Part I

ABBOT AND MISS BAILEY

CHAPTER XX

THE CENTENNIAL

THE occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the Academy held in connection with Commencement, June 1-5, 1929, was exciting and momentous. This is how a contemporary account began:

"And it came to pass! The Centennial was in the distant future ---it was near --- it was here --- it was over and gone. A dream, a flashing flame, a memory! Crowded with emotion and experience, those golden days will long endure."

The full reports of the proceedings, although printed, play by play, as it were, do not by any means tell the whole story. It began indeed nearly two years before with the formation of a Central Committee composed of ten members representing the chief interested parties --- Trustees, Faculty, alumnae, and students. As an interesting contrast it may be noted that the Central Committee for the Semi-Centennial consisted of three members, Miss McKeen, Dr. Cecil F. P. Bancroft, Principal of Phillips Academy, whom she often leaned upon for counsel, and the Reverend Francis H. Johnson, Trustee.

The stated conferences of the present Committee stimulated a unified effort of the whole School community in the preparations, and added dignity and importance to the coming event. The meetings opened with an ice-breaking --- or perhaps better a warming-up --- dinner in the John-Esther Gallery, and carried on with much emphasis on individual participation and discussion of any ideas presented. At times there was a good deal of informal talk and banter when Miss Bailey was at her witty best. The general pattern of events was early settled upon and some details, even to the selection of the caterer and menus. An executive secretary was appointed to take care of the machinery of arrangements, Edith Dewey Jones, 1890, past President of the Alumnae Association, known for her good business sense. When, after serving for several months, she was obliged by ill health to resign, her place was taken by Annie Smart Angus, 1898, also an able past President. One innovation, suggested by Barton Chapin, Trustee, was tried at the preceding Commencement, 1928. For the first time the procession went to the South Church for the exercises, not on the sidewalk as usual, but marching in the middle of the street to the music of a "YD" band, a custom which has endured.

Dovetailing with the efforts of the Central Committee were the activities of the alumnae. The Alumnae Office, newly housed in Abbot Hall, was a busy center before, during, and after the great event, with lines going out in all directions. This was literally true, for a telephone was installed, which helped mightily. The Office was a convenient place for consultations and committee meetings and often for work on different projects. There were several mailings to the 2800 alumnae, including an early announcement added to the formal invitation. There was also the sale of the new Register of alumnae addresses. The Alumnae Secretary made reunion arrangements, carried on research for stories of the past to be printed in the Bulletin, for the Pageant, and for President Woolley's historical address, and supplied information for various kinds of Centennial publicity.

Much business went on in McKeen Hall, including the big job of registration (Helen Marland Bradbury, 1896, Chairman) for nearly seven hundred alumnae, buzzing with excited enthusiasm. Here also was an office for the Housing Committee which had been planning for placing these, as well as special guests, in Andover homes, so graciously opened for them. This could have been no surprise, for at the time of the earlier anniversary townspeople had been just as ready to cooperate. There were sales amounting to five hundred dollars for Endowment Fund souvenirs such as the Centennial Staffordshire Plate, and for several newly published books which are listed in the chapter on Publications.

McKeen was the center of hospitality as well as of business. The large study hall was attractively furnished as a reception room, with many art objects provided by alumnae, and an historical series of photographs of buildings and individuals. Recalling the past also was the marking with placards of sites connected with Abbot history, five on the campus and seven on Main Street, including the former home of Madam Abbot, number 158 Main Street, at the lower corner of Wheeler Street; and the first meeting place of the original Board of Trustees, where the Historical Society is now located.

Alumnae Day came on Tuesday, June 4. What a day it was! It began with a moving Chapel service in old Abbot Hall and the annual business meeting. Time out for registering and other formalities and for the excited greetings of old friends was followed by a reception on the lawn. In the receiving line were Constance Parker Chipman, 1906, Association President and prime mover in the arrangements for the day, Miss Bailey, Dorothy Bigelow, 1911 (soon to be Mrs. Arms), at that time the only Alumnae Trustee, and eleven Abbot Club presidents.

The next event was the grand parade. The classes forming behind Abbot Hall were guided to their places by blue class pennants and moved forward into the Circle to the music of the band, headed by a representative of 1856, Sarah Abbott Martin. A sixty-year graduate had said laughingly, "My locomotive powers are good, I shall be glad to trudge along with the rest." The gay decorations and class regalia were most effective. For example, the twenty-five year class were in stunning yellow and black with smocks and palettes in honor of their artist Principal, Miss Means. Nineteen hundred and seven was resplendent in boas and big scarlet hats of "Merry Widow" style, while war-time activity was suggested by Red Cross garb and military uniforms. When the long line of marchers, passing in review before Miss Bailey and Miss Kelsey, had completely filled the Circle, the fact that it symbolized the circle of alumnae scattered round the world grew upon the throng and deep emotion was apparent.

Six hundred alumnae at luncheon together in the close companionship of the big tent! Mrs. Chipman presided over a program full of surprises. In an attempt to re-create the color and the feeling of the occasion, trivial details have been gathered and added to the important features. There was a succession of gifts and awards. First to be named, Miss Bailey was presented with an amethyst cross which had been contributed to the Endowment Fund in lieu of cash, and had been bought for her from the Fund by alumnae friends with a generous sum. Added to the cross was a specially designed gold chain, "a circle of love braided together to be a constant reminder of our affection and devotion." The students' song to Miss Bailey was then sung with everybody standing. Obviously moved by these tributes, she made a fitting response.

Introduced with high praise was Alice Twitchell, Director of the Endowment Fund, as a Fairy Godmother to Abbot, "the personification of love, loyalty, and ceaseless endeavor," always radiant with energy. Her gift was a lovely silver tea service. She spoke her thanks with a full heart and with pride that she had been given this opportunity to work for her School.

Special services of various kinds were recognized: Miss Kelsey as author of the important Sketches, now completed; Miss Margaret Kyle as composer-producer of the colorful Pageant which was to be given in the evening; and Miss Chickering, coeditor of The Cycle of Abbot Verse. Referring to her absent-minded ways, Mrs. Chipman, not seeing her, said, "Has she put herself somewhere else?" (She did appear at the tent door!) Jane Capenter, Alumnae Secretary and Editor of the Bulletin, was given a handsome fitted travelling bag. Heads of committees received appreciation, among them "perhaps the hardest working," Annie Smart Angus of the Housing Committee. "Mrs. Angus, where are you?" A voice, "She's housing!" "What, housing still?" She soon appeared and received flowers and a rising vote of thanks.

A representative of the fifty-year class and one of the twenty-five year class were heartily welcomed and responded delightfully. A tribute to Mr. Flagg and his planning for the celebration followed. "I think if you could have watched his expression as we marched round the Circle this morning, you would know that he feels that we all belong to him!" The exercises closed with the Parting Hymn, sung at Commencement for over fifty years.

