"MARTHA WASHINGTON COLLEGE,
"ABINGDON, VA., May 30 1877.
"MY DEAR OLD COLLEGE FRIEND: I have forgotten the name of the artist, a rising young man in New York, who copied it from a painting belonging to a wealthy gentleman of that city. Dr. Olin was on a visit to New York, and we put the matter in his hands. The artist was very highly recommended to him by good judges. His price was $600, but when informed by Dr. Olin that it was for a college literary society, he agreed to deduct one half. The frame, I think, cost $60, and freight about $20, making a total of $380.
"Dr. Olin scolded us for our extravagance, but when the portrait was finished, moderated his wrath. The amount was raised by subscription, altogether, among the members of the society—we numbered then over sixty members, as well as I can recollect. I. C. Croft and myself were on the committee, with one other, probably, J. O. Wingfield.
"When the portrait arrived and was placed in the hall, old John Blackwell, with his horse-collar legs (as Croft called them) was appointed to unveil it and make a speech. This he did in his peculiar style; and I think Old George was pleased with the eulogy delivered on him.
"Yours truly,
"WARREN DU PRE."
Rev. John Early, who had been appointed to visit the Baltimore Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, reported to the Board that the Conference had declined to cooperate in the College enterprise, with kind expressions of interest in it. Dickinson College had recently been made a Methodist College, and the Conference preferred to patronize that, it being more accessible to their people.
The charter of the College having been amended, so that a president of the Board could be elected by that body, Rev. John Early was elected President.
The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the Board:
"The Board take great pleasure in giving a cordial expression of their thanks to the Faculty of this institution for the very able and faithful manner in which they have discharged the duties of their several stations. We consider them as having acted on the great principles on which the College was founded, and upon the continuance of which its prosperity in the future depends; and we have full confidence in their ability and disposition to support these principles in their future administration, and they are therefore worthy of the same confidence from the numerous friends and patrons of the College and the warm affection of the young gentlemen who may be placed under their care.
"It is the pleasure of the Board that these resolutions be read to the students of the College."
The second session of the College opened September 4, 1833, under favorable circumstances. A laboratory and library had been purchased, and the latter had been increased by donations. Bishop J. O. Andrew had donated forty-three volumes, and Judge A. B. Longstreet thirty.
A few days after the session opened another literary society was formed. It was first styled the Union Literary Society, but on the 7th of September, at the next meeting, the name was changed to Franklin. At the organization George Stewart, of Georgia, presided, and William C. Knight, of Virginia, acted as secretary. The following constituted its first regular organization:
President, JAMES L. BROWN, Virginia. Vice-President, JOHN A. TALLEY, Virginia. Secretary, GEORGE STEWART, Georgia. Treasurer, THOMAS S. JACOCKS, North Carolina. Collector, JOSEPH B. PANNILL, Virginia. Censor, FRANCIS W. BOYD, Virginia.
Members.
BATTE, W. C.,. . . . . . Va.
BETTS, WILLIAM S., . . . Va.
BLAKE, CHARLES H., . . . Va.
BLAND, WILLIAM R., . . . Va.
BLUNT, WALTER F.,. . . . Va.
BOISSEAU, GEORGE F., . . Va.
CARROLL, JAMES . . . . . Va.
CLAIBORNE, FIELD,. . . . Va.
CLEGG, BAXTER, . . . . . N. C.
CLEMMONS, JUNIUS L., . . N. C.
DAVIS, ARTHUR, . . . . . Va.
DORTCH, ISAAC F.,. . . . N. C.
DRINKARD, WILLIAM R.,. . Va.
EVANS, AUGUSTUS C.,. . . N. C.
HICKS, BENJAMIN L.,. . . Va.
HITE, BENJAMIN W., . . . Va.
JEFFRESS, LUTHER C., . . Va.
JONES, ALBERT C.,. . . . Va.
JONES, AMOS W.,. . . . . N. C.
JONES, JOHN J.,. . . . . N. C.
JONES, JOSEPH S.,. . . . N. C.
KNIGHT, WILLIAM C.,. . . Va.
MULLEN, FRANCES N.,. . . N. C.
OLDS, LEWIS P.,. . . . . N. C.
PERKINS, NATHAN, . . . . N. C.
ROSE, GARLAND, . . . . . Va.
STEDMAN, EDWARD, . . . . N. C.
STOCKWELL, JOHN M.,. . . Va.
TILLETT, JOHN, . . . . . N. C.
WILLIAMS, SOLOMON P.,. . N. C.
[Illustration: [Uncaptioned portrait of William C. Knight, inscribed
"Yours truly, W.C. Knight.">[]
The Franklin Hall was immediately under the Washington, on the third story. The rivalry between these societies was from the first strong, but regulated by conventional rules. The membership took in every student in the College at the beginning and for many years afterwards. There was only one from Georgia for many years a member of the Washington Society, and no one from South Carolina was ever a member of the Franklin. Students from the other States were divided about equally. Robert E. Cutler, of Virginia, gave tone to the oratorical style of the Washington, and William F. Samford, of Georgia, to the Franklin. The difference was thought to be observable for thirty years, until the year the societies were temporarily disbanded.
No catalogue of students was published in the early years of the College. The only publication made was "The Charter and Laws of Randolph-Macon College, with the Names of the Trustees and Faculty, and the Course of Studies. Richmond: Printed by Nesbitt & Walker. 1833." This prescribed four courses in the College, viz., Languages (Latin and Greek), Mathematics, Natural Science, and Ethics. Upon the completion of these four courses the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred by the Trustees, on the recommendation of the Faculty. No A. M. degree course was prescribed, but all A. B. men could claim A. M. degrees who could show that they had continued their studies or pursued courses of professional study for three years.
