History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 166

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224

USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 166
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 166

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From 1825 to 1840 two hundred and fifty-eight students were graduated, of whom seventy-one were licensed by the Reformed Church, and many of the others became eminent in other learned professions. In the class of 1836, for example, occur the names of Joseph P. Bradley, LL.D., associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; George W. Coakley, LL.D., Professor of Mathematics in the New York University ; Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, formerly United States senator; William A. New- ell, M.D., ex-member of Congress and ex-Governor of New Jersey ; and Hon. Cortlandt Parker, LL.D., one of the most eminent and successful lawyers in New Jersey.

in 1840 partially sundered. The theological professors were released from obligation to give free instruction in the college; the president of the college was no longer to be one of the theological professors; and the trustees were to have henceforth the appointment of the president and the professors, as well as the provision and disbursement of funds, and the admin- istration of affairs generally. By a legal instrument the Synod guaranteed to the trustees the free use of the library-room, the chapel, and recitation-rooms, and bound itself not to sell or lease the same without the consent of the trustees. Tuition fees for bene- ficiaries were allowed out of the income of the edu- cational funds.

Dr. Janeway had resigned in 1839, and his duties were now assigned to the president. The presidency, after the resignation of Dr. Milledoler in 1840, became filled the same year by Hon. Abraham B. Hasbrouck, who, by his lectures on constitutional law, his genial manners and generous hospitality, contributed greatly during the subsequent ten years to the prosperity of the institution. The theological professors from 1840 to 1867 continued voluntarily and gratuitously to give instruction in the departments from which they had been entirely released as a matter of obligation, and thus they aided the trustees immensely in their efforts to render the college independent, and to make its curriculum equal to that of other first-class colleges. The faculty was enlarged by the creation of a pro- fessorship of Modern Languages and of an adjunct professorship of Ancient Languages. The need of more lecture-rooms was soon felt, and through the efforts of the alumni a building was erected for the use of the literary societies and other purposes and named Van Neste Hall, in recognition of services rendered. A residence for the president was also built, and a fund secured for his support, making the entire endowment over $50,000. The graduating classes were not, however, large. They numbered on the average from 1840 to 1850 only about eighteen students. This is said to have been cansed by the misunderstandings which prevailed throughout the church on the policy of church extension and on the relation of the college to the Synod. During the con- troversy Mr. Hasbrouck resigned the presidency, and his place was immediately filled by Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen. The college now entered upon a new career of prosperity. Mr. Frelinghuysen was a man of unusual wisdom and guilelessness; his disposition was naturally gentle and always pervaded by a thor- ough Christian spirit ; his manners were conciliatory, and his intellect as discerning as his heart was up- right. His influence, therefore, over the church, as well as over individuals nearly related to the contro- versy that had for many years involved the college, was strong and of the happiest nature. The feeling of loyalty to the institution began to extend through the entire denomination. During the decade follow-

Owing to a division of sentiment in the church, the relations between the college and the Synod were | ing the second year of his administration the average

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number of the graduating class ran up to nearly twenty-three, while a larger number than ever before were, on account of increased requirements in scholar- ship, prevented from graduation. In the class of 1862 there were thirty-eight graduates. Considerable suc- cess attended an attempt to increase the endowment fund by the sale of scholarships for $500 each. In 1856 the removal of the seminary into Hertzog Hall, which had just been completed, afforded the college increased accommodations for recitation-rooms, and changes in the board of trustees led to a complete change by the introduction of younger men in the character of the faculty in 1859 and the following years. A new professorship of English Language and Literature was created in 1860. Two years later Mr. Frelinghuysen died, universally regretted, and Rev. Dr. William H. Campbell was called to supply his place.

