite supreme
importance. In the world of science one discovery succeeds
another, one discovery supplants another
and makes the deduc-
tions of one day obsolete the next. But they have a value
beyond the slight relation they bear to
the sum total of the
unknown when they testify to an activity
which finds its highest
satisfaction when it helps to keep the
longing for truth alive
and burning in the world. It was Thomas Huxley, standing
in the front rank of scientists of his
day, who declared that the
scientific spirit is of more value than
its products. It is be-
cause our friend had this spirit and at
the same time made it
tributary to moral ends that we praise
him to-day. He toiled
unremittingly to uncover new secrets of
nature; he strove in his
theological writings to maintain what he
devoutly believed, and
he defended his conclusions stoutly, not
from any pride in them
as his own, certainly not from any love
of controversy, but be-
cause he could not do otherwise and be
true to his conscience.
They may be superseded or they may
remain constant, but at
any rate his example stands and will
always stand as that of a
man who devoted highly intellectual
powers to the attainment
of knowledge, not for its own sake or
for any economic profits,
but for the sake of those spiritual
values in which knowledge
and mental achievement find their only
real satisfaction and
stability.
"I have been asked to speak of Dr.
Wright's love of art,
and especially of music. I do this the more readily because of
a claim upon my gratitude. From my first
coming to Oberlin
George Frederick Wright. 173
College to found a new department of
instruction I had his
sympathy and encouragement. We were drawn together first
by a common love of music, but our
friendship soon found other
bases on which to rest. Although I did
not need any argument
to prove the value of music as a factor
in the intellectual life, it
was the source of an added gratification
to find a deep respect
and love for music in so intellectual a
man, and one whose
professional pursuits were so different
from those of one de-
voted to art. It was not that music and
art were a recreation
with him-a relief from arduous mental
toil; they were a part
of the deeper need of his nature; they
were to him both a joy
and a witness to a truth which he could
not separate from beauty.
Being an essential part of his nature
they helped to give fresh-
ness and elasticity to his mind. I do not doubt that these
aesthetic appreciations had a share in
the preservation of that
youthfulness of spirit which kept him
ardently and joyfully at
his task far beyond the normal span of
working life. The love
of beauty unquestionably has this
rejuvenating power. The
surest preservative of a youthful
freshness of mind is a con-
stant loving contact with that which is
unchangeably young; and
not least in nature and in art, for
their beauty is the beauty of
immortal youth.
"A recent poet sings:-
'Life well spent is ever new,
And years anointed younger grow.'
Certainly the years of Dr. Wright were
anointed years; his well-
spent life was ever renewed, and part of
the renewing power
was his reverent love of all that is
beautiful in sight and sound.
"Although there was no restriction
in his love of music it
was primarily based upon religious
music. No one realized
more than he the importance of music as
an aid to worship. He
was not content with listening, he
joined in it with his voice, and
always lent it the help of his
enthusiastic advocacy. As one
of the founders of the Second Church
Society he gave his in-
terest hardly less to the church music
than to the other church
activities. When the Musical Union was
established as a com-
174
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
bination of the choirs of the two
Congregational Churches he
was a leading spirit in its
organization. Not only that, but he
was from the first a member of the
singing force, a faithful
attendant in its rehearsals and public
performances whenever
he was in town. Even as late as two years ago one of the
pleasant features of the concerts was
the sight of his gray head
among the tenors, the only survivor in
the chorus from the
original body, singing his part with no
less zeal and enjoyment
than the youngest member of the company.
"In his travels in Russia and
Siberia he was struck with
the wealth and marvelous abundance of
the Russian folk music
and his talk about it one day to my
classes was one of the
very pleasant episodes of my department
work. His enlightened
admiration for the music of the Russian
Church was equally
significant. He brought back from Russia
a copy of the beauti-
ful setting of the 'Liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom', by Tchaikov-
sky, and made an English version which
was published in Mos-
cow, and became at once one of the most
valued works in the
repertory of the choir of the Second
Church. This was one
of the beginnings, if not actually the
beginning, of the introduc-
tion of the music of the Russian church
to the attention of
American musicians. It was a fortunate
movement, for I think
it is safe to say that no other nation
in recent years has made
so rich a contribution to the music of
the Christian Church as
Russia.
In his perception of this and in his wise action Dr.
Wright was a pioneer.
"In working with him upon the
revision of the Oberlin
Hymnal I was surprised at the extent of
his knowledge of
hymnody and hymn music, and was also
pleased to see that he
was as appreciative of the value of the
later tendencies in that
field as he was of the established
dignity of the old.
"In his researches in archaeology
he was as ready to find
aesthetic values there as he was to
recognize its functions as
historic record. In his observation of Japanese art he was
quick to perceive its peculiar and
unique beauty as well as its
importance in the study of racial
character.
"Our sorrow in the loss of such a
friend is blended with a
kind of noble pleasure in the
contemplation of a fruitful life
George Frederick Wright 175
that is at the same time rounded and
complete. I used the word
loss in order that I might contradict
myself. There is no loss
unless we make it so. The inspiration of
it remains; the lesson
is always ours by which to profit if we
will hold it fast. I have
spoken of Oberlin music, and I think of
music as he thought
of it--as a revelation of the soul, a
bond between the life of
action and the life of the spirit. He helped to establish the
Oberlin music for the sake of its
uplifting and steadying power,
-as a social force, drawing all the
elements of the community
together by a common interest in a
purifying and humanizing
influence. This consciousness we must
not lose. The founda-
tion of Oberlin music was a religious
foundation, and although
it has greatly developed along technical
and secular lines, it
must never lose its early spirit of
earnestness and reverence if
it would be true to its high
mission. Here lies the permanent
value of a life like that of Dr. Wright
as an example and a
reminder.
"One of the magazines with which
Dr. Wright was for a
time connected was entitled Records
of the Past. Such a career
as his is a precious record of the past
- of a past in which much
that is best in the present is planted.
His qualities of sincerity,
singleness, and resolute unflagging zeal
in the affirmation of
what he believed to be the permanent
bases of truth are examples
for us in our own pursuits, however
widely they may diverge
from his in their nature and their
results. The tribute that we
offer to such careers -the tribute like
that we pay today - is
an implicit pledge that we will strive
to be true in our acts to the
homage which we pay with our
words."
GEORGE FREDERICK
WRIGHT.
IN MEMORIAM.
In the fullness of years and bearing
the honors of a
life devoted to science and the service
of his fellow
men, Doctor George Frederick Wright, President
Emeritus of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Histori-
cal Society, passed to his final reward
April 20, 1921.
While he had been failing in strength
for a few months
past he was able to continue his work
almost to the day
of his death and was cheerfully looking
forward to a
return to health and planning further
contributions in
his chosen field of interest and
research. In a letter
addressed to the Secretary of the
Society under date of
April 11, 1921, he wrote:
"I was very glad to receive your
letter and learn that you
were going to put Dr. Wilson's article
in the April number of
the QUARTERLY.
"It is true that I have been under
the weather for four
weeks * * *, but I have not been
incapacitated for office
work any of the time, and hope soon to
be out and around as
usual."
The reference in this letter is to the
article which ap-
pears in this issue of the QUARTERLY,
on the serpent
worship and monuments of India and the
serpent mounds
of Ohio-a subject on which Dr. Wright
had thought
much and to which he referred at the last
annual
meeting of the Society. It is worthy of
note in this
connection that at the first annual
meeting of the So-
ciety in 1886 Dr. Wright read a paper
on "The Relation
(162)