In the afternoon there were reunions of nearly twenty classes having special anniversaries, with all sorts of original accompaniments, as for instance each member of one class found at her place a doll model of herself at graduation, correct even to the color of her hair, long white dress, and diploma tucked under her arm.

And still there was more to come! In the evening two productions were alternated. Moving pictures of present-day School life were shown in the big tent while in Davis Hall an historical pageant, The Years Between, 1829-1929, was staged by Margaret Kyle, the composer, This consisted of episodes and tableaux artistically and ingeniously arranged to depict the marked contrast in costumes and customs in succeeding periods, using sometimes as a backdrop for grouping the big old oak on the campus, which had looked down on all the changes through the years. Huge framed living pictures showing scenes from the past were eagerly watched by the alumnae spectators of different eras with spontaneous expressions of delight from one and another as her own School days were vividly recalled. A few of these have been with difficulty selected, beginning with the very beginning:

Squire Farrar in black coat with gold-headed cane advising Madam Abbot to found a school for girls; she is seated in her parlor wearing the familiar cap of the Abbot Hall portrait; a group of girls in sunbonnets and high-waisted dresses coming to School on the opening day, May 6, 1829; Harriet Beecher Stowe, sitting in elegance behind the coffee urn at the "Festival "in 1854, which she had helped to initiate and had actively promoted to raise money --- fifty cents admission --- for the furnishings of the new dormitory, Smith Hall. (She was displaying the "superb" gold bracelet in the form of shackles given her in England by the Duchess of Sutherland, inscribed "We trust it is a memorial of a chain soon to be broken.") Fashion styles in 1879, the Semi-Centennial year --- a full length picture of a girl in brown dress with elaborately puffed and pleated sleeves; ten years later, the Gibson girl in stiff linen shirtwaist suit.

Miss McKeen, gray curls and all, seated in her armchair, dressed in black silk with white lace and a bit of blue ribbon at her throat, looking just ready to speak to her girls; one of her older girls, a grandmother, sighs, "What wouldn't I give to be able to drive up in the old yellow coach and be a Fem Sem again! " whereupon her little four-year-old grandson rushes in, throws himself upon her, crying loudly, "Oh, I wish I could be a Fem Sem!"

Miss Phebe McKeen, wearing her scarlet shawl, stands by a great standard globe, her black curls falling over her ears, her dark eyes gleaming behind her spectacles. Something about her pose suggests her love of the dramatic. Dim glimpses of the memories of a grandmother --- croquet in skirts rippling round the heels, dumbbell drill in long-sleeved suits with full bloomers nearly to the boot tops. She watches with amazement the modern gay rhythmic dancers with their colorful floating scarves and bare legs.

The last scene, introduced by the singing offstage of "Abbot Beautiful," is symbolic of a common bond. It represents the Abbot seal. The lighted torch, borne aloft by a tall figure draped in white, signifies how thought for others implanted in Abbot training is passed on from one to another to kindle countless torches in its living flame. The whole cast gathers on the stage in a final tableau, singing in the glowing light.

As the audience came out from this, they found the newly installed floodlighting had glorified breathtakingly the ancient pillars and masses of old Abbot Hall.

The formal recognition of the one-hundredth anniversary took place on Wednesday morning, June 5. Alumnae Day had been intimate and personal, stressing what Abbot had done for its girls and still meant to them. The public observance was properly more formal, with emphasis on what the School had meant in the story of women's education. The fact that Miss Bailey herself acted as Chairman did not seem unusual as she, as always, presided with a grace and ease that added distinction to the occasion, although in 1879 Miss McKeen who had been, like Miss Bailey, Principal for about twenty years, appeared only in the background.

The selection of President Mary E. Woolley of Mount Holyoke College to give the historical address was most fitting, not only because of the long and close relations between the two institutions, but probably chiefly because the Abbot Trustees had once, in 1834, asked Mary Lyon to take over the Academy. She had preferred to work out her theories in a different setting, and so founded her seminary in the country village of South Hadley, but not until eight years after the founding of Abbot. Other speakers were President Henry McCracken of Vassar for the women's colleges, Dr. Katherine Denworth of Bradford Academy for girls' private secondary schools, Governor Charles W. Tobey of New Hampshire for the parents, and Mr. Stackpole, Abbot Trustee, paying tribute to the untiring service of many "Benefactors."

An emotional high spot was the singing of Hoist's Anthem, "Lord, who hast made us for thine own", by Mr. Howe's chorus of a hundred and eighty girls, with orchestra and organ. The climax for the alumnae and indeed for the whole audience was the presentation of the Centennial Loyalty Fund which had been accumulated in modest sums over a period of ten years. A framed parchment, illuminated in gold, indicating the sum, was brought in on an Abbot-blue velvet cushion by a member of the Committee, wearing a glorified academic robe of golden hue. Introduced by Constance Parker Chipman, Association President, Alice Twitchell, untiring and energetic Director of the Fund, passed over the gift, self-effacing as always but with deep feeling, to the School Treasurer, Mr. Flagg. The amount was $160,000. Worthy of emphatic mention is the most unusual fact, indicative of the persuasive power of the Director, that 98% of the graduates contributed to the Fund and 60% of the whole body of past students. This height of success matches the earlier record when every single pledge to the McKeen Hall Building Fund was redeemed. Both were achievements of which Abbot Academy may be justly proud.

After the luncheon in the great tent, a program, originating with Miss Bailey, turned away from further historical detail to a symposium entitled "Art and Life." This in a way obviated the feeling of anti-climax in following so soon after the elaborate celebration by Phillips Academy of its hundred and fiftieth anniversary in 1928, with President Coolidge in attendance. Now speakers representing different fields of culture were introduced by President Pendleton of Wellesley College, a Trustee of the School, toastmistress extraordinaire. Professor Grace Hazard Conkling of Smith College spoke for Poetry; Philip L. Hale, of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, for Painting and the Plastic Arts; Mira Wilson, 1910, Principal-Elect of Northfield Seminary, for Scholarship; Alfred Stoessel of New York University, conductor and composer, for Music; Edith Wynne Matthison, interpreter of literature and life, for Drama and the Spoken Word. These brief talks were invigorating and of high quality.

At the conclusion the Ave atque Vale from Miss Bailey was marked by the glowing cordiality and earnestness of her look toward the future of the old School, "I trust that these, our friends, today have given us an impulse that we shall not lose and that will carry us on into our second century, with new power to make education real."

 

CHAPTER XXI

LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MISS BAILEY

A STATEMENT from the Board of Trustees was sent in October, 1935, to the parents of all students:

Early in the spring of r, the Board of Trustees of Abbot Academy voted Miss Bailey a year's leave of absence. Miss Bailey felt that, at that time, she could make no definite decision in the matter.

With the satisfactory and encouraging opening of the School this fall, Miss Bailey has been able to make arrangements for the conduct of the School, which she feels will enable her to leave with confidence for its well-being during her absence. She has, therefore, accepted the offer of the Trustees, planning, however, to take a winter vacation from November first to April first rather than a full year of absence.