Dr. Stephen Olin, president-elect, gave up his place at Franklin College, Georgia, December, 1833, and made his preparations to take the presidency at Randolph-Macon. Of this move he wrote Bishop I. O. Andrew:
"Upon the whole, I trust the hand of God is in these indications, and that our church will see and obey it. My vocation may have given a wrong bias to my views, but I must regard the subject of education as the highest after the living ministry; nor do I believe it possible for our church to maintain its ground, to say nothing of its fulfilling its high obligation to Christ and the world, without a great and immediate reformation. I was never so convinced that we must educate our own youth in our own schools, and there is no work to which I so desire to consecrate myself." On his way to Virginia he visited the South Carolina Conference at Charleston. Here he ably advocated the College and secured a pledge from the Conference to endow a professorship, the first we hear of endowment. The whole journey was made in his private carriage, his wife accompanying him. To her he dictated his "Inaugural Address," which she wrote out. Reaching the College after a long and tedious journey, he delivered the address in the College chapel. This address produced a profound impression on those who heard and on those who read it. It was published in the journals of the day, and was highly praised. Governor Tazewell said he had "never heard or read any similar address of equal ability so well suited to such an occasion." It is well worthy of republication in this history, but space will not permit. To show its chief point, the following extracts are given:
"In proportion as virtue is more valuable than knowledge, pure and enlightened morality will be regarded by every considerate father the highest recommendation of a literary institution. The youth is withdrawn from the salutary restraints of parental influence and authority and committed to other guardians at a time of life most decisive of his prospects and destinies. The period devoted to education usually impresses its own character upon all his future history. Vigilant supervision, employment and seclusion from all facilities and temptations to vice are the ordinary and essential securities which every institution of learning is bound to provide for the sacred interests which are committed to its charge. But safeguards and negative provisions are not sufficient. The tendencies of our nature are retrograde, and they call for the interposition of positive remedial influences. The most perfect human society speedily degenerates if the active agencies which were employed in its elevation are once withdrawn or suspended. What, then, can be expected of inexperienced youth sent forth from the atmosphere of domestic piety and left to the single support of its own untested and unsettled principles in the midst of circumstances which often prove fatal to the most practiced virtue! I frankly confess that I see no safety but in the preaching of the cross and in a clear and unfaltering exhibition of the doctrines and sanctions of Christianity…. Christianity is our birthright. It is the richest inheritance bequeathed us by our noble fathers. Are the guardians of public education alone 'halting between two opinions'? Do they think that, in fact and for practical purposes, the truth of Christianity is still a debatable question? Is it still a question whether the generations yet to rise up and occupy the wide domain of this great empire, to be representatives of our name, our freedom, and our glory before the nations of the earth, shall be a Christian or infidel people? Can wise and practical men, who are engaged in rearing up a temple of learning to form the character and destinies of their posterity, for a moment hesitate to make 'Jesus Christ the chief corner-stone'?"
When President Olin took charge of the College he found the system of departments somewhat elective. This was changed on his recommendation, to a curriculum of four classes, by the unanimous vote of the Faculty.
At the annual meeting of the Board, June, 1834, an additional college building was ordered to be built, a four story brick one, to contain thirty-two dormitories, adjacent to the main building. This was to supply rooms for the increased number of students.
The salaries of full professors was fixed at $1,000. The following resolution was adopted:
"That whereas the South Carolina and Georgia Conferences have manifested a deep interest in the permanent establishment of Randolph-Macon College by each agreeing to raise a sum sufficient to endow a professorship, and in consideration of which professorships they ask the privilege of sending, perpetually, the former Conference five and the latter seven students, to be educated free of tuition fees; and whereas we highly appreciate the generous spirit of said Conferences, therefore we hereby agree to receive ten from each of these Conferences free of tuition fees."
As further evidence of the interest felt by these Conferences, it was noted that Rev. W. M. Wightman, of South Carolina, and Dr. Lovick Pierce and Mr. E. Sinclair, of Georgia, attended the meeting of the Board at this session.
At the annual meeting held June, 1835, Professor E. D. Sims was granted leave to visit Europe to prosecute the study of Modern Languages, and particularly Anglo-Saxon and Gothic, preparatory to the more thorough teaching of the English language. This, so far as we know, was the first move made by any college in America, and marks an epoch in that department. Prof. J. B. Henneman, in the Sewanee Review, in a sketch of the teaching of English, in American colleges, gives the credit of inaugurating the English course to Randolph-Macon College.
A distinct and special effort was made at this meeting of the Board to endow a professorship, and the President of the Board made a subscription towards it of two hundred dollars. This was to be called the Virginia Conference Scholarship.
To fill the vacancy caused by Prof. Sims' absence in Europe, Rev. George
F. Pierce, of Georgia, was elected Professor of Languages.
[Illustration: JOHN C. BLACKWELL, D. D., (A. B. 1835).]
