continuance of the seminary. It was in Benicia where
Mrs. Lynch first began her work as principal of the seminary. Her
pupils are now scattered over every quarter of the globe. A thousand
invitations were sent out and 250 accepted and others sent their
regrets from the different cities in which they resided. These were
put in a list and read with interest by those who gathered in
1878--the last and most notable reunion of the school. There were at
this time Messrs. Gray, Jones, Woodbridge and Hastings, trustees of
the seminary when it was founded. They had not met for years, and the
pleasure they felt at this accidental meeting can be imagined. It was
like one large family reunion, for these men were our friends as well,
and through their efforts the seminary was placed upon a high
standard. We were visited yearly by the notable men of the state
legislature, army and navy, professional men and women of culture and
talent. It would not be amiss to let the younger generation be
familiar with the names of early Californians who stood high in the
nation and honored men of the state: Capt. and Mrs. Matthew Turner;
Dr. Cole and wife of San Francisco; Professor Trenkle, pianist, San
Francisco; Dr. S. Woodbridge; Judge D.N. Hastings and wife; Hon. L.B.
Mizner and wife; Bishop Wingfield; Major Hackert; Professor Roger of
St. Augustine College; Capt. E.H. von Pfister; General Kautz; Major
Wells; Major Wilhelm; Captain Rixford; Lieutenant Scriven, U.S.A;
Lieutenant Weresch, U.S.N.; C.B. Houghton; Rev. Mr. Easton; Professor
Corbaz; Mrs. Brackett, class '59; Harriett Riddell, Class 72; Major
Townsend; Dr. Peabody; Samuel D. Gray and wife; John Denning; Judge
Lynch; Professor Trenkle, one of the pioneer musicians of the state
and seminary; Mrs. Mary Loughlin Kincaid, of San Francisco high school
fame, president of the alumnae; Mrs. Mary Hook-Hatch, vice president;
Mrs. Agnes Bell Hill, treasurer; Miss Kittie Stone, secretary; Mrs.
M.R. Blake, the first vocalist of the seminary to distinguish herself
in the world of music and song.
Dr. Woodbridge in his address alluded to old memories connected with
this young ladies' seminary, the trials and vicissitudes of one of its
first principals; how she had taken the school in early days with six
or eight pupils and in a few short months had 140 scholars beneath the
roof. The doctor paid a fitting tribute to the ability and worth of
Mrs. Lynch and the grandeur of her position in the cause of
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