USA > Ohio > Portage County > Hiram > Alumni directory of Hiram College, 1850-1925 > Part 33
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Wheeler, George, 114
Wheeler, George J., 54
Wheeler, Hattie A., 42
Wheeler, J. D., 80
Wheeler, Lester O., 73
Wheeler, Lottie, 74
Whitling, W. J., 97
Wheeler, Mary, 79
Wheeler, Matilda, 115
Wheeler, Mildred, 31
Wheeler, Nellie, 88
Wheeler, Robert S., 33
Whitney, Clarence F., 46 Whitney, Mrs. DeWitt, 78 Whitney, F. C., 83 Whitney, Mrs. Frances, 109 Whitney, Mrs. H. J., 76 Whitney, J. B. 112
Whitney, John F., 5
Whitney, Mrs. M. E., 86
Whitney, Olive S., 129
Whitney, Robert E., 69 Whitney, W. H., 86
Whitney, Mrs. W. H., 90
Whiton, Cutis W., 95 Whittington, Mrs. W. P. 106 Whittlesey, Clara, 112, 136 Whittlesey, Randall, 131 Wichert, Anthony H., 67
Wettach, A., 137
Wetterholt, Mary Salome, 8, 36 Wetz, Mrs. Harvey, 69
White, Laura L., 15
196
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DIRECTORY
Wicht, Edmund, 56
Williams, Ella B., 72
Wick, W. W., 135
Williams, Ettie, 74
Wickersham, Mrs. Helen, 87
Williams, F. A., 6, 12, 130
Wilson, Bert W., 22
Wicks, C. B., 83 Widdowson, W. C. 101
Williams, Flora, 83
Williams, Francis E., 117
Wilson, Blanche, 100
Wiggens, Charles B., 135
Williams, Frederick, 5
Wilson, Byron A., 106
Wiggens, N. B., 130
Williams, Gilbert, 59
Wiggens, W. D., 138
Williams, Mrs. H. D., 14
Williams, Howard R., 54
Wight, Sedgwick N., 29
Williams, Mrs. Howard R., 109
Wight, Mrs. Sedgwick N., 33
Wight, William N., 9
Williams, Ila B., 28
Wightman, Alvin P., 106
Williams, J. A., 131
Wightman, Lewis D., 135
Williams, J. G., 135
Wightman, W. P., 74
Williams, Mrs. J. Rees, 89
Wilber, A. G., 128, 130
Williams, James, 134
Wilber, C. E., 119
Williams, John, 114
Wilber, Charles, 6
Williams, Julia, 41
Wilson, Effa Grace, 103
Wilber, Cina, 86
Williams, Karl E., 68
Wilson, Ellene E., 67
Wilber, Eliza D., 115, 116
Williams, Mrs. Lena, 75
Williams, Lewis, 131
Wilson, F. B., 85
Wilber Mary, 127
Williams, Lewis W., 37
Wilson, F. G., 83
Wilber, Mary L., 118
Williams, Mrs. Lewis W., 37
Wilson, F. Josephine 81
Wilber, Rebecca J., 129
Williams, Mrs. Lucille, 108
Wilson, Gaines R., 68
Wilber, William, 114
Williams, M. L., 138
Wilson, George F., 102
Wilcott, C. F., 121, 130
Williams, Mamie R., 100
Wilson, George W., 138
Wilcott, Dice, 139
Williams, Margaret G., 53
Wilson, Gertrude Mae, 64
Wilcott, George, 123
Williams, Margaret L., 59
Wilson, H., 126
Wilcott, Julia H., 134 Williams, Mary A. D., 124
Wilson, H. R. C., 99
Wilcox, Daniel, 130
Wilcox, Eliza, 115
Williams, Paul F., 64
Wilson, Harry M. 42
Wilcox, Ella, 74
Williams, Paul W., 47
Wilson, Mrs. Harry M., 40
Wilcox, Ernest, 81
Williams, Mrs. R. E., 80
Wilson, Harriet, M., 124 .
