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AN OLD NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL

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Library

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030634954

THE ELM ARCH

AN OLD
NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL

A HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY
ANDOVER

CLAUDE M. FUESS

With Illustrations

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

(Sbe miott^itK ptt^^ Cambiitige

1917

Puhlished May tQl7

A?^

DEDICATED

ALFRED LAWRENCE RIPLEY

CHARLES HENRY FORBES

JAMES COWAN SAWYER

ALFRED ERNEST STEARNS

EACH IN A DIFFERENT FIELD A BUILDER
OF THE

MODERN PHILLIPS ACADEMY

PREFACE

In the preparation of this book material has been
gathered from many sources, a large part of them
documentary. Fully two hundred graduates of the
school have generously sent anecdotes and reminis-
cences of their days on the Hill. I am especially in-
debted to Dr. William A. Mowry for the loan of a
collection of papers relating to Dr. Taylor's adminis-
tration; and to Miss Agnes and Miss Gertrude Brooks
of North Andover, for permission to investigate the
correspondence of various members of the Phillips
family in their possession. Mr. Markham W. Stack-
pole, with whom I have frequently consulted, has read
my manuscript entire and has offered a great deal
of valuable criticism. To Dr. Alfred E. Stearns, Mr.
Alfred L. Ripley, and Professor James Hardy Ropes,
each of whom has taken the trouble to read the
volume, I am grateful for important suggestions.
Among the others who have gone over various chap-
ters and have aided me by their advice are Mr. James
C. Sawyer, Professor Henry P. Wright, Professor
Charles H. Forbes, the Reverend C. C. Carpenter,
Mr. George T. Eaton, and Mr. Laurence M. Crosbie,
of Exeter, New Hampshire. My wife has had such
a large share in the planning of the book that it is
useless to attempt to express my gratitude to her.
It is diflBcult also to put into words my obligation to

PREFACE

the Trustees of Phillips Academy, — especially to Dr.
Stearns, Mr. Ripley, and Mr. Sawyer, — whose sup-
port in trying moments has been encouraging and
who have never withheld assistance when it was
needed.

C. M. F.

AnDOVEB, MASaACHUSETTS,

January 1, 1917.

CONTENTS

I. Inteoductoey 1

II. A PuBiTAN Family 5

III. The Founders 13

rV. The Founding of a School 54

V. An Eighteenth-Centuey Pedagogue ... 83

VI. Pemberton, the Polite 98

VII. The Decline under Mark Newman . . .113
VIII. The Founding of Andovee Theological Semi-

naey 140

IX. The Regeneration under John Adams . .157
X. Zion's Hill, and its Men and Women . . 185
XI. An Educational Experiment : The Teachers'

Seminary 204

XII. A Scholar-Poet: Osgood Johnson . . . 220

XIII. The Reign of "Uncle Sam" Taylor . . .237

XIV. Student Life undee "Uncle Sam" . . . 268
XV. The School and the Hill in the Mid-Century 301

XVI. The Interregnum: Frederic W. Tilton . . 323
XVII. Cecil F. P. Bancroft: The Peeiod of Expan-
sion and Reform 331

XVIII. The Centennial Celebration: Material De-
velopment UNDEE Dr. Bancroft . . .350
XIX. The Days when "Banty" ruled . . . .379

XX. The End of an Era 402

XXI. Student Societies and Enterprises . . . 420

CONTENTS

XXII. Some Baseball Stohies 448

XXIII. Football and its Heroes 469

XXrV. The Lube of the Game 486

XXV. Phillips Academy in the Twentieth Century 503

XXVI. Conclusion 526

Index 529

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Elm Aech Frontispiece

Samuel Phillips, Esqtjike 14

Judge Samuel Phillips, Jb 26

The Old Abbot House (on Phillips Street) .... 32
The Phillips Mansion House, Andover .... 32
Dr. John Phillips, of Exeter, New Hampshire . . 46
Some Members of the Phillips Family (Chart) . . 52

Andover Hill in 1786 {looking north) 62

The Old South "Ministrt-Manse" 62

Eliphalet Pearson 84

Ebenezer Pemberton 98

Mark Newman 114

Samuel Farear, Esquire . 114

The Stone Academy and the Theological Seminary in

1840 140

The Theological Seminary in 1880 140

The Newman House {now occupied by James C. Sawyer) . 154
The Phelps House {now occupied by Marlcham W. Stack-
pole) 154

His Honor William Phillips 164

John Adams 164

Andover Theological Seminary and Elm Arch in

1825 186

Bartlet Chapel {now Pearson Hall) 186

Samuel F. B. Morse, of the Class of 1805 . . . 198
Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the Class of 1825 . . 198
The Brick Academy {now the Dining-Hall) .... 212

The Stone Academy 212

ILLUSTRATIONS

Osgood Johnson 2^0

The Latin Commons {on Phillips Street) .... 230

The English Commons 230

Samuel Harvey Taylor 238

The Principal's House (formerly the Samaritan House) . 274
The Pease House (now occwpied by Pieraon S. Page) . . 274

Brechin Hall 310

The Double Brick House {now occupied by George W.

Hinman) ... 310

Frederic William Tilton 324

Cecil Franklin Patch Bancroft 332

The Chapel 352

The Farrar House {at the Centennial in 1878) . . . 352

John Phelps Taylor 370

Taylor Hall 370

The Old Campus in 1890 392

The Old Fire Engine 392

Bartlet Hall 424

Mrs. Stowe's House {enlarged as the Phillips Inn) . . 424

The Football Team of 1883 448

The Baseball Team of 1906 448

Games on the Campus 478

The Phillips Club {formerly the Treasurer's Office) . . 478

The Borden Gymnasium 498

Brothers' Field 498

Alfred Ernest Stearns 504

The Procession on Founders' Day, 1914 . . . 508

The Archaeology Building 508

The Phillips Gateway 520

Peabody House . . . » 520

AN OLD NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL

AN OLD NEW ENGLAND
SCHOOL

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY
It is something to have been educated on a hill.

Some good chance guides us to Andover Hill, it may
be for the first time. The stately Elm Arch, lofty and
symmetrical, stretches out before us, shading the
broad playing-fields which it borders. To left and
right are dignified halls and houses which seem to
reach far back into a New England past. If we come
on a bright morning, we linger in delight over the
view across the valley to the wooded ranges beyond;
if at evening, we may catch a glimpse of one of those
gorgeous sunsets which turn all the western sky to
gold. The great school is near at hand, where we can
respond to the throbbing pulse of its vitality. Hun-
dreds of boys may be dashing to and fro across the
Campus, or, through the half-darkness, lights may be
glimmering from countless windows. Vague recollec-
tions of other towns, possibly of other similar schools,
pass before our mental vision. The particular emo-
tions which move us are, after all, not altogether
unusual. But when we learn to know the Hill, we
realize that it has a peculiar fascination, — • that it
possesses that mysterious thing called personality.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

What that personality is cannot be summed up in
a phrase. It may be that, Uke the charm of many a
noble painting, it is inexplicable and defies analysis.
But that, though indefinable, it really exists, no
Andover man will ever deny. When he comes to
estimate the permanent values of his education, he
will, perhaps, recall a teacher from whom he drew
inspiration, a friend who taught him some vital
lesson, a scholar who gave him a clue to right think-
ing, a preacher who showed him how to guard aright
the immediate jewel of his soul; but there will
be something left which he cannot measure, some-
thing which he seldom appreciates until his youth
is gone irrevocably. Phillips Academy has left upon
him, if he is worthy of her, the impress of her tradi-
tions.

On Andover Hill the very stones have tales to
tell, and every path is filled with memories. Distin-
guished names come to our minds, and we feel as
Wordsworth felt when he walked over the college
lawns at Cambridge: —

I could not print
Ground where the grass had yielded to the steps
Of generations of illustrious men
Unmoved. I could not always lightly pass
Through the same gateways, sleep where they had slept,
Wake where they waked, range that enclosure old,
That garden of great intellects undisturbed.

Associations and reminiscences are alike inspiring.
The ancient oaks and elms, the soft-hued brick of the
dormitories against a leafy background, the gabled
"Queen Anne" residences of a less artistic time, the

INTRODUCTORY

new Phillips Gateway and the newer Peabody House,
— all these blend, the old with the modern, to make
the Hill a lovely place to look upon.

Such a gift of beauty belongs to certain English
schools, like Harrow and Winchester, But their pic-
turesque individuality, so attractive to visitors, is
merged in something broader and finer. It is their
glory also that they are linked inseparably with the
British Empire and its future. Swinburne has ex-
pressed this eloquently in his lines on the four
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Eton College: —

Still the reaches of the river, still the light on field and hill,
Still the memories held aloft as lamps for hope's young fire to

fiU
Shine, and while the light of England lives shall shine for Eng-
land still.

So Phillips Academy, born and nurtured in critical
days when our national consciousness was in the
making, has had its part in our American history. It
is something that "My country, 'tis of thee," was
written on Andover Hill.

It has seemed to Phillips men that the story of their
school is worth relating, not only to revive traditions
and to restate the old ideals, but also to reveal how
closely the life of Phillips Academy is bound up with
that of our country and how much it has done and
can do to create a national mind. Into the school
as a melting-pot come every year hundreds of boys
from widely separated sections of our vast and hetero-
geneous land. If Phillips Academy is to continue to
be great, it must do more than prepare them for col-
lege, more even than eradicate provincialism or keep

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

them in the ways of clean living. It must give its
students a conception of the meaning of loyalty —
loyalty, first of all, to the school itself, but, beyond
and above aU that, to the nation of which Phillips
Academy, we trust, is representative and to which it
has already made its honorable contribution.

CHAPTER II

A PUKITAN FAMILY

A Philups crossed the water with John Winthrop, and from him
descended a long line of ministers, judges, governors, and councillors —
a sterling race, temperate, just, and high-minded.

The record of the Phillips family in New England
is long and honorable. The story properly begins
on Saturday, June 12, 1630, when the sturdy ship
Arhella, with John Winthrop, Simon Bradstreet,
Sir Richard Saltonstall, Isaac Johnson, and other
Puritan leaders on board, anchored in Salem Harbor,
after a tempestuous passage across the Atlantic. One
of the little company was the Reverend George
Phillips, of Rainham, Norfolk County, England.
Like many of the Puritan divines, he was a graduate
of Cambridge, where, on April 20, 1610, at the age of
seventeen, he had matriculated at Gonville and Caius
College, taking his bachelor's degree in 1613 and his
master's degree four years later. Phillips, who had
settled as a minister in Suffolk County, but who was
a sympathizer with the nonconformist agitation then
rapidly spreading during the opening years of
Charles I, took with him his sickly wife and two small
children and joined the emigrants on the Arbella,
apparently acting as oflBciating clergyman of the
party. In recognition of his sacred calling, his parish-
ioners paid his expenses for the voyage. Soon after
the landing on Massachusetts shores his wife was
taken dangerously ill, and within a few weeks was

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

buried in Salem beside the unfortunate Lady Arbella
Johnson, who had died in August, 1630.

The Reverend George PhiUips soon found a suitable
field for his ministrations in the new settlement at
Watertown on the Charles River, wh6re, at an annual
stipend of forty pounds or its equivalent in provisions,
he remained until his death fourteen years later,
taking an active part in the community deliberations
and helping to organize the church of the colony. He
was evidently a strong-minded, independent thinker,
not unlike the contumacious Roger Williams, and on
at least one occasion he was accused of maintaining
the heresy that the Church of Rome is a true church.
In another instance his liberty-loving spirit was re-
sponsible for important historic consequences. When
in 1632 the Governor and his "Assistants" levied a
tax of eight pounds on Watertown for the purpose of
fortifying New Town (Cambridge), the pastor per-
suaded his congregation to refuse to submit to the
assessment, on the ground "that it was not safe to
pay money after that sort, for fear of bringing them-
selves and their posterity into bondage." As a direct
result of this Watertown protest, two deputies were
chosen from each settlement to consult with the
Board of Assistants; thus, what might easily have de-
veloped into an oligarchical type of colonial govern-
ment was turned into a system of popular represen-
tation. The Reverend George Phillips thus, as one
writer says, "assisted in giving form and character
to the civil and ecclesiastical institutions of New
England."

The good clergyman died suddenly on July 1, 1644.

A PURITAN FAMILY

On that day John Winthrop made the following entry
regarding him in his "Diary": —

He was the first pastor of the church of Watertown, a
godly man, specially gifted, and very peaceful in his
place, much lamented of his own people and others.

The few anecdotes recorded of the Reverend George
Phillips indicate that he was a man who, in a pious age,
was conspicuous for personal piety. It was said that
he read the entire Bible at least six times a year, and
that he was able to turn to any stated text without
the aid of a concordance. He was accustomed to spend
the interval between his two sermons on Sunday in
conferring "with such of his good people as resorted
unto his house." Cotton Mather in his Magnolia
makes the Watertown Congregationalist the subject
of a carefully drawn eulogy, in which emphasis is laid
on his faithfulness in office. "He was indeed," says
Mather, "among the first saints of New England —
a good man and full of faith and of the Holy Ghost."
It was for Phillips that Mather, in one of his whim-
sical moods, designed the remarkable epitaph, so de-
lightful in its ambiguity : —

Hie jacet GEORGIUS PHILLIPPI
Vir Incomparabilis, nisi SAMUELEM genuisset

Of the eleven children of the Reverend George
Phillips several survived him — the most important
being the eldest, Samuel Phillips, born in Boxted,
England, in 1625. After the father's death the mem-
bers of his congregation, according to generally
accepted tradition, undertook to educate this boy,
and through their efforts Samuel was sent to Harvard

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

College, where he graduated in 1650. A year later he
became the minister of Rowley, near Newburyport,
and remained there until his death, April 22, 1696.
His estate was appraised at nine hundred and eighty-
nine pounds. Of his character we can discover little,
except that he had "piety and abiUty " of no common
order. In 1678 he was awarded the honor of preaching
the election sermon before the General Court of the
province, and in 1687 he was imprisoned for a brief
period on the charge of having called the royalist
agent, Edward Randolph, a "wicked man." In 1651,
at the very beginning of his ministry, he married
Sarah Appleton, and he left behind him three of the
eleven children born to her. She survived him until
July 15, 1714, her funeral sermon being preached
by her grandson, the Reverend Samuel Phillips, of
Andover.

The eldest surviving son of the minister of Rowley
was christened Samuel, after his father. Born
March 23, 1657, he became a goldsmith in Salem,
married for his first wife Sarah Emerson, daughter of
the Reverend John Emerson, of Gloucester, and for
his second, Mrs. Sarah (Pickman) Mayfield, and
died in 1722 at Salem. The most important fact about
him is that he was apparently the founder of the
family fortune. In turning to trade he broke the
tradition which devoted the eldest son to the Chris-
tian ministry, but he accumulated wealth which was
to benefit his descendants. From his two sons,
Samuel and John,^ are to be traced two separate

' This younger son, John Phillips (1701-1768), became a Boston
merchant. His son, William (1737-1772), married Margaret Wendell,

A PURITAN FAMILY

and almost equally distinguished branches of the
Phillips family. So far as Phillips Academy is con-
cerned, however, it is the elder branch which de-
serves the more attention.

Samuel Phillips, son of the goldsmith of Salem, was
born February 17, 1689, and was sent to Harvard
College, where he graduated in 1708. For one year
he was a schoolmaster at Chebacco (now Essex);
during another he preached at Norton — "very
acceptably," it is said. Meanwhile a controversy had
arisen in Andover over the location of a new meeting-
house. So decided was the difference of opinion that
in 1708 a number of members of the church withdrew
from its pastor, the Reverend Thomas Barnard,
formed a new parish, and constructed a building of
their own, occupying it in January, 1710. In this new,
or South Parish, meeting-house in Andover, Phillips
began to preach on April 30, 1710. On December 12
of the same year, after the prescribed fast had been
observed, he received a formal election as minister, at
a salary of sixty pounds a year while he remained un-
married and ten pounds in addition "when he shall
see reason to marry." Unwilling to assume such a
charge while he was so young and untried, he post-
poned his ordination until October 17, 1711. Soon
after he moved into the parsonage, which was erected

granddaughter of Governor Bradstreet and sister of Judge Oliver
Wendell. Their son John (1770-1823) was the first Mayor of Boston.
Of his children the most distinguished were Wendell Phillips (1811-
1884), the abolitionist agitator, and John Charles Phillips (1807-1878),
who was the father of John C. Phillips (1838-1885), a generous bene-
factor of Phillips Academy. The latter's sons and daughters recently
built the Phillips Gateway on Andover Hill.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in 1710 on the southeast corner of what are now
School and Central Streets.

Like his grandfather and his great-grandfather the
Reverend Samuel Phillips had only one settled parish.
Until April 1, 1771, during nearly sixty years of almost
undisturbed prosperity, he kept his place as pastor of
the South Church. His congregation started with
35 members, of whom 14 were men; before he died he
had added 574 regular communicants and had bap-
tized 2143 people of his parish. In 1727 he said, "I
do not remember one native of the parish that is un-
baptized." He superintended the erection of a new
and larger meeting-house, which was dedicated on
May 19, 1734.

The portrait of the South Church pastor, now hang-
ing in Brechin Hall, shows a dignified, ruddy -faced
man, of commanding bearing. He was accustomed to
dominate in his own community, and his sane judg-
ment, combined with his unquestioned executive
ability, made him easily the leading citizen of the
town. "Are you, sir, the parson who serves here.'' "
once asked a passing traveler. " I am, sir, the parson
who rules here," was Phillips's ready reply. Although
he was not without a sense of humor, his habitual ex-
pression was so stern that his parishioners, especially
the young, never cared to brave his anger. His actual
salary was small; but he inherited some property
from his father, and, as his family grew, he managed
to secure large grants of land in newly formed town-
ships, which increased steadily in value. It was for
the sake of justice as well as of thrift that he once
said to his congregation, "The fact that I have an

A PURITAN FAMILY

income of my own is no excuse for your being delin-
quent with my salary." He had many of the homely
virtues of Benjamin Franklin, and, like Franklin, he
had early acquired habits of order, industry, and econ-
omy, which led him to watch carefully the pennies.
He advised his sons to be charitable to the poor, but
added sound business counsel, "Keep to your shop,
if you expect that to keep you, and do not be away
when customers come in."

The minister had a personality both decided and
original. It was his habit on Sunday to walk with his
household in stately procession from the parsonage
to the meeting-house, his negro servant on his left and
his wife, with her attendant, on his right, the children
following in the rear. When he entered the church,
the congregation rose and stood until he had taken
his seat behind the pulpit. His sermons, measured by
an hour-glass at his side, never failed to stretch beyond
the conventional sixty minutes. He tried assiduously
to guard his people against error; in 1720, for example,
we find him rebuking them in blunt terms for their
overindulgence in strong liquors at funerals; and after
the tremendous earthquake of 1755 he reproved his
auditors for "sleeping away a great part of sermon-
time," strengthening his admonition by a reference
to the shaking "which God of late had given them."
His sermons, which were plain, direct, and earnest,
were carefully numbered and filed away in successive
volumes; more than twenty of them were published,
the most famous being Seasonable Advice to a Neigh-
bor (17 Gl) in the form of a dialogue. One in particular,
a ferocious tirade delivered in 1767 after the suicide

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of one of his townsmen, appeared bordered with
black, with a heading of a skull and cross-bones; so
terrible was its eflfect that the name of the poor un-
fortunate was seldom mentioned again in the com-
munity.

In 1712, shortly after coming to Andover, the
Reverend Samuel Phillips married Hannah White,
daughter of the Honorable John White, of Haverhill.
With her he regularly made his parochial visits on
horseback, she riding on a pillion behind him. Follow-
ing the practice of even the poorest in those days, he
bestowed one tenth of his income on worthy charities,
and she devoted much of her time to distributing this
sum among the needy famihes of the town. She was a
lady of a large-hearted type, who, through her gener-
osity and hospitaUty, increased her husband's influ-
ence.

The Reverend Samuel Phillips died on June 5, 1771,
and was buried in the cemetery of his own church, six
neighboring clergymen being pallbearers. His congre-
gation passed the following resolution: —

That the parish will be at the charge of the funeral of
the Reverend S. Phillips; that at his funeral the bearers
shall have rings, that the ordained ministers who attend
the funeral shall have gloves, that the ministers who
preached gratis in Mr. Phillips's illness shall have gloves;
and voted, to hear the bearers in turn.

In his will he left one hundred pounds in trust for
the poor of the church, and a hke sum "for propagat-
ing Christian knowledge among the Indians of North
America." His wife survived him only two years, and
died January 7, 1773, at the age of eighty-two.

CHAPTER in

THE FOUNDERS
The logical conclusion of Religion is Education.

With the death of the Reverend Samuel PhiUips
the Hne of ministers in the family was broken for
several generations; but the underlying religious spirit
still existed, finding an outlet along other channels.
His three sons, Samuel (1715-1790), John (1719-
1795), and William (1722-1804), all were fitted best
for commercial pursuits, and each in his own com-
munity became exceedingly prosperous; but they were
no less devoted than their father to philanthropy, and
they preserved unstained the family reputation for
trustworthiness and purity of character. Although
they were separated in residence, — Samuel in An-
dover, John in Exeter, New Hampshire, and William
in Boston, — all three were intimately connected with
Phillips Academy. It was through the generosity of
two of them that the school was made possible, and
they all joined later in placing it upon a sound finan-
cial footing.

The eldest brother, often called Esquire Phillips to
distinguish him from his son. Judge Samuel Phillips,
was born in Andover, February 13, 1715, and grad-
uated from Harvard College in 1734. For a short
time he taught the town grammar school in Andover;
but he soon settled down in the North Parish, where
he engaged in agriculture and trading. On July 11,

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

1738, he married Elizabeth Barnard, only child of
Theodore Barnard, and cousin of a neighbor, the
Reverend John Barnard. Before his marriage PhiUips,
assisted by his father, had managed to make a bare
living; but his wife brought him a considerable for-
tune, which he so increased by judicious investments
and the profits of mercantile enterprise that he soon
accumulated more than moderate wealth. In 1752
he completed the beautiful colonial house still known
as the Phillips Mansion in North Andover Center,
and occupied to-day by his direct descendants. Miss
Agnes and Miss Gertrude Brooks. There he resided
until his death in 1790.

Esquire Phillips, who was a man of energy and
talent, naturally assumed a prominent part in town
affairs, and was at various times the recipient of the
highest honors which his fellow citizens in Andover
could offer. So far as we can judge, he was a man to be
respected rather than loved. Tenacious in his opin-
ions and haughty in his bearing, he found it difficult
to unbend and make concessions to the little ameni-
ties of social life. His townspeople, however, had con-
fidence in him, and accordingly we find him in turn a
Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, a Repre-
sentative to the General Court, a member of the Con-
vention of Deputies, and one of the Governor's
Council. In the critical decade before the Revolution
he guided to a large extent the action of the town
authorities. In 1765, when he was Representative,
his constituents, angered by the news of the passage
of Grenville's Stamp Act, instructed him to oppose
the operation of the measure. In June, 1768, after

SAMUEL PHILLIPS, Esquire

THE FOUNDERS

Governor Barnard had dissolved the General Court,
Phillips was sent as a delegate to a convention of
representatives from various towns of the Common-
wealth; and in September, when this patriotic assem-
bly met and expressed its aversion "to standing arm-
ies, to tumults and disorders," he was present as a
leader. In May of the same year, as Chairman of a
Special Committee, he presented a report recommend-
ing that the citizens "by all prudent means endeavor
to discountenance the importation and use of foreign
superfluities, and to promote and encourage manu-
factures in the town." As Chairman of a similar com-
mittee in 1774 he was mainly responsible for a resolu-
tion supporting and confirming the non-importation
agreement recently passed by the "Grand American
Continental Congress " ; and he was at once appointed
Chairman of a large Committee of Safety, whose duty
it was to enforce the execution of this memorable
agreement. During these troublous years Esquire
Phillips was regularly the Moderator of the Town
Meeting. Although he was conservative in tempera-
ment and not altogether in sympathy with the move-
ment for total separation from the mother country,
he presided when the town directed a part of its militia
force to enlist in the Continental army, and voted them
food and supplies. With the actual outbreak of hostili-
ties, however, his son, Samuel Phillips, Jr., gradually
took his father's place as aggressive leader; but the
elder Phillips, despite his instinctive reluctance to the
shouldering of arms, was always ready to lend his
assistance, whether in money or counsel, to the more
radical of his neighbors. The charge of Toryism

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

occasionally brought against him has no justifica-
tion.

In his domestic hfe Esquire PhilHps was strict, but
yet afiFectionate. There is much pathos in the fact
that, of the seven children born to him, only one,
Samuel Phillips, Jr., lived to maturity. The letters
written by Esquire Phillips to this boy show the
father as a man of the Puritan-stoic type, exacting,
inflexible, but with a sensitive and tender heart. He
was a natural aristocrat, without the gift for mingling
on terms of intimacy with those beneath him in birth
and fortune; like Byron, he was "for the people, but
not of them." Scrupulously just, courageous, gen-
uinely benevolent, he was never able, as his son was,
to make himself truly popular. Very few ever found
the way beneath that chilling dignity to the warm
heart of the man himself.

At the time when Esquire Phillips died, August 21,
1790, he was President of the Board of Trustees of
Phillips Academy, and Ebenezer Pemberton, then
Principal of the school, was selected to deliver the
"funeral oration." The obituary notice in the
Centinel sums up his character with fairness if not
with enthusiasm: —

It is but a just tribute to uncommon merit to observe,
that if integrity of heart, and purity of morals, an ex-
emplary conduct in private life, a conscientious, faithful
discharge of the various offices he sustained, and singular
liberality in the cause of religion and learning constitute a
good and great character, it was emphatically his.

Of Mrs. Phillips, who died November 29, 1789, we
know very little, although one authority says, "Her

THE FOUNDERS

letters are very interesting, and show her to have been
a woman of great piety and strong rehgious views."
The epitaph placed over the tomb of her and her
husband reads as follows: —

This pair were friends to order in the Family, Church,
and Commonwealth; examples of Industry and Economy,
and patrons of Learning and Religion.

Esquire Phillips, with his wealth and public spirit,
was an ideal founder for a great school; but Phillips
Academy would probably never have been estab-
lished had it not been for the enterprise and fertile
genius of his son and heir, Samuel Phillips, Jr. To
him the institution must look as to its true creator,
for it was his active mind that conceived the project
and his will that made it a reality. Fortunately the
necessary funds were at his disposal, provided by
his father and his childless uncle, John; but part of
the financial sacrifice involved was his also, for, in
urging the endowment of Phillips Academy, he was
resigning voluntarily no small portion of his own
inheritance.

On February 5, 1752, only a few days after Esquire
Phillips had occupied his new mansion at North
Andover, his sixth child, Samuel, was born. This
house, with its beautiful paneling, its wealth of pew-
ter and silver, its tapestries and embroideries, and its
commanding situation, was the center of the sparsely
settled community around the North Parish meeting-
house — a district where the deer still roamed in the
town forests and a bear was occasionally shot by
a watchful farmer. In one section of the mansion

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Esquire Phillips continued his business as merchant
and trader. In the great house the boy grew up very-
lonely. All but one of his brothers and sisters died in
childhood. His sister, Hannah, ten years older than
he, was hardly suited to be his playmate, and even she
was taken away in 1764, when he was only twelve
years old. He was a delicate child, who required
tender nursing and constant care. As his poor health
prevented his taking part in the usual rough games
of boyhood, he grew up somewhat solitary, fonder of
books than of sports, and precocious in his studies.
The atmosphere in his home also had its eflfect in
making him prematurely a man. There he learned
nearly every virtue except, perhaps, the saving grace
of humor; for his family, like most of those who
fought through that pioneer period, took everything,
including themselves, very seriously. In some respects
this distrust of frivolity and even of harmless pleas-
ure was for them an advantage, for it enabled them to
pursue, without wavering or misgiving, the course
which their heritage and tastes made all but inevi-
table for them. The young Samuel, at any rate,
accepted passively, or at least without protest, the
discipline which was constantly shaping his career
towards a preconceived end. The men of that age
were thrown into a time when the manly virtues were
all-essential; and the Puritan education, despite its
frequent joylessness and its artistic shortcomings,
was of the kind to produce heroes.

By the spring of 1765 Samuel Phillips, Jr., was
ready to enter Dummer School at South Byfield.
This institution, the forerunner of a new scheme of

THE FOUNDERS

education, had been established on March 1, 1763, in
accordance with the terms of the will of the late
Lieutenant-Governor William Dummer. The dis-
tinguished but eccentric Master, Samuel Moody,
was the first Preceptor, and under him Phillips com-
menced his studies. The system to which the boy
was subjected was in some respects singular enough.
Master Moody believed in the efficacy of audible
study, and his classroom, filled with the droning and
murmuring of the scholars, was a Babel of confused
sounds. Every day at the hour of high tide in the
near-by river the boys were driven from their benches
for a swim in the stream. These peculiarities aside,
however, Master Moody was a conscientious and per-
severing teacher, and young Phillips received under
him a drill in first principles which he never forgot.
It was at Dummer that Phillips formed with his
fellow student, Eliphalet Pearson, a friendship which
was to mean much to Phillips Academy.

From Dummer School Phillips went on in 1767
to Harvard. Here he was a faithful and painstaking
scholar, apparently rather slow to grasp ideas, but in-
defatigable in his application to books. His progress
was frequently blocked by attacks of illness, which
compelled him, often for weeks at a time, to retire to
his home at North Andover. He was too reticent and
reserved to make many close friends, but his acquaint-
ance was large and he was generally respected.

From the opening of Harvard in 1636 the members
of the different classes had been arranged in the
Catalogue, not alphabetically as to-day, but in the
order of their social position in the community. On

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

this basis Phillips was assigned to the eighth place;
but at a meeting of the Tutors of the college, held
on August 18, 1769, Esquire Phillips entered a pro-
test against this ruling and succeeded in proving his
case. Accordingly Samuel Phillips, Jr., was at once
promoted to seventh place, ahead of a young man
named Murray, and the father's rank was thereby
vindicated. On the following evening the son wrote
in his Journal : —

Came to Cambridge Wednesday, and found I was put
with Osgood in chamber No. 26, HoUis Hall; very good
chamber. This afternoon I received a copy of a vote
wherein I was ordered to sit between Vassal and Murray;
it occasions considerable talk. Some say I bought it, others
I have tried for it; but promotion always breeds enemies,
and envious ones are the most spiteful ; let me be interested
in the Lord, and no matter who is against me.

His father, in corresponding with his son about the
affair, showed the tenacious spirit of the family : —

The eyes of all above and below you will be upon you,
and I wish it might be that you could be at home till the
talk about the change was a little over. Every word,
action, and even your countenance will be watched,
particularly by those that envy you. Keep as much
retired as possible, waive all conversation about it. If
you need councel consult Mr. Eliot about it privately,
and keep his advice to yourself. Treat Murray with
kindness, but by no means give the most distant hint of yield-
ing your place.

It would be hard to acquit either member of the
family of a little worldly pride in the happy conclu-
sion of this episode. One fortunate result was a vote
by the Board of Overseers that "for the future the

THE FOUNDERS

practice should be laid aside, and that the names of
the scholars in each class should be placed in alpha-
betical order."

During the greater part of his college course Phil-
lips kept a diary, which is full of despondency and
self-depreciation. The morbid introspection which it
reveals is not unlike that so faithfully recorded in the
writings of John Bunyan. Phillips repeatedly laments
his waste of valuable minutes; he seldom examines
his conduct without reproaching himself for having
fallen short of his high ideals. Some entries during his
Sophomore year illustrate his state of mind: —

August 28, 1768: — I am now beginning another week;
may I be enabled to perform in the best manner (for a
frail creature) my duty to God, my fellow-creatures, and
myself.

March 25, 1769 : — Last Monday evening was observed
here as the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act;
but the fatigue that I experienced therefor is folly; I have
misspent a vast deal of precious time.

August 19, 1769 : — I have spent this vacancy very
differently from my purpose; made no addition to my
little stock of knowledge, only gained a little farther
knowledge of the world.

December 9, 1769 : — Many valuable thoughts are gone
entirely, for want of proper care to lay them up or fix them
in the noble repository of the soul.

Phillips never really outgrew this habit of self-
criticism, and even in mature life he could not refrain
from condemning himself for faults which to any
less sensitive conscience would have seemed trivial.

But events were taking place which were to draw
the young man away from petty personal matters into

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the whirlpool of larger and more vital issues. The
Townshend Acts of 1767 had aroused protests
throughout Massachusetts. British troops were land-
ing in Boston. In 1770 the house of Chief Justice
Hutchinson was sacked by an angry mob, and on
March 5 of the same year occurred the Boston
Massacre, with all its attendant and ensuing excite-
ment. Many incidents of that crucial period were
driven home to the Harvard undergraduates. In 1769
the General Court, alarme'd by the continued presence
of British regulars in the capital, adjourned to
Cambridge, and held sessions in the college chapel.
Passions ran high in the student body. The class of
1769 voted unanimously "to take their degrees in
the manufactures of the country." A letter from the
Reverend Andrew Eliot to Thomas HoUis in Lon-
don describes the temper of the young collegians: —

The removal of the General Court to Cambridge hinders
the scholars in their studies. The young gentlemen are
already taken up with politics. They have caught the
spirit of the times. Their declamations and forensic dis-
putes breathe the spirit of liberty. This has always been
encouraged, but they have sometimes been wrought up
to such a pitch of enthusiasm, that it has been diflBcult for
their tutors to keep them within due bounds; but their
tutors are fearful of giving too great a check to a disposi-
tion which may, hereafter, fill the country with patriots,
and choose to leave it to age and experience to check their
ardor.

That Samuel Phillips, Jr., was one of those "taken
up with poUtics " is indicated by an oration on Liberty,
written at about this period, in which he praises
Brutus and Rienzi. One passage reads as follows: —

; THE FOUNDERS

Let this truth be indelibly engraved on our breasts, that
we cannot be happy without we are free, and may it have
a desirable effect. The cause requires our utmost vigilance ;
we should watch against every encroachment, and with all
the fortitude of calm, intrepid resolution oppose them, lest
the burden should become too great, or from length of
time acquire such a force that the difficulty will become
insurmountable. It is a matter of very great importance.
The consequences will not only be great, but very lasting.
Unborn generations will either bless us for our activity
and magnanimity, or curse us for our sloth 'and pusilla-
nimity. '

The momentous issues at stake during these years
while he was at Harvard are discussed in Phillips's
Journal with a detail and a vigor which prove his
absorbing interest in the threatened crisis of Eng-
land's colonial affairs. Unlike his conservative father
and his loyalist uncle John, he was heartily in sym-
pathy with even the most radical of revolutionary
measures. One who knew him at this time said of
Phillips: "I never saw him so much interested in any-
thing else, as he was in the Revolution, unless it was
the Academy."

Among his fellows, meanwhile, Phillips had won
his way to a place of recognized leadership, not only
in scholarship, but also in the other phases of collegi-
ate life. He was, for instance, "either a founder or a
leading member of three select associations, devoted
to scientific or patriotic pursuits." One of these was
the well-known Institute of 1770, still in existence.
His connection with religious organizations gave
him a name for sincere and unostentatious piety.
That he was not averse to a certain kind of conviv-

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

iality is shown by a letter to his father. May 27, 1771,
in which he strives in a somewhat solemn fashion
to convince that gentleman of the desirability of
his givmg a "spread" during the Commencement
exercises.

Samuel Phillips, Jr., was only nineteen when he
received his Bachelor's degree as a member of the
class of 1771. A Salutatory Oration in Latin, appar-
ently delivered on the Commencement platform, is
still preserved, in a portion of which he pays compli-
ments to President Holyoke, several of the Faculty,
and Harvard College. The young man had unques-
tionably justified the expectations of his proud and
critical father.

Esquire Phillips's satisfaction in his son's career
was, however, to be somewhat dampened. While
Samuel Phillips, Jr., was residing in Cambridge, he
became intimately acquainted with Miss Phcebe
Foxcroft, youngest daughter of the Honorable Fran-
cis Foxcroft, of that city. She was handsome, cul-
tivated, and attractive, and belonged to an excel-
lent family, in which she had received many social
and educational advantages; but unfortunately she
was nearly nine years older than her admirer, and
Phillips's parents saw in this disparity an insuperable
objection to the match. The argument that his uncle
John of Exeter had taken for a wife a woman eigh-
teen years his senior might have been used with efifect
by the nephew; but Esquire Phillips's consent was
withheld, and, as a result, the young man, shortly
after leaving Harvard, fell seriously ill. At a moment
when his life was despaired of, he confided to his

THE FOUNDERS

physician that he was dying of disappointed hope far
more than of the mere physical disease with which
he was aflOiicted. The doctor interceded with the par-
ents, who for once found themselves obliged to yield.
The whole incident suggests that beneath a calm
exterior Phillips concealed a strong and passionate
nature.

Luckily the concession was not too late; the patient
soon recovered, and, after a delay of two years, the
marriage was celebrated in 1773. The two thus united
were decidedly different in character: he was quiet,
sedate, and economical; she was impulsive, lively, and
extravagant. In every respect she seemed younger
than he. The marriage proved to be exceedingly
happy, and even Esquire Phillips had no reason to
regret the approval wrung from him with so much
difficulty. The younger Phillips was an adoring
husband; indeed, on one occasion, in 1785, he
observed the twelfth anniversary of their wedding
by presenting' her with a copy of some verses attrib-
uted to Benjamin Franklin, a few stanzas of which
may well be quoted: —

Of their Chloes and Phillises poets may prate,

I sing my plain country Joan,
Now twelve years my wife, still the Joy of my Life,

Blest day when I made her my own.

In peace and good order my Household she keeps,

Right careful to save what I gain;
Yet cheerfully spends, and smiles on the friends

I've the pleasure to entertain.

Am I laden with care, she takes off a large share
That the Burden ne'er makes me to reel;
25

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Does good fortune arrive, the joy of my wife.
Quite doubles the pleasure I feel.

Was the fairest young princess with millions in purse

To be had in exchange for my Joan,
She cou'd not be a better wife, might be a worse, —

I '11 cling to my lovely old Joan.

The couple had tvi^o children: John Phillips, bom
August 18, 1776, who inherited the Phillips Mansion
in North Andover; and Samuel Phillips, born in 1782,
who died of a fever when he was only fourteen years
old. Madame Phillips survived her husband by ten
years. At her death Eliphalet Pearson, in speak-
ing of her and her husband, paid them a deserved
tribute: —

Of them both it may be said that their hearts were not
more united by mutual esteem and affection, than by acts
of charity and munificence.

Only three months before his wedding Samuel
Phillips, Jr., had been elected Town Clerk and
Treasurer of Andover in place of his father, and his
talent in administrative and deliberate business soon
brought him into prominence. It must be remembered
that he lived literally in "times that tried men's
souls." He may have been too young to hear of
Braddock's defeat, but he could understand Wolfe's
glorious victory at Quebec and he knew the signifi-
cance of the Peace of Paris (1763), which gave Eng-
land control of North America. In college he had
watched with sympathy the growing disafifection of
the patriotic party; and now as a leader in town
affairs he was to have a chance to turn his rhetorical
phrases about liberty into practical action. Early in

JUDGE SAMUEL PHILLIPS, Jr.

THE FOUNDERS

1774 he headed a town committee appointed to
draw up a series of resolutions, which closed with
the following emphatic declaration of the colonial
temper: —

Resolved, that no person in this town, who has hereto-
fore been concerned in vending tea, or any other person,
may on any pretence whatever, either sell himself, or be
in any way accessory to selling any tea of foreign importa-
tion, while it remains burdened with a duty, under penalty
of incurring the town's displeasure.

When he was only twenty-three years old, his
townspeople chose him as a delegate to the Provincial
Congress which assembled at Watertown on July 19,
1775. During the four stormy sessions of that body,
lasting until May 10, 1776, Phillips not only made a
reputation as a persuasive speaker, but also served on
many important committees, including one deputed
to confer with General Washington on military
matters connected with the siege of Boston. Of this
assembly, which was attended by such distinguished
patriots as Samuel Adams and John Hancock,
Phillips was one of the most influential members. A
competent critic said of him: —

His speeches were clear, concise, logical, direct, and
nervous; but he made no effort to amuse the fancy, and
never sacrificed anything to mere rhetoric.

He spent many hours in discussing the then inevit-
able conflict, in seeking to secure loans for the colonial
government, and in doing his utmost to arouse and
sustain enthusiasm for the cause. He was appointed
Chairman of a committee for moving the books in the
Harvard Library to safer situations in Andover and

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

other inland towns; and on June 17, 1775, the day of
Bunker Hill, he wrote in a hasty note to his wife: —

Amid all the terrors of Battle I was so busily engag'd in
Harvard Library, that I never even heard of the engage-
ment, — I mean the siege (but don't speak of it) till it was
complete.

Many of the books then packed by Phillips were
carted over the road to "the house of George Abbot,
Esq.," in Andover, the building which was soon to be
Phillips's temporary home.

Although Samuel Phillips, Jr., saw no actual serv-
ice in the army, he accomplished much in a very
practical way by providing a supply of ammunition
for the troops. From the noise of the first shot at
Concord Bridge the colonists had been hampered in
their military operations by a scarcity of powder. At
Bunker Hill the defenders of the fortifications had
been obliged to retreat solely because ammunition
was lacking. General Israel Putnam cried in vain,
"Powder, powder, ye gods, give us powder!" On
July 3, 1775, General George Washington assumed
command of the forces in front of Boston, and made
plans for a vigorous investment of the city. It
shortly became evident, however, that there was
on hand only enough powder for some nine or ten
rounds to a man, and letters were immediately dis-
patched to the other colonies asking for aid. Under
the strain of these annoyances Washington wrote to
Congress : —

It is not in the pages of history, perhaps, to furnish a
case like ours. To maintain a post within musket shot of

THE FOUNDERS

the enemy for six months together without ammunition
... is more, probably, than was ever attempted.

Meanwhile the General Court at Watertown was
demanding from the various towns their quota of
powder, and considering plans for the construction of
powder-mills. The first definite move was taken on
January 3, 1776, when Samuel Phillips, Jr., proposed,
with sufficient encouragement from the Common-
wealth, to build a powder-mill at Andover at his own
expense. On January 8 the Court voted its sanction,
agreeing to supply him with sulphur and saltpeter for
a year at cost, and to pay him a bounty of eightpence
a pound for all his product; he, in turn, promised "to
keep a good and sufficient guard about the mill." At
once Phillips left his legislative duties, hastened to
Andover, and, after securing a mill-site on the Shaw-
sheen River, near the present Marland Village, called
an informal meeting of his neighbors and explained
his project. "I want your help," he said, "and I will
undertake to pay you if the business prospers; but if
it fails, you must consent to lose your labor and your
time." Not a man hesitated, and, despite the severe
winter weather, they began the next day to dig the
mill-race, Phillips himself handling a pick and shovel
with the others. Meanwhile his boyhood friend,
Eliphalet Pearson, who was then settled in Andover,
was carrying on the necessary experiments. Day
after day he toiled patiently, testing various kinds of
nitrous earths, and covering the desks in the town
grammar school with pans of chemicals while he
occupied himself with formulas. To secure heat he
even took one of the stoves from the Old South

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

meeting-house. At one time he feared that he might
lose his eyesight from the effects of the poisonous
fumes. At last, after thirteen successive tests, covering
more than twenty-four hours, he was rewarded by a
satisfactory reaction, so that by May 10, 1776, the
mill was prepared to begin deliveries of powder.
Before this date, on March 17, General Howe had
evacuated Boston, and the immediate danger for
Massachusetts was over; but the plant continued to
furnish ammunition to the American forces during
the remaining years of the war. Many British prison-
ers were employed in the mill, some of whom, accord-
ing to Phillips, "had married, had children, taken the
oath of allegiance, paid taxes, and become useful
members of society." At critical times the workmen
labored day and night, Sundays included, and when
the supply of saltpeter gave out, they tore up the
floors of old sheds and barns in quest of the precious
earth. In 1778 a serious explosion destroyed a portion
of the plant, and killed three employees. This dis-
aster caused so much consternation in the town that
operations were for a brief period suspended. The
General Court, however, granted Phillips the sum of
four hundred pounds as a recompense for his losses,
and the business continued although the owner grad-
ually began to transform the plant into a paper-
mill. Even after Yorktown, powder was made at a
profit to Judge Phillips; but a second explosion on
October 19, 1796, in which two men were killed, led
him to abandon the enterprise and to devote his
attention to manufacturing paper. This paper busi-
ness was retained in the family until 1820, when, with

THE FOUNDERS

the death of Colonel John Phillips, it passed into
other hands.

It was during this period, when the powder mill
was being projected and the British army was being
driven from Massachusetts shores, that Phillips and
Pearson were associated in a plan for the founding of
a school. The story of the inception and establish-
ment of Phillips Academy will be related in another
chapter; but it is worth remembering, as an illustra-
tion of both his versatility and his courage, that, in
the midst of a busy political and business life, when
only a small number of patriots had any real confi-
dence in the future of the new government, Samuel
Phillips, Jr., did not hesitate to lay the cornerstone
of an enduring national institution.

During the first four years after their marriage
Phillips and his wife lived in the North Parish : for a
time in the family mansion of Esquire Phillips, and
later in "a little old house beyond that residence." In
the spring of 1777, after the transfer of part of the
estate of George Abbot in the South Parish to
Esquire Phillips had been effected, the younger
Phillips, at his father's request, moved into the old
Abbot house. In this dwelling, which until 1889
stood on the north side of Phillips Street west of
the site of the Latin Commons, the Constitution of
Phillips Academy was signed and the early meetings
of the Trustees were held. Later it was used in turn
as a residence for the first three principals of the
school, Pearson, Pemberton, and Newman. Indeed it
was in order to make room for Pearson that Phillips,
in April, 1780, moved out, and found another tempo-

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

rary home in "a little red house on the Woburn
Road," 1 the title to which he purchased from the
"widow Chandler." He lived here for two years; here
his wife's mother, Mrs. Foxcroft, died, and here too
his second son, Samuel, was born.

Meanwhile Phillips, prosperous in business, was
planning a house more suited to his rank and station.
In 1782 he deeded to the Trustees of Phillips Academy
a piece of land comprising something over three acres
on the southwest corner of the present main campus,
and received in exchange nearly two acres on the
opposite, or west side of the Boston- Woburn Road.
There he soon began work on his new home. The con-
struction of this mansion, the largest and finest built
up to that time in Andover, caused widespread ex-
citement in the vicinity. The frame, made of choice
New Hampshire lumber, was raised in sections, and,
when it was put up, stores and schools were closed,
and men, women, and children assembled in the early
morning on the training-field in front of the stone
foundations. That stalwart veteran, the Reverend
Jonathan French, then offered prayer, and everybody
seized "ropes and pikes" to hoist the scaffolding into
place. Cheer upon cheer rang out as the final success-
ful pull was taken, and the weary laborers sought
refreshment in tubs of punch provided by the
thoughtful owner. By December, 1782, Phillips and
his family were able to settle in the Mansion House,

' This house was later remodeled and occupied for many years by
Moses Abbot, Judge Phillips's confidential clerk. It is now owned by
Mr. Fred Berry, but it has been painted white, and has been so much
renovated as to make it hardly recognizable to old Andoverians.

THE OLD ABBOT HOUSE ON PHILLIPS STREET

THE PHILLIPS MANSION HOUSE, ANDOVER

THE FOUNDERS

although it was not entirely completed until the
autumn of 1785.

When it was finished, it dominated the hill and the
town like a baronial castle. The tale of its sixty-two
windows was told the country round. Like many of
the historic residences of Newburyport and Salem it
had three stories with large square rooms, broad open
fireplaces, wide window-seats, fine paneling and
wainscoting, and ponderous doors on massive hinges.
The key, still preserved in the Phillips Club, is of
enormous size and weight, comparable to that which
unlocked the gates of the Bastille. The doors and
windows, nevertheless, were never barred except with
a wooden catch, and Judge Phillips was host to nearly
every passing traveler. As he rose to be a prominent
figure in the State his home became more and more a
center of generous hospitality; there several grand-
nephews of General Washington found lodging while
they attended Phillips Academy; and there Washing-
ton himself, an old friend of Phillips, was entertained
on his visit to Andover in 1789.

On September 1, 1779, when the Phillips School
had been open over a year, Samuel Phillips, Jr., met
in Cambridge with three hundred others as one of
four delegates from Andover to the State Constitu-
tional Convention. After the organization had been
perfected, he was chosen by ballot as one of a commit-
tee of thirty-one members to prepare a "Frame of a
Constitution and Declaration of Rights" to be sub-
mitted to the convention and later to the people. A
second session was held during the memorable "hard
winter" of 1780, and a few months later the new

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY.

Constitution was adopted by a vote of two thirds of
the citizens of Massachusetts. During the debates on
crucial matters connected with drafting and revision
of this Constitution PhiUips took a leading part.

At the first election held under the state organiza-
tion in September, 1780, Phillips was elected a member
of the Senate, in which body he served, one year ex-
cepted, until 1801. In 1781, despite the fact that he
had had no formal legal training, he was appointed by
Governor John Hancock as one of the Justices of the
Court of Common Pleas for Essex County, and en-
tered upon his duties as judge in Newburyport,
September 25 in that year. In this office, the duties
of which took up from three to four months of each
year, he did faithful work until his resignation in 1798.

For the first five years of the newly formed govern-
ment, Samuel Adams was annually elected President
of the Massachusetts Senate; but in 1785 he declined
the honor, and Judge Phillips was chosen to fill the
place. In this position, we are told, "he was dis-
tinguished by his punctuality and assiduity," and
earned the title of "the Nestor of the Senate." He
marched at the head of the upper house when the
Legislature walked in procession from the old State
House on State Street to the new one on Beacon Hill.

In 1787, with General Lincoln and Samuel Otis,
then President of the House of Representatives, he
was appointed on a Board of Commissioners to treat
with the disaflfected citizens who had engaged in the
notorious Shays 's Rebellion in western Massachu-
setts, and, after spending more than a month in the
disturbed counties, he was able, in his report of

34,

THE FOUNDERS

April 27, 1787, to state that seven hundred and ninety
persons had subscribed to a confession of penitence
for their misconduct. While thus absent on official
business Judge Phillips, because of some hostile feel-
ing stirred up against him, lost the nomination for
Senator; in the following autumn, however, he was
reinstated by his townsmen, and resumed his seat as
presiding officer. In 1798, when a quarrel with the
French Government seemed imminent, he acted as
Chairman of an Andover committee which proffered
support to President Adams, and he even prepared
to arm as a volunteer in case of war. In 1801 his
career was crowned by his election as Lieutenant-
Governor on the Federalist ticket, the Governor being
the Honorable Caleb Strong.

For some years, however, his health had been
gradually failing. Although he was still comparatively
young, he suffered from asthma, for the cure of which
he had resorted to quack medicines prescribed by a
physician unworthy of his confidence. Often for many
nights in succession he was unable to get even an
hour's sleep. In the summer of 1801 he made one last
effort to regain his health by taking a journey, with
Madame Phillips and Dr. Pearson, through the Berk-
shire Hills to the Hudson, but the outing brought him
no relief. He had hardly undertaken his responsibili-
ties as Lieutenant-Governor when, on Wednesday,
February 10, 1802, the end came. On February 16
he was buried in the family tomb in the cemetery of
the South Church.

In personal appearance Judge Phillips was tall and
slender, with an erect and dignified bearing. His

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

manners are said to have been "a happy combination
of simplicity and refinement." Temperamentally he
was calm and equable, and never seemed to be in a
hurry. Even in critical situations he preserved his
equanimity, and his coolness in times of danger was
reassuring to his friends.

A circular prepared shortly after Judge Phillips's
death mentions with emphasis his patriotism in sub-
ordinating his private concerns to his public duties.
This is unquestionably one of his chief merits; yet he
was gifted with such an extraordinary versatility that
he was able to occupy himself with several projects at
once without neglecting any one. "His short life,"
says Knapp, "by order, exactness, and method, was
filled with incredible attention to business." While
holding many public trusts, he superintended two
stores, one in Andover and the other in Methuen,
managed a sawmill, a gristmill, a paper-mill, and a
powder-mill, and conducted agricultural experiments
on several estates. His power of accomplishment was
due principally to the fact that he was methodical
and systematic to a remarkable degree, taking the
most careful pains with even comparatively minor
matters of business. His mind was eminently practi-
cal; he was fond of simple maxims, and distrustful of
theories. He was, moreover, a shrewd and economical
manager, and, in spite of the steady drains upon his
private resources, he left at his death a fortune of
over $150,000, exclusive of Madame Phillips's por-
tion.

Many interests of a less personal kind made heavy
demands on his time. His political prominence

THE FOUNDERS

brought him in contact with a large number of people
who wished to consult him upon important affairs, and
to whom he was obliged to devote many weary hours.
His public correspondence during the last twenty
years of his life was exceedingly burdensome, espe-
cially so because he insisted on attending to most of it
personally. After 1778 he took pleasure in watching
the progress of Phillips Academy, and kept most of
the records in his own hand. He attended with regu-
larity the meetings of the Board of Overseers of
Harvard College, and delivered several addresses at
Cambridge on public occasions. In 1793, while his
son John was an undergraduate. Judge Phillips was
honored by Harvard with the degree of Doctor of
Laws. He was a charter member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, incorporated May 4,
1780. A mere statement of the different fields in
which he was active is sufficient to show him to have
been a man of unusual energy.

In his family life, so far as he was able to enjoy it.
Judge Phillips was very happy. Although he believed
in simple living and disliked luxury and ostentation,
he was a generous host and was fond of entertaining
guests in his home. During his lifetime, as later
during that of Madame Phillips, the Trustees of
the Academy were always welcome at the Mansion
House. His household was usually large, for he per-
mitted several students from the school to have
rooms with him, and he was seldom so busy that he
could not snatch a few minutes to question them about
their courses of study or their conduct in the class-
room. With his family as with his friends Judge

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Phillips rarely unbent. The children were taught to
speak to their elders with the utmost deference; and
romping and "unseemly levity" were put down with
a firm hand. Nevertheless, he was affectionate; he
sobbed over his child's grave, and for years after pre-
served the boy's room intact, leaving the clothes and
shoes, the little slate, and the half-burned candle just
as they were.

Judge Phillips was never an eflFusive man. He
seldom addressed his wife in a letter except by the
title "My dear Friend," and his sons always wrote to
him as "Honored Sir." Of Madame Phillips, how-
ever, he was exceedingly thoughtful. He took especial
care to see that she had trained servants at her dis-
posal. So far as domestic management was con-
cerned, she relieved him of all worry. Indeed during
his frequent absences from Andover she conducted
his business affairs; she acted as his agent in financial
matters; and for several years she kept in her own
hand his records as Town Clerk. Their attachment
was close but dignified, and each treated the other
with elaborate courtesy, even in the privacy of their
home.

Judge Phillips was so often occupied in Boston and
other cities that he was rarely able to get an un-
interrupted week with his family. In the course of a
year he sometimes made over seventy trips to the
capital on horseback, often at night and under con-
ditions that exposed him to the most inclement
weather. He sometimes slept in the saddle and lost
his way in the darkness along the lonely roads. In
1794, while on one of these rides, he fell from his

THE FOUNDERS

horse and fractured his leg so badly that he had to be
carried to the house of his friend, Mr. Brooks, in
Medford. After this accident, which confined him for
several weeks to his bed, he was more careful about
his health; but the early hardships which he endured
undoubtedly hastened his end.

It hardly needs to be said that Judge Phillips was a
stanch supporter of the church. Mainly through his
efforts the Reverend Jonathan French, his classmate
at Harvard, came to Andover in 1772 to take the
pulpit just vacated by the death of the Reverend
Samuel Phillips; and for years French and his friend
cooperated in their endeavor to strengthen the Old
South Parish. In 1787 Judge Phillips was Chairman
of a committee appointed to plan the erection of a new
meeting-house. Even after his health was impaired
he kept up a practice of which he was fond — that of
reading to the congregation on Sunday noon between
the two church services. In his will he bequeathed to
the church a silver flagon, adding with it the hope
"that the laudable practice of reading in the house
of public worship between services may be continued
so long as even a small number shall be disposed to
attend the exercise."

In his theology Judge Phillips was a follower of
Jonathan Edwards, but he was inclined to mitigate
the extreme Calvinist doctrines by a reasonable
tolerance. In connection with this subject Judge
Daniel Appleton White once told an interesting
story. As a senior at Harvard he had accepted a
position as assistant in Phillips Academy. In his
Commencement essay, however, when Judge Phillips

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

into despondency. Although he was usually cheerful
with his companions, he had little sense of humor.
Not a single jest of his is recorded. Seldom in his
papers do we meet with any sign of interest in art,
belles-lettres, or music. To say that he was occupied
with business of a more practical kind is not to con-
demn him. Judge Phillips had the inherited tend-
encies of several generations of Puritan ancestors, who,
while facing privations and laboring under fearful
disadvantages for their daily bread, had found no op-
portunity for pleasure as an end in itself. To a man
who had bandaged the wounds received at Bunker
Hill and had visited Washington's army before Bos-
ton, life presented itself, not as a playground but as
a battle-field, where he must endure grimly with his
comrades. So it was that, although a man of practi-
cal affairs, he grew also to be a moralist, with some-
thing of the stern philosophy of Marcus Aurelius.

In the final analysis it was in personal character
that Judge Phillips was most distinguished above his
fellows. We cannot think of him as intellectually
brilliant, for he was industrious and persevering rather
than clever or quick; we cannot praise him for his
charm of manner, for he was respected rather than
loved; but we cannot help being impressed by his
sincere piety and his unswerving faithfulness to
duty. Judge Phillips was a thoroughly religious man
who believed in living up to his ideals. Professor
John L. Taylor, his biographer, said of him : — j

We have not been able to discover a trait or an inci-
dent in his career, which has not seemed to us the product
of his religion more than of anything else.

THE FOUNDERS

His letters to his wife and children are full of a con-
fident trust in God and a frank reliance on the effi-
cacy of prayer. He often gave his elder son, John,
advice which might easily in some men be mistaken
for cant; but with him it was natural expression of
a conscientious father, seriously concerned over the
spiritual welfare of his child. Dr. Dwight once said of
him, "A species of ethical cast marked his conversa-
tion and life, and distinguished him from all other
men whom I have known,"

Such, then, was the man who, more than any other,
moulded Phillips Academy. What he aimed at in his
private and public life he naturally wished to im-
press upon the boys in his school. Phillips Academy
for many years preserved unchanged the traditions
which he left for it; indeed, it still maintains them to-
day, although in a form somewhat modified to meet
conditions of which the Founders never dreamed. It
can still be said that no finer type of manhood can be
held up as a model to Andover students than that of
Judge Phillips himself.

After her husband's death Madame Phoebe Phillips
continued for some years to reside in the Mansion
House and to keep the doors hospitably open; but
partly through some unfortunate investments made
by her son. Colonel John Phillips, and partly because
of an injudicious excess of generosity towards the
Andover Theological Seminary, her property so di-
minished that she was glad in 1810 to accept an invi-
tation from Esquire Farrar to make a home with him
in his new house on the corner of Main and Phillips
Streets. There she died in 1812, and her funeral

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in making Phillips Academy a reality. Its most
generous early benefactor, from a financial stand-
point, was John Phillips, of Exeter, the second son
of the Reverend Samuel Phillips, Born in Andover,
December 27, 1719, he was a precocious child, so fond
of learning that he entered Harvard College before
he was twelve, and graduated with distinction in 1735.
For a brief period he taught school in Andover, while
pursuing intermittently studies in medicine and;
theology. Although he had a slight weakness of the
lungs, he had a desire to become a clergyman, and it
is reported that he did actually preach on occasions
in Exeter and several surrounding towns; but after
hearing the duties of a minister described by the elo-
quent evangelist, George Whitefield, he so distrusted
his own ability that he renounced all hope of continu-
ing as a preacher. We know that he was taxed in
Exeter in 1740; and it is said that in 1741 he opened
there a "private classical school." It is certain that,
on August 4, 1743, he married Mrs. Sarah (Emery)
Oilman, who had inherited from her recently deceased
husband, "Gentleman Nat," a fortune of something
over eight thousand pounds. The fact that Phillips
had first proposed to the daughter, Tabitha, but, on
being refused, found solace with the mother, is inter-
esting gossip; however, although his bride was forty-
one when he was only twenty-three, this discrepancy
in age did not apparently make the marriage an un-
happy one. Aided by this addition to his resources,
PhiUips then became a merchant, and, through the
industry and frugality so characteristic of his family,
succeeded in accumulating a large fortune. After the

Dr. JOHN PHILLIPS OF EXETLR

THE FOUNDERS

death of Mrs. Phillips on October 9, 1765, he married
again on November 3, 1767, his second wife being
Mrs. Elizabeth (Dennet) Hale, widow of Dr. Eli-
phalet Hale, of Exeter. He had no children.

In the years preceding the Revolution John Phillips
held several positions of trust. In 1771, 1772, and
1773 he was a Representative from Exeter in the
Provincial Assembly; from 1772 to 1775 he was a
Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas; and he
was chosen Colonel in 1772 of a select body of mili-
tia called the Exeter Cadets. When the war actually
broke out, however, Phillips, whose sympathies, like
those of more than one conservative man of property,
were not altogether with the patriot party, resolved
to keep aloof from the conflict. Withdrawing from
business and resigning his various public offices, he
took a position of avowed neutrality, and occupied
himself with preserving the integrity of his invest-
ments. Some gifts to Dartmouth College, including
the endowment of a professorship of theology, led
that institution to make him a trustee, and in 1777 he
was honored by the second degree of Doctor of Laws
granted by the New Hampshire school. It was at
this period that Dr. Phillips, after some correspon-
dence with his nephew and heir, Samuel Phillips,
Jr., agreed to lend his financial support to the latter 's
plans for Phillips Academy and gave for the purpose
in the aggregate more than $30,000.

The school at Andover having been successfully
launched. Dr. Phillips established at Exeter a similar
academy, which was almost exclusively his own pro-
ject and to which he gave nearly all his remaining

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

more tolerant than his brother, Esquire Phillips,
and that he cared less for those subtleties of dogma
which agitated so many theologians of his time.
It was Dr. Phillips who said, "The logical conclusion
of Religion is Education." Had it not been for his
judicious saving and his subsequent lavish philan-
thropy the noble plan evolved in the brain of Judge
Phillips might have gone the sad way of many
another splendid vision. It is for this reason that the
epitaph suggested for John Phillips by Dr. Elipha-
let Pearson is eminently fitting: — "Without natural
issue, he made posterity his heir."

There still remains to be mentioned the youngest
of the three sons of the Reverend Samuel Phillips.
William Phillips, born in Andover, July 6, 1722, did
not, like his brothers, receive a college education, but
was apprenticed at an early age to Edward Bromfield,
a prosperous Boston merchant. In 1744, following
out the career mapped out by tradition for industrious
apprentices, he married his employer's eldest daugh-
ter, and, being made a partner in the firm, soon ac-
quired a fortune. At different periods he was Represen-
tative from Boston in the General Court, a member of
the Senate and of the Governor's Council, a delegate
to the Convention for framing the State Constitu-
tion and to the Convention for ratifying the Consti-
tution of the United States. He was one of the
famous "Committee of Safety," chosen by the city
of Boston, July 26, 1774, his associates being John
and Samuel Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock,
Joseph Warren, and Josiah Quincy. He was one
of the thirteen councillors rejected by General Gage

THE FOUNDERS

in 1774. Throughout the Revolutionary days he was
a conspicuous and devoted patriot; he acted, for
instance, on the committee which demanded of
Governor Hutchinson that the British tea should be
returned to London docks; and he went in person to
Governor Gage to protest against the latter's ar-
bitrary measures. When the war actually broke out,
he moved with his family to Norwich, Connecticut,
where he occupied the house in which Benedict Arnold
was born; but he returned later and made his resi-
dence permanently in Boston.

Temperamentally William Phillips was inclined to
be stern, and, in his declining years, decidedly irasci-
ble. Indeed, young Josiah Quincy, who was brought
up in his grandfather's house, was sent away to school
at the tender age of six, mainly because his pranks
so exasperated the old gentleman. Nevertheless, Wil-
liam Phillips was a supporter of many charities, and
made his home a center of hospitality. There Judge
Phillips was accustomed to stay during his service in
the General Court, and he found his uncle a cordial
and thoughtful host.

The Honorable William Phillips was not concerned
in the founding of Phillips Academy, but he soon fol-
lowed the salutary example set by his brothers and
made liberal gifts to the school. He was a member of
the Board of Trustees, and acted as President of that
body from 1794 to 1796. He bore a third part of the
expense for the second Academy building in 1786,
and in his will he bequeathed to the institution the
sum of $4000 as a fund for assisting poor students.
He died January 15, 1804, leaving his fortune to his

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

son, His Honor William Phillips (1750-1827), who, in
his turn, continued the generosity of his father to-
wards Phillips Academy.

The attention devoted in this chapter to the vari-
ous members of the Phillips family is entirely justified,
for the Academy was essentially a family enterprise.
In its origin, and throughout its early history, it was
emphatically a Phillips school. When it is remem-
bered that the funds for the founding of the Academy
were provided by Esquire Samuel Phillips and Dr.
John Phillips; that Judge Samuel Phillips was the
projector and the chief author of the Constitution;
that for more than thirty years members of the family
were only too ready to meet deficiencies in the revenue
and to contribute their time for investigating petty
details; and finally that four of the original Board of
twelve Trustees were Phillipses and that these four
became in turn the first four Presidents of the Board,
— when all these facts are considered, we realize to
what an extent Phillips Academy, now a national
school, began as a family enterprise and was supported
and continued as a matter of family pride.

It is not often that a family preserves so consist-
ently through so many consecutive generations a rep-
utation for high character and stimulating leader-
ship. The same fine qualities of honesty, industry,
dignity, sagacity, and benevolence seem to have been
handed down as a natural heritage from father to
son. In this family, even after two centuries had
passed, the distinctive elements of Puritanism per-
sisted with but few modifications. Professor Chan-
ning once wrote: —

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THE FOUNDERS

Seventeenth-century Puritanism was an attitude of
mind rather than a system of theology, — it was idealism
applied to the solution of contemporary problems.

The Founders of Phillips Academy were merely un-
dertaking to give this idealism concrete form in the
field of education. Phillips Academy, like Harvard
College, was cradled and fostered in Puritanism.
Phrases like those in the Constitution, "the great end
and real business of living"; "knowledge without
goodness is dangerous"; "the promotion of true
Piety and Virtue," — were to Judge Phillips not
platitudes, but vital principles, which could not be
stated too often. The personal sacrifice which the
members of the Phillips family were willing to under-
go in order to train the characters of young men is
a striking practical outgrowth of that enlightened
idealism which was the motive power for the whole
Puritan movement in America.

CHAPTER IV

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

Phillips Academy became the mother and pattern of that great
number of secondary schools which have been planted all over the
country; not that there were not secondary schools before, but they
were established in almost every instance for the wants of a single com-
munity, while the Academy at Andover was planted like the college —
for mankind.

When and where the first dim conception of a
school came to Samuel Phillips, Jr., we have no
means of knowing. His family had always had a
respect for learning, and some of them had gained
practical experience as teachers. At a period during
the interim between his graduation from Harvard
and his powder-making venture he must have done
some reading about educational systems as they
worked out in operation. When he came to formulate
guiding principles for his ideal school, he must have
realized that there was on this side of the Atlantic no
satisfactory model for him to follow. It is true, of
course, that there were other schools in Massachu-
setts, some of them, like the Roxbury Latin School
and the Boston Latin School, already notable for
excellent instruction. Dummer School, where Phillips
had spent some years, was a deliberate effort to put
into application sound pedagogic methods, and it had,
to some extent at least, blazed the path which other
later schools were to follow. But Dummer School,
controlled by a town or parish committee, also had its
defects, of which no one could have been more aware

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

than the quiet, studious lad who sat under Master
Moody, and who was able, young though he was, to
make deductions from the facts as he observed them.
No doubt Phillips was at first exceedingly vague as to
what his aims should be; but he was soon thoroughly
convinced that there was room for a school of a new
type, broader in scope than any then in existence in
the colonies.

Of the theoretical side of pedagogy Phillips prob-
ably found time to read a good deal. It is certain, as
we shall see later, that he had studied carefully both
Milton's Essay on Education and Locke's Some
Thoughts Concerning Education ; he may also have had
access to the famous treatises by Montaigne and Rous-
seau. The actual scheme, however, seems to have taken
form out of free discussion and practical experience
rather than from the speculations of theorists.

There is still preserved a manuscript covering
seven pages of foolscap, without signature or address,
but certainly in the handwriting of Samuel Phillips,
Jr., which outlines his first crude conceptions of what
the ideal Academy ought to be. It is dated "Monday
morning at five o'clock," but otherwise there is nothing
to indicate when it was written, except some slight
internal evidence which suggests that it was composed
in 1776. The document is hardly worth quoting in
full; but a few passages have much significance: —

Observations have been made upon the various irregu-
larities which are daily appearing, the very frequent in-
stances of the decay of virtue, public and private, the
prevalence of public and private vice, the amazing change
in the tempers, dispositions, and conduct of people in this

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

country within these thirty years. The trouble is owing to
the neglect of good instruction. Upon the sound education
of children depends the comfort or grief of parents, the
welfare or disorder of the community, the glory or ruin
of the state. The present public ignorance gives rise to a
fear of events the most dreadful; what method then can
be taken?

Let then a public building be erected for the purpose,
and the children sent, be supported and continued there
for a certain term, say from the age of seven to fourteen.
One of the best of men can be found to take command,
who shall proportion his attention to the various branches
of education according to their importance, who shall
make it his chief concern to see to the regulation of the
morals of the pupils, and attentively and vigorously to
guard them against the first dawnings of depraved nature.
He shall instruct them in the several relations they sus-
tain to God, their parents, the public, and their neighbors,
and make their whole course of education one continued
lecture on all that is great and good.

From such an institution as this what a surprising
change might be reasonably expected. Instead of the
present degeneracy which has increased upon us with such
rapidity, what blessings may we not look for. We have
more reason to hope for success from such labors than
from those of priest and magistrate united. How great an
advantage has the teacher in exerting his influence upon
his pupils so early in life and keeping them away from bad
examples, as was done in Mr. Moody's school, although
it was attended with more diflSculty there on account of
collections from every quarter than it would be here. When
we consider that this plan had such success among the
ancients, what may we not expect from it when joined to
the advantages of the Christian religion? Among the
thirty to whom I have mentioned the plan, I have not
heard one dissentient voice, but have received vastly
higher approbation than I had reason to expect.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

An objection naturally arises, as to the charge of sup-
porting the scholars. Very little, or no money will be
required. Let parents send that provision which their
children would eat at home. The scholars can raise their
vegetables in their own garden. As to their diet at noon,
less meat by one third than is eaten at present would
greatly conduce to their health; they would continue this
diet, being once established, when they returned to their
parents, and would influence their families if they ever
had any.

By allowing the child his time in which to study at
school, the parent gives the youth a far greater blessing
than the small services of the latter would be at home;
nay more, the parent will be paid pecuniarily, for when the
son returns to his home well educated, his labor will be
more profitable. The support of such a man as the place
would demand {and such a man we know of who is admir-
ably fitted for the sphere, and would exert himself in the
cause) must be honorable; he might expect more than a
minister's salary because his duty would be more arduous
and his opportunity for service much greater. Must so
glorious a plan fail for want of money, when there are so
many to whom it would be a relief to part with some of it?

The somewhat amorphous and impracticable
scheme thus presented has some interesting features.
It will be noticed that Phillips already has his eye on
Pearson as the right master for the new institution.
The suggestion that a plot of farming-land should be
reserved, where pupils could be taught the principles
of agriculture and incidentally help to support them-
selves, was actually tried in Phillips Academy, and
later in the Teachers' Seminary, not, however, with
very satisfactory results. It is clear that Phillips is
inclined to disapprove of Dummer School as being too
democratic. The most significant passages are those

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Jgarding the moral influence to be exerted by teach-
ers upon the boys under them. On this subject

'hiUips laid increasing emphasis, as a letter, without
date or signature, but apparently composed at about
this period and sent to Eliphalet Pearson, seems to
show: —

The object in educating youth ought to be to qualify
young persons as ornaments, as blessings, and as comforts
in the vineyard of the Lord. Too much industry, too much
personal ease and comfort, cannot be sacrificed in this
matter. The whole success of your Seminary will depend
upon an Instructor who is willing to do this. The industry
of such a man will keep pace with the sun, and his wishes
will always be reasonable. Give him a generous latitude,
he will not abuse it. All his views will be to inspire his
pupils with that knowledge which will influence them to
remember their Creator in the days of their youth. My
sentiments upon this subject are new, perhaps no one will
fall in with them, yet I shall be unwilling to alter them
without fair experiment. And I shall be so partial to my-
self as not to think a fair experiment has been made until
an instructor is found that enters into the spirit of my feel-
ing on this subject. The blessing such a man might be to
posterity is unspeakable.

Although Phillips makes it evident that his primary
interest is in the moral rather than in the mental side
of education, he nevertheless was not without ideas
as to the proper arrangement of the curriculum. In
the letter just mentioned he expresses sentiments
decidedly radical and heretical with regard to the
classics : —

I think our general plan of educating youth is injudi-
cious, unnatural, and absurd. As soon as an infant is capa-

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

ble of muttering English, he is put to his accidence. In the
Latin, youths fall back upon something that has been
dead these hundred years and never will exist again, but
if there were not a fragment of the language remaining,
it would not exclude us from heaven. In it they study
months without one new idea, and yet it has a great ten-
dency to make the little ignorant scholar a pedant, if he
can throw out one Latin word, though he knows no more
of its signification than a parrot. — The Latin authors
were pagans, and their works all contain more or less of
the foolish and stupid religion of their times. I think they
ought not to be read until a person is established in our
pure and holy religion. It is a pity that the best six years
of youth should be spent in studying heathen writers.

It is unnecessary to say that Phillips, influenced by
Pearson, soon outgrew his hostility to Latin, so that
when the school was opened, its course of study was
overwhelmingly classical.

From a third paragraph in this draft we may
gather his early views on another important matter: —

With regard to charity students, these arguments fol-
lowing may have some weight against planning for them in
general. There are, no doubt, a great number of respecta-
ble wealthy persons who would be glad to have their chil-
dren educated, and cheerfully be at the expense, but they
find so great danger of their morals being totally corrupted
that they are utterly deterred therefrom. This great
difficulty being removed, there is reason to believe that the
school would always be as full as conveniency would admit
of, and certainly the happiness of such a child (a rich one)
is of as great consequence as that of a poor child, his C)

opportunity of doing good greater. His disinterestedness A

is a great argument in favor of his honest intentions in \

following the profession of a minister, that he does it from ^ •

principles, and not from a lucrative view; but charity o

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

scholars must pursue this; they speak because they are
hired to; it is their living, say the scoffers.

Phillips, with his aristocratic instincts, could not
bring himself to favor opening his school to all candi-
dates, as Governor Dummer had done. His tendency
to exclusiveness, however, was again overborne by
Pearson's more robust democracy, and Phillips
Academy soon became an institution where "scholar-
ship boys," as they were called, were encouraged. In
no one respect has it been more successful than in its
willingness to provide poor but ambitious young men
with the advantages of a sound education.

These crude preliminary papers were not to be
mere theoretical discussion. Before 1777 Samuel
Phillips, Jr., had begun negotiations with his father
and uncle, looking to the establisliment of such a
school as he had dreamed of. He himself, young and
comparatively poor, was without the means of carry-
ing out his design; but Esquire Phillips and Dr. John
Phillips, both unemotional, conservative men, un-
likely to be swept oflf their feet by a transient enthusi-
asm, had faith in his good sense. Both, moreover, had
been teachers, and were therefore qualified to judge
the plan on its merits. When they had definitely
promised to furnish the funds required, nothing re-
mained but to make arrangements for putting the
scheme into operation.

The first step was to secure a satisfactory location.
Phillips, born and brought up in North Andover,
naturally looked for a site close at hand, and accord-
ingly opened negotiations for an extensive tract over-
looking Lake Cochichawicke, near where the Kit-

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

tredge Mansion now stands. Finding it impossible to
purchase there land enough for future contingencies,
he next turned to the South Parish, where his grand-
father had lived. Here he found the task somewhat
easier. On September 24, 1776, Dr. John Phillips
wrote his nephew: —

I rejoice that our judicious well-dispos'd friends so
heartily agree with us on our present establishment, and
that there is so good a prospect of procuring land in a part
of the Town which so agreeably and remarkably strikes
our minds. ... I doubt not you will endeavor to secure the
lands so soon as may be — and wish you would consult our
friends respecting the best manner of holding the lands to
the use intended without incumbrance. I greatly desire a
school may be forwarded, if the land can't yet be obtained;
but leave the whole to your conduct.

Within a little over a year Samuel Phillips, Jr., was
able to buy, in the name of his father and uncle,
sufficient ground to allow, not only for the immediate
needs of the institution, but also for an almost indefin-
ite expansion. It is due to his large views and remark-
able far-sightedness that the Trustees in later years
have seldom felt hampered by the want of additional
land. The first purchase consisted of two tracts, one
of about twenty-two acres, the other of about seven-
teen, deeded on January 24, 1777, by Solomon
Wardwell to Esquire Phillips; on this property stood
an old house and a joiner's shop. On March 1, 1777,
Captain Joshua Holt, administrator of the estate of
George Abbot, Esq., conveyed to Esquire Phillips
for the sum of six hundred pounds three separate
parcels of land, one of twelve, one of twenty-eight,

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

and one of thirty acres. On May 29 of the same year
Dr. John Phillips sanctioned these arrangements by
binding himseK, in an instrument drawn up and
signed at Haverhill, to pay to a Board of six Trustees
within one year the sum of one thousand, six hundred
and sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings, and four
pence. Two additional tracts of woodland, covering in
all thirty-two acres, were transferred on January 12,
1778, by Nehemiah Abbot to Esquire Phillips. In the
Deed of Gift, moreover, were specified some two
hundred acres of land in New Hampshire, bought on
September 4, 1777, by Esquire Phillips of one John
Little. The various pieces of real estate acquired on
Andover Hill amounted in the aggregate to over one
hundred and forty acres, covering a large part of the
area where Phillips Academy has to-day its buildings
and playing-fields.

Up to this date the land on Andover Hill had not
been a popular place of residence. The early settle-
ments in the South Parish, quite naturally, had been
made along the Shawsheen or on the gentle slope
above the river. On the Hill were small patches of
poorly cultivated farm land, in the midst of stretches
of rocky pasture and clumps of stunted trees and
bushes. Part of the territory was marshy, some
almost swamp; and the meadows during rainy periods
were flooded until they resembled shallow lakes.
Phillips Hall, built in 1809, stood on the border of a
boggy huckleberry lot, which the students and pro-
fessors crossed by stepping from stone to stone.
What is now the main campus was, in 1778, filled
with birches, alders, briers, and berry-bushes, along

ANDOVER HILL IN 1786, LOOKING NORTH

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THE OLD SOUTH "MINISTRY-MANSE"

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

the western side of which, near the road, was a low
stone wall. On the turnpike, near the present Pease
House, stood an old, unoccupied dwelling; the Abbot
House on Phillips Street has already been mentioned;
the so-called Blunt Tavern (later the Berry House
and now the Johnson House) had been built by
Captain Isaac Blunt before 1765; these houses, with
the carpenter's shop just spoken of, were the only
buildings then standing on the land occupied to-day
by Phillips Academy.

It had originally been decided that the school should
be entirely a private enterprise, under the direct per-
sonal supervision of Samuel Phillips, Jr. ; and a doc-
ument, erased and underlined, probably composed
during 1777, gives the more important particulars of
the plan, the most interesting feature of which was
that the property already bought was to be handed
over without restriction to Phillips and his heirs. In
theory this may have seemed feasible; but it was not
long before it seemed far more businesslike to vest
the holding power in a Board of Trustees, which
should renew itself perpetually. The Deed of Gift,
or Constitution, in its final form, as it was signed
by Esquire Samuel Phillips and Dr. John Phillips
on April 21, 1778, was mainly the composition of
Samuel Phillips, Jr., with the advice of other mem-
bers of his family and the active cooperation of
Eliphalet Pearson, whose sane counsel, as we have
seen, had already modified in some important particu-
lars the educational theories of his friend. No evidence
is available as to the part taken by each in the pro-
duction. It is probable that the actual drafting of

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the document was done by Phillips, after frequent
consultations with others. The Constitution has a sub-
stantial unity which proves it to be the work in the
end of a single mind.

In considering the provisions of this remarkable
document it must not be forgotten that there was no

^ existing model which could be consulted or followed.

^Some of its principles, and occasionally some of its
phrasing, it is true, were borrowed from Milton and
Locke; but the details of organization, the legal ar-
rangements, and the system of administration had all
to be created by the author. The best proof of his
success lies in the fact that for nearly a century and a
half Phillips Academy has been conducted with this
Constitution as a guide, without the necessity for a
single amendment or the revision of even a word.
The school is still carried on with every one of the
distinctive features contemplated by the Founders.
Expansion in numbers and in influence, the develop-
ment or discarding of pedagogical theories, changes in
the spirit of the age, — these have not affected the
essential characteristics of the original plan. This is
due primarily to the wise elasticity of the Constitu-
tion; never too rigid or exact, it has permitted adjust-
ment to new conditions without deviation from the
wishes of the original projectors.

These wishes, which should be studied in the Con-
stitution itself, are expressed in certain fundamental
principles, which will, perhaps, become clearer as the
story of the school is told. Although the Academy
was to be devoted to secondary education, it was to
have the breadth of a university in organization and

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

administration. As an endowed academy, controlled
by a permanent Board of Trustees and not operated
for the profit of any person or corporation, it was to
have a valuable independence, so that, dominated by
no "special interests," it could deal with its students
without discrimination. Undesirable pupils could be
summarily ejected without fear of pecuniary loss.
The school could pursue its independent course with-
out being compelled constantly to consider the effect
of any new policy upon the size of the student body.
This fact alone was sufiicient to set it apart from
many schools otherwise of the same general type.

The Founders, however, did not desire to leave
the Trustees absolutely unrestricted. Aware of the
dangers that might arise if the Academy should ever
become sectarian or parochial, they specified that a
majority of the Trustees should always be laymen.
In order to guard against any tendency to allow it to
degenerate into a local or provincial academy, they
further provided that a major part of the Trustees
should not be inhabitants of the town in which the
institution was located; and they permitted the Trus-
tees, upon a two-thirds vote of their number and for
"good and sufficient reasons," to change the situation
of the Academy if at any time this should seem desir-
able. These clauses have been of immense importance
in opening up to the authorities a national field of use-
fulness. There were no petty and vexatious conditions
such as to-day hamper many American colleges. Lib-
eral and tolerant in their point of view, the Founders
succeeded in stamping their spirit upon the school.

This broad-mindedness was illustrated in other

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ways. The Phillips School was to be "ever equally
open to youth, of requisite qualifications, from every
quarter." The advantage, not of any one district, but
of the whole country, was considered. It was to be
a "public free school or academy," — not free in the
matter of tuition, but free in the sense that it was open
to all properly qualified applicants, regardless of race
or nationality, religious convictions, financial stand-
ing, or social position. This policy the Trustees have
consistently maintained, with the fortunate result
that Phillips Academy has never been representative
merely of a single class or locality.

Accepting the doctrine laid down by Samuel Phillips,
Jr., that the instruction in an ideal school should be
"one continued lecture on all that is good and great,"
the Founders stated explicitly that "the first and
principal object of this institution is the promotion of
true Piety and Virtue." The manner in which this in-
junction is emphasized and reiterated, "so that there
could not be the smallest perversion of the true intent
of the Founders," shows that they were unanimous in
believing that the teachers should occupy themselves
chiefly in pointing out to pupils "the great end and
real business of living." At one time the Founders
considered inserting some doctrinal qualifications in
the Constitution. On January 24, 1778, Dr. Phillips
wrote to Samuel Phillips, Jr. : —

I am convinced of the need of Scholars being under the
Tuition of Instructors who are of what we call Calvinistical
Principles. I would not employ any that neglected teach-
ing the Assembly's Catechism — or if any part was objected
to, should expect to know what part.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

The nephew very fortunately was able to persuade
his uncle that any such restrictions would be both
unnecessary and unwise. Some mention, it is true,
was made regarding the duty of the Master to im-
press upon his pupils certain Calvinistic doctrines —
"the fall of Man — the Depravity of Human Nature
— the Necessity of an Atonement," and other kin-
dred dogmas. The Founders did, however, avoid the
danger of inflicting upon Phillips Academy a station-
ary and inelastic creed. Nothing was said in the Con-
stitution about the Westminster Catechism. The one
indispensable provision was that Principal, Trustees,
and Teachers should always be Protestants.

A course of study was sketched roughly in the
Constitution, but it was made flexible by a saving
final clause, — "fourth, such other of the Liberal
Arts and Sciences, or Languages, as opportunity and
ability may hereafter admit, and as the Trustees
shall direct." Without violating the manifest inten-
tions of the Founders the authorities have felt free to
change the curriculum in accordance with the varia-
tions of educational evolution. Some subjects once
regarded as vital have been permanently discarded;
others, from time to time, have been added to the
list. Phillips Academy, nevertheless, has remained
throughout its history a "cultural" school, and has
vigorously resisted the increasing demand for so-
called "vocational" studies.

According to one provision of the Constitution
boys were to be encouraged " to perform some manual
labor, such as gardening, or the like, so far as is con-
sistent with cleanliness and the inclination of their

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

parents." During the early years half-hearted efforts
were made to carry out this suggestion; but the
gradual increase in the importance of outdoor sports
soon made it impossible to lure most boys into
ploughing land or digging potatoes.

Realizing that the value of such a school as they
were planning would depend largely upon the char-
acter and eflSciency of the Principal Instructor, — or
Master, as he was commonly called in the Constitu-
tion, — the Founders devoted much attention to
prescribing the qualities desirable for the incumbent
of that office and the duties involved in its proper
administration. He must be "a professor of the
Christian religion, of exemplary manners, of good
natural abilities and literary acquirements, of a good
acquaintance with human nature, of a natural apti-
tude for instruction and government." "It is ex-
pected," says the Constitution, "that the Master's
attention to the disposition of the minds and morals of
the youth, under his charge, will exceed every other
care." He was to watch their health and excite them
to industry; to act as their personal adviser in ques-
tions of conduct; to point out "the deformity and odi-
ousness of vice, and the beauty and amiableness of
virtue"; and to inculcate moral precepts by frequent
repetition. The Founders, hoping that a large num-
ber of the Academy students would eventually choose
the Christian ministry as their profession, believed it
to be essential that they should be grounded early in
the broader doctrines of New England Calvinism.
Of this system the Principal would naturally be the
chief support.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

The views on education thus outhned in the Con-
stitution of PhiUips Academy were at that time new
to American thought; but many of them bear a
striking resemblance to the theories of John Locke.
That philosopher, in his famous treatise Some
Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), had divided
education into four parts, placing Virtue first, then
Wisdom, then Breeding, and finally Learning. "It
is virtue, then, direct virtue," he went on to say,
"which is the hard and valuable part to be aimed at
in education. . . . Everything should be bent to the
acquisition of virtue. . . . All other considerations
and accomplishments should give way, and be post-
poned, to this." Again he added, "I place virtue as
the first and most necessary of those endowments
that belong to a man or a gentleman, as absolutely
requisite to make him valued and beloved by others,
acceptable or tolerable to himself." He speaks in
another section of "the great decay of Christian pi-
ety and virtue," and of the desirability of retrieving
them in the next generation. "The great business of
all," he asserts, "is virtue and wisdom." All this
reads much like the phrasing employed by Samuel
Phillips, Jr.

Locke also laid peculiar stress on the desirabil-
ity of securing an able and conscientious preceptor.
In summarizing the duties of such a master, he
says: —

The great work of a governor is to fashion the carriage,
and form the mind; to settle in the pupil good habits, and
the principles of virtue and wisdom; to give him, little by
little, a view of mankind; and work him into a love and

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

imitation of what is excellent and praiseworthy; and in
the prosecution of it, to give him vigom-, activity, and
wisdom.

Other features of Locke's essay also invite com-
parison with the Constitution of Phillips Academy.
Locke had, as one critic says, "a profound conviction
of the importance of education, and of the breadth
of its aim. It has to fit men for life — for the world,
rather than for the university." It was Phillips's com-
prehension of this same theory that led him, like
Locke, to place the supreme emphasis on the develop-
ment of character.

From Milton it is possible that Samuel Phillips, Jr.,
received some inspiration, but of a kind more general
than specific. It is to be noted, however, that the
word "Academy," as applied to an educational in-
stitution for boys, was first employed by Milton in
his Essay on Education (1644).^ In the Constitu-
tion the name commonly given to the school was
"Seminary," but this was shortly superseded, and the
Act of Incorporation in 1780 was passed for Phillips

* The word "Academy" used as Milton had employed it was adopted
by the English non-conformists as a convenient designation for the
schools which they, in self-defense, were forced to organize after the
Act of Uniformity (1662) and other measures had excluded dissen-
ters from the public schools and universities. It was not long before
a similar use of the word had spread to America. Jonathan Edwards,
in his Thoughts on the Revival, drew especial attention to the English
academies, and advised his friends to imitate the idea. Benjamin
Franklin in his Autobiography speaks of the "Academy" which, in
1749, he opened in Philadelphia, in the "great house" which had
been erected for the evangelist, Whitefield. In 1754 the town of Hadley
in Massachusetts declared itself ready to devote an estate to "the
support of an Academy." By 1778 the word was reasonably well known
in the colonies as applicable to a certain type of secondary school.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

Academy. One provision of the Constitution em-
powered the Trustees to erect "a large, decent build-
ing, suflScient to accommodate at least fifty scholars
with boarding, beside the master and his family."
This has some resemblance to Milton's suggestion: —

First, to find out a spacious house and ground about it
fit for an Academy, and big enough to lodge a hundred
and fifty persons, whereof twenty or thereabout may be
attendants, all under the government of one, who shall be
thought of desert sufficient, and ability either to do all, or
wisely to direct and oversee it done.

There is nothing to indicate that Phillips had made
any study of the great English public schools, such as
Winchester, Eton, and Harrow. It is, indeed, much
more probable that he borrowed ideas from the Eng-
lish nonconformist academies, which, in turn, were
based mainly on the principles laid down by Milton
and Locke. ^ Much of this discussion of influences,
however, is vain speculation, in which it is easy to

' Of the non-conformist academies, we have information regarding
more than thirty, and many others must have existed. One of the best-
known was that of Dr. Phillip Doddridge, Judge Philhps's favorite
theologian, which was opened in Northampton in 1729, and maintained
for twenty-two years. The influence of these English academies upon
the Phillips academies has usually been much exaggerated. The Eng-
lish academies were devoted almost exclusively to the training of dis-
senting clergymen; they were, moreover, in part a protest against
the classical scheme of education then practiced in Eton and Win-
chester, and their courses of study included many uncommon subjects,
not unlike those adopted later by the Teachers' Seminary at Andover.
The original plan of Samuel Phillips, Jr., for a school did, it is true,
resemble in some respects that of the Doddridge Academy; but, as we
have seen, Pearson's iufluence made the Phillips School follow rather
the classical lines already laid down by the New England Grammar
Schools, such as the Boston Latin School and the Hopkins Grammar
School.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

exaggerate matters really of small significance. The
fact is that Samuel Phillips, Jr., as pioneer in a new
field, is worthy of being ranked among men like
Horace Mann and Andrew D. White, as one of the
few original minds in American education.

In the Deed of Gift, which we have been accus-
tomed to call the Constitution, ten men were named,
who, with Esquire Samuel Phillips and John Phillips
of Exeter, were to comprise the first Board of Trustees.
The composition of this body had been the occasion
of a considerable correspondence between Dr. Phillips
and his nephew. On March 13, 1778, the former
wrote: —

With respect to Mr. Pearson's being one of the Board of
Trust, you may remember I mention'd him heretofore —
but as my brother and you were silent respecting it, I did
not insist. I cannot say upon mature thought that yoiu"
uncle William's not yet engaging to help bear the expense
of the propos'd institution sh'd disqualify him from assist-
ing otherwise — but as it seems there is room for but one
more, should that be overruled otherwise; I must renew
the nomination of yourself — and think your father's ob-
jections ought not to prevent it; and unless there appear
to the other members of the Board an absolute inconsist-
ency, I do and must insist upon it. As to your saying
your Father's resignation would soon remove his objection,
he may not once think of my excusing him, or continuing
a member with those that shall. But you will say a major
part must not be inhabitants of Andover. I say so too with
regard to future selections; 'tis clearly a good as it may
turn out a needful provision, and best to be now estab-
lished as a rule in the future.

Dr. Phillips's desire that his brother William and
Samuel Phillips, Jr., should both be on the Board

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

was followed. The other members were all personal
friends of the Founders. Eliphalet Pearson, who had
already been named as Principal, was a member
ex officio. The Reverend Jonathan French^ (1740-
1809), a classmate of Samuel Phillips, Jr., at Harvard,
had been, since 1772, minister of the South Church
in Andover, and was a man of recognized leadership
among his people. The Reverend Josiah Stearns
(1732-88) was a distinguished clergyman, who was
pastor during the last thirty years of his life at
Epping, New Hampshire. Nehemiah Abbot (1731-

' Jonathan French was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, January 30,
1740. In 1757 he enlisted as a private, and, after an illness, became a
sergeant at Castle William. He entered Harvard in 1767, and gradu-
ated four years later. He had planned to be a missionary among the
Indians, but the offer of the South Church in Andover dissuaded him.
He married Abigail Richards, of Weymouth. Mr. French was a short,
stocky man, unceremonious in his manners, but hospitable and blessed
with good sense. His sermons, of which nine were published, had no
showy qualities. His theology was remarkable for its breadth and toler-
ance.

Several excellent stories are told of Mr. French. His salary in An-
dover was to be eighty pounds, paid semi-annually, and firewood. One
fall the parishioners forgot the wood; when the Thanksgiving Procla-
mation arrived, the minister read it to his congregation, and said, "My
brethren, you will perceive that His Excellency has appointed Thursday
next as a day of Thanksgiving; according to my custom it is my
purpose to write two discourses for that occasion, provided I can get
them ready without a fire." Before the next noon cord after cord of
wood was stacked up in the parsonage yard.

When Mr. French was pastor and Samuel Phillips was Lieutenant-
Governor, they used to ride horseback together. Each courteously in-
sisted on giving the other the right-hand position. At last they com-
promised: the minister would consent to take precedence in Andover if
Phillips would agree to take the place of honor in the rest of the Com-
monwealth. They thus solemnly changed positions whenever they
crossed the town boundaries.

Mr. French has been portrayed sympathetically and vividly as the
simple and generous Parson Adrian Bulkley in Edmund Quincy's novel
Wensley, the scene of which is laid in Andover.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

1808), a prosperous Andover farmer, was selected by
Phillips to be Treasurer of the Board. Of the others,
Oliver WendelP (1733-1818), the grandfather of
Oliver Wendell Holmes, was a well-known represen-
tative in the General Court, whose sister, Margaret,
had married Esquire Phillips's first cousin, William
Phillips; John Lowell (1743-1802), the grandfather of
James Russell Lowell, was a lawyer of Newburyport
and Boston, who became a Judge of the United
States Circuit Court and was a leader in the
Boston community; the Reverend Elias Smith (1731-
91) was minister for thirty-two years at Middleton,
Massachusetts; and the Reverend William Symmes
(1729-1807), pastor of the church at North Andover
from 1758 until his death, was one of Esquire Phillips's
nearest neighbors. Four of these men were ministers
and eight were laymen; of the eight, however, one,
Eliphalet Pearson, was later ordained as a clergyman.
The rule prescribing that a majority of the Trustees
should be non-residents of Andover was temporarily
waived, for six of the number were citizens of the
town. All twelve had been born and educated in
New England and in the Calvinistic faith.

On Tuesday, April 28, 1778, in the old Abbot
House on Phillips Street where Samuel Phillips, Jr.,
was then living, the Trustees, with only one member,
the Reverend Josiah Stearns, absent, held their first
meeting. The Board was there permanently organ-
ized with Esquire Phillips as President, Mr. French
as Clerk, and Mr. Nehemiah Abbot, as Treasurer.

' Mr. Wendell later became a Probate Judge in Suffolk County, a
State Senator, and a member of the Governor's Council.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

From this date until 1878, a full century, the Records
were preserved in a huge folio volume presented to
the Board on April 20, 1779, by Mr. French. The
book is now worn and yellow with age, but the stately
script of the first Clerk, as clear-cut as engraving, is
still as legible as on the day when the entries were
made. At this meeting some necessary business was
transacted. The institution, hitherto styled a "Semi-
nary," was given the name of "Phillips School," and
the title of Preceptor was bestowed upon the "Princi-
pal Instructor." It was determined, apparently be-
cause of the poor state of Pearson's health that the
number of scholars should be limited to thirty, until
it should be enlarged by a formal vote. Two vacations
of three weeks in length were arranged for each year,
one in April, the other in October. Finally Pearson,
who had just left the town grammar school, was
formally nominated and elected as Preceptor.

On the following day, Wednesday, April 29, the
meeting was continued, at which time Pearson's
salary was fixed at eighty pounds a year, with "the
improvement of the two pieces belonging to the
school, situate in Andover." An assistant, Joseph
Mottey, was engaged for two months. The classical
nature of the school was established by a vote, "That
preference shall be given to those scholars who are to
be instructed in the learned languages." The Treas-
urer was required to give bonds for a thousand
pounds. The regulation of discipline was provided
for in a resolution : —

That if any scholar shall be so incorrigibly vicious that
his continuance at the Seminary may be dangerous to the

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

morals of the other scholars, or inconsistent with the good
government of the Seminary, he shall be expelled, and
never afterwards readmitted.

This expulsion was to be dignified by being made
a public ceremony; it was to be decided upon by a
committee of Trustees, "of which two at least shall
be present with the Preceptor at such expulsion,
which shall be made in the School House, in the
presence of the scholars, by the Preceptor." A
system of boarding-houses, to be kept by private
families in the town, was arranged, and several
prominent Andover persons, among them Samuel
Phillips, Jr., and Pearson, agreed to furnish room and
board at reasonable rates. Not for over fifty years
did the Trustees find it possible to build dormitories
for the boys.

Meanwhile an old carpenter's shop, included in the
purchase from Solomon Wardwell, had been moved
to the corner of "the old road to the meeting-house"
(now Main Street) and the lane which has since been
named Phillips Street, almost on the spot where the
Archaeological Museum^ now stands. This rude
structure, only one story high and only thirty-five by
twenty feet in floor space, made of unpainted boards
and ornamented on the exterior by a brick chimney,
was fitted up temporarily for school purposes, al-
though it could at best accommodate few more than
fifty boys. Many a rural "district school" has
afforded its pupils better quarters.

' A bronze tablet, placed on the front of the Archaeological Museum
and dedicated on Founders' Day, October 11, 1913, commemorates the
formal opening of Phillips Academy on that site in 1778.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

The necessary preliminaries having been com-
pleted, Phillips School was at last opened on April 30,
1778. The schoolhouse, small as it was, was large
enough for the little group that assembled there on
that memorable Thursday morning, to meet Master
Pearson and to hear a dedicatory sermon by the
Reverend Jonathan French. Dummer School had
started with twenty-eight pupils; Phillips School
began with only thirteen. There were few favorable
auspices; indeed, no time could have seemed less
propitious for such a project. General Washington
and his rapidly waning army had just passed through
the terrible winter at Valley Forge. The news of our
treaty with France, signed February 6, 1778, had
barely reached our shores. The nearness of the con-
flict is indicated by a vote of the Trustees in 1778
authorizing a committee to "make application to
the General Court for a number of books, belonging
to the estates of the absentees, for the use of the
school." These "absentees" were Tories, or loyal-
ists, who, for safety, had fled to Canada or England,
in many cases leaving their property behind them.
No stable American government had as yet been
formed, and even the most optimistic were far from
certain that the patriots would win in their struggle
against heavy odds. It was one of the darkest hours
of the war.

