USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Morristown > History of Morristown, Vermont > Part 10
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Of Mr. Dwinell's successor, A. C. Baker, who taught in 1851 and 1852, nothing can be learned, and in 1853 two principals are given, J. Gilbert and E. Wheelock, but nothing has been ascertaincd about their subsequent careers.
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Charles Henry Heath, the sixth principal and the first alumnus of the school to be called to head it, was one whose interest in the institution was of long duration and of great value. £ He was born in Woodbury, Vt., in 1829; and educated in the public schools of that town and at Peoples Academy. After completing his studies here, he went to the University of Vermont and was graduated in 1854 and received his Master's degree three years later. For four years after his graduation he acted as principal, at the same time studying law with Thomas Gleed. He was admitted to the Lamoille County Bar in 1858, and settled at Plainfield, Vt., practicing there until 1872, when he moved to Montpelier, where he continued to practice. until his death, in 1889. One of the ties which bound him to Morrisville was his marriage to Sara Putnam, daughter of Dr. David W. Putnam, of this town. £ After leaving he served as trustee for many years, was a member of the Board of Examiners, and was the speaker on different occasions in the history of the school.
Malcolm McKillop was a westerner by birth, being a native of Inverness, Calif., but he entered the University of Vermont from Northfield, Vt., and graduated with the class of 1861. He taught here the year following, and then returned to his native state, where he taught and studied law and was admitted to the bar in California in 1865. He acted as County Superintendent of Schools, and filled different political offices, but later came to Missouri, where he entered the banking business, and was active in politics. He died at Rock Port, Mo., in 1899.
George B. Cochran was a native of Northfield. Vt., and a graduate of the University of Vermont in the class of 1862. He taught at Peoples Academy the year of 1862-1863 and then in Stowe, Vt., and in Gouverneur, N. Y. He decided to enter the medical profession and received his degree of M. D. from the University of Ver- mont in 1867. He began to practice in Newbury, Vt., but later moved to Massachusetts.
George P. Byington, who succeeded Principal Cochran for a year, was a native of Hinesburg, Vt., who came to Peoples Academy following the completion of his studies at the University of Vermont in 1863. He later studied for the ministry and held pastorates in several Vermont towns, later going to Massachusetts.
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The period of the war were years of stress for the school. Each year saw a change of leadership. Mr. Byington was succeeded by Preceptress Almira Benton, and she in turn by C. A. Vorce, who, in the middle of the year, gave place to George Bliss. When A. J. Sanborn took over the school in September, 1866, its fortunes were at a low ebb. He restored its morale and the confidence of the community in it, but in 1869 he left to take charge of the newly opened Green Mountain Seminary at Water- bury Center, started under the auspices of the Freewill Baptists.
The loss which the school suffered in the retirement of Mr. Sanborn was met by the appointment of Fernando C. Hathaway, who came in the fall of 1869 and remained until his death, on July 6, 1873. He was the son of Loam Hathaway of Calais, Vt., and after completing his prepara- tory course at Hardwick he entered Dartmouth College in 1864, and was graduated among the first of his class four years later. Being a thorough student, it was natural that he should choose teaching as his life work, and he spent his first year out of college as head of Hardwick Academy. Here he married Miss Hattie Woodbury in 1869. Then he became principal of Peoples Academy, to which he gave the remainder of his brief life in conscien- tious service. The type of work he did is indicated by the fact that in the fall of 1872 he was appointed a member of the State Board of Education. His death at the early age of twenty-nine cut short a promising career.
Mr. Hathaway was succeeded by a man later to be known in all parts of the United States as an efficient educator. George Augustus Gates, born at Topsham, Vt., was educated at St. Johnsbury Academy and Dart- mouth College. Immediately after his graduation from the latter institution, he came to Peoples Academy with all the vigor and enthusiasm of a well balanced youth. He had decided to enter the ministry, so after two years here he went to Andover Theological Seminary. His first
pastorate was in Upper Montclair, N. J. After seven years of fruitful service there he accepted a call to the presidency of Iowa College at Grinnell, Iowa. To this institution he gave thirteen of the best years of his life, proving himself to be an able administrator and a con- structive educator. He received flattering calls to the presidency of Dartmouth College and another eastern
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college, but he remained at Grinnell until the serious il !- ness of his wife made a change of climate necessary. When he was called to be the head of Pomona College at Claremont, Calif., he accepted because the change promised to be good for Mrs. Gates.
