"Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why."
"Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why."
Nevertheless we were not at all in harmony with the poem, but felt perfectly willing and wholly competent to instruct our commanders on the correct way to handle troops. As we pushed on through the underbrush and débris of the forest, the smallest stick trod upon would crack like a rifle-shot, and the unearthly howl of a dog, in the yard of a hut near by, made our hair stand on end as it echoed through the woods. The hours passed tediously as we peered through the darkness across the sluggish stream to the opposite side; but a little after midnight movements of the enemy, which they did not try to conceal, awakened our fears; the noise of bodies of men moving from different points, mingled with the sound of voices and frequent shouts, led us to feel that life would be safer and pleasanter behind our battery, when an officer came from the rear and ordered us to come out in a hurry. We didn't stand upon the order of going, but "got, right smart,"—not a word of fault was found, nor a complaint made, out of harmony with the officer's wishes. Company was formed at once, and the retreat up the road commenced, many an eye peering back into the darkness to see if the expected pursuit had begun; and had we waited an hour longer, our march would have been towards the prison-pens of Georgia, for our opponents then crossed the bridge with a force that would have swept us away in a moment; and the longer we live the happier we feel that our curiosity remained unsatisfied. Upon reaching the regiment we learned that our corps, having been unable to accomplish the object in view, as so many other expeditions failed to do, were in retreat, with heavy forces fresh from Lee's army in pursuit, and that it behooved us to cover the three-mile interval in double-quick time if we would join the procession in safety. We had been without rations all day, and for drinkables had only the water that lay in puddles by the roadside; but, wearied as we were, we kept pace with the other companies, muttering bitter imprecations against everybody in general, as we stumbled into holes or tripped over sticks in the intense darkness of the forest road. At early dawn we fell into the line of the retreating corps, but not till near midnight did the army halt with the feeling that it had placed safe distance between it and our adversaries. Then we 'broke ranks for rails,' and, with coffee and pipes, sat beside the cheering blaze recounting the incidents of the engagement. Our little encounter, so insignificant beside the story of great battles, was yet full of interest to us, andsome were missing from our ranks who would never again respond to their country's call. To them and theirs it was the great battle of the Rebellion; to us, who live to tell of it, only an episode of army life.
Nearly a century ago the little town, now the prosperous city, of Fitchburg, Mass., was the scene of a fierce contest that lasted a decade. Never in the history of the town was there contention so bitter or opposition so determined as that shown in the ninety-nine town meetings held during the years 1786-96. The cause of this tempest in a teapot was the location of a new meeting-house.
At that time the "center of the town" was in the easterly part of the township, in the vicinity of the present Union Passenger Depot. Here were located the rather shabby yellow meeting-house, Cowdin's tavern, Dea. Ephraim Kimball's mill, Joseph Fox's "red store," and several dwelling-houses. Westward from this ran a country road (now Main Street) along which were scattered half a dozen houses. West of the present junction of River and Main Streets there were almost no habitations until reaching the high land, now known as Dean Hill, about 1-3/4 miles distant. This high land was early settled by farmers, because of the excellent soil, and comparative freedom from early frosts. Here were two taverns, a blacksmith's shop, a store, and a number of dwellings. These people in the west were considerably removed from the river, which at that time was regarded as a curse to the town, and were desirous of being separated from Fitchburg in order to escape the heavy tax annually levied to maintain bridges. Moreover the west was then the more flourishing settlement, and its inhabitants began to feel that they ought to have a meeting-house of their own, and not be obliged to travel to the easterly part of the town to attend church,—in a word they felt rather abused at being considered a suburb.
Early in 1785 one of the articles in the town-meeting warrantwas, "To see if the town will take into consideration the request of Jacob Upton and others, to see if the town will set off the inhabitants of the north-westerly part of Fitchburg, with their lands and privileges, free and clear from said Fitchburg, to join the extreme part of Westminster, with the north-easterly part of Ashburnham, to be incorporated into a town, to have town privileges, as other towns." Had this request been granted a new meeting-house would have been built near Upton's tavern; but it was promptly dismissed. Baffled, but not dismayed, the petitioners came to the town meeting held in May, 1785, with a proposition to annex to Fitchburg "about a mile or more in width of land, with the inhabitants thereon, of the northerly part of the town of Westminster," and these additional people were "to join the inhabitants of said Fitchburg to build a meeting-house on Ezra Upton's land." This scheme was very artful, but the wise men of the east saw that such a move would throw the balance of power into the hands of the west, and therefore voted it down.
These two defeats stirred up the people of the west, and they determined to carry their point in some way. In March, 1786, they petitioned "that Rev. Mr. Payson have liberty to preach some part of the time in the year in the westerly part of the town." This was certainly a modest request, but was denied, the people of the east evidently thinking that if they yielded an inch they might, at no very distant date, have to travel two or three miles.