At this commencement the first degree of A. B. was conferred. The recipient was John C. Blackwell, of Lunenburg county. He was a typical alumnus, the leader of a great host that followed him, who lived to bless the world by their example and teaching. Beginning his active life after graduation as a tutor in Randolph-Macon College, he continued to teach until he became enfeebled by age. He founded the "Hinton Hill Academy" in his native county, and taught there for nine years. He was then, in 1848, elected President of the "Buckingham Female Institute," a school for girls, founded by the Virginia Annual Conference, one of the best, as it was the first, built by the church, in the State. He was, after this school was broken up by the war, made President of the Petersburg Female College. This, too, was broken up by the war. After the war he was elected Professor of Chemistry in Randolph-Macon College, just prior to the removal of the College to Ashland. He closed a long and useful life as President of the "Danville School for Young Ladies." During all his active life he was a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and preached as he had opportunity. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater. The number of young people brought into the church through his instruinentality have been counted by the hundred. The first to receive a degree, he was the first alumnus to have a son and a grandson to receive the same. He died February 1, 1885. He was elected tutor in the College June, 1835.
Changes had occurred during the year. Fisher A. Foster had been elected Principal of the Preparatory School in place of Lorenzo Lea. Rev. Jno. A. Miller and Rev. John Kerr had been elected assistant agents in place of Rev. W. A. Smith and Rev. Thos. Crowder. The Treasurer, John W. Lewis, had died during the year: Beverly Sydnor was elected in his place. Bishop J. O. Andrew was elected a Trustee in place of Major Speer, of South Carolina: Hugh A. Harland in place of J. W. Lewis, deceased, and M. M. Dance in place of Green Penn, resigned.
COLLEGE YEAR 1835-1836
This year was successful under the guidance of President Olin, who was still in feeble health.
[Illustration: REV. ALFRED T. MANN, A. B., D. D. An Effective Minister in the Georgia Conference Sixty Years Ago.]
Prof. M. P. Parks resigned at the close of the session; Prof. Garland was transferred from the chair of Natural Science to fill the vacancy thus made. Robert Tolfree, of New York, took Prof. Garland's chair. Rev. Mr. Tomlinson was elected to the chair of English Literature.
The degree of A. B. was conferred June, 1836, on the following
graduates: John O. Winfield, Virginia; Addison Lea, North Carolina;
Robert S. Goode, Virginia; Charles W. Baird, Virginia; Alfred T. Mann,
Georgia; Thomas M. Isbell, Virginia.
So feeble had the health of Dr. Olin become that he asked, in June, 1836, leave of absence to visit Europe, which was granted with great reluctance by the Board.
The following quotation from the Life and Letters of President Olin is given as a closing reference to his presidency. He saw the College for the last time March, 1837:
"The last Commencement at which Dr. Olin presided during his connection with Randolph-Macon College was in June, 1836….
"The conviction grew upon him, from many unmistakable indications, that his health must rapidly break up, unless a year or two of retirement from intellectual labor and all kinds of mental excitement, and devoted to foreign travel, should, under the blessing of God, restore him. The return of cool weather in the autumn and approaching winter failed to recruit his shattered nerves or restore his health. His course was then at once decided on. After making several ineffectual efforts to have his place supplied, he consented, at the earnest wish of the Board of Trustees, to retain at least a formal connection with the College while in Europe, leaving the future, then so uncertain, open to the indications of Providence. To supply the vacancy in the Faculty, an additional officer was elected, and Professor Garland was appointed chairman of the Faculty and president pro tempore….
"The day of his departure came. His last interview with the Faculty was very touching. He was too feeble to sit up, but, reclining on a couch, he spent some half-hour in conversation respecting the affairs of the College. He felt satisfied, from the lengthened experiment he had made, that there was little or no hope of his being able to do efficient labor in a Southern climate, even though his health might be improved somewhat by his contemplated voyage. Although the Board of Trustees had declined to accept his resignation, and had given him as long a furlough as the exigencies of his health might require, yet he was persuaded that the time of his final departure from Randolph-Macon had come. It was very doubtful whether he should ever again see the face of any of his colleagues. His parting words had all the tenderness and dignity of a Christian who bowed with uncomplaining submission to the will of God—of a philosopher who looked calmly at the future, whatever its developments might be, whether bright or dark—of a friend who was about to carry with him the warm attachments of a heart alive to every generous sentiment and affectionate impulse. At the close of the interview his brother officers, with moistened eyes, knelt around his couch, and Professor Wightman, at his request, offered up a fervent prayer to the throne of the heavenly mercy, that God would graciously preserve in his holy keeping the life of their brother and friend, restore his health, and bring him back to his native land, prepared for greater usefulness than ever to the church and cause of Christ.
"At the close of this affecting interview the doctor was supported to his carriage, and left the College, never to see it again. His presidency had been a brief but brilliant period in its fortunes. He had manifested the highest adaptation to the responsible office which he held there. His unrivaled judgment, his shining talents, his far-seeing sagacity, his prudence in administration and firmness in government, his masterly grasp of influence, wielded for the highest good of the young men who came from far and near, attracted by the prestige of his name, his genuine love of learning, and enthusiasm in communicating knowledge, formed a combination of great qualities very rarely met with in men of even the highest reputation. No student or graduate of the College who enjoyed the benefits of a personal acquaintance with Dr. Olin will think the foregoing estimate of his worth as a presiding officer strained or overstated in the least particular."
Professor Hardy, of La Grange College, Alabama, who was a student at Randolph-Macon College during Dr. Olin's administration, has retained the following distinct remembrances of him:
"Dr. Olin left the College of Randolph-Macon in the spring of 1837, a few months before the class of which I was a member took their first degree. We waited on him in a body, and asked him to put his signature to our diplomas, for we cherished for him a filial affection, and felt that his name was indispensable. Many youthful hearts were sad the day he left the College for his European tour. The students met in chapel, adopted appropriate resolutions, and appointed two of their number to attend him to the railroad, a distance of sixty miles. He was worn down by disease, and we had no expectation of seeing his face again. He rode in his carriage on a bed, and preferred to go with no one attending him save his faithful, devoted wife. We bade him farewell, as children shake the hand of their dying father, and we saw him no more."
