empts were made to remedy the deficiency. If the principal had a
family, he accommodated all he could; the trustees provided for several
brief periods common tables, but generally they lived in private houses
scattered about the village.

In 1853 two great events took place. The first was the offering of the
principalship to a woman, and the second the resolve of the trustees
"that it is indispensable to the prosperity, and even perpetuity of the
Academy, to raise the sum of eight thousand dollars in order to procure
suitable accommodations for the boarding pupils." Although the link may
not be apparent, the second is really the logical result of the first
for it was the enthusiasm of Miss Nancy J. Haseltine, who had accepted
the position of principal, that urged them on with an irresistible
force. She had come to them from Townsend, Mass., bringing a large
following of pupils, and she found it impossible to provide for them
satisfactorily, besides she saw clearly, as the Punchard Free School was
opened in Andover that year, Abbot Academy must henceforth, as time has
proved, depend chiefly upon patronage from out of town. There was no
doubt about the situation of the new building, the only land the
trustees owned was the acre given them by Deacon Newman in 1829; so they
must set it in the rear of the Academy, but where could they get the
money? Again, man's extremity was God's opportunity. Deacon Peter
Smith, who offered the resolution, promised $1,000, Mr. John Smith
$1,500, though in reality the brothers Smith gave before the house was
finished enough to amount to $6,611. Justly was it named Smith Hall, for
its whole cost was but seven thousand thirty-three dollars and
sixty-four cents. But how was the great empty house to be furnished?
Mrs. H. B. Stowe, then living in Andover, talked it over with Mrs. Dr.
Jackson and Mrs. Professor Park and declared a festival should do it.
And the festival did bring in $2,000 which furnished Smith Hall, and
prouder, happier women never slept on Andover Hill than those who had so
courageously and triumphantly carried the plan through.

Smith Hall has now been far more than a quarter of a century the home of
the pupils of the academy, during that portion of the time when they are
not attending to modern languages. Poverty has been its constant
companion, sternly forbidding any unnecessary expenditures, yet it has
always presented a cheerful, even tasteful appearance to strangers, as