Barry Alan Blackstone, a 1969 graduate of Washburn District High School, received his bachelor of arts degree in Bible from Bob Jones University 26 years to the day from his mother's college graduation date. Mrs. Barton attended that graduation in Cleveland, Tenn., when the school was still Bob Jones College. Her daughter was then Phyllis Barton.
Phyllis, now Mrs. Wendell E. Blackstone of Perham, was the second of the Barton family to be graduated from Bob Jones College. She was preceded by her sister Joyce, now Mrs. Clayton Blackstone, also of Perham. Following her were Sherwood, a resident of Mars Hill; Gloria, now Mrs. George Dinsmore of Easton; Roy Jr., a Caribou resident; and Betty, now Mrs. Wendell Tompkins of Rumford.
Upon Betty's graduation in 1954, the Barton family received a citation from the university for having had children in the school for an aggregate total of 24 years (six children enrolled four years each) without any demerits for infractions of college rules. And in 1964 the Bartons were featured in a Bob Jones University advertisement which appeared in many national magazines.
Mrs. Barton, accompanied by her son Roy and Mrs. Blackstone, arrived in Greenville in time for another first -- the graduation of Debra Joyce Barton, Roy's daughter, from Bob Jones Academy, the preparatory school of the university.
In answer to the question of how the family tradition began, Mrs. Barton recalled that she and her husband were searching for a Christian college in which to educate their children when Mr. Barton ran across one of the school's advertisements in a magazine. They were impressed with the philosophy of the college and wanted their children to have that kind of education.
The late Mr. Barton in a letter to the founder wrote: I had a dream of six children -- all graduates of Bob Jones University -- Even after I had revealed the fact that we had six children and no money on hand, you shared my dream; and under God, it came true!"
Of the time, trouble, and money it took to put her family through, Mrs. Barton says, "It was well worth the sacrifice we made to send all six to Bob Jones University. Never once have I regretted it, and I just thank the Lord for the training they received."
The Bartons visited the campus many times -- in Cleveland, Tenn., and also in Greenville, where the school moved in 1947. This is Mrs. Barton's first visit in about 20 years, but she has been well represented by grandchildren during recent years. She says, "Although Barry is the first grandchild to be graduated from Bob Jones University, one of my granddaughters, Sylvia Blackstone Fox, Barry's sister, attended for two and a half years; and another grandson, Clayton Blackstone Jr., attended for two years. In the fall my third grandson, Douglas Blackstone, will be entering the university."
Barry adds, "There is Blackstone scheduled to be here every: year for a good many years to come."
Bob Jones University; known as the "World's Most Unusual University," is a liberal arts, coeducational, Christian institution. Each year the university matriculates more than 4,800 students who come from nearly every state in the Union and about 30 foreign countries and territories.
[June 1973]