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THE
EARLY SCHOOLS
OF
METHODISM
BY
A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D.,
WELLSVILLE, N. Y.
NEW YORK:
PHILLIPS & HUNT.
CINCINNATI:
CHANS TO N <& ST OWE.
18S6.
GENEBAL
Copyright, 1886, by
PHILLIPS & HUNT,
New York.
PREFACE
Many years ago the undersigned became interested in the
schools opened principally through the exertions of Bishop
Asbury. From the Bishop's " Journal," their names, and but
little more, were learned. Methodist historians said but little
of any of them, and nothing of most. In response to hun-
dreds of letters, and from certain local histories of States and
counties, such facts were gathered as enabled the writer to
prepare brief historical sketches of all the Methodist schools
belonging to the Asburyan period. In October, 1884, he
submitted to our veteran editor of the " Methodist Review "
the question, " What shall be done with these sketches, so as
most to benefit the Church ? " The response was, " I am
glad you have done the work indicated. The only right
thing to do with your MSS. is to publish them in permanent
form. What you have collected respecting the schools of
Bishop Asbury is of very great value. It will stand alone ;
and also correct some wide -spread misapprehensions; a
book made up of these accounts, and then of the renewed
movements, coming down to about 1840. I hope you will
prepare such a book."
To succeed in the work recommended by Dr. Curry, the aid
of the schools to be named in the volume was indispensable.
Letters were addressed to many of the leading educators in
the Church, and to some other ofiicials. Without exception
the plan proposed by Dr. Curry was approved. President
Beach, of Wesleyan University, wrote : " I am glad you have
taken this work in hand. I will aid you." President
1 1 49;^fi
4 Pkeface.
McCauley, of Dickinson College : " I tliink most favorably
of your enterprise." President Warren, of Boston Univer-
sity : " I am very glad that some one has taken in hand the
too -long -neglected task of investigating and recording the
history of the lost schools of Bishop Asbury." Dr. Steele,
of Wesleyan Academy : " I heartily approve your under-
taking." Principal Smith, of Maine Wesleyan Seminary :
"The puhlication which you propose seems to me exceed-
ingly desirable." Dr. Edward Cook, late president of Claf-
lin University : " I am very glad you have undertaken the
important work you have in hand." Bishop Harris wrote :
" I am well pleased with your purpose to prepare a history
of the early Methodist Schools."
A few of the schools invited to appear in this volume
failed to furnish their sketches. Newark Wesleyan Institute
did not belong to the period, but I gladly accepted the arti-
cle while it was within reach.
To give the general public a more complete view of oar
educational work, to the original plan has been added
sketches of three of our best-equipped biblical schools, and
also of three of the schools for Freedmen. To cover the
field the greatest brevity possible has been employed, and
much has been omitted in regard to persons and facts.
Many of the sketches record heroic achievements. We enter
the second century of our Church history with more than
two hundred Methodist seminaries, colleges, and universi-
ties, and our general educational work, like our mission and
Church extension work, in the hands of an efficient General
Conference Board.
The writer's thanks are hereby tendered to all who have
aided him in this work. A. W. Cummings.
Wellsville, N. Y.
CONTENTS
PART I.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. KiNGSwooD School, Bristol, England 9
II. CoKESBURY College, Abingdon, Maryland 20
III. Ebenezer Academy, Virginia 35
IV. Bethel Acad»my, Kentucky 44
V. Union School and Madison College, Uniontown, Pa 59
VI. Wesley and Whitefield School, Georgia 65
VII. CoKESBCRY School, North Carolina 70
VIII. Bethel Academy, Mount Bethel, Newberry County, S. C 75
IX. AsBURY College, Baltimore, Md 89
TAET II.
I. The Wesleyan Academy, Newmarket and Wilbrahah 94
BY DAVID SHERMAN, D.D.
II. Augusta College, Kentucky 114
BY DANIEL STEVEN.S0N, D.D.
III. Cazenovia Seminary ,, 129
BY BOSTWICK HAWLEY, D.D.
6 Coin'ENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
IV. Maine Wesley an Seminary and Female College 143
BY GENERAL JOHN J, PERRY.
Y. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary 156
BY J. E. bills, d.d. •
VI. The Wesleyan University 109
BY EDWARD COOKE, D.D.
VII. Dickinson College , 18Y
BY professor J. H. MORGAN, A.M.
VIII. Allegheny College 202
FROM WARNERS, BEARS, & CO.'S " HISTORY OP CRAWFORD CO., PA.'»
BY A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D.
IX. Western Reserve Seminary 214
BY REV. E. A. WHITWAM, A.M.
X. NoRWALK Seminary 217
BY EDWARD THOMSON, A.M., PH.D.
XI. McKendree College 226
BY A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D., AND PROF. S. H, DENEEN, A.M., PH.D.
XII. Amenia Seminary 239
BY ALBERT S. HUNT, D.D.
XIII. AsBURY College of De Pauw University 253
BY MISS IRENE MARTIN.
XIV. Victoria University, Canada 203
BY professor NATHANIEL BURWASH, S.T.D,
XV. GouvERNEUR Wesleyan Seminary 2S0
BY A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D.
XVI. Ives Seminary 294
from the "northern christian advocate."
XVII. Pennington Seminary 298
BY THOMAS HANLON, D.D,
XVIII. The Schools in Berea, Ohio 310
BY REV. A. SCHUYLER, LL.D.
Contents. 7
CHAPTER TAQK
XIX. The East Greenwich Academy 325
BY PROFESSOR O. W. SCOTT.
XX. Ohio Wesleyan University 336
BY REV. PROFESSOR W. G. WILLIAMS, LL.D.
XXI. Cincinnati Wesleyan College for Young Women 34S
BY MRS. McCLELLAN BROWN, VICE-PRESIDENT.
XXII. The Newark Wesleyan Institute 355
BY DANIEL P. KIDDER, D.D.
PAET III.
I. Founding and Earliest History op the School of Theology of
Boston University 369
by president william f. warren, s.t.d., ll.d.
II. Garrett Biblical Institute 380
BY HON. judge GRANT GOODRICH.
III. Drew Theological Seminary 388
BY HENRY A. BUTTZ, D.D.
PART IV.
I. Central Tennessee College 39G
BY Pr.K„SII)KNT J. BUADEN, D.D.
II. Clark University 4CS
BY PRESIDENT REV. E. O. THAYER, A.M.
III. Baker In.stitutk and Claflin University 419
BY PRE.SIDKNT LEWIS M. DUNTON, D.D.
Contents.
APPENDIX.
♦
PAGE
A. Literary Institutions Owned or Controlled by the Methodist Epis-
copal Church prior to 1884, Chronologically arranged 426
B. Schools Conducted in the Interest op the Methodist Episcopal
Church under Private Ownership prior to 1884, Chronologic-
ally arranged 428
C. Classified List op Educational Institutions op the Methodist Epis-
copal Church Existing in 1886 429
THE
EARLY SCHOOLS OE METHODISM.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
KINGSWOOD SCHOOL, BRISTOL, ENGLAND.
Methodism was born in one of the most celebrated univer-
sities in the world, and its great founder was one of the most
complete scholars upon whom Oxford ever conferred a lit-
erary title. It is not surprising, therefore, that educational
enterprises early engaged the attention of the followers of
John Wesley in both the Old and the New World, nor that
the zeal of Methodists in the cause of education has been both
active and highly honorable to them as a body.
Raised up by God, at a time of great declension in piety,
to stand at the head of a vast moral movement for the re-
vival of tme religion and for the spreading of holiness over
the earth, Methodism did not fail to fully comprehend the
value of sound literature, and of classical and scientific
knowledge being placed within the reach of those brought
to (yhrist through its instrumentality, in so far as they had
time, taste, and opportunity for such pursuits.
Through many years of his earlier ministry Wesley em-
ployed his intervals between frequent journeys and exces-
sive pulpit labors in writing and publishing tracts and siniill
books for general reading. In these all the essential di)Ctrines
10 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
of religion were examined and elucidated. As fast as tliey
were printed, liis assistant ministers and lay helpers bore
them off to every part of Great Britain, and scattered them,
like autumn leaves, among the people.
These publications contributed, perhaps not less than his
fresh, vigorous pulpit ministrations, in pushing forward the
great religious revival and reform in which he was engaged,
and for which Heaven seems especially to have commissioned
him. He who exclaimed " The world is my parish ! " saw,
that to arouse a slumbering world and conquer it for Christ,
to the power of the pulpit and the press must be joined
that of the school ; that these were Heaven's artillery for
arousing the nations, and compelling the world to surrender
to the great Captain of man's salvation.
At one of the earlier Methodist Conferences held by Mr.
Wesley, consisting of less than a dozen members (and that
included the entire ministry in union with the Wesleys), the
expediency of founding an institution of learning was gravely
discussed. Soon afterward, in 1748, Kingswood School was
opened with twenty-eight pupils.
At the request of John Wesley the corner-stone of Kings-
wood School was laid by that prince of orators and great
evangelist, Rev. George Whitelield. The occasion was
momentous — a great enterprise was to be inaugurated; its
success depended upon God's blessing. After placing the
corner-stone in position, Whitefield — surrounded by hundreds
of the colliers, reformed through the agenc}^ of the Methodist
itinerants — kneeling upon the earth, prayed that " the gates
of hell " might not prevail against the school to be estab-
lished within the walls then being raised. The prostrate
multitude of devout converts, now awakened to a new intel-
lectual as well as a moral life, responded most heartily,
KiNGSwooD ScnooL. 11
" Amen." The prayer of consecration was answered ; enemies
opposed, the undertaking received ridicule, contempt, and
nearly every other form of opposition ; yet it went steadily
on, and still it goes on, though both its early friends and ene-
mies have long since gone to their respective rewards. This
institution, without the name, was, in fact, a college of high
grade. The curriculum — embracing history, chronology,
geography, rhetoric, logic, ethics, metaphysics, the pure and
the mixed mathematics, the English, French, Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew languages — was as extensive as at Oxford or
Cambridge, and quite as thoroughly taught. No man more
thoroughly despised mere pretense or show than John
Wesley. To erect the building for the school he expended
all that, by the most rigid economy and greatest self-denial,
he could save from his University Fellowship.
All that he received from sale of his numerous publica-
tions, and could collect from his friends, he expended in
meeting its current expenses. This school was the greatest
of Mr. Wesley's financial undertakings, and it became the
burden of his life.
That the reader may judge of its merits, the rules for its
government and his general aims are, in condensed form,
copied from the seventh volume of his published works :
Our design is, with God's assistance, to train up children in every
branch of useful learning. We teach none but boarders. These are
taken in, being between the ages of six and twelve years, in order to
be taught reading, writing, aritlimetic, English, French, Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, history, geography, chronology, rhetoric, logic, ethics, geom-
etry, algebra, physics, and music.
The school contains eight classes. In the first class the scholars read
"Instructions for Children " and "Lessons for Children," and begin
learning to write.
In the second class they road "The Manners of the Ancient Chris-
12 Early Schools of Methodism.
tians," go on in writing, learn the ''Short English Grammar," the
" Short Latin Grammar," read " Prielectiones Pueriles," translate them
into English, and " Instructions for Children " into Latin, part of which
they transcribe and repeat.
In the third class they read Dr. Cave's "Primitive Christianity," go
on in writing, perfect themselves in the English and Latin Grammar,
read " Corderii Colloquia Selecta" and "Historia3 Selecta?," translate
^'Historiae Select 03 " into English, and "Lessons for Children" into
Latin, part of which they transcribe and repeat.
In the fourth class they read "Pilgrim's Progress," perfect them-
selves in writing, learn Dilworth's "Arithmetic," read Castellio's
"Kempis" and Cornelius Nepos, translate Castellio into English, and
" Manners of the Ancient Christians" into Latin; transcribe and repeat
select portions of " Moral and Sacred Poems."
In the fifth class they read "The Life of Mr. Haliburton," perfect
themselves in arithmetic, read Select Dialogues of Erasmus, Phsedrus,
and Sallust; translate Erasmus into English and " Primitive Christian-
ity " into Latin ; transcribe and repeat select portions of * ' Moral and
Sacred Poems."
In the sixth class they read " The Life of Mr. De Renty " and Ken-
net's "Roman Antiquities;" they learn Randal's Geography, read Caj-
sar, select portions of Terence and Valleius Paterculus, translate Eras-
mus into English, and "The Life of Mr. Haliburton" into Latin; tran-
scribe and repeat select portions of " Sacred Hj'mns and Poems."
In the seventh class they read Mr. Law's " Christian Perfection" and
Archbishop Potter's "Greek Antiquities;" they learn "Bengelii Intro-
ductio ad Chronologiam," with Mart-hall's "Chronological Tables ; " read
TuUy's ' ' Offices " and Virgil's ^neid ; translate Bengelius into English,
and Mr. Law into Latin ; learn (those who have a turn for it) to make
verses and the " Short Greek Grammar;" read the epistles of St. John;
transcribe and repeat select portions of Milton.
In the eighth class they read Mr. Law's *' Serious Call " and Lewis's
"Hebrew Antiquities;" they learn to make themes and to declaim;
learn Vossius's Rhetoric; read Tully's Tusculan Questions and " Selecta
ex Ovidio, Virgilio, Horatio, Juvenale, Persio, Martiale ;" perfect them-
selves in the Greek Grammar; read the Gospels and six books of
Homer's Iliad ; translate Tully into English, and Mr. Law into Latin ;
KiNGSwooD School. 13
learn the " Short Hebrew Grammar" and read Genesis; transcribe and
repeat " Selecta ex Virgilio, Horatio, Juvenale."
Besides this prescribed course, which all must pursue, there
was an optional course for those "who intended to go through
a course of academical learning." This was a very heavy
course, covering four years, but which, with modern habits
of study, very few would master in that time. Mr. Wesley's
students never played. At the end of this last course Mr.
Wesley says, " Whoever carefully goes through this course
will be a better scholar than nine in ten of the graduates of
Oxford or Cambridge."
Great care was exercised in the admission of pupils. !N"one
but boarding pupils were admitted, and of these all were
refused entrance unless their parents or guardians agreed
that they should observe all the regulations of the school, one
of which was, that the child should not be absent from school
even for a day until they were finally removed.
The students were under the surveillance of a tutor day
and night. To secure healthy recreation at regular hours, on
fair days all worked in the garden, and on rainy days in the
house ; they slept in a common hall, each in a separate bed ;
one or more of the teachers slept in the same room, in which,
during the night, a light was kept burning.
They retired early and rose at four o'clock in the morning,
winter and summer, and spent one hour in private in reading,
singing, meditation, and prayer. At six they breakfasted,
and were ready to begin the studies of the day at seven.
They never worked alone, but always in the presence of a
" master." Each hour had its regular duties.
Mr. Wesley said : "It is our particular desire that all edu-
cated here may be brought up in the fear of God, and at
the utmost distance, as from vice in general, so in particular
14 Early Schools of Methodism.
from idleness and effeminacy. The cliildren, therefore, of
tender parents, so called (who are, indeed, offering up their
sons and tlieir daughters unto devils), have no business here."
Experience demonstrated that the discipline was needlessly
rigid, and, after some years, was modified, yet its principal
features were preserved.
For many years before the opening of Kingswood, the at-
tention of Mr. Wesley had been directed to the defects of the
schools, even the best schools, in England and Germany.
To the location of schools in towns, and still more in cities,
he urged the objection that there were too many things to
divert attention, and too much exposure to the influence of
vicious examples. He strongly objected to the j)romiscuous
admission of all applicants, bad as well as good. Irreligious
teachers was another objection — those who cared nothing
whetlier their pupils were " Papists or Protestants, Turks or
Christians." He urged that most of the schools of his day —
and, to some extent, we may add of ours — were defective in
tlje subjects and methods of instruction.
" In some the children are taught little or no arithmetic ;
in others little care is taken of tlieir writing. In many they
leara scarce the elements of geography, and as little of chro-
nology. There are exceeding few wherein the scholars are
thoroughly taught even the Latin and Greek tongues. Tlie
books which they read are not well chosen. The language is
not standard, not even in the Latin."
To remedy these and other defects he determined to estab-
lish a school.
" The first point was to find a proper location, not too far
from a great town, which I saw would be liighly inconven-
ient for a large family ; nor yet too near, and much less in it.
After mature consideration, I chose a spot in the middle of
KiNGSwooD School. 16
Kingsvv'ood, three miles from Bristol. It was quite private,
remote from all public roads, on the side of a small hill,
affording room for large gardens."
His next care was to procure suitable teachers. He said :
" None would answer my purpose but men who were truly
devoted to God ; who sought nothing on earth, neither pleas-
ure nor ease nor profit nor the praise of men, but simply to
glorify God with their bodies and spirits."
The better class of Methodists, Arminian and Calvinistic,
favored his designs and gave earnest co-operation. That
saintly woman, Lady Maxwell — early bereft of husband and
her only child, and who lived only for others and to glorify
God — gave at first twenty-five hundred dollars ; and after-
ward, learning that fifteen hundred dollars more was required
to free Mr. Wesley from all pecuniary responsibility for the
building, also gladly gave him that sum. The edifice, when
completed, was large enough for fifty pupils, and all the
teachers and servants.
George Whitetield and others gave all they could. Mr.
Wesley, to remedy the defects of other schools, wrote and pub-
lished grammars of the English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew
languages; also compendiumsof rhetoric, logic, natural, men-
tal, and moral philosophy, and several books of history ; and
issued revised and expurgated editions of the classics used in
the school, carefully excluding every thing that was immod-
est or profane. That the institution might be under his con-
stant inspection, Mr. Wesley had, within the edifice, a private
room and a study for his own use. He devoted much of his
time, and for years nearly all his income, to the school.
Twenty-five years after it went into operation, on one of his
visits, deprecating some things in the management, he added,
" Still, this comes nearer a Christian school than any I know
16 Early Schools of Methodism.
in the kingdom." But it did not for years reach the stand-
ard of discipline that he desired.
September 8, 1781, he wrote : " I went over to Kingswood
and made particular inquiry into the management of the
school. I found some of tlie rules had not been observed,
particularly that of rising in the morning. Surely Satan has
a peculiar spite at this school ! What trouble has it cost me
for above thirty years ! I can plan, but who will execute ?
I know not ; God help me ! "
March 5, 1784, he made this entry in his Journal : " I talked
at large with the masters in Kingswood School, who are now
just such as I wished for. At length the rules of the house
are punctually observed ; the children are in good order."
March 7, 1788, he wrote: "I went to Kingswood School
and found every thing in excellent order."
September 11, 1789, he wrote : " I went over to Kings-
wood ; sweet recess ! where every thing is now just as I
wish."
What a labor and what a triumph ! At his death, as, in-
deed, for some time before, the school was managed by a
board of stewards of his own appointment, of whom he gave
this testimony : " I have delivered the management of Kings-
wood School to stewards on whom I could depend. So I
have cast a heavy load off my shoulders. Blessed be God,
for able and faithful men who will do this work without any
temporal reward ! "
A few years after Mr. Wesley died, so urgent was the
want, and so just the claim, tliat the stewards or trustees
appropriated this school exclusively to the education of the
sons of the Wesleyan itinerant ministers laboring in the
home or foreign missionary fields ; and more room being
required for this class of pupils, another school was opened
Kings WOOD School. 17
at Woodhouse Grove, near the city of Leeds, for the sons of
Methodist ministers. From two hundred to three hundred
sons of itinerants are here gratuitously provided with board,
lodging, and the best of instructors, all at the expense of
the generous Methodists of Great Britain.
As the denomination increased other schools became
necessary, and, with a generosity unsurpassed, the Wesley-
ans provided them in all the British realm. The theological
schools at Richmond and Didsbury ; New Kingswood School ;
the "Wesley an Colleges at Taunton, Sheffield, Birmingham,
Leeds, and others, in England, the Wesleyan Methodist Col-
lege, Belfast, and the Wesleyan Gonnectional School, Dublin,
and their noble institutions in Australia — are justly the pride
of the British Methodists. To their management they con-
secrate the best talent of their ministry and laity, and many
thousands of dollars annually.
Kingswood School, as organized by the Rev. John Wesley,
is still a living fact, and is doing most excellent work. Owing
to the deterioration of the site, and especially in consequence
of the failure of the water supply through the great increase
of the coal mines in the vicinity, in the year 1852 the
school was removed from Kingswood to what is called New
Kingswood, a most picturesque and beautiful site on Lans-
downe Hill, in the neighborhood of Bath, England, seven
miles from its former location. A noble edifice, of the
Elizabethan order of architecture, was erected at an expense
of $90,000. Additional land has since been purchased, and
in the year 1883 additions were made to the building, which,
with the increase of furniture, cost $75,000. The entire outlay
for land, building, and furniture has been but little less than
$200,000. There are now accommodations for three hun-
dred sons of Wesleyan ministers ; none other are eligible to
18 Early Schools of Methodism.
admission. The number now, February, 1885, in actual
attendance, is two hundred and ninety. The Rev. John H.
Lord is the moral governor and chaplain. The head master,
T. G. Osborn, M.A., a graduate of Cambridge University,
occupies a separate residence, built on the estate at an
expense of $10,000. The chaplain and professors reside in
the school edifice. There are several non-resident profess-
ors. Most of the teachers are graduates of distinguished
universities.
The endowments of Kingswood School consist exclusively
of scholarships and prizes provided by the munificence of
friends, the scholarships being extra years at the school, free
of charge to the winners, or their parents or guardians.
The two Morley scholarships were secured by the gift of
$5,000 by the late George Morley, son of the Rev. George
Morley, one of the founders of the Wesleyan Methodist
Missionary Society, himself once a governor of the school.
Old pupils secured a scholarship by the gift of $2,500. The
Lightfoot scholarships were secured by the gift of $3,750,
presented by the grandfather of two pupils of former years.
There is another scholarship founded on a gift of land not
yet fully available. Thomas Fernley founded a prize of
$200 per annum to the best scholar, or scholars, should there
be two of equal merit. There are also endowed a gold
medal and several *silver medals awarded for merit in speci-
fied departments.
For some years past the students of Kingswood School
have outstripped those of all other schools in the kingdom at
the junior and senior examinations of Oxford University.
The elder pupils have often taken scholarships at Oxford and
at Cambridge, and some, immediately on leaving the school,
took, on examination, the Baccalaureate degree at the Lon-
KiNGSwooD School. 19
don Univei-sity. Mr. W. P. Wortliinan, who was honored by
being appointed, for the class of 18Si, the second wrangler
at Cambridge, was a Kingswood boy.
Mr. Wesley's rigid rules, more or less still in force, have
told well upon the scholarship of the many thousands who
have been trained at the old and at Now Kingswood School.
This iirst school of Methodism has furnished the Wcsleyan
Conference in England many of its distinguished presidents.
It has given to the Church many of its most eminent minis-
ters, teachers, and missionaries in its foreign fields. Its dis-
tiuiruished alumni are now found in the most honorable
and responsible positions of business, and in the learned pro-
fessions.
Many of its students are now supporting and adorning the
Church of their fathers, while many others are doing good
work as professors and clergymen in the old Church of
England, which gave the Wesleys and others of the first
Methodist ministers to the world. My thanks are due to
the Ilev. John II. Lord, who has just retired from the gov-
ernorship of this celebrated school of three hundred sons of
Methodist ministers, for the facts given above. Mr. Lord's
successor is the Rev. George Bowden.
20 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER II.
COKESBURY COLLEGE, ABINGDON, MARYLAND.
During the first twenty years of its existence in America,
Methodism had no legal or independent ecclesiastical organ-
ization. Starting at nearly the same time in New York and
in the State of Maryland, it had rapidly spread from Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic sea board to the
western boundary of civilized communities, with its ecclesi-
astical head three thousand miles distant on the eastern side
of the Atlantic Ocean.
As the recognized founder, the societies in America ear-
nestly appealed to Mr. John "Wesley to exercise his rightful
authority to ordain and commission pastors with full minis-
terial authority, and to organize the Societies here as an inde-
pendent Church. After due consideration, he resolved to
comply with their wishes, and in September, 1784, with the
sanction of that saintlv man the Rev. John Fletcher, of
Madeley, and witli other presbyters of the Church of En-
gland assisting, he did formally consecrate, ordain, and set
apart the Rev. Thomas Cuke, Doctor of Civil Law, as a
Superintendent for the United States of America, with full
authority to ordain others to this and to the lower offices
of the Christian ministry.
Dr. Coke arrived in ISTew York in November of the same
year. On tlie 25tli day of the ensuing month the American
Methodist ministers, in General Conference assembled, pro-
ceeded to organize themselves and successors as the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, and to make all needful provisions for
CoKESBUKY College. 21
tlic wants of the people who looked to them for pastoral
oversight and religious instruction.
The Church, now organized, proceeded at once to provide
schools for the education of its youth and the youth of the
country generally who chose to avail themselves of these
provisions. Bishop Asbury preferred a school after the plan
of Kingswood, in England, and had drawn up a subscription
for such a school before Bishop Coke arrived in America,
but Dr. Coke preferred a college.
The General Conference was made the umpire. The ven-
erable men composing that grave congress of the Church
favored Bishop Coke's preferences. The college, in honor of
the two Bishops, received both their names. From that
hour Cokesbury College became an important interest with
all Methodists.
Abingdon, on the Chesapeake, twenty-five miles from
Baltimore, was selected as its seat. The Bishops undertook
to raise the funds for its establishment. When they had
secured five thousand dollars the edifice was commenced.
In 1785 the Bishops issued a circular to the Church,
detailing the objects and plan of the college. Though some-
what lengthy, this plan is so important that it is transcribed.*
Before giving this, Dr. Coke's description of the location is
presented as follows :
The situation delights mc more than ever. There is not, I believe, a
point of it from whence the eye has not a view of at least twenty
miles, and in some parts the prospect extends to fifty miles in length.
The water front forms one of the most beautiful views in the United
States ; the Chesapeake Bay, in all its grandeur, with a fine navigable
river— the Susquehanna — which empties into it, lying exposed to view
through a great extent of country.
* From Bangs's " History of the Methodist Episcopal Church."
22 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
Plan for Erecting a College, intended to advance Eeligion in America, to he
presented to the principal Members and Friends of the Methodist Episcojxil
Church.
The college is to be built at Abingdon, in Maryland, on a healthy spot,
enjoying a fine air and a very extensive prospect. It is to receive,
for education and board, the sons of the elders and preachers of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, poor orphans, and the sons of the sub-
scribers and other friends. It will be expected that all our friends
who send their children to the college will, if they be able, pay a
moderate sum for their education and board. The others will be taught
and boarded, and if our finances allow it clothed, gratis. The institu-
tion is aho intended for the benefit of our young men who are called
to preach, that they may receive a measure of that imi)rovement which
is highly expedient as a preparation for public service. A teacher of an-
cient languages, with an assistant, Avill be provided, as also an English
master to teach the English language ; nor shall any other branch of
literature be omitted which may be thought necessary for any of the
students. Above all, especial care shall be taken that due attention
be paid to the religion and morals of the children, and to the exclusion
of all such as continue of an ungovernable temper. The college will
be under the presidentship of the Bishops of our Church for the time
being, and is to be supported by yearly collections throughout our cir-
cuits, and any endowments which our friends may think proper to give
and bequeath. Three objects of considerable magnitude we have in
view in the instituting of this college. The first is, a provision for the
sons of our married ministers and preachers. The wisdom, of God hath
now thrust out a large number of laborers into his harvest — men who
desire nothing on earth but to promote the glory of God by saving
their own souls and the souls of those wlio hear them. And those
to whom they minister spiritual things are willing to minister to them
their temporal things ; so that they have food to eat and raiment to
put on, and are content therewith. A competent provision is like-
wise made for the wives of married preachers. Yet one considerable
difficulty lies on those who have boys, when they grow too big to be
under their mother's direction. Having no father to govern and di-
rect them, they are exposed to a thousand temptations. To remedy
this is one motive that induces us to lay before our friends the interest
CoKESBUKY College. 23
of the college, that these little ones may have all the instruction they
are capable of, together with all things necessary for the body.
In this view our college will become one of the noblest charities that
can be conceived. How reasonable is the institution ! Is it fit that the
children of those who leave wife and all that is dear to save souls from
death should want what is needful for either soul or body ? Ought
we not to supply what the parent cannot, because of his labors in the
Gospel ? How excellent will be the effect of this institution ! The
preacher, eased of this weight, can the more cheerfully go on in his
labor. And perliaps many of these children may hereafter fill up the
places of those who shall rest from their labors.
The second object we have in view is the education and support of
poor orphans ; and surely we need not enumerate the many happy con-
sequences arising from such a charity. Innumerable blessings con-
center in it; not only the immediate relief of the objects of our charity,
but the ability given them under the providence of God to provide for
themselves through the remainder of their lives.
Tlie last, though not perhaps the least, object in view, is the estab-
lishment of a seminary for the children of our competent friends,
where learning and religion may go hand in hand ; where every
advantage may be obtained which may promote the prosperity of the
present life without endangering the morals and religion of the chil-
dren tlu-ough those temptations to which they are exposed in most of
the public schools. This is an object of importance, indeed, and here
all the tenderest feelings of the parent's heart range on our side.
But the expense of such an undertaking will be very large; and the
best means we could think of at our late Conference to accomplish our
design was, to desire the assistance of all those in every place who wish
well to the cause of God: who long to see sinners converted to God, and
the kingdom of Christ set up in all the earth.
All those who are thus minded, and more especially our own friends
who form our congregations, have an opportunity now of showing their
love to the Gospel. Now promote, as far as in you lies, one of the
noblest charities in the world. Now forward, as you are able, one of
the most excellent designs that ever was set on foot in this country.
Do what you can to comfort the parents who give up their all for you,
and to give their children cause to bless you. You will be no poorer
24 Early Schools of Methodism.
for what you do on such an occasion. God is a good paymaster. And
you know in doing this you lend unto the Lord ; in due time he shall
repay you.
The students will be instructed in English, Latin, Greek, logic,
rhetoric, history, geography, natural philosophy, and astronomy. To
these languages and sciences shall be added, when the finances of our
college will admit of it, the Hebrew, French, and German languages.
But our first object shall be to answer the designs of Christian educa-
tion, by forming the minds of the youth, through divine aid, to wisdom
and holiness, by instilling into their minds the principles of true relig-
ion — speculative, experimental, and practical — and training them in the
ancient way, that they may be rational, spiritual Christians. For this
purpose we shall expect and enjoin it, not only on the president and
tutors, but also upon our elders, deacons, and preachers, to embrace
every opportunity of instructing the students in the great branches of
the Christian religion.
And this is one principal reason why we do not admit students indis-
criminately into our college. For we are persuaded that the pi'omiscu-
ous admission of all sorts of youth into a seminary of learning is preg-
nant with many bad consequences. Nor are the students likely (sup-
pose they possessed it) to retain much religion in a college where all that
offer are admitted, however corrupted already in principle, as well as
practice. And what wonder when (as too frequently it hapj^ens), the
l^arents themselves have no more religion than their offspring ?
For the same reason we have consented to receive children of seven
years of age, as we wish to have the opportunity of teaching ' ' the young
idea how to shoot," and gradually forming their minds, through the
divine blessing, almost from their infancy, to holiness and heavenly
wisdom as well as human learning. And we may add, that we arc
thoroughly convinced, with the great Milton (to whose admirable treat-
ise on education we refer you), that it is highly expedient for every
youth to begin and finish his education at the same place ; that nothing
can be more irrational and absurd than to break this off in the middle
and to begin it again at a different place, and, perhaps, in quite a
different manner. And on this account we earnestly desire that the
parents and others who may be concerned, will maturely consider the
last observation, and not send their children to our seminary if they are
CoKESBURY College. 25
not to complete their education there, or at least make some consider-
able [)roficiency in the languages and in the arts and sciences. It is
also our particular desire that all who shall be educated in our college
may be kept at the utmost distance, as from vice in general, so in par-
ticular from softness and effeminacy of manners.
We shall, therefore, rigidly insist on their rising early in the morn-
ing; and we are convinced, by constant observation and experience,
that it is of vast importance both to body and mind. It is of ad-
mirable use either for preserving a good, and improving a bad, consti-
tution. It is also of peculiar service in all nervous complaints, both in
preventing and in removing them. And by thus strengthening the
various organs of the body it enables the mind to put forth its utmost
exertions.
On the same principle we prohibit play in the strongest terms; and
in this we have the two greatest writers on the subject that, perhaps,
any age has produced (Mr. Locke and Mr. Rousseau) of our sentiments ;
for though the latter was essentially mistaken in his religious system,
yet his wisdom in other respects, and extensive genius, are indisputably
acknowledged. The employments, therefore, which we have chosen
for the recre ition of the students, are such as are of greatest public
utility — agriculture and architecture; studies more especially neces-
sary for a new-settled country, and of consequence the interesting of
our youth in the practice of those important arts will be an effectual
method of rendering them useful to their country. Agreeably to this
i<lea, the greatest statesman that perhaps ever shone in the annals of
history, Peter, the Russian emperor, who was deservedly styled the
Greaty disdained not to stoop to the employment of a ship-carpenter.
Kor was it rare, dining the i)urest times of the Roman republic, to see
the compierors of nations and deliverers of their country return with
all simplicity and cheerfulness to the exercise of the plow. In con-
formity to this sentiment, one of the completest poetic pieces of antiquity
(the Georgics of Virgil) is written on the subject of husbandry, by the
perusal of which, and submission to the above regulations, the students
may delightfully unite the theory and practice together. We say
delightfully, for we do not entertain the most distant thought of turn-
ing these employments into drudgery or slavery, but into pleasing rec-
reations for the mind and the body.
2
26 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
In teaching the languages, care shall be taken to read those authors,
and those only, who join together the purity, strength, and the ele-
gance of their several tongues. And the utmost caution shall be used
that nothing immodest be found in any of our books. But this is not
all. We shall take care that our books be not only inoffensive but use-
ful ; that they contain as much strong sense, and as much genuine mo-
rality as possible. As far, therefore, as is consistent with the foregoing
observations, a choice and universal library shall be provided for the
use of the students.
Our annual subscription is intended for the support of the charitable
part of the institution. We have in the former part of this address en-
larged so fully on the nature and excellency of the charity, that no
more need be said. The relieving our traveling ministers and preach-
ers, by educating, boarding, and clothing their sons, is a charity of the
most noble and extensive kind, not only toward the immediate objects
of it, but also toward the public in general; enabling those ''flames of
fire," who might otherwise be obliged to confine themselves to an ex-
ceedingly contracted sphere of action for the support of their families,
to carry the savor of the Gospel to the remotest corners of these United
States.
The four guineas a year for tuition, we arc persuaded, cannot be low-
ered, if we give the students that finished education which we are de-
termined they shall have. And, though our principal object is to
instruct them in the doctrines, spirit, and practice of Christianity, yet
w^e trust that our college will in time send forth men that will be a
blessing to their country in every laudable ofilce and employment of
life, thereby uniting the two greatest ornaments of human beings,
which are too often separated, dee]) learning and genuine piety.
To modern teachers arid parents tlie regnlalions of tlie col-
lege will probably seem rigid, and even harsh ; but the rights
of tlie students were so guarded that under them cruel treat-
ment could scarcely occur. It should be remembered that they
were to be executed by men of large experience, great self-
control, and who sought only the glory of God, and the best
interests, for time and eternity, of those committed to their
CoKESBUKY College. 27
care. The Bisliops for the time being, when present, were
ex officio the chief executive officers.
A similar code, in many of its provisions, in our modern
schools, seminaries, and colleges, with the vast improvements
of later years in text-books and methods of teaching, illus-
trating, and demonstrating scientific truths, would result in
a much larger per cent, of well-developed and highly culti-
vated minds in good, sound, healthy bodies, than are now
turned out from our literary institutions of various grades.
With twenty-five hundred dollars cash in hand the founda-
tion of the edifice was commenced, and the structure pro-
gressed to completion by the help of funds secured princi-
pally by the Bishops as they passed over the country, every-
where inviting the people to come to the aid of the noble
undertaking. And considering the then comparative poverty
of the people, and more especially the poverty of the Meth-
odist people, the response to the venerable chief pastors was
unprecedentedly generous. The college edifice was one hun-
dred and eight feet long, forty feet wide, and three stories
higli. In the west end of the building were six fine rooms,
each twenty by twenty-five feef ; two of these were in the
lower, two in the second, and two in the third story, directly
above each other. On the first floor was a large room forty
feet square, it was called the college hall, used for chapel pur-
poses. Above this, on the second floor, were two fine class-
rooms, and over these two bedrooms, in which the students
lodged in single beds ; each room was also occupied by a pro-
fessor, who preserved order at night. The other end of the
edifice was arranged according to plans having reference to
the accommodation of a large boarding-school.
It cost upward of forty thousand dollars, nearly all collected
in small sums from a widely scattered people. To appreciate
28 Early Schools of Methodism.
liow lieavj was the burden tbat the generous people under-
took to carry, it should be remembered that the entire mem-
bership of the Methodist Cliurch in America was but about
eighteen thousand. The Genesee Conference alone reported
for the year 1884 over twenty-five thousand members, and
it had more than twice that number of friends and liberal
supporters.
In his Journal, vol. i, page 497, the venerable Bishop As-
bury makes this entry : " I rode to Abingdon to preacli the
foundation sermon of Cokesbury College." His biographer
describes the scene: ''Attired in his long silk gown, and his
clerical bands floating in the breeze, the Bishop took his stand
on the foundation wall and read from the seventy-eighth Psalm
as a text, ' I will utter dark sayings of old : which we have
heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not
liida them from their children, showing to the generation to
come the praises of the Lord, and his strengtli, and his wonder-
ful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony
in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded
our fathers, that they should make tliem known to their chil-
dren : that the generation to come might know them, even
the children which should be born ; who should arise and de-
clare them to their children : that they might set their hope
in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his com-
mandments." The text was strikingly appropriate, and char-
acteristic of the venerable preacher. The Journal adds : " I
had liberty in speaking and faith to believe that the work
would go on."
A little more than two years later the Bishop is at Abing-
don, to open the college. He says, Deceniber 6, 1787:
"We opened the college, and admitted twenty-five students.
I preached on the text, ' Trust in the Lord, and do good.'
CoKESBURY College. 29
On Sabbath following I spoke on, ' O man of God, there is
death in the pot.' " The text and sermon were most remark-
able, and the tradition is, that in the minds of the old Meth-
odists they presaged the sad fate that awaited the college so
auspiciously opened ; it was consumed by an incendiary fire
just at tlie close of a career of ten years. Great hostility to
tlie institution manifested itself from the first.
In less than a year after the school opened, the good Bishop
wrote in his Journal, November 19, 1788 : " In times past
I have felt some disagreeable impressions about the college
being burnt. Now I have heard of an attempt to do it."
Nine years later his fears were sadly realized ; the noble edi-
fice, with its fine library, collected in Europe and America,
was consumed ; a loss of about fifty thousand dollars. In his
sadness at the great loss, the old Bishop concluded that at that
time '"the Lord did not call tlie Methodists to build colleires."
Brief as was the career of Cokesbury College, always
under pressure for want of money to carry it on, at one time
so pressed to meet current expenses that Bisliop Asbury
wxMit from door to door through tlie streets of Baltimore
begging money to support " the charity boys at the college,"
it accomplished some good work ; hovv much, we shall not
know, as its records were destroyed with its library in
the burning of the building. As soon as the edifice was
inclosed, and one room made ready for use, a preparatory
school was opened, under the instruction of a good classical
scholar, Mr. Freeman Marsh. Early steps were taken to
secure from England a well-qualified gentleman to tiike the
actual presidency of the college. Bishop Asbury was,
according to the rules for its government, the nominal, and
when present the real, president. Mr. Wesley recommended
for the presidency a Bev. Mr. Heath, a minister of the
30 Early Schools of Methodism.
Cliurcli of England, who in due time was elected to that
office by the board of trustees. At the same meeting Pat-
rick M'Closky and Mr. Marsh were chosen professors.
August 10, 1788, Bishop Asbury made this entry in his
Journal : " I received heavy tidings from the college — both
teachers have left. One for incompetency, and the other to
pursue riches and honors ; had they cost us nothing, the mis-
take we made in employing them might be the less regretted."
The college had probably borne the expense of one of them,
perhaps both, from England to America. It is perhaps due
that an explanation should be given of the causes of the sud-
den departure of these two teachers from Cokesbury. Mr.
Heath's duties, as a clergyman, had not required him to keep
read up in the higher Latin studies. In the temporary
absence of the professor of languages he was called upon to
hear a class in Latin, for which, off-hand, he was not pre-
pared. The report w^ent out at once that he was not a com-
petent teacher. He resented the insinuation, and resigned
his office. He enjoyed the confidence and respect of Mr.
"Wesley, who, as a token of his affection, left Mr. Heath, in
liis will, three hundred dollars. Professor M'Closky left
the college to carry on his farm in the vicinity. The change
of teachers did not seriously interrupt the institution. Dr.
Jacob Hall became the president, Hev. Joseph Toy and Kev.
John Hargrove were elected professors, and Mr. Tait teacher
of French. It would be a great pleasure to know who
among the students during the ten years, numbering fi'om
thirty to eighty most of the time, became distinguished in
any of the walks of useful life as the result of the advan-
tages enjoyed at Cokesbury. A few names are known.
Bishop Asbury mentions a son of Abel Bliss, of Wilbra-
liam, Mass., who "was educated — not spoiled — at Cokes-
CoKESDURY College. 31
bury." * Another was Col. AVillhim Donglity, of Pliiladcl-
pliia, who distinguished himself in the United States Navy.
Sanmel AVhite, the son of the Bishop's old friend in Dela-
ware, was another; he tilled for one term a seat in the
United States Senate. Asbury Dickens, another student,
was for many years the secretary of the United States
Senate. The most distinguished alumnus of Cokesbury was
tlie pioneer preacher and teacher, as well as the heroic pre-
siding elder, Rev. Valentine Cook, whose district included
the whole State of Kentucky.
At one time the college .had on its Hst about one hundred
students, representatives from the best Methodist families in
the nation ; the spirit of revival was among them, and many
of them were brought to a saving acquaintance with Christ.
Rev. Joseph Everett was for some years in charge of the
religious services of the college, holding, by appointment of
the trustees, the office of chaplain. The Southern States
were, for a few years, quite largely represented by studeuts
who went to Cokesbury to complete their education.
As to the work dune at Cokesbury, and what, with the
active co-operation of the Church, could have been done,
Bishop Asbury, in a letter to Bishop Coke, then in England,
expresses himself thus:
"If it were not for the suspicions of some, and the pride
;nul ignorance of others, I am of opinion I could make provis-
ion, by collections, profits on books, and donations in land, to
take two thousand children under the best plan of education
* This son of Abel Bliss, whose name was also Abel, became one of the
most active and inliuciuisil members of the bonrd of trustees of the Wesley.m
Ac.ulemy at Wilbraham, Mass., and liisdan.;htor, Miss N.uicy Biis'^, beoam?
the first proccptrcss of the Cazenovia Seminary.
32 Early Schools of Methodism.
ever known in tliis coiintrv. The Lord begins to smile on our
Kings wood (Cokesbury) School. One promising young man
has gone forth into the ministry, another is ready, and sev-
eral have been under awakenings, l^one so healthy and
orderly as our children, and some promise great talents for
learning. The obstinate and ignorant oppose, among preach-
ers and people ; while the judicious, for good sense and piety,
in Chiych and State, admire and applaud.
"I am, with most dutiful respect, as ever, your son in the
Gospel. Fkancis Asbury."
THE SECOND cokesbury.
The fallen walls of Cokesbury at Abingdon were scarcely
cold when the noble Baltimore Methodists, at an expense of
about twenty thousand dollars, purchased an eligible lot ad-
joining that on which the old Light Street Church stood, hav-
ing on it a large brick building, which, with some modifica-
tions, was found well adapted to school purposes.
Here the second Cokesbury, as in history it is known,
opened even more auspiciously than the first at Abingdon.
Kev. Joseph Toy, who was one of the professors in the first,
lield the same ofiice, professor of mathematics, in the second
Cokesbury. Bishop Asbury, never quite in favor of calling
these schools colleges, in several instances in his Journal
mentions this institution as " the Academy." in which he often
preached.
June 22, 1796, he wrote in his Journal : "I borrowed a
horse and made out to get to Baltimore. O what times are
here ! The academy is crowded ; they have five teachers
and nearly two hundred scholars."
How strange and sad to relate, on the 4th of December,
1796, just one year after the destruction of the first, this
CoKESBURY College. 33
second Methodist college was destroyed by fire, resulting,
in this instance, from the carelessness of some sport-loving
boys.
Bishop Asbury makes this entry in his Journal : " Serious
news from Baltimore ; the academy and our church in Light
Street, with Brother Hawkins's elegant house, all destroyed
by fire. The loss we sustain in the college, academy, and
church I estimate from fifteen to twenty thousand pounds :
but I conclude God loveth the people of Baltimore, and will
keep them poor, to keep them pure."
These boys were amusing themselves with bonfires in a
vacant building in the neighborhood ; the building took fire,
it soon communicated to the college and to Light Street
Church, both on the same lot, and both were consumed.
The late Kev. Isaac Cook, D.D., my authority for these state-
ments, said : *' My parents were present in the church at the
time of the fire. Rev. Henry Willis was preaching a funeral
discourse for Mr. Patrick Calvers. In the midst of tlie sad
service the congregation were startled by the cry of fire!
' The church is on fire ! bear away your dead ! ' which was
quickly done. The fire that destroyed the college and the
church also destroyed the residence of the presiding elder of
Baltimore District, and the fine mansion of that liberal Meth-
odist, William Hawkins."
Under these rapidly succeeding calamities the work of
building Methodist colleges was necessarily suspended for a
few years. The whole energies of the Church, and all avail-
able means, were re(pired to provide houses of worship for
the vastly-increasing congregations east, west, north, and
south eager to hear the message of salvation as proclaimed
by the Methodist itinerants: but the work of education was
by no nieans abandoned. Some of our writers speak of this
34 Early Schools of Methodism.
as Asburj College. Asbury College came into being twenty-
years later.
Bishop Asbnry returned to his early and favorite scheme
of establishing his celebrated district schools in all parts of
the country, not already provided with schools, to which the
youth of Methodist families might repair for instruction in
the higher branches of learning. Some of these became good
classical academies, and accomplished much good work for
the country and for the Church, and prepared the Church for
the educational era that opened with the session of tlie Gen-
eral Conference of 1820.
Ebenezee Academy. 35
CHAPTER III.
EBENEZER ACADEMY, VIRGINIA.
Bishop Asbury had an especial partiality for Bible names.
Two of the principal schools founded by him, or through his
agency, were called Betliel— the house of God. Many of the
churches consecrated by him most appropriately bore the
same name.
Ebenezer — the stone of help — was the name of churches
erected under his auspices in Korth Carolina, South Caro-
lina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In Virginia it was the
name of an academy that absorbed mucli of his care, and
largely engrossed his labors. The full measure of success
that it enjoyed, or work that it accomplished, we shall never
be able to understand ; that it did good work for a period
of at least twenty-five years will be seen as we advance. Its
greatest value to us is, that it helps to illnsti-ate the great
zeal of the pioneer Bishop in the cause of denominational
education ; a zeal too ardent to be quenched by the greatest
disasters, or diverted from its true objects — the glory of God
and the good of man — by any amount of jealousy, misappre-
hension, or aspersion of motives that were as pure as ever
l)rompted human action. That ambition was not his guiding
star is shown by the absence of all means to magnify or even
make known his achievements. How much we wish that of
this achievement — ^Ebenezer Academy — he had left the full
record of the incipient measures for its establishment, tlie
list of the names of those who aided in planning, and more
especially in executing, the plans that brought into being this
36 Early Schools of Methodism.
important agency of early Methodism. No record of the ex-
act time of the erection of the massive stone building, or of
the opening of the school, will ever come to light. It was
only incidentally that he gave the location of the institution
as having been in Brunswick County, Yirginia; but in what
part of that large, old county, he left us but very vague, if
any, means of even inferring. Less than a half-dozen very
brief mentions in his invaluable Journal is all that tlie
great evangelist left of this undertaking that rested so heav-
ily as a burden upon his heart for long years. So brief and
modest were the Bishop's notices of Ebenezer Academy, that
our veteran historian. Dr. Nathan Bangs, overlooked it. This
is a misfortune, as he wrote at so early a period that infor-
mation concerning it might easily have been gained. Yery
different now ! The witnesses, like the principal actor, have
gone. Lee's history mentions it, but not until its best days
were passed.
It was located near Merritt's meeting-house, in which
Bishop Asbury often preached, in the southern part of
Brunswick County, Yirgina, on the road leading from Peters-
burg to Boydton, the latter, in after years, noted as the seat
of Eandolph-Macon College, in which, for a few years, the
late Stephen Olin, D.D., LL.D., was president. Brunswick
County will be remembered as the center of that wonderful
visitation of the Spirit that swept over southern Yirginia
soon after the close of tlie War of the Revolution and the
establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the
Christmas General Conference of 178L James O'Kelly,
then the presiding elder of the district, made this repoi't of
the wonderful work of the Lord :
" Old Brunswick and Surry Circuits exceed any thing I
ever saw or heard of in America. I believe that six thou-
Ebenezeu Acai)p:mv. 37
sand were assembled together at the quarterly meeting held,
a few days ago, for Brunswick Circuit."
Rev. Philip Cox, one of the circuit preachers, evidently
under great excitement, exclaimed, "Great news from Zion ! "
And the future Book Agent of Methodism, the learned
and greatly pious John Dickins, wrote : " It is estimated that
about Brunswick itself not less than seven thousand souls
are under deep convictions."
Mr. Cox said : " Never was there before so great a work of
God in America as is now in the Brunswick and Surry
Circuits."
This favorable condition of the public mind and conscience
Bishop Asbury improved to secure the co-operation and
pecuniary aid of the inhabitants of Brunswick and adjacent
counties, in Yii-ginia and North Carolina, in planting on a
firm basis an institution of learning for the benefit of that
and of future generations of youth in that portion of his great
pastoral charge.
It is claimed by some of tlie old Methodists of that region
that Ebenezer was the first Methodist school opened in Amer-
ica. Judge F. E. Buford, of Brunswick County, a gentle-
man of high standing in the Protestant Episcopal Church, to
whom I am under especial obligation, wrote me : " Though
I am now forty-nine years of age, I am too young to remem-
ber any thing of Ebenezer Academy as a school. I have
known the building, which is a stone structure of peculiar
design, as * Old Ebenezer ' for a number of years ; but when I
first saw it, fully forty years ago, it had ceased to be used as
an academy."
In a subsequent letter he wrote : " I made an effort to find
out when Ebenezer Academy was chartered ; and with that
view I spent a day at our county-seat in examining the rec-
38 Early Schools of Methodism.
ords, both before and after tlie establisliment of our national
independence; but I could find no mention of it in any of
our statistics. I am, however, fully satisfied, from the best
information I have been able to get, that it was established
between the years lYSO and 1784" He says further: "I
wrote to several of the oldest citizens of the county for their
recollections, or for facts that came to them well authen-
ticated. Several of them responded that the school opened
at quite an early day, and that they thought that what the
oldest of them knew of the school in its palmiest days was
but * hearsay.' T addressed inquiries to W. Embry Mer-
ritt, Esq., an aged Methodist, attorn ey-at-law, after whose
father. Rev. Henry Merritt, the church in the neighborhood
was called * Merritt's Chapel.' My letter found him on a bed
of sickness and death. He died in April, 1885. He re-
quested his daughter. Miss Jennie Merritt, to respond to my
letter. Among other items, he told her to inform me that
the school opened in 1784. His father, Eev. Henry Merritt,
was one of the first board of trustees, and an active assistant
to Bishop Asbury in building up the school. His son, who
said that the institution opened in 1784, was educated at the
academy, but as he was not born until 1796, his connection
with tlie school must have been during its last years. When
the school in the old stone building of the Merritt neighbor-
liood closed, I have gained no certain information." Jesse
Lee's history was published in 1809 ; he notices it as a good
school then in operation. Putting together all the facts gath-
ered by Judge Buford and the statement of Esquire Merritt,
made during his last sickness, and who, all his life, had re-
sided in the neighborhood, and had the best of facilities
for knowing the facts in regard to which he testified, I am
strongly inclined to the opinion that Ebenezer Academy, in
Ebexezer Academy. 39
Brunswick County, Virginia, was the first Metliodist school
opened in America. Like all others, whose opinions had
been published, until these new facts reached me, I had sup-
posed that Cokesburj College, at Abingdon, Maryland, was
the first American Methodist school.
Bishop Asbury's first mention in his Journal of Ebenezer
Academy was dated December 5, 1794 : " Our burdensome
stone Ebenezer now gives us some care. If we can employ
good men, keep up discipline, and maintain credit, it may
come to something."
This language indicates that the school had been some time
in operation (according to Judge Merritt, ten years), and that
it had not heretofore met his expectations or entire approval.
"Whether the dereliction was in the trustees, teachers, or
others, we can but conjecture. Some of the first trustees of
the school were Kev. ITenry Merritt; Daniel L. Mead, of
Octagon; Colonel Tucker; Bichard W. Field; others not
remembered by my informant. In after years Rev. J. G.
Cluiborn was a trustee. lie is still living in feebleness at
the age of about eighty-eight years. Himself too infirm to
write, he referred me to several of the early students, one at
least of whom died too soon to answer my inquiries.
I learn that the first principal of the school was an
Irishman or a Scotchman, concerning whom all I have
learned is, that " he was a great linguist." A good many of
the teachers from Britain at an early day were " great lin-
guists," but knew but little else. One of my early teachers
was a fine linguist, but possessed of but a small quantity of
practical good sense. He approached his more practical wife,
once on a time, very weary and in free perspiration, having
taken up and reversed the beans in his garden that he sup-
posed, by some strange freak of nature, had come up with
40 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
the wrong end uppermost. In the absence of experience, all,
perhaps, would suppose that the seed from which proceeds
the plant should remain buried in the earth, but my first
teacher, Billy Pitt, found his first bean crop in reverse order.
To a short, corpulent man it was quite a task to correct the
mistake of nature.
Whether Principal Johnson, the Irish or Scotch linguist of
great skill, had failed in " keeping up discipline and securing
credit to the school," or whether these faults attached to some
of his successors in later years, no information has been
gained.
Among later teachers in the school were Thomas Terrell,
Henry Clary, Mr. Dutton, John I. Grigg, and Tompkins Rice.
The following noted Virginians are named as alumni of
Ebenezer Academy : Judge W. H. E. Merritt, a prominent
lawyer and judge of Brunswick County; Hon. H. K.
Meade, years ago a member of the United States Congress,
and subsequently United States minister plenipotentiary to
the government of Brazil ; Colonel Jack Jones ; Kichard R.
Collier ; Dr. Nathan Booth ; Dr. M'Lean ; Dr. George Field ;
John L. Wilkins, and Dr. W. B. Price, and many more not
remembered by Colonel W. T. Mason, who, through Judge
Buford, kindly furnished the list.
The principal building is still standing; for a description
of it I am under obligation to Rev. W. W. Lear, of the
Virginia Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. It is twenty by forty feet on the ground, two stories
high, built of stone, with an old-fashioned Dutch roof,
drooping eaves, projecting far down over the sides. It was
so thoroughly built that until quite recently it was a safe
family residence, though about one hundred years old.
Within a few months, just after a family had vacated it, a
Ebenezer Academy. 41
part of the front wall fell in. If needed for school purposes,
one of my correspondents says, it could be repaired and made
to do service for another hundred years. The fathers, in
mind, morals, and physics, built well ! The farm belong-
ing to the school contained fifty -seven acres and a half
of good tillable land. There were two boarding-houses,
whether on the farm or near it I am not certain. One
was kept by Mrs. Martha Eldridge, formerly Miss Fisher ;
the other by Eichard W. Field. All the first trustees were
Methodists.
On the 8th of December, 1794, Bishop Asbury entered in
his Journal : " I had a meeting with the trustees of Ebenezer
Academy ; matters are very discouraging. People, in gen-
eral, care too little for the education of their children." A
little more than a year later he was again at the seat of Eben-
ezer Academy. His Journal shows this gloomy entry ;
" Ebenezer Academy is under poor regulations, and, what
is more than all, some gentlemen of Brunswick County had
the confidence (assurance) and want of propriety to wish to
wrest it wholly out of our hands, after we had collected
so much money to build it." All our first Methodist schools
were erected by funds collected by the Bishops. The Bishop
mentions the Academy again, January 24th, and on the 12th
of February he wrote in his Journal : " I had appointed to
meet the trustees of Ebenezer Academy at Brother Hobb's,
on the north side of the Meherin. After some conversation
they willingly agreed to petition the Conference in behalf of
Ebenezer Academy for an annual subscription to make pro-
vision for a man, at about one hundred pounds a year, who
shall keep an English school under our rules, with the wor-
ship and word of God." All Methodist schools of that day
were under the same general regulations. See rules for
42 Early Schools of Methodism.
Cokesbury College. The Bishops, when present, were,
ex officio^ the presidents of the schools, had power to con-
vene the trustees, could expel students. They were like-
wise the agents for the collection of the money required ;
they planned the buildings generally. In a word, the bur-
den of founding and supporting the Church schools rested
•upon them.
Jesse Lee's history, in 1809, mentions this school as in
operation at that date. He states that Ebenezer Academy
was still a good school, but not under the control of the
Methodist Church. That but few of the old trustees re-
mained, having removed to other neighborhoods, and of
those left some were not Methodists. The teacher, he said,
had entire control of the institution, taking in and removing
students at pleasure.
The school building and the farm, for which the Bishop
" had collected so much money," were now, says Lee, held,
rent free, by the principal of the school. The gentlemen of
Brunswick, of whose ungracious conduct the Bishop had
complained a few years before, at last appear to have carried
their point — wrested the scliool "out of our hands." But
if, as the heroic Lee observes, a good school was maintained,
the labors of Asbury and his helpers in the good work were
not in vain, nor lost to the world or the Church. The Eev.
"W. W. Lear, before named, informs me that Ebenezer has
not been used for school purposes for thirty or forty years.
The whole property, buildings and farm, was sold by author-
ity of an act of the State Legislature. What became of the
money my informant does not state. The present owner is
L. J. Wall, of Sturgeon ville. When the Ebenezer Academy
closed there was built a substitute for it, called " Red Oak
Academy," a few miles to the left. This school also died
Ebenezer Academy. 43
years ago, and tlie building was lately burned to the ground.
The Bishop's " troublesome stone " still stands. Brunswick
now has but one academy. The principal of this, in 1848,
was one of the writer's pupils a few years earlier at the
Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary, St. Lawrence County, New
York. This was Rev. (afterward Dr.) James A. Dean, lately
deceased in New Orleans.
44 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER lY.
BETHEL ACADEMY, KENTUCKY.
Prior to December, 1776, there was a vast, almost un-
known territory called Transylvania, lying to the west of
Virginia. In this year the Legislature of Virginia organ-
ized it as a county under the name of Kentucky. By a sub-
sequent act the county became three counties ; namely, Jef-
ferson, Fayette, and Lincoln. In 1792 these became a State.
This territory was explored by Daniel Boone, a youth of six-
teen summers, in 1769, and permanently settled by him and
others in 1775. Two renowned Methodist local preachers,
Francis Clark and William J. Thompson, were among the
first settlers. James Haw and Benjamin Ogden, regular
Methodist ministers, followed in 1786. Circuits were organ-
ized, and Methodism became fully established.
By tlie Legislature of Virginia eight thousand acres of land
were, in 1780, set apart in the county of Kentucky for the
establishment of schools. The few Kentucky Methodists took
early measures to secure a part of the land, so generously
appropriated to education, for the establishment of a semi-
nary of learning. They appealed to the Bishops for aid and
counsel. Bishops Coke and Asbury both attended a Confer-
ence held at M'Knight's, on the Yadkin Kiver, in North
Carolina, in 1789.
Here the Kentucky brethren appeared, by letters and mes-
sengers, asking aid in more fully organizing Methodism and
in establishing a college. The subject was taken up, debated,
and the answer returned to the noble Kentucky Methodists
Bethel Academy. 45
was that, during the next year, Bisliop Asbnrj would visit
them, and that if they could secure a grant of live thousand
acres of land from the State or from individuals, tliat a college
should be completed in the State within ten years. Early
the next spring Bishop Asbury, accompanied by his friend
Richard Whatcoat, who a few years later was elected and or-
dained a Bishop, commenced preparations for the perilous trip
on horseback to Kentucky. They spent two weeks in south-
western Virginia, preaching and praying among the people,
waiting for the brethren from Kentucky, who were to return
immediately as an escort and guard to the good Bishop and
his friend. On a certain Monday morning Bishop Asbury
related to Mr. Whatcoat that the night before, in a dream, he
had seen the friends for whom they had been waiting. After
breakfast the Bishop retired to a small stream near by for
meditation and prayer. While there he saw two men coming
over the hills toward him. He felt assured at once that
these were Kentuckians who were coming for him. And so
it proved. The men were Peter Massie, in future years
known as the weeping prophet, and John Clark. They
delivered to the Bishop letters, and informed him that they
had left eight other men in the valley below, all ready to
start with him for Kentucky as soon as he was ready. The
Bishop entered in his Journal : " After reading the letters,
and asking counsel of God, I concluded to go with them."
They left the valley of the Cumberland early in May, 1790,
with sixteen men, including the Bishop, carrying thirteen
guns. An unbroken forest of more than two hundred
miles, inhabited by ferocious beasts and more ferocious sav-
ages, lay between them and the end of their journey. They
halted three times a day to feed and refresh their horses, and
as often for prayer to God. The first day they made thirty-
46 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
five miles, the second forty-five, the third fifty, and at about
these rates for seven days, going into camp late at night.
The Bishop wrote in his Journal : " I am strangely outdone
for want of sleep. The first night I slept about one hour,
the last about two. We ate no regular meal ; our bread
grew short, and I was much spent." While in camp some
were on guard, while the others rested. They frequently
passed the graves of those slain by savages ; in one camp
twenty-four graves. They arrived at Lexington on the 12th
of May. Asbury preached on the day of their arrival. The
court was in session, and the court-house being thus occu-
pied, they held the Conference " in the comfortable house of
Eichard Masterson," opening on the 14:th of May, 1790. In
regard to the work of the Conference the Bishop makes this
record :
"We went through our business in great love and har-
mony. I ordained Wilson Lee, Thomas Williamson, and
Barnabas M'Henry, elders. We had preaching noon and
night, and souls were converted. My soul has been blessed
among this people, and I am exceedingly pleased with them.
I would not, for the worth of the place, have been prevented
in this visit. It is true, such exertions of mind and body
are trying ; but I am supported under them ; if souls are saved,
it is enough. Brother Poythress is much alive to God. We
fixed upon a plan for a school, and called it Bethel ; and
obtained, in land and money, a subscription of upward of
three hundred pounds toward its establishment. We rode
to I. Lewis's, on the bend of the Kentucky Kiver. Lewis is
an old acquaintance from Leesburg, Virginia. I was pleased
to find that heaven and religion were not lost sight of in this
family. Brother Lewis offered me one hundred acres of land
for Bethel on a good spot for building material."
Bethel Academy. 47
This site, tendered by Mr. Lewis, was accepted by those
having control. It was in what, in 1798, became Jessa-
mine County, in the center of the State, and not very
remote from Lexington, its capital. In that county great
numbers of the first Methodists, including some local and
some traveling preachei*s, settled. All these circumstances
were in favor of making that the location of Bethel Acad-
emy. The Bishop remained in that vicinity nearly two
weeks, during which he preached thirteen sermons, made
many acquaintances, and also many friends for the projected
school.
Having accomplished all that could then be done, the good
Bishop prepared to set out on his return journey through the
wilderness. His principal assistants in establishing the Bethel
school were Rev. Francis Poythress, the first presiding elder
of the Kentucky District, and the Rev. John Metcalf. As
Poythress fell a martyr to this undertaking, a brief sketch of
his career will be appreciated. He belonged to an old,
wealthy Virginia family. Aroused to a sense of his lost
estate as a sinner, he sought the instructions of a pious min-
ister of the Church of England, a life-long friend of Bishop
Asbury. Mr. Jarratt led him to the Saviour in the year
1773. He was soon after enrolled in the ranks of the Meth-
odist itinerants. In North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee,
Virginia, and Kentucky, he was in the thickest of the fight,
a leader in the advancing hosts. When a call was made
for a man for hard, dangerous, responsible, self-denying
work, from the noble Poythress came the voice, " Here am
I ; send me."
For many years he traveled large districts as presiding
elder, sleeping under trees, in open cabins, sharing the hard-
ships of the settlers in their wilderness homes. Himself a
48 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
good scholar, he was easily enlisted in the woj-k of building
Bethel Academy ; that enterprise not proving an entire suc-
cess, and he being cruelly censured, his health failed, his mind
gave way — he was insane. He had previously filled every
office in the Methodist ministry except that of the Episco-
pacy. For this he was nominated by Bislio23 Asbury, and
would have been elected but for the fact that at an Annual
Conference a Bishop could not be made for the whole Church.
To remove him as far as possible from the scenes of his
not-wholly-successful labors in behalf of Bethel Academy,
Mr. Poythress was, in the year 1800, removed from the Lex-
ington District, Kentucky, and made presiding elder in east-
ern North Carolina, his field of earlier successes as a pioneer
itinerant. Here he performed his last labors. His spirit
was broken. At the end of one year he returned to Ken-
tucky. His name for 1801 and 1802 appears in the list of
elders, but no work was assigned him. His home was at
Nicholasville, which, in 1798, was made the county-seat of
Jessamine County. It was made a village, and its streets
surveyed by Kev. John Metcalf in 1798, and, in honor of his
friend the Hon. George Nichols, a somewhat noted lawyer,
was, by Mr. Metcalf, called Nicholas ville.
In 1810, on the 15 th of October, Bishop Asbury looked
upon the face of his former old and very dear friend, the
good, but most unfortunate, Poythress for the last time. He
wrote at that date in his Journal : " This has been an awful
day to me. I visited Francis Poythress. ' If thou be he —
but O ! how fallen ! ' " Dr. Abel Stevens says : "A reviving
light breaks over him in his last days."
Of the Bishop's other principal aid in the work of building
Bethel Academy a few words are due. Rev. John Metcalf,
one of the pioneer preachers in Kentucky, before it became
Bethel Academy. 49
a State, was a native of Soutliampton County, Yirf^inia. He
settled in what subsequently became Jessamine County in
the early spring of 1790.
Samuel M. Duncan, Esq., a worthy old resident of Nicli-
olasville, and more familiar, perhaps, with the early history
of Jessamine County and of Bethel Academy than any man
now living, in a letter dated May, 1885, says of Mr. Metcalf :
" To advance the cause of Christ and be instrumental in the
salvation of men wore objects which he not only had in view^
but which he biirned with furnace ardor to accomplish.
Every-where and at all times he was not only ready but eager
to engage in any enterprise which promised the accomplish-
ment of these purposes. His zeal was untiring. No success
could satiate its eager longings, nor any discouragements
quench its ardor."
But to return from this digression. In 1792, on his second
visit to Kentucky, Asbury entered in his Journal: "I wrote
an address on behalf of Bethel School." At a later date,
during the same visit, lie wrote again : "I found it necessary
to change the plan of the house to make it more comfortable
for the scholars in winter."
In the old "Methodist Magazine" of 1816-1828, Eev.
Thomas llinde, M.D., a contemporary of both Asbury and
Poythress, and long a member of the old Kentucky Confer-
ence, under tlie nom de plume of Theopliilus Arminius,
gave a series of interesting articles " Upon tlie Progress of
Methodism in the Western Country." In one of these arti-
cles appears this notice of
BETHEL ACADEMY :
" Our Conference for 1797 was held at Bethel School, a
large, three-story brick building erected by Mr. Poythress on
3
50 Early Schools of Methodism.
the bank of the Kentucky River in Jessamine Conntj. Mr.
Poythress had used great exertions to accomplish the under-
taking ; but being old and infirm, and censured by some for
the ineligibility of the situation and the expense of the build-
ing, being a man of integrity and of very nice feelings, tlie
most serious consequences resulted."
This is a noble testimony from a competent and reliable
witness, and fully exonerates poor Poythress from what could
not have been designed as an implication of wrong, in the
sad words of Bishop Asbury, but has been so construed by
some. How changed ! instead of how fallen ! would have
been less equivocal.
The work of completing the building had made such prog-
ress that early in the year 1794 a school was opened. The
following old letter, copied from the original now in posses-
sion of Samuel M. Duncan, of Nicholasville, Kentucky,
to which Bethel was removed from its original site in
1805, fully settles this fact :
"Jessamine County, Ky., Jan. 13, 1794.
" Honorable George Nichols : I have lately received
from you two of your kind letters, and would have answered
them before now, but I have taken charge of Bethel Acad-
emy, and have been so confined for the last two weeks in fit-
ting up suitable places of abode for some of my pupils, that
I have greatly neglected my private affairs, and especially
that portion of it whicli you are attending to in Lexington.
" Your friend, John Metcalf."
The author of this letter is supposed to have become an
itinerant on trial in 1790, though his name does not appear
in the list given in answer to " Question 1. Who are admit-
ted on trial ? " but, in 1791, his name is found in the list of
Bethel Academy. 51
those " who remain on trial," and for this year he was ap-
pointed to Banks Circuit, in Virginia. The next year he
was "admitted into full connection" and sent to Botetourt
Circuit as a deacon. From the Conference of 1793 he was
appointed to Lexington Circuit. This included the seat of
Bethel Academy. At tlie request of Bishop Asbury, early
in January, 1794, as the old letter before inserted proves, Mr.
Metcalf took charge of Bethel Academy. His name now
disappears from the minutes of the Conference. Dr. Bangs
gives it among those who located in 1795. Rev. Henry
Smith, one of the veterans of the Baltimore Conference,
attended the session of the Kentucky Conference for 1797.
It met in Bethel Academy, and he mentions Rev. John Met-
calf as the principal, at that time, of Bethel Academy. Mr.
Duncan, before named, says that he continued principal until
1803. Mr. Metcalf was not a classical scholar, but spoke and
wrote the English language with correctness and great vigor
and the Methodist school, located on the high bluff, at a bend
in the Kentucky River, under the vigorous administration of
John Metcalf, was a strong competitor of Transylvania Acad-
emy, at Lexington, in Fayette County. Transylvania was
then under the control of the Presbyterian Church, and had
the advantage of a small village around it. It was opened
in 1780, while Kentucky was yet but a county of Virginia.
The site of Bethel was chosen for its intrinsic beauty, and as
an eligible site for a village, which it was hoped would grow
up around it and become the county-seat of the new
county, which was organized eight years later, under the
name of Jessamine, of which Nicholasville became the seat
of justice.
Mr. Duncan says : " As the principal of this school in the
wilderness Mr. Metcalf infused his spirit into every depart-
52 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
merit. If there was the least jar, he had the eye to detect,
and the skill to remove."
Mr. Duncan continues: "In 1Y99 Rev. Yalentine Cook
took charge for one year of the academic department, with
Rev. Francis Poythress as his assistant." These statements
of Mr. Duncan are confirmed by the general minutes.
Cook's name is not found in the list of appointments for
1789. There was then no rule of the Church under which a
preacher could be appointed to a school. Mr. Poythress, as
presiding elder on the territory of the school, could have
served as an assistant to Mr. Cook, who, as all agree, opened
at that time the academic department of the academy. The
Kentucky historian of Methodism, Rev. Dr. Redfield, speaks
of Valentine Cook as the organizer of the academy. He is
correct, if he only intended the academic department of the
academy, which, as a preparatory school, was opened by Mr.
Metcalf in 1794. Mr. Cook was a fine scholar, the most dis-
tinguished of the graduates of Cokesbury College, at Abing-
don, Maryland. He remained but a year in the school, but
afterward taught in other places. After Mr. Metcalf re-
moved to Nicholasville, in 1803, and opened,' in his own
house, a school, which he called Bethel Academy, Mr.
Harris continued Bethel School, on the Kentucky River, as
a neighborhood school until 1805.
In 1798 Mr. Metcalf purchased several lots in the then
new village of Mcholasville, and erected a good log-house,
which still stands, and is the property of a grandson, John
Metcalf. At tliis house Mr. Metcalf continued Bethel Acad-
emy until, in 1820, a good brick building was completed, and
the school was continued in it, still under the name of Bethel
Academy. Mr. Metcalf died at about this date, in the sixty-
third year of his age. In 1820 a Mr. O'Brien, a fair scholar.
Bethel Academy. 63
says Mr. Duncan, took charge of Bethel Academy, and did
much toward keeping ahve the influence and teachings of
the Methodist Church. The institution ceased to be strictly
denominational from the date of its removal to Nicholas-
ville, though often, and perhaps generally, under the super-
intendence of a Methodist teacher. For five years from
1841 Prof. A. R. Northrup, A.M., a graduate of the Wes-
leyan University, was at its head. He was succeeded by
Charles F. Smith. Mr. Duncan sends a copy of two letters
from Rev. John Metcalf, dating back into the former cent-
ury, showing that, through its officers and teachers. Bethel
Academy liad an important agency in settling upon a good
basis of prosperity the educational and other interests of the
county in which it was located. He also gives a list of a
score of men, who, as ministers of the Gospel, physicians,
lawyers, judges, members of the State and National legisla-
tures, and in other positions, who laid the foundation for
the distinction to which they all attained while students in
old Bethel Academy.
Rev. Dr. Thomas Hinde, the maternal uncle of the late
Bishop Kavanaugii, of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, in a conversation with a trustee of M'Kendree Col-
lege, sometime in the summer of 1845, upon the great
good work accomplished by tlie schools of Bishop Asbury,
mentioned the names of more than half a dozen of the
then leading politicians of the West and South who were
educated at Bethel Academy, Ky., before the present cent-
ury. Among them, I think, he named Henry Clay. Bethel
was incorporated, with full academic powers, in 1802, and
some years before received a grant of six thousand acres of
land from the State. But at the time there was so much
government land in the market that the school never made
64 Ea.rly Schools of Methodism.
this generous gift available. It reverted to the State. Mr.
Duncan also furnishes me a letter from Prof. A. N. Gordon,
showing that the works of Bishop Asburj, Francis Poythress,
John Metcalf, Nathaniel Harris, Valentine Cook, and others,
who labored for Bethel, " do follow them."
Under date of Bethel Academy, Maj 11, 1885, Prof.
Gordon says : " In 1876 I was elected principal of Bethel
Academy for one year, with the understanding that, at the
end of the year, I was to have the lease for a term of years,
if such an arrangement seemed desirable by myself and the
trustees. In pursuance of that arrangement, the property
was leased to me, in the summer of 1877, for ten years, I
introducing the condition that '^ve indigent sprightly
boys ' should attend the academy each year free of tuition.
Since that year I have always had an assistant, with an
average of forty pupils. My aim is to prepare boys for at
least the junior class in our best colleges. Pupils have fre-
quently gone further, finishing the Calculus, and reading the
most advanced authors in Latin and Greek. The school is now
undenominational. The grounds lie well, containing about
^ve acres, and the buildings are new, large, and elegant, hav-
ing been put up in 1878 at a cost of about $7,000. The
school is in a far more prosperous condition now than for
many years, and has a fair prospect before it. I am a grad-
uate of Washington and Lee University, Virginia, and follow
teaching as a profession."
If the departed still continue their acquaintance with
events transpiring in their old abodes, why should not the
fact that his favorite Bethel Academy still lives and is doing
the work for which he so gladly labored and suffered in its
establishment, add something to the "fullness of joy" that
the sainted Asbury enjoys in the mansions above ?
Bethel Academy. 65
THE FINALE OF BETHEL SCHOOL.
In 1870 I addressed a letter of irKpiiry to my venerable
friend, Bishop Kavanaugh, in regard to Bethel Academ^^
His kind answer added but little to ray information, but is
valuable as confirmatory of what I supposed reliable facts.
Next to reports published at the time of the occurrences, the
recollections of those who lived near the time and place are
our best authorities. The Bishop's letter from Louisville,
Ky., dated August, 1879, gives these items : " The first
Kentucky Conference was held by Bisliop Asbury. A plan
was there made for a Conference school, to be called Bethel.
It was principally built through the exertions of Rev. Fran-
cis Poythress, the first presiding elder of Lexington District.
It was located in Jessamine County, and stood on a high
bluff on the Kentucky River. The project originated with
Mr. Asbury, Francis Poythress, Isaac Ilite, and others. A
spacious building was erected, I think eighty by forty feet,
three stories high. The design was to accommodate board-
ers in the house. Among the men who were teachers in
the school were Francis Poythress, Rev. John Metcalf, and
Nathaniel Harris. The school had its best Heading in Val-
entine Cook, the most literary man we had in the West for
some considerable time. lie organized the academic depart-
ment, and at first the prospects were flattering, but soon dif-
ficulties arose, prospects diminished, and Cook gave up tho
enterprise. A scliool for the neighborhood was conducted
in the building for some time by various teachere ; afterward
it was abandoned. The one hundred acres of land, given by
Mr. Lewis, reverted to his estate, and portions of tho mate-
rial in the building were taken to Nicholas villa, and used in
erecting an academy for the use of the place. Sometimes
66 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
it is occupied by our Churcli, sometimes by others. I think
it is held by trustees for the benefit of the town in which it
stands."
This is the testimony of an old Kentucky itinerant, famil-
iar with every part of the State.
Bishop Kavanaugh adds one other item of some interest :
" My uncle, the Kev. Thomas Hinde — ' Theophilus Armin-
ius ' — I think is mistaken about Mr. Clay having ever gone
to school at Bethel Academy. Mr. Clay came in early
years from Virginia to Kentucky; he had been trained
in a clerk's office, and I am sr.re never attended school in
Kentucky."
Bishop Kavanaugh's recollections are confirmed by Mr.
Clay's history. Clay was the son of a Baptist preacher, who
died in 1782. His mother remarried, and in 1792 removed
to Kentucky. To improve his education Henry remained at
Kichmond, Ya. He spent four years in the office of Peter
Lindsley, clerk of the High Court of Chancery ; he studied
law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1797 settled in Lexing-
ton, Kentucky.
Bishop Asbury met the Kentucky Conference again in
Bethel Academy in the year 1800. On Saturday, October
4th, he made one of the longest entries to be found in his
Journal, namely : '' I came to Bethel. Bishop Whatcoat and
William M'Kendree preached. I was so dejected I could
do little but weep. Sabbath it rained, and I kept at
home. Here is Bethel — Cokesbury in miniature — eighty
by forty feet, three stories, with a high roof, and finished
below. Now we want a fund, and an income of three hun-
dred per year to carry it on, without which it will be useless.
But it is too distant from public places ; its being surrounded
by the Kentucky Kiver in part we now find to be no benefit ;
Bethel Academy. 67
thus all our excellences are turned into defects. Perhaps
Brother Poythress and myself were as much overseen with
tliis place as Dr. Coke was with the seat of Cokesbury.
But all is well that ends well, and all is wrong that works
wrong; and we must be blamed by men of slender sense
for consequences impossible to foresee — for other peoples'
misconduct.
" Sabbath day, Monday, and Tuesday, we were shut up in
Bethel with the traveling and local preachers, and the trust-
ees that could be called together. It was thought best to
carry the first design of education into execution, and that
we should employ a man of sterling qualifications to be
chosen by and under the direction of a select number of
trustees and others, who should obligate themselves to see him
paid. Dr. Jennings was thought of, talked of, written to."
This Dr. Jennings will appear again.
The Bishop continued his visits to Kentucky nearly every
year up to the last year of his life. On these visits he sev-
eral times passed through Jessamine County. Once he
called on the widow of his dear friend, in whose " comfort-
able house" he held the first Kentucky Conference. He
was once at least in Nicholasville, the seat of the academy
erected in part of material that entered into the structure of
Bethel Academy. But in his Journal no subsequent record
of Bethel Academy is found. The last entry he made was
the sad requiem over crushed hopes. He had wept over the
mental shipwreck of his very dear friend, the companion of
so many cares, of so much toil for God and his cause ; the
sharer of so many labors to make Bethel a success, and now
the sharer with him in the unwise and unjust censures that it
liad not accomplished all that had been hoped; and having,
as the entry shows, made with the trustees and preachers tlie
3*
58 Early Schools of Methodism.
last effort to achieve success, he dismissed the subject, lays
off that burden to assume others, and to prosecute his mis-
sion to its close. Who, in the retrospect, with all the facts
before him, will venture to write Bethel School in Ken-
tucky a failure ? It was one of a number of experiments,
made at great disadvantage in an almost wilderness country,
leading to the final grand success of Methodist education in
America.
Union School and Madison College.
CHAPTER y.
UNION SCHOOL AND MADISON COLLEGE, UNIONTOWN, PA.
Uniontown, the county-seat of Fayette County, Pa., early
became an important center of Methodism in the days of
Asbury. On his Western preaching and supervising tours,
Uniontown lay in his route. The Bishop's Journal mentions
at least nine visits to this inland town. Six of these visits
were to preside in Annual Conferences. The other three
visits were to be present and aid in tlie services of great
camp-meetings held in the vicinity. Bishop Asbury was
the pastor of the people in a more practical sense than have
been any of his successors. He lived at their houses, often
met them in the class-meeting, love-feast, at their camp-meet-
ings, and at school examinations. Traveling on horseback,
noon and night found him in the home of some private
family, provided he had time for the usual meal at noon.
Eeturning from his second visit to the Kentucky Confer-
ence, in 1792, accompanied by his special friend Hope Hull,
so distinguished in future years for his labors as teacher and
preacher in Georgia. They had climbed the Cumberland
Mountains from Kentucky, descended into the valley of the
Holston, in East Tennessee, where the Bishop had held a ses-
sion of the Holston Conference, thence through south-west-
ern and western Virginia, they arrived on the 31st of May at
Uniontown. The journey had been one of unusual hardships,
enhanced by the general discomforts of travel with a large
company, and occupying with other wayfarers the small,
crowded, necessarily soiled cabins and beds, of the kind
60 ExVRLY Schools of Methodism.
sojourners, wlio often, without money or price, gave the trav-
elers the best that their new homes afforded. It was not the
fault of the inhabitants that the accommodations for travel-
ers were so inferior. Their hospitality was greatly overtaxed.
