USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 31
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In 1910 the general education board made a conditional gift to the college of $100,000 for endowment, and of the $300,000 to be seenred to meet the conditions nearly half has already been promised in sums among the largest ever given to the school.
THE CURRICULUM
In the fifties Cornell college was a very simple organization. In the first year of the college as distinct from the seminary, six teachers taught the entire round of the college course, which then included but forty subjects, each pur- sued for but three months. Besides Latin, Greek and mathematics, there were offered six terms in science and seven in the following subjeets: Natural Theol- ogy, Evidences of Christianity, Moral Seience, Butler's Analogy, Mental Phil- osophy, Rhetorie, and Elements of Criticism. This simple enrrienlum was stated by the catalog to embrace "the course of study in Mathematies, Languages, Seienees, and Belle Lettres which is prescribed in the best colleges and universities. It is thorough, extensive and systematic." All the same, both Cornell and "the best colleges and universities" have found that college courses could be made more "thorough and extensive" if not "more systematic." Latin, for example, at Cornell now offers eleven half-year courses instead of nine third-year courses as in 1857-1858. Seienees, which then offered six terms, now offer thirty-seven half- years and form five strong departments with their own professors and assistants. In 1875 the department of English Literature was organized, and the same year special teachers were employed for the first time in publie speaking, although the School of Oratory was not organized until 1891. History and Polities became a distinet department in 1886. Courses in the English Bible were offered in 1894, and in Sociology in 1900. In all, the last catalog lists more than two hundred half- year collegiate courses of study.
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The college has been among the foremost in the west in adapting and enlarg- ing its courses to meet changing ideals. As early as 1873 the department of Civil and Sanitary Engineering was organized, in which hundreds of young men have received a valuable equipment for the work of life. One of the earliest recognitions of education as a collegiate subject was when courses in this science were offered at Cornell in 1872 - the beginning of the present strong school of education. In 1900 and 1901 special directors of Physical Training for both men and women were first employed.
SPIRIT AND INFLUENCE
During all these changing years since 1853 the spirit of Cornell has remained essentially the same. It has made for scholarship - a scholarship honest, tire- less, and fearless in the search for truth; it has cherished culture; it has fitted for service and has sent forth its students to perform, in the words of Milton, "justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all the duties both public and private of peace and war." It has ever been a religious spirit, too, this spirit of Cornell, and kindling in thousands of young hearts has inspired them to purer, stronger, and more helpful living.
The influence of Cornell may be summarized by a quotation from an editorial in the Cedar Rapids Republican in 1904, reviewing the history of the college:
"Fifty years of college work and college building; what does it mean ? What is it these men, about whom we have been writing, have done? The half can not be told. No research, however painstaking, could discover it all, for only a portion of such work is ever seen of men. For fifty years a constant stream of beneficent influences has been flowing out from this institution. The pure water which gushes from a spring on the hillsides, who can trace? A certain portion will refresh those who dwell near its source. The remainder flows away to form a brooklet that 'joins brimming river' which carries ships, waters cities, and finally augments an ocean current that washes illimitable shores. But for these springs the everlasting ocean would dry np. The stream of beneficent influences which has been flowing from this institution on the hillside down yonder, has been carried around the world - into countless fields of human activity and high endeavor - into homes where mothers teach their children to avoid those things that are of the earth earthy - into business establishments where the golden rule is not always turned toward the wall - into legislative halls where statesmen and patriots are needed - into the judiciary of state and nation - into the cabinet of the president of the United States - into all callings and all professions - in- to all countries and all chimes. May it flow on forever and forever !"
CHAPTER XXIV History of Coe College
BY REV. E. R. BURKHALTER, D. D.
There is an interest, and a charm peculiarly its own in tracing a stream that has grown to be a river back to its head waters in some lake or mountain spring. And when instead of a river we trace backward a college to its source and fountain head, this interest and charm come to possess a sacred value and are full of hal- lowed associations. And the charm and interest become complete when this matter is pursued by one who is not only a historian but also a participant in the transactions which cover years of time and call up many holy and tender memor- ies of scenes and places, and yet more, of persons who were fellow-workers in the good cause and the most of whom have passed from earth.
