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 OF THE 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/memorialtwentyfiOOwest 
 
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 TWEHTY-FIFTH ANfilYERSABY 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY, 
 
 OXFORD, OHIO 
 
 1880. 
 
 Published by the Alumna. 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS: 
 
 CARLON & HOLLENBECK, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
 
 1881. 
 
TO OUR ALMA MATER; 
 
 TO OUR BELOVED PRINCIPAL AND THE TEACHERS 
 
 WHO HAVE WROUGHT WITH HER; 
 
 TO THE TRUSTEES; 
 
 TO THESE WHOSE UNITED LABORS, UNDER 
 
 THE BLESSING OF GOD, 
 
 HAVE SO GREATLY ENRICHED OUR 
 
 LIVES, THIS MEMORIAL IS GRATEFULLY 
 
 INSCRIBED 
 
 BY 
 
 The Alumna. 
 

 xn 
 
 fe 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication , ii. 
 
 Introduction I 
 
 Early History 3 
 
 The Holyoke System 10 
 
 After Many Years 12 
 
 Miss Peabody's Letters to Alumnae and Teachers 12 
 
 The Home Coming 17 
 
 Reunion Day — Forenoon Exercises '. 24 
 
 Poem of Welcome and the Response 29 
 
 Seminary Journal in Six Chapters 47 
 
 Reunion Day — Afternoon Exercises 92 
 
 Letters from Alumnse and Missionaries, Poems, Etc 105 
 
 Dr. Kumler's Address 123 
 
 J^ Dr. Nelson's Letter 128 
 
 n Recess Meeting 134 
 
 hi Anniversary Day 137 
 
 Graduating Exercises 139 
 
 ^ Annual Address by Rev. Addison Ballard, D. D 140 
 
 Presentation of Diplomas by Dr. Kumler 159 
 
 Class Poem 162 
 
 Resolutions of Alumnae 164 
 
 fclO Constitution of Alumnse Association 166 
 
 p^ Class History 169 
 
 ^ Catalogue 206 
 
 1^ In Memoriaro — Phillip Hinkle 225 
 
 •^ Alumnae Association... 227 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Birthdays^ silver weddings, golden weddings, cen- 
 tennaries — it is a good thing to celebrate them. Indi- 
 viduals, families, churches, nations^ do well to " call 
 to remembrance the former times,'^ to " remember all 
 the way the Lord, their God, hath led them,^' and to 
 make thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. 
 Those mercies are, indeed, "new every morning and 
 fresh every evening." The time in which we experi- 
 ence them has a continuous, ceaseless flow. There i& 
 no pause of the planetary revolution w^hile we cele- 
 brate an anniversary day. Even while we recount the 
 experiences of the year or century closed, we are pass- 
 ing on into the year or century succeeding. Never- 
 theless, there is a natural law of numbers^ whereby 
 our minds can contemplate a numerically rounded 
 period, not only with pleasure, but with profit. It is- 
 well to put up our history in centennial, semi-centen- 
 nial, quarter century parcels. 
 
 Nowhere are these historic days more capable of 
 interesting and profitable celebration than in educa- 
 tional institutions. Our colleges and seminaries have 
 their own peculiar life; yet a life that knits itself 
 closely to the more secluded family life at home on 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the one hand, and to the wider national life on the 
 other. 
 
 "Alumni, Alumnae, Alma Mater/' these familiar 
 terms symbolize the sweet domesticity of school life. 
 All are conscious that " Commencement Day'' has an 
 enrapturing outlook upon " the wide, wide world." 
 
 A successful seminary for the Christian education 
 of young women, in a quarter of a century has gath- 
 ered its pupils from many hundred homes, and has 
 sent abroad its alumnae to new homes, to schools, to 
 churches, to missionary stations, near and far. Its 
 history for such a period must be worth reciting. Its 
 memories must be worth recalling. Precious to those 
 of whose experience they are part, and instructive to 
 all who may hear or read them. 
 
 Twenty-five years of the Western Female Seminary, 
 1855-1880, are briefly commemorated in this vol- 
 ume. It does not attempt to be a complete history ; 
 it simply gathers up and preserves the commemorative 
 offerings which loving hearts prepared and presented 
 on the twenty-fifth anniversary. Like the little piles 
 of stones which reverent, thankful men of the old 
 Scripture days placed at the spots where God had met 
 and blessed them, it may serve to bear witness to all 
 future comers of his great goodness to the Western 
 in its early years. To his honor and praise we place 
 the simple memorial, thankfully testifying, "Hitherto 
 hath the Lord helped us." 
 
 Heney a. Nelson. 
 
SEMINARY FROM THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 Incorporated in 1853, opened and dedicated in 
 1855, the Western Female Seminary stands in 1880 a 
 beautiful monument of God's leading hand, his lov- 
 ing, preserving care and his abiding presence. It 
 had its place, we humbly hope and believe, in the 
 eternal purposes of God, and lived in embryo in the 
 noble, devoted, prophetic life of Mary Lyon. It first 
 suggested itself to the minds of a few earnest Christian 
 spirits living in Oxford, Ohio, led by Rev. and Mrs. 
 Tenney. Contemplating the life of Mary Lyon, catch- 
 ing the inspration of its motive power, knowing the 
 needs and the aspirations of Western young women of 
 limited means for higher mental culture, realizing the 
 need that this be consecrated. Christian culture, the 
 conviction forced itself upon these men and women 
 that Mt. Holyoke Seminary, founded through the 
 instrumentality of Mary Lyon, at South Hadley, 
 Mass., should be duplicated in the West. 
 
 They went forward carefully and prayerfully and 
 God gradually opened the way. A beautiful site of 
 thirty acres (now increased to sixty-five), adjoining 
 the town of Oxford, was given by James Fisher. 
 Gabriel Tichenor and family of Walnut Hill, gave 
 
4 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 the first 15,000, followed by generous donations from 
 others according to their ability. 
 
 Success thus assured, a board of trustees was ap- 
 pointed in July, 1853, and the building begun. 
 
 The enterprise was laid before the principal and 
 teachers of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. They were asked 
 to foster this young western daughter, to assist in 
 making her a counterpart of their own institution, and 
 to select the first corps of teachers from Holyoke 
 ranks. 
 
 Assuring themselves that the enterprise was on a 
 solid basis, and in the hands of practical, persevering 
 spirits, they accepted the trust. 
 
 Miss Helen Peabody, then of St. Louis, who had 
 been associated with Mary Lyon, first as pupil and 
 then as teacher, was selected as principal, with an 
 efficient corps of teachers. 
 
 Thus embodied in form and vitalized into life, this 
 seminary was dedicated to God on the 20th day of 
 September, 1855, by the broad minded men and wo- 
 men who had builded into it their prayers, their hearts 
 and their sacrifices. The house was already full of 
 pupils, and the outlook for the future most promising. 
 
 It is the purpose of the following pages to unfold in 
 their warmth and beauty the history, then unwritten 
 except in God's great plan, of the years which were 
 to follow, with their thrilling providences, their dews 
 of divine grace and favor, their tender leadings, their 
 earnest, patient lives and their wondrous fruitage. 
 
 The reader will find this history, not in ordinary 
 chronological narrative, but in flashes of light here 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 5 
 
 and there upon the hearts and lives of those who have 
 lived it. 
 
 May he who is '^ our dwelling place in all genera- 
 tions/' he who has said " Ye have not chosen me, 
 but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye 
 should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit 
 should remain/' inspire and illumine these pages, that 
 they may show his power to work through ^^ earthen 
 vessels'' to the glory of his own great name. 
 
THE HOLYOKE SYSTEM. 
 
 The first building was destroyed by fire January 14^ 
 1860. The following article appeared in the Christian 
 Herald in March of the same year. It was written 
 by Miss Phebe McKeen, one of the early teachers, 
 greatly beloved, whose pure spirit and noble, polished 
 mind were potent influences in molding character in 
 this young school. Her recent death, in May of the 
 present year, cast a deep shadow upon many hearts, 
 not only of her former Western pupils, but of her 
 more recent ones at Abbot Academy, Andover, Mass. 
 At this distance deep interest attaches to this sketch 
 as one of our ^^ memerial stones," and it is appropriate 
 here as setting forth the peculiarities of this system, 
 by one who had not herself been trained under it, 
 who was wholly disconnected with it at the time of 
 writing, yet knew it intimately. 
 
 THE HOLYOKE SYSTEM. 
 
 ^^ This expression, like many others, has for many 
 persons a very familiar sound, but a very indefinite 
 meaning, and even the significance which is attached 
 to it is often far from correct. 
 
 It has been a popular error to suppose it the main 
 object of Mt. Holyoke Seminary and its younger sis- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 7 
 
 ters at Oxford and Painesville, Ohio, to train our 
 young ladies in cookery, sweeping, dusting, washing 
 dishes and whatever else pertains to the education of 
 a universal housemaid. Persons who so believe ut- 
 terly misconceive the spirit and object of those insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 It has been found, by an experiment of twenty 
 years, that all the household labor of a family number- 
 ing from one hundred and seventy to three hundred 
 ladies, can easily be done by its members. Although 
 no female domestic is employed in either of these 
 boarding schools, no one of the young ladies is thus 
 busied more than sixty or seventy-five minutes daily. 
 Advantages are found in this arrangement. Self- 
 reliance and promptitude are cultivated. Indolence, 
 fatal alike to habits of mind and body, is combatted. 
 The respectability of labor is maintained. That 
 spirit of equality which it becomes every American 
 citizen to cherish is fostered, and the aristocracy of 
 intellect and moral worth breaks its way the more 
 easily through artificial distinctions, often no less 
 marked in young ladies^ boarding schools than in 
 larger communities. Moreover, by this provision the 
 pupils are relieved of a servant's bill. 
 
 This feature, however, prominent as it is to popular 
 notice, is merely incidental to this system. Its center 
 and soul, as that of all true educational systems, is the 
 idea that every being that God has made is to be strength- 
 ened and ennobled for his service. This soul, pervading 
 a plan of study, discipline and social order, has made 
 it peculiarly effective. That no daughter of our lie- 
 public may lack the means of self-culture, facilitise 
 
8 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 are offered at a price which any healthful, energetic 
 American girl can command, though self-dependent. 
 
 To this end the endowment is given freely and 
 absolutely — given to God — to be used in fitting his 
 children to do his work. No proprietor, stockholder 
 or teacher expects any dividend from it. Thus en- 
 dowed and untrammeled by personal interest, the 
 government of the school can be administered with 
 impartial equity. The highest good of the school can 
 be consulted without catering with painful servility to 
 the tastes of a capricious public. That course of study 
 can be prescribed to each pupil which will make her 
 most a woman, not that which will bring most cash 
 into the treasury. The advantages of this independent 
 endowment to the character of a school are more wide 
 and deep, by far, than the mere convenience of its 
 managers. Mt. Holyoke Seminary sprang into life to 
 meet the wants of a class hungering and thirsting after 
 knowledge, feeling in every pulsation of a vigorous 
 nature the power to he, and the will to do, if they 
 might only know. But poverty is the grimmest of 
 dragons, and the golden fruit seems hopeless. Western 
 farmers are richer than the yeomen of stern New Eng- 
 land hills, and their daughters can meet a greater ex- 
 pense at school. Yet are there not in every community 
 young ladies of limited means and noble aspirations, 
 to whom a liberal education on moderate terms would 
 come as a gift from God? The gift has been won for 
 them by a great soul from among themselves. The 
 prayers and eloquence, the wise but dauntless zeal of 
 Mary Lyon will never cease to bless the world. 
 
 But the schools at S. Hadley and Oxford have by 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 9 
 
 no means been patronized by those only, who are un- 
 able to meet higher charges. Almost immediately 
 Mt. Holyoke was accorded the foremost ranks of New 
 England schools, and multitudes from the wealthier 
 classes, who wish their daughters trained for useful- 
 ness, have been no less eager to claim its advantages, 
 than those to whom economy is indispensable. It has 
 been so at Oxford also. Is not any course of educa- 
 tion to be honored which sends out graduates pene- 
 trated with the fact that a work is waiting for them 
 in the needy world ? 
 
 No young girl not utterly insensible to influence, 
 can spend three years at either of these schools and 
 sink contentedly down into an aimless and useless ex- 
 istence. It is the constant, prayerful effort to make 
 young ladies understand that life has a meaning as 
 deep and lasting as eternity. 
 
 There are some who think of these schools, how- 
 ever, with a kind of shudder, as dismal convents, 
 where the young and gay are driven by martial law, 
 exacting tasks and monastical austerities, into sancti- 
 monious gloom. They imagine these unfortunates 
 shut out from the world, hemmed in by arbitrary 
 rules, watched by grave and unsympathizing teachers ; 
 as wasting in silence all the freshness, sparkle and 
 fragrance of youth. These kind-hearted people have 
 never caught, perhaps, the echo of girlish laughter 
 and merry song with which the Oxford grove has so 
 often rung. It might alleviate their pity if they could 
 see the kindling eye of love those teachers have been 
 wont to meet in all their daily care, or read the letters 
 of fervent gratitude and affection which every week 
 
10 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 brings to the old homestead from the scattered chil- 
 dren. In that terrible January midnight when the 
 Western Female Seminary was in flames, they should 
 have heard these young girls, when told to leave the 
 house and save themselves, pleading, " We can not see 
 our home burned down. We can atid we will save it, 
 if you will let us try longer.^' Ah, there was such a 
 comment, not only on womanhood, but on the spirit 
 and training of that school, as no words could ever 
 express! Years of quiet, self-conquering toil had 
 nourished the spirit of love and strength which showed 
 its heroism in that dreadful scene. 
 
 This is the model of character which the Western 
 Seminary has been trying to form in your daughters. 
 
 Perhaps it was one purpose for which God suffered 
 its building to be consumed, that you might see in the 
 light of those fierce flames the type of spirit He is 
 educating there — a spirit which can meet the emergen- 
 cies of life with self- forgetful courage. 
 
 They are not the terrible passages of life alone 
 which call for such a character. It is needed every 
 day in the great home realm where these girls are de- 
 signed to reign. 
 
 Another marked feature of Mt. Holyoke and the 
 Western Female Seminary is Gonscientiousness in study. 
 Graduation at a thoroughly Christian institution is no 
 farce. A teacher who acts for God will not suffer 
 pretense and sham in education. 
 
 If the men of the West want their daughters to be- 
 come clear-headed, warm-hearted, energetic, Christian 
 ladies, they cannot do better than to help the Western 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. H 
 
 Female Seminary. The patriotic citizens of Ohio, 
 Indiana and Illinois can not more directly elevate the 
 whole tone of society and secure its weal, than by cul- 
 tivating such a type of womanhood. The first appeal 
 to Christian liberality in behalf of this seminary was 
 made while it was an untried, and to many minds, a 
 doubtful experiment. It must be very grateful to its 
 friends that they come to you now with assurance. 
 The young enterprise has nobly redeemed its promises. 
 
 Let a building rise from the ashes which will stand 
 a worthy monument to the intelligence and whole- 
 souled generosity of the Western States. 
 
 A school which has been so accepted and crowned 
 by God, which is endeared to so many Christian 
 hearts by willing sacrifice, which had the fond rever- 
 ence of so many young, earnest women and the grati- 
 tude of so many fathers and mothers, can never be 
 deserted. A sentiment of honor will forbid any man 
 of means, whose daughter has enjoyed the cheap, yet 
 rich, advantages of the seminary, to neglect it now. 
 
 Give to it — give generously, nobly^ — feeling that 
 you are helping to rear a home where the children of 
 God may be fitted to work his will. Let the edifice 
 be more thoroughly built than before, the library 
 more choice, the apparatus more full, the endowment 
 more ample. 
 
AFTER MANY YEAES. 
 
 The last week in January, 1880, there went out 
 from the seminary several hundred little missives 
 which tell their own story : 
 
 Western Female Seminary, 
 
 Oxford, 0., January 22, 1880. 
 To the Alumnx of the Seminary : 
 
 Dearly Beloved— On the 17th of June, 1880, we shall 
 complete a quarter of a century in our eventful history as an 
 institution. Twenty-four classes have gone forth from the 
 sheltering arms of their Alma Mater, and the twenty-fifth is 
 about to unclasp hands to take up life's work. We count 416 
 precious jewels. Thirty-five already adorn the Savior's reme- 
 dial crown, while 381 are still in the hands of the lapidary. Alma 
 Mater would gather up her scattered gems, look upon their 
 growing beauty and string the necklace to wear on her natal 
 day. But you, beloved daughters, will each remember that she 
 sent you forth to serve, as well as by your unselfish service to 
 adorn, the church of Christ in the world. And now she 
 would have you come back and talk together of what you have 
 found to do for the Master, and report what remains to be 
 done. Have you found the culture and discipline you re- 
 ceived from your seminary life helpful in the services and 
 sacrifices that you have had the opportunity to render ? We 
 wish to hear your testimony and experience for the encour- 
 agement and help it will afford us in entering upon the work 
 of the coming twenty-five years. Has the anchor held in the 
 storm ? Has the shield proved sufficient for all the fiery darts 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 13 
 
 of the wicked ? Has any part of the armor failed in the day 
 of battle? Come, if you can, and tell us. If you can not 
 come, send your written testimony. We send the call all 
 along the lines that have gone out into all the earth. We 
 wait for the answer to come back to this center station from 
 Persia, Turkey, Syria, India, China, Siam, Laos; from our 
 Indian frontiers, from Mormon heathendom, home missionary 
 fields far and near, from the sunny South and sterner North, 
 from the school room and the home where little children and 
 grown-up sons and daughters call you mother. God bless 
 them and make them a blessing. Come ! Come one and all, 
 and let us stand together with unsandaled feet around the 
 burning bush (" always on fire, yet never consumed because 
 God is in it "). " Did ever people hear the voice of God speak- 
 ing out of the midst of the fire as thou hast heard it and 
 live? Unto thee it was shewed that thou mightest know 
 that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him." 
 Again let us listen to his voice out of the fire, the sword, the 
 pestilence, that he may instruct us. Out of these memorial 
 stones furnished from your individual experience and the 
 history of our beloved seminar}^, let us erect upon the spot, 
 where the ark of the covenant stood, a monument to his 
 praise ; " that when your children ask their fathers in time to 
 come, saying ' What mean ye by these stones ? ' Then ye shall 
 answer them, ' Immanuel ! God with us, almighty in power, 
 infinite in wisdom and love, faithful to all generations.' " 
 
 The object of this reunion will be to bring mutual joy and 
 refreshment to you and your Alma Mater, and put honor 
 upon him who has so honored and blest it. The reunion 
 services will take place on Wednesdey, the 10th, the day before 
 anniversary. Let us hear from you at once. First, whether 
 you can or can not respond to this invitation. If you are not 
 certain, let us know the degree of probability in the case. 
 You will see our need of this information in preparing for 
 the comfort of so many. Second, your exact address for the 
 new catalogue. State also any change of address of any grad- 
 uate known to you. In behalf of the teachers and trustees. 
 
 Yours in abiding love, 
 
 Helen Peabody. 
 
14 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 TO THE TEACHERS, 
 
 My Dear Friend and True ye he Fellow : 
 
 In making our plans for the pleasure and profit of our be- 
 loved Alumnse, at our anticipated reunion in June, we most 
 earnestly solicit your presence. 
 
 Nothing can give greater pleasure to those we hope to wel- 
 come on that occasion, than again to look into the faces of 
 their old teachers, clasp hands and recall the memories of 
 " long ago." This will be a mutual joy. You have seen the 
 '' blade," and some of you the " ear," now come and look upon 
 ^' the full corn in the ear." If you can not come, write us 
 fully of yourself and your experiences. If you can come, let 
 us know when to expect you. 
 
 The reunion Avill be held on June 16, 1880. 
 
 Yours ever, Helen Peabody. 
 
 Who but the recipients can know the thrill of joy- 
 ful anticipation, the flood of memories and the deep- 
 searching retrospect these little messengers awakened ? 
 
 "Vacation" is a factor of school life, but not so 
 often of mature life, with its ceaseless round of re- 
 sponsibilities and activities. But now a blessed vaca- 
 tion was coming to women, whose lives for years had 
 been lost to themselves in continuous thought and ser- 
 vice for others. Mothers were to be girls again, 
 teachers to be pupils. The strain and tension of sus- 
 taining one^s part was to be relaxed for two precious 
 days, while all gathered home again for a heart rest, 
 such as their lives could know but once. 
 
 On May 6, 1876, had been held a reunion of the 
 first six classes, in honor of the fiftieth birthday of 
 our dear Miss Peabody, twenty-one of whose fifty 
 beautiful years had been measured by unremitted cares 
 and labors of love in this consecrated spot. Twenty- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 15 
 
 one alumnse and fourteen of their children were 
 present. 
 
 Of that reunion the repc^'t says : There is no nice 
 chenciical process of which we know, by which those 
 sweet emotions which were stirring in all our hearts, 
 making it rare joy to sit together and look in each 
 other^s faces, can be crystalized into words. The sun- 
 shine, so bright, so powerful, so full of gracious influ- 
 ences, may not be sealed up and brought forth on 
 darker days. Where our enjoyment was made up of 
 what we were feeling, thinking, living, more than what 
 we were doing, it has been especially hard to put in 
 writing the things that would make you know, sym- 
 pathize and enjoy with us. 
 
 As one expressed it, ^' To come back after the wan- 
 derings of years in the uncertain wilderness to which 
 we had betaken ourselves with such high hopes and 
 happy ignorance, was a joy indeed/^ The school girls 
 of long ago were coming back schooled girls. The 
 spot was very dear to us, and the dear heart^that had 
 been our best friend and guide in our happy school 
 days, was waiting to receive us and our little ones 
 with the same fond love and sympathy. 
 
 We can not tell you half the joy it was to look into 
 each other's faces, clasp each other by the hand, or, 
 with our arms intertwined as of yore, to find the same 
 sympathy which blessed our school days, stitt a living 
 bond between us. We do not know when our good 
 time began, but we think it was when we received 
 that invitation in March. 
 
 If this was true, by what " chemical process " can 
 we " crystalize into words '^ those sweet emotions and 
 
IQ WFSTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 rare joys in the gathering of twenty-five classes, the 
 meeting of the older and the younger of our sister- 
 hood, the blending of the lights and shades of four 
 hundred lives. We rather think this good time, too, 
 '^ began when we received that invitation in ^' January. 
 
 For once there was a fixed star in all our lives. It 
 was "Wednesday, the 16th of June." All plans 
 pointed toward it, clustered around it, and for the 
 present there was no beyond. Even those who real- 
 ized they could not attend, expected by some sort of 
 spiritual telephone, to hear the echoes and feel the 
 sweet influences of the day in their homes and their 
 distant mission fields, and almost waited for the bap- 
 tism of blessing and strength it would bring, to re- 
 sume " their wanderings in the uncertain wilderness 
 to which they had betaken themselves." 
 
 At the Seminary, loving responses were coming in 
 with every mail; acceptance or regrets, with thrill- 
 ing, heart-touching answers to Miss Peabody's ques- 
 tions, *^ Have you found the culture and discipline 
 helpful ? " " Has the anchor held ?" " Has the ar- 
 mor failed ? " Active plans of preparation to welcome 
 the home comers began to quicken life at the Sem- 
 inary. Never were woman's tact and invention drawn 
 upon more lavishly to devise all the possibilities of a 
 royal welcome and a royal hospitality. 
 
THE HOME COMING. 
 
 On Monday the arrivals began, but Tuesday was 
 the great day of expectancy. Every train brought 
 many. The " reunion [' had already begun on trains 
 and in depots. Stepping into the old familiar omni- 
 busses, each one flashed a quick inquiring glance at the 
 other occupants, rewarded often by a burst of joyous 
 surprise. 
 
 Eager eyes noted every shade of change in Oxford, 
 and along the drive to the seminary. To the older 
 ones these changes were many. The signs were new 
 and strange, and the ubiquitous Miami '^ student ^^ 
 was missed from the street, while the university, no 
 longer yellow, with a chapel and tower added, was 
 almost concealed by the luxuriant growth of hedge 
 and forest trees. 
 
 Entering the grounds "the cluster^' nods patron- 
 izingly. Being elms, they grow slowly, anxious we 
 suppose to retain their sentry post as long as possible. 
 The other trees seem hastening, like those of the 
 university campus, after the ancient appellation of the 
 classic "shades of Academus.^^ 
 
 " Lewis House '^ has disappeared long since ; 
 familiar trees are missed from the old orchard, while 
 the remainder are gnarled and infirm. A sedate 
 2 
 
18 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 matron points out to the little daughter beside her 
 the tree she used to climb because she was ^' so small/^ 
 to throw down apples for the larger girls, and the hill 
 down which they used to coast. 
 
 The once diminutive evergreens now stand out in 
 stately, dark green proportions, most striking chro- 
 nometers of years that have gone. 
 
 These evergreens first greeted the eyes of seminary 
 girls on returning from the spring vacation of 1857^ 
 and in those days girls used to wonder if they would 
 ever be large enough to sit under, and who would sit 
 under them. 
 
 Scores of new fruit trees on every side assert their 
 right of possession by token of the young fruit on 
 their branches. The young maples of twenty-two 
 years ago, near the front door, with the bowlders at 
 their feet, have acquired the dignity of trees almost 
 over-topping the seminary. 
 
 What will all these trees be at the golden wedding ? 
 We leave the chronicler of that happy event to answer 
 the question. 
 
 The woody point beyond the limits south, has been 
 cleared, affording pretty glimpses of the cemetery^ 
 whose silent white monuments, also, have their tender 
 associations with Oxford friends, whose lives were 
 once lovingly interwoven with seminary history. 
 That same woody point used to tempt us sorely, with 
 its pleasant shade, while its trees, before the railroad 
 was built, hid the passing stage without deadening its 
 rumble, so suggestive of " going home " or letters that 
 were coming. 
 
 On the north, the grounds have been extended to 
 
LAKE, ICE HOUSE AND BRIDGE. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 19 
 
 enclose thirty-five additional acres, and a new (now 
 old), gravel walk to the street has been made, running 
 down over the northern slope in front of the buildiDg, 
 descending steps through rustic arbor, crossing on 
 rustic bridge above the pond, on along the brow of 
 the hill enclosed in the new addition. A glance took 
 in all these changes, while eager impatience anticipated 
 the greetings which awaited. 
 
 The crowning moment of arrival was when each 
 alighted from the omnibus, ascended the steps, and 
 met Miss Peabodj, with beaming face, awaiting at 
 the top to give the hand and kiss of welcome, just as 
 she has met and welcomed in all past years hundreds 
 of timid young hearts coming up those steps, equally 
 divided between homesickness, anxieties about intro- 
 ductory examinations, and aspirations long since real- 
 ized, forgotten, or still beckoning on. 
 
 Behind and beside her, filling the portico and the 
 hall, was a charming group of eager faces, some still 
 fresh and young, and some upon which life had written 
 lines of care, the maturing touches of thought, and the 
 mellowing influences of loving ministry, crowned with 
 hair already silvering. 
 
 As each new comer was welcomed by Miss Pea- 
 body, and then handed over to this company, increas- 
 ing with every fresh arrival, it was interesting for 
 lookers on to guess who among them would rush for- 
 ward to claim her. No one failed to be greeted with 
 glad recognition and outstretched arms by some class- 
 mate or friend, who had probably but just run this 
 delightful gauntlet herself. The little ^^ grand chil- 
 dren ^' were quite over-awed by the tumultous order of 
 
20 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 this style of reception. This continued until 112 
 graduates, twelve ^' grand children '^ and a goodly 
 number of former teachers were gathered within the 
 fold. All these, together with several of the trustees 
 and their wives and other family guests, to the num- 
 ber of 150, were entertained within the seminary. 
 
 We liaVfC secretly extracted from the seminary jour- 
 nal of last year, a passage which briefly foreshadows 
 the arrangement by which so many were entertained. 
 
 " It will hardly be possible to close the twenty-fifth 
 journal without giving a whisper of the birthday party 
 that our Alma Mater expects to have June 16. Many 
 of the children will be home — perhaps a hundred — 
 bringing an occasional grand child. We expect to 
 shrink, as did Milton's spirits, into the smallest pos- 
 sible compass ; beds are to be improvised and sub- 
 divided ; eating is to be done in collation style." 
 
 And now we hesitate upon the threshold, wondering 
 how we can portray the two days to follow, so soul- 
 thrilling as they were to the participants. The home 
 gathering of the old New England families at Thanks- 
 giving time; the busy preparations in the way of 
 baking and roasting and boiling ; the cordial welcome ; 
 the merry greetings ; the joy of sitting together around 
 the old fire-place ; the peace that comes to careworn 
 men and women when they find themselves children 
 again in their father's home ; above all, the holy calm 
 that settles upon each heart as they kneel at the family 
 altar; we can think of nothing else that will picture 
 the seminary home gathering this twenty-fifth anni- 
 versary. 
 
 It was no scanty hospitality that could make room 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 21 
 
 for SO many guests. From basement to attic the 
 preparations were perfect, and we can only imagine 
 how many steps must have been taken, and how many 
 hours spent, by teachers and pupils, to make our wel- 
 come home such a beautiful one. We who have lived 
 in that busy hive, where every hour seems to have its 
 own duty, were even puzzled to guess how time had 
 been found to accomplish so much ; but knowing that 
 it had all been done in love, we accepted it gratefully, 
 finding our hearts filled with love in return, for the 
 younger sisters who had given up their rooms for us, 
 and to all whose heads and hands and feet had worked 
 so cheerfully in our behalf. 
 
 We found everything speaking a sweet welcome. 
 The words of those who waited to receive us did not 
 utter it more distinctly than the silent speech of the 
 multitude of little details of preparation that greeted 
 us at every turn. Entering the reception room on 
 the left, we saw phantom letters suspended by invisible 
 threads, "The Lord hath done great things for us, 
 whereof we are glad." 
 
 From the walls of the main hall, library and other 
 public rooms, looked down upon us our own class mot- 
 toes, in tasteful devices, bringing back precious school- 
 day memories, and giving us each a place in the wonder- 
 ful history of the seminary. In the dining room we 
 found ourselves in a bower of evergreen decoration, 
 and we looked up from the tables so bountifully spread 
 for us to see suspended among festoons and garlands the 
 words, " Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or what- 
 soever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'^ 
 
 And so we found all things ready that loving thought 
 
22 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 and unselfish pains-taking could devise, but sweetest 
 of all we found constant reminders that, cordially as 
 we had been invited, there was one guest whose pres- 
 ence had been more earnestly sought than ours and 
 that he had arrived before us, who once said, " Be- 
 hold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear 
 my voice and open the door I will come in to him, 
 and will sup with him and he with me.'^ Earnest 
 prayer had been offered that he would set his seal 
 upon this perfect time and manifest His presence by 
 saving grace, and the token came. One young heart 
 was consecrated to the Master even amid these festal 
 
 joys. 
 
 Among the tenderest moments of these days were 
 those when, in the hush of the dining room, the dear 
 familiar old hymns shed a holy peace upon every 
 heart, and Miss Peabody's voice was heard reading the 
 same precious chapters which her voice long years ago 
 had deeply graven in our memories, to be forever in- 
 separably associated with her and with family devo- 
 tions at the seminary. 
 
 It would be impossible to note all the unexpected 
 and delightful little things which made every succes- 
 sive moment a new joy; staid matrons unconsciously 
 calling each other '^ girls,'' and then enquiring about 
 their respective husbands and children; little people 
 growing wonderfully intimate in a few moments by aid 
 of this new sort of ^^ cousinship." Even the little 
 chairs stood here and there, as if in anticipation of the 
 little folks. Seven of the Aluranse present had been 
 present at the first dedication, twenty-five years before. 
 Among the very pleasant things, was the attendance 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 23 
 
 of Mrs. Isabella [Riggs] Williams, of the Class of 61, 
 and her husband, Rev. Mark Williams, from their 
 mission field at Kalgan, China, with Iheir beautiful 
 baby twins, who looked so much alike that even their 
 father could scarcely tell whether it was " this one '' or 
 '' the other one "— '' Kate '' or " Duplicate.'' 
 
 The only other ^^ brother-in-law " who graced our 
 reunion, was Rev. A. M. Darley, from the home mis- 
 sion fields of Colorado, the husband of Anna Gow, 
 who sent him to represent her. It is a pleasure to 
 fancy that all the good " brothers-in-law '' who staid at 
 home and kept house, and took care of the children, 
 whom there was not room enough to invite, while 
 their wives came to the reunion, are now sharing with 
 other absent ones in the pleasure of this " reflected re- 
 union.'' 
 
 On Tuesday evening an interesting musical and 
 literary entertainment was given in the hall by the 
 teachers and pupils. Miss Dora Phillips, the elocution 
 teacher, contributed several very entertaining recita- 
 tions. 
 
REUNION DAY. 
 
 FORENOON EXERCISES. 
 
 " Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, 
 The bridal of the earth and sky." 
 
 The blending of earth^s richest experience with 
 Heaven's brightest anticipations, at the foot of the 
 Throne itself, with the Heavenly light streaming 
 down. Such was this day. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast Miss Peabody met the 
 alumnse in the hall to arrange their seats, the pupils 
 very kindly taking other places. It was like merry 
 old times to be called off by classes again, and assigned 
 to seats as in days of yore, only, shocking to relate I 
 Miss Peabody was obliged to check the hum of happy 
 voices in order to be heard, in other words to suggest 
 old rules to us, and for once it was an actual delight 
 to enjoy the school girl's privilege of obeying rules, 
 though all succeeded so poorly that the " front seat " 
 would scarely have held the culprits. 
 
 Will it do to betray the fond mother's pride by tell- 
 ing what Miss Peabody did next ? She said, " Now, 
 sit still a moment while I go up on the platform and 
 see how you look." Gazing an instant, she exclaimed : 
 ^' Beautiful ! O, what a beautiful sight ! Dear girls, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 25 
 
 for you will always be girls to me, how I wish I 
 could, but I never can, tell you how happy this makes 
 me. My heart thrills through and through at sight 
 of your familiar faces before me once more.^^ 
 
 An answering thrills flashed through her audience 
 as she stood before them, her hands unconsciously 
 clasped together, unchanged except her hair slightly 
 gray and her figure more stout, while her face was 
 radiantly beautiful with the love light and motherly 
 pride illuminating it. Describing her afterward, the 
 earliest graduate present said : ^^She stood before us 
 with the rapt enthusiasm of an artist who freshly be- 
 holds the work of his own hands, his favorite picture, 
 just returned to him from a royal collection, and bear- 
 ing the world^s approval. 
 
 At eight o^clock a business meeting of the Alumnae 
 was held in the lecture room. Miss Ellen E. Smith, 
 class of '60, was called to the chair, and Mrs. Mary 
 [Hale] James, class of '58, was chosen secretary. 
 
 At nine o'clock Alumnse, teachers, pupils, trustees, 
 friends and invited citizens of Oxford met in the hall 
 for that heart feast toward which anticipation and 
 preparation had pointed for months 
 
 Miss Peabody presided, while with her upon the 
 platform sat Miss Jessup, her noble face outlined 
 against the back of her large chair, radiant with a 
 happy, triumphant expression, which we are sure^he 
 will wear when all pain and weariness are overcome ; 
 her abundant and loving labors are laid down, and 
 she sees the pearly gates opening before her, whither 
 Miss Lyon and so many of her co-laborers and 
 pupils have already entered. Beside her sat dear 
 
26 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Mrs. Ells in her large chair, too, wheeled in by her 
 manly son, whom so many remembered only as a little 
 boy, her bright, brave, patient face betraying little of 
 the long, weary, suffering years it has known since her 
 saintly husband, who was so much to the first seminary, 
 was called to leave her and their little ones to our 
 Father's care ; Mrs. Lewis, whose generosity and 
 motherly hospitality have made her, too, so much to 
 the seminary, and greatly endeared her to successive 
 teachers and classes. There were also Rev. Dr. J. P. 
 E. Kumler, president of the board of trustees, of 
 which his deceased father was one of the first and 
 most faithful members, with his wife, formerly Miss 
 Abbie Golding, of the first corps of teachers ; Rev. J. 
 M. Bishop and G. Y. Roots, Esq., of the original as 
 well as the present board of trustees, with their 
 wives; the venerable Dr. Little, of Madison, Ind., 
 and Dr. Pratt, of Portsmouth, Ohio, whose familiar 
 faces date back to the second anniversary, now trus- 
 tees; Messrs. Philip Hinkle and Preserved Smith, 
 who need no introduction to later classes, and ere the 
 day is ended will need none to the earlier, for they also 
 will have learned how fully these two combine all the 
 offices of trustee, benefactor, father and friend to the 
 seminary family. These, with other trustees and 
 friends, the teachers and such pupils and Alumnse as 
 were to assist in the exercises, occupied seats upon 
 the platform. 
 
 The services opened with a welcome chorus, fol- 
 lowed by a sublimely appropriate Scripture selection, 
 both by the school. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 27 
 
 BIBLE READING. 
 
 Single Voice— Wq beseech thee, God of Hosts ; look down 
 from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine ; and the vine- 
 yard which thy right hand hath planted and the branch which 
 thou madest strong for thyself. 
 
 Sclwol — My doctrine shall drop as the rain, and my speech 
 shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender 
 herb, and as the showers upon the grass. I will pour water 
 upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; I 
 will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon 
 thine offspring. And they shall spring up as among the 
 grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am 
 the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of 
 Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the 
 Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. — Ps. Ixxx, 
 14, 15; Deut. xxxii, 2; Isa. xliv, 3-5. They that trust in the 
 Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can not be removed, but 
 abideth forever. — Ps. cxxv, 1. Beautiful for situation, the joy 
 of the whole earth is Mount Zion. — Ps. xlviii, 2. This Mount 
 Zion wherein thou hast dwelt. The Lord bless thee out of 
 Zion. — Ps. cxxviii, 5. That our daughters may be as corner- 
 stones polished alter the similitude of a palace. — Ps. cxliv, 12 
 
 Voice — What mean ye by these stones ? — Josh, iv, 6. 
 
 School — When your children shall ask. What mean these 
 stones ? then ye shall let your children know saying, Israel 
 came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God 
 dried up the waters of Jordon from before you, imtil ye 
 passed over, as the Lord your God did to the'Eed Sea, which he 
 dried up from before us until we were gone over. That all 
 the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord that 
 is mighty ; that ye might fear the Lord your God forever. 
 Josh, iv, 21-24. 
 
 Voice — Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking 
 out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live ? 
 Deut. iv, 4-33. 
 
 School — Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know 
 that the Lord, he is God ; there is none else beside him. Out 
 
28 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might in- 
 struct thee ; and upon earth he showed thee his great fire ; 
 and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. And 
 because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed 
 after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty 
 power out of Egypt ; to drive out nations from before thee 
 greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give 
 thee their land for an inheritance as it is this day. Know,, 
 therefore, this day and consider it in thine heart, that the 
 Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath • 
 there is none else. — Deut. iv, 35-39. 
 
 Voice — Lord be thou my helper. — Ps. xxx, 10. 
 
 ScJwol — Fear not; I will help thee. — Isa. xli, 13. Yea the 
 Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of 
 silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty^ 
 and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy 
 prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay 
 thy vows. Then shalt thou also decree a thing, and it shall be 
 established unto thee; and the light shall shine upon thy 
 ways. When men are cast down then thou shalt say, There is 
 a lifting up ; and he shall save the humble person. — Job xxii, 
 25-29. 
 
 Voice — Be not far from me, for trouble is near. — Ps. xxii., 11. 
 
 School — He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his 
 wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and 
 buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night ; 
 nor for the arrow that fiieth by day ; nor for the pestilence 
 that walketh in darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth 
 at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand 
 at thy right hand ; but it shall not come nigh thee. Because 
 thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most 
 High thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither 
 shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. — Ps. xci, 4-10. 
 
 Voice — Save me from all them that persecute me and de- 
 liver me.-'-Ps. vii, 1. 
 
 School — The Lord your God which goeth before you, he 
 shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. — Deut i, 20. 
 Ex. xiv, 14. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 29 
 
 Voice — Peliver me 0, Lord, from the evil man ; preserve me 
 from violent man. — Ps. cxl, 1. 
 
 School — It is God that girdeth me with strength. He 
 teacheth my hands to war. Thou hast enlarged my steps 
 under me that my feet did not slip. I have pursued my en- 
 emies and overtaken them. I have wounded them that they 
 were not able to rise ; they are fallen under my feet. They 
 cried but there was none to save them ; even unto the Lord, 
 hut he answered them not ; thou hast delivered me from the 
 violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee Lord, 
 among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. — Ps. 
 xviii. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confi- 
 dence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put 
 confidence in princes. — Ps. cxviii, 8-9. 
 
 Rev. A. M. Darley offered the opening prayer, after 
 which Miss Alice W. Milligan, Class of ^69, one of 
 the present teachers, gave 
 
 THE WELCOME. 
 
 Jupiter had a reunion. 
 
 So the classical stories say. 
 And gathered the famous immortals 
 
 On lofty Olympus, one day. 
 Each nymph left her grove and her fountain ; 
 
 Each goddess her city and fane ; 
 The gods, grave and stern, forsook mountains, 
 
 With oceans and fields of the slain. 
 They trampled the Galaxy's star-dust, 
 
 And hastened with silvery feet, 
 To meet at the Thunderer's palace, 
 
 The Omnipotent Father to greet. 
 
 But you come, not at Jupiter's summons, 
 
 ISTor even at Juno's, the Queen, 
 As might be suspected, since only 
 
 So few of the gods are here seen ; 
 
30 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 You come at the call of the mother, 
 
 The fostering mother, so dear 
 Whose heart has been longing and yearning 
 
 To gather her absent ones near. 
 Her eyes have been heavy with watching, 
 
 And weary her listening ears, 
 For faces and voices familiar. 
 
 Unseen and unheard through the years. 
 
 She said to herself in her musings : 
 
 " I will send for my children to come ; 
 I will tell them their mother is longing 
 
 To see them together at home ; 
 To have them troop in through the doorway, 
 
 And close in her arms to enfold ; 
 To hear the heart chapters they'll tell her ; 
 
 To tell them the stories of old ; 
 So I'll send then a mother's love-letter 
 
 Each one with remembrance to stir, 
 I'll tell her my birthday is coming. 
 
 And I shall be looking for her." 
 
 And you read your mother's love-letter, 
 
 And into your heart went a thrill. 
 That tho' there were younger children. 
 
 She had kept your own place for you still ; 
 But the stream of a mother's affection, 
 
 Tho' divided in hundreds of parts. 
 Diminishes not b}^ the process. 
 
 So vast are their wonderful hearts. 
 , And you've come ; but she is so happy 
 
 That never a word can she say. 
 So she sends me to give you this message : 
 
 " You are welcome, my children, to-day." 
 
 But nothing on earth is unmingied ; 
 
 Heaven only is free from alloy ; 
 And drops of the bitter are brimming 
 
 The surface of each cup of joy. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 31 
 
 The mother looks down on the circle 
 
 That gathers to-day at her feet, 
 And misses — as only do mothers — ' 
 
 The dear faces not here to greet ; 
 For some are hidden by distance, 
 
 And some are hidden by sod, 
 Some are beaming in far-away earth homes, 
 
 And some in the palace of God. 
 
 Those that room in the heavenly mansions 
 
 Plave left in the stories below, 
 Their old places, empty but sacred, 
 
 And into them often we go. 
 His name in their foreheads was written 
 
 Ere they mounted the heavenly stair, 
 And they grew like their Elder Brother, 
 
 Who is fairest of all Heaven's fair. 
 Of the earth prayers sent up in their favor, 
 
 The first one their Father fulfilled, 
 But it prayed — " Let those thou hast given 
 
 Be with me, for so I have willed." 
 
 With affection the mother remembers 
 
 The daughters at work in the d^Rrk, 
 To kindle afar, on the hill-tops 
 
 The beacons w^ith heavenly spark. 
 For heartrending stories were told us 
 
 Of souls on the stormy deep tossed. 
 That, looking in vain for the watch fires. 
 
 Without any heliDcr were lost. 
 And she said to each one who was ready, 
 
 " Go, daughter, go give them a light. 
 And we'll meet you again in the morning 
 
 At the close of the brief earthly night." 
 
 When you went from your fostering mother, 
 To the world you thought waiting for you. 
 
 Bright school-girls, equipped with your parchments, 
 Adoriied with their ribbons of blue ; 
 
32 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 You looked for no clouds that were darker 
 
 Than the soft snowy drifts of a June ; ^ 
 
 All roses were thornless as Eden's ; 
 
 AJl nights silvery bright with the moon; 
 You expected no waves that Avere higher 
 
 Than your boat, of a pearly-lined shell ; 
 Your bells should ring gaily, not sadden 
 
 The air with a sorrowful knell. 
 
 If no clouds darkly laden with thunder 
 
 Have hung in your heavens aloft, 
 The flakes on some heads have been sifted 
 
 From June-like clouds, snowy and soft. 
 And often, in gathering roses. 
 
 Your hands have been bleeding and torn. 
 For when sin entered Eden, it grafted 
 
 Each beautiful rose with a thorn. 
 And sometimes your nights have been rayless, 
 
 Your waves have dashed into the skies ; 
 Your chimes have been knells, and your sad hearts 
 
 The fountains of tears and of sighs. 
 
 Your dear Alma Mater has sorrowed 
 
 Whenever she heard of your grief ; 
 But she thought of such days, when she taught you 
 
 Of one who could bring you relief. 
 And you who have learned that long lesson, 
 
 And to him in trouble have run, 
 Have found him more able to comfort 
 
 Than a mother to comfort a son. 
 And you've learned in your own bitter trials, 
 
 That one of the uses of pain 
 Is giving God's great consolations 
 
 To comfort another again. 
 
