History of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia / The Oldest Incorporated Methodist College in America

by Richard Irby

FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

The first meeting of the Board of Trustees appointed under the act of incorporation, was held at Boydtown (so it reads), Mecklenburg county, Va., April 9, 1830.

The following members were duly qualified and took their seats, viz.:
Rev. Hezekiah G. Leigh, Rev. John Early, Rev. William A. Smith, Rev.
William I. Waller, Rev. Moses Brock, Rev. James Boyd, Rev. Caleb Leach,
Rev. Matthew M. Dance, Rev. Lewis Skidmore (members of the Virginia
Conference), Rev. John G. Claiborne, Rev. James Smith (local ministers),
Jas. Wyche, Howell Taylor, J. W. Lewis, William O. Goode, and Nathaniel
Alexander, Esqs. Rev. John Early was elected chairman, and Rev. William
A. Smith secretary.

A committee was appointed to draft rules for the government of the
Board, and one to obtain drafts of buildings for the College. H. G.
Leigh, J. W. Lewis, James Boyd, and L. Skidmore constituted the latter
committee.

H. G. Leigh, who had been acting as Agent for the College in securing subscriptions and funds for the College enterprise, under the appointment of the Virginia Conference, was elected Agent to continue the same work. A committee was also appointed to secure land for the location of the College.

This was the work of the first day.

At the second session—the next day—Rev. H. G. Leigh, from the Committee to Draft Rules, etc., reported the rules for the government of the Board, which were adopted.

Rev. W. I. Waller submitted the following resolutions, which were adopted:

1. That a committee be appointed to prepare an address to the public generally, and to the ministers and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church particularly, requesting their aid and co-operation in procuring funds for the establishment of Randolph-Macon College.

2. That a copy of the address be sent to each presiding elder and preacher in charge of circuits and stations within the bounds of the Virginia Annual Conference.

William A. Smith, Moses Brock, H. G. Leigh, and William I. Waller were appointed on this committee.

It was further resolved that an additional Agent be appointed.

John W. Lewis was elected Treasurer of the Board.

H. G. Leigh, from the Committee to obtain drafts for the College Building, reported three—one to cost $30,182, one $20,569, and one $19,238.

The first resolutions adopted in the direction of building was to appropriate $14,000 towards the purchase of land and the erection of a College building.

It was also resolved "that it is expedient to establish a Preparatory School to Randolph-Macon College as soon as the building can be prepared for that purpose," and $1,500 was appropriated to its erection.

A "Committee on Building" was appointed to obtain the best model for the College building, and contract for, and superintend the construction of, the same, and also the building for the Preparatory School.

Rev. H. G. Leigh's salary as agent was fixed at "the usual salary of a
Methodist itinerant preacher."

The first financial report by the agent was made as follows:

Monies subscribed, . . . . . . . . . . . $9,135 90 Monies collected of this, . . . . . . . . . 399 79 of this doubtful, $380. $8,736 11

The offer of the trustees of Boydton Academy to sell the same was not accepted.

The committee authorized to purchase land for the College made report, and the committee was empowered to purchase land from several parties at an average of about $5.50 per acre.

The agent reported that the subscription of Mecklenburg county was $10,000. It was ordered that the subscription paper be deposited with the Treasurer.

The first Building Committee appointed was as follows: Hezekiah G.
Leigh, John W. Lewis, James Smith, Matthew M. Dance, Moses Brock, and
John Early; and here the deliberations of the first meeting of the Board
ended.

With a subscription list of less than $20,000, including the county subscription, a large portion of which, in those days, as in the present, was uncollectable and worthless, this band of workers went forward, "not knowing whither they were going," but, like Abraham, trusting in the Lord, whose spirit had prompted the enterprise, that he would bring about a successful issue. Could they have foreseen the difficulties ahead, the work probably would never have been undertaken, nor would Columbus ever have discovered a new world if he had foreseen the difficulties which were before him.

It is not untimely to pause and dwell on some of the actors in this work.

The chairman, Rev. John Early, who was afterwards Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was at this time in the prime of life. He was not a college-bred man. He probably valued college education as highly as he did because he felt so keenly the need of it. He was, however, in the best sense, an educated man, and a man among men. From his early manhood his brethren and fellow-citizens manifested their appreciation of him by calling him to the highest positions in the church and in the state. The latter, however, were not accepted by him. It may be safely said that no man ever lived in Virginia who was more intimately or more widely known than John Early. No man ever knew more men. Few ever had more seals to their ministry. Not neglecting his own peculiar work in the church, he was always foremost in everything that he esteemed promotive of the good of the church and the state. From the outset he threw into the college enterprise all his great energy, and gave it the benefit of his large practical sense, because he felt that the church, as well as the state, was in need of such an agency. Under the charter, as subsequently amended, he was elected President of the Board of Trustees, and retained that position for about forty years, rarely ever failing to attend the annual meetings, when attendance involved days of tedious and difficult travel over rough roads. When over eighty years of age he was found at his place in the Board. Doubtless his latest prayers were for the success of the cause to which he gave many of the years of his manhood's prime. Randolph-Macon College will never let the name of John Early be forgotten. His portrait adorns the Trustees' room, and his eyes look down every June on his successors in the Board of Trustees, who are laboring to carry forward the work which he and his co-laborers commenced in 1825.

