USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 46
USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 46
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This beautiful building was the gift of John C. Green, and was named in honor of his brother, Henry W. Green, chancellor of New Jersey. In 1878 he gave one liundred and twenty thousand dollars for erecting and completing the building, and six thou- sand dollars for its eare. He afterwards gave forty thousand dollars to endow the chair of the librarian.
The John C. Green School of Seience, too, was the gift of John C. Green, and is the largest and most im- posing of all the college buildings. It stands at the easterly end of the campus, near the corner of Nas- sau and Washington Streets. Eight or ten dwelling- houses were purchased and removed to make room for this grand building. It is built of light and brown variegated stone, with a tower. It has a foundation originally of $200,000, -- $100,000 for the building and apparatus ; $50,000 for the Henry Professorship of Physics ; and 825,000 for each of the chairs of Ana- lytical Chemistry and Natural History. Subsequently he gave $25,000 more to complete the building and apparatus, and also $5600 specially to Professor Brackett for apparatus in his department of Physics. Just before his death he proposed to give $100,000 more to the department of Civil Engineering. ITis executors carried out- his proposal. It is a depart- ment admirably furnished and equipped.
Witherspoon Hall, on high ground wear the depot Reunion Hall is a five-story dormitory, built of and to the west of Clio Hall, with a beautiful land-
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scape, built of light gray stone, is a luxurious dormi- tory five stories high, elegantly finished in Eastlake to accommodate about eighty students. It cost about one hundred thousand dollars, the gift of Mr. Green.
Murray Hall is a unique, low stone building, with two large rooms on the ground-floor, on land east of Whig Hall, for the use of the Philadelphian Society, which is a society for religious culture in college. It is built of brownstone, in the English Gothie style, and will seat four hundred persons. It was built by a fund bequeathed by a graduate of the class of 1872, Hamilton Murray, who was lost at sea iu the ill-fated " Ville du Havre."
Prospect, the present residence of President Mc- Cosh, the former residence of Thomas Potter, was purchased by R. L. and Alexander Stuart, of New York, and presented to the college. It consists of a fine stone palatial residence with thirty acres of land adjoining the college property.
Edwards IIall is a three-story dormitory, standing south of Witherspoon Hall, the last dormitory erected on the college ground.
The Marquand Chapel is just finished, and is a beautiful specimen of ecclesiastical architecture. It is built of stone, and will accommodate about one thousand persons. It was the gift of Henry G. Mar- quand, of New York, and cost about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It is situated quite ncar the entrance to Prospect, and on the east side of what in former years was called College Lane, now open college grounds, and being at the east end of the av- enue leading through the college grounds to the rail- road depot.
In addition to these publie buildings, the college owns between fifteen and twenty residences upon or very near the college grouuds, besides the Marquand Preparatory School property, a mile out of town to- wards Kingston.
The Museum of Geology and Archaeology may be seen in the centre of the North College. It embraces specimens of casts of large fossil animals, several thousand specimens of smaller fossils, five thousand specimens of Alpine erratic boulders, illustrating the glacial period; seventeen paintings, by Professors Hawkins and Guyot, representing the flora and fauna and scenery of the several geological periods, set up on the panels of the gallery.
In the Art Department are paintings and portraits aud statuary.
The Museum of Natural History and Mineralogy is in the third story of the School of Science, and is admirably arranged.
The philosophical apparatus is kept in the School of Science, in connection with the lecture-room of Professor Brackett.
The Department of General and Applied Chem- istry is well supplied with all needed appliances, which are in connection with the lecture-room of Professor Schanek.
A second observatory, for use in teaching practical astronomy, is connected with Professor Young's resi- dence on Prospect Avenue, with an equipment unri- valed by that of any other institution in this country.