All this, however, was but a skirmish. The date of the beginning of the real contest was Sept. 12, 1786, when, it was voted "to build a new meeting-house in the centre of the town, or in the nearest convenient place to the centre." It was thus agreed that a new house was to be built, butwhereto build it was not easily determined. The maxim, large bodies move slowly, was verified in this instance, for, although there was much private sputtering in regard to the location, no further public action was taken for two years. Meanwhile Jedediah Cooper and Jacob Upton, the two tavern keepers in the westerly part of the town, despairing of any redress, determined, together with some of their neighbors, to have a meeting-house among themselves at any rate. They accordingly erected in the course of time a shabby structure, just within the limits of the town, which was used to some extent for preaching; but the proprietors did not take much care of it, and its dilapidatedappearance earned for it the name of the "Lord's Barn." It was sold and taken down about sixty years ago, and the proceeds of the sale (about thirty-six dollars) were divided among the proprietors.
Sept. 9, 1788, the subject was again brought before the town by means of an article in the warrant,—"To see if the town will erect a meeting-house in the centre of the town, or receive any part of Westminster that shall be willing to join with us, and then erect a meeting-house in the nearest convenient place to the centre." This article was put into the warrant by the people of the west, whose underlying object was the formation of a new town, while the rest of the inhabitants were strenuously opposed to this project. No action was taken on this article at this meeting. A few days later, Sept. 23, a meeting was called, at which a committee, consisting of Moses Hale, Oliver Stickney, Daniel Putnam, Jacob Upton, and Asa Perry, was appointed "to find a place to erect a meeting-house in the most convenient place to accommodate the inhabitants of the town of Fitchburg." The result of the investigation made by these five gentlemen was that two of them found the most convenient place to be in the west, two in the east, and the remaining member was upon the fence. A town meeting was held, Oct. 2, to hear the report of this committee, and when it had been given it was rejected, and the gentlemen were promptly discharged from further services in that direction. A motion was then made to place the new house on the site of the old one: this was negatived. Then, "after much consideration," as the record says, it was voted "to erect the new meeting-house in the nearest convenient place to the centre." Such brilliant progress must have been altogether too gratifying, for a few minutes later it was voted "to reconsider all votes hitherto passed relating to this matter." At this stage in the proceedings the meeting was adjourned to nine o'clock of the next day.
On the following morning the parties proceeded to business. It was first moved to place the new house where the old one then stood; this was again negatived. It was then moved to place it "on the hill near Phineas Sawyer's house, on the land belonging to the heirs of Mr. Ezra Upton" (in the westerly part of the town). The meeting was divided on this motion, "to find a true vote," as the record states, and thirty-two voted in favor of it and seventeen against it. So by a vote of nearly two to one it was decided toplace the new house in the west, and it looked as if everything was going on swimmingly. A committee was chosen, consisting of Reuben Smith, Asa Perry, Phineas Sawyer, Elijah Carter, and Jacob Upton, "to be invested with power to agree with the owners of the new frame erecting for a meeting-house (that of Jacob Upton and others before mentioned) in the north-westerly part of the town, if that appear cheapest for the town,—otherways are invested with power to provide materials and timber for building a new meeting-house in the prudentest manner for said town on said plat of ground." This committee was instructed to report progress at the next town meeting.
This was a bitter pill for the east to swallow. Resolved on retaliation, the east called a town meeting immediately "To see if the town will comply with a request of a number of the inhabitants of Fitchburg, to grant that they, together with their respective estates and interests, may be set off from Fitchburg and annexed to Lunenburg." This request was denied. The honest people, who, for the sake of peace and reconciliation had favored the west at the previous meeting, were now thoroughly alarmed. They held the balance of power, and were in a very unpleasant predicament. If they voted to place the new house in the east, the west threatened to form a new parish; and if they favored the west, the east evinced strong symptoms of returning to the parent town of Lunenburg.
Meanwhile, undaunted by this sudden squall in the east, the committee had bargained for the frame of the new meeting-house being erected in the north-westerly part of the town, prepared a site for the new house on the land of Ezra Upton's heirs, and done sundry other wise things. Nov. 17, 1788, a town meeting was called to listen to the report of this committee. Their excellent progress was set forth with great confidence, whereupon the meeting gravely voted not to accept the report, and added insult to injury by summarily discharging the committee from further service. This was done by the peacemakers who were at their wits' ends, and this time threw their influence into the eastern scale. At this meeting a committee was chosen to find the centre of the town. After a survey, the centre was found to be on the land of one Thomas Boynton, about five hundred feet north of the pound. Their report was accepted at a town meeting held Dec. 18, 1788, and a committee, consisting of Thomas Cowdin, PhineasHartwell, Oliver Stickney, Daniel Putnam, and Paul Wetherbee, was chosen to bargain for a site in the most suitable place. This committee bought twenty-two and a half acres of land, a little south of the pound, of Boynton, paying therefor two dollars and thirty-three cents per acre, and the town approved this action.
The west, not thinking this location near enough, resorted to the old scheme of forming a new town, and called two meetings for that purpose, thereby scaring the conscientious peacemakers nearly out of their wits; but for some reason or other the men of the west did not put in an appearance, and these two meetings were uncommonly peaceable. The petitions were dismissed. The reason of their non-appearance at these meetings probably was that the people of the west, who all this time were carrying on their plans vigorously but quietly, as will soon be seen, wished to lull the rest of the town into a sense of security.
