USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Claremont > History of the town of Claremont, New Hampshire, for a period of one hundred and thirty years from 1764 to 1894 > Part 12
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LITERARY.
CHAPTER X.
SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES.
Prior to 1780 there were but two school districts in town - one on Town hill and the other near Union church. At the annual town meeting that year it was "Voted to raise thirty Pounds L. M., to be raised as wheat at five shillings pr. Bushel for ye support of schools." In 1781, " Voted and chose Elihu Stevens, Esq., Mr. Josiah Rich, and Lieut. Barna Ellis, a com- mittee to divide the town of Claremont into districts, as they think proper, for the benefit of schools." In 1800 the sum of six hundred dollars was voted for this purpose; in 1810, eight hundred; in 1820, one thousand dollars. At the annual town meeting in 1824, the Rev. Jonathan Nye introduced the follow- ing preamble and resolutions, which were adopted :
Whereas a prudent and judicious regulation and management of our schools is highly necessary and important for the instruction and benefit of the rising generation as well as for the peace and prosperity of the town, therefore
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to superintend and visit the schools in town, as near their commencement and close as may be convenient, in order that they may be able to judge of the improvement which the scholars shall have made.
Resolved, That if any difficulty shall arise in any school, or any complaint be made respecting the master, or any irregularity be discovered or complained of in either, this committee shall be called in by the master, or agent of the dis- trict, and said committee shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to dismiss the master, or any irregular or unruly scholar, if in their opinion the good of the school or interest of the district require it.
Resolved, That said committee be empowered to direct what books shall be used in the schools. It is not the understanding, however, that the scholars shall be obliged to purchase an entire set of new books at once; but as
134
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
fast as new ones are needed, such books shall be procured as the said com- mittee may select, that in process of time there may be an uniformity in all the schools in town.
Resolved, That no agent of the town shall hire any instructor, or continue him or her in the employ of the district, who does not, previous to the com- mencement of his or her school, or within twenty days from such time, obtain a certificate from said committee of his or her qualifications to instruct- and that his or her moral character is unimpeached.
Resolved, That this committee shall receive such compensation for their ser- vices as the prudence and judgment of the selectmen shall consider reasonable, provided that the same do not exceed one dollar per day.
The Rev. Mr. Nye, the Rev. Mr. Howe, and Samuel Fiske were chosen to serve as visiting committee of the schools. At the annual town meeting in 1826 it was voted not to choose school visiting committee. In 1830 it was voted to raise what money the law required for the support of schools.
New school districts were formed from time to time in town, as the increasing population made necessary. For many years preceding 1884 there were nineteen districts, in which were twenty-five schools. By an act of the legislature authorizing the same, in that year the three village districts, Nos. 1, 15, and 17, were consolidated into one, called Union school district. A board of education, consisting of O. B. Way, L. S. Hastings, H. C. Fay, I. D. Hall, E. Vaughan, and C. H. Weed, was chosen. They graded the scholars, and established in the district nine schools - five primary, three intermediate, and one grammar. The money apportioned to this district in 1884 was three thousand three hundred and seventy dollars and eighty cents. In 1886 the school district system was abolished by act of the legislature, and each town was made one district for schooling. At a meeting of the town school district, on March 22, 1886, Edwin Vaughan, Israel D. Hall, and John Bailey were chosen a school board.
Mrs. Harriet E. Tappan, widow of John W. Tappan of Clare- mont, who died October 3, 1873, left a will in which was this clause :
To the Town of Claremont, in said County of Sullivan, to be Kept Safely invested by said town, and the income thereof paid over annually to the Pru-
STEVENS HIGH SCHOOL.
PARAN STEVENS.
135
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
dential Committees of the several school districts in said town in proportion to the number of scholars, to be expended by said Committee in their discretion for prizes for best scholarship and to enable indigent scholars to attend the High School in said town.
The amount thus bequeathed and paid over to the town by the executor was thirty thousand and five hundred dollars. This amount has been kept at interest, and the income expended according to the terms of the will. Prudential committees have generally given prizes in money to scholars in their several dis- tricts for excellence of scholarship, deportment, and constancy and punctuality of attendance upon school, so that any child, however backward or dull as a scholar, may get a share of this prize money.
