LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVWW* OF, 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 I SAN 01 EGO 

 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 
 
 IFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 LlFE AND C 
 OF 
 
 HENRY H. STARKWEATHER 
 
 (A REPRESENTATIVE FROM CONNECTICUT,) 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 FEBRUARY 24, 1876. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF H. H. STARKWEATHER. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 
 FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1876. 
 
 The House met at 12 o'clock m. Prayer by the 
 Chaplain, Rev. I. L. Townsend, D. D. 
 
 DEATH OF HON. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 
 
 Mr. BARNUM. I rise to announce the death in this city 
 this morning of my late colleague from the third congres- 
 sional district of the State of Connecticut, Hon. HENRY H. 
 STARKWEATHER, and to offer the resolutions which I send 
 to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seven members be appointed by 
 the Speaker of the House to take order for superintending tfie 
 funeral of Hon. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, late a member of 
 this body from the State of Connecticut. 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of the respect entertained by the 
 House for the memory of Hon. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, his 
 remains be removed to Norwich, Conn., in charge of the Sergeaut- 
 at-Arms and attended by the said committee, who shall have full 
 power to carry this resolution into effect.
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these proceedings to the 
 Senate. 
 
 Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory 
 of the deceased the House do now adjourn. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 
 
 The SPEAKEE, in pursuance of the first resolution, an- 
 nounced the appointment of the following committee : Mr. 
 BARNUM, Mr. GTARFIELD, Mr. WHEELER, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. 
 HOAR, Mr. LANDERS, of Connecticut, and Mr. ASHE. 
 
 And thereupon (at three o'clock and ten minutes p. m.) 
 the House, in accordance with the concluding resolution 
 just adopted, adjourned. 
 
 FEBRUARY 24, 1876. 
 
 The SPEAKER. The Chair desires now to say to the 
 House that he was notified early this morning by the 
 friends of the late Mr. STARKWEATHER, of Connecticut, 
 that it was their desire at three o'clock to proceed in the 
 House to pay the proper respect to the memory of Mr. 
 STARKWEATHER. That hour is now passed, and twenty 
 minutes more. What is it the pleasure of the House now 
 to do? 
 
 Mr. PHELPS. I wish the House now to listen to the 
 resolutions of respect to Mr. STARKWEATHER'S memory 
 which I send to the Clerk's desk. 
 
 The Clerk read as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That this House has heard with deep regret the an- 
 nouncement of the death of HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, late a 
 member of this House from the State of Connecticut.
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE. 
 
 Resolved, That as a testimony of respect to the memory of the de- 
 ceased, the officers and members of the House will wear the usual 
 badge of mourning for thirty days. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the 
 Clerk to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the House do now 
 adjourn. 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be forthwith transmitted 
 to the Senate.
 
 Address by Mr. Phelps, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it has again become the sad duty of the 
 Representatives of the State of Connecticut to announce 
 the decease of one of their colleagues in the councils of the 
 nation. The shafts of death have recently fallen with such 
 rapidity upon the distinguished citizens of the Republic 
 that even the eloquence of eulogy has become common- 
 place in these Halls, and it is difficult without repetition to 
 select language suitable for the expression of our feelings. 
 But a few days since we were required to suspend the 
 prosecution of our ordinary official duties and pay the cus- 
 tomary tribute of respect to the memory of one who, at 
 the time of his decease, was in the enjoyment of the high- 
 est honor which a State of this Union can bestow on its 
 most deserving citizen. Now, sir, it is not a Senator who 
 has fallen but one of our own members, an honored mem- 
 ber of this House, who possessed the respect of us all, and 
 the friendship of many of the oldest and most prominent 
 members of this body. 
 
 Hon. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER died at his lodgings in 
 this city on the morning of the 28th of January last. His 
 recent invocation in behalf of another to "come quickly"
 
 ADDRESS BY MB. PHELPS ON THE 
 
 was speedily answered to himself, and his spirit has been 
 borne to the presence of Him who gave it. 
 
 He was born, of highly respectable parents, in the town 
 of Preston, Conn., on the 2<Jth day of April, 1826. His 
 father was in moderate pecuniary circumstances, and 
 followed the plain but reputable pursuit of agriculture, 
 and his son until twenty-one years of age, when not at- 
 tending the common schools or teaching in them, assisted 
 his father in his work upon the farm. With such oppor- 
 tunities for education as he possessed, and with a strong 
 desire for learning and a natural intellect of a superior 
 order, he acquired a thorough common education, and by 
 much and well-selected reading stored his mind with use- 
 ful information, which a vigorous and well-trained memory 
 enabled him to retain. In that way he acquired a fund 
 of valuable knowledge from which, as occasion required, 
 he drew in after life and made available in all the exigen- 
 cies of his professional and political career. 
 