The first name to appear on the register of Phillips
School was that of Thomas Payson, of Boston, aged
thirteen. The original enrollment gradually increased
and, at the end of a month, the full complement of
thirty was made up. On June 24 the Committee of

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Exigencies voted to enlarge the School to the number
of thirty-five, forty, or forty-five scholars, and on
November 4 a similar resolution permitted it to
extend to sixty. The total registration for the first
year is recorded as fifty-one. Of these all were, as
might be expected, from New England, eight being
from New Hampshire and the remainder from Massa-
chusetts. No scholar came from outside the New
England States until 1782, when John Callender
arrived from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Thirteen of
the first fifty-one boys were from Andover. The
variation in ages was extraordinary. The youngest,
little Josiah Quincy ^ (1772-1864), who entered on
May 29, 1778, was only six years old; he sat beside
James Anderson of Londonderry, New Hampshire,
a man nearly thirty years of age. Quincy, who had
been sent to Andover because his mother, a daughter
of the Honorable William Phillips, of Boston, wished
to encourage the Phillips School, was later the second
Mayor of Boston; and by a strange coincidence the
future first Mayor of Boston, John Phillips ^ (1770-

^ Josiah Quincy, son of the famous patriot, was born in Boston,
February 4, 1772, attended Andover for eight years, and graduated
from Harvard in 1790. He began the practice of law in 1793. In 1805
he was elected to Congress, and served there until 1813. In 1823 he
was chosen Mayor of Boston, and held the oflSce until 1828, when he
resigned to become President of Harvard College. He retained this
post until 1845. He died in Quincy, July 1, 1864. Among his publica-
tions are the well-known History of Harvard College (1840) and other im-
portant books. His reminiscences of Andover life are very entertaining.

^ John Phillips, whose uncle, Judge Oliver Wendell, was a Trustee
of Phillips Academy, graduated from Harvard in 1788. He held several
important offices, being for a time President of the Massachusetts
Senate and later the first Mayor of Boston in 1823. It was while he was
still Mayor that he died. May 29, 1823. Among his children were
Wendell Phillips and John Charles Phillips, the elder of the name.

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

1823), whose father was a second cousin of Judge
Phillips, was one of Quincy's playmates in that Httle
group of scholars during the early months of the
school. An examination shows that a considerable
number of those on this school list for the first year
were, like those just mentioned, relatives of members
of the Board of Trustees.

On October 8, 1778, the Trustees made an official
visit of inspection, and on the same day a committee
was appointed to apply to the General Court for an
Act of Incorporation. On April 20, 1779, it was
voted that the name of the institution should
be changed from "Phillips School" to "Phillips
Academy," and the title of the " Principal Instructor "
from "Preceptor" to "Rector," "provided it may be
done without giving offense." The proposed substi-
tute for the title of Preceptor was apparently never
adopted; but the passage of an Act of Incorporation
on October 4, 1780, established the name of the
school as Phillips Academy. This act was the last
legislative measure of the old Provincial Court; the
new State Government which Judge Phillips had
helped to form was organized in November. Phillips
Academy has the distinction of being the earliest in-
corporated academy, not only in the Commonwealth,
but also in the country at large. ^ The phraseology of
the Act of Incorporation is evidently the work of
Judge Phillips himself, the Preamble, indeed, being
in his own handwriting. The language, for the most

' Although Dummer School had been opened in 1763, it was not
incorporated until 1782, and was not named as Dummer Academy be-
fore that date.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

part, either repeats or condenses that in the Deed of
Gift, but it is specified that the number of Trustees
"shall not at any one time be more than thirteen nor
less than seven." By the terms of the bill the Acad-
emy was authorized to hold real estate with an annual
income of five hundred pounds and personal property
up to an income of two thousand pounds. The act
was signed by John Hancock, Speaker of the House
of Representatives.

In April, 1780, the Trustees made the fia-st of what
has proved since to be a long series of embarrassing dis-
coveries: that the available funds were inadequate to
the support of the institution. Accordingly an assess-
ment was levied on the scholars, to the amount of two
and one half dollars, "hard money," every quarter.
This was the initial step towards the stated tuition
fee which soon became indispensable for the proper
maintenance of the Academy. Despite this temporary
reverse. Judge Phillips, on September 6, 1780, wrote
to his uncle in Exeter: "This school is in a flourishing
state, in the estimation of those who have children
here."

When the Phillips School opened, Samuel Phillips,
Jr., and Eliphalet Pearson were only twenty-six
years old. The idea had been a young man's project,
carried out with a young man's ardor and enthusiasm.
The vision of an academy became rapidly a reality;
but not too rapidly, for, as it turned out, nearly every
exigency had been anticipated. But, although the
Founders had striven to provide against failure, they
could not be certain that the plan would work well in
operation; it was gratifying, then, to see that its suc-

THE FOUNDING OF A SCHOOL

cess was likely to exceed even their most sanguine ex-
pectations. We to-day can appreciate how admirably
Judge Phillips's motto, "Finis origine pendet," which
he transferred to the school, is suited to Phillips
Academy, — an institution which has prospered be-
cause it had a right beginning.

When the merits of the new scheme of education
became known, the idea spread speedily into other
districts. A committee of both Houses of the Gen-
eral Court reported, February 27, 1797, that fifteen
academies had been incorporated in Massachusetts.
Of these, seven had already received grants of state
lands; and the committee recommended that a half
township in Maine should be appropriated for the use
of four others, Dummer, Phillips, Groton, and West-
ford. At this time the principles were laid down that
academies were, in most respects, public schools; that
they were a part of an organized system of education;
that they ought to be distributed to suit the needs
of diflFerent localities, one to every twenty-five thou-
sand people; and that their advantages should be used
for the common benefit. Among the academies of im-
portance which followed the model of Phillips may
be named Leicester Academy (1784), in Worcester
County, founded by Colonel Ebenezer Crofts, of
Sturbridge; Derby Academy (1784) at Hingham;
Bristol Academy (1792) at Taunton; Westford
Academy (1792); Westfield Academy (1793); New
Salem Academy (1795); Groton Academy (1793);
Monson Academy (1804); and Amherst Academy
(1812), besides others of lesser note. Before 1841
nearly one hundred and twenty acts incorporating

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

academies had been passed by the General Court.
Not all these institutions, of course, were actually
opened for students; some of them were born feeble,
languished a few years, and died dismally; but there
was at this period at least one such school in every
county in Massachusetts. The service performed by
these academies in the first quarter of the nineteenth
century in raising educational standards was very
great.

With the rise of the high school about 1825 many
of these academies lost a large part of their patron-
age, and sank slowly into a decline. Some, like the
Franklin Academy in North Andover, fought desper-
ately, but had ultimately to be abandoned. Others
were transformed into high schools, or were super-
seded by them. A few still in existence to-day are
continuing with moderate success, supported by their
endowments. The two Phillips Academies have been
more fortunate. For various reasons which will be-
come clear later they managed to survive the critical
period, and to adjust themselves to changed condi-
tions. Some life-giving principle there must have
been, to keep these schools healthy when so many
others, apparently equally well constituted, could not
escape ruin.

CHAPTER V

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTUEY PEDAGOGUE

Roll the round century's fivescore years away,
Call from our storied past that earliest day
When great Eliphalet (I can see him now, —
Big name, big frame, big voice, and beetling brow).
Then young Eliphalet — ruled the rows of boys
In homespun gray or old-world corduroys, —
And, save for fashion's whims, the benches show
The self-same youths, the very boys we know.

The boys who took their places on the hard benches
in the old joiner's shop were not harassed by the in-
tricacies of a complex curriculum, or by the problem
of choosing among seductive optional courses. The
schedule of work prepared by Preceptor Pearson in-
cluded only Latin, Greek, a little — a very little —
mathematics, and some reading in religious treatises.
Josiah Quincy complained of being obliged to get by
heart passages from Cheever's Accidence, or Short
Introduction to the Latin Tongue, one of the standard
New England textbooks. Much of this, as he con-
fessed, he was unable to understand: —

My memory, though ready, was not tenacious, and the
rule being that there should be no advance until the first
book was conquered, I was kept in Cheever's Accidence I
know not how long. All I know is, I must have gone over
it twenty times before mastering it.

Quincy was naturally a playful child, fond of games
and outdoor life, and full of harmless pranks; it was
inquisitional torture for him to be confined on warm
summer days, four hours in the morning and four in

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the afternoon, sitting with his companions on an
uncomfortable pine bench and trying hopelessly to
memorize Latin declensions which conveyed to him
no meaning whatever.

The routine for an average day in Quincy's time
was described by Pearson himself, in a letter written
in 1780: —

School begins at eight o'clock with devotional exercises,
— a psalm is read and sung. Then a class consisting of four
scholars repeats memoriter two pages in Greek Grammar,
after which a class of thirty persons repeats a page and a
half of Latin Grammar; then follows the "Accidence
Tribe," who repeat two, three, four, five, and ten pages
each. To this may be added three who are studying
arithmetic : one is in the Rule of Three, another in Fellow-
ship, and the third in Practice. School is closed at night by
reading Dr. Doddridge's Family Expositor, accompanied
by rehearsals, questions, remarks, and reflections, and by
the singing of a hymn and a prayer. On Monday the
scholars recite what they can remember of the sermons
heard on the Lord's Day previous; on Satiu-day the bills
are presented and the punishments administered.

There was occasionally a mild variety in this dreary
schedule; frequently the boys read lessons in the
Bible, or learned by heart some of Dr. Watts's Hymns
for Children, or were set lessons in Mason's <Se^/-
Knowledge, that uninspiring manual of conduct which,
published first in 1744, had by 1778 reached its tenth
edition. Some public declamation was required, and
selections were delivered by pupils at the annual
Exhibition. An entry in the Records for May 22,
1782, conveys the thanks of the Trustees to the parish
for granting the boys permission to use the meeting-

ELIPHALET PEARSON

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

house for their practice in oratory. The question of
employing a French instructor was considered, and
eventually one was allowed, with the provision, how-
ever, that his students pay him an extra fee and that
his teaching be not permitted to interfere with the
exercises of the school. A writing-master is men-
tioned, the first one apparently being Abiah Hol-
brook, who must have begun giving instruction
before 1790.

Little Josiah Quincy boarded with the Reverend
Jonathan French in the quaint old "ministry manse"
on the corner of School and Central Streets. In that
house lived some six or eight students, sleeping in one
large room, two boys to a bed. Their food was simple
but plentiful, consisting chiefly of beef and pork, with
a variety of vegetables, and, in the winter, frozen cod.
The only bread they had was Indian or rye, or a
mixture of both. In that pious household every in-
mate had to attend morning and evening prayers. On
Sunday each boy carried with him to church a pen
and ink-bottle, for the purpose of taking down the
text, with the topics and sub-topics of the discourse.
Quincy, who found Master Pearson "distant and
haughty in his manners," passed his happiest hours
in the good minister's home, where he could enjoy
a welcome relief from the relentless discipline of
the classroom. Of his gloomy experiences at school
Quincy wrote in his Recollections: —

Child as I was, my mind was abroad with my bats and
marbles. It delighted in the play of the imagination. The
abstract and the abstruse were my utter detestation. The
consequences were that I often came home to Mr. French

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in tears, having been either censured or punished. I found
in his bosom a never-failing place of rest for my sorrow
and suffering.

Principal Eliphalet Pearson, who thus struck
terror to the soul of the seven-year-old boy, has been
called "in some respects the most remarkable man
ever connected with the institutions of Andover."
More than one historian of those days has lavished
superlatives upon him. He was a stubborn, auto-
cratic pedagogue of the old school, powerful in phy-
sique, domineering in manner, and exacting in his
requirements from his pupils. But he was something
more than a leader in the classroom. Washington
once said of him, "His eye shows him worthy, not
only to lead boys, but to command men." His as-
tounding energy and versatility made him seem to be
a kind of "superman." He was an able musician,
both in theory and practice: a good bass singer, a
performer upon the violoncello, and the author of
an authoritative treatise on psalmody. A skilled me-
chanic, he could take apart an engine or construct his
own violin. As a farmer and trader he displayed
shrewd business sense. His scholarship was impres-
sive, for he knew not only Latin, Greek, and French,
but also Hebrew, Syriac, and Coptic. His restless
and eager intellect carried him into almost every
field of research.

Pearson's temperament, which was naturally irri-
table, made him no friends. His students, with whom
he was far from popular, called him "Elephant"
Pearson, because of his ponderous name and figure;
and older people were not inclined to waste upon him

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

any terms of endearment. He once said to his son,
"I care not a straw what the world thinks of me."
More than once this disregard of the views of others
was the cause of his being denied the credit for
achievements which were really due to his aggres-
siveness and persistence. There was nothing flabby
about Pearson's personality, nothing vague about his
opinions. A dogmatist on problems of politics, edu-
cation, or theology, he was accustomed to speak ex
cathedra and to brook no opposition. His faults, how-
ever, were never those of weakness. Even those who
disliked him would have agreed with Professor Park
that Pearson was "a many-sided and strong-handed
laborer for the welfare of his race."

Much of what has been said of Pearson in the pre-
ceding paragraphs is applicable to him only in the
later stages of his diversified career. At the time when
he was Principal of Phillips Academy his real genius
was, perhaps, not quite so manifest. Born in New-
bury, Massachusetts, June 11, 1752, Eliphalet Pear-
son was about four months younger than his friend,
Samuel Phillips, Jr. He was the eldest son of David
Pearson, a thrifty farmer and miller. In order to
attend school Eliphalet had to give his father a
promissory note for the sum advanced for his edu-
cation; and he had then to walk four miles each
way, through fields and along lonely crossroads, to
Dummer School. From there Pearson, in 1769, fol-
lowed Phillips to Harvard College, where he gradu-
ated in 1773, two years later than his friend. Pear-
son's scholastic record at Cambridge was decidedly
briUiant, and his Commencement oration denouncing

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the African slave trade was considered so remarkable
that it was published in pamphlet form.

After graduation, Pearson spent some months in
further study in Cambridge, where he made the
acquaintance of the widow of President Holyoke, of
Harvard, and her daughter Priscilla. In April, 1775,
following the news of the clash of arms at Lexington,
he promptly escorted these ladies to Andover, hoping
that they might there be safe from intrusion. So
pleased was he with the reception accorded him by
Samuel Phillips, Jr., that he also settled in Andover,
taking charge of the grammar school, acting as a kind
of private chaplain in the Holyoke home, reading
extensively in both theology and science, and filling
the pulpit in adjacent parishes. The part played
by his knowledge of chemistry in insuring the suc-
cess of the Phillips powder-mill has already been
related.

In 1780, after his election as Principal of Phillips
Academy, he married Priscilla Holyoke, who was
then forty, twelve years older than he, but who
looked and acted like the younger of the two. She
brought him a dowry of $8000. Pearson and his bride
moved at once into the Abbot House on Phillips
Street, just vacated by Samuel Phillips, Jr. ; but their
life together was short, for Mrs. Pearson died in child-
birth, March 29, 1782, leaving a daughter, Maria.
Three years later Pearson took a second wife, Sarah
Bromfield, daughter of Edward Bromfield, Esq., of
Boston, by whom he had four children. She was
singularly plain and unprepossessing in appearance,
but impressed her acquaintances as being amiable and

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

intelligent. She survived her husband at his death
in 1826.

Pearson had cooperated heartily with Samuel
Phillips, Jr., in discussing plans for a school, and, as
we have seen, he had a strong influence on Phillips's
attitude towards several important problems. It was
understood from the beginning that Pearson was to
be the first Master. He himself, with an attention to
details which would have done credit to Phillips, drew
up a contract in which his emoluments and privileges
were carefully specified. When this was ratified, he
proceeded to organize the administration of Philhps
Academy.

In his methods of discipline Pearson closely re-
sembled the notorious Dr. Busby, of Westminster, and
the execrated Dr. John Keate, of Eton. He believed
in making his boys thoroughly afraid of him. "I have
no recollection," wrote Josiah Quincy, "of his ever
having shown any consideration for my childhood.
Fear was the only impression I received from his
treatment of myself and others." Once, after an
offender had been censured by Pearson, the victim
was asked, "How did you feel?" "I pinched myseK
to know whether I was alive," was the answer. On
one occasion after a flagrant breach of the rules the
Principal suddenly appeared before the students,
stamped his foot ferociously, and cried, "Let the one
who performed that outrage instantly come forth."
So terrified was the culprit that he at once confessed
and took his punishment. He kept during the week an
account of all offenses, and on Saturday compelled
the delinquents to spend in study a part of the hoUday

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

proportioned to the misdemeanor. Edmund Quincy
once said of him: "Dr. Pearson had the faults of his
period, and was cruel in the punishments he in-
flicted. As a master he was severe and sometimes
unjust." There can be no doubt that he was impatient
and irascible; as he put it, "I have been so long a
teacher of boys that I have spoiled my temper."

Even when the argument was clearly against
him, Pearson was unreasonably obstinate. One day
some bright members of his class found in Caesar's
Commentaries the original Latin of a passage which
the Principal had asked them to translate from
English into Latin, and roguishly brought in Caesar's
writing as their own. Pearson, in his usual fashion,
commenced to point out flaws in the work; when told
of the trick, he only said, "It must be an interpola-
tion; Caesar never wrote such Latin." Josiah Quincy
once described vividly Pearson's methods of instruc-
tion : —

I was called upon to give the principal parts of the
Latin verb noceo. Unfortunately I gave to the "c" a
hard sound, which in those days was considered incorrect.
I said, "nokeo, nokere, nok-i." The next thing I knew, I
was knocked.

In Quincy's case Pearson proved himself to be a
poor prophet. So dull did he conceive the boy to be
that he advised Mrs. Quincy not to send him to college.
More discerning than he, she disregarded the recom-
mendation, and the dunce became, not only Vale-
dictorian of his class at Harvard, but afterwards one
of the most illustrious Presidents of that university.

In defense of Pearson's despotic mode of govern-

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

ment it may be said that it was approved by the
spirit of the age. "Spare the rod and spoil the child "
was a maxim in nearly every New England household,
and parents expected teachers to continue the system.
If under it the natural instincts of childhood were
constantly repressed, as they undoubtedly were in
too many cases, the blame must not be laid alto-
gether at Pearson's door. It should be added in all
fairness that the watch which he kept over the health,
studies, and moral welfare of his charges and his
zealous personal supervision of them were calculated
to give parents confidence in his guardianship, and
therefore in the newly founded school. It was prob-
ably fortunate that his firm hand was there to guide
its destiny through those early crucial days, -i

A man of Pearson's nervous and domineering
temperament was bound, of course, to meet with
trouble. Many of the minor duties of his position
weighed upon him heavily. He was a scholar, with
literary tastes which he loved to gratify, and the
restraint imposed upon him was extremely irksome.
He once wrote: —

To hear prepared recitations is a delight to me, but I
have to keep my eye at the same time upon the idle and
the dissipated. I have only one room for sixty boys; much
noise and confusion is going on. I have to listen to many
requests, and stop and settle many difficulties.

Like many an apparently self-confident man, he
was also sensitive to criticism and chafed under the
fact that he could not inspire affection. Under the
circumstances it was remarkable that he remained
at Andover so long,

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

With all his faults, Pearson was unquestionably
a brilliant and thorough teacher. His students, most
of whom went on to Harvard, made distinguished
records, and the reputation of Phillips Academy for
scholarship was soon established. During the eight
years of his administration eighty-nine boys went
from the school to college, seventy-six of them to
Harvard.

While Pearson was busy organizing the work of the
classroom, the Trustees were settling questions of
future policy. When it was first decided in 1778 to
levy a tuition fee, a committee was appointed to deter-
mine what students should be exempted, in whole or
in part, from the payment of this assessment. In this
way arose the scheme of scholarships for poor boys,
which has done so much to preserve democracy in
Phillips Academy. The entrance fee was not required
until August 17, 1781, when it was voted that pupils
must pay eighteen shillings "advance money" when
they were admitted, this sum to be returned at the
end of the course. This deposit, slightly increased
from time to time, was finally in 1815 made a regular
entrance fee of five dollars, which was not refunded.

For many years the Trustees kept a tight rein on the
conduct of the students, and occupied themselves
often with matters which to-day are entirely in the
hands of the Principal. In 1780 they voted, "That
no scholar who has taken lodgings in town, shall be at
Kberty to shift his boarding-place without first in-
forming the preceptor." A fine of one shilling was
imposed upon any pupil who was absent without
excuse; and every boy planning to leave was required

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

to give notice six weeks in advance. The Trustees
also forbade the boys to use or carry firearms, unless
with the "particular leave" of the Principal.

In 1782 Judge Oliver Wendell and John Lowell, of
the Trustees, presented to that body a seal, thought
to have been engraved by Paul Revere, which is still
the official insignia of Phillips Academy. It repre-
sents a hive, with the bees busy swarming to and
fro; the sun at noon shining brightly above, with the
motto, "Non Sibi"; and below the traditional motto
of Judge Phillips, "Finis Origine Pendet,"

Only one change in the Board of Trustees took
place in Piearson's administration. In 1781 the
Reverend Josiah Stearns resigned, and was suc-
ceeded by the Reverend David Tappan (1752-1803),
another of the classmates of Judge Phillips at Harvard.
Mr. Tappan was then minister at West Newbury, but
was later to be HoUis Professor of Divinity at
Cambridge.

It was not long before an agreeable necessity drove
the Trustees to deal with the problem of housing
properly the steadily increasing number of students.
As early as 1780 the matter had been broached, but
not until July 13, 1784, was a committee instructed to
choose a location for a more commodious building.
This second structure, which was completed on
January 30, 1786, was erected on the southwest
corner of the present Main Campus, slightly to the
west of where Brechin Hall now stands. It has been
described as "a two-story edifice of wood, with recita-
tion rooms and a study-room on the lower floor, and
a spacious hall for exhibitions and other public pur-

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

poses on the second floor." This hall was sixty-four
feet long and thirty-three feet broad. The entrance
was towards Main Street, and there was a rear door
at the opposite side. Samuel Phillips, son of Colonel
John Phillips, has left a short description: —

The second Academy was a very commodious house —
very spacious cellar — ample school room above; with
recitation room for the assistant and a museum on the
same floor — with what seemed to us then a rare show of
natural and artificial curiosities.

The cost of construction and of the land to the south
used for a training-field was nine hundred and fifty
pounds, — the equivalent then of $3166.66, — which
was defrayed in equal shares by the three Phillips
brothers, Samuel, John, and William.

The old Academy building remained for some years
on the original site, being used, first as a singing-
room, and then as a storehouse for rags. In 1803 it
was sold for thirty dollars to Abbot Walker, who re-
moved it to a farm about half a mile to the east,
and turned it into a workshop. About 1845 it was
torn down.

Pearson's fame as a scholar and teacher extended
rapidly as his work at Andover became known. In
October, 1785, he was notified by President Joseph
Willard, of Harvard, that he had been elected to
succeed Stephen Sewall as Hancock Professor of
Hebrew and the Oriental Languages in Harvard
College, at a salary of two hundred and eighty pounds
a year. The offer both financially and scholastically
was too advantageous to refuse, and accordingly on
January 3, 1786, he sent in to the Trustees his resigna-

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

tion of the Preceptorship. He remained in Andover
only long enough to see the School safely housed in
the new building, and then, on February 3, moved to
Cambridge.

For the next twenty years Pearson was intimately
connected with Harvard College. We are told that
"his stately, courteous manners inspired awe rather
than love," but he seems to have won a kind of leader-
ship among his colleagues. He was frequently the
agent of the Fellows on special business, especially
in relation to college properties. At Commencements
his house — the one which was later bought by the
Holmes family and in which Oliver Wendell Holmes
was born — was a center of hospitality where many
eminent guests were entertained. Among the many
honors which he received he was Fellow and Secretary
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a
Founder of the American Education Society, a mem-
ber of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and
President of the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge. He was honored by both Yale and
Princeton with the degree of Doctor of Laws.

In his home in Cambridge he was fond of music,
especially of the violoncello and bass-viol. Of the
latter instrument, on which he was an excellent per-
former, he once said, "As it is commonly played, it
might be compared to a wash-tub strung with a
wheel-band, and played upon with a knotty apple
stick." His love of nature led him to take a keen
interest in botany and ornithology. Occasionally he
is remembered as a critic, as when he said of Young's
Night Thoughts, "Every line is a thunder bolt." Little

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Oliver Wendell Holmes was impressed by the Pro-
fessor's "large features and conversational basso
prof undo."

Even in his new environment Pearson took care not
to get out of touch with Andover. The stress of his
collegiate duties did not prevent him from keeping
exact lists of the boys each year at Phillips Academy,
with an account of the term bill of each. We have his
memoranda giving a reckoning of all the expenses in-
curred by him as Trustee from 1778 to 1819. As a
member of the Board, and later as President of it, he
was still a power to be considered in the administra-
tion of the institution, and when, in 1806, he returned
to Andover Hill, it was to roimd out the career which
he had begun there thirty years before.

After Pearson had taken his leave, the Trustees
were confronted with the difficult problem of naming
his successor. The time was the first of many such
disturbing periods in the Academy history, for
Pearson, despite his policy of ruling by fear, had
created a vigorous and flourishing school, and a feeble
second Principal might easily undo all that the first
had accomplished. While investigation was being
carried on, Caleb Bingham ^ (1757-1817) took charge
for two months, but his strength proved unequal to
the task. On March 2, 1786, Judge Phillips wrote
Madame Phillips : —

Mr. Bingham had better attend the Academy as health

' Caleb Bingham, who graduated from Dartmouth College in 1782,
was a teacher in several small schools, and later kept a bookstore for
many years on Cornhill, Boston. He compiled the Columbian Orator,
the American Preceptor, and other famous schoolbooks, of which in all
1,250,000 copies were printed.

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PEDAGOGUE

will permit, though it should be but half the time, than to
overdo and render himself unable to attend at all.

He was succeeded by John Abbot, 3d ^ (1759-1843),
a young Harvard graduate, who, however, showed
no especial efficiency. At last, on May 10, 1786,
Ebenezer Pemberton, who had just resigned from the
Plainfield Academy in Connecticut, came to Andover
for a period of probation, and two months later was
given a permanent appointment as Principal.

1 John Abbot, 3d, was an Andover boy who was educated at Phillips
Academy and Harvard College. He studied divinity, but was pre-
vented by ill health from preaching. He was then cashier of the
Portland Bank, but resigned in 1802 to connect himself with the newly
founded Bowdoin College, where he was Professor of Ancient Lan-
guages, Librarian, Trustee, and Treasurer. He died at the ancestral
homestead in Andover, July 2, 1843.

CHAPTER VI

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

Thet, who were about him, did not fail
In reverence, or in courtesy; they prized
His gentle manners: and his peaceful smiles,
The gleams of his slow-varying countenance.
Were met with answering sympathy and love.

Even the sedate Judge Phillips must occasionally
have smiled in noticing the differences between the
first Principal and the second. Pearson, burly in body
and brusque in manner, was an American Dr.
Johnson; Pemberton, slight in build, dapper, and uni-
formly courteous, was not unlike Lord Chesterfield.
Pearson was always "great Eliphalet," inclined to
overawe and browbeat his students; Pemberton, who
was small and unimpressive in appearance, spoke
with a soft voice, seeming to persuade rather than to
command. Josiah Quincy, who found it diflBcult to
repress his dislike for Pearson, said of Pemberton : —

Mild, gentle, conciliatory, and kind, inspiring affection
and exciting neither fear nor awe, while he preserved and
supported discipline, he made himself beloved and re-
spected by his pupils.

Pemberton was at^this time nearly forty years old.
He was born in 1747 in Newport, Rhode Island, a
grandson of Ebenezer Pemberton, minister of the Old
South Church in Boston. An uncle, also a Reverend
Ebenezer Pemberton, who was pastor of the New
Brick Church in Boston, brought up the boy, sending
him to Princeton (then called the College of New Jer-

EBENEZER PEMBERTON

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

sey), where he was Valedictorian of the class of 1765.
During an engagement as tutor which kept him in
residence at Princeton he had among his pupils Aaron
Burr and James Madison; and it is said that even in
his old age he preserved with pride a copy of the
Latin address delivered to him by Madison in behalf
of the latter and his classmates at the time of their
departure from college. His wealthy uncle was
ambitious that Pemberton should become a clergy-
man, and, to that end, offered to make him his heir.
The young man, however, realized his imfitness for
the ministry, and refused. Even when his uncle
urged him repeatedly, and promised to leave him
his fortune if he would only study for the ministry
and preach one sermon, Pemberton persisted in his
decision. As a result he lost the favor of his relative,
and was compelled to rely almost entirely on his own
resources. About 1778, after finishing a course of
theology with the Reverend Samuel Hopkins, of
Newport, he accepted a position as Principal of the
Academy at Plainfield, Connecticut. Here he taught
for some years with considerable success, and his
record was brought to the attention of Judge Phillips.
The Trustees were not averse to engaging Pember-
ton for life; but, owing to the uncertain state of his
health, he declined to accept on these terms, and it
was therefore specified that he should be allowed to
withdraw at any time after three months' notice.
His salary was fixed at one hundred and forty pounds,
"lawful money." At the meeting when this contract
was ratified it was voted "that the title of the chief
instructor, in future, shall be Principal, instead of

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Preceptor." The old title, however, appears in the
Records for many years after this resolution.

Principal Pemberton soon showed that the school
was not to deteriorate under his regime. Without the
assertiveness, the versatility, and the brute power of
his predecessor, Pemberton possessed no less valuable
virtues of his own: tact, dignity, and marked execu-
tive ability. Although he used force only as a last
resort, he managed to maintain strict discipline. His
interest in deportment and in the technical details of
etiquette was, perhaps, excessive; but it led him so to
systematize the routine of the Academy that each
day's schedule ran with perfect smoothness. At the
early hour of morning chapel every student was
expected to be in his proper seat; then, as Pemberton
in his stately fashion entered the hall, the pupils rose
and bowed formally, while the Principal, no less
gracious, returned the salutation. He next ascended
the platform, where he pronounced the invocation,
after which the boys read verses in turn from a Bible
chapter. At the close of the afternoon session the
same ceremony was repeated, each student leaving
only after bowing politely, first to the Principal and
then to his assistant. Pemberton kept a close watch
over the personal habits of his pupils; we find, for
instance, that Caleb Strong, Governor of Massachu-
setts, wrote Judge Phillips at the end of a term:
"My son's manners are much improved. He is a good
deal mended of the trick of moving his feet and
fingers."

It would be a mistake, however, to regard Pember-
ton as merely a fanatical censor morum. He was

100

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

himself no mean scholar, and under him the prestige
of Phillips Academy in the community did not suffer.
The curriculum was apparently broadened to in-
clude geography and some higher mathematics. The
Principal laid particular emphasis on public declama-
tion, and insisted that each boy should have thorough
drill in addressing an audience. At the Exhibition in
1786 Josiah Quincy and John Thornton Kirkland^
(1770-1840), two future presidents of Harvard
College, delivered the dialogue of Brutus and Cassius
from Julius Ccesar. Nor did the number of students
diminish. During the seven years of Pemberton's
administration seventy-seven of his pupils went to
college, all but a few of them to Harvard. In the
same year, 1792, there came to Phillips Academy
Stephen Longfellow (1776-1849), father of Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, and Charles Lowell (1782-
1861), father of James Russell Lowell. Francis
Cabot Lowell (1775-1817), for whom was named the
city of Lowell, Massachusetts, preceded his brother
Charles to Andover, and graduated in the class of
1789. Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776-1839), father
of Charles Sumner, finished his course at Phillips
Academy in 1792. These distinguished names indi-
cate that Pemberton was able to inspire confidence
in his school. What the Trustees thought of his suc-

^ John Thornton Kirkland, son of a missionary among the Oneida
Indians, was born August 17, 1770, at German Flats, New York. He
graduated from Phillips Academy in 1786 and from Harvard in 1789;
was pastor of the New South Church in Boston, 1794-1810; and was
President of Harvard, 1810-28, preceding Josiah Quincy. Until his
death, April 26, 1840, he lived in Boston or vicinity. A fine portrait
of Dr. Kirkland, copied from the original by Stuart, hangs in the
Academy Library.

101

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

cess may be judged from an unusual resolution which
they passed, July 6, 1792, and in which they expressed
their appreciation of "the care and attention which
the Principal, & Assistant, & Writing Master, have
paid to the instruction of the students as well as to
their manners." The personal attitude of Judge
Phillips is brought out in a letter to Dr. John Phillips,
July 26, 1790: —

This Academy is in a more flourishing state than it has
been for some time — its numbers before the vacation
about 54 — twelve in the Sen'r class well fitted for college
tho' but 7 have yet been offered for admission — the
morals and deportment of the youths regular. The satis-
faction to the Trustees, upon their examination, better
than in some years past.

In the maintenance of order and his insistence upon
good conduct Pemberton must have been fully as
exacting as Pearson. In this connection it is a pleas-
ing pastime to glance over the Records and note some
of the matters over which the Trustees assumed
jurisdiction. Under the date of July 11, 1791, we
meet with the following resolutions: —

That single ladies shall be licensed to keep but two
scholars at a time.

That no scholar who is under the age of twenty-one
years shall be allowed to purchase anything of another
scholar on trust. . . . But that every scholar shall be
obliged to keep a particular and regular account of his ex-
penses, and exhibit it to the Principal whenever he shall
call for it.

That no scholar shall be allowed to bathe in any mill-
pond.

That no scholar, who cannot swim, shall be allowed to go

102

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

into the water, except in company with two or more schol-
ars who can swim; or in the presence of a man who shall
be approved of by the principal, or assistant, or any one
of the Trustees.

The Trustees also felt concerned for the morals of
the student body. On July 7, 1788, they resolved as
follows : —

Voted, that if any member of the Academy shall be
guilty of profanity or any other scandalous immorality;
for the first offense it shall be the duty of the principal to
administer a serious reproof. In case of a second offense
notice thereof is to be given by the principal to the parent
or guardian of such youth; and upon the third offense
notice thereof shall be given to the Trustees.

The refusal of one of the boys to give information
against a classmate led to the insertion of another
clause in this penal code: —

Voted, unanimously, that it shall be the duty of each
scholar, when required by the principal, the assistant, or
any of the trustees to give evidence in any case of criminal
misconduct in others, to declare the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. And in case any scholar shall
be so lost to all sense of moral obligation, as to be guilty
either of withholding evidence, or of giving false evidence;
upon conviction thereof at any future time, while a member
of the academy, he shall be publicly and solemnly admon-
ished before the whole Academy, & such of the Trustees
as can attend the sad solemnity. And upon conviction of a
second offense of this kind, he shall be expelled from the
Academy.

These votes of the Trustees upon matters which to-
day are left almost entirely to the Principal and his
Faculty show how sedulously the members guarded
the academic peace. They were Argus-eyed in their

103

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

efforts to detect misconduct; indeed, they often felt
called upon to extend their oflScial duties so far as to
report and punish the most trivial infractions of the
rules. The Founders, especially Judge Phillips, did
not hesitate to reprimand boys, and frequently took
occasion to address them in the school hall on the
odiousness of vice and the beauty of virtue.

The religious instruction so stressed in the Consti-
tution was certainly not neglected under Pemberton.
Here again, however, the Trustees, not satisfied to
let the Principal use his judgment, reminded him, on
July 5, 1792, of what was required of him: —

That Mr. Pemberton be desired to appropriate as large
a portion of the forenoon on Mondays to the purpose of
examining the scholars in the exercises assigned them for
the Lord's days, and making observation thereon, or on
religious instruction, as he shall judge proper. It is ex-
pected that the Principal assign to the scholars, to be com-
mitted to memory on Lord's days, a portion from the
Assembly's Catechism or Watts's Catechisms, or poetical
works, or any other books he shall think proper, having
due regard to the desire of parents when expressed.

On Sundays the boys still marched in a body to the
Old South Church, where they occupied the three
rear seats in the lower section of the gallery. While
the new meeting-house was being built in 1788, the
congregation, at the invitation of the Trustees, used
the Academy Hall for their Sunday services.

Although Judge Phillips had wished to provide aid
for poor students at the Academy, no feasible
method of accomplishing this had as yet been dis-
covered. During 1789, however, he had some corre-

104

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

spondence with Dr. John Phillips, with the result
that in October, 1789, the latter conveyed to Phillips
Academy at Andover the sum of more than $20,000
"for and in consideration of further promoting the
virtuous and pious education of youth (poor children
of genius, and of serious disposition especially) " — the
largest single gift to the school for more than seventy-
five years. At the annual meeting held on July 12,
1790, the Trustees passed a vote of appreciation: —

That the thanks of the Board be presented to the Hon.
John Phillips, Esq. for his pious and liberal donation,
whereby he has still further manifested his generous and
ardent zeal for the promotion of knowledge, virtue, and
piety, and conferred an additional and lasting obligation
upon the Academy. Upon this occasion the Trustees can-
not but add their fervent wish and prayer, that the Donor,
the distinguished friend and patron of science and religion,
may live to behold, with increasing joy and satisfaction,
the happy fruits of this, and of all his other pious liberali-
ties; and at a very remote period, his numerous acts
of benevolence may receive that reward which original
and infinite goodness can bestow.

The news of this munificent gift was reported to the
Trustees at the last meeting which Esquire Phillips,
then almost seventy-five years old, was able to attend.
His health, which had for some time been failing, was
absolutely broken with the death of his beloved wife.
On July 26, 1790, Judge Phillips wrote to Dr. John
Phillips: —

I wish I could give you more favorable accounts of my
hon'd Father 's health — his flesh and strength appear
to be still wasting, and we have small ground to expect
his continuing much longer to survive my hon'd mother.

105

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

A few weeks later, on August 21, he died. The loss
of the oldest of the Founders brought sorrow to every
one connected with Phillips Academy. Since its open-
ing day he had been President of the Board of
Trustees, and had attended faithfully every meeting
until his increasing feebleness compelled him to with-
draw from active life. In his stead Dr. John Phillips
was chosen President; and on July 5, 1792, probably
because Dr. Phillips found it inconvenient to be
present at every meeting, the office of Vice-President
was created, Judge Phillips being selected for the
position. To fill the vacancy left by the death of
Esquire Phillips, another member of the family. His
Honor William Phillips ^^(1750-1827), of Boston, was
elected a Trustee.

The most striking event of Pemberton's adminis-
tration was probably the visit of General Washing-
ton to Andover during his tour of the Eastern States
in the autumn of 1789. Leaving Haverhill on the
morning of Thursday, November 5, he drove to
Andover, where he breakfasted at Deacon Isaac
Abbot's tavern, a building still standing on Elm
Street. From there, escorted by Judge Phillips and

1 William Phillips, only surviving son of the eight children of the
Honorable William Phillips, was born April 10, 1750, in Boston, and
educated at the Boston Latin School. In 1773 he made an extended tour
of England, returning in 1774 on one of the tea ships, just in time to
give his aid to the movement for independence. From 1804 until 1827
he was President of the Massachusetts Bank; and he was Lieutenant-
Governor of the Commonwealth for twelve successive terms, from 1812
to 1823. From his father he inherited a large fortune, which he spent
judiciously in the service of the public. At a later date he was one of
the most liberal benefactors of Phillips Academy. Mr. Phillips was a
domestic man, fond of retirement and quiet leisure. He married Septem-
ber 13, 1774, Miriam Mason, of Boston, by whom he had seven children.

106

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

other prominent citizens on horseback, he passed
near the Old South Church and up the turnpike (now
known as School Street) to the Phillips Mansion
House, then a comparatively new residence. Here he
was entertained by Madame Phoebe Phillips and her
husband, who, it will be remembered, had been in-
timately associated with Washington in 1775, while
Boston was under siege. In the afternoon the Presi-
dent held an informal reception on horseback in the
training-field, the open lawn in front of the present
Treasurer's house. When this ceremony was over, he
and his party rode down the lane now called Phillips
Street, over the Wilmington Road to the battlefield
of Lexington. The moment General Washington left
that southeast room in the Mansion House Madame
Phillips tied a strip of ribbon on the chair which he
had occupied, and there it remained until the day of
his death, when she substituted for it a band of crape.
This chair is now in the possession of Andover
Theological Seminary.

On October 8, 1793, Pemberton, whose health had
broken under the strain of his responsibilities, pro-
posed his resignation to the Trustees, who, in consid-
eration of his illness, appointed for him a second
assistant, Mr. Abiel Abbot. After waiting two
months in the hope that Pemberton might possibly
be able to return to his duties, the Board, on De-
cember 24, 1793, accepted his withdrawal, and added
a resolution in which they recognized the "ability,
attention, and fidelity" which he had displayed in
office.

There is something rather mysterious about Pem-

107

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

berton's departure. He could not have been seriously-
incapacitated, for in the following autumn he was
established as Principal of a school in Billerica, where
he taught until 1810. On October 2, 1796, John
Phillips, of Andover, wrote to his mother, Madame
Phoebe Phillips: —

It seems as if Mr. Pemberton were determined to injure
our family and the academy as much as possible. I suppose
that he has now thoughts of making his office at Billerica
hereditary.

Two months later, on December 4, 1796, Pemberton
married Miss Ehzabeth Whitewell, of Salem. Every-
thing indicates that he left Andover mainly because
he had incurred the displeasure of Judge Phillips,
probably because of some love affair which did not
satisfy the Phillips family.

Unlike Eliphalet Pearson, who ultimately returned
to Andover and who never severed his connection
with Phillips Academy, Pemberton apparently broke
off all relations with the town; from the day of his
departure he is not mentioned in the Academy Re-
cords. In 1810 he opened a small private school in
Boston, and succeeded in obtaining about a score
of pupils. General H. K. Oliver, who was for a short
period his pupil there, has described him in eulogistic
terms : —

A man he was of the most refined and graceful manners;
dignified, yet courteous in demeanor, pleasant of speech,
accurate in language, pure in thought and life, conscientious
in all he said and did, presenting himself to my memory as
a living model of a Christian gentleman and godly man.

We have this picture of him from another source : —

108

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

His dress was that of the last century: a full-skirted,
single-breasted, collarless coat, long & full vest, breeches
with knee buckles & long stockings, with buckled shoes,
the buckles some 6 by 3 inches — or thereabouts — a
powdered wig, with queue, adorned or disadorned his
head.

About 1825 his increasing infirmities forced him to
abandon teaching. Although he had a son and two
daughters, they were for some reason unable to be of
much assistance to him, and he was entirely without
resources; fortunately some of his grateful pupils
came to the rescue and paid him an annuity during
the rest of his life. He died June 25, 1835, at the
age of eighty -nine.

When we estimate his long career as a whole, we
must confess that he fell just short of success. Faith-
ful, industrious, and conscientious he undoubtedly
was, and his personality left a delightful impression
on those who sat under his instruction. In his tempera-
ment he was

Sweet, unaggressive, tolerant, most humane; —

but he lacked some quality which might have made
him great as man and teacher. For this failure his
weakness of body may have been partly accountable;
but it is even more likely that some supersensitive-
ness, some want of force and self-assertion, may have
kept him from attaining that rank to which his
ability in other respects entitled him. As Principal of
Phillips Academy he performed valuable service, but
he was never fully praised during his period of labor,
and his last days were a pathetic end for a life of

sacrifice.

109

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

For a few months Phillips Academy was placed in
charge of Abiel Abbot ^ (1770-1828), a young man
who had just finished a year of teaching at the Phillips
Exeter Academy, and of Mark Newman, who had
been made an assistant in 1793. On July 7, 1794, the
Trustees voted to offer Abbot one hundred and twenty
pounds a year if he would accept the position of
Principal, even for only six months; and, if he refused,
to propose the same office to Newman, with a salary
of one hundred pounds. Abbot declined, and New-
man, on July 23, 1794, accepted the Principalship.

In his farewell address to the Senior Class on
July 6, 1794, Abbot painted a melancholy picture of
our American colleges. Assuming that his auditors
were all going to Harvard, he warned them of the
future: —

You are now about commencing the most perilous period
of your lives, a period in which every passion unfriendly to
virtue will be excited; every temptation dangerous to
morals will be set before you; and every act calculated to
mislead will be practiced upon you. You are going to act
a part upon a stage where wrong ideas and false principles
have great influence. . . . You will sail upon a Sea whose
sm-f ace is beautiful and tempting, but dangerous rocks and
quicksands lurk beneath.

He was especially severe in condemning trips to
Boston: —

Seldom visit the Capital; it is dangerous ground, par-

1 Abiel Abbot, who was an Andover boy, graduated from Phillips
Academy in 1788, and from Harvard in 1792. After leaving the School
in 1794, he studied divinity with Jonathan French, became a J)astor
at Haverhill (1795-1803) and at Beverly (1803-28), and died on a
return voyage from Cuba in 1828. He ■wrote Letters from Cuba and
Sermons to Mariners.

110

PEMBERTON, THE POLITE

ticularly if you hunt for pleasure in it. Town pleasures,
like forbidden fruit, are tempting to the senses, but the
most innocent of them have a mixture of deadly poison.

It is gratifying to know that he accepted in 1821
the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college
whose temptations he had so luridly portrayed.

In 1794 Dr. John Phillips, aware that his growing
infirmities would soon render him incapable of cover-
ing the thirty miles between Exeter and Andover,
resigned his office as President, and was succeeded on
July 7 by his only surviving brother, the Honorable
William Phillips, of Boston. Dr. Phillips died sud-
denly on April 21, 1795, and an eloquent memorial
sermon, eulogizing him and the members of his family,
was preached at Andover a few weeks later by the
Reverend Jonathan French.

The Reverend William Symmes resigned from the
Board in 1795, "chiefly on account of the increasing
failure of his sense of hearing." To fill the vacancies
three new members were elected, all distinguished
men; the Reverend Jedediah Morse (1761-1826), an
eminent clergyman of Charlestown, known as "the
father of American geography," but better remem-
bered as the father of Samuel F. B. Morse, P. A. 1805;
Samuel Abbot (1732-1812), a Boston business man
living in Andover, who later endowed Andover
Theological Seminary; and Jacob Abbot ^ (1746-
1820), a partner of Judge Phillips in the management

1 Jacob Abbot, who was born in Andover, March 22, 1746, and who
returned there in 1791 after prospering as a manufacturer in Wilton,
New Hampshire, lived after 1802 in Brunswick, Maine. He was the
father of Jacob and John S. C. Abbott, the authors, and the great-grand-
father of Dr. Lyman Abbott.

Ill

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of the Hill store. On July 7, 1795, Nehemiah Abbot,
who had acted nominally as Treasurer since 1778,
asked for compensation for his services, but his request
was denied. Two months later, when he was voted
four hundred dollars, he resigned his office, feeling
that this tardy and paltry remuneration was but
shabby treatment. He was succeeded as Treasurer by
Judge Oliver Wendell, who held the place until
1803.

In 1794 the Honorable William Phillips transferred
to the Trustees ten shares in Andover Bridge, the
money to be used "for the purpose of aiding the
education of Youths of serious and promising capaci-
ties, who need pecuniary aid." By the terms of ithe
will of Dr. John Phillips the school was made a legatee
to the extent of one third of the residue of his estate,
and it was specified that it should be employed "for
the benefit more especially of Charity scholars, such
as may be of excelling genius and of good moral char-
acter, preferring the hopefully pious." This legacy,
soon consolidated with Dr. Phillips's larger donation
of 1789, amounted to over seven thousand dollars.
Gifts of this kind show how well established was the
idea that it was part of the Academy plan to assist
poor but deserving boys. Phillips Academy was be-
coming more prosperous. Thanks to the generosity
of the Phillips family it was acquiring funds which
were to prove of inestimable value at a later period.

CHAPTER VII

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

Surely never did there live on earth

A man of kindlier nature. The rough sports

And teasing ways of children vexed not him;

Indulgent listener was he to the tongue

Of garrulous age; nor did the sick man's tale

To his fraternal sympathy addressed,

Obtain reluctant hearing.

Mark Newman, the third Principal, was not an
impressive figure. Kind, affable, and popular with
his associates, he was neither feeble nor dangerous,
but he lacked both the virility of Pearson and the
intellectual distinction of Ebenezer Pemberton. He
was an eminently respectable gentleman of engaging
manners, but deficient in qualities of leadership and
without the capacity for meeting extraordinary
situations. Coming into office when he was but a
careless boy, with little real experience as either
teacher or administrator, he did his best to fill the
place of his predecessors. That he failed to maintain
their standard is not remarkable; the real wonder is
that, in his hands, the school did not lose itself irre-
vocably. His nephew, Wendell Phillips, in passing
judgment on him, gave him credit for many fine
characteristics: —

Most men thought Newman too easy and contented
in his mood. . . . Except for this matter of a too easy dis-
position I should have willingly offered him to any who
doubted the practical value of the old New England creed,
as a test of that faith in making an honest, just, liberal, and

113

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

public-spirited man, pure in heart, fair in his judgment of
others, and as perfect as the lot of humanity admits in the
discharge of social and civil duties.

It was this "too easy disposition" which unfitted
him for the position of Principal, and which later in-
volved him, through no extravagance of his own, in
financial embarrassment. His personality was attrac-
tive, but his dignity was a little too unruffled, his
calmness a trifle too serene.

Mark Newman, the son of Samuel Newman and
Hannah Hastings, was born September 7, 1772, at
Ipswich. He prepared for college under the famous
Benjamin Abbot at the newly founded Phillips Exe-
ter Academy, and was thus the only graduate of Exe-
ter hitherto to become Principal at Andover.^ While
in Exeter, he was assisted by Dr. John Phillips, who,
knowing him to be poor, gave him employment for his
spare hours and made him an inmate of his house-
hold. Newman was an exceedingly handsome youth,
with a personal magnetism which won him many
friends. It was said of him, too, that he was not
ashamed to work.

He early gained the power to pay
His cheerful, self-reliant way.

Through Dr. Phillips's advice and aid he went to
Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1793. On
July 5 of that year he was appointed an assistant
at Phillips Academy at a salary of three pounds,

'■ Three Andover graduates — Dr. Benjamin Abbot, Dr. Albert C.
Perkins, and Mr. Charles E. Fish — have been Principals of the Phillips
Exeter Academy. The present Principal, Lewis Perry, attended Andover
for one term.

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THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

twelve shillings a month, and board. He had origi-
nally intended to become a clergyman, but this new
opportunity altered his plans. At Andover he be-
came intimate with John Phillips, Judge Phillips's
son, and, because of this friendship, he was allowed
to have rooms in the Mansion House. Newman, who
may have been somewhat spoiled by good fortune,
was an imaginative and romantic young man, with
an attitude towards life best described as "sopho-
moric." A characteristic passage may be quoted from
a letter written November 14, 1793, to John Phillips,
then a student at Harvard: —

Last evening I attempted to write a few lines and was
interrupted. Your mama's desire with my own inclina-
tion induces me to make a second attempt. The evening
is far spent and imagination dull.

However I can probably form an idea of your happiness
while puzzling your pate with the dry problems of Euclid
and loading your memory with the dialects of Homer.
You are wishing and expecting happier days. Don't be too
confident, lest the object at which you are grasping shall
prove a delusive shadow. Let us, like rational beings, en-
joy the present, and lay aside anxiety concerning the events
of to-morrow.

I enjoy as much happiness as I ought to expect, consider-
ing the disturbed nature of this ocean of life. In addition
to the happiness which Miss Sally communicates, we have
another young lady in the family who is by no means de-
void of merit. Your hon'd parents are well. In walking
the fields of science that you may crop the best of every
flower is the sincere wish of Your friend and humble
servant.

The "Miss Sally" here mentioned was Sally Phil-
lips, sister of the Honorable John Phillips, of Boston.

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Newman married Miss Phillips in 1795, and Judge
Phillips, who was her second cousin, later stood as
godfather for their eldest son, Samuel Phillips New-
man.

Doubtless Newman's aflSliations with the Phillips
family helped to secure for him his election as Princi-
pal. Newman was also approbated as a preacher,
and frequently supplied pulpits in the vicinity, es-
pecially at the Old South when Mr. French was ill
or absent.

Shortly after his marriage Newman moved into the
old Abbot House on Phillips Street, which Pemberton
had left a short time before. His salary of one hun-
dred and fifty pounds a year was considered fairly lib-
eral ; but within a few months he presented to the Trus-
tees a petition, with the general tone of which that
body has since had ample opportunity to become
familiar: —

Considering the high price of the necessities of life my
salary proves insufficient for the support of my family; if
therefore it should be the pleasure of the Honorable Board
to make some addition, such a favor will be gratefully
acknowledged.

In recognition of the justice of this appeal the Trus-
tees promptly voted him the extra sum of one hundred
dollars, "on account of the present advanced prices
of the necessaries of life." This annual grant was con-
tinued until 1802, when it was raised to two hundred
dollars; in 1805 it was increased to three hundred
dollars and in 1806 to four hundred dollars, at which
sum it remained until the coming of a new Principal.
It is interesting to notice the gradual introduction of

116

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

the decimal system of dollars and cents in place of the
English pounds and pence. As late as 1797 bills were
made out to pupils in terms of shillings, although the
newer coinage was everywhere in use.

The policy of admitting to the Academy very
young boys had, after a fair trial, proved to be rather
unsatisfactory. In 1796 Mr. William Foster, Jr.,
asked permission of the Trustees to start a school
"for instructing youth in reading, writing, orthog-
raphy, the english grammar and arithmetic, for the
purpose of qualifying them for admission into
Phillips Academy." Mr. Foster, who was described
in the Records as "a person of good morals and ex-
emplary deportment, & well calculated to take the
charge of, & instruct youth," obtained the desired
sanction, and accordingly opened his establishment
in the Foster homestead (now Mr. Homer Foster's
farmhouse) on Central Street, and maintained it
successfully for nearly twenty years. At times there
were in attendance there over twenty-five boys, most
of whom later entered Phillips Academy.

The plan of working through the year with only
six weeks of vacation doubtless appealed to the
strenuous Pearson, but his successors were ready to
sympathize with complaints from the boys. In 1791
a new schedule was arranged providing for four
vacation periods: two of a fortnight each, one of
three weeks, and one of a week. This arrangement
was modified in 1796 so that the vacations came as fol-
lows : two weeks, beginning the second Wednesday in
July; two weeks, beginning the third Wednesday in
October; two weeks, beginning the second Wednesday

117

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in January; and two weeks, beginning the third
Wednesday in April. School was regularly held on
both Thanksgiving and Christmas Days, and also
during the greater part of the summer, now consid-
ered too hot for effective work. Vacations to-day
cover approximately twice the length of time allowed
in 1796.

The Academy Exhibitions had by 1796 become
important occasions in the school year. The first
Exhibition held at Phillips Academy took place
April 20, 1779, and is recorded as follows: —

In the afternoon the Trustees visited the school, ex-
amined their writing, heard them construe and parse —
& speak several pieces in english, & perform an excellent
piece of musick.

A similar event. May 22, 1782, is mentioned
briefly: —

The Trustees visited the Academy, where the scholars
exhibited a specimen of their writing, of their proficiency
in the latin and greek languages, & in the art of speaking.

The programme gradually took a form correspond-
ing roughly to our modern Commencement exercises;
and before the construction of the new Academy gave
the school a spacious hall, the Exhibitions were held in
the South Parish meeting-house. Naturally the per-
formances varied in quality. On July 3, 1792, Judge
Phillips wrote apologetically to his son John: —

Mr. Pemberton says the Exhibition will be quite lean.
You will remember, if any one should talk of coming from
college, to tell them that it is proposed to be only a private
Exhibition.

At the exercises in 1795 little Samuel Phillips,

118

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

Judge Phillips's younger son, spoke Cowper's "I am
monarch of all I survey."

In general the Exhibitions seem to have aroused
only favorable comment until 1798, when, at a gath-
ering immediately after the ceremonies, the Trustees
voted : —

That a reform in our Exhibitions be attempted by ren-
dering them less theatrical, more sentimental, to consist
more of single pieces, and the exercises not to exceed the
limits of two hours.

In 1800 their disapprobation took the form of a
resolution forbidding any public Exhibition for that
year. Apparently the offensive features still persisted,
for we find in the Records for August 19, 1806, the
following entry: —

Voted, that the time allowed to the exercises shoidd not
exceed one hour and a half, and the pieces consist wholly
of single speeches and dialogues not theatrical.

Samuel Phillips ^ (1801-77), son of Colonel John
Phillips, gives an account of the Exhibition of 1809: —

The attendance at the Exhibitions used to be very large
— and on one occasion I remember the scene was enlivened
by music. And such Music! We had no brass or brigade
band in those days; and so a sturdy member of the school,
one Abijah Cross, performing on a bass viol, and Henry
B. Pearson (son of the professor, an incipient flute player)
combined their power, and entertained the audience with
"Roslyn Castle" and "O dear! what can the matter be?"

1 Samuel Phillips, born May 8, 1801, in North Andover, graduated
from Harvard in 1819, taught in Phillips Academy from 1819 to 1822,
and studied in Harvard Law School until 1825. He was later a Bank
Commissioner and President of the Brighton Bank. He married
October 23, 1827, Sally Swett, of Boxford, by whom he had four chil-
dren.

119

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

No programmes of these early Exhibitions are in
the Academy archives; but it requires little eflFort of
the imagination to picture them as like the old-
fashioned speaking contests, where boys declaimed
in dramatic style favorites drawn from the Columbian
Orator and other popular collections. Now and then a
more serious note was introduced by an address de-
livered by some prominent clergyman; such a talk,
given by the Reverend Jedediah Morse at the Exhi-
bition in 1799, was afterwards printed by request of
the Trustees.

Singing, both solo and chorus, diversified the pro-
gramme, although we hear of no teacher of music until
1795, when Ichabod Johnson was engaged to provide
instruction in that subject. Johnson, who had been a
fifer in the Revolutionary army, had only a short
career on Andover Hill, for his lessons in the old first
Academy were accompanied by wild disorder, includ-
ing the breaking of nearly every window in the build-
ing. On November 30, 1795, the Committee of Exi-
gencies voted to dispense with Johnson's services,
and he retired to another less tumultuous community.
Other singing masters, however, took up his task, and
with better success.

Throughout Newman's administration the Trus-
tees, conscious, perhaps, of his weakness, continued to
interfere frequently and often ostentatiously with the
discipline of the school. A committee was appointed
in 1797 "to adopt such measures, as shall appear to
them expedient for the reformation of idle boys be-
longing to the Academy." On July 3, 1800, a mysteri-
ous entry appears : —

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THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

Voted, that the Scholars be prohibited from exercising
themselves in any wheel, called a federal balloon, fan-
dango, or by any other name.

Students were forbidden, it seems, to put locks
on their trunks and boxes. In 1805, as a result of
a drowning accident in the Shawsheen River, the
Trustees appointed a committee to secure a suitable
bathing-place for the boys during the hot summer
season. In 1808 Newman was requested to prevent
the shopkeepers in town from giving credit to the
students on the Hill.

For some reason impossible to ascertain the school,
"because of the disorder prevalent at present in An-
dover," was shut down on February 10, 1796, for four
full weeks. It is not apparent whether this "disorder "
was an epidemic of disease, or a heightened public feel-
ing due to our involved relations with France and
England. Later, as a result of the excitement aroused
by the revelations of the "X.Y.Z. papers," the Trus-
tees, on May 25, 1798, passed a resolution recom-
mending the students, "considering the present state
of our public affairs," to form a militia company, and
to admit to it town boys of "good character."

The changes in the equipment during this period
were only of a minor sort. In 1799 new seats were
built in the Academy building, and an additional
alley was made on each side of the center aisle; in
1802 a door, with a covered porch, was constructed
at the eastern end. The Trustees on January 9, 1804,
sent a fulsome letter to Madame Phillips, thanking
her for a "large and elegant clock," and also for
"four green window blinds for the school room; for

121

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

sundry articles of stationary [sic] for the use of the
Trustees; & also for painting one room & staircase in
the house occupied by the Preceptor." In 1805 the
small Academy library, started by Newman about
1796, was placed in alcoves and shelves put up on the
north side of the school building, and Samuel Farrar,
Esq., was appointed librarian.

Andover Hill had not changed greatly in the thirty
years after 1778. Morse's Geography (1803) says of
Phillips Academy: "It is encompassed with a sa-
lubrious air, and commands an extensive prospect."
To the south, on the Wobum-Boston Road, Madame
Phillips had as her nearest neighbor Moses Abbot,
who dwelt in the old red house once occupied by
Judge Phillips; to the north lived Joseph Phelps, who
carried on a store and boarded Academy boys in the
house which had just been built by Judge Phillips
on the south corner of Main and Phillips Streets.
Between this place and the Old South Church, along
the "meeting-house road," there was not a single
building. The site of Abbot Academy was then a
woodlot. The present Main Street to the village was
not yet opened; and there was no road to the east of
the Campus lawn. On Salem Street stood the "Blunt
Tavern," erected by Captain Isaac Blunt before
1765. A portion of the present Hardy House, then
occupied by Captain Towne, was standing on the
same site on Salem Street; and across the road from it
to the north was the home of Deacon Amos Blanchard,
who took boys as boarders. To the south of the
Academy building stretched a level lawn used as a
training-field for the town militia.

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THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

The most impressive local event of Newman's
administration was probably the funeral of Judge
Samuel Phillips, which took place on February 15,
1802. At the services in the Old South Church the
Reverend Jonathan French oflfered prayer, and the
Reverend David Tappan, HoUis Professor of Divinity
at Harvard College, delivered the sermon. In the
long procession the students of Phillips Academy
were followed by the Trustees of the two Phillips
schools at Andover and Exeter. The pallbearers
were the Governor, three of his Council, the Presi-
dent of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House.
The body was interred in the Phillips tomb in the
adjacent cemetery. Dr. John L. Taylor, in his
Memoir of Judge Phillips, describes the scene: —

The immense concourse, the presence of so many dis-
tinguished civilians, the universal sensibility, and the
impressive exercises with which her favorite son was then
laid in the tomb made this a memorable day to Andover;
such as she had never seen before and will never see
again.

The tone of all the speakers was that of sincere
eulogy. Dr. Tappan in his address said of his dead
classmate: —

His fervent and uniform piety, his upright and zealous
devotion to every private and public duty, prompted and
strengthened by large capacities for usefulness, rendered
him a distinguished ornament and pillar both of the church
and commonwealth.

In a sermon preached at Boston, February 10, 1802,
the Reverend Thomas Baldwin, Chaplain of the
House, referred to Judge Phillips as "the accurate

123

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

scholar, the enlightened statesman, the accomplished
gentleman, and the exemplary Christian." Long
afterward, in 1855, Josiah Quincy, then an octo-
genarian, wrote of Judge Phillips: —

I can truly say that I have never met, through my whole
life, with an individual in whom the spirit of Christianity
and of goodwill to mankind was so naturally and beau-
tifully blended with an indomitable energy and enterprise
in active life.

By a donation of $1000 made on December 12,
1801, Judge Phillips had provided for the distribution
of religious books among the citizens of Andover, one
stipulation being that Dr. Doddridge's Address to the
Master of a Family on Family Religion should be
given "to every young man who may be about to
enter into the family state." A second gift of $4000,
bequeathed to the Trustees on January 27, 1802,
had two aims: the improvement of female school-
teachers in Andover and the distribution of Bibles
and religious treatises to "poor and pious Christians"
elsewhere and to " the inhabitants of new towns and
plantations." The main object of these bequests, in
Phillips's own words, was "the preservation of the
essential and distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel,
as professed by our pious ancestors, the first settlers
of New England, and of such writings as are consen-
taneous thereto." The fund thus created has been
for more than a century administered in various
ways by the Trustees with increasingly solicitous
care for the Founder's " fear that the object of this
donation will be totally frustrated." The fund for
Andover teachers and for Andover young husbands

124

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

is now, by permission of the Supreme Court, used for
suitable books for tbe Andover and North Andover
pubhc Ubraries. The " inhabitants of new towns "
are represented to-day by the new inhabitants of old
towns, and to them the Massachusetts Bible Society
(of which His Honor William Phillips was the first
President) supplies "Bibles, Testaments, and Psal-
ters " at the expense of the fund. Aside from these
benefactions the bulk of Judge Phillips's fortune was
left to his wife and son.

Since 1796, when his uncle, the Honorable William
Phillips, had resigned as President of the Board,
Judge Phillips had performed the duties of that office;
he was succeeded by Eliphalet Pearson, elected
August 17, 1802, who, as Judge Phillips's nearest
friend, could be trusted to continue the Academy in
accordance with the ideas of the Founders. The
deaths of Judge Phillips and the Honorable John
Lowell in 1802, and the resignations of the Honorable
William Phillips and Jacob Abbot at about the same
time, left several vacancies on the Board. In 1801
Colonel John Phillips was elected, and a year later
the Honorable John Phillips, of Boston, was added
to the number. Josiah Quincy was chosen in 1802,
and the list was made complete by the election of
Samuel Farrar, first as Trustee, and, in 1803, as
Treasurer in place of Judge Oliver Wendell. On
January 15, 1804, the Honorable William Phillips,
the last of the three notable brothers, died in Boston,
"in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor."
In a codicil to his will he left to Phillips Academy the
sum of $4000, as a fund for "indigent students." In

125

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

his place the Reverend Daniel Dana ^ (1771-1859),
then a minister at Newburyport, was elected. His
term of office of fifty-two years is likely to be the
longest in Academy history.

In his last days Judge Phillips had not been alto-
gether satisfied with the standing of his school, and
in his final interview with the Trustees he made a
particular request : —

That a select committee be chosen to meet once in a
quarter or oftener, to inquire into the state of the Acad-
emy, the proficiency of the scholars, and the conduct of the
instructors, that the core of the Institution may be at-
tended to.

On November 2, 1802, the first committee of this
kind was named, consisting of the Reverend Jonathan
French, Samuel Abbot, Colonel John Phillips, Dr.
Pearson, and Dr. Morse. Their proceedings and con-
clusions, preserved systematically in a musty, dis-
colored record book, throw much light on the state of
the school under Newman. At their first examina-
tion, June 17, 1803, this committee spent three and
one-haK hours in the morning and the same period in
the afternoon in fulfilling their duties. That they
took these duties very seriously is proved by the
fervor with which they attended to trivialities. On
November 8, 1803, for instance, they made a report : —

Voted, that the Chairman inform the Academy at

' Dr. Dana, who was an advanced Calvinist, was to be a thorn in
the side of all progressive theologians for many years to come. Bom
in 1771, he graduated from Dartmouth in 1788, studied divinity, was
pastor at Newburyport, 1794-1820, and 1826-45, and resided in that
city until his death, August 26, 1859. He was President of Dartmouth
college, 1820-21.

126

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

large, that to their great satisfaction the Committee have
found by a careful examination of the bills for the last
fourteen weeks that of the fifty-seven students now present
38 have distinguished themselves by their punctuality,
having no mark of tardiness against their names; 31 by
their silent attention to business, not being charged with
a whisper since the last visitation of the committee; 6 by
their correctness in spelling, having made no mistake in
that exercise during the same period; and four by their
correctness of conduct in general, no mark being found
against either of their names upon either of the three bills.

They were not always, however, so lavish in their
praise. On November 20, 1804, they passed a vote of
a different tenor: —

That Mr. Newman be requested to inform the students
at an early period of the next term, that the Committee with
regret and disapprobation have noticed the increased num-
ber of whispers on the part of a large number of them as
appears by the bill. And further that he be requested to
use such methods to remedy that evil as he in his wisdom
may think best.

Occasionally this committee even passed sentence
on offenders. On July 8, 1804, a vote was recorded : —

That — , having been admonished by the Preceptor

at the request of this Committee at a former visitation,
for his frequent whispering in the Academy; & not having
reformed, but being found upon the bills at this visitation
highly charged for the same offense, be consigned to the
Rev. Mr. French to be seriously reproved for his continued
delinquency; & that six others of the students, being found
by the bills to be eminently faulty for whispering in the
Academy since the last visitation, be consigned to the
Preceptor to be admonished by him for the same.

There is something irresistibly ludicrous in the

127

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

spectacle of these stately gentlemen, sitting gravely
on these cases of inveterate whispering, and prescrib-
ing punishment as if the culprits were a menace to
society. A laugh at one of those solemn meetings
might perhaps have cleared the atmosphere. Cer-
tainly their investigations encroached on Newman's
field, and he must have been either very patient or
very subservient, to submit to the intrusion.

The question of the quality of the instruction offered
in Phillips Academy had for some years been giving
concern to the Trustees, and a report of the Select
Committee on May 4, 1808, brought the matter to a
head. Since the foundation of the school a period of
thirty years had elapsed, during which thirty assist-
ants, exclusive of writing-masters, had been employed.
Of this number only three had been prevailed upon to
continue in office for two years, two others about
one and one-half years each, most of them for but
one year, and several for a shorter term. The situa-
tion is vividly depicted by the committee : —

With a few exceptions, these Assistants have been im-
mediately transformed from Pupils into Instructors, most
of them young and without experience. The natural and
necessary consequences have followed. Instantly con-
nected with sixty young strangers, oppressed by a crowd
of different occupations, and hurried from one object of
instruction to another without intermissions, not weeks
only, but months passed away, before the young Precep-
tor has learned the characters or even the names of all his
pupils; and certainly before he has had leisure to renew
his acquaintance with authors, or to refresh his mind with
the principles of those Arts and Sciences which he is now
called to teach; tho', without such previous preparation

128

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

even the best scholar will be exposed to frequent mistakes
and much embarrassment, to the no small danger of his
respectability and usefulness among his pupils. It is indeed
a common and voluntary confession of Assistants them-
selves on leaving the Academy, that they are scarcely
qualified to commence their course in it. But even ad-
mitted, what can never be expected, that an Assistant, on
entering the Academy, is master of the various branches of
knowledge taught in it; still he is a stranger to the science
of government, and unacquainted with the avenues to the
human mind. Happy indeed if he have made any consider-
able advance in the knowledge and command of himself.
Of all arts, that of insinuating instruction in the most
pleasing form, and of gaining the ascendency in young
minds, is the most difficult, and the last acquired. What
then can in reason be expected of a young man, tran-
siently caught, and a few moments detained in the Acad-
emy, who never finds his object in his employment, and
thro' the day is longing for the hour that will dismiss him
to his professional pursuits.

This graphic but veracious description, undoubt-
edly from the ready pen of Dr. Pearson, seems to
have aroused his colleagues, for they soon agreed
to engage a "second permanent instructor," whose
salary, not more than seven hundred and fifty dollars,
should be paid through taxes on the students. It was
settled also that "the title of the first Instructor
shall be Principal, & that of the second Instructor be
Preceptor." The southwest room in the Academy
building was at once fitted up as a room for the Pre-
ceptor, with a desk for him, and seven rows of seats,
divided by an alley in the middle, for the pupils.
Provision was also made for a readjustment of the

teaching hours: —

129

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

That the instruction in the learned languages be so di-
vided between the first and second instructors, that one of
them shall be responsible for the correctness and pro-
ficiency of the pupils in Latin and the other in Greek.
Particular branches of instruction in any other language,
in the arts & sciences, and in morality & religion to be
in like manner statedly shared between them, as may best
comport with the circumstances of the Academy, and with
the character and feelings of the Instructors.

The first teacher to be engaged as Preceptor was
Mills Day (1783-1812), brother of President Jere-
miah Day, of Yale, who, however, remained only one
year. As a matter of fact the new system was never
put fully into operation, and, under a strong Principal,
it was, by common agreement, ignored. In its origin
it was certainly a scheme to remove some of the
power from Newman's hands, and his resignation
made it no longer necessary.

On March 27, 1809, 'Squire Farrar suggested that
twelve dollars of the annual income of the sum of
four hundred and fifty dollars, which, as his salary for
three years as Treasurer, he had presented to the
Trustees, should be "expended in prizes among the
most meritorious pupils of the Academy, agreeably to
such regulations as you may think best adapted to
increase attention to the Latin and Greek languages,
and to Moral and Religious instruction." Three
separate prizes of four dollars each were actually
determined upon: one in Latin, one in Greek, and
one in religious knowledge. But the Puritan con-
science soon began to feel twinges; it seemed wrong to
appeal to such motives in the human heart; and
finally the Trustees quietly came to the conclusion

130

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

"that scholars were sufficiently stimulated in their
studies without such an incentive." 'Squire Farrar,
not discomfited, added to this so-called "Prize Fund,"
and asked that the income be devoted to secure a
master in the Theory and Practice of Music. It was
later increased by the accretion of income and by
gifts until it amounted to over $12,000, when it was
used to build the Double-Brick House, and after-
wards in part for the erection of the Commons
dormitories.

We have already hinted that Phillips Academy,
after 1805, was steadily declining in numbers and in
efficiency. In 1803 there had been fifty-seven boys in
the school; in the winter term of 1809 there were only
eighteen. This decided falling-off was caused partly
by the increased attention which the Trustees gave to
the new Andover Theological Seminary, but far more
by the fact that Newman was not the man to com-
mand the confidence of parents. His dependence on
the Select Committee is merely one sign of his lack
of force; a strong personality, like Pearson or John
Adams, would never have submitted peacefully to
the restrictions imposed by that body, or would have
made them unnecessary. Newman himself recognized
that his abilities were better displayed in other occu-
pations, and, on August 22, 1809, sent in his resigna-
tion, assigning as a reason the fact that the labors and
responsibilities of the office were a burden which the
state of his health did not permit him longer to sus-
tain. His resignation deprived him automatically of
his place on the Board of Trustees; but he was at
once reelected to fill the vacancy caused by the death

131

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

on July 22, 1809, of the veteran Jonathan French. At
the same time Newman was made Clerk of the Board,
and held that position until 1836. Although they did
distrust him as a teacher, the Trustees seem to have
regarded highly his judgment and helpful counsel.

Newman lived in Andover during the remainder of
his long career. In 1811 he built a new house, the
handsome residence now occupied by the Treasurer,
and on an adjacent lot to the south he erected a store,
a square, ugly building where he kept a miscellaneous
assortment of small wares. General Oliver well re-
membered "running up a bill" of thirty-one cents
for writing-books at that store. In 1818, having fallen
into financial diflSculties, he exchanged his residence
on the HiU for the house and estate of Samuel
Abbot, Esq., on Central Street. He then, at a store
in the town, built up a fairly lucrative business as
bookseller and publisher of religious treatises. From
1811 until 1845 he was a Deacon in the South Church;
and he was, in 1818, the first Superintendent of its
Sunday-School. In 1829 he gave an acre of land for
the site of Abbot Academy, and he was President of
the Board of Trustees of that institution from its
foundation until 1843. He was still alive, a venerable
gentleman of eighty-six, at the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of Andover Theological Seminary
in 1859. He died June 15, 1859, in a house which once
stood where Christ Church is now located but which
has since been moved to a site down the hill towards
the railroad station. The funeral sermon, preached
by the Reverend George Mooar, was afterwards pub-
lished.

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THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

Newman was a small, handsome man, with fine
delicate features. He was slow of thought and
speech, deliberate in manner, and often shy and sensi-
tive. Some people still recall him in his old age as
"a man of mild and gentle character," feeble, de-
cidedly deaf, but rich in entertaining reminiscences
of a bygone generation. An occasional Andover resi-
dent remembers his little bookstore on the second
floor of a Main Street business block, where he moved
in leisurely fashion among piles of yellow pamphlets
and dull tracts. He was a fanatical teetotaler, with a
propensity to lecture on the spot those whom he saw in
any way affected by liquor. To various charities he
was, in proportion to his means, a liberal donor. In the
important movements started in the Andover of his
time he had a share, although never as a leader. He
was one of the group of seven which used to assem-
ble in Dr. Porter's study, and which organized the
American Tract Society, the Temperance Society, the
American Education Society, and other associations.
It has been said of him that he had no vices; indeed,
he was genuinely pious, in the sense in which that
much-abused word was employed seventy-five years
ago. His memory will live, if not because of his own
merit, at any rate because of the famous men whose
friend he was.

The period of the first three Principals might well
be treated as a single topic, because it was a time
of organization and construction. At the close of
Newman's administration the Founders had all died;
but Phillips Academy had certainly justified its exist-
ence. During these thirty-two years 1031 students

133

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

had entered the school: 263 under Pearson, 270 under
Pemberton, and 498 under Newman. The average
entering class in each year was slightly under 33 for
Pearson, about 30 for Pemberton, and over 33 for
Newman. Despite the vicissitudes which invariably
occur in any institution the attendance had, on the
whole, been remarkably even. The largest registra-
tion had come in 1804, when 52 entered. After that
date the numbers had gradually decUned, until in
1809 only 16 candidates presented themselves, the
smallest group since 1779.

According to the most complete available statis-
tics Pearson sent 89 boys to college, Pemberton, 84,
and Newman, 198. This entire number was about
one third of all the pupils registered in the Academy
during that period. Harvard was then the popular
college with Phillips alumni. In Pearson's time 76
out of 89, in Pemberton's 76 out of 84, went on to
Harvard. Of the 198 of Newman's pupils who con-
tinued work in college, 150 selected Harvard, 17
Dartmouth, and 13 Yale. This trend towards Har-
vard is readily explained by the fact that Phillips
Academy had been founded by Harvard men, and
that most of the Trustees up to 1820 had close asso-
ciations with that college. The Academy, furthermore,
was then largely local in its patronage, and the
majority of the boys, being New England born and
bred, were familiar with the history and traditions of
the Cambridge university.

It is not easy for us to-day to conceive of the
provincial nature of Phillips Academy at this early
period. The attendance, as has been pointed out,

134

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

was almost entirely from New England, mainly
from Boston and vicinity. Of the fifty-two boys
admitted in 1804, an average year, forty-two were
from Massachusetts, and only two came from out-
side New England. Of the sixteen who entered in
1809, all were from New England, and all but three
from Massachusetts. In this state of aflFairs there
was, of course, nothing unusual. It was hardly to be
expected that parents, in the days before railroads and
steamboats, would care to entrust their children to
schools at a distance from their homes.

To one family, however, the poor transportation
facilities seem to have presented no obstacle.
General Washington had so much confidence in
Judge PhUlips and his theories of education that he
induced several of his relatives to come to Phillips
Academy. The first to arrive was HoweU Lewis,^ son
of Washington's favorite sister Elizabeth, or "Betty,"
who, in 1785, at the age of thirteen, was registered
from Fredericksburg, Virginia. Ten years later, in
1795, Colonel William Augustine Washington, a
nephew of the President, came with his wife from
their estate at Haywood, Westmoreland County,
Virginia, in order to enter their two sons, Augustine,^
aged fifteen, and Bushrod,® aged ten. The President

' Howell Lewis later became private secretary to the President,
inherited some of his property, and died in Virginia in 1822.

^ Augustine, who roomed with his brother at Mr. French's, had a
tendency toward tuberculosis, and finally, after making his way home
from Andover, died in 1798.

' Bushrod Washington graduated at Harvard, married Henrietta
Bryan Spottswood, of Virginia, and settled down as a farmer. He was
given by his uncle. Judge Bushrod Washington, a large share of the
Mount Vernon estate, which he named Mount Zephyr; there he built a

135

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

himself gave to Colonel Washington a letter of intro-
duction to General Lincoln, asking for his good offices
in helping to place the boys at Andover. Two other
grandnephews of General Washington also arrived in
the same year: Cassius Lee/ aged sixteen, and Francis
Lightfoot Lee,^ aged thirteen, sons of Washington's
niece, Mildred, who had married Thomas Lee, son of
Richard Henry Lee, the patriot. Thomas Lee, in
corresponding with Judge Phillips, wrote with regard
to his son Cassius : —

One of my principal inducements in sending him and
his brother so far from Virginia and their friends, was
that they might be brought up in the piu"est principles of
religion, morality, and virtue.

Still other members of the Washington family
arrived in 1803: George Corbin Washington,' the
youngest son of Colonel William Augustine Wash-
ington; and three brothers from another branch.
Richard Henry Lee Washington, John Augustine
Washington,* and Bushrod Corbin Washington, sons
of Corbin Washington, the President's nephew, and

home for his bride. He died at this house in November, 1830. He had
twelve children, the youngest of whom, Mrs. Fanny Washington Pinch,
visited Andover in 1887, and was shown Mr. French's parsonage, where
her father had lived while in school.

' Cassius Lee died in 1798, while a Princeton undergraduate. He and
his brother lived with Judge Phillips at the Mansion House.

* Francis Lightfoot Lee graduated from Harvard in 1802, and died
in Virginia in 1850.

' George Corbin Washington graduated with a brilliant record at
Harvard, and was later Congressman from Maryland and President of
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company; he died in 1854 at George-
town, D.C.

* John Augustine Washington eventually inherited the estate of
Moimt Vernon from Judge Washington, and lived there imtil his death
in 1832.

136

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

grandchildren of Richard Henry Lee. Judge Bushrod
Washington was the legal guardian of these boys,who
lived with him at Mount Vernon when they were not
in school. Bushrod C. Washington, a descendant
of the youngest brother, wrote in 1879 : —

I have no doubt the reason these brothers were sent to
Andover, Massachusetts, was because of the respect Judge
Washington had for Governor Phillips's memory, and the
friendship that had existed between General Washington
and Governor Phillips.

In all, then, one nephew and eight grandnephews
of General Washington were educated at Phillips
Academy.^

Only two graduates of the school in Newman's
time became figures of national importance: Samuel
Finley Breese Morse 2(1791-1872), themventor of the
electric telegraph; and Joseph Emerson Worcester ^
(1784-1865), the lexicographer.

1 For a full account of the Washington family in Phillips Academy,
see the Phillips Bulletin, October, 1914.

2 Samuel F. B. Morse, eldest of the eleven children of the Rever-
end Jedediah Morse, a Trustee of the Academy, was sent to Andover
in 1799 at the age of eight, but was so homesick that he ran back home
to Charlestown. In 1802, however, he entered again, and graduated
in 1805. After graduating from Yale in 1810 Morse distinguished him-
self as a painter, but gained even greater fame after the success of
his telegraph in 1844. He died April 2, 1872. At the first dinner of
the Boston Alumni in 1886 Dr. William A. Mowry presented to the
Trustees a portrait of Samuel F. B. Morse painted by Thomas Hicks,
of New York. This portrait now hangs in the Academy Ubrary.

' Joseph Emerson Worcester, bom in Bedford, New Hampshire,
August 24, 1784, was one of a family of fifteen children, fourteen of
whom became teachers, and six of whom attended Phillips Academy.
He came to Andover in 1805, graduated in 1807, and graduated from
Yale in 1811. While teaching in Salem, he prepared his Oeographi-
cal Dictionary, which was printed at Andover in 1817. His Dictionary

137

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

During all this early period the simple curriculum
devised by Pearson had remained substantially un-
changed. All work was built around the four essential
subjects: Latin, Greek, mathematics, and religious
instruction. Newman had arranged in addition for
regular drill in writing and sacred music. Elementary
geography, arithmetic, and Greek and Roman his-
tory made their appearance before the opening of the
new century. The admission requirements, based on
the statement in the Constitution, "None shall be
admitted till in common parlance they can read
English well," were not severe. Samuel Phillips,
Judge Phillips's grandson, reported that his oral
entrance examination before Principal Newman was
remarkably easy. On the whole the policy of the
Trustees had been conservative, in conformity with
the wishes of the Founders.

As we attempt, on the basis of contemporary de-
scriptions, to reproduce the school of Newman's
day, we are likely to be struck by its simplicity.
There were no dormitories or eating-houses, noisy
with student restlessness and energy; there were
no societies, either literary or social, and no school
publications; there was no Abbot Academy, for the
convenience and entertainment of the "fusser." Al-
though there was some interest in outdoor games,
there were no organized teams. Exeter was a remote
village, of which Andover men seldom heard, and with
which there could be no possible rivalry. The boys
at Andover were not little prigs; they played mis-
appeared in 1846, and was later revised. He died in Cambridge, Oc-
tober 27. 1865.

138

THE DECLINE UNDER MARK NEWMAN

chievous pranks upon one another, and spent many
happy hours on warm summer afternoons in the cool
waters of Pomp's Pond, or along the wooded banks of
the Shawsheen. On the whole, however, their oppor-
tunities for diversion were fewer than those which
exist to-day, and their life was much more monoto-
nous. Largely because of their home environment
and their strict early training, most of the boys were
less sophisticated than their successors of the twen-
tieth century; they regarded school, not merely as a
pleasant interlude, but as a part of life's real business.
It was a time when education was taken seriously.

As for Phillips Academy, it had earned an excellent
reputation, even outside scholastic circles. Its teach-
ing was said to be thorough, and its graduates had
done the school credit. A reasonably safe foundation
had been constructed on which future Masters could
build an institution which should expand until it was
not local, but national; not Puritan, but American.

CHAPTER Villi

THE FOUNDING OF ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL

SEMINARY

Great men have been among us; hands that penn 4
And tongues that utter'd wisdom — better none.

The Andover Theological Seminary, founded in
1808, was in certain respects an outgrowth of Phillips
Academy, and was administered for a full century by
the same Board of Trustees. For this reason, and for
others which will become more apparent, it is neces-
sary to speak briefly of the circumstances which led
to the estabUshment of this, the first institution in
the United States founded solely for the training of
clergymen. The Seminary, Uke the Academy, fitted
in with the Phillips scheme of education, which aimed
at "the promotion of true Piety and Virtue." The
success of the Seminary, however, was not altogether
beneficial to the fortunes of Phillips Academy, for the
newer school, heavily endowed, provided with impos-
ing buildings and distinguished professors, soon over-
shadowed the parent institution; and the Trustees,
who were, for the most part, more deeply concerned
over the elucidation of a point in a creed than over
obscure constructions in Latin and Greek grammar,
naturally allowed the interests of the Academy to be-
come subordinate. Nevertheless, the presence of the
eminent men on the Seminary Faculty was an inspi-
ration to townspeople and students, and the depar-
ture of the Seminary for Cambridge in 1908 was, in

140

THE STONE ACADEMY AND THE THEOLOGICAL SEMIN'ARY IN 1840

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THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN iSSo

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

spite of the apparent advantage derived by Phillips
Academy, really a distinct loss to the Hill.

In the Constitution of Phillips Academy a pas-
sage, probably inserted after the body of that docu-
ment had been drawn up, provides for instruction, not
only in the elements of Christianity, but also in the
broader features of the Calvinistic system of theology,
especially for students planning to enter the ministry.
It is improbable that the Foimders, at this date,
contemplated the establishment of a separate school
of divinity; but they were eager to induce as many
young men as possible to become clergymen and ready
to pay much attention to the training of such pupils.
The credit for the first suggestion of a theological
institution belongs to the Reverend Jonathan French,
who wrote in 1778: —

The Phillips School has suggested a thought which I
have often revolved in my mind. What if some enterpris-
ing pious genius should rise up, and set on foot a subscrip-
tion for founding a Theological Seminary? Suppose the
plan well concerted; and engaged, as well as engaging per-
sons should convey the subscription about, and procure
signers, till a sufficient sum be subscribed to raise a build-
ing in some central part of the country, sufficient to con-
tain a number of students about equal to the number
who annually devote themselves to the study of divinity,
and sufficient to provide a handsome support to a presi-
dent.

At the time nothing came of Mr. French's prophetic
dream; but several Academy students pursued theo-
logical studies, either during their course in school or
afterwards, with ministers in Andover, and particu-
larly with Mr. French, who thus at times maintained

141

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

what was almost a small seminary in his own house-
hold.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in
America there were no theological schools with a
systematic organization; and young men desirous of
becoming ministers were driven to secure their ed-
ucation through a sort of apprenticeship to older
clergymen of prominence, who were usually, like
Mr. French, willing to lend their help. Dr. Joseph
Bellamy, Dr. John Smalley, Dr. Emmons, and a few
other New England divines were often sought by
students of theology. Other ministers, like the
Reverend Samuel Phillips and the Reverend Jonathan
French, took parishes soon after leaving college, and
received their training in homiletics in the hard
school of pulpit experience. At Harvard the HoUis
Professor of Divinity was supposed to assist candi-
dates for the ministry, but few took advantage of the
opportunity. Dr. Dwight at Yale also imdertook to
deliver a course of lectures suited to young divinity
students. But in no college was there adequate pro-
fessional instruction of an organized kind for the
benefit of prospective clergymen.

At the death of Dr. John PhilUps in 1795 it was
found that a clause in his will provided for the in-
struction of pupils in the two academies at Andover
and Exeter in the study of divinity, under the di-
rection of "some eminent Calvinistic minister of the
Gospel," until a regular Professor of Theology could
be employed in those schools. Some correspondence
of this period indicates that Mr. French was the
testator's choice for this position; at any rate, the

142

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

South Parish minister, from about 1796 until 1807,
acted as a provisional Professor of Divinity, receiv-
ing for his services a small salary from the Academy
funds. This amount, fixed none too liberally, in 1795,
at forty dollars a year, was increased to sixty dollars
in 1802 and to eighty dollars in 1806. More than
twenty candidates for the ministry were thus assisted
in Andover during the years immediately preceding
the opening of the Seminary.

Meanwhile, Samuel Abbot, Esq.^ (1732-1812), a
well-known Andover citizen, had been quietly con-
sidering fruitful plans. At the age of nineteen he had
become a merchant in Boston, and, at the outbreak
of the Revolution, he was able to retire to Andover
with a moderate fortune, which, by careful manage-
ment, he considerably enlarged. Being without chil-
dren, he had planned to leave his money to one of his
wife's relatives, a young man who, however, died
before reaching maturity. Abbot, who had become
more religious as he grew older, then resolved to de-
vote his property to the education of young men for
the Christian ministry. Having been since 1795 a
Trustee of Phillips Academy, he was on intimate
terms with his colleagues, Dr. Pearson and Dr.
Tappan, with both of whom he consulted as to the
most satisfactory disposition of the proposed gift.
Acting on their advice Abbot, in a will signed May 10,

1 Samuel Abbot was the son of Captain George Abbot, of Andover,
and Mary Phillips, daughter of Samuel Phillips, the Salem goldsmith.
Esquire Abbot was thus a second cousin of Esquire Phillips, Dr. John
Phillips, and the Honorable William Phillips. In 1792 Esquire Abbot
built the handsome colonial house on Central Street now occupied by
Mrs. Joseph W. Smith, and lived there until his death in 1812.

143

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

1803, made Harvard College his residuary legatee,
the money to be used for the support of theological
pupils in that institution. When, however, he became
convinced two years later that the spirit of Harvard
was rapidly moving towards Unitarianism, he made a
codicil to his will, June 8, 1805, in which he revoked
his former bequest and directed that the entire legacy
should be paid to the Trustees of Phillips Academy:
"to be appropriated to the support of a Theologi-
cal Professor in said Academy, of sound, orthodox,
Calvinistic principles of divinity, and for the mainte-
nance of students in divinity." It will be noticed that
the idea of making his scheme a reality during his own
lifetime had apparently not yet occurred to Abbot.

The various projects of this kind in the air during
this first decade of the nineteenth century needed
only an enthusiastic leader to give them form.
Fortunately, such a man appeared in Eliphalet
Pearson, who, since his departure for Cambridge in
1786, had made himself a name. His scholarship,
displayed in his able revision of a Hebrew grammar
and in his studies in Oriental tongues, had met with
full appreciation. His enterprise and sagacity had
found a field in the multifarious details of college
administration. He was applauded as a talented and
inspiring teacher. Leonard Woods, one of his pupils
at Harvard, said of him: —

I have ever considered his instructions as constituting
at least half of my collegiate education. No other officer
in the college had equal influence in promoting improve-
ment in literature, and the higher interest of morality and
piety.

144

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

In 1800 he was chosen a Fellow of the Corporation;
and after the death of President Joseph Willard in
September, 1804, Pearson assumed for more than a
year the duties of Acting President of the college.
Meanwhile Unitarian doctrine had taken a firm root
in Cambridge, and the friends of "liberal Christian-
ity" were not unreluctant to assail the more ortho-
dox adherents of Calvinism. When Dr. Tappan, the
HoUis Professor of Divinity, died in August, 1803,
Dr. Pearson brought on a bitter quarrel in the Cor-
poration by insisting that the next incumbent of that
chair should be "of sound orthodox faith" — that is,
a strict Calvinist. Notwithstanding Pearson's vigor-
ous opposition the Reverend Henry Ware, well known
as an advocate of Unitarian doctrine, was elected in
February, 1805, to the vacant professorship. As a
climax, Pearson, who was a candidate for the Presi-
dency, was rejected in favor of Professor Webber, who
was elected on March 3, 1806. Pearson also found
another grievance in the fact that his salary had not
been increased in proportion to the additional respon-
sibilities which had fallen to his lot as Acting Presi-
dent. Early in March, therefore, he sent in his
resignation as Hancock Professor, stating that, after
twenty years of endeavor to improve the literary and
religious state of the college, there now remained no
reasonable hope of accomphshing the reformation he
wished, that the events of the last year had so deeply
affected his mind, and spread such a gloom over the
university, as to exclude the hope of his rendering any
essential service to the interests of religion by con-
tinuing his relation to it, and he therefore requested

145

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

an acceptance of his resignation. The Corporation
willingly allowed him to withdraw, and presented an
interesting report in which Pearson's allegations were
denied in toto. The whole quarrel was a phase of the
struggle between Unitarianism and Calvinism, Pear-
son being the chief advocate of Calvinistic theology.

Pearson's Andover friends did not propose to have
him suffer as a martyr for the cause of what was to
them the only true religion. The old house on Salem
Street, occupied in 1804 by a certain Captain Towne,
had been renovated and enlarged after his departure,
but no tenant had been secured. On March 20, 1806,
the Trustees, having just heard of Pearson's resigna-
tion, voted him this house "rent free for one year, in
consideration of the long, faithful, and important
services he has rendered the Academy from its first
institution, & in hope of enjoying his further aid, &
future patronage & influence." In this residence,
later occupied for many years by Principal John
Adams, Pearson lived from 1806 until 1810.

It took only a few weeks for Pearson's aggressive
personality to be felt. Believing that Harvard, with its
radical doctrines, was no longer fitted to train Congre-
gational ministers and that some powerful institution
must be organized to counteract the spread of Uni-
tarian principles, he introduced the topic of a theo-
logical seminary for discussion among his friends.
As early as July 10, 1806, a meeting, attended by
seven men, was held at the Mansion House; the sub-
ject of a "Theological School" was talked over, and
Pearson was asked to prepare an argument for the
"necessity and advantages" of such an institution.

146

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

This article appeared soon after in the Panoptist, the
Calvinist monthly magazine, edited by Dr. Jedediah
Morse. The men thus called together were, it appears,
well aware of Samuel Abbot's intention of endowing
a seminary at Andover after his death. Largely be-
cause of Pearson's persuasive tongue Abbot was
finally convinced that it would be advantageous to
found such a school at once. As the outgrowth of
much informal discussion, in which the Reverend
Jonathan French, the Reverend Jedediah Morse, Dr.
Chaplin, of Groton, Colonel John Phillips, 'Squire
Farrar, and others took part, it was decided to entrust
the funds and the administration of the proposed in-
stitution to the Trustees of Phillips Academy; for it
was by no means certain that the General Court as it
was then constituted would allow the incorporation
of any group of men for the purpose of establishing
such a seminary. On June 9, 1807, then, certain mem-
bers of the Board of Trustees were informed that
Phillips Academy might expect large additions to its
funds if it could secure legislative authority to receive
them, and "would appropriate them to give effect to
the design of the founders of the Academy relative to
theological instruction in said Academy." An appli-
cation to the General Court resulted in a bill, passed
June 19, 1807, empowering the Trustees of Phillips
Academy to hold, in addition to what they were al-
ready entitled to own, real and personal property with
an income not exceeding five thousand dollars. On
September 2, 1807, a Constitution of the Seminary,
composed mainly by Dr. Pearson, Mr. French, and
'Squire Farrar, was submitted to the Trustees and

147

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

accepted by that body. By its terms Samuel Abbot
promised the sum of $20,000 in trust as a fund for
perpetuating a Professorship of Christian Theology;
while Madame Phillips and her son, Colonel John,
agreed to erect two separate buildings. This happy
issue of the matter was due directly to Pearson's per-
severance and tireless energy, which encouraged the
others and inspired faith in his plans. It was during
this period that he climbed the noble old oak tree still
standing in the rear of Pearson Hall, in order to map
out the campus and fix suitable sites for the proposed
houses and halls.

But his task was as yet hardly begun. While he had
been laboring with the details of his project. Dr.
Samuel Spring, a Newburyport clergyman, had been
seeking the cooperation of several wealthy gentlemen
in his vicinity, with the object of organizing an inde-
pendent divinity school. Dr. Spring and his followers,
who represented a distinct branch of Calvinism, were
frequently called " Hopkinsians," after the noted Dr.
Samuel Hopkins, whose tenets they were supposed to
hold. i

'■ Into the technical questions of creed and dogma
involved it would be futile to enter in a book of this
kind. Broadly speaking. Dr. Pearson and his friends
belonged to the "Catechism Calvinists," who were
prepared to accept without explanation the Cate-
chism of the Westminster Assembly as a basis for
their Seminary; Dr. Spring's party, who were rather
more extreme in their theology, were sometimes called
"Consistent Calvinists," because they desired a
separate creed which would explain the Catechism.

148

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

The story of the joining of these two groups, if told
in full, involves, as Professor Theodore W. Dwight ^
once said, "an account of a long and complicated
negotiation between theologians of great ability and
astuteness in drawing fine-spun distinctions." In-
deed, it is probable that nothing but the fear which
both felt for the growing spirit of liberahsm at Har-
vard could possibly have brought them on common
ground.

Dr. Spring had finally succeeded in arousing the
interest of three wealthy gentlemen: William Bartlet ^
(1747-1841), a shipowner of Newburyport, Moses
Brown ^ (1742-1827), an importer of sugar and mo-

* See The Andover Defence (1887), page 55. This book contains
Professor Dwight's argument before the Board of Visitors in December,
1886.

' William Bartlet, born in 1747 in Newbury, was apprenticed at an
early age to a shoemaker, but gradually acquired the ownership of a
large fleet of sailing vessels, through which, in the East India trade,
he amassed considerable wealth. He died in Newburyport at the age
of ninety-foiu'. Physically he was a large man with a giant frame and
a strong step. Even in his old age his eye was not dim nor his natural
force abated. He had simple tastes and unassuming manners. His most
distinguishing characteristic was his tenacity of purpose. Frugal and
parsimonious in small matters, he was generous on a large scale to pro-
jects in which he was interested. To Andover Theological Seminary
he gave Bartlet Chapel, Bartlet Hall, Phelps House, Stuart House,
besides large sums in money.

' Moses Brown, born October 2, 1742, in West Newbury, learned the
trade of chaise-maker, but later undertook other business enterprises.
He accumulated a large fortune, much of which he gave to philan-
thropic enterprises. He eventually added $25,000 to his original gift of
$10,000 to Andover Theological Seminary. At his death February 9,
1827, he left a considerable sum to his native city. His daughter, Mary,
married the Honorable William B. Banister, later a Trustee of Phillips
Academy. Mr. Brown was a thin, spare person, with an unpretentious
manner, and kind and affectionate in his personal relations. "The
law of rectitude was in his heart, and the balances of equity in his
hand."

149

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

lasses in the same city, and John Norris ^ (1748-
1808), a prominent Salem merchant. In interviews
with these men in the latter part of 1806 he had ob-
tained from each a promise to give $10,000 to the pro-
posed seminary. Within a few days the Reverend
Jedediah Morse, who was already familiar with the
Andover plans, heard of the Newbmyport project,
and at once realized that there were excellent reasons
why the two groups should form a coalition. After
consulting with Dr. Pearson and his colleagues. Dr.
Morse went to Newburyport and proposed to Dr.
Spring a plan of union, which was, however, rejected,
principally because the latter felt that his views
could not be reconciled with those of the "Catechism
Calvinists." Dr. Pearson soon learned indirectly that
Mr. Bartlet and Mr. Brown were not so strongly averse
to joining forces; and he therefore with commendable
optimism determined to make every eflFort to unite
the two parties. Nine months were spent in attempt-
ing to bring about a compromise, during which period,
said Professor Park, "Dr. Pearson journeyed alone in
his chaise (a distance of twenty miles) thirty-six times
from Andover Hill to Newburyport, and there rea-
soned with the keen dialecticians who opposed the
Seminary at Andover." Mrs. Blanchard, Dr. Pear-
son's daughter, wrote of him at this time: "His whole
soul was engrossed, & many anxious days and sleepless
nights & Prayerful hours could bear witness to his

1 John Norris, bom in Salem, June 10, 1748, was a merchant and a
member of the Massachusetts Senate, and died December 22, 1808-
His widow, Mary Norris, who died in 1811, bequeathed to Andover
Theological Seminary $30,000, which became the subject of litigation.
The Trustees finally won, and the legacy was paid May 2, 1815.

