W. Mabie of The Outlook, Frank Foxcroft of The Boston Journal, Herbert S. Underwood of The Boston Advertiser, Henry M. Field of The Evangelist, Charles A. Stoddard of The Observer, and Solomon B. Griffin of The Springfield Republican; to say nothing of men of the last generation like Parsons Cooke of The Puritan Recorder, or of Dr. Prime, whose contributions were for so many years a leading feature of The Observer. In philology the work of Prof. W. D. Whitney is known everywhere throughout the learned world. The college has not been without influence in the discussions of Sociology and Political Economy, as the labors of Prof. Perry, David A. Wells, Prof. Bascom, and Samuel W. Dike attest. Many of its graduates have found and are finding their mission in educational work, among whom may be named President Hall of Clark University, Chancellor Snow of Kansas University, Chancellor Canfield of the University of Nebraska, Dean Griffin of Johns Hopkins University, Dean Judson of the University of Chicago, and President Bradley of Illinois College. A still larger proportion of the alumni have entered the ministry, many of whom, like Gladden of Columbus, Hall of Brooklyn, Hopkins of Kansas City, Booth, Kittredge, Robinson, and Schauffier of New York, and Merriman of Worcester, have been successful preachers. The college furnished the Supreme Court of Massachusetts with one of its present judges, — James M. Barker, and to the Superior Court it has contributed two, — Dewey and Dunbar. Of lawyers who have come to the front, we may mention Davison, Ingalls, Gale, Putney, and Stetson. The most distinguished single family among its alumni is perhaps that of the Rev. Dr. Field of Stockbridge, three of whose sons are graduates of the college, — David Dudley Field, distinguished for his contributions to the cause of law reform; Henry M. Field, author, editor, traveller; and Stephen J. Field, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Among the literary men who have been connected with the institution, Bryant is undoubtedly the most widely known. He appeared at Williamstown in the autumn of 1810, a youth of sixteen years, "tall and slender having a prolific growth of brown hair." The town, with its undrained streets that sometimes became a sea of mud, and its rather primitive buildings, did not wholly please him at first. He did like, however, the friendly, pleasant manners of President Fitch, though he failed to get much satisfaction out of his preaching. "I have a vivid recollection," he says, writing in 1859, "of his personal appearance, — a square-built man of a dark complexion, and black, arched eyebrows." Bryant's scholarship seems to have been little more than respectable, and his interest lay mainly in the direction of literature. On one occasion he read a poem before the class, which was probably the "Version of a Fragment of Simonides," afterwards included in his collected works. At another time he attempted to declaim a passage from "Knickerbocker's History of New York," but as he proceeded the humor of it threw him into such unextinguishable laughter that he was obliged to sit down, amidst the frowns of the tutor and the boisterous demonstrations of the class. One of his classmates speaks of him as "very modest and unobtrusive, though pleasantly familiar with his personal friends." With the rougher features of college life he had no sympathy, especially with what was then called "gamutizing the Freshmen," a process known in later times as "hazing," and which he considered to be "a brutal and rather riotous proceeding." Bryant left college at the end of the year in consequence of pecuniary embarrassments. He is said to have always regretted that he could not remain and graduate with the class, for the fiftieth anniversary of which, in 1853, he wrote a poem. In 1869 he was elected president of the Society of Alumni, and made a brief speech at the alumni dinner.       During his term of service, President Hopkins had the co-operation of many colleagues who did admirable work in their departments, and who enlarged the scope and efficiency of the college, — Professor Perry in Political Economy, Professor Bascom in English and Rhetoric, Dr. Chadbourne in Botany and -- page 177 -- Previous Page | Next Page | Town of Williamstown Page | Berkshire County Western MA History & Genealogy

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