Wilcox, Mary, 115
Williams, Ralph T., 25
Wilson, Hazel R., 56
Wilcox, Nelson M., 134
Williams, Mrs. Ralph T., 22
Wilson, Henry J., 30 Wilson, Henry M., 112, 135
Wild, Harold C. 45
Williams, Sophia M., 112, 129 Williams, Tyler, 117 Williams, Vernie, 99
Wilson, Mrs. Howard C., 52
Wilder, Mrs. W. B., 75, 111
Williams, W. B., 128
Wilson, Ida, 73
Wildman, George E., 67
Williams, W. W., 24
Wilson, J. A., 123
Wildman, Julia, 127
Williamson, Amy, 43
Wilson, J. A., 101
Wildman, S. C., 130
Williamson, Arba G., 31
Wilson, Jennie E., 139
Wildman, S. C., 126
Williamson, Bethel L., 59
Wilson, Jennie V., 136
Wileman, Cordelia M., 125
Williamson, E. D., 30
Wilson, John Lewis, 66
Wilfong, Harl J., 58
Williamson, Mrs. E. D., 103
Wilson, Julia A., 6
Wilfong, Mrs. Harl J., 64
Williamson, Earl C .. 37
Wilson, Julius J., 15
Wilhelm, Frances V., 57
Williamson, Estelle L., 46
Wilson, L. S., 135 Wilson; Laura B., 133, 134
Wilkes, Lulu C., 103
Williamson, Henry Julius, 67
Wilson, Leonard J., 22
Wilkes, Mabel, 36
Williamson, Julius, 135
Wilson, Mrs. Lepha, 94
Wilkins, Arthur F., 67
Williamson, Shirley, 46
Wilson, Louise C., 106
Wilkins, J. G., 83
Williamson, W. P., 130 Williard, Myrtle, 99
Wilson, M. H., 84
7
Willard, Judson, 114
Willman, A. B., 100
Wilson, Mabel E., 54
Willard, Thomas C., 14
Willment, Ada L., 27
Wilson, Marjorie R., 60
Willcutt, Locida, 139
Willyard, Katherine E., 93
Wilson, Mary, 97
Willett, Earl F., 69 Willetts, W. M., 128 Willey, J. M., 78
Wilmot, Adelaide, 79
Wilson, Mrs. Mary B., 90
Wilson, Mary E., 134
Williams, A. A., 81
Wilmot, Ernest P., 73
Wilson, O. S., 134
Williams, Alice J., 129
Wilmot, Grace, 139
Wilson, Olive Vine 54
Williams, Alice O., 70
Wilmot, Herbert F., 77
Wilson, Paul L., 33
Williams, Almer D., 64
Wilmot, L. T., 84
Wilson, Mrs. Paul L., 38
Williams, Mrs. Almer D., 68
Wilmot, Mrs. L. T., 86 Wilmot, Lois E., 52 Wilmot, Lucina, 72 Wilmot, Mary, 116
Wilson, Mrs. R. C., 19
Williams, Amanda M., 64 Williams, Arthur J., 65 Williams, Belle, 91 Williams, C. S., 72
Wilmot Minnie A., 81
Wilson, Walter Scott 106
Williams, Mrs. Carrie, 95
Wilmot, Virgil P., 105 Wilsdon, Belle, 93
Williams, Clara, 136
Williams Cora E., 137 Williams, D. A., 45
Williams, Mrs. D. A., 107
Williams, Dorothy E., 67 Williams, E. H., 77
Williams, Enid C., 106
Wilsdon, Elizabeth, 93 Wilsdon, Florence M., 40 Wilsdon, Lutie S., 68 Wilson, A. C., 74, 138 Wilson, Abby L., 132 Wilson, Mrs. Aletha, 98
Wilson, William, 97 Wilson, William W., 63 Wilson, Mrs. Wililam W., 62 Wiltshire, M. Bernice, 60 Winbigler, Francis, 126
Winbigler, J. B., 119
Winbigler, Richard, 123 Winch, James P., 56
Wiggins, Helen, 22
Wilson, Carrie, 77 Wilson, Celestia, 133, 134 Wilson, Charles C., 34 Wilson, Mrs. Charles C., 37
Wilson, Mrs. Clara, 111
Wilson, Clayton H., 49
Wilson, Colwell P., 11
Wilson, Cora, 93
Wilson, Elliott M., 73, 112 138 Wilson, Mrs. Edwin B., 48
Wilcox, Alanson, 5, 121, 126 Williams, Nancy J., 122 Williams, Olive A., 127
Wilson, Mrs. H. R. C., 32
Wlison, Mrs. Harry, 99
Wilcutt, Dicie C., 76
Williams, S. F., 102
Wilson, Hermon A., 67
Wilder, Harry, 93
Wilson, Howard C., 49
Wilder, Milton H., 70