At a meeting held Nov. 2, 1789, the town voted "to erect a new meeting-house on the land purchased of Thomas Boynton," and a committee was chosen to take the matter in charge. Two weeks later the town voted to reconsider all former votes; so that at the end of four years the town was in the same position regarding this matter as when it began operations, with the exception of owning twenty-two and a half acres of real estate. The cause of this singular action was the culmination of the move on the part of the west, alluded to above. The people of the west, together with portions of Westminster, Ashburnham, and Ashby, had presented to the General Court a powerful petition for an act of incorporation into a town.
"This petition set forth in glowing colors the delightful situation of the contemplated town—how nature had lavished all her skill upon it—how admirably adapted for a township by itself was the noble swell of land—and that nothing in nature or in art could exceed the grand and imposing spectacle of a meeting-house towering from its summit, while beneath the said swell was a region of low, sunken land which almost cut off the petitioners from intercourse with the rest of mankind.[B]"
This meant business, and the inhabitants of Fitchburg drew up a spirited remonstrance, in which they were joined by the people in those portions of the three adjoining towns not included in theproposed new township. In this remonstrance every statement of the petitioners was denied, and the whole thing denounced as visionary. This matter engrossed the attention of both parties during 1790, and the result was that the General Court refused to incorporate the new town.
After such a vigorous contest a brief breathing spell was necessary; but Sept. 7, 1791, the town voted, forty-one to twenty-three, "to erect a new meeting-house in the centre of the town, or in the nearest convenientest place thereto." This double-barrelled superlativeness shows that the spirit of the people was by no means cast down by the fruitless struggle of five years. At this meeting a committee was appointed to plan a new house. Oct. 10, this committee reported to the town "to build a house sixty by forty-six feet, with a porch at each end twelve by eleven feet, with stairs into the galleries." There were to be forty-six pews on the ground floor, and twenty-five in the galleries, to be sold to the highest bidders, and three years were to be allowed in which to build the house. This report was accepted at a meeting held Nov. 14, 1791. A committee was also chosen to clear a site upon the land purchased of Thomas Boynton and build the house. Dec. 27, 1791, the town with its usual consistency voted "to dismiss the committee chosen to build a new meeting-house from further service." Thus the matter again stood as at the beginning.
For nearly three years thereafter the pot continued to boil, but nothing more was done about church affairs in town meeting, except that on May 17, 1793, the people showed their obstinacy by refusing "to repair the meeting-house windows, and to paint the outside of the meeting-house."
Sept. 3, 1794, operations were again renewed by voting "to erect a meeting-house in the centre of the town, or in the nearest convenientest place thereto, to accommodate the inhabitants thereof for divine worship." Three disinterested individuals, Joseph Stearns and David Kilburn of Lunenburg, and Benjamin Kimball of Harvard, were chosen by ballot as a committee to discover that much-to-be-desired spot, "the nearest convenientest place to the centre." They found the centre to be a little less than a quarter of a mile north-east of the pound, but considered the most eligible location for the house to be about a half a mile south of this point, which would have placed it near the present junction of Main andRiver Streets. Oct. 21 a meeting was called to hear their report and it was rejected 36 to 29. So the opinions of interested and disinterested persons seem to have been considered of about equal value—as good for nothing.
Nov. 21, 1794, a motion "to place the meeting-house on the spot where the committee out of town proposed" was negatived, forty-eight to forty-five. A committee was then appointed to select a suitable place. Dec. 1 this committee reported in favor of "setting the meeting-house near the high bridge, under the hill" (the place the out-of-town committee had proposed). This report was accepted, sixty-one to forty-seven. A town meeting was therefore called Jan. 8, 1795, to choose a committee to purchase the land agreed upon; but at the meeting the town refused to choose such a committee, and so ended the plan of building a meeting-house there.
Jan. 26, 1795, the town voted "to erect a meeting-house on the town's land they purchased of Thomas Boynton, about five rods south-west from a large white oak tree, and to pattern it after the Leominster meeting-house." It was to be completed by the last day of December, 1796.
Feb. 9, 1795, the town chose a committee of three "to view Ashburnham meeting-house, and take a plan of the inside, and consult with Asa Kendall of Ashby for the mode of finishing the inside, and laying a plan for building the house." A week later the report of this committee was heard and accepted, and it was voted to pattern the new house after the one in Ashburnham. "Likewise voted to have the length of said house sixty-two by forty-eight feet, the posts to said house to be twenty-seven feet in length, and that the undertaker to build the house give bonds, with good bondsmen, to fulfil the contract." The contract was given to John Putman, Jr. Then followed other town meetings which regulated the size of joists to be used, and other minor matters that need not be here dwelt upon, Sept. 1, 1795, a committee of five was chosen "to stake out and oversee the clearing and levelling of the meeting-house spot for the underpinning on the town land." At this meeting it was also voted "that the Selectmen lay out a four-rod road in the best place to accommodate the travel to the new meeting-house spot."