150

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

devout ardor." Josiah Quincy, who knew the situa-
tion well, said: "Whatever good has resulted, or shall
result, from the mere fact of this union, the merit
of establishing it belongs to Eliphalet Pearson." So
successful was he that by July, 1807, it became evident
that, despite Dr. Spring's vigorous objections (which
were never entirely met), some amicable arrangement
could probably be devised.

On December 1, 1807, Spring, Pearson, and Morse,
as agents of the Founders and Donors, met at Charles-
town and agreed on an "Associate Creed," embody-
ing what was known as the "Visitatorial System."
A Board of three "Visitors" was to be formed, con-
sisting of two clergymen and one layman, one of them
to be chosen by the Andover Founders, one by the
Newburyport Associate Donors, and the third to be
agreed upon by both parties. Four of the Founders
and Donors, Abbot, Bartlet, Brown, and Norris,
reserved the right to be Visitors during their respec-
tive lifetimes. This Board, the idea of which originated
with Dr. Spring and his friends, was to have a general
supervisory power over the Seminary, and, in particu-
lar, to serve as a Court of Appeal from the decisions
of the Board of Trustees.

On May 4, 1808, the "Statutes of the Associate
Foundation," in which William Bartlet promised
$20,000 and Moses Brown and John Norris $10,000
each towards the Seminary endowment, were com-
municated to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. It
was by no means sure even then that the Trustees
would care to accept a trust which so limited their
power of independent and untrammeled action. Some

151

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of the members were Moderate Calvinists, others
were Unitarians, and both groups were inclined to
look with suspicion upon Hopkinsian schemes. Two
further points were far from pleasing to the Andover
theologians: first, the stipulation that each professor
under the Associate Foundation must, on the day of
his inauguration, subscribe publicly to his belief in a
specially written creed composed by Dr. Spring and
Dr. Woods; second, the provision that the whole
arrangement should be an experiment, which the
Associate Donors might terminate at the end of
seven years. The Trustees discussed the "Statutes"
with great care, taking them up article by article. At
last on May 10 the decisive vote was taken, with
only eight of the Trustees present: seven gave their
assent, the eighth, the Reverend Daniel Dana, re-
maining silent, evidently in disapproval. Dr. Pear-
son's long labors had been rewarded, for the com-
promise thus effected between diverse opinions was
destined to endure. The final ratification was accom-
plished when Leonard Woods, of Newbury, a moder-
ate Hopkinsian, was nominated on October 1, 1807,
by Samuel Abbot as his first Professor of Christian
Theology, and this courtesy was reciprocated on
March 2, 1808, by the appointment of Dr. Pearson as
the first Professor of Natural Theology on the Asso-
ciate endowment.

The Andover Theological Seminary thus organized
was formally opened for students on September 22,
1808, in the South Parish Church, with appropriate
exercises, including a prayer by Mr. French, the read-
ing of the Constitution of the Seminary and the Asso-

152

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

ciate Statutes, and an historical summary by Dr.
Pearson of the rise and progress of the Academy, in
which he proved that the Seminary was a logical out-
growth of Phillips Academy and that the two institu-
tions should therefore work in harmonious coopera-
tion. In the afternoon a sermon was preached by
Dr. Timothy Dwight, Dr. Pearson, who was a layman,
was regularly ordained, and the two professors,
Pearson and Woods, were installed in oflBce. Pro-
fessor Woods then delivered an inaugural address on
The Glory and Excellence of the Gospel. Nineteen
students were at once received, and thirty-six had
registered before the close of the first year. " We may
live to see twenty students here," said 'Squire Farrar,
as he walked away from the church after the cere-
monies; he lived to see one hundred and fifty. Until
Phillips Hall was completed in 1809 lectures were
held in the old Abbot House, where Dr. Woods had
recently followed Principal Newman as a resident.
Dr. Pearson, who had accepted a professorship only
with great reluctance, found the position little to his
taste and resigned at the end of the first year.

The aspect of Andover Hill at once began to change.
Phillips Hall, a dormitory for Seminary students, was
erected by Madame Phcebe Phillips and her son, at
a cost of $16,000. It was modeled principally after
dormitories at Brown University, which Colonel John
Phillips had gone to Providence to inspect. Madame
Phillips put her heart into the project, and is reported
to have said, "I hope a prayer will be oflFered for
every hod of brick, and every bucket of mortar used in
the erection." A wooden steward's house, containing

153

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

a kitchen, a dining-room, and accommodations for the
steward and his family, was constructed in the rear of
the brick hall. Here the Seminary Commons boarding-
house was opened and continued tmtil 1846; the build-
ing itself was moved about 1850 to the northeast
corner of Main and Morton Streets, where it is to-day
occupied as a dwelling. By December, 1809, work-
men were busy excavating for the President's House,
built by William Bartlet for Dr. Edward Dorr Griflfin,
the first Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric. Dr.
GriflSn, taking literally the carte blanche tendered him
by Mr. Bartlet, made the mansion far more luxurious
than its donor had intended. When the shipowner
protested mildly against the gorgeous parlor wall-
paper at a doUar a roU, Dr. Griffin hastily had the room
redecorated with paper of a twenty-five cent grade,
also at Mr. Bartlet's expense. By 1811, when the
beautiful home was completed. Dr. Griffin had re-
signed to accept the pulpit of the Park Street Church
in Boston, and Dr. Ebenezer Porter, his successor in
office, was the first actually to occupy the dwelling.
Another of Mr. Bartlet's generous gifts was the
Stuart House, finished in 1812 for Professor Moses
Stuart,^ the eminent Hebrew scholar, who occupied it
until 1852. Across the street Mark Newman had com-
pleted his new dweUing; and in 1812, on the site of the

• Moses Stuart, born in Wilton, Connecticut, March 26, 1780, gradu-
ated at Yale in 1799, studied divinity with President Dwight, and was
ordained in 1806. After four years as pastor in New Haven, he was
called to Andover, where he remained until he died, January 4, 1852.
Professor Stuart became an eminent scholar, and was responsible for
the first font of Hebrew type in this country. His Hebrew Grammar
was for many years a pioneer book in that field.

154

THE NEWMAN HOUSE

THE PHELPS HOUSE

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

first Academy, 'Squire Farrar built himself a residence.
In 1816 the "Faculty Row" on Main Street was im-
proved by the construction of the Woods House,
erected by a bequest of Samuel Abbot, Esq., for the
use of Professor Leonard Woods. ^ All these dwellings
were of the colonial type, square and solid in design,
and built of wood. Without being extravagantly or
elaborately planned, they represent good domestic
architecture of that period. At the time when they
were completed, and for years after, they were en-
closed by white fences; and the houses themselves were
uniformly painted a simple white until Professor
Stuart's daughters, tiring of the conventional hue,
had their own home painted a light drab while their
father was away on a visit. The Woods House, be-
cause of an idiosyncrasy of its occupant, was for
nearly half a century without blinds, so that its
natural plainness was accentuated.

When one remembers that all these buildings were
put up within fifteen years, one realizes how exten-
sive was the change wrought by the establishment
of Andover Theological Seminary. In a few years,
almost within a few months, Andover became a busy
community, altogether unlike the quiet, isolated spot
selected in 1777 by Samuel Phillips, Jr., as a suitable
location for his school. The effect upon Phillips
Academy could hardly help being far-reaching.

As a matter of fact the history of the school was to a
considerable extent bound up with that of the theo-
logical institution, and the Trustees, charged with the

' This house is now most inappropriately termed the Pease House,
and is occupied by Dr. Pierson S. Page. ^

155 ,

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

interests of both, were often unable to treat one apart
from the other. Semmary students frequently acted
as assistants in the Academy. The oflBcers and
teachers of the two schools were naturally often thrown
together, both professionally and socially. Such men
as Principal John Adams amd Dr. Samuel H. Taylor
were the intimate associates of the Seminary pro-
fessors, and were regularly consulted by them. Un-
fortunately, the Trustees often came to view the
Academy as subsidiary to the Seminary, and, prob-
ably without deliberately intending it, neglected the
needs of the older school as being relatively unimpor-
tant. The close connection between the two institu-
tions makes it impossible to write the history of
Phillips Academy without many incidental references
to the Seminary and its able men; but no attempt
can be made in this volume to review, even briefly,
the story of that divinity school. When, in 1908, the
land and buildings of the Seminary came to be the
property of the Academy, Andover Hill, marvelously
altered, was again, as in 1808, the seat of Phillips
Academy alone.

. CHAPTER IX

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

To have built up one of the historic schools of New England; to have
set the impress of a sterling character upon some thousands of Ameri-
can girls and boys; to have become in extreme old age a pioneer of
civilization in a great Western State — this surely is to deserve the
grateful memory of those who come after.

! The most attractive and striking of the portraits
now hanging in Brechin Hall is that of John Adams,
the fourth Principal of Phillips Academy. The head
is massive and finely modeled; the handsome features,
clear blue eyes, and erect bearing show consciousness
of power; and the figure gives the impression of sound
and vigorous manhood. It is not difficult to believe
that he represented in his personality what Lowell
calls, —

The high stem-featured beauty

Of plain devotedness to duty.

Steadfast and still, nor paid with mortal praise.

But finding amplest recompense

For life's ungarlanded expense

In work done squarely and unwasted days.

Of all those who have occupied the office of Principal
no one has come nearer than he to realizing in his work
and life the specific ideals of the Founders.

Adams was not, however, a man of spectacular
gifts or of extraordinary genius. The caustic Josiah
Quincy the younger once wrote of him: —

' He was an excellent man with no distinguishing traits.
He was very religious, but had no literary tastes. His clas-

157

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

sical attainments enabled him to fit boys for college, but
went no further. He was particular in the observance of
all religious exercises, both in the family and in the school,
and did all he could to promote the moral and spiritual
interests of his pupils.

In some resi>ects this description — which resembles
damning with faint praise — is fairly accurate. It is
true, for instance, that Adams was not a wide reader
and that he had no decided interest in hterature. He
was, furthermore, in no sense a profound scholar,
even in Latin and Greek. But Quincy's colorless
characterization fails to illumine Adams's finer qual-
ities. His pupils and colleagues found him an efl5-
cient administrator, a stern but just disciplinarian,
and a well-informed teacher. One of his associates
said of him: — •

His attainments, if not brilliant, were substantial. What
he knew he knew thoroughly, and he had an unusual
faculty for commimicating knowledge to the minds of
others.

Even among such keen intellects as Dr. Pearson and
Professor Woods, Moses Stuart and Ebenezer Porter,
Adams was not thrust entirely into the background,
for, although he was never witty or clever, he had a
capacity for patient toil and a quiet, dogged persist-
ence which compelled respect. Instinctively a con-
servative, he was also occasionally an innovator,
keeping pace, at least until he grew old, with life
around him and not infrequently venturing on his own
measures of mild and unobtrusive reform. Above
all, he was a thoroughly good man, an active and in-
spiring moral force in his community. From the mo-

158

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

ment of his arrival in Andover he resolved to study
out and fulfill the stipulations of the Constitution
regarding the influence of the Principal on the relig-
ious tone of the school. His methods are indicated in
a letter written by Dr. Jonathan F. Stearns : — ^

Mr. Adams was, by all his views, habits, and impulses,
a revival man, and was never happier than when he saw a
revival beginning and going forward. His favorite hymns
were in that strain. He often conversed personally with
individuals on the subject of personal piety.

His avowed desire was " to lay as securely as possi-
ble in the character of every pupil the foundation of
Christian manhood."

John Adams was always proud of being able to trace
his ancestry to the same forbears as the two Presi-
dents of the same name. He was born September 18,
1772, in Canterbury, Connecticut, the eldest of the
ten children of Captain John Adams and his wife,
Mary Parker Adams. In his early days on the farm he
soon learned to do a man's full work as teamster or
laborer. His father, poor, but ambitious for his son,
managed, through rigid economy, to save six hundred
dollars for the boy's education. He was admitted to
Yale in 1791 and graduated four years later with high
rank, being chosen to deliver the English Oration and
also a Commencement Address, the subject of which.
The Benefits of Theatrical Amusements, was hardly
consistent with his later views. Although he was far

1 Jonathan French Steams (1808-89), son of the Reverend Samuel
Steams, graduated from Phillips Academy in 1826, and was later
pastor at Newburyport and Newark, New Jersey. He was one of the
Founders of the Philomathean Society, and took part in its semicenten-
nial celebration in 1875.

159

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

from being a wild youth, he had a good share of animal
spirits. He was conceded to be the best dancer in his
class, and was made leader of the annual student ball.
Years after, when his attitude towards such frivolity-
had hardened into intolerance, he was often troubled
by the memory of what he called the "foUies" of his
undergraduate days.

When his college course was finished, the young man
returned to Canterbury, where, at his mother's re-
quest, he took charge of a school near his home, so
that he might assist in caring for her through the pain
of an incurable disease. In 1798 he married Elizabeth
Ripley, a young lady from the neighboring town of
"Windham. Shortly after the wedding Adams's mother
died, and he felt free at last to accept a position as
Rector of Plainfield Academy, which he had been
obliged to refuse a few years before. In 1801, then,
he went to Plainfield, where, although he found the
school in a " sickly condition," he proved himsetf to be
capable and energetic. So prosperous did the institu-
tion become in his hands that the Trustees of Bacon
Academy at Colchester, Connecticut, hearing of his
success, offered him an opportunity in that school.
In his seven years at Bacon Academy the attendance
increased to nearly two hundred. In 1810, however, a
discussion arose with the Trustees over a matter of
discipline, and Adams, learning that his recommenda-
tion was not accepted, tendered his resignation, refus-
ing even their most earnest entreaties to reconsider
his action. The late winter of 1810 thus found him
without a position.

Meanwhile affairs at Phillips Academy had gone

160

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS >.

from bad to worse. The first choice of the Trustees
for the principalship left vacant by Newman's resigna-
tion was Ebenezer Adams, of Exeter, who, however,
declined the offer. An interregnum of some months
followed, during which Newman, at the urgent request
of the Trustees, retained a supervisory control of
the institution, while several assistants, students in
the Theological Seminary, conducted the recitations.
Among these young men were Samuel Nott (1787-
1869), one of the first missionaries of the American
Board of Foreign Missions; Samuel Thomas Mills
(1785-1853); John Frost (1783-1842); Ansel Nash
(1788-1851), later an agent of the American Educa-
tion Society; and John Brown (1786-1839), after-
wards a prominent Boston clergyman. Under this
system of casual and poorly regulated instruction no
firm discipline was possible, and the crisis which had
been foreshadowed under Newman seelned ever more
dangerously imminent. At this moment the Trustees
heard the news of Adams's resignation from Bacon
Academy, and knowing of his reputation, elected
him, on March 22, 1810, as Principal of Phillips
Academy, with a guarantee of nine hundred dollars a
year and a suitable house. Adams promptly ac-
cepted the proposal, and the Trustees paid the mov-
ing expenses for his household from Colchester to
Andover. By May the new Principal was settled in
the house on Salem Street just vacated by Dr.
Pearson.

John Adams was then in the prime of life, with
fourteen years of teaching experience behind him.
His character and personality at once commended

161

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

him to the Trustees. He is described at this period
as "erect, handsome, of good presence, the habitual
sternness of his expression reUeved by the humor
which lurked in his full blue eyes." People noticed
particularly his marked dignity, his self-control, and
his au" of command which made the boys obey his
slightest nod.

Had Adams been a feeble or even a mediocre man,
Phillips Academy, weakened by the two critical years
before his arrival, might easily have shared the dismal
fate of many another New England school; fortu-
nately, his manner inspired confidence, and the event
justified the reports which had been spread of his
previous success. He closed his first year with thirty-
three pupils, and, on August 18, 1812, he was per-
mitted by the Trustees to raise the number to seventy.
Eventually the Board, sympathizing with Adams's
ambition to enlarge the school, voted that, when the
number of students should exceed seventy-five, a
second assistant should be provided, and that, when
over a hundred were in attendance, a third assistant
might be secured. From 1817 until 1824, when the
Academy under Adams was most prosperous, there
were under this arrangement four teachers on the
Faculty. The actual growth in numbers is shown by
the fact that, during the twenty-two years of Adams's
principalship, 1119 boys were admitted, nearly a
hundred more than had entered in the preceding
thirty-two years. Five hundred and fifty of Adams's
students continued their education in college, as com-
pared with three hundred and seventy under Pearson,
Pemberton, and Newman.

162

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

• As yet, however, Phillips Academy was far from
being national in its representation or influence. Of
the twenty-nine who entered in 1810 only three were
from outside New England, and twenty-two were from
Massachusetts. In the large entering class of ninety
in 1817, there were only three from west of the Hudson
River. Of the forty-seven who registered in 1828,
twenty-one were from Andover, and all but nine
were from Massachusetts. Like Plainfield Academy,
Dummer Academy, and other similar schools, Phillips
Academy drew its patronage largely from the imme-
diate vicinity, with only a few scattering students
from a distance.

One marked change was beginning to show itself in
the fact that graduates of Phillips were choosing other
colleges than Harvard. In 1811 seventeen of the Sen-
ior class selected Harvard, five Dartmouth, and one
Yale. By 1819 the ratio had shifted. Of the ninety
men who were admitted in that year twenty went
eventually to Yale, twelve to Harvard, and eight to
Brown. Of those who entered Phillips Academy in
1829, not one went to Harvard. This steadily increas-
ing trend towards New Haven and away from Cam-
bridge is to be attributed largely to the prevailing
prejudice of the Seminary Faculty, and especially of
Dr. Pearson, President of the Trustees, against Har-
vard and all that it represented, and partly to the per-
sonal influence of Principal Adams, who was an en-
thusiastic recruiter for his own college. Many Andover
graduates were also choosing other colleges, either
new or just coming into prominence: thus from 1810
to 1830 forty-five went to Amherst, forty-three to

163

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Brown, thirty-six to Union, thirty-four to Bowdoin,
twenty-two to Middlebury, thirteen to Williams, and
fifteen to other institutions. During the entire twenty
years one hundred and forty-three Andover men went
to Harvard, one hundred and thirty-seven to Yale,
and eighty-three to Dartmouth.

Under John Adams Phillips Academy was still con-
ducted much like the grammar school of to-day: that
is, the boys spent practically all day in the school
building, with an hom-'s intermission for lunch, and
did most of their studying, not at their houses, but at
recitation-rooms under the teacher's surveillance. The
second Academy building, which was manifestly in-
adequate to the requirements of the growing school,
was destroyed by fire on the night of January 30, 1818,
almost exactly thirty-two years after it had first been
occupied. Before any fire apparatus could be brought
up, the flames had devoured nearly the entire structure,
and hardly a piece of timber was left intact. Sub-
scription papers, signed by a committee consisting of
Dr. Pearson, Dr. Dana, and Principal Adams, were
sent out on March 27, making a vigorous appeal for
funds, and work was begun at once on the third Acad-
emy building, the "Classic Hall" of Oliver Wendell
Holmes, now in use as a dining-hall. Of the expense
of this structure, amounting to $13,252.73, the sum of
$5000 was contributed by His Honor William Phillips,^
of Boston, $3683.83 was subscribed by President
Kirkland of Harvard, and others, and the balance was

^ A feature of the portrait of His Honor, which very much resem-
bles the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, is the Brick Academy,
which appears in the background, half disclosed by a curtain.

164

S^^i.^ " ^,,

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

taken from various unappropriated funds. The new
hall was constructed of brick in the best colonial style,
the architect being the well-known Charles Bulfinch.
It was placed exactly in line with the Seminary build-
ings on a knoll to the south.

As it was then arranged for school purposes, the
entrance was by a door at the north end; on the wall
at the south side hung the handsome clock, presented
in 1819 by Mrs. Margaret Phillips,^ Judge Oliver
Wendell's sister, who had married William Phillips, of
Boston, Judge Phillips's second cousin. On its case
this clock bore one of Judge Phillips's favorite sayings,
— "Youth is the Seed-Time of Life." It was invari-
ably wound up in school hours by Adams himself, who
mounted to it by means of a stepladder placed on one
of the benches. While the boys waited expectantly,
half hoping that he might fall, he would usually call
attention to the inscription and improve the oppor-
tunity for a few "moral observations."

Dr. Jonathan F. Stearns has written a vivid de-
scription of the interior as he remembered it in
1823: —

Coming in the door at the north end, we passed the en-
trance of two recitation rooms, right and left of the entry-
way, and entered the main school room, passing between
two high seats or thrones. . . . Just below, against the wall
on either side, stood two immense Russian stoves of brick
work reaching nearly to the ceiling, in which were kept
in winter two roaring fires. Fronting all this array were
the scholars' benches, — in school hours with scholars in

' Margaret Wendell was the granddaughter of Governor Bradstreet.
Her husband, William Phillips, was a grandson of Samuel Phillips,
the Salem goldsmith.

165

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

them, — under the immediate eye of the authorities above.
They were arranged in rows with double boxes, rising
gently to the farther wall, with alleys between, and two
scholars in each. The younger ones sat for the most part
towards the front; the Seniors on the further end. And,
in the back-seats, sat a row of monitors; full-grown men,
old men they looked to me, whose oflSce it was to call the
school to order at the appointed hour, in turn, by ham-
mering, up and down, the bench lid and shouting with
authority, "Order!" And then, order was, right soon.

Thereupon, punctual to the moment, appeared the
venerable John Adams, and took his seat, then Jonathan
Clement, then the other assistants. Mr. Adams rose in his
place and invoked the divine blessing, then read the
Scriptures with Scott's Commentaries, made a few ex-
planatory or instructive comments of his own, then read
a hymn, which was sung, by all that could sing, under the
lead of the Academy choir, then led us in more extended
prayer.

Devotions over, occasion was taken by the Principal
to attend to many matters of order or discipline which
seemed to him to require attention in the presence of the
whole school, and assistants retired to their recitation
rooms, — the morning classes were called, the books were
spread out on the benches, and the low hum of school life
showed the work of the day had begun.

From Dr. Ray Palmer,^ who also was admitted to
the Academy in 1823, we learn other details about the
school routine: —

Mr. Adams heard but comparatively few classes, and

1 Ray Palmer (1809-87) graduated from Phillips Academy in
1826, became a teacher and later a clergyman, and *as pastor at Bath,
Maine, and Troy, New York. He was a Visitor of Andover Theological
Seminary. He is most famous as the author of the hymn, "My faith
looks up to thee." He presided in 1875 at the semicentennial anniver-
sary of the Philomathean Society, of which he was one of the Founders.

166

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

was often absent a considerable part of the day — say an
hour or two at a time. Recitations went on until twelve
o'clock — then recess till two — then recitations till the
close of the day at five. One afternoon in each week were
declamations, and on Saturday the whole school was
required to stand and pass a thorough examination in
Latin grammar. Any mistake, even in accent, obliged the
scholar to take his seat; and a considerable part went down,
often before the regular exercise was through. The only
other variation from the regular daily order was on Mon-
day morning, when the Sabbath lesson in Mason's Self-
Knowledge or Porter's Evidences of Christianity was re-
cited the first thing after prayers.

To this must be added the description given by
Oliver Wendell Holmes of the class of 1825, in his
poem The School- Boy: —

How all comes back ! The upward-slanting floor.

The masters' thrones that flank the central door.

The long outstretching alleys that divide

The rows of desks that stand on either side,

The staring boys, a face to every desk,

Bright, dull, pale, blooming, common, picturesque.

Grave is the Master's look, his forehead wears

Thick rows of wrinkles, prints of worrying cares.

Uneasy He the heads of all that rule.

He most of aU whose kingdom is a school.

Supreme he sits. Before the awful frown

That bends his brows the boldest eye goes down. ^

Not more submissive Israel heard and saw

At Sinai's feet the Giver of the Law.

Principal Adams, as Holmes implies, was a strict
disciplinarian who would not tolerate disorder. Gen-
eral H. K. Oliver, referring to his experience in Phil-
lips Academy in 1811, said: —

I was unfit to meet any sternness at school; and Mr.
Adams was pretty severe, and pretty often we could "trace

167

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the day's disasters in his morning face." He ruled not
a little by the ferule.

Samuel T. Worcester (1805-82), a student in 1826,
confirms this opinion: — i

Mr. Adams, I think, was looked upon as a good dis-
ciplinarian, but perhaps somewhat rigorous and exacting.
Some of his methods of corporal punishment would be
offensive to more modern notions, especially a form of
castigation that he used to call shingling.

It is remarkable, however, that we hear so few tales
of actual flogging by the teachers of that day. The
most light upon this interesting matter is thrown by
Captain John Codman, of the class of 1823, who once
wrote : — •

In the old Academy building we sat facing the two
thrones of judgment. As they faced us, that of Master
Clement, the assistant, was on the right of that of Master
Adams, the principal. Each had his wand of oflBce; that of
Master Adams was the most fortiter in re or rather in
manu. It was a villainous ferule about a foot long, with a
little bulb at one end so that it might not slip from his own
hand, and with a sort of salad-spoon termination at the
other just fitted to the palm of a boy. The sceptre of Master
Clement was a cowhide or a big hickory switch with
which he argued a posteriori.

Oliver Wendell Holmes never forgot the beating
which, for some trivial offense, he received from
Jonathan Clement: — ^

1 Jonathan Clement (1797-1881) was the first assistant teacher from
1819 to 1829, and is generally spoken of as an exceedingly able in-
structor. He came to Andover after graduating from Middlebury Col-
lege, and married Phoebe Foxcroft Phillips, daughter of Colonel John
Phillips. He was afterwards a prominent clergyman.

168

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

I was subjected to the severest castigation known, I
believe, in the annals of punishment in that institution,
such as made a sensation among all the delicate females
of the vicinity, and caused young men to utter violent
threats, and was, in fact, almost the occasion of a riot.
It was an unfortunate display of temper on the part of one
of the instructors.

r This punishment, and his aversion to the "errors"
of evangelical, or Calvinist, doctrine, were responsible
for the prejudice which Holmes held for many years
against Andover. Long afterward, when both Holmes
and Clement were old men, the latter called upon his
former pupil and apologized for the chastisement
which he had inflicted.

I Principal Adams made some changes in school ad-
ministration. Early in his term of office he devised a
scheme of dividing the pupils into two separate
classes: the Seniors, who were to graduate at the next
Exhibition; and the Juniors, consisting of those who
proposed to remain. He also perfected a plan by
which recitations were held in small squads, of from
two or three to ten or twelve boys, grouped together
according to their stages of advancement. In 1814 he
supervised the publication of the first annual cata-
logue, a mere broadside sheet containing only the
names of instructors and students. In 1822 this be-
came a ten-page folder, printed by Flagg and Gould,
in which were given lists of Trustees, teachers, and
pupils, but no other information. In 1815 the Trus-
tees established an entrance fee of five dollars, and
also a regular tuition fee of five dollars a quarter, "to
be used for tuition, fuel, and incidental expenses."

169

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Exhibitions were held as usual, although some varia-
tions were permitted. On May 11, 1814, a drama.
The Mistake, was performed at PhUlips Academy,
with a prologue by William Person.

Although the curriculum in general was not much
altered under John Adams, there were a few minor
modifications. Samuel Phillips, son of Colonel John
Phillips, entered the Academy in 1809 and graduated
in 1815. He describes in detail the course which he
pursued: —

It consisted mainly of Latin and Greek, with just
enough arithmetic (to or through the Rule of Three) to
secure admission to college. We began at that time with
Adams's Latin Grammar. We were confined to that for a
while, — and then came a Latin Reader, with double
columns, Latin and English. Idher Primus and Viri
Romae came a little later, and were used as text-books
when I came back from college. In my time, we were hur-
ried on to Virgil and Cicero's Select Orations after finishing
grammar, — after which the Graeca Minora; but after Mr.
Adams's advent, he introduced the Selecta e Profanis
Scriptoribus, a book containing much to edify and gratify
more advanced students.

• A graduate of the class of 1811 presents a gloomy
picture of the curriculum in his day: —

I well remember that the general object sought was to
grind into us and gerund us in a knowledge of the Greek
and Latin languages. All other knowledge was of minor
consequence, this being attained by a severe course of the
most persistent gerund-grinding; an exclusive memorizing,
first of all, of the entire Greek and Latin Grammar before
entering upon any practical application of its forms or
rules. The whole business, and it was the same all over

170

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

the land, was a melancholy misunderstanding of the func-
tion of education.

How this method of teaching worked in practice is
described by Dr. William Goodell, who graduated in
1813: —

We would decline any noun in any declension, naming
it in every case from the nominative singular to the abla-
tive plural, going through the whole at one breath. Then
we would go backward at one breath from the ablative
plural to the nominative singular. To us this was real fun,
and to Mr. Adams it seemed real fun to hear us.

In 1820, at Adams's suggestion, the Trustees ar-
ranged a prescribed course for a diploma, the required
studies being outlined under twenty heads, of which
thirteen were classical and two mathematical. This
schedule is likely to impress a modern educator as
being unnecessarily one-sided, for it makes no men-
tion of any science, of any living language except
English, or of any history except that of Greece and
Rome. Every boy had also to learn to sing, and to
take lessons from a writing-master. In addition to
this specified course, further provision was made
for more advanced students, by offering them, not
new subjects, but an opportunity to read the more
difficult classical Greek texts, such as Thucydides
and Herodotus. It is undoubtedly true, as William
Person ^ asserted in 1814, that at that date "all

1 William Person (1793-1818), the most interesting of Adams's
pupils, was an illegitimate child, who was deserted in infancy by his
parents and later apprenticed to a tanner. On March 3, 1814, when he
was twenty-one years old, he left Providence to walk to Andover, cov-
ering the sixty miles between Wednesday morning and the following
afternoon. At Phillips Academy he was supported at first by a Provi-

171

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

branches taught in the Freshman, and the greater
part of the Sophomore classes in Brown University"
might be pursued in PhilUps Academy.
, But Adams's influence was exhibited most deci-
sively in the field of morals and religion. Himself a
devout and earnest man, he felt a keen responsibility
for the spiritual welfare of those entrusted to his care.
"The pious," wrote Person in 1815, "are his especial
favorites." On Sunday mornings he held regular
Bible classes in the Academy building; on Saturdays
the boys recited a lesson of about ten pages in Mason's
Self-Knowledge; on Mondays they were called upon to
give abstracts of the sermons of the preceding day
and also to answer questions on several pages of
Vincent's Explanation of the Shorter Catechism, For
years prayer-meetings organized and conducted by
the boys themselves were held in the unfinished third
story of the Brick Academy, a kind of loft or attic
where the participants were very much to themselves.
A large proportion of the pupils — according to
Adams, one in every five — later entered the Chris-
tian ministry, many of them as the direct result of
a conversion brought about by the Principal. Nearly

dence gentleman, but this aid soon failed, and the young man became
"Scholar of the House," earning his way by ringing bells, sweeping, and
making fires. He was nearly drowned, August 11, 1814, in the Shaw-
sheen, but was saved by his roommate, John Langdon. Person's con-
stitution was so imdermined by the privations which he underwent at
this time and by excessive study that he died while he was a student in
Harvard College. In his brief career at Harvard, Person showed himself
to be a brilliant scholar. After his death his classmates, with whom he
was very popular, defrayed all the expenses of his funeral, erected a
monument to him, with a Latin epitaph, in the old Cambridge burjdng-
ground, and finally, in 1820, published his Life and Letters, with some of
his poems.

172

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

every class in his administration had a revival of
religion at some time during the course. Nathaniel
Parker Willis ^ (1806-67), the poet, who graduated at
Andover in 1823, used to tell his friends of a dramatic
revival, when the "unregenerate" were visited in their
rooms by church members, were prayed with and
urged towards public acknowledgment of conversion.
WilHs in his letters home so alarmed his family by his
morbid state of mind that they wished to withdraw
him from school. One of his relatives in discussing the
incident said: —

There is a sort of indecency in this premature forcing
open of the simple and healthful heart of a boy, substitut-
ing morbid self-questionings, exaggerated remorse, and
the terrors of perdition for his natural brave outlook on a
world of hope and enjoyment.

Josiah Quincy,^ the younger, of the class of 1817,
was accustomed to relate with much zest an anecdote
illustrating the Principal's scrupulous conscience: —

One summer's day, after a session of four hours, the
master dismissed the school in the usual form. No sooner
had he done so than he added, "There will now be a
prayer-meeting; those who wish to lie down in everlasting
burning may go; the rest will stay." It is probable that a

' Nathaniel Parker Willis was bom in Portland, Maine, and came
to Phillips Academy in 1821. He was later a journalist and a poet.
As editor of several magazines, he acquired a national reputation. His
Pencillings by the Way, Sacred Poems, and various volumes of essays
have given him a place in American literature. He died at his estate
"Idlewild" in Cornwall, New York.

" Josiah Quincy (1802-82), son of Josiah Quincy, the President of
Harvard, entered Phillips Academy in 1811, and graduated from Har-
vard in 1821. He was later President of the Massachusetts Senate and
Mayor of Boston (1845), as well as the first Treasurer of the Western
Railroad. He lived in Boston during most of his life.

173

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

good many boys wanted to get out of doors. Two only had
the audacity to rise and leave the room. One of these
youngsters has since been known as an eminent Doctor of
Divinity; the other was he who now relates the incident.
But no sooner was the prayer-meeting over than Mr.
Adams sought me out, asked pardon for the dreadful
alternative he had presented, and burst into a flood of
tears. He said with deep emotion that he feared I had
committed the unpardonable sin, and that he had been
the cause. His sincerity and faith were most touching, and
his manliness in confessing his error and asking pardon
from his pupil make the record of the occiu-rence an honor
to his memory.

There can be no doubt that Adams, in this respect
an extremist, overemphasized the religious element
of schoolboy life. It was far from being the inten-
tion, even of the Founders, to develop Phillips Acad-
emy exclusively into a training-place for clergymen.
They had insisted upon broad and sane education,
both intellectual and moral. Not even the Principal's
evident sincerity can justify his making conversion
the goal of a boy's career.

The school had no church service of its own, but
the students attended the South Parish meeting-
house. Quincy in describing the service there once
said: —

The church was old and dilapidated, and the rattling
of the windows and the slamming down of the seats after
prayers would have shocked our more fastidious worship-
pers to-day. There was no means of heating the building,
and in winter we muJ03ed up our faces and tied handker-
chiefs over our ears as if we were going on a sleighride.
But if the surroundings were cold, the doctrines were cer-
tainly warm enough to prevent any fatal consequences.

174

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

It is not difficult to understand how Adams, actu-
ated by motives in themselves quite laudable, could
discover only evil where we nowadays can see little but
harmless diversion. Quincy in his student days could
remember seeing no work of the imagination except
Pilgrim's Progress. To have in one's possession books
of fiction or light poetry was considered to be a sin.
Plays, even those of Shakspere, were condemned by
the authorities. Sometimes, however, degrading liter-
ature made its way into the sacred precincts. Once a
boy brought with him, to read in leisure hours, about
a dozen little comedies and farces of the day. Within
a week the Principal heard of it, and, in a public
address to the students, said, "I understand Leaven-
worth has brought some very improper books here.
Leavenworth, you will to-morrow do up all your
books not connected with your classical studies and
bring them to me." The next day Leavenworth
handed a little bundle to Mr. Adams, who put it
away in the clothes closet. When the last morning of
the term arrived, the Principal produced the bundle
before the school, saying, "You remember that I di-
rected Leavenworth to bring me every book not con-
nected with his classical studies. We will now see
what the titles of these important volumes are."
Thereupon he undid the bundle, and out dropped a
copy of the Bible. "What!" said Adams, in a voice
of thunder, "you should have been reading a chapter
in this every morning before breakfast." Leaven-
worth repUed with feigned simphcity, "Sir, you
ordered me to bring you all books not connected with
my classical studies."

175

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Dancing was, of course, forbidden, and when a rash
Frenchman proposed to start a dancing academy m
the town, the Principal did his best to have him sum-
marily ejected by the village fathers. Smoking, though
the Principal indulged in it, was thought in a student
to be a heinous offense. Strangely enough, in the
midst of this ultra-Puritanical atmosphere, liquor
was served regularly at the meetings of the Trustees
until 1827, when that body, responsive to the rapidly
spreading temperance movement, passed a vote to
"dispense with the provision of wine or spirits for
their entertainment at their meetings."

The watchful care which the Principal gave to his
pupils must have won for him the approbation of
parents. In one typical case we are able to observe
how zealous he was to see that mothers and fathers
were supplied with accurate information. On Janu-
ary 24, 1821, he wrote to Mrs. Phoebe Lord, Arundel,
Maine, to tell her that her son Charles was seriously
ill with the "canker-rash"; a letter following on the
next day brought her the news of his "slight improve-
ment"; and a third on January 27 informed her that
the boy was "evidently better, " and closed by giving
thanks to God. The Principal was one of the most
kind-hearted of men, as many of his pupils learned
when they needed encouragement or had to face
trouble.

From the boy's point of view school life, then as
now, was made up of tears and smiles. A student like
William Person, a "charity scholar," found the double
labor of his position very irksome. On February 18,
1815, he wrote: —

176

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

The cold has been remarkably intense for several days,
and in addition to my stated duties, such as sweeping,
ringing, making fires, etc., I have undertaken to cut wood
also, and prepare it for three fires, which in this inclement
weather require constant attendance, and consume the
fuel almost as fast as it is prepared.

On one Arctic day, — "the coldest I ever knew,"
— he managed to raise the temperature in the second
Academy building from zero to 38°, but on the fol-
lowing morning he could reach only half that. On the
next night he slept in the bleak hall in order to keep
the fires going so that the room might be comfortable
for the exercises the next day. When heavy storms
came, many of the boys volunteered with the "theo-
logues " to shovel out Principal Adams or Dr. Porter.

But few of the pupils had to undergo hardships such
as these. Most of them had time for diversions and
recreations of various kinds. The boys had their own
militia company which drilled at regular intervals.
On September 29, 1814, the school company marched
to Boxford, had a sham battle with its regiment, and
was reviewed by officers from the regular army. In
1814 also a section went by coach to Boston to work
on the city fortifications; on their arrival each was
presented with a shovel, and they marched through
the streets to Dorchester Heights, carrying these like
muskets, amid the loud cheering of the citizens. Their
actual manual labor did not last long, but they re-
turned home weary, "with their patriotism somewhat
enfeebled." Dr. Ray Palmer tells the story of a trip
which he, with several friends, took in 1825 to Charles-
town to hear Webster's Oration at the dedication of

177

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Bunker Hill Monument. Early on June 17 they
started on foot, arriving in time to march in the pro-
cession: —

Being boys, we ventured to push ourselves in anywhere,
and it was my good fortune to get among the Royal Arch
Masons, right in front of Mr. Webster, about fifty feet off.
I saw his eye and heard his utterances, and remember
now just as well as though I heard them yesterday, the
tones of his voice, — he was then about fifty years old, in
the perfection of manhood.

When lessons were over, the boys had before them
all the beautiful And over countryside. Although the
games were primitive, there was plenty of chance for
exercise in the pond near which "Pomp" ' still had
his cabin, or in walking through the woods to the
gloomy "Land of Nod." Prospect Hill, from which on
a clear afternoon the ocean could be seen fifteen miles
away, was the goal of many a picnic party. It was
the memory of such happy hours that led Holmes in
1878 to make the queries: —

Still in the waters of the dark Shawshine

Do the young bathers splash and think they're clean?

Do pilgrims find their way to Indian Ridge,

Or journey onward to the far-off bridge.

And bring to younger ears the story back

Of the broad stream, the mighty Merrimack?

It is time, perhaps, to return to the Principal him-

1 Pompey Lovejoy, a former negro servant of Captain William
Lovejoy, had married, December 26, 1751, Rose, the servant of John
Foster. The couple had a cabin on the shores of the pond now named for
him, where they made " 'lection cake " and root beer for the voters on
town-meeting days. " They had smiles for you if Pomp was ' bad with
the rheumatiz,' or Rose was 'laid up for a spell.' " In 1824 Pomp was
still alive, and told the boys that he was over a hundred years old.

178

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

self. His household was usually a large one: his wife,
ten children, and a small group of pupils, five or six in
all, who boarded with them. Both Josiah Quincy, Jr.,
and Samuel Phillips lived with Adams, and the latter
reported, "Good, wholesome, cleanly fare we had,
and an abundance of it." Of Adams's daughters, four
— Mary, Harriet, Abby, and Elizabeth — gratified
their parents by marrying ministers; and two of his
sons, John Ripley Adams and William Adams, be-
came clergymen, the latter being President of Union
Theological Seminary. With his children about him
in Andover the Principal had a busy family life.
When school hours were over, he used to drive in his
old-fashioned chaise, with Fido, his brown and white
dog, running under the carriage, to a farm which he
had purchased near Sunset Rock, where he kept in
touch with nature and foimd necessary relaxation.
Mrs. Adams, who was a model housekeeper, never
seemed burdened with her labors, and was also an
efficient nurse, who spent many hours in giving aid to
her sick neighbors. "She went about doing good,"
said Professor Moses Stuart. Her lovely flower gar-
den was the finest in all the country round, and all
her friends were remembered with choice blossoms.

Only a few months before her favorite son, William,
was to graduate from Andover Theological Seminary,
Mrs. Adams, who had long been suffering from ill-
ness, died, on February 23, 1829. The weather was
so severe that no women attended the funeral; but
Academy and Seminary students, all of whom had
loved her, braved the storm in order to march to
the churchyard. A tombstone given by the boys of

179

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Phillips Academy was placed over her grave. Mrs.
Sarah Stuart Robbins, daughter of Professor Stuart,
wrote of her: —

Mrs. Adams comes back to me as the type of a perfect
and rounded motherhood. I remember her as a large
woman with a full, frank face arid light hair, through which
ran soft threads of gray. A child friend on one knee and
I on the other, her broad lap seemed to us the most cheer-
ful resting-place in all the world. ... I can never remember
that she told us we were sinners or prayed with us; but she
gave us big, red apples, the biggest and reddest that ever
grew out of Eden, and she would tell us, as she watched us
greedily devour them, how much nicer it was to be good
and have such nice things than to be naughty and for that
be shut up in some dark closet.

A little more than two years later the Trustees
gave the Principal a vacation of four weeks, in the
course of which he went to Troy, New York, where,
on August 30, 1831, he married Mrs. Mabel Burritt.
During his absence prayers were offered in the Semi-
nary Chapel for his safety on his long and perilous
journey. This second marriage was actuated, it apn
pears, mainly by Adams's desire to provide his chil-
dren with a mother's influence in his home.

Unfortunately the Principal's wedding was to be
followed by the bitterest disappointment of his career.
The height of his success in Phillips Academy was
probably about 1825, when the attendance was the
largest since the opening in 1778. Even then, how-
ever, a change was foreshadowed. Younger men of
a new era were moulding the pohcy of the Trustees,
and Adams, with his conservative nature, found him-
self out of accord with their views. His teaching

180

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

power, too, seems to have waned. One alumnus said
in 1878: —

I think Mr. Adams, when I was a member of the school
in 1825, was looked upon as somewhat antiquated in his
ideas and methods of teaching. I have a vague impression
that he was not thought to be quite progressive enough
to content the Trustees and patrons of the school.

After 1825, when the numbers began to fall ofiF, the
subdued criticism made itself heard. It did not take
the Principal long to ascertain the state of affairs, as a
passage in a letter to his son William, October 1, 1832,
indicates: —

You are mistaken in supposing that I wish to continue
in the Academy. The fact is I cannot continue. I must re-
sign my office as Principal, not because I think myself too
aged, but because it is expedient. If the Trustees, or any of
their number, feel that the best interest of the Academy
will be promoted by the introduction of a yoimger man,
how can I make up my mind to remain ?>

On November 22, Adams, at a meeting of the
Board in Boston, read a formal letter of resignation,
in which he reviewed his career at Andover, pointing
out with due modesty his achievements and present-
ing unimpeachable statistics regarding the general
growth and development of the school while under his
charge.

The Trustees accepted his withdrawal, and voted
him eight hundred dollars and the occupancy of his
house for a year, "as an additional compensation."
They passed also the following resolution: —

That this board entertain a high sense of the value of the
services of Mr. Adams during his connection with them

181

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

as Principal of Phillips Academy, and assure him of their
affectionate confidence and their deep interest in his future
usefulness and happiness.

The kindly phrases of this vote only lightly veil the
painful fact that he was compelled to leave his posi-
tion, because he was thought to be superannuated.
Consciousness of this fact brought him many de-
jected hours.

We may well pass briefly over the remaining years
of his life — sad years, during which he struggled
bravely against heavy odds. After selling his furni-
ture and securing letters of recommendation from his
friends. Professors Woods and Stuart, he left Andover
in the spring of 1833, and filled for a short time a
place as Principal of an academy in Elbridge, New
York; then, like many a stout-hearted pioneer, he
moved westward, first to Ohio and then to Jerseyville,
Illinois, enduring many privations. In 1837 he took
charge of a female seminary at Jacksonville, Illinois,
and developed there a highly prosperous school. In
1842 he was appointed agent of the American Sunday-
School Union in Illinois; and for the next twelve
years "Father Adams," as he was called by the coun-
try people, drove from county to county in a buggy,
organizing in all three hundred and twenty-two Sim-
day-Schools and earning nobly his pittance of four
hundred dollars a year. Once he met an old pupil,
Josiah Quincy, who accompanied him to the railroad
station, saying as he did so to the ticket agent: "You
should let this gentleman ride free; the country owes
him interest money." We think of him in the lines of
Wordsworth: —

182

THE REGENERATION UNDER JOHN ADAMS

Preaching, administering, in every work

Of his sublime vocation, in the walks

Of worldly intercourse between man and man,

And in his humble dwelling, he appears

A laborer, with moral virtue girt.

With spiritual graces, like a glory, crowned.

In the year 1854, when he had reached the age of
eighty, Yale honored him with the degree of Doctor
of Laws. On April 24, 1863, in his ninety-second year,
he died, over three decades after he had been forced
to resign, on account of old age, from his place in
Andover.

In his prime Adams must have been an imposing
figure. One writer gives us a ghmpse of him as, in the
South Church, "with the prestige of one born to com-
mand, he stepped up the broad aisle, his great ivory-
headed cane coming in before him and ringing down
with an emphasis not to be mistaken." One Seminary
student, afterwards a Professor of Divinity, admitted
that he never saw that familiar form, clad in gray and
wearing a broad-brimmed hat, without standing a
little straighter and putting on an air of professional
gravity. Even in his old age Adams still retained his
stately bearing.

As we survey Adams's administration as a whole,
we can see clearly that the school made distinct prog-
ress, that it grew under his direction to be far more
eflBcient, far more influential, than it had ever been
before. If in the end he met with apparent failure,
losing his grip, so to speak, on matters around him,
it was because he could not bow to new men and new
methods and yet was not strong enough to resist
them. We shall do well, in making our final estimate,

183

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

to pay heed to his many decided virtues and to
pass lightly over the last years of his regime. "Dr.
Adams," said the Reverend William E. Park, "im-
parted an impulse which will never die to the insti-
tution into which he came as a moral force."

CHAPTER X

zion's hill, and its men and women

Severely plain and utterly quiet Andover was, but it was not stag-
nant. The tides of intellectual life ran strong and high. The sense of
being above and aloof resulted there in a feeling of proud responsibility
and zeal for serious work. Professors and students alike felt themselves
anointed kings and priests, with a momentous task to perform for the
world.

Andover in 1810 was a remote and isolated village.
To it the mail-carrier came but thrice a week, and the
letters which he bore cost twenty-five cents apiece.
The inhabitants seldom saw a newspaper, except
when one was brought from Boston. Where the busy
city of Lawrence now stands, packed with mills and
warehouses, there was only a small settlement. The
peaceful Puritan Sabbath was nowhere more strictly
observed than on Andover Hill. Travelers on the
Lord's Day, no matter how urgent their business,
were hkely to be summarily arrested and fined.
Sunday really began on Saturday at sunset, when all
secular work was put away; on Sunday morning
came an oppressive silence, broken rarely by the
chime of church bells. After the morning service fol-
lowed a cold dinner and reading from some pious
manual, like the Shorter Catechism. When the sun
disappeared on Sunday evening, play began for the
children and the long day of restraint was over.

The growth of Andover Theological Seminary —
that "citadel of old-fashioned orthodoxy" — gave
Andover more importance, and its new buildings

185

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

soon transformed the Hill. On September 22, 1818, a
great throng of people gathered to hear Dr. Ebenezer
Porter's sermon dedicating Bartlet Chapel, now Pear-
son Hall. This structure, described by a contempo-
rary as "vieing in elegance with any in the United
States," was built by William Bartlet, at a cost of
$23,374. It soon became the center of Hill hfe. The
chapel room to the right on the first story was used
for literary societies, prayer-meetings, elocutionary
drill, public lectures, and Commencement exercises.
On the platform in this room Mr. Bartlet sat when
the artist, without his knowledge, made a sketch
of him for the portrait which he had refused to have
painted. Here the walls echoed on week-days with
the voices of "theologues" practicing their sermons.
On the floor above was the library, gradually growing
larger. At the north end of each of the three floors
was a lecture room for the professors of divinity.

Three years later Mr. Bartlet contributed $19,574
for Bartlet Hall, a dormitory to the south of Bartlet
Chapel. In the dedicatory sermon, preached Septem-
ber 13, 1821, Professor Stuart said: —

We can look back to little more than a period of ten
years, when the whole ground on which we are assembled,
and most of the vicinity, was but an uncultivated wild.
Now we are furnished, in a most ample fashion, with all
the edifices that are essential to the great object of the
Seminary.

The three central buildings of Andover Theological
Seminary were then complete, standing just as they
do to-day. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's description of
them is worth quoting: —

186

: l«

ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AND ELM ARCH IN 1S25

BARTLET CHAPEL, NOW PEARSON HALL

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

All of brick, red, rectangular, and unrelieved; as barren
of ornament and broken lines as a packing box, and yet
curiously possessed of a certain dignity of their own; such
as we see in aged country folk unfashionably dressed but
sure of their local position.

A footpath led from the turnpike through the stone
wall across a bush pasture to Philhps Hall, and a
road was shortly built from Salem Street behind the
"row."

On other adjacent streets carpenters and masons
were at work. The so-called "Samaritan House" on
Chapel Avenue (now the residence of the Principal)
was constructed in 1824 as an infirmary for "theo-
logues." Farther to the east in 1828 a "stone shell
of a building" was put up at a cost of $2891.12, in
which the divinity students found a passable sub-
stitute for football in the mildly stimulating exercise
of making coflSns. This gruesome pastime was later
abolished, and the structure became the residence of
Professor Calvin E. Stowe and his wife, Harriet
Beecher Stowe, for whose occupancy it was com-
pletely renovated. The Double Brick House on Main
Street was begun in 1829 as a "Commons" for Acad-
emy students, and was finished at a cost of $8795.83.
The Phillips Mansion after the death of Madame
Phillips came into the hands of the Trustees, and was
used for a time as a boarding-house. About 1817 it
was refurnished as a tavern, where, for many years,
the stage, on its way to Boston, drew up with a
mighty flourish of trumpets. Here the passengers on
frosty mornings, recognizing "Brimstone Hill," the
home of the Calvinistic tenets of sulphur and "ever-

187

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

lasting bonfire," used jokingly to hold out their hands
for warmth. So prosperous was the Seminary that
the Trustees, in 1814, were authorized by the General
Court to hold property up to an annual income of
$20,000. The resources of Phillips Academy, how-
ever, still remained small.

Meanwhile many of the old familiar faces were dis-
appearing. In 1809 the Reverend Jonathan French,
Clerk of the Trustees since 1778, died; and was suc-
ceeded as Trustee by Dr. Abiel Hohnes^ (1763-1837),
father of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Two years later
Samuel Hall Walley 2 (1778-1850), a prominent Boston
merchant, was added to the Board. After the un-
fortunate death of Colonel John Phillips, of North
Andover, in 1820, Jonathan Phillips^ (1778-1860), a
son of His Honor William Phillips, made another mem-
ber of the Phillips family among the Trustees. In the
same year the Reverend Justin Edwards^ (1787-1853),

' Dr. Holmes, who was pastor of the First Church at Cambridge
from 1792 to 1832, was also a Founder of the American Education
Society and of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and a
Fellow of the American Academy. He was one of the most eminent
clergymen of his time.

2 Samuel H. Walley married in 1803 Miriam Phillips, the daughter
of His Honor William Phillips, and the sister of Jonathan Phillips.

' Jonathan Phillips, a graduate of Phillips Academy in 1787, be-
came a merchant, and, after inheriting his father's property, became a
liberal benefactor of the Boston PubUc Library. He received an honor-
ary degree from Harvard in 1818.

■• Dr. Edwards, Valedictorian of his class (1810) at Williams, was
elected pastor of the Old South Church in Andover in 1812, but re-
signed in 1827. From 1836 to 1842 he was President of Andover
Theological Seminary. He was a Founder and member of several
learned and philanthropic societies, and the author of many tracts and
manuals. In physique he was tall, erect, and impressive, with stately
manners. His sermons were practical in their application, but ardent
in style and fuU of genuine eloquence.

188

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

the successor of Mr. French as pastor of the South
Church, was chosen a member. When Dr. Pearson
resigned the Presidency in 1821, his place was filled
by His Honor William Phillips; thus for the last time
a Phillips was President of the Trustees. At the lat-
ter's death in 1827 the Honorable Samuel Hubbard "^
(1785-1847), who had been made a Trustee in 1823,
was elected President, and retained the position until
his resignation in 1843. A graduate of Yale in 1802,
Judge Hubbard represented the new era during which
the influence of Harvard was to be less significant in
Academy affairs. Of the five other Trustees elected
under Adams, only one. Dr. John H. Church (1772-
1840), was a Harvard man. Of the remaining four,
the Reverend Benjamin B. Wisner (1794-1835),
pastor of the Old South in Boston, was a graduate of
Union; the Honorable WiUiam B. Banister (1773-
1853), son-in-law of William Bartlet, was an alumnus
of Dartmouth; Jeremiah Evarts (1781-1831), editor
of the Panoplist, held a diploma from Yale; and
Samuel T. Armstrong (1784-1850), Mayor of Bos-
ton and Lieutenant-Governor, was not a college
graduate.

Dr. Pearson, who had moved in 1821 to Harvard,
Massachusetts, continued to serve on the Board until
his death. He still appeared occasionally in Andover,
where the boys, with Uttle respect for gray hairs, re-
membered him as an awe-inspiring, somewhat crotch-
ety patriarch, whom they, for no definite reason,

* Judge Hubbard had a distinguished career as Representative,
Senator, and Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and was
honored by degrees from Yale (1827) and Harvard (1842).

189

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

called "Old Shad." Dr. Ray Palmer has described
Pearson's last visit to the HiU: —

I recall that one day at the session of the school there
came in a venerable man, trembling with years; he looked
ninety years old; he walked into the room with Mr.
Adams, and was announced as the former President Pear-
son, who had years before that ceased, on account of the
infirmities of age, to attend the examinations, where
he was always the terror of the young men, for he was
exceedingly severe in his questions. He came in to look
around, and remind us of a former generation.

He never again returned to the institution which he
had done so much to create. In the summer of 1826
he managed to take the journey to the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Ephraim Abbot, at Greenland, New
Hampshire, where, after a painful illness, he died,
September 12 in that year. He was buried in the
Greenland cemetery, and his tomb was enclosed by
an iron paling, on which was fastened a copper plate
with a commendatory inscription in Latin. Until
recently the grave of the man whom Dr. Waldo called
"the Longinus who made Boston the Athens of New
England" was absolutely neglected, and thick grass
and trees had almost obscured the spot. Recently,
however, the Trustees have appropriated money for
its care, and the burial-place will not be forgotten.

In his last days Dr. Pearson had become overbear-
ing and tyrannical, so that he often exhausted the pa-
tience of his colleagues. A letter from Josiah Quincy,
the elder, to his wife, September 28, 1826, is, on this
matter, full of enlightenment: —

I passed yesterday at Andover, the evening at the Board

190

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

of Trustees (it was their first meeting after the death of
Dr. Pearson) ; all our business went smoothly. Dr. Pearson
was coldly remembered; those who fill the places he
created feel little gratitude toward him. I cannot blame
them, considering all the trouble and vexation his papal
humor caused to the occupants of those chairs. Yet I could
not but feel, when I saw all his hopes of fame blasted, on
the very spot where they had been cultivated. Every
line of the Constitution of the Theological Seminary,
every statute, breathed the spirit of Dr. Pearson; yet that
spirit was gone, and his name and memory regarded with
neither respect nor affection on the very place where he
had spent the best of his days, and in an institution where
he had bestowed the most earnest of his labors. The pas-
sions to which his overbearing nature gave birth will sub-
side, and future times will do more justice to his memory
than the present are disposed to yield. I could write a
character not unfriendly of my old master, although on
many accounts I have little reason. But he was no ordinary
man, and I cannot refrain from remembering him with
much respect and some affection.

It is pleasanter to think of Pearson as, in the prime
of his manhood, he appeared to little William Adams,
son of the Principal: —

There was something so grand and massive about him
that it was easy and pardonable in a child to associate his
name, Eliphalet, with the English word "elephant," rather
than with its Hebrew etymology, as yet to him unknown.
How deep and judicial were his tones as he addressed us
in sonorous Latin on examination days; how his nostrils
expanded like those of the war horse as he led the hymn
to the tune of Old Hundred.

On May 26, 1827, another venerable personage,
His Honor William Phillips, died in his seventy-
eighth year. From 1812 to 1827 he gave $500 annu-

191

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ally for the support of needy students in Phillips
Academy; he contributed $5000 towards the Brick
Academy; and in his will he bequeathed $15,000 to
the Academy and $10,000 to the Seminary. It was
said by Dr. Wisner at his funeral that Mr. Phillips
had, for a series of years, spent for charitable purposes
from $8000 to $11,000 a year; and through bequests
he aided various institutions to the extent of $62,000.
Towards the close of his life he kindly furnished
Philhps Academy with portraits of its chief bene-
factors: Esquire Philhps, Dr. John Phillips, the Hon-
orable William Philhps, and Judge Samuel Phillips.

The most interesting, as well as the most unusual
personage on Andover Hill at this time was unques-
tionably the famous Samuel Farrar. Born December
13, 1773, in Lincoln, the son of a well-to-do farmer,
he graduated from Harvard in 1797, and settled in
Andover, first as a teacher in Phillips Academy, and
later as a lawyer. At this time he was a victim of
dyspepsia, and Madame Phillips, characteristically
sympathetic, invited him to Uve with her at the Man-
sion House. There the Phillips family learned to ad-
mire his methodical habits and his cautious and exact
method of doing business; through their influence he
was elected in 1802 as a Trustee, and a year later was
made Treasurer of the Board. He served as Treasurer
until 1840, and as Trustee until 1846. He was the
first President of the Andover Bank, holding the
office from 1826 to 1856, and he was a Trustee of
Abbot Academy from its foundation in 1828 until
1851. He married on October 30, 1814, Mrs. Phoebe
Hooker, widow of the Eeverend Asahel Hooker. He

192

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

died May 13, 1864, at the ripe old age of ninety-
one.

'Squire Farrar, as he was called by everybody, was
especially conspicuous because of the regularity of
his habits. It is said that he allowed his family clock
to run down only three times in forty years. Until
long after middle life he sawed wood every morning
before breakfast for exactly half an hour, and then
held family prayers at precisely seven minutes after
six. At the table he invariably asked grace in a stand-
ing posture, resting on the back of the chair, with one
hand spread. On every fair day he took three walks,
passing over a certain route on each, and so punctually
that people at his approach were accustomed to verify
their watches. There still remain in his own hand-
writing plans of these trips, which were carefully sur-
veyed to the fraction of a rod. He carried always a
gold-headed cane, the ferule of which was never per-
mitted to touch the ground.

Because of these methodical habits 'Squire Farrar
was an efficient, though also an autocratic, Treasurer,
and much of the extraordinary material development
of the Academy and the Seminary during the first
decades of the century was conducted under his di-
rection. Many of the buildings — not the most beau-
tiful, it must be confessed — were designed by him;
he set out most of the trees now standing on Andover
Hill, including the shady Elm Arch through the
Campus; and he shrewdly managed the real estate so
that it brought in no inconsiderable revenue. He lent
out the funds on bond and mortgage, so discreetly
that not a single dollar was ever lost through poor

193

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

judgment. Although he was by no means a rich man,
he could always be relied upon to put his hands to his
purse when funds were needed; and he left to Phillips
Academy in his will the sum of $12,000. His interest-
ing character has been commemorated by Holmes: —

Where is the patriarch time could hardly tire —
The good old, wrinkled, immemorial 'squire?
An honest treasurer, like a black-plumed swan.
Not every day our eyes may look upon.

The twenty-two years which John Adams spent in
Andover constitute a period of great beginnings. The
American Board of Foreign Missions, formed in 1810,
had conxmenced its work, and men like Adoniram
Judson and Samuel Nott had gone forth into the
"heathen world," encouraged by the prayers of stu-
dents and teachers. When the first missionaries were
ordained at Salem, February 6, 1812, the Principal
allowed a few boys to go. William Goodell, afterwards
a missionary in Turkey for forty-three years, and his
friend, Asa Cummings, later editor of the Christian
Mirror, walked there and back, thirty-four miles in all,
in one day, with little refreshment.^ Goodell was so
exhausted that, when about a mile from home, he lost
control of his muscles, and was helped by companions
to his room, where he was "almost paralyzed by ex-
posure, excitement, and excessive fatigue."

After Dr. Ebenezer Porter ^ (1772-1834) came to

* They were entertained at Salem by Mrs. Abel Lawrence, who of-
fered to Cummings the rocking-chair, but he replied, " No; mission-
aries must learn to do without rocking-chairs." " But," said she, " you
will take it, Mr. Goodell? " " Oh, yes, missionaries must learn to sit in
any hind of chair," was the merry and characteristic reply.

2 Ebenezer Porter, a Dartmouth graduate (1792), was pastor at
Washington, 1796-1811, and was inaugurated at Andover, April 1,

194

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

Andover in 1812 as Bartlet Professor of Sacred
Rhetoric, his study, in what is known as the "Presi-
dent's House," became a center of New England
Calvinism. There on Monday evenings John Adams
met with a group of earnest men : Professor Leonard
Woods, Professor Stuart, Dr. Justin Edwards, Deacon
Mark Newman, 'Squire Farrar, and now and then a
resident Trustee or some distinguished visitor who
wished to join in the weekly discussion. Around the
fireside these gentlemen, scorning "miserable aims
that end with self," conceived and executed schemes
many of which are in operation still. In 1815 they
originated the American Education Society, of which
Dr. Pearson was the first Chairman; they protested
against Sabbath-breaking; in order to give publicity
to their opinions, they started the Boston Recorder,
the first religious newspaper in America; they founded
the American Tract Society, in the support of which
Dr. Woods and Principal Adams went to cities in
the vicinity in order to collect money. Regular Con-
certs of Prayer for Colleges were first held in this
room. Here in 1827, largely through the initiative
of Dr. Edwards, the American Temperance Society ^

1812. In 1827 he was made the first President of the Seminary, and
served until his death, April 8, 1834. He published several books,
including his famous Rhetorical Reader and Lectures on Homiletics.
Dr. Porter was an invalid during most of his life, and was seldom free
from pain. He was tall, " with a large head covered with stiff, gray
hair," and he usually wore a yellow bandana tied about his throat, and
a long dark cloak hangmg from his narrow shoulders.

1 John Adams, heartily in sympathy with the temperance move-
ment, was one of the earliest in Andover to do away with liquor on his
sideboard; and when, at his daughter's wedding, no wine was served,
the fact was so unusual as to excite widespread comment.

195

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

was organized, "founded on the pledge of entire ab-
stinence from intoxicating liquors." No wonder that
Professor Austin Phelps, writing a generation later
at a desk in that very library, said, "A great cloud
of witnesses come in at my window to tell me of what
Andover was in the olden time."

The little group has been called a body distin-
guished by "consecrated common sense." A few of
them, like Edwards and Stuart, were inclined to be
radical and aggressive; others, like Woods and New-
man, were born conservatives; but their arguments
never flared up into quarrels, and their diverse tem-
peraments, through compromise and concession, were
welded into one in the cause of humanity. Principal
Adams was valued by them chiefly because of his sane
and sober counsel. One of the members once said, "He
seemed to know by instinct what would be the best
way of doing the right thing."

Andover's claim to intellectual leadership was per-
ceptibly strengthened by the establishment of the
printing-office of Flagg and Gould, which superseded
an earlier press started in 1799. It opened in the
upper story of the angular and ugly building erected
by Deacon Newman for his store, where the "theo-
logical boys and girls" used to buy sweet-flag and
slippery elm. There Professor Stuart himself set the
type for his Hebrew Grammar, until he could train his
own compositor to do the work. On December 12,
1813, Professor Stuart sent to Dr. Pearson the proof
of this book, the first volume with Hebrew type ever
printed in this country. In 1821 Dr. John Codman
gave one thousand dollars for the purchase of type to

196

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

be used in printing the Oriental tongues, and this gift
was later increased by William Bartlet and others.
By 1829 this press was supplied with type, not only
for Hebrew, but also for eleven other Oriental lan-
guages. Here were published a large number of books
by Andover men and women, including Robinson's
New Testament Lexicon, Porter's Rhetorical Reader,
and Stuart's Letters to Channing. Eventually over a
hundred separate titles, the work of professors in the
Seminary, were printed on the Hill. In 1832 a new
brick building, north of the Stuart House on Main
Street, was constructed especially for the press, and
its scope was considerably enlarged.

Among the other important movements of this re-
naissance period the founding of the Abbot Female
Seminary, now Abbot Academy, was not the least
significant. This well-known school, the first incor-
porated institution in the Commonwealth for the ed-
ucation of girls, was made possible chiefly through
the generosity of Mrs. Nehemiah Abbot, ^ for whom
it was named. About 1827 this lady, in consultation
with 'Squire Farrar, said unexpectedly, "What shall I
do with my surplus funds?" He answered, "Found
an Academy in Andover for the education of women."
Following his suggestion she promptly pledged the
sum of one thousand dollars, which was advanced by
'Squire Farrar. Early in 1828 meetings were held and

' Sarah Abbot was born October 3, 1762, the daughter of George
Abbot and Hannah Lovejoy. Her grandmother was Mary Phillips,
sister of the Reverend Samuel Phillips. She was thus a second cousin
of Judge Phillips. She married Nehemiah Abbot, first Steward of the
Seminary, who, at his death, left her the money which she later used
for the benefit of Abbot Academy.

197

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

plans laid for the project, and the Constitution was
signed on July 4 by seven Trustees, among them
Farrar and Deacon Newman. The latter gave a lot
of land on School Street; there the roof of the building
was raised on October 28, and the school was actually
opened May 6, 1829, under Mr. Charles Goddard as
Principal. At Mrs. Abbot's death in 1848 the Abbot
Academy Trustees received from her estate the sum
of $10,109.05. The relations between Abbot Acad-
emy and Philhps Academy have uniformly been ami-
cable, and on several occasions, notably at the time
of anniversaries, the friendly interest of each in the
other has been shown in substantial fashion.

One important event of Adams's administration was
the visit of General Lafayette, who, an old man, was
making in 1825 a tour through the land the free-
dom of which he had fought to establish. As he and
his carriage companion, Josiah Quincy, approached
Andover, the Frenchman asked Quincy to tell him
something of the town. Keeping in mind the infor-
mation which was proffered him, the General, when
he was urged by the Andoverians to address them,
spoke in highly complimentary terms of "that con-
secrated hill from which light had gone out to the
heathen and religion to the ends of the earth." When
Quincy returned to Andover, after escorting Lafayette
to the New Hampshire line, he called upon Princi-
pal Adams, who expressed delight at the General's
speech, but added: —

I was surprised at one thing: I knew in our religious
world our school held a very high position, but I was un-
prepared to find that a man who had spent his days in

198

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SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, OF THE CLASS OF iSos

OLIVER WENDELT, HOLMES, OF THE CLASS OF 1S25

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

courts and camps, who had been through the whole French
Revolution, should have known so much about our Theo-
logical Institution.

In this period, remarkable for the general spirit of
intellectual and philanthropic activity prevalent on
Andover Hill, Phillips Academy had many students
who grew to be distinguished men. Probably the
most famous was Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94),
who graduated in 1825. In his Cinders from the Ashes
(1869) he describes humorously the journey by car-
riage from Boston to Andover, and the sad sensations
which he felt when, deserted by his parents, he was
left at Professor Murdock's house, — now the Treas-
urer's residence, — where he was to board : —

Sea-sickness and home-sickness are hard to deal with
by any remedy but time. Mine was not a bad case, but it
excited sympathy. There was an ancient, faded lady in the
house, very kindly, but very deaf, rustling about in the
dark, autumnal foliage of silk or other murmurous fabrics,
somewhat given to snuff, but a very worthy gentlewoman
of the poor-relation variety. She comforted me, I well
remember, but not with apples, and stayed me, but not
with flagons. She went in her benevolence, and, taking a
blue and white soda-powder, mingled the same in water,
and encouraged me to drink the result. It might be a spe-
cific for sea-sickness, but it was not for home-sickness. The
jiz was a mockery, and the saline refrigerant struck a
colder chill to my despondent heart. I did not disgrace
myself, however, and a few days cured me, as a week on
the water often cures sea-sickness.

Although Holmes's experiences were not all of this
discouraging kind, he did not have an altogether
agreeable time in the classroom: —

199

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

I was put into a seat with an older and much bigger
boy, or youth, with a fuHginous complexion, dilating and
whitening nostril, and a singular malignant scowl. Many
years afterwards he committed an act of murderous vio-
lence, and ended by going to finish his days in a mad-
house. His delight was to kick my shins with all his might,
under the desk, not at all as an act of hostility, but as a
gratifying and harmless pastime. Finding this, so far as
I was concerned, equally devoid of pleasure and profit, I
managed to get a seat by another boy, the son of a very
distinguished divine. He was bright enough, and more
select in his choice of recreations, at least during school
hours, than my late homicidal neighbor. But the princi-
pal called me up presently, and cautioned me against him
as a dangerous companion. Could it be so? . . . Here was
I, in the very dove's nest of Puritan faith, and out of one
of its eggs a serpent had been hatched and was trying to
nestle in my bosom ! I parted from him, however, none the
worse for his companionship so far as I can remember.

One of Holmes's most exciting diversions was
watching one of the instructors, who had been warned
by a dream that he would drop dead while praying,
to see whether, when he led morning devotions, this
grim prophecy would come true. The future poet's
only literary performance at Andover was a transla-
tion from Virgil, with one "cockney rhyme": —

Thus by the power of Jove's imperial arm
The boiling ocean trembled into calm.

At the annual Exhibition of 1825, however, he de-
livered an essay on Fancy, which he described as
highly inflated in style.

Among the other graduates who attained fame were
at least three future college presidents: Henry Durant

200

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

(1802-75), the first President of the University of
California; William Augustus Stearns (1805-76),
President of Amherst College; and Leonard Woods,
Jr. (1807-78), for twenty-seven years President of
Bowdoin. Samuel Williston (1795-1874), who gave
over $800,000 to endow Williston Seminary, and
Luther Wright (1797-1870), its first Principal, were
both Andover men. Nathaniel P. Willis belonged to
the class of 1823; in the class before him was Isaac
McLellan (1806-1904), lawyer, editor, and versifier,
the author of the once widely quoted Death of Na-
poleon, —

Wild was the night; yet a wilder night
Hung o'er the soldier's pillow.

Horatio Greenough (1805-52), the "pioneer of Ameri-
can sculpture" and the architect of Bunker Hill
Monument, left the school in 1815. There were also
two anti-slavery agitators: Theodore Weld (1804-
88), author of American Slavery as It Is; and Edmund
Quincy ^ (1808-77). Among the clergymen and theo-
logians were Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (1808-89),
Bishop of Central Pennsylvania; Thomas March
Clark (1813-90), Bishop of Rhode Island; Dr. Hora-
tio Balch Hackett; and Dr. Ray Palmer. Others also
should be mentioned: George P. Marsh (1800-82), an
American diplomat in Greece, Turkey, and Italy,
and a distinguished scholar and author; Robert Ran-

1 Edmund Quincy was the son of Josiah Quincy, the elder, and the
brother of Josiah Quincy, of the class of 1811. After graduating from
Harvard in 1827, he was associated with Garrison and Phillips in the
abohtionist movement. He wrote the novel Wensley, dealing with
Andover, and a Life of Josiah Quincy, his father.

201

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

toul (1807-52), Congressman and United States Sen-
ator; William Wheelwright (1799-1873), a pioneer
business man in South America, who, after a ro-
mantic career, gave over $500,000 to the city of
Newburyport, as a fund for providing boys with a
scientific education; William Warner Hoppin (1808-
90), Governor of Rhode Island; Wilson Flagg (1806-
84), the naturalist and essayist; and Samuel Hopkins
(1807-78), the historian. In no other period of equal
length in the school history have there been pro-
portionately so many pupils who later attained dis-
tinction.

At least sixty-five instructors were engaged at
Philhps Academy during the twenty-two years of
Adams's regime. A large proportion of them were,
of course, theological students, who conducted a few
courses in order to earn a moderate stipend. Among
them were Gideon Lane Soule (1796-1879), after-
wards associated with the Phillips Exeter Academy
as Instructor and Principal; Miron Winslow (1789-
1864), missionary for forty-six years in India; and
John Taylor Jones (1802-51), missionary in Burmah
and Siam, and translator of the Bible into Siamese.

So it was that Andover, between 1810 and 1830,
became a "thought center," with influences radiating
in many directions. Its vigorous intellectual life,
quickened from time to time by the arrival of new
professors, was a stimulus and inspiration to all those
who studied there. The provinciahty, intolerance,
and inertness so characteristic of many New England
towns were to be found only in rare cases on the
Hill. The town itself was becoming famous. The

202

ZION'S HILL, AND ITS MEN AND WOMEN

Codman Press was sending books and tracts to far-
off pagan countries. Phillips Academy and Andover
Theological Seminary, through their teachers and
sons, were spreading their spirit beyond Massachu-
setts over the life of the nation.

CHAPTER XI

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT: THE TEACHERS*
SEMINARY

That which our school-coursea leave almost entirely out, we find to
be that which most nearly concerns the business of life. ... To prepare
the young for the duties of Ufe is tacitly admitted to be the end which
parents and schoolmasters should have in view.

(Spencer, Essays on Education.)

Towards the close of John Adams's administra-
tion, in the spring of 1829, workmen were excavating
a cellar on the northeast corner of Main Street and
Chapel Avenue; and soon there rose an oblong, two-
storied, massive edifice, with thick walls of rough
gray stone, and a slanting roof, surmounted by a high
wooden cupola or bell-tower, on which was perched
an equally tall weather-vane. The architect was
'Squire Farrar, who, obsessed by a craving for sim-
plicity, had created a style that was all his own,
not Grecian or Gothic or colonial, but essentially
"Farraresque." Bare, somber, and unrelieved by or-
namentation, the building resembled a jail or tomb,
and seemed to be at once the strongest and the
ugliest structure ever produced by the hand of man.
This Stone Academy, which frowned so grimly at
every passer-by, was the only school hall known to
several generations of Phillips boys.

The Stone Academy, however, was originally de-
signed as a home for what was in that day a unique
institution — an institution which, like the building,
was mainly the conception of the versatile 'Squire

204

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

Parrar. The story of the "English Department," or
"Teachers' Seminary," — the two titles were used
almost indiscriminately, — has about it some decid-
edly interesting features, especially in the contrasts
which it presents. Andover, already distinguished
for at least three successful first ventures in the field
of education, was now to be the scene of another
experiment. Upon the old and conservative Puritan
Academy was to be grafted a strange, exotic growth;
an emphatically modern system of instruction was to
push its way resolutely into the holy precincts of
classicism. The new institution was to be a com-
posite: normal school, scientific school, business and
commercial school, agricultural college, and other
less significant elements blended promiscuously into
one. It was amorphous, heterogeneous, crude; but,
grotesque though it was, it had qualities which could
not wholly die. As a matter of fact, it was not unlike
the scheme originally planned by Samuel Phillips, Jr.,
before he came under the influence of Pearson's mas-
terful mind; but in the year 1830 it certainly had
little in common with the Phillips Academy over
which Principal Adams so haughtily presided and in
which the boys seldom wandered far from texts in
Latin and Greek.

When His Honor William Phillips died in 1827, he
left to Phillips Academy the sum of $15,000. No re-
strictions were given regarding the use of this money;
but 'Squire Farrar had been consulted by the testator,
and knew his wishes, which happily coincided with
his own. On October 31 a committee of the Trustees
reported that, as the existing funds were sufficient

£05

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

for the support of the Academy, the Phillips legacy
ought to be used to establish an "English Classical
School," to be independent of the Academy. On
September 23, 1828, 'Squire Farrar was authorized
to erect a separate building, and he, with Principal
Adams and Dr. Wisner, was instructed to prepare a
plan for such an institution.

During the early nineteenth century many people
of a practical turn of mind were questioning the wis-
dom of putting all boys through the same classical
mill; and progressive educators, aware of the com-
mon sense behind the language of the critics, were
considering seriously the advisabiHty of arranging
a curriculxun which would "prepare for Hfe" and fit
yoimg men "to enter at once in the various occupa-
tions of men of business." The object was apparently
to provide a reasonably adequate education for the
many who could not go on to college. The plan ob-
viously involved a fairly wide choice of subjects,
substantially as in the modern "elective system";
and it also necessitated, not only the abandonment
of many courses considered indispensable in the or-
dinary academy, but also the introduction of new
studies of a radically different nature, subjects of a
kind which could be of practical value after school
days were over. In other words, the new institutions
were to be broadly "vocational" as contrasted with
the older "classical" or "cultural" academies. The
businesslike aims of the advocates of such schools un-
questionably made an impression on 'Squire Farrar,
who was himself a man of a shrewd, hard-headed
type.

206

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

Another important movement of this same period
was concerned with the problem of training teachers
for the common or grammar schools. Many young
men, unfortunately without the means of acquiring
a collegiate degree, were eager to secure the kind of
instruction which would enable them to qualify as
teachers in the lower grades. For them courses such
as those offered in Phillips Academy were often a
waste of time, and they demanded a curriculum not
far removed in aim from that of our present-day
normal school.

The originality of Farrar's plan is shown in the
fact that it proposed to satisfy the demands of both
groups; he resolved to combine under one head two
distinct institutions — a technical high school and a
normal school. In the first catalogue this purpose
is explicitly stated: —

The most prominent object is to educate Instructers
[sic] of common and other schools. Another object is to
educate practical men, for all the departments of common
life.

The project was rapidly carried out. The Stone
Academy was paid for, partly from the accrued in-
come of the Phillips legacy and partly from the sale
of land owned by the Trustees in Maine and Canada,
the entire cost being $10,352.90. On June 29, 1830,
when the building was nearing completion, the Board
voted to put the "English Department" into opera-
tion, and it was formally opened in the following
September. A Principal was found in the Reverend
Samuel Read Hall (1793-1877), a Congregational
minister, who, in 1823, in Concord, Vermont, had

207

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

opened a "Teachers' School," apparently the earli-
est normal school in the United States. For the work
in this institution Mr. Hall prepared a course of
Lectures on School Keeping, pubUshed in 1829, which
made up the first textbook on pedagogical subjects
printed in this country. 'Squire Farrar, a keen hand
at a contract, was able, not only to secure Mr. Hall
as the organizer of his project, but also to arrange
matters so that the Trustees were relieved of any
financial responsibihty. Mr. Hall was to be paid no
stated salary, but was to be allowed to hold the en-
trance and tuition fees of his students, and to fix the
amount of these fees. His income, therefore, would
depend entirely on his abihty to develop a large and
flourishing school. Although the Teachers' Seminary
was to be for the most part separate from Phillips
Academy, its affairs were to be administered by the
same Board of Trustees.

The new institution opened without friction. The
first catalogue, published in the spring of 1831, named
eighty registered pupils, of whom forty-eight were
from the town of Andover. Students were allowed to
attend for any length of time from one term to six
years; tuition was "to vary with the studies pursued
— from four to eight dollars a term." There were
four terms of eleven weeks each, "commencing in
December, March, June, and September." The
building, it was announced, was furnished with a
magic lantern and several hundred slides, an electrical
machine, globes, and maps, and was soon to have
"Pneumatic Apparatus."

The features already pointed out are sufficient to

208

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

indicate the unusual character of the school. In other
ways, however, its pecuKarities were even more con-
spicuous. By 1832 the course of study had been ar-
ranged in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Hall and
'Squire Farrar. Students were divided into three
groups: the "Teachers' Class," evidently an attempt
at a normal school; the " General Department," where
young men were "preparing for life " ; and the "Model
School," in which children were the unsuspecting vic-
tims of the incipient pedagogues in the "Teachers'
Class." The curriculum included twenty-six separate
subjects, among which Latin and Greek were not
included: six were mathematical; several were scien-
tific; and many, such as land surveying, civil engi-
neering, moral and intellectual philosophy, evidences
of Christianity, general history, the art of teaching,
and civil government, can be classified only as mis-
cellaneous. In addition special instruction at extra
expense could be secured in French, German, phi-
losophy, astronomy, chemistry, and electricity. An
effort was made, apparently, to satisfy every longing
of the human mind. The teachers were not to be
"public hackneys in the schooling trade," —

Who feed a pupil's intellect with store
Of syntax truly, but with nothing more.

All knowledge was to be their province. Mr. Hall, an
academic "Pooh Bah," must have been regarded as
both onaniscient and indefatigable. He did, it is true,
have assistants, but their talents were more limited:
Lionel Tenney, for instance, was Teacher of the
Model School; Banning G. Linburg was Teacher of

209

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

French; and Thomas D. Smith taught the "Cars-
tairian System of Writing." Two "theologues" were
also employed, one of them as Instructor in Vocal
Music, a subject instruction in which, it is stated, is
gratuitous.

Mr. Hail, in the leisure torn from his variegated
duties, was an inveterate textbook-maker. His Arith-
metical Manual (1832), his Grammatical Assistant
(1833), and his School History of the United States
(1833) were prepared especially for his own classes,
but had also a wide sale elsewhere. He also contrib-
uted articles to educational periodicals, and spoke
frequently at teachers' meetings all over New Eng-
land. Frederick A. Barton (1809-81), Mr. Hall's
first assistant from 1831 to 1837, was the author of
volumes on trigonometry and land surveying, and
found time also for a course at the Andover Theo-
logical Seminary which led to his ordination. There
were no "slackers" on the faculty of the Teachers'
Seminary.

Contemporary verdicts on this new movement in
education were, on the whole, highly favorable. A
writer in the Annals of Education for August, 1832,
gives a full account of the school, from which extracts
deserve quotation : —

School books of a good character are selected, and the
most improved methods of instruction adopted. But,
while books and apparatus and hard study are deemed
indispensable to thorough and efl&cient progress, much
is accomplished by familiar lectures, giving the student
ample opportunity for asking questions, suggesting doubts,
etc. No attempts are made to hurry through a science for

210

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

the sake of having gone through it; but constant, and,
as it appears to me, successful efforts are made to teach
everything to which the pupil's attention is called,
thoroughly.

In both departments of the school, there is nothing of
that routine of mere memory work which is so often wit-
nessed in our schools. Those methods are pursued, gen-
erally speaking, in every exercise, which give employment
to the whole intellect, and not to certain favored faculties
merely, while the rest are suffered to lie neglected.

In both departments of the institution every branch is
pursued, as far as possible, independently of every other.
By this is meant that every study has its appropriate
hour and space, and when that hour arrives, it is exclu-
sively attended to. In the higher departments, the exer-
cises for every day of the week are written down plainly
and minutely, and a monitor rings a bell at the arrival of
the time for every new exercise. So exact is the order, and
so accustomed to it have the students become, that, so
far as discipline is concerned, it matters little whether the
teachers are present or absent, provided the monitor per-
forms his duty.

The higher branches of the mathematics, geography,
grammar, history, composition, drawing, philosophy in
its various divisions, chemistry, political economy; indeed
everything to which the attention of the pupil is called, is
pursued, so far as I could ascertain, in the same rational
and thorough manner, as spelling, reading, and arithmetic.
Not only is everything rendered intelligible, but inter-
esting; and the thinking powers of the pupil are called into
useful activity. During my visit a course of chemical
lectures was commenced by an assistant, which promised
to be highly practical and useful. Music is taught in the
Seminary, and a hymn is also sometimes sung in connec-
tion with the religious exercises.

But what rendered this Seminary most deeply inter-
esting to me, was the conviction which I was unable to

211

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

resist, that all its methods, and plans, and processes, were
eminently adapted to the development and formation of
character. As a place of instruction, it justly ranks high;
and I do not believe it has been too highly appreciated.
But as a place of education it has still higher claims.
Knowledge of the best kind is successfully circulated by
the best means; but the capacity and disposition to make
the best use of Knowledge is regarded as of still more
importance.

This last paragraph indicates that the Teachers'
Seminary, although in many respects decidedly differ-
ent in aims from Phillips Academy, had maintained
the traditions and spirit of the parent institution.

Notwithstanding the pubhc approbation which it
deserved and received, the Teachers' Seminary was
not at all profitable to Mr. Hall, who was far from
pleased, therefore, with the financial arrangement
imposed upon him by the Trustees. On May 14, 1834,
a committee issued a printed appeal for funds, stat-
ing that their available resources had been exhausted
in erecting buildings and buying apparatus. The
response to this urgent call was unsatisfactory, and by
the close of 1836 only some $2200 had been collected.
In 1835 the Trustees voted to call the school the
"Teachers' Seminary," and to abandon the term
"EngUsh Department"; they hoped by this step to
draw attention to the value of the course to yoimg
men planning to become teachers in the common
schools. At the same time the curriculum, designed
primarily for these advanced students, was made to
extend over three years, the classes being called Junior,
Middle, and Senior. Each year, also, was divided
into three terms, with the anniversary exercises tak-

212

THK IJRICK AfADEMY, NOW THL UIN 1 N'G-ll ALL

THE STONE ACADEMY

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

ing place the first week in July. The subjects pursued
were still of a miscellaneous character. The number
enrolled in 1835 was 190, of whom 114 were in the
"Teachers' Department."

On April 18, 1837, Mr. Hall, who had been getting
more and more disgruntled, sent in his resignation,
and went to Plymouth, New Hampshire, to found a
similar school. On June 14 the Reverend Lyman
Coleman (1796-1882), then Principal of Burr Semi-
nary, Manchester, Vermont, was named as Hall's
successor, and he accepted the position, with the pro-
vision, however, that he should receive a regular
salary of $1200, and thus be freed from any business
relations with his pupils. Mr. Coleman at once re-
stored the former title of "English Department," and
substituted for the old statement an entirely new
outline of the curriculum: —

The course of study occupies three years, and is de-
signed to be substantially the same as a course of collegiate
education with the exception of the ancient languages.
Those who may wish to pursue a more limited course,
may attend any of the recitations in the regular classes
for which they are qualified; and to those who may wish
to pursue a more extended course opportunity will be
offered.

At this date the number enrolled was only seventy-
four.

In the autumn of 1839 Mr. Coleman, evidently
ambitious to make the organization somewhat less
chaotic, modified it along new lines. There was a
"Teachers' Department" in three classes, Junior,
Middle, and Senior; there was a "General Depart-

213

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ment," designed to meet the wants of those "who
desire to pursue a more hmited course"; and there
was also a "Preparatory Department," for boys of
from eight to fifteen, "taught by students from the
higher classes of the Teachers' Department, under
the special supervision of the Instructor in the Gen-
eral Department." This scheme, which harked back
to Mr. Hall's original plan, was evidently successful,
and by 1840 the school, with one hundred and fifty-
four pupils, was regaining its prestige. In this year
Mr. Coleman seems to have evolved a new theory of
the piu*poses of the institution : —

The plan ... is that of an English High School,
occupying an intermediate grade between our common
academic; institutions and our colleges. The object of
this system of instruction ... is not to hurry the student
through a superficial course, teaching a little of everything
and nothing to any good purpose; but to lead him to be-
gin a thorough course of mental discipline, and to pursue
it as far as circumstances will permit. To such as continue
with us a suflBcient length of time it offers essentially the
advantages of a college education in the several depart-
ments of English literature.

It will readily be seen that the Teachers' Seminary
was rapidly turning into an English high school, like
the famous institution in Boston, and that the time
was coming when it was to have more in common with
Phillips Academy.

Throughout this period the school as it was actu-
ally conducted was considerably diflFerent from what
it appeared to be on paper. Students attended
classes very irregularly, and the printed registration

214

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

was far from affording an idea of the number of pu-
pils who remained through the year. In 1839, from
seventy-five to a hundred of the students were em-
ployed during the winter as teachers in some of the
small district schools around Boston. Divisions were
formed to suit the wishes of the students, and not at
all in accordance with the advertised plan. The cur-
riculum varied from month to month; occasionally
a new subject, at the suggestion of an eager group
of pupils, would be introduced experimentally, and
other courses, for which there happened to be then
no particular demand, were temporarily dropped.
The students themselves, so far as we can determine,
resolved what courses they wished to pursue, and
their desires were gratified by their instructors.

The value of the buildings and equipment in 1839
was estimated at over $30,000. The Seminary pos-
sessed a chemical laboratory in the basement of the
Stone Academy, and a good supply of apparatus; a
room fitted out with "philosophical apparatus," for
experiments in what we now call physics; an exten-
sive cabinet of minerals to illustrate the study of
geology; a complete field set of instruments for prac-
tical surveying and civil engineering; and a library
of eight hundred and fifty volumes. The Prepara-
tory Department was located in a separate wooden
building near the Stone Academy. An adjacent farm,
under good cultivation, gave students working their
way a chance to earn money by manual labor, and
also allowed tests to be made in experimental agri-
culture. This farm furnished much of the food for
the boarding-house, where most of the students took

215

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

their meals, the price being in 1839 about $1.25 a
week. The six EngHsh Commons dormitories were
occupied by eighty or ninety scholars, the charge for
rent being three dollars a term. All those who boarded
in Commons were required to labor at least two hours
a day on the farm.

The instruction in "Scientific and Practical Agri-
culture" was given by Alonzo Gray (1808-60), who
came in 1836 to the Teachers' Seminary as an assist-
ant. He soon wrote a textbook on the subject, in
which he devoted much attention to the analysis of
soils and the application of chemistry to agriculture.
It has been said that, with the possible exception of
Troy Polytechnic Institute, the Teachers' Seminary
at Andover was the first school in America to ofifer
courses of this kind. Not for at least twenty-five
years were there any regularly organized agricultural
colleges.

The tuition fee, which was subject to fluctuations,
was normally fifty cents a week, collected in advance.
As in Phillips Academy, arrangements were made for
the lending of money to indigent boys, and there were
also opportunities for them to earn their board at
private houses in the town.

Mr. Coleman as a teacher was certainly eflScient,
and his assistants, Mr. Gray and Wilham Harvey
Wells ^ (1812-85), were far abler than the assistants

' William H. Wells was born at Tolland, Connecticut, and taught
for a year or two in the East Hartford Academy before coming to the
Teachers' Seminary in 1836. After the union in 1842, he continued as
Head of the English Department, where he remained until 1847. After
leaving Phillips Academy he was successively Principal of the Put-
nam Free School in Newburyport (1847-54), Principal of the West-

216

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

in Phillips Academy at that period. In 1842 the
school had grown to two hundred and one, the largest
number since its foundation. But the prosperity was
apparent rather than real. The available funds had
always been small, and, notwithstanding efforts to-
ward "retrenchment and reform," debts accumulated.
Furthermore, those connected with the classical
Academy were inclined to look with contempt on
the Teachers' Seminary, and to underestimate its
value. Mr. Coleman in after days wrote, not without
bitterness: —

The high and deserved reputation of Phillips Academy,
its overshadowing influence, its total lack of sympathy
and cooperation, served to cast into shades and distance
the Teachers' Seminary, and to give it the air of an aban-
doned orphan rather than a cherished part of the venerable
institution.

'Squire Farrar, who had resigned as Treasurer in
1840, no longer possessed paramount influence on
the Board; moreover, his initial enthusiasm for the
Teachers' Seminary was waning. At any rate, he
made no objection when the Trustees decided that,
mainly for motives of economy, the Seminary must
be merged with the Academy, and that the two schools
must be continued under one system of administra-
tion. Mr. Coleman and Mr. Gray were discharged,
"for want of means to retain them." On August 12,
1842, the two institutions were formally joined, the
Teachers' Seminary becoming merely the "English

field State Normal School, and Superintendent of Schools in Chicago
(1856-64). He published an English Grammar in 1846, and contributed
educational articles to many magazines.

217

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Department" of Phillips Academy. The catalogue
for 1843 contains a division of the students into two
departments, Classical and English, which have since
that date remained coordinate.

The actual changes resulting from the merger in
1842 were not at all radical. For many years — in
fact, until Dr. Bancroft's time — the Principal of the
English Department continued to be an officer with
distinct authority of his own, and to some extent re-
moved from the jurisdiction of his nominal superior,
the Principal of the Academy. The classical pupils
continued to treat superciliously the boys on the
Enghsh side. The carefully planned ciu-riculum ar-
ranged by Mr. Coleman was never actually put
into practice, and the standards continued to be low.
There can be no question that the English Depart-
ment was actually neglected by the Trustees —
especially during the administration of Samuel H.
Taylor, who made no attempt to conceal his in-
difference towards the work and aims of the non-
classical school.

'Squire Farrar's experiment, in spite of its defects,
its inconsistencies, and its unavoidable failures, did,
in the end, contribute an important element to the
educational system of Phillips Academy. Since 1842
there have been two separate courses of study, one
classical and the other scientific. Because of this
arrangement Phillips Academy was able, when the
great scientific colleges came into prominence in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century, to prepare its
students to meet their requirements. To remain ex-
clusively classical, to refuse to recognize the spirit

218

AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENT

of the age, would have been then to court disaster.
The Scientific Department in the school to-day, as
it has developed from the crude Teachers' Seminary,
is certainly not out of harmony with the scheme of
education planned by Samuel Phillips, Jr.

CHAPTER XII

A SCHOLAE-POET : OSGOOD JOHNSON

Be:tond the book his teaching sped;
He left on whom he taught the trace
Of kinship with the deathless death.

Before the unfortunate John Adams had started
upon his forlorn pilgrimage to the West, the Trustees
had agreed upon his successor — a pale, sKght, schol-
arly young man named Osgood Johnson, who had
been, since 1829, Adams's most reliable assistant. One
or two of the Principals have, perhaps, been over-
praised; Johnson, on the contrary, has never received
the appreciation which he merits. His career was
brief, and his premature death prevented the con-
summation of many of his plans; while he lived, more-
over, he was so constantly hampered by ill health that
he had only rare opportunities of displaying his real
ability. Thus his few short years in Phillips Academy,
followed and overshadowed by the long and vigor-
ous administration of Samuel H. Taylor, have been
ignored, sometimes even forgotten, by the annalists.
Johnson was neither robust nor aggressive; but he
had intellectual keenness, unsullied ideals, and a mag-
netic personality. He was a sensitive, high-strung
gentleman, a student and a poet, whose active un-
tiring mind hterally burned out his frail physique, —

A fiery soul, which, working out its way.
Fretted the pigmy body to decay
And o'er-informed the tenement of clay.
220

OSGOOD JOHNSON

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

He was rated as one of the finest classical scholars of
his time. Confronted with the rougher work of ruling
over Phillips Academy, Johnson faced his duties with
enthusiasm and willingly put his genius into harness.
It was a sad stroke of fate which brought him to his
death before he could see his achievement approved.

Osgood Johnson, son of Osgood Johnson and Fanny
Abbot, was born September 9, 1803, in the West
Parish of Andover. Graduating from Phillips Acad-
emy in 1823, he went on to Dartmouth College,
where he took his Bachelor's degree, summa cum
laude, in 1828. For a year he remained at Hanover as
a tutor; then came an invitation to return to Andover
as assistant in the Academy. It was not long before
Adams came to depend largely upon Johnson's ex-
traordinary gifts as a teacher, and, when the Princi-
pal resigned, it was almost inevitable that Johnson
should be appointed in his place. For a little over a
month he served as Acting Principal, and on January
1, 1833, he was tendered a permanent position, which
he accepted in a letter read before the Trustees on
March 20. Before this he had married Lucretia Bly,
of Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1831 he had moved
with his family into the Samaritan House on Chapel
Avenue, where he resided until his death.

It was Johnson's untoward plight to be weighted
from the very opening of his administration with too
much responsibility. 'Squire Farrar was determined
that the system of financial management already in-
flicted upon Mr. Hall of the Teachers' Seminary
should also be applied to Phillips Academy. The
basis of the scheme was that the Principal should re-

221

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ceive as a salary the tuition of the scholars and should,
out of this sum, pay the expenses of his assistants.
Farrar had obviously two objects in view: first, to
stimulate the Principal to activity in increasing the
number of paying students; second, to insure the
Trustees against financial loss in case of any marked
faUing-off in attendance. It is enough to say of the
proposition that it practically compelled Johnson to
assume the functions and obhgations of business
manager as well as of teacher and administrator.
Fortunately, he was altogether too honest to resort to
unscrupulous methods in enlarging the school; more-
over, he was independent enough to protest manfully
against the arrangement, which he considered to be
both unjust and dangerous. He accepted the con-
tract, it is true, but only at 'Squire Farrar's urgent re-
quest; and when it had been tested in operation,
Johnson submitted to the Board on several occasions
his well-grounded objections to it and to the theory
upon which it was based. Finally, on April 28, 1834,
the Trustees passed a resolution, which, by guaran-
teeing him one thousand dollars a year and his house,
practically nulhfied their previous action. As matters
worked out, the Farrar policy was ultimately aban-
doned, and Johnson was paid simply his specified
salary. Since that date the Principal of Phillips
Academy has been relieved of the responsibility of
attending to the financial problems of the institution.
As a teacher Johnson was remarkably efficient. He
governed without harshness, but with perfect self-
control, through the love and respect which he in-
spired in his pupils. His methods were quite unlike

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

those of Pearson and Adams. Quiet, but always
searching and thorough, he was quick to detect faults
in preparation, and he had a gift of restrained sarcasm,
with which he was accustomed to wither those who
failed to meet his severe requirements. At the same
time he delighted in any exhibition of accurate schol-
arship or of literary skill in rendering the classics into
idiomatic English. He rarely carried a book into the
classroom, but did all his instruction from memory, —

Wearing all that weight
Of learning lightly like a flower.

He never resorted to bullying or to browbeating, nor
did he administer any form of corporal punishment.
Isaac P. Langworthy, one of his pupils, has left an
excellent description of his methods : —

As a teacher, I never knew one more thorough, lucid,
patient, or inspiring. I never saw him disconcerted. He
was always self -poised, awake to every emergency; and
having full command of his varied and broad resources,
he could meet every exigency incident to his responsible
position with most admirable tact and skill. . . . When
he became Principal, he at once began the gradual eleva-
tion of the standard of scholarship, keeping it abreast, if
not in advance, of the best Academies in the country.

William H. Wells, instructor in the Teachers' Sem-
inary, was much impressed with what he heard of
Johnson : —

Mr. Osgood Johnson did not teach any after I went to
Andover, but the whole atmosphere was long fragrant
with delightful memories of his fine classical culture and
taste, and his great excellence as a teacher.

Of those who have written of the Principal, not one

223

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

mentions him except with deference and kindliness,
and nearly all refer to his "gentle, winning way." To
him the words of Holmes are aptly applied : —

A loving soul to every task he brought.
That sweetly mingled with the lore he taught.

