Gerard, David W. - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

       David W. Gerard, who for many years ranked as the most influential citizens of Crawfordsville and one of Indiana´s foremost citizens, was born on a farm near Port Jefferson, Shelby county, Ohio, July 7, 1844. His parents were pioneer residents of that county, his father, Abner H. Gerard, being a farmer and merchant. The latter also owned and operated a large tannery in the village. He was a man of great force of character and excellent business methods, a devout Methodist and pronounced abolitionist. Coming as he did of heroic stock, his many admirable qualities were inherited by his son.

       The Gerard family is of French Huguenot ancestry. The founder of the family in this country came from France after the St. Bartholomew massacre. The immediate founder of the family in the middle western part of the United States, Nathaniel Gerard, came to Cincinnati, Ohio, from Pennsylvania, with his five brothers, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Three of the brothers settled in Miami county, Ohio, one in Kentucky, and one in southern Indiana.

       The grandfather of David W. Gerard, after whom he was named, was killed by the Indians in 1816 while making rails near his cabin on Lost creek, in Miami county, Ohio. Mr. Gerard´s father left Ohio in 1849, coming to Indiana and opening a general store near Romney, in Tippecanoe county. In six months he died, leaving a wife and three small boys. The oldest of these boys was David W. Gerard, then less than six years of age. There were six children by a former marriage. Gathering the remnants of a meager property, the brave little mother returned on a canal boat to Sidney, Ohio. Then came the terrible years of struggle with poverty, but this woman of courage never faltered.

       When David W. was ten years of age his mother removed to Greenville, Ohio, where he began his struggle for an education, his youth and early manhood being surrounded with the hardships, limitations and privations known to the poor, but being endowed by nature with a resolute will, this school of harsh experience developed his faculties into the broadest manhood and so eminently qualified him to master difficult problems of life which were to confront him in his after years of usefulness. He worked on farms, in blacksmith shops, sawed wood and studied hard. In those primitive days it was difficult for children to acquire good educations, and because he was a fatherless boy, Mr. Gerard experienced unusual difficulty at a time when he was most anxious to be in school. However, he succeeded and when scarcely sixteen years of age was able to begin teaching school. A boy with less ambition and natural ability would have failed where he succeeded.

       While Mr. Gerard was teaching school the Civil war broke out. He was then living at Greenville, Ohio. In 1861, shortly after the firing on Fort Sumter, Mr. Gerard enlisted in the Eighth Ohio Battery and served throughout the four years of the war. He bore the scars of that titanic struggle, where he displayed that chivalrous spirit which has ever dominated his entire life. He fought gallantly for his country and gave of his best towards the perpetuation of the Union, participating in many of the important campaigns and great battles. He was mustered out in August, 1865.

       When that memorable conflict was ended, Mr. Gerard, with his widowed mother and his brothers, came to Montgomery county, Indiana, and there he again took up the task of teaching school. He had not lived there long until he met and was married to Elizabeth Krug, daughter of one of the prominent families of near Crawfordsville. The marriage occurred in January, 1866. Miss Krug´s home was at Crawfordsville, but she was born near Pleasant Hill, now Wingate, Indiana, and there was married.

       Mr. Gerard gave up the work of school teaching to engage in the real estate and insurance business in Crawfordsville, continuing in this line of endeavor until 1873, when he removed to Indianapolis, continuing in the same business there until 1878, when he returned to Crawfordsville, and there he resided the rest of his life. He resumed the real estate and insurance business there with his usual success. In 1886 he and Frank L. Snyder were associated together with some other citizens in forming the Indiana and Ohio Live Stock Insurance Company, of Crawfordsville, now one of the leading live stock insurance companies of the United States. S. F. Voris, former mayor of Crawfordsville, was an original stockholder and at one time was the president of the company. He and Mr. Gerard later disposed of their holdings to Harry N. Naylor, John R. Bonnell and other Crawfordsville citizens.

