Governors Academy - Milestone Yearbook (Byfield, MA)

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34.1 .WW . . ,N . , , . . Xi xNXNxXXXXxx XXXXXXN la th- I iff, ,',,f Xxx' i,,f f f X' XX N X 7 X x -'XPFFH ti33'+.- f ff 1 , ' 1 ,-' X NT -X , 5 'x,X , .,, X f ,gr . f 4- - , .- I , X s X X ff' - X B - ' : . f- ... f 'N ' ' I 'g -Q. 1 X. -WI? f 'T ' ' 708 'Q ' ff v W Y seers of Harvard Colledge to be displaced and that in such a case the Master and freeholders of Byfield should appoint another person to be Master to all intents 81 purposes as if ye former was naturally dead. The Harvard Overseers had this awesome responsibility for less than twenty years, and never had to exercise their prerogative, for in 1792 it was decided to take the management of the School out of the hands of the local parish and establish a corporation. If Harvard lost one right by this change, however, she gained another. By the Act of Incorporation it was provided that if for a period of two years to- gether the School should cease to exist, then all rents, profits, and issues of the original Dummer estate should revert to the rightful heirs. The rents, profits, issues, and interests of any other property or endowment which the School may have acquired since the original bequest, unless willed otherwise, shall enure to the use and benefit of the Corporation of Harvard College and their successors forever. Although at one time some of the Trustees asked Harvard to relax this right, Presi- dent Eliot refused to do so. It is still in existence today, and as late as 1908 when a mortgage was placed upon the School property the Harvard Corporation was asked for its assent. It was officially granted on October I2 of that year and duly noted in the College records. If Harvard thus has certain claims upon the School it is interesting to note that for many years the School had a very definite claim upon Harvard. It appears from a study of the accounts of the College Treasurers that shortly after the founding of the School Samuel Moody, the Master, began receiving from private individuals a fund which was to be invested by the Treasurer of Harvard, the interest of which was to be used for the support of a writing master for the scholars. The fund gradually accumulated but, unfortunately, during that time it was in the hands of John Hancock whose Treasurership of Harvard College is a story of gross neglect. When Hancock left Cambridge to serve this country at Philadelphia, he carried the College accounts with him, and try as the Corporation did, even after his resignation, they failed to make a complete settlement with him. In 1778 Moody himself ad- dressed a letter to the new Treasurer requesting that he do everything in his power towards investigating the loss of this money, and enclosed receipts he had received from Hancock for money which had been deposited with him. Although a large part of the debt which Hancock owed to Harvard College was never paid even after his death, we find in the accounts ofTreasurer Storer that in 1786 the debt to the School was finally paid off. A note from Hancock for 5288 and IQS. was turned over in that year to Jon'a Greenleaf, Esq., one of the Trustees, who by virtue ofa power given him for that purpose gave a full discharge to the College from all demands from said Academy. H At the time of the School's incorporation Harvard College and Phillips Acad- emy were the only other such institutions in Massachusetts. Nine of the fifteen charter Trustees were Harvard men including the Master, Samuel Moody, of the Class of 1746, and Joseph Willard, of the Class of 1765, a former pupil of Moody's ll 0 fifi'-r'r5g-'-Zh-I--1'-- . . - .. , . , .. ..M.. . , .: :'.-.1sg::.-:fzijf-xv ' 6119--525-1TlT.Pg7Hi'I'-FJ', , ark-1-.'f-:g.-e . .. . - .,,-L-::.,::g5Q1x i'.':gk.f'.EjE1,.:',' :fff-i.'2',':p11:'.--- ,,,,,4.-::-:.g.rm-g,.g3g:z,- wwf rf- 1-7:1'.-.-wa' --C '-11.111-1-fra :' . -.,.-r. -.f--4-i1'1-'-PP' ' P5155 'E'z+13?-1?.E :.':1.-'f1fS ::'. f1 . 4 QQ9w:.'1,,1- 53:3-gg:.,,-,-'-1'g'9-31,-,.,-gg' Qfgfggfgzqr:j5Qff7,g3:5g:.j,:3:1-all-9afhg-f?'-,1i1',5i,i 9

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Early View of Harvard College The above engraving, the earliest contemporary view of the Harvard buildings, was done bv XVilliam Burgis in 1726. Upon close examination it will be seen that the inscription reads: To the Honourable William Dummer Eiqr. Lieulenanl Governour qf yr Province qf the Masmrhusfltx Bay in New Eflgftlflfi Ihix view is most humiflv Dedimlefi By your Hon0ur'.v Mos! Obedient, mos! lzurnbff Servl. W: Burgix Harvard Hall Cat the leftj was burned in 1764, but Mzissachusetts frightl, only six years old at this time, still stands today.

