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MEMORIES OF
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A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
-I BY AN
D SAINT PAULlS BOY
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kw
TO THE ALUMNI OF ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL
Owing to ill health the late rector. Dr. Joseph
Coit, was unable to review the manuscript of these
memories. As soon, however, as the proofs were
all in they were sent to him to South Carolina.
A few days before his death the following letter
was received : —
The Court Inn,
Camden, S. C, March 8, 1906.
My dear Mr. Conover, — I am truly obliged to you
for sending me the proof sheets of your book. I have
read them twice very carefully.
The picture you give of my dear brother is in many
respects most true and excellent. I must tell you frankly
that I am very glad that you have written the book and
heartily approve its publication.
There are certain features of my brother's character
which you have not brought out, because, perhaps,
you never were in such relations with him as to be im-
pressed by them, and the design of your book did not
admit of your showing the extent of his equipment for
his work, and the breadth of his character. He had
many of the qualifications of a statesman as well as of a
poet. But it is a very lovely and noble [and] beautiful
picture of him that you present.
[Here follow some kindly criticisms and suggestions,
as well as a correction in the order of events considered
in the introductory chapter.]
I remain with much regard
Sincerely yours,
J. H. Coit.
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MEMORIES OF
A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
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MEMORIES OF
A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
(DR. HENRY A. COIT)
BY
JAMES P. CONOVER
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
^be Kitoetisitie pre??, Cambritioc
1906
PL
ASTOR, LE^JOx AND
T(LDEN FOU^,DATIONS
" 1 906
RARY
42
COPYRIGHT 1906 BY JAMES P. CONOVER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published March iqob
PREFACE
These "Memories" have been printed with
the desire of reeaUing an "old boy's" impres-
sions of the personality of one around whom
grew a great school, and whose honored name
is among the cherished possessions of nearly
three generations of St. Paul's men.
No memory of any characteristic word or
act has been withheld, though the apparent
inconsistencies of Dr. Coit's character were as
marked and puzzhng as those of other great
men. Let it be remembered, moreover, that
the subject of this memoir, owing to his com-
paratively secluded life, experienced little of
the leveling process that naturally falls to the
lot of most men. While he was always su-
preme in his little kingdom, bound by no
conventionahties of "keeping school," with all
his forces constantly arrayed to elevate the
" prevailing tone " of schoolboy honor, there
vi PREFACE
were many pairs of sharp eyes to observe, and
many irresponsible tongues ready to report
abroad any peculiarities of method or princi-
ple. In this connection, it is worth recalling
that St. Peter spoke of "our dear brother
Paul " as writing " some things hard to be
understood."
The memory of one man, therefore, is very
inadequate to do justice to such a life ; how-
beit, in that memory stands out clear and dis-
tinct a personality so great and noble as to
overshadow all seeming defects.
The author is indebted to the records of
the Coit family for most of the facts in the
introductory chapter. He desires also to thank
Mr. Willard Scudder of St. Paul's School
for much valuable aid in revision of manu-
script and proof.
Dr. Coit never wrote for publication. At
the earnest request of friends, however, he al-
lowed to be printed a sermon, preached shortly
after the death of his friend Dr. Shattuck,
the founder of St. Paul's School. He also
wrote an article on schools for " The Forum."
PREFACE vii
Both of these have been inserted in this book
as fair examples of his sentiments and style
of expression.
His correspondence was very large, but was
confined to personal matters of no great con-
cern except to those to whom he wrote. A
few of these letters have been inserted in the
last chapter, to show the deep and abiding
interest which he took in those who had been
in any way under his influence. It should
be remembered that these letters were writ-
ten very rapidly in time snatched from school
cares.
In an appendix have been added several
of the many tributes which were written at
the time of Dr. Coit's death, with the hope
of thus preserving them in some permanent
form.
St. Paul's School, April 3, 1906.
CONTENTS
Introduction xili
I. First Memories 3
II, The School-Room 10
III. In the Class-Room 31
IV. The Doctor's Study 49
V. The Doctor's Talks 66
VI. The Playground 84
VTI. In the Chapel 97
VIII. The Sunday Evening Hymn . . .129
IX. Last Memories 143
An American Boys' School — What it Should
Be. By Henry A. Coit, D. D 189
The Resurrection Life. A Sermon. By Henry A.
Coit, D. D 215
Appendix A. The Rector. By James C. Knox . 237
Appendix B. Dr. Henry A. Coit. Letters from Rev.