 In coming your feet were not silvered 
 
 With dust from the Galaxy's way. 
 Yet earth dust, is dust just as heavenly 
 
 Since God made his image in clay. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 33 
 
 Behind you are roof-trees more sacred 
 
 Than groves that the nymphs left behind, 
 And altars more precious than Vesta's 
 
 With fires fanned by heavenly wind. 
 You bear not the names of immortals 
 
 That classical ancients did sing, 
 But you are exalted above them 
 
 Who are daughters of Heaven's own King. 
 
 You are welcome, from northward and southward ; 
 
 You are welcome from east and from west ; 
 You are welcome from bustle and business; 
 
 From the care of the cosy home nest. 
 And we want such a burden of meaning 
 
 To hide in its characters seven 
 That no welcome you meet, shall be equal 
 
 To our welcome, this side of heaven. 
 
 Miss Ellen E. Smith, Class of ^60, voiced the hearts 
 of all in 
 
 RESPONSE TO THE WELCOME. 
 
 We have not needed formal words of welcome in 
 order to feel assured that a welcome — a warm, true 
 well-come — was waiting for us to-day. We had not 
 been true daughters if Ave could not read our mother^s 
 heart, and ever since the sweet letter you sent us, 
 calling to us so earnestly, " Come, come one and all 
 to celebrate the natal day,'^ the thrill of the waiting 
 welcome has been in our hearts. We have been im- 
 patient as the slow weeks have counted themselves 
 which lay between your call and our response. 
 
 Farther back than that, when we went out from 
 your fostering care, with the blessing of our Alma 
 Mater upon us; the daughter feeling strong in our 
 8 
 
34 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 hearts ; the wide world before us ; and the sense with 
 us that even the old familiar world of our childhood 
 was strange and untried because of responsibility which 
 that diploma laid upon us, we know that the phrase 
 " our seminary home/^ learned so early in our school 
 life, was no unmeaning one ; that here was ever the 
 home interest ; that the absent daughters were ever 
 remembered at the family altar ; that the mother^s 
 welcome was ever awaiting us. Even that first re- 
 membered moment when we stood, shy strangers, 
 upon the threshold, and in the awkward consciousness 
 of unfamiliar surroundings told our names, presaged 
 in the first kind words of adoption the future glad 
 home coming. 
 
 Have we anticipated ? No ! for we are daughters, 
 and the daughter's heart answers to the mother's 
 heart. 
 
 And now welcome is all about us ; it lay by the 
 way ; it looked from the windows in the first distant 
 glimpse of the roof tree ; it brightened the dull depot. 
 We think it scattered flowers in the way as we came 
 along; surely the birds sang it, and the trees waved 
 it. Here its atmosphere envelopes us. We find it 
 in every look, and tone, and word ; every spot echoes 
 it ; every beautiful arrangement for our home coming 
 and comfort repeats it; every sweet reminder of the 
 things once precious to us tells the story anew. 
 
 Mother of ours, your children can not tell you how 
 this voiceless welcome touches their hearts. 
 
 We can hope for no brighter welcome this side of 
 heaven. 
 
 If we have not needed formal words of welcome, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 35 
 
 we are glad of them as they come to us in all their 
 warmth and beauty, because they give us opportunity 
 to utter in return warm words of gratitude, not only 
 for this home coming privilege, made so bright by in- 
 vitation, preparation, reception, but for all that our 
 dear Alma Mater has been to us in the past and is to 
 us now. 
 
 We have not all come to give you greeting to-day. 
 The many daughters gather in broken groups. You 
 have understood how distance, or cares, or little 
 clinging hands, or bonds of weakness and pain have 
 kept some of us from your side. 
 
 Others sowing precious seed, or busy in white har- 
 vest fields, might not leave their labor, and some have 
 heard already the sweet words of welcome from the 
 master, and have entered into his joy. We are sad 
 with you as we count the vacant places. 
 
 But does not the mother believe that the hearts of 
 all her children are making holiday in memory of 
 this natal day and this glad reunion ? Surely there 
 are thoughts about us in the heavenly mansions, and 
 in the near and far away places which encircle the 
 globe. 
 
 Upon us all precious memories of the days and 
 years of our school life are crowding thick and fast 
 to-day. Scenes and incidents, joys and trials, suc- 
 cesses and failures, bright days and shadowed ones, 
 pleasant and sacred places, faces, and voices, and 
 words, come thronging before us. We remember a 
 happy school life with its opportunities, its purposes, 
 its outlook. 
 
 We have needed, may be, the light of the interven- 
 
36 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 ing years since we went forth hopeful school girls from, 
 our mother's care, to throw into lull relief the signifi- 
 cance of the discipline and teaching which we re- 
 ceived here. Sometimes the restraints seemed irk- 
 some, the tasks hard, the duties multiplied. Now, we 
 come to thank you for the discipline so inflexible and 
 yet so kind. Not one lesson of self-control was 
 needless. 
 
 We thank you, too, for the thoroughness and exact- 
 ness required in our course of study. The hard tasks 
 were not finished when our diplomas were put in our 
 hands. How often clearness of mental vision, and 
 force of intellect, and quickness of discrimination, and 
 weighing of premises, and power of judgment, have 
 been called for where there was more at stake than the 
 approval of our teachers or successful examinations. 
 
 No less valuable in our training was the careful 
 ordering of the many duties, so that nothing should 
 be neglected, and nothing counted unimportant, 
 whether it directly promoted our intellectual progress 
 or had to do with the comfort of the household in 
 some small way, whether it was the sacred setting 
 apart of the still hour, or the equally faithful care of 
 wardrobe and room. 
 
 We thank you for the symmetrical training that 
 this school, as it prototype, Mt. Holyoke Seminary, 
 and others akin to it, seeks to give. 
 
 But this is not all, though it is much. It is not 
 that its daughters might be symmetrical women alone 
 that you who founded this seminary, or you who rep- 
 resent it and care for its interests as trustees, or you 
 who have given of your means, or you w^ho have 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 37 
 
 wrought within it, have done all this. We know 
 that has been your earnest desire to place the means 
 of a Christian education within the reach of all, and 
 that the word Christian has been emphasized in your 
 every thought, desire, plan, for those who study here. 
 
 It is with a gratitude more tender, an appreciation 
 that words well nigh fail to express, that we would 
 speak of that loving, patient, prayerful care for that 
 which is best within us, which we felt ever about us 
 from the moment we were adopted into this household. 
 Too often we sadly disappointed your loving nurture. 
 When you looked for fruit sometimes, you found only 
 leaves. Alas! too many limes the precious seed fell 
 upon stony ground, or, springing up, was choked by 
 worthless things. If we had been more teachable, so 
 that all your desire tor us might have been wrought 
 in us, how different might have been our record now. 
 But we want to assure you that your labor and your 
 prayers were not in vain. 
 
 My sisters, could we not all offer personal testimony 
 to the value of the mother's patient care for our soul 
 life, the tender, vivid teaching from the ^^ Volume of 
 the Book,'' the helpful influences that were ever about 
 
 us i 
 
 Some of us speak with ever increasing joy of this 
 as the birth-place of our souls, and reniember lovingly 
 with what gentle hand the mother guided our steps, 
 when we were little ones, in the Christian way. Others 
 of us would mention with no less gratitude the way 
 made clearer, the hope brighter, the motives purer, 
 through God's blessing upon her faithful teaching. 
 We can not tell you how many times words have come 
 
38 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 back to us of which we did not think very much when 
 they were uttered, but great with meaning in the hour 
 of our need, or how often things which we thought we 
 had understood shone with unimagined radiance in the 
 light of a present experience. 
 
 With high hopes and happy ignorance, we went 
 forth into an uncertain wilderness. The way has not 
 always been smooth or the path straight. Sometimes 
 the storm clouds have gathered about us, our sky has 
 been darkened, and the songs have died on our lips. 
 But the lessons you used to teach have come to us in 
 the hour of our trouble. " The right hand '^ has been 
 strong to uphold. The word you opened with us 
 has been a lamp to our feet. The revealed love has 
 restored our joy. 
 
 We, daughters of this seminary, utter to-day our 
 earnest appreciation of those principles of education, 
 first expressed by Miss Lyon in Mt. Holyoke Sem- 
 inary, so faithfully reproduced by those of like spirit 
 and purpose in this western school. If, in the words 
 of another, '^ nobler and loftier considerations drawn 
 from the daylight of eternity rather than the twilight 
 of time, have been substituted for worldly, narrow 
 and selfish motives, in any of our lives/^ we owe 
 it, under God, to the sacred, helpful influences which 
 he placed about us in our school life as well as else- 
 Tv^here. If we have been able or shall be able to ren- 
 der any service to the master, it is right while we give 
 all glory to him that we should remember the instru- 
 mentalities he has used for our training. 
 
 Perhaps no company of Alumnse ever came together 
 on a twentv-fifth anniversary under circumstances so 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 39 
 
 calculated to stir every emotion of love, gratitude, 
 joy, as do we. As we have indicated, the history of 
 our school life is a very precious history. It was 
 bright in passing — it is full of sacred memories. 
 
 The history of this seminary, so wonderful in the 
 trials through which it has passed ; so more than 
 wonderful in the way that God has borne it through 
 is such as to move us very deeply. As we entered 
 the reception room and glanced above the dear faces 
 about us, we caught the words upon the wall : " The 
 Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are 
 glad." It is not strange perhaps, that in that first 
 moment we made the words ours rather than yours. 
 Y/e had gone out girls with our hopes and purposes 
 and plans ; we had come back ; the secret of the years 
 was with us and God, and we were glad. But we 
 transferred the words again, for they are yours. We 
 take them for your words to your returning daughters, 
 condensing thus into one brief sentence with which to 
 greet us, the full history of the twenty-five years. 
 The Lord hath done great things. Our own experi- 
 ence here confirms this testimony. As we listen to- 
 day to some chapters from the story of these years we 
 would, as do you, remember that all is of the Lord. 
 
 Knowing something of the history of our Alma 
 Mater, we are reminded only incidentally of the 
 changes that have taken place here. Through the 
 two-fold trial by fire she has passed unscathed, ren- 
 dered intact by that which makes us immortal too — 
 God within. Home is not the enclosing walls but 
 ever the pervading life. The larger, fairer group of 
 trees upon the lawn, though they bear little resem- 
 
40 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 blance to the slender sappliiigs some of us remember, 
 are the same to us. So far as all dear associations are 
 concerned we look up through the same leaves to the 
 same sky, listening to the same tuneful birds, while 
 the same rustling hints stir the same thoughts within 
 us. It is needless to tell us that generations of leaves 
 and birds have come and gone ; that these are not the 
 same walls from which we went forth, or these the 
 teachers who led us in pleasant paths. Sisters of to- 
 day, we are appropriating all that is yours. We can 
 not help it. We see the changes but we can not feel 
 them. A mother^s face is the same dear face, though 
 the changing years with their sorrows and joys, their 
 cares and deeper experience have furrowed new lines, 
 softened the smile, quieted the expression, illumined 
 it with new light. We come back as daughters, and 
 it is one element of our deep joy, that as daughters we 
 are at home. ^^ Though there are younger children, 
 the mother has kept our own place for us still. '^ 
 
 We can not make our Alma Mater entirely imper- 
 sonal to-day. Eeading our own hearts, we know that 
 this home coming could not be the same to us, if an- 
 other hand was extended to us in greeting, or another 
 voice bade us welcome. 
 
 Dear Miss Peabody, we come back as your daugh- 
 ters, if you will call us such, grateful and glad beyond 
 telling, in the great mercy of our father who has 
 spared you to us through all these years, and who lets 
 us thus recognize your work for the seminary, for us, 
 for God through us. We read the secret of these 
 twenty-five years of continued labor, in the beautiful 
 motto in your own room : '^ Hitherto hath the Lord 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 41 
 
 helped us.^^ It grows pregnant with meaning, when 
 we remember not only the recurring duties and mul- 
 tiplied cares which come upon us daily, but the trials 
 through which this seminary has passed, bringing upon 
 you such burden, and demanding of you the exercise 
 of such patience, faith, grace, and wisdom. Glad 
 ascriptions be to him who hath helped hitherto. 
 
 We know, my sisters, that we stand on sacred 
 ground ; that this is a day of sacred privilege. A 
 marked day it must be, not only in the history of this 
 seminary, but in our individual history as well. We 
 know that about this day and this home coming, much 
 earnest prayer has centered. Do we not know also 
 that in answer to those prayers there is a waiting 
 blessing for us here ? May God help us each to hear 
 his word to us to-day, and whether he says ; '' Come 
 closer, my child — come up higher ; " " Rest, weary 
 one, cast thy care upon him who careth ; ^^ " Lay down 
 thy burden, trust thy father^s love and tenderness ;^^ — 
 may we have grace to say, ^^Yea Lord, thy servant hear- 
 eth.^^ Kneeling in this consecrated place — perhaps in 
 the very spot where Jesus first said to us, ^' Go in peace, 
 thy sins be forgiven thee,'^ — with new and entire sur- 
 render, may we find that which God waits to give us 
 each, when we put our ways into his keeping and 
 enter into his plan. 
 
 Dear younger sisters, who so soon join our number, or 
 who linger yet longer at the mother's feet, we have mes- 
 sage for you to-day. First, we would assure you of our 
 hearty interest and love, and express our appreciation 
 of the part which you have taken and are taking in 
 this perfect welcome. We know what dependence has 
 
42 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 been placed upon you in the crowded days of prepara- 
 tion. We know that you have stood faithfully at the 
 side of your teachers, to whom, as to you, we owe so 
 much with cheerful hearts and willing hands and feet. 
 Your cordial, graceful welcome, which is a large part 
 of the mother's very own, is exceedingly precious. 
 
 You are knowing in these days the joy of unselfish 
 service prompted by love. It is that, and only that, 
 the master asks of you. We bring his message to you 
 from the outside world whence we are come. ^^ The 
 master hath need of you," is the word your elder sis- 
 ters bring. 
 
 He needs you in the quiet home places to which 
 many of you will go, to bear witness for him you pro- 
 fess to '^ follow as dear children,'^ by your simple, 
 reverent, unselfish, joyous, sincere lives. 
 
 The field is the world, and everywhere the master 
 needs you as his messenger. Our dear sisters who 
 have gone to the dark, distant nations, emphasize by 
 their absence to-day, the story of the world's great 
 need. 
 
 The master hath need of us all. To us can never 
 come the peace of ignorance. He calls us to noble 
 work. His constraining love is upon us. " Be not 
 conformed,'' my sisters, "to this world ; but be ye trans- 
 formed by the renewing of your mind, that you may 
 prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect 
 will of God." 
 
 Birthdays are memory days, but birthdays are also 
 hope days. At each completed cycle we look back, 
 but do we not also look forward ? 
 
 After the violets, the roses; the fruit follows the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 43 
 
 blossom, and the flower and fruit culminating in glad 
 rich harvest time, are succeeded by richer fields of 
 bloom and richer harvest seasons. 
 
 We rejoice to-day in a bright future for our Alma 
 Mater, as we crown her with birthday laurels- and 
 smile with her in songs of glad thanksgiving. We 
 link a beautiful past with a more beautiful future. 
 We see no age, no decadence, but fuller vigor, tested 
 powers, stronger assurance in unfailing promises. The 
 outlook is all radiant with hope. " They shall renew 
 their strength who wait upon the Lord.^^ Those who 
 come after shall see that which we have not seen. 
 When we come up to our Zion, after another twenty- 
 five years, there will be not only added voices in our 
 praise chorus, but a richer song, for the years of the 
 Lord^s right hand will have been multiplied. 
 
 As daughters we are grateful for the beautiful past ; 
 we are glad in the perfect present; we rejoice in the 
 halo of rich promise, through which we look into the 
 future. Sharing in the lull joy of this anniversary 
 day, we are asking that more and more our responsi- 
 bility as daughters may be laid upon us, and that in 
 loving gratitude and loyal fidelity we may be able 
 always to stand helpfully by the side of our Alma 
 Mater. 
 
 At the close of Miss Smithes address. Miss Peabody 
 arose, the intensity of this supreme moment lighting 
 up her face, as though the final hour had come in 
 which to say, ^^ Here am I, and the children whom 
 thou hast given me,'^ and said, amid a hush profound : 
 
44 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Fathees and Brethren : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees: An occasion 
 of more than ordinary interest brings you here to- 
 day. You have come together " To give thanks unto 
 the Lord, and remember his marvellous works that 
 he hath done, his wonders and the judgments of his 
 mouth," as well as to talk of all his gracious dealings 
 and make known his faithfulness to all generations. 
 More wonderful displays of the presence and power 
 of God to deliver and save in the hour of peril, or 
 more marked illustrations of his tenderness and fidelity 
 to his word, it would be difficult to find in the annals 
 of history, sacred or profane, than the records of this 
 institution exhibit, during the twenty-five years of its 
 existence. Only two of your present number have 
 been identified with the work during the whole period 
 which we have come together to review. 
 
 Some who have toiled with us in love and labors 
 most abundant, have entered into rest, and we remem- 
 ber them gratefully to-day. Among these mighty 
 men of valor we wish reverently to speak the names 
 of Tichenor, Allen, Fisher, Hills, Ells and Kumler, 
 Spencer and Van Bergen, Shuey and Moores, Cheever 
 and Tweed and Joseph S. McCord and Prof Caleb 
 Mills. These all died in the faith. 
 
 On the night of January 14, 1860, and again on 
 April 7, 1871, our building was destroyed by fire 
 without the loss of a single life. On May 6, 1864, 
 our school was scattered by a fearful pestilence, in 
 which lives most precious passed from our sight, enter- 
 ing upon the life eternal, assuring us as they went, 
 " Remember, I will be waiting for you." 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 45 
 
 On the 29th of February, 1868, a burglar was shot 
 in our building, and the tragic midnight scene was full 
 of abiding lesson's. The civil war from ^60 to ^65, 
 with its perils and excitements, has its place in our 
 history. Three great commercial crises, with their 
 distractions and fears, have also been experienced. 
 We still live. Twenty-five years the Lord God has 
 been with us, and of temporal and spiritual blessings 
 we have lacked nothing. 
 
 Children beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, 
 now do I live because ye stand fast. You have heard 
 how glad we are to have you come home, and you 
 have told us how happy it makes you to be again 
 folded to the heart of Alma Mater. 
 
 We wish to-day to review with you the memories 
 of the past in which you had such an active part. As 
 we bring together the parts (which you will identify 
 as scraps of your own personal experience) into the 
 completed mosaic of the last quarter of a century — as 
 we place each part in its true relation to each other 
 and to the whole, the dark as well as the bright, we 
 shall find that each, shapeless and insignificant as it 
 seemed at the time, is necessary to the completed 
 design, the bringing out the face of the great artist, 
 " The Eose of Sharon '' and '' The Lily of the Valley.'^ 
 As you linger about the cradle of our beloved semi- 
 nary this morning, some of you will remember with 
 me that a little cradle in a private home once held 
 close relations to it, indeed prior obligations by a few 
 months, which came near at one time turning the 
 scales in its favor. But ^^ follow me'^ involves for- 
 forsaking, losing, perishing, and also finding, saving 
 
46 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 and gathering fruit an hundred told. Sacrifice as an 
 element was early introduced, and has run like a 
 thread through the whole history of our school. The 
 sharp experiences, some of them very sharp, have 
 been freighted with the richest blessings and intensify 
 the joys of the present hour. 
 
 Children, Alma Mater has kept a diary of her little 
 ones, sending a copy every year to the old home 
 (Holyoke) and to the far-away relatives, preserving 
 one to show to her children when they were grown 
 up and should come home, after having had some ex- 
 periences of the world. Search has been made in the 
 house of the rolls, and the first record therein written 
 will now be read. 
 
THE SEMINAEY JOURNAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 READ BY MISS DORA PHELPS. 
 
 The first entry in the diary before alluded to is 
 made on October 9, 1855, and runs thus : 
 
 "The salutations of the Western Female Seminary 
 to her far-off sister, Holyoke. 
 
 To our sisters who are still in the old hive we are sure 
 that we need no introduction. They are well aware 
 that there have long been signs of swarming; and 
 months ago, they learned that western enterprise and 
 benevolence had undertaken to provide a home for 
 the new colony. The bees are safely hived ; and busy 
 as ev^r, they strive to " improve each shining hour.^^ 
 Could you look in, this pleasant morning, we know 
 you would congratulate us upon our success. 
 
 To our dear missionary friends, who have just heard 
 perhaps for the first time, the name of the Western 
 Female Seminary, we must say a word concerning 
 our past history and present prospects. This school 
 is a young sister of Holyoke ; scarcely out of frock 
 and pinafore, to be sure, but a very promising child 
 
48 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 for all that. She already shows a most striking and 
 daily increasing resemblance to her eastern sister, and 
 bids fair to grow in favor with God and man. Mary 
 Lyon rests from her labors, but her works follow her. 
 In this new institution, not less truly than at Holyoke, 
 we trust her influence will live for years to come. If 
 from her blessed home she sometimes looks down 
 upon the fruits of her earthly labors, we know that 
 among them all she esteems this seminary not the 
 least. We think that to her, as well as to us, it must 
 seem but the duplicate of that which was the direct 
 offspring of her toils and prayers. Every day we find 
 ourselves forgetting that our school is not Holyoke 
 itself. All the arrangements of the family and school 
 are the same ; many of the public rooms have the 
 same names with yours ; the young ladies' rooms and 
 their furniture — the domestic and dining halls, the 
 washroom — and in short everything, bears a decided 
 resemblance to the Holyoke patterns. From the time 
 of rising in the morning until the hour for retiring at 
 night, our bells ring (difference of longitude excepted), 
 simultaneously with yours, and for precisely the same 
 purposes. Our family devotions, our sections and 
 general exercises and our recess meetings, are just the 
 same. But you will perceive for yourselves the re- 
 semblance, in the course of the following pages. 
 
 Our young ladies assembled for the first time on 
 Wednesday, September 19, 1855. We think them a 
 very fine set of girls, from all we have yet seen of 
 them. A few are more youthful than we ever see at 
 Mt. Holyoke Seminary, yet upon the whole there is 
 no marked difference in maturity of character. In 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 49 
 
 this Western country fill things have an earlier and 
 more rapid development than in New England, which 
 is probably the reason y^hj our young ladies do not 
 seem more juvenile than yours. 
 
 On Thursday Septe mber 20, at two p. m. , the friends 
 and patrons of the institution, together with the 
 trustees, teachers and pupils, assembled in the sem- 
 inary hall, for the dedicatory services. The parlors 
 adjoining, as well as the hall itself, were crowded 
 with interested listeners. 
 
 Prof. Milton Sayler, of Cincinnati, made a very in- 
 teresting address to the teachers and pupils, and Dr. 
 Allen, of Lane Seminary, offered the dedicatory 
 prayer. 
 
 The following hymn composed for the occasion by 
 Eev. Thomas Spencer, was sung by the school. 
 
 We give this house, oh, God ! to thee. 
 
 Be thine each beam, and brick, and stone ; 
 These fields and groves, each flower and tree,. 
 
 Accept and call them all thine own. 
 
 These rooms for toil or rest, these halls ; 
 
 This chapel built for praise and prayer. 
 And all contained within these walls. 
 
 Be the dear objects of thy care. 
 
 On this fair spot now fix thine eyes. 
 And nevermore withdraw thy sights 
 
 While seasons roll and stars shall rise, 
 This place find favor in thy sight. 
 
 Here may the youthful vow be made. 
 
 To live for thee and thee alone ; 
 These vows in works of love be paid, 
 
 In prayers and toils which thou wilt own. 
 
50 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Here may a fountain spring to-day, 
 
 To bless this world of sin and guilt, 
 And flow till earth shall pass away, 
 
 And the new heaven and eaHh he built. 
 
 You will readily understand that our domestic 
 department must have been kept in busy operation 
 during those first days, to provide for the one hnndred 
 and fifty young ladies who had almost simultaneously 
 arrived, together with many of their parents, some of 
 whom remained a few days to see our experiment 
 fairly tried. There were, of course, no '' old scholars'^ 
 already acquainted with the routine of seminary house- 
 keeping, to lighten our burdens by their willing and 
 efficient aid. But the teachers could furnish hands 
 as well as heads, and so, with the additional help for a 
 few days of a regularly trained baker, we did very 
 well." To be sure, our cooking range was scarcely 
 ffnished, and none of its furniture, save two dripping- 
 pans and a small brass kettle, had arrived. But 
 thanks to native Yankee ingenuity and Holyoke train- 
 ing in logic and mathematics, we succeeded famously 
 until the other utensils arrived, which was about a 
 week. We can assure you it required some little calcu- 
 lation to solve such little problems as the following : 
 ^' Given two dripping-pans and a brass kettle ; it is 
 required to cook meat and vegetables for one hundred 
 and fifty." Never before did we appreciate the capa- 
 bilities of dripping-pans. In the morning they served 
 in the preparation of the meat, toast, or griddle cakes, 
 whichever it might happen to be ; at noon our meat 
 was roasted or fried and the gravy made in them, and 
 for supper these self-same dripping-pans cooked the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 51 
 
 fruit. Meantime, by ^'taking time by the forelock/' 
 the brass kettle served for boiling our potatoes for 
 dinner, and at other times was useful in making yeast. 
 
 Our young ladies have been as ready as we could 
 desire to aid in our domestic operations. The con- 
 trary had been predicted with reference to these 
 Western girls, but we think without reason. Cer- 
 tainly we have never known the wheels to run more 
 smoothly at Holyoke, in the beginning of a year, than 
 ours have done. We have much reason for gratitude 
 that this peculiar feature of Holyoke arrangements 
 has been so easily and successfully introduced. 
 
 On the first Sabbath of the term nearly all of our 
 young ladies attended morning service at the village 
 church, which is nearly a mile and a half distant. 
 They walked, of course, as there was no other way of 
 going. In the afternoon they studied their Bible les- 
 sons, and in the evening we had the meetings at home. 
 We were glad to find that nearly two-thirds of the 
 young ladies are professing Christians. 
 
 The examinations had been commenced on the day 
 after the dedication. You would have smiled to see 
 our girls sitting solitarily in the seminary hall, their 
 arithmetics piled up on the platform, and their eyes 
 fixed on those self-same, tear-stained questions, 
 whereon we ourselves once desparingly gazed. We 
 have a new edition of them now, but the first candi- 
 dates were supplied with the identical Holyoke copies. 
 Many of the young ladies have been very successful 
 in their examinations, others are reviewing and we 
 hope all will have finished the preparatory studies 
 before many weeks. 
 
 miVERSlTY OF 
 'LLfNOIS LIBRARY 
 
52 WESTERN' FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Most of you are doubtless aware that the town of 
 Oxford, like its illustrious English namesake, has a 
 university, not to mention divers seminaries and 
 schools of lower grade. The knowledge of this cir- 
 cumstance will have led you to anticipate some per- 
 plexing qjjUestions which came before us during the 
 first days of the term. It was not very difficult to 
 foresee that if there should be unrestricted social inter- 
 course between our young ladies and the students of 
 Miami University, little time or thought would be 
 bestowed on moral or intellectual improvement. But 
 as some of our pupils had relatives in college here, it 
 was arranged that all such should be at liberty to call. 
 The first recreation day, however, caused us to recon- 
 sider that decision. One young gentleman called for 
 no less than ^^ six cousins/^ and we were speedily con- 
 vinced that consanguinities would multiply to an 
 astonishing extent, under such a regulation. 
 
 We have toid you of our labors and our success 
 during these first weeks of the school ; it remains to 
 speak of our trials. We must tell of a sick-room, a 
 death-bed, a funeral. One young lady came to us 
 with disease upon her, and in two short weeks her 
 career in the seminary w^s ended by death. We have 
 been chastened, but it w^s by a father's hand. May 
 it yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness ! 
 
 We have not yet told you about our pleasant western 
 home, and we are rather reluctant to attempt a descrip- 
 tion, lest we should fail of making it seem as delightful 
 to you as it does to us. However, if you do not like 
 our picture, we can invite you to come and see for 
 yourselves ; and we know half a glimpse would make 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNINERSARY. 53 
 
 you almost envy us. At present we must ask you just 
 to imagine yourselves on the way from Hamilton to 
 Oxford in an old-fashioned coach-and-four, with 
 abundant leisure to look about you, while the horses 
 walk up the long hills. The scenery is so like New 
 England that you fancy you are almost home, and you 
 find yourself watching for the familiar outline of the 
 mountain range which the next turn of the road must 
 bring to view. The snug farm-houses scattered 
 here and there among the hills, whose ample barns 
 bespeak well-tilled fields ; the tasteful cottages with 
 their neat door-yards and flower-gardens ; the thrifty 
 orchards and pleasant meadows; in short, everything 
 you see looks so natural that you would scarcely hesi- 
 tate to say that you had seen it a hundred times before. 
 Did you notice the large stone-colored edifice on 
 the right, whose top was just now visible above the 
 tree? When the coach stops at yonder white gate 
 you will have a front view of it, and we would bespeak 
 your special attention, for it is the Western Female 
 Seminary. As you walk along the winding carriage 
 drive, and approach the little bridge at the foot of the 
 orchard, you observe that the building is of an oblong 
 form, fronting west, 102x76 feet on the ground, and 
 five stories high. Each story has a balcony running 
 about two-thirds the length of the front, supported by 
 slender iron pillars, and surrounded by an ornamental 
 iron balustrade. 
 
 Monday, February 4. — Last evening we held our 
 first " monthly concert.^^ Our distance from town pre- 
 vents our observing it in connection with the church 
 where we worship, and hereafter we hope to have our 
 
,54 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 missionary meeting at home, on the first Sabbath 
 evening of each month. We must tell you about our 
 first one, for it was to us an interesting occasion. At 
 half-past seven, our usual hour for evening service, we 
 all met in the seminary hall. Miss Peabody read the 
 familiar hymn, ^' From Greenland's Icy Mountains,'' 
 after singing which we united in prayer. Miss Pea- 
 body then made a very few remarks respecting the 
 history of missions, particularly in this country, pre- 
 paratory to an account of the origin of the special 
 interest in missions at Mt. Holyoke. She said she 
 believed Miss Fiske was the first missionary who went 
 out from that institution, and that her consecration to 
 that work was the means of awakening a deeper and 
 more lasting attachment to it than had been previously 
 felt by the pupils at the seminary. A brief note 
 addressed by Miss Fiske to Dr. Anderson, offering 
 herself to the board, was then read, as also a post- 
 script added by Miss Lyon, and another letter from 
 Miss L. on the same occasion. There was also a letter 
 written by Miss Fiske, while at sea, to Miss Whitman, 
 and one at a later period of the voyage addressed to 
 her section. Our young ladies listened with much 
 interest to this correspondence, and we trust it will do 
 them good. We long to see them so filled with love 
 to Christ that they will joyfully undertake any labor 
 to which he may call them, however self-denying or 
 difficult. There has not been as much religious in- 
 terest among us for a few weeks past as there was at 
 the close of last term, but there are at present some 
 encouraging indications, and we hope the holy spirit 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 55 
 
 may visit us yet again. About twenty-five have pro- 
 fessed faith in Christ. 
 
 May 31. — Our household has, for some weeks past, 
 been favored with the society of a very interesting guest, 
 whose like it would be hard to find in any institution 
 of learning, not excepting Holyoke itself. Allow us 
 to present to you ^^ our baby ! '' Master Henry Green- 
 wood Peabody, son of Rev. Charles Peabody, of St. 
 Louis, who has been an inmate of the seminary since 
 the commencement of this term. 
 
 He is a nephew of our principal. She was called 
 from the care of this motherless little one, whom she 
 had received from his dying mother's hands, to assume 
 charge of .this seminary, and it cost her a severe 
 struggle to relinquish the precious little trust. He is 
 accompanied by his excellent aunt. Miss Eliza Pea- 
 body, and is decidedly the most important personage 
 among us. 
 
 At every meal time Miss Peabody^s door is besieged 
 by a crowd of eager competitors for the privilege of 
 tending the baby while the rest are at table. It 
 would be difficult to decide among so many earnest 
 petitioners, were it not that some one generally steps 
 forth, looking very confident and happy, and reminds 
 Miss Peabody that the baby was promised to her some 
 two days ago. So the successful candidate appropri- 
 ates Master Henry, and the unsuccessful ones comfort 
 themselves with the hope that they shall be more for- 
 tunate next time. The young gentleman, having 
 lately entered upon his second year, is now busily en- 
 gaged in acquiring the art of walking, and with so 
 many assiduous instructors he makes rapid progress. 
 
56 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 We have high authority for saying, '^ A babe in a 
 house is a well-spring of pleasure/^ 
 
 July 5. — The "well-spring ol pleasure'' above 
 named has vanished from our household. Baby Henry 
 left us two or three weeks since, amid the universal 
 regrets of the family. Some of the young ladies, 
 much to our amusement, eagerly appropriated divers 
 little worn out shoes as relics of their baby friend, 
 and appeared determined to cherish them as sacredly 
 as would a papist the image of his patron saint. 
 
 The closing exercises of the first year took place in 
 the pleasant grove in the rear of the seminary, on the 
 17th of July, 1856. The address was delivered by 
 Dr. Samuel Fisher, who chose for his subject : John 
 Calvin and John Wesley. This was the first of many 
 favors received from Dr. Fisher. He was long an 
 honored trustee of our seminary and made us monthly 
 visits, which are remembered with pleasure and grati- 
 tude. 
 
 And now we must close the history of our first year. 
 It has had its trials, but far greater and more numer- 
 ous have been its blessings. It has been to us a year 
 of toil, and yet so delightful that we would not desire 
 a sweeter spot in all the great field, wherein we might 
 labor. Its results are yet undeveloped in their bear- 
 ings on the future, but it is enough to know that our 
 "labor is not in vain in the Lord.'' 
 
 This paper was followed by a vocal solo, " Mine it 
 is at Midnight Hour," by Miss Kate Timberman, of 
 the senior class. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 57 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 READ BY MAGGIE RONAN. 
 
 In the journal for 1856, after the account of the 
 coming together of teachers and scholars at the close 
 of vacation, we find the following allusion to the first 
 monthly concert : " On the first Sabbath in October 
 occurred our monthly concert, and it was our happi- 
 ness to have a letter from Miss Fidelia Fiske to read 
 to the young ladies. Those of us who remember the 
 joy of receiving the first letter through the postoffice, 
 written to our own selves, with our name on the out- 
 side, could recognize something of the old emotion in 
 the pleasure with which we all listened to this first 
 missionary letter which had been addressed to our 
 school. Nor was it the mere transient feeling of grat- 
 ification which a letter from a far country would 
 naturally awaken. That it was something more deep 
 and holy, the angel which ministers at the golden 
 altar which is before the throne can witness. Our 
 hearts are touched that the daughters of a heathen 
 land have prayed for us. We are strengthened by 
 expressions of sympathy and encouragement from one 
 who has long known and loved our master, while en- 
 gaged in his most difficult service.^' 
 
 October 24. — We had the pleasure yesterday of 
 welcoming back Miss Golding of last year, now Mrs. 
 Kumler. A little party of our friends were with us 
 at tea, and the members of our family were invited to 
 visit with them in the evening. Very many of the 
 
58 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 young ladies seemed exceedingly happy in seeing 
 again a teacher whom they had so much loved and 
 respected, and in receiving an introduction to the gen- 
 tleman who has appropriated her as his own. The 
 gentleman aforesaid defended himself bravely against 
 their accusations of robbery, and declared that if he 
 should never do anything worse he would consider 
 himself happy. Although the young ladies spent but 
 an hour with us in the parlors and seminary hall, they 
 seemed to find much pleasure in that brief time ; and 
 it was very gratifying to us to have them form some 
 acquaintance with the good friends whom we have 
 about us, and feel that they are not indifferently looked 
 upon as an isolated community, but that they are 
 regarded with deep interest. We are truly blessed 
 in the sympathizing, intelligent and efficient friends 
 whom we have in town. Rev. and Mrs. Kumler are 
 to enter upon home missionary work in Greenville, 
 Ohio. May the same energetic, self forgetting spirit 
 which ennobled the life of the pupil at Mt. Holyoke 
 and the teacher at Oxford, make beautiful and holy 
 the coming years of the minister's wife. 
 
 A recent letter from one of our trustees tells us of 
 a munificent bequest from one of whose large-hearted 
 piety you of Mt. Holyoke have occasion to know, as 
 well as we. Mr. Kingman, of Boston, gives us one 
 thousand dollars for the purpose of founding a schol- 
 arship, which shall maintain at school a missionary's 
 daughter free of all expense. Perhaps you do not 
 know that the pretty, comfortable room reserved for 
 our sick was fitted up by the generosity of Mrs. King- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 59 
 
 man. May the blessing which alone maketh rich be 
 ever theirs. 
 
 November 21 . — Yesterday was Thanksgiving day. 
 We did not invite much company, influenced by the 
 very practical consideration that we probably should 
 not secure it if we did. Everybody best loves to be 
 at home on that day of all days. We had with us at 
 dinner, however, our pastor. Rev. Mr. Root, Rev. and 
 Mrs. Kumler and Mr. Ells with his family. Is it 
 possible that you have been so long acquainted with 
 our school and do not know Mr. Ells ? Why, he is 
 our daily benefactor. Nothing could be more appro- 
 priate than that he, whose presence always reminds us 
 of an occasion of devout gratitude, should be with us 
 on Thanksgiving day. He is one of our trustees and 
 superintendent of our out-door affairs. It is he who 
 sees that we have the wherewithal for our daily bread 
 and fire, and that improvements are continually going 
 on about the grounds and the building. He never 
 forgets, never neglects, never frets. His steady effi- 
 ciency is put forth with that quiet, kindly manner, 
 which makes his life no less a moral than a material 
 blessing to us. It is a comfort to have so sensible, 
 reliable and sympathizing a friend ever at hand. We 
 were very glad to have him, his pleasant wife and two 
 little children with us yesterday. Thanksgiving 
 would hardly seem genuine without a child in the 
 house. 
 
 January 6, 1857. — The two days past have been 
 blessed ones to us. The house has been pervaded by 
 a quietness, in which the '' still, small voice '^ of the 
 spirit has been distinctly heard. Much fervent prayer 
 
60 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 has gone up to God, and he has sent an answer into 
 our souls. The prayer-meetings throughout the day 
 were very fully attended, and we trust Christ was in 
 the midst. In the afternoon Miss Peabody met in the 
 hall those who are not Christians. They listened with 
 the most serious attention to her words, and at the 
 close she invited those who desired above all things 
 to seek an interest in Christ, and were willing to have 
 that desire known, to come to her room that evening. 
 We believe that there were four or five in school who 
 would gladly accept ^uch an invitation, but it was with 
 grateful surprise that Miss Peabody found her room 
 jilled at evening. Some came, doubtless, from the 
 transient excitement of sympathy, but others were 
 earnestly inquiring the way to be saved, and some 
 were beginning to indulge a trembling hope in Christ. 
 We felt that we could not have such a day pass with- 
 out the seal of at least one conversion. Nor did God 
 suffer it to do so. One for whom importunate prayer 
 has been offered, and who has passed through deep 
 waters to find a savior, did lay down her proud heart 
 that night at the foot of the cross, broken and contrite. 
 Oh ! may the holy spirit abide with us. 
 
 Monday, January 26. — We had the happiness yes- 
 terday of listening to the Rev. Dr. Allen, of Lane 
 Seminary. We attended morning service in town, and 
 he preached to us in the hall in the afternoon. ^^The 
 Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice," was the morning 
 text. In the afternoon he dwelt upon that most 
 touching of all our savior's gracious sayings, '^ Who- 
 ever shall do the will of my father in heaven, the 
 same is my brother and sister and mother. '^ 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 61 
 
 It is a great thing for any school to enjoy the earnest 
 interest of a materly mind and warm, Christian heart 
 like Dr. Allen's. He is one of our trustees and we 
 hope that he will come to see us often. 
 
 1857. 
 
 Among the first events recorded of this year is a 
 little incident in which we will all feel interested, 
 " When the noon coach from Hamilton came in last 
 Friday, Miss Peabody stood in the hall to meet the 
 arrivals, as usual. After the old scholars had received 
 their warm welcome, the timorous new comers drew 
 near. Each received a kindly word and look to make 
 her feel that she had at least one friend in the house ; 
 but the last one stood demurely waiting with her thick 
 veil unlifted. " What poor, bashful girl is that ? '^ 
 thought Miss Peabody. Hoping to relieve her em- 
 barrassment, she raised her veil, saying, " Who is 
 this?'' In a moment her arms were thrown around 
 the strange new scholar with the glad cry, " Emily 
 Jessup ! " Her visit was a very short one, but full of 
 pleasure to the old friends who had known and loved 
 her at Mt. Holyoke, and to the new ones who had 
 only heard of her before." 
 
 1858. 
 
 In 1858 we find the mention of our first mission- 
 aries, Mrs. Quick, of Ceylon, who was a member of 
 the school in 1856, and Miss Mary Spooner, now Mrs. 
 Worcester, who found her field of labor among the 
 Cherokees. 
 
 Shortly before anniversgjy, Miss Fiske, whose name 
 
62 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 is SO well known in all the churches, visited the sem- 
 inary. This visit was a great treat to all the house- 
 hold; our beloved missionary bringing direct news 
 from far-away Orooniah, was a guest whom all de- 
 lighted to honor. She remarked that our western 
 girls reminded her of her Persian girls in their frank 
 enthusiasm and naturalness of manner. Her extreme 
 modesty and lack of self consciousness made us forget 
 her greatness, while she talked with us and ate with 
 us, but when she had gone we remembered how our 
 hearts had burned within us, while she talked ; and 
 we felt that we had communed with one like unto the 
 son of man. 
 
 1859. 
 
 In 1859 two more were added to the list of mission- 
 aries. Mrs. Woodin,, formerly Miss Utley, a teacher, 
 sailed in the fall for China, and Mrs. Shedd, Jenny 
 Dawes, of the Class of '58, for Persia. We find in 
 connection with the mention of their names this request 
 recorded by the journalist: "We ask that those who 
 love the seminary will pray that many of her children 
 may be messsengers of mercy to the dark places of the 
 earth." 
 
 Dr. Perkins, of Persia, visited the seminary in No- 
 vember. He left behind him many pleasant memo- 
 ries of own consecrated life, and much useful and in- 
 teresting information about Oriental customs and mis- 
 sion work among the Nestorians. 
 
 The new year of 1860 found the family busily pre- 
 paring one of the members of the senior class to sail 
 in February for Persia, Miss Harriet Newell Craw- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 63 
 
 ford. A visitor to Miss Peabody's room would have 
 imagined that she had turned seamstress. The click 
 of the sewing machine was heard from morning until 
 night, and scores of busy fingers were preparing work 
 for its swift needle. 
 
 During these early years we find frequent allusions 
 to pleasant Christmas gatherings, Thanksgiving fes- 
 tivities, examinations and anniversary days, of which 
 we can not take time for special mention. Interesting 
 lectures are also referred to : A course in Physiology, 
 by Dr. Pea, the excellent friend and family physician 
 of the seminary; a lecture on the Life and Work of 
 Dr. Thomas Arnold, by Rev. Mr. Root ; one or more 
 on Hygiene, by Dr. Mussey, of Cincinnati, who did not 
 hesitate to use his eloquent sarcasm against the fash- 
 ionable follies of the day ; lectures by Pev. Mr. Pice 
 and Pev. F. S. McCabe. Of Dr. Pea's lectures we 
 find a more extended notice: ^^ Three days in the 
 week we confront the grinning^ghastliness of humanity, 
 disrobed of flesh and sinews. On one side hangs 
 what the doctor calls ^ a beautiful French skeleton/ 
 where a heart once bounded, whereon grace, perhaps, 
 was poured, pitiable relic of that which sang and 
 smiled, danced and laughed. On the other side hangs 
 another frame, equipped with the wonderful tissue of 
 muscles, nerves and blood vessels. But the muscles 
 are shrunken and varnished; from the arteries the 
 wine of life has been poured out and red lead has been 
 poured in, the nerves are painted white. Between 
 these spectres and above on the stage, a manikin mocks 
 the fair proportions of humanity. Among these exiles 
 of the grave, the doctor's form rears its six feet four 
 
64 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 inches of comeliness, instinct with life and earnestness. 
 In the midst of his enthusiastic love of his wonderful 
 science, an undercurrent of wit occasionally flashes 
 out, which keeps us wide awake." 
 4|Mention is also made of Prof. Kidd's instruction in 
 elocution, Rev. Mr. Peabody^s letters from Europe 
 and the visits of many good friends. 
 
 At the close of this chapter of the journal a char- 
 acteristic letter which had been received from Dr. E,ea, 
 full of good cheer and the old-time wit, was read by 
 Miss Anna Kumler, of the Class of ^79, daughter of 
 one of the first teachers previously mentioned, Mrs. 
 Abbie [Golding] Kumler. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BEAD BY MAY HENRY. 
 1860. 
 