For fear of attack from hostile tribes, who looked with alarm
upon the swelling tides of settlers tilling up the West, trav-
elers usually moved in large companies. At night, compa-
nies of forty or lifty, more or less, sought shelter in a small
liouse of one, two, or three rooms. This occurring almost
nightly on these great lines of travel, accommodations were
necessarily poor. The Bishop incidentally mentions that
his company on this hard trip was a large one. He says :
"We had the best company I ever met with. Thirty-six
good travelers, and a few warriors; but we had one pack-
horse [his own], some old men [himself included], and two
tired horses. These were not the best part." But the three
hundred miles between the Holston Conference, in East Ten-
nessee, and the Baltimore Conference, at Uniontown, are now
behind them.
This is the Bishop's entry in his Journal : " Both men and
horses, travel-sore and weary, reach Uniontown. O how good
are clean houses, plentiful tables, and populous villages, when
compared wdth the rough world we came through ! Here I
turned out our poor horses to pasture and rest, after riding
them nearly three hundred miles in eight days."
He describes his employments, health, the business of the
Conference, the wants of the Church, and other matters of
interest, and then adds : " We have here founded a seminary
of learning, called
'' UNION SCHOOL.
Brother Charles Conaway is the manager, who also has charge
of the district. This establishment is designed for instrue-
Union School and Madison College. 61
tion in grammar, the languages, and the sciences." Four
years hiter the Bishop made his last visit to Uuiontowu ;
change of routes of travel carried him around this place after-
ward. He made no other mention in his Journal of Union
Seminary.
Isaac P. Cook, D.D., long a prominent local preacher of
Baltimore, Md., and once president of the Local Preachers'
National Association, in a letter to the writer, says : " When
a part of the present Pittsburg Conference was included in
the Baltimore Conference, a seminary of high grade was
organized at Uniontown, Pa. Rev. Charles Conaway, pre-
siding elder of the district, was its president, or, as Bishop
Asbury expressed it, its manager. I think that after Mr.
Conaway was removed to other work, under the rule limiting
the stay of a preacher on a charge, that Valentine Cook, a
distinguished graduate of the first Cokesbury, succeeded Mr.
Conaway in the management of the school."
The school-room was an addition to the Methodist church,
built in 1786. This gave the seminary the use of the church
for a chapel and for school gatherings too large to be accom-
modated in the school-room. The lot on which the school-
room was erected was deeded to the trustees for the purposes
of a union school; it is now included in the cemetery of the
Methodist church. This union school or seminary continued
in existence, though under different names, until about the
year 1833. In 1825, under the inspiring action of the Gen-
eral Conference of 1820 on the subject of education, the
Pittsburg Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
took the incipient steps to found a college ; to secure its lo-
cation in the old Methodist community of Uniontown, the
trustees of the academy which succeeded the first, or Bishop
Asbury's, academy, tendered the building and all other prop-
62 Early Schools of Methodism.
erty belonging to the scliool to the commission to select a
location for the college.
The Union School founded in 1792, in which, in 1796,
John E. Reynolds was professor of languages, in 1826
became
MADISON COLLEGE,
under the patronage of the Pittsburg Annual Conference.
Henry B. Bascom, D.D, was president and professor of moral
science ; Charles Elliott, D.D., professor of languages ; J. H.
Fielding, D.D., professor of mathematics. Dr. Bascom
continued in the presidency about three years, and was suc-
ceeded by Dr. Fielding. The professorship of mathematics
was then filled by Rev. Dr. John Clark.
The college, under the direction of these distinguished
professors, enjoyed a few years of prosperity, and educated
several men who became distinguished in future years. It
imparted a vigorous impulse to collegiate learning in the Con-
ference, but waned before the greater light of Allegheny
College, at Meadville, which, in 1833, became a Methodist
institution. The Methodist Episcopal Church withdrew from
Madison College in 1832. The building was afterward used
as a college of the Methodist Protestant Church, subsequent-
ly as a female college, then as a school for the orphans of sol-
diers. Now it is rendered useful as a private family residence.
Bishop Asburj^'s " Union Seminary," under several names
and boards of control, continued as a Methodist school for
about forty years. That great and good man. Bishop Simp-
son, was an alumnus of Madison College.
The notice of Madison College by Rev. Dr. Bangs, in the
third volume of his valuable history of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, is so judicious, and his reflections upon the
indispcnsability of endowments for our schools are so impor-
Union School and Madison College. G3
tant, that all friends of education should feel their force and
do their duty in the premises.
" The Pittsburg Conference made an attempt to establish
a collegiate institution within its bounds, called Madison
College, and the Hev. Henry B. Bascom was appointed its
president. It was located in Uniontown, Fayette County, in
the State of Pennsylvania. It went into operation under
favorable auspices, and was incorporated in 1827 by the
Legislature of the State. It did not, however, long continue.
Its endown:ient was small, and the number of students was
by no means adequate to its support.
" Hence, though blessed with an able faculty, its dissolu-
tion affords another evidence of the impracticability of sus-
taining collegiate institutions without ample endowments.
How else can this be done ? The price of tuition is neces-
sarily so low, in the various literary institutions of our country,
that an attempt to raise it sufficiently high to meet the ex-
pense of instruction, and other incidental expenses, would be
to debar all students from an entrance into their inclosures;
and it is equally impossible to sustain them from the ordinary
prices of tuition and board ; and hence the absolute necessity
of ample endowments, either from the State or by the more
sure methods of annual collections, in order to keep them in
successful operation. Of this all must be sensible, and, there-
fore all who feel an interest in the prosperity of these institu-
tions must, if they would have them permanently established,
contribute liberally for their support."
Madison College did not, as our venerable historian sup-
posed it had, cease to exist; but from it evolved that
grand institution, Allegheny College. The Bishop's "Union
School," with Brother Conaway performing the double duty
of presiding elder on a large mountain district, and, at the
04 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
same time, rendering service " as manager," passed tlirougli
numerous evolutions, but at last attained to full maturity,
and, riclilj endowed by the generosity of numerous friends,
it is likely to stand until the dawning of the day when
knowledge shall be universal, and" when "they shall teach
no more every man his neighbor, ... for all shall know the
Lord."
Wesley and Wiiitefield School. 65
CHAPTEE YI.
WESLEY AND WHITEFIELD SCHOOL, GEORGIA.
"While Bishop Asbury was yet struggling under the bur-
den of Cokesbury College, and earnestly laboring for its suc-
cess, he was laying plans for schools in other parts of the
country.
March 12, 1789, he wrote in his Journal : " Our Confer-
ence began at Grant's, Ga. On Thursday we appointed a
committee to procure five hundred acres of land for the
establishment of a school in the State of Georgia."
Bishop Coke was also present at this Conference. He
varies the details a little, but records the important fact that
a school was to be founded. He says :
" At this Conference we agreed to build a school in
Georgia. Our friends have agreed to secure at least two
thousand acres of land for its support. A subscription was
made in one conojreoration of twelve thousand five hundred
pounds of tobacco, worth, clear of all expenses, five hundred
dollars."
On returning to Georgia tlie next year Bishop Asbury
found that, though the enterprise had not been abandoned,
but little progress had been made. The two thousand acres
of land, promised to Bishop Coke, had not been secured.
Accompanied by his friend, Hope Hull, he " went to view
four hundred acres of land, and found it not suitably located
for a seminary of learning."
A few days later he entered in his Journal : " We have
the prospect of obtaining a hundred acres of land for every
6(} Early Schools of Methodism.
one hundred pounds that we can raise and pay for the sup-
port of Wesley and Whitefield School." This is the sub-
stance of all that was written by the Bishops in regard to
this projected school for the great South-west. Supposing
that there was something more of it, either as an accom-
plished fact or indirectly in its influences on other literary
undertakings, after many other fruitless endeavors to learn
what came of this beginning, and what connection, if any, it
had with the later Church schools in the Empire State of
the South, I addressed a series of inquiries to the Rev. Dr.
Haygood, so favorably known in all parts of the country as
the president of Emory College. Unable to answer himself.
Dr. Haygood very kindly referred me to Rev. G. G. Smith,
D. D., at Madison, Ga., assuring me " that what Dr. Smith
did not know of Georgia Methodism, of both the earlier and
the later times, I need not inquire about." Dr. Smith's
answer reached me through *'Zion's Herald" of Feb. Y, 1883,
as follows : " Rev. A. W. Cummings, whose letter reached
me just as I was starting for Florida, and whose address I
have lost, writes me, making inquiries as to the Wesley and
Whitefield School, Georgia, of which he finds mention in
Bishop Asbury's Journal. Rev. Daniel Stevenson, of Ken-
tucky, speaks of this school as having been established ; in
this he is mistaken.
" The first stronghold that Methodism gained in Georgia
was among the immigrants from Virginia, who settled in
Wilkps County. Methodism came to the State in 1785, and
a short time after that Hope Hull came. He was a Mary-
lander, a warm personal friend of Bisliop Asbury. He, no
doubt, had much to do with the planning of Wesley and
Whitefield School. A subscription was circulated, taking
payment in money, cattle, rice, and tobacco. Bishop Asbury
Wesley and Whitefield School. 67
rode with Hull to examine some land offered to the
school. But the institution never went into effect — was not
opened."
In a subsequent private letter, Dr. Smith assigns some rea-
sons for the failure of this project, and gives some interest-
ing provisions made by the Bishop and the Church to supply
the educational wants of that region. He says : "Before the
plans of the Bishop and his helpers for establishing the
Wesley and Whitetield School could be carried into effect, a
great calamity befell the Churcli in tliat region. Beverly
Allen, long the most brilliant and popular preacher in Geor-
gia and South Carolina, fell into disgrace and sin, and was,
after full investigation, expelled from the Church and from
the ministry. Some time after his expulsion the sheriff of
the county came to arrest him on a warrant, on account of
the crime for which he had been deposed from the Church.
Allen refused to be arrested, and warned the officer not to
come near him or attempt the arrest. Not heeding the
warning, Allen shot him dead. He immediately fled from
the State. He made his way to what was called the dark
corner, in Kentucky. There, in the practice of medicine,
and in teaching a common school, he spent some years, and
he there died a miserable death, in despair of God's mercy.
In consequence of this untoward event, the membership of
the Church decreased one half, and the plans for the school
were given up.
" Some years after, Hope Hull himself, at Bishop Asbury's
request, located and opened a school. He secured the serv-
ices of two line classical scholars as assistants ; one of them
was Professor Barton W. Stone, the name of the other is not
remembered. He also employed, as teacher of French, a
well educated native, recently from Paris, by the name of
68 Early Schools of Methodism.
Francis Auburn. To this school, which opened auspiciously
with seventy students, William H. Crawford, one of the
great men of Georgia, went for classical training. The
sturdy German, Rev. Lewis Meyers, who did so much for
Georgia Methodism in that section, received his training in
English in this school. This was the first Methodist semi-
nary of learning in Georgia. It accomplished a good work
for the Church."
How long Mr. Hull's seminary continued open is not cer-
tain. All having any knowledge of it agree that it was con-
ducted with the energy and ability w^hicli distinguished its
principal in all his undertakings. Hope Hull was one of the
great men of early Methodism. " The Cyclopedia of Meth-
odism" informs us, that "it w^as chiefly through his exertions
that the first respectable brick building was erected in Wash-
ington, Ga., designed to be used as an academy."
Was this to have been Wesley and Whitefield Seminary ?
Washington, Wilkes County, was the center of Methodism
in Georgia for many years. It afforded Hull a noble field
for the exercise of his abilities, both as a preacher and teacher.
In these capacities he was widely known, highly esteemed,
and accomplished a great work. In this county, in later
times, that pulpit prodigy and distinguished educator. Dr.
Stephen Olin, achieved such success in the pulpit as laid the
foundation of his future fame in the South. Without any
reference to his own agency in the work. Dr. Olin gave an
account of it in a letter to one of his former college friends.
He wrote : " You have probably heard of the great revival in
Washington, Wilkes County, Ga. I have never witnessed
such a scene before. About one hundred persons are jDro-
fessed converts in that place, and only two or three persons
in the town are left unconcerned. What is singular, the
"Wesley and Whitefield School. 69
subjects of the work are generally the first in wealth and
standing in the community."
His biograplier says : " A sermon preached by Dr. Olin in
Washington, Ga., is still referred to by a number of distin-
guished citizens as having led to their conversion. It was tho
yunctum saliens of the revival. Hull finally closed his sem-
inary at Washington and removed to Athens, to aid, says Dr.
Abel Stevens, in founding in that city the State University,
w^iich for many years was regarded as a semi-Methodist col-
lege. He was, for a time, its acting president, and, as long
as he lived, the most active and influential member of its
board of trustees. As a member of the prudential committee,
he exerted great influence in selecting professors."
Here Stephen Olin spent seven of the best years of his life.
The circumstances narrated show that, directly or indirect-
ly, Bishop Asbury had an important agency in the establish-
ment of the State University of Georgia, as he did in the
organization of tlie State College of South CaroHna, and,
perhaps, of North Carolina. No other clergyman exerted
an equal influence in either of those States during the last
sixteen years of his life.
Rev. Dr. Smith, the historian of the Georgia Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to whom I am so
nmch indebted, gives a few items in regard to other schools :
" Rev. John Andrew, the father of Bishop Andrew, opened
and conducted a good school for a number of years. This
was the second Methodist school in Georgia. The Georgia
Conference Manual-labor School, wliicli for a long time was
quite influential, came next; from this sprang our present
Emory College — all the outcome of the plans of Bishop
Asbury for the Wesley and Whitefield School."
70 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER YII.
COKESBURY SCHOOL, NORTH CAROLINA.
Years before Metliodism was organized as a Clmrcli in
America, amid the terrible convulsions of tlie Revolutionary
War, the thoughts of Mr. Asburj were occupied with the
future of this country. To aid in its evangelization he had
sacrificed father, mother, and all else that he revered and
loved in the fatherland. Though left by all his English
fellow-evangelists, who, on the commencement of hostilities,
returned to their native land, he deliberately chose America
as the field of his life's toils, sacrifices, and sufferings for God
and human good. On his annual tours of superintendency,
as the chosen assistant of Mr. Wesley, fording or swimming
its bridgeless rivers, scaling its vast mountain ranges, expe-
riencing all its vicissitudes of climate, familiar with its great
variety of animal, vegetable, and mineral products, he was
profoundly impressed with the great future that he saw was
soon to be revealed. To his faith, also, was clearly revealed
the grand mission of Methodism in this land of immense
natural advantages. Hence, while yet but the untitled
preacher, the unordained assistant of the absent Mr. Wesley,
in superintending the societies in America, he was laying
plans for the future of the Church that, in the ordei* of
God's providence, he saw would be organized in this, then,
wilderness land. He left England with a high estimate of
the educational movement of the British Methodists. In
his Journal, under date of November 30, 1779, he wrote :
" We spent an evening [himself and a brother itinerant] at
CoKESBUKY School. 71
widow Bready's, and had some talk about erecting a Kings-
wood School in America."
A few months later ]ie was in North Carolina, this time in
company with liis " gloomy countryman of great piety, great
skill in learning, who drinks in Greek and Latin swiftly,
yet prays much, and walks closely with God." This pious,
learned, gloomy friend was the subsequently very notable
John Dickins, a graduate of Eton College, England, one of
the most able preachers of the early years of Methodism ;
also a skilled business man. He became the founder of the
great American publishing house of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The talked-of Kingswood School for America still
occupied the thoughts of Mr. Asbury.
On the 15th of June, 1780, Mr. Dickins drew up, at Mr.
Asbury's request, a subscription to raise funds to erect such
an institution. "This," says Dr. Abel Stevens, "was the
first project of a literary institution among American Meth-
odists." "This," continued Mr. Asbury, "was what came
out a college. In the subscription printed by Dr. Coke,
Gabriel Long and Brother Bustion w^ere the first subscribers.
I trust this [undertaking] may be for the glory of God and
the good of thousands."
Events crowd upon each other.
The Declaration of Independence, promulgated by the
Americans four years before this subscription was dated, has
been made effective by the surrender of the British forces at
Yorktown. The independence of America is publicly
acknowledged by Great Britain and the other great powers
of Europe. The late provinces, subordinate to a govern-
ment on the other side of the Atlantic, are now sovereign
States of the great Confederacy. Methodism in America is
an independent Church. The humble unordained preacher
72 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
has ill a day passed tlirongli tlie subordinate offices of deacon
and elder by election and the imposition of hands, and now
is the regularly consecrated and duly commissioned episcapos
of American Methodism, and by the Church and world he is
now hailed as Bishop Asbury. He is still, however, the
same humble, zealous minister of Christ. The projected
school for ISTorth Carolina is not forgotten or given up,
though the original subscription has been used for a larger
undertaking.
The English name Kingswood is exchanged for one more
euphonious to American ears, Cokesbury. JS'o means are
available for determining when this school opened or closed ;
that it did open is certain. April 2, 1794, Bishop Asbury
entered in his Journal : " Came to E.'s meeting-house, near
Hunting Creek, in Surry County, !N". C. After preaching
I came to Cokesbury School, near Hardy Jones's. It is
twenty feet square, two stories high, well set out with doors
and windows. This house is not too large, as some others
are. It stands on a beautiful eminence overlooking the low-
lands and the Yadkin Eiver." The doors and glazed win-
dows attracted the Bishop's attention, as well they might.
Few school-houses and churches in North Carolina of that
day had them, nor do they all yet have them.
Three fourths of a century later the writer counted it no
small honor to stand in some of the same pulpits that Bishop
Asbury occupied in that State, and preach Christ crucified
to some of the same hearers who in youth listened to the
pioneer Bishop in churches that never had a window, or a
shutter to the opening through the logs called a door. The
large chimney to the open fire-place, an opening made by
cutting out two or three feet of a log behind the preacher,
and about on a level with his head, to afford light to read
CoKESBURY School. 73
the hymns and the text, together witli numerous openings
between the logs, afforded free ventilation, as well as admit-
ted the voice of the preacher to reach the frequently larger
number of hearers without than within.
Thirty years later the subsequently eminent Dr. Stephen
Olin did his first work as a teacher in South Carolina in
an academy that had no windows. How welcome to the
Church would be a full record of this school, whose edifice,
location, and scenery are so minutely described by the good
Bishop ; who were its first teachers, who its students, who its
patrons and benefactors ! These items of information may
never be secured.
The Bishop visited this seat of learning at a later date.
That he approved it, as doing a good work, is evident from
the fact that in 1794 he took a presiding elder from his dis-
trict, and appointed him the principal of this Cokesbury
School. At that date neither custom nor law allowed a
preacher to remain in the same charge more than one year.
In 1705 James Park located ; tiie presumption is that he did
this that he might continue his labors in the Cokesbury
School, of which he was made the principal the preceding
year. This school is not mentioned by any of our Church
historians ; and yet it may have been the pioneer academy,
that prepared the way for that greater light which arose in
an adjoining county soon after. The North Carolina Uni-
versity opened its halls in 1795. In the spring of 1800 the
Bishop viisited this, in after years famous, seat of learning,
and preached in its chapel. He made this note of the event,
a very different one from that made nine years previous,
when he visited Yale College, in Connecticut : " We were
treated with great respect at the university [North Carolina]
by President Caldwell, the students, citizens, and many of
Y4 Early Schools of Methodism.
the country people. When the university is finished I shall
take notice of it. The Bishop left his blessing and passed
on. God's blessing followed. The prosperity of this old
home of learning and good morals was somewhat checked by
the late internecine war, but seems again to have recov-
ered much of its former success. Of Cokesbury School,
North Carolina, no additional information has been obtained,
though diligently sought.
Bethel Academy. 75
CHAPTER YIII.
BETHEL ACADEMY, MOUNT BETHEL, NEWBERRY COUNTY, S. C.
The subject of scliools early engaged the attention of the
people of South Carolina. The General Assembly of 1785
chartered three colleges, one at Winnsborough, another at
Cambridge, and a third at Charles Town. Cambridge was in
Abbeville County, near the future Tabernacle Academy of
the Methodist Church. Two years later the
college of alexandrla.
was chartered in Pinckney County. This lofty name did
not avail to secure its success, and the College of Alexandria
died at its birth. The same was true of the college at Cam-
bridge. Winnsborough flourished for a time. ' Charleston
College still exists. The most useful of the early South
Carolina schools was that at Mount Bethel, now to be noticed.
Our Methodist historians either failed to notice this institu-
tion, or, which is more probable, they applied the language
of Bishop Asbury in regard to it to the school of the same
name in Kentucky. The editor of the Bishop's Journal, in
the index found in the third volume, does this. Misled,
probably, by this index, the author of " The Centennial
History of American Methodism " has fallen into the same
error.
While at the home of his life-long fiiend, Edward Finch,
the sterling Methodist magistrate of Newberry County, S. C,
March 7, 1793, Bishop Asbury entered in his Journal :
" Preached at F.'s [Finch's]. I consulted the minds of our
76 Early Schools of Methodism.
brethren about building a house for Conference, preaching,
and a district school ; but I have no ground to believe that
our well-laid plan will be executed — our preachers are
unskillful, and our friends have little money."
Passing on amid rain and high waters the next day, in
Union County, he seems to have met greater encouragement.
He made this entry in his Journal : " I next day preached to
a few people at the open meeting-house, with some spiritual
opening and sweetness. We were closely employed in writ-
ing subscriptions for the district school, and copies of the
constitutions."
These were the inceptive steps in an enterprise that was
crowned with a larger measure of success than any other of
the good Bishop's educational undertakings. Having taken
these steps and received assurances of co-operation from both
preachers and people, he left the matter in their hands, and
pressed forward on his grand round of visitation to the
Churches and Conferences in every State then constituting
the Union.
March 19, 1795, the Bishop is again at the seat of Bethel
Academy, South Carolina. The friends of the enterprise
have been faithful to the trust. The school building, two
stories high, twenty by forty feet on the ground, giving on
the first floor two rooms twenty feet square, with a fire-
place in each, and the second story divided into dormitories
for the use of students, the Bishop finds up and inclosed,
and so far completed tliat it can be used for preaching — one
of the original purposes for which it was erected. This is
the entry in his Journal :
''Thursday^ 19th, and the two following days, we had work
enough to write subscription papers to be sent abroad for the
purpose of collecting one hundred pounds to finish Bethel
Bethel Academy. 77
Scliool and to secure the land ; but mj expectations are
small — the people have so little sense of God and religion.
" Saturday, I opened the new house [Bethel Academy]
with a sermon on 1 Thess. v, 14 ; and on Sunday we had a
sermon and a love-feast."
Tiie language of this quotation, the author of the index to
the Bishop's Journal, and also the author of "The Centennial
History of Methodism in America," apply to Bethel School,
Kentucky. The names of the rivers and of the fords in the
vicinity show that this was an error. Saluda, Ennoree, Tiger,
and Broad are rivers of South Carolina. So are Crenshaw's
Ford, Fish-dam Ford, well-known places in that State.
Edward Finch, Esq., has been credited with having given
the thirty acres of land surrounding this school edifice, upon
which were built residences for the teachers and a boarding-
house for the pupils. The Bishop's language indicates that
a money consideration was connected with the transaction.
The next notice of this institution by Bishop Asbury is a
little more than a year later. He then wTote, April 30,
179G : '* We had a meeting of the trustees of Bethel School,
and it was agreed that it should be a free school, and that
only the English tongue and the sciences should be taught."
This feature of the curriculum was soon changed, and, as
will soon appear, it became the finest classical school in the
State. Eev. Dr. Atkinson supposed the trustee meeting and
the rule enacted referred to Bethel School, Kentucky. A
careful reading of the Bishop's Journal will disclose the
error.
The decision to make it Vifree school, rendered necessary
some provision for supporting the teacher or teachers. The
Bishop continues at the last date to record in his Journal :
" I drew up an address on behalf of the school, in order to
78 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
raise three hundred dollars per annum to support a president
teaclier." With no denominational paper to publish this
address, it was copied and sent to the preachers, to be read
to the congregations scattered over the large circuits. The
preachers were the agents to collect and forward the money
to the school.
Probably this method of support did not long continue.
Six years later, at the home of his old friend Edward Finch,
Bishop Asbury notices in his Journal this institution for the
last time. December 3, 1802, he wrote : " George Douthet *
and myself w^ere engaged to put Mount Bethel School in
operation. I advised to finish the house for teaching be-
low, and for lodging above." -The Bishop preached in Bethel
on several future occasions, but this is the last time that he
mentions the school in his Journal.
For nine years it had occupied his thoughts and employed
his pen and tongue. Now in operation, he leaves the work
in other hands, and the burden for other shoulders. The last
quotation from Bishop xlsbury's Journal implies that the
opening of Bethel Academy, South Carolina, was subsequent
to 1802, when he and George Dougharty w^ere engaged to
put it in operation. It is difficult to harmonize this theory
with certain well-authenticated facts.
Professor Maximilian La Borde, M. D., w^ho for nearly
fifty years as student, trustee, or professor was const:.ntly
connected with South Carolina College, chartered in 1801,
and changed to South Carolina University in 18GG, in his
able work, " The History of South Carolina College " (8vo,
* An undoubted error. There was no George Douthet in the South Caro-
lina Conference. George Dougharty was at that date the presiding elder of
the Sahida District, which included Newberry, tlie seat of BethL-1 Academy.
See General Minutes, 1802.
Bethel x\cademy. 79
p. 463), furnislies these items of iuforination in regard to one
of the teachers in Bethel Acadeniy : " Eiisha llanunond was
born in New Bedford, Mass., October 10th, 1774. He was
graduated at Dartmouth College in 1802. He came to South f
Carolina in 1803-4, and was immediately engaged as princi-
pal of Mount Bethel Academy, in Xewberry, which was estab-
lished by the Methodist Episcopal Church." This, beyond con-
troversy, fixes the date of Professor Hammond's connection
with Bethel. Another fact, established on the authority of
Dr. La Borde, is, that early in January, 1805, a number of
young men entered South Carolina College, thoroughly pre-
pared, some for the Freshmen and a few for the Sophomore
class at Bethel Academy. Sach work would have required a
longer period than from 1803-4 to January 1, 1805.
Albert M. Shipp, \^.\^.^ late president of WoEord College,
Spartanburg, S. C, now professor in Yanderbilt University,
Nashville, Tenn., in his interesting "History of Method-
ism in South Carolina," says that Professor Hammond suc-
ceeded Eev. Mark Moore as principal. If so, then Bethel
Aciidemy nmst have opened eai'lior than 1802. I incline to
the theory, in the absence of positive testimony, that soon
after dedication by the Bishop, in 1795, and before the trustee
meeting at which it was determined that no tuition fees
should be charged, while the building was yet unfinished, a
school was opened. In the mild climate of Newberry dis-
trict (county) a room twenty feet square, finished on the out-
side, having a floor, and a good fire-place well supj)lied with
fuel, would not be uncomfortable for a school without ceiling
or plaster. This school may for some reason — the resignation
of the teachei's, perhaps — have been suspended. In 180S the
Bishop and George Dougharty may have been appointed a
connnittee to re-organize and put the school again in operation.
80 Early Schools of Methodism.
From no one of the five authors now before me, all giving
accounts of Bethel School, can I fix the date of its opening.
If mj readers are left in the same condition of uncertainty,
it will be less surpi-ising, as I take up the subject far remote
in time and place, while some of my predecessors wrote near
the time and place of the occurrence.
" The school," says Rev. Professor Shipp, D.D., " was
for six years under the rectorship of the Rev. Mark Moore, a
man eminently qualified for the post, assisted by two teach-
ers, Messrs. Smith and Hammond. At the close of his
term of service Mr. Moore resigned, and took charge of a
school in Columbia, where, by his infiuence and preaching
ability, which was of the first order, he materially aided in
the permanent establishment of Methodism. On the retire-
ment of Mr. Moore, Mr. Hammond, father of Governor
Hammond, took charge of the school, and taught it with sin-
gular ability for many years. Mount Bethel was largely
patronized, and had students from Georgia and North Caro-
lina. A number of the leading men of South Carolina were
prepared for college at Mount Bethel."
This is the substance of all that Methodist writers have to
say of Bethel Academy. Fortunately we have more com-
plete information from disinterested witnesses without the
pale of Methodism.
Dr. David Ramsey, a High-Church Episcopalian, the his-
torian of South Carolina, who wrote at near tlie opening of
this century, says : " In I^ewberry District there are two veiy
respectable academies. Tliey were originated and have been
carried on with much spirit. Bethel Academy is under the
patronage of the Methodist Society, and is much indebted to
the zeal of the Rev. Mr. Dorothy, deceased. It is situated
in a populous, pleasant, and wealthy neighborliood, and as
Bethkl Academy. 81
tlie gentlemen of the vicinity feel a zeal for its welfare, they
keep plentiful boarding at a reasonable price. This academy
has seventy or eighty students. It is generally filled by a
respectable teacher."
The Rev. Mr. Dorothy, here so honorably mentioned
by Dr. Ramsey, was intended for Rev. George Dougharty,
who for several years was an able preacher and presiding
elder in South Carolina. He died in 1807. He was Bishop
Asbury's principal ministerial helper in building Bethel
Academy.
That distingnislied jurist and Christian gentleman, mem-
ber of the Baptist Church, the late Judge Belton O'Neal, in
liis "Annals of Newberry," says: " In this part of the district
(Newberry) was one of the best classical schools in the upper
part of the State. It belonged to the Methodist Church, and
from Ramsey's * History of South Carolina' we learn that
to the Rev. Mr. Dougharty are we mainly indebted for that
fine institution of learning, the Mount Bethel Academy.
Elisha Hammond, the father of Governor Hammond, was
its first principal teacher." *
Judge O'Neal proceeds to say : " It gave to the country
such men as Judge Crenshaw, Walter Crenshaw, Chancel-
lor William Harper, Wesley Harper, John Caldwell, Dr.
George Glenn, John R. Golding, Governor Richard Manning,
John Brown, Dr. Thomas Smith, of Society Hill, Judge
N. R. Evans, of Chester, and Thomas Glover, of Orange-
burg. Chancellor Caldwell owed a sort. of divided allegiance
to the Newberry Academy and Mount Bethel School, for
at both places he received parts of his academic education."
* This statement is in conflict with tliat of Dr. A. M. Shipp, who makes Pro-
fessor Hammond the successor to Rev. Mark Moore. Other circumstances indi-
c:Ue tlje correctness of Dr. Shipp. Still Judge O'Neal is very higli aulhoritj.
4*.
82 Early Schools of Methodism.
The Mount Bethel Academy furnished the first students
and graduates of the South Carolina College. " I may be
pardoned," continues Judge O'Neal, " for recalling to the
memories of the people of l^ewberry District the names of
two of the principal foimders and patrons of Bethel Academy,
Charles Crenshaw (father of Chancellor Crenshaw and Wal-
ter Crenshaw) and Edward Finch, both Methodists, and strict,
uncompromising Christians. Finch was a magistrate. Many
a blasphemer was made to pay a shilling for each profane
oath uttered in his presence. The old law, under which he
acted so well for the assertion of good morals, still exists, and
if it were now and then enforced by our worthy magistrates
it would go far to prevent the odious practice of taking the
name of God in vain."
The best test of merit in an institution of learning is the
work accomplished, the men it furnishes to the various use-
ful vocations. Bethel Academy was most fortunate in the
character and achievements of its alumni. The late Dr. La
Borde, the eminent historian of South Carolina University,
with whom the writer was for some years associated in the
faculty of that institution, makes this record of one of the
students of Bethel Academy, who was graduated in the first
class of the South Carolina College :
" Most gratifying is it to me to record that the first person
admitted to the college is one of its most distinguished
alumni ; that to the most attractive qualities of the man he
added the highest intellectual endowments; that his genius
and learning have adorned the bench of Carolina, and that
lie is justly regarded as the Eld on of the State.* I mean
William Harper, the late eminent chancellor. The records
of the faculty show that he Vv\as the first student admitted to
* Lord Eldon was among tl-.e raoet distitiguished Chic f- Justices of England.
Bei'iiel Acade^q'. 83
the College ; his brother, "Wesley, was the second." Every
member of the graduating classes in the South Carolina Col-
lege (now University) for the years ISOG and 1807 were
young men from Bethel Academy, who had there prepared
for an advanced standing, and were graduated at the end of
one and two years after the college opened, January, 1805.
" So thorough a teacher," says Dr. La Borde (see his " Uistory
of South Carolina College "), " was Professor Haumiond, the
distinguished principal of Bethel Academy, that he became
known and honored throughout the State. It was not sur-
prising that the tmstees of South Carolina College were
anxious to secure his services ; and he was accordingly elected
professor of languages in 1805."
Dr. La Borde did not know Prof. Hammond personally,
but he says, "Judge Evans, who was his pupil at Bethel and
at Columbia, informed me that his reputation as a teacher
was very high. Ilis personal appearance and manners were
very captivating, and his popularity for a period of his con-
nection with the college was scarcely inferior to that of Dr.
Maxey," the first and most popular president. Such was the
principal of Bishop Asbury's South Carolina school during
the years of its greatest success. Professor Hammond's re-
tirement from Bethel Academy, taking with him to Co-
lumbia all his ])upils who were prepared to enter the college,
seriously embarrassed the school. The neighborhood felt
the depressing influence of the change. The trustees found
diliiculty in supplying the principalship.
With the hope of saving the Academy, Professor Hammond
resigned his position in the College, and, on the last day of
January, 1807, retired from Columbia, and returned to New-
berry and resumed his labors in the Academy. In 1815 Pro-
fessor Hammond took final leave of the school and removed
84 Eakly Schools of Metuodism.
to Columbia. lie died in Macon, Ga., on the 27th of Jul}^,
1829.
With varying fortunes Bethel Academy continued until
about the year 1820. Rev. Dr. Sliipp records it as ceasing
to exist at the last date named. Other authorities considered
it as only suspended at its original location, to be re-opened
at Mount Ariel, in the adjoining district or county of Abbe-
ville, under the name of
TABERNACLE ACADEMY.
The accomplished young collegian, Stephen Olin, was its
first and most distinguished principal after the re-opening.
He was graduated wuth the first honors of the institution at
Middlebury College in the summer of 1820. Soon after, an
invalid, he started South in quest of health. He sailed from
New York city early in the succeeding December for Savan-
nah, Ga., supposing a situation as teacher was secured for
him. On reaching Augusta, Ga., he learned that, on account
of the report which had reached the trustees of his poor
health, the school promised him had been given to another.
This disappointment left him to seek an engagement else-
where. He responded to a call, made through an Augusta
paper, for a principal of Tabernacle Academy, the successor
to Bethel Academy, South Carolina, and was soon engaged, at
seven hundred dollars per -annum and board. On arriving at
the seat of the school he found the building a solitary log-house
in a grove of pine trees. He describes it thus : " The door
was hung on a couple of sticks." A Southern young man
would have expressed it by saying the door was hung on
wooden hinges. Mr. Olin continues : " The windows were
miserable. I draw my table to the wall, where I am supplied
with liirht that comes in between the loirs."
Bethel Academy. 85
This was " tlie okl field school-liouse," now dignified by
the name of Academy, because tlie teacher was a collegian,
who taught, if required, the higher branches of learning. A
better building was soon completed and occupied by the
young principal.
From the first Mr. Olin was delighted with his new home
and new friends, and the patrons of the school were not long
in discovering that Providence had loaned them for a season
no common man. In his sprightly lettei-s to friends he viv-
idly describes his situation and surroundings :
" The institution is wholly Methodist. The trustees are
Methodists, according to the straitest sect. I board in a rich
family, live better than in Savannah or Augusta, have coffee
and "tea in Kew England style, good wheat bread and butter,
and a plentiful table. I am become black and brawny even
beyond the habits of my kindred. Besides teacliing, which,
of course, takes up most of my time, I have become an adept
at shooting with a rifle. I wander through the woods for
many a furlong with a gun on ray shoulder and a pack of
dogs at my heels, and can wind a huntsman's horn, the de-
light of * mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, and curs of low
degree.' "
These divei-sions, and the invigorating climate of upper
South Carolina, exercised the most favorable influence upon
his delicate constitution, and encouraged the hope of perma-
nent and vigorous health. New traits of character were soon
to be developed, and new employments to occupy his time
and thoughts. He found in South Carolina what he had not
sought in his New England home — God's mercy in the for-
giveness of sin, and the witness of sonship in Jesus Christ.
This happy change he communicated to his father and other
friends, and with it the changed plan of life's work.
86 Early Schools of Methodism.
The law, as a profession, was given up. By the strong cords
of duty he was drawn toward the ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He was a licensed preacher while yet
but a candidate for membership in the Church. He became
an earnest revivalist. While he neglected no means to ad-
vance his pupils in the various studies upon which they had
entered, he was equally zealous in winning them to Christ
and full consecration to God. Within a few months after
his conversion he was the most popular preacher in the State
at camp-meetings and on other great occasions. In all the
regions of Abbeville and contiguous counties old people are
still found who heard and remember the early sermons of
the great Olin, and they never weary in recounting the
effects produced by his wonderful ministry. In preaching
he never failed to become aroused himself. His hearers
were always captives carried away by his magical fascinations.
At the risk of the charge of irrelevancy I venture to relate
the following incident, given to me by an old itinerant, who
was an eye-witness of the occurrence. Those who knew the
great preacher, eitlier in his earlier or later years, will find
no difficulty in crediting the narration. A very short time
after Mr. Olin had received license to preach he attended a
camp-meeting held in the vicinity of his school, Tabernacle
Academy :
"On Saturday afternoon the presiding elder put him up
up to preach. He had spoken, a few times before, to small
congregations in school-houses and country churches. JSTow,
for the first time, he faces a large audience, in which, or on
the capacious stand, according to the custom of that day,
were a score or more of the preachers from the circuits
around. As the young collegian, and much younger
pi-eacher, opened his discourse, his unwieldy form sliook like
Bethel Academy. 87
an aspen leaf in the wind through embarrassment and nerv-
ousness. The preachers around him on the stand for a few
minutes found their sympathies most distressingly taxed,
and looked for a complete breakdown. In a short time he
gained the mastery over himself, and became absorbed with
his theme. His control over his hearers became complete,
lie swayed them, as himself was swayed, unconsciously by
the breathinor thouo:hts and burnintr words that rolled from
his lips, fired by tlie live coals from God's altar. The hearers
were enraptured, carried away, scarcely knowing whether
in the body or out of it. They groaned in agony, w^ept in
sympathy, rejoiced in ecstasy, or shouted in triumph, as the
tide of feeling rose or receded. The old preachers listened
in amazement, mingled with suspicion that the young
preacher was on stilts, that the sermon was borrowed ; but
whence, no one ventured to guess, they had heard nothing
like it before.
*' The presiding elder was importuned to give another op-
portunity to judge of the merit or demerit of the young
preacher. Under even more trying circumstances than
those of the day before, Mr. Olin agaiu preached. An
immense congregation was seated at the hour for morn-
ing service on the Sabbath. With much of the timidity
of the preceding day, he opened his discourse. The sermon
and its immediate effects were indescribable. Criticism w^as
disarmed, doubt was excluded. In the estimation of all
present Stephen Olin was the greatest preacher in South
Carolina, if not in America. From that hour, invalid as he
was. Dr. Olin took first rank airiong preachers, and held it
until his work was done."
The late Bishop Wightman said : " Never, in the memory
of the oldest Metliodists, had so powerful a preacher burst
88 Early Schools of Methodism.
with so sudden a splendor and tremendous an effect upon tlie
Churcli." His work as a teacher was equally successful.
Tabernacle Academy and its principal became known far and
near. Students came from all parts of the South, eager to be
pupils of so eminent and widely known a preceptor. At
tlie end of about tliree years Mr. Olin resigned the princi-
palship, leaving the school in a high state of prosperity.
After some years of varying success and reverse the loca-
tion was found not to be a healthy one. Another removal
became necessary. A good site, about two miles distant, was
chosen, and a good building erected ; and in its new home,
under an old popular Methodist name, it opened as
OOKESBURY CONFERENCE SCHOOL.
Under this new name Bishop Asbury's Bethel Academy
became the school of the South Carolina Conference. It
gives free education to the sons of members of the Con-
ference.
The Conference secured it an endowment of about $18,000.
Unfortunately the managers of most of the schools in Soutli
Carolina, during the late war, called in their well-invested
funds, and with them purchased eight per cent. Confederate
bonds. Wofford College sunk an endowment of $100,000,
and Cokesbury nearly all it had. Still both went on, and
they yet go on with yearly increasing prosperity.
Professor Prichard, an alumnus of Woiford College, was
the principal in 1879. He said, " Tlie situation is the best
in the State. Cokesbury is upon high land, a Methodist
village free from barrooms, gambling saloons, or other pub-
lic temptations to vice."
AsBUKY College.
CHAPTER IX.
ASBURY COLLEGE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.
In Lis "Annals of Baltimore," Kev. Alfred Griffith says:
" In 1816 the Methodists organized a respectable seminary
in Baltimore ; Rev. Samuel K. Jennings, M.D., was its prin-
cipal. This is the Dr. Jennings of whom Bishop Asbury, in
the year 1800, when at Bethel Academy, Kentucky, wrote :
" It was thought best, in regard to Bethel, to carry the first
design of education into operation, and that we should em-
ploy a man of sterling qualifications as president. Dr. Jen-
nings was thought of, talked of, written to." Though tilling
but a small space in the written history of Methodism, he
appears to have been a man of marked ability and of integ-
rity, and at one time he was the only Methodist minister
of American birth who, within the walls of a college, had
followed to completion the regular curriculum, and been
honored with the baccalaureate degree. It is said that Dr.
Jennings was graduated in the class of 1785, at Rutgers'
College. In 1815 Bishop Asbury, while at the Virginia
Conference, entered in his Journal : " Dr. Jennings preached
us a great sermon on * I am the vine, ye are the branches.' "
A charter was granted to this school, called by Dr. Griffith
a seminary, bearing date February 10, 1818, as Asbury Col-
lege, with nine trustees, as follows : George Roberts, Abner
Neal, William Wilkins, Philip Littig, William Barker, Sam-
uel Harden, Moses Hand, Isaac A. Toy, and John Brice —
all (says Rev. Isaac P. Cook, D.D.) leading Baltimore Meth-
odists, all now (1883) deceased.
90 Early Schools of Methodism.
The editors of the " Methodist Magazine " of 1818, Eevs.
Joshua Soule and Tlionias Mason, gave the following notice
of this, then, only Methodist college in America :
It affords us real satisfaction to be able to lay before our readers the
following information relative to the Asbury College, recently estab-
lished in the city of Baltimore. [Tlie information follows in several
pages of laudatory notices of the faculty, and of the prospects of the
school.] Many sincere friends of Methodism have long realized the
great deficiency in the methods and means of education, and have
regretted the want of seminaries under the special direction and super-
intendence of that religious community to which they are united. A
laudable zeal for the establishment of such institutions is now prevailing
in different sections of the United States. The Asbury College has prob-
ably exceeded in its progress, considering the short time it has been
established, any literary institution in this country. The character of the
president. Rev. Samuel K. Jennings, M.D., is too well known to need
any recommendation from us. His comprehensive mind, illuminated by
science, has long been employed in designing a system on which a knowl-
edge of the important branches of literature might be obtained with the
greatest ease and facility. The plan and actual operations of the Asbury
College will demonstrate that these exertions have not been ineffectual.
Professor Blackburn, by long experience, has acquired the talent of
making the mathematics both easy and delightful ; an attainment as
rare as excellent. And Professor Power, by an unusual attention to the
department, has likewise introduced some very valuable improvements
in the method of communicating classical learning.
An additional item of information to the readers of the
Magazine was, that there were at that date " about one hun-
dred and seventy students and scholars in the seminary, whose
progress, taken collectively, surpasses any thing commonly
exhibited in public schools." In the third volume of his
'' History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," Dr. Bangs
mentions, in some twenty-three sad lines, Asbury College,
and this Magazine notice :
AsBrRT College. 91
An effort was made last year to resuscitate the cause of education
among us. Dr. Samuel K. Jennings, aided by several benevolent and
public-spirited individuals in the city of Baltimore, laid the foundation
of a literary institution denominated the Asbury College, and it went
into operation under apparently favorable auspices, an account of
which was published in the March number of the ' ' Methodist Maga-
zine " for this year. With this account, however, the friends of educa-
tion, who estimated things as they are, were not much gratified, as it
seemed to promise more than could be nitionally expected, and was
rather calculated to blazon forth the attainments of the professors than
to enlighten the public by a sober statement of facts. It continued for
a short time, and then, greatly to the disappointment and mortification
of its friends, went down as suddenly as it had come up, nnd Asbury
College lives only in the recollection of those who rejoiced over its rise
and mourned over its fall— a fatality which has hitherto attended all
attempts to establish literary institutions among us.
The "General Minutes" for the year 1838 contains an
obituary notice of that eminent man Rev. Martin Ruter.
Among the facts related of him is the statement, " In the
year 1818 Asbury College conferred on him the degree of
Master of Arts." These items, found in the "Methodist
Magazine " for March, 1818, Dr. Bangs's History, as quoted,
and the Conference Minutes, comprise all the published in-
formation the Church has of Asbury College.
The only connection that Bishop Asbury had with this
undertaking was tlie bringing of Dr. Jennings, a very popu-
lar local minister, to Baltimore. The Bishoj) died at or near
the date of its opening as a seminary. Learning incident-
ally, in March, 1883, that there was at least one man living —
he has since died — who knew something of Asbury College,
I addressed to Rev. Isaac P. Cook, D.D., who had for more
tlian fifty years held the office of local (never was an itin-
erant) preacher in tlie cit}^ of Baltimore, a number of ques-
92 Early Schools of Methodism.
tions in regard to Asbiiry College. From his obliging re-
sponse I condense the additional information given :
The college was located in a large brick building on the corner of
Park Avenue and Franklin Street, since occupied for other purposes.
A large private female seminary was connected with it, under the
charge of the accomplished daughters of Professor Blackburn. Bishop
Asbury found Dr. Jennings a teacher in the South, and urged him to
come to Baltimore. As a preacher, always local, he attracted crowds
nearly equal to Bascom. His practice as a doctor was immense for the
times. In business he was visionary, always making losses, and died
reduced, but maintaining his integrity. I heard him preach. He was
a noble man.
The truth of history requires one other item, furnished by
Dr. Cook, of Dr. Jennings : " In the radical controversy of
1828 he was expelled from our Church and adhered to the
seceders. On his dying bed he regretted his severance from
our Church as the mistake of his life." This seems not to
have shaken the confidence of Dr. Cook in, or lessened his ad-
miration of, Dr. Jennings. Brief as was its career, and defect-
ive as was its organization, Asbury College did some good
w^ork, and aided, as perhaps all its predecessors have done,
in preparing the Church for the new and grand era of edu-
cation then about to dawn. It graduated a few in arts, some
in medicine. Dr. Jennings's specialty ; others here laid a
foundation for education, upon which they built in other
schools or under private tuition. Dr. Cook gave the names
of quite a number of the alumni of Asbury College, among
them three, who, at that time, Marcli, 1883, were still living.
These were, Kev. Dr. Samuel Kepler, aged seventy-nine, of
the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, since deceased; Jesse L. Warfield, M.D.,
aged eighty-two ; and Thomas Littig, M.D., aged eighty-
AsBURY College. 93
three. Drs. Warfield and Littig married daugliters of the
renowned Rev. Thomas E. Bond, M.D., D.D., the champion
Methodist editor.
Other names furnished Dr. Cook by these three then liv-
ing alumni were Dr. J. Cader, John Allemong, late veterans
of the Baltimore Conference; Rev. Mr. Shafer, who entered
the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; Josepli
Neal, son of the trustee, Abner Neal ; and Henry Kepler,
brother of Rev. Samuel Kepler, before named. All these
were men of prominence in their respective spheres. The
old Magazine named three of the faculty. Dr. Cook gives the
names of three others.
The full list, as given by these authorities, consisted of
Kev. Samuel K. Jennings, M.D., president, and professor of
mental and moral science ; George Blackburn, professor of
mathematics; Michael Power, professor of ancient languages;
John M. Keogy, professor of English literature. Dr. Hunter,
who had spent eight years in Paris, was teacher of the French
language. Dr. Cook says, that but few of the professoi-s
were Methodists. One was an avowed infidel, one was a
Roman Catholic.
How long Asbury College continued in operation is not
certain. Dr. Griffitli says it opened in 1816. It was at work
in 1818, as during that year it conferred on Rev. Martin Ru-
ter, afterward Dr. Ruter, tlie master's degree. Dr. Cook
said, "It died for want of money and of a mongrel religion."
It closed the Asbury an period of Methodist schools.
It is said that Cokesbury College was never chartered by
the Legislature or any court. This being true, Asbury Col-
lege was the first Methodist college chartered in the United
States and in the world. Augusta College, Kentucky, was
the second. An item of interest.
94 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
THE WESLEYAN ACADEMY, NEWMARKET AND WILBRAHAM.
BY REV. DAVID SHERMAN, D.D.
Genuine revivals of religion have invariably tended to
quicken the intellectual faculties and to promote the diffu-
sion of knowledge through society, as well as to improve the
taste and purify the heart of the people among whom they
have prevailed. The Lutheran Reformation communicated
an immense intellectual impulse to Europe, and became a
main aid in the revival and diffusion of letters. As the
cause extended across the British Channel, the new learning
remained intimately associated with the new faith. At a
later period, Puritanism aroused the public mind, and planted
beside the plain church the little square school-house, the
university of the commonalty. Again, Methodism, the warm
wave of spiritual life which swept over England and Amer-
ica in the eighteenth century, proved an intellectual stimu-
lant, penetrating to the very roots of society and stirring to
activity the mental and moral faculties of the masses.
In America, as well as in England, were the disciples of
Wesley to become at once an evangelistic and educational
force, intent not only upon the conversion, but upon the
intellectual and spiritual edification, of the people. The pul-
pit was to be supplemented by the school ; the renewal of
the heart was to be followed by the cultivation of the intel-
The Wesleyan Academy. 95
lect, and the harmonious unfolding of the entire powers
of the individual. To secure an end so desirable the at-
tempt was early made to found literary institutions. If
tlie first essays in this direction were not altogether suc-
cessful, they served to intensify, among our people, the de-
sire for education, and to teach them how to attain ultimate
success.
In this educational movement among the American Meth-
odists, the Wesleyan Academy holds a conspicuous and hon-
ored place. It was our first successful literary institution ;
and, in efficiency and usefulness, it has been excelled by
none of the later foundations. In its history there are three
marked stages : the first treats of its founding, at Newmarket,
N. H., 1817-1823 ; the second, of its removal to Wilbraham,
Mass., 1824:-1848 ; and the third, of its rebuilding, 1848-1 885.
I. THE FOUNDING, 1817-1823.
Under the lead of Jesse Lee the Methodists entered New
England in 1789. Access to the hearts of the people was
not easy. They were cool to strangers and extremely suspi-
cious of false doctrine and its teachers. And the teachings
of the new evangelists were regarded by them as rank
heresy. In a soil so hard and a temperature so low, the
cause was slow in taking root. So late as 1815 the member-
ship east of the Hudson was only eight thousand. In the
interior of New England our people were few. On the
lower Connecticut, in Vermont, Maine, and the maritime
tract extending from Rhode Island to Maine, the numbers
were greater. On his first invasion Lee captured Lynn and
made a favorable impression on Boston and adjacent towns.
At the period here indicated some of the ablest preachers of
the Conference were stationed in Eastern Massachusetts and
96 ExVKLY Schools of Methodism.
New Hampsliire, and tliej were not unmindful of tlie defi-
ciencies and needs of tlie denomination, especially in educa-
tional facilities. TI13 education of its children had become
an important consideration. To send them to institutions of
the " standing order " was, in most instances, to lose them ; for
those schools were effective proselyting agencies. The alter-
native w^as either to see the children drawn away from the
faith for which their parents contended, or to found insti-
tutions of their own. That they chose the latter need not
surprise us.
In its inception the academy dates back to 1815. In the
latter part of that year several of the preachers, the real found-
ers of the institution, held a meeting for mutual counsel and
for the interchange of religious and literary thought at the
house of Eev. John Brodhead, in South Newmarket, N. H.,
where the questions relating to the founding of a literary
institution were recanvassed. The difficulties in the way of
accomplishing such a work were carefully considered, and,
with the less hopeful of the brethren, had great weight ; but,
in the meeting, the sj)irit of faith and courage predominated,
and a vote was reached favorable to making the attempt.
As a location they thought of no place more suitable than
the one where they were then assembled. The selection was
conditioned on the co-operation of the citizens of the town,
who were to be consulted on the subject by a committee
raised for the purpose of carrying out the plan of the preach-
ers. The citizens received the proposition with favor, and
gave verbal assurances of material aid in furtherance of the
enterprise. On condition that the preachers open a school
and guarantee instrnction for five years, the citizens would
furnish land for a site and contribute liberally to the funds
for the erection of the academy building. The proposal was
The Wesleyan Academy. 97
accepted by the committee, and steps were taken to secure
the erection of the academy edifice.
Meantime the whole matter was brought before the N'ew
England Conference at its session in Bristol, H. I., June 22,
1816. Though the enterprise was not one of great magni-
tude, the resources of the Church were then quite small, and
every available help was needed to take it on to completion.
The sympathy and aid of the preachers, as the leaders of the
people and the parties on whom dependence must be placed
for securing students, were indispensable.
The introduction of the matter to the Conference produced
a sensation By some of the members the movement was
deemed hasty and inopportune. They were quite sure it
was an elephant which would prove difficult to handle. By
others a more hopeful view was taken ; the matter was not
only timely, but highly important to the welfare of the
Church. The courage, foresight, and faith of the body
l)roved to be in the ascendant. The words of discourage-
ment came from the less conspicuous members ; but when
such men as Soule, Iledding, Brodhead, Merrill, and Ruter
spoke, the tide was completely turned, and a strong affirma-
tive vote was secured. The advocacy of Soule, whose influ-
ence as a popular leader and ecclesiastical statesman was
then predominant in the Conference, and Buter, the secre-
tary, the foremost scholar and the most eloquent preacher of
the body, was pronounced and influential. They declared
that the committee, in taking the initiative, had done wisely,
and ought to be sustained by the Conference and the
Church. Without further hesitancy they voted to assume
the responsibility of the new enterprise.
A committee of five — Charles Virgin, Caleb Dustin, Philip
Munger, George Pickering, and John Brodhead — was ap-
98 Early Schools of Methodism.
pointed to " make such arrangements with the subscribers at
Newmarket as they may think best as agents of the Confer-
ence." To this committee the citizens gave a formal pledge
to furnish a site for the academy, and to contribute to the
funds of the institution, while, in behalf of the Conference,
the committee bonnd themselves to furnish instruction for
five years. Under tliis mutual pledge the site was selected,
the requisite subscriptions secured, and the building was
erected at an expense of $755, of which $261 were contrib-
uted by the ministers. Martin Ruter gave $80, John Brod-
head $55, and other preachers lesser sums. The building,
still standing and now used as a dwelling-house, was small
and plain, but convenient for pui-poses of instruction. As
an instructor, the conimittee secured the services of Moses
White, a graduate of the University of Yermont, an accu-
rate scholar, a superior teacher, and a fine Christian gentle-
man, who remained as an instructor until the academy was
closed, in 1823, doing very much to promote its interests.
The first to come, the last to go — one of the few graduates
of the time in the Church whose zeal, intelligence, and serv-
ices were invaluable to the cause — he could adopt the lan-
guage of Virgil, qumque ipse miserima vidi et quoritm pars
magna fui. So excellent a man and instructor, coming in
oar hour of need, will never be forgotten by the Church.
On the first day of September, 1817, the school opened
with ten scholars — five male and five female. Among the
members at this early date we find the names of Daniel D.
and John M. "B redhead, and Edward T. Taylor, the future
famous preacher of the Boston Bethel. In the course of the
first term the number rose to about thirty, and before the
close of the year to near fifty.
At the ensuing session of the Conference, held June, 1818,
The Wesleyan Academy. 99
the subject of education came under review, and the com-
mittee to whom the interests of the academy were referred
decided to commit the wliole to the care of trustees. The
act passed by the Legislature of New Hampshire was
approved June 23, 1818, and contained, as the first board of
trust, the names of John Brodhead, Daniel Fillmore, Amos
Biimey, Benjamin Mathews, Alfred Metcalf, John Clark,
Eeuben Peaselee, John Mudge, and Joseph B. White. The
institution was fortunate in having so good a board of man-
asrers, each member of which was a wise counselor and an
indefatigable worker.
"With the above change in the management came another
equally important in the board of instruction. Martin
Ruter, a man of popular talent and easy manners, a star
preacher and an influential member of the Conference, was
elected principal or "president." His advent marks a new
era in the history of the institution. Among our people he
was a flaming advertisement. A man so widely known drew
attention to the school, and enlisted many in its favor who
had hitherto been indifferent. The attendance at once rose.
Eighty were present the first day, many of them from a dis-
tance. In the school itself he awakened fresh enthusiasm
and large expectations, especially among those studying for
the ministry. The example of a self-made man advancing
to the front rank of pulpit orators, and assuming the head-
ship of our educational interests, suggested large possibilities
to those favored with better early advantages. Ruter's
studies were varied in theology, history, languages, Latin,
Greek, Hebrew, Syriac — what not ? — and science. He at-
tempted to incorporate his large ideas into the institution.
The plan of study was broad and full. He looked to the
early elevation of the academy into a college, and actually
100 Early Schools of Methodism.
started a branch academy in tlie neighboring town of Kings-
ton. But helpful as he proved to be, Martin Ruter was an
expensive piece of ornamentation. If the number of pupils
in attendance on the school rose, the bills also accumulated
against the treasury.
In 1819, at the close of Ruter's first year, the whole avail-
able property of the institution, including building, books,
$1,000 cash donated by Colonel Binney, and a house given
by John Mudge, was $5,000. The deficit for the year was
$356 95. To meet this, and to secure funds for the improve-
ment of the institution. Rev. J. A. Merrill was employed as
an agent, who secured contributions to the amount of $1,613.
This helped the trustees along another stage, but was quite
insufiicient to save the institution.
In 1820 Ruter resigned, and Moses White again came to
the head and was aided by his brother, Rev. J. B. White, and
Henry Bulfinch, a graduate of Harvard. The decline from
this date was rapid and inevitable. Efforts were again made
to collect money, but with small success. The location w^as
unfortunate. Exeter Academy was but four miles away.
Our people and preachers had lost faith in the new enter-
prise. The ultimate appeal was to the Conference ; but the
Conference advised the removal to a more favorable locality.
The trustees hesitated to give up, but the remonstrances of a
committee sent by the Conference brought them to a better
mind, and they closed the school, December 30, 1823, with
the promise to transfer to tlie new board whatever should
remain of the property after paying the debts.
The attempt at Newmarket was a failure ; it was none the
less a success. The place was unsuitable. The ground in
the eastern part of New England was preoccupied by earlier
institutions. Newmarket was in an out-of-the-way corner.
The Wesleyan Academy. 101
Above all, our men were not trained to manage educational in-
stitutions. But the attempt at Kewmarket helped to awaken
an interest in the cause of education among our people, and
enabled some of our young men and women to learn the
trade of education. It not only gave a fresh impulse to the
cause, but also gave us the lirst installment of educated men,
who went forth as apostles in this new dispensation of popu-
lar education. Though dead, this honored old institution
still continues to speak to the generations of our people.
n. THE BEMOVAL, 1824-1848.
In the autumn of 1823, while the ilame at Newmarket was
yet glimmering in the socket, the trustees were in search for
a new location. The Rev. Joseph A. Merrill, one of their
number, presiding elder of the New London District, had
his attention called to Wilbraham as a place suitable for the
academy. He favored the selection, and suggested that the
people of "Wilbraham consider the matter, and that in case
they would afford material aid, a request be made to the
board, who were soon to hold an informal meeting for the
purpose of settling this very question.
Calvin Brewer, who first drew attention to Wilbraham as
the new location for the academy, circulated a subscription
among the chief citizens, and, with pledges amounting to
about $1,000, a request was made to the board, wliich met in
Boston during the month of December, to locate the school
there. In order to be in time for the meeting of the trust-
ees, the messenger, the Rev. Phineas Peck, drove the whole
distance of ninety miles with a gig in a day and a half. On
reaching the city he found the trustees in session, and found
also that they had nearly decided to select Lynn, where the
members of the new sect were quite numerous; but, on the
102 Early Schools of Methodism.
representations of Mr. Peck, they reconsidered, and gave the
preference to Wilbraham.
On the application of Kev. John Lindsay to the Mas-
sachusetts Legislature, an act was approved February 7,
1824, creating Amos Binney, Abel Bliss, Abraham Avery,
Calvin Brewer, Enoch Mudge, Wilbur Fisk, John Lindsay,
Joshua Crowell, and William Rice a body corporate under the
name of the Trustees of the Wesleyan Academy, with the
usual powers, and the right to hold property, whose annual
income should not exceed $10,000. On the 19th of the same
mouth the board was organized by the choice of Amos Bin-
ney as president and Abel Bliss secretary. Further subscrip-
tions, amounting in all to $5,567, were obtained by Calvin
Brewer. The lot of land where the academy now stands was
donated by David Warriner and William Rice, and plans
were at once secured and a contract was made for the erec-
tion of an academy building, '' sixty-five feet long by thirty-
five wide, two stories high, to be divided into two small
rooms and one large hall below, and one large hall, forty-five
by thirty five feet, and four drawing-rooms above, with
flights of stairs, and a basement eight feet deep under the
whole building." The building, costing about $1,000, was
ready for dedication in the autumn of the next year.
Meantime Wilbur Fisk, a young and rising member of
the Conference, a fine scholar, an accomplished gentleman,
an eloquent preacher, and the leader in our educational work,
had been elected principal of the new institution. On the
5th of ISTovember, 1825, the day fixed for opening the school,
he delivered an address in which he emphasized the value of
higher education, and laid down the plan on wliich the Wes-
leyan Academy was to be run. The address was very able
and was highly appreciated by both the trustees and the
The Weslkyax Acadkmy. 103
Clnircli at large. It showed the possibility of uniting learn-
ing and piety, and earnestly advocated the establishment of
a manual-labor department, a feature which was adopted, but
early abandoned. The plan of education at Wilbraham, like
that at Kewmarket, w^as very broad and comprehensive. Tlie
actual course of study was like that of other New England
ae^idemies.
The school opened with only seven scholars. The assist-
iint, Nathaniel Dnnn, Jr., was sole teacher until the ensuing
spring, Mr. Fisk being detained by the duties of his Ver-
fuont district. Mr. Dunn, a fine scholar and faithful teacher,
performed a large amount of faithful service in the insti-
tution. Under his management the attendance steadily
increased. From seven the number swelled to fifty, or
more. As no board ing-hou3e had been erected, accommoda-
tions were at first found in the families of the village, at one
dollar and a quarter per week.
In the spring of 1S2G the principal removed to Wilbra-
ham, and devoted his entire attention to the school. He was,
from the first, a man of all service — superintendent, teach-
ej", preacher, lecturer, and collector of funds for the im-
provement of the institution. His hand was every-where.
Among other matters of immediate interest was the erection
of a boarding-house. Instead of building anew, the trustees
purchased the old Warriner tavern stand, with the far.n
attached, and fitted it up for the accommodation of the
students at cheap rates. The original cost of the property
was $8,500, and the improvements amounted to $l,5nO
more. The house was soon filled to overflowing, and accom-
modations had still to be sought outside. This led to further
enlargement by adding a northern annex, and a third story
to the main building.
104: Eakly Schools of Methodism.
The first house-manager was Ebenezer Tliompson, long
the keeper of the village hotel at Concord, Mass., a fine
Christian gentleman, greatly liked by the students, but ill-
adjusted to the economical scale in use at the academy. Mr.
Thompson was succeeded by Solomon Weeks, a prudent and
excellent man, a skilled farmer, and a wise manager of the
house. The odor of his virtues long remained. Edward
Hyde, who died in the boarding-house, a saintly man, Dr.
Miles Belden, and Davis Smith, held the position for brief
terms.
The discipline of the school was mild and considerate.
Fisk was among the students as a father, inspiring the more
apathetic, checking the froward, repressing the vicious. He
appealed to them as ladies and gentlemen, and was usually
able to bring their better nature to the surface. The age liad
not, however, utterly abandoned the rod. Incorrigible sin-
ners, instead of being turned away, were treated to stripes, few
or many, according to the nature of their crime. The dun-
geon was a primitive institution, in the basement of tlie
academy, where the more refractory were shut up in total
darkness, and fed on bread and water, or subjected to long
periods of fasting. The dungeon has disappeared ; but men
are still living who endured its trying penalties, and love to
tell the story of their privations and cruel wrongs. Many of
risk's corrections were private. In extreme cases, however,
he brought the culprit before the whole school, in order that
others might be w^arned by his example. Such instances
were usually impressive and salutary, though he was once
completely baffled. The lad had often occasioned him
trouble, and when the cup of his iniquity was full, he was
told to come the next morning prepared for a birching.
After the usual morning devotions the culprit was called to
The Weslkyan Acadkmv. 105
the floor and treated to a homily on good behavior. Though
the other students were serious, tlie guilty one remained in
high spirits. Then came down the birch over his devoted
shouldere with a hollow, pasteboard sound. His coat was
ordered off, when a fresh application of the switch was made
with little effect. Every body else winced, but the lad re-
mained calm and comfortable. The vest was ordered off,
only to find another and another, and then fell down a large
atlas, which had served as an impenetrable padding. The
whole school broke into laughter. Fisk tried again, but was
completely overcome by the repeated roars of laughter, in
which he was compelled to join. After recovering his equi-
librium, he asked, " Why did you fix yourself up in this
way?" " You told me to prepare for a flogging, and I did
so," was the cool and meek reply, w^hich again brought the
house down. Without further attempt at correction, he was
told to resume his seat, as he had earned his liberty.
In Fisk's time the academy was affected by several tempo-
rary crazes, of a financial sort. Manual labor was one of
them, in which both the principal and Colonel Binney had
faith. The students were set to gardening, and, later, a
building was erected for mechanical work. Worst of all,
they bought a store, and undertook to play the merchant.
In these various attempts they" made nothing; it is much
to say they lost nothing. The sheet was balanced, and
tlie managers of the institution cured of these various
maladies.
One of the most interesting features of the school in Fisk's
time was the religious spirit which characterized it. Reviv-
als were enjoyed during each term, and the meetings were
marked by constant interest. In 1828 was the great revival.
The whole school, and, indeed, the whole neighborhood,
106 Early Schools of Methodism.
were moved. For an entire week the regular duties of the
school were suspended, and the whole time was devoted to
religious services. Nearly every student was converted, and
among the converts were some who afterward became famous
preachers, as Osmon C. Baker, Moses Hill, Morris Hill, David
Patten, and J. B. Merwin. The influence of this revival was
widely felt over the Church. The report of it was published
in "The Christian Advocate," and students repeated the
story far and wide.
From the opening to the close of Fisk's term the school
grew in interest and numbers. He easily stood at the liead
of the educational column in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the opening he had seven scholars, and eleven hundred
and fifty during his term of service, an average of two hun-
dred and twenty-five a year. The departure of the first prin-
cipal formed a turning-point in the history of the institution.
In 1831 Wilbur Fisk was succeeded by William M'Kendree
Bangs, a man of many virtues, a fine scholar, and an accom-
plished Christian gentleman, though, on account of ill-health,
poorly adapted to manage such an institution. After serving
only two terms he resigned his position.
The Rev. John Foster, a self-made man, a good scholar
and teacher, but a poor manager, succeeded him in 1832. He
Was favored with an excellent corps of teachers, namely,
William G. Mitchell, an enthusiast in natural science ; Edward
Otheman, an accurate scholar and faithful teacher; Sabura
S. Stocking, a brilliant scholar ; William Magoun, an efiicient
instructor; and S. P. Dale, an erratic but powerful genius.
Though much good work was done under Foster, the school
was in a chronic condition of unrest, growing in part out of
his poor management, and in part from the opposition of the
steward, John W. Hardy. In the summer of 1834 the dis-
The Wesley an Academy. 107
satisfaction broke into open revolt, resulting in tlie resig-
nation of the principal.
From 1S34: to 18.^1 David Patten was principal. He was,
in marked contrast with his predecessor, a man of gentleness,
prudence, one of the Academy's own sons, who was greatly be-
loved, and reigned in great peace and prosperity. Although
not twenty-four when he began, he bore himself with the
gravity and equipoise of middle life. As associates in teach-
ing he had B. I. Diefendorf in languages, Harvey B. Lane in
mathematics, John Roper in natural science, and William H.
Bussell in the modern languages ; Minor Raymond taught in
the English branches. The chair of the preceptress was occu-
pied in succession by Catherine Hyde, Miranda Nash, Susan
Allen, and Hannah Thompson, the last a daughter of the
first steward, an elegant scholar, and a young lady of genius,
who left a decided impression on the pupils who came un-
der her instruction. John W. Hardy and William Healy
were stewards.
In 1838 a ladies' boarding-house was erected, east of the
street, at an expense of $3,808 43. The spiritual interest
remained good, revivals occurring nearly every term. The
school had declined in numbers under Bangs and Foster, hut
it rallied under Patten, and rose in 1838 to nine hundred and
thirty-four by aggregate of terms. This was the culmination.
From this point a decline set in which extended down into
the administration of Adams. The decline was occasioned
by the new school laws of Massachusetts, and the erection of
rival institutions. The antislavery battle then in progress
was participated in by the teachers and students.
The administration of the Rev. Charles Adams extended
over the period from 1841 to 1845. He was at that time
full of vigor, young, active, energetic, and positive. He
lOS Early Schools of Methodism.
loved work, and did a large amount of teaching and lect-
uring. Early and late lie was at it, serving for two of his
years as stationed preacher, as well as principal. The de-
cline which began under Patten continued under Adams.
During Patten's last year there were but three hundred and
twenty-eight students; under Adams the number rose the
first year to three hundred and sixty-one, and tlien fell to
three hundred and six, the lowest point. The tide turned in
1844, the number being three hundred and twenty. From
that point the ascent was steady and continuous. As assist-
ants Adams had Bussell, Roper, I. T. Goodnow, who began
under Patten, Robert Allyn, fresh from the Wesley an Uni-
versity, and John H. Twombly. From the trustee board,
John Lindsay, Abel Bliss, Abraham Avery, William Smith,
and John W. Hardy retired. John M. Merrick, Minor Ray-
mond, Phineas Crandall, Charles Adams, R. R. Wright, and
Amos Binney filled the vacancies. The rehgious interest
during this period was well sustained. In 1842 there was
a revival of marked power, in which Reuben H. Loomis was
a chief actor, and Daniel Steele and James M. Wooster were
converts.
The term of Robert Allyn extended from 1845 to
1848. Bussell and Goodnow continued as teachers ; Orange
Judd, Samuel F. Beach, and Oliver Marcy were new re-
cruits. Isabella II. Hill was preceptress, and James Howe
and Alexander P. Lane were stewards. Under Mr. Allyn's
supervision the school enjoyed a gojd degree of prosperity.
The number of students in attendance steadily increased.
Tlie three liundred and forty-three of Adams's last year rose
to three hundred and eighty- t\vo in Allyn's first year, three
hundred and eighty-four in his second, and four hundred and
sixty-two in his third, marking a very decided turn in the tide.
The Wesley an Academy. 109
Special instruction was given, fall and spring, to those design-
ing to teach, including lectures on the method of teaching
and the qualifications of the teacher. The religions condition
of the school was good ; Sabbath observance was enjoined ;
and much attention was given to biblical instruction in the
Sunday-school.
At the close of the summer term of 1848 a grand alumni
gathering was held in the grove north of the academy.
Many former students were present ; memories of old days
were revived. Annis Merrill, Esq., of San Francisco, deliv-
ered an extended and able historical address. The occasion
was one of rare interest, rounding off grandly the second
period in the history of this noble and cherished institution.
With the increase of numbers, the principal had organized a
graduate course, and made arrangements for paying the debt
and improving the property. But when just entering upon
these schemes he resigned his position.
in. THE EEBUILDING, 1848-1885.
The successor of Kobert Allyn was the Rev. Minor
llaymond, D.D., a man of marked ability, a clear and logical
thinker, a mighty preacher, a born educator, and a man ex-
erting an extensive influence among the preachers and lay-
men of the Church. His election marks an era in the his-
tory of the institution. Old things passed away, all be-
came new. Difficulties, which at first appeared insuper-
able, vanished at the touch of one able to command the
situation, and the institution, assuming larger proportions,
came to hold a higher place in the esteem of the public.
During the term of his administration — 1848-1864 — every
thing was made new — buildings, faculty, trustees, attend-
ance, prices.
110 Early Schools of Methodism.
Minor Kay men d was born, 1811, in Kensselaerville, N. Y.,
and early joined tlie Methodist Episcopal Church. The ac-
count of the ^reat revival at the Wesleyan Academy in 1828,
published in " The Christian Advocate," led him to Wilbra-
liam, where he remained, as student and teacher, until 1842.
Here, again, after six years in the pastorate, he became prin-
cipal.
On entering upon his duties Raymond found a debt of
over $8,000, incurred by building the ladies' boarding-house,
interest, and repairs. The pi-operty donated by Colonel
Binney, located at East Cambridge, was sold for $5,000,
leaving still a debt of more than $3,000. In spite of this he
determined to improve the buildings already there, and to
erect others.
In 1849 the trustees took steps toward building " Fisk
Hall." The principal was authorized to raise money for the
purpose, and in March, 1851, pledges had been secured to
the amount of $4,100. The treasurer, at the same time,
reported a balance in favor of the institution of $1,441 85, a
more favorable showing than for twenty years. With such
encouragement they proceeded to erect a substantial brick
building, two stories, with an elevated basement, containing
an ample assembly room, rooms for the two literary societies
of the gentlemen, the fine arts, and recitation. The Hall,
erected at a cost of $8,000, is a fine monument to the
memory of the first principal at Wilbraham. The open-
ing address was made by Eev. Joseph Cummings, D.D.
The old academy was regarnished, and the ladies' boarding-
house was removed, and joined as an L to the gentlemen's
boarding-house. In 1854 the laboratory was replaced by an
elegant brick structure called, in honor of an early trustee
and benefactor, '* Binney Hall." This cost $8,000. In 1856
The Wesley an Academy. Ill
the new principal's Louse was built, at a cost of $4,000 — paid
by Isaac Kich. But this was a year of reverses, as well as of
successes. On January 4 the newly titted boarding-house
was destroyed by fire, causing a loss of $12,000, the insurance
being only $4,000 to meet it. This was a heavy blow ; but
the principal did not stop to mourn over the loss. He
at once prepared to rebuild on a larger scale, and in im-
proved style. On the first day of August there began to
arise from the ashes a new brick edifice, two hundred and
forty by thirty-eight feet, with an L in the rear, one hundred
and forty by thirty-eight feet, three and four stories high,
at a cost of $50,000. On the 9th of September this magnifi-
cent building was destroyed by the torch of an incendiary.
To rebuild seemed impossible; not to rebuild was ruin;
how to rebuild was a problem. But a new and larger house
was erected, at a cost of $75,000. To meet this heavy expense
the State granted, in all, $36,000 ; Isaac Rich contributed
$40,000, and Lee Claflin $10,000. The new boarding-house
was opened in 1861, with a debt of $20,000.
Dr. Raymond was aided by an able corps of teachers.
Bussell and Oliver Marcy ran through most of the period.
Fales H. Newhall, George M. Steele, Oliver S. Howe,
Henry W. "Warren, S. F. Chester, E. B. Otheman, Emerson
Warner, A. D. Vail, N. Fellows, C. N. Stowers, and T. H.
Kimpton came in later. The attendance was very large, ris-
ing, during some terms, above any point reached under Pat-
ten. In 1864 Dr. Raymond resigned ; but Wilbraham, the
place of his early attachment, the scene of his grandest labors
and triumphs, will retain, in its group of noble educational
buildings, his enduring monument.
Rev. Edward Cooke, D.D., was principal from 1864 to
1874. The attendance under him remained very large. He
112 Early Schools of Methodism.
enjoyed the advantage of the impetus from tlie administra-
tion of his predecessor. It was, too, the flush period after the
war. He w^as himself also very active in his work. The
courses of study organized by Dr. Eaymond were improved
and extended under Dr. Cooke, and special studies were in-
troduced. The old church was purchased and utilized as a
music hall and gymnasium, and the new stone church was
built by aid of the trustees and the New England Confer-
ence. The library was enlarged by the purchase of the
Chester Field collection, at a cost of $1,500 ; the income of
this administration was large ; the outgoes were also large ;
and as a result the debt rose from $20,000 to $30,000.
Rev. [N^athaniel Fellows, a former teacher, was principal
from 1874 to 1879. It was the period of the hard times,
and of reaction from great prosperity. The academy was
no longer advertised by its misfortunes or successes, and so
early fell out of sight. The attendance declined. But, in
spite of these disadvantages, the financial resources were
handled with such prudence and tact that, besides improve-
ments in the property, the debt was reduced several thou-
sand dollars. The principal liad the entire confidence of the
trustees and of the Conference. A healthy and harmonious
state of affairs prevailed, and he left with the regrets of
trustees, teachers, and students.
Rev. George M. Steele, D.D., has been principal from
1879 to 1885. A man of ripe judgment, an experienced
educator, a safe and wise business manager, and a judicious
disciplinarian; with tact to deal with students, he has dis-
played the instinct and capacity for school administration.
He at once improved the boards of instruction and trust by
infusing into them fresh blood. Rev. L. Crowell, D.D., was
employed to act as financial agent. Money has been raised
The Wesleyan Academy. 113
to liquidate the debt, and an endowment has been begun.
These efforts have done much to bring the academy again to
the notice of our people, and thus to secure students in
larger numbers. The attendance in 1884 was four hundred
and eleven, an average of two hundred and thirty-eight each
terra. The institution now more than meets expenses, and
will be able in due time to afford some aid to indigent stu-
dents by way of scholarships. On the whole, the outlook for
the future is highly encoui-aging. This old and honored
school is to become larger and more influential than for
many years under the inspiration and efforts of the present
principaL
114: Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER II.
AUGUSTA COLLEGE, KENTUCKY.
BY REV. DANIEL STEVENSON, D.D.
In 1798 the citizens of Bracken County, Ky., secured
from the State a grant of six thousand acres of land to
enable them to establish Bracken Academy at the town of
Augusta, on the Ohio Eiver, at that time the county seat
of Bracken County. Tlit^- trustees wisely held this land until
prices had so enhanced ats to provide a considerable fund,
which was employed in bringing into existence the first in-
stitution of learning under Methodist control that accom-
plished the work as well as bore the name of a college.
At the session of the Ohio Conference, held in Septem-
ber, 1821, Rev. John Collins and Rev. Martin Ruter were
appointed commissioners to attend the Kentucky Confer-
ence, which was to be held a little later in the month, and
propose that the two Conferences *' unite in the estaljlish-
raent of a college." The subject had evidently been consid-
ered previously by the members of the Kentucky Conference.
They responded that the establishment of such an institution
within their own bounds was " expedient and necessary," and
that the place where there was " a prospect of the most ample
funds for the purpose " was Augusta. Rev. Geo. C. Light and
Rev. Marcus Lindsey were appointed to confer with the com-
missioners of the Ohio Conference and to take such measures
in favor of the contemplated establishment as they might think
expedient, without involving themselves or the Conference
in expense. On the 15th day of the following December
Augusta College. 115
the commissioners of tlie two Conferences met at Augusta,
and, after an interchange of views between themselves and the
trustees of Bracken Academy, expressed themselves willing
to make Augusta the seat of the college, provided " assistance
could be obtained from the trustees of tlie academy and the
citizens in building a college edifice, and giving the institu-
tion a start."
The trustees of the academy adopted a resolution, in which,
after declaring that they were of opinion that the funds with
which they had been intrusted could not be better appropri-
ated than in assisting in the establishment of an institution
of the kind proposed, they agreed that the proceeds of the
Bracken Academy Fund should be appropriated to the use
of such an institution, and paid over to the trustees annu-
ally, and that all the original fund, over and above the
sum of $10,000 of active capital, should be paid over to the
said university, provided that the trustees of the academy
should be authorized to appoint three of their own body to be
trustees of the university, in conjunction with the trustees
who should be appointed by the Church, and that the annual
support thus pledged should be appropriated to sustain a chair
for the teaching " of the Latin, Greek, and English branches
of education." Sometime in the year 1822, probably about
the middle, a preparatory classical school was opened in the
academy buiying, under the principalship of Rev. John P.
Finley. The college was not yet organized, but it became
necessiiry for the Conferences to have the Latin and Greek
languages, as well as the English branches, taught, that the
proceeds of the Bracken Academy fund of $10,000 might be
appropriated to the use of the school.
John P. Finley was the prospective professor of languages.
He was a native of North Carolina, and a brother of the
116 Early Schools of Methodism. '
widely-known and greatly honored James B. Finley, long a
leading member of the Oliio Conference. They were both
educated by their father, an almnnus of Princeton College,
and for many years a minister in the Presbyterian Church.
In 1808 his sons united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church. The father soon after changed his Church rela-
tions, and, to the close of his life, was a minister of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. John P. Finley was licensed
to preach in 1810. He taught in various places in Ohio be-
fore he was called to Augusta College. In September, 1822,
he was admitted on trial into the Kentucky Conference, and
was appointed to Augusta College.
In December, 1822, the institution received a charter from
the Legislature of Kentucky, with full authority to confer
degrees, the only Methodist college then in existence with
such authority.
The most active and influential man in securing the estab-
lishment of the college was Captain James Armstrong, a lay
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Augusta,
who had, for a number of years, been a trustee of Bracken
Academy, and who, at the time of the contract between the
academy and the Conference commissioners, was its treas-
urer. He had united with the Methodist Episcopal Church
when it had in Augusta but three members. The lirst
Methodist preaching was in the Presbyteiiian church.
One Sunday morning, when the Methodist preacher ap-
proached the pulpit, he found it occupied by the Presbyte-
rian pastor, who informed him that he himself expected to
preach in the church at that hour. Captain Armstrong
thereupon arose and said : " We will retire to the court-
house." The Methodist preacher then announced that he
would preach in the court-house, and invited all who wished
Augusta College. 117
to hear him, to retire to that place. Nearly all the congrega-
tion left the church and went to the court-house. The next
day Captain Armstrong invited the members and friends of
the Methodist Church to meet him at a certain place ; and
there, after measuring off a lot from his own ground, he
began the erection of a Methodist Episcopal church. Yery
soon the building was completed and was ready for occupan-
cy. Captain Armstrong had borne the entire expense, except
the cost of some tin- work, which a Mr. Pattison, who was a
tinner and a Methodist, had insisted on doing without com-
pensation.
The old house stands there now, on the bank of the river,
with a stone slab on the front wall containing the inscription,
" Erected in 1819." It has passed through four floods. The
flood of 1884 rendered it unsuitable for further use, and the
walls of a new church edifice have just been completed in a
higher part of the town.
