Stuart, Leland Everett2025-02-262025-02-261964-12https://hdl.handle.net/1794/3049577 pagesThe audience was not large; there were, after all, only fourteen members of the graduating class. Three others had risen and proceeded to the front of the platform where each had received his handshake and diploma. The next graduate was announced: "Oliver Perry Champlin." The audience saw a small - nearly tiny - young man rise and make his way forward. There were no relatives to feel a special prideful glow, no one present who would nudge his neighbor and loudly whisper, "That's my boy." The Champlins had sent no family delegation from the Stafford Springs, Connecticut. The axe-handle firmness of the grip, coming from so small a man, may have surprised President E. W. Blatchford as he granted the diploma. That hand was steady on a plow, tight and strong on a hoe or rake, gentle-firm on the bridle of a horse. And, it was a hand used to turning the pages of the Bible in study.en-USCreative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-USUO theses and dissertations are provided for research and educational purposes and may be under copyright by the author or the author’s heirs. Please contact us <mailto:scholars@uoregon.edu> with any questions or comments. In your email, please be sure to include the URL and title of the specific items of your inquiry.Reverend Champlinpreacherpreacher's workChamplin familyreverendcongregationalistsThesis / Dissertation