 The school year of 1859-60 was brought to a sudden 
 close by the fire of January 14. The journal gives a 
 full account of the thrilMng events of that night and 
 of the experience of the following months : 
 
 '' Our household had retired as usual and were all 
 resting quietly, when at about twelve o'clock, one of 
 the young ladies in No. 11, in the fifth story, was 
 awakened by a light in her room, and a rumbling 
 noise, as though small fragments of mortar were fall- 
 ing. She rose to find ihat the partitions of her room 
 were burning, though the plaster prevented the flames 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 65 
 
 from bursting into the room. The fire originated 
 from a defective flue, and had probably been burning 
 for many hours. The teachers were quietly notified 
 of the discovery, and under their direction the stew- 
 ard, Mr. Elliot, was summoned, and the remainder 
 of the household aroused. Mr. Elliot's investigations 
 soon made it evident that nothing could be done to 
 save the building. The young ladies formed them- 
 selves in lines to pass buckets of water, but it was of 
 no avail. Friends from town were soon on the ground 
 and every effort was directed to saving clothing and 
 furniture. There was no confusion, no excitement. 
 Never before had there been so much reason to be 
 proud of the conduct of our young ladies. One of the 
 pupils made a very narrow escape. Having returned 
 to her room on the fifth floor, hoping to save more of 
 her property, she found, when she was ready to leave, 
 that the stairway was oti fire. She went back to her 
 room; moved her bed near the window; hastily at- 
 tached to the bedpost a rope formed of strips torn 
 from her sheets and counterpane, by which she let 
 herself down to the ground. Her first words, when 
 she had completed her dangerous descent, were to in- 
 quire, " I wonder if any one has thought to get the 
 silver out ? ^' 
 
 The doors of the Oxford Female College were hos- 
 pitably opened to receive the homeless family, and 
 turning away from the burning house the sorrowful 
 procession made its way thither, to seek shelter from 
 the snow and sleet. The appearance of the company 
 was grotesque enough to provoke a smile in the midst 
 
66 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 of the sorrow, the motley garb, the ill-matched suits, 
 table covers and blankets for wraps, stockingless feet 
 and bare heads. On Saturday morning the school 
 met at the Female College for a short devotional ex- 
 ercise, and to receive directions from their teachers. 
 There was new meaning in the words of the dear old 
 Portuguese hymn as that band that had been brought 
 safely through the flames, sang them together that 
 morning — 
 
 " When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, 
 My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply ; 
 The flames shall not hurt thee, I only design 
 Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine/' 
 
 The young ladies were kindly cared for by the 
 families of the village over the Sabbath. On Sabbath 
 morning the communion service was celebrated in the 
 Presbyterian church. The lesson read from scripture 
 was from Acts xxvii, and there seemed special appro- 
 priateness in the words : " There shall be no loss of 
 any man's life among you, but of the ship." Rev. 
 Mr. Langstroth preached a sermon of thanksgiving 
 from the words of Habakkuk : '^ Although the fig tree 
 shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; 
 the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall 
 yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, 
 and there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet I will 
 rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salva- 
 tion." The president of the university. Dr. Hall^ 
 spoke some words of encouragement to the friends of 
 the seminary, who wei'e sorrowing over their disap- 
 pointed hopes. He said : " Though now you are 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 67 
 
 cast down by sorrow, and the way seems dark, yet 
 when a new seminary shall crown yon beautiful hill, 
 one of fairer proportions ; one giving more general 
 satisfaction ; one which will be an honor to the church, 
 then you will love it more tenderly because you have 
 suffered for its sake/^ He seemed to express the gen- 
 eral sentiment of the community, " the seminary must 
 be rebuilt." 
 
 It was decided to rent the house of Mr. James 
 Fisher, in the beautiful grounds next to the seminary, 
 for the use of the senior class the remainder of the 
 year, and in that building they completed the studies 
 of the course, under the instruction of Miss Peabody 
 and Miss McCabe. Many precious memories cluster 
 around those days spent in the "Little Western." 
 Mention should be made in this connection of one of the 
 early friends of the seminary. Professor Elliot, of the 
 university, who, among many other kindnesses, at this 
 time taught the class in Butler's Analogy. The class 
 graduated in May, and we find the following account 
 of the day, taken from one of the current papers : 
 " The young ladies stood before the audience objects 
 of peculiar interest, as remnants of the first seminary's 
 pupils, and, having finished their course in a way 
 original and romantic, they appeared not simply gradu- 
 ates of a school, but beautiful memorials of the past ; 
 and hence the services connected with their graduation 
 did not consist so much in granting diplomas as in 
 uttering sentiments, originating in common sympathies 
 for the past and hopes for the future." One of the 
 events of the occasion was the fitting up of a box to be 
 placed in the corner-stone of the new building. Into 
 
63 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 this box Dr. Allen, president of the board of trustees, 
 placed catalogues of the Oxford schools and some 
 other documents of the day; and also some written 
 sentiments prepared by members of the graduating 
 class. We copy the following : ^' The Western 
 Female Seminary; Christ himself the chief corner- 
 stone. It has nothing to fear but that it may not 
 know its duty, or may fail to do it. May the pillar 
 of cloud which guarded the door of the tabernacle 
 rest ever at the going in of our beloved seminary, 
 preventing the ingress of anything that defileth or 
 maketh a lie." 
 
 The teachers of the seminary : ^^ May their aim be 
 the approbation of God, his favor their reward. " 
 
 Miami University : 
 
 " Seldom yet did living creature see, 
 That courtesy and manhood disagree." 
 
 The citizens of Oxford : 
 
 " What can I pay thee for this noble usage 
 But grateful praise ? Thus heaven itself is paid." 
 
 The trustees : " Their honor got by many actions, 
 lost by none." 
 
 Dr. Allen offered the following : " Gabriel Tichenor, 
 to whose large-hearted benefactions the Western 
 Female Seminary owes so much of its original success, 
 and which has done so much to sustain the courage of 
 its friends in the season of its calamity." 
 
 The class of 1861 also completed its course in this 
 temporary home. Even as late as August of that 
 year it seemed doubtful whether the new building 
 could be ready for use that fall. The disturbed state 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 69 
 
 of the country made it almost impossible to raise the 
 necessary funds, and the trustees were ready to decide 
 upon a postponement of the opening. But a few 
 brave hearts, headed by our principal, could not say 
 "fail/' and with vigorous efforts the needed pecuniary 
 pledges were secured, the heating apparatus ordered 
 trom the east, the three miles of steam pipe laid 
 through the building, a work of six months accom- 
 plished in as many weeks, and on October 9, the 
 scattered family met in the new home. In the list of 
 teachers who constituted the corps of instructors for 
 this year we find a new name added, Miss Emily 
 Jessup, and affectionate allusion made to her invalid 
 condition, as well as to the great value of her instruc- 
 tion in the class-room and in religious meetings. 
 
 The new building was not dedicated until May 21, 
 1862. The general assembly of the Presbyterian 
 church was at that time in session in Cincinnati, and 
 attended the exercises by invitation. The dedicatory 
 address was delivered by Rev. H. H. Field, of New 
 York. 
 
 In June, 1861, the seminary came into possession 
 of a permanent fund of $20,000, the income of which 
 shall be applied to the salaries of teachers. This was 
 the bequest of Gabriel Tichenor, of Walnut Hills, 
 one of the first donors to the seminary, who himself 
 died before the original building was completed. 
 
 By his last will he bequeathed a large portion of 
 his estate to the cause of Christian and ministerial 
 education, one-half of which was to be devoted to the 
 Western Female Seminary, as above designated, pay- 
 
70 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 able one year after the death of his wife. The be- 
 loved Mrs. Tichenor died June 1, 1860. 
 
 The years 1862-63 passed quietly by, with but lit- 
 tle to interrupt the school and family life. 
 
 The spring of ^64 was another of the marked eras 
 in our history, when the school was called to pass 
 through most trying experiences. Before the spring 
 vacation two dear girls in the household died. Of 
 one of these, Addie Curtis, we will take a brief 
 sketch from the journal, as an illustration of some of 
 the experiences that belong to our history : "Addie 
 was a young, timid girl of fifteen, who came a stranger 
 among us at the opening of the year. She classed 
 herself among those who had no hope in Chirst, 
 at first, but early in the year she came to her section 
 teacher with the good news that she had given her 
 heart to Jesus. Soon after New Yearns sudden 
 changes in the weather occasioned some sickness in 
 the house, and Addie was attacked with inflammatory 
 rheumatism. In a few days it became evident that 
 she could not live. Upon Miss Peabody devolved 
 the painful duty of telling Addie that she was passing 
 away. In the midst of intense suffering the poor 
 child looked appealingly to Miss Peabody, and said : 
 ' Oh, what does this terrible pain mean ? ^ Miss Pea- 
 body took her hand and said, ^ Dear Addie, we fear 
 that it means that you are dying,' With a startled 
 look she turned to her mother, and said, ^ Do you 
 hear what Miss Peabody said? She frightened me.' 
 The fear was only for a moment ; soon the promised 
 peace settled upon the soul of the dying one, and like 
 a veteran who had fought the fight and finished the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 71 
 
 work, she gathered her robes around her to die. She 
 asked Miss Peabody to pray with her, and continued 
 the supplications with her own voice. The remainder 
 of the night was full of triumphant joy ; many mes- 
 sages were left for loved ones : ^ Tell father that I 
 love him, and that I die in the love of the Savior 
 Tell him I want him to love Jesus.' ^ Tell sister Jen- 
 nie to love the Savior; oh, I did not begin soon 
 enough.' ^ Tell Miss Golding she has been one cause 
 of leading me to the Savior. She talked to me before 
 I was sick.' ^ Tell father I am not sorry I came here. 
 Jesus came to save just such poor sinners as I am. 
 What is that prayer? Oh, Lord ! be merciful to me a 
 sinner.' ^ Tell Lou and Sarah (her room mates) to try 
 to seek the Savior. Nobody knows how sweet it is to 
 die looking to Jesus.' Later in the night she said : 
 ^ I have not gone yet, have I ? I thought I saw the 
 shining shore, and the angels and Christ. I want to 
 go, but am willing to wait. I am only fifteen years 
 old. Oh, if I had not become a Christian before I 
 was sick, I could not now. Tell the girls that a dying 
 bed is no place to repent. Fifteen years here, and a 
 long, long eternity just before me.' " 
 
 So the night passed away and just as the first bell 
 called the household to the duties of another day, her 
 happy spirit passed from earth to the blessed land 
 where there shall be no more night. 
 
 Soon after the opening of the spring term, typhus 
 or spotted fever broke out in the school in a most 
 malignant form. Sarah Ewing was its first victim, a 
 dear friend of Addie Curtis, and one, who, like her, 
 had just begun a Christian life, having been led to 
 
72 "WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 accept the Savior in response to the dying message 
 of her friend. Within a few days after Sarah's death 
 twenty-seven of the family were prostrated by this 
 disease, and it became necessary to close the school. 
 Some were carried to their homes and others were too 
 weak to be moved. About forty of the young ladies 
 volunteered to remain as nurses, and friends from 
 Oxford were also ready with assistance. Greatly to 
 the surprise of the physicians only five of the whole 
 number died, two in their homes and three at the 
 seminary. Among the latter we would mention, with 
 loving tenderness, Lizzie Ballard Walker, of the Class 
 of '60. After the death of her husband she had 
 turned with weary, loving heart to her seminary home, 
 where she had filled a daughter's place to Miss Pea- 
 body, and where her memory still lingers like a sweet 
 fragrance that the years do not dispel. 
 
 During these years when the civil war was desolat- 
 ing our land the seminary girls were wide awake to 
 the perils that were threatening their beloved coun- 
 try. We find frequent allusions to their eager inter- 
 est in the war news ; impromptu illuminations in honor 
 of some great victory ; hearty singing of the Star 
 Spangled Banner; patriotic willingness to devote an 
 occasional composition day to manufacturing a flag for 
 the seminary, or picking lint for the wounded soldiers. 
 The home life of these years was varied by many 
 pleasant events, most of which must pass unnoticed. 
 
 Pleasant mention is again made of little Henry 
 Peabody and the blue-eyed baby sister, Susie, who 
 were frequent visitors at the seminary during these 
 vears. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 73 
 
 At the close of the reading of this paper a piano 
 solo, " Tourbillon '^ (Goldbeck), was performed by 
 Miss Susie Peabody, now a member of the junior 
 middle class of the seminary. 
 
 Henry Peabody, the baby alluded to in the first 
 chapter, now a young man whose age measures the age 
 of the seminary, was present, and sat with '^ his class,^^ 
 that of ^77, having been voted an "honorary member'^ 
 during a visit to the seminary in the summer term of 
 that year, just after having taken his diploma at Dart- 
 mouth College. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 READ BY LILLIE KENDALL. 
 
 Of the remaining years of the seminary history we 
 must content ourselves with merely gleaning the most 
 important events. At the coming together of the 
 school in the fall of 1865 there was great rejoicing 
 over the fact that the trustees had succeeded in freeing 
 the institution from debt. 
 
 During the summer of '6Q, Mrs. Tenney, one of the 
 earliest and most faithful friends of the seminary, died. 
 Those who were familiar with the first days of its life 
 and its struggle for existence, know what a friend 
 was lost in her death. She had been a pupil of Mary 
 Lyon, and her strong, sweet, earnest, practical spirit 
 was, perhaps more than any other, the mainspring of 
 the earliest movement to found this institution. Her 
 
74 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 death was keenly felt, and her memory is tenderly 
 cherished. She lies in yonder cemetery, in sight of 
 the school which was so early baptized with her 
 prayers, her sacrifices and her love. 
 
 Turning over the pages of the journal we come, in 
 the record of the spring of ^68, to another of those 
 startling events that have marked our school history. 
 
 March 2. — For a long time we have been troubled 
 by some person breaking into the house occasionally. 
 The chief object seemed to be merely to enter the 
 domestic apartments and store-rooms for food and 
 groceries. It was some time before we discovered 
 how the entrance was effected, but when discovered 
 additional precautions were taken to make the house 
 secure in every part. Soon we found that our pre- 
 cautions were in vain, and that the thief, grown bolder, 
 came above the basement floor; and for several suc- 
 cessive Saturday nights young ladies on the first and 
 second floors were convinced that they heard some one 
 in the halls, and in some cases in their rooms. Miss 
 Peabody was in great trouble over the matter. She did 
 not wish to alarm the girls, but the burden on her heart 
 was very heavy. On the night of February 22 the 
 house was entered again. On Sabbath morning there 
 was quite a stir at the breakfast table ; one had heard 
 footsteps in the hall; another in her room; another 
 had heard a bunch of keys fall; a flash of light, 
 like the striking of a match, had been seen ; a writing- 
 desk had been disturbed. When we came to teachers' 
 prayer-meeting that morning we were greatly troubled, 
 and felt that we must commit the trouble to God. We 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 75 
 
 had used every precaution in the shape of bars and 
 bolts and watchmen, though we had not been able to 
 secure a competent guard every night. The exceeding 
 boldness of the intruder led us to think he presumed 
 on the fact of our being women, the only man who 
 sleeps in the house having his room in the basement. 
 Another week passed by, and the night of February 
 29 found us without a suitable guard. Miss Gold- 
 ing, one of the teachers, announced her intention of 
 keeping watch with a determination to solve the dark 
 mystery. Mrs. Swing said she must not sit up alone, 
 so, when the last light was out, the two ladies took 
 their seats in the library, in the middle of the main 
 hall, first floor. 
 
 Between eleven and twelve o^clock steps were heard 
 coming up from the basement, and going up the south 
 stairs of the main building. The ladies waited until 
 they heard them on the third floor, and then quietly 
 left their place of watching one to notify Miss Peabody, 
 the other to go for Mr. Lyons, the steward, who lives 
 in a little cottage a few rods from the seminary. The 
 man who usually slept in the house had that day been 
 discharged, and his place had not been filled. There 
 was no time to summon more assistance, so the four 
 ladies. Miss Peabody, her room mate. Miss Thomas, 
 Miss Golding, Mrs. Swing, with Mr. Lyons and an- 
 other man who was with him, formed their plan of 
 defense and capture. Mrs. Swing and Miss Golding 
 lighted the lower hall. Mrs. Swing with a lamp went 
 up the stairs of the south wing. Miss Thomas those of 
 the north wing. Miss Peabody kept watch in the main 
 hall, first floor. Miss Golding on the second floor, Mr. 
 
76 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Lyons with a dark lantern went up the main stairs ; 
 he, only, was armed. The unarmed man, Mr. Butler, 
 went up the stairs of the north wing without a light. 
 The burglar, hearing footsteps below, sought an escape 
 by the north wing stairs, but ran against Mr. Butler. 
 Retracing his steps to the main building he met Mr. 
 Lyons, who, thinking it might be Mr. Butler, said : 
 ^^ Henry, is that you ? ^^ There was no answer. Mr. 
 Lyons called: "Speak, or V\\ shoot you.'^ At this 
 moment Mr. Lyons^ dark lantern went out, and the 
 man, seeing his advantage, jumped over the balustrade 
 to the stairs, and in an instant was on the second floor. 
 Here Miss Golding appeared, with light in hand, and 
 the pursuit commenced. The burglar leaped down 
 the next flight and tried to escape through the front 
 door, but failing to unlock it he rushed through the 
 parlors through the chapel, where he stopped long 
 enough to throw a settee at Mr. Lyons, through the 
 south hall, down stairs to the domestic hall and out of 
 the door. Mr. Lyons had fired his revolver more 
 than once, before each shot demanding that the man 
 should stop. The last shot was fired just as he un- 
 locked the outer door. Prof McFarland was sum- 
 moned, and search was made for the man. He was 
 found dead a few rods from the house. The whole 
 pursuit scarcely occupied three minutes. None but 
 those mentioned knew the cause of the alarm. Some 
 of the girls slept through it all, and heard of it first 
 at the breakfast table the next morning. 
 
 When we gathered at the table Miss Peabody pro- 
 posed that we should have our devotional exercises 
 first. She related the occurrences of the night, read 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 77 
 
 appropriate passages of Scripture; "And now/' she 
 said, "these promises of protection to those who put 
 their trust in God have been verified to us; we were 
 in great danger, but God took care of us; he gave 
 wisdom and courage to defenseless women who trusted 
 in him, but took them away from the strong man who 
 despised his laws. Young ladies," she continued, "do 
 not dwell on the thought that a wicked man walked 
 through our halls and entered our rooms, but rather 
 lift your thought to God who guarded us from harm, 
 and was our defense and shield." That Sabbath was 
 a solemn day in our family. We could but regret the 
 necessity that had stained our beautiful house with 
 human blood. The burglar was a colored man of Ox- 
 ford. An inquest was held, when Mr. Lyons was 
 acquitted, with expressions of commendation by all 
 the officers of justice having the affair in charge." 
 
 During the year '68-69 some pleasant famjly events 
 are recorded. " Early in October the Synod of In- 
 diana came over from Connersville where they were 
 in session, to make us a visit. The telegram announc- 
 ing their intention was received late Friday afternoon, 
 and all hands were kept busy Saturday morning to 
 prepare dinner for our sixty guests. The visit was 
 a pleasant one, especially to those who had fathers, 
 brothers or pastors among the visitors. The gentle- 
 men were shown all over the house and grounds, and 
 religious exercises were held in the chapel. Many 
 pleasant and interesting things were said, and the 
 whole day was a delightful one. Among the guests 
 was our beloved ex-pastor. Rev. J. P. E. Kumler, 
 whose departure from Oxford during the previous 
 
78 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 summer had been a great sorrow. He and Mrs. 
 Kuml^r are such true friends to us and to the school 
 that to lose them seems like losing part of ourselves. " 
 " Christmas day brought the gift of a new carriage 
 from several of our trustees, Mr. Hinkle, Mr. Roots 
 and Mr. Shafer. Our old carriage has done us good 
 service, going to town twice a day for several years ; 
 but for the last month we have had serious apprehen- 
 sions that some day, like the famous " one horse shay," 
 it woiifd go to atoms and leave horse, driver and 
 letters scattered on the road. So we confided our fears 
 to good Mr. Hinkle, and the result was a committee on 
 " ways and means " to get a carriage. Have we not 
 introduced Mr. Hinkle to you ? It must be because 
 we thought no introduction was necessary of one who, 
 as a most faithful trustee since 1861, has been such a 
 frequent visitor at our home ; one whose very name 
 represents to every seminary girl, good cheer and 
 hearty laughter and kindly interest ; one who is ever 
 ready to come to us on the shortest notice for aid and 
 counsel ; who is never too busy to attend to our com- 
 missions in the city, and whose pleasant home is always 
 open to receive us. He and his wife always spend 
 Christmas with us ; Mr. Hinkle coming up on the last 
 train, as he is one of the chief men of the famous 
 Bethel Sunday School of Cincinnati, and can not be 
 spared from the Christmas dinner that is always served 
 to its two thousand pupils. Some of Mr. Hinkle^s 
 friends say that he has two pets ; the Bethel Sabbath 
 School and the Western Female Seminary ; but he 
 divides his heart and his time so equally between 
 them, that neither finds occasion for jealousy. On the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 79 
 
 present occasion Mrs. Swing, one of our number gifted 
 with rhyme, celebrated the donors ol the new carriage 
 in an ode, very original in ideas and style. The 
 reading of it was the principal event of Christmas 
 evening.^' 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 READ BY LIZZIE QUICK, DAUGHTER OF MRS. MARIA 
 
 [THATCHER] QUICK, THE FIRST MISSIONARY WHO 
 
 WENT OUT FROM THE SEMINARY. 
 
 The year 1870-71 is another memorable year. We 
 were obliged to say good-bye to one who for eteven 
 years had filled an important place in our family. 
 Miss Gow, to whose earnest, practical instructions those 
 of the Alumnae who remember her, will gladly ac- 
 knowledge their indebtedness. Her health had failed 
 so completely that it was impossible for her to remain 
 longer. Her successor, as journalist, pays affectionate 
 tribute to the one whose going left such an empty 
 place in our hearts and home. " We miss her every 
 where. To her pupils no instruction can be quite like 
 hers. To the teachers no one can be just the eame 
 counsellor, the same friend, the same helper that Miss 
 Gow was/^ 
 
 During the fall and winter great inconvenience and 
 considerable anxiety were caused by failure of our 
 supply of water. Measles, too, made its appearance, 
 making it necessary to anticipate the vacation by one 
 week ; but the unwelcome visitor returned with us 
 
§0 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 when we re-assembled^ and all but two of the school 
 who had not had it before, took the disease. 
 
 A plan was projected this year for' the erection of 
 a suitable porch at the front entrance of the building. 
 Pupils and Alumnse joined heartily in the effort. After 
 the mail of April 6, the amount contributed footed up 
 at just $1,507.15. Special thanks were offered in the 
 meetings that evening, and the earnest petition that 
 our completed building might be more entirely con- 
 secrated as an abiding place for the King of kings. 
 Five hours later the offering that we had laid upon 
 the altar had been accepted by fire. "We laid us 
 down and slept '^ — we awaked — yes, surdy the Lord 
 sustained in that sudden waking. It is impossible to 
 put in words the horror of those hours ; the cry of fire 
 sending the cold chill to every heart ; the anxious 
 thoughts for sisters and pupils and friends ; the stifling 
 smoke ; the darting flames ; the utter helplessness with 
 which we watched, not knowing but that some dear 
 ones were still in danger. There was nothing we 
 could do. Again kind friends welcomed the homeless 
 ones to their own homes, and clothed them with their 
 own clothing. The smouldering ruins spoke sorrow- 
 fully to those who had loved the seminary and labored 
 for it during these years, but other voices were soon 
 heard that assured us that our father had not forgot- 
 ten. The morning after the fire one of the Seniors 
 came to Miss Peabody with the word that her books 
 were all piled up in front of the seminary, and on the 
 top of all was lying " Muller's Life of Trust.'' " I do 
 believe,'' she said, " it means that God is going to 
 give us back our beautiful seminary, just as he gave 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 32 
 
 Muller the orphan houses/' The first mails brought 
 letters that proved how large a place the seminary 
 filled in the hearts of its friends. Some of these were 
 written before the news of our calamity had reached 
 their writers. One from our then newly elected trus- 
 tee, Preserved Smith, of Dayton, brought these words : 
 "I enjoyed your last anniversary, and hope to be 
 present at the next, and to spend more time and to be- 
 come better acquainted with you. I have thought for 
 some time to invest some money in your institution, 
 but what amount, and in what manner, I have not 
 fully decided; but I am ready now to promise $200 
 toward the porch when it is completed.^' The same 
 mail brought a check for $100 from another trustee, 
 G. Y. Koots, for the same object. 
 
 Two days later these words, so full of strength, 
 came from Mrs. Rhea, then in East Tennessee : " The 
 world, the church, the mothers and daughters in 
 Israel, can not spare ' The Western,' and I must be 
 the first to bring an offering for this great work. I 
 enclose one dollar towards rebuilding the house. It 
 is a widow's mite and the master will not despise it." 
 The sum enclosed was made up to five dollars by 
 friends who learned that Mrs. Ehea was writing. 
 She sends the precious offering with this benediction: 
 ''The Lord multiply thee one hundred thousand 
 times, and supply all your needs and build your waste- 
 places and comfort your hearts and give you wisdom 
 and grace and guidance, and sanctify to all concerned 
 this afflictive event." 
 
 One of the graduates of the Class of '69 wrote: 
 
82 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 ^* I have just seen a telegram in the Cincinnati Gazette 
 that the seminary is in ruins. How can it be ! Here 
 are ten dollars for the new building. Please give it 
 to Miss Peabody with my dearest love. God^s ways 
 are very mysterious, but it must all mean love." 
 
 From one and another such, words of love, accom- 
 panied with offerings of money, continued to pour in, 
 and our trustees were not long in deciding to com- 
 mence the work of rebuilding. Our good Mr. Mc- 
 Cord, whose name we would speak lovingly and 
 reverently, being written among those who " rest from 
 their labors,^^ was asked on that night of April, as he 
 looked upon the burning walls, whether it would ever 
 be rebuilt. Without a moment's hesitation, he replied : 
 " Why, yes; we'll have it rebuilt before it gets cold." 
 
 Miss Peabody and a few of the other teachers occu- 
 pied a house in Oxford during the summer, where 
 plans were formed, letters written, reports of progress 
 prepared and everything done that could be, to further 
 the good work. By the 18th of October, diligent 
 workmen had made the house ready for the school. 
 Truly, it seemed to those who had looked upon the 
 smoking ruins in April and now mounted the stone 
 steps at the entrance, that the hand of the Lord was 
 visible. " I will never leave you nor forsake you," 
 seemed to echo throughout the halls. Every brick 
 and timber, every pane of glass and every article of 
 furniture seemed a monument of love. The little 
 grandchildren of the seminary, the far away mission- 
 ary, hard working teachers, lonely widows, rich and 
 poor, white and black, all had sent their offerings for 
 the rebuilding and furnishing. Everything was fresh 
 
CARRIAGE APPROACH TO SEMINARY. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 83 
 
 and clean, and there were many improvements and 
 conveniences added, for which we had sighed in the 
 old building. The great regulator in the hall ticking 
 away the hours is a memorial of the Class of ^60. 
 The dainty little silver castors on the tables in the 
 dining room, sparkle in the gaslight, and recall pleasant 
 associations with the Class of '67. The oaken furni- 
 ture on the platform of the seminary hall comes from 
 the Class of '70 ; and so we are reminded at every 
 turn, of the love of the older sisters, who have re- 
 joiced to have a share in making the old home beauti- 
 ful once more. 
 
 The new building was dedicated the day before 
 Thanksgiving. Trustees, Alumnse and friends gath- 
 ered with hearts full of thankfulness for the service. 
 Nine of the Class of '71 sat upon the platform, and 
 received from the president of the board the diplomas 
 which would have been awarded the preceding June. 
 The address by Rev. Mr. Kumler carried us through 
 the years of our seminary history, and reminded us 
 of the responsibility resting upon educated Christian 
 women in this day. Among the many touching allu- 
 sions that were made by different speakers one seemed 
 to have a very precious lesson. Reference was made 
 to the way in which dear Miss Jessup was rescued 
 from the burning building on that fearful night, 
 almost miraculous strength being given to young 
 girls who so nobly lifted her chair in their arms and 
 carried her down the stairway, far away from danger. 
 Some one in speaking of it had said, " I believe it was 
 God who did it, and he permits those girls to have 
 the pleasure of thinking it was^they." " So," said the 
 
84 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 speaker, '*I believe it was God who wrought all these 
 marvelous things we give thanks for here to-day, but 
 he has allowed Brothers McCord and Hinkle to think 
 it was they who were doing it in his name." The 
 thought found echo in our hearts, for could any human 
 power alone have so evoked beauty out of ashes ? 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 READ BY LAURA MAGILL. 
 
 We have not tried to record with the return of each 
 year, the details of our father's dealings, for time 
 would fail us for the half. It has been our greatest 
 desire that our school should be Christ's school ; that 
 each pupil should be one of the King's daughters, that 
 every room should be an abiding place for the holj)^ 
 spirit. We can not tell you of the many ways in 
 which these prayers have been answered ; it is a 
 precious memory that there is not a year of our his- 
 tory which has not been the birth-year into the new 
 life of some souls. Sometimes with a quiet, gentle 
 influence, spreading from one to another ; sometimes 
 with a more powerful inflnence from without, the 
 work has been carried on in our midst. The first 
 year in the new building brought us a precious bap- 
 tism. We find the following sketch which was pre- 
 pared by Miss Peabody at the time : 
 
 ^^ Only a few hours before the seminary building 
 was consumed by fire on the seventh of last April^ 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 85 
 
 united and earnest prayer was made to God that when 
 the stone porch should be erected and our precious 
 building completed, it and all it contained might be 
 more wholly the Lord's than ever before, and like the 
 King's daughter it might be all glorious within. In 
 less than six hours from the time those prayers were 
 offered, we were aroused to look upon the beautiful 
 fabric, a shapeless mass of ruins. But he who said of 
 his own body ^ Destroy this temple and in three days 
 I will build it again ' helped us not only to kiss the 
 rod, but to press it to our lips, and to believe that 
 somehow it was full of his love. How he touched 
 and warmed hearts toward the work of rebuilding, in 
 nearly every State of the Union, and prompted them 
 to send their five, ten or twenty dollars, wrapped about 
 with sympathy and prayer, and often with most touch- 
 ing history of loving self-sacrifice ; you have already 
 been told. 
 
 When we saw that the building would be ready for 
 occupancy by October 18, we recognized in the fact 
 the love and thought of God for it, but not the 
 answer to our last prayer in the former building. 
 But when a loved and only daughter from a distant 
 southern State was placed in our care, a few weeks 
 before the time of opening school, and before we were 
 ready to occcupy the new building she was brought 
 to feel her need of and to seek a saving interest in the 
 savior of lost sinners, we took it gratefully as an 
 earnest of the answer. Then the first Sabbath night in 
 the new building was marked, as we believe, by the 
 new birth of another precious soul from a distant 
 western State. As the weeks went on, amid many 
 
86 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 discomforts incident to our peculiar circumstances, 
 and many most severe and sharp tests of our faith, the 
 following little note was slipped into my hand: "I 
 have found out of late what a sinner I am, and I have 
 prayed night and day that I might get rid of my 
 burden. I can hardly get my lessons, for my mind 
 is continually on the subject of being a Christian. 
 Will you not pray for me ? Nothing would make me 
 so happy as to know that I was a child of God.'^ 
 Other similar requests followed, and before the week 
 of prayer ten or twelve had chosen the redeemer out 
 the fifty who had entered the school without a hope 
 in Christ. Monday, January 8, lessons were sus- 
 pended, and the whole day was observed with fasting 
 and prayer. 
 
 The evening of that day found our whole school as- 
 sembled in a voluntary prayer meeting at which more 
 than sixty written requests were presented for prayer 
 for the writers or their friends. Many of the follow- 
 ers of Christ were hungering for a better and holier 
 life. Others, burdened for an unconverted parent, 
 brother, or school-mate, poured out their hearts in 
 most direct, brief, voluntary prayer. About forty 
 such prayers were offered without a sufficient pause 
 for us to rise from our knees. *^ Come, Holy Spirit, 
 for Christ's sake,'' was the burden of each one. The 
 interest continued through the week of prayer, but the 
 Day of Pentecost was not fully reached until the 17th 
 of February. That day brought to our house our be- 
 loved trustee. Rev. J. L. McKee, D. D., of Louisville, 
 Ky. For days a blessing had been sought on his 
 coming, and it proved to be the coming of one sent 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 87 
 
 from God. We were first led by him, unitedly, to 
 seek for the grace of attention to the truth, and his 
 prayer was answered, and for ten days at our morning 
 devotions at nine o^clock, and at our evening service 
 from seven to eight, one hundred and sixty eager faces, 
 in almost breathless attention, hung upon the clear, 
 searching, solemn words of eternal truth as they fell 
 with touching tenderness from the speaker's lips. An- 
 other day we were directed to unite in seeking the 
 convicting power of the holy spirit, and the answers 
 to these prayers can not be described. For, in a won- 
 derful manner, were the deceits and desperate state of 
 of the heart laid bare, till we were glad to plead for 
 the saving influence of the holy spirit. The evening 
 of that day, in a spontaneous prayer meeting, held 
 after the evening service with no teacher or leader 
 present but the holy spirit, eighteen gave their hearts 
 to God, and at once set to work to save their compan- 
 ions. Some, who had been leaders in sin and diso- 
 bedience, with confession, with tears and entreaties, 
 sought out the companions they felt they had led 
 astray and prayed with and for them, begging them to 
 turn and become reconciled to God. The work is 
 still in progress, and, in some views of it, is just begun. 
 Our school is just now like a beautiful orchard, loaded 
 with fragrant, tinted bloom. But we can not count 
 the fruit until after the frosts, early and late; 'the 
 winds, the moist and the dry, and the summer's heat 
 have all finished their work. With this analogy be- 
 fore us, we shrink from speaking of numbers, yet to 
 the praise of sovereign grace, we hope the number left 
 in the dear household without a saving knowledge of 
 
88 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Christ is less than ten, perhaps less than half that 
 number, and the blessed master still waits to be gra- 
 cious. Dr. McKee left us at three o'clock Thursday 
 afternoon. As he stepped into the carriage, awaiting hi m 
 at the door, the whole school had gathered upon the 
 beautiful stone porch, built with the offerings of hun- 
 dreds who love the seminary, and there united their 
 hearts and voices in those most appropriate words, 
 " Praise God from whom all blessings flow." As the 
 carriage drove away the}' returned to the chapel to 
 pour out their overflowing love and gratitude to him 
 who had made the labor of his servant such a blessing 
 to us, and in earnest pleadings that the power of the 
 holy spirit would, in a similar manner, attend his 
 work at Pewee Valley and Danville. Though this 
 beloved servant of the Lord has gone from us, thanks 
 be unto God, his master tarries, and the saving work 
 still goes on. It is now reaching out into many of the 
 homes and churches represented in the school, after 
 kindred and friends, and gracious answers to prayer 
 are causing sister's hearts to overflow in grateful yearn- 
 ing after others still unsaved.'' 
 
 Of the years '65, '77 and '78 as interesting records 
 might be brought forward, but we must let the one 
 just given, serve as an illustration. Temporal bless- 
 ings were not denied in immediate connection with 
 the spiritual ones of which we have been speaking. 
 On the day observed as the concert of prayer for 
 schools and colleges, in the same year, a check for 
 $5,000 was received by the president of the board for 
 the treasury of the seminary. There was a curious 
 coincidence about that number, 5,000. The amount 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 89 
 
 that was contributed in small sums for the rebuilding 
 was |5,000 ; the trustees in larger donations made up 
 the same amount as their contribution, and now a 
 single individual, an aged lady in Illinois, who had 
 never seen the seminary adds her $5,000. Now what 
 shall we say more ? These eight years that have 
 passed since the present seminary building was finished 
 have been full of good things. Many guests have 
 tarried with us for a season, doing us good by earnest 
 words and sympathy. Missionary friends from over 
 the seas, noble men and elect ladies of the church, 
 whose names we would delight to record, if time per- 
 mitted. In the spring of ^76 members of the first six 
 classes gathered at the seminary for a reunion in honor 
 of the fiftieth birthday of our beloved principal. 
 Twenty-one graduates, with fourteen of their children 
 came to us and we had a delightful time with them, 
 recalling the past, and looking forward to the future. 
 
 We would not omit grateful mention of hospitable 
 friends in Oxford who have not forgotten that school 
 girls love sometimes to find their way into a real 
 home parlor, and to sit down to a cosy home table. 
 Many of the Alumnae of these years, treasure among 
 the most pleasant recollections of their school days, 
 the memory of a day or an evening spent at the home 
 of Mrs. Lewis, or Mr. McCord, as one of the crown- 
 ing delights of the busy senior year. 
 
 Year after year improvements have been made in 
 the building and furnishings, as well as in the course 
 of study. New apparatus has been obtained, and 
 books added to the library. Large additions to the 
 
90 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 library have been the gift of our beloved and lamented 
 trustee, Prof. Mills, of Crawfordsville. 
 
 The chapter of the journal which has just been pre- 
 pared for the year that is closing relates a pleasant 
 episode of last anniversary. Just before the collation 
 was announced, a secret which we had with difficulty 
 kept from burning through for long weeks, was allowed 
 to burst into a blaze. Our dear treasurer, Preserved 
 Smith, of Dayton, sat with bowed head, while his 
 munificent gift of ten thousand dollars (f 10,000) was 
 announced and applauded. The principal is to remain 
 intact for twenty-five years, while the interest is to be 
 applied as follows: ;^150 to the library, |200 to 
 lectures and the remainder to the education of needy 
 young ladies, who, after a year's connection with the 
 seminary, have shown themselves worthy of such 
 assistance. 
 
 Is not this a fitting close for our story ? Can not 
 we see the Father's love on every page of this record ? 
 And can we not leave the future with him, trustingly, 
 cheerfully, believing that he knoweth what things we 
 have need of? 
 
 At the close of the reading of these sketches the 
 school rose, and a brief scripture recitation closed the 
 exercises of the morning. A single voice asked the 
 question : 
 
 " What shall I render unto the Lord for all his bene- 
 fits toward me? " — Ps. cxvi, 12 ; to which the school 
 responded : 
 
 " We will take the cup of salvation and call upon 
 the name of the Lord.'' 
 
 "O praise the Lord all ye nations ; praise him all ye 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 91 
 
 people. For his merciful kindness is great toward 
 us ; and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. 
 Praise ye the Lord/^ — Ps. cxvi, 12; cxvii, 1, 2. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Little pronounped the benediction. 
 
 Being still in the body, it was a needful transition 
 to descend from these exalted heights and repair to 
 the dining-room, where a material feast was spread, 
 served '^ in collation style '^ by the teachers and young 
 ladies, amid social enjoyment unalloyed. It is evident 
 that culinary skill at the seminary has attained a per- 
 fection which entitles it to a diploma. By previous 
 arrangement the Oxford friends contributed their 
 lunch baskets, and their presence added greatly to the 
 pleasure of the occasion. It may here be parentheti- 
 cally remarked that, while the thrilling history of the 
 morning had been rehearsing in the hall, two of the 
 little "grandsons" of the seminary were down at the 
 pond engaged in the remarkable pastime of "dam- 
 ming up the seminary" — at least that is what they 
 told their mothers, in hasty, animated recital of their 
 happy forenoon play ; and in proof of it their little 
 dam yet stands. It is now high and dry^ however, 
 waiting for the first freshet to sweep it away, while, 
 to our great relief, the twenty-sixth school year of the 
 seminary is already gliding along with unusual smooth- 
 ness and happiness, and an attendance which has 
 increased more than one-foruth since last year. 
 
KEUNION DAY. 
 
 AFTERNOON EXERCISES. 
 
 The respective class meetings, which had been 
 arranged at the morning alumnse business meeting, 
 were held in private rooms at the first bell after dinner. 
 Experiences were interchanged, too sacred to be re- 
 corded even here; letters from absent ones were read, 
 and old acquaintance renewed from the standpoint of 
 earnest women matured by experiences of life and the 
 world all unknown in school days. The time proving 
 too short, adjourned class-meetings were arranged 
 according to the convenience of each. 
 
 At two o'clock exercises were resumed in the hall, 
 opening with " May Bells '^ by the chorus class. 
 
 Miss Ida B. Robbins read her class mate's poem, 
 
 "HOME AGAIN." 
 
 WRITTEN BY MISS MARY V. EWING, CLASS 78. 
 
 Home again! the welcome summ.ons, 
 
 Calls us back from far and near ; 
 Other homes and duties claim us, 
 
 But our common home is here. 
 School girls, here we worked together, 
 
 With a common end and aim, 
 " Schooled girls " now return we hither, 
 
 With a love that's just the same. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 93 
 
 Home again ! the eyeli ds quiver, 
 
 Pearly drops steal down the cheek, 
 Tears of joy and not of sorrow, 
 
 Hearts are full and words are weak. 
 Joy to see each other's faces, 
 
 Clasp each other's hands once more 
 Hands that lingered long in parting, 
 
 In the sunny days of yore. 
 
 Home again ! the memory lingers 
 
 O'er those happy, happy days. 
 When each hour was full of pleasure. 
 
 And each moment full of praise. 
 Here we learned that life is earnest, 
 
 Kot a worthless, idle toy, 
 Something given us to cherish. 
 
 For a noble, high employ. 
 
 Here we learned a higher wisdom 
 
 Than the world can ever give, 
 'Tis not all for mortal pleasure, 
 
 'Tis not all of life to live. 
 Here through faith and earnest prayer, 
 
 Many feet that loved to stray. 
 Turned aside from paths of error. 
 
 To a new and living way. 
 
 Home again ! is each one with us ? 
 
 No. Some seats are vacant now. 
 Some have crossed the tossing ocean. 
 
 With a high and holy vow ; 
 , Gone the seed of life, to scatter. 
 
 Far away in heathen lands, 
 May they come with sheaves abundant 
 
 In their consecrated hands. 
 
 Some have crossed another water, 
 
 Deep and dark, with chilling tide ; 
 Hid from us the shores beyond them. 
 
 Bright to them the other side. 
 
94 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Glad the songs that bade them, welcome, 
 
 Sweet the rest forever more ; 
 Tenderly they watch and wait us 
 
 Coming to that blessed shore. 
 
 Home again ! Come in the twilight 
 
 To the accustomed place of prayer. 
 Gather 'round our teacher-mother — 
 
 Often she has met us there — 
 Here again her supplications 
 
 For the daughters of her care ; 
 Thank our Father for his goodness 
 
 That this voice he still doth spare. 
 
 Thank our Father. Oh, his goodness ! 
 
 She is here to greet us home ; 
 'Twould not be so sweet a welcome, 
 
 If another voice had come, 
 In the place so long remembered 
 
 Where her presence shed the light, 
 And her hands and heart were busy 
 
 Keeping all so pure and bright. 
 
 Soon we part — return to duty — 
 
 But new strength is ours to go ; 
 We have met and held sweet converse 
 
 Once again on earth below. 
 Soon another grand reunion 
 
 Will recall us home once more. 
 To a mansion fair and heavenly 
 
 On a calm and peaceful shore. 
 
 All then arose and joined in singing, to words ar- 
 ranged for the occasion by Miss Alice Milligan, 
 
 AULD LANG SYNE: 
 
 Should early friendships be forgot 
 
 And never brought to mind ? 
 Should early friendships be forgot 
 
 And days of lang syne ? 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 95 
 
 For auld lang syne we'll sing 
 
 For auld lang syne, 
 We'll sing a song of friendship sweet, 
 
 For auld lang syne. 
 
 Our feet have roamed the woodland paths. 
 
 In search of flowers fine ; 
 But many a steeper path we've trod. 
 
 Since auld lang syne. — Chorus. 
 
 For harder lessons we have learned, 
 
 Full many a weary line 
 We've conned since those of early days 
 
 In auld lang syne. — Chorus. 
 
 And when we leave our earthly tasks 
 
 For service all divine. 
 We'll sing of how he loved and led 
 
 Inxlays of auld lang syne. 
 
 Of auld lang syne we'll sing 
 
 Of auld lang syne 
 We'll sing of how he loved and led. 
 
 In auld lang syne. 
 
 Miss Clara P. Laurie, Class ^79, read, 
 
 "THE MESSAGE OF THE ABSENT." 
 
 WRITTEN BY MRS. MARY BOSWORTH HENDERSON, CLASS '69^ 
 
 Mother, beloved, the home-wind has brought us, 
 White-wing'd and lovely, a greeting from thee. 
 
 She who has cherished, and blest us, and taught us, 
 Tenderly yearneth her daughters to see. 
 
 Far o'er the earth she is sending her blessing. 
 Borne on the love-scented breath of that wind. 
 
 Syria, Persia, and China refreshing, 
 Siam, and Laos, and land of the Ind. 
 
96 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Come, oh, my sisters, how can we deny her ? 
 
 Come, let us go the feast she has spread. 
 Do not our hearts burn within with desire 
 
 Once more to taste of her wine and her bread ? 
 
 Dear Ahna Mater, thou hast many daughters, 
 Mother of mothers and teachers thou art. 
 
 Long weary miles o'er the land and the water 
 Life and its duties have called us apart. 
 
 Think of the absent ones, those who must linger 
 From the glad union of sisters afar ; 
 
 Think of the absent ones, those whom God's finger 
 Evermore marks in thy book with a star. 
 
 What shall thy absent ones send to that meeting. 
 Dear Alma Mater, to make thee more blest ? 
 
 Love that is heartfelt, and tenderest greeting. 
 Prayers to the one who is surely thy guest. 
 
 Yea, he will bless thee, our dear college mother, 
 See, 'tis his banner he spreadeth above. 
 
 Savior ! Immanuel ! He and none other, 
 Mighty in power and mighty in love. 
 
 ! happy sisters who haste to the meeting, 
 One there will welcome you home to her heart. 
 
 She through whose lips Alma Mater is speaking ; 
 She who in all of our lives has a part. 
 
 Lovingly, gratefully, tribute we tender, 
 
 Love from our full hearts, oh, sisters, we send ; 
 
 Rise up ye daughters and bless hep, and render 
 Praise to the teacher, the mother, the friend. 
 
 Patient, beside her, another is sitting, 
 
 Sick and in prison yet God's worker blest, 
 
 Honor her, sisters, as seemeth well fitting, 
 Praises should crown her this day of the feast. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 97 
 
 Honor to all who have served Alma Mater, 
 Smoothing the path that her footsteps have trod, 
 
 Friends she has many, yet one friend is greater, 
 Yea, we will give all the praise to our God. 
 
 Bring forth the best robes and put them upon her, 
 
 Lo ! the sun rises on her natal day, 
 Jewels and gold should adorn her with honor. 
 
 Crown her with laurel and crown her with buy. 
 
 All these are fitting, but more is her guerdon. 
 Crown her with noble lives, lived as she taught, 
 
 Crown her with duty done, well borne each burden. 
 That God in our life work unto us has brought. 
 
 Father in Heaven, crown all with thy favor, 
 
 Honor her still as in all her past days, 
 God of the Covenant!, Infinite Savior! 
 
