Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 31

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

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levy of one mill for this purpose.

No action had been taken to purchase the sites previously recommended, and the pre- ceding resolution was repealed by the new ordinance. Finally, on January 4th, a resolu- tion was passed to issue bonds to the extent

of $5.000 for the purchase of the Sampsell site from Mrs. Georgia Brown Allen; the remaining $1,000 (the site costing $6,000) was to be paid out of the levy already made for a site. Thus the matter was finally settled after a great deal of annoyance caused by the opposition of some members of the Council to a site in the northern part of the city.

This site has an interesting history; to- gether with the ground now occupied by the Court House and jail, it was originally plat- ted for a cemetery-the first in Delaware Township-by Byxbe and Baldwin. At that time, this was located outside the limits of the village, which extended only as far as the south side of North Street-now Central Avenue. The first persons who died in the village of Delaware, as well as some who died north and east of here, were buried in this ground.

Mayor Clippinger appointed a committee to take charge of the erection of a library building. Before much, if any. definite work was accomplished by this committee, several changes occurred in its personnel, which fi- nally included the following gentlemen: V. D. Stayman, D. H. Battenfield, T. J. Griffin, Henry E. Main, Judge B. F. Freshwater and Capt. C. W. Wiles. Architects E. W. Hart and John M. Marriott were associated in the preparation of plans, the latter gentleman la- ter becoming architect and superintendent in charge of construction. The building was begun in the fall of 1904, and was opened to the public on September 1, 1906. The cost of the building, $21.500, was paid by Mr. Car- negie ; $1.500 was spent in furnishing it. Tlie present Board of Trustees is as follows: V. D. Stayman, president ; D. H. Battenfield. vice president ; Captain C. W. Wiles: Henry E. Main; T. J. Griffin ; Judge B. F. Fresh- water.

The number of books in the library is 4,- 666, and thirty-two magazines and five daily papers are received. The last annual report shows 12,850 readers and a circulation of 22,067 books.

THE DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY was incor-

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porated February 8, 1906. The following gentlemen were charter members : J. L. Smith, president; D. L. Ziegler, vice-presi- dent ; Frank L. Grove, secretary : H. E. Buck, soliciting agent : John B. Taggart, curator. In addition to the foregoing, the following indi- viduals are now members : Howard O. Core. who is the present curator: Dr. William E. Knight, Arthur Sheradin and Hon. E. M. Wickham. D. W. C. Lugenbeel, the veteran journalist, whose historical sketches over the signature "Looking Backwards" have inter- ested so many readers of the Delaware papers, was recently elected to honorary membership. At present the society is without a place in

which to make a public display of the collec- tions owned by its members, but it is hoped to secure suitable accommodations in the near future. The limits of our space will not per- mit of a list of the thousands of relics of a by- gone age which have been collected. There are upwards of ten thousand Indian relics, hundreds of pieces of old china, many spin- ning wheels, reels, swifts, old blue coverlets, school books, American cut glass, fireplace cooking utensils, reflectors for baking in the fireplace, old wooden cradles, hand-spun woolen carpets, wooden-wheel clocks and other furniture.

CHAPTER XII.

EDUCATION (II).

OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

[This chapter is based largely on a history of the Uni- versity prepared by Prof. Wm. G. Williams for the vol- ume entitled "Fifty Years of History of the Ohio Wesleyan University," permission for the use of which was kindly granted by the University.]

The city of Delaware is largely indebted for its present size and importance to the lo- cation here of an educational institution of highest standing, of which it may well be proud. It was largely because of Ohio Wes- levan University that the first railroad was brought into the city of Delaware, and today the university brings a volume of business amounting to at least $400,000 per annum into the city. It can be truthfully said, there- fore, that the education of young men and young women at Ohio Wesleyan University is the leading industry of Delaware. The University was founded in 1844 and owes its location, if not its establishment at that par- ticular date, to the famous White Sulphur Spring in Delaware. This spring had early attracted the attention of tourists and seekers after health. In order to accommodate these, and to encourage further patronage, two en- terprising citizens, Thomas W. Powell, Esq., and Columbus W. Kent. erected, in the year 1833. on a spacious lot. embracing the spring. a fine hotel, which soon became known to the citizens as the Mansion House. The waters were salubrious and the locality healthful ; and for some years the Mansion House was kept in successful operation. But the town of Delaware was not very widely known, and was not easily accessible, and it was perhaps, too early in the history of the State to hope for large returns from a business enterprise of

Judge Powell, who had become the sole pro- prietor, concluded to abandon the attempt to establish a Western watering place.