The Trustees have approved this plan and feel that the arrangements made are entirely satisfactory. Miss Jenks, the Registrar, who for years has assisted Miss Bailey and has been closely in touch with the social side of the School life, and Miss Comegys, the Dean, who has been for some time in full charge of the scholastic adjustments of the School, including all arrangements for college entrance, will share the responsibility for the School administration. The Faculty is able, experienced, thoroughly interested in each student and most loyal, and the physical care of the students is in the trustworthy hands of Miss Mary Carpenter, the Physical Director, Mrs. Duncan, the School Nurse, and two skilled physicians, close at hand.

The Trustees are glad to be able to report that Miss Bailey, who has not previously had a leave of absence during her years as Principal, will now have this richly deserved and long overdue holiday.

Miss Bailey spent much of the summer clearing out her accumulated possessions. In the midst of this sorry business her sense of humor did not fail her. In her suite there was a, closet with high shelves where she had put away her hats season after season. One afternoon just before School opened she came the whole length of the building from her room to the Library where the Librarian was working, and appeared at the door in the grand manner, wearing a most absurdly spectacular plume-covered monstrosity, a glamorous creation in the fashion of its day!

The night before she was to leave, there was a special Hallowe'en dinner. As one student wrote later: "After dinner, as I was the senior at her table, I walked up to her room with her. I shall always remember her standing there with Star's cream and plate of chicken in her hand, saying' Remember this is only au revoir'!"

There followed a party in the McKeen Rooms with a program ending with Abbot songs by the whole family. The climax for the girls was the serenade to Miss Bailey, "Guiding us toward beautiful visions and true," as they surreptitiously wiped their eyes. One said afterwards, "I can see her so clearly standing there in her black lace dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, looking very proud of us, her eyes shining with tears as she thanked us, yet she was smiling as she shook hands in farewell. A new girl said, "As she said goodby, I felt a wave of indefinable emotion sweep over me. I cannot find words to explain it. I only know that every time I think of her fine eyes looking into mine, I feel a renewed desire to make something worth while of my life. Every girl who has been under her guidance for even a few weeks cannot help sensing the same thing."

The next morning she departed for her leave of absence. She was watched as she came from the garage in her well-known little Buick, blew her horn in front of Draper and pointed to the hood of her car to thank someone who had made some adjustment, then drove slowly round the Circle and went out of the Gateway for the last time. As she started down School Street she looked back and waved. "A flurry of leaves and she was gone."

She was going to her niece's home in Coeymans, near Albany, and there only a few days later she was taken with pneumonia and died on November 16. The news was a tremendous shock to everybody --- even to the few who knew that for some time she had suffered from a diabetic condition.

The simple but impressive funeral service was held in the South Church, of which she was a member, and conducted by the two ministers, Mr. Stackpole, former Trustee, and the Reverend Frederick B. Noss, pastor of the church. The School and the congregation joined in singing the strong old hymn, "Oh God, our help in ages past" and the School sang the "Hymn of Praise," the words of which were written by Miss Bailey. In conclusion, Walter Howe played on the organ chimes Miss Bailey's familiar "Abbot Beautiful."

There was a large attendance of alumnae and friends, including a delegation of Miss Bailey's Wellesley classmates and representatives of colleges and schools. The burial was in the Spring Grove Cemetery in Andover, in the glow of the sunset, beside her friend Miss Morse, as she had wished.

A memorial service "In Happy Remembrance" of Miss Bailey was held at a joint meeting of the Alumnae Association and the Boston Abbot Club on the afternoon of February 8 at the Hotel Vendome in Boston, conducted by Norma Allen Haine, 191, President of the Association. President Pendleton of Wellesley, Abbot Trustee, prevented by illness from appearing, had sent the official minute adopted by the Wellesley Board of Trustees, of which Miss Bailey was a valued member as Alumna Trustee. In Miss Pendleton's place, Mr. Flagg, who had been closely associated with Miss Bailey during her twenty-three years at Abbot, spoke with sincerity and evident feeling. He said:

Miss Bailey was to my mind a conservative progressive. Upon hearing a proposal her first inclination was to say no. She would reflect upon the situation and within two or three days, when the subject was again approached, she would have considered the matter and was open-minded in the conclusion which she had formed. If, however, her answer was in the negative, she would outline her reasons and give them with a degree of conclusiveness and finality which all of you who have graduated under her will understand. At such times her mind worked like a man's.

He spoke also of her talks in awarding diplomas to graduating classes as being a reflection of her inner self, and quoted some fine passages.

Miss Fonnie Davis was then introduced as an Andover resident who was glad to speak of how Miss Bailey's interest overflowed from the School to the town. She began by quoting from an editorial in the Andover Townsman:

Her death is a great loss to the town, for in countless ways she had made her influence felt. The town has benefited tremendously in that students bearing her impress have come to take a prominent place in Andover life.

Miss Davis continued:

Miss Bailey was a member of the South Church, which every year holds an inter-church day and women gather there from many other churches for a conference. Miss Bailey was very cooperative in helping on that day and remarked many times that it was, to her, one of the nicest days of the year, she was so much interested in all the work that was presented, and in meeting people from other churches. How much it meant to her was shown by the joy expressed in her face from the time she entered to the time she left. She was also interested in the social agencies of Greater Lawrence and was a member of the Andover League of Women Voters.

Miss Bailey was President of the November Club of Andover for a full term of years, which seemed like a great deal for her to do in her busy life. At the fortieth anniversary of the Club, she remarked that as she looked back, the outstanding thing during her term of office was the opportunity to know the Club members better. There was never any activity of the Club in which she did not show her interest.

Miss Davis spoke also of what had been told her by those who, in walking or riding with Miss Bailey, had shared her keen enjoyment of the beauties of nature even in its more subtle forms, such as the variations in color even on dull days and in different lights.

Miss Esther Comegys, recently made Dean of the School, told of how at the time she first came to Abbot Miss Bailey had nearly left her breathless when, with tireless energy, she showed her from top to bottom literally of every building, meanwhile telling her with evident pride something of the history and traditions of the School. Later she had come to appreciate also Miss Bailey's spiritual energy.

There were present at the service a large number of alumnae of all periods beginning with 1870, a full representation of Trustees and Faculty and several former teachers. Emphasis was not on the irreparable loss, but on the great gain to the Abbot world of today and tomorrow through the rich contribution of Miss Bailey's strong character as it may have affected the nearly 1700 young women who had come under her influence through the years.