       During the years that he was in the insurance and real estate business Mr. Gerard worked hard, accomplished large results and at the same time did some serious thinking. He joined several insurance orders and became a firm believer in fraternal insurance. Early in the nineties he conceived the idea of organizing a fraternal insurance society in his own city of Crawfordsville. He profited by his experience in selling insurance, his experience gained from membership in other fraternal societies and his wide experience as a business man. He was engaged for many weeks and perhaps months in thinking over the details of the organization and in perfecting the plans which have their fruition today in the wonderful Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, one of the largest, most flourishing and greatest fraternal insurance organizations in the world.

       Mr. Gerard was the moving spirit behind this organization. Associated with him were Frank L. Snyder, who died six years ago; ex-Mayor S. E. Voris, now supreme keeper of the tribute of the order, and Dr. J. F. Davidson, supreme medical examiner. Mr. Gerard was of that class of men who stood for progressive movements and the uplift of humanity. He was a great admirer of the late Gen. Lew Wallace, in fact, was a close personal friend of the author of "Ben-Hur,' and had read and pondered on the book until he caught the up-lift of the spirit of the Lowly Nazarene, "who went about doing good.' He lived and moved among men, stirring them to enthusiastic effort, and the broad principles of brotherhood and benevolence were so deeply incarnated in him that they contributed greatly in achieving the success attained by the society from its organization, and which now is, and ever will remain, a living testimonial of his service in the case of the fraternities, ever exemplifying their highest principles and precepts. While thinking about the organization of a fraternal insurance society, it occurred to Mr. Gerard that the story of Ben-Hur could be used as a foundation for the society. He secured the written permission of General Wallace to make such use of the story as he desired and to call his new society the Tribe of Ben-Hur. Indeed, it was Lew Wallace who suggested the name as it is now. It had been in Mr. Gerard´s mind to call the order the "Knights of Ben-Hur.' When the name was suggested to General Wallace during a talk the two men had, the General placed his hand on Mr. Gerard´s shoulder and said: "Well, my dear boy, there were no knights in those days. Tribes there were, however; so why wouldn´t it be well to call it the "Tribe of Ben-Hur.´' Mr. Gerard, of course, readily acquiesced, and thus the Tribe of Ben-Hur secured its name.

       The supreme tribe of Ben-Hur was founded March 1, 1894, Simonides Court No. 1, of Crawfordsville, being the mother court. The society had a very meagre [sic] beginning, although it was launched with flattering prospects, as Mr. Gerard had worked untiringly to secure a good list of charter members. Associated with him in the formation of the order were a number of prominent public, business and professional men of Indiana. The first supreme officers elected were as follows: Supreme chief, ex-Governor, Ira J. Chase; supreme scribe, F. L. Snyder; supreme medical examiner, J. F. Davidson, M.D.; supreme keeper of tribute, S. E. Voris, and an executive committee consisting of D. W. Gerard, F. L. Snyder and W. T. Royse. The election of ex-Governor, Ira J. Chase, as supreme chief, was made at the request of Mr. Gerard, who desired to devote all his time to the organization work. Upon the death of Ira J. Chase, which occurred in May 11, 1895, Col. L. T. Dickason was chosen by the executive committee to fill out the unexpired term of Mr. Chase as supreme chief.

