IN MEMORIAM—J. F. BENJAMIN.

PASSED JULY 15, 1916. AGED 59 YEARS.

"John Franklin Benjamin was born at Belvidere, Illinois, May 6, 1857. That same year his parents moved to Hutchinson and he, at the age of five years, was one of the two score of little children who spent hours of terror in the stockade when it was attacked by the Indians on September 4, 1862. As he grew up he attended the Hutchinson school, his boyhood being spent on the farm. He was married in October, 1889, to Minnie L. Walker. The following year they moved to Pierce county, Neb., where Mr. Benjamin purchased and for ten years managed a large ranch. In 1890 they returned to Hutchinson and proceeded to open and improve Highland Home Fruit Farm, which was thenceforth Mr. Benjamin's abiding place until the summons came that ended all his earthly hopes and plans.

"He was an active factor in farmers' co-operative society affairs and supported all movements for the moral and educational uplift of the community. He had been for many years a member of the M. E. church and of the Woodmen's and Royal Neighbors' camps and a valued and active member of each of these societies.

John Franklin Benjamin.

"Mr. Benjamin left no children, and the wife who has been his devoted helpmate for twenty-seven years survives to face the coming years of bereavement alone.

"His had been a useful life, a life of ceaseless and honorable toil, and that beautiful and valuable property, Highland Home Fruit Farm, largely the product of the work of his own hands, is a monument to his memory which will long endure to be admired and enjoyed by others as one of the model rural places of Minnesota. Few men in the space of twenty-five years have accomplished more than did J. F. Benjamin in establishing the fine, modern home, the large orchard and small fruit and flower gardens and well stocked farm, all of which he had tended with loving hands."

Mr. Benjamin was well known by the members of this society who have attended its annual meetings within the last ten or fifteen years. During this period he has been an active member of the society, often serving on the program or in some other way as opportunity came to him. He was one of the most loyal members of the association, practicing what he preached, and doing all within his power to extend the usefulness of the society. I had a close personal acquaintance with Mr. Benjamin and the highest respect for his character and attainments. As a comparatively young man we anticipated his presence with us for a long period of time, but in this we are sadly disappointed. His wife in a recent letter says, "One of his greatest pleasures was cultivating and taking care of the flowers which surrounded his home. After a hard day's work in the field, he would labor with his flowers and shrubbery until far into the night. He enjoyed taking or sending flowers to the sick, and many bouquets of his choicest blossoms he gave his friends as they drove past or called to admire his beautiful grounds." In this spirit Mr. Benjamin labored to reach others and widen the wholesome influence of his life.—Sec'y.