Wilkes, Fred A., 104
Williamson, Henry J., 24
Wilson, Lucy A., 115
Wilkins, Joseph N., 95
Willard, Adelia A., 75
Willis, Willard E., 33
Wilson, M. H., 138
Willyoung, Cora B., 97
Wilson, Mary A., 124
Wilmot, Carrie E., 79
Wilson, Percy H., 22
Wilson, Troy E., 38
Wilson, W. F., .75
Wilson, Emma E., 79
Wilber, Eva A., 80
Wilson, Annie, 72, 139 Wilson, Austin C., 107
Wilson, Mrs. Bert W., 25
197
HIRAM COLLEGE
Winchell, A. P., 130 Winchell, C. H., 86 : Winchell, Chauncy, 131 Winchell, Emily E., 129 Winchell, G. M., 79
Winchell, Mrs. G. M., 77 Winchell, Helen J., 129 Winchell, Horace, 131 Winchell, Mary A., 94
Winchell, Maud, 102
Wineman, Grace E., 66 Winer, Lita May, 108
Winfield, Mrs. Thomas A., 74 Wing, Allan H., 57
Wing, Amanda E., 52
Wing, Annie M., 6
Wing, Charles D., 109
Wing, Della L., 79
Wing, F. E., 86
Wing, Fay C., 96 Wing, May Alice, 53 Wing, Willis S., 88
Winnagle, Effie M., 99
Winnagle, Roscoe S., 37
Winnegal, Lillian, 96
Winnett, Grace H., 106
Winner, A. D., 22 Winner, Ivan S., 36 Winnett, William Floyd, 70
Winney, Arthur D., 94 Winter, Calvert J., 7, 32
Winter, Henry C., 34
Wood. Burt Ellis, 90
Woodward, Laura A., 116
Woodward, Lucile, 33
Woodward, Mabel M., 47
Woodward, Mary, 118
Woodward, O. W., 97
Woodward, Orlando A., 103
Woodward, Mrs. Orlando A.,
33 Woodward, Orlando M., 11, 138
Woodward, Rachael, 127
Woodward, Seth, 114 Woodward, Theresa S., 115, 130 .. Woodworth, Almira L., 122
Woodworth, D. W., 137
Woodworth, Demster, 133
Woodworth, E. S., 133
Woodworth, Eliza W., 124
Woodworth, L. D.,. 121
Woodworth, Mrs. Mabel, 18 Woolcot, Maverette, 118 Wooley, William, 99 Woolf, A. J., 75 Woolohan, Thomas, 117
Wooly, Mrs. Cora, 80
Worden, Eliza, 122
Worden, Lester A., 134
Witherell, Elma, 136
Witherell, Nellie M., 133 Witherstay, Charles A., 79 Witherstay, Eli A., 10, 138 Witherstay, F. E., 81 Witherstay, J., 79 Witherstay, Josephine, 37
Witmer, Alice M., 26
Witmer, Lulu K., 101 Witsaman, Max L., 64 Witt. Mabel P., 57 Wittkowsky, Armin, 59 Witwer, Mrs. Harvey E., 93 Witwer, Francis A., 116 Witwer, Susanna D., 115 Wolcott, A. A., 125, 130 Wolcott, A. D., 94
Wolcott, Andrew, 123
Wolcott, Archie, 89 Wolcott, Claude L., 96
Wolcott, Florence E., 56 Wolcott, Helen, 50
Woods, Mrs. Jesse W., 104
Wolcott, J. M., 75
Woods, Lois C., 68
Wolcott, Leonard L., 56
Woods, Loranna, 130
Woods, Lyman N., 117
Wolcott, Rolin A., 72
Wolcott, S. P., 116, 121 Wolcott, Vivian, 89
Wolcott, Winifred, 30
Woley, Mary Esther, 95 Wolfe, Mrs. Clarence, 108 Wolfe, Frank L., 31
Wolfe, Mrs. Frank L., 98 Wolfe, Keene W., 68
Wolfe, Nellie Ethel, 38
Wolfe, Orange D., 41
Wolff, Huldah, 52
Woodward, D. K., 78
Woodward, D. Harold, 104
Woodward, Elizabeth A., 120
Woodward, Ella Amanda, 108 Woodward, Francis, 123
Woodward, Frank R., 35
Woodward, Mrs. Frank R.,
Wolverton, Forrest C., 67 101 Woodward, Frank V., 82
Wood, Mrs. A. H., 104
Wood, Ann M., 133
Woodward, Harry E., 108
Woodward, Mrs. Harry E., 107 Woodward, Howard S., 28
Woodward, J. H., 130
Woodward, Jessie, 104
Winter, Minnie, 89
Winter, Paul I., 59
Winter, Ruth Hazel, 49
Winter, Truman E., 35 Wire, Lora Elma, 7, 95 Wirt, Kittie E., 84
