Big Wheels

Invented in England in 1871, the penny farthing bicycle had reached Hanover by 1888, when this photo of the Dartmouth Cycle Club was taken in the Bema. While New Hampshire's hills must have been challenging for these cyclists, after graduation some of them tackled even greater challenges in diverse fields.

1.) Clarence Moulton, class of 1889, grew up on a large family farm in Randolph, Vermont. In the year that Clarence graduated from Dartmouth the Moulton Farm won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition for the world's best butter. Two years later Moulton joined National Life Insurance in Montpelier, Vermont, and was eventually appointed its treasurer.

2.) George Van Ness Dearborn, class of 1890, was a pioneer in neuropsychiatry—and a contemporary of Freud. He served with the Veterans Administration during WWI, taught at Tufts and attended Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Among his eight books, some of which are available in Rauner: The Emotion of Joy,The Influence of Joy,The Psychology ofClothing and The Physiologyof Exercise.

3.) F.W.Mann, class of 1890, didn't graduate with his class, for reasons lost in history. But he did become an engineer and worked for many years for the Boston Bridge Works and the Boston Transit Commission. For a few years after graduation Mann was in the motorcycle business (which he likely found more rewarding than peddling penny far-things).

4.) Sam Sparhawk, class of 1890, became a surgeon and later founded the Sparhawk Sanitarium in Burlington, Vermont, for the treatment of medical and surgical diseases. Three of Sparhawk's sons attended Dartmouth in the 1920s.

5.) Harry Mitchell Frost, class of 1889, founded an early (and eponymous) advertising agency in Boston and prospered. Years later, in his doctor's barn in Massachusetts. Frost discovered a bronze bust of Daniel Webster. Frost acquired the bust and donated it to the College, where it reigned outside the president's office in Parkhurst for many years. Today it lives in the Hood Museum basement.

6.) John Walton Barrett, class of 1889, established the College's Barrett Cup, which has been awarded annually since 1914 to a Dartmouth senior for all-around achievement. Barrett served as ambassador to Siam, Argentina, Panaman and Colombia. He was the first director general of the Pan American Union.

BIG WHEELS Invented in England in 1871, the penny farthing bicycle had reached Hanover by 1888, when this photo of the Dartmouth Cycle Club was taken in the Bema. While New Hampshire's hills must have been challenging for these cyclists, after graduation some of them tackled even greater challenges in diverse fields.