USA > New York > Wayne County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 11
USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 11
USA > New York > Seneca County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 11
USA > New York > Ontario County > History of Central New York : embracing Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario, Tompkins, Cortland, Schuyler, Yates, Chemung, Steuben, and Tioga Counties, Volume I > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
Established on New York State's share of the Federal land grant of 1862, the university owes its foundation in a larger sense to Ezra Cornell, who devoted a large part of his own for- tune to it and whose management of the university's lands rea- lized a net return of $4,000,000 in endowment. The present endowment is about $20,000,000. The university's annual in- come, including State and Federal appropriations, is about $7,- 000,000. Its total equipment is valued at $14,000,000. The library comprises 750,000 volumes.
Associated with Ezra Cornell in the foundation was a fellow State Senator, Andrew D. White, who drew up the plan of organ- ization and became the university's first president. He retired in 1885 and devoted the rest of a long life to scholarship and to public service, holding several important diplomatic posts. His successor was the late Charles Kendall Adams. From 1892 till 1920 the president was Jacob Gould Schurman, later the Amer- ican ambassador at Berlin. Dr. Livingston Farrand has been president since 1921.
In recent years the university has received large gifts from George F. Baker for a chemistry laboratory and for dormitories, from Myron C. Taylor for new buildings for the law school, and from the late Payne Whitney for the medical college's buildings and equipment in the new medical center. Alumni and others have contributed funds for a beautiful building in memory of the 250 Cornell men who lost their lives in the war. Four large residence halls for women are nearing completion, the gift of two anonymous donors.
STATE COLLEGES AT CORNELL.
Until 1893 the State, while allotting to Cornell University the funds received under the federal acts in support of agricul-
139
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
ture, did not itself contribute to the university. There was never- theless a College of Agriculture in the university and with the aid of federal funds an Agricultural Experiment Station was established in 1879. In 1893 the state made its first contribution in the form of a dairy building. In 1894 the state undertook the support of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and in 1904 and 1906 the College of Agri- culture was similarly adopted. Work in Home Economics was introduced in 1907 and it has had a large development leading, in 1925, to a separate organization known as the New York State College of Home Economics.
There are thus three state colleges in the university, sup- ported very largely by state funds. The Colleges of Agriculture and Home Economics receive also federal funds, mainly for ex- tension and research, and the university also contributes a con- siderable amount in administration furnished free and in in- struction furnished at less than cost.
The three state colleges are noteworthy in the development of research. It is estimated that from a quarter to a third of the resources of these institutions is devoted to research, and all branches of the agricultural industry, as well as the activities of rural homes, have been affected thereby.
The state colleges conduct also an extension service, cooperat- ing with organized local units of men and women and of boys and girls in all the communities of the state. The teachings of the colleges are further made available by a series of bulletins and by a daily radio program. In February there is held a Farm and Home Week bringing to the campus upwards of five thou- sand farm people. In addition there are conducted during the year short schools varying from a few days to three weeks in duration, conducted for special groups desiring to be brought up to date in their various fields.
STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE.
To protect the human race from animal diseases and to save animals for human food, the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University was founded in 1894, providing a higher
-
140
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
veterinary education. In that year Governor Roswell P. Flower recommended to the Legislature the establishment of such school, utilizing the facilities of Cornell. In 1895 the Legislature ap- propriated $100,000 to complete construction authorized the preceding year and the college opened September 21, 1896, with an entrance requirement of four years high school, or its academic equivalent, and a three-year course of study. It had a faculty of eight and an entering class of eleven.
In 1928 the Veterinary Experiment Station was established on land purchased by the university, so that animals might be kept for study and experiment. In 1908 the Ambulatory Clinic was provided and the following year the department of Materia Medica and small animal clinics was added. From an entering class of eight, the number has grown to between thirty and forty. From a faculty of four professors, two assistant professors, one instructor and one assistant, the teaching force has grown to eight professors, ten assistant professors, five instructors, two regular assistants and five student assistants.
