History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 37

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Royalton > History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911 > Part 37

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

The new bell welcomed David Chanceford Robbins, another son of Middlebury, a graduate of 1835. He was born in Wards- boro, Nov. 24, 1812. He taught in Royalton one year only, 1836- 37, when he entered And. Theo. Sem., where he was licentiate and librarian from 1841 to 1848. He was Professor of Greek and Latin in Middlebury, 1848-66, and Professor of Greek and German, 1866-72. He received the degree of A. M. in 1838, and of D. D. in 1882. He died in Newton Highlands, Mass., Nov., 1882.

Erasmus Irving Carpenter was his successor, a graduate of the U. V. M. in 1837. He served in 1837 and 1838, probably one year or more. He studied for the ministry, and preached in Lancaster, N. H., Barre, and Berlin previous to 1869, when he became Secretary of the Vermont Bible Society. In 1874 he went as pastor to Swanzey, N. H., where he died, Feb. 10, 1877.

There are many still living who remember the next incum- bent, Sylvanus Bates, who was a Randolph boy. He remained longer than most of the principals had done, and like Joseph Tracy, he took for a helpmeet one of the daughters of the town, Mary Ann Fox, whom he married in 1840. He closed his work with the academy in 1845, having had a full attendance and a fine class of students. He graduated from Middlebury in 1837. He was Professor in Oglethorpe University, Ga., seven years, and Principal of a boys' school in Macon, Ga., 1853-83. He died there, May 28, 1883.

It was while Mr. Bates was principal that the academy burned. It stood near the old church which had been moved to the common, and which burned in the spring of 1840. Though the academy students fought bravely to save their building, their efforts were fruitless, and with sad hearts they saw its walls go crashing to the ground, enveloped in flame. The new church was so far advanced that it furnished temporary quarters for the continuance of the school. Mr. Bates showed his public spirit and self-sacrifice in the interest of education, by subscrib- ing from his meager salary over $33 towards the building of a new academy. The account of the building of the combined town house and academy, so that the school occupied its new quarters in October, 1840, is given in the record of town build- ings.

Joseph Green Stevens Hitchcock was next called to fill the vacancy in the academy. He had taught a year after his gradu- ation from Middlebury in 1844. He was preparing for the medi- cal profession while here. He was a Massachusetts man, and graduate of Harvard Medical College in 1850. He was here but a year, 1845-46. He was, later, Examining Surgeon, U. S. Pen-

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sion Office, and Counselor of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He died in Boston, Aug. 24, 1891.

The trustees now engaged a man who had prepared for col- lege in Royalton Academy, Levi Parsons Sawyer, born in Stock- bridge, Nov. 11, 1819. He taught one year, 1846-47. He re- ceived the degrees of A. B. and A. M. from Middlebury, and taught several years. He graduated from the Medical Depart- ment of Dartmouth, 1854, and practiced medicine in Nashua, N. H., where he died Apr. 29, 1868.

John Russell Herrick is the first of the earlier principals of the academy known to be living. He was born in Milton, May 12, 1822; graduated from the U. V. M., 1847, and elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was principal of the academy, 1847-49; a theological student at Andover 1849-51, at Auburn the next year, where he graduated; pastor at Malone, N. Y., 1854- 67; Professor of Theology, Bangor, Me., 1867-73; pastor at South Hadley, Mass., 1874-78; President of Pacific University, Oregon, 1880-83, and of the University of South Dakota, 1885-87. He married May 12, 1856, Harriet Emily Brownell, who died in 1899. He has two children, Mary, for twenty years teacher of English in Hyde Park High School, Chicago, and John, in busi- ness at Elgin, Ill. He received the honorary degree of D. D. from Union in 1867, and S. T. D. from the U. V. M. the same year. His address is 5407 Greenwood Avenue, Chicago.

As the attendance at the academy increased, the difficulty of finding suitable places for the students to room and board also increased. The need of a boarding house was seriously felt, and in 1848 an effort was made to secure a building for this purpose, but was not successful. There was not another Zebulon Lyon to step forward and contribute to meet the need, and the future of the institution was materially changed by this lack of proper homes for the young people away from parental care.

Another graduate of the U. V. M. followed Mr. Herrick, John Quincy Adams Fellows, who took his A. M. degree in 1847. He was born in Topsham, Apr. 3, 1825. He served in 1849-50. He went to New Orleans from Royalton, and received the degree of LL. B. from the University of Louisiana. He was a lawyer, and was employed as counsel for Myra Gaines in the slaughter house cases. He retired from practice in 1895.

