Augusta Military Academy - Recall Yearbook (Fort Defiance, VA)

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growth must extend over a period of many years after he has gone to the University of Heaven, for as one of the strongest poets has ruggedly and incisively put it ‘That low man seeks a little thing to do Sees it and does it. This high man, with a great thing to pursue Dies ere he knows it.’ ““We are assembled here today to dedicate in the honor of our much beloved, this handsome memorial to his distinguished service as a teacher, his high-toned honorable character as a man and his virtues and integrity asa Christian citizen, desirous of testifying by our words and actions the high esteem in which we hold him. The artist’s work has been most admirably performed. Here we plant our monument of love in order that from this day forth the genius of art may tell the story of his noble life as long as granite with- stands the elements, teaching the world the lofty lesson of his life and testifying forever to our reverence for his memory. May this Academy and country count it an honor to wear this ornament on their heart, and preserve it as a most precious heritage from those who love the memory of Charles Summerville Roller.

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vide them with that mental and moral furniture which would fit them to amount to something more than a cipher in solving the problem of humanity. “We who are factors in human progress are too close to give a just view of its true proportions, or to select from the processes those which are the most potent. We are like explorers wandering through a broken region, who magnify every height they scale into a mountain; that which is close at hand being the theme of their exclamations and the source from which their reason forms conclu- sions. These may or may not be correct. But let us withdraw, as men hereafter will withdraw with the Muse of History, from the lands over which we have toiled so perplexedly, and from the dis- tance view the contour of the country out of which details have vanished, and of which the prominent characteristics alone remain. Then we shall see before us a region, mountainous and bewildering indeed, but overlooked and dominated by a few lofty peaks, to which men shall give unforgotten names, and upon whose summits the sun of truth shall linger long after the subject lands lie in darkness and oblivion. Even so it will be with a few great names that, in the lapse of endless time, will survive and keep alive the memory of that noble company of educators who are doing such great things for the ushering in the dawn of millenium and among that company one of the highest, purest, and the most symmetrical will be Charles Summerville Roller. “The influence of an institution like this which he founded cannot be estimated any more than you can measure the effect of the sunlight on the trees or fields, or weigh the sweet influence of the’ stars on the thoughtful beholder. To every tnoughtful mind it is none other than a seminary where immortal minds are being trained for eternity, Those who labor here are building structures whose ° foundations will stand, when not merely temple and palace, but the perpetual hills and adamantine rocks on which these buildings rest, have melted away. Here lights are kindled which will shine, not merely when every artificial beacon is extinguished, but when the affrighted sun has fled away from the heavens. Our lamented friend took the initial steps in founding here a school whose 12

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History . ORE than a quarter of a century ago, when the State Sof Virginia, now famed for its many excellent schools, embraced but few of preparatory nature, 4 the Augusta Military Academy was founded to sup- ply the needs of the young men in and around Augusta County. The Augusta Male Academy, as it was then known, was a success from its incipiency, and from a day-school with a few boarding students, it rapidly developed into a boarding school with representatives from the adjoining states. Many of the Alumni of the original Augusta Military Academy hold to-day enviable positions in the business and professional world, and their regard for and loyalty to the school have been largely instrumental in placing the Augusta Military Academy of today among the fore- most schools of Virginia. The Academy saw the dawn of life in a small brick building theu situated in the grove of the Old Stone Church, about 300 yards from the present site. The increasing demands soon called for greater accommodations, and the grounds, comprising sixteen acres, were acquired on which were erected barracks and later a large academic hall. Year by year saw a constant increase, not only in better facilities but also in greater and more extended patronage. In 1906, the founder and owner, Chas. S. Roller, owing to ill health retired from active service, his two sons, Thos. J. Roller and Chas. 8. Roller, Jr., assuming control. Under their régime, the Augusta Military Academy has kept pace with the times, both as to improvements and a higher educational standard. To give its students every opportunity for development, both mental and physical, a modern academic hall and gymnasium has been constructed, which will compare favorably with any similar structure in the state. This year’s enrollment has passed the century mark, with boys from twenty states, the District of Columbia, Mexico, Central America and Canada. 14