 His ambition for distinction led him to adopt the pro- 
 fession of the law, for which he qualified under the instruc- 
 tion of an eminent and accomplished lawyer, now one of 
 the judges of the supreme court of the State, arid was 
 admitted to the bar in 1850. He immediately commenced 
 practice in the city of Norwich, and at a bar which num- 
 bered among its members some of the most able and 
 distinguished practitioners in the State, occupied a respect- 
 able position. Like many other young and promising 
 members of his profession, he allowed himself to be with-
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 9 
 
 drawn from exclusive devotion to it by the excitement of 
 politics, and after a short practice of ten years, during 
 which he had been steadily rising toward distinction, he 
 accepted the appointment of postmaster in that city, and 
 from that time gave little attention to his profession. 
 
 In politics he was a whig until the disintegration of that 
 party, and then actively assisted in the organization of the 
 American party, by which he was elected to the lower 
 house in the State Legislature in 1856. He afterward 
 aided with enthusiasm in the formation of the republican 
 party, was prominent in its councils, and was a delegate 
 to the national conventions which nominated Mr. Lincoln 
 in 1860 and General Grant in 1868. He was re-appointed 
 postmaster in 1865 by President Johnson; but after the 
 latter made his celebrated speech on the 22d of February, 
 1866, he could not longer consistently retain office under 
 his administration, and resigned. 
 
 He was nominated and elected to Congress in 1867, and 
 by successive re-elections continued to occupy a seat here 
 until his death. The period embraced in his congressional 
 service was one of the most interesting in the history of 
 the country, and during that period he at different times 
 held positions on several of the most important committees 
 of the House, and was remarkable for the faithfulness 
 with which he constantly endeavored to perform his duty. 
 No request from a constituent, however humble, was dis- 
 regarded by him, and his known fidelity to duty and his 
 conscientious adherence to principle were what most es- 
 
 2 s
 
 10 ADDRESS BY MR. PHELPS ON THE 
 
 pecially constituted the elements of his strength. He was 
 quiet and unassuming in his official demeanor, and seldom 
 attempted to participate in debate beyond the formal 
 statements which were necessary to explain the reports 
 from committees which he had occasion to make ; but he 
 had, notwithstanding, acquired an influence from his long 
 membership and his familiarity with the rules of congres- 
 sional proceedings which any member, however long in 
 service, may be satisfied to attain. That made him a very 
 valuable and efficient Representative, and enabled him 
 to acquire a usefulness which no inexpeiienced member, 
 however able, can hope to possess. His congressional 
 career is familiar to many now here who have been long 
 associated with him, and to them I leave the friendly 
 office of more ably and particularly illustrating it. 
 
 He possessed an uncommon natural power in another 
 respect. He had a remarkably accurate judgment of men, 
 and an almost intuitive perception of their character. 
 This added much to his capacity and influence as a legis- 
 lator, and was a material and valuable constituent in the 
 composition of the man. 
 
 He also possessed great force of will, and bravely strug- 
 gled against the disease which overcame him. He had 
 successfully passed through previous severe attacks of ill- 
 ness and doubted not he should escape fatal consequences 
 from the last. Through fear of occasioning his family 
 unnecessary apprehension, he refused to allow them to be 
 informed of the severity of his suffering, and as late as
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 11 
 
 the afternoon before his death addressed with his own 
 hand, which betrayed no sign of weakness, a few affec- 
 tionate and encouraging words to his wife, who, unknown 
 to him, was then hastening, in feeble health, but with true 
 wifely instinct and devotion, to administer to him the 
 comfort of her care and the consolation of her companion- 
 ship. She arrived in season to receive an intelligent and 
 affectionate recognition from him, and a few moments 
 after he passed from life as gently as the twilight fades 
 into the night. He has gone in the pride of his intellect- 
 ual strength, before the frosts of age had silvered his 
 locks or the hand of time fun-owed his brow ; gone in 
 the midst of his usefulness, when his services were more 
 than ever valuable and needed. 
 
 There was another prominent element in his character, 
 too rarely found in the statesmen of the present day, 
 which cannot be omitted without doing him great injustice 
 and rendering the portraiture of his life very incomplete. 
 He was a devoted Christian. Disease assailed him at his 
 post of duty and soon conquered his weak frame; but 
 the invitation from his Master did not find him unprepared; 
 " he knew in whom he trusted." He had in early life 
 clothed himself with the armor of faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and that shield and helmet and breast-plate which 
 were the panoply of his defense against the assaults of 
 the enemy of all righteousness were worn by him in tri- 
 umph to the end. At his obsequies the overflowing church 
 and thronged streets, the saddened countennnces and tear-
 
 12 ADDRESS BY MR. PHELPS ON THE 
 
 ful eyes, spoke eloquently of the universal respect and 
 grief of the community who had known him longest and 
 best. The benedictions of a bereaved people were rev- 
 erently breathed upon his casket. 
 
 Death is under all circumstances a solemn event and can 
 scarcely occur to the humblest and most obscure without 
 inflicting torture on other hearts ; and while it is true that 
 the sorrow of such is sometimes more deep and lasting 
 than that of those who move in a higher sphere, yet the 
 public are not shocked. But when a citizen whose posi- 
 tion and services have made his name familiar is stricken 
 down. in the conflict of life, with his official armor on, the 
 electric announcement which thrills throughout the coun- 
 try produces a sensation of public calamity and loss, a 
 feeling that a public servant has fallen, the loss of whose 
 experience and service is a public bereavement. 
 