James Edwin Marsh, who held an A. B. degree from Wes- leyan University in 1846, and an A. M. degree in 1855, next served as principal. He was a Massachusetts man, born in Hol- liston, Apr. 19, 1822. He taught one year. He received an M. D. degree from Dartmouth in 1855. He was Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., 1862-64. He was a druggist in Roxbury, Mass. He died July 7, 1859.

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Samuel Perrin Coburn had charge of the academy two quar- ters in 1851-52. He was born in Fairlee, Apr. 27, 1824. He took an A. M. degree from Dartmouth in 1849. He was a teacher and farmer. He died June 25, 1896.

For one quarter only Samuel Ward Boardman taught the academy. He had graduated from Middlebury in 1851. He was born in Pittsford, Aug. 31, 1830. He came from And. Theo. Sem. to Royalton, and returned there to finish his year. He is still living, and writes how much he enjoyed his short stay in the academy, and recalls that, at the end of the term, he was presented with "The Poets and Poetry of America," in which were the names of some of the students, D. G. Wild, G. Gibson, E. Maxham, and Albert Downer. He says the attendance was not large during his short term of service. He taught in Castle- ton Seminary, where he had prepared for college. He has served as pastor in several states, was Professor of Rhetoric and Eng- lish Literature and of Intellectual Philosophy at Middlebury, 1859-61; President of Maryville College, 1889-1901, and is Pro- fessor Emeritus in the same college. He received the degree of D. D. from Hamilton College, 1870, and LL. D. from Middlebury, 1890. His address is 17 Washington Place, Bloomfield, N. J.

The catalogue of Royalton Academy for 1852-53 shows that C. G. Burnham, A. M., was Principal, S. O. Burnham, Assistant, Miss A. Tenney, Teacher of French and Drawing in the winter term, and Miss A. H. Burnham, Preceptress and Teacher of French and Drawing, spring and summer terms. Dr. C. B. Drake was President of the Board of Trustees, and in a short ad- dress to the public at the end of the catalogue he says, "They are determined to do all in their power to make the Institution one of the best in Vermont," that they find it necessary to pro- vide a new building, and hope to have it ready in the spring. This hope was not realized so early.

Mr. Charles Guilford Burnham closed his work in the sum- mer of 1853. He was not a young man, having been born in 1803. Teaching was his profession. He died June 26, 1866, in Montgomery, Ala.

The academy was at high tide during the two years and one quarter, when Edward Payson Stone had charge of it. Fol- lowing Mr. Burnham, he enlarged the corps of instructors to nine, one of them being J. E. Weeks, A. B., teacher of mathe- matics and natural science, and one, Mons. Benjamin Ethier, teacher of French; others were "Prof." T. H. Atwood, teacher of vocal music, Miss Ellen M. Baxter, teacher of instrumental music, Mr. W. W. Culver, teacher of drawing and painting, Mr. S. L. Lyman, teacher of penmanship, Miss Martha E. Stone and Mr. W. R. Shipman, assistant pupils. There were sixty-five

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males and seventy females enrolled as students. The price of tuition had been raised. The course of study included Latin, Greek, French, German, Logic, Trigonometry, Mental and Moral Science, Astronomy, Chemistry, Botany, Geology, Zoology, and various other subjects. Dr. Drake in the catalogue says of Prin. Stone, "He has happily inspired the scholars with the feeling that study was their business and good behavior their choice and pleasure. Street hootings and night dissipations have not dis- turbed the community," from which one may infer, that such a commendable state of sobriety on the part of the students was rare enough to be noteworthy.

One principal, writing of a period not far removed from this time, recalled that, at the close of one term, he asked the pupils to meet at the academy. They supposed they were to have the usual morning devotions, and some of the boys, just for fun, thought they could add interest to the occasion by put- ting a hen into the drawer where he kept the Bible. He dis- covered the feathers, and to the disappointment of not a few, the Bible reading was omitted, and there was no sudden ascen- sion of a scared hen.

