Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-01

to large circle of acquaintances, who ap-
preciated him for his many noble qualities
Of mind and heart. Few men are so for
tunate as to make SO many friends in life
as did he, and his kindness. gentleness and
consideration have endeared him to hun,
dreds who knew him even better for what
he was than for what he had done. His
was lorg and busy life, and the fruits of
his labors are many.
Though he was seventy-on years Of age
last spring. DR.. Toner maintained the bril-
liancy of his intellect to the last, though
for couple Of years he had been failing
physically. Some months ago he was quite
Ill. and at the time he expressed the belief
that he would not recover. A few weeks
ago he went to Cresson to spend the heated
term with his old and intimate friend. Mr..
Justice Morris, at the Mountain House
| letter received at the doctors house in
this city yesterday said that he was not
feeling so well. He had gone to visit for
few days with his only brother, in West
moreland county, Pa, but said that he was
to return at once to Cresson. He was sit
ting in easy chair in his room at the
hotel when he quietly passed away, with
cut word and without a sign Of pain.
His death was like his life, calm and peace
full.
A special dispatch to The Star from Cres-
SON announced that the doctors brother ar
rived there yesterday and took the
mains to Derry, Pa, where the interment
will take place tomorrow.
Identified With Wnshington's De-
velOpment.
Few men have been so closely identified
with the different phases Of Washington's
development as was DR.. Toner. He had
Tade this city his home for more than
forty years, and during that time he was
active in science, literature and in the prac-
tice of his profession, in deeds Of charity,
and particularly in active forms Of benef-
oence. such as hospitals and orphanages.
st. Josephs Orphan Asylum has lost true
and tried friend, as has the Providence
Hospital. Of which he was one of the
founders.
For score Of years DR.. Toner had not
devoted himself so actively to his profess
sion, and mis- practice was confined largely
to families whose physician and friend he
Rad been for years. and to poor people
who perhaps could not afford to pay. To
these he was never known to send a bill.
Possessed of sufficient means to enable him
to live as he liked best, DR.. Toner devoted
himself almost altogether to literature ana
literary research AS a student he was
precise and thorough to the last degree and
had devoted a vast amount of time and Ia
Dor, for instance, to the study of the life
ard work of Gen. Washington. There was
certainly no man as familiar as he with the
daily life of the first President 1t was his
aim to make complete collection Of Wash
ington's letters and writings of every sort,
a task that no one else had ever attempted
other collections being really selections He
possessed many original letters and papers,
but his collection consisted mainly of copies
of every scrap Of writing, no matter how
important or how trivial, of whose exist
eEce he could learn. While he drew but
little on this storehouse himself and had
never sought to write so very much about
Washir gton, this immense collection of
Washingtoniana, which is deposited in the
Congressional Library, will prove of in
calculable value to students and historians
In the future. He edited, with valuable
a G r1eYtn 20
anG also contributed in addresses, papers
&c, much valuable material on the life of
Washington. He had also made as com
plete collection as possible of the biop-
faphies of the medical men of the revolu-
ton, and this, too has been placed in the
Congressional Library. The biographies
of medical men of this country in later
years also furnished him with a scheme for
labor. 1t Is doubtful If there is any man
so well informed on the subject of the his
tory of the medical profession in America
His Private Life.
DR.. Toner never married. For many
years he lived in an old-fashioned house on
Louisiana avenue between 9th and 7th
streets, but about five or six years ago he
bought large house on Highland Terrace.
and there he lived all alone, surrounded by
his books and papers. He was good deal
of an antiquarian. and his home was filled
with rare old mahogany of a century or
AA'oiO o6o. nc Slept III al Olu n1Sn IOur-
poster bed and dined off the Oldest of china
His life was anything but that of re-
cluse, however, for his sunny, cheerful dis
position made the companionship of his
fellow. beings particularly attractive to
him. He was fond of society and went out
great deal, and also entertained to some
extent. He was a member of the Literary
Society. which usually met at mis- hoase
once during the winter He was an officer
of the Washington National Monument So
ciety and every year entertained the mem
bers and a great many other prominent
Washingtonians at a luncheon on Wash
ington'G birthda1, an entertainment which
finally became one Of the features of the
winter He organized the Columbia His
torical Society, Of which he was the presi-
dent. Its meetings were held in the parlors
of his capacious house. He was also one
of the organizers of the Anthropo ogicaI
Society and was its first president. He was
one of the board of St. Eliza beth's Hospital
for the Insane and was connected with a
number of other institutions and societies.
DR.. Toner had number Of intimate
friends, men like Justice Morris and Lii