1858 – Student’s letter describing life at the Peirce Academy in Middleboro, Massachusetts
Unbound. This four-page letter was written at the Peirce Academy in Middleboro, Massachusetts on illustrated school stationery by Horace Choate to his friend, Charles S. Clark, in September 1853. The illustration shows the academy standing next to the Central Baptist Church, with which it was loosely affiliated, both having been founded by Levi Peirce, a prominent citizen of the city. No mailing envelope.
Choate’s letter reads in part:
“Thinking that you would like to know my whereabouts: I send you a picture of the academy which I attend. . .. I arrived here safely about three weeks ago [and] was surprised to find so many new countenances. . .. We have quite an addition to our little band this term, so there are many more Christians in school at present. . .. There seems to be no excitement, but a very deep interest taken in religious matters. We have had two hopeful conversions this term. . .. There has also been . . . the death of one of the scholars [from] the congestion of the lungs. . .. Mr. Jenks telegraphed to the young mans home [and] his father came in Saturday morning; we held funeral exercises in the academy. . .. I have been to the missionary meeting this morning [and] I received a letter from the . . . ‘Missionary Society of Inquiry” of Brown University it was about the best letter I ever read. . ..
“We have a first rate boarding place; a much larger room than we had last term: we live well [and] have had a considerable amount of fruit. . .. Our room is well furnished – four cane seat chairs, two table . . . rocking chairs washstand stove bed etc. . ..
“By the way, I like Cicero very much: I think he was quite a speaker if no more. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010847John Whipple Potter Jenks, who had married into a prominent Middleboro family became the principal of the school, founded by his wife’s grandfather, in 1848 and, with the financial assistance of his father-in-law, turned it into a prominent college-preparatory academy. He held the position until 1871, when he became the director of Brown University’s Museum of Natural History and appointed a professor of “agricultural zoology” to satisfy the requirements of the Morrill Act, through which Brown had obtained its agricultural lands. Although Jenks knew practically nothing about agriculture, his colleagues knew even less. His course consisted primarily of his recollections of rural life, drawing pictures of cows, and occasional visits to a farm..
Price: $125.00