USA > Vermont > History of the Baptists in Vermont > Part 46
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attendance upon schools, mostly of other denominations. We have forty-four graduates of colleges, and ninety-six graduates of other schools, not including commercial academies. The prop- erty reported amounts to $5,819,991."
These statistics show that only one-third of our youth are receiving any academic education, and only one-twentieth of them are being educated by Baptists.
They further show (condensing the remainder of the report) that the Baptist institutions, now in existence among us, command only an exceedingly narrow local patronage; that it is in vain to hope that to any considerable extent our youth will be sent to Baptist institutions outside the State. As a matter of fact, less than one in a hundred of them go away from Vermont to attend a Baptist academy. That abundant means for the accomplishment of all that we need in this direction, a contribution of a little more than one per cent of the property of the Baptists of the State-less than the amount required by this Convention to be raised by the feeblest church which it aids for the support of the Gospel at home- would endow an academy with $100,000.
"Your committee have discharged, to the best of their ability, the work committed to their hands. They were not em- powered to raise funds for this purpose, or to locate or endow an academy. Still, they feel deeply that the time has come when this work should be entered upon in resolute earnestness. It has come to their knowledge that a legacy has already been made for this purpose, and that another waits only for a permanent organiza- tion to which it can be bequeathed. They, therefore, recommend to the Convention to choose a Board consisting of from nine to fifteen trustees, three of whom shall hereafter be elected by the Convention and the Board, as to its remaining members, to be self- perpetuating in three classes, with the sole limitation that they shall be members in good standing of Baptist churches, who shall organize as a corporate body under the laws of the State, and pro- ceed to found a first-class academy in Vermont, and to endow and control the same.
Signed by each member of the committee."
On this occasion, able addresses were delivered by Alvah Hovey, D. D., of Newton Theological Seminary, and Sewall S.
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Cutting, D. D., secretary of the American Baptist Education Commission, and Rev. H. C. Estes, of Jericho, after which the fol- lowing resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, that on nomination of the chair, a committee of three be now appointed to nominate a board of from nine to fif- teen persons, whose duty it shall be to prosecute the work of estab- lishing and endowing a new educational institution in this State, to determine the question relative to its location, and raise for it an endowment fund of at least $100,000, exclusive of grounds, buildings, and apparatus, and to secure for it, from the General Assembly of the State, an act of incorporation for themselves and their successors, as the Corporation, or Board of Trustees, for the said academy, with such conditions, limitations and powers, in accordance with the report just adopted, as shall seem to them advisable."
Rev. H. C. Estes, M. Davis, Esq., and Rev. W. N. Wilbur were appointed such committee. Subsequently this committee reported, recommending that the following named brethren be chosen to constitute the Board of Trustees, contemplated in the foregoing resolution :
Board of Trustees: Hon. William M. Pingry, Rev. T. H. Archibald, Rev. Charles Hibbard, Rev. W. N. Wilbur, L. K. Fuller, Esq., Hon. Alanson Allen, R. M. Galusha, Esq., Hon. Lawrence Barnes, Rev. S. F. Brown, Rev. E. Mills, Rev. M. A. Wilcox.
These brethren immediately took measures for effecting a legal incorporation under the General Statutes of Vermont. Re- markable progress was made during this year. A circular was issued by the Board of Trustees, rehearsing the history of the enterprise, announcing the decision of the Board, selecting Saxtons River as the location for the academy, stating that Mr. Charles L. Jones had given to this enterprise $20,000; the citizens of Sax- tons River, $30,000; and Baptists in other places, $20,000, and appealing for the completion of the endowment.
The cheering announcements in the circular drew from the ensuing Convention the following cordial acknowledgement of the Divine interposition :
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"Resolved, that we gratefully recognize the hand of God in the signal success which has attended the labors of the Board of Trustees appointed at our last annual meeting, at Burlington, to prosecute the work of establishing in this State a well endowed academy of the highest order; that we regard the sudden and un- expected opening of the school at Saxtons River, and the sub- stantial encouragement given for its location there, as singularly providential; and we commend this enterprise to the friends of education, and our churches generally, as preeminent in its im- portance and claims at the present time and especially deserving their cordial sympathy and generous subscriptions."