The health of Mr. Stone became impaired through an attack of typhoid fever, and he went to North Carolina to recuperate, where he taught for a time, and then studied for the ministry. He was chaplain of the 6th Regt., Vt. Vols., 1861-63. He served as agent for the A. H. M. S. at Boston, 1865-69, was later ap- pointed General Missionary for the Society, residing at Lapeer, Mich. He has buried two wives, and is now living with a sister in Rutland. He has published a number of sermons and essays. Writing especially of Royalton Academy, he says, "When I was at Royalton, most of the students came from country homes, near or distant, at a cost of severe labor and economy for themselves and their parents, and brothers and sisters. Their time at the academy was precious, and their ideal of education was high. In physical health, strength, and enjoyment they certainly equaled the schools of to-day, but no one talked of them as a col- lection of fine animals, a few known by their muscle, and all by their yell. Some of them became famous teachers in other schools and colleges. On a visit to Vermont I attended a State Convention of representatives of the churches of a certain de- nomination, and the presiding officer, with the clerk and other ministers prominent in the meeting, came to me, saying that they were my students at Royalton, and then told of several of their schoolmates who were noted ministers of various denomina- tions, and of many eminent in other callings."

Two other assistants of Prin. Stone not before mentioned were Martin Luther Mead, A. B., later a physician and member

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of Phi Beta Kappa, and Alonzo Taylor Deming, A. B., who studied for the ministry. He may have served as principal for a short time after Mr. Stone left. He married Betsey Ann Tucker in 1856, by whom he had several children. He died in Glyndon, Minn., Aug. 17, 1872.

Plans for a new academy had been going on, and the build- ing committee had been instructed to have the building ready for occupancy before the middle of July, 1854. Subscriptions had been received amounting to $815.52. These ranged all the way from $200, given by Chester Baxter, to $2. William Skin- ner gave $100, Daniel Rix, M. E. Reynolds, R. W. Francis, and E. B. Chase each gave $50. The cost of a building spot was $500. The Methodist meeting-house had been purchased and repaired, and is the present academy, standing in the same place. For a while after the completion of repairs, the school was so large that both the old and the new building were used for recitations. A creditable library had been built up, and today there are books in it donated by Zebulon Lyon and Stafford Smith, trustees of the institution. The best men and women of the community were enthusiastic in their support of the school.

The first quarter in 1856 was taught by Ezra Hoyt Bying- ton, a graduate with A. M. degree from the U. V. M. in 1852. He began preaching in 1859. He was librarian for the N. E. Hist .- Gen. Soc. in 1891, and has published several works dealing with religious subjects.

Edward Conant next took charge of the academy. He bore no college degree. It is not the degree, however, that counts, but the man, and Mr. Conant was every inch a man. He came of good parentage, the son of Seth and Melvina (Perkins) Con- ant, and was born in Pomfret, May 10, 1829. He had two years in Dartmouth, then in the fall of 1854 became principal of Wood- stock, Conn., Academy. He came to Royalton in the summer of 1856. He found the school in a prosperous condition. He specialized in the direction of normal methods, and issued his catalogue under the name of the "Normal Institute." He be- lieved that there was a loud call for a better preparation for teaching, that the rural schools required attention, as well as the demands of the colleges in fitting students for their work. It is noticeable that not one of his faculty bore a degree, except Dr. Samuel Danforth, who was employed as a lecturer. Mr. Conant says in his catalogue of 1857, in speaking of the Institute, "It loves to mark in its pupils, not the passage through many books, but the growing power of thought, and therefore it adopts for its motto, 'make haste slowly.' "' The summary of students shows that there were sixty-four males and sixty-eight females. There were students from twenty-one towns and four states.

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Mr. Conant was an innovator, and innovators do not always find strong enough support to carry out their ideas. He would have liked to establish a normal school, it is said, in place of the old academy, but was unable to realize his purpose. He con- tinued his work successfully until 1859, when he went to the Burlington High School, and in 1861 to the Orange County Grammar School at Randolph. His labor and success in build- ing up a normal school there are too well known to the people of Vermont and to the educators of the country, to need further mention. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Mid- dlebury in 1866. He was State Superintendent, 1874-81, when he became principal of the Normal at Johnson, returning to the Normal at Randolph in 1884, which position he held until his sudden death, Jan. 5, 1903.

He had held various honorary positions in the educational organizations of the country, and was the author of several edu- cational works. About a year before his death the alumni of the Randolph Normal showed their love for him and appreciation of his labors as an instructor, by presenting him with a purse containing several hundred dollars.

He married, May 10, 1858, Miss Cynthia Taggart, one of his assistants in the academy at Royalton. He had four children, Frank Herbert, Seth Edward, Nell Florence, and Grace Lucia. Mrs. Conant survived her husband but a few years. The two daughters live in the old home at Randolph, where they have a studio. Some of their pictures are found in this History.

