USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > Education in Indiana. An outline of the growth of the common school system, together with statements relating to the condition of secondary and higher education in the state and a brief history of the educational exhibit. Prepared for the Louisiana purchase exposition, held at Saint Louis, May 1 to November 30, 1904 > Part 36
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Several places presented their claims and urged them to be the seat of this new center of learning-prominent among which were Lafayette, Indianapolis, Rockville, Putnamville and Greencastle. After it was once decided that the location should be within Put- nam county, the advantageous situation of Putnamville was argued seemingly with propriety and with special force, because it was on that important "national road" that lead in unbroken distance even from Pittsburg and beyond it westward to the Mississippi
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river. But notwithstanding this really important factor, the bal- ance of the argument was against it, and the decision was cast in favor of Greencastle. This vote was reached at the conference session of 1836, which was held in Indianapolis, and on the Satur- day afternoon of that occasion. The next Monday morning, Rev. J. (. Smith and Rev. Aaron Wood were appointed agents to col- leet money for the erection of suitable buildings for this important new enterprise. A committee also was named to memorialize the legislature at its coming session in the interests of a charter. All the preliminaries were adjusted and work in earnest was about to begin. The first serious opposition was encountered when the com- mittee appeared before the legislature with their petition- a double line of opposition-from the foes of advancing Methodism, and from those who were opposed to attempting anything more than was already being done in the matter of education under the existing difficulties. But the way was finally cleared-in the lower house, by argument; and in the upper by strategy, combined with the argument; and on the 10th of January, 1837, the charter was granted which provided as follows: "That a seminary of learning shall be, and the same is hereby established in the town or vicinity of Greencastle, in Putnam county, and state of Indiana, to be known by the name and style of 'The Indiana Asbury university,' which shall be founded and maintained forever, upon a plan most suitable for the benefit of the youth of every class of citizens, and of every religious denomination, who shall be freely admitted to equal advantages and privileges of education, and to all the liter- ary honors of said university according to their merit." As yet, it will be noticed, that no maiden was provided for in all this uni- versity outlook ; her presence was not described even on the uni- versity horizon and the "youth" of this charter provision is to have its strict interpretation of being, as the grammarian would say it, of masculine gender.
The claims of this new institution were presented and urged all over the state, and money came in at least liberally, if not abun- dantly. A building was begun which was to furnish the "local habitation and the place," and its corner stone was laid amid great ceremony on June 20, 1837. This was the noblest occasion Putnam county had ever yet seen. Twenty thousand people had come from the surrounding country- some of them even from dis-
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tant parts to witness this important ceremony. All Greencastle was a center of hospitality in the entertainment of its guests. The sermon of the occasion was preached by that splendid orator, Dr. Henry B. Bascom, of Kentucky, who later on became one of the bishops of the Methodist church south. All the incidents consid- ered as belonging to such occasions were fully observed, and the men and women went to their homes resolved upon renewed zeal and added sacrifices in the interests of their "university." The building which was the original of what is now known as "west college," progressed without interruption or serious delay, and was really a noble structure from the standpoint of its times and its surroundings.
But the educational idea did not wait upon its completion. Rev. Cyrus Nutt, of Allegheny college, Pennsylvania, had recently opened a school in Greencastle, which within a few days of the laying of the "corner stone," was adopted as the preparatory school for the "university ;" it had its beginning in an old school house, but in November of its first year was moved into a building on the piece of ground now occupied by the College-avenue Methodist church. The first home of this school was neither spacious nor pretentious-a room of about twelve by fifteen feet, but this was quite large enough for the teacher and his five students-the total enrollment at the opening of the first term ; of these five, four were from Greencastle and the remaining one was from a few miles out in the country ; their names are carefully preserved and are a part of the records. One-fifth of these charter member students contin- ned his course even to graduation, and was a member of the class of '42-the third class that graduated from the institution.
Several ineffectual attempts to organize a faculty, were made within the next two years. The trustees, in their wisdom, saw that first-class talent must be called and the very best preparation that the church could command; in return they had little but possibil- ities to offer by way of inducement. During this period, Prof. Nutt-be his name written with reverence-held steadily to his course, and was himself acting president, professor, faculty, treas- urer and whatever other offices the duties of the day might demand. With such assistance as he could from time to time secure, he did his work bravely and had the reward of seeing it prosper under his
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care, and of recognizing the promise of larger things in the times to come.
At a meeting of the board in 1839, upon the recommendation of Bishop Roberts, whose home was then in Indiana, and of Dr. Charles Elliott, editor of the Western Christian Advocate, Prof. Matthew Simpson, of the faculty of Allegheny college, was elected president : largely through the representations and the urgency of those who recommended him, he decided to accept this important place, and entered upon his duties September 23, 1839. The first regular faculty as then constituted was as follows :
Rev. Matthew Simpson, A. M., M. D .- President and professor of mathematics
Rev. Cyrus Nutt, A. M .- Professor of languages.