Johnson, who was no innovator, made little change
in the daily schedule. Chapel exercises were still held
in the Brick Academy, with much the same pro-
gramme as that used by Adams. Dr. John P. Gul-
liver has given his vivid reminiscences of a morning
service about 1835: —

No sooner was that wooden foot heard in the entry than
we were all hushed. Every eye was fixed upon him with
respect as he entered. Levi Wilder at the upper end of
the room stopped tuning his violin. We rose in silence,
while Mr. Johnson pronounced a brief invocation, uni-
formly asking that our morning devotions might be per-
formed as "seeing him who is invisible." Then followed
a few verses of Scripture, so read that a hidden radiance
was made to flash out from its depths, as when a skilled
lapidary holds before you a gem, so adjusted that all its
inner light beams upon your surprised vision. Then came
the hymn; and was there ever such reading of a hymn.''
With feeble voice, but with distinct articulation and me-
lodious cadence, he would read such a hymn as, —

Oh, could I speak the matchless worth!

till the silence became oppressive, and the tears would
start in spite of us. Then Wilder would draw his bow very
gently for the final preparation, and lifting his head as high
as possible, to make up for his lack of inches, would start
the "service of song." And what singing that was! We
had just passed through a powerful revival in which nearly
every member of the two Academies had been hopefully
converted. We all sang as well as we could. Then fol-

224

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

lowed the prayer. If anybody had failed before to perceive
Mr. Johnson's wonderful elevation both spiritual and
intellectual, one of his prayers would be enough to inspire
a respect bordering on veneration. He transported us into
that unseen world, where he seemed habitually himself to
dwell.

It may be that this picture is somewhat overdrawn;
but there is other evidence also that Johnson often
lent a profound emotional significance to matters
usually treated with conventional dullness.

The most striking incident of Johnson's adminis-
tration was undoubtedly the so-called "Anti-Slavery
Rebellion," which for a time seemed likely to disrupt
the Academy. In the year 1835 the problem of negro
slavery was, thanks to the efforts of political agitators,
already a burning issue in New England. William
Lloyd Garrison had established his Liberator in Jan-
uary, 1831, and for a time he was met with sympathy
and aid from prominent clergymen. When, however,
he commenced to assail the Colonization Society,
formed by those interested in foreign missions with
the purpose of transporting American negroes to
Africa and of Christianizing the African countries,
he became unpopular with those orthodox churches
which had been contributing money and missionaries
to help the colonization plans. Several professors in
Andover Theological Seminary took a conspicuous
part in opposing abolition, and their attitude extended
to those in authority over Phillips Academy. Rules
were passed in the Seminary and the Academy for-
bidding the formation of any anti-slavery society.
The ostensible reason was that such organizations

225

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

would bring odium on the institutions, and keep away-
Southern students.

Late in 1834 Garrison brought to America George
Thompson, the brilliant English anti-slavery orator,
whom Sir Robert Peel once described as "the most
eloquent man in or out of Parliament." In the
course of a lecture tour of Massachusetts he met with
some rough treatment from hostile mobs, but suc-
ceeded also in arousing some enthusiasm for his cause.
In 1835, desirous of confronting the Seminary pro-
fessors on their own ground, he came to Andover,
and applied for permission to speak in the Seminary
Chapel and in the South Church, but was refused in
both cases. He finally found a hall in the town, and
there, despite the maledictions of Professor Stuart and
the prohibitions of Mr. Johnson, many "theologues"
and "cads" (as the academy boys were frequently
called) attended the meetings. At a five o'clock gath-
ering in Bartlet Chapel on Sunday afternoon Profes-
sor Stuart, after referring in a scathing voice to a lec-
ture announced by Thompson for that evening, said :
"I warn you, young gentlemen, I warn you on the
peril of your souls, not to go to that meeting to-night."
It is certain that these adjurations and threats did
not prevent Thompson from being greeted warmly by
a large audience whenever he chose to make an ad-
dress in Andover.

The crisis in Phillips Academy came when a stu-
dent named Sherlock Bristol, somewhat excitable and
pugnacious in temperament, disregarded the Princi-
pal's specific command and, at one of the Wednesday
afternoon speaking contests, delivered an inflamma-

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

tory harangue against slavery. The effect of his ora-
tory was sensational, and the act could not, of course,
be ignored. At the chapel exercises the following
morning, with all the students and teachers present,
Johnson arose to condemn in solemn fashion Bristol's
alleged insubordination. When he began, in slow and
measured speech, to rebuke the disobedient pupil,
the excitement was intense. Johnson finished by dis-
missing him from Phillips Academy; and then Bristol,
who had sat passive under the arraignment, arose
with much self-control and asked to be allowed to de-
fend himself. Johnson, however, his face perfectly
white with suppressed passion, ordered him to be
seated. Bristol afterwards entered Oberlin College,
and ended his days in comparative obscurity as pastor
of a small church in southern California.

On July 11, a few days later, the anti-slavery stu-
dents, indignant at the treatment accorded to Bristol,
met to form an abolitionist society, and presented a
petition to the Principal asking for his sanction.
Their demands having been refused, they gathered
on July 15 in the Academy Hall and marched in a
body to Indian Ridge, where, under the tall pines,
they opened their meeting with prayer. A terrible
thunderstorm which broke over their heads did not
dissuade them from their purpose. They made a
permanent organization with Bartholomew Wood of
Newton Centre, as President, appointed several com-
mittees, and prepared a lengthy remonstrance which
was signed by eighty-eight members. This petition
was also disregarded, and the society, convening
again on July 22, voted to present another document

227

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

asking for an "honorable dismission" from the Acad-
emy. This paper, a copy of which still exists in the
archives, was signed by fifty students. Johnson's
reply seemed to these courageous members to be in-
definite and equivocating, and a large number, ac-
cordingly, submitted written resignations and left
town. Of the forty or more who took this decisive
step, only two were minors; the others were citizens,
of voting age, a few of them nearly as old as Johnson
himself. One of them was David Thayer, afterwards
a distinguished Boston physician. When he returned
thus unexpectedly to his home in Braintree, Richard
Salter Storrs, a pro-slavery advocate, said to him,
"You ought to be made to go back and beg pardon on
your knees." His father and grandfather, however,
applauded his conduct. Of the total number of
"rebels" only two or three ever reentered the school;
the others, who were practically graduates, readily
found their way into various colleges. Several of
them, as men more than middle-aged, actually took
part in the great Civil War, of which their own little
"rebellion" was merely a prelude.

Before Johnson's administration closed, the Com-
mons dormitories so familiar to Phillips alimmi had
been built and were being occupied. This step marks
a change of policy highly significant in the history of
the school. In order to understand it clearly it is nec-
essary to return to the year 1830, when the Trustees,
at the instigation of the indefatigable 'Squire Farrar,
determined that it would be wise to allow students a
greater degree of freedom. Up to that time the boys,
even when not occupied with recitations, had been

228

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

obliged to sit with their books before them in the
Academy Hall. On June 28, 1830, the Trustees voted
that certain boys "of orderly deportment and studi-
ous habits" might be permitted to study in their own
rooms during portions of the day. This policy, with
minor modifications, has been followed consistently
ever since, and is to-day an integral part of the "An-
dover system."

Out of this resolution of 1830 grew logically a fur-
ther extension of the theory behind it. It had never
seemed advisable to the Trustees to put into opera-
tion that provision of the Constitution authorizing
them to erect a "large, decent building, sufficient to
accommodate at least fifty scholars with boarding, be-
side the master and his family " ; but several members
were now convinced that the hour had arrived for
housing as many boys as possible in school dormi-
tories. 'Squire Farrar, who was never really happy
unless some addition to the plant were being projected,
was especially eager in his advocacy of this scheme,
and, exerting his extensive authority as Treasurer,
he proceeded to take the necessary measures. By
August, 1834, under his direction, five "Academic
Halls," as they were originally called, were completed
in their location on the north side of Phillips Street,
and one more was added before the year closed. By
the autumn of 1835 the row of "Latin Commons," as
the boys of Dr. Bancroft's time knew them, were oc-
cupied by students. In 1834, also, a similar group
was begun for the Teachers' Seminary, and within
two years six "Teachers' Halls," or "English Com-
mons," were ready, placed in a line parallel to the

229

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Latin Commons, and about a quarter of a mile to
the north. The total cost of these dormitories was
$17,999.11, an average of $1500 apiece.

'Squire Farrar, who boasted of being his own archi-
tect, was a frank utilitarian, with a practical man's
contempt for beauty as an end in itself. The new
buildings thus preserved in their general outlines that
unadorned simplicity characteristic of the packing-
box. They were all framed on the same model, like a
row of tenements; clapboarded, wooden structures,
three stories high, painted a rusty yellow, with small
windows and a wide door in the middle of the street
side. The interior arrangements, however, were rea-
sonably convenient and commodious. On each floor
were two suites, composed of a study and two bed-
rooms; thus each building was fitted out well for
twelve occupants. The floors were connected by nar-
row, winding staircases, from the strategic points of
which it was easy to throw water on students coming
up. The rooms were heated by stoves, for which each
resident secured his own fuel; and the ashes, some-
times with the glowing embers clearly visible, were
usually hurled recklessly down the cellar stairs, re-
gardless of the danger of a conflagration. How the
Commons lasted for nearly seventy years with only
two destructive fires is an unsolvable mystery.
Toilet facihties were, to say the least, primitive.
Bathrooms were unknown everywhere at that period,
and the only lavatory was the Commons pump, from
which the more fastidious carried a daily supply of
water in buckets or milk cans to their bedrooms. The
furniture, never too sumptuous or plentiful, became

230

THE LATIN COMMONS, ON PHILLIPS STREET

THE ENGLISH COMMONS

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

more and more battered as it passed from one de-
structive generation to another. The Commons were
certainly far from luxurious, and the boys who lived
in them were not pampered. It must be added, how-
ever, that even the most despondent victim was un-
likely to complain of not receiving his money's worth,
for the rent of the rooms was fixed at one dollar a
term; and when, in 1856, this was raised to three
dollars, the old rate was still kept for "scholarship
boys."

The erection of the Commons involved, as we have
said, some vital changes in school government. Phil-
lips Academy had now embarked upon the policy of
housing boys under its own roofs. One immediate
result was a decided addition to the amount of per-
sonal liberty allowed to the boys. Under the scheme
in vogue in Newman's time every student, no matter
how mature, had to conform to many petty and vex-
ing regulations ; the new system, although it provided
for an instructor resident in Commons, practically
left the occupants to themselves. As a matter of fact
no teacher lived in Commons until 1847, and the
boasted supervision amounted merely to a perfunctory
inspection once a week by a callous member of the
Faculty. As the hour of this visitation was usually
known well in advance, it was not difficult for the boys
to prepare matters so that the instructor should gain
a favorable impression. Naturally the enforcement
of strict discipline outside the classroom was almost
impossible, for the Commons boys could wander out,
day or night, whenever they chose, and could stay
practically as long as they liked. They were, indeed,

231

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

as independent as if they had been in a college. This
plan of placing students on their own responsibility-
had much to recommend it, and, under the stern
necessity of caring for themselves, not a few young-
sters grew strong and self-reliant. Life in Commons,
however, was not adapted to the weak, the immature,
and the unstable.

On August 6, 1836, great crowds assembled in
Andover to watch the first locomotive on the Andover
and Wilmington Road steam down the old track,
across the foot of Philhps Street, into the station,
eight miles away from its starting-point at Wilming-
ton, where it joined the Boston and Lowell line. This
Andover and Wilmington Company, incorporated on
March 15, 1833, by a group of Andover business men
with a capital stock of $100,000, was the first link in
the system now operated by the Boston and Maine.
The coming of the railroad was to open up a new era
for Phillips Academy. Before 1836 yoimg men fre-
quently overcame almost insuperable obstacles in
trying to reach the school. William Goodell in 1811
walked sixty miles, from his home in Templeton to
Andover, carrying his trunk on his back. David
Kimball, a printer's apprentice at Concord, New
Hampshire, walked, on his twenty-first birthday in
1812, forty miles in one day to Andover Hill. In 1815
Samuel Marsh, of Danville, Vermont, "being desirous
of preaching the Gospel, left home for Andover, going
most of the way on foot, a distance of one hundred
and sixty miles." James W. McLane, of the class of
1825, afterwards a distinguished Biblical scholar,
rode to Andover from North Carolina on horseback

232

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

at the age of twenty-one. There are other similar
cases recorded, especially during the administration
of John Adams. But there were, of course, very many
who, living at an even greater distance from Andover,
hesitated to come to Phillips Academy because of the
poor transportation faciUties and the time consumed
in making the journey. For such as these the advent
of the steam train helped to solve the problem. With
the extension of railroad lines to the west and south
came an expansion for the school which, to a man of
the older generation, like 'Squire Farrar, was almost
unbelievable.

Principal Johnson, although a young man, was
never really well. A maimed club-foot made him so
lame that he could barely crawl from his home to the
Brick Academy; furthermore he had in him the seeds
of tuberculosis, which, after he had undertaken his
onerous new burdens, gradually but inevitably wore
him out. His mind, as frequently happens in such
cases, was extraordinarily keen and vigorous, but his
will could not drive his wasted body to its work. Yet
even with his infirmities he was a wonderfully impres-
sive figure. Dr. Gulliver's description of him will
bear repetition: —

I first saw Johnson while, slowly and limpingly, he was
making his way from the door of the old Brick Academy
down to his chaise. His pallid face, surmounted by a dome-
like brow, with his large spectacles and a peculiar spiritual
expression, gave me the impression, to a degree I never
got from any other man, that what I saw was not the man,
but that his real self was out of sight, behind those glasses,
and that white, placid face, and that great coat and muf-
fler which he wore. He had a club-foot also, which struck

233

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the sidewalk with a thud at every step, and alternately
raised and depressed his form as he walked. The tout
ensemble made a great impression on my boyish imagina-
tion. His infirmities added to his dignity, and the whole
effect of his appearance was to inspire the idea that some
supernatural being had been born lame, like Vulcan, and
unjustly cast down from Olympus.

As he grew more feeble, he was compelled to re-
linquish much of his classroom duty. His students,
however, felt that they could not give him up. Some
of them would come each day to lift him from his
house to his carriage, and others supported him to his
seat in the recitation hall. Early in 1837 the strain
became too great, and he was forced to keep to his
bed. For a few months William Augustus Peabody^
(1816-50), then a theological student, took charge of
the Academy, evidently with much success. Johnson
unfortunately did not rally from the attack, but be-
came gradually weaker, and on April 17, 1837, he
sent in his resignation to the Trustees. One of the
last acts which he performed was to send fifty doUars
to the Foreign Missionary Society without a signa-
ture. He died May 9, 1837, and was buried in the
Chapel Cemetery, where a monument, erected at the
expense of his students, bears a commemorative in-
scription composed by Professor James L. Kingsley,
of Yale College. He left behind him much writing in
prose and verse, all of which, at his request, was
burned by his wife.

1 Mr. Peabody, who graduated from Amherst in 1835, retm-ned to
that college in 1838 as a tutor. He was ordained March 2, 1843, was
pastor at East Randolph from 1843 to 1849, and had barely taken a
place as Professor of Latin and Modern Languages at Amherst when
he died, February 27, 1850.

234

A SCHOLAR-POET: OSGOOD JOHNSON

During her husband's prolonged illness Mrs. John-
son was his faithful nurse. After his death she con-
tinued to occupy the Samaritan House, being given
her rent as compensation for her services in acting as
matron and caring for invahd students. She also took
boys as bparders, and, through this and other ways
of earning money, managed to bring up her five
children. Of her three sons, one died in boyhood;
another, Osgood, became principal of the Cambridge
High School; and the third, Alfred, was killed while
gallantly leading a charge at Missionary Ridge in
1863. Mrs. Johnson, according to her contemporaries,
was "an extraordinary woman, gifted with splendid
health, with rare practical wisdom and efficiency."

The Trustees felt at the time that Johnson's loss
was almost irreparable. The letters of all those,
teachers and pupils, who have written of him strike
but one note — that of eulogy. Dr. Barrows, speak-
ing in 1875, when Johnson had been dead nearly fifty
years, said : —

I have never met the man, I have never read of the
man, who taught Pagan literature with so much of the
Christian head and the Christian heart. I venerate his
memory. As his strength went and his days in the class-
room were shorter, and his voice feebler, there was a tone,
there was a power to that reading of the Scriptures, those
remarks, those prayers, that private conference. The pupils
who were under his charge will never forget the man in
that respect.

He is, in fact, the only one of the Principals of Phil-
lips Academy of whom no one has said a word of con-
demnation or criticism. No doubt if he had lived

235

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

longer, the general opinion of him might have been
modified, for he would have been compelled to face
problems the solution of which could not have satis-
fied everybody. His administration was so short that
he had no opportunity to eflFect changes of any im-
portance in the school, but he left behind him a
scholarly tradition which will not be altogether for-
gotten.

CHAPTER Xni

THE EEIGN OF " UNCLE SAm" TAYLOR
A man severe lie was, and stern to view.

Whoever undertakes to discuss the life and char-
acter of Samuel Harvey Taylor in critical fashion,
with an eye to his faults as well as to his virtues, still,
over forty years after his dramatic death in the Acad-
emy hall, incurs the risk of being assailed on all sides.
Macaulay once said in a letter: "A stranger who
writes a description of a person whom hundreds still
living knew intimately is almost certain to make
mistakes; and even if he makes no absolute mistake,
his portrait is not likely to be thought a striking re-
semblance by those who knew the original." This
danger is all the greater in a case where there are
many varying opinions, where the hero excited strong
admiration and aroused lasting animosities. With the
Phillips boys of Dr. Taylor's day there was no middle
ground: either they revered and obeyed him as a per-
sonality almost superhuman, or they disliked and
obeyed him as an unmitigated despot. Every student
had some decided attitude towards him, and he was
an unfailing topic of conversation in every home on
Andover Hill. That this interest and this diversity
of feeling have not disappeared is soon discovered by
those who have talked with Dr. Taylor's pupils. One
fact is indisputable. Dr. Taylor was a strong man,
a natural leader. "All vague, uncertain, visionary,
and vacillating conditions were far removed from his

237

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

mind," wrote one of his students, the poet, John
Albee. A feeble or indecisive master could never
have been so much execrated and so much admired.

For nearly thirty-four years, from 1837 until 1871,
Dr. Taylor ruled in Phillips Academy. His mere
word was law; his position was that of a sovereign
whose power is unimpeachable. Parents in those days
spoke of sending their sons, not to Andover, but to
Dr. Taylor. The Trustees deferred to his will. "If I
have ever seen anywhere any semblance of despotism
and absolute monarchy," once said Dr. Alexander
McKenzie, "it was Phillips Academy under Dr.
Taylor." He left his stamp so enduringly upon his
pupils that at Commencement time, when alumni
begin their reminiscences, his spirit still seems to
walk abroad upon the earth. Such a man cannot be
treated lightly, or dismissed with a few casual para-
graphs of approbation or censure. For good or for
evil he moulded Phillips Academy according to his
will. Because of this fact, his aims, his methods, and
his achievements need careful consideration, and
judgment should not be passed without evidence
which is both weighty and accurate.

He was not always the stern figure of alumni tradi-
tion, "I remember well," said Dr. Gulliver, "when
Samuel H. Taylor first appeared in our recitation
room, blushing like a girl, and conducting his class in
an apologetic, deferential manner, which stands now
in an almost ludicrous contrast with his well-known
decision and promptness." The boys had then to be
very careful not to frighten him by an abrupt ques-
tion. At this date, however, the future autocrat may

SAMUEL HARVF.Y TAYLOR

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

well have been somewhat timid, for he was young, in-
experienced, and in a subordinate position. He was
born on October 3, 1807, in Londonderry, New Hamp-
shire, of Scotch-Irish parentage, his father being
Captain James Taylor. The boy was named Samuel
Harvey, after the famous hero of the siege of London-
derry, Ireland, described so vividly in the pages of
Macaulay's History. Like many another country lad
he had no small share in the management of his fa-
ther's farm; but a sudden fall from a wagon, which
diminished his powers of physical endurance and com-
pelled him to abandon heavy outdoor work, decided
his destiny, and led him to turn his attention to books.
He studied with comprehension and persistence at
Pinkerton Academy, and prepared himself for Dart-
mouth, where he graduated in 1832 with high honors,
despite the handicap of being obliged to spend part
of each winter teaching in district schools. With his
eye fixed on the ministry, he went direct from Dart-
mouth to Andover Theological Seminary. It was
at this period that Osgood Johnson, who had heard
Taylor highly recommended by some Dartmouth
professors, urged the latter to become an assistant in
Phillips Academy, and finally induced him to remain
with him a year. At the end of that time Taylor
declined to continue in that position, although his
classes held a mass-meeting and passed a unanimous
vote requesting him not to leave. He then returned
to Dartmouth as a tutor, but did not give up his con-
nection with the Seminary, from which he gradu-
ated in the class of 1837. Johnson, before his death,
had suggested Taylor to the Trustees as his successor;

239

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

and on July 25, 1837, the latter accepted the proposals
made to him. He regarded the ofifer of $1000 and a
house as altogether too tempting, especially as he was
about to be married. On December 8, 1837, his wed-
ding took place, and he brought his bride, Caroline
Persis Parker, to Andover, where they commenced
housekeeping in the south half of the Double Brick
House. In 1838, when his probationary year was
over, Taylor was voted a permanent appointment as
Principal.

More than any other Principal before his day,
Taylor was burdened with a multiplicity of responsi-
bilities. In one of the earliest of the annual reports
which he submitted to the Trustees he said, without
any complaint: —

My time has been almost exclusively employed in the
discharge of my duties in the Academy. I have spent
between four and five hours of each day in the schoolroom.
I have conducted the morning devotions, at which one-
half hour is spent, and most of those in the evening. In
addition to giving instruction to my regular classes, I have
attended from time to time the recitations of the other
classes, and have frequently heard these classes at my
recitation room. This course has been taken that I
might become better acquainted with the progress which
each student was making in his studies. The examina-
tion of the different classes from time to time has given
me an opportunity to point out to individuals in private
any faults that might need correcting, as well as to apply
the spur when it seemed to be necessary. Such a course
requires much time, but I think it is attended with the
happiest results.

Unaided by any clerks he carried on the necessary

240

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

correspondence with parents and with prospective
candidates for admission. Matters of discipline were
constantly coming up for decision, and it was his busi-
ness to warn and punish each offender. But his main
work was that of a teacher, indeed the chief teacher
in the school. During the year 1842-43, for instance,
he gave instruction in Cicero, Virgil, Sallust, Xeno-
phon's Anabasis, Homer's Iliad, ancient geography,
and ancient history.

As the prestige of Phillips Academy increased under
his able direction, the attendance grew correspond-
ingly. The absorption of the Teachers' Seminary in
1842 more than doubled the student body. The three
hundred mark was passed in 1845, and the enrollment
continued to grow steadily larger until 1855, when it
reached a maximum of three hundred and ninety-six,
a total not surpassed until 1892. For the instruction of
a school of this size the number of teachers engaged
was never adequate. In 1855, for example, five men
were in charge of the three hundred and ninety-six
scholars, an average of seventy-nine boys to each
master. Even in 1870, after Dr. Taylor had been
making a strenuous campaign for reform, there were
only seven instructors in a school of two hundred and
fifty-six students. The pressure on the Principal was
made more onerous by the general incompetence of
his assistants. The Trustees, hampered at every turn
by the lack of a proper endowment, were unable to
pay reasonable salaries, with the inevitable result that
they often found it very difiScult to secure satisfac-
tory teachers for the subordinate positions.

It is a tribute to Dr. Taylor's genius that Phillips

241

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Academy, in spite of the embarrassing situations aris-
ing from the overcrowding of its boys, continued to
gain in numbers and steadily broadened its constitu-
ency. The tendency is best illustrated by statistics
drawn from three typical years. In 1837 there were
120 students, of whom 56, or about 47 per cent, were
from States outside of Massachusetts, and 18, or 15
per cent, were from outside New England. In 1855
there were 396 enrolled, of whom 169, or about 43
per cent, were from other States than Massachu-
setts, and 75, or nearly 19 per cent, were from other
districts than New England. By 1871 the propor-
tion had changed: of the 228 boys registered, 155,
or about 68 per cent, were from beyond the boimda-
ries of Massachusetts, and 123, or over 53 per cent,
were from outside the New England States. Phillips
Academy, in other words, had grown imder Samuel
H. Taylor to be a great American school, reaching
into the Far West and South, and even to foreign
countries, for its scholars. One cause of this was, as
we have already seen, the improvement in transporta-
tion and communication. People learned of its system
of organization, of the opportunities which it offered
for poor boys to work for an education, and of its high
moral tone. But they heard also of Dr. Taylor's repu-
tation as a teacher of the classics, and of his success
in keeping even the most vicious boys under control.
The expansion of Phillips Academy could never have
taken place if he had not been able to inspire public
confidence in himself and his methods.

The new Principal was neither an innovator nor a
reformer. Early in his career, it is true, he did effect

242

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

some modifications in the course of study. For three
years he labored until, in 1841, he had divided the
school into three separate classes : Senior, Middle, and
Junior. He then published for the first time in the
catalogue a programme for a three years' course, of
which it is suflicient here to say that it still contained
almost nothing but Latin, Greek, and mathematics.
When once this curriculum had been prepared, Dr.
Taylor remained indifferent to progressive tenden-
cies in education, until his indifference left him peril-
ously near stagnation. His scheme, at a time when
important changes were everywhere being made in
college and school curricula, was practically unaltered
until the great revision undertaken by Dr. Bancroft.
' Somewhat obstinately. Dr. Taylor chose to ignore
the revised demands of the colleges. He preferred to
pursue his own independent path, regardless of the
entrance examinations of higher institutions. As a
result Phillips Academy went comfortably on its way,
gradually, but quite unconsciously, getting more and
more out of touch with the spirit of the age. The
Principal was, moreover, a man of decided, and often
ungrounded, prejudices. One of these, which grew
upon him especially in his later years, was an undis-
guised dislike for Harvard College, which led him to
use his influence in preventing Andover graduates
from going to Cambridge and which kept him from
modifying his curriculum in order to meet the Harvard
requirements. His attitude was occasioned by several
motives, one of the chief of which was the fact that
Harvard in that period was a Unitarian college.
One alumnus writes: —

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

There was a deeply rutted road to Yale, and it was the
only road in sight. There was no record of any one ever
graduating from Andover and going to Yale with "Uncle
Sam's" recommendation who failed to get in. In 1867
Andover did not prepare for Harvard; in Latin and Greek
she offered only about half the amount required for that
college.

Thus it was that the institution founded and fostered
by Harvard men came at last to be known as a Yale
"feeder."

The testimony of the men who sat under "Uncle
Sam " proves that, within certain definite limitations,
he was a teacher of real genius. He devoted himself
almost entirely to the Senior class, his work being
mainly in Latin and Greek. It was his custom to hold
two recitations a day : one immediately after morning
prayers, the other at 3.15 in the afternoon, evening
prayers being held at 4.30. It was a peculiarity of his
to spend one week on nothing but Greek, and the
next on nothing but Latin. At the end of the term
each scholar was asked to grade his division, putting
himself at the bottom of the list, and the decision of
the majority was usually accepted as a fair rating, un-
less, as sometimes happened, a conspiracy was formed
to vote a dunce into the highest place. All examina-
tions were oral, and the final test of the year was held
in the presence of a committee of the Trustees.

Dr. Taylor's uniform method in the classroom was
to select his victims by means of cards, arranged in
haphazard order. After the slips had been slowly
shuflfled and the fatal name drawn, his gruff, stentorian
voice, in a tone curiously prolonged, would ring out,

244

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

"Allen! Grammar!" and the pupil would step out be-
fore the class to recite, hke a lecturer in a hall. " Uncle
Sam" always began with a review of the previous
day's work, upon which he demanded absolute and
jfluent accuracy; indeed, it was not unusual for him to
ask a boy to recite from memory an entire "grammar
lesson," keeping him on his feet sometimes for half
an hour and bewildering him with a running fire of
questions. It was not his policy to waste praise or
commendation, but his delight when a scholar did
exceptionally well was often manifested in a smile of
approval. When the review was completed, advance
lessons were taken up; in these the Principal was far
more lenient, and he was ready to give full explana-
tions of difficult constructions.

His emphasis was particularly upon exactitude and
definiteness. His advice to young teachers was,
"Always make special preparation for each day's
lessons. I have taught Virgil for thirty years, but I
have looked over every lesson invariably before going
to class." He wished to do all thoroughly, and, with
this in mind, refused to accept slovenly thinking or
careless translation. The first task which he assigned
in the Iliad was only seven lines long, but his minute
elucidations were such that new students were given
an insight into proper methods of work. President
Charles F. Thwing writes of Dr. Taylor's system: —

A translation had to be right. I still recall a certain
phrase in the Anabasis which had to be rendered "how
the battle eventuated." He knew the value of words, and
he tried to teach us, ignorant, careless youths, such a
truth, linguistic and aesthetic.

245

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Passages such as this were handed down year after
year by tradition, and greeted as veritable friends by
each succeeding class. A story told by another gradu-
ate offers an interesting illustration of his procedure:

One day, on a review in the Mneid, the line "Forsan
et hsec olim meminisse juvabit" was translated with a
slight mistake, et being translated and instead of also.^
"Uncle Sam" roused up at once. "SuflBcient, the next."
The next did no better. Down went man after man on
the instant. Meanwhile Dr. Taylor grew more and more
wrathful. His face became red and swollen; his eyes
flashed with pent-up indignation. More than half the
class had fallen, and my turn was near. I knew what the
trouble was, but I became excited and lost my head a
little. The best scholars had gone down, and it seemed as
if Dr. Taylor was about to rise from his chair. My time
came, and I began unconsciously with that fatal and.
"Sufficient," he shouted. It was the first time that I had
ever been floored in that way, and I resented it. "Et means
also" I exclaimed indignantly, for he had not allowed me
to finish the sentence. "Sit down," he roared like a bull
of Bashan. But my words had drawn the lightning, and in
a moment the sunshine came. He paused until the room
was still as the grave, then deliberately translated the line,
emphasizing the also, and told the next man to proceed.
As the diplomatists say, "the incident closed."

Instances of an even harsher treatment of those
who failed to meet his precise demands are familiar
to every alumnus of that day. A youngster named
George Blodget, writing October 5, 1850, after he
had been in Phillips Academy a week, said : —

If a fellow is late a minute, or absent, he is marked and
reported. If he loses his place and cannot tell where to
begin to read, or what word they are talking about, he is
marked as an entire failure.

246

THE REIGN OF " UNCLE SAM " TAYLOR

Dr. Taylor once said, "My saddest task is to deal
with men who attend to generalizations and neglect
details." In some respects, probably, he went to the
other extreme. Many have pointed out that he over-
emphasized enclitics and paradigms, missing the
literary quality in the analysis of technical triviali-
ties. It is true that he did have a gift of illuminating
obscure lines with quotations from the English poets,
especially Milton; but he was more at home with
cases and tense forms. His efforts to stimulate poetic
appreciation were only intermittent. Nor did he en-
courage general reading outside the classroom. The
school library in his day was small, inadequate, and
hard to utilize. i

An inevitable consequence of Dr. Taylor's system
was that timid or easily frightened pupils were often
unable to do themselves justice. One such student
thus describes his sensations: — I

I was not at all adapted to his teaching. I was probably
the most bashful boy that ever succeeded in living. Dr.
Taylor's teaching was entirely oral — always on the stage
— and whenever he would roar my name, and I would
jump up before him and the class on the high platform,
I was always so scared that I hardly knew what I was
saying, and my book trembled so that I had to put my fore-
finger on the place in order to see the text at all. As soon as
I got to Harvard with its written examinations, and where
the instructors in the Freshman year were mostly young
men who did not sit on a towering platform and who did
not roar at me, I did infinitely better than I could do at
Andover.

The fact seems to be that sturdy, independent na-
tures flourished under the Principal's none too tender

247

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

usage; clever boys, too, could often anticipate his pet
questions, by consulting some annotated edition of
the year before; but sensitive, shrinking students went
before him with trembling and never felt at ease.
Now and then a brilliant scholar like Franklin Carter,
afterwards President of Williams College, or a mature
and conscientious student like William A. Mowry,
later a well-known educator, won his respect and was
treated nearly on terms of equality; but men such as
these were the exception. The situation has been well
put by John Albee: —

Under Dr. Taylor's powerful discipline, it is true the
weak sank down at once, the mediocre struggled bravely
awhile; the few maintained the unequal fight, until, like the
Indian's slaughtered foe, his strength passed into theirs.

The system was also defective in that it placed too
much stress on mere memory work. Many doubtless
recall George Sorrow's description in Lavengro of his
early training in Lilly's Latin Grammar : —

At the end of three years I had the whole by heart; you
had only to repeat the first two or three words of any sen-
tence in any part of the book, and forthwith I would open
cry, commencing without blundering and hesitation, and
continue until you were glad to have me leave off, with
many expressions of admiration at my proficiency in the
Latin language.

Many of Dr. Taylor's boys undoubtedly had much
this same kind of ability, thanks to the untiring
drill of their master. Furthermore it is said that he
allowed too little freedom to the individual minds of
those who were under him. They moved always in
shackles, and their wills were bent to his. Dr. Taylor

248

THE REIGN OF !' UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

was the product of an age which, to quote Herbert
Spencer, "unavoidably cherished the notion that a
child's mind could be made to order; that its powers
were to be imparted by the schoolmaster; that it was
a receptacle into which knowledge was to be put, and
there built up after the teacher's ideal." The unus-
ual or eccentric boy had no rank in the Principal's
scheme of things.

After all, however, even present-day theories of
pedagogy are not impeccable, and Dr. Taylor, with
all his roughness and intolerance, did accomplish one
desirable end — he made an impression upon his
boys. He convinced them of the value of thorough
scholarship, and demonstrated the dignity of honest
labor. At times, in divisions where earnest and willing
students predominated, he created extraordinary en-
thusiasm. Professor Edwards A. Park once said: —

The scene in his recitation room reminded one of a tor-
rent rushing onward to the sea; one wave not waiting for
another, but every wave hastening forward as if instinct
with life.

President Thwing points out that Dr. Taylor de-
veloped self-reliance: —

The general mood or atmosphere of the school in pur-
suing this course was work. There were no easy steps, no
easy lessons, no first aid to the injured. In fact there was
no aid of any kind, and no one was supposed to be injured,
so strong was he to be and to bear. The boy who used a
translation was tabooed by fellow students, as well as by
teachers. One learned his lessons day by day, almost hour
by hour, and learned them thoroughly.

249

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY,

The students were taught to give nothing but their
best, and some of them never forgot the instruction.

Although Dr. Taylor knew his classics well, he was
not widely versed in other fields, chiefly, however, be-
cause he had no leisure in which to gratify his tastes.
In his devotion to Latin and Greek, and his belief in
them as the best basis for an education, he yielded to
none of his contemporaries. Said Professor Park: —

He was conscientious in the belief that classical learning
is important for the welfare of our republic. ... He there-
fore believed that he was discharging the duties of a good
citizen and patriot, when he was holding up a high stand-
ard of classical learning.

More than one textbook appeared in exempUfication
of his theories. In 1843 he published a Guide for Writ-
ing Latin, translated from the German of John Phillip
Krebs. A year later, in collaboration with Professor
Bela B. Edwards, of the Seminary, he produced a
Grammar oj the Greek Language, based on the famous
manual of Dr. Raphael Kuhner. Taylor's Elementary
Greek Grammar, compiled from another of Ktihner's
handbooks, appeared in 1846, and ran into over
twenty editions. The Honorable W. W. Crapo re-
members that, in 1845, proof-sheets of this volume
were used in class as fast as they came from the press.
Methods of Classical Study, including a series of char-
acteristic questions on Latin and Greek texts, was
published in 1861 ; and in 1870 appeared his last book.
Classical Study; Its Value Illustrated by Extracts from
the Writings of Eminent Scholars, with an introduc-
tion in defense of the study of the ancient languages.
In these volumes he expressed and amplified the prin-

250

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

ciples which he emphasized in his classroom. Models
of minute and scrupulous accuracy, they show inten-
sity of analysis but little breadth of vision, and thus
confirm the judgment formed of their author by a
keen critic of his system : —

Dr. Taylor had a thorough, heartfelt, unaffected belief
in the efficacy of classical literature as the great educating
force, with a partial failure to understand the developing
power of other studies.

Aside from these books. Dr. Taylor delivered sev-
eral addresses on educational subjects. Of these the
most important was a lecture in 1865 before the
American Institute of Instruction, on The Method of
Teaching Latin to Beginners. This treatise was later
published in pamphlet form.

Dr. Taylor, like Principal Adams, had a vital in-
terest in the morals of Phillips Academy, and made
faithful attempts to convert the boys. His reports
devote much space to these matters. In 1847, for
instance, he writes : —

During the winter term there was much more than the
usual earnestness on the subject of religion ; I have rarely
witnessed a more happy state of feeling among the pro-
fessors of religion, and it is with devout gratitude that we
hope that eight or ten were savingly converted.

In 1852 he calls the attention of the Trustees to one
of those outbursts of religious enthusiasm so common
in that period : —

In the early part of the autumn term, while Dr. Lyman
Beecher was preaching in the Chapel, the school was
visited by a very powerful revival, which resulted in the
hopeful conversion of more than fifty of the members of the

f51

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

school. The work was of greater power than any I have
been familiar with in any literary institution.
These "revivals," especially those conducted by Dr.
Beecher, were received with the utmost seriousness.
Even as late as 1870 the Principal writes: —

During the latter part of winter, and the early part of
the summer term, there was much more than the usual
religious interest in the school, and twelve or fifteen are
thought to have been converted.

An alumnus of the class of 1856 says in response to a
question: —

In those days the Academy was noted for its religious
interests and powerful revivals. The students labored for
such results, and experienced them. On Sunday evenings
each class held its separate prayer-meeting, and besides
these there was a general prayer-meeting each week for
all the students.

Religious services were held very often. In addi-
tion to the regular daily prayers in the morning and
afternoon, there was compulsory Biblical instruction
every Sunday morning before church. The boys were
divided into groups and assigned to the various recita-
tion rooms, where students from the Seminary acted
as teachers. The "cads" were also obliged to attend
church services in the Seminary Chapel, where they
were assigned the rear seats. "Uncle Sam" sat be-
hind them on a platform suflBciently high for him to
get a clear view of the entire body. Many of the stu-
dents complained of the wearisome nature of the exer-
cises, which, conducted largely by the Seminary pro-
fessors and intended primarily for the "theologues,"
were often replete with doctrine and dogma hardly

252

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

comprehensible to boys of sixteen and eighteen. One
compensation, however, was Professor Park's Judas
and Peter sermons, which he delivered frequently, to
the intense delight of the Hill.

Some enthusiastic boys taught in the Sunday
Schools of the mill villages in the vicinity. Bishop
Leonard, of Ohio, remembers escorting Elizabeth
Stuart Phelps to such a meeting every Sunday after-
noon and assisting in the instruction. All such activi-
ties among members of the Academy were sure of be-
ing sanctioned by Dr. Taylor. Despite some evidence
to the contrary, it seems clear that the moral atmos-
phere of the school during these years was beneficial
and wholesome. Students were ashamed to lead any-
thing but clean lives. The presence of Andover Theo-
logical Seminary, then at the height of its influence,
did, perhaps, morbidly affect a few pious boys; some
of these, in their zeal to make converts, did at times
overshoot the mark; but, everything considered, it
must be admitted that Phillips Academy was justly
praised for the effect which it produced upon young
men who had been formerly unruly or irreligious.

"Uncle Sam," moreover, was noted far and wide
for his methods of discipline. As no Faculty meetings
for the discussion of school problems were ever held,
he settled every difficulty which arose in his own auto-
cratic manner, usually without consulting any of his
colleagues. It was his custom after morning prayers
were over to deliver short philippics against cards,
smoking, novels, dancing, and even the desultory
reading of good literature, or any other relaxation
which, he thought, tended to enervate minds occupied

253

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

with the severities of Latin and Greek. "Notice these
points, young men; weigh them well," he would say-
in his deep, sonorous voice, as he expatiated on some
moral precept. He would then draw from his vest-
pocket a slip of paper, saying, as he read from it, the
ominous words, "The following individuals are re-
quested to remain." The innocent majority then
filed out to recitations, leaving behind the unhappy
"individuals" to await disconsolately their private
interview with "Uncle Sam."

That conference was not likely to be a pleasant
occasion. It has been maintained by some of those
who knew him best that Dr. Taylor was really a shy
and shrinking person, who, in order to conceal his
timidity, resorted to bullying. It is said that he never,
either in his own ofBce or before an audience, looked
anybody directly in the face; his eyes shifted con-
tinually behind his gold-bowed spectacles, and he ap-
peared to be talking either to the floor or to the wall.
His voice, under some circumstances, could be gruff
and harsh, and his stalwart figure added impressive-
ness to his rebuke. Believing in the doctrine of "total
depravity" as applied to boys, he usually tried to
overawe the culprit and, by means of a variation of
what police now call the "third degree," he attempted
to induce him to confess. Corporal punishment, al-
though sometimes employed, was used but rarely,
the mere threat of suspension or expulsion being dire
enough to be effectual. In his aim of inspiring terror
he was seldom unsuccessful, and students were al-
ways in fear of his reprimand. In some conspicuous
cases, unfortunately, his judgment was at fault.

254

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

Bashful and unoffending youngsters were often fright-
ened nearly out of their senses by being called up un-
expectedly and warned that, if their conduct did not
improve, they must expect a severe penalty. "Sensi-
tive boys," said Professor Churchill, one of his friends,
"were sometimes unnecessarily wounded by his in-
tense expressions concerning comparatively small
transgressions." Another critic writes: —

Dr. Taylor was austere and forbidding, and the principle
upon which he worked was to esteem every boy guilty,
until he could prove himself innocent. This was made evi-
dent from the fact that he would directly accuse innocent
lads of practicing even criminal acts of which they were
entirely guiltless. It was certainly browbeating, and terri-
fying to a boy just entering his 'teens to be arbitrarily and
summarily disposed of by a man of such tremendous powers
as Dr. Taylor.

It was part of the Principal's nature that he should
hate levity, even of the most harmless kind. He once
summoned to his room a fourteen-year-old boy, a
studious and quiet lad, and growled at him, "Robin-
son, you're on the direct road to hell." The boy,
naturally white with fear, begged to know his oflFense,
and "Uncle Sam" finally said, "You're reading too
many novels." The young fellow had not seen a
novel since he had come to Andover Hill, and pro-
tested vigorously against the false accusation; but
Dr. Taylor, unwilling to retract, sent him away with
a sharp admonition. This case reveals one of the
Principal's weaknesses — his lack of a sense of propor-
tion. He rarely took the trouble to distinguish be-
tween grave and trivial errors in conduct. It was his

255

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

simple doctrine that boys should be taught to obey,
no matter what the order might be.

Dr. Taylor was easily goaded to rage by any signs
of opposition, and was relentless towards those who
showed themselves proud and high-spirited. On the
other hand, if a culprit manifested signs of penitence,
the Principal was quick enough to forgive. Like Dr.
Pearson, he was obstinate, and would never admit
himself to be in the wrong, even when the facts were
clearly against him. An interesting example of this is
told by Mr. Albert Warren, of the class of 1863: —

We had in our class a member by the name of F. K.
Smyth. Some of the family had been at the institution
before, and they pronounced their name with a long y.
After some weeks in our Senior year," Uncle Sam," prob-
ably thoughtlessly, called upon Smyth to recite, and
called his name Smith. We had no Smith in the class; so
there could be no doubt whom "Uncle Sam" meant.
Smyth did not rise, and "Uncle Sam," instead of admit-
ting the error and calling him by his proper name, per-
sisted in calling him Smith — but Smyth paid no at-
tention to the call. Finally "Uncle Sam" said, — "Smith
will leave the room!" — which Smyth inconsistently did.
Afterwards he and "Uncle Sam" had it out: Smyth m-
sisted that "Uncle Sam" knew his name, and refused to
answer to any name but his own. Things looked bad for
a while, and we did not know but that Smyth would be
obliged to leave the Academy for disobedience. ,

The boys felt, and apparently not without reason,
that he used dubious methods in order to ascertain
what was going on among their number. The stories
told of his ubiquity are little short of marvelous. Dr.
Alexander McKenzie, in speaking on this subject,
once said : —

256

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

There was nothing he did not know. There was no wall
so silent, there was no bedroom so secret, there was no
midnight so dark, there were no recesses of the mind so
obscure, that the thought of any boy was not known to
him; and oftentimes when we came up in the innocence of
an artless life, supposing that we had walked alone, there
came that momentous sentence after morning prayers,
when every boy awaited the words that should come next,
— "The following individuals are requested to remain.'-'

It is said that he often lay hidden behind trees or in
dark corners, hoping to detect some misdemeanor.
Professor John L. Taylor, Treasurer of the Academy,
who knew Dr. Taylor intimately, stated without re-
serve that the latter employed student spies, who were
paid for making reports to him. " Dr. Taylor prowled
around nights to catch mischief-makers," says the
Honorable Charles Sumner Bird. In partial justifica-
tion of such methods it may be urged that the school
was so large and the corps of teachers so small that
the students could not be properly supervised, and
that, consequently, no more legitimate way could be
found of hunting down serious vices. It is a fact, also,
that, after Dr. Taylor's reputation was established,
many unruly and refractory boys were sent to him, as
if his measures of discipline were a last resort. The
result of thus allowing the school to take on some of
the features of a reformatory was not always satis-
factory; yet, everything considered, "Uncle Sam"
was remarkably successful in taming even the most
unmanageable of students. To do this he had to out-
wit the boys, his natural antagonists; and to outwit
them he resorted, not only to cross-examination, but
also to espionage.

257

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

It would be unfair to leave the impression that Dr.
Taylor was universally disliked. He won the strong
affection of many of his students. One of these writes
of him : —

I never saw in any mind such a sympathy with the
right intentions of others, whether these intentions were
struggling against obtuseness, early disadvantages, or the
pressure of poverty.

Another characterizes the Principal as "the most
generous and helpful of men." Dr. William A. Mowry,
in his entertaining volume The Reminiscences o/ a
New England Educator, speaks emphatically of the
wholesome moral influence which Dr. Taylor exerted
on those who came to know him intimately. Unfortu-
nately only a few — and these generally mature,
scholarly, and religious young men — met with this
kind of consideration from Dr. Taylor; with students
of this exceptional type, who could meet him as man
to man, he was often a favorite. It is also true that to
alumni on their return to their old school he was usu-
ally effusively gracious, as if his sternness were merely
a pose intended to awe and subdue the undergradu-
ates. It must be added, too, that some of the more
violent expressions of dislike of "Uncle Sam" and
his methods emanate from unruly boys who richly
deserved their punishment. But it is difficult to ex-
plain away the emotions of many refined and highly
intelligent men who have never been able to forget
that he accused them unjustly, wounded their feelings,
and checked their natural sympathies. It is also im-
possible to deny the fact that many of his ablest stu-
dents, men who have won their way to high positions,

258

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

look back with a kind of horror to certain episodes
connected with "Uncle Sam" and PhiUips Academy.
A distinguished college President, in his final estimate
of Dr. Taylor, says: — ■

The further I move away from the years of "Uncle
Sam," the more heartily do I appreciate the worth of his
teaching, and also with an equal heartiness do I have an
increasing detestation of the methods he used as Principal
in the formation of young manhood among us boys. It
may be well for some boys to be kept in terror, but I am
sure that, as a method of permanent academic government,
it is not good for either growing souls or growing bodies.

During his entire administration Dr. Taylor occu-
pied half of the Double Brick House on Main Street.
His wife, a quiet lady, was beloved, but took a share
only rarely in the social life of the town. His three
sons^ did not inherit the ability of their father. The
Principal himself, although he did not have the wide
variety of interests possessed by either Dr. Pearson
or Dr. Bancroft, found time for some other pursuits.
It is strange that he took very little part in town af-
fairs, even during the critical period of the war. He
was an active member of the Oriental Society, Presi-
dent of the Board of Trustees of Pinkerton Academy,

' The eldest son, James, engaged in business in Vermont, where he
died in 1895; the second, George Harvey (1840-81), went to Harvard
and Dartmouth, studied law, and served as lieutenant in the Northern
army. In 1867 he left his law practice in Boston in order to become an
instructor in Phillips Academy, where he remained until 1875. In 1877
he accepted a position as Head of Kinderhook Academy in New York
State, and in 1880 he moved to Amsterdam Academy, where he was
Principal at the time of his death, June 19, 1881. The third son, Arthur
Fairbanks, the most brilliant of the children, secured a doctorate at
Goettingen, became a teacher, and died June 28, 1883, at the age of
thirty.

259

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Adams
Female Seminary in Derry, New Hampshire. In 1851
he edited a History of Londonderry written by his
father-in-law, the Reverend Edward L. Parker, pre-
facing it with an excellent memoir of the author. In
1854, through the influence of his friend. President
Wayland, he was honored by Brown University with
the degree of Doctor of Laws. On March 8, 1856, he
started on a foreign tour, with leave of absence from
the Trustees; in the course of this trip he visited
France, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, Italy, Germany,
and England, returning to America in time for the
opening of the Academy in the autumn. He was fre-
quently invited to lecture on his experiences in the
Holy Land.

In personal appearance Dr. Taylor was short and
stocky, and, in his later years, decidedly corpulent.
On his return from Europe all the students were at
the station to meet him; just as the train came to a
full stop, a shrill voice cried out, "Here he comes. I
saw the end of the car go down." As luck would have
it, "Uncle Sam" within a second or two stepped out
of that very car, and was greeted unexpectedly with
yells of delighted laughter. Being somewhat tor-
mented with gout, he usually walked with a slight
limp, and, when the attacks came on, he was likely
to be even more irritable than he was normally. He
wore gold-bowed spectacles, behind which his steel-
blue eyes constantly shifted. His voice was low and
resonant, but, when he grew excited, it rose in pitch
and possessed great carrying power. His portrait in
Brechin Hall, considered to be an excellent likeness,

260

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM " TAYLOR

represents him as he must have seemed in his prime:
firm, stern, self-confident, and domineering.

Many are the anecdotes told of Dr. Taylor's career
as lawgiver and judge in Phillips Academy. The
Honorable Nathaniel Niles once, at an alumni gath-
ering, related the following story : —

One Saturday evening, near the close of the term, I made
a brief strike against my lessons and in favor of more so-
ciety and a drive to Ballardvale with one of Andover's
fairest daughters. That strike made me trouble. Monday
morning, after prayers. Dr. Taylor named an arbitration
committee to settle our differences upstairs. He was the
committee. It took us one minute to agree upon his settle-
ment, and, like Moses on the Mount, I descended amid
thunders and lightnings and took the commandments
with me. My excuse to him was that I took it for granted
I could go if I had learned my lessons. His reply was,
"Sir, you take too many things for granted!"

One incident is illustrative of the Principal's shrewd
way of keeping in toucb with student pranks : —

One night there was to be a party at the Fern. Sem. Of
course those boys who, through their sisters, cousins, or
aunts, were to be guests were the envy of every boy in
school. Two boys "not expected" at the entertainment
conceived the idea that perhaps it would be an evidence
of gratitude to heave a cat through one of the windows,
which were open on account of the temperature. Carry-
ing it in their arms, they were making their way to Abbot,
when they met Dr. Taylor. The evening was intensely
dark, and, there being no street lights, Dr. Taylor did not
recognize the boys. He started after them very rapidly ; both
parties broke into a run, but the Doctor was handicapped
too heavily; as he accelerated his gait, theirs broke into
a sprint, and they outdistanced him. When the boys

261

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

reached Abbot, they found the grounds so thoroughly
patrolled that they had to give up their plan, and walked
up the hill to a vacant lot next door to the house Dr.
Taylor occupied. They concluded that they would watch
his methods; so they seated themselves on the fence, and
waited. In a few minutes Dr. Taylor's door opened, and
the boys tumbled over backwards into the pasture lot,
where, lying flat upon the ground, they entered upon their
watch. As stated before, the night was intensely dark.
Dr. Taylor walked slowly out of his yard, turned down
the street, and stopped under a tree, where he was com-
pletely invisible in the dense darkness. Here he stood over
an hour to nab any boy that happened to pass, or perhaps
to overhear a conversation. However, the boys that eve-
ning were giving his house a wide berth, and, after waiting
an hour without accomplishing anything, he went back
into his house.

' The Honorable Noah H. Swayne, of Toledo, Ohio,
gives almost the only reminiscence which shows any
sense of humor in the Principal: —

You may remember that, after passing the hotel on the
main street and walking out about half a mile, you come
to a fork in the roads with a big rock at the junction.
Beyond this on a stone wall one of the boys, who was out
in study hours, sat waiting for a companion who was to
join him in the violation of the rules of the school by a
country excursion. He happened to look down the road
and saw "Uncle Sam's" head over the top of a slight hill,
approaching the resting-place. He immediately tumbled
over backwards and hid under a barberry bush, believing
that he had not been seen. "Uncle Sam" walked slowly
up the road, seated himself comfortably on the stone wall,
and began to eat barberries. The situation became so
ludicrous that the boy burst out laughing, and "Uncle
Sam" joined him in the laughter, and, giving him a very
mild reprimand, sent him back with no other penalty for

262

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

the violation of the rule. I think he would have sat there
almost all day if the boy had not laughed.

The years immediately following the Civil War saw
sweeping changes in educational theories. In 1869
Charles W. Eliot, just elected President of Harvard,
began to introduce the long series of educational
reforms with which his name is associated. College
entrance requirements, especially those of Harvard,
were being subjected to a much-needed readjustment
and codification. With the establishment of elabo-
rate technical institutions like the Sheffield Scienti-
fic School and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology the cherished system of classical studies was
put, to some extent, on the defensive. Darwin, Hux-
ley, and Wallace, with their epoch-making discoveries,
were the heralds of a new age, in which the very foun-
dations of tradition were to be shaken. Dr. Taylor's
curriculum of Latin, Greek, and a smattering of
mathematics was already antiquated. That he him-
self was conscious of the wisdom of concession is in-
dicated by his recommendation in 1870 that "the two
lower classes in the Classical Department should
have one recitation each day in such English branches
as may be thought most necessary." But he was
hardly the man to be actively in sympathy with the
course which events were taking: he deliberately
closed his eyes to the desirability of introducing mod-
ern languages, of devoting more time to the study of
mathematics, history, and English, and of providing
instruction in the elements of science. The hour had
arrived, however, when no obstructionist, no matter
how influential, could long stand in the path of pro-

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

gressive tendencies. The curriculum, which for forty
years had remained practically unmodified, was sadly
in need of a thorough revision, and Dr. Taylor, had
he lived, would have been compelled reluctantly to
yield. Destiny, however, determined that he and his
system should disappear together.

One of Dr. Taylor's virtues had been his punctual-
ity. He once said, "I have been late at my school but
once in thirty years, and then I was on the threshold
when the bell struck the hour." According to his
usual custom he left his study on Sunday morning,
January 29, 1871, at five minutes of nine, in order to
be prompt in meeting his Bible class in the Academy
building. The day was stormy and cold, and he had
complained of a tightness across his chest; but he put
duty before his own comfort. He walked a few steps
into the entry, staggered towards the railing near the
stairs, and then sank down heavily upon the floor.
His scholars hastened to his aid, only to find that
death had taken place almost instantaneously. For
some years he had known that he was suffering from
a rheumatic disease of the heart, but he had not al-
lowed it to interfere with his academic obligations.
The boys, bewildered and shocked, quietly dispersed,
and an hour later the body was carried to his home.

The funeral services were held on Thursday, Feb-
ruary 2, in the hall of the Academy building, which
had been draped in black. The casket was escorted
to its place in the Chapel by the Senior class, ten
of the number acting as a guard of honor. A great
throng was present at the funeral. Professor John
L. Taylor read Scriptural passages, after which Pro-

264

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

fessor Edwards A. Park delivered the commemo-
rative address, a masterpiece of eulogistic eloquence.
A long procession was then formed to the cemetery,
where President Smith, of Dartmouth, spoke briefly.
The student body passed resolutions mourning the
loss of "a faithful friend and instructor." A com-
mittee of the alumni drew up a memorial, expressing
their appreciation of "the great and invaluable serv-
ices which, as a teacher, scholar, editor, and author,
he has, during a life of energetic activity, rendered
to the cause of liberty, education, and culture in
this country." Professor Churchill, on the Sunday
following Dr. Taylor's death, preached an appreci-
ative sermon in the Seminary Chapel. By a vote
passed February 27, 1871, the Senior class agreed
to prepare a memorial volume, containing Profes-
sor Park's eulogy. Professor Churchill's sermon, and
other material giving reminiscences of the deceased
Principal. A fine tombstone was soon erected to his
memory in the cemetery, with an inscription com-
posed by Professor Park. A bronze tablet in the
Academy building marks the spot near which he fell.
Dr. Taylor was, as his epitaph points out, a "man
of mark"; but it is only fair to suggest that he has
often been wrongly praised. Those who have called
him "the Arnold of America" have utterly mistaken
the character of both teachers. The famous Head
Master of Rugby, "cheerful, and helpful, and firm,"
developed self-government among his boys, sought
their friendly cooperation, gained their love; Dr.
Taylor ruled by fear, and held his pupils to the let-
ter of the law. Dr. Arnold, through changes in the

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

curriculum and the installation of notable reforms,
gave a stimulus to English education which is even
to-day working as a leaven; Dr. Taylor not only lacked
the progressive spirit, but, so far as the course of
study is concerned, left Phillips Academy almost
precisely where he found it. Dr. Taylor, so far as he
can be compared to any one, was not unlike Dr. John
Keate, the "flogging Head Master" of Eton from
1809 to 1834, who, concentrating within his dimin-
utive frame the pluck of ten battalions, — according
to Kinglake's well-known description in Eothen, —
overcame the laxity which his feebler predecessors
had tolerated and literally whipped the Eton boys
into submission to his will. Both men were fine teach-
ers; both had qualities which nearly every one in-
stinctively admires; but neither had, like Dr. Arnold,
a lifelong interest in the progress of educational re-
forms. Allowing for the inevitable diflFerences in the
rules and customs of the two institutions, the spirit of
the Eton of 1825 must have been much like that of
the Andover of 1850.

The truth is that Dr. Taylor belonged to an age
which had already passed. The classroom practices
which he employed so successfully could not be used
now; his scheme of punishment would not be tolerated
to-day. Unlike Pearson, Pemberton, and Adams, he
was fortunate in the time of his death. Feebleness,
decrepitude, or senility seemed with him to be im-
possible, and it was as if, rather than bend to the
storm, he rendered up his life in a protest which he at
heart knew to be unavailing.

Times have altered, then, since those stormy in-

266

THE REIGN OF "UNCLE SAM" TAYLOR

terviews in "Number 9," and the world has grown out
of sympathy with many of Dr. Taylor's aims as well
as decidedly critical of his system. But it will never
do to forget that in both his faults and his virtues
he was representative of that Puritan New England
where Phillips Academy was founded. His sternness,
his relentless dislike of frivolity and hatred of evil,
his scrupulous thoroughness and accuracy, his stead-
fast adherence to the letter of the moral code, his
confidence in the efficacy of conversion, his absolute
trust in his own infallibility, — these are qualities
which belonged to Bradstreet, Winslow, Jonathan
Edwards, even to Samuel Phillips, Jr., himself. In
Samuel Harvey Taylor, even more perhaps than in
Pearson or Adams, Puritanism existed almost un-
alloyed — as it will seldom in our day be met with
again.

CHAPTER XIV

STUDENT LIFE UNDER " UNCLE SAM"

Again I revisit the hills where we sported,
The streams where we swam, and the fields where we fought.
The school where, loud warned by the bell, we resorted.
To pore over precepts by pedagogues taught.

In the occasional contests in Phillips Academy
between established authority, personified by Dr.
Taylor, and habitual offenders, it must not be pre-
sumed that the former was always easily victorious.
Full-blooded, mischievous boys frequently became
insubordinate, and the Principal was at times forced,
in spite of himself, to resort to his last weapon — ex-
pulsion. One of the earliest of the internal disorders,
sometimes dignified by the name of "rebellions,"
which occurred during his regime, broke out in 1846,
when a small but aggressive group of men in the
Senior class, headed by William Stark, a grandson of
the hero of Bennington, undertook to direct affairs
in the Academy. Aggrieved by the withholding from
them of various honors which they thought they had
deserved. Stark, who had hoped to be Valedictorian,
and his satellites so annoyed the Principal by covert
criticisms and complaints, culminating in an uproari-
ous public meeting, that he finally expelled ten of
them only a week before the day set for graduation.
Dr. Taylor's drastic action resulted in "fierce ex-
citement" among the students, but no open out-
break ensued, and, with the departure of the cul-

268

STUDENT LIFE UNDER !' UNCLE SAM"

prits, it looked as if trouble had been averted. Stark,
however, well supplied with money, had proceeded
at once to Troy, New York, where, at his own ex-
pense, he attended to the printing of a catalogue of
his own, an elaborate affair with a bright enameled
cover, containing a list of students in which Stark and
his companions were assigned the places to which they
considered themselves entitled. In the list of instruc-
tors, also. Stark had included himself as "Teacher of
Sacred Music." On the morning of the annual ex-
hibition in August, 1846, Stark returned to Andover
and succeeded in dexterously substituting his own
catalogues for those provided by the authorities; thus,
when the guests were comfortably seated in the hall
of the Brick Academy, they found in their hands an
unexpected treat. To add to the confusion Stark had
bribed the band, engaged from Boston for the day, to
forget its appointment, and there was no music to be
had. During a few tense moments disorder reigned
among the audience, and "Uncle Sam," uncertain as
to what course to pursue, seemed for once completely
unnerved. Eventually he consulted with a few Trus-
tees who happened to be present, and then, mount-
ing to the platform, managed to restore order so that
the programme could be carried out.

At the opening of the following fall term the dissatis-
faction was by no means allayed. A burlesque poem.
The Phillipiad, eight pages long, was circulated among
the choicer spirits. This work, which was in irregular
verse, and annotated, after the style of The Ancient
Mariner, with marginal prose comments in Latin,
Greek, German, and French, said little about "Uncle

269

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Sam," but assailed the Treasurer, Samuel Fletcher,
Esq., and the Trustees. Incidentally it praised highly
Lyman Coleman, who had recently been compelled
to resign from the English Department, and Abner J.
Phipps and William H, Wells, two of the assistants.
The poem, which has no merit whatever as verse, be-
gan as follows : —

Know ye the place where the halls of religion

Are engines of plunder for those who bear rule?

Where the changing of money, the sale of the pigeon.

Now suUies the temple, now plunders the school!

Know ye the high hill of Hebrew and Greek,

Where in strange, learned accents, the green Yankees speak;

Where wondrous Professors and Doctors frequent.

And wondering youths are from far countries sent;

Where the classical gravel, and consecrate trees.

Are fanned by a tuneful, oracular breeze;

Where the towering piles of ethereal brick.

And the mud-colored commons are clustering thick.

Of Coleman the following lines were written: —

Aye, Coleman's name falls frequent on the ear.

With queries why he is no longer here;

And execration visits the design

That drove him forth, and brought the quick decline

Of that prosperity his labor reared,

The school to which he ever was endeared.

" Uncle Sam " was not long kept in ignorance of the
existence of this satire, and in due season, after a little
quiet investigation, the authors of The Phillipiad
were requested to withdraw.

' In the spring of 1848 a party of malcontents over-
turned and set on fire an outhouse connected with the
Latin dormitories. Most of those concerned in the
affair had already incurred suspicion, and the watch-

270

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

ful Principal soon expelled ten of their number. In
his report for 1855 Dr. Taylor, in mentioning another
disorder of a similar kind, added a significant com-
ment: —

Our vicinity to the city of Lawrence is one of the most
fruitful sources of irregularity to which we are exposed.
Scarcely an individual has been removed from the school
for two or three years past who has not commenced his
irregularities by his night visits to that place.

What is commonly known as the "Third Rebel-
lion" occurred in 1867, near the close of Dr. Taylor's
career. On a glorious Wednesday morning in May
Rufus A. Bullock, now a well-known Boston lawyer,
and Simon Obermeyer, his classmate, met another
student, who shall be nameless, on their way from
chapel. The third fellow, a happy-go-lucky scape-
grace full of animal spirits, proposed that they should
"cut" the scheduled recitation in geometry, and walk
to Haggett's Pond for a boat ride and a swim. When
they returned late in the afternoon, they found await-
ing them a peremptory summons from "Uncle Sam."
They discovered him suffering acute pain from one of
his periodic attacks of gout, and consequently in no
gentle temper. In addition, he had gradually been
getting more and more exasperated over the frequent
"cutting" which had been going on during the fine
spring weather. Being in no mood to listen to any ex-
planation, he informed the offenders that their rela-
tions with Phillips Academy must terminate at once.
On the same day, unfortunately, "Archie" Bush, cap-
tain of the baseball nine, had stolen off with one of
his friends to Boston in order to see a league contest.

271

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Bush, who had served as an officer in the Northern
army, was a man full-grown, and the school hero of
his time. He was a fine fellow, of good habits, whom
every one respected and liked; but these virtues had
at that moment little weight with the irate Principal,
who immediately added Bush and his companion to
the list of those expelled.

On the following morning, when the news was
spread through the school, the Senior class, indignant
at the loss of five of their prominent men, resolved
upon a demonstration. After an angry mass meeting
upon what is now the Old Campus, twenty-four of
the forty-two members, among them some of the
ablest scholars in the class, hired thirteen separate
carriages and drove to Lawrence, where they at-
tended a circus, had supper at a hotel, and then re-
turned to Andover past Dr. Taylor's house, giving
cat-calls for the edification of the infuriated Principal.
This exploit was, of course, a genuine rebellion, and
"Uncle Sam," after a perfunctory examination, ex-
pelled all those implicated in it. Newspapers through-
out the East appeared with garbled accounts of the
incident, and it created such widespread comment
that the Trustees, at a special meeting, thought it
wise to pass a vote approving the Principal's action.

The consequences of this "Rebellion" were rather
more far-reaching than any one connected with it
could have anticipated. The expelled students, with-
out Dr. Taylor's recommendation, found it impossible
to enter Yale, and many of them decided to try Har-
vard. A few, including Bullock, engaged tutors from
among the younger instructors at Cambridge; others

272

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

"bohned" during the summer for the entrance ex-
aminations; and in the end nearly all of them man-
aged to satisfy the Harvard requirements. The atti-
tude shown by the Harvard authorities was decidedly
irritating to Dr. Taylor, who, in his report for 1868,
unburdened himself on the matter to the Trustees : — •

The members of the Senior Class who were removed
from the Academy were all admitted to college. But with
the exception of a single college no one of the class was
received till a full and manly apology was made to us for
the violation of the authority of the school, and till a
paper was furnished by us to the colleges where they ap-
plied for admission, giving the facts in the case, and
stating that but for the particular act of insubordination,
the persons under censure would have received the usual
recommendations at the close of the term. The course
which these colleges took was wise and salutary.

Harvard College, however, admitted those who applied
without any papers of any kind from us. As I considered
such a course injurious in its tendency to our school, as well
as to others, I sought an interview with President Hill,
during our last vacation, for the purpose of learning the
facts in the case, so far as he felt at hberty to state them.
He treated the matter with great candor and courtesy. He
said that there was a difference of opinion among the
Faculty themselves, and that they had a sharp discussion
in regard to the measures he adopted, — some of their
number contending that the students had been suffi-
ciently punished by their removal from the Academy here.
He said also that he ought to have written and learned
more about the case; but that his mind was greatly dis-
tracted at that time. He added, too, in the end, — "I
do not feel quite satisfied with our position."

The aftermath of this affair lasted some years.
"Archie" Bush and some of his athletic friends went

273

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

to Harvard, where Bush, in his Sophomore year, be-
came captain of the nine. During the three years of
his captaincy Harvard won regularly from Yale, a
result due largely to his brilliant playing and efficient
methods of coaching. Yale men have always attrib-
uted their decline in athletics during this period to
Bush's expulsion from Andover, for, even after he
left Harvard, his system continued to bring victories
to his alma mater. His record in college was a dis-
tinguished one, not only in sport, but also in scholar-
ship and religious activity. When he died in 1877 in
Liverpool, England, while he was on his honeymoon,
the New York Evening Post spoke of him as "the
most widely known college man in the United States."
Another consequence of the "Rebellion" was that
extensive publicity was given to the fact that Phillips
Academy did not prepare boys for Harvard; and,
henceforth, certain changes in the curriculum were
made inevitable. For three decades Dr. Taylor had
paid no attention to entrance requirements, teaching
pupils in his own effective way and relying on his
personal recommendation to carry them into Yale.
It was time for a modification of this system. Mr.
Bullock puts the matter bluntly: —

It was the beginning of the end of the regime of "Uncle
Sam." It was the first big shake-up which speedily led to
great changes at Andover, to new methods and new men.
I do not by any means assume that this episode was the
sole cause of the change, because it was beginning to take
place everywhere. The time was ripe for a change, and it
would have come anyway, sooner or later, for the old-
fashioned type of school and the old-fashioned type of

274

THE PRINCIPAL'S HOUSE, FORMERLY THE SAJIARLTAN HOUSE

THE PEASE H(JUSE

STUDENT LIFE UNDER " UNCLE SAM "

schoolmaster were soon destined to pass away, never to
return; but this episode hastened the day for Andover.

It should be added that the expelled boys, by a vote
of the Trustees passed April 20, 1903, were reinstated
in Phillips Academy, thirty-six years after the "Re-
bellion" had taken place.

After the annexation of the Teachers' Seminary in
1842, the daily exercises of the school were held in the
Stone Academy, the classic Brick Academy having
proved unsatisfactory. "We all know the Stone
Academy," once said Dr. McKenzie, "and remember
its large room where we met for morning and evening
prayers; and above, the twin recitation rooms, and
their cruel seats, and the narrow passage way be-
tween, ending at the door with the mystic and awful
number." This "large room" was "Number 1," on
the ground floor, where the boys assembled for re-
ligious services. On the left, as one entered at the
door near the southwest corner, was a low platform,
on which Dr. Taylor's chair was placed. Students as
they came in had to face those already seated. In the
northeast alcove stood a wheezy organ, around which
were stools for the choir. Along the middle aisle were
desks for the day scholars, and on either side were
rows of hard wooden benches, certainly not designed
for physical ease. At the opening of each term there
was always an undignified and sometimes violent
scramble for the favorite seats. The desks and benches
were specimens of ancient carpentry, cut through and
through with jackknives, and worn away by the boots
of many generations of youth. Here in this hall the

275

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

boys waited for "Uncle Sam" every morning, and
rose ceremoniously when he stepped in after the short
walk from his house across the street. When the
morning ceremonies were over, there was a grand
rush for the exit. Seniors going to the notorious
"Number 9," Middlers to "Number 5," and Juniors
to "Number 6." Members of the English Depart-
ment retired to a wooden structure which stood in the
rear of the Stone Academy.

The classrooms of the Stone Academy, all of them
upstairs, were, with the exception of "Number 9,"
poorly lighted and wretchedly ventilated, and the
boys, "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd," sat in them, pursu-
ing their work under unhygienic conditions. "Num-
ber 9" was Dr. Taylor's pecuUar bailiwick, where he
was enthroned, flanked by maps of the "antique
world" and busts of Homer, Vu-gil, and other class-
ical worthies. In the summer term, as the days grew
oppressive, he would sometimes show mercy, and lead
the sweltering pupils through the Elm Arch to the
cool first floor of the Brick Academy.

Dr. Taylor's administration was the golden age of
the Commons dormitories, when the school life cen-
tered around the two rows of what Dr. Bancroft used
to call "perpendicular Gothic" and the field which
lay between them. These buildings were first painted
in 1846, and in 1848 the famous high fence was built
in front of the Latin barracks. Many were the regula-
tions by which the occupants were bound, — at least
on paper, — but the rules were seldom taken seriously.
Ashes, according to special edict, were to be thrown
into brick bins in the cellar, not out of the window or

276

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

merely down the stairs. Wood was to be sawed and
split outdoors or in the cellars, not in the rooms or
entries, or on the doorsteps. There were careful fire
laws, forbidding any one to carry a candle or lamp
into any garret or cellar. But no one in Commons felt
himself amenable to a penal code. The oil from the
student lamps would frequently run over, and then
the blazing mass would be hurled viciously through
the window to the ground below or smothered in a
convenient rug. On one occasion the occupants of a
dormitory covered the exterior with strips of news-
paper hung from the windows, and then touched them
off so that a sudden flash of flame shot into the air.
By the time the fire-engine had arrived, the conflagra-
tion had died down, and the boys were peacefully
poring over their books. The rats and mice which
infested the rooms were slain by ingenious devices.

The curious custom of "selling the bell" was then
in vogue, by which boys bid for the job of ringing a
huge bell every morning at five o'clock in front of
each building, until the residents thus rudely awak-
ened to another day of toil saw fit to rise and smite
the ringer with missiles chosen promiscuously but
usually well adapted to the purpose. The one who
offered to do this for the smallest sum was awarded
the contract. Every one was aware that the first
stroke of the bell was the signal for hostilities; but
nevertheless the office was eagerly sought for, espe-
cially by adventurous spirits, who often performed the
duties for a money consideration purely nominal.

The clan loyalty of the boys led to intermittent
combats, sometimes to open warfare, between the

277

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Latin and English Commons. The Latin men stuffed
the chimneys of their rivals across the Campus
and enjoyed a few hours of wild delight, until the
English students retaUated effectively by salting the
Latin Commons well. In winter weather, after a
snowball battle, there was often hardly a bit of win-
dow glass in any one of the buildings, and the broken
panes, stuffed with discarded articles of wearing ap-
parel, did not add to the architectural beauty of the
Commons.

Dr. Taylor was, of course, aware of these crude
conditions, and in 1847 spoke vigorously on the sub-
ject to the Trustees, pointing out that "the mere
presence of a teacher in one of the dormitories would
be a sufficient restraint to such as might be disposed
to make any disturbance." The Board at once voted
that two rooms, one in each row, should be fitted up
for the accommodation of one instructor in each de-
partment. This step marks the small beginning of the
present system of Faculty proctorship. Even after
this resolution was passed, however, the policing of
the Commons was rarely more than nominal, and the
dormitories were frequently the theater of tumultuous
disorder, which could be quelled only by the appear-
ance of "Uncle Sam" himseK. Not until the Faculty
was considerably enlarged could this plan, so indis-
putably correct in principle, be properly put into
operation.

Throughout this period Academic Commons or
boarding-houses were kept under various proprietors,
food being provided at very low cost. In 1842, as
announced in the catalogue, the price was ninety-

278

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

four cents, in 1843, seventy-six cents a week; in 1849
it had risen to one dollar and thirty-seven cents; in
1857 the "extreme cost of provisions" raised the rate
to two dollars; and in war time the boys had to pay
two dollars and a half. The Latin Commons boarding-
house, called, for some unknown reason, " Chocolate
Hall," was kept for years in the farmhouse formerly
located on the corner of Main and Phillips Streets,
where Tucker House now stands; the Steward until
1844 was Isaac Farley, who was succeeded by his son,
Isaac Alvan Farley. The boarders in 1845 elected one
of their number as President, his duty being to carry
complaints to the Steward. Milk and eggs were fur-
nished from the farm itself.

It was in connection with this boarding-house that
an incident occurred which, apparently quite trivial,
led to important consequences. George B. Clark, a
student in the class of 1846, became interested in
what one of his teachers told him about telescopes,
and, when one day the Commons dinner bell broke, he
secured the fragments, melted them in a ladle, cast
the fluid into a disk, and started to grind it into a
reflector. His father, happening to discover him at
work, made inquiries, and assisted him in complet-
ing the grinding. When the results turned out to be
satisfactory, Alvan G. Clark, the father, formed a
company for the manufacture of lenses and refractors,
and eventually made many large telescopes, including
that in the National Observatory and the famous
forty-inch Yerkes refractor at the University of
Chicago.

The Commons boarding-house was given up in 1849

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HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

on the' ground that the proprietor could not pay ex-
penses, but was later resumed under a new manager.
The old farmhouse was used in 1852 for the Union
Club, of which Alexander McKenzie was President
and William A. Mowry the Secretary and Caterer.
Mr. Mowry purchased the food, and a Miss Gould
kept the bouse and did the cooking for thirty-seven
and a half cents a week per head. Dr. McKenzie once
described the bill of fare as consisting of "bread and
molasses every day, beefsteak from the neighboring
tannery once a week and apple pie on Sunday, with
once in a while some buckwheat fritters that boys
used to use when they wanted to pitch quoits."
Other eating-clubs were also formed, one or two of
which had a fairly long life. The Eureka Club,
started April 23, 1857, had a pompous constitution,
with provision for a "reader," whose duty it was to
entertain the members with a newspaper or any de-
sired publication for fifteen minutes during supper.
The Crescent Club, which flourished for some years,
held sumptuous annual banquets, at which the officers
made speeches. Possibly the best-known was the
Shawsheen Club, which had its headquarters in the
old Abbot House on Phillips Street. In 1866 there
were three such clubs, board at one being $2.75, and
at the other two $3.40, a week. At this date the more
luxurious "Boarding-House" was charging between
$5 and $5.50. In all these places the boys complained
intermittently of the poor quality of the food, and
written protests were frequently drawn up in re-
monstrance. "The eating-clubs," says President
Thwing, speaking of the year 1870, "were rather

280

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

wretched, so wretched as to be objects of horrible
remembrance."

Although Dr. Taylor was a strict disciplinarian, he
believed in the policy of leaving the eating-clubs al-
most entirely in the hands of the students. They
were also allowed to form other organizations, literary,
social, and athletic, and so long as these did not vio-
late any important rule, they were not interfered with.
These societies will be discussed in detail in a later
chapter. It is interesting that the Principal should
have tolerated, in a school paper like the Philomathean
Mirror, a freedom of speech regarding himself and his
colleagues little short of extraordinary. This frank-
ness, however, became license in the various broad-
sides issued at the close of the year by the upper
classes. In these, "Uncle Sam," the Faculty, citi-
zens of the town, and members of the rival class
were often made the subjects of scurrilous attacks;
not even the "Fern. Sem." and the "Nunnery"^
were spared. Of these sheets the earliest one in pos-
session of the Academy is The Phillipian, dated July
28, 1857, which contains a humorous account of a
Faculty meeting and some Lines on Uncle, the qual-
ity of which may be judged from the following
quotation: —

He stands aloft, a great Colossus,
As high, as tall, and ponderous

' The "Nunnery," a select private school for girls conducted by Mrs.
Bela Bates Edwards from 1832 until 1864, was located on Main Street
in the house now occupied by Professor William H. Ryder. It was never
a large institution, and in no sense rivaled Abbot Academy, although it
was supposed to be somewhat more aristocratic.

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HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

As that of Rhodes, whose legs stretched o'er

A harbor wide, from shore to shore.

His voice is hoarse, his head is thick,

A giant he in rhetoric;

In Greek an Ajax, and a giant

To all the Roman men defiant.

The Plaindealer, with a motto " Justitia ad Omnes,"
appeared July 29, 1861, its publisher being "Greeley
Horace" and its editor "Professor E. A. Sparks."
Its most amusing article is an account of Dr. Taylor's
examination of the Middle Class. The motto of The
Scalpel, dated July 28, 1863, is "Incido ut Sanem,"
and its contents include an attack on Andover board-
ing-houses, a verse satire on tradesmen in the town,
and a ribald account of Dr. Taylor's alleged misdeeds
and escapades during his trip abroad. On July 26,
1864, was pubhshed The Censor, interesting chiefly
because of one of its essays which, alluding to the
comparison between Dr. Taylor and Dr. Arnold,
says: —

How were these illusions dispelled after being in the
place for a few days ! Where was the kind, sympathizing
Arnold, — where the ready smile, the cheering word,
which, from the comparison, we had been led to expect?
The distant freezing nod told us the difference. Instead of
the genial warmth of the kind-hearted father and friend,
we found a bundle of Latin and Greek, — Kiihner's
Grammar personified, — together with a httle rhetoric,
logic, elocution, etc.

There are also criticisms of the Principal's interfer-
ence in Philo elections and of "the system of sneaking
and prying which is practiced by some of the teach-
ers." The advertisements in this paper are often dis-

282

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

graceful in their tone. The Phoenix, printed July 25,
1865, contains an attack on "Uncle's system of spy-
ing" and gives an interesting description of a day at
Phillips, with a typical interview between an inno-
cent "cad" and the Principal. A caustic analysis of
Dr. Taylor's qualifications as a preceptor says: "He
goes on the principle, 'Teach those a good deal who
know a good deal; to those who don't know much,
pay little attention.' " The Scorpion, which came out
July 24, 1866, has a motto, "Resistance to Tyranny
is Obedience to God," and includes in its pages a
witty skit entitled Avunculus on a Raid and a poem
in the meter of Hiawatha, ridiculing all the instruc-
tors, especially the notorious "flogging Bridgman."

The "Mock Programmes" sometimes surrepti-
tiously circulated on Exhibition Days belong to the
same class of coarse literature. One of the earliest,
dated July 27, 1859, is, when viewed superficially, ex-
actly like the standard programmes usually provided
for the guests. The order of exercises, however, is
sheer burlesque, the rather primitive humor of the
authors being displayed at its best (or worst) in the
familiar device of taking the initials of various speak-
ers and aflBxing to them nonsensical adjectives. Thus
T. A. Emerson is transformed into "T-raveling A-pe"
Emerson, and G. H. is metamorphosed into "G-iddy
H-eaded." The mirth excited by these feeble attempts
at cleverness could never have been hilarious. The
"Mock Programme" produced by the Middlers in
1864 announced the "Only Appearance of Sam Tay-
lor's Educated Gorillas," and opened the exercises
with a "Hog-Latin Salutatory, by J-ust A-bout

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

D-runk Hughes." In 1866 the Middlers had on their
title-page, "Order of Exercises at the Exhibition of
the Senior Class of Phillips Insane Asylum." Sev-
eral other such "Mock Programmes" are in existence,
but they vary only in minor details from those al-
ready mentioned.

One celebration of a picturesque kind was the
"Burning of Kuhner"held by departing Seniors on
the Monday evening before the Exhibition. It was
preceded usually by a class supper at the Mansion
House, in the course of which original songs, with
hits on the teachers, were sung. In 1860 the ex-
ercises closed with smoking the "Pipe of Peace,"
which was then handed on to a committee of the class
of 1861. Another feature of the evening was a band
concert. After the banquet was over, a procession,
headed by the band, formed in the outskirts of the
town, sometimes in Frye Village, sometimes nearer,
in Love Lane, and, after parading down Main Street
and up School Street, with a halt for a cheer at the
"Fem, Sem.," broke ranks in front of "Old Brick."
Here a gloomy requiem was chanted, an oration was
dehvered, and then a fire was lighted, around which
the Seniors danced, throwing their textbooks into the
flames and singing an appropriate dirge. Many of
the songs written for these occasions show decided
abiUty. Unfortunately, the celebration could not be
confined always to students alone, but was attended
by townspeople, some alumni, and not a few dis-
reputable characters from adjacent cities. "Uncle
Sam" himself, it is said, often watched the proceed-
ings from a convenient distance. One particularly

284

STUDENT LIFE UNDER " UNCLE SAM "

boisterous demonstration was attended by interesting
results, as described by Mr. Noah H. Swayne, of the
class of 1866: —

Just about the time of graduation some members of the
class of '66 burned publicly Kiihner's Grammar. ... I was
not present at the celebration, but after entering Yale, I
was called upon, as were the other members of my class
from Andover, for letters from Dr. Taylor. We none of
us had received any, and were therefore notified that we
were not eligible for matriculation. The matter ran on, we
attending our regular recitations and acting as members
of the class of 1870 at Yale. One member of the class wrote
to Dr. Taylor to know why we did not receive our letters.
A characteristic letter was received from Dr. Taylor, re-
ferring to the conduct of the class of '66 and the disorderly
action on the night when the grammar was burned, and
informing us that every member of our class must sign
an apology before he would issue the necessary papers for
us to be matriculated. We accordingly held a meeting, and
the secretary wrote what we thought a sufficiently abject
apology, signed it, and forwarded it to Dr. Taylor. He
wrote back that it was no apology at all, and returned it.
We then applied to Professor Thatcher for the form of an
apology, which he wrote for us. We signed this and for-
warded it to Dr. Taylor, only to receive the information
that, as an apology, it was very much worse, very much
weaker, and more unsatisfactory than the prior paper. We
were up a tree then. We did not know what to do until
the happy inspiration came to us of attaching our names
to a blank paper, which was forwarded to Dr. Taylor and
by him accepted. The necessary papers were forwarded
to the college authorities, followed by matriculation. I
understand that Dr. Taylor read before the students in
Andover at morning prayers a long and humble apology,
but none of us ever saw it.

After 1866 the picturesque spectacle became a thing

285

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of the past, like the Eton "Montem," and in its place
a tame band concert was held for the edification of
Exhibition guests.

There can be no doubt that "Uncle Sam " was com-
pelled through circumstances to ignore many forms
of student rascality. Outside the classroom supervi-
sion could not be comprehensive. Campus bonfires
were lighted on Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving Eve,
and there were many night excursions to neighboring
cities, like Lawrence, Lowell, and Haverhill. There
was no "eight-o'clock rule," and, if there had been, it
could not have been enforced. Mr. John B. D. Cogs-
well, of the class of 1846, used to tell gleefully of a
schoolboy adventure, when he and three companions
determined on Christmas Day to escape to Boston: —

Infinite precaution being taken to conceal the route
of our departure, we drove to Boston in high spirits, went
to the Howard Athenaeum (then the home of the "legiti-
mate drama") in the evening, ate an oyster supper with
"Tom and Jerry" at Brigham's Concert Hall, and at
midnight called for our team and started for Andover; but
the fun was now over. A snow-storm came on, followed by
rain and a thaw. We lost our way in the darkness, and at
last one of us, climbing a guide-post, discovered that we
were midway between Salem and Andover, and headed for
Salem. We retraced our course, and, just as day was dawn-
ing, reentered Andover by the old Brick Academy, and,
speedily disengaging ourselves from the carriage, trotted
through the slush to our rooms and concealment, now
pretty tired of the frolic, and beginning to feel mortal
terrors lest the all-seeing eye of "Uncle Sam" should fall
upon us, or our escapade should be reported to him by
some of the "spies," in whose existence we profoundly
believed. For it was said that "Uncle Sam" encouraged

286

STUDENT LIFE UNDER " UNCLE SAM "

the Jesuit system of delation. Stolen, fearful joys ! What-
ever punishments we deserved, we at all events escaped
them.

Similar evasions of rules took place, of course, again
and again among the wealthier and more daring boys,
who were willing to risk expulsion for the sake of one
night's dissipation. Such students, however, were not
representative of the school under Dr. Taylor.

Much of the disorder and mischief of this period
may be attributed to the lack of organized athletics,
which to-day give robust boys a legitimate vent for
pent-up energy. In the spring and summer the more
muscular swam in Pomp's or in the Shawsheen,
and sometimes tried their skill at the rude game of
"rounders," out of which, about 1860, baseball was
beginning to evolve. In the winter there was coasting
on huge "double-runners" down School and Phillips
Streets, interrupted periodically by prohibitions from
the "town fathers." The Commons pupils probably
found exercise enough in sweeping their rooms, car-
rying away ashes, and bringing pails of water from
the well. But there were no compulsory sports, and
a boy physically indolent might remain at Phillips
Academy for three or four years without taking part
in an outdoor game.

One passable substitute for a football eleven was a
fire brigade. The Trustees, for the protection of school
property, had purchased and repaired a feeble second-
hand fire-engine, which was dragged out on any con-
ceivable pretext, "Uncle Sam" being the chief in
charge. With a conflagration of any size this appa-
ratus was ludicrously ineffective, but in extinguishing

287

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

smaller blazes the company performed excellent serv-
ice. In 1851, as the Honorable John Winslow used
to tell the story, one of the English Commons caught
fire, and the brigade, under Dr. Taylor's orders, under-
took to operate the engine, but wholly without suc-
cess. Winslow then told "Uncle Sam" that he had
once managed a similar machine, and that, if every-
body would man the brakes and obey instructions, aU
would go well; thereupon the stalwart Principal fell
back with the rank and file, and Winslow conducted
further proceedings. In the end the dormitory was
destroyed, but the adjoining buildings were saved.

Once in the late autumn, when the grass was long
and dry, an irrepressible youngster set fire to it in
front of the Latin Commons, on the land back of the
Academy farmhouse; the blaze spread, and some of
the farm employees tried to check it. The boys across
the road rather enjoyed the fun, and did not go to the
assistance of the fire brigade — with the exception of
the guilty underclassman who had started the ex-
citement and who was afraid that the flames might
cause some damage. The next morning after pray-
ers "Uncle Sam" proceeded to reprimand the entire
school severely for not having been of more aid, and
then added, "But there was one noble individual who
helped to put out the fire." This sentence he uttered
in his most impressive, sub-bass manner. At this the
boys, acquainted with the truth, burst into ear-split-
ting laughter, much to the Principal's astonishment
and wrath; and he was never able to discover the
cause of this sudden merriment.

The Wednesday afternoon declamations, instituted

288

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

by Principal Adams, were continued under Dr. Tay-
lor, the oratory being of the florid, melodramatic va-
riety so common at that time in Congress. The walls
of the Brick Academy echoed and reechoed with The
Burial of Moses, Hohenlinden, Spartacus to the Gladi-
ators (popular because it was written by Elijah Kel-
logg in 1843 when he was a student in the Seminary),
and other rousing old-time classics. Small sums were
appropriated each year for instruction in public speak-
ing, which, prior to the arrival of Professor Churchill
in 1866, was usually given in a desultory way by some
impecunious "theologue." At the Wednesday after-
noon performances "Uncle Sam" was a relentless
critic, who did his best with withering irony or frank
ridicule to eradicate affectation. "You go to the
very extreme," he would say; "you should use the
'happy medium.' " Once a tall, green rustic delivered
an oration with much violent gesticulation, and
finally, at the words, "and in the dust sat down,"
took the passage literally, and sat down on the stage.
When the would-be Webster had returned to his seat,
Dr. Taylor said, " Jennison, there is but one step from
the sublime to the ridiculous, and you have taken it;
you are excused from the room."

The annual Exhibitions, corresponding to the pres-
ent Commencement, commonly took place in late
July or early August, at the very hottest time of the
Andover year. In the morning were held the oral ex-
aminations conducted by the Principal in the presence
of a committee of the Trustees. It seemed to little
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps as if everybody at an Exhibi-
tion was afraid of the Trustees, and she cherished a

289

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

devout but hidden antagonism towards them. In the
afternoon came the "speaking," which, until 1865,
took place in the upper story of "Old Brick." Ad-
mission was by ticket, but the narrow stairway was
packed with people long before the doors were opened,
and the hall was seldom large enough for the crowd.
At one end of the room was a platform, to which
orators ascended in unique fashion by means of a
ladder from the outside of the building. When Gen-
eral Nathaniel P. Banks was Governor, he was a
guest at an Exhibition, and, being obliged to leave
early, caused much amusement by making his exit
on the boys' ladder — not by crawling backwards,
but face foremost, as in going downstairs. The pro-
grammes on these occasions were generally of great
length. In 1852 there were twenty-five separate
numbers, including a Greek dialogue, an English
dialogue, two discussions (one on The Comparative
Facilities for Doing Good and Evil), and several Eng-
lish, Latin, and Greek orations, the list closing with
an original ode by Miss Hannah F. Gould, the New-
buryport poetess. The Exhibition of 1863 had also
twenty-five "pieces," orations, colloquies, and dia-
logues, beginning with a Latin Salutatory and clos-
ing with an "English Oration, with the Valedictory."
The later date of the Exhibitions as compared with
that of Commencement to-day is explained by the
division of the school year. In 1838 the Trustees
voted "that the summer vacation in the Classical
Department commence on the second Wednesday in
August." In 1843 this was moved back to the first
Wednesday in August. In 1854, with a new arrange-

290

STUDENT LIFE UNDER " UNCLE SAM "

ment, the Academy closed on the last Wednesday in
July, there being three vacations during the year : one
of five weeks, following the Exhibition; one of three
weeks, after the first Wednesday before Thanksgiv-
ing; one of three weeks, after the last Wednesday of
March. Until Dr. Taylor's death, school, according
to the Puritan custom, was kept on Christmas Day,
that festival being considered to be a "Papist feast,"
associated with masques and revelry, dancing and the
wassail bowl, and such secular delights as those de-
scribed in Irving's Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
A complete calendar was, in 1863, included in the
catalogue; according to that schedule, the Academy
year was to begin September 2 and to conclude July
26, with vacations aggregating eleven weeks. In
1866 a distinct change was made by pushing back the
Exhibition to July 2, and lengthening the summer
recess to eight weeks. When in 1871 the summer va-
cation period was extended to eleven weeks, with the
Exhibition on June 18, the arrangement corresponded
closely to that in use to-day.

When Daniel Webster came to Andover in 1840 to
address the Whigs, the boys had a huge dinner and
"row-de-dow." One among the hero-worshipers no-
ticed and remembered that " the God-like spoke most
of the time with his hands in his breeches pockets."

This was not the only great event that occurred
in Dr. Taylor's regime. The fiftieth anniversary of
Phillips Academy had been passed in 1828 without a
word of comment; not so, however, with the Seminary
semicentennial, which was observed on August 4 and
5, 1858, A huge tent was raised on the Training-

291

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Field in front of the Mansion House; there, on the sec-
ond day, a dinner was held, after which came almost
innumerable addresses, which were interrupted, per-
haps providentially, by a most dramatic incident. In
the midst of the flow of oratory, when President Way-
land, of Brown, was delivering a eulogy on Professor
Stuart, the news came unexpectedly of the successful
laying of the Atlantic cable. President Wayland was
allowed to finish, but, as soon as his last word was
spoken, the great throng arose to their feet as one
man; dignified clergymen cheered, clapped, pounded
on tables, and waved their hats; the tumult for a few
minutes resembled that of a political convention. Man
after man rushed to the platform to utter his word of
prayer or thanksgiving, until there were nearly as
many speakers as auditors. And then the vast as-
semblage joined spontaneously in the doxology, —

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Another memorable event was the fall of the Pem-
berton Mill in the city of Lawrence in 1860. On Janu-
ary 10 the roof and walls of this huge structure col-
lapsed, burying seven hundred and fifty men and
women, of whom nearly a hundred were killed. The
debris took fire from an overturned lantern, and a
terrible conflagration followed. Some of the Acad-
emy boys who ran to the scene still remember
how the girls imprisoned in the flames sang "Shall
we gather at the river.?" as death came nearer and
nearer.

The Civil War had, of course, no small effect on
Phillips Academy. In 1862 Dr. Taylor reported: —

292

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

The general state of the country is not as favorable for
study as in more quiet times; greater effort on the part
of the teachers is required to secure the usual amount of
study; yet it is believed that good progress has been made
during the year, by the great majority of the members of
the school.

In the conflict itself the Principal felt, apparently,
little interest, for he served on none of the numerous
town committees formed to rouse enthusiasm, and
he, so far as can be ascertained, made no speeches at
public gatherings, as nearly all the Seminary pro-
fessors did. His indifference, however, was not shared
by Phillips men, who, undergraduates and alumni,
enlisted to the number of over six hundred in the two
armies. Within a few weeks after the declaration of
war companies were organized in the Academy and
in the Seminary, the Academy boys calling themselves
the "Ellsworth Guards." For this company, cap-
tained by John Hanson Thomson, of the class of 1861,
the girls of Abbot Academy made uniforms, consist-
ing of gray caps and suits of blue trimmed with red.
In all the patriotic demonstration in the town the
"Guards" took a prominent part. On May 19, 1861,
the boys attended Professor Stowe's sermon before
the Andover Light Infantry. On June 4 a large flag
was raised over the Seminary Chapel, with appropri-
ate exercises, including a prayer by Professor Park, a
presentation address by Professor Phelps, an oration
by Professor Stowe, and the singing of an original
"Banner Song," written for the occasion by Mrs.
Stowe. The Academy company created no small sen-
sation as, wearing their picturesque new uniforms,

293

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

they marched across the Campus to the Chapel. On
the following day, when a flag was raised over the
Mansion House by its proprietor, Mr. Bodwell, the
"Guards" were again present, and carried on an ex-
hibition drill on the Training-Field. On June 22, in
front of the South Church, the students of Phillips
Academy presented to the Andover Light Infantry
a beautiful white silk banner, with the state arms on
one side and a pine tree, with an inscription, on the
other. Two days later the "Ellsworth Guards" es-
corted the Light Infantry to the railroad station,
where they set out for Fort Warren.

When the news of the surrender of Vicksburg
reached Andover on Tuesday, July 7, 1863, bells were
rung and a huge bonfire was kindled on the Campus.
On July 21, 1864, the students, headed by their teach-
ers, met at the station those Andover soldiers whose
term of service had expired, and drew them in barges
to the Town Hall. The election of that fall aroused
great interest, and, when the results were known, a
Philo poet burst into song: —

Come all to-night, hurrah for the right!

For Lincoln has carried the day;
And Philo's men, with their voice and pen,

Are ready his will to obey.

The spirit of Andover Hill during this critical period
is well portrayed in one of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's
best stories. The Oath of Allegiance.

Of the recruits from Andover so many gained
distinction that it would be showing unjust discrim-
ination to mention names. Professor Stowe's son,
Frederick E. Stowe, and Dr. Taylor's son, George H.

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

Taylor, both served honorably in the Northern ranks.
One dramatic death was that of Samuel Hopkins
Thompson, of the class of 1862, who enlisted within
two weeks after graduation, was elected a lieutenant,
and was killed at Antietam, October 22, 1862, while
leading his troops to the charge with the words, " Form
on me, boys, form on me." A portrait of this boy
hero, hardly over twenty years old when he died, was
presented to Phillips Academy in 1878.

One interesting incident happened not long after
the war, when, one morning after chapel, "Uncle
Sam," adjusting his spectacles, read the following
communication : —

It gives me pleasure to herewith enclose my check for
$500 for the education of a negro in Phillips Academy.
(Signed) Benjamin F. Butler,

Lowell, Massachusetts.

The announcement was received with some obse-
quious applause, but with more shuffling of feet in
disapproval, for up to this time no negro had attended
the school and General Butler was not a popular
character in Andover.

Some of the best pictures of Academy life under
"Uncle Sam" come from old letters. One youngster,
writing in 1840, tells of boarding in Commons. The
boys there had a field set apart for their own use, in
which they grew vegetables for the table. The work
in this field was not pleasant, and aroused the wrath
of the youthful correspondent: —

But the greatest trouble is, we have to earn our bread
and then pay for it. Yesterday they started about twenty
of us out in the field after dinner to pulling weeds among

295

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the potatoes. They made us work there about an hour,
when it was time for me to recite, and I had no lesson in
consequence. But that was n't all; this afternoon I, with
about half a dozen others, was told to go to work pulling
weeds again. The reason of this was, they said, that we did
not work well enough yesterday, and must do some more
to-day and make up. I worked about fifteen minutes, and
then pulled up stakes and off, telling the "boss" they had
put over us that, if they wanted any more weeds pulled
that afternoon, they might take them to some other mar-
ket. A number of others followed my example, and the
rest worked three-quarters of an hour longer. But this
pulling weeds from among potatoes don't agree with me
at all.

