Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 15 text:

Schoellkopf Station of The Niagara Falls Power Company, Niagara Falls, N. Y. Mr. J. Allen Johnson, ’05, Electrical Engineer THE INSTITUTE

Page 14 text:

Dedication Foreword Art Theme The College The Campus The Faculty Seniors Juniors Sophomores F reshmen Athletics Fraternities Organizations Departments Events Advertisers 6 8 9 11 17 33 63 125 133 141 149 183 207 237 245 257

Page 16 text:

1928 PEDDLER 1868— ' WORCESTER POLYTECH—1928 X X ;rE generally concede to John Boynton the distinction of having given the ’ first impetus to the ball of circumstances which was destined to roll and grow until the climax of its cumulative career was marked by the founding of the Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science. If one studies the life of the man who was chiefly instrumental in the founding of this Institute, one finds nothing in the least startling or extraordinary. Born in Mason, New Hampshire, in 1791, the son of typical New England country folk, he spent his early life on his father’s farm. In 1821 he went to New Ipswich, where he entered into the manufacture and sale of tinware. Later he removed to Templeton, apparently without enhancing his business, which, under a careful and conservative management, was yielding considerable returns. Although himself a man of limited education and of sparse literary taste, Mr. Boynton was extremely interested in the cause of education, as was attested by his donation of ten thousand dollars to the public schools of Mason, New Hampshire. In the year 1864 Mr. Boynton sought out his cousin, David Whitcomb, of Wor¬ cester, and confided to him his desire to establish a school which should be some¬ what in advance of the public schools as to the subjects of its curriculum, and which should be, to some degree, instrumental in teaching young men the theories of mechanics as well as the use of tools, instruments and machinery. Toward this end Mr. Boynton was prepared to donate a sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Whitcomb called on the Reverend Seth Sweetser and informed him of Mr. Boynton’s plans and his offer to finance the new school. Reverend Sweetser, who is sometimes called “The Father of the Institute,” introduced Mr. Ichabod Wash¬ burn into the group of confidences, and these four men laid the early plans for the Institute. Mr. Boynton’s original intention had been that the school should be erected in Templeton. His three colleagues endeavored to dissuade him from this opinion, however, pointing out the advantages offered by the facilities of a larger city,