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History of Goodrich Hall
Extended Description - Mac Harman
'98
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August
26, 1857
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"Nathan Jackson of New York subscribed
$1000 for erecting a new college edifice
at Williamstown, and six thousand dollars
more were added to the amount the same
day. Judge Isham of Bennington, promises a
bell." (Hoosac Valley News.)
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September
23, 1857
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"It is expected that the new Alumni
Hall of Williams College will be finished
by the next commencement." (Hoosac Valley
News.)
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October
5, 1857
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"Mr. Durfee will exhibit the plans
& specifications -- to any person who
wishes to see them -- If any one desires
to take the contract for making the
building entire we suppose he will
come here and view the ground & the
stone before making proposals -- This must
be at his expense -- Unless the foundation
is laid this fall, we should not expect
the building completed until 1st Oct. next
-- as I think the walls require more time
--. We can not say anything in regard to
what we expect such a building to cost --
we have no well formed opinion -- all you
can do is to show the plan and then let
builders offer. Daniel N. Dewey"
(Durfee Papers pg. 33)
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October
7, 1857
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"Williamstown Items...The revised plan
of the new Chapel and Alumni Hall, has
been received. It is to be Gothic in its
style of architecture, to be built of
stone, located on the brow of the hill to
the west of Lawrence hall, and will be
completed by next commencement.--The
architect, is a gentleman from New York,
and says that the structure, when
completed, will be the finest connected
with any College in the country." (Hoosac
Valley News.)
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January
15, 1858
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"Calvin Durfee, Esq. -- Dear Sir: -- I
have been informed by Mr. L. Hubbell, the
mason who built the church at Great
Barrington last season, that you intend
erecting a College Building during the
year & that you invite proposals for
the work. The object of this is to inquire
whether it is too late to make a
proposition for the entire contract -- If
not, I will visit your place -- see your
plans ? and give your price. References as
to the capacity & responsibility will
be cheerfully given -- Please let me hear
from you at your earliest convenience
& oblige? Yours respectfully, William
A. Linn" (Durfee Papers pg. 45)
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January
27, 1858
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"Williams College...The work on the new
college chapel will probably be commenced
early in the spring; the funds are all
contributed and the plans adopted."
(Hoosac Valley News.)
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May
5, 1858
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"New Chapel.--The laying of the
foundation of the New Chapel at
Williamstown is being rapidly prosecuted,
and we are informed by the contractors,
that the edifice will be completed and
ready for occupancy the 1st of October
next." (Hoosac Valley
News.)
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June
1858
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The Williams Quarterly Editor's
Table writes the following:
"The conversational hobby here just now
is (always excepting that persecuted
subject, the weather,) the new Chapel. Our
apprehensions that it was to be a 'castle
in the air,' have been overthrown by the
Chapel rising in the air until it has now
attained a height equal to about twice the
'stature of a perfect man.' The statement
that it is as little as possible like any
of the other buildings here, is at once
the truth, and the greatest compliment we
could bestow upon it. We should be glad to
stop here: we must however add a but. It
seems to us that some persons (holding the
bag?) are inclined to exercise an economy
which is no economy at all. Surely we have
had experience enough here of buildings
without a cellar, and it can need no
argument in 1858 to prove that the best
and safest way to warm and ventilate a
large building is by having an airy cellar
with a large furnace in it, yet no
provision seems to be making for such an
arrangement. We have even heard it said
that some persons (probably out of
sympathy with the West-college style of
architecture) were in favor of
substituting a square tower for the
steeple figured in the plan; a proceeding
which would seem very much like taking
that famous step which is said to lead
from the sublime to the ridiculous."
(The Williams Quarterly, Vol.
V, No. IV, June 1858, pg. 378)
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August
2, 1858
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The Trustees pass the following vote:
"To erect a building suitable? for a
Philosophical Lecture room in the South
end of the Stone Chapel under the
direction of the Committee who have in
charge the building of the Chapel."
