"If The Tower Could Talk" by Dr. Edward Seay

Source: Cresset

Date: 1966 (Hundredth Anniversary Issue)

Title: If the Tower Could Talk

Author: Dr. Edward W. Seay

President Wilbert P. Ferguson succeeded President Whitney in 1895. As with most successors nothing, which his predecessor had done, was right. Dr. Ferguson's first catalog in 1896 indicated a distinct break with the past. The ladies college was discontinued and emphasis placed upon the coeducational preparatory school. Athletics replaced gymnastics. Young ladies became young women and young gentlemen became young men. Centenary's fame in all kinds of sports spread far and wide. Socially, too, life was much more free. There was more liberty to go about in the village of Hackettstown. "Sociables," held almost weekly, were largely at-tended. In April the evening chapel services were omitted because of warm weather.

Along with these enlarged liberties went a relaxation of rules, treating students individually, placing all students upon their honor and cultivating a self-government association.

President Ferguson, however, did not long serve but while he served he enjoyed the office—probably more than any other president—for much of the time he was on vacation. It was on October 31, 1899, during one of his frequent absences, that the disastrous fire occurred—at the time

he was in Canada when he received the news of what had happened to his school. Nothing but the nerve and superb presence of mind of the preceptress, Miss Charlotte J. Hoag, saved the young women from panic and sudden death. After waking her charges, Miss Hoag assembled them in an upper hall east of the tower and then from memory and without mistake called each room by number and the names of the girls rooming in it. All were present—about 65— except one girl, who appeared before many moments. Then marshalling her little battalion, she marched them in perfect order and under complete control to the boys' gymnasium—now the Joseph R. Ferry Music and Arts Building. The roar and blaze of the fiery furnace behind them, with sparks and flames that rose 200 feet into the air, made a background of glare and sound, that contrasted strangely with the pale faces, scanty clothing and bare feet of this never-to-be-forgotten procession. A mighty shout rose from/the crowds, in voluntary tribute to the calm self-control of this heroic woman. Even the darkest hour has its comic relief. This came early the next morning when old William, the cook, was on his way from his home at some distance from the college to start the duties of his day. The uproar and tumult of the night had not reached him, nor had he heard a word about the disaster. He always looked up Church Street at the clock, and when he did not see it, he thought that he must be losing his sight.  He asked a passerby whether he could see the clock and was told that the school had burned down.  “Ach mein Gott!” exclaimed William, “And I left my best shoes there last night!”

The trustees had resolved to re-build but without President Ferguson. 0. S. Teale was the architect for the present North and South Halls as well as the administration building which the trustees saw fit to name for me in 195'). Nevertheless, during the time between the disastrous fire and the election of Dr. Charles W. McCormick as president in 1900, Centenary owes its unbroken chain to Dr. Albert 0. Hammond, for whom Hammond Hall as well as the entrance gates are named. With 34 students and a recent Goucher graduate by the name of Miss Han-nah Voorhees, Centenary continued to conduct classes.