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Honorable Testimonials to Officer McWatters.
ОглавлениеWe have somewhere said that Officer McWatters has received not a dollar for his years of constant, active benevolence. This is literally true: but it is not exactly true in the interpretation which some readers might give it; for Officer McWatters has not been wholly without substantial rewards other than those of the joys of his own happiness in well doing. But we have not space to notice all of these. The one which we presume is most dear to the gallant heart of Officer McWatters, is a testimonial of his benevolent services given him by the Ladies' Union Relief Association, in July, 1868. We copy the following article regarding it from the New York Times of July 31, 1868:—
"Testimonial.—The well-known services of Officer George S. McWatters on behalf of disabled soldiers and of the widows and orphans of fallen ones, received a handsome acknowledgment, a few days since, at the hands of the Ladies' Union Relief Association, with whose invaluable labors he has closely identified himself since the organization of the institution. Mrs. John A. Kennedy, who is President of the Association, presented Mr. McWatters with a very valuable gold watch, purchased for him with private contributions of the ladies of the Association, as a testimonial of their appreciation of his energetic labors in the work they have so much at heart. The watch is richly chased and bears on one side of the outer case the monogram 'G. S. McW.,' and on the other, also in monogram, '1868.' The inner case has the following inscription:—
"'Presented to George S. McWatters by the members of the Ladies' Union Relief Association, in appreciation of his services to the families of Union Soldiers. 1868.'
"It is pleasing to note this handsome recognition of the quiet energy and modest worth of Officer McWatters, who has in many ways and frequently, during the war and since, given remarkable evidence of how much good work, in a humble and unpretending way, is within the compass of a single individual, impelled by a spirit of true philanthropy."
We also append a notice of the same testimonial, taken from The Sun of the same date, since it very succinctly sets forth Officer McWatters' great worth as a philanthropist.
"Handsome and Well-deserved Compliment.—A few days ago Officer G. S. McWatters was surprised by a request to attend at the residence of Mrs. John A. Kennedy, the President of the Ladies' Union Relief Association. There he was presented with a beautiful gold watch, as a token of recognition of the valuable work done by him in assisting the objects of the society. Ever since the war Officer McWatters has devoted all his spare hours to the benefit of Union soldiers and their families. We could fill columns with stories of his work and its good results, but have only room to say that no man of equal means has worked so hard and so successfully. To the assistance and encouragement of that noble institution, the Ladies' Union Aid Society, he has given every moment that could be spared from his official duties. It is a fitting and graceful compliment, when such ladies as Mrs. Wm. F. Havemeyer, Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Mrs. Kennedy, and others of similar standing, so generously recognize the faithful services of their co-laborer. Of course Mr. McWatters has official permission to accept his well-earned present, and long may he live to wear it."
We also subjoin the following from the Tribune, inasmuch as it makes allusion to certain benevolent acts and plans of Officer McWatters, to which we have not referred in these biographical notes, but which are most worthy of record. So good a summary is the Tribune's article of Officer McWatters' claims upon the public esteem as an active philanthropist up to the period of its date, that we copy it entire, though it embraces several matters upon which we have descanted more or less extendedly in these Notes:—
"It is always gratifying to see genuine and unpretending merit recognized and honored. We are therefore specially glad to record the fact that the Ladies' Union Relief Association of this city have recently, by the presentation of a valuable and appropriate gift, so recognized and honored the services rendered by Officer G. S. McWatters to the peculiar cause of benevolence to which they are devoted. The gift is a handsome gold watch, and the presentation was made on Thursday evening, the 23d inst., by the President of the Association, Mrs. John A. Kennedy, at her residence, No. 135 West Twenty-Second Street. The Ladies' Union Relief has been established two years. It was instituted with a view to the relief of sick and disabled soldiers, their families, widows, or orphans, from the evils of extreme poverty. Great good has been accomplished by the Association; and, in its peculiar charity, it has had no ally more efficient and indefatigable than Officer McWatters. Indeed, from the very beginning of the late civil war, this officer has consistently and faithfully devoted himself to the cause of the Union soldiers. In 1861 he was associated with the late Daniel Carpenter in the mission of raising money from the police force for the support of the families of policemen who had gone to the war. In 1862—an assessment having been levied on the police force for the purpose of raising and equipping the Metropolitan Brigade—Officer McWatters subscribed more money to this fund than any other patrolman on the force. In 1863, when our military hospitals around Washington and elsewhere were in great need of lemons for the wounded and suffering victims of battle, Officer McWatters collected six hundred dollars from among the police towards supplying this want; and the lemons so procured were gratuitously forwarded to the hospitals South and West by Adams Express Company. A letter of thanks from Dr. Bellows, representative of the Sanitary Commission, was, on this occasion, addressed to the Police Commissioners. In 1863, also, Officer McWatters was a member of the little band of police officers that rescued and defended our building from the miscreants who attacked it during the July riots, and in that affray he was badly wounded. In 1864 he was one of the originators of the New York Sanitary Fair, and he served as one of its committees, with so much devotion and success that he won a letter of thanks from Mrs. Lane, the President of the Fair, Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont, and Colonel Le Grand Cannon. Officer McWatters, it should also be mentioned, is the originator of the Police Mutual Aid Society, a very useful institution, founded on the principle of fraternal benevolence. The society has served as a model for similar societies—of firemen, post-office clerks, and other bodies of men all over the country. A plan of practical benevolence has likewise been formed and matured by Officer McWatters in the Masonic Fraternity, and has won the commendation of some of the highest officials in that organization. These facts strongly attest the humane spirit, active intelligence, and earnest devotion to duty which have characterized Officer McWatters in a highly creditable career of practical benevolence. The ladies of the Union Relief Society have no less justly than gracefully acknowledged the worth of his character and services, in making the gift we have recorded. Every lover of this country, we may add, and every friend of mankind, will naturally wish the amplest success to all these workers in the good cause of charity."