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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 

 
 3fn jHemortam 
 
 HOWARD GARDNER NICHOLS 
 
 * 
 
 '■'•His soul was made for the noblest 
 society. Wherever there is knowledge, 
 wherever there is virtue, wherever 
 there is beauty, he will find a home " 
 
 CAMBRIDGE 
 
 printeD at ttje Mtocrsiue pm 
 
 MDCCCXCVII
 
 IS* 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BY S. L. S. 
 
 A rarely gifted young life has passed from 
 our sight. That its memory, enshrined in loving 
 hearts, may become an inspiration to others, this 
 memorial is prepared by one who knew and loved 
 Gardner Nichols from his youth. 
 
 Like some sweet song too soon ended, his life 
 — pure, as it was strong ; simple, as it was he- 
 roic — is worthy of the imitation of the young 
 men of this generation. 
 
 Howard Gardner Nichols, eldest child and 
 only son of John Howard and Charlotte Pea- 
 body Nichols, was born April 16, 1871, at Haver- 
 hill, Massachusetts, where his earliest years were 
 passed, and where he received his first instruc- 
 tion, at a private kindergarten. His teacher 
 writes : " What a glorious truth that every one 
 forms his own character. Gardner had the privi- 
 lege of carving his own statue ; of giving an ex- 
 istence to the ideal of his highest thought of a 
 man ; of cultivating himself into the noblest con- 
 ception of faithfulness in stewardship. His life 
 has been so beautiful, so full of fruit in acts and 
 efforts, that I shrink from adding even a word ; 
 
 550086
 
 4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 he was my idol. For two short years it was my 
 joy to teach him, and to feel the brightness of 
 his sunny presence." 
 
 Removing to Newton, he entered the Bigelow 
 School, where he remained until fitted for the 
 Boston Latin School. In the summer of 1881, 
 with his father, mother, and eldest sister, he went 
 to Europe for three months. At the time of his 
 graduation from Harvard he said of this trip, 
 " Even now I remember most of what I saw and 
 did." He kept a little diary, very brief and 
 boyish, yet clearly pointing to the tastes of later 
 years. We give a few extracts : — 
 
 " July 18. British Museum in a. m. ; Na- 
 tional Gallery in p. m. ; liked Landseer's dog 
 pictures. 
 
 " July 20. Rotterdam. Drove round ; saw 
 many windmills ; to the Hague in p. M. ; to pic- 
 ture gallery ; saw Paul Potter's bull — fine pic- 
 ture. 
 
 " July 26. To Munich in a. m. ; women work- 
 ing in fields ; cows ploughing ; saw a wild deer ; 
 geese. 
 
 "July 27-31. Went to picture galleries; 
 bands ; soldiers ; Schiitzenfest. Saw an impor- 
 tant man — the king. 
 
 "August 10. Took early train to Visp; 
 walked to St. Nicholas in five hours ; drove on 
 to Zermatt ; saw snow mountains — the Matter- 
 horn ; saw lights of party ascending.
 
 £> 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 5 
 
 " August 14. Chamounix ; Hotel Mt. Blanc ; 
 went to church in a. m. ; English service ; very 
 srood sermon ; saw Mont Blanc." 
 
 One day, when Gardner was quite young, his 
 attention, with that of his father, was attracted 
 by an unusual noise in a tree at the back of the 
 house. He writes : " It was a perfectly still, cloud- 
 less morning, with not a breath of wind stirring. 
 On close examination we noticed something red 
 bobbing backward and forward on the side of a 
 dead limb, near the top of the tree ; my father 
 went for his gun, and in a moment an innocent 
 little downy woodpecker, a male in full plumage, 
 with a beautiful scarlet crest, was our victim. 
 I could hardly believe it was he who had caused 
 all that noise. This aroused my interest, and 
 from that day to this (the spring of 1893), with 
 always increasing enthusiasm, I have been a de- 
 voted student of ornithology in particular ; of 
 all nature in general. This one incident changed 
 me from a bookworm to a young naturalist, and 
 I went now constantly into the woods. From the 
 time I was eleven years old, when I received a 
 shotgun, until entering college, I spent every 
 Saturday, rain or shine, in the woods." 
 
 In speaking of his life at the Latin School, he 
 says : " Here for five years I looked forward to 
 the preliminary examinations for Harvard with 
 awe. After I had passed these without failure 
 in any subject, the finals had no terror for me,
 
 b BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 and I passed them clear, with credit in advanced 
 Greek." His parents would have sent him to a 
 private preparatory school, but thought it best 
 for him to be at home during these years. In 
 regard to their opinion he writes : " I must say 
 they were wise. I regard any boarding-school 
 for young boys as dangerous in the extreme ; it 
 is preeminently the time when boys should be at 
 home. Then, too, the tendency of private schools 
 is to develop cliques, and men from these schools, 
 when they reach college, consider they are en- 
 titled to special privileges not to be granted to 
 those from the public schools ; they believe that 
 a private school places them on a higher plane. 
 It is this spirit which is doing more to weaken 
 our school system than attacks from alien-born 
 citizens or religious intolerance. In not patron- 
 izing the public schools, we fail to practice what 
 most of us at all events preach, the mainte- 
 nance of our public school system. I can testify 
 most heartily that this is what I have learned 
 from four years' observation at college." 
 
 With his father, in the summer of 1888, he 
 took a trip across the continent of North America 
 by the Canadian Pacific Railway ; and in his jour- 
 nal thus vividly describes the approach to Banff : 
 " There were mountains on all sides, most of them 
 covered with snow ; they were rugged and seemed 
 like huge pyramids of rock. We passed a little 
 valley with a river flowing through it. Here the
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 7 
 
 mountains were thickly wooded at the bottom ; 
 halfway up were a few trees only, while the rest 
 of the way was steep and rocky. Banff, in the 
 Canadian National Park, is 4500 feet above the 
 sea level, and is noted for its sulphur baths." 
 
 While here he ascended the higher of the twin 
 peaks, taking with him a barometer adjusted to 
 tell the height of any mountain. Starting at 
 10.30 a. M., he reached home at 5.30 p. m., having 
 found the height to be 9000 feet, and the descent 
 harder than the ascent. 
 
 After leaving Banff, they went to Glacier. 
 " The railroad passes along the side of the canon, 
 crossing many bridges, and making very sharp 
 turns; the glacier is large, and as fine as any 
 in Switzerland." Of course Gardner must make 
 the ascent ; and a most exciting adventure it 
 proved : " After breakfast, we started to climb the 
 glacier; took gun, but left it at the bottom. 
 We could see where the glacier was, and how it 
 had receded, and began the ascent along its side. 
 After climbing five hundred feet, we came to 
 many deep fissures or chasms, some wide and 
 deep. All of us kept to the side on the rocks as 
 long as we could, and then walked on the snow 
 and ice ; the guide, Dr. B., myself, and our dog, 
 composed the party. At 1500 feet the climbing 
 became very hard ; I had a common axe, the doc- 
 tor an ice axe, and the guide nothing but the 
 lunch. The snow had become so firmly packed
 
 8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 that it was almost impossible to get footing, while 
 the angle we were obliged to climb was about 
 fifty degrees, with a deep and wide fissure below. 
 When halfway up, Dr. B. slipped, slid downward, 
 and tried to get his axe into the snow, but failed, 
 he was going quite fast, but, on the second trial, 
 managed to get it firmly into the snow ; but he 
 had fallen sixty feet toward a chasm — a little 
 more and he would have gone into it. We now 
 had to climb along the bottom of a perpendicu- 
 lar cliff ; went as far as we dared, then told the 
 guide it was too dangerous, and started down. The 
 guide threw my axe upon what he supposed was 
 firm ground, but it slipped, and went into a deep 
 fissure. He thought he could drop the lunch all 
 right, but that too went into the abyss. Our 
 party managed to get down, however, I by sitting 
 on the snow, with a sharp stone in either hand, 
 letting myself down. The dog climbed about 
 with ease. At last we got safely to the foot of 
 the glacier, arriving at the hotel at 4.30 P. M. 
 In starting out, we crossed a deep chasm on an 
 immense rock ; but when we returned, the way 
 seemed blocked, and we could not get across. 
 While we were upon the glacier, a landslide had 
 taken place ; the fissure had opened and swallowed 
 up an immense pile of rock." 
 
 This whole diary abounds with interesting 
 items, from which we cull bits here and there. 
 " Saw Chinese settlements ; the Chinamen work
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 9 
 
 for the railroad, or mine for silver or gold. They 
 live in miserable huts. . . . All along the Frazer 
 River, saw where the Indians caught their salmon, 
 drying them on poles with a smoking fire under- 
 neath. Mt. Baker could be clearly viewed. It 
 is entirely covered with snow, and though sixty 
 miles away, loomed up like an immense white 
 cloud. The scenery along the Frazer River canon 
 is the finest we have seen ; this is a very danger- 
 ous part of the road. Took photograph of Mt. 
 Baker. We touched the Pacific Ocean at Port 
 Moody, and for twelve miles kept along the sea- 
 coast. Eclipse of the moon." A visit to the 
 coal mines at Franklin was especially interesting 
 to Gardner. Our own large cities in the North- 
 west were visited, and contrasted with their 
 Canadian neighbors. The scenery along the 
 Willamette and Columbia rivers was greatly 
 enjoyed ; also that of the Yellowstone Park, in 
 which the wonderful formations of lime and mag- 
 nesia in terraces of different colors, the hot 
 springs and geysers, are specially noted. The 
 business and industrial enterprises came in for a 
 share of critical observation, remarkable in one so 
 young, Gardner at this time being only seven- 
 teen years old. At Olympia he found " Dwight 
 cloth." He took many photographs, which as- 
 sisted in making this trip what he later called 
 one of the most helpful he had ever made. In 
 June, 1889, he graduated from the Latin School.
 
 10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 The next summer, with his eldest sister, he 
 took his second trip to Europe. Making Weimar 
 their headquarters, they enjoyed frequent excur- 
 sions to the Thuringian forest and the localities 
 memorable in connection with the lives of Goethe, 
 Schiller, and Martin Luther. 
 
 Gardner entered very heartily into the home 
 life of his German friends. One day he proposed 
 to Frau G., his hostess, to cook the dinner ; she 
 assented, and early the next morning he went to 
 the market, accompanied by the maid who was to 
 carry his purchases, while Frau G. and his sister 
 followed at a distance, enjoying the sight of his 
 earnest, intent face as he did his marketing. 
 
 In describing this adventure he writes : " The 
 stove is not like ours, there being one flue but two 
 fires, — one to heat the oven, the other for the 
 open tops. Having no experience with that kind 
 of stove, it took a long time to start the fire ; as 
 soon as one fire was going well, it would spoil the 
 draught of the other, but I at last managed to fix 
 the doors and windows so that both would work. 
 The oven has a fire directly underneath, and also 
 contains a hole with a cover, such as we have on 
 the top of our stoves ; potatoes and soup were 
 cooking in the oven, but when it was time to 
 cook the steak, the fire which heated the open 
 part would not burn, so I had to take off the 
 soup and broil the steak in the oven, which was 
 difficult, as the potatoes were still cooking there.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 11 
 
 At last all was ready. It was greatly in my 
 favor that, having waited so long, they were all 
 hungry, even the guest whom Frau G. had in- 
 vited for this special occasion. When the soup 
 was removed, I had everything hot and ready to 
 serve ; cucumbers and radishes were ready, the 
 steak and peas garnished with parsley, and 
 everything was hot and well cooked, though the 
 beefsteak was a trifle singed and the potatoes 
 somewhat blackened. Frau G. wished me to 
 show her how to cook the steak, which they sel- 
 dom have here. Indeed, I had to buy a gridiron 
 on which to broil it. We had a pretty mould of 
 ice-cream, which was very attractive and con- 
 sidered a luxury. All pronounced the dinner a 
 success, although they had taken the precaution 
 to buy an extra quantity of bread, fearing they 
 might have to go without dinner. Frau G.'s 
 guest at once engaged me to cook for one month 
 for her boarding school, which consists of seven- 
 teen young ladies." 
 
