Cousin Reports On Schooling Up North
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Hill Country Living
By Coulter Fussell
It’s a Wagner Week and here is an interesting letter from John Wagner’s cousin, Hiram. Hiram is my third favorite Wagner (behind John’s first wife, Katie Becton and his funny Oxford gal pal, Gussie Avant). Hiram lived in Water Valley but attended various schools for the “deaf and mute” throughout his life.
Here, Hiram is writing John from a place called Kendall Greene near Washington D.C. I googled it and learned that it’s got an interesting history. Congress gave the school its charter and Abraham Lincoln signed off on the school giving college degrees. The school has been through many changes over the years but still operates.
February 28, 1884
My dear cousin,
Your welcome letter was received about a month ago and was glad to hear from you. But I was sorry to hear that your grandmother was dead. She was very gentle and kind to me. I missed her very much. I’m glad to know that I trust she is now in Heaven now I would’ve written you before but I was very tired and wanted to wait to delay to write you. Now I am going to write you today.
It is a bright day. All of the people of Primary Department and I went to the Chapel to see the exhibition with a magic lantern last Friday night. Professor Chickering had a splendid time in Alaska last summer. He gave us some delighted scenes of Alaska. There are many beautiful things in Alaska. Sitka is a beautiful and flourishing city. It is situated near the beautiful lake. There is a pretty church called the Greek Church. It is handsome. There are four chief Indians. They don’t look so nice. There are a few glaciers on the mountains, which I want to see them. I have never seen them. Did you ever see it? The exhibition lasted about one hour.
Professor Chickering is an old man and has white hair, but he walks very well. He is a Professor of the College. A large program of the gymnastics exhibition was given by the students of college last Friday evening February 24. The boys of first class and I attended it which made us enjoyable to see it. There was not quite a large crowd of people out from the city who attended it. One of the boys played there. He said that he was very tired of playing it. There were several prizes giving for different things. One was for best jumping, one for climbing ladders, etc.
The gymnasium building is beautiful and handsome. It went up in the dome of the capital last Saturday. I had a good time there and saw the white snow on the houses of the great city of W — it snowed on that day. It is about 2 inches deep. The small boys did not slide down the hill much because there was not enough snow.
I was quite sick yesterday, but I I’m well now I must close this letter.
Write me soon, with much love to you all from your loving cousin.
Hiram Wagner
