Milton College - Fides Yearbook (Milton, WI)

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if eg- if ,ll v fa, v- .flqzw -Y 4,---Y --'sk' '-7:3817 Zi 'Q lgrenihrnt . 01. Balanh, HH. A., 33. JB. E Qi, W1, ' ,: xt-J: ',a,f,! 3:2-V Y :sean 'lea-f :sf 'f L UR PRICSIDIENT was born in 1860, in New York City, in the days just before the Civil War which form the link between the primitive United States grown from the heritage of the fathers and the huge nation of our own time, marked by a material prosperity beyond the dreams of the men of those days, but torn by conliicts equally as distant from their minds. . The child of that epoch who can still live on in active contact with the rush- ing torrent of twentieth century changes is in a fortunate position as an educator. for his character in the formative years was moulded by a family life founded on four-square principles then unquestioned, resulting in a discipline seldom seen in our generationg and, yet, he found himself on the threshold of the new world with which he can be in harmony because he did not approach it too late. The little boy of seven, riding his tricycle up and down the sidewalk of the old fashioned street in which was his home-the frame house still stands in Fortieth Street because the owner now values the site at a million udollars, and will not sell until he gets that price-knew no such freedom as the children of Milton consider their natural right. A New 'England father who traced his descent from an I-luguenot ancestor and a mother whose forbears were English and Scotch Dissenters were not likely to spoil their first son-not in the sixties. The Bible was the rule of life in that home, and it was the Bible strictly in-- terpreted and unsoftened by the modern aids to religious development. Religious observances, truthfulness, strict honesty in all dealings, obedience, and reverence for elders were the virtues insisted upon there. There were a grandmother and a great-grandmother in the household and the family life was marked by decorum and dignity. Nevertheless, the diverse threads of ancestry wove many bright colors into the pattern produced even in that Puritan atmosphere. Among these the gift of a facility in learning languages and a taste for music were the most note- worthy. There was always music in the home and it was held in honor, not treated as a pastime. It is interesting, though, to discover that Willie,,' as his parents always called him. was strictly human when it came to practicing, and that once his lessons were stopped because he was making no progress. The family moved from New York to Elizabeth, New jersey, when Wfillie was about eight years old, but he was not sent to school until he was ten. This, however, was by no means the beginning of his education. He could read Hu- ently from the time he was seven, and after going to 'Elizabeth used to read stories aloud to the little girl of the next door neighbor as they sat on either porch to- gether. All he remembers of her is that her name was Emma. Emma faded into oblivion and stories gradually merged into history, the most fascinating story of all, until at ten, as he entered a schoolroom for the first time, he was actively interested in the events taking place in the world, was in the habit of reading the papers, and was well informed on the details of the meeting of the Vatican Council which declared the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope in 1870, a much discussed subject of that period. VVVVV AAAAA ZIWIXII V Page Five

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XIX XXI The public schools in lilizabeth at that time were in a low state, and no child was sent to them whose parents could afford tuition in one of the numerous private schools of the city. VVilliam began his school days in the best boys' school and always attended institutions for boys and young men onlyg therefore in his own academic life he never knew either co-education or the public school system. The schools he attended were quite guiltless of the variety of courses of- fered in our high schools, but were greatly superior to them in the thoroughness with which they taught elementary branches. The mistakes in spelling common among college students today would have met with drastic treatment if com- mitted by a lower class boy in the seventies, while errors in grammar in collo- quial speech at once marked one as uneducated President Daland still treas- ures the large octavo volume called The Library of Poetry and Song which he won when he was about fourteen as a prize for taking first place in a city-wide spelling match in which all the schools participated. In those days in the eastern states a college education was considered either as the perquisite of thevwealthy class, or as the necessary training for one of the professions. It was the custom for the average well-to-do citizen of Elizabeth, as of other suburban towns, to secure for his boy when fifteen, or thereabout, a subordinate position with one of the large firms in New York, where the wages were nominal for the first few years, but the opportunity for advancement was so great that the suburban trains were full of these young commuters in the var- ious stages of their development. It was the day when the self-made men who held the reins of industry had a profound distrust of the ability of the college bred youth to adapt himself to business methods, and when there was a general belief that the only man who could ever rise to the top in the business world was the one who had begun as a lad at the- very foot. William's father, himself a successful salesman, was anxious to start his son on a business career in good time. Here came the first crisis in the boy's life, when he was obliged to oppose his own individuality to his father's deter- mined purpose. He astonished his parents by declaring that he must have a college education, and completed this act of independence by the addition of the heresy that he desired the education for itself-not as the means to some end. A fortunate circumstance made it possible for him to carry out his plan without much financial aid from his father. He had begun to attract attention by his piano playing, and when he was fourteen he secured a position as organist in one of the city churches, which made it possible for him to obtain several piano pupils. He entered the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn a month before his fifteenth birthday and began a strenuous life which had no variation for the next four years. To reach Brooklyn from Elizabeth it was necessary to take the 7:05 train every morning, and the trip, going and coming, occupied nearly four hours of each school day. In order to reach the college on time he was obliged to rise at six, or earlier. He studied evenings and also on the train. On Saturdays he practiced on the organ, and spent the rest of the day in teaching, gaining more pupils each year. On Sundays he played both morning and evening in the Presbyterian services. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were his only leisure hours during the school year, and the only time for association with his brothers and sisters, of whom there were now seven. IIIIIISQIIIIII Page Six