History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 49

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666

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The said buildings shall be erected on different parts of the said grounds, to-wit: That for the Boys on the north, and that for the Girls on the south of the road lately cut through said grounds.

And I direct that the plot of ground on which the College for the Boys shall be built, shall comprise not less than from five to six acres; and that on which the College for the Girls shall be built shall comprise all below the said road, which plot may, I suppose, contain about three acres. Should additional grounds be required for the buildings con- nected with the College for the Girls, I would refer to lot No. 32, in the subdivision made by Jacob Madeira, adjoining the last described prem- ises on the west, which may be found a suitable place for the erection of dwellings for Boarding-houses for the female students, and from which a revenue might accrue for Homes for Female Orphans, when required.

And I would recommend, for the purpose of enlarging the College grounds and for the general benefit of the Institutions, that the said city should, if they deem it advantageous and are enabled to do so upon equitable terms, purchase the property on the west side of my said grounds, by which the said city will have the opportunity, if they see fit, of erecting a portion of the College Buildings for the Boys to the westward of the location I have assigned them.

XXXIII. I hereby authorize the said city, if they believe it expedi- ent, to lay out into lots any unimproved property I may possess, and to lease the same for building purposes upon ground-rents renewable at a re-valuation, but no lease shall be made for a longer period than fifteen years as aforesaid; or the said city, instead of leasing, may build upon the same as already empowered; and no lease of improved property shall be made for a longer period than ten years. The revenue therefrom shall be appropriated to the use of the said colleges.

XXXIV. The Holy Bible of the Protestant version, as contained in the Old and New Testaments, shall be used as a Book of Instruction in the said Colleges.

XXXV. The preference in all applications for admission to be given to any and all of my relations and their descendants, to any and all of the within-named Legatees and their descendants, and to Wirtz McMicken and his descendants.

XXXVI. I. If, after the full and complete organization and estab- lishment of the said Institutions, and the admission of as many pupils as in the discretion of the said city should, for the purposes of educa- tion, be received, there shall remain a sufficient surplus of funds, the sanie shall be applied in making suitable additional buildings, and to the support of poor white male and female orphans, neither of whose parents are living, and who are without any means of support, and who may be admitted as pupils, if not younger than five nor older than twelve years, the preference always to be given to the youngest appli- cant, except in the case of my own relations and collateral descendants, who shall be received, whether such applicant shall have lost either or both parents or whatever may be the age of said minors.

2. The said Orphans shall receive a sound English education, and where the talents of the child shall afford encouragement, he or she shall be transferred to the respective colleges and shall be educated to the extent that I have provided by the thirty-first item of my will. It is my desire also that the moral instruction of all the children admitted into the said Institution shall form a prominent part of their education, and that, as far as human means may allow, they shall be made not useful citizens only, but good citizens deeply impressed with a knowl- edge of their duties to their God and to their fellow-men, and with a love for their country and its united republican institutions, in the bles- sed and peaceful enjoyment of which, it is my fervent prayer, they and their descendants may continue to live.

3. No orphan shall be received until their Guardians, or those in whose custody they are, shall have first entirely relinquished their con- trol of them to the said city, in order that they may not be capriciously withdrawn from the benefits of the said Institutions. .

4. Those orphans who may have remained until they have reached any age between fourteen and eighteen years, shall be bound out by the said city to some proper art, trade, occupation, or employment. The taste and inclinations of the orphans, in the selection of an occupation, to be, as far as practicable and advantageous, always consulted.

5. This direction as to binding-out I do not intend should be ap- plied to those who, having displayed superior talents and received instruction in the higher branches of knowledge as aforesaid, shall, if

they see proper, be permitted to pursue the study of the learned pro- fessions.

6. Those male orphans who may intermarry with the female orphans shall, if found deserving, in order to their establishment in business, be entitled to receive from any surplus revenues in hand, at an interest of six per cent. per annum, a loan not exceeding five hun- dred dollars, which shall be made under such regulations and refunded at such time as the said corporate authorities may stipulate and direct.