 

Memorial Fund

The beginnings of the long continued project of creating a memorial for Miss Bailey are interesting to record. It was scarcely more than a month after her death that the idea was suggested by a member of her first graduating class, 1913, and taken up by its officers. After conference with the Alumnae Secretary and the Executive Board of the Alumnae Association, a committee was formed whose chairman, Olga Erickson, the class president, was "thrilled to tackle the job" even though realizing that it was a hard one. An initial gift of fifty dollars was made by the class and increased by a like sum from Miss Bailey's last senior class, 1936. As the undertaking grew in importance the Board of Trustees naturally assumed the responsibility and at length made it a part of the extensive changes in Draper Hall. At first it was announced by the money-raising firm that the new social hall, taking the place of the old Recreation Room, would bear Miss Bailey's name, but this was later changed. Because of her often expressed desire to keep the family feeling strong by eating together, the Bailey Memorial Dining Hall was a fitting tribute.

Ruth S. Baker of the Faculty spoke for the many to whom Miss Bailey's loss was irreparable:

             To Her Dear Memory

The constant missing keeps her ever here!
A step? An opening door? Will it be she
Whose presence brought a touch of alchemy
And quickening life whenever she drew near?

She --- who was the center of our little sphere
Gone? --- yet the pattern held for us to see,
Of gracious living, friendship, loyalty,
She's left with us, to keep our vision clear.
Firm woven in our souls, that pattern still
Can shape our lives, worthy of her high aim
And loving consecration. Blessed she
Who from deep springs of strength, drew a rare skill
To understand, and kindled youth's fine flame!
She wrought in lives her immortality.

November 17, 1935.

 

CHAPTER XXII

MISS BAILEY "IN PERSON"

THE gift to the School by the graduating class of 1922 was a portrait in oils of Miss Bailey, painted by Miss Marion Pooke (later Mme. Duits), Abbot art instructor. This recognized the tenth anniversary of Miss Bailey's coming to Abbot. There was a little ceremony in the John-Esther Gallery, when the portrait was passed over by the Class President and accepted for the Trustees by Mary Donald Churchill, 1863.

Even more difficult than the artist's task is the attempt to capture in words something of Miss Bailey's many-sided personality. It is plain enough to all who knew her that she did not care to have the painting made except as the girls wished it. She was heard to say, "I always feel humble indeed to stand in Chapel before the portrait of Miss McKeen "[Principal 1859-1892]. She never waited to see whether she would be given praise or honor. Mr. Flagg knew of many letters from parents expressing appreciation of what the School and she personally had done for their daughters, but not one was found among her papers after her death; they had all been destroyed.

Before Miss Bailey had been elected Alumna Trustee of Wellesley, the Wellesley Magazine ended its summary of her qualifications with this paragraph:

Miss Bailey is favored by nature with the gift of physical beauty; in any crowded assemblage, she would stand out as a woman of unusual attractiveness, of noble bearing. She has tact, marked graciousness of manner, and an easy, happy poise that inspires confidence and liking. Always she would hold her own as a woman of experience, charm, and judgment.

Not thinking of herself, she was busy thinking of others --"never too busy to enjoy a lovely thing or comfort a homesick girl." Once a new girl walking beside her down the circular stairway to the old dining room stumbled and fell. Miss Bailey helped her up, saying quickly, "All Abbot girls do that sometime, so that makes you one of us!" The embarrassed girl must have told of this incident, and it so appealed to everyone who knew how difficult it was to walk on the narrow inside part of the stairs that it passed into history.

Miss Bailey had what might have been a drawback had she not frankly faced it. She called her fluency of speech a liability because of the danger of not spending enough time in preparation. She admitted that she could talk at length without saying anything! Again the mingling of diffidence and reserve often led people to think her inattentive or cold although, when with those she knew well, she was warmly responsive. Miss Bailey had, perhaps more than most people, diverse strains, described as "quietly gay," "serene exhilaration," "vital, invigorating yet with self control," "vigorously adventuring in new fields of action," "breadth of a man in her views and contacts with students, yet with the heart of a mother." "She had a prodigious ability for hard work." "A matter of wonder and admiration to us all was the serenity and poise with which she met heavy cares and mountains of work"--- but she often failed to save herself by delegating responsibility, even not using her secretary for dictation but instead writing out in longhand drafts of letters to be typed.

"Admirable in dignity and unswerving in standards, she combined with these qualities a deep tenderness and insight which were felt rather than seen --- integral with her rather than overlaid." In one of the later years when the Academic senior class was small, Miss Bailey asked them to write confidential autobiographies telling of their inner thoughts, problems, and aspirations. She then talked these over with the girls individually. She told someone afterward how much it meant to her to have them so willing to confide in her. One alumna said, "It is of her I always think when a problem arises and what she would want me to do about it." A girl with a physical handicap wrote as an alumna, "I was a bundle of loose-jointed impulses, timid and fumbling. In the first dreaded interview I sat down beside her on that well-known sofa [not in the Office but in the McKeen Rooms], and presently found myself untensed, with a new feeling of security. I had found one person to whom I was an open book with understanding and love. Some new and secret power was already mine." Miss Bailey said once that the rug by the sofa needed no washing it was "wet with so many tears --- some of them mine."

Miss Bailey had during her life at Abbot two sad experiences in the lingering fatal illnesses of her long-time intimate friend, Miss Anna Morse, and of a dear niece. She was therefore if anything more understanding in treating the sorrows and problems as well as the joys of her girls. It made her influence in their after life often most potent. There were tragic moments, such as divorce, in some lives. "I didn't think much about Miss Bailey when I was in School," said one, "but I can never tell what she meant to me afterward." In another similar instance she drove regularly for weeks to another town to give support and courage to one who had come to the end of her endurance, but who testified afterward that she felt the spirit of Miss Bailey, in her undergraduate days, had been preparing them all to meet later upheavals with balance and clearness of perspective. Other comments in retrospect: from one of her first senior class, 1913, "We had seen her only briefly in the spring before she came, but the first time we met in the fall, she called every one of us by her first name." "She made you feel as if she had confidence in you." "She understood us individually and collectively."

The Intervale experience in Miss Bailey's first year set the tradition in School that she was quite ready to join in the girls' fun, on the toboggan slide or breaking the trail on snowshoes. "In winter or summer she loved to play out of doors." Someone remembers the game of basketball that a group of Faculty played in 1919 against "a select all-school team" though, alas, they were defeated. Miss Chickering had volunteered to be injured and Miss Bailey, seeing her long form stretched out on the ground, rushed solicitously to her aid with water bucket and sponge!

Miss Bailey's letters to friends were delightful. In May, 1922, she wrote, "I have a great many things to say to you, but as usual no time to say them in. Really, if things crowd more and more every month as they seem to do, I shall soon be a candidate for an asylum. But isn't it an enchanting world! If you could see the apple-blossoms and violets in front of me!" Then mentioning the two children to whom she was a great-aunt, "My babies and their mother are coming tomorrow. Did you ever? And father on Saturday! And they are all going to be here for the 'Prom.' Isn't it wonderful? The Prom is Saturday night and is about the most diabolical event of the season, but very pretty and (let us hope!) entirely correct." Later: "The babies have gone. I just hated to let go of them. But they were darlings and won golden opinions from everyone. They said I had not overstated the case. That is a good deal for an aunt, isn't it?"

