USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume II > Part 68
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" The resources for the support of the school," said Professor Mer-
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METHODIST GENERAL BIBLICAL INSTITUTE.
rill, " were by no means ample at any time. As it was the first theological school proper of the Methodist Episcopal church, it had some persons in high stations to conciliate, mueh indifference to overcome, and to convince the masses of the Methodist ministers and people that it was really a needed element in their great work. That it was eminently useful and effective soon became very clear to most in the church. Some were so well satisfied as to be willing to do something to sustain it. The venerable bishop Elijah Hedding gave it his choice library and one thousand dollars toward its endowment. Lee Claflin, of Massachusetts, gave eleven hundred dollars. Daniel Drew, of New York, gave five thousand five hundred dollars ; Mrs. Eleanor Trafton, of Boston, a thousand dollars. Five thousand dol- lars was a sum held for the use of the institution by the White Mountain Lumber company. Mrs. Agnes Sutherland, of New York, afterward of Leith, Scotland, gave another thousand dollars, and Mr. Morrill, of East Kingston, gave three thousand dollars towards found- ing a professorship. There were many smaller subscriptions of the usual character. The endowment funds, including the above, though not large, were wisely invested. Besides this small endowment, eight conferences of the Methodist Episcopal church, all in New England, with the Troy and Black river, were pledged to raise funds annually, by collection in their churches, to maintain the board of instruction in their new school. The sums thus realized, though very small, were greatly needed and much appreciated."
The faculty of the institution, while in Concord, were as follows :
Reverend Bishop Elijah Hedding, D. D., senior bishop of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, was the first president, and so continued from 1847 until his death in 1852.
Reverend Osmon C. Baker, D. D., was professor of New Testa- ment, Greek, homiletics, church government and discipline, from 1847 to 1852, when he was made a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church, but from 1854 to 1868 he held the place of Bishop Hedding as president of the institute.
Reverend John Dempster, D. D., whose selection for a professor- ship was made several years before, was engaged in soliciting funds for the institute in 1846, and was professor of theology and eeclesi- astieal history from April 1, 1847, to November, 1854.
Reverend Charles Adams, D. D., was professor of Biblical liter- ature from April, 1847, to 1849.
Reverend Stephen M. Vail, D. D., was professor of Biblical and Oriental literature, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriae, and Arabic languages from 1849 to 1868.
Reverend John W. Merrill, D. D., was professor of mental and
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
moral philosophy, natural theology, ccclesiastical history, and the his- tory of doctrines, from 1854 until 1868.
Reverend David Patten, D. D., was professor of Christian and pastoral theology, homiletics, church government and discipline, from December 1, 1854, to 1868.
The coming of this "School of the Prophets " to Concord, in 1847, proved a valuable acquisition to the town. It brought, in faculty and students, many earnest and thoughtful men, whose presence and influence were a blessing to the community, and whose services were especially helpful in educational, religious, and social circles. Rev. Dr. Patten served as a member of the public school board from 1859 to 1867, with rare diligence and efficiency ; and the large number of theological students, the most of whom were young ministers, preached on Sundays in near-by mission chapels, and supplied the pulpits in churches without a pastor in many places in the state, through all the years the school continued with us. Several of the latter found, among the fair daughters of Concord, helpmates for their professional life-work. In the twenty-one years that the institution found a home in Concord, five hundred and seventy students received instruction in theological studies. Two hundred and eleven young ministers passed through the three years' course and were graduated. In the first seven years, from 1847 to 1854, thirty-four were graduated ; in the next seven years, eighty-three, and in the last seven years, ninety- four ; and most of them became effective ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Among the graduates and students who won dis- tinction as preachers may be mentioned : Reverends Lewis P. Cush- man, Jolın Cookman, George Prentice, W. F. Watkins, R. S. Stubbs, Charles U. Dunning, Charles Young, James O. Knowles, William V. Morrison, James B. Faulks, Dudley P. Leavitt, M. M. Parkhurst, William F. Hatfield, Richard Harcourt, Nathan G. Cheney, Norman J. Squires, Elijah Horr, and N. T. Whittaker. Three were mission- arics to China,-Stephen L. Baldwin, Carlos R. Martin, who died in China, and S. L. Gracy, who was also United States consul there ; and one, S. L. Golden, now (1899) in China, is one of the missionary secretaries of the Methodist Episcopal church. Reverend Albert D. Long, missionary to Bulgaria, has now been many years professor in Robert college, and Reverend Edwin Parker, D. D., has ever since he went to India been one of the most effective and useful missionaries
. in that distant Hindu land. A number have joined the Episcopal and Congregational churches, and labored faithfully in those denomi- nations. The seminary, while at Concord, settled forever the utility and practicability of theological seminaries in the Methodist church, and obtained for them the hearty sanction of its general conference.