This young institution was heavily burdened with debt and Mr. Gates at once started upon a financial cam- paign, and gave himself for eight years to the difficult task of building up all departments of the institution. In 1909 he felt obliged to resign because of his own health. As soon as it became known, the trustees of Fisk University at Nashville, Tenn., renewed their invitation for him to become president of that institution. When arrange- ments were made so that he was relieved from most of the financial burden, Dr. Gates accepted, for he felt it repre- sented one of the greatest opportunities for service in the country. After two years of successful work there he received injuries in a railroad accident, from the effects of which he never recovered, and he died in 1912. Of his work at Peoples Academy his wife in her life of him says: "He proved himself an able administrator and an especially inspiring teacher and won friendships which lasted to the time of his death."
Andrew J. Blanchard, who was twice principal, was born in Cabot, Vt., in 1828, and came to take charge of the school in 1858. With the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned and enlisted as Captain of Company E, Third Vermont Regiment, in May, 1861. After his term in the army was ended, he went to Illinois, where he remained some years, but came East again and was principal of Peoples Academy in 1875 and 1876. In the autumn of 1876 he returned to Sycamore, Ill., and entered upon a long and successful career as principal of the High School of that city, serving for more than twenty-five years. Mr. Blanchard died in 1903.
Dartmouth College has furnished a large number of principals for this school, and among the best loved of them was Charles Darwin Adams. Born at Keene, N. H., in 1856, he prepared for college at Lawrence Academy. Groton, Mass., and received his degree from Dartmouth in the class of 1877. He came to Morrisville at once, and remained here until 1879, when he entered Andover Theo- logical Seminary, where he studied for two years. Pro- fessor Adams himself said: "I had not expected to make
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teaching my life work, but the boys and girls at Peoples Academy made the work so delightful that I had to keep on but never with finer response from students."
At any rate instead of entering the ministry he became teacher of Greek and Physical Science at Cushing Academy for three years, until he received an offer to become Pro- fessor of Greek at Drury College, Springfield, Mo. After nine years of successful work there, President Tucker of Dartmouth invited him to come back to his Alma Mater as head of the Greek Department, where he taught from 1893 to 1927. In the latter year Dartmouth conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Literature and he became Professor Emeritus. He also received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Kiel, Ger- many, in 1891.
His ability as a teacher is attested by this long and honorable career in the class room; his scholarship by the fact that he was chosen to edit several texts in the Loeb Classical Library, and also in the series, "Our Debt to Greece and Rome," and was editor of the "Classical Journal" for five years. The large place he held in the hearts of his students, both at Peoples Academy and in his later career, show the strength and excellence of his character.
Professor Adams was succeeded by D. M. Weld, who, after one year, gave place to Dana M. Dustan, who received his education at Kimball Union Academy, at Meriden, N. H., and was graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege in 1880. He began a successful teaching career at Peoples Academy in September, 1880, remained here two years, and for twenty years more followed that profession in different Massachusetts schools. In 1902 he became special agent for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., with headquarters in Worcester, Mass .. a position which he held until his death in that city, in 1928.
Another brilliant man who presided over the destiny of Peoples Academy was Hollis S. Wilson, who was a native of Johnson, Vt., a graduate of Peoples Academy in the class of 1877 and of the University of Vermont in 1881. He began his teaching career at Hyde Park, but came to Morrisville in 1882, and acted as principal. while at the same time studying law in the office of Powers and Gleed. After his admission to the Lamoille County Bar, in 1886, he resigned his principalship, and entered into partnership
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with George M. Powers, a connection which lasted until 1890. In the meantime he had married Miss Grace Hyde, a pupil of his both at Hyde Park and at Peoples Academy. In June, 1890, the Wilsons went to The Dalles, Oregon, where they remained a few years and then went to Port- land of that state, where he gained recognition as the leading lawyer of the state and amassed a considerable fortune. He gave up much of his practice about 1930.