It is well, also, to get another point of view. The
stories which graduates remember best are those of
student pranks and riots, of extraordinary situations
and unusual events. Most of the pupils pursued the
"even tenor of their way," doing their daily tasks
with regularity and never coming into contact with
the law. What some of the poorer boys had to go
through is shown by a letter written on October 6,
1847, by John B. Smith, of the class of 1850, to his
brother: —

My work and study hours are something as follows : rise
in the morning at about 5.30 o'clock, build two fires (prob-
ably more when it is colder), work aroimd the barn, such
as milk one cow, take care of the horses, and saw wood un-
til 7.30, when I eat my breakfast; then, if there is anything
in particular to do, if a man has stopped here over night,
he usually starts away about this time, I put his horse in,
etc.; if not, I prepare for school and look over my lesson, if
I have time, till 8.30, when I attend prayers in the Acad-
emy. My recitations commence at 9 o'clock, continue till
10.30, then go to my room and study till 12 o'clock, chore

296

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

around till about 1 o'clock. Afternoon recitations, 1 .30 to
3, study till 4.30, prayers at the Academy till 5, work till
dark, supper. I study some in the evening and read some.
I joined a society this term called the Philomathean, by
the payment of 50 cents. I have as many books as I want
from the Library belonging to this society. I have only
one pair of woolen pants fit to wear. I shall have to wear
thick pants all the time now, but I will try to make these
do till I go home again.

A student with such a daily schedule to confront was
not likely to have surplus energy to waste when eve-
ning arrived, nor was there any danger of his coming
into conflict with school discipline.

Although no one of Dr. Taylor's students became
so widely known as Holmes or Morse, a large num-
ber gained distinction. The one who did most for
Phillips Academy was Melville Cox Day (1839-1913),
of the class of 1858, who, under Dr. Bancroft and
Dr. Stearns, was the school's most liberal benefactor.
With him must be named his intimate friend and
classmate, John Phelps Taylor (1841-1915), who was
chiefly instrumental in arousing Mr. Day's interest
in the modern Phillips Academy and who himself
made generous gifts to the institution. Among the
generals who served in the Northern army were
several Andover men: David B. Birney (1825-64),
Charles P. Mattocks (1840-1910), Oliver H. Payne
(1841-), William F. Bartlett (1840-76), and WiUiam
Cogswell (1838-95). The list of prominent educa-
tors is very long: Franklin Carter (1837-), President
of Williams; Charles F. Thwing (1853-), President
of Western Reserve; William T. Harris (1835-
1909), United States Commissioner of Education;

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HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Albert C. Perkins (1833-96), Principal of the Phillips
Exeter Academy; HolHs B. Frissell (1851-), Princi-
pal of Hampton Institute; Joseph Ward (1838-89),
President of Yankton College; Henry P. Wright
(1839-), Dean of Yale; Joseph H. Neesima (1843-91),
President of Doshisha College, Japan; Augustine M.
Gay (1827-76), Head Master of Boston Latin School;
George Washburn (1833-1915), President of Robert
College, Constantinople; William A. Packard (1830-
1909), Professor at Dartmouth and Princeton; Arthur
M. Wheeler (1836-), Professor at Yale; and William
A. Mo wry (1829-), editor and author of many edu-
cational books. Among the judges are Robert R.
Bishop (1834-1909), of the Massachusetts Superior
Court; Charles Doe (1830-96), Chief Justice of the
New Hampshire Supreme Court; John W. Bacon
(1818-88), of the Massachusetts Superior Court; and
John A. Aiken (1850-), Chief Justice of that cotu-t.
Among the authors, of less or greater note, are Fred-
erick W. Loring (1846-71); Arthur S. Hardy (1847-),
whose But Yet a Woman is still famous; George
H. Derby (1823-61), who as "Squibob" and "John
Phoenix" was one of the best-known hvmiorists of
his time; Joseph H. Gilmore (1834-), who wrote the
hymn, "He leadeth me"; John Albee (1833-1915),
the New Hampshire bard; Robert C. Winthrop
(1834-1905), the historian; and Nathan Haskell Dole
(1852-) and George Herbert Palmer (1839-), both
happily still among the living. William Hayes Ward
(1835-1916), editor of the Independent, and Talcott
Williams (1849-), of the Columbia School of Journal-
ism, sat under Dr. Taylor, as did also Roswell W.

STUDENT LIFE UNDER "UNCLE SAM"

Smith (1829-92), founder of the Century Company,
and Joseph Cook (1838-1901), the eminent lecturer.
Among the representatives of science are Henry

A. Rowland (1848-1901), the physicist; Othniel C.
Marsh (1831-99), the palaeontologist; James B. Ham-
mond (1839-1913), inventor of the typewriter; George

B. Clark (1827-1901), builder of telescopes and re-
flectors; Ralph Emerson (1831-1914), maker of agri-
cultural implements; Moses G. Farmer (1820-93),
and William L. B. Jenney (1832-1907). Richard H.
Stearns (1824-1909) and Eben D. Jordan (1822-95)
founded great stores in Boston. Many distinguished
themselves in political life: Daniel H. Chamberlain
(1835-1907), Governor of South Carolina; WiUiam
Wallace Crapo (1830-), member of Congress; William
E. Dorsheimer (1832-88), Lieutenant-Governor of
New York; Charles P. Taft (1843-), member of Con-
gress; Horace Fairbanks (1820-88), Governor of Ver-
mont; Frederick Smyth (1819-99), Governor of New
Hampshire; Francis Wayland (1826-1904), Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Connecticut and Dean of the Yale
Law School; and Walker Blaine (1855-90), the dip-
lomat. Louis K. Harlow (1850-1913), the artist, and
Samuel Isham (1855-1914), the historian of art, were
Andover men. In the church, too, others may be
named: Charles C. Grafton (1830-1912), Bishop of
Wisconsin; Cortlandt Whitehead (1842-), Bishop of
Pittsburgh; William W. Leonard (1846-); Leander
T. Chamberlain (1837-1913), the famous preacher;
and Newman Smyth (1843-). In other fields, also,
Andover graduates won fame: Matthew C. D. Bor-
den (1842-1912), the manufacturer, who gave a large

299

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

sum for the building of the Borden Gymnasium;
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), the landscape
architect; Thomas Doane (1821-97), Chief Engineer
of the Hoosac Tunnel; Edwin Stewart (1837-), Rear-
Admiral of the United States Navy; and John Hyde
DeForest (1844-1911), the missionary, who was dec-
orated by the Mikado of Japan.

The men who attended Phillips Academy under
Dr. Taylor look back upon their school days with
mingled emotions. They have not forgotten the over-
powering personality of "Uncle Sam," his rigid disci-
pline and his stern demeanor in the classroom. Many
of them recall with a shudder certain rough experi-
ences in the old Commons, or in the none too seduc-
tive eating-clubs. A few, unfortunately, still cherish a
dislike for the school and all for which it stood; but
the wiser and more tolerant, looking through the
proper perspective, realize that Phillips Academy,
with all its faults and virtues, was then fairly repre-
sentative of some phases of American education at
that period.

CHAPTER XV

THE SCHOOL AND THE HILL IN THE MID-CENTURY

Men perish; institutions remain.

To those especially interested in the administra-
tion and financial control of Phillips Academy the
years from 1840 to 1870 presented many perplexing
problems. Not the least of these was the question of
readjustment after the union with the Teachers'
Seminary in 1842. Evidently some trouble had been
anticipated, for Dr. Taylor, in his report for 1843,
said with some complacency: —

No collisions or difficulties of any kind have arisen be-
tween the members of the two departments. They board
together in Commons, and meet together for morning and
evening prayers, without any distinction.

The classical students, it is true, treated their Eng-
lish fellows with some superciliousness, but this atti-
tude seems seldom to have been resented and the
peace was never broken. By 1847 the English pupils
had grown to outnumber those on the classical side,
and continued to do so until 1852; then the pre-
ponderance returned to the Classical Department,
where it has ever since remained.

The two departments, as a matter of fact, con-
tinued to be practically distinct until Dr. Bancroft's
administration. Dr. Taylor held the title of Principal
and attended to all matters of discipline, but he had
no interest in a scheme of education which discarded

301

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Latin and Greek. The teacher in charge of the Eng-
lish Department could, if he possessed ability, make
himself almost independent. Until 1866 the gradu-
ating class was composed only of classical pupils.
No one but an occasional prodigy ever entered col-
lege from the English Department, simply because
the instruction oflfered there did not qualify young
men for admission. Scholars in the English De-
partment were not divided formally into classes,
but were permitted to choose between "Common
Branches" and "Higher Branches"; and the courses
oflfered varied considerably from year to year.

The instructors in the English Department, how-
ever, were men of much more than average talent.
William Harvey Wells, who, after the union in 1842,
continued as Head of the English Department, gained
great popularity with the students through his af-
fability, which was strikingly contrasted with Dr.
Taylor's austerity. "He encouraged intimacy, and
responded with advice and sympathy," says the
Honorable W. W. Crapo, one of his pupils in 1844.
His resignation, which was presented in 1847, was
directly due to a disagreement which he had with
"Uncle Sam." Mr. Wells was followed in oflo^ce by
James Stewart Eaton ^ (1816-65), who remained in

' James Stewart Eaton was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, No-
vember 13, 1816, and graduated from the Teachers' Seminary at An-
dover as Valedictorian of the class of 1839. After teaching one year on
Cape Cod, he was placed in charge of the English Department at Bacon
Academy at Colchester, Connecticut, John Adams's former school.
From here he was, in 1847, called to Andover. While at Phillips Acad-
emy he wrote a series of Arithmetics, which had an extensive sale. Mr.
Eaton died in Andover in October, 1865, literally worn out by long
years of arduous teaching, with hardly a week's complete rest. His

302

IN THE MID-CENTURY

charge of the English Department for eighteen years.
He was a gentleman of scholarly tastes and high in-
tellectual ideals, who, with little assistance from Dr.
Taylor, did his best, in the face of many annoyances,
to maintain a creditable standard of work. That he
was obliged to be extraordinarily busy is indicated
by a paragraph in the first of his annual reports to the
Trustees, dated August 1, 1848: —

I have daily attended to from eight to ten recitations in
the following branches; viz.. Geography, Eng. Grammar
with an analysis of the poets. Arithmetic, Algebra, Geom-
etry, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Surveying, Natural
Philosophy, Astronomy, Bookkeeping by Double Entry,
Reading, and Spelling.

At the end of his fifth, tenth, and fifteenth years he
made elaborate surveys of the developments which
had taken place under his jurisdiction. While Dr.
Taylor was abroad in 1856, Mr. Eaton was appointed
Acting Principal, and performed his duties most ac-
ceptably. It is worth noting that Mr. Eaton, always
an overworked man, never received over $1200 a year.

At Mr. Eaton's death William Blair Graves ^ (1834-

portrait, painted by Miss Emily A. Means, was presented to Phillips
Academy at the centennial celebration in 1878, with a memorial ad-
dress by William A. Mowry. His name is perpetuated in Eaton Cottage,
an Academy dormitory. He was a modest and unassuming man, with
a skiU in elucidation which made him eminently successful as a teacher,
and a kind heart which won universal aflFection.

1 Professor Graves's long career in Phillips Academy is familiar to all
recent graduates. Born in Fairlee, Vermont, on February 2, 1834, he
studied at Kimball Academy and at Lawrence Academy, and graduated
from Amherst in 1862. After three years of teaching in small country
schools, he returned to Amherst in 1864 as Walker Instructor in Mathe-
matics. In 1865 he came to Phillips Academy, but resigned in 1870 to
accept a place as professor in Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. In

303

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

1915) was invited to fill the vacant position, with the
tacit understanding that he was to be allowed to
carry out some of the reforms for which Mr. Eaton
had pleaded in vain. Mr. Graves, who was full of
progressive ideas, was assisted in his plans by an un-
expected stroke of good fortune. In the early summer
of 1865, as the procession, headed by the band, was
marching to the Mansion House to escort Trustees
and guests to the Exhibition Hall, George Peabody,
the banker and philanthropist, some of whose relatives
had graduated from the Academy, said to Treasurer
John L. Taylor, " What do you need most now for the
school.'' " "A teacher of mathematics," was the reply.
"What will it cost?" "About $25,000." "I will take
care of it," said Mr. Peabody; and he did. Some cor-
respondence between him and the Trustees ended in
the public announcement on July 23, 1866, that he
had given $25,000 for the establishment of a chair of
mathematics and the natural sciences. Mr. Graves
was soon after appointed the first Peabody Instructor.
The part played by Mr. Graves in reorganizing the
English Department and moulding it into a scientific
school preparing for college has never been fuUy rec-
ognized. He removed from the catalogue the state-
ment that "special attention is given to those who
are qualifying themselves to be teachers"; he framed

1874 he returned to the East to Massachusetts Agricultural College,
and in 1881, at Dr. Bancroft's solicitation, he took again his post in
Phillips Academy. He held his position as Peabody Professor until June,
1908, when, at his own wish, he was made Professor Emeritus. He died
in Andover, May 5, 1915, in the Adams House on Salem Street, which
he had long occupied. His portrait by H. Winthrop Pierce was pre-
sented to Phillips Academy by his widow.

304

IN THE MID-CENTURY

and published a graded course of study, covering
three full years; and he induced the Trustees, not
only to award diplomas to graduates from his depart-
ment, but also to permit its scholars to participate in
the exercises at the annual Exhibition. Furthermore,
he revised the antiquated curriculum by eliminating
many of the subjects, like scientific agriculture and
Paley's Natural Theology, which improved theories in
education had been forcing teachers to discard. In
general what Mr. Graves did was to bring the English
Department up to date, by carefully pruning and
modifying the course of study and by infusing into it
a spirit of energy and enthusiasm. In four years he
accomplished much; but his interest in more ad-
vanced work led him in 1870 to accept a position
in Marietta College. Two months later William Glea-
son Goldsmith ^ (1832-1910) received an appointment
as Peabody Instructor.

The teachers on the classical side were in many
cases men who later achieved success in other schools
or professions.^ It was obviously impossible, however,

1 William G. Goldsmith was born in Andover, November 28, 1832,
attended Phillips Academy, and graduated from Harvard in 1857. In
1858 he became Principal of Punchard Free School in Andover, from
which position he was called in 1870 to become Peabody Instructor in
Phillips Academy. After Dr. Taylor's death, he was made Acting Prin-
cipal, but later returned to Punchard, where he remained until his res-
ignation in 1886. He was Postmaster of Andover from 1886 to 1895,
and Selectman from 1898 to 1901. He died October 7, 1910. Mr. Gold-
smith was a quiet, scholarly man who was everywhere respected. Had
he been a teacher on the classical side, he would probably have been
elected Principal after Dr. Taylor's death. As it was, Mr. Tilton was
preferred.

^ Among the assistant teachers under Dr. Taylor who afterwards
won distinction may be named Charles A. Aiken, who became President
of Union Theological Seminary and Professor at Princeton Seminary;

305

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

with the small salaries which the Trustees were able
to offer, to keep good instructors for any length of
time. Those who were really ambitious saw that there
was no future ahead in Phillips Academy, and quickly
secured better positions elsewhere. In 1854 Dr. Taylor
wrote: —

It has been my impression for several years past that
the interests of the Academy suffer from a too frequent
change of teachers. Those remaining but one or two
years only get well prepared to teach by the time they
leave.

In his report for 1867 he pointed out that the situa-
tion was becoming very serious : —

I regret to be obliged to repeat what was contained in
my report of last year, — that the Academy suffers from
so frequent a change of teachers. One of our teachers left
at the close of the autumn term on account of an inade-
quate salary; and his place has been supplied since by three
different teachers. Most of these supplies have been from
the Theological Seminary, the persons employed hearing
a single recitation in the morning and in the afternoon.
While we have been fortunate in obtaining good men, and
while the character of the instruction has been well sus-
tained, — much better than we could have expected with
so great a variety of teachers, — these changes are not
favorable to the best interests of the school. So far as the
changes are attributable to a deficiency in the salaries of

William A. Packard, Professor at Dartmouth and Princeton; Charles
A. Yoimg, Professor at Western Reserve, Dartmouth, and Princeton;
William H. Fenn, a clergyman in Manchester, New Hampshire, and in
Portland, Maine; John E. Todd, a pastor in Boston and in New Haven;
Charles M. Mead, the well-known Biblical scholar; John F. Aiken, a
clergyman in Pawlet, Vermont, and in Chichester, New Hampshire;
Albert C. Perkins, Principal of the Phillips Exeter Academy; and John
C. Proctor, Professor of Latin and Greek in Dartmouth.

306

IN THE MID-CENTURY

the teachers, it is a question, as it seems to me, for the Board
to consider still further. By a vote of the Board we are
allowed to offer a salary of $800 a year for a new teacher.
This sum was recently offered to one of our former scholars,
who graduates the present year; but another more lucra-
tive position was offered him, and in consequence we failed
to secure him. The place was then offered to another of
our former scholars, and the prospect of obtaining him is
quite doubtful, on the same ground. It is becoming pretty
evident that we cannot get the best class of teachers from
our colleges for the salary which the Trustees propose.

In the period from 1837 to 1868 no fewer than forty-
seven instructors were connected with Phillips Acad-
emy, of whom many — like John Phelps Taylor, for
instance — were "theologues," who in the nature of
the case could feel no very vital interest in the hour
or two of instruction which they gave each day.

Meanwhile the necessity of having a larger number
of teachers was repeatedly brought to the attention
of the Trustees. In 1865 the assistants — James S.
Eaton, Bridgman, Barrows, and Kimball — sent to
the Board a signed communication in which they
complained that they were teaching six and one half
hours a day and that this labor was too severe. Little
relief, however, was afforded them, for the Trustees,
with the revenues of the institution never adequate
to its expenditures, were obliged to harp continually
on economy. Abner J. Phipps, one of the ablest of
the assistants, sent in his resignation in 1847 because,
after nine years of fidelity to the school, he was not
given a "living wage." Alumni of this period speak
disdainfully of the poor instruction which they re-
ceived in the lower classes, as compared with the fine

307

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

training which as Seniors, they gained from Dr.
Taylor. The one brilliant assistant teacher of Dr.
Taylor's administration was Peter Smith Byers ^
(1827-56), who remained in Phillips Academy just
two years.

The truth is that the resources and equipment of
the school were not keeping pace with the rapid in-
crease in numbers. From 1827 until 1865 Phillips
Academy received no gift of any importance except
the Students' Educational Fund started by the class
of 1854. The only possible method of adding to the
income was to raise the tuition charges. The rate,
which, in 1838, had been $6 a term, was increased in
1851 to $7, in 1857 to $8, in 1864 to $10, and in 1866
to $15. Tuition in the English Department, which
was fixed in 1842 on the scale of forty cents a week
for "Common Branches" and fifty cents for "Higher
Branches," was changed in 1857 to a flat charge of $7
for the fall term and $8 for the winter and spring
terms. In 1869 the Classical and English Depart-
ments were put on an equal basis by the establish-
ment of a fee of $15 a term for each registered student.
But even this addition to the revenue was insufficient
to meet the needs of an expanding institution. New
buildings for recitation and dormitory purposes were

' Peter Smith Byers, nephew of John and Peter Smith, was born in
Brechin, Scotland, and came to America at the age of nine. In the class
of 1851 at Harvard he ranked third. In that year he came to Phillips
Academy, but resigned in 1853 to become Principal of Abbot Academy;
he soon left, however, to accept a place at Providence High School. He
then returned to Andover as Principal of Punchard Free School, but
died in 1856, before he had begun his new work. He was "an inquisi-
tive and untiring scholar, and an intelligent, judicious, winning, and
efficient instructor."

308

IN THE MID-CENTURY

essential, but there was no one to provide them, and
the school continued to suffer under a handicap.
When the last nail was driven into the Commons
dormitories, work for carpenters and masons on
Andover Hill, so far as Phillips Academy was con-
cerned, practically ceased for twenty years.

The Stone Academy had always looked as if it
might stand until the last trump; but it was not proof
against fire, and, on the evening of December 21, 1864,
it was completely ruined by a disastrous conflagra-
tion. There was some reason at the time to suspect
that the blaze had been set by an expelled student
who was seeking a contemptible revenge, but the
necessary evidence was never forthcoming. The
Trustees promptly voted that a new Academy Hall
should be erected, and at a meeting of the alumni
held at Commencement in 1865 a building fund was
started, which amounted finally to $21,543. While
the construction was going on, recitations were held
in "Old Brick." The new Main Building was dedi-
cated on February 7, 1866, with a large gathering of
graduates present, this being the first celebration of
this kind ever held entirely under the auspices of
Academy alumni. The programme included a long
list of speeches, with the principal address by the
Honorable Philip H. Sears on Classical Studies as a
Part of Academic Education. On the following day
school exercises were begun in the new building, which
has been used for that purpose almost continuously
ever since. Architecturally, the essential ugliness of
the building was only accentuated by attempts at
ornamentation. It was, however, both comfortable

309

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

and commodious, and its large assembly hall on the
third floor and its recitation rooms and offices were
ample at that date for the demands of the school.
In its exterior it has twice been considerably re-
modeled, so that it is to-day rather more in harmony
with the other structures on Andover Hill.

Phillips Academy was to have no other new build-
ings under Dr. Taylor's administration. During the
summer and autumn of 1865, however, excavation
was being carried on for Brechin Hall, the Library of
Andover Theological Seminary, which was given by
John Smith 1 (1796-1886), John Dove^ (1799-1876),
and Peter Smith ^ (1802-80)^ and named, at their
request, after their boyhood home in Brechin, For-
farshire, Scotland. On April 22, 1864, each of these

' John Smith, the pioneer of his family, came to America from Scot-
land in 1816, and in 1822 established himself in Plymouth as a maker of
cotton machinery. In 1824 he moved to Andover, where, with two
partners, he built a machine shop on the Shawsheen. In 1836, with his
brother Peter, and John Dove, he started a flax mill, the first Ln America,
which proved to be highly profitable. In 1864 he helped to organize the
Smith and Dove Company, of which he was President until his death.
The business is still carried on by his grandson, Mr. George F. Smith.
John Smith was a liberal philanthropist, both to his native town of
Brechin and to Andover.

^ John Dove, a Scotch machinist of inventive genius, was bom in
Brechin, May 5, 1805, and came to America in 1833. By designing and
setting up machinery he was of great assistance to the Smiths in starting
their flax mill, and he became a partner in the Smith and Dove Com-
pany. Like his associates he could always be relied upon to contribute
to a deserving cause.

' Peter Smith, bom in Brechin in September, 1802, was John Smith's
younger brother, and followed him to America in 1822, where he pros-
pered with him in his business. From 1870 until his death ten years
later he was a Tmstee of PhiUips Academy, and he was also President
of the Board of Tmstees of Abbot Academy. In these oflices he showed
himself to be full of shrewd plans and practical suggestions. A memorial
volume was pubUshed after his death in 1880.

310

BRECHIN HALL

THE DOUBLE DRICK HOUSE

IN THE MID-CENTURY

gentlemen bonded himself to give $10,000, and the
total amount of $30,000 was duly paid to the Trustees
in 1865 in installments of $5000 each. When it was
found that the cost would exceed $40,000, the same
three men, on July 24, 1866, contributed an additional
$30,000, in equal shares, the unexpended balance of
which was used to form the "Smith and Dove Library
Fund." The building was opened by the Seminary in
1866 and used for library purposes until 1908, when
it was included in the property purchased by the
Academy Trustees.

At the time of his formal election as Principal in
1838 Samuel H. Taylor was voted a salary of $1200;
this was not increased until 1855, when it was raised
to $1500. In 1864, in accordance with a complete
readjustment of salaries, Taylor was to receive $2000;
the Treasurer, $1800; Eaton, $1200; and the three as-
sistants $1200, $800, and $800 respectively. In 1866
it was decided to allow Mr. Graves $1200 a year, and
it was further agreed that no other new teacher should
receive over $800 for his first year. Dr. Taylor's
salary was eventually fixed at $2500. The Senior
class during the early years of his administration
made it a regular practice to present the Principal,
at their graduation, with either $100 in gold or some
article costing that amount. In 1860, however, the
Trustees, who saw that contributions to this fund
were burdensome to some poorer members of the
class, passed a resolution disapproving the custom,
and it was gradually abandoned. Other teachers,
also, were generously remembered. When the popu-
lar Peter Smith Byers left Phillips Academy, his

311

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

class gave him three engravings and books to the
value, it is stated, of $62.

The inevitable changes in the personnel of the
Board of Trustees had little effect upon its poUcy.
After the resignation of Judge Hubbard as President
in 1843, the Honorable Samuel T. Armstrong, already
a Trustee, was chosen to succeed him. At this date
not a single member of any branch of the Phillips
family remained on the Board, and only two members.
Dr. Daniel Dana ^nd 'Squire Farrar, had ever been
friends of Judge Phillips. Dr. Dana in 1856 sent in an
indignant letter of resignation, implying that the
Board was violating the terms of its trust by allowing
heretical opinions to be taught in the Seminary.
'Squire Farrar, although he resigned as Treasurer in
1840 and as Trustee in 1846, was still a quaint figure
on the Andover streets. People now living can recall
his odd dress and gentle spiritual expression, his hair,
silvery white, hanging down over his ears, and his
bent form moving slowly about the Campus, paus-
ing now and then near a building which he had him-
self designed or some tree which he had planted half a
century before. He died in 1864, in his ninety-second
year, having outlived all the men of his generation.
In his office as Treasurer he was succeeded by Samuel
Fletcher 1 (1785-1858).

On March 26, 1850, Mr. Armstrong died, and the
Trustees, after no small amount of persuasion, in-

' Samuel Fletcher, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1810, became a law-
yer in Concord, New Hampshire. He was elected a Trustee of Phillips
Academy in 1839, and held the position until his death, October 28,
1858. While he was Treasurer, from 1841 to 1850, he made Andover his
home, but he afterwards returned to Concord, where he died.

S12

IN THE MID-CENTURY

duced Dr. Justin Edwards to accept the position of
President. Dr. Edwards, however, died in 1853, and
John Aiken ^ (1797-1867), a Lowell manufacturer
living in Andover, was chosen in his place. Of Mr.
Aiken, who was an unusually sagacious business man,
John L. Taylor once spoke as follows: —

For every important discussion in the sessions of the
Board he was prepared as but few of its members could be,
so that for many years no man can be said to have done so
much as he towards determining its whole policy and action.

President Franklin Pierce, who was Mr. Aiken's
brother-in-law, used often to be his guest in Andover,
and the two distinguished men excited much atten-
tion as they walked together about the Hill. When
Mr. Aiken resigned the Presidency in 1857, he was
followed in office by the Honorable William J. Hub-
bard ^ (1802-64), of Boston. At his death in 1864
the Reverend Seth Sweetser ^ (1807-78) of Worcester,
who had sat on the Board since 1850, was elected
President, and held the position until 1878.
y^ The first paid Treasurer of the Board, Mr. Daniel
Noyes (1792-1852), was a retired Boston merchant,
who lived only two years after his appointment in

* John Aiken graduated at Dartmouth in 1819, and became a lawyer
at Manchester, Vermont. In 1834 he engaged in manufacturing in the
city of Lowell, and moved to Andover in 1850. He was elected a Trustee
of Phillips Academy in 1844, but resigned in 1863 on account of failing
health. He died in Andover, February 10, 1867.

^ William J. Hubbard, a graduate of Yale in 1820, became a lawyer in
Boston, a Representative and a State Senator, and a member of the
Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853.

' Seth Sweetser, bom at Newburyport in 1807, graduated from Har-
vard, was ordained in 1836, and was pastor of the Central Church at
Worcester from 1838 to 1874.

313

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

1850. He was succeeded by the Reverend John Lord
Taylor^ (1811-84), who was to fill in some respects
the place in the community formerly held by 'Squire
Farrar. As scholar, clergyman, teacher, author, and
business man he made his mark successively in several
different fields, always leaving the impression that he
could not fail in anything which he seriously under-
took.

When John L. Taylor resigned in 1868 in order to
become President of the Seminary, his position was
taken by Edward Taylor ^ (1817-93), who was Treas-
urer for twenty-one years, until 1889. From 1852 un-
til 1871 Phillips Academy was administered by Tay-
lors, for Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, working first with
John L. Taylor and afterwards with Edward Taylor,
certainly controlled the school.

Several of the Trustees elected under Dr. Samuel

* John Lord Taylor was born at Warren, Connecticut, and graduated
at Yale in 1835. After his ordination in 1839, he came directly to An-
dover as pastor of the Old South Church, where he served until his resig-
nation in 1852. From 1868 until 1877 he was President of the Sem-
inary Faculty, and from 1873 until 1880 he was at the head of the
Andover National Bank. He died September 24, 1884. Dr. Taylor
made many generous gifts to the Academy and the Seminary. He was
the author of the delightful Memoir of Judge Phillips (1854) of which so
much use has been made in this volume. It is distinguished not only by
accurate knowledge and painstaking research, but by a felicitous style.

' Edward Taylor was born ia Huntington, Massachusetts, and was
educated at Lenox and Westfield Academies. After 1839 he was con-
nected with the Marland Manufacturing Company in Andover, but
resigned in 1869 to become Treasurer of the Trustees. From 1880 to
1890 he was President of the Andover National Bank. He was a
Trustee of Abbot Academy and of Punchard Free School, Town Clerk
and Town Treasurer, Representative in the Legislature and Deacon of
the Old South Church. When he died. May 21, 1893, Dr. Bancroft wrote
"His Christian principles and consistent conduct and character made
him a power in the community and a blessing to the world."

314

IN THE MID-CENTURY

H. Taylor were men of ability, among them being
William Augustus Stearns (1805-78), President of
Amherst College; Alpheus Hardy (1815-87), later a
President of the Board; and Dr. Daniel T. Fiske
(1819-1903), also a President, following Mr. Hardy.
Speaking generally, however, they formed a weaker
body than the group of men who had been accus-
tomed to meet with Judge Phillips in the Mansion
House fifty and sixty years before. As the Academy
grew larger and more complex in its organization, the
intimate relations between it and individual Trustees
were no longer so noticeable. The members of the
Board, engrossed with the weighty problems con-
nected with Andover Theological Seminary, paid
little attention to Phillips Academy; they no longer
condescended to interfere, as in the old days, in petty
disciplinary matters; and they came, probably almost
unconsciously, to regard their meetings as mainly
for the purpose of ratifying the decrees of the Prin-
cipal. Gradually Dr. Taylor seized the control in his
own strong hands; he alone, except in real crises, de-
termined the nature of the curriculum, settled cases
of insubordination or poor scholarship, and engaged
his own assistants. He always, however, submitted
his decisions to Andover members of the Board, like
'Squire Farrar, Dr. Edwards, John L. Taylor, or
John Aiken, who formed a kind of "cabinet" and
who seldom questioned his judgment. The Trustees,
for their part, were properly satisfied to be relieved
of much trivial detail which, in an earlier generation,
had occupied altogether too much of their time.
The Andover of Dr. Taylor's time was a New Eng-

315

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

land Athens, a genuine center of intellectual and spir-
itual life. It was the golden age of the Theological
Seminary, when great preachers walked the streets
and when the Draper press teemed with volume
after volume from the pens of professors and their
talented wives and daughters. In the south study of
the President's House, where so many famous persons
had deliberated on Monday evenings in the days of
Dr. Porter, Professor Austin Phelps (1820-90) was
preparing sermons so brilliant that they stirred even a
congregation already surfeited with pulpit eloquence,
and writing his well-known Still Hour and other re-
ligious books so popular in the "fifties."

On Andover Hill Professor Phelps's gifted daughter,
EUzabeth Stuart Phelps (1844-1908), conceived the
plan of The Gates Ajar (1869), which gave her reputa-
tion almost in a day. In the little white summer house
in the rear of her father's home, or in the sunny rooms
of the Chandler farmhouse next door, she used to sit
at her table writing a long series of novels and stories,
many of which, like A Singular Life and Walled In,
are redolent of the theological atmosphere in the
aroma of which she grew to womanhood. One of her
later books. Chapters from a Life, is filled with interest-
ing personal reminiscences of her years in Andover.

When Dr. Taylor took office, and for some years
afterward, the most noble figure on the Hill was Pro-
fessor Stuart, "the father of Hebrew literature in
America" (and also the father of two of Professor
Phelps's wives), who, full even then of inexhaustible
energy, was recognized from afar by his Indian lope,
as he moved as if shot from a gun over the old plank

316

IN THE MID-CENTURY

walk on the way to Bartlet Chapel. Oliver Wendell
Holmes once described him: —

Tall, lean, with strong, bold features, a keen, scholarly,
accipitrine nose, thin, expressive lips, great solemnity and
impressiveness of voice and manner, he was my early
model of a classic orator. His air was Roman, his neck long
and bare like Cicero's, and his toga — that is, his broad-
cloth cloak — was carried on his arm, whatever might
have been the weather, with such a statue-like, rigid grace
that he might have been turned into marble where he
stood, and looked noble by the side of the antiques in the
Vatican.

Whether in setting Hebrew type, in composing for-
midable tracts in obscure Oriental tongues, or in mak-
ing hay in his stony meadow, he was an unquenchable
enthusiast. Once, when several of his pupils were
assisting him in the hayfield behind his house and
the crop was of even worse than the customary poor
quality, he broke out: —

Bah ! Was there ever climate and soil like this ! Manure
the land as much as you will, it all leaches through this
gravel, and very soon not a trace of it can be seen. If you
plant early, everything is liable to be cut off by the late
frosts of spring. If you plant late, your crop is destroyed
by the early frosts of autumn. If you escape these, the
burning sun of summer scorches your crop, and it perishes
by heat and drought. If none of these evils overtake you,
clouds of insects eat up your crop, and what the caterpillar
leaves, the cankerworm devom-s.

To his awed listeners he seemed like a modern Jere-
miah, lamenting the woes of his harassed generation.
In the year that Professor Stuart died there came
to Andover Professor Calvin E. Stowe (1802-86) and

317

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

his wife, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-96), who had
just published Uncle Tom's Cabin. They soon were
settled in the "stone shell of a building" on Chapel
Avenue, which was at this time remodeled as a resi-
dence in conformity with suggestions outlined by
Mrs. Stowe. There, in the attractive study on the
ground floor, which was always filled with flowers, she
composed many of her books, including the one en-
titled Dred. The Stowes, with a hospitality quite
strange to staid Andoverians, shocked the townspeople
with the amusements which they provided for their
guests: tableaux, charades, and even, on one memor-
able occasion, a Christmas tree. Up to this date the
"levee," or reception, had been the most daring of
Andover's social recreations. Mrs. Stowe, "as thin
and dry as a pinch of snuff," was often seen on the
Seminary Campus, attended by her two favorite dogs.
There was a vague suspicion that she sometimes
visited the theater in Boston, and it was even hinted
by some of those who disliked her that she had Epis-
copalian leanings. Her twin daughters, named, one
after herself, the other after her husband's first wife,
resembled each other so much that they were dis-
tinguished by red and blue ribbons, and when these
were once shifted by a mischievous practical joker,
the mother herself was at a loss to know which was
which. In 1864 the Stowes moved to Hartford, Con-
necticut, where Mrs. Stowe, after her husband's death,
continued to live until her death in 1896 ; but her body,
at her own request, was brought back to Andover and
buried in the beautiful cemetery near the house on
the hill which she had learned to love so well.

318

IN THE MID-CENTURY

Only one man was qualified to fill the position
in the Andover community occupied by Professor
Stuart, — Edwards Amasa Park^ (1808-1900), pro-
fessor in the Seminary from 1836 until 1881. In the
retrospect Professor Park seems to those who knew
him to have been far greater than anything he ever
did. His sermons — especially some five or six, like
those on Judas and Peter, of extraordinary power —
were the talk of his contemporaries, and were fre-
quently repeated in response to a general request. He
was a delightful occasional speaker, as well as an im-
pressive lecturer and orator. In his younger days he
was assailed as a radical in theology; in his old age
he was reproached with being unprogressive and re-
actionary. No one is Kkely to forget Mrs. Ward's
picture of Professor Park, teaching schoolgirls his
theological doctrines, — "An infinite wrong against
an Infinite Being deserves an infinite punishment."
Despite much harsh and often unintelligent criticism
he remained fast to his faith at both periods and
seemed indifferent to attack. Professor Park and Dr.
Taylor were associated for many years in the editor-
ship of the Bibliotheca Sacra. Dr. Taylor regularly
corrected the proof-sheets and on rare occasions con-
tributed an article, but Professor Park retained the
editorial responsibility in his own hands. Professor

1 Edwards Amasa Park was bom in Providence, Rhode Island, De-
cember 29, 1808, graduated from Brown University in 1826, and was
ordained in 1831. In 1836, after a short service as professor at Amherst,
he was called to Andover. From 1844 to 1884 he was editor of the Bibli-
otheca Sacra. He was a Trustee of Abbot Academy and of Smith Col-
lege, and a Fellow of Brown University. He received honorary degrees
from Harvard and Brown. After 1881 Professor Park continued to live
quietly in his home on Main Street. He died June 4, 1900.

319

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Park had a striking personality which made him an
object of veneration, and which led passers-by to look
at him with awe as he paced, an hour at a time, up
and down the path from his house to the street, his
brow apparently knit in profound thought.

Another delightful person was John W. Churchill *
(1839-1900), who, while he was a student in the Theo-
logical Seminary in 1866, was made Instructor in
Elocution in Phillips Academy, and retained that
position for thirty-four years. He succeeded in mak-
ing public speaking one of the most interesting fea-
tures of the curriculum. Most of Professor Churchill's
work was, of course, accomplished under Dr. Ban-
croft, but he brought his first contagious enthusiasm
to the last years of Dr. Taylor's administration. He
had hardly taken his place as teacher before he per-
suaded Warren F. Draper^ (1818-1905), of Andover,

' John Wesley Churchill was bom in Fairlee, Vermont. At the age
of seventeen he became a civil engineer in Ohio, but returned to the
Easti finished his course at Phillips Academy in 1861, graduated from
Harvard in 1865 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1868, and
then settled down for his long and inspiring career in Andover.

^ Warren Fales Draper was born at East Dedham, Massachusetts,
fitted for college at Phillips Academy (class of 1843), graduated at
Amherst in 1847, and started work at Andover Theological Seminary.
Failing eyesight, however, compelled him to abandon his studies, and
in 1849 he entered the employ of Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, printers
in Andover. In 1854 he became sole proprietor of the establishment,
which he conducted until 1887, publishing more than six hundred vol-
umes, some of which had a very large sale. He accumulated through en-
terprise and thrift a considerable fortune which he dispensed in chari-
ties, his total donations to Andover institutions amounting to over
$100,000. He was most generous to Abbot Academy; but he also gave,
in addition to the prize fund, a scholarship, a cottage (the Draper), and
other contributions to Phillips Academy. He was a notable example, as
it has been fittingly said, "of the old New England type of a Christian
business man." ,

320

IN THE MID-CENTURY

to give forty dollars for the Draper prizes in declama-
tion. Mr. Draper, it is said, was first led to acqui-
esce in Professor Churchill's suggestion by hearing
a poorly delivered sermon, at the close of which he
resolved that he would do his best to eradicate inar-
ticulate enunciation and halting delivery in the
younger generation. These prizes, maintained by Mr.
Draper for many years and still supported by a fund
given by him to the Trustees, have been of incal-
culable value in stimulating boys to become good
speakers. When the excellent results obtained by
the training for the Draper contest had become ap-
parent, Mr. William G. Means^ (1815-94), of An-
dover, presented forty dollars to be awarded for ex-
cellence in "original declamation." These prizes,
usually three in number, were eventually made per-
manent by a clause in Mr. Means's will. In drilling
boys for these competitions Professor Churchill had
ample opportunity to display his extraordinary abil-
ity as an instructor, and the contests which re-
sulted were memorable events in the academic year.
Every detail in delivery was carefully attended to.
"Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle,"
he used to say to his students, and they soon learned
the lesson. He won a reputation which extended be-
yond New England, and which led Matthew Arnold,
when he came to America, to seek Professor Churchill's
aid in teaching him how properly to use his voice in

' William Gordon Means, bom in Amherst, New Hampshire, devoted
himself to business, became a manufacturer and eventually Treasurer
of the Manchester Locomotive Works, and, after retiring, settled for a
time in Andover. He died, January 4, 1894, in Boston, and was buried
in the South Church Cemetery in Andover.

321

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

reading and lecturing. Professor Churchill was a
witty and tactful presiding oflScer, without whose
presence no anniversary or dinner in the vicinity was
ever complete. But, more than all else, he was a
friend, deeply and widely beloved.

While men like Professor Park and Professor
Churchill were alive, Andover Hill was likely to be
well known. They, like Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, were
personages whom even careless boys could hardly
help remembering in after days. Young men at
Phillips Academy could not escape being touched in
part by the spirit of these preceptors who knew "the
joy of elevated thoughts." Boys learned on Andover
Hill something besides their formal schooling; they
came, no matter how slightly, in contact with men
of power, with ideas and ideals that were well worth
while.

CHAPTER XVI

THE intekkegnum: fkedeeic w. tilton

Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive,
The blessing lies.

Whoever followed Samuel H. Taylor as Principal
was bound to have no easy time of it. His system was
so deeply rooted, his rules had been so inflexible, and
he had so succeeded in impressing them upon the boys
that, while reconstruction was inevitable, it could
hardly fail to result in temporary disorganization.
Nevertheless, the attempt had to be made. The hour
was near which was to decide whether the New Eng-
land Academy had the vitality to survive amid new
conditions, whether in a period of rapid and signifi-
cant changes it still had a function to perform. The
curriculum, as we have seen, was in sad need of re-
vision; the Faculty had to be strengthened; and
Phillips Academy had to be placed on a parity with
other institutions of similar aim and character.
These problems, and others no less serigus, awaited
the man venturesome enough to assume the toga
dropped by " Uncle Sam."

During the uncertain weeks following Dr. Taylor's
funeral William G. Goldsmith, the Peabody Instruc-
tor, took matters in charge and showed himself to be
a competent administrator. In March a committee
of the Trustees made an offer to Frederic W. Tilton^
of Newport, Rhode Island, but it was declined; then
the committee, not satisfied, induced Mr. Tilton to

323

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

come to Cambridge for a conference. Mr. Tilton,
who could even at a distance read the handwriting on
the wall, was by no means eager to accept the oppor-
tunity and insisted that "the Trustees should first
approve of his views in regard to the administration of
the Academy." This they did with unexpected alac-
rity, and on June 19 the preliminaries were settled.
Mr. Tilton was to have a salary of $2500 a year and
suitable quarters for himseK and family. During the
summer he took up his residence in the north side of
the Double Brick House, Mrs. Taylor retaining the
south apartment.

The extent of the proposed reorganization was ap-
parent from the fact that Mr. Tilton was a graduate
of Harvard, the college which Dr. Taylor so dis-
trusted. Frederic William Tilton was born May 14,
1839, in Cambridge, the son of Benjamin and Lu-
cinda (Newell) Tilton. After completing his course
at Harvard with high honors in 1862, he studied for
several months in the University of Gottingen. In
1863 he went to the Highland Mihtary Academy at
Worcester as Instructor in Latin, and there remained
three years. He married in 1864 Ellen Trowbridge,
sister of Professor John Trowbridge, of Harvard. He
moved to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1867, as Super-
intendent of Public Schools.

Mr. Tilton was certainly a trained teacher and ad-
ministrator. As he himself realized, however, he was
not familiar with schools like Phillips Academy, the
peculiar problems of which had been outside his prov-
ince. He wisely endeavored to correct his ignorance
by seeking advice from those well acquainted with

334

FREDERIC WILMAM TILTON

THE INTERREGNUM: FREDERIC W. TILTON

conditions at Andover, and to this end consulted
several Trustees and townspeople, as well as the two
remaining members of the Faculty, George H. Taylor
and William W. Eaton. George H. Taylor retained
his position. William W. Eaton ^ (1846-1905) also
remained in the Academy through Mr. Tilton's ad-
ministration.

Acting partly on President Eliot's advice, Mr.
Tilton urged the Trustees to readjust studies so that
Phillips Academy would be able to meet the entrance
requirements, not only of Harvard, but also of other
reputable colleges. The first indication of the new
regime is found in a statement of the catalogue for
1872: —

It is confidently expected that from the opening of the
Fall term of 1872, instruction will be given in Modern
Languages. Such instruction will be open to those mem-
bers of the Middle and Senior Classes who desire it. There
will be an extra charge, not exceeding five dollars per term,
for each language.

Professor Oscar Faulhaber, who had been con-
ducting a small private school in the old Marland
House, was accordingly engaged as a teacher of
French and German. This step is interesting as show-
ing the reaction against Dr. Taylor's system. It was
for innovations such as this that he had had the
strongest distaste, fearing that they would have an
injurious effect upon classical study.
. Mr. Tilton's two years were really too short for the

' William W. Eaton, a graduate of Amherst in 1868, taught at Phil-
lips Academy 1871-73. He later studied in Gottingen and Leipzig, and
was an instructor in the Seminary, 1877-79. From 1883 until his death
he was a professor in Middlebury College.

325

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

accomplishment of lasting reforms; they constituted,
in fact, a time of transition, when Phillips Academy,
lying fallow, was preparing for renewed fertility.
Evidently the loss of Dr. Taylor caused no diminu-
tion of confidence in the school, for the attendance in-
creased from 228 in 1871 to 241 in 1872 and 252 in
1873. Nor did the scholarship of the students suffer.
Mr. Tilton soon discovered, as James S. Eaton had
pointed out in 1865, that mathematical subjects in
the school were being wretchedly taught. This de-
ficiency he promptly remedied by taking charge of
the algebra and geometry divisions himself, and labor-
ing to elevate the standard. Even the preparation in
the classics was not adapted to meet the entrance
requirements of any Eastern college except Yale.
When Mr. Tilton arrived, the Greek class, supposed
to be ready for college, had read only part of one book
of the Anabasis, Dr. Taylor having relied on the well-
known willingness of the Yale authorities to accept
without examination men bearing his recommenda-
tion. This class Mr. Eaton and Mr. Tilton succeeded
in preparing in one year, after using a large number
of extra hours. Under Dr. Taylor boys who wished to
enter college had been practically forced to choose
Yale. Mr. Tilton publicly expressed his disapproval of
this policy by announcing in chapel that his aim
would be to qualify Phillips boys for any higher in-
stitution. The immediate result appeared at the close
of Mr. Tilton's first year, when seventeen of the grad-
uating class went to Harvard, a larger number than in
any one year since the days of John Adams. Every
other pupil, moreover, who desired to enter college

326

THE INTERREGNUM: FREDERIC W. TILTON

from Andover was admitted without difficulty. Dr.
Taylor at his best could have done no better.

Under Dr. Taylor the Faculty had possessed com-
paratively little power. Their advice was seldom
asked for; every case of discipline, every problem of
classroom management, was handled by the Principal.
It is to Mr. Tilton's credit that he established weekly
Faculty meetings, at which offenses were reported
and difficulties discussed. The office of Secretary of
the Faculty was created, and filled on April 25, 1873,
by F. E. Thompson. Phillips Academy was on the
road to becoming something more than a "one man
school." For the first time in Academy history re-
ports of each boy's standing were sent at intervals to
his parents, and a list of high scholars was read at the
end of each term before the student body.

The boys' Sunday, as Mr. Tilton found it, was de-
cidedly depressing. Two church services were held,
one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, at
each of which long sermons were preached by clergy-
men, usually Seminary professors, who often had lit-
tle success in interesting the younger section of the
congregation. The new Principal excused the pupils
from the afternoon sermon, and in its place held a brief
vesper service for Academy boys only, at which some
distinguished man, not necessarily a minister, gave a
short talk. This sensible innovation was immensely
popular with both teachers and undergraduates.

With the discipline Mr. Tilton met some formidable
obstacles. His hand was not so heavy as that of his
predecessor, and he could not reconcile himself to
the use of the somewhat brutal methods traditional

327

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in the school. Often he was out all night, simply be-
cause he feared some lawless outbreak. Attempts
were made to continue the practice of publishing
"Mock Programmes," at Commencement, and the
Middlers in 1872 printed a paper called The Pony
Phaeton, — a scurrilous performance in which the
Seniors were assailed and Tilton was ridiculed. For-
tunately the editors were soon discovered, and several
of them, including the son of a prominent statesman,
were expelled. This drastic action doubtless aided the
Middlers at the close of the following year in stating
publicly: "The time has arrived to abolish the cus-
tom of Mock Programmes, and as a class we have
taken the initiatory steps to that end." A few tur-
bulent spirits even at that Commencement did actu-
ally produce a "Mock Programme," but the better
element in the class quickly suppressed it. The
copies which had already appeared were burned on a
hot June day in a stove in the Farrar House, and the
Exhibition was carried on undisturbed.

On one occasion Mr. Tilton was clever enough to
outwit the boys. Having been warned in advance of
one annual school custom, he asked Deacon Chand-
ler, the Seminary sexton of the Chapel, to have an
extra bell-clapper made and kept ready for emergen-
cies. When, on a cold Saturday night in December,
the clapper suddenly disappeared. Deacon Chandler,
as soon as he discovered the loss, merely used the
newly made tongue. The crafty culprits, who had ex-
pected to escape the church service because of the
failure of the bell to ring, were chagrined to hear it
pealing out as usual. A few of the older inhabitants,

328

THE INTERREGNUM: FREDERIC W. TILTON

noticing a peculiar tone to the ring, suspected that
the bell had been affected by the intense cold.

Mr. Tilton soon recognized that, for a man of
his temperament, the responsibility and strain were
likely to prove injurious. With practically every
minute of his time occupied in teaching and admin-
istration, he had no opportunity for recreation or
reading. Mrs. Tilton also found that her husband's
cares were reacting on her own health. Mainly for
these reasons he resigned on March 17, 1873. Mr.
Tilton left Andover in June, and went at once to New-
port, Rhode Island, as Head Master of the newly
founded Rogers High School in that city. About 1890
he retired from teaching and settled in Cambridge,
where he resides to-day.

Mr. Tilton will be remembered as the leader who
bridged over the gulf between the Phillips Academy
oT'Dr.^Tavlor and the more modern school of Dr.

Bancroft. In his efforts at reform he was undoubtedly
vigorous and wise. Something, too, he did accom-
plish in introducing more efficient methods of in-
struction and government, and had he been able to
carry out his plans, his career at Andover would
probably have been distinguished. As it was, he did
much to make the way easier for Dr. Bancroft.

~Tt fs^^iolT'drfficult toun3erstand, thenTTiow an
alumnus who studied under both Dr. Taylor and
Mr. Tilton could say : —

It seemed to me that the Tilton regime was a disorgan-
ized affair, a sort of transition period after the iron disci-
pline of Dr. Taylor, and that the Academy did not get into
good working order again until later on with Bancroft.

329

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

But we may well quote also the words of Charles
Moore, of the class of 1874, at the Centennial in 1878,
when he presented to Phillips Academy a portrait of
Mr. Tilton, painted by Stone : —

So short a time has passed since he went from among you
that it needs no words of mine to call up the remembrance
of a man whose dignity, scholarship, and ability to teach
have placed him in the front rank of New England's edu-
cators.

CHAPTER XVn

CECIL F. P. BANCROFT: THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION
AND REFORM

Born for success he seemed

With grace to win, with heart to hold.

With shining gifts that took all eyes.

On the very day when Tilton's note of resignation
was read and accepted by the Trustees, they were
able to agree upon his successor. Several of the mem-
bers were acquainted with Cecil F. P. Bancroft, a
young Dartmouth graduatej^wEo^ f OT'some^months
in 1867 had taught Latin in PElHips Academy^nd
who, in 1873, waTTn Germany pursmrig~unlversity
work towards a degree. After a brief consideration
of his qualifications the Trustees sent him a cable
message to Halle, Germany, offering him the princi-
palship, with a salary of $2500 a year and a house.
In a reply dated April 10 Mr. Bancroft said in clos-
ing:—

If no better man in the meantime willing to accept the
position is found, and the Trustees still desire it, I will do
the best I can. I wish the Trustees to recall the appoint-
ment, without the least hesitation as regards me personally,
if the interests of the institution can thereby be promoted.
. . . Till I hear from you again I shall regard our engage-
ment as binding upon me, but not binding upon you.

Upon receipt of a prompt answer from Dr. Sweetser,
and also of some urgent letters from intimate friends
acquainted with the situation at Andover, Mr. Ban-

331

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

croft on May 17 cabled his acceptance. In response
to Dr. Sweetser's inquiries he gave his opinion that
George H. Taylor ought to be retained as a teacher, —
"because of his thorough acquaintance with the best
instruction and discipline of Andover"; and he also
expressed the wish that, if a new instructor in modem
languages were appointed, he should not be a for-
eigner, but "should be a man in every religious and
social respect, as well as in scholarship, capable of
taking and holding, before the pupils and among the
teachers, a position quite equal to that of the best
among us, redeeming the department — as Professor
Churchill has that of elocution in the Seminary —
from the vagabond character it so often wears."
Otherwise he made no stipulations or requests, but
hastened to America to take up the work which was
to prove the splendid opportunity of his life.

Cecil Bancroft was born November 25, 1839, in
New Ipswich, New Hampshire, of plain and sub-
stantial country people, his parents being Deacon
James Bancroft and Sarah (Kendall) Bancroft. At
an early age he was practically, although not legally,
adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Patch, of the neighboring
town of Ashby, from whom he received the additional
names of their own son who had recently died; thus
the boy was known as Cecil Franklin Patch Bancroft,
and acquired the three initials to which he so often
jokingly referred. Partly through the generosity of
the Patches, he attended the common schools of
Ashby, and later the Appleton Academy at New
Ipswich. He entered Dartmouth College in 1856,
where, in spite of the fact that he taught at Groton

332

CECIL FRANKLIN PATCH BANCROFT

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

during the winter terms, he made an excellent schol-
astic record, graduating in 1860 fourth in his class
of sixty-five members. For the four years ensuing
he was Principal of Appleton Academy^ at Mont
Vernon, New Hampshire, where one of his pupils
was Miss Frances A. Kittredge, whom he after-
wards married. For one year, 1864-65, he took
courses at Union Theological Seminary in New York,
— incidentally getting some war experience in the
course of a few months spent with the Christian
Commission at the front, — but then removed to
Andover Theological Seminary, where he graduated
in 1867. At this time he was recommended by
Dr. Taylor as the ideal man to manage a "loyal.
Christian New England school" for Southern whites
recently established by C. G. Robert, of New York
(later the founder of Robert College, Constantino-
ple), at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Ordained at
Mont Vernon May 1, 1867, Mr. Bancroft was mar-
ried there five days later, and started at once with his
bride for the South. At Lookout Mountain, despite
the depressing difficulties and insults which a North-
erner, in such an environment and engaged in such an
enterprise, could not escape, Mr. Bancroft, through
his tact and optimism, won popularity and gained a
reputation which became known to his friends in New
England. The school, which proved to be an expen-
sive charity for the founder, had to be abandoned in
1872, and Mr. Bancroft, temporarily without a posi-
tion, resolved to improve the year by foreign travel.
Thus it was that the call to Phillips Academy found

' This school is now McCuUom Institute.
333

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

him three thousand miles or more away. On July-
Si, 1873, he arrived on Andover Hill, where he took
possession of the apartments in "Double Brick" and
began laying plans for the future.

The time has come, nearly twenty years after his
death, when the twenty-eight years of Dr. Bancroft's
administration can be weighed in the balance and
judged upon their merits. The excessive praise often
bestowed upon Dr. Taylor has frequently been ac-
companied by disparagement and neglect of Dr. Ban-
croft; and yet, if we are to estimate by results, if we
are to compare the development of the school under
the two great Principals, Dr. Bancroft's glory will
not be dimmed. Men of a different type they were,
as everybody knows. Dr. Bancroft, although he
might, had he been able to remain within the class-
room, have become as stimulating a teacher as his
predecessor, was obliged to leave the business of in-
struction mainly in the hands of his competent Fac-
ulty, and he wisely directed his own energies to points
where his efforts were sadly needed. Few people, in
these prosperous days, realize the trying circum-
stances which Dr. Bancroft had to face. In 1876 he
wrote, almost in despair: —

The Academy is in a place where two seas meet, and
needs as never perhaps before in its history the wisdom,
the efforts, and the prayers of its Trustees. ... It is a
question, not of the life or death of the school, but of its
being of a first- or of a second-class grade.

He stated at this date that there were at least six
preparatory schools in New England with a finer
equipment than Phillips Academy. The Trustees

334

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

were constantly running behind financially, so that in
1874, for the first and last time in its history, the au-
thorities spent a small sum on advertising in the mag-
azines. Furthermore, the reputation of the Academy
in scholarship was getting perceptibly lower, and for
some years altogether too large a number of boys
failed in their examinations for college. It was es-
sential that the school should regain the confidence
of the public at large and in particular of the colleges
to which it regularly sent students.

There has rarely been a case in educational history
where a man has been so marvelously adapted to his
position as Dr. Bancroft was to meet the problems
confronting him. If "Intensity and Conservatism"
were Dr. Taylor's w^'tchwords, "Breadth and Pro-
gressivenessJ.'__were_Dr. BancrofFsT TKeextenFoflEis
actual achievement may be briefly summarized: he
found his school with two hundred and thirty -seven
students, and left it with a record of an average at-
tendance of considerably over four hundred for a
period of more than ten years; he increased the size
of the Faculty from eight men to twenty-two, and
gathered around him a body of loyal and efficient
teachers; he added largely to the endowment and was,
through his personal efforts, responsible for securing
several new buildings and bettering the equipment;
he liberalized the curriculum without lowering the
grade of instruction; and when he died, Phillips Acad- »
emy, mainly through his influence, was a more virile \
and substantial institution than it had ever been |
before. All this he accomplished quietly, without*
drawing attention to his part in the transformation. ;

335

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

His was a mind which, as Emerson says, — j

Labors and endures and waits
Till all that it foresees, it finds.
Or what it cannot find, creates.

It must be added, also, that he was always, even when
severely tried, a courteous gentleman; that he gov-
erned firmly, but with justice and with comprehen-
sion of boy motives and temptations; and that under
him young men met with fair play without losing
the benefits which are bound to result from strict dis-
ciphne wisely administered.

It is a mistake to imagine that Dr. Bancroft de-
voted himself entirely to the material development of
Phillips Academy. At the first alumni dinner, held in
Boston, March 24, 1886, he outlined his conception of
the function of an ideal school: —

It has a definite and noble educational sphere: — to
train men, not to meet examinations, but for the career of
after life, through years which are the years in which char-
acter sets, so that when they go to college, they shall have
their character, and not be left to form it there.

To the fulfillment of this aspiration he subordinated
every other aim. Like all the great Principals he was
occupied largely with moral issues. The growing
plant, the new dormitories, the increased prosperity
were all desirable only in so far as they contributed to
intellectual and religious ends. Here again, however.
Dr. Bancroft was more tolerant, more liberal than
his predecessors, for he could see virtues in other sects
than Calvinists and Congregationalists, and he was
far from feeling sure that "conversion" was essential
to sound character. He sought simply to turn boys

336

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

into clean-minded, healthy men, and he was not in-
clined to worry if they showed no tendency to link
themselves with any particular creed or church.

The most insistent problem confronting the new
Principal was one towards the solution of which Mr.
Tilton had already made some progress; the problem,
as Dr. Bancroft expressed it, of "bringing the Acad-
emy into perfect harmony and working cooperation
with the various colleges and scientific schools and
holding it there." The initial step was taken by a
vote of the Trustees, May 20, 1874: —

Voted, that the Faculty prepare a four years' course of
study, submit it by letter to each of the Trustees, revise it
in view of their suggestions, and submit the same at the
annual meeting.

In the catalogue for 1875 the traditional division
into three classes was replaced by a four-year course,
the additional class being called "Preparatory."
Meanwhile Dr. Bancroft had devised a curriculum
and had submitted it, not only to individual Trustees,
but also to many college heads, including President
Porter of Yale, President Robinson of Brown, Presi-
dent Stearns of Amherst, and President Eliot of Har-
vard. With President Eliot the Principal discussed
the matter fully, and the two men came to a general
agreement. The resulting carefully drawn plan was
approved almost in its entirety, and the four-year
course was thus permanently established.

Under Dr. Taylor, and to some extent under Mr.
Tilton, examinations had been oral, much to the
dismay of timid and inarticulate pupils. In 1874

337

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Dr. Bancroft abolished formal oral tests, and inserted
a paragraph in the catalogue: —

Examinations conducted in writing are held monthly;
and, at the end of the first and second terms, on the studies
of the term; and, at the close of the year, with reference to
promotion and graduation.

This change was undoubtedly hastened by the em-
phasis laid by colleges on written entrance examina-
tions; but it also appealed to Dr. Bancroft as being
far kinder and less terrifying to the boy. Further-
more, certain stipulated requirements for admission
to Phillips Academy were instituted, and to these
applicants were strictly held. This system was far
more just to the student and far more beneficial to
the school than the earlier method by which a can-
didate's fitness for admission was determined solely
through a personal examination conducted in the
Principal's office.
I The next two decades saw a series of changes in the

■ curriculum so striking that they completely trans-

■ formed the course of study. Some of these were prac-
tically forced upon the Academy by a shifting of the
emphasis in college entrance requirements; others
were brought about through the shrewdness and fore-
sight of Dr. Bancroft, who, as a wise opportunist, was
on the lookout to anticipate the drift of public opin-
ion. He said in 1883 at Exeter: —

No school can permanently prosper which does not keep
in view at every point the genius of the time, the require-
ments of the age in which it labors.

From the opening of his administration he had in

338

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

mind a consistent policy to which, in general, he ad-
hered, although he never insisted upon theories when
he saw that there was no possibility of their accept-
ance. He was a builder, an originator, with a power
of vision almost prophetic; but he also knew when it
was useless to press a point, and he was willing to be
patient for the sake of ultimately gaining his end.

One of the first anomalies to disappear was the
arrangement by which the English Department was
managed by a separate head, who made a special re-
port of his own to the Trustees. When LaRoy Freese
Griffin^ (1844-1916) resigned in 1875 as Head of the
English Department, his successor, George C. Mer-
rill^ (1845-82), was, at Dr. Bancroft's request, en-
gaged with the understanding that he was to be
merely Peabody Instructor. In this year also the Ex-
hibitions of the two departments were consolidated.
When, in 1884, the English course was lengthened to
four years, it became possible to prepare boys for
the higher scientific institutions, such as the recently
founded Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
for the scientific courses in other older colleges. Be-
fore this time only an occasional student had gone to

' LaRoy F. Griffin graduated at the Phillips Exeter Academy and
Brown University, and came to Phillips Academy in 1871 as Peabody
Instructor. After leaving the Academy ia 1875, he taught successfully
in several other schools, but was ordained in 1884 and became a Baptist
minister, located first at North Easton and then at Westwood.

^ George Cooke Merrill graduated from Amherst College in 1865 and
came at once to Phillips Academy, where he remained until 1869. In
1875 he returned as Peabody Instructor. After five years of earnest
work he was attacked by tuberculosis, and steadUy declined in health
until his death, April 19, 1882. His funeral was very impressive. Mr.
Merrill was an able instructor, and exceedingly popular among his
students and colleagues.

339

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

college from the English Department; after 1884,
however, the number steadily increased imtil this
department became as truly preparatory for college as
the classical side itself. The trend of events was indi-
qated in 1885 when the students voltmtarily decided
to give the Presidency of the Senior class during the
winter term to a member of the English Department.
In the following years many of the comparatively
useless subjects, survivals of a bygone age, were grad-
ually dropped without comment from the curricu-
lum of the English Department, until by 1893 it had
been so simplified and transformed as no longer to
resemble 'Squire Farrar's original design. The title
"English Department," indeed, was now felt to be
inaccurate, as well as a source of confusion with the
newly organized "Department of English." A more
satisfactory name, "Scientific Department," was ac-
cordingly given to it by oflScial vote; thus the union,
theoretically but not actually completed in 1842, was
finally, over half a century later, reaUy consummated.
Since 1894 the two courses have been growing more
and more alike, until to-day the distinctions between
them are merely nominal.

i In 1894 Dr. Bancroft succeeded in securing a com-
I pletely systematized course of study, with a specified
j number of hours a week for each subject. When this
ihad been accomplished, he could boast of having
« at last brought Phillips Academy into harmony with
» American educational institutions.

With this revision of the curriculum came another
reform of great importance in school development.
The Faculty became a body with sonae power and[^

340

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM ,

responsibility of its own. In Phillips Academy, as in
many similar institutions, the Faculty has no legal
authority, and no official voice in administration,
except in so far as the Principal chooses to invite the
cooperation of his colleagues. This, it will be remem-
bered. Dr. Taylor had preferred not to do. Dr. Ban-
croft changed_ Phillips Academy from an autocracy to
an olfgarchy. MrTTfiltonTiad" originated the Faculty
raeeTTng; Dr. Bancroft made it an important gath-
ering, the opinions of which he respected, and, ex-
cept in unusual situations, followed implicitly. The
Faculty were regarded by him as acting, not only in
an advisory, but also in an administrative, capacity.
The success of this policy was largely contingent
upon the possibility of inducing teachers to accept
permanent positions. From 1870 to 1875 every place
on the Faculty of Phillips Academy had been twice
vacant and twice filled. Dr. Taylor, as we have seen,
had grumbled intermittently over the fact that his
assistants were mere birds of passage; so Dr. Ban-
croft for a few years had constantly on his mind the
"unsettled condition of the Faculty," which, he said,
"has been so often disturbed since Dr. Taylor's death
that no coherency has been possible." In his first
annual report he added : —

Doing the advanced work now demanded renders it
more important than ever that we have able and perma-
nent teachers. ... At first the disipline was administered
in the name of the Principal, and by him, but recently the
Faculty as a body have voted and executed penalties. The
latter course became practicable as the younger members
of the corps became accustomed to their work.

341

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

' It was the Principal's aim to engage as instructors
I men of promise who could be counted upon to remain
if they were given reasonable salaries and allowed a
sufficient degree of independence. This policy soon
, met with success little short of extraordinary. After
Dr. Bancroft took office in 1873, teachers began to
show a tendency to remain on Andover Hill. The
Faculty no longer consisted mainly of men eager to
escape at the first available opportunity to other
schools, if not to more lucrative professions; man^
teachers, indeed, when presented with a choice,
dehberately preferredto stay at Philli£S_Academy
rather than to take upcollege work. The Principal
was "HeUghted when, in 1877, he could report that
there was "no new element in the Faculty."

With a stable and continuous teaching force a uni-
form, progressive policy over a series of years was
made possible. Upon the happy results of this im-
proved situation Dr. Bancroft was never tired of ex-
patiating. In 1885, when three of his best teachers
had declined attractive oflFers by other institutions,
he wrote: —

The betterment in the condition and prospects of the
Academy is largely due to the permanent able teachers
who have won recognition by their work so many years
with us.

In 1887 he reiterated his opinion: —

I think the external prosperity of the Academy is due
largely to the fact that we have had good teachers, well
paid, promptly and fairly, and have kept them from year
to year.

Doubtless the Principal's modesty led him to insist

342

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

too much on this feature of school organization and
too httle upon his own part in creating such a sit-
uation; but certainly the men who were associated
with him added greatly to the reputation of the
Academy.

Dr. Bancroft, moreover, knew how to deal with his
assistants. D^. Taylor, as his own words show, kept
a sharp surveillance over his teachers, and used regu-
larly to visit and examine their classes, in order to as-
sure himself that their duties were being satisfactorily
performed. These inquisitorial methods resulted in
more than one instance in embarrassment for young
and inexperienced teachers, especially in the not in-
frequent cases when the Principal did not hesitate
publicly to criticize classroom procedure and to remon-
strate with an instructor in the presence of his pupils.
Dr. Bancroft, who insisted on ''thejnviolability^of
the lectufe^oom from outside intrusion, made such
supervision and inspection unfasEiohable. He be-
lieved that teachers should feel free to control recita-
tfons in their own individualways ; SiuFEewisely al-
lowed them to establish their own methods, and was
contentto judge tJiem by their resuKsTtJytEeirpower
to'¥rouse'enthusiasin"an3r to stimulate^ scholarship.
Under this treatment able men appreciated their in-
dependence, and acquired confidence, knowing that
they were not to be hampered by the imposition
of another's pedagogical views. In Faculty meeting
also Dr. Bancroft was equally tolerant, permitting
unrestrictedliBerty~to~Es assistants, accepting the
opinion of each on its merits alone, and making each
man realize that it was worth his while to contribute

343

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

to the discussion out of his knowledge or experience.

The Principal's unerring tact and skill in handling

diverse personaUties enabled him to lead without act-

f ing the tyrant. He thus seldom failed to get from his

' Faculty that personal devotion which, as President

\EKot has said, is necessary to the best working of
• ...
/■ any mstitution.

When Phillips Academy opened in September,
1873, Dr. Bancroft had with him four of Mr. Tilton's
staff: of these, George H. Taylor, whom Bancroft had
advised the Trustees to retain, remained for two years;
LaRoy F. Griffin, the Peabody Instructor, also left in
1875; Professor Oscar Faulhaber remained only one
year; and the fourth. Professor Churchill, was fortun-
ately to be Bancroft's associate for many years to
1 come. It was the new Principal's undisguised intention
{ to waste no time in building up a Faculty of his own,
,' on which he could rely implicitly. Three instructors
he engaged almost at once: one, John Mason T^er
(1851-), could be kept only a year, and is_m)wthe
brilliant Pr<^essor of Biology at Amherst College;
anotEer^ Edward Gustin Coy^ (1844-1904), devdoged
at Phillips Academy into one of the great teachers

■ Edward G. Coy was born in Ithaca, New York, graduated from
Yale in 1869, and, after a few years of teaching at WUliston Seminary,
came to Phillips Academy as Instructor (later Professor) of Greek. In
1892, with Professor Comstock, he helped to establish the Hotchkiss
School at Lakeville, Connecticut, of which he was Head Master until
his death in New Haven, May 26, 1904. Tall, erect, and dignified. Pro-
fessor Coy seldom unbent, but seemed the very embodiment of un-
yielding authority. He was an inspiring teacher, and popular with his
students, who called him " Eddie Greek." He edited several textbooks,
and was well known as a lecturer and public speaker. While at Andover
he refused attractive offers to go to other institutions, iacluding Law-
renceville and the Phillips Exeter Academy.

344

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

of his generation; and the third, Matthew Scoby
McCurdylTSi^EP)', is still connected with the school
as Instructor in Mathematics, after nearly forty-five
years of continuous service.

With Professor Coy and Mr. McCurdy the Princi-
pal had a nucleus for a loyal and efficient faculty. He
tried assiduously to secure young and active men, and
when he had found a teacher to his liking, he used
every eflfort to prevent his escape. In 1874 came
David Young Cqmstock^ (1852-), who, almost con-
temporaneous withTProfessor Coy at Andover, be-
came as famous in Latin as Coy was in Greek. Coy
and jComstockrwiffiTFfofesS'OF'GH^ who returned
to Phillips Academy in 1881 as Peabody Instructor,
constituted the so-called/ 'triumvirate," who governed
the scEool for one year^^jiring'jhe^rincipalV trip
abfoadT "

A plan so decidedly at variance with previous pro-
cedure was naturally not perfected without some
difficulties. Feeble and unintelligent teachers were
occasionally added to the staff by mistake; good
men could not always be retained, especially when
the financial inducements were limited. But gradu-

' David Young Comstock, familiarly known as "Commy," graduated
at Amherst in 1873 and came in 1874 to Phillips Academy. In 1892 he
left with Professor Coy to organize the Hotchkiss School, but withdrew
some years later, and is at present teaching in Fall River. Professor
Comstock, who was something of a martinet, had a reputation for
thoroughness and severity for which he is still remembered by alumni.
He was, however, recognized as a "good fellow," and he helped many of
his students out of trouble. When he and Coy departed, many anxious
heads were shaken because of the impending disaster which, it was
thought, could not be averted. Professor Comstock delivered a striking
address at the Commencement Dinner in 1914.

345

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ally Dr. Bancroft managed to reduce the number of
instructors who stayed for one year only; and, as
exigencies arose, the Faculty steadily increased in
size. By 1886 their number had increased to ten, by
1892 to fifteen, and by 1896 to twenty. Many of
the group, of course, made only a slight impression
on community or academic life, and, with their with-
drawal, were soon forgotten. In general, however,
they were far more influential and efficient than the
assistants under any earlier Principal. Only a few of
them can be mentioned here. In 1880 Mr. George
Thomas Eaton (1856-), son of James S. Eaton and
brother of another teacher, William W. Eaton, came
to Phillips Academy, at first as Instructor in Chem-
istry and Rhetoric, but later in Mathematics; from
that date until the present time his service has been
unbroken. Moses Clement Gile ^ (1858-1916), for
nine years an instructor, is still remembered with
affection by his students. Of those who once taught
in the school and who are at work to-day in other
institutions or professions a few should be named:
Henry W. Boynton, now an author and critic; H. C.
Bierwirth and Clifford H. Moore, professors in Har-
vard; Walter R. Newton, professor in Rutgers; Wil-
Ham H. Terrill; and George D. Pettee. Others there
are, perhaps the majority, who have not cared to
leave Andover Hill. Of the seventeen men Usted on

' M. Clement GQe, a native of Haverhill, graduated from Phillips
Academy in 1879 and from Brown in 1883, and came direct to Andover
as a teacher, remaining imtil 1892. He was later a professor in Colo-
rado College, where he became widely known as a scholar and leader
in his community. He was one of the best teachers that Phillips Acad-
emy ever had.

346

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

the Faculty in the year 1892-93, seven still remain
in 1917, with a record of a quarter of a century be-
hind them. Of the twenty-two printed in the cat-
alogue for 1901-02, thirteen are teaching in the
Academy to-day. These statistics demonstrate how
successfully Dr. Bancroft established his principle
that the Faculty should be a permanent and continu-
ous body.

It is significant, also, that Dr. Bancroft came more
and more to see the desirability of increased special-
ization in teaching. On the rapidly waning theory
of Dr. Taylor a young man fresh from college was
often shifted arbitrarily from one subject to another,
on the assumption, apparently, that any Bachelor of
Arts ought to be able to give adequate instruction in
any preparatory school course. The endowment of
two chairs, one in natural sciences and the other in
Latin, made easier the adoption of a radically differ-
ent policy. Dr. Bancroft himself had no great con-
fidence in would-be teachers who were mere Doctors
of Philosophy; nevertheless he saw the necessity of
reform. Long before his death he had so revolution-
ized the system that each instructor confined him-
self largely to one subject, English, or mathematics,
or Greek, with the realization that it was his business
to perfect himself as a specialist in that field. An in-
teresting example of the situation before the anomal-
ies were cleared up is the case of M. Clement Gile, who
came in 1883-84, during Professor Coy's absence,
to teach Greek; in the following year his province
was "EngHsh studies"; in 1885 it was "EngHsh stud-
ies and Latin"; in 1887 it was "Latin"; and in 1888

347

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

it was "Latin and French." Mr. Gile, moreover,
was an exceptionally able teacher. In 1894 Dr. Ban-
croft reported : —

At present Mr. McCurdy, Professor Moore, Mr. Pettee,
Mr. Stone, Mr. Forbes, and Mr. Boynton have strictly de-
partmental work. Professor Graves and Mr. Ea,ton ap-
proach it, but they do more or less work not strictly re-
lated to their main work. The difficulty of the time-table
and the unevenness of the size of the classes, some requir-
ing two divisions and others being not unmanageable in one
division, and, thirdly, the amount of work in some sub-
jects not being sufficient to engage all the time of a teacher,
prevent, and probably always will prevent, the full in-
troduction of departmental work.

For some years Dr. Bancroft struggled to retain
in his own hands all the increasing labor of adminis-
tration and also to teach seventeen hours a week.
However, the burden of the routine office duty event-
ually proved too fatiguing for even his almost tireless
mind and body, and by 1893 he had given up all
classroom instruction except one division in Virgil's
Mneid. As the school grew larger, he was compelled
against his own desire to delegate many responsibili-
ties to his teachers. He originated what is known
to-day as the system of "class officers," by which an
experienced member of the Faculty is assigned to
each class, and entrusted with the arrangement of
suitable schedules for the boys under his care. Each
class officer soon came to be in a large sense identified
with the work and the boys of the class in his charge.

During all the earlier years of his regime, and, to
some extent, up to the time of his death. Dr. Ban-
croft, like Dr. Taylor, carried on all the office corre-

348

THE PERIOD OF EXPANSION AND REFORM

spondence, even that on trivial subjects, in long-hand,
there being no stenographers or clerks to assist him.
In 1888, however, the position of Secretary of the
Faculty was entrusted to Mr. George D. Pettee, who,
in 1892, became Registrar. Mr. Pettee created an
accurate and comprehensive system of record-keep-
ing; he kept on permanent file reports of grades, ab-
sences, and demerits, sent regular letters to parents,
and answered all inquiries with regard to such statis-
tics. The class officers, moreover, gradually took into
their own hands a considerable share of the routine
correspondence. All these changes, each in the direc-
tion of increased specialization, aflforded the Principal
no small relief from drudgery; but even with this aid he
was often needlessly worried over unimportant details.
We have seen, then, how Dr. Bancroft satisfac-
torily carried out two of his chief aims: first, "to bring
the Academy into perfect harmony and working co-
operation with the various colleges and scientific
schools, and hold it there"; second, "to get teachers
who are both able and willing to remain with us, giv-
ing to us not alone their 'prentice work, but also their
highest and best professional work in the glory and
pride of their teaching powers." Still another prob-
lem of serious moment confronted him : to add to the
material equipment of the school, to make the living
quarters more comfortable and commodious, and to
enlarge the endowment so that current expenses could
be met without embarrassment. His achievements
in this last field, no less important than his reforms in
scholarship and administration, deserve the atten-
tion of a separate chapter.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION; MATERIAL
DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

Growth is the only evidence of life.

To those who knew Phillips Academy and had
watched its progress, the early years of Dr. Bancroft
must have seemed very discouraging. In the first
place, the attendance gradually but steadily declined,
until in 1877 the enrollment was only 177, the small-
est since 1842. For this falling-ofiF no decisive cause
can be cited. Probably the noticeable change in pol-
icy instituted by the new Principal weakened tem-
porarily the public confidence in the school. Dr. Ban-
croft himself in his report for 1876 attributed the
situation partly to the rise of other competing insti-
tutions like Williston Seminary and Worcester Acad-
emy, partly to "the unsettled condition of the Fac-
ulty," and partly to the failure of Andover boys to
do well in college entrance examinations. In the sec-
ond place, the Academy was running behind finan-
cially from $3000 to $5000 a year, and debts were
accumulating. The $15,000 due on the Main Build-
ing in 1865 had, in ten years, increased to $29,000
simply through unpaid interest charges. Almost no
money in the way of gifts was coming in: in 1876 Dr.
Ebenezer Alden, of the Trustees, gave $1000 as a
nucleus for a sinking fund; the Samuel H. Taylor
Memorial Fund, collected mainly by William H. Hal-
sted, reached the sum of $3850, the interest of which

350

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

was paid to Mrs. Taylor until her death, May 12,
1878, when $3600 reverted to Phillips Academy as a
fund for the benefit of poor students. But the contri-
butions so badly needed for the general endowment
did not seem to be forthcoming.

So far as buildings were concerned, also, the school
was at a disadvantage. Andover Theological Semi-
nary was well equipped, fully supplied with houses
and dormitories; Phillips Academy had for its own
merely the new Main Building, the eleven old Com-
mons dormitories, the old Brick Academy (in use as
a gymnasium), and a few scattered buildings of no
importance. The Trustees, as the Records and Dr.
Bancroft's correspondence show conclusively, were
more interested in the Seminary than in the Acad-
emy. Everywhere the Principal met with obstacles.
His proposals were viewed with suspicion, and some-
times dismissed in curt phrases; but in the face of in-
diflference he never ceased to present to his colleagues
on the Board the immediate needs of Phillips Acad-
emy.

In the approaching centennial of the school in 1878
Dr. Bancroft saw his chief hope of success. As early
as 1875 he mentioned the coming anniversary to the
Board, and suggested that it must be observed with
appropriate ceremony. In June, 1877, a committee
was appointed for making the necessary plans, the
chairman being the Reverend Edward G. Porter ^

' Edward G. Porter entered Phillips Academy in 1851, graduated
from Harvard in 1858 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1864,
and was pastor at Lexington, where, in 1875, he had charge of the cen-
tennial celebration in that town. He was President of the New England
Historic-Genealogical Society, and a prominent antiquarian.

351

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

(1837-1900), of Lexington, with the Reverend Fran-
cis H. Johnson, of Andover, and Dr. Bancroft as the
other members. Dr. Bancroft, whose enthusiasm was
earnest and infectious, did much more than his al-
lotted share of the preparation. A large number of
subcommittees were named, under whose direction
the various details were discussed and arranged for.
The town of Andover, when invited by the Trustees
to participate in the celebration, appointed a large
special committee, with Chief Justice Marcus Mor-
ton as chairman, under which were smaller groups
delegated for specific purposes. To the fund re-
quired 242 donors subscribed the sum of $2024.85,
and the additional cost, amounting to $897.02, was
generously contributed by Deacon Peter Smith.
Nearly a hundred families in the town put their homes
at the disposal of the committee for the entertain-
ment of guests. Under Dr. Bancroft's tactful guid-
ance all went smoothly, and no friction was percep-
tible.

The celebration, which finally took place on June 5
and 6, 1878, proved to be the most notable event of
that sort in the history of Phillips Academy. The
streets and residences were lavishly decorated with
flags and bunting; historic sites on the Hill and in the
town were marked by draped inscriptions; the Cam-
pus was illuminated at night with Chinese lanterns
hung from the old elms, and a full moon made the
scene still more impressive. On Wednesday after-
noon, June 5, the programme opened with the twelfth
annual Draper Speaking in the Academy Hall, fol-
lowed by the presentation of the portraits of seven

352

THE CHAPEL

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THE FARRAR HOUSE AT THE CENTENNIAL IN

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

distinguished men connected with the school : Ebene-
zer Pemberton, Samuel Williston, Horatio B. Hack-
ett, Osgood Johnson, James S. Eaton, Lieutenant
S. H. Thompson, and Frederic W. Tilton. In the
evening the crowd gathered in a huge tent or pavilion
with a seating capacity of 3500 people, which had
been set up on the Training-Field, the open park in
front of the Mansion House. The exercises here were
partly musical: but they included also^an address of
welcome by Dr. Bancroft, with a response on behalf
of the alumni by the Reverend William Adams, son of
Principal John Adams, and an interesting and schol-
arly historical address. The Annals of Phillips Acad-
emy, delivered by the Reverend William E. Park ^
(1837-1910), son of Professor Edwards A. Park. In
preparing this paper Dr. Park collected and preserved
much valuable material concerning the early days of
the school.

On the morning of Thursday, June 6, a Phillips
Academy Alumni Association was formed with a mem-
bership of over three hundred, the Honorable George
0. Shattuck, of Boston, being elected President. The
programme in the pavilion for that day included an
oration by the Reverend Alexander McKenzie, and
the reading by Oliver Wendell Holmes of his poem.
The School Boy, written especially for the occasion.
About noon a procession was formed which, headed
by General William Cogswell as Chief Marshal and

1 William Edwards Park graduated from Andover in 1856 and from
Yale in 1861, was ordained in 1867, and was a pastor in Lawrence,
Massachusetts and Gloversville, New York (1876-1904). After 1904
until his death he engaged in literary work in Oberhn, Ohio.

353

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the Boston Cadet Band, marched from Main Street,
through Chapel Avenue and up the Elm Arch, to a
second large tent on the Training-Field, containing
places for 1556 at the dining-tables. Here after lunch-
eon many speeches were delivered, with Professor
Churchill acting in his usual witty manner as toast-
master. Among those who responded were Governor
Rice of the Commonwealth, Dr. E. K. Alden, Dr.
Phillips Brooks, General H. K. Oliver, President
Charles W. Eliot, Professor Park, Josiah Quincy,
President Porter of Yale, President Bartlett of Dart-
mouth, the Honorable Gustavus V. Fox, and others,
alumni and guests. In the evening a reception was
held, with reunions of the various classes — and the
long programme was over.

The story of a hundred years was closed. The vol-
ume of Records, in which Clerk Jonathan French over
a century before had inscribed the memorable words
of the Constitution, was now, by a curious coinci-
dence, exactly completed. On the last page was placed
the following minute, from Dr. Bancroft's easy and
felicitous pen : —

The Trustees, assembled this day at the Mansion House,
review with thankfulness and exultation the historic facts,
that more than 9000 students have enjoyed its advantages;
that it is richly honored in its alumni, among whom are
many distinguished merchants, manufacturers, inventors,
scientists, college presidents and professors, doctors of
medicine, statesmen, diplomats, missionaries, and minis-
ters of the Gospel; that large numbers of its graduates have
risen to high places of trust and honor; that not a few, for
various eminent services, have been placed on the roll of
the most distinguished men of our age, and that the Acad-

354

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

emy has been a fountain of measureless influences which
through many channels have flowed forth for the good of
our country and the world.

In many other ways also this Centennial Celebra-
tion marked the opening of a new era in the history of
Phillips Academy. Dr. Bancroft had insisted that an
organized effort should be made to raise at least $100,-
000. There was, unfortunately, no direct descendant
of Judge Phillips able or willing to come to the aid of
the school in its hour of need; but a member of an-
other branch of the family, John Charles Phillips ^
(1838-85), gave $25,000 to establish a professorship
of Latin. In a letter to the Trustees enclosing the
promised check Mr. Phillips said : —

It gives me the greatest joy to tender this gift in the
belief that it will be of material benefit in helping to build
up and place upon a more solid foundation an academy of
learning, founded by members of my family, in which I
received my early education, and whose future career I
shall always follow with the liveliest interest.

In recognition of Mr. Phillips's timely generosity
the Trustees sent him a special letter of thanks, clos-
ing as follows : —

The Trustees . . . recognize the beautiful harmony be-
tween the beginning and the end of the first century in the

' John Charles Phillips, grandson of Mayor John Phillips, of Boston,
was born in that city, October 21, 1838, the son of the Reverend John
C. Phillips and Harriet (Welch) Phillips. He graduated from Phillips
Academy in 1854 and from Harvard in 1858. In the brokerage and
commission business he made a large fortune. He was a liberal bene-
factor of the Phillips Exeter Academy, of which he was also a Trustee.
Mr. Phillips died in Boston, March 1, 1885. His children, one of whom
is the Honorable William Phillips, now assistant Secretary of State of
the United States, are the donors of the PhiUips Gateway to the Cam-
pus at Andover.

355

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY j

Academy's history. On the first page of its records, under
date of May, 1777, stands the honored name of John
Phillips; and now in 1877, that one similar m name, and
of the family of the founders, should come forward and
repeat the strain, "Knowledge and goodness umted form
the noblest character, and lay the surest foundation of use-
fulness to mankind," is as remarkable as it is pleasing.

The further sum of $23,288.81 was made up by
gifts from many friends of the school, including $10,-
000 from Joshua M. Sears ^ (1854-1905), $5000 from
William O. Grover, and smaller amounts from other
gentlemen. The largest contribution at the centen-
nial, however, was the "Peter Smith Byers Endow-
ment Fund" of $40,000, the income of which was to
be "forever used for the support and maintenance of
the Principal for the time being of Phillips Academy."
The creators of this fund were Peter Smith, of An-
dover, who gave $20,000; his brother, John Smith; of
Andover, who gave $10,000; and John Byers,'^ of New
York, their nephew, who gave $10,000. The fund
was intended as a memorial for Mr. Byers's brother,
Peter Smith Byers,^ whose premature death in 1856,

1 Joshua Montgomery Sears, bom in Yarmouthport, attended
Phillips Academy for a short period in 1869, but did not complete the
course. He graduated from Yale in 1877. The heir to a large fortune,
he came to be known as the largest owner of real estate in Boston. He
died at Southboro, June 2, 1905. Mr. Sears's gift of $10,000 was sent
on May 5, 1878, from Geneva, Switzerland, where he received Dr.
Bancroft's letter asking for funds.

^ Deacon Peter Smith and John Smith have already been men-
tioned (page 310) as in part the donors of Brechin Hall. Their sister's
son, John Byers, was assisted by them in business and prospered as
they had done.

' An account of Peter Smith Byers is given on page 308. In mention-
ing him to John Smith, Dr. Bancroft, writing for the Trustees, said:
"He died in the morning of his promising manhood, but he lives in

356

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

when he was still under thirty, had been a sad blow
to his family.

The donations which thus so unexpectedly and so
rapidly filled the empty coflFers compelled the Trus-
tees to ask the General Court for an increase in their
holding power; accordingly, by an act passed March
8, 1880, the Board was authorized to hold real es-
tate amounting to $500,000 and personal property
up to $1,000,000. The tale of gifts, moreover, was not
yet ended. On June 18, 1881, came a check for $5000
in payment of a legacy to the school of Dr. Ebenezer
Alden, of Randolph, a Trustee from 1837 until 1881.
In March, 1882, through the influence of Wilham H.
Willcox 1 (1821-1904), a member of the Board and,
after 1879, the almoner of Mrs. Valeria G. Stone,^ a
wealthy widow of Maiden, Massachusetts, the "Stone
Educational Fund " of $25,000 was tendered to Phil-
lips Academy, with the stipulation that, during Mrs.

the memory of Ms pupils and will live as long as human institutions in
this memorial endowment." In 1878 Mr. John Byers established a
"Peter Smith Byers Scholarship Fund" of $500, and a year later he
sent a portrait of Peter Smith Byers, which was dedicated and hung in
the school hall, February 5, 1880.

^ William Henry Willcox, a graduate of New York University in
1843 and of Union Theological Seminary in 1846, was pastor for many
years at Kennebunk, Maine, and afterwards at Reading, Massachu-
setts. He was elected a Trustee of Phillips Academy in 1878 and served
until his death, December 15, 1904. He was also a Trustee of other
institutions, including Drury College, Wellesley College, Abbot Acad-
emy, and Jaffna College, Ceylon.

^ Mrs. Stone's husband, Daniel P. Stone, who died in 1877 without
children, left his large fortune to his wife, stipulating that it should be
distributed in charities. In 1879 Mrs. Stone appointed the Reverend
Mr. Willcox as her trustee and adviser, and under his supervision
$2,000,000 was in six years given to various institutions, $153,000 of
it to Andover Theological Seminary.

357

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Stone's lifetime, the income should be paid to her, but
that, after her death, it should be devoted to the aid
of poor students. After Mrs. Stone's death, January
15, 1884, the money became available for school pur-
poses.

Meanwhile the attendance, which had reached al-
most its nadir in 1877, responded to the stimulus of
the centennial and grew steadily, reaching 246 in 1882
and 266 in 1883, A year later it passed the 300 mark,
and in 1892 it jumped for the first time to over 400.
This increase was not a sudden spurt, but a gradual
and natural growth due to causes far from inexpli-
cable.

This gratifying prosperity was reflected in the con-
fident optimism of the Principal, who, in his report
for 1883, outlined very clearly the extent of the ad-
vance made in the preceding decade : —

I have been tempted to make some comparisons be-
tween the situation of the Academy and its prospects to-
day, and the same ten years ago. It will be sufficient to
say that a steadfast policy of "good material and good
work"; an able and zealous faculty more stable and better
paid than in any previous decade; the generous outpour-
ing of gifts; the careful husbanding of resources and the
creation of resources by the Trustees, have been crowned
by a marked blessing from above. Our Yale examinations
last year were of such a character as to elicit remarkable
commendation and praise from the professors in charge.
Harvard speaks less disparagingly of our students, and we
are no longer in seeming antagonism with their methods
and demands. Amherst, through the Dean, writes that
no boys are better prepared, or a more desirable contin-
gent to their college.

With many indications of outward prosperity, and a

358

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

gratifying increase abroad, with much improvement in
internal working, the Faculty feel, as none others can, that
the work has just begun, and more consecrated work, more
equipments, more money, are necessary to carry forward
the interests of this old and honored school, and realize
the comprehensive aims of the far-seeing Founders.

There were other indications, also, that the lean
years had been left behind. The Samuel H. Taylor
Memorial Library, started shortly after Dr. Taylor's
death, had been augmented in 1876 by a gift from
his sister, Mrs. Horace Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury,
Vermont, who presented to the Trustees her broth-
er's collection of classical books, numbering nearly
two thousand in all. By 1883 the volumes had in-
creased to nearly three thousand. In the summer of
1882 the Trustees yielded to Dr. Bancroft's insistent
demands and erected a small chemical laboratory at
a cost of $8000. This was a brick structure, the east
wing of the present Graves Hall. On March 8, 1883,
it was formally opened with speeches by Professor
Graves, Mr. George T. Eaton, and several members of
the Senior class. In March, 1884, the ground was
staked out for the Principal's Office ^ (now occu-
pied by the Phillips Club), on Main Street north of
"Double Brick," and it was completed in the sum-
mer of 1885. It had quarters for both Treasurer and
Principal, and there every morning in term time Dr.
Bancroft was found at his desk, busy with papers
and letters, interviewing anxious parents, and chiding

' The money for this building was a gift from Treasurer Edward
Taylor, who intended it originally as a meeting-place for the Trustees,
with a room for his office. Dr. Bancroft later occupied the Trustees'
room for his own day office.

359

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

recalcitrant boys. The old Treasurer's Office, a small
house built by 'Squire Farrar on the land between
his own residence and the Park House, was moved
in 1885 to the northeast corner of the Old Campus,
where, at the suggestion of the Phillipian, it was
transformed into a reading-room. The expense of
the magazines and periodicals was paid by the stu-
dents, who, at the opening of each fall term, auctioned
oflF the publications to the highest bidder. For some
years a reading-room manager was elected by the
boys. Smoking was allowed there, and many sensitive
youngsters complained of the foul atmosphere and
dirty floors. For some years, also, an athletic store
was maintained in one half of the building, and it be-
came a center for undergraduate loafers.

The debt on the Main Building, which had been a
burden for nearly twenty years, was finally canceled
at the closing of accoimts, April 30, 1885; thus a con-
siderable financial problem was removed from the
Treasurer's mind. On June 23 of that year a marble
bust of Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, presented by his sister.
Miss Emma L. Taylor, was unveiled, with a neat pres-
entation speech on behalf of Miss Taylor by Professor
John W. Churchill.

Certain alterations and improvements in the Semi-
nary plant at about this period were eventualiy to
prove important to Phillips Academy. As early as
1864 an anonymous gentleman had pledged $20,000
to the Trustees for the erection of a chapel, and a
foundation had actually been dug; unfortunately,
however, the donor met with reverses in business and
was unable to fulfill his promise; the work, therefore,

360

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

had to be discontinued. In 1875 subscription papers
were circulated, with active soUciting by the theolog-
ical professors and with happy results, and the cor-
nerstone was laid ^ on July 1, 1875. This Seminary
Church, the cost of which was $46,333.24, was dedi-
cated on October 2, 1876, with a sermon by Professor
Egbert C. Smyth. It is now the Chapel of Phillips
Academy.

In the spring of 1880 the old farmhouse built by
Judge Phillips on the corner of Main and Phillips
Streets, and then occupied by the well-known Deacon
Holbrook Chandler ^ (1820-86), was moved to the
north side of Morton Street, and on the site was
placed a modern "Queen Anne" dweUing,^ strangely
out of harmony with the colonial President's House
next door. Here Professor William J. Tucker, after-
wards President of Dartmouth College, made his
home for many years; it is this house also which is
described in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's novel, A Sin-
gular Life, as the home of Professor Carruth and
his daughter Helen. In 1881, also, the stately Farrar

^ In this ceremony several people participated: Alpheus Hardy, rep-
resenting the Trustees; Dr. John L. Taylor, the Seminary; Dr. Ban-
croft, the Academy; and Miss Agnes Park, the ladies of Andover. The
architects were Cummings and Sears of Boston.

' Deacon Chandler was born in Andover, and was for many years
an Overseer in the Amoskeag MiUs. In 1869 he was appointed "Exec-
utive Officer of the Treasurer of Phillips Academy," which position
he held for seventeen years. Deacon Chandler had a lively interest in
school and Seminary matters, and proved to be an excellent superin-
tendent of grounds and buildings.

' This building was presented to the Trustees by members of the
Jewett family as a house for Professor Tucker, and, after him, for fu-
ture Bartlet Professors of Sacred Rhetoric in the Seminary. The total
cost of the residence was about $17,500, and it was called at the time
of its completion "the finest house on Andover Hill."

361

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

House, which, since 1812, had stood on the opposite
corner of Main and PhiUips Streets, was moved down
PhilUps Street to its present location, and in its place
was erected a second "Queen Anne" residence ' in-
tended for Professor Churchill. These buildings are
now owned and used by Phillips Academy.

The Mansion House, after its transformation into
a tavern, became the logical center of social Uf e on the
Hill: there the Trustees continued to hold their meet-
ings and to dine sedately together; there also the boys
held their more noisy banquets on festive occasions.
Under its roof many distinguished visitors to An-
dover were sheltered: Lafayette, Emerson, Webster,
Jackson, Pierce, Wendell Phillips, James G. Blaine,
Beecher, Holmes, Ole Bull, Mark Twain, Phillips
Brooks, WiUiam Dean Howells, and scores of others.
Itself unscathed, it had weathered storm after storm,
and had watched other apparently less perishable
buildings go up in flames. Its second century, however,
was hardly well started when, on the early morning
of November 29, 1887, an incendiary kindled fires in
several different sections of the tavern. The proprie-
tor, Charles L. Carter, rode posthaste from his estate
at Carter's Hill, but, although firemen and students
labored for hours, it was soon apparent that the blaze
could not be halted. By morning nothing was left of
the historic structure but the tall brick chimneys
looming up like gaunt apparitions among charred
beams and debris. The huge lock and key, rescued by

' Much of the money for this house was given by Professor Churchill
and his relatives. It was moved in 1900 to its present location next to
the Woods House on South Main Street.

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

some careful antiquarian, were preserved; a bit of pan-
eling saved by an old resident is now and then shown
in an Andover home; but most of the valuable con-
tents were destroyed.^ Many precious memories and
associations perished in that conflagration; indeed, to
many people Andover Hill afterward was never quite
the same.

Still another ancient landmark was also doomed.
The Abbot House on Phillips Street, where Judge
Phillips and Eliphalet Pearson had lived and where
the Constitution of Phillips Academy had been signed,
had gradually been falling into decay. Used for many
years as a boarding-house, it had not been repaired or
renovated, and experts pronounced it unsafe to live in.
On December 9, 1889, workmen started to tear down
the walls, and before the year was over, nothing re-
mained but the stone cellar. This building, which was
old when the Phillips School was opened in 1778, was
almost the last structure on Andover Hill dating from
the previous century.

The destruction of the Mansion House left the Hill
temporarily without an inn; but the deficiency was
supplied when Mr. Carter, the former proprietor of
the Mansion House, was given the lease of the Stowe
House on Chapel Avenue and remodeled it as a hotel,
still under the somewhat inappropriate name of the
Mansion House. In 1893 the Trustees spent about
$22,000 for the addition of a wooden west wing to
the original building; and when this was completed,
Mr. E. P. Hitchcock replaced Mr. Carter as landlord.

^ The chair on which Washington sat was luckily rescued, and is
now at Cambridge in possession of Andover Theological Seminary.

363

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Under his management and that of his successors,
Mr. Charles Ripley and Mr. John M. Stewart, the
Phillips Inn, as it soon came to be called, has been
an indispensable part of the school equipment.

All these alterations and changes, desirable though
they were, actually affected the needs of PhiUips
Academy only very shghtly. The school was like a
lanky boy of fourteen who has grown so rapidly that
all his clothes are too small for him and who requires,
not only a larger hat and collar, but a complete re-
habilitation if he is to make a presentable appearance.
New recitation halls, a more commodious assembly
hall, larger and better dormitories — all these were
absolutely necessary. Dr. Bancroft soon learned that
prosperity, like adversity, has its peculiar problems,
and that a progressive institution cannot afford to
let itself seem shabby.

