New Britain herald., 1916-01-27

| remarkable man.
 Along with MT. Burritt's, two other l names are inseparably associated with his in a list of local authors, those ! of Charles Northend and David N ] Camp, both of these men his warm 1 personal friends. MT. Northend | gave us that most comprehensive and | appreciative biography of his friend, l "The Life and Labors of Elihu Bur l ritt," which will stand as his great 1 est work.
 He also wrote for school use Com
 mon School Bookkeeping" and a book | of several hundred pages 'The Par
 ent and Teacher" showing the i1n- portance of their intelligent co-opera- 1 tion He was the first superintend- ent of our schools and many of us l remember him for his kindly ways
 and saintly character. He is perhaps 1 best known to us for his compila- | tion of "Choice Selections" short .ex- tracts from the writings of authors intoxicating highly moral precepts, Which we quoted when called on for such things; as was the custom in my days In the High school on We'd neSday mornings.
 l Also too well known to call for more than brief mention,-only ten years younger than Mr. Burritt. and 1 stlll living with us, link that unites 1 the present and the past is Prof. Camp -of most genial personality,-"Ne Britain's Grand Old Man." as the 1 newspapers are so fond of calling him, the towns official historian, and in l life.
 Throughout his long life identified 1 With educational interests, he pub ! lished many years ago, a series of geo. 1 graphies, Primary Intern ediate' l and Higher" which had a large cir 1 culation and use in the south and i west.
 | He has written much on various | subjects and his New Britain" the re- l suit of much painstaking labor on his l part, Is the storehouse to which we
 all go for facts of local history l Always associated with Mr. Camps name in the local history field, is that | of Alfred Andrews author of the His i tory of the First Church, a mOst val
 uable local geneology representing ] great mount of research work and 1 containing much of interest concern | ing the towns early days. He was ! also author of several family geneolo- gies,-was a school teacher, farmer l and manufacturer in the community here where he spent all his life from 1797 to 1876 and is remembered with
 great esteem by all who knew him.
 Not so we'll known, perhaps, is the
 fact that Dr. B. N. Cumings wrote and
 published in 1853 a Glass Book of
 
 pared-and also nearly forgotten by
 this generation are the works of Rev.
 Royal Robbins who lived in Kensing- ton from 1916 to 1861 and among
 other things wrote The world dis played in it's History and Geography and "Outline of Ancient and Modern History books published respectively in New York 1884 and Hartford in 1851.
 Kensington Is insured immortal fame in the world of letters by being the birthplace in 1795 and early home of James Gates Percival,-poet, scien- tist, linguist, scholar,-the greatest in tellectual genius ever produced by Connecticut. Concerning his poetry Whittier wrote in 1880, His aim has always been 1ofty,-up, up into clearer sky and a Holier sunshine. Ihe
 apostrophe to the sun, Gn Hrome- thens) we have ever looked upon as the most magnificent specimen or American poetry within our knoWl-
 edge" Though he acquired a world
 wide celebrity as a poet, he is best
 known for his work in science ana
 language Geologist of Connecticut
 and later of Wisconsin his work and
 writings Tn this field brought forth the
 highest praise of scientists for thor oughness marvellous insight and lu-
 cid interpretation.
 In 1924 he was professor of Chem istrv and natural science of West Point Military Academy, for several years he lived at New Haven preparing ar American edition of Walter Browns great geography in seven massive vol 1 umes translating it from the l French because he found the English edition he was expected to edit only, 50 imperfect.
 He spent two years on Webster's
 dictionary preparing it for the press l As a linquist,-a dozen languages
 flowed from his tongue, as many more l were minnored in his brain. He mas 1 tered the Basque, an extremely diffi- | cult language and wrote a brief gram
 mer of it.
 When Ole Bull visited New Haven in
 1844, Percival welcomed him with an
 ode in Danish then the court language
 of Norway. The last poem he ever
 wrote was in German. to serve as a | campaign song at the first and he | dashed it off as quickly as he would