Miss Bailey had a gift for making even a reproof picturesque, sometimes in the dining room, sometimes in Chapel. Unfortunately these are unquotable on paper as they depended on tone of voice or mischievous expression for their disarming quality, as indeed much of her delicious humor did. When introducing herself as "Bertha Bailey," omitting the more formal designation which many in similar positions would use, she would often add, "Regular paper doll name, isn't it?" Once two girls asked permission to go out with two boys --- whom they afterwards married. Miss Bailey hesitated as if meaning to refuse, then said, "Yes-s, but remember to keep together," adding, "but not too close together!"

As for the Faculty, mention has already been made of special opportunities afforded them by Miss Bailey, such as her arrangement for speakers on academic subjects. Moreover she was an encourager, following up their work in detail, talking over their programs with them thoughtfully, changing the schedule when she noticed a teacher was overloaded. To past members she would send birthday telegrams. After plays or musicales she was the first to go backstage to congratulate the ones in charge, and when lawn parties or other functions had required extra work of the household staff or the men helpers, she never forgot to express her satisfaction with the way things went.

Remembered pictures of Miss Bailey: "Driving the Buick down Ballardvale way to see the oaks in their autumn coloring; going to see Joe Russell [house man] in his last illness; sitting at her desk reading an appreciative letter from an old girl, her whole face lighted up."

There was something about the intimacy of the famous sofa that invited confidences from others besides students. A member of the household staff said that as she sat there by Miss Bailey she would unexpectedly find herself talking about some problems of her job. If on rare occasions, especially in the later years, Miss Bailey seemed preoccupied, she might have had some serious problem to consider. She would then shut herself away from interruptions until she had reached a decision. In the earlier years she worked late at night for this freedom, always even in the Depression keeping a forward look.

One teacher wrote after Miss Bailey's death, "She was dependable --- backed you up." Another, "She was always accessible and ready either to listen to a problem or to hear with genuine amusement funny remarks heard in the classroom. She often leavened the business of Faculty meetings by a fleeting and not unsympathetic reproduction of the voice or manner of some small culprit who had stood before her. At the same time she expected cooperation from her Faculty. On the other side of the shield she was disturbed when one of her teachers grew more and more casual in her work. Speaking confidentially of her to an understanding friend, Miss Bailey said, "She'd better look out or she may not live to grow up!"

Her feeling for alumnae who were her own girls was something special. One of them said that when she came back for her first reunion Miss Bailey came across the Circle with her arms outstretched in welcome. And when alumnae of earlier years appeared, she was so graciously hospitable, remembering names and faces, that she was generally regarded with real affection. She was adopted as an honorary member of 1886, which included not only the first Alumnae Trustee, but the Loyalty Fund Director, and an ex-president of the Alumnae Association. Miss Bailey attended their frequent house parties, including husbands and children, and knew them all as intimate friends.

Telling observations came from professional associates, mostly in the Headmistresses Association, in which Miss Bailey had been painstaking Treasurer for several years, at one time Vice-President, and again chairman of a very active committee on aiding unemployed teachers, where "she was a very patient person." At Board meetings "she was never restless or critical even after long and trying hours, and never for a moment egotistical." "She had an inherent respect for another's personality and would make a sane and considered decision, practically possible of being carried out."

A fellow officer who had come early to an Association Conference at Abbot told of Miss Bailey's meticulous planning in advance for the occasion, and how when they opened the door of the assembly room on the morning of the meeting, she cast one look at the mass of forsythias on the piano and cried, "Oh, not like that --- long pieces!" and by the time the company arrived she had replaced the short ends by long, graceful sprays that exactly fitted the room and the occasion.

In Board meetings, "Some little whimsical remark of Miss Bailey's would often turn the tables and flash light on a side of the subject that had been overlooked, and in the laugh that followed wisdom took on a very winning guise. In her presence things just naturally fell into their normal right proportions!" "Her responsibilities were lightened by a sense of fun and a pleasure in adventure that those who knew her slightly might not suspect." "One could always think with courage and confidence of the future after a talk with her." "A quiet and positive factor in life wherever she shared it."

"The loss of Miss Bailey must have affected many alumnae as the blotting out of a fixed star would affect a mariner." "Throughout this country women wear concealed in their hearts marks she set on them as girls."

Helen Danforth Prudden, 1913, voiced a universal feeling that Miss Bailey's spirit would live after her:

We must not mourn for her who was Youth's spring,
For her whose wise and gentle patience beamed
With steady warmth upon each wakening
Young life, until the Beauty it had dreamed
Grew strong within each heart and growing, knew
The larger vision of her spacious skies.
We must not mourn for her who held Youth true
To its own strength, drew it with smiling eyes
To dare its own potentiality
Adventuring courageously for good,
For her who, still believing, lived to see
Mature, her garden of young womanhood.
We must not mourn for her. Her life was spent
For Youth and crowned with its accomplishment.

 

Part II

ABBOT IN THE EARLY DAYS

THE ACADEMY IN 1829 WITH "WOOD HOUSE"
ARTIST UNKNOWN

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

THIS portion of the book consists of reprints of my stories and articles which appeared from time to time some years ago in the Abbot Alumnae Bulletin. They contain source material not elsewhere assembled in print, gathered from divers records of the events and conditions described. Some are contemporary, from newspaper accounts or from student reactions found in diaries and home letters. Others are reminiscent, obtained from personal interviews and many letters.

The matter brought to light in this research sometimes confirms and sometimes supplements facts in Miss McKeen's History of Abbot Academy, as for example, new documentary evidence about certain early traditions to which she did not have access.

The importance of the special "Teachers' Course," as leading to the normal school movement, seems to justify an elaboration of the brief treatment in the History.

It was not possible to make the capitalization and punctuation in the various reprints consistent with each other or with Part I, since the quotations were from so many sources and often from the early years of the School when usage was radically different.

J.B.C.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

It will be a great kindness to the author and to the School if anyone who notices an incorrect statement of fact will report it to the author.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

CHAPTER XXIII

THE VERY BEGINNINGS

IN the following pencilled draft of a talk evidently given by Rev. Samuel C. Jackson at the opening of Smith Hall in 1854, a link is recovered in the chain of circumstances resulting in the founding of the school. The "venerable gentleman" referred to was undoubtedly "Squire" Farrar, who had shortly before resigned his position as trustee after twenty years of energetic service. It was he who is said to have advised Mrs. Sarah Abbot to use her "surplus funds" to "found an academy in Andover for the education of women," and to have been ready with this suggestion because of his long familiarity with the idea through association with his honored friend, Madam Phillips. Mr. Jackson, in this bit of paper, preserved for many years, takes the story further as he had it from the lips of Mr. Farrar himself.