ENDOW MENTS AND SALARIES .- The public are not. accurately informed upon these subjects. The en- dowments, exclusive of the buildings, may be esti- mated at one million dollars. The students' room rents yield from eight thousand dollars to ten thou- sand dollars a year, and tuition fees from thirty thou- sand dollars to forty thousand dollars. Professors' salaries amount to three thousand five hundred dol- lars each per year. The treasurer's salary is the same. The charitable funds are thirty-two thousand dollars. The prize and fellowship funds are about fifty thou- sand dollars. The scholarships amount to over sixty- six thousand dollars. The School of Science fund is not less than two hundred thousand dollars. The annual expenditures of the college are over one hun- dred thousand dollars.
ATHLETIC GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS .- The eol- lege has made most ample arrangements for the phys- ical culture of its students, and has given not only liberty but has prescribed it as a duty of the students to attend upon gymnastic exercises ; and large invest- ments have been made in laud and otherwise to facil- itate such agencies. A teacher is provided to super- intend and give instruction in this department.
In thus glancing at this venerable college, from its origin to the present time, it can be asserted with truthfulness that it has answered thus far the end for which it was established. It has promoted religion and learning. It has trained young men for the min- istry and for the other learned professions, and now, since the school of science has become so prominent a feature in it, it is more than ever reaching the masses of men by diffusing among them the practical bene- fits of the physical sciences and of the arts. The foremost statesmen, orator», jurists, philosophers, and divines in our country have come forth from it. Its alumni can be traced in all high places of honor and usefulness, in the Presidency of the United States, in Congress, both Continental and National; in the presidencies of colleges and theological seminaries ; in gubernatorial chairs, and on the judicial beneh. In the scales of obligation the State of New Jersey owes much more to this college than the college owes to the State.
The recent proposal to establish in connection with this college a school of art is so well assured of suc- cess that the future career of the institution promises to eclipse that of the past.
Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church. - Threescore and ten years ago this title was given by common consent to the first institution of saered learning established, in 1812, by the same denomination that founded the College of New Jer- sey at Princeton. The trustees of the college co-op- erated with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
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Church in affording to it local facilities for a time. vice-president. The senior trustee now living is But the two institutions are entirely distinct in charter, : Robert L. Stuart, of New York, who, with his brother. direction, faculty, and curriculum. The board of direction has consisted from the beginning of twenty- one Presbyterian ministers and nine elders, and the General Assembly of this church elected one-third of each class every year until 1870, when this election was relinquished to the board itself, with authority not only to fill their own vacancies, but also to elect professors and report annually such proceedings to the Assembly, subject to approval or veto by that supreme judicatory. Alexander Stuart, deceased, has been one of the three chief benefactors, to whom the seminary owes about one million of dollars for its endowments in various ways. The other two beneficent trustees are James Lenox and Jolin C. Green, both of New York, and both embalmed in the grateful affections of Princeton people. Mute memorials of all these donors adorn every campus, and will speak to many generations the praises of their munificence. A nephew of Mr. Lenox, Robert L. Kennedy, Esq., New York, and a : brother of Mr. Green, Hon. Caleb S. Green, also a nephew, Charles E. Green, Esq. (son of Chancellor Green), are among the most efficient trustees now living to manage well the great charities with which the seminary has been favored.
These directors were chosen originally from every part of the Presbyterian Church east and west, with a large majority, of course, contignously situated in New Jersey and the neighboring cities, New York and Philadelphia. The rapid enlargement of the church in every direction, and especially west and south, soon demanded other institutions of the kind, and in less than a score of years after this foundation three or four other seminaries of the same denomi- nation were planted, each engaging the resources and gathering the students at more convenient centres, respectively, than Princeton. And yet an area from Troy to Baltimore and from Brooklyn to the interior of Middle Pennsylvania, represented in the direction of this original seminary, is enough to sustain its national eharacter, in which it is unrivaled hitherto, not to mention the names of national reputation that have been, and that are, intrusted with the direction.