XXXVII. The establishment of the regulations necessary to carry out the objects of my endowment, I leave to the wisdom and discretion of the corporate authorities of the City of Cincinnati, who shall have power to appoint directors of said Institutions.

XXXVIII. The conditions on which the above devise and bequest to the said City of Cincinnati, in trust, are made, are as follows:

That the accounts of the said Institutions shall be kept entirely distinct from all other accounts whatever. That the rents, issues, and forfeits of the estate devised shall be used for no other purposes than those directed by this iny will, the provisions of which shall be faith- fully complied with. And that the said City shall annually remit to the Legislature, and also publish a statement containing an account of the amount of funds received and disbursed during the year, the number of pupils receiving instruction and under charge, and a representation of the general condition of the Institutions; and also that no charge whatever shall be made by the said City for the education of the pupils admitted into the said Colleges, or for the support and education of any orphans received.

Much of Mr. McMicken's gift to the city, for the pur- poses of the university, was lost in 1860 by a decision of the Louisiana supreme court, which broke that part of his will relating to his lands in that State, at the suit of one or more of the heirs-at-law. The value of the dona- tion was also much impaired for a time by the fact that most of the Cincinnati property devised is situated upon or near Main street, and suffered from the general depre- ciation of property in that quarter by reason of the move- ment of business westward. The buildings upon it, fur- thermore, were old and considerably dilapidated, requir- ing almost a general rebuilding. The fluctuation of rents also lessened the receipts for some years; and the trus- tees were hampered by Mr. McMicken's conditions that none of the property in the city should be sold, nor should any of the improved property be leased for a term of more than ten years. Sundry legacies and annuities were, too, a permanent charge upon the fund; and from all these it resulted that for a number of years the average revenue to the university from this source was but six- teen thousand dollars per year, and in one year there was nó income from it.

The directors were furthermore much embarrassed by the requirement of Mr. McMicken's will, that there should be separate colleges for boys and girls, as greatly increas- ing the expenses of maintaining the university, and as conflicting with the judgment of many experienced and judicious men, that it would be wise to allow the students of both sexes to meet at the lectures and recitations, and partake alike of the opportunities and advantages of all the branches of study open to their choice. It was doubtful, too, whether the boys' college, to be erected on the hill, as required by the bequest, would not be too far from the bulk of the population of the city for its high- est usefulness. However, it would not answer to "look a gift horse in the mouth too closely"; and the munifi- cent benefaction was gladly accepted and has been care- fully used for its legitimate purposes by the authorities and people of the city in which he thus won immortal renown and ever-recurring blessings.

183

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

During the year after the death of Mr. McMicken, the city council passed an ordinance establishing the "Mc- Micken university," and elected a board of six directors for the same-Messrs. George B. Hollister, Henry F. Handy, Rufus King, Miles Greenwood, Cornelius G. Comegys, and James Wilson-whose periods of service, in the first instance, were determined by lot at the initial meeting, in the order of their mention, to be one year, two, three, four, five, and six years. This meeting was held in the council chamber December 30, 1859, Mayor Bishop also present, when the board effected an organi- zation by the election of Rufus King president, and the adoption of a code of by-laws, rules, and regulations. The office was opened in one of the Micken buildings, on Main street, below Fourth, and the possession and control of the estate devised was fully assumed, except of the mansion-house and grounds of the testator, which were left by the testator to the occupancy for five years of his nephew and niece, and the Louisiana property, all of which was lost, by the decisions of the courts, before the creation of the board. During the succeeding year no progress could be made toward establishing and main- taining the university on account of a suit to set aside the entire devise to the city for this purpose, and because the decayed and ruinous condition of most of the prop- erty made it inadvisable to proceed until a general re- building of the estate could be effected. Repairs and rebuilding commenced, however, and the way was further cleared for the founding of the university by the favora- ble decision of the supreme court of the United States, February 25, 1861, in the suit of Franklin Perrin against the city, to break the will. But during this year, which was the first year of the war of the Rebellion, the total income of the property was actually less than the expend- itures for annuities, legacies, taxes, and expenses of the trust; and of course no progress could be reported. Only ten thousand eight hundred and fourteen dollars and eighty-four cents were received this year from rents, against nearly twice that amount for previous years. The next year and the following there was an improvement in this respect; and in 1864 the cash balance in the hands of the directors was four thousand four hundred and nine dollars and eighty-two cents, with ten thousand dollars for investment in city bonds as a means of additional revenue. The property was now in pretty good repair, and a successful effort had been made to secure the re- lease of the real and personal property of the estate from taxation.

