of his classmates at his own home, and bore himself so bravely that they almost believed his wasted form would rise from its melancholy ruin. Not an impatient syllable escaped from his lips, not a word of regret for his sacrifice. On the contrary, he gloried in the service he had done for his country, and grieved that it was no greater.

But more rapidly and surely, day by day, his decline continued as the summer advanced, and still calmly and firmly he awaited the final catastrophe. As if the very shadows of his friends relieved the gloom of death, one of his latest acts was to obtain the photographs of his College Class. In their silent company he cheered the lonely hours, recalling memories of a brighter and a happier past. To the last he was eager to learn the progress of the war, and enthusiastic in asserting the ultimate success of the national arms. He passed the last day of his life in hopeful discussion of the military movements which three days afterwards culminated in the victory of Gettysburg. In the evening he retired, fell into a deep sleep, and slumbered soundly all night; awoke in the morning languid and weary, conversed a little, then turned and slumbered again, and never more awoke.

And so, on the 1st of July, 1863, emaciated, feeble, and faint, but patient and "forlornly brave" unto the end, died Harry Richardson. In admiration of the fortitude of the patriot, in reverence for the fidelity of the officer, but, more than all, in love of the sterling virtues and endearing qualities of the man, this humble record of his life is placed among the memorials of his classmates and friends. Eulogy his fair memory needs not. All who knew him know the full measure of his worth, and, knowing that, recognize the wealth of the sacrifice, expressed more eloquently to them than labored pages can portray, in his simple epitaph, Pro patriâ.

THOMAS JEFFERSON SPURR.

First Lieutenant 15th Mass. Vols. (Infantry), November 17, 1861; died at Hagerstown, Md., September 27, 1862, of a wound received at Antietam, September 17.

HOMAS JEFFERSON SPURR was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, February 2, 1838. His grandfathers were General John Spurr and Dr. Daniel Lamb, of Charlton, Massachusetts; his parents, Colonel Samuel Danforth and Mary Augusta (Lamb) Spurr. Both parents were born in Charlton, but removed to Worcester about 1832 or 1833, having at that time but one child, a daughter. Colonel Spurr pursued in Worcester the business of a merchant until his death, which took place November 3, 1842. Thus in his fifth year Thomas Spurr was left, with his sister, under the sole care of his mother; and it seems well to say here, that perhaps the strongest point in his character was the love which he felt for that mother.

While at school his zeal as a student and his love of athletic sports were equally noticeable. He easily led his class at the Grammar School, and completed, in an unusually short time, his preparation for college, at the Worcester High School. He entered college without "conditions," and took at first a high place in his Class, ranking among the first eight scholars at the first Junior Exhibition. Mathematics proved to be his favorite study, though he was faithful and successful in all. But at the end of the first term of that year he began to suffer from disease of the eyes, and he could only remain a fortnight during the second term. A voyage to Fayal did no good; and though he rejoined his Class, he was compelled to continue his studies with the aid of a reader. This deprived him of rank, although he was chosen by his classmates a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, for which rank is usually held to be essential.

After graduation he remained at home for a time in ill health; then entered on his law studies, at first with the help of a reader, and afterwards. unaided, as his eyes grew better. He studied for a year in the office of Messrs. Devens and Hoar, in Worcester; and in September, 1860, entered the Law School at Cambridge. His desire was to become a

scholar and a lawyer.

"If his life had been spared," writes one of those who knew him best, "it would probably have been respected and useful, though not distinguished. His friends might fairly have hoped for him that he would have become one of the leaders of the bar of his native county; that he would have done his full share to promote all the institutions and schemes for the public good which in our community depend on the voluntary public spirit of the citizens; and that his purity, his generosity, his rectitude of purpose, his friendly and unselfish nature, would have won for him an enviable place in the public regard."

He was ambitious of success, but his standard was a very high one. Speaking about an acquaintance just going into business, he said to one of his companions:—

"I think he will succeed; but I should not wish to succeed by such means as I feel sure he uses. I never could stoop to the little meannesses and deceits which many business men practise without seeming to dream that they are wrong."