 It is a singular fact that the last public act of Senator 
 Ferry was to pronounce a eulogy upon his colleague, 
 Senator Buckingham-. It is a more singular circumstance 
 that Mr. STARKWEATHER'S last official work was the prepa- 
 ration of a similar address upon Senator Ferry. It is yet 
 more singular that before that address was delivered he 
 had been suddenly summoned from this world, and that 
 paper was read to this House in the place of a eulogy of 
 his own by the distinguished gentleman from Ohio, [Gen- 
 eral Garfield.] I will leave to others who have finer 
 imagination and more fervid speech to paint with glowing 
 words the beauty of the closing part of that address, and
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 13 
 
 to tell how descriptive it was of his own feelings and con- 
 dition, how personally prophetic in its application, and 
 how truly it sounded like the triumphant strains of the 
 dying Christian singing his own requiem. 
 
 In private life Mr. STARKWEATHER was above reproach, 
 modest and unaffected in his manner, amiable in his dis- 
 position, genial and social in his intercourse, generous to 
 his friends, charitable to the poor, just to all. He was 
 deeply devoted to those who composed his cherished 
 household circle and equally beloved by them.
 
 14 ADDRESS BY MR. STEVENSON ON THE 
 
 Address by Mr. Stevenson, of Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, it had been my intention rather to listen 
 than to take part in these solemn ceremonies. But at the 
 request of my honorable friend from Connecticut, [Mr. 
 Phelps,] I desire in brief words to add my tribute of re- 
 spect to the memory of him whose loss we deplore. 
 
 My acquaintance with Mr. STARKWEATHER began at the 
 opening of the present session of Congress. From the 
 first he impressed me as a gentleman of a high order of 
 ability, laborious in the discharge of every duty, and 
 faithful to every trust. A continuous service in this 
 House for more than eight years fully attests the value 
 placed upon his services by the people whom he repre- 
 sented. The record of the proceedings of this body will 
 show that he played no unimportant part in the discus- 
 sion and adjustment of the great questions of public policy 
 which have agitated the country during the last decade 
 of years. Wrong he may at times have been in his con- 
 clusions, but that those conclusions were the result of 
 intelligent deliberation and conscientious conviction 110 
 one who knew him could doubt. But, sir, it is not for me 
 to speak more fully of his public services. Others who
 
 LIFE AND -CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 15 
 
 have known him longer and have been his co-laborers 
 here have performed that duty. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the sad duty devolved upon myself with 
 others of this House, under your appointment, to bear the 
 remains of our late associate back to his native State, to 
 his home and people, and there consign them to their last 
 resting-place. The sad yet pleasing recollections of that 
 service can never be effaced from my memory. If I had 
 doubted the strong hold that this Representative had upon 
 the hearts of his people, such doubts would have been 
 dispelled by the symbols of grief, the evidences of true 
 sorrow we everywhere beheld. For one day all business 
 was suspended, public buildings and many private resi- 
 dences draped in mourning, while the countenances of 
 the many thousands who followed him to the silent grave 
 bore unmistakable evidences of deep and lasting sorrow. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, our late associate has played his part in 
 this little drama of human life, and the record of his deeds 
 here is forever closed. The places that have known him 
 upon the earth can know him no more forever. In a 
 beautiful New England city, surrounded by the eternal 
 hills, among a people who so long honored themselves by 
 honoring him 
 
 He sleeps his last sleep, and 
 
 No souud can awake him to glory again. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, we mourn him as a trusted associate, as 
 a faithful public servant, but what must be the bereave- 
 ment of those to whom he sustained the more endearing 
 relation of husband and father! Within that vale of
 
 16 ADDRESS BY MR. STEVENSON ON THE 
 
 sacred grief we would not enter; but "may He who tem- 
 pers the wind to the shorn lamb" soothe and sustain the 
 bereaved in this trying hour. 
 
 Sir, as we pause for a brief moment from the cares and 
 duties that press upon us, to pay this last tribute of re- 
 spect to the memory of our departed friend, it is a pleas- 
 ing thought that to the character of faithful Representative, 
 exemplary citizen, and devoted husband and father, he 
 added that of a humble, devout Christian. The dread 
 summons which came to him, and which we know not 
 how soon must come to us all, found him calmly, reso- 
 lutely awaiting its approach. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, almost the last act of Mr. STARKWEATHER'S 
 life was the preparation of the beautiful and touching 
 eulogium upon Senator Ferry, which he did not live to 
 utter, but which was so impressively read to this House 
 but a few days since by my honorable friend from Ohio, 
 [Mr. Grarfield.] Sir, I know of no more fitting language 
 with which to close these remarks than those prophetic 
 words with which he closed his tribute to the memory of 
 the dead Senator from his own State: 
 
 It was most beautiful aud grand, amid failing strength and 
 long years of pain, to hear him discourse of 
 
 Rest at last, 
 
 Repose complete, eternal ; 
 
 Love, rest, and home. 
 
 No cloud obscured the effulgence of his hope or dimmed his 
 vision. Clear and high his intellect and his faith rose above all 
 storms and darkness, and sustained him in sweet companionship 
 amid the unrevealed mysteries of pain. 
 