The same year the ladies of the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts presented their entire collection of paintings to the embryo university. It was gratefully accepted by the directors on behalf of the city, as a nucleus of a fine- art gallery to be, and a means of encouraging and de- veloping art-education in the coming university. A tem- porary place was secured for the gift in a large room of one of the McMicken buildings, on the northeast corner of Main and Fourth streets, where it was made accessible to artists and art-students, and to the public generally.

In 1865 the sum of twelve thousand one hundred and fifty-one dollars and twenty cents was invested by the

directors in United States bonds, bearing seven and three-tenths per cent. interest. Three new stores were built with the fund the next year, and income was thus materially increased. The directors now reported that it would not be expedient to begin the erection of build- ings for the university until the revenues from the estate amounted to thirty thousand dollars a year, free of all incumbrance. By the year 1868 that aggregate of yearly income had been reached, and the prospect of university buildings was brightening.

On the first Monday in January, 1869, a beginning was made of instruction in the University by the opening of the McMicken School of Art and Design, in charge of Mr. Thomas S. Noble, an artist and teacher from New York city, who is still in charge, and is now assisted by seven teachers. One hundred and twenty pupils were in attendance the first year; now between three and four hundred are annually registered. The school is kept in the fourth story of the old College Building, on Walnut street, and has an ample equipment of models, plaster casts, and books of reference.

The same year the erection of four stores was con- tracted for, on the McMicken property on Main street, south of Fourth, which mainly completed the plan of putting the trust estate in order, to which the funds had so far been directed.

April 16, 1870, an act was passed by the Legislature, which enabled the city to become a trustee for any per- son or body corporate holding an estate or funds in trust for the promotion of education or any of the arts and sciences. Under this a University Board was appointed in January, 1871, and to it was promptly transferred the estate left in trust for the city by Mr. McMicken. The name of the institution was changed from McMicken University to Cincinnati University. The rebuilding and repair of the property were completed, and the estate began to yield twenty thousand to thirty thousand dollars a year to the treasury of the university. To this time the total sum of two hundred and thirty thousand two hun- dred and thirty-six dollars and nine cents had been re- ceived, of which one hundred and seventy-two thousand one hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty-six cents had been expended in new buildings, twenty-five thousand and seventy-two dollars and eleven cents in repairs, twenty thousand four hundred and twenty dollars and sixty-nine cents in taxes from 1861 to 1865, when the University property was relieved from taxation, and sixty-five thou- sand five hundred dollars in annuities and legacies.

In 1873 a temporary arrangement was made for open- ing an Academic Department in the Woodward High School, with Principal George Harper, of that school, in charge, and to supervise or conduct classes in language, mathematics, chemistry, and physics, beyond the courses then pursued in the High School. Fifty-eight students were admitted, forty of them ladies; some to study French and German only. A class in wood-carving, taught by Benn Pitman, was added to the School of Art and Design, which was this year removed to the College Building from that previously occupied on the corner of Third and Main streets.

184

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

The next year the Academic Department was fully organized, with three courses of study-for the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Civil Engineer, respectively. H. J. Eddy was appointed Professor of Mathematics, Astronomy, and Civil Engin- eering ; F. D. Allen of Ancient Languages and Compara- tive Philology; E. A. Guetin Instructor in French; and F. Van Rossum Instructor in German. The Depart- ment was removed to the intermediate school-house on Liberty street, near Sycamore. After considerable dis- cussion as to the site the lower College Building to be erected was located near Clifton avenue, between the upper and lower sites designated by Mr. McMicken, on his home grounds of ten or twelve acres, upon the old Hamilton road, west of Vine street and close to the Clif- ton Inclined Plane. The students in the Art School this year numbered four hundred and five, of whom sixty-nine were in the wood-carving classes.

