Samuel Reynolds House of Siam, pioneer medical missionary, 1847-1876Feltus, George Haws
History
Samuel Reynolds House of Siam, pioneer medical missionary, 1847-1876
Feltus, George Haws
House, Samuel Reynolds, 1817-1899
The home of Dr. and Mrs. House was to be in Waterford, New York,
and thither they brought their young charges. Boon early became
imbued with the American idea of self-dependence. He sought to
learn to do as American boys do. In vacation time he looked for
jobs to earn money towards his own support. When Dr. and Mrs.
House assumed the responsibility for his education, they supposed
that their income would be sufficient to bear the expense; but
with the failure of their investments a serious problem confronted
them. Fortunately, Boon won his way into the hearts of the people,
so that the Presbyterian Sunday school of Waterford undertook to
make an annual contribution of seventy-five dollars, and continued
this amount until his full course was finished. Individuals also
assisted privately.
EDUCATION
The barrier of language of course had first to be removed. For this
reason his studies were begun with private teaching. In the course
of her visits to missionary societies, Mrs. House made an address
at North Granville, New York, and there told of the boys they had
brought to America to educate. This address, as will be observed in
a letter of Boon’s that follows later, prompted a generous offer
on the part of Mr. Wallace C. Willcox, principal of the military
academy at that place, to give free tuition to Boon Itt, provided
friends would care for his needs. This offer was gladly accepted,
and in January, 1880, Boon and Kawn entered the academy.
In the fall, Mr. Willcox transferred his relations to the military
school at Mohegan Lake, New York, and his personal interest in the
two boys carried them with him, so that for that academic year
Boon was at Mohegan. In the fall of 1881, he was sent to Williston
Seminary, Northampton, Massachusetts, to prepare for college. There
he distinguished himself for brightness of mind and fondness of
athletics, particularly swimming—in which art every normal boy of
Bangkok is an adept from childhood. Graduating at Williston, in the
fall of 1885 he matriculated at Williams College. There he spent
four years, pursuing the classical course, and graduated with the
degree A.B. in 1889.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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