Hollon Augustus Farr, otherwise known as H.A. Farr, graduated from Andover in 1892. His scrapbook primarily features items from his year of graduation, but he also added a few pieces from 1902 at his 10-year reunion. A native of Athol Massachusetts, Farr went on to Yale University where he joined the Andover Club, and he later became a professor of German at Yale. Farr’s scrapbook is in good condition though its binding is somewhat compromised, some pages are loose and ripped, and some materials are falling out.

Farr’s scrapbook includes report cards, photographs of campus, portraits of teachers and principals, newspaper clippings, Andover/Exeter game tickets, copies of the Phillipian, Andover pep songs, tuition checks ($25-$33), homework assignments, blank “excused absence papers,” a Harvard exam schedule for admission, a catalogue of the PA 1890-1891 school year, and a reference to the Masonic Hall of Andover. Farr included programs of a Dana Hall graduation, a few Andover graduations (1891, 1892, and 1902 when he visited for his 10-year reunion), a senior dinner menu, descriptions of concerts that took place in downtown Andover, town meeting invitations, and an invitation to Abbot Academy commencement.
At Andover, Hollon Augustus Farr won third prize ($5) in the thirteenth Joseph Cook Greek Prize Competition in 1892. This may have been the only award Farr received as his participation in other school events was as a spectator.

Farr’s skill and interest in German are documented his continuous “A+’s” in German class, a playbill and a handwritten invitation to “Deutsches Liebhanbertheater” (German Private Theatre) at Abbot Academy in 1892, and a playbill for a play at the Bowdoin Square Theatre about Germany and Italy circa 1790.

H.A. Farr graduated with six others from Andover’s Classical Department. Upon graduation, Farr joined the Andover Alumni Association (for a fee of $1) and received a booklet with a list of the current members. In this booklet, there are two handwritten “X” ‘s next to two names. The first name with an “X” next to it is George W. Horr, also of Athol. Horr is also a German name, and the year of graduation, 1848, suggests that he could be Farr’s maternal grandfather. There is also an “X” next to either William H. Parmenter of Boston, or Edward S. Peaslee of Cincinatti of the year 1875. His relation to either, or which one he meant the “X” for, is unknown.

Scrapbook Box 57

by Jonathan Melideo, class of 2016