Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 22

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY .- In 1862 a grant of lands was made by Congress to each of the States and Territories for " the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, 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 respectively prescribe." Under this act Ohio received land scrip for 630,000 acres. An institution, first known as Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, and later as Ohio State University, was chartered by the Legislature and received the scrip as an endowment, sub- ject to the conditions imposed by Congress. This scrip was sold at an extremely low price, like the previous college land endowments in Ohio, and produced a fund now something more than a half million of dollars, from which the univer- sity receives an annual income of six per cent. The university was located at Columbus upon a fine farm of three hundred acres, upon which substantial buildings were soon erected. The site was purchased and the first buildings erected and equipped by a gift of $300,000 from the county of Franklin and city of Columbus. The college, now within the city limits of Columbus, was opened for students in 1873 and the first class was graduated in 1878. In accordance with the terms of the land grant the chief attention is given to instruction in agricultural, mechanical and technical branches, but full collegiate courses are given, and pursued by many students, in classical and literary lines of work. For the last few years the General Assembly has annually appropriated moderate sums for carrying on the work so well begun.

The three foregoing universities are State institutions, amenable to State con- troì and obtaining their support from the land endowment of the general govern- ment and from State appropriations. Ohio differs from most States in having three higher institutions which are in reality a part of the public educational system of the State. Whether the interests of education are best conserved by

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EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN OHIO.

the maintenance of three institutions, or whether a union of the three into one stronger than either to-day, or a fusion or co-operation of the three under one general management would be wiser, are questions that have been discussed for some years. In any case the sentiment of the State has definitely crystallized into the idea that the State ought to provide at public expense for the higher education of its citizens by maintaining one or more public colleges.

There are also many denominational or private colleges within the State, some of them strong and prosperous, and all of them doing to the extent of their ability the work of higher education. The limits of this sketch will not permit a de- scription of all, but the more prominent of those founded before 1850 may be briefly mentioned.

KENYON COLLEGE .- Through the efforts of Bishop Philander Chase, Kenyon College was established in 1824, at Gambier, as a college and theological seminary, under the control of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The lands were purchased and the buildings erected with funds raised in this country and in England. The town-which is to-day one of the most beautiful college sites in America-the college, and the principal edifices are named respectively after three English noblemen. The college was soon opened with a strong faculty and a goodly number of students. Financial troubles beset the college, however, and the next fifteen years found an emissary of the institution almost constantly in the East or in Europe seeking aid for the starving college. In 1841 the college and the theological seminary were separated so far as their faculties were concerned. The college has done excellent work, and has afforded good facilities for the pursuit of the old-time classical course. It drew many of its students from the South, and hence suffered severely upon the outbreak of the rebellion. Though not large in membership, it has always had a fine body of students, and has main- tained a good reputation. In 1886-87 its corps of instructors numbered nine, and there were fifty-five students in the collegiate department.

WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY .- This institution, now better known as Adel- bert College, was chartered in 1826, and opened for students in the same year at Hudson, Summit (then Portage) county, in the Connecticut Western Reserve. It was designed by the education-loving settlers of the Western Reserve to be an independent college, free from ecclesiastical control, but from the outset and until the removal of the college to Cleveland the members of the board of trustees were all ministers or members of the Presbyterian or Congregational churches, and its general policy has been affected by this fact. The objects of the college were "to educate pious young men as pastors for our destitute churches," " to preserve the present literary and religious character of the State," and " to prepare competent men to fill the cabinet, the bench, the bar, and the pulpit." Drawing most of its students from the Reserve, the college soon entered upon a prosperous career in both the theological and collegiate departments and in its preparatory school. In 1859, however, the theological department was closed, and definitely aban- doned. The institution has been sustained entirely by donations and students' fees. In 1881 a magnificent bequest was made to the collegiate department, suffi cient to erect new and elegant buildings and to increase largely its endowment fund, on condition that the collegiate department should be transferred to Clever land, and called Adelbert College of Western Reserve University. The conditions were accepted, and the removal made upon the completion of the new buildings. The preparatory school is still maintained at Hudson, and a medical department has been united to the University at Cleveland. Like the greater number of Ohio colleges, this institution was for some time open to students of either sex, but in 1888 the trustees decided that hereafter women should not be admitted. The attendance in 1886-87 was seventy eight, when there were ten members of the faculty.

DENNISON UNIVERSITY .- This institution, located at Granville, Licking county, was chartered in 1832 as the Granville Literary and Theological Institution ; in 1856 it assumed its present name, in commemoration of a gift from William Dennison, of Adamsville, Ohio. Its board of trustees constitute a close corporation, under the control of the Baptist denomination, and all of its trustees must belong to that church. The college itself is unsectarian in its teachings, the theological department having been given up some years ago. The classical and scientific

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN OHIO.

courses are offered to students, the former-as in most colleges originally literary alone-having the better equipment. In 1886-87 there were eleven instructors and eighty students.