 Leaving Weimar, Gardner and his sister jour- 
 neyed to Leipzig, the latter to remain there for 
 study. Before leaving her, Gardner inspected 
 her apartment, and thinking it would be difficult 
 to escape in case of fire, procured a rope, con- 
 structed a fire escape, and did not leave her until 
 he was satisfied she understood using it. 
 
 He visited Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg, 
 where he sailed for New York in time to resume
 
 12 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 his studies at Harvard. From the time of land- 
 ing at Liverpool he had planned and successfully 
 carried out the whole trip, his father giving him 
 full liberty. 
 
 The larger portion of the summer of 1891 was 
 most profitably spent with a geological class 
 under the guidance of professors from leading 
 colleges, during which time he visited a number 
 of the New England and Middle States. 
 
 Gardner made good use of his time at college, 
 studying more to become " a good all-round 
 scholar " than to gain distinction in any one 
 direction. He arranged for his second sister to 
 take a special course at Radcliffe, during his last 
 year at Harvard, preparatory to her spending 
 some years in study abroad, and watched her 
 progress with keen interest. Towards the end of 
 his college course, he said : " If I had only given 
 a little more time to one special subject, I might 
 graduate ' cum laude.' " He was agreeably sur- 
 prised when he did graduate " cum laude," with 
 honorable mention in history and natural history. 
 
 While at Harvard, he formed a friendship 
 with a fellow fraternity man, Herbert N., and 
 later with his brother Matthew, the three becom- 
 ing bound by closest ties. They were often at 
 Gardner's home, while in the summer of 1892 he 
 made his first visit to their beautiful home in 
 Minnesota, where the whole family became greatly 
 attached to him and he to them. Writing of a
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 13 
 
 sail up the Mississippi with his friends, he says : 
 " The scenery is as fine as any I have seen. The 
 bluffs all along the river are of limestone, the 
 deep valleys receding from the river to the prairies. 
 The rocks, which only appear at the tops of the 
 bluffs, often resemble castles ; their sides are 
 wooded, and at one place the hills were covered 
 with vineyards transplanted from the Rhine." 
 He was charmed with Western people and their 
 hospitality, and their hearts were won by his 
 sunny, manly disposition. 
 
 In 1893, after enjoying the World's Fair, he 
 visited his friends a second time. The three 
 young men were exceedingly congenial in their 
 tastes, and devoted to each other. They had 
 profited by travel, both at home and abroad, by 
 the best educational advantages, and all were 
 musical. They were well-read, well-bred, pure, 
 true-hearted, noble fellows, with an earnest pur- 
 pose in life, and an enthusiastic desire to benefit 
 and elevate their fellow-men. 
 
 Immediately after the summer of 1893, and in 
 accord with his settled purpose to connect him- 
 self with the cotton manufacturing interest, in 
 which his father was engaged, Gardner com- 
 menced work with the Great Falls Company at 
 Somersworth, New Hampshire, and later with 
 the Dwight Company, where every opportunity 
 was afforded him to see the working of each 
 department. He devoted his entire energy to a
 
 14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 thorough mastery of the subject, showing a re- 
 markable grasp and facility of comprehension. 
 His contented disposition, power of concentration, 
 and happy faculty of adapting himself to circum- 
 stances endeared him to all. From Great Falls 
 he writes : " I like the mills better than I antici- 
 pated, but find myself tired when night comes. 
 Am pleasantly located, and spend my evenings 
 in reading and practicing on my violin." He 
 was greatly interested in studying the details of 
 the work, felt he was gaining insight into the 
 business, mastered the technical terms, and found 
 time for occasional tramps. 
 
 In February, 1894, he and his friend Matthew 
 ascended Chocorua, and of this trip he writes: 
 " We started Friday a. m. ; reached "West Ossi- 
 pee about 1.30, and took stage for Tamworth, 
 four miles away. From there we drove to 
 Fowle's Mills, near where the farmer lives with 
 whom we were to stay. Friday night it began to 
 snow, and continued to do so all Saturday ; but 
 we took our snowshoes, and tramped through the 
 woods most of the day. Sunday was clear and 
 cold, so we put on our snowshoes again, and 
 started for Chocorua's peak. We found it hard 
 traveling ; the snow was soft, and from three to 
 four feet on a level. At two o'clock we reached 
 the top of the ridge, got into the house, and 
 built a fire. At four we started for the summit, 
 four hundred feet above us, and looking like the
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 15 
 
 top of the Matterhom. It was all snow and ice, 
 and so steep we could not at first climb it ; but 
 we procured an axe and rope from the house, and 
 after an hour's work reached the top. It was 
 blowing so hard one could not stand up. The 
 top is flat, and about six feet square. There was 
 a beautiful view all about us. I think Chocorua 
 one of the finest mountains in New Hampshire. 
 We reached the house on the ridge all right, but 
 it was six o'clock, and the sun had gone down. 
 The moon, however, gave us plenty of light, and 
 we had a fine walk home, reaching the house 
 about eight o'clock, well repaid for our trip. 
 This locality surpasses almost anything in the 
 mountains I have yet seen. We were very near 
 all those peaks of which Mr. Bolles speaks so 
 frequently." 
 
 In the spring of 1894 he took up his resi- 
 dence in Chicopee to continue his industrial 
 work. March 17 he writes : " It is about the 
 same here as at Great Falls. Mr. and Mrs. C. 
 do everything to make my stay pleasant, and I 
 spend most of my evenings at their house. They 
 have devoted an especial chair and table to my 
 use. Mr. C. makes it a point to let me know 
 just what is going on, and as I have a desk in 
 his office, can see all the details of management. 
 He goes through the mills with me about every 
 day, calling my attention to impoi'tant things to 
 be remembered. Though I thought when at
 
 16 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 Great Falls I could not learn as much anywhere 
 else, find I can get a great deal more here." 
 
 When he left the Dwight Company the agent 
 wrote of him : " I have never met his equal in all 
 my life for honor and capacity." 
 
 From Chicopee he writes : " Walked all through 
 the Mt. Tom range from the house on Nonotuck 
 to the peak opposite Holyoke. There is one spe- 
 cies of bird, the duck-hawk, which is found breed- 
 ing on Mt. Tom, and nowhere else in the State. 
 I wanted very much to locate the birds, and, for- 
 tunately, think I know just where they will build. 
 The cliffs on Mt. Tom, where the duck-hawks 
 breed, face the west, and are formed by the 
 crumbling away of the basaltic trap. They are 
 not bare, but covered with Norway and pitch 
 pine. The valley stretching south is simply 
 beautiful, all taken up by fine fields, with here 
 and there a clump of evergreen trees, and re- 
 minds me of the country about Weimar. It is 
 very impressive to-day, looking off over the val- 
 ley, for everything is still, except for the hens, 
 chickens, and an occasional turkey gobbler. The 
 crows have full sway. Easthampton and North- 
 ampton appear to be sleeping, and in the back- 
 ground is the little church-spire of Westhamp- 
 ton, three or four miles away." He notes finding 
 the first violet, seeing the first butterfly, and on 
 his walk from Holyoke to Chicopee, heard the 
 croaking of the first frog.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 17 
 
 When it became known that the Dwight Man- 
 ufacturing Company proposed to establish a mill 
 in the South, Mr. Nichols, Senior, received nu- 
 merous letters pressing the claims and setting 
 forth the advantages of various sites ; and, with 
 Gardner, visited many places in order to find the 
 best possible location. It was finally decided to 
 build at the foot of Lookout Mountain in north- 
 ern Alabama. In September of 1894, Gardner 
 went South to arrange for and superintend this 
 work. One or two extracts from his diary will 
 show that he still keenly observed nature in the 
 midst of engrossing cares. 
 
 "November 10, 1894. Finished survey of 
 Black Creek at noon ; afternoon in office ; 
 tufted tit, winter wren, common chickadee, 
 pygmy nuthatch, golden-crowned kinglets, hairy 
 woodpecker; weather colder than any this au- 
 tumn ; saw no blackbirds ; think they must have 
 gone. 
 
 " November 15. Car works office in morning ; 
 out to Alabama City in afternoon ; several hun- 
 dred plover along Black Creek ; flock of 250 
 meadow-larks in bicycle track ; have been there 
 at least three weeks ; saw some on top of a high 
 oak, singing a soft plaintive song of four or five 
 notes." 
 
 November 29 he arrived in Newton in time 
 for his Thanksgiving dinner, finding among other 
 guests Matthew N. and his sister. During this
 
 18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 visit, he spent two mornings with Matthew in his 
 old room at Cambridge, and both were grieved 
 to hear that Herbert, Matthew's brother, was 
 ill, but it was thought " he would soon be all 
 right." 
 
 Gardner returned South, reaching Gadsden 
 December 15, where the first great grief of his 
 life awaited him. He writes home : " We reached 
 here in good health and spirits, Saturday noon, 
 but all was soon completely changed. As I 
 left the train, a telegram, which had been wait- 
 ing two days, was handed me, and I was made 
 aware that Herbert N. was dead. I couldn't 
 believe it, and can't realize it even now. Just 
 think of it ! Have n't heard particulars yet, but 
 shall in a day or two." Later he learned that his 
 friend was taken ill on the evening of Thanks- 
 giving Day, the result of a cold, contracted on 
 a shooting trip, and died after a brief illness. 
 Gardner was greatly overcome by this sudden 
 blow, but comforted himself by writing, " I still 
 have Matthew." 
 
 In January, 1895, Gardner writes to his mo- 
 ther : " The weather has been fine since papa 
 came ; he enjoys the place very much ; we have 
 ridden horseback together a great deal. I am 
 singing bass in the quartette in the Episcopal 
 church, and had a solo last Sunday ; enjoy this 
 country more and more ; we have had good wea- 
 ther all winter so far. All the birds we have in
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 19 
 
 Massachusetts during the summer are with us 
 now, the frogs can be heard croaking almost any 
 night, and the bats are flying around ; mocking- 
 birds, bluebirds, and robins are singing all the 
 time. I am glad you had Matthew and his sister 
 to dine with you. Think Matthew is quite poorly 
 from the shock he has experienced. Will write 
 grandma now." 
 
 To his grandmother he says : "I write this 
 letter as a birthday remembrance, and to offer my 
 congratulations on your eightieth anniversary. 
 Mamma writes you are in excellent health, for 
 which we are all very grateful. I hope you will 
 take the best care of yourself in the future, as 
 you have in the past, and not worry about lands 
 and lots and trespassers, and the like. The 
 contract for the mill was let last week ; we shall 
 begin building at once, and hope to have the 
 mill running by November next. Wishing you 
 many happy returns of the day, ever your affec- 
 tionate grandson." 
 
 Now followed a time of the greatest activity, 
 requiring the utmost patience, watchfulness, and 
 tact, and to this work he devoted all his well- 
 trained powers, with the most gratifying results. 
 His father's visits were helpful, and Gardner 
 always managed so to combine business and 
 pleasure that his father enjoyed the visits, and 
 benefited by them as from a brief holiday. 
 
