USA > Indiana > Johnson County > Franklin > Franklin College, Franklin, Ind. : first half century jubilee exercises, June 5 to 12, 1884 : addresses, historical, biographical and statistical matter, poem, hymn, general catalogue, etc > Part 6
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Here Mr. Tilton's professional life began and almost ended. Though a man of superior natural and acquired abilities, he undertook more than any one mortal could accomplish ; and three years of toil, in connection with a few earnest friends of education, but with next to no available means, had estab- lished nothing and accumulated nothing reliable for a suc- cessor. Mr Tilton's modes and manners were not popular with the many. Very few, if any, were affectionately drawn to him. After his separation from the college he and his most excellent wife still continued to live much of their time in Franklin. Resigned professors, like resigned ministers, can ordinarily make themselves most lovely by leaving.
Some of us saw the Rev. Albert Freeman Tilton die, Septem- ber 26, 1850, at forty years of age, in the house now owned and occupied by Dr. P. W. Payne. All that was mortal of
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that tall, manly man was consigned to the grave more than a third of a century ago, and a simple slab, a tribute of affec- tion from the wife who survived him a few years, marks in the Franklin Cemetery " the place where they laid him."
January 5, 1841, the institute building was rented to a Mr. Cottingham, at two dollars a month, for the purposes of a private school. I am not aware how long he occupied the house. His school was strictly a personal enterprise, and demanded no attention of the Trustees. But other business called for occasional meetings. And the ever-recurring sub- ject of "a suitable person to become a teacher " seems to have been always "in order." At one of these meetings the Rev. Wm. M. Pratt, then of Crawfordsville, Ind., but most of the time since of Lexington, Ky., was elected " Principal of the Institute ;" but he promptly declined. Correspondence was also conducted with a Mr. Carpenter and others on the question of their becoming teachers, without success.
It may seem strange to those who review these things after more than. forty years-I confess it does to me-that commit- tee after committee, having exhausted their resources and been excused from further service, before Mr. Tilton was secured to take charge of the school; that the Trustees, hav- ing no way of paying what they owed him for past services, except allowing or requesting him to solicit and collect money as an agent during vacations ; that, having "dismissed " the only man who had been courageous enough to become their teacher while they owed him considerable sums for past serv- ices, because he would not accept the tuition fees, at low com- mon school rates, for his salary ; and that, having rented out their house at two dollars a month-the Board should still pursue with unflagging zeal the search for teachers !
November 24, 1841, a committee consisting of Henry Brad- ley, Robert Tisdale, E. D. Owen, A. F. Tilton and George C. Chandler, reported to the Board of Trustees :
"We recommend the appointment of the Rev. J. Currier as Principal of the institute, and of Mr. Wm. J. Robinson and his sister Julia as teachers. We also recommend that remu- neration of the Principal be left to be determined at the quar- terly meeting of the Trustees ; and that we warrant the teachers
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$400 per annum, and if the amount collected for teaching be more than $400, it shall be theirs.
" Report accepted and recommendation adopted."
It is believed Mr. Currier never rendered any service for the Board as a teacher ; but Mr. Robinson and his sister Julia ac- cepted the proposition made to them, and continued to teach together until August 3, 1842, receiving for their serviees $100 per quarter.
The records of the Trustees concerning the reopening. of the college under the care of this brother and sister are brief, pointed and reliable. I therefore copy :
1. Resolved, That there be but thirty-three weeks of in- struction for the present year, which shall be considered three- fourths of an academic year.
2. Resolved. That we recommend the teachers to open the school on the second Monday in December, and continue twenty-two weeks; that after one week of vacation the second session begin and continue eleven weeks
3. Resolved. That for reading, writing, spelling and the cle- ments of arithmetic, geography and grammar, two dollars be charged per quarter. For those further advanced in above studies, also natural philosophy, chemistry, astronomy, etc., three dollars. Higher branches of mathematics and the lan- guages, four dollars.
