USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 29
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"All the work on the building was done by piece-meal, as the board had money and as contractors were willing to wait for their pay. Many were the experiences of the board while the work was progressing. On one occasion, Samuel Hall, the brick contractor, sued the college on an order, and final judgment was averted by the purchase of the order by Lewis Hendricks. Deductions on the bill of Travis Burnett for making sash, because the sash would not fit; but Mr. Burnett refused to accept the reduction or arbitrate the matter, and the board finally paid the whole bill under protest. During the whole of the time the North building was in process of erection. the board Was using the trowel or the hammer with one hand, and warding off impatient creditors with the other.
"Various were the expedients resorted to in order to procure money. Goods and wares donated to the college were sold either in Franklin or in other parts of the state. At one time the board consulted the county com- missioners and took legal advice on the subject of peddling clocks donated to the college; clock peddling in those days was the essence of evil in the
*Brand came from the Salem Academy of Washington County, New York, but little is known of Tisdale. He died in this city October 2, 1841. Chandler was called from the pastorate of the Baptist church at Indianapolis .- Author.
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eyes of the law .* The cost of the North building (in recent years called the Chandler Hall) is nowhere in the records minutely summed up, but as nearly as it can be approximated, it was five thousand six hundred dollars. The foundation (not the corner stone, for it was made wholly of bricks) was laid in the autumn of 1844, and Prof. John Stevens, of Cincinnati, delivered the address on that occasion.
"A regular course of collegiate studies was adopted in the fall of 1844, and the next year the institution was rechartered with the name Franklin College, instead of Indiana Baptist Manual Labor Institute. The first de- gree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred August 4, 1847, upon John W. Dame, afterward tutor in the college, and treasurer of the board. The first mention of literary societies was July 14, 1847, when the north attic was assigned to the Ciceronian Society and the south attic to the Demosthenian Society. These societies, if I am rightly informed, were afterwards merged into the Union Literary Society, and from this body the present societies- the Periclesian and the Webster .**
"In 1848, Prof. John S. Hougham and Achilles J. Vawter became mem- bers of the faculty, and the following year Mr. Vawter, as librarian, reported ' 755 volumes in the College Library, of which number 581 had been donated during the year. On July 26, 1848, Milton Stapp, who had been made chair- man of a committee to investigate the college books, and the manner of keep- ing them, reported on the financial condition of the college, and by a forced double entry balance, made the following result :
Resources.
"Subscriptions, $982.50; real estate, $9,500; bills receivable, $2,295; college furniture, $1,000; total resources. $13,777.50.
Liabilities.
"Scholarship No. 1, $2,296.67; scholarship No. 2, $2,720; bills payable, $2,121.77; orders outstanding, $1,700.88; due Milton Stapp for philosophical apparatus, $600; total liabilities, $8,999.32.
"Balance in favor of the college, $4,778.18.
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"President Chandler resigned his position October 5, 1849, and his in- tention of so doing was made known to the board in the following letter :
"'Gentlemen of the Board: After mature deliberation, and I trust sincere prayer, I have concluded that it is my duty to tender you my resigna-
*It was merely the old method of taxation-the collection of license fees from merchants, tavern keepers, ferrymen, etc .- Author.
** The Periclesian Society was organized in 1853, and the Webster a few months later .- Author.
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tion of the honorable and responsible position of president of your college; this resignation to take effect at the close of the present collegiate year. " 'GEORGE C. CHANDLER.'
"President Chandler's resignation was, in all probability, due to the financial condition of the college*, and a requirement of the board that each member of the faculty should do one-third of a year's agency work. His ad- ministration was no failure. He found the institution an academy, he left it a college. He found it almost without buildings, he left it with a building equal, at that time, to most of the college buildings of the state. He left it, too, through no fault of his own; overwhelmed with debt, and with few resources. President Chandler's labors were not properly appreciated by the Baptists of the state, nor did the denomination know, at that time, what it cost to make a college. The Baptist Abrahams who had bound Isaac and laid him on the altar of higher education were indeed few. Their sacrifices and support were largely in the form of resolutions.