 March 15, 1895, he writes: "Am now located
 
 20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 at the office in Alabama City. I go out there at 
 six o'clock in the morning, returning for break- 
 fast at 7.30 ; after that go down town to attend 
 to whatever business there may be, then out to 
 the factory again ; back for dinner ; to the fac- 
 tory again, where I stay until supper, at six. 
 Later, go down town and finish correspondence, 
 then to the telegraph office and take a lesson in 
 telegraphy. I do not get much time to practice 
 on my violin, but hope to soon. We have a good 
 quartette at the Episcopal church, where I sing 
 bass. Choir rehearses twice a week, which I 
 enjoy. Am feeling well, but get tired by night, 
 after rushing around all day." Though so busy, 
 he found time to do much for this little church 
 in Gadsden, raising money for a new organ, and 
 assisting in other ways. 
 
 He was still feeling the loss of his friend Her- 
 bert, but had some consolation in trying to com- 
 fort Matthew and Mr. N. in their affliction, and 
 was a great help to them. Matthew never ral- 
 lied from the blow, and when he took a slight 
 cold in our bleak March weather, had no power 
 of resistance, and after an illness of a few days 
 he, too, fell asleep. Gardner left for Minnesota 
 on receipt of the news, and on March 31 wrote 
 home : " You can imagine how they feel ; it is 
 hard to realize that both the boys are gone, and 
 all within three months. Shall miss them very, 
 very much, for I counted them my best friends.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 21 
 
 You need not worry about me, as I suppose you 
 will, for I am well and strong. We must all die 
 some time, and 1 am not troubled about that ; 
 shall die like all others at the appointed time." 
 
 On April 6, he says : " Matthew's funeral was 
 private, and at the close of the simple service, we 
 went up to the little cemetery on the side of the 
 Bluffs, overlooking the river, and laid him close 
 beside Herbert. The whole service was lovely, 
 just as he would have wished, even to the singing 
 of the hymns, ' My Jesus, as thou wilt ' and 
 1 Now the day is over.' It is a comfort to think 
 that Herbert and Matthew are together, for 
 Matthew could not be left alone. I am sure he 
 died of a broken heart, as he was physically 
 sound in every respect." 
 
 April 15, after describing his journey back to 
 Alabama, he tells his mother : " Am glad papa 
 is coming down, though I wish you could come 
 too ; it is delightful here now, and I am sure it 
 will do him much good. The apple and other 
 fruit blooms are out, and the trees are green. 
 There are great numbers of birds, too, many spe- 
 cies which I have never seen before, and do wish 
 I had some spare time to study them. I feel 
 much rested after my two weeks' vacation ; it is 
 well I got off ; was very tired. W. is a lovely, 
 restful place, and the home of the N.'s most 
 delightful ; it is dreadfully lonely, though, with- 
 out the boys, and you don't know how I miss
 
 22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 them. Yesterday was Easter, and a beautiful day. 
 I did not sing in the choir, as, being away, had 
 not attended the rehearsals ; the music was very 
 good, and the little church prettily decorated." 
 The next day he again writes : " This is my 
 birthday ; it has been showery all day, and now it 
 thunders and lightens. It is hard to tell where 
 twenty-four years have gone, and I am glad they 
 do not number more. Wish you could be here, 
 and hope next year you may. I have had a 
 pretty easy life thus far — for twenty-three years 
 and a half, at least — a great deal to be thank- 
 ful for. I owe it all to you and papa, and if I 
 have n't seemed to appreciate it, it was because I 
 did n't fully realize it before. Of course I can 
 see mistakes, but only experience shows us these. 
 Think I am pretty well started; have a good 
 chance, better than most fellows, and shall work 
 hard to benefit by it ; it is a good experience for 
 me down here in every respect, and am glad 
 the opportunity offered itself ; shall try to write 
 oftener to you." 
 
 In another letter on the 22d of April he says : 
 " Received yours this morning ; much obliged for 
 the two books, the one by Mr. Bolles is very 
 lovely. I had to go to Chattanooga last Wednes- 
 day, where I surprised papa and came back with 
 him. He had a bad cough, but the weather 
 has been warm and pleasant, and think he is 
 now much better. I sent you a little souvenir
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 23 
 
 of Lookout Mountain and surrounding places of 
 historic interest. Have not forgotten that next 
 Wednesday is your birthday, and hope this will 
 reach you on time. It is beautiful here now, and 
 am sorry you could not come with papa. The 
 leaves are out, and there are lots of birds and 
 flowers ; only wish I had three hours a day to 
 spend in the woods. Yesterday — Sunday — 
 papa and I went to the hotel on the mountain, and 
 took dinner ; in the afternoon we walked to the 
 Falls, gathering flowers on the way ; the azaleas 
 are in full bloom, pink, white, and some varie- 
 gated. There are quantities of yellow jasmine, 
 which grows upon the trees like ivy, with a trum- 
 pet-like flower, very fragrant ; also the blossom of 
 the wild crab-apple, which we found in bloom ; in 
 fact, there are too many flowers to mention, and 
 wish C. could be here to gather them. This morn- 
 ing, papa is looking over the work and laying out 
 a reservoir ; he enjoys being out of doors, and it 
 is good for him. Yesterday morning he went to 
 our little church, and 1 sang a solo, ' O rest in 
 the Lord.' I sing one every other Sunday. Hope 
 C. is getting on well with her music — she ought 
 to be able to play my accompaniments at sight by 
 this time. Tell her to stick to it ; I '11 bring my 
 violin when I come in June, which I hope now 
 to do. With best wishes for a happy birthday, 
 and many happy returns, I am your affectionate 
 son."
 
 24 BIOGBAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 A few days later, April 28, he writes to the 
 father of Herbert and Matthew a letter which 
 gives, taken in connection with those already 
 quoted, an idea of the beauty and seriousness of 
 his character : — 
 
 " This is Sunday afternoon, and I am sitting 
 on the highest ledge on the eastern side of Look- 
 out Mountain, overlooking the country for miles 
 around. It is such a beautiful day that I sad- 
 dled my horse after dinner and came up here to 
 write letters. We had a very interesting sermon 
 read this morning, at our little church ; one by 
 Phillips Brooks, entitled, ' Help from the hills.' 
 The text was Psalm cxxi. 1, ' I will lift up mine 
 eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.' 
 The central truth of it is the duty of every one 
 of us to seek help from the highest source ; it is 
 trouble that tests us and shows what sort of men 
 we are ; it is the time of need that lets us see 
 what men think of themselves, how seriously 
 they contemplate their own existence, how they 
 estimate their need by letting us see from whence 
 they seek their help. One man turns instinc- 
 tively to the lowest, and another to the highest, 
 in his need ; and so it is that, in their own way, 
 our hours of need become our judgment days. 
 It is a beautiful sermon all the way through. 
 There is one place, especially, which appeals to 
 us all at this particular time. Bishop Brooks 
 says, ' It is a wondrous change when a man stops
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 25 
 
 asking of his distress, How can I throw this off ? 
 and asks instead, What did God mean by send- 
 ing this ? Then he may well believe that time 
 and work will help him. Time, with its neces- 
 sary calming of the first surface tumult, will let 
 him look deeper and deeper into the divine pur- 
 pose of the sorrow, and will let its deepest and 
 most precious meanings gradually come forth, so 
 that he may see them. Work done in the sor- 
 row will bring him into ever new relations to 
 the God in whom alone the full interpretation 
 and relief of the sorrow lies.' Time and work, 
 not as means of escape from distress, but as the 
 hands in which distress shall be turned hither 
 and thither, that the light of God may freely 
 play upon it; it is a beautiful thought, and I 
 know you realize its full meaning. 
 
 " I am sitting on the top of a ledge, overhang- 
 ing a precipice, several hundred feet high ; below 
 me is what is known as Owl's Valley, about 
 nine hundred feet down and not over half a 
 mile wide, while behind is a forest of second- 
 growth hard pine, through which the wind is 
 sighing most sweetly, for there is quite a breeze 
 just now, the forerunner of a coming tempest, 
 which I can see approaching from the north. I 
 will wait until it comes, and then crawl into a 
 crevice of the ledge below and watch the storm 
 go by ; it is not half a mile off now, so I '11
 
 26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 unsaddle my horse and get into the cave at 
 once. . . . 
 
 " I got in just in time, for now it is raining 
 hard; the sun is shining off in the west, and 
 there is a most beautiful rainbow just before me, 
 making a complete arch in the sky. The birds 
 have been singing all around me till now, and, 
 as suddenly as the storm approached, they have 
 taken to their shelter and are silent, save some 
 tame geese that I can just see with my glass in 
 the valley below; they seem highly delighted, 
 and though they are so far away, their gabble 
 can be distinctly heard. There has been a pygmy 
 flycatcher on a dead tree near by, which has 
 amused me greatly ; he darts off into the air in 
 a spiral course upward, catching without fail the 
 insect he is after, then, instead of spiraling back 
 to his perch again, he invariably darts head-first 
 down to the same dead limb ; he has had a real 
 good meal since I've been watching him. An 
 old turkey buzzard has just alighted on a pine 
 not far off, and is eying me wistfully, as though 
 he wished I might tumble down the ledge and 
 break my neck. There he goes ; he has un- 
 doubtedly given me up as not worth wasting 
 time on. 
 
 " The storm has passed ; it was much less of 
 one than I anticipated, for it only rained * pitch- 
 forks,' with no lightning accompaniment at all, 
 though it had been thundering in that direction
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 27 
 
 for some time previous to its arrival. I missed 
 seeing the lightning strike in the valley ; but I 
 shall have a pleasure which, perhaps, I might not 
 have had if the storm had been more severe and 
 lasted longer, for the rain has freshened every- 
 thing, even the souls of the birds, and they are 
 all singing vociferously. Now, if you only knew 
 the songs of the different birds, the mere men- 
 tion of their names would carry you into the 
 woods and you could hear them singing, even 
 though you were sitting on the sofa in your 
 library. Near by me, a black -throated green 
 warbler is lisping away all to himself ; down in 
 the valley are several song-thrushes and a mock- 
 ing-bird vying with one another. Chewinks, pine- 
 warblers, now and then a great-crested flycatcher, 
 scarlet tanagers, yellow-breasted chats, vireos, 
 redbirds, and sparrows of several varieties — a 
 veritable aviary — are all around me. 
 
 " But I have n't mentioned the most beautiful 
 of all — the landscape and the clouds. Before 
 me, at the foot of the mountain, is Owl's Valley, 
 with a stream running tortuously through it ; be- 
 yond, half a mile away, is a ridge, perhaps three 
 hundred feet high, running parallel to it; be- 
 yond this is the lovely valley of the Coosa, and 
 fifteen miles away the mountains begin again, 
 rising range on range for thirty or forty miles ; 
 on the south are more high hills, looking as 
 though they would bar the river's course, but it
 
 28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 finds a break in the walls and flows nearly eight 
 hundred miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Looking 
 northeast there is an expanse of lowlands extend- 
 ing forty miles, broken here and there by iso- 
 lated mountains, standing by themselves like the 
 Egyptian pyramids. It is not exactly a New 
 England scene, yet it calls to mind the river 
 Matthew and I looked down upon from Cho- 
 corua's peak, only then snow was over every- 
 thing ; but now the dark green of the pines, 
 broken by the lighter greens of the oaks and 
 maples, with the evening sun lighting them up 
 and down the valley, affords a marked contrast to 
 that scene. The sun, which since the storm has 
 been concealed, is just breaking through the 
 clouds. Part of the sky is blue, and part is hid- 
 den by dark purple clouds, while here and there 
 a great piece of cumulus, lower than the rest, 
 glows a gorgeous crimson, its great folds shaded 
 with purple. Resting on the serrated tops of the 
 little mountains are large masses of great white 
 clouds looking like glaciated mountain-tops. Do 
 you remember the Olympian Mountain range, 
 just at the mouth of Puget Sound ? I saw those 
 mountains at early sunrise, when just their snow- 
 capped tops were visible above the morning mist ; 
 they seemed to be almost overhead, and the sun, 
 not yet discernible above the horizon, shone on 
 them till they were a gorgeous crimson. I 
 thought at first they were really clouds ; and
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 29 
 
 now these great banks of cumulus, floating above 
 the horizon, call me back to the deck of the 
 steamer on Puget Sound. As I write, all has 
 changed to a pink effect, and the highest ridge I 
 see looks as if it were covered with pink azaleas, 
 and the whole sky is reflecting them ; it is fast 
 fading, and in half an hour it will be dark, for 
 the twilight here is very short. I miss the sun- 
 sets we have at home, for though their beau- 
 ties are more subdued, they last longer ; after all, 
 there is nothing more inspiring or more elevating 
 than to watch the sky at sunset from some high 
 point. 
 
