CHAPTER LVIII.

AMHERST COLLEGE.-ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT STEARNS.-GIFTS AND BEQUESTS.-College BUILDINGS.-NEW DEPARTMENTS.THE COLLEGE IN THE WAR.-THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY.-JULIUS H. SEELYE ELECTED PRESident.—GiftS TO THE College. — MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY.-THE LIBRARY.-PHYSICAL CULTURE. -THE "AMHERST SYSTEM."-GREEK LETTER FRATERNITIES. Edward Hitchcock resigned the presidency of Amherst College July 11, 1854. At the annual meeting of the board of trustees held Aug. 7, Rev. William A. Stearns was chosen president of the college and professor of moral philosophy and Christian theology. William Augustus Stearns was born in Bedford, March 17, 1805. His father and both his grandfathers were ministers of the gospel. He was prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, was graduated with honor at Harvard College, in the class of 1827, and at Andover Seminary in the class of 1831. After teaching for a short time at Duxbury, he was ordained, Dec. 14, 1831. pastor of the church at Cambridgeport, of which he remained in charge. until summoned to the presidency of Amherst College. The inauguration ceremonies took place Nov. 22, 1854. Far different were the auspices attendant on his inauguration from those which had greeted his predecessors in office. When Dr. Moore assumed the presidency, Amherst College was an experiment, the exponent of an educational theory with little beside faith to sustain it. President Humphrey was installed in office in shadow of the death of his predecessor, a loss which was thought by many at the time to mean the death of the college as well. President Hitchcock came to the rescue of the institution when it was deeply burdened by debt and its chances for existence were problematical. President Stearns assumed the presidency of a college firmly established and possessing a substantial endowment, no longer dependent for its support on the contributions it could secure from the public from time to time.

The history of the college during the administration of President Stearns was one of growth and development. Possessed of fine executive abilities, he also had, to a marked degree, the faculty of interesting others. in the work of the institution over which he was called to preside. This resulted in a series of donations and bequests to the college amounting in the aggregate to nearly $800,000. Among the most notable of these gifts were the following: By Dr. W. J. Walker, $100,000, to which was added

$40,000 raised from other sources as a condition of Dr. Walker's gift, by legacy from Dr. Walker in 1866, $144,976; by S. A. Hitchcock, for scholarships and kindred purposes in 1872, $100,000; by Samuel L. Williston in 1871, $50,000; by W. F. Stearns, donation for College church, $46,000; by scholarships, $35,000; by grants of the Legislature, 1861-63, $27,500; by John Tappan, in 1864, $25,000 to endow the Samuel Green professorship; by Dr. W. J. Walker, $25,000 to endow the Walker professorship of mathematics and astronomy. At the beginning of President Stearns' administration there was not a single scholarship in existence at the college; before its close there were more than fifty, varying in annual income from $40 to $300 each and distributing each year over $4,000 among the students. In addition to these scholarships many prizes were established in various departments.

During the administration of President Stearns six new buildings were added to the college property. The first to be erected was the Appleton cabinet, built in 1855, at a cost of $10,000. The same year a lectureroom was built as an appendage to the Woods cabinet, at a cost of $1,000, the gift of Luke Sweetser. In 1857, the Nineveh gallery, another "annex." to the Woods cabinet, was built at an expense of some $600, the gift of Lieut. Enos Dickinson of South Amherst. Here were placed on exhibition the sculptured slabs taken from the palace of Sardanapalus, and seals, cylinders, bricks and coins, collected at Nineveh and Babylon by Dr. Henry Lobdell, a graduate of the college in the class of 1849 and a missionary to Assyria. Williston hall was erected in 1857 at a cost of $15,000, and the same year the East dormitory was built, at like expense, to take the place of the North dormitory which had been burned to the ground the winter preceding. The Barrett gymnasium building was erected in 1860 at a cost of $10,000, the fixtures costing some $5,000 more. It was named in honor of Dr. Benjamin Barrett of Northampton, a liberal contributor toward its erection. Walker hall, the most expensive and pretentious building on the college grounds, was completed in October, 1870, its cost being about $130,000. The larger part of this sum had been donated by Dr. W. J. Walker, in whose honor the building was named. Its cornerstone was laid June 10, 1868, and it was formally opened Oct. 20, 1870. The corner-stone of the College church was laid Sept. 22, 1870, and the building was completed at a cost of $70,000. In 1867, the college trustees purchased the old meeting-house of the First Congregational church, and christened it College hall; its cost to the college was $12,000.

