Reading Van Wickle's Obituary
The Brown University campus is a beauty. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the campus has a collection of some really beautiful buildings, monuments and statues. It is the seventh oldest University in the United States, so most of the buildings there are old, yet strong and still standing, thanks to constant renovation and repairs.

A few of the students on the campus tour

Yesterday, while getting a guided tour of the campus, we came across this wall dedicated to a man called Augustus Stout Van Wickle who, by his profile on the wall, was an important personality in Providence, and who contributed money to build the gate while he was the president of a bank. He died in June 1898 from gunshot wounds during a clay pigeon shoot. The text on the wall reads:

“In memory of Augustus Stout Van Wickle of the class of 1876. By achievement he honored, by gift he remembered his alma mater. MCMI”

Here’s the internet account of his death and legacy, and the Wikipedia entry on the Van Wickle Gates that bear his name on campus.