 "This recalls the sweet memory of the last 
 sunset Herbert and I watched from the top of 
 the bluffs above W. What a difference it would 
 make in our lives if we could always live on the 
 top of hills ; our ills would seem less wearisome, 
 and we should always be hopeful, no matter 
 what business worries hung over us in the office. 
 Whenever I am tired out, an hour spent on 
 Lookout Mountain makes me feel like another 
 fellow. Well, the night-hawks are flying about, 
 and whippoorwills are calling from the valley : — 
 
 ' Now the day is over, 
 
 Night is drawing nigh, 
 Shadows of the evening, 
 Steal across the sky.' 
 
 If I do not take advantage of what light is 
 left, shall have a difficult ride home.
 
 30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 "Saturday, May 4. 
 
 " I 've had this letter all the week, and meant 
 to have written another, this seems such a scribble, 
 but I 've not had a moment's time." 
 
 The work on the mill progressed with the trials, 
 delays, and discouragements incident to an under- 
 taking of such magnitude, but on the whole with 
 much less friction than might reasonably be 
 expected. On Christmas, 1895, a button was 
 pressed in a distant city, which set the wheel of 
 the great Corliss engine in motion. The " Ala- 
 bama State Herald " of December 28 devoted 
 several columns to a description of the mill and 
 its surroundings. Speaking of Gardner, this 
 article says : " He has a most pleasing address, 
 keeps a cool head with unswerving devotion to 
 duty, and it is an inspiration to see the enthusi- 
 asm with which he takes hold of every detail of 
 the business. I took a walk up one of the streets 
 of the new town, over whose future Mr. Nichols 
 is having no end of pleasant speculation. He 
 declares it shall be a model village, with no con- 
 cealed weapons, no saloons concealed or uncon- 
 cealed ; that there will be ample public schools, a 
 public library and reading-room, and a handsome 
 union church. There are 150 cottages build- 
 ing and completed ; a pleasing and striking fea- 
 ture of them will be the absence of sameness or 
 monotony. Mr. Nichols has a remarkably win-
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 31 
 
 ning expression for a Republican, which he avows 
 to be his politics, as though it were something of 
 which to be proud." 
 
 March 8, 1896, Gardner sent a letter to his 
 grandmother, which gives briefly his view of the 
 village, as follows : " It is not very often that 
 I write, but do not think I am forgetful of you ; 
 you can hardly realize what a busy time I have. 
 Am on the jump from early morning till late at 
 night. The mill is now started, but it will be 
 June before we have everything in operation ; the 
 work is going wonderfully well, and I am much 
 encouraged. "We have our village nearly com- 
 pleted, and as there are trees all about, it gives 
 it a very restful appearance. I only wish you 
 could see it. Have started a school, a Sunday- 
 school, and a church service ; it is very interesting 
 work, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Have a nice 
 little house of five rooms and bath ; two colored 
 servants, a man and his wife." 
 
 On his last birthday, April 16, 1896, he wrote 
 to the eldest of his three sisters, whose birthday 
 had just passed, a letter of congratulation, and 
 in speaking of the future, says : " I certainly 
 hope the years to come will be as full of pleas- 
 ure and good fortune as the past have been, for, 
 taking it all in all, every one of us has had a 
 remarkably smooth road to travel thus far. Of 
 course many things might have been improved, 
 but so it must always be. All of us children
 
 32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 should be especially thankful that through these 
 years we have had such good parents, who have 
 done so much for us. The older we grow, the 
 more we shall appreciate it. As for myself, 
 I could not be happier, for it would not be possi- 
 ble to find an equally interesting and absorbing 
 occupation. It gives a chance for business and 
 philanthropy, for work and study. I shall not 
 want to come away until my ideal is reached, and 
 hope I may not have to do so, much as I should 
 like to see you all, and be in Boston." 
 
 In May, he welcomed his parents — the first 
 visit his mother had made to his Southern home. 
 It was a very busy time, all effort directed to- 
 wards setting the last pieces of machinery in 
 motion. He took great pride in showing his 
 mother what he had accomplished, and in ex- 
 plaining his plans for the future of his village. 
 
 Before daylight on the morning of May 20, he 
 went to the mill to superintend the moving of 
 an electric generator which had reached the yard 
 during the night, and which he was very desirous 
 should be in position early that morning. The 
 men had moved it along nearly to the bridge 
 crossing from the storehouses to the main build- 
 ing ; with the light of their lanterns a hasty 
 examinatiou was made to see that everything 
 was secure. The machine had been moved but a 
 short distance on the bridge, when the latter gave 
 way, and Gardner fell with it, the machine strik-
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 33 
 
 ing him, and inflicting dreadful internal injuries. 
 He was moved to the drug-store, where local 
 physicians were summoned. There he remained, 
 bearing his suffering most bravely, till the arrival 
 late that night of a surgeon from Chattanooga, 
 when he was removed to his cottage. Early the 
 next morning an operation was performed, which 
 revealed such conditions that the operating sur- 
 geon informed his parents he could not survive, 
 and would probably live but a few hours. 
 
 After he had recovered from the immediate 
 effect of the surgical treatment his parents had 
 an interview with him, and noting the deep feel- 
 ing which they in vain endeavored to suppress, he 
 said, " You evidently think there is no hope for 
 me ; " and then, " I feel better than before the 
 operation, and while there is life there is hope." 
 His father thought best he should know the opin- 
 ion of the surgeon, when, after a moment's pause, 
 without emotion, he remarked, " Well, I am ready 
 to go, but I would like to live to finish my work 
 here." Later he seemed to be sinking, but ral- 
 lied, and showed such vitality that it was thought 
 there might be hope for him. 
 
 When the operatives began to occupy the 
 houses, they brought sickness with them, which 
 soon became epidemic ; and as arrangements for 
 a resident physician had not been completed, 
 Gardner procured medicines, and, as he wrote 
 his mother at the time, was " physician, nurse,
 
 34 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 and undertaker," working hard throughout the 
 day, and ready for calls which came at all hours 
 of the night. 
 
 Because of this interest in their welfare, he 
 had greatly endeared himself to his little com- 
 munity, and when this accident occurred, the 
 greatest anxiety and sorrow prevailed. It was 
 touching to hear the expressions of affection and 
 sympathy, numbers begging that they might see 
 him once more, and saying he was the best friend 
 they had ever known. One of his assistants, 
 who had been intimately associated with him 
 from the first, was confident he would recover, 
 saying, " Mr. Nichols has been such an example 
 in this community for everything that is good, it 
 does n't seem possible that he will be allowed to 
 die." This interest of his operatives was re- 
 ciprocated by Gardner, for he was often heard 
 expressing the wish that he might be permitted 
 to live to help his people. His friends from 
 the adjoining city of Gadsden, who from the 
 first refused to leave him, were unremitting in 
 loving service; trained nurses were obtained, 
 and Dr. H. was brought from Atlanta, remain- 
 ing from Friday till Sunday morning. Eight 
 days after the accident, the doctor returned with 
 a special train in which to remove him to his 
 sanitarium. 
 
 Before leaving Alabama City, forgetful of his 
 constant suffering, Gardner insisted upon seeing
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCH. 35 
 
 his leading foremen. He gave them definite in- 
 structions as to the work, and to one of the 
 physicians in charge of his operatives his last 
 words were : " Doctor, look well after my people, 
 and let none of them die while I am away." 
 Among others, two little boys from Gadsden 
 came to bid him good-by. They were great 
 friends of his, and he was much pleased to see 
 them as they came in, daintily dressed, bringing 
 flowers. He greeted them cheerfully, saying, 
 " R. B., I am delighted to see you, and little 
 Conrad too." After a brief stay they were taken 
 back to their homes, three miles away ; but in 
 the afternoon, after Gardner had been placed in 
 the car, sturdy little R. B. came bounding in, hav- 
 ing begged a passing teamster to take him over 
 to see his Mr. Gardner once more. 
 
 The journey of one hundred and fifty miles to 
 Atlanta was comfortably made; on arrival, the 
 mayor of the city was at the station, and insisted 
 on walking beside the stretcher to the sanitarium, 
 about half a mile distant. Here all were devoted 
 in their ministrations, and everything possible 
 was faithfully and lovingly done. It seemed at 
 one time as though the brave spirit would conquer 
 the lacerated body, and life be spared, and in 
 this hope, his father left for home to attend to 
 some pressing duties. But soon after his de- 
 parture, Gardner had an unfavorable turn, and 
 gradually grew weaker, falling peacefully asleep
 
 36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 at five o'clock on the afternoon of June 23. As 
 hopes of his recovery had been entertained, his 
 death came as a great blow to those who had 
 noted each change, and as the daj's passed on 
 had grown more and more hopeful. The daily 
 papers kept his friends at Gadsden and Ala- 
 bama City informed of his condition, and at the 
 end were most kindly in their expressions of 
 sympathy. 
 
 The " Chattanooga Times " said : — 
 " Mr. Nichols was only twenty-five years old, 
 yet he had sole management of the construction 
 of the large cotton mill of the Dwight Manu- 
 facturing Company at Alabama City, and was a 
 young man of exceptional ability. His death has 
 cast a gloom over Gadsden, for he was beloved 
 by all who knew him." 
 
 The " Birmingham State Herald : "— 
 "In the death of Mr. Nichols, this section 
 loses one of her best citizens. He was loved by 
 everybody, and was a leader among men." 
 
 A local paper : " All the chances were in his 
 favor, so far as health, strength, nerve, a well- 
 kept body and a life of temperate habits were 
 concerned, but the odds were against him from 
 the start, as from the terrible nature of his inju- 
 ries, it was impossible for him, or any human 
 being, to live and struggle back to health ; but he 
 made a brave, strong fight for life, and if ever a 
 man deserved to live, he did. The entire city
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 37 
 
 regrets the young man's death, and none more 
 than the ' Tribune.' He bade fair to rise to 
 eminent heights in the business world, and it is 
 always sad to see a life so full of promise go out 
 in its bloom." 
 
 Every morning, so long as he was able, he 
 read the service from the Prayer Book, his nurse 
 reading it for him the last day, shortly before he 
 lapsed into unconsciousness. The letters of his 
 nurses to his mother best tell of his last hours. 
 