The Convention appointed as members of the academy board, raising the number to fifteen, for permanent member, J. J. Estey, Esq .; for three years, Rev. L. J. Mattison; for two years, Rev. I. D. Burwell; for one year, Rev. H. C. Estes. At a meeting of the board in 1872, Rev. W. N. Wilbur was appointed financial agent, and in less than one year from the time of his ap- pointment the complete subscription of $100,000, for the endowment of the academy, was secured.
This is the story of the founding of Vermont Academy and a bright portion of the history of Vermont Baptists in educational lines. The academy soon became the pride of our people, its buildings stately and beautifully situated, its faculty able and attractive, and its student body large and enthusiastic. The Esteys and Levi K. Fuller became, especially, personally interested in the school and were generous in their gifts and in their devotion of time to the interests of the school. The platform of the Conven- tion has always been accessible by the trustees of the academy for the account of its work and the presentation of its claims. The Associations also have welcomed the representatives of its manage- ment. The part taken by the State Convention, in 1900 and sub- sequently, has been narrated in the chapter on the State Conven- tion.
NEW HAMPTON INSTITUTION, FAIRFAX
One of the most interesting and noteworthy events in the history of Vermont Baptists was the rise and decline of New Hamp-
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ton Institution. The history of that institution has never been fully written. Materials for such a chapter now are somewhat scanty. Most of the men who promoted it have passed away, but the influence of the school abides, and the denomination owes much to the work it accomplished. In the beginning, a wonderful opportunity was promptly improved, later, it seems, from the present point of view, a magnificent providentical opportunity was lost by the failure of Vermont Baptists to support an institution which for a time was one of its choicest treasures.
For some time previous to 1852, the problem how to secure a supply of suitably trained ministers for our Vermont churches was weighing on the minds of many. Rev. I. H. Parker, in his circular letter read before the Lamoille Association in 1850, expressed sentiments then widely current. He said, "It is granted, I be- lieve, that ministers of the Gospel, in order to labor successfully among us, should be raised in Vermont. Exotics do not thrive in our high latitude. If this is true, then Vermont must furnish her own ministers. This, at least, must be the general rule, and each Association should furnish a number sufficient to supply all her own churches, and her proportion to go abroad to destitute regions and preach the Gospel where Christ has not been named. So many and pressing are the calls to other regions, that, unless we can raise up men upon our own soil to labor among us, our churches must suffer more or less by destitution. We labor under some very serious embarrassments as Baptists in Vermont. We have no institution of our own at which pious young men can carry forward to its consummation a course of study preparatory to the ministry. The consequence is that most of our young men go abroad to study and never return among us. Is there not something for us to do in this behalf? A native educated ministry and a school in which to train them were the needs of the time."
Some of the brethren, who were wont to make practical ap- plication of wise suggestions, began to inquire as to the possibility of Vermont having an institution of her own. A providential op- portunity was in sight. At that time New Hampton Institution in New Hampshire was in financial straits. The hope of New Hampshire endowing and maintaining it was waning and nearly gone. Could it be transferred to Vermont? Could Vermont
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endow and maintain it? Upon inquiry the possibility of a transfer became evident. The Northern Educational Union was formed to finance the enterprise. Subscriptions were solicited and obtained.
In October, 1852, the Convention met in Hydeville, and after an address by Dr. Caldicott, secretary of the Northern Baptist Education Society, and a collection of $100 for that object, the business of the Convention was suspended to see if $2,000 could be raised to complete the $20,000 needed for the endowment of New Hampton Institution, to be transferred to Fairfax. This sum was promptly pledged and prayer offered, expressing gratitude for the signal success. At 2 o'clock the Northern Educational Union, which had previously been organized, met. Rev. L. Howard was appointed president pro tem and Rev. M. G. Hodge, secretary. A statement of the circumstances which called the Union into existence, and of the action up to this time, was made by Rev. H. L. Parker. A plan of the buildings which the people of Fairfax proposed to erect, was presented by Rev. L. A. Dunn, and a board of trustees was elected by ballot.
