The Story of Dartmouth

’ President s House Frontisp'iece THE STORY OF DARTMOUTH BY WI LD ER DWIG H T QU I N T W ITH ILLU STRA TI O NS BY JOHN ALB ERT SEAFORD BOSTON TT R A LI LE , B OWN, ND 1 92 2 ri 1 1 Copy ght , 9 4, LI B OW AND OMPA Y. BY TTLE , R N, C N All rights reserved PRINTE D IN TH E UNIT ED Su ms or AMERICA PREFACE I HA V E t o acknowledge gratefully my indebted ness in w rit ing t his Story Of Dartmouth to the of remarkable History Dartmouth College, Volume ” I , by the late Frederick Chase, and the equally of excellent History Dartmouth College , Volume ” K . II , by John Lord Other useful and interesting ’ R o material I have found in the ev . Francis Br wn s Origins of Dartmouth College ; Professor Charles ’ F . Emerson s historical sketch introductory to the Dartmouth General Catalogue Of 1 9 1 I ; The Dart ” ROll Of R mouth Honor, by edington and Hodgkins ; ’ ° Dartmouth Athletics , by John H . Bartlett, 94 ’ Dr . W . T . Smith s Hanover Forty Years Ago ; ’ Crosby s First Half Century of Dartmouth Col lege and variou s letters , diaries , and magazines . W . D . Q. October I 1 1 , 9 4 . CONTENTS The Indian Charity Sc hool The Evolution Vox Cla ma nt is in Deserto Getting Under Wa y The Reign of t h e Crown Prince The G reat Case Dana a nd Tyler Nathan Lord a nd his Young G entlemen The Dartmouth Roll of Honor The Fi rst City President The Man of I ron Th e G rea t Awakening The Old Traditions ’ Dartmouth Out -O - Doo rs What M en DO at Dartmouth Why M en Go t o Dartmouth Index LIST OF I LLUSTRATIONS ’ P resident s Hous e Rollins Chap el Th e Old B ridge Da rtmouth Hall College Ch u rch Wh eeler Hall Webster Hall Hanover Inn North Massac hus etts H a ll Th e Tower College Hall Tuc k Hall Wil son Hall (Lib ra ry) Th e Alumni Gymna si um Reed and Ba rtlett Halls T H E O F DA RT M OU CHAPTER I TH E INDIAN CHARITY S CHOO L 6 1 66 N the evening Of February , 7 , an Oddly assorted pair Of Americans reached London , o f - o the great Babylon its day , after a seventeen h ur S - coach ride from Salisbury . ince the twenty third Of December, the two had been on their journey - of M a ssa chu from Boston , in the far away colony setts . Neptune and Aeolus had played them scurvy B st . o on Pa ck et tricks Their passage in the ship , of Captain John Marshall , toward the cost Which o ne Of John Hancock , the ship owners , had remitted five pounds , had been sufficiently trying to men Of little marine experience ; to add exasperation t o - physical ill being , an easterly gale had kept them - from port for twenty two days , and within two ’ hundred miles Of Land s End . But on February 3 i - they were landed at Brix a m in a fi sh ng boat . By horses ’ backs and coaches they made their 1 THE STORY OF DARTM OUTH s way to the metropolis , reaching it when Oil wick s were guttering in the street lamps , and torche — flaring as the link boys rushed hither and thither, like the saucy young imps Of darkness they were . That the travelers from America were confused , startled , and astounded may be taken for granted , but need not be ; their letters and diaries give notable testimony to the perturbed state of their feelings at being proj ected into London life fo r the first time . These men could and did attract the attention w a Of the London crowds , even at a time when it s the fashion t o pretend a cool indifference to any ” thing but the doings of the Macaroni . Samson Occom w a s - , the older Of the two , a full blooded Mohegan Indian from Connecticut . With his - lithe , athletic figure , his strong , copper tinted face , his straight black hair hanging over his shoulders , - his broad , White bib tie and sober clerical clothes , he made a picture Of contradiction that caught the eye Of serious and frivolous alike . ’ ccom s w a s O companion , Nathaniel Whitaker, tall , handsome , and distinguished in bearing . He , w a s Of too , a man Of God that robust and somewhat quarrelsome type that New England produced so prodigally in the seventeenth and eighteenth cen i r es . t u He was a Princeton College Presbyterian , 2 THE INDIAN CHAR ITY SCHOOL and destined later t o raise hisvoice