Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and letters of Charles Sumner: volume 1

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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 Sales² 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