In the early days of the settlement of the town, the schools in some of the out or hill districts were quite large- ranging from twenty to sixty scholars - where now in some of them there are next to none, and in others not enough to warrant the em- ployment of a teacher. In the district for many years designated No. 16, at the north side of Green mountain, on the Cat Hole road, early in the present century there were twenty or more scholars, while now it is said that there is not within its limits a child of legal school age, or an inhabited dwelling-house.
STEVENS HIGH SCHOOL.
In the summer of 1866, Paran Stevens of New York city, a son of Josiah Stevens, one of the early inhabitants of Claremont, whose ancestors and relatives spent their lives here, and whose graves are in our cemeteries, proposed to donate the sum of ten thousand dollars to aid in founding a high school, provided that the town would appropriate a like sum for that purpose. In the autumn of that year a town meeting was called to consider and act upon the subject, and the citizens, with great unanimity, voted to accept the donation offered by Mr. Stevens, with the condition named, and voted to raise and appropriate fifteen thousand dol- lars, which, with the ten thousand dollars from him, was to be used to purchase a lot and erect a school building. Samuel P.
136
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
Fiske, George N. Farwell, Nathaniel Tolles, Aurelius Dickinson, and Benjamin P. Gilman were chosen a committee to carry out this object. The homestead lot of the late George B. Upham, corner of Broad and Summer streets, and running back to Mid- dle street, containing nearly two acres, on which was then no building except a small law office which had been for years occu- pied by Mr. Upham-one of the most eligible and valuable lots in town - was selected for the school building, and purchased of John S. Walker, a son-in-law of Mr. Upham, for the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars. Materials were bought and other preparations made for the speedy erection of a brick high school building forty-four by sixty-four feet on the ground, two stories high, with a French or Mansard roof, which, as completed, is one of the most elegant, substantial, and convenient edifices for the purpose for which it was built in the state. In it are four large school-rooms, large vestibules, basement for furnaces, fuel, etc., and an elegant hall in the upper story, the size of the whole building. The building is ample for the accommodation of two hundred students. When completed, the cost for site, grading, building, furniture, and iron fence was $27,225.27. It was finished, furnished, and ready for occupancy the first of September, 1868.
Mr. Stevens, not to be outdone by the town, paid for the bricks for the building, for a portion of the iron fence, and in other ways contributed full half of the cost of the high school building and the lot on which it stands. Soon after the completion of the building he gave to the town ten thousand dollars towards a per- manent fund for the support of the school, and also presented full life-size oil portraits of George Washington and Daniel Web- ster, painted by the best artists in this country and considered very valuable, which now hang in the hall of the school building, and a Chickering full concert grand piano. At his death, which occurred on the twenty-fifth of April, 1872, Mr. Stevens by his will bequeathed forty thousand dollars, to be paid within two years of the time of his death, to be added to the ten thousand dollars before given, for a fund, the interest of which is to be used for the support of the school. This forty thousand dollars has not
137
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
yet been paid over to the town by the executors of the will, but it is believed that it will be at no very distant day, with interest. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Stevens's donations for the school which bears his name will amount to $65,000, $50,000 of which must forever remain as a fund for its support.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1868, Edward L. God- dard, John S. Walker, Ira Colby, Jr., H. W. Parker, and Hiram Webb - one from each religious society in town - were chosen the high school committee; and it was voted to give to this new institution of learning the name of the Stevens High School. It was the expressed wish of Mr. Stevens, and indeed of the town generally most interested in its welfare and permanent success, that the school should he kept entirely free from anything like sectarianism, and that its exercises, instruction, and management should be acceptable alike to all religious denominations. The committee accordingly made a regulation that "The morning sessions shall begin with reading the Bible, singing, and repeat- ing the Lord's Prayer in concert by the whole school."
