Lebanon Valley College - Quittapahilla Yearbook (Annville, PA)

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John EVans Lehman ■y OHX EVANS Ll ' HMAN was born near Lititz, Lancaster county, September ii, 1S50. He is of y Welsh descent on his mojher ' s side, and of German on his father ' s side. The nearest approach t(i fame we have been able to trace in either family is Robert Evans, his great grandfather, who was nothing more than government surveyor, to whom, however, we might trace his mathematical tendency. At the age of four the famil ' moved to Avon, Lebanon county, where John began his education, as a mischievous boj ' , receiving his floggings thrice daily. As an inspiration to him in his school-bo} ' efforts, his father at one time ofi ered him a twenty-dollar gold piece, if he could succeed in catching his teacher with a difficult problem in arithmetic. He never received the twent -dollar gold piece. By his mother he was bidden to sleep with his school books under his pillow, in hopes that he might in that «ay imliil)e their contents. At the age of eleven the family moved to a mill, .southeast of Annville, still known as Bachman ' s mill. Here he partly learned the trade of a miller and in the old saw mill sawed off a little finger, the al:)sence of which is still evident. He continued his education at the Heilig school house, under the direction of such men as A. R. Forney, W. B. Bodenhorn, the late county superintendent of pulilic schools, and the Hon. J. H. Imboden, all of Annville. About the year 1865 the famil ' moved to Annville, and John attended the town high school. vShortly after this Lebanon Valley College was founded, and the only building was the present Ladies ' Hall. The growth of the school soon demanded an additional building, and John stood by as an inquisitive boy of fifteen when ground was broken for the Administration building which he saw destroyed by the fire of last Decemljer. He was employed as a helper in hauling bricks and carrying mortar while the building was under construction. In the fall of 186S he was employed as janitor in the College. The work then consisted in sweeping, bell-ringing, and taking care of the seventeen stoves, by which the two buildings were then —4—

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heated. His contact with sttuleuts and .student life created in him a de.sire for an education, therefore at the end of the j ' ear he asked permission to enroll as a student and earn his way by doing only part of the janitor work. The request was granted and at the age of eighteen he entered the preparatory clas.s of the college. His duties as janitor required him to rise at four o ' clock in the morning to start the fires, and at five he rang the rising bell, statements which might startle a Lebanon ' alley janitor of 1905. In his Junior year he laid down his broom and coal-sho -el and earned his way Ijy tutoring. He graduated in 1874 at the head of his class. The year after graduation he taught in the public schools of Schuylkill count) ' in the times when teachers boarded round. If his reputation as a teacher did not begin there, he made a name for himself as an old-time singing school teacher. For the following six years he was chief forfeiting and re-instating clerk in an insurance office in Lebanon. In the year 1S77 he was married to Miss Fisher from Hamburg, Pa. This acquaintance and courtship began while both were students at the college and was continued tnider greater diflrculties than similar college affairs of the present day, for the social life of the school was very different from the present. The men were not allowed to stop and talk to the ladies in the halls, or on the walks, nor call on them in the parlor, nor take walks to Lovers ' Retreat and other interesting spots. E ' en under those difficulties happy matches were made then as novw The duties of a clerkship, however, proved too monotonous tor him, and anxious to get into educational work he secured a position as teacher of Mathematics and Greek in Fostoria Academy, Ohio. He spent four very successful years there. In 1S85 he was elected to the chair of Mathematics in Western College, and to the Principalship of West Mrginia Academy, and to the head of the Preparatory department of Otterl ein University. He decided to accept the latter, and after two years of faithful service, he was called to his Alma Mater to fill the position he now holds — called to a professorship in the school which twent ears before he had entered as janitor. During the early years of his professorship he took a cour.se in higher Mathe- matics under Dr. Wm. Hoover, of Ohio vState ITniversity and later spent a summer at Cornell T ' niversitx ' ,