As soon as the charter for tlie college was granted by the
Legislature, Captain Armstrong undertook, with the assist-
ance of a few friends, the erection of the college edifice on
a lot of his own ; and, on the 4tli of October, 1823, the build-
ing being completed, he conveyed the property to the trust-
ees of Augusta College. The building was eighty by forty-
two feet. On the first floor was a chapel, forty by thirty
feet, with two recitation rooms, thirty by eighteen feet. On
the second floor were six rooms. The third story was divided
into seven rooms.
Captain Armstrong lived long enough to see the building
occupied by the preparatory school, but not longenonsjh to see
the college in full operation. He died in August, 1824, and
was buried in the rear of the church wjiich he had erected.
Mr. Finley continued his labore at the college until they
118 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
were terminated by his death, in May, 1825. His remains
rest in the rear of the old church.
In September following, Kev. Joseph S. Tomlinson, A.B.,
who had just graduated from Transylvania University, was
appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy.
During the next month Eev. John P. Durbin, A.M., was
elected to the chair of Latin and Greek.
Professor Tomlinson's training had been by one of the
most pious and cultivated of mothers. In his twelfth year
he joined the Church, at sixteen was licensed to exhort, and
at eighteen to preach. He learned the trade of a saddler,
and followed it until he entered college.
Upon the recommendation of the trustees of Transylvania
University, young men could be admitted free of tuition as
beneficiaries of the Morrison Fund. The Hon. Henry Clay
was the administrator of this fund, and a trustee of the uni-
versity. It so occurred that on a Saturday night young
Tomlinson was to preach at a quarterly meeting in Lexington.
Mr. Clay was invited by Eev. Henry M'Daniel to hear the
sermon. He did so ; and, after the service, invited the young
minister to visit him at his home. Mr. Tomlinson accepted
the invitation, and Mr. Clay requested the privilege of pre-
senting his name to the trustees for admission to the univer-
sity, under the provision of the Morrison Fund. At the
opening of the next term Mr. Tomlinson entered the univer-
sity, where he at once took high rank as a young man of fine
natural ability and of remarkable purity of life and charac-
ter. While he was still a student at Lexington, General
La Fayette visited the university. Young Tomlinson was se-
lected to make the address of welcome on the part of the stu-
dents. He was graduated with high honor in 1825. Immedi-
ately after his graduation he was elected to a professorship in
Augusta College. 110
Augusta College, and was very soon admitted on trial into
the Kentucky Conference.
John P. Dnrbin was born in Bourbon County, Ky., in the
year ISOO. At tlie age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a
cabinet-maker. He was converted in 1818, and soon after was
licensed to preach and was admitted into the Conference. In
the autumn of 1821 he was stationed at Hamilton, Ohio.
While here he availed himself of the advantages of Miami
University, at Oxford. He spent the week at Oxford, in the
university, and on Friday afternoons returned to his pastoral
charge. His removal to another charge, at the end of the
Conference year, deprived him of these advantages at Oxford,
but, fortunately for him, his next appointment was to Cin-
cinnati. Here he was again in the enjoyment of scholarly
instruction, in the Cincinnati College, and, at the end of the
collegiate year, he received the honorary degree of A.M.
In October following he joined Professor Tomlinsou, at
Augusta. They were aided by Mr. Ingram, who taught a
preparatory school. There was as yet no president of the
college. It is probable that Professor Tomlinson was the tem-
porary head of the institution, as the professor of mathematics
was afterward ex officio vice-president of the college.
In 1827 Eev. Martin Ruter, A.M., who in 1820 had been
elected Book Agent to organize, at Cincinnati, O., a "Western
branch of the New York Methodist publishing house, was
elected president of the college, with the understanding that
he should not enter upon his duties until his successor at the
Book Concern should be appointed. Mr. Ruter had been a
prominent preacher in Xew England. He was born in Mas-
sachusetts, was converted at the age of fifteen, and soon after-
ward became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The next year he was licensed to exhort, and in the course
120 Early Schools of Methodism.
of a few months, to preach. He began his itinerant work in
Yermont. During the several years following he labored
in Montreal, Canada ; New Hampshire ; Boston, Mass. ; and
Portland, Me. In 1818 he was appointed principal of the
Newmarket Seminary. While at this institution he received
from the short-lived Asbury College the degree of A.M.
"While Book Agent at Cincinnati, Transylvania University
conferred upon him the degree of D.D. It is believed that
he was the first minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church
upon whom tliis degree was conferred.
At the same time that Dr. Ruter was elected president,
Frederick A. M. Davis, M.D., was elected professor of chem-
istry and botany. He was a resident physician of Augusta,
and was of more than ordinary ability in his profession. The
full faculty now consisted of Eev. Martin Ruter, D.D., presi-
dent, and professor of oriental languages and belles-lettres ;
Rev. Joseph S. Tomlinson, A.B., professor of mathematics
and natural philosophy; Rev. John P. Durbin, A.M., of
ancient languages and Grecian and Roman antiquities ;
F. A. M. Davis, M.D., of chemistry and botany ; Arnold
Truesdale, preceptor of the academic department ; Thomas
H. Lynch, a student, assistant in the academic department;
and John Yincent, teacher of the primary school.
In the board of trustees, as then organized, consisting of
twenty-three members, were John Armstrong, president,
and Johnson Armstrong, treasurer, both of Maysville, Ky. ;
Bishop Joshua Soule, D.D., Rev. O. M. Spencer, Rev. John
Meek, Rev. John Collins, Rev. George C. Light, and Rev.
Enos Woodward.
The course of study was full and complete, embracing
every thing required by the best American colleges of that
day. At the close of the college year, 1831, Professor Durbin
Augusta College. 121
tendered his resignation. In his travels to advance the inter-
ests of the college and to increase its funds, he had become
widely known as a man of great personal worth and as one
of the most effective pulpit orators in America. Without his
knowledge, the United States Senate elected him its chap-
lain. In 1832 he was tendered a professoi*ship in the Weslejan
University, Connecticut, and soon after was elected, by the
General Conference, editor of "The Christian Advocate."
He had scarcely been installed in his new position when he
was elected president of Dickinson College. About this
time he was honored with the title of D.D. Before taking
final leave of Dr. Durbin, who rose to such eminence in
after years as preacher, college president, traveler, writer,
and Missionary Secretary, his lively interest in the spiritual
good of the pupils of Augusta College should be referred
to. All will be interested in learning that revivals, so com-
mon in Methodist schools in later years, were enjoyed in this
early Methodist college.
Under date of January, 1828, Dr. Durbin wrote to "The
(christian Advocate : " " This has been one of the best days
I have ever seen. We have a most glorious revival. What
will be the fruits no man can yet tell. Twenty-two joined
this morning, many of them young men and students of
Augusta College. I think the revival should be considered as
among the students principally. It commenced with them.
It would do you good to witness the soundness of their con-
version, and the ardor of their triumph. Onr college is
prosperous. We have about one hundred students. I had
long believed that a college could be made not only the
nursery of learning, but of morals and religion. 1 am con-
vinced of it more and more every day. I rejoice that we
have in the West one regulai' college where our youth may
6
122 Early Schools of Methodism.
be educated, and neither their morals nor their principles
corrupted. And yet we do not teach them religion, other-
wise than we teach other men, namely, by preaching to
them, and endeavoring to walk uprightly before them. I
am clearly convinced that our youth should not be taught by
any man who is not decidedly pious."
The next morning he added a postscript, as follows : " I
closed my letter last night at nine o'clock. I then returned
to the church, and my eyes never beheld such a scene. The
house was full of mourners. It is not yet known how many
were converted. There are but few students of Augusta
College but that are either converted or serious."
Dr. Durbin was succeeded, as professor of languages, by
Kev. B. H. M'Cown, A.M. At the same time Rev. Henry B.
Bascom, A.M., was elected professor of moral science. Pro-
fessor M'Cown was born in Bardstown, Ky., in 1806. The
first Methodist that he ever heard preach was H. B. Bascom.
Professor M'Cown w^as educated at St. Joseph's College, a
Roman Catholic institution, and was the first person w^ho
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bardstown. A class
was organized there in 1825, and he was soon after licensed
to exhort, then to preach, and, in 1827, was admitted on trial
into the Kentucky Conference. Professor Bascom Avas a na-
tive of the State of New York. At the age of fifteen he united
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. At seventeen he was
licensed to preach, and admitted on trial into an Annual Con-
ference. He soon began to attract great attention by his elo-
quence. In 1818 he was appointed to Louisville, Ky. In
1823 he was chosen chaplain in Congress, througli the influ-
ence of his life-long friend, Hon. Henry Clay. In 1832 Dr.
Rutcr resigned the presidency, with a view of re-entering the
pastoral work. He was trnnsf erred to the Pittsburg Confer-
Augusta CoLLEoiL/v^o^ '^ J 123
ence, where he labored, with distinguished usefulness, until
April, 1837. He was then appointed, by Bishop Iledding, to
the great mission field just then opening in Texas. It was
while in pastoral work in the Pittsburg Conference that he
published a revision of Gregory's " Church History." His
*' Hebrew Grammar " was published a little earlier. Though
a close scholar, he retained all the fire and enthusiasm of a
real missionary.
When, on the eve of starting for Texas, some one reminded
him of the distance and of the possible dangers of the field
assigned him, his thoughtful response was, " Heaven is no
farther from Texas than from Pennsylvania." Toward the
last of the year he entered the Republic. His advent was
hailed with delight. His labors were incessant, but were soon
terminated. He died in Washington, Texas, May 16, 1838.
When Dr. Ruter resigned the presidency. Dr. Tomlinson
was transferred to the chair of natural science and belles-
lettres, and was again made responsible for the duties of the
presidency. Rev. J. H. Fielding, A.M., who had been a
professor, and for a time the president, of Madison College,
now became professor of mathematics in the place of Dr.
Tomlinson. Professor Fielding retained the professorship in
Augusta for a little less than three years. He then resigned,
and soon after accepted the presidency of St. Charles Col-
lege, Missouri, where he labored with usefulness for a num-
ber of years.
Solomon Howard, an alumnus of the college, was, in
1833, principal of the preparatory department.
In 1834 Frederick Eckstein, Esq., became professor of
modern languages ; W. W. Wallingford, English tutor ; Don
Raphael Espinoza, teacher of Spanish ; and Noah Archbold,
principal of the j)reparatory depai*tment.
124 Early Schools of Methodism.
In 1835 Eev. Joseph M. Trimble, A.M., succeeded Professor
Fielding in the department of mathematics. He was a native
of Ohio, was graduated from Ohio State University, and
joined the Conference in 1829.
The catalogue for the year 1836 gives as the faculty : Rev.
J. S. Tomlinson, A.M., president; Rev. H. B. Bascom, A.M.,
Rev. J. M. Trimble, A.M., and Rev. B. H. M'Cown, A.M.,
professors ; and Abner Chapman, preceptor of the prepara-
tory department.^
At the session of the Kentucky Conference for 1841 Tran-
sylvania University was, through Dr. Bascom, tendered to
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The proposition was re-
ferred to a committee, which, after full consideration, report-
ed, recommending the Conference to accept the offer. This,
Dr. Tomlinson, who was one of the committee, opposed, on the
Conference floor, as he had done in the committee ; but the
report was almost unanimously adopted, and the Conference
received under its patronage this old university.
In the autunm of 1842 Dr. Bascom retired from Augusta
College, to accept the presidency of Transylvania University.
Professors M'Cown, Kemp, and Lynch accepted professor-
ships under him at the same time. The opening at Lexington
was brilliant. The friends of the university were cheerful,
believing that Transylvania was to become the great univer-
sity of the South. The subsequent career of Dr. Bascom is
too well known to require further notice here.
The withdrawal of these men from Augusta made a
reorganization of the faculty necessary. The faculty for
1842-43 consisted of Dr. Tomlinson, president ; Rev. Edmund
W. Sehon, A.M., and Rev. Hermann M. Johnson, A.M., pro-
fessors ; and James W. King, principal of the preparatory de-
partment. Mr. Sehon never entered upon duty as professor.
Augusta College. 125
Professor Jolinson was graduated from the Wesleyan Univer-
sity in the class of 1839. After graduating he studied mod-
ern Greek at Yale College. He resigned a professorship in
St. Charles College, Mo., to fill a similar position at Au-
gusta. In December, 18-42, Rev. E. N. Elliott was elected
professor of mathematics. He had previously taught some
time in Bloomington, Ind. Professor Johnson retired from
Augusta in 1814, and was for a time in the faculty of Ohio
Wesleyan University. He was a very mature scholar and a
noble Christian gentleman. He died in 1868, while presi-
dent of Dickinson College. Professor Chandler Robbins,
A.M., an almnmcs of the Wesleyan University, succeeded
Professor Johnson in Augusta. A few others for brief
periods were connected with the instructional departments
of Augusta.
The influences which began to be felt in 1842, and which
were intensified by the division of the Church in 1844, re-
sulted in the repeal of the charter and the suspension of the
college in 1849.
Having followed the several professors to the end of their
labors in the college, it remains to say something further of
Dr. Tomlinson. He was the first to enter the faculty after
the death of the lamented Finley, and, with Dr. Durbin, he
organized the college classes. He was the second and last
president of the college, and the most distinguished for va-
ried learning of all of its oflicers. He stood by the college
until its charter was repealed and its doors closed. He was
subsequently invited to chairs in some of the best colleges
in Ohio. But he saw, and his friends saw, that he was no
longer the strong man of his earlier yeai-s. Toward the last,
clouds began to settle over his former brilliant intellect.
They occasionally lifted, only to return more densely than
126 Early Schools of Methodism.
before. Ills mental sufferings became most intense, his life
a burden. Reason was at length overthrown, and he fell by
his own hand. A most affectionate tribute to his great worth
was prepared by his appreciative friend and fellow-laborer,
the late Dr. Hermann M. Johnson, president of Dickinson
College, and published in Sprague's " Annals of the Ameri-
can Pulpit," to which the reader is referred.
THE STUDENTS.
Augusta being, for a number of years, the only Methodist
school in America (or in the world) having legal authority to
confer the baccalaureate and other degrees, students from
distant States sought its advantages. The numbers were at
no time great, but they included representative young men
from the best Methodist families. In 1829 a small class, hav-
ing completed the full course, was admitted to tlie degree of
bachelor of arts. From that time to the period of suspension,
.by the repeal of the charter, a class was graduated every year.
One hundred and fifty-three students were thus honored dur-
ing the life of the college. Of this number several became
distinguished in medical practice, a still larger number as
judges and attorneys-at-law, and several in State and national
halls of legislation ; thirty-one became ministers, several of
whom were called to important posts as presidents or profes-
sors in the various Methodist schools that opened soon after
their graduation. Quite a number of our most distinguished
ministers and other gentlemen of prominence received from
Augusta the master's degree. Honoris Causa. In this list
are Kevs. H. B. Bascom, Charles Elliott, John H. Fielding,
James H. Logan, B. H. M'Cown, and Oliver M. Spencer;
Ross "Wilkins, Esq., and Willis Tannehill, Esq. ; Rev. Mar-
tin P. Parks ; Waitman T. Willey, Esq. ; Revs. Asbury Ros-
Augusta College. 127
zel, G. S. Holmes. George Peck, and L. L. Ilamline ; Newton
Peck, Esq., and W. R. Harding, Esq. ; Revs. Norvel Wilson,
and D. M. Reese, M. D. ; 11. H. Martin, Esq. ; Revs. W. M.
Dailey and J. A. Waterman ; J. D. Ramsey, Esq., and J. C.
Williams, Esq.
The degree of D.D. was given to Bishop Elijah Iledding,
Bishop William Capers, Wilbur Fisk, Samuel Luckey,
Stephen Olin, John L. Blake, and George Peck ; and that of
LL.D. to Hon. George Robertson, of Kentucky ; Hon. John
C. Wright and lion. Jolin W. Campbell, of Ohio ; Hon.
John Boyle, of Kentucky ; Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh
and Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio ; and to Hon. John Pit-
man, of Rhode Island.
The list of non-graduate alumni is much longer than that of
those who tarried to graduation, and includes names, of men
living or dead, which have become well and honorably known
in all the professions and in various business pursuits. In
this list are the names of General Doniphan, of Missouri ;
Professor M'Farland, of the Ohio State University ; W. C.
Dandy, D.D., of the Rock River Conference; Governor
Robert Wickliffe, of Louisiana ; and Bishop R. S. Foster,
D.D., LL.D. ; and of others too numerous to mention.
Methodism, and the country and Church at large, were
greatly blessed and benefited by the establishment and con-
tinuance, for the fourth of a century, of Augusta College.
During its day its work was sublimely grand. Of its achieve-
ments, Dr. Redford, the historian of Kentucky Methodism,
bears this testimony: "Its faculty was composed of men of
piety, genius, and learning; and in all the learned profes-
sions in almost every Western and Southern State its alumni
may yet be found. It gave to the medical profession, to the
bar, and to the pulpit many of their brightest lights."
128 Early Schools of Methodism.
A reunion of old Augusta College students was held in the
college building on the 17th of November, 1880.
BUILDINGS, LIBRARY, APPARATUS, ENDOWMENT.
There was a college edifice, before described; there w^ere
two boarding-houses, a library of sixteen hundred Yolunies
and two society libraries, and physical and chemical ap-
paratus. The basis of the endowment was the Bracken Acad-
emy Fund, with which the college opened. The patron-
izing Conferences added to this. The whole property was
valued at something over $50,000. The income never paid
the faculty living salaries. The repeal of the charter ren-
dered uncollectable all outstanding notes. The real estate
reverted to the Bracken Academy. On the niglit of Jan-
uary 28, 1852, the principal building was destroyed by fire.
The trustees of the academy, aided by the citizens of
Augusta, soon rebuilt the edifice.
ITS PRESENT MANAGEMENT.
On the 10th of June, 1879, the writer, a native of Ken-
tucky, a graduate of Transylvania University, from 1851 to
18G5, a member of the Kentucky Conference of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, South, but since that time a minister
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, leased the property. In
1882 he secured the transfer of his lease to the Board of Ed-
ucation of the Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, under whose management the institution is
now conducted, open to both sexes, and prospering under the
name of Augusta Collegiate Institute. It is without endow-
ment, and depends upon the tuition and boarding fees of stu-
dents for its support.
Cazenovia Seminary. 129
CHAPTER III.
CAZENOVIA SEMINARY.
BY BOSTWICK HAWLEY, D.D.
After the destruction, by fire, of Cokesbnry College, at
Abingdon, Md., followed, as it was, a few years later by the
loss of the second institution of the same name and charac-
ter, located in Baltimore, Bishop Asbury concluded that at
that time God did not call the Methodists of America to the
work of higher education. He, therefore, directed his atten^
tion slowly to the founding of schools for the special pur.
pose of meeting somewhat the needs of the people and of
improving the standard of the ministry. After his death,
the New England Conference took up the work, and in 1817
opened a seminary at New Market, N. H. This experiment
at that extreme point not proving wholly satisfactory, the
school was transferred, in 1824, to Wilbraham, Mass., where
it continues to flourish, having an honorable and useful
career.
The old Genesee Conference, including the territory of
all western New York, Upper Canada, and part of Pennsyl-
vania, began the educational work in 1819, when, in Confer-
ence session, it was resolved " to open a seminary of learn-
in<r within its bounds." Five of its most influential mem-
bers. Revs. Charles Giles, Abner Chase, William Barlow,
Jonathan Iluestis, and Thomas Madden, were appointed a
committee to report a plan for carrying into effect this reso-
lution. A favorable report was made and adopted at the
next session of the Conference. About this time, May,
130 Early Schools of Methodism.
1820, the General Conference urged the Annual Confer-
ences to move in the work of education. The county seat
of Madison County, ^N". Y., having been removed in 1817
from Cazenovia to Morrisville, the court-house was offered
for sale. Cazenovia, where a small society of Methodists
existed, was then and for some years later included in Man-
lius Circuit, but the society had no regular place of wor-
ship. Aided by friends in the surrounding region they
secured this substantial building, which was made to serve
both for a school and a commodious place for public wor-
ship. Here they opened religious services in the spring of
1818. It was a successful achievement, effected chiefly
under the direction of that quiet but wise man, Rev.
George Gary, who became a traveling preacher in New
England at the age of sixteen years, and presiding elder at
twenty-three.
The purchase of the court-house aided much the efforts of
Messrs. Gary, Giles, and other friends of education in carry-
ing througli Conference the resolution to make Cazenovia
the seat of the contemplated seminary. Receiving tlie needed
repairs and modifications, the building became the home of
educational and religious forces long cherished by the students
of tlie early and the later years, and where thousands have
been educated and hundreds have been converted to Christ.
In 1821 a rival for the permanent location of the seminary
came to the front. The people of Ithaca, Tompkins County,
now the seat of Cornell University, promised a large sub-
scription and a building to the Conference, if that place should
be selected for the seminary. Moved by this flattering offer,
the Conference reconsidered its action of the previous year,
and selected Ithaca, and Rev^ Dan Barnes, who had advo-
cated the measure, was made the Conference agent to raise
Cazenovia Seminary. 131
the money needed to ratify the engagement and to found the
institution. But the efforts of Mr. Barnes and of the citi-
zens of Ithaca not being successful, the Messrs. Gary and
Giles, who had the advantage of being presiding elders of
contiguous districts, one of which included Cazenovia, availed
themselves of the provisional action of Conference in the
premises, and renewed their efforts in favor of Cazenovia.
They raised the means to cancel the bond against the court-
house, and to provide for opening the school.
The Conference of 1823 appointed a committee, consisting
of three of its leading members, Charles Giles, George Gary,
and Elias Bowen, and six influential laymen, to do^what was
deemed necessary to open the institution to pupils. Those
associated with these three ministers were Jacob Ten Eyck,
David B. Johnson, Charles Stebbins, John Peck, Solomon
Root, and Luther Buell. This committee, acting as a board
of trustees, empowered Messra. Gary and Giles, who were
known to be in accord with the whole movement and with
the selection of Ciizenovia as the seat of the institution, to
raise money, by donations and by the sale of short scholar-
ships, to meet the expenses of opening the school in the
court-house. On the 11th of December, 1824, only eight
boys were enrolled, because of the impression that it was for
boys only. Tliis was before mixed schools and the co-educa-
tion of the sexes was popular. But the good sense of Meth-
odist women decided, with the acquiescence of the managers,
that the Genesee Conference Seminary should open its doors
and extend its advantages to all worthy youth, without regard
to sex or complexion. Co-education was thus early estab-
lislied in central New York, an action that has now for more
than sixty years been vindicated on a large scale. During
all this time nothing has occurred at Cazenovia Seminary to
132 Early Schools of Mettiobtsm.
cast a shadow of doubt as to the wisdom of the policy — a
policy that has since been adopted by the best academies and
colleges in this country. The above-named committee pro-
cured from the Legislature a charter, which gave to the insti-
tution the name, " The Seminary of the Genesee Confer-
ence." Tlie name has very naturally been changed to con-
form to the successive names of the patronizing Conferences
embracing the institution, such as Oneida, and now Central
"New York. But whatever its chartered name, the institu-
tion has long been known as the Cazenovia Seminary. Not
less denominational in its guardianship, nor less religious in
character, 'it is not embarrassed by a distinctively denomi-
national or sectarian name. Well were it that all our purely
literary institutions were equally and alike unembarrassed.
This charter was dated April 6, 1825, naming as trustees
Kevs. George Gary and Elias Bo wen, and Henry Wells, Esq.,
of the Jirst class, to serve one year ; Hons. Charles Stebbins
and Jacob Ten Eyck, and Bev. Charles Giles, of the second^
for two years ; and Hon. D. B. Johnson, John W. Peck, Esq.,
and Luther Buell, for three years. Of this board the major-
ity were Methodists, but the others gave their services and
made liberal contributions, with equal fidelity, to advance
the interests of the school. No denominational institution
in this country has had for the period of sixty years a career
of greater uniform prosperity. Other institutions of this
same denomination have arisen within its patronizing terri-
tory, have flourished for a time, and have died ; but this one
has continued to prosper.
A brief statement of the more obvious conditions of its
success may be suggestive and instructive. The first favor-
ing condition was its location. Madison County is near the
geographical center of the State. Cazenovia is the chief
Cazenovia Seminary. 133
town of the county. Conference boundaries liave frequently
been changed. The so-called patronizing territory has been
diniinislied on all sides ; but the seminary has all the while
been centrally located and easy of access. The early tides of
settlement set that way, and have largely continued to flow in
that direction. Prof. Clements, the present principal, says :
Cazenovia village, in which the seminary is situated, is in the midst
of one of the most fertile and delightful sections of our State. An ele-
vation of twelve hundred feet above the sea-level gives it a pure atmos-
phere and a healthful climate, and renders it free from many of those
fatal diseases that are prevalent in many parts of the country. The
well-shaded walks and beautiful groves are inviting. Excellent roads
and picturesque hills afford ample opportunities for riding; and the
Owagena — a gem of water — furnishes a pleasure resort for those who
seek recreation in boating, fishing, and swimming. Both nature and
art have l>een lavish in their adornment of the place, and have made it
peculiarly adapted to the purposes of a seminary, as it affords opportu-
nity for esthetical culture, essential to the full development of youthful
mind. The population of the village is about two thousand, and the
people are deeply interested in the character and success of the school.
In its first and subsequent boards of trustees is found an-
other element of success. Of those who were the charter
members we here give brief portraitures, as draw^n by Rev.
Dr. William Reddy :
Rev. Charles Giles was a man of genius, piety, and power. Born in
Connecticut, in 1783, he closed his eventful life in Syracuse, N. Y.,
August 30, 1867. He was successively connected with the Philadel-
I)lii:i, New York, Genesee, Oneida, and Black River Conferences. He
illk'd the most responsible positions, including that of presiding elder
and of delegate to General Conference. He was a good scholar, rich
in facts, brilliant in thought, having an intense love for mankind. In
liim intellectual power and emotion were united.
Rev. George Gary's name was a household word during this period.
When but in his sixteenth year his name appeared in connection with
134 Early Schools of Methodism.
Barre Circuit, Vermont District, New England Conference. In 1813
he was ordained elder, and transferred to the Genesee Conference. A
man of great shrewdness and a profound judge of human character,
he was strong in the pulpit, where, on great occasions, he was over-
whelmingly eloquent. He finished his course with joy, March, 1855.
Rev. Elias Bowen, D.D., was a strong man, long time a presiding
elder, positive and strong in his likes and dislikes, and at one period of
his life was a foremost witness and teacher of the higher spiritual life.
In his earlier ministry he was conservative, and in his later years rad-
ical, on the subject of slavery and the Church. He was several times a
member of the General Conference. A clear and able writer, he con-
tributed largely to the periodical literature of the Church, and pub-
lished sermons on education and other important subjects. He wrote
a volume entitled "Slavery and the Church."
Hon. Charles Stebbins was a lawyer, a man of rare judgment, high
moral tone, strong social position, and long a friend of the seminary.
In 1829 he was called to preside over the Senate in place of Lieutenant-
Governor Throop, who had been called to the chair of the executive.
He was the secretary of the board of trustees of the seminary at its
beginning. For sixty-three years he had the confidence and respect of
a large circle of personal friends. He died at Cazenovia, March, 1873,
in his 84th year.
Hon. Jacob Ten Eyck was of Dutch ancestry. He held important
ofiices at home, and, in 1844, he was a member of the State Assembly.
Noted for his integrity, he was a successful merchant, ever ready to
assist those commencing business, and by his opportune advice he con-
tributed to lay the foundation of many a young man's character and
fortune. With other trustees he gave of his time and money to the
seminary. He died of yellow fever, at Savannah, Ga., at the age of
sixty-seven years, leaving to his family as his best legacy a high char-
acter.
Hon. David B. Johnson w\t,s a lawyer of eminence. For many years
he held the office of district attorney for Madison County. He was
also master and examiner in chancery. For a long time he was secre-
tary of the board of trustees of this seminary, as he was also attorney
for the board, often saving it from serious losses.
Mr. Jackson, one of the earlier students, remembers tluit, in the
Cazenovia Seminary. 135
spring of 1826, he saw Mr. Johnson, with the late B. T. Clark, plant the
elm-tree that now stands in the front of the central seminary building.
John W. Peck, of Manlius, was an efficient member, and he for
awhile served as agent of the institution, doing in each capacity excel-
lent service.
The last of the charter members was Luther Buell, Esq., of Manlius.
At the date of the semi-centennial celebration of the seminary he was
the only one of the original board left to witness the maturity of the
school after a history of half a century.
Dr. Newell Wright, Dr. Josiah Knowlton, John Williams,
Eevs. Drs. Z. Paddock and John Dempster, with others, were
at an early date members of the board, and rendered valu-
able services. Kev. Fitch Keed was also deeply interested
in the seminary, and was a judicious adviser of the originat-
ors of the institution.
Tliis seminary was peculiarly fortunate also in its first
faculty of instruction. Rev. Nathaniel Porter, the first prin-
cipal, was a native of Connecticut, and, though bereft in
early life of his father, he made his way to New York city,
where he was converted, under the labors of Rev. John Sum-
merfield, in the old John Street Church. At the Wesleyan
Academy, which flourished for a brief time in New York
city, Mr. Porter prepared for, and entered, Amherst College ;
but, for the w^ant of means, he was unable to complete the
course of study, and he, therefore, united on trial with the
New York Conference, and was appointed junior preacher
on the Stamford Circuit, June 1, 1824. After a successful
ministry of a few months he was providentially called to the
headship of this* new institution, having as his associate Mr.
Hart, then a member of Hamilton College. The eight
boys with whom the seminary began constituted a nucleus
tliat was soon increased to fifty or more, and at the close of
136 Early Schools of Methodism.
the first year there were enrolled one hundred and fifty
pupils. A man of prepossessing appearance, accomplished
manners, and deep piety, Mr. Porter exerted a great infln-
ence for good over the pupils and in the community. But
failing health compelled him to resign at the end of two
years. After a short term of effective services as a
preacher he closed his eventful life at Newark, N. J.,
August 17, 1831.
The next principal was the late well-known Augustus W.
Smith, LL.D., subsequently and for years connected with the
Wesley an University, and for a few years with the Naval
Academy, Annapolis, Md. His associate teachers were
I. M. Willmarth, A.M., George Hastings, Kev. Moses
Adams, Kev. Nelson Rounds, A.M., J. W. Tyler, A.M.,
Mark H. Beecher, and Nancy Bliss. Miss Bliss was the
daughter of Abel Bliss, of Wilbraham, Mass., of whom
Bishop Asbury said : " He was educated, not spoiled, at
Cokesbury College." It was at Wilbraham that tliis lady
was educated for the important position of preceptress.
Becoming allied in marriage to Rev. William Smith, of
Canada, she served faithfully in several important places in
that province. During the administration of Dr. A. W.
Smith the seminary had great prosperity, and rose to a high
rank, so that in 1829 three hundred students were enrolled.
Says Dr. Reddy, in " First Fifty Years : "
There is an inspiration in success, and that inspiration is seen in the
measures of those then in charge of the institution^ The number of
students had so increased that the place was too strait for them. It
was, therefore, determined to build larger, and a committee was ap-
pointed, consisting of George Gary, Newell Wright, John Williams,
and D. B. Johnson, to erect a suitable building for dormitories, a
boarding-hall, and a laboratory. The result was the large three-story
Cazenovia Seminary. 137
brick structure adjoining the original building on the west, and having
accommodations for about two hundred students.
In 1831 Prof. Smith was compelled by ill health to retire
from the duties of principal, and Professor J. Wadsworth
Tyler became principal j^o tempore. Professor Tyler had
ample qualifications for the position, and did excellent service.
Eev. William C. Larrabee, LL.D., succeeded to the principal-
sliip at the beginning of the fall term of 1831. A native of
Maine and an alumnus of Bowdoin College, he, at the age of
twenty-nine or thirty years, entered upon the very respon-
sible duties of the position, having the reputation of a good
preacher and teacher, but especially of an administrator, as
evinced in the preparatory department of Wesleyan Univer-
sity. Under his administration the seminary was so tilled
with students as to render another enlargement of the struct-
ure necessary. Students came from distant parts of New
York, from New England, Pennsylvania, and Canada. Sus-
tained, as he was, by an able corps of teachers, he brought
the institution to a position unsurpassed by any other of its
grade. His associates in instruction were men who rose to
positions of eminence, namely : W. H. Allen, LL.D., late of
Girard College ; John Johnston, LL.D., of the Wesleyan
University; Perlee B. Wilbur, A.M., of Cincinnati Fe-
male College; and Orlando Blanchard. Dr. Larrabee re-
signed his position in the spring of 1835, and the vacancy
was tilled, until his transfer to the Wesleyan University, by
Professor John Johnston, Miss Maria Hamilton serving as
preceptress. She was soon united in marriage to him, and
was, for many years, an ornament in domestic and social life
at Middletown, Coim.
The next regular principal, of longer service, was Rev.
George Peck, D.D., a man of scholarly habits, dignitied and
138 Early Schools of Methodism.
courteous manners, and devoted to his work. Though not a
collegian, nor familiar with the management of a school, he
nevertheless took to the duties of the position easily, and was
held in esteem by the teachers and pupils. He ranked high
all his subsequent life as preacher, editor, and author. He
was followed by a list of such scholarly men as George G.
Hapgood, D.D., Henry Bannisterj D.D., Edward G. An-
drews, D.D., and by other men of ability and adaptation to
the work. The corps of professors at that time consisted of
men of equal iitness for their work, namely : Henry Bannis-
ter, Bostwick Hawley,* Hermann M. Johnston, Edward Ban-
nister, H. R. Clarke, George H. Ninde, Miss Livia Guernsey,
as preceptress, and others named above.
Another element of success in the history of this semi-
nary was the age, character, and habits of many of its early
pupils, who remained long enough to leave a good impres-
sion on all. As a general thing the pupils have all along
been from excellent families, and were ambitious to improve
their opportunities. Among the thousands that have been
there educated, some have failed to appreciate and to im-
prove the offered opportunities, but this has not been true of
the great majority. Indeed, such have been the govern-
ment, the examples set by the teachers, and such the moral
atmosphere of the school and village, that it could not well
be otherwise in the general standing of the students.
Strong religious influences prevailed, revivals were frequent,
and many trace to this place their profoundest and most
enduring Christian experience. Since its opening, in 1824,
* Mr. Hawley became a pupil of this seminary in the spring of 1831, was
here converted and prepared for college, and was here licensed to preach. After
graduation from college, he was, for a term of years, a teacher, and thence
entered the Oneida Conference as an itinerant minister.
Cazenovia Seminary. 139
at least fourteen thousand youth have up to this date been
enrolled as students. Of these, four have been elevated to
the episcopacy : Jesse T. Peck, Thomas Bowman, Edward
G. Andrews, and William X. Ninde. Four at least have been
governore of States, namely : Joseph R. Hawley, of Connect-
icut ; Austin Blair, of Michigan : Caleb Lyon, territorial gov-
ernor ; and Leland Stanford, of California. The following, of
the first decade, became presidents of colleges : Edward Ban-
nister, University of the Pacific; Thomas Bowman, Indiana
Asbury (now De Pauw) University ; A. W. Cummings,
M'Kendree College and University of South Carolina ; B. I.
Diefendorf, Fort Plain Female College ; Clark T. Hiniiian,
North-western University ; H. M. Johnson, Dickinson Col-
lege ; Jesse T. Peck, of Dickinson ; George H. Round, Fort
Wayne College ; B. F. Tefft, Genesee College ; P. B. Wilbur,
Wesleyan Female College of Cincinnati; Erastus Went-
worth, of M'Kendree College ; V. L. Hopkins, Summerfield,
Ala., and Apalachicola, Fla. ; D. C. Van Norman, Rutger's
Female College; and J. B. Hurlburt, Victoria College.
Di-s. S. M. Vail, Henry Bannister, and W. X. Ninde occu-
pied chairs in Garrett Biblical Institute. Of the students of
tlie first decade were Drs. Luke Hitchcock, L. L. Knox,
Bostwick Hawley, and others who filled professorships in
various academies and colleges.
All along in its history this institution has been honored
by the graduation of pupils of both sexes who have filled hon-
orable and useful positions in life. Principal Clements gives
the following corroboration of our statement :
Among them are those who have filled some of the most prominent
positions within the gift of a free people. Legislators, governors, gen-
erals, judges, bishops, and litterateurs have received their early educa-
tion within its walls. They are found in nearly every part of the
140 Early Schools of Methodism.
globe, not only amid the energy and stir of cities, but also on the
frontiers, pushing on the car of civilization and progress. No human
arithmetic can estimate the intellectual and moral power that such an
institution exerts through so large a body of alumni. From careful
computation it has been found that more than six hundred young men
have here prepared for college, three thousand have been here con-
verted to Christ, one thousand entered the Christian ministry, four
hundred the law, four hundred the practice of medicine ; more than one
thousand are successful business men; fifteen hundred are engaged as
teachers in colleges, academies, and other schools; and nearly all have
pursued or are pursuing honorable and useful callings. They consti-
tute a roll of honor of which the seminary may justly be proud, and
which may well bring joy to the hearts of those who have aided in the
development of such characters.
Still another element of success is the uniform religious
character of the institution. Of this Rev. Dr. Reddj has
written :
Cazenovia Seminary has ever been distinguished for its strong and
healthful religious influence. Multitudes have been born of God within
its walls. We have seen how the faith and zeal of its first principal
gave the key-note to the religious harmony which has since rung out on
the ear of the Church and the world. Mr. Larrabee's views and spirit
were akin to those of Mr. Porter, and he gave expression of them in his
inaugural address in speaking of '" the influence of religion " in its dis-
ciplinary effects on the moral character and habits, and its expanding
influence on the mind. Attempts have been made to establish literary
institutions on the ground of infidelity, but the efforts have ever proved
abortive. Science can never breathe freely except in an atmosphere
rendered salubrious by healthful breezes from the Christian paradise.
Give us philosophy and religion united.
In illustration take these two cases : Hon. James Calla-
nan, of Des Moines, Iowa, educated at this institution, and
the Christian giver of $25,000, in gratitude for advantages
there received ; and Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman, who has
Cazenovia Seminary. 141
arisen to erudition aud masterly eloquence, the foundations
of which were laid at this his lionored alma mater. Many
other instances of the happy blending of education and relig-
ion there nurtured might be cited. Without doubt the
positively religious character of the seminary did much to
promote its prosperity.
This school has also had connected with it several literary
and religious associations that have contributed not a little
to its character and efficiency. The oldest is the Temper-
ance Society, organized December, 1830. Very popular at
first, it included both teachers and pupils. Its pledge was in
accord with the genius of reform at that early time, and was
subsequently so modified as to keep in harmony, with the
advancing sentiments of the times. For several years this
organization served the purposes of a debating society, and
continues in active force.
The seminary Lyceum, which still lives, was organized
November, 1833, by the enrolling of the names of nine
young men at the first meeting, who also were its charter
members, as follows : the late B. F. Tefi*t, D.D., LL.D., ed-
itor and author ; Cutler F. Field, attorney at law ; the late
Professor W. M. Marsh ; William F. Bailey, son of the late
Bishop Bailey, of Canada ; II. F. Martin, attorney ; De Witt
C. Yosburg, late of Binghamton, N. Y. ; the late Rev. Pro-
fessor George B. Cone ; the late Hon. Charles II. Doolittle ;
and Delos Hopkins. The fiftietli^ anniversary of this society
was duly celebrated in connection with a recent commence-
ment of the seminary.
The Theological and Missionary Society was organized in
1835, for the purpose of affording to candidates for the minist
try, and others, special opportunities for improvement within
the broad lines indicated by its name. The committee to draft
142 Early Schools of Methodism.
a form of constitution were : Anson W. Cummings, tlie pro-
jector of this volume ; Silas Fitch,* a useful divine and edu-
cator ; and Miss Clark, then of the Free-Will Baptist Church.
The now venerable Isaac L. Hunt was its first president. In
1841 this society was so modified as to admit to membership
resident members of the Annual Conference, when Rev.
Elias Bowen, D.D., became president ; Principal G. G. Hap-
good, D.D., vice-president; Professor Bostwick Hawlej,
D.D., secretary ; and Professor J. L. Alverson, LL.D., treas-
urer. Of these later gentlemen Mr. Hawley alone survives.
The Delta Phi, a secret fraternity, had only a brief exist-
ence. The Philomatheian Society, organized in 1843, has
had a continuous and useful career, possesses a good library,
and has an enrolled membership of more than one thousand,
of whom some have risen to distinction as lovers of learning.
The Adelphian is the youngest, has an ample and well-fur-
nished hall for its meetings, and is in a prosperous condition.
This brief outline of the origin and history of Cazenovia
Seminary shows, in part only, the position which the pio-
neers of American Methodism held on the subject of popu-
lar and of higher education at a time when those who were
ignorant of the origin and genius of this Church derided her
ministry, methods, and people. " But wisdom is justified of
her children." To-day this Church stands second to no other
in her high aims and usefulness in all that constitutes a body
of intelligent, scholarly, and useful people. For the promo-
tion of these grand aims and results the Cazenovia Seminary
ranks high in the corps of agencies.
* Died since this article was written.
Maine Wesley an Seminary and Female College. 143
CHAPTER lY.
MAINE WESLEYAN SEMINARY AND FEMALE COLLEGK
BY GEXERAL JOHN J. PERRY.
In 1821 Luther Sampson, of Readfield, in the State of
Maine, a respectable farmer of that town, conceived the idea
of a school for the better education of persons designing to
enter the Methodist ministry. He first set apart one hun-
dred and forty acres of land on Kent's Hill, built thereon a
house, barn, and other outbuildings, supplied the establish-
ment with furniture, farming tools, and stock — the whole
costing about $4,500 — to which he added notes of hand
amounting to $5,500, making in all $10,000.
An act of incorporation was procured, under the name of
tlie "Eeadfield Religious and Charitable Society," which
provided for a board of six trustees. To this board the prop-
erty was conveyed in 1821, Mr. Sampson drawing his own
deed with an exactness and skill which would have done
credit to an expert draughtsman.
The school was commenced the same year as a manual-
labor school, the students working five hours a day to pay
for their board. The idea was popular, and there was quite
a rush, especially of young men of moderate means, to the
school.
A cheap school building, three stories high, whose walls
were of the width of a single brick, was erected by the
trnstees.
The school, from the time it was opened, up to 1825, was
taught, first by Mr. Henry Baker, and then by Mr. Sullivan
144: Early Schools of Methodism.
Waiigb, a graduate of Bowdoin College, liis father at that
time being a resident of Kent's Hill.
It should be here remarked that Elihu Eobinson had
a small private Bchool at Augusta prior to this, which,
through the influence of Mr. Sampson, he removed to Kent's
Hill. This was the commencement of the " Sampson "
School.
The charter was amended in 1825, and the board of trust-
ees enlarged from six to twenty-five, and the name was
changed to " Maine Weslejan Seminary."
The same year Rev. Zenas Caldwell, a graduate of Bow-
doin College, was elected principal. Mr. Caldwell was a
young man of brilliant talents, the chum of ex-President
Franklin Pierce, while in college, and the first Methodist
graduate of a college in New England. His administra-
tion, as principal of the school, was a marked success. The
health of Mr. Caldwell gradually gave way until the fall of
1826, when he was obliged to leave the school, and went
home to his father's, in Oxford, to die, at the early age of
twenty-six.
At the spring term, 1827, Joshua Randall, Jr., was em-
ployed as principal, and there were ninety-one scholars in
attendance. He afterward studied law, practiced in Dixfield,
Me., and other places, and always held a respectable rank
in his profession. A Dr. Stevens was also employed a por-
tion of the spring term as teacher in connection with Mr.
Randall.
In the fall of 1827 William C. Larrabee and Merritt Cald-
well, then in their junior year in Bowdoin College, were in
charge of the school. Dr. Larrabee, in one of his posthu-
mous paper.^, says : " Mr. Caldwell and myself entered upon
our duties as co-ordinate teachers, with equal authority, and
Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College. 145
the term was a pleasant and prosperous one. The school was
large, and we got along in perfect harmony."
In 1828 Merritt Caldwell, before named, a brother of Rev.
Zenas Caldwell, having graduated with high honors, was
elected principal, and he held the place continnously until
1834, when lie resigned to accept a professorship in Dickin-
son College, which place he held up to the time of his death.
Mr. Caldwell was a fine scholar, a thorough, skillful teacher.
Ilis administration were years of uninterrupted prosperity.
His first term was attended by one hundred and twenty-four
students, his last by one hundred and seventy-nine. There
was a gradual increase in the number of students during his
entire administration.
Among the assistant teachers under Mr. Caldwell were
William H. Allen, subsequently professor in Dickinson Col-
lege, president of Pennsylvania Agricultural College, and
for many years president of Girard College ; Charles Col-
lins, who, for a long period, presided over colleges in the
Southern and Middle States; and Judge James Bell, a
lawyer who, during his life-time, held many important pub-
lic trusts, and died a few years since at his home in Skow-
hegan. Me.
Of the many students during Mr. Caldwell's term of office
who in after life occupied distinguished positions in the world
may be mentioned Gen. Seth Williams, U. S. A. ; ex-Mayor
Franklin Mussey, of Bangor; Postmaster-General and United
States Senator Timothy O. Howe, of Wisconsin ; Pev. Dr.
Joseph Cummings, of the Wesleyan University, and now of
the North-western Univei*sity ; Dr. Thomas Sewell, late of
Washington ; Bishop Davis W. Clark; ex-United States Sen-
ator David H. Armstrong, of Missouri ; Gen. John J. Perry
and Hon. E. K. Smai*t, members of Congress from Maine ;
146 Early Schools of Methodism.
Judges Parker Tuck and Nathan Longfellow; Paymaster
Bridges, of tlie United States !N"avj; Rev. Edward Cook,
j^resident of Lawrence University, Wilbraham Academy, and
Claflin University ; and Hon. E. B. Washburn, ex-Secretary
of State, Minister to France, and eighteen years member of
Congress.
Rev. William C. Larrabee, LL.D., the chum of Mr. Cald-
well in college, was elected principal to fill the vacancy occa-
sioned by the resignation of the latter, and he entered uj)on
his duties at the fall term, 1835.
Rev. Benjamin F. Tefft, D.D., LL.D., since a distinguished
teacher, preacher, and author, was Mr. Larrabee's assistant.
Dr. Larrabee held his position until 1840. Mr. Teift re-
mained assistant four years, when he resigned and entered
the ministry. Rev. Charles F. Allen, D.D., then an under-
graduate in Bowdoin College, took his place and tauglit one
term.
In scholarship and solid learning Dr. Larrabee was not
inferior to either of his distinguished predecessors. But in
many respects he was unlike either. Merritt Caldwell had
a cool, well-poised, calculating mind, and, upon slight
acquaintance, appeared distant, and not easily approached.
Dr. Larrabee had a genial nature, in which the social ele-
ment predominated, and, without form or ceremony, he at
once put every one at ease who approached him. As a
teacher he was an enthusiast, and his pupils very natui-ally
caught the inspiration, and made rapid progress in their
studies. In discipline he made little show of the form of
government, and it was very seldom that a student took
advantage of him.
As to his success at Kent's Hill, Dr. Tefft, who was so
long associated with him, says, in a letter : " The school at
Maine Wesley an Seminary and Female College. 147
once filled up to its utmost capacity, the whole system of
classification and study was revised, and considerably ex-
panded; great pains were taken to elevate the standard
of scholarship, and rouse the ambition of pupils; a lofty
tone of religious and literary feeling prevailed within its
walls."
Dr. Larrabee found the school with one hundred and
seventy-four scholars, and left it with two hundred and
twenty seven, a record of which any man might feel justly
proud. Dr. Larrabee had, also, as an assistant in the classical
department, Mr. Andrew M. Walsh, a native of Ireland, and
graduate of Dublin University. He was a man of scholarly
ability, a perfect cyclopedia of knowledge.
About this time the institution became involved in deep
financial embarrassment. The furniture shop, in which some
fifty or sixty students had up to this time worked to pay
their board, proved a great financial failure. The goods
made therein proved of so poor a quality that they would
scarcely bring enough to pay for the stock out of which
they were manufactured. The pet scheme of a "man-
ual-labor department," desirable as it was, proved a com-
plete financial failure, and had to be abandoned by the
trustees.
The institution was heavily in debt, creditors became im-
patient, and suits were commenced, executions recovered,
and served upon the treasurer. All available funds, consist-
ing of notes and accounts, were turned over to the creditors,
leaving a large balance of debt unprovided for.
In the winter of 1841 Kev. Stephen Allen, D.D., then
teacher of mathematics in Troy Conference Academy, was
elected principal of the seminary. In March following he
iciiioved to Kent's Hill and entered upon his work. The
148 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
condition of the institution was a great surprise to liinij and
every thing looked discouraging.
The institution, however, liad become widely known, and
had acquired celebrity as a school ; students in large num-
bers continued to flock to it, in spite of \ery uninviting ac-
commodations, and the school went on performing a grand
service by the hard work and sacrifices of the teachers.
The school again opened with an encouraging number
of students. Mr. G. W. Jewett was the cliief assistant,
and Miss Mary Ann Moody was preceptress. They were
thorough teachers. The term was successful, and the
exhibition passed off with the usual eclat
Mr. Jewett and Miss Moody then resigned, and Charles F.
Allen, A.B., a recent graduate of Bowdoin College, was chosen
assistant, and rendered excellent service. Mr. Allen subse-
quently became a distinguished preacher. He received from
liis ahna mater, and also from the Wesleyan University,
the honorary title of D.D. Miss Caroline Sturdevant was
chosen preceptress. In the fall of 1843 Mr. C. F. Allen
having entered the ministry, Henry P. Torsey was chosen
assistant.
At the close of the academic year, June, 1844, tlie princi-
pal, finding the financial burden heavier than he could bear,
and suffering in health, resigned his office, and entered the
ministry of the Maine Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Dr. Allen was a fine scholar, a faithful teacher, and, not-
withstanding the embarrassments which seemed to meet him
at every point, did excellent work for the institution.
Subsequently, as financial agent, and in the erection of
Sampson Hall, he did a grand work, which will long be
remembered by the friends of the school.
Maine TVesleyan Seminary and Female College. 149
Henry P. Torsey, the assistant, was elected principal, and
entered upon his duties at the fall term of 1844. B. W.
Norris was assistant, and Miss Emma J. Robinson (since the
wife of Dr. Torsey), preceptress. Students attending tliis
term — males, forty-eight; females, thirty-four. It was a
dark day for the institution. It hung, trembling in the
balance, between life and death. The trustees became
entirely discouraged, and at the session of the Maine Con-
ference, at Bangor, in the previous August, resigned the
trust to it — in accordance with a provision in the deed by
which the real estate of the seminary was held in the con-
veyance to them. The Conference promptly declined to
accept the trust.
Soon after the tnistees met at Kent's Hill, and decided to
make one more effort to retrieve the affairs of the institution.
Eev. Daniel B. Randall, a member of the Maine Conference,
was engaged to act as agent to raise money to settle with the
creditors of the institution, to beg up the scholarships, and to
erect a new seminary building.
Luther Sampson, the founder of the institution, was then
living, and cheerfully concurred with the trustees in cancel-
ing certain annuities, which had become burdensome, and
advanced $1,500 toward the erection of the new building.
Mr. Allen relinquished a claim of §1,000 due him for serv-
ices. Rev. Ezekiel Robinson, then and long afterward a
leading and influential preacher in the Maine Conference, took
a deep and lively interest, and rendered very important aid, in
this enterprise. AVith the efficient aid and encouragement
rendered him the agent was successful. The debts of the
institution were settled at a large discount. The scholar-
ships, or claims for tuition, were surrendered, and funds se-
cured for the erection of a new building. Henry P. Toi*sey,
150 Early Schools of Methodism.
the new principal, then in the vigor of early manhood, com-
menced his grand career of thirty-eight years of administra-
tion at the head of the school, and resolved not only to save
it, but to make it an institution worthy of the denomination
and an honor to the State. At this point the seminary
made a new departure. The catalogue for the year ending
June, 1846, gave pretty sure evidences of returning prosper-
ity. The students numbered ninety-eight gentlemen and
sixty-five ladies, an increase of eighty-two, tlms doubling tlie
number of pupils. The next year the number run up to
two hundred and fourteen. In 1848 it had three hundred
and fourteen ; and at the end of the decade, 1850, with but
two terms in the year, the aggregate attendance was three
hundred and two.
The limits of this article will oblige me to pass over the
next decade, from 1850 to 1860, with only brief references
to some of the improvements and advances made.
Dr. Torsey, during these ten years, remained at the liead of
the scliool, and had as teacher in the chissical and mathemat-
ical departments the Rev. .Francis A. Robinson, A.M., Ph.D.,
who occupied the position of professor in the school for over
twenty years, when he resigned to accept a professorship in
the Pennsylvania Agricultural College. He was afterward
professor in the R. B. Dunn normal department four years,
and one of the most popular teachers in the seminary. Mrs.
Emma J. Torsey was preceptress up to 1859, a period of
fourteen years. The school became so large that other teach-
ers had to be employed, and among them Miss Phronie B.
Robinson was a popular teacher of drawing and painting for
twenty-four years. In 1856 three hundred and seventy-four
students were enrolled. The large increase in the attend-
ance of the ladies was owing to tlie establishment of a female
Maine Wesley an Seminary and Female College. 151
depai'tiueiit, designed to give ladies a tlioroiigli tlirce or four
years' course of study.
The name of the school was al)out this time changed to
"Maine AVesleyau Seminary and Female Collegiate Insti-
tute," which three last words were afterward changed, by act
of the Legislature, to the more sensible name of " Female
College," by which it is now known. By this time better
scliool accommodations became an absolute necessity. I
have before me a circular, signed by Dr. Stephen Allen,
agent, under date of May 10, 1856, in which he says: "The
friends of the Maine Wesleyan Seminary have recently un-
dertaken to erect a new edifice that will contain boarding
accommodations for one hundred and fifty students." The
building here spoken of, now known as " Sampson Hall," was
completed arnd dedicated in 1859.
By the generosity of individuals, and some of the Method-
ist churches, the interior was finished and furnished. This
building contains a chapel, parlors, recitation -rooms, and
boarding accommodations for one hundred and forty stu-
dents, cost over $50,000, and is one of the best school build-
ings of the kind in the country. The erection of this edifice
was, at the time, a great undertaking, but it was nobly met
by the friends of the school. Dr. Stephen Allen, then acting
as financial agent, had the oversight of the work, and not
only proved himself a good financier, but a safe, prudent,
energetic business man. He managed to keep the credit of
the institution in good repute, and, with remarkable tact,
carried the enterprise through to a successful termination.
The establishment of a full college course for ladies, con-
ferring upon them the degree of Artiinn Baccalcturea^ was
a step in advance of any other school in New England. The
grand position assumed by this school in regard to female
152 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
education was an " alarm bell " to the regular colleges, who
very soon opened their doors to women — not as a matter of
choice, but of necessity.
The lirst college graduate from the institution was Miss
Lizzie A., daughter of Dr. Stephen Allen, in 1862, and not a
single commencement has since passed without graduating
more or less from the college course ; in 1868 thirteen young
ladies graduating. And to the credit of its college graduates
it should be said, that they stand second to none in literary
attainments or scholarship, either as teachers or in the
learned professions.
The next decade, from 1860 to 13Y0, was a period of unin-
terrupted prosperity. The spring catalogue of 1860 showed
the whole number of students for the year to be four hundred
and fifty-two ; that of 1870, five hundred and thirty-two.
At this time the school had become so large that a new
building seenied necessary, as the classes were every-where
crowded. And here, again, the friends of the institution
came to the rescue.
Samuel K. Bearce, Esq., a lumber merchant of Lewiston,
and a man of wealth, who had already been a liberal donor
to the school, and who had for many years been one of tbe
trustees, came forward and offered to give some $25,000
toward the erection of a new building, provided the sum
could be made up to at least $40,000.
The proposition was met, and the result was the erection
of the splendid structure known as "Bearce Hall," costing
about $45,000. This is one of the most elegant and beautiful
school buildings to be found in the country. Mr. Bearce
was one of the best friends the school ever had, and at liis
death, in addition to all his former gifts, he left the institu-
tion a legacy of $13,000, which it lias since received. In
Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College. 153
the tower of Bearce Hall was placed a large, fine-toned bell,
a gift from the Hon. James G. Blaine.
From 1870 to 1880 the institution continued to prosper.
The average number of students per year during this
decade was over five hundred and fifty, and in numbers the
gentlemen led the ladies only a small per cent.
In 1882 Henry P. Torsey, D.D., LL.D., who had been a
continuous teacher in the school thirty-nine years— one year
as assistant, and thirty-eight years as president— declined
a re-election. For thirty-eight years he had been annually
re-elected by the board of trustees president of the institu-
tion. He took the school when it was bankrupt, without
suitable buildings or financial credit, and comparatively
without pupils or friends, and for years, assisted only by
Francis A. Robinson, and his estimable wife, Mrs. Emma J.
Torsey, in the teaching department, receiving with them, by
way of salaries, nothing but the scanty amounts collected for
tuition, amounting to a few hundred dollars, and has brought
it up to the rank and condition of one of the most prosper-
ous popular literary institutions in the whole country.
Dr. Torsey possesses naturally a strong, vigorous constitu-
tion, capable of great physical endurance, yet the wear and
tear to both body and mind of nearly forty years' continuous
hard work in this institution was too great a strain upon him,
and for several years before he left the school he suffered
greatly from bodily indisposition, produced by overwork.
Dr. Toi*sey has had during his life-time under his care at
least twenty thousand students, and, as a popular educator,
stands second to none in the country. These students are
scattered all over the country, many of them being indebted
to the doctor not only for instruction, but for financial aid,
when struggling for an education. Many of hit? old pupils
154 Early Schools of Methodism.
have acquired eminence and distinction in the literary, pro-
fessional, and political world, thereby reflecting great credit
on their alma mater ^ and the distinguished teacher, who so
long stood at its head. Dr. Torsey is now ^''Emeritus pro-
fessor " of metaphysics in the institution, and its acting finan-
cial agent, and, although broken down in health, has lost
none of his old-time interest in the success of the institution.
Dr. Torsey was succeeded by Kev. Edgar M. Smith, A.M.,
as president. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the Wesleyan Uni-
versity at Middletown, Conn., of the class of 1871, and was
for some time a tutor in that institution. He subsequently
entered the regular ministry and occupied some of the most
important appointments in the old Providence Conference.
In his present position he has already acquired an excellent
standing, and shown himself a gentleman well qualified for
the responsible trust. He is a fine scholar, an apt, thorough
teacher, and popular with his students.
Rev. Joseph L. Morse, A.M., for years was professor of
ancient languages, and was a very thorough, popular teacher.
In 1880 he resigned his position to accept a position in the
North-western University at Evanston, 111.
Rev. A. Fittsroy Chase, A.M., was also a successful teacher,
as professor of mathematics and English literature for many
years. He is now principal of the East Maine Conference
Seminary at Bucksport. Among those who have made large
contributions to the seminary are the late Luther Sampson,
$11,500; Eliphalet Clark, M.D., late of Portland, $50,000;
Samuel A. Bearce, late of Lewiston, $35,000 ; Hon. Reuben
B. Dunn, of Waterville, $11,000; Hon. William Deering, of
Chicago, $11,000 ; Rev. E. Gammon, of Chicago, $7,000.
The value of the property now owned by the institution is
over $200,000, and not encumbered with debts. The legacy
Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College. 155
of the late Dr. E. Clark, of $50,000, will not, probably, uiulur
the teriiifi of the will, be available for about ten years.
The whole number of students who have been, in whole or
in part, educated at this institution are over twenty-five thou-
sand. Of these about eight thousand became teachers, five
hundred clergymen, four hundred physicans, three hundred
and fifty attorneys. Three hundred have received diplomas
as regular graduates from the courses.
156 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEE Y.
THE GENESEE WESLEYAN SEMINARY.
BY J. E. BILLS, D.D.
By the division of the Genesee Conference, in 1828, the
institution of learning known as the seminary of the Genesee
Conference fell into the territory of the Oneida Conference.
At the first session after the division, 1829, at Perry, N. Y.,
on motion of Glezen Fillmore and Loring Grant, a committee
was appointed to obtain information, and, at the next session,
report a plan for the erection of a seminary within the bounds
of the Genesee Conference. The proposition was adopted
with enthusiasm, and Glezen Fillmore, Abner Chase, Loring
Grant, Asa Abell, and John Copeland were appointed the
committee.
This committee entered vigorously upon its work, canvass-
ing the entire territory, and receiving propositions from the
towns and villages solicitous of securing the advantages of
such an institution. At the next Conference, held in Eoch-
ester, 1830, the committee reported that very cordial invi-
tations and generous aid had been tendered by the citizens of
Perry, Lima, Henrietta, Le Eoy, and Brockport, to secure the
location of the seminary at one of these places.
Having explained the conditions attending the propositions
of these several places, the committee concluded by recom-
mending Lima, as the most eligible and available place for
the proposed school. The committee also recommended that
the title of the institution should be Genesee Weslcyan Sem-
inary, to be under the control of a board of nine trustees, five
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. V67
of wlioin should be meinbers of tlie Genesee Conference ;
the property to be managed by the board of trustees, and
the trustees and a board of visitors to constitute a joint board
to employ teachers and other agents for conducting the
seminary. These recommendations were adopted by the
Conference. Lima became the location, and Revs. Abner
Chase, Glezcn Fillmore, Eichard Wright, Loring Grant,
Micah S eager, Francis Smith, and Messrs. A. A. Bennett,
Erastus Clark, and Ruel Blake were elected the first board
of trustees. The first board of visitors were Revs. Asa Abell,
J. Huestis, Israel Chamberlayne, M. Tooker, and C. Y. Ad-
gate, from the Conference ; also Rev. John Barnard, John
Lawber, Dr. C. Bannister, and Dr. T. M. Town. The same-
Conference appointed Loring Grant, J. Copeland, G. Laning,
Mr. Asahel House, and Mr. Frederick House a building com-
mittee, with Loring Grant as superintendent of the building,
and John Copeland was elected the first agent.
These boards and committees entered at once upon their
several duties. The building was put under contract on the
4th of January, 1831, to be completed on the 1st of Marcli,
1832. The edifice was to be of stone. The main south
front was to be one hundred and thirty feet, with a depth of
forty feet, three stories high, with a basement and an observ-
atory. There were to be two wings, twenty-four by fifty
feet, and two stories high. The cost was something less than
$20,000. At the first meeting, the board of trustees was per-
manently organized by the election of Rev. Abner Chase as
president, and Augustus A. Bennett as secretary. A corre-
spondence was opened by the secretary to secure teachei*s to
be ready for the opening of the school on the 1st of May, 1832.
Uev. John P. Durbin, A.M., tlien professor of languages in
Augusta College, was tendered the principalship, but was not
158 Early Schools of Methodism.
able to accept the position. On tlie 18th of January, 1832,
Eev. John Dempster was elected principal, and Kev. Samuel
Luckej was the substitute, if Mr. Dempster sliould decline
the position. At the same meeting of the board Thomas J.
Rugar, A. B., was elected professor of mathematics ; John
Hutton, A. B., professor of languages; D. B. Wakefield,
teacher of English ; Lord Sterling, assistant in English ; and
Miss Eliza S. Eogers, teacher in the female department.
The salary of the principal was fixed at $700 ; the teachers
of mathematics and languages, each $500 ; the teacher of
English, $400 ; his assistant, $200 ; the preceptress, $120 and
board; and the agent, $325. The steward. Rev. Loring
Grant, was allowed $350, and a home in the institution. At
a meeting of the trustees, April 10, 1832, rules were made
for the institution, a course of study was prescribed, the prices
of board and tuition were fixed, and Dr. Dempster hav-
ing declined, Samuel Luckey, D.D., was urged to accept the
principalship, which he did, taking a transfer from the New
York to the Genesee Conference for that purpose. All the
other teachers accepted the positions tendered, and reported
for duty at the opening of the term. At this meeting of
the board the following announcement was issued :
The Genesee Wesley an Seminary. — This institution has been
established in the town of Lima, Livingston County, N. Y., under the
patronage of the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church. Its original design contemplates instruction in letters and
science, combined with agriculture and the mechanic arts. The means
within reach of its patrons have not as yet been sufficient to enable
them to carry all these plans into full operation. Yet in furtherance of
these plans a board of executive officers has been constituted. A com-
manding site and farm have been secured, a commodious building
erected, a competent faculty procured, a course of study prescribed,
by-laws enacted, and arrangements made to open the school on the first
The Gknesee Wesley ajj Seminary. 159
Wednesday in May, 1832. It is hardly necessary to add that the prin.
ciples which are to govern and characterize the school are perfectly
liberal; every thing of a sectarian cast has been excluded from the course
of instruction.
The doors of the Genesee Weslejan Seminary opened as
thus announced, though the building was unfinished, and but
partially furnished. The grounds had not yet been graded,
or the several departments furnished with the needed facili-
ties, and the trustees lacked the means to supply these defi-
ciencies. The students found that the accommodations
were not luxurious, neither were the charges exorbitant.
Tuition in the common English branches was $3, and in
the higher branches $5, per quai'ter. In the ladies' depart-
ment tuition was $3, and music $5, per quarter. Board,
w^'th lodging, washing, fuel and lights, was $1 50 per week.
Eoom rent, $1 50 per quarter. These prices were so low
that they might suggest provision only for juveniles. But
the students during the first year were far from being juve-
niles. They were young people approaching man's estate
and womanhood, and were full of self-respect.
At the close of the year the faculty reported that the en-
rollment had been three hundred and forty-one — two hundred
and thirty gentlemen and one hundred and eleven ladies.
Classes had been instructed in universal geography, logic,
elements of criticism, metaphysics, geometry, surveying, nat-
ural philosophy, chemistry, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, rhetoric,
history, moral philosopliy, natural theology, algebra, conic
sections, astronomy, French, and drawing. During the first
year, or at its close, several changes occurred in the faculty, so
that at the opening of the second year the roll of instructors
stood: Samuel Luckey, D.D., principal; T. J. Rugar, A.B.,
mathematics ; John Ilutton, A.B., languages ; Elisha Ilyde^
160 Early Schools of Methodism.
primary department; Lord Sterling, assistant; Miss Eliza
S. Eogers, preceptress ; Miss Eliza Beecher, assistant ; Miss
Caroline E. Webber, teacher of music and drawing. Rev.
Gideon Laning and Rev. Wilbur Hoag were added to the
list of agents. During this year Professor Hutton retired,
and Lockwood Hoyt, A.M., became professor of ancient and
modern languages, and literature ; W. H. Goodwin became
assistant in English ; William Pengra was steward. Three
hundred and seventy-six students were enrolled during this
year. The first act incorporating the seminary was not ac-
ceptable to the friends of the school, but an amended charter,
granted early in 1834, pleased all parties. It discontinued
the board of visitors as a part of the corporation, and
increased the number of trustees to thirteen. In 1834 Dr.
Luckey was permitted to be absent on account of ill health,
and Professor Rugar was the acting principal. Dr. Luckey
finally retired in May, 1836, to accept the editorship of
"The Christian Advocate and Journal." Rev. Schuyler
Seager, A.M., became principal at the opening of the term
in September, 1837. During the interval Professor Hoyt
performed the duties of principal. Steady progress and
marked improvement attended the institution through the
remainder of the first decade. A few changes in the faculty
occurred. Professor Rugar was succeeded in 1835 by John
Barker in the chair of mathematics, w^ho acceptably occupied
it until 1839, when he was called to a professorship in Alle-
gheny College, and to the vice-presidentship of the institution.
Rev. George C. Whitlock succeeded Mr. Barker at Lima.
Professor Hoyt continued at the head of the department of
languages through this decade, assisted at different times by
George Loomis and William T. Curtis. In March, 1842,
Rev. George Loomis, A.M., succeeded Daniel J. Pinckney,
The Genesee Wesley an Seminary. 161
as professor of natural science. Miss Eogers resigned her
position as preceptress in 1835. Miss Tripliena Holmes tilled
the place for one year, and Miss Maria Hyde entered it for
two years; Miss Eogers then returned as the wife of the
principal, Mr. Seager. They both retired in 1844. The
average attendance of students during this period was four
hundred and five. In the early morning of May 26, 1842,
the seminary building was discovered to be on fire. Its de-
struction was the work of but an hour. No lives were lost,
and most of the furniture, the apparatus, and library were
saved. The town-hall was secured for recitation, the students
found accommodations in the homes of the citizens, and the
school continued without loss of time. The loss was $25,000,
on which there was an insurance of $12,000. The tire was
believed to be incendiary, but no evidence to convict the sus-
pected party came to light.
Four days later the deliberations of the trustees were inter-
rupted by the announcement that the citizens of Lima had,
in valid subscriptions, raised the sum of $5,000. This at the
moment seemed like a voice from Heaven calling upon the
board to go forward and rebuild. Words of encouragement
came from pastors and churches in all parts of the Confer-
ence. Twenty-two days later a building committee was ap-
pointed and a contract made for the erection of a new build-
ing. Tiie men who founded this institution had grown dur-
ing the tirst ten years of its history. Their plans for the
new editice were correspondingly enlarged.
The new editice was to have a frontage of one hundred
and forty-four feet, with wings ninety-six feet in depth ;
all to be four stories high, with basement interimlly greatly
improved. Sixty days after the conflagration the corner-
stone of this enlarged building was laid. Rev. John Cope-
162 Early Schools of Methodism.
land made the prayer, and Principal Seager delivered the
address. On the 12th of January, 1843, the new building
was opened ; Stephen Olin, D.D., president of the Wesleyan
University, delivered an elaborate and masterly address,
which appears in the second volume of his published works.
To the new and superior quarters provided the school was
immediately transferred. It entered npon its new career
with Professor Seagar as principal, and Mrs. Seager as pi*e-
ceptress. Lockwood Hoyt continued teacher of languages ;
George Loomis, of natural science; G. C. Whitlock, of
mathematics ; and most of the other teachers as during the
former decade.
The trustees at this period were Schuyler Seager, Thomas
Carlton, Asa Abell, John Parker, Gideon Draper, Allen
Steele, D. G. Shuart, S. Dusenberre, S. Spencer, Samuel
Luckey, J. B. Alverson, John Copeland, and John D. Brown.
During the thirteen years including the inauguration of the
enterprise, much space has been given to details, names of
trustees, officers, and teachers. What was done during these
years had a far-reaching influence. This was the formative
period. The high character which from the first until the
present day the school has sustained is due to the noble men
and women who so wisely planned and courageously executed
for the moral and intellectual training of its students.
In its general tone and purposes it is what they made it.
The curriculum and methods have been kept up to the
progress of the age, but its spirit is the spirit of the fathers
and founders. Its true friends must desire the dominance of
that spirit to the end.
During the seven years from the opening of the new
building the seminary made satisfactory progress, the high
average attendance of students was four hundred and eighty-
The Genesee Wesley an Seminary. 163
five, many of them mature young ladies and gentlemen. In
1845 Mr. and Mrs. S eager vacated the positions of princi-
pal and preceptress. George Loomis and Miss Abigail C.
Rogers, the sister of Mrs. Seager, were elected as their suc-
cessors. They held these positions for three years, and were
followed by James L. Alverson, A.M., who for several pre-
ceding years had been a teacher in the school, and Mrs. Maria
H. Hibbard, who liad been two years preceptress prior to her
marriaire to Rev. Dr. F. G. Hibbard. There were but few
changes among the other teachers of this period. Stability
characterized every department of the institution.
Near the close of the second decade measures were taken
to organize Genesee College as a part of the seminary, and
3^et distinct in its essential features. A charter was obtained
in 1849, and within two years a president and professors
were secured, funds collected, a noble edifice erected on
the seminary campus, a large class of students matricu-
lated, and a college of high character opened. The good
infiuence of the college upon the seminary was strikingly
visible.
The attendance of students in the seminary arose from
four hundred and forty-four in 1849, to six hundred and
sixty-one the next year, and to one thousand and twenty-
nine in 1851, and in 1853 there were enrolled in the semi-
nary one thousand and fifty-eight. The elevating influence
of the college upon the scholarship of the seminary was
another marked feature.
The third decade, 1851, opened with "the hill" swarming
with students. The halls and class-rooms were full. The
public exercises of the societies, the anniversaries and com-
mencements, were occasions of the greatest enthusiasm. Gen-
erous rivalry was visible in the class and lecture rooms, in the
164: Eaely Schools of Methodism.
essays, declamations, and orations of the students in all de-
partments.
In 1851 Mr. Alverson was transferred from the principal-
ship of the seminary to a professorship in the college. His
successors in the seminary were Moses Crow, for three years ;
then for two years Dr. Sclmyler Seager, who was followed
by C. W. Bennett ; then C. R Pomeroy and Zenas Hurd.
Mrs. Hibbard retired in 1851 ; Miss Maria Kelley then
filled the place for two years, followed by Miss Elizabeth N".
Lapham, for eight years. At this period Rev. John Dennis
was agent and treasurer of the college, and had charge of the
financial interests of the seminary. The average enrollment
in the seminary for the third decade was eight hundred and
eleven per annum.
The agitation of the question of removing the college
eastward to a more central location had a depressing influ-
ence upon both institutions, which was marked by decreasing
numbers, and the loss of the enthusiasm of former years.
When, in 1871, the college ceased its functions at Lima — it was
not removed — the-seminary was staggering under the burden
of indifference, neglect, and bitterness, engendered under the
influence of the attempted removal of the college. The nar-
row limits allowed to this chapter will permit only the brief-
est reference to the later years of the seminary. The average
enrollment between 1871 and 1881 was three hundred and
thirty-six. From 1802 to 1872 the principalship was tilled
by Professor William Wells, now of Union College ; C. W.
Bennett, Spencer R Fuller, and Herbert F. Fisk, now of the
North-western University. Miss Hannah Case, Frances E.
Willard, Mrs. ^Y. C. Scylla, Emma L. Waite, and Mrs. Mary
E. Stone were successively in charge of the ladies' department.
W. P. Coddington, of the Syracuse University ; Charles G.
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminaey. 165
Hudson ; S. A. Latimore, of Rochester University ; James H.
Hoose and George H. Bangs were teacliers in mathematics,
natural science, and languages. In 1872 George H. Bridg-
man became principal, and Miss Elizabeth Button preceptress.
W. E. Thompson, A.M., became teaclier in languages ; Adam
C. Works, A.M., mathematics and natural science ; and Mar-
Bena E. Pierce and Abby Barry, teachei*s of English. Miss
Pierce, now Mrs. W. E. Thompson, retired at the end of two
years, when Miss Emma Terry was elected to fill her place.
Miss Button resigned, after eight years of good service, and
became Mrs. E. T. Green, and Mrs. Anna E. Eice took and
still fills her place. Miss Barry retired in 1884, and her suc-
cessor is Rev. J. L. Davies, of the Genesee Conference. Called
to the presidency of Hamline University, Mr. Bridgman re-
signed the principalship, having, with ability, held the office
ten years. W. G. Williams nominally held the office of prin-
cipal for two years, but rendered only two terms of actual
service. Professors Works and Thompson did the work of
that department. In June, 1885, Rev. J. D. Phelps, A.M.,
late of the Cazenovia Seminary, was elected principal, and is
now performing the duties of his office. The other teachers
are A. E. Colgrove, A.M., Mary A. Nash, W. A. Putnam,
Herve D. Wilkins, A.M., and Nellie M. Lake. The present
board of trustees are C. W. Winchester, M. C. Dean, O. S.
Chamberlayne, Alfred Wright, George H. Dryer, E. H. Lat-
imer, A. J. Lorrish, John Dennis, L. T. Foot, Sandford Hunt,
J. E. Bills, Edmund Ocumpaugh, Eli Taylor, A. N. Fisher,
T. J. Bissell, L. A. Stevens, C. E. Millspaugh, Horace Gil-
bert. E. Ocumpaugh is president, L. T. Foot secretary,
and J. E. Bills treasurer. In concluding this brief sketch
many things press for attention. The semi-centennial of the
institution, celebrated in 1880, was an occasion of extraordi-
166 Early Schools of Methodism.
narj interest and enthusiasm. In 1875 Dr. Bridgman raised
$17,000, and $5,000 has been raised since. These amounts
were expended in introducing steam for heating purposes,
and in repairing and refurnishing the property. During
the summer of 1885, under the leadership of Mr. Alfred
"Wright, of Eochester, the buildings were again thoroughly
overhauled and put in better condition tlian they ever were
before. The rooms were never before so comfortably and
elegantly furnished. The endowment consists of a productive
farm, and of $65,000 invested upon bonds and mortgages.
Tliis institution has had a remarkable history ; the impres-
sion that it has made upon the ministry, the Church, and
upon the lives of thousands in general society, has been pro-
found and permanent. Some of the factors contributing to
its successful career are worthy of consideration. In the first
place, it has been a Christian school. A religious spirit,
profound and positive, has pervaded it. The fundamentals
of the Christian system have been held without wavering.
Revivals have been the order from the first. No year,
scarcely a term, has passed that did not record conversions
among the students in greater or less numbers — as many as
seventy-five in a single term having been saved. Scores who
have found Christ as a personal Saviour have entered the
ministry. God's blessing has been and will be on a school
where such work is done. The scholarship system has
aided the seminary. Said Eev. Dr. Dennis, at the semi-
centennial celebration :
One peculiar feature in the founding of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary,
and later of Genesee College, was the scholarship basis, by which these
institutions covenanted, in consideration of one hundred dollars, to
give fre etuition for one student, in the solid branches, either in the
seminary or college, in perpetuity. The scholarship system brought
The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. 167
into union and sympathy with the new institution a thousand families.
These thought and talked, and many of them prated, for the Genesee
Wesleyan Seminary, and later for Genesee College. Almost every
scholarship holder regarded it as a duty to use these scholarships that
no interest might be lost. Many sons and daughters of these, from the
mountains and valleys of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New
York, came to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College, who
otherwise never would have entered an institution of higher education,
and laid broad and deep the foundations of a liberal education.
There is space for allusion to but one other element of
power among the many that challenge attention in this
movement, and that is the ability and character of those who
have occupied the position of teachers. Many of their
names are written on these pages ; there is no occasion to
repeat them. They are as familiar, not only to the Method-
ist but to the general public, as household words. Where
they are generally of so high an order I have not trusted
myself to distinguish. I may be permitted to say, perhaps,
that it may be doubted if any other institution of equal grade
can present an array of names of equal ability and distinc-
tion. I will present my own estimate of them in the Ian.
guage of Hon. Angus Cameron, United States Senator from
Wisconsin, and a former student, in a letter to Dr. Bridg-
man, at the time of the semi-centennial celebration. After
expressing his regret that Congress would not adjourn in
time for him to be present, and indulging in many reminis-
cences, he says : " The scliool was then strong in its faculty,
and the number and character of its students. I have been
acquainted since with college faculties, and have been present
at college commencements, but I have never known a faculty
that, in ability and scholarship, exceeded that of the Genesee
AVesleyan Seminary in the years 1847, '48, '49, nor have I
ever seen college students which, as a whole, were superior to
168 Early Schools of Methodism.
tlie students of yonr seminary at that time." One might
well cover the space to speak of the students that this insti-
tution has sent forth ; twenty-seven thousand of them edu-
cated, in part or wholly, within its class rooms. Hundreds
of them in the front ranks of Church and State. So many
of them that are worthy of mention that one hesitates in dis-
tinguishing between them. Henry J. Raymond, Orange
Judd, W. H. De Puy, D.D., Eleazer Thomas, D.D., J. H.
Bayliss, D.D., and S. H. Lowe, in journalism. Senator An-
gus Cameron, Judge J^oah Davis, Hon. C. G. Williams, Judge
John S. Morgan, William F. Cogswell, Hon. John Yan Yoor-
liees, and Judge S. Hubbard, in law. Bishop C. H. Fowler,
A. C. George, D. W. Huntley, K. P. Jervis, and a great
list of others equally deserving of mention, in the pulpit.
S. S. Welles, D.D., LL.D., L. H. Bugbee, D.D., James L.
Alverson, LL.D., George Loomis, D.D., C. W. Bennett, D.D.,
D. P. Kidder, D.D., J. Dorman Steele, and Jabez R. Jaques,
D.D., among the educators. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Mrs. Belva
Lockwood, Mrs. J. H. Vincent, Mrs. Mary Seager Hurd,
Mrs. Sarah Pierson Wals worth, and Mary Northrup Yan
Benschoten, among the thousands of noble women who have
honored their alma mater in the most conspicuous walks of
life. And yet these names are but suggestive of the list that
might be made, solid men and women, not all of them of
equal prominence, but many of them in the widest fields of
usefulness.
This chapter cannot be more appropriately closed than
by quoting again from Senator Cameron's letter, where he
says : ** The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary has for fifty years
been a nursery of sound orthodox religion and education.
No man can measure its influence ; its students are in every
professsion, and in all occupations, and in every land."
Wesleyan Univebsity. 169
CHAPTER YI.
WESLBYAN UNIVERSITY.
BY EDWARD COOKE, D.D.
Perhaps no institution of learning in this country possesses
greater advantages of location than Wesleyan University, at
Middletown, Conn. Beautiful for situation, on the banks of
the Connecticut, extending from the water's edge up the ter,
races westward to a height of about one hundred and fifty
feet above the river, Middletown presents some of the most
enchanting scenery to be found anywhere in that far-famed
Xew England valley. The place was fii-st settled in 1650;
organized as a town, under the good old Puritan code, in
1653, taking the name which it still bears ; chartered as a city
in 1784, the same year with Hartford and New Haven, and
thirty-eight years earlier than Boston. It is easily reached
by rail from all directions, and from New York and Hartford
by steamers.
The site on which the university buildings stand, contain-
ing about twenty acres, is on- one of the highest and most
beautiful streets of the city. It was chosen, and the first build-
ings erected, for " The American Literary, Scientific, and Mil-
itary Academy," under the direction of the noted Captain
Alden Partridge, an early superintendent of the Military
Academy at West Point. The academy was auspiciously
opened in 1825, though not then chartered by tlie State of
Connecticut, and at the close of the first year numbered
twenty officers and instructors and two hundred and seventy-
two cadets.
8
170 Early Schools of Methodism.
Failing to receive a charter from the General Assembly
of Connecticut, with the privileges asked by the trustees,
tlie academy was abandoned, and Captain Partridge estab-
lished a similar institution at Norwich, Vermont, to which
place he removed in 1829. The two four-story stone build-
ings, plain but imposing in appearance, erected by the liber-
ality of the citizens of Middletown, w^ere left standing unoc-
cupied. Several attempts had been made to establish col-
leges under Methodist control, but they had proved so
many failures. Cokesbury, Asbury, and Madison Colleges
all had but a brief existence. Augusta College, in Kentucky,
was the first successful attempt ; this had a brilliant history
for a few years.