 Bless thou our mother in all of her ways. 
 
 Mrs. Harriet [Thompson] McYey, Class of '58, 
 read a paper. 
 
 CLASS MOTTOES. 
 
 There is hand- writing on these walls. It has greeted 
 our home coming. Not like the fateful ^' Mene, 
 Mene, Tekel, Upharsin '^ that once shook a palace, 
 but like the fair record of God's perfect character, 
 which he has written, not only on the pages of his 
 holy word, but all over the earth. He has told us to 
 -write his statutes and laws on the " posts of our 
 houses, and on our gates, but he has traced the beau- 
 tiful mottoes of his faithfulness, love and truth. His 
 justice, power and glory in the waters that he holds in 
 the hollow of his hand and on the mountains and hills 
 that he weighs in his balance, and we find them in 
 
98 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 rainbow colors, arching the spray of the cataract, un- 
 furled on the tinted horizon of morning and evening, 
 unfolding in the petals of lilies and roses, sparkling 
 in the firmament above, and twinkling in the up- 
 turned faces of violets and daises in the soft carpet 
 under our feet/^ 
 
 In like manner the mottoes of the Alumnse of this 
 seminary are fitly reproduced in tasteful designs in 
 chapel, parlor and hall, to aid in making this place of 
 his feet glorious, and in the renewal of consecration 
 vows, and for memorial stones of ail the past. 
 
 When the Class of ^56 offered their prayer motto : 
 " What wilt thou have me to do f '' it found its way on 
 the beautiful parchment to each one of our number, 
 and each in her own heart knows how God has 
 responded, ^^ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do^'; 
 and when the Class of ^57 took '^ Laoti " for a watch- 
 word from their ^^ Lord accept our tenfold offering,^ 
 he heard ; and has also taken of it a wave offering 
 from the altar of consecration on earth to the holy of 
 holies in the heavens. 
 
 The Class of ^58 are still an unbrokened band. 
 Their motto : " Da mihi intus pulchrum esse/' indi- 
 cates their prayer, " Grant to me to be beautiful 
 within. ^^ In granting, the bountiful giver has made 
 them able to bless the home circle, the Bethel work, 
 the temperance cause, the Nestorians, the freedmen 
 and the Indians. 
 
 The triple exhortation from the Class of '59, " Life: 
 take it up bravely, bear it on patiently, lay it down tri- 
 umphantly/' reminds us gratefully of their brave lives, 
 of their patient continuance in well doing, and of the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 99 
 
 triumphant termination of those who have finished the 
 race. 
 
 Our representatives of '60 being tested by the 
 ordeal of fire, recorded '^Affliction eementeth the tie/' 
 and seven of them have already found " these light 
 afflictions '^ ended in a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory. 
 
 The noble sentiment of '62, " Labor nov), rest here- 
 after, '^ so like Jesus, '' who went about doing good/' 
 is suitably followed by that of '63, ^' To holy duty here^ 
 with loyal hearts bind we our lives J' Both remind us 
 of their historic fathers and mothers, whose example 
 and training sowed the seed of such devoted " lives." 
 
 Jesus said, "By their fruits we shall know them." 
 We know very few of those who added link after 
 link to this chain during the successive years, but we 
 know if the class of '65 have said '^ Dum vivimus 
 vivamus^' (let us live while we live), their's is not an 
 aimless life ; and if the maxim for '6Q was " Ad astra 
 per aspera'^ (toward the stars through difficulties), 
 they do not wish to " be carried to the skies on flowery 
 beds of ease." And when we see over the door of the 
 reading room ('67) '^ libere accipistis, libere date,''' we 
 know that those girls made our Savior's injunction^ 
 " freely ye have received, freely give," an incentive to 
 noble sacrifice for His sake, " who gave Himself for 
 us." 
 
 Over the parlor windows the beautiful motto " una 
 fides, unum opus, una spes " may be seen, and we learn 
 from it that the class of '6S had one faith, one work,, 
 and one hope. Hence we judge of all from the known 
 faith and zeal of a few. 
 
100 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 The central link in this quarter centennial chain is 
 the prayer motto of the class of '69. ^^Let the beauty 
 of the Lord our God he upon us/' in which we all 
 crave to unite, for " He is altogether lovely/' and ^' we 
 know that when he shall appear we shall be like 
 him.'' 
 
 The motto of '70, ^' qui transtulit sustenebW (he 
 who has brought us hitherto will sustain), was burned 
 in the fire of April 7, 1871, and after that fearful 
 night it had a significance be^fore unknown. 
 
 The ^' quo deus vocat/' whose scarlet letters tell the 
 character of twenty-four burden bearers, was the voice 
 of '71 ; a voice tuned into harmony with God's own, 
 for it says '^ whither God calls.'' 
 
 "United we stand" is an old adage, and if the class 
 of '72 are "united in the saered love of truth and 
 knowledge, one another and God/' they may do all 
 things through Christ strengthening them. 
 
 "Etteneo, etteneor'' (I both hold, and am held), is 
 a delight to the Christian, when it is the Father's hand 
 that holds; but the Class of '73 combined these ex- 
 pressive words with the cross in such a way as to re- 
 mind us that better than clinging to Christ is his 
 clinging to us. 
 
 The "Semper altius'' (Always higher) of the Class 
 of '74 reveals a purpose like David's when he said, " I 
 shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness," and 
 the white raiment and golden crown promised "To 
 him that overcometh " is the prize to which the Class of 
 '75 aspires. 
 
 Our centennial sisters are, no doubt, very happy as 
 they say to each other, "His banner over us is love/' 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. IQl 
 
 and those of ^77 with their ^^Age quod agas " under a 
 guiding star, cheer each other with this motto, " Do 
 what you can do.^^ 
 
 The sentiment adopted in ^78, ^^ Omnia ad Dei 
 gloriam (All to the glory of God), was one of conse- 
 cration. Its spirit has taken one to Syria, two to 
 Siam and engaged others in earnest work in our own 
 land. 
 
 The Class of '79 selected "7n inclination yielding y 
 in principle firm/^ from Mary Lyons' oft-repeated 
 words, while the ^' SeeJceth not her own'^ of our 
 youngest band is embodied in Miss Peabody's favorite 
 maxim, " None of self and all of Christ.'' Let us go 
 from this place praying that we may all have a share 
 in the blessings promised " to him that overcometh," 
 rejoicing that " his banner over us is love," resolving 
 to "do what we can do," doing all to the glory of 
 God, possessing a yielding inclination, a firm principle 
 and that charity that " seeketh not her own." 
 
 MRS. GOW'S LETTER. 
 
 A letter from Mrs. Ellen Gow was read by Miss 
 Auretta Hoyt, Class of '58. Though married, she is 
 still *' Ellen Gow," which is fortunate, for we could 
 never learn to use any other name than the one grown 
 so familiar by long identification with seminary life : 
 
 MiLLBURY, Mass., June 7, 1880. 
 
 My dear Girls : — Let me still call you girls, though some 
 of you now are wives and mothers ; and as I remember that 
 it is twenty years since I began to teach at the seminary, 
 and nine since my labors closed there, the thought presses 
 upon me that " the days when we were young " have passed 
 
102 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 awaj^ Yet I know, that if I were to meet you this June day 
 in body as I do in spirit, we would not seem, much changed, 
 for we should so go back to the past, and live over its memo- 
 ries with such intense feeling, that you would forget that I 
 am a middle aged woman, lacking only four years of my half 
 century, and that on your faces are lines of care caused by 
 life's joys and sorrows. When my scholars used to write the 
 imaginary history of " our class," and picture in fancy the re- 
 unions of the future^ Miss Gow always figured in the same 
 character — the life-long teacher, " spectacles on her nose and 
 a literature in her hand," as Allie Bartholomew once put it 
 for the amusement of the class of '66. Well, dear girls, the 
 spectacles are on my nose, but the text books are not in my 
 hands. As Widow Bedot says, " You can't always calculate." 
 You will remember I once said to some of you : " You ought 
 never to marry unless you can not help it." 
 
 I took my own advice, and have never ceased to believe 
 that it was sound counsel. As this is a strictly private letter, 
 written to my own dear classes, you will permit me to be per- 
 sonal, and tell you my story since leaving Oxford. It was a 
 great disappointment to me to leave the seminary, and give 
 up my loved work of teaching. One year was spent at Dans- 
 ville, N. Y., in regaining my health and strength. It was a 
 happy and profitable year, to which I shall always look back 
 with pleasure. The rest of my life will be better for much 
 that I learned there. The next three years were spent at 
 home with my mother and sisters. They were years of little 
 active work, for I was not strong, but the duties of home life, 
 with books and study, filled my time, and gave me j)reparation 
 for the years of work that God was preparing for me. Then, 
 came a call from Wellesley College, and one year was spent 
 in that magnificent institution. I would like to tell you much 
 about it if time permitted. If ever you come to Massachu- 
 setts visit it, as one of the places for which every woman, who 
 loves w^omen, ought to be thankful. Within its walls no 
 trammel is laid upon woman's education. In science, art 
 and literature, her progress is only limited by her own natu- 
 ral ability. It is indeed a college. Four years ago, on a June 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 103 
 
 day, I closed my work at Wellesley, and the next day found 
 me in my own house. My husband, Rev. Geo. B. Gow, was 
 pastor of the Baptist Church in Middlebury, Mass. Two 
 young gentlemen call me mother. The elder is studying for 
 the ministry at the Theological Institution, Newton, Mass ; 
 the younger graduates at the Music School in Pittsfield 
 Mass., this month, and in September will enter on his collegi- 
 ate course at Brown University, Providence, R. I. 
 
 During the last four years " my hand has found to do," 
 just as many things as I have have had time and strength to 
 do. Church work in all its varieties, missionary work, home 
 and foreign, and temperance work, added to my domestic 
 cares, have made me a busy woman. 
 
 I have always felt and often expressed my gratitude for my 
 Oxford training in several particulars; especially for the 
 power to organize work and conduct meetings. 
 
 All my knowledge of Missionaries and mission fields, and 
 methods of benevolent work gained at the seminary, has 
 served me a grand purpose in my efforts to arouse interest 
 in these great subjects among woman less highly favored than 
 myself in this respect. 
 
 Everybody who knows me, knows Oxford. The thirteen 
 years spent within its consecrated walls, could not but make 
 a deep and lasting impression upon my heart. 
 
 To our beloved principal and all the other noble women 
 who have labored with her, I owe unspeakable gratitude. I 
 shall never meet nobler, truer women or more lovely chris- 
 tian ladies, than those whom I knew and loved as my teachers 
 in my school days, and in after years as my associate teachers 
 and pupils. 
 
 In a few weeks we go to a new home — Brattleboro, Ver- 
 mont — the loveliest town I ever saw. I should love to take 
 you from point to point and show you the charming pictures 
 made by the Connecticut river and the mountains among 
 which our beautiful town nestles. Mr. Gow is pastor of the 
 First Baptist church. The church numbers over five hun- 
 dred members. Our work opens before us in a way to make 
 us very happy, and yet fills us with that solicitude that those 
 
104 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 must feel who appreciate in any degree Avhat the Christian 
 ministry ought to be. So much for myself. 
 
 I wish each of you could give me your story so fully. If it 
 is in the heart of any one of you to do so, it will give me 
 great pleasure to hear from you personally. And now, dear 
 girls, may I take the teacher's chair just for a few moments — 
 for the sake of old times ? Out of the many things I long to 
 say to you, one presses upon me as of great importance. I 
 want to urge upon you not to let yourselves become unedu- 
 cated women. 
 
 It is possible. A brain may lose its cunning as well as a 
 hand. Constant thought is the price of the power to think; 
 constant study the price of the power to study. The head 
 where thought and study are wanting, may do some very 
 good routine work in the world, but it is not the work of the 
 educated mind. Carry on, if you can, a systematic study all 
 the time, a language, an art, a science, or studies in history 
 and literature. Many interruptions will come to you for 
 days and months ; still keep your books in sight continually, 
 and their presence will make time. Never forget the Oxford 
 art of making time. Some of the young housekeepers and 
 mothers smile, and say " impossible ! " I know what house- 
 hold and chilclward cares are, and they will always be woman's 
 first and noblest calling, and, because they are, I want woman 
 to realize how much depends upon her in making a home 
 where children may be truly educated. It is impossible for 
 all to carry on systematic study, but we may all read some 
 every week. Eead books that make you think. At all events 
 keep up with the times, for the history now making in the 
 world is the most important that was ever made since history 
 began. As Christians, we see in it the coming of the kingdom 
 of Christ, that grand consummation to which all things else 
 are subservient. By all means be a member of a woman's 
 missionary society. If there is not one in your church, 
 organize one. Take and read the missionary periodicals of 
 your society. Become thoroughly interested and well in- 
 formed in regard to the cause of missions, the greatest work 
 of our century, and you can not become intellectually or 
 spiritually rusty women. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 105 
 
 Now, dear girls, do not say I have not time for such work. 
 Love it, and you will find time for it. I am pained contin- 
 ually in beholding the useless work of women, brain and 
 fingers taxed to their utmost in producing useless stitches and 
 unnecessary cooking. Unnecessary work is always degrading 
 to the person who does it. Society, church, state, are calling 
 on women to come and take her birth-right, as they have never 
 called before. And I am rejoiced at the thought that the 
 Oxford girls are responding to the call. Not only in domestic 
 life, but in public benevolent work and in professional life 
 our graduates are doing work of which we may well be proud. 
 Good-bye, my dear girls. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 Ellen Gow. 
 
 Thalberg's " Home, Sv;^eet Home/' as a piano solo 
 was rendered by Miss Lizzie Marshall. 
 Miss Fannie U. Nelson, Class of '70, read 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS FROM THE ALUMNA. 
 
 Searching among the papers and documents that 
 have accumulated during these twenty-five years, and 
 that mark in different ways the history of our sem- 
 inary, we come upon the printed address delivered by 
 Rev. Samuel Fisher, on the first anniversary day, 
 July 17, 1856. After setting forth the character of 
 John Calvin and John Wesley, and speaking of their 
 influence upon education in the old world and the 
 new, he comes to the subject of female education, and 
 speaks as follows : 
 
 "The institution, whose first commencement we 
 this day celebrate, stands forth unique and singular in 
 this western world. Other institutions may excel 
 this in the mere artistical forms of education, and 
 others may equal it in mere literary advantages, for 
 
106 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 neither of these constitute its great ideal. Its chief 
 peculiarity lies in the extent to which it CDmbines the 
 intellectual with the practical. It guides the hand, 
 while it polishes the manners, disciplines the affections 
 and develops the intellect. It unites womanly think- 
 ing to womanly acting. It combines in itself all 
 those forms of education which go to make an earnest, 
 complete, intelligent, practical Christian woman. If 
 any man wishes his daughter to be a fashionable doll, 
 let him not send her here, we cultivate no such plants. 
 If he wishes her to shine only in the light of artistic 
 accomplishments let him not send her here, for these 
 we cultivate in strict subordination to another — a 
 higher ideal. If he seeks simply to make her a 
 scholar, there are other institutions where this can be 
 effected as well as here. But if he wishes to see her 
 develop her powers in the line of a true woman^s life ; if 
 he covets for her the crown of an earnest-minded woman, 
 inspired with lofty aims, conscious of power for good 
 and determined to see it aright ; a woman whose dis- 
 ciplined head, and heart, and hand are all prepared 
 for a life of ennobled Christian action in any and 
 every field that she may properly call her own, then 
 let him send her here. In this institution she is to be 
 no longer a passive recipient or a partially developed 
 flower, but part of the active forces which work for a 
 grand end. She drops at the door of this seminary 
 the idea that her father pays so much money, for 
 which she is to receive so much knowledge. She 
 enters here as herself, a vital element of this house- 
 hold. At once she begins to occupy the position 
 which every true woman is to hold in after life — the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 107 
 
 position of a power for good, for self-support, for the 
 progress and elevation of society and domestic life. 
 She who came here immature and almost helpless, 
 goes forth after the prescribed curriculum, an intelli- 
 gent, refined, self- trusting, earnest, well-developed 
 lady. She is prepared to nurture and to bless a race 
 of noble freemen. Place her where you please, her 
 spirit will bless, her intelligence illumine, h6r accom- 
 plishments adorn and her active life ennoble and 
 stimulate the whole circle within which she moves. '^ 
 
 Such were the hopes for our seminary, of one who 
 had watched it through the first year of its life, and 
 who knew the purposes with which it was founded. A 
 quarter of a century has passed by, and from the old 
 home a letter of invitation has gone forth to each of 
 the three hundred and eighty-one living graduates, 
 who are scattered over the whole world, to come to 
 the great home gathering, and tell of what the Lord 
 has done for them and by them in these years. With 
 yearning love the question is asked of each one : 
 ^^ Have you found the culture and discipline you re- 
 ceived from your seminary life helpful in the services 
 and sacrifices which you have had the opportunity to 
 render ? Has the anchor held in the storm ? Has 
 the shield proved sufficient for all the fiery darts of 
 the wicked ? Has any part of the armor failed in the 
 day of battle f' 
 
 From east and west, from north and south, from 
 beyond the mountains and over the seas, the loving 
 responses have come, glad acceptance and sorrowful 
 regrets when the invitation must be declined. These 
 letters have brought much sweet testimony that the 
 
108 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 school-day lessons have not been forgotten, that the 
 armor has been proved and found all that was needed 
 in the battle of life. Some of them whisper confi- 
 dences too sacred to be repeated even in this family 
 circle ; they give pictures of pleasant homes, where 
 merry children play, and eager youth press forward to 
 ward manhood and womanhood ; of busy school-rooms, 
 of Sabbath-school work, and of dark corners afar off in 
 the world where our missionary sisters have found 
 their work ; of weary hearts that long for comfort ; of 
 bereaved homes where the love of Jesus has made 
 bright " the valley of the shadow. ^^ 
 
 From only a few of these can we gather extracts to- 
 day. C. R. G., of the Class of ^58, writes from her 
 home in Missouri : 
 
 " When your invitation came I thought nothing 
 would prevent my being with you in June, but I feel 
 to-day I must write you again, telling that I fear it 
 can not be. I am trying to bear the disappointment 
 with courage, but oh ? the longing, and the yearning 
 and the intense desire to be once more gathered in the 
 loving embrace of dear old Alma Mater. ^ Have I 
 found the culture and discipline helpful ? ^ you ask. 
 I believe, I can truly say, I have. I can trace the 
 putting away of sorrow and unavailing grief, and 
 taking up the daily care for others as being better done 
 than if I had never received your teachings. Shall I 
 write you something of my home life ? We buried 
 our brightest hopes four years ago in our Millie's 
 grave. She would, if living now, have been in her 
 eighteenth year, and doubtless one of your Senior 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 109 
 
 class, for it was our intention to have sent her to you 
 at fifteen. Our boys are growing tall and are a bless- 
 ing, indeed. For the past year I have been their 
 main teacher. Often in my explanations to them I 
 am reminded of the exact words and the teacher who 
 instructed me at Oxford. I wonder which you would 
 care most for, quiet, thoughtful Albert, or generous, 
 fun-loving Will, Our baby Kate, six years old, is 
 her father's firm ally, and inseparable companion. 
 My own life flows on in a quiet channel, but not an 
 unhapp)^ one, and I hope it is not an altogether use- 
 less one, though I have done nothing great in the 
 world, and no one, except a small number, will ever 
 hear of me.^^ 
 
 From H. B. N., of the Class of '60 : 
 
 "How dim and distant seem the events of that Sep- 
 tember day in 1855, when I entered the seminary, and 
 yet how bright a spot has it always appeared. It 
 seems to have been the only immutable thing in all 
 my life, the one place where there has always been an 
 anchor that held my freighted bark of treasures, and 
 through all the storms gave a never failing sense of 
 joy. The very pleasant and long-continued sojourn 
 at the seminary, at a time in life when we are most 
 awake to impressions, the very strong attachment to 
 the little circle of special friends, and the universal 
 love for all the girls, has contributed to make my 
 seminary life the one great figure in all my pleasant 
 retrospections. I can not be alone in this feeling, for 
 I have yet to meet the girl who has not this heart at- 
 tachment lor her Alma Mater, and the strength of the 
 
110 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 personal friendships in the circle of school-girl loves 
 has never been set aside for later friends ; in truth, the 
 perpetuity of our love has been a wonder to acquaint- 
 ances who deem school-girPs love a sickly plant. In 
 twenty years we have missed no class-letter, and in a 
 few days the little white-winged messengers will flutter 
 in at my door. I expect them with the first birds of 
 spring. ^^ 
 
 One of the Class of ^63, after telling of her seven- 
 year-old daughter, who, in the midst of her second 
 reader study, wonders if she will ever be a big girl 
 and go to the school where mamma went, closes her 
 letter with these words : " I have frequently heard 
 the remark that the Oxford system gives a girl such a 
 self-reliance and assurance that she is always mistress 
 of the situation, whatever it is. That may express it 
 from an outside standpoint. We who have passed 
 through know it is only an humble asking and trust- 
 ing that he who doth all things well, will give us 
 strength when we have need of it.^^ 
 
 S. B. H., of the Class of ^65, writes from Chicago : 
 " I have been thinking since your invitation came of 
 those old days of imperfect, undisciplined service at 
 the seminary, when some of us were put around among 
 the wild girls for ^ salt ;' rather unsavory salt some of 
 us were. Our service was not much better than that 
 of the two milch kine to whom was entrusted the 
 bearing of the ark back to Israel. They took it, 
 ^ lowing as they went -, yet they went, and ' they took 
 the straight way to the way of Beth-shemeth,' and 
 ' turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left.^ At 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. m 
 
 the end of that way there was an altar awaiting them, 
 upon which they were to be offered as a burnt-offer- 
 ing unto the Lord. So, I think, it was with many of 
 us ; we did not understand very well the missionary 
 spirit of which we heard so much, but we did as we 
 were told as well as we could, lowing as we went, but 
 now God hath wrought out in us that spirit which 
 our teachers longed to see, so that we ' present our 
 bodies a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable ser- 
 vice/ It seemed unreasonable then, but we were such 
 clay, unmolded, unbaked.^' ^ 
 
 From her invalid room at Mr. Hinkle's, where she 
 has found a *^ chamber of peace,^^ F. E., of the Class 
 of ^6S, sends her words of love. "Cheerfully do I 
 give my testimony in behalf of the seminary, for in its 
 walls was laid the foundation of the structure which 
 has been building all these years; though the work 
 has been delayed sometimes, when faith and love 
 seemed weak, and there are many flaws, still I trust 
 the dedication was to him, who knoweth all our weak- 
 nesses, and who will strengthen the weak places, so 
 that when life is finished and the last stone laid, he 
 may not deem it altogether unworthy of acceptance.^^ 
 
 Coming down to a later date, we will only take time 
 for one more extract from a letter from A. H. T., of the 
 Class of ^78. Her husband has received a government 
 appointment in Dakota Territory, and she will join him 
 there later in the summer. She speaks gratefully of 
 the rich blessings, both temporal and spiritual, with 
 which these two years have been filled, and continues : 
 " In his infinite goodness, God has given me a noble 
 
112 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Christian husband, who helps me more than I can tell 
 in living near to God. I have not had much mis- 
 sionary work to do yet, but from what my husband 
 writes of Grand Forks, I do not know but I shall 
 have abundant opportunity in the future. Grand 
 Forks is a comparatively new place, with a population 
 of eighteen hundred, consisting principally of for- 
 eigners and speculating Americans. Sunday is one 
 of the busiest days of the week with merchants and 
 farmers, and a gala day with others. Horse-racing 
 in the streets of the town is one of the Sabbath-day 
 privileges. There is but one Protestant church, occu- 
 pied by the Methodists and Presbyterians alternately. 
 The Catholics seem to have the strongest foothold. 
 We do not expect to make a permanent home there, 
 and had it not been a subject of such earnest prayer 
 with both of us, I might perhaps shrink from going 
 even for a year or two. But knowing that it is 
 ' God's own hand that leadeth me,' that he has some 
 purpose in our going, some work perchance for us to 
 do, I can not shrink from it in the least. On the con- 
 trary, I am impatient to go, and shall join my husband 
 in that little village just as happily and cheerfully as 
 I went with him to Washington City, a few short 
 month ago.'' 
 
 A thrill ran through our hearts as Miss Peabody 
 announced the next paper, to be read by Miss Mary 
 A. Clark, of the graduating class, then under appoint- 
 ment as a missionary to Tabriz, Persia, and now upon 
 her chosen field of life-work. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. II3 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS FROM MISSIONARIES. 
 
 We can not bring messages to-day from all the 
 nearly forty that are numbered in our missionary list, 
 but we must take time for a few of these words that 
 have come from afar, even from the uttermost parts 
 of the world, where we are sure that we are not for- 
 gotten to-day. 
 
 Miss Harriet N. Eastman, of the Class of '59, now 
 of the Baptist mission at Toungoo, Burmah, writes : 
 
 " For myself, after my school days were ended, I 
 spent eleven years as a teacher in the public schools 
 of Illinois and Michigan. Then I returned to my 
 Alma Mater and spent one year there as a teacher, a 
 year for which I shall never cease to be grateful. It 
 was there that I decided, that, the Lord permitting, I 
 would devote the remainder of my life ta foreign mis- 
 sion work, a decision which it took me many years to 
 reach. It is seven years since I first set foot in Toun- 
 goo; during that time I have left the Toungoo dis- 
 trict but twice, though I have made an annual journey 
 on horseback in the district, to the Karen association. 
 My time has usually been fully occupied with the 
 school for Karen boys and girls in the city, but for 
 the past year Miss Ambrose and myself have had the 
 entire charge of Byhai Karen mission, including some 
 fifty churches and nearly ten thousand members. It 
 is a fearful responsibility, but ^ Hitherto hath the Lord 
 helped us.' My work does not bring me into such 
 direct contact with the heathen as I had hoped. 
 
114 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Those who are gathered into our school already know 
 something of the way of life, and in my journeys into 
 the jungles I have been preceded by native Christians 
 and older missionaries. My chief work has been 
 among young people, and those favorably disposed to 
 Christianity, endeavoring to lead them to lead lives of 
 faith in the Son of God, and to fit them to be teachers 
 of their own people. 
 
 Our school has been in existence for eight years. 
 Nearly every year it has been our privilege to witness 
 the baptism of some of our pupils. Quite a staff of 
 teachers has already been sent out. We have had 
 some sore trials from famine, pestilence, and once the 
 insubordination of one of our native teachers, whom 
 I was obliged to dismiss. The churches and native 
 pastors are a great comfort and a great care. Numer- 
 ous questions are submitted to me for decision ; ques- 
 tions of doctrine, of discipline, of marriage and di- 
 vorce, of temperance and morals. The village pastors 
 are also the village doctors, and I am expected to keep 
 constantly on hand a full supply of medicines both to 
 sell and give away, especially the latter. I am also 
 expected to be consulting physician to all these village 
 doctors, with ability to investigate and name the most 
 obsure diseases, and prescribe the proper remedies on 
 the shortest notice. I try to bear these responsibili- 
 ties, to which I feel so unequal, with cheerful confi- 
 dence, that he who has laid them upon me will give 
 the needed strength and wisdom. When you gather 
 for your reunion we shall be in the midst of our rainy 
 season. Pray for us that if it be the Lord's will we 
 may be spared another visitation of the pestilence ; 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. II5 
 
 but far more that we and our native helpers may be 
 wise in winning souls to Christ, and in training up a 
 people for him. May our Alma Mater continue to be 
 greatly blessed and to be a great blessing. I shall 
 never cease to be grateful for her influence upon my 
 own life and character. May we who have been sur- 
 rounded with Christian influences from our infancy 
 prize our birthright, and each perform faithfully her 
 part in bringing the world to Christ/^ 
 
 Anna [Turner] Morgan, of the Class of ^75, is con- 
 nected with the Baptist mission at Kurnool, Madras. 
 She writes May 5th : " The letter from our Alma 
 Mater has reached me in my far away home. I am 
 glad that so many of you will have the privilege of 
 meeting together to talk of the happy years spent at 
 the seminary, and of the goodness of God in caring for 
 each one since we have been separated so far from one 
 another. I long to be with you, but I know that many 
 prayers will be offered up for the absent ones, and I 
 trust that I shall receive a blessing in answer to those 
 prayers. It was at our seminary home that I yielded 
 my heart to Christ, and the Christian instruction and 
 help that I received during the three years that I 
 spent there, have been a great blessing to me. We 
 have just entered upon what I trust will be our life 
 work, and we find here a great field for usefulness. 
 May our father give us strength and grace to labor 
 faithfully for him in this dark land. We need your 
 prayers and sympathy. We are alone at this station, 
 Kurnool, without a knowledge of the language. Yet 
 we are not alone, for God is with us, and his faithful- 
 
116 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 ness in caring for us in the past, make us more willing 
 to trust him for the future. Our dear little Kuth, the 
 ^ class baby/ is twenty months old, and she is much 
 company and comfort for us. I hope she may some- 
 time find a home at the seminary. I trust that you 
 will have a happy reunion, and that those of us who 
 can not be present will be favored with a report. How 
 pleasant it is that on your return you find Miss Pea- 
 body and Miss Jessup still in their places. I hope 
 they may be spared yet many more years." 
 
 A letter has been received, dated March 17, from 
 Jennie Dawes Shedd, of the Class of '58, from Oroo- 
 miah, Persia. It was an acknowledgment of an 
 offering sent by the school for the famine sufferers. 
 Her work this winter has been largely in providing 
 for these sufferers, and she gives a touching report of 
 the generous self-sacrifice of the native Christians, of 
 whom she says that, " In deep poverty they have 
 abounded unto the riches of liberality." May this dis- 
 tributing of bread to the hungry, which has occupied 
 the time of so many of our missionaries lately, open 
 the way for the offering of the ^^ bread of life," which 
 can satisfy hungry souls. 
 
 We hear pleasant reports from Mrs. Sarah [Utley] 
 Woodin, at Foochow ; Miss Diament, at Kalgan, 
 China ; Mary [Hicks] Shaw, at Tung Chow ; Mary 
 Barr, alone at the head of the school at Peking; Mrs. 
 Abbie [Burgess] Hume, of Ahmednugger, India, is re- 
 ported in delicate health. Mary [Allen] Whipple, of 
 the Class of '78, has visited us lately, and is now on 
 her return journey to Tabriz, with her husband and 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 117 
 
 little Mildred, ready for whatever work the master has 
 waiting for them. 
 
 Miss Mary Hartwell left us less than a year ago to 
 join the mission at Bangkok. The Presbytery of 
 Bellefontaine, in this State, has assumed her support, 
 and her letters to the ladies of that society have 
 awakened great interest. In her last letter to us she 
 speaks of the proposed visit of the King of Siam to 
 this country, and expresses the wish that his journey 
 may result in benefits to the educational institutions 
 of Siam. She says, " It is no romance t© direct these 
 people rightly, but requires patient, faithful, continual 
 effort. One ought to know how to do almost every- 
 thing in order to be a perfect missionary ; but if there 
 is a willingness to learn, much may be acquired on the 
 field. The gentlemen who go to foreign countries 
 have to build houses, run printing presses and do a 
 hundred things that ministers never dream of, and so 
 it is with lady missionaries, tao. The people know 
 absolutely nothing of our ways until taught." 
 
 Myra [Calhoun] Longfellow, of the Class of '76 has 
 written many interesting things about her work among 
 the Indians, at Fort Berthold, Dacotah Territory. 
 Previous to her marriage she was a teacher under the 
 appointment of the American Board. She speaks of 
 the difficulty of mastering the language, with no inter- 
 preters and only a very imperfect dictionary ; " When 
 I tried to use a word from the dictionary my tongue 
 either failed in the peculiar smoothness necessary, or 
 I learned that the word used in that sense was obso- 
 lete ; and this would call forth expressions of coun- 
 
118 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 tenance that soon shook my faith in the dictionary.'' 
 She Avas the first woman who had ever tried to learn 
 the Gros Ventres language, which is used by some ot 
 the Indians of that region. She is not now connected 
 with the Board, but with her husband is trying to 
 exert a Christian influence and to assist the mission- 
 aries in various ways. Her sister, Emma [Calhoun] 
 Hall, of the Class of '71, is still connected with the 
 mission and doing good service. 
 
 Our three missionary girls of the Class of '78 have 
 not failed to send their greetings. 
 
 Mary Campbell describes the home in the Laos 
 land, which she has already learned to love: '^ Our 
 home is on the left bank of the river, a neat, comfort- 
 able house, a pretty yard brightened with a few home 
 flowers, magnolias, century plants and other tropical 
 plants ; a vegetable garden which almost supplies our- 
 selves and the school, and a number of fruit trees. 
 A row of trees line the bank of the river, breaking 
 the glare, but leaving a pretty view. Work is begun 
 on the school lot adjoining us, but when I tell you 
 that it is nearly eight years since the foundations of 
 the two mission houses were laid, and neither of them 
 is finished, you will not think it strange if our new 
 home is not finished for three or four years. The 
 Siamese workmen are very slow, each one has to be 
 told how to work, and constantly watched. All eyes 
 seem to be turned with interest to our school. They 
 think it strange that we should be willing to come 
 here just to teach. We want, in a few years, to show 
 them a model Laos woman, who has not only a book 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 119 
 
 education, but can weave and spin, and keep herself 
 and her home neat and clean ; but above all we want 
 to show them what lovely true women our Christian 
 religion will make them. The school has nearly 
 doubled itself, now numbering twenty-five, and we 
 hear of others from neighboring villages who are 
 anxious to attend. We are preparing to start to- 
 morrow on a recreation tour to the mountains. We 
 would be a strange sight at home, no doubt, each one 
 perched upon an elephant, with one or two following 
 with our provisions, etc. We shall go north about 
 sixty miles and visit a large cave, very sacred to these 
 people. We shall pitch our tents at night ; in the day 
 fish, go on deer hunts, geological and botanical expe- 
 ditions, and come home ready for earnest, hard work. 
 Will you join us in praying that we may be able to 
 do this work well, having the wisdom of God to 
 guide us, and that while we are working here, and 
 you at home, our one object may be ^ All things to the 
 glory of God \''' 
 
 Her class-mate and companion, Edna Cole, de- 
 scribes a Saturday evening ride on horseback. " We 
 left home a little before sunset and went over into the 
 city. The clean, narrow streets, with their tiny mar- 
 ket stalls on either side, present a strange scene. 
 These stalls hang full of bright-colored clothes and 
 many queer things. As we rode along they were 
 being closed, and the women in their gay dresses and 
 scarfs were folding and packing all the things in 
 baskets, to carry them home on their shoulders. 
 Young men were lounging by the way, or, with con- 
 scious looks, starting to call on their young friends 
 
120 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Yellow-robed priests were seen ou their way to some 
 temple for their evening worship. We saw China- 
 men, Burmese and Indians, each in their own peculiar 
 style of dress, so strange and fascinating. But ex- 
 celling all in beauty, is this land with its tropical 
 vegetation, and to-night it seemed more lovely than 
 ever, with the dark purple mountains for back-ground, 
 and the wondrous trees all around us; the graceful 
 bending bamboo, the feathery tamarind, the singular 
 cocoanut, beetle and palm trees, great old trees with 
 gnarled and subdivided trunks, dead trees covered 
 with the richest vines, the banyan trees by the water's 
 edge, and many, many others, all perfect in beauty. 
 Siam is a lovely land, and there are many vacant 
 places where workers are needed. We want them. 
 We want 2/oit. Come.'' 
 
 Fannie Cundall, the last one of our number to join 
 the band of foreign workers, has found her place at 
 the Female Seminary, Tripoli, Syria. Her letters give 
 us glimpses of Mt. Lebanon with its snowy summit, 
 and of walks and rides through the orange gardens 
 and along the shady lanes of Tripoli. She gives a 
 little incident of one of these rambles which we can 
 all appreciate : ^^I was sitting by the river with sev- 
 eral of the school girls around me, when two Moslem 
 women came and sat down by me, and commenced 
 asking the girls questions about me, who I was, where 
 from ; then one of them remarked, ^ She must be a 
 king's daughter.' Oh! how I wished, when I was 
 told the remark, that my tongue was loosed, and that^ 
 in their language, I might tell them of Christ Jesus^ 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 121 
 
 the king of kings, and how we might all be kings' 
 daughters, and made meet for each high honor by the 
 blood that ' cleanseth from all sin/ '^ 
 
 Miss Candace Lhamon read her classmate's poem 
 upon the class motto, which was gracefully entwined 
 about a crescent, beneath a star. 
 
 AGE QUOD AGASi 
 
 WRITTEN BY MISS MARY N. M'CRAE, CLASS OF 77. 
 
 "The crescent expressive of labor unfinished, 
 Of increase in all things most noble and sweet ; 
 The star, in its far off perfection of beauty, 
 The type of that work in its fullness complete," 
 
 Three years ago we thirteen stood together 
 
 Happy, with thoughts of the work we had done ; 
 Sad, as we spoke of the parting before us ; 
 
 Eager with hopes for the hfe just begun. 
 Through busy years we had journeyed together, 
 
 Closely our hfe-threads were wrought in one strand; 
 Then we unclasped hands and parted forever, 
 
 Each bearing with her the Lord's great command. 
 
 What have these years brought to you, my sisters? 
 
 Have they been bright with the gladness of life ? 
 What do they count in the work for the master ? 
 
 What have they wrought in the world's weary strife ? 
 What have you done in the harvests so golden ? 
 
 How many sheaves have you brought to his feet? 
 How many times have you tasted his manna? 
 
 How often drank of the w^ater so sw^eet ? 
 
 How many promises have you found faithful ? 
 
 How many prayers has his mercy fulfilled? 
 How many times in the heart's weary tempest 
 
 Has a sweet voice the wild element stilled ? 
 Has he e'er failed you when all else seemed faithless ? 
 
 Has he refused to give ear to your cry ? 
 Has his word proved a sure guide in the journey 
 
 Unto the mansions he promised on high_? 
 
122 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Look to the star of his love, O my sisters' 
 
 Look, till the heaven above you grows thin. 
 Look till your faith breaks the severing curtain, 
 
 To the bright heaven of heavens look in. 
 Open your eyes to the joy set before you ; 
 
 Open your hearts to the warmth of his sun ; 
 Kindle your lamps in the rays of his glory ; 
 
 Strengthen yourselves for the race yet to run. 
 
 Let not the clouds of doubt hide the bright vision, 
 
 Loose not the cord that has bound you to him, 
 Turn not your eyes from the star of the morning. 
 
 Lest the fair gleam of your crowns should grow dim. 
 We can not shine if the world so beguiling. 
 
 Hide our young crescent away from our sun. 
 We may not sleep else the Master at coming 
 
 May find the work he has given undone. 
 
 Numberless times has the " still, small voice " spoken, 
 
 Through the soft rays of the crescent above, 
 Bidding us " Do what we could " in his service, 
 
 Giving assurance of heavenly love. 
 Chiding, sometimes, for our doubtings and fearings. 
 
 Teaching us lessons of wisdom divine, 
 Saying, " Go onward, grow upward, grow brighter. 
 
 Till in the Kingdom of Glory you shine." 
 
 Then let us work till the Master's appearing, 
 Do with our might what our hands find to do, 
 " Age quod Agas " is all he requireth. 
 Promising ever our strength to renew. 
 Then, when the stars of our lives have grown perfect, 
 From the White Throne will our Lord's hand reach 
 down. 
 Gather them up for his own righteous glory, 
 Set them as jewels to shine in his crown. 
 
 The full cup now could but overflow iu 
 
 " Bring forth the royal diadem 
 And crown him Lord of all," 
 which was sung. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 123 
 
 Eev. Dr. Kumler, president of the board of trus- 
 tees, with face and voice revealing the deep emotions 
 of this sublime hour, fittingly closed the exercises. 
 
 DR. KUMLER'S ADDRESS. 
 
 After listening to these cordial and tearful greet- 
 ings, these poetic effusions, these thrilling chronicles, 
 and these precious and tender memories of the past, 
 and learning that much has been left out for want of 
 time, I regret that this graceful flow of womanly elo- 
 quence should be arrested by anything that I can say. 
 While listening to this story that began in 1855, my 
 mind recurs to the struggles that immediately pre- 
 ceded that date. The days of darkness, doubt, and 
 conflict seemed over when on this spot, twenty-five 
 years ago, this institution was opened to receive as 
 many of the daughters of the land as it could accom- 
 modate. That seemed a day of triumph, but like 
 every triumph worth having — it had its cost. "While 
 I claim to have had no special participation in the 
 sacrifices, struggles, tears and prayers which attended 
 the origin of this institution, yet I was a '^ looker on 
 in Venice ^' from the first. I was personally conver- 
 sant with those who cherished the germ of this goodly 
 tree, for years before it appeared above the ground. 
 I was made aware in my father's house and at my 
 pastor's study, of the prayerful anxiety that attended 
 its unfolding. I was present on the very night, which 
 was a sleepless one, when the assurance was reached 
 that what had been only a project, was to be a reality. 
 
 The |5,000 subscriptions of several parties here at 
 Oxford, some of whom are with us to-day, but some 
 
124 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 have fallen asleep, needed only that of Mr. Gabriel 
 Tichnor to assure success. The original projectors of 
 the enterprise on the night just referred to, laid be- 
 fore Mr. Tichnor the full plan of the new Mt. Hol- 
 yoke of the West. The appeal was successful, and 
 the anxiety that drove sleep from the first half of the 
 night, was followed by a joy that was almost as 
 effective in chasing slumber from the other half. He 
 who had been the soul of the movement now felt war- 
 ranted in making public his audacious undertaking. 
 Such was the high standard of scholarship prescribed 
 for the seminary, the novel methods of its internal 
 arrangements, and the grandeur of all its proportions, 
 that no one would have thought of attempting their 
 realization who was not an enthusiast. Such was the 
 magnitude of the obstructions that continually con- 
 fronted the movenrent, that the existence of the insti- 
 tution to-day is largely due to the tireless energy and 
 indomitable purpose of the first president of its board 
 of trustees. The recitals to which we have listened 
 to-day are an ample vindication of the wisdom of his 
 policy. The memory of those days twenty-five years 
 ago suggests the sacred words, '^ Our fathers have 
 labored and we have entered into their labors.'^ 
 When I think of the early struggles attending the en- 
 terprise, the ever-recurring obstacles that came up ; 
 the unswerving devotion of friends ready to make any 
 sacrifice to ensure its success ; when I think of the 
 impulse it gave to the cause of female education, and 
 to the establishment of similar institutions throughout 
 the West ; when I think of the financial straits, the 
 fire, the pestilence and the fire again that seemed to 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 125 
 
 combine to set it back, but which under God were 
 made only to set it forward ; when I think of the 
 hundreds and hundreds of women who have enjoyed 
 its mental and moral culture, and have received its 
 hallowed impress and have gone forth prepared to 
 pccupy and adorn the high position to which woman 
 is called; when I think of the homes it has blessed 
 with light and joy, the hundreds of teachers it has sent 
 out in every direction to public and private schools, 
 the multitude of home missionary fields, which it has 
 reinforced with rare efficiency and of the forty laborers 
 on foreign shores, which it equipped and trained for 
 the Master's service; when I think of the divine hand 
 which so signally guided in the selection of those who 
 should conduct its instruction and internal govern- 
 ment ; when I think of the sacred scenes that have 
 transpired here under the outpouring of the holy 
 ghost, of the souls that have been born again here of 
 the new spirit of consecration to the Master that has 
 been imbibed here, I must say " It is the Lord^s doing, 
 and it is marvelous in our eyes.^^ 
 
 Those who planned, and prayed, and labored for this 
 school have wrought more grandly than they thought. 
 It was the Lord^s doing, while we gratefully recognize 
 the human channels through which the blessings 
 have flowed. We can not help but trace them back 
 to the one great fountain whence all our blessings 
 flow. While the saying holds good in the history of 
 this seminary, "He that goeth forth weeping, bear- 
 ing precious seed, shall doubtless oome again with re- 
 ioicing, bringing his sheaves with him ; '' yet another 
 saying is almost reversed that ^' One soweth and an- 
 
126 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 other reapeth/' for so rapidly has God unfolded its 
 fraitfulness that the sower has overtaken the reaper. 
 It is not common that great benefactors see the fruit 
 of their labor at once. I heard one of the early 
 donors to the seminary say before the close of its first 
 decade, that the money he gave to it was the best in- 
 vestment he ever made. We are spending ten times 
 as much money on our young men to fit them for their 
 ministerial work, and yet I heard one of our venera- 
 ble foreign missionaries give it as his deliberate judg- 
 ment that the women, taken individually, were more 
 efficient for good on the foreign field than the men. 
 It would be hard to avoid the conclusion that the 
 investments made in this school, which has sent out 
 an average of about two persons per year to the for- 
 eign field, besides its hundreds to scarcely, if any, less 
 valuable services in this country, yields the very 
 largest dividends of all money bestowed for educa- 
 tional purposes. 
 
