“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” — Henry David Thoreau
Among the treasured load in my memory box are the love stories that unfolded in this campus by the sea. Here’s two of my favorite American unions in Dumaguete as they were painted with vivid colors in the pages of our history as Sillimanians:
Rev. Walter O. McIntire, the person responsible for the everyday use of the English Language in Silliman, arrived in Dumaguete on June 10, 1902.
He served as pastor of the English-speaking congregation here. This multi-talented mentor from Manchester, Ohio also served as superintendent of Silliman Institute. The hardworking campus leader was teaching English, Latin, and history and was handling 10 classes a day.
The quality of “Silliman English” that Silliman is known for is attributed to Dr. McIntire, the one with the best linguistic ability among the faculty that time.
He found love while visiting the nearby Negros Oriental High School where Miss Rebecca Berry, of the US government teachers called The Thomasites, was a pioneering teacher. Their interest in Literature and drama had them working together in theatrical productions.
Ms. Berry, a graduate of the Curry School of Oratory in Boston, Massachusetts, was a perfect partner for Reverend McIntire as they both had the same passion in Education.
They were engaged in October 1903, and finally had their altar date on Feb. 28, 1904. It was the first American wedding in the island of Negros. 
Ms. Berry then joined the Silliman faculty after their union.
Dr. McIntire served as acting president of the Silliman Institute from February 1903 to July 1904, when the Hibbards left for Japan then back to the US for hospitalization.
On April 9, 1906, Raymond A. McIntire was born. Raymond became the first child of American parents officially documented to have been born in Negros Island.
The McIntire teamwork was very productive. Dr. McIntire founded the Silliman Band in 1906, giving much joy to Dr. Silliman in New York, who sent money to buy more musical instruments.
The financial support led to the establishment of the Silliman Orchestra, with 17 student musicians under the baton of Dr. McIntire.
By the second quarter of Silliman’s growth as an educational institution, the music program initiated by Dr. McIntire eventually became the Music Department — which has evolved into what we now know as the College of Performing & Visual Arts.
Rebecca then directed plays in campus year after year. One of her bigger productions at Silliman Hall was John Maddison Morton’s Lend Me Five Shillings.
The first Founders Day that included athletics was in 1908. The Silliman Band was the main attraction in the parade to present the outstanding role of athletes in the growth of Silliman. Dr. McIntire directed the entire celebration.
His leadership role in many other events in campus was a major consideration in his being chosen as among the first members of the Board of Trustees when Silliman was incorporated under Philippine government laws in 1910.
The honor of being the very first commencement speaker of Silliman also belongs to Dr. McIntire. He also presided over the second college commencement on March 1, 1911 — which was to be his last event at Silliman, as the McIntires had to return to the US that same year.
In 1913, in honor of the dynamic leader and favorite preacher, the McIntire Oratorical Contest was founded at Silliman. The annual public speaking competition produced winners who eventually became regional and national champions in oratorical competitions.
When Silliman President Dr. David Sutherland Hibbard visited the First Presbyterian Church in Midland, Michigan, he asked for help there to help develop the Institute in Dumaguete.
Rev. V. Van Arsdale Nicholas responded to the call by expanding the reach of their missionary program, with the support Mrs. Grace A. Dow who gave an initial donation of $1,100 (about $15,000 in today’s money).
The Church chose Miss Metta Jacobs Archer, a widow who was in her 30s that time, as the first one to be sent to the Philippines as a missionary.
Michigan-born Metta Jacobs, daughter of Presbyterian Pastor Charles D. Jacobs, graduated with a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Illinois. After her graduation, she was accepted by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mission, and journeyed to the Philippines on May 8, 1924. 
At Silliman, Metta taught English and Literature.
Three years after on May 17, 1927, Robert Benton Silliman, a distant relative of the Institute visionary Dr. Horace B. Silliman, also joined the American school in Dumaguete to teach History.
Robert was from Ravenswood, West Virginia, and a fresh graduate from the University of Chicago.
Working in the same college at Silliman in Dumaguete, and realizing they actually shared similar memories of their time in Illinois as students, Metta and Robert immediately became friendly co-workers, and were each other’s best listener to their vision for the Institute.
While Robert was 11 years younger, not a few noticed that he and Metta were so cerebrally-connected.