"The two years following President Chandler's resignation were full of gloom and despondency for the college. In July, 1850, the debt of the institu- tion was $3,281.74, with scarcely a cent in the treasury. Part of this debt was in the form of a judgment in favor of the estate of Lewis Hendricks. On this judgment an execution had been issued, and the sheriff of Johnson county stood ready to levy upon and sell the college property. This disaster was happily averted by some friends of the college assuming the payment of the judgment. The board recommended as a plan for lifting the debt of the college, that each friend of the institution give one hundred dollars toward that object and Professor Hougham and the Rev. T. R. Cressy were appointed a committee to carry out that plan. After the resignation of President Chandler, Professors Hougham, Brand and Dame constituted the teaching force of the college, but on July 28, 1852, the board elected Dr. Silas Bailey president, and he entered upon his work the next fall.
"Previous to Dr. Bailey's acceptance of the presidency, various endow- ment movements had been set on foot with considerable promise of success, but with little else than promise. At one time the board had voted to sell
*The record of Chandler's engagement on August 12, 1843, reads: "The committee appointed to see Brothers Chandler and Brand would report that they waited upon them and obtained the following proposal: Brother Chandler will teach four hours a day for two hundred dollars a year; Brother Brand will teach seven hours a day for four hun- dred 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 propose to divide the duties of teaching between themselves."-Author.
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six-year scholarships at thirty dollars-what is now less than the cost of a year's tuition in the college. But the proposition was afterward modified. How to endow Franklin College without giving anything was a problem which weighed heavily upon the heart of the denomination in those days.
"After Doctor Bailey assumed the presidency the outlook began to be more hopeful, so much so that in January, 1853, the board appointed Doctor Bailey and Professor Hougham a committee on another building. The com- · mittee was authorized to borrow sufficient funds to erect a building the same size and dimensions as the North building. The money thus borrowed was paid out of the endowment fund. The building committee made a final report in December, 1855, which is full and complete, and entered upon the records of the board. The total cost of the South building, including part of the fur- nishing thereof, was about $7,400.
"The question of establishing a department of agricultural chemistry was brought before the board in 1853, and it was proposed to raise for its support an endowment of twelve thousand dollars. Some teaching in this department was done by Professor Hougham, but for lack of means the work was soon abandoned. Doctor Bailey. in addition to his regular work. taught classes in theology and at one time was appointed to a chair of theology.
"In the winter of 1855-1856 occurred, perhaps. the most serious internal trouble the college has ever experienced, the famous snow-ball rebellion. The students. having engaged in a snow-ball fight, one party took refuge in one of the college buildings, still pelting their outside assailants. The outside party, forgetting that college property was between them and the foe, began throw- ing through the windows until considerable damage had been done. Some attempts were made by the students to repair the damage, but the faculty decided to prosecute them for malicious trespass. The boys were convicted before a justice of the peace, but on appeal to the common pleas court, they were acquitted on the ground that the trespass was without malice, the law at that time providing for the punishment of malicious trespass only, instead of mischievous and malicious trespass, as at present. In April, 1856, about twenty-five students petitioned for the removal of Doctor Bailey. but the board, after giving the petition a respected hearing, passed resolutions strongly sustaining President Bailey, and recommending the expulsion of several students. Milder counsels at last prevailed, and before the next college year began, the trouble had healed over.
"Under Doctor Bailey's administration endowment and scholarship pledges continued to increase, but it seemed well nigh impossible to collect
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the pledges made. For this reason, the board, at its annual meeting in June, 1858, adopted some stringent instructions to its agents to resort to legal process to collect endowment notes. Forgetting the old adage not to look a gift horse in the mouth, the board went even further, and when the horse was not forthcoming, proceeded to replevin him from the donor. In the main, these lawsuits were hurtful to the best interests of the college, and to this day endowment work is hindered in some localities in the state by the re- membrance of the former action of the board.