This was the marked event in the history of the College for the fifth year, 1836-'37.
Professor L. C. Garland was made President pro tempore. Rev. Mr.
Tomlinson having declined to accept the chair of English Literature,
Rev. William M. Wightman was elected to it, and accepted it. Professor
David Duncan was elected Professor of Languages in place of Rev. Geo. F.
Pierce who had declined to accept it.
[Illustration: REV. W.M. WIGHTMAN, D. D.]
Professor William M. Wightman was an alumnus of Charleston College, South Carolina, and a member of the South Carolina Conference. He took the chair of English Literature and Rhetoric which Professor E. D. Sims was expected to fill after his return from Europe. He was a man of decided talent and culture, and was in the prime of life, and well fitted for the work assigned him. He remained until Professor Sims returned from Europe, and then returned to South Carolina. He filled other very important and prominent positions in after years, viz.: The editor's chair of the South Carolina Christian Advocate, the Presidency of Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C., and the Southern University, Greensboro, Ala. While at the latter he was elected, in 1866, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which office he served till his death, February 15, 1882. He received the degree of D. D. from Randolph-Macon College.
[Illustration: PROFESSOR DAVID DUNCAN, A. M.]
Professor David Duncan was a native of Ireland, and a graduate of Glasgow University, Scotland. At the time of his election to the chair of Ancient Languages he was conducting a flourishing classical school in the city of Norfolk, Va. The whole of an extended manhood was spent in teaching, the prime of it from 1837 to 1857. To his high scholarship was added a singularly genuine character and gentlemanly and genial deportment, which made him acceptable to his associates and popular with his classes. He was brimming full always with wit and humor. He was the father of Rev. J. A. Duncan, D. D., President of Randolph-Macon College, 1868-1877 and Bishop W. W. Duncan of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He died at Wofford College, where he was Professor of Ancient Languages, in 1881.
The year 1836-'37 was marked by the first report of the raising of a considerable instalment of the proposed Virginia Conference endowment of a Professorship. Rev. Jno. Early reported eighty-seven subscribers of two hundred dollars each, making $17,400. It was also a prosperous and satisfactory year in College work. The report of the Faculty made to the Trustees referred with emphasis to the good deportment and studiousness which had characterized the student body during the closing session. Their report also for the first time indicated the distinctions in the graduating class, which were as follows:
1. JAMES W. HARDY, . . . . . . . . . . Georgia.
2. FRANCIS N. MULLEN,. . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
3. JUNIUS L. CLEMONS,. . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
4. LEWIS W. CABELL,. . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
5. ROBERT M. INGRAM, . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
6. WARREN DU PRE,. . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
ADAMS, RICHARD E. G., . . . . . . . Virginia.
BEARD, CLOUGH S., . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
BLAIN, GEORGE W., . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
CROFT, ISAAC C.,. . . . . . . . . . South Carolina
GEE, JESSE, . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
HORSELEY, WILLIAM A., . . . . . . . Virginia.
MONTGOMERY, HENRY T., . . . . . . . Virginia.
SAMFORD, WILLIAM F.,. . . . . . . . Georgia.
STEWART, THEOPHILUS,. . . . . . . . Georgia.
WILLIAMSON, JAMES J., . . . . . . . Virginia.
In all sixteen.
The first-honor man pronounced the Valedictory Address; the second-honor man, the Latin Salutatory; the third, the Philosophical.
[Illustration: PROFESSOR WARREN DU PRE, A. M. Tutor at Randolph-Macon
College; Professor at Wofford College, South Carolina; President Martha
Washington Female College, Virginia.]
COLLEGE YEAR 1837-'38.
This year, under the presidency of Professor Landon C. Garland, acting president, the college made good progress. In the annual report of the Faculty made to the Trustees June, 1838, they say: "The past year has been one of peculiar interest and pleasure on account of the highly respectable conduct and praiseworthy diligence of the students generally, the number of whom has amounted to one hundred and ten in the College, and over fifty in the Preparatory School."
On the recommendation of the Faculty the following degrees were conferred, viz.:
Bachelor of Arts.
1. JOHN T. BRAME, . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
2. EDWARD H. MYERS, . . . . . . . . . . Florida.
3. JAMES R. THOMAS, . . . . . . . . . . Georgia.
4. EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
5. JOHN W. LEAK,. . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
6. FRANCIS A. CONNOR, . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
BAXTER CLEGG,. . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
GEORGE F. EPPES, . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
JAMES M. FITTS,. . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina,
CHRIS. D. HILL,. . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
THOS. J. KOGER,. . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
HENRY E. LOCKETT,. . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
JOHN A. ORGAIN,. . . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
THOS. B. RUSSELL,. . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
JAMES R. WASHINGTON, . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
JAMES. W. WIGHTMAN,. . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
Master of Arts: (Honorary).
REV. GEORGE F. PIERCE, . . . . . . . Georgia.
PROF. DAVID DUNCAN,. . . . . . . . . Virginia.
GABRIEL P. DISOSWAY, . . . . . . . . New York.
Doctor of Divinity.
REV. THOMAS JACKSON, . . . . . . . . England.