       After Simonides Court had been organizes and the actual start made toward securing members and writing insurance, Mr. Gerard industriously began the work of establishing other courts in nearby Indiana towns. That year a number of courts were organized with good prospects. With beautiful ritualistic work, with emphasis placed upon sociability and good fellowship among the members and with good insurance written in attractive form and at reasonable rates, there was much in the principles of the Tribe of Ben-Hur that appealed to the people. Hard work, earnest efforts and many difficulties confronted the founders of the tribe the first year, but at its close the order had 759 members and there was a surplus of $2,653 in the treasury. The year of 1905 witnessed wonderful strides in the order, which pushed out and entered other states. Its membership was increased to 3,551 and its surplus to $13,945. Since then the order has flourished in a most remarkable manner. At the end of the year 1908 there were 104,250 members, while the surplus amounted to $1,174,545. The surplus was $1,403,493.40 at the close of 1909. In 1910 the society had 1,400 courts and was dong business in no less than twenty-nine states in the Union. Up to that year the total sum that had been paid to the families of deceased members was $7,013,859.38. Indeed, the growth of the society during the eighteen years of its existence has been a splendid one, having enrolled in that time considerably over a quarter of a million men and women from the thirty-odd states in which the order is now represented. The report of the supreme scribe and supreme keeper of tribute under date of December 31, 1911, gave the following figures: Number of members, 119,953, in thirty-two states of the Union; insurance in force, $139,825,900; deaths benefits paid in 1911, 1,022, amounting to $1,146,124; balances, all funds, $1,651,410.71; net assets, $1,525,218. It has never shown a loss of membership or funds in any year of its existence, but on the contrary has made a steady and conservative growth, sacrificing quantity often to quality, and it stands today in the fraternal world an order famous for the personnel of its large and loyal membership.

       The plan and name of the order were popular from the beginning. The beneficial feature was entirely new and novel; the amount of protection granted each member depended upon the age of admission, but a uniform amount of contribution was charged each member. This plan was simple, equitable and easily understood. No assessments were levied on the death of a member, but a regular stipulated sum was collected each month. An emergency fund was created from the beginning, and women were admitted on an absolutely equal basis with men.

       In 1896, Mr. Gerard was elected supreme chief of the order and he held that important and responsible position until his death, in a manner that reflected much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. He had endeared himself to the thousands of Ben-Hur members throughout the country and one has but to attend even for a few minutes a supreme meeting of the order to learn in what great esteem and respect he is held.

       Mr. Gerard showed his unlimited faith in fraternal insurance by carrying practically all of his fifteen thousand dollars of life insurance in fraternal orders. In founding the Tribe of Ben-Hur one of his ideas was to give insurance at more reasonable rates than is charged by old-line insurance companies. He studied rate table after rate table and every plain [sic] imaginable was tried out in his mind. The plans and tables of all the fraternal orders in existence were studied by him, and by taking the best that was in all of them he molded together the plans that were to be followed by the Tribe of Ben-Hur. There were many months of anxious watching and sleepless nights, but they have all been rewarded.

       Besides being a shrewd and capable business man and organizer, Mr. Gerard was a convincing and forceful speaker and a clean and logical writer. In the eighties, while engaged in the real estate and insurance business, he became interested in The Indiana Farmer, of Indianapolis, a publication still in existence which circulates among the farmers in Indiana and other states. He was editor of the magazine for awhile and helped to make it a better, bigger and more popular paper. As soon as the supreme tribe of Ben-Hur was organized, Mr. Gerard decided to publish a monthly paper, telling the members what was being done in the society and keeping them informed with regard to matters of interest. Many of the best articles that have appeared in The Chariot have been from his able pen.

       In addition to his connection with the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, Mr. Gerard was also associated with a number of other business enterprises of Crawfordsville. He was a stockholder and director of the Elston National Bank, and he was one of the original stockholders of the Crawfordsville State Bank. He was one of the men most interested in the establishment of the Crawfordsville Wire Bound Box Company.

       During all these years Mr. Gerard was a very public-spirited citizen. He was interested - and deeply interested, too - in everything that has been for the welfare and best interests of the city of Crawfordsville. He was proud of his city, proud of her citizens, proud of her position as one of the best little cities of Indiana.

       For years Mr. Gerard was a devout member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Crawfordsville. He held membership in a number of fraternal orders besides Ben-Hur, including the Foresters, Protected Home Circle, Knights and Ladies of Security, Woodmen of the World and Ancient Order of United Workmen. He also belonged to the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was a charter member of the Crawfordsville lodge of Elks.