"At the annual meeting of the board in June, 1859, the Hon. Martin L. Pierce and Professor Hougham pledged ten thousand dollars toward the endowment of a chair of agricultural chemistry, to be called the Pierce pro- fessorship, provided fifty thousand dollars be raised for the further endow- ment of the college. The board entered heartily into the undertaking, but with small success. One great hindrance to the further prosecution of en- dowment work was the agitation of the question of the removal of the col- lege. When the Education Society met in connection with the state con- vention, in October, 1859, at Terre Haute. the college board was recom- mended to adopt vigorous measures to raise a larger endowment from John- son county, as a means. of quieting the question of removal. Accordingly, D. J. Huston and R. F. Grubbs were appointed to canvass Johnson county for endowment, and so well did they do their work that in June, 1860, they were able to report eleven thousand forty-five dollars subscribed.
"In December, 1860, the board began a more vigorous canvass of the entire state. The Rev. U. B. Miller, of Indianapolis, was appointed agent, but died before entering upon his work, and the Rev. A. S. Ames was ap- pointed in June, 1861, and worked until the following spring. But the ex- citement caused by the war of the Rebellion, the consequent unsettled state of finance and business, the volunteering into the United States army of nearly all the young men who were students in the college. all tended to discourage any progressive endowment work. We, therefore, find a committee of the board on the state of the institution, in June. 1862, recommending that the old endowment, when collected, shall be used to liquidate the indebtedness of the college, leaving only the campus and buildings as a basis of credit. The matter of reducing the faculty was also suggested, but the suggestion was abandoned for the reason that any considerable reduction of the number of the faculty, or retrenchment of expenses could not be made without changing the character of the institution.
"In December, 1862, Doctor Bailey resigned the presidency of the col- lege. Those who knew Doctor Bailey best believe that his resignation was
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not due to the financial state of the institution, but wholly on account of the state of his health. He had repeatedly stated that he intended to stand by Franklin College until God called him elsewhere, and when God so touched his brain as to impair his health and life by further mental work, he recog- nized the call. Doctor Bailey's resignation was indeed a serious loss. He had done far more for the college than it had ever done for him. He had held on for ten years through evil report and through good report, when offers were constantly coming to him of positions far more lucrative and far more desirable.
"During his administration a new building had been erected, a con- siderable endowment had been subscribed, though it was as yet in large part uncollected, and hundreds of young men had learned to love him for his sterling Christian manhood and his abilities as an instructor. A feeling of insecurity for the college began to grow after Doctor Bailey's resignation. Professor Hougham and James L. Bradley were appointed to secure from George King and Harvey McCaslin a release of their supposed reversionary titles to the land occupied by the college campus and buildings. The faculty consented to teach until the end of the year, if adequate assistance could be furnished. The college did continue in operation one year longer than expected, until June, 1864, when, for lack of students, more than for any other reason (nearly every student having enlisted in the war) the board voted that the exercises of the college be suspended until such time as in the judgment of the board, it should be deemed proper to resume operations.
"The teachers during the last year were F. M. Furgason, Jeremiah Brumback and Barnett Wallace, with occasional lectures by Professor Houg- ham during a part of the year. Professor Furgason resigned in March, 1864, but Professors Brumback and Wallace taught until the end.
"No immediate efforts were made by the board to resume instruction in the college, and the executive committee was authorized to lease the college buildings and grounds until such time as the board should wish to resume control of the institution. Under these instructions a lease was made to Prof. F. M. Furgason in November, 1865, which terminated in March, 1867. Professor Furgason taught a private school in the college buildings during the school year 1865-66. The board, in March, 1865, ordered the return of all old endowment notes, and the next year took steps to secure a release and cancellation of all old scholarships.
"In the year 1867 Professors William Hill and J. H. Smith came to Franklin from Ladoga, with the intention of reviving the college. They met with a hearty co-operation from all the citizens of Franklin, and for the
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next two years taught a very successful private school in the college build- ings.
"Little was done in securing an endowment until December, 1867, when the board revived the Johnson county professorship plan, and appoint- ed Prof. William Brand agent to raise fifteen thousand dollars. The princi- pal of this endowment was to be held in trust for the college by the First National Bank of Franklin, the interest being paid over to the board. The whole fifteen thousand dollars was reported subscribed August 31, 1868, and Doctor Wallace and Cas Byfield were appointed to turn over the notes to the bank. The board also voted to allow the interest of the Johnson county en- dowment to be applied on the salary of Prof. F. W. Brown, who was then assisting Professor Hill, provided all paid-up scholarships should be honored. Having completed the Johnson county professorship, the board at once took steps to raise eighteen thousand dollars to endow what was to be called the Indiana professorship. In September, 1869, the board voted to assume full control of the college, although the Indiana professorship lacked a great deal of completion.