Wise, Mrs. C. C., 29
Wise, Clifton C., 23
Wise, Mrs. E. P., 82
Wise, Elias Paul, 57
Wise, George E., 69
Wood, Galen, 11
Wise, Mrs. Howard, 48 Wood, Galen A., 33
Wise, Kathryn, 43
Wood, H. G., 130
Wise, Lois Adelaide, 51
Wood, Harold B., 63
Wise, Ralph C., 24
Wood, Harriet E., 6, 116
Wood, Mrs. Irving G., 87
Wood, J. S., 135
Wood, Jessie, 91
Wiseman, John W., 25
Wiseman, Minnie B., 27
Wiseman, Wayne M., 97
Wiser, A. Belle, 82
Wiser, Alta M., 83
Wood, Maria L., 116 Wood, Marion A., 116
Wood, Mary F., 118 Wood, Merritt B., 26 Wood, Mrs. Merritt B., 41
Wood, Ross Everett, 40
Worden, Zelotes, 121
Worden, Z. J., 123
Workman, Albert C., 29 Workman, Mrs. Albert C., 31
Workman, Chester W., 35 Workman, Mrs. R. H., 35
Workman, Elmer E., 85 Workman, F. Arleen, 66 Workman, Frank E., 7 Workman, Mrs. P. W., 101
Works, Charles N., 12 Works, Ellen A., 75
Works, Hannah E., 127 Works, Helen L., 40 Works, Ilda Belle, 40 Works, John B., 15
Works, Mrs. John B., 16
Works, Lillian, 13
Wormley, James Wallace, 67 Wortman, William S., 79
Woodward, Charles N., 12
Woodward, Mrs. Charles N.,
88 Woodward, D., 133
Wolford, Charles C., 41 Wolford, Charles R., 32
Wolford, Mrs. Charles R., 27
Wolford, Curtis T., 89
Wolford, Walter L., 109
Wolohan, Thompson, 125
Wood, Anna M., 116
Wood, Annette, 134
Wood, Annette E., 136 Wood, B. F., 119
Wood, Benjamin F., 116
Wood, Charles C., 24
Wood, Edith M., 31
Wood, Edwin, 114
Wood, Emily O., 116
Wood, Emma A., 116, 125
Wood, Eva Pearle, 41
Wood, Mrs. Ezra, 83
Wood, Mrs. F. W., 48
Wood, Fanny, 115, 116
Wood, Mrs. Frank P., 78
Wise, Mrs. W. H., 104
Wisel, D. D., 120 Wiseman, J. P., 94
Wood, Lavina L., 116
Wood, Lewis John, 5, 17
Wood, Mrs. Lewis John, 17
Wood, Maggie E., 87
Wood, Virginia Mae, 61 Wood, W. S., 76
Wood, William Earl, 48 Woodard, Rachael, 122
Woodbury, George W., 30 Woodbury, Mrs. Rosa, 103 Woodford, L. W., 135 Woodhull, Mary J., 58 Woodhull, Nancy Fay, 64 Woodling, Phineas, 117 Woodruff, Bess J., 95 Woodruff, Corinne H., 63 Woodruff, Harold C., 60 Woodruff, Ross H., 45 Woods, Berenice N., 37
Woods, Carrie A .. 130 Woods, Florence B., 86 Woods, G. M. D .. 134 Woods, Hiram, 125
Woods, Jesse . W., 33
Wolcott, Robert A., 69
Woods, Rae Dèane, 41 Woods, Triphene R., 127 Woodward, Almira T., 127 Woodward, Brooks, 79 .. Woodward, C. B., 80
Woodward, Mrs. C. B., 87
Woodward, Charles E., 104
- Wisner, R .. 123
Wistner, Marguerite L., 52 Wiswall, W. McA., 128 Witbeck, Edna I., 98
198
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DIRECTORY
Wray, B. D., 98
Wrentmore, Alson Earl, 21
Wrentmore, C. G., 15
Wright, Effie M., 97
Wright, Wallace C., 91
Wrentmore, Ernest L., 96
Wright, G. E., 137
Wunker, Norma J., 58
Wright, A. N., 77
Wright, Mrs. A. N., 75 Wright, Bertha C., 28
-
Wright, Jane N., 101 Wright, Mrs. L. A., 74
Wyckoff, L. W., 90 Wygle, Sarah A., 78 Wyker, James Dwight, 64
Wright, Mrs. Charles H., 50
Wright, Leman, 135 Wright, Maria A., 115
Wyland, Bertha, 22
Wright, Coreta G., 57 Wright, Cyrus B., 59
Wright, Saidee E., 96
Wyman, Emma, 137
Wright, D. F., 96
Wright, T. A., 84
Wyman, Francis, 130
Y
Yarian, Howard, 89