       Mr. Gerard was a man with a kind heart and a broad sympathy and charity. For years after his marriage his widowed mother made her home with him and he was always strongly devoted to her. Her every wish and desire was gratified and his love for his mother was unbounded. He was also a kind and loving father, strongly attached to his family and devoted to them much more than is the average father. His family consists of two daughters and one son, all of whom are married and living in Crawfordsville: Mrs. Dr. J. F. Davidson, Mrs. Charles W. Iliff and Dr. Royal H. Gerard. Mr. Gerard also leaves two brothers, Charles, of Crawfordsville, and Abner, of Long Beach, California. Wesley Gerard, of Wisconsin, is a half-brother.

       Mr. Gerard was generous to a fault. He regarded truth and honor above all else. Charity and benevolence formed one of the ruling motives of his life. He was a sincere friend, a kind neighbor and an admirable citizen. The influences of his life will live in Crawfordsville and, in fact, in Indiana and the world through succeeding generations, and the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur will forever remain a lasting monument. In thinking of Mr. Gerard´s life, one recalls the language the immortal Shakespeare spoke through his character Antonius:

       "His life is gentle and the elements

       So mixed in him, that nature can stand up

       And say to all the world, This is a man.'

       At his beautiful residence on east Main street, Crawfordsville, Indiana, on Monday, January 3, 1910, David W. Gerard passed to his eternal rest, after a brief illness, his sudden taking away coming as a profound shock to thousands of friends and admirers. He was sixty-six years old.

       In view of the universal prominence of David W. Gerard and in order to show the widespread esteem in which he was held, we quote at some length from the eulogies pronounced upon him, reprinting briefly from a few of the many thousands.

       John C. Snyder, supreme scribe of the Tribe of Ben-Hur, said: "For fifteen years I have been connected in business with Mr. Gerard, and during that time have had occasion to know him very well indeed. Those who were closest to him can best testify to his great and generous impulses and his broad principles. I think one of his greatest virtues was his keen sympathy for his fellow men. Were they properous [sic], he rejoined [sic] with him; if unfortunate, he was always ready to offer substantial aid. No movement for good was ever too great to challenge his admiration and approval; none ever too small to escape his notice. He had had a wide experience in business affairs, and I regarded him as a man of most extraordinary attainments. Aside from his immediate family and close relatives, to whom he was always a bulwark of safety, he will be greatly missed by his neighbors, his friends and his business associates. It is a pleasure to testify to the virtues of one so generally admired.'

       S. E. Voris, mentioned in preceding paragraphs, said: "I have been associated closely with Mr. Gerard in business for the past sixteen years, and I have always found him to be a man of advanced ideas. He was full of good suggestions and upon every occasion had just the right thing to suggest. He possessed wonderful energy and industry. He was a natural fraternalist and was a great believer in the brotherhood of man. He gave the closing years of his life for this great cause and he succeeded in his purpose. He was the most kind-hearted man I ever knew, and I never knew a more companionable man. It was a delight to be in his company. He ws liberal and charitable and the deeds of charity which he did are many, very many. He thought ill of no one. In his death Crawfordsville loses one of her very best citizens.'

       Gilbert Howell said: "Not only his family, the Tribe of Ben-Hur, his fellow officers and his home community sustained a loss when Mr. Gerard passed over the great divide, but the fraternal world has been robbed of one of its most shining lights, brightest and most brilliant exponents. He was honored and loved as has been the lot of but few men, and his genial and kindly personality, his undaunted faithful friendship, his zealous exposition of fraternal brotherhood, have wrought mightily for good in the world and we can truthfully say, 'He has been a friend to man.´ As one of the founders of the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur he has builded a living monument in the hearts of grateful widows and orphans which will endure for ages, and by his broad vision and grasp of financial affairs, his leadership of men, the fraternal world will continue to pay him grateful homage. He was one of the pioneers who labors have made it possible for the great fraternal army to bring sunshine and cheer into the homes darkened by the Grim Reaper, and although he has passed away, the work he has inaugurated, and the movement for the betterment of mankind will continue to bless and help humanity. I cannot pay him a higher tribute than to say, 'He loved all men, and was by all men loved.´'

