Ferdinand Hoffmann arrived in Stockbridge by mistake. In 1851, the country was interested in the troubles in Hungary and the Hungarian refugees. According to Hoffmann’s journal, “The ladies of Stockbridge sympathized with the Hungarians and their attempts to free themselves from the Austrian yoke.”
Six Stockbridge ladies joined together to form a club to save at least one Hungarian refugee. Their plan was to invite a refugee to Stockbridge to be housed and fed during the winter. In exchange, the refugee would give the six ladies lessons in the Hungarian language. Since club members included Maria and Jane Sedgwick, they wrote their brother in New York City to locate such a refugee. Henry Sedgwick sent Ferdinand Hoffmann.
Ferdinand Hoffmann was not Hungarian. He was born on April 22, 1827, in Suhl, Prussia, the largest and most important of the German states. He was a well-educated man who spoke German and French but not Hungarian. When faced with a German professor, the ladies were, quite naturally, confused. Hoffmann could not understand why—literally—because he spoke no English. Finally, he asked the ladies to write their comments down on paper, and he rushed out to find a German-English translator. His journal does not tell us whom he found to translate English to German on the streets of Stockbridge in 1851, but he was successful.
Once communication was established, the ladies suggested that he should stay since he had come so far. It probably was in his favor that he was tall, well made, and of good bearing and better manners. It was agreed that he would teach German to five of the ladies and French to the sixth. This agreement marked the first winter of Hoffmann’s half century in Stockbridge.
In April 1855, Hoffmann founded the Edwards Place School. An early map shows the school on Main Street, Stockbridge with its six buildings: an ice house, bowling alley, school building, residence, and two unidentified structures. The pamphlet sent to prospective students explained the name: “the [residence] was built in 1737 by the General Court of Massachusetts for the Reverend John Sergeant, who was succeeded in his mission-work by the Reverend Jonathan Edwards, the well-known preacher and author, whose honored name the school bears.”
The pamphlet goes on to explain the school’s objective: “to educate a limited number of boys so as to fit them thoroughly for entrance into any College or Scientific School, or for the pursuits of business-life. The pupils reside [in the school] where every effort is made to give them the care and attention of a home and to promote their comfort and happiness not less than their improvement.”
Hoffmann was serious about improvement, “boys being what they are.” Hoffmann meant to replicate his own education, which had been strict, thorough, and thoroughly grounded in Germanic efficiency and decorum. He was correct in his speech and writing, sober, hardworking, and a bit daunting as an educator. Boys received not a simple grade but copious notes on every aspect of their educational progress and personal deportment.
The Edwards Place School boasted about its locale in “the quiet and beautiful village of Stockbridge.” It claimed Stockbridge itself was an asset of the school because it had a “refined and highly cultivated society” and because “its location and character provide few incitements to do wrong.” That was not all: “the beauty of its surrounding scenery” helped develop good taste and “its pure invigorating climate” promoted good health. Hoffmann certainly approved of his new home.
Hoffmann adjusted to life in Stockbridge and prospered. He was well liked and active in community affairs. Hoffmann contributed much to a place he came to by mistake: He was instrumental in convincing the railroad to build the stone train station on South Street; he served on the Laurel Hill Association and the library Boards of Directors; and with Henry Sedgwick, he formed the Stockbridge Casino Company (Berkshire Theatre Festival today).
Hoffmann met Caroline Dickinson Bullard of Fitchburg at Blossom Hill Farm, the summer house of her uncle, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. They continued to see one another at Sedgwick House, where Caroline’s aunt, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a friend, fellow author, and guest of Catharine Sedgwick. Caroline’s family connections and Ferdinand’s social connections made the meeting inevitable; the rest was up to them.
On Christmas Day, 1867, Ferdinand Hoffmann, son of Fredericka Eleymulle and Christian August Hoffmann, married Caroline Bullard, daughter of Evanegar and Harriet Bullard at the Stockbridge Congregational Church. He was 40 years old, and it was his second marriage. The bride was 21, and it was her first marriage.
Caroline and Ferdinand had five children. The fourth, born on November 10, 1874, was named Bernard. Bernard was born the same year the charges of adultery against Reverend Beecher were dropped because of a hung jury, and the year his father’s 19-year career as headmaster of the Edwards Place School ended.