Young, Ada M., 122
Young, J. D., 84
Yarian, Norman C., 18
Young, Albert C., 8, 33
Young, Mrs. J. M., 23
Yarian, O. B., 95
Young, Alice C., 134
Young, James, 114
Yarrington, D. E., 120
Young, Allyn, 116
Young, Lorena, 129
Yates, Frank, 79
Young, Allyn A., 18
Young, M. W., 138
Yates, J. B., 128
Young, Amelia, 115
Young, Margaret C., 40
Yates, Mrs. Jessie, 83
Young, Amelia A., 124
Young, Marion, 72
Yates, Lyle Thayer, 90
Young, Amelia C., 118
Young, Mary A., 118
Yeager, William, 109
Young, Amelia O., 120
Young, Mary E., 115
Yeagley, Arthur, 91
Young, Mrs. Bertha, 85
Young, Minnie A., 79
Yeo, Burgett, 104
Young, C. N., 120
Young, Myrtie M., 80
Yoder, Alvin, 89
Young, Clarence C., 75
Young, Orrin F., 93
Yoder, H. E., 28
Young, Clark M., 12
Young, Mrs. Pauline, 107
York, Arminia, 130
Young, Clinton M., 22
Young, Peter, 56
York, George W., 5, 16 Young, Mrs. Clinton M., 27
Young, Ransom V., 117, 120
York, Mrs. George W., 17
Young, Coleman, 116
Young, Rena, 94
York, Greta E., 69
Young, Delia M., 125
Young, Ruth Ann, 70
York, John Henry, 17
Young, Edward J., 120
Young, S. C., 73
York, Sylvia, 120
Young, Ellen E., 118
Young, Sutton E., 5, 6, 9
York, W. R., 137
Young, Emma, 139
Young, Sherburn P., 116 Young, Syria, 114
Yorke, Ida Helen, 68 Yost, Ellie D., 74
Young, Mrs. George W., 77
Young, William A., 40
Yost, George W., 74
Young, Harriet M., 116, 125
Yost, Mrs. Jessie, 86
Young, Mrs. Harry H., 36
Young, William C., 45 Younglove, P. J., 88
Yost, Margaret W., 107
Young, Mrs. Helen, 111
Youngs, Mrs. Mary, 86
Yost, Nora R., 94
Young, Isadore C., 129, 137
Younker, Sadie, 93
Youmpman, Mrs. Dan, 68
1
Z
Zahn, Mrs. George, 88 Zeek, Pearl M., 57
Zehrbach, LeRoy H., 59 Zeigler, E. O., 99
Zeigler, F. S., 88 Zepernick, Mae B., 104
Zethmayr, Gordon J., 41 Zethmayr, Mrs. Gordon J., 107 Ziegler, Mrs. Cora, 83 Zimmerman, Warren L., 59 Zink, Mrs. Clifford, 109
Zollars, Addie L., 6 Zollars, Carrie, 88 Zollars, Ely V., 6 Zoschnick, Mrs. W. C., 52
Zuhars, Clifford, 109 Zuver, Dorothy B., 65
,
Wright, Harold Bell, 94
Wyandt, Frieda, 56
Wright, Herbert W., 100
Wyckoff, Henry N., 90
Wright, Carrie E., 95
Wright, E. D., 79 Wright, Eddie, 99
Wright, Mrs. W. J., 86
Wright, W. W., 80
York, William R., 95
Young, Evan E., 24
Young, George W., 75
Young, W. J., 89
Hiram College An Historical Interpretation By FREDERICK A. HENRY, '88
An address delivered at the Historical Session held in con- nection with the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Commencement Celebration at Hiram College, June 12, 1925
HIRAM COLLEGE HIRAM, OHIO
Hiram College An Historical Interpretation
By FREDERICK A. HENRY, '88
M
R. President and friends in the Hiram fellowship:
You have summoned me to a grateful and filial duty which I would not disregard. But, to the discharge of that duty I find my powers by no means adequate. Not that the outreaches of this theme are too remote or obscure to be focalized in a single view, or to be seen but as in a glass darkly; rather is it that the theme is too familiar and intimate to be observed im- partially, and I too undetached and near to see it whole.
