[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 166 (Monday, November 17, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14963-S14964]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BELLOWS FREE ACADEMY OF FAIRFAX 
                                   VT

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
100th anniversary of the founding of Bellows Free Academy in Fairfax, 
VT.
  Bellows Free Academy is one of the last schools in Vermont that 
serves student from kindergarten through 12th grade. As such, many 
families in Fairfax enjoy the advantage of having their children attend 
the facility from their first day of school through high school 
graduation.
  And it is a very nice facility. The original 1903 building, which 
burned down in January 1941, was replaced and dedicated in 1942. 
Additions in 1960, 1973, 1990, and 1999 have kept the school up to date 
with modern space, equipment and facilities. Located in the heart of 
one of Vermont's fastest growing towns, BFA is a venerable school whose 
playgrounds and athletic fields are framed by woods and meadows, with a 
new land acquisition providing access to the nearby Lamoille River. 
Several vantage points reveal majestic views of Mount Mansfield, 
Vermont's tallest mountain.
  In discussing BFA, a point of clarity is in order, as there are two 
schools in Vermont named Bellows Free Academy, and both are in Franklin 
County. Each school owes its founding to the same benefactor, but 
people in Fairfax are quick to point out that theirs is the original 
BFA, even if it is smaller, in terms of student enrollment, to its 
namesake in St. Albans.
  BFA, Fairfax, was established through the generous provisions of the 
1876 will of Hiram Bellows, who was born in Fairfax in 1798.
  As a young person, Hiram Bellows lived at the farm of his birth and 
attended grammar school at a nearby schoolhouse. He advanced to the 
small graded school in town when good fortune brought a college 
graduate to Fairfax to teach for a short period of time. Hiram was 
unable to progress further in formal education, however, because his 
parents could not afford the academy fees to attend the high school 
equivalent of his day.
  Hiram Bellows was an industrious man and an able judge of character. 
For some time, he made his living operating a general store and 
`tinkering' in real estate. It is said that he liked to bargain, and 
invariably whittled on a piece of wood while studying the face of the 
man with whom a deal was being contemplated.
  He served as State senator from Franklin County; was a charter member 
of the Vermont and Canada Railroad Company; founding associate of the 
Parish of Christ Church, Episcopal; and first president of the First 
National Bank of St. Albans.
  In regard to his nature and character, a niece once recalled that he 
was ``a kind, delightful gentleman, whose house was always open.''
  Upon his death, Hiram Bellows' will included provisions for the 
establishment of a free academy in Fairfax. Here follows several terms 
of his will:

       I give, and bequeath in trust to my native town of Fairfax, 
     two hundred and fifty shares in the Chicago, Rock Island and 
     Pacific Railroad Company, the par value, one hundred dollars 
     each.
       The dividends thereon as far as practical, to be invested 
     in said stock, until the same shall amount to two hundred and 
     fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of establishing a 
     free school in said town of Fairfax. Said school to be 
     located upon the premises hereinafter mentioned and 
     described.
       Said school to be known and called `the Bellows Free 
     Academy of Fairfax, Vermont'. In which Academy the primary 
     and higher branches of learning shall be taught. Said Academy 
     shall be conducted in all respects in such a manner as to 
     further the education of children and young men, so as to fit 
     them for usefulness, and so as is practical, it is my wish 
     that children of indigent parents receive and advantage of 
     said school in preference to those who have ample means of 
     support of their children . . .

  And so, in the same year that Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved 
human flight from a sand dune in Kitty Hawk, NC, Hiram Bellows' estate 
of railroad stock founded a free academy on a village lot in Fairfax, 
VT.
  Generations of Hiram Bellows family have attended and graduated from 
the school he so generously established. I am old his descendants 
attend BFA to this day. And with the generations of Bellows', so have 
been graduated generation after generation of other familiar Fairfax 
families.
  A school of course, does not exist and cannot thrive in and of 
itself. In this regard, Fairfax has a strong tradition of community 
support for its school, and that tradition is reflected in the quality 
of students, teachers, administrators, directors, and staff at BFA over 
the century of its existence.
  The list of those responsible for the continued growth and success of 
the academy goes on and on. There are specific individuals who, I am 
sure, are worthy of specific praise. But perhaps even more importantly, 
there are the countless people who contribute immeasurable hours in 
innumerable ways to endless projects. They are the backbone of the 
community; they comprise the sustaining force of the school.
  So the Bellows Free Academy of Fairfax owes its beginnings to a 
remarkable man named Hiram Bellows. It does its proud history to its 
administration, teachers, students, and above all, its community.
  Its future depends on sustaining all of the above. And while there 
are indeed numerous families who count generations of graduates from 
Bellows Free Academy, judging by its rate of growth, Fairfax also 
benefits greatly from contributions of newer residents, many drawn to 
this community, I suspect, precisely because of the strong reputation 
of its school system.
  So, it is with great pleasure that I offer my congratulations to all 
those, past and present, involved with the Bellows Free Academy of 
Fairfax, VT.
  Moreover, I am pleased to recognize the generosity and foresight of 
its founder, Hiram Bellows.

[[Page S14964]]

  Happy 100th birthday, BFA.

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