George William Douglas, D. D., and a Boston Alum-
nus ......... 252
Appendix C. A Great American Schoolmaster.
Editorial from The Churchman .... 258
Appendix D. Minutes of Meetings of Alumni . 261
ILLUSTRATIONS
Henry A. Coit .... Frontispiece
A Snap Shot 96
The Choir 118
The Memorial Tomb 128
The Grave 188
INTRODUCTION
The Coits are New Englanders. John Coite
landed from Wales at Salem, Mass., in 1636.
The ruins of Coite Castle, built about 1091,
stand " on a playne ground a mile by Nortest
from Peubout, a good market town standing
on Ogor" in Glamorganshire, writes Leland
in his itinerary ; so that in all probability
this shire is the ancient home of the Coits.
John Coite was a shipbuilder; and, after
a few years at Salem and Gloucester, where
he was made selectman, he received a grant
of land at New London, Conn., in 1650;
there he soon established a shipyard. After
his death in 1659, his son Joseph, one of
seven children, carried on the business till he
died in 1704, bequeathing an ample estate to
his widow, Martha Harris of Wethersfield, his
sons John, Joseph, and Solomon, and the
heirs of William deceased.
Joseph, the second son of the above and
Martha his wife, born in New London, April
4, 1673, was graduated at Harvard College in
xiv INTRODUCTION
1697, and was admitted to a master's degree
at the first commencement in Yale, 1702.
He became a Congregational minister and
preached in Norwich. Soon afterwards he
went to Plainfield, where he remained until
his death at the age of seventy-seven, July 1,
1750. Twenty years after his death, a Plain-
field correspondent of Dr. Trumbull, the his-
torian, described him as an ornament to his
profession. He married Experience Wheeler
of Stonington, September 18, 1705, by whom
he had ten children.
From John, the elder brother of this Joseph,
were numerous worthy descendants, of whom
a grandson, Daniel Lathrop Coit, a friend
of Lafayette and Franklin in Paris, and a
brother-in-law of Joseph Howland of New
York, built the old Coit mansion still standing
in Norwichtown. His daughter Eliza married
W. C. Oilman, and became the mother of
President Oilman of Johns Hopkins.
But to return to the line of special interest ;
Samuel, second child and oldest son of Joseph
and Experience, was born at Plainfield, Conn.,
in 1708 ; he married Sarah Spalding of Plain-
field, March 30, 1730. "He settled in the
North Society of Preston (now the town of
INTRODUCTION xv
Griswold), and there spent a long and honored
hfe, dying October 4, 1792. ... In miHtary
life he rose to the rank of colonel, and, in
1758, had command of a regiment raised in
the neighborhood of Norwich. He was also
much employed in civil matters, representing
Preston in the general assembly in 1761 and
subsequent years, and sitting as judge on the
bench of the county court and of a maritime
court in the time of the Revolution. The
posterity of Colonel Coit have been quite
numerous, and, as they filled a large place in
the town for one or two generations, they
have been distinguished from their New Lon-
don cousins as ' the Preston Coits.' They
have now entirely withdrawn from Preston
and Griswold, but the graves of the past
generation are numerous in the cemetery east
of Griswold Church."
William Coit, third child of Colonel Samuel
and Sarah Coit, was the ancestor of the sub-
ject of this memoir. He was a shipmaster
and merchant in Norwich. He died at the
age of eighty-six, and is buried in the old
burial-ground. His wife was Sarah Lathrop
of Norwich.
Levi, their seventh child, was the grand-
xvi INTRODUCTION
father of Henry Augustus Coit. He was born
in Norwich, April 24, 1770. He made his
home in New York city, where he died at the
age of eighty. For many years he was en-
gaged in trade with the Indies in partnership
with George N. Woolsey, under the firm
name of Coit and Woolsey ; but in the later
years of his life he was a stockbroker in Wall
Street. He married Lydia Howland, daughter
of Joseph Howland, mentioned above.
Of the seven children of Levi, only three
came to mature age, the eldest of whom,
Henry Augustus, married Sarah Borland of
Boston. He was associated in business with
August Belmont. A younger brother, Joseph
Howland, born November 3, 1802, was the
father of our Dr. Coit. (A distant cousin,
Thomas Winthrop Coit, a contemporary of
the Doctor's father and a priest of the Church,
was also well known as Dr. Coit. He was
rector of St. Paul's, Troy, when I first heard
of him, but I frequently noticed his name
in " The Churchman " and used to wonder
how there could be two Dr. Coits.)