It was not alone in additions to its resources, its buildings and apparatus, that Amherst College showed marked development under the administration of President Stearns. Existing departments were strengthened and new ones developed, the curriculum enlarged and valuable additions

made to the teaching force of the institution. Dr. Stearns was an earnest believer in physical education; it was largely through his influence that the trustees voted at their annual meeting in August, 1860, to establish a department of physical culture in the college. John W. Hooker, M. D., of New Haven, Conn. was the first professor to have charge of the department but was connected with the college only a few months. He was succeeded in 1861 by Dr. Edward Hitchcock, Jr., under whose direction. the department of physical education and hygiene has become famous throughout the country. The exhibitions in gymnastics are greatly enjoyed by the public, being witnessed by thousands of visitors every year. The compulsory use of a wise system of physical development has exercised a most beneficial influence upon the health of the student body. To Dr. W. J. Walker must be accorded the honor of founding at the college the department of mathematics and astronomy, endowing a professorship. instructorships and prize scholarships. To the charge of this department. which he still retains, William C. Esty was appointed in 1863. The appointment of E. P. Crowell as professor of Latin, in 1858, secured to the college the services of one who has ever maintained his department in the front rank, and who, in recent years, in the face of physical disability that might well have daunted any man, has continued those services which have gained constantly in value. The department of chemistry grew and prospered, at first under the care of Prof. William S. Clark, who gave up his position to accept the presidency of the Agricultural College, and later in charge of Prof. Elijah P. Harris, who, appointed to the professorship in 1868, has since maintained for the department a high standard of excellence. Benjamin K. Emerson, a graduate of the college in 1865, was elected by the trustees in 1872 to the professorship of geology and zoology, a position he still retains with honor to the institution. During the administration of President Stearns the department of rhetoric was in charge of Rev. Thomas P. Field, Prof. James G. Vose and Prof. L. Clark Seelye, the latter at present president of Smith College. In 1858, Edward Tuckerman was appointed professor of botany, but devoted little time to the work of the class-room, occupying himself more particularly in the study of lichens, in which branch of botanical science he was recognized as high authority. Prior to the administration of President Stearns the college offered no optional studies. In 1859-60, elective studies in the several departments were offered to the senior class.

It was during President Stearns' term of office that the war for the preservation of the Union was fought. No truer patriot ever lived than William A. Stearns, and few were called upon to offer a more costly sacrifice upon the altar of patriotism. From the outbreak of the struggle until its glorious ending he took an active interest in the enlistment of recruits,

presided at patriotic meetings, and, early in the conflict, gave to the Union cause a brave young life to be sacrificed at the battle of New Berne. When the first rebel gun was fired against Fort Sumter, Professor Clark gave up all thought of college duties to devote his attention to sterner problems on the field of battle. Three sons of Prof. Charles B. Adams were among those who enlisted in the Union armies. With such a president and such professors it is small wonder that Amherst College students were prompt to offer their services to their country. In 1860, the college catalog contained the names of 220 students; during the war no less than 78 undergraduates of the college were enrolled in the Union armies. On the Sunday following the fall of Fort Sumter, a form of enlistment was drawn up and signed by some 50 or 60 of the students, the list being headed by the name of Frazar A. Stearns, son of the president. Their services were not accepted at the time, but a system of military drill was adopted by the students under the direction of Luke Lyman of Northampton, afterwards colonel of the 27th Mass. regiment.