Another alumnus of Peoples Academy, who was called to be its principal, was Mason S. Stone, who was born in Waterbury Center in 1859, the son of Orson and Candace (Mason) Stone. He was educated in the schools of that town and at Peoples Academy, and was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1883. He took up teaching as a profession and after a short period in other towns in the state came to Morrisville in 1886. After three years here, he resigned to engage in supervisory work in both Vermont and Massachusetts.
In 1892 he returned to Vermont as its State Super- intendent of Education. He added to his general knowledge and experience by acting as Superintendent of Schools for the Island of Negros in. the Philippines for some years, but returned to Vermont in 1905 and again became head of the educational department of the state. During the war he was active in different kinds of war work, holding among other offices that of assistant to the State Fuel Administrator. He also entered into politics somewhat, and in 1918 was elected Lieutenant-Governor. His continued interest in Vermont and in the cause of education is shown by his generous gifts to the University of Vermont.
To be connected with the same school for more than a quarter of a century and to be a strong moulding force in the lives of more than 300 young people who received their diplomas from his hand was the fortune of Mr. William A. Beebe, who was principal from 1889 to 1912.
Mr. Beebe was a native of Malone, N. Y., and came to Morrisville immediately after his graduation from the University of Vermont. His first graduating class num- bered three, his largest one twenty-eight. During his administration the teaching force was more than doubled, and the curriculum was so enriched that the graduates of the school were admitted to the leading colleges of the East without examination.
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Mr. Beebe was a thorough student, a firm disciplin- arian, and a natural teacher who left a permanent imprint upon all who came under his care. "He was also a strong influence in the community. The soldiers' monument is a: testimony of his artistic ability, since he designed it. He was a trustee of the local library and a member of the building committee when the present structure was erected. He was an active member of the Congregational Church, and a worker for all worth-while causes.
In 1891 he married Miss Cora Mudgett of Cambridge, who was a helpmate in every sense of the word. After leaving Morrisville he carried on supervisory work in Proctor, Vt., and Bristol, Vt., and upon retiring from active . educational service he went to Underhill, Vt., to reside, where his death occurred, in 1933.
Arthur W. Ruff, who succeeded Mr. Beebe for two years, fitted for college at the High School of Schenectady, N. Y., and was graduated from Yale in the class of '09, and had three years' teaching experience before coming to Peoples Academy. His coming marked a change both in the management and the curriculum of the school. Courses in agriculture, home economics, and teacher train- ing were added and the teaching force was increased to meet these new features. These changes met with some opposition, and Mr. Ruff was confronted with a difficult situation which he faced with tact and ability.
Mr. Ruff's successor was Rollo G. Reynolds, a native of Cambridge, Vt., who received his High School training at Brookline, Mass., and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1910. Following his graduation, he taught in Juniata College, Huntingdon, Penn., where he met and married Miss Alice MacCarthy. He was principal of the Cambridge High School and of the Stowe High School before coming to Peoples Academy. Early in his second year here, he resigned to become Executive Clerk in the office of the State Superintendent of Education at Mont- pelier. During the World War he was Director at Camp Vail at Lyndon Center, where the boys of the state were given intensive training in farm work. He later began teaching in the Horace Mann School in New York City, of which he is now principal, and also Professor of Education at Columbia University.
J. Thatcher Sears, who filled the vacancy caused by Mr. Reynolds' resignation, came from five years' exper-
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ience as head of a private school in Stamford, Conn. Mr. Sears was a Harvard graduate, and embodied many of the traditions of that institution, and went from here to con- tinue his educational work at Glens Falls, N. Y.
Lyman C. Hunt, who came to Peoples Academy in September, 1917, was a graduate of the University of Ver- mont and had taught three years in Champlain, N. Y., prior to coming to Morrisville. It was with genuine regret that after he had taught one year the School Board received his resignation, and he went to head the Spauld- ing High School at Barre, and later was called to be Superintendent of Schools in Burlington, Vt.
