The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-22


and deeper sense than 1 imagined whel
l was in college. ! did not know hov
| much happiness there was in It, I hop
| have got little past the drudgery o
duty into the enjoyment OF the who'll
complex of motives and activities, which
gather themselves up into pursuits whicl
are absorbing and satisfying. Religion
seems TO be an element in life, and not
| separate department of it.-Dr. Ban
| crofts Letter to His Dartmouth Class
mates on Their Fortieth Reunion, 1900
The death of Rev Cecil f. p. Bancroft
Ii. D.. which occurred at his home OF
Andover Hill, on Friday, Oct 4, at tn,
age of sixty-one, will be "A personal grie
to thousands of loving pupils all over tn,
land and in other lands, and a distinc
loss to the circle of prominent American
educators. His health had been feeble
for several months and failed rapidly
after his return from a long sea voyage
the last of August
Dr. Bancroft was born in New Ipswich
y. H., Nov. %. 1899, fitted for college at
Appleton Academy in that town. gradu-
ated at Dartmouth in 1860. taught four
years in Appleton Academy. Mt Vernon,
n. H., and graduated from Andover Semi
| mary in 1867. Although ordained to the
COngrega tional ministry Cat Mt. Vernon,
May l. 1861. he was never settled pas
tor, choosing teaching as his life work. a
service long and grandly fulfilled. From
1861 to 1872 he was principal of c. R.
Roberts institution for white youth on
the summit of Lookout Mountain, Tenn,
gaining the lasting affection of many
men and women in the Southern States
After a year of European travel and
study Qu the University OF HaIIe), he was
elected in 1873 to the principalshfp of
Phillips Academy-the position filed for
thirty-four years by DIR. Samuel H. Tay-
lor
He was a worthy successor of that
great teacher though with a rule less
stern. as betting the changing times
With marvellous tact, with most kindly
heart and most genial temperament, with
a phenomenal remembrance OF names
and faces. seeming to know every Phil
Fps boy" from the oldest alumnus to
the youngest undergraduate, he Impress
ed himself strongly alike the student
thousandCof whom had been in the school
in his twenty-eight years of service Dur
ing this time he surrounded himself with
a large and able corps of instructors, and
gradually built up the academy, both in
numerical attendance and in material re-
sources. until 1t stands as one of the very
first preparatory schools in the country.
Phillips Academy is his monument. The
boys whom he has fitted for college-and
ne has fitted more of them than any
other man in the country-are his eulo-
gies.
AS a citizen of Andover he was greatly
honored and beloved. Like his intimate
friend, the late Professor Churchill. his
heart and hand We're in every good work
private and public. The University Of
the State of New York gave him the de-
gree of Phi. d. in 1874. Williams College
that of Lit d. in 1891 and Yale Univer-
sity that of LII. d. in 1892 Since 1897 he
has been trustee of Dartmouth College
He was also a trustee of the state insti-
tutions at Tewksbury and Bridgewater,
and had been president of the Dartmouth
Alumni Association, the Merrimack Val
ley Congregational Club and the Head
masters Association of the United
States. He found time to prepare many
write valuable articles.
DR. Bancroft was also, during the
whole period of his principalship. a mem
Der of the board of trustees having
charge of the Theological Seminary as
well of Phillips Academy. As resi-
dent member of the board and its clerk,
he had a large additional responsibility
touching the general policy and the ma
terial affairs of both Institutions which
only his ceaseless activity and his gent
us for hard work and for minute, details
enabled him to meet.
Above all, he was "A man of sincere
Christian faith. strongly trusting. as he
said shortly before his death, in the few,
simple, blessed verities of revelation. One
of the last notes dictated from his sick
room was to a bereaved friend and con-
tanned these words: 1T has been great
comfort to me, and to many others. to
reflect that God takes our friends for us |
and not from us. 1 believe it is Gods |
will that we take up the burden of life |
with new resolve and do. not less work. |
but more, not a poorer. but richer serv-
ice to our fellowmen."
DR.. Bancroft married. May 9, 1867, Miss |
Frances A. Kittredge of Mt. Vernon, N !
II. She died in 1895 Four children sur
vive, Mrs. DR.. William J. Long of STAN
ford, Conn, Cecil X. Bancroft, instruc-
tor in Yale University. Phillips Bancroft.
student at Yale, and Miss Mary f. Ban
croft, student at Smith College.
DR. Bancroft was buried on Andover
Hill Monday afternoon. The places of
business in the town We're closed during
he hour of the funeral. The large con-
students, alumni. |
foung and old with two at least of Dr-
8ancroft's long-ago Lookout Mountain