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METHODIST GENERAL BIBLICAL INSTITUTE.
As the institute was removed from Newbury, Vt., to Concord, in 1847, on promises of better accommodations and increased support, -so, in 1868, after the expiration of another score of years, on the pledges of wealthy contributors in Massachusetts to provide the means for its further expansion, it was removed to Boston and be- came the nucleus of Boston university. April 24th of the latter year, Reverend Elisha Adams, who had been very closely identified with its interests from the beginning, and treasurer from 1852 to 1868, reported all expenses paid, and invested funds in cash value amounting to twenty-four thousand four hundred and sixty-eight dol- lars, besides notes and other obligations of uncertain value amounting to a nominal sum of five thousand nine hundred and forty-eight dol- lars ; and four hundred and eighty-three dollars in money were paid into the treasury of the new university. Such was the only source of income, in addition to conference collections, in the last days of the institute,-from which it may be easily imagined how scant it was before.
On the removal to Boston of the institute, its library, cabinets, and other portable property, some of the faculty were transferred to the new field of duty ; all left Concord save one, Professor Merrill, who, on account of advancing years, tarried here. He filled appoint- ments for a few years in his old conference, and then returned to Concord, where, after a long life of patient, unremitting, and un- wearying industry in the service of the Great Master, he passed to his reward, February 9, 1900, aged ninety-one years, and was buried at Wilbraham, Mass.
The institute buildings and land, on the removal of the school, reverted to the society of the North Congregational church, and the property was sold soon afterward to the Hosmers of Fisherville. The proceeds of the sale were applied to the purchase of a parsonage for the society, on Franklin street. The building was rented for tenements, by the new owners, until the night of November 28, 1870, when the venerable structure, nearly one hundred and nineteen years old, and " which had associated with it more of marked and precious history than any other building in the state," wrapped itself in flames, and in a blaze of glory was wafted to the skies.
CHAPTER XXXVII. ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
JAMES O. LYFORD.
Two miles west of the main street of Concord the Turkey river spreads into a small lake with irregular wooded shores. On the brow of the slope above the water on the side towards the city stood in colonial days a garrison house to protect the neighboring settlers from the Indians. As early as the year 1735 there was a mill at the lower end of the pond, and in the course of time a little settlement had grown up around it which was afterwards called Millville. To this settlement near the beginning of the nineteenth century was added a house, " which house," says Dr. Bouton, " was the first house of brick in Concord, and was built by Jacob Carter, father of Jacob Carter, now postmaster." The brick house was afterwards used as a farmhouse, and then became a summer residence of George Cheyne Shattuck, M. D., the founder of St. Paul's school.
In this building with modest beginning was started an educational institution which has become famous throughout the United States, and is well known abroad. Its students are from all parts of this country, with some representatives from foreign lands, and its gradu- ates have made their mark in all the walks of life. Its success has been phenomenal, and its present student body is limited only by the capacity of the school to care for pupils. The ordinary academy or boarding-school of the nineteenth century, so common in New Eng- land a few decades ago, has given place to the public school, or is eking out an uncertain existence amid adverse surroundings ; but this school, unique in its conception, without general endowment save the gifts of its founder during its early years, has expanded to large pro- portions, until it has become one of the few great preparatory schools of the country. Enlisted in its support is a large body of alumni and friends, who have enriched its surroundings with generous donations, until from the ancient brick structure where the first classes were .housed and taught, it has become a collection of buildings imposing in architectural design, and attractive to students and visitors alike. It is suburban and rural, and by the acquisition of contiguous terri- tory is likely to remain so, thus preserving the idea of the founder, that " Physical and moral culture can best be carried on where boys
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ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
live and are constantly under the supervision of the teachers and in the country."