John Ingersoll Gilbert followed Mr. Conant. He had just taken his A. M. degree from the U. V. M. He was born at Pitts- ford, Oct. 11, 1837. The school was in a flourishing condition during his stay of two years. One of his assistants was his sis- ter, now Mrs. S. G. Thorndike of Pittsford. She writes with great pleasure of the love and respect universally accorded her brother, while he was principal of the academy. After he left Royalton he was principal of the academy at Malone, N. Y. He then studied law and practiced in the same place. He married in 1870 Katherine Fessenden of New York City. He was a mem- ber of the legislature of New York, 1876-78. He was recognized as one of its ablest members, and was made chairman of im- portant committees. His influence for the right was strong. A member of the Assembly who had received threatening letters if he did not vote Yes on a certain measure, once asked Mr. Gilbert's advice. His reply was, "If you think it is wrong to vote Yes, put down your slate and pencil and vote No." When the time came for voting, the member arose with flushed face, struck the desk and said, "This is between God and the Devil. I vote No." Mr. Gilbert once said, "They talk about temptations

PRINCIPALS OF ROYALTON ACADEMY.

Joseph Tracy, Jr. Sylvanus Bates. John Russell Herrick.

John Ingersoll Gilbert.

Samuel Ward Boardman. Edward Joseph Hallock.

Edward Conant.

PRINCIPALS OF ROYALTON ACADEMY.

Charles Noyes Chase. Mrs. Evelyn M. Lovejoy.

Charles L. Curtiss.

William B. Herrick. Mrs. Ellen Lee Stearns.

Sidney Munson Harris.

Miss Fannie Eastman.

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at Albany. I was never tempted by any one. When a man's position is known to be beyond the reach of corruption, there are no more temptations at Albany, than there are in a Sunday school."

He held responsible positions on the Malone board of edu- cation, was trustee of the Potsdam Normal school, and president of the board of trustees for the Northern Institution for Deaf Mutes.

A certain young man met Mr. Gilbert at a banquet in New York city, and said to him, "I have always thought of you as embodied conscience, and when I have had important questions before me, I have sometimes asked myself whether or not you would approve my decisions and actions. I have tried to do what you would consider right, and I think I have done it." That young man was Theodore Roosevelt.

There is not space to speak at length of his work as state senator, his successful advocacy of important measures, or of his connection as chairman of the executive committee of the Lake Mohawk Conference, dealing with the subject of interna- tional arbitration. He received the degree of LL. D. from the U. V. M. in 1889. He died at Malone, N. Y., Dec. 19, 1904. There survive him his wife and daughter, Lucia Fessenden Gil- bert, residing at Malone.

The annual and semi-annual "exhibitions" were a marked feature of the academy for many years. They were more in the nature of commencement exercises, having a salutatory and vale- dictory. Two programs, at least, have been preserved, one of November, 1846, and the other of November, 1860. The exer- cises began at seven o'clock, and were extremely lengthy, requir- ing, it would seem, three hours or more to complete. A large number of vocal and instrumental numbers were given. T. H. Atwood was valedictorian in 1846, and L. F. Emery in 1860. The orations were of a classical nature, or dealt with modern political subjects. The "Ladies' Paper" gave the feminine por- tion of the school an opportunity to air their erudition, or to make sly hits at the foibles of the other sex. As a good prepara- tion for these more pretentious affairs, lyceums were quite regu- larly held, even so late as 1890, and furnished a stimulating recreation, not only to the students, but to other members of the community. The old "Lyceum," an independent organization, in 1834 had sold all its apparatus to the academy for $24, and dissolved.

George Sylvester Morris, born at Norwich, Nov. 16, 1840, was the next principal, coming from Dartmouth, where he gradu- ated in 1861. He enlisted from Norwich the next year in Co. K, 16th Vt. Vols. Dr. Gardner Cox, a student of his, and in the

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same regiment, thus writes of him: "Morris was a noble fellow, clean-cut, honorable, high-minded, scholarly, gentlemanly to the core. He was in the army with me, same regiment. I had at- tended the academy only the fall before, and so had Frank Bow- man of Barnard. Morris was so pleased to find his scholars with him, that he proposed that we have a Shakespeare club, and he secured several copies of Hamlet in paper covers. As I was orderly sergeant, and had a right to keep my light burning after the rest were all out, we used to meet at my tent, and have readings. Bowman, Cyrus Aikens, and the Lillie boys made up the club. We went over many plays of Shakespeare, but I re- membered Hamlet much the best. We felt we owed a good deal to Morris."

