Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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» Theodore = Sterling. HEREVER the sight of the stars and stripes inspires a feeling of that is beautiful and picturesque in mountain scenery. As one stands on the crest of old Grey lock. King of the Berkshires, and looks off over the tops of the surrounding hills—northward into Vermont, westward to the Hudson River and the blue Catskills beyond, to the south over the beautiful valley of the Housatonic — one can understand something of the New Englander's pride in the scenic beauty of his country; and only a short time spent in this enchanted region is necessary to enable one to appreciate the silent influence that these rugged and picturesque surroundings must exercise upon the form- ing character of those whose early lives are passed among them. It is. there- fore, with pleasure that we turn to this charming corner of our great land in search of the birth-place of the President of our College. In the extreme northwest of Connecticut, on the banks of the Housatonic River, among the undulating hills — the children of the greater Berkshires — nestles the little hamlet of Falls Village. Here, on the 8th day of February, 1827, Theodore Sterling. President of Kenyon College, was born. In the same year, in this then far distant State of Ohio, Bishop Chase laid the corner stone of Old Kenyon. It is not unworthy of notice that these two. College and President, destined to come together so opportunely, should have started neck and neck through life. In Falls Village and the neighboring town of Salisbury, Dr. Sterling passed his boyhood, attending the district schools and academy, hut, in com mon with all New England boys; taking on more of character from the soft beauty of nature and the stern Puritan influences that surrounded him. There comes a time, however, in every boy's life when his future success demands for him a wider horizon than that of a little New England manu- facturing village. In 18-10, therefore, when their eldest son was thirteen years old, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling moved to Geneva, New York, that they might national pride, there the Berkshire Hills is a synonym tor all 5