CLINTON NATIVE ESTHER WATROUS COUPER TO SPEAK AT HAMILTON COLLEGE’S CLASS AND CHARTER DAY

Esther Watrous Couper, whose family ties to the Village of Clinton, N.Y. date back to 1878, will speak at Hamilton College's annual Class and Charter Day Convocation on Friday, May 9, at 11:15 a.m. in the Chapel. Her speech, "The Bristols and the Coupers--A Reminiscence," is free and open to the public. Couper's grandfather, Cory Hayes, operated the Hayes and Co. bank until his death in 1911. The bank subsequently became the Hayes National Bank of Clinton and was operated by Couper's cousins for many years. A graduate of Rogers Hall in Lowell, Mass., Couper also studied at the Fannie Merritt Farmer School in Boston. In 1921, she married Edgar Williams Couper, a 1920 Hamilton graduate. Edgar Couper grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., but his family history dates back to Clinton from the 1820s. He was a fifth generation Hamilton graduate who became a trustee emeritus of the college and was a former chancellor of the University of the State of New York. An active community leader and volunteer, Couper and her family established the Edgar W. Couper Endowment Fund for Educational Excellence at Binghamton University in recognition of her husband's pioneering commitment to higher education in New York. Her son Richard, a 1944 Hamilton graduate, is a trustee and a former acting president of the college. She also has a daughter, Katherine Couper Watrous of Binghamton, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Hamilton's Class and Charter Day is a community event that recognizes and celebrates students' meritorious achievements. In addition to Couper's speech, Hamilton's a cappella singing groups will perform.