In 1824 the church accepted for this institution from the Legislature of New Jersey a charter incor- porating a board of trustees twenty-one in number, twelve of whom were to be citizens of this common- wealth, to be custodians of the property, real and personal, to fill up their own vacancies, and report annually to the General Assembly of the church. For some time there was collision occasionally between the two boards, neither of them understanding pre- cisely how far the discretion of the directors should constrain that of the trustces in accepting the ap- pointments of the former and disbursing the funds on their recommendations. But when the Assembly of 1870 devolved on the board of directors power to | elect professors, etc., it also enacted that " all matters relating to the finances, fixing the salaries of pro- fessors, the extent of endowment, and the aid of stu- dents shall be by the board of directors submitted to the trustees of the seminary for their approval." This authorization has made harmony and effective co-operation, both boards having at heart the best interests of the institution. Illustrious New Jersey- men have successfully presided over this board of trustees, most of them also citizens of what is now Mercer County. The succession is Hon. Andrew Kirk- patrick, Samuel Bayard, Esq., Hon. Samuel L. South- ard, Rev. James Carnahan, D.D., LL.D., Hon. Henry W. Green, among the dead ; and among whom should be enrolled the Hon. Charles Ewing, for a short time :
For many years the funds acquired for the found- ing and support of this institution were, like those of the college before and beside it, collections in very small sums from the Presbyterian Churches through- out the land, whose alms, along with but less than their prayers, made a memorial to the Most High which has already resulted in a great consummation. In locating the seminary a gift of two acres by Rich- ard Stockton, LL.D., necessitated the purchase from him of two acres more at a price more than equal to the value of the whole four at the time of that first gift ; and this purchase was made as a donative by the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, the first president of the board of directors, and in every way the most promi- nent personage in founding the seminary. Most other theological seminaries have originated in the leading counsel and miunificence of laymen; but ministers of Christ began the school at Princeton, and even their "deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality" in making for it a local habitation as well as name. Their mites were, as usual, the earnest of millions.
THE BUILDINGS .--- There are sixteen buildings in all now belonging to the seminary, which with the grounds properly pertaining to each one respectively are worth nearly half a million of dollars. The first main building, called yet distinctively the "Semi- nary," began to be built in 1815, and was completed in 1817; in length one hundred and fifty feet, in width fifty feet, and in height four stories. It is built of light brownstone, which at first, and for half a century, presented a dull appearance externally until the whole edifice was renovated and remod- eled by the generosity of Mr. Jolin C. Green, of : New York, when the stone color was made lively and beautiful by red pointing of the mortar. Orig- inally this building contained everything of accom. modation for seminary uses,-oratory, lecture-rooms, library, reading-rooms, dormitories, and even refer- tory, and rooms for a steward. Crowded to excess by the increasing number of students in attendance, their private rooms, in which two or more students
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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
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slept together, were at length partitioned off into
adaptation to the end for which it was built and ex- very small rooms to give cach one a separate apart- , clusively dedicated. It is, indeed, not central in lo- ment in order to accommodate one hundred students in this way. cation on seminary grounds, and some have regretted the necessity of such a situation, as the Messrs. Stuart But even this expedient was unavailing when the themselves did at first. But the corner they bought number of students exceeded one hundred, and cul- . for the purpose, contiguous and adjoining lands of the institution, is an eminence of commanding view, looks over on the college buildings and the surround- ing country to a vast extent of landscape, and is withal in harmony with the traditions of academic life as derived from the university grounds in Eng- land and on the continent of Europe. Better have straggling houses, for walks of study in its groves, than crowded piles of stone, like the structures of a factory corporation, huddled compactly for the sake of convenience.
minated in the actual attendance of one hundred and eighty-five, which was reached in the years 1858-61. The professors were obliged to hire many rooms in private dwellings through the town, and beg from the churches funds for this purpose to the extent of three thousand dollars per annum. In this exigency Mrs. George Brown, of Baltimore, offered to build an- other large edifice for dormitory purposes exclusively. But the civil war broke out, and led to the postpone- ment of this generous proposal for a time, and until it was made manifest that even in the midst of that war Southern students as well as Northern were ad- mitted to the full enjoyment of the benefits and privi- ! leges of this institution. Before the close of the war the money was given, and " Brown Hall" was erected, with capacity for the accommodation of eighty stu- dents, with single occupation of rooms; and from the churches of New Jersey, and benevolent persons in New York and Philadelphia, six thousand dollars were collected for the furnishing of these spacious and beautiful rooms with substantial articles.