Steps were taken by the Board to endow the fourth professorship in the
College.
[Illustration: REV. JAMES R. THOMAS, LL. D., President Emory College,
Georgia.]
Rev. John Early, agent, reported that further efforts to endow a professorship by the Georgia Conference would be suspended, that Conference having resolved to establish a College in its bounds. The amount reported as raised on said endowment was $16,000. He also reported the amount of endowment raised in Virginia as $20,000.
At this meeting we have reported the first intimation of financial embarrassment in the affairs of the College. Notwithstanding this the salaries of the full professors were raised to $1200 per year. The acting president, Landon C. Garland, was appointed to prepare an address on the pecuniary condition of the College, the same to be published in the papers.
Professor E. D. Sims having returned from Europe, Rev. William M. Wightman, Professor of English Literature, tendered his resignation, which was received with complimentary resolutions to him for his efficient services. Prof. Wightman returned to his native State, South Carolina, and to the itinerant ministry. The Faculty as reorganized for the session of 1838-'39 was as follows, viz.:
LANDON C. GARLAND, A. M., Professor of Mathematics, and Acting
President.
EDWARD D. SIMS, A. M., Professor of English Literature and Oriental
Language.
DAVID DUNCAN, A. M., Professor of Ancient Languages.
JAMES W. HARDY, A. B., Professor of Experimental Sciences.
EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, A. B., Tutor.
SOLOMON LEA, A. M., Principal of Preparatory School.
This college year was marked by the first serious rupture between the Faculty and the students. The occasion was a requirement made on the Senior Class to attend a recitation on the "Evidences of Christianity" on Monday morning before breakfast. The result was the leaving of a number of students involved in the contest.
At the close of the year, June, 1839, the annual report of the Faculty made to the Board gave the following item: "The affairs of the College for the session have proceeded with tolerable prosperity and quietness." The following were recommended for the degree of A. B., June, 1839, and the same received it:
AMOS W. JONES, . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
CHARLES W. BURNLEY,. . . . . . . Virginia.
JOSIAH F. ASKEW, . . . . . . . . Georgia.
THOMAS H. GARNETT, . . . . . . . Virginia.
JAMES F. SMITH,. . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
WILLIAM H. BATTE,. . . . . . . . Virginia.
[Illustration: REV. A.W. JONES, D. D., For fifty years President of the
Memphis Conf. Female College.]
The resignation of President Stephen Olin, tendered in 1836, was accepted at the meeting of the Board, all hope of his returning to the College having been abandoned. Prof. Landon C. Garland was then elected by unanimous vote President, and he accepted the office. Prof. David Duncan was elected rector of the Preparatory School, and Amos W. Jones, A. B., principal. William L. Harris was elected a tutor of the lower classes in languages.
[Illustration: LANDON CABELL GARLAND, LL. D.]
On motion of Rev. John Early, the following resolution was adopted: "That, as soon as practicable, the trustees of Randolph-Macon College will establish a Normal School as a department in the College, in which a good and liberal education can be obtained, and which, in its organization, shall be especially fitted to educate students for common-school teachers, and that the Professor of English Literature be the rector of said school."
This action of the Board, showing such remarkable foresight and wisdom, ought to be emphasized. So far as the State of Virginia is concerned, it is believed to have been the first move in the establishment of a normal department for fitting teachers for their special work. Many years afterward (1884) the State established such a school. The first established in the United States was in the year 1839. This important move was never fully and specifically carried into operation, for the same reason which forbade other projects of the Board—that is, want of means.
Another important step taken at this meeting was the action in regard to the issue of scholarships. At the previous annual meeting a resolution was adopted providing that any person paying $600 into the treasury of Randolph-Macon College shall be entitled to send one student free of tuition fees so long as he shall live or have a son to educate; and any minister who shall collect and pay into the treasury a like sum shall be entitled to the like privilege. At the meeting in 1839 this action was rescinded, and the following was enacted:
On motion of John Early,
"Resolved, That any person who shall pay into the hands of the treasurer five hundred dollars, or any minister who shall collect and pay into the hands of the treasurer five hundred dollars, shall be entitled to a scholarship in Randolph-Macon College in perpetuity, and all persons who have agreed to take scholarships at $600 shall be entitled to the benefit of this resolution.
"Resolved, That any person who shall secure by bond or otherwise five hundred dollars, the principal of which shall be paid within five years, and who shall pay the interest semi-annually, shall be entitled to a scholarship in perpetuity, but the certificate of scholarship shall not be issued until the principal is paid."
This was an unfortunate move, because it never brought into the treasury the amount it was expected to bring—not exceeding eight thousand dollars. The evident intention that such scholarship should be considered as an "heir-loom" in the family was in the years after the war, never before, violated, and parties bought them on speculation, getting money-rent for them, when such a course was never contemplated. When they were issued, fees were $33 per session. Since the war fees have been $75.
My readers will pardon me for here giving some personal recollections, inasmuch as it was in 1839 I matriculated as a student of the College.
Mounted on my black filly, I, with several from my native county, Nottoway, made the journey of forty miles to Boydton, where we were guests of Col. George Rodgers, who then kept the Boydton Hotel. He was then, and for years afterwards, a great friend and liberal benefactor to the College.
The next morning I saw the belfry of the College in the distance for the first time. The same day I took up my abode in "Texas," a portion of the western building, so-called. To a boy not quite fourteen, the experiences of matriculation, examination for entrance, and for the first time coming into contact with young men from distant States, can never be forgotten. "Hazing" was then unknown, though it was not uncommon for some of the "green ones" to have a little fun poked at them.