He was in every respect thoroughly manly. Strong of body, he was also self-relying and brave. He had, too, a purity and chastity of nature to which no stain of indelicacy ever attached itself. Of his love for his mother, about which a strong statement has just been made, his brother-in-law writes :

"It manifested itself, not much in expressions of endearment, not at all in any mode which would attract the attention of strangers, but in constantly making her comfort and happiness the predominant consideration in all his plans of life. When he was in College and in the Law School, no week passed without at least two letters from him to her; not letters written as in the performance of a selfimposed task, but full and complete journals of his life and thoughts. This feeling grew stronger with the separation caused by his life in

the army. His dying moments were occupied with thoughts for her welfare, and her name was the last word upon his lips.”

war.

This strong tie made it peculiarly hard for him to go to the His mother was a widow, and he her only surviving child. It was only after a great struggle that he could make up his mind to leave her. He held very strong convictions, and believing that the North was right beyond question in the contest, was fervent in his wishes for its success. He felt, as so many young men felt when the war broke out, that he must do something for his country. He was not moved by the love of glory or adventure, although, being of good constitution, he did not fear hardship. He went because it was his duty to go, feeling, as other noble spirits felt, that he should be ashamed to look his friends in the face, or hold up his head anywhere, if he did not do his part.

When the war broke out he was in Russia, having taken this long voyage, in the spring of 1861, in the hope of thus doing something for the benefit of his eyes. The Russian merchants, to whom he and his companion had letters, received their accounts of the state of things in the United States through the most hostile English sources; and what he heard from them, of course, filled him with alarm and dismay. He hastened home, and after a very short time spent in learning the rudiments of military drill, accepted the position of First Lieutenant in Company G of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, to which post he was recommended by Colonel Devens, who then commanded the regiment in the field. His recommendation was not sought by him, or by any friend of his for him, but was the result of Colonel Devens's personal knowledge of his qualities.

"His original appointment," says his brother-in-law, "had not been approved by his men or the other officers of the regiment; they thinking that the vacancies should have been filled from among those who had gone through the dangers of Ball's Bluff; and if anything in him had made it possible, he would have encountered serious discomfort, if not hostility. But all this feeling soon yielded to his friendly and courteous manners and his thorough and conscien

tious performance of his duty; and all persons connected with his regiment agree that he was universally beloved by his comrades, both officers and men."

He was for a considerable time the only commissioned officer in his company, and his devotion to it was invariable. When they were stationed for some weeks near Washington, where he had many friends, he resolutely declined all their invitations, with a single exception, saying that his duty required his constant presence with his men. When he found he was too ill to go into action with his company at Malvern Hill, he burst into tears. He went with his regiment to the Peninsula, returned with it, and received his death wound at the battle of Antietam. The closing scenes of his life are best described by his brother-in-law, George Frisbie Hoar, Esq., who was with him in his last hours:

"He joined his regiment in the fall of 1861. I never saw him again until I was summoned to Hagerstown after the battle of Antietam. He was dressing the line of his company, about nine o'clock of the morning of the battle, the regiment being under a severe fire, when his thigh was struck by a minié-ball which shattered the bone. Two of his men came where he lay, and offered to carry him to the rear. He ordered them back to the ranks, and refused all assistance. The place where he lay was a short distance in front of a wood, to which the regiment was almost instantly compelled to retreat. The ground where he fell was not again occupied by our troops until after the battle. He lay on the ground where he fell all of Wednesday and through Wednesday night. On Thursday the enemy occupied the ground. Among them was a college acquaintance and contemporary (whom I believe to have been a Major Hale of South Carolina), who treated him with kindness, caused him to be removed to a farm-yard near by and laid on the ground between two haystacks, and gave him a blanket, which we are glad to preserve. Thomas lay in this farm-yard until Saturday, when the ground was again occupied by our forces, and he was then removed to a hospital. On Monday he was taken to Hagerstown, where his mother and I, with Dr. Sargent, found him on Wednesday evening. Early the next morning, Thursday, he was carefully examined by the surgeons, who were able, by extracting the splinters of bone from his flesh, to relieve the agony which he had suf