USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County : together with historic notes on the Northwest, and the state of Ohio, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and all other authentic sources > Part 65
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Apropos of the early settlement of Yellow Springs, we submit the following from an interview with Squire John Hamilton :
" In the year 1843, while the Erie and Miami Canal was being dug through Shelby County, I formed the acquaintance of a jour- neyman tailor named Smalley. Subsequently he left the country, and was partially forgotten by me, until one day I was the recip- ient of a letter from him, dated " Yellow Springs " and for which I paid twenty-five cents postage-under the postal arrangements of those days, the receiver paid the charges incidental to sending a letter. It was my impression at the time, that Yellow Springs was quite a flourishing little town.
In 1845, while working on the Xenia and Cincinnati road at Spring Valley, I was informed that there would be a public letting of work on the Springfield and Xenia, which was finished the year
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following. Repaired to Dayton, my home, and contracted to hew a certain amount of mill timber for the road. Accompanied by three hands, I started from Dayton on Sunday morning, intending to walk to Yellow Springs, in the immediate vicinity of which we expected to work. We traveled by the way of Byron ; upon arriv- ing at a stone house owned by Daniel Wolf, we stopped and enjoyed a hearty dinner, paying 123 cents each for the same. After dinner we resumed our journey, and at " Frogtown" noticed a guide post on which was inscribed " Yellow Springs, one mile." There were no pikes, and roads were made traversable by throwing logs across them. There was no house between the Frogtown branch and the Springs, except the old Methodist Church, the entire strip of coun- try consisting of one dense forest. We passed through the present location of the town of Yellow Springs, but saw no indication of a village ; arrived at the springs and sat down to rest. Ere long a man approached.
" How far is it to Yellow Springs?" was our inquiry.
" Can't see for the trees," replied he.
He, however, pointed out a little cabin on the present location of the Neff House, which was the post-office, and said the name was derived from the Springs. We had anticipated seeing quite a clus- ter of houses, and our surprise at this disappointment can easily be imagined. We were directed to the house of William Mills, and by him to the residence of James Larkins, where we obtained tem- porary lodging."
ANTIOCH COLLEGE.
Origin and Name .- This institution was organized and named in a convention of the religious denomination called "Christians," held in Marion, Wayne County, New York, October 2, 1850; was legally incorporated under the name of "Antioch College," May 14, 1852, and reorganized under the name of "Antioch College of Yel- low Springs, Greene County, Ohio," April 19, 1859.
The name "Antioch" was given in honor of the Syrian city where "the disciples were first called Christians."
Aims and Methods .- The aim of the convention was, to establish a non-sectarian college of high rank; to offer in it equal opportu- nities for students of both sexes. These principles have continued to characterize the college through all its history.
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To secure its liberal character, as its founders understood liber- ality, it was provided that two-thirds of the board of trustees and a majority of the board of instruction should at all times be mem- bers of that denomination.
The convention appointed a provisional committee of thirty-four, comprising representatives from different states, of whom the con- vention designated thirteen : A. M. Merrifield, of Massachusetts; David Millard, David Ely, Esq., Rev. Amasa Stanton, Rev. W. R. Stowe, Rev. Eli Fay, Dr. J. Hale, and C. C. Davison, Esq., of New York; Rev. John Phillips, Rev. D. F. Ladley, Rev. Josiah Knight, E. W. Devore, Esq., and Hon. B. Randall, of Ohio, to act as a sub- committee, having in charge the work of raising funds, and locating and building the college. Of this committee Rev. David Millard was chairman, Rev. Eli Fay, secretary, and A. M. Merrifield, treas- urer. Under its direction agents were put into the field to raise funds at once.
The Financial Scheme .- The original design was to establish a col- lege proper, with four under-graduate classes. The funds for the endowment were to be raised by the sale of scholarships, at one hundred dollars each, entitling the holder to keep one scholar in the school continually, free of tuition charges. Fifty-thousand dollars were fixed upon as the minimum of funds to be raised. It was also the expectation to build it in the state of New York, "somewhere on the thoroughfare between Albany and Buffalo." The agents were directed to take notes for the scholarship subscrip- tions, payable September 1, 1852.