It was in his report for 1879, when the wear and
stress of the centennial were over and he had achieved
in part his aim of strengthening the endowment, that
Dr. Bancroft opened fire on a topic already well worn
— the amelioration of dormitory conditions. In out-
lining his views he wrote somewhat forcibly: —

As compared with Easthampton, Exeter, St. Johnsbury,
New London, Wilbraham, Dean, St. Paul's, and several
other academies, our accommodations are mean, expen-
sive, and very unattractive. The imsightliness of Com-
mons is of little account, but it is too true that our super-
vision of them is insuflBcient, that the care of the rooms is
left to the boys entirely, even to the removal of waste
water and ashes, the sweeping, bed-making, and cleaning.
... I know how diflScult it is to improve accommodations
without increasing the general scale of expense, but if the

364

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

Academy is to be a great educational establishment, it
must regard the physical, moral, and aesthetic require-
ments of its pupils, and it may be a serious question
whether we are not sanctioning or tolerating conditions
too perilous to the manners, morals, and health of the
boys. I do not wish to be misunderstood. It is a part of a
boy's education to build his own fires, no doubt; it may
be to black his boots, bring his water, and sweep his room.
No room, however, can be too bright or cheerful for his
Dining Hall, no bread and meat too good for his young
and growing brain, and no teacher can be too solicitous as
to his companions and friendships, his industry, order,
and piety.

This statement was but the beginning of a long
campaign, in which the Principal, by argument, en-
treaty, and insistence, used every means to gain his
desires. In a letter written December 2, 1884, he
made specific suggestions : —

Our present Commons must he replaced by more commo-
dious buildings. They are built on the right plan . . . but
the Farrar plan, so excellent, so prophetic, was poorly
carried out. It is a marvel that only one of the twelve
houses has been burnt. The walls are thin, the staircases
too narrow, the outward appearance is ugly and poverty-
stricken, the rooms all too small, with ceilings too low.
As soon as we can get $5000 for the purpose, we want to
put up a cottage which will be all that such a structure
can be, pleasing in appearance, convenient, roomy with-
out pretension, of the best materials, built on sanitary
principles, and a perfect home for twelve high-minded
boys, whose business is to get an education.

Faculty inspection of the Commons, never taken
very seriously, had become a farce. About 1880 a com-
mittee made a perfunctory visit every Friday noon.

365

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

At Faculty meeting the oral report of this committee
was usually received with smiles. Dr. Bancroft told
gleefully of the occasion when he guided over Andover
Hill a prominent statesman who was thinking of send-
ing his son either to Exeter or to Andover. The great
man struggled up and down the winding Commons
staircases, smelt the unedifying odors and saw the
unattractive sights; then, turning to Dr. Bancroft, he
said, "Well, sir, this school is the place for my boy."
"Good," replied the Principal. "Yes," continued the
visitor, "any institution which can keep the fine repu-
tation which Andover has, and yet lodge its students in
such disreputable barracks, must have about it some
miraculous quality which I want my son to learn to
know."

The catalogues of this period were not all decep-
tive: —

The accommodations provided in Commons are very
plain, and intended expressly for those who wish to make
their expenses small.

Not many complaints, however, emanated from the
boys. Despite the somewhat unsanitary and primi-
tive conditions under which they lived, most of them
were wiUing to forego luxury in return for their feel-
ing of independence. There was also about the
weather-beaten buildings an indefinable atmosphere
of romance, which made their occupants, however
much they grumbled, really reluctant to leave. The
wind howled terribly around the corners and whistled
through the cracks on February nights; but there
were always friends near by to join in talk around the

366

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

stove and there were weird adventures in which to
lend a hand. Few of those who once spent student
days within those walls would, in the retrospect, be
without that experience.

One Trustee said at an annual meeting, somewhat
jocularly, that the cost of the glass broken in Com-
mons every year was greater than that of the en-
tire group of buildings. In the fall term of 1889 over
two hundred panes were knocked out, nearly all in a
single ferocious skirmish. Now and then, as if to al-
lay criticism, a broken sash was repaired or a rotted
board replaced. In the summer of 1890, indeed, $2000
was expended in improvements : rooms were painted
and papered so that the interior looked clean and
bright, and the names and numerals on the outside
walls were covered with fresh paint. Andoverians
began to feel that all hope of removing the Commons
had vanished forever.

Dr. Bancroft in one of his few despondent moods
had just written, "We are weakest, it seems to me
now, on the material side." At this moment there oc-
curred an incident, apparently trivial and unimpor-
tant, but in reality of far-reaching consequence. The
first dinner of the New York Alumni Association was
held on March 31, 1891, in the Hotel Brunswick, and
an especial effort had been made to have a successful
meeting. An elaborate printed programme contain-
ing good illustrations of school buildings, old and new,
was provided, and the list of speakers was unusually
interesting. It happened that Mr. Alpheus H. Hardy,
then Treasurer of the Trustees, made a brief address,
in the course of which he remarked incidentally that

367

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

graduates might well give to Phillips Academy money
for the erection of buildings, accepting from the
Trustees an annuity of five per cent on the invest-
ment while they lived and bequeathing the property
to the school at their deaths. This suggestion caught
the attention of a gentleman present, Mr. Melville
Cox Day ^ (1839-1913), who, after having accumu-
lated a considerable fortune in the law, was now about
to retire from active practice and who, having no near
relatives to whom to leave his money, was ready to
listen to a proposition like Mr. Hardy's, which had to
do with the welfare of his former school. Before de-
finitely deciding on his course of action, however, he
consulted his intimate friend, Professor John Phelps
Taylor, who, through his residence in Andover and his
knowledge of the needs of Phillips Academy, was well
qualified to give him advice. Professor Taylor at once
assured Mr. Day that the latter could not do better
than to further Dr. Bancroft's plans, and Mr. Day,
who was familiar with the Commons as they were in
1857-58, was easily amenable to this suggestion. He

' Melville Cox Day was born in Biddeford, Maine, June 2, 1839.
At Phillips Academy, from which he graduated in 1858, he made a bril-
liant record in scholarship and was also President of the Philomathean
Society. At Yale, where Day graduated in 1862, he roomed with John
Phelps Taylor, whose friendship he had made at Andover. After leav-
ing Yale, he studied at Harvard Law School; in 1865, when he had had
some experience in practice, he moved to St. Louis, where he became
a member of the firm of Cline, Jamison, and Day, and was later coun-
sel for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He was married December 1,
1875, to Mary Garrison, daughter of Commodore C. K. Garrison, of
New York, but she lived only three months after the wedding. After
1882 he practiced in New York, but retired about 1890, and a few years
later settled in Florence, Italy, where he died, December 29, 1913. His
portrait by H. Winthrop Pierce hangs in Brechin HaU.

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

therefore made to Mr. Hardy in May, 1891, a formal
offer of $8000 for a new cottage, and the gift was
accepted by the Trustees on June 8. In September
ground was broken on Phillips Street nearly opposite
Farrar House, and the construction was completed in
April, 1893. In the following autumn it was occupied
by students, with Mr. Wilham H. Terrill as the Faculty
proctor. Meanwhile Mr. Day, on January 22, 1892,
had sent his check for the promised sum, together
with the request that the building be named "Taylor
Cottage," after his friend. Professor John Phelps
Taylor. The architect, A. W. Longfellow, of Bos-
ton, had arranged the interior to accommodate the
same number as each of the Commons dormitories;
there were thus six suites containing two or three
rooms, so that, under normal circumstances, ten boys
and an instructor could be housed comfortably. The
modern dormitory system for which Dr. Bancroft had
labored since 1879 was at last under way.

Meanwhile the question of the needs of Phillips
Academy had become so acute that it was being
agitated in Andover itself, by Professor John Phelps
Taylor ^ (1841-1915) as a leader, and other prominent

' John Phelps Taylor, son of John Lord Taylor, was born at Andover
in 1841. At Phillips Academy he made a brilliant record, and he was
Valedictorian of the class of 1862 at Yale. After two years of travel he
entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1865 and graduated in 1868,
being a teacher during part of that time in Phillips Academy. On Oc-
tober 14, 1868, he married Antoinette Hall, of New Haven, Connec-
ticut. For some years he held pastorates in Middletown, Connecticut;
Newport, Rhode Island; and New London, Connecticut. In 1883 he
came to Andover Theological Seminary as Taylor Professor, in which
oflBce he remained until his retirement in 1899. He died September
13, 1915.

Professor Taylor received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from

369

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

citizens. The Phillipian for February 12, 1890, com-
plained that Andover Theological Seminary had nine
professors, two lecturers, and a librarian for forty-
eight students, while Phillips Academy had twelve
teachers for three hundred and sixty students. Two
articles in the Andover Townsman, by Professor Tay-
lor and Warren F. Draper, resulted in a large mass
meeting on May 21, 1891, in the Town Hall, at which
Colonel George Ripley was the presiding oflScer. It
was announced, amid great enthusiasm, that Miss
Emily Carter, of Andover, had collected over $1600
to be used as the nucleus of a fund for a new dormitory.
After some stirring speeches, many citizens offered
pledges, and, before the day was over, $6921.34 had
been contributed to what Professor Churchill called
"Father Phil's subscription list." At seven o'clock
that evening the boys marched to Miss Carter's home
and cheered her lustily, and she responded in a stirring
talk. The Andover Cottage thus made possible by
townspeople was started in May, 1892, and finished
January 3, 1893. Still another cottage was provided
by Mr. Warren F. Draper, the Andover publisher, who
took advantage of Mr. Hardy's suggestion by offering

Middlebury College in 1897. In 1892 he was made a Trustee of Abbot
Academy; and in 1912 he was elected President of the Phillips Acad-
emy Alumni Association. To Phillips Academy he was a devoted and
generous benefactor, not alone through his own gifts, but also through
his friendship for Melville C. Day, whom he encouraged to aid the
school. It was fitting that the last and most beautiful of the Day dormi-
tories should be named "John Phelps Taylor Hall."

Professor Taylor was a dignified gentleman of the old school, with
the courtly and gracious manners which we have come to associate
with a past age. Endowed with consummate tact, he was ever thought-
ful of others and forgetful of himself. No man after his death has ever
been more missed on Andover Hill.

370

JOHN PHELPS TAYLOR

TAYLOR HALL

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

to erect a dormitory on condition that an annuity be
paid to his wife until her death. "^ This Draper Cottage
was located in the row of EngUsh Commons, not far
from School Street. In 1892 Mr. Day, pleased with
his first gift, presented money for another similar
building, which was finished in 1893. This dormitory
was known as "Bancroft Cottage" until 1901, when,
with the completion of the larger Bancroft Hall, it
was renamed "Eaton Cottage," in memory of James
S. Eaton.

So it was that Phillips Academy within two years
acquired four new brick cottages, modern in construc-
tion, fire-proof, comfortably heated, and attractive
in appearance. The school was at last launched on
one of Dr. Bancroft's favorite policies — that of
housing the maximum number of boys in buildings
owned or controlled by the Trustees. The theory
was clearly stated in the catalogue for 1894, which de-
scribes the four cottages then existing as "the partial
realization of a plan to replace, as fast as funds are
provided for the purpose, the present Latin and Eng-
hsh Commons with modern buildings, combining ap-
proved sanitary arrangements with comfortable and
homelike rooms, as favorable as possible to the best
student life."

The results of this arrangement upon school gov-
ernment were to be comprehensive. As Dr. Bancroft
was well aware. Faculty supervision was bound to be-
come more effective. With a teacher in each cottage
as a permanent proctor, student exuberance could

1 Mrs. Draper died in Andover on December 27, 1916, in her ninety-
third year.

371

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

easily be restrained, and the eight o'clock rule could
be enforced without difficulty. Under the old system,
or lack of system, offenses against discipline, even
when flagrant, were hard to detect unless the in-
structors were willing to resort, as they were often
compelled to do in self-defense, to vicious methods
of espionage. The new plan meant also that teachers
and boys would be brought more closely together, and
that this intimacy would make for a better imder-
standing between them.

The revival of Mr. Day's interest in the school led
to his becoming the greatest individual benefactor of
Phillips Academy. It is no exaggeration to say that
the present splendid equipment would have been im-
possible but for his long continued generosity. The
dormitory system was Dr. Bancroft's conception,
but had it not been for Mr. Day, it would have re-
mained an idle vision. To these men we owe it that,
in 1917, fully three fourths of the students live under
direct Faculty supervision.

Mr. Day was extraordinarily modest, and habitu-
ally avoided all reference to his gifts. On one of his
rare visits to Andover, in June, 1891, the boys, headed
by the Glee Club, marched to Professor Taylor's
home, sang and cheered, and finally induced Mr. Day
to make a brief speech in response. An incident of
this sort convinced him that his generosity was deeply
appreciated. On January 12, 1898, without any previ-
ous warning, he wrote to Mr. Hardy: —

Would the Phillips Trustees care to have another cot-
tage with an annuity attached to it? And if so, and if
I would furnish the necessary funds, would they agree

372

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

something to this effect, viz. that all receipts or incomes
from the Taylor or Bancroft and other cottages I may
furnish the means to build shall be kept separate as say
"The Cottage Fund"; that out of this fund all expenses
for care, insurance, repairs, and interest on the sum pre-
sented by me shall be paid and that any surplus shall not
be devoted to any other purpose except with the mutual
consent of myself and the Treasurer of the Trustees?

Mr. Hardy was able to assure the donor that the
Board was quite willing to comply with his not very
severe stipulations. Foundations were soon excavated
on Phillips Street, opposite the Latin Commons, for
this new dormitory, which was a large structure, ar-
ranged as if three smaller cottages, like Andover or
Draper, were joined in one. It was finally completed
in 1900 at a cost of $42,375.13, and dedicated as
"Bancroft Hall." ^

In carrying out his designs for modern dormitories
Dr. Bancroft had been blessed with good fortune.
There were other needs, too, which he could not evade.
The rapid expansion of the school was putting an ex-
cessive strain on the English or Scientific Depart-
ment, which lacked room for recitations. The small
laboratory erected in 1882 soon became inadequate.
When chemical experiments were carried on in the
basement of the Academy Building, the fumes were
almost stifling. On September 2, 1891, the Trustees
voted to make an addition to the Science Building,
and by the autumn of 1892 the completed structure,
now known as "Graves Hall," was ready for use.

' Mr. Day at the time sent his check for $30,000, thinking that
amount to be sufficient. When Mr. Sawyer later happened to mention
the extra cost, Mr. Day at once made up the deficiency.

373

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Until the construction of Taylor Cottage there had
been literally no place owned by Phillips Academy
where students could bathe, and boys were fortunate,
indeed, who had access to the set tubs in private
houses. In the primitive gymnasium located in the
old Brick Academy the apparatus was rusty and out
of order, and there were no baths, either tub or shower,
and no washstands. It is a miracle that the boys
did not start a rebellion. At a school meeting held
on May 20, 1891, they did take matters somewhat
into their own hands by pledging over $1500 towards
a gymnasiima fund. When the situation was exam-
ined, however, it seemed best not to wait for a larger
sum, but to expend the money for temporary reUef ;
accordingly the Athletic Association erected a track
house, which was informally opened on February
18, 1892. In it were several hot and cold baths, a
large number of lockers, and benches for rubbing
down. The PhilKpian reported that the boys grasped
eagerly the opportunity aflForded them for daily ablu-
tions.

On the morning of Tuesday, June 23, 1896, the
Brick Academy was gutted by fire, only the walls
remaining intact. The roof and cupola were at once
restored, but it was evident that it would be unde-
sirable to attempt to use it again for athletic pur-
poses. The only practicable solution of the problem
confronting the authorities was to make an effort
to raise money for the new Gymnasium. Largely
through Dr. Bancroft's personal enterprise $50,000
was finally secured, and the long-desired Gymna-
sium was started and named after its principal donor,

374

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

Mr. Matthew CD. Borden of Fall River. The build-
ing itself, however, was not dedicated until after
Dr. Bancroft's death. The athletic field, part of the
money for which was contributed on December 19,

1900, by Mr. George B. Knapp, was also not ready
for use until Dr. Bancroft's administration was at
an end.

One other munificent gift came to crown the Prin-
cipal's closing years. In a letter dated March 21,

1901, Mr. Robert Smgleton Peabodyi (1837-1904),
of Philadelphia, offered, in behalf of his wife and
himself, to present to Phillips Academy a collection of
forty thousand specimens in American archaeology;
to provide a suitable building for their housing and
exhibition; and to furnish a fund for the mainte-
nance and enlargement of the collection and for the

* Robert Singleton Peabody was born in Ohio in 1837 and entered
Phillips Academy in the spring of 1854. He was the nephew of George
Peabody, the famous philanthropist, who, in 1866, endowed the Pea-
body Instructorship. The boy graduated from PhilUps Academy as
Valedictorian of the class of 1857, and from Harvard in 1862; after
practicing law for a time in Vermont, he finally settled in Germantown,
Pennsylvania, where he resided until his death, October 1, 1904.

While he was a boy in Ohio, Mr. Peabody became interested in ar-
chaeology, and collected a large number of specimens on his father's
farm. Later, when he inherited property, he kept up his interest, and
gave liberally to support his hobby. As early as 1898 he consulted
Dr. Bancroft with regard to the possibility of establishing a museum
in Andover, and, meeting with encouragement, proceeded to formulate
plans by which Phillips Academy would profit, not only in the field
of archaeology, but also in the provision of broader social opportuni-
ties for the students.

The Peabody fund given by Mr. Peabody is now managed by a
separate committee of the Trustees, who apply it in accordance with
the known wishes of the Founder. The Peabody House, now the social
center of the school, was built in 1915 from the accrued income; and
other developments may be expected from time to time as money per-
mits.

375

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

care of the museum. In a word, all expense of every
kind was to be met by Mr. Peabody's fund. In
making his arrangements Mr. Peabody consulted
especially Dr. Thomas Wilson, Curator of the Smith-
sonian Museum, and Mr. Warren K. Moorehead,
who was to be Curator of the Andover collection.
In the fall of 1901 the Churchill House, on the
southwest corner of Main and Phillips Streets, was
moved to its present location on Main Street, and
on its former site a cellar was dug for the Archaeo-
logical Building.

The later history of this fund — which amounted
eventually to over half a million dollars — belongs
to the twentieth century. It is important here, how-
ever, to emphasize Dr. Bancroft's part in securing
and applying the gift. Dr. Charles Peabody, the
donor's son, has said repeatedly that it was Dr.. Ban-
croft's progressiveness which was responsible for
encouraging Mr. R. Singleton Peabody. The experi-
ment of establishing a Department of Archaeology
was absolutely without a precedent in preparatory
schools; but Dr. Bancroft, although he was well
beyond middle age and had reached the conservative
"sixties," said, "I like new ideas." When it was sug-
gested that there might be no students, he con-
tinued: "Suppose we don't have any students; there
are sites to look at; there are cemeteries; there are
ancient ruins to be dug up; there is lots of work."
The Principal's irrepressible optimism did not allow
him to believe that the enterprise could be unsuc-
cessful.

What has been said may unintentionally lead to

376

DEVELOPMENT UNDER DR. BANCROFT

some misconception. So far, only the brighter fea-
tures of the administration have been touched on.
There were also the failures and the bitter disap-
pointments, particularly depressing when they in-
volved the renunciation of some long-cherished plan.
In a pamphlet sent out to alumni in 1891 the seven
committees entrusted with the work of securing
money for various branches of the so-called "Re-
endowment Fund" asked for at least $325,000, but,
with the exception of Mr. Day's contributions, only
a relatively small sum was obtained. It was seldom
that there was cash available for even small current
needs. The salaries of the teachers, including that
of Dr. Bancroft, were very low, and continued so in
spite of the rapid advance in the cost of living. In
1900, when the Trustees voted the Principal $500
towards his trip abroad, he refused to accept it, on
the ground that the treasury was practically empty.
The buildings which he desired had often to be aban-
doned. He wanted, for instance, a dining-hall, where
food of good quality, served in clean style, could be
procured at reasonable rates; but this reform was
not made possible until after his death. Phillips
Academy had no good library of its own; its two
or three thousand volumes were inadequate, and,
when teachers required reference books, the Semi-
nary library was the only recourse. There was no
infirmary where cases of illness could be properly
diagnosed and cared for, and quarantined if neces-
sary. After 1890 the Academy Hall was too small
for seating the entire undergraduate body; when
the boys regularly numbered over four hundred, the

377

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

recitation rooms were crowded, and a falling-off in
teaching efficiency was averted only by strenuous
efforts on the part of the instructors. In the face of
such irritating obstacles, with a plant in so many
respects inadequate to the school needs. Dr. Ban-
croft toiled on patiently and courageously, sacrific-
ing much himself, welcoming joyfully even the small-
est gifts, and hoping constantly that some good angel
would appear to make all gloriously right.

CHAPTER XIX

THE DAYS WHEN "bANTY" RULED
Remembered joys are never past.

Dr. Bancroft, holding sway over what Disraeli
calls "the microcosm of a public school," was for-
tunate in having an understanding of boy psychol-
ogy which enabled him to treat student problems
sanely and judiciously. He often overlooked minor
oflFenses, because in them he saw nothing more dan-
gerous than the inevitable exuberance of youth. Ath-
letics, even in his time, were not compulsory, and the
energy and enthusiasm which to-day are vented in
a healthful way on the playing-fields sometimes found
an outlet in less legitimate channels. The boisterous
parties at Pomp's Pond, the spring parades and
"rough-houses," the intermittent bonfires and class
fights which alumni love to recall, were seldom actu-
ated by a vicious spirit. It was for this reason that
Dr. Bancroft sometimes turned away his head or
went down another street when such blood-letting
presented itself too obtrusively to his notice. "There
are some things," he used to say, "which a teacher
will do well never to see."

Nevertheless, Dr. Bancroft was not free from
troubles of a more serious kind. In his first report he
gave some of them specific mention: —

With respect to discipline the new administration has
had a considerable trial. Ignorant of the "personnel" and

379

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the precedents of the school, unable to anticipate the favor-
ite forms of disorder, we have done the best we could in
much ignorance and inexperience, and have been gratified to
learn that, in the view of some judicious citizens, not to
make comparisons with former years, the present has wit-
nessed decided improvements upon its beginning. To-
bacco has proved a fruitful source and occasion of dis-
order. . . . Twelve boys have been rusticated for periods
varying from six to eleven weeks, four expelled, five sus-
pended for a term. In certain cases civil penalties have
been inflicted, it is thought with the happiest result to the
general tone of the school.

A group of wild youngsters, who called themselves
the "Mulligan Guards," gave the Principal much
anxiety, until eight of them were suspended. When
he gained more experience and secured a closer grip
on affairs, many of the more conspicuous disorders
gradually disappeared, for, when punishment was
necessary, the "Doctor" had a firm hand and the
penalty followed promptly upon detection. In some
respects this period was lawless. It would have been
strange if it had not been so. To supervise properly
the old Commons and to keep within bounds the
large number of boys who roomed in private houses
required a combination of omniscience and prophetic
foresight not possessed by Sherlock Holmes or Mon-
sieur Dupin. No mere man can be at once in all the
dark corners on Andover Hill; and where the Princi-
pal was not, there was always fuel for flame. The
Latin Commons "White Caps" could thus go on their
depredations for many weeks undiscovered. On one
occasion a few boys agreed to station themselves in
different places on the Hill and in the town, and, at a

380

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

given signal, to set oflf guns and rockets simultane-
ously. The plan worked to- perfection. Crowds soon
gathered near the points where the noises had origi-
nated, and bedlam reigned everywhere. Meanwhile
the guilty ones had discreetly retired, and no one,
except those in the secret, ever knew how the ex-
citement started.

Like his predecessors Dr. Bancroft did some prowl-
ing around at night, and thus incurred the dishke of
those whose consciences were not free from fear. He
did this, however, only when there was some definite
object in view. The excuse for such action lies in the
fact that he often found it impossible to unearth vi-
ciousness by any other method. To-day, when every
boy is directly under the guardianship of one teacher,
the problem of. discipline is far simpler.

Dr. Bancroft did not lay down many rules. The
eight o'clock regulation was on the books, but was
not, indeed could not be, strictly enforced, under
conditions as they then existed. He made a standard-
ized system for the imposition of absences and de-
merits, and failure to comply with the published re-
strictions was reported at once to parents of the boys
concerned. It was one of his favorite maxims "that a
boy cannot be bribed or frightened into tobacco ab-
stinence"; but he nevertheless forbade smoking on
the street, in the dormitories, and in "public places."
It was not his policy, however, to lay much stress on
the value of a detailed penal code.

In many respects the students under Dr. Ban-
croft were independent and strongly resented any
interference with their liberty. In 1879, when a rule

381

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

was passed compelling landladies to make a weekly
report as to the conduct of the boys in their houses,
the Phillipian and the Philomathean Mirror joined in
ridiculing and condemning the measure. In some
cases a plainness of speech was used which recalls
the days of Dr. Taylor, A correspondent, writing to
the Phillipian in 1896 regarding a "graduation fee,"
said: —

It is the arbitrary way in which the fee is imposed upon
us that we object to, and it seems no more than right that
the Faculty should give us some explanation if they have
any.

In the same year, when the Faculty debarred five
out of six candidates for the debating team, the
Phillipian said editorially: —

The Faculty have brought this state of things upon
themselves. If they were anxious to have the debate take
place, they could have advised the committee sooner. As
it is now, the Faculty are in a large measure responsible
for the failure of the debate.

When the question of a cooperative store was
brought up before the student body, the project, which
had received the approval of the Faculty, was voted
down by the boys, who, in protest, held nocturnal
gatherings, after which quantities of red paint were
splashed in conspicuous places on prominent build-
ings. Dr. Bancroft's policy of laissez faire in such
matters was in accordance with certain school tradi-
tions, but there was always danger that liberty might
degenerate into license.

Dr. Bancroft was exceedingly skillful in his ability
to feel the pulse of the school. In 1875 he writes: —

382

THE DAYS WHEN "BANTY" RULED

Fires and horns, which caused so much trouble last year,
have been almost unknown.

In 1880 he detects signs of other evils: —

We have had much anxiety as to some indications of
betting and gambling on the part of the boys, college
vices which are difficult to handle.

Now and then, as in 1893, he states new difficulties
as they arise : —

The increase in the size of the town, the multiplication
of trains to and from Andover, and the introduction of
the electric cars have made the discipline of the school
more difficult. While I think a casual observer is very
much impressed with the success of our methods, we feel
very much our deficiencies, and lament that we cannot
maintain a higher standard of self restraint and moral
worthiness.

A year later he puts into no uncertain words his ad-
ministrative creed, as applied to changed conditions:

To maintain the standards of proficiency with these
large numbers is at once more easy and more difficult.
To maintain the standards of deportment and decorum,
of industry and moral tone, requires increasing vigi-
lance and assiduity. The multiplication of details result-
ing from an addition of 300 pupils to less than 200 of
twenty years ago is very large. The opportunities to es-
cape immediate supervision are multiplied, and the school
is forced to take on certain college features which remove
it still further from the category of boarding-schools,
family schools, and the like. The tendency at present in
the new schools established is to move in another direc-
tion and to make the schools more nearly conventual.
But Andover has made a success after another method,
and it ought not to break with its traditions unless experi-

383

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ence and the changed condition of our society and of our
education make the demand urgent and plain. My pres-
ent anxiety is to provide for the students protection
against moral disorder, and to foster the Christian influ-
ences of the school and the surrounding community.

The coming of the trolley line made necessary-
some modification of the Principal's theories, but the
logic behind them was not altered. Phillips boys
were not to be kept sheltered and secluded from a
wicked world without the walls; neither were they
to be allowed to run deliberately into temptation.
They were to be taught to stand on their own feet,
to learn the lesson of " self -reverence, self-knowl-
edge, self-control." Dr. Bancroft, even when the ten-
sion increased, never lost his reasonable view. He
did not expect boys to be embryo angels, nor did he
desire to be too severe on mere thoughtlessness or
mischief-making. Bad boys were summarily dis-
missed; chronic offenders sooner or later met a well-
deserved fate; but the process of purging the school
was not carried out ostentatiously, and the victims
were given no publicity. The students expelled by
Dr. Taylor seldom forgave him; those sent away
under Dr. Bancroft are often among the most loyal
supporters of the Academy, because they recognize
that the Principal acted for the real interests of the
institution. "Banty fired me," said an old Andover
boy some years ago, "but it woke me up, and was
the best thing that ever happened to me"; and he
signed his check for a large sum towards the Semi-
nary purchase fund. Dr. Bancroft had the rare gift
of being able to administer a reprimand or to in-

884

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

flict a punishment without losing the regard of the
culprit.

Dr. Bancroft was an ordained clergyman and
keenly alive to the religious needs of the boys, which
he knew could be met only by religious influences
wisely and continuously but often indirectly applied.
He laid emphasis on conduct, but he did not neglect
true inward conviction of a kind appropriate to a
boy's stage of maturity. In 1876 he allowed boys,
with the consent of their parents, to attend other
churches than the Seminary Chapel; from that date
on, Congregationalists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and
Roman Catholics (the denominations represented by
churches in Andover) were permitted to go regu-
larly to services to which they were accustomed. The
morning chapel requirement, however, was not re-
laxed. The so-called Monday morning "Biblicals"
were continued, each instructor being required to
occupy half an hour a week in drilling his eight o'clock
class in Scripture study. Towards the close of the
administration these "Bibhcals" lost their original
significance, and teachers, by tacit agreement, used
the period for talks on hterary topics, reading from
periodicals, or comment on current events. The
prayers which, under Dr. Taylor, had been held
on Wednesday and Saturday noons, were quietly
dropped, and the evening prayer-meetings, which at
one time exercised a strong religious influence and to
which many graduates still look back with gratitude,
were diminished in number. These changes, however,
did not involve a lessening of the interest in such
matters. In 1888 Dr. Bancroft wrote: —

385

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

The religious life has been more active and penetrating,
more controlling, than I have ever known before. The
meetings of the Society of Inquiry have been numerously
attended and well sustained. It has not been uncommon
for a hundred boys to be present at the evening meeting
on Sunday. The services in the Chapel on Sunday have
been unusually attractive, and the boys have approached
them in a better spirit.

The students were still obliged to attend church
services twice on Sunday in the Seminary Chapel,
where, although they were occasionally stirred by
the eloquent sermons of Professor Harris, Professor
Churchill, and Professor Tucker, they only too often
listened to discourses from which they could hardly
be expected to find much spiritual nutriment. Their
attitude towards these sermons may be gathered from
an occasional note in the Phillipian, such as that on
November 16, 1878: —

Dr. Dexter preached in the Chapel on the 3d instant.
If longevity [sic] and a multiplicity of words are the prin-
cipal elements of a sermon, he should receive the unlimited
admiration of the students.

Certain preachers who made a point of talking di-
rectly to young men were greeted with frank admira-
tion; but the intricacies of theology did not arouse
enthusiasm.

Phillips boys in those days had their fill of public
speaking. At the Draper and Means contests the
Academy Hall was packed to the very doors and
windows, and, until the early "nineties," each class
sent huge bouquets of flowers to those of its mem-
bers who were competitors. The Lyceum and the

386

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

lecture were still flourishing, and Andoverians heard
many distinguished platform orators, including Joseph
Cook, J. T. Stoddard, John B. Gough, Henry Ward
Beecher, John Fiske, and others. Wendell Phillips's
eloquent lecture on Daniel O'Connell has never been
forgotten by those boys who listened to it. One mem-
orable visit was that of Matthew Arnold, who was
trained by Professor Churchill so that his voice could
be heard more than thirty feet away. Andover resi-
dents still recall how the poet talking to his audience
said with deep earnestness, "I shall never forget what
Carlyle says of Emerson"; and then turned to his
manuscript in order to quote the passage burned
so vividly upon his mind. The "cads" cheered
Arnold vociferously before his reading, but most of
them slept peacefully in their benches through his
remarks, and walked home in silence.

The boarding-house problem was for Dr. Bancroft
a perpetual source of annoyance. In order to lodge
and feed the boys properly, the Principal was com-
pelled to rely chiefly on private enterprise. Especially
difiicult was the problem of furnishing food at reason-
able rates to the Commons men. In 1885 he wrote : —

Our most pressing want is a house for the accommoda-
tion of the boys who room in Commons and take the
cheapest board. The most vexatious discipline in the
Academy the past year has grown out of the insufBciency
of the present arrangement as compared with other schools
most like this. Boys who belong to us are likely to go
elsewhere because our present provision for those who
must live at least cost is so far behind the requirements of
health, comfort, and self-respect. . . . The Faculty are
agreed that our most urgent need is here.

387

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Shortly after this the Clement House on School
Street was remodeled as a Commons boarding-house,
and the well-known Major WiUiam Marland was
placed in charge. Students rooming in Commons were
required to board at the " Major's," the fixed rate
being, in 1887, three dollars a week. Major Marland
and his wife ate with the boys and undoubtedly did
their best to keep an orderly establishment.

The other eating-clubs and houses, some of them
managed by active boys, still continued. The Shaw-
sheen Club, located in the old Abbot House on Phil-
lips Street, maintained a somewhat precarious exist-
ence until 1889. In 1893 a number of boarding-houses
could be named : Ellis's, Blunt House, Brown's Cafe,
Eastman's, Brick House, Cheever House, Hitch-
cock's, and Butterfield's. The usual student legends
clustered around these "eating-joints," as they were
called; stock stories of the pancakes used as "scalers,"
of the "baled hay" provided at breakfast in enor-
mous quantities, of the steady deterioration in food
quality as the term wore on, are told at every Com-
mencement reunion. An entertaining account of a
typical boarding-house, "Aunt Hattie's," is to be
found in Lee J. Perrin's My Three Years at Andover}
The fact that prices in some of the best of these
establishments were very high often caused the
"Doctor" some anxiety. In 1891, in the course of a
discussion of the situation, he said : —

The inordinate increase in prices has already engaged
the attention of the Trustees, and it will continue to tax

* This volume, written under the pseudonym of Ewer Struly, was
published in 1908, by the Mayhew Publishing Company, Boston.

388

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

the best energies and best wisdom of all friends of the
school. No method can be devised except to add to the
endowments and equipments of the school, and to resist
in any proper way the tendency to advance the rates for
board and lodgings. The sumptuary regulations are diffi-
cult to manage, and especially so under a mixed system
of open competition, sharp restriction, and endowed char-
ity such as prevails here.

The increasing seriousness of this problem led the
Principal, in 1893, to some further observations: —

The provision for boarding accommodations is very
pressing. Prices remain very high and are likely to in-
crease. The reputation for being an expensive school is
very much to be deplored. The decline of the old family
home for boys, and the rise of the Academy boarding
house is not peculiar to Andover. Modern life has become
too sumptuous and artificial, the competition too sharp,
to admit of the simplicity and frugality of the earlier day.
. . . The immediate danger is that the school will divide,
as some of the great English schools were once divided,
into a group of rich boys on the one hand and a group of
poor boys on the other. In the English schools the poor
boys were gradually crowded out. It is our present obliga-
tion to make it possible for persons of moderate means to
get good accommodations at Andover at a moderate ex-
pense. We need a dining-hall for the express purpose of
providing for a class which does not ask for charitable
assistance and which cannot pay extravagant prices.

The Principal, with his usual acumen, had discov-
ered a tendency which was likely to overthrow the
traditional democracy of Phillips Academy. A few
landladies, who were obviously not in the business
for charity, were prepared to charge "all the traflSc
would bear," and, to many rich boys, a dollar or two

S89

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

a week more for board was not a material considera-
tion. Not until the school, with a dining-hall of its
own, could keep down prices by open competition,
was the problem solved to the satisfaction of the au-
thorities.

An equally unfortunate state of aflFairs arose in
connection with the lodging-house system. In these
private estabhshments the managers, in accordance
with an edict of the Trustees, were obliged to make
regular reports concerning the absences and mis-
demeanors of their boys. In spite of this rule, how-
ever, discipline was in a few conspicuous cases much
relaxed. If the housekeeper had no objection, smok-
ing was allowed, — and the rent of the rooms was
often so high as to counterbalance any instinctive
prejudice against pipes and cigarettes. Here, then,
congregated the boys who wanted to smoke away
an idle hour, usually not the least lawless element in
school. Undisturbed by the immediate proximity of
Faculty guardians, daring spirits did almost what
they pleased and certainly violated most rules with
comparative impunity. In dealing with landladies
of this type the utmost tact was required, and it was
here that the "Doctor" showed himself to be a mas-
ter diplomatist; he did not wish to incur their dis-
pleasure, and yet he was unwilling to allow them too
much freedom from the normal school restrictions.
In the end the situation was relieved by refusing
sanction to all but the most reliable houses.

In the student "resorts," also. Dr. Bancroft was
compelled to tolerate certain features which he per-
sonally disliked, but which he preferred to greater

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

evils. Such institutions as "Hinton's" and "Chap's"
came to be a famihar and intrinsic part of Academy-
life. As far back as 1886 the Phillipian printed a half-
jocose attack on Allen Hinton for trying to raise the
price of ice-cream five cents a pint; and in 1887 it
complained that he refused to advertise in school
publications and even to pay admission to games.
Hinton's popularity, however, survived these ephem-
eral attacks, and his farm off South Main Street
continued to be a favorite gathering-place for the
boys who, on hot spring nights, chose to risk the
chance of a " cut " in order to get a plate of frozen pud-
ding and to have a chat with Allen about the days
"befo' the wa'." This sort of dissipation, as the
Principal recognized, was innocuous, and he closed
his eyes discreetly, even when he knew that the
Latin Commons were nearly empty of students on
an occasional warm June evening.

"Hatch's," which later became " Chap's," was easy
of access to the boys on their way downtown, and soon
came to be the great student rendezvous. Presided
over by the picturesque Ovid Chapman, with his long
gray beard, it had that rare aroma, so delightful to
school and college undergraduates, of smoke and food
and musty hangings properly blended. There the
agents of clothing-houses congregated like harpies,
ready to swoop down upon the lucky youngster with
a "check from home" and sell him wearing apparel at
war-time prices. As smoking was prohibited in the
dormitories and cottages, "Chap's" was also a con-
venient place for buying tobacco, and the air was
usually blue and foul. It was also a restaurant, where

391

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

light lunches and even elaborate beefsteak dinners
could be procured when the boarding-house fare grew
tame. No doubt rules were broken over and over
again by the coterie who made "Chap's "their haunt;
no doubt, also, many unsophisticated youths over-
spent their allowances, acquired a useless stock of
banners, neckties, and shoes, and even injured their
health in order to dwell in the atmosphere of school
"romance." The Faculty, however, believed that, as
conditions were then, it was best not to put the ban
on "Chap's"; some of the teachers, therefore, hur-
ried past in study hours lest they should inadver-
tently detect an indiscreet student emerging from the
door, and they remained secretive when, long after
ten o'clock, they could see as they passed by a score
of night-owls smoking their bedtime pipes in de-
fiance of authority. "Chap's" was far from being
ideal; but the boys, while they were there, were in
Andover, and thus partly under the scrutiny of the
Principal; furthermore, there was nothing to offer as
a substitute. The opening of the grill, and later of the
Peabody House, ehminated "Chap's" with hardly a
murmur from the boys.

Undoubtedly the most conspicuous feature of Dr.
Bancroft's administration, so far as the undergraduate
life is concerned, was its increasing complexity, es-
pecially through the development of "outside activ-
ities" or "extra-curriculimi diversions." The Philo-
mathean Society and the Society of Inquiry continued
to exist, and, through limited periods, to prosper. To
these, however, were added other interests. The Phil-
lipian, started October 19, 1878, gave a chance for the

392

THK ULD CAMPUS IN 1890

THE OLD FIRK ENfilNE

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

development of journalistic talent. The organization
of Forum in 1892 made a formidable rival for "Philo."
The growth of secret societies and their recognition by
the Faculty effected a decided change in social condi-
tions among the boys. Above all, the spread of or-
ganized athletics and the beginning of contests with
Exeter and other outside schools brought in a new
factor which gradually loomed larger and larger. The
simple institution over which Dr. Pearson presided
was marvelously altered after the passage of a hun-
dred years.

The rivalry with Exeter, started in 1878, became
soon very intense, and led, on two dramatic occasions,
to a complete severing of relations between the
schools. In the last ten years of the century Andover
teams, with their professional coaches and the pres-
tige of many victories behind them, were competent
to hold their own with the teams of the smaller col-
leges, and even, in some unforgotten contests, with
Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The emphasis laid on
athletics was altogether too great, and games were
taken too seriously. Those were the days when men
on the baseball team came to afternoon recitations in
their athletic suits, and rushed to the diamond as soon
as classes were over. The spirit of "victory at any
cost" was abroad in the school, and the strain on the
days of the annual contests was oppressive. When the
game was held at Exeter, the Andover boys went
there by special train and marched through the rival
town to the field, giving cheers and singing songs of
defiance. At the game itself, pandemonium seemed
to have broken loose. From the first play until the

393

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

last there was a steady succession of songs and shouts;
cries of triumph from one side were followed by cheers
of reassurance from the other; and when victory was
established, the winning school did its snake dance
across the playing-field.

It was not long before "celebrations" were per-
mitted as the fitting reward for success. After a vic-
tory the students usually met at "Chap's" about
seven o'clock, attired in night-shirts, or pajamas, and
bearing torches distributed for the occasion; from
there, headed by a band and by the members of the
team drawn in a barge, they marched noisily about the
town. The procession always passed by Abbot Acad-
emy, where cheers were given for the "Fem-Sems,"
who had, of course, hung out banners from their win-
dows. It halted, too, at the homes of popular teachers,
who were called upon for appropriate "remarks."
The tramping over, the boys assembled around a
huge bonfire which, since early evening, had been
piling up on the Old Campus; there every member of
the team, the coach, and the manager each had his
say, and the boys yelled until their throats were raw
and aching. On these nights all restrictions as to
smoking on the Campus were removed, and cigarettes
and cigars glowed everywhere.

One interesting "celebration" came in the spring of
1888, when, after the nine, chiefly through the remark-
able pitching of "Al" Stearns, had defeated the
"Beacons" of Boston, 5-4, an enthusiastic crowd
called upon the "Doctor" for a speech. After refer-
ring gracefully to the victory, he spoke of two recent
additions to the population of Andover Hill, and the

394

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

boys, at his request, gave "three times three " for Coy
minimus and Hincks minima. Coy minimus was to be
the redoubtable "Ted" Coy, captain and fullback on
the Yale team in 1911.

Class spirit, which was especially strong under the
"Doctor," displayed itself in various ingenious ways.
In 1883, in spite of the protest of a disappointed mi-
nority, the Seniors made themselves conspicuous by
wearing Turkish fezzes. In 1886 the Seniors wore
silk hats and carried canes. In 1896 the graduating
class tried the experiment of wearing caps and gowns,
but the plan was not altogether successful and has not
since been revived. Cane rushes between the two
lower classes were often held, instigated and engi-
neered by the upper classmen. As early as 1879 there
was an informal clash between the Juniors and the
Middlers, in the course of which much blood flowed.
In the fall of 1886 there was a spectacular rush be-
tween '87 and '88, in which '87 won by ten hands to
six. In 1887, owing to some warnings by the Faculty,
the contest was held on the Punchard Campus, and
'89, after defeating '90, proceeded to serenade Abbot
Academy. In 1888 the cane rush was given official
sanction by the presence of Mr. Pettee, who acted as
arbiter; it was held on Saturday afternoon before a
large crowd of spectators, '90 winning by a score of 21
to 14. Until 1891 such rushes were held, but they were
finally discontinued on the ground that the strain was
too exhausting for the younger boys.

Another now forgotten custom was the class sleigh
ride and dinner, at which members of the Faculty were
usually present as invited guests. The class, after

395

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

starting out in roomy barges in the midst of a volley
of snowballs from the remainder of the school, drove
to some inn several miles away; there a banquet was
served, followed by a long programme of speeches,
after which came the somewhat dismal journey back
to Andover Hill. On January 25, 1887, the Seniors, in
two huge sleighs, each holding twenty boys, went over
the road to Lowell, where they were joined by Dr.
Bancroft and Professor Coy, who had wisely taken the
train. The party returned with the temperature at
thirty degrees below zero.

As a substitute for the cane rush an annual baseball
game between Middlers and Junior Middlers became
very popular, and resulted in unrestrained enthusi-
asm. When '98 won from '97 by a score of 19 to 11,
the victorious class held a miniattire "celebration,"
at which guns were discharged in defiance of the con-
stabulary; one little chap was arrested, and there was
a vigorous street altercation between the class and the
"cop." At these games the players were assailed with
mud, vegetables, and weapons of every conceivable
kind. At the game between '98 and '99 in 1897 can-
nons were placed near first and third bases, bass
drums were beaten, cymbals were clashed, horns were
blown, and revolvers were shot off. Each class had
purchased its own suits just for this game at a cost of
nearly $200, and one class used over $100 worth of
cannon crackers. In 1899 the class of 1900 defeated
'01 by a score of 29 to 26. In the course of the eve-
ning excitement, a false fire alarm was rung in and a
government mail box was blown up. These unfortunate
incidents, together with the fact that the class games

396

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

were drawing undesirable crowds of "muckers" to
the Hill, led to the abandonment of the contests.

The school fire department was still continued with
an elaborate organization consisting of a foreman, six
men at the hose, four at the suction hose, and four at
the brakes, besides others who, in case of need, vol-
unteered their services. To every conflagration in the
town or its vicinity this apparatus was taken, often
to the disgust of the village fathers, for the fire-
fighters were frequently careless about the direction
in which the stream was thrown, and many an inno-
cent bystander was deluged. When the town water
system was built, the necessity for a school engine
disappeared, and the apparatus was stored in a con-
venient barn.

Town and gown in Andover have usually dwelt to-
gether in amity, each being of obvious advantage to
the other's happiness. Now and then, however, fric-
tion developed. The most frequent cause of trouble
at this period was the regulation of coasting, or "bob-
sledding," on the town thoroughfares, especially
School and Phillips Streets, where the grades were
steep and where the boys resorted in large numbers on
evenings when enough ice had formed to make the
sport exciting. In 1881 the Selectmen, irritated by
the complaints of one or two staid citizens, passed
somewhat hastily a measure forbidding coasting on
any Andover street. On the following Saturday night
some eight or ten daring spirits, who had continued to
coast in defiance of the law, were arrested, haled to
court, and fined a dollar each. The Phillipian, mani-
festly belligerent, pubhshed in its next issue an edi-

397

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

torial on the conduct of the Chief of Pohce, Mr.
Howarth, in the course of which it said : —

He is such a completely idiotic and stupid nonentity,
even when he is sober, that he would fail to have the pene-
tration to discover the application did we not drive our
remarks home.

A few days later the boys held a large and noisy
meeting, and resolved in revenge to withdraw all
patronage from the merchants of Andover. This
drastic action soon brought the citizens to terms, and,
at the annual town meeting, the voters, on the mo-
tion of Warren F. Draper, aimuUed the obnoxious
by-law.

Incidents of this kind — and there are many others
— are told by alumni at every Commencement gather-
ing. Those who are familiar with the annals of col-
leges during the " seventies " and "eighties " know that
it was an age of vandalism and rough practical joking.
It is to be said for the Phillips boys that they rarely
showed deliberate malice. It was regularly the cus-
tom, of course, to decorate the Commons dormitories
with numerals and school emblems, and to cover the
fences with the scores of recent games. On the nights
of celebrations no outhouse or gate was safe without
a guard. In 1896, during the exercises connected
with the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
town, the school acquired some undesirable notoriety
through hoodlums who, on one or two dark evenings,
tore down signs, painted sidewalks with unedifying in-
scriptions, and concluded by burning a fence belong-
ing to the Churchill House. The offenders, however,

398

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

were soon apprehended, and the school as a whole
condemned the acts.

"Stacking rooms" in the Commons was a favorite
diversion for student buUies. In 1890, while the
Seniors were having their sleigh ride, the Middlers
went systematically to work to stack their furniture
throughout the dormitories, and no small commotion
resulted when the Seniors, cold and tired, returned to
find their rooms in a state of utter confusion. This
exploit also was discountenanced by the remainder of
the student body, and resulted in a contrite apology
from the Middle class.

The class of 1875 achieved fame by stealing Pro-
fessor Coy's copy of Cicero and cremating it on the
Campus. The ashes were put in a glass jar labeled
"M. TuUi Ciceronis, Cato Major de Senectute," and
sealed with red wax. This remained for years in the
Academy library, apparently preserved as a relic of
value.

A typical example of undergraduate humor took
place on one occasion when Dr. Bancroft explained
one morning at chapel that a comet would be visible
on the following morning, and advised the students to
get up early enough to see it. They all, of course,
crawled out of bed at four o'clock, perched them-
selves on the ridgepoles of their houses, and, at a given
signal, made a hideous noise. Dr. Bancroft opened his
remarks in chapel two or three hours later by saying,
"Boys will be fools; do what you may, boys will be
fools."

In presidential years the students organized their
own political companies. In 1880, for instance, the

399

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

"Garfield and Arthur Battalion" was one hundred
and fifty strong; the members wore red Turkish hats,
white cutaway jackets trimmed with red, white leg-
gings, and carried swinging torches. They marched
in processions in several cities. In 1888 the Demo-
crats organized the "Cleveland Cadets^," secured
picturesque uniforms, and marched with a similar
company from the town in an elaborate torchlight
parade. Two weeks later the Republican Club of the
Academy, not to be outdone, held a rival celebration.
The excitement in this particular year was so great
that much disorder ensued; fortunately, however, at-
tention was diverted by the approaching football
game, and Harrison and Morton were elected without
any undue hilarity.

The Spanish War naturally did not cause as much
disturbance in the school as the Civil War had done,
but the boys, nevertheless, showed some military
ardor. A mass meeting held April 25, 1898, nearly
ended in a riot because of a speech by an instructor,
who condemned American policy in no uncertain
terms. At a flag-raising which took place at Brechin
Hall on June 1, Professor George Harris delivered an
address, and Professor Churchill read Mrs. Stowe's
Banner Hymn, which had been written for a similar
occasion twenty-five years before.

The days of Dr. Bancroft are too near our own
time to make it possible to recount the anecdotes
which are common talk around the fireside whenever
Phillips alumni meet. Some of them, like the tale of
the student who dressed up as a girl and went with
the Abbot young ladies on a sleigh ride, can be told

400

THE DAYS WHEN " BANTY " RULED

properly only by those who participated in them.
Others, like the classic yarn of McDuffee's stove
which wandered mysteriously from place to place on
the Campus, have become part of school tradition.
If one or two of the instructors would consent to write
their reminiscences, they would be entertaining read-
ing. It is the men who lived through those years who
can best transmit their spirit and make them seem
once more alive to Andover men of the twentieth
century.

CHAPTER XX

THE END OF AN ERA

Dr. Bancroft seems to me to have been, when looked at from
all standpoints, an ideal head of PhiUips Academy. He embodied its
traditions; in his alert personality he expressed its present activities;
and in his strivings he foreshadowed its future usefulness, — in a word,
he was the Academy.

Chasi/ES Moobe, '74.

It was Dr. Bancroft's boast that the school over
which he presided was, like Harvard, Yale, and
Princeton, a thoroughly national institution. Before
his administration closed, it was possible to prove
that there was hardly a city in the United States in
which an Andover man could not be foimd. In his
dormitory on Andover Hill a New Yorker might hve
with a Cahf ornian or a Texan, and make many friends
from beyond the Rockies. As the boys thus rubbed
shoulders with one another, provincial prejudices
disappeared, local dialects were forgotten, sectional
animosities were eradicated; in a word, New Eng-
landers. Southerners, and Westerners learned to know
and respect men from other districts than their own
and acquired that broad tolerance which is necessary
to the true American spirit.

In 1874, of the 237 boys registered, 91, or about
38 per cent, were from Massachusetts. Ten years
later, when the Principal for the first time published
the representation of his pupils in the catalogue, 197
students, or more than 66 per cent, were from outside

4:02

THE END OF AN ERA

the Commonwealth. In 1901, Dr. Bancroft's last year,
the number from Massachusetts had diminished to
only 122 out of 407, or approximately 30 per cent.
These statistics, showing, as they do, a progressive
development, require no comment.

From time to time special delegations of foreigners,
especially Chinese, would appear in Phillips Acad-
emy, where they usually made brilliant records. The
story is told of one Chinaman in particular who,
through carelessness, fell below in his studies. The
poor report was sent, in accordance with instruc-
tions, to his Government, and the reply came back at
once, "Send him home, and we will behead him."
Needless to say, this warning accomplished its pur-
pose.

In 1884, also. Dr. Bancroft thought it wise to pub-
lish the names of graduates who had been admitted
to college in the previous autumn, and this custom
has been continued ever since. Of the boys who left
Andover in 1883, 26 went to Yale, 13 to Harvard,
and 15 to various other institutions. Of the members
of the class of 1894, 74 chose Yale, — either Classical
or Sheffield Scientific, — 27 Harvard, and 24 other
colleges. In 1900, 37 Andover men entered Yale, 24
Sheffield Scientific School, 26 Harvard, and 37 other
colleges, — nineteen separate institutions in all being
represented in the list of choices. The Yale tradi-
tion still remained powerful, so powerful that a good
majority of the graduates in any given year usually
selected New Haven; but Phillips Academy, after
1884 at any rate, prepared boys for any higher insti-
tution. The old impression that Andover is almost

403

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

exclusively a fitting school for Yale has been for
many years entirely erroneous.

Dr. Bancroft was engaged heart and soul in the
matter of preserving a high standard of scholarship.
Realizing the importance of prizes in stimulating the
latent ambitions of boys, he made vigorous and suc-
cessful efforts to secure endowments for this purpose;
and he also originated the plan of printing the names
of winners in the school catalogue. In 1893 he pub-
lished also a list of those Seniors who took "final
honors" in special courses and subjects. Since 1884
there has been no reason to question the quality of
the work done in college by the average graduate of
Phillips Academy.

From 1875 until 1900 the cost of living, and con-
sequently the cost of education, increased enor-
mously. In order to balance receipts and expendi-
tures the Trustees were forced, much against their
wills, to raise the price of tuition. After some ex-
periments the rate was fixed in 1884 at $24 for the
fall term, and $18 for the winter and spring terms.
Other increases were made in 1891 and 1898, and
finally, on February 22, 1902, an annual charge of
$150 was established. In 1895 a graduation fee of $7
was made a requirement of every candidate for a
diploma.

We cannot leave Dr. Bancroft's administration
without saying a word regarding his relations with
the Board of Trustees. It has been said by one who
knew the Principal intimately that no one ever ap-
preciated while he was alive the annoying difficulties
which he confronted. When his projects were per-

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THE END OF AN ERA

fected in his own mind, it was irksome for him to have
to delay in order to satisfy men of a less sanguine
temperament. Dr. Taylor had absolutely dominated
his Trustees; Dr. Bancroft was not ambitious to play
the part of despot, but he soon showed himself to be
a pillar of strength for that body. His was the master
will; but he had to contend at different times with
diverse phases of inertia, conservatism, and distrust.
He often himseK expressed surprise that he was ever
able to bring unity out of a discord which seemed un-
manageable.

Many of the Trustees, however, were men well
equipped for guiding a great school. President Seth
Sweetser, who died March 24, 1878, was succeeded
by the Honorable Alpheus Hardy ^ (1815-1887), of
Boston, who had been on the Board since 1858. At
his resignation in 1885 his place as President was
taken by the Reverend Daniel Taggart Fiske ^ (1819-
1903), of Newburyport, who had served as Trustee

' Alpheus Hardy was born in Chatham, Massachusetts, and attended
Phillips Academy, but, because of a physical breakdown, was obhged
to go into business. As a shipping merchant in Boston he was notably
successful, being also a director in several corporations and trustee of
the great Sears estate. He was a Trustee of Amherst College and, at one
time, a member of the State Senate. He died of blood-poisoning, Au-
gust 7, 1887.

2 Daniel T. Fiske, born at Shelburne, Massachusetts, graduated from
Amherst College in 1842 and from Andover Theological Seminary in
1846, and was ordained in 1847. From that date until 1887 he was
pastor of the Belleville Church in Newburyport. He received the degree
of Doctor of Divinity from Amherst in 1862. Dr. Fiske died January
15, 1903, having been pastor emeritus for sixteen years after his resigna-
tion. As President of the Trustees he was keenly interested in the theo-
logical controversies then rife in Andover Seminary, and took a promi-
nent part on the side of the defense in the so-called "heresy trials" of
that period.

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HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

since 1861, and who was to be President until Octo-
ber 16, 1899, when, at the age of eighty, he with-
drew from the Board. In 1900 Judge Robert Rob-
erts Bishop ^ (1834-1909), who had been made a
Trustee in 1881, was chosen President, and was hold-
ing that position when Dr. Bancroft died.

The growing responsibility of the treasurership
had, since 1868, been borne faithfully and capably
by Edward Taylor; but he resigned on June 10, 1889,
although he continued to act as Trustee until his
death in 1893. In his place the members selected
Alpheus Holmes Hardy ^ (1840-), a retired mer-
chant, who had, in 1885, taken his father's seat upon
the Board. Mr. Hardy retained this office until
August 1, 1901.

Of the other men who made up the Board during
Dr. Bancroft's time, several had already made their
marks in different fields. Honorable Joseph Sam-
uel Ropes ^ (1818-1903), a Trustee for twenty-three

* Robert R. Bishop was bom at Medfield, Massachusetts, and grad-
uated from Phillips Academy in 1854. After a course of study in Har-
vard Law School, he began practice in Boston, where he shortly be-
came a leader of the bar. He served as State Senator, and as President
of the Senate, and was finally appointed a Judge of the Superior Court,
a post for which he was admirably equipped. He was an able orator,
and made excellent addresses on several occasions at Andover.

' Alpheus H. Hardy was born in Boston, the son of the Honorable
Alpheus Hardy, graduated from PhiUips Academy in 1857 and from
Harvard College in 1861, and became an importer of India goods. He
was later entrusted with the management of several large estates in
Boston and vicinity, and was for many years Treasurer of Wellesley
College.

s Joseph S. Ropes, after studying in this country and in Russia,
entered the mercantile business, and also served as Representative and
Senator in the Massachusetts General Court. He died in Norwich,
Connecticut, March 14, 1903.

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THE END OF AN ERA

years from 1874 to 1897, had an influential voice in
deliberations; the Reverend Alexander McKenzie^
(1830-1914) was on the Board for thirty-four years,
from 1876 until his resignation, April 5, 1910; Presi-
dent Franklin Carter ^ (1837-), of Williams College,
became a Trustee in 1881 and served until 1902; the
Honorable Horace Fairbanks ^ (1820-88) was on the
Board for the two years before his death; and the
Reverend James Gardiner Vose* (1830-1908), an
eminent clergyman of Providence, Rhode Island,
was a Trustee from 1886 until he died. Mr. George
Brown Knapp, the oldest member of the present
Board, was chosen in 1899, as was also Professor
James Hardy Ropes, of Harvard University. Pro-
fessor Ropes was the first of a group of young men
who, as a consequence of the growing feeling that
the younger alumni ought to be represented, were
given their share in the government of Phillips Acad-

' Alexander McKenzie graduated from Phillips Academy in 1855,
from Harvard in 1859, and, after 1867, was pastor of the First Church,
Congregational, of Cambridge. He won a wide reputation as a brilliant
preacher, his rapid utterance and impetuous delivery being especially
remarkable. At the Centennial Celebration of 1878 he delivered the
Oration. Dr. McKenzie received several honorary degrees. He died
at his home in Cambridge, August 7, 1914.

* Franklin Carter graduated from Phillips Academy in 1855, and from
WilUams in 1862. After several years as professor in Williams and in
Yale, he was elected President of Williams College, from which po-
sition he resigned in 1904.

' Horace Fairbanks, also a Phillips graduate, made a fortune as a
manufacturer in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and became Governor of that
State. He died in New York City, March 17, 1888.

^ James G. Vose, a graduate of Phillips Academy in 1847 and of Yale
in 1851, was ordained at Amherst in 1857. For ten years Professor of
English Literature at Amherst College, he was settled in 1866 as pastor
of the Beneficent Church in Providence, Rhode Island, where he re-
mained until his death, March 13, 1908.

407

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

emy, to the very great advantage of the school.
The withdrawal in 1900 of the Reverend Joshua
Wyman Wellman ' (1821-1915) and the death in
1899 of Theodore Moody Osborne (1849-99) created
two vacancies, which were filled, on February 8,
1901, by the election of two new Trustees, Mr.
Clarence Morgan and Mr. James Cowan Sawyer, the
first of whom was only thirty -one and the second but
twenty-eight. Later in the year Mr. Sawyer took
Mr. Alpheus H. Hardy's place as Treasurer of the
Board. Since that date the new Trustees have been
selected almost uniformly from the younger alumni,
and have been men possessing an intimate acquaint-
ance with Phillips Academy and its pecuhar prob-
lems.

The notorious theological controversy which, in
1886 and 1887, so disturbed the peace of Andover
Hill had no appreciable immediate effect on PhilUps
Academy, except in so far as it diverted the atten-
tion of the Trustees from the affairs of the school.
The charges against five of the ablest Seminary
professors — Smyth, Tucker, Churchill, Harris, and
Hincks — were on the groimd that the teachings and
writings of these eminent scholars were "not in
harmony with sound doctrine as expressed in the
Creed which the Founders and Donors of this insti-
tution [Andover Theological Seminary] made the
unalterable condition of the gifts which were com-

' Dr. Wellman, who graduated from Dartmouth in 1846, was or-
dained in 1851, and was successively pastor at East Derry, New Hamp-
shire, Newton, and Maiden. After 1883 he had no settled parish. He
received honorary degrees from Olivet and Dartmouth. He was elected
a Trustee of Phillips Academy in 1870.

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THE END OF AN ERA

mitted in sacred trust to this Board." The sub-
sequent proceedings proved the truth of Emerson's
remark that "Men are better than their theology."
The attack was supported by only one member of
the Board of Trustees, together with a group of Semi-
nary alumni. When the case was referred to the
Board of Visitors, four of the professors were com-
pletely exonerated, but the fifth. Professor Egbert
C. Smyth, was declared to be removed from his
office as Brown Professor of Ecclesiastical History.
He, however, as was his right, appealed at once to
the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, which body,
after some years, referred the question, on technical
grounds, back to the Visitors. Many of the original
animosities having cooled in the meantime, the Visi-
tors were quite wiUing to leave Professor Smyth in
office, and he kept his place as professor until his
death. Dr. Bancroft, in expressing his opinion on
the points at issue, said, with his usual breadth of
view: —

I . . . find that these professors deserve for their in-
dustry, their zeal, their scholarship, their piety, not the
disfranchisement and suspicion of the friends of the Semi-
nary and of sacred learning, but encouragement, sym-
pathy, and approval.

One feature of the second half of Dr. Bancroft's
administration was the spread of alumni organiza-
tions. The first regular dinner of the Alumni Asso-
ciation of Phillips Academy was held on Wednesday,
March 24, 1886, at the Parker House in Boston, with
over two hundred and fifty graduates present. The
New York Association gave its first dinner on March

409

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

31, 1891, at the Hotel Brunswick. Early in the fol-
lowing year a Chicago Association was also formed.
It was during this period that a deliberate effort was
begun to induce alumni to return in force at Com-
mencement time. Dr. Bancroft succeeded in arous-
ing among the graduates a spirit of loyalty to Phil-
hps Academy, and a desire to further its interests.

It has been estimated that over ninety-six hundred
students were, at one time or another, under Dr.
Bancroft's jurisdiction at Phillips Academy. A very
large proportion of these men are stiU aHve, with
much of their hfe-work yet to do. It would be in-
vidious then, to select from their number any special
names of those who have won distinction. In practi-
cally every field, — law, medicine, education, busi-
ness, diplomacy, politics, journalism, Hterature, and
religion, — there are Andover men who stand in the
front rank of their respective calUngs. It wiU remain
for the future historian to judge the dead, and to
make a list of eminent alumni under Dr. Bancroft.

Some events of particular importance in the Prin-
cipal's life still remain to be spoken ot. By a strange
coincidence one of his children was born on April 21,
1878, exactly one hundred years after the signing of
the Constitution of Phillips Academy. The boys,
when they heard of the happy event, promptly as-
sembled, sent Dr. Bancroft a centennial bouquet,
and voted that the child should be christened Phil-
lips. In the summer of 1880 the Principal and all
his children were ill of diphtheria, and one boy,
Arthur, died. So exhausted was Dr. Bancroft from
his work in the following winter that he was given a

410

THE END OF AN ERA

vacation by the Trustees, and Mr. Merrill served for
some weeks as Acting Principal.

On June 12, 1888, Dr. Bancroft, at the sohcitation
of the Trustees, accepted a leave of absence and was i
reluctantly persuaded to take a gift of $1000 in addi- /
tion to his salary. He would not sail, however, until 1
December 29, at a time when he was sure that the 1
school was well started. During his absence Prof as- 1
sor Coy was Acting Principal, Professor Comstock, |
Dean of the Classical Department, and Professor I
Graves, Dean of the EngUsh Department. This group j
of teachers, the famous "triumvirate," led chapel in!
turn and sat together on the platform, managing the \
school in committee. The results were not altogether |
fortunate, for the discipline of the Academy was soi
far impaired that, before June arrived, an unusually i
large number of students had been rusticated or ex- \
pelled.

Relations between Dr. Bancroft and Professors
Coy and Comstock were, after this year, never quite
so intimate as they had been before. It was not !
long, however, before the situation was relieved by .
the announcement in June, 1892, that Professor \
Coy had resigned in order to become Principal of ;
the newly-founded Hotchkiss School in Connecti- ]
cut, and that he would be accompanied by Professor |
Comstock. For nearly twenty years these two great -
teachers had been connected with Phillips Academy, I
and had gained for themselves a reputation almost as ;
widespread as Dr. Bancroft's. An editorial in the !
Phillifian for March 23, 1892, spoke with regret of i
the rumored resignations : —

411

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Much of the renown which our school has obtained
is due to the ability and efforts of these two teachers. . . .
We do not know the causes which have led to their deci-
sion, but we are sure that the money motive has no place
among them. Perhaps the meager equipment of the Acad-
emy during recent years, the press of work, and the small
share which they have had in the government of the
school have contributed towards the sum of causes.

I Many intelligent citizens of Andover took it for
,' granted that the Academy would inevitably decline
I with Coy and Comstock no longer on the Faculty,
j As a matter of fact, however, it was only a year or
( two before Dr. Bancroft, an unerring judge of men,
I was able to boast that he had fully compensated for
I their loss by adding to his staflF two teachers who,
I as the future was to show, were to display abihty
j equal to that of their predecessors. Professor Allen
R. Benner and Professor Charles H. Forbes, who
to-day hold the chairs of Greek and Latin respec-
tively, have seen a longer service in Phillips Academy
than either Comstock or Coy. Dr. Bancroft had the
laugh on his critics, who believed that he could not
succeed without the "triumvirate" to back him.

On May 20, 1896, the town of Andover celebrated
its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and Dr. Ban-
croft, whose management of the Academy Centennial
had not been forgotten, acted as Chairman of the
General Committee. Into the excessive labor involved
he threw himself with unreserved enthusiasm, with
the result that the programme was carried out with
gratifying punctuality and success.

On March 29, 1898, Mrs. Bancroft, who had been

412

THE END OF AN ERA

for some years in feeble health, died. She was a quiet,
unostentatious lady, with a generosity which led
her to assist every one whom she knew to be in dis-
tress. Her death was a crushing blow to Dr. Ban-
croft, who was himself suffering from a malady which
was gradually undermining his strength. In October,
1898, the Trustees allowed him another opportunity '
to recuperate, and he once more sailed for Europe,
leaving Professor Graves in charge of the school;
he gained little real relief, however, and when he
returned in March, 1899, he seemed much less active.
His former elastic step was not so springy, his quick
mind had lost some of its alertness. During the en-
suing months he kept doggedly at his daily task,
but his control of matters was more lax, and the
Academy, while never in danger of a crisis, missed
the firm hand which had for so long directed its
course. The value of the efficient Faculty which he
had gathered around him was now evident in the
smoothness with which the schedule continued to
be carried out. During the summer of 1901 Dr. Ban-
croft, restless and exhausted, once more went abroad.
On his return he rapidly declined, and was obliged to
give up his walks to his office. On Friday, October 4,
1901, he died.

Private services were held in the home on Chapel
Avenue which he had occupied since 1892. The pub-
lic funeral took place on Monday, October 7, in the
Stone Chapel. Twelve of the students acted as
bearers, and the cortege was escorted by the entire
undergraduate body, the President of the school
acting as Chief Marshal. The Chapel exercises were

413

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

conducted by President Tucker, of Dartmouth Col-
lege, and a committal service was read by Dr. John
Phelps Taylor. Dr. Bancroft was buried in the beau-
tiful cemetery on Andover Hill, where Dr. Samuel
H. Taylor had been laid to rest over thirty years
before. In 1905 a granite monument, the gift of his
pupils, was erected over his grave.

Resolutions of respect and honor to the dead Prin-
cipal were passed by many organizations, and mes-
sages of condolence came from his "old boys" the
country over. Of all the expressions of affection and
recognition not one was more genuinely sincere than
that voiced oflScially by his colleagues on the Board
of Trustees : —

After many years of distinguished service he rests from
his labors. His administration of the interests of the
Academy has been eminently successful. By large ability
and discretion he so fulfilled the varied duties of his oflSce
that he readily commanded the confidence of those asso-
ciated with him, and the respect and grateful affection
of the thousands of boys who have been under his care.
He has kept the school in its high place before the colleges
and the world. He will always and everywhere be named
with honor.

Beyond all which was official, he has endeared himself
to those who have stood with him by his fine qualities of
heart, his constant courage and patience, his cheerfulness
and hopefulness, and the full measure of his friendliness.

Every thought of him is pleasant. His work will abide
and his memory be an encouragement to fidelity. He has
gained the blessing which belongs to him who has lived
in the love of God and the service of men.

In the course of his career Dr. Bancroft received
many honors which, in several cases, were the direct

414

THE END OF AN ERA

reward of his success at Phillips Academy. In 1874
the University of the State of New York made him
a Doctor of Philosophy, by which title he soon came
to be familiarly known. Williams College m 1891
gave him the degree of Doctor of Letters, and Yale,
in 1892, added to it the degree of Doctor of Laws.
In 1897 he was made a Trustee of Dartmouth Col-
lege. With scholars like Professor Goodwin, Pro-
fessor Kittredge, President Harper of Chicago, and
Dean West of Princeton, he served as a member
of the "Committee of Twelve" appointed by the
American Philological Association, in defense of the
Greek language. He was constantly being called
upon for addresses on educational topics. As an
authority on secondary education he had a national
fame, although, with the little leisure at his disposal,
he was unable to publish as much as he desired.

His work in the field of education, however, repre-
sents only a portion of his activity. Unlike Dr.
Samuel H. Taylor, Dr. Bancroft was a practical man
of affairs. "Had Dr. Bancroft been a business man
he would have become a millionaire," said a promi-
nent manufacturer who knew him well. He was a
director of the Andover National Bank and of the
Merrimack Insurance Company, and a trustee of
the State Hospital at Tewksbury. He added to his
responsibilities by consenting to act as trustee of
various private estates, which he managed shrewdly
and carefully. In town deliberations he was always
a leader, whose advice and assistance was sought
and whose words were heard attentively. He was
Andover's most respected citizen.

415

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

It was this many-sided and compendious nature
that was the "Doctor's" chief distinction. In reply
to a warning against overwork he once said : —

I promised myself years ago that I would never fossil-
ize as nothing but a schoolmaster; so, as I am a "rever-
end," I marry a couple once in a while, and, as an inter-
ested civilian, I sit as Trustee of a bank, and of a college
or seminary. You see I am strictly in it.

It was this never-ceasing nervous necessity for
action which eventually wore him out. His best
photograph shows him at his desk, surrounded by
letters and pamphlets. Like most busy men, too, he
was seldom so much occupied with the countless rou-
tine duties of his position that he was not able to dis-
cuss a petty matter with a landlady or to argue with
a persistent teacher over an absurd question of dis-
cipline which ought never to have been brought to
his notice. Idleness was incompatible with his tem-
perament. Even in his last days, when he was too
feeble to take a seat at this desk, he would lie on a
couch in the familiar north room in the Treasurer's
office, in order to keep a sharp eye on what was going
on. His sense of responsibility never left him. Once,
when one of his pupils remonstrated with him con-
cerning the methods which he had used in detecting
the perpetrator of a rather serious oflFense, Dr. Ban-
croft, in a voice evidently full of deep emotion, said: —

You will do almost anything to find out what is going
on when you have to account for the character of three
hundred boys to parents who are more than anxious that
they should do the right thing here, and hereafter become
upright men.

416

THE END OF AN ERA

Dr. Bancroft had also an undisguised and never-
failing sense of humor. Those who were privileged
to know him intimately have applied to him Shak-
spere's words, —

A merrier man
Within the limit of becoming mirth,
I never spent an hour's talk withal.

When his colleagues entered his office, he often
greeted them with a twinkle in his eye and a sup-
pressed chuckle, "I've got a new story." He used
to tell with glee of the time when he called up a boy
one Monday morning and said, "You were not at
Chapel yesterday." " No ; I went to the Free Church."
"Oh, who preached there.?" "I sat back; I didn't
get his name." "Well, what was the text?" "I
don't remember his text." "Well, what was his ser-
mon.? " "Oh, it was a very good talk, but I don't just
remember what it was about." "Well, what did he
look like.? " "I don't remember what he looked like."
"What an unfortunate memory! It was I who
preached." Stories like this often made a hard day's
work endurable.

The Principal's memory for faces and names was
little short of astounding. Seldom did one of his "old
boys," no matter how changed by time or the strain
of business cares, enter his office without being greeted
immediately by name; and the recognition was usu-
ally followed by some reminiscence of the student's
career in school. He was fond of probing into family
relationships, and he knew the ramifications of An-
dover genealogy by heart. Often in Faculty meeting
he would hold up a discussion by giving in detail a

417

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

list of a boy's sisters and cousins and aunts until the
teachers were overwhelmed by the mass of informa-
tion at his disposal. His knowledge of the home con-
ditions of some youngsters led the "Doctor" some-
times to be lenient when his colleagues wanted him
to be strict; but he always had a justifiable reason
tucked away in his capacious mind.

Dr. Bancroft was a thoroughly good and a gen-
uinely religious man. His unselfishness was very
frequently a cause of irritation to friends who were
anxious to see that he lacked none of the comforts
of life. Even to the end his time and his purse were
at the disposal of the least deserving beggar, and he
saved nothing out of his salary. His religion was not
mystical, but practical. It was in his character to
love life and its opportunities, and to scorn that
philosophy which looks upon earth simply as a some-
what painful place preparatory for a finer state be-
yond the grave. In his letter to his Dartmouth class-
mates, at the time of their fortieth reunion in 1900,
he sounded this note of optimism, although he him-
self knew then that his days were numbered: —

Life is worth living in a much wider and deeper sense
than I imagined when I was in college. I did not know
how much happiness there was ia it. I hope I have got a
little past the drudgery of duty into the enjoyment of
the whole complex of motives and activities, which gather
themselves up into pursuits which are absorbing and satis-
fying. Religion seems to be an element ui life, and not a
separate department of it.

It is probably still too early to make a final estimate
of the influence of Dr. Bancroft upon the Academy

418

THE END OF AN ERA

which he loved. A century from now the historian
will be able to get a clearer perspective, to separate
what is essential and permanent from what is unim-
portant and ephemeral. We to-day, however, can see
that his prescience was extraordinary, and that in an
unassuming way he was continually planning a future
of immense possibilities for his school. In carrying out
his designs he was not hasty or impulsive; he recog-
nized that —

The wisdom of mankind creeps slowly on,
Subject to every doubt that can retard
Or fling it back upon an earlier time.

It is true that Phillips Academy, while he was in
charge of it, grew rapidly; but the expansion was nat-
ural, not forced, and it was merely a legitimate ex-
tension of ideas which must have been somewhat in
the minds of the Founders. It is significant, also, that
none of his work has had to be undone by his succes-
sor. In several cases, indeed, he barely suggested
schemes which Dr. Stearns has been glad to put into
operation, because they were based upon sound prin-
ciples. Dr. Bancroft needs no formal eulogy. Even
those who never knew him, who are compelled to
judge him simply by what he accomplished, feel that
his spirit is still alive; and they love to think of him in
the words of Lowell's lines on Dr. Channing, —

Thou art not idle; in thy higher sphere
Thy spirit bends itself to loving tasks,

And strength to perfect what it dreamed of here
Is all the crown and glory that it asks.

CHAPTER XXI

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES
Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.

During the early years of Phillips Academy there
seems to have been Mttle need for student societies,
and conditions were probably not favorable to their
formation. The paternalism of the Principal was
so strict that the boys enjoyed almost no liberty;
consequently they lacked initiative and showed no
inclination to group themselves in organizations.
Furthermore, there was in many sections of the coim-
try a prejudice against anything savoring of a secret
fraternity. For these reasons, and others which are
less definitely known, we hear of no student society
tuitil the administration of John Adams. WiUiam
Person in 1814 speaks often of a "Moral Society," of
which he was a member. This was evidently identical
with a "Society for the Promotion of Good Morals,"
to which Sereno T. Abbot was admitted in 1827. Of
the aims, the conduct, and the history of this organ-
ization nothing can be learned. We know also that
young Abbot in 1827 was elected to the "Musical So-
ciety of Phillips Academy," but nothing can be dis-
covered regarding this society except its motto, —
"Deo laudes canere bonum, dulce, et decorum est."

The first society concerning which any information
has been accumulated is the Social Fraternity, which
met, apparently for the first time, on July 22, 1817.

420

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

It was originally secret, for mention is made in the
Records of certain "peculiar signs" employed by the
members. There were three officers: a Master of
Ceremonies, a Master of Symbols (frequently spelled
cymbals and simhols), and a "Lampadum Curator."
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said of it that it was
"secret and literary, and that the ceremony of ini-
tiation was calculated to impress a youthful im-
agination." From the motto, — "Ad excolendam
declamandi et bene scribendi artem," — it may be
deduced that the society had high aims; indeed,
the revised constitution of 1829 mentions, as the
chief object, "mutual improvement in the following
branches of English literature, viz., Composition,
Criticism, and Extemporaneous Debates." Some at-
tempt was made at intervals to encourage the writing
of Greek and Latin poems. Members, who were regu-
larly Seniors, were chosen from the Middle class at
the close of each year. The fraternity maintained a
small but select library, open to members only. It
usually held an Exhibition during the spring term; in
1827 the programme consisted of eleven numbers,
including an essay on Novel Reading, a poem on In-
temperance, and a "dispute," — "Is Force or Beauty
more Desirable in Writing?"

In the autumn of 1824 Horatio B. Hackett, ag-
grieved because, not being a Senior, he was denied
admission to the Social Fraternity, induced three of
his classmates, Ray Palmer, Jonathan French Stearns,
and William Newell, to join him in forming a new so-
ciety which, after a constitution had been framed,
met for organization on January 5, 1825. The purpose

421

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of this Philomathean Society was stated in the pre-
amble of the constitution to be "mutual improve-
ment." It was agreed that the transactions should
be kept secret, and that meetings should be held
every Wednesday night. The impressive initiation
ceremony has been described by Dr. Palmer: —

The affair took place in the evening, and the end of the
stage was converted into a dark closet, in which sat a per-
sonage so arrayed as to make, by the light of a very feeble
lamp, a tolerable impersonation of Beelzebub. Into this
presence the candidate was solemnly ushered, and found
himself alone with the distinguished-looking personage,
who, in awful, sepulchral tones, addressed him in the fol-
lowing fashion, —

If e'er these secrets thou reveal
Let thunders on thy forehead peal;
On thy vile bones thy flesh shall rot.
And witches dire around thee trot.

Nothing of what was coming was known to the wight
who was to pass through the ordeal; and the awe felt at
the moment was very real, as was shown in one case by a
student who, having some suspicion that there might be
some humbug, courageously declared that, if there were
any, he should treat it with contempt. This same per-
son, when he found himself in the dimly lighted place,
face to face with what seemed to be the Prince of Dark-
ness, actually got on his knees at the summons of his
Princeship, whom he afterwards discovered to be none
other than his chum. This, of course, was nuts to the boys.

At the first meeting of Philo, the society, emulating
the Social Fraternity, resolved to have a library, which
was started with a nucleus of fifty-two volumes, in-
cluding a medley of books and tracts representing all
classes of literature except plays, which were then on

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

the Index Expurgatorius of Calvinistic New England.
The Records of the society show that the members
took part in numerous debates in which momentous
questions of the day were presumably settled to the
satisfaction of all concerned.

In 1827, when William H. Hadley was President,
Philo suffered a temporary eclipse, and the seven
loyal members divided the property of the society,
binding themselves to produce it when meetings
should be resumed. Fortunately the organization sur-
vived this interruption of business and was recon-
stituted, only, however, to be neglected for a few
weeks on account of a spirited revival then going on
in the town, — "whereby we hope to be more profited
than when meeting together for performance." In
this preference of rehgion to oratory may undoubtedly
be seen the influence of Principal John Adams.

The good feeling between Philo and the Social Fra-
ternity was displayed in various courtesies shown by
each to its rival. Indeed the members of Philo usually
left that organization when they became Seniors, and
joined the older society. The authorities soon per-
mitted the two groups to use the same room for a
library and assembly hall. Of the methods of business
procedure then employed in Philo it is impossible to
say much, for the Records are frequently imperfect
and no one now alive can contribute to the investiga-
tion. We know that there were heated arguments as
to what books were desirable for the library. On one
occasion it was voted that Campbell's Journey and
Scott's Guy Mannering should be burned as improper
literature, but a week later the decision concerning

423

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the latter volume was rescinded. It was agreed that
no book from the society library should be carried into
the Academy and read during school hours. One
alumnus recalls that in 1837 the members of Philo
were absorbed in the question, "Are teachers as much
needed as ministers.?" and settled it in the negative
by a vote of 8 to 11.

In the days of the Stone Academy Philo met in the
English room, "Number 1." Many of the younger
boys, restive under the flow of rhetoric, amused them-
selves in peculiar ways. A favorite pastime was to
fill a desk with waste paper, drop in a hghted match,
and close the lid down; excitement was sure, within a
few minutes, to develop. In the week of July 4 stu-
dents not of the elect were likely to hurl firecrackers
through the open windows, and sometimes to squirt
water from syringes over some fervent orator. But
the society survived these trials, and, more than once,
in a well-planned sortie scattered the enemy and sent
them to their rooms discomfited.

In 1848 the Social Fraternity, which had not been
prospering, invited the Philo members to attend its
closing meeting of the term. Hardly had the guests
entered when Jerome Kimball, one of the hosts of the
evening, rose and made a slanderous attack on Philo.
Confusion followed and, in the midst of several hand-
to-hand combats, the Philo men departed. On the
next morning "Uncle Sam" administered a severe
rebuke to the Social Fraternity. In the following
June, when new members were elected to the Social
Fraternity, they refused to join it, and the society
died a natural death. Its property was disposed of at

424

r-nnnn!ii^«!^H11

■'mr

BAKTLET HALL

MRS. STOWE'S HOUSE, ENLARGED AS THE PHILLIPS INN

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

auction, and the Records were closed with the words,
"O temporal O mores!" appropriately ascribed to
Shakspere. At the same time the books belonging to
Philo and to the defunct Social Fraternity were united
with those of the Society of Inquiry, and became the
"Associate Library," which for many years contained
the only reading matter, exclusive of that belonging to
the Seminary, accessible to the Academy boys.

This Society of Inquiry just mentioned was found-
ed in 1833 under the name of the "Missionary Frater-
nity." It was primarily a religious organization, es-
tablished through the influence of Principal Johnson
and a few Seminary professors. Its object was stated
as follows : —

A few of the pious members of Phillips Academy met
October 7, 1833, for the purpose of taking into consid-
eration the propriety of forming an association the object
of which shall be to inquire into the moral state of the
world, and to effect a mission to the heathen in the per-
sons of its members.

At first only those were to be eligible who proposed
to devote themselves to missions. The signers of the
constitution were thirteen in number, Isaac P. Lang-
worthy being the president. At the regular meetings
held on the last Monday of each month the programme
consisted of a great deal of prayer interspersed with
readings from missionary magazines. Tracts were dis-
tributed through the town. Anniversaries in imitation
of those held by Philo were celebrated every year. In
1839 the name was changed to Society of Inquiry, and
the constitution was so amended that "any fious
students of the Academy" could become members.

425

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

The Society of Inquiry soon broadened its scope
and devoted itself to diverse forms of philanthropy.
The membership fees, together with funds sohcited
from the Faculty and townspeople, were apphed to
various benevolent purposes; in 1844, for instance,
the available money was contributed to the Home
Missionary Society. In the decade from 1840 to 1850
meetings were held twice a month, and the discus-
sions which developed became so popular that the
society gradually laid increasing emphasis on debat-
ing. By the mid-century it had come to rival Philo
in the quantity and quahty of its hterary produc-
tion. About 1850 a member of Inquiry acted each
year as Superintendent of the Abbot Village Sunday
School, and until 1868 the society assumed entire
charge of this school, providing it also with papers
and library books. From 1856 until 1860 it main-
tained a similar school in the "Scotland District."
The society still conducted prayer-meetings, at one
period on two evenings a week, Tuesday and Satur-
day, later on Sunday and Wednesday.

The fact that the society was gradually losing its
exclusively religious character is also brought out in
other ways. The debates show a tendency to encroach
on the field already covered by Philo. In 1857, after
considering the question, "Is the custom of using
tobacco a sin.?" the members voted 16 to 3 in the
affirmative on the merits of the point at issue. They
decided that theater-going is wrong and that dancing
is "detrimental to the moral interests of society."
By 1873, however, they were discussing such topics
as Woman Suffrage, International Coinage, the Elec-

426

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

live System, and National Prohibition. Their attitude
on school problems was somewhat priggish: they
agreed, in 1876, "that secret societies are an evil";
they rejected by a small vote a resolution that "one
good sermon is sufficient for the Sabbath"; and
they resolved "that intercollegiate boat-racing is
detrimental to good morals."

In 1839 Philo and Inquiry held a joint anniversary,
but this custom was soon abandoned. Under Dr.
Taylor the annual exhibitions of the two organiza-
tions came to be features of Commencement Week,
and the honor of delivering the President's address
was highly esteemed. At Philo's twenty-ninth an-
niversary, July 21, 1855, Franklin Carter presented
an oration, Alexander McKenzie gave the President's
address, and Mrs. Stowe read an original poem.
These exhibitions filled the place now occupied by the
prize contests in declamation and public speaking.

By 1880 the two societies had grown to be so much
alike that each was injuring the other, and it was
clear that they could not profitably continue in direct
rivalry. In 1882, therefore. Inquiry was reorganized;
the literary exercises were largely abandoned, and the
meetings shortly resumed their former aspect of re-
ligious conferences among the students. As if to em-
phasize this change, the society, on Sunday, June 17,
1883, observed its semi-centennial, at which many
former members, including Professor Churchill, Dr.
William E. Park, Professor Gulliver, and Leander T.
Chamberlain, gave addresses. Under the reformed
arrangement the attendance perceptibly increased;
in 1886, for example, the membership numbered 123;

427

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in 1888 the average of those present at the Sunday-
evening meetings was 97 and at the Wednesday
gathering, 47. Opinions seem to differ as to the suc-
cess of Inquiry during this period; one alumnus says,
in speaking of this very time: —

The religious work of the school suffered because of a
lack of personal management, of thorough organization,
and of united action by the members of Inquiry.

In 1892 a similar state of lethargy was said to exist.
The truth is that enthusiasm was intermittent, and
that interest in the society varied considerably from
year to year.

Since 1882 the Society of Inquiry has been the rep-
resentative religious organization of the students of
Phillips Academy. In the spring of 1906, when it was
affiliated with the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, the constitution was once more revised, and
the object of the organization was restated : —

To create, maintain, and extend throughout the school
life a strong, high, moral sentiment; to bring students into
a personal relation with Jesus Christ as Divine Saviour and
Friend; to build them up in Christian character; and to
lead them to affiliate themselves with some branch of the
Christian Church.

When, in 1907, Mr. Markham W. Stackpole was
appointed School Minister, he provided for altering
the Sunday evening prayer-meetings into services
of a different kind, sometimes conducted entirely
by the boys, sometimes addressed by interesting out-
side speakers. At the present time the meetings are
of a varied character, consisting occasionally of ster-

428

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

eopticon lectures and informal talks by members of
the Faculty. More recently, at his suggestion, the
Society has organized group Bible classes, under the
direction of Faculty instructors; and it was chiefly
responsible for instituting the valuable educational
work now carried on by the school at large among
the foreigners in the industrial city of Lawrence.

On the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary
the Society of Inquiry, on June 14, 1908, held a
commemoration meeting, at which Dr. Samuel H.
Dana, a former President, read a carefully prepared
paper of Historical Reminiscences, which was fol-
lowed by an address by President Charles F. Thwing
on Three Services of Inquiry and by a talk by Prin-
cipal Stearns on Present-Day Claims of Inquiry. The
society was then, and still is, both vigorous and
popular. Although its original aims have been modi-
fied to suit an age of different, although no less in-
spiring, ideals, it is still an instrument for the pro-
motion of a manly and unselfish religious spirit in
Phillips Academy.

The golden era of Philo extended from 1850 to
1865. At this time its leading debaters held an ascen-
dancy in the Academy second only to that of "Uncle
Sam" himself. The ablest young men were proud
when they received one of those notes of invitation,
"elegantly written," which were sent to those who
received the honor of an election. The discussions were
often so strenuous and eager that they stirred up the
student body. In 1853 there was a violent argument
over the adoption of a new constitution, in the course
of which Edwin Grover, who professed openly to be

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

an infidel, was expelled by a set of dull and bigoted
boys; within a fortnight, however, he was honorably
reinstated. When Charles Sumner was so unmerci-
fully beaten by Preston S. Brooks in the Capitol at
Washington, Philo held an indignation meeting, and
its resolutions were published in the Boston papers.
Elections of officers were usually occasions for "play-
ing politics." In 1855 the Middlers, eager to wrest
from the Seniors the Presidency which the latter
had always claimed by precedent, defied tradition,
and, in the midst of a wild uproar, elected their can-
didate, Othniel C. Marsh, by a majority of one vote.
It was at about this date that a group of seceders
formed a new but short-lived society called "Ulema."
A curious incident was the advocacy and passage,
mainly through the efforts of Flavins Josephus Cook,
of the Anti-Deception Bill, according to which no
debater was to be allowed to uphold a side in the jus-
tice of which he did not believe. The measure soon
proved to be unenforceable, as the only reliable wit-
ness was necessarily the speaker himself. In 1866
an "Eaton Rhetorical Society," composed of stu-
dents in the English Department, was started, but
endured only a few years. The new Society Hall in
the Main Building was dedicated in 1866 by a joint
meeting of Inquiry and Philo. In October, 1868,
Philo held a famous debate on the coming national
election; it began at seven o'clock and lasted imtil
eleven-thirty, thus being the longest recorded in the
society annals.

On Wednesday, May 26, 1875, Philo observed its
fiftieth anniversary. After a fine historical address

430

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

by the Honorable Samuel Bradley Noyes, a proces-
sion was formed to march to the dinner tent, which
had been set up on the former site of the Stone
Academy. Professor Churchill occupied his custom-
ary place as toastmaster, and among those upon
whom he called were Josiah Quincy, Dr. Jonathan
French Stearns, Dr. McKenzie, Dr. Joseph Cook,
and Dr. Bancroft. Through the liberality of Mr.
Noyes, the society afterwards published a neat pam-
phlet containing complete accounts of the addresses,
many of which have much historical value.

If we are to take the Phillipian as judge, interest
in Philo steadily declined under Dr. Bancroft. One
reformer in 1878 complains of the poor order in the
meetings: —

Certain members seem to find greater pleasure in eating
and throwing apples at each other than in listening to the
speakers. . . . Cutting is disgracefully frequent, and often
interferes to a great degree with an evening's proceedings.
At the meeting a week ago neither of the debaters were
[sic] present, and as there were no substitutes, the debate
was necessarily dispensed with.

A critic in 1879 speaks of "the disgraceful scenes
weekly enacted at what are grossly misnamed the
Philo meetings." A Phillipian editorial in 1883
says : —

That Philo is on the decline, or, to put it somewhat
milder, is at a standstill, is very evident, — results speak
for themselves.

Yet many men now in middle life look back upon
Philo at that period in the Academy as a highly
valuable part of their education.

431

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

It was during this period, however, that Philo held
some of its most successftd entertainments. Mock
trials were a favorite diversion; at some of these the
hall was packed, and in several cases the Phillijdan
printed an "extra" with a detailed report of the pro-
ceedings. Minstrel shows also proved to be popular,
and a mock Republican convention held under Philo's
auspices in 1888 aroused keen interest. In spite of this
superficial prosperity, however, the membership con-
tinued to fall off, until it was uncommon in 1891 to
have over thirty members present at an ordinary
meeting.

In the fall of 1891 certain members of Philo, join-
ing with other students in the Academy, took steps
towards forming a new society, which was definitely
organized on January 15, 1892. A few weeks later the
society adopted the name of "Forum," and took as
its motto Goethe's last words, "Mehr Licht." Stimu-
lated by this new competition, Philo showed much vi-
tality, and both organizations had a reasonable degree
of success. The first joint Philo-Forum debate, held on
November 4, 1892, was followed by similar contests
until the passing of Forum as a debating club put an
end to the rivalry. Forum gained notoriety in 1901,
when certain sensational newspapers learned that the
members had passed a resolution condemning Roose-
velt for killing American lions in the West, on the
ground that it was unwarranted cruelty to animals.

In 1906 a Debating Union was organized, which
planned a series of debates with Exeter. The first
Andovei^Exeter debate, held on May 16, 1906, was
won by Exeter, but Andover was victorious in 1907.

432

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

From that year until 1915, when Andover broke the
spell of defeats, Exeter was regularly the winner, and
accumulated seven successive victories. In 1916 the
Andover Faculty, sensible of the decreasing attention
being paid to debating in Phillips Academy, voted to
discontinue the contests.

For some years, beginning in 1898, it was the cus-
tom of both Philo and Forum to hold annual banquets,
at which speeches were delivered by members and in-
structors. As the societies gradually declined in im-
portance, these dinners were given up. In 1914 the
oflBcers of Forimi, discouraged by the dwindling at-
tendance, decided to make it frankly literary, and
it became a small group of boys more or less inter-
ested in books and reading, who gather informally
for the discussion of such topics. Philo, with a small
membership, continues the traditions of the past, and
its members make up in enthusiasm what they lack
in numbers.

The literary societies, as was quite natural, were
responsible for the earliest student publications. Be-
fore 1837 Philo had instituted a Philomathean Mirror,
a symposium or selection of the best productions of
the members during the term, which was left in man-
uscript and read to the society by the editors. In No-
vember, 1854, this appeared for the first time as a
printed magazine. This issue had sufficient variety;
it opened with a formidable "heavy" essay entitled
Imagination, which was followed by a dissertation on
True Happiness, an oration. The Safeguards of the
Republic, and an "allegory," The Garden of Cosmos.
Among the contents are three poems: The Old School

433

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Bell, Thoughts on Visiting the Graves of Grandparents,
and Dewy Morn. The most impressive contribution,
an essay called Night, opens in this fashion: —

How beautiful is night! As the weary sun retires to his
leafy couch upon the mountain-top, and draws about him
vapory sheets of golden hue, a grand entertainment is
spread out for the lover of beauty. In such a scene he be-
holds indescribable grandeur, and reads suggestive lessons.

Didacticism and sentimentalism run riot on the pages,
as in so many far more pretentious magazines of that
particular era in American literature.

In the number for July, 1865, the names of the
editors were revealed for the first time, and in March,
1867, a department called the "Pot-pourri," contain-
ing lists of the members of xmdergraduate organiza-
tions, was added. The Mirror, meanwhile, had be-
come less solemn and more elaborate. In March,
1856, an "Editor's Table," evidently intended to be
humorous, appeared, and it was not long before sev-
eral pages were filled with jokes and so-called "chest-
nuts." Even "grinds" on unpopular instructors were
not prohibited. Illustrations and cartoons were used
when they could be secured, and in December, 1877,
the Mirror aroused comment by coming out in a
gorgeously enameled cover representing the Academy
Building.

In 1850 the Society of Inquiry started a paper called
the Observatory, modeled on the Philomathean Mirror ;
this was also read in manuscript for some years, but
in March, 1863, it was changed into a printed maga-
zine, with one of the society mottoes, "Vires Nobis
Desuper," stamped on the cover. The essays in this

434

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

issue were mournfully religious in tone, on such fruit-
ful subjects as Hope, Spiritual Life, and Content-
ment. The periodical was neither interesting nor suc-
cessful, and was shortly discontinued.

The need of a school newspaper seems not to have
been felt until the Centennial Celebration of 1878 gave
a stimulus to academic life. The Phillips Exeter weekly
paper, the Exonian, had started on Saturday, April 6,
1878. At this time almost no attention was paid by
the two schools to each other; indeed, Andover was
not even mentioned in the first issue of the Exonian.
A few weeks later, however, came the first historic
ball game on the Exeter Campus, and the rivalry
which resulted soon aroused an ambition in Andover
men to equal the other school in journalistic enter-
prise. The result was the Phillipian, which began its
career on October 19, 1878, as a small four-page sheet
printed in a Boston oflSce. The editor-in-chief, Edward
Stevens Beach, had nine colleagues, one of whom has
since become famous as the Reverend Charles M.
Sheldon, of Topeka, Kansas. They announced that
they had in mind three aims : to develop an adequate
medium for the presentation of school news; to bring
Phillips Academy to the notice of other schools; and
to create a literary spirit among the students. For
some years the Phillipian was published once a fort-
night, the subscription price being one dollar a year,
or seven cents a copy. The editors were gratified at
Commencement time to discover that they had cleared
$76.52, which they devoted to the purchase of a round
stained-glass window, portraying the Academy seal,
for the "Great Hall."

435

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

The early numbers of the Phillipian, uncontrolled
by even a nominal censorship, were enlivened by
crude cartoons, and by gibes, more or less indeco-
rous, at the "Theologues," the "Fem-Sems," and, it
must be confessed, not seldom at Exeter and the
Exonian. The editors of the rival school papers be-
haved like some of the Western journalists described
by Mark Twain, and the taunts and scurrilities which
were hurled across space furnished rich amusement
for the reader. On October 9, 1880, for instance, the
Phillipian said: —

The Exonian comes to us with criticisms upon our cuts.
We would remind this sheet agaia that we print the Phil-
lipian in behalf of the students of Phillips Academy and
that if they see fit to pay for it, the Exonian should have
nothing to say on that score. . . . We rather surmise it is
"sour grapes" that prompts the criticism.

When the cartoons were discontinued in 1881, the
editors admitted that they had been kept up only
"because they harrowed the soul of the Exonian man
so fearfully." On January 13, 1883, the Phillipian,
replying to some complaint, opened fire as follows: —

The Exonian still continues to give forth most lament-
able whines; so does a whipped cur.

Later in the same year the Andover paper revived
the controversy: —

It is about time for the Exonian to commence its cus-
tomary tirade against Andover, and its inevitable fanfar-
onade of boasts about their [sic] success in athletics.

The annual contests with Exeter naturally brought
the newspaper rivalry to fever heat. On June 12,

436

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

1880, after the baseball game, the Phillipian published
an "extra," and this custom has been maintained ever
since. The Phillipian invested in a large assortment
of "rooster cuts," which adorned its pages on the
days of Andover victories. Both the Exonian and
the Phillipian repeatedly wrangled over the umpire's
decisions whenever the home team was defeated.
On November 2, 1887, after Andover had won the
tennis match, the Phillipian could not resist a
thrust: —

The Exonian comes up as usual, whining after defeat.
Never in the history of the two schools has Exeter been
able to take defeat gracefully. . . . Their wail is truly piti-
able, but their argument in support of it is even more so.

Needless to say, the editors of the Exonian were able
to hold their own in this war of words. Fortunately
the spirit which prompted the vituperation has long
since vanished, and the relations between the two
periodicals are to-day entirely amicable.

The Phillipian, which rather took pride in its in-
dependence, did not restrict its frankness of speech
to foreign institutions. On one occasion, in referring
to the contemporary Mirror, it said: —

The Mirror came out at the close of last term with its
customary dull essays and bad poems.