 We are all inheritors of the past. Those who have 
 labored in any way for this school have wrought for 
 us, and we have entered into their labors. Let us 
 bear in mind that the recipients of such privileges 
 are also the recipients of corresponding responsibili- 
 ties. " Freely ye have received, freely give." We 
 are the heirs of the fruitful past, and hold what we 
 have for generations to come. Let us come into sym- 
 pathy with the wise and good who have wrought for 
 us, and let us pay over to others in grateful spirit and 
 with interest what we have received. And as each 
 advance makes a new advance easier, let us resolve, 
 under God's blessing, to make the history of the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 127 
 
 " Western ^^ for the next twenty-five years a becoming 
 advance upon the past. We have heard much to-day 
 of the noble part taken by the fathers in the establish- 
 ment of this institution, and I have been forcibly 
 reminded of what is said to have occurred when on a 
 certain occasion the hardships borne by the pilgrim 
 fathers was elaborated, a woman popped up and in- 
 quired, ^' What of our pilgrim mothers ? They had to 
 bear all this, and the pilgrim fathers besides^ If the 
 true history of this school could be written, I doubt 
 not that it would be found to be more the fruits of 
 woman^s prayers and plans and sacrifices and appeals 
 than man^s, and it would be found that most of the 
 burdens have had to be borne by her, and the reluc- 
 tant consent of the men besides. Daughters of the 
 Western, gathered in this hallowed place, refresh your 
 souls with the precious memories of the past ; remem- 
 ber the noble benefactors of this school, remember the 
 faithful band of self-denying teachers who wrought 
 for you. When Mt. Holyoke celebrated her twenty- 
 fifth anniversary, Mary Lyon was not with then^. 
 The king had called her home. Fail not to be thank- 
 ful to-day that he who so signally guided in the 
 selection of our principal has spared her to join with 
 us in these festivities, over which, if it were ever 
 right for mortal to be proud, she might well be, but 
 who, taught of the spirit, suffers no thought of self, 
 but only explains, " Behold, what hath God wrought." 
 
 Dr. Kumler closed his address by reading a letter 
 from Dr. Henry A. Nelson, a former president of the 
 board of trustees for many years. 
 
128 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 DR. NELSON'S LETTER. 
 
 Geneva, N. Y., April 7, 1880. 
 
 My Dear Brother Kumler : I have lately been 
 taking much pleasure in living over again some of the 
 past years by reading letters of my dear wife to me, 
 and my letters to her, during my absences from her in 
 those years. Among the letters I fell, last evening, 
 upon one dated " Western Female Seminary, Oxford, 
 Ohio, July 14, 1858.'^ That was my first visit to the 
 "Western,^^ and my first impressions are given in the 
 following sentences : ^' The location of this institution 
 is very beautiful ; its surroundings exceedingly so. I 
 have greatly enjoyed the exercises to-day. Natural- 
 ness and thoroughness are the characteristics which 
 strike me as most obvious." 
 
 Probably most of the young women to whom the 
 trustees will give diplomas at the next anniversary 
 have been born since I wrote those sentences. They 
 constitute the 23d class that has been graduated since 
 that day. The building in which I wrote those sen- 
 tences and witnessed those exercises has been burned, 
 and also the building which was next erected. I be- 
 lieve I now happen to be writing on the ninth anni- 
 versary of that second fire. The news of it came to 
 me in the early morning at my home on Walnut Hills. 
 As soon as I was able to reach Oxford, with my son, 
 we were searching for my two daughters and my niece 
 among the hospitable homes into which our scattered 
 flock were received. We found them at President 
 Stanton's. In the afternoon the whole company were 
 gathered at one of the churches to hear motherly 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 129 
 
 counsels frpm Miss Peabody and fatherly directions 
 from Mr. Hinkle and other trustees, concerning their 
 journeys home. Hardly any of the girls were dressed 
 in any thing like " regulation '' style, and some were 
 almost grotesquely costumed in whatever garments 
 were saved from the fire, lending to each other and 
 piecing out each other's attire in whatever would suit 
 sizes comfortably. I remember that my daughter had 
 on the skirt of a dress of which another smaller girl 
 wore the waist, the dress belonging to neither of them. 
 Rarely have I witnessed a more affecting scene. The 
 pathos, the solemnity, the devout gratitude for the safety 
 of all the precious lives, quite saved the scene from all 
 sense of the ludicrous, so apparent in the retrospect ot 
 that motly company. At the time, the eager, sol- 
 emnized, thankful, trusting, tearful young faces, so in- 
 tently looking and listening to their revered teacher's 
 motherly, wise, Christian words of thankfulness, sub- 
 mission, trust, and counsel, constituted a picture than 
 which I have none more impressive hanging in my 
 chamber of memory. 
 
 You remember how like a phoenix the new semin- 
 ary emerged from those ashes. Do you know with 
 what generosity of some of our brethren that was ac- 
 complished ? In October or November following the 
 April conflagration we met to reopen. The energy 
 and wise management of Messrs. Hinkle and McCord 
 had pushed the work to that surprising result. A 
 meeting of trustees was held on two successive days, 
 and several of us spent the night in the seminary. In 
 the evening Mr. Preserved Smith solicited an inter- 
 
130 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 view with Miss Peabody and myself, in which he con- 
 fided to us his intention of making the endowment 
 which was so generously consummated last year. "In 
 the multitude of thoughts within me/' on my bed that 
 night, there came one which developed into a conver- 
 sation the next morning. Rising early, I soon found 
 Mr. Smith, and taking his arm, we promenaded in the 
 long passages and talked. I suggested to him that we 
 needed to raise a few thousands of dollars to cover the 
 recent extraordinary expenses, and so to secure the 
 permanence of the institution in which God had put 
 it into his heart to make so generous provision for 
 the education of young women — especially the daugh- 
 ters of home missionaries. With some timidity — for 
 I did not then know Preserved Smith as well as I do 
 now — I asked him if he would not give at once one 
 thousand dollars of what he was purposing to give at 
 a future time, and let it apply on the building fund. 
 " O, yes, I'll give a thousand now,'' he answered so 
 promptly that I had no use for the arguments I had 
 studied up, and he never found out what an eloquent 
 plea I should have made. I then asked him if I might 
 tell the other trustees that one of their number had 
 made that offer in order to start the movement in that 
 direction. As free from false modesty as from osten- 
 tation, our friend trusted the matter to my discretion. 
 After breakfast we met in the reading-room. I was 
 seated at one end of our table, Mr. Hinkle was at the 
 opposite end facing me, with that grim look he has 
 when he firmly " bottles up " his mirth. Between 
 him and me on one side were Mr. Smith and Mr. 
 Roots, on the other. Father Little and Mr. McCord. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 131 
 
 I do not remember any others. It must have been 
 the executive committee, I guess, not the board. 
 
 When I had mentioned our need and Mr. Smith's 
 offer, Mr. Hinkle said, " Put me down for one thou- 
 sand. '^ Mr. Smith objected, declaring that, in his best 
 judgment, Mr. Hinkle's indefatigable and wise ser- 
 vices in overseeing the building had saved us some 
 thousands of dollars in the cost and in the excellence 
 of the building. Mr. Smith had previously expressed 
 the same opinion privately to me, and said that it 
 would be quite just for Mr. Hinkle to present a bill 
 for those services, and that we ought without hesita- 
 tion, to allow it. He now objected to Mr. Hinkle 
 adding a cash gift of $1,000. You ought to have 
 seen how little effect on Mr. Hinkle the objection had. 
 If anybody had been trying to get $1,000 out of him 
 unjustly, he could not have looked more gruff or de- 
 termined, or ^^ set in his way.'' When Mr. Smith 
 saw his persistence he immediately doubled his own 
 subscription, making it $2,000. 
 
 " I have no money of my own," modestly spoke 
 Father Little, " but a good many Christian people in 
 Indiana are apt to give for whatever I ask them to — 
 I will undertake to raise $500." He did it, and paid 
 it in promptly. " Put me down for $1,000," chimed 
 in Brother Roots, keeping the key-note like a good 
 singer. 
 
 Then spoke Mr. McCord : " Brethren, you all 
 know that I am not able to make such high figures as 
 some of you, but I want some of this stock. I will 
 give $100. " To this Mr. Hinkle objected as earnestly 
 as Mr. Smith had done to his offer, and on the same 
 
132 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 grounds, assuring us that Mr. McCord had been with 
 him in all the care and work of rebuilding, and that 
 none of us knew so well as he, how valuable Mr. Mc- 
 Cord's services had been. Knowing Mr. McCord's 
 financial circumstances, he did not think that he ought 
 to give $100. But Bro. Hinkle's obstinacy in giving 
 $1,000 against all remonstrance, had quite disqualified 
 him to prevent others from giving. 
 
 I refer you to the treasurer's books to verify these 
 statements, and to supplement them with any facts 
 which my memory does not recall. But I tell you, 
 Brother Kumler, the picture of that group of trustees 
 hangs in my memory's chamber over against the pic- 
 ture of the group of girls made in the preceding 
 April. I think it a goodly picture. You now pre- 
 side over the body to which those men belonged. I 
 hope that all except Mr. McCord will be with you at 
 the twenty-fifth anniversary. And I believe that 
 Brother McCord has a copy of that picture, and will 
 look on it with pleasure where he now is ; for do we 
 laot read of the blessed dead, wht) die in the Lord, 
 that "their works do follow them?" Are not such 
 investments treasures laid up in heaven? 
 
 If I should give my pen full liberty to continue 
 my reminiscences, it would consume far too much of 
 the lime which I know will be so fully occupied on 
 that great day in June. Let me revert to my 
 first impression of the instruction at the Western. 
 The six years of my connection with its board of 
 trustees, my many visits there, my experience of its 
 system of education in my four daughters, and in 
 other dear girls hardly ^ess dear to me than daughters. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I33 
 
 All these have confirmed my first impression of 
 " naturalness and thoroughness ^^ as the most obvious 
 characteristic of the education given at the " Western. ^^ 
 I must again restrain my pen from the amplification 
 and illustration of this thought to which it would 
 rush. I will only say that in my deliberate judgment 
 that remark is truly applicable to the intellectual, 
 the domestic and the spiritual training which is there 
 given. It only needs a few Preserved Smiths and 
 and Philip Hinkles and Gabriel Tichenors, with their 
 large endowments, and '^ the mighty accumulation of 
 littles " which may come from the host of alumnae scat- 
 tered all over the wide land — yes, over "the wide, 
 wide world ^' — and from the " noble army '^ of men 
 who are their husbands and sons, it only needs such 
 endowment to assure all coming generations of ever 
 increasing beneficent influence from that sacred insfti- 
 tution. 
 
 He, who has so signally commanded the fire to 
 purify and not consume, who has so constantly de- 
 lived from straits and perils, who has sent blessing, 
 from our dear Western, to so many homes and schools 
 and churches and missions ; and whose holy spirit has 
 so sweetly dwelt there, lo ! these twenty and five 
 years ; surely he is cheerfully to be trusted with its 
 future. I can not much fear that he will let the peo- 
 ple of Ohio and Indiana fail to understand what a 
 fountain it is that' he has opened upon their borders, 
 and what honor and privilege he grants to them in 
 providing conduits through which its sweet and heal- 
 ing waters may flow to all their homes and far beyond 
 their utmost boundaries. 
 
134 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 It is with a keen sense of personal loss that I recog- 
 nize the impracticability of my being personally pres- 
 ent at the reunion. Assure all who will be there of 
 my cordial fellowship with them in all joys and hopes 
 and prayers of the auspicious occasion. 
 
 Heney a. Nelson. 
 
 Dr. Kumler then pronounced the benediction, and 
 for a moment a hush of intense feeling held the com- 
 pany. In one day had been lived years, and wrought 
 over again those life experiences which had burned 
 deepest into the soul in living them. We never knew 
 before how much our lives meant ; how entirely the 
 seminary training had molded and directed them, the 
 unity of the great plan to which each life had been 
 chiseled into perfect adjustment, making sublime his- 
 tory all these years without our knowing it. We 
 catch now, a faint glimmering of what it will be in 
 one last great day, to see unfolded God^s greater plan, 
 and to behold the lives of all his children gathered 
 into one unbroken bundle of life. 
 
 At half-past seven Miss Peabody invited the 
 Alumnse and school to an old-time " recess meeting '' 
 in the hall. If words have been inadequate up to 
 this point, how shall they serve us here ? It was 
 as though all the divine soul discipline in each life 
 had been gathered to a focus in one sacred moment, 
 and all these concentrated in this hour. 
 
 Miss Peabody gave out the hymn : 
 
 " Blest be the tie that binds." 
 At its close she remarked that the tie about Avhich 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 135 
 
 we had been singing was the holy spirit which binds 
 together the " household of faith/' the " household ot 
 our Lord, Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family 
 in heaven and on earth are named/' a tie stronger 
 than that of kindred. " Part of our host have crossed 
 the flood '^ and joined the " family in heaven '^ while 
 we remain " on earth/' She continued in words 
 which went to every heart. All consciousness faded 
 into dim distance, except that of children gathered 
 once more about the dear mother's feet as so often 
 before, and with her around the master's feet. She 
 asked each to repeat a text, a promise, or give a heart 
 experience as her feelings might prompt. 
 
 There was no waiting, for every heart was full, 
 and one after another precious promises and deep soul 
 experiences were poured out, until Miss Peabody's 
 questions in the letter of invitation had been fully an- 
 swered. The anchor and the shield and the armor 
 had been sufficient. Amid the fiercest conflicts had 
 been heard the master's whisper, " Peace, be still. " 
 One, tor whom many prayers had been offi5red while 
 at the seminary, but who had gone out without the 
 anchor, arose, and with voice tremulous with emotion, 
 yet firm with faith and resolve, said she wished to 
 thank her teachers and classmates for their persevering 
 faith and prayers ; and then she told of the anchor 
 found and tested since she had left. Thus an hour 
 passed all too quickly. 
 
 The remainder of the evening was spent socially, 
 enlivened by music rendered by the young ladies, and 
 several spirited recitations by Miss Maggie Eon an, 
 one of the pupils. 
 
136 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Several Oxford friends came in, and old acquaint- 
 ance with them was very pleasantly renewed. 
 
 And so this day of days was ended. Regretfully 
 we realized this, and full of thankfulness for what we 
 had enjoyed, we resolved to put it on record as nearly 
 complete as possible, that we might live it over again, 
 that absent ones might enjoy it too, and that it might 
 be preserved to those who shall come after. 
 
ANNIVERSARY DAY. 
 
 This day, which for twenty-five years had sent out 
 its freightage of young womanhood trained, cultured 
 and consecrated, opened amid associations more tender 
 and inspiring than any former anniversary day. 
 
 The nineteen young sisters who came to the altar to 
 receive Alma Mater's crown, commission and blessing, 
 stood the center of many loving, admiring, elder sis- 
 terly eyes. 
 
 With pride we waited to welcome them to Alumnse 
 ranks, rejoicing in the evidence that each successive 
 class receives a fuller inheritance in the quality of its 
 culture and training. The passing years leave the 
 seminary more and more richly endowed with cluster- 
 ing associations, ripe experience, broader advantages 
 and the upholding of warm, loving, prayerful hearts. 
 And then our thoughts turned anew, with fonder love 
 and higher hopes, to the young sisters, undergradu- 
 ates, who had devoted themselves so self forgetfully to 
 our entertainment and happiness at this reunion. 
 Heart breatiiings went up that they, and all who are 
 to follow, may increasingly honor their Alma Mater, 
 and glorify God in the home, the church and the 
 world. 
 
138 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 At half-past nine o'clock the household, with many 
 other friends and visitors, assembled in the hall for 
 the graduating exercises and anniversary address. 
 
 GRADUATING CLASS. 
 
 Luella Adams . 
 Florence Amick . 
 Cora Evans Bell 
 Haddie G. Borton 
 Lovetta Brice . 
 Mary Amanda Clarke . 
 Martha Ellen Fain . 
 Anna Gernand . 
 Caroline Goodenow . 
 Kate Hutchinson 
 Lillie Elma Kendall 
 Catharine Lawson 
 Lizzie McCord . 
 Kate G. Seott 
 Kate Storey 
 Eebecca R. Swift . 
 I. Katharine Timberman 
 Henrietta Van Hook . 
 Clara Vawter . 
 
 McCoy's, Ind. 
 Scipio, Ind. 
 Hillsboro. 
 Plymouth, Ind. 
 Greenfield. 
 Baxter Springs, Kan. 
 Jonesboro, E. Tenn. 
 Rossville, 111. 
 Roseville, 111. 
 New Albany, Ind. 
 Richmond, Ind. 
 Greenup, Ky. 
 Oxford. 
 Adams' Mills. 
 Vernon, Ind. 
 Pleasant Ridge. 
 Hamilton. 
 Highland, Kan. 
 Franklin, Ind. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. ] 39 
 
 The exercises opened with prayer by Kev. A. B. 
 Brice, of Greenfield, Ohio, after which the following 
 intere^ing programme was listened to : 
 
 Overture — Oberon — Three pianos, six young ladies Weber 
 
 Chorus — Where are the Angels? Hatton 
 
 Essay — Chronos Florence Amick 
 
 (Kead by Kate Storey.) 
 
 Essay— Wanted Kate Scott 
 
 (Eead by Lovetta Brice.) 
 
 Grand Concerto — G Minor (accompanied by sec- 
 ond iDiano) — Adante — Molto 
 
 allegro vivace Mendelssohn 
 
 Song — Storm and Sunshine Dudley Buck 
 
 Essay — Shakespeare's Religion Anna Gernand 
 
 (Read by Rebecca Swift.) 
 Quartette — Pastoral Symphonic ]S"o. 6 — Adante 
 
 molto moto — By the Brook Beethoven 
 
 Essay — Thereby Hangs a Tale- Ella Adams 
 
 (Read by Kate Timberman.) 
 
 Essay — Each Man's Chimney is his Milestone.. ..ii^j^ie McCord 
 
 (Read by Nettie Van Hook.) 
 
 Song — Oh, my Fernando ! Donizetti 
 
 Essay — Music of our Lives •• Cw-a Bell 
 
 (Read by Nellie Fain.) 
 
 Piano Solo — March from Tanhauser Lizt 
 
 Chorus — Hark, to the Rolhng Drum ! H. R. Bishop 
 
 The annual address followed, delivered by Eev. 
 Addison Ballard, D. D. , of Lafayette College, Easton, 
 Pa., a brother of Mre. Lizzie [Ballard] Walker, whose 
 lovely life and touching death form one of the beauti- 
 ful mosaics of our history. 
 
140 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 ANNUAL ADDRESS. 
 
 THE LORDSHIP OF LOVE. 
 
 BY REV. ADDISON BALLARD, D. D. 
 
 We are born radicals. We like to go to the root 
 of things; to get, if we can, at the one central germ 
 from which all grows and is built up. Only the most 
 immature minds are satisfied with mere results. It is 
 enough for the little Budges to see the '' wheels go 
 Vound/' but your grown boy or girl wants to see the 
 watch taken apart, and to be shown separately every 
 jewel, pinion, wheel and screw. We have a painfully 
 confused feeling at seeing a cotton mill or a power 
 printing press in operation, until we understand how 
 the machinery goes together and the principle on 
 which it works. And the shortest and surest way ot 
 understanding what at first seems only a tangle is to 
 see the machine in its simplest form. Ungear your 
 steam engine; look at it uncombined with other 
 machinery ; take away everything that can be spared ; 
 keep only what is indispensable ; you then have an 
 instrument of few parts, whose make and manner of 
 working even a child can understand. 
 
 A great literary institution is, at first sight, a com- 
 plicated affair. On visiting such an institution you 
 are shown through a multitude of places — halls, 
 dormitories, chapels, cabinets, museums, libraries, lab- 
 oratories, gymnasiums, recitation and lecture rooms. 
 You are taken to see great old books in dead old 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 141 
 
 tongues and parchment covers^ meteorites and fossils, 
 skeletons and manikins, magnetic coils and electric 
 wheels, transits and theodolites, microscopes and tel- 
 escopes, gasometers and blow-pipes. The vast and 
 complex array confounds you; you are uvervf helmed 
 by the magnitude and variety of the things to be 
 learned ; it is a mystery to you how any man can spool 
 the threads from so many skeins of knowledge and 
 weave them into a consistent web ; you have a suffer- 
 ing sense of your ignorance and a colossal idea of the 
 learning which must be represented by a university 
 diploma. But pierce to the middle, stiip the institu- 
 tion of these material helps which it has taken cen- 
 turies, perhaps, to bring together, gQ back to the rude 
 beginnings and you find what is almost too simple for 
 merely external description. The Emperor Charle- 
 magne, on being told that two men, meanly clad, were 
 crying at a street corner, ^^ We have learning to sell,'' 
 is said to have ordered the two men into his presence, 
 and to have asked what he could do for them, and on 
 their replying, ^' Sire, give us food, clothing and 
 scholars,'' to have taken under his patronage the two 
 teachers, one of whomi afterward became the founder 
 of the University of Pavia. 
 
 Scholars and teachers are the two easjentials of every 
 educa^tional institution. Study and helps to study em- 
 brace it all. Two of the most famous schools of their 
 own or of any time, the academy and the lyceum, had 
 this embryo simplicity. Plato ^nd Aristotle walked 
 with their pupiks in groves and gardens, or sat with 
 them in the porches of villas. This one living germ 
 draws to it in due time buildings, libraries, apparatus, 
 
142 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 every needful appurtenance. A mind in love with 
 and earnestly seeking knowledge is at once an epitome 
 and a prophecy of the academy, the college, the sem- 
 inary, the university. 
 
 The possession of a power is itself a pledge that a 
 field will be given for its exercise ; capacity for growth 
 a pledge that the means of growth will he supplied. 
 Otherwise, the power and the capacity would be but 
 inconclusive and mocking fragments — the foundation 
 of a tower which could not be finished. God does not 
 do things after tha(t fashion. Steam-power proves the 
 existence of fuel without which the steam could not 
 be generated. The tinkling lid of the boiling tea- 
 kettle finds its echo in the click of the coal-miner's 
 pick. God does nothing by halves. The fourth 
 day's work of creation was the logical sequence to 
 that of the third. The making of grass, herbs and 
 trees made it sure that the sun would follow. The 
 nobler end shall not fail for lack of the less noble 
 means. " Is not the life more than meat ?'' The sun- 
 flower is more than the sun. The solar system might 
 be studied in the violet. The acorn is a vest-pocket 
 edition of Copernicus in brown binding and tucked 
 cover. A kernel of corn is a short proposition, but it 
 has five or six long corollaries, the month of May be- 
 ing the first. The coming spring finds all growing 
 things in a posture of eager expectation. Under the 
 sward of meadows wakened lilies are impatient to lay 
 off the night-dress of their homly bulbs and to put on 
 that unwoven beauty in the like of which even Solo- 
 mon in all his glory was not arrayed. The peach has 
 set its germs and the apple is in blossom. The smil- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I43 
 
 ing procession of the flowers, with the arbutus at its 
 head, has begun to move. The ivy, now scarce able 
 in the breeze to hold with its tiny fingers to the base of 
 the tower, hides an ambitious secret in its breast, and 
 trusts yet to pin a streamer on the very point of the 
 pinnacle. The hillside laurel has planned to cover, 
 with a dense foliage, the ruin and sides of its granite 
 vase. The beach is resolved to widen his green shelves, 
 the oak to stretch a cubit further his wide-spread arms, 
 and the cedar to mount upward to the full stature of 
 the forest king. 
 
 Here on the one hand are manifold life and capacity 
 for growth. On the other is the sun, God^s great 
 provision for the quickening of this life and the perfect- 
 ing of this growth. And these two are corresponding 
 parts of one great scheme, joined together in divine, 
 indissoluble wedlock. 
 
 Nor is this scheme of divine beneficence to be 
 trifled or interfered with. What God has joined to- 
 gether, let no disgusts or jealousies of the upper air 
 put assunder. Let the life-giving rays be unimpeded 
 in their descent. Let them be free to all the vegetable 
 tribes ; to the lowly as well as to the lofty ; to the 
 plain as well as to the beautiful ; to the frail as well 
 as to the stalwart. Let each take from sun, soil, rain 
 and dew what is needful to its fullest growth, its 
 highest life. Let cloud and fog monopolies be broken 
 up. Let upstart vapors be dispelled. Let the sov- 
 ereignty be maintained, established by God in the be- 
 ginning, when he appointed the ^^ greater light '^ to 
 " rule " as well as irradiate the day, and the " lesser 
 light ^^ to " rule ^^ as well as illuminate the night. 
 
144 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 With greater emphasis is each desire and capability 
 in man a sure pledge of provision and opportunity. 
 
 The universe is but a store-house for his needs. 
 And the universe should be open so that God\s capa- 
 cities in all men and in all women may have freest 
 access to God's opportunities. Ingersoll is so far 
 right when he says that " God does not give us brains 
 and then punish us for using them.'' Eestrictions 
 and limitations are for criminals. The receding lake 
 mocks the thirst of Tantalus ; but Tantalus is a crim- 
 inal. Who knows but he might have been also an 
 " idiot ! " A king who, to save himself trouble, should 
 depopulate his kingdom, would perhaps be monarch 
 of all he surveyed, but then he would not have much 
 to survey. That father would not use language cor- 
 rectly who should say, ^^ I govern my children admira- 
 bly ; I have killed one-half of them and the other half 
 I keep locked up day and night in the cellar." In- 
 stead of governing admirably, he would have demon- 
 strated his utter incapacity to govern at all. 
 
 The attempt to crush out or to starve any of the 
 mind's native capabilities or desires, in like manner 
 argues either fraud, imbecility or oppression. The 
 monastery and the convent, in the most charitable 
 view, are monuments of weakness. The St. Antonies, 
 St. Simons and St. Benedicts, Abbotts and Lady Su- 
 periors, are princes self-discrowned. They make an 
 " open, unconditional rupture " with desires and <5apa- 
 bilities in themselves innocent, and sacrifice freedom 
 and dominion to an " energetic, but mistaken, idea of 
 self-control." 
 
 Let us make a clean riddance of that tyranny. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 145 
 
 whether of ecclesiasticism, custom, prejudice or law, 
 which cuts off any power of any man or of any 
 woman on its way to provision ; any capacity of man 
 or woman on its way to opportunity, which intercepts 
 the poor on their way to wealth, the ignorant on their 
 way to knowledge, the erring on their way to truth. 
 It is a great point already gained, the taking away 
 of so many barriers and the opening to all of so many 
 avenues to growth, culture, discipline and usefulness, 
 and especially for woman. Mrs. Montague, as quoted 
 by Mrs. Fawcett in Good Words, wrote in 1773 
 about the education of her eldest niece : " I am glad 
 you are going to send my eldest niece to a boarding 
 school. I believe all boarding schools are much on 
 the same plan, so that you may place the young lady 
 wherever there is a good air and a good dancing mas- 
 ter." Another favorite theory was that a woman was 
 good mainly to work button holes and slipper patterns. 
 ^- Between those old ideas of feebleness, prettiness and 
 dependence and the perfect woman of this era, en- 
 dowed with endurance, foresight, strength and skill, 
 there is a tremendous chasm." But what t^e real 
 capacity of woman is, can be known, as Mrs. Fawcett 
 says, only after longer experience. " The notions that 
 all men are logical and all women emotional ; that 
 women are much quicker at coming at a conclusion,, 
 but can not tell how they arrived at it, are in process 
 of giving way and have completely given way in 
 those who at Girton College and Newnham Hall (the 
 woman's colleges at Cambridge, England,) have had 
 opportunity of comparing the powers of the young 
 
 10 
 
146 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 women who are students there, with the powers of the 
 graduates of the university. These gentlemen have 
 found that the young women differ intellectually from 
 the young men less than had been supposed and in a 
 difterent direction. The logical faculty of the young 
 women is much greater, their power of so-called in- 
 tuitive perception is much less than had been antici- 
 pated. Some years, however, must elapse before a 
 really fair comparison can be made between the intel- 
 lectual capacity of men and women." 
 
 11. But what shall we do with our education now 
 that we have gotten it? or rather, what shall we do 
 with our educated selves? If the king sends you 
 seeds of beautiful and rare flowers, you know what he 
 expects you to do with the seeds. He expects you to 
 grow the flowers. But he also expects that you will 
 do something with the flowers after they are grown ; 
 that you will place them where their beauty and fra- 
 grance can be enjoyed. A ship-owner does not leave 
 a strong and beautiful ship to rot upon the stocks, nor 
 does he tow it into a dry dock, content to hang on its 
 side a certificate that the ship is built after the most 
 scientific pattern, and has been examined and ap- 
 proved by a competent inspector. He builds it for 
 sailing. He launches it and sails it on waters where it 
 can sail best and be of most service ; whether it be 
 lake, river, sound or ocean ; whether to coast along 
 our own shores, or whether it be a morning star to 
 bear glad messages to far-off islands of the sea. 
 
 Here, however, perhaps I ought to relieve you at 
 once, if the thought has crossed the minds of any, 
 that you are now to hear rediscussed the already over- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I47 
 
 discussed question of womans' rights and womans' 
 spheres. In the first place, I would not by so doing, 
 give you a chance to say what Pompey said to the 
 storekeeper of whom he was trying to buy some gun- 
 powder. Prying curiously at the grains as he rubbed 
 them in the palms ot his hands, " 'Pears to me," said 
 Pompey, " 'Pears to me, sah, dis powdah bin used 
 befo'!'' But, in the second place, I have the convic- 
 tion that women can be trusted about as safely as men, 
 to decide for themselves what spheres they can fill and 
 what avocations it is suitable for them to follow. I 
 do not think they are likely to make any worse mis- 
 takes, at any rate, than men, many of whom choose 
 spheres and follow avocations not altogether credita- 
 ble to their instincts nor honorable to their manhood. 
 The safe way for a true woman as, for a true man, is, 
 if she finds anything she herself thinks it proper to do 
 and thinks herself qualified to do, to do it. 
 
 A woman may seem to be out of her sphere for a 
 time, simply because it is a time of transition in pub- 
 lic sentiment. But this may be only to find her ele- 
 ment at a higher stage, just as the boats on one of the 
 great water-ways of New Jersey are seen for a brief 
 interval riding on an inclined plane through the air. 
 only to take the water again at a higher level. 
 
 The vital question is one reaching far beyond mere 
 details and incidents of spheres and occupations, and 
 that is, what principal shall actuate us, whatever thr 
 sphere or employment may be ? The incidents of an 
 ocean voyage may be infinitely varied. The question 
 is. Is the ship headed to the right port, and are we 
 keeping her steadily to her course ? Newman Hall 
 
148 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 says that in his return voyage to England, a bevy of 
 birds accompanied the ship ; that they made frequent 
 and sometimes wide excursions to one side and the 
 other of the ships course, but that they always re- 
 turned and alighted on the vessels' masts or yards and 
 so completed the voyage with the ship. What is the 
 one high, controling purpose which we may contin- 
 ually come back to from our daily bread-winning, 
 aesthetic, scientific or literary excursions ? a purpose 
 which gives us dominion and a certain independence 
 over all these busy flights, which survives them all ; 
 an aim and a purpose which finds its most glad and 
 glorious accomplishment when the port is gained, and 
 the wings are peacefully folded with the folded sails? 
 
 Were there no such high and worthy aim, life 
 would have neither joy, dignity, encouragement nor 
 explanation. Because there is such an aim and end, 
 life is blessedly, gloriously " worth living." Natural 
 endowments may differ; there may be all degrees of 
 mental growth, culture and discipline ; spheres and 
 occupations may differ, all never so widely ; yet all 
 may choose, follow and attain the same unifying, or- 
 ganizing, all-dominadng, exalted and worthy end. 
 
 This we can do by virtue of our being endowed 
 with moral affections, and by these I mean, gener- 
 ically the power we have of devoting our whole selves 
 in whatever direction we wish — to wliatsoever pur- 
 suit or person. The fundamental idea in the affections 
 is choice, and choice in its very nature is free. This 
 power belongs to man only. The rose is pre-deter- 
 mined to be a rose, and the thistle a thistle. Brutes 
 are disposed of by the very limitations of their brute 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 149 
 
 nature. The bee does not devote itself to honey- 
 making, the fish^-hawk to diving, nor the beaver to 
 dam-building. Nor does the ox devote himself to 
 plowing, nor the reindeer to sledge-drawing, nor the 
 camel to burden-bearing and desert-sailing. They 
 are devoted to these things by man, their master. 
 
 In other words, man only has the power, as Hickok 
 says, to behave himself; that is, to have or hold him- 
 self to a course of his own choosing. Brutes are held 
 to their respective courses. Man holds himself. 
 " Thou hast put all things under his feet. Thou hast 
 given him dominion." 
 
 III. Where shall this dominion be found ? Not in 
 the realm of mere growth or culture. For the 
 scepter we seek must be a scepter that can not be 
 broken nor snatched away from us. But that may 
 seem to be free and to have dominion which is free 
 and has dominion only for a certain time and place. 
 Make your prison limits as wide as you please — it is a 
 prison still. Sisyphus dominates the stone to the top 
 of the hill, then the stone in its turn dominates him ; 
 it breaks away and rolls to the bottom. A ship 
 caught in the outer circles of the maelstrom has the 
 freedom of that water, but it is for all that a captive. 
 The helm may seem to control, but the mightier eddy 
 controls the helm and swings the ship round and 
 round irresistably towards the devouring center. So 
 growth reaches its maturity and then declines. It 
 finds itself, ere long, in the grip of a remorseless vor- 
 tex. The violet is free to bloom and the pine to soar. 
 But both yield their dominion at length to overmas- 
 tering decay. No plant or tree is perennial ; none 
 
150 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 lives through all years. The body grows freely, but 
 soon finds itself in fetters. Plato and Garzo (the 
 father of Petrarch) die on their respective birthdays, 
 each in the same bed in which he was born. In four 
 single-line pictures, Holmes gives us the entire career 
 of America's greatest orator and statesman : 
 
 A home amid the mountain pines ; 
 
 A cloister by the hill-girt plain ; 
 The front of life's embattled lines ; 
 
 A mound beside the heaving main. 
 
 The circle is complete. We end as we begin — with 
 dust. 
 
 But can not science give us the lordship we seek ? 
 Vast as are the realms she traverses, even science 
 owns itself a slave to a like inexorable monotony- 
 For what is science but the finding of some law under 
 which isolated facts may be grouped ? But when we 
 have found the law we are done. What are all the 
 paths of science but circuits? Mercury revolves 
 about the sun in eighty-seven days ; Herschel in 
 eighty-four years. Their orbits are but inner and 
 outer walls of the same prison. " The chain of truths 
 which constitute the laws of the planetary system was 
 completed forever when Newton discovered the iden- 
 tity of gravity with the force which carries the heav- 
 enly bodies in their orbits/' That is the end. We 
 may go over the same ground, may re-survey the same 
 road now that the great explorers have staked it out ; 
 we may apply the formulas and verify the calcula- 
 tions, but we can go no further. The science of as- 
 tronomy is a circular railway, and go forever, you go 
 and come by the self-same route and by the self-same 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 151 
 
 time tables which Kepler and Newton surveyed and 
 recorded. 
 
 Governments dispatch costly expeditions to remote 
 islands and continents to observe transits and eclipses, 
 because the astronomer knows just what to depend on — 
 just that and nothing more. He can predict with- 
 out being a prophet. Le Verrier announces a new 
 planet and predicts its appearance in a certain quarter 
 of the heavens at a given time. He is like the deer- 
 stalker. Knowing the radius of the curve which the 
 running stag is taking through the forest, the deer- 
 stalker can tell pretty accurately what time the stag 
 will pass a given point. So, Le Verrier, that mighty 
 Nimrod of the heavens, having computed what course 
 Ms unseen but suspected game must be taking through 
 his safe and secret far-oif ranges of the sky, flings his 
 nimble lasso at a venture three hundred millions of 
 miles into those vast outer depths of space ; and there 
 his friend Galle, who is watching the throw with his 
 spy-glass at Berlin, sees the flying fugitive and sees 
 how barely he escapes being ringed by the falling 
 noose. 
 
 But between all that we find in science and the 
 moral affections there is this immense difference, that 
 whereas, in science we know just what to count upon 
 beforehand ; in the realm of the affections we have no 
 such limitation. Let a man in the exercise of free 
 choice give himself to any pursuit or to any person, 
 and there is no telling at all beforehand what and 
 how much that man, and especially that woman, 
 will do. 
 
 There is no telling what Jonathan will do now that 
 
152 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 he has given himself to David so that he loves him 
 "as his own soul/^ David can count with almost 
 scientific accuracy on the flight of a projectile and on 
 the result when that projectile impinges on the fore- 
 head of a boastful Philistine. To his practiced eye 
 and arm there is nothing surprising, nothing wonder- 
 ful in that. But the love of Jonathan, that love 
 which, overmastering energy and ambition, helps 
 David to the throne of which Jonathan is himself the 
 rightful heir ; the love which makes Jonathan happy 
 to say, " Thou shalt be King and I shall be next unto 
 thee" — that is to David an unceasing marvel : " Thy 
 love to me is wonderful, passing the love of women. '^ 
 
 Souls do not blend according to any law of equiva- 
 lents or multiple proportions. We have in chemistry 
 not only prot-oxides and dent-oxides, but per-oxides, 
 compounds containing oxygen in its largest measure 
 of combination. But who has yet found the limit 
 beyond which the love of a wife will not go for her 
 husband, or of a mother for her child, or of a father 
 for even his erring boy ? The prodigal, on his way 
 home, can rely perfectly on the old routine of seed- 
 time and harvest bringing bread in its season to even 
 the servants of his father's house. But oh ! he could 
 not count beforehand on that father running out to 
 meet him while yet a great way off; the embrace, the 
 kiss, the robe and ring, the shoes and the fatted calf. 
 
 A man gives himself to his country. You cannot 
 calculate on him after that. Neither drillmaster nor 
 paymaster can help you in your calculations. The 
 cleverist scientist could not have written up Thermo- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 153 
 
 pylse, Tempach, Bunker Hill, nor Valley Forgje, in 
 advance. 
 
 A young midshipman once felt impressed that he 
 should never rise in his profession. " My mind/^ he 
 said, ^^ was staggered with a view of the difficulties 
 which I had to surmount, and the little interest I 
 possessed. If at a moment I felt the emulation of 
 ambition, I shrunk back as having no means in my 
 power of reaching the object of my wishes. After a 
 long and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished 
 myself overboard, a sudden glow of patriotism was 
 kindled within my breast and presented my king and 
 country as my patrons. ^ Well, then,' I exclaimed, 
 ' I will be a hero, and confiding in Providence I will 
 brave every danger.' From that hour his despond- 
 ency was changed to hope and a radiant orb was sus- 
 pended before his mind's eye," which urged him on 
 to renown and which has made the name of Nelson 
 immortal. 
 
 We talk of the liberal professions. But thorough 
 self-devotion makes any avocation liberal. It is not 
 the profession that is liberal, hut the man. The physi- 
 cian, lawyer, minister, or teacher, may be the veriest 
 drudge, going through the round of his professional 
 tasks as mechanically as the mule in any other mill. 
 And, on the other hand, the farmer at his plow, the 
 mechanic at his bench, the merchant at his counter, 
 the banker at his desk, may be raised high above the 
 busy monotonies of their respective callings, for their 
 thoughts may be all the while on those for whom they 
 thus freely toil and plan — home and school and 
 church and town and state and country — to help on, 
 
154 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 if by ever so little, whatever in the world is good and 
 pure and true. 
 
 It matters not what the circumstances are. " Cir- 
 cumstances/' Mrs. Whitney pithily says, " are the 
 things which a man is to make ' stand around' !'' Elihu 
 Burritt was far enough from being a slave to circum- 
 stances during those busy years when most of his steps 
 were taken between the forge and the anvil ; or Hugh 
 Miller when quarrying the Cromarty sand-stone ; or 
 Burns when turning up with his plow field-mice and 
 daisies; or Daniel Safford when carrying iron bars 
 from the store to the shop on his shoulder ; or Abra- 
 ham Lincoln when sharing with his mother the hard- 
 ships of a backwoods life ; or Gen. James A. Garfield^ 
 when pacing the deck of a canal-boat, or presiding 
 over the destinies of a village school. 
 
 IV. It is a high and grand prerogative we use 
 when we thus give ourselves to any person or pursuit 
 with all the fervor and energy of our nature. But we 
 must mount one step higher. It is true we are to 
 choose our own way. As every man has a memory 
 ot his own, an imagination and a reason of his own, 
 so every man (as well as every woman) is to have a 
 will of his own, a mind of his own and a way of his 
 own. But then it makes all the difference in this 
 world and the next, what kind of a will, what kind of 
 a mind, what kind of a way it is. I said that Inger- 
 soll was right when he said that " God does not give 
 us brains and then condemn us for using them." Not 
 for using them certainly, but for using them wrongly. 
 The shallow sophistry of this poor blasphemer would 
 make us believe that freedom to think, talk, feel and 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 155 
 
 act, is freedom to think, feel, talk and act only 
 wrongly and wickedly. God does not punish us for 
 using the eyes which he has given us. But will In- 
 gersoll, therefore, stare with his eyes at the blazing 
 mid-day sun ? A stumbling groper he would soon ex- 
 cite only the pity of passers-by ; and if a multitude, 
 taking foolish license from his words, should in like 
 manner abuse and lose their eye-sight, then the blind 
 would lead the blind, and both would fall into the 
 ditch ! There are false ways of thinking, feeling and 
 doing, and there are right ways. And of those which 
 are right and good, there is a highest and best. And 
 if we would have a true and lasting, an unrestrained 
 and an immovable dominion, we must see to it that 
 the crown be upon the right head. We shall be sub- 
 ject to its annoying and ceaseless protests, if we dis- 
 crown what God has made regal. And the true, last- 
 ing, unrestricted lordship is the lordship of love. This 
 a scientific analysis of our minds itself gives, as has 
 been so admirably shown by Dr. Mark Hopkins, of 
 Williams College, in those two master-pieces of an- 
 alytic acumen and power, his " Outline Study of 
 Man,'^ and his ^' Law of Love and Love as a Law.'^ 
 You, young ladies of the graduating class, have 
 chosen for your class motto, " Seeketh Not Her Own. '' 
 In this motto is contained the true philosophy of 
 honor and of dominion, and, therefore, the true phil- 
 osophy of life. But we have more than a philosophy. 
 We have an example. This beautiful motto found its 
 perfect embodiment in him who " went about doing 
 good,'' who said, " It is more blessed to give than to 
 receive," and whose death was an act of loving sacri- 
 
156 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 fice in behalf of others. For this he has superlative 
 honor, "a name which is above every name. For 
 this he has superlative dominion, for " to him every 
 knee shall bow.'' For this each recorded incident of 
 his life and of his death is, and ever will be, most 
 sacredly cherished. We celebrate his nativity al- 
 though we know not the date of his birth. "We ran- 
 sack history, sift traditions, hunt for manuscripts, in- 
 terrogate coins and medals, decipher hieroglyphics, 
 study the significance of types, pry into the meaning 
 of prophecy, inquire into the structure of parables, un- 
 fold the history and laws of language, discuss the true 
 principles of interpretation ; we set our feet on every 
 rood of the holy and adjacent lands — all, that we may 
 find what may throw some new light on the life and 
 mission of Jesus. Never has a man lived concerning 
 whose whole life and person the world feels so deep 
 and abiding an interest; never the man touching 
 whose dress, manner, voice and face the world would 
 so eagerly welcome any authentic addition to its pres- 
 ent knowledge. 
 
 And the like felicity of fond, unyielding recollec- 
 tion belongs in its measure to all those who drink 
 deeply of this same actively-benevolent spirit. The 
 names of Paul, Oberlin, Gordon Hall, Samuel J. 
 Mills, Henry Martyn, Harriet Newell and Mary 
 Lyon the world will not let die. The story of their 
 lives will enkindle love, stir compassion for the igno- 
 rant and erring, and animate holy resolve to bless and 
 save men, until the Millenium. Not their great 
 powers of mind ; not their learning, scholarship' nor 
 culture, but what they did in loving self denial for the 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 157 
 
 good of others, will make their names precious, and 
 their dominion sure through all time. 
 
 And as in individual lives, this lordship of love is the 
 unifying, organizing power, also, in history. Looked 
 at from the outside, history is a tale of revolutions 
 only; the birth, growth and death of governments, 
 institutions, nationalities and civilizations ; arts lost 
 and recovered, knowledge flourishing and declining — 
 Layard and Schleimann exhuming monuments of skill, 
 gazed at in stupid wonder by the descendants of those 
 who wrought them — one religion displaced by another 
 to be itself supplanted in turn, the sight of Solomon's 
 temple crowned anon by the Mosque of Omar ; the 
 once Christian church of St. Sophia surmounted for 
 centuries by the Moslem crescent but likely itself at 
 no distant day to be replaced by the once more vic- 
 torious cross — and so night chasing day and day chas- 
 ing night around the world and get the globe never 
 all irradiated at once ; and yet out of all these revolu- 
 tions is the gradual but sure evolution of that kingdom 
 of love which can not be moved, and which is with- 
 out end. 
 
 This is a supremacy that was beyond the wisdom of 
 the old civilizations. " The Roman world,'' says 
 Pressens, " was sick, not only from the shocks it had 
 received, but from a profound disgust of all things. 
 Their malady was weariness of ordinary life. Satiated 
 with all they had seen or possessed, they asked with 
 scorn, ' Is it always to be the same ? ' In search of 
 novelty they tortured nature, but could not escape 
 monotony, and ended by plunging into the mire. 
 Seeking the infinite in the finite, in the life of the 
 
158 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 senses, it grasped after the impossible in real things ; 
 or extravagant refinement and false grandeur, blended 
 with eccentricity in pleasure as in pomp/^ 
 
 Our own civilization is higher and enduring more 
 only because of its deeper and more enduring basis, 
 the revealed word of God — the noblest regenerator of 
 character, the true and only hope of the world. Noth- 
 ing can be conceived more utterly senseless than the 
 clamor of those " self-sufficient, all-sufficient, insuffi- 
 cient" men who prate about the Bible as an anti- 
 quated book, entirely "behind the times." Will 
 these jeering praters tell us where we shall look for 
 " the times " that are, as yet, quite up to the Bible ; 
 up to its standard of purity, uprightness and fidelity in 
 all private and public life ? Is it in New York, or 
 Philadelphia, or Chicago, or Cincinnati, or San Fran- 
 cisco ? What is needed, rather, is that we go from 
 these lofty heights of inspiration down into the greeds 
 and dishonesties, the ambitions and resentments, the 
 envies and cruelties, the sorrow and unrest of the 
 " times," and bring the " times" up to the love, 
 purity, peace and joy of the Bible. 
 