The first secretary, Rev. William Andrew Smith, was another man of power, a self-made man, as such men are commonly called. He accepted the "call from on high" to do great things. He was endowed with a wonderfully fertile and active mind. When fully aroused in any cause his heart espoused, he was a power with the people and with deliberative bodies. Commencing active service for the College as Secretary of the Board, he lived to become the President of the College from 1847 to 1865. When he took charge of it, the College was at the lowest condition financially as well as in patronage, that it ever reached. Full of faith and zeal himself, he infused new life into it and animated its friends with fresh courage and zeal. Realizing that an endowment was absolutely essential, in 1855 he undertook to raise $100,000 for it, and succeeded. Of this endowment more will be said further on.

[Illustration: REV. LEWIS SKIDMORE. Original member of Board of
Trustees.]

Another self-made man among the corporators present was Lewis Skidmore. In native talent of a peculiar order, he was second to none of his associates. He had, however, none of the ambition of some of the others. For power of argumentation on any subject he took in hand, he was equal to the foremost. He said once, when asked at what college he had graduated, "I graduated at the anvil." When the hammer of his logic struck it shaped or shivered the object it struck. As punctual as a clock, the day before the Trustees were to meet, his rotund form would be seen about the same hour rising over the western hill as the sun was going down.

Space will not allow particular reference to the other members of the
Board. All of them were men of mark in their callings. Three of
them—laymen, citizens of Mecklenburg county—were not members of the
Methodist church.

William O. Goode was a representative man. He was a member of the Legislature, and brought forward the College bill. He was a member of the State Convention of 1829 and of the Congress of the United States for several sessions.

Nathaniel Alexander was a wealthy planter and a man of fine education, and represented his county in the Legislature more than once.

John W. Lewis was a lawyer of prominence, and served as Treasurer of the
College as long as he lived.

The fact that these men were on the Board will show that sectarian bigotry was not so strong in olden times as some have been inclined to believe.

Rev. John G. Claiborne served on the Board for many years faithfully and efficiently, and outlived all of the original members.

At the second meeting of the Board of Trustees, held October 30, 1830 (Rev. John Early, chairman, presiding), the Building Committee reported the plan for the main College building, with cost of erection. William A. Howard and Dabney Cosby were the contractors. The plan embraced a centre brick building fifty-two feet front by fifty-four deep, with wings east and west sixty-seven and a half feet each, making a total front of one hundred and eighty-seven feet, all four stories high. The contract price for the same, except painting, tin roof, casement of the library, and seats in the chapel, to be finished in "a plain, workman-like manner, of the best materials," to be $14,137, and it was to be ready for occupancy by the spring of 1832. The committee also reported the purchase of two hundred and fifty-seven acres of land from several parties, including previous purchase, the several tracts forming a solid body.

Rev. H. G. Leigh, Agent, made report as to the finances, as follows:

Monies collected to date, . . . . $ 941 59
Subscriptions deemed good, . . . . 27,762 70
Total,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $28,703 29

Rev. William Hammett, an eloquent Irish minister, was appointed agent for soliciting additional funds.

Of the subscriptions made by citizens of Mecklenburg county, the name of William Townes heads the list with $1,000, the largest subscription to the College funds in early times. He was not a Methodist, nor a member of any church, but he was one of the earliest and best friends of the College.

On the early subscription lists there were about five hundred names.
Next to the subscription of Col. Townes, there were none above $300.

The third meeting of the Board of Trustees was held April 15, 1831, Rev. John Early, chairman, presiding. The following items of business transacted are noted:

Rev. Thomas Adams, a local minister, of Lunenburg county, was elected in place of Rev. James Smith, who resigned his membership.

A "Stewards' Hall" was authorized, the cost of the building of which was not to exceed $4,000.

The chairman of the Board was authorized to advertise that the Board would proceed to elect at the next meeting (in October, 1831) a President, Professors, and Masters.

The salary of the President to be elected was fixed at $1,000 for the first year; salaries of the Professors for the first year, $800.

The fourth meeting of the Board was held October 13, 1831, Rev. John
Early in the chair.

At this meeting Rev. H. G. Leigh, Agent, reported subscriptions amounting to $9,873, and Rev. William Hammett, $13,047, in all $22,920.

The South Carolina Conference was formally invited to unite and co-operate with the Board in the support of Randolph-Macon College, with the proviso that should the Conference agree so to do, the Board would elect six members Trustees from the bounds of that Conference.

Rev. Martin P. Parks was appointed the Agent to communicate with said
Conference and to solicit subscriptions.

The Building Committee reported the centre building walls up and covered in and the wings well under way; also, the purchase of additional land.

The committee to whom was referred the matter of nominating a President
and Professors reported, and the following elections were made: Rev.
John Emory, D. D., of New York, President and Professor of Moral
Science; Rev. Martin P. Parks, of North Carolina, Professor of
Mathematics; Landon C. Garland, of Virginia, Professor of Natural
Science; Rev. Robert Emory, of New York, Professor of Languages.

Mr. William O. Goode, member of the Legislature, of Mecklenburg county, was appointed to ask of the General Assembly of Virginia aid for the College.