"I was informed this afternoon in conversation with the aged and venerable gentleman who has been patron of all our literary institutions --- of this among the rest --- & whose whole business life has been identified with them, that when young Sam'l Phillips, of the North Parish, just out of college had projected Phillips Academy & had persuaded his father to found it upon this Hill, that he found it desirable to remove here that he might the better look after & cherish it. This involved a sacrifice. It became necessary for him & his refined & accomplished wife [Phoebe Foxcroft] who had been reared in high life at Cambridge to exchange a pleasant mansion there for the old small ill constructed & homely dwelling here. As an inducement to her to make the sacrifice, Mr. Phillips proposed to her & it was understood between them, that if she would unite with him in building up Phillips Academy here, he would afterwards join with her in founding an Academy for girls in the North Parish. This noble project was not executed. Mr. Phillips did not live to accomplish it. But ladies of Andover have devised & done noble things before today."

It is interesting to have this part of the story come down through Mr. Jackson because of his own large part in the execution of the great undertaking. In passing, it may be noted that it was several years after Judge Phillips came to Andover that he built for their home the spacious "mansion house" on Main Street, destroyed by fire in 1888.

Although Madam Abbot is often called the founder of Abbot Academy, she should more properly be called the donor, for the movement did not originate with her but with a group of Andover citizens. It was in February, 1828, that a public notice was posted requesting "those persons who feel favorably disposed toward the establishment of a FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL to meet at Mr. James Locke's on Tuesday evening next at 6 o'clock." This brought a good number of people on the 19th to "Locke's Hotel," afterwards long known as the home of "Squire" Hazen (111 Main Street) and later made into apartments.

According to the records, Mark Newman, Esquire, was made moderator of the meeting. A committee of seven was chosen at this time, which acted with such dispatch that at a session held two weeks later, it had already selected a site; decided on a two story brick building, the money for which should be raised by subscription; and recommended the immediate election of a Board of Trustees. Accordingly, seven men were then elected to form such a Board.

First Board of Trustees

Mark Newman 1828-1843
Reverend Milton Badger 1828-1835
Reverend Samuel C. Jackson 1828-1878
Samuel Farrar 1828-1851
Hon. Hobart Clark 1828-1849
Hon. Amos Abbott 1828-1853
*Amos Blanchard 1828-1847

*Died in office

It is easy to picture the honorable gentlemen peering out through the gathering shadows of the early March evening, as they discussed the suitability of the chosen spot just across the street, owned by one of the Board, "Deacon" Amos Abbott, and adjoining the lot on which his own house stood.

The newly formed Board met in ten days, March 4, at the home of the first treasurer, "Deacon" Amos Blanchard. Two important committees then chosen got to work at once. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Milton Badger, two youthful ministers of the town, with Esquire Farrar, drew up a constitution, much of which was of enduring worth, especially two or three often quoted sentences which express in sonorous phrases their lofty ideals for the school.

Another lawyer on the Board was Hobart Clark, who had been already State senator briefly and was later Andover postmaster, President of the Merrimack Mutual Insurance Company [still an outstanding organization] and president of the Andover to Wilmington branch railway, its trail still traditionally known as the "Old Railroad."

By the action of the Building Committee, Hobart Clark and Mark Newman, the selected lot was secured and fenced in. This site was not approved, however, by the prospective patrons of the school. The story is preserved in a letter of reminiscences written on the occasion of the Semi-Centennial in 1879 by Emily Adams Bancroft, 1829, daughter of John Adams, the principal of Phillips Academy at this time. She says: "It was the determination to locate the institution on Main Street. But many of the mothers were dissatisfied, as this was the street most frequented by the 'Theologues and Academy boys.' My mother and Mrs. Stuart consequently drew up a petition, requesting a change in location. Elizabeth Stuart (afterwards Mrs. Phelps) and I circulated said petition. When we had received a sufficient number of signatures, it was handed to the Trustees and considering the 'formidable objections,' they decided to erect the building where it now stands" [i.e., until 1888 facing School Street].

The petition is not mentioned in the Trustees' records, nor are other sites spoken of, but some traditions which have recently come to light may well be brought into this account. They were found in a copy of the Andover Advertiser for July 16, 1864, which was presented to the school with the valuable documents which occasioned this article. The newspaper contains an historical sketch written by one of the graduating class of that year and read at the "Anniversary" a few days before. In this is a reference to "various places suggested" for the new building ---"one on Main St., a little above Green, on the opposite side." Since Green Street was the west end of the present Morton Street, this probably indicates a spot just above the house on the upper corner of Morton, the left hand side as one goes up the hill. Another was "on the west side of Love Lane (Cummings Street)" now Locke Street. This sketch preserves the stories of the early history current at that time.

It is quite evident that the strong feeling about the location indicated by the petition was a serious obstacle in the way of raising funds. The Building Committee found it even more difficult than was anticipated. The matter was brought to a head at a meeting held on July 24, four months after the organization of the Board, at the "Banking room of the Andover Bank," then a new institution,---a most natural place, as will be seen from the fact that among the Trustees were the bank president, cashier and three directors.

That was a memorable day in the history of Abbot Academy. The whole enterprise hung in the balance. The minutes of the meeting bear the brief record "Voted, That it is not expedient to erect a building for a Female Academy on our present plan, with our present means." All the Trustees were present, "Dea. Newman excepted." There must have been some earnest discussions as the men came slowly out from the bank building---which was on the same spot as the present one--- and dispersed. Imagination sees Deacon Abbott and Esquire Farrar walking along together up Main Street and talking the matter over. Deacon Abbott owned the lot which had met with disfavor as a site. Esquire Farrar very likely knew that opposition on this point was keeping back a certain large donation that would change the whole situation. Deacon Newman had sometime before offered a building lot on School Street. It was a time for compromises. Imagination surmises that Esquire Farrar, on his way up the hill, called to see his old friend, Mrs. Sarah Abbot [living then on Main Street on the lower corner of Wheeler Street]. At any rate, something happened to change the course of events, for before the day was over, there was a second gathering of the Board, this time at the home of Hon. Hobart Clark then on Elm Square. Deacon Newman was present. It was called because of "a prospect of securing a greater harmony in the object" at issue, as the record puts it. They found it "expedient that the building be located on the lot offered by Deacon Newman." Announcement was then made of an additional subscription of $1000 [from "Madam" Abbot], conditional on the decision above mentioned. The day was saved!

Now comes upon the scene David Hidden, carpenter and contractor, who had come to Andover from Newburyport to erect buildings for the Theological Seminary. His old tally book, which fortunately has been preserved, is a valuable record of the growth of all the institutions on Andover Hill in the way of buildings. It gives such details as the cost of materials and the work of each man,--- a diagonal line for each working day of the week and a cipher for Sunday.

Under date of August 6, 1828, an item occurs which seems to refer definitely to preparations for constructing the new school house. "Began to look up Stuf for the Academy Window & Door Frames." Following soon after is the item "Began to work Statedly on the Academy August 29." A plan had been suggested by Mr. Charles Goddard [the principal elect] and he superintended the erection of the building.