Leading men in Methodism, both in the ministry and laity,
in New York and ISTew England, began to feel that the time
had fully come to establish a college or university at some
central point in one of these two sections, with an endow-
ment that would at once secure for it a recognition among
the first of its class. Seminaries of a higher grg,de had for
some years been in successful operation at Keadfield, Maine ;
Wilbraham, Mass. ; and Cazenovia, N. Y. ; but no provision
had been made for completing the education thus begun.
Just at this crisis Kev. Laban Clark, D.D., presiding elder
of the district including Middletown, learning tliat the Mil-
itary Academy was soon to be removed to Yermont, and tliat
the trustees would sell the property at a very low figure for
a Methodist college, saw a " tide in the affairs of men " which
would prove a fortune to Methodism at least, if " taken at
the flood," and presented the subject to the New York Con-
ference, which assembled in May, 1829. This body enter-
t«nined the matter with favor, and appointed Kevs. John
Emory, Samuel Luckey, and Hemau Bangs a committee of
Wesley AN University. 171
inquiry. Tliis committee reported favorably, and recom-
mended that the New England Conference be invited to
join with the New York Conference in purchasing the prop-
erty at Middletown, and establishing the proposed college.
The New England Conference, which met a few weeks later,
received the proposition with much favor, and appointed, as a
committee to co-operate with those appointed by the New
York Conference, three of its most influential members,
Revs. Wilbur Fisk, D.D., then principal of Wesleyan Acad-
emy at Wilbraham, Mass., Timothy Merritt, and Stephen
Martindale. This joint committee met soon after, and in-
vited competitive offers from towns and cities within certain
prescribed bounds. Generous offers were received from
Bridgeport and Middletown, Conn. ; Wilbraham, Mass. ;
and Troy, N. Y. The trustees of the Military Academy
offered to transfer that property, in fee simple, on condi-
tions, first, that $40,000 be raised within a s^jecified time, as
the beginning of an endowment ; and, second, that the prop-
erty conveyed should be used in perpetuity for a college or
university.
The citizens of Middletown promptly subscribed $18,000
of the $40,000, and the Conferences, meeting in the spring of
1830, decided to locate the institution at Middletown, and
took steps to close the contract and to raise the balance of
the required endowment. To exercise the governing control
until a charter should be secured from the General Assembly
of Connecticut a prudential committee was appointed, and
twenty-one individuals, residing in New York and New En-
gland, were named as the choice for the first board of trustees.
By act of May, 1831, the persons thus named were duly
incorporated as Wesleyan University. The charter also pro-
vided for a joint board, comprised of the trustees and an
172 Early Schools of Methodism.
equal number of visitors to be appointed by the " patroniz-
ing Conferences" and a prudential committee, with certain
powers, who should act in the interim of the meetings of the
joint board. This machinery was found too unwieldy in
practice, and about forty years later (1870) the charter under-
went a revision. The powers of the joint board were con-
ferred upon a single board of trustees, to be elected, a part
by the trustees, a part by the Conferences, and a part hy the
alumni association of the college.
The first meeting of the trustees and Conference visitors
was held at Middletown, August 24, 1830, and had been
awaited with intense interest by the Methodist public. A
great enterprise had been undertaken, and much depended
upon the action taken at this first meeting. Methodist col-
leges had previously not been successful, and there were
not a few good men in the Church who still believed " God
did not call the Methodists to build colleges."
Twenty of the twenty- one trustees and twelve of the
twenty-one Conference visitors were present at this meeting.
Tliey were men of years, of experience, earnest, and God-fear-
ing. They sought wisdom from on high for the work before
them, and the results indicate that the petition was answered.
The most responsible as well as the most delicate act to be
performed was to select the right man for the presidential
chair. The whole field of Methodism, in Europe and Amer-
ica, was examined. Dr. Adam Clarke, Dr. Jabez Bunting,
and other names of British Methodist ministers were talked
of for the position. But before the meeting adjourned all
thoughts came back to the choice, first and last, of those vet-
erans Laban Clark and Heman Bangs to a member of the
board of trustees then present, but not a candidate by any
act or word on his part. The ballot was taken, and the Rev.
WeSLEYAN IlNn^ERSITY. 1^3
Wilbur Fisk, D.D., was chosen the first president of Wes-
ley an University.
Dr. Fisk had already become widely known as the recog-
nized educational leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church;
a superior organizer, a clear thinker, and an eloquent pulpit
orator. East, west, north, and south, all felt that the right
man was chosen for the responsible position.
Dr. Fisk was born at Brattleboro, Yt., August 31, 1792,
having descended from the good old Puritan stock. He
gave early evidence of great vigor of intellect. He pre-
pared for college at the academy in Peacham, and entered
the university at Burlington in 1812. But the war with
Great Britain caused the classes to be suspended the next
year, and he repaired to Brown University, entering as jun-
ior, and was graduated with honors in 1815. The law was his
chosen profession, but yielding to the pressure of his strong
convictions of duty, he exchanged the bar for the pulpit, after
having prepared for admission to practice, and chose as the
field of his ministerial labor the Methodist Episcopal Church.
This decision caused him a severe struggle, and brought forth
stern remonstrances from friends, who said, *• To bury his
brilliant talents in the Methodist connection was a sacrifice
which he was not called to make;" but he felt a firm convic-
tion that he had a work to accomplish in that Church, and
no mere worldly considerations could turn him aside from
what he felt to be duty. And now, when the results of his
devotion to the cause of higher education are before the
world, who can doubt that the liand of God directed his
clioice? He was received into the New England Conference
in tlie spring of 1818, and for the next three years devoted
himself to pastoral and pulpit labor, in which field he at
once attracted much public attention by his superior abilities
174 Early Schools of Methodism.
as an orator. In consequence of impaired liealtli he was
now obliged to have entire rest from all public efforts, and
was for two years returned on the Minutes of Conference as
a superannuate. Having enjoyed the quiet of his paternal
home, with out-door exercise, and freedom from all care dur-
ing these two years, he was anxious to resume again his
chosen labor, and, young as he was, the Bishop appointed
him, at the Conference in 1823, the presiding elder on the
Vermont District, which included the whole State east of the
Green Mountains and one circuit in New Hampshire. Tliis
large field must be traversed four times a year on horseback.
The duties of this laborious office he discharged with improv-
ing health and increasing popularity till he removed to Wil-
braham, Mass., in May, 1826, having sometime previously
been elected principal of Wesley an Academy. In this posi-
tion he remained five years, exercising those gifts possessed
by him in an unusual degree as an organizer, educator, and
skillful disciplinarian. These qualities, so marked, brought
offers of the presidency of one State University of high
standing, and chairs in several colleges, all of which he
declined till elected to the proposed university at Middle-
town, as previously narrated. This last election he regarded
as a call from Heaven. Twice was he elected a Bishop, once
for the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada, and, eight
years later, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but his con-
victions remained unchanged, that duty required him to re-
main at the university, and, true to duty as the needle to the
pole, there he remained till called to his reward above.
The joint board, at this first meeting, provided for opening
at Middletown a preparatory school, and appointed agents to
solicit donations and sell scholarships entitling the holder to
free tuition. The preparatory classes commenced their work
Wesley AN University. 175
in October, 1830, under Rev. William C. Larrabee, A.B., aii
alumnus of Bowdoin College, as principal. Mr. Larrabee
subsequently became noted as a scholar and successful edu-
cator, and is remembered with affection by thousands once
his pupils.
The university proper opened September 21, 1831, with
the following faculty the first year: Rev. Wilbur Fisk,
S.T.D., president ; Augustus William Smith, A.M., professor
of mathematics ; Rev. John Mott Smith, A. M., professor of
ancient languages; Rev. Jacob F. Iluber, A.M., professor of
modern languages; William Magoun, A.M., tutor.
During the lirst term forty-eight students were matricu-
lated, several of tliem coming from other colleges, drawn,
probably, by denominational preferences. The first who ma-
triculated was destined to fill no small place in the Church
of his choice. Converted while a student at Wesleyan
Academy, and received on probation by Dr. Fisk at the age
of fifteen, he filled the various offices of the Church, from
that of an exhorter, at seventeen years of age, to that of
Bishop in 1852. Osmon Cleander Baker left college during
his senior year, compelled by ill health ; but his name heads
the list of honored non-graduate alumni of his alma mater.
The first to recite a lesson in college was Elishu Bourna Kye,
wlio was graduated in 1835, studied medicine at New Haven,
practiced in Middletown, and 1ms made a good record as a
physician.
The first commencement was held August 28, 1833, and
six young men received the baccalaureate degree. Daniel H.
Chase (still living), Benjamin I. Diefendorf, William Golicar,
John Roper, George II. Rounds, and Alexander II. Wright
will stand as the pioneers of the large and increasing number
of alum7ii. Six under-graduates also delivered addresses to
1Y6 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
fill up the time. Aiiotlier item of some moment at this first
commencement is the fact that the subsequently distin-
guished Daniel Denison Whedon, D.D., LL.D., delivered his
inaugural as professor of ancient classics, successor to John
Mott Smith, deceased.
It would be a pleasing task to narrate the works and lives
of these six pioneer graduates, now that all but one have
passed beyond this life, and record what they accomplislied
for the Church and the world ; but the space allotted to this
article forbids. We can, therefore, only refer the reader to
what may be found in the " Alumni Record." We have thus
far traced the inception and progress until we have seen the
university launched on the tide of success, its classes and
faculty fully organized, and its first class graduated. We
now come to its further develt>pment and growth. Two
measures, then innovations upon college usages, were, upon
the recommendation of President Fisk, adopted b}^ the uni-
versity. The first was, to pass students and admit them to a
degree whenever they could successfully stand the required
examination, without regard to time. To facilitate this the
students were divided into sections or departments of study,
instead of the usual four classes, freshmen, sophomore, junior,
and senior. This plan, however, did not long remain in
force, and there was a return to the usual classification. The
other innovation was that of a purely scientific course of
study, securing the degree of bachelor of science. This
still remains in use, and the plan has been adopted by a
large portion of the colleges and universities of the country.
Dr. risk was spared to the university nearly nine years, most
of the time an invalid, but his services were invaluable.
Before his lamented death, February 22, 1.839, much progress
had been made in building up and enlarging the foundations
Wesleyan University. 177
of tlie university. The Endowment Fund had been increased,
a respectable library had been secured, a good working appa-
ratus had been added, and, not least, the love and confidence
of the Methodist people had been gained for the institution in
all parts of the country. Six regular classes had graduated,
afirofreoratinff one hundred and fifteen, each of whom went out
OCT O O '
ready to promote, as far as able, the interests of his alma
mater. A large majority of those engaged in teaching,
many entered the clerical profession, others that of law or
medicine, and some active business pursuits.
" In its early days of poverty," says Professor Kice,* " the
institution had many faitiiful and earnest friends, among
whom Dr. Laban Clark and Eev. Heman Bangs are worthy
of special mention ; but to no one was it so deeply indebted
as to its president, Dr. Wilbur Fisk. IJis pure and lofty
piety, and his gentle and winning manners, endeared him to
all who knew him ; while his tact and prudence, his high
administrative ability, his thorough culture and extensive
reputation, and his untiring efforts in behalf of the univer-
sity, soon assured its success, and secured for it general rec-
ognition."
When the long-dreaded event came, and the presidency
was really vacant, all felt how difficult it would be to find a
successor. To the professors, expressing their feai's to liim
on this subject just before his death, his answer was, " It will
1x3 easy to find another president, but not so easy to find
another father."
At the meeting of the joint board, August 6, 1839, Rev.
Stephen Olin, D.D., LL.D., was elected president. Dr. Olin
was a native of Vermont, born March 2, 1797, at Leicester,
Addison County, was an alum.nu8 of Middlebury College, had
♦"Scribner's Monthly," Septomlior, 1876,
8*
1Y8 Early Schools of Methodism.
spent most of liis years siiKje graduation in South Carolina
and Georgia, either in educational institutions or in the pul-
pit, in both of which he had acquired much renown. Princi-
pal of the Conference Seminary in South Carolina, professor
of English literature in the university at Athens, Georgia,
and president of Randolph Macon College, in Virginia, he
would come no stranger to the duties required as the success-
or of the lamented Fisk. Dr. Olin was at this time on liis
travels through Europe, Egypt, Petrea, and the Holy Land,
in search of health. Professor Augustus W. Smith, wlio
had, since the death of Dr. Fisk, disci larged the duties of
president, was requested by the board to continue to act in
that capacity until the return of Dr. Olin, who would then,
it was expected, assume the presidential chair. But on his
arrival, contrary to what had been fondly hoped, lie found
his health utterly insufficient for the duties of the office, and
on February 20, 1841, tendered his resignation, which was
very reluctantly accepted by the board. In this emergency
another president must be sought, and the choice fell upon
the venerable Dr. Kathan Bangs. Few men, if any, in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, have rendered more useful
service than he. A profound thinker, an able preacher, with
vast stores of knowledge in different departments of learn-
ing, still Dr. Bangs realized his want of adaptation to the
peculiar duties of the presidency of a college. Knowing but
little of the student life in the schools, he found the position
not in keeping with his own convictions of duty, and re-
signed at the close of the year, August 2, 1842.
In the meantime the university had been steadily advanc-
ing, the classes of '40, '41, and '42 being larger than those
that preceded. Improvements had been made in and
around the buildings ; the campus had been set with trees
Wesleyan University. 170
and otherwise beautified, and halls provided for the literary
societies. A period of rest among his native hills had so far
restored Dr. Olin's physical vigor that it was thought, both
by himself and friends, that he might undertake the duties
of the presidency. He was, therefore, re-elected, August 2,
1842, president of Wesleyan University. Prof. William Nortli
Eice, Ph.D., in "Scribner's Monthly,'' September, 1876, says,
"Dr. Olin's fame as a pulpit orator, and his previous success
in similar institutions, caused him to be greeted with an en-
thusiastic welcome. His health was so feeble as never to
allow him to devote himself as he wished to the work of
instruction. He w^as, however, successful in improving the
financial condition of the university, and especially in extend-
ing its reputation, and his noble and commanding character
was itself an inspiration to all the students under his charge."
President Olin was spared to the university nine years
and died, August 16, 1851. His remains were interred in
the college cemetery, where repose the dust of the first
president. Fisk and Olin lie in the same lovely spot,
loved in life and greatly lamented in death by all who had
known them. There were many points of coincidence in
the history of these great men. Both were born in Yer-
niont, not remote from each other, and were sons of men
who had acquired distinction, and sat as judges upon the
bench ; both taught for a short time after graduation, and
then were impelled, by their own convictions, into the minis-
try, and became distinguished as pulpit orators. Both were
called to educational institutions in which they achieved
marked success, and finished their eminently useful lives in
the same official station, died in the same room, and now lie
side by side in the repose of death. Notwithstanding these
similarities, they were very unlike each other, and unlike
180 Early Schools of Methodism.
other men. Each had his points of greatest excellence and
greatest power, and they cannot be compared without injus-
tice to both, any more than could Cicero and Demosthenes ;
nor was either deficient in the qualities in which the other
most excelled.
After the death of Dr. Olin, Pi of. A. W. Smith again
acted as president, • and at the meeting of the joint board,
August 3, 1842, was regularly elected president of Wes-
leyan University. Dr. Smith was a native of Herkimer Coun-
ty, 'N. Y., was graduated at Hamilton College in 1825, and
soon after became a teacher in the seminary at Cazenovia.
On the retirement of Nathaniel Porter, the first principal, in
1827, he was elected to succeed him as principal, the duties
of which office he continued to perform with great accept-
ance till called to fill the chair of mathematics and astron-
omy at the opening of Wesleyan University in 183L. A
superior scholar and a born teacher, of cultured and pleasing
manners, he sustained his chair twenty-six years with distin-
guished ability, and won the confidence and affection of his
pupils as few have been able to do. In recognition of his
superior scholarship, liis alma mater honored him with the
degree of LL.D. in 1850. President Smith held the position
five years, during which time the institution continued to
maintain its high grade of scholarship, and its financial inter-
ests were materially advanced by his personal efforts. Pledges
were secured amounting to $100,000, and something over
$80,000 were collected and added to the endowment of pro-
fessorships. An iron fence in front of the campus took the
place of tlie unsightly wooden one, and other valuable im-
provements were made.
At the annual meeting of the joint board, August, 1857,
Dr. Smith tendered his resignation, and subsequently was
Wesley AN Uxiversity. 181
elected to the professorsliip of natural philosophy in the
United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Appreci-
ating the superior qualifications of Professor Smith, the gov-
ernment at Washington, in 1860, appointed him one of the
astronomical corps sent to Labrador to make observations
upon the solar eclipse. He died at Annapolis, March 22,
1866. Thus passed away, nmch lamented, a superior scholar,
a rare teacher, and a devout Christian man.
When President Smith resigned, the university had gradu-
ated twenty-five classes, numbering, in all, live hundred and
seventy-eight. Among this large body of alumni many had
acquired prominence before the public for scholarship, pulpit
ability, success in the professions of medicine and law, and as
practical educators; and a very general feeling seemed to
prevail that the university need not go outside its own alumni
to find a man to till the presidential chair. In accord with
this sentiment the choice fell upon Rev. Joseph Cum-
mings, D.D., then president of Genesee College, at Lima,
N. Y. Dr. Cumming3 was born, March 3, 1817, in Fal-
mouth, a few miles out of Portland, Maine ; prepared for col-
lege at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, at Readfield ; was grad-
uated at Wesleyan University in the class of 1840 ; filled the
chair of mathematics and natural science in Amenia Semi-
nary for three years ; was elected principal of the same in
1843, and conducted tliat then prosperous school for three
years more with marked success. In 1846 he was received
into the New England Conference of the Methodist Episco-
])a] Church, and spent the next eight years in pastoral labor.
In 1853 he was invited to take the chair of theology in the
Methodist General Biblical Institute at Concord, N. II. The
next year, 1854, he received the doctor^s degree from his
alma mater^ and was elected to the presidency of Genesee
182 Early Schools of Methodism.
College, at Lima, IST. Y. He conducted the growing inter-
ests of that college with the recognized ability that had
crowned with success his labors elsewhere, till elected, in
1857, to thie chair once occupied by those rare men, Wilbur
Fisk and Stephen Olin. The new president entered upon
his duties with an open field and inviting prospects. The
meuibers of the earlier faculty had all passed away or retired
except the veteran professor who had filled with distin-
guished ability the chair of natural science since 1835, John
Johnston, LL.D., and Professor H. B. Lane, A.M., who had
also rendered valuable service in his chair, and especially in
the financial interests of the university. Of commanding
port, affable in manners, a clear thinker, with executive and
financial abilities of a high order, and varied experience in
positions previously occupied. Dr. Cummings, as w^as antici-
pated by those who knew him most intimatelj^, rendered his
administration memorable for efficiency and success, through
the comparatively long period of eighteen years. Professor
Winchester, in the "Alumni Kecord," 1881-'83, expresses
his estimate as follows :
*' The personal force and energy of President Cummings,
his tireless industry, his hearty devotion to the welfare of
the college, together with his skill and popularity as an
instructor, combined to make his administration, in many
respects, a successful one. It was particularly marked by the
growth of the material interests of the institution, in which
President Cummings always took especial concern. To his
labors the college is principally indebted for the line of noble
buildinors that now crown the hill."
In 1868 a tasteful library building, costing $40,000, and
capable of containing one hundred thousand volumes, was
erected by the late Isaac Rich, Esq., of Boston, and about the
Wesleyan University. 183
same time he increased his subscription to the endowment
fund to $100,000. Observatory Hall underwent important
changes, and received one of Alvan Clark's iinest refracting
telescopes. A Library Fund, of $27,600, was contributed by
the alumni. In 1871 the Memorial Chapel was erected,
costing some $60,000, and the same year was completed
the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science, the munificent
gift of Orange Judd, Esq., an alumnus of 1847, at a cost of
$100,000. In 1872 the curriculum of studies was enlarged
and modified by the extension of the elective system, and in
the fall of the same year the university was opened for
the admission of ladies. His success as the head of the
university had secured for Dr. Cummings recognition at
Harvard by the honorary D.D. in 1861, and that of LL.D.
by the North-western University in 1866. He resigned the
presidency in 1875, but continued in charge of the depart-
ment of mental and moral philosophy and political economy
nearly three years ; then returning to the pastorate, he was
stationed successively at Maiden, Mass., and at Harvard Street,
Cambridge, Mass.
In 1881 Dr. Cummings was Elected president of the North-
western University at Evanston, 111., and now, with the
vigor and energy that characterized his earlier years, he is
strengthening the foundations of that large and growing uni-
versity.
At the meeting of the joint board, in June, 1875, another
alumnus^ Rev. Cyrus David Foss, D.D., w^as elected to the
presidential chair of Wesleyan University.
Dr. Foss was born in Kingston, Ulster County, N. Y.,
1831:; was graduated in the class of 1854; was teacher of
mathematics in Amenia Seminary two years ; was then elected
prinoipiil of the same, which ])osition he resigned at the end
181 Early Schools of Methodism.
of the year, preferring the active pastorate. He was
received into the New York Conference of the Metliodist
Episcopal Church in 1857, and spent the next eighteen
years in pastoral charges. When Dr. Foss assumed the
duties of tlie presidency the university had been in operation
forty-four years, and had graduated forty-two classes. It had
made substantial progress in all its departments ; its officers
and instructors had increased from five to sixteen, its college
edifices from two to seven, its students from forty-eight to
one hundred and seventy-six, its library from three thousand
to twenty -six thousand volumes, its property, of all kinds, to
about $1,000,000. Large expenditures for instruments and
cabinets had also been made, adding greatly to the means for
instruction. But, notwithstanding tliis favorable showing,
President Foss found the university greatly in need of larger
resources. Says Professor Winchester, "Alumni Record,"
1881-83 : " The growth of the endowment during the previ-
ous ten years had by no means kept pace with the growth of
the unproductive wealth of the college in buildings, collec-
tions, and other material facilities. The increase in the num-
ber of buildings, and the needful enlargement of the coift-se
of study, rendered the annual expenditures, of necessity,
greater than ever, while, on the other hand, in the general
stagnation of business and financial depression that followed
the panic of 1873, the productive property of the college had
depreciated greatly in value. The annual expenditure was
about $40,000, the annual income, from all sources, only
$20,000." In addition to this a debt had been allowed to
accumulate, and was rapidly increasing from this annual
deficit. Dr. Foss presented the matter to the Conferences,
and stated, in 1876, that " only large and generous help,
promptly given, could save it from disaster."
Wesley AN Untv^ersity. 185
In this emergency the friends of the college responded
nobly. The trustees put their hands into their own pockets,
and' met largely the annual deficit ; the alumni subscribed
and paid in nearly $40,000, and others also came to the res-
cue with liberal subscriptions. By this promptness the debt
was soon paid and danger averted. During the five years of
President Foss's administration, and principally through his
untiring efforts, about $250,000 were added, by subscription,
to the Endowment Fund, and a large portion of it paid in.
Professor Winchester, in " Alumni Record," 1881-83, adds :
" But it was not financial success alone that marked the ad-
ministration of President Foss. A character so noble, a
kindness and courtesy so unvarying, an enthusiasm for good-
ness so inspiring, a piety so high and pure — these could not
fail of their effect upon all who knew him. His influence
was itself an education of the best sort." His eminent pul-
pit abilities, as well as his success in the pastoral work,
received becomint' recoornition bv his alma mater, which
conferred D.D. in 1870, and he was honored with LL.D. by
Cornell University, of Iowa, in 1879. The General Confer-
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in May, 1880,
elected Dr. Foss one of its Bishops. This action of the
Conference deprived the university of its able and popular
president. At the annual meeting of the trustees, in June
following, the vacancy thus created was filled by the election
of another alumnus to the presidency, Rev. John Wesley
Beach, D.D.
Dr. Beach, born in Trumbull, Conn., 1825, was graduated
in 1845, and, like his last two predecessors, taught in Amenia
Seminary, was principal of the same for three years, and then
devoted himself to the ministry. He joined the New York
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1854, and
186 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
spent twenty-six years in the pastorate and presiding elder-
ship, filling some of the principal stations in the New York
and ISTew York East Conferences, also the presiding elder-
ship on the New York District. In 1872 his alma mater
honored him with the degree of D.D. The well-known
scholarship of Dr. Beach, as well as his pulpit ability and
success in the pastorate, turned attention to him as tlie suc-
cessor of Bishop Foss fro the presidential chair. During the
early years of his administration large subscriptions were
made to the Permanent Fund, and also to tlie Scholarship
Fund of the college, which encouraged its friends to hope
that the dawn of a still greater usefulness had commenced ;
but financial disaster has overtaken some of its most liberal
contributors, and it becomes necessary to renew the appeal to
the public for immediate aid. President Beach, with heart
and zeal, is laboring to repair the financial losses, so that the
university may not be obliged to call a halt in its onward
progress.
GENERAL SUMMARY, 1885.
Whole number of graduates 1,415
Number of students now in college 193
Officers and instructors 20
Real-estate $400,000 00
Personal property (library, museum, appurtenances, etc.) $109,300 00
Productive resources (excluding Library Fund) $673,286 58
Annual liabilities (annuities, prizes, etc.) $754 22
Volumes in the library 34,000
Library Fund $1 8,792 00
Total receipts, including subscriptions for current expenses $46,657 08
Expenditures, 1884-'85 $44,665 94
Dickinson College. 187
CHAPTER YIL
DICKINSON COLLEGE.
BY PROFESSOR J. H. MORGAN, A.M.
Dickinson College lias now more than a century of his-
tory; her charter bearing the date of 1783, the year in
which the independence of the colonies was conceded by
England. There are a few older institutions in the country,
but none, probably, founded under less favorable circum-
stances. The infancy of Dickinson fell on a time, compared
with which there has been no other in our history so un-
friendly to the nurture of such an infancy. The war for
independence had left the colonies impoverished and de-
])ressed, currency almost valueless, credit fallen to decay,
commerce spreading scarce a sail, schools for higher educa-
tion weak and exhausted, and, worst of all, the problem of
government yet to be solved. Under such circumstances a
calculating prudence would have counseled delay in founding
a college until affairs had once more assumed their normal
condition, till credit had been restored, and education had
begun to be felt as a want by the people. The clear idea of
the needs of the time, and the lofty motives which actuated
the moving spirits in the enterprise, apparently so un-
promising, are so clearly set forth in the early records of the
institution, that in their light it is less a matter of surprise
that the effort was made. Says the preamble and enacting
clause of the charter :
Section I. Whereas^ The happiness and prosperity of every commu-
nity (under the direction and government of Divine Providence)
188 Early Schools of Methodism.
depends much on the right education of the youth, who must succeed
the aged in the important offices of society, and the most exalted
nations have acquired their pre-eminence by the virtuous principles and
liberal knowledge instilled into the minds of the rising generation:
Section II. And whereas, After a long and bloody contest with a great
and powerful kingdom, it has pleased Almighty God to restore to the
United States of America the blessings of a general peace, whereby the
good people of this State, relieved from the burdens of war, are placed
in a condition to attend to useful arts, sciences, and literature, and it is
the evident duty and interest of all ranks of people to promote and
encourage, as much as in thftn lies, every attempt to disseminate and
promote the growth of useful knowledge:
Section III. And whereas. By the petition of a large number of per-
sons ... it appears that the institution of a college at the borough of
Carlisle ... for the instruction of youth in the learned languages, and
other branches of literature, is likely to promote the real welfare of this
State:
Section V. Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the
Representatives of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, that there
be erected, and hereby is erected and established in the borough of
Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, in this State, a college . . . the
style, name, and title of which said college, and the constitution
thereof, shall be, and are hereby declared to be, as is hereafter men-
tioned and defined ; that is to say :
1. In memory of the great and important services rendered to his
country by his excellency, John Dickinson, Esq., president of the
Supreme Executive Council, and in commemoration of his very liberal
donation to the institution, the said college shall be forever hereafter
called and known by the name of Dickinson College.
The official seal of the college — a Bible, telescope, and cap
of liberty, witli Pietate et doctrina tiita lihertas as the
motto, gives additional evidence that the preservation of
their newly acquired liberties was the task they proposed to
accomplish by liberal education. Says Dr. Rush, one of the
Dickinson College. 189
trustees, in an essay addressed to the Legislature, on tlie
"Modes of Education Proper for our Republic:" "Let our
pupil be taught that he does not belong to himself, but that
he is public property."
Of the leading spirits busied about the parturition of the
college, it needs but that their names be mentioned. Their
fame is too well assured to make it necessary or even desira-
ble that attempt should be made to retell the story of their
lives, already the possession of the nation. Dr. Benjamin
Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence,
the chief promoter of the enterprise, by his means and his
counsel gave it, through thirty years, enthusiastic service, and
in a letter to a friend, twenty-live years after the founding of
the college, says : " I feel now all the ardor I felt at its [the
college's] establishment." His careful attention to the details
of the work of the college was invaluable to it, and his hope-
fulness gave inspiration in its darkest hours. His excel-
lency, John Dickinson, "the farmer," author of the " Let-
ters of Fabius," during the early years of its life, contributed
more largely of his means to the endowment of the college
than any other individual. His gifts were munificent for
his time, and if they seem small when compared with those
of a later time, the difference represents not a difference in
devotion to the cause, but in means, and in the spirit of the age.
Through the efforts of Dr. Rush, Charles Nisbet, D.D., was
secured as first president of the college. He had been a
friend of the colonies during the Revolution, and fifteen years
before had been recommended to the trustees of Princeton
College by Dr. Witherspoon, " as the person of all his
acquaintance fittest " for the first president of Princeton Col-
lege, though Dr. Witherspoon himself was finally induced
to accept the position.
190 Early Schools of Methodism.
Dr. Nisbet reached this country in the summer of 1785,
and was everj-where treated with the greatest consideration.
But there was an herculean task in waiting for him. Al-
though school work had been begun at Carlisle, the college
had practically yet to be made. The only building at the
disposal of the trustees was a house containing four rooms,
situated on one of the alleys of the town ; and for nearly
twenty years this was the only available building. Profess-
ors were to be secured, and, what was more difficult, their
salaries provided for. In fact, almost every provision neces-
sary for even a decent equipment had to be made after his
arrival.
As might have been expected of a scholarly man, accus-
tomed to the habits of scholars, to whom the hardy self-reli-
ance of life in a new country was entirely unknown— dream-
ing the enthusiast's dream as to the easy sway of reason over
the minds of men *' free from the shackles of authority ; "
expecting the ideal, but finding the real — as was to be ex-
pected, he was not altogether fitted to the work of the Amer-
ican pioneer. Yet, be it said to his lasting credit, after the
first severe attack of longing for his dear old home, with
unswerving fidelity of purpose he addressed himself to the
trying duties of his position, doing an amount of work which
would seem simply incredible. In view of the small number
of teachers, he felt called upon, in bringing the college curric-
ulum nearer his ideal, to enlarge the work of his own depart-
ment, adding four co-ordinate courses of lectures, and at the
request of a class, yet a fifth. It is a picture well worthy of
our admiration, this man of pre-eminent scholarship, in a
scholarly age, at home in almost all fields of knowledge,
bred in the quiet of European university life, faultlessly
adjusted to his position as Scottish clergyman, leaving the
Dickinson College. 101
liomc of liis youth and early manhood — exchanging quiet for
turmoil, comfort for discomfort, ease for struggle — throwing
the whole energy of a strong massive nature into the pioneer
educational work of a new and undeveloped country, and
(lying finally without the assurance that he had builded for
the generations to come — such was Nisbet's life. He died
in 1804 while the college's struggle for existence was yet
unsettled, while it was yet to be determined whether it
would live or die. He died, but his work remains. The
place of the college for which he labored, and hoped, and
feared is now assured, and so long as Dickinson College shall
live will the name of Charles Nisbet be remembered.
Though not distinctly denominational, the college was
Presbyterian in its administration, and Dr. Davidson, a Pres-
byterian divine, was chosen to succeed Dr. Nisbet; but after
five years he resigned, to devote himself to the work of the
pastorate.
Jeremiah Atwater, D.D., president of Middlebury College,
Vermont, succeeded him in 1809, and his administration
gave promise of large success. The number of students
rapidly increased, the faculty was strengthened, and the
Sophomore was added to the three classes, which till that
time had comprised the course. But trouble was brewing.
The war with England almost robbed the college of stu-
dents, so that degrees were conferred on one class during
their absence in the army. A duel in 1815 resulted in the
death of a member of the Junior class ; and a lawless spirit
prevailing generally seems to have brought the college into
disrepute. The latter, however, is in no sense surprising,
when the great difficulties encountered in internal adminis-
tration are known. By a fatal defect in the charter of the
college the trustees were made a final court of appeal in all
192 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
cases of discipline, and seem to have had greater love for
authority than wisdom in its use. Under such circumstances,
with an appeal from the faculty to the trustees always possi-
ble, and with the trustees too often rendering decisions
adverse to those of the faculty, it is not strange that things
grew continually worse until finally, in 1815, a crisis was pre-
cipitated by an order requiring the president and professors
to make weekly report to the trustees of every delinquency,
the judgment of the faculty, and the extent to which it had
been executed. Within three months the president and most
of the faculty had resigned. Successors were elected, but
in 1816 the college was closed ; and, though opened again, it
was generally felt that there were obstacles in the incubus of
poverty, and the absence of harmony and vigor in the board
of trustees, which no ability of instruction could countervail ;
that there was a general tendency to decline, and that the
college was doomed.
During this declension there were, it is true, periods of
temporary prosperity, seldom, however, outlasting the tran-
sient impulse to which they were due. The most notable
instance of this was during the brief presidency of Dr. John
M. Mason, from 1821 to 1824. Esteemed the most eloquent
divine of his day. Dr. Mason attracted to the college a large
number of young men, and some of the best classes ever
graduated from the college — notably that of 1823 — belong to
this period. Prosperity, however, passed away w^ith the
man ; and the guardians of the college, wearying of the effort
to prolong its languishing life, were willing to surrender
their charge to others.
At this period of discouragement came overtures from the
Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
looking to the securing of the college to the Conference.
Dickinson College. 193
For a long period the Methodists had taken but little ap-
parent interest in the work of higher education. Some
early enterprises of the kind had resulted so disastrously as
seemingly to disincline them to similar undertakings. How-
ever this may have been, the Church was beginning to expe-
rience a powerful reaction, and schools were being estab-
lished here and there under her direct control. As a result
of this revival the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences,
the latter having consented to share in the undertaking,
began to form plans for the establishment of a college
within their borders ; and attention having been turned to
Dickinson, as possible of attainment, negotiations, looking to
tliis end, were entered upon, and finally brought to a success-
ful consummation.
In 1833, at the close of the first half-century of the col-
lege's life, the trustees met to consider what was best to be
dune. After deliberations protracted through a week, it was
decided to transfer the college to the Conferences above
named. By this transfer the Methodist Episcopal Church
became possessed of a college rich in memories of half a
century, of a well-stocked library, a fine campus with a com-
modious building on it, erected in 1805, and now known
as West College, and a small amount of money, sufiicient to
pay all debts and make some needed repairs, and to put the
campus into such shape that it might grow into beauty.
The new administrator were in a position to profit by the
mistakes of their predecessors. Unity and vigor of govern-
ment was secured by the transfer of the college to a single
religious body. Before this it had belonged distinctively to
no Church, and the fact that Presbyterian influence predomi-
nated, only rendered other denominations jealous. Such
lireduniinance had Presbyterians obtained in the counsels of
19i Eakly Schools of Methodism.
the college that the belief yet prevails that the Presbyterian
Church surrendered the college to the Methodists, but such
was not the case. The accident of superior numbers and
resources in the community had rendered them most influen-
tial in its administration, but had given theu\ no right not
erpially shared by Episcopalians and Lutherans, both of whom
were represented in the faculty and in the board of trustees.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was not only to govern,
but to govern, all consenting to her right. An amended
charter was secured. The right of the trustees to act in mat-
ters of internal government was greatly lessened. As re-
vised, the charter gave the trustees a merely nominal power
to act as a court of appeal. In case of formal expulsion
only was there a right of appeal from the faculty to the
trustees ; and this did not apply to cases of dismissal. Tims
was settled the old trouble, and it has been heai-d of no
more.
Counsel was taken also from the previous struggle with
poverty, and it was determined not to open the institution
until an endowment fund of at least $45,000 should be se-
cured. As an earnest, however, of their purpose to open
the college at an early day, the new board elected John A.
Durbin, D.D., to the presidency. The college was opened
in September, 1834, and Dr. Durbin then entered upon his
duties, and six professorships w^ere established. George E.
Crooks, D.D., LL.D., has well described in his centennial
oration before the college, this period and some of the mem-
bers of this first faculty, destined to fill so large a place in
the history of the college and the Church :
On a beautiful July morniug in 1834 the writer left Philadelphia,
with his parents, for Carlisle. A journey of a day brought the travel-
eis to Columbia, and another, of mgi-e than half the night by stage, to
Dickinson College. 195
Harrisburg. Setting out early the next morning the tedium of the slow
progress was relieved by the charm of the conversation of Chief-Justice
Gibson, who, though unknown to us, was as affable as an old and cher-
ished acquaintance. What a scene of calm repose lay before the won-
dering eyes of the city boy ! The old college, graceful in its unadorned
simplicity, the budding green of the newly planted trees of the campus,
the haze of the blue that softened the aspect of the mountains on either
side, made a picture which stamped itself forever on the memory. Nor
care, nor grief, nor toil, nor absence can corrode one of its outlines, or
dim a single tint. Surely this was "the Happy Valley," shut in and
consecrated to quiet meditation and blissful thought ! A school had
been opened, and under Alexander F. Dobb, a thorough drill-master
of the English style, boys and youth were making good progress in
the classics. A sweet homelike feeling pervaded the school, for this
wa.s the blossom time of tender hope. The old tree which had borne
the blasts of half a century was putting forth the promise of a new
fruitage.
On the 10th of September, the procession of president, trustees,
and scholars was formed, and we marched to the plain old church in
Methodist Alley, where Dr. Durbin delivered his inaugural address.
How many such processions had Carlisle seen, how many openings and
rcopenings whose bright promise had faded away into the darkness of
the night, and whose broken hopes had saddened devoted hearts I
Would this one, bald in its simplicity, foretoken success or failure? It
meant success ; not because the new organizers were more tenacious of
purpose than the old, but because Dickinson College had now become
one in and with itself. Hereafter it was to have but one spirit ; but one
purpose, and that avowed; one source of sustenance, the Church, of
which it was to be the organ. Poverty was before it, trials were before
it, but in all the poverty and all the trials it was understood that Dick-
inson College was to live or to die, as it was sustained or not sus-
tained by the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Come to me, ye memories of long past years, and bring before me
again those beloved, those idolized men, the members of our first
faculty. I see Emory, the picture of manly vigor, walking up the
chapel aisle, and taking the oath of office administered by Judge Reed.
Durbin, whose large, lustrous eyes fascinate the beholder, reads once
196 Early Schools of Methodism.
more, with slow and measured accent, the morning lesson from the
chapel pulpit, and offers the simple prayer of childlike faith and trust.
Caldwell, the Christian Aristides, tender and just, sits again in his
chair, and with slow and hesitating speech unfolds the intricacies of
mathematics, or clears up a dark point in psychology. M'Clintock, as
radiant as Apollo, and as swift, too, as a beam of light, amazes us by
the energy with which he quickens our minds. Allen, massive in form
and solid as his own New England granite, moves among us to show
us how transcendent power can be blended and interfused with a sunny
temper. But what shall I say of him, the man of genius of that broth-
erhood, whose lips had been touched with celestial fire, orator, adminis-
trator, the matchless John P. Durbin? In the class-room his conversa-
tion was more brilliant than the text which he explained. His fertile
and suggestive mind wandered from point to point, and we sat exhila-
rated as new vistas of truth, one after the other, opened before us. Or
it is Sabbath morning, and he occupies his throne, the pulpit. The
text is, " Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name ; " the theme, the humiliation and
exaltation of Christ. The first propositions are so simple that they seem
truisms, the first manner is so didactic that but for the composure of
the speaker you would resent the attempt to fix your attention by such
methods. Statements are made so obviously convincing that you won-
der you had never thought of them before. He holds you, and you
cannot choose but listen. All the time the enchanter is weaving his
spell about you, and preparing for the triumphant assertion of his
power. Suddenly — as suddenly as the lightning's flash — his vehemence
and passion burst upon you. The torrents of feeling which he had
until now sternly repressed flow forth with irresistible force. He has
made no mistake; he has calculated to a nicety his possession of your
sympathy, and you are borne along by him whithersoever he will. His
port and bearing have changed; his manner is that of one fully con-
scious of mastery over the hearts of his fellows, and his voice, vibrant
with emotion, searches all the recesses of the soul. You are absorbed,
captured, and when all is over you are aware that for a time you had
wholly lost consciousness of yourself.
It abates nothing from these facts that Dr. Durbin's powers as an
orator declined after he had committed himself wholly to admiuistra-
Dickinson College. 197
tive tasks. In his later years he lived among us less as an orator and
more as a statesman ;
*' With . . . shoulders, fit to bear
The weight of mightiest mouurchies."
lie himself never grieved over the change, and welcomed the men who
increased in public favor while he decreased; for he was careless of
fame, solicitous only to do his appointed work thoroughly well. It was
characteristic of him that he destroyed most of his private papers, and
forbade the writing of his life.
The members of our first faculty taught as much by their virtues as
by their formal lessons. They have gone to their graves. Allen, the
last of the company, whom we had hojxjd to have with us to-day, has
joined liis colleagues in the better land.
This tribute from Dr. Crooks eeems to be tlie individual
expression of a general sentiment among those who came in
contact with this first faculty. To nothing connected with
their college life are the students of that time more quickly
responsive than to the memory of that company of young
and enthusiastic men, into whose keeping the Church first
committed the college.
After twelve years of administration, in which Dr. Dur-
bin's wonderful administrative abilities became clearly mani-
fest, he resigned his position, for the sake of his family, and
removed to Philadelphia. Robert Emory, D.D., having
served the college as professor of ancient languages from
1S34 to 1840, and having acted as president of the college in
the absence of Dr. Durbin in the East, from 1842 to 1844,
was now elected president. Dr. Emory was, in truth, a re-
markable man. AVhen called to fill the chair of ancient lan-
guages he was fresh from Columbia College, and but little
more than twenty yeai*s of -age. He soon showed how
worthy he was of a place with the men who gave the college
a reputation. His executive power was great and versatile.
198 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
In everj sphere in which he was tried tliere was the demon-
stration of ability tliat ranked him with the first in each.
At the early age of thirty-four he passed away with the im-
pression widely made that, if of his years he left an equal,
he left no superior in the Church. Except a brief interval
of pastoral service his working life was given to Dickinson.
He died in 1848.
Jesse T. Peck, D.D., succeeded to the presidency, but re-
signed at the close of four years. During his administration,
Professor Johnson proposed his plan for increasing the
endowment fund of the college. As finall}^ matured the
plan consisted in selling a very large number of scholarships
at little more than a nominal price, the proceeds to be de-
voted to the permanent endowment fund. It was expected
that the plan would so largely increase the productive funds
of the college as to render it in a large measure independent
of revenue from students. Thousands of scholarships w^ere
sold — enough to seriously lessen the income of the college
from tuition of students, but not enough to secure all that
was desired in enlarged endowment. Good, liowever, was
accomplished. Tuition was made merely nominal, the cost
of education was greatly lessened to the student, and the
college was again brought prominently before the Church.
In 1852 Charles Collins, D.D., president of Emory and
Henry College, Virginia, was elected to succeed Dr. Peck.
"With his election the college entered upon a period of great
prosperity, with largely increased numbers of students. After
a service of eight years he resigned, and engaged in edu-
cational work in Memphis, Tenn., where he died. Hermann
M. Johnson, D.D., was his natural successor, and entered
upon the duties of his position in 1860, on the eve of that
great struggle between the North and South, and which was
Dickinson College. 199
to try the college most severely, looking, as it did, to both sec-
tions for its patronage. Notwithstanding the sudden falling
away of students, and the fact that much of the invested
funds of the college became, for a time, unproductive, so
that salaries fell largely in arrears, the regular work of the
college was continued. Hopeful in the midst of difficulty,
the faculty remained at their post through some most trying
years. To the latest of ^ her history it will be for a praise to
them that through all discouragements they gave the help
by which, though bowed and staggering, she still kept on
her way. As a result of the centennial effort of 1866, $100,-
000 was added to the endowment; but Dr. Johnson died
suddenly in 1868, not reaping where he had sown.
In September of the same year Robert L. Dashiell, D.D.,
was elected president, but resigned four years later to accept
the position of Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary
Society of the Church, which he held to the date of his
death, in 1879.
In 1872 James A. McCauley, D.D., LL.D., was elected
president at a time when the needs of the college were very
great, and the means at her command very small. Increased
demands were being made on colleges every-where, and Dick-
inson seemed for the time unable to meet these demands.
So frequently had the college come before the people of the
patronizing Conferences asking help, that it seemed hopeless
to make yet another appeal. Accordingly, Dr. McCauley 's
iirst years were given to a careful administration of the
icsources at command, special care being given to the eleva-
tion of the standard of scholarship, which had doubtless suf-
fered by frequent change of administration. Such was his
success that confidence in the future of the college gradually
increased, and in 1882 it was felt that the time had come to
200 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
make a material advance. To this end the old buildings,
which had been the homes of so many generations of stu-
dents, were thoroughly repaired, and a policy of advance in-
augurated. No mistake had been made in choosing the
time. Friends were raised up to the college in unexpected
quarters, and her endowment fund was largely increased,
lion. Thomas Beaver, of Pennsylvania, contributed $30,000
to this end ; David Carroll, D.D., of Baltimore, contributed
$10,000 ; and the friends of the college came to her centen-
nial commencement, in 1883, bearing rich gifts in their hands,
$40,000 being then subscribed to her funds, and a new build-
ing for scientific purposes ordered to be built. In 1884
Hon. Jacob Tome, one of the trustees, proposed that this
building should be erected at his expense, thus liberating to
the use of the college the funds set apart for that purpose.
At about the same time Mrs. Helen Bosler was induced
to erect a library hall for the college, as a memorial to her
husband, James W. Bosler. Another friend placed funds
in the liands of the agent of the college for the erection of
a gymnasium, stipulating only that liis name be not made
known.
These buildings were admirably adapted to meet the wants
they were intended to supply. The scientific building, cost-
ing about $30,000, besides physical and chemical laboratories
and recitation rooms, provides for a commodious museum.
Bosler Memorial Library Hall, costing about $75,000, v/ill
furnish accommodation for one hundred thousand volumes,
and contains also a capacious assembly hall, suitable to the
public exercises of the college.
President McCauley's administration, lasting longer than
any other since Dr. Nisbet's, has seen great good come to
the college. Great strides have been made toward putting
DicKixNsoN College. 201
her ill a position of secured usefulness and independence.
In these latter days seems to have come the time wished for
by our fathers. The college is established beyond perad-
venture. It still has wants ; but these, in time, will have
supply. The advance already made, not only in strengthen^
ing the resources of the college, but in inspiring the con-
fidence of the intelligent and wealthy section of the Church
its mission is to serve, as also in conciliating general good-
will, constrains belief that, with fidelity in work and wisdom
in administration, advancing years will adequately minister
to every want these years may bring.
9*
202 Eakly- Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEK YIII.
ALLEGHENY COLLEGE.*
BY A. W. CUMMINQS, D.D., LL.D.
In the spring of 1815 Eev. Timotlij Alden removed from
the city of New York to Meadville, Pa. A short time after
his arrival he explained, to a meeting of the citizens, that his
principal object in coming to the West was to select a suita-
able location for a college. The meeting highly approved
of the location of such an institution at Meadville. From
the fact that the region to be benefited by the institution is
principally watered by the numerous streams which make
the Allegheny, it was recommended to call the proposed
seminary
ALLEGHENY COLLEGE.
It was agreed that in due time the institution consist of
president, vice-president, professors and tutors ; that Rev.
Timothy Alden, late of the city of New York, be the presi-
dent, and professor of oriental languages and ecclesiastical
history ; that Eev. Robert Johnston be the vice-president,
and professor of logic, metaphysics, and ethics ; and that they
be the sole instructors for the present in all departments of
literature and science.
These resolves, of that little meeting on the evening of
that spring day, 1815, settled the policy of a great under-
taking, and President Alden, to whom toil and privation
* Condensed from Warners, Bears, & Co.'s " History of Crawford County,
Pa.," with permiss'on of the publishers.
Allegheny College. 203
and patient waiting was a real joy, soon started on liis mis-
sion to collect the means to make effective the plans thus
laid. He ranged through the principal towns of the North,
receiving donations, varying from twenty cents, all along to
$5, $10, and $100, in casli, and a gift of five hundred acres
of land by D. D. Rogers, Esq. The first name on his paper
was John Adams, ex-President of the United States, who
gave $20. Sixty-six of the solid men of Boston followed,
among them the Chantiings, the Davises, the Frothing-
hams, the Lorings, the Lowells, the Ticknors, the Greenleafs,
the Parkmans, and the Thayers. Then follow the men of Cam-
bridge, Charlestown, Dorchester, Salem, Marblehead, Med-
ford, Plymouth, etc. Rhode Island, Kew York, Pennsylvania,
and other States were visited. The net results of this mis-
sion were : land valued at $2,000 ; books, $1,640 30 ; cash,
$461 ; total, $4,103 30. A rather small amount of cash with
which to found a college; but the real results of this tour
are not represented by these figures, for he paved the way for
bequests that were princely. Among the donors are names
that should be perpetuated ; the learned Dr. Worcester, of
Salem, and Dr. Aaron Bancroft were donors, as was Dr.
Harris, president of Columbia College. Dr. Nott, of Union
College, and Brown and Ives, the patrons of Brown Univer-
sity, gave $50 in cash. While President Alden was absent
on this mission east, the treasurer's books were opened in
Meadville, and the following subscriptions were obtained :
Major Roger Alden, Hon. John B. Wallace, and Hon.
William Griffith, each $500; Samuel Lord and Daniel Le-
Fevre, two hundred and twenty-five acres of land valued at
$450 ; Dr. Daniel Bemus, H. J. Iluidckoper, Daniel LeFevre,
General David Mead, Hon. Jesse Moore, John Reynolds, and
Jared Shattuck, each $300; Hon. Patrick Fan-elly, Samuel
204 . Early Schools of Methodism.
B. Magaw, Colonel Kalpli Marlin, and James White, each
$200; Samuel Torbett, $150; Eev. Timothy Alden, $120
(in books) ; Joseph T. Cummings & Co., $110 ; Thomas At-
kinson and Henry Hurst, each $100 ; Eliphalet Bett, $75 ;
James Foster, $60; Daniel Perkins, $05; Moses Allen,
James Hamilton, Hev. Robert Johnston, Joseph Morrison,
Alexander M'Dowell, Alexander Power, and William W.
White, each $50; John Cotton, $40; Lewis JSTeill, $35;
David Compton, $30 ; John Johnston and Noah Wade,
each $20 ; Hugh Cotton and Hugh Cotton, Jr., each $10 ;
total, $5,685, whicli, added to the amount of $4,103 30,
collected by President Alden, made up a grand total of
$9,788 30.
When we consider that Crawford County was then but
sparsely settled, and its people not yet recovered from the
war of 1812, we. must confess that this subscription exhibits
a spirit of generous enterprise and rare liberality.
The securing of a charter was vigorously pushed, but it
encountered delay, and did not become a law until March
24, 1817. The act of incorporation ordains the establish-
ment of an institution for the education of youth in the
learned, ancient, and modern languages, in the liberal arts
and sciences, and in all useful literature ; with power to
" confer on the pupils of said institution such rewards, di-
plomas, and degrees in the different liberal arts and sciences,
as the faculty and trustees shall think them entitled to ; and
to confer honorary degrees according to the general usages
and customs of other colleges." The same act appropriated
to the college the sum of $2,000, and a further sum of
$5,000 was subsequently granted by the State. The charter
members of the board of trustees were selected from the
counties of Crawford, Erie, Yenango, Mercer, Butler, Beaver,
Allegheny College. 205
Allegheny, Westmoreland, and Dauphin, and the city of
Philadelphia, besides others from Ohio, New Jersey, and
Massachusetts. Those residing in Crawford County were :
Eoger Alden, William M' Arthur, Jesse Moore, John Brooks,
William Clark, Henry Hurst, Sanmel Lord, Samuel Torbett,
Ealph Marlin, Patrick Farrelly, Thomas Atkinson, John
Eeynolds, Daniel Bemus, William Foster, Daniel Perkins,
Kcvs. Amos Chase, Timothy Alden, and Robert Johnston.
On J::ly 4, 1817, the charter was formally accepted, and
under its provisions a complete organization was effected.
On July 25, amid much ceremony, was held the first
annual commencement of the embryo institution, at which
time Rev. Timothy Alden was inaugurated president of
the faculty, and professor of the oriental languages,
ecclesiastical history, and theology, of Allegheny College.
The inaugural ceremonies took place in the old log court-
house. It will astonish many of the scliolars of to-day to
read the programme of exercises on this occasion: "1. An
address in Latin, to the president and professor, announcing
his appointment to these offices, by Patrick Farrelly, Esq.
2. A reply in Latin, by Mr. Alden, declaring his accept-
ance of these offices. 3. A prayer in Latin, by Mr. Alden.
4. Sacred music, by a choir of singers, under the direction of
Colonel Robert Stockton and Mr. John Bowman. 5. Inau-
gural oration in Latin, by Mr. Alden. 6. A Hebrew oration,
an English oration, a Latin dialogue, an English dialogue,
and an English oration, by the probationers of Allegheny
College. 7. Sacred music. 8. An address in English, in ref-
erence to the occasion, by Mr. Alden." It is not surprising
that Sherman Day, in his '* Historical Collection," should
make the following comment regarding this programme :
" Mr. Alden was inaugurated amid an astonishing display of
206 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
the dead languages. It should be observed that the lower
story of the court-house was the county jail, and, therefore,
the prisoners must have had the benefit of this intellectual
treat. The college opened in the court-house, which it occu-
pied for a brief period, then removed to a frame building,
near the south-east corner of Walnut Street and the Dia-
mond ; and thence to a frame building on Pine Street, now
the residence of Eobert M'Mullen.
BXnLDING AND GROUND.
In due time a college building was commenced. Five
acres of ground were donated by Samuel Lord, and the
present beautiful site in the northern suburbs of the city was
selected for the rising institution. The corner-stone of
Bentley Hall (so named in honor of Rev. William Bent-
ley, D.D., LL.D.), the first public building of Allo^gheny
College, was laid in the presence of a large assemblage of
the people of Crawford and adjoining counties on July 5,
1820. Few are i^ow living who witnessed the imposing
ceremonies. Even the names of many prominent in the
duties of that day are unknown to the larger portion of
the present residents of Crawford County ; but the monu-
ment of their philanthropy remains a blessing to the present
and to future generations. Eev. President Timothy Alden,
after being appointed the Worshipful Master, pro tempore^
of Western Star Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, under
whose auspices the stone was laid, gave the history of several
articles which w^ere deposited in the stone.
These consisted of a silver plate, four by six inches in size,
handsomely wrought and engraved by Captain Jacob Hull,
and presented by him for the purpose ; a bottle containing
foreign and domestic coins; a concise history of Alleglieny
Allegheny College. 207
College ; sundry small rolls of parchments, exhibiting lists
of the names of the benefactors and officers of the college,
and of the members and officers of the Western Star Lodge
and Chapter ; several newspapers giving notices of the pro-
ceedings of the board of trustees ; a piece of Plymouth
Eock ; a piece of marble broken from a pillar which tradition
states to have belonged to Queen Dido's temple in ancient
Carthage ; a specimen of plaster from the tomb of Yirgil,
presented by J. H. Steele, M.D., of the United States Kavy ;
and specimens of the reeds laid three thousand years ago
between the bricks in the pyramids, presented by Captain
David Molthrop, whose son William accompanied Captain
Austin on his expedition to the Euphrates in 1816, and
brought those curiosities of antiquity to America. After
consigning these several articles to the receptacle awaiting
them, Dr. Alden sprinkled the stone with corn, wine, and oil,
according to Masonic custom, and pronounced it " well laid
and sure." Then, kneeling down, he supplicated the bless-
ing of Heaven on the work undertaken, and on the benefac-
tors, officers, instructors, and alurrtni of the institution of the
present and all future generations, and on the large assem-
blage convened on the occasion. He then addressed the peo-
ple, reciting briefly the growth, progress, and hopeful out-
look of the college, whose charming location overlooking the
valley of French Creek seemed destined by nature to be the
site of a flourishing scliool, devoted to the interests of the
literary, scientific, and moral welfare of the community.
This being the anniversary Commencement of Allegheny
College, the appropriate exercises of the day took place
around the corner-stone, over which was erected an arched
bower decorated with flowers, prepared by the young ladies
of Meadvillc. Of the students wlio took part in that Com-
208 Early Schools of Methodism.
mencement Day, more than sixty-four 3^ears ago, but one
survives, David M. Farrelly, Esq., the senior member of the
Crawford County Bar, though Hon. David Derickson, the
orator of the occasion, has only recently passed from the
scenes of life. Taking into consideration the fact, that the
population of Meadville was tlien but six hundred and sixty-
six, and of the whole county nine thousand three hundred
and ninety-seven, a proper conception may be realized of the
magnitude of the undertaking, and of the public spirit and
liberality of the pioneer fathers.
President Alden's untiring zeal and enterprise convinced
people that his project would succeed, and that it was wor-
thy of their benefactions. To the scholarly mind of Dr. Al-
den the ideal of a first-class college embraced the necessary
feature of a great library, and to realize this called forth his
most earnest exertions. In happily securing such a collection
of books as had few superiors in the country, at that time,
the scheme of establishing the college seemed measurably
assured of success. The first large contribution was be-
queathed at his death, January 29, 1820, by the Rev. William
Bentley, of Salem, Mass., who, says the historian Day, had
spent his life in amassing one of the most rare collections of
theological works in the country.
Harvard University had set her eyes upon this collection,
and, having bestowed the preliminary plum, in the shape of
an LL.D. diploma, patiently awaited the doctor's demise. She
occupied, however, the situation of Esau before Isaac ; for
Dr. Alden had prepared the savory dish, and received the boon
and the name ; Bentley Hall now records the gratitude of
Allegheny College. This collection embraced all his theolog-
ical books. It is said to have contained such a treasure of the
ancient Latin and Greek Fathers of the Church as few of the
Allegheny College. 209
colleges of the United States possessed — all his lexicons and
]3i[)les— and was valued at $3,000. Isaiah Thomas, LL.D.,
of Worcester, Mass., also donated a considerable collection
of miscellaneous literature, valued at $750. Then came the
most important bequest of all, that of Hon. James Win-
throp, LL.D., of Cambridge, Mass., who, as the " Boston
Patriot " of that day said, has bequeathed his library, one of
the best private libraries in the Union, to the Allegheny
College at Meadville, where the late learned and reverend,
and, we will add, uniformly patriotic, Dr. Bentley sent a part
of his very valuable collection. The Winthrop collection,
containing three thousand one hundred and fifty volumes,
was a most rare and costly one, and was valued at $6,400.
The library was increased to eiglit thousand volumes, val-
ued at $20,000, by the labors of President Alden. It was
mentioned by ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison as a most valuable collection of books. Through
the influence of Dr. Alden donations of land were received,
increasing the campus from five to ten acres.
In the meantime adverse influences had begun to operate
against the institution, which tended to check its growth and
jeopardize its existence. Within the bounds of the Pres-
byterian Synod of Pittsburg, which embraced, including
Washington County on the south, all of north-western Penn-
sylvania, were already two colleges under Presbyterian pat-
ronage — Jefferson and Washington — one or the other of
which nearly all the Presbyterian ministers of the region
claimed as their alma mater. A general sentiment pre-
vailed among tliem that if Allegheny College succeeded it
nmst be at the expense of those already established, neither
of which had adequate support. They, therefore, withheld
their approval in documentary form when assembled in
210 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
presbytery, and for the most part their individual influence
in their own congregations ; hence, students were too few
to support instructors, and, upon the resignation of President
Alden, in ^N^ovember, 1831, all operations were suspended
and the college closed. Thus, after sixteen years of inde-
fatigable labor and self-sacrifice, the indomitable spirit of
Dr. Alden was broken ; but so long as time shall last his name
will be handed down from generation to generation as the
founder of Allegheny College.
For two years succeeding Dr. Alden's resignation the col-
lege stood a silent monument of noble but unsuccessful
efforts in the cause of literature and science. In the mean-
time an interchange of sentiment took place between the
trustees and some ministers of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, having for its object an arrangement for securing to
the institution the patronage of the Pittsburg Conference.
The Conference met at Meadville in July, 1833. The
board of trustees, through an accredited agent, tendered the
college to the Conference. After visiting the institution and
examining its library and other property, the Conference re-
solved unanimously to accept the proposition of the board of
trustees by taking the institution under its patronage. It
w^as also resolved to make an effort to raise an endowment of
$20,000 to aid in sustaining the college, and to found a
Roberts professorship, in honor of the venerable Bishop R.
R. Roberts, then presiding.
The following faculty w^as elected under the new^ organiza-
tion : Martin Ruter, D.D., president, and professor of moral
science; Rev. Homer J. Clark, A.M., vice-president, and
professor of mathematics ; Augustus Ruter, A.B., professor
of languages. Between twenty and thirty students were en-
rolled on opening day, November 4, 1833.
Allegheny College. 211
From that day lier growth and prosperity have kept pace
with the best institutions of the land. President Enter was
a man of hirge attainments, of successful experience in
schools, first at Newmarket, N. H., afterward at Augusta
College, Ky. Dr. Enter remained at the helm but four
years ; at the close of each a small class finished the curric-
ulum, and took the bachelor's degree. Homer J. Clark,
D.D., became president in 1837 ; and from 1838 to 1844
State aid, to the amount of $1,000 annually, was regularly
received, and the college was prosperous. But upon the
withdrawal of the State largess the college was suspended
for one year, 1844. Dr. Clark spent that year soliciting aid
from the people. He received during the year and safely
invested $60,000. He originated the successful " scholar-
ship plan," which allows students free tuition in all depart-
ments, and secures to the college a corresponding income.
In 1847 John Barker, D.D., was made president. He was
a man of strong mind and of varied learning ; and prosperity
attended the college during his administration. Enter Hall,
a three-story brick structure east of the main building, at
a cost of $6,000, was completed during his administration,
which terminated by his sudden death, of apoplexy, in 1860.
The next president was George Loomis, D.D., an alumnus
of the Wesley an University, of large experience as a popular
professor in several institutions.
During the administration of Dr. Loomis a new building
was erected, accommodating over one hundred students with
good rooms. It took fire and was consumed in December,
1882. Dr. Loomis also secured good additions to the invest-
ed funds. After the retirement of Dr. Loomis, Jonathan
Ilamnett, D.D., acted as president for one year.
L. II. Bugbee, D.D., was inaugurated president June 24,
212 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
1875. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1854. His
long and varied experience in sch(5ols of various grades, male
and female, as well as mixed, well prepared liim for his suc-
cessful presidency at Allegheny College. Great improve-
ments were made in the buildings by extensive repairs, and
Hulings Hall, the gift of Marcus Hulings, was opened as a
home for lady students in 1 881. It is the most elegant of
the college buildings.
In 1882 Dr. Bugbee retired, his position becoming un-
pleasant in consequence of a want of harmony in the board
and faculty. He died in Geneva, K. Y., in 1883. Dr. Ham-
nett again served as president jpro tempore while the board
was looking for a successor to the lamented Dr. Bugbee.
The choice fell upon David H. Wheeler, D.D., LL.D., who,
like his predecessor, had long been connected with prosperous
schools, and had also been eight for years the editor of '' The
Methodist," an independent Methodist weekly newspaper of
large circulation published in New York city. Dr. Wheeler
has been president for two years. The usual prosperity has
been enjoyed by the institution.
Under Methodist control Allegheny has prospered for more
than half a century. The invested funds exceed $160,000;
other property is valued at $160,000 ; total, $320,000.
Its alumni exceeds seven hundred names. Among these
are: Hons. David Derickson, John W. Farrelly, William
Reynolds, Darwin A. Finney, Pearson Church, Rev. Calvin
Kingsley, D.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ;
Hon. F. H. Piei-pont, ex-Governor of West Virginia ; Revs.
Moses Crow, M. A., D.D., Sandford Hunt, M.A., D.D., Alex-
ander Martin, M.A., D.D., LL.D., president of Asbury Uni-
versity, Greencastle, Ind. ; O. N. Hartshorn, M.A., LL.D.,
president of Mount Union College, Ohio; James Marvin,
Allegheny College. 213
M. A., D.D., president of La^vrence University, Kansas ;
Albert L. Long, M. A., D.D., professor in Kobert College, Con-
stantinople, Turkey; J. Walter Waugh, M.A., and James
M. Thoburn, M.A., D.D., missionaries in India; Milton B.
Goff, M.A., Pli.D., president of the Western Pennsylvania
Uuivei-sity; and W. G. Williams, A.M., late principal of
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, and many others well known.
In all departments of life, civil and military, at home and in
distant lands, Allegheny College is honored by the record
made for her in the lives and deaths of those whom she
proudly calls her own. At present nearly the entire body
of students is regularly drilled in tactics, and instructed in
military science. The signal gun, fired at sunrise, arouses
the sleepers of the entire city, and awakens the echoes far
down the valley and up the dark ravines.
214 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEK IX.
WESTERN RESEllVE SEMINARY.
BY REV. E. A. WHITWAM, A.M.
This institution, located at West Farmington, O., is among
the oldest in the State. It was at first managed by a stock
company, under the name of Farmington Academy, and
opened in 1833, in a small brick building. In 1849 the
present fine central building was erected, and the name was
changed to Farmington Normal School. With the hope of
greater usefulness, and to secure means to liquidate the debt
incurred for the new building, the* trustees, in 1852, tendered
the school, with all its assets and liabilities, to the Erie Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Though the
negotiations were not fully closed, Rev. James Greer, A.M.,
was appointed, by Bishop Simpson, from the Conference as
principal of the school. The next year Mr. Greer was re-ap-
pointed by Bishop Baker, and Eev. John C. Ayres was ap-
pointed agent from the Conference. In 1854 the name of the
school became Western Reserve Seminary.
Mr. Greer continued the principal, but the agency from
the Conference was discontinued for a year. Mr. Greer con-
tinued at the head of the seminary until 1861, wiien he was
succeeded by Rev. William D. Archibold, A.M., who had
rendered five years' good service in the school as professor of
languages previous to his election to the principalship. In
1868 two boarding halls were erected. The one for gentle-
men is two stories high, seventy by thirty-four feet, and pro-
Western Reserve Seminary. 215
vides rooms for fifty young men. The other, for ladies, is a
very superior edifice, three stories high, and eighty-four by
thirty feet on the ground. It is the gift of Rev. Mr. and
Mrs. J. B. Corey, of the East Ohio Conference. The pres-
ent principal succeeded Rev. A. E. M'Bride, A.M., in 1884.
The prospects of the school were never brighter than now.
The curriculum has been thoroughly revised, bringing it up
to the latest standards in the best schools. There are seven
courses of study, each leading to its appropriate degree.
Western Reserve Seminary is a child of the Church. With
no sectarian bias, each student feels that the atmosphere of
the school is religious. A constant religious influence is felt
among the students. In such circumstances discipline is
easy, and devotion to study is insured. Ladies and gentle-
men enter the same classes, are candidates for the same hon-
ors, and the presence and influence of each is an inspiration
to the other. Mutual sympathy and respect unite teachers
and students more like one family than simply as a school.
The institution being on the Painesville and Youngstown Rail-
road, is very accessible to the people of the Western Reserve
and of other parts of the State. It is the only Methodist
school in north-eastern Ohio, and in this territory there is
but one other having authority to confer degrees. It is now
doing college work, and many think that in name, as well as
in work, it should be known as a college. This subject is
now before the board of trustees.
The ladies are under the special charge of the preceptress,
but meet the gentlemen at the recitations and lectures, in the
chapel, and at the tables in the common boarding hall. The
moral tone of the village is high. Public opinion has
thwarted all attempts to introduce saloons, billiards, or other
forms of gambling. If there are tipplers in the place, they
216 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
must go four miles away from the village to secure the means
of gratifying tlieir appetites.
The three principal buildings and grounds are estimated at
$20,000, and there is a small endowment of $2,700, with
$2,300 more pledged. The enrollment for the last year was
one hundred and lifty-six ; with ten thousand, three hundred
and fifty from the beginning. Many of these have filled
honorable places in the various professions, in churches, and
the business enterprises of the country. The school has
always been in charge of an able, faithful board of instruct-
ors, and has been a constant blessing to the " Western Re-
serve." The people are now becoming wealthy, and they
should endow this institution so liberally as to insure its
success in all coming years.
The teachers now in the school are : Eev. E. A. Whitwam,
A.M., president ; Mrs. O. A. Whitwam, M.L.A. ; Miss Sara
A. Collins, A.M. ; Mr. Harry Allen ; Mr. O. A. Burnette ;
Miss R. Effie Farley.
NoKWALK Seminary. 217
CHAPTER X.
NORWALK SEMINARY.*
BY EDWARD THOMSON, A.M., PH.D.
At an early day an enterprising colony from Connecticut
settled in Huron County, O. The village founded by them
took the name of their old New England home, Norwalk.
Being a cultivated people, of education and piety, a school
for their children became a first necessity. They founded
*' Norwalk Academy" at about 1825. With the hope of ex-
tending its usefulness under the inspiring influence of that
sterling evangelist, Rev. Henry O. Sheldon, this school was
tendered to the Oliio Conference, in the year 1833, and Rev.
Jonathan E. Chaplin became its principal. He was born in
Chaplin, Windham County, Conn., in 1789. While he was
quite young his parents removed to the State of New York,
lie studied law, and for a time practiced at BiifF<ilo. He
wrote and published a pamphlet, under the title " True
Glory," in defense of the famous Hartford Convention.
This fastened upon him, among his legal confreres^ the sou-
hriquet '* True Glory." During the war of 1812, Mr. Chap-
lin served as aid-dc camp to General Porter on the North-
ern frontier, and fell into intemperate habits. After the
war he removed to Urbana, O. A terrible cyclone passed
over the place, sweeping away every thing in its coui*se,
except his cabin. So wonderful a providence greatly
• The first part of this article was written for this work ; the latter part \%
copied, by permissioi), from the "Life of Bisliop Thomson." Cincinnati:
Cranston & 8towe.
10
218 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
affected liim, resulting in his conversion and consecration to
the ministry. He became a noted temperance worker. His
lectures were sometimes like a tempest (says Kev. W. H.
Eaper), sweeping every thing before them. Scores in the
judicial circuit where he practiced law were reclaimed from
intemperance by his irresistible appeals. Bishop Harris says
he was the best classical scholar he ever knew. His fame as
a scholar and refined Christian gentlemen reached the trust-
ees of the Conference Seminary at Nor walk. They elected
him its principal in 1834. The next year he joined the
Oliio Conference, but continued at the seminary.
The school was prosperous, with an average attendance of
over one hundred students. Among Mr. Chaplin's pupils
were some who, in after years, became widely known and
very distinguished. In this list is Bishop W. L. Harris, John
H. Pitzel, George W. Brown, all living ; George W. Breck-
enridge, Thomas BarkduU, and others. Among the early
teachers at Norwalk Seminary were Mr. Darwell and Misses
Langford and Loveland. In 1836 the seminary building was
destroyed by fire — a heavy loss to the trustees and conmm-
nity. The school was, however, continued in extemporized
accommodations. Immediate measures were taken to rebuild
on a larger scale. After the fire Mr. Chaplin resigned, and
spent several years in the active work of the ministry. His
hist work was in the office of president of the Wliite Pigeon
branch of the State University of Michigan. Here he died
a most triumphant death in September, 1846. His successor
at Norwalk Seminary was Bev. Edward Thomson, M.D.,
better known as Bishop Tliomson, D.D., LL.D. At the
Conference of 1838, held at Tiffin, O., Dr. Thomson was
a]^pointed principal of Norwalk Seminary. Here he be-
gan his literary career and work as an educator, for wliich
NoRWALK Seminary. 219
he seems to have been especially fitted by nature and by
grace, and in which he was destined to achieve such brilliant
success. Some of his friends felt that he ought not to leave
the pastorate, and that he was not qualified for the place,
since he had never been a teacher of youth. lie, however
entered upon the duties of the position with a modest yet
cheeiful confidence in his ability to achieve success. He
knew, perhaps, better than anj' one else, what he lacked of
the requisite qualifications, and applied himself diligently to
the study of those branches of learning with which he was
not sufficiently familiar ; and with close thought, quick per-
ception, retentive memory, and untiring application he be-
came well rounded in all the departments of scholastic knowl-
edge. And thus he pursued his studies, ever adding to his
stock of literary and scientific acquisitions, and never for-
getting what he had learned. He made himself proficient
in helles-lettres and psychology, two departments in which
he was especially interested ; but whatever he studied he
mastered.
It was late in the autumn of 1838 that Dr. Thomson went
to Norwalk. Alexander Nelson, afterward a traveling
preacher, and now an honored member of the North Oliio
Conference, worthily bearing the title of Doctor of Divinity,
accompanied him as assistant teacher. To Dr. Nelson the
author is indebted for many facts, hereafter stated, relative
to the seminary.
The opening of the school had been delayed because the
new building was not ready for occupancy. The edifice
was forty by eighty feet, three stories high. The two sec-
tions on the lower floor contained each a school-room and
two recitation-rooms. In the second story were two large
roomy, one for chapel purposes, the other for the ladies'
220 Early Schools of Methodism.
classes. The third story was divided into dormitories. When
the new teacliers arrived the seminary building was only
inclosed ; hence the school term had to be opened in a
private dwelling. The pupils at first were twenty or
twenty-five boys from the village of Norwalk. In the course
of two months the school-room in the west wing and two
recitation-rooms wei'e finished and furnished, and the school
was transferred to the new building. By the end of the year
the entire edifice was completed and occupied.
In the autumn of 1839 the ladies' department was opened,
with Mre. A. Nelson as preceptress, and Miss A. E. Morri-
son, her sister, as assistant — ladies of superior qualifi-
cations, who had had experience in teaching in the Eastern
States.
The seminary, which had been increasing in number and
in popularity, now took advanced ground, and became more
generally known and patronized. The catalogue of 1842
sums up the number of two hundred and sixty-five male and
one hundred and twenty-six female students, making the
total number for the year three hundred and ninety-one.
The departments of teaching at first took wide range, all the
branches of study being attended to by the two first instruct-
ors. Afterward, as teachers were added, the number of
branches to each was reduced. Hence, at first, Dr. Thom-
son's department was belles-lettres, physics, and Latin ; Mr.
Nelson's was mathematics, natural science, and Greek.
Thomas J. Pope, an advanced scholar, subsequently a mem-
ber of the North Ohio Conference, was engaged to teach
some classes, and afterwai'd James Mitchell, an adept in
mathematics, was engaged, and E. W. Doan was made an
assistant in the lower English branches. H. S. Bradley was
soon secured to occupy tlic cast room on the lower floor. lie
NoRWALK Seminary. 221
subsequently entered tlie ministry, and rose to great useful-
ness in the Central Ohio Conference.
A Mr. Sayre, a graduate of Kenyon College, was employed,
but, after a few montlis, he took a fever and died. Then a
Mr. Olney, a graduate of Ohio University, was engaged.
After a short time he resigned, to prepare himself for the
ministry at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati ; but he died before
he was able to enter upon his ministerial duties. Shortly
after this Kev. Ilolden D wight, a graduate from the Wes-
leyan University at Middletown, Conn., and wife, experi-
enced teachers from the East, came to Norwalk, and were
added to the teaching force at the seminary. In the fall of
1842 Professor Nelson and his wife received an urgent call
from the trustees of Worthington Female Seminary to come
and take the charge of that institution, which was under the
supervision of the Ohio Conference.
After due deliberation they accepted the invitation, ten-
dered their resignations to the tmstees of Norwalk Seminary,
and their connection with the latter was dissolved. In after
years Mr. Nelson entered the ministry, and became a popular
pastor on the most important stations. He was twice a dele-
gate to the General Conference, and, wherever he was placed,
was a useful instrument in the hands of God. Ilolden
D wight and his wife took the places of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson
when they departed for Worthington. For a few months
Mrs. Thomson, wife of the principal, acted as preceptress and
teacher of French. The trustees at this time were : Timothy
l>akcr, Piatt Benedict, A. E. Sutton, D. Squire, Thomas
Dunn, and Walter Osburn. Tuition was $2 a quarter in the
primary department; higher English, $4; mathematics, $5 ;
Latin and Greek, §5; French, Spanish, and Italian, S5 ; orna-
mental branches, $5 ; music, piano, $10. An historical and
222 Early Schools of Methodism.
geological society was established in April, 1842, witli
•A. Nelson, president; H. Dwiglit, secretary. A literary
association, known as the " Athenian Society," was formed
among the students, and, for a series of years, was continued,
with great profit to those who took part in its exercises.
Among those who composed it we find the names of L. A.
Iline, L. B. Otis, W. H. Hopkins, and others, who subse-
quently made their mark upon the world as men of mind
and worth.
In 1840 the North Ohio Conference was organized, and
Dr. Edward Thomson was elected its first secretary. He
was well qualified for such a position. Accurate, careful, and
an excellent penman, all his minutes were well kept. He
held the position four years, and then declined a re-election.
In 1842 the Ohio Wesley an University was chartered by
the Legislature, and was located in Delaware, near the center
of the State. At the first meeting for business of the board
of trustees Dr. Thomson was elected president of the in-
stitution. But as nothing was contemplated for the present,
except a preparatory school, the services of the doctor were
not immediately required ; hence he continued as principal
at Norwalk for a longer time. The finances of the seminary
were at this time in a bad condition. The debts on the old
building, together with those of the new, became so oppress-
ive that the minds of the trustees were filled with appre-
hension. For the purpose of aiding them to meet those
pressing demands a society was organized in the autumn
of 1842, known as the " Norwalk Education Societj^," the
object of which was to raise funds for the liquidation of the
debt of the seminary. Rev. Adam Poe was elected presi-
dent, and otlier ofiicers and agents were appointed. But the
funds came in tardily and in small amounts, and the debts
NoRWALK Seminary. 223
still remained, growing more and more burdensome. In the
fall of IS-iS the North Ohio Conference elected its first del-
egates to the General Conference, and Dr. Thomson, the
youngest member of the delegation, was the first chosen.
The other delegates were elected in this order: John IJ.
Power, Adam Poe, Elmore Yocum, and William Kiinnells ;
reserve delegates, H. M. Shafer and L. B. Gurley.
The attachment of Dr. Thomson to Ohio and to his Con-
ference was very decided. It is, perhaps, not generally
known that two very tempting offers were made him while
at Norwalk, either of which, if accepted, would have de-
prived the Ohio Conference of his invaluable services.
Transylvania University and the State University of Michi-
gan both invited him, to fill the presidency of the former,
and the chancellor's position in the latter. His salary at
Norwalk, at that time, was but $600, while either of the
])laces inviting him would have given two or three times
that sum at least.
D. L. B. Gurley says : " I was his near neighbor at Nor-
walk and his presiding elder. He showed me the invitation
from the first named, and asked my advice. I referred to
the condition of the South. The slave question was then
being agitated. I dreaded the influence of a residence in a
slave State, and urged him to give a prompt refusal, which
he did. The proposal from Michigan came not long after.
He was very much inclined to accept ; but the General Con-
ference was to meet in the following May, and I advised
him to wait until it was over, and to say that, unless the
(leneral Conference disposed of his services otherwise, he
v/oukl accept."
At the General Conference of 1S44 L. L. Hamlin e, editor
of the " Ladies' Hcpository," was elected one of the Bishops
224 Early Schools of Methodism.
of the Cliiircli, and tlie friends of Dr. Thomson in the del-
egation from the North Ohio Conference immediately put
him in nomination for the chair which was thus vacated.
The doctor was already known as a good writer. He liad
contributed articles for the Church periodicals, and one or two
of his addresses had been printed and circulated in pamphlet
form. In the East he was then but little known ; but as lie
was named for the position of the editorship by the Oliio
delegates, and Ohio wais then, as now, strong in strong men.
Dr. Thomson was elected. At the close of the academic
year he tendered his resignation of the principalship with
great regret on the part of all.
A gentleman of Norwalk, well versed in all matters per-
taining to educational interests, and especially to Norwalk
Seminary, speaking of Dr. Thomson, says : " He was a man
of fine literary attainments, of ripe scholarship, of pleasing
address, of refined and gentlemanly manners, and of purity
of life and character." Referring to this opinion, Dr. A.
Nelson says : " He also might have added, for management
of scholars and power over youtli, exercised with prudence
and skill, he was rarely ever equaled, and never excelled."
The Eev. John Burgess, M.D., of Keokuk, Iowa, furnishes
a description of the doctor at Norwalk : " In 1839 I entered
the Norwalk Seminary, in Huron County, Ohio, under the
presidency of Dr. Edward Thomson. Never can I foi'get
the noble reception and kindly welcome I received when I
handed him a letter from my father committing me to his
special care. No parent could have shown more interest for
my physical, intellectual, and spiritual advancement than did
he during all the time of my attendance at school. The
doctor, in addition to all my regnlar class advantages, took
me under his private instructions, and at extra hours heard
NoKWALK Skminary. 225
mc recite to him ; so that at a much earlier date he advanced
me to higher classes than I otherwise would have reached.
Never did I know any person more attentive to the welfare
and progress of all his students."