4. Resolved. That the three departments be designated as Primary, Teacher's and Classical.
The teachers were instructed to draft the bills of the stu- dents for tuition, at the end of each quarter, and place said bills in the hands of the Treasurer for collection.
At the close of the first engagement, which had been most satisfactory to the Trustees and patrons, Mr. Robinson was reappointed for another year at a salary of three hundred dollars, payable quarterly. But Miss Julia Robinson discon- tinued her connection with the school, on account of the sickness of her father.
August 4, 1842, the next day after the reappointment of Mr. Robinson, the Trustees resolved to make arrangements for a Juvenile Department and a Department for Young Ladies ; and appointed Miss Sarah S. Kingsley and her sister, Miss Harriet H. Kingsley, teachers of these departments. The
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compensation they were to receive was to be agreed upon with the Executive Committee. These ladies did not accept the position offered them.
The necessity for a Juvenile Department and a Department for Young Ladies will be the more apparent when it is under- stood that there was at that time no system of common schools in Indiana, and young ladies were not then received in the colleges for young men.
Soon afterward, Mrs. Tilfon was associated with the school, young ladies were received as pupils, and took part in the next Annual Exhibition. Until some other college can ante- date the academic year of 1842-3, I venture to insist that this was the first chartered college in Indiana that received both sexes as students.
It will not do our children and grandchildren any harm to know there are other things besides " soul liberty," " temper- ance " and " hostility to American slavery," in which Baptists have been pre-eminently the pioneers. It may save them from becoming "too perpendicular " when they fairly straighten up in some other church !
At a special meeting, April 10, 1843, the Trustees learned from Mr. Wm. J. Robinson that, in consequence of the death of his father, he could not serve them longer as a teacher. By the unanimous passage of the following resolution, the Trust- ees only did justice to themselves, to the students. and to one who had faithfully served them about eighteen months, in a very important and responsible position, on a salary of not more than one-half the amount paid for similar services in any other school in this State :
Resolved, That the Board are highly gratified with the man- ner in which Mr. Win. J. Robinson has discharged his duties as teacher in the Institute; and, reluctantly receiving his resignation, assure him that in leaving he carries with him the kindest regards of the Trustees, and the affection of all the students, and the fervent desire of all for his future usefulness and prosperity.
He has since, on a few occasions, accepted positions of honor and responsibility, and has always acquitted himself well. But by far the greater part of his life has been a quiet, unostentatious one at home with his sister Julia, between
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whom and himself there has ever existed a beautiful affection. Neither of them has married; and if you could not observe in their house the otium cum dignitate of which Cicero speaks, you would see the evidences of well-spent years. The sister is not quite able to be present on this "Jubilee " occasion, and the snowy-headed brother is unwilling to leave her alone ! I can not refrain from quoting a few words from Mr. Robinson's letter, dated May 29, 1884: ' My sister has been afflicted a good deal for the last year. She is some better now, but will not be able to come to commencement. And my business is such that I will not be able to attend. Our connection with the institution was so brief and unimportant, and had so little relation to its present prosperity, that our absence ought to detract but little from the interest of the occasion." There are jewels for you, and well set !
On the resignation of Mr. Robinson, the Rev. George C. Chandler, then pastor of the Baptist Church in Indianapolis, was appointed "Principal of the Institute " till the close of the current session. And a committee of three to con fer with him as to salary reported : "The Rev. George C. Chandler accepts the appointment, and is to have at the rate of three hundred dollars per annum for his services."
At the end of that engagement Mr. Chandler remained another quarter. In July of the same year, 1843, the Rev. William Brand visited the institution by invitation of the Trustees, and he was elected to a professorship.
August 12, 1843 this record is made: "The committee ap- pointed to see Brothers Chandler and Brand would report that they waited upon them and obtained the following pro- posals : Brother Chandler will teach four hours a day for two hundred dollars a year ;* Brother Brand will teach seven hours per day for four hundred dollars a year; and if the tuition amounts to more, they are to have it - unless more teaching should be required. Brethren Chandler and Brand
* It is due alike to all parties to state that President Chandler had previously accepted the pastorate of the Baptist Church in Franklin, and that he was retaining the same at a salary of three hundred dollars ; so that he received an aggregate sum of five hundred dollars a year.