It was at a meeting in the following January that the Board voted to incorporate, and decided upon a name --- Abbot Female Academy. The act of the state legislature is dated February 26, 1829. The Bill incorporating the Trustees as a self-perpetuating Board stated that they were "to erect instructors and instructresses and prescribe their duties; to make and ordain rules, orders and by-laws with reasonable penalities for the government of the institution."

At that same meeting in January it was voted "that Rev. Mr. Badger and Rev. Mr. Jackson be a committee in connexion with Mr. Goddard to prepare and publish a prospectus of the school." A copy of this first printed circular has just emerged from the twilight of the past and can be studied as an early example of school publicity as well as of school policy. It is given in full below.

ABBOT FEMALE ACADEMY
ANDOVER, MASS.

--------------------------

It is the design of this institution, to afford the most liberal advantages for the solid and complete education of females. ---Arrangements are made to meet the high demands, corresponding with the progress of public sentiment on the subject of female education, and with its consequent improvements ---and the Trustees feel a confidence, that the just expectations of the parents and friends of the young ladies who may enjoy the advantages of this school, will not be disappointed.

For the purposes of instruction, they have erected, on a pleasant and healthful spot, an elegant and spacious edifice, 70 feet front, by 40 feet deep ---of two high stories and a basement room,---and furnished with ample and convenient rooms for study, recitations and lectures.

An apparatus will be provided for illustrating, by experiment, the several branches of Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry ---and a library, for reference on all subjects connected with the studies of the school, and for other purposes tending to promote the general object.

The department of instruction will consist of an extensive course of English studies, with the Latin and French languages, Music and Drawing,- and will be under the direction of a gentleman, as Principal, with female Assistants in the regular branches of English education, besides teachers of French and ornamental branches.

The Trustees have engaged, as Principal, Mr. Charles Goddard, of Portsmouth, N. H., [grandson of Dr. Samuel Langdon, an early president of Harvard College, and a graduate of Yale in 1826] a gentleman, whose character, education, manners and experience in the business of instruction are such, as to inspire them with the highest confidence of his success.

An Introductory Class will be added, for pupils between the ages of 8 and 12 years, who may not be prepared to enter the higher studies of the school. This Class will receive that attention, which the importance of forming, at an early period, correct mental and moral habits, and of acquiring thoroughly the elementary parts of education, demands.

Terms of instruction in all branches except French, Instrumental Music, and Drawing, $24 per annum. In the Introductory Class $16 per ann. The year will be divided into three terms---and after the first, no charge will be made for a less period than one term.

The Academy will be opened for the reception of pupils, on the first Wednesday in May next. --- Pupils, on admission, will be examined and classed, at the discretion of the teachers.

Arrangements are making to establish in connexion, a boarding department,---where young ladies may enjoy the advantages of home, in an unremitted attention to their habits and deportment ---in the parental tenderness and fidelity with which they will be treated --- and in the care and exertion which will be used, to form and guard the character.

Situations for boarding can also be obtained in highly respectable families of the village, and on favorable terms.

Applications, on all subjects connected with the school, to be made to the Principal.

In behalf of the Trustees,

SAM'L C. JACKSON
MILTON BADGER
Committee

Andover, March 13, 1829.

It is interesting to have the contemporary point of view in regard to the "progress of public sentiment on the subject of female education" and the "high demands" that must be met. It appears that plans were already formulated for a boarding department where the young ladies might enjoy the "unremitted attention" of their teachers. One reason for the postponement of this project may very likely have been that it was possible to find board for the students in "highly respectable" families near at hand.

Other points worth noting in this forecast are the advanced standards of the proposed curriculum, the recognition of the value of apparatus in the study of science, and the emphasis on library advantages.

The circular carries an amusingly frank note on the margin signed with Mr. Jackson's initials, which speaks rather slightingly of the punctuation and makes it plain that he was not the author. This throws the responsibility on the other member of the committee, in fact the note states "Br. Badger corrected the proof sheets." Though Mr. Goddard's signature does not appear as one of the committee, he was doubtless consulted.

By far the most human of the documents described in this article is the letter written by Mr. Jackson on the back of the printed prospectus to his sister Henrietta, urging her to come from her Vermont home to attend the opening session of the new school. The big brother attitude of superior wisdom is noticeable, though accompanied by an affectionate solicitude for her welfare.

The shorthand symbols are retained in the copy to give greater semblance to the original, the character / standing for the word the. The "Phebe" spoken of is evidently Phebe Holt, 1829, daughter of "Captain" or "Deacon" Solomon Holt, who lived near the Jackson parsonage home in the "West Parish" of Andover. She afterwards married Timothy D. P. Stone, a later principal of the school, 1839-42.

Dear sister Henrietta,

You perceive from / foregoing page, when / school commences, & also / terms of instruction. I spoke the other evening to / deacon's folks about your coming here to spend / summer & attend school with Phebe. The deacon said I must board you, & that your living would make but little difference, that he might as well provide for three as for two. You will of course eat but two meals here a day, & will do your own washing & ironing, & we shall find you house room & bedding, so that / deacon can afford to board you very cheap. If you behave well, I shall not charge you much though I shall expect to be at considerable trouble to take care of you --- you must, most of the time, be carried to, or brought from school, once a day. I feel anxious to have you finish your education --- to pursue your studies now in / season of acquiring, & feel as though you might do it with little expense during the ensuing summer. It is very decidedly my opinion that you had better fix up immediately & purpose to be here at / opening of / school, or as soon after as possible It will be about a mile & a half from here to / school, & this you can & ought to walk once a day, & in good weather you can on a pinch do it twice. As you don't study in school you can doubtless have a place to study in, somewhere in / vicinity. You may think perhaps, that it will be too much trouble to carry or bring you once a day, but as Phebe will go too, & as / deacon has a horse & chaise & boys, & as I have a horse & chaise we can between us do it with little trouble. Please to write immediately your conclusions about it, & when you shall come, if you come at all.

Sam'l C. Jackson"

As a result of the letter, Henrietta came to Abbot Academy. Her after-life in a foreign land --- Turkey --- as the wife of the missionary, Doctor Cyrus Hamlin, and as the mother of a family of children, called upon all the resources of body, mind and spirit which were building in her during these years of her girlhood.

Authorities consulted:

History of Abbot Academy, Vol. I, McKeen.
Records of Abbot Academy Trustees, 1828-30.
Memoir of Judge Phillips, Taylor.
File of Phillips Bulletin.
Article on" National Bank Centennial," Andover Townsman, July 2, 1926.