 One writes : " I hardly know how to begin, 
 but perhaps you would like to know that your 
 boy was not afraid of any fate that awaited him. 
 One morning he wanted to get up and stand on 
 the floor, and I said, ' Why, my dear Mr. Nichols, 
 don't you know you can't do that, — it would 
 almost kill you.' He looked at me with a smile, 
 saying, ' Do you know, I 've been thinking, and 
 I 'm not afraid to die. It is hard to tell just 
 how this is going to end, but I do not fear the 
 consequences.' The morning before he left us, 
 I read the service to him. After Miss B. went 
 down, he had me read more, then we talked 
 about his little village. I asked him what de- 
 nomination the church in the village would be, to 
 which he answered, ' It will belong to all alike.' 
 He was quiet a moment, then said, ' I feel I have 
 done my duty to God and man ; I have been 
 attending the Episcopal Church in Gadsden
 
 38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 regularly, and have been benefited, and believe 
 all is well with me.' I wanted to tell you these 
 things while you were here, but could not, nay 
 heart was too full. He spoke often of his home, 
 his village and his people, the little children he 
 so loved, of his youngest sister, whom he wanted 
 to see, and often in his delirium at night he would 
 think i" was his little sister. You don't know 
 how I sympathize with you in your loss, and 
 wish it might have been otherwise; if such a 
 thing had been possible, I would gladly have 
 given years of my life to have saved your boy. 
 Such a life as his is a loss, not only to those who 
 loved him, for we don't know what the world 
 has lost." 
 
 As soon as the news of his death reached 
 Gadsden, a meeting of the City Government was 
 called, and the Hon. R. A. Mitchell, mayor of 
 the city, and Mr. T. S. Kyle were appointed a 
 committee to accompany the remains to Boston, 
 and gave great help and comfort to the bereaved 
 mother on the sad journey. 
 
 On the afternoon of June 27, when all nature 
 seemed to welcome him who loved her so well, 
 friends far and near, from the South and West, 
 gathered at the Newton home to pay their last 
 tribute of respect and affection. It was fitting 
 he should be laid among flowers, and rarely 
 beautiful they were. A large shaft was sent
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 39 
 
 by the employees of the Dwight Manufacturing 
 Company at Chicopee, who could only be re- 
 strained from the most lavish giving by the 
 agent's telling them " Mr. Nichols would not ap- 
 prove of extravagance." Rev. Dr. Calkins read 
 comforting passages from the Scriptures. Rev. 
 Dr. Davis made appropriate remarks, with selec- 
 tions from favorite hymns ; and a prayer and 
 benediction closed the simple and beautiful ser- 
 vice. 
 
 All that is mortal of Howard Gardner Nichols 
 now rests in Mount Auburn. 
 
 A memorial service was held at Alabama City 
 at the same hour as that at Newton. 
 
 A lady intimately associated with Gardner in 
 his philanthropic work writes : — 
 
 " Out of respect to you we decided to have 
 Dr. Richardson, the Presbyterian minister, con- 
 duct the service, assisted by Mr. Agricola, lay- 
 reader in the Episcopal Church, as Mr. Gardner 
 worshiped with us, and loved our service. We 
 learned that Dr. Richardson was in Kentucky, 
 so Mr. Agricola took the lead, assisted by Dr. 
 Boydston, the minister of the Cumberland Pres- 
 byterian Church, who, having been almost con- 
 stantly with us, was well acquainted with Mr. 
 Gardner. The lady organist of the Gadsden 
 church presided at the organ. The hall was
 
 40 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 filled with sympathizing friends. Special seats 
 were reserved for Hattie and Gates, Gardner's 
 devoted colored servants. 
 
 " The service began with the hymn, ' Hark ! 
 Hark! my Soul,' then all the congregation re- 
 peated the Apostles' Creed. Mr. Agricola read 
 the Litany, after which was sung, ' Asleep in 
 Jesus ; ' then the burial service ; the beautiful 
 Psalms by Mr. Agricola and the congregation. 
 Dr. Boydston made some excellent remarks, 
 dwelling on the fine points we all so much ad- 
 mired. Mr. Agricola said he could not let this 
 opportunity pass without expressing his thanks 
 for the moral lessons he had learned from his 
 observation of Mr. Gardner's daily life. One 
 was his great patience. No matter what busi- 
 ness pressed, he gave each person (and there 
 were often crowds) an attentive, interested hear- 
 ing. He listened to their troubles and comforted 
 them. Again, he was no respecter of persons. 
 The workingman, soiled by labor, had his turn, 
 even if he did come in advance of the man in 
 goodly attire. Then there was his keen appre- 
 ciation of the force of example, his daily trying 
 to do as he would be done by, and sacrificing 
 personal pleasure where the indulgence might be 
 a stumbling-block to some weaker brother. Mr. 
 Agricola closed by reading one of Mr. Gardner's 
 favorite hymns, one he often sang and played
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 41 
 
 upon his violin, 'Now the clay is over.' The 
 last two stanzas are particularly beautiful : — 
 
 ' Through the long night watches, 
 
 May Thine angels spread 
 
 Their white wings ahove me, 
 
 Watching round my hed. 
 
 4 When the morning wakens, 
 
 Then may I arise, 
 Pure, and fresh, and sinless, 
 In Thy holy eyes.' "
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 "The Eiffel Alp, Zebmatt. 
 " While at Berlin, a home letter told me of 
 the accident. Curiously enough I had just been 
 talking with Gardner in a dream, and the news 
 came all the more directly home to me. I looked 
 eagerly for news, and rejoiced when all seemed 
 hopeful, and grew sad at every bad report. I 
 cannot tell you how much moved I was at the 
 news which came to me only yesterday. He had 
 been making such a gallant fight that I felt he 
 must come out all right. I simply cannot write at 
 all calmly. I am completely unstrung. I knew 
 little of what Gardner had been doing in the 
 South, but mother sends me an account of his 
 noble activity there. I have seen so much of self- 
 ish indulgence, idle dalliance, and wasted oppor- 
 tunity in my short experience that the thought 
 of even so short a career of honest effort, hard 
 work, and sympathetic devotion to others seems 
 a long life and a well-rounded career in compari- 
 son. The thought of what such a life, spared, 
 might be, is what comes home so crushingly upon 
 us. What such a life eternally is, is the truer 
 thought, I fancy."
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 43 
 
 A classmate at school and college says : — 
 " I feel his loss very keenly, but as I think of 
 him and look back upon his life, I feel sure that 
 my life will be made better for having come in 
 contact with his." 
 
 The following tells its own story : — 
 " Although I have never seen you, I feel very 
 much drawn to you because I was so fond of your 
 son Gardner. I want to express my sorrow and 
 sympathy, and tell you how much Mr. L. and 
 I valued his friendship. We saw a good deal 
 of him in Castine, and after that he visited us. 
 The more we saw of him the fonder we became of 
 him. We were impressed by his strength of char- 
 acter, and his kindness to everybody. We liked 
 to talk with him, and enjoyed his bright young 
 manhood and his happy spirits. Underneath it 
 all we felt very strongly the unusual seriousness 
 of his nature, and his determination to be of use 
 in the world. Now he is gone, we feel the loss 
 very keenly." 
 
 The principal of the Boston Latin School, 
 where for six years Gardner was a pupil, 
 writes : — 
 
 " It affords me satisfaction to tell you, I am not 
 unmindful of the great loss which this community 
 has sustained by the death of Gardner. No one 
 can recall his association with him without bring-
 
 44 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 ing up the pleasantest memories of a noble life, 
 which gave the promise of a most beneficent influ- 
 ence in his future career. How pure and gentle 
 even in his school-days, yet firm as a rock for the 
 right ! How honorable and true in manhood ! 
 Such a life leaves behind it a fragrance that is 
 rare, and ascends to heaven. The memory of it 
 comforts and consoles even in the agony of be- 
 reavement. When Gardner gave me his photo- 
 graph in 1889, it found a resting-place here, and 
 has never been removed. Many a time have I 
 looked on the likeness with satisfaction that so 
 honorable a boy was once my pupil." 
 
 The wife of one of the professors at Harvard, 
 in whose home Gardner was a frequent guest, 
 wrote his sister, — 
 
 " It seems doubly sad that one so fitted for 
 life must leave it almost as soon as he had shown 
 his real qualities. I always had great faith in 
 your brother's possibilities. His unusual execu- 
 tive abilities and his faithfulness to little duties 
 seemed to me a rare combination. We had va- 
 rious long talks together, in which he impressed 
 me strongly with his high, manly purposes and 
 
 aims." 
 
 Rev. Dr. G. writes : — 
 
 " There is in my heart a great sadness that I 
 should miss — and always on this earth — the
 
 PERSOXAL TRIBUTES. 45 
 
 face of the eager and fine-spirited son — pride of 
 his home, of whom I, as friend and fellow fra- 
 ternity man, thought so much. Hearty is my 
 sympathy with you in this great sorrow." 
 
 A saintly friend, who has since passed to her 
 reward, says, June 27 : — 
 
 " I believe the Lord called Gardner to the won- 
 derful work he has achieved at the South ; called 
 him to be the helper of hundreds of toiling men ; 
 called him to manifest to them how rich, and 
 deep, and full an earthly life can be, through 
 earnest, faithful, consecrated work; and in so 
 laying secure foundations for happy human 
 homes, and an orderly civil life. How many 
 hearts are touched to finer issues, through the 
 quickening power of his noble self-forgetting 
 manhood ; how long will shine in those distant 
 States the beacon light of his loving, tireless 
 influence ! " 
 
 A letter from Mrs. N. expresses bereavement : 
 " We also feel this sorrow as a personal one, 
 for we have lost a dear friend in your son. He 
 was more of a comfort to us in our trouble than 
 words can express, so often sending us expressions 
 of tender sympathy when our hearts seemed 
 breaking with grief. He was so cheerful, coura- 
 geous, and true under all circumstances that it 
 seems as though a bright light had been put out,
 
 46 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and the world left poor and dark without his 
 radiant spirit." 
 
 Mr. N. writes : — 
 
 " I well remember my first sight of Gardner. 
 I can see him yet at some distance from the house, 
 as he was coming towards me, with one of my 
 own boys on either side of him, — tall and erect, 
 so full of life and vigor, so much of manliness 
 even then in his whole make-up, and yet so mod- 
 est, and as gentle as a child. From the first he 
 won a warm place in our hearts, and our home 
 was open to him as it had never been opened to 
 any one before or since. Those were lovely sum- 
 mer days he spent with us; the young people 
 were fresh from school, with all restraint lifted, 
 and they were able to enjoy to the full whatever 
 came to them. 
 
 " I was delighted to see how readily he adapted 
 himself to all the different forms of enjoyment 
 that were before him, always winning the esteem 
 and respect of those with whom he came in con- 
 tact. He was in every way a most manly fellow, 
 always willing to do his share in the way of 
 helping things along, whether in the drawing- 
 room, or in a camping expedition, where the re- 
 sources were limited, and where much depended 
 upon what each one could do to make the expe- 
 dition a success. 
 
 " I remember, too, what a great love of nature
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 47 
 
 was his ; the woods, the flowers, and the birds, 
 as well as the wayside brook, all seemed to be 
 old friends; he knew them well, and nothing 
 seemed to escape his observation. 
 
 " I noticed, too, his wonderful power to rise 
 above the little petty annoyances that are often 
 found in the way of complete success in a day's 
 outing ; an unfavorable turn in the weather, or a 
 dry and dusty road, was taken by him as a matter 
 of course, and he would not allow it to interfere 
 with the pleasure and enjoyment before him. 
 "With all the lovely traits possessed by him, it is no 
 wonder that he so thoroughly won his way into 
 our confidence and esteem that we were always 
 glad to have him with us. It gave me great pleas- 
 ure to see him undertake his work in the South ; 
 he was so enthusiastic, so self-reliant, and so full 
 of confidence, that I had no doubt of his success, 
 and the only fear that at times disturbed me was 
 that he might overwork, and thus become a victim 
 to the terrible typhoid that prevailed in that local- 
 ity ; but it never occurred to me that an accident 
 of any kind could befall him ; he was so strong, so 
 alert, and always seemed so well able to take care 
 of himself, that it was long before I could realize 
 that he could be so suddenly stricken down." 
 