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Tux X X - N ' f ' ' ' - 1 ' . 'X' - : ' ' - - I-16 . .. . - , ig ,, - ' X X N f 1 f I X 1 X 'xx X XXX X 1 1, ,!' X f 1 , ,f ff X N N X X x C 'I . . f f ff . ' Wg , 1 ' xx x , w N , 1 X XJ. f - . A f N N . L X - . f .,. ., f l g 1 xv NYJ! ' Fed ' V s. , 1 at the York Grammar School and during the term of his Trusteeship, President of Harvard. It is interesting to recall in this connection that besides Willard five other Harvard Presidents served on the Board in an unbroken line beginning with Ed- ward Everett in 1848 and ending with Eliot's predecessor in 1870. The early Masters of the School likewise had Harvard afiiliations. In a small volume entitled Harvard Memories President Eliot speaks of the fact that in the middle of the eighteenth century Harvard began to prepare a notable number of men for distinguished public and professional life. Samuel Moody '46 is one of live alumni cited to prove this point. Isaac Smith, the second Master, was a Harvard man, a Tutor there in 1774-75, and just before his appointment at Byfield was the College Librarian and prepared the first printed catalogue of the Library. Although Allen, his successor, was not a Harvard man, it is interesting that his name was suggested to the Trustees by President Kirkland. His short term was followed by that ofAbiel Abbott, Harvard 1787, who had been a Tutor after gradua- tion. It is of course the graduates who have given the School its most intimate and striking relationships with Harvard. In the first fifty-six years of the School 203 graduates received their degrees at Cambridge, and three-quarters of these were pupils of Samuel Moody during his twenty-seven years as Master. Six of these graduates in later years received honorary recognition from their alma mater. One was Samuel Phillips of Andover, and another was Rufus King, who received his LL.D. on the same platform with Mr. Justice William Paterson of New Jersey and Chief Justice John Marshall. Ten of Moody's pupils and three of Smith's held appointments at Harvard on the teaching staff or governing boards. Oddly enough, the first of these was Jonathan Eames, who was a Tutor from 1778-80. Although the number of graduates on the Harvard faculty at various times may not be so striking since the School was the only one ofits type in Massachusetts for fifteen years, yet the rank which many of these attained testifies to the excellent preparation they received. Just before the turn of the century the Harvard staff Cexclusive of two professors of medicinel consisted of a president, three endowed professors, a French instructor, and from three to four tutors. During the eleven years from 1792-1803 every one of these first four positions was filled by a former pupil of Samuel Moody and for all but four of these years so was the librarianship. Willard was President, and the professors were David Tappan, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Eliphalet Pearson Qfirst principal of Phillips Academyj, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, and Samuel Webber, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. Of the other graduates who rose to distinction, Theophilus Parsons served on the Corporation, Dudley Atkins Tyng on the Board of Overseers, and William Prescott on both. James Jackson was one of the earliest professors of medicine, then called the Theory and Practice of Physic. Parker Cleaveland, later to be- l! 4 ' 'Wt 1-Hsu , , , .,.-. .::'1:.:-211'-xg--:' E - -:'-1'r'-: i'aT'G' . . ,. -V ..,... ..ff.'.'.,.,-c'.:.2- -z:'l'::-:'. ,4.--.-1-f '. --:.'.'--:-'-'?:-.Ln.-f-.!:.-'.'. sg:i:5fE,zz31'! .E 25: -- ,. .,... - r-.,-55,112-.f:1A Q ' f:g:.f.-szvfw fr IO