OBERLIN COLLEGE .- This was chartered in 1834 as the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, at Oberlin, Lorain county, and in 1850 assumed its present name. The institution is under the direction of the Congregational Church, and a theological seminary was early established as a part of the college. The board of trustees is a close corporation. From the outset, but especially in later years, the college has assumed a prominent place among Ohio colleges, indeed, among American colleges. Both sexes have always been admitted to its classes, and-for some time alone among colleges-it almost from its foundation admitted colored students. As it was the pioneer in that regard, its name was soon widespread, and it became a strong promoter of anti-slavery principles. It has from time to time extended its range, and to-day sustains theological, collegiate, musical, art, and preparatory departments. In its collegiate department in 1886-87 were enrolled 400 students under a faculty of eighteen members.

MARIETTA COLLEGE .- The Marietta Collegiate Institute, located at Marietta, was chartered in 1832. This charter, however, gave the institution no authority to confer degrees, and was defective in other particulars. A new charter free from these defects was accordingly obtained in 1835, from which year the existence of Marietta College dates. The college was founded by some of the men, or their immediate descendants, who were instrumental in obtaining the grant of two townships for an university in the Ohio Company's purchase. Just why they did not lend their energies solely towards building up the institution (Ohio Uni- versity, at Athens) founded on that land-grant it is difficult after this lapse of time to determine, unless it be that the growth and development of that institu- tion did not accord with the ideas brought to Marietta from New England. The following, believed to be from the pen of the late President I. W. Andrews, par- tially explains the matter : "After spending forty years or more in removing the forest, they (the settlers of Marietta) could no longer postpone the establishment of an institution of learning, embodying those principles and methods which had made the old colleges of New England so efficient and prosperous. There was a deep conviction on the part of many of the most intelligent men in Southeastern Ohio that a literary institution of high order was essential to the educational and religious interests of a large region, of which Marietta was the centre." The board of trustees has always been a close corporation, but there are no restrictions as to religious belief of the members. As a fact, the majority of the trustees have usually been members of the Presbyterian or Congregational churches. The col- lege has been unsectarian in its teachings, but distinctly Christian in both theory and practice. It has been a remarkably successful, though never a large institu- tion ; and the proportion of graduates to freshmen has probably been larger than that of any other Ohio college. Pleasantly located and comfortably equipped for classical and literary study, it has closely resembled in its staid dignity the older New England colleges. In 1887 its collegiate students numbered eighty-seven, its instructors ten.

OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY .- This institution, located at Delaware, under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was chartered in 1842. The alumni and four Conferences of the church are each represented by five members in the board of twenty-five trustees. The endowment of the institution has been con- tributed chiefly in small amounts by adherents of the church. The college has advanced in its requirements and increased in attendance until it is one of the largest colleges in the State. With the possible exception of Oberlin College, the Ohio Wesleyan University has been more thoroughly permeated with religious sentiment and zeal than any other of the Ohio colleges. The majority of its stu- dents belong to families adhering to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and it has sent out a large body of graduates. In 1886 there were 336 collegiate students and twenty-five instructors.

WITTENBERG COLLEGE .- This college is located at Springfield, Clark county, and was chartered in 1845. It is under the control of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and its trustees are chosen by various local Synods of that denomination. The institution was founded to meet the religious and

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EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN OHIO.

educational wants of the Lutheran denomination in that vicinity. A theological department has always been a prominent part of the college. The institution has never been large, but, with a moderate endowment and comfortable buildings and equipment, it has always prospered. In 1886 it had sixty-five students in the collegiate department and eleven instructors.

OTTERBEIN UNIVERSITY .- This institution, located at Westerville, Franklin county, was chartered in 1849, under the auspices of the United Brethren in Christ, and received its name from the founder of that church. Like Wittenberg College, and many others in the West, it was established to meet the educational needs of a religious denomination, and has drawn its financial support almost solely from them. It has always ranked among the smaller colleges of the State, and has not always been liberally supported by the church. It was unfortunate in losing its main building, including the library and much apparatus, by fire in 1870. A new building was soon erected, and the institution has continued its career, its pathway often beset with the rocks of financial embarrassment that are encountered by most small denominational colleges. In 1886 there were seven instructors and fifty students in the collegiate department.

Many other colleges exist in Ohio, some of them strong and prosperous, and several professional institutions have been established, while the number of com- mercial and business " colleges " is very large. The foregoing are, however, the leading colleges or universities, properly so called, founded before the middle of the present century, and the limits of this sketch permit mention only of the names and a few statistics concerning the others. The figures given below, as well as those that have preceded, are based mainly upon the official report of the State Commissioner of Schools.

Name.

Location.

Date of Charter.

Religious Denomination.

No. of Instructors 1886-87.