At this time plans seem to have been perfected, and the prospectof a new house on the town land tolerably assured; but Oct. 19, 1795, everything was completely upset. On that day a meeting was called "to know the sense of the town whether the former vote in placing said meeting-house should be altered." After some wrangling, it was decided by a vote of forty-four to thirty "to place the new meeting-house at the crotch of the roads, near Capt. William Brown's house" (very near the present junction of Main, Mechanic, and Academy Streets). This decision was final. It is rather difficult to see how it happened to be, for this site was a little east of the town land. The opposition put in one final blow in this way. It was designed to have the house face directly "down street" and the underpinning was laid with a view to this, but the opposition party mustered enough strength to change the plan so that it should face the south and "stand cornerwise to the street."
So the momentous question was finally settled, and early in the summer of 1796 the raising occurred. This was of course an event of great importance, and extensive preparations were made to celebrate it. On May 9, 1796, a town meeting was called "to see if the town will make any provision for the refreshment of the Raisers and also the Spectators that shall attend upon the raising of the new meeting-house." It was then and there voted most amicably and unanimously "that the town provide one barrill W. I. Rum and Loaf Sugar sufficient to make it into Toddy for refreshment for the Raisers and Spectators that shall attend the raising of the new meeting-house." A committee was also chosen, consisting ofDeaconDaniel Putman,DeaconEphraim Kimball,DeaconKendall Boutelle, Reuben Smith, Joseph Polley, Dr. Jonas Marshall, and Asa Perry, "to deal out the Liquor to the Raisers and Spectators on Raising Day." It would seem as if a barrel of rum would suffice to make enough toddy to satisfy the cravings of all that would gather to witness this raising, but the people were evidently overflowing with hospitality, and bound to have a rousing time after waiting for it so long, for before the adjournment of the meeting it was voted "that the committee to deal out the Liquor and Sugar sufficient for the Raisers and Spectators, in case the barrill of W. I. Rum and Sugar already voted should be insufficient, procure more and bring in their account to the town for allowance."
This was the only meeting in ten years where there was no contention or bitterness of feeling. For once these good people were all of the same mind, and a "barrill of W. I. Rum," which in these days gives rise to such excited controversy, in the presumably degenerate days of 1796 acted like oil upon the troubled waters.
The raising came off successfully, but it is not definitely stated how much rum was consumed thereat. However here is a copy of the order to reimburse Deacon Boutelle for the refreshment expenses.
"Fitchburg, May ye12: 1796.
"To Ebenezer Thurston Town treasurer you are hereby Directed to pay DenKendall Boutwell thirty eight Dollars and one Cent it being for providing Rum and Shugar for the Raising of the new Meeting house and this with his Rectshall be your Discharge for the above sum
D CJohn Thurston}38 1Paul Wetherbee}Selectmen."
On the back of this order is written the receipt and settlement as follows:—
1796
"may ye12 Recd a Note in behalf of the Town of fitchburg of thirty Eight Dollers and one Sent in full of the within Order
"Kendal Boutell"
"April 19:1797 Order Settled with the treasurer"
Such in substance was the controversy about the location of the meeting-house. The contest was characterized by zeal, obstinacy, and bitterness, manifested equally by both factions, and so fierce was the strife that the people of adjoining towns, for miles around, were in the habit of flocking into Fitchburg to attend town meetings.
The edifice was dedicated Jan. 19, 1797, Rev. Zabdiel Adams of Lunenburg preaching the sermon. This house became, a few years later, the church of the First Parish (Unitarian) in Fitchburg, and stood until 1836, when it was removed, and a brick church, now standing, was built by the Unitarians on nearly the same site.
FOOTNOTES:[B]Torrey's "History of Fitchburg," Fitchburg, 1836.
[B]Torrey's "History of Fitchburg," Fitchburg, 1836.
[B]Torrey's "History of Fitchburg," Fitchburg, 1836.
ABBOT ACADEMY.ABBOT ACADEMY.