       John R. Bonnell, a member of the executive committee of the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, said: "Mr. Gerard was to me a man in whom I felt that 'I could pin my faith.´ I regarded him in many respects as superior to all in the fraternal world. He, in my humble judgment, did more to make famous our beloved city than all others, save General Wallace.'

       Col. Isaac C. Elston said: "Mr. Gerard was a most kind neighbor and affectionate father, devoted to his family, with a cheerful, cordial greeting for all his friends, and was every ready to give credit for good deeds and excuse mistakes in others. During the past five years I have constantly met him in directors´ meetings of the bank with which we have been identified, and learned to admire his business ability and respect his sound judgment in finance; it was as a builder that his talents were most conspicuous, as the phenomenal growth and success of the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, promoted, organized and guided by him to its present enviable position in the insurance world, bears testimony.'

       G. H. D. Sutherland, publisher of the Crawfordsville Review, had the following to say, editorially, in his paper, on January 4, 1910: "David W. Gerard is dead. This was the message quickly spread about the city Monday night when the angel of the Almighty came with a message and summoned him home. With patience and fortitude he had endured the agonies that were his portion ere the spirit was loosed from his mortal body and dissolution was at hand. His last recognition of human countenance was a smile for his son.

       (73)

       "When the end comes for a man like 'Dave´ Gerard it isn´t hard, for friends at least, to say: 'Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? He is not dead. He lives on and will continue to live in the lives of succeeding generations as long as there shall be a Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur. He leaves a monument, noble and ever-increasing, which promises to flourish as long as 'the milk of human kindness´ flows from human breast. He was a kindly soul. In it was a prodigal wealth of charity that knew no bounds. He lived to spread the gospel of brotherly love. He believed the highest good can be accomplished by benefiting his brother man.

       "In his early business days he dealt in various kinds of insurance and he long cherished a dream of establishing a fraternal insurance society. He studied Gen. Lew Wallace´s book Ben-Hur and pictured a beautiful ritual taken from its pages. His sympathies extended to men and women and so the organization which he founded was unrestricted as to sex. Men and women alike are taught the beautiful lesson from Ben-Hur. Launched in a year of panic, with moderate financial backing, the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur had many an obstacle to overcome and little to encourage its founder and those intimately associated with him. But optimism is a splendid asset and Mr. Gerard had large deposits in that bank. He surrounded himself with shrewd business men and worked indefatigably himself to get the order started. It is necessary here to refer to statistics to establish his ultimate success. He lived long enough to 'see his dreams come true.´

       "Great as is the blow which the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur has sustained in Mr. Gerard´s death, the order will survive it and go majestically forward in its mission of relieving humanity of some of its ills. This is one of the best testimonials to his greatness. The society is so thoroughly organized, so surely established, so well directed by the executive board, that its future will see nothing but development and growth.

       "Mr. Gerard was an uncommon man. He started life with handicaps that have kept many men down to the level of the common place, but his ambition enabled him to surmount every obstacle, and first attain an education, hard enough at the best half a century ago. That prepared him for advancement later on. No one loved Crawfordsville more than David W. Gerard. He invested his means here and he predicted growth, development and prosperity as her portion in the years to come. He was ever ready with a word of encouragement for any young man who would make his home here and attempt to assist in building up the city. Mr. Gerard was thoroughly honest. The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur has a clean record, free from any suspicion of graft, during its entire life of sixteen years. He did not attempt to take advantage of his position and influence to advance his own interests. He stood ever for the good of the order, desiring that every member should share in its prosperity and growth.