No. of Students Collegiate Dep'tment 1886-87.

Buchtel College

Akron

1870

Universalist

Ashland College

Ashland

1878

Brethren

Baldwin University

Berea

1856

Meth. Episcopal

German Wallace College

Berea

1864

Meth. Episcopal

St. Joseph's College

Cincinnati

1873

Roman Catholic

200

St. Xavier's College

Cincinnati

1846

Roman Catholic

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati

1870

Non-Sectarian

118

. Belmont College

College Hill

1846

Non-Sectarian

€

Capital University Findlay College

Columbus

1850

Evangel. Lutheran

Hiram College

Hiram

1867

Disciples

Mt. Union College

Mt. Union

1858

Non-Sectarian

115

Franklin College

New Athens

1825

Muskingum College

New Concord

1837

United Presbyteri'n

Rio Grande College Scio College

Scio

1866

Meth. Episcopal Reformed

Urbana University

Urbana

1850

New Church

Wilberforce University

Wilberforce

1863

African Meth. Epis.

University of Wooster

Wooster

1866

Presbyterian

226

Antioch College

Yellow Sp'ngs

1852

Non-Sectarian

125

Heidelberg College

Rio Grande

1875

Free Will Baptist

Tiffin

1850

Findlay

1882

169

In conclusion, we may quote the words of Prof. E. B. Andrews, uttered after a careful study and discriminating praise of the good results accomplished by many of the Ohio colleges : "It is unfortunate that there are in Ohio so many colleges of denominational origin, when, with a broader view of the subject of higher learning, combinations could have been effected which, without any sacrifice of religious influence, would have given us institutions of greater strength and dig-

149

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN OHIO.

nity, and of ampler facilities for affording a broad and generous culture. This entire misconception of the true function of the college has led to such a multiplication of colleges in Ohio that all are hindered and many are dwarfed."

AUTHORITIES consulted in preparing this sketch : Hildreth's "Pioneer History ;" Walker's "History of Athens County;" American Journal of Education ; Knight's "Land Grants for Education in the Northwest Territory ;" "A History of Education in the State of Ohio" (Columbus, 1876); "Historical Sketches of Higher Educational Institutions in Ohio" (1876); Ohio School Commissioners' Reports; Reports of United States Commissioner of Educa- tion ; Ohio Executive Documents; Ohio Laws.

In addition to the foregoing, and with a view to supply what seems to be an inadvertent omission, we subjoin the following statement in reference to the efficiency and progress of educational legislation in Ohio. We allude to the "Act to provide for the reorganization, supervision, and maintenance of Com- mon Schools, passed March 14, 1853."

Prior to the passage of this act the common schools had become inefficient in their character, and the laws so often amended as to render them incapable of being understood, or receiving a consistent judicial construction. It was for this reason that the first General Assembly, under the new constitution of 1851, revised the school laws and passed the reorganizing act of March 14, 1853. This act introduced radical changes in the school system-changes which have given the common schools a deservedly high character for their excellence. The provisions of the act, with slight amendments, remained in force for twenty years, when most of its provisions were embraced in the codification of the school laws in 1873, and are still operative.

It will be readily seen by a reference to James W. Taylor's "History of the Ohio School System," published in 1857, that Harvey Rice, the Senator from Cuyahoga, and chairman of the standing committee on schools, was the author of the bill, now known as the Act of March 14, 1853. Soon after the act came in force, and generally throughout the State since that time, he has been called the " father of the Ohio School System," an honor to which his devotion to the welfare of public schools justly entitles him. We take the following reference to Mr. Rice and his educational labors from the "History of Education in the State of Ohio"-a centennial volume-published by authority of the General Assembly in 1876.

"The school law passed by the General Assembly, March 14, 1853, was chiefly prepared by the Hon. Harvey Rice, of Cleveland, a member of the Ohio Senate and chairman of the committee on common schools. Mr. Rice was born in Massachusetts, June 11, 1800, and graduated at Williams College. He came to Ohio in 1824, and settled in Cleveland. For a short time he engaged in teaching while preparing for the practice of law, upon which he soon entered. Mr. Rice's abilities and worth were soon recognized by his fellow-townsmen, who manifested their appreciation by electing him to various important offices in the county, and to a seat in the lower House of the General Assembly.

"In 1851 Mr. Rice was elected to the Senate. The session which followed was a very important one. Ohio had outgrown her old constitution, and this was the first meeting of her Legislature under the provisions of the new. It was evident to all, who had watched the growing educational needs of the State, that the school system needed a thorough revision. Since the passage of the act of 1838 the population of the State had more than doubled, and its re- sources had increased in a still greater ratio. Mr. Rice addressed himself to the work of procuring the passage of an act for the reorganization of the common schools, and providing for their supervision. The bill passed the Senate with but two negative votes. He had previously taken a prominent part in the pas- sage of an act providing for the establishment of two asylums for lunatics, and he now advocated the establishment of a State Reform Farm School, at that time a novel idea. A few years saw it in successful operation.