With Dr. Campbell's accession to the presidency the college took a new departure in almost every re- spect. Although the endowment had been increased during Mr. Frelinghuysen's term so that it amounted to about $75,000, yet it did not afford sufficient means to meet the salaries of the professors and current ex- penses. The principal was being consumed. At the same time the number of students, owing to enlist- ments in the army, to the distracting excitement of the civil war, and to the extraordinary temptations to business enterprises, was diminished to nearly one- half of the usual number. In the graduating class of 1863 there were only fifteen, and in that of 1864 only eleven.

The prospect was disheartening, and yet the presi- dent addressed himself boldly to the task of begging money and of selling limited scholarships at $100 each. He presented the claims of the college in the pulpits of the denomination and to individuals until he raised for a "new endowment fund" the sum of $144,758. But it is only just to add that this great work could never have been accomplished had it not been for the sympathy of every heart and the help of every hand growing out of the influences of the pre- ceding administrations of Mr. Frelinghuysen and Mr. Hasbrouck. This amount lifted the college up to in- dependence, and opened the way for enlarging the course of study by the creation of new professorships.

establishment of several new professorships. In 1863 a new department, called the Rutgers Scientific School, was organized to meet the demands for more thorough and complete instruction in scientific and practical studies.

STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE .- The State College of New Jersey, " for the benefit of agricul- ture and the mechanic arts," was organized as a de- partment in Rutgers College in 1865, under an act of the Legislature of New Jersey passed April 4, 1864, and was made a part of the Scientific School already in existence. Its object was to carry into effect the provision of an act of Congress granting to the sev- cral States a certain quantity of the public lands to enable them to establish colleges, the leading object of which shall be " to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the Legislatures of the States may re- spectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life."

The sale of the public lands allotted to New Jersey amounted to $116,000, which sum is invested in State bonds under the care of the State treasurer ; and the income, at the rate of six per cent. interest, is paid to the trustees. Much credit is due to Dr. George H. Cook, professor in the college and also State geologist, for his energy and influence in securing the location of the State College erected at New Brunswick by these funds as a part of Rutgers College. This State College, or, as it is generally called, "The Scientific School," was opened for students in 1865. A farm of one hundred acres was immediately purchased for the illustration and development of agriculture. The school has now ten professorships, all ably manned and affording instruction in three courses of study, namely, one in civil engineering and mechanics, one in chemistry and agriculture, and one especially in chemistry. Its courses of study and discipline are under the immediate management of the faculty and trustees of Rutgers College, subject to the supervision and approval of a board of visitors appointed by the Governor, and consisting of two from each congres- sional district. It provides for the State forty free scholarships, which are distributed among the counties according to their population.

SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT .- In 1864 the trustees From 1865 onward, therefore, the history of Rut- gers College is a history of both the old college proper, or literary institution, and of the State College, or Scientific School. The two are served by the same professors; their classes, though distinct, unite in many subjects in the same recitations, and are known by the same designations. The interests of the two departments, in short, are made to harmonize with and to aid each other. And the reciprocal benefits derived from this intercommunication and union can hardly be exaggerated. The young men in the literary department are allowed to pursue practical chemistry purchased, by payment of $12,000 to the Synod, the entire right and title of the latter in the college buildings and premises, on coudition that they should never be used for any other than collegiate purposes, and that the president and three-fourths of the trus- tees shall always be members in full communion of the Reformed Church. And in 1865 the Synod still further, upon application of the trustees, formally ab- rogated the covenant relations of 1807 and 1825. Thus Rutgers College became recognized as absolutely independent and non-sectarian. The fruits of the new endowment now began to be apparent in the | by making actual analyses in the laboratory along

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with the scientific students ; and the latter, in turn, compete with the former in elocution and composition, in mental and moral philosophy, in political economy and constitutional law, and in biblical recitations. The scientific students are thus preserved from the narrowing process of a purely technical education. They do, indeed, get enough of technical training to prepare them, when a little experience has been added to their theoretical knowledge, for entrance at once upon civil engineering and analytical chemistry and into various mechanical and industrial spheres, but along with this they absorb the refining and liberal- izing influences which spring from the enlarged cul- ture alluded to above, and which it requires four years to complete. In addition to this the students of both departments join the same literary societies, and thus confer npon each other all the advantages resulting from the generous emulation and contact of minds engaged at many points on different subjects, and having different objects of ambition. The happy effects of these interacting, stimulating, and elevating associations are soon manifested in the character and aspirations of the entering pupils. The Scientific College has done already a noble and far-reaching service in thus educating thoroughly and symmetri- cally all the faculties of its students, while it has not failed to prepare them for the highest kind of work in practical science and important industries.

