Saturday, December 15, 2012

School Days

Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was chartered in 1793, making it the first college in the newly recognised United States of America.  




James Taylor Carlile was a freshman student at Dickinson College in 1849.  It was run under the banner of the Methodist Church.


The president of the college while James was a student was Jesse Peck.  Peck was not the most successful academic and was the focus of many student pranks, including the most infamous prank in the history of the college. 
Peck was travelling by train to the Staunton, Virginia to make his initial appearance before the Methodist Conference. To seek revenge for a schoolfriend that had been disciplined for drinking and card-playing, a student sent an
urgent letter to the superintendent of the (insane) asylum there; a deranged relative had escaped from his attendants and would arrive by the railway cars at Staunton. Could Dr. Stribling meet him at the station and detain him? A physical description was given, together with the fact that the patient, as soon as approached, would announce himself as "Jesse T. Peck, D.D., President of Dickinson College."
Peck was duly locked up in the asylum until he was rescued.  The members of the conference thought the incident "a very amusing joke", a feeling not shared by Peck.

I hope you are enjoying James Carlile's block.  My sewing space is full of Christmas presents for children and grandchildren, my own sewing is waiting for the dust to clear.

I have been thinking about projects for next year.  I have a wedding invitation for November 2013 which is a good excuse to make a quilt from new fabric, not from the stash.  I have organised Babara Brackman's BlockBase for my own Christmas present.  I plan to use the program to draft the blocks from the Ohio Sampler that I showed you in my last post and make a reproduction for myself. 

What are you looking forward to making in the New Year?

2 comments:

  1. What a beautiful old building! I am planning on getting back to quilting soon? I have been sick, my daughter has been sick, the dog has been sick...looking forward to everyone getting healthy again! I have started Dear Jane after 10 years of wishing, and have a new hexie project going, as well as plans for a few more Quilt and Punchneedle designs for my business. Wish I had more time!

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  2. Love the look of that Ohio sampler. I'm looking forward to some finishes such as my Morrell and the 12 Days of Christmas and new beginnings on 'Tribute to Mrs Williams' and a Leanne Beasley quilt with Japanese taupe fabrics.

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