My grandfather, Frederick Williams, was a zealous promoter of this Institution, one of the incorporators named in its charter, and for the first thirteen years a member of its Board of Trustees. In all its history there has seldom been a time when at least one of my family or close kindred was not connected with it as student, teacher, trustee or officer. During the years of my youth, Garfield, Hinsdale and Rhodes were not infrequently in my father's home, and from my earliest childhood I have listened to my mother's glowing reminiscences of Miss Booth as teacher and mentor, poet and playwright, helper and friend, till I might almost greet her as Tennyson sings to the gifted child of that other and ancient Mantua across the sea,
I salute thee, Mantuvano, I that loved thee since my day began,
Wielder of the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man.
It is, therefore, with a sense of being quite at home and among life-long friends that I put aside self-distrust to join with you in observing this, the 58th commencement of Hiram College, when we celebrate also the count of seventy- five years since the birth of the school out of which the college grew.
The chronology of our Hiram begins, indeed, a year earlier, with that council of a score or more of leading
Disciples which was convoked by Ambrose Latin Soule on the 12th of June, 1849, at his home in Russell, while the yearly meeting of the neighboring churches was assembled in that township. It was there resolved to proceed at once with the founding of a school.
After further conferences at North Bloomfield and Ravenna, the delegates from thirty-one churches were convened on the 7th of November in Aurora, and there, after heated debate and much balloting, they chose Hiram as the seat of the proposed school. Soon afterward, they framed a charter, which, on the Ist of March, 1850, the General Assembly of Ohio enacted into law. A dignified brick building speedily rose on the spot where, as afterward remodeled, it still stands, and on the 27th of November the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute opened its doors.
It is well to remind ourselves in what environment of time and place, of manners and men, this nativity occurred. Scarcely a decade earlier the exhaution of vacant lands in this State had pushed the hither verge of the Far West across the Indiana boundary line. By the year 1850 Ohio had attained to scarcely one-third the present number of inhabitants and the country at large was about one-fifth as populous as now. But, so complete at that time was the agricultural settlement of Portage and Geauga Counties, in whose combined area Hiram is centrally situated, that even now, after the lapse of seventy-five years, they are not more densely peopled than they were then. The same is true also of large parts of the adjacent counties. Thus, during an era wherein the general enlargement and pre- dominance of cities has conditioned may other grave social changes, the territory for many miles around Hiram has remained essentially rural.
The case is quite otherwise, however, with the outer circle of its regional environment. In 1850 Cleveland, including what was then Brooklyn, numbered but 23,000 inhabitants, and not another town on the Western Reserve could boast of as many as 4,000. The railroad connecting Cleveland with the Mahoning Valley was then unbuilt. Today the great cities of Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown lie within easy reach of Hiram, not to name the score or more of others, larger now and more accessible to it than
was the Cleveland of that day. Thus, the springing up of neighboring cities and the supplying of modern means of communication have served but to enhance the bucolic charm of this seat of learning, now no longer haunted by the bugbear of isolation from urban culture.
Time was when the removal of the College to Warren or elsewhere seemed to many to be desirable or even vital. But now that the telephone, the hard surface highway, and the automobile, have supplied the adaptation which the shift of population from country to city called for, one realizes that, relatively to the general state of progress, Hiram never was and never could be permanently cut off from participation in its benefits. The whole Western Reserve, of which this town is typical, was ever the favored child of New England, and even amid the primeval forest here, remoteness, though it meant privation, by no means prevented the maintenance of as high a level of mentality as ever prevailed in a new community. Indeed, it is uni- versally admitted that no Congressional district in the United States excelled in intelligence and information the old Nineteenth of Ohio, of which this place was both geographically, and in some sense, intellectually, the hub.
