In Memoriam.
REV. HENRY SWIFT DE FOREST, D.D.
The death of this honored servant of God, January 27, at his house in Talladega, Ala., was sudden and unexpected. Although he has suffered for several years past under impaired health, yet on the day preceding the accident he appeared unusually well. He had performed his usual college duties, attended and spoken at the memorial services for Dr. Cutler on the afternoon of Friday, and was present at the college social on Friday night. The accident occurred on Saturday. He arose early in the morning, as was his custom, and made preparations for his usual bath. On crossing the hall at the head of the stairway he fell down the entire flight and was found stretched out, face downward, on the lower floor. The family came speedily to his relief. Help was summoned from the neighborhood and medical attendance secured. It was the doctor's opinion that the fall was due to an apopleptic stroke, which seized him while in the upper hall and rendered him powerless to either prevent the fall or hinder its continued progress. Funeral services were held on Tuesday forenoon, which were attended by many of the best citizens of Talladega, two of the pastors of the Talladega churches speaking warmly and sympathetically of Dr. De Forest and of the institution over which he had presided. Mrs. De Forest and her daughter, accompanied by one of the professors of the institution, attended the remains to their last resting place in Sherburne, N. Y.
Dr. De Forest was of Huguenot descent; was born in So. Edmeston, N. Y., March 17, 1833, was graduated from Yale College in 1857, and obtained his theological education at Yale and Union theological seminaries. He was ordained in New Haven, August 2, 1863, and served as chaplain in the Eleventh Connecticut Volunteers during the civil war. He was called to the pastorate of Plymouth Congregational Church, Des Moines, Iowa., October 17, 1866, where he remained until October, 1879, when he accepted the call to the Presidency of Talladega College, Talladega, Ala., a position he has filled with great acceptance to the day of his death. He was married August 25th, 1869, to Miss Anna M. Robbins, daughter of Rev. Alden B. Robbins, D.D., of Muscatine, Iowa.
Dr. De Forest was a man of fine personal presence, affable in manner, gifted as a speaker, a scholar, and a man of practical affairs. His life has been varied, but in whatever position he has been employed he has soon won the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has been associated.
MISS LUCELIA E. WILLIAMS.
This estimable lady, after four years of severe but patient suffering from neuralgia, passed away Sunday afternoon, December 22, at her home in Deerfield, Mass. Miss Williams was a native of Deerfield, an old historic town in the Connecticut Valley, and a descendant of Rev. T. Williams, who was taken captive by the Indians. During the war of the Rebellion Miss Williams was sent by the National Freedman's Aid Society to labor among the Freedmen of Port Royal Island, S. C. With a commission and a Government permit alone she found her mission field. The following year was spent at Richmond, Va., teaching among the refugees who had come into the city at the close of the war. The next year she taught a large school in Washington, D. C., at Kendall Green, and in the autumn of 1867, accompanied by her sister, Miss P. A. Williams, she began her work at Hampton, Va., teaching in the Butler and Lincoln schools. After the new building was completed, the sisters were transferred to the Normal school, which they organized, and the success of which was largely due to their indefatigable labors. Miss Williams was connected with the institution two years when she was appointed by the American Missionary Association as Principal of the Stanton Normal Institute, Jacksonville, Fla., where she remained seven years.