But to return. The father of our Dr. Coit,
after honorable graduation from Columbia
College, went to the Princeton Theological
INTRODUCTION xvii
Seminary with a view to becoming a Presbyte-
rian minister. But his studies led him to seek
ordination in our own branch of the Church.
He was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold.
The early years of his ministry were passed in
Vermont, where he was ordained priest. He
married Harriet Jane Hard of ArHngton, Vt.
(The Hards were stanch Church of Eng-
land people. Many of us remember Dr. Coit's
mother, whom he closely resembled. She had
a face of peculiar power and sweetness. On
one occasion she was present in the old chapel
when it was my lot to preach, and I shall not
forget her interest and her kind comments,
as well as the later words of the Doctor him-
self, " And she knows whereof she speaks."
My last sight of her was at the window of
her home in Norwich, trying not to show her
anxiety, as she watched us off for a cruise to
New York. It was a peaceful, quiet spot,
this home in Norwichtown, with its old-fash-
ioned flowers and walks and superb trees,
provided by the care of the sons at St. Paul's
School, and it was an ideal old age that rip-
ened there under the loving watchfulness of
her daughter.)
In 1828, Dr. Coit's father and mother
xviii INTRODUCTION
went to St. Andrew's, Wilmington, Del. The
first church of the parish was built dur-
ing his rectorship. After four years he left
Delaware to take charge of the church in
Plattsburgh, N. Y. There he remained, with
only a few years' absence as rector of St.
Stephen's, Harrisburg, Pa., until his death in
1866.
Henry Augustus Coit, born January 20,
1830, was the second of nine children, the first
child dying in infancy.
Only one incident remains in my memory
of the few references that I have heard to the
home in Plattsburgh. Speaking of the rever-
ent consumins' of the " elements " after the
Holy Communion, he mentioned his father's
custom of leaving the altar to distribute the
bread and the wine to those of the congrega-
tion near by while still upon their knees. He
remembered that on one occasion his father
stopped in passing his place and gave him
some of the consecrated bread even though
he had not yet been confirmed. In connection
with his confirmation, he had a distinct ex-
perience of " conversion," having been greatly
agitated about his spiritual state. (Though
he had little faith in anything partaking of
INTRODUCTION xix
the nature of sensationalism, his effort in pre-
paring his boys for confirmation was to make
them reaHze the importance of the step. He
used to keep a book, in which after the six
months' special preparation, boys desiring to
be confirmed entered their own names.)
His own confirmation was by Bishop On-
derdonk of New York.
When at school under Dr. Muhlenberg, at
College Point, L. I., his life was without re-
proach; he was a boy far advanced in mind
for his years, devotional and religious. One of
his tutors there w^as the late Dr. Houghton
of New York, with whom he used to recite
daily some religious office. The late Dr. Ma-
han was also tutor at that time. Owing to his
father's large family and small means he had
much responsibility as the oldest, as well as
the necessity for making his way at school by
assisting in school duties. During these days
he used to visit the family of his granduncle,
Gardiner Rowland, on Washington Square
At St. Paid's we were not allowed to forget
those early days, for I have often heard the
Doctor speak of his love for Dr. Muhlenberg,
whose picture then hung and still hangs in
our schoolroom.
XX INTRODUCTION
He entered the University of Pennsylvania,
in the time of Professor Reed, described as a
delightful scholar ; but his health was so deli-
cate that he was obliged to spend a year in the
South. He Hved there as tutor in the family
of Bishop Elliott of Georgia. Then he passed
a year as tutor in the classics at St. James's
College, Maryland, under Dr. Kerfoot. In
those early days his brother, the Rev. Dr. Jo-
seph H. Coit, was associated with him on the
teaching staff at St. James's, later to be for
so many years his associate and support in
the work at St. Paul's School, and to follow
him in the rectorship. Among the boys at
St. James's College at this time was the Rev.
Hall Harrison, whom St. Paul's boys grate-
fully remember as a master for many years at
the school. Another pupil of St. James's of
a somewhat later generation was the Rev.
Thomas J. Drumm, now for more than thirty
years a master at St. Paul's.
At St. James's College the degrees of B. A.
and M. A. were conferred upon Dr. Henry A.
Coit for his scholarship in letters, although
owing to delicate health he had never com-
pleted the traditional four years' residence of
a college course. Thence he returned to Phil-
INTRODUCTION xxi
adelphia and lived in the family of the Rev.