Total appropriations for construction and equipment of the first buildings were $150,000. Since that time appropriations aggregating $366,000 have been made for construction and equipment, the grand total reaching $516,000. The first appro- priation for maintenance was $25,000 in 1896-97. That in 1929 was $178,955.
Students have come from nearly thirty states and eight for- eign countries and up to 1929 the college had graduated 676. Beginning in 1916 the course of study has covered four years, so that the college is recognized as one offering the finest advanced course in the world. Its research work has been as notable as its training.
Dr. V. A. Moore served as dean from the college opening until 1929 when he retired and became emeritus professor. Dr. P. A. Fish was chosen as his successor and served until his death, Feb- ruary 19, 1931, when he was succeeded by Dr. Earl Sunderville.
GENEVA EXPERIMENT STATION.
The New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, Ontario County, was the fourth station to be established in the
141
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
United States through legislative action, and the sixth to organ- ize and begin research work. It opened its doors March 1, 1882. The five men who began work then did not know what they were expected to do. The act establishing the station became a law June 20, 1880, organizations most active in securing it being the State Agricultural Society, the State Grange, Central New York Farmers' Club, Western New York Horticultural Society, Elmira Farmers' Club and Cornell University.
Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, first director, took possession of the station property and began his duties as head of an institution founded primarily for investigation. In 1887, in accordance with an act of Congress approved March 2, 1887, the Hatch Act be- came a law. Under its provisions the Experiment Station in each state received $15,000 annually for research. Eventually this sum was divided between Cornell and Geneva, whereby Cor- nell received $13,500 and the Geneva station $1,500. The Adams Act, approved by Congress March 16, 1906, provided the additional sum of $15,000 annually. Of this, $13,500 goes to Cornell and $1,500 to Geneva. The Federal Congress approved the Purnell Act, February 4, 1925, which provided an additional $60,000 a year, of which $54,000 goes to Cornell and $6,000 to the Geneva station. Total federal funds available for the station are $9,000 yearly. State funds in 1932 total $428,480 for main- tenance. In 1923 the station became a part of Cornell University.
The original farm purchased in 1882 contained 130 acres, to which was added in 1911, a second farm of eighty-seven acres and in 1916 a city block of one acre, a total of 218 acres. Be- sides this home tract, the station rents 138 acres. There are twenty-seven buildings on the home tract, of which four are laboratory and administration structures, eleven are farm build- ings and ten are residences. These have been erected at a cost of $532,390.
The institution has maintained for a quarter of a century one of the largest, if not the largest collections of hardy tree, bush, vine and small fruits in the world. There are usually about 5,000 named varieties of fruits in the station's fruit plan- tation, with perhaps an average of 10,000 seedlings in close-set rows, each seedling a prospective new variety.
-
142
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
The station has published in the fifty years of its existence 135 bulletins on chemistry, bacteriology and manufacturing of dairy products; 401 bulletins having to do with growing of fruit and vegetable crops, including knowledge of the control of insect pests and fungus diseases; it has published 120 bulletins on the inspection of feeds, fertilizers and seeds, and thirty-eight bul- letins on general bacteriology, a total of 694 bulletins.
It has published ten monographs on fruits and vegetables. The first syndicated news story was sent from the station Jan- uary 28, 1922. Since then, one or more stories have gone out every week. The total number of these short articles sent out to December 31, 1931, was 2,253. In addition numerous articles were prepared for farm bureau publication, for radio broadcast and as special features. The syndicated news is being sent to 131 daily papers, 275 weeklies and 101 farm journals and trade papers. Based on returns from clipping bureaus, a conservative estimate of the total circulation of papers using station news items in 1931 will exceed fifty million a year.
Directors of the station in its half century of service have been: E. Lewis Sturtevant, 1882-'87; Peter Collier, 1887-'95; Lucius L. VanSlyke, 1895-'96; Whitman H. Jordan, 1896-1921; Roscoe W. Thatcher, 1921-'27; Frank B. Morrison, 1927-'28; Ulysses P. Hedrick, 1928.
AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
Auburn Theological Seminary was established in 1818 when the City of Auburn, though having few more than 1,000 inhab- itants, was the metropolis of Western New York. At that time locomotion was dependent upon horse power, candles furnished light, Monroe was president and Abraham Lincoln was studying law before log fires.
The Synod of Geneva on August 6, 1818, resolved "that the theological seminary be and hereby is located at or near the Village of Auburn," and appointed trustees to hold the property and others to collect funds for the institution. The seminary was incorporated by the State Legislature, April 14, 1820, and opened for students October 15, 1821. Convicts in Auburn prison
143
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
aided in breaking ground and other work of this character at the start.
The seminary's Summer School of Theology opened in 1911 and the Summer School of Religious Education began in 1913. The full term of School of Religious Education, in connection with the seminary, was authorized in 1921.
Eleven men were sent out from the Seminary in 1824 and ever since that time Auburn graduates have taken their places as ministers, missionaries, teachers, religious educators, serving ever new and changing communities in all parts of the world. This long line of successful graduates has indelibly inscribed the name of Auburn Seminary on the hearts and minds of Christian people everywhere.
Comprising some seventeen acres in all, and covering four city blocks, the campus is one of the distinguishing characteris- tics of the Seminary. Artistically laid out and well cared for, it is always a source of inspiration and admiration.
While Auburn is rated as a Presbyterian Seminary, its en- rollment is interdenominational, seven different denominations being represented in the Seminary and nine in the School of Religious Education.
The original building was erected in 1821-22 and taken down in 1892. The Dodge-Morgan Library building was erected in 1872, the dormitory, Morgan Hall, in 1875; the Welch Memorial building and the Willard Memorial Chapel in 1892-94; Hubbard Hall and Condit Hall of the School of Religious Education were added in 1921 and 1922 respectively, and the three residences now on the campus, the Huntington house in 1862, the Richards house in 1876 and the President's house in 1908.
The original endowment, given by the citizens of Auburn and vicinity, consisted of ten acres of land for the campus and $35,000. Its present endowment is approximately $1,200,000.
HOBART COLLEGE.
Hobart College, which for the first thirty years of its history bore the name Geneva College, was founded in 1822, largely through the efforts of Bishop John Henry Hobart. It was the
144
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
successor to Geneva Academy, a school that had begun serving the thinly settled territory of Western New York a quarter of a century before, and its founders were actuated by a strong desire to extend larger educational opportunities to the people of that region. Their plans, perhaps because of this, were exceptionally broad and farsighted for the times.
There was ample precedent for the inclusion of restrictive clauses in the charter. One restriction only was written into it by its predominantly Episcopalian framers, and that was a guarantee of complete religious liberty to all members of the college, regardless of denomination. Liberality was carried still further when, at the first meeting of the corporation, the trus- tees instituted a democratic type of education new to America. This was described as an "English Course," totally distinct from the usual Classical Course. It was intended to train "farmers, mechanics, manufacturers and merchants" "in direct reference to the practical business of life." This course, the forerunner of the modern Scientific Course in American colleges, has been maintained at Hobart to the present day.
As might be expected, the sparsely populated frontier coun- try in which the new college had been established was barely able to provide sufficient funds for the maintenance of the institution. Had it not been for the tenacity and devotion of the original Trustees, it is certain that the college would have foundered. They succeeded, however, in overturning all obstacles, and when the last surviving member of the first board died in 1882, after sixty years of continuous service, Hobart College enjoyed a se- cure, though not affluent position. Credit for progress in this early period is due also to Presidents Hale and Jackson (1836- 1867), under whose leadership the college built up an efficient plant and withstood the shock of the Civil war.
The later history of Hobart has been marked by two periods of growth. The first of these extended from 1897 to 1912, dur- ing the successive administrations of Presidents Jones and Stew- ardson. Both of these men were keen students of educational problems and both were determined builders. Not contented with raising the standards of the college to remarkably high
-
---
WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGE AND CAMPUS, GENEVA, N. Y.
QUADRANGLE HOBART COLLEGE, GENEVA, N. Y.