In 1866-72 several new professorships were founded, namely, one of analytical chemistry, one of engineer- ing and military tactics, one of mining and metal- lurgy, one of political economy and constitutional law, and an adjunct professorship of mathematics and graphics. In 1867-68, Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, now associate justice in the Supreme Court of the United States, gave a course of lectures on Political Economy and Constitutional Law; in 1868-69 he added a most instructive and satisfactory course on the English Bible.

The religious influences belonging to the college have always been marked and happy, while at the same time entirely free from the bias of sectarianism. A Bible-class including all the students is taught every Sabbath morning by the president ; and this is followed by a sermon, with the attendant services, under the conduct of one of the clerical members of the faculty or one of the professors of the theological seminary. A general prayer-meeting for all the stu- dents is held every day at 12 M., and another general meeting for fraternal conference as well as prayer is held on every Thursday evening. In addition to these are class prayer-meetings, and other exercises for practical religious work.

The celebration of the centennial of the existence of the college took place in 1870. By this celebra- tion it was designed to gain two ends : 1. To recount the goodness of God in his care for the college, and to return thanks for the same ; 2. To further in some marked way and degree the interests of the college.

It was proposed to accomplish the second of these objects by soliciting subscriptions and by the sale of scholarships at one thousand dollars each, with the proceeds of which needed buildings might be erected and new professorships founded. Dr. Campbell again undertook the work of raising funds. Several of the trustees nobly responded to his appeal by giving five thousand dollars each ; and the alumni and friends, with unwonted enthusiasm and unanimity, came for- ward with such gifts as each could afford in aid of the cause. The president canvassed the churches, and sought help from all who would be likely to be inter- ested in the welfare of the college. Under his guid- anee committees were selected from the former classes to gather class offerings, and June 21, 1870, was ap- pointed to hear the reports from these committees as well as to renew old associations and old love for Alma Mater. This meeting was opened with an his- torical discourse by Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, and the reports, interspersed with college songs, followed. Seldom, if ever, has there been held by the alumni and friends of any institution in the land a meeting so happy in feeling and so productive of immediate and substantial results as this immense centennial gathering, which marks one of the most memorable days in Rutgers' calendar. The aggregate of the sums reported was large and encouraging. And so the president continued his labors until one hundred and forty thousand dollars were subscribed, of which one hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred and forty-five dollars have actually been paid.

A short time after this Mrs. S. A. Kirkpatrick died, leaving to the college a bequest which amounted to seventy-five thousand dollars. Another bequest from Mr. Abraham Voorhees, of Six-Mile Run, N. J., con- sisting of twenty-five thousand dollars for a professor- ship, and of twenty-six thousand four hundred dollars for a permanent fund to be employed in maintaining and educating pious young men for the ministry, had been received in 1867. And in 1872, Mr. James Suy- dam, a trustee and a great benefactor to New Bruns- wick institutions, died, leaving by will twenty thou- sand dollars to the college. With these increased resources the college was enabled to advance to the very first rank among American institutions by provid- ing thorough instruction and in a much greater num- ber of subjects than were ever before embraced in its curriculum, by increasing the requirements of appli- cants for admission, and by erecting buildings for more ample and needed accommodations. Besides, extensive repairs were made throughout the main building, and its two ends, which had been used up to 1865 and 1867 as residences by two theological professors, were converted into recitation-rooms, and an astronomical observatory, a geological hall, the Kirkpatrick chapel and library, and a grammar school building were all erected in rapid succession.