After his return from the war, Mr. Morris taught Greek and mathematics one year at Dartmouth, then entered Union Theo. Sem. He afterwards spent several years in Europe. In 1870 he was made Professor of Modern Languages in the University of Michigan, holding the same position nine years. He lectured on Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, 1878-84. He was called to the chair of Ethics, History of Philosophy and Logic in the University of Michigan, in 1881, and placed at the head of the Department of Philosophy in 1883, which position he held until his death, Mar. 23, 1889. His writings were numerous and profound, and attracted wide attention. In 1876 he mar- ried Victoria Celle of New York, by whom he had two children.

Charles Noyes Chase, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1862, came the same year to take charge of the academy. He was then twenty-three, and had married Miss Mary M. Tuttle. He was born in West Newbury, Mass. He spent two years in service as principal of the academy, and had a flourishing school. He says of that time, that those two years "were spent delightfully in the beautiful village of Royalton, justly noted for the refinement and culture of its residents." After leaving Royalton Mr. Chase was city missionary one year in Washington, D. C., then for four years in the Post Office Department.

On the opening of Atlanta University in 1869, he became Professor of Greek, which position he held until 1888. He was absent from the University seven years. He was sent to Africa by the A. M. A. to inspect the missions there. He returned in 1895 as Dean and Professor of Mathematics, but later became Professor of Latin. Prof. W. E. DeBois, in an address on the growth and work of Atlanta University, uttered the following eulogy on Prof. Chase: "We have one of the most successful Latin teachers in the South, a man not only learned in method, but of great and peculiar personal influence." And again, "There sounds within those halls today the voice of a white-

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haired man, who, thirty-five years ago, sacrificed a government position and a good salary, and brought his young wife down to live with black people. Not all the money that you and yours could give for a hundred years would do half as much to con- vince dark and outcast millions of the South that they have some friends in this world, as the sacrifice of such lives as these to the cause."

Mrs. Chase died, and he married for a second wife, Helen E. Walsh. He has a daughter, Mrs. Edward Kirkland, living at Bellows Falls.

Erastus Franklin Bullard, the successor of Mr. Chase, was born in Jay, N. Y., May 15, 1840. He graduated from U. V. M. in 1864, and soon after assumed the principalship of the acad- emy, which he held for two years. The attendance had been somewhat affected by the war, and the withdrawal from this and neighboring towns of so many young men. From Royalton Mr. Bullard went to Keeseville, N. Y., where he was school commissioner for several years, and superintendent of schools until 1874. He removed to Jacksonville, Ill., in 1875, to accept the position of President of Jacksonville Female Academy. Later he added to it a Conservatory of Music, and School of Art. He resigned in 1901 on account of ill health, and died in October of that year. His widow resides at 3 Duncan Place, Jackson- ville.

E. C. Starr was a graduate of Yale in 1866. He was prin- cipal of the academy 1866-67. He became a Congregational minister, and has been preaching in Cornwall, Conn., for sev- eral years.

Robert E. DeForest, another graduate of Yale, who took his A. B. degree in 1867, came to Royalton and had charge of the academy, 1867-68. For further particulars, see the sketch of the Marcy family.

Graduates fresh from college continued to try their wings for a year in the academy. Albert Darwin Whitney was the next one to preside over the school. He was born in Moira, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1841, and graduated from Middlebury in 1868. He left Royalton in 1869. He has taught in various places in Rhode Island, Iowa, Vermont, and New York. He married in 1869, and has three children. His address is Wappingers Falls, N. Y.

Another graduate of Middlebury followed Mr. Whitney, Patrick Francis Burke, who remained one year. He taught in several places until 1886, when he was appointed Superintendent and Special Disbursing Agent of the U. S. Indian Industrial School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, remaining there three years. He was then appointed superintendent of public schools and of the academy at Port Henry, N. Y. He married in 1880, and has two children.

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Mr. Burke was succeeded by Eugene Franklin Wright, a graduate of Middlebury in 1871, the year in which he came to Royalton. He was then twenty-nine. He had served in the Civil War as a private in Co. K, 2nd Regt., Vt. Vols., from 1861 to 1864. He was one of the foremost in the organization of the Orville Bixby Post at So. Royalton. He studied for the ministry and preached for a short time, then entered Chicago Theo. Sem. in 1876. He preached in various places in Illinois prior to 1900, when he became editor and proprietor of the "Lexington Unit." He married (1) Mrs. Ellen M. Marsh, and (2) Susan S. Stone. He has three children.

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History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 37

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280