145
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
levels, they added greatly to its equipment. Under President Stewardson, William Smith College was opened by the Hobart Corporation in 1908 as a coordinate division for the separate edu- cation of women. Following the World war, through which Ho- bart was providentially guided by Dean William P. Durfee, as acting president, Dr. Murray Bartlett, formerly president of the University of the Philippines, became chief executive of the col- lege in 1919. He serves today. In the same year the late Bishop Charles H. Brent was elected Chancellor of the institution. Under the unusually able direction of these two men Hobart has achieved a growth in size, facilities and reputation that has placed it among the leading small colleges in the country.
Just before his death Bishop Brent urged the trustees of the college to secure this position by raising a fund of $2,000,000 for needed buildings and instructional facilities. The depresson starting in 1929 halted plans for such development.
WELLS COLLEGE.
Wells College for women is situated in the little village of Aurora, immediately on the shore of Lake Cayuga. Adjoining its campus is the Payne Creek Gully, familiarly known as Moon- shine, and just beyond the strange geological formation known to scientists as Pumpkin Hill.
The founder, Henry Wells, was also the founder of the ro- mantic Wells Fargo Express in the East. One of the college treasures is a genuine old Wells Fargo coach. Mr. Wells' home Glen Park, is now one of the academic buildings of Wells College.
Other gentlemen associated with the College in its early days were Col. Edwin Barbour Morgan, the first president of the New York Times Association and Lewis Henry Morgan, the anthro- pologist, whose grand nephew, William Fellowes Morgan, is at present the chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The founders' original gift of one building and eleven acres has now expanded to 350 acres and twelve academic buildings, besides residences for its staff, dairy farm, etc. The endowment fund amounts to $1,500,000. The several departments are well equipped, especially Art, Music, the Natural Sciences and Health
146
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
Education. In addition to the usual outdoor athletic fields, the college has its own nine-hole golf course.
Wells College from its inception has been both home and school. For this reason it has remained small, (240 students, thirty-seven on the faculty), as no more students are accepted than can be received into the college home. Less than one half of these are from the Empire State, the others come from all parts of the United States and a few foreign countries. The president is Dr. Kerr D. Macmillan and the Dean, Mrs. Charles Kirkland Roys.
Twenty-five acres of land and two buildings, one of which is a Dutch colonial house built in 1836, are included in the Wall- court School estate presented on April 11, 1928, to Wells College by Myron C. Taylor in memory of his wife, Anna Goldsmith Tay- lor. Mrs. Taylor was a graduate of Wells College, 1854, and was the owner and head of the Wallcourt School from 1901 to 1921.
The original Wells College building was commenced in 1866 and finished two years later. The latest structure is the hand- some new half million dollar administration building, the cor- nerstone for which was laid during the first half of 1932. When the depression of 1929 struck the country, Wells was planning to double in size, under a huge financial campaign, and following the English college plan. Such expansion, as a result of the economic stress, is held in abeyance for the time being.
ELMIRA COLLEGE.
In historical interest Elmira College holds a unique place, for it was the first college in the United States and probably the world, to grant degrees to women for the same standard of work as that offered in the best colleges for men.
Elmira's first curriculum was modeled upon that of Yale University. Its charter stated that "no degree of literary honor shall be conferred without the completion of a course equivalent to the full ordinary course of college study as pursued in the col- leges of this state."
1
147
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
The records show that the movement for the founding of Elmira College was initiated at Albany in 1851. The necessary funds to launch the undertaking, $40,000, were advanced by Simeon Benjamin, a business man of Elmira. Later he contrib- uted $25,000.
With the name of Simeon Benjamin, first benefactor, is as- sociated the name of Elmira's first president, Rev. Augustus W. Cowles, D. D., LL. D., president, and president emeritus from 1856 until his death in 1913, a length of service unprecedented in college history. During his administration the traditions of the college were formed and its field of effort was defined.
The institution opened with a staff of fourteen and an en- rollment of 242. Of these students thirty-nine were in the col- legiate course, 205 in the academic courses which it was necessary to provide in order to prepare students for the college work.