Joseph Cook says, "Andover, Mass., has founded several new Institutions. Under the elms on Andover Hill is a study, in which a prayer-meeting was once held weekly to devise ways and means of doing good. There originated the first religious newspaper. There began its existence an American Tract Society which now sifts its printed counsels, like the dew, over a hemisphere. There, in imitation of a Scottish custom, was instituted the American missionary monthly concert of prayer, in response to the wants of an American Missionary Society, also originating in Andover, and on whose operations now the moon goes not down by night nor the sun by day. There had its birth the American Education Society, which to-day rings its college bells all the way from Niagara to the Yosemite. There was commenced the American Temperance Society, which in our crowded cities has before it a work of which even wakeful eyes do not yet see more than a glimpse of the importance." It was, therefore, natural that the first incorporated school for the higher education of girls in this Commonwealth should find its birthplace in Andover; and that the first public meeting of which we have any record whose sole object was the education of girls, should have been held in its South parish, Feb. 19, 1828, at the house of James Locke, Esq. The meeting adjourned after voting "that it was desirable and necessary a female academy should be established in this place," leaving the matter in the hands of a committee who were to raise funds and see if a lot of land could be obtained. At the next meeting, on the 4th of March, only a fortnight later, this committee reported that the way was clear to draw up a constitution, buy a lot of land, erect a brick building two stories high, for which funds should be raised by subscription, and thatthe school should be put under the charge of trustees. These trustees, seven in number, were: Rev. Milton Badger, pastor of the South Church, Andover; Rev. Samuel C. Jackson, pastor of the West Parish Church, who served until his death, a period of more than fifty years; Samuel Farrar, Esq., treasurer of Phillips Academy; Hon. Hobart Clark, State Senator; Mark Newman, formerly principal of Phillips Academy; Amos Abbot, Member of Congress, and Amos Blanchard, succeeded in later years by his son, Rev. Dr. Amos Blanchard of Lowell. Drs. Badger and Jackson and Esquire Farrar were to draft a constitution, while Messrs. Clark and Newman were to serve as a building committee. But, alas! then, as now, it was easy to vote away money, but not easy to collect it; easy to order buildings begun, but hard to find any way to pay for them. So at a trustee meeting, July 4, 1828, it was voted that it was not expedient to erect a building for the Female Academy with their present means. At the Semi-Centennial of Abbot Academy in June, 1879, several persons were present who remembered the sadness and disappointment which settled down upon the hearts which had been so sanguine of success when the plan was first made public. But it is always darkest just before day, and on July 24, 1828, "most important information" was communicated at a meeting of the trustees. The first site selected had not been universally approved. A lady, daughter of Mr. Adams, then Principal of Phillips Academy, writes, "It was the determination to put the new academy on Main Street; but many Andover mothers were dissatisfied, as this was the street most frequentedby Theologues and Phillips boys. My mother and Mrs. Stuart consequently drew up a petition requesting a change in location. Elizabeth Stuart (mother of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps) and I circulated said petition. When we had received a sufficient number of signatures, it was handed to the trustees, who deemed the 'objections formidable'; so a portion of the 'important information' was that Deacon Mark Newman had presented the enterprise an acre of land on School Street, and that Madam Sarah Abbot pledged one thousand dollars to be paid at her death." Esquire Farrar was ready to advance the money on such security, and it was gratefully voted to take the deed of Deacon Newman, and begin directly to build from a plan furnished by Mr. Goddard, Principal-elect. Mr. David Hidden of Newburyport contracted to do the work, being assisted by Mr. William Saunders of Cambridge, who, it is said, is proud to claim the honor of having made the columns which support the front portico. Professor Park, who came of age the year Abbot Academy was born, and who entered Andover Theological Seminary the autumn the Academy was building, and who often amused himself by walking upon the uncovered floor joists, adds his testimony to that of many contemporary notices which declare the completed structure, with its fine proportions and classic porch, to be not only the pride of the town but of Essex County.
So Abbot Female Academy fell into line with the other beneficent institutions established by men of kindred blood to its founder, and who, like her, were enthusiastic in their love for learning, passionate in their benevolence, and extraordinarily endowed with common sense.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PROPOSED BUILDINGS.BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE PROPOSED BUILDINGS.
The act of incorporation was passed Jan. 25, 1829; and there is no record that any opposition was made or any encouragement offered, although all were aware that it was a pioneer enterprise, for a local journal says, "Abbot Academy is the first house built in New England by a corporation for the exclusive work of educating women." Madam Sarah Abbot not only pledged the one thousand dollars before mentioned, but advanced additional moneys from time to time when the exigencies threatened destruction; and so arranged her property before her death in 1848, that two years later, upon the 28th of February, 1850, the trustees came into possession of a sufficient sum to make the whole amount $10,109.04. Naturally enough the infant institution took her name, for, though Abbot Academy has received many donations since Esquire Farrar electrified her by his decided advice, "Surplus money! Use it to found an academy in Andover for the education of women!" she is still its largest as well as its first giver. The grand-daughter[D]of one Abbot, the daughter of another, and the wife of a third, she led a secluded life, unillumined by those opportunities for culture which she appreciated highly for others, and oftentimes, without doubt, like other great benefactors, half uncertain if the generosity, which to her more than frugal habits must have seemed excessive, was not as injudicious as it was unusual. For, as Rev. Phillips Brooks said at a meeting on behalf of Abbot Academy, in Boston, upon the 12th of January, at the time the school was founded, great ideas and great processes which have not yetbegun to fulfil themselves had just begun to impressthemselves on men's minds. The old and the new existed together; and that Madam Abbot, without advantages of early education herself, could so entirely have appreciated them that she was willing to bestow her all upon the new scheme, speaks volumes for her strength and foresight. Her portrait, probably painted by T. Buchanan Read, still hangs on the wall of the pleasant hall built by her timely liberality; and women, scattered all the way from Maine to Japan, as they recall its sagacious features, quaint dress, and old-time air, say to their pupils, or record in their books, or whisper lovingly to the little children round their knees, that old Mrs. Abbot in far-off Andover was their real Alma Mater.