Dr. Shattuck's early education at Round Hill school, Northamp- ton, Mass., which for ten years early in the nineteenth century occu- pied an unusual place among educational institutions, led to his founding a similar school when he came to educate his own sons. From this school of his youth, and from a few others he had known, Dr. Shattuck derived his ideas of a boarding-school for boys. The Round Hill school had closed because it was strictly a private enter- prise, started and conducted by gentlemen of very limited means. St. Paul's school was fortunate in the wealth and generosity of its
St. Paul's, Looking South from Pond.
founder, who gave liberally during its early years, and who promoted its expansion and improvement by all means in his power as oppor- tunity occurred. With a few restrictions in his deed of the gift of his property, to prevent the mortgaging of it for any purpose, to per- petuate its control in the Protestant Episcopal church, and to secure religious education in conformity with the doctrines of that church, Dr. Shattuck left the management entirely to its board of trustees, content to remain its constant helping friend.
Finding in his summer home, with its sequestered position among wooded hills and pleasant waters, a place fit for the fulfilment of his desire, Dr. Shattuck determined to devote it to that purpose. On June 26, 1855, St. Paul's school was incorporated by the New Hamp- shire legislature.1
1 See notes at conclusion of chapter.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
The incorporators met at the home of Dr. Shattuck in Millville, September 5, 1855, and organized the school by choosing trustees, all of whom were his personal friends. A deed of gift by Dr. Shattuck and his wife conveying to St. Paul's school, under the con- ditions before mentioned, three pieces of land situated on opposite sides of the road leading from Concord to Dunbarton, containing fifty- five and one third acres, together with certain buildings thereon, was presented and accepted. At this meeting the general plan of the school was considered and arrangements made for its opening at as early a date as possible. The old brick house had been enlarged and improved to make it a comfortable summer residence. With a few alterations and the supply of school furniture this building be- came the starting point of an educational institution. It was voted that the title of the principal of the school should be the "rector," and Roger S. Howard, of Bangor, Me., was chosen to that office.
Mr. Howard having declined the rectorship, the Reverend Henry A. Coit, then a missionary in Northern New York, was elected at a meeting of the trustees held January 15, 1856. While this offer to Mr. Coit was a compliment to his ability, for it put upon him the task of creating a school on the lines laid down by its founder, it was far from flattering in a worldly sense. He was frankly told, " You have possession of lands and buildings, but we cannot promise you a salary, and you must derive your support from the fees of the seholars." He began the work under these conditions. It was em- phatically a work of faith. How well he succeeded the history of the school is a living testimonial.
Dr. Coit was married early in the spring to Miss Mary Bowman Wheeler, of Philadelphia, and arrived with his wife in Concord, April 3, 1856. The school opened with three boys, George B. Shat- tuck, Horatio Bigelow, and Frederick C. Shattuck of Boston. The first and last were sons of Dr. Shattuck. Other boys came later, and the number soon exceeded ten. All the work of the school was done in that one brick house during the early days. For more than two years the boys walked to St. Paul's church in Concord every Sunday to the morning service, and in the afternoon attended with the rector a service which he held in the old red schoolhouse of the district. At first the rector, with one assistant, did the work of the school. There was a great difference between the school order · of a day in June, 1856, when only a dozen boys comprised the household, and the order which now regulates the day for several hundred boys. During the summer session of 1856 the rising bell was at 5 a. m., prayers at 5:45, breakfast at 6. The study and recitation hours were from 7 a. m. until 1: 30 p. m., broken by fif-
ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
teen minutes in- termission at 9 and half an hour at 11. Tea eame at 6:30 p. m., and there was an evening study hour from 8 to 9. The division of the school year was also very differ- ent from the present.