 " After his terrible injury, what a manly fight 
 he must have made for life, lifted up as he was 
 by the thought and hope that there might yet be 
 a chance for him to do much for those who still
 
 48 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 needed his help ; and when this was denied him, 
 his willingness to join in the companionship of 
 those who had been among his dearest of earthly- 
 friends, to me is very pathetic. 
 
 " I did not intend to say as much as this, but 
 my mind has gone back to those happy days that 
 will never come back to me, when Gardner and 
 my own dear boys were standing on the thresh- 
 old of life, with all its pleasant possibilities before 
 them." 
 
 A business associate says : — 
 
 " I became strongly attached to him during 
 my stay with him in the South ; a better or more 
 honorable fellow than Gardner never lived, and 
 I feel his loss keenly." 
 
 From another business friend comes this mes- 
 sage : — 
 
 " I met your son at Chicopee, and at our 
 very first interview he won a high place in my 
 esteem. His character was so transparent and 
 his disposition so genial ; yet, with all his attain- 
 ments, he was so unassuming and cordial that, 
 
 ' None knew him but to love him, 
 None named him but to praise.' " 
 
 A neighbor, whose sons had grown up with 
 Gardner, writes : — 
 
 " We all sympathize with you, and feel that
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 49 
 
 we, too, have lost a very dear young friend, for 
 Gardner was to me the perfect ideal of a young 
 man, and as I watched him grow from childhood 
 to manhood, I have rejoiced with you that you 
 had such a beautiful son." 
 
 A mother in Atlanta, Georgia, tells us : — 
 " It must be a great comfort to you to know 
 that your son was such a fine character ; that it 
 was not just mother love that thought so, but it 
 was acknowledged by all with whom he came in 
 contact. I shall be happy indeed, and consider 
 myself most fortunate, if I can succeed in mould- 
 ing my boy into such a man, who possessed the 
 respect and love of all who knew him." 
 
 From the " Boston Transcript," June 27, 1896 : 
 
 H. GARDNER NICHOLS. 
 
 An ideal life cut short in its marvelous early 
 morning strength and beauty ! An ideal charac- 
 ter lost to love and honor and service of man- 
 kind just as its initial page of manifestation was 
 complete ; one matchless page of a singularly 
 heroic career, and the book closed by a strangely 
 ruthless fate. 
 
 It is a story which could be told as a tale of the 
 highest that modern man at his best of knowledge 
 and culture and power, and Christian man at his 
 richest of grace and truth, has achieved; yet
 
 50 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 achieved with but the step forward from youth, 
 and the mere threshold of a great career, which 
 death at twenty-five means. 
 
 The Iliad of human and Christian advance in 
 the end of the nineteenth century of Christ, and 
 in the America which best shows that advance, 
 could hardly be written in more fit form than by 
 an adequate narrative of the one stage of achieve- 
 ments which Gardner Nichols had brought to a 
 close when a sudden stroke of fatal injury, and 
 some weeks of hopeless heroic struggle, put a 
 period to his life. 
 
 Almost immediately upon graduation from 
 Harvard University with honors, Mr. Nichols 
 undertook an enterprise of difficulty and mag- 
 nitude, — that of representing his father, J. 
 Howard Nichols, in the creation of a model cot- 
 ton manufacturing plant at Alabama City, Ala- 
 bama, one of the centres of the new South. Not 
 only the knowledge and judgment of a rare 
 scholar in practical matters, and an able thinker 
 as well, were shown in Mr. Nichols's execution 
 of his task, but there appeared in it also, and in 
 his life in this new field, a passionate thoughtful- 
 ness, an enthusiasm of humanity, of benevolence, 
 and of manly piety, which far more revealed the 
 Christ of divine love than the master of capital 
 and the executor of plans for manufacture and 
 money-making. 
 
 The very last touch of the great work which is
 
 PEESOXAL TRIBUTES. 51 
 
 now his monument was the occasion of his death. 
 In the placing of a heavy dynamo, a platform 
 gave way, and a violent lacerating blow left 
 wounds which the surgeons could not hope to 
 deal with. Yet for some weeks Mr. Nichols 
 made a fight for life which at least added one 
 more beautiful memory to a singularly rich 
 volume of remembrance. Rev. Dr. Calkins, who 
 is assisting this afternoon in the final service at 
 Newton, speaks from fifteen years' knowledge, 
 when he says that eulogy cannot exaggerate the 
 example which this rare gentleman and noble 
 Christian has left. 
 
 E. C. T. 
 
 From the " Tribune," Rome, Georgia : — 
 
 BLIGHTED HOPES. 
 
 I do not know when anything has impressed 
 me more deeply than the death of young H. 
 Gardner Nichols, in Atlanta. 
 
 So bright, so brave, so young, so full of the 
 promise of noble manhood, he was cut down like 
 a flower that had reached not its fullness. 
 
 It was my privilege to know him only slightly, 
 but the acquaintanceship was one of the pleas- 
 antest in my experience. 
 
 As a boy he is said to have displayed evidences 
 of those admirable traits of character that devel- 
 oped as he grew to man's estate.
 
 52 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 A graduate of Harvard College, he had the 
 additional advantage of daily contact with practi- 
 cal business methods. 
 
 When the idea of establishing a Southern 
 branch was first conceived, he entered into it with 
 a spirit and energy that were remarkable in a 
 man of his age. 
 
 He was of a careful and painstaking disposi- 
 tion, the very soul of energy, active, and filled 
 with that forceful enthusiasm which has made the 
 name of Americans synonymous with successful 
 progressi veness . 
 
 He came South at the time that Gadsden, or 
 rather Alabama City, was decided upon as the 
 most eligible point for the location of the South- 
 ern branch. 
 
 He was untiring in his energy and persever- 
 ance. He looked after all the details of the 
 construction of the mill, and nothing escaped his 
 untiring vigilance. 
 
 He was but twenty-five years old, yet his busi- 
 ness sagacity was more highly developed than 
 that of most men of twice his age. 
 
 He won friends among his social associates as 
 well as among those who had business dealings 
 with him, and no man was more popular in the 
 circle in which he moved than Gardner Nichols. 
 
 It was with a feeling of sadness ineffable that 
 I, even though I was but slightly acquainted with 
 the young man, heard of the distressing accident
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 53 
 
 that was such a cruel shock to those whose high- 
 est hopes were centred upon him. 
 
 He struggled manfully and battled bravely for 
 life, and was given every assistance that love and 
 devotion could render, but all without avail. 
 
 In the flower of his youth, with the earliest lau- 
 rels of youthful achievement fresh and unfaded 
 upon his boyish brow, he was removed from the 
 earthly sphere which he adorned to that higher 
 region beyond our ken. 
 
 He was a true type of the honorable, ambitious 
 young American, and he has gone to his grave, 
 mourned alike by lifetime comrades and new- 
 found friends. 
 
 The light of a hopeful life went out when the 
 soul of H. Gardner Nichols took its flight to the 
 realms beyond. 
 
 M. M. F. 
 
 The lady whose account of the Memorial 
 Service has been given, and who has charge of 
 the school established by Gardner, writes again : 
 
 " I do so miss your son ! I often wonder if it 
 is possible for him to be missed in all the varied 
 departments of the work as he is in mine. It 
 seems to me that, next to his immediate family, 
 the blow falls most heavily on me. We so often 
 discussed together the ways and means to uplift 
 his people. Both of us being of a hopeful dis- 
 position, we expected in ten years, with a school
 
 54 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 equal in all details to the best, a marvelous 
 ohange — a model city with model operatives — 
 that is, kindly, industrious, cleanly, and some- 
 what advanced in education. But, alas ! alas ! 
 for all our castle-building in a missionary way. 
 Your son and I attended the Easter services, the 
 last time we were together in the little Gadsden 
 church. The ' dummy ' not running to accommo- 
 date church-goers, we walked back, so as to be 
 in time for our own service. I shall never for- 
 get that walk. Of course * our work ' was the 
 principal theme ; that the want of gratitude, the 
 want of appreciation should never deter one from 
 a faithful following of duty, — duty, not as the 
 world sees it, but as the earnest, humble follower 
 of Christ sees it. Appreciation gives courage, 
 but courage should be of that kind which does 
 not die for want of it. As much as I need the 
 school-house, I dread to see it begun, so fearful 
 am I that it will be a disappointment. It would 
 have been all right, if Mr. Gardner could have 
 superintended, as he worked for the future, as 
 well as for the present. The day-school closed 
 June 26. "Weeks before, the 27th had been set 
 for our concert, and we were making elaborate 
 preparations for us. But, alas ! instead of songs 
 of joy, on that day we held our Memorial Service." 
 
 The following are from men of affairs, whose 
 age and experience give weight to their words.
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 55 
 
 "Trion, Georgia. 
 
 "I have known enough of your son, and of 
 the hopes and plans you had built on the rich 
 promise of his young manhood, to have some 
 sense of the weight of this blow ; but, even in 
 the depth of your grief, you may find comfort in 
 recalling his well-spent youth, and the abundant 
 measure of pride and satisfaction which has 
 already rewarded your fatherly care. Life is not 
 measured by length of days, but by the work 
 done ; and, so judged, your son lived far longer 
 than his years would show ; I would we might all 
 say the same ! " 
 
 " Rome, Georgia. 
 
 " In the death of your noble son, the commu- 
 nity in which he labored and built so wisely and 
 so well has sustained a loss beyond repair." 
 
 " Alabama City, Alabama. 
 
 "My emotion is too great to express, for I 
 keenly feel your great loss and ours. I can truly 
 say that never in all my life have I met a young 
 man who gave promise of a better and more use- 
 ful life than your son. You can find great con- 
 solation in knowing that you had a noble boy. 
 The world would be better did it have more like 
 him." 
 
 " Gadsden, Alabama. 
 
 " Your son commanded the admiration and 
 high esteem of all who had the privilege of
 
 56 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 knowing him, but the kindly courtesies extended 
 to me in our business intercourse caused me to 
 regard him as my personal friend. His bravery 
 aroused the deep admiration of the whole com- 
 munity, and his death is a public sorrow." 
 
 The attorneys employed by Gardner write : — 
 "My partner and I extend our sincere sym- 
 pathy in the great loss you have suffered, and 
 which has fallen on us all. During our ac- 
 quaintance and association with your son, we 
 had learned to esteem most highly his business 
 acumen and his moral worth, and we shall ever 
 cherish his memory." 
 
