Oliver Baker 1822 (1826-1834)

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Oliver Baker was born July 17, 1801, the thirteenth child of Samuel Baker and Hannah Bush of Templeton, Mass. He attended Yale, class of 1829, Andover Theological Seminary class of 1825 and Yale Divinity School, class of 1834. He died March 15, 1834 at Rahway, New Jersey while a divinity student.

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Cambridge, Sept. 5. 1822. Dear Oliver, I am sorry to have delayed answering your letter so long, but is has been impossible for me to write sooner. I am sensible of the anxiety you must feel on entering a new course of life when termination is so uncertain; the best directed human exertions may fail, but the end of all things is with God; & I trust you will begin with so much resolution & perserverence, as, with the Divine blessing, will carry will carry you triumphantly through every difficulty. The recommendations you have obtained of the Wellington & the select men of the town are sufficent. I have already written to Mr. Adams respecting you, & he has promised me that you shall be admitted to the Academy. Recommendations however are of little importance, the only effectual one will be your own good conduct & good scholarship. As you are about to enter a path which I have trod before you I shall say a few words, in relation to your conduct at Andover. You will find many things, that will appear strange some that may seem absurd or unreasonable, say nothing

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about them; many of them will seem wise & proper, when you become better acquainted with their reasonableness, & even concerning those of which you cannot form so favourable an opinion you will never regret delaying your judgement until you are qualified to judge. I need not insist on the importance of strictly complying with every requisition of your instructors, they can have no interest opposed to yours. With regard to your method of study, learn, whatever you study, though thoroughly, commit your Grammar perfectly, for that is the master key, which will unlock all the treasures of the language; when you construe, learn the construction of government, & be able to give the rules for every word; & at night review all you have studied during the day & at the end of the week review all the studies of the week, in this way you will fix in your memory whatever you acquire, your progress at first will be slow & sure, but finally rapid; & completely verify the old proverb which is true of the learning of any language, "The longest way round is the shortest way home." The term will commence at Andover on Teusday the 10th Sept it is not absolutely necessary that you should be there at the beginning of the term, but you ought to be there as soon as you can conveniently. If you are there before the first of Oct. I may possibly see you there.

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I am about to leave Cambridge to go & I know not where, perhaps to New York, perhaps to Maine; wherever I may be - I shall always rejoice to hear - of your success and to give you any aid in my power, but of pecuniary assistance I can afford you none, for I shall be obliged to depend on others for establishment in my profession. The sum necessary for supporting you at the Academy two quarters will be 50 or 60 dollars, ___ tuition 6 dollars a quarter will be given ___ ____ not know that you need any thing else; _____ to Andover as soon as you can, show your testimonials of character to Mr. Adams, mention that you are the person concerning whom I wrote to him sometime since ask his advice respecting your boarding place, & every thing else you may wish to know. I have said a good deal of the importance of study, I must say one word of the momentous importance of exercise. Exercise is the universal remedy for every complaint of the student, the old rule was walk a mile for every hour you study, it is immaterial what kind of exercise you make use of, provided you take enough. Let me hear from you as often as you can conveniently, I shall leave this place tomorrow or next day, but shall probably be here a a few days at the beginning of Oct. Give my love to your father's family & accept my best wishes for your success, Your sincerely Saml B. Alcott

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Cambridge Mass. Sept 6

M. Oliver Baker Templeton Mass.

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Philips' Academy Andover Jan 28 1824 My dear brother, I received your letter glad to hear from your prosperity, but was struck with the solemn inteligence of so many deaths in Templeton. By the goodness of my maker I am and have been in the enjoyment of health since I came from home and have prosecuted my studies with much pleasure and success, If I continue to go on I shall get about through with the languages requisite for entering College this year, but I shall stay here another year on account of my debts. I refused to tell you or any other friend at Templeton how much I owed because I knew it would give you pain but if it will satisfy your desires I will tell you. I owe 57 dollars and 45 cents which is the same sum I owed when I was at home. A week ago last [missing text] an examination attended by Mr Adams Mr Farrar and the other trustees the knowledge of which had me with attended many fearful anticipation for three months, they questioned me for a half an hour nearly, but I was fortunate after all and was excepted upon the Philips foundation, and they agree to pay from last september at 2 dollars per week, my board wood and lights during good behaviour. I board at Mr. Fosters yet. I am strongly knit to my companions am in a good class we have a society called the 'literary Brothers formed for the purpose of speaking writing and debating which affords a pleasant relaxation from one our daily tasks we meet this evening (every wednesday) and my part is this evening to debate, and the subjects is this. "Does the history of Dr. Franklin produce more good or injury among mankind"

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