In the stress of the World War period Mary Jean Simpson, who had previously taught here and knew local conditions, was called to the principalship. She studied at Mt. Holyoke College, but received her degree from the University of Vermont and had had a varied teaching experience before becoming head of the school. The fine response which the students made to the unusual demands of that memorable year was due in no small degree to her leadership. After one year she resigned, and later served several years as Bill Clerk of the United States Senate, and in 1933 and 1934 was Director of Women's Work, Civil Works Administration, for the State of Vermont.
Miss Simpson was succeeded by Lucian H. Burns, a graduate of New Hampshire State Agricultural College. He had taught two years at Leominster, Mass., before coming to Peoples Academy. During his principalship the change was made from the seventh and eighth grades to the Junior High School, a change which was made in many other schools of the state. Mr. Burns was principal for two years and has continued his educational work in other towns in the state.
Willis R. Hosmer, who succeeded Mr. Burns, was a graduate of Williams College in the class of 1902 and came to Morrisville from Fair Haven, Vt., where for a long period of years he had been principal of the High School and later district superintendent. His ability, both as teacher and administrator, was generally recognized, and after one year here he was called to head the Spaulding High School of Barre, Vt. Thus twice within five years the largest High School in the state came to Peoples Academy for its principal.
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During the school year of 1922 Robert R. Morrow was the principal. He had received his Master's degree from Columbia University and came from Poultney, Vt., where he had been a district superintendent.
Mr. Morrow's successor was Paul E. Pitkin, a west- erner by birth, who prepared for college at Goddard Seminary, Barre, Vt., and was a graduate of Middlebury College. Previous to coming here he had been principal of McIndoes Academy, McIndoes Falls, Vt., and after leav- ing here was for two years supervising principal of the Charleston High and Rural Schools in West Charleston, Vt. He then took up the insurance business, with head- quarters at Bennington, Vt.
The school was especially fortunate in having asso- ciated with it for several years so fine and rich a person- ality as that of Maude M. Chaffee. Born in Morristown, she received her education in its rural schools and at the Academy, from which she was graduated in 1902. After completing her studies at the University of Vermont, she taught at Bellows Free Academy, in Fairfax, Vt., for five years and then went to the Edmunds High School at Bur- lington, Vt., as teacher in mathematics. Sickness in the home obliged her to resign, and she came back and entered upon her work at her Alma Mater. For seven years she was instructor and assistant principal, and in 1925 became its head.
To the school she literally gave her life, since the year 1929 in which the change from the old building to the new was made proved a serious tax upon her strength, and in the summer of 1930 it was found tuberculosis had de- veloped. £ She was given a leave of absence for a year, with Ralph E. Noble, who had been head of the English Department since 1925, as acting principal. She was never able to resume her work and died on November 21, 1931.
Probably no teacher ever enjoyed the love and respect of her pupils more fully than did Miss Chaffee, and this esteem was the result of the love and confidence she bestowed upon them. She was an inspiring teacher and a rare woman who left an abiding influence upon the school.
One of the sad pages in the history of the principals of Peoples Academy is the record of the career of James Greig. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1901. and
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came to Barre, Vt., when five years of age. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1924, and came to Peoples Academy as instructor in 1930. He proved his worth and ability so quickly that, when it . became evident that Miss Chaffee would not be able to resume her duties as head of the school, he was made its principal in 1931. During that year he gained the love and respect of both students and townspeople, and both shared in the general sorrow at his death, which occurred in July, 1932.
To fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Greig's death the school turned to the man whom it had previously tested in various ways and had not found wanting. Ralph E. Noble had been instructor and assistant principal for five years and acting principal one year and then was elected super- intendent of the Lamoille South District. When Peoples Academy again faced an emergency, Mr. Noble responded by becoming its head.
He is a native of Randolph, Vt., and a graduate of Dartmouth College. Before coming to Morrisville he had been principal of the Underhill High School at Underhill, Vt. Mr. Noble is a man of the highest character and a teacher of the first rank, as well as an able administrator, and under his direction the school enjoyed a high degree of prosperity.