We had four classes: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. To the "Fresh," the "Seniors" looked very dignified, and the latter usually felt their dignity, but generally bore it gracefully. The Seniors and Juniors generally did most of the debating in the Society Halls, and generally dealt most in "Calico."
The student body at this time was composed very largely of men from States south of Virginia, the Senior class of that year having been wholly from South Carolina and Georgia.
At this session Professor Landon C. Garland was inaugurated a full President, after having acted as such since Dr. Olin left for Europe. We looked up to him with marked reverence, though he was not quite thirty years old. It was his dignity of character which caused us to do this. Few men ever possessed more than he. No man ever trifled in President Garland's lecture-room. The rules of discipline were felt rather than seen. His familiar designation was "Old Landon."
President Sims was much like President Garland in his official character and conduct. He was a high man in person and every way. Thoroughly imbued with the love of his native English, he threw his heart and mind into his teaching. Unable to get text-books in Anglo-Saxon, he wrote the elementary exercises on the blackboard. Some of these are remembered to this day. We did not realize nor appreciate the fact that our classes were the first in a course which is now magnified in all the colleges and universities in the land.
Professor Duncan was the genial, humor-loving Irishman. His shillalah was ever ready for any exposed head, but he had no murderous intent, and did not mind when the subject hit back, but rather enjoyed a repartee. A broad smile always foretold his sally of wit, and sometimes it was so slow coming that the victim would have time to "cut." Dear, dear "Old Pad," as we called him, it was hard to say whether he enjoyed most his fun with the boys or his ancient languages, with the love of which he seemed to be fully saturated. A kinder heart never beat in human frame.
"Old Jim" (Hardy) presided in the Laboratory on the third story. He was a third-story man every way. Though a young man, and the first alumnus of the College made a full professor, his manner was austere, and hence he had but little popularity with the students. Some excuse for his so appearing was due to the fact that he had to study hard to keep up with the expectations of his classes.
"Old Zeke" (Blanch) our tutor in mathematics, was a fine instructor and bright every way. He, too, was fond of humor when out of his lecture-room, but very strict while in it.
Oh! for a Dickens to picture Tutor Harris. Pardon me for taking up more room with him than is given all the rest. But such a character is not often found, and deserves the space he takes.
My first classical instructor was one of the tutors. He was the first Virginia University man ever elected to fill a chair at the old College. Deeply imbued with a love for his subjects, he looked upon the ancient languages as having, potatoe-like, the best parts at the root. The "particle" was his especial delight. So much absorbed was he in discoursing on it, that he was not particular whether his pupils listened or not. They might go to sleep or do anything, so they did not break the thread of his lecture. It was amazing to see how many learned authorities in the shape of books he would daily lug to the room. Doubtless this digging at the root was very deep and thorough—too much so for the average "fresh." Some of the most scholarly appreciated the exercise, or pretended to do so. To the latter the tutor mainly directed his attention.
Not only did the tutor pursue this absorbing search indoors, but it seemed to monopolize all his thoughts, even while going to his meals and returning. It made him oblivious to all else for the time being. He would, while thus absorbed in thought, kick a chip before him for a mile, and would not recognize the best friend he might meet in the way. All he asked then was the full "right of way."
His abstraction or absent-mindedness was exhibited in many ways. Some mischief-lover barred up his door one morning and thus made him tardy at recitation hour, which gave occasion to the boys to "cut"—that is, leave and miss recitation. He went to the President and said, "Sir! is there any way to have a young man up, when you don't know who he is?" The President was a great mathematician, but he could not solve that problem.
"Sheep-ear" collars were in fashion in those days, just the reverse of those now or lately fashionable—I mean those with turned-down points and rising high at the back of the neck, making one look like he had on a mustard-plaster. The "sheep-ear" collars had points with acutest angles, which came up to the corners of a man's mouth. When starched and stiffened they looked as if great danger would be incurred by a sudden turn of the head. Now just picture to yourself a sober-looking man coming into a parlor in the morning with these "sheep-ears" pointing to the back of the neck instead of to the front, and you will realize how very peculiar the tutor looked one morning when he came down. This I was eye-witness of, and if I laughed I hope no one will accuse me of want of due respect. It could not be helped, certainly by one who has been known to enjoy a hearty spell at times.
The tutor was by no means a pharisee in spirit, for he was one of the "meek of the earth." But his inveterate habit made him liable to be pronounced as pharisaic. When officiating at public prayers in the chapel he would sometimes forget that after prayer came recitation or lecture and then breakfast, and his prayer would seem to be interminable. Knowing his absence of mind, one morning while thus engaged some good-intentioned or irreverent fellow prompted him by a hearty amen! This brought the prayer to a speedy conclusion, but the tutor was highly displeased—so much so that he sent for the most mischievous one of the auditors, whom he naturally charged with the offence, and said to him, "Mr. Blaze, I have sent for you, sir! to say to you that you shan't say amen to my prayers."
The tutor was very economical—some would say, penurious. Not so. He was generous and warm-hearted—as much so as an old bachelor could be. A true Christian, he felt it to be his duty to save every dime he could, that he might have the more to meet the demands of charity. This conviction caused him to discard pins as extravagant. In his room would be seen what Adam and Eve used when their first garments were donned, to furnish which conveniently he kept a thorn bush hung up behind his door. This he kept up until he was convinced that the damage thus caused to one's collar exceeded the cost of pins.
