During this period of living in West Haven, which at that time was a village of about 5000 people and distinctly separate from its
neighbors, George played the cymbals in the West Haven National Band, played football with the high school team, worked on some
Saturdays and during some vacations in local grocery stores. At a West Haven bathing and boat livery beach, a small affair catering
entirely to townsfolk, George was able to trade his services as helper to the owner for instruction in boat sailing and the handling
of small craft, and was permitted free use of the boats... West Haven High School, from which George graduated in 1900, did not
prepare its pupils for college entrance examinations, having only a three year course of study, desinged for those who would make
this their finishing school. To get into Yale it was therefore necessary for George to spend two years at Booth Preparatory School,
a private institution in New Haven, and during the last year George taught first year subjects in part payment of his tuition.
One summer vacation period George spent working on a stock farm in Worthington, MA, run by a cousin, near the farm owned by his
uncle, Sheldon Brooks. George received one dollar a day and his board and worked chiefly in the hay field. Another vacation season
George spent serving as a motorman on the New Haven trolley cars. This paid an average of $18/week and was chiefly night work.
In 1903, when George had been attending Yale for a year, the West Haven house was sold and James Benson Armstead moved his family
to 267 Orange St., near the corner of Elm St., in New Haven. George had entered Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, with the class of 1905, and during the first year George, and half dozen other West Haven boys then attending Yale, walked the four miles to college
every morning, and frequently made the return trip by foot later in the day.
George was taking a three-year program at 'Sheff', but...
Needing funds, my college course was interrupted in 1904 as that summer
I went to work on the New Haven Evening and Sunday Leader as reporter and remained at it for just a year. Then having saved some cash
re-entered Sheffield. His salary was $8/week, but more importantly he made contacts and friendships there, including Col.
Charles W. Pickett (the editor); James R. Bolton (business manager); Edward M. Allender (a correspondent whom George eventually
hired as editor in Hartford); and George Stansfield (with the A.P., whom George eventually hired as asst. managing editor in
Hartford); and George Turner (another A.P. employee).
The above chart profiles the ages, weights, heights, and girths of Yale students, with George's info marked. It shows (among other
things) that George grew from 5'7.5"/131 lbs to 5'8"/140 lbs between 1902 and 1903. [You can see a
full-size
chart if you want to know such things as his knee height, length of his left foot, girth of his biceps, or lung capacity. The Yalies
were nothing if not thorough.]
After a full year of reportorial work George B. Armstead returned to Yale to complete his course at Sheffield Scientific School
with the class of 1906 and with that class received his Bachelor of Science degree. While in college George twice received partial
scholarships in the form of tuition aids. He won the Sheffield Scientific Monthly (magazine published by students) charm (medal)
for articles which he contributed to the magazine. George competed with the Yale Gymnastics Team in an event then popularly known
as Indian club swinging and he was a competitor in some one-mile running events. George was elected to the intercollegiate fraternity
of Alpha Chi Rho, by the Phi Delta Chapter at Yale...
[NOTE: Indian club swinging was a sport in the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis. See
Wikipedia for more information on this topic.] |
George's 1906 class picture |
James Benson Armstead III, George's father, died at the family home, 267 Orange St., New Haven, October 22, 1906.
The last public event his father was able to attend was the graduation day exercises at Yale when George received his diploma.
The story continues
here.