The first term of the Stevens High School commenced on the seventh of September, 1868, with ninety-eight scholars who had reached the age of thirteen years, and had passed the requisite ex- amination, all but sixteen of whom belonged in town. There is a regulation that scholars from other towns may be admitted to this school by paying a moderate term fee. The teachers were Dr. N. Barrows of Berwick, Me., principal, assisted by Miss Mary J. Wightman, of Claremont, and Miss H. W. Freeley, of Springfield, Vt., and Mr. A. P. Wyman, as teacher of vocal music. At the close of the first term Miss Freeley resigned, and Miss Ruth P. Per- kins, of Pomfret, Vt., filled her place, and she was succeeded in the third term by Miss A. H. Carleton, of Haverhill, N. H. At the close of the school year, in June, 1869, there was an examina- tion by a committee consisting of the Rev. I. G. Hubbard, D. D., W. H. H. Allen, Rev. Francis W. Towle, Rev. Francis Chase, and James P. Upham, which was creditable to teachers and scholars.
Dr. Nathan Barrows continued as principal, with several assist- ants, three years, and was succeeded by Mr. Arthur J. Swain. The
10
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
course prescribed in this school is four years, at the end of which scholars who graduate and receive diplomas are fitted to enter almost any college. At the close of the fourth school year the ex- amining committee reported the school to have been eminently successful. The faithfulness of the teachers and the deportment and diligence of the scholars were mentioned in highly compli- mentary terms. Seven scholars - one boy and six girls - had not been absent or tardy during the year.
A. J. Swain resigned October 4, 1880, to take effect the middle of the fall term. His resignation was accepted, and R. S. Bingham was elected principal, and occupied the position to the end of that school year. In September, 1881, L. S. Hastings took charge of the school as principal, and continued until the close of the school year, in June, 1890, and was succeeded by Melville C. Smart, the present principal.
Mrs. Mary J. Alden, of Claremont, who died November 11, 1869, by her will bequeathed to the town her entire estate, which, at the death of her husband, was to go into a fund for the benefit of the Stevens high school, the income to be given annually in prizes to the three graduates of the school who should rank highest for proficiency and excellence in English studies. Her husband, Ezra B. Alden, died in 1874. This bequest, when it came into the hands of the trustees of the fund, consisted of real estate on High street, and $428.11 deposited in the Sullivan Savings Institution.
Following are the names of graduates, at the end of a four years' course of study, of the Stevens High School, and also of those to whom the Alden prizes have been paid :
1874.
Henry E. Bailey.
Darwin Comings.
Chalmers W. Stevens.
Alice F. Bailey. Fanny Chamberlin. Emma L. Cowles.
Clara L. Hunton.
Nellie L. Knights. Fannie A. Spencer.
Imogene B. Hudson. 1875.
Fred H. Rugg.
Lizzie Bardwell. Ella M. Phelps.
Anna J. Brooks.
Mary Roberts. Mary T. Young.
Rosa B. Allen. Ada I. Ayer.
Fannie S. Goss.
Ida M. Lufkin.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
1876.
Edward D. Reardon. Hoell Tyler.
Josiah D. Wilson.
Luella F. Smith.
Hattie A. Bailey.
Mary B. Deane.
Marion L. Eggleston. Alice B. Ide.
Anna T. Lovering.
Lelia Mullen.
Ida G. Rugg.
1877.
Edwin S. Bailey. Charles M. Fitch. Morris G. Fitch. Kate Cowles.
Lilla D. Ide.
Della J. Lufkin.
Francis E. Johnson.
Elizabeth G. Phelps.
Carrie A. W. White.
1878.
Burt Chellis. Rush Chellis. Mott A. Cummings.
Willard C. Hunton.
Gratia M. Jones.
George H. Ide.
Bertha S. Allen.
Estella G. Henry.
1879.
Elmer S. Hunter. William H. Hunton.
Marion P. Bartlett.
Fannie Roberts.
Flora E. Nelson.
Cora E. Stowell.
1880.
James C. Flanders. Walter A. Pierce. George E. Quimby.
Lewis J. Quimby.
Sarah Ide.
Kate E. Brooks.
Mary E. Emerson.
Nettie F. Glidden.
1881.
Charles F. Chase. Maurice L. Clark.
Eugene H. Hunter.
Marcia B. Chellis. Mary L. Deane.
Florence B. Davis. Addie M. G. Walker. Etta M. Wolcott.
1882.
Albro Blodgett. William E. Chaffin. Thomas J. Harris. Josiah Ide.
Kate I. Bliss. E. Belle Durant. M. Lulu Fitch. Esther A. Hubbard.
Nellie C. Lewis.