About this time the Methodist College at Augusta, in Kentucky, to which the Ohio Conference was contributory, had been sus- pended. Augusta was on the wrong side of the river to suit the growing anti-slavery sen- timent of the Methodists in Ohio; and it was already manifest that the school could never secure their patronage or contributions. Prac- tically this largest Protestant denomination in the State was without a home institution for the education of her sons. The thoughtful men of the church were naturally solicitous in regard to the educational future of Ohio Methodism, but as yet no forward steps had been taken toward providing for these wants.

At this juncture it was suggested by the Rev. Adam Poe, the Methodist pastor in Delaware, that the citizens of the place should purchase the Spring property, and offer it to the Ohio and North Ohio Conferences of the Methodist Church, jointly, as a site for a col- lege. This suggestion met with cordial ap- proval.

The property thus proposed for a college site comprised about ten acres of ground. ly- ing in the suburbs of Delaware, towards the southeast quarter of the town, and separated from the rest of the town by the insignificant "Delaware Run." Of this ground a part, on which the Mansion House stood, was held in fee simple : and the remainder, including the spring, by a perpetual lease without rent. from the corporation of Delaware. The in- vestment in the grounds and buildings was about $25,000; but the owner offered to con-

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vey his interests in the entire property for $10,000. This sum, it was thought, could be raised by a subscription among the citizens of the town and county, and, accordingly, a delegation was appointed to wait on the con- ferences, and ascertain whether they would accept the property if conveyed to them as proposed.

The North Ohio Conference met August 11, 1841, at Wooster. To this body the dele- gation first applied. The conference consid- ered the matter favorably and appointed a committee of five to confer with a like com- mitee to be appointed by the Ohio Conference. August 25th the delegation appeared before the Ohio Conference, at Urbana. On the following day Dr. Charles Elliott and Wil- liam P. Strickland were deputed by the con- ference to visit Delaware and examine the premises. They carried back a favorable re- port and many long remembered the Irish en- thusiasm with which Dr. Elliott advocated the establishment of a Methodist college and the acceptance of this property. The confer- ence was ready for the measure, and voted that it was expedient to establish a Methodist college in Ohio; that the two conferences (embracing about two-thirds of the State) should unite in the enterprise, and that, if the Sulphur Spring property was conveyed to the church, on the terms proposed, Delaware should be selected as the seat of the college. A committee of five was appointed to act with the committee from the Northern Confer- ence.

The joint committee thus constituted met at Delaware, September 1, 1841. The com- mittee consisted of Revs. John H. Power, Adamı Poe, Edward Thompson, James Brew- ster and William S. Morrow, from the North Ohio Conference, and Revs. Jacob Young, James B. Finley. Charles Elliott, Edmund W. Sehon and Joseph M. Trimble, from the Ohio Conference. Of these distinguished men, to whom was committed this weighty responsi- bility, Dr. Joseph M. Trimble was, for many years, the last survivor, and died May 6, 1891. The committee voted to accept the property if the citizens should perfect their offer, and if

the title should be made satisfactory to the Conferences.

The way being thus prepared, a subscrip- tion was opened by the citizens and was signed by one hundred and seventy-two persons. No subscription exceeded $500 and the aggre- gate amounted to but $9.000. That the movement might not fail, certain parties, trusting to future local subscriptions, obli- gated themselves for the deficit. But no fur- ther subscriptions were obtained, and some years afterwards, $500 were raised by volun- tary contributions among the ministers in the North Ohio Conference, to relieve the Rev. Adam Poe from the payment of a note given on this account. Such was the difficulty. at that time, of raising even this small sum for an enterprise which, as the citizens said in the preamble to their subscription, "would greatly add to the value of property in the town and county, and be of great public utility and benefit."