" In the seminary Dr. Thomson was assisted by three of the
choice men of earth, as faithful, competent teachei*s, Alexan-
der Nelson, II olden Dwight, and Horatio S. Bradley. He
left imperishable impressions for good upon hundreds of
youthful minds and hearts, which are now, and will be for
all time, developing for human happiness, lie touched chords
in our heai-ts which are still vibrating, and will continue
through endless ages. Eternity only will circumscribe the
gracious influences then set in motion by that holy man of
God. O what gems will sparkle in his crown of rejoicing ! "
Rev. Ilolden Dwight, A.M., a man of education and schol-
arly ability, succeeded Dr. Thomson as principal of the Nor-
walk Seminary ; but the claims of the creditors became so
pressing, and their demands so urgent, that nothing would
satisfy them but money or the institution itself. Hence the
building was sold for the benefit of the creditors, and Nor-
walk Seminary ceased to exist. Very few, if any, of the
institutions of this grade and length of duration ever turned
out more eminent young men or more discreet and well-edu-
cated young ladies than did this institution. Every depart-
ment of society in Ohio, as well as in other States^ has been
beneiited by those w^ho received their training in Norwalk
Seminary. Some became statesmen, and entered Congress
and the State legislative halls. Hon. Charles Foster, late
Governor of Ohio, and Bishop W. L. Harris, D.D., LL.D.,
with hundreds of others, received their academic educiition
at N(M'walk Seminary.
10*
226 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEK XI.
McKENDREE COLLEGE.
Section 1.
BY A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D.
A Methodist Seminary was opened bj Edward E. Ames,
— Bishop Ames of later years — in Lebanon, St. Clair County,
111., in 1828. A substantial frame building, two stories high,
with an attic and wings, was erected for its use on a large,
well-shaded lot of rolling land. In the center of the build-
ing was a spacious chapel. This, for twentj-iive years, was
the only place in the village for public religious services. In
the rear was a large dining-room. The wings, with the second
story of the main building and the attic, provided recitation
rooms, a library room, and several rooms for students. In
this chapel room several of the early Bishops and fathers of
Illinois Methodism did some of their best work. From it
arose to Heaven as " effectual, fervent prayer " as ever " en-
tered the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."
Many a man now distinguished in some one of the pro-
fessions or other walks of usefulness here found the Saviour.
In 1830 the name of the institution became M'Kcndree Col-
lege, Bishop M'Kendree having made to it its then largest
gift, four hundred and eighty acres of unimproved land. A
(iharter, after several denials, was obtained from the State.
Tlie granting of this charter constituted an era in Illinois.
So controlling was the opposition to colleges, both in and out
of the Legislature, that charters had been refused, though
often sought. In 1834 the Baptists, Congregationalists, and
M'Kendree College. 227
Methodists desired each a college charter. By uniting their
influence in and out of tlie General Assembly a bill was passed
chartering three colleges : M ' Kendree, for the Methodist
Church ; Shurtliff, for the Baptist Church ; and Illinois, for
the Congregational Church.
To secure the requisite aid to found colleges in communi-
ties or in a State so hostile to them was no small endeavor.
Nor;e but moral heroes would have undertaken it.
Fortunately leading men of the Illinois Conference from
the first warmly espoused the cause of the college. The
Bishops, on their annual visitations, always had an encourag-
ing word for the infant institution. The Church at large
was committed to the cause of denominational schools. Each
General Conference from 1784 had urged to action in this
field. That of 1820 advised the establishment of at least one
school of high grade within each Annual Conference.
Until 183G the institution had been conducted ' by a single
teacher. Then Annis Merrill and James W. Sunderland be-
came professors, and, two years later. Rev. John TV. Merrill
became president. These were men in the vigor of early
manhood, all graduates from the Wesleyan University, with
a diploma signed by the hand of Wilbur Fisk, S.T.D. A lib-
eral curriculum was arranged, and, in 1841, a class of seven
talented young men were admitted to the Baccalaureate. The
event was memorable, tlie future was very bright. Clouds,
however, were gathering over the State, and soon darkened
the college sky. A monster system of internal improvement-
had been devised by the Legislature. One thousand three
hundred and forty-one miles of railroads had been surveyed.
Millions of dollars were borrowed and expended ; the State
became involved to the amount of $15,000,000, and had not
one mile of completed railroad or canal, or any other valuable,
228 Early Schools of Methodism.
to sliow for it. In 1841 the wliolc scheme collapsed. The
State was bankrupt. Carried away by the prevailing hallu-
cination, the trustees of the college attempted a grand endow-
ment scheme by the sale of cheap scholarships on credit, and
by an extensive land agency. All the schemes failed. The
college was without means to pay its teachers, and, in 1844,
closed its doors.
Immigration to the State ceased in consequence of its
heavy indebtedness. Land nearly ceased to have a market
value. The people who owned land could raise large crops,
but, with no demand at home, or means to reach an outside
market, their products were almost valueless.
When the college ceased operation, it seemed that the sus-
pension would be perpetual. It would, probably, have been
so, but for the faith and efforts of one man. In the winter of
1846 Rev. Davis Goheen, an invalid local preacher, late of
Pennsylvania, but then settled at Lebanon, published, through
" The Christian Advocate" at New York, an appeal to min-
isters then in the pastoral work, but who had had some ex-
perience as teachers, detailing the causes that led to the sus-
pension of M'Kendree College, and giving a plan by which it
could be re-opened and saved to the Church. He asked for
volunteers to serve for five years as professors on the smallest
allowance fixed by the Discipline for pastoral support. To
this appeal about twenty-five favorable responses were made.
From these volunteers, after a careful inquiry as to the fitness
of the men for the work, Erastus Wentworth, A.M., Spencer
Mattison, A.M., both of Troy Conference ; A. W. Cummings
A.M., of the Black River Conference; and William Good-
fellow, a probationer in the Ohio Conference, were chosen as
a faculty. The salaries fixed by the trustees, acting as the
board of stewards, was, for the president, $400 ; each of the
M'Kendree College. 229
two professors, $350 ; and, to Mr. Goodfcllow, principal of
the preparatory school, a bachelor, $100, and board at a cost
of about $75 per annum. To raise this allowance the prin-
cipal reliance was upon what was known as " The Confer-
ence Financial Plan for the support of M'Kendree College."
The plan was for each class-leader in the Conference to col-
lect an aggregate of twenty-Jwe cents quarterly from his class,
and, through the presiding elders, forward it to the college
treasurer. So populous was Methodism in the State, even at
that early date, that twenty-five cents quarterly from each
class-leader, with the small sum received for tuition, would
have met the claims of the faculty at M'Kendree. The
preachers and presiding elders earnestly took hold of this
plan ; but so poor were the people, and so scarce was money,
that it required much talking and begging to secure the
quarters. The following characteristic letter, copied verba-
tim from an old scrap-book, into which it was pasted nearly
forty years ago, illustrates this :
"^Mwe 24/A, 1847. Sangamon rouNTT, III.
•'Dear Brother Wentworth : After toiling hard, begginnf and
complaining long and loud to the scattered remnants of the Blooming-
ton District, I have collected five dollars more for the support of the
professors in 'old M'Kendree,' and I inclose it in this scrawl, but I
confess I am heartily ashamed of the little pitiful sum, and I am de-
termined to keep the subject before the Church, and will 'torment
lliem before the time.' Yours in love and esteem, Affectionatcl}^
"Peter Cartwrioht."
"Pleasam Plains."
The sum, of coui*se, was less than " the plan " called for.
To aid it, and also in securing students, Mr. Goheen, through
his friend the late Dr. Lore, then in pastoral work in the
Philadelphia Conference, begged money and purchased a
230 Early Schools of Methodism.
second hand printing-press, upon which was printed the " Illi-
nois Advocate and Lebanon Journal," edited by the faculty,
and the printing was done by students. Only those connect-
ed with the enterprise can estimate how greatly these small
collections aided the college : not only in paying the teachers,
but in educating the people to love and support that college.
At. each Quarterly Conference the presiding elder, in a
speech upon the interests of Methodist education, called upon
the class-leaders for the quarter, and the class-leaders upon
their classes. These opportunities w^ere improved to allay
prejudice and awaken interest. An increase of money and stu-
dents was the result. The college re-opened in October, 1846.
During the year thirty-eight students were enrolled, all but
one in the preparatory department. The tuition for the year
amounted to about $500. The Conference financial plan did
the rest. Before the financial plan had time to yield results,
Rev. George W. E-obbins, the venerable presiding elder of
the Lebanon District, went with a farm wagon through some
of the neighborhoods of his district gathering in supplies for
the professors' tables.
By such efforts and labors was M'Kendree College saved
to the Church. At the date of re-opening, the college was
indebted $5,800. For a portion of this, executions had been
issued, and the property, buildings and campus, sold, and the
day of redemption would soon pass. How this debt could
be paid and the property saved only one man in the com-
munity or State saw. To the faith of Davis Goheen the
way was easy. One hundred and sixty acres of the M'Ken-
dree land remained unsold. This, in fee simple, was deeded
to Professor Cummings; thus secured, he and' that noble old
Methodist friend, the late Nathan Horner, borrowed, upon
their individual note, money to redeem the property. The
M'Kendkee College. 231
land was divided into tracts of ten or more acres, and before
tlie note was due, was sold to German immigrants, tlien fast
filling up that part of the county in which Bishop M'Ken-
dree located his section of land. The property was saved,
and money left for other purposes. A second note was
made, and $950 more borrowed. With this the greatly de-
preciated paper of the broken Shawneetown Bank was pur-
chased, and the large debt to that institution was paid. At
the end of three years the college was free from debt, and
was so prosperous that a new college building was contem-
plated. To-day, to extinguish a debt against a Methodist
college of $5,800, would be too insignificant a matter to be
worthy of mention ; to the friends of M'lvendree College,
forty years ago, it was a formidable undertaking. Its accom-
plisliment was an occasion of thanks to God, and to all who
had aided its accomplishment. On January 20, 18^9, a meet-
ing of the citizens in the college chapel passed this resolution :
"" liesolved^ That, in view of the necessities of M'Kendree
College, we deem it essential that immediate steps be taken
to secure the erection of a college edifice, at a cost of about
$10,000, and that we pledge the citizens of Lebanon for one
filtli of that sum, and that we will contribute thereto in pro-
portion to our several abilities."
After discussion this was unanimously carried. $2,000
seemed a large sum for a village of a few hundred inhabit-
ants, who had never been able to provide a church edifice for
themselves, or a school-house for their children. To raise the
$2,000 it was felt that one man, of more means than any
otlier in the church, must pay $500, and othere in proportion.
It was also felt that of such an advance ui)on what he had
ever done, tlicre was not much ho]>e unless some unusual
iiifiuence was employed. The subscription was drawn, and
232 Early Schools of Methodism. •
signed first by two of the poorly paid professors, wlio signed
jointly, tlms : Wentwortli and Cummings, $500. Oar
worthy brother James Riggin followed with $500. Then
came a trustee with $300, and another with $200. Here
was three fourths of the required sum. More than the lack-
ing $500 was pledged, and all in due time was paid.
The newspapers of St. Louis, but twenty miles distant, and
the papers of Illinois generally, mentioned the liberal action
at Lebanon, and prepared the way for Rev. Mr. Goodfellow's
successful mission to raise the balance demanded.
On the day of the next annual commencement the corner-
stone of the new edifice was laid. On the same day, suffer-
ing in health from excessive labors. Dr. Wentwortli resigned
the presidency. The trustees on the same day filled the va-
cancy by the unanimous election of Prof. Cummings. This
honorable position Dr. Cummings had declined five years be-
fore, and still doubted his adaptation to the work. The presi-
dency then required full work in the lecture room, preach-
ing every Sabbath, often at points to be reached on horse-
back, by stage, or a buggy, as also the editing of the college
paper, the " Illinois Christian Advocate." The action of the
students requesting his acceptance, and two months later the
action of his Annual Conference, expressed by a unanimous
rising vote, so far overcame his reluctance that at the open-
ing of the term he entered upon the duty. In this new rela-
tion Dr. Cummings served the college two years. In 1854,
with the hope of regaining his health in that fine climate, he
accepted the presidency of a large flourishing female college
in East Tennessee, and the next year the same position in
the Holston Conference Female College, at Asheville, North
Carolina. At the close of the w^ar he removed to Soutli
Carolina; w^as then in charge for a time of the Metliodist
M'Kendree College. 233
Female College at Spartanburg, afterward filled, for five
years, a professorship in the old State University ; then the
presidency of the same. In 1877 he was transferred, by
Bishop Harris, to the Genesee Conference, in which he is
now a supernumerary, with his home at Wellsville, N. Y.
Daring the writer's connection with the college the fol-
lowing work was accomplished : The property was redeemed
from the hands of the sheriff ; the old debts were paid ; a
new edifice was erected ; the income paid current expenses ;
the perpetuity of the institution was secured ; a large num-
ber of young men were started upon a course of liberal edu-
cation; twenty of them completed the scientific course of
study, and fifteen the full classical course. The honorary
M.A. was conferred upon the Revs. D. D. Lore, James Lea-
ton, J. C. Berryman, W. W. Mitcliell, and upon Dr. D. M.
Cooper. The D.D. upon Revs. William Nast, of the " Chris-
tian Apologist;" John Dempster, founder of our Biblical
schools; and D. P. Kidder, of Garrett Biblical Institute.
The LL.D. upon Governor A. C. French, of Illinois ; Pro-
fessor John Johnston, of Wesleyan University ; and Rev. Pro-
fessor W. C. Larrabee, of Indiana Wesleyan University. No
teachers ever achieved success under greater discouragements
than did the faculty of M'Kendree College, that volunteered
to work five years for a bare living, upon the most econom-
ical scale. For that success they were largely dependent
upon the cordial co-operation of the resident board of tmst-
ees, those grand laymen : Nathan Horner, and his son Judge
H. n. Homer, Benjamin Hypes, Joseph Hypes, H. K. Ash-
ley, Rev. Davis Goheen, Rev. David Chamberlin, and Crispin
Cunningham, Esq.
Several of the alumni of these years became widely known
and very useful men. Reuben Andrus, D.D., was at the
234 Early Schools of Methodism.
liead of several noted schools, among tliem tlic Indiana As-
biiry University. Hiram Sears, A.M., "W. M. M'Elfresh,
and John Leeper, became leading men and presiding elders
in their Conferences. Professor C. Wesley Jerome became
a noted woj*ker in State and National Sabbath-school Associa-
tions, and he has long been the senior professor in the State
Normal University. Hon. J. J. Rinaker distinguished him-
self as a general in the Union army. Hon. S. L. Bryan be-
came eminent at the bar, upon the bench, and in the Senate.
Hon. W. A. J. Sparks was for several terms in Congress,
and filled several other positions under the general govern-
ment. R. M. Moore, Oliver Jones, W. H. Corrington, H.
C. Fike, W. S. Pope, and many others, were influential
teachers. There was not one of the graduates of these years
who did not make a good record in life.
Section II.
BY PROFESSOR SAMUEL H. DENEEN, A.M., PH.D.
Rev. Peter Akebs, D.D., was chosen president in the
autumn of 1852, and held the office five years. Daring his
incumbency a second attempt to endow the college by the
sale of scholarships was made, and signally failed. The old
college building, that had so long done good service, was
consumed by fire. The present spacious chapel building
was provided, in response to the call for help by Dr. Akers.
Rev. Dr. W. R. Davis, senior professor, performed the duties
of president during the first of the year 1857-58, and in the
spring the office was filled by Rev. N. E. Cobleigh, D.D.
Dr. Cobleigh made at once an appeal to the Soutliern Illinois
Conference and the citizens of Lebanon and vicinity for an
endowment of at least $20,000. This good work was
M'Kendree College. 235
coiTiplcted in 1860. It relieved the college from immediate
pressure, and assured its permanence. Dr. Cobleigli re-
tired in 1863, and the well-known Kobert Allyn, D.D.,
LL.D., accepted the presidency and held it eleven years.
Dr. Allyn made progress in sinking the debt upon the col-
lege, and, under his advice, the institution was opened to
ladies. In 1874 Rev. John W. Locke, D.D., a graduate of
old Augusta College, succeeded Dr. Allyn. He had been
four years president of Brookville College, Indiana ; twelve
years professor in Indiana Asbury University, and for a short
time was president of Baker University, Kansas. During
his presidency a commercial department was opened ; the
endowment was increased by the bequest of Mrs. James
Eiggin of $23,000, and of Dr. N. M. M'Curdy of $25,000.
Dr. Locke's successor was Ross C. Houghton, D.D., who,
not pleased with the financial outlook, was never inaugurated,
and, at the end of one year, left the position for Daniel W,
Phillips, D.D., the first alumnus of the college honored with
that responsibility. During the presidency of Dr. Phillips
the old debt of $7,000 was paid. He retired with honor in
1883, and was succeeded by the present incumbent. Rev.
William F. Swahlen, A.M., Ph.D. He is a graduate of the
University of Pennsylvania, an accomplished scholar, and an
experienced educator.
FINANCIAL HISTORY.
The first attempt to endow the college has been mentioned
in the lii*st part of this article. At that time " the national
road " was in process of construction. It was confidently
expected that its completion would greatly enhance the value
of Illinois lands and augment its population. The land
agency of the college was undertaken at that time. But the
236 Early Schools of Methodism.
bill for the completion of that great work was vetoed by
President Jackson. Financial disasters followed, and con-
tinued through the administration of President Yan Buren.
It was during this fearful crisis in all business interests that
the college was suspended. In 1854 a committee, consist-
ing of Dr. James Leaton, Rev. W. L. Deneen, and Judge
W. H. Underwood, reported a plan to raise an endowment
of $100,000 by the sale of perpetual scholarships, transfer-
able only to the college, and available only to the children of
the purchasers. These safeguards were, most unfortunately,
afterward removed by the college trustees, and the usual dis-
aster followed. A large number of the scholarships were
sold, mostly on unsecured notes, and but few of them ever
paid for.
The late Governor French, law professor in the college,
found, on careful examination, that for each dollar received
from this source one dollar and two cents had been paid by
the college. A large increase of students was the only ben-
efit from this scheme.
The creation of a permanent endowment is due to Dr.
Cobleigh. By his exertions about $22,000 was secured.
From the centennial offerings of the Southern Illinois Con-
ference $2,500 were added. Bequests and other gifts bring
up the sum to $75,000. But about half of this is yet yield-
ing interest. The tuition and interest of invested funds pay
expenses. The entire property and funds of the college now
foot up $135,000.
GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.
The college park contains seventeen acres, thoroughly
shaded by forest trees of natural growth. Its charms attract
the attention of all visitoi*s. It is never seen to greater ad-
M'Kendree College. 237
•
vantage than in June, during commencement week. It is a
Mecca to those who, in their early years, had trodden its
walks or reclined beneath its stately trees. The buildings
are plain, substantial structures, well adapted to the purposes
for which they were erected. The foundation of the prin-
cipal building was laid during the administration of Presi-
dent Wentworth. It was planned, superintended to com-
pletion, and opened for use by President Cummings. It is
three stories, of brick. The first and second stories are each
divided into four large rooms for recitations ; the third is
divided into two noble halls for the gentlemen's literary so-
cieties. The chapel building is two stories ; the audience
room, one of the largest in the State, is on the upper floor.
The lower story gives rooms for the library, the cabinet, and
the ladies' literary society. The Commercial Hall building is
but one story, elegantly finished and furnished.
THE LIBRARY,
though not large, is valuable. Standard books of reference
were principally purchased. Most of the books have been
received as donations. The largest gift of books was by the
late Kev. Dr. Robert Emory.
LITERARY SOCIETIES.
The Philosophian was founded in 1837, the Platonian in
1840, the Cleonian in 1869. These societies have elegant
halls and are well managed ; they are the pride of the
college.
THE CABINET
has been gathered from many parts of the globe. South
America and the Old World have made their contributions.
It is increaj>ing in value every year.
238 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
ALUMNI.
This roll contains about four hundred names. Each year
since 1841, except the years 1846 and 1855, has added to it.
The candidates for enrollment in this list came from the
most energetic and best families of Illinois and contiguous
States. They are now found in all the professions, and are
filling many of the places of honor among men. When
dangers threatened the country they were ready to receive or
repel the blow. They filled all stations in the army to pre-
serve the Union, from the private to the major-general. The
recital of their deeds of daring forms an interesting chapter
in the history of the college.
LIST OF PKESIDENTS.
Revs. John Dew, J. W. Merrill, D.D., J. C. Finley, M.D.,
Erastus Wentworth, D.D., Anson W. Cummings, LL.D.,
Peter Akers, D.D., N. E. Cobleigh, D.D., Eobert Allyn,
LL.D., John W. Lock, D.D., E. C. Houghton, D.D., D. W.
Phillips, D.D., and W. F. Swahlen, Ph.D.
LIST OF PROFESSORS.
Annis Merrill, M.A., H. H. Horner, M.A., Eev. G. L.
Eoberts, M.A., Eev. Spencer Mattison, M.A., Oran Faville,
LL.D., Eev. G. G. Jones, M.A., S. W. Williams, M.A., A.
A. Scott, M.A., S. H. Deneen, Ph.D., James W. Sunderland,
LL.D., J. L. Scripps, M.A., Eev. E. Z. Mason, LL.D., Eev.
E. C. Merrick, M. A., E. M. Moore, M.A., O. Y. Jones, M.A.,
Eev. Joseph Harris, M.A., James Leaton, D.D., W. E.
Davis, D.D., F. O. Blair, M.A., Eev. E. E. Edwards, Ph.D.,
Lucy J. Eider, M.A., E. B. Waggoner, M.A., Hon. A. C.
French, LL.D., Sarah A. Barnes, M.A.
Amenia Seminar
CHAPTER XII.
AMENIA SEMINARY.
BY ALBERT 8. HUNT, D. D.
This institutioir is located at Amenia, Dutchess County,
N. Y. Amenia is historic ground for Methodism. George
Whitefield preached liere in July, 1770, only a few weeks
before his death. Bishop Asbury visited the town from time
to time, attracted by the prominence and steriing worth of
the society, which was the outgrowth of a class organized by
Freeborn Garrettson. Here, in 1808, Asbury presided over
the New York Conference, which -held its session in the old
" Round-top School-house," and, in 1813, he and M'Kendree
were present at the meeting of the same body in the new
church, erected during the previous year.
The seminary was opened in the autumn of 1835, under
tlie direction of a board of twenty-three trustees. The school
building, three stories high and sixty feet in length, was erected
during the preceding summer on a rise of ground formerly
known as Cook's Hill. A second building was soon erected,
and then a third. The Hon. George G. Reynolds, now of
Brooklyn, but a native of Amenia, was for a time a teacher
in the seminary, while yet an under-graduate at the AVesleyau
University. In a letter to Rev. Joseph Cummings he says :
" I remember that the two men who originated and consum-
mated the undertaking were George Ingraham and Joseph D.
Hunt. But for them Amenia Seminary, as we knew it, would
never h.ave existed." Mr. Ingraham was one of the purest
and best men I ever knew. He was discreet, well balanced.
240 Early Schools of Methodism.
full of sympatliy for the young, and, more than all, a ^lan
whose godliness was decided and winning. For fifteen years
as trustee and as president of the board of trustees his best
efforts were devoted to the welfare of the institution.
Judge Reynolds has associated my father with Mr. In-
graham, and historic truth would be measurably violated if I
failed to respect his statement, but it would not become me
to enlarge upon it. The two, perhaps, never met, except in
church, without exchanging views upon the interests of
Amenia Seminary. Mr. Ingraham died in 1849, and Mr.
Hunt in 1864.
The first steward of the seminary was David Clark. After
five years he accepted a similar position in the Genesee Wes-
leyan Seminary, at Lima, N. Y. In 1840 Mr. Clark was suc-
ceeded by Hiram Yail, one of the original ti-ustees. In this
position his rare executive abilities had a large field and con-
stant exercise. If orderly and respectful, students found no
better friend than " Uncle Hiram ; " but the mischievous and
idle were very likely to learn his honest estimate of them.
The first principal of the seminary was the Rev. Charles
K. True, A.M., and his associates in the faculty were Fred-
erick Merrick, Joseph True, Daniel P. Kidder, Amos Prin-
dle, and Miss Lavinia Barker. Mr. True was a graduate of
Harvard College, where he distinguished himself as a public
speaker, taking a prize for his impressive delivery of Paul's
address before Agrippa. He was converted at Eastham
camp-meeting, on the day that he was twenty-one j^ears of
age. From that time he was an earnest Christian. He re-
mained at Amenia but a single session, leaving in the spring
of 1836. It is a pleasure to be able, in this connection, to pre-
sent a few paragraphs from the pen of Mrs. Dr. D. P. Kidder,
who was a scholar at Amenia while Dr. True was in charge :
Amenia Seminary. 241
" I was enrolled," she sajs, " as a pnpil in Amenia Seminary
the first day of its opening. Living within the bounds of
the New York Conference, I liad caught some of the enthu-
siasm spread througli the country by the preachers concern-
ing a new Methodist school in our midst, and so, guided by
tlie public announcement of the time of opening, took the
journey of forty miles across the Connecticut hills to be
present on the day specified. Arriving in the village the
evening previous, the brightness of anticipation was consider-
ably dimmed by finding, instead of a school ready to receive
its pupils, an unfinished building, with no room in readiness
for use. though one of the school-rooms was in such a condi-
tion that we could assemble in it for enrollment and organi-
zation. Instead of private students' rooms, the unfinished
chapel was temporarily used for a girls' dormitory, and our
beds were spread upon its floor, these beds serving, also, as
seats in our study liours. I think eighty students were en-
rolled the first day, and, notwithstanding the disorder and
inconvenience of all our surroundings, the school work sys-
tematically began.
" Mr. True, the principal, and Mr. Merrick, his associate,
were e([u:il to the emergency, and, by the kindliness of their
manner, and the interest they awakened in us for study, we
soon became an orderly company, prosecuting our work as if
the circumstances were favorable to student life. It is due
to the memory of Mr. True to say, that from no other teacher
did I ever receive such an inspiration for study and develop-
ment, and his Christian influence over me was ecpially im-
pressive and favorable. I remember well the first prayer-
meeting held in the parlor of the seminary as soon as tlie
room was ready for use. The principal manifested no less
interest in the spiritual than in the mental development of
242 Early Schools of Methodism.
tlie young persons under his charge, and his loving way of
presenting those higher claims upon them was fruitful in
good results. Those parlor prayer-meetings were occasions
never to be forgotten by many in attendance ; and seeds were
sown in them, that opening term of the seminary, which have
borne fruit the intervening half-century."
After Mr. True left Amenia he was engaged for the most
part in pastoral work until 1849, when he became professor
of moral science and heUes-lettres in the "Wesleyan Univer-
sity. Here he remained for about ten years, when lie
returned to pastoral service. Dr. True died in 1878, while
in charge of a church in Brooklyn, N. Y.
The Eev. Frederick Merrick succeeded Mr. True as prin-
cipal, in the spring of 1836. The Rev. D. P. Kidder, A.B.,
was the teacher in ancient and modern languages, who,
when he resigned to enter the itinerancy, was succeeded by
William W. Marsh, A.B. Davis W. Clark, A.B., had
charge of the department of mathematics; Lorenzo W.
Blood, and later William S. AViley, taught the English
bi'anches. Miss Almena M. Pelton, who taught the orna-
mental branches, was the preceptress for a brief jjcriod, when
the position was filled by Miss Lavinia Barker. Miss Mar-
cella E. Russell and Mr. Amos Prindle acted as assistant
teachers for a portion of the time, and upon the resignation
of Miss Pelton, Miss Marianne Clark, daughter of Rev. La-
ban Clark, became the teacher of music and painting.
Mr. Merrick was two years in office, and proved himself
admirably fitted for his position. The trustees, his associ-
ates in the faculty, and the students were deeply imj^ressed
by his kindly and scholarly ways. He left Amenia for
Ohio, where, in connection, first with the State University at
Athens, and th^n with the Ohio Wesleyan University, at
Amenia Seminary. 213
Delaware, he has rendered honorable service for nearly half
a century. Dr. Merrick writes as follows, concerning the
seminary at this period :
The trustees were men of marked intelligence and enterprise, and of
sterling worth. My associates in the faculty were industrious, cultured,
and efficient. After fifty years' experience in teaching I must place my
Amenia students among the best it has been my privilege to instruct.
Some of them have become quite eminent. The most notable event
during my connection with the institution was the religious revival,
during the winter of 183G-37. Its history is wortiiy of being written in
detail, but I have no time to do it. It was eminently the work of the
Spirit. It began without any special services, and moved on with but
little of human instrumentality. The work was deep and thorough,
and most of the students not before converted were converted during
its progress. Many of the young men became ministers of the Gospel,
and a singular number of the young women became ministers' wives.
It was a timely lesson and experience to myself, as well as to some of
my colleagues.
It should be stated as a somewhat important fact in the
history of the seminary, that during the principalship of Mr.
Merrick it was chartered by the regents of the University of
the State of New York.
The immediate successor of Mr. Merrick was the Rev. Davis
W. Clark, A.B. He was a native of the Island of Mount
Desert, Me., and a graduate of Wesleyan University. He
had been for two years a member of the board of instruc-
tion as teacher of mathematics, in which department he
achieved decided success. He began at this time the prepa-
ration of a work on algebra, which was given to thfe press
a few years later. The Rev. Edward Cooke, A.B., was
the teacher of natural science from 1838 to 1840. Rev.
Stephen M. Yail, A.B., taught the ancient languages in 1838,
ll<jv. Edward E. E Bragdon in 1839, and Rev. Joseph Den-
244 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
ison, A.B., for the remaining years of Mr. Clark's admin-
istration. Wlien Mr. Cooke resigned, Eev. Joseph Cum-
mings, A.B., succeeded him. Other teachers, during por-
tions of this period, were Mr. Daniel Shaw, Collingwood
Rutherford, Oliver E. Brown, John H. Twomblj, William
S. Coggeshall, and Geo. G. Eejnolds. Miss Lavinia Barker
continued to act as preceptress until nearly the close of Mr.
Clark's period of service, when Miss Samantha Brightnian
succeeded her. Miss Catharine F. Park and Mrs. Caroline
G. Eandall successively acted as teachers of music and draw-
ing. The seminary was prosperous in every respect during
this administration. Its numbers increased, its high standard
of scholarship was well maintained, and several revivals of
religion occurred. Among the converts received into the
Church on one Sabbath in 1840 were Elizabeth A. Yail and
Andrew J. Hunt, who in after years became respectively the
preceptress and the principal of the institution. Mr. Clark
joined the New York Conference in 1843, and his successful
career, as pastor, editor, and Bishop, is a matter of familiar
Church history.
Mr. Clark was succeded in office by the Bev. Joseph Cum-
mings, also a native of Maine and a graduate of the Wcslcyan
University. He had been for three years very successful and
popular as the teacher of the natural sciences. When he be-
came principal he taught moral science and the higher classes
in mathematics. In every department he disj)layed the rare
gifts which in after years gave him distinction in higher
institrftions.
When Mr. Cummings became principal, the Rev. Erastus
O. Haven, A.B., became the teacher in natural science.
Richard Ingraham, A.B., was for a year the teacher of an-
cient languages, and then the department became the charge
Amenia Seminary. 245
of Thomas P. Underwood, A. B., all graduates of the Wes-
leyan University. The position of preceptress continued to
be tilled by Miss Brightinan until 1845, when Miss Margaret
Marshall succeeded her. Mrs. Randall held the position slie
accepted under Mr. Clark for most of the time, and then
Miss Electa W. Coles became teacher of instrumental music.
Mr. Coggeshall remained in charge of the department of En-
glish literature. During Mr. Cummings's administration the
practice was adopted of giving diplomas to those who com-
pleted a prescribed course of study.
Rev. Erastus Otis Haven, who became the principal of
the seminary in 1846, was born in Boston, Mass., and w^as
graduated at the Wesleyan University in 1843. While he
was at the head of the institution Thomas P. Underwood,
Alexander Winchell, Gilbert Haven, William M. Ingraham,
Andrew J. Hunt, Miles Grant, Horatio N. Powers, and Al-
bert S. Hunt were members of the faculty for longer or
shorter periods. Miss Anna E. Adams and Mrs. Caroline G.
Randall successively filled the position of preceptress, with
Miss Elizabeth A. Yail, Miss Julia F. Lines, Miss Elizabeth
W. Goodsell, and Miss Helen M. Bird as associate teachers.
Mr. Haven did not come to his position as a stranger, for
he had been two years a member of the fiiculty. He was a
man of remarkable versatility, and seemed able, without ap-
parent effort, to do any thing and every thing well. If he
was seldom brilliant in address, he was always lucid. xYs a
preacher, he was a great favorite with the students and with
the entire community. He governed well, but made no
show of authority. In his autobiography we have his views
< m the government of college boys ; and those who know
the history of his principalship at Amenia know very well
that he did, in one or two marked instances, make it clear
240 Eaklt Schools of Methodism.
that, even in preparatory scliools, the most successful govern-
ment is that which controls by inspiring the students with a
high sense of honor among themselves. The seminary pros-
pered in all respects under his oversight. He joined the
New York Conference in 184:8, and, like his distinguished
predecessors, has been so constantly in prominent positions
tliat it is not needful even to give an outline of his career.
After thirty-three years of active service he died in Oregon,
in 1881, while on an episcopal visit to that State.
Concerning this period a few words from Bishop Foss will
be most welcome. He says :
Amenia Seminary, in its best days, was electric with marvelous in-
fluences for good — intellectual, moral, and spiritual. Its routine work
of instruction was well done — generally very well — but this was tran-
scended by greater work in the development of character. Its faculty
was pervaded by a high enthusiasm for the best attainments in mind
and heart, and the ennobling contagion seized and transformed many
a listless and wayward student. Into this garden of choicest influ-
ences, at the age of fourteen, I was led, together with two of my
brothers. Erastus O. Haven, a genial gentleman, an elegant man of let-
ters, and mellifluous orator, was my first principal. Among the teach-
ers (academy teachers were not ' ' professors " in those primitive times)
were the quiet, saintly invalid, "Uncle Tommy" Underwood; the
suniiy-faced, golden-haired, witty, brilliant Gilbert Haven; and the
slender, perpendicular, enthusiastic William M. Ingraham, fresh from
college, only twenty years of age, such a prodigy (to me) in mathe-
matics (my favorite department) that he easily took rank as first among
my demi-gods, so that many years later his presence before my pulpit
would embarrass me more than that of almost any other man.
Mr. E. O. Haven was succeeded, as principal, by his brill-
iant and scholarly cousin, Rev. Gilbert Haven, to whom
Bishop Foss alludes. The following named persons were his
associates : Thomas P. Underwood; James E. Marsh, his col-
Amenia Seminary. 247
loi^e classmate ; Alexander WinclicU, the now distinguished
scientist; Horatio N. Powers, George G. Jones, and Jolm
W. Beach. Mrs. Caroline G. Randall was preceptress ; and
Miss Susan M. Field, Miss Elizabeth A. Yail, Miss Julia F.
Lines, Miss Elipha B. Allerton, and Miss Frances J. Merrill
were also members of the faculty.
Mr. Gilbert Haven was born in Maiden, Mass., and pursued
his studies at Wilbraham and Middletown, where he was grad-
uated in 1846. He came from the university to Amenia, and
for two years taught the ancient languages with an enthusi-
asm which won the highest success. Like Clark, Ciunmings,
and E. O. Haven, who preceded him in the principalship, he
was licensed to preach after coming to Amenia. His earliest
efforts in the seminary chapel were doubtless able, but to the
students they were not always interesting. His sentences
were long and involved, and his rhetoric, though often spark-
ling, was still in strong contrast with the colloquial, limpid
style of his cousin. Every body knows that in later life lie
was, botli in his addresses and his sermons, quite able to make
himself promptly and perfectly understood, but it was not so
Avhen he began his ministry. As a teacher of moral science
and tlie helles-lettres he had great success, and his administra-
tion of the affairs of the institution received and deserved
high commendation. He left Amenia and joined the New
England Conference in 185L Few men in this land, or in
tlie world, have been as widely known and as tenderly loved
as he ; and his life of great achievements ended triumphantly
in ISSO at the place of ]iis birth.
Mr. Haven was followed by Rev. John W. Beach, M.A.,
who, like all his predecessors, except the Urst, was edu-
cated at Middletown. His associates were H«)ratio N.
Powei*8, Edwin H. Cole, Jasper Tenney, Andrew J. Hunt,
248 Early Schools of Methodism.
Simeon F. Chester, Thompson II. Landon, Ralph C. Har-
rison, and Henry I. Taylor; and, in tlie female depart-
ment. Miss Elizabeth A. Yail, Miss Elipha B. Allerton,
Miss Frances J. Merrill, Miss Louisa E. Landon, Miss Cor-
nelia E. Eichards, Miss Sarah North, and Miss Eliza S.
Mitchell. Miss Yail and Miss Landon successively filled the
position of preceptress. Mr. Beach had already gained a
very honorable reputation in the seminary, not only for his
skill in teaching, but for his ability as a preacher; and, dar-
ing the three years that the institution was under his over-
sight, its well-earned popularity was not only maintained,
but increased. The number of scholars was never larger
than during his administration. He joined the New York
Conference in 1854, and, after a quarter of a century of
service in the pastorate, was elected, in 1880, to succeed
Bishop Foss as president of the Wesley an University.
The Rev. Andrew J. Hunt, A.M., was elected to fill the
vacancy occasioned by the retirement of Mr. Beach. For
the first time in the history of the seminary the principal
was a member of an Annual Conference, rendering service
under Episcopal appointment. The gentlemen associated
with Mr. Hunt were Raljih C. Harrison, Cyrus D. Foss,
Edward B. Otheman, Albert D. Yail, and Henry I. Taylor ;
while the ladies were Miss Louisa E. Landon, Miss Sarah
North, Miss Sarali J. Ingraliam, Miss Adelaide E. Beecher,
and Miss Mary B. Rundall. Miss Landon was the precep-
tress during the first, and Miss Rundall during the second,
year of his administration. Of him I- could say much, for I
knew much about the spirit and aim of his work ; but he
was my only brother, and it will better become me to be
silent. He wrote w^liile he was principal : "My ideal of the
Christian school-master presents him as at once pastor, teach-
Amkn[a Skmixakv. ' 249
cr, and friend — watching over a flock, teaching and training
scholars, and, above all, loving the dear boys, and rejoicing
with them in their youth and growing manhood."
One who was associated with him at Amenia may be per-
mitted to pay his tribute to his friend. Bishop Foss says :
Andrew J. Hunt was one of the best and ablest men I have ever
intimately known. As teacher, principal, preacher, and pastor, his
work in the seminary was of the choicest quality. The unostentatious
and unconscious influence of genuine manliness drew to him both col-
leagues and pupils with cords soft as silk and strong as steel. Round-
about common-sense, combined with artistic fine sense ; will-strength,
tempered with almost womanly delicacy ; accurate scholarship and wide
culture; deep devotedness and lofty adoration; genuine humanness
and meek saintliness, met and mingled in the character of this choice
friend and colleague of my early manhood.
I have long believed that only the early and helpless wreck of his
health debarred him from an honored place among the very foremost
pastors and educators in the land. Where **the inhabitants never say,
I am sick," he has his opportunity.
Mr. Hunt retired from the principalship in the spring of
1856, having held the office for two years. Several times
after this he made fruitless efforts to do the work of a well
man, and after a quarter of a century of such service as
those can render " who only stand and wait," he passed
away.
All efforts to And catalogues covering the period we have
now reached have proved unavailing, but a few facts have
liecn gathered from other sources. Mr. Hunt was succeeded
by Rev. Cyrns D. Foss, who had been for nearly two years a
inomber of the faculty. He and his two brothers pursued
tlicir i^reparatory course at Amenia and were graduated at
Miildlctown : Archibald two 3'cars before him, jnid Williaiii
11*
250 -Early Schools of Methodism.
two years after him, and each of the three with the highest
honors of his class. The new principal, being but twentj-
two years of age, was much the youngest man who had occu-
pied the position, but he duly appreciated the dignity and im-
portance of the trust committed to him. He was conscien-
tious and thoroughly in earnest, and his pupils gained enlarge-
ment and inspiration from his teachings and his life. He was
exceedingly popular in the pulpit, and sermons which he
preached in the seminary chapel and elsewhere in the vicin-
ity are still remembered for their remarkable unction and
power. His eagerness to enter the pastoral work made him
unwilling to remain at Amenia after a single year of service,
and accordingly he joined the New York Conference in 1857.
What he has been doing since then is known to the entire
Church.
Mr. Foss was followed by Eev. John W. Armstrong, a
member of the Black Eiver Conference. Mr. Armstrong was
a native of England, but came to this country in his boy-
hood. He had been identified successfully with the Gouver-
neur, Falley, and Cazenovia Seminaries, either as principal or
instructor. At Amenia he proved himself to be a man of
large acquirements and of decided ability.
The wide-spread depression in the business world, wdiich
followed the panic of 1857, doubtless had its influence in pre-
cipitating a crisis in the affairs of the institution. The seri-
ous embarrassment, however, which marked this period of
its history, it is believed, was the outgrowth of two radical
facts, namely : that the property was owned by a stock com-
pany, and that the patronage of the New York Conference,
valuable as it was in many respects, was yet more nominal
than real. This is not spoken in the spirit of criticism, and
it is useless to declare " what might liave been." It is well
Amenia Seminary. 251
known tliat, after a successful and even brilliant history of
more than twenty years, the seminary passed into private
hands.
The fortunes of the institution from that time until now
have been varied, but the plan of this volume forbids us to
trace its history under its changed auspices, and, if it were
not so, the necessary data for continuinpj the story of its work
are wanting.
It would be pleasant, before concluding, to pay tribute to
the fidelity and success of such teachers as Daniel P. Kidder,
Edward Cooke, Stephen M. Vail, Joseph Denison, Alexander
Winchell, William M. Ingraham, Horatio N. Powers, and
others, who, at different periods, were members of the fac-
ulty at Am<?nia. They have all been conspicuous in other
fields of Christian endeavor. But- it may be doubted whether
they have ever made friends who will cherish their memory
more fondly than it is cherished by certain well-meaning but
often thoughtless boys, who tested their patience aforetime
at Amenia.
This paper would be un pardonably deficient if it failed to
allude to the bright succession of Christian women who filled
the honorable position of preceptress. Their names have
been given in preceding paragraphs, and it is a matter of
regret that our limits forbid us to enlarge upon their rare
merits. If they were not all equally gifted and equally
successful, still eacii rendered useful and honorable service,
and the influence exerted by two or three of them was truly
extraordinary.
The names of Amenia students who liave become useful,
and even distinguished, in the various walks of life, would
crowd many pages. Bishop Clark declared that he met his
scholars wlierever he went. They occupy positions of dig-
252 Early Schools of Methodism.
nitj and trust in Church and State, in our own land and in
other lands, a great and goodlj company.
Dr. Alexander Winchell, of the Michigan University,
writes to me:
How beneficent has been the influence of the old seminary! An
institution which supplied the highest grade of academic instruction
to hundreds of pupils for many years in succession, at cheap rates,
without ostentation or extravagance, and won the hearts of all its
pupils, and inculcated and exemplified the noblest principles of virtue
and religion, was one worthy of perpetuation. It performed an office
wliich I venture to think is not as well filled by the more costly and
ostentatious schools which have superseded it. As we, who have been a
part of that history, look back over the thronged procession of earnest
young people, how guileless and high-toned they seem. They were
hot with the fire of youth, but how few were their infractions of duty!
how venial were the peccadillos which they committed. Undoubtedly
the character and intent of the earliest promoters of the institution gave
it a bent and predisposition which lacked attraction for the self-indul-
gent and the trifling. The seminary exerted a selective agency in call-
ing into its service and under its instruction a grade of moral and in-
tellectual endowment best fitted to become of substantial service to
Christian civilization. Thank God for what Amenia Seminary has
been !
We repeat the names of the Amenia principals : Charles
K. True, D.D., Frederick Merrick, Bishop Davis W. Clark,
D.D., Joseph Cummings, D.D., LL.D., Bishop Erastus O.
Haven, D.D., LL.D., Bishop Gilbert Haven, John W.
Beach, D.D., LL.D., Andrew J. Hunt, A.M., Bishop Cyrus
D. Foss, D.D., LL.D., John W. Armstrong, D.D. Com-
ment would be superfluous. The bare list is eloquent.
AsBUKY College of De Tauw University. ^53
CHAPTEE XIII.
ASBURY (X)LLEGE OF DE PAUW UNITKRSITY.
BT MISS IRENE HABTIN.
The pioneer Methodist preachers of Indiana were wise
men in their day and generation. In more than one respect
tlieir counsel and actions went far, not only toward planting
the religion of Clirist in their own borders, but also toward
the early development of the rich resources of the State.
Nor was this influence confined to Indiana. Their spirit
largely pervaded the farther West, and tended to give it that
influence in Church and State which justly belongs to the
great heart of the nation. This was not the result of any
scheme or plan, in questionable aspects of those words, but
the legitimate consequence of that divine guidance which is
promised and given to those who, with single eye, desire to
know and do that which will best promote the glory of God
and the good of mankind.
The course which they were led to take in regard to edu-
cation illustrates and confirms these statements, and is a fit
example of what might be shown in other matters also. The
records show that at the first session of the Indiana Confer-
ence the relation of the Church to this great interest was
considered, and the duty of the Church to do something for
its promotion was deeply felt. As yet, however, Methodism
in this State was comparatively weak, and the same, only in
larger degree, might be said of the other Churches. Its
preaching places were few and far between, its membei-ship
dwelt in the " log-cabin," and its ministers were rich in the
254 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
possession of a good liorse and a capacious pair of " saddle-
bags" — one end of wliicli contained the needful changes of
linen, and the other the preacher's Bible, hymn book, Dis-
cipline, and a few good books for study or for sale.
The State University had been recently established, and
had practically been taken possession of by those unfriendly,
if not hostile, to Methodism. Misrepresenting its doctrines,
ridiculing its usages, and denouncing its preachers as ignorant
and fanatical disturbers of the peace and order of society,
these good people complacently arrogated to themselves a
monopoly of learning, and the exclusive ability and right to
teach in the departments of advanced instruction. It is a
fact that, although Methodism had in its ministry and mem-
bership and friends nearly as many as all the other Churches
in the State, they were, by careful management, excluded
from any representation in the board of trustees, or the chairs
of instruction in the chief institution of learning, established
and maintained at the expense of all the people in the Com-
monwealth.
The right adjustment of this matter was felt, by those
subjected to the outrage, to be the first thing that ought to
be attempted. A respectful memorial was, therefore, drawn
up by the Conference, and a committee appointed to present
the same at the next session of the Legislature. This was
accordingly done. The deputation was respectfully received,
their statement, which none could call in question, heard,
and the subject duly referred to a committee. The matter
was allowed to slumber till near the close of the session,
when, finding nothing was likely to be done, friends of the
petitioners became somewhat urgent for a redress of the
grievance. Their natural importunity was resented, and the
only answer v.hich their just complanit received was, " The
AsBURY College of De Pauw Univeesity. 255
Methodist Church has only one man in tlie country iit to fill
a professor's chair." This was understood to refer to Hon.
Chief Justice M'Lean, of the Supreme Court of the United
States. The taunt was, in after years, sought to be explained
as a mere jest, but at the time it was felt, as it was no doubt
intended to be, simply as adding insult to injury. Under the
circumstances, Methodism had no option but to start a college
of its own. How very serious such an undertaking was will
best be understood when we remember how sparsely settled
Indiana was ; that it was still a frontier State, but recently
admitted into the Union ; that its fields were uncleared, its
swamps undrained, and its rivers and streams unbridged.
The settlers had scarcely built their cabins, inclosed their
fields, or opened up the highways. The " itinerant " — liter-
ally traveling — preachers had* frequently to find their way
through pathless woods, to wade a waste of water, to swim
swollen streams, and sometimes to camp out at night with
tlie stars for lamps, the blue arch of heaven for canopy, and
the howling of wolves for music. These are almost the
identical words employed by the venerable Aaron Wood, still
in the ranks, in giving an account at my father's fireside of
a night spent on one of the northern prairies by himself and
Ijishop Asbury. Yet, nothing daunted, these high-hearted
and earnest ministers of Christ, with faith in God and man,
and wise prevision of the wants of the Church in the " great
valley " of the world, resolved at once to address themselves
to the work.
After various delays and all sorts of obstnictions and op-
position, they at last secured a charter from the Legislature.
Various names were considered and seriously canvassed, but,
after considerable deliberation, the infant institution was in-
troduced to the world under the ample and high-sounding
256 Early Schools of Methodism.
title, " The Indiana Asbury University." It may be said to
liave been founded in 1835, when, in the fear of God and in
dependence npon him for direction and success, the Indiana
Conference, after three years of serious discussion, resolved
to begin the enterprise. It was two years later before the
charter was gotten through the Legislature. On the 10th of
January, 1837, it received the signature of tlie governor, and
on the 20th of June, 1837, the corner-stone of the first, and
for many years the only, college building, was laid with im-
posing ceremonies and an eloquent address by Dr. Henry B.
Bascom, afterward Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South.
The hand of a gracious providence is clearly seen in all
these movements. Those men saw in the word of God and
in the history of the Church their warrant and encouragement
to undertake this work. They saw that spiritual culture and
mental illumination not only go hand in hand, but the latter
is the inevitable and legitimate result of the former ; that
sanctified Christian education is as essential to the building
up of the Church of Christ in the world as is conversion.
In short, that the Church which neglects its duty in this re-
spect, or trusts in any other agency to do its share in this
business, is doomed to extinction. Trusting to the family,
the pulpit, and the Sunday-school for the religious training
of the youth in their earlier years, they felt that their higher
education should be carried on under distinctly religious in-
fluence and direction. The constant tendency of State col-
leges to discourage every thing like an earnest Cliristian life
has shown the wisdom of their action, and the gracious spir-
itual results of that action have amply confirmed and justi-
fied it.
Various places contended for the location of the institution.
AsBURY College of De Pauw University. 257
Many considerations led to the selection of Greencastle, at
that time an inconsiderable village about thirty-eight miles
directly west of Indianapolis, and the chief town of Putnam
County. The ground originally was heavily timbered, the
soil rich and underlaid by limestone, the surface somewhat
rolling, and the surrounding region healthy and beautifully
picturesque. A place better suited or more inviting for
quiet and successful study is nowhere to be found.
The first faculty entered upon duty September, 1839. It
consisted of the following, namely : Eev. Matthew Simp-
son, D.D., president and professor of mathematics ; Rev.
Cyrus Nutt, A.M., professor of languages; Rev. John
AVeakly, principal of preparatory department ; John Wheel-
er, tutor.
In a year from the above date Rev. W. C. Larrabee, A.M.,
was made professor of mathematics and science, and in 1842
Rev. John Wheeler, A.M., was elected to the chair of Latin,
Professor Nutt' retaining that of Greek. At the same time
Charles G. Downey, A.M., was elected to the chair of natural
science. Professor Larrabee retaining that of mathematics.
In 1844 Professor Nutt resigned the chair of Greek, and
Rev. B. F. Teft, D.D., was chosen to succeed him. Pro-
fessor Nutt was a graduate of Allegheny College, class of
1837, and was properly regarded as the first teacher of the
college — his private school in Greencastle having been
adopted as the preparatory department. He was long and
honorably engaged in the work of education in Indiana. In
1861 he was elected president of the State University, which
position he retained until within a few months of his death,
which took place in 1875. Those who had made light of
Methodist teachers were glad to secure his valuable services
to save their institution from collapse.
258 Early Schools of Methodism.
On July 18, 1843, Dr. Simpson tendered liis resignation,
having been elected editor of the " Western Christian Ad-
vocate." He was born at Cadiz, Ohio, June 20, 1811, of
Scotch-Irish descent, and accomplished the course of study
at Madison College, near Pittsburg, Pa. In 183Y he was
elected vice-president and professor of natural science in Al-
legheny College, whence he was transferred, as above, to the
head of what w^as destined to become the great Methodist
school of the West. In 1852 he was elected Bishop, and in
that office he served God and his generation until, in 1884,
he fell asleep in Christ. Under his administration the col-
lege received an impetus which, with ever-increasing power,
it still continues to'* enjoy.
Eev. Lucien W. Berry, A.M., was elected president July
14, 1849. He was a native of Alburg, Vermont, born in
1815 ; entered the Indiana Conference in 1838 ; continued in
charge of the college about six years, w^hen he w^as transferred
to the presidency of Iowa Wesleyan University. Here he re-
mained three years, w^hen he took charge of an incipient col-
lege at Jefferson City, Mo. He died at Cincinnati, July 23,
1858.
On July 15, 1850, Joseph Tingley, A.M., was elected
professor of natural science. Professor Downey having re-
signed ; as did also Dr. Teft, in 1850, who was succeeded by
Eev. Henry C. Benson, A.M. In 1852 Miles J. Fletcher
was made professor of English literature, and the same year
Saniuel A. Lattimore, A.M., was chosen to fill the vacancy
caused by the resignation of Prof. Benson. In July, 1853,
Rev. William [N'ast, D.D., was elected professor of German ;
and, July, 1859, Professors Wheeler and Fletcher having
resigned, Eev. E. E. Bragdon, A.M., was elected professor of
Latin, and Eev. Bernard II. Nadal, A.M., professor of En-
AsBURY College of De Pauw University. 259
glisli literature. At tlie same time Professor H. B. Hibben
was made adjunct professor of languages.
President Berry having resigned, Rev. Daniel Curry, D.D.,
was elected president August 17, 1855. Dr. Curry was born
near Peekskill, X. Y., November 26, 1809 ; was graduated
from the Wesleyan Univei*sity, 1837; was principal of the
Troy Conference Academy, professor in the Georgia Female
College, filled, as pastor, several of the principal charges in
Georgia and New York Conferences, until, as above, he was
chosen president of the college at Greencastle. He remained
here three years, when he re-entered the New York East
Conference, and is well known as a man tried and found
fait) if ul in the vanous departments of Church work, especially
as an editor and writer of books.
Professor Downey resigned in July, 1857, and Dr. Nadal
on June 29, 1858, and Professor Bragdon at the same date.
In July, 1857, Dr. Cyrus Nutt was made professor of math-
ematics ; Miles J. Fletcher, professor of helles-lettres and his-
toiy ; Benjamin T. Hoyt, A.M., professor of Latin ; and H.
B. Hibben, adjunct professor of Latin.
On June 28, 1859, Rev. Thomas Bowman, D.D., was in-
augurated president, to succeed Dr. Curry, and continued in
charge until May, 1872, when he was elected Bishop. Dr.
Bowman was born near Berwick, Pa., July 15, 1817 ; was
graduated at Dickinson College in 1837 ; joined the Balti-
more Conference in 1839 ; taught for some time in his almor
mater • was president of Dickinson Seminary for ten years;
liad charge of the institution at Greencastle, as above, for
fourteen years, and is at this writing (1885) the beloved and
honored senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In June, 1860, Professor Lattimore resigned the chair of
Greek, and Dr. Nutt that of mathematics. August 28,
260 Early Schools of Methodism.
1860, Eev. Philander Wilej, M.A., was elected to succeed
Professor Lattimore, and Eev. John W. Locke, A.M., to suc-
ceed Dr. Nutt. June 24, 1863, Professor Hojt was trans-
ferred to the chair of lelles-lettres and history, Rev. John A.
Reubelt, D.D., to that of Latin and German, and L. L.
Rogers, A.M., made adjunct professor of Latin, who, in
1869, succeeded to the full duties of that chair. Dr. Reubelt
having resigned. On June 30, 1869, John C. Ridpath, A.M.,
was elected professor of English literature and normal instruc-
tion. June 29, 1870, John- E. Earp, A.M., w^as elected pro-
fessor of modern languages and Hebrew. June 18, 1871,
the first ladies were graduated from the university, having
been admitted to all its departments four years previously.
In June, 1872, Dr. Locke resigned the chair of mathematics,
and Rev. Patterson M'Nutt, D.D., was elected to fill his
place.
On July 13, 1872, Rev. Reuben Andrus, D.D., was elected
to succeed Bishop Bowman as president. We are not in
possession of the date of his birth, or the cliief facts in his
life. He filled a term of three laborious and useful years.
Under his administration there were no changes, either in
the way of resignations or additions to the faculty. He
resigned, to re-enter the pastorate, September, 1875, and at
the same date Rev. Alexander Martin, D.D., LL.D., the
present incumbent, w\as elected as his successor.
President Martin was born in Nairn, Scotland, January
22, 1824 ; was graduated from Allegheny College in 1847 ;
w^as received into the Pittsburg Conference, and appointed
professor in the North-west Virginia Academy the same
year. Served for several years as secretary of the West Yir-
ginia Conference, was stationed at Charleston, Moundsville,
Parkersburg, and Wheeling. Served ten years as professor
AsBURY College of De Pauw UnivepwBity. 261
of Greek in Alleglieny College. Organized, and for seven
years presided over, the West Virginia State University, and
on his resignation there was elected to his present position.
His administration was for a time embarrassed by the fact
that students were crowding to the halls of the college in
greater numbers than there were means to provide for their
proper instruction. Sometime before the authorities re-
solved not to charge tuition fees, so there was no income
from that source. The rate of interest on vested funds was
steadily diminishing, the erection of an expensive building,
costing over $100,000, absorbed, as a loan from the Endow-
ment to the Building Fund, some $18,000. About one-half
of the remaining endowment was, for live years, rendered
unproductive by the railroad in whose bonds it had been
invested being put into the hands of a receiver, and, on the
whole, the institution had to pass through deep waters.
Had it not been that very considerable additions were being
secured to the endowment and other funds, tlie prospect
would have been gloomy.
But in the darkest hour, God put it into the heart of
Hon. W. C. De Pauw to respond to appeals from many quar-
tei-s to lift, as he was well able, the institution not only out
of its monetary embarrassments, but to make it not only a col-
lege, which it always had been, but a university, in fact as
well as name, and with all the departments which justify any
school to be so called. It would occupy too much space to
enter into the negotiations which eventuated in this happy
result. In the university founded by Mr. De Pauw, the
" Asbury College of Liberal Arts," with its four departments
of instruction — classical, philosophical, scientific, and that of
literature and art — continues to occupy the place of honor as
the center of the other schools, and the foundation on which
262 Early Schools of Methodism.
they rest. These are schools of theology, law, military sci-
ence and tactics, music, the fine arts, horticultm-e, the nor-
mal school, and the preparatory school. Negotiations are
being had whereby, it is hoped, the " School of Medicine "
will be organized at an early day. The grounds of the uni-
versity embrace about one hundred and fifty acres. The
east college, built in 1876, is an imposing, tasteful, and spa-
cious structure, one hundred and twenty-six feet long by
ninety-four wide, and four stories high. It is finished with
mansard roof, and ornamented by three handsome towers.
The west college, erected in 1879, is even more capacious,
and finely arranged for university work. Besides these there
are four other fine buildings, recently erected, including the
M'Kim Astronomical Observatory, and some structures of
less account. The attendance of students is steadily increas-
ing, being, in 1884:-85, six hundred and eighty, the number
of graduates the same year, sixty-two.
In the faculty of instruction and government more than
fifty professors and teachers are employed. The alurnni
are now filling the most exalted positions in all parts of the
land. Colonel James Harlan, of Iowa ; Judge Dunbar, of
Kentucky ; Chancellor Sims, of Syracuse University ; Pro-
fessor S. A. Lattimore, of Rochester University ; Governor
Porter and Senator Yoorhees, of Indiana ; Governor Booth,
of California ; and scores of others equally conspicuous are
graduates of earlier years. The alumni now number about
one thousand, besides many thousands more who, in greater
or less degree, have been partakers of the benefit. They are
found in all parts of the world, and in all the industrial pur-
suits as well as the liberal professions of life.
Victoria University. 2G3
CHAPTER XIY.
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, CANADA.
BY PROFESSOR NATHANIEL BURWASH, 8.T.D.
The first year of the organization of American Methodism,
under Coke and Asbury, witnessed the formation of Method-
ist classes by settlers in the wilds of Upper Canada. Three
yeai-s later the itinerants followed, and in 1791 a circuit was
reported, with five classes and one hundred and sixty- five
members. For forty years the work of Methodism in this
new country was missionary and evangelistic, building up a
Conference of some fifty ministers, providing for the relig-
ious wants of more than ten thousand members of the Meth-
odist Church, and about one fourth the population of the
country. The time had now arrived for the organization,
consolidation, and perfecting of the work founded by tliese-
forty years of heroic labor.
In 1828 the American Methodists, following the example
set by John Wesley in 1784, recognized the separate political
relations of their brethren in Canada, and placed them in that
position of brotherly independence which left them free to
work out, without embarrassments, the problems assigned by
Divine Providence. The year after their separate organiza-
tion they addressed themselves to their task in a manner that
proved them to be thoroughly competent for their work. At
the Conference of 1829 two things were projected destined
to exert a most helpful influence on the future of Canadian
Methodism. These were a connectional newspaper and a
264 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
seminary of learning for the education of tlie joutli and
ministry of tlie Church.
These measures, wise and necessary under any circum-
stances, were imperatively demanded by the peculiar politico-
religious condition of the country at that time. Those were
the days of State Church in Canada, when it was of the
highest importance that the sentiments of the rising genera-
tion should be formed upon principles of civil and religious
liberty, and that the voice of that sentiment should express
itself, through educated men and by tlie public press, in such
a way as to be heard and felt in all the land. The connec-
tional paper was the first and easiest part of the project.
Providence had raised up and trained the man for the work in
Egerton Ryerson, who had already distinguished Jiimsell: by
his writings on behalf of the civil and religious rights of the
Methodist people. A subscription of a few hundred dollars to
procure the needed outfit served at once to bring into the field
an engine of mighty moral power in the history of Canada.
To found the seminary of learning was a task not" so easy
of completion. The Methodists of that time numbered few
men of wealth — principally farmers, still engaged in the strug-
gle to create productive homesteads out of primitive forests.
To raise the $50,000 needed to build and equip their semi-
nary was a more gigantic undertaking than would be the
raising of two millions by the United Canadian Methodism
of to-day, or of twenty millions by the wealthy Methodism of
the United States. But to these fifty men of faith the task
was God's command, and it must be done. If the work
placed in their hands by God was to be carried forward, a min-
istry so educated as not to be disparaged by the side of the
university men supplied to the Anglican and Presbyterian
Churches from the old seats of learning in Great Britain
Victoria University. 265
must be secured for Methodism. If, in the councils of the
nation and in the great politico-religious questions of the day
they were to make their influence felt, their sons must be
educated. Under this supreme sense of duty, as it must then
have appeared to these fifty men, the work was undertaken,
and, in seven years from the time of its fii-st mention in Con-
ference, was completed free from debt. Of the effort put
forth to bring about such a consummation, some idea may be
formed from a few sentences of a letter written by the
chairman of the board engaged in erecting the building, to
the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, who was then in England solicit-
ing funds and a royal charter for the institution : " You must
stay in England until the money is got. Use ever}^ effort,
h;irden your face to flint, and give eloquence to your tongue.
This is your calling. Excel in it ! Be not discouraged with
a dozen refusals in succession. The money must be liad, and
it must be begged. My dear brother, work for your life, and
I pray God to give you success. Do not borrow, if possible.
Reg, beg, beg it all. It must be done."
Such was the spirit of conviction, and such the effort of
ihusc founders of our Church.
Tlie institution thus founded was opened for academic
work June 18, 1836, with the Rev. Matthew Ricliey as prin-
cipal. Mr. Ri(;liey \vi\s a native of Ireland. Classically edu-
cated in the land of his birth, and converted under the minis-
try of Methodism, about twenty years before this time he
emigrated to America, and, in the maritime provinces, conse-
crated his rare gifts of eloquence to the work of the minis-
try. Ue was a master in pulpit eloquence. Splendid in
diction, rich and beautiful in thought, luminous in exposi-
tion of truth, association with him was in itself an inspiring
cduaition to the young men of that day. At the close of
12
2G6 Early Schools of Methodism.
the first year tlie new academy numbered one hundred and
twenty students on its roll, and was fully organized under
tlie royal charter granted October 7, 1836, by his majesty
King William TV. ; and was, by the aid of a royal grant, free
from debt. During the three years of Mr. Eichey's presi-
dency the Church already began to reap the fruits of her
enterprise in the addition to the ranks of the ministry of
such names as G. K. Sanderson, James Spencer, and I. B.
Howard, all trained in the academy, and in after years doing
honor to their alma mater. In 1839 Mr. Richey was suc-
ceeded by the Eev. Jesse Hurlburt, M.A., a graduate of
Wesleyan University, Middletown, a finished scholar, and a
very able educator. Associated with him was also another
gentleman, tlien just beginning a distinguished career as an
educator, the Eev. D. C. Yan Norman, M.A. Under their
control the academy continued to increase in popularity and
usefulness both to the Cliurch and to the country. It was
during this period that the Eev. H. B. Steinhauer, himself
an Indian of pure blood, laid the foundations of that schol-
arship which served him so well in the translation of the
entire Scriptures into the Cree language of our north-west-
ern plains, as well as in his long and successful work as a
missionary teacher and preacher. The mention of such
names as Lieutenant-Governor Aikins, Lieutenant-Governor
Eichey, M. B. Eoblin, Esq., Horace Yeomans, Esq., Colonel
Stonghton Dennis, A. E. Yan Norman, and O. W. Powell ;
with such ladies as Mrs. Nathan Jones, the Misses Adams,
Mrs. Youmans, Mrs. Judge McDonald, and Mrs. I. B. How-
ard, will show, to those acquainted with the inner history of
Canadian Methodism, as well as with our political and social
life, how important was the work of this period, and how
wide-spread its influence.
YicroKiA University. 267
After five years of successful academic work, during which
liundreds of youth of both sexes aud various religious dciioui-
inations received a substantial education, Upper Canada Acad-
emy, by act of the Provincial Parliament, was endowed with
university powers, and became, under its extended royal char-
ter, Victoria College, on August 27, 1841. In October of
that year the Rev. E. Ryerson, D.D., was appointed the first
principal of the college, and professor of moral philosophy,
and on the 21st of that month opened the session, and com-
menced his duties by a public address to the students. This
was the first opening in Ontario o£ an institution authorized
to confer degrees. Queen's College and University (Presby-
terian) was opened on the 7th of March, 1842 ; and King's
College, the then provincial college under the control of the
Church of England, on the 8th of June, 1843. To the
Methodist Church belongs the honor of leading the way in
university work in "Western Canada.
During the first year tlie management of the incipient
university devolved upon the Rev. Mr. Hurlburt. In June,
1842, Dr. Ryerson, released from external laboi*s which had
devolved upon him, devoted himself more fully to his college
work. The occasion was marked by an inaugural address
more formal and comprehensive than that of the preceding
October, and setting forth the conception entertained by the
new president of the university training required by the
Canadian student. On two points he anticipates the great
movement of university reform of modern times. The first
is the prominent position which he assigns to the English
language and literature as elements of a university educa-
tion. At the close of several pages devoted to this subject,
lie says : "What I have said is designed to show that I do not
uudurvjihic the English classics, and the philosophical and
268 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
literary resources of our own language, and that youth who
cannot acquire the mastery of other tongues ought not to be
excluded from the invaluable mines of wisdom and knowl-
edge which are contained in their own tongue."
The second is the appreciation of the physical sciences.
On this point he says : " The ph^^sical sciences have, as yet,
received little attention in our higher schools in this prov-
ince. Instruction has been chiefly confined to the classics,
and students have acquired little or no knowledge of natural
philosophy, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, astronomy, etc.,
except what they have obtained in another province or in a
foreign country. If one branch of education must be omit-
ted, surely the knowledge of the laws of the universe is of
more practical advantage, socially and morally, than a knowl-
edge of Greek and Latin."
The magnificent modern courses of science in our universi-
ties have not passed beyond the limits here sketched. In
commencing his work Dr. Ryerson was supported by a staff
of men distinguished for learning, but still more for individ-
ual abilit}^ as educators. Mr. Hurlburt became professor of
the natural sciences. Mr. Yan Norman, distinguished as a
grammarian, became the professor of classics. To these
were added Mr. William Kingston, M. A., whose reputation
as professor of mathematics was well known to some thirty
successive classes of students in the halls of Victoria. In
addition to these an English master was employed ; the sec-
ond of these, the Rev. James Spencer, M. A., was well known
afterward as a man of mark in Canadian Methodism, and
editor of the " Christian Guardian." Dr. Ryerson evidently
understood that the strength of an institution of learning
lies not so much in magnificent buildings or expensive
equipments, as in men of rare ability as teachers, and in the
YicTORTA University. 269
selection of these he was singularly fortunate. Around such
a college president, and such a faculty, there gathered at
once the strongest young mind of the country. The names
of Rev. S. S. Nelles, D.D., LL.D., Rev. William Ormiston,
D.D., LL.D., Rev. W. S. Griffin, D.D., Hon. Senator Brouse,
M.D., Hon. William McDougall, C.B., Judge Springer, M.A.,
J. E. ITodgins, M.A., LL.D., deputy minister of education,
J. L. Biggar, M.P., will be recognized as men eminent in
Church and State, and in college life and work, all of whom
were students of this period. Of Dr. Ryerson's work, as col-
lege president, Dr. Ormiston writes:
In the autumn of 1843 I went to Victoria College, doubting much
whether I was prepared to matriculate as a freshman. Though my
attainments in some of the subjects prescribed for examination were
far in advance of the requirements, in other subjects I knew I was
sadly deficient. On the evening of my arrival, while my mind was
hardened with the importance of the step I had taken, and by no
means free from anxiety about the issue, Dr. Ryerson, at that time
principal of the college, visited me in my room. I shall never
forget that interview. He took me by the hand, and few men could
express as much by a mere hand-shake as he. It was a welcome, an
encouragement, an inspiration, and an earnest of future fellowship and
friendship. It lessened the timid awe I naturally felt toward one in
so elevated a position. I had never before seen a principal of a col-
lege; it dissipated all boyish awkwardness, and awakened filial confi-
dence. He spoke of Scotland, my native land, and of her noble sons,
distinguished in every branch of philosophy and literature; specially
of the number, the diligence, the frugality, self-denial, and success of
her college students. In this way he soon led me to tell him of my
parentage, past life and efforts, present hopes and aspirations. His
manner was so gracious and paternal, his sympathy so quick and gen-
uine, his counsel so ready and cheering, his assurances so grateful and
inspiring, that not only was my heart his from that hour, but my future
career seemed brighter and more certain than it had ever appeared
before.
270 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
Dr. Ryerson was at that time in the prime of a magnificent man-
hood, his mental powers vigorous and well disciplined, his attainments
in literature varied and extensive, his experience extended and diversi-
fied, his fame as a preacher of great pathos and power widely spread.
... As a teacher, he was earnest and efficient, eloquent and inspiring.
His methods of examination furnished the very best of mental disci-
pline, fitted alike to cultivate the memory and strengthen the judg-
ment. All the students revered him, but the best of the class appreci-
ated him most. His counsels were faithful and judicious ; his admoni-
tions paternal and discriminating, his rebukes seldom administered, but
scathingly severe. No student ever left his presence without resolving
to do better, to aim higher, and to win his approval.
The presence of such a man, surrounded and supported by
able instructors in various departments of learning, was suf-
ficient to give great popularity to this first Canadian college,
and quickened the spirit of the whole people in the direction
of higher learning, until, by 1843, there were three colleges
in active operation in Ontario, besides McGill in Quebec.
An effort was made at this early date to combine the three
colleges of the western province in a provincial university.
The Hon. Mr. Baldwin introduced a bill for university con-
federation, but the defeat of the ministry prevented its becom-
ing a law. The attempt was renewed in 1846, with no bet-
ter success, and when a university bill was finally passed, in
1849, it included but one of the three colleges. The effort
was renewed in 1853, but the new bill was so indefinite in
its provisions that interested parties were able to exclude the
Methodist and Presbyterian colleges.
Meantime the first principal, Dr. Eyerson, was called to
the chief superintendency of education for the province.
His place was filled by the Rev. Alexander MclSTab, D.D.,
under whose administration the college held a good position
for four years, numbering, in 1848, one hundred and forty
Victoria Univeksitv. 271
students. During this period Judge Springer, Rev. Dr.
Orniifiton, Rev. Professor Wright, Dr. Cameron, and Mr.
Cauipboll were graduated in arts.
The resignation of Dr. McNah, in 1849, closed the fii-st
period of the history of Victoria College, in which the insti-
tution was limited to purely college work, that is, the train-
ing of students in the elements of a general and liberal edu-
cation, leading to the B. A. degree.
Disturbing influences connected with the resignation of
the T)rincipal, and an interregnum of a year and a half, dis-
persed the students and seriously interfered with the future
pi'ospects of the college. The Methodists were anxious to
fall in with the popular movement for a national university.
Negotiations were commenced with that in view, and a bill
obtained authorizing the removal of the college to Toronto.
The government of the day did not, however, prove to be
suflieiently earnest in purpose to carry the matter to comple-
tion, and the only result was the abortive affiliation bill of
1853. Meantime the leaders of Methodism felt that the
position won by such noble and self-sacrificing efforts in the
past must not be abandoned, and a young minister just or-
dained, a graduate of Wesleyan University, Middletown,
and one of the first under-graduates of Victoria under Dr.
llyerson, was called to preside over the destinies of the
^[ethodist college in September, 1850. This was the Rev.
S. S. Nelles, M.A., with whose name the history of Victoria,
in its growth toward univei-sity status, is most intimately
henceforward associated. The young principal was then but
twenty-seven years of age ; an excellent scholar, mi eloquent
preacher, and a most successful and thorough teacher, but
with a task before him of great difficulty. The college
treasury was empty. There was absolutely no endowment.
272 Early Schools of Methodism.
The buildings and furniture, after fifteen years of constant
wear by hundreds of students, were sadly in need of repair
and renewal. The able professors of other days had betaken
themselves to otlier v/ork, and there were scarcely thirty stu-
dents (but two matriculated) to respond to his first call of
college opening. To raise funds for an endowment sufficient
to bring the annual income of the college up to $5,000,
to organize an efficient staff of professors, to attract and
organize students once more into the relations of college
life, in fact to resuscitate the college, was the work before
him. Meantime the Eevs. John Eyerson, Dr. E. Eyerson,
Eichard Jones, and Dr. Green, J. P. Eoblin, M.P., John
Counter, Esq., and Eev. William Case, of the original
founders, were still members of the corporation, and af-
forded counsel and support, while Dr. Wood, Dr. Eice, and
Mr. Musgrove, wlio represented English Methodism, and
three old students, Messrs. Sanderson, Biggar, and Powell,
were added to the corporation and lent their help to the ef-
fort. The first struggle was for financial relief. Tliis was at-
tempted in September, 1851, by the inauguration of what
was known as the scholarship scheme — an effort to raise
$50,000 by the sale of five hundred scholarships, good for
free tuition in this college for twenty -five years from date.
At the following Conference, consisting of, all told, one hun-
dred and fifty ministers and preachers, ninety of these schol-
arships were sold to ministers, and between three and four
liundred in all were disposed of, realizing about $30,000 in
principal, but depriving the institution of all income from
fees for twenty-five years to come. But if not a grand suc-
cess in raising funds, the scholarships were a means of
increasing the number of students. Meantime the board
were successful in bringing to the support of tlie principal
YlCTOKIA U^lVEliSlTY. 273
three very able members of the former staff : Professor
Kingston, in mathematics ; Professor John Wilson, in clas-
sics; and Professor John Beattj, M.D., in natural science.
These men were as varied in gifts and scholarship as the
departments over which they presided. Professor Kingston
was an embodiment of the exactness of mathematical science,
and no student could pass through his liands without learn-
ing to deiine and demonstrate. Professor Wilson, of Trinity
College, Dublin, was famed for the unfailing accuracy and
extent of his scholarship, for his line literary taste, and for
the beautiful Christian perfection of his character, which was
a constant living lesson to all the boys. Dr. Beatty was a
scientist, a politician, a man of the world, and a leader in the
Church, one of those clear, active, versatile, and strong
minds that young men delight to follow. When at the head
of all these was placed the learning, the philosophical acu-
men, tlie brilliant eloquence, and the administrative ability
of the president, Victoria found a staff which, for the pur-
poses of college discipline, could not easily be excelled.
Meantime, under their hands, the gathered masses of raw
material soon began to organize into a well-defined college
life. The number of students rose to nearly three hundred,
and the regular under-graduate classes, which had all disap-
l)eared save one during the intei'regnum, were again filled
out. At this formative period, when the traditions which so
])owerfully regulate student-life were being established, it
w;\s the blessed fortune of the college to be visited with a
j^'reat revival. An old student, Kev. G. R. Sanderson, was
pastor. About a dozen faithful, godly young men, the
l^o^;t of whom are prominent leaders in the Churcli to-day
(four have been Conference presidents), formed a band for
prayer and work among their fellow-students. When the
12*
27tt Early Schools of Methodism.
work began, not twenty-five per cent, of the students were
professing Christians. At the end not five per cent, were
left unmoved by the power of saving grace. Out of the
fruits of that revival came a score of ministers, a number of
Conference presidents, one of our general superintendents,
and a large number of the leading Christian laymen of our
Church to-day. But, better even than that, the ablest, old-
est, and most advanced students all converted, a high moral
and religious tone became an established tradition of the
college, continuously maintained through the thirty classes
that have graduated out of college to this day. There has
been very little serious difiiculty about the discipline of the
institution from that day to this. It was about this time
that Kev. Dr. Rice became associated with the institution as
moral governor and chaplain, and by the great force of his
religious character did much to establish and perfect the
religious life commenced in the great revival.
The period had now arrived for the expansion of the col-
lege life and work into that of the university. In the his-
tory of American colleges this process has been accom-
plished in various w^ays. According to the earliest method,
the institution became a university without ceasing to be a
college. The compactly organized arts faculty, with its four
under-graduate classes engaged in the work of a common lib-
eral discipline and foundation of intellectual culture, contin-
ued to be the center. To this were added other faculties of
divinity, law, medicine, engineering, and more recently
science and philosophy, affording opportunity for post-gradu-
ate study and special attainments, according to individual
preferences and requirements. The German universities
liave been the models of this development, although tliey
have long since relegated the foundation work to tlie gymna-
VicTOEiA University. 275
sium, and confined tlie university to what with ns would be
post-graduate work. In this way they have escaped some of
the great difficulties which have affected our work in the
New World. Foremost of these is the difficulty of reaching
the most perfect culture and discipline with too great a
number of students. Much depends upon the ability of the
president as an administrator, organizer, and educator. But
our very ablest presidents find five hundred students too
many, and most can effect the best results with less than two
hundred. The German university has only to deal with
trained students — men whose general intellectual discipline
and culture is already established.
A second line of university development, in which the
London University has taken the lead, has been on the prin-
ciple of optional courses. Proceeding on the principle that
intellectual culture and discipline may be attained by the
pursuit of almost any branch or branches of science, it com-
bines and fuses college and university, builds a school of all
sciences and all learning, and expects the raw students to
attain college discipline and intellectual culture from such a
selection of studies as their individual abilities, tastes, or pur-
poses for future life may lead them to prefer, lliis theory
has, perhaps, not affected the colleges of the United States as
much as the Canadian. Its great danger is, of course, one-
sided development. Lastly, we have now, beginning in
America, the effort to distinguish the work of the univer-
sity from that of the college, and to assign them to entirely
separate departments, as in the Johns Hopkins University.
The university development of Victoria College was at
first along the old-fashioned line, and fortunately in such a
way as not to interfere with college work. A faculty of
medicine was established in 1S54, but in the city of Toronto,
io
Eaely Schools of Methodism.
and witli an entirely independent teaching staff and financial
management. A similar faculty of law was added in 1860,
and a faculty of theology in closer relations to the college in
1871. During all this time the faculty of arts adhered faith-
fully to the old college discipline of classics, mathematics,
and philosophy, wuth a moderate addition of modern litera-
ture and science. The number of under-graduates in arts at
no time exceeded one hundred and fifty, and no Canadian
college did more thorough work along this line than Yicto-
ria. Her university work in distinct lines gave her the
advantage of moral influence and support in the country, as
her graduates in medicine alone now number over a thousand.
Victoria has, however, shared with all other American insti-
tutions the influence of modern ideas, and has felt the press-
ure of the claims of modern science. As early as 1856 the
introduction of Dr. Whitlock, formerly of Genesee Wesleyan
Seminary and College, into the staff in the department of
natural philosophy gave an impulse in that direction. He
was a man of rare genius — a philosopher rather than a pro-
fessor, who thought aloud before his class, and suffered them
to imbibe the fire of his own spirit. He was followed, in
1864, by Dr. Harris, now of Amherst College, a man who had
tlien just graduated from a German university, and who
molded students with a strong hand, leaving on all his men
a very decided impress of the culture of physical and chem-
ical science. Meantime other changes favored this incipient
tendency. Professor Bain succeeded Professor Kingston in
tlie chair of mathematics, bringing from Europe the modern
taste for the employment of mathematics as tlie instrument
of scientific investigation. A chair of English literature
was established in the hands of Professor Reynar, and a new
impulse given to that department, as well as to modern liter-
YiCTORiA Univeksity. 277
ature generally. Finally, in 1873, Dr. Haanel took charge
of the department of science. Bringing with him the most
accurate scholarsliip, and employing it with an ability and
enthusiasm rarely equaled, what was a chair, under his hand
soon expanded into a department, presenting a complete
curriculum in science, embracing varied work in mathemat-
ics and modern literature, and rendering necessary the chair
in natural history and geology, now filled by Dr. Coleman,
and the erection of Faraday Hall for the science depart-
ment. While maintaining its conservative character, and
adhering more closely than most to the old fixed curriculum,
Victoria University has thus carefully adapted itself to
modern requirements, and to-day offei*s a varied field of uni-
versity options in the college course, with some facility for
post graduate work in both science and theology, of which a
number of her graduates have already availed themselves.
These steps in advance were not taken without involving
considerable financial embarrassment. In 1860 an effort was
made to claim the relations to the provincial university sys-
tem, to which the early history of Victoria University fully
entitled her. But the effort, while resulting in good to the
university work of the country at large, brought Victoria
merely a slightly increased subsidy from the public funds.
A considerable debt had accumulated during the ten years of
struggle in which Dr. Xelles and his staff had been enira"^ed
to secure a position as a university, and which was wiped out
by the energetic efforts of the lie v. Dr. Aylesworth between
the years 1802 and 1805, and the college placed in a position
to make income equal to expenditure. Scarcely, however, was
this effected, when, in 18G8, a combination of adverse forces
in Parliament depi-ivcd both Victoria University and Queen's
College of the annual grants which for twenty-seven yeara
2TS Eakly Schools of Methodism.
tliey had received from the government ; and financial ruin
once more stared om- college in the face. At this juncture
the late Dr. Punshon became associated with Canadian
Methodism. He at once threw his influence into the effort
made by President Nelles for the college endowment. The
Conference seconded and supported the work, its mem-
bers for several years taxing their salaries to meet the annual
deficit. In a few years an endowment of $100,000 was
raised, more than replacing the grant so unceremoniously
withdrawn. At the same time the growing necessities of
the university began to attract the attention of broad-
minded, generous, and wealthy men. The late Edward
Jackson led the way in this work. The theological depart-
ment was projected under his patronage, he and his equally
generous and devoted wife contributing, by gift and bequest,
$30,000 for this purpose, resulting in the appointment of the
writer as dean of the faculty of theology and professor of
biblical and systematic theology. A few years later another
gentleman, a partner and life long friend of Mr. Jackson,
Dennis Moore, Esq., contributed $25,000 to assi-t in the ex-
tension of the department of science. The death of Dr.