That same year, 1852, the trustees of New Hampton Institu- tion presented their report to the New Hampshire Baptist State Convention, in which they told of the efforts to sustain the theolog- ical department for more than twenty years, and stated that only about $4,000 had been secured toward the $20,000 proposed; that the debts were then about $2,400; that they had received a proposition from the brethren in Vermont that they would raise an endowment of $20,000 and would provide suitable buildings if the institution were removed to that State. Being convinced that there was no prospect of obtaining an endowment in New Hampshire, the trustees asked the Convention to give them authority to transfer the institution to the Northern Educational Union, which had been formed in Vermont. After considerable discussion in two sessions of the Convention, the matter was referred to the Board of the Convention. The Board decided in favor of making the transfer. Writings were executed the 10th of November, 1852, by which all the liabilities of the institution were assumed by the Board in Vermont, in consideration of which the property of the institution was conveyed to said Board.
NEW HAMPTON LITERARY AND THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION E. Fairfax, Vt.
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The Institution was reopened at Fairfax the 30th of August, 1753, with fourteen theological students and a total of one hun- dred and forty, as many as could be accommodated at that time. Another boarding-house was then near completion.
The site provided for the new buildings was one of the finest in Fairfax, commanding a view of Mount Mansfield, the highest of the Green mountains, and a wide extent of country in every direction. The grounds were ample. The buildings were sugges- tive of the ideals entertained by the promoters of the Institution. Three large buildings were connected in such a manner as to give an imposing architectural front. The center building was the old meeting-house, furnishing a chapel on the lower floor, an assembly hall on the second, and above this was a Masonic hall. The new buildings were three stories high, with tall columns giving them a classical appearance. These buildings furnished recitation rooms, reading rooms and dormitories. A dome surmounted the whole structure. This dome-crowned, composite building could be seen for miles around and the picture it made will never be erased from the memories of those who often saw it.
At the opening of the school, students came in encouraging numbers. In 1854, three hundred and thirty-five young people availed themselves of the advantages of this school, during all or a portion of the year. The average attendance was one hundred and thirty-nine. Twenty-six young men were in the theological department. The faculty was a very able one. At the head, as president and Follett professor of biblical theology and pastoral duties, was Rev. Eli E. Smith, eminent as a scholar and teacher. One, who as a pupil knew him, says "He was a dignified man, with a kindly heart. Most of the students were afraid of him a little." Rev. James Upham, A. M., was professor of sacred litera- ture and ecclesiastical history. He is said to have been a careful student, who loved Latin as he did his meals. Mark A. Cum- mings was professor of mathematics and the natural sciences. John A. Pooler was tutor of the preparatory department. In the female department was Laura A. Gage, principal and teacher of German and moral sciences. Susan M. Ham, teacher of Latin and rhetoric. Martha J. Tucker, teacher of mathematics and
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French. Nellie F. Cate, teacher of drawing, painting and French. Anne E. Taylor, teacher of preparatory department. Susan Weir, teacher of vocal and instrumental music.
Three courses of study were arranged: a preparatory course for young people whose parents wished them to be under careful training and for those who were not well prepared to enter at once the higher grades; an English and classical course designed to give thorough, practical education, more extended than that of academies and high schools and less extended than that of the New England Colleges, including as much of Latin and Greek as would prepare one to enter college; and so much of history, higher mathematics, natural sciences, rhetoric, logic, intellectual and moral philosophy as were necessary for any occupation aside from the learned professions. The theological department was designed for students for the ministry, who did not wish to pursue the nine years' course in the ordinary system. It was a very wide and thorough course.
The expenses to students were reduced to the minimum. Young ladies could be boarded at the boarding-house for from $1.75 to $2.00 a week. This sum paid for board, washing, room rent, use of furniture and wood. One can hardly read without a smile the one requirement mentioned in the catalogs: "Each young lady is expected to furnish towels and teaspoon or dessert- spoon for herself." Young men could obtain board at about the same rate, and in clubs could reduce expenses below these figures. For tuition a general charge was made on all students of $3.00, to which was added for each branch of higher mathematics, $.50; for ancient and modern languages, $1.25; bookkeeping, by single and double entry, $1.12; natural philosophy, geography of the heavens, and astronomy, each $.50; mineralogy, botany, and zoology, each $.50; anatomy and physiology with lectures, $1.00; geology with lectures, $1.00; chemistry with lectures and experi- ments, $2.00; mental and moral science, rhetoric, logic, evidences of natural and revealed religion, history of English literature, criticism, Butler's Analogy, cach $.75; writing and vocal music, according to the number of lessons; music on piano or organ, two
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lessons per week, $8.00; use of instrument, $2.00; painting in water colors, $2.00; oil painting, $5.00; incidental charges per quarter, $.25.
