USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume III > Part 19
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Dr. Pynchon retired from the presidency in 1883. His successor, Rev. George Williamson Smith, made desirable changes in the curriculum of studies. A fine and well-fur- nished gymnasium, with an alumni hall, has been built out- side the space assigned to the quadrangle on the north 334
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campus. At a corresponding situation on the south side is the handsome laboratory. Besides these, there is a modest obser- vatory on the south campus. Near by are the residences of the faculty, and chapter halls of societies; but the extensive plans outlined by the late President Jackson must be left for future generations to complete.
The resignation of President Smith, occurred in the latter part of 1903. His successor, Rev. Flavel S. Luther, ap- pointed in May 1904, had long been Professor of Mathe- matics in the college, and recognized as not only one of the most learned and clear-headed mathematicians in the country, and a stimulating teacher, but a man of wide interests, orig- inal thought and great charm of style in presenting his ideas.
The incorporation of the third college in Connecticut was not attended with any sectarian opposition. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the seminaries under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church being in a flour- ishing condition, the leading minds of the church advocated the need of a university of collegiate rank, to be located either in New England or New York.
At this critical period, a seeming accident directed the attention of the officials of the Church to Middletown: in 1825 Captain Alden Partridge, a former superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, opened in that city the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Acad- emy. The citizens, to encourage the school, erected two sub- stantial stone buildings. While at first prosperity attended it, this soon waned, and a failure to obtain a charter from the Legislature caused its removal in 1829 to Norwich, Vermont. The vacant buildings attracted the attention of Rev. Laban Clark, presiding elder of the New Haven district. Learn- ing that they were for sale, he promptly notified the proper
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parties that he would be one of ten to purchase the property. The matter was taken under serious consideration at a ses- sion of the New York Conference; they appointed a com- mittee, who, in conjunction with a similar committee chosen by the New England Conference, issued proposals inviting several towns to compete for the location of a college. While liberal offers were received from several towns, that of Mid- dletown was considered most advantageous.
The entire real estate, valued at about $30,000, was offered with only two conditions: first, that it should be perpetually used for a college or university; second, that the college should be endowed with $40,000. Of this sum the citizens of Middletown raised $18,000. The necessary amount was soon obtained; trustees were chosen, and the college organ- ized under the name of Wesleyan University. It is the oldest college now extant that was founded, and has remained, under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first president was Rev. Wilbur Fisk. In May 1831 a charter was granted to the university,and in September of that year its doors were opened to students.
The peculiar views introduced by the first president, that the proficiency of the student in each department should be the only basis of classification, and that any student able to pass the requisite examination was to receive a diploma with- out regard to the time spent in college, were abandoned; and the usual system of classification was adopted. Wesleyan was among the first colleges to establish a scientific course, to meet the wants of those whose tastes or financial conditions debarred them from taking the ordinary classical course.
The death of Dr. Fisk occurred in 1839. Dr. Stephen Olin was elected president, but feeling himself too feeble to assume the duties, he resigned early in 1841, and Dr. Nathan
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Bangs was chosen to fill the vacancy. He accepted the posi- tion reluctantly, and in July 1842 resigned in favor of Dr. Olin, whose health had improved. While the latter gentle- man never devoted himself closely to the work of instruction, he strengthened the financial condition of the college, and extended its reputation. His commanding character was an inspiration to the students. He died in 1851.
After a year's interval Dr. Augustus W. Smith, one of the original faculty, was elected president; it was during his administration that the permanent existence and prosperity of the university was assured, by the raising of an endowment fund of $100,000. Dr. Smith resigned in 1857, and was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Cummings. This was the first time that an alumnus of Wesleyan was chosen to preside over the college. The work accomplished by his predeces- sor was augmented by the new president; a library fund of $27,000 was raised by the alumni, and a new and tasteful library building, with a capacity for 100,000 volumes, was erected at a cost of $40,000 by Isaac Rich of Boston, a large contributor to the support of the university. The Boarding Hall was remodeled into an Observatory Hall, a Memorial Chapel was built, and the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science was constructed at a cost of $100,000, by the munifi- cence of Orange Judd of New York, the famous founder of the "American Agriculturist," a member of the class of 1847.