Rev. John W. Weakley, A. M .- Principal of preparatory de- partment.
John Wheeler-Tutor in Languages.
Dr. Simpson soon became known as wise in counsel, strong in executive quality and eloquent in speech. He was a statesman, and orator and a consecrated man of God. The new being com- mitted to his care received into its veins some of the rare quality that carried him some years later to the eminent distinction of being recognized as the greatest man in American Methodism, since the days of Bishop Asbury.
Ilis associates in the faculty, too, were men of genuine merit and of unfaltering devotion to their work. All of them became in subsequent years themselves presidents of important educa- tional institutions.
This faculty entered upon its duties in 1839, the school still being located in the old seminary building. But at the opening of the second term of that scholastic year, in the spring of 1840, the new structure though not yet completed, was so far advanced that one part of it could be used for school purposes while the re- mainder was being finished. Work was pushed forward vigor- ously, both in the classes and with the brick and mortar, in order that by the commencement time, which was to be about the middle of September, everything might be in readiness for a veritable "commencement," and the looked for day at length arrived. The close of the school year witnessed a great event, the graduation of the first class from the "university," a class of three, of whom Dr.
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Thomas A. Goodwin, of Indianapolis, with a long line of useful labors baek of him, still lives to encourage us with his abounding spirits, to enliven us with his spicy reminiscences and to stimulate us with his enthusiastic activity. He still keeps a clear brain and wields a trenchant pen.
On the 13th of September, Dr. Simpson, who had been busily at work for nearly one year already, was formally inaugurated and the keys of the institution were placed in his possession by the Hon. David Wallace, the governor of the state of Indiana; this was his official announcement as the first president of "The Indi- ana Asbury university."
The next day the board of trustees took important action, look- ing toward making larger provisions for the growing needs. The chair of mathematics was separated from the president's duties and Rev. W. C. Larrabee, A. M., then principal of Cazenovia semi- nary, was elected professor of mathematics and natural science- but was soon relieved of the latter half of this combination to take charge of which Charles G. Downey, A. M., was elected. The chair of languages, too, was divided-its former incumbent retain- ing the Greek, his tutor, Rev. John Wheeler, A. B., being elected to the chair of Latin language and literature. The president also organized the department of mental and moral science and took charge of its classes in addition to his official duties as the head of the institution.
The faculty was now considered quite complete, and was, indeed, under all the circumstances one of remarkable strength. Only one change and one addition were made in its composition for the liberal arts work, until the end of what is sometime called the Simpson period: the change was incident to the resignation of Prof. Nutt and the succession of the elegant and enthusiastic Prof. B. F. Tefft, A. M., from the state of Maine. The retiring pro- fessor, however, returned a few years later to serve through another period of years in connection with the faculty here, and then in the faculty of a neighboring institution in our own state. The addi- tional name placed in the teaching list was that of the accom- plished scholar, Rev. S. K. Hoshour, A. M., who in 1847 was elected as tutor to take charge of the new work in German and French. In July 1848, President Simpson, with his work in full tide of prosperity, resigned his place to accept the editorship of the
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Western Christian Advocate, to which position he had been re- cently elected. He had been at Asbury about ten years; during that time it had grown from its small beginnings, though with a large enough name, surely, to the status of a really prosperous and well known college. From the first, its educational standards had been placed high, and its corps of instructors was from among the best scholars and thinkers that the country could furnish. This meant very much, not only for those days and years, but for those that have followed oven down to the present; and it will mean much for the subsequent times-not only in the records that are back of us and the traditions that are about us, but in the impulse under which we shall continue to live and grow.
Students, too, came in goodly numbers-as many as under the existing conditions could be well cared for; and these not only from our own state, but a liberal proportion from adjoining states and even more distant regions-recognizing that here was a place to gain an education of a high order, and to gain it under the ad- vantages of broad healthful, christian surroundings. The best educational interests here subserved, and the importance of chris- tian influences was emphasized.
During the year that followed the resignation of Dr. Simpson, while the board was trying to find a successor who would exactly snit the conditions and the needs-the administration was placed in the hands of Prof. Larrabee, and the standards were well main- tained during this interim.
July 14, 1849, Rev. Incien W. Berry, A. M., was chosen presi- dent and entered very soon afterward upon the duties of his official position. He was pre-eminently an orator; one of the most bril- liant pulpit orators of his time-and withal a man of learning. He came to the new field of labor with the confidence of his breth- ren and the strong support of the church. His formal inaugura- tion took place at the next commencement time, nearly one year after he commenced his work; the keys of the university were placed in his charge by the chief executive of the state, Governor Wright. He continued to administer the affairs of the institution for four years longer, and at the end of that time resigned his place here, and accepted the presidency of the Towa Wesleyan uni- versity at Mt. Pleasant.