The fountain head of Coe College, whose history it is now proposed to record, is to be sought and found in the mind and heart of the Rev. Williston Jones, the pioneer pastor of Cedar Rapids, who for the years between 1849 and 1856 was the minister of the First Presbyterian church of this city. Mr. Jones was a most zealous servant of his Divine Master, and labored zealously for His cause, not only in the local field, which was then so newly opened for settlement, but in the whole outlying region. His heart felt the needs of this entire middle west, which, as a fertile wilderness, was offering such inducements for the pioneer settler, and he longed to do his part to the utmost in assisting to provide this region with a gospel ministry. To this end, he opened a School of the Prophets in his own home.
We now avail ourselves at this early point of our history of the valuable con- tributions furnished by the words of the Rev. George R. Carroll, in his most interesting little volume entitled Pioneer Life in and Around Cedar Rapids, 1839-1849.
"Mr. Jones had persuaded one young man, the writer of this sketch, to de- vote his life to the gospel ministry. But there was no school here in which he could begin his studies. At last the zealous pastor decided to undertake himself the task of preparing that young man for college. Meantime, other young men heard of the arrangement, and persuaded Mr. Jones to admit them also to the same privileges. The result was the formation of a class of sixteen or eighteen young men who occupied the unfurnished parlor in the pastor's house, which was temporarily fitted up for the purpose. One of the number was chosen to act as monitor each week, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones came in at different hours of the day to hear the recitations in the various branches of study pursued. The branches studied were reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, Latin and Greek. This school continued its regular sessions for about six months, and was successfully wound up with a public exhibition under the shade trees in front of the pastor's residence on the hill near the Milwaukee depot. The following young men were among the students of that first school : George Weare, John Stony, Cyrus E. Ferguson, Murry S. D. Davis. Amos Ferguson, Isaac W. Carroll, Mortimer A. Higley, William E. Earl, William J. Wood, Edwin Kennedy, George R. Carroll, James L. Bever, and George W. Bever."
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We also avail ourselves of an extract from the Fortieth Anniversary First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1887, on which occasion Mr. Carroll in his biographical sketch of the Rev. Williston Jones, our first pastor, used the following language :
"Mr. Jones was deeply interested in the subject of raising up a native min- istry. That is to say, he believed that it was important that we should seek out young men from among the people of the west to labor in the west. It was, therefore. his constant aim wherever he met a Christian young man of any promise, to lay before him the elaims of the gospel ministry, and urge him prayer- fully to consider the question as to whether or not God had called him to the saered offiee. This fact, of course, led him to take a great interest in the subject of education. There were no schools at that time where a young man could even begin a course of study for the ministry. He felt the embarrassment of the sit- uation. He had at last found one young man who had decided to study for the ministry, but there was no sehool in Cedar Rapids where he could make a begin- ning of the study of Latin or Greek or any of the higher branches of study. At last he decided to undertake himself the task of preparing that young man for college. In a short time, a dozen or fifteen more, hearing of this arrangement. begged the privilege of joining that lone student in studying under Mr. Jones, and before he was aware of it, he found himself at the head of a school for young men. This was in the autumn of 1851. He had erected for himself, meantime. a house of the same material of the old church. cement. It still stands on the hill north of the Milwaukee depot. The parlor of that honse was at that time unfinished. It was lathed but not plastered. Mr. Jones said to the young men. if they would get one coat of plastering put onto that room, and put in some temporary seats made of slabs. they could have the use of it for a school room. The offer was promptly accepted, and, in due time, the school began in good earnest. One of the number would act as monitor in the school-room for a week, and then another, until the honor had been enjoyed by all. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were the first professors of the institution, coming in at regular hours to hear recitations. The branches of study pursued in the new academy were reading. writing, geography, arithmetic, algebra, grammar, Latin and Greek. Due atten- tion was also given to composition, declamation, and vocal music. For six months that school continued in perfeet harmony and marked success. The term closed sometime in June, I think 1852. with publie exercises appropriate to the occasion. The place of meeting was in a grove immediately in front of the school-room. The order of exercises, as nearly as I can remember, consisted in singing and prayer of course, recitations, reading of essays, and declamations. Everything passed off pleasantly and satisfactorily, and I believe the school was pronounced a snecess. This effort convinced Mr. Jones more than ever of the need of a permanent school of a higher order. He therefore wrote on to Knox college. I think to Professor Blanchard, to see if one of the graduates could not come and take charge of the school. The result was that Mr. David Blakely, then a recent graduate of Knox college, came in the fall of 1852 and opened the school in the church. The school then assimned the name of the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute. Mr. Blakely held the position of principal of that school for two years, and then resigned his position to enter the active work of the gospel ministry. in which he is still engaged. During all this time the school was kept up with unabated interest, many students coming in from the country round about. and several from remote parts of the state. At least three of the members of that school entered the ministry, and are still engaged in the active duties of the sacred ealling: one. Rev. Hiram Hill. in California ; another. Rev. William Campbell. in Kansas; and the third in this state. It was during the spring of 1853, I think. that Mr. Jones was sent as a commissioner to the General Assembly (N. S.) which
3
W. F. KING, LL. D. Long President Cornell College
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met in Buffalo, N. Y. During his absence the school at home occupied his thoughts and called out all the energies of his ardent nature. IIe determined if possible to secure aid in the east by which to place the school upon a permanent basis, having for its chief end the education of indigent young men for the gospel ministry. Ile was not disappointed in his purpose. Guided no doubt by an all-wise Providence, he met Mr. Daniel Coe, who listened to his earnest appeal, and gave him the money with which the eighty acres of ground, where the college now stands, and these two lots now occupied by this church and chapel, and a lot now occupied by the M. E. church, were secured. Dr. J. F. Ely making the pur- chase. You will see then, that out of the little school, started in the first pastor's house, has grown Coe college, and Rev. Williston Jones was its founder."
It can thus be easily seen that the yearning of Mr. Jones to see a school pro- vided in Cedar Rapids was a fire in his bones. And so, when in the providence of God, he was in attendance at a meeting of the General Assembly of the Presby- terian church (New School) which was held in May, 1853. in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., he sought to interest everyone whom he met in the cause of Christian edu- cation in the west. At that same session of the General Assembly was a minister of the Presbyterian church from the Catskill mountain region of New York state. He said to Mr. Jones, in substance, "I cannot help you myself, but I believe I know a man in my section of the country who can and will, and if you come home with me to Durham, Greene county, New York. I will introduce you to him." The man alluded to was Mr. Daniel Coe, an elder of the church, already deeply interested in the cause of Christian education and preparing to help according to his ability when the suitable opportunity was afforded.
Mr. Jones went to Durham and met Mr. Coc, and presenting to him the matter nearest to his heart, the founding of a school of christian learning in the new world beyond the Mississippi, Mr. Coe gladly consented to assist in the enterprise. The sum promised, $1.500, would be considered in these days a very meagre one, but in 1853, and in Iowa, it must have seemed like $15,000 or more would seem now to us, and Mr. Jones must have welcomed the proffered aid with delight.
When he returned to his home in Cedar Rapids and to his brethren of the Presbytery of Iowa City, of which he was a member, he made such encouraging statements concerning the treatment he had received at the General Assembly. and especially concerning the offer of Mr. Coe, that there was formed in Cedar Rapids a corporation by the name of the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, which prepared articles and filed them for record August 9, 1853. All persons owning one share of stock each in the Institute became thereby members of the corpor- ation, each share of stock being of the value of $25.00. Article twelve of the fourteen articles of corporation reads as follows :
"The Iowa City Presbytery in consideration of five scholarships for the first five years, and of ten scholarships thereafter, shall have the right to nominate all teachers of the Institute, subject, however. to confirmation by the Board of Directors, but this right shall be forfeited if said consideration should at any time fail."