 The gathering of so many of your Alumnae to take 
 part in the exercises of this anniversary is another 
 beautiful illustration of my theme, of the Lordship of 
 Love. Year by year, for a quarter of a century, this 
 has been a place for out-going vessels, parting with 
 smiles and tears, each taking its separate course with 
 fears and hopes to try the fortunes of the deep. 
 
 But all at once the changing light on these far-off, 
 scattered sails, shows that the prows are turning. 
 And now the ships are seen sailing back over their 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 159 
 
 outward-bound courses in lines converging to their 
 one point of departure ; and now they rejoin in the 
 harbor, making this a fleet day, a day of mutual con- 
 gratulation and benediction. 
 
 And this is no forced yielding to a stern, unwelcome 
 summons. It is a glad, bounding response. You 
 have come with no laggard step, because drawn by 
 love. Love is the golden wand which has reversed 
 so many steps and turned back hearts where the steps 
 can not follow — the love which lightened all that may 
 have been dry or hard in school tasks, the radiant gem 
 which will continue to shine in undimmed brightness 
 when the casket which enshrines it shall have per- 
 ished forever. 
 
 At the close of Dr. Ballard^s address. Dr. Kumler 
 presented the diplomas in the following 
 
 ADDEESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS : 
 
 Young ladies of the Senior class: Having com- 
 pleted the allotted course of study in this institution, 
 you are now tq receive at her hands the testimonials 
 of your past diligence and present attainments. She 
 has sought to prepare you for acting efficiently your 
 part in life. Her aim has been to put you in posses- 
 sion of personal power — power for good. Of course 
 the right tenure of all beneficent power is use. What 
 advantageth it to be strong but inactive ? Who before 
 God can answer for the possession of faculties and in- 
 fluence never exerted for God's glory or man's wel- 
 fare ? If this seminary has been instrumental in cloth- 
 ing you in any degree with new power it has at the 
 
160 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 same time imparted new responsibilities. It is quite 
 natural therefore, as you step forth into active life 
 that you should inquire : How may I lay out my 
 strength for the good of the age and the honor of 
 Christ? It is this question, doubtless, that has led 
 you wisely to adopt as your class motto, " Seeketh 
 not her own.'' The soul that would wield the great- 
 est personal power for good, must act oufc this very 
 motto. The mind must go over from self to love. 
 Selfishness can not attain the highest power. When 
 the aim and labor terminate upon self, the hands are 
 weak to grasp and bless the age. Moral power seek- 
 eth not her own. Whoever would take the deepest 
 hold upon the age must work by this. The soul that 
 has no wider range for its solicitude than that bounded 
 by the horizon of self-interest, ha s never come into 
 the scope of a true life, and what is more, it shall 
 utterly fail of that for which it is so concerned. 
 " Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.'' The 
 way to save life is to give it up for Christ and his gos- 
 pel. Your class motto is at once the key to the 
 greatest personal power and surest success. Always 
 the deeds which most command our admiration, 
 are those of unselfish devotion to the good of others. 
 They who take forethought for thpse who do not or 
 can not take forethought for themselves, are the moral 
 heroes. Follow your motto; and failure is out of the 
 question. You will never complain of the want of a 
 suitable sphere. You will find it in your homes, your 
 neighborhoods; everywhere you will find those who 
 will challenge your sympathy and care. This moral 
 power is a restless energy of love. Show it a good to 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 161 
 
 be done and that is constraint enough for its activity. 
 It will stoop to a fallen child, set it on its feet and 
 wipe away its tears. It will succor the faint and re- 
 inforce the tempted. It will care for the aged and 
 the orphan and the outcast. It will be especially 
 eager in affording the aid that goes deeper than the 
 outward need. It will be busy in scattering the leaves 
 of the tree of life, which are for the healing of the 
 nations. It will light the gospel fires on heathen 
 shores, and be " steadfast, immovable, always abound- 
 ing in the work of the Lord/^ You can not inaug- 
 urate for yourselves such a life as this, and not be felt 
 for good. The world will be the better for your liv- 
 ing in it ; the church will be the stonger, and every 
 good cause will feel the inspiration of your power, and 
 when God's record spreads out its scroll for studious 
 eyes in yonder world, your renown will be high with 
 heaven's plumed peerage. 
 
 As we bid you farewell to-day in your going forth 
 from these seminary rules and lessons and trainings, 
 which have ever aimed to furnish you with the great- 
 est working power, we bid you bear in mind your own 
 class motto, furnished beforehand by the pen of in- 
 spiration for your guidance, and implanted in the heart 
 only by the Holy Ghost, which imparts the love that 
 seeketh not her own. As you go forth into the un- 
 known future, the earnest prayers of your beloved 
 teachers for you are that from this day forward you 
 may all commit your souls unreservedly to the great 
 Captain of your salvation, that he may lead you every 
 step. So shall your path be light, your success sure, 
 
 11 
 
162 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 }our days on earth useful and happy, and the end 
 everlasting joy, and so shall you meet again to renew 
 your earthly attachments, to rejoice in the work which 
 God has done in you, for you, and by you, and to cast 
 your crown at his feet. Looking upon your bright 
 faces, your vigor of body, mind and heart, we bid you, 
 in the name of your Alma Mater, and in the name of 
 our divine Master, work for God, work for souls, 
 work unselfishly. 
 
 With a deep personal interest in your highest wel- 
 fare, we say, God bless you all. 
 
 " How sweetly fall these simple words 
 
 Upon the human heart, 
 
 When friends long bound by strongest ties 
 
 Are doomed by fate to part ; 
 
 You sadly joress the hand of those 
 
 Who thus in love caress you, 
 
 And soul responsive beats to soul 
 
 In breathing out " God less you." 
 
 We give you these diplomas and our earnest prayer 
 " God bless you.'^ 
 
 The class poem, read by Ella Adams, was written 
 by Mary Clark, so soon to illustrate it in far-away 
 
 Persia. 
 
 SEEKETH NOT HEE OWK 
 
 In each human breast deep hidden, 
 
 Nourished by each secret thought, 
 Lies a principle of seeking 
 
 With great evil often fraught; 
 And within our hearts it wakens 
 
 Restless longings and desires, 
 That are pulsing, throbbing, surging, 
 
 Like confijied volcanic fires. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 163 
 
 So we strive and toil : our labor 
 
 Dims the eye and pales the cheek, 
 But it does not bring us pleasure, 
 
 Though with earnestness we seek ; 
 For the soul, when bending earthward, 
 
 By its golden gleams enticed, 
 Finds no resting when it whispers, 
 
 " All of self and none of Christ." 
 
 Our tired hearts cry out for friendship, 
 
 And for love, our lives to bless ; 
 For inspiring words, well laden 
 
 With a wealth of tenderness. 
 And we heed not those around us. 
 
 Whose sad hearts are crushed with fears, 
 From whose eyes, with God-like fingers. 
 
 We might wipe away the tears. 
 
 In the universe there's nothing 
 
 Deeper, stronger, than the soul. 
 Though we search the earth and heavens 
 
 From the center to the pole. 
 And the things we put within it 
 
 Leave it empty as before. 
 Till we seek the things of heaven 
 
 And Christ fills it evermore. 
 
 Though the Savior, now in glory, 
 
 Needeth not our tender care. 
 Yet for him the burdens of his 
 
 Little ones we all may bear. 
 We can give a cup of water. 
 
 And how sweet his words will be, 
 " As ye did it to the humblest, 
 
 Ye have done it unto me." 
 
 We can tell God's loving message, 
 
 We can breath a word of prayer, 
 We can bring the sick to Jesus, 
 
 Lay them at his feet with care 
 
164 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 And the wine of consolation, 
 
 With the oil, we can pour in 
 When the heart is bruised and bleeding 
 
 From its conflict fierce with sin. 
 
 Seeking thus the things of heaven, 
 
 We shall grow in word and look 
 Like our fairest elder brother, 
 
 Who himself our nature took. 
 With his name upon our forehead, 
 
 And his kingdom in our heart 
 We lose sight of earthly seeking, 
 
 Since we have that better part. 
 
 Then as weary hireling waiteth 
 
 For the shadow of the night. 
 We shall hail the stars of evening, 
 
 Gleaming through the soft twilight ; 
 Hail them as the eyes of angels. 
 
 Waiting till the welcome tone 
 Bids them carry home to glory 
 
 Each who '' seeketh not her own." 
 
 Miss Laura Olmstead, Class of ^73, who has now- 
 joined our mission band at Bangkok, Siam, read the 
 
 KESOLUTIONS OF THE ALUMNA. 
 
 Resolved, First, That we, the daughters of our dear Alma 
 Mater are filled with joy unspeakable at this precious privi- 
 lege of gathering within these home walls, made dear by so 
 many pleasant associations and hallowed by the constant 
 abiding presence of the holy spirit, who "binds our hearts in 
 Christian love." 
 
 Second, That we bring our tribute of gratitude to lay at the 
 feet of our beloved Miss Peabody, who, during all these years, 
 has ever been a kind, loving, patient, mother ; a forbearing, 
 faithful, sympathizing teacher ; showing continued kindness, 
 thoughtfulness and consideration toward those who have been 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 1^5 
 
 permitted to share with her in this glorious work, upholding 
 and sustaining us through days of inexperience, and leading 
 us still to the Fountain of Wisdom, and to the " Rock that is 
 higher than we." And to our dear Miss Jessup, whose beau- 
 tiful life will always be remembered as helpful in leading us 
 in God's own way, we bring grateful tribute. 
 
 Third, That to the faithful band of trustees who have been 
 to us as fathers — during adversity as well as prosperity — to 
 whose skillful management in the use of means entrusted to 
 them, we owe so much, w^e render heartfelt thanks. 
 
 Fourth, That we have been afforded rare enjoyment by the 
 vivid pen pictures of heart and home life which our absent 
 sisters have so thoughtfully sent us in lieu of their presence, 
 but yet they do not satisfy, and the longing to look into their 
 faces and listen to their dear familiar voices, is greater than 
 ever. Tenderly and reverently, too, we think of those whose 
 voices are hushed, but whose spirits (as we confidently be- 
 lieve) are hovering near us at this blessed time. 
 
 "Oh, the lost, the untorgotten 1 
 In our hearts they perish not." 
 
 Fifth, That we thoroughly appreciate the great labor and 
 sacrifice which the grand home coming has imposed upon the 
 present band of teachers and pupils. Our admiration 
 and thanks for the care and skill which they have displayed 
 in providing so perfectly for every want, are not bounded by 
 the imperfect manner in which we have been able to express 
 our gratitude. 
 
 Siocth, That we rejoice to see the ever-increasing interest in 
 missionary work which is manifested by the daughters of our 
 Alma Mater, and our hearts go out in prayerful and loving 
 remembrance of those who have consecrated their lives to the 
 noble work. 
 
 Severith, That the Alumna put forth greater effort in the 
 future to advance the welfare of our beloved institution, and 
 that most of all we will never fail to ask for it richest bless- 
 ings from the Father's hand. 
 
 Eighth, That the Alumnae Association endeavor to raise 
 within five years from date of organization, the sum of $5,000 
 
166 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 as a special memorial offering; such offering, be it larger or 
 smaller, to be securely invested by the treasurer of the sem- 
 inary as the nucleus of an Alumnse fund, the income only, of 
 said fund, to be used toward the education of those who ex- 
 pect to devote themselves to Christian work. 
 
 Ninth, That we bring hearte newly consecrated to our lov- 
 ing Heavenly Father, and that we truly unite in crowning 
 Jesus Lord of All, 
 
 The doxology was sung^ and Dr. Ballard pro- 
 nounced the benediction. 
 
 Dinner followed soon, and was quite as delightful an 
 occasion as the day previous. Even a larger number 
 of guests were served. 
 
 Adjourned business meetings of the Alumnae were 
 held at eight A. m. and four p. M. Arrangements were 
 made for the publication of this memorial, and a mem- 
 ber of each class appointed to write a class history for 
 the volume, which will be found in another part of 
 this book. 
 
 The organization of a permanent Alumnae Associa- 
 tion was completed by the adoption of the following 
 constitution, and the election of officers : 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE ALUMNA 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Article 1. This society shall be called the Alumnse As- 
 sociation of the Western Female Seminary. 
 
 Art. 2. Its objects shall be to deepen the interest of old 
 scholars and the different classes in each other ; to place those 
 who have been connected with the seminary in a united, 
 helpful relation to it ; to keep alive and quicken the interest 
 of all in Christian education. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 167 
 
 Art. 3. All teachers and graduates of the seminary may 
 become members by subscribing to the constitution and by- 
 laws, and paying one dollar as an entrance fee. 
 
 Art. 4. The officers shall be elected once in two years, or 
 oftener in case of vacancy, and shall consist of a president, 
 five vice-presidents, a secretary, aided, so long as the business 
 of the association shall require it, by three assistant secre- 
 taries ; and a committee of appropriation, consisting of three 
 members, one of whom shall be the principal of the seminary. 
 
 Art. 5. A meeting of the society shall be held annually, 
 in the seminary, on anniversary day or the day preceding, 
 and special meetings may be called, as provided in the by- 
 laws. 
 
 Art. 6. All moneys received shall be paid to the secretary, 
 and by her paid over to the treasurer of the Western Female 
 Seminary, to be by him held and invested as a separate fund 
 in trust, for such uses as may be designated from time to time 
 by the committee of appropriation. 
 
 BY-LAWS. 
 
 1 . The secretary shall call special meetings upon the order 
 of the president, or on the written request of any eight or 
 more members, and at such time and place as may be desig- 
 nated in said request. 
 
 2. Officers shall be elected by the majority vote of the 
 members present at the annual meeting. 
 
 3. The secretary shall keep a record of all the transactions 
 of the association, including receipts and expenditures, and 
 shall, from time to time, inform absent members of any 
 facts in the history or condition of the seminary which she 
 may deem of special interest to them. 
 
 4. The committee of appropriation shall direct what use 
 shall be made of the funds. 
 
 5. Members of senior classes of the seminary providen- 
 tially prevented from graduating, upon recommendation of 
 their classes, may become associate members on the terms 
 named in article 3. 
 
 6. The constitution and by-laws may be amended by the 
 vote of a majority of members at any annual meeting. 
 
168 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 In the afternoon the leave takings began, and Fri- 
 day morning the last had gone, save a few who re- 
 mained with the teachers over the Sabbath. 
 
 The farewells were hot sad, and we will not dwell 
 upon them. 
 
 We had been brought close together in one family, 
 never to be separated again in spirit, even though 
 time and space might intervene. Children and loved 
 ones were calling home again ; life's duties were wait- 
 ing to be resumed with new and precious significance. 
 
 A halo of happy memories of the two beautiful 
 days went with us to our homes, glorifying the com- 
 mon place of everyday life, and sweet echoes re- 
 sounded in our hearts for weeks. 
 
 Those who remained over the Sabbath, speak of the 
 Sabbath morning prayer meeting in Miss Peabody's 
 room, when each brought some precious flower of ex- 
 perience from the reunion days, and wove them to- 
 gether for a chaplet for the sacred head whom we 
 would crown Lord of all. It was a fitting finale to 
 the week of blessing. 
 
LIBRARY. 
 
CLASS HISTORIES. 
 
 The succeeding class histories, being compiled, each by one 
 of its own members, present a variety in unity. 
 
 We trust that even the casual reader wonders with more 
 than a passing interest, what may have been or will be the 
 life histories of the entire 406 Alumnae. 
 
 Space forbids the complete record here, and their sacred- 
 ness renders it inappropriate. Those which are given may 
 be taken as types of many more, in similar spheres, which 
 are withheld. All would lay the united volume of most that 
 has been noble, beautiful and useful in their lives, upon an 
 altar of gratitude to Alma Mater, and thankfulness to God 
 for all the sweet and holy lessons learned within her walls. 
 
 CLASS OF 1856. 
 
 This class had but two members, as will be seen by refer- 
 ence to the catalogue in another part of the book. Neither 
 were present at the reunion, but Miss M. Augusta Ch'apin 
 writes : "Our class had a short but pleasant history. I was 
 both teacher and pupil all the year, finishing the course begun 
 at Holyoke Seminary. I have never had the pleasure of 
 meeting my class-mate, Mrs. Fuller (nee Harrington), since. 
 I have taught continuously since my graduation, and enjoy 
 the duties more and more each succeeding year." No word 
 has been received from her class-mate. 
 
 This class selected for its motto "Lord, what wilt thou have 
 me to do ?" and the diplomas of that and every succeeding 
 class have born this prayer, beneath the figure of a young 
 woman kneeling before an altar. 
 
170 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 CLASS OF 1857. 
 
 Jennie [Sturdevant] Farris was the only member present 
 at the reunion. Greater space is given to this, the first full 
 class, as a sort of type of those to follow, all of whose personal 
 histories space will not permit to give so fully. At the open- 
 ing of the second year of the seminary, when the girls gath- 
 ered for regular seats in the seminary hall, among the first 
 words heard, were substantially these : " It is a real comfort 
 to feel we have old scholars this year ! Please take seats as- 
 signed as I read your names." The names of ten young 
 ladies were first read. ''These," continued Miss Peabody 
 "will be our 'senior class' — of which we hope to be very 
 proud." Being the first full class which had pursued its stud- 
 ies in the seminary, its organization was quite an event. 
 
 As the privileges and dignities of " seniors " began to be ac- 
 corded to it, the long-drawn sigh was often heard, " I wish I 
 was a ' senior.' " 
 
 We fancy the echoes of that sigh have ceased to vibrate, for 
 it is now better realized that this mount of privilege, as all 
 others, implies a previous long, steep ascent. 
 
 The likeness between classes of the same school, as with 
 children of a family, is quite apparent, yet class or child has 
 each some individuality, and so holds forever " its own place, 
 simple, pathetic, or thrilling, in the family story so dear to all. 
 Ten more contrasting could scarcely have have been found, 
 than the members of this class whom one year of close asso- 
 ciation welded into one, to make its own peculiar impress. 
 
 "Lord accept our tenfold offering," was selected for a 
 class motto, from which the name "Laoto" was derived. A 
 class society was formed for future acquaintance and corres- 
 pondence, of which Helen M. Dudley was chosen president. 
 
 With undeiinable emotions of grief at parting, yet confident 
 anticipations for the future, this first band of Alumnae turned 
 from the seminary steps toward life's broadening realities. 
 
 Old words expanded with new meaning as they went, or 
 faded and were forgotten by young hearts flinging care aside. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 171 
 
 and measuring fond, harmonious hopes Hghtly as ever they 
 had ghded through " cahsthenic " mazes, singing 
 
 or, 
 
 ' ' A rosy wreath I'll twine for thee, " 
 
 • ' The mists of the morning are rolling away ; 
 The eastern star fades at the coming of day; 
 The foam of the billow already I see, 
 And there is my little bark waiting for me— 
 
 For me, FOB ME ! 
 
 And there is my little bark waiting for me." 
 
 A year later the first class letter reported five teaching, one 
 making " wonderful achievements in the pot and kettle line " 
 under her mother's superintendence, and another preparing 
 her bridal outfit. 
 
 Two years after graduation the first class meeting was held 
 at the seminary, four being present. A poem which had been 
 voted for this occasion during school days was read, entitled 
 '' Thrice Conqueror." A year later the annual class letter 
 conveyed the sad word that Eliza [Scott] Olds, the first of the 
 Alumnse sisterhood married, had, in less than one short year, 
 with her little babe, the first seminary grandchild, vanished 
 forever from a happy home and the presence of those who 
 loved them on earth. Another was married and removed to 
 California — others were married or about to be — all had been 
 teaching more or less, and were widely scattered and full of 
 individual responsibilities. Since then there has been per- 
 sonal correspondence but no class letter ; not, however, from 
 any want of fidelity to each other. Death repeatedly invaded 
 the ranks, early taking the President, and now five are gone 
 and five remain. The ra^oidly circling, ever narrowing years, 
 leave little opportunity to return for lost threads, but when 
 it is known that this class has given to the world, first or last 
 ten good teachers, nine faithful wives, and claims with par- 
 donable pride thirty of the " grand children " on earth and 
 in heaven, who shall say she has failed in duty, lost her come- 
 liness, or is shorn of her power. 
 
 Five years after graduation the second death occurred. 
 The daughter of a clergyman; a gentle, retiring girl, scarcely 
 
172 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 known well by her class mates until her modest reserve was 
 broken in the hour of parting, and her heart wrote itself out 
 in the letters they afterward exchanged. Her cup of sorrow 
 was her marriage portion, and, like a terrified, wounded 
 young creature she sought refuge in her old home to die. 
 
 Maggie [Dudley] Sinks died a few years later. She was a 
 rare spirit; sensitive, witty, genial, energetic, highly endowed 
 in mind, greatly beloved at home and at school. Sayings of 
 hers remembered by class mates are, " Labor is life — 'tis the 
 still water faileth." " Idle hearts only the dark future fright- 
 ens."' " Play the sweet keys, woald'st thou keep them in 
 tune," and a quotation from Miss Peabody " Put feeling in 
 the pocket when it comes in the way of duty." She made 
 botany a specialty after leaving the seminary, and taught for 
 several years. At the close of the war she was married to 
 one whom she had known and loved from childhood ; a soldier 
 and a hero. The robbery of her husband's store gave a ner- 
 vous shock to a constitution naturally frail, from which she 
 never recovered. She buried a little daughter but six weeks 
 old, and a little son, a winning, social little fellow, only a year 
 old. These two bereavements were more than her health 
 could bear, and she faded away, sweetly and patiently. After 
 her death, among the keepsakes were found some faded flow- 
 ers taken from the waxen fingers of her baby daughter, with 
 the lines, 
 
 " As a twig trembles, while a bird 
 
 Lights on to sing, then leaves unbent; 
 So is my memory thrilled and stirred; 
 I only know she came and went " 
 
 Her last words were those of prayer, and soon her husband, 
 sitting by his desolate hearth, said, " I thought ten years ago 
 I had suffered all I could. " His stricken heart never rallied 
 and in a few years he followed his beloved. 
 
 Catharine [Doolittle] Chamberlain was a very successfu]; 
 teacher for seven years in the north and as governess in the 
 family of a wealthy planter near Cumberland, Tennessee, 
 where she was at the breaking out of the war. 
 
 At the earnest solicitation of the familv she remained jis 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I73 
 
 long as possible and then was safely conducted through the 
 army lines and returned home. 
 
 After her marriage her home was in a new and growing 
 colony, Williamsport, Missouri, where she was a social and 
 moral power. Her pastor said ''her power and influence 
 for good were fully equal to any other five ladies of my 
 parish. " Of three little sons she buried two and herself soon 
 followed in death by a malignant fever contracted in the care 
 of sick friends. 
 
 Khoda S. Driggs, lovely, gentle, talented, idolized Rhoda! 
 who entered the unseen portals out of suffering unspeakable. 
 She taught continuously after her graduation, first at the 
 seminary and afterward in the high schools at Madison, 
 Evansville, Greencastle and Indianapolis. Almost peerless 
 as a teacher she was no less treasured as a woman, daughter, 
 sister and friend. Her graceful pen frequently contributed 
 much admired essays, poems and sketches to the secular and 
 religious press. She was as modest and retiring as she was 
 beloved and gifted. 
 
 But relentless suffering laid its hand on her^beautiful, 
 useful life in 1876, and for three months she suffered so 
 terribly with a tumor of the stomach and other complications 
 that those who loved her involuntarily shut away the memory 
 of those agonizing days, " lest, " as her sister writes, " with 
 aching heart and tear blinded eyes — in utter rebellion I find 
 myself presuming to question the love and wisdom of God." 
 Multitudes of friends, distant and near, vied with each other 
 in daily tokens of anxious desire to lighten her sufferings. 
 In all her agony not a murmuring or impatient word 
 escaped her. Her life had been " hid with Christ in God, " 
 and restfuUy, quietly she slept the closing hours away July 
 25, 1876. 
 
 Loving hands brought such a profusion of flowers, em- 
 blematic of the fragrance of her sweet, pure, high-souled life, 
 that the casket was hidden amid them, and they were laid 
 everywhere about her place of rest; they left her asleep under 
 a coverlet of flowers, and returning, found the desolated home 
 made bright and fragrant with them by sympathizing friends. 
 
174 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Of the five members of this class who remain, all have been 
 happy in the relations of wifehood and home. Four are 
 mothers of sturdy, live, growing (or grown) boys and girls, 
 whose care, training, education and future comprise mainly 
 the duties, hopes and solicitudes of their respective mother's 
 lives. To these duties one adds those of. the pastor's wife. 
 She describes herself as a "Martha, careful and troubled 
 about many things," with a husband just the reverse, whose 
 cheerful trust in God and man keeps her faith, hope and 
 charity from giving out, and reveals to her the bright side of 
 life, which she says has been a very happy one, with more of 
 the comforts and pleasures than of the vexations, though 
 there have been at times trials and sorrows that surged the 
 heart, but God gave sustaining grace. 
 
 Another, who, with Rhoda Driggs, bore the standard for 
 highest scholarship in the class, and was for several years a 
 teacher, aware of the best that the world can offer for its 
 votaries, and of all life's possibilities to those who will make 
 the needed sacrifice for their attainment, now in the midst of 
 her years, writes : 
 
 " I ask no other record than a ' Well done,' no higher praise 
 than that I am a good wife and devoted mother. It is no 
 small task to bear, to nurse, to rear six children. I have that 
 number; three daughters and three sons — generous boys 
 with material in them for good men. My friends vote my 
 life a hard one ; from their stand point it may be, but I know 
 some excellent lubricators, and keep my domestic machinery 
 moving easily. I am content to revolve in the sphere of 
 home, according to the old fashioned theory that it is the 
 proper sphere for woman — or, perhaps I had better say I 
 have accepted the situation." 
 
 From other sources we learn that her daughter has gradu- 
 ated from the high school, and been one year a teacher in the 
 city where she resides. 
 
 Another, after many years of happy married life, in dis- 
 tant California, is watching month by month as paralysis slowly 
 creeps upon her husband. She writes, "I could not have 
 borne this terrible trial, and the death of three of my six lit- 
 tle ones, had not the Everlasting arms been underneath me." 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 175 
 
 Yet she writes buoyant and cheerful as one whose mental 
 and spiritual resources are equal to the promise " as thy day 
 is so shall thy strength be." One is an artist and the wife of 
 an artist — not ambitious for herself she says, but with bound- 
 less ambition for her husband. Her only children are those 
 of the artist's brush of which many hang east and west. She 
 seems very happy in them, and modestly expresses the hope 
 that so far they may haply have escaped repose in garrets. 
 
 One mother, who has buried five out of eight children, 
 writes, and we record it here in this first class history, be- 
 cause it will vibrate the chords of the heart of all mother- 
 hood along down the line of the twenty-five classes, voicing 
 in one, the nearly two hundred mothers whom these class 
 histories represent. 
 
 " I am cook, washerwoman and seamstress for a husband 
 and three boys, with healthy appetites. The fresh enthusi- 
 asm of my boys over the Murphy pledge just signed, is de- 
 priving me of ability to think or write intelligibly at this 
 moment." -se -5f -x- <« Perhaps I might note the summer of 
 73, the busiest of my life. At this j^eriod these four boys " 
 (one has since died), "the smartest, of course — or, among the 
 very smartest — of the seminary's various grand-sons, all 
 had the whooping cough at once, the eldest being but five 
 years old." * ^ ^ "Mj^ husband, a lawyer, is a home 
 man, and the only shadow, except the shadow of death, 
 that has darkened my life, has been during the hard times, 
 when, being one among the unfortunate ones, he was obliged, 
 for the sake of employment, to be absent from home for 
 months at a time, leaving me with the entire care of my 
 little family. 
 
 " In earlier years the feeling of unprofitableness troubled 
 me ; but no great mission has come to me. I have been too 
 busy to seek one, and now look forward to no particular hap- 
 piness in this world outside of my own home. My chief am- 
 bition is that my three remaining boys (out of eight children) 
 may live to be useful. God-fearing men, whom the seminary 
 may be proud to greet as grandsons. I certainly hope it 
 may have daughters-in-law for me among ite future gradu- 
 ates, and would suggest that a special department be estab- 
 
176 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 lished, in which the mysteries of hoy nature be the topic of in- 
 struction. I propose that successful mothers have charge of 
 this department, and that these lessons be published for the 
 benefit of discouraged mothers among the graduates. Surely, 
 with such additional training, the seminary daughters would 
 go forth fully i)repared for the fulfillment of woman's mission 
 in life ! The order and punctuality taught at the seminary 
 has been of great benefit to me in my household affairs. To 
 the influence of the spiritual training we can alfbear testi- 
 mony, I trust. The ecstacies of " higher life " have not been 
 within my experience. I have found my bereavements hard 
 to bear. The very name of " diphtheria " strikes terror to 
 my heart, for my children have mostly died suddenly with 
 that or some kindred disease ; and it is only by comparing 
 their blessed lives with our poor, unsatisfying one, that I can 
 comprehend the lesson and bow submissive. My faith is 
 simple ; I try to trust God in all things, and, when the way 
 has seemed dark, have ever found him waiting with a bless- 
 ing at the end. I am growing old. My hair is gray and I 
 am thin in flesh ; but I feel young, and am still able to tramp 
 with my boys." 
 
 CLASS OF 1858. 
 
 This was the banner class of our reunion as regards num- 
 bers present, and also in the fact that, though twenty-two 
 years old, and numbering just twenty-two, the circle is still 
 unbroken by death. Its history may, therefore, be brief, 
 hoping humbly for the record one day of those whose " works 
 do follow them." 
 
 Eleven of the class were present, and at least thirty-six 
 children gladden the various homes. Those present were — 
 
 Margaretta [Brewer] Dickey. 
 Sarah [Clark] Williams. 
 Linda Dugan. 
 Elizabeth [Dugan] Gordon. 
 Mary [Spooner] Worcester. 
 Harriet [Thompson] McVey. 
 
 Caroline [Doolittle] Linton. 
 Lucy Gerrish. 
 Mary [Hale] James. 
 Auretta Hoyt. 
 Mary S. Thomasson. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 177 
 
 Several of these had been teachers, as well as others, who 
 were absent. One had been a missionary among the Indians, 
 and of the absent ones Jennie [Dawes] Shedd is a missionary 
 at Ooromiah, Persia, where she went with her husband soon 
 after graduation. She has once returned to this country, 
 leaving her three eldest children with their grandparents to 
 be educated. Famine-stricken Persia has blessed her hands 
 and those of her husband for the food received through the 
 generosity of friends in this country, as well as for the " bread 
 and water of life." 
 
 Two of this class are wives of ministers, one is a worker in 
 the temperance work and many are in the quiet round of home 
 duties as mothers, daughters and sisters. Some for years 
 have been ministering to their sick ones, while others have 
 required to be ministered unto. 
 
 All have felt the Master's refining fires, but in all the result 
 has been his clearer image. One has v/alked with them in 
 the fiery furnace, upheld them in the deep waters, and all 
 testify of his unfailing truth and love. Letters were read 
 from most of the absent ones, sending greeting and blessings 
 to those so fortunate as to meet in Alma Mater again. All 
 write in love and gratitude for her influence upon their lives. 
 
 Many rise up and call her blessed, but none honor and 
 revere her more than we. May heaven's choicest blessings 
 be upon her! 
 
 CLASS OF 1859. 
 Five attended the reunion : 
 I»aura [Hoyt] King. 
 Margaret [Loughridge] Aiken. 
 Sabra [Newton] McLatighlin. 
 
 Sarah Wilkins. 
 
 Drusilla [Warthin] Williams, 
 
 Two little misses, Abbie King and Pearl Williams, accom- 
 panied their mothers. 
 
 Two of the class, Anna Donaldson and Martha [Behan] 
 Cranston have joined that happy reunion " up higher." Al- 
 though there was no 
 
 ' ' Touch of the vanished hand 
 And sound of the voice that is still, " 
 12 
 
178 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Yet, as their names were tenderly spoken, we could feel their 
 presence, always so gentle in life, and we fancied their spirits 
 might be looking down upon us out of the " cloud of wit- 
 nesses." Only three of the remaining eighteen failed to be 
 present or to send letters full of love and interest for " dear 
 Alma Mater." 
 
 Sue [Davidson] Fry fills a position at Wesleyan University, 
 Bloomington, 111., where her husband is a professor. She 
 has been very active in woman's mission and temperance 
 work. 
 
 Mrs. Ellen Gow, whose letter to her pupils read on reunion 
 day, gives the story of her life, writes, " It seems so very 
 strange that I should not be at the twenty-fifth anniversary. 
 It was always my intention to be there." 
 
 Hattie Eastman sends greeting from her far off home in 
 Burmah with the wish that she could be present. Through 
 others we learn that her associate missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Bunker, say, " If we had made out an order for a woman, it 
 could not have been filled more to our minds." She has 
 written a Life of Luther, to refute the teachings of the 
 Roman Catholic's who were trying to lead away their people, 
 which Mr. B. says is admirable. Her health is good and her 
 labors most abundant. 
 
 In her letter read on reunion day, we catch a glimpse of 
 her remarkably busy, useful life. 
 
 Clarinda [Wilkins] Langridge went south as a teacher to 
 the freedmen, where she married a gentleman who had 
 formerly been a missionary in Africa, now a practicing 
 physician at Montgomery, Alabama. She says the Lord is 
 giving her heart and hands much work. She has charge of a 
 school of sixty colored young ladies and girls and her hus- 
 band shows the true missionary spirit in filling the position 
 of pastor for the second colored Baptist church. Laura 
 Tuthill and Lucy Levy, the largest and the smallest of the 
 class, and Sarah Wilkins are unmarried, and we doubt not are 
 nobly filling the varied and essential duties pertaining to the 
 order of the " protestant nuns," who teach our schools, are 
 called by the name of " auntie " and make themselves gener- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 179 
 
 ally and unselfishly useful in the home, the church and 
 society. Nellie [Force] Childs, in her old sweet way, writes, 
 while convalescing from a recent illness, '' I shall be with you 
 in spirit. It is twenty-one years since our class unclasped 
 hands to go our separate ways pledged to our class motto, 
 ' Life, take it up bravely, ' etc. Twenty of those years I have 
 been the wife of a pastor and am to-day the happy, grateful 
 mother of nine children, six daughters and three sons. Only 
 four are left in our earthly home." 
 
 Sallie [Greason] Mitchell, Kate [Pierce] Treat, Mary 
 [Putnam] Fitch, Emma [Mixer] White, Mary [Ellis] Row- 
 ley, Maggie [Loughridge] Aiken, Sabra [Newton] McLaugh- 
 lin, Laura [Hoyt] King either reported for themselves in 
 person at the reunion or in bright cheerful letters full of love 
 and tender memories of school life, but underneath all was 
 apparent the undertone of life's earnest responsibilities met 
 in womanly strength and divine grace. Their reports all 
 reflected the light from cosy home nests, where children call 
 them mother and retiring home duties take the place of the 
 school room responsibilities many of them fulfilled for a time 
 after graduation. Emily [Bailey] Snow and Margaret [Gufiin] 
 Kackley, though failing to report, belong to the same band of 
 home makers. Mrs. Kackley is a widow with the care of 
 three children devolving upon her. 
 
 Drusilla [Warthin] Williams is also a widow, with a 
 son and daughter left to her care. She has returned to her 
 early profession of teaching. Some members of the class 
 failed to give the number of their children but at least sixteen 
 boys, twelve girls and four step daughters may be counted as 
 the living "olive branches" around the table of the class 
 of '59. 
 
 CLASS OF 1860. 
 
 Of the twenty-five whose names fill our class-roll only 
 seven were permitted to gather the sunbeams of June at the 
 seminary on her twenty-fifth anniversary. 
 
 Our number and her anniversaries that day were equal, 
 
130 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 though seven were with the seminary's vanished years that 
 wait upon us in eternity, and eleven were in other tents on 
 distant fields, still we were, we always are, twenty-five. Blest 
 be the power that can immortalize ! 
 
 Under the daisies are the caskets, in heaven the souls, of 
 Elizabeth [Ballard] Walker, Elizabeth A. Howell, Harriet N. 
 Crawford, Louisa M. Wasson, Zorilda [Brown] Bennett, Nancy 
 J. Williamson, and Martha [Smith] Calvert, who, in the order 
 named, have drank their cup from the vintage rolling time 
 has pressed, " and one by one gone silently to rest." 
 
 Mary [Adams] Draper, Margaret A. Coles, Mary [Knapp] 
 Clevenger, Mary L. Shedd, Anna [Whitten] Scott and Ellen 
 E. Smith, waked the echoes and the melody of memories, 
 that are waiting always for our voices on the spot where our 
 class stood homeless on the night of January 14, 1860. It was 
 not for us all to partake of the feast, but blessings have 
 reached all from New England to California, from Orient to 
 Occident, of the glory of our celestial season. In a suite of 
 rooms, and in another not remote, were clustered our repre- 
 sentatives, and here, after the reception of the first evening, 
 was read our class history, thus blending the past with the 
 present, joyfully invoking the spirits of those absent, but liv- 
 ing tearfully again embalming the memory of our sainted 
 dead. 
 
 The class records exhibit a faithful performance of our 
 watchword — Act. We have heeded our instruction, 
 
 ' ' Wake ! for the sun has scattered into flight 
 The stars before him, from the field of night. 
 The bird of time has but a little way 
 To flutter— and the bird is on the wing." 
 
 Possibly the most distinguished service for the Master was 
 that rendered by Nancy J. Williamson in the devotion of her 
 entire life to the enlightenment of the Sioux and Dacotah 
 Indians. She published a little volume — selections from the 
 Bible in the Dacotah tongue, and through this she yet speaks 
 to them, though her voice is silent now, save in the land of 
 the Great Spirit, whither she went after seventeen years of 
 earnest endeavor. A shorter, but not less acceptable service 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 181 
 
 was that of Harriet N. Crawford in Persia, who, after five 
 years came to us again seeking the health which did not re- 
 turn, and heaven's portals opened for her. Others are 
 working in fields white to the harvest — the wives of ministers ; 
 others are demonstrating woman's ability to labor success- 
 fully in the field of mind ; others are quietly performing the 
 duties of wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, — and still others 
 are serving, though they " only stand and wait," — for to some 
 has been given more of zeal than strength — but, 
 
 " Whether at Naisapur or Babylon, 
 Whether the cup too sweet, or bitter run ''— 
 
 we think it can be written of all, " she hath done what she 
 could." Seventeen wear other names than those upon the old 
 roll. To almost all life is very beautiful in its earnestness, 
 though some walk slowly, and sadly, deeming it a long jour- 
 ney through the shadows before light breaks at last. 
 
 During the twenty years since we clasped our hands to turn 
 and go, the class letter has made its annual round without a 
 single failure. Powers have departed, possessions vanished, 
 opinions changed, but '' affliction cemented the tie," and has 
 rendered our attachment to pleasant duty invincible. Over 
 the mountains and across the lea, we have annually signaled 
 our sisters and caught the words " Hail, and Farewell!" But 
 this brief chapter must close. It needs the limner's pencil to 
 paint the picture as we would have it, and on the ever 
 precious faces we beg him through sifted clouds to let down 
 heaven's best, most golden, sunshine. 
 
 CLASS OF 1861. 
 
 The Class of '61 helps to form the link between the old 
 seminary and the new. We were driven out of the old home 
 by fire, and walked the plank into the new, for our diplomas. 
 In the beginning of the year we were twelve, but Nellie Little 
 left, and afterward joined another class. We studied without 
 vacation, did what we could to help refurnish the new home, 
 
 ^ 
 
182 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 and bore, meanwhile, the first shock of war, that called for 
 our brothers and dear ones. When this came Mattie Fry 
 left us. She has, long since, gone to her better home, and, 
 after a few years, Jennie Kile joined her. Belle Riggs Wil- 
 liams and Naomi Diament are missionaries to China ; seven 
 have been teachers and five of our number are • married. 
 Belle W. has six children, Ellen J. Dale four boys, and Anna 
 S. Clark one, named Stuart. Sallie H. Field has had six 
 children, two are in the better land, and Mary B. Osborn has 
 two, with one gone before. Emma Driggs teaches continu- 
 ously. She has been for some time at Evansville, Ind. Five 
 were present at the reunion : Belle [Riggs] Williams, Sarah 
 [Hubbard] Field, Mary [Bennet] Osborn, Sarah and Mary Eeis. 
 
 CLASS OF 1862. 
 
 Sarah [Dickinson] Corey lived in Chicago, till the great fire 
 destroyed their property. She has three children. Mary 
 Landis, taught and married. Her two daughters are Fleta 
 and Grace. She writes : " Sarah and her two little girls are 
 visiting me. I truly wish more of my class could give me 
 the same pleasure." 
 
 Francis Eells has devoted herself to teaching, and to the 
 care of friends. Since the death of her sister, she has been 
 the stay and support of her aged mother. Her letter is full 
 of gratitude for promises fulfilled. 
 
 Cornelia [Little] Griggs spent eight years as a home mission- 
 ary's wife in Minnesota and Michigan, and for the last eight 
 years has lived in Connecticut. She has two boys and three 
 girls, and says her blessings have far outweighed her trials. 
 
 Mary Moore was the only member present at the reunion. 
 She writes: The years have come and gone and I have 
 been busy with the duties which lay nearest. I can tell you 
 of no great work; of no husband and children, "But some 
 one must fill up the chinks, and I hope my efforts in that 
 line may help the greater things." 
 
 Philura Richardson married Rev. Edwin Black, a Metho- 
 dist minister. They moved to Tennessee, where she soon 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 133 
 
 died. She was a devoted helper to her husband. Being an 
 only daughter, her early death was a great blow to her 
 parents. 
 
 From Gainesville, Fla., Anna Snively writes : '' My father 
 died the year after I left the seminary. Reverses c f fortune 
 led me into the schoolroom in 70, Though into my life some 
 rain has fallen, it is by no means ' cold, dark and dreary.' My 
 mother found rest from lingering disease in March, of 74. 
 Since that time Sister Ada and I have lived four years in 
 Elkhart, Indiana. My health failing two years ago, I resigned 
 my situation in the high school and am here for change and 
 rest." 
 
 Emma F. Sprangler married Amos Southard in 70. I think 
 lived in Crawfordsville during her married life. Died at the 
 house of her uncle, in Chicago, in 72 or 73, leaving no chil- 
 dren. Electa [Whitehead] Starr writes: "I taught school 
 two years after leaving the seminary, and in October, 1867, was 
 married. We have five children — two girls and three boys. 
 In 1866, 1, with four others of our class, had a pleasant meet- 
 ing at the seminary. I have seen Miss Peabody's bright face 
 once since at a missionary meeting. The blessed memories 
 of 1862 have sweetened my labor and will sweeten my rest." 
 
 CLASS OF 1863. 
 
 Of this class, but three were present at the reunion — Hattie 
 Conkling, Ella [Kendall] Overturf, and Sallie [Pond] Baird> 
 Hattie has been called to be a companion to her father and 
 mother, which duty she has performed faithfully and pa- 
 tiently. Ella [Kendall] Overturf appears but little changed. 
 She is active in church work. Her life has been full of bless- 
 ings, her husband devoted, and her little daughter most duti- 
 ful. Lida Carnahan was, for a few years, the wife of Rev. 
 David Love, but her work was short ; she was called up 
 higher, leaving two little girls. Nellie [Little] Griggs is the 
 happy mother of five children, living in her old home. It 
 has been a great disappointment to miss her face at this time. 
 
184 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Laura [Cheseldine] White is living in Illinois. She is silent on 
 this occasion, much to our regret. She has a son and daugh- 
 ter. Ellen Allen went to Mexico City under the ausj^ices of 
 the Woman's Phila. Board. She there established a school, 
 remaining four years, when failing health obliged her to re- 
 turn. She is now making her home in Florida. Of Fannie 
 Reid . we know nothing, except that her home is in Ashta- 
 bula, and that she has one son. Sallie [Pond] Baird is living 
 in the home of her school days, being the mother of two 
 boys, respectively twelve and fourteen, finding her hands 
 well filled with home duties and what church work she is 
 able to perform. 
 
 CLASS OF 1864. 
 
 This class, which had but thirteen members, seemed a little 
 peculiar in its make up and history. Two had entered before 
 the fire and two were short course pupils. Then, when it 
 had just arrived at the place where all the heavy study work 
 was done and the time had come to talk of graduating 
 exercises, dresses, class organization and mottoes which would 
 have tended to cement its members more closely, that 
 " noisome pestilence " came and scattered the class after a 
 hurried meeting together once more around the bedside of 
 one of its number. A sort of organization was hastily formed 
 but there was no time to select a motto. One or two class 
 letters have been written, but only a small number of the 
 class have ever found their way back to the place left so 
 hastily on May 6, 1864. All have been spared for that useful- 
 ness for which their training at Alma Mater fitted them. 
 
 A number have been teachers. Minnie C. Beach, after 
 some months work as teacher among the freedmen at the 
 south, went to Turkey as a missionary. Ill health compelled 
 her to return to find her field of usefulness in this country. 
 
 One devoted herself to art. Her sketches grace some of 
 our popular magazines and her pictures are pronounced of 
 real merit. Nine are married and are faithfully filling the 
 beautiful and M^orthy sphere of wife and mother and are 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 185 
 
 useful members of the church. All of them were professed 
 Christians before entering the seminary and its influence 
 was like that of the sunshine and showers upon seed corn in 
 good ground. Two of the class attended the reunion. Anna 
 [Blaisdell] Taylor and Frank [White] Montgomery. 
 
 Four sent letters telhng of duties to home friends Which 
 detained them reluctantly. None boasted of great things, but 
 were simply attending to the little duties of every day life, 
 and were happy in doing whatsoever their hands found to do. 
 The responsibilites and perplexities of successfully conducting 
 women's missionary societies engross a fair share of the 
 thought and time of several members of this, as well as of 
 many other classes. 
 
 CLASS OF 1865. 
 
 The Class of '65 numbered eighteen. Of these two have 
 died — Myrtle Barber, a few weeks after leaving school, and 
 Laura [Marshall] Cunningham in 1879. Laura's husband only 
 survived her three months, leaving their children, two girls 
 and one boy, orphans. 
 
