April 1865: Jubilation and Grief
... AND MANY DARTMOUTH YESTERDAYS An undergraduate describes Hanover's reaction to two historic events
Dartmouth College April 29th 1865
FRIEND WALTER,
I beg a thousand pardons for neglecting you so long but the fact is - I had forgotten that I owed you a letter. I thought that it had been answered until on looking over my letters I found out my mistake. ...
Perhaps if I tell you how we reca the neus of the surrender of Lee with his army & the death of Pres. Lincoln, it may not be ininteresting to you.
As soon as the news concer[n]ing Lee was recd, the boys collected on the the Common, each having something that would make a noise, including 40 or 50 tin horns. We then formed & marched thro' the principal streets making a fearful noise.— ladies waved thier hanker- chiefs & flags & old men with uncovered heads watched the procession as it passed by. After this we marched over to Norwich— two miles— & serenaded the Norwich Cadets.— They came out & together we made considerable noise
We then marched down to the Depotmidway between Hanover & Norwichwhen - the train came along we formed in two lines with the track between us— the engine whistled with[in] six feet of us. but we were making such a noise that not more than one tenth of us heard it
Taken all in all it was the gayest crowd that I ever saw
In the afternoon a meeting was held in the College Chapel & speeches were made by nearly all the Faculty Prof. Patterson— who has just been re-elected to Congress— made a splendid speech. He is called the best speaker in the State
How different was the scene when the neus of the-assassination of Pres. Lincoln was reca I never saw so many sober faces in my life
In the afternoon a meeting was held in the Chapel with nearly the same audience that met to rejoice over the surrender of Lee & his army; but now instead of the applause which shook the building, the house was as still as death & nothing could be heard except the voice of the speaker & the sobs of women.
[¶] At first it was feared that Pres. Johnson was not a suitable man to fill the place of Lincoln, but now the nation is beginning to have more confidence in him. He certainly has done well so far & if he will only let liquor alone, he will soon becom[e] a popular man. ...
Your friend JAS.R. WILLARD