Dr. Cummings resigned the presidency in 1875, and Rev. Cyrus D. Foss, of the class of 1854, was unanimously elected his successor. Notwithstanding the large gifts the college had received, Dr. Foss found its finances in a deplorable con- dition, which was partially due to the money panic of 1873. The expenditures were $46,000 annually, while the income was only $20,000. During the five years of President Foss'
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administration, the current expenses were provided for, the debt paid, and nearly $250,000 added to the endowment. Being elected in 1880 a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Foss tendered his resignation. The vacancy was filled by the election of Dr. John W. Beach; during his term of office, the endowment fund was further increased by the princely gifts of George I. Seney. The retirement of President Beach occurred in 1887. This was followed by an interregnum of two years; then the present incumbent, Dr. Bradford P. Raymond, was chosen president. His administration has been signalized by a gift from Dr. Daniel Ayres of $275,000. A new gymnasium has been erected, and the number of students and instructors increased. Wesleyan ranks among the strongest of the sectarian colleges; the grounds, buildings, apparatus, and endowment, aggregate nearly $2,000,000. She is fifth in size of those under the control of the Methodist persuasion, having in 1902 thirty- six instructors and 320 students, with a total income of $113,811. There have been graduated since the organiza- tion of the college 2,333 students.
The Hartford Theological Seminary owes its foundation to a convention of thirty-six Congregational ministers held at East (now South) Windsor, Sept. 10, 1833, for the purpose of devising measures for the defense and promotion of evan- gelical principles. Ceretain speculations and dogmas had been advanced, which were viewed with suspicion, as being at variance with the teachings of the Holy Scripture; these new doctrines had also been advocated by certain newspapers devoted to Congregational literature.
Many members of that persuasion were antagonistic to these new ideas, respecting Divine government and human depravity and regeneration. Therefore at the East Windsor
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Convention, the Pastoral Union of Connecticut was organ- ized on the basis of a Calvinistic creed. The constitution adopted, provided for the establishment of a Theological Seminary, to guard against the perversion of consecrated funds and other misdemeanors. It was deemed advisable that the control of the college should be placed in the hands of a Board of Trustees elected annually by the Pastoral Union, rather than lodged in a corporation.
The Theological Institute of Connecticut was incorporated in May 1834, and formally opened the following Septem- ber; the institution was located at East Windsor, with sixteen students in attendance, and a faculty of three professors. For several years the finances of the seminary were in a precarious condition, the current expenses being defrayed by contribu- tions from persons of moderate means. In 1839 a legacy of $11,000 was received from Miss Rachel Waldo of Wor- cester, Massachusetts. During the next decade there were a number of donations, of from one to seven thousand dol- lars each. A second professorship was endowed by Mr. Chester Buckley and wife of Wethersfield; later a third by Dr. Asahel Nettleton. The disadvantages of the location of the seminary at East Windsor had been embarrassing from the first; after a score of years, from a lack of social and church life and an intellectual and literary atmosphere, they became depressing. The trustees wished to improve the location; also the number of students was decreasing, and their finances were not adequate to a proper prosecution of the work. Hence they made overtures to Yale College to unite the two seminaries. While the conference held was at one on nearly all the proposed conditions of the union, those who represented Yale asked for a delay before coming to a
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final decision. No action was taken at this time, but in 1864 the negotiations were resumed by Yale.
