James Benkard

Thayer, March, Rainsford, Benkard, Wadsworth, Porter, Young, and Noyes, no longer appear on our rolls. Of these, one wore out his life in faithful service to his country in a foreign land, two others, before the fulness of years was reached, had proved their worth, and gained their sure eminence as chiefs in their respective professions; and two, falling gloriously on the field of battle, passed into the memory of the nation as the brightest lights of sacrifice to patriotism that burn in the history of this war.

The Association has expressed in formal resolutions its appreciation of the high qualities of these men who honored us, and whom we delighted to honor, and those tracts which make them personally dear are each day regretfully recalled, as we miss how our gathering the clear sense and tolerant judgements of Thayer, the generous sympathies, ripened but not chilled, by large experience, of Young, and the brilliant yet gentle wit of the accomplished Porter. To remember that our circle once held such friends, and now has lost them, is to recal[l] our grief while justifying our pride in an Association which invites such companionship.

Augustus R. Macdonough
Annual Meeting Minutes, 14 January 1865