Candles being expensive, he thought the twilight sufficient to enable him to make up his morning toilet. This economy, combined with his other besetting habit, got him into a most ludicrous scrape. It happened thus: In writing out his voluminous notes he used many quill pens, which from time to time accumulated on his table. He took these—quite a number—one night, just before retiring, and washed them in his bowl, leaving the water in the bowl very much the color of the blue ink he was wont to use. The next morning in the dimness of twilight he failed to observe this discolored fluid when he went to perform his ablutions; when he finished he was blue—yes, very blue. Not taking time to look into his glass, he went to the chapel and took his place on the rostrum ready to officiate at the appointed hour, wholly unconscious of the very remarkable visage he wore, and thus unprepared for the scene which was to follow.
As the boys dropped in each one would stop, and look, and wonder, and then break out into most uproarious laughter, as perfectly uncontrollable as a storm in its fury. There was no use to attempt to be devout that morning. How the tutor got through with the reading and the prayer I can't say, but I fear he was not in a very devotional mood himself. How could he be when every one was laughing, while he could not see what was making them laugh. He was utterly disgusted with such rudeness and irreverence.
But he did get through. When some one informed him of his cadaverous appearance, he suddenly recollected the blue pens he had washed in his bowl. Then it was his turn to laugh, and laugh he did with a vim.
But lest I weary you, I will here conclude this reminiscence of the olden times by saying that with all the oddities of this old tutor I still cherish the highest respect for his character as a good and deeply pious man. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." I doubt not that he will be of that number in the great day when the jewels are counted.
[Illustration: PROF. DAVID S. DOGGETT, A. M.]
These made the Faculty of 1839-1842. In the latter year Rev. David S. Doggett succeeded Professor Sims in the English course. He was an eloquent preacher, in the prime of life, a diligent student, and dignified in his deportment. The pulpit was his place of power, and he did not remain long away from it. He was afterwards a Bishop in the church, after having served the church as editor of the Methodist Review for a number of years.
So much for the professors and tutors. What of the students under them? Taking the men who received degrees during the five years 1840-1844, it is pleasant, though it may seem invidious, to mention a part where it is not possible to name all.
The first name in the roll of his class (1840), and the first in honor, David Clopton, of Georgia, made his mark at College, and his after life was what his college life predicted.
He represented the Montgomery (Alabama) District in the United States
Congress prior to the war, and the same district in the Confederate
States Congress. Afterwards he served for many years as Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. He was also very prominent in
the church.
James F. Dowdell, of Georgia, was a member of the United States Congress from Alabama prior to the war, and was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Tennent Lomax, of South Carolina, also moved to Alabama. He was editor, soldier in the Mexican war, and was prominent in politics. He was killed while leading his regiment into battle at Seven Pines, Virginia, May, 1862, just after having received a commission as brigadier-general.
James L. Pierce was an eloquent speaker, a Doctor of Divinity, and
President of Lagrange (Georgia) Female College.
In this connection it might be interesting to mention that Clopton's roommate was Robert Lanier, of Macon, Ga., a member of the Sophomore Class. He and Burwell Harrison, also of Georgia, married Virginia ladies, whose acquaintance they formed while they were at College. Lanier's son, Sidney, has been called the "poet laureate of the South."
Coming to the next class (1841), George B. Jones, first-honor man, was a fine scholar, but turned from teaching to business life. He was killed at Petersburg in 1864, while defending his city in Kautz's attack on it.
Thomas H. Campbell was a distinguished lawyer, served in both houses of the General Assembly of Virginia, and was president of the Southside Railroad Company.
Edward Wadsworth was a prominent minister in Virginia and Alabama, a
Doctor of Divinity, and President of the Southern University,
Greensboro, Ala.
In the class of 1842, Thomas C. Johnson, of Virginia, first-honor man,
became a prominent lawyer in St. Louis, Mo., and a member of the
Legislature of that State. After the war he served two years as
President of Randolph-Macon College (1866-'67, 1867-'68).
William G. Connor, D. D., of South Carolina, was for many years a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Texas.
Ira I. Crenshaw, of Virginia, was tutor in Randolph-Macon College several years, and professor at the Female Institute, Buckingham, Va., and a minister of the Virginia Conference.
Dr. Samuel D. Saunders was professor at the Southwestern University.
Georgetown, Texas, for a number of years.
Of the class of 1843, George W. Benagh, of Virginia, first-honor man, was a professor at the University of Alabama, succeeding Dr. Landon C. Garland, his old preceptor. He died young by accidental drowning.
Edward S. Brown, of Virginia, an eminent lawyer and member of the
Virginia Legislature, is still an active, vigorous man (1897).
William H. Lawton was a faithful itinerant in the South Carolina
Conference for nearly fifty years.
Richard H. Powell was a prominent man in church and state for many years in his State (Alabama).
A number of the members of this class died in early manhood.
Coming down to my own class (1844). This class in the Freshman year numbered thirty-three. Of these only nine took degrees. Four others came in after the opening year, making total graduates thirteen.
John Lyon, of Petersburg, was the first-honor man of this class. He entered the class in the junior year, when he was in his sixteenth year. Before his entrance there were several candidates for the first honor. It was not long before their hopes began to fail. He was precocious, but his precocity was not short-lived, as it so frequently is. Mathematics, the great rock on which so many aspiring men were wrecked, was apparently a pastime with him. President Garland, a natural-born mathematician, had no mercy on men not like gifted with himself. His course was beyond the power of nine out of ten. John Lyon was the one of ten, and was head and shoulders above all the others in the class in this course, while not equal to others in other courses, but high in all. His brilliancy made him in after life a successful lawyer. He died in Washington, November, 1897, aged seventy.