 Thinking of trials past, and knowing, as we do, how well he
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 17 
 
 had wrought for the future, trusting iu the merits of his dear 
 Lord, he could repeat the sweet lines of Bonar 
 Beyond the parting and the meeting 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 
 Beyond the farewell and the greeting, 
 Beyond the pulse's fever beating, 
 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home! 
 Sweet home! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 Beyond the frost-chain aud the fever 
 
 I shall be soou ; 
 
 Beyond the rock-waste and the river, 
 Beyond the ever and the never, 
 
 I shall be soon. 
 Love, rest, and home! 
 Sweet home! 
 Lord, tarry not, but come. 
 
 3 S
 
 18 ADDRESS BY MR. HALE ON THE 
 
 Address by Mr. Wale, of Maine. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, from the day when I first entered this 
 House, seven years ago, the deceased member and I have 
 been thrown much together. We both served upon the 
 Committee on Naval Affairs in the Forty-first Congress, 
 and during all the arduous labors of the Committee on 
 Appropriations for the Forty-third Congress we sat at the 
 same table, engaged in the same work. Still later, (and 
 this recollection summons his face before me in clear 
 relief,) he sat next on my right in the chair which is to- 
 day vacant; and so it came about that I knew him well 
 were it not for that fine reserve which was a feature of 
 his character, I should say intimately. 
 
 Like other gentlemen who have served with him on 
 committees, I learned to value Mr. STARKWEATHER for the 
 faithful services that he brought to every duty laid upon 
 him, and for the clear judgment that he displayed in often- 
 times conflicting national, sectional, and political interests. 
 Through it all he was honest and earnest of purpose, and, 
 though by no means an aggressive man in temper, he was 
 effective and spirited in maintaining his views, and if ever
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 19 
 
 assailed in any manner reflecting on the consistency of 
 his political course, he always showed that he was amply 
 capable of taking care of himself. 
 
 He has left this presence where not a few still remain 
 who have served with him, and among them all I venture 
 to say there is not one who does not feel that he was 
 honest, capable, and faithful. 
 
 His constituents appreciated this high character, and 
 manifested their appreciation by repeated returns. It is 
 no common thing either in Connecticut or in any State 
 for a member of this House to be returned here at five 
 successive elections. Few higher honors ever fall upon 
 an American citizen. From some acquaintance with his 
 constituents I have been impressed with the belief that 
 their confidence in him has been for ten years a growing 
 and not a waning sentiment. 
 
 Like many of our public men, Mr. STARKWEATHER gave 
 his best years to the service of his country, and died a 
 poor man ; but he has left to his dear wife and children 
 that precious legacy, a good name and the memory of a 
 well-spent life. 
 
 Upon this floor we have all seen him, attentive and 
 watchful ; in the committee-rooms of this Capitol, where 
 is molded the legislation of forty millions of people, some 
 of us have sat by him and have been benefited by his 
 counsels. 
 
 The years of his public service have come and have 
 gone. They failed not with him, as they fail not with
 
 20 ADDRESS BY MR. HALE ON THE 
 
 most of us, to deepen the unseen burdens of mortality 
 and to sap the strength with which we resist the common 
 decay. But out of it all Mr. STARKWEATHER brought none 
 or little of the accumulations for which many men in other 
 walks barter health, honor, and life. 
 
 He was content to do well his duty, and the recollec- 
 tion of his patient life and the protection of a kind Creator 
 and Father will, I know, raise up friends for those who 
 were dependent upon him and who are well-nigh heart- 
 broken at his loss. 
 
 Listening the other day to the deep and fervent words 
 which he had written for an occasion like this, in memory 
 of his deceased friend, the late Senator from Connecticut, 
 in which in rapt language he prefigured the soul's relation 
 to the illimitable future, and also looking back, as I now 
 do, to the incidents and observations of every-day life, 
 which are apt to elude us until after our friends are taken 
 from us, I am impressed with the belief that Mr. STARK- 
 WEATHER carried with him, as a constant presence, the 
 conviction that death might at any time come to him. 
 He was never, or at least not for years, what might be 
 called a well man. Lassitude, weakness, illness, all con- 
 spired to drag him down. Against these he always made an 
 uncomplaining and manly resistance, and notwithstanding 
 them wrought out a life of useful deeds such as few men 
 ever compass. 
 
 But, Mr. Speaker, what struggles and misgivings the 
 watches of the night, could they be laid bare, might show
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 21 
 
 to us we can never know. There are no such heroic com- 
 bats as these silent, solitary ones, with the relentless foe 
 that at last occupies all human fields. The ordinary con- 
 flicts of human life sink into littleness beside them. To 
 know that the destroyer has made his lodgment, and that 
 whatsoever may be the tie that binds us to life, the allure- 
 ments of public station, the charm of love and friendship, the 
 laughter and confidence of little children, he will yet give 
 us but little notice, is what with most men breaks down 
 courage and palsies every effort. Thinking of such a 
 conflict, and believing as I do that our friend waged it, 
 I recall the words of Thackeray upon another of life's 
 lost battles : 
 
 The thought of it smites ine down in humble submission before 
 the Euler of kings and men, the Monarch Supreme, the inscrutable 
 Dispenser of life, death, happiness, victory. 
 
