The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-08-13
HAVERFIILL.

Wednesday the scene of a notable gather
ing of the sons and daughters OF its his
i toric academy. The day was given ovel
Ito enjoyment of substantial sort, anC
the town was thronged with alumni o.
the school. The weather was all thai
could be desired.
No such gathering of the alumni OF
HayerhilI academy as that held here
Wednesday has ever before been held
The town was alive with persons wearing
the blue and white badge prepared for the
4 day. 1t bore the dates of the academy
! existence. 1894 and 1897, picture OF the
old academy building and the name OF
the school.
Exercises were held Wednesday morn.
ing in the old academy building, followed
by dinner and post-prandial exercises
In the evening an historical address was
given in the Congregational church
Thursday the formal dedication of the
new building took place, and i'll the eve.
nlng reception was held.
] The exterior of the old academy build
| ing was draped with bunting III the ma
tional colors while over the door, in huge
! letters formed of evergreen, was the word
Welcome" The inside was bright with
flowers.
After the out of town guests had re.
ceiyed welcome that they will not soon
forget, all gathered at III O clock Wednes-
day morning in the old academy hall.
After prayer by the Rev. Charles Merrill,
the Hon. L. d. Stevens of Concord, presi-
dent of the Alumni association, who pre-
sided at the gathering, delivered the ad.
dress of welcome.
J. C.. Edgerly of Manchester made a
happy response in behalf of the alumni.
He told of how, thirteen years ago, he
stood on the same platform, proud in the
knowledge of his 10 years, and gave the
| I I,,4o Than hn thnI1pht ba
was the only one, now he realizes that
there are Others" Mr.. Edgerly paid a
fitting tribute to the old school and dwelt
pleasantly upon the bygOne days. In
conclusion, he said, "Today we are boys
and girls together again, and | venture
the hope that whan, God willing, we
gather again, we will find the dear old
academy pressing on in the good work
and the second century of its life still
helping to solve the problem of not what
is easiest, but what is best to do, and how
it may best be done"
After Fred Elliott Jenkins of Haverhill
had sung in a very creditable manner
,Longfellow's ''Windmill,' arranged by
Tuckerman, j. III. Pearson of Chicago
presented gavel to the president who
made fitting response. Mr.. Pearson is
the benefactOr who has fitted up the old
academy building as town assembly
hall, with library and dining room.
"reminiscences of the old school life fol
lowed, by j. H. Pearson and Mrs. NJ. b.
Hook, while Mrs. Merrill Pearson read
paper of an historical nature. Mrs.
Hook was unable to be present and her
paper was read by her daughter.
Covers were laid for 100 for the dinner,
which was served in the dining room and
the library room on the second floor The
tables were attractively decorated for
the occasion, while the good things served
Hva1l c11Ct oin oJ tha a inJ of HoUar-
hill as place of good cooks. So large
was the number that partOOk of the
spread that ii was necessary to reset the
tables more than once.
At 30 the post prandial exercises were
held, President Stevens acting as toast
master. DR.. 5. p. Carbee, who was sur
geon-geneIal Oh Governor Bushels staff,
responded for "The Trustees, while
"The Teachers" were toasted by Prof. c.
H. Morrill, of Bakersfield. VT, a former
principal of the academy. Mrs. l.. ID.
Stevens read poem prepared for the Oc-
casiOn by b. Frank Palmer, an alumnuS
of the school, and inscribed to his school
ter Dana of Concord spoke of 'Old School
Days" Miss S. V. Child responded for
THE Ladies'" while Samuel T. Page of
Manchester told of the good things to be
in THE Second Century of the school.
"A Haverhill Boy in the West was the
SuDleCI OI IL paper DN 1ulutE u MOISe Ol
California, read by j. G. Edgerly.
The Congregational church was throng-
ed Wednesday evening and the exercises
were of most interesting nature. AS at
the morning and afternoon sessions, the
LyndOnvIlle, VT, orchestra played in an
acceptable manner. Mrs. Harriet X.
Morgan of Boston sang, several vocal
solos and quite captivated the audience,
and Miss Nellie p. Nichols gave some de-
lightful readings. Both were warmly en-
cOred Fred Elliott Jenkins also sang in |
a pleasing manner, Miss Harriet Spalding |
of Lawrence Kan, acting as accOmpanist. |
d. f. Merrill opened the evenings pro
gram with "reminiscences of old school |
days, while an historical address of much |
merit was given by the Rev. j. l.. Merrill |
of Newbury, Vt. From his careful re-
searches, the following facts have been
cleaned:
Haverhill academy, which, in its best
days, was one of the leading academies in
NORTH ern New England, one of the priL-
cipal feeders of Dartmouth college, and
school which has graduated many emf
nent men, is 1903 years old. 1t was char
tered in 1894 by the Hon. Charles JOHNS
ton and others. Mr. Johnston, the Rev.
Ethan Smith, John Page, Samuel Brooke
and Joseph Bliss were named as trustees
Moses PaysOn, who afterwards became
one of the leading men of the county, and
W
the best presiding officers of his day, was
the first preceptor. -.
Mr.. Payson was followed by Joseph
Bell, who became the peer of Ezekiel
Webster and Ichabod Bartlett at the bar
stephen p Webster, who was selected by
the Legislature of New Hampshire to
Lafayette, when he visited Con-
cord in 1925; Peter 7. Washburn, after
wards Governor of Vermont, and others,
distinguished in their day.
Old Haverhill has furnished the public
schools of this region with large proper
ton of their teachers. OF the sixty gen-
tlemen named in the catalogue of 1919
forty went out to teach winter school.
Of 149 mentioned in that of 1880, fifty had
been or were at that time teachers.
The academy has started in their edu-
cation such men as Nathan Clifford, jus
tice of the United States supreme court;
Andrew s. Wood, chief justice of New
HAMPSHIRE; Thomas Leaverett Nelson,
United States judge for the eastern dis
trict of Massachusetts. 1t has sent an
large number of men to Dart
mouth college, and for long time was
one of the principal feeders of this insti-
tuition.
The only academies known to have ex-
L 4, 20,