Once again Barre looked to Morrisville for educational leadership, and in the spring of 1934 elected Mr. Noble Superintendent of Schools in that city.
Mr. Merwin Forbes, a graduate of Norwich Univer- sity in the class of 1932, who, as teacher of science for the two years preceding had made an excellent record, was promoted to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Noble's resignation.
PEOPLES ACADEMY STUDENTS
The record of the lives of many of the students of Peoples Academy has been given elsewhere in connection with their services to the state, but it has always been characteristic of Vermont to contribute freely of her best to other states. Thus many of the students of this Academy have done their life work far from the scene of their school days. The following are some not included elsewhere whom the Academy is proud to claim as Alumni :
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Among the students attracted to Peoples Academy in its early days was Constans Liberty Goodell of Calais, who was graduated from the University of Vermont in the class of 1855, a Phi Beta Kappa man. He then attended Andover Theological Seminary and was ordained to the Congregational ministry in 1859. His first pastorate was
in New Britain, Conn. In 1872 he was called to the Pil- grim Congregational Church of St. Louis, Mo., where he stayed until his death, in 1886, being one of the leading ministers west of the Mississippi River.
From Westfield, Vt., came Carroll S. Page, a student here in 1857. He became a well known figure in both the business and political worlds. For years he was president of the Lamoille County National Bank and the Lamoille County Savings Bank & Trust Co., but was better known for his business in green calfskins, the largest of its kind in the world. He was equally successful in his political career, being Governor of Vermont from 1890 to 1892, and United States Senator from 1909 to 1923.
A fellow student of Mr. Page was Urban A. Wood- bury, who was born in Acworth, N. H., in 1838, but came to Vermont when he was two years of age. He was edu- cated in the public schools and at Peoples Academy and was a graduate of the Medical School at Burlington, Vt. Mr. Woodbury had a fine record in the Civil War, and was later a prominent business man in Burlington, Vt. He was Mayor of that city and in 1888 was elected Lieutenant- Governor of the state and was its Governor in 1894.
John W. Simpson of East Craftsbury was the first of that family to be connected with this institution. He afterwards became a member of the well known law firm of Simpson, Thacher, and Bartlett of New York City. His niece, Mary Jean Simpson, was teacher and principal, while his nephew, John W., was a graduate in the class of 1909. The latter received his degree from Amherst in 1913 and from the Harvard Law School, and after being admitted to the bar entered his uncle's law office in New York City. He saw service in the World War and after his return from France resumed the practice of law with the firm of Gleason, McLanahan, Merritt, and Ingraham of New York City.
Harlan P. French. a student here in 1859, was a familiar figure in educational circles as the manager of the Albany Teachers' Agency. The school had no more loyal
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alumnus than Mr. French, who established the prizes which bear his name, awarded each Commencement to the young man and the young woman who write the best oration and essay.
Among the students of the 60's to give a good account of himself was Don D. Grout, a native of Morristown, who was to become one of the best known physicians and sur- geons in the state. Dr. Grout was in charge of the bill providing for a State Hospital for the Insane and was the Superintendent and Treasurer of that institution at Water- bury for the last fifteen years of his life.
Another student of that period was Frank Plumley, who was born in Eden, Vt., in 1844, studied at the Academy and also in the law office of Powers and Gleed. Later he completed his law studies at the University of Michigan. He began the practice of law at Northfield, Vt. He was elected to various legislative offices and in 1902 was elected Chief Judge of the Vermont Court of Claims. President Roosevelt appointed him umpire in the Mixed Claims Com- mission in the case of Great Britain and Venezuela, of Holland and Venezuela, and of France and Venezuela. In 1908 he was elected a Representative in Congress and was re-elected twice, but declined further nomination.
J. C. Fremont Slayton was born in Calais, Vt., but received the greater part of his education in this town, being a student at Peoples Academy from 1869 to 1871. He was engaged in the wholesale produce business in Boston for more than forty years. and was also associated with large real estate enterprises in that city. He was a member of the Governor's Council during the term of office of John L. Bates, and at his death, in 1922, both Gov. Channing B. Cox and Ex-Governor Bates paid tribute to his services to the city and state.
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