Pyerson was the occasion of a worthy memorial effort, now
nearly completed, to endow the chair of moral philosophy,
which he had filled during his presidency, with the sum of
$35,000. The late Sheriff Patrick has also left a bequest of
some $20,000, so that at the present time the assets of the
college are about $250,000, and the annual income about
$20,000.
The last event in the history of Victoria University is a
result of Methodist Union. In 1857 the Methodist Episco-
pal Church in Canada established the Belleville Seminary,
which, in 1857, was enlarged to Albert College, and in 1871
YlCTORIA UxiVEIiSITY. 279
endowed with a charter conferring full university powers.
In 18S4, the year of the consummation of the Methodist
Union, the number of graduates in the various faculties had
reached a hundred, and the institution was doing excellent
college work in the bachelor of arts curriculum. This work,
with a member of the staff, the Rev. Dr. Badglej, and the
university functions, were transferred to Victoria University,
strengthening its influence, and centering the entire interest
of the new Church in Ontario and Quebec in the one uni-
versity.
In summing up the work of fifty years, thirty-five under
the presidency of Dr. Nelles, we find that in our institution
nearly five thousand students have been educated, eighteen
hundred of whom have graduated in arts, medicine, law,
divinity, or science, many of these taking degrees in two or
more faculties. The present staff numbers nine professors in
arts, five in theology, two strong faculties in medicine, one
in Toronto and the other in Montreal, and an able board of
examiners in law. The roll of students last year numbered
four hundred and forty-nine, and the graduates in all the fac-
ulties one hundred and six, including five honorary degrees.
Our limited space prevents more than reference to the
growth of college societies, periodicals, and other accompani-
ments of a vigorous college life. The college never Wiis
more thoroughly efficient in all its departments, and its
steady growth promises for it a future of assured success and
blessing to the country.
280 Eaely Schools of Metuodism.
CHAPTER XY.
GOUVERNEUR WESLEYAN SEMINARY.
BY A. W. CUMMINGS, D.D., LL.D.
The Black Eiver (now Northern New York) Conference
was formed from the Oneida in 1836. Its first care was to
provide a seminary of learning for its youth. To a conven-
tion of the Potsdam District, called in the spring of 1837 by
its presiding elder, He v. John Loveys, Rev. Reuben Rey-
nolds, in charge of the Gouverneur Circuit, reported, that
from various interviews with leading citizens of Gouverneur,
and with trustees of the institution, he thought that the high
school there could, on favorable terms, be secured to tlie
Methodist Episcopal Church. It was well located on the
park, in the center of the village, had a good brick building —
a center with two wings — all two stories high. Tlie proposi-
tion to receive this school, if tendered, was favored by the
convention. The people of Gouverneur were refined, moral,
and cultivated. There were no Methodists in the village,
but they were numerous in the country around. The ten-
der of the school in due time was made to a committee
empowered to act for the Church within the Potsdam Dis-
trict. The contract was soon closed, and the school became
the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The
preachers of the district made an active canvass for students,
that an impressive opening might be made.
Rev. Jesse T. Peck, then in the fifth year of his ministry,
was made the principal of the school, wliicli, by a subsequent
act of the Legislature, became Gouverneur Wesley an Semi-
GouvERNEUR Wesleyan Seminary. 281
nary. Mr. Peck was chosen because of his known energy
and ability, and especially as it was thought that he, more
easily tlian any other available person, could meet the antici-
pated opposition from friends of the Cazenovia Seminary in
the Conference. Dr. George Peck was then the principal at
Cazenovia. Eev. Stephen Allen, A.B., (now Dr. Allen, of
the Maine Conference) and Miss Adelaide Sturtevant were
the other teachers. The school opened in August, 1837,
with a large attendance of students, male and female. To
the Conference, that met a little later in the month, at Pots-
dam, a most cheering report was made of the successful
opening. Not without some doubt as to the wisdom of
establishing a Conference seminary at a point so remote from
the center, the Conference took the school under its official
patronage. Before the first term closed the attendance of
students was so large that another teacher was required.
A. W. Cummings, who at the Conference in August had
been received on trial and appointed pastor of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church at Martinsburg, the county seat
of Lewis, and who was expected to continue his services
as the principal of the Collinsville Institute in the same
county, was chosen teacher of mathematics in the new
seminary. Upon the recommendation of his presiding el-
der, Eev. George Gary, Mr. Cummings was released from
his pastoral work by Bishop Hedding, and appointed to the
seminary.
The opening of this school constituted an era in Northern
New York Methodism. Having a Methodist school at their
doors, many families, who would scarcely have thought of
sending their children a hundred miles to Cazenovia, and
probably would not have sent them to a school of one of the
rival Churches, sent them to Gouverneur. During the first
282 Early Schools of Methodism.
term more than one hundred pupils were enrolled in the
various classes.
The spirit of revival came upon the seminary. Many of
the students were truly pious when they entered ; most of
those not so were during that revival brought to the
(Saviour. The writer spent seven years in that school.
Nearly fifty years have passed since his entrance there, but
the events of that revival winter were so daguerreotyped
upon his heart that time will never efface them. The
school was full, but there was no diminution, as some feared
there would be, in the attendance at the noble Cazenovia
Seminary. The educational work at Gouverneur was nearly
a clear gain. Before the days of railroads students rarely
went over fifty miles from home to school. A circle with a
radius of fifty miles encircled the homes of most pupils in
any of the schools. . Hence the wisdom of the prudent mul-
tiplication of Methodist schools. How wonderful was the
influence of our early schools at Cazenovia, Wilbraham,
Kent's Hill, Lima, and Amenia upon the Church and minis-
try of Methodism ! "When in 1818 Wilbur Fisk entered the
Methodist ministry the Church had not a half-dozen regular
graduates in its ministry. Now what an army of scholars !
The first year of the seminary closed with two hundred and
fifty-two students enrolled. During the next year Mr. Allen
retired from the faculty, and Erastus Wentworth, A.B., while
principal of the Lowville Academy, in Lewis County, N. Y.,
was chosen to fill his place. Miss Sturtevant also retired,
and was succeeded by Miss Lydia Fisk. The last hours of
the year 1838 were spent by the teachers and students at the
seminary chapel in the services of a watch-night. It was
the last time the chapel was used. From the opening of the
seminary under Methodist auspices, it had been occupied
GouvEKNEUR Wesleyan Seminary. 283
for all reliorioiis services of the school and church in Gon-
verneiir. It was a large well-arranged audience room in the
center of the main building.
On the evening of January 1, 1839, Mr. and Mrs. Peck,
Professor Wentworth, and the lady teachers were spending
a social evening, by invitation, at the home of Mr. Cum-
mings. At about 11 o'clock P.M., while at the supper ta-
ble, an alarm of lire was heard. Rushing to the window
that opened toward the seminary, but a few yards away,
flames were seen bursting from the windows of a student's
room in the west -wing of the building. The rapid ringing
of the school-bell soon' brought to the scene of disaster
most of the male citizens of the village. The night was
intensely cold, and, with no appliances for extinguishing the
fire, the teachers, students, and village people present could
only fold their arms, and calmly await the complete demo-
lition of the edifice around which so many hopes clustered.
While all in silence were thinking. What next ? in thrilling
tones Mr. Peck announced the school would be resumed at
the close of the holidays and be continued as usual. To all
this was a most cheering announcement, and each probably
thought. How and where ? There was a general desire for
the continuance of the school at Gouverneur. The citizens
made liberal personal subscriptions, and at a called town meet-
ing voted to raise $2,000 to aid in rebuilding. Mr. Peck at
once visited Ogdenslnirg and other towns in St. Lawrence
and Jefferson Counties soliciting aid to rebuild. The re-
sponse, for those early days of poverty, was most generous.
In Ogdensburg resided two very worthy and somewhat
wealthy gentlemen, both, at the time, candidates for nomina-
tion, by a convention soon to assemble, to seats in Congress.
Mr. Peck first called upon the Hon. Judge Fine, reputed to
284: Early Schools of Methodism.
be a liberal and noble Christian gentleman. He surprised
Mr. Peck with a cheerful subscription of $200. He next
visited the rival for Congressional honors, the Hon. Henry
Yan Rensselaer, who, without a moment's hesitation, wrote
his name for $400. Others in Ogdensburg gave smaller,
yet liberal, sums, amounting to over $1,100. Other places
gave generous encouragement. Thus assured, the trustees
determined to proceed in the preparation to erect a new
building. Mr. Cummings was excused from school duties,
and detailed to secure the material, that the construction
might begin as soon as the weather of spring would permit.
As his duties would require the service of a horse and
sleigh in winter, and a bugg}^ in summer, his salary was
raised to $400 per annum. This was more than would
have been his Disciplinary allowance in pastoral work.
Time was too precious, and the necessities of the case too
urgent, to allow of the delay of making brick in the spring.
The students then in school would submit to the inconven-
ience of the extemporized school-rooms to the end of the
school year, but they would not return for the next year
unless better accommodations were provided. Euilding
could not, in that boreal climate, begin earlier than May.
The building must be ready for occupancy by September 1.
Brick could not be made in time for tins. A frame build-
ing was not thought of ; a stone edifice was determined
upon. A large mass of red sandstone was known to exist
about five miles distant, in a forest of heavy timber.. This
quarry had never been opened. On the first day of Febru-
ary, 1839, before it was fairly light, Mr. Cummings was
moving in his sleigh toward the stone quarry. On his way
he secured the company and aid of all the men he could in
opening the new quarry. The stone was found in a lodge
GouvEKNEUR Wesleyan Seminary. 285
varying from twenty to forty feet high, surmounted by
banks of snow and earth four or five feet deep. Snow
upon the level was from three to four feet deep. A point
of easy approach with teams was selected, and two or three
rods square denuded of snow and ice. Protected by an early
snow, the ground was not very deeply frozen. Stone was
found in abundance, of good quality. The work of the day
was experimental, and considerably shook the faith of some,
who had very confidently affirmed that stone, in that climate,
could not be quarried in winter without great expense. The
work went on until a few cords of stone were ready for the
teams. A favorable contract was then made for the delivery
on the building lot of the stone required to erect a seminary
edifice three stories high, sixty-four by forty-four feet on the
ground.
The securing of the stone on reasonable terms was re-
garded as a favorable start in the rebuilding. A contract was
closed for the construction of the walls, plastering and other
work, including the material. All parts of the edifice being
])rovided for, Mr. Cummings gave his attention to increas-
ing the subscriptions so encouragingly opened by Mr. Peck.
For those days, and the circumstances of the country, the
response to the call for help was liberal and generous. There
were then no railroads in that region. The surplus of the
farm must be conveyed a long distance on a sleigh in winter,
or wagon in summer, to market, and then sold at a low
price. The people handled but little money. When the
school year closed, in July, the new edifice was in such a
stage of progress that all felt that it would be ready for the
opening in September. Tlie new building, very commodious,
and adapted to the wants of a large school, having in it no
dormitories, was dedic.;ted before the new school year began.
28G Eakly Schools of Methodism.
The term opened prosperously, with the same teachers, ex-
cept that Miss Frances A. Wentworth took the position at
the head of the female department, vacated by Miss Fisk.
Before the year closed Mr. Peck accepted the charge of the
Troy Conference Academy, at West Poultney, Vermont.
His removal was generally regretted by the friends of the
Gouverneur Seminary. Without superior educational ad-
vantages or attainments, by hard study and untiring devo-
tion to any work assigned him by the Church, he always
achieved at least average success. Mr. Wentworth, within a
few months, joined Mr. Peck in his new Held of labor.
Eev. L. L. Knox, A.M., succeeded Mr. Peck as principal,
and Kev. Edward Bannister, A.M., took the position of Mr.
Wentworth in the school. These were both alwinni of the
Wesleyan University, of fine scholarship, and in all other
respects well adapted to the offices tliey filled. At the open-
ing of the school year for 1841 Miss Ann E. Bowen, daughter
of the late distinguished Dr. Elias Bowen, became precep-
tress. Miss Bowen, at the end of the winter term, became
the wife of Mr. Knox, and they both witlidrew from the
school at the close of the year 1842.
Mr. Knox was transferred to the Oneida Conference, and
rendered good service in pastoral work for several years. He
was for a time principal of tlie East Maine Conference Sem-
inary, then served for some years as professor in Lawrence
University, Wisconsin. The school year for 1842 opened
with Kev. A. W. Cummings, A.M., as principal ; E-ev. Edward
Bannister, A.M., teacher of languages and natural science ;
Mr. H. D. Laudy, A.M., French and drawing ; Mrs. Laudy,
teacher of music and painting ; and Miss Elizabeth Manner-
ing was the preceptress. She was a highly accomplished
Christian lady, and filled her poi^ition mobt satisfactorily.
GouvERNEUB Wesleyan Seminaey. 287
At the close of the winter term the public exercises of the
iisiiul exhibition were concluded by the performance of the
marriage ceremony by the principal, and Mr. Bannister and
^liss Mannering became husband and wife. They traveled
life's journey together for about thirty years, he first reach-
ing the end. Dr. Bannister was a man of estimable charac-
ter, and died in California, while president of the University
of the Pacific. A similar service closed the public exer-
cises of a year previous. Mr. Knox and Miss Bowen were
then the parties, and Mr. Cummings the celebrant. This
school year closed prosperously. The attendance of students
was very large, and the revival that had distinguished each
winter was enjoyed during the winter of 184:2-'43. Mr.
and Mrs. Bannister retired at the close, and he became pastor
of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ogdensburg.
The school year of 1843 opened with a large attendance
of students, indeed as full as was desirable. The faculty
consisted of Rev. A. W. Cummings, A.M., principal, men-
tal and moral sciences; Sanford Halbert, A.M., mathemat-
ics; Caleb S. Sanford, A.M., ancient languages; Hyacinthe
D. Laudy, A.M., French and drawing; Mrs. H. D. Laudy,
nmsic, piano ; Miss Charity A. Ingerson, preceptress ; Miss
Ann E. Horr, primary class.
The preceding year was filled with afilictions to the prin-
cipal. The first great sorrow of his life was the death of a
little son, an only child, of great promise, not quite four
years of age. Next came the death of his pious mother, fol-
lowed by the death of his wife, who had been the compan-
ion of his school- boy days, his youthful associate in the Sab-
bath-school and in the church, and who for six years, as his
l>ctrothed, had patiently waited the arrival of full manhood
and the consummation of his plans of education for the
Early Schools of Methodism.
fruition of tlieir liopes. Forty years of busy life, in various
portions of America, aud in various fields of active employ-
ments, have never fully dispelled tlie clouds that then over-
shadowed him. His first marriage was purely an impulse of
the heart. In his subsequent the affections were more
tander the control of judgment. In both, safe results were
attained.
The school year of 184:4-'45 opened in September with the
same teachers as the former year, except that Principal Cum-
mings entered upon pastoral w^ork in the Black River Con.
ference, and Rev. John W. Armstrong took his place in the
seminary. Mr. Armstrong held the principalship for five
years ; he then spent a few years in pastoral work, afterward
taught in several schools, and died while principal of the nor-
mal school at Fredonia, N. Y., in 1878, at the age of sixty-
five years. Dr. Armstrong was succeeded by Prof. William
W. Clark, a graduate from the "Wesleyan University in the
class of 1848, who had rendered two years of good service
in tlie seminary as professor of mathematics. He was prin-
cipal three years, and at the same time filled the chair of
ancient languages. In 1853 he accepted a professorship in
the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, where he continued about
ten years, including one in Genesee College. He resigned
his professorship in bad health, and died in Rochester, N. Y.,
in 1869.
Rev. Eli C. Bruce, A.M., a graduate of the Wesleyan
University, became principal of the seminary in 1853, as the
successor to Prof. William W. Clark. Mr. Bruce had had
several years experience in the ministry as a member of the
Black River Conference, including two years that he served
as principal of the Red Creek Union Academy, N. Y. He
took high position at once as a good scholar, discreet mana-
GouvERNEUE Wesleyan Seminaky. 289
ger of students, and as a successful teacher. His associates
in the work of instruction were Professors Samuel D. Barr
for three years, teaching mathematics and natural science ;
then, in the same branches. Professor Charles W. McCarty,
Hev. Andrew Eoe, three years. A part of this time Albert
E. Corse taught the common and higher English branches.
During the first year of Professor Bruce's principalship
Miss Cordelia M. Ingerson, who in 1839 entered the seminary
as a student, with a brother and three sisters, filled with abil-
ity the oftice of preceptress. Miss Angeline Munson fol-
lowed her for two years, then Miss Louise Payne for one
year. The next two years Miss Julia Runyon filled the
olfice, and was succeeded during the last of Mr. Bruce's seven
years as principal, by Miss Julia A. Wilson. Miss Malona
M. Smith taught writing, drawing, painting, and book-keep-
ing. Rev. Andrew Roe, A.M., was graduated from the Wes-
leyan University in the class of 1837. At the opening of
tlie fall term of that year he entered the seminary as the pro-
fessor of mathematics and natural science. In 1858 Miss
Julia A. Wilson became preceptress, and Mrs. Professor Roe
teacher of English literature, and assistant in Latin. In
1800 Dr. Bruce entered again the pastorate, and Professor
Roe was called to the principalship. Rev. Melville D. Kin-
ney, A.B., Rev. Otis S.Graves, and Miss Susan S. Thomas,
at the same date, became teachers. The fall term under the
new administration opened very prosperously with a large
number of students. A new and complete graduating course
was instituted for such as would not enter college. In this
course Miss Lucy A. Yan Duzee has the honor of being the
first graduate. During Mr. Roe's first year as principal
three hundred and ten students were enrolled. The next
summer extensive repairs were made upiai the old stone
13
290 Early Schools of Methodism.
building erected in 1839, under the superintendence of Dr.
A. W. Cummings. The chapel was replastered and painted ;
and a primary room, with improved seats, was fitted up in
the seminary building.
At the opening of the fall term of 1861 William Osband,
A.B., succeeded Mr. Kinney, and his accomplished wife
became preceptress. They were graduates of Genesee
College. They continued three years in the seminary with
increasing success. During Mr. Roe's administration valua-
ble additions were made to the library and apparatus. lie
resigned at the close of the school year in 1863. Rev. G. G.
Dains, A.M., was the next principal and the last while the
school remained at Gouverneur. The history of this school
under its new name, and at its new home, is condensed from
the educational number of the " iSTorthern Christian Advo-
cate " of December, 1883. Before inviting attention to the
brief chapter upon Ives Seminary, some few of the students
at Gouverneur are introduced as witnesses to the good work
there accomplished.
THE STUDENTS
of the Gouverneur Wesley an Seminary were mostly the
children of the prosperous farmers scattered over those five
dairy counties, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, Jefferson, and
Lewis, in New York, and the province of Ontario, in Canada.
The boys had been inured to labor on the farms, and the
young ladies had been the aids to their mothers in domestic
cares and labors. When the opportunity came to spend a
few terms or years in a higher institution of learning they
improved it, not merely in acquiring the accomplishments to
shine in the drawing-room, and to be leaders in fashionable
circles, but to secure the preparations of heart and mind for
GouvEBNEtJB Wesley AN Seminaky. 291
life's duties. Yery many of the young men found it neces-
sary to supplement the aid received from home in paying
their expenses, by the rewards of their own labors through
the long vacation as teachers or in other employments. The
energy and health developed by such activities and self-reli-
ances generally bore fruit in after life.
Looking over the list of students for two years, unfortu-
nately the only catalogues of the Gouverneur Seminary
which have survived the changes and removals of the more
than forty years since I left Gouverneur, I am almost ready
to accept as true a remark in a letter recently received from
one of the students of those early years, given as a proverb,
" It is unfortunate for a boy in this country to be born of
rich parents." William Bourne, Walter B. Allen, George
Seymour attained high position and wealth as merchants in
their native county, St. Lawrence ; Charles Cone, as a rail-
road man, in Chicago ; Charles Parsons, as a banker, in West-
ern New York. Levi Parsons died early in St. Louis, Mo.,
but he lived long enough to demonstrate his capabilities for
success and the yearnings of his heart for a life of usefulness.
From the class of young men in the Sunday-school <^ one of
the large Presbyterian churches, he became one of the lead-
ers in a colony, who formed a new and useful church in that
great city. Charles Graves became prominent in the minis-
try of the Baptist Church, Levi W. Norton and Bradley
Phillips in the Presbyterian Church. In the ministry of
Methodism the following rendered at least good average serv-
ice : William Peck, brother of the Bishop ; Adam C. Green,
Isaac Sprague, Morenus Thrasher, Justin T. Alden, G. W.
Plank, A. O. Wightman, A. S. Wightman, E. G. Derby,
Otis M. Legate, Samuel W. Bowdish and two brothers.
J as. A. Dean was graduated from the Wesleyau Univensity,
292 Early Schools of Methodism.
and became prominent in Methodism as a teacher, preacher,
and author. John B. Cocagne (Cokine) served as mission-
ary to the French population of l^ew York and of other
cities. He was lost at sea on a voyage to his native France.
Stillman Dean became distinguished as a physician and
author. Edward Ci*ary, George Morris, Charles Rich, Dex-
ter E. Wright, W. li. Wallace, B. H. Vary, David A. Stewart,
Frederick Bissell, Chancey Smith, all made good records at
the bar, and several of them upon the bench of New York,
and in other States. Charles T. Pooler became widely
known as an author and distinguished teacher. A. J. Co-
nant, A.M., the sixth in the line of descent from Roger
Conant, the first governor of the Massachusetts colony settled
at Salem, on the completion of his academic studies in the
seminary devoted himself to art studies in New York city
for twelve years. In the successful practice of his chosen
profession he spent twenty-five years in St. Louis, Mo. He
devoted much time and money to the study of the antiqui-
ties of the Mississippi Yalley. One of his papers upon that
subject was published in several of the languages of Europe
by learned societies of the continent. In 1879 he published
an embellished 8vo. volume, " Foot-Prints of Vanished Races
in the Mississippi Yalley." His home is now in New York.
The young ladies of the few first years of Gouverneur
Seminary, with changed names, mostly became lost to the
ken of their former teacher. Miss Mary Alexander, the
daughter of one of the best friends of the seminary, became
the wife of Dr. E. Wentworth, and died at Carlisle, Pa.
Miss Charity A. Ingerson was long preceptress at Gouver-
neur and in other schools. She is now the wife of David A.
Stewart, and resides at Minneapolis, Minn. Iler sister, Cor-
delia, also preceptress at Gouverneur, has for many years been
GouvERNEUR Wesleyan Seminary. 293
the useful wife of the Presbyterian pastor at Camden, N. Y.
Miss Fiorilla Alexander founded and controlled, to the time
of her death, a ladies' seminary in Lebanon, Illinois. She
was the wife of Dr. Cummings, president of M'Kendree Col-
lege. She died in 1852. A memoir of her was published
by the Southern Methodist Publishing House, under the
title, *'The Hidden Life Exemplified." Kev. Dr. Bruce
makes honorable mention of Alborn M. Fradenburg, Charles
IL Guile, ^y. F. Ball, E. G. M. Hall, E. S. Cheeseman, as
able and useful ministers. Yirgil C. Hart is well known as
missionary to China. W. A. Brownell, Ph.D., stands high
as a teacher. Hon. N. M. Curtis, Harlow Goddard, and
T. W. Osborn distinguished themselves in the Union army,
as well as in civil life. Miss Malona M. Smith was an able
teacher of painting in the seminary. Miss Mary E. Walling
was a foreign missionary of the Baptist Church. Professor
Eoe mentions E. Horr, D.D., Eev. J. H. Merritt, Kev. H.
W. Coyden, of the Presbyterian Church ; Rev. J. S. Blan-
ton, of the Baptist Church; Rev. S. N. Rulison, of the
Episcopal Church ; Dr. O. H. Blanton and Dr. C. M. Wilson,
as having been leading students during his administration.
Northern New York and the world owes much to the Gon-
verneur Wesleyan Seminary.
294 Eably Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEE XYI.
IVES SEMINARY*
Ives Seminary, of the Northern ISTew York Conference,
located at Antwerp, Jefferson Co., N. Y., is the connectional
school of the Conference, bearing the same relation to it that
Cazenovia Seminary does to the Central New York Confer-
ence, or Lima Seminary to the Genesee Conference. It is
the outgrowth of Gonverneur Wesleyan Seminary, and to
see its historical connection therewith we must go back to
the year 1837, when the Black River Conference took the
Grammar School of Gouverneur under its patronage as their
Conference Seminary, with Kev. Jesse T. Peck, afterward
Bishop, recently deceased, as the first principal. This semi-
nary remained under the patronage of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church until 1869, at which time the building and facil-
ities being deemed inadequate to the wants of the institu-
tion, it was transferred to Antwerp, with the acquiescence of
the alumni. The following persons were principals of the
seminary while at Gouverneur :
Rev. Jesse T. Peck (elected Bishop in 1872), 1837-1840 ;
Rev. L. L. Knox, 1840-1842 ; Rev. Anson W. Cummings,
1842-1844; Rev. J. W. Armstrong, 1844-1850; Professor
WiUiam W. Clark, 1850-1853 ; Rev. E. C. Bruce, 1853-1860 ;
Rev. A. Roe, 1860-1863 ; Rev. G. G. Dains, 1863-1868.
With such a succession of eminent drincipals tlie institu-
tion acquired an excellent and enviable reputation, and many
an alumnus of prominence and influence in different parts
* From the " Northern Christian Advocate."
Ives Seminary. 295
of our great country looks back witli profound satisfaction
to the days spent within the walls of the old Conference
Seminary at Gouverneur.
In the year 1868, under the administration of Rev. Lcrauel
Clark, presiding elder of Ogdensburg District, who acted in
behalf of the Conference, upon conditions submitted by Di-.
I. S. Bingham to the stockholders of the Antwerp Liberal
Literary Institute, July 25, and by them accepted, their very
substantial stone building, one hundred and five by fifty
feet, and three stories high, with its ample grounds and ap-
purtenances, valued at $17,500, were made a gift in perpetu-
ity to the Conference upon the simple condition that they
maintain a school of academic grade ; and at the next session
of the Legislature the name was changed to the Black River
Conference Seminary.
In the fall of 1868 the Black River Conference Seminary
was opened in its new location at Antwerp, with Professor
G. G. Dains as its principal. In 1870, under the supervision
of Rev. Lemuel Clark, the new and beautiful boarding and
ladies' hall, seventy-two by forty-three feet, four stories high,
was commenced, and at length completed, costing $14,000.
Thus it will be seen the seminary has buildings not only im-
posing in appearance, but abundantly large to afford accom-
modations and facilities for a first-class Conference seminary.
This noble property, as it stands to-day, with its apparatus
and furniture, is worth, at a moderate estimate, $4:0,000.
The princi])als who have presided over the seminary since
its location at Antwerp are as follows: Rev. G. G. Dains,
1S68-1869; Rev. E. C. Bruce, 1869-1871; Professor S. M.
Coon, 1871-1872 ; Professor J. R. Gordon, 1872-1873 ; Rev.
G. G. Dains, 1873-1875; Rev. M. A. Yeeder, 1875-1878;
Rev. G. G. Dains, 1878-1880 ; Rev. C. E. Hawkins, 1880-1885.
296 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
In the spring of 1873 the trustees, impressed with the
importance of placing the seminary upon a sound financial
basis, gathered a meeting of the chief citizens of Antwerp,
together with a number of the preachers, which continued
two days, and to which they had invited the late Rev. E. O.
Haven, D.D., then secretary of the Board of Education of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a result of their delib-
erations it was resolved to raise a fund of at least $30,000 —
a portion of which should be used to pay the debt of tlie
school and the balance to be invested as a permanent fund
for its support. Hon. W. Ives, of "Watertown, N. Y.,
promptly headed the subscription w^ith $8,000, and the trust-
ees and citizens of Antwerp about $2,000 more.
At the ISTorthern New York Conference, just at hand, this
action was heartily indorsed, and the Eev. E. E. Kellogg
(recently deceased) was put into the field as agent to raise
the money, the subscriptions to become binding when the
sum of $20,000 was reached. For two years he labored
faithfully in this work, obtaining in all about $26,000. At
the Conference in 1875 a desperate effort was made to push
the amount up to $30,000, and, from motives of economy,
the aojent was discontinued. Meantime the actual liabilities
of the seminary had accumulated until they reached the
sum of $14,000, leaving a balance for endowment, after all
debts were paid, as it would appear, of $16,000. It should
be stated, however, that a pending subscription of $2,000
was never secured ; that the remaining $14,000 was in
pledges of the preachers and people, quite a portion of
which, in view of the financial pressure which rested upon
the country, together witli other causes wiiich might be
named, was never realized.
From this frank statement of facts, by one who has had
Ives Seminary. 297
ample but painful opportunity to know, it will appear that
what was meant to be an endowment fund of $12,000 or
$14,000 has actually been consumed in meeting the running
expenses of the seminary, so that now we have not a dollar
of endowment. It is not known, however, but b}^ few, that
over and above all his former gifts, the Hon. W. Ives paid
last year (with the aid of three or four other trustees, who
gave about $350) the sum of between $3,000 and $4,000 to
liquidate the last dollar of indebtedness upon our Conference
Seminary.
It is proper to state that the name, " Ives Seminary," was
given to the institution in 1873, when, on account of State
legislation, it became necessary to sever its connection with
the Conference to secure the aid which the State bestows
upon schools of academic grade from the Regents' funds,
and also in honor of the man who has given so many thou-
sand dollars for its support. The seminary now, and for
the last three years, has been placed by the trustees and the
Conference under the able management of Rev. C. E. Haw-
kins, through whose persevering and encouraging efforts the
school has been carried along free of any debt, and is having
a larger number of scholars and a greater degree of prosper-
ity than ever before. The tide evidently is turning in favor
of Christian schools, and the people show' an increasing de-
sire to send their sons and daughters to our Conference
Seminary.
The faculty for 1885 were : Rev. James E. Ensign, A.M.,
principal ; Mrs. J. E. Ensign, B.P., preceptress ; Rev. George
E. Ilutchings, A.M., Prof. Charles L. Williams, Prof.
Charles W. Smith, Miss Emilie Benner, Miss Lucy M. Wig-
gins, Mrs. Annis Sterling Hall, Frank L. Mead, I. E. Mai-sh,
C. W. Smith, and Miss Anna L. Johnson, instructors,
13*
Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER XYII.
PENNINGTON SEMINARY.
BY THOMAS HANLON, D.D.
While the !N"ew Jersey Conference was yet a part of the
Pliiladelphia, that Conference resolved to found a Conference
Seminary, and raised a committee to ask for contributions
and fix upon a location. Pemberton and Pennington both
took a lively interest in securing the new seminary. While
this question was pending New Jersey Conference was set
off from the Philadelphia, in 1837.
When New Jersey Conference was only two years old,
mainly through the efforts of Kev. John K. Shaw, an itiner-
ant minister of precious memory, and Eev. Henry Baker, a
local preacher of spotless character, still living in Penning-
ton, it was determined to locate a seminary in Pennington,
Kew Jersey.
Early in the month of May, 1839, the corner-stone was
laid. Bishops Hedding and Waugli officiating. Bishop Hed-
ding made the principal address, which is remembered at
this date, by those who heard it, as a very able effort, showing
education to be one of the good and perfect gifts of God,
and that it should always be under religious control.
In the spring of 1840 the seminary was opened. Howard
Bishop, a graduate of Eutgcrs College, New Jersey, eminent
both for piety and learning, took charge, temporarily, of the
school until a principal was elected. He was a man of rare
qualifications for his work. He was a born teacher. He
Pennington Seminary. 209
died early, but tlie sweet fragrance of his saintly life still
linirers as a rich benediction to the school.
In the autumn of 1840 Edward Cook, D.D., was elected the
fii-st principal of Pennington Seminary. Dr. Cook was born
in New Hampshire, in 1812, and was graduated at Wesleyan
University in 1838. He remained at the head of the school
for seven years. His administration was very successful ; he
was especially fortunate in having associated with him How-
ard Bishop, already named. Dr. Cook was sprightly,^ very
alert, genial, and firm in discipline, a good teacher, an able
preacher, and a good business manager. In 1847 Dr. Cook
was succeeded by Stephen M. Yail, D.D., who afterward be-
came the fii-st professor of Hebrew in our first Theological
Seminary at Concord, New Hampshire. Dr. Yail was born
in the State of New York, in 1818, was graduated at Bow-
doin College in 1838, and at the Union Theological Semi-
nary, New York city, in 1842. He entered the New York
Conference, and remained in the pastoral work until called
to the presidency of Pennington Seminary, where he re-
mained only two years, when, at the urgent solicitation of
that great man of God, Dr. Dempster, the founder of our
theological schools, he entered upon his work as teacher of
Hebrew at our Biblical Institute at Concord, where he re-
mained nineteen years. Dr. Yail was a scholarly and genial
man, much beloved and respected as the head of the school.
He wjis succeeded, in 1849, by J. Townley Crane, D.D., who
was born in New Jersey in 1819, and was graduated at Prince-
ton College in 1843. He was engaged in the pastoral work
as a member of New Jersey Conference when elected prin-
cipal of Pennington Seminary. The firet marked feature of
Dr. Crane's administration was the purchase of the seminary
from the stockholders. This purchase by the Conference
300 Early Schools of Mkttiodism.
was made about 1850. Up to that date the school buildings
were owned by stockholders, but the 'New Jersey Conference
had charge of the school. In 1853, under Dr. Crane, and
mainly by his energy, a large addition was built for the ac-
commodation of lady students. Previously the school had
been exclusively for boys. The addition was completed with
great dispatch, and opened in the winter of that year for
lady pupils. The number entering was large, almost filling
the new building. In 1852 the Alpha Omega Society was
organized, and a beautiful hall for this was erected. This is
the oldest of the three literary societies of the seminary, and
it has had a very vigorous history. Thus it will be seen that
the seminary, during Dr. Crane's administration, passed
through two important epochs, namely, the purchase of the
property by the New Jersey Conference and the addition of
the female department. Dr. Crane gave nine of the best
and most effective years of his busy and useful life to this
institution. He was an able preacher, temperance lecturer,
teacher, and author. His manner was most agreeable, his
life full of sunshine and good cheer.
In 1858 Dr. Crane re-entered the pastoral work, and Isaac
W. Wiley, M.D., afterward Bishop of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, was elected president of the seminary. Dr.
Wiley brought with him a great deal of prestige ; he had
been missionary to China ; he ranked high as a preacher, and
as such was already widely known. The patronage of the
seminary was at once unusually large, even beyond the capac-
ity of the buildings. The Callilogian and Philomathean So-
cieties were founded during this administration. In 1863,
owing in part to bad health. Dr. Wiley, to the great regret
of the friends and patrons of the school, resigned the pres-
idency and returned to pastoral work. He was born in
Pennington Skminary. 301
Fennsylvania in 1825, was graduated in medicine in 1840, and
went iis missionary to China in 1850, where he spent four
yeai*s. He was elected president of Pennington Seminary in
1858, to the editorship of the "Ladies' Eepository" in 1864-,
and to the episcopacy in 1872. In this last high office he
served the Church laboriously for over twelve years, when,
in China, he fell asleep in Jesus. There, in our beautiful
mission cemetery, his body rests beside the remains of his
first wife, awaiting the resurrection of the just.
In 1863 Rev. D. C. Knowles, A.M., was placed at the head
of the institution, where he remained for four years, when
he entered pastoral work.
Thomas Hanlon, D.D., was called to the presidency in
1867. During the centennial year of American Methodism,
1866, efforts were made to raise funds for enlarging the
school buildings. These efforts justified the trustees in
building a chapel and in adding a wing on the west of the
school edifice. This wing was one hundred feet long, forty
feet wide, and four stories high, and was exclusively devoted
to the accommodation of a ladies' department. A large in-
crease of students resulted from these improvements. Dr.
Ilanlon remained at the head of the school six years, when
he resigned to gratify his yearning desire for the pastoral
work, to which he had formerly given fifteen yeai*s of active
service. Ho was succeeded in the presidency of the semi-
nary by Rev. Joseph A. Dilks, a native of New Jersey, and
an alumnus of Wesleyan University. Mr. Dilks had, for
the three preceding years, been vice-president of the institu-
tion. He was an able teacher, a good scholar. He en-
tered active work in the New Jersey Conference in 1876.
Dr. Ilanlon was now recalled to the seminary. He was
born in New York city in 1832, entered the New Jersey
302 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
Conference in 1853, was graduated at Princeton College in
1863, returned to the cliarge" of the seminary in 1876, where
lie continues to the present, having rendered sixteen years of
service. During his present incumbency many valuable im-
provements have been made. Mansard stories have been
added to the middle section and to the east wing of the
edifice, giving it a far more symmetrical and imposing archi-
tectural appearance. New and beautiful halls have been
built for the Philomathean and Callilogian literary societies.
Water, hot and cold, has been introduced into all parts of the
buildings, furnishing bath-rooms and other conveniences
demanded by modern taste. All the buildings are now
heated with steam and lighted with gas, and their exterior
and interior appearance much improved. Gymnasiums have
been built and fully equipped for the ladies and gentlemen.
Tlie most perfect sanitary arrangements, both for the health
and comfort of the students, have been made.
A complete commercial college has been added to the al-
ready numerous courses of instruction. Within the year
$25,000 have been spent in making these great improve-
ments. In fact the seminary, in all its conveniences and
comforts, has been made all that its friends and patrons could
desire. For these reasons, as well as for its high character
as a school of intense religious life and sound learning, the
prospects of the seminary were never so bright as now. All
we can ask for now, more than we have, is that some good
friend of Christian learning will give us an ample endow-
ment. This we hope to have in the near future.
One of the striking features of Pennington Seminary has
been its intense religious life. No Conference seminary
has better fulfilled the design of its founders, which was that
it might promote sound learning and deep piety in its pu-
Pennington Seminary. 303
])ils. There has not been a year in its history in which there
lias not been a religious revival of more or less power. This
valuable fact in the history of the seminary is to be ac-
counted for in part by another striking fact, namely, that
from the first it has, in a remarkable degree, been a school of
the prophets. The records will show that in forty-seven
years of the seminary history, there have been enrolled as
students at least six hundred young men and ladies who
have entered the Gospel ministry or foreign mission fields.
At this writing we have alurani in Bulgaria, India, Japan,
Africa, and South America. And for many years, Mrs. Dr.
Baldwin, now of Boston, Mass., did distinguished mission work
in China. The number of students preparing for the ministry
and foreign mission work is constantly increasing. We have
forty-three such enrolled at present, about twenty-five per cent,
of the whole number now in attendance. Of these forty-three
students about one fourth expect to enter some foreign mission
field. In our own country our alumni in this holy calling
are numerous and widely scattered. One third of the minis-
ters of the New Jersey Conference are alumni of Penning-
ton. Many of them are in the Philadelphia Conference, and
a few of them scattered throughout all the Conferences.
There is not a territory that has not some of our students in
the work of teaching or preaching. Thus it will be seen
that Pennington Seminary has had an intense religious life.
We cannot, in this brief article, even name all our distin-
guished alumni J I will name those especially whom I person-
ally know, remarking that any omissions I may make will bo
due to my limited knowledge of the eai-lier alumni, and to
the fact of limited space allowed me for this article. J. M.
Buckley, D.D., LL.D., now editor of " The Christian Advo-
cate," is a distinguished journalist, writer, lecturer, preacher,
304 Early Schools of Methodism.
and debater. He was born in Kew Jersey about 1837, edu-
cated at Pennington Seminary and Wesleyan University,
and studied theology at Exeter, IST. H. He joined the New
Hampshire Conference in 1858, and has served as pastor
some churches in New Hampshire, Detroit, New York, and
New York East Conferences. He was elected editor of " The
Christian Advocate" in 1880, and re-elected in 1884. He
has shown himself to be as able on the editorial staff as he
was in the pastorate. Professor Borden P. Bowne, now of
the Boston University, is a very distinguislied scholar. He
ranks among the first metaphysicians in this or any other
country. He is also the distinguished author of " Philosophy
of Herbert Spencer," "Studies in Theism," "Metaphysics,"
and " Introduction to Psychological Theory." He is a native
of New Jersey, was graduated at Pennington Seminary in
1866, and at New York University in 1871, studied in Ger-
many two years, and was elected to his present chair in Boston
University in 1876. J. A. Lippincott, now chancellor of the
Kansas State University, was born in New Jersey and edu-
cated at Pennington Seminary and Dickinson College. He
served a few years in the pastoral work as a member of the
Newark and Central Pennsylvania Conferences. The most
of his life has been spent in teaching. He has taught in Pen-
nington Seminary, Lippincott Collegiate Institute, Baltimore,
the New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools, Dickinson
College, and in Kansas State University, where for four
years he has filled the office of chancellor with acceptability
and usefulness. Kev. Edwin Post, A.M., Professor of Latin
in De Pauw University, Indiana, where he has served for
several years with marked efficiency, is an eminent Greek
and Latin scholar. He is a native of New Jersey, was grad-
uated at Pennington Seminary in 1867, and at Dickinson
Pennington Seminary. 305
College in 1871. He taught the classics at Pennington for
some years with eminent efficiency.
J. T. Edwards, D.D., now president of the Chamberlain
Institute and Female College, Eandolph, N. Y., has long
occupied a conspicuous place in the educational work of the
Church. He was born in New Jersey in 1838, was graduated
at Pennington Seminary in 1856, and at Wesleyan University
in 1860, was teacher in Amenia Seminary, also in East Green-
wich Seminary, was afterward president of the same, and in
1870 was elected president of Chamberlain Institute, where
he still remains. He did distinguished service in the late
civil war, both as a private and as an officer. He has served
as State senator several sessions in the State of New York,
and, during one session of the Legislature, was chairman of
the Committee on Education.
Kev. D. C. Knowles, A.M., was born in Kew Jersey in
1836, was graduated at Pennington Seminary in 1860, was
teacher in Troy Conference Academy, Pittsburg Female Col-
lege, and Pennington Seminary, and is now the president of
the New Hampshire Conference Seminary. He also served
as private and officer in the Union army.
Wm. P. Headden, Ph.D., was born in New Jersey about
1850, was graduated at Pennington in 1869, and at Dickin-
son College in 1872. He is an eminent chemist, and has
taught in the University of Pennsylvania, the Naval Acad-
emy at Annapolis, and is now professor in the Hiff Univer-
sity at Denver, Colorado.
Milton S. Yail, A.M., son of Stephen M. Yail, D.D., was
graduated at Pennington Seminary in 1869, and at Columbia
College about 1874. Mr. Yail is at the head of our school
in Japan, under the presidency of Kev. Dr. Maclay. B. G.
Peck was graduated at Pennington Seminary, 1879, studied
306 Early Schools of Methodism.
law and was admitted to the bar, but afterward accepted a
responsible position under tlie government at the head of
the Indian schools in Washington Territory. Rev. Joseph
A. Dilks, A.M., already referred to, was a student in Pen-
nington Seminary. John Russell Hanlon, A. M., now vice-
principal of the seminary, is a graduate of Yale College, and
doing effective work in the cause of Christian education.
It will be seen from the preceding list of names that the
seminary has not only directly, but indirectly, been a great
power in the educational work of the Church.
Pennington Seminary is also distinguished for the elo-
quent preachers among her alumni. In this list we place
the names of Alphonso Willetts, D.D., J. M. Buckley, D.D.,
LL.D., George W. Batchelder, A.M., Henry Baker, A.M.,
A. J. Palmer, A.M., J. T. Dobbins, A.M., Joseph Knowles,
D.D., Robert L. Stratton, D.D., William Y. Kelley, D.D.,
and Geo. K. Morris, D.D. These brethren, except George
W. Batchelder, have been called from Conference to Confer-
ence to fill leading pulpits. Mr. Batchelder died too early to
take any Conference transfers. He closed his ministry at the
early age of twenty-eight. It is, perliaps, not too much to
say of him, that since Summerfield he has had no superior,
for his age, in the American pulpit. In form, in gesture, in
countenance, in saintliness of expression bordering on the
supernatural, in clear and original thought, in graceful utter-
ance and manner, in the white-heat earnestness that consti-
tutes the very soul of eloquence, George W. Batchelder will
always, perhaps, stand alone in the memory of those who
heard him.
Our seminary has long been noted for its missionary spirit.
More than twenty years ago Miss Esther E. Jerman went
out from us in the class of 1859. She married S. L. Bald-
Pennington Seminary. 307
win, D.D., and, with him, for many years did conspicuous
missionary service in China. Since her return to our shores
she has done equally effective service in her appeals to large
audiences in behalf of China.
Miss Lucilla A. Green, M.D., Miss Edna Taylor, Miss
Emma Knowles, Miss Mary C. Elliott ; and Messrs. \Yilliam
Stephens, John Webb, William Bruer, and George Greening
have all gone out from this seminary to India ; the four gen-
tlemen and Miss Taylor under Bishop Taylor.
Milton S. Yail and Mrs. Julia Soper entered our mis-
sionary work in Japan. William Sumner, M.D., and Will-
iam P. Dodson have gone to Central Africa under Bishop
Taylor. Lincoln E. Brown and Miss Laura J. Hanlon en-
tered the work in South America, also under Bishop Taylor.
More and more the spirit of Christ is taking possession of
the students, constraining them to carry the Gospel into the
regions beyond.
Of the under-graduates now here eight or ten expect to
enter foreign missionary work. Time, and space for this ar-
ticle, prevent me from mentioning the hundreds of our
alumni who have distinguished themselves in law, medicine,
and general business pursuits. We have in the present Legis-
lature of New Jersey several of our aluinni, namely : The
Hon. Messrs. Chattle, Yanderbilt, and Cranmer in the Senate,
and the Hon. Messrs. Allcott and Baird in the House of
licpresentatives. The Hon. Robert L. Taylor, one of our
alumni^ has for years been a member of Congress in the
House of Representatives, from East Tennessee.
General James T. Rusling was born in New Jei-sey in 1834,
was graduated at Pennington in 1849, and at Dickinson in
1852. He taught in Dickinson Seminary, studied law, and was
admitted to the bar in 1857. He entered the Union army as
308 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
first lieutenant in 1861, and retired from the service in 1867,
as brevet brigadier - general. He was appointed United
States Pension Agent for New Jersey in 1869, and held the
office till it was abolished, in 1877. He has been a trustee of
Dickinson College and Pennington Seminary for many years.
General Eusling is a writer of considerable repute. His
style is clear, racy, and scholarly. His articles in "The
Christian Advocate," the " Methodist Quarterly Review,"
and " Harper's Magazine " have attracted much attention.
George G. Green, M.D., was a student successively at Fort
Edward Institute, Pennington Seminary, and Dickinson Col-
lege. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsyl-
vania ; entered upon a remarkable business career at Wood-
bury, N. J., in 1873. He then began to give his whole atten-
tion to the manufacture of patent medicines. In less than
twelve years he has amassed a fortune of about $2,000,000.
Dr. Green is a warm friend of his alma mater, and one
of its trustees. While a student here he founded the Philo-
mathean Society, and was its first president. To this society
he has donated a valuable library, called the George G.
Green Library. In our recent improvements, costing
$25,000, Dr. Green is one of our most generous benefactors.
I close this paper with one other item, and, though last
mentioned, it is by no means the least of the good things to
be said of Pennington Seminary. It is this : We never
close the doors of the school against a worthy young man or
woman seeking an education because he or she is poor.
Helping this class to the great extent we have, has been a
great tax on our revenue and kept us poor.
It is safe to say that in the forty-seven years of our his-
tory we have spent not less than $50,000 in helping to edu-
cate worthy young men and women. But, while we have
Pennington Seminaey. 309
been kept poor, we have made the world richer by giving
to it hundreds of preachers and teachers who never could
have given their lives to these noble missions had not Pen-
nington Seminary given them this timely help as they came
to us from the shops and fields seeking an education. It
is partly because of this fact that God has so eminently
blessed us with spiritual blessings, and is now blessing us
with friends of ample means, who, I believe, will yet give
Pennington Seminary an ample endowment.
I here aflSx the names of the present board of trustees, to
whom so much is due for our present greatly improved and
very promising condition.
Board of Trustees. — President, Hon. C. E. Hendrick-
son. Mount Holly ; secretary and treasurer, Hon. William H.
Skirm, Trenton ; Kev. E. H. Stokes, D.D., Ocean Grove ;
General Clinton B. Fisk, Seabright; Eev. D. H. Schock,
Asbury Park ; General J. F. Eusling, Trenton ; James S.
Kiger, Esq., Trenton ; Rev. A. E. Ballard, Ocean Grove ;
Rev. J. Lewis, D.D., Burlington ; Rev. W. ^Y. Motfett, Red
Bank ; Rev. J. M. Buckley, D.D., LL.D., New York city ;
Hon. W. S. Yard, Trenton ; Rev. J. B. Graw, D.D., Bev-
erly ; G. G. Green, M.D., Woodbury ; J. Ronan, Esq., Tren-
ton ; C. Myers, Esq., New Brunswick.
310 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEK XYIII.
THE SCHOOLS IN BEREA, OHIO.
BY REV. A. SCHUTLER, LL.D.
The village of Berea, O., was organized as a community
in 1836. This community was formed after the model at
Jerusalem, as given in the Acts of the Apostles, where the
disciples had all things common. But as the millennial age
had not yet dawned, it was found that man is, by nature,
both too selfish and too indolent for such experiments to suc-
ceed. After a short trial, not exceeding two years, the ex-
periment was abandoned as impracticable. There have been
four schools of higher grade in Berea — three successive,
Berea Seminary, Baldwin Institute, and Baldwin University,
and one, German Wallace College, which was opened a few
years after Baldwin University. We propose briefly to
sketch the history of Berea Seminary, Baldwin Institute, and
Baldwin University, alluding only incidentally to German
Wallace College.
Berea Seminary.
Berea Seminary was chartered by the General Assembly
of the State of Ohio in March, 1837. It was found that
further legislation was needed, and the charter was amended
by an act giving further rights. The charter, as amended,
gave ample authority to the incorporators, twelve in number,
among whom were Henry O. Sheldon, John Baldwin, Ed-
ward Thomson, and Ansel J. Pope. The property consisted
of five hundred acres of land on the east branch of Bocky
River, twelve miles south-west from Cleveland. The land
The Schools in Berea, Ohio. 311
had one hundred and fifty acres under improvement, a good
water-power, a saw-mill in operation, and a valuable stone
quarry. The stock was in one thousand shares, estimated at
$50 each, of which not more than ten shares could be held
by the same person. The plan was to build and sustain a
" working school " with the profits of the property, return-
ing the capital to the stockholders, or affording them a safe,
and at the same time a philanthropic, investment. The plan
was proposed by Josiah Holbrook, who first conceived it in
1820, to start a lyceum village, which was to be the foster
community to the seminary.
We quote from a circular, without date or signature, sup-
posed to have been issued in 1841 :
This village is the first in the projected connected series of Lyceum
Villages, forming desirable residences for the patrons of the moral and
scientific enterprises of the age, and for families who wish to give a
practical and business education to their children. These villages are
designed especially to assist the education of teachers, promote scien-
tific exchanges over the worid, and thus encourage the study of the
works 2k\i(i word of God, and cultivate the spirit of *' peace on earth and
good- will to men." It is expected that every teacher in the schools,
and every scholar of sufl[icient age, will spend »ix hours each day at
work. Boys and young men, girls and young ladies, will be suitably
employed at various mechanical arts, particularly the preparation and
labeling of specimens in geology, botany, natural history, etc., for
sale and exchange. The wages paid is according to the amount of
word done.
This certainly is suflaciently ndUve ; but one wondere
where the time for study and recitation is to come from, to
say nothing of eating and sleep, if six hours are to be spent
each day at labor. We also quote from the fragment of a
pamphlet issued about the same time, having neither title-
312 Early Schools of Methodism.
page, (late, nor name of author, but whicli is understood to be
the work of Eev. H. O. Sheldon :
The object of the establishment of the *' Lyceum Village " and " Be-
rea Seminary " is to assist in spreading knowledge and holiness over
our globe ; to redeem man from ignorance and vice. We live in an age
unparalleled in the history of man. The elements of society arc fer-
menting. The foundation principles, which have stood for ages, are
giving way. Light is bursting upon the human intellect. Coming
events, a mighty train, are casting their shadows upon us. . . .
In this eventful age the bells of duty are ringing to action; the tocsin
calls loud upon all the civilized world to join the crusade against ig-
norance ; while the white flag of peace is planted upon the battlements
of crumbling fortresses, and promises, ere long, to wave triumphant
over a regenerated world. Within the last twenty-five years the plan
which we have the pleasure to present to your consideration has been
in substance suggested to the minds of several persons in different cir-
cumstances, at different times, unknown to each other. Every part of
this plan has, in the mean time, triumphantly stood the rigid test of
experiment.
Concerning the location of Lyceum Village, I may be permitted to
say, a train of remarkably striking providences singularly directed to
the place. These facts have not been given to the public, but they
have been given to various individuals, all of whom have expressed the
highest interest at their recital. Berea (the name given to the village,
as singular as its location, was providential) is sometimes called the
** Lyceum Village," from its being founded by the author of the
lyceum system for lyceum operations. . . .
In the system of instruction pursued at the Berea Seminary we follow
nature. At the period of his birth man is entirely uneducated. He
has a physical, mental, and moral nature, all requiring education. It
is well-known that one part of man can be educated to the neglect of
the others, which must remain comparatively feeble. I venture the
assertion there is little or no valuable education but self-education.
I must not forget to say, we shall pay particular attention to female
education. I believe the time has gone by when Americans believe
** women have no souls," though many of them are educated much as if
The Schools in Berea, Ohio. 313
they had none, but were mere humming-birds, destined to command
admiration for their music or their feathers.
These extracts show tlie spirit of the enterprise ; that it
liad both ideas and energy, and that it was bound to suc-
ceed. The first and only principal of Berea Seminary was
Alfred Holbrook, son of Josiah Holbrook. Alfred came on
horseback from Indiana. Weary and sick, he stopped at Mr.
Baldwin's, where he found welcome and care. He was soon
enlisted in the enterprise of Berea Seminary. He was an
enthusiastic and successful teacher, and left his impress upon
his students. Mr. Baldwin gave him a house as a wedding
])resent, but, as this was not conveniently situated, he gave
him another.
Berea Seminary was opened in the fall of 1840, and con-
tinued about six years, when it was suspended. Baldwin
Institute was opened April 9, 1846. It was conducted
largely on the normal plans for the training of teachers for
tlieir work. Tlie attendance was large for the time, fre-
(jucntly exceeding one hundred, and great good was accom-
plished.
Baldwin Institute.
In the spring of 1844, John Baldwin attended a quarterly
meeting at Brighton, Brooklyn Circuit, Norwalk District, of
which Eev. Thomas Thompson was the presiding elder.
The sermon impressed Mr. Baldwin deeply, and at the close
of tlie services he addressed Elder Thompson thus : " I have
been thinking about that text and sermon, and it strikes me
you ought to come to Berea, and I think you will say I am
not mistaken when you do." In accordance with this invita-
tion. Elder Thompson called on Brother Baldwin when on
his way to his next quarterly meeting, which was held at
14
314 Early Schools of Methodism.
Brunswick. I quote from Elder Thompson's memorandum,
which he prepared at the request of Dr. W. C. Peirce :
On arriviug, I found Brother Baldwin shearing sheep, all alone in a
brush pasture of some fifteen or more acres. He had his fleeces
spread just where they were dropped, remarking that he believed in all
God's creatures enjoying all the liberty Providence designed. He
therefore, with a lump of salt, caught one where he could, stripped it
of its coat, and let it go. He then said, " Seven years ago, when the
community broke up, I was $4,000 in debt, and every body said,
' Baldwin is gone up ; ' but I took the matter in prayer to the Lord,
and promised him, if he would help me out of that difiiculty, I would
give all but mush and potatoes to the cause. Immediately that text
you preached from last Sabbath came into my mind, ' If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God.' I never went near constable, sheriff, or
court. It is true, they got one farm from me, but I got another in its
place. I stuck to my work, dug out one ton of stones after another,
and paid off one ten dollars of debt after another, till they thought it
best to let me alone. Now I am out of debt, and have more than I
need. I want you to tell me what to do with it.' I asked him, ' What
do you wish to do with it ? ' He replied, ' I should like to start a
school to educate missionaries, and give the rest to support them in the
field.' I replied, 'Give your property for general education, educate all
the youth, and the Lord will make more missionaries than you can.
We need a literary institute on the Reserve.' "
Mr. Baldwin acted in accordance with the suggestion of
Elder Thompson, and a circular was sent out to all the pre-
siding elders of the Conference. Four out of seven re-
sponded favorably. Elder Eaymond suggested the propriety
of calling a convention of the preachers of the Conference.
The call was made, and more than thirty preachers were
present at the convention at which the matter was dis-
cussed in all its bearings. The result is shown in the fol-
lowing letter, which we find in the records of Baldwin
Institute :
The Schools in Berea, Ohio. 315
MiDDLEBURY, September 24, 1844.
To THE Ministers of the North Ohio Conference ;
Very dear Brethren : Feeling that I am under very deep obliga-
tions to Almighty God for his mercies, which have followed me, through
the instrumentality of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from my youth,
and believing, with the venerated Wesley, that it is the Christian's duty
both to get and give all he can, I have come to the conclusion to devote
to the cause of religious education and the missionary enterprise a cer-
tain piece of land containing fifty acres, including grindstone quarries
and water privileges, described below, on which I hereby agree to erect
a building, to be of brick, seventy-two by thirty-six, the plan of said
building to be furnished and site located, worth from $2,500 to $3,000,
to be finished in the fall of 1845. John Baldwin.
Notwithstanding considerable opposition, the Conference
accepted Mr. Baldwin's proposition. A charter was grant-
ed by the Legislature of Ohio in December, 1845. The
board of trustees was organized January 21, 1846. Berea
Seminary was suspended, and Baldwin Institute was opened,
April 9th, with a male and female department.
The first faculty of the institute consisted of Rev. H.
Dwight, A.M., principal and teacher of ancient languages
and natural science; Alfred Holbrook, teacher of mathe-
matics and English branches ; Mrs. Almena M. Dwight, pre-
ceptress and teacher of French and ornamental branches ;
and Miss Cornelia Van Tyne, teacher of the primary depart-
ment. Miss Julia Sheldon was also preceptress.
The first catalogue gives the number of students: gen-
tlemen, sixty-one; ladies, thirty-nine; total, one hundred.
Professor Dwight, the first principal, died before the close
of the first year, and was succeeded by Alfred Holbrook, as
acting principal. The following gentlemen have also been
principals of the institute : Lorenzo Warner, M.D., Rev. O.
T. Reeves, A.B., W. L. Uarris, I>,\)., G. M. Barber, A. M.,
316 Early Schools of Methodism.
and Alexander Nelson, D.D. The second year of tlie in-
stitute the students numbered : gentlemen, one hundred and
two ; ladies, eightj-seven ; total, one hundred and eighty-
nine. For the year 1854 and 1855 the catalogue shows : gen-
tlemen, one hundred and thirty-nine; ladies, ninety-nine;
total, two hundred and thirty-eight. There have been
twelve alumni of the institute, the first class graduating in
1850, and the last in 1855, when the institute was changed
into Baldwin University.
Baldwin Univeesity.
The following statement may be found in the first annual
catalogue of Baldwin University : " Considering that an
institution of still higher grade, under the patronage of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, was needed in the Western
Reserve, the trustees, acting under the direction of the Con-
ference, recently effected a change of charter, by which uni-
versity powers were secured."
Rev. John Wheeler, D.D., was the first president of the
university. He was assisted by eight professors and teach-
ers, among whom we find Jeremiah Tingley, A.M., Rev.
W. H. Barnes, A.B., G. H. Hartupee, A.B., Miss Rosanna
Baldwin, A.B.
In 1858 a German department was opened, under the
instruction of O. Henning, Ph.D. From 1859 this depart-
ment was under the charge of Rev. Jacob Rothweiler. It
grew rapidly, till, in 1853, it was organized as a separate
institution, with the title of "German Wallace College,"
in honor of Hon. James Wallace, who donated the building
occupied by the college. This college is still in a flourish-
ing condition. It furnishes the houses occupied by the pro-
fessors, controls a prosperous orphan asylum, and in 1881:
The Schools in Berea, Ohio. 317
finished a fine boarding-hall for students. The relation be-
tween Baldwin University and German Wallace College is
very intimate — the university furnishing instruction for both
institutions in mathematics and natural science, and the col-
lege in Greek, German, and French. Students in either
institution are entitled to free tuition in the other. The
two are virtually one.
In 1865 a College of Pharmacy was organized, in connec-
tion with the university, for the thorough preparation of
dniggists for their business. L. S. McCulloch, M.D., was
the soul of this entei-prise. lie had a large establishment
for the manufacturing of drugs, in which the students of
])harmacy were practically trained. Dr. McCulloch's build-
ing was destroyed by fire, but the department was continued
for several years and then suspended, chiefly on account of
the difficulty of securing suitable instruction for the students.
A Commercial Department has been sustained from the be-
ginning.
In addition to his original grant, Mr. Baldwin paid, for
many years, the salary of one of the professors. In the
winter of 1867 Mr. Baldwin donated to the university forty
acres of stone quarry, worth, at least, $2,000 an acre. This
princely gift has placed the institution on a solid foundation
— literally, has founded it upon a rock. lie has also given
$4,000 to the ladies' hall, and a thousand acres of land in
Louisiana. Dr. Wheeler retired from the presidency in
1870, and was succeeded by Rev. W. D. Godman, D.D.,
under whose administration the institution prospered for five
years.
In the fall of 1874 a plan was set on foot to consolidate
Baldwin University with the Ohio Wesleyan University,
at Delaware, Ohio, by transferring the control of Baldwin
318 Early Schools of Methodism.
University to the trustees of the Ohio Wesleyan University.
Dr. Godman was led to favor this plan, which was strongly
urged by some of the trustees of Baldwin University, among
whom was Horace Benton. It was strongly opposed by
Lyman Baker and other trustees. Mr. Baldwin was appealed
to by both parties. Among those who advised Mr. Baldwin
against the project were Rev. William Nast, D.D., president
of German Wallace College, and Bishop Simpson. I quote
from a letter from Bishop Simpson to Mr. Baldwin, dated
JSTovember 19, 1874 : " I wish to say to you : 1. That I do
not wish to advise you against doing any thing for Dela-
ware that you wish to do. I wish it all possible prosperity.
2. But I could not advise you to take property once deeded
to Baldwin away from Berea, for which you had labored,
and to which place people had moved and bought property,
from the fact that you had founded an institution there."
Mr. Baldwin decided against the project, and the scheme
failed. Dr. Godman resigned the presidency in the spring of
1875, and was succeeded by A. Schuyler, LL.D. In the
last ten years an elegant stone building, worth at least $30,000,
lias been erected and furnished, and is now occupied by the
preceptress and the lady students.
The following have been members of the faculty of the
university at various periods : Presidents : John Wheeler,
D.D., W. D. Godman, D.D., and A. Schuyler, LL.D.
Preceptresses: Miss Emily A. Covil, Miss Bosanna Bald-
win, Miss Mary A. Proctor, Mrs. W. C. Peirce, Mrs. J.
Wheeler, Mrs. A. Schuyler, Miss Elizabeth Hall, Miss An-
gela R. Houghton, Miss Ellen H. Warner, Miss Clara Schuy-
ler, Miss Anna M. Thomson. Professors: T. Tingley,
A.M., W. H. Barnes, A.M., G. H. Hartupee, A.M., E. J.
Cutler, M.D., W. C. Peirce, S.T.D., A. Schuyler, LL.D., J.
The Schools in Bkrea, Ohio. 319
Eothvreiler, D.D., R B. Pope, D.D., B. J. Hoadley, A.M.,
P. AV. Mosl)lech, Ph.D., M. J. Flannerj, A.M., J. W. White,
Ph.D., Ellen IL Warner, A.M., A. D. Knapp, A.M., E.
Thomson, D.D., Maggie P. Safford, A.M., A. S. Newton,
A.M., Clara E. Schuyler, A.M., C. Rienieiischneider, Ph.D.,
D. Torbet, A.M., Y. Wilker, A.M., J. Dodge, Ph.D., William
Kepler, Ph.D., A. Mattison, A.M. Fine Arts: Miss E. A.
Morrison, Miss S. P. Adams, Miss S. A. Storer, Miss C.
Adams, Mrs. S. P. Barnes, Mrs. M. E. Schneir, Miss L.
M. Plimpton, Mrs. L. D. Peirce, L. A. Tuttle, Miss M.
M. Gardiner, Mrs. M. Flannery, F. M. Davis, Miss A.
McGrangli, J. Hart, Mrs. Leonard, Miss E. Castle, J. Berr,
Miss Mattie Bigelow, Miss Mary Bigelow, Mrs. N. M.
Watson, Miss Cora E. Peirce, Miss Lena Davis, W. R.
Grannis. Pharmacy: J. Wheeler, D.D., W. C. Peirce,
S.T.D., E. J. Cutler, M.D., L. S. McCuUough, M.D.,
M. V. B. Clark, M.D., Mrs. W. D. Godman, M.D., F. M.
Coates, M.D., E. Thomson, D.D., D. Torbet, A.M., H. S.
Frances, B.S.
The alumni number as follows: In cursu: gentlemen,
one hundred and seventy-nine ; ladies, one hundred and
thirteen; total, two hundred and ninety-two. In honore:
gentlemen, thirty-one ; ladies, two ; total, thirty-three. To-
tal alumni^ three hundred and twenty-live. Of the alumni
forty are ministers, ten physicians, twenty lawyers, fifty
teachers, twenty-two druggists, fifteen missionaries, one hun-
dred and sixty-eight in business. Many students wlio have
not graduated are now useful citizens, engaged in the activi-
ties of life. AYe close with a sketch of the life of the
founder, Hon. John Baldwin.
John Baldwin, the honored founder of Baldwin University,
was born October 13, 1790, and died December 28, 1884,
320 Early Schools of Methodism.
and consequently readied the ripe age of eighty-five years,
two months, and fifteen days. Though for several of the last
years of his life he was feeble in body, yet he retained to the
last the vigor of mind which characterized his life. He had
ardent impulses and a strong will. His desire for usefulness,
which was the ruling passion of his life, was manifest to tiie
day of his death. He was ambitious in two respects — to
promote religion and to provide means for a higher educa-
tion. These two aims he combined in one, which he styled
" Christian educationP To the promotion of Christian
education he devoted the energies of a powerful will and a
long life.
Intellectually and spiritually he was a growing man to the
last. His most intimate friends observed, with admiration,
the increased liberality and breadth of view which he mani-
fested during the last twenty years of his life. No doubt
this personal growth was, in great measure, due to the bless-
ing of God resting upon him as a reward of his benevolence.
Father Baldwin's success is to be attributed to the fact that
he has labored in harmony with the will of God, as that will
has been made known to him by the indications of provi-
dence. He prayed for direction, and when his prayers were
answered, as he believed they would be, and as he had a riglit
to expect, he acted accordingly. His early opportunities for
improvement were not favorable ; but, having a Strong thirst
for knowledge, he applied himself with great diligence, in
spite of obstacles which to a less energetic nature would
have seemed insurmountable. He acquired a knowledge
of English grammar while engaged in making shingles.
With his book open before him he would read a sen-
tence, and repeat it to the music of the mallet and the
drawing knife.
TiiK Schools in I>ekka, Ohio. 321
At lengtli liis stock of knowledge was sufficient to enable
liim to teach scliool. It may be mentioned, as characteristic
of the man, that at one time two schools were offered him
— one in a good neighborhood, with advanced scholars and
good wages, and the other in an obscure neighborhood, with
rough, backward scholars, and much lower wages. In ac-
cordance wnth his predilection for missionary work, lie chose
the latter as a field affording greater opportunities for use-
fulness. His choice wa^ wise. His religious zeal was blessed
in the conversion of a large number of his scholars. After
spending five years in teaching he married a wife who has
proved a helpmate for him. He removed to Berea in 1828,
and with two othei*8, projected a community in which, as with
the early Christians, all things should be common. The plan
failed, as a matter of course, and left Mr. Baldwin deeply
in debt, but rich iii experience. As a man of fiiith and
pi-ayer he applied to God for relief. He asked for w^isdom,
and obtained it. The value of the stone underlying Berea
was impressed on his mind, and he saw in this a means, not
only of relieving himself from the burden of debt, but of
making himself greatly useful. He consecrated himself anew
to God, and vowed to devote his property to the work of the
Church. Nor did he forget his vow when prosperity again
smiled upon him.
After consultation with Rev. Thomas Thompson, he re-
solved to devote his property to the higher education of the
young people of the Church, especially in view of preparing
missionaries for work in heathen lands. He offered a valu-
able property to the North Ohio Conference, which was ac-
cepted, and the school duly opened, in 1846, under the name
of Baldwin Institute. It may be remarked that this was not
the name chosen bv Mr. Baldwin. He proposed " Kings-
14* " • ^
322 Early Schools of Methodism.
wood Institute," in imitation of Mr. Wesley's school ; but in
this he was overruled by his friends.
At this time, as might be expected, Mr. Baldwin was full
of his plans for Christian education. As out of the abun-
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh, we may know wliat
was in Mr. Baldwin's heart b}^ knowing that his constant
themes were salvation, full and free ; Christian education for
the young people ; and the salvation of the heathen through
the agency of missionary effort.
It may safely be said that the school he has founded
has not disappointed his expectations. God's work, in
all its freedom, fullness, and power, has steadily gone
forward in Baldwin University. More than twent}^ of its
students are now missionaries in foreign lands, fifteen of
these being alumni. From Baldwin University has sprung
German Wallace College, so important to German Method-
ism. The two are virtually one, and one of considerable
strength.
In 1854 Abel Stevens, the renowned historian of Method-
ism, in a steam-boat trip on the lakes met with Mr. Baldwin,
of whom he gives a graphic account in the "National Maga-
zine," of which he was editor. He says :
We were hardly on board when ray friend introduced me to a pas-
senger who I saw at a glance was a character. He wore a hat that cer-
tainly had not been brushed for six months, and it might have been as
many years old; it was high, and, falling slightly aback, disclosed as
genuine a Yankee contour as ever the "London Punch" or "Yankee
Notion " portrayed — that prominence of the nas.il region, those lines
radiating from the eyes and extending to the ears, those thin but tough
integuments, and that indescribable expression of easy self-possession,
of mingled "cuteness" and good humor, which have become the moral
and physiognomical characteristics of Brother Jonathan the world over.
His shoes were rough, heavy clumps of leather, that certainly had never
TnE Schools in Berea, Ohio. 323
known blacking; his coat and pantaloons were black woolen of the
coarsest, strongest texture; his shirt-bosom and collar were unstarched,
coarse cotton, and he wore no stock. He evidently did not relish the
delectation of shaving, and his speech was the very perfection of nasal
drawl; yet there was something exceedingly interesting about him. He
announced himself tp me, when introduced, as a Yankee of the seventh
distillation ; he seemed to be conscious of his appearance, and to enjoy
the practical joke it was playing upon the world. For, after all, he
stood before me a genuine man — a man who had nobly fought with
misfortune, and had won the day; a man who is religiously upright,
whose energies are expended in doing good in the noblest way,
by promoting education and virtue ; whose name is on an important
institution of the West; and who was now actually on his way to the
Chippewa camp-meeting to obtain two or three young Indians whom he
wished to educate at his own expense for the benefit of their race. . . .
God bless you, John Baldwin, with your big heart and generous deeds I
The friends of Mr. Baldwin will recognize the correctness
of the portrait.
In this sketch we should not fail to mention his work in
the South. At the close of the civil war he became deeply
interested in the educational wants of the South. Ilis let-
ter to Dr. Newman, then at New Orleans, will explain
itself : '• I have bought the Darby plantation of seventeen
liundred acres, in St. Mary's Parish, La., live miles above
Franklin, on the Teche, for $20,000. I have deposited the
money in the bank, and sent my son to perfect the title.
There is a fine site of thirty or forty acres on the banks
of the river, comprising some fifteen or twenty buildings
which the brethren of the Mississippi Mission Confer-
ence can occupy for religious education as soon as they
choose, provided no distmction is made on account of sex or
color."
Mr. Baldwin, however, learned from experience that it is
better to keep the races apart, in the work of education. His
324 Early Schools of Methodism.
school in the South, at Baldwin, La., is now open only to
white young people. This is well enough, as a school for
colored people is now open in the same place, and is flourish-
ing under the care of Dr. Godinan.
For the last seventeen years Father Baldwin has passed fre-
quently from North to South, and back again. This habit
has enabled him to avoid tlie extremes of climate, and prob-
ably has had a beneficial influence upon his health, and has,
no doubt, in the providence of God, aided in prolonging his
life to such a good old age. Father Baldwin died in the
faith in which he lived ; but he has left a name that will
never die. He rests from his labors, and his works follow
him. He will receive his rewai'd at the resurrection of the
just.
The East Greenwich Academy. 325
CHAPTER XIX.
THE EAST GREENWICH ACADEMY.
BY PROFESSOR 0. W. SCOTT.
This institution takes its name from the village in which
it is located. East Greenwich is fourteen miles from Provi-
dence, R. I., and fifty-six from Boston ; beautifully situated
on the western shore of Karragansett Bay. The academy
buildings crown a hill which rises above the village, giving
the advantage of a partial isolation, and are surrounded by
well-kept and extensive grounds. From the observatory
may be seen the cities of Providence, Fall River, Warren,
Bristol, and Newport ; while a nearer view embraces forests
and fields, gardens and beautiful homes, and the sparkling
waters of the bay, with white sails passing to and fro. When
we consider the acknowledged healthfulness of this section
of country we can but see that Nature has given every possi-
ble advantage.
In looking up the history of this school we are led to con-
sult a work prepared by Dr. Daniel Greene, covering
the history of the town from 1677 to 1877 — two centuries.
In October, 1802, a few individuals procured a charter
of incorporation from the General Assembly " for the estab-
lishment of a classical school to be called Kent Academy,"
taking this name, Kent, from that of the county. This
proved to be the first successful school of high order in the
State.
The preamble and articles of association were drawn up
by Hon. Ray Greene, and indicate a wise foresight and a
326 Early Schools of Methodism.
liigli appreciation of Christian education. The eight men
express themselves " anxious to promote the happiness of
posterity, and to continue the blessings of a free and equal
government ; " and also quaintly express themselves as hoping
" that such an institution will be productive of the advantage
to East Greenwich and its vicinity of introducing a settled
minister of the Gospel to preach in the meeting-house, which
is now so seldom improved." Thus we see tliat at the be-
ginning of the century, "education was the handmaid of
religion."
The association purchased a lot containing " one acre and
twenty rods," and soon erected upon it a building " about
sixty feet long, and thirty feet wide, and two stories high."
In August, 1804, it was found to have cost $3,733 65, the
entire expense being divided into one hundred shares, taken
originally by about sixty subscribers. Governor William
Greene was the first president of the board of trustees, and
Eichard Mathewson and Stephen Arnold were "principal
agents," while the committee in charge of the building in-
terests were William Greene, Wanton Casey, and William
Greene Spencer. Concerning the furnishing of the new
academy we give the following extract from the record of
1804: "The maps and globes were splendid articles, and
were imported from Europe. The maps were on a large
scale, four by five feet, and elegantly mounted, and the
twenty-four-inch globes were the best that could be pro-
cured."
The first curriculum was very unpretentious, and is now
quite a curiosity. The following is taken from the records
of the board of trustees in the year 1808 :
'' Besolved^ That the following be rates of tuition for the
quarter commencing the 21st of March, 1808:
The East Greenwich Academy. 327
Reading and Spelling $2 00
Reading, Writing, and Spelling 2 25
Arithmetic, with Book-keeping 2 50
English Grammar 3 00
Composition and Speaking 3 00
Latin and Greek Languages 3 00
Logic and Criticism 3 00
The principles of Astronomy and Geography, with the use of globes 3 50
The fifty cents additional in the last item was for the use
of the globes! Comparing the above with the present
courses of study, we get an idea of the progress made in
passing years.
The first principal of the academy was Abner Alden, A.M.
lie was an excellent teacher, and conducted the school suc-
cessfully for several years. He was succeeded by Joseph L.
Tillinghast, and he, in rapid succession, by Aaron Putnam,
Ezekiel Kich, A.M., James Underwood, A.M., Eev. Daniel
Waldo, A.M., who died at the age of one hundred and four;
Benjamin F. Allen, A.M., Nathan Whiting, A.M., Charles II.
Alden, A.M., Eev. Ebenezer Coleman, A.M., Christopher Eob-
inson, A.M., lie v. Henry Edes, A.M., Penuel Corbett, A.M.,
George W. Greene, A.M., Joseph Harrington, A.M., Joshua
(). Coburn, A.M., and Thomas P. Rodman, A.M. This brings
us to the year 1836, about which time an effort was made to
establish a school of higher grade, under the patronage of the
Methodist Society, but, failing in this, the academy passed
into other hands. From 1836 to 1839 Joshua O. Coburn (the
second term) and Rev. James Richardson served as prin-
cipals. In 1839 the institution was sold to Rev. Daniel G.
Allen, an alumnus of Middletown College. For two yeai*s
lie conducted a very prosperous school, and then, in 1841, he
sold the establishment to the Providence Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
328 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
It is well to notice, at the close of this first era, that dur-
ing all those early years, and while laboring under the dis-
advantage of a constant change of teachers, this school
" maintained its first principles," always calling to its aid
men of culture and piety. It did much toward supplying tlie
State witli leaders, from governor down through the profes-
sions to the teachers in the common schools, thus earning, by
its faithful formative work, a place for old *' Kent Academy "
in the annals of history.
After the school became the property of the Providence
Conference a new charter was obtained from the Legislature,
and its name was changed to " Providence Conference Sem-
inary," and Kev. B. F. Tefft, A.M., was appointed principal,
with Daniel G. Allen and Joshua Newhall assistants, and
Miss Lavinia Livermore preceptress. The appointment of
Dr. Tefft gave great satisfaction to Khode Island Methodists,
and his administration was marked by increased patronage,
an improved course of study, and most encouraging pros-
pects. But he was sought as a preacher by various churches,
and at the end of one year he resigned his position to take
charge of one of the Methodist Episcopal churches in Bos-
ton, Mass.
Kev. G. F. Poole was appointed to the vacancy, but the
school did not prosper as its friends had hoped and expected,
and at the end of the year the trustees leased the seminary
to Rev. Daniel G. Allen, who again called Mr. Newhall to
his assistance. As Professor Allen had previously owned
the institution and successfully presided over it, the trustees
looked for increased prosperity ; but at the expiration of one
year Professor Allen resigned, in order to take charge of his
farm in the neighborhood. Professor Allen was succeeded,
in 1844:, by Be v. George B. Cone, A.M., a graduate of Wes-
The East Greenwich Academy. 329
leyan University, class of 1837. He liad been occnpied in
teaching since leaving the university, and brought to the
seminary qualities which insured a successful administration.
As the number of students increased from term to term, and
it became difficult to procure suitable accommodations, it was
decided to erect a boarding-house. This building was three
stories in height, and of sufficient dimensions to accommodate
about one hundred students. The boarding pupils, from
this date, came under the care and supervision of the
teachers.
After serving the school most acceptably in all its depart-
ments, in 1847 Professor Cone received a call to take charge
of a school in Georgia, which he accepted, and Rev. William
Bagnall, A.M., was elected principal. True to the " itiner-
ancy," however, he resigned after one year, and returned to
pastoral work, but finally settled down to literary labor in
New York city. Rev. Robert Allyn, A.M. (afterward
D.D., LL.D.), became principal in 1848. Professor Allyn's
success as a teacher, both before and after his graduation at
Wesleyan University in 1841, had been such as to inspire the
friends of the seminary with high hopes, and grandly did he
meet all expectations. He was supported by a generous
board of trustees, an able corps of teachers, and a large at-
tendance of students. This prosperous condition continued
throughout the six years he was connected with the seminary,
all departments feeling the influence of his master-hand.
Dr. AUyn's ability was recognized outside of the school, and
for two years, while he was principal, he represented the
town in the State Legislature. But when, in 1854, he ac-
cepted the office of commissioner of public schools for the
State of Rhode Island, he resigned his position. His suc-
cessor was Rev. George W. Quereau, A.M., another alumnus
330 Early Schools of Methodism.
of Wesleyan University. He had been an assistant principal
in tlic seminary for two years previous, and hence was ac-
quainted with its plans and methods, and the school continued
to prosper under his leadership. During Professor Allyn's
administration the necessity of a new academic building had
become so apparent that he had interested himself in plan-
ning for its erection. Professor Quereau, with the trustee!^,
took up the work so successfully, that in the summer of 185S
the new building was completed and dedicated, after which
Professor Quereau resigned his office, to which Bev. Micah
J. Talbot was elected. At this period few schools in the coun-
try possessed a finer equipment than this. The new edifice,
costing more than $20,000, w^as of brick, large and elegant in
its proportions, and containing ample recitation rooms, office,
library, reading-room, cabinet, principal's room, and one of
the finest seminary chapels in New England. In 1859 the
services of Professor Eben Tourjee, who has since gained a
world-wide reputation, were secured as musical director ; and
as the facilities for obtaining a musical education were thus
greatly enlarged, the name of the school became, by legisla-
tive act, " Providence Conference Seminary and Musical In-
stitute," thus giving to the school the honor of opening the
first conservatory of music in America.
Although Professor Tourjee was called to a broader field,
the impetus he gave to this science is still seen in the unusu-
ally fine advantages offered to students.
In 1862 Eev. B. D. Ames, an alurrmus of Middlebury
College, took charge of the seminary, acting as principal
with good success until 1864, when Rev. James T. Edwards
was elected to that office. He served six years, and during
this period the general prosperity of the school continued.
Dr. Edwards served as a member of the State Senate three
The East Greenwich Academy. 331
years, and became well-known as a popular educator and cit-
izen. When, in 1870, he became president of the Chamber-
lain Institute, within the bounds of the Erie Conference,
Rev. David H. Ela was elected to fill his place. In 1871 a
class numbering twenty was graduated, the largest that had
ever left the institution. In 1873 Professor Ela returned to
pastoral work in the New England Conference, and Eev.