 He who has left us was no recreant here. He suc- 
 cumbed only when the hand could be no more upraised 
 and the asserting will failed forever. But he has left with 
 us the memory of the cheerful companion, the good friend, 
 the honest, faithful public servant.
 
 22 ADDRESS BY MR. GARFIELD ON THE 
 
 Address by Mr. Garfield, of Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, in some respects this Hall is the coldest, 
 the most isolated place in which' the human heart can find 
 a temporary residence. We are in the service of distant 
 constituencies, each of us representing the wishes and 
 aspirations of separate communities, people with whom 
 we are far more closely connected than with each other. 
 Few of us have been neighbors, or even acquaintances. 
 We are here not for each other, but for the public ; and 
 the duties of our temporary sojourn are such as necessa- 
 rily to keep us isolated from each other. I have often 
 been saddened with the thought that in no place where 
 my life has been cast have I seen so much necessary 
 isolation as here. True, our work brings us together 
 every day ; we see each other's faces ; we compare opin- 
 ions upon public questions ; we divide, combine, clash, 
 agree, attack, and defend : but, after all, this life is a 
 wonderful isolation. The accidents of committee service, 
 of the seats we may occupy in this Hall, of the places in 
 the city where we may reside all these frequently deter- 
 mine whether we shall really know much or little of each
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF. HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 23 
 
 other. And usually it is difficult, without the favorable 
 concurrence of these accidents, for two busy members of 
 this House to become very intimately acquainted with 
 each other. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER was a member of this House several 
 years before I could say that I had any intimate acquaint- 
 ance with him. It was only when our duties brought us 
 together upon the same committee that I came to realize 
 how much I had lost in the four years during which he 
 had been a member of this body. Our service together 
 on a very laborious committee gave me unusual opportuni- 
 ties to study the character of his mind and heart, and to 
 know that, in the best meaning of the words, he was a 
 true, genuine, manly man. Foremost among his high 
 qualities was his unselfishness. He was one of the few 
 men we meet in this ambitious tussle of public life who 
 is willing to take up a difficult and tangled subject, 
 patiently work it out, and put his results into the com- 
 mon fund of work as cheerfully and faithfully as if the 
 duties and the honors were all his own. Without com- 
 plaining, quietly, patiently, and faithfully he did his work, 
 finding his reward in the consciousness of duty well done. 
 
 There was another circumstance that enabled us to know 
 more of his character than would otherwise have been pos- 
 sible. I have sometimes thought that we cannot know 
 any man thoroughly well while he is in perfect health. As 
 the ebb-tide discloses the real lines of the shore and bed 
 of the sea, so feebleness, sickness, and pain bring out the
 
 24 ADDKESS BY MR. GARFIELD ON THE 
 
 real character of a man. Who knew better than he the 
 sacred ministry of pain? Who fought more bravely for 
 life? Who struggled more courageously to do his duty 
 uncomplainingly and appear to be well? I have seen him 
 in the committee-room in such paroxysms of coughing that 
 it seemed he must die in his chair. Yet, with a rare hope- 
 fulness and courage that rejected help, he waved his friends 
 off, as if annoyed that they should notice his weakness. 
 Thus, for years, he pushed away the hand that was reach- 
 ing for his heart-strings, and bravely worked on until his 
 last hour. I do not doubt that his will and cheerful cour- 
 age prolonged his life many years. 
 
 He was a man of uncommon soundness of judgment, 
 of rare common sense. I recently heard one of our fore- 
 most scholars and thinkers say that of all the men who 
 had made the most enduring impress upon the character 
 and history of our institutions, the men of sound judgment 
 had done vastly more for us than all our brilliant men 
 had accomplished. He noticed especially the example of 
 Washington. 
 
 Hamilton was the master of a brilliant style, clear and 
 bold in conception and decisive in execution; Jefferson 
 was profoundly imbued with a philosophic spirit, could 
 formulate the aspirations of a brave and free people in all 
 the graces of powerful rhetoric; and other master-minds 
 of that period added their great and valuable contribu- 
 tions to the common stock; but, whether in the camp or 
 in the Cabinet, the quality that rose above all the other
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 25 
 
 great gifts of that period was the comprehensive and un- 
 erring judgment of Washington. Itwas that all-embracing 
 sense, that calmness of solid judgment, that made him 
 easily chief; not only the first man of his age, but fore- 
 most "in the foremost files of time." 
 
 I was deeply impressed with this tribute to the value of 
 sound judgment, of saving common sense, as contrasted 
 with the more flashing qualities of genius. And I may 
 say that our departed friend was girded with a calm, 
 balanced judgment that made him a man to be trusted in 
 moments of doubt and difficulty. I have known but few 
 men who knew so perfectly the drift and current of public 
 thought and of what would be just right and fitting and 
 wise to do. It was this which made Mr. STARKWEATHER 
 so valuable a member of the committees on which he 
 served. They found him never fickle, always wise, never 
 extreme, always steady, having the courage of his opin- 
 ions and always ready to defend them. 
 