The decade following the first opening of the school was nec- essarily a time of germin- ation. There were many arrangements of the details of school life which had to be tested before their value or suitableness could be de- cided. The methods which have gradually come into use are a growth from the trials and experiences of early years. During this same period large additions were made to the accommodations and appliances by the generous pro- vision of Dr. Shattuck, augmented by savings from the annual income. In the spring of 1858 a wing was built on the southwest side of the house. The number of places for 00 00 80 E boys was thus increased to forty. During the same year a chapel was built and furnished, and ten years later enlarged, all at the expense of the founder. The bell in St. Paul's Upper School. The School, chapel and the "quarter bell " that now hangs in front of the schoolhouse have a history. They were taken from an old convent in Mexico, and hung for a long time in one of the railroad stations of Boston. In 1858 they were recast, and given by Dr. Shattuck to the school. He also presented the school with a small but valuable cabinet of natural history, the beginning of the present large collection. At the opening of the session in 1859 forty-three boys were in attendance. There were no vacancies, and applications began to be placed on file for those which would occur
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Lower School.
42
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Schoolhouse.
Gymnasium.
later ;- a custom which has since pre- vailed, until now the va- cancies occasioned by the graduation of a class are all spoken for long in ad- vance.
It was during the first fifteen years that many of the present school cus- toms had their rise, and most of the clubs and societies were organized. The silver medal which is now given by the rector on the last night of the session for distinguished excellence in the performance of school duties was first offered in 1857 by Gover- nor Baker, one of the trustees. ' It was conferred that year upon John Hargate, who entered the school in December, 1856, and who in 1861 was made a master of the school and is now at the head of the upper school.
The founder's birthday, July 23, was observed as the school fête day as long as the session included July ; but after 1862, a day in the early part of June was set apart as founder's day. What is now called " anniversary " is really a cel- ebration of Dr. Shattuck's birthday.
A gymnasium, with a bowling alley, was built by the founder in 1859, and contributed to the health and pleasure of the boys for nineteen years, or until it was replaced by the new gymnasium.
Dr. Shattuck, who strongly advocated out-of-door sports, intro- duced the game of cricket in June, 1857. The two elevens were first composed of boys sitting on opposite sides of a long dining-table. Baseball had none of the prominence which it now has, and its popu- larity followed long after cricket had taken root at St. Paul's. The school has devoted about one hundred acres of the best land it owns to grounds for sports, and the work and expense of putting these grounds into their present condition have been the contributions of teachers, students, and friends. The school also favors boating, swimming, and skating, and much attention is given to these sports.
The Missionary society was started by the rector in 1860. It was
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ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
designed to assist in the moral training of the older boys. Its purpose is to interest its members in char- itable work, and it is limited to thirty members. A store was conducted for several years by the society, at which most of the small Farmhouse. things needed at the school could be bought. The profits, often amounting to several hun- dred dollars a year, were given to general and special charity. The society taught the boys to realize that their advantages impose upon them the duty of caring for those not as high- ly favored as themselves.
Rectory.
Middle School.
The Horde Scholasticce, the well-known school paper, has been eon- ducted by the Missionary society since its foundation. The editorial board is composed of members of this society. The money received from the Horde goes into its treasury. The paper has had a contin- uous existence of thirty-four years, and its columns contain a large part of the history of the school. All the fête days, games, celebra- tions, buildings, gifts, and societies of the school are described in its pages. In late years a great deal of information about the graduates of the school has been given, the honors they have won at college, the public interests with which they have been concerned, and facts connected with their personal history.
In the first statement of the school, issued in 1858, it appears that a library of three hundred and fifty volumes, under the management of the boys, had been formed. The increase was not rapid for the next few years, but in 1873 a home was found for such collections as had been made in the new schoolhouse, built in 1872. A library association was formed, and the number of volumes is now nearly fifteen thousand. Its present home is the gift of the children of a former trustce, William C. Sheldon, and is a handsome building with all modern appointments.