Francis D. Blakeslee became his successor. At this time the
seminary passed somewhat under the control of the trustees
of the Boston University, and assumed the character of a
preparatory school for that institution. For two years this
arrangement continued, but not meeting the expectation of
either party, the connection was dissolved by mutual agree-
ment, Professor Blakeslee being retained as principal of the
seminary. For eleven years, in all. Professor Blakeslee held
the position, this being the longest period, by far, that it was
held by one man. He was popular and beloved by his stu-
dents, and during the years of his administration there was
a constantly increasing attendance, and the classes which were
graduated compared most favorably with those from similar
institutions throughout the country. But for a number of
years preceding and during this period the school had been
burdened with debt. As the years passed, instead of being
diminished, this increased, as repairs were made or additional
expenses in other directions incurred, until tlie friends of the
seminary became greatly discouraged and alarmed as to its
future.
Owing to these circumstances, in 1884 the school passed,
by purchase, into the hands of a stock company, whose offi-
cers are as follows : Smith S. Talcott, president ; Rev.
Henry D. Robinson, vice-president ; Rev. Henry W. Conant,
secretary ; Rev. W. M'Kendree Bray, treasurer and financial
Eakly Schools of Methodism.
agent. This company assumed the debt, and elected the
Rev. Oliver H. Fernald principal of the school, the name
of which was changed, by legislative act, to "The East
Greenwich Academy."
During that academic year the financial prospects so im-
proved as to give great promise of increased usefulness.
The total number of students was five hundred and ninety-
five. In July, 1885, Professor Fernald resigned, and Rev.
Orange W. Scott, then pastor of Centenary Methodist
Episcopal Church, Binghamton, N. Y., was elected his suc-
cessor. Aside from this change there were but two others
in the board of instniction. The faculty, as it now stands
(1886), is as follows : Rev. O. W. Scott, principal ; Rev. Wm.
Rice Newhall, A.M., Frank E. Hathorne, John B. Hambly,
George W. Ehler, C.E., Prentis S. Daniels ; Miss Mary F.
Redington, preceptress ; Mrs. May E. Newhall, M.E.L.,
Miss Josie E. Reynolds, Miss Helen A. Partridge, Mrs. Ma-
bel D. Hathorne, Miss F. Y. Russell ; John McLeod, steward ;
George B. P. Hudson, librarian ; Mrs. M. A. Schoonover,
matron.
It is believed that this list of teachers will compare fiivor-
ably with that of any similar institution. There are now
^ve regular courses of study, namely : college preparatory,
Latin scientific, scientific, academic, industrial science. Be-
sides tliese there is English preparatory, one year, for thor-
ough drill in the English branches.
The institution awards eight diplomas. Another feature
worthy of mention is the kindergarten department, under
the Froebclian method, for cliildren under seven years of
age. Elocution is also made something of a specialty, under
a competent instructor.
Instead of the " one acre and twenty rods " first purchased,
The East Greenwich Academy. 333
tlie grounds now contain five acres, divided into play-grounds
and lawn, well cared for and beautifully shaded. Upon these
grounds stand the boarding-hall, the academy, and the
"Winsor House," where the principal and several other
teachers live. The boarding-hall is supplied with hot and
cold water and bath-rooms, while all the buildings are warmed
with steam and lighted with gas. The institution has a good
philosophical and chemical apparatus, a stereopticon, electric
machine, etc. The reading-room is well supplied with valu-
able papers and periodicals— daily, weekly, and monthly —
from different parts of the country.
There are three literary societies connected with the acad-
emy, two for gentlemen and one for ladies. As has always
been the aim of the institution, the government is mild yet
firm, and such as to aid students in developing self-govern-
nient, without which all other is insufiScient. One other
fact should be emphasized, namely, the decided religious in-
fluence exerted upon all who enter the scliool for instruction.
Recognizing that " the fear of the Lord is the heginnhvg of
wisdom," earnest efforts are made to inculcate correct moral
sentiments, to raise the standard of action, and lead to a gen-
uine Christian experience.
In these days, when the Bible is being driven from our
public schools, and there is a tendency to undervalue " foun-
dation principles," it must be gratifying to Christian parents
that they may place their children in an institution where
education is not altogether secular.
We can hardly close this brief history without special ref-
erence to those who have gone out from this institution to
places of honor in the world. Among those who have taught
here and been called to higher positions in educational work,
may be specially mentioned Dr. Tefft, who became educator,
334 Early Schools of Methodism.
pastor, consul, and editor in due course of time ; Dr. Allyn,
Dr. Torsey, who had charge of the commercial department of
this school, and afterward became the distinguished principal
of the Maine Conference Seminary ; Professor Tourjee, now
at the head of the Boston Conservatory of Music ; and Dr.
Edwards, of the Chamberlain Institute. Among others who
were students or members of the alumni^ may be named
Dr. W. F. Warren, president of Boston University ; Bishop
W. F. Mallalieu ; Dr. -Charles F. Payne, president of the Ohio
"Wesleyan University ; Dr. S. F. Upham, Dr. W. F. Hatfield,
Eev. William T. Worth, of Boston, Rev. I. J. Lansing, of
Brooklyn, and many other ministers in the Methodist Episco-
pal Church. But the pulpit has by no means absorbed all the
talent here developed. Graduates of this school have been
well-known in public life, such names as that of Senator An-
thony being conspicuous. Representatives, judges, lawyers,
physicians, and teachers by the score may be found whose
names appear in the " catalogues " issued year by year. Many
of them still remember their alma mater^ and as they meet
young people, hesitating as to a future course of study, di-
rect them to the halls where they found helpful instruction
in by-gone days. This kindly interest is greatly appreciated
by those now in charge of the school. To those waiting for
an opportunity of doing more for the institution we will
say that the library shelves are waiting to be filled with good
hooTcs suited to the demands of the students. The " Con-
gressional documents," now occupying considerable space,
are not read with avidity by the present generation ! But if
these could be supplemented by the best productions of mod-
ern (or ancient) thought, many a mind would be directed and
strengthened which must now wait for the hoolcs until the
time to enjoy them is past. It would seem that this, and
The East Greenwich Academy. 335
every school, should at least possess the works issued by its
own ahtmnL " A word to the wise is sufficient."
In closing we would say, that the present outlook of this
honored institution is very promising. Its financial interests
are in the hands of competent Christian gentlemen, who
have determined to place it where it can do the best work for
God and humanity ; and the corps of teachers in their em-
ploy are such as can and will develop all the resources at
their command for the best good of those under their in-
struction.
AVith the liberal patronage and support of the Church
most deeply interested, there will surely be a new era of
prosperity in the years to come ; and we look to see this
school celebrate its one hundredth' anniversary in the not re-
mote future with the descendants of those who founded old
" Kent Academy," and a multitude of later friends, amid
well-earned congratulations and songs of praise and victory.
336 Eably Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER XX.
OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
BY REV. PROFESSOR WILLIAM G. WILLIAMS, LL.D.
This largest and most successful school in the Methodist
Episcojjal Church is located at the famous White Sulphur
Springs, in the beautiful central city of Delaware, O. With
the hope of providing a Saratoga in the West, in the year
1833 two enterprising citizens, Thomas W. Powell and Co-
lumbus W. Kent, erected, on a lot of ten acres, an elegant
structure, at an expense of about $25,000, including cost of
ground. This was opened as a hotel, under the name of the
Mansion House. This fine property was, in the year 1841,
transferred by Mr. Powell, who had become the sole propri-
etor, to a board of trustees, in trust for educational purposes,
under the joint control of the Ohio and North Ohio Confer-
ences of the Methodist Episcopal Church. By subsequent
purchases the college campus was increased to about twenty-
five acres, not including the grounds of Monnett Hall. A
special charter, conferring university powers, was granted
by the Legislature in March, 1842. This charter was so
amended as to give the control, through a board of twenty-
one trustees, to the four Ohio Conferences, instead of the two
which covered the whole territory when the first charter was
obtained. At the first meeting of the board of trustees the
Rev. Edward Thomson, M.D., was elected president of the
university, with the understanding that the appointment was
for tlie time but nominal, as the college was not yet pre-
pared to open its doors. A preparatory school was but in
Ohio Wesleyan University. 337
operation, under the able management of Rev. Solomon
Howard, A.M.
The university opened November 13, 1844, with the fol-
lowing board of instruction : Rev. Edward Thomson, M.D.,
president ; Rev. Herman M. Johnson, A.M., professor of
ancient languages ; Rev. Solomon Howard, A.M., professor
of mathematics ; William G. Williams, A.B., principal of the
preparatory department ; Enoch G. Dial, assistant in the pre-
paratory department. Dr. Thomson was detained by other
duties from entering upon duty in the university for nearly
two years. But twenty-nine students presented themselves
for enrollment in the college. After examination, these
were assigned to the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes,
giving the professors full work, though their classes were
small. At the opening only males were admitted to the
privileges of the university.
The salaries paid, or rather promised, the faculty, were
gauged by the resources which the board hoped to have at
their command by the end of the year. The president's sal-
ary was Hxed at $800 ; the professoi-s were to be paid $600
each, and the teachers in the preparatory department $400
and $350 respectively ; but it was many years before even
these meager salaries were paid as they became due.
The increase in the number of students was quite as rapid
as was desirable with the limited means of the university to
support a sufficient number of teachers. The catalogue
enrollment for the first year was one hundred and ten ; for
the year 1850 it was two hundred and fifty-seven ; the next
year showed five hundred and six names on the books. This
sudden increase was due to the system of cheap scholarships
tliat year put into successful operation. Four thousand
scholarships were sold; by this measure the income of the
15
338 Early Schools of Methodism.
school and attendance of students were greatly increased.
These scholarships are still held by thousands of families.
The result is a large attendance. At no time, not even dur-
ing the dark days of the Rebellion, has the enrollment gone
as low as before the inauguration of the system.
The number of teachers was from the first too small for
the work imposed on them. The increase in number of stu-
dents necessarily brought increase in the faculty. The aca-
demic course, a few generations ago, embraced but little
more than the languages and mathematics. In our century,
the marvelous development of natural science has opened a
much wider field ; and the modern colleges have recognized
the rightful place of these subjects as a part of the academic
curriculum.
In the faculty of the Oliio Wesleyan University tliere
has been a remarkable permanence. There have been
but three presidents. Edward Thomson, D.D., LL.D., the
first president, was by birth an Englishman, but by growth
and education an American. He received a good classical
training, and afterward graduated in medicine in Philadel-
phia. In 1832 he entered the ministry in the Ohio Confer-
ence. In 1838 he entered the Norwalk Seminary as princi-
pal. His success here pointed him out as the fittest man for
tlie presidency of the university. For fourteen years he
filled and graced this ofiice. No college president in tlie
Church has shown larger administrative abilities, or won a
more enviable place in the affections and admiration of
college and Church alike. In 1860 he was called, by the
General Conference, to edit " The Christian Advocate" in
New York ; and again, in 1864, to the higher office of Bishop
in the Church. He died suddenly in Wheeling, W. Ya.,
March 22, 1870. Bishop Thomson's publications are nnmer-
Ohio Wesleyan University. 339
0U8, and his literary remains yet in manuscript are very
extensive.
Rev. Frederick Merrick was educated in the Wesleyan
University, Middletown, Conn. In 1836 he became prin-
cipal of Amenia Seminary, New York ; and, in 1838, pro-
fessor of natural science in Ohio University, Athens, and
rhember of the Ohio Conference. In 1843 the Conference
appointed him financial agent of the Ohio "Wesleyan Uni-
versity, to which institution he has since that time devoted
his life. In 1845 he was elected professor of natural sci-
ence, and was made acting president for the year until Dr.
Thomson entered upon duty. In 1851 he was transferred
to the chair of moral philosophy, and, on the resignation of
President Thomson, was chosen as his successor. He held
this office for thirteen years; and then, in view of failing
strength, in 1873, he resigned the presidency and was aj)-
pointed lecturer on natural and revealed religion. This
relation to the college he still sustains.
Eev. Chas. II. Payne, D.D., LL.D., was graduated in 1856
at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. A vigorous
thinker, an accomplished speaker and writer, and a devoted
pastor, he has served some of the leading Methodist Episco-
pal churches in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. It
was from this last city that he was called to the presidency
of the university in 1875. He took his seat the following
year. His administration began in the gloomiest days of finan-
cial depression ; but the growth of the university during his
administration has been very rapid and great. A quickened
interest for the university was felt throughout the Church ;
the four Conferences were stimulated to renewed efforts for
the endowment; the school was advertised on a much more
liberal scale than before, and, not least, the university and the
340 Early Schools of Methodism.
female college were united. This measure, whicli had long
been advocated and worked for by many friends of both
schools, was at length accomplished in 1877.
The professors who have held chairs in the university are :
Kev. Herman M. Johnson, D.D., professor of ancient lan-
guage and literature. He was a graduate of Wesleyan Uni-
versity, Middletown, Conn., and before coming to Delaware
had held the chair of ancient languages in St. Charles Col-
lege, Missouri, and in Augusta College, Kentucky. Profess-
or Johnson had abilities, as an instructor, of the first order.
After six years' service here he accepted the professorship of
philosophy in Dickinson College, and was afterward raised
to the presidency. In this office he died in 1868.
Rev. Professor Solomon Howard, D.D., LL.D., had been
at the head of the preparatory school for two years be-
fore the organization of the college faculty. At that time
he was appointed professor of mathematics, but held the
office for only one year. He was subsequently, for some
years, principal of the Springfield Female College, and be-
came president of the Ohio University, at Athens, in 1852.
He died in California in 1873.
Rev. Professor Lorenzo D. McCabe, D.D., LL.D., came
into the faculty as the successor of Professor Howard. He
was graduated at the Ohio University in 1843. He then be-
came a member of the Ohio Conference, and preached one
year ; but, in the year 1844, was appointed to the chair of
mathematics and mechanical philosophy in his alma mater.
In 1845 he was called to the same chair in the Ohio "Wes-
leyan University ; and, in 1860, was transferred to the chair
of biblical literature and moral science. In 1864, by a re-
arrangement of the college work, his chair was named " phi-
losophy." To this department he has since given his entire
Ohio Wesley an University. 341
services, except in the years 1873 to 1876, during which he
was also acting president.
Rev. Professor William G. Williams, LL.D., was gradu-
ated at Woodward College, in Cincinnati, in 1844, and
the same year was appointed to a place in the new faculty of
the university as principal of the preparatory department.
In 1847 he was promoted to the adjunct professorship of
ancient languages, and, in 1850, to the full chair of Greek
and Latin languages. This appointment he held until 1864,
when his chair was divided, and he became professor of Greek
language and literature. In 1872 Professor Williams was
appointed the acting professor of Hebrew language and lit-
erature. In 1856 he became a member of the Central Ohio
Conference, of which body he has for twenty-live years been
the secretary.
Rev. Professor William L. Harris, D.D., LL.D., was
educated at Norwalk Seminary, and joined the Michigan
Conference in 1837. By the division of the Michigan Con-
ference he fell, in 1840, into the North Ohio Conference.
After preaching two yeai-s at Toledo he accepted the princi-
palshipof Baldwin Seminary, at Berea. In 1851 he was re-
called to Delaware, as principal of the academical depart-
ment, and was the next year appointed professor of natui*al
sciences. In this chair he remained eight years, till 1860.
In the meanwhile, by the division of the North Ohio Con-
ference, Professor Harris .had become connected with the
Central Ohio. In 1860, by the appointment of the General
Confej-ence, he became one of the secretaries of the Mission-
ary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1872
he was elected to the Episcopate.
Rev. Professor William D. Godman, D.D., was the second
graduate of the university, in 1846. He entered the min-
342 Early Schools of Methodism.
jstry in the Korth Ohio Conference, but, in 1849, served
the university for one year as principal of the academical
department. He was then president of the Worthington
Female College for some years, and afterward professor of
Greek for awhile in the North-western University, at Evans-
ton, 111. From thence he was called to a chair in his alma
mater. Dr. Godman is now at work in the South.
Rev. Professor Francis S. Hoyt, D.D., was graduated at
"Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and shortly after
became president of the Willamette University, Oregon. In
1860 he was called to the chair of natural science in the
Ohio Wesleyan University, and served in this department for
five years. In 1865 he was transferred to the chair of theol-
ogy and biblical literature, in which he remained for seven
years. In 1872 Professor Hoyt was elected editor of the
*' Western Christian Advocate," at Cincinnati, which office
he filled twelve years.
Eev. Wm. F. Whitlock, D.D., was graduated at the Ohio
Wesleyan University in 1859, and was appointed tutor in lan-
guages. In 1864 he was promoted to an adjunct professor-
ship of Latin, and, in 1866, received the appointment to the
full professorship. In this chair he has since remained.
John P. Lacroix, Ph.D., D.D., was graduated from the
Ohio Wesleyan University in 1857. A descendant of an old
Huguenot family, the French was his vernacular language,
and he had also acquired the German. In 1864 he was made
adjunct professor of French and German in the university,
and, in 1866, was raised to the professorship of modern lan-
guages and history. In 1879 he visited Europe in quest of
health, but returned to die at his home.
Rev. Hiram Perkins, M.A., is another graduate of the
class of 1857. He served the university five years as tutor.
Ohio Wesleyan University. 343
and then became adjunct professor in mathematics and as-
tronomy. In 1867 he became full professor.
"Wm. O. Semans, M.A., was graduated in the same class.
He taught eight years in different schools, and then was hon-
ored with a chair in his alma inater^ where he yet remains.
Professor Edward T. Nelson, M.A., Ph.D., was graduated
from this university in 1866. He then entered the Sheffield
Scientific School, and was graduated Ph.D. in 1869. He
taught the natural sciences three years in his alma mater,
then three years in Hanover College, Indiana, until recalled
to his old college as the alum^ni professor of natural history,
so named because the chair was endowed by alumni.
The matriculation books of the university show that more
than eight thousand students, not including ladies, have been
enrolled. Of these, one thousand and twenty -five remained
to graduation. In these Western States the channels of
business are so wide and inviting that it is difficult to induce
students to stay for a degree. To this must be added the
consideration that a very large number of the matriculants
arc poor, and are under the necessity of earning the means
of support in college by manual labor or by teaching. It de-
mands an extraordinary strength of character and zeal for
learning, for such persons, already competent to the active
duties of life, to remain in school from four to seven years.
Yet, of the seven thousand who have gone out under gradu-
ation, a large number have taken advanced courses of con-
siderable extent. The latitude of choice offered in the sc\'-
eral courses of study enables a student to shape his work in
school with reference to his anticipated business needs, and
so to acquire a rcsixjctable education without taking a degree.
More than two hundred have entered the ministry ; more
than two himdred are professors or teacliers ; nearly as many
344 Early Schools of MpyrnoDisM.
have entered the practice of law, and about fifty the practice
of medicine. The remainder are found in various other call-
ings, many having held offices under the State and national
governments. These graduates are now widely scattered.
The university is under the auspices of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, but it is not sectarian in its teachings. It aims
to be evangelical, yet liberal ; and has always had a fair patron-
age from other Protestant Churches, and even from the
Catholic Churcli. Weekly meetings for prayer are main-
tained by each class separately, and one weekly meeting for
all students in common who choose to attend. The propor-
tion of religious students in the college classes increases with
the advancement of the class ; and few pass through the col-
lege course without becoming hopefully pious.
The religious zeal of the students led to the establishment
in the university, and the successful working for a long time,
of a Missionary Lyceum. From this association, and largely
through influences there begotten, a goodly number of the
graduates have been led to devote themselves to the foreign
missionary work.* For some years a Young Men's Chris-
tian Association has been sustained in the school. Of the.
young men preparing for the ministry those who are licen-
tiates are faithful in evangelical work in the city and in the
neighboring country.
LITERARY SOCIETIES.
The students have five literary societies. Of these the
Zetagathean, the Christomathean, and the Athenian are con-
* One of this number, Rev. Dr. Scott, of the India Mission, has sent to the
university a complete pantheon of the idols of Hindostan. Tliey are in mar-
ble, gilt, about sixty in number, and constitute, perhaps, the finest collection in
the United States. Tiie Lyceum has many other symbols from heathen lands.
Ohio Wksleyan University. 345
fined to the college classes. They have well-furnished halls.
The Meleterian and Philomathean societies are sustained bj
the students in the preparatory classes.
The ladies of Monnett Hall have two literary societies,
with large and tastefully furnished halls. The beneficial in-
fluence of these upon the members is very decided.
The Greek-letter societies have eight chapters in this uni-
versity. Their influence is regarded as salutary.
COURSES OF STUDY.
At the organization of the university there was but one
course of study adopted, substantially the same as had ob-
tained for generations in the usages of colleges. Its basis
was the classic languages. The study of Greek and Latin
occupied most of the time in the preparatory classes, half of
the time in the freshman and sophomore years, and one
third of the time for the last two years of the course. And
this general arrangement continued with gradual modifica-
tions till the year 1868. This, which was called the " clas-
sical course," or the " regular course," was the only one for
which a degree was conferred.
In 1868 a scientific course was first established in this
university. It threw out the Greek language entirely, but
required Latin and one modern language. In addition to
this, a certain amount of deviation from the studies of the
regular course was allowed in the sophomore and the junior
years in favor of modern languages, or additional scientific
studies. This is a safe coinpromise, and allows a sufficient
latitude of election, without, at the same time, prescribiuir a
coui*se which can be cjilled partial or one-sided. The degrees
given in the classical course are bachelor of arts, and, throe
years afterward, master of arts ; in the scientific course, bach-
15*
346 Early Schools of Methodism.
elor of science. A second degree has not yet been established
for the last course.
The normal department has been revived, and a fair
course of study, extending through three years, has been pre-
scribed, adapted especially to those who would fit themselves
for teaching in the common schools. It is the hope of the
university to make this course both attractive and useful to
this large class of youth. A professional certificate, but no
degree, is given to those who complete this course. All the
above courses are now open to ladies.
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS.
Nearly all students in this institution are upon scholar-
ships, and the income for meeting current expenses is derived
almost exclusively from interest on the Scholarship Fund.
The actual endowment is now above one third of a million
dollars, and each of the patronizing Conferences is at w^ork
to endow additional professorships. A number of special
gifts in cash, lands, or in legacies have been made.
Mr. Jedediah Allen gave a tract of land that brought
$18,000; Thomas Parr ott, Esq., bequeathed $20,000; John
E. JVright, $25,000, and secured from others $5,000 ; Phin-
eas P. Mast, Esq., has paid $10,000, besides other benefac-
tions. The last three are trustees. Mrs. Eliza Chrisman,
now of Topeka, Kan., has paid $10,000, and pledged $10,000
to the chair of biblical literature. Other generous gifts
swell the above to about $200,000. The library and cabinet
of natural history have been greatly enriched by purchases
and donations.
Originally no provision for ladies was made by the univer-
sity, but by the purchase, in 1853, of the residence of the
late William Little, Ohio Wesleyan Female College acquired
Ohio Wesleyan University. 347
a local habitation and a name. The price paid was $7,000
for the seven acres, and about the same for an additional
three acres. The grounds were beautiful and romantic, and
the house large and commodious; yet more room was de-
manded -svithin the first year.
New and elegant buildings have been erected. Of the
many who contributed to this cause, particular mention
should be made of Miss Mary Monnett (Mrs. John Bain), a
pupil of the school, who, in 1857, gave $10,000 toward the
building, and in recognition of her benefaction the entii-e
building is called
Monnett Hall.
The first president of this branch of the university was
Professor Oran Faville, M.A. ; and Mrs. Maria M. Faville
was the first preceptress. The formal union of the two insti-
tutions took place in 1877. Since then the doors of this
great university have .been open to ladies. This action
secured the university a large increase of students, friends,
and income. The distance of the principal buildings is at-
tended with some inconveniences. But the advantages from
the union are so manifest and so great, that, in summing up
the result, minor inconveniences can be patiently adjusted or
quietly ignored. Co-education in Delaware is an unqualified
success.
348 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEE XXL
CINCINNATI WESLEYAN COLLEGE FOR YOUNG WOMEN.
BY MRS. McCLELLAN BROWN, VICE-PRESIDENT.
" Our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace."
— PsA. cxliv, 12. [Rev. Ver.]
It is one of the most notable facts in the history of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church that she was the first to offer woman a
liberal collegiate education. The Cincinnati Weslejan College
for Young "Women was founded in 1842, being the first regu-
larly chartered college for women in the world. It was not
narrowly sectarian, from the first having had every religious
creed represented in its board of trustees, its faculty, and its
roll of pupils ; but the enterprise was Method istic in its finan-
cial basis, and in its able defense against pessimism. Hence
this historic college is one of the proudest achievements of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. A few institutions for the
exclusive education of girls were founded prior to that date,
but nothing affording the facilities for a liberal education.
There were schools and academies to prepare young men for
college, and for commercial and industrial pursuits. An
occasional persistent young woman found access to these,
ant! laid the foundation for a liberal culture. The schools
for girls were of a similar order, whether called academies
or colleges. At that time, it must be remembered, there was
not a public high school west of the Alleghany Mountains.
A scheme for planting a college with all the facilities and
equipments necessary for the broadest culture for women
was entirely new. It opened the whole question of possi-
Cincinnati Wesi-eyan College for Yoing Women. 3-1:9
bility, feasibility, and practicability of preparing young
women intellectually for wider fields of usefulness and for
self -competency. This subject was canvassed widely in the
newspapers of the country. It was conceded that the scheme
embraced a broad education in respect to the number of
studies involved, the manner in which they should be prose-
cuted, the conferment of collegiate degrees, and the conse-
quent ability for positions and professions, debarred, by com-
mon usage, from the sex. Pessimists deplored the threaten-
ing revolution. But it came — a revolution which bore on
its breast an impetus and power for the truest progress. It
carried into the very foundations of society a respect for
learning and aspiration, for intellectual development and dis-
cipline. It brought the fine arts into the household, and by
implication introduced to the model home, the sciences, not
physical alone, but practical and spiritual. It awakened the
dormant social existence to the high value of remote as well
as intimate human relations — to an enlarged view of the hu-
man race through history, literature, language (that magical
key to intellectual power and enjoyment), and through phi-
losophy, which is the condition of all science. These subjects,
when understood only by men, moved the external world in
material lines of progress ; but when introduced to the brain
and province of women, they thrilled along the nerves of
the inner life of the nation, impelling the right reason in
every advance movement for the betterment of social con-
ditions. This was truly an epoch of power in our civili-
zation.
Mrs. Mary C. Wilber, widow of the first president of the
Wcsleyan College, says : **With the old traditions reaching
back through the ages, with the startling newness of the idea
that women needed equal culture of mind and heart witii
350 Early Schools of Methodism.
men, to enable them to be truly 'corner-stones' in their
homes, in the Church, and in the State, it was not singular
that the plan proposed met with opposition. The prudence
of such an enterprise was questioned in the strongest terms.
It was regarded as inconsistent with conservative customs,
and hostile to true orthodoxy. But," Mrs. Wilber goes on to
say, " the originators of this enterprise were earnest men ; they
were also practical men, who, clearly perceiving the path of
duty, could not be discouraged by obstacles, turned aside
by either self-interest or opposition. They were convinced
that a higher intellectual and moral education for women was
indispensable to the continued existence and prosperity of
our government ; that it would be a powerful influence for
good in the home, in social life, and in all benevolences.
They believed in the elevation of women through education,
which is development; through labor, which is salvation;
through legal rights, which are only freedom to develop and
save. They believed these aims to be part of the mission of
Jesus upon earth, and authorized by him, inspired of God,
they are as sure of fulfillment as any portion of his law.
They were men of faith, men of prayer, men of deeds, who
believed in the immortality of the soul, the relation of each
individual to God, whom they revered. Such were the
founders of the first regularly chartered college for women
in the world."
These men were : Bishop Thomas A. Morris, president ;
board of trustees — Adam IT. Riddle, treasurer ; Samuel Will-
iams, secretary ; Josiah Lawrence, Asbury M. Scarles, John
Elstner, Harvey Decamp, Joseph G. Rust, John Dubois,
John Reeves, William Woodruff, Jabez Seegar, George W.
Townley, and ten ex-officio members of the Ohio Conference.
The executive committee: Rev. John F. Wright, Samuel
Cincinnati Wesleyan College for Young Women. 351
"Williams, Adam W. Riddle, Asbury M. Searles, and Harvey
Decamp.
Perlee B. Wilbur, A.M., D.D., an alumnus of tlie Wes-
leyan University, for some years a teacher in the Cazenovia
Seminary, at the time a member of the Virginia Conference,
was the first president. He, with his accomplished and tal-
ented wife, educated at the Cazenovia Seminary, conducted
the new college with vigor and skill seventeen successful
years.
The effect of this movement was ahnost electrical upon
the educational world. The needs and demands for better
culture among women being canvassed so widely, aroused
the enlightened communities to an increased interest in edu-
cational institutions for both sexes. Seminaries and colleges
increased their facilities, and new institutions were founded
more numerously than in any previous era. In the last
thirty-five years colleges have been established for women in
this country and Great Britain — some of them have been
well equipped and endowed, while the Cincinnati Wesleyan
has pursued a career of usefulness unparalleled in history.
President Wilbur died June 11, 1859. Rev. Robert Allyn,
of the New England Conference, was elected his successor
until 1863, when Rev. Richard Rust, D.D., was chosen to the
presidency.
During the year 1860 Bishop Clark was efficient in effect-
ing the sale of the original property, on Vine Street, and,
after paying an indebtedness which had embarrassed the
institution, applied the surplus toward the erection of the
elegant new building upon the present eligible site, donated
by the Methodist Episcopal Churclies of Cincinnati.
Rev. Lucius II. Bugbee, D.D.. assumed the duties of the
presidency in the new edifice in 1868, and continued iu
862 Early Schools of Methodism.
efficient management until 1875, when Eev. D. H. Moore,
D.D., of the Cincinnati Conference, succeeded to the office,
and soon afterward secured subscriptions for tlie college
from the citizens of Cincinnati to the amount of about
$25,000. Kev. Kichard Kust, D.D., Jr., became the next
successor to the presidency for the years 1880 and 1881,
when an indebtedness had accumulated for which the entire
college property was pressed to sale.
In August, 1882, tlie present president. Rev. W. K. Brown,
D.D., member of the Pittsburg Conference, and having
acquired a reputation as a successful church financier, was
informed of the perilous condition of the institution through
Dr. J. M. Walden, president of the board of trustees. He
went to Cincinnati, and, with Bishop I. W. Wiley and Dr.
TValden, looked over the whole field and pronounced the
institution redeemable. He undertook the work immedi-
ately, first securing a subscription of $10,000 from a friend,
Dr. C. G. Hussey, of Pittsburg. Pa., and afterward the
required subscription of $65,000 from friends of education,
chiefly in Cincinnati. One third of this was collected and
paid, the building renovated, and the school opened with
vigor the following September, 1882. Since that date he
has collected the remaining subscriptions, paid the debt, and
managed the incomes to meet the expenses of a prosperous
and continually growing school.
The property is valued at about $225,000, and is all clear
of debt, except two lots at the south end of the lawn, which
will be redeemed soon. The grounds are two hundred and
eighty-five feet front, by one hundred and fifteen feet deep.
The building stands on an elevation, twenty-five feet from
the avenue, named for the college, Wesley. Tlie structure
is an imposing combination of Gothic "and Corinthian archi-
Cincinnati Wesley a.n College for Young Women. 353
tectiire. There are two entrances front, three stair- ways,
and spacious halls and parlors of the most commodious style.
It is one hundred and seventy-two feet front by sixty feet
deep, with a south-west wing, forty by thirty feet in size.
The rooms are designed for two students ; they have good
light, very high ceilings, and excellent ventilation. Wesley
Avenue is one of the most beautiful and quiet streets of the
city, having no business places whatever — only private resi-
dences, which are all new and very elegant, and easily acces-
sible to all parts of the city.
The character of the work done by the Cincinnati Wes-
leyan has made its impress, not only upon tlie vicinity where
it is located, but upon the Church at large, which marches to
the step of woman's improved powers to do its work intelli-
gently and systematically. It has made its impress upon
general education, which waits upon woman's transforming
touch ; upon civil methods, which respond to the public sen-
timents of reform, the obligations of morality, and the arbi-
trations of equity in a new and more effective sense than
ever before. Women have been made acquainted with sci-
ence and philosophy in their practical applications ; with
languages, and their influence upon the inner life of a peo-
ple ; with the treasures of history, and the appropriation of
its lessons ; with the best and purest literature, and the devel-
opment of its fields ; with the arts of music, painting, and
decoration, and their practical application in domestic as
well as in the artistic world ; and, chief of all the acquire-
ments, women have been made acquainted with themselves,
as independent, responsible intelligences, having God's own
image upon, the intellect as well as the heart, and God's
injunction to discipline and use, according to the gift of
pei*8onal power and opportunity. Not in the sheltered home
354 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
alone have the acquirements and influence of these "Wes-
lejan students been felt most potentially. Brave and earnest
women have made some of the most desirable ways of earning
a living where loss of fortune has necessitated. They have
carved the path, and secured the right for others to follow.
Some have become eminent professors of colleges and prin-
cipals and founders of successful seminaries in different parts
of the world. Scores have become missionaries in all the
open fields of the world, Europe, India, China, Japan, Soutli
America, and Mexico. Ladies from these eminent Wes-
leyan halls have graced the highest social circles of Britain,
France, and Eome, and presided in every representative ofii-
cial home of the United States, from the greater than baro-
nial country homestead, to the more than royal White House
at Washington, where one has made an immortal record of
moral courage — Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes. A number have
acquired a national reputation in fields of literature, pliilan-
thropy, and civil reform works. Their names are household
words, and the children of the generation are called for
them.
The Alumnse Association of the Wesleyan College was
founded in 1852, the first among women. It was incorpo-
rated with the usual powers and privileges, and has ever
been, and still is, a great fortress to the institution. The
latest movement of the association is for the endowment
of the college as a university for women.
TuE Newark Wesleyan Institute. 356
CHAPTER XXIL
THE NEWARK WESLEYAN INSTITUTR
BY DANIEL P. KIDDER, D.D.
The year 1816 witnessed the first effort to establish an
educational institution in the interest of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church in the northern half of New Jersey. During
that year the subject was so successfully agitated that a valid
stock subscription of $10,000 was secured for the purpose.
The city of Newark was, from the first, fixed upon as its
proper locality.-
mCORPOEATION.
On the 21th of November, 1846, the subscribing stock-
holders met in the Clinton Street Methodist Episcopal Church
of the city named, and elected a board of trustees. The elected
trustees proceeded to incorporate the institution under the
title of " The Newark "Wesleyan Institute for Male and
Female Education."
Measures were immediately tiiken to enlarge the stock
subscription, to select and purchase an eligible site, to plan
an edifice adapted to the object, and to contract for its
erection.
CORNER-STONK LAYING.
So vigorously were these important measures prosecuted,
that on the 23d of September, 1847, the corner-stone of the
Newark Wesleyan Institute was laid, with imposing ceremo-
nies and under the most favorable auspices. On the 5th day
of November following, the cupola of the institute towered
above the city of Newark.
356 Early Schools of Methodism.
From a prospectus, issued in 1848, the following descrip-
tion of the building is taken :
It is of brick, seventy-five feet in length by fifty-five in width. It is
three stories high, and surmounted by a fine observatory. The location
of the building is at once convenient and admirable. It stands upon
an elevated site, between High and Shipman Streets, on the second
block south of the court-house of Essex County. The site extends
from street to street, and the building, being placed centrally, has
two equal fronts, with front yards extending to the street on both
sides.
This arrangement is in harmony with the fundamental design of the
institution, to furnish equal facilities for male and female education.
It, moreover, avoids the objections heretofore existing against the or-
ganization of similar institutions. The building is so constructed as
to furnish two entire suits of apartments, connecting together only at
the principal's room, the parlor, the recitation rooms, and the chapel.
Thus young gentlemen and young ladies who may be members of the
institute will approach it from different streets and enter at opposite
sides. Their study rooms will be entirely separate, and they will only
meet hi the presence of their teachers ; yet they will be subject to the
same government, and under the influence of a common discipline.
This institute is designed to be purely literary in its character, al-
though it will not seek to promote literature at the expense of Chris-
tianity. Acknowledging the connection that ever ought to exist be-
tween Learning and her handmaid, Religion, it will recognize and incul-
cate the common and fundamental principles of Christian truth, free
from sectarianism.
Its name, Wesleyan, is designed as at once a suitable tribute to the
memory of a distinguished promoter of Christian learning, and a frank
indication of the Church by which its moral and Cliristian character
will be guaranteed to the public.
OPENING.
On the 30th of August, 1848, the formal opening of the
institute took place. From an account of the proceedings
The Newark Wesleyan Institute. 357
published by the "Newark Daily Advertiser" the following
statements are condensed :
" The exercises of the opening of the Newark Wesleyan
Institute proved an occasion of high gratification to a numer-
ous assembly. At an early hour the beautiful chapel of the
institute, capable of containing not less than four hundred
persons, was tilled with an intelligent audience of ladies and
gentlemen.
" The services were introduced with a lesson from Script-
ure read by Rev. T. Sovereign, and prayer was offered by
Rev. Dr. Charles Hall. The inaugural address of Mr. Sidera
Chase, the principal, then followed.
"It was a chaste and classical production, evincing high
scholarship combined with thoroughly practical views of life
and its duties. It was delivered in a good style of elocution,
and listened to with profound attention. Mr. Chase first
drew a graphic sketch of society, and of the evils which mar
and threaten its well-being. He then proceeded to show
what constitutes true education — physical, intellectual, and
moral. All these phases of education should be combined
for the complete training of the individual. Mr. Chase's
address well sustained the general impression of his fitness
for the honorable and responsible position he is called to
occupy.
" Rev. D. P. Kidder, president of the board of trustees, then
explained briefly the general plan of the building and the
comprehensive system of education to which it is adapted.
From his remarks the following particulars are condensed as
items of general interest :
"This large and imposing edifice has been constructed after no exist-
ing model. Its plan wa,s devised expressly in view of its p.irticular
oljjccts. Two leading ideas are indicated throughout the whole struct-
358 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
ure. The first is that of a complete classification of scholars according
to their advancement and the studies they pursue. By means of this
the time and efforts of both pupils and teachers are turned to the
greatest account, and to secure it, not less than eight distinct schools
are provided for in this one building. These different apartments em-
brace the several divisions and grades in which the school is to be
classified. By simply closing the folding-doors of the school-rooms
six more apartments may be created whenever necessary.
"The second leading design of the building is an easy reunion of all
the classes at proper times and for important purposes. The daily ex-
ercises will be commenced at the chapel, by reading the Scriptures and
prayer, the whole school being assembled. Here, also, the merit-roll
will be periodically read and familiar and scientific lectures delivered.
" In the recitation rooms scholars of both sexes, in the higher grades
will meet their instructors, subject to a natural and powerful stimulus
to correct demeanor and scholar-like bearing.
" There will be observed on the walls of the building a lib-
eral provision of blackboard, so that every scholar may have
ample room for practice, and every science be reduced to dem-
onstration. All the school-rooms are furnished with rotary
chairs of proper sizes, and closets for the reception of hats
and cloaks. Instruction in linear drawing and in vocal nmsic
are to be free in all the divisions of the school.
" The parlor will serve as a reception room for visitors and
for social interviews between the more advanced scholars
and their teachers and friends. It contains cases for books,
minerals, and shells. The building will be heated throughout
by furnaces located in the basement.
" At the close of the public services," says the report, '^ the
gentlemen and ladies present passed through the building at
pleasure, making their observations at different points, from
the commanding observatory downward. There seemed to
be a universal expression of admiration for the appearance of
the edifice and the prospect it commands at every window."
The Newark Wesleyan Institute. 359
organization and school-work.
On the 6th of September, 1848, the work of instruction
commenced, with more than two hundred pupils in attend-
ance. Before the close of the year additions to the number
of scholars had been made, until nearly the entire capacity of
the building had been filled. The second annual catalogue
of the institute enumerated four hundred and twenty-eight
pupils, that of the third year four hundred and thirty-three,
and that of the fourth year four hundred and thirty-four.
The institution was thoroughly organized on the system con-
templated in the plan of the building. Instruction was given
by an able faculty, composed of fourteen teachers. The
course of study was ample and systematically progressive
from a first primary grade to a graduation in the normal de-
partment, which, in point of fact, was the first normal school
organized In the State of New Jersey.
From the chapel services, with which each school day was
opened, the teachers and scholars of the different grades were
dismissed to their several rooms. In the parlor any trustee,
parent, or visitor could find a schedule indicating the recita-
tion and teacher for each department and room at any hour
of the day. Clianges of exercises in the different rooms
were simultaneous, and signaled by tlie striking of a gong.
Friday afternoons public literary and musical exercises were
lield in the chapel, which had a strong influence in develop-
ing every department of study. On those occasions, whicli
were largely attended by visiting friends, the standing of
the pupils was announced.
The success of the instructional work of the institute was
marked from a very early day in its history, so that it be-
came no infrequent occurrence to receive visitors from dis-
360 Early Schools of Methodism.
tant States to study tlie pUn of tlie building, the system of
instruction, and the results.
The moral tone of the school was uniformly high. Indeed,
the religious element was so influential that a case of disci-
pline became a matter of surprise.
INSTEUOtOKS.
The highest praise has always been considered due to
Principal Chase for his great skill and efficiency in organiz-
ing and conducting the institute during the five years of his
connection with it. In his arduous work and unsparing zeal
he was supported by able teachers, several of whom in after
years became celebrated in important spheres of public life.
Of these mention may be made of the Rev. Drs. F. S. Hoyt,
N. J. Burton, and J. L. G. M'Kown ; Profs. B. Starr and G.
B. Sears ; also, of the lady teachers, Mrs. Green, who became
the wife of the Hon. Mr. Stoughton, and Miss Sperry, who
became the wife of Rev. Dr. Maclay. Mrs. Maclay died, as a
missionary in Japan, after many years of effective service in
that country and China. It was with great regret on the
part of the trustees that declining health made it necessary
for Mr. Chase to resign the principalship in 1853. He was
dismissed with resolutions of high encomium.
Prof. Starr was promoted to the office, which he ably filled
till the summer of 1856. Iluring the scliool year following.
Revs. R. T. Taylor and J. H. Knowles acted as joint prin-
cipals.
STUDENTS.
It is impossible to mention the many students of the New-
ark Wesleyan Institute, during the nine years of its action,
who subsequently became honored and useful citizens in the
various walks of life. The following, and probably some
The Kewakk Wesleyan Institute. 361
others, became ministers of the Gospel: W. E. Duryee,
II. Luinmis, D. II. Parish, II. M. Simpson, S. M. Stiles,
W. AVood, J. IL Vincent, and G. II. Whitney. The last
two named are justly celebrated for the influence they have
exerted in educational spheres.
PUBLIC APPROVAL.
Probably no institution of learning in the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, if in any other, ever rose more rapidly into
j)rominence, or, in its early period of action, gave more brill-
iant promise of large and continued usefulness. In evidence
of this the following specimen notices from the newspapers
of the time are inserted, together with tw^o out of several
successive series of resolutions passed by the New Jersey
Annual Conference:
The following is taken from the " Newark Daily Adver-
tiser:"
Newark Wesleyan Institute. — The following extract is from a
Boston paper of last week. It shows the opinion of an intelligent
Now Englander respecting an institution that has sprung up in our
midst: ''The best-arranged edifice and system of education for aca-
demical training that has ever come under our notice is the one bearing
the title at the head of this article, and situated in the beautiful city
of Newark, N. J. A new and imposing edifice has been constructed
after the most approved model, and with every modern improvement
and facility for health and comfort. As Providence evidently designs,
it is prepared for the simultaneous education of both sexes, and yet is
defended from all the objections that attach to the large public acade-
mies of this character. The faculty is large, and of a superior charac-
ter. The principal, Sidera Chase, A.M., has been for a number of
years in charge of a i>opular ladies' academy in Middletown, Conn., and
commences his new relation with a well-earned reputation for scholar-
ship, tjict in teaching, and amenity of manners."
16
362 Early Schools of Methodism.
The Kew York correspondent of the "Pittsburg Chris-
tian Advocate " spoke of the institution as follows :
A week or two since we enjoyed the pleasure of a visit to the Newark
Wesleyan Institute. Rev. D. P. Kidder, our excellent Sunday-school
editor, had much to do in getting up this institution. We wish to call
the attention of our friends to its plan and arrangement, especially
those who are planning seminaries in our Church. We regard it as a
model institution, embracing a better system, combining more advan-
tages, and at a less expense, than any other institution we have ever
seen, and they are not few in number.
The whole expense of the institution, including lots in the city of
Newark, building and furniture, will not exceed $15,000, and yet the
building is so arranged that four hundred students may be accommo-
dated and instructed ; and that, too, with no more teachers than half
that number of students usually require.
Equally favorable notices were published in the " Ladies'
Repository," of Cincinnati, and the " Sunday-School Advo-
cate," of New York.
Action of the New Jersey Conference.
April 24, 1850.
Your committee take pleasure in expressing their satisfaction at the
high degree of prosperity enjoyed by the Newark Wesleyan Institute.
It has been communicated to us that at the present time the institution
not only has three hundred scholars enrolled upon its lists, but also a
large number of applicants for whom in the proper departments it has
not room. In view of the powerful influence for good which such an
institution, conducted on Christian principles, cannot fail to exert, we
hail it as a valuable auxiliary in the great cause of Christian education,
and wish it continued success.
April 17, 1856.
Whereas, The Newark Wesleyan Institute, during the eight years of
its existence, has demonstrated a large capacity for usefulness; and,
Whereas, From its central position in the northern half of the Confer-
ence, and to a large and growing population it appears extremely desir-
The Newark Wesley an Institute. 363
able that its original design should be carried out, particularly in the
erection of a boarding department ; therefore,
Resolved^ 1. That, should the trustees of the Newark Wesleyan Insti-
tute resolve on endeavoring to increase the accommodations of the
institution by erecting a boarding department or otherwise, the Con-
ference will cordially sanction the enterprise.
Besohedy 2. That should the trustees for this purpose deem it proper
to appoint an Rgent for the sale of stock or scholarships, or for the
collection of funds, the Conference will recommend such agent to the
co-operation and support of our churches and people generally, and es-
pecially in the northern half of its territory.
Elected as representatives of stock — M. E. Ellison, C. S. Vancleve ;
appointed visitors — I. W. Wiley, D. D. Lore, J. T. Crane.
EMBARRASSMENTS.
It seems, indeed, to have been a cruel fate that allowed an
institution of such demonstrated capacity and promise of
usefulness to struggle with embarrassments of any kind.
Yet it came to pass that for lack of a comparatively small
amount of funds it was compelled to forfeit its well-earned
position, and surrender its corporate existence. That this
was not done without earnest efforts to avoid that catastro-
phe is shown by the following extracts from an appeal made
especially to the Methodist Episcopal churches of Newark,
which extracts also embody an official statement of certain
portions of its history.
On November 26, 1855, a called meeting of the pastors
and official members of the Methodist Episcopal churches of
Newark was held, at which the trustees of the Newark Wes-
leyan Institute made a full statement of its affairs and claims
for pecuniary relief. That statement in full stands recorded
in the Journal of the institute, but it can only be represented
liere by brief extracts:
The institute was incorporated with a capital stock of $20,000. This
sum was deemed a low estimate for the necessary expenses of the under^
364 Early Schools of Methodism.
taking. But it was found necessary to commence operations with about
half of the desired amount. Up to the present time the amount received
on stock account is $12,067. The following expenditures have been
made: for site, $3,851 88; building, fences, etc., $13,210 91; furniture,
$1,601 30; interest, $760 93; insurance, $60; total, $18,485 02.
The average cost for teachers' salaries and current expenses has been
about $5,000. This sum has been generally met by our assets from tui-
tion. Had there been no losses from bad debts, and no expense for
interest, the excess of tuition receipts would have been nearly sufficient
to cover all expenses. But as affairs have turned out, the result of our
operations for the last three years has been a gradual increase of debt,
so that now the liabilities of the institution are not far from $8,000.
A careful review of the history of the institute for the seven years
of its actual operation shows conclusively the important facts, first,
that such an institution was greatly needed; second, that it has been
very useful. On these points it may be remarked that the voluntary
movement by which this institute was called into existence had a very
obvious effect in awakening greater activity and decided improvement
in the public schools of the city. At the same time the institute
has furnished facilities for education altogether above the range of
the public schools. It has been instrumental in fitting several young
men for college, in graduating several young ladies, and in giving in-
struction to large numbers of youth now engaged in the active duties
of life.
It has at times been blessed with the awakening influences of the
Divine Spirit, and pupils of both sexes have been converted while en-
joying its privileges. Indeed, several of its students have already gone
forth as ministers of the word of life, both in our own country and in
regions far remote.
Few educational institutions have, in the same length of time, at-
tained a higher rank. Indeed, the Newark Wesleyan Institute is already
widely known and thoroughly commended, having again and again,
by the best of judges, been pronounced a model school.
When the institution opened, Methodism in Newark was compara-
tively feeble. We had but three churches besides the German, and
about one thousand two hundred members. Now we have eight
churches, with two thousand five hundred members, and two thousand
The J^ewark Wesleyan Institute. 365
two hundred and twenty-two Sunday-school scliolars, irrespective of
German and mission Sunday-school scholars,
Witiiout entering into further details, the trustees find themselves
compelled to inform their friends that a period has arrived when some
decided movement must be made in favor of the Newark Wesleyan In-
stitute, or its future cr»ntinuance will be thrown into jeopardy. Our
own convictions are, that the objects of the institution are of such im-
portance as to fully justify large sacrifices in order to maintain and per-
petuate it. But such an undertaking cannot be accomplished without
a concurrence of views and a union of effort upon a somewhat extended
scale. A literary institution in the interests of the Church should not,
and cannot of right, be dependent on individuals, but should be placed
in a position in which the whole Church will feel an interest and respon-
sibility in it. To secure this is what we ardently desire, and what we
regard as every way practicable.
Within the northern half of the New Jersey Conference are about
fifteen thousand members of our Church, and four times the number of
its friends having no other literary institution under their control or
patronage, save the Pennington Seminary, on the opposite side of the
State. To the majority of this large and growing population this in-
stitute is centrally situated. At the same time there is an equal Meth-
odist population in New York and Brooklyn, a share of whose patron-
age might be easily secured had we boarding accommodations.
The question now arises, whether measures may not be taken to enlist
the zeal and concentrate the energies of the Conference and its friends,
in conjunction with the local strength of Newark, to enlarge, maintain,
and per|)etuate the Newark Wesleyan Institute. If this be done, it is
certain that Newark must take the lead, and show an example of be-
nevolence and zeal in the cause of education that will challenge the
sympathy and co-operation of the surrounding community. For estab-
lishing a strong academic institution in this central region of the
Church and country we now have the great advantages of a choice lo-
cation, a good building, an organized faculty, a superior system of in-
struction, and a large numlx?r of j)upils already in training. These are
results that cannot be secured for any new enterprise without the lapse
of years, together with an expenditure of money and of effort far greater
than will be necessary to place this institute in an independent position.
366 Early Schools of Methodism.
To the future Newark Conference this institution will be very cen-
tral, and, if it be sustained and enlarged, there will be no difficulty in
concentrating upon it the Conference support and patronage. If, how-
ever, the Newark Wesleyan Institute, after so fair a beginning, shall be
suffered to go down or pass out of our hands, whatever place may be
selected for a Conference seminary this will not. Indeed, such an event
would be a serious hinderance to the establishment of any similar insti-
tution in this region for the next quarter of a century.
At the end of these and many more similar arguments a
perfect unanimity of sentiment prevailed, and the most cor-
dial resolutions were passed in favor of maintaining, enlarg-
ing, and perpetuating the institution. Unhappily, however,
after trial, the subscriptions fell short, and the trustees felt
compelled to sell out the property in 1857 for the sum of
$18,000. With that sum they liquidated their obligations
and closed up the transactions of the corporation with prompt-
ness and honor. For long, faithful, and disinterested services
in that trusteeship the names of the following laymen de-
serve to be passed down to posterity with the highest com-
mendation, namely : John Hartshorne, David Campbell, Will-
iam G. Lord, D. M. FitzGerald, J. B. Pinneo, James Jack-
son, and Benjamin J. Wood, while several others honorably
filled shorter terms of service.
SUCCESSION.
It is a gratifying fact that, although sold out by its orig-
inal stockholders, the Newark Wesleyan Institute, so far
from becoming extinct, has had continuous succession as an
active agency of Christian education. Its succession has, in
fact, been twofold, first in the Newark Academy^ which
purchased and still occupies its property ; and, second, in the
Centenary Collegiate Institute, of the JSTewai'k Conference,
located at Hackettstown, N. J.
The Newark Wesley an Institdte. 3G7
Newark Academy.
The Newark Academy was founded as far back as 1702.
Its location for many years had been on Broad Street, on the
Bite now occupied by the United States post-office and gov-
ernment building. In the year 1857 it was transferred to
the more eligible site previously occupied by the Newark
Wesleyan Institute, where it has been continued ever since
in successful operation as an institution for boys and young
men. In the year closing in June, 18^5, it had one hundred
and eighty students.
Its successive principals have been Kev. F. A. Adams,
Messi-s. S. A. Fan-and, Ph.D., C. M. Harrison, and C. M.
Davis, with Major Hopkins as an associate principal.
At the present time, as for the last ten years, the institu-
tion is under the able management of Dr. Farrand, who
temporarily retired from the principalship in 1865.
Its course of study, beginning with the English branches,
includes all that is necessary for the most thorough prepara-
tion for college, the scientific school, or for business life.
The institution now enjoys an enviable reputation throughout
the State, and in States adjoining. Best of all, the moral
and religious influence of the school in molding the char-
acters of its pupils forms its most prominent characteristic.
Centenary Collegiate Institute.
The history of the second line of succession of the New-
ark Wesleyan Institute commenced with the action of the
Newark Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in
1806, when, after due consideration, it was voted to " recom-
mend the erection of an academic institute that shall be an
honor to the Church and a blessing to future genertions."
Early Schools of Methodism.
In September, 1859, the corner-stone of the Centenary
Collegiate Institute, at Ilackettstown, was laid by Bishop
Simpson. In September, 1874, the institution was dedicated
and opened for school work, under the presidency of Eev.
George H. Whitney, D.D. Dr. Whitney has held the of-
fice of president from tliat time to the present.
The building was erected at a cost of nearly $200,000, and
was considered the most complete, and costly, in all respects
of any that had been built within the connection devoted to
** seminary work." Since the opening about $15,000 addi-
tional have been expended in improvements, such as a gym-
nasium for young men, a gymnasium for j^oung ladies, bath-
rooms, apparatus, chemical and philosophical, a room for
library, reading-room, and museum. Besides, several very
valuable cabinets, etc., have been presented by friends. Wliile
from the start the school has always been well patronized,
during the past four years the building, though accommodat-
ing nearly two hundred students, has been crowded, and more
than one hundred have been refused admittance from lack of
room.
The institution was opened with a debt of $45,000. During
the first two years the debt was reduced to $36,000. Six years
later Mr. George I. Seney voluntarily oflTered Dr. Whitney
$15,000 if the balance of the debt should be raised. The
offer was accepted, and within a few months the $36,000
were canceled, and not a dollar of debt has since been added,
all recent improvements having been paid for as soon as
completed.
Too much could hardly be said of the high intellectual,
moral, and religious standard tliat lias been continuously
maintained by this important institution, or of its brilliant
prospects for long-continued usefulness.
Boston University. o69
PART III.
CHAPTER I.
FOUNDING AND EARLIEST HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL OP
THEOLOGY OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY.
BY PRESIDE^er WILLIAM P. WARRBN, S.T,D., LL.D.
For the origin of this mother of our Theological Seminaries
we must go back to the first Centennial Jubilee of Universal
Methodism. In the spring of 1833, the year of that jubilee,
a " Convention of ministers and members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in New England " was called " to consider
the expediency of establishing a Methodist theological insti-
tution." It iifet on the 24:th of April, in the Bromfield
Street Church, Boston, and, after a two-days' session, issued
an " Address to the Ministers and Members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in New England," earnestly recommending
the proposed measure. Centenary offerings were asked for
the purpose of founding the contemplated school. The ad-
dress filled about three columns of the local church organ,
*' Zion's Herald," and produced a profound impression.
!Many, it is true, were not prepared to welcome the new
movement; but, with. few exceptions, the leading minds,
l)oth in tlie ministry and laity, favored it.
To continue and complete the work thus inaugurated the
convention proposed the formation of a society, in which
tlie adjacent Annual Conferences should be equall}^ repre-
sented, and which should serve as their conunoii organ in
IG*
370 Early Schools of Methodism.
locating, organizing, and endowing the new institution. It
solicited at the hands of the Conferences the appointment of
committees of five to co-operate with a like committee from
the Convention in the organization of such a society, and,
committees having been appointed a few weeks after by the
"New England and New Hampshire Conferences,* the three
delegations met in Bromfield Street Church, August 28
and 29, and founded the "Wesley Institute Association."
There were subscribed on the spot $1,800, another address
immediately issued, and tlie agitation proceeded most favor-
ably. A special column was assigned to the new school in
the authorized form for centenary subscription papers, and
in some cases, as at Providence, it was found that of the of-
ferings and subscriptions a larger part was devoted to this
object than to any other.
In the spring of 1840 both Conferences again took favor-
able action, in which they were joined by the Maine. All
passed, among others, the following resolution :
" I^esolved, That this Conference approve of the design of
the Wesley Institute Association to establish the contemplated
institution in New England on the general model of the Wes-
leyan School in London [finally located at Eichmond], and
that we will sustain the association, and heartily co-operate
w^ith the friends of the enterprise in the accomplishment of
their important object."
Each of the Conferences elected their five delegates to rep-
resent them in the association. In the Maine Conference,
60 great was the unanimity, that not one voice was raised
against the movement. Over $1,300 were subscribed on
the spot, and ten young men presented themselves as candi-
dates for admission so soon as the school should be opened.
* Tlic Maine was the only otlier Conference at that time in New England.
Boston UNivERSiroii^jOH^^^^^^' 371
Meantime several favorable offers of locations had been
received, one from representatives of Boston and vicinity,
one from Newbury, Vt., and one from Billerica, Mass. The
offer from the citizens of Newbury was of a site and build-
ings equal to those of the Newbury Seminary, on condition
that $15,000 were pledged toward the endowment of the
new school. In a meeting of the association, held on the 4tli
of November, 1840, the proposition from Newbury was ac-
cepted, a board of trustees elected, and financial agents ap-
pointed to solicit additional funds. At the same meeting
Rev. John Dempster, A.M., of the Black Eiver Conference,
was elected professor of systematic theology, and Rev. John
W. Merrill, A.M., then president of M'Kendree College,
pi'ofessor of sacred literature. This was the first theological
faculty in the history of American Methodism.
Unfortunately the finances of the new enterprise would
not admit of an immediate commencement, and the profess-
01-8 elect remained at their former posts. The financial
agents having regular pastoral charges, could do but little for
the cause ; and thus the spring of 1841 found the school still
unopened. Meantime the friends and representatives of
Wesleyan University began to agitate the question of carry-
ing the theological institution to Middletown, Conn., and
making it a department of the university. A recommenda-
tion to that effect was carried through the Providence, New
England, and Maine Conferences ; and when the Wesley
Institute Association met in Plymouth, N. II., September 15,
they deemed it expedient, in view of this Conference action,
and the report that $*20,000 had been offered for a building
in case the school could go to Middletown, to rescind their
former action by which the location had been fixed in New-
bury. They appointed a committee to confer with the au-
372 Early Schools of Methodism.
tliorities at Middletown, with full power to transfer and make
over to the university all funds, notes, subscriptions, etc.,
held by the association for the benefit of the projected school.
They even gave authority to this committee to make any
changes or modifications in the constitution of the society
requisite to the legal and effectual carrying out of this plan !
As but six members of the association were present at the
meeting, this remarkable action was afterward sharply criti-
cised. On the 20th of October, however, the committee
met in Boston, and, after conference with Dr. Bangs, then
president of the university, transferred all centenary and
other funds and pledges in possession of the association to
Wesleyan University, on two simple conditions : first, that
the new theological department should be opened at once ;
and, second, that previous collegiate education should not be
required for admission. Thereafter all protests against the
action of the meeting at Plymouth were useless, and, its mis-
sion apparently accomplished, the Wesley Institute Associa-
tion disappeared from view. The university redeemed its
pledge by announcing in l^Tovember the opening of a biblical
department. Nevertheless, no separate theological curricu-
lum being provided independent of the regular collegiate
one, and no new instructor being added to the faculty, it was
soon seen that nothing had been accomplished toward the
establishment of the desired ministerial school.
But while the funds of the original centenary organization
had taken this unexpected course, its ideas and spirit and
plans had kept to the original line. They were at tliis very
time working themselves out at Newbury, the originally de-
termined location. Newbury Seminary, at that time one of
onr strongest educational institutions, contributed at the very
outset not a little to the centenary movement in favor of es-
Boston University. 373
tablishing a theological school. Many of the best arguments
in the Chnrch papers were dated from that literary center.
Its bid as a location for the projected school was the earliest
and best. To prepare the way for its coming the Theo-
logical Society of Newbury Seminary was organized Sep-
tember 11, 1840. By constitutional provision the principal
of the seminary, if a member of the New Hampshire Con-
ference,* was to be president, the stationed preacher vice-
president. This placed Professor Osmon C. Baker, A.M.
(the late Bishop), at the head of the new organization. The
object of the society was the ministerial training of its mem-
bers under the oversight of these experienced officers. For
a time its exercises consisted of essay-writing, criticism, dis-
cussion, preaching, etc. Encouraged, however, by the Wes-
ley Institute Association's acceptance of Newbury as the lo-
cation of the theological school. Professor Baker and his
associates added, in tlie spring of 1841, an extended course
of lectures and theological text-book instruction. On rec-
ommendation of the Conference the department was still
further developed by the addition of facilities for the study
of Hebrew. Rev. Henry W. Adams, A.B., a graduate of
Middletown, was the instructor in this branch. The follow-
ing year Professor Willett resigned his chair in Wesley an
University and accepted the professorship of Hebrew in what
was now called
The Newbury Biblical Institute.
A few montlis later Professor Willett established a theo-
logical organ, known as the "Newbury Biblical Magazine."
Preparations were made to erect a hall for the theological
students. Some of the materials were purchased, but it
* The Vermont Conference was not set off jiniil 1844.
374 Early Schools of Methodism.
beino: tlibnsrlit wiser to wait the more definite action of the
Annual Conferences, the work was postponed. For imme-
diate use a portion of the existing seminary building, which
had previously been occupied by the ladies, was set apart for
the institute, and on the 29th of September, 1843, formally
dedicated. Professor Baker delivered the dedicatory address,
his theme being "The Call and Qualification of the Christian
Minister." At this time twenty students were in attendance
upon the institute.
In 1844 Professor Baker resigned his principalship of the
seminary and professorship in the institute to enter upon the
regular work of the ministry. Not long after a committee
of Newbury brethren visited the Boston Preachers' Meeting
to secure their co-operation in inviting the Rev. John Demp-
ster, at this time stationed in New York, to the chair vacated
by Professor Baker. The Boston brethren consented ,to
unite in the call, on condition that the school should be
made a general one for all the New England Conferences,
and that its future location shold be left to the determination
of the Conferences or their representatives. These conditions
were acceded to, and Mr. Dempster entered upon his duties
at Newbury. To carry out the new programme loyally, the
trustees of the Newbury Biblical Institute met in May, 1845,
at Winchester, the seat of the New Hampshire Conference,
and requested Professor Dempster to visit the other New
England Conferences as their agent, and seek their concur-
rence in tliree propositions : 1. That the patronizing Confer
enccs should all have an equal representation in the boai'd of
trustees ; 2. That the location of tlie school should be deter-
mined by the Conferences or by their trustees ; and, 3. That
$37,000, in addition to the $12,000 already subscribed for
the Newbury Institute, should be raised as an endowment.
Boston University. 375
The New England, New Hampsliire, and Providence Con-
ferences readily accepted these propositions, and appointed,
as requested, five trustees each, to act with the trustees of
the Newbury Biblical Institute. This was a resumption of
the original plan, set aside by the irregular, if not illegal,
action of the Plymouth session of the Wesley Institute Asso-
ciation. The constitution of that association had provided
that the supervision of the future institution should be in
the hands of the Conferences, each appointing five of its
governing board. It had also left the decision of the ques-
tion of location to a body (the association itself) in which
each Conference was equally represented. About the same
sum had likewise been fixed upon at the outset as necessary
for the first endowment of the school. Thus the original
movement of the centenary year, recovering itself from all
losses and delays, held once more on its way.
About this time the trustees of the Newbury Biblical
Institute discovered, that by the terms of their charter so
considerable an increase of their number as that contem-
plated in their proposition to the Conferences, was impracti-
cable. With commendable magnanimity they therefore ac-
cepted the recommendation of the Vermont Conference, and
transferred their work to the hands of the trustees appointed
by the Conferences. Dr. Dempster took the field as finan-
cial agent, and the thus re-organized institute of Newbury
became thereafter
The Methodist General Biblical Institute.
The task of raising $37,000 at that time for such a pur-
pose was no easy one. Even Dr. Dempster failed. lie ditl
his utmost for a full year, even visiting Great Britain, and
soliciting from friends of American Methodism there, but
376 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
still tlie sum total fell vastly short of the desired amount.
In the spring of 184Y, however, an eligible offer of location
and building having been received from citizens of Concord,
N. H., the trustees accepted the same, elected a faculty, and
on the 1st of April re-opened the school with three professors
and seven students.* A charter was procured from the
General Court of Kew Hampshire (approved July, 13, 1847),
and thus the idea of the centenary convention of 1839 en-
tered upon a new stage of its destined realization.
In explanation of the slowness of the movement up to
this point, many things should be remembered. First, it
required time to create a public sentiment in favor of such
an innovation upon the past practice of Methodism with
respect to ministerial training. This, however, was not so
great a hinderance as the general poverty of our people. A
generation ago our cause w^as in most places in New England
in all the weakness of its first beginnings. Yery few could
do more than meet the ordinary calls of charity and of
church work. Again, it was the period of the great anti-
slavery agitation, which led to the Wesleyan secession in
New England, and to the rending of the entire denomination
into two vast fragments. It was, furthermore, the time of the
great Millerite frenzy of 1843, and its most damaging reac-
tions thereafter. Many of the warmest friends of the school
* The following were the heroic professors who sacrificed the honors nnd
emoluments of the best pulpits of their day to build up, amid incredible obstacles,
the Concord Biblical Institute: John Dempster, D.D. (years of service, 1847-
1852); Osraon C. Baker, D.D., afterward Bishop (1841-1852) ; Cli.^rles Adams,
D.D. (1847-1849); Stephen M. Vail, D.D. (1849-1867): John W. Merrill, D.D.
(1854-1867); and David Patten, D.D. (1854-1867)— the last also serving in the
new faculty in Boston. Isaac Rich, Esq., the Hon. Jacob Sleeper, and the
Hon. Lee Claflin, later tlie founders of the Boston University, were the lirst
large pecuniary benefactors of the school.
Boston University. 377
had to firive their best thonf^ht and work to the defense of
tlie people against this popular delusion. In addition to all
these things, the support of newlj established academies, and
the endowment of Wesleyan University, then scarce a
decade old and greatly embarrassed, were connectional bur-
dens of special urgency, taxing to the utmost the benevo-
lence of the Church. Under all the circumstances, the chief
wonder is that the project of founding a theological semi-
nary was not at an early period entirely abandoned.
The success of the school in its new location was such as to
meet all reasonable expectation. Considering the means and
circumstances of the institution, a most honorable record was
achieved. It graduated two hundred and ten students, an
average of over ten per annum. It educated in part over
^ve hundred and seventy ministers, an average of nearly
thirty a year. These men are scattered through twenty-live
^r thirty of our Annual Conferences, at the head of foreign
missions, in prominent educational institutions, and even in
the Wesleyan ministry of British America and the mother
country. " One third of the New England Conference," said
a writer in 1866, " and two thirds of the New Hampshire,
are from this institution, while twenty -three more are in the
Providence Conference. To take Concord out of New En-
gland," he adds, " would be to ruin New England Methodism."
During all these years the school was constantly on the
verge of bankruptcy. Its chief dependence was the pittance
annually collected by the members of the eight patronizing
Conferences. To facilitate the work of securing an endow-
ment, as well as to obtain the advantage of a metropolitan
location, the question of removal to Boston was frequently
discussed. Once and again the trustees and patrons were de-
terred from action, first, by the financial crises of the country,
378 Early Schools of Methodism.
then bj the repeated disasters by fire which overtook our
academy at Wilbraham. The approach of the centenary of
American Methodism, however, in 1866, afforded just the
needed opportunity. Liberal subscriptions were solicited
and obtained, a new board of trustees organized under a
Massachusetts charter, and, in 1867, the scliool, with all its
trusts and traditions, was transferred to Boston. Such was
the origin of
The Boston Theological Seminary,
under which new name the school was carried on from 1867
till 1871-72. The prosperity of the re-organized institution
during this period is shown by the following annual totals of
students in attendance : thirty-two, forty-four, fifty-nine,
eighty-one, ninety-four. During this time, under a new
faculty, many of the ablest and most learned of American
divines, of various evangelical denominations, were employed
as lecturers extraordinary, missionary instruction was intro-
duced, a library fund collected, two scholarships founded,
and an annual report printed, now of no inconsiderable his-
toric value. During the year 1871 the seminary was legally
transferred to the trustees of the newly founded Boston Uni-
versity — the first completely organized university, with all
the faculties, in universal Methodism. Since that time au-
thentic accounts of its growth and work may be found in
the published annual reports of the president of Boston
University, and in the quadrennial reports of the trustees of
the university to the General Conferences of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, printed in the Journals of said Con-
ferences.
Briefly sketched, such is the story of the rise and early
fortunes of our earliest institution for the training of Chris-
Boston University. 379
tian ministers. Its foundei*s fouglit the battle for all that
were to follow. Its relation to the institutions at Evanston
and Madison is almost directly parental. To found the for-
mer Dr. Dempster resigned his position of honor and influ-
ence at Concord, and went forth to recommence the struggle
of his life in the great West. Happily Providence had bet-
ter things in store for him. A saintly widow consecrated
her ample fortune to the work, and he was privileged to or-
ganize, upon a financial basis such as he had never dreamed
of before, the Garrett Biblical Institute. The founder of
the Drew Theological Seminary was a parishioner of the
same heroic pioneer during the years immediately preceding
liis exchange of the pulpit for the championship of the New
England Theological School. The prominence of the name
of Dimiel Drew upon Dempster's earliest subscription book,
shows when and how that intelligent interest in ministerial
education was cultivated which culminated, in 1866, in the
munificent foundation at Madison. It is also a pleasing
coincidence, that the first two anniversary orators at Concord
afterward became, in precisely the same order, the first two
presidents of Drew Theological Seminary.
380 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTEE n.
GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE.
BY HON. JUDGE GRANT GOODRICH.
In 1853 there was but one theological school in the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. This was founded through the
labors of Rev. John Dempster, D.D., at Concord, New
Hampshire. The Methodists of America were slow to ap-
prove such schools, and it was felt that special safeguards,
providing against apprehended dangers, were necessary.
Mrs. Eliza Garrett, of Chicago, by the death of her husband,
had become possessed of a large property in the city of
Chicago, and, being without children and desirous of advanc-
ing the Kedeemer's kingdom, determined to devote two
thirds of her property to such uses as seemed most likely to
promote that object. She sought the advice of various
friends in whose judgment she had confidence, but none of
their suggestions met her entire approval. In consulting
ariotlier friend, her attention was called to the founding of a
theological school. That, she replied, had been the subject
of lier own thought ; the pious and heroic men who had
spread the Gospel with such wonderful success over a wide
and sparsely settled country, among a people largely deprived
of the means of education, deserved and should receive all
honor; but the more settled condition of the people would
lead to higher education and intelligence, and they would tlien
demand a ministry of higher culture, and to the training of
such a ministry she would devote her property. In Decem-
ber, 1853, a will was drawn to carry this design into effect.
Gaerett Biblical Institute. 381
Several coincidences indicate that her inspiration to this
noble purpose was from on high. About this time Rev. D. P.
Kidder, D.D., being informed of her intention, visited and en-
couraged iier. Also, in the succeeding winter, Dr. Dempster,
in pursuance of a plan to found such a school in the West,
visited Chicago, and, on learning the purpose of Mrs. Gar-
rett, was introduced to her, and, on consultation, said : " The
will of the Lord is clear, I have been directed of him, though
I knew it not." He desired to commence at once, but the
debts of the estate could not be paid under two years, and
until that time Mrs. Garrett could give no aid. Dr. Demp-
ster was not content to wait, and in December, 1853, he
called a meeting of a few friends of the enterprise, and pro-
posed, if they would furnish a building and §1,600 a year,
he would become responsible for all other expenses. This
they promised to do, and in January, 1854, a wooden build-
ing, adequate to accommodate forty students, was finished,
and the school was opened, under the charge of Rev. John
Dempster, D.D., Rev. William Goodfellow, A.M., and the
Rev. William P. Wright, A.M. The first term opened with
four and closed with sixteen students. The direction was
confided to a committee until the commencement of the term,
in 1856, when the government and property were passed
over to the trustees named in the charter. In November,
1855, its founder, after a brief illness, passed from earth to
heaven, with the exclamation upon her dying lips, " Bless
the Lord, O my soul ! "
The provisions of the charter, and the action of the Gen-
eral Conference on the petition of the trustees, effectually
insure fidelity to the doctrines and discipline of the Church.
The charter requires three of the trustees to be ministers and
three laymen, all to be members of tlie Methodist Episcopal
382 Early Schools of Methodism.
Church, and to be elected by the Kock Kiver Conference.
The policy of so limited a number of trustees, and of con-
fining the election to the Kock Kiver Conference, has been
questioned ; but we are certain that the history of the insti-
tution will justify the wisdom of these provisions. Uniform
experience demonstrates that a small board of trustees is
more efficient than a large one. They should always be se-
lected for their sound judgment, intelligent devotion to the
Church, and ability to give that large amount of time and
personal attention to their duties which can alone insure
success. While thus securing efficiency in the conduct of
financial affairs, the charter gives the patronizing Confer-
ences a supervision of the institution, by the appointment
of two visitors from each, who have the right to participate
in the examination of the students, to inquire into the
teaching, and to submit such advice to the trustees as
they deem proper. These supervisory powers are practi-
cally more conserving and controlling than one or two votes
in a large body of trustees. The charter shows what careful
provisions against doctrinal errors and misteaching have
been made. Kegarding the school as connection al, and that
all possible safeguards might be thrown around it, the trust-
ees, before the election of any professors, except Dr. Demp-
ster, petitioned the Bishops for their counsel in organizing
the institution, the selection of its teachers, and the general
plan of its management. This petition was referred to the
General Conference of 1856, which recommended that the
Bishops act as an advisory committee to counsel the trustees
of the Garrett Biblical Institute, and such other similar in-
stitutions as may exist, but disapproved the undue multipli-
cation of such schools.
In accordance with such action, the Bishops advised that
Garrett Biblical Institute. 383
no teacher be elected without their approval, and that every
teacher, before entering upon his duties, should sign a
declaration of his approval of the doctrines and discipline
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. These recommenda-
tions were approved by the trustees, and have been care-
fully observed.
In 1865 the number of students had so increased that the
original building became inadequate for their accommoda-
tion, and, as a pious woman had founded the school, an
appeal was made to the women of the Church to erect a
more commodious building, to be dedicated as a memorial to
Barbara Heck. The Rev. James S. Smart was secured as
agent, and his labors were so successful that on the 12th of
July, 1866, the corner-stone of a handsome brick building
was laid, which was finished, furnished, and dedicated, July
4, 1867, at a cost of $57,000. Of the cost of the building,
however, $25,000 remained unprovided for, which the trust-
ees were compelled to assume. This edifice ^Heck Hall) con-
tains a chapel, library, recitation rooms, and fifty-seven rooms
for students. These accommodations have heretofore proved
sufficient, but the institution has so grown in favor with the
Church, and the number of students has so multiplied, that
an additional building, specially for chapel, library, and lect-
ure rooms, is greatly needed. It is hoped the friends of min-
isterial education will speedily furnish the necessary funds ;
for it is the fixed policy of the trustees to sell no part of the
endowment property, and not to encumber it for current
expenses, or for the erection of buildings.
The financial history of the institute has been one of
marked vicissitude, but under the unremitting labors and
skillful management of the trustees, the generous liberality
of the Church, and the blessing of God, it has been one of
384 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
marvelous success. The endowment left by Mrs. Garrett
was in real estate, most of it in the business part of Chicago.
"When it passed from the executors of Mrs. Garrett to the
trustees it was mostly unproductive. The trustees put as
much of it as possible under ground rents, in which they
were satisfactorily successful; but the financial embarrass-
ments of 1857 compelled the lessee of the most valuable part
to give up his lease in the succeeding year. In 1860 the
wigwam in which Mr. Lincoln was nominated was erected
upon it at a comparatively nominal rent. This building was
afterward purchased, and converted into business tenements,
but was burned in 1867. In 1870 a block of brick stores
was built upon it at a cost of $65,000, which, with $25,000
assumed in the erection of Heck Hall, and $2,000 paid on
the purchase of the wigwam, constituted an indebtedness of
$92,000. This building, with two other brick stores, was
swept away in the great fire of October, 1871, leaving most
of the property not only unproductive, but encumbered with
the whole debt of $92,000. This great calamity left the
financial affairs of the institution in a most deplorable condi-
tion. But by the generous liberality of the entire Church
in its contributions for the relief of the suffering brethren of
Chicago, the institute realized as its share $62,500, and the
trustees, as the only means of paying the debt and securing
the support of the school, erected in 1872 a larger building at
a cost of $110,000. For the ensuing year the property
yielded an income of $25,000 ; but the panic of 1873 so bank-
rupted lessees and depressed rents that in 1878 we had run
behind $1,500, and the estimated deficiency for the ensuing
year was $5,000. The trustees called the faculty together,
and having submitted the financial condition, informed them
that they had resolved to sell none of the property and to
Garrett Biblical Institute. 385
contract no liabilities for tlie current expenses of the school ;
tliat the only way it could be continued was by an appeal to
the Cliurch for relief; and if that failed, the school must be
closed until its endowment could be relieved of incumbrance.
A meeting of the friends of the institution was then called,
and it was resolved to make an appeal to the Church to can-
cel the indebtedness and increase the endowment. The fac-
ulty generously contributed one fourth of their salaries ; but
little progress was made until, by appointment of the Rock
River Conference, in 1879, the services of the Rev. W. C.
Dandy, D.D., were procured. He entered upon the work
with a thorough appreciation of its importance, and prose-
cuted it with an intelligent zeal, an earnest but kind persist-
ency which gave him a wonderful success, not only in obtain-
ing pecuniary relief, but in awakening an interest in behalf
of ministerial education in the Church at large. Among the
numerous gifts obtained during this period was the noble
benefaction of Mi*s. Cornelia Miller, of Iowa, of $30,000 for
the endowment of the chair of practical theology. Through
Dr. Dandy's labors and the fortunate sale of some riparian
rights we are able to make the gratifying announcement
to the Church that all the debts of Garrett Biblical Institute
have been paid. Reliable progress is also being made toward
a handsome increase of the endowment, and the income will
be adequate to meet all current expenses, unless an unforeseen
depreciation in rents should occur. It is earnestly hoped,
that as the wants of the school are constantlv increasinor, the
worthy example of Mrs. Miller will be followed by others,
that thus the institute may be placed fully abreast with all
the requirements of the age.
Recognizing, as we do, these signal manifestations of
divine favor to this school of the prophets, we renew to its
17
386 Early Schools of Methodism.
present and future governors and teachers the exhortation
which was addressed by the committee who organized Garrett
Biblical Institute, and directed the first years of its history,
when they surrendered its control to the charter trustees,
*^ That learning however profound, human wisdom however
deep, the skill of logic and the grace of eloquence how-
ever polished, without the kindled fires, the baptismal unc-
tion of the Holy Ghost, are vanities and worse than vanities,
in fitting the minister of the Gospel of Christ for his holy
calling. ... Let all learning and science, however varied
and profound, be regarded as valueless to the commissioned
of Heaven, only so far as they arm him with more potency to
wield the mighty truths and unfold the saving mysteries of
the Gospel of Christ. Let Christ, the Divine Redeemer, and
his vicarious sacrifice, liis atoning and purifying blood, be
ever recognized and proclaimed as the only source of salvar
tion to a fallen world. In dread of the final judgment we
adjure you to fail not."
Trustees. — Hon. Grant Goodrich, president; Orrington
Lunt, secretary and treasurer; Luke Hitchcock, D.D., Eev.
E. H. Gammon, William Deering, R. D. Sheppard, D.D.
Official Board of Counsel. — The Bishops of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church.
Faculty. — Henry B. Ridgaway, D.D., president; Pro-
fessors Miner Raymond, D.D., LL.D., Charles F. Bradley,
B.D., Milton S. Terry, D.D., Charles W. Bennett, D.D. ;
Robert L. Cumnock, A.M., elocution ; Rev. Milton S. Yail,
A.B., Greek.
Among the retired professors, Henry Bannister, D.D., and
Francis C. Hemenway, D.D., both deceased, each gave twen-
ty-five of tlie best years of life to tliis institution, Daniel P.
Kidder, D.D., fifteen years, and Bishop Ninde nine years.
Garketit Biblical Institute. 387
Alumni. — A class of six was graduated from this school in
1858. Each year since has added to the list of the alumni.
Of the three hundred and twenty-seven graduates, the follow-
ing have become distinguished in the various fields of labor
assigned them :
J. Watson Waugh, D.D., North India ; James S. Chadwick,
D.D., New York ; Charles H. Fowler, D.D., LL.D., Bishop
Methodist Episcopal Church ; Darius H. Muller, D.D., East
Ohio; P. T. Wilson, M.D., North India; James H. Mess-
more, D.D., North India ; N. H. Axtell, D.D., Rock River ;
O. J. Cowles, D.D., Kansas; George E. Strobridge, D.D.,
New York ; John Boucher, D.D., Indiana ; J. C. Hart-
zell, D.D., Louisiana ; Joshua H. Rigby, D.D., Upper Iowa ;
Wilbur F. Yocum, D.D., president Fort Wayne College;
W. H. H. Adams, D.D., president Illinois Wesleyan Uni-
versity ; Nathan Bur wash, S.T.D., professor of theology in
V'ictoria University ; Spencer Lewis, B.D., China Mission ;
Edward L. Park, A.M., B.D., president of Simpson Col-
lege, and many others.