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propose to divide the duties of teaching between themselves. But for definiteness of understanding, your committee recommend that Brother Chandler be appointed President or Principal of the Institute, and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy; and that Brother Brand be appointed Professor of Languages and Mathematics." And the Board engaged those gentlemen in accordance with the foregoing report.
Thus, nine years after the inception of the enterprise, the institution has fairly come to have a "President " and " Pro- fessor " with chairs defined.
President Chandler retained the pastoral charge of the church in Franklin only a short time after he entered upon the Presidency of the college. He remained President about eight years, resigning to accept a position in a far distant portion of the United States, in answer to a call entitled " One Man for Oregon."
There were so many things requiring his attention and taxing his energies that he never specially marked himself in the scholarship of Franklin College. He did not impress learned men by his learning. What he knew he knew well. and he taught vigorously. His lectures in college and his sermons were distinguished for clearness and strength rather than elegance or eloquence. On account of his characteristic earnestness, men remembered what they heard him say. When in his better moods, he was a very cheerful man. His hearty, ringing laugh brought good nature into whatever circle he entered. Supported and strengthened by his noble wife, his log-cabin home was the most hospitable house I ever entered. His excellent physical constitution made him equal to almost any amount of endurance. Riding on horseback was his favorite mode of traveling; and a desire for a still better palfrey stimulated him to make more frequent exchanges than was common with Baptist preachers. It was a rich treat to see him playfully affect the "jockey." But all his concep- tions of life and of living were of the highest and purest kind found among men; and in matters of business he was " the soul of honor." Of course, he was impatient of all forms of littleness and meanness, and he was not over-careful
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to conceal his dislikes. He traveled more on account of agency than any other President of Franklin College, unless the present incumbent be an exception ; and was, therefore, familiarly known to a larger proportion of the friends and patrons of the institution. "I am trying to lay foundations," was a favorite mode with him of characterizing his own work.
He went to Oregon with his family in 1851, ostensibly to take charge of a newer college in that Territory. But college walls were too straight for him. So a large part of the last twenty-five years of his life was spent itinerating and preach- ing the Gospel over a broad area in that new state. Franklin and Franklin College are decidedly the better for his having lived and labored here.
Though advanced into the " seventies," he was one hour in possession of his full physical and intellectual vigor, and the next he was almost a helpless paralytic-the mind partaking largely of the affliction of the body. After a few years more of life " in the gloaming," President Chandler died in Oregon. -
PROF. WILLIAM BRAND .*
In June, 1843, the Board authorized the Executive Com- mittee to correspond with "the Rev. Mr. Brand " in regard "to giving instruction in the Institute."
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He soon came and began to teach; and in August suc- ceeding an order was granted for ten dollars to pay his traveling expenses, and another for twenty-five dollars for one month's service as teacher. In the same month he was ap- pointed Professor of Languages and Mathematics on a salary of four hundred dollars a year, with an engagement to teach seven hours per day. He taught for some years both languages and mathematics but at length became Professor of Latin and Greek only. And finally he tendered his resig- nation to the Board, September 11, 1855, which was accepted, and he was released at once from his connection with the college, " to take charge of the Western Female University at Lafayette, Ind."
#This biographical sketch was written, at my special request, by the Rev. Timothy H. Ball, A. M., a graduate of Franklin College of the class of 1850. Hence a few repetitions .- J. S. H.
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Prof. William Brand, who, according to the record, was for twelve years Professor of Languages in Franklin College, and for two of these years " discharged the duties of presiding officer," was born in England and educated in England ; and, with the characteristics and peculiarities of that English training, came as a stranger to Franklin when comparatively a young man, with strong recommendations of his ability and success in teaching from the Trustees of Washington Academy, at Salem, in Washington County, New York, of which academy he had been Principal. He labored diligently here as a teacher, sharing in the financial embarrassments and pressures of those years, living on a small salary with quite a dependent family growing up in his little home. In 1853 those connected with him in labors and the members of the Board certified, when he was about to act during vacation as an agent for the college, that he was "well known in the community as a man of honor and probity ; " "competent, faithful, and reliable ; " having ever "taken a warm interest in promoting the general interest of the college among the people of the state, and by his perseverance and energy having contributed in a high degree to the then fortunate position of the college."
