Sweet Briar College - Briar Patch Yearbook (Sweet Briar, VA)

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BRIAR PATCH Cfnrtp i rars 3go A I TREFOIS j ' etais jeune, alors j ' etais gai comme vuus. I was looking 2 through Daisy Williams ' trunk, and had opened her little French grammar at these words. It was only a model French sentence illustrating the use of the adverbs autrefois and alors, but it seemed as if the gentle child of long ago were speaking to me. Now she was at rest, but her short life had made it possible for many gay young people to be happy at her beloved Sweet Briar. Every one interested in our college of course wants to know about the Williams family, and especially about Daisy. The object of this article is not to give any connected story of the family, but only a few little incidents and anecdotes which may make the founders of our college seem real to us. My chief sources of informa- tion are Daisy ' s own diary, written in 1882, when she was fourteen years old. and Uncle Logan, an old negro who worked many years for the Williamses and was greatly loved by Daisy. Mr. and Mrs. Williams and Daisy were accustomed to spend the winters in New York, mucli to Daisy ' s sorrow, for she did not like to be away long from Sweet Briar. Daisy, in her diary on January 7. 1882, tells of one of these trips. Journeys to Amherst were not of trifling moment then. She says: We got up at 3 o ' clock and put on the kettle in our room to make the coffee. We ate some chicken and bread and butter in the tea room. We left the dishes on the table without washing them. We put out the fire with snow, and started at half past four. The carriage came riujht up to the steps. Mamma slipped getting in the carriage. Molly warmed some bricks, which kept our feet warm in the carriage. It was a long, disagreeable ride, which I never will forget. The snow was very dee]), the moon shone part of the time, the wagon went in front. We took five trunks. We reached the depot for the 6:23 train. The Harp went yesterday: the express was .$10. (SO. We traveled all day. I did not eat anything. We reached New York at quarter to ten. took a private carriage to the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and had supper. The next day she wrote: We sat in the parlors in the afternoon. They are very elegant; the furni- ture is pink satin. There are beautiful, large mirrors. Papa bought an illustrated London News. It had a colored picture. One hardly connects the quiet little girl of long ago with Hurler ' s candy, but on February 11 Daisy writes: ... we walked to Hurler ' s and sot a nice

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BRIAR PATCH extract Jrom W itt of Unfciana tfltttfytx Williams The said corporation shall with suitable dispatch establish and shall maintain and carry on upon the said plantation a school or seminary, to be known as the Sweet Briar Institute. for the education of white girls and young women. It shall be the general scope and object of the school to impart to its students such education in sound learning, and such physical, moral, and religious training as shall, in the judgment of the directors, best lit them to be useful members of society. The personal property herein given shall be kept inviolate as an endowment fund, which shall be invested and reinvested by the corporation, and of which the income only shall be used for the support and maintenance of the school; but the corporation shall have the power to expend a part of the principal in erecting and equipping such buildings and making such improvements upon the said plantation as the directors may deem expedient and proper for the use of the school. I desire that the school shall be made self-supporting, so far as practicable, but it is my hope that the board of directors may be able, from the income placed at their disposal, to establish free scholarships, affording tuition and maintenance for a limited number of deserving students, which scholarships shall be awar ded under such rules and regulations as the board may prescribe. The foregoing devise and bequests are made upon the condition that the said corporation shall keep in repair and in good order the cemetery on Monument Hill forever. This bequest, devise, and foundation are made in fulfillment of my own desire, and of the especial request of my late husband. James Henry Williams, solemnly conveyed to me by his last will and testament for the establishment of a perpetual memorial of our deceased daughter. Daisy Williams.

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BRIAR PATCH box of candy, and again, on March 13: Mamma and I walked out. We bought some taffy from Huyler ' s. I put my hair in papers to curl it last night. I think what Daisy enjoyed most in New York were the concerts she heard. On March 2 she writes: Mamma and 1 went to Chickering Hall to the first of Miss Maud Morgan ' s and Mr. Morgan ' s Harp and organ concerts. We enjoyed ourselves very much. She kept all the programs of these recitals, and sometimes marked a special number. Music evidently was a vital part of her life, and her harp seemed almost sacred to her. Whenever she mentions the word it is always spelled with a capita] letter, and in the back of her diary is copied this quotation: Observe a due proportion in all things; avoid excessive joy. as well as complaining grief, and seek to keep thy soul in tune and harmony like a well-toned ' Harp. ' Pythagoras. 530 15. C. One feels as if this were truly her philosophy. But all of Daisy ' s good times were not confined to concerts. On March J. ) she writes: Mamma and I went to Barnum ' s Circus in the afternoon. We had reserved seats. It was very interesting. We saw the Chinese dwarf, the Zulus, the wild men of Borneo, and other curiosities. There was a drove of l ' l elephants and a little baby elephant. In the back of her diary is jotted down a little note it propos of the deeds of a certain young lady of her own age. by name Estelle Smith, who paid the Williamses an unexpected visit: Broke slate. doll ' s head. heels of shoes. Easter egg. Lost key of paint box. Broke piano. Rubbed paint oft doll. Cut the- hair rii trois jours. This little memorandum shows thai however she sought for the unruffled, philo- sophic calm, like a normal child she resented the vandalism of her friend. On March 1 . she writes: A letter came from Uncle Sing | Mrs. Williams ' brother]. He says the daffodils .and apricots are in bloom. I wish I was there. She lined the country, and wanted to go home, so on April 21 Uncle Sing took her back to Sweet Briar. On the 20th she writes: Papa bought me a nice trunk, with Daisy W. on it. and a little Canary bird, which I have named Don Roderisjo 15