From the class of '62, 30 men enlisted for the war; the classes of '61 and '63 each furnished 23 men; 15 enlisted from the class of '64 and 21 from the class of '65. Of those enlisted from the class of '65, six died in the service, four from mortal wounds received on the field of battle. The classes of '63 and '64 lost each four men in the service. Of graduates of the college, 195 entered the service, of whom six had been tutors at the college. Of the 247 graduates and undergraduates, 95 enlisted as privates. Amherst College furnished to the service 35 chaplains and 30 surgeons. At the close of the war the list of college men included three brigadier-generals, nine colonels, twelve lieutenant-colonels, nine majors, 25 captains, 17 first lieutenants, 17 second lieutenants and many minor officers. Many of the undergraduates returned to college at the close of the war and completed their course. By vote of the trustees, the names of all undergraduates who died in the service were enrolled among the graduates in their respective classes. A fitting memorial to the fallen. heroes of the war is found in the chime of bells in College church, presented to the college by the late George Howe, Esq. of Boston, in special memory of his son, Sidney Walker Howe of the class of '59, who was killed at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862.

At the annual meeting of the college alumni held July 8, 1868, resolutions were adopted requesting the trustees to make arrangements for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the college, in 1871, and also requesting Prof. William S. Tyler to prepare a history of the college to be ready at commencement-time that year. The alumni chose as a committee of arrangements Prof. R. D. Hitchcock, W. A. Dickinson, Esq. and Prof. R. H. Mather, to whom were added at the annual meeting

of the alumni in June, 1870, Profs. Edward Hitchcock and Julius H. Seelye. At the annual meeting of the trustees, July 13, 1870, a special committee was appointed, consisting of the president and Drs. Paine, Sabin and Storrs, to act with the committee of the alumni in making arrangements for the celebration. Professor Tyler's history was written. and from it has been gathered much of interest concerning the college which appears in the pages of this volume. The celebration was held during commencement week in 1871, the special exercises occurring on Wednesday. Nearly 700, or almost one-half the number of living graduates, were present on this interesting occasion. Every class was represented. The exercises were held beneath a spacious tent spread under the trees in the college grove. At the morning exercises Hon. Samuel Williston presided; an address of welcome was delivered by President Stearns and an historical discourse by Prof. W. S. Tyler. In the afternoon, Hon. A. H. Bullock of the class of '36 presided, and addresses were made by Prof. E. S. Snell, '22, Dr. Edward P. Humphrey, '28, Rev. H. N. Barnum, '52, Rev. H. W. Beecher, '34, Prof. E. A. Park, Prof. R. D. Hitchcock, '36, and Waldo Hutchins, Esq., '42. As one result of this celebration, many scholarships were endowed by the several classes.

He had officiated

June 8, 1876, President Stearns died while in office. that morning at prayers in chapel, suffered no illness but passed peacefully into the higher life. He had written his resignation of the presidency of the college, intending to present it to the trustees at the college commencement, near at hand. He had also prepared his baccalaureate sermon, which was read on Sunday of commencement week by President Seelye of Smith College. On June 13, funeral services, simple but impressive. were held in College church. The college and community were saddened by his death. His was a lofty type of Christian manhood, and while his loss fell heaviest upon the college he had loved so well and served so faithfully, the town could ill afford to spare one who had been so faithful to the duties of citizenship.

At the annual meeting of the college trustees, June 27, 1876, a committee was appointed to consider the vacancy in the presidential office, with instructions to report at a meeting to be held in Boston not later than the first week in August. This committee opened a correspondence with Julius H. Seelye, then a representative in Congress, and offered him a nomination to the college presidency, under certain conditions. He refused to consider the proposition in the form presented, and at a meeting of the board held in Boston, July 28, he was by unanimous vote elected president, and professor of mental and moral philosophy in Amherst College. Julius Hawley Seelye was born in Bethel, Conn., Sept. 14, 1824. He was graduated from Amherst College in the class of '49 and from