Hattie E. Perkins. Jenny M. Perley. Ellen F. Phelps. Julia E. Wells.
Annie F. Morrill. Ida Proctor.
Velma G. Allen.
Orinda A. Boucher.
Jenny M. Mellen. M. Evelyn Tolles.
Stephen J. Roberts, Jr.
Minnie Bell. Rosella Perry.
Henry W. Allen. William E. Barrett. William H. Drury. George E. Little. 1 Frank H. Perry.
140
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
1883.
Ned Blake. Alice C. Chase.
Arthur Chase, Jr. Charles A. Perkins. William Tutherly. Mary B. Allen. Annie L. Bailey.
Kate F. Bailey. Delia M. Boucher.
Elizabeth A. Cassidy.
Carrie I. Foster.
Vesta A. Piper.
1885.
Ora D. Blanchard. Ora E. Cowles. William B. Deane. Russell Jarvis, Jr. Herbert F. Quimby.
Frank J. Reynolds. Martin Sears. Walter Thayer. John M. Whipple. George E. Wolcott. 1886.
Thomas Sears. Herbert T. Spencer.
Sheriden A. Stowell. Susie D. Bailey. 1887.
Myra L. Briggs. Emily E. Brooks. Frances E. Fisher. 1888.
Clifton E. Densmore. George L. Hall. Edwin J. Heywood. Herbert E. Rice.
Josephine M. Bailey. Clara E. Bartlett.
Mary A. Bailey. Elizabeth M. Hoban. Rose F. Jenkins.
1889.
Alger V. Allen. John L. Ayer. Orlan P. Fitch.
William R. Jarvis. Charles N. Piper. Augusta Briggs.
Carrie H. Gay. Mary I. Goodrich. Louie G. Hawkes. Mabel R. Hatch.
Edith M. Howard.
Ellen P. Jones.
Mary Pierce. Hattie Rossiter.
Florence L. Kempton. Nellie V. Kempton.
Forris J. Moore. Lizzie S. Parker.
Annie S. Elmer. Jennie M. Hall. Evelyn Jenks. Mary A. Jones.
Emma H. Parker.
Charles F. Abbott. Ned W. Blood. Eugene D. Burbank. Lewis J. Richardson.
Anna Eveleth. Sadie C. Farwell. Myrtie B. Symonds. Josie L. Willey.
Emerson A. Quimby. Minnie A. Back.
Bertha A. Pierce. Ida L. Stowell.
Alice A. Stowell. Cora D. Whipple. Florence C. Whitney. Minnie M. Wolcott.
Ella G. Leet. Ellen B. Nott. Della M. Perry. Bert P. Porter.
Henry C. Sanders, Jr. Edgar W. Stockwell.
Nettie Clark. Stella Graves. Jennie L. Parker. 1884.
SUGAR RIVER AT HIGH WATER.
-
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
1890.
Florence M. Blanchard.
Grace L. Bond.
Hannah M. Carroll.
Sarah T. Emerson.
Grace M. Fifield.
Agnes N. Hodgson. Ollie A. Lewis.
Fannie F. Wilson.
1891.
Franklin E. Perkins. James E. Rossiter. Mabelle R. Burbank. Nellie C. Chandler.
Lillian I. Macomber. Annie F. McGrath. Amy L. McQuaid. Minnie H. Tolles.
Sarah E. Briggs. John W. Dow. Catherine F. Eaton. Grace P. Hooper. Ethel F. Taylor. Mary C. Nott.
Charles S. Farrington. Charles H. Webster. Grace T. Bouck. Mary E. Shepard.
Harriet M. Sanders. Wilhelmina E. Stowell. Mabel Tolles.
Ida B. McCoy.
William F. Whitcomb. Nettie M. Frye. Alice Goodrich.
Estelle M. Grandy.
Mabel S. Thomas.
1893.
Lillian J. Deane.
Anna L. Hall.
Alleen E. Messer.
Isabella G. O'Neil. Stella E. Putnam.
Lois A. Whipple. Mary I. Heywood. Mary A. Jenney. Verlina R. Pierce. Ola M. Pope.
1894.
Gertrude L. Grandy. Carrie W. Hooper. Minnie M. Parker. Marian E. Pierce. Verne M. Rowell. Lillian A. Sholes. Albert E. Smith.
