Obituaries of Noted Stamfordites

The Guide to Nature Magazine, NOVEMBER 1917

Judge John Clason is Dead.

Judge John Clason Died October 10, 1917 in his Ninety Third Year.

In the death, on October 10th, of Judge John Clason in his ninety-third year, the Agassiz Association lost a Sustaining and Honorary Member and a good friend. The local papers have told in detail of his long and honored career. It is enough for us to state that he celebrated the ninety-second anniversary of his birth on September 8th and at that time was enjoying fairly good health although somewhat weakened by an attack of illness the year before. For a man of his years he was astonishingly active. A local paper thus characterizes him:

Judge John Clason at his favorite spring.

"Rugged in health, abrupt in speech; kind-hearted and loyal, the memory of this old bachelor-farmer who loved and served his native town, will not soon be forgotten."

He stood high in public esteem and in his earlier life was for several years Judge of. Probate and a member of the Legislature. He was the founder of the Stamford Hospital and a contributor to various causes, the whole ambition of his life evidently being to do good to some one, to make some one happy.

From the point of view of The Agassiz Association he was an ideal Member in his spirit of service to others and in what one may term his "intensive simplicity" in nearness to nature. It was an inspiration to observe his fondness for the so-called simple things of the farm. To him his yoke of oxen was the very centre of all delightful forms of animal life. He loved them as one should love a human being. He talked with them, argued with them, praised them, and told his friends of their wonderful qualities and intelligence.

He was a keen observer of weather conditions and really enthusiastic over a sunrise or a sunset. Even the sighing of the wind was music to him. He made every foot of land on which he trod sacred to himself. He loved the fields as a companion. He knew the stone walls and could tell their history. He talked of the days when he was actively engaged in building them and told of his labors in making the stone foundation for his own house and related it not as a hardship but as a joy. He was a keen observer of birds and knew everyone that frequented his farm. He also knew the insects, not merely from the helpful and injurious point of view but from real interest in them. He would listen to anything regarding them as if entertained by a marvelous tale, so keen was his interest in everything that pertained to Mother Nature's productions on his farm. His love for flowers, both from the aesthetic and utility point of view, greatly impressed anyone who talked with him on these subjects.

His fondness for a certain spring of pure water was so intense that to the average person it was almost fanatical. He believed that pure water direct from Mother Earth contained the real elixir of life, and every day he visited the little spring on his farm and insisted upon drinking no other water. It seems quite probable that this love of the simple life was, indeed, a great factor in prolonging the number of his years.

He dearly loved his oxen.

He was a typical gentleman of the old school, mellowed and grown even more kindly of heart with the passing years. His love for his fellow beings was of the highest. He never became crabbed nor miserly but was always genial, open-hearted and frank. The community has lost a citizen of high standard and The Agassiz Association has lost an ideal Member.

He loved the trees and fields.

Obituaries