But the town was small; at the United States census the year before, 1840, the popu- lation was but 893 ; there was not much busi- ness and there was but little accumulated wealth in the community. The inducement they offered to secure the location of a college, destined to be the central institution of a great church, was absurdly small. But the amount raised in Delaware was the just measure of the ability of the place at that time. The University was welcomed to the town, and it has often since met with a generous response from the citizens to its appeals for aid. On the other hand, it has brought with it popula- tion, and wealth, and prosperity to the town.

The Conference Committee met Novem- ber 17, 1841, and received from Mr. Powell a bond for the conveyance of the property do- nated by the citizens. The title was finally passed in 1850, to the Board of Trustees. In addition to the ten acres thus conveyed. the committee purchased from Judge Powell an adjacent property on the south, of five acres, at a cost of $5,500, and the furniture of the Mansion House at about $2,000 more. Dr. Trimble paid Judge Powell fifty dollars as an earnest to bind the contract for the additional

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purchase, the first money given to the Uni- versity, the first money paid on its debt.

Immediate steps were now taken looking to a formal organization. A committee com- posed of Jacob Young. Joseph M. Trimble and Adam Poe was appointed to apply to the Legislature for an act of incorporation. A special charter, under the old State Constitu- tion, conferring university powers, was grant- ed by the Legislature March 7. 1842. The corporate powers were vested in a board of twenty-one persons from different parts of the State. These were William Neff. Samuel Williams, ex-Governor Allen Trimble, Lem- uel Reynolds, Thomas Orr, William Bishop. William Armstrong. Rev. James B. Finley. Rev. Jacob Young, Rev. Edmund W. Sehon, Rev. Leonidas L. Hamline, Judge Patrick G. Goode. George B. Arnold, ex-Governor Mor- dacai Bartley, Frederick C. Welch, Wilder Joy. Henry Ebbert, John H. Harris, Rev. Adam Poe, Rev. William Burke, Rev. Leon- ard B. Gurley. These men were of promi- nence in state or in church. They have long since yielded their places to others. Dr. Gur- ley, the last survivor, died in 1880, at the ripe age of seventy-six years. Of these trustees, though the charter did not so prescribe, four- teen were laymen and seven were ministers; and this ratio of ministers and laymen has al- ways been kept in filling vacancies. By the provisions of the charter, the corporators at first held their office for life. The right of perpetuation of the Board was vested in the two patronizing conferences, each appointing to all existing vacancies, alternately. These conferences were afterwards divided into four. each with the same right of appointment. The arrangement for alternate appointment con- tinued until 1869, when, by a general law of the State, under the new Constitution, the president of the University was made, ex-of- ficio, a member of the Board, and the remain- ing twenty members were divided into four classes of five each, which were assigned, severally, to the four conferences, and the ten- ure of office was reduced to five years, so that each conference should annually elect one trus- tee for the period of five years. In 1871 the

charter was further so modified as to give the Association of Alumni a representation on the Board equal to that of each Annual confer- ence ; and in 1883 the West Virginia Confer- ence was admitted as one of the patronizing bodies, with equal right of representation in the Board.

One of the conditions of the donation to the church was that the academic work of the college should be begun within five years; but the committees from the conferences did not wait even until the organization of the Board of Trustees. It was thought best to com- mence this work immediately, and a sub-com- mittee was appointed to secure teachers and open a preparatory school. This committee at once engaged Captain James D. Cobb, a graduate of West Point and an ex-army of- ficer, as instructor in the new school for 1841- 42. Captain Cobb was about fifty years of age and was assisted by his son. It was ar- ranged that he should have the free use of the Mansion . House, but look to tuition for his compensation. He had a mixed school of boys and girls. At the end of the school year Captain Cobb resigned his place and moved to the South for his health.

The Board of Trustees held their first meeting at Hamilton, where the Ohio Con- ference was in session, October 1, 1842. At this meeting the Board elected the Rev. Ed- ward Thomson, at that time the principal of Norwalk Seminary, to the presidency of the University, with the understanding that the appointment was only nominal for the pres- ent, but a pledge to the church and the public that a college faculty would be appointed and the college opened at no distant day. The Board, however, determined that a Prepara- tory School should meanwhile be maintained. and appointed the Rev. Solomon Howard as principal, with authority to employ his own assistants. He was given the use of the build- ings and furniture, and was expected to get his support from the tuition fees of the pu- pils. Prof. Howard began his school Novem- ber 1. 1842, and continued it successfully for two years. Both sexes were still admitted. and the atendance was largely local. He had

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at first but four little boys as his pupils, but the number for the year was 130. During the second year of his school he was assisted by Mr. Flavel A. Dickinson, a recent graduate of Yale, who had taught one year as principal of the Delaware Academy, and who brought his school over "en masse."