The boy choir of the school is one of its features, and has connected with it a host of pleasant memories. It has for many years been the pride and delight of the school. . For thirty-two years the instruc- tion and training in voeal music have been the work of James C.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Knox, who began at the school as a pupil. The boys cheerfully give both study and play hours to practising, though no release from the regular school work is ever gained thereby. A holiday in the sum- mer term and one or two festivals in the fall and winter have been the only gratifications allowed.
Four organs have been in use in the school chapels at different periods. The first, which stood in the old chapel, was small, and is now in St. John's church, Dunbarton. The second organ, costing eight hundred dollars, was in use from 1868 to 1878. It is now in a church at Ashland, N. H. Both of these organs were the gifts of the founder. As the choir grew and improved, keeping pace with the enlargement of the school, the need of a better organ became pressing. In 1878 Mr. Knox took the matter up and through his efforts a fine new organ, costing eighteen hundred and fifty dollars, was secured. The instrument still occupies its original position in the old chapel. When the new chapel was built it seemed nec- essary to put in an organ in keeping with the building. The necessary sum was raised within two years, and the school now has an organ which has been pronounced as fine in tone and Chapel and Sheldon Library. quality as any in New England.
It is impossible to describe here in detail the growth of the school, the enlargement and addition of buildings, the improvement of grounds, the generosity of the founder in responding to the current needs, and the interest invoked in alumni and friends to provide for the school. Dr. Shattuck gave, from first to last, one hundred thou- sand dollars ; and the liberality of friends is attested by the beautiful chapel, library, and other buildings which add to the picturesqueness of the locality. The domain of the school had increased to one hun- dred and eighty-five acres in 1876, to five hundred and fifty acres in 1891, and now includes about nine hundred acres.
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ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL.
As early as 1875 the need of a new chapel was felt. The year 1880 marked the first steps towards raising the funds therefor. The rector's wife gave the first impulse, and received the first gifts. The Reverend William Stanley Emery, a graduate of the school, brought the subject to the attention of the alumni society in June, 1882. In one year over fifty thousand dollars had been subscribed. By May, 1885, the fund had grown to eighty thousand dollars, and in May, 1886, the total amount subscribed was one hundred and one thou- sand three hundred and forty-four dollars and eight cents. Up to the present time there has been expended upon it, exclusive of the en- dowment of twenty-five thousand dollars for its maintenance, the sum of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. It was conscerated June 5, 1888. The tower is a memorial to Mrs. Henry A. Coit, whose sacrifice and devotion, co-operating with the special gifts of her husband, exerted the largest and best influence in moulding and fashioning the life and spirit of the school.
With all the generous gifts made to it the school has not been without its misfortunes. The greatest of these was the fire of July, 1878. The old brick structure, which, with additions, furnished accommodations for eighty boys, was struck by lightning and totally destroyed. There were but six weeks remaining of the summer's vacation, and it did not seem possible to provide accommodations for the boys by the beginning of the school year. Many friends of the school were despondent, and some advised putting off the opening for two or three months, but the reetor's resolute energy met the dif- ficulties in the right way. The essential thing was to have no break in the school year. After hurried consultations with builders and others, he concluded that it would be possible, even in the short time, to arrange for the reception of every boy ; and when the regular day for opening the fall term arrived, the wreck and rubbish of the fire had been cleared away, various temporary arrangements had been completed, and the school began the term of 1878-'79 with undimin- ished numbers and with fairly satisfactory accommodations for every pupil.
The founder of the school died in Boston, March 22, 1893. For nearly twenty years he was a professor in the Harvard Medical school, and for part of this time dean of the medical faculty. He was one of the visiting physicians of the Massachusetts General hos- pital for thirty-six years, and president of the Massachusetts Medical society from 1872 to 1874, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Statistical society, and a member of the American Historical and Genealogical society. Be- sides his gifts to St. Paul's school, a church school at Faribault, Minn.,
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