"Fact": The wife of Deacon Porter was named Clara; she died young.
Truth: "Deacon" Andrew Porter's wife was named Hannah. She died in 1869 at the age of 72.

"Fact": Mary Lyon and Deacon Porter had an affair.
Truth: While impossible to conclusively disprove, the personalities of the individuals involved very strongly suggest that this is untrue. Everything we know about Mary Lyon, and we have lots of letters by her and stories about her, reveals an extremely religious woman, so driven by her goal of providing education for woman that she refused two marriage proposals. Furthermore, in the mid-19th century not only was adultery a sin, it was also against the law in Massachusetts. It is hard to believe that Miss Lyon would have jeopardized her goals by violating both her religious principles and the law.

"Fact": Mary Mandelle's portrait used to hang in North Mandelle. Mary was burnt alive in her house on Prospect Hill.
Truth: There was once a woman's portrait hanging in the North Mandelle's living room, but it was not of Mary Mandelle. The portrait is of an unknown woman and was acquired sometime before 1925, four years before the College had a connection with Mrs. Mandelle. Also, Mrs. Mandelle died in Detroit, not in South Hadley.

"Fact": The portrait over the fireplace in Wilder is a love-lorn Mount Holyoke graduate.
Truth: While we can't know whether or not the woman lost her lover, she is probably -not- a Mount Holyoke graduate. The portrait was painted by the husband of a member of the Class of 1890, and given to the College in 1963.