Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-07-05
TRIBUTE TO Or. HlGLEY.
Funeral Service of Distinguished
Vermonter at BeIoit, Wis.


late Rev. H. P. Higley, a native of
Castleton, VT:
The Second Congregational church
was we'll filled yesterday afternoon at
the funeral services for the late Rev.
H. P. Higley, who was pastor of the
church from 1866 until 1891. The
front of the platform was beautifully
decorated with white flowers, and in
front of the pulpit was placed por-
trait of DR.. Higley. The Rev. A. D.
Penniman, the present pastor, read
from the scriptures and offered prayer.
A quartette sang Crossing the Bar"
and two hymns selected because of
their association with DR.. Higley,
LEAD Kindly Light" having been
chosen by him to be used at his wife's
funeral, and "Jesus, Lover of My
Soul" being one of his favorites. A
newer hymn Come, Let Us Sing
Tender Song" also sung at the funeral
of Mrs. Higley, was read by Mr.. Pen
niman.
The address was given by Profess
sor Robert c. Chaplin. Owing to de-
tention of a train east of Chicago
the remains of Dr. Higley did not
reach Beloit until, after the service
and the burial took place this morning.
The pallbearers were Messrs. E. Rau,
]. B. Dow, w. o. Hansen, G. A. Dowd,
j. N. Chamberlin and H. c. Baldwin.
Professor Chapins address was in
part as follows:
"Our highest tribute to the memory
of our departed friends is to gather up
the best that their lives have given us,
and carry it on in our own living and
thinking. DR.. Higley will live on for
untold years in the life of this church.
and in the lives of those who have felt
the influence of his gracious and force
full personality. But at this hour, in
this sacred house, which he knew dur
ing his pastorate only as vision and
hope, but which his eyes were permit
ted to see and in which we were per-
mitted to hear his voice, it is fitting
that we should recall in few words
something of what God gave US in the
man and his work.
Henry Post Higley was born in
Castleton, VT, Feb. l, 1889. He was
graduated from Mddlebury college,
Vermont, in 1860, and from Auburn
Theological Seminary in 1865. He
was ordained by the Presbytery of
Madison, Indiana, September 10, 1865.
He received the degree of D. D. from
Middlebury in 1886.
CDR. Higley came to Beloit after
preaching for few months in Indiana,
in 1866, in answer to the call of the
Second Congregational church. In the
same year he brought here his bride,
the daughter of one of his teachers in
the theological seminary in Auburn,
N. Y, and soon after establishing his
home on the corner near his church.
He came to church of 80 members,
organized some seven years before his
arrival and to the ministry of that
church he devoted himself for quarter
of a century. When he resigned in
1891, the church numbered 800 members,
the building had been twice enlarged
and his departure was felt as public
calamity by the whole community.
"For the sake of his wife's health
he spent year in California, preach
nd 10 &c
home in the friendlier climate of Wash
ington, D. c.. There he was much in
demand for the supply of churches in
the vicinity of the capital. After the
death of Mrs. Higley, in 1905, he went
back to the house in which he was born,
in Castleton, Vermont, and from that
house last Thursday he found entrance
into the house not made with hands.
at is not for one who was not
member of this favored church to en-
ter into the details of his work for it.
But no one who lived for years in the
same city, who heard him speak in
public from time to time, who met him
often in friendly intercourse, and who
was closely associated with many of his
congregation, could fail to discern some
thing of the sources of his power His
preaching was biblical; it was simple
and earnest and tender, like the heart
of the man who spoke. The manly
strength and the loving sympathy of the
preacher rang true in the quiet dignity
of his manner, and the rich full tones of
his pleasant voice.
"To characterize DR.. Higley as man
is but to repeat in other words what has
already been said, for it was by reason
of what he was that he accomplished
what he did. Transparent sincerity,
genuine manliness, sound judgment and
good sense, an overlooking cheerfulness
of manner and of heart, these were