Rev. E. B. Smith and Dr. James Upham continued in their positions till the death of Mr. Smith, January 5, 1886, when Dr. Upham became principal and continued in that position till 1867, when Joseph S. Small and Milon Davison were the male teachers, two years, and Milon Davison and Edwin C. Ferguson in 1869. The lady principals during this time were Laura A. Gage, 1854- 1856; Susan Ham, 1857-1858; Caroline V. Burns, 1860-1861; Mary E. Mayo, 1861; Sara D. Freeman, 1862-1863; Frances J. Chamberlin, 1864; Mary G. Wadsworth, 1865-1866; Juliette E. Miles, 1867-1868; Emma A. Barton, 1869.
Rev. Alvah Sabin was president of the Board of Trustees till 1860, when Rev. Joseph Freeman became president, with Alvah Sabin, vice-president till 1865, when Alvah Sabin was again presi- dent, with Rev. L. A. Dunn, vice-president, till 1868, when L. A. Dunn was president, and T. H. Archibald, vice-president.
The Institution was conducted with utmost discretion and ability. The discipline was rigid, but the students did not be- come restive under the restraint. As a body, the students were loyal to the Institution and a fine school spirit was developed. An evangelistie spirit was constantly cultivated. Many conversions occurred among the students. The Baptist church, of which Rev. L. A. Dunn was so long pastor, was in cordial sympathy with the school and exerted its full influence upon it. The faculty were active in the church. In the first decade of the school life the church membership increased from two hundred to two hundred and ninety-six. The whole surrounding country felt the elevating and refining influence of the Institution.
The theological students supplied churches near and far and did splendid work, while gaining valuable experience for their later ministry.
For nearly twenty years the Institution was maintained, with an attendance of between two hundred and three hundred students. For a time there was a decrease, followed by gain. From 1863, to 1866, there was an increase in the aggregate attendance from
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two hundred and thirty-three to four hundred and ninety-five. The Civil war made serious inroads into the school, many of the students enlisting in the Union Army. But while the outward ap- pearances of the school were prosperous, the causes of decay were at work. The endowment was largely in notes and the interest only available, and when the donors died the principal lapsed in some cases. The financial basis was inadequate to the support of a school upon so high ideals.
When the financial stress became acute, there came a division of sentiment as to the course to be followed. Some were in favor of reducing the scale of the school to the proportions of the en- dowment; the faculty and others were opposed to this, believing that the hope of an increased endowment depended upon main- taining the high standing of the school. Unhappily, difference in judgment generated discord and bitterness of feeling. While discussions continued, the work of raising an endowment was de- ferred and the sympathies of the denomination for the school were being withdrawn. The death of Principal E. L. Smith was a fatal blow to the Institution.
There is reason to believe that if he had lived he would have succeeded in raising the endowment, for which he was planning, and the school would have been saved. The founding of Vermont Academy at Saxtons River tended to divert attention and interest from New Hampton, creating a rival interest, and this once flourish- ing institution gradually declined to an inferior private school and later the buildings were occupied by the town public schools, till the tragic end came in the burning of the buildings to the ground in 1897.
The early history of the Institution was so bright, its useful- ness so evident, that its decline seems little short of an occasion for regret, if not of grief.
Rev. Alvah Sabin Hobart, in a recent letter, writes, "I can scarcely conceive of a school being of more practical use than that school was at that time. It stood among the best of its grade then. As I look at it now that school had a divinely assigned work and it did it splendidly. It failed, not because its aim was not right,
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nor because the teachers were not competent, but because of the changing circumstances of the people and of the changed demands of the times."
The Northern Educational Union still maintains a legal existence, holding whatever property remains of the original body. A small school building has been erected on the site of the old ones, and this is used for educational purposes, and is the seat of the Green Mountain Bible and Missionary Institute, which holds its annual sessions there in the summer, and for a short time pre- sents scenes reminding the older residents of Fairfax of the early days of the New Hampton Institution.