 He had one experience that almost every man must 
 have before his character can be fully tested. He was 
 tried in the fiery furnace of detraction and abuse. I re- 
 member well, in that period of assault, how calmly, how 
 modestly, and yet how bravely he bore himself without 
 bitterness, without shrinking boldly meeting all assaults, 
 calmly answering, bearing himself through the storm like 
 a genuine man as he was. That was the test which set 
 the seal of character and gave assurance that he was made 
 of the real stuff of which genuine, heroic men are made. 
 
 4 s
 
 26 ADDBESS BY ME. GAEFIELD ON THE 
 
 But, after all, we have but small ground to judge of a 
 man's real merits here. We can judge of many qualities; 
 but if we would know a man's heart and learn how the 
 foundations of his character have been laid, we must enter 
 that circle where he has been known from his youth and 
 in which his life has been developed. Well as I knew Mr. 
 STARKWEATHEE, I confess that I never knew until we bore 
 his body back to his home, and saw his neighbors gathered 
 around his bier, how true, how tender, and how noble a 
 soul was his. 
 
 We know but little of each other here. Behind this 
 public life lies a world of history, of quiet, beautiful home- 
 life, within which the religious opinions and sentiments are 
 manifested a world of affection, the features of which are 
 rarely brought out in this forum. Who of us knew the 
 deep, the profound religious life of our departed friend? 
 None of us ever saw anything in him inconsistent with 
 the highest religious character; but who of us had learned 
 that at home, in the circle of his family and his church, he 
 was a steady, clear light, illuminating the whole circle in 
 which he moved, and filling with the radiance of a sweet 
 and beautiful religious life the hearts of all who knew him. 
 On the evening of his very last day at home, only a month 
 before he came here to die, he spoke in his own church, in 
 a quiet social gathering, such words as we found were 
 echoing and trembling in the stricken hearts of those who 
 came to follow his bier. 
 
 There was no religious cant in this man no ostenta-
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 27 
 
 tious parade of piety. It was with him, as he said of 
 Senator Ferry, not a sentiment merely, but a controlling 
 force, that cleared his pathway and molded his own life. 
 And it was this that bowed my soul in reverence and love 
 as I stood beside his grave. I believe we may say in 
 every good sense of the word that his life has been a 
 noble and worthy success, a life that we ought to remember 
 for our own sakes and for the sake of our country, a life 
 that those who knew him can never forget. 
 
 The resolutions were then unanimously adopted; and in 
 accordance therewith (at four o'clock p. m.) the House ad- 
 journed.
 
 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1876. 
 
 A message was received from the House of Represent- 
 atives informing the Senate of the death of Hon. HENRY 
 H. STARKWEATHER, late a member of the House from the 
 State of Connecticut, and transmitted the resolutions of 
 the House thereon. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. President, I ask for the reading of 
 the resolutions of the House of Representatives. 
 
 The Chief Clerk read as follows : 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 February 24, 1876. 
 
 Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret the an- 
 nouncement of the death of HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, late a 
 member of this House from the State of Connecticut. 
 
 Resolved, That as a testimony of respect for the memory of the 
 deceased the officers and members of the House will wear the 
 usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the 
 Clerk to the family of the deceased. 
 
 Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the House do now 
 adjourn. 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be forthwith trans- 
 mitted to the Senate. 
 
 Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. President, in view of the resolutions 
 just received from the House of Representatives an-
 
 30 PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 
 
 nouncing the death of Mr. STARKWEATHER, late Kepre- 
 sentative in that body from the State of Connecticut, I 
 offer the following resolution for adoption by the Senate : 
 
 Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. 
 STARKWEATHER the business of the Senate be suspended, that 
 the friends of the deceased may pay fitting tribute to his public 
 and private virtues. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to unanimously.
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 31 
 
 Address by Mr. English, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. President, the Angel of Death in passing has again 
 thrust his hand into our midst and taken from our number 
 another member of the Forty-fourth Congress. 
 
 HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, a member of the House of 
 Representatives from the third congressional district in 
 Connecticut, died in this city on the morning of the 28th 
 ultimo. 
 
 By this sudden dispensation of Providence the State of 
 Connecticut has lost one of her most honored citizens 
 and faithful public servants, on' whose wisdom, experience, 
 integrity, and patriotism her people have been accustomed 
 to rely, and whose death we mourn to-day, and here and 
 now join in paying tribute of respect to his memory. 
 
