Henry Ward Poole, my 2nd great-granduncle.
The obituary below is for the brother of William Frederick Poole of The Longest Obituary I've Ever Seen (June 2010) blog post. The obituary of his other brother, George Sanger Poole will be posted next. Their partial Poole Ancestry was shown yesterday, February 19, 2011.
Henry's accomplishments include:
Was a civil engineer and surveyor
Invented the Harmonic organ
Became a student at Yale at age 14
Teacher in Mexico
Collector of Mexicana
"FROM BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT
October 23, 1890
Mr. Henry Ward Poole died in the City of Mexico on Tuesday. He was born in Salem, now Peabody, in 1826. He was a civil engineer by profession, and was sent out to locate coal lands on the Pacific coast in 1856. His report was exhaustive, and showed great intelligence and application. He soon after went to Mexico, and was there through the Maximilian period. During that time he wrote letters to the Transcript, and contributed a series of interesting scientific articles to various magazines. His local reputation was made in the invention of the harmonic organ, by which it was possible to produce complete harmony, and one of which was used in Rev. James Freeman Clarke's church for many years. He collected a large lot of books, pictures, crucifixes and other curios, which were sent to Boston and disposed of. He was recognized in all schools at the Mexican capitol, and was honored with the degree of master of arts by Yale College, in which he became a student at the age of only fourteen years. He had a valuable library at his home in the City of Mexico. His death was the result of a protracted illness, and occurred at the American Hospital. Mr. Poole is survived by three brothers and one sister. One of the former is William F. Poole of the Newberry Library of Chicago, another is George S. Poole of the Warren Institution for Savings, and the third is Lucius Poole living in this city. The sister is Mrs. Eliza W. Jacobs, widow of Edward W. Jacobs of Peabody."
A quick Google search provided a wealth of information, including the above photo. Wikipedia is always my friend, especially when there is new data on Henry Ward Poole. Even though the birth date is incorrect, there was much I didn't know. Wikipedia shows a number of locations where his manuscripts / collections were donated, such as The American Antiquarian Society, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, New York Public Library and other locations.
Henry's name is on a family stone located at
Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Massachusetts.