Legends of Exeter: Hammy Bissell

By LOGAN BECKERLE, MARVIN SHIM, KEVIN THANT, and FORREST ZENG

The Academy prides itself on its rich history of alumni and faculty who have impacted the Exeter community in one way or another. Every once in a while, though, someone comes along and strikes so deeply upon the core principles of the Academy, that they can only be considered a legend of Exeter.

Hamilton “Hammy” Bissell ‘29 P’58, former Director of Scholarship Boys, whose namesake adorns the Academy’s admissions house and the bridge leading to the football field, who was the first Academy member to receive the Founders Day award in 1976, is such an exception. 

To say that Bissell took the core values of “youth from every quarter” and “non sibi” seriously would be an understatement. As a Director of Scholarships, he strived for a more diverse student body, traveling across the United States to recruit young and ambitious paperboys and milkboys who would never have imagined attending a place like Exeter. His recruits were affectionately known as “Hammy’s boys,” who would go on to shake the world as ambitious Exonians always do. 

One of these recruited students was alumnus Jim Peterson ‘63. Now a prominent Yale-educated lawyer and author, Peterson grew up in the rural Midwest. As a young newspaper delivery boy, Peterson could never have dreamt of attending a secondary private school, much less Exeter. And yet, he was exactly the kind of student that Bissell sought to recruit on his trips across the Midwest. 

“I was a newspaper delivery boy who grew up on a farm with a population of about 1,500 people,” Peterson described. “I had never been anywhere east of Chicago.”

Even attending Bissell’s recruiting event in Des Moines, IA, was a significant endeavor—and yet, it was entirely worth it. “Hammy’s trip was the catalyst for me being introduced to the idea of a private secondary education. And I give enormous credit to my parents for being brave and visionary enough to undertake the crazy idea of traveling to Des Moines,” Peterson said.

A few months later, Peterson arrived on campus as a prep, along with eight other recruited students. “Under Hammy’s initiative and direction, we took the steps of taking the exam, sending in an application, being accepted, and then finally receiving comprehensive financial aid,” he described.

“He was like Santa Claus. Not only did he look like him—short, round, with a big apple-cheeked grin—he was also phenomenally generous,” Peterson said. “His eyes would light up, and that big beaming smile would come out. Apart from my parents, he was the adult with the most influence on the trajectory that my life has taken.”

“Hammy was known for finding boys who were long on brains and short on cash,’” Dean of Enrollment John M. Hutchins shared, “He was known as Mr. Exeter and would travel the country, mostly by train at that time, finding youth from every quarter.” Although Bissell had passed away when Hutchins arrived at Exeter, his legacy is a dominating presence in the Admissions Office, and he is well familiar with his stories and dedication.

Hutchins continued, “He had figured out that newspaper boys possessed the qualities that would make them good Exonians. They were motivated, organized, and eager to succeed. He had relationships with newspapers all over the country and would go and recruit the best newspaper boys to come to Exeter. Once they were on campus, he would ensure they had all the assistance they needed to succeed at Exeter.”

Principal Bill Rawson agreed, adding, “He had this idea that a student who would get up in the early morning during the winter and deliver newspapers would have a certain toughness and resilience to succeed at the Academy. It was quite a brilliant idea that we’ve never replicated.”

“The Exeter of today is an extension of what Hammy did during his time on-campus. We continue to seek to enroll ‘youth from every quarter’ and our need-blind admissions policy ensures that finances are not a barrier to an Exeter experience,” Hutchins reflected.

Exeter at the time may have been renowned as a rich preparatory school with extremely privileged students and elite faculty, but Bissel wanted to shake this stereotype. “Hammy was a man small in stature but big in personality.  He was one of the first emeriti and Exonian that I met when I started to work at the Academy,” Jan Woodford of the Alumni Office noted. “He would come into my office and ask me what volunteers I was working with planning their reunion and then proceed to tell me everything about them.  Where they were from, who their parents were, how they were as students, where they went to college, and their life in general after Exeter.  He took an interest in everyone and cared about all.”

Bissel played a key role in helping to pop the elitist PEA bubble and will forever be remembered as someone who cared for each one of his students. Even as they became alumni alike to himself, Woodford commented on his character.  “Hard work, compassion, a sense of humor, a love of music and sports. He was loyal and always willing to listen. He was always there to welcome alumni back to campus.” 