At a meeting of the sub-committee, held in Stafford, New York, October 29, 1851, it was found that the Ohio agents had far out- stripped the others in success, and that that state had earned the right to the college. Here it was decided, that the college should be located in Ohio; that a department of preparatory study should be annexed to it; that at least one hundred thousand dollars must be raised as a permanent endowment, no part of which should ever be diverted from its purpose; but the interest alone should be used to pay the tuition of the students who might be sent on the schol- arships ; that fifty-thousand dollars must be raised to erect build- ings, and grade and ornament the grounds, and that dormitories should be built for the accommodation of the students.
For building funds, reliance was placed upon the contributions which might be made for the purpose of securing the location, and upon special donations for building purposes.
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The Location Decided on, and Plans Accepted .- The sub-committee met again at Enon, Ohio, January 21, 1852. Here, after canvassing the claims of the different places bidding for the location of the college, the preference was given to Yellow Springs.
The moving causes of this decision were, first, the beauty and healthfulness, of the place; and, secondly and chiefly, the pledge from the citizens of twenty acres of land for a campus, and thirty thousand dollars in money, to be paid in ten monthly installments of three thousand dollars each. Hon. William Mills made a gift . of the land, and became personally responsible for the payment of the money, paying in the end twenty thousand dollars himself.
The site donated to the college lies in the southeastern outskirts of the village, and has a gentle slope eastward towards the rail- road, on which it fronts, and the glen, which it overlooks. It is surrounded on all sides by streets seventy-five feet in width.
A set of plans and elevations for buildings was presented to the sub-committee at this meeting by A. M. Merrifield, Esq., of Wor- cester, Massachusetts, and accepted; and a building committee of seven (D. F. Ladley, J. G. Reeder, and E. W. Devore, of Ohio, Oliver Barr, of Illinois, and A. Sturtevant, of Pennsylvania,) was appointed. Mr. Merrifield was appointed building agent, to make the contracts, provide the material, and oversee the work. He es- timated the cost of the building at sixty thousand dollars.
The Buildings were erected according to the plans adopted. There are three large buildings of brick. Antioch Hall, the main and central building, is in the form of a cross, one hundred and seventy feet long, with a transept of one hundred and ten feet. It has three stories of fifteen feet each, besides the basement, with towers and minarets at the several corners. It contains a chapel fifty by ninety feet and thirty-two feet high, lecture room, recita- tion rooms, library, laboratory, society rooms, etc. Standing back from this are two dormitory buildings, one on the north containing dining hall, parlors, and dormitories for ladies, and one on the south, occupied as dormitories for gentlemen. Their dimensions are each forty by one hundred and sixty feet, and four stories high. All of them front the east.
Subsequently, on the opposite side of the street which bounds the college lot on the north, a dwelling was erected for the presi- dent. This is a fine brick building, three stories high.
The corner-stone of the main building was laid, with due cere-
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monies, June 23, 1852. Judge Probasco, of Lebanon, delivered the chief address, and was followed by Dr. J. R. Freese, of Phila- delphia. The north hall was finished, and Antioch HIall, all but the towers, and were opened for occupation October 5, 1853. The south hall, and the president's house were built during the follow- ing year, and were ready for occupation September, 1854. The total costs of the buildings were finally estimated at $120,000. At present prices of labor and material, they would cost far more.
Incorporation .- A legal incorporation was effected May 14, 1852, under the general laws of Ohio. The corporators were David Mil- lard, Oliver Barr, John Phillips, Josiah Knight, E. W. Devore, William Mills, D. F. Ladley, Christian Winebrenner, and Ebenezer Wheeler.
The articles of incorporation reaffirmed the original provisions as to the name, the scholarships, the rights under then, the pro- tection to the fund, and the denominationalism of the trustees and board of instruction.