[It is unclear if this refers to
altering the addition of the Alumni Hall
on the rear of the Chapel, or to an
additional addition.] (Board of
Trustee Minutes pg. 354)
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August
4, 1858
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"8 o'clock met at the Chapel -- D. D.
Field Esq. moved the following resolution
which was adopted...Resolved that the
Alumni see with pleasure the progress made
in the erection of the new Chapel for
which they raised subscriptions at their
last meeting and they hope that before the
next commencement it will be finished in a
style equal to the original design and
worthy of this honored and lasting seat of
learning." (Society of Alumni
Minutes)
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October
23, 1858
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"Williams College.--The new chapel bell
was hoisted into the tower on Monday, and
to the students it pealed jubilantly on
that occasion. It was cast at Meneeley's,
West Troy, and bears the inscription,
'Pierpont Isham, Donor.' It weighs 1025
lbs., and is of excellent tone...Judge
Isham of Bennington promised the bell at
the Alumni meeting last year; and has kept
his word." (The Adams Transcript)
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November
1858
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The Williams Quarterly Editor's
Table writes the following:
"Any item of news in regard to the new
chapel would be interesting; but we regret
to say we have none to offer. The massive
and imposing structure remains in statu
quo, or very near it. An individual who
had not seen it since last Commencement,
might possibly discover some symptoms of
progress; but with us, who look upon it
from our windows every day, there is need
of keen observation and great powers of
abstraction in order to arrive at this
discovery. The steeple, which owes its
existence, as our aesthetical friend said
of the rainbow in his chapel-stage
oration, to 'a mere contingency of
angles,' perches wearily upon the top of
the stone tower, and seems to[o]
long to spread its wings and fly upward,
away from the maze of scaffolding which
surrounds it. The frame was erected
sometime in the remote past; since that
time, part of the covering has been added,
and 'not to put too fine a point upon it,'
as Mr. Snagsby would say, there it stands.
There are some who pretend that the chapel
will be completed; but such knowledge as
this is entirely out of the reach of
vulgar minds. The bell -- Judge Isham's
valuable gift -- hangs dumb in the tower,
for its tongue has been taken away. We
heard enough of it, however, to know that
it has a clear, musical tone, and that the
difficulty of sleeping over will be
greatly enhanced if it ever comes to be
used in place of the old one. The
operations upon this chapel furnish the
most striking illustration upon record, of
how little can be done in a long time,
provided men use only the right means, and
go to work in the right spirit."
(The Williams Quarterly, Vol.
VI, No.II, November 1858, pg. 188)
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November
13, 1858
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"Williams College.--The outside walls
and roofing of the new chapel are nearly
finished, and it is intended to have the
entire building in readiness for use at
next Commencement. There will be fine
recitation rooms for the Junior and Senior
classes. The old chapel and recitation
rooms will be converted into cabinets of
natural history." (The Adams
Transcript)
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February
1859
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The Williams Quarterly Editor's
Table writes the following:
"The 'new' Chapel has come to be
regarded by visitors as a fine specimen of
an old Norman ruin, and vandal
antiquarians are constantly chipping small
pieces of stone from the corners to
preserve as relics. A sufficient police
force should be stationed to guard it, or
the walls will be demolished before the
interior is completed. The official
statement at the outset, that the chapel
was to be built 'for posterity,' was
evidently in strict accordance with
fact."
(The Williams Quarterly, Vol.
VI, No.III, February 1859, pg.
283)
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April
21, 1859
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"Williams College...Spring work on the
new chapel has commenced and its
dedication will probably be one of the
attractions of the next Commencement."
(Hoosac Valley News.)
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May
5, 1859
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"Williamstown...The settling of a
portion of the roof of the New Chapel,
caused by the shrinking of the main
timbers has been put in place again by the
constructors, Messrs. Keyes and Temple,
and no further trouble is anticipated."
(Hoosac Valley News.)
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