mhc-asc:

“The day for the seminary to open came before the house was fully ready. The doors were without steps; the windows without blinds; the wood-house was not covered; stoves were not set up; the furniture, delayed by storms had not all arrived; and much of the bedding pledged had not made its appearance. For a week or ten days longer Deacon and Mrs. Safford and Deacon and Mrs. porter were as busy as before, and- by the way- giving Miss Lyon lessons in book-keeping. Deacon Safford worked day after day till unpacking and arranging furniture and the like, just as if he were the father of this great family. We quote from other actors in those scenes; says one: “how well I remember November 8, 1837! My father had brought us- four girls- in his own carriage, a three days’ ride from Vermont. Leaving home on Saturday, we spent Sabbath at a hotel in Chester, and thus were able to arrive in good time on Wednesday. How uninviting that plain brick building was! The bare walls seemed almost insecure from their narrow height. There were no trees, no fence, and not a blade of grass, but a deep bed of sand lay all around the house. In the absence of front steps we alighted the back side of the basement at a door opening in the dining room. At one end of the room a group were at work on unfinished comfortables. At the other, tables were spread for hungry travelers. Mrs. Deacon Safford, a royal woman with a lovely face, and Mrs. Deacon Porter, of no less princely gifts, were washing crockery in the great kitchen. Presently Miss Lyon appeared, and gave us the welcome of a mother to her daughters. ‘Come right up stairs,’ she said, ‘you have come to help us,’ in a voice that had the true home ring. Heart met heart, teacher and pupil were one, and we followed her to the seminary hall. Deacon Safford, with his coat off, was on his knees tacking straw matting on the platform. Looking up with a bright smile he said,’ We are in glorious confusion now, but shall soon be in order.’ “

From History of Mount Holyoke Seminary published in 1887 by Mrs. Sarah D. Stow.