A Tribute to Ernest L. Silver '99

On October 25, 1959, the Plymouth (N. H.)Teachers College held a testimonial convocation in memory of its former president,the late Dr. Ernest L. Silver '99, and atthat time rededicated the Ernest L. SilverHall. One of the principal addresses wasgiven by Mrs. Guy E. Speare, whose husbandentered Dartmouth with the Class of '99 andgraduated in 1903. Following is the greaterpart of her tribute:

This is a privilege to be invited to participate in this program of tributes to Dr. Silver. Mr. Speare and I were closely associated with him over a period of more than a quarter of a century. I watched him increase in wisdom and stature and in dedication to his chosen profession. I listened to his wise advice to his students, realizing that their stay in this School was to him a novitiate to a sacred calling: teaching the boys and girls of New Hampshire. His ideals were so high that any infringement upon the ethics of the profession was to him intolerable.

My acquaintance with him covered a period of sixty years, because I knew him as "Sliver," his nickname when he and Mr. Speare were classmates at Dartmouth and roomed on opposite sides of the corridor in Wentworth Hall while freshmen. Dr. Silver's life at Dartmouth was by no means luxurious. I have heard him tell that when he was unable to purchase a bed he could afford, he procured two pine packing-boxes from the grocer, laid an old door across them, and that was his couch during his freshman year. Life in his early years on a farm in Salem, New Hampshire, taught him to be exceedingly sympathetic with the hundreds of students who entered Plymouth from the farmhomes of the state. His early experience brought understanding of the limitations of their social environment and financial status. No worthy student was allowed to leave Plymouth because of financial embarrassment. Dr. Silver always discovered a solution to their needs.

One Sunday afternoon, the Matron of Mary Lyon Hall requested that I talk with a student who recently lost her father and was worried ill because of her penniless situation. Her immediate needs were relieved by a gift from the emergency fund of the Federation of Women's Clubs. For the future, she was advised to talk with Dr. Silver. "Oh, no! She could not tell him her troubles!" She was persuaded to change her mind. The following day she said, "Mrs. Speare, Dr. Silver came to talk to me! My own father could not have been more sympathetic. My finances are all taken care of until I graduate." I do not know if this student ever discovered that Dr. Silver loaned from his salary every penny she received during the remainder of her course. His judgment was not misplaced. This student became a county superintendent of schools in California.

Yes, Dr. Silver possessed an uncanny sixth sense to perceive the latent possibilities in his students and especially in his faculty. Robert Frost is a striking example. You may recall that Dr. Silver discovered the unusual intelligence of Mr. Frost while his neighbor in Derry, N. H. He employed Mr. Frost at Pinkerton Academy and then brought him to Plymouth and gave him a room in his own home. When Robert Frost visited us at Plymouth, I have heard him declare that had not Dr. Silver found him in Derry, encouraged him and guided him, he would never have achieved the eminence he enjoys today. Dr. Silver followed the Biblical definition of a neighbor, "He that showed mercy in time of need." ...

One might continue to relate stories about Dr. Silver, but we are to speak of him as a citizen. There are two memorial buildings for Dr. Silver in Plymouth. One is Russell House which many of the audience have visited. This house was partially built in 1797 by Moore Russell, the man who established the Square in Plymouth as a trading center. When the last member of the Russell Family died, and this homestead was for sale, the older citizens of Plymouth decided that the house be purchased for a community house, but the price was not available. The State purchased it for an overflow dormitory. The colonial interior might have been wrecked but for the wisdom of Dr. Silver. He preserved every colonial feature: the fireplace and hot water heater in the old kitchen is intact, the paneled inside shutters on the windows, the marble fireplaces, and the unsupported staircase, one of the few remaining in northern New Hampshire, with the ivory disk in the top of the newel post indicating that Moore Russell paid his contractor when the house was completed, are all preserved because of the culture and love of Dr. Silver for colonial architecture.

The other building is our modern hospital building. The old hospital was condemned as unsafe. Mr. Sceaver Speare, formerly of Plymouth, now of Nashua, presented $50,000 as a nucleus for a new building. At this critical time, capable leadership was difficult to discover. Meanwhile Dr. Silver became a charter member of the Rotary Club. Soon the business and professional men of the club realized that he possessed a know-how to get things done. He was persuaded to accept the position of president of the Hospital Association. He did not live to see a brick laid, but he did see the gift of Mr. Speare double and redouble under his organization of a drive for funds and, at the top of the subscription list, was the name, E. L. Silver - $5,000, a most generous contribution from a man who received the low salary that New Hampshire then paid and, if we can believe all that we hear today, still pavs.

One incident proved amusing at that time. One of the committees called a meeting that required the presence of the president of the Association. But, at almost the hour of the meeting, Miss Shaw and Dr. Silver had planned their wedding and this wedding was to be a top-secret from all their friends. They considered and decided that Dr. Silver should attend this conference, which he did. After a time, he said, "Gentlemen, I have a very important engagement. Please excuse me. I may return." Which he did. How astonished and highly amused those men on the committee became in a few hours when they discovered how important that engagement was and how cleverly Dr. Silver concealed his secret until he and Mrs. Silver had slipped out of town. ...

The philosophy of Dr. Silver can be summed up in the words Of John Alden in the poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish: Let us then be what we are, and speak what we think, And in all things, keep ourselves loyal to truth, And the sacred profession of friendship.

Add to that quotation, the sacred profession of teaching, and we have a concise summary of Dr. Ernest LeBoy Silver as a merciful neighbor, an efficient citizen and, as I have learned in my own experience on many occasions, a true and loyal friend.