Important changes, however, had taken place with the struggling seminary at East Windsor : liberal gifts had been received from several parties, the most munificent being that from James B. Hosmer of Hartford, who also founded a professorship, and gave $100,000 for the erection of the edifice on Broad Street in that city. The seminary was trans- ferred to Hartford in September 1865, and for fourteen years occupied dwelling-houses on Prospect Street, when they removed to their present location. The Faculty at this time consisted of only two professors. The largest number of students belonging to the seminary in any one year, before its removal to Hartford, was thirty-four, the Faculty being three professors. According to the catalogue of 1902, there were eighty students and sixteen professors. It was through the liberality of Newton Case of Hartford that the present library building was constructed, with a capacity of 200,- 000 volumes. The name of the seminary was changed to its present title on its removal, and later a reorganization was effected to conform with modern institutions of like character. Dr. Chester D. Hartranft was elected first President, which office he filled until 1903, when he resigned in order to con- tinue literary work in Germany.
The Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Hartford owes its origin to the endeavors of Dr. Mason F. Cogswell, whose infant daughter, while suffering from an attack of spotted fever in 1807, became totally deaf, and afterward practically a mute. On the child reaching the age of ten years, the father desired to procure for her an education, and sought the co-op- eration of his friends and neighbors to establish a school for deaf mutes. There had been several unsuccessful attempts
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to start institutions of this character in the United States, although they were in active operation in Great Britain and France. At a meeting held April 12, 1815, at the residence of Dr. Cogswell, steps were taken to perfect a permanent organ- ization; also to obtain subscriptions to defray the expenses of a competent person, to visit Europe for the purpose of acquiring the art of instructing deaf-mutes.
The funds were readily secured, and Rev. Thomas Gallau- det was the universal choice; but he was very unwilling to relinquish the sacred calling, for which he had fitted himself at the Andover Theological Seminary. He was at length persuaded, however, and sailed for Liverpool on May 25. In Great Britain Mr. Gallaudet encountered insurmountable obstacles in his efforts to obtain instruction. He then pro- ceeded to Paris, where Abbé Sicard was in charge of the Institution for Deaf Mutes, founded in 1760 by Abbé de l'Epée. This worthy cleric accorded the American educator every facility. After a year's instruction, in August 1816, Mr. Gallaudet returned home, accompanied by Laurent Clerc, one of Abbé Sicard's pupils, and an instructor in the Paris institution.
On his arrival at Hartford, he found little had been accom- plished besides obtaining an act of incorporation, in May 1816, as "The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons." Over $2,300 had been contributed by various persons, but this had been expended in defraying the expensese of the European trip; therefore his first energies were devoted to obtaining a per- manent fund, which was finally secured,-private benevo- lence yielding $12,000, and the State Legislature appropri- ating $5,000.
These sums insured the permanency of the institution; and
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on April 15, 1817, the school was opened in a building on Main Street, Hartford. At the end of a week there were seven pupils, and by the first of June the number had been increased to twenty-one. The following year the attendance had so increased that the directors thought the work should become national, and decided to ask a grant from Congress. Through the efforts of the Connecticut congressional dele- gation, aided by other influential and philanthropic members of both houses, a township comprising 23,000 acres of wild land was appropriated for the use of the institution. On account of this gift, and the probability that the work of the institution would be largely national, it was deemed advisable to change the name to the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. The buildings now occupied were completed and opened in 1821; numerous additions have since been made, however. Four years later, arrangements were made with the other New England States to educated their deaf- mutes.
Mr. Gallaudet in 1830, owing to failing health, resigned his position as executive officer. Mr. Clerc, after completing a service of forty-seven years, was in 1857 retired on a pen- sion. The successors of Mr. Gallaudet have been Lewis Weld, 1830-53; Rev. William W. Turner, 1854-63; Col- lins Stone, 1863-79; Edward C. Stone, 1870-8; and Job Williams, 1878. Changes of the first importance have taken place in the character of the instruction given. Through the devices of visible speech, in which Alexander Graham Bell and others have been so active, muteness has been virtually abolished; nearly all can be taught in some measure to speak. This also has greatly increased their capacity to earn liv- ings for themselves. Hence it has become not an "Asylum" but a school, and the "dumb" are no longer admitted to exist ;
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hence the name has been changed to the American School at Hartford for the Deaf.
