and, more than once enlarged, it continued its good offices to the close of the war.

To aid in the work of the Columbus branch, an appropriation of five thousand dollars was early made, from the funds of the sanitary commission, and to this fund several thousand dollars were subsequently added for the equipment and maintenance of the soldiers' home.

At Columbus, as everywhere else, a large part of the work of the sanitary commission was accomplished through the agency of woman. In October, 1861, a soldiers' aid society was organized there, which was in December formally recognized as an auxiliary of the United States sanitary commission, bearing the same relation to that body as the woman's central relief association of New York. this society Mrs. W. E. Ide was the first president, and Mrs. George W. Heyl, corresponding secretary (subsequently president), while its membership included most of the influential and patriotic ladies of the city.

Of

The work of the sanitary commission did not close with Lee's surrender. There were sick and disabled soldiers without friends and homes, and the commission, neglectful in nothing, set about to provide means for their proper care. Its perfect organization, its experience, its commendable and well tempered zeal, gave it not only the direction, but in many cases entire control of the erection of and maintenance of soldier's homes.

Columbus, like othe rcentral capital cities, was an important military point, and a home was erected here. Naturally it came under the control of the Columbus association, and as such Mr. Sessions and his colleagues had much to do with it. Of their work in this particular, Dr. Newberry says:

Many capitals of our western states became during the war important military centers.

This was emphatically true of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio, at both of which points large numbers of soldiers congregated to be mustered

in or out of service, to be equipped, paid off, etc. Both these cities, too, are on great thoroughfares, and during the period of the great military activity a constant tide of blue-coats was passing to and fro through them.

As a natural consequence, the work which prompted the establishment of soldiers' homes at other points which have been mentioned, was conspicuously felt at these.

At Indianapolis the soldiers' home was constructed by the state authorities, which contributed vastly to the comfort of the Indiana soldiers.

In Ohio no such provision was made by the state authorities, and the work of relief needed at Columbus devolved upon the branch of the sanitary commission located there, which included a large number of the most intelligent and influential citizens.

In the spring of 1864, they secured a convenient location, just across High street from the railroad depot, and here erected a building, supposed at that time to be amply sufficient to supply the want of a soldiers' home.

It was about one hundred feet long, thirty feet wide and two stories high, fitted with all the appurtenances of a soldiers' home, and could comfortably lodge and feed about fifty men.

Later in the year these accommodations were found inadequate to meet the wants of the soldiers

applying for admission, and it was enlarged and its capacity doubled.

Even then it was found none too large to perform the relief work for which it was designed, at times being crowded to excess.

Up to nearly the close of the war its activity continued without important abatement, and it was even found necessary to keep it open long after active military operations had ceased.

It was closed the seventh of May, 1866, having accommodated twenty-five thousand six hundred and forty-nine, to whom were given 34,982 lodgings and 99,863 meals.

The establishment and success of the Columbus home are in a large degree due to the efforts of Mr. F. C. Sessions, a member of the Columbus branch of the sanitary commission, a gentleman who was one of the earliest volunteers in the cause of humanity called out by the war, and who, during its entire continuance, by his labors on battlefields, in camps and hospitals, while he sacrificed his personal interests and his health, won for himself the respect and admiration of all who knew him.

His name frequently appears on the records of the work of the sanitary commission at the west, in which, though an unpaid member, he was a most earnest and faithful worker, and it is probable there are few to whom this imperfect tribute will convey any new impressions in regard to the value of the

services which he rendered to the cause of the country and humanity during the war.

Throughout the existence of the Home at Columbus, Mr. Sessions gave it his constant supervision, and he was in fact its outside superintendent and

manager.

The interior superintendent during 1865 and 1866 was Mr. T. E. Botsford, who had previously been employed in the home at Louisville, and was thoroughly trained for the duties which he performed so well.

The great civil war brought into being the present system of national banks. In 1869 the Commercial National Bank of Columbus was organized, and Mr. Sessions elected president, a position he has since held.

In addition to the cares of his own business life, Mr. Sessions has been associated with many other enterprises, not only secular but educational and religious. He has been one of the chief supporters of his own denominationthe Congregational-in the city, and in its various public enterprises, and in addition has done very much for the churches of the city when in a feeble condition. He has held the office of trustee in Marietta, Oberlin and Central colleges, of Wilberforce university, and of the state institutions for the education of the blind, and of the deaf and dumb; president of the Humane society and a trustee of the Home for the Friendless. Through his influence the sanitary commission donated the Soldiers' Home and all appurtenances to the latter society.

When the Columbus art school was started, some eight years ago, its projectors and friends found in him a ready supporter, not only in encouragement but in practical aid. but in practical aid. Mr. Sessions has been a liberal supporter of art in Columbus, and has at his residence a valuable collection of paintings and sculpture, and has donated to the art association the use of the rooms for the art school occupied by them since its commencement, enabling them to carry on their work with success. In addition to this, not an appeal is made for money that does not find in him a ready response. In all other enterprises for the good of the people of Ohio and of Columbus, he has freely given his time, his talents and his money. Mr. Sessions is frequently called upon for lectures, his subjects being chiefly upon art, temperance, village improvements, city parks, and other such matters of general interest.