That it "shall be under the management of a board of thirty- four (34) trustees, who shall be elected for the term of three years, and shall remain in office until their successors are chosen and qualified." That this board should be elected by the owners of scholarships, each scholarship entitling the holder to one vote. No one person, however, could cast more than ten votes.
That "the board of trustees shall appoint the president, profes- sors, teachers, and assistants, and all such officers and agents as the interests of the institution demands; and the faculty so appointed shall have authority to prescribe rules for the reception, discipline or expulsion of any pupil or pupils; to prescribe the course of studies to be pursued in the college or any department thereof; to prescribe books, charts, chemical, philosophical and other scientific appara- tus ; and shall have authority to confer such honors and degrees, as are usually conferred by colleges."
By these articles the sub-committee became the legal trustees, and so remained until an election under the charter.
It will be seen that this charter contemplated no state or munici- pal control, or influence of any kind, and provided for no members, ex-officio, not even the president of the college; that the board of trustees, two-thirds of whom were to be of the Christian denomin- ation, were elected by the scholarship holders, who thus constituted a joint stock company, with shares of one hundred dollars each ;
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that the trustees had the power of holding and controlling the property, managing the finances, and appointing the faculty and other officers, while the faculty had the sole control of the educa- tional work, including the conferring of degrees.
The first Board of Trustees .- Was elected at a meeting of scholar- ship holders, held in the college chapel, September 4, 1854.
The following persons were elected: Aaron Harlan, Elias Smith, Horace Mann, Jacob F. Crist, Joseph E. Wilson, Charles Ridge- way, E. W. Devore, Nathan Ward, Jacob Reesor, David Cross, Joseph P. Cory, John Kershner, John Kneisley, A. S. Dean, Noah P. Sprague, James Maxwell, Samuel Stafford, John Phillips, Wil- liam H. Carey, Moses H. Grinnell, William Mills, Eli Fay, Amasa Stanton, Peter Cooper, A. M. Merrifield, D. P. Pike, Benjamin Cummings, Charles H. Olmstead, N. S. Morrison, George W. Web- ster, J. R. Freese, William R. King, and F. A. Palmer.
The board was organized by the choice of Hon. Aaron Harlan president ; Elias Smith, Esq., vice president; William R. King, sec- retary ; and Hon. William Mills, treasurer.
The second election took place June 27, 1857. This board con- tinued in office until the reorganization in 1859.
The First Faculty .- At the meeting of the sub-committee, in Enon, Ohio, January 21, 1852, a committee was appointed "to correspond with suitable persons to constitute the faculty of the college." Here, for the first time, the idea was seriously entertained of inviting Hon. Horace Mann to become its president. Correspondence was opened with him, and in June following it was announced that he would accept the position.
At a meeting in Yellow Springs, September 15, 1852, the con- mittee on a faculty made their report, and the election took place. Horace Mann was elected president, and C. S. Pennell and Miss R. M. Pennell of Massachusetts, Rev. Thomas Holmes of New Hamp- shire, Rev. W. H. Doherty and Ira W. Allen of New York, col- leagues on the faculty, and A. L. Mckinney of Indiana, principal of the preparatory department.
Horace Mann and his Colleagues .- On accepting the position, Mr. Mann devoted himself heart and soul to his work.
Professor and Miss Pennell were relatives of Mr. Mann, who had already become distinguished as teachers in high and normal schools in Massachusetts. Mr. Mann had signified his wish, that if he should accept the presidency, they might be associated with him,
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in order that his colleagues might not all be strangers to him, and that he might have some who he knew would understand him, and his aims and methods, to assist him in inaugurating his work. Professor Doherty was a graduate of the Royal Belfast College, Ireland, a ripe scholar, especially in moral and metaphysical studies and belles lettres, and an eloquent preacher.