There is no reason to suppose from the records that this consideration was ever fulfilled.
Article thirteen gives the names of the directors: Williston Jones, John F. Ely, W. W. Smith, Seymour D. Carpenter, Addison Daniels, Isaac Cook, William Greene. John L. Shearer, and Aaron Van Dorn; and the following persons as officers of the board: George Greene, president; Samson C. Bever, treasurer ; David Blakely, secretary.
It is very interesting to note that of these persons there is one who survives to this day, Mr. W. W. Smith, who at a very advanced age still lives at Minneapolis.
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The first meeting of this board of directors was held July 18, 1853, and it was at that meeting that Mr. Jones presented the instrument of writing signed by Daniel Coe, of the county of Greene, in the state of New York, making a con- ditional donation to the Institute of the sum of $1,500, of which the following is a copy :
"CONDITIONAL DONATION TO CEDAR RAPIDS COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
"Know all men by these presents that I, Daniel Coe, of the town of Durham, County of Greene, and State of New York, in view of the educational wants of the great and growing West, and in expectation of its resulting in the establish- ment of a permanent institution of learning, do hereby engage to give in behalf of Iowa City Presbytery, connected with the constitutional General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church which met at Buffalo, May 19th, 1853, to Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute the following sums for the object hereinafter specified, to- wit : Four Hundred and twenty-five Dollars ($425.00) for the purchase of as large and suitable tract of land as practicable as a site for the location of the Institute. And Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) for feneing of the same. Also One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00) to be appropriated in the best manner for a farm contiguous to the site, the avails of which are to be appropriated to the best advantage for the benefit of such students as may need to assist themselves by manual labor. Of these two sums the first mentioned, consisting of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), can be secured to the Institute as a part of its property by the erection upon its site thus purchased of a building costing at least Two Thousand Dollars ($2000.00), and the last mentioned One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00) can be thus secured by bringing the Institute into successful operation. Provided that if these conditions fail, or if the Institute be removed or diverted from its original design, either or both of these donations shall be forfeited, and the land purchased shall revert baek to the said Daniel Coe. his heirs, executors, or administrators.
"Dr. John F. Ely, Hon. George Greene, Dr. S. D. Carpenter, Isaae Cook, Esq., James Ferguson, and Williston Jones are hereby authorized to act for me in the selection and purchasing for said Institute the above mentioned site and farm, and are to draw on me for the money; of which sum Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00) can be drawn at any time, and the remaining Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00) one year from the date of this engagement.
"It is my strong desire that this Institute should be made available for the education of females as well as males."
It is evidently to be seen that it was the purpose of Mr. Coe to enable the diree- tors of the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute to maintain a school of learning to be conducted in a building within easy access to the town, and at the same time aid such students as needed assistance through the produets of the farm purchased on the edge of the town. Steps were taken at onee to procure two sites, one for the school building, the other for the farm. And after considerable inquiry and debate, two sites were chosen and purchased: the one for the school building consisting of the two lots on which the First Presbyterian church of this eity now stands and has stood since 1869; the other for the farm, consisting of a plot of eighty aeres, of which the present eampus of Cor College of ten aeres, is the southwestern extremity.
The town lots were purchased for $275.00. The eighty acres were bought for $1000.00. These eighty acres were obtained from Mr. Otho S. Bowling by Dr. John F. Ely, who bought them with Mr. Coe's money for the Cedar Rapids Col- legiate Institute. The date of the purchase is December 5, 1853. Mr. Bowling had obtained the land at the price of $820.00 from the excentors of the estate of Mr. Joshua Phillips, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Phillips had died
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at his residence in Pennsylvania at some time between the 15th of December, 1852, and the 4th of January, 1853, and he had himself obtained the property in Cedar Rapids by patent from the United States government May 1, 1848. So that the plot of ground which figures in such a vital manner in the history of Coe College had passed through but two hands before being transferred to the Collegiate Institute from the government which had obtained it from the Indians.
