Harvard memorial biographies ...

Strong Vincent.

63

class at Trinity, and therefore entered as Sophomore in the
Class of 1859.
Vincent was a man of mark in his Class and in the College. His personal appearance was in his favor. There was
not a student, from Senior to Sophomore, who did not on
first meeting him seek to learn who he was. Physically he
seemed fully developed. Of rather above medium height,
he had a well-formed and powerful frame, and his face was
remarkably striking and handsome. He looked many years
older than he really was, and in every respect his mind corresponded to his body. One would have said, on hearing
him converse, that he was twenty-five years old.
He was not a hard student. If the old recitation list
were to be consulted, the marks against Vincent's name
would hardly predict a life of such credit to himself and
his College. And yet when the Class of 1859 graduated,
if the professors had been asked to name those whom the
College in after years would delight to count among her
children, Vincent would have been high in the catalogue.
He had, moreover, warm friends in all the classes, was president of one or two societies, and was chosen one of the
marshals for Class Day.
On entering Harvard, Vincent had given up the design
with which he first left home. A learned profession was
more to his taste than the plain and practical life of an ironfounder. He determined to be a lawyer, and much of his
reading while in college was with this view.
Graduating in 1859, he returned immediately to Erie, and
began to study law in the office of a leading lawyer of the
county. In two years he had become this gentleman's partner in business, was occupying a prominent position at the
bar, was taking an influential part in the public affairs of
the city and county, and stood high in the estimation of
his fellow-citizens. He took especial interest in the political
campaign of 1860, espousing the cause of Mr. Lincoln.
The day after the President's first call for volunteers, he
enlisted as a private soldier in the Wayne Guards. His