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In the following August, the Rev. Daniel Curry, D. D., of New York city, was elected to the vacancy ; he began his work with the opening of the school year and remained until July, 1857, a period of about three years. Dr. Curry was a superior teacher, a man of fine native ability and extensive culture, but not quick to assimi- late the spirit of the west into his eastern life and habits; nor was he, perhaps, always wise in government. Passing by entirely what may have been the merits of the case, it is a matter of history that during these years arose the college rebellion that threatened such dire things to the school. So serious did the conditions become that a special session of the board of trustees was called in Decem- ber, 1856, to adjust the differences between faculty and students that seemed incapable of easier adjustment. During this session the resolution was presented and adopted discouraging, as a gen- eral principle all appeals from students to the board of trustees as against faculty action. But at the end of the school year, the pres- ident decided that perhaps the interests of all concerned might be best subserved by a change in administration. He resigned his place and enjoyed many years of successful labor in other fields- the greater part of the time as editor of some of the most important periodicals under the control of Methodism.
From July, 1857, to July, 1858, the institution was again with- out an executive head. At this time Dr. Nutt was again elected to a professorship, after an absence of a number of years, and was also made vice-president. With this arrangement a successful year ensued and at the close of it Rev. Thomas Bowman, D. D., was elected to the presidency. He brought with him into his work, a beautiful spirit and a thorough education. Upon his coming, the school people and the general public rallied about him and the fourteen years of his administration were fourteen good years. There was genuine progress in those times and a good degree of peace on earth, good will among men. In 1872 he resigned the place which he had held through so many and such successful years, because the church in its wisdom had transformed the college president into a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church. Rev. Reuben Andrus, D. D., at that time pastor of Meridian-street church in Indianapolis, was chosen as his successor, and continued in the place for three years ; he was a strong preacher and a noble hearted man whose presence even impressed people toward the
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better things. He came to his new work in days of its prosperity and after three faithful and successful years concluded to return to the work of his choice in the regular pastorate.
Rev. Alexander Martin, D. D., was the choice for the next presi- deut. He was a Scotchman by birth and had the true fibre of his own strong, rugged country. He was a born ruler and an able organizer. Dr. Martin came to Asbury in 1875, with ripe and broad scholarship and with firm conviction of right, which he car- ried out without fear or favor. He knew what a university ought to be, and furthermore knew that the one to which he was called was only an excellent college; he believed though, that the time had come to extend its circle of usefulness, and to make it in fact what it had all along been in name. To this end he labored and with how large degree of success is well known, till he saw Asbury enlarged and itself the liberal arts school of DePauw university, with beginnings at least of all the special and professional schools that usually enter into the constitution of a university, excepting only that of medicine. In 1889, he feeling that, with advancing years, he should be relieved from the heaviest of his responsibil- ities and the most ardnons of his duties, his resignation as presi- dent, offered for the second time, was finally accepted and his ac- tive duties in the university were allowed to remain only in connec- tion with his department of philosophy-at which post he contin- ned until the end of his long and useful life in 1893.
After munch consultation in the matter of the next presidency, Rev. J. P. John, D. D., was chosen in 1889. He was already one of the university professors and the institution's vice-president. He was thoroughly acquainted with the life about him and in full sympathy with the course of development of the last few years. With his strong logical mind and his enthusiastic nature he rec- ognized large possibilities in the very near future, and bent his energies toward them. He devoted himself assiduously to the reorganization of the courses of study, and to the looking out pro- fossors of the highest available quality in their own lines of work, so that whenever a change had to be made in the faculty, or an addition could be made, it might always be the best one possible in the interests of the highest order of work in all departments. Those were the days when the university expectations were at their greatest as regarded the value of its endowments and large things
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seemed to be within the reasonable reach of the institution. But hard times came this way in '93 and continued through several subsequent years. Business interests suffered ; stocks and shares declined in value; productive funds became non-productive; stu- dent numbers decreased because incomes in their homes were un- certain, and the horizon of present possibilities narrowed and that beyond the power of any one to prevent it. Many a man and many an institution during those years had to exchange its inquiry of "what is best" for the more available one of "what is now most expedient." But a high order of work was done in recitation rooms, libraries and laboratories, and young men and young women were learning to think, and were getting ready for the great world. Dr. John resigned the presidency in 1896 and was followed by Rev. II. A. Gobin, A. M., D. D., who for some years previous had been the dean of the school of theology. He showed himself to be a man among men for the time in the midst of which be was placed, and answered with rare discretion the best interests of the university, and brought it through the severest days of its financial difficulties, till the dawn of a new era of prosperity ap- peared on its horizon.
