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Eugene L. Toy, 1868.
Eugene L. Toy held the honor of being first in his class, receiving the coveted “primus” status. Such classes were still rather small, however; this class held two graduates.
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William Bard, known as “Willie,” ca. 1864.
Willie Bard stands for a formal portrait. Though he was the fourth child of Margaret Johnston Bard and John Bard, he was the first and only son. His death in 1868 plunged the family into such grief that removal from Annandale to Europe seemed the only course. never to return full-time to Annandale. A small white stone was installed in the exterior wall of the chapel reading: "This Chapel is the gift of John and Margaret Bard in memory of their son, Willie Bard."
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Charles Simon Coles, 1861.
Coles was one of several pre-seminary students to have been tutored by George Seymour, beginning in 1856. Rev. Seymour was missionary at Annandale, and first warden of the College. St. Stephen’s began to hold commencements in 1861, making Mr. Coles the second student to receive his degree from the College.
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Rev. John McVickar, ca. 1860.
An uncle of John Bard, McVickar was a brilliant teacher at Columbia, and later the superintendent of the Society for the Promotion of Religion and Learning. In this capacity, he was concerned with the need for a new college to prepare young men for the ministry, a goal eventually realized through the resources and energy of the Bards and other devout philanthropists.
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Margaret Taylor Johnston Bard, ca. 1855.
Margaret Taylor Johnston Bard was a woman of means from a family of devout Scottish immigrants. Though few of her personal papers remain, Margaret Bard was known for her intelligence and religious devotion. Her family fortune brought wealth to John Bard through their marriage in 1849, and her dedication to religious and social causes was clearly a spur to the legacy of philanthropic activity for which the Bard name is remembered. Her passion for education led her, with her husband, to use her fortune to found and support two educational institutions: St. Stephen’s College in Annandale, and Trinity School in nearby Tivoli. She made a personal appeal to James Starr Clark to build Trinity Church and School in neighboring Tivoli (then Myersville)--a cause to which he subsequently devoted almost three decades of his life. She was an integral part of early decisions regarding the College, as reflected in the fact that she was named a charter trustee of St. Stephen’s. This was an unusual role for a woman in 1860, and it stands as a testament to her own gifts, as well as to the strength of her partnership with John Bard. After her death in 1875, the St. Stephen’s community memorialized her with a headstone in the Bard cemetery, and “St. Margaret’s Well,” which still stands beside the chapel, erected a year after her death in 1875.
Here, she poses for a formal portrait, wearing a long velvet dress.
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Aspinwall Hall, late 1800s.
Aspinwall Hall, first named Occident, was constructed as a dormitory in 1861 thanks in large measure to the generosity of John Aspinwall of Barrytown. Aspinwall was later a trustee of the College.
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Campus scene, late 1800s.
St. Stephen’s students gather in front of a building known variously as “The Janitor’s Cottage” or “The Old Stone Jug. ” Later a post office, it initially served as the first dormitory on campus, housing twelve students within its twenty five square foot walls. Students reportedly had to step outside to put on their shirts.