The completion of Brown Hall soon afterwards led Mr. Green, of New York, to the beneficent work of remodeling the old seminary building at his own ex- pense, making it accommodate over seventy students, with a double room for each one,-a study- and a sleeping-room,-connected by partition. Thus the two dormitory buildings of the seminary, fitted for the accommodation of at least one hundred and fifty students, are unrivaled iu situation and interior fit- ness and comfort alike. No rent is paid by the stu-
A furlong between the lecture-hall and the dormi- tory is of great use to cultivate the manners of a stu- dent. The wrapper and the slippers with which untidy slovens would glide into a recitation-room when it is within the same walls as their sleeping- rooms must be laid aside for the slush and the wind to be encountered in going forth to the lesson. The prayer-hall is now situated on the second floor of Stuart Hall, occupying half the space of the whole building. The other half is given to the use of the alumni in their annual reunion, where greetings, col- lation, and speeches are exchanged with increasing enthusiasm from one year to another. The third floor of this grand building is devoted to various uses ap- pended iu the proper occupation of such an edifice. It is divided into six rooms. Que is the reading- room, filled with religious papers, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual publications. Another is filled with curious collections, donated mostly by mission- aries, and sent home from every part of the world.
The chapel for public worship on the Lord's day dents for the occupation of these furnished rooms. A i is located near the east end of the old seminary build- janitor or servant is employed in each building by the corporation, through its officer, the "superin- tendent of grounds and buildings," to keep these dormitories in order at the expense of the institution, and the students are taxed to refund this expense ten dollars each per annum. This tax covers all their liability for attendance in their own rooms, and light and heat also, in the public halls and class-rooms.
The lecture-rooms and oratory of the old buildings, however inadequate in space and stifling for want of good air because of their low ceilings, continued to be used uutil 1877, when the magnificent gift of Messrs. R. L. and A. Stuart, of New York, was com- pleted. It is named "Stuart Hall," and cost the donors, for ground and building, one hundred aud : of a second dedication, after that princely benefactor, forty thousand dollars, exclusive of subsequent gifts . of more ground, and for clearing away tenements and grading the campus around it, which must have cost fully twenty thousand dollars more. Probably no : building in the State is equal to this one in costliness of material, exquisite beauty of finish, and perfect
ing. It is of Grecian order in its architecture, with a handsome colonnade in front for its portico. It was built in the last generation, by contributions mainly from the churches in Philadelphia, collected by the special agency of Charles Hodge, then a young man, at the beginning of his great renown as a scholar and writer. Unaccustomed to such work, worried and weary with its toil from house to house, he succeeded, at the great expense to himself of lameness incurred, which disabled him for locomotion entirely for a while, and in great measure to the end of his life. The interior of this graceful cdifice was at the first exceedingly plain and artless; but at length, when Dr. Hodge was an old man, he preached the sermon Jolin C. Green, of New York, had renovated and altered the interior and the windows to exquisite beauty, making it the most attractive audience-room in Prinecton, and costing him more than the original building was worth. This chapel has been adorned still more of late by mural tablets of marble to the
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memory of deceased professors. The associations I policy of upholding a distinct refcetory even with a connected with its worship become more and more ; bare existence at times, and accordingly the late interesting and hallowed as the most noted and illus- Capt. Silas Holmes, of New York, endowed this in- terest with six hundred dollars per annum as a " suis- tentation fund." trions preachers of a true gospel from this and every other country where the English language is spoken appear successively in its pulpit. The custom is for six preachers during each term to be invited by the faculty from the neighboring cities or any other part of the United States to conduet the morning service at this chapel and the evening service at the First Presbyterian Church. These are usually pastors of eminent success in their places, brought at the ex- pense of the seminary to give object lessons in the sacred art of preaching and instruct the students in the secret of their method and power. Ordinarily the worship of the chapel is conducted by the profes- sors in rotation ; and in the evening of every Tues- day it is occupied during the term by the senior class preaching in rotation full sermons withont manu- scripts before at least one of the professors and as many of the people as choose to attend.
