Excerpt from The Watsonian, Vol. 1: April, 1927

We do not find his notes so full of the details of this school as we do of the one taught a year previous at Hamlin Academy. That being his first school, we find his scrap book quite interesting in giving his experiences. These experiences, so graphically told, must have gone far towards the development of successful teaching. He says: The month which I have passed here in Hamlin Academy has been one of the most pleasant of my life. My boarding place is all that I could desire. The members of the family are kind and affectionate. My room is airy and I have it all to myself. I have free access to all the fruits which the place affords. My school up to this time has not been a task but a pleasure. H ow many teachers of today can echo these sentiments? I have upwards of thirty-five scholars, none of them advanced farther than grammar and arithmetic, though some of the boys are grown. The small girls give me the least trouble and the small boys the most. It is a positive enjoyment to teach the little girls. I treat the large boys as gentlemen, the large girls as ladies, and I require them to treat me in the same manner. Should one of these girls or boys show a disposition to neglect studies, or to behave badly, the board of trustees would at once take the case in hand. If one of the juveniles errs, why, I call for a black-gum and then, ye Pow ersi I sweat and thrash while he screams and dances. But, thank my stars, I have very little of this to do. The study which gives me the most trouble here is gram mar. All seem to have a perfect horror of it. They have numberless excuses for getting off from it. They have such bad memories as to forget their books and leave them at home. The books themselves are so unfortunate as to get nu merous leaves torn out of them. Again somebody took somebody else's grammar through mistake and carried it home. Therefore the owner of the book thinks he has a king's excuse for not troubling the detested bugbear for that day. Learning them to write well is another frightful source of trouble. Some do the best they can, but there are others who don't. These latter are very amusing. They think that the principal object is to finish up as much paper as possible. But these do not worry me much. Altogether, I like school teaching better than anything I ever tried before. While teaching them, I am teaching myself. It is the same as a grand review of all the studies of my life. Every day I experience improvement. And I hope also, seeing the absolute necessity of it, I am getting more command over my temper. I shall never forget the first day I gained the first complete victory over it. (the italics are mine.)

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