Upon the whole, the vicinage of the college here has fully kept pace with the entire region, and no transfer could have set it in a more advantageous place. Situated amid this constituency and in this spot of inspiring scenic loveliness, high on the divide separating far-reaching watersheds, it has stood aloof, but no longer remote, from the increasingly congested main routes of travel and huge centers of popu- lation. Free here from distractions, and scarcely more than an hour's distance from one of this Country's greatest cities, few small colleges are so ideally oriented as the Hiram of today. Wisdom could hardly be better justified of her children than in the fathers' planting of their nursling tree of knowledge on this historic hill.
With these great changes and the corresponding adjustments of Hiram's place relations, the times, too, have changed. In 1850, when yonder brick walls were rising, Millard Fillmore, last of the Whig presidents, rose from the Vice Presidency to that great office on the death of "Old Rough and Ready," General Zachary Taylor, the Louisiana
Slave Holder and doughty hero of the Mexican War. Daniel Webster was then the Secretary of State, and Tom Corwin, Secretary of the Treasury. In that year, too, the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted.
How far away that epoch of our national history now seems. And it is in fact far, measured by the rate and extent meanwhile of human progress; for in the period that has since elapsed-a period but little longer than the Psalmists' span of life-men have witnessed greater advances in the things pertaining to ordinary life and knowledge than ever came within the range of experience of all their civilized ancestors.
One is tempted to dwell upon this trite but never out- worn theme. It is enough now to say that the middle of the 19th Century afforded a most fortunate juncture for the starting of an educational enterprise. At that time began the unprecedented acceleration of human experience which has furnished an inexhaustible stream of intellectual stimulus to seekers after knowledge everywhere. Quick to feel its stir was this region peopled by descendants of New England and of old England, who were garnered from the winnowings of both, whose lineage, traditions and aspirations have been called of the Brahmin caste, and who were still grouped in simple, unspoiled farming communities. Significant of these things is their choice of the very name The Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, whose familiar components suggest a place-consciousness related alike to their old and new homes and a philosophy of life at once synthetic and practical.
Even more important than the determining influences of time and place, is, of course, the human factor in the shaping of the character and career of the Institution here. In this approach, more than in either of the former, the perspective of long years intervening is indispensable to a just historical appreciation. It is, for example, only now, sixty years after Lincoln's death, that we are coming fully to know the great Civil War President. Tardier still, the history of our Colonial and Revolutionary periods has lately undergone authentic and revealing reappraisals. One must distrust those up-to-date interpretations presented by historians whose narratives, however interesting and plaus-
ible, purport to analyze recent events and therefrom to synthesize what by misnomer is styled current history. I shall, therefore, attempt no assessment of the human ele- ments in Hiram history much beyond its first thirty years. One may be reconciled to such a limitation in an anni- versary survey, when one considers not only that a nearer estimate is fallible, but also that if an examination, con- fined thus to foundation and ground work, shows that these are sound, no flaw in the superstructure need be either mortal or permanently deforming. Furthermore, it is as commonly true of human institutions, including schools and colleges, as of men, that the general trend of their char- acter is ascertainable and fixed as soon at least as they have passed the age of thirty years. The attainment of this age, it will be remembered, the framers of our Constitution deemed a minimum qualification for United States senators. And finally, even without formal evaluation of the Hiram of today, it is certain that if she did not still inspire assured confidence in her future and so command the faith as well as the hope and love of us all, we should not now be at pains to commemorate her beginnings.
Outstanding among those beginnings is the evident fact that the school established here was the child of churches of Christ on the Western Reserve. Equally evident is the praiseworthy restraint which withheld from its charter any allusion to that fact or any prescription of religious qualifi- cations for trustees, officers, teachers or students. The whole purpose of the Institute, as set forth in that instru- ment, was "the instruction of youth of both sexes in the various branches of literature and science, especially of moral science as based on the facts and precepts of the Holy Scriptures."
The first announcement declared that "the course of instruction is designed to embrace whatever is adapted to the developing and training of those under its care for the useful and practical duties of life. The chief attention will be directed to the attainment of sound literature and useful science." Though it was also proposed "to lay the Bible as the moral basis of the Eclectic Institute," the announce- ment took care to add "that nothing is to be taught in this seminary under color of these Bible lessons, or otherwise,
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