       "Crawfordsville will miss this kindly man. He was sociable and none was so humble but shared in his pleasant greeting. His smile and his handshake carried with them sincerity and warmth of hearty good feeling. His family and his relatives are assured that they have the sympathy of the citizens of Crawfordsville in this, the hour of their affliction.'

       The second day of the seventh regular meeting of the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, Wednesday, May 22, 1910, a report was made by the memorial committee, which was unanimously adopted, and five thousand copies of a "Memorial Volume' was ordered printed, containing report of said committee, and including the remarks offered by some of the members present upon that occasion. We reprint the closing lines of the committee´s report: "This great society of the Sons and Daughters of Hur will forever be a living monument to his matchless genius and wisdom. He builded wiser than he knew or even dreamed, because he builded upon the eternal principles of truth, benevolence and honor. He discovered the gate to the paradise of God open wide, and the words 'whosoever will, let him enter, and partake of the fruit of the life-giving tree in the midst thereof´; he seized the opportunity, sat beneath that tree and plucked therefrom the fruit that inspired him to see visions and dream dreams. For he was a man of visions and prophecy, an optimist of the highest type and character. In his visions he saw and prophesied the coming of the great and glorious Tribe of Ben-Hur, and lived to see his visions and prophecies realized and fulfilled. In the advancing ages the glory of his achievement and worth will come to be the more and more realized and appreciated by the coming generations. So long as civilization shall endure; so long as men and women continue to band themselves together to provide protection for their loved ones against the evil day; so long as the historian faithfully records the origin and work of great movements, having for their object the betterment of mankind, morally and mentally, so long will his name and fame remain.

       This is his own monument, builded by himself out of the thoughts of his great soul, and the principles he advocated and the works he wrought: a memorial more worthy and of more enduring substance than that of marble or of metal.

       "And while he needs no other, it appears to the committee that this great tribe of the Sons and Daughters of Hur, who were contemporary with him, and who knew him best and are enjoying the fruits of his services and sacrifices; that it would be eminently fitting and proper that we should leave to future generations some kind of token, memento or memorial, expressive of the appreciation, high regard and esteem in which he was held by us; a monument worthy of him, worthy of our great order and its matchless principles. Whatever we may think, say or do in this regard, in the death of Brother Gerard it can be truly said, in the language of one of old, 'A prince and a great man has fallen in Israel.´'

       At the memorial meeting above referred to many were the appropriate eulogies pronounced on Mr. Gerard, but space forbids more than a cursory glance at them in the following paragraphs:

       G. I. Kisner, of Terre Haute, Indiana: "We offer up our prayers and our tears for those who have preceded us in their departure from this world. Their accomplishments and their valor is given unto us upon monuments of marble, or granite, or perchance, cast in bronze, but the achievements of those to whom we have been united are handed down to us in our hearts which shall be enduring as long as time shall last and they shall weather all the storms of life. Their achievements will inspire us on to higher realms in this old world. Those of us who are particularly united by the ties of fraternity feel deeply this loss. To alleviate suffering and want, to bring cheer, and joy and sunshine, into the hearts and the homes of the people of this world, have they not thus builded well? Otherwise we would not have the Tribe of Ben-Hur and these other fraternal organizations thriving throughout our land. So let us cherish their memory, imitate their virtues and endeavor to profit by the afflicting dispensation of Jehovah.'

       Hon. Charles L. Wedding, Evansville, Indiana: "The fraternal world may well stand with uncovered head about the newly-made grave of our great leader, David W. Gerard. And now that this great spirit, our great leader, has gone from among us let us highly resolve that the great work he has done shall live after him, for indeed his labor, his achievements and his life of toil for brotherly love, for fraternity and for our humanity, should be and are a more enduring monument to his memory than sculptured marble or the eternal granite. And let us pray that this great order, founded by our great leader, and for which he did such Herculean work, shall, like the orbs that constitute the Milky Way, grow brighter and brighter, as the ages pass away; that it shall become a vast and splendid monument of 'peace on earth and good will to men,´ of fraternity, of brotherly love, upon which the men and women of all after-times may gaze with admiration forever.'