The Refectory is a stone building, situated on the campus, midway between the two large dormitory buildings, and of one story, with spacious attic and cellar. Architects of high standing have admired the structure as a gem of the kind, and commended it as a model for any institution that has ample | into the Presbyterian Church. They brought the ground enongh to spare for its low and extended line library of their seminary with them, and gave it to Princeton by a major vote of their Synod. But a residuary portion of the body left, opened a sem- inary at Newburgh, N. Y., and on technical grounds demauded a return of the Masou books. After a long and expensive litigation the chancellor of New Jersey decided that the claim was legal, and in the year 1837 trustees of Princeton Seminary surrendered these books, two thousand five hundred volumes, and two thousand dollars in money. of walls. Its ntility as an appendage to a school of higher learning has been questioned ; but no one has doubted the admirable adaptation of this building to the purposes of a boarding-honse. The practical management of such a concern is indeed full of em- barrassment. The problem is yet to be solved how far "board in commons" can be made consistent with the highest culture of Christian gentlemen and the best welfare of the rising ministers and missionaries of the Christian Church. But a situation like that Like many another stroke of adversity, this priva- -- tion excited the Presbyterian Church to new interest and redoubled energy on behalf of Princeton. Small donations came quickly and thickly, better selections than ever before, to fill the shelves of empty space in of this Theological Seminary, half-way between such cities as New York and Philadelphia, has made this part of the institution an apparent necessity. It is a: balance-wheel in regulating the cost of board all over town. Private boarding-houses are cheeked in a ten- . the " library-room," nntil there was not room enough dency to advance the rates, and students themselves are greatly restrained from organizing and conducting clubs, and the still more pernicious habit of boarding themselves in their rooms, sacrificing mind and heart, and health and credit also, in the vain attempt to live cheaply, and that in the critical season of gaining the power of attention and thought for the whole career of life in the future.
Heuce the faculty maintain the establishment through all trials and changes, and count it an ad- vantage to persevere even when the students theni- selves choose, as they may, to forsake it for plans of their own. The commissariat of an army is less diffi- cult than that of sedentary men at their books in the , alcoves on the ground-floor and the galleries, which morning of life and in freedom to purvey for theni- selves. Sensible men of the world coincide with the
The library building or buildings must be noticed as a most important feature in the visibility of this fa- vored institution. The books were gathered at first, as all the other means of support and usefulness, in meagre and slow collections. Voluntary gifts would some- times afford volumes of rare value, and often text- books at second-hand, but generally they were such as the giver did not need or care for on his own shelves. Duplicates also counted largely in making up the numbers reported, and, altogether, the beginning was little and motley. The accession of what was called the " Mason Library" was the first thing to give it importance and public interest. Dr. John M. Mason, of the Associate Reformed Church in New York, the eloquent preacher and distinguished head of an carlier theological hall in that denomination, happened to publish his famous " Plea for Sacramental Cominn- nion on Catholic Principles" soon after this seminary came into existence. The repudiation of close com- inunion unsettled his ecclesiastical relations, and led him and his nninerons friends and most of his pupils
to receive them. Then came to the front an heir of millions, a wise and good man, and modest as he was great in education and faith and charity, James Lenox, of New York, who quietly bought three acres of land in front of the seminary grounds on Mercer Street, and proceeded to build thereon what is now called Lenox Hall. This building was put up in the highest perfection of architecture half a century since, and stands a beautifni specimen of the Saracenic Gothic style. Its exterior is of stone, variegated in tint, and built up gracefully with buttressed walls, surmounted at the eaves with pinnaeles of peculiar beauty and fine effect. The interior was finished with could not be surpassed in elegance and convenience, while space was left open for additional shelving to
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