Chesterfield New Hampshire Historical Society
Sabrina
What is a story? According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, it is “the telling of an event or series of events, whether true or fictitious; account; narration”. The Chesterfield Historical Society backroom archives contain many, here is just one.
It began in 1857 when MA Lt. Gov. Hayden donated a 350lb bronze statue of the water nymph Sabrina to the then all male Amherst College. For several years she sat on a stone pedestal as a garden decoration until, beginning sometime in the 1860s, she was subjected to numerous undergraduate pranks. These stunts included painting her black or parti-colored, plunging her into a barrel of tar, and concealing her semi-nude state with stolen Victorian undergarments from a nearby lady’s academy. Professors would discover her attending their classes or see her perched upon some roof top. Finally in 1884, the administration had enough and ordered her destroyed. But the college janitor didn’t have the heart and instead hid her in his barn.
It only took four years for the students to find her, and then began a long-term inter-class rivalry. The rivalry centered on stealing the statue back and forth between odd and even year classes. She would disappear only to grandly appear at the class banquet of whichever class had possession of her. During the event, custom dictated that she be toasted, have her picture taken, and have all the students bestow a kiss upon her (which “she never objected to”). Therefore, the banquets became prime opportunities for the other classes to cleverly appropriate the little lady (sometimes rather violently).
Where does Sabrina fit into a Chesterfield story? Step in
Harlan Fiske Stone, Amherst College Class of 1894, and future Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Stone was made Sabrina's class guardian and protector. His duty was to prevent any attempt to “rescue” her by the Classes of 1893 or 95, present her at his class banquet, and then sequester her so she could safely attend the Class of 1896's banquet.
Stone successfully took the statue out of hiding and presented it at his Class of 1894 banquet which was at the Brooks House in Brattleboro. Late that evening, Sabrina was quietly boxed and loaded into a wagon. Being a “local”, Stone secretly guided the wagon the 10 miles across the Connecticut River to Hermon Harvey’s Farm in Chesterfield. There, by the light of a lantern held by Agnes Harvey, the men hauled Sabrina out of the wagon and into a cleverly concealed spot under the barn. There she lay for nearly three years until Harlan Stone retrieved her and formally delivered her to the Class of 1896’s banquet in Nashua.
Harlan Stone’s work was done but the Sabrina adventures were far from over, reaching their height between 1909 and 1919 when she appeared at many campus events. However, the events of 1919 put a damper on further activities. That year there was an auto chase, gunfire, and a car accident that left a number of students injured.
Afterwards, her escapades were toned down until in 1934, the students returned her to the administration. Sabrina had definitely lost her glow, so the college had her refurbished. The following decades were calmer with only a small number of theft attempts, one decapitation and a burial.
The Class of 1951 managed to steal her and took her on a plane ride over the campus before returning the statue to the college. (Even Life Magazine was impressed with this, publishing a 1952 story featuring the escapade.) Since then, she has been stolen a couple of times, disappeared for 10 years (1984 – 1994), and been taken on two helicopter rides to cheer on the sports teams. To keep up with the times, as of May 2008, Sabrina has had her own Facebook Page and firmly joined the Metoo movement, no kisses please. Now all that is left is to make the long-suffering nymph the school mascot. The Gods know, she definitely desires it.
The Rest of the Story
The Harvey family were longtime friends of the Stones. Agnes Harvey and Harlan Stone were married in 1899.
Chesterfield Information from: An archive newspaper clipping (undated) “Sabrina” in Chesterfield, County History, written by David Proper, Trustee of the HSCC.
Amherst Pictures and information: Mariah Leavitt, May 31, 2013,
Consecrate Eminence, Archives and Special collections of Amherst College.
