Amherst College - Olio Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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Preface. it I 0.7 INETY-NINE'S OLIO is before you. In it have been recorded faithfully the happenings of a year of our college life,-of a xl year in the glorious old College among the hills. 1 u With the consciousness of the serious, as well as the lighter side of our task, we have endeavored to prove ourselves not unworthy of our mission, and if we have succeeded we are thankful. We have sought to com- pile a book of interest to alumni and undergraduates alike. We have repro- duced the events of the College year, set forth the features peculiar to Old Amherst, heralded the records of our Athletic teams, and tried to encourage the student to renewed endeavor. This much for the undergraduate. For the Alumni, let us hope that we have helped perpetuatelthe memories of col- lege days and college jollity, to a time when such memories olden grown will all the sweeter be. If we have done this, we shall feel that our labors have not been in vain. With this end in view, many changes from previous years will be noted, which we hope may prove acceptable. And our warm- est thanks are due Professors Genung, Grosvenor, and Richardson, who so kindly assisted us in our work. Our task is done, and the result of our labors is now given to you for your kindly inspection and judgment. As editors, we are conscious of our many faults and deliciences. Peruse this book not in a spirit of criticism, but with kindness and charity, and with the loyalty due the dear old College of our choice. THE BOARD OF EDITORS.

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Professor Elijah P. Harris. ie I HE history of the Class of 1855 presents some rather re- ps kr I markable features. It is generally admitted that it was the smartest and the liveliest class that was graduated during 7 , .43 that decade. Certainly ability and class spirit can be argued from the subsequentcareer of its. members. Of the fifty-six graduates of that class almost a third responded to their country's call at the outbreak of the civil war, filling positions in the army from a private in the ranks to a Brigadier-General on the field. This proof of patriotism becomes all the more striking in view of the fact that the class was but six years out of college and thus only fairly started in the work of life. An unusually large number of the class were also destined to attain distinction in the different professions. Of these may be mentioned Bissell, the eminent missionary and Biblical scholarg Derby, who has gained foremost rank as an oculistg Farman, who, while Consul- General at Cairo, obtained for America the gift of C1eopatra's Needle, and who also rendered distinguished service in international delibera- tionsg Fiske, brother of the famous tt Tutor Fiske Q Dunn Browne J, who did noble service as Superintendent of the Freedmeng Montague, who was connected with his Alma Maier for over thirty years as Librarian and Professor of Romance Languagesg Washburn, who has had a notable career as missionary to Constantinople and later in connection with Robert College as'Professor and President. It remained for two of the class to achieve a national reputation in the domain of science. One of these was Nason, late Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in the Troy Polytechnic Institute, and the other was Harris, the subject of the present sketch. Elijah Paddock Harris was born in LeRoy, N. Y. There was almost nothing in the environment of his boyhood to encourage the acquirement of an educationbeyond that afforded by the common 5 l