Richard Newton, while he was occupied in the-
oloofical studies and actins: as tutor to the sons
of Bishop Alonzo Potter. (Bishop Henry C.
Potter of New York has sometunes remarked
that he was really " the oldest boy ; " and now
we have a pleasing connection with those
early days, in that the name of Alonzo Potter,
the son of the bishop, stands on our roll of
honor, inscribed on the walls of the school-
room among the Ferguson Scholars.)
The next work of Henry Coit was the mas-
tership of the parish school for boys at Lan-
caster, Pa. Here he was ordained deacon,
and became one of the assistants to Dr. Sam-
uel Bowman. The Rev. John C. Eccleston
was an associate with him here, and though
but a short time together these two formed a
lifelong friendship. (We all remember Dr.
Eccleston's visits to the school and his in-
teresting lectures on the Crusades and other
historical subjects.) Here also Mr. Coit may
have met Miss Mary Bowman Wheeler, whom
he afterwards married. He was ordained priest
in St. James's Church, Philadelphia, together
with the Rev. John Huntington, sometime
professor of Greek in Trinity College, and
xxii INTRODUCTION
later in life a neighbor in the country near
Newport, R. I. From Lancaster Mr. Coit
passed to northern New York, first as assistant
to his father and then to missionary work
at Malone, and Ellenburg where he built a
church.
Not long ago I was called to minister to a
dying woman at the hospital in Concord. I
found her well instructed and a lover of the
Church, to which she had given her allegiance
under the leading of Mr. Coit in those early
days at Ellenburg. From her and from our
own bishop, who once made a visitation to
those parts for the Bishop of Albany, I have
learned of the great love and esteem held by
those people for Mr. Coit.
Bishop Doane of Albany wrote, in the offi-
cial paper of the diocese, at the time of Dr.
Coit's death, " I am thankful to remember
that the Diocese of Albany has at least one
part in the story of this noble life. The ear-
lier years of his ministry were given to hard
and patient and faithful missionary service in
the northern part of our diocese, where he
founded at least three congregations ; in every
one of which his name and memory are em-
balmed, and from every one of which, little
INTRODUCTION xxiii
and feeble as they still are, holy and blessed
influences continue to go out, for the glory of
God and the consolation of men. I find in
my first address to the first convention of the
diocese a note of visitations to the churches
of Ellenburg and Centreville, ' built in the
faith and fear of God, through the devoted
exertions of the Rev. Dr. Henry A. Coit.' I
cannot resist the temptation, since it was im-
possible for me to be present at the burial, to
pay this simple tribute to a most beautiful
and beloved memory."
But now the great work begins. At the
age of twenty-six Mr. Coit was called to be
the first rector of St. Paul's School.
On March 27, 1856, he was married, in the
Church of the Epiphany, Philadelphia, to
Mary Bowman, third daughter of Mr. Charles
Wheeler of the Philadelphia Bar. A week
later, April 3, Mr. and Mrs. Coit estabhshed
themselves about two miles from Concord,
N. H., at a country seat which had been
given by Dr. and Mrs. Shattuck of Boston
for the site of St. Paul's School. Among
the first boys came John Hargate, youthful in
spirit and sympathy to the end. From the
first devoted to the Doctor, he gave himself
xxiv INTRODUCTION
unreservedly to the work of his great leader.
His record of faithful and loyal service ex-
tends through every year of the life of St.
Paul's. On one occasion when some older
masters were slow in returning at the begin-
ning of term the Doctor said to me, "Never
mind ! If I only have Mr. Hargate, I have
no fear ; we shall make it go."
Through all these thirty-nine years Dr. Coit
was a great schoolmaster, though not for want
of other opportunities ; for, in addition to the
posts of president of Hobart and of Trinity
College, he was called to the rectorships of
many large and important parishes, while his
name was prominent in connection with sev-
eral bishoprics. He received the degree of
Doctor of Divinity from both Trinity and Co-
lumbia and LL. D. from Yale. But he was
so convinced of the importance to church
and country of training the Christian gentle-
man that he turned a deaf ear to other calls,
though, as he once said, *' It is harder to stay
than to go."
The wisdom of his choice is proven, not only
in what he has accomplished, but in the in-
spiration which St. Paul's School has given to
Christian education all over the land. In speak-
INTRODUCTION xxv
ing one day of the number of good schools
becoming promment and drawing boys from
St. Paul's, he said, " I sometimes hear people
speak as if these schools were our rivals. I
can but feel joy and a right pride that others
are following our example, and that the church
at large is stirred to the great cause of educa-
tion."