“He treated me like an equal right off the bat,” retired Founder’s Day award winner and one of Hammy’s recruits Rick Mahoney reflected. “He was sort of the incarnate of the Exeter ethos of equality. He treated everybody the same way and didn’t consider anybody beneath him. Bissell was an embodiment of non sibi.”

“He was not an arrogant or a boastful person,” Rawson said. “He was quick to give credit to others, and he cared about the kids who came here.”

Although much of his work was completed as scholarship director on recruiting trips off-campus, he still helped out everywhere and anywhere he could on campus. “In Hammy’s early years, he was an English instructor, crew coach, and squash coach, and lived in a dorm. As with any of today’s faculty, he was there for his students and supported them as needed,” Woodford said.

Bissell was intensely devoted to his recruits. His generosity for them continued, even as they began to find more independence at Exeter. Peterson illustrated Bissell’s generosity with a few specific stories. “When I arrived, I did not have a decent raincoat,” he described. “Hammy provided me a raincoat from a stock of clothes that he kept for those of us not well equipped for the New England weather. I wore that coat pretty much all throughout school.”

Peterson continued. “I found myself on the competition ladder in the school’s hockey program and eventually became a goaltender. However, I didn’t have the specialized skates to be a goaltender,” he said. “And yet, Hammy always had a small cookie jar fund, which he dipped into at his own discretion. He furnished me with a set of goaltender skates so that I ultimately became the varsity goalie in my senior year.”

Bissell’s influence on his recruits continued even after their graduation. “He truly cared about these kids. And I think he cared about them long after they graduated,” Rawson described. “And they knew this. His recruits would come back, and it would mean a lot to them to see Hammy.”

“People loved and respected him, and he gave it back,” said Math instructor Eric Bergofsky. Many teachers who have been here for more than thirty years have met Bissell in town even after he had retired from admissions at Exeter, and all of them enjoyed his presence. “He was just very welcoming, and it was his mission to make new people at the academy feel like they were a family,” Bergofsky continued, highlighting Bissell’s influence on Exeter even after retirement.

A little-known fact about Bissell was his avid passion for tennis. “He was pretty good at tennis,” Rawson remarked. “We used to play tennis during the lunch break in the summer. That’s how I got to know him.” Bissell often played tennis with other faculty members who played tennis as a lunch hour break. 

“It didn’t matter who he was playing against, he was competitive and he could always compete with a big smile on his face.” Bergofsky remarked. 

Bissell also played squash—and he used it to teach alumnus John Moore ‘80 both techniques on the squash court, and in life. “I’d played some tennis in New Jersey growing up but was unfamiliar with the sport of squash. Hammy made a point of shortening my swing and developing the ‘anticipation instinct’ of preparing in my mind where the ball was coming, how to move my feet, prepare my stance, box out my opponent, and regain the T—useful skills in squash and life,” described Moore. “He always beat me in practice. He never lost his cool on the court. And he was always demonstrating by example how a gentleman conducted himself in competition.” Racket sports were another way in which Hammy added to the community at Exeter. 

His open-hearted demeanor was assisted by a great memory. “He had an incredible memory. And he would always say to people who were visiting, who were coming back, welcome home” Mahoney commented. 

Bergofsky agreed “He learned names and he remembered names incredibly well. It was a specialty of his. He could remember alumni’s names from way back. He could remember new people’s names. He could remember children’s names. He was amazing that way.” 

Hammy’s efforts were rewarded as the academy named him the first winner of the Founder’s Day Award in 1976—and the bridge that crosses towards the football field is now named Hammy’s Way in honor of him. 

But at the end of the day, no title or plaque could capture Bissell’s immense generosity. His legacy lives on in Exeter’s diversity of thought at the Harkness table and the Academy’s need-blind admission that recognizes talent regardless of background. “One way we honor him is by accomplishing need-blind admissions,” Rawson concluded. “There’s a direct line from the deed of gift to the work Hammy did to bring kids of limited means to the Academy.” Though the job of newspaper and milk delivery boys has been replaced nowadays, Bissell’s work recruiting boys from lower class backgrounds still stands today as the epitome of Exeter’s constant pursuit of youth from every quarter.