in fiery denun cia t ion Of Toryism ; t o squabble with his people in every pastorate he held ; to be accused Of trying to corner ” the wine and raisin market in Nor t o wich , Connecticut, while a pastor there , and be called by the historian Of that town a worldly ” R v man and frequently irregular . Possibly the e w a s t o - erend Mr . Whitaker a o j aunty shepherd for Puritan flocks ; but his qualities certainly gave him efficiency for his London mission . S Occom amson , the glory Of the Indian nation , and Nathaniel Whitaker, Of more doubtful glory , had come to London to stir up subscriptions fo r the ” S o Indian Charity cho l , located in Lebanon , Connecticut, and the direct ancestor Of Dartmouth College . This institution was owned and conducted 1 by Eleazar Wheelock , Yale 73 3 , already a noted pulpiteer, pamphleteer, controversialist, and edu cator . The pilgrims were accredited to George Z Whitefield , that flaming sword of ion , who knew Wheelock well and was eager to help him in his great plans for educating and then Christianizing the young savages of the eastern border Of Ameri ca . As a matter Of fact though they themselves could — not have known it they were on their way to the highly respectable and God- fearing nobleman who w a s t o give his name t o the collegiate child of 3 THE STORY OF DARTMOUTH ’ Eleazar Wheelock s mind and heart . After Whee ” o l ck , the Great Awakening , the American Indian , and the British peerage formed the trio most influ ent ial f in the founding o Dartmouth . These American ambassado rs from the learned Connecticut parson and school- teacher spent their first somewhat disturbed night in London at the Of D D e Berdt w ho house ennis , a rich merchant had been in correspondence with Wheelock through ’ Whit efi ld e s influence . The next morning they Of were taken to the house the revivalist, afterward being provided with a furnished house hard by the Temple through his generous effort for their com fort . Evidently Whitefield had long held prophetic vision of the Earl of Dartmouth as one w ho would listen to the Macedonian call from Wheelock and his Indians ; that if he would not go over and help them , he would at least provide some Of the sinews fo r w a r the holy and induce others to do the same . The Americans had been in London hardly a week before he arranged a meeting with the peer, who was at that time First Lord of Trade and Plantations and afterward ( 1 772) Secretary of State for the m “ . c c : Colonies Says O o in his diary Monday, ’ Feb . ru o . I th , Mr Whitefield took Mr Whitaker and I in his Coach and Introduced us t o my Lord 4 THE INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL ’ a ea r d Dartmouth , and he p like a Worthy Lord indeed Mr . Whitefield says he is a Christian Lord ” 1 and an uncommon one . ’ But Occom s naive approval Of the second Earl t o f Dartmouth did not extend o Londoners en masse. S ” “ Last abbath Evening, continues the diary , I ’ t o walk d with Mr . Wright Cary a letter t o my Lord Dartmouth and Saw Such Confut io n as I of w a s never dreamt , there some at Churches Sing ’ S S ing p g and Preaching, in the treets ome Cursing , one Swearing and Damming another, others was Wh est lin holloaing , g, talking , gigling , and Laugh ing, and Coaches and footmen passing and repass - ing , Crossing and Cress Crossing, and the poor ! Begers Praying Crying and Beging up on their Knees . t wo w a s Of the , Whitaker the more practised n f ma n Of the world . It is not o record that any o o r the sights Of London , either sacred profane, hurt his sensibilities in any w ay . He knew that his mission was to raise money , and he realized the 1 a t c os n sta t ement e e ent r t t en in so er ea rnest Th l i g , whil vid ly w i b t h e n ian m n st er was th e ca use of t remen ous a r t en by I d i i , d hil i y wh uot e ro essor ranc s Bro n in his a ress The Ori ins o Bart q d by P f F i w dd , g f mouth Colle e a t t he rocee n s nc ent t o th e a in of th e corner g , p di g i id l y g st one of th e new art mout a Oct o er 26 1 0 .

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