388 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER III.
DREW THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
BY HENRY A. BUTTZ, D.D.
The Drew Theological Seminary is the result of the
Centennial celebration of American Methodism in 1866. The
General Conference of 1864, in its arrangements for the
Centennial, expressed the desire that the educational interests
of tlie Church should share largely in the contributions of
the people.
The necessity for a forward movement in educational
work, especially in the department of ministerial education,
was felicitously expressed by the Rev. Dr. Abel Stevens, in
1865.
In his " Centenary of American Methodism " he thus writes
of the Methodist Episcopal Church : " It should especially
enlarge its means of ministerial education. It has done a
great work in the mere conquest of the popular prejudice
against theological schools. It has provided (as we have
seen) two such institutions — one in the north-east, and one in
the north-west ; it needs at least three more immediately —
one in the middle east, one in the middle west, and one on
the Pacific coast. It should have them at latest within five
years, and its proposed Centenary Fund will probably enable
it to provide them even earlier."
In the year 1866, Mr. Daniel Drew, a layman of New
York city, proposed to give $500,000 for the purpose of
founding, in or near New York city, a theological seminary
for the Methodist Episcopal Church. This most generous
Drew Theological Seminary. 389
offer was received with profound satisfaction and deep grati-
tude by the Church, and plans to put into effect this purpose
of Mr. Drew were at once considered.
The first matter which engaged his attention was the selec-
tion of a suitable location. After a careful investigation of
the various places which were suggested, it was decided to es-
tablish the institution at Madison, N. J., about twenty-seven
miles from the city of New York. The site chosen was the
valuable property known as the " Forest," belonging to the
Gibbons estate. It is a most beautiful and healthful spot,
about three hundred and seventy-live feet above tide-water,
and admirably adapted, in all respects, for the purposes of an
institution of learning.
On the grounds was the stately building known as the
" Mansion." It was found admirably adapted to the needs of
the school, its rooms large and high, having ante-rooms suit-
able for studies and offices for the professors; it also afforded
ample room for the library, which was to be one of the finest
theological reference libraries in the country.
The ninety-five acres of land that comprised the tract af-
forded fine locations for the residences of the faculty and for
the dormitories. The grounds "are laid out with great taste
and attractiveness, the original model being one of the finest
of the English baronial estates."
Over $270,000 were spent by Daniel Drew in the pur-
chase of these grounds, the erection of the necessary addi-
tional buildings, and in securing the valuable collections of
books that now compose the library.
The seminary was incorporated by the Legislature of New
Jersey on the 12th of February, 18G8. Tlie purposes of the
institution were quite clearly outlined in the charter, which
in its second section is as follows:
390 Early Schools of Methodism.
2. And !)€ it enacted, That the objects and purposes of the said cor-
poration are the establishment, maintenance, and support within the
State of New Jersey of a theological faculty and seminary, and of theo-
logical instruction and education therein, under the direction and
supervision of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in the United States, and in consonance with the doctrines and
discipline of the said Church, with power to confer on graduates of
said seminary proper degrees in theology, and to exercise the preroga-
tive of a university in conferring honorary degrees in theology upon
clergymen, with power also to oi^anize faculties of arts, law, literature,
and medicine at such time as the said corporation may see fit, and to
that end to appoint professors in said faculties, and through them to
provide instruction in the arts, law, literature, and medicine, and to
confer degrees in the same, and to use and exercise all the powers and
functions of a university; and said corporation is hereby authorized
and empowered, whenever it shall desire so to do, to change its cor-
porate name to that of the Drew University; said change to be effected
by filing in the office of the Secretary of State, of this State, a cer-
tificate signed by the president of the board of trustees for the
time being, by order of said board, of their intention so to change said
name, and upon the filing of said certificate said corporation shall
thenceforward be known by the said name of the Drew Univercity;
p7'ovidedy that said change of name shall not in any wise affect the title
to any of the property of the corporation ; but said corporation shall
have and enjoy all its franchises, property, rights, and privileges, and
have succession in all respects as if its name had not been changed.
It thus appears that the school was founded to promote a
higher training for the candidates for the Methodist minis-
try. While all the powers of a university were conferred
upon the trustees and faculty by their charter, they have ad-
hered thus far closely to its primary object. None are ad-
mitted from the Methodist Episcopal Church except those
who are local preachers, or who are recommended by a Quar-
terly Conference as suitable persons to study for the minis-
try. Students from other denominations are only admitted
Drew Theological Seminary. 391
on receiving satisfactory credentials of their standing in tlie
Cluirch from which tliey come. Thus the ministerial and
religious aspect of the school is strictly guarded at the door
of enti-ance.
The seminary was formally opened on the 6th of Novem-
ber, 18C7. The exercises were held in the morning in the
Presbyterian church, w^hich that society had generously
tendered for that purpose, and in the afternoon in the Man-
sion on the seminary grounds, known as Mead Hall, a
name given to it in recognition of the maiden name of Mrs.
Drew. The large assembly present, including Bishops, cler-
gymen, and laymen, with many ladies, showed a wide-spread
interest in the occasion. The faculty present at the time
consisted of John McClintock, D.D., LL.D., president, and
professor of practical theology ; Bernard II. Nadal, D.D.,
professor of historical theology. In carrying out the plan of
the trustees, two members of the faculty, a professor of exe-
getical theology, and a professor of systematic theology, with
such additional instruction as might be needed, remained to
be secured. The faculty, as constituted at the opening of
the second seminary year, in the autumn of 1868, was as
follows :
Rev. John McClintock, D.D., LL.D., president, and pro-
fessor of practical theology ; Rev. B. H. Nadal, D.D., professor
of historical theology ; Rev. R. S. Foster, D.D., LL.D., pro-
fessor of systematic theology; James Strong, S.T.D., pro-
fessor of exegetical theology ; Rev. Henry A. Buttz, M.A.,
'adjunct professor of Greek ; James II. Worman, M.A.,
librarian.
In the spring of 1869 the fii-st class (numbering nine) was
graduated from the seminary, and from that time until
now the institution has gone steadily forward in its work of
392 Early Schools of Methodism.
training young men for the ministry of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. Up to the present time some three hundred
and fifty graduates have gone into the ministry, and in addi-
tion a large number, who were not able to complete the full
course. They are in the East and West, the JSTorth and
South, and the school has furnished a large and successful
working force in the various mission fields of the Church.
In the brief period of its history, Drew Theological Seminary
has trained about one thirtieth of the present itinerant min-
istry of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In Febniary, 1870, the first president, Rev. Dr. Jolm
McClintock, died, and in the summer of the same year Dr.
iNadal was also removed by death. They were held in high-
est esteem, and their loss was deeply deplored, not only by
the friends of the seminary, but by the whole Church.
The Rev. Dr. Foster became the successor of Dr. McClin-
tock in the presidency, and Dr. J. F. Hurst succeeded Dr.
I^adal in the chair of historical theology. At a later period,
Dr. D. P. Kidder became professor of practical theology,
and Rev. Henry A. Buttz, professor of New Testament
exegesis.
On the election of Dr. Foster to the episcopacy, Dr. J. F.
Hurst was elected president, which office he held until his
election to the episcopacy, in 1880. Bishop Hurst w^as suc-
ceeded in his professorship by Dr. George R. Crooks, and
Dr. Kidder, who resigned the professorship of practical the-
ology in 1880, was succeeded by Dr. S. F. Upham. In
the same year Dr. Henry A. Buttz became president of the
institution.
The faculty, as now constituted, is as follows :
Rev. Henry A. Buttz, D.D., president, and professor of
New Testament exegesis ; James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D.,
Drew Theological Seminary. 393
professor of exegetical theology ; Rev. John Miley, D.D.,
LL.D., professor of systematic tlieology ; Rev. George R.
Crooks, D.D., LL.D., professor of historical theology ; Rev.
Samuel F. Upham, D.D., professor of practical theology, and
librarian ; Professor J. P. Silvernail, A.M., special instructor
in elocution.
Li the interval between these periods, instruction in the
various departments has been furnished by Revs. S. L. Bald-
win, D.D., J. T. Gracey, D.D., H. C. Whiting, Ph.D., C. R.
Barnes, M.A., S. Parsons, M.A., W. L. Hoagland, M.A.,
W. W. Martin, M.A.
In the spring of 1873 a great financial disaster fell upon
the seminary. Mr. Daniel Drew, the generous founder of
the institution, failed in business, and hence he was unable to
pay the endowment which he had pledged for its suppoi-t.
Mr. Drew had, however, before his misfortunes, done a
work wliich will bear his name and influence for coming
generations. He had purchased the property, he had put
upon it extensive improvements, he had supported the semi-
nary for nine years, expending upon it about $500,000.
He never ceased to deplore his inability to sustain the semi-
nary. Tlie shock to the trustees and faculty and friends was
very great, but, not daunted by the difficulties, the president
of the seminary. Dr. Hurst, and the trustees and friends,
came boldly forward, and the school was not compelled
to diminish its working force or to abridge its work for a
Fingle day.
Led by the indomitable energy of Dr. Hurst, the trustees
and friends devoted themselves to the task of restoring its
endowment. By the spring of 1880 the work was practi-
cally accomplished, and Dr. llurst, whose energy and wisdom
had done so much toward securing this result, had tlio satis-
17*
394 Early Schools of Methodism.
faction of seeing, before his elevation to the episcopacy,
the institution restored to more than its original financial
strength.
The library of the seminary from the first attracted the
attention of the management of the seminary. A nucleus
of a fine theological library was formed before the endow-
ment was swept away, and it lias been largely increased from
tiine to time. It is especially rich in Methodist literature,
and in hymnology. The trustees have determined on the
erection of a new fire-proof library building, of stone, with
reading-room and all modern appliances, for the preservation
of their treasures, and the work has already begun. When
this is completed the library facilities of the seminary will be
among the best in the country. Its text- books in bibliog-
raphy and lexicography, botli general and special, in English,
German, and French, are quite complete. Tlie Greek and
Latin Fathers, Abbe Migne's edition, make the set of patris-
tics perfect, while in exegetical theology the collected works
of the Eeformers, and the Codices, largely enhance the value
of tlie library to the student and literary man, to whom, in
the future, much more than in the past, is this library to
become the literary Mecca of our Church historians and
our theologians. Its collection of histories connected with
Methodism, used by Dr. Abel Stevens in the preparation of
his works, and the Creamer collection of hymnology, are
priceless. To these are added the library of the late Dr.
McClintock, and the collection of the late Rev. John D.
Blain, which, with the valuable contributions made by a
number of generous friends, constitute the Drew Library,
which, in connection with the equally accessible library of
the professors, numbers about twenty-five thousand volumes.
The seminary is devoted to the interests of the Methodist
Drew Theological Seminary. 39[i
Eiscopal Church, and offers abundant facihties for the
thorough education of its ministry.
Its trustees are elected by the General Conference; the
faculty is elected by the trustees, on the nomination of the
Board of Bishops ; and the doctrines and discipline of Meth-
odism are taught and enforced.
Within twenty-seven miles of New York city, very ac-
cessible to the metropolis, and to the Book and Mission
Rooms of the Church, Drew Theological Seminary opens its
doors to welcome the coming ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and to prepare them, with the divine
blessing, for their sacred work.
396 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
PART IV.
CHAPTER I.
CENTRAL TENNESSEE COLLEGE.
BY PRESIDENT J. BRADEN, D.D.
In 1865 the Missionary Society of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church intrusted to Bishop Clark $10,000 for the
establishment of a Freedmen's school somewhere in the
South-west. In the early autumn of that year he authorized
Eev. John Seys, D.D., and Eev. O. O. Knight, to open a
Freedmen's school in Clark's Chapel, Kashville, Tenn. The
work of preparation was intrusted to Mr. Knight, who with
his own hands prepared seats and other furniture.
The first teachers were Messrs. Seys and Knight, assisted
by Mrs. Mary Murphy, Mrs. Julia North, Misses O. D. Bar-
ber, Julia Evans, Nettie and Mary Mann, and a little later
Miss Emily E. Preston. All these assistants were colored
persons, with but very limited education, mostly acquired
after the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. The pu-
pils were of all ages and sizes. Children, parents, and grand-
parents were in the same classes. They were poorly clad,
homeless wanderers from the plantations of their old mas-
ters, and now sheltered in the barracks of the army, or the
abandoned cellars, garrets, or houses of those who had fled
through apprehension of arrest by the government. Never
did teachers have more earaest pupils. The w^hole chapel,
including basement, was soon crowded, While the other
Central Tennessee College. 397
teacliei*s taught the spclHng-book, primer, and easy readers,
Dr. Seys endeavored to impart to the numerous exhortei-s
and local preachers some knowledge of the doctrines of the
Bible, and of the Discipline of tlie Church. The following
specimen of the preaching, quite common then, was heard
by the writer soon after his arrival in Nashville, in 1867 :
" My brethering, I ha'n't got no book larnin', book 'ligion.
I has de ole cornfield 'ligion, and you'll find de tex' some-
whar' in de lids ob de Bible, and it am dis : ' Let me die de
death ob de righteous man, and let my last end be like
hisen.' "
This boast of the superiority of the "cornfield 'ligion"
was to propitiate the large part of his hearers, who were as
ignorant as himself. This preacher soon after learned to
read the Bible ; this, of course, changed his estimate of the
superiority of the "cornfield" to the book religion.
During the spring of 1866, Bishop Clark having deter-
mined to locate a permanent school at Nashville, a board of
trustees was appointed, and a charter for a college was
secured. This was accepted by the Freedmen's Aid Society,
which undertook to support the teachers, and otherwise aid
the institution. This work has gone on for nineteen years.
Hundreds of young men have been trained for the ministry,
scores for the practice of medicine, and thousands for teaching
in the public and private schools of the land. The church
becoming entirely too small, the school, in September, 1866,
was moved into a building known as the " Gun Factory."
This building was erected by the Confederates iis an armory,
but the near approach of the Union forces, after the fall of
Fort Donelson, stopped the work, and led to the abandon-
ment of the building. It was turned over to the school
trustees by the Freedmen's Bureau. The government fitted
398 Early Schools of Methodism.
lip tlie rooms, the trustees provided desks at an expense of
over $2,000. The services of Dr. Sejs and Mr. Knight were
required in other fields. Rev. W. B. Crichlaw was appointed
pastor of Clark Chapel, and at the same time took charge of
the school, with the teachei^s before named as assistants.
Over eight hundred pupils were enrolled for this year,
mostly in the primary grades. A few had advanced to the
study of grammar, geography, and perhaps physiology.
The ages of the scholars were becoming more like those of
ordinary schools. The government having ceased the sup-
ply of rations, the parents learned that freedom imposed the
necessity of labor for a living. Under what was called
" Eadical Eule," good systems of common schools were insti-
tuted in several of the Southern States.
General John Eaton, afterward connected with the Depart-
ment of the Interior at Washington, became the State super-
intendent of education for Tennessee. Under his influence,
the Legislature enacted a good public-school system for the
whole people. The city of Nashville also reorganized its
schools, making provision for the colored as well as for the
white children. The Church, relieved of this work of pri-
mary instruction, devoted the means thus saved to the prepa-
ration of teachers for the schools. To develop the principle
of self-help, a fee of one dollar per month was charged by
our school for tuition. Paying for education was a new
thing to the Freedmen. It was not surprising that, under
tliis pay system, the enrollment for the year 1867-68 was
but about two hundred. The city free schools were filled to
overflowing. At the opening of the school year, September,
1867, Rev. J. Braden, A.M., was placed in charge of the insti-
tution, with Mrs. Mary Murphy, Miss Emily E. Preston, and
Mrs. Sarah J. Larned as assistants. Tlie school in name was
Central Tennessee College. 399
a normal and theological school, without students qualified
for either. The majority of the pupils were in primary
studies. The few more advanced were too young to preach
or teach. A change of location became necessary. The
" Gun Factory," though built for Confederate war purposes,
the United States authorities ordered delivered to its private
owners. The trustees began to look for a permanent site
for the college. There was then great opposition to the
education of the colored people. A site in Nashville was,
after much delay, secured; that is, it was purchased, and
the sum of $8,258 50 paid for it ; but when it became known
that a school for Freed men was to be established on it, an
appeal was made to the Chancery Court. The court set
aside the sale, and ordered the purchase money returned to
tlie trustees of the college.
After some delay, another lot, of about two acres, was pur-
chased, in the south-eastern part of the city limits, with a
large brick house upon it. This was fitted up for a school,
and in November, 1868, the school, under control of Rev. G.
W. llartupee, Mr. Braden having resigned the position, re-
opened in this building. Classes were formed in the com-
mon English branches, also in algebra and Latin, and there
were a few students in the Bible and Church Discipline.
More room being demanded, the Freedmen's Bureau erected
on this lot a three-storj brick building, which during the
winter was ready for use. The Bureau also repaired the
building purchased with the lot, and erected a two-story
building for a chapel, and for dormitories. These improve-
ments, costing over $20,000, were all conveyed to the college
trustees by the United States government. The number of
students the first year in these premises was over one
hundred.
400 Early Schools of Methodism.
The next school year, 1869-YO, the departments becaine
more defined. Tlie teachers were Rev. J. Braden, president,
and in charge of the theological and preparatory depart-
ments ; Misses Maggie J. Herbert, Mary C. Owen, Jennie S.
Herbert, Mrs. L. C. Braden, Miss J. S. Avery, and Mrs.
George Bryant, assistants in the other departments.
During the year one hundred and ninety-two students
were enrolled. The school years 1870-74 exhibited a steady
growth, though the frequent changes of teachers and incon-
stancy of the students were felt to be great drawbacks to
progress. The stay of students in the school was influ-
enced by their lack of means, and also by the fact, that, in-
competent as they were, they could secure employment in
teaching, with fair wages. That being the case, they did not
see why they should longer confine themselves to school.
There was a great demand for preachers. Many of the pious
young men left school far too soon, to respond to calls for
the pulpits of the Church. Hence, year after year, the more
advanced students in the common English branches, or in
the preparatory department, left the school for these open
and inviting fields. Only two of the twenty-eight in tlie
preparatory department between 1870 and 1873 ever reached
the freshman class. Higher qualifications for tlie pulpits
and schools were needed, but they had to struggle on with
such as they could get.
When the Freedmen's Bureau finished the two brick
buildings, in 1869, it was thought that there would be abun-
dance of school-room for a long time. But the buildings
soon filled up, so that rooms which were intended originally
for two students, were occupied by from three to five. This
was the best that could be done. A new building must be
had or the school must suffer. Under the advice of Dr. R.
Central Tennessee College. 401
S. Rust, a band of singers, known all over the country as
" The Tennesseeans,'' went out under the direction of Mr. J.
W. Donavin, and by their fine rendering of the religious
plantation melodies of the old slavery times, raised in three
years about $18,000. This, with aid from the Freedmen's
Aid Society, through Dr. Rust, erected a four-story brick
building, fifty-two by ninety feet, costing about $20,000,
which for the time being amply met the needs of the school.
In the year 1874 the first college class was formed. It
consisted of Miss Araminta P. Martin and George E. Terrass.
The former was graduated in due time ; the latter left school
before the close of the year, and never returned. As the
students advanced in knowledge, it was natural for them to
become impressed with the needs of their own people. The
large death-rate of the I^egroes attracted attention. The
inquiry into the causes led to the discovery that multitudes
of them were living in places utterly unfit for human habita-
tion. They were crowded together in open buildings, or in
damp cellars, or in buildings with no ventilation. In such
homes, with coarse food poorly prepared, and with igno-
rant nurses, it is less wonder that they died, than that any
of the sick recovered. It was found, also, that it was not
always possible to get medical attendance. Some physicians
would never go till the money was paid for the visit. This
was often very difiicult for the poor people to do, and
many died because they did not have medical attendance.
Young men asked, " Can we become doctors ? " There
were two large medical schools in Nashville, but no colored
student could be admitted. There were no medical schools
in the South, and but few in the North, that the Negroes
could attend. ^
A Christian family living in the North, who had long
402 Early Schools of Methodism.
sympatliized with the slave in bondage, and rejoiced in his
freedom, learned of this necessity, and Rev. Samuel Me-
harrj, of Shawnee Mound, Indiana, paid the expenses neces-
sary for beginning the Meharry Medical Department. This
contribution was followed by others from the same donor,
and from his brothers, Mr. Hugh Meharry, Rev. Alexander
Meharry, of the Cincinnati Conference, and David Meharry,
with which ground was purchased and an elegant four-story
brick building erected for a medical college. This family
has continued to aid in the support of the school, and, since
the death of Rev. A. Meharry, his widow has nobly con-
tributed to a work in which her sainted husband took so
lively an interest. Rev. G. W. Hubbard, M.D., was ap-
pointed dean of this department. There were few physicians,
at first, who were willing to be known as lecturers in a med-
ical school for ISTegroes. There were, however, noble spirits
that dared to enter this work, and did so for low compensa-
tion, in order that they might help an oppressed and ignorant
people. W. J. Sneed, M.D., and K G. Tucker, M.D., of
Nashville, entered this work.
These were Southern men ; had been in the Confederate
army during the war ; yet, recognizing the necessity, tliey
entered this work at the risk of losing their practice among
the w^hites. The first graduate from this medical school was
James Monroe Jamison, in February, 1877. For many years
the medical schools of the city had been sending out scores
and hundreds annually, but never a son of Ham. Now a
real Negro was to graduate at a medical college in this city,
wliere Negroes had been bought and sold by hundreds. One
of these ex-slaves has passed through his course of study,
and is to receive his degree. The chapel was crowded, and
after he had delivered his thesis and had received the class
Central Tennessee College. 403
address from Dr. Tucker, and his degree from President
Braden, the applause which greeted the new-made doctor
was very hearty and prolonged. The event was rendered
further notable by the presence and address of Bishop Gil-
bert Haven, than whom the Freed men had no truer friend.
Dr. Jamison practiced successfully in Xashville for several
years, and then went to Topeka, Kansas, where he is still
practicing. The Medical Department had scarcely been insti-
tuted before there was an inquiry about law. The Negro
against the wliite had no chance in the courts, for, somehow,
the former always had a bad case, and the latter always a
good one.
In 1879 the Law Department was organized, with E. L.
Gregory, Esq., dean. Hon. John Lawrence was associated
with him in the faculty for this year. J. L. Whitworth,
B.S., B.L., and Hon. James Trimble, were afterward added
to the faculty. The attendance has been small, never reach-
ing more than eight or ten, and only one has graduated,
Joseph n. Dismukes, 1883, who has practiced successfully
in Kansas and Tennessee. The department is thoroughly or-
ganized, and is no expense to the Church.
It was the desire of the teachers in the college to impart a
more practical education to the students. Many of the young
women know comparatively nothing of domestic duties.
In the autunm of 1883 Rev. Atticus G. Haygood, D.D.,
agent of the Slater Fund, made an appropriation for an In-
dustrial Department. Miss S. A. Bai-nes, preceptress, assisted
by Miss L. H. Hitchcock and Miss M. E. Young, took charge.
The young women were taught sewing, mending, darning,
and making garments. At the National Teachers' Exhibi-
tion, at Madison, Wisconsin, specimens of their work attract-
ed attention for its excellence. Other aid from the Slater
404 Early Schools of Methodism.
Fund, in 1884, enabled the department to secure sewing-
machines and teach their use. This, with a teacher in cut-
ting and fitting, enabled the young women to place speci-
mens of mending, darning, crocheting, lace work, also gar-
ments cut and made by themselves, with specimens of fancy
work, in the World's Exposition at New Orleans. Other
needful industries will be taught as soon as the means can be
secured.
Two years ago Messrs. Allison and Smith, of Cincinnati,
Ohio, donated through Rev. Dr. (now Bishop) Walden, a
neat job press. The young men were organized into an In-
dustrial Department, under Dr. G. W. Hubbard, and soon
were able to print the " College Record," a small monthly
paper, and do such job work as cards, programmes, etc. Dr.
Hay good and the Slater Fund came again to our help. Ad-
ditional type and a larger press were secured, and also in-
struction from a practical printer. The young men have,
the past year, printed two monthly papers of four and eight
pages, and a large amount of miscellaneous matter. Some
of them have been offered positions in printing offices as
regular printers. In the line of carpentry something has
been done. Out of the slender resources of the college a
shop was fitted up, and four benches put in. These were
insufficient, but they developed the fact that some of the
young men were as anxious to know how to do carpenter
work as others were to study medicine or law.
Another building was erected, and more benches set up.
By the aid of the Slater Fund a suitable instructor has been
engaged for the past two years with most encouraging re-
sults. It is due to all parties concerned to say, that this In-
dustrial Department is due very largely to the aid furnished
by the Slater Fund, through the general agent. Rev. Dr.
Central Tennessee College. 405
A. G. Hay good. The commencement of the Medical Depart-
ment of 1885 witnessed the graduation of eight young men.
The theses of the graduates were of a high order, and de-
livered in excellent style. The appearance of the whole class
was that of gentlemen. They had all received a thorough
English education ; most of them had studied the prepara-
tory college course, and one had graduated and received his
A.B. There have been enrolled over three thousand dif-
ferent pupils since the opening of the school. To one who
has watched the progress of the school, day by day, the
progress may seem slow ; but, when it is remembered that
these students going out into successful professional life
were, a few years ago, the property of others, and com-
pelled to be ignorant by law, the progress is simply wonder-
ful. They went to work expecting to conquer. They have
passed from the primary school up through the several grades
to the college. They have passed on into the professional
schools, and filled their places in all these grades and pro-
fessions with credit. From the auction-block to the rostrum,
from the shambles to the professor's chair, all within these
few years. They have advanced, not only intellectually, but
in social and moral life.
The teachers and friends of the colored people are occa-
sionally shocked by the lapse of some of the most promising
ones. The Negro has his full share of the fallen nature of
the human race. The idea that this is a Christian school,
supported by the contributions of Christian men and women,
is kept before the students. They are required to attend
church and Sunday-school, and also the Wednesday night
prayer meeting. They are forbidden to use tobacco or intox-
icating liquors. The majority of our students are adults.
Some have families for whom they must provide ; some are
406 Early Schools of Methodism.
preachers in charge of circuits, who can get away from their
work only for a very short period ; others are teachers, who
can come to school during their winter's vacation ; and many
others are farmers, wlio run into school during the few
months that they cannot work on the farm.
While this shows the desire for learning on the part of
the students, it also reveals the obstacles in the way of thor-
ough and regular classification, and the impossibility of hav-
ing large classes in the college course, or in any of the pro-
fessional schools.
The Theological Department.
The necessity for a more intelligent ministry was impera-
tive. Many of the canditates for the ministry at the close of
the war were not able to read. They needed primary in-
struction in the common English studies, yet they were ad-
mitted into the Conferences as the best that could be done.
Some of these came to school. Their biblical instruction
was of the most elementary character. The progress in real
theological study was very slow, as the greater part of the
w^ork for these students was to learn to read, write, and get
some knowledge of arithmetic. As students advanced, the
course of study was gradually increased, till the whole course
of systematic, historical, pastoral, and dogmatic theology,
with Greek and Hebrew, was embraced. In 1882 the first
graduate, Julius J. Holland, in this department received his
diploma, with the degree B.D., he having received the de-
gree of A.B. in 1881. R. Harper and E. Tyree were grad-
uated the next year in the shorter course, and received cer-
tificates of graduation.
In 1883 Rev. D. M. Birmingham was appointed dean, and
succeeded admirably in organizing the department, when, to
Central Tennessee College. 407
tlie regret of all, he was compelled, at the end of the fourth
month, to leave the work. Professor Patterson, who has
long been connected with the college, supplied his place the
balance of the year. L. M. Ilagood and A. W. McKinnej
received certificates of graduation at the end of this year.
In 1884 Rev. R. "W. Keeler, of the Upper Iowa Conference,
was appointed dean, and entered upon the work with enthu-
siastic zeal. He succeeded in getting the department into
good working order.
The most important factor in the real elevation of the
Negro, and in the solution of many of the problems con-
nected with his dwelling in this country, is the pulpit. No
labor or expense should be spared to make it a power for the
highest good. Over two hundred students have been
enrolled in the department of theology, and the average
attendance for sixteen years is twenty-eight. These students
are scattered through eight or more Conferences of our own
Church, and in nearly as many more of the other branches
of Methodism, as well as a few in the Baptist, Presbyterian,
and other Churches. They occupy positions in the pastorate
in cities like St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, and Cincin-
nati. They are principals of institutions of learning, presid-
ing eldei*s, secretaries of church societies, and successful
preachers of the Gospel in most of the Southern States, and
in some States north of the Ohio.
If this school had done nothing more than give this band
of earnest ministers to the Church, that alone would have
remunerated all the outlay for buildings and support which
the Church has made.
408 Early Schools of Methodism.
CHAPTER 11.
CLARK UNIVERSITY.
BY PRESIDENT REV, E. 0. THAYER, A.M.
Bishop Davis W. Clakk, D.D., was one of the founders,
and the first president, of the Freed men's Aid Society of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his episcopal tours he
traversed the war-devastated South, and in his pathway-
sprang up churches and schools for all classes of people.
Clark ^University is only one of the institutions established
by his wisdom and fostered by his zeal. He recognized
Atlanta as the best location in the South for a large univer-
sity. He early formed a purpose to make Clark Univer-
sity a training-school for ministers and teachers ; and at his
death he left a generous legacy for the accomplishment of
one of the cherished purposes of his life.
Others took up the work as he left it, and have brought it
to a condition of success that surpasses even Bishop Clark's
fondest hopes. Bishop Gilbert Haven, with his statesman-
like foresight, saw the possibilities of such a school in 'the
central South, and he laid the foundations broad and deep,
and planned a superstructure that many of his coadjutors
called visionary. But the rapidly rolling years are proving
that he had the eye of a prophet, as well as of a statesman,
and with it saw a greater future for Atlanta and the South,
and the Freedmen, than most of his contemporaries. By
his own personal effort, at the risk of his own private
resources, and in spite of opposition, he purchased four hun-
dred and fifty acres of land, within two miles of the heart of
Clakk University. 409
tlie city, which is rapidly spreading to and around the prop-
erty. In a few years this will furnish an endowment that
will make Clark University a permanent educational center
from which shall radiate the light of wisdom and salvation
to generations yet unborn.
Bishop Haven lived long enough to stand on the founda-
tion walls of Chrisman Hall, and look out upon the beauti-
ful city of Atlanta, and rejoice that its citizens could see
from their windows the stately structure reminding them
that the colored man had friends who were trying to make
him worthy of freedom and suffrage. From there he went
to his Northern home, and soon joined Bishop Clark in his
eternal rest. He left the work incomplete, but God raised
up others to carry it on.
Rev. R. S. Rust, D.D., as field superintendent and secre-
tary, had been toiling on, all these years, and had seen these
noble co-workers fall at his side. Though almost heart-
broken at the loss of Bishop Haven, whom he loved as a
brother, and shoulder to shoulder with whom he had been
carrying heavy burdens, he bravely assumed all responsi-
bilities, and endeavored to carry out all the Bishop's great
plans. ** Chrisman Hall must be finished " were his words.
Mrs. Eliza Chrisman, in whose honor the building was
named, had donated §10,000. Dr. Rust assumed the remain-
ing $20,000, and the work was done. Bishop Warren was
next assigned to the Southern field, and entered, with his
large heart and earnest soul, upon the work of finishing the
superstmcture so well begun by his predecessors. Gammon
Hall and the industrial department stand as monuments of
his zeal and wisdom.
18
410 Eakly Schools of Methodism.
STEPS OF PROGRESS.
But we must leave this general survey of the work and its
leading spirits, and, retracing oar steps, look at the history
more in detail.
The university began as a primary and normal school in
1869. The third annual report of the Freedmen's Aid Soci-
ety says that Atlanta was chosen as the location for a normal
school, " that it might give tone and influence to our move-
ments all over the State ; for Atlanta is the gate- way to the
South, and exerts a controlling influence over it." At this
time the society supported primary schools in nearly all the
large towns of the State, thus making Clark University the
center of the system. It is a matter of regret that lack of
funds has compelled the society to abandon all but two of
these feeders of the university. The first sessions were held
in Clark Chapel, under the supervision of Kev. J. W. Lee,
whose name is still held in affectionate remembrance by
scores of men and women who received their first inspira-
tion for lives of Christian usefulness from his instructions.
Press of ministerial duties to which his life was devoted
compelled Mr. Lee to surrender the work to Rev. D.
W. Hammond, who selected as his assistants Miss Leila
Fuller and Miss Mary Dickinson. During this year a
large brick school-house was purchased for $5,000. For
tome reason the school again changed leaders, Miss Lou Hen-
ley becoming principal. Late in the year 1870, Mr. Uriah
Cleary assumed the master's ferrule, and ruled over one
hundred and thirty students, with the assistance of Mrs. Lida
E. Lee and Miss Sarah Echelberger. In February, 1872,
tlie school, with its teachers, Mrs. Mary and Miss Oldfield,
under the principalship of Rev. I. Marcy, A.M., passed
Clark University. 411
under the control of the city of Atlanta, according to an
agreement by which the latter received the use of the school-
house, and in return paid the salaries of the teachers, who
were still to be selected by the society. This was considered
an advantageous arrangement, as it left the society free to
use its funds in establishing a theological school, in compli-
ance with the wishes of Bishop Clark, who had left, by will,
an endowment fund of several thousand dollars. Accord-
ingly the Clark Theological Seminary was opened in Febru-
ary, 1872, with Eev. L. D. Barrows, D.D., as dean, in a new
building purchased for the purpose. In describing this
opening the annual report thus enthusiastically speaks : " The
grounds are ample for any additional buildings that may
be hereafter required. The entire property is well adapted
to the design in view, and its purchase marks a new era in
our rapidly advancing Southern work. The fulfillment of
fond hopes is about to be realized in the better preparation
of the scores who are yearly entering our ministerial ranks."
Little did these earnest men realize how soon these grounds
would become too small to accommodate the rapidly expand-
ing university, and the *' school of the prophets " be lodged
in a mansion nearly large enough to cover the whole site.
God had provided greater things than man's feeble faith
could anticipate.
Rev. E. Q. Fuller, D.D., of sainted memory, llevs. J. H.
Knowles, A.M., and Rev. J. W. Lee, A.M., assisted Dr. Bar-
rows in his important work. Dr. Fuller was always a warm
friend of the school, advocating it in the North, securing
students, advising in all its steps of progress, and giving
generously from his own scanty means. lie deserves some
memorial on its campus as a token of gratitude from those
to whose service he gave his labors and his life.
412 Early Schools of Methodism.
Twentj-six students were enrolled during the first month,
several of whom are now occupying prominent positions in
various Southern Conferences. Dr. Barrows, who was but
temporarily in the South for his health, returned to his
Northern home during the year, hoping to continue in his
chosen life-work ; but soon he was called to his heavenly
reward and rest. Rev. J. W. Lee was again called to stand
in the breach, which he did manfully, in connection with
other duties, till the fall of 1874, with Professor Gosling
and Mrs. Lee, when Rev. I. J. Lansing, A.M., was elected
president.
In the meantime the city had purchased the old school-
building, and the society no longer furnished teachers for
the public schools. Accordingly, under Mr. Lansing's presi-
dency, the various courses of study were reorganized, and
the theological school again became one of the departments
of a university. The reputation of the school began to
spread, students came crowding in, and a new frame build-
ing was erected to accommodate the increase. Mr. Lansing
resigned at the close of his second year, much to the regret
of all, but he felt that his call was to the pulpit and nut to
the school -room. He has frequently since employed his
oratorical powers in awakening sympathy and securing aid
for the Freedmen.
Mr. Lansing's assistants were Professor Watson, Mrs.
Lansing, and Misses Alice Buck and Martha Smith.
The one year of the presidency of J. Y. Martin, A.M., was
distinguished by the securing of a charter granting full
university powers. The names of the first board of trustees
under this charter were Gilbert Haven, Richard S. Rust,
Mary J. Clark, Eliphalet Remington, Joseph H. Chadwick,
Washington C. De Pauvv, Henry K. List, Eliza Chrisman,
Clark University. 413
Robert T. Kent, Charles O. Fisher, John C. Kimball, Josiah
Sherman, Theodore G. Eiswald, William H. Crogman,
James Mitchell, Henry R. Parmenter, George Standing,
James Y. Martin, Seaborn C. Upshaw, and Erasmus Q. Ful-
ler. During tliis administration W. H. Crogman, A.M., be-
came a teacher in the college. At the present time (1885)
he holds the position of professor of ancient languages and
litei-ature. He has achieved fame for himself, his race, and
the university by his eloquent addresses in Plymouth Church,
Brooklyn, and at the national educational assemblies at Ocean
Grove and Madison. Miss Mary C. Owen also did excellent
service under Professor Martin and his successor.
In the fall of 1877 Rev. R. E. Bisbee, A.M., was chosen
president. He had as assistants Professor and Mrs. Crog-
man, Mrs. Bisbee, F. A. Rogers, M.D., Miss Florence Mitch-
ell, Miss Mary C. Owen, and Miss Sibyl E. Abbott. The
frequent changes of adminstration and faculty, the crowded
quarters, the vicinity of well-equipped and well-endowed in-
stitutions, and other causes, had a depressing effect upon
the growth of the young university. Mr. Bisbee, in spite of
these difficulties, infused new life into every department,
raised the standard of scholarship, and was the first to send
out some graduates from the normal and college preparatory
departments. The fii*st catalogue was published in 1879. It
showed an attendance of one hundred and seventy-nine,
twenty-nine of whom were in the academic classes, and four-
teen in the theological department.
The corner-stone of Chrisman Hall was laid by Bishop
Simpson and Dr. Rust February 3, 1880. The address of
the Bishop was worthy of the man and the occiision. Among
other hopeful prophecies he said: *' And this college to day
looks on the foundation of a building more beautiful, more
414 Eaely Schools of Methodism.
commodious, larger and grander than the first buildings of
any of the institutions connected with our Church with
which I was acquainted in my youth, and though the begin-
ning be small, what is the promise ? Look at these broad
acres, look at that large area ; see the institution as it stands
on this eminence and looks upon the beautiful city of At-
lanta. All those acres, except the college campus, will one
day be occupied by citizens who shall rejoice in its progress.
... I have no doubt that there are young people in this
assembly who will live to see the period when there shall be
other edifices, large and beautiful and commodious, in the
campus with this structure, and will live to see its alumni
scattered all over the land." The good Bishop himself lived
to see that bright day when a large part of his prophecy was
fulfilled.
On the 16th of October, in the same year, Clirisman Hall
was dedicated. It was a memorable day in the history of
the school. Dr. Eust made an eloquent introductory speech,
and Bishop Warren gave the principal address. Bishops
Wiley, E. O. Haven, and Turner assisted in the services. A
very large number of prominent Southern clergymen and
citizens were present. Governor Colquitt, Senator Brown,
Dr. Hoyt, editor of the " Western Advocate," and Bishops
Wiley and Haven made interesting speeches. This inter-
change of sentiments among such prominent men of both
sections, awakened new interest in Clark University and the
cause of education. Bishop Warren, in his address, thus
appropriately alludes to the lady in whose honor the hall
was named : " Tliis building is monumental and significant
in another particular, namely, that a woman, Mrs. Chrisman,
takes her grand part in the development and glory of the
future by contributing from lier private nieans one third of
Clark ITnivfrsity. 415
the cost. It is fitting that the Bishop, who held womanhood
so sacred, who was ever ready to write, speak, and act tliat
all her rip;hts should be secured, and who looked upon her
love as so divine that it could never know a change — fitting
that he should have a woman come to his aid in the grandest
work of his life."
In reply to a request for a poem. Dr. Hust received the
following letter from John G. Whittier, and it was read at
the dediciition :
Daxvers, Mass., dth month, 26, 1880.
My Dear Friend: I wish I could do what thee asks for; but I urn
compelled, by the state of my health, to forbear making any literary
engagements. I have long suffered from overtask, and must not prom-
ise what it might be physically impossible for me to perform. For the
cause's sake, for the good Bishop's sake, and for thy own (for I know
thee as a devoted friend of the poor and oppressed), I would gladly
answer otherwise.
The moral and intellectual education of the Freedracn is the special
and imperative necessity of our day. If Christian love and charity did
not prompt it, duty to ourselves and our country would demand it.
The very life of the nation depends upon it.
With all my heart I bid the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church "Godspeed " in its holy work.
Thy friend, John G. WnrmER.
After a successful service of three years, Mr. Bisbee re-
signed, and Rev. E, O. Tiiayer, A.M., for six years principal
of Bennett Seminary, Greensbo rough, N. C, was elected
presideiit. During the first four years of this administration
the following persons have served as instructors : Rev. W.
P. Thirkicld, A.M., B.D., dean of school of theology; Will-
iam II. Crogman, A.M., professor of ancient languages ;
Edith L. Smith, A.M., professor of English literature; Rev.
C. J. Brown, A.M., professor of sciences ; Misses Florence L.
416 Early Schools of Methodism.
Mitchell, S. E. Abbott, A.M., and Zella F. Adams, B.L.,
preceptresses ; John W. Cardwell and "W. A. Heath, instruct-
ors in English department; Misses A. G. Gibbs, C. M. Blunt,
and Minnie I. BajHss, instructors in music ; Z. T. Spencer,
S. A. Camp, W. F. Wheeler, W. H. Thayer, W. P. Sloan,
and B. F. Hoyt, instructors in industrial department.
The department of industrial education has been develo]>e(i
so far as to win from Rev. A. G. Haygood, D.D., tlie enco-
mium that " Clark University is second only to Hampton in
this line." The carpenter shop contains an engine, saws,
lathes and planers, and full sets of tools. The young men
plan buildings, and have erected a large number of cottages.
The carriage shop is constantly employed filling orders for
carriages and wagons, thus furnishing instruction and em-
ployment to a large number of students. Tlie harness and
shoe shops are also in operation. The printing-office issues a
biweekly paper, and prints catalogues, and does all the work
of a large printing establishment. The " Model Home,"
the conception and inauguration of which Clark University
claims, gives instruction in the art of housekeeping in all
its branches and details. The sewing-school teaches dress-
making, millinery, and all kinds of plain and fancy sewing.
Other departments will be added as the interests of the stu-
dents seem to demand.
December 16, 1883, ground was broken for Gammon Hall
by Bishop Warren, assisted by the members of the Savannah
Conference, then in session in the city. One third *of the
cost of the building, and an endowment fund of $20,000,
were donated by Rev. E. II. Gammon, of Batavia, 111. Mr.
Gammon is a superannuated member of the Maine Confer-
ence, who, being compelled to give up the ministry" on ac-
count of throat disease, has accumulated a fortune, and now
Clark IJNivEKsrn'. 417
uses it as a faitliful steward of the Lord in helping to fit
otliers for the work that was denied himself. Thus the
voice taken away is being multiplied many hundred-fold,
and a thousand trumpets instead of one shall give forth the
Gospel sound. Bishop Warren shouldered the heavy bur-
den of raising the remaining two thirds — over $16,000. It
took months of hard work in lecturing and soliciting, but
success was won. Scoi-es of Methodist preachers helped
liim from their scanty salaries, and thus gained an inter-
est in the great work of training ministers for this Southern
field.
On May 12, 1883, the corner-stone was laid, with appro-
priate ceremonies, by President Thayer. Bisliop H. M. Tur-
ner, D.D., LL.D., delivered a very eloquent address, followed
by Rev. E. Q. Fuller, D.D., in a very timely speech on the
education of women. December 15 of the same year the
building was dedicated. Bishop Warren and Dr. Rust
made the principal addresses. Bishop Warren has since left
the South for his episcopal residence in Colorado, but Gam-
mon Ilall stands as a monument to his zeal and devotion in
the Southern work.
The Ganunon School of Theology began work in its new
hall in October of 1883, with Rev. W. P. Thirkield as dean,
and an attendance of nineteen from four Sonthern States.
During the second year there were twenty-nine students
from six different States, showing the wisdom of those who
located the school in Atlanta because of *' its accessibility to
the whole South." By another act of generosity of our
benefactor, Mr. Gammon, another professorship has been
established, and the third year opens with flattering prospects.
Tinis, at last, has Bishop Clark's idea of a theological school
at Atlanta been realized, even more gran<lly than his faith
18*
418 Early Schools of Methodism.
allowed him to consider as possible so early in the history of
the university.
As a last item of interest in this general survey of the
progress of Clark University, it may be proper to mention
that Mr. Gammon has pledged one half the cost of "Warren
Hall, and a portion of the remaining half is also pledged.
Doubtless before these pages are in print the walls will be
rising, and thus another mile-stone of progress be fairly
reached. The new hall is to be used for girls' dormitories
and for a general refectory.
PRESENT PROPERTY.
The university now owns four hundred and fifty acres of
land, valued at $80,000, located just outside the city limits,
and rapidly rising in value. Most of it is wooded, and all
richly varied with hills and vales and running streams — a
natural park. Chrisman Hall is an imposing structure of
brick on a basement story of granite. It contains forty dor-
mitories, teachers' apartments, chapel, school-rooms, and other
public rooms. It is located on an eminence in full view of
Atlanta. Gammon Hall is a four story brick building
trimmed with stone, of chaste and beautiful architecture,
very appropriate to its use. There are in it thirty-two large
dormitories, a lecture room, four recitation rooms, and three
large apartments for library and offices. Thei^e are also two
shops and a barn, and dormitory for the Industrial Depiirt-
nient, the " Model Home," two residences for professors, and
five cottages for married theological students, all of which
were built by carpentry students. The " theological cot-
tages " were projected by Dean Thirkield, and erected with
money obtained by him from Northern friends.
Bakee Institute and Claflin University. 419
CHAPTER III.
BAKFIR INSTITUTE AND CLAFLIN UNIYERSITY.
BY REV. LEWIS M. DUNTON, A.M.
When Rev. T. Willard Lewis and Rev. Alonzo Webster
opened their evangelical labors among the colored people of
Charleston, S. C, at the close of the war, they found quite a
number of pious, talented, young colored men, with some
little education. With suitable previous training and educa-
tion, they saw that these could be most usefully employed
as agents for the elevation and evangelization of others of
their race, many of whom were hungering for knowledge
and thirsting for the waters of life. A school was found
essential to the complete success of their interesting work.
These teachings of Providence led to the founding of
BAKER THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
In the spring of 1866 a meeting was duly called at the
usual place of meeting, and Alonzo Webster, D.D., Rev. T.
W. Lewis, A.M., Rev. Samuel Western (a venerable, always
free, colored man), Joshua Wilson, Charles Holloway, H. J.
JVIoore, and M. G. Camplin, M.D., were selected as trustees
for the proposed institution. As temporary quarters for the
school the famous Ball Mansion, at the corner of East Buy
and Vernon Streets, was secured by the trustees. The main
edifice was used for teachers' residences, class-rooms, and
boarding-hall. The servants' quarters in the rear were used
as dormitories.
The following teachers were employed : Rev. T. Willard
420 EAiiLY Schools of ME*rHODisM.
Lewis, A.M., president ; Alonzo Webster, D.D., and C. P.
Wolliaupter. The teachers soon found as many students
eager for instruction as they had time to devote to them, as
Messrs. Lewis and "Webster had large pastoral charges to
visit, and much preaching in and about Charleston w^as
expected of them. At the end of about three years the
school w^as transferred to better quarters on Lynch Street,
where it remained until, in 1870, it became a department of
Claflin University, at Orangeburg. The early records of
Baker Theological Institute were destroyed by the fire that
destroyed the main building of the school at Orangeburg ;
but it is well known that at least twenty of the most promi-
nent and useful ministers in the South Carolina Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with as many others
who became teachers and laborers in other departments of
usefulness, received their early training in this school, while
it remained at Charleston.
It was soon discovered, in the progress of the reconstructed
Methodism in South Carolina, that the educational depart-
ment of church work demanded a larger field than the city
of Charleston afforded.
For some years before the war a good female college had
been conducted at Orangeburg, on the South Carohna Kail-
road, about fifty miles below Columbia, the State capital.
The school had large, well-shaded grounds, good buildings,
affording accommodations for a large boarding-school. The
location was so far removed from the coast and the swamps
as to be safe from yellow fever, malarial diseases, and as to
enjoy a pure atmosphere, good water, a salubrious climate,
and fine agricultural lands. This property was purchased
for educational purposes under the direction of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church. A libei*al charter was obtained from
Baker Institute and Claflin University. 421
the State, that designated as trustees Alonzo Webster, T.
Willard Lewis, Samuel Weston, R. K. Scott, Thomas Phil-
lips, Abram Middleton, Simeon Corley, and J. A. Sasportas.
Under this charter the board met at Omiigeburg, January 3,
1870, with the following officers : Rev. T. Willard Lewis,
president ; Rev. Samuel Weston, vice-president ; Rev. A.
Webster, secretary and treasurer. At this meeting Rev.
Alonzo Webster, D.D., was duly elected president of the
university. H. J. Moore and E. A. Webster were members
of the faculty. A course of study was prepared, and the
school opened nnder favorable circumstances. Three hun-
dred and nine students were registered the first year.
Mainly through the untiring efforts of Dr. Webster, an
act was prepared and passed through the Legislature of the
State, approved March 12, 1872, locating one department of
the State Agricultural College at Orangeburg, in connection
with Claflin University. An experimental farm adjoining
the Claflin campus, and containing about one hundred and
sixteen acres, was purchased. Dr. Webster had the manage-
ment of both departments, and they have worked in har-
mony until the present time. In Dr. Webster the Freedmcn
have found a personal friend, the cause of education a vigor-
ous and generous supporter, and the Church an earnest and
able advocate and defender.
At the annual meeting in June, 1874, Dr. Webster tendered
his resignation as president of Claflin University, and Rev.
Edward Cook, D.D., of Massachusetts, was elected to All the
vacancy. Dr. Cook having had experience in the manage-
ment of schools of a high grade, was well qualified to carry
forward successfully the work so well begun, which he did
for ten years. In 1876 the main building was consumed by
lire. But throuf'h the active exertions of Dr. Cook and other
422 Early Schools of Methodism.
friends of the enterprise, one brick building was immediately
erected, and others, of inferior quality, have been added.
In June, 1883, Eev. Lewis M. Dunton, A.M., of 'New
York, who had been engaged in Church and educational
work in the State, was unanimously elected vice-president ;
and in June, 1884, on account of the protracted feebleness of
Dr. Cook, he was elected president of the university, and in
November following, president of the Agricultural College
and Mechanics' Institute.
There has been a healthful and gradual growth of the
school up to its present proportions. Others, besides those
whose names are mentioned here, labored for the prosperity
of the school, but space forbids mention of their worthy, self-
sacriiicing, and even heroic deeds.
There are at present four courses of study, college, scien-
tific, normal, and grammar. Attention is given to music
and drawing. The average attendance of students is about
three hundred. Since the organization of the school, there
have been forty-five graduates from the normal and eleven
from the college courses.
INDUSTRIES.
In addition to the experimental farm, there are about
sixty-eight acres, mostly under cultivation. In the fall of
1883 a liberal appropriation was made to the institution by
the trustees of the John F. Slater Fund in order to promote
industrial education. Accordingly, a good shop was built
and furnished with tools suitable for ordinary carpenter
work, and the manufacture of plain furniture.
A printing department was established in 1885, job-work
is neatly done, and a so-called college paper published.
The Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist
Baker Institute and Claflin University. 423
Episcopal Church erected the Simpson Memorial Home on
land adjoining the Claflin campus, in 1885. All necessary
appliances for housekeeping are provided, and girls, in addi-
tion to their regular school duties, receive daily instruction
in cooking, cutting, sewing, and general domestic econom}^
The general boarding department is managed on the club
plan, the students doing the work under the direction of a
matron, and thus the expense of board is reduced to actual
cost, and, at the same time, experience and instruction are
given them in the art of housekeeping.
Among the most liberal benefactors of the institution, and
the one from whom it derived its name, was the Hon. Lee
Chiflin, of Boston, Mass. Since the decease of his father, the
Hon. William Claflin, ex-governor of Massachusetts, has con-
tinued to foster the school.
The entire management has been committed to the Freed-
men's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
nothing prevents its continued growth except the lack of
adequate buildings. The prayer of those who are most
familiar with the needs of the institution is, that some one
possessed with means will be led by God's Spirit to provide
for another building.
APPENDIX
BY REV. D. P. KIDDER, D.D.,
CORRESPONDING SEORETART OF THE BOARD OF EDCOATION OF THE M. E. CHURCH.
As it was found impossible to include in the volume on the
" Early Schools of Methodism " more than a few sample sketches,
it was determined to supplement the text with the present
Appendix. Its object is to exhibit, in a condensed form, the
following several showings:
I. A list of the schools that were established in the direct
interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but that ceased to
exist during the first century of its history.
II. A list of private and local schools established indirectly
in the same interest.
III. A classified list of the institutions of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in actual existence at the beginning of 1886.
While it is not claimed that the several lists are perfect, it
may be stated that no pains have been spared to make them so.
If any errors are found in them, they will be chiefly those of
omission due to the neglect of parties that ought to* have been
interested to make known any facts not here stated. Hence
the aggregates deducible from the lists, whether considered
separately or combined, will be found below rather than above
the actual facts.
Briefly stated the following facts appear. Notwithstanding
all the efforts in behalf of education made by the early fathers
of Methodism in America, not one of tlie schools founded by
them between 1784 and 1819, or during the first third of our
first century, became permanent. Yet, notwithstanding the fail-
ures and discouragements of thirty-five years, the Church rallied
to educational effort from 1820 onward with an ever-growing
success. While the results can never be fully stated, yet the
oflicial showing made by the Board of Education to the General
Conference of 1884 is full of significance. The following is a
Appendix.
425
snmmaiy exhibit of the statistics of our literary and theolog-
ical institutions then in actual operation:
Clau or iMtrmmoM.
No.
V.luf of
BaildiDir*
Md Ground*.
Endow,
ments.
DebU.
^1
StndenU
LMtYear.
StndenU
from the
Beginuing.
Theological Institutions
ID
45
1
»9
$440,500
4,433,"4
1,855,400
680,000
175,626
6,060,976
273,700
18,000
5,000
$36,000
i56i8oo
62,000
2,500
48
135
101
547
14,375
10,729
162,273
219,953
23,978
4,537
Colleges and Universities
Female Colleges and Seminaries.
Foreign Mission Schools
»4»
$7,584,640
$7,031,176
$592,474
»,405
28,691
4i3>9'6
Creditable as the above aggregates are, the list from which
they were derived took no note of institutions that, for any
cause, had ceased to act under the ownership of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. It is, therefore, now seen to be due to his-
tory to call attention to the fact that during the century closed
in 1884, there had been in action not less than 84 other institu-
tions which, for various reasons, had ceased to be enumerated.
Some had been unfortunately located, some had gone into
other ownership, some had been absorbed in larger institu-
tions, and some had become extinct from unknown causes,
not, however, without having done good service in their day.
Thus a grand total of 225 institutions had been founded in the
direct interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church, while 58
more had been opened by friends, and in many cases ministers,
of tlie Church, although held in private ownership. The full
history of those numerous schools can never be written,
neither, probably, can their full influence for good be ade-
quately estimated. Yet it seems fitting to hand down to pos-
terity, at least, the following condensed record of their names
and localities, together with the year of their origin, and, when
known, of their close.
It would have been gratifying to find data showing how
many teachers were actually employed and how many students
were taught in the schools in question. In some cases the facts
are known, but they are wanting in so many others that no
attempt has been made to give statistics on those points.
Conjecture, based upon known facts and certain laws of
average, indicate that in the 84 Church schools that were, but
426
Early Schools of Methodism.
are not now, in existence, not less than 300 teachers were
employed, and 88,000 different students taught. Accepting
these figures as a minimum estimate, and adding them to the
actual statistics of 1884, it is proved that the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, notwithstanding the feebleness of its beginnhigs
and all the embarrassments and disabilities it had to encounter,
employed, in the literary institutions of her first century, more
than 17,000 teachers, and taught more than 500,000 students.
In these figures no note is taken of the teachers employed and
the students taught in the 58 schools established and con-
ducted indirectly in the interest of the Church.
On the safe basis proposed, educational statisticians will
have no difficulty in showing at various epochs of our second
century the aggregates attained by future progress.
From the list of our schools in 1886 it may be seen that the
short period of two years marks decided progress in the num-
ber of the schools of the Church, and it may be remarked that
equal, if not greater, progress has been made in the payment of
debts and the increase of endowments during the same period.
It is to be hoped that all forms of substantial progress will be
even greater in the years to come.
LITERARY INSTITUTIONS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH PRIOR TO 1884, CHRONO-
LOGICALLY ARRANGED.
N*MK OF Institution.
Location.
Pkbiod.
Ebenezer Academy
Brunswick County, Va
Abingdon, Md
Surry County, N. C
Jessamine County, Ky
Uniontown, Pa
1784— 1 8oo
1785—1795
1790—
1790-1798
1792 — 1826
Bethel Academy
Union School
Cokesbury College
Mount Bethel Academy
Asbiiry College
Baltimore, Md
Newberry County, S. C
Baltimore, Md
1795— 1796
1797— 1820
1816 — 1820
Wesleyan Academy
Wesleyan Seminary
Augusta College
White Plains Academy
New Market, N. H
New York city, N. Y
Augusta, Ky
White Plains, N. Y
1817— 1823
1819— 1824
1822—1849
Jackson, Ala
LTniontown, Pa
1825-1845
1827—1832
Madison College
Appendix.
427
Nams or iManrcTioN.
Tuscaloosa Academy
Randolph-Macon College
la (.irange College
Norwalk Seminary
Newbury Seminary
Amenia Seminary
Cokcsbury High Scho«il
1 alley Seminary
Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary
Kmory and Henry College
\V eslcyan Female College
Worth ingt on Female College
Centenary Institute
I'.erca Seminary
Rock River Seminary
\S esleyan Female College
Newark Wesleyan Institute
1 'aris Seminary
Whitewater College
Springfield Wesleyan Seminary
I'.altimore Female College . . . .
New York Conference Seminary
Genesee College
I )anvillc Seminary
( .reenlield Seminary
Portland Academy
Ohio Conference High School
) Baldwin Institute
1 'rookville College
I'crry Academy
1 ioonifidd Male and Female College
Fort I'lain Seminary
Female Collegiate Institute
I armer Academy
I'hornton Academy
.Mi>souri Conference Seminary
( iriji^nn City Seminary
S.iuthem Illinois Conference Female Academy
Irviiin Female College
Conference Seminary
r.ron>on Institute
'I roy University
I'uget Sound Institute.
1- vansville Seminary
ll..r.i.line Lniversity Preparatory
M.r-hall College
Mumn Academy
i' ultun Seminary
I 'anvillc Academy
Inland Female t ollcge m
I'liic Mount College
\\ ilherforcc University
1 >anville Seminary
l\cx:kport Collegiate Institute
I "attic (;round Institute
Henry Seminary
M.tnsiicld Classical Seminary
V alparaiso College
(lali-sville University
Willoughby Collegiate Institute
Mexico Academy
Stockwell Collegiate Institute
Central ( »hio Conference Seminary
Springfield Academy .
Stockton Female Institute
W . .1 . . \ -ndcmy
' Conference Seminary
' iiid Fcnjalc College
^..i.iiiti.. Illinois Female College
A l>;ona College
Location.
Tuscaloosa, Ala
Ashland, Va
La Grange, Ala
Norwalk, O
Newbury, Vt
Amenia, N. Y
Cokesbury, S. C
Fulton, N. Y
Gouverneur, N. Y
Emory, Va
Macon, Ga
Worthington, O
Summerfield, Ala
Berea. O
Mount Morris, 111
Wilmington, Del
Newark, N. J
Paris, 111
Centerville, Ind
Springfield, Vt
Baltimore, Md
Charlotieville, N. Y..
Lima, N. Y
Danville, 111
Greenfield, O
Portland. Ore
Springfield, O
Berea, O
Brookville, Ind
Perry, N. Y
Bloomfield, Ind
Fort Plain, N.Y
Santa Clara, Cal
College Corner, Ind..
Thornton, Ind
Jackson, Mo
Oregon City, Ore..,.
Belleville, III
Mechanicsburg, Pa...
Bethany, Pa
Point Lluff, Wis
Troy, N. Y
Olympia, W. T
Evansville, Wis
Red W'ing, Minn
Marshall, 111
Marion, Ind
Lewiston, HI
Danville, Ind
Poland, O
Manhattan, Kan
Xenia, O
Danville, N.Y
Rockport, Ind
Battle Ground, Ind...
Henry, 111
Mansfield, Pa
Valparaiso, Ind
Galesville, Wis
Willoughby, O ,
Mexico, N . Y ,
Stockwcll. Ind ,
Maumce City, O ,
Springfield. N. V
Stockton, Cal
Waterloo, Wis . .
Ovid, N. Y ,
Olney. Ill
Salem, 111
Algona, la
PCKIOO.
1827—
1830 1845
183I —
1833— 1848
1833— 1868
1835-1874
1836— 1845
1836—1868
1837—1868
1838—1845
1839—1845
1839—1874
1840 1845
1840— 1846
1840 — 1878
1841 — 1880
1847-1857
1848—1860
1848— 1860
1848—1866
1849—1883
1850—1866
1850—1870
1851—
1851-
185I-1874
1852-
1852—1856
1852 — i8t;o
1852—1866
185^—1860
1853—1872
1854—
1855-
1855—1864
1856—
1856—
1856—1858
1856—1860
1856-1861
1856—1863
1856—1863
1856— 1864
1856—1868
1856 — 1870
1857—
1857—1860
1857—1864
1858—
1858—1860
1858—1862
185&— 1863
1858—1866
1858— 1866
1853-1871
1859-
1859—1864
1859 — '872
1859-1874
1859—1883
1860—1862
1860—1874
1861— 1872
1862—1864
1865-
1865—
1866—
1866—
1866—
1872—
428
Eakly Schools of Methodism.
B.
SCHOOLS CONDUCTED IN THE INTEREST OF THE METHODISr
EPISCOPAL CHURCH UNDER PRIVATE OWNERSHIP PRIOR TO
1884, CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED.
Namk of Institution.
Oakland Female College
Jonesville Academy
Springfield Female College
Bakersfield Seminary
Preparatory School
Flushing Female Institute
Asbury Seminary
C/Corgetown Seminary
Hempstead Seminary
Morgantown Female Seminary
Bordentown Female College
Charlotte Boarding Academy
Cumberland Valley Institute
Indiana High School
North-west Virginia Academy
Pennington Female Seminary
Sacramento Seminary
Santa Cruz Academy
Wesleyan Seminary
Olin and Preston Institute
Rogersville Seminary
Church Hill Insfitute..
Female Collegiate Institute
Fulton Seminary
Spring Mountain Academy
Indiana Female Coll ge
Linden Hill Academy
Mount Carmel Academy ,
Shelby Seminary
Wellsburg Female Academy
Wesleyan Female Institute
Cottage Hill College
Susquehanna Seminary
North-western Female College
Mansfield Female College
Ashland Collegiate Institute
Asbury Female Institute ,
Valley Female Institute
Bloomington Seminary
Griggsville Seminary.
La Fayette Female Institute
Lebanon Female Institute
Mineral Point Seminary
Mount Vernon Academy
Walworth Academy
Mount Ida Female College
Alameda Collegiate 1 nstitute ,
Emory Female College
Fairfield Seminary
Fairmount Male and Female Seminary
Attica Academy
Farmer's Academy
Coolville Seminary
Fau Claire Wesleyan Seminary
West River Classical Institute
Richmond College
Red Creek Academy
Wesley Academy
Location.
Hillsborough, O
Jonesville, N.Y....
Springfield, O
Bakersfield, Vt
Middletown, Conn..
Flushing, N. Y
Chagrin Falls, O. ,
Georgetown, 111
Hempstead, N. Y...
Morgantown, Va. . .
Bordentown, N. J..
Charlotte, N. Y . . .
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Brookville, Ind
Clarksburg, W. Va.
Pennington, N. J.. .
Sacramento, Cal. . . ,
Santa Cruz, Cal
Peoria, 111
P.lacksburg, Va
Rogersville, N. Y. ..
New Canaan. Conn.
Santa Clara, Cal
Lewistown, 111.
spring
Mount, O,
Indianapolis, Ind
New Carlisle, O
Mount Carmel, 111
She.byville, LI
Wellsburg, Pa
Staunton, Va
York, Pa
Binghamton. N. Y
Evanstnn, 111
Mansfield, O
Ashland, N. Y
Greencastle, Ind
Winchester, Va
Bloomington, Ind.. .. ,
Griggsville, 111
Washington, D. C
Lebanon, 111
Mineral Point, Wis
Mount Vernon 111. . , .
Walworth, N. Y
Davenport, la
Alameda, Cal
Carlisle, Pa
Fairfield, N. Y
Fairmount, Pa
Attica, Ind ,
College Corner, Ind
Coolville, O
Eau Claire, Wis
West River, Md
Richmond, O
Red Creek, N. Y
Wesley, Ind
Appendix.
429
c.
CLASSIFIED LIST OP EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE METH-
ODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH EXISTING IN 1886.
Theological Inatltutions.
NaMS of iNBTITUTIOIf.
Boston Uni. School of Theol
Centenary Biblical Institute,
Drew Theological Seminary,
Gammon Ih.Sch., Clark Uni,
Garrett Hiblical Institute...
Swedish Theological Semi'y.
LoCATIOtf.
IJoston, Mass.
Baltimore, Md
Madison, N. J.
Atlanta, Ga...
Kvanston, 111
Evanston, 111.
1847
1872
1866
1883
1856
1883
FllXaiOBNT OB PatMCIPAL.
Rev. William F. Warren. S.T.D.
Rev. William M. Frysinger, D.D.
Rev. Henry A. Buttz, D.D.
Rev. W. P Thirkield, A.M:, B.D.
Rev. Henry B. Ridgaway, D.D.
Rev. A. Ericson.
Colleges and Universities.
Albion College
. Allegheny College
Baker University
• Baldwin University
Blue Mountain University..
Boston University
Central Tennessee College.
Central Wesleyan College..
Ch.'iddock College
Claflin University
Clark University
Cornell College
Dakota University
De Pauw University
Dickinson College
Ea.si Tenn.Wes. University.
Fort Wayne College
Gcrm.in College
German-English College...
German W.iTlace College...
Hamline University
Hedding College
Illinois Wesleyan Univers'y.
t Iowa Wesleyan University.
Lawrence University
Lewis College . . .
Little Rock University
M'Kendree College
Meth. Epis. College of Neb.
Moore's Hill College
•"Mount Union College
New Orleans University...
North-western University..
Ohio Wesleyan University.
Philander Smith College, . .
Rust University
Simpson Centenary College.
Syracuse University
Texas Wesleyan College...
University of Denver
I'niversity of the Pacific. ..
University of Southern Cal .
^'pper Iowa University ...
Wesleyan University
1^ Willamettr University
Wiley University
! Albion, Mich
IMeadville, Pa
jBaldwin City, Kan...
Berea, Ohio
La Grande, Oregon. .
Boston, Mass
Nashville, Tenn
Warrenton, Mo
§uincy. 111
rangeburg, 8. C
A tlanta. Ga
Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Mitchell, Dak
Greencastle, Ind
Carlisle, Pa
Athens, Tenn,
jFort Wayne, Ind
I Mount Pleasant, Iowa
JGalena, 111
; Berea, Ohio
Hamline, Minn.
Abingdon, 111. ..
Bloomington, III
Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Aupleton, Wis
Glasgow, Mo
Little Rock, Ark
Lebanon, 111
York, Nebraska
Moore's Hill, Ind...
Mount I'nion, Ohio..
New Orleans, La
Evanston, 111
IDelaware, Ohio
I Little Rock, Ark.....
Holly Springs, Miss,.
Indianola, Iowa
'Syracuse, N. Y
Fort Worth, Texas ..
Denver, Col
San Jose, Cal
, Ix)s Angeles, Cal
Fayette, Iowa
I Middletown, Conn . . .
I Salem, Oregon
! Marsh
, < »rego
all, 1 e
1861
18.13
1858
1845
Rev.
Rev
Rev
Rev
18761 Rev.
1869' Rev.
1866, Rev.
i864lRev.
18531J. B.
t86giRev.
1869 Rev.
i8s7|Rev.
1885 Rev.
i837iRev.
1833 Rev.
1867; Rev.
i846IRev.
1873; Rev.
1868 Rev.
i864lRev.
1854 Rev.
1875 Rev.
1855 Rev.
1850 Rev.
1849 Rev.
1866 Rev.
1 88a Rev.
i8a8 Rev.
1880 Kev.
1854 Rev.
1846 Rev.
1873 Rev.
185s Rev.
184a Rev.
1877 Rev.
1869 Rev.
1867 Rev.
1870 Rev.
1880 Kev.
1880 Rev.
tSsi Rev.
1880 Rev.
1857 Rev-
1831 Rev.
1844 Rev.
873 Rev.
L. R. Fiske, D.D., LL.D.
D. H. Wheeler, D.D.
W. H. Sweet, D.D.
W. Kepler, Ph.D.
G. M. Irwin, A.M.
William F. Warren, 8.T.D.
J. Braden, D.D.
H. A. Koch, D.D.
De Motte, LL.D.
L. M. Dunton, D.D.
E. O. Thayer, A.M.
William F. King, D.D.
William Brush, D.D.
Alex. Martin, D.D., LL.D.
J. A. McCauley, D.D., LL.D.
lohn F. Spence, S.T.D.
W. F. Yocum, D.D.
William Balcke, A.M.
Emil Uhl.
William Nast, D.D.
G, H. Bridgman, D.D.
Joseph S. Cummings, D.D.
W. H. H.Adams, D.D.
J. T. McFarland, Ph.D.
B. P. Raymond, A.M., Ph.D.
Addis Albro, M.S.
E. S. Lewis, A.M.
Wm. F. Swahlen, A.M., Ph.D.
Edward Thomson, Ph.D.
L. D. Adkinson, A.M.
O. N. Hartshorne, LL.D.
A. F. Hoyt, B.D.
Jos. Cummings, D.D., LL.D.
C. H. Pavne, D.D., LL.D.
Thomas Mason, A.M.
W. H. Hooper, A.M.
E. L. Parks, A.M., B.D.
Charles N. Sims, D.D., LL.D.
A. A. Johnson, D.D.
David N. Moore, D.D.
C. C. Stratton, A.M., D.D.
M. M. Bov.ird. A.M.
John W. Bissell, D.I).
John W. Beach, D.D., LL.D.
Thomas Van Scoy. A.M., D.D.
N. D. Clifford, A.M.
4ao
Eakly Schools of Methodism.
Female Colleges and Seminaries.
Name of Institution.
Location,
fa
Pbesidknt or Principal.
Beaver, Pa
1853
1842
1866
1866
1854
1847
1851
1854
Rev, R, T. Taylor, D.D.
Cincinnati Wesleyan Coll..
De Pauw College
Cincinnati, Ohio
New Albany, Ind
Carmel, N. Y
Hillsborough, Ohio..
Jacksonville, III
Auburndale, Mass,. . .
Pittsburg, Pa
Rev. W. K. Brown, D.D.
Rev. L. M, Albright, A.M.
Drew Sem. and Female Coll.
Hillsborough Female Coll..
Illinois Female College
Lasell Sem, for Young Worn.
Pittsburg Female College . .
George Crosby Smith, A.M.
Rev, J. F, Loyd, A.M.
Rev. W. F, Short, A.M., D.D.
Charles C, Bragdon, A.M.
Rev. I. C. Pershing, D.D,
Classical Seminaries.
Albion Seminary
Andrews Institute
Ashland C0II.& Normal SchM
Augusta Collegiate Institute
Baldwin Seminary
Bennett Seminary
Brown Seminary
Carleton Institute
Cazenovia Seminary
Centenary Collegiate Inst. .
Chamberlain Institute
Claverack Acad.& H.R.Inst.
Cookman Institute
East Maine Conf, Seminary.
Ellijay Seminary
Epworth Seminary
Forest Home Seminary. . . .
Fort Edward Collegiate Inst,
(jenesee Wesleyan Seminary
Gilbert Seminary
Grand Prairie Sem, Com. Col.
tireenwich Academy
Haven Normal School
Holston Seminary
Houston Seminary
Ives Seminary
Jennings Seminary
ICingsley Seminary
La Grange Seminary
I^ewis Collegiate Institute. .
Maine Wes.Sem.& Fem.Coll.
Marionville Collegiate Inst.
Meridian Academy
Morristown Seminary
Mount Union Seminary
Mount Zion Seminary
Napa Collegiate Institute..
N.H.Conf. Sem. & Fem.Col.
Ogden Seminary
Pennington Seminary
Powell's Valley Seminary . .
Roanoke Seminary
Rust Normal Institute
Salt I.ake Seminary
Sheridan Academy
Simpson Institute
Troy Conference Academy.
Tullahoma College
Umpqua Academy.
Albion, Iowa
Andrews Inst., Ala..
Ashland, Oregon
Augusta, Ky
Baldwin, La
Greensborough, N. C.
Leicester, N. C
Farmington, Mo
Cazenovia. N. Y
Hackettstown, N. J..
Randolph, N. Y
Claverack, N. Y
Jacksonville, Fla
Bucksport, Me
Ellijay, Ga
Epworth, Iowa
Headland, Ala
Fort Edward, N. Y.,
Lima, N. Y
Baldwin, La
Onarga, 111
East Greenwich, R. I,
Waynesborough, Ga.,
New Market, I'enn .
Houston, Texas
Antwerp, N. Y
Aurora, 111
Bloomingdale, Tenn.,
La Grange, Ga
Lewiston, Idaho
Kent's Hill, Me
Marionville, Mo
Meridian, Miss
Morristown, Tenn
Mount Union, Ala, . .
Mount Zion, Ga
Napa City, Cal
Tilton, N. H
Ogden City, Utah....
Pennington, N, J . . . .
Wellspring, Tenn. . . ,
Roanoke, Va
Huntsville, Ala
Salt Lake City, Utah
Sheridan, Oregon
Logan, Ala
Poiiltney, Vt
Tullahoma, Tenn
Wilbur, Oregon
Edward P. Fogg, A.M.
Rev. J. S. Blair, A.M.
Rev. W. G. Royal, A.M.
Rev. Daniel Stevenson, D.D.
Rev. W. S. Fitch, A,M,
Rev. Wilbur F. Steele, A.M., B.D.
Henry F. Ketron, A.B,
Miss Eliza A. Carleton.
Rev, I, N. Clements, A.M.
Rev, George H. Whitney, D.D,
Rev, Jas, T, Edwards, A,M., D.D.
A, H, Flack, A.B,
Rev. Samuel B, Darnell, B.D.
Rev. A. F. Chase, A. M.
Rev. R. H, Robb.
George W. Jones, Ph.B.
C. J. Hammitt, B.D.
Rev. Joseph E. King, D.D.
Rev. J, D. Phelps, D.D,
Rev. W. D. Godman. D.D.
Rev. E. McClish, ED.
Rev. O. W, Scott, A,M.
Rev. J. N. Cardozo.
S. P. Fowler, A.M.
C, W. Campbell, Ph.B.
Rev. J. E, Ensign, A.M.
Rev. J. B, Robinson, D.D.
Joseph H. Ketron, A.M.
O. D, Wagner, A.B.
Rev. Levi Tarr, A.M.
Rev. E. M. Smith, A.M.
S. C. Leavell, A.M.
Prof. Brooks.
Rev, J, S, Hill, A.M.
Rev, James Rogers, A.M.
Rev. R. Johnston.
A. E. Lasher, A.M.
Rev. D. C. Knowles, A.M.
Rev. A. W. Adkinson, A.M.
Rev. Thomas Hanlon, D.D.
James F. Swingle, A.M.
Rev, J. E. Deacon.
Rev. A. W. McKinney, A.B.
Rev. T. C. Iliff, A.M.
Rev. W. T. Van Scoy.
M. F. Parker, A.B,
Rev, Charles H. Dunton, A.M.
Rev. R. Pierce, D.D.
Henry L. Benson, A.M.
Appendix.
Classical Seminaries — Continued.
431
Namks of Ii«stitctio>«.
Vt. Meth. Sem. & Fern. Coll.
Wesleyan Academy
Western Reserve Seminary.
VV'est Tennessee Seminary..
West Tenn.Prep'tory School
West Texas Conf. Seminary.
Warren Seminary
Will'msport Dickinson Sem.
Wilmington Conf. Academy.
Wyoming Seminary..
Xenia Seminary
Montpelier, Vt
{ Wilbraham, Mass
West Farmington, O.
Hollow Rock, Tenn.
Mason, Tenn
Austin, Texas
'Fullen's, Tenn
Williamsport, Pa
Dover, Del ,
.Kingston. Pa
IXenia, Ohio ,
1834
1824
1820
1874
1877
1878
1883
1848
1873
1844
1850
Pbssidsht OS Pbincipal.
Rev. E. A. Bishop, A.M.
Rev. Geo. M, Steele, S.T.D., LL.D.
E. A. Whitwam, A.B.
Rev. E. E. Alexander.
Rev. T. M, Dart.
Rev. J. W. P. Massey, A.M.
Rev. Edward J. Gray, D.D.
M. L. Gooding, A.M.
Rev. L. L. Sprague, A.M.
W. H. DeMotte, LL.D.
Foreign Mission Schools.
Girls' School
Theological School
Girls' School
Anglo-Chinese College.
1 biblical Institute
Hoys' High School. .
w ' „„j rr.-i..'
Women's and Girls' School.
Girls' Hoarding School
Girls' Boarding School
Fowler Training School
Girls' Boarding School
Wiley Institute
Girls Boarding School
Boys' F'oarding School
Training Sch' I for Bible Worn
Girls' School
Baldwin Schools
Theol. Sem. & Normal Sch'l
Crirls' Boarding School
Girls' Boarding School
Siplcr Board'g Sch'l for Girls
Girls' School
Boys' Mcmori.il School
Girls' High School
Centennial High School
Girls* High School
Boys' High School
( iirls' Boarding School
Philander Smith Institute..
Girls' High School
(iirls' Boarding School
Girls' Boarding School
Poona School
Girls' Boarding School
Anglo- Japanese I'nivcrsity.
Philander Smitli Bib. Inst..
Girls' Hoarding Schools
Girls' Boarding School
Caroline Wright Seminary.
Cobleigh Seminary
G'nW Hoarding School
Mexican School of Theology!
Girls' Boarding School
Girls' Hoarding School I
Girls' Boarding School j
Girls' Hoarding School I
Girls' Boarding School j
Martin Mission Institute...
1 heological School I
Loftcha, Bulgaria. . .
Sistof, Bulgaria
Rangoon, Burmah . .
Foochow, China
Foochow, China
Foochow, China
Foochow, China
Chinkiang. China. . .
Chung-king, China.
Kiukiang, China
Kiukiang, China
Peking, China
Peking. China
Tientsin, China
Tientsin, China
Wuhu. China
IJangalore, India
Bareilly, India
Bareilly, India.
Bijnour, India
Hudaon, India
Calcutta, India
Cawnpore, 1 ndia. . . .
Cawnpore, India. . . .
1 ucknow, India
Lucknow, India
Moradabad, India...
Moradabad, India.. .
Mussoorie, India. . . .
Nynce Tal, India.. .
Paori, India
Pithoragarh, India. .
Poon.i, India
Sitapur, India
Tokio, Japan
Tokio. Japan
Tokio, jap.in
Fukiioka, Japan
Hakodate, Japan
Naga-saki, Japan
Nagasaki, Japan
I'uebia, Alexico
Puebla, Mexico
Pachuca, Mexico
City of Mexico, Mex.
Montevideo, S. A
Rosario, S. A
Frankfort, Germany
Upsala, Sweden
1859
1883
1883
i88s
1872
1880
1871
1884
1884
1875
1885
1874
1877
1866
18831 Miss Schenck.
1883'Rev, S. Thomoff, B.D.
1 88 1 Misses Warner and M'Kesson.
i88ilRev. G. B. Smyth.
1872 Rev. F. Ohlinger.
Rev. G. B. Smyth.
Misses Fisher and Jewell.
Miss Robinson.
Misses Wheeler and Howe.
Rev. C. F. Kupfer.
Mrs. C. F. Kupfer.
Rev. J. H. Pyke.
Mrs. Jewell and Miss Sears'
Rev. F. D. Gamewell.
Miss E. U. Yates.
Mrs. Jack.son.
Rev. J. A. Richards.
Rev. T. J. Scott, D.D.
Misses Sparkes and English.
Miss Goodwin.
NTrs. Cumberland.
Misses Layton and Hedrick.
Rev. F. W. Foote.
Misses Easton and Harvey.
Rev. B. H. Padley.
1884] Misses Thoburn and Rowe.
1884! Rev. E. W. Parker.
1868 .Misses Downey and Seymour.
1884 Rev. D. L. Tompkins.
18S4 Misses Knowlcs and Mansell.
1884 Mrs. Whitby.
1884 Mrs. Grant.
18S4 Rev. A. S. E. Vardon.
i884|Mrs. Lawson and Miss Jacobs.
i879|Rev. R. S. Maclay, D.D.
i88.s! Rev. M.S. Vail.
iP84JMis.ses .Spencer, Atkinson, Watson.
i884lMiss Gheer.
i88o'Mis.ses Hampton and Hewitt.
1881. Rev. Charles Bishop.
1879! Misses Russell and F.verding.
1874 Rev. S. W. Siberts, A.M.
1884 '"^Ijss Warner.
1874 Miss Hastings.
1884 Misses Loyd and Le Huray.
1884 Miss Guelfi.
1874 Mis.ses Chapin and Denning.
1858 Rev. L. Nippert, D.D.
18831 Rev. J. E- fedman.
432 Early Schools of Methodism.
Medical Schools.
Schools of Medicine are connected with Boston University, Hamline University, North-
western University, Syracuse University, University of Denver, and the Central Tennessee
College. That of the latter is entitled the Meharry Medical College, after its founder.
Schools of Law
Are connected with Boston University, Illinois Wesleyan University, North-western Uni-
versity, and Syracuse University.
Schools of Music and Art.
Academy of Music and Art in Illinois Female College ; College of Music in Boston Uni-
versity ; College of Music and Art in Illinois Wesleyan University ; College of Fine Arts in
Syracuse University ; Conservatory of Music in Pittsburg Female College. Other schools of
music and art are believed to exist, but have not been reported.
THE END.
' >'vEKvS^
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ^.IBRARY
BERKELEY
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372 -2PW1 5
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