"Dr. W. T. Stott, Prof. William Hill, Prof. F. W. Brown and Mrs. M. A. Fisher were chosen as the faculty, and Perrin H. Sumner was appointed agent. Professor Hill, however, did not accept his appointment as professor of mathematics, and Prof. J. F. Walter was chosen instead. During the summer of 1869 extensive repairs were made on the college buildings at a cost of nearly seven thousand dollars, and to meet this expense the board had to mortgage the college property. This was the beginning of the end finan- cially. A report from Doctor Wallace, treasurer. entered upon the minutes of February 2, 1870, shows an excess of liabilities over assets of $5,995.06. In fact, the period from 1869 to 1872 may properly be called a period of inflated expenditure, when the board seemed to catch the spirit that pre- vailed throughout the country. The salaries of the faculty were raised, when the board had not the means to pay them. The agent was paid two thousand dollars a year, twice as much as any former agent had ever re- ceived. The interest on the endowment notes was anticipated by borrowing . money to meet current expenses.
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"In July, 1869, Dr. H. L. Wayland was elected president of the college and entered upon his duties in September following. All friends of the college lived in the hope that the Baptists of Indiana would rally to his sup- port, but the hope soon proved a delusion. The board kept getting deeper in debt to meet current expenses nor was there any very substantial increase in endowment, although in November, 1870, Martin L. Pierce. of Lafayette.
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offered to give land valued at ten thousand dollars, provided enough addi- tional subscriptions were made to complete an endowment of one hundred thousand dollars. With the finances of the institution in such a state, it caused no surprise that the board, at its meeting November 15, 1871, passed a resolution 'that unless the endowment can be raised to seventy-five thousand dollars, in reliable funds, by June 15, 1872, it is the opinion of the board that the college at that time will have to suspend; that the board borrow fourteen thousand dollars to liquidate the present indebtedness and meet cur- rent expenses for the present year, and that the proper officers of the board are hereby ordered to execute a mortgage on the college property to secure said loan, provided thirty-five persons will sign a guarantee of such loan.'
"The endowment did not reach seventy-five thousand dollars, nor did the college reach June 15, 1872, before the end came. Doctor Wayland resigned January 31, 1872, and the same day the board resolved 'that the college so far as teaching is concerned be suspended, and that the executive committee is instructed to proceed at once to pay off the debts of the college, by disposing of a sufficient amount of the property of the college as may be needed for such use, And that the president and secretary of the board are hereby ordered and authorized to convey the title to all, or any part of the real estate belonging to Franklin College, whenever a sale can be effected by the execu- tive committee and whenever said committee shall direct.'
"This was the last act of the old board of directors, and it was the end of Franklin College as it was controlled by the Education Society. Many friends of the college believed that it had died, and sorrowed as those without hope. Other friends lived in the hope of a speedy resurrection, and that hope was based upon the organization of the Franklin College Association.
"The Franklin College Association had its inception with the citizens of Franklin, who recognized the benefit the college had been to Johnson county and who knew that its death would be an irreparable loss to the com- munity where it was located.
"Prior to the resignation of Doctor Wayland some citizens of Franklin and Johnson county had formed an association, and at one time proposed . to lease the college. After the suspension subscriptions were vigorously pushed for the organization of a joint-stock association to take the place of the old Education Society. The manner in which the citizens of Johnson county responded to the call to subscribe to the stock of Franklin College shows how well they had come to know the worth of the institution. The result ought forever to set at rest all talk about the college not being appre-
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ciated by the people among whom it is located. For the third time Johnson county came to the rescue.