Though no large immediate income was to be expected from subscriptions or from tu- ition, yet the Board of Trustees felt great con- fidence in the final success of a school sup- ported by the large numbers and the growing wealth of the Methodist Church in Ohio. Re- lying upon these the Board. September 25, 1844, resolved to organize a faculty to open the institution with a college curriculum and college classes. Dr. Thomson, who had re- cently been elected editor of the Ladies' Re- pository, was re-appointed president, though again with the understanding that he should not immediately enter upon duty. As it was foreseen that the school would for a while be small, and the income limited, the Board established but four additional places, and made the following appointments: Rev. Her- man M. Johnson, professor of Ancient Lan- guages; Rev. Solomon Howard, professor of Mathematics ; William G. Williams, principal of the Preparatory Department; Enoch G. Dial, assistant in Preparatory Department.

The salaries paid, or rather promised, to these men were gauged by the resources which the Board hoped to have at their com- mand by the end of the year. The president's salary, when he should enter upon duty, was fixed at $800; the professors were to be paid $600 each, and the teachers in the Prepara- tory Department $400 and $350 respectively, but it was many years before even these meager salaries were paid as they became due.

Wednesday, November 13, 1844, was the day appointed and advertised for the opening of the school, but the opening was less en- couraging than had been hoped. Dr. Thom- son was present but for a day or two, and did not enter upon duty for nearly two years aft- erward, and Prof. Johnson was detained for many weeks. The other three teachers of the

five who were appointed to positions in the faculty, met in the basement of the Mansion House, the former dining room, which had been temporarily fitted up as a chapel, and proceeded to enroll the students applying for admission to the classes. Only twenty-nine presented themselves. This was a smaller number than had previously attended the pre- paratory schools under Captain Cobb and Prof. Howard. But the students now were all males of a mature age, and more advanced standing, and most of them were from other parts of the state. From this small number the faculty were able to organize all the col- lege classes below senior, though the repre- sentation in the upper classes was very small. By the end of the year there were only two juniors, two sophomores, fourteen freshmen, and there were ninety-two in the Preparatory and other courses. Such was the initial cata- logue of a university, which, long before its jubilee year, enrolled more than forty times the first number of students, annually, and graduates more than a hundred at a time.

ENDOWMENT.

Education, the world over, is largely a gratuity, and especially so in the higher insti- tutions of learning. In the older and better endowed colleges, no student pays a tenth of the actual cost of his education. Grounds, buildings, cabinets, libraries, endowments, and all the educational appliances of science and art, are the gifts of the founders of the school to the students who attend it. A college to be eminently successful in its work should have all these before it opens its doors to the public. Fortunately, this is something realized in the benefactions of wealthy men. But in former times, in the Western country, neither State nor denominational schools could afford to wait for the accumulation of all these before beginning their work, and the result was, that most of our schools were started upon very meager foundations. Such was the case with Ohio Wesleyan University. The Board of Trustees started with nothing, and were in debt. To secure a present support and a fu-

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ture growth was, of course, a matter of vital concern1.

