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Chapter 4: College Life.—September, 1826, to September, 1830.—age, 15-19.
Sumner began his studies as a Freshman at Harvard College, Sept. 1, 1826.
1 Its undergraduates, now increased to more than eight hundred, numbered at that period not quite two hundred.
Rev. John T. Kirkland was the president.
Among the professors were
Edward T. Channing in rhetoric,
George Ticknor in French and Spanish literature,
John S. Popkin in
Greek,
George Otis in Latin,
Levi Hedge in logic and metaphysics, and
John Farrar in mathematics and natural philosophy.
Francis Sales
2 was the instructor in French and Spanish, and
Charles Follen in German and the civil law. Of the corps of teachers then in service, none survive.
In 1829,
Josiah Quincy succeeded
Dr. Kirkland in the presidency of the college.
Sumner occupied, in his Freshman year, the room numbered 17 Hollis Hall; in his Sophomore and Junior years, 12
Stoughton; and in his Senior, 23 Holworthy.
This last room, of which the ceiling has since been raised, is situated in the fourth story, and contains two dormitories and one study-room.
Holworthy had superior accommodations, and was at that time reserved chiefly for Seniors.
The classmates with whom he associated most were
John W. Browne, of
Salem, his chum in the Sophomore and Senior years;
Jonathan F. Stearns, of
Bedford, his chum in the Freshman year;
Thomas Hopkinson, of
New Sharon, Me.; and
Charlemagne Tower, of
Paris, N. Y. Of these, only
Stearns and
Tower survive.
Browne studied law, opening an office in
Salem, and afterwards removing to
Boston.
His mind and character were of an original cast, and he made a strong impression on the friends who knew