In 1875 the Cincinnati Observatory was added to the University as an Astronomical Department. Its history will be outlined in our chapter on Science and Art.

In 1876 the Art Department received a gift from Joseph Longworth, Esq., of fifty-nine thousand five hundred dollars, upon condition that the University should add ten thousand dollars, which was promptly done, and the Art School thus placed upon a liberal and per- manent pecuniary foundation. The school had an exhibit this year at the Centennial Exposition, and this, with the compliment paid it by the Jury on House- hold Art, won for it a high and wide reputation. Assist- ant professors were appointed in the Academic Depart- ment, and provision made for a professorship in Natural History and Geology; also for a thoroughly equipped laboratory, and apparatus for the classes in Civil Engineering. The Rev. Samuel J Browne left a bequest, which yielded the sum of eighteen thousand seven hun- dred and eighty-two dollars and seventy-seven cents, for the use of the university.

The first degrees were conferred in 1877-one B. A., upon Frank McFarlan; two M. A., upon Herbert A. Howe and Winslow Upton, post-graduate students at the Observatory. The School of Design this year (1876-7) had four hundred and thirty-two pupils; in 1877-8, three hundred and sixty-five, of whom twenty-one were in sculpture (against twenty-three the year be- fore), and one hundred and three in wood carving. Rev. Thomas A. Vickers, librarian of the public library, was appointed rector of the university in December, 1877.

The first regular public commencement of the univer- sity was held at Pike's opera house June 20, 1878. An oration was delivered by the Hon. George H. Pendleton and academic degrees conferred upon five young men of Cincinnati and one from Brazil, and one young lady from Newport. The students of the year in this department had numbered eighty-nine.

The next year there were six graduates, including three from Brazil. The baccalaureate address was delivered by the Hon. Aaron F. Perry. Attendance in all depart- ments 1878-9, four hundred and sixty-nine. An unsuc- cessful proposal was made this year to unite the city

normal school with the university. The standard of ad- mission to the academic department and the correspond- ing courses in the high schools had been so raised that only three other institutions in the country could claim standards so high. Many valuable donations were made to the scientific collections of the university, and liberal gifts had also been received from Messrs Julius Dexter, John Kilgour, the heirs of Nicholas Longworth, and the Cincinnati Astronomical society, the total endowment fund from these sources, with the Browne bequest, amounting to one hundred and thirty-nine thousand two hundred and eighty-two dollars and seventy-seven cents.

The third annual commencement was held at Pike's Friday evening, June 18, 1880. Address by the chair- man of the board of directors, Hon. Samuel F. Hunt, and baccalaureate by Judge J. B. Stallo. Degrees were conferred in the academic department of A. B. upon two young men, C. E. upon another, and B. S. upon one young lady, daughter of Judge Stallo; one M. A. and two M. S., one normal diploma, and one bachelor of letters. One M. A. was also granted in the astronomical depart- ment.

During the year 1879, the income to the University from rentals was twenty thousand two hundred and twelve dollars and thirty cents, and from all the sources forty- one thousand four hundred and seventy-three dollars and ninety cents, making a total of sixty-one thousand six hundred and eighty-six dollars and twenty cents. The institution is thus on a firm financial footing, in its new building, and giving the happiest promise for the future. The Cincinnati people are naturally very proud of it. Superintendent Peaslee, of the public schools, says in his report for 1878-9:

