Page:Frances Wood Shimer 1826-1901.djvu/14

 every bush, tree, and vine, for all were planted under her oversight; and so successfully had she applied her knowledge of horticulture that at the end of five years the trustees declared that the permanent improvements on the five acres were too expensive for them to purchase, and, as the school had been equally prosperous, they signified their approbation by donating the land to the Seminary.

In 1857 an addition doubled the accommodations for boarders. In 1866 the crowded condition necessitated the exclusion of young men, and the school afterward continued a “seminary for young ladies.” In 1867 a second “L” was added. The old schoolroom was remodeled for the much-needed library, and the upper story of the new building given up to piano-rooms and a studio to meet the requirements of the rapidly increasing music and art departments. Accommodations were none too great, for the Seminary family that year numbered one hundred, besides a liberal patronage of day-pupils. In 1876 the third and last addition was completed, being the whole of the present “East Hall,” which again nearly doubled the number of rooms.

This remarkable prosperity and growth of the school was due partly to economic conditions, partly to the advantages offered and the character of the school, but more than all to the personality of the founders and the supervision of Mrs. Shimer. There were no supernatural gifts to make progress steady and success permanent, only the ability and willingness to make the best use of those powers with which they were endowed. Success was the natural consequence of steady, painstaking, unselfish devotion to a purpose, viz., to build up a school which should be a force and an uplifting power, and increase the chances for contentment and prosperity by making more capable teachers and home-makers. While the external development was due to one woman, the nature and character of the school was not exclusively the work of Mrs. Shimer, although every department was permeated with her influence and inspiration. Her enthusiasm spurred others on when they would have flagged. She was the counselor, the sustained ambition that never lost courage, that held on with quiet, resolute firmness, the source from which all associates drew strength and vigor. During the earliest years Miss Gregory was a most able co-worker,