They were eventually married on March 18, 1927 in Cebu where Rev. Dr. George W. Dunlap, a friend of Metta’s father, was Presbyterian Church Minister. Metta had known Reverend Dunlap who was a visiting preacher back in Ottumwa in Iowa, where Metta’s father Pastor Jacobs was minister.
The work of Robert and Metta Jacobs-Silliman became an exemplary team effort as they worked for the development of the College of Arts & Sciences. Robert became chairperson of the History Department in 1926; Metta was serving as head of the English Department.
They went on furlough in the US, and came back in 1931. With them on this trip to the Philippines was Miss Abby Jacobs, Metta sister.
The arrival in Dumaguete of Miss Jacobs was a blessing to the theater program at Silliman, as she began directing remarkable plays. She proved to be a good support to her sister Metta’s youth ministry.
This trio of excellent educators from the Silliman Home were among the World War 2 heroes of the island of Negros. Robert and Metta Silliman, and Abby Jacobs were major forces behind the “jungle university.”
They kept correspondence between teachers and students alive, with the help of the brave guerrilla couriers. Robert and Metta were able to retrieve some books from the Silliman Library, and asked helped from Dow Foundation for rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Robert and his sister-in-law Abby kept The Sillimanian campus newspaper going, as they secured the University Press, and continued to write news. They successfully maintained day to day news about the war.
In 1942, a truckload of Japanese soldiers arrived in Siaton, about 50 kilometers from Dumaguete, looking for “the Americans at Silliman” based on a “complete list” provided by local collaborators.
Fortunately, the villagers there alerted the well-loved American faculty, who had time to move further up to the remoter points of the Province.
In 1944, Robert and Metta Silliman, together with other families, began their walk covering about 79 kilometers, to reach Basay, where they were instructed to wait for rescue. The Silliman couple eventually returned to the US on board a hospital ship by May 2nd of that year.
Miss Abby Jacobs and other evacuees escaped on a sailboat, where they waited for the USS Narwahal to surface offshore. They were all in prayer of thanksgiving as the rescue mission by a submarine crew came with the most awaited deliverance. Then they moved on for an eight-day trip to Darwin, Australia.
While in the US, Robert and Metta Silliman visited various churches to campaign for funds for rehabilitation of this American institute in Dumaguete.
Silliman University reopened in July 1945 after World War II.
Robert and Metta returned to the Philippines in August 1946. With more financial support from Mrs. Grace Dow and from various other churches, the Silliman couple undertook the restoration of the library and the vital clinics at the Silliman Mission Hospital.
In 1949, Robert Silliman was appointed Arts & Sciences dean, and dean of Instruction. By 1953, the Board of Trustees appointed him vice president of the University.
Robert and Metta Silliman eventually took in three Filipino students into their home in campus, and raised them as their children: Emma Cole (Teves), Eleanor Funda (Sardual), and Fred Silliman Dael.
The highly-creative and intensely-productive couple were unstoppable. The Literature classroom of Metta Jacobs-Silliman produced many great names in Philippine Literature, among them, National Artist Edith Lopez-Tiempo, Aida Rivera-Ford, Cesar J. Amigo, Myrna Peña Reyes-Sweet, Ricaredo Demetilio, David V. Quemada.
Robert also kept himself busy not only with teaching and administrative responsibilities but also with writing. A good number of books were authored by Robert Benton Silliman, and were internationally circulated.
Among them, Readings in Philippine History since 1762, and The Silliman Family from Pennsylvania and South Carolina Lines.
Robert and Metta became professsors emeritus of Silliman University, and received honorary degrees from their Alma Mater in the US.
The 1976 issue of the Sands and Coral journal was dedicated to Metta Jacob-Silliman for her pioneering works as an educator in the teaching of English and Literature.
In 2008, former SU President Dr. Ben Malayang also led the Silliman academic community in honoring the couple’s wholehearted contribution to the life of this campus by the sea, by renaming the library as the Robert B. & Metta J. Silliman Library.
My reflection on these love stories: You know you have found True Love when your God-given ‘life angel’ encourages you to be a better version of yourself, and together, you find yourselves constantly thrust in an energized partnership full of productive undertakings for the good of the community.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