As stated in a previous report, Cincinnati enjoys the most complete system of public school education of any city in the world; for the pupils of both sexes have not only open to them the advantages of the District, Intermediate, and High Schools, but possess the privilege of attending, free of charge, the University of Cincinnati. The course of instruction given in this long extended curriculum is of a very high character. From school to school the student passes, till he goes out into the world from the University, with that broad teaching which will enable him to hold his own proudly in the stirring times in which we live. There are but three educational institutions in this country- Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Michigan Universities-whose matricula- tion examinations are equal to ours, and whose standard for admission to degrees is correspondingly high. During the past year the course of study leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts has been strength- ened by requiring the students to devote three out of the four years of the college curriculum to the study of Latin and Greek; while, to meet the requirements of those who do not wish to take up a full classical course, a degree of Bachelor of Letters has been established.

LANE SEMINARY .*

It is no stretch of credulity to say that this institution was a child of Providence. The time had come, in the providence of God, when the foundations were to be laid of that remarkable constellation of institutions which was to shed light, we may hope for all time, through this great central west.

The seed from which this institution sprang was really sown earlier than at the date usually given. It is among the records of the family that as early as 1819 Elnathan

* This account is abridged from the semi-centenary address of the Rev. G. M. Maxwell, D. D., December 18, 1879.

MOIS F.NG

General. A. Hickenlooper.

185

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

Kemper and Peter H. Kemper devoted eight acres of land on Walnut Hills, at the earnest request of their father, for the support of the Walnut Hills academy, that year established by Rev. James Kemper, sr., on the man- ual labor principle. In this school, in addition to the or- dinary branches of education, the Latin and Greek lan- guages were taught, till, at the close of the year 1825, the failing health of Mr. Kemper compelled him to sus- pend it. Vet this school had a connection with what followed, for, when subsequently Walnut Hills was nom- inated as the site for the seminary the general assembly was proposing to establish in the west, it could be said in favor of the location: "On one of the sites we would propose there is a well-finished academy, with a good frame dwelling-house by it."-[Letter of Rev. James Kemper, sr., to Dr. Ely.]

In the summer of 1828 occurred what led to the first decisive steps towards the foundation of this seminary. Mr. E. Lane and brother, merchants of New Orleans, Baptists, moved with a desire to bring the means of edu- cation within the reach of "pious but indigent young men," offered assistance thereto to their Baptist brethren in Cincinnati. The Baptists declined the offer. It was then proposed that it should be a joint affair-the Bap- tists and Presbyterians uniting. This partnership the Presbyterians declined to go into. The offer was then made to the Presbyterians alone, and by them enter- tained, and the first meeting was convened in the First Presbyterian church, September 27, 1828, to deliberate on the subject. To this meeting a paper was presented exhibiting a plan of the institution and containing the proposition of the Messrs. Lane. It was resolved to act upon it, and committees were appointed to wait on the Messrs. Lane, draft a constitution, and prepare a circular for appeal to the public. So the first decisive blow was struck September 27, 1828.

The first offer of land for a site was made by Mr. Samuel Caldwell, of Carthage, (October 28, 1828). He offered to give twenty-five to thirty acres near that village. Mr. Elnathan Kemper (November 15, 1828) offered to sell to the board one hundred acres on Walnut Hills for seven thousand five hundred dollars. December 15, 1828, Mr. William Cary offered a farm on the pike be- tween College Hill and Mount Pleasant, a part of which he would donate and a part sell, for one thousand six hundred and fifty dollars. But, pending these offers, Mr. Kemper, on January 1, 1829, proposed to donate sixty acres from the north end of his farm, and sell forty more at four thousand dollars. Here comes to view in our history one of the names ever to be held in grateful remembrance, ever to be honored. In the graceful cus- tom of the east, we should rise up and pronounce him "blessed" at every mention. Mr. Elnathan Kemper never held any official relation to the board or the semi- nary. But he will stand perpetually in a relation most honorable and dear-honorable to his generous heart; honorable to his far-sightedness; honorable to the pur- pose which governed his life, in the glory of his Master. In dividing his estate, and laying one portion at the feet of that Master, he gave, what some might say would now

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History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 49

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co. Number of Pages: 666

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666