On the first ballot Prof. W. W. Smith received ten votes out of twenty.
On the second ballot he received twelve, and was declared elected.
Inasmuch as the history of the College has been so intimately linked with the life of President Smith for so many years, it is not necessary to say much of him just here. He was born in Fauquier county in 1848. His father, Richard M. Smith, afterwards moved to Alexandria, where he was associated with the celebrated Benjamin Hallowell in his school. Afterwards he became editor of the Alexandria Sentinel, which was removed to Richmond at the breaking out of hostilities, April, 1861. He afterwards edited the Enquirer. At the early age of sixteen William Waugh Smith volunteered in the Confederate service, in which he continued to the close of the war. After the war he was associated with his father in the publication of the Enquirer, which had been revived. He attended the University of Virginia one session. When the College was moved to Ashland, and his father became a Professor in it, he matriculated at the College and took the degree of A. M., with John Hannon, in 1873. After leaving College he became the assistant to his uncle, Albert Smith, at Bethel Academy, near Warrenton, Va., which rapidly grew into prominence as a school. Here he remained till 1882, when he was elected Professor of Moral and Mental Science in Randolph-Macon College. In 1885 he showed his great talent for raising funds for the College, by securing the "Lynchburg Endowment," in connection with Dr. R. N. Sledd and others. His energy and aptitude for administration, in addition to the successful experience he had gained at Bethel Academy, pointed him out as the man for the vacant position, and subsequent events have justified the selection.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT WM. W. SMITH, A. M., LL. D.]
[Illustration: RICHARD IRBY, SECRETARY AND TREASURER. Elected June, 1886.]
[Illustration: RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE, LYNCHBURG, VA. Opened for Students 1893.]
[Illustration: [Five small pictures, displayed in a quincunx. Pictures
are individually captioned, as follows: "REV. R.M. SAUNDERS, Chaplain",
"PROF. KNIGHT.", "MISS LOUISE J. SMITH.", "PROF. SCHEHLMANN.", "PROF.
ADAMS." At the bottom of the page, the quincunx is captioned, "FACULTY
RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE, 1893-1898.]
[Illustration: [Five more small pictures, displayed in a quincunx.
Pictures are individually captioned, as follows: "PRESIDENT SMITH.",
"PROF. SHARP.", "DR. MARTIN.", "PROF. ARMSTRONG.", "MISS PARRISH.". At
the bottom of the page, the quincunx is captioned, "FACULTY
RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE, 1893-1898.]
[Illustration: [A third set of five small pictures, displayed in a
quincunx. Pictures are individually captioned, as follows: "PROF
LANDON", "MRS. SAUNDERS.", "PROF. RIDDICK.", "PROF. PAGE.", "DR.
TERRELL." At the bottom of the page, the quincunx is captioned, "FACULTY
RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE, 1893-1898.]
On motion of John P. Branch (substitute for one offered by A. G. Brown), it was
"Resolved, That Richard Irby be appointed Secretary and Treasurer, the same to give half of his time to the business of the College."