 Of the sixteen remaining members, seven were present at 
 the reunion: Myra Brown, Florence Carpenter, Fannie 
 Ford, Minnie Gow, Belle Howe, Mary Martin and Mary Lau- 
 der. At least ten of the class have taught, two of these at the 
 seminary, Mary Martin and Julia Smith. Nine of the class 
 are married. Four are still engaged in teaching ; Clara Mc- 
 Clellan is a florist, and Florence Carpenter a bookkeeper. 
 The earnest spirit of the class motto, " Dum Vivamus Viva- 
 mus," has been wrought out in the lives of each member of 
 the class, so far as we can learn, with the hope that while we 
 live we may so live that we may enter life eternal, not empty- 
 handed, but bearing many sheaves. 
 
 CLASS OF 1866. 
 
 The eleven of " '66 " graduated July 5, under the motto 
 "Ad astra per Aspera." 
 
186 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Allie [Andrews] Lewis writes : " A quiet, happy life makes 
 little history for a memorial volume. Two years housekeeper 
 for my father, one year an invalid, brings me to the date of my 
 marriage. Sister Emma dying gave me her little boy whom 
 I kept three years. Last June an Iowa cyclone lifted our 
 house from the foundation and carried it away. We had 
 taken refuge in the cellar so escaped unhurt." 
 
 Lucy [Bell] Riefenberick condenses facts and dates as follows : 
 
 " I was married Nov. 21, after w^e graduated. Resided in 
 Cincinnati five years, when my first son, Robert Bell was born, 
 '68. Removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, where Richard, Parker 
 was born, 72, and where I still reside." 
 
 Rebecca [Conklin] Sheely says : " I remained at home nine 
 years, teaching in Sunday-school, leading by voice and in- 
 strument our church music. In 75 went to Colorado. My 
 trip across the prairies and mountains gave new interpreta- 
 tion to long, familiar passages of scripture, and the " shadow 
 of a great rock." " As the mountains round about Jerusa- 
 lem," and " Day unto day uttereth speech," came with new 
 meaning. I was married 76, Rev. Homer Sheely. Baby 
 Allice was born 78; since 77 have resided at Lowell, Ind." 
 
 Mary [Harriott] Orwig has been twice married, has three 
 children, one daughter and two sons ; is now living at Napo- 
 leon, Ohio, happy in her home and church work. 
 
 E. V. Porter writes : " I spent the first year after leaving 
 the seminary at home ; the next year taught music and passed 
 the winter in Chicago ; third year in Bellefontaine ; fourth^ 
 taught in Marion. After my father's death entered a bank as 
 bookkeej)er, where I continued until I was married in 1872. 
 Jane Porter, my only child, was born 1874." 
 
 Ada B. Klum says : " I am like the knife-grinder, ' have no 
 story.' Who can make points in the uneventful life of a 
 teacher ? The years are so alike. I can not tell how many 
 have passed until I name the different buildings in which I 
 have taught." 
 
 Mary [Macy] Carpenter reports : " After leaving the semin- 
 ary I was a governess in Michigan. Taught freedmen in 
 South Carolina and a plantation school in Georgia. So ended 
 my career as a teacher. Some time passed quietly in Cincin- 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 187 
 
 nati, and then I was married. Bald statistics mean nothing 
 unless you can see within the boundary lines. I have tw^o 
 children, a son and daughter. 
 
 Olivia M. Brice writes : After leaving the seminary, Octo- 
 ber found me teaching in the grammar school, Terre Haute? 
 Ind., the second and third years in the high school ; was then 
 elected to the chair of English literature in the State Normal 
 School, which opened November, 1869, but declined that honor 
 to accept one far more responsible ; was married September, 
 1869. Have three sons and two daughters. Happy are the 
 lives that make little history!" 
 
 Lizzie P. Wilmer writes : " Iibegan teaching August, 1866 ; 
 taught in Northwood, New Hampshire ; Holyoke Seminary ; 
 was married in 1875 to E-ev. Wm. Wilmer, of Williamsport, 
 Ind., where we have since resided. Our family consists of 
 two daughters, eight and nine years of age when they came 
 under my care." 
 
 Marie Sheely says : " A memorial of deeds done is not 
 heart history. Fourteen years of teaching sounds monoton- 
 ous, though in reality as varied as a romance. In Indiana, 
 Ohio, and Illinois, schools of different kinds occupied me fully 
 for nine years. The last five years have been spent in suc- 
 cessful primary work. Trials, triumphs, fears, rejoicings 
 crowd the record into a few lines." 
 
 Our memorial record closes with that of one who has passed 
 beyond the stars, India Thomas, the beloved president of 
 our class. Her dying words, " I see, I see," tell the story of 
 her consecrated life hid with Christ, exhaling goodness as a 
 flower its fragrance. 
 
 A few years' teaching at the seminary, her chosen field, and 
 then to lie passive, suffering his will. On being asked how 
 long she had been afflicted, her cheerful reply revealed the 
 secret of her life : ''It has not occurred to me that I am 
 afflicted." This tribute to her beautiful character is fitly 
 closed with her own poetical words : 
 
 " Far mightier than the one great law 
 That holds both sun and star, 
 And gentler than the softest breeze, 
 Whispering of sweets afar, 
 
188 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 And higher than the heights above, 
 And dteper than the sea, 
 
 Is the sweet joy of converse held, 
 O, Infinite, with Thee." 
 
 CLASS OF 1867. 
 
 Of Jennie [Allen] Everett it is only known that her home 
 is in Toledo, Ohio, and two children have been given into her 
 loving care. Of Maggie Campbell even less is known. Lottie 
 wrote very briefly that she could not be at the reunion of 
 the Alumnse, owing to her school duties. Anna [Carley] 
 Brown finds her time filled in the care of her house, husband 
 and her blue-eyed Bessie, now a year old. Allie Carnahan 
 thinks her life has been too uneventful to interest the outside 
 world, for her work has been close at home. Hulda [Case] 
 Eeese bakes, cans, preserves and pickles; cuts, fits, makes and 
 remakes; is fat, fair and thirty-four, and the proud mother of 
 three healthy children, the eldest a girl of seven. Every day 
 is full, not of what she imagines she can do or expects she will 
 do, but of work actually done. While she keeps herself 
 posted in all philanthropic work of the day, she feels thai the 
 work of the home maker is the noblest and most self-denying 
 of all. Mary [Cathcart] Kansdall has a cosy home. Her 
 Lottie and Willie are old enough to attend school, while 
 Minnie, little Dan, his father's namesake, and a wee laddie, 
 who still numbers his life by weeks, give her plenty for 
 heart and hands. Narcissa Cleland has two homes, one in 
 Topeka, Kan., and the other in Kirkwood, Mo., where she has 
 spent the last four years with her sister. Of her part in life 
 she thinks there is nothing to tell, one year scarcely differing 
 from another. She was the only one of the class present at 
 the reunion, and feels as if she had missed some of the " loaves " 
 that there fell to others. Amelia [Clift] Powell has attended 
 many seminary anniversaries, but failed to be present at the 
 reunion. Emma Gordon is living with her sister. Many 
 glad years and some of trials have been hers, but the anchor 
 has held and a willing service has been given the Master. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 189 
 
 Laura Hay ward has taught for years in Chicago, spending her 
 vacations at her home in Beloit, Wis. This year, owing to her 
 mother's faiUng health, she resigned her position. Euretta 
 Hurlburt says her way has been of the " even tenor," with no 
 changes, except those slow ones wrought by the " httle years.'^ 
 In her teachingshe has learned lessons not down in text-books. 
 Some of us know of her " rare and racy " experience in pre- 
 empting a claim in southern Kansas. Emilie Jones after 
 having taken the degree of M. D. is the physician at Wellesley 
 College. Nira [Koogler] Wright says that the little lassie 
 who came the first of May was rather too young to attend the 
 the august council of the Alumnae, and would interrupt too 
 often with the cry of " hear, hear." She is willing to compare 
 her excellent husband and six children with any one. Of 
 Nellie Graff and Lou [Leonard] Bradley, nothing is known. 
 For nine years Rachel [Martin] Burrowes lived at her 
 father's doing what her hands were able to do, — not forget- 
 ting the Master's work — till she was wanted in another home. 
 " She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth 
 not the bread of idleness." Her little daughter Gracie came 
 a year and a half ago, to add to her joy. Belle [Shepherd] 
 Hussey, after many happy years, is enduring fiery trials. 
 Her husband, professor in Perdue University, Lafayette, Ind., 
 was a year ago stricken with paralysis, which hopelessly shat- 
 tered every faculty. The care of him and the support of 
 their seven children devolve upon her. Her pitiful letter is 
 too sacred for publication, but her class will be glad to know 
 that her trust is still in the Lord. Lou [Wilkerson] Davison 
 has also been greatly afflicted, first in the loss of three broth- 
 ers. Two years ago scarlet fever, in ten days, swept away the 
 two oldest of her three little daughters, — Katie and Alice. 
 Recently she was called to mourn the loss of her mother. 
 Through it all she has tried to say, " Thy will be done." Jen- 
 nie [Williams] Boyd has for the last ten years been living in 
 a pioneer settlement of south-western Kansas, where she has 
 been occupied in her home duties and the care of her child- 
 ren. Her two little girls, seven and five, died within one 
 week of each other, leaving their parents childless and heart- 
 broken. Since, twins — a boy and girl have been born to 
 
190 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 them. They are more than three years old, and are known 
 as Eric and Edith. She hopes if Edith hves, to send her to 
 the seminary. Two of the class have been called to better 
 and brighter joys. Ella McKim " entered into her rest " just 
 two years after her graduation. Lizzie Wishard died March 
 2, 1876, two years after her marriage. Life was very bright 
 to her, and she wanted to live for the sake of her husband. 
 She wept for a time when told she could not recover, but 
 soon resigned all to her Savior, and, with the same cheerful- 
 ness that had characterized her in health, made all her plans, 
 and her life was beautifully closed. 
 
 CLASS OF 1868. 
 
 Scattered far from Alma Mater and as far from each other 
 are the members of the class of 1868, yet they are still bound 
 to the old home and to one another by the watchword chosen, 
 ere they knew its full' significance, "Una fides, unum opus, 
 una spes. " 
 
 Three, having continued in the faith, have completed their 
 work and are now realizing the hope which was their inspir- 
 ation. Of the eighteen who remain, one engaged for a season 
 in missionary labor among the Indians, two share the varied 
 pleasures and trials of ministers' homes; more are doing 
 nobly as teachers ; others in busy city or quiet country homes 
 scatter good seed by the way, in Sabbath-school and church 
 work. Each has had her experiences of joy and sorrow, too 
 sacred for the many, but known perhaps in the smaller class 
 circle. Georgie Banks and Kate O'Byrne were the only 
 representative members at the reunion. 
 
 To the glance of those who know them only as united by 
 the tie which binds all the Alumnae of our much-loved sem- 
 inary, the facts stand thus: Married, eight; teaching, seven 
 engaged in various home work, three ; deceased, three. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 191 
 
 CLASS OF 1869. 
 
 Of the Class of '69, numbering twenty-seven, two, Mary 
 Atherton and Selinda Fay, have " fallen asleep in Christ." 
 
 Florence [Adams] Merril writes from Andover, Mass.: 
 '' While my husband, professor in Phillips Academy, has two 
 hundred boys to look after, I find enough with my home and 
 outside life to interest my thoughts and energies." She has 
 a little Florence of four and a little boy of two years, and 
 bids us all welcome to her house, built before revolutionary 
 times. 
 
 Jennie [Ball] Meteer is the wife of a minister ; and, we 
 hear, does good work in the cause of missions. About a 
 year ago Harry, the eldest of her three boys, was taken away. 
 
 Mary [Bosworth] Henderson writes of her home life; of 
 her two children, her baby of ten months, and little Law- 
 rence nearly three, who resembles his mother. They are 
 evidently her music and poetry. 
 
 Leora E. Bowyer is a teacher in the high school of Terre 
 Haute. Anticipating the twenty-fifth anniversary reunion 
 wdth great delight, her plans were changed by a proposed trip 
 to Europe. 
 
 Sophia [Brandkamp] Coyle is the wife of a minister. She 
 tells of her work in church, and Sunday-school with much 
 pleasure ; also, of her two blue-eyed girls. 
 
 Hattie H. Chase, after teaching for some years, is now at 
 home doing, she says, the work that lies nearest. No doubt 
 she finds her willing hands full. 
 
 Maria [Cleland] Sneed, for some years an invalid, has re- 
 gained her health. She rejoices in the possession of a little 
 Mary Crosby Sneed, " who is the baby of the land." Little 
 Phillip, her eldest, was only lent for a short time. 
 
 Emily [Elliott] Sturdevant says, " I am happy in doing the 
 work that lies right here for me to do. " That w^ork is largely 
 the care of four merry boys and little Beulah, her " perpetual 
 
 joy." 
 
 Cornelia [Farnsworth] Goe writes that she is the mother of 
 three little children, " who occupy much time and attention ; " 
 
192 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 but she does not seem to neglect the pursuit of study and 
 cultivation begun at the seminary. 
 
 Caroline [Fay] Mowery, after teaching painting at the semi- 
 nary for nine years, became the wife of a minister and has now 
 two little living pictures. From her we learned of the peace- 
 ful death of dear Linda. 
 
 Virginia M. Gow was present at the reunion. She says she 
 lives for her mother., but if you knew how many that call her 
 sister and auntie depend upon her, you would think her an 
 important factor in many lives. 
 
 Eliza Groenendyke is teaching in Lafayette, Indiana. She 
 writes, "My duties have lain close about me, needing no 
 seeking out ; I like the work and am doing my best. " 
 
 Emma [Hoyt] Seward writes of her work and interest in 
 the church of which her husband is pastor. Three little ones 
 have been given her, one was early taken home. 
 
 Julia Hughes, since leaving the seminary, has spent most 
 of the years teaching. Last year she was a student at Bloom- 
 ington University, fitting herself in special branches for 
 future work. 
 
 Emma [Isom] Robertson is teaching at Dayton, Ohio. 
 From others we hear that she has been working for the edu- 
 cation of a brother and two sisters. She has been saddened 
 lately by the death of one of these sisters, but she writes, 
 " Teaching seems more sacred work since my affliction." 
 
 Luella [Rankin] Kimball is not heard from. 
 
 Maggie [Kirkpatrick] LeSourd writes of her life as a min- 
 ister's helper : " I enjoy it very much; am never so happy as 
 when engaged in church work." She has one little girl four 
 years old. 
 
 OUie F. McKimm has taught nearly all the time since leav- 
 ing school, but is now at home with her mother, and is " mother 
 herself to three little nieces," who hardly know the difference. 
 
 Hattie [McLane] Ammon was present at the twenty-fifth 
 anniversary reunion, and told us of her happy and pleasant 
 home. 
 
 , Minnie [Milligan] Mills has done the two things she never 
 would do, " Marry a minister and go West," and is very happy 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 193 
 
 in doing both. She has a "Httle dimpled bit of humanity, full 
 of whys ? and what is it's ? " called Jessie. 
 
 Alice W. Milligan has, for some years, been an efficient 
 teacher at the Oxford Seminary. We are told that since the 
 death of her father she has had the education of two brothers 
 much at heart. 
 
 Amelia Myers has spent the years in teaching or studying. 
 In 75 she graduated from the School of Elocution at Philadel- 
 phia, and in 79 from the Normal School at Oswego, N. Y. 
 She is now teaching, and is very enthusiastic in her pro- 
 fession. 
 
 Lucy [Rochester] Bowen was present at the reunion, not 
 at all changed. The class meeting was honored by the pres- 
 ence of her little girl, three months old. Little Meade, her 
 boy, is three years old. 
 
 Mary Sheppard has been a teacher_at Oxford ever since her 
 graduation. She is much devoted to the interests and welfare 
 of the seminary, and adds much thereto by earnest and effi - 
 cient work. 
 
 Mary [Wells] French writes : " My husband's work is in 
 Wells College, thus keeping my interest alive in educational 
 matters. My work is at home with my children." Herbert, 
 the eldest, is eight ; Harry, two years old. The first-born was 
 their earthly delight but for a little while. 
 
 CLASS OF 1870. 
 
 This class originally numbered sixteen and is still unbroken 
 by death. Seven were present at the reunion : 
 
 Eliza J. Cornell. 
 Melissa Coulson Conover. 
 Emma Jones. 
 Sue E. Timberman. 
 
 Augusta McCJoy. 
 Julia Mills Gregg. 
 Fanny U. Nelson. 
 
 Seven of the class are married and the little ones in their 
 homes are fifteen in number. All but five have taught part 
 
 13 
 
194 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 of the time since their graduation ; three have been teachers 
 at the seminary. This class is not so widely scattered as 
 many others ; all but one are living in Ohio, Indiana or Illi- 
 nois. The class letter is kept in constant circulation, and 
 bears repeated testimony that the class are seeking to do 
 faithful Christian work in the homes and the schools where 
 the master has placed them, and that they are learning with 
 each returning . year to trust more and more fully in their 
 motto-promise, " Qui transtulit sustinebit." 
 
 CLASS OF 1871. 
 
 The Class of 71 numbered twenty-four at the beginning of 
 their senior year, but only twenty graduated after the fire of 
 April 7. Since that time, four have finished their lifework 
 here, and w^e feel sure are waiting for us in our father's house. 
 
 The first to leave us was Athelia [Byers] Hunt, who died in 
 the spring of 73, within a year after her marriage. 
 
 All through this same spring Anna Mason was slowly fad- 
 ing with consumption ; and one evening in early June she 
 gently fell asleep. Laura [Clough] Hadley died in August, 77, 
 after a sickness of several months, leaving a boy of four. On 
 April 8, '80, Narcia [Goodfellow] Risser was suddenly called to 
 the Savior she trusted. She left four little children, Fred and 
 Helen, Mary and baby John. She was most tenderly devoted 
 to them and to her husband, and was the life and light of their 
 home. 
 
 Carrie [Alexander] LaGrange is very happily married, but 
 the loss of two little babes has made a deep shadow in their 
 home. 
 
 Ella [Bane] Bowen was the first of the class to venture into 
 matrimony, and her seven-year-old Willie is the " class baby." 
 
 Louise [Bissell] Bacon spent a year at Mt. Holyoke ; studied 
 music and taught before her marriage. She has three little 
 ones, Harry, Laura and Bessie, to keep her busy. 
 
 Lida [Bushnell] Byal tixught for several years after leaving 
 school ; she has one child, Albert, about four years old. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. I95 
 
 Emma Calhoun chose missionary work among the Dakota 
 Indians. She was married there to Rev. C. L. Hall, and 
 moved to Ft. Berthold. God took little, Harry, their oldest, 
 but they have two with them, Bertie and baby Hannah. 
 Emma is very happy in her work. Ella Clark's health has 
 been delicate- for several years, and she has spent most of the 
 time traveling, finding benefit in Southern California. Nellie 
 [Cleland] Craig writes of her busy life and two children, George 
 and Nellie. Sophie Cunningham taught at the seminary the 
 year after graduating; afterwards at Knoxville, Tenn., and 
 Springfield, 111. For several years she has found her sweetest 
 pleasure and duty in staying with her mother at their home 
 in Jonesboro, Tenn. Lydia Dimon has taught all of the time 
 since graduating, principally in high schools. Sallie Gamble 
 has also taught for nine years, and all of the time in Conners- 
 ville, Ind., in which state she ranks among the first of primary 
 teachers. Anna Hopkins is still devoted to painting, and 
 is very successful. She has taught several years in the School 
 of Design. Eliza [Hougham] Hickman is happy as the wife of 
 a Methodist minister, and the mother of two little daughters. 
 
 Emma Hughes has found life at home so pleasant that she 
 has not cared to change it for any other, but is useful as the 
 only daughter. Mary [Needham] Gregg has fulfilled her 
 prophecy of " marrying a minister." She studied music in 
 Boston before her marriage. Two children claim her love 
 and care — Jamie and Faith. Eosa Rabb was her father's con- 
 stant nurse till he died, and since then has a pleasant home 
 with an invalid friend, to whose little daughter she teaches 
 music. Eva Sherwood writes of a busy life in church and 
 society. She is still studying music. Binnie [Snyder] Bailey 
 spent several years in Munich, studying music. On her re- 
 turn she was married to a Universalist minister of Cincin- 
 nati, but, his health failing, they went west, and her address 
 is not known. She has one little daughter. Nannie Wason 
 Ames spent a year with friends in Boston, also studying 
 music and designing, and afterward taught a year in Chicago. 
 She has a pleasant home near Lowell, Ind., and a busy life in 
 looking after her two little boys, Carlie and Ray. Mary 
 
196 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 [White] Lavayea has one child, a few months old, but the class 
 have not heard from her since leaving school. Mary [Will- 
 son] Whitehead taught in Indianapolis, after recovering from 
 injuries received at the fire, till her marriage to a lawyer of 
 that city. She has two little daughters, Emma and Mary. A 
 class-letter is circulated, and the class love grows stronger 
 each year. Ouly five were at re-union: Sophie Cunning- 
 ham, Anna Hopkins, Emma Hughes, Rosa Rabb, and Nannie 
 [Wason] Ames. 
 
 CLASS OF 1872. 
 
 At the reunion there were present, Minnie Perkins, Anna 
 [Whallon] Mills, and Mary Coulson. They held class meet- 
 ings, read the messages from absent ones, and discussed class- 
 matters generally, but with a feeling of loneliness. This class 
 is still an unbroken band, and, though its members are 
 widely scattered, they have kept up a class letter. Many of 
 them were absent from the reunion, because of home and 
 school duties, but sent letters to their beloved Alma Mater^ 
 for the occasion. 
 
 Mary Allen was married to Rev. Wm. Whipple in July^ 
 1872, and in a few weeks went to Persia. They remained 
 nearly seven years, when they returned on account of ill 
 health. While in Persia two sons and a daughter were born 
 to them, but God called home little Willie and Max in 1876. 
 Mary and her husband, with their little Mildred, spent part 
 of the years 1879 and 1880 at their old home, Rockville, Indi- 
 ana. In April, 1880, with restored health and strength, they 
 returned to Persia. On their way to New York they stopped 
 at the seminary a few days. There Minnie Perkins and 
 Mary Coulson met them and had a short but delightful visit. 
 Mary's lot in life seems to be a most blessed one. She is an 
 earnest, hopeful Christian and so happy in her chosen sphere. 
 Her prayer for her class-mates will never be forgotten by the 
 two who were with her in that memorable " recess-meeting," 
 held on the Sabbath evening of their reunion. 
 
 Hattie Boal became Mrs Robert Peeples in 1873. Her 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 197 
 
 home is in Ashland, Kentucky. She has two lovely little 
 children — Robert and baby. Hattie is said to be a model wife 
 and mother, and is very happy. 
 
 Mary and Alice Blythe are conducting a kindergarten in 
 St. Joseph, Missouri. They are active, useful Christians, and 
 their sisterly devotion to each other is still beautiful. 
 
 Mary Coulson's home is in Oxford, Ohio, where she tnught 
 in the high school for several years. She is very enthusiastic 
 and happy in her work, and is actively engaged in the Sab- 
 bath-school and church. She has the privilege of seeing fre- 
 quently her Alma Mater and seminary friends. She wishes 
 that all the Alumnae could enjoy the same privilege, for every 
 visit to the seminary prompts and encourages more faithful 
 Christian living. 
 
 Alice Dean has taught most of the time since she graduated. 
 Devotion to her invalid mother prevented her being present 
 at the reunion. We hear a good report of her service for 
 Christ. 
 
 Kate Dwyer has filled the honorable and useful position of 
 teacher much of the time since 1872, but is resting at home 
 this year. She is an earnest, active laborer for Christ in the 
 temperance cause, and in other departments of church work^ 
 
 Minnie Perkins has accomplished much as a dutiful daugh, 
 ter and faithful teacher. She and her mother, on account of 
 ill-health, spent part of last year in Texas. She is an only 
 daughter, and her devotion to her mother, who is in declining 
 years and broken health, is worthy of highest conmendation. 
 Minnie has her mother with her in Troy, and is very happy 
 in her manifold home and school duties. 
 
 Eva Tweed was married in 1874. She has two little girls, 
 Lizzie and Lucina. , Eva writes that her life is full of home 
 cares, and that she is very happy. 
 
 Anna [Wallon] Mills at the reunion spoke enthustically of 
 her good husband and her delightful Chicago home. Her 
 bright face and joyous tones verified the truth of her words. 
 Anna uses her leisure and means in doing good. She is 
 specially interested at present in some city missionary work 
 for the Chinese of Chicago. 
 
198 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Mattie [Zook] Rhorer has two children, Cleland and Helen. 
 She writes about her "home-keeping" and her church work, 
 and of her pleasure in these duties. All honor to our western 
 pioneer sister in the Rocky mountains. 
 
 The married members of the Class of 72 all have influ- 
 ential positions and rare opportunities for usefulness. May 
 God bless all of us in our various paths of duty ; may he help 
 us to be faithful unto the end, and grant us an abundant en- 
 trance into heaven, and a full and glorious reunion there. 
 
 CLASS OF 1873. 
 
 The Class of 73 numbered seventeen at the beginning of its 
 senior year. But the circle was soon broken, for early in 
 December Miss Williams' health gave way and she decided to 
 return to her home at Savannah, Missouri. This, however, 
 she was unable to do, and on December ]7 her classmates 
 gathered about her coffined form for a last look at the 
 face they loved so well. Her cousin, Miss Waterman, worn 
 with watching and sorrow, accompanied the remains to their 
 home and found it impossible to return. 
 
 Retta Sheeley, Emma Crawford and Mary McKinney were 
 disabled by sickness and when the class of 73 gathered upon 
 the platform to receive their diplomas from the hands of Dr. 
 Nelson they numbered but eleven. The first wedding was 
 that of Carrie Collins and Eugene L. Pattin, May, 1874, and 
 the following spring the class awarded the silver cup to 
 Gracie Pattin. In June, 1874, Emma Eastman married Jerome 
 L. Love, M. D., and the doctor took his bride to a new home 
 in Whiting, Kansas. In the autumn of the same year Emma 
 Crawford became Mrs. Samuel Taggart, but before a year 
 had elapsed her place in the class letter w^as filled by one 
 from her mother, telling the story of Emma's death. 
 
 In January, '76, Jas. Y. Herrick, a lawyer of Wellington ^ 
 Kansas, took Cordie Wood to his western home. The class 
 letter of '77-8 contained the photograph of Rev. O. Wright, 
 who, in October, '77, had induced Minnie Starr to become his 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 199 
 
 assistant in a new missionary field in western Kansas. Emma 
 Hutchinson has become Mrs. B. C. Davis. In Mrs. Pattin's 
 family there are now two little girls, Grace and Augusta ; in 
 Mrs. Love's, two boys, Arthur i^nd Robert, and their little 
 sister Idella;*Mrs. Herrick rejoices in the possession of two 
 sons, Harold and Walter, and Mrs. Wright calls her one boy 
 Frederick Starr. Miss Olmstead remained at the seminary 
 for five years after her graduation ; then went to Mill's Semi- 
 nary, Brooklyn, Gal., for two years, and is now in far-away 
 Siam. The public schools of Ghio, Indiana and Iowa have 
 for the past seven years been the scene of the labors of Miss 
 Ellis, Miss Sheeley and Miss Gobb, and Mary Dickey has been 
 for the greater part of that time a teacher in the Lenox Insti- 
 tute, Hopkinton, la. Sallie Waterman, and Emma Vawter 
 have gone with their parents to new homes in southwestern 
 Galifornia, and the rest, Mary Dame, Mary Nelson and Mary 
 McKinney, though engaged in teaching part of the time, 
 have found their work to lie, principally, in their own homes. 
 Emma Hutchinson and Laura Olmstead represented us at 
 the reunion. 
 
 GLASS OF 1874. 
 
 The Class of '74 was composed of the mystic number " seven." 
 
 These lamps, carefully burnished by our Alma Mater, were 
 
 sent forth to make little circles of light in the darkness. The 
 
 world has not been dazzled by their brilliancy, but they have 
 
 brightened homes and sent some gleams beyond. 
 
 At our reunion Houtie McCoy, Sara Robinson and Virginia 
 Dare were present. These three have been principally occu- 
 pied with home duties, which, though homely at times, have 
 been made more acceptable by the breath of love that clings 
 to them. Sara and Houtie have each taught a short time, but 
 they are by no means wedded to the profession. Mary Chid- 
 law, who did not graduate, but whom the class has always 
 claimed, was, at the time of the reunion, traveling in the old 
 world. Our president, Julia Baldwin, soon after graduating, 
 entered upon the duties of a teacher, but Mr. Nichols, appre- 
 
200 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 elating her good qualities, persuaded her to accept another 
 situation. She writes to those of her class, who are not quite 
 sure of their mission, that they will certainly find it in married 
 life. Emily Robinson has been engaged in type writing, a 
 Avork which she has very much enjoyed. In July, 77, the 
 message came that in the hush of the summer twilight one of 
 the members of 74 had been laid to rest. Ada Curran, had 
 slie lived, Avould have been the missionary of the class. She 
 was only prevented by failing strength from devoting her life 
 to the work for which her heart yearned. If we " count time 
 by heart-throbs for God, for man, for duty," she lived long and 
 her short life was complete. 
 
 The history of the class would scarcely be finished without 
 mention of the class letter, which has constantly been a bond 
 of union and strength. It travels the small circuit several 
 times a year, and is cordiallv welcomed. 
 
 CLASS OF 1875. 
 
 The Class of 75 numbered twentj^-six. Twelve were pres- 
 ent at reunion, viz : Anna [Carson] Dillman, Ida Dare, Lucy 
 Eastman, Flora Ellis, Alice Gibson, Julia Kitchel, Kate 
 McCleery, Sophronia Pike, Margaretta [Thomas] Thompson, 
 Maria Wason, Harriet Whallow, and Jennie [McCleery] Shel- 
 ler. Letters were received from Virginia Dickey, Annie 
 [Turner] Morgan, and Emma Trimble. Annie Pendleton 
 and Margaret Wade were prevented from coming by poor 
 health. Seventeen of the class have taught. Annie [Turner] 
 Morgan is a -missionary in Kurnool, India. Sophronia Pike 
 is under appointment of A. B. C. F. M., to go to Fort Bert- 
 hold, Dakota, as a missionary to the Indians. Nine of the 
 class are married, and we claim four girls and one boy, of 
 whom Ruth Edna Morgan is the eldest. Since the anni- 
 versary of 75, one of our number, dear Alice Conkling has 
 been called above to learn the full meaning of the class motto, 
 " Unto Him that Overcometh." 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 201 
 
 CLASS OF 1876. 
 
 " There are buds that fold within them, 
 
 Closed and covered from our sight; 
 Many a richly tinted petal, 
 
 Ope'd to view by warmth and light." 
 
 The second week in September, 1876, found nineteen buds 
 of the above description exposing themselves to the rays of a 
 glorious orb, viz., the Western Female Seminary. As regards 
 the intensity of those rays, or the amount of heat required to 
 develop these particular buds, your historian need not write ; 
 since of the qualities of this "radiator" "you all yourselves 
 do know." 
 
 Suffice to say that June 17, 1875, found this cluster at the 
 end of the process radiant in those colors which betoken joy 
 and good cheer ; with scarce a tint of purple or sombre fore- 
 telling trials. 
 
 After four years had passed rapidly away, eleven of us met 
 again at the seminary. Those present were : 
 
 Sue E. Ballard, 
 Alice LCraig] Poyntz, 
 Belle S. Dix, 
 Mattie J. Hill, 
 Julia A. Lamson, 
 
 Elizabeth M. Nelson, 
 
 Jennie [O'Byrne] Montgomery, 
 
 Emma H. Paige, 
 
 Julia [Shuler] Craft, 
 
 Eva Landis Trout, 
 
 Jennie M. Timberman. 
 
 Letters of regret were received from the absent, breathing 
 warmest love for "Alma Mater," among them one from 
 Myra [Calhoun] LongfelloAV, who has for three years been a 
 missionary in Dakota. Six are married; four engaged in 
 school work, two of whom are teaching at the seminary, while 
 the others are practicing in some way the good lessons so 
 faithfully taught them. Changes have come to all, but death 
 has not been suffered to take any from her work. 
 
 Four years had wrought little, if any, change in our class- 
 mates. When we looked into the faces of those who had been 
 away four and twenty years, then could we see what real 
 
202 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 change was. We felt that time had touched us hghtly, and 
 that our feet were scarcely dry after the morning dew. 
 
 When the sun has been too hot, a cloud has sheltered us, 
 and when the clouds became too dark, the sun lighted our 
 pathway. 
 
 CLASS OF 1877. 
 
 Though our class was made up largely of members from 
 other classes, we have, since our graduation, been closely 
 united in living out our motto, '' Age Quod Aga,s. " Of our 
 thirteen, nine have taught, three or four have continued their 
 pursuit of knowledge, four are married, and some have been 
 nurses and helpers at home. 
 
 Ada Kingsbury is a missionary in Utah. Kate Giltner hjis 
 charge of the first class baby. Lillie Adams, Leila McKee^ 
 Emily Waterman and Candace Lhamon were the only rep- 
 resentatives at the reunion. Our prospects for the future are 
 favorable to the earnest Christian work for which our Alma 
 Mater has prepared us. 
 
 CLASS OF 1878. 
 
 The Class of 78, composed of twelve members, has been so 
 widely scattered since it left its Alma Mater that only one of 
 its number, Ida Robbins, was present at the reunion to 
 receive the warm welcome of its dear school-home and teacher 
 mother. Of the whole number,' half ha;ve at some time en- 
 gaged in teaching ; Wisconsin, Illinois, Utah, Ohio and Con- 
 necticut being the better we hope for their work. The call 
 of the Master for laborers in his far distant harvest-fields 
 came to the hearts of three of our number, who quickly 
 responded to the voice with a prompt, " Here am I, send me. " 
 Our three C's, Mary Campbell and Edna Cole in Siam, and 
 Fannie Cundall in Syria, are our dear missionaries whose 
 letters, abounding in beautiful descriptions of their far off 
 homes and full of devotion to their work, are our most 
 precious class treasures. Among those who entered the ranks 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 203 
 
 as educators, two are already deserters, and while we regret 
 the loss of our Archie Hatcher and Marion Allen, we welcome 
 in their places Mrs. Tiffany and Mrs. Martindell and gladly 
 extend the right hand of fellowship to our new brothers- 
 in-law. The remaining four members of the class have found 
 their work in a quiet way, making homes for dear brothers 
 and brightening those provided by loving friends. They also, 
 with their sisters, have found a place among the ranks of 
 church and Sabbath school workers and are teachers or 
 officers, pupils or superintendents, as the call comes to them. 
 Inspired by our motto, "Omnia ad Dei Gloriam," whether 
 at home, in the school-room or in the foreign fields, we are 
 united in purpose ; and distance can not separate us, though 
 measured by great continents and vast oceans. 
 
 CLASS OF 1879. 
 Ten of our class were present at the reunion — ■ 
 
 Helen Lyle, 
 Helen Taylor, 
 Irene Jones, 
 Fannie Laurie, 
 Maggie Johnston. 
 
 Anna Eumler, 
 Hoyland Taylor, 
 Rowie Tucker, 
 Clavie Laurie, 
 Ida Matson. 
 
 We held our class meeting in ISTo. 23, Class of 78 gathering 
 with us. 
 
 At our meeting theresponses to the invitations from " Alma 
 Mater " were read. We found that several of our number 
 had been teaching during the year ; others had joined the 
 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and some were 
 found in the quiet home circle living wholly for others ; all 
 were more or less engaged in Sabbath-school work. 
 
 In review our harvest seemed very small, compared with 
 the sheaves other gleaners had brought ; but we left the arms 
 of " Alma Mater " only one short year ago. We trust that in 
 
204 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 twenty -five years we may bring an abundant harvest into the 
 great "store house." 
 
 CLASS OF 1880. 
 
 " What can the man do that cometh after the king ?" Or 
 what mite of interest can this chronicler add to the royal 
 good things that have been written ? Our record remaineth 
 for the future. 
 
 The Class of '80 numbers nineteen. Kansas, Illinois, Indi- 
 ana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee are represented by its 
 members. The average age of our class is nineteen years. 
 March 8, 1880, was made illustrious by having one of its after- 
 noon hours devoted to the planting of the class-tree — a noble 
 elm (?) — with accompanying exercises. Mr. Chas. Peabody 
 kindly provided us with the desired sapling, and attached to 
 it a piece of zinc on which was written in, lead, " W. F. Semi- 
 nary, Class of '80," trusting it would remain to tell future 
 classes of our love for Alma Mater. Immediately after hall 
 exercises, with many friends and teachers we gathered at the 
 front door and moved in procession to the north of the build- 
 ing — the place chosen for the planting. 
 
 The tree was carried by Ella Adams and Clara Vawter — 
 the Alpha and Omega of the class. An appropriate song was 
 sung, Mr. Peabody made some very pleasant remarks upon 
 class-tree planting and the beautiful elms of New England, 
 closing with the hope expressed that we might all live to 
 meet again under its spreading branches. An amusing des- 
 cription of each member of the class was read by Ella Adams. 
 A poem full of good wishes for the future prosperity of class 
 and tree, written by Lena Goodenow, was read by Clara 
 Vawter. Then followed the planting. Soon cries for Miss 
 Peabody were heard. She stepped forward and quoted with 
 much effect. Psalms i, 3 — " He shall be like a tree planted by 
 the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; 
 his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever he doeth shall 
 prosper ;" after which three cheers were given for the class of 
 '80. Our class motto, " Seeketh not her own " is beautifully 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 205 
 
 exemplified in Mary Clark's offering herself for the foreign 
 field, so white to the harvest. She is now on her way to 
 famine-stricken Persia, beaiing the bread of life. We trust 
 that her consecration may inspire us with a higher aspiration, 
 and that we may by our prayers, stay up the hands of her, 
 our standard bearer. 
 
CATALOGUE. 
 
 . 1855-1880. 
 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 Rev. Daniel Tenney .from 1853 to 1861 
 
 ^Rev. Wm. M. Cheever from 1853 to 1872 
 
 Rev. J. B. Condit,D. D from 1853 to 1855 
 
 Rev. J. C. Bonham from 1853 to 1864 
 
 S. F. Claflin from 1853 to 1855 
 
 *H. VanBergen from 1853 to 1858 
 
 ^Rev. S. W. Fisher, D. D from 1853 to 1859 
 
 James Fisher from 1853 to 1861 
 
 *G.Tichenor from 1853 to 1855 
 
 *R. E. Hills ..from 1853 to 1864 
 
 R. L. Rea, M. D from 1853 to 185^ 
 
 G.Y. Roots from 1853 to 
 
 ^EliasKumler from 1853 to 1872 
 
 *Rev. Thomas Spencer from 1853 to 1860 
 
 Milton Sayler, A. B from 1853 to 1859 
 
 *John Ells from 1853 to 1862 
 
 Rev. J. M. Bishop from 1855 to 
 
 ^Rev. D. H. Allen, D. D from 1855 to 1868 
 
 Robert W. Burnet from 1855 to 1859 
 
 *John H. Shuey , from 1855 to 1869 
 
 Rev. H. Little, D.D from 1859 to 
 
 ^Philip Hinkle from 1859 to 1880 
 
 *Wm B. Moores from 1859 to 1870 
 
 Rev. E. R Pratt, D. D from 1861 to 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 207 
 
 Wm. S. Hubbard from 1861 to 1864 
 
 *A. D. E. Tweed from 1862 to 1878 
 
 L. C. Hopkins from 1862 to 1863 
 
 Wm. Shafer from 1863 to 1871 
 
 S. J. Thompson..,. irom 1865 to 
 
 ^Joseph Curtis from 1865 to 1871 
 
 Prof. E. W. McFarland from 1866 to 1876 
 
 Rev. Henry A. Nelson, D.D from 1868 to 1875 
 
 Preserved Smith from 1869 to 
 
 Rev. J. L. McKee, D. D.., from 1870 to 1874 
 
 ^Joseph McCord from 1870 to 1879 
 
 ' Rev. J. P. E. Kumler from 1871 to 
 
 Rev. Wm. H. VanVleck from 1872 to 
 
 Wm. Reynolds from 1872 to 1877 
 
 Rev. 0. A. Hills, D. D from 1875 to 
 
 John H. Winters from 1875 to 1879 
 
 Rev. Francis M. Wood .....from 1877 to 
 
 -^Prof. Caleb Mills from 1877 to 1880 
 
 <= Deceased. 
 
 PRINCIPAL : 
 
 Names. Time spent at Seminary. 
 Miss Helen Peabody from 1855 to 
 
 TEACHERS. 
 
 Mary E. Parsons , from 1855 to 1856 
 
 Mary Q. Brown from 1855 to '56 and 1861 to 1862 
 
 Adelia C. Walker from 1855 to 1863 
 
 Mary 0. Nutting from 1855 to 1856 
 
 Elizabeth 0. Harrington from 1855 to 1856 
 
 Abbie C. D. Goulding from 1855 to 1856 
 
 Sarah L.Utley from 1855 to 1857 
 
 M. Augusta Chapin.... from 1855 to 1356 
 
 Philena McKeen ....from 1856 to 1859 
 
 Jane C. Tolman from 1856 to 1858 
 
 *Phebe F. McKeen .from. 1856 to 1859 
 
 -^ElizaM. McCabe ....from 1856 to 1863 
 
 Maria H. Beardslee from 1856 to 1858 
 
208 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Names. Time spent at Seminary. 
 
 L. Amanda Whiting from 1856 to 1864 
 
 Mary H. Foster from 1856 to 1865 
 
 Eliza J. Strong from 1856 to 1858 
 
 *Rhoda S. Driggs from 1857 to 1860 
 
 Emma L. Higley from 1858 to 1860 
 
 Auretta Hoyt from 1858 to 1860 
 
 Sarah Mills. from 1859 to 1860 
 
 Ellen Gow from 1859 to 1871 
 
 Susan S. Brown from 1861 to 1862 
 
 *Mrs. Elizabeth Walker from 1861 to 1864 
 
 Emily Jessup from 1862 to 1*80 
 
 Anna H. Whitten .......from 1862 to 1864 
 
 Cornelia Little from 1862 to 1864 
 
 Mary Adams from 1863 to 1864 
 
 Mary J. Eager from 1863 to 1864 
 
 ^Harriet J. Bassett from 1863 to 1865 
 
 Sarah P. Morrison from 1863 to 1865 
 
 Lydia H. Putnam from 1863 to 1864 
 
 Cynthia K. Goulding from 1863 to 1868 
 
 Ellen W. Bushnell from 1864 to 1869 
 
 Hannah Maude Hunt from 1864 to 1865 
 
 Helen C. Fisher from 1864 to 1865 
 
 Sarah R. Hubbard from 1864 to 1865 
 
 Mary J. Bennett from 1864 to 1865 
 
 Plarriet Hawes from 1864 to 1877 
 
 AdaL. Howard from 1865 to 1866 
 
 Mary B. Treat... from 1865 to 1867 
 
 Mary McLean from 1865 to 1867 
 
 Julia Smith from 1865 to 1868 
 
 Mary J. Martin from 1865 to 1868 
 
 Mary J. Blake from 1865 to 1868 
 
 Mrs. J. C. Swing from 1865 to 1869 
 
 Sarah P. Eastman from 1866 to 1870 
 
 Sarah P. Janes from 1866 to 1880 
 
 *India A. Thomas from 1866 to 1870 
 
 Olivia Read from 1866 to 1868 
 
 Elizabeth K. Peabody from 1868 to 1875 
 
TWENTY^FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 209 
 
 ■n Mimes. Ti7)ie spent at Seminary. 
 
 Emilie Jones, M. D from 1868 to 1874 
 
 Julia C. Turner from 1868 to 1869 
 
 Emma J. Stocks from 1868 to 1869 
 
 Helen M. Nelson from 1869 to 1871 
 
 Sarah M. Smith from 1869 to 1874 
 
 Mary D. Sheppard from 1869 to 
 
 Lucy D, Rochester from 1869 to 1871 
 
 Caroline E. Fay from 1869 to 1878 
 
 Lydia W. Shattuck from 1870 to 1871 
 
 Minnie Gow from 1870 to 1871 
 
 Abbie L. Burgess from 1870 to 1874 
 
 Sophia M. Cunningham from 1871 to 1872 
 
 Hettie M. Dodd from 1871 to 1874 
 
 Mrs. W. J. Kumler.... from 1871 to 1872 
 
 Caroline D. White from 1872 to 
 
 Fannie U. Nelson from 1872 to 1876 and 1877 to 1878 
 
 Fannie E. Johnson from 1872 to 1873 
 
 Laura A. Olmstead from 1873 to 1878 
 
 Julia C. Ehorer from 1873 to 1875 
 
 Alice P. Goodwin from 1873 to 1874 
 
 Emma L. Isom from 1874 to 1875 
 
 Susan E. Timberman from 1874 to 1880 
 
 Harriet C. Day from 1878 to 1880 and 1874 to 1875 
 
 Martha E. Dickinson from 1874 to 1875 
 
 Sarah Skinner from 1875 to 
 
 Eliza J. Cornell from 1875 to 1879 
 
 Alice B. Gibson ...from 1875 to 1877 
 
 Annetta P. Kimball from 1875 to 1878 
 
 Anna E. Leonard from 1875 to 
 
 Ellen E. Smith from 1876 to 1877 
 
 Julia A. Shuler from 1876 to 1877 
 
 Alice W. Milligan from 1877 to 
 
 Emma H. Paige ,. from 1877 to 
 
 Ida M. Seymour from 1877 to 1878 
 
 Elizabeth M. Nelson from 1878 to 1881 
 
 14 
 
210 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Names. Time spent at Sem^inbbry. 
 
 Ellen McKinney from 1878 to 1880 
 
 Dora C. Phelps from 1879 to 1880 
 
 ALUMNJE. 
 Class of '56. 
 