Emily H. Lewis.
Flora A. Magown. Abbie M. Perkins. Ella P. Robbins.
Marian I. Rice.
Florence A. Sleeper.
Charles T. Rossiter. Don Colby. John E. Allen. Charles F. Weed. George C. Warner. Georgietta A. Baker. Clara J. Bell.
Edward E. Houghton. Walter B. Woolley. Ruth E. Hubbard. William H. H. Fitch.
1892.
Herman Holt, Jr. Frank A. Angier. Rolla A. Healey. Urbane P. Pierce. Harry F. Rowell.
John C. Angier. Bessie R. Balcom. Lillian M. Bartlett. Emma J. Burke. Cora M. Dunsmoor. Edna N. Dyke. Ida B. Ewing.
Ada M. Stockwell. Lulu J. Thrasher. Mary D. Walker. Isabella I. Whitcomb. Mary A. Wilson. Ervin E. Woodman. Bessie M. White.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
MARY J. ALDEN PRIZES.
1879.
1880.
1st prize,
Cora E. Stowell,
$60
1st prize,
James C. Flanders,
$50
2d
Flora E. Nelson,
50
2d
Nettie F. Glidden,
40
3d
William H. Hunton,
40
3d
Lewis J. Quimby,
30
3d
Annie F. Morrill,
30
1881.
1882.
1st prize,
Maria B. Chellis,
$50
1st prize,
Nellie C. Lewis,
$50
2d
Florence B. Davis,
40
2d
Julia E. Wells,
40
3d
Addie M. G. Walker,
30
3d
E. Belle Durant,
30
1883.
1884.
1st prize,
Mary Pierce,
$50
1st prize,
Kate F. Bailey,
$50
2d
Alice Chase,
40
2d
Lizzie S. Parker,
40
3d
Jennie L. Parker,
30
3d
Mary B. Allen,
30
1885.
1886.
1st prize,
Emma H. Parker,
$50
1st prize, Eugene D. Burbank,
$50
2d
Annie S. Elmer,
40
2d
Myrtie B. Symonds,
40
3d
Jennie M. Hall,
30
3d
Lewis J. Richardson, 30
1887.
1888.
1st prize,
Emerson A. Quimby,
$50
1st prize,
Mary Adelaide Bailey,
$50
2d
Bertha A. Pierce,
40
2d
FlorenceCynthia Whitney, 40
3d
Ida L. Stowell,
30
3d
Herbert Eugene Rice, 30
1889.
1890.
1st prize,
Henry C. Sanders, Jr., $50
1st prize,
John E. Allen,
$50
2d
William R. Jarvis,
40
2d
Abbie M. Perkins,
40
3d
Mabel R. Hatch,
30
3d
Charles F. Weed,
30
1891.
1892.
1st prize,
Ruth E. Hubbard,
$50
1st prize,
Grace P. Hooper,
$50
2d
William H. Fitch,
40
2d
John W. Dow,
40
3d
Frank E. Perkins,
30
3d
Charles H. Webster,
30
1893.
1894.
1st prize,
Isabella G. O'Neil,
$50
1st prize,
Carrie W. Hooper,
$50
2d
Lois A. Whipple,
40
2d
Emma J. Burke,
40
3d
Mary A. Jenney,
30
3d
Ida B. Ewing,
30
REV. VIRGIL H. BARBER'S ACADEMY.
Virgil H. Barber was a son of Rev. Daniel Barber, for many years rector of Union church. He became an Episcopal clergy- man, and after a few years a convert to the Catholic faith, and
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
was ordained a priest. In 1823, with the aid of Catholics in Canada, he commenced the erection of a building for a school and a Catholic church adjoining, nearly opposite Union church. Here he established a classical and scientific school, which he managed for several years. It was patronized by Protestants as well as the few Catholics in the vicinity. After Mr. Barber left, the school was continued for a time by others, among them Jo- siah Sweet, who afterwards became an Episcopal clergyman. The church building, known as St. Mary's, was occupied by the Cath- olics until 1866, and is now standing.
CLAREMONT ACADEMY.