Aside from all this Mr. Sessions finds time or, as busy people must do, takes time for travel, writing and recreation, has visited all the countries of Europe, crossing the ocean six times. A diligent student over fifty years acquires no little knowledge, and with it the ability to use it. Hence one is not surprised that when men like Mr. Sessions travel, interesting letters tell where they are and what they see. In the end a charming book often appears.

In 1879 Mr. Sessions and Rev. R. G. Hutchins, his pastor, made a hurried trip over Europe. During the journey Mr. Sessions wrote a series of very entertaining letters to the Ohio State

Journal of Columbus. They were received with so much favor, and showed a picture of foreign travel so often overlooked by tourists, that, in response to numerous requests, they appeared in book form under the engaging title of 'On the Wing Through Europe.' The introduction to this book gives a few "points" worth remembering.

"The letters contained in this volume," says the writer, "were written hastily, as I could not catch a moment's time on the cars or while stopping for rest. I have tried to give in my letters life-like pic tures and various reflections on what I saw abroad; these may seem commonplace, perhaps, to older travelers, but my excuse may be pleaded in a remark made by a certain friend, 'Your letters contain observations upon common matters which most travelers omit.''

In that remark really lies the charm of the book. One who reads it sees what he wants to see, the people and how they live, and thereby gains not only information but instruction.

Harper's Monthly of October, 1880, referring to the work, says:

'On the Wing Through Europe,' by F. C. Sessions, is the title of just such a journal of a flying tour of Europe during the year of the Paris Exposition, as we might expect from almost any one of our clear-headed and sensible men of busines, swriting for the entertainment of friends at home. Lively, concise, straight-forward, touching lightly but intelligently upon a multiplicity of topics without falling into sentimentality on the one hand or lapsing

into prosaic literature on the other, it is an unaffected, agreeable record of travel. Its author's

brief description of places of trans-Atlantic life, manners, customs, scenes, and of memorable places and buildings, is distinguished by the business man's faculty for close and sharp observation of men and things; and of arriving at natural and just conclusions concerning them.

The opinion of friends can be best expressed, perhaps, by quoting from a letter of ex-president Hayes, who, under date of July 21, 1880, says: "They strike me as altogether worthy of the beautiful dress in wich they appear."

Apropos to Mr. Sessions literary work, I may be perhaps justified in a little anticipation. At the late annual meeting of the Ohio State Historical and Archæological society, Mr. Sessions read a most excellent paper on "Art in Ohio." When the question of writing this paper was brought before him, he, like many others at first thought, said: "Why, what is there of art in Ohio? We have hardly made a beginning." He was told that Ohio was not ashamed of her record in this particular, and asked to investigate a little. He had not been long at the work when, one day, he expressed to me the the whole gist of the matter: "I am astonished at what my research develops. The trouble is not now to get enough: it is to know what to omit.

The paper was so well received that numerous requests have come to Mr. Sessions for a more extended history of "Art in Ohio," and I trust he will pardon me if I say he has promised to supply the work as soon as he can take time to do so.

A. A. GRAHAM.

HENRY CHILDS of Buffalo, so well and widely known during the last quarter of a century as a prominent and leading iron manufacturer, was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, on July 18, 1819. He was the second son of Henry and Matilda Billings Childs, and a direct descendant of Deacon Richard Childs, who came from England about the middle of the Seventeenth century and settled in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Five successive generations of this family lived, died and were buried in Deerfield; all of whom, as the record shows, served their day and generation with honor and usefulness-some of them playing important parts on the stage of life, in the early days of this historic portion of our century.

In his youth, Henry Childs received such educational advantages as were afforded by the district school and village academy; but not content with this, he resolved to obtain a college education. Accordingly he entered Phillips' academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1839, taking the full preparatory course. He matriculated at Yale college in 1842, graduating in 1846.. He was blessed with a remarkable physical development, having unusual strength of frame and muscle. It has been well said by one who knew him thoroughly" His frame was broad and stalwart, as was his intellect."

Previous to leaving his childhood's home, Mr. Childs made a profession of religion, uniting with the village church. in 1839. It had been the long cherished wish of his father that he should be a minister of the gospel; and it was, therefore, a sore disappointment to the paternal heart, when instead of entering upon a theological course immediately after his graduation, he turned his face westward, and accepted a position as teacher in one of the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio.

In August, 1847, he returned to Deerfield and married Miss Elizabeth Hitchcock, to whom he had been attached for many years. She had been the inspiration of his life, and continued so to be through their nearly forty years of wedded life. She belonged to one of the oldest and most honored New England families. She was the daughter of Deacon Henry Hitchcock of Deerfield, and a niece of President Edward Hitchcock of Amherst college.

Returning to Cleveland with his bride, Mr. Childs continued his teaching in the Prospect Street school (which was one of the most important in the city at that day) another year, when he resigned the position in order to open a private English and classical school for boys. This he conducted with marked fidelity and success, until at length, finding that a sedentary life was under