It has also appeared that it was the wish of Mr. Coe and the design of the directors of the school that the building to cost $2000.00 should be erected as soon as practicable upon the town lots. But the erection of this building was delayed for various causes and especially in consequence of the lack of funds. Mean- while, a school of very elementary character was maintained in the building used as their house of worship by the First Presbyterian church, and Mr. David Blakely was obtained as principal at a salary of $400.00 per annum, payable quarterly.
As time went on it was found to be more difficult than seemed probable in the beginning, to obtain subscriptions for the erection of the building of a school of just the character that seemed within the feeble means of the directors. And it became even more difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the school in the build- ing occupied by the Presbyterian church. For it would appear that this commun- ity of Cedar Rapids was in process of organizing a general public school system, and no place seemed to exist for a parochial school of the elementary character that was then being conducted by the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, at least in so small a community and one so feebly provided with material funds.
Therefore, through the want of proper sustenance, everyone connected with the Institute and notably the principal upon whom the chief burden fell became wholly discouraged and the Presbytery of Iowa City, that had a certain relation- ship to the school and interest in its success, proposed to put the school on wheels and offer it to the highest bidder, naming several localities among which were: Vinton, Waterloo, Lyons, Cedar Falls, Newton, and Iowa City .*
It will surely be of interest to learn [See Minutes Iowa City Presbytery, Mt. Vernon, February 4, 1857] that the citizens and proprietors of Comanche offered a site and subscriptions to the amount of $10,000, or $200.00 more than any other town, for the location of the Collegiate Institute of the Presbytery. Vinton also made a strong bid for the school and hoped to capture it, and might have done so had it not been that the eighty acre plot of ground, which was the only financial asset of the institution, was securely fastened down in Cedar Rapids, and Mr. Coe hesitated as to the propositions for the removal of the school.
But these internal and external discussions acted in a very unfavorable manner upon the Institute, and led to the winding up of its affairs, for there is no record of any meeting of its board of directors subsequent to July 26, 1859.
Meanwhile, a new star of hope arose in the heavens, and for several years at least it was a star of considerable brilliancy. It was made known, namely, that the will of Mr. Lewis Baldwin Parsons, a benefactor and philanthropist, and who died in Detroit, Michigan, December 21, 1855, after a successful life as a manu- facturer in Buffalo, N. Y., contained a bequest setting aside a very considerable amount of money to found a Presbyterian college in Iowa. It could not be a matter of surprise, therefore, that the brethren in Cedar Rapids, who had strug- gled so hard to found a college with Mr. Coe's donation, and who had been so sorely disappointed, should now with enthusiasm welcome the thought that the Parsons legacy might be located here and be added to the Coe donation, and thus become the foundation of a strong college in Iowa in connection with the Presby- terian church. Accordingly, steps were taken to incorporate a new body of stockholders into an organization to be known as Parsons Seminary. The date
* See Minutes of Iowa City Presbytery, Lyons, May 9, 1856.
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of the first meeting with this end in view is November 10, 1866, and the following persons were chosen to serve as officers until the annual meeting in December : Rev. James Knox, president; Hon. George Greene. viee-president ; Dr. John F. Ely, secretary : and Mr. S. C. Bever, treasurer.
At the annual meeting. December 3. 1866, the following officers were chosen : George Greene, president: James Knox, vice-president ; John F. Ely, secretary : IV. W. Walker, treasurer.
It was resolved immediately that Mr. Coe should be requested to deed to the new organization the eighty aeres of land already donated by him to the Cedar Rapids Collegiate Institute, and at a meeting of the board of trustees of Parsons Seminary, held January 4, 1867, Judge Greene. president of the board. reported that he had visited Mr. Daniel Coe at his home in Durham, N. Y .. and had pro- cured from him the deed to Parsons Seminary of the land in question.
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