Hinman Bigelow Letters: The Real Facts (Jan 1919)

This letter was written by Mercersburg Academy Headmaster, Dr. William Mann Irvine on 18 January 1919 to Hinman Bigelow's mother, Anna Colston Bigelow. She had just notified the school that her 18-year-old son was shopping at the school's supply store and having the cost of the items added to his tuition without her permission, as well as skipping classes to spend time with a girl named Marguerite Armstrong.

January
18--1919

Mrs. George A. Bigelow
Atlantic City, N.J.

My dear Mrs. Bigelow:

I thank you heartily for your kind letter of recent date which you wrote to Mr. Colson. I am glad that you have told us the real facts in this case. I had a good talk with your boy today and I tried to show him how foolish he has been. I told him to have good friends among the girls but always to pick out the right kind of girl. I assured him that a girl who is foolish enough to let a boy neglect his duty is not the right kind of a girl for him to associate with. I am not sure that he caught my point but I tried to impress it upon him very earnestly.

This lad ought to do good work and if he were to be earnest and faithful in his classroom work he would very quickly become a leader in the school. He has some ability as a high jumper and that would naturally bring him into prominence. He ought, however, to accomplish much in classroom work so that he can have the full respect of the faculty as well as of the boys, I hope that he will take to heart the advice which I gave him today. He must be more earnest and more ambitious. A boy of his age ought to accomplish a very great deal.

Again thanking you, I am, with kindest regards,

Most cordially yours,

William Mann Irvine

---

Jan. 20, 1919

Mrs. Anna C. Bigelow
Atlantic City, N.J.

My dear Mrs. Bigelow:

Your letter of recent date has been received. Your boy was completely upset when he reached Mercersburg. We have straightened him out. He will make up the classes which he missed and in that way will remove all guard and all demerits. I told him to settle down to faithful effort so that he will accomplish the right kind of work in his classroom studies. He has a lot to gain by remaining in Mercersburg and doing his duty. He has everything to lose by leaving Mercerburg under the circumstances which you mention.

Trusting that everything will now move on smoothly, and again thanking you for your letter, I am,

Most cordially yours,

William Mann Irvine

Click HERE for more Hinman Bigelow letters.