Two years later, as before stated, at his own request, his connection with the college was closed. He had taken some lessons in that school of experience -lessons which teach us to be contented to work in our proper sphere, to use our own weapons, to wear our own harness; and had given another example, of which the world is full, that nature does not bestow all good things upon one person. He found that good scholarship alone was not sufficient to fit one to fill success- fully many of the positions in our American life. His exper- iment in discharging the duties of President had not been largely a success. For that position he had not been fitted. He was beyond question a good classical and mathematical scholar; and, while wanting something of the American ver- satility and tact, he was a good teacher in both these depart- ments. In his recitation-room, with the classic authors of Greece and Rome and with appreciative students before him, he was perfectly at home, he was decidedly successful. To
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such students he manifested the pleasant, genial, winning qualities of his soul, and displayed the richness of his En- glish culture. And those students will ever hold the name of Professor Brand, as a teacher, in grateful remembrance.
JOHN W. TISDALE
was elected Professor of Mathematics February 20, 1846, at a salary of four hundred dollars. As I saw him at Franklin College, he was a very active, nervous young man, full of kindly purposes. It was at commencement in 1847; and it seemed to have fallen upon him chiefly to provide and super- vise the hospitalities of the occasion. Alma Mater had just presented to the world her first-born son, John W. Dame, and. like other youthful mothers. she was in a state of " flut- teration." The ordering of her house was a matter of conse- quence ; and Prof. Tisdale was her ma-ter of ceremonies and her man-servant. I saw but little of him that day - for an hour or two ; but I liked him well on short acquaintance, and was very sad when, a few months afterward, I learned he was dead. He departed this life October 2, 1847, aged twenty- seven and a half years having been a Professor in the college less than a year and eight months. " He was respected and loved by all who met him," says one who saw and knew much more of him than I did. He had the degree of Master of Arts, but I have not learned from what institution. The modest tombstone that marked his grave in Franklin Cemetery has fallen down, and is broken in two near the middle. I had to hunt an hour "Decoration Day " to find his last resting- place, though I previously supposed I knew exactly where it is. Any person or persons, well disposed toward Franklin College and its faithful teachers of an early day, could do a pious act by placing a more durable monument at that grave.
GEORGE H. KEITH
became tutor August 12, 1847, at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars a year. He had lived at Indianapolis, and was perhaps twenty-four years old when he came to Franklin College, to take charge of the Preparatory Department in September of the same year. Twelve months after his election
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he resigned. preferring a different life-pursuit. So he became a doctor of dental surgery, settled in Milwaukee, Wis., was a very active and efficient member of the Baptist Church, and in subsequent years his name was often mentioned in connec- tion with Christian work and worship. It is not long since lie died, and they missed him much when he passed away.
REV. JONATHAN BERRY
became Professor of Mathematics on the 15th day of October, 1847-to succeed Prof. Tisdale. Prof. Berry was at the same time pastor of the Baptist Church in Franklin, and retained pastorate and professorship till the end of the college vear- then r. signed both. He was a strong, efficient young man, and taught earnestly and accurately, manifesting superior scholarship. Other places promptly sought his services. I know little of his after life.
JOHN S. HOUGHAM*
was elected July 26, 1848. to the Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy to succeed Prof. Berry, at a salary of four hundred dollars a year. Prof. Hougham accepted the situation, and "hung on" for sixteen years "through thick and thin"-bating only three or four terms, when, for a diver- sity of reasons he " hung off." But he continued a Professor all the same-except that there was no pay for " hanging off."