 Born of Christian parents, whose piety was of that 
 decided type which prevailed in New England in the last 
 generation, he was early taught to fear and reverence 
 God and love his fellow-man. Guided by the prayers 
 and counsels of his parents, his life developed into that 
 devoted and useful Christian character which so much 
 endeared him to all of his friends and fellow-citizens. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER was born in the town of Preston,
 
 32 ADDRESS BY MR. ENGLISH ON THE 
 
 Conn , on the 29th day of April, 1826. His early years 
 were spent in laboring on his father's farm in that town, 
 and improving his early educational advantages in the 
 public schools, which are open, free, to every child in 
 that State. Endowed with fine natural abilities, and with 
 a full determination on his part to improve to the best 
 advantage the talents which God had given him, he em- 
 ployed the time during his minority by cultivating the 
 soil and teaching in the public schools, and by diligent 
 reading and study he acquired that mental culture that 
 enabled him to enter upon the study of his chosen profes- 
 sion. In the year 1846 he made the city of Norwich his 
 future place of residence, and entered upon the study of 
 the law under the guidance of the Hon. Lafayette S. Fos- 
 ter, and was admitted to practice in 1850. For several 
 years he retained a large and remunerative practice and 
 occupied a high position among his professional associates 
 of the bar. He was elected a member of the House of 
 Eepresentatives in the Legislature of Connecticut in 1856, 
 and distinguished himself as a capable and faithful legis- 
 lator ; was a delegate to the national republican convention 
 of 1860, which nominated Mr. Lincoln, and in 1868, to that 
 which nominated General Grant, for President. He was 
 appointed in 1861 postmaster at Norwich, and re-ap- 
 pointed in 1865, which office he resigned in 1866, as he 
 said in a letter at the time, "that a soldier who had 
 fought and bled for his country might receive the honor 
 and endowments of the office." He was elected to the
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 33 
 
 Fortieth, Forty-first, Forty-second, Forty-third, and 
 Forty-fourth Congresses as a republican. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER early exhibited a taste for political 
 life. Three of his paternal uncles had been prominent 
 lawyers, and two of them, Hon. David A. Starkweather, 
 of Ohio, and Hon. George C. Starkweather, of New York, 
 had been members of Congress, which fact undoubtedly 
 stimulated him to struggle for political honors. By his 
 capacity and assiduous attention to all the duties which 
 had been intrusted to him as a Representative in the coun- 
 cils of the nation he won the confidence and respect of his 
 constituents, and, as an evidence of their high sense of ap- 
 preciation of his services as a legislator, he was elected to 
 represent his district in Congress for five consecutive 
 terms, and died in the service. 
 
 As a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. 
 STARKWEATHER had the confidence and respect not only 
 of his constituents and friends at home, but of his fellow- 
 members in that body, all of whom honored him for his 
 simplicity and Christian virtues, and all who knew him 
 testify to his untiring industry and diligent, attention to all 
 of his official duties. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER was a modest man, not brilliant in 
 speech, participating in debate but seldom. He possessed 
 a clear, strong mind and sound judgment, which enabled 
 him to readily comprehend all matters of business before 
 the House and see it in its proper light. When his mind 
 was . once made up, it was not easy to swerve him from 
 
 5 s
 
 34 ADDRESS BY MR. ENGLISH ON THE 
 
 his purpose. By his quiet manner, by personal solicita- 
 tion, by urging measures at the right time, he was very 
 successful in making himself felt, and often achieved 
 greater results than a more demonstrative orator could 
 have done. In a word, it may be said : He was faithful. 
 He was capable. He was honest. 
 
 Alas ! he has gone. His voice will no more be heard in 
 these Halls forever. With him the voyage of life is ended. 
 He has reached that haven at last where the winds cease 
 to blow, the waters are still, and where there is eternal 
 rest.
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 35 
 
 Address by Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. President, I was the associate and friend of Mr. 
 STARKWEATHER during all the time of his service in the 
 House, and I therefore deem it my duty as well as priv- 
 ilege to briefly bear testimony in this body, to which he 
 was officially a stranger, to his great value as a public 
 man, as a citizen, and as a friend. He was called to the 
 discharge of the duties of a Representative with the well- 
 earned reputation of an officer faithful and trustworthy in 
 the minutest detail and most difficult complications of a 
 responsible public trust ; and he brought to his new work 
 the same earnestness and fidelity which had already won 
 the confidence of his immediate fellow-citizens. 
 
 There fell to his lot in the distribution of business 
 among the members, as is the wont to the willing and the 
 faithful, an unusual share of the labor in committee and 
 upon the floor of the House. His patient, painstaking, 
 and clear, well-balanced mind made him of great service 
 in the committee-room, and his candor and plain, straight- 
 forward business method gained him great influence in 
 the management before the House of the business he had 
 matured for its consideration. He made little stir and less
 
 36 ADDRESS BY MR. DAWES ON THE 
 
 proclamation beforehand of any effort it became necessary 
 for him to make, and after its performance he was content 
 to let its merits commend it to the approval of his fellow- 
 members and fellow-citizens. 
 
 In all he did, modesty and self-distrust were handmaids 
 of usefulness and success. Though no orator, he always 
 spoke with effect, and was quite able in debate. What he 
 had to say always had about it a directness and simplicity 
 of statement and illustration so necessary to profitable dis- 
 cussion and for which the House always hungers. His 
 usefulness as a member was recognized by his repeated 
 appointment by different Speakers of opposite politics 
 upon the most important standing committees of the 
 House ; and he thus participated largely in shaping the 
 important measures brought from time to time before that 
 body. 
 
 In all the relations of private life Mr. STARKWEATHER 
 won the esteem and personal regard of all who knew him. 
 Sincerity and frankness written on his countenance and 
 illustrated in all his daily intercourse with his fellow- 
 members were the charm of his social intercourse. He 
 made no enemies, but many friends, who were attached 
 to him till the end by the ties of companionship and 
 brotherhood. 
 