The difficulties and prejudices encountered at first are in our day difficult to realize. A letter in 1861 to Dr. Cowles, first president of Elmira, by the newly appointed president of Vassar contains a list of twenty-one questions regarding duties and re- sponsibilities of the faculty and courses of study about which he wished advice, saying, "I desire to avail myself of the expe- rience of our most eminent practical educator."
The first class was graduated from Elmira in 1859. Seven- teen completed the full four years' course and were granted A. B. degrees. Elmira has now over 2,000 graduates who have been successful in various fields of service. They are eligible to mem- bership in the American Association of University women. Their Alma Mater is on the list of colleges recommended to foreign universities.
While non-sectarian it is a Christian college where the religious note is emphasized. Above all, Elmira College is trying to train her daughters to make better wives and mothers. There is student self-government, which is functioning well. The spirit prevailing is democratic. While keeping up with the best in mod- ern methods of education, Elmira retains her early ideals. Con- servative standards of conduct prevail. Students from another
===
148
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
college or university applying for entrance must furnish a cer- tificate of honorable dismissal and credentials of scholarship.
At the center of a population of about 2,000,000 people, El- mira has been a persistent summons to a life of higher useful- ness through training to hundreds of young women who would have been unable to afford a higher education at distant and more costly institutions than this one.
Since 1918 the number of faculty members has increased from thirty-one to fifty-seven; the student body from 300 to 600; the number of buildings from ten to twenty; the endowment from about $240,000 to over $1,000,000 and the property value has increased from half a million to nearly $2,000,000.
KEUKA COLLEGE.
The story of Keuka College is one of interest to all who fol- low the development of institutions and movements. In 1891-92 a large brick building, now known as Ball Memorial Hall, was erected on the west shore of the east branch of Lake Keuka, four miles from Penn Yan. A portion of a farm was set aside for building lots and the place named Keuka Park. In 1892 a pro- visional charter was granted. A co-educational college and a preparatory school were established. George H. Ball, D. D., was the first president. For many years these schools rendered splen- did service with but limited means. In 1915 it was decided to suspend instruction until adequate support could be obtained. The late Z. A. Space, D. D., and Rev. Z. F. Griffin approached the Northern Baptist Convention and later members of the Board of Education of that Convention voted to recommend the re- opening of the school as a college for women.
In 1919, A. H. Norton, the vice-president of Elmira College, became the president of the new institution. The trustees voted to reopen the college in September, 1921, thus allowing the new president two years to study other colleges for women, secure a competent faculty, and organize the school.
On September 20, 1921, the college opened with a freshman class of thirty-six and a staff of eight. A high standard was set and from the very first the college attracted the attention of
149
HISTORY OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
educators. In three years the capacity of the plants was reached and it was necessary to erect a new dormitory, now known as Richardson Hall.
The same year, 1924-25, John Rogers Hegeman Hall was given for classroom and administration building. The capacity of these new buildings was soon reached, and the number of students limited. The college numbers over two hundred stu- dents and twenty-eight faculty members.
In less than ten years from the date of opening, the new col- lege was fully accredited by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, by the granting of an absolute charter. The college is fully accredited by the Association of Schools and Col- leges of the Middle States and Maryland. It is a member of the Association of American Colleges, the American Council on Edu- cation, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars, and the American Association of University Women.
The net assets of the college have increasec from less than two hundred thousand dollars in 1921 to over a million dollars in 1931. The valuation in 1932 was $1,100,000. The college farm is of fifty acres and the campus covers twenty acres.
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
The State Normal School at Cortland, New York, was estab- lished in 1866 and opened in 1869. The first class was gradu- ated in 1870. From the beginning, the school has graduated nearly 7,000 young men and women prepared for teaching. Of this number, representatives today are working in practically every state in the Union and about 1,300 are located in or very near Greater New York.
Dr. James H. Hoose was the first principal. With the ex- ception of a few months he held this position from 1869 to 1891, when he left to accept a position in the University of California where he subsequently became Dean of the School of Education.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.