There have been two instances in the history of the State where town supremacy retarded public education. The first of these occurred at the outset of the anti-slavery struggle in 1831, when the free negroes of the United States were desir- ous of establishing a college for their young men, to which a mechanical department was to be attached. Connecticut offered superior advantages for mechanical education; New Haven was the home of advanced education in the State: for these reasons that city was selected for the site of the proposed college. This raised an outburst of opposition in New Haven; public meetings were held denouncing the project, and every means taken to defeat the success of the enterprise ; and it was abandoned.
The other instance was of the same character. Prudence Crandall, a young Quakeress, conducted a private school at Canterbury; becoming imbued with anti-slavery principles, she corresponded with William Lloyd Garrison, the father of Abolitionism, stating that she proposed to offer the advan- tages of her school to colored children. In an attempt to carry out this project, a storm of indignation was raised in that quiet and peaceful Connecticut town. A town meeting declared the school a nuisance, the colored people were insulted in the streets, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to arrest them under the vagrant act. Failing in these attempts to close the school, the General Assembly was appealed to, and an act was passed forbidding the introduc- tion into the State of negroes from another State for the purpose of instruction, without the written consent of the selectmen of the town.
Her opponents being armed with this legal weapon, Miss
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Crandall was arrested, and for a night was incarcerated in jail. Trial after trial failed to convict her, and what is now termed boycotting, in its most aggravated form, was used against her. She in attendance with her pupils was excluded from church services; and as a final resort, mob law was instituted. Her house was broken into at midnight, the inmates turned into the streets, and the house with its con- tents ruined. Miss Crandall succumbed to the inevitable, and abandoned her enterprise.
While the people of the commonwealth as a whole should not be held responsible for these persecutions, they grew out of Connecticut's peculiar legal system, which recognizes the town as the unit of government, and therefore responsible for its own acts. The fears of the Canterburians are those of millions to-day; as to their validity, that is another ques- tion. The greatest coeducational institutions for whites and blacks in the whole country, Oberlin and Berea colleges, have never been responsible for a single intermarriage; and "social equality" is the emptiest of bogies. It rests with every one whether he shall invite people of any color to his home or elect them to his club.
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CHAPTER XXIII CONNECTICUT UNDER BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION
A FTER the inauguration of President Buchanan, the Kansas troubles continued to be the all- absorbing topic of the administration, as Pierce had left them. The determination of the Southern members of Congress to allow the admission of Kansas only as a slave State, and to force it by open and bloody violence to become such, kept the issue clearly before the people, where the Kansas-Nebraska bill had brought it. The Dred Scott decision, which threw open the whole Union, free and slave, to slavery, aroused still fiercer wrath. These occurrences divided even the Demo- cratic party, and caused it to lose control of the general gov- ernment, which it had dominated, with the exception of a few years, ever since the inauguration of Jefferson.
This decision of 1857, by a majority of the justices of the United States Supreme Court, the case having been before the tribunal for over three years, is well known. In essence it was that slaves were personal chattels, and therefore could not become citizens of the United States; also that a residence in a free State did not in any way release them from bondage; it even went farther, and declared that slavery was not a local institution, and therefore not amenable to local laws,-that it should have protection in the national domain, the same as any other property.
The New York Legislature, in retaliation, enacted a law that neither color nor African descent disqualified a resident of that State for citizenship, and that a slave brought within its limits became free; any attempt to retain such a person as a slave was punishable with imprisonment, not to exceed ten years. In the North, especially in New England, vigorous measures had been and were taken to form colonization socie- ties, to settle the disputed territory in Kansas with citizens
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who would employ only free labor; also to counteract the temporary settlement of armed bands of Missourians, who were endeavoring to have the new State adopt a constitution establishing slavery within its limits.
