THE YOUNG PROFESSOR 145 



My mother assisted my father a great deal at that time 

 by transcribing portions of his translation of the Icono- 

 graphic Encyclopedia for the printer. In this, my 

 Uncle William Baird, then living in Reading, and one or 

 two of the Dickinson College students who were especially 

 intimate friends of my father and mother, also assisted. 

 "My father was only twenty-three years old when 

 his nominal professorship became an actual one, with a 

 salary of $400.00 a year, which, however, they promised 

 to increase the next year; and he was married that same 

 summer. Of course, many of the students were very little 

 younger than their Professor; indeed I suspect that there 

 were some (especially among the poorer ones who had 

 had to do something for themselves in order to obtain 

 money for their education) who were a little older. He 

 was very popular with his class, and in quite a number of 

 them inspired a strong and permanent love of his own 

 favorite pursuits. In speaking to and of him they usually 

 abbreviated his title of 'Professor' to 'Prof.'; to a number 

 of them he remained always 'The Prof.' He instituted 

 a series of out-door rambles on Saturday afternoon, 

 during which collections were made of objects of Natural 

 History, and the boys gained practical knowledge from 

 Nature herself of great value. This, of course, is very 

 customary now; but was a startling innovation at that 

 time. They had to be good walkers to keep up with their 

 active young preceptor. At the close of the day's excur- 

 sion his companions were very frequently invited to his 

 home to share the family tea, at which my grandmother 

 Churchill and my mother made them welcome. Two of 

 these students, Dr. Caleb B. R. Kennedy and John B. 

 Clark (known to his fellow students by the nickname of 

 'Adam' Clark on account of his proficiency in mathe- 



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