Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Friday June 28, 1861

Kate came on the cars with Ephraim.  She says that the graduating class appeared remarkably well, and it was generally accorded that Ephe bore away the palm.  He was showered with bouquets.  He dressed well, spoke well, and looked well and more than all has a well prepared address the sentiments of which did him honor.


Editor's comments:
The phrase "bore away the palm" has fallen out of use but Julia clearly thought that nephew  Ephraim Dawes was the best of the graduates that year.

Looking ahead:
While Julia herself did not attend college--women didn't back then--her nephew Rufus Dawes would later have a daughter, Mary Frances Dawes, who was one of Marietta College's first two women graduates in 1895.  Mary Frances Dawes married Arthur Beach and circa 1961 a dormitory at the college, Mary Beach Hall, was named in her honor.

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