MEMORIES OF
A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
' ©a UtBcamua in tcrris quorum etientia
pcrscterct in coelig "
MEMORIES OF
A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
CHAPTER I
FIRST MEMORIES
It was during the soft twilight of a summer
day, about the year 1866, that I first heard
the name of Dr. Coit. I was arrested in my
play by notes of pecuhar interest in a man's
voice, and hstening to my elders heard some
wonderful tales of school life. The tradition
in my family was that boarding schools were
meant only for boys whose parents did not
care for them, and that the Hfe was one of
hardship and persecution. But this man, if I
understood him aright, was talking about his
school days as if he had enjoyed them, and
there was a certain awe and hush in his voice
when he spoke of the Doctor. No actual
words of his remain with me, but after nearly
forty years the impression gathered through
the stillness of the night from the manner of
4 MEMORIES OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
this " old boy," and the interest of my mother,
has never faded — the impression of rever-
ential love to a schoolmaster. So it was
that " Tom Brown at Rugby," coming to me
in due course, had other foundation to work
on than the tradition of the American board-
ing school, and at odd times my imagination
was soon busy with our " Rugby," and our
" Doctor." Some strokes of reality were drawn
into my picture now and again by the talk
and bearing of college men frequenting our
house. They were fine fellows, these early St.
Paul's men, the very cream of the land, and
I hung upon their words about " school " and
" the Doctor." A conversation between my
mother and a freshman occurred at this time,
of which two remarks have stuck in my mem-
ory, probably from their constant repetition
in our family : " I never saw the Doctor lose
his temper ; he never scolds," and " He writes
to all the old fellows."
But I was soon to see him for myself, for
it was in the fall of 1870 that, after a walking
trip with my father in the White Mountains,
I found myself one afternoon in a small room,
waiting with beating heart for the entrance
of Dr. Coit. The powerful figure and deep
FIRST MEMORIES 5
voice of the master of all those big men had
many times before been uppermost in my
dreams, and now I sat perfectly still lest
something should mar the effect of their ful-
fillment. But suddenly he was in the room.
Without any show of haste he had already
shaken hands and spoken some gracious words
to my father, and he was now holding my
hand and fixing my gaze with a moment's
flash of his great eyes. It was all so sudden
and so quiet that I could not realize that this
was the great man. Did I speak of his shaking
hands ? He never shook hands ; indeed, I can-
not conceive of his shaking anything. He
simply took one's hand and held it, and en-
veloped it with a sort of a tremor of his long
fingers that seemed to be as the servants of
his eyes to reach to a man's soul. At once I was
fascinated, and in spite of my surprise listened
with all my ears to a few words about mutual
friends. Dr. Muhlenberg, and others, till the
conversation drifted to boys and schools. I
remember distinctly but four remarks. My
father said, " Do you not think the theatre a
proper means of education for a boy?"
" Yes, if the play is proper; but so few are.
None in this town are helpful, and I never let
6 MEMORIES OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER
the boys go." (Later we shall return to Dr.
Coit's love of the fine drama, and his efforts
to have it duly appreciated.)
" At what age," was asked, " do you think
a boy ought to go away to school ? "
" Oh, do not let him leave his mother till
he is thirteen."
On rising to take leave, my father, who was a
trustee of the elder Bishop Doane's school in
BurHngton, N. J., said : " We want to call your
brother to take charge of Burlington College."
" You must not do that ; I want him here
with me. I have been planning it for so long,
and I cannot spare him."
For two years I carried the image of those
eyes looking into my soul, the feeling of a
delicate, nervous hand enveloping mine, and
the sound of a quiet voice with a timbre all
its own, before I too called him "the Doc-
tor." That name ! how much it meant to us !
One of my first achievements in vacation was
to write, direct, and seal a letter to " Doctor
Coit," without any supervision of spelling or
diction. My mother saw the envelope and
wisely let it go, but afterwards reproved me
for my want of respect. But even mothers
do not know everything.
FIRST MEMORIES 7
Again we were in his presence, fathers and
mothers and boys. There was the same calm
dignity as before, but now a note of force
mingled with a sympathy that was simply sur-
passing in its winning power. What mother
can forget that marvelous insight into her
own hopes and fears ! Here was a bridge on