               Hon. Michael P. Kehoe, Baltimore, Maryland: "Our departed chief, at first, although he saw nothing but opposition confront him, never for a moment faltered in what he considered to be his duty, but pushed onward this magnificent order, which was indeed his life work. We can only hope and accept the great truths that have been sent to us by the Master, looking for life beyond, and I am sure, in the light of the work and character of our late departed chief, living as he did and considering the works he performed, if there is such a thing as the glorious life beyond, there must be an everlasting place prepared for him who is gone.'

       Dr. H. V. Beardsley, Ft. Worth, Texas: "Sixteen years ago, through Providence, or some other source, I met and formed a very lasting friendship with our late departed D. W. Gerard. He has not only been to me as a friend, but he has been to me as a father, and I do not believe there is a single member of the Tribe of Ben-Hur who has felt the loss of his departure more than I have. He was not only a friend of humanity, but he was a close personal friend of those that met him on those grounds.'

       Rev. Ernest Dailey Smith, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "David W. Gerard was a good man. I know that in forming an estimate of men, a preacher is put to a certain disadvantage. My impressions of Brother Gerard from my preosnal [sic] acquaintance with him, and from what those have said to me who have known him intimately, is that he was just the same behind a Sunday face and under Sunday clothes as he was in every-day attire. There was that evenness and balance and genuineness in him that made him always the same.'

       W. H. Owen, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "Mr. Gerard was more than a member of the Tribe of Ben-Hur with me. Outside of all of the associations in the fraternal work, he was my friend, and my neighbor, and perhaps I might say an inspiration to do more than was intended when I was launched into the affairs of this work. I feel that I have needed him almost every day since he passed away, and sometimes I get weary, for I could always rely on encouragement and the optimism of this man.

       W. B. Ramey, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "For the past ten years it has been a pleasure to me to have been connected with the office, and intimately associated with Brother Gerard, and I know that I voice the sentiments of every good employe of the office when I say that we never had the privilege of working for a gentleman who has been so dear and kind to us as he.'

       G. A. Paddock, Auburn, New York: "I have known Brother Gerard personally for some time, and have always honored and respected him.'

       Mrs. Lucy H. Wilde, Buffalo, New York: "The world was made better by the life of our late beloved chief, David W. Gerard. It was no small sphere in which his influence for good was exercised while he lived, and there are so many good deeds to his credit that the influence still lives and will continue to live, though he be dead. His whole existence was an inspiration to mankind. Never a word came from his lips designed to wound the feelings of his fellow men. Such a thing as bitterness was absolutely unknown to him.'

       J. M. Billips, Jeannette, Pennsylvania: "The influence of Brother Gerard was felt to such an extent that I voice the general sentiment of the Pennsylvania members when I say we have lost the most noted and loyal fraternalist of the day. The impression made on me was that I had met and talked with one of God´s elect; a noble man in his own country.'

       Thus it will be observed by the readers of this memorial work that a great and useful man passed away when David W. Gerard was summoned to close his eyes on earthly scenes. Lives of men such as he have been instrumental in removing the tear from sad faces, that have put the staff of life on the board of the widow, and kindled the fires upon the heartstone of the orphan, these will be crowned with everlasting honor and glory.

       Upon the death of Supreme Chief David W. Gerard, the executive committee of the Supreme Tribes of Ben-Hur met and unanimously appointed Dr. Royal H. Gerard to fill out his father´s unexpired term, from January to May, 1910. At the meeting of the Supreme Tribe in May he was elected supreme chief and has, by successive re-elections, been retained in that office and is ably and efficiently carrying forward the work so splendidly inaugurated by his father - typed by kbz.