Prior to 1840 there had been a number of private or select schools in town where the higher branches were taught for dif- ferent periods, but no suitable building for them was to be had. For a year or more L. Hunt had kept a popular select school, and more students than could be accommodated in any available quarters had applied for admission. To supply what seemed a pressing need, Mr. Kent, Simeon Ide, Edward L. Goddard, and three others, sharing alike, subscribed a sum sufficient for the purpose, and erected a building costing about one thousand dol- lars, at the corner of Sullivan and Walnut streets, and named it Claremont Academy, which was rented to different teachers from time to time, until the establishment of the Stevens High School. Among the principals of this academy were L. Kent, Josiah Swett, David Cummings, Milon C. McClure, Edwin A. Charlton, Henry Chase, C. C. Church, and Miss Mary Chamberlain. This building was sold in 1869 to George W. Howe, and converted into a dwelling-house.
CHAPTER XI.
LITERARY SOCIETIES. - LIBRARIES. S. - NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY. - NEWSPAPERS.
The first organization in Claremont for debating, declamations, and other literary exercises, was formed February 2, 1791, and con- sisted of six members, who adopted the following constitution :
We whose names are hereunto subscribed, being ambitious to enlarge and improve our own minds, meliorate and refine our hearts, &c., render ourselves usefull among our fellow men, do hereby form ourselves into a literary friendly society - a Society the very existence of which rests on candor, freedom, and. friendship. We most solemnly engage, like a little band of Brothers, to sup- port and assist each other in ascending the regular grades of literature ; to point out, smooth and in concert tread the path of friendship, and to cultivate all the social virtues. We firmly oblige ourselves to obey such laws and regu- lations as are or may be formed and adopted by a majority of this Community. While performing the duties required by the rules of this Society we bind ourselves to correct in a kind, friendly, gentle, and endearing manner each other's foibles and errors. Being convinced by reasons, which strike the mind at first blush, that the purposes for which we associate require profound secrecy, we pledge our honor as men, we engage by the most sacred ties of this our Brotherhood and by everything we hold dear, to exert ourselves to conceal the transactions and indeed the existence of this institution from every person unconnected with it.
The original members of this society were Jabez Upham, Sol- omon Blakeslee, John W. Russell, Thomas Sterne, Jr., George B. Upham, and Perley Marsh. Between July, 1791, and Decem- ber, 1795, nine others were admitted to membership, as follows : Nathan Smith, John H. Sumner, Joseph Petty, Benjamin J. Gil- bert, Frederick A. Sumner, John Lane, Samuel Fiske, John Tappan, and Jonathan Fisk, Jr. Four honorary members were
145
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
admitted, viz .: Sanford Kingsbury, John Strobridge, William Breck, and Major Dustin. All these men were prominent citi- zens of the town in their time. No new members could be admitted without the unanimous consent of the society.
Regular meetings were held every Friday evening at the house of William Breck - the same that is now the home of Charles P. Breck, West Claremont. The rules of this society were quite rigid. The by-laws provided that "It shall be the duty of each member at every stated meeting of the society to exhibit a piece of his own composition, consisting of not less than one hundred and fifty words, or speak a piece." Extemporaneous disputations were held every second regular meeting, the president naming the subject. Each member neglecting a stated performance, and not excused by the society, was to be fined sixpence; and absence from meetings, without sufficient excuse, one shilling. The meet- ings were continued until April, 1796.
UNITED FRATERNITY OF YOUNG MEN.
A few young men met December 15, 1848, and organized a society under this name. The preamble to the constitution which they adopted explains the objects of this association : "We, the young men of Claremont, believing it to be our duty to improve and cultivate those faculties and powers of the mind which our Creator has bestowed upon us; and believing also that a more perfect union among ourselves is necessary to accomplish this great object, do therefore agree to adopt and sustain the following constitution and by-laws."
New members could be admitted by a vote of two thirds of those present at a regular meeting, and a member could be ex- pelled by the same vote. The first officers were Daniel M. Keyes, president; Edwin F. Way, vice-president; George Hitchcock, secretary ; Alfred Tracy, treasurer; J. D. Billings, doorkeeper. The first question discussed was, " Are secret societies beneficial to the members ?" Disputants appointed, affirmative, J. D. Bil- lings and Alfred Tracy; negative, George O. Way and Edwin A. Charlton. It was a kind of secret society, using signs and
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