The other members appointed on the faculty belonged to the de- nomination which founded the school, and were persons of liberal education and experience as teachers. Professor Holmes was a graduate of Oberlin, Professor Allen of Hamilton, New York, and Professor MeKinney of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana ..
The first faculty meeting was held at Mr. Mann's residence, in West Newton, Massachusetts, about the 1st of November, 1852, the members from the western states coming to Massachusetts for that purpose. Mr. Mann describes it as unexpectedly harmonious in views and opinions.
At this meeting a division of labor among the several members was agreed upon, and three additional professorships were pro- jected, for which there were no appointees.
Faculty .- The faculty and their professorships were arranged and published, as follows:
Hon. Horace Mann, LL. D., President, and Professor of Political Economy, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Constitutional Law, and Natural Theology.
Rev. W. H. Doherty, A. M., Professor of Rhetoric, Logic, and Belles-Lettres.
Ira W. Allen, A. M., Professor of Mathematics, Astronomy, and Civil Engineering.
Rev. Thomas Holmes, A. M., Professor of Greek Language and Literature.
C. S. Pennell, A. M., Professor of Latin Language and Literature.
Miss R. M. Pennell, Professor of Physical Geography, Drawing, Natural History, Civil History, and Didactics.
- , Professor of Chemistry, and Theory and Practice of Agriculture.
Professor of Mineralogy and Geology.
Professor of Modern Languages.
Rev. A. L. Mckinney, Principal of Preparatory School.
The dedication and inauguration took place October 5, 1853. An immense concourse assembled from all parts of the state, and
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many other states. The ceremonies consisted of the investiture of the president in his office, by the presentation of the charter and keys ; in an address by Rev. I. N. Walter, and a response by Presi- dent Mann, and also the delivery by Mr. Mann of his dedicatory and inaugural address.
Opening of the School .- On the following day the school was opened by the examination of students. The grounds were un- cleaned and unfenced, and the building still unfinished, though all the rooms of Antioch hall and the north dormitory were ready for occupation.
A freshman class of six, four gentlemen and two ladies, was ad- mitted, and over two hundred entered the preparatory and English classes.
To this freshman class, one was added during the term, two at the beginning of the sophomore, eight at the beginning of the junior, and one at the beginning of the senior year. Three left during the course, leaving a class of fifteen, twelve gentlemen and three ladies, who graduated in the first class, June 27, 1857.
The cheap tuition effected by the scholarship system, and the general interest which had been awakened in the canvass for money, as well as the reputation of President Mann, brought in an influx of students, which continued until the abolishing of the scholar- ships, by the failure and assignment of 1859.
Horace Mann as President .- For the first years of the college, and until its embarrassments began seriously to manifest themselves, Mr. Mann kept himself aloof from its financial affairs, and devoted himself to overseeing and inspiring the educational work. He strove to make the acquaintance and gain the confidence of every student, and to impart his own inspiration to live for the highest ends. The health and morals of the students were his special care, and publicly and privately he labored to guard and promote them. The earnestness and power of his words, his pathos, wit, and ocea- sional sarcasm, will never be forgotten by any who were his pupils. In discipline, his aim was to check the beginnings of disorder. He was firm and thorough, but ready to accept any hope of amend- ment.
In the relations of the two sexes, his aim was, by publie recep- tions and otherwise, to give frequent opportunities for social inter- course in the presence of teachers and friends, that it might be the easier to restrain any tendency to seek private interviews.
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Colored Students .- Early in the college history, some students from a colored family presented themselves, and were received. Great excitement was aroused at once, and the president of the trustees sent Mr. Mann a note, forbidding him to receive them. His answer was that he would never consent to be connected with an institution from which any person of requisite qualifications was excluded on grounds of color, sex, physical deformity, or anything for which such person was not morally responsible. In this he was sustained by his colleagues. This position Antioch has always maintained, though both before and during the war it was done at large sacrifice. While a few students left the school, and others stayed away on account of it, firmness rendered the internal com- motion superficial and temporary. Except Oberlin, Antioch was a pioneer in this principle, and its proximity to the border line of slavery made it cost the more to stand by it.