 

TALLY BOOK EXTRACTS

MY WORK ON THE ACADEMY
FEMALE

Began to Work Statedly on the Academy Friday August 29, 1828. Raisd Oct 25th

myself 69-3/4 & 14-1/4 days
Mr. Parker 68-1/2 & 4-3/4 days
Mr. Holt 46-1/2 & 4-1/4 days
Mr. Berry 66-3/4 & 6-1/2 days

Mr. Sanders Began Thursday Oct 9
Mr. Jones Went to Tewksbury to se about pilars Tuesday Oct 21 a little more than half a Day which i have not set Down

MY EXPENSES OF JORNEYS ON THE ACADEMY

August 28, 1828.-my Expenses of horse & Waggon to Salem & a Days time

3.00

August 30- my Expenses of horse keeping & Dinner to Tyngsbury to se about Stones

.62

Dr to a Dozen of Screws to the Cellar Door

.6

Sep 11 --- Dr to 34 Feet of pine Plank for Bord Timber

.85

Sep i ---Dr to 15 feet more of Plank

.37

Sep --- Credit for 24 feet of Plank I had to make a Box

.36

Sep --- Dr for i feet of inch Plank which makes 60 feet Bord Measure

.80

Oct --- Dr for 15 feet of Plank Master Foster had

.40

What work my hands on the academy has Done at other places to be taken out of time I have set Down  
Sep 17--- Mr Berry half a Day helping me make a Coffin  
Sep 18 --- Mr Amos Holt half a Day making a Box for Mrs Hitchings  

 

WORK ON THE ACADEMY AFTER
THANKSGIVING

1828 Began Saturday Nov 29---We all finished our Work by the Day on the academy Wednesday night January 21, 1829

Mr Saunders workd on the Colums 13-1/2 Days & on the Bases 8-1/3 Days at Cambridge

119-1/2 myself

179.25

107-3/4 Mr. Parker

161.25

50-3/4 Mr. Holt

71.90

73-1/4 Mr. Berry

85.45

   

497.8 5

              33-1/2 pine Timber $3.33
To horse & Waggon to Salem 2 Dollar
To Teaming Stuf from Mil 1 Dollar
Steven Holt Bill half a Day .75
 

COMPANY WORK ON THE
FEMALE ACADEMY

1829 Began on the job Thursday Morning January 22nd 1829 for 665 Dollars

I gave Mr. Parker an order on Esquire Blanchard for 10 Dollars for 20 Dollars
& for 30 Dollars ..............................................................................................................60.
May 23 --- I gave Mr. Parker an order on Esqr Blanchard for 25 Dollars      25.
May 23---I gave Mr. Frye an order on Esqr Blanchard for 30 Dollars.          30.
Began to Work on the Entry & Wood house Friday April 3d
Thursday we made out our Estimation it took about all Day
Company Work on the Fence & Making Drawing Bords for Mr. Goddard & Stools
May 9 --- Saturday --- myself, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Parker Mr. Frye Time set Down Tuesday night

 

COMPANY WORK BETWEEN MR
SAUNDERS & MYSELF

March ---To altering z Doors in the School Room & finishing round the North Entry Door

2.

March -To making 2 Desks on the Platform

5.

April ---To 33 feet of 3 by 6 Stuf for Stair posts & Rails of my own at 13 Dollars Thou

43

April ---To 1-1/2 Days Work for the Floor & Partition

2.25

May 6--- To 3-1/2 Days Works to the Trustees fixing for the Stone over the Door fixing the Desks putting up Strips & putting on hat pins Making Cellar Door hewing posts, & fixing pieces for Window Curtains &c

5.25

 

MATERIALS WE BOUGHT FOR
THE ACADEMY

May --- For Hard Ware Mr Goddard got at Boston

1

May --- To a Handle & Latch for Cellar Door

20

 

THE TRUSTEES OF ACADEMY
FEMALE

For 13 Feet of Clear Bords for foot pieces for Mr Goddards Desk

.39

For Stuf for Small Window Blinds

.25

June 3, & 6th -For 4-1/4 Days Works on two Tables for Mr. Godard & fixing on Window Springs & hanging Blinds at 9 pr day

6.25

June 8 --- For one Day for Mr. Parker finishing the Tables & finishing putting on the Window Springs

1.50

 

And now the stage is set. All is ready, as the circular announced in March, 1829, for the opening of "a school for the solid and complete education of females."

 

INFORMATION FOR REFERENCE

PRINCIPALS 1829-1911

1829-1831 Charles Goddard
†1832-1834 Samuel Lamson
†1835-1838 Samuel Gilman Brown
1838-1839 Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth
†1839-1842 Timothy Dwight Porter Stone
1842-1852 Asa Farwell
1854-1856 Nancy Judson Hasseltine (later Mrs. John S. Sanborn)
1856-1857 Maria Jane Bancroft Brown
1857-1859 Emma L. Taylor
1859-1892 Philena McKeen
1892-1898 Laura Sophia Watson
1898-1911 Emily Adams Means
† Theological Seminary student who later became ordained minister

 

SQUIRE FARRAR, TRUSTEE
ADVISOR OF MADAM ABBOT

MADAM ABBOT
ORIGINAL DONOR

 

IMPORTANT DATES IN ABBOT HISTORY

1828    
  February 19 Meeting at Mr. James Locke's of Andover citizens to discuss establishing a "Female High School"
  March 4 First meeting of newly elected Board of Trustees of Abbot Academy, seven in number
  July 24 Two meetings of the Board of Trustees, who at first voted to postpone the erection of a school building, at the scond to build on the School Street site
  August 6 Mr. David Hidden "began to look up stuf for the Academy Window and Door Frames"
  October 25 "Academy rais'd"
  November 29 The men "began work on the Academy after Thanksgiving"
1829 Academy Building (named Abbot Hall in 1890) completed
1854 Smith Hall, dormitory, opened
1865 Davis or "French Hall" opened as dormitory (purchased 1865)
1865 South or "German Hall" opened as dormitory (purchased 1865)
1887 Smith Hall moved
1888 Academy Building moved
1889 South Hall moved to Abbot Street
1890 Draper Hall, dormitory, opened
1892 South Hall became Sunset Lodge
1903 Davis Hall demolished
1904 McKeen Hall (containing auditorium named Davis Hall) dedicated
1907 Smith Hall demolished
1907 John-Esther Gallery dedicated
1912 Laundry built on site of Smith Hall
1914 Antoinette Hall Taylor Infirmary opened
1915 Sherman Cottage first opened as dormitory
1919 Sunset Lodge first opened as dormitory
1921 Merrill Memorial Gate, with Davis and Taylor Gates, dedicated

 

MORE BEGINNINGS

1871 Formation of Abbot Alumnae Association
1873 First issue of Abbot Courant
1887 First general alumnae luncheon held in Boston.
1892 Formation of first Abbot Club (Boston)
1898 First joint luncheon of Alumnae Association and Boston Abbot Club
1909 Appointment of Keeper of Alumnae Records (later called Alumnae Secretary)
1920 Initiation of Centennial Loyalty Endowment Fund
1923 First issue of Abbot Bulletin
1927 Opening of Alumnae Office


Chapter Twenty-Four

Table of Contents