The Doctors of every " persuasion," and of "all the shades of school and practice.' concede that his uniform sobriety and rare gravity, so to speak. have chiefly conduced to his good health and his length of days. And, by way of intensi- fied originality, he ventures to remark in the presence of this enlightened and refined audience, and on this auspicious occasion, that HE now stands before you as " a spared monu- ment of amazing mercy." But of precisely whose mercy, he will not detain the audience to tell. His name is in the " Baptist Encyclopedia," and if any shall choose to do so. they have the broadest possible privilege to read up on the subject. What is there said is probably reliable ; because he neither wrote, dictated, or inspired a word of it.
# The reader will please observe that this is autobiographical .- H.
ยท
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A tender regard for the truth would prevent him from even obliquely hinting that he ever did any great thing. He has at no time been conscious of attempting such. His life, like that of "the boy," has been passed doing all sorts of "chores," such as he must needs do, or they would have gone without being done. Whatever positions he may have held, in life, came to him without his solicitation. And it is too late in the afternoon to inquire whether he might have been more and achieved greater things. He does not think he would be any busier or work harder if life were to be lived over again. The only ambition he has known was to do well and faithfully the small work that has fallen to himself; and he was never envious of even the most fortunate. Comparatively speaking, " the sands of his life " are more nearly run than are those of many of the rest of you; and, so far as he knows, he is " at peace with the whole world and the rest of mankind," as President Zachary Taylor said. There are two things for which he earnestly pleads : First, a small funeral when he dies ; second, a very brief if any obituary notice. And he entertains a lively hope that both these requests will be respected.
He never was more sincere than when he says he would not exchange the " good-night" kisses of his grandchildren as they come to him in their little white dresses, for the honors of a "Chicago nomination," or a funeral procession of a thousand miles
ACHILLES J. VAWTER
had been for several years a student in Franklin College, but had not graduated. On the resignation of Mr. Keith as Principal of the Preparatory Department, Mr. Vawter was elected to the position vacated. He proved to be an earnest, successful teacher. The large number of village boys who came to his department, where tuition was only five dollars a year per scholar, made the matter of discipline occasionally a pretty onerous affair. But Mr. Vawter always proved himself equal to the occasion, even when the primitive beech trees were made tributary to the otherwise limited apparatus! He taught in the college only one year. Afterward he filled several important situations, prominent among which were
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places in the schools at Lafayette, Ind., and in the Ladoga Seminary. The young man of 1848 has become one of the " elders in Israel." He still devotes himself, as far as health and strength enable him, to active work in school and church. Wherever he has sojourned, the community has recognized his worth as a man and citizen. He received the honorary degree of A. M. from this college, June 22, 1859.
JOHN W. DAME,
as has already been said, was the first graduate of Franklin College. And it is believed he was the third Baptist student who graduated in the colleges of Indiana; Isaac MeCoy, at Hanover College, being the first, and John S. Hougham, at Wabash College, being the second.
Mr. Dame was appointed a tutor in his Alma Mater, Sep- tember 30, 1848, to be employed one-half the time each day at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars a year. He retained the place to which he was then elected until April 2, 1856, teaching successfully in the English, Latin and Greek lan- guages, and in the mathematics. After the first year he was fully employed at a salary that was advanced from time to time until it reached four hundred dollars. During several years he was also Treasurer of the college, and discharged the duties of that responsible office with great fidelity.
April 2, 1856, he resigned. The following resolutions of the Trustees are only a well-merited tribute to his long-continued and faithful services :
WHEREAS, John W. Dame, for some years a student and afterward a tutor in this institution, has this day. at his own special instance and request, tendered his resignation as such tuto", to take effect at the close of the present term :
We, the Board, in granting said request, take pleasure in bearing testimony to his worth and qualities ; that during his connection with the institution he has maintained correct moral deportment, Christian character and indefatigable zeal and perseverance in imparting instruction, and also in ad- vancing the best good of the college.
We, therefore, commend Tutor John W. Dame to any people among whom God in his Providence may cast his lot, as worthy of their confidence and patronage, and as a Chris- tian and teacher.
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