Every "cut" given by a teacher to his class was
publicly recorded in the Phillipian. Nor did the edi-
tors hesitate to criticize the Sunday sermons, even
when they were by men of national reputation. On
matters of undergraduate interest the Phillipian
usually led school opinion, and played no small part

437

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

in making the student body more coherent and uni-
fied. It varied, of course, in quahty from year to year;
under some editors it was notably contemptuous of
good grammar and punctuation; at some seasons,
especially in the autumn of 1899, it printed editorials
of marked briUiancy. Its enterprise has always been
commendable; in 1892, for instance, an "extra" ap-
peared five minutes after the baseball game was over,
the account having been sent to the printing-oflSce by
boys on bicycles.

In 1885 the paper was changed to a weekly, and,
during the course of the winter, by vote of the school,
became a strictly private business: the editors were
authorized to choose their own successors, and were
made responsible for all debts which they incurred.
In 1887, chiefly through the efforts of Hugh McKen-
nan Landon, who was probably the ablest editor the
Phillipian ever had, several innovations were pro-
jected and carried into effect. It became an eight-page
newspaper, appearing twice a week, on Wednesday
and Saturday, and the subscription price was raised to
two dollars and fifty cents a year or four cents a copy.
The amount of advertising was much increased, and
special attention was given to the financial manage-
ment. Arrangements were perfected, also, for hav-
ing the paper printed by the Andover Press, so that
changes and corrections could more readily be made.
At this period the editors published historical articles
and alumni reminiscences which have even more value
to-day than they had then.

Other modifications of less significance have been
brought about by more recent editors. In 1891 the

438

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

Phillipian returned to its original four pages; the
eight-page periodical had proved to be somewhat
cumbersome, and business managers found it difficult
to maintain the large amount of advertising which
Landon, with his extraordinary energy, had been able
to secure. In 1901 the size of the page was increased,
but without involving any alteration in makeup.
During the past decade the Phillipian has been nom-
inally subject to the supervision of a Faculty com-
mittee, and the names of proposed editors must now
be approved by that body.

In 1892 there was much agitation over the fact
that Phillips Academy had no distinctively "literary"
publication. The Philomathean Mirror, which, since
1885, had been notably excellent in form and arrange-
ment, had really become equivalent to a term book
of school activities. After some discussion, it was
agreed that Philo should superintend the editing of
an "annual," which should comprise most of the
features so popular in the Philomathean Mirror, and
that a new monthly magazine should be started,
under the auspices of the school at large. A nominat-
ing committee appointed by the boys proceeded, so it
was alleged, to select five out of seven of their num-
ber as editors of the proposed periodical, and this
action evoked a vigorous protest from disappointed
literary aspirants. While this quarrel was going mer-
rily on, however, the first number of The Phillips
Andover Mirror, "a literary magazine published by
the students of Phillips Academy," appeared on
May 1, 1892, with William H. Wadhams, now a judge
of the New York Supreme Court, as President of the

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Board of Editors. The introductory article was con-
tributed by the Reverend Frederic Palmer on the sub-
ject The Magazine and the Alumni. Besides the essays,
short stories, and poems, there were some intelligent
editorials, some short notes on current school activi-
ties, and a section called "Leaves from Phillips Ivy,"
in which interesting facts about alumni were recorded.
These alumni notes, including a carefully compiled
necrology, were kept up by Mr. George T. Eaton, of
the Faculty, and have proved to be of great value.

Since 1892 the Mirror has been a monthly publica-
tion representative of the best student literary work.
Unfortunately for its continuity, its shape and type
have been often changed to suit the whims and
foibles of the editors, so that the boimd volumes side
by side present a motley appearance. In 1905, for in-
stance, a new and peculiar form found temporary
favor, but was fortunately rejected by the good sense
of future editors. In recent years a more conventional
shape has been adopted.

Meanwhile Philo, in the spring of 1893, had ful-
filled its part of the agreement by publishing an an-
nual, The Masque, which contained accovmts of the
Faculty, the Trustees, and various school organiza-
tions; a large number of cuts; and many "grinds" on
both teachers and students. In 1894 The Masque was
superseded by the Pot-pourri, edited by a joint com-
mittee selected from both Philo and Forum. In 1897
the two societies relinquished their control of the
Pot-pourri, and it became entirely a school affair.

Early in the present century an altmini issue of the
Phillipian, devoted particularly to news of interest

440

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

to graduates, became a feature of the school year.
In August, 1906, a happy inspiration led Principal
Stearns to institute the Phillips Bulletin, a magazine
which, mailed free to all alumni, aimed to give them
oflBcial accounts of events on Andover Hill. The first
issue contained only a modest sixteen pages, which
remained the standard until 1911, when the Bulletin
appeared with a neat cover, was enlarged to nearly
twice its former size, and, in general, was made more
satisfactory as the school's representative pubhcation
for the world at large. In 1912 it was placed in charge
of a permanent Facidty editor. It is now a quarterly
periodical of from thirty-two to forty-eight pages,
profusely illustrated, and with a circulation of ten
thousand copies. Its imitation by other schools is
proof of the desirability of such a magazine.

Not the least important of the student organiza-
tions have been the secret fraternities. Originated
despite the open opposition of the authorities, they
have since developed into institutions approved by
the Faculty and owning beautiful houses of their own
on Andover Hill. The mystery connected with their
inception makes it difficult to dwell on details. Early
in Dr. Bancroft's administration (about 1874) a group
of boys, headed by Roland Davis Swope, of the class
of 1876, started the K.O.A. Society, which held
secret meetings in the basement of "Hatch's" (later
"Chap's"); and it was not long before a rival frater-
nity, the A.U.V., was also surreptitiously formed. In
the beginning these societies apparently spent much
of their energies in "rough-housing" and in encour-
aging a kind of midnight activity certainly not sanc-

441

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

tioned by the "Doctor." In his report for 1877 he
wrote: —

Secret societies so-called have caused us some anxiety,
but the Faculty have taken a positive stand forbidding
them, and it is hoped to quite crush them out next year.

It was not long, however, before Dr. Bancroft came
to see that the wisest course was regulation rather than
prohibition. He recognized clearly the danger which
they oflfered, not only to the homogeneity of the stu-
dent body, but also to the fundamental democracy in
which Phillips Academy had been inclined to take
pride. He came to believe, nevertheless, that these
evils could be avoided if the proper measures were
taken in a tactful way.

Partly to show how this could be done. Professor
Coy acted himself as sponsor for a third fraternity,
P.A.E., which, in the beginning, was largely literary,
and instituted by him mainly as a reward of merit.
The original founders were four in number, James
Hardy Ropes being one. In 1883, then, the Faculty
decided to discontinue the policy of suppression. The
Phillipian for June 17, 1884, in making a survey of
the year, indulges in this comment: —

In the matter of discipline we note the recognition of
secret societies — those ancient and omnipresent bugbears
of the "powers that be." Possibly the latter grew weary of
the useless warfare; possibly they became convinced of
their error; at any rate, the various societies — of which
there are five existing imder so-called charters granted by
the Faculty — are now recognized as regular school insti-
tutions. So far as we have been able to judge, this radical
change of attitude has not been productive of any partic-

442

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

ularly dangerous results, but has been the means of prevent-
ing much of the scheming and wire-pulling such as has hap-
pened in other years.

One of the societies here mentioned was R.A.S.,
which, founded in 1882, soon, because of some abuses
of privileges on the part of its members, deteriorated,
and was eventually abolished. A writer in the Phil-
lipian gives the following account of the initiation of
a candidate for R.A.S. : —

He was first ordered to provide a supper for the society
at his rooms, which he did at a cost of about $15; then,
leaving the rest to eat the supper, at twelve o'clock he was
sent out on the Campus behind the Academy to wait for
what might follow. At about one o'clock he was seized by
a crowd of fellows, blindfolded, and ridden on a rail down
to Pomp's Pond, those accompanying him rattling empty
bottles all the time to give the effect of clanking chains.
After arriving at the pond, he was buried in a grave up to
his head, and then baptized with an abominable mixture
of mucilage and ginger ale, this operation closing the cere-
monies.

For many years these pioneer societies — K.O.A.,
A.U.V., and P.A.E. — existed without much com-
petition. Like the famous Yale Senior Societies, on
which they were unquestionably modeled, they were
ostentatiously secret. Outside the sacred precincts
the name of the fraternity never passed the lips of the
members, and they maintained a studied air of mys-
tery regarding its aims and organization. In a short
time each society obtained a building of its own; these
houses were kept always close-shuttered and bolted,
and the curtains were let down so that no mere layman
could peer within.

443

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

As part of the supervising scheme devised by Dr.
Bancroft each society was subject to certain restric-
tions. Each fraternity was obliged to choose a Faculty
guardian, whose duty it was to see that the regula-
tions were met. All candidates for a society had to be
passed upon by the Faculty, and no student notably
deficient in his school work was allowed to join.
Meetings, except of a special kind, were permitted
only on Saturday evenings.

In the course of time other similar societies were
formed, some of which became permanent. P.B.X.,
founded in the early "nineties" as a distinctively
"Commons" society, is still flourishing, although it
has been altered so that it is now on the same basis as
the others. The Sphinx was originated in 1895, but its
affairs soon fell into disorder, and the enforced de-
parture of nearly all its members in one year led to
its dissolution. Another, the K.D.S., also had a brief
period of prosperity, followed by decline and death.
Between 1898 and 1905, however, three fraternities
were started which still exist: P.L.D., P.L.S., and
A.G.X. There are to-day, then, seven secret socie-
ties, each of which owns or rents its own house. In
1901 K.O.A. erected a stately brick structure on
School Street; in 1908 the P.A.E. House was built
on South Main Street, near Brothers' Field; and the
A.U.V. House on Wheeler Street was completed in
1916. New houses for the other societies are being
planned, and will doubtless be under way within a
few years.

The value of these societies in student life is still a
mooted question. Criticism of the rough initiations

444

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

was common enough a decade ago, but recent legisla-
tion by the Faculty has resulted in the elimination of
practically all the objectionable features. Society
men tend to associate with one another, and they nat-
urally include most of the more prominent men, foi
students who are leaders in any one field seldom fail
to secure an election. Hardly over one fourth of thf
boys, however, are taken into societies, and this lead-
logically to the creation of a kind of caste system in a
school which is based on democratic principles. As a
matter of fact, however, the societies have probably
done more good than harm; and they are now so
firmly estabhshed and so loyally supported by alumni,
that, unless some entirely new and thoroughly con-
vincing charges are brought against them, they are
hardly likely to lose their foothold on the Hill.

It is quite natural for young men of the maturity
of those in Phillips Academy to wish to ape college
students in their "outside activities." As early as
1869 there was a " Phillips Sextette, " consisting of a
cornet, two violins, two flutes, and a violoncello. An
orchestra of this general type has been sustained
at intervals ever since, its importance depending,
of course, on the quality of the musical talent in
the school. In 1873 there was a Glee Club, made
up of Rufus B. Tobey as leader, and seven other
members; and there have been very few years since
that date when such a club has not represented the
student body. A "Banjo Quartette," which soon
evolved into a Banjo Club, was started in 1887; and
a Mandolin Club was organized in 1892. Concerts
are given every winter by these three clubs in col-

445

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

laboration, and, since 1897, they have been under
the same management, although each has still a sep-
arate leader.

Other organizations which have sprung up from
time to time deserve mention chiefly as showing the
diversified interests in which a Phillips boy may take
part. A Natural History Society, a Camera Club, a
Deutscher-Verein, a Bicycle Club, a Dramatic Club,
a Rifle Club: these societies appear and reappear,
but no one has had a continuous history. College
clubs, formed by men who propose to go to Harvard,
Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Anaherst, or
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develop
sporadically, and they sometimes bring distinguished
speakers to the school. The success of these enter-
prises is dependent mainly upon the enthusiasm of a
few active spirits who, for a brief period, are able to
exert an influence over their fellows.

As Phillips Academy is administered to-day, no
boy is likely to suflFer from the lack of an opportunity
to gratify his social tastes. There are, of course,
the usual dances through the year: the Senior Prome-
nade, first held in June, 1903, is now a fixtxire at
Commencement time; the Jimior Promenade has
been, since 1904, a delightful function usually ap-
pointed for Washington's Birthday; and the Peabody
Assemblies are scattered through the winter term on
Saturday afternoons. A student must be peculiar in-
deed who cannot find among his five hundred and fifty
mates some congenial friend to join him in a diver-
sion or a hobby. Absorption in some such avocation
is the antidote to the evil work which is always ready

STUDENT SOCIETIES AND ENTERPRISES

for idle hands to do. In steering the school between
the Scylla of overemphasis on study and the Chary b-
dis of overindulgence in play the present Principal
has had good success. His policy has the support
and cooperation of all those who have the welfare of
Phillips Academy at heart.

CHAPTER XXII

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

We played again the immortal games
And grappled with the fierce old friends.

And cheered the dead, midying names.
And sang the song that never ends.

The stranger who climbs to Andover Hill on any-
fine afternoon in June or October will see the broad
playing-fields dotted with little groups of boys, each
absorbed in some outdoor sport. Every student,
unless he is classed with the sick or the crippled, is
obliged to take part in athletics; but the love of
exercise is so widespread that there are only a few
"slackers" who would not play voluntarily, even if
the compulsion were removed. This love of games,
however, is, in New England, a gradual development.
The Puritans, as Macaulay delighted in pointing out,
were intolerant of mere aimless diversion. Judge
Phillips seldom speaks of either rest or recreation.
The solace which he took in his horseback rides to
Boston was strictly in the way of business; and the
idea of recuperating and preserving his physical
strength by means of exercise in the open air would
perhaps have seemed to him beneath the dignity of a
"learned judge."

It was, however, impossible to repress the healthy
instincts of the boys. Josiah Quincy, we know, was
dismayed at the prospect of sitting eight long hours
a day in the recitation room. "The truth was," he

448

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SOME BASEBALL STORIES

said, "I was an incorrigible lover of sports of every
kind. My heart was in ball and marbles." Swim-
ming was so popular that regulations regarding suit-
able "holes" in Pomp's Pond and in the Shawsheen
had to be passed by the Trustees. At the time when
school was held almost into "dog days," the first
refuge of the weary youngsters at the end of the af-
ternoon was in the cool waters of the river. In the
winter there were coasting-parties on the steep hills
around the town. At other seasons there were long
walks through the forest, — then much denser than
it is to-day, — to the Merrimack, Den Rock, or In-
dian Ridge; or even farther, to Haggett's Pond or
Wilmington. The Honorable William W. Crapo re-
members walking often to Lawrence to watch the
construction of the great dam. Now and then we
hear, quite casually, of a game of "rounders" or of
a strange rough-and-tumble amusement called foot-
ball; but all this was impromptu, arranged on the
spur of the moment out of sheer delight in exercise,
and there were no organized teams or contests with
other schools. During Dr. Taylor's administration
athletics, even for the frivolous, were largely subsid-
iary to textbooks, or debating, or religious work.
The colleges themselves at this date had hardly
learned the importance of outdoor games in any sys-
tem of education.

The game of "rounders," as it was played in the
days before the Civil War, had only a faint resem-
blance to our modern baseball. For a description of
a typical contest, which took place in 1853, we are
indebted to Dr. William A. Mowry: —

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Nine of us signed and posted on the bulletin board of
the Academy a challenge to play a game of ball with any
other nine in the school. This notice remained posted for
two weeks, but nine persons could not be found who would
accept the challenge. We therefore tore it down and re-
wrote it, challenging any eleven men. The number nine
had no especial significance, except that it was a conven-
ient number to play the game. Eleven would give that
side a very decided advantage.

This challenge was accepted, and a Saturday afternoon
selected for the game. It was played on the open field in
the rear of the Seminary buildings. The game was a long
one. No account was in those days made of "innings";
the record was made merely of runs. When one had
knocked the ball, had run to the bases, and had reached
the "home goal," that counted one "tally." The game was
for fifty tallies. The custom then was to have no umpire,
and the pitcher stood midway between the second and
third bases, but nearer the center of the square. The
batter stood midway between the first and fourth bases,
and the catcher just behind the batter, as near or as far as
he pleased.

Well, we beat the eleven, the tally standing on the side of
the nine, 50, and on the side of the eleven, 37. Of course
there had to be another game. It was played, and they
beat us; so the score stood "one-and." Several weeks
passed before the "rubber" came off. Both parties waited
until everything was "good and ready." The field was
lined with a large number of interested spectators. After
a time the tally stood 37 to 37. Then we put out the other
side and took our turn at bat. When I came up, instead
of striking the ball, I let it hit the bat and glance away over
the wall behind the catchers. Then I ran around to the
home base before the ball got back to the field. This would
be a foul to-day, but it was allowable then. Our side now
had 38, and we succeeded in keeping in until we secured
the 50.

450

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

In other sections of the country, meanwhile, the
game was taking shape, and at last, in the fall of
1864, James B. Wells, who had been a member of
the Active Baseball Club of Brooklyn, entered Phil-
lips Academy and taught his schoolmates the rules.
As soon as the snow was off the ground in the fol-
lowing spring. Wells and his followers marked out a
rude diamond on the field in the rear of the present
Pemberton Cottage, near Phillips Street, and began
practice. Wells, who was the self-appointed captain,
invited his personal friends to join the team, which
was thus mainly a social organization. This first
club arranged no games with outside teams; but the
men had "scrub" contests, in which they wore uni-
forms consisting of a white flannel shirt, loose long
trousers, and a belt with a large "A" on the buckle.
The "A" stood, not for Andover, but for Actives, the
nine having borrowed the formidable name of the
Brooklyn team.

In January, 1866, the famous "Archie" Bush,
fresh from service as a lieutenant in the Northern
army, entered Phillips Academy; he had already had
baseball experience with the "Haymakers" of Al-
bany, and knew the game thoroughly. Although he
was an adept in any position, he was perhaps best as
catcher, and he stood behind the bat without protec-
tion of any kind; the danger, however, was rather less
than it is to-day, for pitching at that period was un-
derhand, any other method of delivery being illegal.

Bush was the first man in Phillips Academy to
establish baseball on a firm footing. Mr. George
Huntress, of Boston, well recalls aiding Bush in lay-

451

r HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ing out a diamond which had all the measurements
exact to the inch. "Uncle Sam" would allow no
outside games during the academic year, but im-
mediately after Commencement a contest was ar-
ranged with Tufts College. This, the first competi-
tion held by Andover with any other institution,
was played in a hayfield, and the PhiUips boys,
"green" though they were, defeated their older rivals.
Two games were also scheduled with the leading
clubs of Boston, the "Lowells" and the "Tri-Moun-
tains." Both contests took place on Boston Common,
where the ground, beaten hard and with scarcely
a blade of grass, was far different from the rough
meadow in Andover. In the game with the "Low-
ells" the Phillips boys. Bush excepted, were much
"rattled," and consequently were beaten. On the
following day, however, against the "Tri-Moun-
tains," the Academy team managed to win by a
good score. Of this first representative Andover
nine, four afterwards played for Yale and two for
Harvard.

In those days no balls were called on any batter,
and no strikes, unless he actually swung at the ball.
Any hit, fair or foul, was out if caught on the first
bound. When a player stepped to the plate, he was
supposed to indicate where he wanted the pitcher
to place the ball, and it was his right to wait until
the throw satisfied him. No gloves of any kind were
worn by either fielders or catcher.

The game thus instituted soon became very popu-
lar. A Phillips Baseball Association was organized,
school and class nines were formed, and it was not

452

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

long before outside contests were being played with
the sanction of the Principal. In the fall of 1866
there were two teams in the Academy, the "Actives"
and the "Enterprises." Two games were played,
both being won by the "Actives"; the first by a
score of 42 to 8, the second, 49 to 8. In the spring of
1867 there was a team in each class. In 1869 the
"Alerts," representing the Seniors, met the "Ath-
letes," a group of Middlers, for the school cham-
pionship. In the first game the "Alerts" were beaten
30 to 25 ; in the last two, played on June 5 and June
12, they won by scores of 20 to 17 and 36 to 26. In
the final game the "Athletes" made fifteen runs in
a single inning, but to no avail.

The team of 1871, of which Wilham H. Moody,
afterwards Justice of the United States Supreme
Court, was captain, won six out of its seven games.
Among the members of this nine were Charles Sum-
ner Bird, the prominent Massachusetts Progressive;
John Patton, later United States Senator from Michi-
gan; and Edward C. Smith, afterwards Governor of
Vermont. The Mirror for 1871 gave a fuU discussion
of each player's merits and faults, with the batting
and fielding averages for the individual members of
the team.

The list of opponents lengthened gradually. In
1876 the Phillips team for the first time met the Har-
vard Freshmen, and were badly defeated, but they
took revenge in a return game, which they won, 17
to 15. In 1877 Adams Academy was added to the
schedule and easily defeated, 23 to 7. In 1878, under
an energetic captain, Charles F. Gardner, the team

453

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

went into strict training, and took special gymnasium
exercises during the winter. It was in this year that
the first memorable contest was held with Exeter.
The Andover nine, after opening the season with two
decisive victories over the "Theologues" and a tri-
umph over the strong "Websters" of Lowell, felt
rather confident. On Wednesday, May 22, they went
to Exeter, only to return home beaten by a score of
12 to 1. Manning, the Andover pitcher, had only a
straight underhand throw, which proved to be inef-
fective. The Mirror, bhnded by partisanship, insisted,
however, on ascribing the result to other causes : —

The game was lost owing to the gross ignorance of the
umpire, and the unevenness of the ground, on which there
were many trees; our nine played without any dinner, and
the Exeters allowed them to return home without any
supper.

This somewhat unsportsmanlike charge was an-
swered by the Exonian in kind. The great rivalry
had begun. In this game the Andover men wore
white flannel suits with blue trimmings, and the Exe-
ter players appeared also in white flannel, but deco-
rated with cardinal. The return contest, on June 1,
at Andover, was attended by some eighty Exeter sup-
porters. Although Andover won, 10 to 8, the vin-
dictive Mirror could not resist a thrust: —

Mr. Ogden, of the Theological Seminary, umpired, and
gave universal satisfaction. The visitors did not go home
hungry.

It is to the credit of the Exonian that it made no
excuses : —

454

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

The best of good feeling prevailed, although our men
naturally felt a little irritated over their defeat, but the
visitors strove to show as little exultation as possible. Such
contests as these can certainly be productive of nothing but
good, and we hope they will be kept up.

The plan of holding two games with Exeter was
soon abandoned, on the ground that it unduly pro-
longed the excitement among the students. In 1879
the " Andover ministers," as the Exonian called them,
with F. W. Rogers as captain, won by a score of 12
to 2. In 1880 occurred the first of the few serious
controversies between the schools. The game, held
at Andover on June 5, was being kept lively by the
presence of over a hundred Exeter "rooters." Every-
thing went well until the seventh inning, when, in a
critical moment, Exeter's third baseman. Bean, hit
a ball down the first-base line, and, judging it to be
a foul, did not run. The first baseman, however, took
the precaution of touching the base, the ball was de-
clared to be fair, and Bean, of course, was out. A
sharp dispute followed, and, when the umpire refused
to reverse his decision, the Exeter nine packed their
bats and departed, thus forfeiting the game. The hit
in question seems to have been very much in doubt,
for the spectators near the line differed in their opin-
ions. The Phillipian, after reviewing the arguments,
concludes sagaciously but not very tactfully: —

We cannot take the blame upon ourselves, as we only
supported the umpire in a decision which we considered,
and still consider, just. It is therefore with Exeter that
the blame for the weakest, most childish, and most con-
temptible ending that ever disgraced a good game must
wholly, or in good part, rest.

455

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

The 1881 game, played at Exeter, was the earliest
occasion on which the student body was allowed to
attend a contest in foreign territory. It was memo-
rable, also, because of the remarkable batting of Pi
Yuk, the Chinese center fielder on the Andover team.
In the first inning, with a man on a base. Pi Yuk came
to bat, and was greeted with derisive cries of " Washee,
washee; chinkee go back benchee," and similar ex-
pressions; undisconcerted, he hit the first ball pitched
for a three-bagger. In the second inning he again
knocked a two-base hit, scoring another rimner.
These two long hits did much toward bringing vic-
tory to Andover by a score of 13 to 5. Pi Yuk,
who later became Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, Chi-
nese Ambassador to the United States, spoke at An-
dover in 1903, recalling the famous game and his
part in it: —

When the train arrived with the victorious nine, the
whole school turned out to welcome them with torchUghts,
a brass band, and an omnibus drawn by enthusiastic stu-
dents with a long rope. Even Rome could not have received
Caesar with greater enthusiasm and pride when he retimied
from his famous campaigns in triumph.

After being beaten in 1882 in a close contest, An-
dover, under Captain W. M. Vinton, won for two
consecutive years. Vinton, who is still remembered
as the most brilliant pitcher of his day, struck out,
in the season of 1884, a hundred men in nine games,
and lost only one contest, that with Harvard Uni-
versity; in the Exeter game, which he won, 13 to 5,
he "fanned" seventeen of his opponents. He after-
wards distinguished himself in professional baseball.

456

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

An amusing incident which occurred in 1885 illus-
trates the prevalent attitude at that time towards
professionalism in athletics. In an editorial for May
9, 1885, the Phillipian, without the slightest attempt
at concealment, mentions the fact that the Baseball
Committee had tentatively engaged the services of a
professional named Sweeney, who had pitched well
during the previous year for Haverhill. Great dis-
satisfaction ensued throughout the school, chiefly
because it was felt to be unfair to deprive a mem-
ber of the Academy of his chance of making the nine.
So strong was the opposition that the Committee re-
considered its action, and released Sweeney from his
contract. In the Exeter game, with Weyerhauser,
the regular pitcher, far from well, Andover lost,
9 to 1. A few days later, however, the Academy nine
defeated a strong town team, for which Sweeney
was the pitcher. Thereupon the Phillipian spoke as
follows: —

The Andover vs. P. A. game was watched with some in-
terest owing to the plan, which has fallen through, of hir-
ing Sweeney to pitch for us this season. Any candid per-
son who examines the records of the two pitchers in the
game will admit the utter folly of engaging him as our
pitcher. The Phillipian thinks that, outside the question
of school honesty and honor, this game has shown that it
would have been poor policy to hire Sweeney as a pitcher.

Incidents such as this remind us of the marked change
in the attitude towards professionalism which has
taken place in twenty years.

The game of 1886 was lost under painful circum-
stances. Until the eighth inning Andover led by a

457

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

score of 6 to 1. Then came a rally in which Exeter,
amid the most intense excitement, batted in six runs
and won the game. "Buck" Knowlton, the An-
dover captain, had a sweet revenge in the following
year, when his team defeated Exeter, 22 to 6. An
article in Harper's Round Table gives a good contem-
porary impression of the subsequent jubilation: —

About the seventh inning a mysterious-looking wagon
containing something covered with a canvas drove rapidly
across the field and disappeared in the woods beyond. This
strange sight was soon forgotten in the interest of the
game; but the wagon bore the instruments of the Andover
Brass Band, who were concealed in. the woods and whom
a loyal citizen had hired in case of victory. At the end of
the game when all Andover was tearing madly on the field
and bearing off the victors on their shoulders, the band
appeared on the scene in full blare. Every one fell in behind
them, helping them out with tin horns and cries of "Left,
left, left, the Exeter men got left!"

It was this game which led the Phillipian to revive
its drooping spirits, and to assert, "The tide has
turned at last."

In 1888 the captain was E. H. Brainard and the
pitcher was "Al" Stearns, the present Principal of
Philhps Academy, then a mere boy. At the final
game of the season he pitched with great effective-
ness, and it was mainly because of his steadiness that
Andover won, 6 to 4. The Phillipian, still ungenerous
to opponents, said with satisfaction: —

Stearns, under the pressure of the most continued yell-
ing, hooting, rattle-shaking, and every conceivable an-
noyance of Exeter's representatives, pitched a wonderful

game.

458

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

There were times, as we have seen, when the sting
of defeat made some overexcited boys forget the
courtesies due to friendly rivals. The tension af-
ter close contests was often so great that trivial
incidents took on an exaggerated importance, and
baseless accusations were scattered promiscuously
abroad. The "townies" or "muckers," as the stu-
dents called them, did their best to increase the fric-
tion by posing as Academy boys, and casting stones
or shouting opprobrious epithets in the wake of the
visiting team. Before 1889 there had been minor
difficulties which showed that the two schools had
not learned as yet "to love the game beyond the
prize." Now and then a team had been followed to
the station with jeers; but no one had been injured,
and the disagreements had been smoothed over by
compromise. Certainly there was no reason in the
spring of 1889 to anticipate trouble.

In connection with the baseball game of that year
an unusual situation had arisen. A student named
White, who, in 1888, had played second base for An-
dover, had resigned and had transferred to Exeter,
chiefly because the Andover management refused
to make him concessions. At Exeter he had soon dis-
played ability as a pitcher, and he was to be in the
box in the Andover game against his former team-
mates. In this contest, which was held on June 14
at Exeter, "Al" Stearns pitched for Andover, but
his arm had been in poor condition for weeks and
caused him intense pain after the third inning. At
the end of the seventh inning, with the score 3 to 2
in favor of Exeter, the game was called on account

459

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

of rain. An hour later, when the Andover men were
waiting quietly at the station with many "muckers"
taunting them, a number of Exeter students, carrying
White and other players on their shoulders, marched
by. There was a collision over the right of way; a
free fight started, in the course of which Professor
Coy, then Andover's Acting Principal, was hit on
the head, and one youngster was knocked uncon-
scious. The responsibility for this unfortunate fracas
cannot be definitely placed; but had it not been for
the timely intervention of some muscular members
of the Andover teaching staff, the affair might have
spread into something very serious. Immediately
after their return the Andover Faculty notified Exe-
ter that the series of athletic contests between the
schools was at an end.

As a result no football game was held in. the au-
tumn of 1889. Dr. Bancroft, on his arrival from
abroad, made a statement to explain Andover's ac-
tion: —

We have received no proposals looking to a new series
of games, under terms and conditions mutually satisfactory
to both schools, and guarding effectually against the diffi-
culties specified.

The dispute continued through the winter, and the
Exonian and the Phillipian filled many columns
with gentlemanly condemnation of one another's
policy. In January three Andover students, Stearns,
"Laurie" Bhss, and Addis, met three Exeter repre-
sentatives, headed by White, and agreed that, if con-
tests were allowed to go on, the students of the home
school would not go to the station or molest in any

460

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

way the members of the visiting academy. Not until
May, 1890, would the Andover Faculty consent to
such an arrangement. At that time rules were signed
governing the eligibility of players, and restricting
the celebration of victories so that the two sides
would not be likely to clash. Although both faculties
consented to these regulations, Exeter admitted that
she could not comply with them before the follow-
ing autumn, and accordingly no baseball game was
scheduled for that spring. Dr. Stearns enjoys to-day
telling of correspondence with the Exeter captain,
culminating in a secret meeting in his rooms at An-
dover, in which it was almost decided to have a base-
ball contest sub rosa on a diamond at Haverhill; the
players, however, were dissuaded from this rash act,
largely through the arguments of Vance McCormick,
who maintained that it would be foolish deliberately
to invite expulsion. The proposed game was never
held, and the Andover nine, one of the best that ever
represented Phillips Academy,^ had no opportunity
for trying its mettle against its rival. In this season
Andover played her first baseball game with Yale
College, and was beaten, 9 to 5. The schedule cul-
minated in a victory, 11 to 4, over the "Beacons"
of Boston, who had previously defeated Exeter, 4
to 2. Andover claimed that this proved her suprem-
acy, and the students held a joyful celebration. In
this game with the "Beacons," Dalzell, the Andover
pitcher, held his opponents to five hits, and knocked

1 On this team were five men each of whom was later a captain at
college: Stearns at Amherst, Case, Rustin, L. Bliss, and McCormick at
Yale.

461

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

out a two-bagger and three-bagger, practically clinch-
ing his own match.

When relations in baseball were resumed in 1891,
the Andover team showed unusual strength, and,
after a preliminary schedule of twenty-three games,
played an errorless contest against Exeter, winning,
7 to 1. This was one of Andover's glorious athletic
years, for she defeated Exeter in all four sports: foot-
ball, baseball, tennis, and track.

In the spring of 1893 there was another unfortu-
nate break in the succession of baseball games. An-
dover protested the Exeter catcher on the ground
that he had once "sustained his hvelihood" as a
professional, and was therefore ineligible; Exeter re-
fused to compete without the man in question, and
the annual contest was consequently omitted. The
football controversy of 1893, which led to a complete
severing of relations between the schools for three
years, left Andover without a game with Exeter in
baseball until June, 1897, when Irving J. French's
team was beaten at Exeter by a score of 6 to 12. In
the interval from 1894 to 1896 so-called champion-
ship contests were held with Williston and Law-
renceville, but it was difficult for the students to
generate enthusiasm over so artificial a rivalry.

The mere recounting of games year after year can,
of course, give no adequate conception of the dra-
matic incidents which were constantly occurring. An-
dover "fans" can never forget Barnwell's wonderful
running catch, in the 1899 game, of what looked to
be a home run by Alexander. In this dramatic con-
test, which Andover finally won, 11 to 8, the redoubt-

462

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

able "Ike" Saunders pitched a magnificent game,
striking out eleven of his opponents. In the following
year Matthews, Andover's shortstop, batted like a
fiend, and it was his work which eventually led his
team to victory, 9 to 5.

In 1901, when Matthews was captain, a series of
three games with Exeter was tried for the first and
last time. A few days before the first game was to
be played Exeter protested Campbell, the Andover
pitcher; the Andover authorities, however, wisely
insisted on having the charges brought before a com-
mittee of Boston lawyers, who, after a thorough in-
vestigation, reported that the accusations had no
foundation. In the mean time, however, Andover,
without Campbell, had lost the first of the series in
most melancholy fashion; she was ahead, 5 to 0, at
the opening of the seventh inning, and then Exeter,
in a furious batting rally, pounded in six runs. The
second game, at Andover, was an easy victory for
the home nine; and, in the "rubber" contest, Camp-
bell had the pleasure of shutting out his rivals, 9 to 0.

The excellent team captained by Frank O'Brien
in 1902 lost its Exeter game through a painful stroke
of misfortune. In the very first inning, with three
men on bases, an Exeter player drove a short hit
back of first base. The grass was long, and, in the
excitement, the fielders could not find the ball; the
result was that all four Exeter men romped around
the bases, and their team won, 5 to 3.

The closing game with Exeter in 1903 had a climax
almost unequaled in the baseball history of the two
schools. "Rod" Brown, the pitcher, and "Charhe"

463

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Clough, the first baseman, had distinguished them-
selves for Andover; but the critical moment was re-
served for the ninth inning. Andover's lone run had
come in the seventh, and Exeter had not scored.
With two men out, Cooney, Exeter's best batter,
stepped to the plate and smashed the first ball pitched
a terrific crack over the head of the Andover center
fielder, "Bunny" Hodge, who, realizing the situation,
turned and ran like a deer towards the tennis courts
far behind his usual position. While still at full
speed he leaped high in the air, and, to the amaze-
ment of all, landed on his feet with the ball clasi>ed
securely in one hand. It was a catch such as is rarely
seen even in professional games, and Hodge himself
afterwards admitted that he did not know how it
happened. The ball itself was turned over to the
trophy room some fifteen years later.

"Charlie" Clough, who was in some respects the
greatest ball player that ever represented Phillips
Academy, was captain for 1904 and 1905. In 1904
his nine lost to Exeter by a score of 2 to 1. In 1905
Mr. Bartlett H.Hayes, a former Harvard pitcher now
residing in Andover, generously gave his services
as coach, and under him, until he was obliged to re-
linquish coaching in 1911, Andover had its golden
era of baseball. In 1905, at Exeter, Andover went
ahead in the eighth inning through "Barney" Reilly's
two-bagger and Mallory's three-bagger, and won,
6 to 4. "Barney" Reilly, who was captain in both
1906 and 1907, won each of his Exeter games by a
score of 3 to 2. In 1906, at the opening of the eighth
inning, Exeter led, 2 to 1. With two men out, Lani-

464

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

gan, Andover's pitcher, hit to Cooney in center
field, who let a slow ball slip past him, thus allowing
Murphy to score; and an error by the Exeter catcher
gave Lanigan a chance to come home. In this year
Andover defeated Bates, Yale, Williams, Harvard,
Dartmouth, Amherst, Vermont, and the Amherst
"Aggies," winning twelve games out of the nine-
teen. No other Andover nine has ever surpassed
this record. The 1907 game also had a spectacular
finish. In the ninth inning, with the score 3 to 2 in
Andover's favor, Exeter had a man on first and one
out. Her next batter knocked a short fly to right
field which looked safe, but "Fred" Daly, by an
extraordinary effort, took the ball on the dead run
and, by a quick throw to first, made a double play,
thus closing the contest.

For some years the baseball schedule had been
gradually growing longer and more difficult. Most
of the games were with colleges, and Andover had
shown herself quite able to meet higher institutions
on an even basis. About 1907, however, the reac-
tion set in. Colleges were coming to the conclusion
that they had little to gain and everything to lose
by playing "prep" schools, and Phillips managers
found it increasingly difficult to secure games with
Harvard, Yale, Amherst, and similar tearris. The
Andover Faculty, moreover, were convinced that the
newspaper notoriety given to prominent school ath-
letes was an evil. The natural result was the shorten-
ing of the schedule, and the substitution of Freshman
teams and of other secondary schools for colleges.

It must not be inferred that the excitement over

465

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

baseball has in any respect lessened. After 1907 vic-
tory alternated between the schools until 1914, when
Exeter won her second consecutive game, and fol-
lowed that success by beating Andover in 1915 and
1916. The most thrilling contest of the last decade
was that of 1910, when "Happy" Burdette in the
eleventh inning drove a "Texas leaguer" between
first and second, thus bringing in the run which
meant victory by a score of 5 to 4. The results of
baseball games between the two academies are still
as imcertain as ever: the enthusiasm is so intense, the
nerves of the players are so on edge, that even the best
fielders occasionally get "rattled" and make errors
which seem at the time to be inexcusable. Thus it
happens that a nine which, judged by its previous
record, ought to be a decided favorite, only too often
gives way beneath the strain and is beaten by a team
which, on paper, seems to be considerably inferior.
In deciding an Andover-Exeter game, psychology as
well as skill plays an important part.

Andover "fans" often divert themselves by pick-
ing out players for a mythical "all- Andover nine,"
composed of heroes who have represented the blue.
Some positions are easy to fill; others may be claimed
for four or five competitors who seem to be on a
parity. There is also the insuperable difficulty of
comparing a pitcher of 1884, like Vinton, with one
of 1901, like Campbell, and arriving at a reasonable
estimate of their respective merits. No effort will be
made here to select such a representative team; but
it may not be amiss to mention the names of great
players who have filled the various positions. Among

466

SOME BASEBALL STORIES

the famous catchers have been "Archie" Bush, '67;
"Fred" Poole, '87; "Buck" Knowlton, '88; John
Greenway, '93; Pitt Drew, '95; Lloyd D. Waddell,
'99; "Burney" Winslow, '00; Walter Snell, '09; and
"Dick" Wright, '12. There have been a number of
excellent pitchers, including Halbert, '81; Vinton,
'84; Dalzell, '90; "Al" Stearns, '90; Turner, '92;
"Gil" Greenway, '93; Hillebrand, '96; George G.
Stephenson, '00; Campbell, '02; "Rod" Brown, '06;
and "Butts" Merrill, '07. At first base "Charlie"
Clough, '05, has probably never been surpassed on an
Andover team; but others, like "Phil" Stewart, '82;
" Ed " Brainard,' 89 ; Harold W. Letton, '94 ; " Charlie "
Littlefield, '99; and "Jim" Reilly, '09, have enviable
records. At second base may be named "Fred"
Murphy, '93; "Joe" Hazen, '94; Frank Quinby, '99;
"Eddie" Dillon, '05; "Barney" Reilly, '07; Mc-
Intyre, '08; and Bennet, '09. There have been sev-
eral good shortstops, of whom the best are probably
"Pus" Noyes, '86; Rustin, '91; Barnes, '96; Irving
J. French, '97; Matthews, '01; and Frank O'Brien,
'02. Third basemen of the highest rank have been
comparatively rare, and the four who are best re-
membered are of recent date: Huiskamp, '03; "Gil"
Kinney, '04; H. N. Merritt, '07; and John Reilly, '11.
Among the fielders the most brilliant was unques-
tionably Arthur Barnwell, '99; but there are many
others, including Pi Yuk, '82 (later Sir Chentung Li-
ang Cheng); "Pa" Grimes, '88; "Laurie" Bliss, '91;
"Doc" Hillebrand, '96; Mallory, '05; Schildmiller,
'05; Fred J. Murphy, '07; George Thompson, '09; and
"Louie" Middlebrook, '10.

467

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

From these men several powerful nines could be
selected. The list is, of course, not intended to be
complete; it is merely suggestive, and there are few
Andover graduates who will not feel quite comi>e-
tent to reconstruct and alter it. Fortunately Phillips
alumni, no matter how long they argue, can never
agree absolutely upon this subject. So it is that base-
ball, for many a year to come, will invite reminis-
cences from men whose days upon the diamond are
over and who are far better acquainted to-day with
their brassies and niblicks than they are with a bat
and a glove.

CHAPTER XXm

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

And where 's the wealth, I'm wondering.

Could buy the cheers that roll
When the last charge goes thundering

Beneath the twilight goal!

To Andover men football is the king of games, and
to make the eleven is the crowning glory of a boy's
athletic career. Other sports are interesting, even
exciting; but there is no sensation which can equal that
which comes when the exertion of every last ounce of
power has pushed the ball over the goal line or when
some Daly or Mahan has eluded the tacklers and is off
down the field for a touchdown. It happens, too, that
Phillips Academy has always excelled in football, and
that a considerable number of her "old boys" have
been ranked among the finest players of their time.

Some form of football was popular in the school
long before the Civil War. A match is recorded be-
tween the Senior class of 1856 and the Middlers for
the possession of a trophy — a wooden horn decorated
lavishly with paint. The game, which was played in
the rear of Bartlet Hall, was won by '56, whose team
was headed by Othniel C. Marsh, afterwards the fa-
mous palaeontologist. "Uncle Sam" and Mr. Fenn,
of the Faculty, were present, and the latter made a
congratulatory speech. After the contest was over a
cold lunch was served, and the heroes of the day were
called upon for a "few words."

Some idea of the unsystematized and haphazard

469

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

nature of these games may be gathered from a de-
scription by Cornelius L. Kitchel of a tj^jical foot-
ball contest in 1857. After an early supper the boys
usually gathered back of the Seminary buildings in
a field which was covered with small boulders and
ornamented here and there with sharp, rocky ledges
of interest rather to geologists than to sportsmen.
Here two of the leaders would "choose up sides."
In the beginning there would be perhaps only twenty-
five or thirty on a team, but the numbers would gradu-
ally increase until seventy or eighty players were fac-
ing a group of approximately equal size.

The side to which either gave the ball always went out
to the far end of the field, faced back again towards the
Seminary, and deputed one of their number to "raise"
the ball; that is, kick it from a well-selected place on the
ground, high and far over towards the ranks of the op-
ponents, ranged say two or three hundred feet before
them. . . . Football was then foot ball, and not hand ball
or arm ball, as chiefly now. It was not fair to catch or hold
the ball, and it was dead the moment it was held, as it was
also if it went out of bounds on either side. Then it had to
be " umpired," as the term was. The fellow who held the
ball tossed it up straight as might be into the air; both
sides crowded thick about him "on side," ready to smite
it with fist, or beat it down, or gain any advantage. Then
mighty was the struggle. The heaviest and stoutest, who
nowadays would be the rush line, but fifty or sixty of them,
leaped and pushed and struggled and struck towards the
ball. Back of them the lighter and fleeter men, who would
play half-back now, waited eagerly if by chance the ball
were dashed near them.

The ball in those days was round, not oval. The
goals were simply the stone walls at the two ends

470

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

of the long field. Playing "off side," which was not
considered good sportsmanship, was known as "pea-
nutting." Mr. Kitchel has some interesting comments
on certain features of this older branch of the game: —

To a modern football player this may all seem unscien-
tific and barbarous. Largely the game was undeveloped, to
be sure, but the opposing sides were by no means mere
mobs. The center, the guards, the tackles, the ends, and
the backs were all there, only more of them and unnamed
as yet, but doing their work respectively in no mean way.
Two advantages must be admitted over the present game.
The attack was then on the ball and not, as now, upon the
player so largely, and so the brutal element and the danger-
ous element were pretty much eliminated. And second, the
whole school could play, and have the pleasure and bene-
fit of it. Now it is twenty-two men who play, and the multi-
tude look on; then it was the multitude that played and
the twenty-two or less who looked on.

On November 20, 1865, the Trustees voted to trans-
form the open space between the two rows of " Com-
mons" into a playground, and some necessary grad-
ing was begun. On this Campus football was being
played when Dr. Bancroft became Principal. Inter-
collegiate football had as yet hardly started. The first
Harvard Football Club was organized December 6,
1872, and the Harvard-McGill game in 1874 was the
first intercollegiate Rugby contest ever held in the
United States. Harvard and Yale first met in foot-
ball in 1875. In that same fall a boy named Thomas
W. Nickerson, who had learned something of Rugby
while at school in Boston, came to Phillips Academy,
taught his comrades the rules, and formed an eleven,
of which he was both captain and coach. After some

471

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

practice this crude team arranged a match with
Adams Academy at Quincy, and were defeated, al-
though Nickerson played well and made Andover's
only touchdown.

Although Nickerson left in 1876, the sport was now
well established, and in that autumn two games were
played, the first of which, with the Harvard Fresh-
men, was an overwhelming defeat for Andover. The
story of the second game, played at Quincy against
Adams Academy, has some interesting features. After
being escorted to the station by " Mr. Scranton," the
Chairman of the Football Committee, the eleven left
Andover on the 9.25 train, and, after reaching Bos-
ton, went direct to the Parker House, where shortly
before noon they ate an enormous dinner. The game
was called at three o'clock, with five hundred specta-
tors present. Three half-hour periods were played,
Andover getting a touchdown in the first and a goal
in the third, while Adams made no score. After the
contest the Adams eleven invited the Phillips men to
a "handsomely-prepared supper," in the cotirse of
which the Principal of the rival school entered and
made a very poUte speech. Meanwhile the news of
the victory, which had been telegraphed at once to
Andover, was followed there by the ringing of bells
and the making of preparations for receiving the
heroes.

"When the train came in, the "fish-homs" were per-
fectly deafening. The players were instantly carried on the
shoulders of their friends from the train to a wagon. Not
one was allowed to touch his foot to the platform of the
depot. Then the procession started up Main Street, where,

472

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

in front of the post-oflSce, three rousing cheers were given.
When the line reached Love Lane [now Locke Street], it
of course turned down and continued till it came to School
Street, and then turned up through the Abbot Academy
grounds; then to the Principal's house, where cheers were
indulged in by the students in general, to which he replied
with the laconic speech of "Oh, boys, you did nobly."
Then the parade proceeded to the Mansion House, where
Captain Bliven was called upon for a speech.

After this phase of the jubilation was over Scran-
ton invited the eleven and the substitutes into the
Mansion House for a bountiful supper which had been
prepared for the emaciated athletes. There, when they
had done justice to their third huge meal since eleven
o'clock, the players managed to edify one another
with a few more speeches and then retired. This, the
first account of a celebration which can be discovered,
shows how many of the now well-established traditions
sprang into being. Only a bonfire and a band were
lacking to make the aflfair like a celebration forty
years later.

Encouraged by this success, the Football Com-
mittee in the fall of 1877 sent a challenge to Exeter,
but no game could be arranged on such short notice.
Four other contests, however, were scheduled, of
which Andover captured only one, that against the
Tufts Freshmen. The expenses of the team, about
$125, were met by subscription, no admission being
charged to the games. The players used the old suits
that had been worn by the eleven of the previous year.

Football history at Andover really opens on Satur-
day, November 2, 1878, when the Exeter eleven, ac-
companied by about eighty student supporters, came

473

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

to Andover for the first football contest between the
schools. The game was played in two periods of
45 minutes called "three-quarters"; in the first An-
dover made four touchdowns, in the second one touch-
down and one goal. The Exeter team, which had
never played a match game up to that time, did not
score. The primitive nature of the game is indicated
by the fact that at one point proceedings were inter-
rupted by a spirited cane rush between '80 and '81.
Each team was made up of six " Rushers," three " Half-
Tends," and two "Tends." The stars of the Andover
eleven were Frank Parsons, the captain; F. W. Rogers,
one of the "Tends" or "Backs"; Corwith, a "Half-
Tend," who, according to the Essex Eagle, "espe-
cially distinguished himseK by his rimning and dodg-
ing"; and P. T. Nickerson,a brother of theNickerson
of '76, who made two of the five touchdowns. In this
year the members of the team wore canvas jackets,
which proved to be of great advantage to them. The
Exeter eleven were entertained by the Andover team
at lunch, and after the game the Exeter men were given
a dinner at "Hatch's" and then escorted politely to
the station. The Andover boys then, according to the
Phillipian, "gave vent to their feelings by drawing
the eleven around to the houses of the teachers and
extracting a speech or cheer from every one." The
Exeter correspondent of the Phillipian wrote shortly
after: —

The football eleven returned from Andover in good
spirits, sorry of course that they had been defeated, yet
with a high appreciation of the entertainment they had
received from the Andover eleven.

474

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

The days of abnormal absorption in athletics had
not yet arrived, and it was necessary to use extra
efforts in order to arouse enthusiasm. The first num-
ber of the Phillipian contains a plea for better support
from the school: —

Every student in an academy like this should be inter-
ested in athletic sports. The very scholarly student often
makes the excuse that he don't understand the games, and
really has not time for them. And so the physical sports
are left to a certain class, who, while they are perfectly will-
ing to incur all the expense, are obliged too frequently to
resort to the subscription list or hat-passing.

The failures of the season of 1879 were attributed
by the captain, P. T. Nickerson, to "disinterested-
ness [sic] and laziness." In a contribution to the Mirror
he volunteered several suggestions: —

No one should be a member of the eleven unless he be
willing to train, and appear five afternoons of the week for
practice. Class games should be played. There should be
players trained to such a degree of perfection that any
vacancy could be filled at a moment's notice. Above all,
drop kicking should be practiced unceasingly.

In 1880 the names of the positions were some-
what modified: on Captain Howard's team of that
year there were six "Forwards" or "Rushers,"
one "Quarter-Back," two "Half -Backs," and two
"Backs." In 1882 the places differed very httle from
those to-day: seven "Rushers," a "Quarter-Back,"
two "Half -Backs," and one "Back" or "FuU-Back."

In 1881 the Andover rooters were at last permitted
to accompany their team to Exeter, and over two
hundred of them saw Captain "Sam" Bremner and

475

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

his men, in a heavy downpour of rain, win out with a
goal and a touchdown to nothing. On the eleven of
the next year, 1882, the most brilliant player was
"Kid" Wallace, who won a well-deserved reputation
as a plunging half-back. When he came to PhiUips
Academy, he was a hollow-chested youngster, nerv-
ous, and averse to sport; Frank Dole, however, in-
duced him to take boxing lessons, awakened his in-
terest in athletics, and developed him into a famous
football player. The Exeter game, after having been
once postponed because of bad weather, was finally
held on a field which had been cleared by the boys
of three inches of snow; Andover again won, three
touchdowns to nothing.

The team for 1883, which won from Exeter, 17 to 6,
and did not lose a game throughout the season, owed
its success largely to its captain, D, E. Knowlton.
The Phillipian said of him: —

Many an afternoon this fall there would have been no
practice game unless our captain had gone after his men
personally. This is no small strain on a man's energy; but
besides this he has to make all the arrangements for games,
and, of course, is more or less worried about the games and
matters in general.

One of the "Rushers" on this famous eleven was
"Billy" Odlin, who afterwards organized football at
Dartmouth. Odlin was a remarkable kicker, and,
while at Andover, once made a placed kick for a field
goal from the center of the field — an extraordinary
feat under any circumstances. Odlin was captain at
Andover for both 1884 and 1885. In 1884 his eleven,
largely because of the remarkable kicking of Cullinane,

476

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

quite unexpectedly defeated Exeter, 11 to 8. In 1885
Exeter won on her home grounds, 29 to 11, and An-
dover's lean years had begun.

On the 1886 team were "Billy" Graves, son of
Professor Graves, as full-back, and Cecil K. Ban-
croft, the "Doctor's" eldest son, as quarter-back,
with "Joe" Dennisonas captain. The Exeter game,
played in a disagreeable windy drizzle on a muddy
field, ended in an inglorious defeat for Andover.
Exeter's quarter-back outwitted his opponents by
taking advantage of the rules and running back ten
yards when his team had not made the necessary dis-
tance; in this way he retained the ball for Exeter. The
Phillipian, in a mood of peevish despondency, could
not restrain its irritation : —

In our recent contests with Exeter we have been un-
pleasantly surprised to find that our opponents' tactics
have savored strongly of professionalism, and while we
cannot but praise the strong, intelligent work of their rep-
resentatives, we are forced to condemn the unscrupulous
trickery to which they resorted for the accomplishment of
their ends.

The irregular methods of training used in 1886
aroused the students, and in 1887 the team for the
first time had a coach, S. K. Bremner, captain of the
victorious team of 1881, who contributed his services.
Exeter, however, had an eleven which included Lee
McClung and Harding, and against this clever com-
bination Andover seemed helpless. For the third suc-
cessive year Exeter, as "Bill" Edwards says, "car-
ried home the bacon."

In 1888 Andover had, in its turn, a group of spec-

477

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

tacular players, including "Pop" Bliss as captain,
" Laurie " Bliss, his brother, " Lou " Owsley as quarter-
back, and " Big" Coxe as guard. The Exeter game
took place in a heavy rain; just before the end of the
first half "Pop" Bliss received the ball from his
brother "Laurie" on a criss-cross play, then little
understood, and ran through the Exeter defense for
a touchdown. When another touchdown was made
in the second half, the Andover boys went wild, and
the celebration that evening let loose the pent-up
enthusiasm of three painful years. The spell of what
the "Doctor" called "chronic defeat" was at last
broken.

The unfortunate baseball fracas in the spring of
1889 prevented a football game with Exeter in the fol-
lowing autumn, and the two schools did not again
meet on the gridiron until 1890. On Andover's eleven
was the famous Frank Hinkey, who has been called
"the greatest end that was ever on a field" and who
later captained Yale in her memorable contest with
Harvard at Springfield in 1894. Odlin, who had fin-
ished his course at Dartmouth, returned to Andover
as coach, and Captain Townsend's team closed the
season with a victory over Exeter, 16 to 0. Once more
the "roosters" appeared on the front page of the
Phillipian. At the 1891 game, played at Exeter, over
eight hundred Andover supporters were present, and
tally-hos, gayly decked with flaunting blue and white
ribbons, carried parties of students from the Exeter
Station to the field. Fortunately the eleven reaHzed
the hopes of its backers and won handily, 26 to 10.
The situation was reversed in the following year, how-

478

GAMES ON THE CAMl'US

THE PHILLIPS CLUB, FORMERLY THE TREASURER'S OFFICE

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

ever, when the team lost nine of its thirteen games, in-
cluding the Exeter contest. On the Andover eleven,
besides Captain W. B. Hopkins, were several players
who later won national reputations: "Fred" Murphy,
Louis Hinkey, "Jim" Rodgers, and "Eddie" Holt.

"Jim" Rodgers, captain at Yale in 1897, was in
1893 a boy of seventeen with long hair of a very light
shade, which made him conspicuous on the field. It
was when he was captain at Andover that the most
serious of the breaks with Exeter took place. In the
annual contest, which was held at Exeter on Novem-
ber 11, the Exeter team, which was unusually heavy,
won from Andover, 26 to 10, chiefly through the mar-
velous running of her half-back, "Pooch" Donovan,
and his team-mate. Smith. It was commonly asserted
on that day, and soon proved beyond reasonable
doubt, that at least two of the Exeter players had been
professional athletes. On November 27, after the
facts became known, the Andover undergraduate
body voted unanimously to postpone indefinitely all
further contests with Exeter. Relations were not re-
sumed until the fall of 1896.

During this period of three years games were sched-
uled between Andover and Lawrenceville. The re-
sults, however, were not altogether satisfactory. Law-
renceville was well qualified to be a rival of Andover;
indeed Andover was defeated by her in three succes-
sive seasons. But the distance was too great to allow
all the members of the visiting school to attend the
contests, and, as a result, it was difficult to maintain
enthusiasm among the students. "Bill" Edwards
describes with great glee the game in 1894, when he,

479

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

a Lawrenceville boy, played against Andover. "Ed-
die" Holt, Andover's giant guard, towered above all
the members of his team, and, aided by "Johnnie"
Barnes, the quarter-back, made spectacular rushes.
The Lawrenceville eleven, however, recovered from
their alarm, and soon showed their superiority; they
won decisively, 22 to 6. In the following year Ed-
wards played against "Doc" Hillebrand, who was
later a great athlete at Princeton. Towards the end of
the game, which was held at Lawrenceville, the score
was 12 to 6 in favor of the home team. Goodwin, who
had made Andover's first touchdown, then carried the
ball down the field for a second one. Everything
centered on the attempt at a goal. If Butterfield,
Andover's haK-back, could succeed, the score would
be a tie. His kick went over the posts to the right, and
the referee shouted out " Goal ! " After consulting with
the umpire and the linesmen, however, he changed his
decision, and the Andover men had to go home dis-
appointed.

Early in the fall of 1896, after some preliminary
correspondence between Dr. Bancroft and Principal
Amen of Exeter, the question of renewing relations
with Exeter was brought up and referred to the Ath-
letic Advisory Committee. At a conference held a few
weeks later in Haverhill an agreement was drawn up
between the two academies, providing for a strict
enforcement of the rules against professionalism. This
arrangement was gratifying to both schools, for they
are natural rivals, like Harvard and Yale, and the
situation for the preceding three years had been un-
satisfactory. Captain Barker's team in this season

480

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

contained several fine players, including Shirley Ellis,
the right guard, Pierson, the center, and Frank
Quinby, the quarter-back. This eleven won the Exe-
ter game decisively, 28 to 0, but was beaten by Law-
renceville.

i Perley Elliot's team in 1897 was defeated by Exeter
in a heartbreaking contest, in which Andover, after
eighteen points had been run up against her, seemed
to take new life and pushed the ball steadily through
her opponents for two touchdowns and a safety, only
to have time called when she was apparently on the
road to victory. A week later the eleven had their long-
delayed revenge on Lawrenceville by winning from
her, 44 to 4. On the team in this year was Ralph
Davis, afterwards an all-American player at Prince-
ton, who was captain at Andover in 1899, when, with
an eleven made up of such men as "Dutch" Levine,
Ralph Bloomer, "Charlie" Rafferty, and "Doggie"
Collins, he defeated "Jim" Hogan's Exeter team,
17 to 0. In 1900, however, Hogan "came back," and
won from Andover, 10 to 0.

The well-known "Pa" Corbin, who came to An-
dover in 1901 to assist Shirley Ellis in coaching, was
given an appointment in 1902 as regular coach, and
served through the season of 1904. The team of 1902,
headed by "Jack" Cates, defeated an Exeter eleven
weighing on the average ten pounds more to a man;
but in the two following seasons Andover was badly
beaten. In 1905 Dr. John O'Connor, of Dartmouth,
was engaged as coach, and under him and his suc-
cessor, W. Huston Lillard, Andover won eight con-
secutive victories over her rival — an extraordinary

481

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

record to those who realize how strong the Exeter
elevens were during that period. In those eight years
Andover scored 109 points to Exeter's 11. The games
are too near our own time to need description. Fred
Daly's eleven of 1906, on which were such players
as Kilpatrick, "Bob" Fisher, "Bob" McKay, and
"Tony" Haines (one of the longest kickers ever on
an Andover team), was exceptionally strong. So also
was the famous team of 1911, captained by Van
Brocklin, on which were "Eddie" Mahan, "Pete"
Fletcher, "Red" Brann, and other noted players.
One incident which will be long remembered was
"Rib " Porter's goal from the field in 1909, which won
an exceptionally close contest for his team.

Concerning the four years following 1912 Andover
men prefer to be uncommunicative, for they were
marked by victories for Exeter — victories the first
three of which were so overwhelmingly decisive that
"old grads" almost wept to read of them. It is small
consolation to be reminded that of the thirty-six
games played since 1878 Andover has won nineteen
to Exeter's fifteen, two contests having been " ties."

So many players on Andover elevens have won fame
either at Phillips Academy or at college that it is al-
most a hopeless task to select a few for special men-
tion. There is a small group, like Frank Hinkey, '91;
"Laurie" Bliss, '91; Fred T. Murphy, '93; "Doc"
Hillebrand, '96; Ralph Davis, '99; Pierson, '99; Fred
Daly, '07; and "Eddie" Mahan, '12, who were such
giants in their day that they must be placed on a
mythical " all-Andover " line-up. Worthy to be classed
with these heroes are several others, such as "Kid"

48S

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

Wallace, '84; "Billy" Odlin, '86; Vance McCormick,
'91 ;" Jim " Rodgers, '94 ;" Eddie " Holt, '94 ;" Tommy "
Thompson, '05; "Eddie" Dillon, '05; and "Ham"
Andrus, '06. Even with these additions, however, the
list is far from complete. We cannot omit the Nicker-
son brothers, "Fred" Rogers, and "Chummy" Eaton
in the "seventies." In the "eighties," too, there were
many stalwart backs and linemen: D. E. Knowlton,
captain of the undefeated team of 1883 ; George Carter,
W. H. King, and CuUinane of '85; "Billy" Graves,
'87; L. D. Mowry, '89, afterwards at Princeton;
"Pop" Bhss and "Joe" Upton, '89; and "Tommy"
Cochran, '90. Captain Townsend, '91, afterwards
went to Williams, where he distinguished himself by
going into the line-up against Dartmouth when, with
a temperature of 105°, he was in the early stages of
typhoid fever. Among others in the "nineties" were
"Jim" Knapp, '92; "Louie" Hinkey, "Dick" Arm-
strong, and W. B. Hopkins, '93; "Jim" Greenway
and "Johnnie" Barnes, '96; Shirley Ellis and Frank
Quinby, '99; Wilhelmi, '99; Rafferty, Bloomer, and
Butkiewicz, '00. Many players since 1900 are not
likely to be soon forgotten: Kinney, Matthews,
Leavenworth, "Dutch" Levine, "Doggy" Collins,
Veeder, "Tony" Haines, "Jack" Gates, Bartholomew,
Kilpatrick, "Hennie" Hobbs, "Dutch" Schildmil-
ler, "Bob" McKay, "Bob" Fisher, Fred J. Murphy,
"Rib" Porter, Van Brocklin, "Pete" Fletcher, "Sid"
York, "Chub" Sheldon, Trevor Hogg, "Mac" Bald-
rige — but the list is almost interminable. Some men,
also, like Robert E. Speer, '86, and S. F. B. Morse,
'03, showed no particular ability on Andover teams,

483

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

but were afterwards at college among the finest play-
ers of their day.

It is vain speculation, too, to occupy one's seK with
the problem of choosing the best eleven that ever rep-
resented Phillips Academy. One generation will refer
to Knowlton's team of 1883; another will prefer that
of 1888; men of a later time will insist that Ralph
Davis's eleven in 1899 could never be surpassed; and
recent graduates, remembering Mahan, Van BrockUn,
and the team of 1911, cannot believe that any second-
ary school ever had a stronger aggregation.

Those who have never seen an Andover-Exeter
football game can hardly have a comprehension of
the excitement which accompanies it. For a week
preceding the contest the players are cheered every
morning as they enter chapel. On the evening before
the big day a mass-meeting is held in the Gymnasium,
at which the captain, the coach, popular teachers, and
graduates stir up enthusiasm. On the fateful morn-
ing the boys awake nervous and expectant. The in-
structor who hopes to have good recitations is likely
to be sadly disappointed; he is far wiser who frankly
accepts the situation and adapts his pedagogy to
it. An hour before the game the students of each
school march in a long line to the field, keeping step to
a monotonous shout made by naming out the letters
A-N-D-0-V-E-R or E-X-E-T-E-R. The noise
on the bleachers, from the minute when the players
with their huge "A's" or "E's" on their sweaters
run on the gridiron until the last whistle is blown,
rivals that at a Harvard- Yale contest. Each boy has a
megaphone into which he yells, guided by the weird

484

FOOTBALL AND ITS HEROES

gesticulations and gyrations of the cheer leaders, who
dance in strange procession along the front of the
stands; and the fervor is so unrestrained that it
rouses even a casual visitor from his middle-aged
lethargy. Each academy has its songs, which are
rendered with as much melody and vigor as can issue
from five hundred worn and raucous throats. When
the contest is finally over, hats and megaphones are
tossed into the air on the winning side, and the boys
run to carry the players off the field. Hardly one of
the five or six thousand spectators can keep from add-
ing his applause to the turmoil around him, especially
if he has affiliations with either of the academies.

The rivalry nowadays is keen, as it ought to be; but
it is more sane, more sportsmanlike, than it was forty
years ago. The antagonism between the two schools
was at one time almost savage, and even to-day, in a
rare and individual case, this same brutal spirit some-
times reappears; but it is invariably concealed by out-
ward courtesy. Those who recall the fierce struggles
of the "eighties" sometimes find it hard to reconcile
themselves to the present amicable relations be-
tween Andover and Exeter; but they are usually
willing to admit that the modern way is better
than the old one. The two schools, even in defeat,
cheer each other loudly. The Exonian and the Phil-
lipian, forgetful of their ancient animosity, are now
at peace. The players themselves are no less manly,
no less eager to win; but professional methods are
frowned on and tricky play is not encouraged. The
rivalry now is of the finest sort — that which is mingled
with respect and admiration for the opposing team.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE LURE OF THE GAME

Fkesh faces in the Gym appear.

New knives cut other names;
Fresh sinners carry on, I fear.

Our very same old games.

Athletics in Phillips Academy mean far more than
the yearly struggles with Exeter. The good old doc-
trine of "sport for sport's sake" has always been part
of the academic gospel, and boys are led to stretch
their muscles for sheer delight in physical exercise.
It has been the ambition of the school to arouse in the
undergraduates a love for games, not so much for the
victory which may be won — although it would be
hypocrisy to pretend that success is tmdesirable — as
for the pleasure of matching skill against skill, brawn
against brawn. To this end there should be games of
every sort, for the strong, for the agile, for the swift —
even for the feeble and the clumsy. Schools, within the
last half -century, have learned that the care of the
body is an essential part of education.

After the "stone shell of a building" on Chapel Ave-
nue was given to Professor Stowe as a home, the
"theologues" and the "cads" had a gymnasium in
common in a large wooden structure in the rear of
the Seminary, which was scantily equipped with ap-
paratus. Samuel W. Abbot in 1853 received a ticket
entitling him to the privileges of the "Phillips Gym-
nasium." In presenting this card to the school many
years later, Dr. Abbot wrote: —

486

THE LURE OF THE GAME

To the daily use of this Gymnasium in 1853-54 I
have been wont to attribute improved health while at
Andover and years afterward in a constitution not na-
turally robust.

On July 24, 1865, the Trustees, after the burning
of the Stone Academy, resolved that, when the new
Main Building was finished, the old "Brick Academy "
should be fitted out as a gymnasium. Within a year
they appropriated $1000 for this purpose, and en-
gaged Sereno D. Gammell to act as Teacher of Gym-
nastics. On February 14, 1867, "Uncle Sam" an-
nounced that the new Gymnasium would be open that
evening: Seniors were to come at 4.50 o'clock, Mid-
dlers at 5.25, and Juniors at 8 in the morning. The
first floor was arranged for four bowling alleys; the
gymnasium appliances were placed on the second
floor, at the north end of which ran a low gallery.

In this gymnasium the equipment was meager
and the apparatus was inadequate and poorly kept.
As exercise was not compulsory, the work there, after
the initial enthusiasm had died out, was usually
desultory and confined chiefly to rainy afternoons.
Nevertheless instructors were employed, and a few
boys derived considerable benefit. Boxing, especially -
in the seventies and eighties, became popular, and
Frank Dole, the boxing-master, had many pupils. Mr. \
McCurdy and Professor Coy had many bouts, and/
on one occasion the latter appeared in the classroom\
with his features somewhat damaged. Once when two I
boys were disputing in Coy's recitation room, he sud- 1
denly came in, opened a drawer in his desk, took out ",
a set of gloves, and told the wranglers to fight it out. j

487 '

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

In the fall of 1878, or possibly before, the students
began to become interested in track games. There
was then no running-track and the contests in sprmt-
ing and jumping had to be held down the Elm Walk
on the Theological Campus. Little real excitement
was developed, however, and contemporary com-
ments show that the "tournament" was treated as a
humorous diversion. At about this period, also, wm-
ter "tournaments" in the Gymnasium were started.
That of March 5, 1884, was reported by the Phil-
lipian to be "excellent." The spring outdoor "tourna-
ment" in 1885 oflfered a varied Ust of events: 100
yards dash, kicking football, sack race, 220 yards
dash, potato race, throwing baseball, standing long
jump, slow bicycle race, mile run, throwing the ham-
mer, three-legged race, running high jump, and tug
of war. The shot-put had to be omitted because the
shot could not be found. The PhilUpian was amused
because the mile run was held over a course which was
up a hill on part of each lap.

It was natural that the next step should be a
"tournament" with Exeter, and such a match might
have been arranged in 1888 if it had not been for the
fact that Andover, without either a board track or a
cinder path for practice, felt herself poorly equipped
for meeting her rival. Mr. George D. Pettee, a young
instructor much interested in track sports, offered in
1888 a silver cup to the winner of a cross-country run.
In the following spring he succeeded in arranging for
a meet with Exeter, to be held at Exeter on the same
day as the tennis tournament. The Andover mile run-
ners practiced daily on the "old turnpike," and the

488

THE LURE OF THE GAME

sprinters hardened their muscles by walks around the
Campus. Under the circumstances Andover did ex-
traordinarily well to carry off first places (the only
ones to count) in six out of the nine events. The rec-
ords of Phillips Academy as published May 25, 1889,
show that much training was needed : running broad
jump, 18 feet, 7 inches; 16-pound shot, 32 feet, 6
inches; pole vault, 8 feet, 6 inches; mile run, 5 min-
utes, 20 seconds; half-mile run (held by Yan Che,
'80), 2 minutes, 45 J seconds.

Meanwhile progress was being made towards a
track. James C. Sawyer, now Treasurer of Phillips
Academy, as manager of the football team of 1889 had
cleared $450, an unusually large sum for those days,
which, in the spring of 1890, was, by school vote, ex-
pended in work on a cinder path. Other sums, col-
lected by subscription or received in donations, were
also devoted to this purpose, and, on Monday, May 4,
1891, the track was formally opened, Mr. Pettee and
Captain Townsend jogging around it at the head of
the track squad. Its cost in all was $1134.88. On this
new track, with a revised system of scoring which
gave points to second and third places, Andover in
1891 defeated Exeter, 46 to 44. In the meet for 1892,
held at Exeter, three records were broken by Andover
men, Davis, the captain, doing the half-mile in 2
minutes, 4f seconds, which was then very fast time.
Sheldon, of the Academy team, held at this date six of
the school records.

Although track athletics are regarded as one of the
"major sports," they have never aroused the intense
excitement created by baseball and football. Meets

489

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

with Exeter have regularly been held, except in the
three years from 1894 to 1897, and in 1905, when a
mild scarlet fever epidemic kept the Andover team
from leaving town. An interesting situation developed
in connection with the meet of 1906. It was announced
at the time as being in favor of Exeter, 49 to 47, but a
decision afterwards handed down in regard to a pro-
tested jump by one of Andover's representatives gave
the victory to Andover, 48^ to 47^. This is probably
the only occasion in the history of the two schools
when a celebration for the same contest was held by
both institutions. The Exeter jubilation was more
spontaneous, but Andover had the satisfaction of
laughing last.

Andover's records in track and field events com-
pare favorably with those of most colleges. Prescott's
mark in the broad jump, 23 feet, 3f inches, made in
1914, has never been equaled by a boy in a prepara-
tory school. Schick, '01, has the distinction of hold-
ing the record of 21^ seconds in the 220 yards dash
and of 51 seconds in the 440 yards dash, as well as
of being a joint holder, with Sumner, Bartholomew,
and Burrill, of the time of 10 seconds in the century
run. The distances in the shot-put and the hammer-
throw still stand where they were set by "Ham"
Andrus in 1906. The mark of 2 minutes, 32f seconds
in the half-mile, made by W. T. Laing in 1895, is the
only record set before 1900 which has not been sur-
passed.

In 1886 there was some discussion over the ques-
tion of organizing a crew, and, after $400 had been
subscribed, the Faculty finally consented to allow

490

THE LURE OF THE GAME

candidates to make use of the Lawrence Canoe Club
on the Merrimack River. The Yale Boat Club, re-
cognizing the wisdom of assisting to develop men for
its own crew, contributed two eight-oar shells and one
four-oar shell, and offered to provide a coach. During
the winter term candidates trained assiduously in the
gymnasium, and, in the spring, Wednesday and Sat-
urday afternoons were devoted to practice. A concert
given at the Town Hall in support of the project was
well attended; but unfortunately no outside competi-
tion could be arranged, and the excitement, which
had been somewhat artificially stimulated, died down
nearly as rapidly as it had risen. Since then there has
been intermittent talk of boating as different genera-
tions of boys have come to Andover; but the sport
has never been resumed. There are several difficulties
involved. As the distance to available water is con-
siderable, the labor of training would be very great
and would demand altogether too much time. There
is the further consideration that outside activities at
present probably occupy too many hours a week.
Men, moreover, would be attracted into rowing at
the expense of the other spring games, track athletics
and baseball, and the teams would be much weak-
ened. It is improbable that boating will ever be taken
up seriously at Phillips Academy.

A tennis association which was formed in 1884 met
with hearty support, especially from men who, with-
out the peculiar qualities demanded for football and
baseball, nevertheless wanted some game in which
they might excel. The earliest tournament with
Exeter was held October 15, 1884, at which time

491

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Fitch, of Andover, won the singles, the doubles going
to Exeter. About twenty-five Andover "rooters" ac-
companied their representatives to Exeter, and a
celebration was held in town on their arrival home.
In 1885 the game was so well estabUshed that it was
necessary to lay out new courts in front of the Main
Building. In 1887 we learn that there were six grass
courts in use: one of these was reserved for the team;
the others were annually sold at auction to groups of
students, who thus obtained exclusive use of them
through the season: $30.75 was offered for the court
in the best condition, and the entire five brought in
$91.25. In 1888, after a special plea from the team,
several dirt courts were constructed. In recent years
the grass courts have been abandoned, and the Ath-
letic Association now has twenty dirt courts available
for the school. Tournaments are held every year with
Exeter and other institutions. Boys play tennis, how-
ever, not because they are looking for glory, but be-
cause they enjoy the sport, and its value in giving
recreation and pleasure is obviously very great.

The building of the new Gymnasium in 1902 turned
the attention of the boys to basketball. A five was
soon formed, and, in the first contest ever played by
an Andover team, the Harvard Freshmen were de-
feated, 43 to 29. The season thus fortunately opened
was continued without a defeat. In the following
years Andover teams had some unusually successful
seasons. Captain Snell's five in 1909 went through a
schedule of twelve games, nearly all against strong
opponents, and did not lose a game. In 1911, however,
after a lean season in which student support was

492

THE LURE OF THE GAME

noticeably lacking, basketball as a competitive sport
with other schools was abandoned. Interclass con-
tests in basketball are still held, and there is some
possibility that interest in it may be revived.

Hockey and swimming have, to a large extent,
filled the place formerly occupied by basketball.
Skating has always been popular in Andover, and cold
winter afternoons have found Rabbit's Pond, Pomp's
Pond, and Martin's Pond sprinkled with Phillips
boys. As early as 1898 a hockey team was formed,
although in that year the solitary game played re-
sulted in a defeat by Technology. Since then the game
has persisted against many difficulties: the Andover
climate is so uncertain that a thaw is likely to come
at any moment; the school has as yet no covered rink,
and a snowstorm usually means that the ice will be
spoiled; and there are no convenient places where
spectators can gather to watch a contest. So desir-
able is it that hockey should not be given up that the
Athletic Association is making a strenuous eflFort to
secure a covered rink; when this is obtained, hockey
will be put upon a new basis.

Swimming, especially since the construction of the
pool in 1911, has attracted large numbers of boys
during the winter. Under the direction of a remark-
ably efficient coach. Alec Sutherland, the Andover
swimming teams have made some notable perform-
ances. In 1914 the relay "four" broke the world's
interscholastic record for 200 yards, covering the
distance in 1 minute, 45f seconds. In the same sea-
son Andover won from Harvard, Amherst, and
Springfield Training School, as well as from several

493

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

secondary institutions. Every student in Phillips
Academy is obliged to learn how to swim.

At various periods in the last thirty years other
sports have enjoyed temporary favor. A golf club,
organized in the " nineties," provided recreation for
teachers and townspeople as well as students, and a
small clubhouse was erected overlooking Rabbit's
Pond, where the members could gather on Wednes-
day and Saturday afternoons. The course, however,
was not particularly interesting, and the players,
when they had attained some proficiency, preferred
to seek longer holes and deeper sand-traps at Myopia
or Brookline. In 1908 the links were given up, and
golf enthusiasts in the school have now no solace
except in practicing mashie shots on the Academy
lawns.

A lacrosse association was formed as early as
1881, and the team played Harvard in the following
spring; at intervals since that date, also, it has had a
moderate popularity. To-day, however, it has been
largely superseded by soccer, a game in which many
boys take keen deUght. Andover is quite able to
hold her own in soccer with Harvard and Tech-
nology. The sport as yet does not arouse much ex-
citement among the school at large, but it provides a
game for boys who, too light for football, are never-
theless quick and dexterous. Chinese and Japanese
students in particular have shown themselves ex-
ceedingly skillful. Cross-country running, wrestling,
and gymnasium work have also their devotees; and
those who are unfitted for any one of these num-
erous sports may join the "Hill and Dale Squad,"

494

THE LURE OF THE GAME

and ramble about the Andover countryside. A rifle
club, which has recently been organized for instruction
in the use of the military rifle, has now an indoor range
in the basement of Pearson Hall, and practices on vari-
ous government ranges in the fall and spring.

It can readily be seen that physical exercise in Phil-
lips Academy is certainly not confined to those who
make the eleven or the nine. Even in the "nineties"
various street teams, composed of men not on the
Academy squad, were organized and played through
an interesting schedule. In 1895, for instance, Latin
Commons defeated Morton Street in the final game
for the championship. Class contests have always
been held, and, even when not taken very seriously,
have kept the participants in the open air. In 1902,
when Dr. Pierson S. Page came to Phillips Academy,
it was still quite possible for an indolent and indif-
ferent boy to avoid taking exercise. Dr. Page be-
lieved in compelling every student, not physically in-
capacitated, to participate regularly in some athletic
sport suited to his abilities. This idea gradually won
acceptance, until by 1906 even Seniors, who had pre-
viously claimed immunity, were obliged to submit.
This highly beneficial reform made pointless the criti-
cisms of those who had been maintaining that athle-
tics in schools like Andover are for the few rather than
for the many.

As the scheme is now in operation every boy in
school, unless excused for good reasons, is given his
choice of several sports: football, baseball, track
athletics, tennis, soccer, cross-coimtry, swimming,
wrestling, gymnasium, or hill and dale. Those who

495

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

fail to make Academy teams are lined up for class
games. The Bulletin, commenting in 1906 on this
system of compulsory athletics, said : —

A surprisingly large number of boys have heretofore
held aloof from participating in school athletics, either
from shyness or ignorance of the games, or from inertia.
The results of the past few years are justifying the new re-
quirement; the keen interest and pride in the school teams
continue; but the overexcitement is lessened noticeably,
and a saner, healthier participation in sports is growing
throughout the school.

Those who can look back forty years have seen
some striking changes in the facilities for athletics
on Andover Hill. The playing-field which, in Dr.
Taylor's time, had been laid out between the two
rows of Conamons buildings on what is now called
the "Old Campus," was covered with stones and
filled with holes. The land was originally marshy,
and, after a downpour of rain, it resembled a bog.
The class of 1881 originated a fund for the purpose
of grading this area. In the summer of 1887 the
ground was made fairly level by excavating huge
boulders and shifting earth from one section to an-
other, and a year later trenches were dug to carry off
the water from the springs. In the fall of 1887,
when this labor was going on, the football games
were played on the meadow in the rear of the old
Mansion House.

An old grandstand containing only a few seats was

burned at a celebration in 1888, and in the following

spring a new one was erected by a stock company

, which had been formed among the students by " Bert "

THE LURE OF THE GAME

Addis, "Al" Stearns, and "Jim" Sawyer. The 174
shares of stock issued sold for $2 apiece; and admis-
sion was charged to the stand. When this structure,
according to agreement, reverted to the school in
June, 1890, the stockholders received their money
with a dividend of 54 cents.

In spite of the occasional improvements made on
the Old Campus the field was constantly a subject for
complaint, and the boys clamored every year for ar-
rangements more suited to a great school like Phillips
Academy. When, therefore, it was reported in 1900
that a new athletic field was being projected, the
tidings aroused unbounded enthusiasm. In Decem-
ber of that year Mr. George Brown Knapp (1836-),
who had recently been elected a member of the Board
of Trustees, offered to the Academy the sum of $7650,
subject to a life annuity, for purchasing land for a
playing-field. Some twenty-five acres were secured
to the east of Highland Road and south of Salem
Street; the ground was marshy, — indeed it had
been used up to that time for a skating meadow in
winter, — but it was reasonably level and conven-
iently located, and it was believed that it could easily
be drained and graded. "Brothers' Field," as it was
called at Mr. Knapp's request in memory of the
affectionate relations between his deceased brother,
Arthur Mason Knapp, ^ and himself, was opened and
dedicated at Commencement, 1903, with a presenta-

* Arthur Mason Knapp came to Phillips Academy in 1863 as a
teacher, just out of Harvard. During the year he was injured while
playing ball with his students and had to resign; he was on crutches for
several years and suflfered during the rest of his life. For twenty-four
years he held a resp)onsible position in the Boston Public Library.

497

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

tion speech by the donor. As matters turned out,
however, the project was much more expensive than
had been anticipated. In 1901 Mr. Henry A. Morgan
contributed the additional sum of $3000 for the pur-
chase of another strip of land. Since that time the
Athletic Association has been obUgedto expend rather
more than $30,000 in building grandstands, and in
draining, leveling, and sodding the field. As it is now
completed. Brothers' Field is perfectly arranged for
athletic contests; it has a football gridiron and a base-
ball diamond, both for the use of the school teams;
and there is a large amount of ground for practice
in these and other sports. On the land still farther to
the east a new cinder track and grandstand have been
constructed, which were used first at the Andover-
Exeter track meet in 1917.

Games are by no means confined to Brothers'
Field. On the Old Campus, on the Main Campus, on
the fields in the rear of Taylor Hall and Adams Hall,
gridirons and diamonds are laid out at the proper
season, and here interclass contests are held. On an
autumn afternoon one may see on the Main Campus
three football games and one soccer game going on at
the same moment. The expanse is so broad that there
is ample room for diversions of many sorts.

Before the close of Dr. Bancroft's administration
a concerted effort had been made to raise money for
a new Gymnasium. The building was made possible
through the generous gift of $20,000 by Matthew
Chaloner Borden (1842-1912), a Fall River manu-
facturer. This sum, added to other funds which had
been collected, was quite sufficient for constructing

498

THK BORDEN GYMNASIUM

BRUTHERS' FIELD

THE LURE OF THE GAME

what was described by Judge Bishop in 1903 as "the
finest and most complete gymnasium possessed by
any secondary school in the country." When the
building was opened for use in the winter of 1902, the
boys had at last what they had prayed for during two
decades: a suitable place for indoor exercise, recrea-
tion, and bathing. The beautiful swimming-pool which
was added to the Gymnasium in the form of a wing
in 1911 was made possible through the enterprise of
the boys themselves. In an active campaign extend-
ing over several years they raised among the student
body and friends of the school a sum large enough to
start the work, and the Trustees lent the remainder of
the amount required. The entire cost was not far from
$30,000.

The management of athletics in Phillips Academy
has gone through various vicissitudes. In the be-
ginning the initiative came from the boys, who, with
only nominal supervision from the Faculty, raised and
spent money, and controlled the different branches
of sport. When baseball and football contests with
Exeter and other schools were arranged, the business
details were lodged in the hands of committees chosen
by the student body. These committees, usually one
for each sport, not only carried on all correspondence,
but for some years actually selected the players and
appointed the captain. In 1881, for instance, J. G.
Roe, S. K. Bremner, and F. S. Mills formed the Foot-
ball Committee. In the fall of 1885 a committee of
three, after watching practice for two weeks, picked a
team and posted the names. These players then
elected a captain, "Billy " Odlin, from their own num-

499

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

ber. When the system of outside coaching was in-
troduced, the scheme of committee management was
abolished. The captain was elected by the members
of the team of the year before, and he, in consulta-
tion with the coach, decided upon the players in the
actual games.

An admission fee to games was first charged in
1886; until that time all expenses were borne by sub-
scriptions taken up among the students. In 1887 the
football subscriptions amounted to $495.50 and the
gate receipts to only $89.20. From that date on, how-
ever, the cost of athletics increased very rapidly; in
1894-95, for instance, the cost of football alone was
$2012.14. The amount expended to-day is, of course,
much larger.

Dr. Bancroft usually insisted on the wisdom of
allowing the students to manage their own athletic
interests; but the growing complexity and importance
of athletics, and especially the diflBculties which arose
in connection with the breach between Andover and
Exeter in 1889, convinced the Faculty that a some-
what tighter rein was needed. In 1892 a constitution
was adopted placing all sports under the jurisdiction
of a board, made up of the Graduate Treasurer, who
was then Mr. Alfred L. Ripley, and the presidents of
the four departmental branches of baseball, football,
track, and tennis. In the following year this constitu-
tion was so amended as to make the chairman regu-
larly a member of the Faculty. Under Mr. Archibald
Freeman, the first chairman to be appointed, athletics
were admirably directed. The make-up of the student
section of the board was somewhat modified at vari-

500

THE LURE OF THE GAME

ous times; but Mr. Freeman continued to serve as
responsible head until 1906. Managers still retained
much more freedom than they have to-day, for they
were allowed, without supervision, to arrange their
own schedules, to solve their own financial problems,
to conduct unaided most matters of detail; so long
as a manager showed himself competent, he was per-
mitted to go his own way. In real crises, of course,
the Faculty asserted their power; but it was seldom
that the Athletic Advisory Committee, as it came to
be called, could not control a situation.

When Mr. Freeman resigned his chairmanship in
1906, the Trustees appointed as his successor Dr.
Pierson S. Page, the Physical Director. Dr. Page, as
we have seen, had already been successful in his plan
of requiring every boy in Phillips Academy to take
some form of physical exercise. As a help to this general
plan he had also instituted in 1904 a scheme for com-
pulsory physical examination, which made it possible
for him to ascertain a student's bodily deficiencies and
to take the proper steps towards remedying them.
Dr. Page also centralized the management of the vari-
ous branches of athletics, and organized the games so
that teams from the different classes had satisfactory
training and coaching.

The "new system" in athletics, adopted in 1911,
was suggested in part by Mr. W. Huston Lillard, who
was at that time acting both as teacher and foot-
ball coach. To the great principle originated by Dr.
Page, — that every boy should be compelled to par-
ticipate in outdoor games, — Mr. Lillard added cer-
tain other features which were intended to lessen

501

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the notoriety then inflicted upon prominent "prep"
school athletes and to decrease the emphasis which
was placed on outside competition. Its essential
points were these: that, after a series of interclass
contests in which the teams should be coached by
members of the Faculty, there should follow a short
schedule of games with other institutions, and that
candidates for the school team should be selected from
the men who did best in these interclass competitions.
Emphasis was laid particularly upon the decrease in
the number of contests with outside teams, and upon
the coaching by regular members of the Faculty. In
practice the "new system" proved to have manifest
defects, and it has subsequently been considerably
modified, although Phillips Academy still adheres in
part to the principles upon which it was based.

Andover men are proud of those shelves in the Gym-
nasium filled with trophies won on "diamond, field,
and track." They hke to gaze their fill on the long
array of baseballs and footballs, each marked with the
score of a victory over some rival and recalling so
often a thrilling moment — perhaps a time when the
eleven held on their own five-yard line or when a
single hit to center brought in the critical run. But it
is Andover's chief athletic distinction that every boy
joins in the game. The hours spent upon the playing-
field make not only for sound bodies, but also for keen
minds, for fearless and robust character. There can
be no nobler educational ideal.

CHAPTER XXV

PHILLIPS ACADEMY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTUEY

She is not dead.
She is no corpse engarlanded with spring.
Her ancient glory for pall above her spread;
She is alive perpetually, aye more,
She is forever young, and on her head
The light of every dawn.

The present Principal has said very often in pub-
lic that Phillips Academy is no longer a "one-man
school." To a large extent this is true. With a per-
manent body of teachers and a coherent pohcy of
administration the daily routine business may be car-
ried along for a considerable period without either com-
plications or misfortunes. In another sense, however,
the necessity of firm and unified leadership is greater
than at any time since 1778. The problems which
arise to-day are far more intricate, far more engross-
ing, than those faced by Dr. Pearson and Dr. Taylor.
Mistakes in management are likely to be very costly.
Some person, then, must meet criticism, make deci-
sions, and bear responsibility. All this, and more, it
is the function of the Principal to do.

The smooth, steady course of years under the
kindly "Doctor" had almost lulled people into the
belief that his administration might go on indefinitely.
The shock of his death was particularly disturbing to
those who felt the obligation of naming his successor.
Once again Professor Graves, called upon to serve as
Acting Principal, proved to be equal to the task. There

503

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

was no change in methods, no alteration of rules, no
relaxation of discipline. Improvements planned under
Dr. Bancroft were carried on as if his mind had been
there to direct them. The brick walls of the Gym-
nasium were steadily rising. The contract was let for
the new athletic field, and the work of filling in the
swampy hollow had begun. The old Brick Academy,
which had been burned in 1896, was transformed into
a dining-hall, and opened in 1902 with over two hun-
dred students. A central heating-plant, with facili-
ties for heating practically all the school buildings,
was ready for use in December of that year. The
progressive spirit which Dr. Bancroft had so typified
was not to perish with him.

In reality the man for the office of Principal was
close at hand. In the autumn of 1897 AHred Ernest
Steams, Dr. Bancroft's nephew, had come to PhUlips
Academy, as teacher and director of athletics. Mr.
Stearns, the son of a merchant in the East India trade,
was born June 6, 1871, in Orange, New Jersey. One
of his ancestors, Isaac Stearns, had sailed to America
on the Arbella with the Reverend George Phillips in
1630. Two of his great-great-grandfathers, Jonathan
French and Josiah Stearns, were members of the
original Board of Trustees of Phillips Academy. His
great-great-uncle, Dr. Jonathan French Stearns, was a
founder of the Philomathean Society. His grandfather.
Dr. William A. Stearns, President of Amherst Col-
lege, was a graduate of Phillips Academy in the class
of 1823. Mr. Stearns's relations with the school
through family tradition were intimate and numerous.

Entering Phillips Academy in 1886, Mr. Stearns

504

ALFRED ERNEST STEARNS

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

had graduated in 1890, the best athlete and the most
popular man in his class. During part of his course he
roomed with James C. Sawyer, the future Treasurer
of the Trustees, with whom, by an extraordinary
coincidence, he was later to be closely associated in
directing the fortunes of the school. In Andover Mr.
Stearns was foreman of the fire department, a mem-
ber of K.O.A., an editor of the Phillipian, tennis
champion, captain of the baseball team, and presi-
dent of Philo. At Amherst, where he took his bache-
lor's degree in 1894, he continued to win honors in
athletics, public speaking, and scholarship. He was
the finest second baseman of his day in the college
world, and refused several offers to spend a year or
two in professional ball. After graduation, he taught
for three years in the HiU School, Pottstown, Penn-
sylvania. He then returned to Andover Hill, partly
because he wished to pursue courses in the Theo-
logical Seminary, and partly because Dr. Bancroft
had offered him some work in the Academy. For
a few years, then, Mr. Stearns assisted in various
capacities, as coach, registrar, instructor in history,
and secretary to the Principal; indeed, during Dr.
Bancroft's last vain struggle for health Mr. Stearns
was his chief support and assumed voluntarily much
of the onerous responsibility. In June, 1900, Mr.
Stearns graduated from Andover Seminary; and on
August 29 of the same year he married Miss Kate
Deane, of Springfield, Massachusetts.

When Dr. Bancroft died, Mr. Stearns was only a
few months over thirty years of age; but no one was
more thoroughly acquainted than he with the school's

505

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

peculiar difficulties. Under the tutelage of Dr. Ban-
croft he had learned some vital lessons regarding the
administration of an institution like Phillips Academy.
Mr. Stearns was, moreover, exceedingly popular with
his colleagues on the Faculty, who, associated with
him in work and play, had come to appreciate highly
his judgment and tact. It was quite natural, then,
that, in spite of his comparative youth, the Trustees
should turn to him as a successor to the "Doctor."
On June 17, 1902, they created the office of Vice-
Principal, to which they at once elected Mr. Stearns.
He accepted the position, and conducted the school
through a year rendered exceptionally trying by the
necessity of confronting some serious situations.
His election as Principal, which came on May 23,
1903, was merely the substantial recognition of the
confidence which he had won in his probationary
year. A tribute paid to him at this time by his
friend. President Day, sums up the contemporary
opinion: —

His own personal force of character, after all, constitutes
the best equipment of Mr. Steams. While he has as yet
made no special mark as a scholar, he has the scholarly
instinct and judgment, and has already shown his ability
to master present and solve the new problems which the
changing conditions of preparatory school work are bring-
ing to the front. ... As a moral force, and a friend and
guide of boys, and as a sincere and devoted Christian, Mi.
Stearns is a rare man. He combines a firm hand, a warm
heart, sincerity, tact, and finality of moral decision in an
unusual degree. The more he rules, the better his students
like to have him rule. He has a personal magnetism that
wins and holds. The older men feel that, and the boys

506

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

yield to it. It is a power born of truth to himself, and thus
to his own experience and convictions.

The installation of Mr. Stearns as Principal happily
coincided with the celebration of the one hundred and
twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Phillips
Academy, which took place at Commencement, 1903.
On this occasion the guest of honor was Sir Chentung
Liang Cheng, then Minister Plenipotentiary from the
Chinese Empire to the United States, who had been
a student at Phillips Academy in the class of 1882.
Although the day was rainy and inauspicious, the
programme was carried out successfully in the re-
cently completed Borden Gymnasium. The exercises
concluded with the dedication of Brothers' Field.

The interesting events of the present administra-
tion, so familiar to all the younger graduates, need
only recapitulation. Under Mr. Stearns Phillips
Academy has been literally transformed. To the
casual visitor, of course, the most significant changes
are those connected with the rapid growth and ex-
pansion of the school. A brief summary of what has
been accomplished will be suggestive and convincing.
The Archaeology Building was completed and opened
on April 23, 1903. Dr. Charles Peabody, of Cam-
bridge, as representative of the donor, delivered an
address, to which Judge Bishop, of the Trustees, re-
sponded. Mr. Stearns, Dr. Day, and Professor
Putnam, of Harvard, also spoke. Mr. Warren King
Moorehead was at this time installed as Curator of
the Department of Archseology, and has since given
it prestige by the expeditions which he has con-
ducted and the volumes which he has published.

507

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

The erection of a fine modern building on this
conspicuous corner made the demolition of the ad-
jacent Commons buildings seem inevitable. The old
Latin Commons, which presented an unsightly ap-
pearance along Phillips Street, were torn down, and
the ground where they had stood was graded and
sodded. By 1906, the English dormitories also had
been sold, and the last one had been moved on rollers
across the Old Campus to a new location, where it
was to be used as a tenement. In the mean time
more rooms were necessary for the school, and the
Trustees took over the Brick House, the Farrar
House, and the Eastman House in order to provide
accommodations for the boys.

The disappearance of the Commons, however, was
merely preliminary to a step of greater importance.
For some years the attendance at Andover Theologi-
cal Seminary had been steadily dwindling. It is prob-
able that the ultimate eflFect of the heresy trials of
the "eighties" had been to weaken public confidence
in the institution; prospective theological students,
moreover, saw broader opportunities in divinity col-
leges located in or near large cities. Shortly after 1900
even the professors realized that, unless the Seminary
were to perish dismally of inanition, some radical
change, either in policy or location, must be wrought.
There were nearly as many instructors as there were
pupils, and the large Seminary dormitories would have
been almost deserted had it not been for the Academy
boys who were allowed to fill up the empty rooms.

Of the many suggestions which were offered, the
most sensible was the proposal to move the Seminary;

508

THE PROCESSIUN ON FOUNDERS' DAY, 1514

. r

1 li

THE ARCH/EOLOGY BUILDING

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

and to this conclusion the Trustees had come as
early as 1902. After consultation with President
Eliot and the officers of the Harvard Divinity School,
the Andover Trustees were able to perfect an ar-
rangement by the terms of which the Seminary
was to be removed to Cambridge, and affiliated with
Harvard University, but to retain its identity, build
and occupy its own lecture rooms and dormitories,
preserve its separate funds and faculty, and grant
its own degrees. Although there was some protest on
sentimental grounds, a majority of the graduates of
the Seminary were reported as being in favor of the
proposed migration.

The legal complications connected with the disen-
tangling of the Seminary and the Academy were
somewhat puzzling. By the terms of their respective
constitutions, it will be remembered, the same Board
of Trustees controlled both schools. In March, 1907,
however, a bill was passed by the General Court and
signed by the Governor creating a new and separate
Board of Trustees for Andover Theological Seminary.
At an early meeting of this newly incorporated body,
held in Boston, May 1, 1907, the members voted to
transfer the Seminary to Cambridge. Most of the
members of the old Board now one by one resigned
from the recently formed Seminary Board, and new
members were elected to fill the vacancies; by this
scheme the two bodies were, within a very short
period, entirely distinct. By an extraordinary turn
of fate the Seminary, which had been founded in
1808 mainly as a protest against Harvard and its
Unitarianism, was now to return, exactly a century

509

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

later, to be closely affiliated with the very institution
which Eliphalet Pearson and Leonard Woods so
much disliked and distrusted. From another point
of view the step was the return of evangelical Con-
gregational education for the ministry in Massachu-
setts to its ancient and original home, from which,
in the opinion of many, it was a misfortune that it
had ever been withdrawn. There was a true and
high-minded sentiment in both views of the situation.
For Phillips Academy the transfer of the Seminary
to Cambridge presented a glorious opportunity, but
it also involved some uncomfortable financial prob-
lems. It was obvious that the school could not afford
to lose the spacious Seminary plant, with its extensive
grounds and fine old buildings. In anticipation of a
plan for raising sufficient money to effect the purchase
a bill was passed by the Legislature in 1905 permitting
the Trustees to hold, in addition to the property
which they then possessed, real and personal re-
sources with an income up to $100,000. After a fair
appraisement it was eventually agreed that the Semi-
nary grounds on Andover Hill, including Phillips Hall,
Bartlet Chapel, Bartlet Hall, Brechin Hall, several
residences, and over two hundred acres of land, should
be sold to Phillips Academy for the sum of $200,-
000. At once a "Seminary Purchase Fund" was
started, the object being to raise, not only the neces-
sary $200,000, but also $50,000 additional for the re-
modeling of the buildings. Towards this fund Mr.
Andrew Carnegie promised $25,000, whenever the
balance, $225,000, should be paid over to the Trustees.
Through the unremitting labor and personal solici-

510

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

tation of Principal Stearns and Treasurer Sawyer the
amount grew rapidly. By April, 1909, the sum of
$96,000 had been secured; a year later only $56,000
was needed to complete the purchase. In 1916, his
conditions having been met, Mr. Carnegie paid his
contribution of $25,000, and the final payment to the
Seminary was made.