There has always been in connection with the col- lege a grammar school, which during the darkest

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days of the college never closed its doors, but went ou successfully in accomplishing good work. It now sends thirty boys annually into the freshman class of the college.

The campus, containing six and one-third acres, is quadrilateral in form, with five hundred and sixty- five feet fronting on Somerset Street, and six hundred and sixty-five feet on Hamilton Street on the opposite side, while the east end extends four hundred and seventy-seven feet along George Street, and the west end runs four hundred and sixty-seven and one-half feet along College Avenue. It slopes beautifully from all sides upward towards the centre, and from the corners on Somerset Street, where stand massive stone and iron gateways, a carriage-drive, curved nearly in the shape of a semi-ellipse, runs in front of the main building, while a branch drive circles in front of the president's house. Many and noble elms, besides other deciduous trees and evergreens, cover the ground, affording delightful shade for the under- graduates in summer, and equally attractive retreats for the meeting of friends and alumni at commence- ment.

In about the centre of this unusually charming campus stands the oldest and main college building. Its corner-stone was laid on April 27, 1809, by Rev. Dr. Ira Condict. It was not entirely finished till after 1825. This is a substantial and finely propor- tioned edifice of brownstone, one hundred and seven- teen feet long by fifty-five feet deep, having a grace- fully pitched roof, from the central portion of which rises a handsome belfry. It is three stories high, exclusive of the attic, and contains nine recitation- rooms, a draughting-room fifty-five by thirty feet, a residence for the janitor, and other accommodations for apparatus and collegiate work. It cost over thirty thousand dollars, and, having been recently repaired at an expense of six thousand dollars, it is now in first-rate condition.

Van Neste Hall was built in 1845 by the alumni, and named after Abraham Van Neste, Esq., a liberal trustee, in recognition of his services to the college. It is of brick, painted, and is fifty-two feet front by sixty-two feet deep, with a low hip-roof. It contains, besides a basement in the rear, two large halls for the Peithessophian and Philoclean Literary Societies, and two small rooms used for storing duplicate mineralo- gical specimens. On the second floor are a laboratory, a chemical lecture-room, and a hall recently used as a museum of natural history. The actual cost is un- known ; the estimated cost, ten thousand dollars.

The president's house was erected in 1841-42. It is built of brick, painted, and is fifty-two feet front by forty-two feet deep. It is admirably adapted for a president's mansion. The cost is estimated at $8000. In 1875 it was thoroughly repaired.

The Daniel S. Schanck astronomical observatory was erected in 1865, at a cost of $6166, contributed by the benevolent gentleman whose name it bears. In

its architecture it is a copy of the Temple of the Winds at Athens, consisting of two octagonal towers connected together by a short passageway. The ex- treme length of the building, including the porch, is thirty-seven and one-half feet, and its width twenty feet. Its material is brick, painted. The main por- tion is of two stories, capped by a revolving roof, and contains a brick pier built free from the floors, to support the equatorial telescope. The other part is square, one story in height, and provided with doors in the walls and roof opening along the meridian. It contains three brick piers, free from the floor, for mounting the meridian circle and sidereal clock. The building was opened for use in 1866.

Meteorological observations have been made here, but never published. Since Jan. I, 1876, observations of temperature, rainfall, wind, etc., have been made at the college farm, and it is proposed to continue the series.

The Geological Hall was dedicated to science at the commencement of 1873. It is a large brownstone structure, having a hip-roof, with dormer-windows from each quarter. It is, exclusive of porch and steps, forty-five feet front by one hundred and five feet deep. In the basement is an armory ninety by forty feet ; also an assaying-room, a workshop, and other smaller rooms for furnaces, etc. On the first floor are a reception-room or office, a commodious chemical lecture-room, a recitation-room, two store- rooms for chemicals, a balance-room for the safe keeping of nicely-adjusted balances, a professor's laboratory, and a large analytical laboratory for stu- dents. On the second floor is a splendid hall ninety by forty feet, with lofty ceiling and gallery extending entirely around it. This is the museum. The cost of the hall was $50,000.

