The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-09-02
THREE RARELY GIFTED
NORTH CAROLINIANS
l heooore Bryant kingsbury on Prof. w. G. Simmons.
Kew. DR.. Charles Phillips, and Rev. DIR.
Cornelius B. RiddiCk.

lnomas Atkinson, who passed away in
Ills town some nineteen years ago. said
70 me once-in 186e-if it had ever oc-
culleu 10 me how soon men We're for
gotten lie said that it mattered but lit
tie now useful or learned or eminent a
man might be, when he died he was soon
forgotten. 1t is true. Very few survive
for six months in the remembrance or
interest of a community. Still fewer
nave their memories cherished by the
people of a State. A Vance in North
Carolina or a Ben Hill in Georgia may
De affectionately and admiringly recalled,
out the thousand other men of some in
duence and ability will disappear from
the pupllc thought as completely as the
passage marks of a ship disappear as it
rapidly cuts the waves in its progress.
There are a very few of the children of
men who are landmarks, and whose fame
comes down the rapidly passing centuries
bright with an aureola that throws its
halo of glory in unfading splendor. Pos
sibly an hundred names in all the CEN
turtles stand as beacon-lights illumining
the pathway, and filling the world with
a nlmbuS of beauty and enchantment
In our land Washington and Lee stand
forth above all men in the grandeur, per
lection, purity and exaltation of char
acter. So long as this world lasts and
Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall
shine,
The honor and greatness Of their name
shall be."
They are supreme among Americans,
and richly merit the praise and remem-
hrance Of all good men around the globe.
Manv nvaallnnt nanOp,p1;cbnl 1yan
learned, and able men have lived in
North Carolina who are not even known
in name to one in fifty perhaps of the
present generation in our State. I had
the great satisfaction of knowing q
gifted, excellent gentleman and scholar,
a most worthy Baptist layman, in the
sixties, and held him in the highest es-
TEEN. 1t was Professor w. G. Simmons,
of Wake Forest College, rarely accom-
plished among contemporary North Caro-
linians. He was a scholar of such varied
gifts and acquisition that he could take
any chair in the college in the absence
of the regular occupant. In mathematics
he had scarcely an equal then in our
State. Has he an equal now? | much
doubt it. | am inclined to put him first
among the men Of his time in North
Carolina in mathematics and as a man
of science. | know of a circumstance
which l will not relate here, that ele-
waited him in my own opinion, and
showed his supremacy in mathematics
over all possible State rivals. He was q
Christian g~entlemar-the very highest
expression of manhood-and a scholar Of
exceeding amiability, graciousness and
modeSty. whose very uncommon qualities
of mind and character had greatly en-
deared him to many, but that have never
been properly appreciated because not
widely heralded. He was indeed an orna-
ment to his native North Carolina, to the
! superior UNCONVENTIONAL college with
| which he was so long identified, and to
the large body Of Christians to which he
was SO sincerely attached. A noble,
sweet, lovable character-one of natures
| true Noble Mem treasure the friend
ship that evisted between us, as among
the most delightful in the past. | recall
| with pleasure the visit l once had to his
genial. hospitable home. Among the
many sons Of lofty mental parts North
Carolina has given birth to, there are but
few who equal Prof. Simmons, as | be
lieve, in natural gifts, acquisition. and
spiral ability in his chosn field of ser
vice, study and duty.
| verify believe, as I once told his
| DIOI1ltI Tx Iolt IL. Z 81 -
Foote. of Warrenton, another Baptist
friend, that if I possessed the distin-
guished powers and accomplishments of
Prof. Simmons, particularly his learning
in the natural sciences and mathematics,
would expect to impress the intelligence
Of North Carolina that | was the first
man in the State. Prof. Simmons was of
most marked humility and unobstrusive-
ness. and it might be we'll said of him
as the great Gen. R. E.. Lee wrote of our
able North Carolina commander Con the
death of Gen. w. d. Pender), that in
estimating his character it was difficult
to determine which to admire more the
greatness of his qualities or the singular
modesty of the man. | quote memory,
having not read the noble, richly de-
served tribute Of admiration by the IL
lustrious commander since about 1919.
when in article I insisted that the State
should erect in capitol square at Raleigh,
a monument in memory of Gen. Pender.
and have engraved upon it the most
singular tribute of the greatest Ameri-
can soldier to one of. his most faithful
and trusted officers. In but one other in
stance did Gen. Lee ever write so much
in praise of one of his officers-when
Gen. T. j. jackson died. Both of these
grand Christian soldiers died from
wounds received in battle. I have quoted
but a part of Gen. Lees tribute. When
Fender was wounded, Gen. Lee said
to my old friend of thirty-Seven years
standing, Maj. James H. Foote, of Gen
Fender: There was a soldier who never
had his proper rank. He should have
been one of my corps commanders
wish to add, that North Carolina is re-
creant in duty, or it would have erected
monuments in the capitol square at Raj
eigh in memory Of Gen. Pender and Gen
Pettigrew. The colleges too should treas
ure the fame and services of their great
est teachers. Wake Forest would DC
grateful to honor the memory of sucl
strong, admirably furnished men as
President w. NJ. Wingate and Prof. w. G
Simmons. DR.. Wingate was a Soutf
Carolinian, but he richly deserves to be
honored With q fitting memorial by Wake
Forest College, backed by the powerful