With the school year opening September 16, 1908,
Phillips Academy entered upon what has proved to
be almost a new era in its history. Bartlet Hall and
Phillips Hall, renovated during the preceding sum-
mer, were put into use as dormitories for the boys.
Bartlet Chapel, rechristened "Pearson Hall," had been
remodeled in the interior as a recitation building.
New walks had been laid across the Seminary Cam-
pus. An article in the Phillips Bulletin describes the
change as it appealed to the editor's imagination : —

Phillips Academy no longer needs to point the inquiring
stranger to its half-hidden buildings on side streets and
alleys. With the beginning of the current school year the
Academy enters upon a new and important chapter of its
long and dignified history. To-day Andover Hill is Phillips
Academy. Evidence of this fact is everywhere to be found.
The lights twinkling by night from scores of windows in
Bartlet and Phillips Halls; the shouts of a hundred boys
scattered in play over the old Seminary Campus during
recreation hours; the coming and going of classes in the
new Pearson Hall, formerly Bartlet Chapel; all this, and
more too, is confusing perhaps to the old alumnus who
gazes for the first time upon the changed scene. But the
significance of it all soon dawns upon him. This is the new
Phillips, well equipped in buildings and grounds, unsur-
passed in natural beauty of surroundings, capable of a
larger and even more illustrious future.

511

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Within two years more the removal of the Sem-
inary books from Brechin Hall gave space for the
location and expansion of a library which belonged to
Phillips Academy alone; and it was not long before
the school had its own librarian, for the first time in
its period of existence. The ground floor of Brechin
Hall was entirely rearranged, so that commodious
offices were provided for the Principal, the Registrar,
and the Treasurer, with their stafiF of assistants.

The acquisition of the Seminary land and buildings
was especially important in that it was a further
step towards the fulfillment of the dream of having all
the boys live in Academy buildings. As rapidly as
the necessary alterations could be made, several resi-
dences bought from the Seminary were made into
"Faculty houses," with rooms for from five to twelve
students, and quarters also for a married teacher and
his family. These houses are intended particularly
for younger boys who are not quite prepared for the
freedom of dormitory life. In the summer of 1910 the
Trustees were able to buy the large Williams resi-
dence on PhilHps Street at a price so far below its
actual value as to make it in part a gift from Professor
Williams. "Williams Hall," as this was appropriately
named, was turned into a dormitory for very young
boys, who are here given especial care and attention,
Williams Hall, unlike the other houses, has its own
dining-room, and the students who live there must
conform to special rules.

In the spring of 1910 the Trustees planned the
erection of a new dormitory on land south of Bartlet
Hall, Before the ground was broken, however, Mr.

512

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Melville C. Day, who had already done so much for
Phillips Academy, offered to provide the $50,000
required on very liberal terms; his proposition was
accepted, and the building, when finished in the fall
of 1911, was called "Day Hall." A second dormitory,
the funds for which were secured by selling notes of
$500 each to alumni and friends of the school, was
started in March, 1911, and completed so that it was
ready for occupation in the autumn. This dormi-
tory was named "Bishop Hall," in memory of Judge
Robert R. Bishop, President of the Board of Trustees
from 1900 to 1903. A third new dormitory, the money
for which was furnished by Mr. Day, was opened in
September, 1912, and was given the title of "Adams
Hall," in honor of Principal John Adams; and a
fourth, also Mr. Day's gift, was ready in the autumn
of 1913, at which time it was fittingly designated as
"Taylor Hall," after Mr. Day's close friend. Professor
John Phelps Taylor. Adams Hall and Taylor Hall
differ from the other large dormitories in that they
have apartments for married instructors, and are thus
managed on the same general basis as the "Faculty
houses." The architect of these dormitories, as of
the Archaeological Building, and of substantially all
the buildings and reconstruction of buildings since
1901, was Guy Lowell of Boston.

At Commencement in 1906 Mr. Stearns had made
an earnest plea for new dormitories, in the course of
which he had pointed out that Phillips alumni hesi-
tated to send their sons to the Academy unless they
knew that the boys could be located in a school build-
ing. Eight years later he was able to report that six

513

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

large dormitories and nine "Faculty houses " had been
added to the equipment, and that, day scholars ex-
cluded, all but about sixty of the students were living
under the direct supervision of teachers. This com-
prehensive dormitory system has naturally been of
incalculable service in promoting good order in the
school and in eliminating many formidable disci-
plinary problems with which former Principals had to
struggle. The relations between instructors and boys,
moreover, have been very much bettered for a large
part of the school; and the cost of education at Phil-
lips Academy has been reduced.

Hardly was Taylor Hall, the last and most artistic
of Mr. Day's gifts, completed when Mr. Day, who
had been living for years in Florence, Italy, died
in that city, December 29, 1913. In his will he be-
queathed to Phillips Academy outright the sum of
$300,000, and also made the school his residuary
legatee. In the aggregate his donations to Phillips
Academy amount to approximately $860,000.

Another phase of this general development was
the opening of the Isham Infirmary on November 14,
1912. In Dr. Bancroft's day Phillips Academy had no
facilities for treating sickness, and the Principal spent
many an anxious night, apprehensive lest some epi-
demic might start among the boys. A student who
happened to be ill was merely confined to his room,
and, if he contracted a contagious disease, he was
quarantined where he lived. Even with these disad-
vantages a remarkable record was made, for, during
seventeen years of his administration, Dr. Bancroft
was able to say that no Phillips student had died

514

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

under his charge. Mr. Stearns soon resolved that a
change must be brought about, and in 1908 the Track
House was made into a temporary infirmary, where
serious cases could be isolated and treated. Three
years later Miss Flora Isham gave to the school
$30,000 for an infirmary, in honor of her three neph-
ews, all graduates of Phillips Academy. This build-
ing, which was constructed under the advice of expert
physicians, has all modern hospital accessories, in-
cluding a well-equipped operating-room and conta-
gious wards; and the patients are under the care of
a matron, who is also a trained nurse. The minor dis-
eases which break out intermittently through the year
are now easily controlled, and more serious troubles
are referred to one of a group of eminent Boston
medical men who serve as a kind of advisory board.
The old Brick House, an eyesore on the Hill, was
torn down in 1912. PhiUips Hall, foimd to be badly
in need of repairs, was almost entirely rebuilt in 1912,
at a cost of more than $18,000; and the interior of
Bartlet Hall, partly destroyed by fire on the morning
of December 8, 1914, was reconstructed so as to be
safe from danger of fire. In 1910 the former Treas-
urer's Ofiice on Main Street, left vacant when the
administrative oflSces were moved to Brechin Hall,
was given over to the Phillips Club, an organization
consisting of instructors in the Academy and various
interested townspeople. The clubrooms, which are
the recognized headquarters for graduates on their
return to the Hill, serve as a reading-room, and are
decorated with autographs and photographs illus-
trating diflFerent phases of school life and history.

515

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

Many gifts in the form of scholarship endowments
or prize funds or contributions to current expenses
have been received during the last fifteen years. Of
these it is impossible to speak in detail; but two gifts
deserve special mention. The Phillips Gateway —
erected by the sons and daughters of John Charles
Phillips — was dedicated at Founders' Day, October
10, 1914, with an address by the Honorable William
Phillips, of Washington, D.C. The Peabody House,
built from the accrued income of the bequest of
Robert Singleton Peabody, was formally opened on
October 2, 1915. This is now the social center for
the student body: it contains a grill-room in the base-
ment; a reading-room on the street floor; and a large
assembly-room upstairs, suitable for the meetings of
school clubs and for lectures.

Mr. Stearns had been associated with Phillips
Academy in the days of its poverty. It was now his
good fortune to see it transformed — changed into
an institution with a plant unequaled by that of any
secondary school, and surpassed by only a few col-
leges, in the United States. The material prosperity
of the school during the years when he has been its
head has been unparalleled in its history. The growth,
so far as physical resources are concerned, has been
more extensive in the last decade than in all the
previous period from 1778 to 1907.

In his conduct of the school Dr. Stearns has built
largely on the foundation laid by his predecessor; but
he has also created definite policies of his own, which
have reacted to the enduring benefit of the institu-
tion. One of the devices which have been most salu-

516

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

tary in bringing teachers into more intimate touch with
boys is the system of "division officers." Each officer
— a member of the Faculty — is, at the opening of
the year, placed in charge of a small group of under-
graduates, usually not more than twenty, who are to
be his especial care. It is his duty to learn something
of their famiUes, their peculiarities, their abilities in
work or play, and their attainments. In Faculty
meetings he acts as representative of the members
of his group and is mainly responsible for whatever
disciplinary action is taken regarding them; for, ex-
cept imder unusual circumstances, his judgment con-
cerning his boys is taken as decisive. If the division
officer is conscientious and sympathetic, he can ex-
ercise an important influence on those who are placed
under him. The value of the scheme in practice de-
pends, of course, principally on the energy and tact
of the officer himself. Up to the present time it has
proved highly successful.

During the early years of Dr. Stearns's administra-
tion the "Commons" boys, who were receiving aid
from scholarships, were segregated to a considerable
degree in certain buildings, such as Brick House,
Clement House, and Draper Cottage. Many of them,
older and more experienced than their classmates,
took positions of leadership in the school; but, asso-
ciating as they did largely with one another, they
tended to become a powerful clique, the members of
which expected concessions and constantly demanded
special privileges. In this way, and in others also,
a sharp distinction was often drawn between " Com-
mons" men and the remainder of the undergraduate

517

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

body; the resulting situation was in many respects the
reverse of the boasted school democracy. The in-
crease in the number of dormitories enabled Dr.
Stearns to abolish the separate "Commons" houses
and to place the scholarship boys here and there in
dormitories all over the Hill, in rooms differing in no
noticeable particular from those for which wealthier
students paid comparatively large sums. Under this
arrangement rich and poor boys were located along
the same corridor, and mingled with one another as
they had never done under the old policy of segre-
gation. It was a surprise, even to the Principal, to
observe how rapidly the "Commons" clique disap-
peared and how soon the readjustment was perfected.
Democracy in Phillips Academy now means what it
should mean — that every student, once admitted,
has the same opportunity as his fellows.
t- Dr. Stearns is the first Principal who has done no
teaching while in office; but he has been keenly in-
terested in methods of raising and maintaining the
standard of scholarship. Through his influence sev-
eral new prizes have been added to a list already long,
and to-day at Commencement fully $2000 is distrib-
uted in prizes and prize scholarships. The names of
those taking high honors in various courses ane pub-
Hcly announced at the close of each term, and at in-
tervals through the year. The changes made in the
curriculum since 1903 have not been of great sig-
nificance; but in 1916 the course of study was thor-
oughly discussed in committee and somewhat revised.
Dr. Stearns, who believes that Phillips Academy
should continue to uphold the "cultural ideals" of

518

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

education, has vigorously resisted the encroachment
of vocational training, and has publicly expressed his
antagonism to the "tyranny of the practical."

From the opening of his administration Dr.
Stearns showed that it was to be his policy to allow to
his staff of teachers the largest possible personal and
official freedom. Much of the routine detail is man-
aged by committees the members of which, serving
continuously from year to year, become familiar with
their particular functions. The increase in the size of
the Faculty has been brought about so naturally that
few have paused to consider its significance. Dr.
Bancroft had seldom over twenty teachers, and the
average was about one instructor to twenty-five
pupils. Of the forty-one persons who are included in
the Faculty to-day, thirty-three have a full schedule
of classroom work, an average of approximately one
teacher to every sixteen students. The smaller divi-
sions thus made possible give instructors an oppor-
tunity to devote more individual attention to each
pupil, and, in this way, help to improve the quality
of the work done by the school as a whole.

Much has already been said of Dr. Bancroft's en-
deavor to preserve a permanent faculty. As Dr.
Stearns's administration draws to the close of its
fifteenth year, there are still among the teachers
eleven men who received their appointments under
Dr. Bancroft. Twenty-three of the whole number
have been connected with the school for five years or
more. That it has been possible to retain able in-
structors as long as this speaks well for Phillips
Academy, and shows the loyalty of the staff to the

519

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

present Principal. The Day bequest in 1913 enabled
the Trustees to put into operation a long-delayed
plan for substantial increases in the salaries of the
teachers. It is rarely nowadays that a really eflficient
man is allowed to depart because of a lack of suflS-
cient inducements; he is likely to come to the con-
clusion that the material rewards are reasonably
adequate and that the chance to do good in his pro-
fession is unexcelled by that in any other institution,
even one of collegiate rank.

A fresh organization of religious work in the Acad-
emy became necessary with the changes incident to
the removal of the Theological Seminary from An-
dover. In 1907 Mr. Markham W. Stackpole came to
Andover as School Minister; and under his and the
Principal's guidance an undenominational Academy
Church was formed, which includes both students and
teachers. At the two services which are held in the
Stone Chapel every Sunday, Mr. Stackpole is fre-
quently the preacher; but other clergymen who also
appeal especially to young men are often secured.
Practical Christianity is exemplified in the labors of
the Society of Inquiry, and in the work done by the
school at large among the foreigners in the city of
Lawrence.

One interesting feature of recent years has been the
development of music in connection with other activi-
ties. In 1908 Mrs. William C. Egleston presented to
the Academy a new organ, in memory of her husband,
a member of the class of 1856, and this instrument
has been of much aid in training a competent choir.
Mr. Stackpole, with Mr. Joseph N. Ashton, a former

520

THE PHILLIPS GATEWAY

PKABODY HUUSE

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Director of Music in the school, pubhshed Hymns
for Schools and Colleges, a book containing hymns
suitable for use in Phillips Academy. Under Mr.
Carl F. Pfatteicher, the present Director of Music,
the choir has been much improved, and several ex-
cellent musical entertainments are held annually;
Mr. Pfatteicher has been singularly successful in
securing the cooperation of residents of the town, and
in forming a flourishing choral society.

The progress on which so much stress has been laid
has been accompanied by a revival of interest in the
early days of Phillips Academy, displayed by a desire
to preserve old records and to study ancient tradi-
tions. One phase of this movement has taken shape
in the establishment of a Founders' Day. The first
of these celebrations, held on October 11, 1913, was
signalized by the dedication of a memorial tablet
placed on the Archaeology Building, near the site of
the first Academy. On this occasion the speakers were
the Honorable William H. Taft and the Honorable
Henry L. Stimson. On the two succeeding Founders'
Days exercises were held dedicating the Phillips
Gateway and the Peabody House. The Founders'
Memorial, read as part of the programme, names in
solemn gratitude the benefactors to whom the school
owes so much.

Commencement, also, has been assuming increased
importance, mainly through the attendance of a larger
number of alumni. The "old boys," responding to
the efforts which are constantly being made to keep
alive their affection for the school, are returning to
class reunions and taking part in the festivities. At

521

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the annual alumni dinner held in the Borden Gym-
nasium nearly five hundred covers are laid, and the
number increases each year. The same enthusiasm is
shown by the PhiUips graduates in the larger cities.
In New York and Boston from two to three hundred
men gather every winter for the Association banquet.
Dr. Stearns has taken nearly every year a trip to the
West in order to attend alumni gatherings along the
route. In even more practical fashion the devotion
of Andover men is being displayed in the rapid growth
of the Alumni Fund, which, started in 1906, has now
become an important element in filling the treasury.
To-day about fomteen per cent of the graduates are
contributing sums large and small to this cause. In
sympathy and loyalty to their school the alumni are
united to-day as they never were in times gone by.

Since Principal Stearns took office, there have been
a number of changes on the Board of Trustees. Dr.
George Harris, at that date President of Amherst
College, was elected to the Board in 1902, and, after
Judge Bishop's resignation in 1903, was given the
latter's place as President. The President since Dr.
Harris's retirement in 1908 has been Mr. Alfred L.
Ripley, who was first made a Trustee in 1902. Mr.
Ripley, who is a graduate of Phillips Academy and of
Yale College, is a Boston banker residing in Andover,
and has had many connections with the school. Other
gentlemen who have been elected to the Board are
Professor Clifford H. Moore, of Harvard University
(1902); the Honorable Henry L. Stimson, of New
York (1905) ; Elias B. Bishop, Esq., of Boston (1907) ;
Judge John A. Aiken, of Boston (1908) ; Dr. Frederick

522

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

T. Murphy, of St. Louis (1908) ; Mr. Joseph Parsons,
of Lakeville, Connecticut (1910); and Mr. Frederick
G. Crane, of Dalton, Massachusetts (1912).

Among the factors which have lately been strength-
ening Phillips Academy no single influence has been
more powerful than the attitude of the Board of
Trustees as a corporate body towards the school. Not
so many years ago the Board was interested primarily
in the Theological Seminary and paid comparatively
little attention to the Academy. To-day there is on
the Board no minister with a parish, and only two of
the members, one of them being Dr. Stearns, hold
degrees in divinity; while the guidance of the Semi-
nary has passed into other hands. The Trustees now
represent business, and the various professions of
law, medicine, theology, and education; the result is
that their deliberations are marked by tolerance and
breadth of vision. Of the men now constituting the
Board, twelve are former students of Phillips Acad-
emy, and the thirteenth. Professor Moore, has been
a teacher there. Every one of them, moreover, is
keenly interested in the welfare of the institution,
and takes pains to inform himself regarding it. It
was not so thirty years ago. The Executive Com-
mittee of the Board convenes regularly once a month,
and meetings of the entire body are held quarterly.
These gatherings are not merely perfunctory ses-
sions, but are filled with active discussion of school
problems. In the old days the Principal made an
exhaustive annual report; now the Trustees are so
famihar with what is going on that they have no
need of such a document. It is noticeable, too, that

523

HISTORY OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY

the Trustees keep in touch with the instructors,
meet with them frequently in consultation, and at-
tempt to learn their views on Academy matters. The
wish of the Trustees individually and collectively to
secure and retain the cooperation of the teachers has
done much to preserve harmony in the management
of Phillips Academy.

In some respects, as we have seen. Dr. Stearns's
administration has been crowded with significant
events. From another viewpoint, however, the school
has gone on so smoothly year after year that the
momentous changes have seemed to follow naturally
one after the other as logical steps in progress. Dra-
matic incidents have been singularly lacking. In
1912-13 Dr. Stearns went abroad, leaving the Acad-
emy in charge of Professor Charles H. Forbes, and
it was never more prosperous than in that year. In
the following year Phillips Academy reached a regis-
tration of 592, the largest in its history. At this period
the Trustees voted to limit the enrollment to approx-
imately 550, on the ground that the present equip-
ment does not justify them in attempting to care for
more than that number. In order to carry out this
policy it has been necessary to select carefully from
the applicants those who are best fitted and who
oflfer the most satisfactory previous records. It has
also seemed advisable to restrict considerably the
number of boys who come to Phillips Academy for
one year only. Even with these limitations the ap-
plications in any given year are far more than can
be accepted.

The most striking feature of this increase in the

^ 524

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

size of the student body is, however, the number of
different sections of the country which the boys repre-
sent. In 1915-16 there were in PhiUips Academy
young men from thirty-eight States and seven foreign
countries, and the situation in this year was not at all
unusual. Of the nineteen players who won their
"A's" in athletics a year or two ago, eight were from
Massachusetts, and the others came, one each, from
Maine, New Jersey, Illinois, Tennessee, Nebraska,
Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, California, Iowa, and
Canada. In this mingling prejudices are softened,
provincialisms are forgotten, sectionalism disappears;
in such a national school, boys are taught the great
lesson that local partisanship must be subordinated to
the glory of our country as a whole.

CHAPTER XXVI

CONCLUSION

New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
We must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

The story of Phillips Academy has not been one of
uniform and continuous prosperity. There have been
mistakes and calamities, periods of depression and
even of decline. But throughout its existence the men
who have moulded its fortunes have been confident
of its future. Furthermore they have not deviated
from the fundamental theories upon which it was es-
tablished. Some of the harder and less inspiring as-
pects of Puritanism have long ceased to be popular on
Andover Hill; but the Puritan idealism has never lost
its foothold there. So Phillips Academy is now liberal,
democratic, and national — as it was a century ago.

If there is any danger which lies in wait for Phillips
Academy, it is the peril which confronts all old insti-
tutions — that of immovable complacency, of smug
satisfaction in the contemplation of a glorious past.
It is only too easy to fall back upon the couch of
conservatism until, almost without realizing it, one is
out of touch with the temper of the age. President
Fitch, of Andover Theological Seminary, recently
sounded the clarion call when he told Harvard men
that it was their obligation to keep their imiversity
"perpetually a place of pioneers." His words are so
applicable to Phillips Academy that they deserve
fiurther quotation: —

CONCLUSION

We must refuse to be provincials, satisfied with the local,
the accredited, the known. . . . America has the right to
expect of us that we shall never sit at ease in Zion, but
stand on the firing line of our generation. Intellectual ad-
venture, spiritual plasticity, moral enterprise — these are
the marks of our alma mater.

It is for Andover men, especially those who control
the destinies of the institution, to preserve that fresh-
ness of spirit, that devotion to a splendid cause, which
actuated Samuel Phillips, Jr., in 1778, when, un-
deterred by coward doubts, he created a new school,
as his friend, George Washington, built a new nation.

That same forward vision, that same courage, are
in the school to-day. If that standard is maintained,
the preeminence of Phillips Academy is assured.

THE END

INDEX

Abbot, Abiel, 107, 110, 111.

Abbot, Dr. Benjamin, 114.

Abbot, Mrs. Ephraim, 190.

Abbot, Fanny, 221.

Abbot, Captain George, 143 n.

Abbot, George, 197 n.

Abbot, Deacon Isaac, his tavern, 106.

Abbot, Jacob, 111, 125.

Abbot, John, 3d Principal of FhUlips
Academy, 97.

Abbot, Moses, 32 n., 122.

Abbot, Nehemiah, 62; Treasurer of
Board of Trustees, 73, 112, 197 n.

Abbot, Samuel, the endower of An-
doverTheological Seminary, 111; on
committee of inquiry of the Academy,
126; estate of, 132; parentage and
early career, 143; determines to leave
his money for the support of a theo-
logical Professor, 143, 144; deter-
mines to found a theological school,
147; makes gift for school, 148; a
Visitor, 151; makes bequest for the
Woods House, 155.

Abbot, Samuel W., 286.

Abbot, Sarah (Mrs. Nehemiah), 197.

Abbot, Sereno T., 420.

Abbot Female Seminary (Abbot Acad-
emy), founding of, 197, 198.

Abbot House, the, 28, 31, 63, 88, 116,
280, 388; torn down, 363.

Abbott, Jacob, 111 n.

Abbott, John S.C, 111 n.

Abbott, Dr. Lyman, 111 n.

Academic Commons, 278-81.

Academic Halls, 229. See Commons.

Academies, non-conformist, 71 and n.;
English, 71 n.; established on the
model of Andover Academy, 81, 82;
vocational and cultural, 206.

Academy, the word, 70 and n.

Adams, Abby, 179.

Adams, Ebenezer, 161.

Adams, Elizabeth, 179.

Adams, Harriet, 179. , r,,;

Adams, John, fourth Principal of Phil-
lips Academy, 157; his portrait, 157;
his characteristics, 157-69, 161, 162;

early career, 169, 160; appointment
of, 161 ; growth of the Academy un-
der, 162; as he wound the school
clock, 165; a strict disciplinarian, 167,
168; changes introduced by, 169; the
curriculum under, 170, 171 ; his influ-
ence in morals and religion, 172-76;
anecdote about, 175; his care of his
pupils, 176; his household, 179; sec-
ond marriage, 180; resignation, 180-
82; subsequent career, 182; death,
183; his appearance, 183; estimate of,
183, 184; at missionary meetings at
the President's House, 196, 196; his
sympathy with temperance move-
ment, 195 n. ; and Lafayette's visit to
Andover, 198.

Adams, Captain John, 169.

Adams, Mrs. John, 179, 180.

Adams, John Ripley, 179.

Adams, Mary, 179.

Adams, Mary Parker, 159.

Adams, William, 179, 191, 353.

Adams Hall, 513.

Agriculture, instruction in, 216; scien-
tific, eliminated from course of study,
305.

A.G.X. Society, 444.

Aiken, Charles A., 305 n.

Aiken, John, 313.

Aiken, John A., 298, 622.

Aiken, John F., 306 n.

Albee, John, 238, 248, 298. , ,

Alden, Dr. Ebenezer, 360, 357.

Alumni Fund, the, 522.

Alumni gatherings, 521, 522.

Alumni organizations, 409, 410.

American Board of Foreign Missions,
194.

American Education Society, 133, 195.

American Temperance Society, 195.

American Tract Society, 133, 195.

Amherst Academy, 81.

Andover, Samuel Phillips pastor of
South Church in, 9; in 1810, 186; a
thought center between 1810 and
1830, 202, 203; in Dr. Taylor's time,
315-22.

529

INDEX

Andover Cottage, 370.

Andover Hill, personality of, 1-3; pur-
chase of land on, for school, 61, 62;
condition of, at the time the Acad-
emy was founded, 62, 63; in 1803, 122;
at time of foundation of the Semi-
nary, 153-55; later changes in, due to
the Seminary, 185-88; in Dr. Tay-
lor's time, 315-22; further changes
in, under Bancroft, 359-64.

Andover and Wilmington Road, 232.

Andover Theological Seminary, 43,
131; chair in which George Washing-
ton sat owned by, 107, 363 n.; en-
dowed by Samuel Abbot, 111; cele-
bration of fiftieth anniversary of, 132,
291, 292; an outgrowth of Phillips
Academy, 140; the Academy over-
shadowed by, 140; the first sugges-
tion of, by Rev. Jonathan French,
141; the inception of, 144, 146-48;
the union of the two branches of Cal-
vinists to found, 148-51; the Board
of Visitors, 151; the "Statutes of the
Associate Foundation," 151, 152; or-
ganization of, 152; opening of, 152,
153; buildings of, 15^55; history of,
closely linked with that of the Acad-
emy, 155, 156; growth of. 185-88;
the golden age of, 316; well equipped,
351; changes in the plant of, 360,
361; theological controversy, 408,
409; removal to Cambridge, 508-10.

Anti-Deception Bill, 430.

Anti-Slavery Rebellion, the, 225-28.

Appleton, Sarah, wife of Samuel Phil-
lips (1), 8.

Appleton Academy, 333.

Arbella, the, 5.

Archseological Building, 376, 507.

Archaeological Museum, Andover, 76.

Armstrong, Samuel T., 189, 312.

Arnold, Dr. Thomas, 265, 266, 282.

Arnold, Matthew, 321, 387.

Ashton, Joseph N., 520.

Assistants, under Pearson, 85; defects
of the system of transient, 128, 129,
305-08; under Newman, 129; Semi-
nary students as, 156, 161, 202; vmder
Adams, 161, 162, 202; in the Teach-
ers' Seminary, 209, 210, 216; under
Taylor, 239, 241, 257, 270, 305-08;
lack of, in the Academy, 241, 267,
307; salaries of, 305-08, 311, 377;
under Bancroft, 332, 341-47.

Associate Library, the, 425.

530

Athletic fields, 375, 496-98.

Athletics, lack of, in early times, 287,
448, 449; baseball, 287, 449-68; gym-
nasium, 374, 486, 487, 498, 499; foot-
ball, 469-85; meaning of, at Andover,
486; track games, 488-90; rowing,
490, 491; tennis, 491, 492; basket-
ball, 492; hockey, 493; swimming,
493; golf, lacrosse, soccer, and other
sports, 494, 495; compulsory, 495,
496; management of, 499-501; the
"new system" of, 501, 502.

Atlantic cable, laying of, 292.

Aunt Hattie's, 388.

A.U.V. Society, 441, 443, 444.

Bacon, John W.. 298.

Bacon Academy, 160, 302 n.

Baldwin, Rev. Thomas, 123.

Bancroft, Cecil F. P., on Edward Tay-
lor, 314 n.; appointed Principal of
PhilUpsAcademy, 331, 332; early ca-
reer and marriage, 332-34; condition
of the Academy at the time of his
appointment, 334, 335, 350, 351; ex-
tent of his achievement, 335; the
Faculty of Andover under, 335, 340-
47; his conception of the function of
an ideal school, 336; occupied with
moral issues, 336; changes in curricu-
lum, examinations, etc., under, 337-
40; favored specialization in teaching,
347, 348; his duties of administration,
348, 349; instituted system of class
oflScers, 348; his three chief aims, 349;
on committee of preparation for cen-
tennial celebration, 352, 412; words
on Peter Smith Byers, 356 n.; quota-
tion from report of 1883 on growing
prosperity of the Academy, 358; se-
cures new dormitories, 364-73; his
connection with the archaeological
fund, 376; often overlooked minor
ofiFenses, 379; discipline of, 379-85,
religious influence of, 385, 386;
wished to preserve high standard of
scholarship, 404; his relations with
the Board of Trustees, 404, 405; on
the theological controversy, 409
birth of child, 410; vacations, 411
and the "triumvirate," 411, 412
death, 413; funeral, 413, 414; resolu-
tions to, 414; honors, 414, 415; his
many-sidedness, 415, 416; his sense
of responsibility, 416; his sense of
humor, 417; his memory, 417; a good

INDEX

and a religious man, 418; estimate of,
419.

Bancroft, Cecil K., 477.

Bancroft, Deacon James, 332.

Bancroft, Sarah (Kendall), 332.

Bancroft, Mrs., death, 412, 413.

Bancroft Cottage, 371.

Bancroft Hall, 373.

Banister, the Honorable William B.,
149 re., 189.

Banjo Club. 445.

Banks, Nathaniel P., 290.

Barnard, Elizabeth, married to Esquire
Samuel PhiUips (4), 14. See Phillips,
Elizabeth.

Barnard, John, 14.

Barnard, Theodore, 14.

Barnard, Thomas, 9.

Barrows, Dr., 235.

Bartlet, William, his part in establish-
ment of Andover Theological Semi-
nary, 149-51; life, 149 re.; buildings
built by, 149 re., 154, 186; gift for
printing, 197.

Bartlet Chapel (later Pearson Hall),
149n., 186, 510,511.

Bartlet Hall, 149 re., 186, 510, 511, 515.

Bartlett, William F., 297.

Bartlett, President, of Dartmouth, 354.

Barton, Frederick A., 210.

Baseball, beginnings of, from "round-
ers," 287, 449-51; Exeteiv Andover
contests, 393, 394, 454-66; class
games, 396, 452, 453; great players,
466-68.

Beach, Edward Stevens, 435.

Beecher, Lyman, 251, 252.

Bellamy, Dr. Joseph, 142.

Benner, Allen R., 412.

Berry, Fred, 32 re.

Berry House, the, 63.

"Biblicals," 385.

Bierwirth, H. C, 346.

Bingham, Caleb, 96.

Bird, Charles Sumner, 257, 453.

Birney, David B., 297.

Bishop, Elias B., 522.

Bishop, Judge Robert Roberts, student
of Andover, 298; President of Board
of Trustees, 406; words on the gym-
nasium, 499; at the opening of the
Archaeology Building, 507; Bishop
Hall named in memory of, 513.

Bishop Hall, 513.

Blaine, James G., 362.

Blaine, Walker, 299.

Blanchard, Deacon Amos, 122

Blanchard, Mrs., 160.

Blodget, George, 246.

Blunt, Captain Isaac, 63, 122

Blunt House, 388.

Blunt Tavern, the, 63, 122.

Bly, Lucretia, 221. See Johnson, Mrs.

Osgood.
Boarding-houses, 76, 278-81, 387.
Bodwell, Mr., 294.

Borden, Matthew C. D., 299, 375, 498.
Borrow, George, quoted, 248.
Boston, as described by Abiel Abbot,

110.
Boston Latin School, 54, 71 n.
Boston Massacre, the, 22.
Boston Recorder, the, 195.
Boynton, Henry W., 346.
Bradstreet, Governor, 8 n., 165 n.
Brainard, E. H., 458.
Brechin Hall, 310, 311, 356 re., 510,

512.
Bremner, S. K., 477, 499.
Brick House, the, 388, 515.
"Brimstone Hill," 187.
Bristol, Sherlock, 226, 227.
Bristol Academy, 81.
Bromfield, Edward, 60, 88.
Bromfield, Sarah, 88.
Brooks, Agnes, 14.
Brooks, Gertrude, 14.
Brooks, PhiUips, 45 n., 354.
Brooks, William Gray, 45 n.
Brooks, William Gray, son of William

Gray, 45 n.
Brothers' Field, 497, 498.
Brown, John, 161.
Brown, Mary, 149 n.
Brown, Moses, 149-51.
Brown's Cafe, 388.
Bullock, Rufus A., 271-75.
Bunker Hill, battle of, 28; Monument,

dedication of, 178.
"Burning of Kuhner," 284, 285.
Burr, Aaron, 99.
Burritt, Mrs. Mabel, 180.
Bush, "Archie," 271-74, 451.
Butler, Benjamin F., 295.
Butterfield's, 388.
Byers, John, 356 n.
Byers, Peter Smith, 308, 311, 356.

Calendar, the school, 291.

Callender, John, first Andover scholar

outside of New England, 78.
Calvinism, at the PhiUips Academy,

531

INDEX

66-68; and Unitarianism, at Harvard
College, 144-16; and the Andover
Theological Seminary, 148; the Presi-
dent's House a center of, 195.

Calvinists, Catechism and Consistent,
148.

Cane rushes, 395.

Carnegie, Andrew, 610, 511.

Carter, Charles L., 362, 363.

Carter, Emily, 370.

Carter, Franklin, 248, 297, 407.

Catechism Calvinists, 148.

Celebrations, 394, 396, 472, 473.

Censor, The, 282.

Chamberlain, Daniel H., 299.

Chamberlain, Leander T., 299.

Chandler, Deacon Holbrook, 328, 361.

Channing, Professor, on seventeenth-
century Puritanism, 62, 63.

Chapel, the, 361.

Chaplin, Dr., 147.

Chapman, Ovid, 391.

"Chap's," 391, 392.

Charity students, 59.

Cheever, his Accidence, 83.

Cheever House, 388.

Chemical laboratory, 359.

Chentung Liang Cheng, Sir, 466, 467,
507.

Chinese and Andover, 403.

"Chocolate Hall," 279.

Christmas Day, 118, 286, 291.

Church, Dr. John H., 189.

Churchill, Professor John W., on Dr.
Taylor, 255; preaches sermon on Dr.
Taylor's death, 265; instructor in
elocution, 289, 320; induced Mr.
Draper to offer the Draper prizes,

320, 321; an able instructor, a witty
presiding officer, and a beloved friend,

321, 322; redeemed department of
elocution at Seminary, 332; under
Bancroft, 344; at centennial celebra-
tion, 354; presentation speech made
by, 360; money given by, for house,
362 n.; at flag-raising, 400.

Civil War, and Phillips Academy, 292-

95.
Clark, Alvan G., 279.
Clark, George B., 279, 299.
Clark, Thomas March, 201.
Class officers, 348, 349.
Class spirit, displays of, 395, 396.
"Classic Hall," the, 164-67.
Classics, Samuel Phillips's views of,

58, 59; in Phillips Academy, to the

time of John Adams, 76, 83, 84, 90,
170, 171; under Dr. Taylor, 243-51,
263.

Clement, Jonathan, 166, 168, 169.

Clement House, the, 388.

Clough. "Charlie," 464.

Clubs, eating, 280, 281, 388-90; social,
etc., 281, 420-33; secret, 441-45;
musical, 446, 446; other, 446. See
Societies.

Coasting, 397.

Codman, Captain John, on flogging at
Andover, 168.

Codman, Dr. John, 196.

Cogswell, John B. D., 286.

Cogswell, William, 297, 353.

Coleman, Rev. Lyman, Principal of
Teachers' Seminary, 213, 216-18,
270.

Colonization Society, the, 225.

Conmiencement, 521.

Committee of Twelve, the, 415.

Commons, Academic, 278-81.

"Commons" boys, 517, 518.

Commons dormitories, 131, 228-32,
276-78, 288, 508.

Comstock, David Young, 345, 411, 412.

Consistent Calvinists, 148.

Cook, Flavins Josephus, 430.

Cook, Joseph, 299.

Corbin, "Pa," 481.

Cottages, 369-71.

Coy, Prof. Edward Gustin, a great
teacher, 344; career, 344 n.; one of
the "triumvirate," 345, 411; resigna-
tion of, 411, 412; and boxing, 487.

Coy, Ted, 395.

Crane, Frederick G., 623.

Crapo, William Wallace, 250, 299, 302.
449.

Crescent Club, the, 280.

Crew, 490, 491.

Crofts, Colonel Ebenezer, 81.

Cross, Abijah, 119. ^

Cross-coimtry running, 494.

Cunxmings, Asa, 194.

Curriculimi, of Phillips Academy at
the start, 67, 83-85; under Newman,
138; under Adams, 170, 171; of the
Teachers' Seminary, 209; changes
of, in Teachers' Seminary, 212-15; of
the Academy under Taylor, 243, 263,
264, 274; of theEnglish Department,
changes due to Graves, 306; under
Bancroft, 339, 340; under Stearns.
618.

532

INDEX

Dana, Rev. Daniel, 126, 152, 312.

Dana, Samuel H., 429.

Dancing, 176, 446.

Day, Jeremiah, 130.

Day, Melville Cox, liberal benefactor of
Andover, 297, 368-73, 513, 514.

Day, Mills, 130.

Day, President, tribute to Mr. Steams,
506.

Day Hall, 513.

Deane, Kate, 505.

Debating, 429, 430, 432, 433.

Debating Union, 432, 433.

Declamation, at Andover, 84, 85, 101,
288, 289, 321.

DeForest, John Hyde, 300.

Dennison, "Joe," 476.

Derby, George H., 298.

Derby Academy, 81.

Discipline, at Phillips Academy, pro-
vided for in resolution, 75, 76; Pear-
son's methods of, 89-91 ; under New-

; man, 120, 121; under Adams, 167-

' 69; under Taylor, 253-57; under
Tilton, 327-29; under Bancroft, 379-
85.

Division officers, 517.

Doane, Thomas, 300.

Doddridge, Dr. Phillip, 40, 71 n.,
124.

Doddridge Academy, 71 n.

Doe, Charles, 298.

Dole, Frank, 476, 487.

Dole, Nathan Haskell, 298.

Dormitories, Commons, 131, 228-32,
276-78 288, 508; new, under Ban-
croft, 364-73; new, under Stearns,
512-14.

Dorsheimer, William E., 299.

Double-Brick House, the, 131, 187.

Dove, John, 310, 311.

Draper, Warren F., 320, 321, 370, 398.

Draper, Mrs. W. P., 371.

Draper Cottage, 371.

Draper prizes, 321 .

Dummer, Lieut.-Gov. William, 19.

Dummer School (Academy), establish-
ment of, 18, 19; under Samuel
Moody, 19; control of, 54; demo-

, cratic, 67; started with twenty-eight
pupils, 77; incorporation of, and
change of name, 79 n.; land appro-
priated for, 81 .

Durant, Henry, 200.

Dwight, Theodore W., 149.

Dwight, Dr. Timothy, 43, 142, 163

Eastman's, 388.

Eating-clubs, 280, 281, 388-90.

Eaton, George Thomas, 346, 359, 440.

Eaton, James Stewart, head of the
English Department, 302, 303; ca-
reer, 302 n.; Acting Principal, 303;
salary, 303, 311; complains of over-
work, 307; complains of the teach-
ing of mathematical subjects, 326; his
son, 346; presentation of portrait of,
353.

Eaton, William W., 325, 346.

Eaton Cottage, 371.

Eaton Rhetorical Society, 430.

Edwards, Professor Bela B., 250.

Edwards, Mrs. Bela B., 281 n.

Edwards, Jonathan, 70 re.

Edwards, Rev. Justin, 188, 195, 196, 313.

Egleston, Mrs. William C, 520.

Eliot, Rev. Andrew, letter of, to
Thomas HoUis, 22.

Eliot, Charles W., 263, 325, 337, 364.

Ellis, Shirley, 481.

Ellis's, 388.

Ellsworth Guards, the, 293, 294.

Emerson, John, 8.

Emerson, Ralph, 299.

Emerson, R. W., 362; quoted, 336.

Emerson, Sarah, wife of Samuel Phil-
lips (2), 8.

Emmons, Dr., 142.

English Commons, 229, 278, 288, 508.

English Department, the, the Teachers'
Seminary, 207, 212; in the Academy,
217, 218; the Scientific Department
of to-day, 219; distinct from the Clas-
sical Department, 301 ; scholars not
divided into classes, 302; the instruc-
tors in, 302-05; reorganized under
Graves, 304, 305; changes in, under
Bancroft, 339, 340; change of name
to "Scientific Department," 340. See
Teachers' Seminary.

Entrance fee, 92, 169.

Eton, 71.

Eureka Club, the, 280.

Evarts, Jeremiah, 189.

Examinations, 337, 338.

Exeter. See Phillips Exeter Academy.

Exhibitions, in the early years of the
school, 118-20, 170; under Dr. Tay-
lor, 283-86, 289-91; of student so-
cieties, 427.

Exonian, the, 435-37, 454, 460, 485.

Expulsion, a public ceremony, 76; ex-
ercised by Dr. Taylor, 268-75.

533

INDEX

Faculty, meetings of, 327; Secretary of,
327; under Bancroft, 335, 34(Mi8;
under Stearns, 519.
Faculty houses, 512, 514.
Faculty proctorship, system of, 278.
Fairbanks. Horace, 299, 407.
Fairbanks, Mrs. Horace, 359.
Farley, Isaac, 279.

Farley, Isaac Alvan, 279.

Farmer, Moses G., 299.

Farrar, Samuel ('Squire), 43; librarian
of the Phillips Academy library, 122;
Trustee and Treasurer, 125; sug-
gests that part of his salary be de-
voted to prizes, 130; adds to fund for
music master, 131 ; and the Theologi-
cal Seminary, 147; house of, 155; ca-
reer, 192; his methodical habits, 193;
his services to the Academy, 193,
194; words of Holmes on, 194; at mis-
sionary meetings at the President's
House, 195; his part in the founding
of Abbot Academy, 197, 198; and the
Teachers' Seminary, 204-09, 217;
his scheme of financial responsibility
at Teachers' Seminary and at the
Phillips Academy, 208, 221, 222; and
the Commons dormitories, 228-30;
resigns as Treasurer and as Trustee,
312; a quaint figure, 312; death, 312.

Farrar House, the, 361, 362.

Faulhaber, Professor Oscar, 325, 344.

Fenn, William H., 305 n.

Fenn, Professor, 469.

Finch, Fanny Washington, 135 n.

Fire brigade, 287, 288. 397.

Fires, 287, 288.

Fish, Charles E.. 114 n.

Fiske, Daniel Taggart, 315, 405.

Fitch, President, 526, 527.

Flagg, Wilson, 202.

Flagg and Gould's printing-office, 196.

Fletcher, Samuel, 270, 312.

Flogging, 168.

Football, the king of games, 469; early
games, 469-71 ; introduction of Rug-
by, 471; first celebration, 472, 473;
contests with Exeter, 473-85; great
players, 482. 483.

Forbes, Charles H., 412, 524.

Forum, 393, 432.

Foster, Homer, 117.

Foster, John, 178 n.

Foster, William, Jr., 117.

Founders' Day, 521.

Fox, Gustavua V., 354.

Foxcroft, Francis, 24.

Foxcroft, Phoebe, married to Samuel
Phillips, Jr. (5), 24, 25. See Phillips,
Phoebe.

Foxcroft, Mrs., mother of Phoebe, 32.

Franklin, Benjamin, 70 n.

Franklin Academy, 82.

Freeman, Archibald, 500, 501.

French. Rev. Jonathan, at the building
of Judge Phillips's mansion, 32; se-
cured by Judge Phillips for the Old
South Church, Andover, 39; member
of Board of Trustees of Andover, 73;
early career, 73 n. ; anecdotes of, 73 n. ;
gives dedicatory sermon at opening
of the Phillips School, 77; life in his
house, 85; gives memorial sermon
on Dr. John Phillips, 111; at Judge
Phillips's funeral, 123; on select com-
mittee of inquiry, 126; death, 132.
188; made first suggestion of a theo-
logical seminary, 141; acted as pro-
visional Professor of Divinity, 143;
assisted in composition of Constitu-
tion of the Seminary, 147; at opening
of Seminary, 162.

French, Jonathan, ancestor of Dr.
Stearns, 504.

Frissell, Hollis B., 298.

Frost, John, 161.

Gage, Governor, 60, 61.

Gammell, Sereno D., 487.

Gardner, Charles F., 458.

Garrison, Commodore C. K., 368 n.

Garrison, Mary, 368 n.

Garrison, William Lloyd, 225, 226.

Gay, Augustine M.. 298.

Gile. Moses Clement. 346-48.

Gilman, Mrs. Sarah (Emery), first wife

of John Phillips of Exeter. 46.
Gilmore. Joseph H.. 298.
Glee Club. 445.
Goddard. Charles. 198.
Goldsmith, William Gleason, 305, 323.
Golf, 494.

Goodell. Dr. William. 171, 194, 232.
Gorham, Lydia, married to Colonel

John Phillips, 45.
Gorham, Nathaniel, 45.
Gould, Hannah F., 290.
Gould, Miss, 280.
Graduation fee, 382. 404.
Grafton. Charles C, 299.
Graves, "Billy," 477.
Graves, William Blair, Head of the

534

INDEX

Englfsh Department, 303; career,
303 n.; first Peabody Instructor, 304;
reorganized the English Department,
304, 305; salary, 311; under Bancroft,
345; speech delivered by, 359; of the
"triumvirate," 411, 412; serves as
Acting Principal, 503.

Graves Hall, 373.

Gray, Alonzo, 216, 217.

Greek. See Classics.

Greenland, N.H., 190.

Greenough, Horatio, 201.

Griffin, Dr. Edward Dorr, 154.

Griffin, LaRoy Freese, 339, 344.

Groton Academy, 81.

Grover, Edwin, 429.

Grover, William O., 356.

Gulliver, John P., his reminiscences of a
morning service at Andover, 224; his
description of Osgood Johnson, 233;
on Principal Taylor, 238.

Gymnasium, 374, 486, 487.

Hackett, Dr. Horatio Balch, 201, 353,
421.

Hadley, William H., 423.

Hadley, Mass., 70 n.

Hale, Dr. Eliphalet, 47.

Hale, Mrs. Elizabeth (Dennet), sec-
ond wife of John Phillips of Exeter,
47.

Hall, Antoinette, 369 n.

Hall, Samuel Read, Principal of the
Teachers' Seminary, 207-09; a text-
book-maker, 210 ; resignation of,
213.

Halsted, William H., 350.

Hammond, James B., 299.

Hardy, Alpheus, 315, 405, 406 n.

Hardy, Alpheus Holmes, 367, 406.

Hardy, Arthur S., 298.

Hardy House, the, 122.

Harlow, Louis K., 299.

Harris, Prof. George, 400, 522.

Harris, William T., 297.

Harrow, 71.

Harvard College, arrangement of stu-
dents in the Catalogue, 19-21 ; re-
moval of books from the Library to
Andover, 27, 28; as depicted by Mark
Newman, 110; most popular college
with Phillips alumni in early years of
the school, 134; candidates for the
ministry at, 142; Unitarianism at,
143, 144; Taylor's dislike for, 243,
244; its attitude in receiving students

expelled from Andover, 272-74; stu-
dents in Andover fitted for, 325, 326;
numbers of graduates of Andover in,
in recent years, 403.

Hastings, Hannah, 114.

"Hatch's," 391.

Hayes, Bartlett H., 464.

Hicks, Thomas, 137 n.

High schools, 82.

HUI, President, of Harvard, 273.

Hill and Dale Squad, 494.

Hinkey, Frank, 478.

"Hiuton's," 391.

Hitchcock, E. P., 363.

Hitchcock's, 388.

Hockey, 493.

Hodge, "Bunny," 464.

Holbrook, Abiah, 85.

Hollis, Thomas, letter of Rev. Andrew
Eliot to, 22.

Holmes, Dr. Abiel, 188.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, grandfather
of, 74; his birth-house, 95; his impres-
sion of Pearson, 96; his description
of the Academy in The School-Boy,
167; receives beating from Jonathan
Clement, 168, 169; quoted on sports
at Andover, 178; father of, 188;
words on 'Squire Farrar, 194; stu-
dent at Andover, 199, 200; words of,
applied to Osgood Johnson, 224; his
description of Professor Stuart, 317;
at centennial celebration, 353; on the
Social Fraternity, 421.

Holt, Captain Joshua, 61.

Holyoke, President, of Harvard, 88.

Holyoke, Priscilla, 88.

Hooker, Rev. Asahel, 192.

Hooker, Phoebe, 192.

Hopkins, Dr. Samuel, theologian, 148.

Hopkins, Samuel, historian, 202.

Hopkins Grammar School, 71 n.

Hopkinsians, 148.

Hoppin, William Warner, 202.

Hotchkiss School, 344 re., 345 n., 411.

Houses at Andover, 154, 155, 361-
64.

Howe, General, evacuates Boston, 30.

Howe, Mark Antony De Wolfe, 201.

Hubbard, Hon. Samuel, 189, 312.

Hubbard, William J., 313.

Huntress, George, 451.

Hutchinson, Governor Thomas, 22, 51.

Institute of 1770, the, 23.
Instructors. See Assistants.

535

INDEX

Isham, Flora, 615.
Isham, Samuel, 299.
Isham Infirmary, 514, 616.

Jackson, President Andrew, 362.

Jacksonville, 111., Seminary at, 182.

Jenney, William L. B., 299.

John Phelps Taylor Hall, 369 n.

Johnson, Alfred, 235.

Johnson, Lady Arbella, 6.

Johnson, Rev. Francis H., 352.

Johnson, Osgood, father, 221.

Johnson, Osgood, son, unappreciated,
220; a student and a poet, 220; died
prematurely, 220, 221; assistant at
Andover, 221; made Principal, 221;
a fine classical scholar, 221, 223, 235;
weighted with too much responsibil-
ity, 221, 222; his salary, 221, 222; as
a teacher, 222-24; his conduct of
morning service, 224, 225; and the
Anti-Slavery Rebellion, 225-28; in-
firmities of, 233, 234; death, 234; chil-
dren, 235; estimate of, 235, 236; rec-
ommended Taylor as his successor,
239; presentation of portrait of, 353.

Johnson, Mrs. Osgood, 221, 235.

Johnson, Osgood, son of the Principal,
235.

Johnson, Ichabod, 120.

Johnson House, 63.

Jones, John Taylor, 202.

Jordan, Eben D., 299.

Judson, Adoniram, 194.

Junior Promenade, 446.

K.D.S. Society, 444.

Keate, Dr. John, 266.

Kellogg, Elijah, 289.

Kimball, David, 232.

Kingsley, Professor James L., 234.

Kirkland, John Thornton, 101, 164.

Kitchel, Cornelius L., 470, 471.

Kittredge, Frances A., married to Dr.

Bancroft, 233.
Knapp, Arthur Mason, 497.
Knapp, George Brown, 375, 407, 497.
Knowlton, D. E., 476.
K.O.A. Society, 441, 443, 444.

Lacrosse, 494.

Lafayette, General, visits Andover, 198,

362.
Landon, Hugh McKennan, 438.
Langdon, John, 171 n.
Langworthy, Isaac P., his description

of Johnson's methods as a teacher,
223; President of student society,
425.

Latin, Samuel Phillips's views of, 58,
59; in Phillips Academy, 83, 84, 90.
See Classics.

Latin Commons, 229, 276-79, 288, 508.

Lawrence, Mrs. Abel, 194 n.

Lawrence, Mass., fall of Pemberton
Mill in, 292.

Lawrenceville, 479-81.

Leavenworth, student, anecdote about,
175.

Lee, Cassius, grandnephew of George
Washington, 136.

Lee, Francis Lightf oot, grandnephew of
George Washington, 136.

Lee, Mildred, niece of George Wash-
ington, 136.

Lee, Richard Henry, 136, 137.

Lee, Thomas, 136.

Leicester Academy, 81.

Leonard, William W., 263, 299.

Lewis, Howell, nephew of George
Washington, 135.

Library, of Harvard College, 27, 28; of
the Theological Seminary, 310, 311;
the Samuel H. Taylor Memorial, 359;
of Andover.in 1900, 377; of thePhilo-
mathean Society, 421-23; the Associ-
ate Library, 425; in Brechin Hall, 612.

Lillard, W. Huston, 481, 501.

Linburg, Banning G., 209.

Little, John, 62.

Locke, John, influence of, on the Con-
stitution of Phillips Academy, 65,
64, 69-71.

Lodging-houses, 390.

Longfellow, H. W., 101.

Longfellow, Stephen, 101.

Lookout Mountain, school at, 333.

Lord, Phoebe, 176.

Loring, Frederick W., 298.

Lovejoy, Hannah, 197 n.

Lovejoy, Pompey, 178.

Lovejoy, Captain William, 178 n.

Lowell, Charles, 101.

Lowell, Francis Cabot, 101.

Lowell, James Russell, 74, 101, 167, 419.

Lowell, John, 74, 93, 125.

Macaulay, T. B., quoted, 237.
Madison, James, 99.
Main Street, Andover, 122.
Mandolin Club, 445.
Mann, Horace, 72.

636

INDEX

Mansion House, the, of Sajiuel Phillips,
Jr., (5), the building of, 32; descrip-
tion of, 33; George Washington enter-
tained in, 107; class suppers held in,
284; flag raised over, 294; destroyed
by fire, 362, 363.

Marietta College, 303 n., 305.

Marland, Major William, 388.

Marsh, George P., 201.

Marsh, Othniel C, 299, 430, 469.

Marsh, Samuel, 232.

Mason, Miriam, 106 n.

Mason, his Self-Knowledge, 84, 172.

Masque, The, 440.

Massachusetts Bible Society, 125.

Mathematics, at Andover, 83, 84, 101,
326.

Mather, Cotton, his eulogy of George
PhUlips, 7.

Mattocks, Charles P., 297

Mayfield, Sarah Pickman, second wife
of Samuel Phillips (2), 8.

McCuUom Institute, 333 n.

McCurdy, Matthew Scoby, 345, 487.

McKenzie, Dr. Alexander, on the
despotism of Dr. Taylor, 238; on the
ubiquity of Dr. Taylor, 256, 257; on
the Stone Academy, 275; President
of the Union Club, 280; at centennial
celebration, 353; on Board of Trustees
of Andover, 407; career, 407 n.

McLane, James W., 232.

McLellan, Isaac, 201.

Mead, Charles M., 305 re.

Means, Emily A., 302 n.

Means, William G., 321.

Merrill, George C, 339.

Mills, F. S., 499.

Mills, Samuel Thomas, 161.

Milton, John, influence of, on the Con-
stitution of Phillips Academy, 55,
64, 70, 71.

Ministers, education of, in the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, 142.

Ministry manse, the, 85.

Missionaries, 194, 425.

Missionary Fraternity, the, 425. See
Society of Inquiry.

Mock Programmes, 283, 284, 328.

Mock trials, 432.

Modern language department, An-
dover, 332.

Monson Academy, 81.

Mooar, Rev. George, 132.

Moody, Samuel, Preceptor in Dummer
School, 19, 56.

Moody, William H., 453.

Moore, Charles, 330, 402.

Moore, Clifford H., 346, 622.

Moorehead, Warren K., 376, 507.

Moral Society, 420.

Morals, influence of John Adams in,
172-76; influence of Samuel Taylor
in, 251-53; under Bancroft, 383, 384.

Morgan, Clarence, 408.

Morgan, Henry A., 498.

Morse, note on Phillips Academy in
his Geography, 1^2.

Morse, Rev. Jedediah, on Board of
Trustees of Phillips Academy, 111;
talk by, at Exhibition, 120; member
of committee of inquiry, 126; father
of eleven children, 137 n.; part taken
by, in establishment of the Seminary,
147, 150, 151.

Morse, Samuel F. B., Ill, 137.

Morton, Chief Justice Marcus, 352.

Mottey, Joseph, 75.

Motto of Phillips Academy, 81, 93.

Mowry, Dr. William A., presents to
Academy portrait of Samuel F. B.
Morse, 137 n.; treated nearly on
terms of equality by Dr. Taylor, 248;
on moral influence of Dr. Taylor,
258; Secretary and Caterer of the
Union Club, 280; student at Andover,
298; memorial address of, on J. S.
Eaton, 302 n.; his description of
"rounders," 449, 450.

"Mulligan Guards," the, 380.

Murdock, Professor, 199.

Murphy, Frederick T., 522, 523.

Music, at Phillips Academy, 620, 521.

Musical clubs, 445, 446.

Nash, Ansel, 161.

Neesima, Joseph H., 298.

New Salem Academy, 81.

Newell, William, 421.

Newman, Mark, appointed Principal
of Phillips Academy, 110; of easy-
going disposition, 113; a graduate of
Exeter, 114; assistant at Andover,
114; " sophomoric," 116; passage
from letter to John Phillips, 115, 116;
married, 116; salary increased, 116;
resignation, 131; clerk of the Board
of Trustees, 132; later career, 132; his
bookstore, 132, 133; death, 132; esti-
mate of, 133; house of, 153; retained
supervisory control of the Academy
for some months after his resignation.

537

INDEX

161; at missionary meetings at the
President's House, 195; his part in
the founding of Abbot Academy, 198.

Newman, Samuel, 114.

Newman, Samuel Phillips, 116.

Newton, Walter R., 346.

Nickerson, P. T., 474, 475.

Nickerson, Thomas W., 471, 472.

Niles, Nathaniel, 261.

Normal schools, 205-09.

Norris, John, 160, 161.

Norris, Mary, 150 n.

Nott, Samuel, 161, 194.

Noyes, Daniel, 313.

Noyes, Samuel Bradley, 431.

"Nunnery," the, 281.

Obermeyer, Simon, 271.

Observatory, the, 434, 435.

O'Connor, John, 481.

Odlin, "Billy," 476, 478, 499.

Oliver, General H. K., 108, 132, 167,
354.

Olmsted, Frederick Law, 300.

Oratory, at Andover, in time of Pear^
son, 84, 85; in time of Pemberton,
101; in time of Taylor, 288, 289; and
the Draper prizes, 321; in the time
of Bancroft, 386.

Osborne, Theodore Moody, 408.

Packard, William A., 298, 306 n.

P.A.E. Society, 442-44.

Page, Dr. Pierson S., 165 n., 496, 601.

Paley, Natural Theology eliminated
from curriculum, 305.

Palmer, Rev. Frederic, 440.

Palmer, George Herbert, 298.

Palmer, Dr. Ray, his description of
school routine, 166, 167; hears Web-
ster's Oration at dedication of Bun-
ker Hill Monument, 177, 178; his
description of Pearson's last visit to
Andover, 190; student at Andover,
201, 421, 422.

Papers, school, 281-83, 433-41.

Park, Professor Edwards Amasa,
quoted on Pearson, 87, 150; quoted
on Taylor, 249, 250; his Judas and
Peter sermons, 253, 319; delivers ad-
dress at Dr. Taylor's funeral, 265; at
flag-raising in 1861, 293; as a member
of the Andover community, 319, 320;
career, 319 n.; at centennial celebra-
tion, 364.

Park, Rev. William E., 184, 363.

Parker, Caroline Persia, 240. See Tay-
lor, Mrs.

Parker, Rev. Edward L., 260.

Parsons, Frank, 474.

Parsons, Joseph, 523.

Patch, Mr. and Mrs., 332.

Patton, John, 453.

Payne, Oliver H., 297.

Payson, Thomas, first pupil of Phillips
School, 77.

P.B.X. Society, 444.

Peabody, Andrew P., quoted on John
Phillips, 49.

Peabody, Dr. Charles, 376, 607.

Peabody, George, 304, 376 n.; career,
304 n,

Peabody, Robert Singleton, 375, 376,
516.

Peabody, William Augustus, 234.

Peabody Assemblies, 446.

Peabody House, the, 376 re., 616, 621.

Pearson, David, 87.

Pearson, Eliphalet, forms friendship
with Samuel Phillips at Dummer
School, 19; his tribute to Samuel and
Phoebe Phillips, 26, 44; his experi-
ments in gun-powder, 29; associated
with Phillips in plan for founding
school, 31; his epitaph for John
Phillips, 50; chosen by Phillips as
Principal of new school, 57; letter of
Phillips to, on moral influence of
teachers, 68; opposes Phillips's ten-
dency to exclusiveness in the new
school, 60; cooperates on the Con-
stitution of the school, 63, 71, 89;
first Principal and member of the
Board of Trustees, 72, 73; nomi-
nated and appointed as Preceptor,
75; aged twenty-six when the Phil-
lips School was opened, 80; letter
of, describing day's routine, 84;
Quincy's impressions of, 86, 89, 90;
character of, 86, 87; his early career,
87, 88; his methods of discipline, 89-
91; as a teacher, 92, 144; his connec-
tion with Harvard College, 94, 95,
145, 146; honors, 95; his interest in
music, botany, and ornithology, 95;
his later connection with Andover,
96, 125, 189; compared with Pember-
ton, 98; on committee of inquiry, 126;
Leonard Woods's estimate of, 144;
in the struggle between Unitarianism
and Calvinism at Harvard College,
146, 146; the Towne house occupied

538

INDEX

by, 146; suggests the idea of a theo-
logical school, 146; persuades Samuel
Abbot to found a school, 147, 148;
his efforts to bring the two branches of
Calviuists together in their seminary
projects, 150, 151; Professor at An-
dover Seminary, 152; at opening of
Seminary, 153; resignation of, 153;
Dr. Palmer's description of his last
visit to Andover, 190; death, 190; his
grave, 190; lack of regard for his
memory, 190, 191; William Adams's
description of, 191 ; first President of
American Education Society, 195.

Pearson, Henry B., 119.

Pearson, Maria, 88.

Pearson Hall (formerly Bartlet Chapel),
186. See Bartlet Chapel.

Pease House, the, 155 n.

Pemberton, Ebenezer, his tribute to
Esquire Phillips's character, 16; ap-
pointed Principal of Phillips Acad-
emy, 97; compared with Pearson, 98;
his early career, 99; the regime of,
100-07; married, 108; reason for his
leaving Andover, 108; goes to Biller-
ica, 108; opens private school in Bos-
ton, 108; description of, 108, 109;
death, 109; estimate of his career, 109;
presentation of portrait of, 353.

Pemberton, Ebenezer, grandfather of
Ebenezer, Principal of Phillips
Academy, 98.

Pemberton, Ebenezer, uncle of Ebe-
nezer, Principal of Phillips Acad-
emy, 98.

Pemberton MUI, Lawrence, fall of, 292.

Perkins, Dr. Albert C, 114 n., 298,
305 n.

Perrin, Lee J., author of My Three
Years at Andover, 388.

Perry, Lewis, 114 n.

Person, William, writes prologues of
drama, 170; life, 171 n.; on studies at
Andover, 171; on Adams's religious
influence, 172; his description of his
duties at Andover, 176, 177.

Peter Smith Byers Endowment Fund,
356.

Peter Smith Byers Scholarship Fund,
356 n.

Pettee, George D., 346, 349, 488.

Pfatteicher, Carl F., 521.

Phelps, Professor Austin, 196, 293, 316.

Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, her descrip-
tion of Andover Theological Semi-

nary buildings, 186, 187; at Sunday-
School meetings, 253; and exhibi-
tions, 289; her story. The Oath of Alle-
giance, 294; her authorship, 316;
house described in her A Singular
Life, 361.

Phelps, Joseph, 122.

Phelps House, the, 149 n.

Phillipiad, The, 269, 270.

PhiUipian, The, verses from, 281 ; sug-
gestion of, regarding the Treasurer's
office, 360; complaint of, 370; on
bathing facilities, 374; plain speech
of, 382; on sermons, 386; attacks
Allen Hinton, 391 ; the origin of, 392,
435; attacks Chief of Police, 397, 398;
on certain resignations, 411; on
Philo, 431, 432; and the Etonian,
436, 437, 460, 485; and the Mirror,
437; later history of, 438, 439; gradu-
ate issue, 440; on discipline, 442; ac-
count of initiation, 443; on baseball,
455, 457, 458, 460; on football, 474-
78; on tournaments, 488.

Phillips, Caroline, daughter of Colonel
John, 45 n.

Phillips, Elizabeth, wife of Esquire
Phillips (4), 14, 16, 17.

PhiOips, George, 5-7; children, 7, 8.

Phillips, Hannah, daughter of Esquire
PhiUips (4), 18.

Phillips, Harriet (Welch), wife of John
C. Phillips, 355 n.

Phillips, John (1701-1768), son of
Samuel (2), the line of, 8 n.

PhUlips, John (1719-1795) of Exeter,
son of Samuel (3), 13; facts of his life,

46, 47; unsympathetic to the Revo-
lution, 47; gives financial support to
plansfor Phillips Academy, 47; estab-
lishes the Phillips Exeter Academy,

47, 48; ceremonious and formal in his
manner, 48; fond of petty economies,
48; generous for worthy causes, 49;
his religion, 49, 50; letter to Samuel
Phillips on site for new school, 61;
agrees to pay sum for purchase of
land for school, 62; his views as to
requirement of Calvinism in teach-
ers of the school, 66; letter to Samuel
Phillips on the Board of Trustees, 72;
helps defray cost of new school build-
ing, 94; made President of Board of
Trustees, 106; death. 111; his will,
112, 142.

Phillips, the Honorable John (1770-

539

INDEX

1823), son of William, 8 n., 78, 125.
356 n.

PhUlips, Col. John (1776-1820), son of
Samuel, Jr. (5), 26; unfortunate in-
vestments of, 43; his career, 44, 46;
overgenerous, 45; utterance of, con-
cerning Mr. Pemberton, 108; in-
timacy with Mark Newman, 115;
elected to Board of Trustees, 125; on
committee of inquiry, 126; assists the
Theological Seminary, 147, 148, 163.

Phillips, John Charles (1807-1878), son
of John, 8 n., 78 n., 356 n.

Phillips, John Charles (1838-1886), son
of John Charles, 8 n., 356.

Phillips, Jonathan (1778-1860), son of
William, 188.

Phillips, Margaret, 165. See Wendell,
Margaret.

Phillips, Mary, daughter of Samuel (2),
143 n.

Phillips, Mary, daughter of Samuel (3),
197 n.

Phillips, Mary Ann, daughter of
Colonel John, wife of William Gray
Brooks, 45 n.

Phillips, Miriam, daughter of William,
188 71.

Phillips, Phoebe, wife of Samuel, Jr. (6),
24-26; her domestic management
and business ability, 38; after her
husband's death, 43; her character,
44; entertains George Washington,
107; Phillips Hall the gift of Colonel
John Phillips and, 148, 163.

Phillips, Phoebe Foxcroft, daughter of
Colonel John, married to Jonathan
Clement, 168 n.

PhiUips, Sally, daughter of William,
115.

Phillips, Samuel (1) (1625-1696), son of
George, 7, 8.

Phillips, Samuel (2) (1667-1722), son
of Samuel (1), 8.

Phillips, Samuel (3) (1689-1771), son
of Samuel (2), 8; pastor of South
Church, Andover, 9, 10; personality,
10, 11; his sermons, 11; charity, 12;
death, 12; his sons, 13; daughter,
197 n.

Phillips, Samuel (4) (1715-1790), called
"Esquire," son of Samuel (3), 13;
education, marriage, and occupation,
13, 14; character, 14; public offices,
14-16; domestic life, 16, 37, 38;
Ebenezer Pemberton's tribute to his

character, 16; epitaph, 17; his man-
sion, 14, 17; member of the Board of
Trustees of Phillips Academy, 72;
helps defray cost of new building at
Andover, 94; death, 106, 106.
Phillips, Samuel, Jr., (5) (1752-1802).
called "Judge," son of Esquire Phil-
lips (4), an aggressive leader at the
time of the Revolution, 16; one of
seven children, 16; the true creator
of Phillips Academy, 17; birth and
childhood, 17, 18;!atDummer School,
18, 19; at Harvard College, 19-
24; his place in the College Cata-
logue, 19, 20; extracts from diary,
20, 21; his habit of morbid intro-
spection, 21; oration of, on Liberty,
22, 23; in sympathy with radical
revolutionary measures, 23; his con-
nection with College societies, 23,
24; marriage, 24, 25; devotion to his
wife, 25, 26, 38; poem to his wife on
twelfth anniversary of their wedding,
25, 26; Town Clerk and Treasurer of
Andover, 26; heads town committee
to draw up resolutions, 27; delegate
to the Provincial Congress assembled
at Watertown, 27; his speeches before
the Congress, 27; helps move books
from Harvard College Library to
Andover, 27, 28; provides ammuni-
tion for troops, 28-30; transforms
his powder-mill into a paper-mill, 30;
plans for founding of a school, 31;
moves into Abbot house, 31; in house
on Woburn road, 32; builds the Man-
sion House, 32, 33; helps draw up
the State Constitution, 33, 34; a
member of the Senate, 34; Justice of
the Court of Common Pleas for Essex
County, 34; elected President of the
Massachusetts Senate, 34, 35; mem-
ber of Board of Commissioners con-
cerning Shays's Rebellion, 34; elected
Lieutenant-Governor, 35; death, 35;
his appearance and his temperament,
36, 36; his patriotism, 36; his power
of accomplishment, 36; his fortune at
death, 36; a man of energy in various
fields, 36, 37; a Doctor of Laws, 37;
member of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, 37; affectionate,
but rarely unbent, 38; his frequent
trips to Boston, 38, 39; a stanch sup-
porter of the Church, 39 ; his theology,
39, 40; his mania for the saving of

540

INDEX

time, 40; his modesty, 41 ; hissomber-
ness, 41, 42; distinguished especially
for personal character, 42; his charac-
ter the product of his religion, 42,
43; origin of his first conception of a
school, 54; his reading, 55; quotation
from manuscript of, giving outlines
of his conception of an Academy, 55-
57; laid stress on moral influence of
teachers, 58; his ideas on the classics,
58, 69; begins negotiations with his
father and uncle for founding school,
60; buys land for new school, 61, 62;
probably drafted the Constitution of
the school, 63, 64; ranks high as
pioneer in a new field, 72; member
of first Board of Trustees, 72; aged
twenty-six when the Phillips School
was opened, 80; entertains George
Washington, 107; writes regarding
exhibition, 118; funeral, 123; dona-
tions of, for preservation of doctrines
of Gospel, 124, 125; seldom spoke of
rest or recreation, 448.

Phillips, Samuel (6) (1782-1796), son
of Samuel, Jr. (6), 26, 32, 118.

Phillips, Samuel (1801-1877), son of
Colonel John, his description of the
second Academy, 94; his account of
an Exhibition, 119; his description of
the School curriculum, 170; at An-
dover Academy, 179.

Phillips, Sarah, daughter of Colonel
John, 45.

Phillips, Susan, daughter of Colonel
John, 45 n.

Phillips, Wendell (1811-1884), 8 n.,
78 n., 362; his words about Mark
Newman, 113; lecture on Daniel
O'Connell, 387.

Phillips, the Honorable William (1722-
1804), son of Samuel (3), 13, 78; ca-
reer, 50, 51; temperament, 51; Presi-
dent of Board of Trustees, 51, 72,
111; gives money to the Academy,
51, 94, 112; resignation from Board
of Trustees, 12; death, 125; his will,
125.

Phillips, William (1737-1772), son of
John, 8 n., 74, 165.

Phillips, His Honor William (1750-
1827), son of the Honorable William,
52; elected Trustee of Phillips
Academy, 106; career, 106 n.; first
President of Massachusetts Bible
Society, 125; contributes for new

hall at Andover, 164; his daughter,
Miriam, 188 n.; President of Board
of Trustees, 189; death. 191 ; gifts and
bequests, 191, 192, 205.

Phillips, the Honorable William, of
Washington, 516.

Phillips Academy Alumni Association,
353, 409, 522.

Phillips Academy, Andover, has had
part in American history, 3; must
give conception of loyalty, 4 ; Samuel
Phillips, Jr., the true creator of, 17;
the Constitution of, mostly the work
of Samuel Phillips, Jr., 40; retains
traditions left by founder, 43; John
Phillips of Exeter helps to finance,
47, 48; connection of William Phillips
with, 51; was at first a family school
of the Phillipses, 52; cradled and fos-
tered in Puritanism, 53; pattern of
secondary schools in United States,
54; Samuel Phillips's first conception
of, 54-60; influence of Locke and Mil-
ton on the Constitution of, 55, 64, 69-
71 ; negotiations begun for founding,
60; land bought for, 61, 62; de-
signed at first to be a private enter-
prise, 63; the Deed of Gift, or Consti-
tution, of, 63; still conducted under
the old Constitution, 64; to be inde-
pendent of any interests, 64, 65; re-
strictions as to Trustees, 65; no petty
conditions to, 65; open to all properly
qualified students, 66; principal ob-
ject the promotion of piety and vir-
tue, 66; not doctrinal, 66, 67; curric-
ulum of, 67; a cultural school, 67;
qualities required for Master of, 68;
the first Board of Trustees, 72-74;
first meeting of the Trustees, 74-
76; the Records, 75; number of
scholars, vacations, discipline, etc.,
75, 76; opening of, 77; enlargement
of, 78; first pupils of, 77-79; Act of
Incorporation granted, 79; name of
"Phillips Academy" established, 79;
the earliest incorporated academy in
the country, 79; first step toward
stated tuition, 80, 92; motto of, 81,
93.

Under the regime of Eliphalet
Pearson, 83-97; curriculum, 83-85;
routine of an average day at, 84; life
at Jonathan French's house, 85;
scholarships and entrance fee, 92;
restrictions on students, 92; presen-

541

INDEX

tation of seal to, 93; erection of new
school building, 93.

Under the regime of Ebenezer Pem-
berton, 98-112; appointment of Pem-
berton as Principal, 97, 99; the title
"Principal," 99; matters oyer which
the Trustees assumed jurisdiction,
102-04; religious instruction, 104;
gift of $20,000 from John Phillips,
105 ; changes in the Board of Trustees,
111; gifts from members of the Phil-
lips family, 112.

Under the regime of Mark New-
man, 113-39; appointment of New-
man as Principal, 110; increase of
Principal's salary, 116; Foster's pre-
paratory school started, 117; vaca-
tions, 117, 118; Exhibitions, 118-20;
discipline, 120, 121 ; changes in equip-
ment, 121, 122; changes in Board of
Trustees, 125; work of select com-
mittee of inquiry, 12&-29; assistants,
128, 129; prizes, 130, 131; decline in
numbers of pupils, 131 ; the numbers
under the first three Principals, 133,
134; trend toward Harvard in, 134;
provincialism of, 134, 135; relatives
of George Washington in, 135-37;
curriculum, 138; simplicity of, 138,
139; reputation of, 139.

Connection of the Theological
Seminary with, 140, 141 ; acceptance
of Seminary Constitution by Trus-
tees of, 147, 148; acceptance of the
"Statutes of the Associate Founda-
tion" by, 152; history of, closely
linked with that of the Seminary,
165, 156.

Under the regime of John Adams,
157-84; appointment of Adams as
Principal, 161; growth of, under
Adams, 162; not at this time na-
tional in representation or influence,
163; trend of graduates toward other
colleges than Harvard, 163, 164; con-
ducted like a grammar school, 164;
fire at, 164; the "Classic Hall" built,
164; description of the "Classic
Hall," 165, 166; descriptions of the
school routine, 166, 167; discipline,
167-69; changes in, 169; the curricu-
lum, 170, 171 ; morals and religion in,
172-76; dancing, smoking, etc., 176;
school life, 176-78; resignation of
Adams, 180-82.

Changes in the Board of Trustees,

542

188, 189; services of 'Squire Farrar
to, 193, 194; distinguished students
of, 199-202; instructors in, under
Adams, 202; the Teachers' Semi-
nary merged in, 217, 218; two depart-
ments in, as result of the union, 218,
219.

Under the regime of Osgood John-
son, 220-36; Johnson appointed
Principal, 220, 221; 'Squire Farrar's
system of financial responsibility
applied to, 221, 222; the methods of
Osgood, 222-24; description of morn-
ing service at, 224, 225 ; the Anti-Slav-
ery Rebellion, 225-28; building of the
Commons dormitories, 228-32; ob-
stacles of travel overcome by stu-
dents to reach, 232, 233.

Under the regime of Samuel Tay-
lor, 237-300; appointment of Taylor
as Principal, 240; increase in number
of students, 241, 242; inadequacy of
number of teachers, 241 ; curriculum,
243; gets out of touch with the spirit
of the age, 243; becomes a Yale "feed-
er," 243, 244; Taylor's class-room
methods, 244-50; morals and reUgion
at, 251-53; discipline, 253-57; rebel-
lions at, 268-75; exercises in Stone
Academy, 275 ; Commons regulations,
276, 277; "selling the bell," 277; com-
bats between the Commons, 277, 278;
teachers put in dormitories, 278;
boarding-houses, 278-80; eating-
clubs, 280, 281; school papers, 281-
83; mock programmes, 283, 284; the
"Burning of KUhner" and other
forms of celebration, 284-86; student
rascality, 286, 287; lack of organ-
ized athletics, 287, 448, 449; fires,
287, 288; declamations, 288, 289;
Exhibitions, 289, 290; vacations
and the calendar, 290, 291; in the
Civil War, 293-95; daily duties of
students, 295-97; distinguished stu-
dents of, 297-300.

Readjustment after the union with
the Seminary, 301; the two depart-
ments, 301, 302; instructors in the
English Department, 302-05; in-
structors in the Classical Depart-
ment, 305 n. ; hampered for lack of
funds, 305-09; the Stone Academy
burned, 309; erection of new build-
ing, 309; Brechin Hall, 310, 311;
salaries, 311; changes in the Board of

INDEX

Trustees and the Treasurership, 312-
15; change in relations between the
Academy and the Trustees, 315;
distinguished teachers in, 316-22;
the Draper contributions to, 320,
321 n., 322.

Under the regime of Tilton, 323-
30; reconstruction of, inevitable, 323;
appointment of Tilton, 324; studies
in, readjusted, 325, 326; regular
Faculty meetings established, 327;
office of Secretary of Faculty created,
327; change in Sunday services in-
stituted, 327; discipline, 327-29;
"Mock Programmes" again, 328;
services of Tilton to, 329, 330.

Under the regime of Bancroft, 331-
419; appointment of Bancroft, 331,
332; condition of, at the time of Ban-
croft's appointment, 334, 335, 350,
351 ; extent of Bancroft's achievement
for, 335 ; the Faculty of, under Ban-
croft, 335, 340-47; introduction of
four-year course, 337; changes in ex-
aminations and system of admission,
338; closer union of the English De-
partment, 339, 340; specialization in
teaching, 347, 348; endowment of
chairs in, 347; the institution of class
officers, 348 ; Secretary of the Faculty
and Registrar, 349; preparations of
centennial celebration, 351, 352, 412;
the centennial celebration, 352-55;
completion of volume of Records, 354 ;
professorship of Latin established by
John C. Phillips, 365; fund raised,
355-58; obtains increase in holding
power, 357; growing prosperity of,
358, 359; changes in the plant of,
359-64; new dormitories, 364-73;
Graves Hall, 373; track house, 374;
gymnasium and athletic field, 374,
375; Archaeological Building, 375,
376; continuing needs of, 377, 378;
discipline, 379-85; morals of the stu-
dents, 383, 384; religion, 385, 386;
visiting orators, 387; boarding-
houses, 387-90; lodging-houses, 390;
resorts, 390-92; contests with Exeter,
393, 394; displays of class spirit, 395-
97; fire brigade, 397; coasting, 397;
vandalism and practical joking, 398,
399; political companies, 399, 400;
the Spanish War, 400; a national in-
stitution, 402, 403; high standard of
scholarship in, 404; relations of Dr

Bancroft with the Board of Trustees,
404, 405; new Trustees, 405-08;
alumni organizations, 409, 410;
number of students under Dr. Ban-
croft, 410; the "triumvirate," 411,
412.

Student societies, 420-33; student
publications, 433-41 ; secret fraterni-
ties, 441-45; musical clubs, 445, 446;
other clubs, 446; dances, 446; begin-
nings of baseball, 451; baseball con-
tests with Exeter, 454-66, seealso 393,
394; great baseball players, 466-68;
early football, 469-73; football con-
tests with Exeter, 473-85; great foot-
ball players, 482, 483; meaning of
athletics at, 486; gymnasium, 486,
487, 498, 499, see also 374; track
games, 488-90; rowing, 490, 491 ; ten-
nis, 491, 492; basketball, 492; hockey,
493; swimming, 493; golf, lacrosse,
soccer, and other sports, 494, 495;
compulsory athletics at, 495, 496;
athletic fields, 496-98; management
of athletics, 499-501; the "new sys-
tem" of athletics, 501, 502.

Intricacy of present-day problems
of, 503; Prof. Graves as Acting Prin-
cipal, 503, 504; early affiliations of
Mr. Stearns with, 504, 505; Mr.
Stearns appointed Principal of, 506;
installation of Mr. Stearns, 507 ; open-
ing of Archaeology Building, 507; the
Commons removed, 508; purchase of
Seminary plant, 510, 511; changes
due to purchase, 511, 512; Faculty
houses, 512, 514; new dormitories,
512-14; the Isham Infirmary, 514,
515; changes in buildings, 515; gifts,
516; division officers, 517; the " Com-
mons" boys, 517, 518; curriculum,
518; increase in size of Faculty,
519; formation of undenominational
Academy Church, 520; development
of music at, 520, 521 ; Founders' Day,
521; Commencement and alumni
gatherings, 521, 522; new members of
the Board of Trustees, 522, 523; atti-
tude of the Board of Trustees to the
school, 523, 524; increase in number
of students, 524; draws its students
from many sections, 525; is Uberal,
democratic, and national, 526; must
retain its forward vision, 526, 527.

Phillips Andover Mirror, The, 439, 440.

Phillips Bulletin, 441, 496, 511.

543

INDEX

Phillips Club, 359, 615.
Phillips Exeter Academy, established
by John Phillips, 47, 48; Mark New-
man educated at, 114; baseball con-
tests with Andover, 393, 394, 454-
66; debates with, 432, 433; football
contests with Andover, 473-85; track
games with Andover, 488-90; tennis
tournaments with Andover, 491, 492.

Phillips Gateway, the, 8 n., 40, 355 n.,
516, 521.

Phillips Hall, 62, 153, 187, 510, 511,
615.

Phillips Inn, 364.

Phillips Mansion, the, 14, 17, 187.

Phillips Sextette, 445.

Philomathean Mirror, the, freedom of
speech allowed in, 281, 382; institu-
tion of, 433, 434; reference of the
Phillipian to, 437; in recent years,
439; on baseball, 453, 454; on foot-
ball, 475.

Philomathean Society (Philo), 159 n.,
166 n., 392, 422-33.

Phipps, Abner J., 270, 307.

Phmnix, The, 283.

Pi Yuk, 456.

Pierce, President Franklin, 313, 362.

Pierce, H. Winthrop, 303 n.

Plaindealer, The, 282.

Plainfield Academy, 99, 160.

P.L.D. Society, 444.

P.L.S. Society, 444.

"Pomp," 178.

Pony Phaeton, The, 328.

Porter, Dr. Ebenezer, 154, 186, 194,
195.

Porter, Rev. Edward G., 351.

Porter, Noah, President of Yale, 337,
354.

Pot-pourri, 440.

Prayer-meetings, 172-74, 252. 385, 426.

Preceptor, the name, 75, 79.

President's House, the, 195, 316.

Principal's Office, 369.

Printing, 196, 197.

Prizes, 130, 131, 321, 404, 518.

Proctor, John C, 306 n.

Proctorship, Faculty, system of, 278.

Publications, student, 281-83, 433-41.

Puritanism, 62, 53.

Quincy, Edmund, 73 n., 90, 201.

Quincy, Josiah, his impression of Dr.
John Phillips, 49; and his grand-
father, William Phillips, 61; scholar

at Andover, 78, 83-86; career, 78 n.;
his impression of Eliphalet Pearson,
85, 89, 90; his impression of Ebenezer
Pemberton, 98; in dialogue from
Julius Caaar with J. T. Kirkland,
101; his reference to Judge Phillips,
124; elected to Board of Trustees of
Andover, 125; on efforts of Pearson
to secure union of Calvinist groups,
161; on John Adams, 157, 158; on
lack of regard in which Pearson's
memory was held, 190, 191; and La-
fayette, 198; his son, Edmund, 201 n.
Quincy, Josiah, Jr., descriptions of An-
dover school life, 173-75; anecdote of
his meeting with Adams in later life,
182; at Centennial celebration, 354;
lover of sports, 448.

Randolph, Edward, 8.

Rantoul, Robert, 201.

R.A.S. Society, 443.

Reading-room, 360.

Rebellions in the Academy, 268-75.

Reendowment Fund, 377.

Religion, influence of John Adams in,
172-76; influence of Samuel Taylor
in, 251-53; influence of Bancroft in,
385, 386.

Resorts, 390-92.

Revivals, 173, 252.

Rice, Governor, 354.

Richards, Abigail, 73 n.

Rifle club, 495.

Ripley, Alfred L., 500, 522.

Ripley, Charles, 364.

Ripley, Elizabeth, 160.

Ripley, Colonel George, 370.

Robbins, Sarah Stuart, 180.

Robert, C. G., 333.

Robert College, 333.

Robinson, President, of Brown, 337.

Rodgers, "Jim," 479.

Roe, J. G., 499.

Rogers, P. W., 455, 474.

Ropes, James Hardy, 407, 442.

Ropes, Joseph Samuel, 406.

Rounders, 287. 449, 450.

Rowing, 490, 491.

Rowland, Henry A., 299.

Rowley, 8.

Roxbury Latin School, 54.

Ryder, Professor William H., 281 n.

Salary, Pearson's, at Andover, 75;
Pearson's, at Harvard, 94; Pember-

544

INDEX

ton's, 99; Newman's, 110, 116; of as-
sistants, 114, 129, 241, 305-08, 311;
'Squire Farrar's, 130; of Professor of
Divinity, 143; Adams's, 161; Far-
rar's scheme of, 208, 221, 222; John-
son's, 221, 222; Taylor's, 240, 311;
Eaton's, 303, 311; of the Treasurer,
311; Graves's, 311; of new teachers,
311; readjustment of, in 1864, 311;
of Tilton, 324; Bancroft's, 331; under
Bancroft, 377 ; of members of Faculty,
increase in, under Stearns, 520.

Salem Street, Andover, 122.

Samaritan House, the, 187.

Samuel H. Taylor Memorial Fund, 350.

Samuel H. Taylor Memorial Library,
359.

Sawyer, James Cowan, 408, 489, 505.

Scalpel, The, 282.

Scholarship boys, 60.

Scholarships, 92.

Scientific Department, 340.

Scorpion, The, 283.

Seal of Phillips Academy, 93.

Sears, Joshua M., 356.

Sears, Philip H., address of, 309.

Secret fraternities, 393, 441-45.

"Selling the bell," 277.

Seminary, the word, 70.

Senior Promenade, 446.

Sewall, Stephen, 94.

Shakspere, William, quoted, 417.

Shattuck, George O., 353.

Shawsheen Club, the, 280, 388.

Shays's Rebellion, 34.

Sheldon, Bev. Charles M., 435.

Sleigh rides, 385, 386.

Smalley, Dr. John, 142.

Smith, Edward C, 453.

Smith, Rev. Elias, 74.

Smith, George F., 310 n.

Smith, John, 308 »., 310, 311, 366 n.

Smith, John B., 296.

Smith, Mrs. Joseph W., 143 n.

Smith, Peter, 308 n., 310, 311, 352, 356.

Smith, Roswell W., 298, 299.

Smith, Thomas D., 210.

Smith, President, of Dartmouth, 265.

Smoking, 176.

Smyth, Prof. Egbert C, 361, 408, 409.

Smyth, Frederick, 299.

Smyth, Newman, 299.

Soccer, 494.

Social Fraternity, the, 420-25.

Societies, student, 281; few, in early
times, 420; the Social Fraternity,

420-25; the Philomathean Society,
422-33; the Society of Inquiry, 425-
29; Ulema, 430; Eaton Rhetorical
Society, 430; Forum, 432, 433; De-
bating Union, 432, 433; secret, 441-
45; musical, 445, 446; other, 446.

Society Hall, 430.

Society of Inquiry, 392, 425-29.

Soule, Gideon Lane, 202.

South Church in Andover, 9, 10, 39,
174.

Spanish War, the, 400.

Sparks, Professor E. A., 282.

Specialization in teaching, 347, 348.

Spencer, Herbert, quoted, 249.

Sphinx, the, 444.

Sports. See Athletics.

Spottswood, Henrietta Bryan, 135 n.

Spring, Dr. Samuel, starts project of
founding a divinity school, 148-51;
unites with founders of Andover
Theological Seminary, 151, 152.

"Stacking rooms," 399.

Stackpole, Markham W., 428, 520.

Stark, William, 268, 269.

Stearns, Alfred Ernest, at commemora-
tion meeting of the Society of In-
quiry, 429; steers course between
overemphasis on study and overin-
dulgence in play, 447;pitcher of base-
ball club, 458-60; his relations with
Andover, 604; his early career, 604,
605 ; Vice-Principal of Andover, 606 ;
appointed Principal of Andover, 506;
tribute of President Day to, 506; in-
stallation of, 507; changes during the
time of, 507-16; policies of, 516-21.

Stearns, Isaac, 504.

Stearns, Dr. Jonathan F., on John
Adams, 159; his description of the in-
terior of the new school building, 165,
166; student at Andover, 421; a
founder of Philomathean Society,
504.

Stearns, Rev. Josiah, 73, 93, 504.

Steams, Richard H., 299.

Stearns, Rev. Samuel, 159 n.

Stearns, William Augustus, 201, 315,
604.

Stearns, President William A., of Am-
herst, 337.

Stewart, Edwin, 300.

Stewart, John M., 364.

Stimson, Henry L., 621, 522.

Stone, David P., 357 n.

Stone, Valeria G., 357.

545

INDEX

Stone Academy, the, erection of, 204-
07; description of, 275, 276; de-
stroyed by fire, 309.

Stone Educational Fund, 357.

Storrs, Richard Salter, 228.

Stowe, Professor Calvin E., 187, 293,
317, 318.

Stowe, Frederick E., 294.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 187, 293, 318.

Strong, Caleb, 100.

Stuart, Professor Moses, occupies
Stuart House, 154; life, 164 n.; refer-
ence of, to Mrs. Adams, 179; dedi-
catory sermon on Bartlet Hall, 186;
at missionary meetings at the Presi-
dent's House, 195, 196; printing of
his Hebrew Grammar, 196; and the
Anti-Slavery Rebellion, 226; his
appearance, 316, 317; on the climate
and soil of New England, 317.

Stuart House, the, 149 n., 154.

Students' Educational Fund, 308.

Sumner, Charles, 101.

Sumner, Charles Pinckney, 101.

Sunday in 1810, 185.

Sunday-Schools, 182.

Sutherland, Alec, 493.

Swayne, Noah H., 262, 285.

Sweetser, Rev. Seth, 313, 405.

Swett, Sally, 119.

Swimming, 287, 449, 493.

Swinburne, A. C, quoted, 3.

Swope, Roland Davis, 441.

Symmes, Rev. William, 74, 111.

Taft, Charles P., 299.

Taft, William H., 521.

Tappan, Rev. David, member of Board
of Trustees of PhilUps Academy, 93;
Professor of Divinity at Cambridge,
93, 145; delivers sermon at funeral of
Judge Phillips, 123.

Taylor, Arthur Fairbanks, son of
Samuel Harvey, 259 n.

Taylor, Edward, 314, 359 n., 406.

Taylor, Emma L., 360.

Taylor, George Harvey, son of Samuel
Harvey, 259 n., 294, 295, 325, 332,
344.

Taylor, Captain James, father of Sam-
uel Harvey, 239.

Taylor, James, son of Samuel Harvey,
259 n.

Taylor, John Lord, 369; quoted on
Judge Phillips, 42; on Judge Phillips's
funeral, 123; on Dr. Taylor, 257;

Treasurer, 257, 304, 314; at Dr.
Taylor's funeral, 264; on John Aiken,
313; career, 314 n.

Taylor, John Phelps, 297, 307, 368, 369,
414.

Taylor, Samuel Harvey ("Uncle Sam"),
indifferent toward the non-classical
school, 218; excited strong admira-
tion and lasting animosities, 237; a
strong man, 237; ruled as a sovereign
at Andover, 238; his first appearance
in the recitation room, 238; the mul-
tiplicity of his responsibilities, 240,
241; his dislike for Harvard, 243; a
teacher of genius, 244 ; his method in
the classroom, 244-47; results of his
system, 247-50; his devotion to the
classics, 250, 251 ; publications of, 250,
251 ; his influence in morals and reli-
gion, 251-53; discipline under, 253,
254; his browbeating methods, 254,
255; lacked sense of proportion, 255;
never admitted himself in the wrong,
256; resorted to espionage, 256, 257;
estimate of, 258, 259; other activities
of, 259, 260; personal appearance of,
260; anecdotes of, 261, 262; not in
sympathy with change in curriculum,
263, 264, 274, 301; his punctuality,
264; death, 264; his funeral, 264, 265;
compared with Dr. Arnold and Dr.
Keate, 265, 266, 282; representative
of Puritan New England, 267; stu-
dent rebellions under, 268-75; his dis-
cussion of Harvard's attitude in re-
ceiving expelled students, 273; ridi-
culed in school papers, 281-83; and
apology for celebration, 285; and
schooloratory,289; took little interest
in the Civil War, 293; famous men
who were students under, 297-300;
on the harmony between the two de-
partments, 301; on the matter of
assistants, 306, 307; associated with
Professor Park in editorship of the
Bibliotheca Sacra, 319; bust of, 360.

Taylor, Mrs. Samuel H., 240, 259.

Taylor Cottage, 369.

Taylor HaU, 513.

Teachers, training for, 207.

Teachers' Halls, 229. See English Com-
mons.

Teachers' Seminary, erection of the
Stone Academy, 204, 206; mainly the
conception of 'Squire Farrar, 204,
206; character and purpose, 205-07;

546

INDEX

opened, 207, 208; Samuel Read Hall
the Principal of, 207; affairs of, ad-
ministered by Trustees of Phillips
Academy, 208; its equipment and
studies, 208-10, 215; description of,
210-12; change in name to "Teach-
ers' Seminary " and rearrangement of
curriculum, 212; appointment of Ly-
man Coleman as Principal, 213;
second change of name, 213; other
changes in curriculum, 213, 214; takes
on character of an English High
School, 214; irregularity of work in,
214, 215; instruction in agriculture
in, 216; tuition, 216; is merged in the
Academy, 217, 218; results of the
union, 218, 219; description of the
Stone Academy, 275, 276.

Telescopes of Alvan G. Clark, 279.

Temperance Society, 133.

Tenney, Lionel, 209.

Tennis, 491, 492.

Terrill, William H., 346, 369.

Thanksgiving Day, 118.

Thayer, David, 228.

Theological controversy, 408, 409.

Theological seminaries in America,
140-42.

Thompson, George, English anti-
slavery orator, 226.

Thompson, Samuel Hopkins, 295, 353.

Thomson, John Hanson, 293.

Thwing, Charles F., on Dr. Taylor's
system, 245, 249; on eating-clubs,
280; graduate of Andover, 297; at
commemoration meeting of the So-
ciety of Inquiry, 429.

Tilton, Benjamin, 324.

Tilton, Frederic William, appointment
of, as Principal of Phillips Academy,
323, 324; his readjustment of studies,
325, 326; establishes regular Faculty
meetings, 327; makes change in
Sunday services, 327; his discipline,
327-29; resignation, 329; his services
to the school, 329, 330; portrait of,
330 353.

Tilton, Lucinda (Newell), 324.

Tobey, Rufus B., 445.

Todd, John E., 305 n.

Town and gown, 397, 398.

Towne, Captain, 122, 146.

Townshend Acts, the, 22.

Track, 489.

Track games, 488-90.

Track house, 374.

Treasurer's Office, 360, 515.
"Triumvirate," the, 411, 412.
Trowbridge, Ellen, 324.
Trowbridge, John, 324.
Tucker, William J., 361, 414; quoted on

John Phillips, 49.
Tuition, 80, 92, 169, 208, 216, 308, 404.
Tyler, John Mason, 344.

Union Club, the, 280.
Union Theological Seminary, 333.
Unitarianism at Harvard College, 144,
145.

Vacations, 75, 117, 118, 291.
Vandalism, 398.
Vicksburg, surrender of, 294.
Vincent, his Explanation of the Shorter

Catechism, 172.
Vinton, W. M., 456.
Visitatorial System, 151.
Vocational academies, 206.
Vose, Rev. James Gardiner, 407.

Wadhams, William H., 439.

Waldo, Dr., 190.

Walker, Abbot, 94.

Wallace, "Kid," 476.

Walley, Samuel Hall, 188.

Ward, Joseph, 298.

Ward, William Hayes, 298.

Ward, Mrs., 319.

Wardwell, Solomon, 61, 76.

Ware, Rev. Herffy, 145.

Warren, Albert, 256.

Washburn, George, 298.

Washington, Augustine, son of Colonel
W. A. Washington, 135.

Washington, Judge Bushrod, 135 n.,
137.

Washington, Bushrod, son of Colonel
W. A. Washington, 135.

Washington, Bushrod Corbin, son of
Corbin, 136.

Washington, Bushrod C, son of Bush-
rod Corbin, 137.

Washington, Corbin, nephew of George
Washington, 136.

Washington, George, his words to
Congress on lack of powder, 28; en-
tertained in the Mansion House, 33;
at Valley Forge, 77; his views of
Pearson, 86; his visit to Andover,
106, 107; induced relatives to go to
the Andover School, 135-37.

Washington, George Corbin, 136.

547

INDEX

Washington, John Augustine, 136.

Washington, Richard Henry Lee, 136.

Washington, Colonel William Augus-
tine, nephew of George Washington,
136, 136.

Watertown protest of George Phillips,
6.

Watts, Dr., his Bymnsfor Children, 84.

Wayland, Francis, 299.

Wayland, President, of Brown, 260, 292.

Webber, President of Harvard College,
145.

Webster, Daniel, 177, 291, 362.

Weld, Theodore, 201.

Wellman, Rev. Joshua Wyman, 408.

Wells, James B., 451.

Wells, William Harvey, assistant and
later Head of the English Depart-
ment, at Andover, 216, 270, 302; ca-
reer, 216 n.; on Osgood Johnson, 223;
resignation, 302.

Wendell, Margaret, 8 re., 74, 165.

WendeU, Oliver, 8 n., 74, 78 n., 93,
112, 165.

Westford Academy, 81.

Wheeler, Arthur M., 298.

Wheelwright, William, 202.

White, Andrew D., 72.

White, Daniel Appleton, 39, 40.

White, Hannah, wife of Samuel Phil-
lips (3), 12.

White, John, 12.

Whitefield, George, 46, 70 n.

Whitehead, Cortlandt, 299.

Whitewell, Elizabeth, 108.

Willcox, Waiiam H., 357.

Williams, Talcott, 298.

Williams Hall, 512.

Willis, Nathaniel Parker, 173, 201.

Williston, Samuel, 201, 353.

Williston Seminary, 201.

Wilson, Thomas, 376.

Winchester, 71.

Winslow, John, 288.

Winslow, Miron, 202.

Winthrop, John, diary entry regarding
George Phillips, 7.

Winthrop, Robert C, 298.

Wisner, Rev. Benjamin B., 189, 192.

Wood, Bartholomew, 227.

Woodbridge, William, first Principal of
the Phillips Exeter Academy, 48.

Woods, Leonard, on Eliphalet Pearson,
144; first Professor of Christian The-
ology in Phillips Academy, 152; in-
augural address of, 153; house of,
156; missionary work of, 195, 196.

Woods, Leonard, Jr., 201.

Woods House, the, 155.

Worcester, Joseph Emerson, 137.

Worcester, Samuel T., on John Adams
as a disciplinarian, 168.

Wordsworth, William, quoted, 2, 182,
183.

Wrestling, 494.

Wright, Henry P., 298.

"X.Y.Z. papers," 121.

Yale College, trend toward, in An-
dover, 163, 244; trend toward, cor-
rected, 326; graduates of Andover in,
in recent years, 403.

Young, Charles A., 305 n.

Young, Edward, his Night Thoughts,
95.

Zion'sHill, 185-203.

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