 A prominent business man of Gadsden thus 
 expresses the sentiment of not only that city, 
 but of the whole section : — 
 
 " If there is any consolation in human sym- 
 pathy, you, in your deep distress, should be 
 greatly comforted. Our whole section, I may 
 safely say every man, woman, and child who 
 knew your noble son, mourns with you his un- 
 timely death. His devotion to business, his ten- 
 der regard for the amenities of life, his respect 
 and consideration for the worthy poor, won all 
 hearts. We shall miss him as no man of his 
 age was ever missed in Alabama. He had, as it 
 were, become a member of our family. We felt 
 for him in all his endeavors, and delighted to
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 57 
 
 lend our feeble aid in advancing his interests. 
 It is no fulsome flattery to say that your son was 
 the best ' all-around ' man of his age I ever knew, 
 and in his death our section has suffered an ir- 
 reparable loss. He would have done more to 
 aid in building up our industrial interests than 
 any one will ever do, for his heart was in the 
 work. He would have elevated and ennobled 
 his operatives, giving them a new idea of life, 
 and by a personal supervision of their surround- 
 ings he would have awakened higher aspirations. 
 All feel this, and doubly mourn his loss. Dear 
 friends, your son's precious memory will be per- 
 petuated in the magnificent plant erected by him. 
 His words of sympathy will be treasured by the 
 worthy poor in whom he manifested such an in- 
 terest ; and long after you and I have gone to 
 meet him in the unknown beyond, the name of 
 Gardner Nichols will still be a household word 
 in north Alabama. Take comfort in the reflec- 
 tion that God honored you to be the parents of 
 such a noble son, and let sweet memories of him 
 cheer you along life's pathway. When death 
 summons you, you know that you will meet him 
 among those who honored God and kept his 
 commandments." 
 
 The following heart-felt words from men more 
 nearly Gardner's age, and who were intimately 
 associated with him, not only in business, but
 
 58 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 also in friendly intercourse, throw a still more 
 lovable light upon his life and character. 
 
 His instructor in telegraphy says : — 
 " I loved your dear boy as if he had been my 
 own brother. I was attached to him by esteem 
 and affection, and there was nothing in the world 
 I would not have tried to do for him. He was 
 all that was good and noble. We used to take 
 little trips in the mountains together, and would 
 stop by some brook and spread our lunch. I re- 
 member one evening when we were leisurely rid- 
 ing home in the moonlight, that our conversation 
 drifted to the pains and sorrows of the world, 
 and he said that he was willing to die at any 
 time, that death had absolutely no terror for 
 him ; and at the same time he remarked that he 
 felt his two dear friends, the N.'s, were often 
 with him in spirit." 
 
 The three following tributes are from young 
 men who were in Gardner's employ : — 
 
 " I cannot express the sympathy I feel for 
 you all. If there is anything in the world I can 
 do, I shall feel as if I was doing a labor of love 
 for my departed friend, whom I miss more and 
 more as the days go by. I saw Mr. M. yester- 
 day, and he told me all about the services in 
 Newton. Was so sorry I could not be there, 
 but felt it my duty to stay here. I know Mr.
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 59 
 
 Gardner would have thought so. I want to see 
 everything carried out as he desired, and will do 
 all in my power to that end. All the instruc- 
 tions he gave me that last morning before he 
 was taken to Atlanta, I have followed as closely 
 as I could." 
 
 The next is from a young man who was so 
 devoted to Gardner that he wished to watch with 
 him day and night. One night Gardner sent 
 him from the room four times, telling him to 
 " go and get some rest," but each time the poor 
 fellow came stealing back, unable to stay away 
 from the friend he so much loved, and whom he 
 so passionately longed to help : — 
 
 " No one will miss your son more than I, for I 
 have lost a friend who could and would do more 
 for me than anybody on earth. I shall never 
 forget what he has done for me in the last year 
 and a half. He was just as good and kind to 
 me as if I had been his brother." 
 
 The youngest of the group writes : — 
 " I want to express to you my sincere sym- 
 pathy and condolence in your great grief, the 
 weight of which is surely a heavy burden. I am 
 almost overwhelmed with sorrow myself at the 
 loss of one whose many acts of kindness and 
 expressions of confidence, in both word and deed, 
 leave no manner of doubt of his true friendship
 
 60 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 for me. In all my associations with him (nearly 
 a year and a half) in his business office, never a 
 word of displeasure escaped his lips, nor even a 
 sign of impatience was ever visible. He taught 
 me what I know of business. He set before me 
 many examples of benevolence, morality, Chris- 
 tian love, and charity, and I want to say that it 
 shall be my purpose in life to emulate his many 
 virtues and his noble character as seen by me, 
 and that his memory will ever be sacred to me." 
 
 One wonders how many such testimonies of 
 patient and upright living could be given. No 
 "word of displeasure, no sign of impatience" 
 during those months of perplexing care and hard 
 labor. 
 
 As he was in business, so was he in home life, 
 as shown by the letter from Mrs. E. : — 
 
 " The remembrance of your noble son here in 
 our mountain home comes back so vividly to me 
 to-night, as I sit sorrowing over the untimely 
 end of his bright young life. Here is where he 
 cast his lot among us, and our home was the 
 first he called home in this sunny Southland. We 
 recall with pleasure his gentle companionship ; 
 even the little incidents of his life with us are 
 refreshing memories. While he was with us he 
 awakened in us the tender interest of sweet 
 friendship. Many hearts mourn with you in
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 61 
 
 this bitter sorrow, and feel deeply the loss you 
 have sustained. We realize that in the death of 
 your courageous, noble son our community has 
 lost one of its most valuable citizens, one to 
 whom we could point our sons as an example of 
 manly virtue, energy, ambition, fidelity, courage, 
 and endurance. We who knew him in our 
 homes know his most lovable traits. We feel 
 that our homes have been honored by his abiding 
 in them. We shall ever tenderly revere his 
 memory, and shall point with pride to the grand 
 work of his heart and hands in our midst." 
 
 A Gadsden gentleman writes : — 
 
 " We feel that the half has not been said that 
 might have been truthfully written. Gardner's 
 life was an inspiration to young men, and one 
 that should not and will not be forgotten by 
 any who knew him. We miss him very much, 
 and shall always remember him with deepest 
 affection." 
 
 The " Tribute of Respect " given below bears 
 the date of Gadsden, Alabama, July 9, 1896. 
 
 " Our friend H. Gardner Nichols, having 
 passed from this life into the greater and better 
 life, the task of delineating his character as a 
 man and a friend belongs to those who have 
 known him from his youth up. It may, however, 
 be permitted his friends who have known him but
 
 62 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 a few short months, yet who have been deeply 
 impressed by his noble character, to echo their 
 sentiments of deep esteem, and to show in what 
 manner he was held by all who knew him well. 
 His death, coming as it did without the decay of 
 years, a youth cut down in the flower of his young 
 manhood, just at the threshold of what gave 
 promise of a long and useful career, has its 
 peculiar sorrow for those who have been favored 
 by his friendship, and are left to mourn his loss. 
 He came to this community in the full vigor of 
 youth, equipped with an extraordinary intellect, 
 and with a form evidencing perfect health, and, 
 after but a few months, during which time he 
 touched every heart with beautiful and indelible 
 impressions, he goes from us, not back to his 
 native' land, but, answering ' Ready ! ' to the sum- 
 mons to the better world, 'he lies down in the 
 night of Death, and awakens in the morning of 
 Eternity ! ' Although his career was brief, like a 
 meteor it shed forth a brightness which illumined 
 the sphere through which he passed. 
 
 " He was honest. In his judgment, honesty was 
 an element which every decent character should 
 possess. He was ambitious, too, and did possess 
 a well-rounded character ; he was ardent and 
 honorable as a friend, was no hypocrite, who for 
 the sake of policy hid his real sentiments ; he 
 was philanthropic, keenly feeling the wants of 
 the poor, and his death was their loss. Yet he
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 63 
 
 stood not in public places to offer alms, but dis- 
 pensed bis gifts witb the quiet reserve of true 
 charity. He was deeply religious, in that he be- 
 lieved true religion constituted the art of higher 
 living. 
 
 " His courage was sublime, and when convinced 
 of the correctness of his position, threats of per- 
 sonal violence could not swerve him the breadth 
 of a hair from holding steadfastly to his purpose, 
 until the desired end was accomplished. 
 
 " He knew not failure. Difficulties at which 
 most men would halt and turn back seemed only 
 incentives to a trial of strength, and he would 
 attack and overcome them with a spirit and 
 adeptness marvelous to behold. His extraordi- 
 nary faculty for controlling business affairs came 
 not alone from knowledge or experience, there 
 was that in him which operated independently 
 of tuition. His was the ' spontaneous force of 
 an untrammeled soul, genius.' Before reaching 
 the age of twenty-four, he was intrusted with a 
 work of great proportions, and had nearly com- 
 pleted it in a manner above criticism. 
 
 " Having gathered around him, in the little hill 
 village, more than a thousand souls who looked 
 to him as employer and protector, he had im- 
 pressed his individuality upon them by taking 
 an active interest in their welfare both temporal 
 and spiritual. He was ready to serve, and did 
 serve them day and night ; he taught them how
 
 64 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 to live ; visited them when sick, ministering to 
 every necessity ; and when he was dying, he 
 expressed the greatest sorrow that he should be 
 called away before he had completed the work of 
 elevating them to a higher plane. 
 
 " Having the interest of his people at heart, and 
 being imbued with a spirit of reform antagonistic 
 to vices in every form, he was not loath to take 
 upon himself the government of the town in 
 which he resided, and as its Chief Magistrate 
 frame laws that would insure economy, and pre- 
 vent a vicious social life. Possessing the air of 
 one mature in years, he found pleasure in that 
 which was instructive, ever shunning the frivoli- 
 ties of life, and never forsaking business obliga- 
 tions to take up matters of less importance, but 
 ready to step aside to speak a pleasant word 
 or to do an act of kindness. One trait of char- 
 acter, his faithfulness to his friends, we would 
 emphasize again. Those whom he loved never 
 tired him ; he drew his friends to him, and bound 
 them with the bonds of love, and his friendship 
 was always ready for any test or trial. Belong- 
 ing to a better and a higher age, he lived in 
 advance of his many associates. We, who be- 
 lieve the world grows better, and minds grow 
 brighter, can foresee many such characters as his 
 in the future generations. We look upon his life 
 here as one borrowed of the future, and given us 
 as one worthy of emulation."
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 65 
 
 The Mayor of Gadsden, Alabama, with which 
 city Gardner seemed to be almost as closely iden- 
 tified as with his own, sends this sincere and lov- 
 ing memorial of the friend he valued so highly : 
 
 " The death of Gardner was to me a great 
 personal loss and affliction. I knew him inti- 
 mately, and had learned to love him as a brother, 
 to admire him for his unsullied and exalted char- 
 acter, for his many, many noble traits of head and 
 heart, and for the wonderfully harmonious devel- 
 opment of his faculties. These manly character- 
 istics were not held in reserve, and used as on 
 ' dress parade,' but were conspicuous in his every- 
 day life, and were part and parcel of his very 
 existence. His manner towards his friends was 
 elegant in its naturalness and simplicity, and he 
 possessed that indescribable grace called ' charm,' 
 in a most marked degree. His every action 
 seemed to say, ' I would rather be, than seem to 
 be,' and was the very antithesis of show. I want 
 to say, for his credit and for your comfort, that 
 if ever a young man held as the guiding star of 
 his conduct the injunction of Solomon, ' My son, 
 hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake 
 not the law of thy mother,' Gardner did. His 
 devotion to his parents, and his loyalty to the 
 teachings you gave him in his early youth, were 
 matters which he frequently mentioned in con- 
 versation with me, and which he, without excep- 
 tion, always exhibited in his conduct towards his
 
 66 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 fellow-men. His observance of proper lines of 
 conduct was beautiful ; he was as chaste and 
 elegant in his conversation with men as the most 
 refined and cultured woman. I always felt bet- 
 ter for a long talk with him. He inspired others 
 to nobler thought and achievement, and was as 
 magnetic and forceful a man as I ever met. He 
 was an ornament to his family, and to the grand 
 commonwealth which gave him birth, and a bless- 
 ing to our loved Southland in which he had cast 
 his lot, and where he seemed so happy in the 
 great work he wrought. I feel the world is 
 better for his having lived in it, and could he 
 have been spared to us, what great things were 
 in store for him ! In one sense he is not dead, 
 for to ' live in the hearts we leave behind is not 
 to die.' I often think of the very enjoyable trip 
 he and I took to Montgomery about two years 
 ago, when I went down to introduce him to my 
 friends, Governor Jones and Governor Oates. 
 Each of these gentlemen spoke to me of him some 
 time afterward. He had impressed them as a 
 young man of high character, earnestness, and 
 great capacity for affairs. They were delighted 
 that he had come to our State and would be one 
 of us, predicting that he would be a leader in his 
 chosen line of business. Had he lived, I think 
 he would have loved our people and been devoted 
 to our State. Alabama would have felt the im- 
 press of his genius, as our locality now feels it,
 
 PERSONAL TRIBUTES. 67 
 
 and he would have become a factor in her affairs. 
 "We needed him in our midst, and his death is 
 the State's loss. It must be your greatest conso- 
 lation to know that Gardner was so good; his 
 life was an honor to his parents ; and his exem- 
 plary conduct worthy of all admiration. Not one 
 of the least of his characteristics was his big-heart- 
 edness. The poor, the destitute, the afflicted, 
 the unfortunate, appealed to his heart with great 
 effect. These classes always touched a respon- 
 sive chord in his bosom ; for them he had a 
 tender sympathy. His inclination in this direc- 
 tion was unusually strong, and I am quite sure 
 works of philanthropy would have engaged his 
 later years had his life been spared. 
 
