Part 13 (1/2)
On entering the College, every pupil shall pay ten dollars. He shall bring a mattress, a pillow, two pillow cases, two pairs of sheets, four blankets and a counterpane, or pay $6.00 per annum for the use of bed and bedding. He must also bring with him one suit of clothes, as a uniform--which is in winter a blue cloth coat and pantaloons with a black velvet waistcoat; in summer white pantaloons with a black silk waistcoat are used. He must likewise bring with him two suits for daily wear, for which no particular color is prescribed; six s.h.i.+rts, six pairs of stockings, six pocket handkerchiefs, three pairs of shoes, a hat and a cloak or great coat, also a silver spoon. These articles if not brought by the student will be furnished by the College and included in the first bill.
The pension for board, was.h.i.+ng, mending and mending materials, use of books (philosophical and mathematical excepted), pens, ink, and writing paper, slates and pencil, is $150. Medical aid and medicine, unless parents choose to run the risk of a doctor's bill in case of sickness, $3.00 per annum. All charges must be paid half-yearly in advance.
With regard to pocket money it is desired that all students should be placed on an equality and that it should not exceed 12-1/2 cents per week; and whatever is allowed must be deposited in the hands of the directors of the College. Half-boarders are received on the usual terms, viz. $5 entrance and $65 for board per annum.
Day scholars $5 for fuel and servants, as no charge is made for tuition. The College has been established 45 years and not a single death has taken place among the students.
This was in spite of the fact that the young men, winter and summer, washed at the pump!
Early in 1861 several volunteer regiments, including the 69th New York and the 79th Pennsylvania Regiments, arrived in Georgetown. The 69th was mustered into service in the grounds of Georgetown College, where it was afterwards quartered. The 79th Pennsylvania Regiment was clad in their distinctive Scottish kilts, plaids, and striped stockings, and had a band of pipers at their head.
The Georgetown College students showed where their sympathies were by an ostentatious display of a badge fastened upon the lapel of the coat--tri-color for the Union, and blue for disunion.
Just west of the college used to be a pond which was a very popular resort for skaters in the winter season.
Not far away is another well-known Catholic inst.i.tution, for the education of the other s.e.x--the oldest Visitation Convent in the country--having on its list of alumnae many well-known names.
When Father Neale came from Philadelphia to George Town in 1798 to become president of the college, he found living on Fayette (35th) Street, near by, three ladies belonging to the Order of Poor Clares.
This order was founded in a.s.sisi long ago by Sister Clare, a devoted friend of Saint Francis of a.s.sisi, and is similar to the Franciscans.
The three ladies were members of the French n.o.bility who had been driven from their convent in France during the Revolution in 1793 and, coming to this country, had set up a little convent not far from the college.
They attempted to keep a school as a means of support, but had a very difficult time. Once, it is told, they were reduced to such poverty that they had to sell a parrot, which they had as a pet, in order to save themselves from starvation. These women, barefooted, according to the rule of their order, came of n.o.ble blood and had been born to luxury.
One of them was Mary de la Marche, who advertised in the newspaper salves and eyewashes for sale.
In 1799 Father Neale sent back to Philadelphia for three devoted religious friends from Ireland, who wished to found a convent. They were Alice Tabor, Maria McDermott, and Louise Sharpe. For a few months they boarded with the Poor Clares, but a little later Father Neale bought a house and lot nearby and installed them in it. They became known as The Pious Ladies. On May 18, 1801, Mary de la Marche advertised the two houses of the Poor Clares for sale, but apparently they did not sell them at that time, for, in 1804, after the death of the Abbess, Madame de la Rochefoucault, who succeeded her, sold the convent to Bishop Neale, and the remaining ladies returned to France.
The Pious Ladies slowly increased in numbers, keeping their school and struggling against poverty, all the time endeavoring to become established as members of the Visitation Order. At last their hope and ambition came to pa.s.s, and, in 1816, they were regularly established as the Georgetown Visitation Convent.
Across the street from the Convent grounds, a lovely big meadow until it was partly taken over in World War II for a housing project, are the Volta Bureau for the Deaf and two interesting houses.
Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell, has very kindly given me this wonderful letter about them:
My grandfather, Alexander Melville Bell, lived on the corner of 35th Street and Volta Place in the house since occupied by Mr. Walter Lippman, (but not at present).
Following my father's removal to Was.h.i.+ngton in about 1879, his father and mother changed their residence from Brantford, Ontario, to Georgetown. With them were their three nieces, the Misses Symonds, who were my father's double cousins. At the back of the 35th Street property was an old stable which my father converted into a laboratory, and he carried on experiments there almost until the time of his death. He would come out nearly every afternoon to his laboratory and visit with his parents before returning home in the evening.
It was also our custom to have dinner with my grandfather and grandmother on Sundays. They were very jolly times and my grandfather always had a jar of candy for the grandchildren and games which we could all play. He was very popular with all the young people, being jolly, and looked a little like the usual idea of Santa Claus, with his gray beard and hair.
Shortly after my grandfather came to live in Georgetown, his brother, Mr. David Charles Bell and Mrs. Bell, followed him from Brantford to Was.h.i.+ngton and bought the house next door. With them at that time, keeping house for them, was Miss Aileen Bell. She was noted in the family as having turned down Bernard Shaw's offer of marriage in her young days, Bernard Shaw having been a great friend of her brother, Mr. Chichester Bell, and having visited with the family when they lived in Dublin, Ireland. Mr. David Bell had in his young days moved to Dublin to carry on the career of his father, Alexander Bell, as a teacher of elocution. His wife had a school for young ladies. Another son of the family was Mr. Charles J. Bell, later president of the American Security and Trust Company, who later married my mother's sister, Roberta Hubbard, and came to reside in Was.h.i.+ngton.
Mr. David Charles Bell was a very handsome man, but very irascible, and the young people were quite afraid of him. He and his brother had numerous vehement arguments as to whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. My grandmother was eleven or twelve years older than her husband, so my grandfather did most of the marketing, and I understand it used to be quite a sight on Sat.u.r.day morning to see the two old gentlemen, Mr. David and Mr. Melville Bell, going to market with baskets over their arms. Notwithstanding all their arguments, they were very devoted to each other.
Miss Aileen Bell was very musical and was one of the founders of the Friday Morning Music Club and other musical clubs. She was the organist and choir leader in Christ Church, Georgetown. She was always very punctilious in her attendance and I remember her talking about her church.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bell and their family also used to come out on Sundays to see their parents, but they usually came to supper. The family as a whole were very devoted. Mr. Chichester Bell, you may recall, was the co-inventor with my father and Mr. Tainter of the phonograph. The wax records that are used today are their invention and their company, the Columbia Phonograph Company, operated under their patents.
After my grandfather's death, the house came into my father's possession, and he gave it to the American a.s.sociation to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, now called the Volta Speech a.s.sociation. It was used for a time as the home of the Superintendent. My father still continued to use his laboratory.
Some years later, when the a.s.sociation needed money, it was sold and the proceeds used to carry on the work of the a.s.sociation. My father was very much interested in the work of the Volta Bureau and one winter, when my mother was away, he lived at the Volta Bureau, compiling some of his scientific data. He had a way when he became absorbed in work of forgetting to eat or sleep, and the person that brought his dinner tray would often find his luncheon tray untouched.
[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN THRELKELD]