The second-honor man was William C. Doub, of North Carolina. He was an untiring student, gifted especially in the acquisition of language. He was a teacher all his life, having spent the most of it as professor in Trinity College, North Carolina, and Greensboro Female College. He was very prominent in the Methodist Church. He died in the high noon of life.
The third-honor man, William M. Cabell, of Virginia, was a man of clear-cut intellect, and he had the power of concentration in a high degree. This power was shown in his early life, and afterwards made him distinguished and feared at the bar and in the Virginia Legislature. He is still living (1897).
The fourth-honor man was Holland Nimmons McTyeire. Brought by his old preceptor, James R. Thomas, to Randolph-Macon, when otherwise he might have gone to a state school, he entered the Sophomore Class in 1841. College life was no pastime for him. His ambition would make it a stepping-stone to high position—as at first desired and designed—in the State. Like Dr. Olin, no place lower than the highest would satisfy his ambition. To attain to this, all the power of an iron will moving the enginery of a somewhat slow but giant mind was bent and made subject. Had not a change come to divert him from his original intention, he would doubtless have become as notable in the councils and courts of the State as he became in the church. When he first came to College he appeared indifferent in church matters, though it was known he was a member. Whether this was the result of a lapsed religious life, or was the result of a struggle to still the promptings of conscience, is not known. But the call to a higher life, heard, doubtless, before, but a while unheeded, was emphasized in one of those sweeping revivals which Dr. Olin valued more than laws of discipline, and which he pronounced as indispensable in college work. Worldly ambition ceased to be the mainspring of his action, and he began to seek to "have the mind which was in Christ." But it was no easy work to bend such a will in a new direction. It was like turning the mighty steamship on a different course. The passion to rule men around him, the gift of so doing (and it is the greatest gift with which man is endowed), was constantly asserting itself. It probably was "strong in death," but it was tempered and sanctified to other than selfish ends by that good Spirit which subdued a Luther, a St. Paul, and a John Knox. What Randolph-Macon did for McTyeire in strengthening his mental powers for what he was to become as editor and bishop and builder of a great university, in sobering and elevating his ambition and aspirations, and fitting him for the work he was called to do in and for the church, cannot be computed. He has made his mark as high as any son of his alma mater, possibly higher than any other.
Space will not allow me to dwell upon the names of Thomas H. Rogers, of Virginia, for a while a tutor in the College, afterwards M. D.; of Richard S. Parham, of Virginia, a clever student and lawyer, who died in the prime of life, in his adopted State, Tennessee; of "Judge" Fanning, of Georgia, the frequent butt of Prof. Duncan's wit, who was said (poor fellow) to have chewed his brains out along with his teeth; of B. F. Simmons, a prominent young lawyer, who died prematurely, and of Willie M. Person, a M. D., who also died young.
John Howard has been since early youth a prominent lawyer in Richmond, ranking very high in his profession. He was noted when at College for his love for, and proficiency in, English literature and composition. He is still living (1897).
Of my most intimate friend in the class, Archibald Clark, I quote what
Bishop McTyeire wrote of him: "The most useful local preacher in
Southern Georgia, is what his presiding elder said of him."
Among those who were students with me at the College, but left without taking degrees, the following were the most notable: William T. Howard, of Virginia, who became a distinguished physician and professor in the University of Maryland; Lucius I. Gartrell, of Georgia, who became one of the foremost lawyers of his State, and a general in the Confederate army; Chas. E. Hooker, of South Carolina, Attorney-General of the State of Mississippi, colonel in the Confederate army, and for many years a member of Congress; Colonel Joel B. Leftwich, of Virginia, for a number of years a member of the General Assembly of Virginia; Smith W. Moore, of North Carolina, a Doctor of Divinity in the Memphis Conference, author of several books, and poet. He was associated with Bishop McTyeire on the Board of Trust during the early years of the Vanderbilt University. James N. Ramsey, of Georgia, colonel in the Confederate army; Robert Ridgway, of Virginia, the brilliant editor of the Richmond Whig, and member of Congress from Virginia; Walter L. Steele, of North Carolina, a member of Congress, and prominent in business and state, matters; W. L. Blanton, a minister of the Virginia Conference, eloquent and zealous, who died in early manhood; James D. Crawley, a most estimable man, and a local minister for many years; W. K. Blake, of North Carolina, a prominent merchant in Spartanburg, S. C., and trustee of Wofford College; John Wesley Williams, a member of the Virginia Conference, whose useful life was early cut short by consumption.
Nearly all of my college-mates sleep in the dust of the earth. Many of them were "wise, and shall shine as the brightness of the firmament," and some "turned many to righteousness," and shall "shine as the stars, forever and ever."
[Illustration: GEN. TENNENT LOMAX, CLASS 1840. Killed at Seven Pines,
Va., 1862.]
We go back now and take up the record regularly. At the close of the session of 1839-'40 the report of the Faculty notes the year as successful, and makes mention of the introduction of Anglo-Saxon into the course as the basis of the proper study of English. The Bible was also recommended as a part of the course of study. At this meeting the first legacy to the College, made by Rev. Robert C. Jones, of $3,000, was reported.
[Illustration: DAVID CLOPTON, LL. D.]
The following degrees were conferred June, 1840: