St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-06-18

vile and Sheffield. Judge ]. w. Chan
dler succeeded Gen. Whiteaw as treasurer
in 1906 and held the office until his death
in 1910, when his son, Samuel Chandler,
became the treasurer and so continued
until his death in 1855; the two held the
Office continuously for nearly fifty years
In 1910 it was decided that Morse atlas
and the map OF Rome should supersede
those used in 1876. DR.. Taylor Lewis
of Union college declared that man or
boy who learned to decline noun in
the Latin grammar enlarged his ideas Of
mankind What revelation OF the
world must have been the introduction
of this geography and map to those stu
dents 1t was full ofpossibilities of new
lie and civilization.
Among the early trustees, we note the
brave Revolutionary soldiers, Capt.
BENJAMIN Sias from London, N. H., and
Danvile; the brilliant DR.. Arnold from
St. Johnsbury; Judge Wing, one of the
three Judges of Caledonia county court,
who followed Col. Davis from Montpe-
lier in 1899; the pioneer Daniel Cahoon
from Lyndon; DR.. Horace Beardsley from
Cabot; Gen. Whitelaw from Ryegate,
noted for his maps and surveying; Joseph
Lord and DR.. Luther Jewett from St.
Johnsbury; Joseph Fisher from Cabot;
William Mattocks from Danville; Rev.
Leonard Worcester, who succeeded Gen.
William Chamberin in 1912 as secretary
OF the board of trustees, when the latter
became the president and so continued
until his death in 1928, when Rev. L.
Worcester was elected to fill the office
for the next ten years. Money was sub
scribed by prominent men for suitable
instructress for the young ladies, and
Laura Bradee, afterwards wife Of ex-
President Bartlett, was engaged for a
teacher In 1881 an attempt was made to
divert the funds and in 1887 Lyndon Sc
cured part OF them for Der school. In
1912 Rev. David Merrill became the sec.
rotary of the board and was followed by
Rev. A. Boutelle in 1851. DR.. Shedd,
Ezra Carter Chamberlin and S. A.
Chandler were appointed committee
for building the academy, the one with
the imposing Doric pillars in front, To-
Gated on the present site, i'll the village.
In 1916 the school observed the 50th
anniversary, which was the largest gath
ering OF the kind the town had ever
known, when 400 persons sat down to
dinner. In 1850 and 1853, the academy
received a legacy from DR.. Josiah Shedd.
In 1868, Mrs. Shedd, his wife, gave
$1,000 for fund, Of which the interest
was to pay the tuition of worthy stu
dents. Would that time and space would
permit us to mention the many eminent
men from the different towns in the
county who served as trustees with great
acceptance and credit. Peacham was no
"Sleepy Hollow" for she was set on a
hill to send out her light far and wide.
The church and school had the ninth
newspaper in the state to herald the
news and inculcate patriotism in. 1.-THE
Green Mountain Patriot" published bv
Farley & Goss, Feb, 1898, which contin-
ued until 1907, when the North Star"
appeared in the literary horizon at
Danville. The trustees kept in touch
with the times, for the largest number of
her preceptors were graduates from
Dartmouth college and she was regarded
as kind foster mother Of the academy,
sending her Phi Beta Kappa men to fill
the vacancies. She was also indebted to
Middlebury college and the University oil
Vermont for excellent instructors.
What fond memories cluster around
that fair hilltop of Vermont where the
old church and academy were first To-
Gated Eloquent with Old Boreas' win.
try blasts, where he and Gen. lack Frost
We'd with each other at times in high
carnival, piling up the snow in riffs and
mountain waves. Where in autumn you
admired the iorest-crowned hills with
their imperial livery and brilliant color.
ing, or Ieasted your eyes upon the fresh
verdure OF springs emerald green while
listening to the merry song of the bobo.
link and in summer enjoyed the soft veil
OF haze resting upon the rampant of the
New Hampshire mountains with the deli
cate purplish glow which enveloped the
hoary summitsof the White and Franco.
mia ranges, dimly outlined against the no.
rizon, while their shadows were reflected
in the placid lake below; and the silvery
thread OF the Connecticut River in its
meanderings defined the New Hampshire
and Vermont boundaries; the charm was
not so much in the immediate surround
ings as in the broad extent OF this pano.
ramic view and the ampitheater of hills
ALPS piled on Alps!" The sublimity oil
the scene awakened generous ardor oil
soul and was enough to enthuse painter
or kindle the musicalyre of poet in its
insensible appeal to the nobler faculties
But those pioneers had no time to ideal.
ize; they were practical business men and
women. "Life was real, life was earnest
and the times demanded just such vigor.
GUS men and women of energetic empha
sis for her pioneers.
A stranger visiting Monticello, Thomas
Jefferson's beautiful home in Virginia, for
the first time, exclaimed, in viewing the
beautiful hills and valleys, THAT is what
made Thomas Jefferson But a practi
cal farmer replied, "The scenery has al
ways been here and a good many men
have been raised round here, but there
has never been but one Thomas Jefferson. y
This might have been said of the late
Thaddeus Stevens, the congressman from
Pennsylvania.
This academy was from the beginning
a robust child with its large endowment
fund. 1t was established by an enact
ment of town meeting as well as by a
decree of the Legislature. 1t afterwards
became very important element in the
growth Of the town which ranked high
as literary center in that section of the
state; having among its resident citizens
the acknowledgements who was at
that time the president of the board OF
trustees, later the governor (Mattocks)
The school had vitalizing influence in
the town, county and state and was a