" Mr. Rice still lives in Cleveland. He has lived to see the State of his adop- tion enjoy the fruits of his labors, and to see her in his own words 'lead the column in the cause of popular education and human rights.' His active life as a politician and public-spirited citizen has not prevented the cultivation of his taste for literature. He is well known as a graceful writer both in prose and verse."

OHIO IN THE CIVIL WAR. BY GEN. JOHN BEATTY.

GENERAL JOHN BEATTY was born near Sandusky, Ohio, December 16, 1828. His education was obtained at the district school of a pioneer settlement. His grand- father, John Beatty, was an anti-slavery man of the James G. Birney school; from him the present John imbibed in boyhood his first political tenets, and to these he has adhered somewhat obstinately ever since. In 1852 he supported John P. Hale for the presidency. In 1856 he cast his vote for John C. Fremont. In 1860 he was the Republican presidential elector for the district which sent John Sherman to Congress. When the war broke out in 1861, he was the first to put his name to an enlist- ment roll in Morrow county. He was elected to the cap- taincy of his company, subsequently made lieutenant- colonel, then colonel of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in 1862 advanced to the position of briga- dier-general of volunteers. He was with MeClellan and Rosecrans in West Virginia, summer and fall 1861; with General O. M. Mitchel in his dash through Southern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama in the spring of 1862. Returning with General Buell to the Ohio river, he joined in the pursuit of Bragg, and on October 8, 1862, fought at the head of his regimeut in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky. In the December follow- ing he was assigned to the command of a brigade of Rous- seau's division, and led it through the four days' battle JOHN BEATTY. of Stone River, closing on the night of January 3, 1863. with an assault on the enemy's barricade, on the left of the Murfreesboro' turnpike, which he carried at the point of the bayonet. He was with Rosecrans on the Tullahoma campaign, and after the enemy evacuated their stronghold, overtook them at Elk river, drove their rear guard from the heights beyond, and led the column which pursued them to the summit of the Cumberland. While the army rested at Winchester, Tennessee, he was president of a board to examine applicants for commissions in colored regimeuts, and continued in this service until the army crossed the Tennessee river and entered on the Chattanooga campaign. In this advance into Georgia his brigade had the honor of being the first of Thomas' corps to cross Lookout mountain. He was with Brannan and Negley in the affair at Dug Gap, and took part in the two days' fighting at Chickamauga, September, 1863, and in the affair at Rossville. At the re-organization of the Army of the Cumberland he was assigned to the command of the second brigade of Davis' division Thomas' corps, but was with Sherman at the battle of Mission Ridge; and when the rebel line broke he led the column in pursuit of the retreating enemy, overtook his rear guard near Graysville, where a short but sharp encounter occurred, in which Gen. George Many, commanding the opposing force, was wounded, and his troops compelled to retire in disorder. Subsequently he accompanied Sherman in the expedition to Knoxville for the relief of Burnside, and the close of this campaign ended his military service.

Gen. Beatty was elected to the Fortieth Congress from the Eighth Ohio district, and re-elected to the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses, serving first as member of the Committee on Invalid Pensions, then as Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and finally as Chairman of Committee on Public-Printing.

In 1884 he was one of the Republican electors-at-large, and in 1886-7 a member of the Board of State Charities. He has since 1873 been engaged in the business of banking at Columbus, Ohio.

IT would be impossible to make an exact estimate of the number of men who entered the National army from Ohio during the war for the preservation of the Union. Those embraced in regimental and company organizations of the State can, of course, be enumerated, and, with some degree of accuracy, followed to the time of their death, discharge, or final muster out; but these organizations did not by any means include all the patriotic citizens of Ohio who left peaceful homes to incur the risks of battle for the mair .enance of national authority. Five regiments credited to West Virginia were made up in large part of Ohio men ; the same may be said of two regiments credited to Kentucky ; also of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Colored Infantry, and of two regi- ments of United States colored troops. In addition to those enrolled in regi-

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OHIO IN THE CIVIL WAR.

ments credited to other States, thousands entered the gun-boat service, of whom Obvio has no record, while other thousands enlisted in the regular army.

" From the best prepared statistics of the Provost Marshal-General and Adju- tant-General of the U. S. A. and the Adjutant-General of Ohio, excluding re- enlistments, 'squirrel-hunters' and militia, and including a low estimate for regular enlistments in the army and navy not credited to Ohio, it is found that Ohio furnished of her citizens 340,000 men of all arms of the service for war; reduced to a department standard, they represent 240,000 three-years soldiers."*

The State contributed in organized regiments :

26 regiments of infantry

for three months. .

43 regiments of infantry

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 22

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006