May 6, 1829, Abbot Academy opened with eighty-five pupils, from the little ones who did not know their letters, to young women of eighteen and twenty. One who was there says, "Henrietta Jackson (afterwards Mrs. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin) sat at my left." Another describes the three gifted daughters of Professor Stuart, one of whom became the first wife of Professor Phelps and the mother of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, who in her turn has likewise been a pupil of the school. As we look over the list of the girlswho went in and out under the Ionic porch of the new academy, we see they were by inheritance and nature well worthy the broad and generous course of study marked out for them by Dr Jackson, Samuel Farrar and the others. That course, of more than half a century ago, was as wide as any laid down in the women's colleges to-day; and although it was gradually modified in conformity with popular sentiment, still it speaks well for the sagacity and practical wisdom of the trustees. It is pleasant to note that Dr. Jackson lived to see his theories of women's education carried into practice by the establishment of colleges for them. Mr. Charles Goddard, grandson of Dr. Langdon, president of Harvard University, was the first principal of Abbot Academy. He was tall and fine looking, with refined and polished manners, worshipped by the little girls and greatly admired by the older ones, who, as one of their number writes "woke up wonderfully and enjoyed their studies exceedingly." "It was the universal opinion," says another, "that the advantages offered by Abbot Academy were very superior to anything in the region, and the building was considered commodious and elegant." French and German were taught by Dr. William Gottlieb Schauffler, whoseromantic history and extraordinary musical gifts had already attracted much personal interest, and whose after career has made his name a household word from the shores of the German Ocean to the Stairs of the Bosphorus. Who wonders that he was a hero to those girls of fifty years ago? No theological student called upon them who had not some story to tell of his enthusiasm, daring or cleverness, and how eagerly must they have listened as the adventures of his magic flute were dwelt upon.
For twenty-one years Abbot Academy was under the charge of principals who were all college graduates and men of exceptional powers, uncommon cultivation, and thorough interest in their work. There was no fund (then as now it depended upon its fees, systematically as low as possible) to pay running expenses, and although its superior character as a school attracted as many pupils as it could accommodate it had a hard struggle to live. Very early in its existence it was evident that its great lack was a boarding-house for students from a distance, and many attempts were made to remedy the deficiency. If the principal had a family, he accommodated all he could; the trustees provided for several brief periods common tables, but generally they lived in private houses scattered about the village.
In 1853 two great events took place. The first was the offering of the principalship to a woman, and the second the resolve of the trustees "that it is indispensable to the prosperity, and even perpetuity of the Academy, to raise the sum of eight thousand dollars in order to procure suitable accommodations for the boarding pupils." Although the link may not be apparent, the second is really the logical result of the first for it was the enthusiasm of Miss Nancy J. Haseltine, who had accepted the position of principal, that urged them on with an irresistible force. She had come to them from Townsend, Mass., bringing a large following of pupils, and she found it impossible to provide for them satisfactorily, besides she saw clearly, as the Punchard Free School was opened in Andover that year, Abbot Academy must henceforth, as time has proved, depend chiefly upon patronage from out of town. There was no doubt about the situation of the new building, the only land the trustees owned was the acre given them by Deacon Newman in 1829; so they must set it in the rear of the Academy, but where could they get the money? Again, man's extremity was God's opportunity. DeaconPeter Smith, who offered the resolution, promised $1,000, Mr. John Smith $1,500, though in reality the brothers Smith gave before the house was finished enough to amount to $6,611. Justly was it named Smith Hall, for its whole cost was but seven thousand thirty-three dollars and sixty-four cents. But how was the great empty house to be furnished? Mrs. H. B. Stowe, then living in Andover, talked it over with Mrs. Dr. Jackson and Mrs. Professor Park and declared a festival should do it. And the festival did bring in $2,000 which furnished Smith Hall, and prouder, happier women never slept on Andover Hill than those who had so courageously and triumphantly carried the plan through.
Smith Hall has now been far more than a quarter of a century the home of the pupils of the academy, during that portion of the time when they are not attending to modern languages. Poverty has been its constant companion, sternly forbidding any unnecessary expenditures, yet it has always presented a cheerful, even tasteful appearance to strangers, as well as to the scores of girls who cherish its memory tenderly. The highly successful term of Miss Nancy J. Haseltine was all too brief, and after her, Miss Maria J. Brown and Miss Emma L. Taylor, sister of Dr. S. H. Taylor, filled the last three years of the first thirty of Abbot Academy. In September, 1859, the present principal, Miss Philena McKeen, entered upon her duties, bringing with her from Oxford, Ohio, her sister, Miss Phebe F. McKeen, as first assistant. Miss McKeen's management of affairs has been as wise as fortunate, as disinterested as successful, and Abbot Academy now stands among the very first of the girls' schools in the country.
The year 1862 is memorable as being the first of a series pleasant to chronicle. The institution was never in a higher condition of prosperity and usefulness, and when, in 1865, the trustees were perplexed by the good news that Smith Hall was insufficient for the number of pupils from out of town, Hon. George L. Davis of North Andover, who had for some time been one of their number, happily solved the difficulty by buying what was known as the Farwell estate, which joined the academy grounds on the north-east corner, and presenting it to the school. It was gratefully named Davis hall, and for many years has been occupied by all pupils studying French, that language being the one ordinarily spoken in the house. Previously Mr. Davis had added two acres of land in the rear of Smith Hall, and in the autumn of 1865assisted in the purchase of the house belonging to Rev. J. W. Turner, on the southern boundary line of the grounds. That house, known first as South Hall, is now German Hall, German being spoken there in daily life, as French is at Davis Hall. To the fact that pupils studying these languages are thus kept out of the way of English speech for so large a portion of school hours is ascribed their unusual success in the difficult accomplishment of easy and correct conversation in a foreign tongue. The amount of Mr. Davis' benefactions up to 1879 was more than $7,000.