"The subscribers to the stock of the college met on June 21, 1872, at the Baptist church in Franklin and completed the organization necessary to make . them a corporation by filing articles of association with the recorder of the county. At this date the total subscriptions to the capital stock of the college amounted to $51,175. Of this amount nearly $36,000 was subscribed by citizens of Johnson county, and of this $36,000 about one-half was sub- scribed by citizens of the county who were identified with the Baptist denom- ination. As provided by the articles of association, the stockholders elected a board of directors, consisting of a president, vice-president, treasurer, secre- tary and twelve trustees on the day of its organization.
"The Franklin College Association assumed the debts of the old or- ganization, about $13,000, and by the foreclosure of a mortgage against the old board and the purchase of the college grounds at sheriff's sale, secured a title to the campus and buildings. College was resumed in September, 1872, with Dr. W. T. Stott, Prof. J. E. Walter and Miss R. J. Thompson as mem- bers of the faculty, and it has been in continuous operation ever since."
The number of students entering Franklin College under the new regime in 1872 was but thirty, and the total enrollment for the year was seventy-five. Professor Walter had the chair of mathematics, Professor Thompson the teaching of history and natural science, and, to quote Doctor Stott himself, he "was obliged to teach whatever he could not conscientiously ask the other two to take. And notwithstanding the hard work done there was manifest a feeling akin to loneliness the whole year through. A college yell would have startled us beyond measure, but probably done us good." Professor Walter remained but one year, when he was succeeded by Prof. Rebecca J. Thompson, who for the succeeding thirty-eight years was the head of the de- partment of mathematics. Her name will be honored as long as Franklin College students under her tuition remain among us. Professor Moncrief also came in 1873, taking charge of work in the preparatory department, and E. S. Hopkins taught Latin and natural science. The enrollment for the year was seventy-seven,-a small number,-but at the end of the year four were graduated, the first graduating class since 1862. The class of 1874 consisted of Prudence G. Hougham, Theodosia Parks Hall, Viola Parks Edwards and George H. Taylor.
In 1875 there was but one graduate, Dr. Gaddis H. Elgin, afterwards editor of the Indiana Baptist. In 1876 there were no graduates, but this experience was never after repeated save for one year, 1882. Beginning with
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the year 1885 the student body began to increase rapidly in numbers, the regis- tration being as follows: 1885, 196; 1886, 215; 1887, 223; 1888, 218; 1889, 259; 1890, 273; 1891, 249; 1892, 255; 1893, 216; 1894, 207; 1895, 238; 1896, 265 : 1897, 259; 1898, 271 ; 1899, 251.
For the next few years there was a falling off in the attendance, an average of less than 200 students, but, in the first year of Doctor Bryan's ad- ministration, the enrollment went up to 270, and in the next year to 291. The highest figure in attendance was reached in 1907-08, 320, of which num- ber 210 were doing regular collegiate work. Doctor Bryan's unexpected retirement weakened the influence of the college and since that date the at- tendance has been around the 200 mark.
From the re-opening of the college in 1872 to 1890, the catalogues advised that "Rooms in the college are furnished with bedsteads, chairs, stove, table and wardrobe frame." These were the days of college pranks, when the boys rooming in the North building made sudden midnight forays, to the alarm of the citizens of East Franklin and sometimes to the consterna- tion of the mischief makers. College spirit found a vent not in organized games and carefully staged displays of college exercises, but carefully se- lected groups of brawny and brainy youths spent days in planning some "joke" on the faculty, the townspeople, or another set of students. Rooms in the dormitories were despoiled. buckets of water were hung over the doors, Uncle George Zoda or other janitor was aroused, the college bell was set ringing, movable college property was certain to be misplaced, and a regular course in certain tricks and "stunts" was imposed on each new student who showed promise of affording entertainment to the old boys. In particular, the ministerial student or a "faculty pet" was the mark of the dormitories. Col- lege professor's were expected to do detective duty, and Doctor Stott was chief executioner. But. withal, there was little harm in the rowdyism and laughter-provoking mischief, and the president's manner of handling the questions of discipline was admirable. He could inflict punishment in fewer words at the chapel exercises or in a heart-to-heart talk than any instructor the writer has known. and so strong was his personality and so kindly his reproof that the delinquent student, though not always repentant, loved him as a man and respected his authority.
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