Connecticut was foremost among her sister States, in pro- moting and equipping colonization societies. At a meeting held in New Haven in April, 1856, when a leader of one of these newly organized societies stated that they were unable to provide themselves with rifles, or any other species of fire- arms, Professor Benjamin Silliman, then in his seventy-sev- enth year, offered to head a subscription list for the purchase of the desired articles. The necessary sum was quickly raised, and the party thoroughly equipped. This action of the citi- zens of New Haven was the cause of indecent vituperation by the pro-slavery newspapers, throughout the country; also by the champions of the Southern gangs who were upholding a minority usurpation by using rifles at every turn. It was brought before the United States Senate, where Professor Silliman and his fellow subscribers were ably defended by Senator Lafayette S. Foster.
In July of the same year, a letter signed by Professor Sil- liman and forty-two other citizens, mostly residents of New Haven, was addressed to President Buchanan, remonstrating against the use of United States troops in Kansas to enforce the fraudulent Lecompton constitution, and other laws that had been passed by invaders from Missouri, which were opposed by the actual settlers. The President in a plausible way attempted to shirk all responsibility in the matter, and stigmatized the inhabitants of Kansas as a lawless and sedi- tious people. Several meetings of the signers to the remon- strance was held, and letters written by Dr. Leonard Bacon, Alexander C. Twinning (the author of the original protest),
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and Dr. N. W. Taylor, were forwarded to the President. They became known as the Silliman letters, and were the means of causing the President and his Cabinet to avow openly their pro-slavery views and plans.
It is unnecessary to review in detail the various phases of the struggle : the outrageous attacks on the legitimate colon- ists who were determined that Kansas should become a mem- ber of the Union as a free State; the iniquitous Lecompton constitution; the sack of Lawrence, the headquarters of the anti-slavery party; the affairs at Black Jack and Ossawa- tomie, linked with the name of one of Connecticut's most famous sons. These were early events that presaged the Civil War; and the final failure of the South made her lead- ers turn to that war as the only resource left.
As the time for the spring election of 1858 approached in Connecticut, the political outlook of the country was most threatening. This, in connection with the disturbed state of financial affairs, caused the leaders of the Republican party to select as their candidate for Governor one whose previous record showed an adaptability for the management of mone- tary affairs. At a convention of bankers and business men held in Connecticut during the panic of the preceding year, William A. Buckingham of Norwich was a member. His knowledge of finance so impressed that body that he was deemed the most acceptable candidate to represent the busi- ness interests of the State. The political parties were evenly divided, but the Republican candidate was elected by a major- ity of 2,449, his plurality being 2,753, which was a larger plurality and majority than had been concentrated on any one candidate in opposition to the Democratic party for nearly a decade. The Legislature also by this election became largely Republican in both branches.
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Governor Buckingham was re-elected in 1859 by a reduced majority. The cities and larger towns, with the exception of Norwich and New London, gave majorities for the Dem- ocratic candidate; but this was counterbalanced by the agri- cultural districts of New London, Windham, and Litchfield counties, contributing handsome Republican majorities. While the nominal Republican supremacy in the State government was not as great as in the preceding year, the closeness of the struggle had consolidated the party, and eradicated the free- lances and factions, placing it on a firmer vantage ground than it had before occupied.
The first two administrations of Governor Buckingham were during a period of intense excitement and earnest debate throughout the country. Public men were breaking away from old political parties, and joining newer organizations ; the air was rife with threats of unheard-of measures that would be resorted to if the opposition party was successful at the polls. The chief executive of the country had not only lost the control of a Democratic Congress, but also had alien- ated members of his Cabinet, who condemned his pro-slavery policy. The President had scarcely finished half his term of office, before his administration had completely broken down. Its unpopularity steadily increased, and the House of Repre- sentatives became Republican. This, with the determined opposition of Stephen A. Douglass in the Senate, caused Buchanan to become one of the most pathetic figures in Amer- ican history. The self-styled "Old Public Functionary" had been confronted by an irremediable disruption of his party on the slavery question, and forced to choose a side; consist- ency to his whole life policy and utterances left him no alternative but to side with the wrong, yet without heart or vigor, and he had the fate of being execrated as a tool of
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