 Name. 
 
 M. Augusta, Chapin, 
 
 Sarah C. Harrington, Jacob H. Fuller 
 
 Husband's Nam£. Address. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 Hampton, Conn. 
 
 ^Catharine Doolittle, 
 *Helen M. Dudley, 
 Julia F. Driggs, 
 ^Rhoda S. Driggs, 
 Sallie K. Rigdon, 
 *Eliza P. Scott, 
 Isabella Stevens, 
 Jennie S. Sturdevant, 
 Helen M. Tenny, 
 *Clara Worthington, 
 
 Class of '57. 
 
 W. H. Chamberlain. 
 
 ^Edward Sinks. 
 
 Rev. David Clark, Austin, 111. 
 
 Wm. Hall, 
 
 Olds. 
 
 B.-S. Higley, Esq. 
 Wm. A. Farris, 
 Wm. K. Rowell, 
 J. N. Wilson. 
 
 Portsmouth. 
 
 Youngstown. 
 Oil City, Pa. 
 Oakland,' Cal. 
 
 Fannie F. Bradley, 
 Margaretta L. Brewer, 
 Sarah A. Clark, 
 Sarah J. Dawes, 
 Emily H. Donaldson, 
 Caroline S. Doolittle, 
 Linda Dugan, 
 Elizabeth Dugan, 
 Lucy Gerrish, 
 Kittie A. Haire, 
 Mary S. Hale, 
 Auretta Hoyt, 
 
 Class of '58. 
 
 Fred A. Ross, 
 Alfred Dickey, 
 Geo. T. WilUams, 
 Rev.Jno.H.Shedd, 
 
 Robert J. Linton, 
 
 Dr. T. W. Gordon, 
 
 Daniel Armel, 
 L. A. James, M. D. 
 
 Terre Haute, Ind. 
 Crawfordsville, Ind. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Ooroomiah, Persia. 
 New Richmond, 
 Bell Vernon, Pa. 
 Georgetown. 
 Georgetown. 
 Washington, Ind. 
 Humboldt, Kan. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Indianapolis, Ind, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 211 
 
 Name. Husband's Name. 
 
 Amy J. Huling, Chas. H. Murray, 
 
 Laura H. Jones, 
 
 Harriet E. Kingsbury, Halsey C. Burr, 
 
 Lucy C. Lee, L. M. Holbrook, 
 
 Sarah C. McKean, Jas. M. Cumback, 
 
 Lydia H. Putnam, 
 
 fMary E. Rapp. 
 
 M. Caroline Richards, Albert D. Glover, 
 
 Mary R. Spooner, L. Worcester, 
 
 Mary S. Thomason, 
 
 Harriet N.Thompson, Rev. H. McVay, 
 
 address. 
 
 Louisville, 111. 
 Davenport, Iowa. 
 Ironton. 
 New York. 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Columbus. 
 
 Newark, Mo. 
 Greensburg, Ind. 
 Louisville, Ky. 
 Granville, 111. 
 
 fEmily L. Bailey, 
 Mary E. Ball, 
 ^Martha A. Behan, 
 Jane E. Betts, 
 ^Anna P. Donaldson. 
 Margaret S. Davidson 
 Harriet N. Eastman, 
 Mary M. Ellis, 
 Helen S. Force, 
 Ellen Gow, 
 Sarah E. Greason, 
 Margaret A. Guffin, 
 Laura Hoyt, 
 Lucy Levy, 
 Margt. M. Loughridge 
 Emily Bishop Mixer, 
 Sabra G. Newton, 
 Catharine Pierce, 
 Mary Burr Putnam, 
 Laura M. Tuthill, 
 Drusilla T. Warthan, 
 Clarinda Wilkins, 
 Sarah Wilkins, 
 
 Class of '59. 
 
 Porter H. Snow, Chicago, 111. 
 Chas. R. Peddle, Terre Haute, Ind. 
 Rev. Earl Cranston. 
 Franklin Sawyer, Southington. 
 
 , Rev. J. D. Fry, 
 
 Rev. Jos. Rowley, 
 Rev. Edwin Childs, 
 Rev. Geo. B. Gow, 
 D. A. Mitchell, 
 *James A. Kackley, 
 Smith King, 
 
 Wm. N. Aiken, 
 George White, 
 M. A. McLaughhn, 
 David B. Treat, 
 T. C. Fitch, 
 
 Williams, 
 
 J. Langridge, M. D., 
 
 Bloomington, HL 
 Tungoo, Asia. 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Jonesville, Mich. 
 Millbury, Mass. 
 Wichita, Kan. 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Madison, Ind. 
 Newcastle,'^Pa. 
 W. Winsteadj'Conn. 
 Quinnemont,W.Va 
 Tallmadge. 
 Columbus. 
 Duquoin, 111. 
 Greensburg, Ind. 
 Montgomery, Ala. 
 Paddy's Run. 
 
212 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Nmne. 
 
 Class of '60. 
 Husband's Name. 
 
 Address. 
 
 Mary Ellen Adams, Edgar F. Draper, Portsmouth. 
 ^Elizabeth B. Ballard, *Rev. Edward Walker. , 
 
 *Zorilda M. Brown, Robert S. M. Bennett. 
 Harriet V.Burkhalter,Chas. A. Newman, Reading. 
 Mary A. Campbell, James W. Christie, Hot Springs, Ark. 
 Margaret A.Coles, Ashland, Ky. 
 
 ■^"Harriet N. Crawford. f 
 
 Helen C. Fisher, T. Gilbert Wright, Sharen, Mass. 
 
 Bessie H. Gilbert, Samuel W. Bird, Chicago, 111. 
 Mary Goodf ellow, *E. D. Humphries, San Francisco, Cal. 
 *Ehzabeth A. Howell. 
 
 Marianna J. Knapp, ShobalV.Clevenger, Chicago, 111. 
 Frances A.McCutchan, James M.Moore, Youngstown. 
 Virginia S. Nay lor, Andrew J. Hay, 
 — Robinson, 
 
 Lenora L. Ormsby, 
 
 Josephine Pierce, 
 
 Mary L. Shedd, 
 
 *MarthaF. Smith, 
 
 Ellen E. Smith, 
 
 Elizabeth Stagg, 
 
 Mary E. Stanley, 
 
 Clara A. Taylor, 
 
 ^Louisa M. Wasson, 
 
 *Nancy J. Williamson, 
 
 Anna H. Whitten, Rev. H. B. Scott, 
 
 Charlestown, Ind. 
 Kingsburg, Cal. 
 Talemadge, 0. 
 Mt. Gilead. 
 
 J. W. Calvert. 
 
 Ellis Lewis, 
 Rev. Martin Post, 
 Wm. H. Fry, 
 
 Painesville. 
 Osage City, Kan. 
 Oakland, Cal. 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Middleport. 
 
 Class of '6L 
 Mary J. Bennett, Albert M. Osborn, Lebanon. 
 
 Naomi Diament, 
 Emma S. Driggs, 
 *Martha Fry, 
 Sarah M. Hubbard, 
 Ellen Johnson, 
 ■^Jennie Kile, 
 Sarah Reis, 
 Mary Reis, 
 
 Edward S. Field, 
 John Dale, 
 
 Kalgan, China. 
 Madison, Ind. 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Kankakee, 111. 
 
 Middle town. 
 Middletown, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 213 
 
 Nrmie. 
 
 Isabella B. Riggs, 
 Anna E. Stewart, 
 
 Husband's Name, 
 
 Address. 
 
 Rev. M.Williams, Kalgan, China. 
 Barrett W. Clark, Knoxville, la. 
 
 Sarah A. Dickinson 
 
 Frances Eells, 
 Mary E. Landis, 
 Cornelia Little, 
 Mary S. Moore, 
 *PhiluraC Richardson Rev. 
 Anno M, Snively, 
 
 Class of '62. 
 D. A. Corey, 
 
 Waukegan, 111. 
 
 Norwalk. 
 Isaac W. Holman, Milwaukee, Wis. 
 Rev. L. S. Griggs, Terry ville. Conn, 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 Black, 
 
 Gainesville, Fla. 
 
 *Emma Spangler,t Amos W. Southard. 
 
 Electa T. Whitehead, Aug. Starr, M. D., Canal Winchester. 
 
 Ellen P. Allen, 
 *Eliza Carnahan, 
 Laura E. Cheseldine, 
 Harriet P. Conkling, 
 Ella Kendall, 
 Mary Ellen Little, 
 Sarah E. Pond, 
 Frances G. Reed, 
 
 Sarah C. Badeau, 
 Marianne C, Beach, 
 Susanna Blasdell, 
 Ellen Gordon, 
 Clara Hoyt, 
 Aleda Harshberger, 
 f Mary Leonard, 
 Mary C. McDonald, 
 Emma C. Paddack, 
 Maria A. Parshley, 
 Mary L. Roots, 
 fHannah R. Russell, 
 
 Class of '6a 
 
 Rev. D. R. Love. 
 James H. White, 
 
 Gainesville, Fla. 
 
 Danville, 111. 
 
 Sharonville. 
 John W. Over turf, Portsmouth. 
 Joseph Griggs, Madison, Ind. 
 Samuel W. Baird, Portsmouth. 
 J. S. Blithe, Ashtabula. 
 
 Class of '64. 
 
 M. B. Marshall, Bryan. 
 
 Chicago, 111, 
 Wm. S. Taylor, St. Louis, Mo. 
 Fred. W. Grube, Gosport, Eng. 
 Edgar H. Williams, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Rufus P. Upton, Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 Bowen, 
 
 John W. Brock, 
 
 R. B. Spilman, 
 
 Bloomington, 111. 
 Camden, Ind. 
 Hamilton. 
 Mt. Vernon, HI. 
 Milford Center. 
 Manhatan, ICan. 
 
2\4 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Harriet E. Smith, 
 Emily Scales, 
 Frances S. White, 
 
 Husband's Name 
 Chas. F. Linzee, 
 
 Address. 
 
 Duquoin, 111. 
 Rev. Leavitt Bartlett, Kansas City, Mo. 
 Robt. Montgomery, Oregon, Mo. 
 
 Class of '65. 
 fMyra Brown, 
 *Myrta L. Barber, 
 Aphia S. A. Bartlett, 
 Florence A. Carpenter, 
 Frances M.Cheseldine, William T. ColKns, 
 V. Elizabeth Crawford, Manaen Arter, 
 Fannie E. Ford, 
 
 Pamelia Gow, 
 Annie Griggs, 
 Mary E. Guthrie, 
 Sarah Belle Howe, 
 Mary K. Lawder, 
 *Laura A. Marsh ill, 
 Mary J. Martin, . 
 Clara McCleland, 
 M. Melissa Megrue, 
 Mary E. Post, 
 Julia Smith, 
 
 Marcus C. Acheson, 
 
 Bobt. Stewart Page, 
 Charles F. Howe, 
 M. J. Jones, M. D. 
 
 N. Cunningham, 
 
 Henry H. Harris, 
 Henry Benner, 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 Warsaw, N. Y. 
 Grand Rapids, Mich- 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Rossville, 111. 
 Walnut Hills, Cin. 
 Washington, Pa. 
 Jefferson City, Mo- 
 Shelbyville. Ind. 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Peoria, 111. 
 
 Greenville. 
 Columbus. 
 Champaign, 111. 
 Logansport, Ind. 
 Rantoul, 111. 
 
 A. L. Bartholemew, 
 Lucy M. Bell, 
 Rebecca Conkling, 
 Mary E. Harriott, 
 E. Viella Holmes, 
 Ada Klum, 
 Mary Macy, 
 C. Olivia Meily, 
 Elizabeth K. Peabody, 
 fM. Rebecca Roberts, 
 Maria Sheely, 
 *India A. Thomas. 
 
 Class of '66. 
 
 L. K. Andrews, Lewis, Iowa. 
 R. P. Rifenberick, Portsmouth. 
 Homer Sheely, Pleasant Run. 
 
 W. L. Porter, Lima. 
 
 Kokomo, Ind. 
 S. S. Carpenter, Cincinnati. 
 Calvin S. Brice, Lima. 
 Rev. Wm. Wilmer, Williamsport, Ind. 
 
 Republican, D. T. 
 
 Fredericksburgh. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 215 
 
 Name. 
 
 Class of '67. 
 Husband's Name. 
 
 Virginia M. Allen, Clayton W. Everett, 
 Margaret F. Campbell, 
 C. Amelia Campbell, 
 
 Anna R. Carley, Brown, 
 
 Lydia Aldersey Carnahan, 
 Hulda Case, E. C. Reese, Esq., 
 
 Mary R. Cathcart, Daniel Ransdell. 
 ISiarcissa G. Cleland, 
 
 Amelia Clift, 
 Emma Gordon, 
 fHelena E. Graff, 
 Laura A. Hay ward, 
 Euretta Hurlburt, 
 Emilie H. Jones, M. D., 
 Nira Koogler, 
 S. Louisa Leonard, 
 Rachel A. Martin, 
 ^EUa A. McKim, 
 f Isabella Shephard, 
 Louisa C. Wilkerson 
 Jane G. Williams, 
 ^Elizabeth Wi shard, 
 
 Henry C. Powell, 
 
 Curtis Wright, 
 J. H. Bradley, 
 T. E. Burrowes, 
 
 Rev. John Hussey, 
 A, A. Davison, 
 Gaston Boyd, M.D., 
 ■'^Geo. Parrott, 
 
 Address. 
 
 Toledo. 
 
 Cumberland, Md. 
 Cumberland, Md. 
 Lafayette, Ind. 
 Dayton, Ind, 
 Pana, 111. 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Topeka,Kan. 
 New Castle, Ind. 
 Salem, Ind. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Beloit, Wis. 
 Hartford, Kan. 
 Fredonia, N. Y. 
 Connersvil,e, Ind. 
 Clayton, N. J. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Lafayette, Ind. 
 Seymour, Ind. 
 Newton, Kan. 
 
 Class of '68. 
 Georgiana Banks, 
 
 Annie Caldwell, John F. Moses, 
 
 Florence, Ellis, 
 
 Emma Ford, S. J. Long, 
 
 Catherine A. Gibson, John D. Gibson, 
 Martha Harger, 
 
 ^"Frances A. Lawder, R. H. Pratt, 
 Laura McClelland, ^Prof .W.K. Saurber, 
 Margaret J. McCullough, 
 ^Anna McLean. 
 Mary P. Miller, Albert C. Reed, 
 
 Horseheads, N. Y. 
 
 Rushville, Ind. 
 
 Columbus. 
 
 Jackson. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Red Wing, Minn. 
 
 York, Pa. 
 Bloomington, Ind. 
 
 Evanston, 111. 
 
216 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Name, Husband's Name. 
 
 Helen M. Nelson, Rev. H. Bollard, 
 
 Catharine E. O'Byrne, 
 Emma Peabody, 
 Mary T. Rogers, 
 Sarah O. Sheppard, 
 Sarah M. Smith. 
 
 Alice B. Sturgus, W. C. Hill, 
 
 ^Mary K. Tate, W. P. Keller. 
 
 Ellen A. Tuck, 
 
 Address, 
 St Joseph, Mo. 
 Springfield, Ind. 
 Daysville, HI. 
 Logan. 
 
 Bunker Hill^ Hi! 
 Byron, m. 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Sarah J. Turner, Rev.T.W.Monteith, Port Huron, Mich. 
 
 Class of '69. 
 George C. Merrill, Andover, Mass. ' 
 
 Rev. J. H. Meteer, 
 Jos. Henderson, 
 
 Robt. F. Coyle, 
 
 Samuel E. Sneed, 
 R. A. Sturdevant, 
 
 Florence Adams, 
 
 *Mary Atherton. 
 
 Jane, Almira Ball, 
 
 M^ry R. Bosworth, 
 
 Leora E. Bowyer, 
 
 Sophia Brandkamp, 
 
 fHarriet H. Chase, 
 
 Maria E. Cleland, 
 
 Emily C. ElUott, 
 
 M. Corn'aFarnsworth, H. N. Goe, 
 
 Caroline E. Fay, Rev. C. Mowery, 
 
 *Sehnda H. Fay. 
 
 Virginia Gow, 
 
 Eliza Groenendyke, 
 
 Emma A. Hoyt, Rev. F. D. Seward, 
 
 Julia Hughes, 
 
 Emma L. Isom, P. Robertson, 
 
 Luella R. Kimball, 
 
 Marg't A. Kirkpatrick, Rev. D. G. LeSourd 
 
 Olive Frances McKimm, 
 
 Harriet McLane, M. W. Ammons, 
 
 Errnina C. Milligan, Rev. Eugene Mills, 
 
 Alice W. Milligan, 
 
 Amelia Myers, 
 
 Lucy E. Rochester, 
 
 Chas. Bowen, 
 
 Sullivan, Ind. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Terre Haute, Ind. 
 Crawfordsville, Ind, 
 Parkersburg, Ind. 
 Kirkwood, Mo. 
 Prattsburg, N. Y. 
 Indianapolis, Ind, 
 Coolville. 
 
 Washington, Pa. 
 Lafayette, Ind. , 
 Fowlerville, N. Y. 
 Bloomington, Ind. 
 Dayton. 
 
 Evans ville, Ind. 
 Hebron, Ind. 
 Hockingport. 
 Monroe. 
 Nevada, Iowa. 
 Gosport, Ind. 
 Phi ladelphia. Pa ^., 
 Logan. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 217 
 
 Name. 
 Mary D. Sheppard, 
 Mary E. Wells, 
 
 Husband's Name. 
 
 E. L. French, 
 
 Class of 70. 
 
 Prof. J.W. Conover, 
 
 Rachel A. Crawford 
 
 Eliza J. Cornell, 
 
 Melissa Coulson, 
 
 Mary K. Hughes, 
 
 Mary Emma Jones, 
 
 Maria Kendall, 
 
 Kate R. Leake, 
 
 Kate M. McClure, 
 
 Augusta McCoy, 
 
 Julia Baldwin Mills, 
 
 Clara Mae Morris, 
 
 Fanny U. Nelson, 
 
 Clara Pierce, 
 
 Susan E. Timberman, 
 
 Lizzie J. B. Tweed, Rev. J.M.Robinson 
 
 Maria Louise Whipple, 
 
 Class of 7L 
 
 P. A. Hull, 
 
 Chas. Harley, 
 
 0. Milton Gregg, 
 Wm. Pursell, 
 
 J. H. Shultz, M.D., 
 
 Address. 
 Bunker Hill, 111. 
 Aarora, N. Y. 
 
 Delphi, Ind. 
 Hamilton. 
 Monroe. 
 
 Bloomington, Ind. 
 Greencastle, Ind. 
 Monticello, Ind. 
 Terre Haute, Ind. 
 Delphi, Ind. 
 New Salem, Ind. 
 Crawfordsville, Ind. 
 Portsmouth. 
 Geneva, N. Y. 
 Logarisport, Ind. 
 Hamilton. 
 , Shawneetown, El. 
 Camp Point, 111. 
 
 f Caro. V. Alexander, J.N.LaGrange,M.D. Marion, Iowa. 
 
 E. C. Bowen, Zanesville. 
 
 Allen H. Bacon, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Cyrus Hunt, M. D., 
 
 Wm. A. Byal, M. D., Vanlue. 
 
 Rev. C. L. Hall. Ft. Berthold, D. T. 
 Franklin Ind. 
 
 Dr. G. G. Craig, Rock Island, 111. 
 
 Oren S. Hadley, Esq. 
 Sophia M.Cunningham, Rev. C. A. Duncan, Jonesboro, E. Tenn. 
 Lydia A. Dimon, Milan. 
 
 Sarah Gamble, Connersville, Ind. 
 
 *Narcissa B. Goodfellow, J. O. Risser. 
 Anna M. Hopkins, St. Louis, Mo. , 
 
 Eliza Hougham, Rev.H.E.Hickman, Frankfort, Ind. 
 
 Ella Bane, 
 M. Louise Bissell, 
 ■'^'Athelia Byers, 
 Eliza J. Bushnell, 
 Emma M. Calhoun, 
 f Eleanor J. Clarke, 
 fNellie Cleland, 
 *Laura Ella Clough, 
 
218 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Emma Hughes, 
 *Anna R. Mason, 
 f Mary Needham, 
 Rosa Jessie Rabb, 
 Eva Sherwood, 
 Nannie M. Snyder, 
 Nannie R. Wason, 
 Mary E. White, 
 
 Husband's Na'ine. 
 
 Rev. J. B. Gregg, 
 
 Rev. J. M. Bailey, 
 Edward P. Ames, 
 Henry E. Lavayea. 
 MaryMaxwelWillson,C. D. Whitehead, 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Lowell, Ind. 
 Cleveland. 
 Mary ville. Mo. 
 
 Class of 72. 
 
 Mary L. Allen, 
 Hattie Boal, 
 Mary Moore Blythe, 
 Alice Cary Blythe, 
 Mary Coulson, 
 Alice L. Dean, 
 Mary K. Dwyer, 
 Marion A. Perkins, 
 Evangeline Tweed, 
 Anna M. Whallon, 
 Mattie A. Zook, 
 
 Rev.W.L. Whipple, Ooroomiah, Persia. 
 
 Robt. Peebles, 
 
 C. N. McGroarty, 
 J. P. Mills, M. D., 
 Fred Rhorer, 
 
 Ashland, Ky. 
 Hanover, Ind. 
 Hanover, Ind. 
 Oxford. 
 Milan. 
 Greenfield. 
 Troy. 
 
 Georgetown. 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Pueblo, Col. 
 
 Class of 73. 
 Fannie Michler Cobb, 
 Caroline E. Collins, E. L. Pattin, 
 *Emma S. Crawford.f Sam. Taggart. 
 Mary A. Dame, 
 Mary Gorilla Dickey, 
 Em'line H. Eastman, 
 Nannie A. Ellis, 
 
 f Emma Hutchinson, Prof. B. C. Davis, 
 fMary McKinney, 
 Mary S. Nelson, 
 Laura A. Olmstead, 
 fMargaret L. Sheeley, 
 
 Prof. C. A. Leonard. 
 J. L. Love, M. D., 
 
 Sioux City, Iowa. 
 Muncie, Ind. 
 
 Edinburg, Ind. 
 Mt. Sterling, Ky. 
 Whiting, Kan. 
 Mitchell, Ind. 
 Merom, Ind. 
 Binghamton, N. Y. 
 Geneva, N. Y. 
 Bangkok, Slam. 
 Fredericksburg. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 219 
 
 NaTYie. 
 
 Maria Barkins Starr, 
 Emma K. Vawter, 
 f Sarah D. Waterman, 
 •^Mary O. Williams. 
 Cordelia Wood, 
 
 Husband's Name. 
 Rev. O. Wright, 
 
 Address. 
 
 Dodge City, Kan. 
 Santa Monica, Gal. 
 Col ton, Cal. 
 
 James T. Herrick, Wellington, Kan. 
 
 Class of 74. 
 
 Julia A. Baldwin, John M. Nichols, 
 
 f Mary Irene Chidlaw, 
 
 *Adrienne B. Curran, 
 
 Virginia Dare, 
 
 Pocahontas McCoy, 
 
 Sarah Maria Robinson, 
 
 Emilie Eliza Robinson, 
 
 Class of 75. 
 
 Columbus. 
 Cleves. 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 New Salem, Ind. 
 Washington, D. 
 Washington, D. 
 
 Anna E. Calhoun, 
 Anna M. Carson, 
 *Alice E. Conkling. 
 Cora Ida Dare, 
 Virginia Dickey, 
 Isabel F. Dodd, 
 Lucy J. Eastman, 
 Flora Estella Ellis, 
 Alice B. Gibson, 
 Jessie M. Henderson, 
 Emma R. Kimball, 
 Julia L. Kitchei, 
 Jennie D. McCleery, 
 fKate M. McCleery, 
 Mary McKee, 
 Henrietta E. Parker, 
 M. Annie Pendleton, 
 Sophronia B. Pike, 
 Adelaide Estella Reed, 
 Madora E. Spilman, 
 Margaretta P.Thomas, 
 Emma H. Trimble, 
 
 Robt. McCurdy. 
 L. M. Dillman, 
 
 Kenton. 
 Bloomington, III. 
 
 Oxford. 
 
 Washington, Utah. 
 
 Boonton, N. J. 
 
 Griggs ville, 111. 
 
 Bainbridge, Ind. 
 
 Manchester. 
 W. W\ Hester,M.D., Anna, 111. 
 
 Bloomington, 111. 
 
 Liberty, Ind. 
 Samuel M. Sheller, Clays ville. Pa. 
 
 West Alexander, Pa. 
 James B. Welsh, Danville, Ky. 
 Asa M. Goodwin, Rushville, 111. 
 
 Chenoa, 111. 
 
 Ft. Berthold, D. T. 
 
 Portsmouth. 
 Hendrick Vansant, Flemingsburg, Ky. 
 H. R. Thompson, Crawfordsville, Ind, 
 
 Sevmour, Ind. 
 
22b 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Name, Husband's Name. Address. 
 
 Annie M. Turner, Rev. F. E. Morgan, Kurnool, India. 
 Margaret Wade, Ross. 
 
 Maria Louise Wason, Lowell, Ind, 
 
 Harriet F. Whallon, Oak Park, III. 
 
 Susan C. Ballard, 
 Anna M. Blayney, 
 Myra Jane Calhoun, 
 Mary Alice Craig, 
 Alice H. Cromwell, 
 Belle S. Dix, 
 Martha J. Hill, 
 Julia A. Lamson, 
 Mary E. Messenger, 
 Elizabeth M. Nelson, 
 Jennie L. O'Byrne, 
 Minnie M. Orr, 
 Emma H. Paige, 
 Julia Pratt, 
 Julia A. Shuler, 
 Jane M. Timberman, 
 Eva Landis Trout, 
 
 Class of 76. 
 
 Springfield. 
 Rev.Adolph Lehman, Dresden. 
 D. W. Longfellow, Ft. Berthold, D. T. 
 Chas. B. Poyntz, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Theo. H. Williams, Mankata. Minn. 
 
 Eaton. 
 
 Dayton, Ind. 
 
 Vevay, Ind. 
 Rev. J. R. Gibson, Troy. 
 
 Geneva, N. Y. 
 W. H. Montgomery, Kansas City, Mo. 
 
 Marietta,. 
 
 Nashville, HI. 
 
 Portsmouth. 
 Rev. Frost Craft, Noblesville, Ind. 
 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Crawfordsville, Ind. 
 
 Class of 77. 
 W. W. Mills, 
 
 W. N. Van Brunt, 
 Roy Scott, 
 
 Lillian Adams, 
 
 Lizzie D. Church, 
 
 Hattie E. Geddes, 
 
 Kate Giltner, 
 
 Ada A. Kingsbury, 
 
 Candace M. H. Lhamon, 
 
 Mary Nantz McCrae, 
 
 Leila S. McKee, 
 
 Florence Nichols, Alex. Mann 
 
 Elizabeth M. Pendleton, 
 
 Clarissa L. Pendleton, 
 
 Elizabeth Wade, A. J. Marsh 
 
 Emily Waterman,, 
 
 Howell, Mich. 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Mt. Clemens, Mich. 
 Aurora, Neb. 
 Amer'n Fork, Utah. 
 Gambler. 
 Peotone, Kan. 
 Danville, Ky. 
 Paris, 111. 
 Chenoa, 111. 
 Chenoa, 111. 
 Cincinnati. 
 Waterman, Ind. 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 221 
 
 Na^ne. 
 Anna Marion Allen, 
 Mary M. Campbell, 
 Edna S. Cole, 
 Fannie Cundall, 
 Mary Virginia Ewing 
 Archer E. Hatcher, 
 Josephine H. Lane 
 Mary L. Mack, 
 Anna S. Morris, 
 Emma Nevius, 
 Ida B. Kobbins, 
 Mary West, 
 
 Martha L. Blayney, 
 Mary E. Bonham, 
 Eliza B. Hendricks, 
 Margaret E. Johnston, 
 Irene C. Jones, 
 Edna E. Kalb, 
 Anna E. Kumler, 
 Fannie S. Laurie, 
 Olara A. Laurie, 
 Helen Lyle, 
 Ida M. Matson, 
 Carrie B. Reynolds, 
 Margaret Savage, 
 Hoyland Taylor, 
 Helen Taylor, 
 Rowey Tucker, 
 Mary G. Webb 
 ISTarcissa B. Wilson, 
 
 Class of 78. 
 
 Husband's Name. Address. 
 
 Wm. Martindell, Clay Center, Kan. 
 Ching Mai, Laos (P. O. Bangkok, Siam.) 
 Ching Mai, Laos (P. O. Bangkok, Siam.) 
 Tripoli, Syria. 
 Ogden, U. T. 
 E. C. Tiffany, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Walaka, Fla. 
 Gilead, Conn. 
 Chicago, 111. 
 Fred. R. Levering, Lafayette, Ind. 
 Jackson. 
 Groesbeck. 
 
 Class of 79. 
 
 -Martin, 
 -Rowe, M. p., 
 
 Rev. Tho. Boyd, 
 
 Sulphur Springs, 
 Webster Grove, Mo. 
 Petersburg, Ind. 
 Connersville, Ind. 
 Newark. 
 Henry, 111, 
 Cincinnati. 
 Hamilton. 
 Hamilton. 
 Lexington, Ky. 
 Cleves. 
 
 Griggsville, 111. 
 Ashland, Ky. 
 Loudonville. 
 Casselton, D. T. 
 Beverly. 
 
 Vermillionville, La. 
 Warsaw, Ind. 
 
 t Full course not completed. 
 
 * Deceased. 
 
222 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 Class of '80. 
 Name: Residence.. 
 
 Luella Adams McCoy's, Ind. 
 
 Florence Amick Scipio, Ind. 
 
 Cora Evans Bell Hillsboro. 
 
 Haddie G. Borton Plymouth, Ind. 
 
 Lovetta Brice Greenfield. 
 
 Mary Amanda Clarke Tabriz, Persia. 
 
 Martha Ellen Fain Jonesboro, E. Tenn. 
 
 Anna Gernand Rossville, 111. 
 
 Carolena Goodenow Roseville, 111. 
 
 Kate Hutchinson New Albany, Ind. 
 
 Lillie Elma Kendall Richmond, Ind. 
 
 Catharine Lawson Greenup, Ky. 
 
 Lizzie McCord Oxford. 
 
 Kate G.Scott Adams' Mills. 
 
 Kate Storey Vernon, Ind. 
 
 Rebecca R. Swift Pleasant Ridge. 
 
 I. Katharine Timberman Hamilton. 
 
 Henrietta Van Hook Fulton, Iowa. 
 
 ClaraVawter Franklin, Ind. 
 
 NAMES OF THOSE WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN 
 FOREIGN MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Name. Husband's Name, Address. 
 
 Sarah L. Utley, Rev. S. Woodin, Foochow, China. 
 
 Isabella B. Riggs, Rev. M. Williams, Kalgan, " 
 
 *Julia La Fromboise, Dakota Territory. 
 
 Naomi Diament, Kalgan, China. 
 
 Mary Hicks, Rev. J. M. Shaw, Tungchow, " 
 
 Mary E. Barr, Peking, " 
 
 Sarah Jane Dawes, Rev. John Shedd, Ooroomiah, Persia. 
 ^Harriet N. Crawford, 
 
 Mary Allen, Rev. Wm. Whipple, " 
 
 Sarah Jane Bassett, Teheran, 
 
 Irene Briggs, Rev. S. L. Ward, Tabriz, 
 
 Mary A. Clarke, 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 223 
 
 Name. 
 
 Husband's Name. 
 
 Harriet S. Ashley, 
 
 Abbie L. Burgess, Rev. R. Hume, 
 
 Charlotte Chandler, Rev. E. Hume, 
 
 Maria Thatcher, Rev. Jas. Quick, 
 
 Charlotte C.Birge, Rev. J. Chamberlain, 
 
 Annie M. Turner, Rev. F. E. Morgan, 
 
 Lizzie Forman, 
 
 Marianna Beach, 
 
 Jenny Jones, Rev. H. T. Perry, 
 
 Harriet N. Eastman, 
 
 Marv Hartwell, 
 
 Address. 
 Ahmednugger, India. 
 
 Bombay, India. 
 Batticotta, Ceylon. 
 Arcot, India. 
 Kurnool, India. 
 Lahoor, India. 
 Eski Zagra,Turkey. 
 Aintab, 
 
 Toungoo, Burmah. 
 Bangkok, Siam. 
 Ching Mai, Laos (P. O. Bangkok, Siam). 
 
 Mary Campbell, 
 
 Edna Cole, 
 
 Fannie Cundall, 
 
 Lizzie Kimball, 
 
 Luella Kimball, 
 
 Emma Kimball, 
 
 Ellen P. Allen, 
 
 Anna Gow, 
 
 Malana Conaway, 
 
 Mary R. Spooner, 
 
 Sarah O. Sheppard, " " 
 
 Martha Riggs, ' W. K. Morris, Sisseton Agency, Dak. Ter. 
 
 "'^Nancy J. Williamson, Greenwood, Yankton, " 
 
 Emma L. Calhoun, Rev. C. L. Hall, Fort Berthold, " 
 
 Mary J. Calhoun, Rv. D. W. Longfellow, " , " 
 
 Sophia B. Pike, " " 
 
 Julia La Fromboise, Yankton, " 
 
 Tripoli, Syria. 
 Monterey, Mexico. 
 
 Mexico City, " 
 Rev. A. M. Darley, Conesjos, Colo. 
 
 Leonard Worcester, Tullahasse, Ind. Ter. 
 
 ^Deceased. 
 
224 
 
 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Whole number of pupils from 1855-1880 1 ,948. 
 
 "graduates" " " 406 
 
 " " " graduates deceased 37 
 
 Average attendance per year.. 155 
 
 Whole number of teachers from 1855-1880 88 
 
 Number of teachers who were graduates 32 
 
 " " " deceased 4 
 
 Whole number who are or have been missionaries 38 
 
 Number of missionaries deceased......' 2 
 
 Whole number of trustees from 1855-1880 42 
 
 " " " " deceased 16 
 
 Number of graduates at the reunion 112 
 
 " " teachers^ " " " 26 
 
 NUMBER OF PUPILS, NOT GRADUATES, ACCORDING 
 TO STATES. 
 
 Ohio 632 
 
 Indiana 490 
 
 Illinois 150 
 
 Kentucky 61 
 
 Missouri 37 
 
 Pennsylvania. 21 
 
 Kansas 19 
 
 Iowa 18 
 
 Tennessee 16 
 
 New York. 15 
 
 Wisconsin 14 
 
 Minnesota 8 
 
 Virginia and W. Virg'na 8 
 
 District Columbia 7 
 
 Michigan 6 
 
 Canada 1 
 
 New Hampshire.... 5 
 
 New Jersey 4 
 
 Texas , 4 
 
 Massachusetts 3 
 
 Alabama 3 
 
 Arkansas 3 
 
 Wyoming and Ind'n Ter's 3 
 
 Connecticut 2 
 
 Maryland 2 
 
 Mississippi 2 
 
 Colorado 2 
 
 India 2 
 
 Vermont 1 
 
 Florida 1 
 
 Nebraska 1 
 
 China.. 1 
 
 Total 1,542 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 PHILLIP HINKLE. 
 
 How can we close this happy, grateful record with a mem- 
 orial to our beloved trustee, benefactor, father and friend, 
 whose step of all others on our glad reunion day last June 
 was most buoyant, his voice most cheery, his playful wit the 
 merriest and his beaming fatherly pride most gratified ? Or 
 how shall we pay fitting tribute ? 
 
 Our dear Mr. Hinkle died suddenly of heart disease on 
 Tuesday October 27, 1880, after an illness of less than twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 His last act, like his whole life, was of thoughtful care for 
 one who had no one else to think for her, one of the many 
 who will rise up to call him blessed among the widows, the 
 orphans, the forsaken and the toiling poor of Cincinnati. 
 Seminary daughters need no eulogy of Mr. Hinkle to touch 
 the sorrowing chords of their hearts in his loss. 
 
 •*The stranger could not know his worth, '' 
 But to them 
 
 " His memory is his best epitaph. '' 
 
 The Bethel Sabbath School of Cincinnati, wi-th which he 
 had been connected for forty years, and the Western Female 
 Seminary, of which he has been a most intimately associated 
 trustee for twenty years, as well as one of its first con- 
 tributors, both felt in his death all the fullness of a near per- 
 sonal bereavement. 
 
 Miss Peabody was called to the stricken family by telegram 
 
 15 
 
226 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 and spent a week with them. That home was the house of 
 God even in the depths of its sorrow. The buoyant, gen- 
 erous, consecrated spirit who had always been its cheerful 
 inspiration, seemed yet to hover about tenderly and lovingly. 
 
 It was Miss Peabody's privilege to receive the members of 
 the Bethel school and the many others whom he had befriended 
 as they came to look for the last time upon their friend. 
 From nine o'clock in the morning to one in the afternoon 
 they continued to come, singly and in groups, men, women, 
 young girls and children, grateful, tearful, sorrowing ones of 
 all ages and classes. 
 
 The seminary girls sent an exquisite floral tribute — a harp 
 leaning against a completed column, bearing the initials, W. F. 
 S., upon the chords. What shall we say more ? Blessed are 
 the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from their labors, 
 and their works do follow them. 
 
ALUMNJE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The work of the association is more fully defined in a cir- 
 cular issued by the officers to the entire Alumnae soon after 
 the reunion : 
 
 To the Alumnx of the Western Feyymle Seminary : 
 
 Dear Sisters ; * ^ ^ * ^ When the contemplated 
 memorial volume reaches you, those who were present will 
 live over again the two precious days, and we shall have the 
 added pleasure of knowing that absent ones are sharing it 
 with us, and have caught, with us, the thrilling inspirations 
 of our Alumnae Association as it unfolds before us full of 
 high and beautiful possibilities. 
 
 You will receive herewith a copy of the constitution and 
 by-laws. All who desire to become members will please 
 sign the constitution and return the signature, with entrance 
 fee, to the secretary. 
 
 It was resolved to endeavor to raise, within five years, the 
 sum of $5,000 as a special memorial offering, to become the 
 nucleus of an Alumnae fund, to be securely invested, and the 
 income applied to the education of those who expect to de- 
 vote themselves to Christian work. 
 
 Although $0,000 is the sum named, yet, in the words of 
 Miss Ellen Smith, our " faith took possession of $10,000 in the 
 name of the Lord," and there is an earnest hope that we may 
 be able to secure that amount within five years. 
 
 Already two questions come to us, viz: " What is the best 
 plan for raising this money ? " and, " How shall we construe 
 the words ' Christian work ' in which the beneficiaries are to 
 engage ? " 
 
228 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. . 
 
 In reply to the first, having consulted other officers and 
 members, it is suggested that local Alumnse meetings be held 
 in every place where graduates reside, during September, or 
 at the earliest convenience, to which all old scholars — under- 
 graduates — shall be invited, care being taken to invite isolated 
 ones residing within convenient distance. 
 
 At these meetings, consider what you can do individually 
 and collectively for this fund, and what friends of the semi- 
 nary or of education in your several localities might like to 
 contribute. These first meetings need not require elaborate 
 preparation, and may be very informal and social, as well as 
 refreshing spiritual occasions. 
 
 Let reports of all such meetings be sent to the secretary, 
 and they will be condensed into a second circular letter which 
 shall come to you all again. This will prove a delightful in- 
 spiration, and from this multitude of counsel will evolve all 
 the general plan of work we need. 
 
 In reply to the second question, " How shall we construe 
 * Christian work ? '" we can only say, judging from the dis- 
 cussion in adopting the resolution, that the expression was 
 chosen as admitting the broadest application — mission work, 
 home or foreign, church work, temperance and philanthropic 
 work, teaching, Christian home life, wifehood, motherhood, 
 any work for God, the home, the church, or the world which 
 a consecrated Christian woman can do better for being edu- 
 cated. 
 
 Only God has a right to define the sphere of any young 
 woman going out from the seminary with that prayer, " Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me to do ? " upon her diploma. 
 
 It may, however, be our happy privilege to select and aid 
 in educating many young women eminently qualified for 
 usefulness, whom God shall accept and " ordain to go and 
 bring forth fruit" to his glory and to the world's good. 
 
 Miss Peabody yearly receives applications from 3'oung 
 women nineteen and twenty years of age, who wish to become 
 teachers and are unable to pay their entire way. A fund has 
 been established by one of our generous trustees, Mr. Pre- 
 served Smith, which is applied in this way, but it does not 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 229 
 
 meet the entire demand. Indeed the grand possibihties of 
 such a fund can only be measured by its amount. 
 
 ReaUzing what the seminary has done for us, how it has 
 broadened and ennobled our lives with an education which 
 " has its outlook toward all the vast provinces of reading and 
 thought," who, so much as ourselves, should wish to extend its 
 advantages to young women thrown upon their own resources 
 who are hungering for an education beyond their reach ? 
 
 But while our chief energies are directed to this fund for the 
 present, let us remember that there, are many dehghtful 
 methods in which we may work out the aims of our associ- 
 ation and the hopes of the seminary in our education. 
 
 To revive and establish loving and living bonds among our- 
 selves, with old pupils and with the seminary ; to strengthen 
 the hearts and hands of our dear missionary band with a 
 loving, prayerful, sisterly sympathy which may be more to 
 them than any other ; to sustain and encourage those of our 
 home band who are working patiently and self-denyingly, 
 bearing heavy burdens and crosses in the retirement of home 
 or in the world's highway; to create an interest in Christian 
 education which can cope with the infidelity of the times, and 
 counteract the tendency to exalt culture above Christ, rather 
 than consecrate it to Christ, and which can lead more wisely 
 and efficiently in the organized and growing philanthropies 
 and reforms of the day; to direct to the seminary promising 
 young women of moderate means and parents seeking a place 
 for the education of their daughters ; to induce parents able 
 to educate their daughters to do so, who might not otherwise ; 
 to stimulate to higher ideals and higher home culture young 
 women who can not avail themselves of these or equal ad- 
 vantages; to keep ever distinctly before us the elevation of 
 the aims and lives of women in everyday life ; to aid the sem- 
 inary in keeping pace with the growing educational advan- 
 tages of the times ; to turn back upon her currents of help and 
 strength in return for the blessed influences she has shed 
 upon our own lives, to be returned by her again to the world 
 in streams to make glad the city of our God; these are some of 
 the inspiring aims which unfold before us, and they present 
 fruitful topics for discussion in local reunions. 
 
230 WESTERN FEMALE SEMINARY. 
 
 It is sincerely hoped the September meeting suggested will 
 be held, and that steps will be taken to continue them from 
 time to time, as circumstances will permit. Isolated ones 
 might hold a reunion " in spirit, " and revive correspondence- 
 with old schoolmates, and send us a report. 
 
 From some have come suggestions of sub-State associa- 
 tions. These local reunions will prepare the way for State 
 associations, if such are desired. No better illustration of the 
 work we may do, and are doing, for the seminary, can be 
 given than the following opening clause of a letter received 
 recently by Miss Peabody: "Having heard your school so 
 favorably spoken of by your graduates whom I have met in 
 different places, I take the liberty of addressing you. I have 
 a daughter who should be sent away to some good school, pro- 
 viding I can find one within our means, " etc. 
 
 In proportion, also, as we illustrate in our own lives and 
 work the benefits of seminary training, do we direct others 
 to it. 
 
 The investments there, the beautiful building and grounds, 
 the choice oi)portunities, the excellent library, the priceless 
 religious training, the richenss of association, experience, and 
 history, the ripeness of years, should benefit the world to the 
 fullest extent. It is not the spirit of the seminary to adver- 
 tise itself. Who may so well be her "living epistles" as our- 
 selves ? Whose arms so appropriate to uphold and bear her 
 on into the coming years as the arms of her own loving 
 daughters? Who so fitted to aid in building her up into 
 a peerless institution in literary advantages, as her Alumnae ? 
 The years touch our dear Miss Peaboby lightly and beauti- 
 fully, but she can not carry the care she formerly did. Some 
 day she will exchange the cares she has borne so long and 
 lovingly for her crown, but our dear semniary must live on> 
 a growingly beautiful monument to her, and to Him at whose 
 feet she has ever laid her work. There is much that we may 
 do, in time, and only enrich ourselves in the doing, which 
 already suggests itself. The liberal endowment of a broad 
 and instructive lecture course, regular additions to the library 
 to keep it abreast with the times in science, literature and 
 
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 231 
 
 books of reference; additions to the cabinet; to supply the 
 best apparatus in physiology and the various sciences; to 
 gather works of art and souvenirs of travel which shall be 
 sources of pleasure and culture to our younger sisters, and 
 attractive features to visitors, and those seeking the highest 
 sources of culture for their daughters ; a telescope and a fire- 
 proof building for library and natural history collection ; these 
 are needs and hopes of the seminary which the Alumnae will 
 delight to aid gradually in supplying, without necessarily 
 diverting from the specific fund we have resolved to raise. 
 
 Many of us know persons likely to take an especial interest 
 in some one of these objects, in improving the quality of edu- 
 cational advantages to young women, who might not con- 
 tribute to the object of the Alumnse fund. 
 
 Recently $35 for the library was received from one of the 
 Alumnae, a donation from the estate of her father, who had 
 been deeply interested in the seminary library. 
 
 Freely we have received of the best which the times and 
 means at command could afford us. Freely let us impart of 
 effort to give to those who come after us, the best of their 
 time. Thus may we ourselves reap reflex benefits from ad- 
 vancing culture which it was not our privilege to receive, and 
 which, with many of us, "life's ceaseless burden of homely 
 care " will not now permit. Many of you scarcely need this 
 special pleading, for you have daughters whom you hope to 
 send to the seminary. 
 
 Dear sisters, we have thus outlined a great work which our 
 association might do in time, but let not any one feel that 
 more is expected of her than she can do. Our work should 
 be entirely pleasant to all, and burdensome to none, and we 
 would not make it appear too arduous in the outset.