At the annual meeting in 1870, the trustees expressed special obligations to Mr. Nathaniel Swift, who had filled the office of treasurer since 1852, and congratulated him upon the wonderful transformation which he had wrought in the grounds. Instead of poor stony pasture land were broad smooth lawns, gravelled walks, flower borders, well-trimmed hedges, and rustic seats in charming spots, which told not only of the exquisite taste which ever guided his hand, but of his considerate thoughtfulness wherever the pleasure or comfort of the pupils was concerned. During the autumn of 1877, in order to secure the whole of the beautiful grove adjacent to their property, the trustees bought fourteen acres, thus making their real estate something more than twenty-two acres.
In the quarter of a century since Miss McKeen came to Abbot Academy, besides these imperatively needed houses, and these greatly prized acres, many valuable collections scientific, artistic and literary have been added; but, as ever, the great want is room, that the pupils may have the benefit of their use, which is impossible in their present scattered condition. The school observed its Semi-Centennial in June, 1879, and extended a hearty welcome to nearly three thousand of its alumnæ. The position was favorable for a survey of its present situation, its past history and its future prospects. Thorough examination of the past proved it had done excellent work; its list of pupils from all parts of the country, constantly increasing, showed it had taken deep root, but its future prospects appeared to be imperilled by its environment. On every hand it was crippled by want of buildings, want of endowment, want indeed of everything necessary to the comfort of a school. It was mentioned with amazement that half its collections were packed in boxes, its books were in every room of the building, wherever a shelf could find room, its pianos in the public parlors,and as for its boarding accommodations, so insufficient were they, it is a wonder to those familiar with the arrangements of the more recent girls' schools and colleges, that Abbot Academy has any boarding pupils at all. That it does, and frequently to its fullest extent, proves to the entire satisfaction of thoughtful persons the superior character of its instruction. Numerous highly valued and gratefully remembered gifts flowed in at the Semi-Centennial, but no sums sufficient to warrant the beginning of new buildings; so the teachers went on doing the best they could, spite of their great disadvantages, and their best was so good, that in 1884 the pressure became so strong, that several architects of Boston and vicinity entered into a free competition, submitting plans for the contemplated structures, and those drafted by Messrs Hartwell and Richardson, were accepted by the trustees, who appointed a building committee, consisting of Mr. Warren F. Draper, treasurer of Abbot Academy since 1876, chairman; Prof. J. W. Churchill, Andover, and Mr. James White, Boston. All these gentlemen are trustees, and in the heartiest sympathy with the high aims of the institution. The plans thus approved by the trustees were laid before the Alumnæ Association at a meeting in June, 1885, and enthusiastically approved. It was then found that they had in their treasury an accumulation of small gifts amounting to between seven and eight thousand dollars, which they had been collecting for the purpose, and the announcement that the trustees, at the first meeting held for the purpose, had subscribed $12,500, was deemed very encouraging. Since that time the trustees have increased their subscription two thousand dollars, and, through the efforts of Miss McKeen, Andover people have pledged about $10,000. In short, about $36,000 has been raised up to the present time. But new buildings will cost $100,000; perhaps, even with the most vigilant and judicious economy, $150,000. Where and how can the remainder be obtained? It occurred to many friends that it would be a pleasant and perhaps a profitable thing to have a social meeting in Boston to consider the question and inspect the plans. Mrs. Daniel Chamberlin (before marriage Miss Abbie W. Chapman), the popular and efficient acting-principal of Abbot Academy in 1853, and now president of its Alumnæ Association, kindly offered her pleasant parlors in Chester Square for the purpose. There on the 12th of January, was held a most delightfulgathering, where the speakers were as choice as they were felicitous, and the company as rarely homogeneous as heartily interested.
Rev. Edward G. Porter of Lexington, one of the trustees, to whose indefatigable efforts the occasion owed a large portion of its success, called the meeting to order, and in the absence of Hon. Rufus S. Frost, who had been expected to preside, invited Professor Churchill to the chair. Professor Churchill whose gift of graceful speech never fails, introduced with a few delightful words Prof. E. A. Park, who has been president of the board of trustees more than twenty-five years. Professor Park responded: "The roof of the first edifice for Abbot Academy was laid the 28th of October, 1828. One week after that day I became a member of Andover Theological Seminary. I heard at once of the new and beautiful building; I think I was the first college graduate who walked on the floor of the present Academy Hall. It was said to be the best school edifice in Essex County or even the state of Massachusetts. Thus it began its existence with an aspiration in fine architecture. The style of this edifice is not so classical now as it was fifty-six years ago. When the academy received its new telescope it was too poor to provide it a suitable place. Therefore a dome was erected on the roof, which disturbed the symmetry of the Grecian architecture. The telescope does good service under the dome; but it is a sign of the indigence of the academy. When I reflect on the progress made by other institutions, I am astonished at the march of events. Twenty years after the founding of Abbot Academy, the little settlement at Chicago had not been heard of at Andover. When Rev. Dr. Joel Hawes received his first request to provide a missionary for that settlement, he asked a friend of mine, 'Where is Kick-a-go?' That little settlement of 'Kickago' has now received a fund of more than three million dollars for a city library. When our academy was founded, no man in Andover suspected that California would become one of our United States; but California has recently received twelve million dollars for the founding of a University. I was acquainted with the founder of Smith College in Northampton, and also with the founder of Abbot Academy. In some particulars the two ladies had a marked resemblance to each other. The founder of Smith College gave to it four hundred thousand dollars; the founder of Abbot Academy gave to it$10,109.04. Those four cents have played a conspicuous rôle in the history of the academy. They have been a sign of its indigence from its earliest to the present day."