The only resources of the institution were the contributions of its friends, and these, at first, came slowly and sparingly; and it was not until 1849 that the indebtedness of $7,- ooo for the purchase money was all paid. We have seen that the conferences early devised plans for the endowment of the University. In 1843 the Ohio Conference appointed Revs. Frederick Merrick and Uriah Heath, agents to raise funds from donations to the Uni- versity, or by the sale of scholarships entitling the bearer to tuition, at the rate of $100 for five years. The following year the North Ohio Conference appointed similar agents to work within its bounds. These agents, in the course of two years, obtained subscriptions and notes for scholarships to the amount of about $30,000, and some donations of land worth, perhaps $15,000 more. The interest on these notes and some tuition fees, consti- tuted the sole revenue of the institution for the support of the faculty. Tuition for the regular Academic studies was early fixed at $30 a year; and it has never been changed. though, since the era of cheap scholarships. no student has paid tuition. Art studies alone are not covered by the scholarships. As the sale of scholarships progressed, the tu- ition gradually fell to nothing. Perhaps two or three hundred of these higher priced schol- arships were sold, mostly "on time." but, un- fortunately, many of them were never paid for, though the tuition had been promptly claimed and enjoyed. The faculty was then wholly dependent on the income from the en- dowment notes. But though agents were continued in the field for the sale of scholar . ships, the aggregate did not perceptibly in- crease. At the end of six years, the total net assets were estimated at only $70.000, and. of this, the endowment money and subscrip- tions reached only $54,000. The institution was still on the borders of inanition. It was evident, that, unless a more effective policy was adopted, the school was destined to fail- ure, or, at best, to a feeble existence.

At length, in the summer of 1849. the faculty, upon the suggestion of Prot. Jolin-

son, devised and proposed to the Board of Trustees a system of scholarships at a much cheaper rate than those at first sold. It was hoped that these would be popular, and be sold to an extent sufficient to give the institu- tion both money and students for, at least, all present necessities. The trustees held a special session to consider the subject. Sep- tember 24, 1849, at Dayton, where the Ohio Conference was in session. The measure was felt to be perilous : a failure would jeopardize all, and they deliberated a long time before they came to any conclusion. Finally with the approval of the Conference, the Board adopted the plan, and ordered the sale of scholarships. entitling the hokler to tuition. at the following rates: (1) for three years tuition, $15; (2) for four years' tuition. $20: (3) for six years' tuition, $25; (4) for eight years' tuition, $30. Unlike the old series of scholarships, the new ones were to be paid for in full before they were used.

The system was needlessly complex; the second and fourth rates alone would have been better than the four, and the price could have been one-half higher without lessening their salableness. But the success which crowned the effort quieted all criticisms. Three agents wer appointed by each Conference to put the new scholarships upon the market. In two years they had sold nearly three thousand, and paid into the treasury of the University, besides the expense of the agency and the sup- port of the faculty meanwhile, a sum suffi- cent to raise the nominal endowment. in 1854. to a round $100,000.

The exact number of scholarships sold was 3.740, calling for a little more than 25,- 000 years of tuition. It was estimated that an average annual attendance of 500 students would exhaust this large aggregate in fifty years. As the attendance has not averaged this figure, the period for the final retirement of the scholarships may be somewhat pro- longed. Subsequently, the agents, under the authority of the Board, issued a few hundred additional scholarships to the value of money or lands ostensibly given to the University, but for which the institution paid a full equivalent. But this policy has now been

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stopped, and the board has ordered that no more scholarships be sold.

Part of this amount was still in unproduc- tive land, and is in uncollected scholarship notes. But the income for the following year, 1855, was estimated to be $8.500, which the committee of Ways and Means, in their re- port to the Board, say "will be amply suffi- cient to meet and defray all current ex- penses." In view of this hopeful condition of the finances, the salaries of the faculty were now increased as follows: The presi- dent was paid $1,400; the professors, $1,000 each; the tutors, $500 each. The value of the real estate and other property of the Uni- versity had also largely increased, and may be estimated at another $100,000. Thus, the end of the first decennium saw the institu- tion in a healthful financial condition, and with good prospects for the future.

The conference agencies for the endow- ment and building fund were continued for some years and the endowment slowly in- creased for a number of years. At length, in 1866, the centennial year of American Methi- odism, a general advance was made through- out the connection. Educational interests were everywhere the foremost, and, in Ohio. the result of the effort was a large addition to the funds of the University. A portion was devoted to building and general improve- ment, and the endowment was increased to considerably more than $200,000. Unfor- tunately, the resources for building and grounds did not prove as ample as was hoped, and, after the "hard times" of 1873 set in, it was deemed necessary to draw upon the en- dowment fund for these purposes. About $40,000 were thus consumed. The growth of this fund has, nevertheless, been so constant, that the heavy draft upon it was soon more than made good.

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Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 31

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 926

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926