Within these fifty-two years, and under these seven administra- tions that have followed since the times of the first president, professors, associates, instructors and tutors have come and gone- many of them of noble quality and a high degree of efficiency in their several departments. Nor has it always been in their depart- ments alone that they have rendered inestimable and imperishable service : for some have been wise and careful counsellors as well, and have touched for healing and for health the young life about them ; some, too, have contributed bountifully toward the solutions of the weightiest problems that have presented themselves through these years, for university solution, and have planned and worked with zeal and efficiency for enlarging interests and advancing opportunities. But there are too many of them whose merits place them in honored ranks in the educational world, even to be named and titled in the brief pages of this historical sketch.
Many interesting things present themselves as worthy a place in the records of these passing years, but naturally we can stop here to make mention of only a few of them, so these few must
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be selected from among those that are conspicuous as record making ones :
On the 23d of May, 1843, the trustees entered into compact with the secretary of war to educate ten Choctaw boys, and pursuant to this agreement Indians came into the school. At first it seemed peculiar but was entirely consistent with the provisions of the charter as was also the coming in at later times of Japanese, Afri- cans and Chinese.
Ilon. James Whitcomb, in 1853, gave the university his vahi- able library of 4,500 volumes, and made provisions for its super- vision and enlargement. This furnished a very considerable nu- cleus for the accumulations of all these years. The regular in- come from the endowment which he left for it is still one of the important sources of revenue for the purchases of new supplies from year to year.
In 1859 it was considered expedient to reorganize the depart- ments, and this was done under the following eight titles-cach member of the corps of instructors fitting in some one of these groups.
I. President. and professor of mental and moral philosophy.
11. Vice-president and professor of mathematics.
III. Professor of natural science.
IV. Professor of Greek language and literature.
V. Professor of Latin language and literature.
V'I. Professor of belles lettres and history.
VII. Adjunct professor of mathematics and principal of preparatory department.
VIII. Professor of law.
This new classification, in itself, made no changes in the work about the institution, or in the respective duties of the various persons concerned, but merely set forth in more systematic order facts that had been thrown into more or less of confusion by many adjustments and readjustments.
The year 1867 witnessed a real innovation ; after careful con- sideration and protracted discussion, it was decided in June, that ladies should be admitted to the college classes. This was a great departure from the old standards ; the mixed student contin- gent had as yet appeared in but very few of our colleges-notable among this few were Oberlin college and the Iowa Wesleyan uni- versity. With the opening of the next school year, a number of
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young women availed themselves of the privileges for higher education, and in 1871 four young women were in the graduating class.
In 1869, Robert Stockwell having given $25,000 to the endow- ment funds-which then seemed quite a munificent gift-the chair of Greek was named in his honor "The Robert Stockwell chair of Greek language and literature."
But naturally amid all the growth and expansion of the times, the one building that had been so ample in its first years was entirely too small to meet even tolerably well the present needs. An additional building must be erected and that in the near future. After much deliberation, with but little money for it in hand and not much more in sight, but with large faith in the possibilities, the work was undertaken, and on the 20th of October, 1869, the corner stone was laid for a new building-the one now known as east college. The work progressed but slowly, for the trustees and the building committee were not willing to go much in advance of the ready money for the payment of the bills; so that about six years passed by before the structure was completed, though parts of it were ready for occupancy before that time. When it was finished it was at a total cost of something more than one hundred thousand dollars. Quite a number of its rooms were finished, furnished and named by private individuals, and the spa- cious chapel was beautifully furnished by Mr. Jesse Meharry, and named in honor of his wife "Meharry hall."
In 1877 a department of military science was established. It was organized and considerably advanced in drill through the generous and unrecompensed labors of Major C. W. Smith, of the class of '67, and Major M. Masters, both of Indianapolis, but an officer of the regular army was soon afterward secured, and the department was maintained without interruption until the out- break of the recent Spanish war, which called in for the active service the officers and the guns. A department of physical cul- ture has for the present superseded it.
In 1879 laboratories were first opened for science work; prior to this time, these studies had been pursued from the text book with occasional experiments made by the teacher in the presence of his class; with this new era, the student was sent into the laboratory to conduct his own investigations and make his reports.
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The chemical laboratory was opened first, to be followed soon by the physical, and a little later by the biological.
On February 10, 1879, the old college building was nearly de- stroved by fire. A little later it was rebuilt, enlarged and refitted not at all a thing of beauty in its present state, but spacions and useful.
Eighteen hundred and eighty-two witnessed two marked actions of the board of trustees-the first one the election of Prof. Alma Holman, A. M., to the chair of modern languages, the first lady called to a full professorship in the institution ; the second one the establishment of the department of theology, to which Rev. S. L. Bowman, S. T. D., of New Jersey, was called as the head.
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