MINISTERS WHO STUDIED AT NEW HAMPTON INSTITUTION
Sullivan Adams,
Lucius Ames,
Willard W. Ames,
Ruel W. Arnold,
George W. Arms,
Henry C. Beals,
Halsey C. Leavitt, William E. Lockheart,
George W. Bixby,
Samuel A. Blake,
John R. Mansfield, Thomas C. Morley.
Swett F. Brown,
Joseph W. Buzzell, Waitstill Bliss,
Bailey S. Morse, Albert McGlauflin, George W. Mason, C. D. R. Meacham, James Mitchell,
Corwin Blaisdell,
John F. Bassett,
Sanford L. Burnham,
E. M. Bixby,
Frank E. Osborn, Henry C. Pierce,
Amariah K. Batchelder,
Nehemiah Pierce,
Reuben Emerson Bartlett,
David J. Pierce,
John Henry Bowker, John N. Chase, A. J. Chandler,
George H. Parker, A. W. Peet, Clark J. Rugg,
Silas F. Dean, John Fairman,
James F. Furguson,
George Keely, Joseph G. Lorimer, Frederick F. Lyman, William P. Lowrie,
Daniel Rogers, Joseph Small, John W. Smith,
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Cyprian Frenyear,
Charles E. Fisher,
J. H. Shepardson, Levi B. Steele, Arvin A. Smith,
Melvin L. Fox, John S. Goodall,
O. C. Sargent, John Shean,
George B. Greenough,
H. P. Guam,
William C. Gunn,
Jeireh Tucker, John C. Thayer,
Asahel S. Gilbert,
Isaac A. Taylor,
Egbert B. Hatch,
Edmund Therrien,
Lewis B. Hibbard,
Irvin VanBuskert,
Merrill Howard,
A. J. Walker,
Thomas B. Holden,
Nathaniel Whittemore,
Frank S. Hesseltine,
James E. Wiggin,
John W. Henry,
Nathan Wardner,
William Dana Hall,
H. Olin Walker, Pliny F. White,
Charles H. Hickok,
E. H. Emory Jameson,
Asahel N. Woodruff,
Luman Kinney,
William H. Kelton,
E. A. Wyman, Lysander Wood.
To these might be well added the names of many more who took, at New Hampton, the literary course and their theological course elsewhere. Among these are S. H. Green, D. D., A. S. Hobart, D. D., S. H. Archibald, John Bowker, George Parker, George Arms, A. N. Woodruff.
CHAPTER XXIV
SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK
THE VERMONT BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION
1826-1844
As early as 1826 the State Convention recorded its interest in Bible study and Sunday school work, by the following resolution: "Resolved, that the Convention recommend to the churches and ministers of the State to take immediate measures to promote the systematic study of the Sacred Scriptures." A plan presented by Jona. Merriam was endorsed and commended. In contrast with present Sunday school methods, this plan is interesting, and worthy of preservation as a bit of Sunday school history.
"The following plan embraces the objects both of a Sabbath school and a Bible class. If the school be large, let it be divided into eight classes, four of males and four of females. Arrange those under fourteen years of age in the first classes; from fourteen to eighteen in the second classes; from eighteen to twenty-three in the third classes; all over twenty-three and persons settled in life, in the fourth class. Let some appropriate question be given to each class, suited to its capacity; and to each of these younger classes some select portions of the scripture, to be committed to memory. When thus organized let it be called a Bible school.
"Method of operation. 1. Let every meeting be opened and closed with prayer. 2. Let the Superintendent hear the younger classes recite their lessons of scripture, in doing which let a whole class rise at once, and each individual recite a verse until the lesson is gone through. At the close of each lesson the Superintendent may explain briefly any expression in the lesson which may not be understood. 3. Let the Superintendent repeat the questions already given out, commencing as before with the youngest classes,
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and call for their answers. The Superintendent should express his views upon the answers, or upon the question itself. 4. When all have answered, give out the questions and lessons for the next school.
"Encouragements. Let a society be constituted for this object, each member of which shall pay annually a stipulated sum. Let the moneys thus raised be appropriated for the purchase of a library, and tickets and rewards, if necessary, for the use of the school under its patronage. A library of some extent will induce many young gentlemen and ladies to attend who otherwise would not, and will render the school permanent.
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