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Letter from William G. Hammond to Wilbur Fisk, June 16, 1829

Wilbur Fisk Papers

This letter from William G. Hammond addressed Wilbur Fisk as the principal of Wilbraham Academy and as a distant relative. He asked Fisk to admit his 20 year-old sister who had never had schooling to Wilbraham Academy.

Wilbraham Academy moved to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1825 as the first Methodist academy in New England. At this early date, American Methodists scorned college-educated ministers. Methodist leaders argued that all members should be educated alike and that God would choose ministers for their spirit, not their erudition. As a result, Methodists built coeducational academies following the model established at Wilbraham under Wilber Fisk. In the 1830s, Methodists opened a few men's colleges in the Midwest, but these too became coeducational after the Civil War. Fisk, one of the few college-educated Methodists in the United States, went on to become the President of Wesleyan College in Connecticut. 1

The letters are transcribed literally to duplicate punctuation and spelling except when to do so would obscure the meaning.

Hammond Letter

Newport, June 16th, 1829

Rev.
Wilbur Fisk,
Sir

[Greetings not transcribed.]
I have a sister who is desirous of attending the academy over which you preside. The time contemplated for her to remain will be from 3 to 6 months and the branches of education for her study, English, Grammar, Geography, Arithmetick. She is about 20 years old, has no parents, has never been from home before except on short visits to her friends living near her native place. At the suggestion of her eldest Sister Mrs Marvin Champlain, who is a member of the Methodist Church, I take the liberty to enquire of you Sir, whether she can be admitted as a pupil in your academy and what if so admitted, would be the necessary quarterly expense. [letter continues regarding their common ancestors.]

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Hammond Letter, page 2

[letter continues to discuss mutual relations]

An answer, as soon as convenient, am much obliged your obt. servt.
William G. Hammond
elaborate filigree
P.S. Perhaps I should mention, that my sister lives in Wickford, Washington County, R. I.

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Reading Between the Lines

William' letter style indicates he has had a formal education. Why would his sister be unschooled?

He mentions that the elder sister is a Methodist as if neither he nor his family were. From this slim evidence, would you conjecture that the Methodists were more encouraging about women's education than the denomination of the writer?

The writer does not give the name of his sister. What could explain this?
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Sources Cited

Sweet, William Warren. Methodism in American History. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954.

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