t is Sunday morning, September
22, 1991. It is almost six a.m. and the Orlando Sentinel has
not yet been delivered so I will get started on this section of my memoirs.
I did not do a thing on it yesterday, although I had a few hours that I could
have typed.
I do not know why it has been so hard for me to get started on this segment,
unless it was because I had planned to photo-copy the publicity that was
printed in the newspapers and at the college concerning this move, but have
been unable to find it. When we moved from Virginia I simply discarded most
of my old scrapbooks. I remember thinking, "I will not even took through
these. If I do there will be so much that I do not want to destroy." I have
been sorry before that I was so rash, for I had typed the words to many of
the old ballads that Mother and Troy's parents used to sing. They went out
with the old scrapbooks. There was just so much of my hobby "junk" that I
felt the family would not care about, but would be sorry to discard because
it belonged to me. Yesterday, in a scrapbook of the years between 1972 and
1952 I did find two old ballads that mother used to sing. Later I probably
will go back to the Fairfax Farm section and put them in there. Today I found
in my filing cabinet the words to "Erins' Green Shore" that Troy's parents
as well as my mother sang. I will also incorporate this in our memories.
Like in Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities," these years were the best
of times and the worst of times, for us. Shenandoah College and Conservatory
of Music was a small junior college of two years and a four year conservatory
of music, which met all requirements for granting the bachelor of music degree
upon its graduates. It was an old institution which started out a hundred
years before our time, as an academy and singing school. It was owned entirely
by the Virginia Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and
depended largely on the support of this denomination for its continued existence.
The large brick building which served as the girls' dormitory was older than
the school, and had been a tavern and stagecoach stop in the 19th century.
The Administration Building was also of brick. Here the offices and many
of the classrooms were housed. Other classrooms and music practice rooms
were in the music hall building. The newest building was the brick gymnasium.
The boys were housed in army barrack buildings, which had been purchased
from the government. There were several large houses which were divided into
two or three apartments for faculty housing. The president's home was the
nicest of these large houses owned by the school.
The old President's Home at Shenandoah College - Dayton, Virginia 1954
Financially the school was always in crises. The trustees were seeking a
way to secure additional support by selecting a man from the West Virginia
Conference as president. In doing this they hoped to secure wider support
for the school. They had been advised that three men could probably provide
the leadership needed, but they preferred Troy because he was the only one
with a graduate degree. They also felt that he was a better public relations
man and a better speaker than the others who had been suggested. Troy had
been approached in 1951 about assuming the presidency, but the construction
of the Elkins church was not complete, so he turned it down and they continued
another year, with a member of the faculty acting as president pro tempore.
We debated and prayed a lot about this offer. We were very happy in the active
ministry and we did not feel too confident about changing into this line
of work. Finally, in meeting with the trustees and being told that much of
his responsibility would be in securing more financial support through the
churches and in enlisting the financial help of another conference, Troy
decided that this call was from the Lord and in July of 1952 accepted the
position.
The school was situated in Dayton, Virginia, which was a small town within
a four mile radius of three larger colleges. In the city of Harrisonburg,
just four miles northeast of Dayton, were two rather large schools of higher
learning. Madison College was the state supported institution. Eastern Mennonite
College was Iiberally supported by the Eastern Mennonite denomination. Harrisonburg
was the center for this denomination, which was very strong and active in
Virginia and Pennsylvania, especially. Two miles southwest of Dayton was
the town of Bridgewater. Here was located Bridgewater College, of about 1000
students. This school was loyally supported by its founder, The Church of
the Brethren, which had its background in the old Dunker Church.
The Dunker Church was known as such from its doctrine of baptism, which consisted
in "dunking" its members three times, face foremost in water. Troy's Grandmother
Brady* was a Dunkard so her family was brought up in that tradition. While
we were living in Elkins. in August of 1950, Troy baptized his father, his
step-mother, his Uncle Charlie, and his Aunt Pearl, in this manner in Tygart
Valley River, near Dartmoor. The Church of the Brethren has largely departed
from many of the doctrines of the Dunkard faith, such as this mode of baptism
and from the sacrament of feet washing in special services.
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* Mary Elizabeth Row Brady
About the only thing Shenandoah had going for it was its strong music department.
It had been recognized as an outstanding conservatory of music for many years.
We soon became convinced that the school could not last many more years in
that location. Troy was so concerned that we had special prayers with Richard
and Grace Brill, for guidance. Some of the ministers in the conference wanted
to close the school entirely, but so many of them had strong emotional ties
to the institution and when it would come up for a vote to close, it would
be defeated.