George W. Cullum

One of the most constant attendants at the meetings of the Century, and one of our best known and most respected members, was General George W. Cullum, who passed away in February, at the ripe old age of eighty-three. His life was wholly spent in military service of the country in which he has made a distinguished record. He graduated at West Point in 1833, entering the Corps of Engineers, and until the breaking out of the Civil War was engaged in the erection of fortifications and government works in various parts of the country, during which time, in 1853, he constructed for the Treasury Department the Assay Office in New York City, which, by those competent to judge of it, is deemed to be one of the few choice bits of architecture that decorate our city; he was subsequently engaged in practical military engineering at the Military Academy. During the war he rendered great service as Chief-Engineer of the Department of the Missouri and as Chief-of-Staff to General Halleck, while commanding the Department of the Missouri and the Mississippi, and as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. For two years he was Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, and was brevetted a Major-General for meritorious services during the war. His publications upon military matters were numerous and valuable, and during the latter part of his life he devoted himself entirely to study. He had a most genial, gentle nature; was a choice companion, and will be sadly missed from our ranks.

Henry E. Howland
1893 Century Association Yearbook