TH - Canada Southern Railway

Hfyt Jfattf) of © b a u n c e p JflL Bepeto
New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 1928
FAITH by which a great man lived and achieved—the faith of Chauncey M. Depew
—was made the subject of the sermon April 15, in St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, New York,
by the Rev. Roelif F. Brooks, Rector. Eight days before, the funeral service of this indefatig­
able leader, the Chairman of the Board of the New York Central, had taken place in the
same church.
The paragraphs which Mr. Brooks took as the theme for his sermon were the ones in which
Mr. Depew, on his ninety-third birthday, April 23, 1927, had given expression to the religious
faith which had guided him through his life. They were:
"From my experience of ninety-three years I am more firmly anchored
to the Bible than ever before, and believe implicitly in its
teachings and in the God it portrays. I have always felt a real dependency
on God. My idea of God is personal rather than a force;
not a personality such as we are, of course, but a glorified, divine
and infinite heart, brain and spirit, all-comprehending,, all-powerful,
never failing.
"I think of God as being, interested in mortals and mortal affairs;
Christ as his earthly manifestation; Christ, who understood, lived,
toiled and suffered upon earth as men and women do; Christ, who
died, as we must do before we live a&ain. Christ is God's pledge
of love."
"I don't believe much in chance; you have to make things come
your way and they will come your way if you will follow the rules
of moderation, of not worrying, of diversifying your interests, of
trusting God and loving your fellow beings. A thing, I have never
lost is faith in the efficacy of prayer. I have tested it repeatedly.
It has never failed."
"For a life, abounding in &ood things, in a capacity for enjoying
everything,, in reciprocal attachments and contributions with multitudes
of men and women, in more than my share of health and happiness,
I reverently thank God that I am alive and that I have lived."
New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 1928
n t r a l 1 W G S Q 0 Q Z M Q
Volume IX M A Y • 1928 er 2
C h a m m c e y M . D e p e w , C h a i r m a n o f t h e B o a r d s
>ie§ a t
Bishop Manning. Bishop Stires es and other of the clergy who officiated at the funeral of Chauncey M. Depew leaving the
church with the honorary pall bearers. At the head of the stairs, on the right, is Mayor James J. Walker President
Crowley Is part way down the le stairs; beside him is Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia Uni\ iverslty. Just
ahead ah*»art nf of him la is William K. K Vanrionhil* Vanderbllt.
Jhauncey Mitchell Depew, for
the last thirty years Chairman
of the Board of Directors of
the New York Central Lines, and for
thirteen years prior to his elevation to
that office, President of the New York
Central Railroad, died of bronchopneumonia
in his residence, No. 27
West Fifty-fourth Street, New York
City, at twenty minutes after four
o'clock, the morning of Thursday,
April 5.
Thus passed out of service not only
the oldest officer of the New York Central
family but the only survivor of a
notable group of transportation pio-
neers under whose guidance and creative
policies the American railroads of
today have been moulded into their
present vast network.
Mr. Depew, as had been his custom
for many years, had passed the winter
in Florida, at his beloved St. Augustine.
He returned to New York on
March 26 to attend a meeting of the
Board of Directors, for time had
failed to dull his intense personal interest
in all the affairs of the Company
with which he had been connected
for sixty-two years. He was
at his office on March 27 and 28, during
which days a slight cold developed.
On March 29, Dr. H. Lyman Hooker
was called to attend him, and every
recourse known to modern medical
science was drawn on to offset the
danger inherent in his advanced age.
Through it all in the few days that
followed, Mr. Depew was cheerful and
confident of his recovery, but his internationally
known optimism for
once failed and Doctors Edward L.
Keyes, Lewis A. Conner and Samuel
W. Lambert were called in as consultants.
From March 29 to the evening of
April 4 the distinguished patient's
condition was not considered grave,
but at seven o'clock on the night of