William Ives Washburn

William Ives Washburn was one of those Centurions whose manner rarely varied; whose suavity, composure, quiet cordiality and occasional retrospective humor were inseparable from his personality. In a way, he was the typical man of affairs engaged as practical adviser, not only in specialized corporation management but in church and philanthropic enterprises. For his interest in church affairs he had the background of inheritance; his ancestry ran back to New England clergymen who in their day had an essential part in governing their political communities. The social rather than the religious or sectarian aspects of these relationships interested Washburn, perhaps amused him; he was able to visualize with considerable humor the weaknesses as well as the forcefulness of the old-time ministerial régime. One of the letters of a distant New England progenitor of his own, preserved in its written form, Washburn valued particularly for its reflection of the period’s social code. It was a protest to the writer’s ministerial colleagues, against their excessive use of alcoholic refreshment at the church convocations of the day. It insisted on the unprofessional picture, presented by clergymen emerging from a religious conference with visibly unsteady gait.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1934 Century Association Yearbook