"Abbot Academy has real estate valued at forty thousand dollars. Its apparatus, library, furniture, etc., are valued at ten thousand dollars. Its productive and available funds are valued at $33,636. This valuation was made two years ago; and it is now safe to say that the whole property of the institution, including real and personal estate, amounts to no more than ninety thousand dollars. The number of books in its library is 2,630. The number of its books relating to the fine arts is 233. The number of its art illustrations is 3,284. Still it has no convenient rooms for its books, pictures, casts. They are highly valuable, but are scattered in different and obscure places. It has a good cabinet of specimens illustrating conchology. Where is the cabinet? A large part of it I have never seen. It is kept in the boxes in which it was sent to the academy. Where is the scientific apparatus? Where is it?
"The rooms for the pupils are not large enough. Two students live by day and by night in one small chamber. The passages between the rooms are too narrow. The recitation rooms are too small and not well ventilated. The teachers have no adequate support, and could readily obtain much larger salaries for far less work in other institutions. For such reasons the academy asks for an enlarged endowment. It needs $150,000 for its new buildings. Thus far it has received promise of only $36,000. If it receive a generous increase of funds it will flourish; if it does not, it will not flourish as it should. Other institutions will attract its scholars. We cannot expect that future instructors will have a spirit of self-denial equal to that of its present and past instructors.
"After his 7th of March speech, Daniel Webster said to the Bostonians, 'You have conquered your climate, you have now nothing to do but to conquer your prejudices.' He meant that New Englanders had overcome the laws of nature, which had provided them with little except ice and granite; and nothing was left for them to conquer except their prejudices against the system of slavery. Now the teachers of Abbot Academy have conquered themselves, and there is nothing left for them to subdue except the laws of nature. They cannot subdue these laws. They cannot resist the attractions which other institutions have receivedfrom large funds, commodious dormitories, and suitable lecture-rooms and halls. The two Misses McKeen have devoted a high degree of skill and energy to the upbuilding of this institution; but they have had a superior ancestry. They inherited strength and fortitude. They descended from the sturdy men and women who settled Londonderry, New Hampshire.
"James McKeen of Londonderry was connected by marriage with James McGregor, the first minister of that town, who was a remarkable man. He was asked to leave his New Hampshire parish and go to the First Presbyterian Church in New York city. He declined. Londonderry was a more promising field for usefulness than New York. Londonderry has since succumbed. By the aid of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, New York has gone ahead.
"A traveller walking through Fifth Avenue and then through the roads of Londonderry can detect the superiority of New York with the naked eye. Unless Abbot Academy receive a larger and richer endowment than it now has, it will be to other institutions what the New Hampshire township is to the commercial emporium of our land.
"Why not allow our academy to decline? What special reasons are there for giving a new impulse to it? We ask for our new buildings because our academy is the oldest incorporated institution in the land for the higher culture of young ladies exclusively. Its age gives it a title to support. The antiquity of a school is a rich treasure to it. Scores of matrons, teachers, missionaries, have been trained in this school, and have performed signal services in our Western settlements, in Constantinople, in Japan, and in other distant parts of the world. The affections of these pupils are still entwined around this ancient academy. Again, we need our new buildings as monuments to the past services of teachers who have adorned and honored the school. Their example of faithful work and of exemplary self-denial ought to receive a visible and fitting memorial.
"Still another reason is that the endowment for which we ask will encourage future instructors to imitate the example of their predecessors. I have been conversant with many schools, I have not known one in which the principles of mental and moral philosophy, of the English and the Latin language, and of the fine arts have been more thoroughly and faithfully studied than in AbbotAcademy. We do not expect there will ever be a theatre or an opera in the neighborhood of our academy; but we do expect that if we can obtain the pecuniary aid which we need, our school will be the resort of ladies who will devote themselves with zeal and care to the study of science, and more than all to the study of the word of God."
Professor Churchill then spoke in a very forcible and interesting manner of the aims of Abbot Academy, its wish to emphasize the home as well as the school. In a second article upon the institution it is hoped his remarks will be given in detail in connection with a more extended consideration of the aim to which he referred. Mr. Hartwell, for Messrs. Hartwell and Richardson, then explained the principal points of their plans, drawings of which were hung upon the walls. He concluded by expressing the heartiest interest in the academy and a most earnest wish for the success of the good plans in its behalf. Mr. Porter read a letter from Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, a portion of which follows:—