The Kirkpatrick Chapel and Library is built of brownstone, and is in the French Gothic style of the fourteenth century. It has a front of fifty-two feet, and a depth of one hundred and twenty-eight feet. The entrance to the chapel is through a porch of five heavy archways. The auditorium is exceedingly beautiful, having a roof of open timber, finished in black walnut and stained pine, resting for its centre support on slender iron columns painted to corre- spond with the delicately-tinted walls. The windows are of stained glass. The walls are lined with por- traits of former presidents, professors, and trustees. At one end is a gallery containing an organ pur- chased in 1866 by the students; at the other is the pulpit.

Back of the chapel there is a large room designed for the president's classes, and adjoining is an assem- bly-room for the trustees. Above these rooms is the library. This is finished with open timber roof in the native wood, and is adorned with massive oak cases, which form alcoves.

The whole building is as tasteful as it is useful. It | cost $52,376, and was erected with part of the money

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bequeathed to the college by the late Mrs. S. A. Kirkpatrick.

The library numbers 8000 volumes. The two liter- ary societies have libraries of about 4000 volumes, while the Sage Seminary Library, now of about 35,000 volumes, is open to the students.

The grammar school was entirely reconstructed, at a cost of $15,000, in 1869. It is now fitted with the best kind of furniture, and has ample accommodation for two hundred pupils. A new building, needed for agricultural purposes, was erected in 1876 on the college farm, at a cost of $2000.

The principal room in Geological Hall is the one devoted to the collections in natural history. It is a room forty-five by ninety feet, and twenty-two feet high, with a gallery all around. In this the cabinets in geology, mineralogy, and natural history generally are arranged. The spacious hall is large enough to accommodate the growing cabinets for many years to come. Its stores are already respectable, and in some departments the specimens are among the best.

The Beck cabinet of minerals, which was collected by the late Professor Lewis C. Beck, and was pur- chased by friends of the college, is kept here. It contains 274 species of minerals, and more than 2800 specimens altogether.

The Laing cabinet of minerals, shells, coins, and medals, which was collected by the late James B. Laing, Esq., of Kinderhook, and bequeathed to the college by his will, is also among the treasures of the museum. It cost a very large sum of money, and has added very many beautiful and rare specimens to the various collections.

A duplicate set of the rocks, ores, minerals, fossils, soils, fertilizers, and other useful natural products, ! from the geological survey of New Jersey, is also in the museum. It contains characteristic rocks from all the geological formations in the State, ores from more than one hundred rich iron-mines, from the great zinc-mines, and from many of the promising but uncertain copper-mines, marls from all the best pits in the State, fire and potter's clay in great va- riety, soils of all characters, and fossils representative of all the different ages. This collection numbers more than 900 good specimens.

The bones of a mastodon found in Salem County were purchased by the trustees of the college and are in the museum.

The skeleton of a whale, forty-two feet long, which was taken in Raritan Bay, near New Brunswick, has been given to the college by a liberal friend, and as soon as its bones are bleached enough for mounting it will be set up. A choice collection of coal fossils, including stems, bark, leaves, fruit, roots, and one large stump of a tree, is in the museum as a gift from the late Rev. Dr. Polhemus and others. The collec- tion of marl fossils is particularly good. Friends in the college and in Monmouth County have contrib-

uted liberally to this collection, and there are many who never allow any opportunity for getting speci- mens for the college to pass unimproved. The collec- tion of shells, corals, fish-teeth, turtle-bones, and bones of saurians is large, and constantly increasing by donations. An interesting and fine collection of the rocks of Europe, with many ores and products of metallurgy, numbering in all more than 200 speci- mens, has been purchased by a friend and presented to the college. A large number of shells from China and other Eastern countries were also presented by the late Rev. Dr. E. Doty.

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History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 166

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts Number of Pages: 1224

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224