Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 126

and established as the State Fund, a continuing source of income for general purposes.

The custody and investment of Institute funds was transferred from Philip L. Moen to Waldo Lincoln in the summer of 1883. Mr. Lincoln, son of D. Waldo Lincoln and a graduate of Harvard, was then thirty-three. He was appointed treasurer of the Corporation in June, 1883, but did not become a trustee until a vacancy occurred in November, 1884. Immediately upon appointment he made a radical revision in the accounting system; his first annual report gave a much clearer conception of the financial status than either of his predecessors had produced. For the succeeding decade he was a power on the Board, and the proposals in his annual reports were respectfully considered.

The years 1883 and 1884 saw numerous changes in the personnel of the corporation. Samuel E. Hildreth served for one year while mayor of Worcester. He was succeeded in 1884 by Charles T. Reed for a two-year term. Rev. Roland A. Wood filled the vacancy caused by the withdrawal of Rev. Edward H. Hall, but retired after a year and a half. The Corporation also lost during that period three of its most valuable members. Lucius J. Knowles died February 27, 1884, Stephen Salisbury August 24, and David Whitcomb resigned November 15 of the same year.

Mr. Knowles had been a most helpful member of the Board for nearly thirteen years, particularly in applying his industrial experience to the problems of the shops. He had also been a generous contributor, and made added provisions for the Institute in his will. In addition to an unrestricted legacy of $5,000, he left a machine-shop fund of $2,000. This was augmented by a bequest of $10,000 for the same purpose in the will of Mrs. Knowles, whose death followed that of her husband by about nine months.

Stephen Salisbury, Sr., was eighty-six when he reached the end of an eventful and useful life. In the latter years his vigor became steadily less, but the keenness of his mind and

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999