 " I read a passage not long since, which comes 
 nearer describing Gardner than anything I can 
 write ; it is this : — 
 
 " ' He was chaste in his life, just in his dealings, 
 true to his word, merciful to those who were 
 under him, and hating nothing so much as idle- 
 ness ; in matters especially of moment, he was 
 never wont to rely on other men's care, how 
 trusty or skillful soever they might seem to be, 
 but, always contemning danger and refusing no 
 toil, he was wont himself to be one (whoever was 
 a second) at every turn where courage, skill, or 
 industry was to be employed.' This quotation 
 would make a fitting epitaph for his monument."
 
 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT 
 
 passed by gadsden city council on the death of 
 hon. h. gardner nichols. 
 
 Council Chamber, City of Gadsden, Ala. 
 
 Call meeting of the Board held this 23d day 
 of June, 1896. Mayor Mitchell explained object 
 of the meeting to take action on the death of 
 the Hon. H. Gardner Nichols, which occurred at 
 5.13 P. M., this instant, at Dr. Holmes's Sani- 
 tarium, in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 After a tribute to the memory of the deceased 
 by Mayor Mitchell, Alderman Green offered the 
 following preamble and resolutions, which were 
 adopted by a unanimous vote : — 
 
 Whereas, We learn of the death of our late 
 fellow citizen, the Hon. H. Gardner Nichols, 
 mayor of Alabama City, as the result of an acci- 
 dent which occurred at the Dwight Mill, on the 
 20th of May, striking down in the very dawn of 
 his young manhood one of the grandest charac- 
 ters with whom it has ever been our fortune to 
 meet, bringing sorrow to the hearts of all our 
 people without regard to rank or station,
 
 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 69 
 
 Be it Resolved, That this Board, represent- 
 ing and voicing the sentiments of all and every 
 class of our population, hereby tender to the 
 family of the deceased our heartfelt sympathy, 
 assuring them that we feel that Massachusetts, in 
 giving us as a citizen Hon. H. Gardner Nichols, 
 gave us one of her brightest jewels, and we 
 honored and loved him as though he was "to the 
 manor born." Alabama mingles her tears with 
 Massachusetts in this sad hour, and we can truly 
 say that the short life of Mr. Nichols demon- 
 strated the fact that sterling worth, active indus- 
 try, strict fidelity, and noble charity are always 
 appreciated, and are honored and respected in 
 every land and by all people. 
 
 The Hon. H. Gardner Nichols's memory will 
 live in Alabama so long as the noble qualities 
 of heart and mind he possessed are appreciated, 
 and his example of exalted manhood will be re- 
 membered as a beacon light to which the young 
 men of our State will be pointed as worthy of 
 their highest emulation. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of the high esteem 
 and appreciation in which the Hon. H. Gardner 
 Nichols was held by our citizens, the Hon. R. A. 
 Mitchell, mayor of the city of Gadsden, and Mr. 
 T. S. Kyle be, and they are hereby appointed by 
 this council as an escort to attend the body from 
 Atlanta to Boston ; and that this preamble and 
 these resolutions be spread upon the minutes,
 
 70 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 and that a copy of the same be forwarded to 
 the family of Mr. J. Howard Nichols, at Boston, 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the 
 people of our neighboring town, Alabama City, 
 in their loss of the official head of that munici- 
 pality, their distinguished young mayor, who had 
 the development of that city and the welfare of 
 its people so deeply at heart ; to them it is an 
 irreparable loss. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT 
 
 PASSED BY THE ALABAMA CITY COUNCIL ON THE DEATH 
 OF HON. H. GARDNER NICHOLS. 
 
 The following resolutions of respect were 
 passed at a meeting of the Council of Alabama 
 City, on Saturday, June 27, 1896 : — 
 
 Whereas, It hath pleased Almighty God to 
 remove from our midst our beloved mayor, the 
 Hon. H. Gardner Nichols, and 
 
 Whereas, Our said mayor, although a com- 
 parative stranger to our community, had en- 
 deared himself to every one in both his official 
 and private capacity, by his uniform courtesy, 
 kindness, and high character, to such an extent 
 that he was elected to the position of mayor 
 without opposition, and 
 
 Whereas, His death has removed a noble and 
 fearless official, an honored citizen, and a be- 
 loved friend, be it
 
 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 71 
 
 Resolved, By the City Council of Alabama 
 City, that in his death our city and entire com- 
 munity has lost one of its truest and purest citi- 
 zens, and our Board its wise and honored head ; 
 and that the enterprise of which he was the 
 founder has suffered an irreparable loss. 
 
 2. Be it further Resolved, That our tender- 
 est condolence be and it is hereby extended to 
 the bereaved family, and in this hour of their 
 deepest sorrow we point them to that All-wise 
 Providence who doeth all things well. 
 
 3. Be it further Resolved, That a copy of 
 these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of 
 this body, a copy furnished the county papers 
 for publication, and a copy sent to the parents 
 of our deceased friend. 
 
 At a meeting of the directors of the Dwight 
 Manufacturing Company, Boston, June 29, 1896 : 
 
 " On motion of Mr. Amory A. Lawrence, duly 
 seconded, the following resolution was unani- 
 mously adopted : — 
 
 " The Directors have heard with the greatest 
 regret of the death of Mr. Howard Gardner 
 Nichols, caused by an accident while in the dis- 
 charge of his duties at the Alabama City Mill. 
 
 " We appreciate his high character, his indus- 
 try, and great promise, and sympathize most 
 deeply with his father in his great bereavement. 
 
 " This resolution to be placed in the records."
 
 72 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 H. GARDNER NICHOLS. 
 
 Since it has pleased Almighty God in His di- 
 vine wisdom to take from among us the soul of 
 one of our most beloved Vestrymen, H. Gardner 
 Nichols, a man most closely identified with the 
 best interests, and foremost in work in behalf 
 of the Church of the Holy Comforter, of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church at Gadsden, Ala- 
 bama, and whose charm of personality and chari- 
 table consideration were so prominently marked ; 
 a young man of keen intellect and sterling quali- 
 ties, spotless character and kindliness of heart, 
 endearing him to all, he strove to advance the 
 cause of the Master in many ways. 
 
 May his influence not be lost ; may it shed a 
 ray of hope and encouragement about us which 
 shall brighten the veil which God in His infinite 
 wisdom has seen fit to let fall upon our Church. 
 
 Close as were the ties which bound him to us, 
 we recognize that there are others to whom our 
 deceased friend was held by still more sacred 
 bonds, and it is the desire of this Vestry to ex- 
 tend to the sorrowing family our heartfelt sym- 
 pathy in their bereavement. May they, as well 
 as we, feel that it is the will of our Father, " who 
 doeth all things well." 
 
 Resolved, That as a formal and lasting expres-
 
 OFFICIAL TBLBUTES. 73 
 
 sion of our sorrow at his sudden and untimely 
 death, these humble and inadequate resolutions 
 be enrolled upon our minutes as suggestive of 
 the love and esteem in which he was held by the 
 members of this Vestry ; and be it further 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 
 sent to his bereaved parents. 
 
 Otto Agricola, Warden. 
 
 John C. Pugh. W. W. Pettis. 
 
 O. R. Goldman. Geo. W. Bowen. 
 
 Joseph Balfour. Calvin D. Clarke. 
 
 On a recent visit made by Mr. Nichols to Ala- 
 bama City, the first since the death of his son, 
 he accepted an invitation to meet the operatives, 
 at which time the following resolutions were 
 adopted : — 
 
 " We, the former employees of the late H. 
 Gardner Nichols, who, as agent for the Dwight 
 Manufacturing Company at this place, did so 
 much for our comfort and happiness as to place 
 us under lasting obligation to him ; 
 
 " And whereas we, the remaining employees of 
 said Company, who served under him here, feel- 
 ing that we have sustained an irreparable loss in 
 his sad and sudden death, desire to give expres- 
 sion to our feelings of sorrow and bereavement, 
 therefore, be it resolved, that we rejoice in the 
 presence of the father of him we admired and 
 loved, and give him our cordial greetings and
 
 74 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 
 
 sincere welcome, and extend to him, and through 
 him to his bereaved family, profound sympathy, 
 and assure him that we shall ever cherish feelings 
 of gratitude and love for his noble son." 
 
 It has been the effort of the writer of this 
 Memorial to place before Gardner's friends a 
 picture of the true-hearted, honest boy, who de- 
 veloped into a noble, fearless, upright man; to 
 show him as he was to his family, his friends, 
 and those dependent upon him, and to do it with 
 the loving simplicity which befits such a story 
 of unselfish, loyal devotion to duty. 
 
 In this connection it seems fitting to quote one 
 striking instance of the influence flowing from 
 his life, and bearing fruit in the life of an entire 
 stranger. 
 
 A college classmate of one of Gardner's sisters, 
 who had visited the Newton home and knew him 
 well, writes from her place of residence in Illi- 
 nois : — 
 
 " Sunday night, at our League service, the last 
 person to speak was a gentleman about thirty- 
 five years of age. He said, in substance, ' Yes- 
 terday, while waiting in a business office, I picked 
 up a paper. It was a mill paper, and my eye 
 rested upon the notice of the death of a young 
 man ; it told of the beautiful life he had lived, of 
 his care for those under him, of his manly noble- 
 ness, and most of all of that Christian character
 
 OFFICIAL TRIBUTES. 75 
 
 which enriched his whole nature. I read on and 
 on, thinking how such a life must have a force 
 for good in that community. I do not know the 
 young man, — he lived down South ; but this I 
 do know : reading the account of the beauty and 
 nobility of that character has influenced my life, 
 and made me start out to strive more earnestly 
 to live just such a life of usefulness.' 
 
 " After the meeting I spoke to the gentleman, 
 saying I thought I knew to whom he referred, 
 and mentioned your brother's name; he said I 
 was right — it was Gardner Nichols of whom he 
 spoke."
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9 — 15m-10,'48 (B1039 ) 444 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGBLES
 
 In memoriam, 
 
 275 Howard Gardner 
 N5I3 ^Nicnolsc 
 
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 275 
 
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