 Purity of life and nobleness of aim and endeavor are 
 the great lessons he has left for us who are still spared to 
 further opportunity and trial.
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 37 
 
 Address by Mr. Sargent, of California. 
 
 Mr. President, Mr. STARKWEATHER entered the Fortieth 
 Congress, and served continuously until his death. No 
 better evidence could be given of the confidence of the 
 people whom he immediately served. He possessed abil- 
 ity and industry; and those who knew him intimately 
 knew that he was generous, genial, and courteous in all 
 his relations with his fellow-members. But he was so 
 modest and retiring in his disposition that his excellent 
 abilities were not always understood, and he was himself 
 less known than many members of far less length of ser- 
 vice and inferior capacity for usefulness. 
 
 Varioiis circumstances during my service in the House 
 of Representatives brought me in somewhat close associa- 
 tion with Mr. STARKWEATHER, and therefrom I had oppor- 
 tunity to better appreciate the sterling attributes of his 
 character. From the knowledge of him thus gained I 
 saw that he was able and retiring; that he was courageous 
 in supporting his own convictions, while fair and generous 
 in opposing the views of others; that his immediate con- 
 stituents gained direct and exceptional benefits from his
 
 38 ADDKESS BY MR. SARGENT ON THE 
 
 industry, while his zeal for the public good did not end 
 with their interests. 
 
 The Congressional Globe and Record are not burdened 
 with frequent essays from his pen; but on the rare occa- 
 sions whereon he spoke it was obvious that his purpose 
 was to influence the minds of his fellow-legislators, and 
 he spoke with clearness, force, and precision. 
 
 He was useful as a legislator, sincere and consistent in 
 his political convictions, faithful to his constituents, an 
 earnest lover of his country, and honest to all men.
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 39 
 
 Address by Mr. "Eaton, of Connecticut. 
 
 Mr. President, again, as a Senator from Connecticut, am 
 I compelled to the performance of a sad and mournful 
 duty. Another honored son of my State has been stricken 
 down in his harness; death came upon him, so to speak, 
 while in the performance of his congressional duties. 
 
 HENRY H. STARKWEATHER, a Representative in Con- 
 gress from the third congressional district of Connecticut, 
 died in Washington on the 28th day of January of this 
 year. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER was bora in Preston, county of 
 New London, State of Connecticut, on .the 29th day of 
 April, 1826. 
 
 His parents were respectable but not wealthy people, 
 and a life of hard manual labor seemed looming up before 
 the youth, a life the lines of which were apparently not 
 cast in pleasant places. 
 
 The ordinary work of a hard New England farm during 
 the summer and teaching a district or common school in 
 the winter months occupied his time for several years,
 
 4Q ADDRESS BY MR. EATON ON THE 
 
 when the ambition for advancement, so common to the 
 New England youth, assumed control of his mind. 
 
 At the age of twenty-two years, he commenced the 
 study of the law, and was admitted to the practice of that 
 profession in the county of New London. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER did not possess a brilliant mind, 
 nor had he the comprehensive, broad, and commanding 
 intellect which forces immediate success in the profession 
 which he had chosen. But, perhaps what was better, he 
 was a devoted student, and possessed habits of untiring 
 industry, which, before he arrived at middle age, enabled 
 him to assume a fair position at the bar of his county, 
 which numbered among its members some of the ablest 
 men in the State. 
 
 Mr. STARKWEATHER was but once a member of the 
 Connecticut Legislature, and therefore, when elected to 
 the Fortieth Congress, his legislative experience was small. 
 
 He served through the Fortieth, Forty-first, Forty- 
 second, and Forty-third Congresses, and, by the same 
 untiring industry which had characterized his professional 
 life, he became an eminently useful member of the House. 
 As a working member he had no superior, and though 
 in his speeches never rising to eloquence, he always had 
 the ear and commanded the high respect of his fellow- 
 members. 
 
 Living in another part of the State, attached to another 
 political organization, my relations with Mr. STARK- 
 WEATHER were not of an intimate character, but always
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HENRY H. STARKWEATHER. 41 
 
 friendly. I had learned to regard him as one of the lead- 
 ing minds in his own political party, and respected him 
 accordingly. 
 
 Of high personal character, I shall be fully warranted 
 in saying that those who knew him best loved him most. 
 
 Not fifty years of age when called from this sphere of 
 action, in the full maturity of his physical and intellectual 
 power, his friends, the people of his State, entertained high 
 hopes of his future conduct on the great theater whereon 
 they had placed him. 
 
 But, sir, he has been called hence, and with sincere and 
 truthful sorrow I mourn the loss of a valued colleague, 
 and his State an eminent and trusted public servant. 
 
 Mr. President, I beg leave to offer the following resolu- 
 tion: 
 
 Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect for the memory 
 of Mr. STARKWEATHER, late a member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, the Senate do now adjourn. 
 
 The resolution was agreed to unanimously; and (at four 
 o'clock and forty minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned.
 
 7 
 
 000337390 9