Financial History and Denominational Relations .- As has been stated, the original plan, incorporated into the first charter, provid- ed that two-thirds of the board of trustees, and 'a majority of the board of instruction, should at all times be members of the Chris- tian denomination. Its educational fund was raised by the sale of scholarships, the interest on which was to sustain the educational expenses of all departments of the institution. For building funds, the trustees looked to local and special contributions.
When the buildings were finished, these local and special con- tributions had all been exhausted; money had been borrowed in large amounts, on mortgages and otherwise ; and a heavy indebt- edness on account, for labor and materials, stood against the college; how heavy, in the absence of any suitable books, it was impossible to tell. Considerable contributions were made within the denom- ination towards paying this debt; and agents were sent to New York and Boston, to solicit aid of Unitarians, as friends of liberal learning. Rev. Dr. Bellows, Hon. Moses H. Grinnell, and Peter Cooper, of New York, and Hon. Albert Fearing, of Boston, and many others, gave it generons aid. Still the debt remained, and statements concerning the financial status were discordant and con- fused. This bred distrust, and distrust checked donations.
The educational expenses were nearly $10,000 a year above the receipts from the scholarship interest.
At the end of the fourth academic year, June 27, 1857, about $40,000 of the principal of the scholarship notes had been paid in,
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and, notwithstanding the provisions of the charter for its security, it had been "borrowed" by the trustees, and expended for inci- dental uses. They, doubtless, expected to be able to refund it out of moneys raised to pay off the debt; but as the funds for that purpose did not come in, they were unable to restore this. And still there were debts outstanding, as it proved, amounting to over $80,000.
In this state of affairs, the trustees resolved no longer to continue this regime, but to stop expenditures as a financial corporation, and - to pay their debts, if possible. To continue longer would be to wrong the creditors of the corporation, as well as the stockholders (scholarship holders), who might, under the laws of Ohio, be liable for the debts of the corporation beyond the amount of their scholarships. Accordingly, an assignment of the property was made. F. A. Palmer, Esq., President of Broadway Bank, New York, who had been a liberal friend of the college, and was at that time its treasurer, was appointed assignee. Two years were de- voted to settlement- and liquidation. During these two years, earnest efforts were made by the friends of the educational aims of the college, East and West, to raise money to purchase the property when sold.
In the meantime, the educational work of the college was com- paratively undisturbed. At the time of the assignment the faculty was reorganized. President Mann was retained in his position, and four of his colleagues were reappointed : Professors Cary (successor to Professor Pennell), Warriner, and Holmes, and Mrs. Dean, formerly Miss Pennell. Rev. Austin Craig, D. D., was ap- pointed Professor of Rhetoric, Logic, etc .; Miss Lucretia Crocker, Professor of Mathematics; and J. B. Weston, who graduated at that commencement, Principal of the Preparatory Department. Professor Holmes was in Europe, where he had been spending two years. He did not accept the appointment, but re-entered the ministry. The year following, Dr. Craig was succeeded by H. C. Badgers, and Miss Crocker by F. W. Bardwell. The faculty, as thus constituted, with the usual corps of assistants in the Prepara- tory Department, carried on the educational work for two years, at their own risk, dividing the receipts, which amounted to about half their stipulated salaries.
In the spring of 1859, a suit for foreclosure was entered in the United States Court, in Cincinnati, by the Hartford Insurance
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Company, which held a first mortgage on the real estate, and granted. The property was appraised : the real estate at $60,000, and the personal property at $5,000. The sale was advertised to take place April 19, 1859.
On the day before, the friends of the college assembled at Yel- low Springs, effected an organization, and combined their funds, with the intent of purchasing the property, if they should not be outbidden at the sale. The sale was effected by John Kebler, Esq., Master Commissioner, and the property was bid off by F. A. Pal- mer, the assignee, at two-thirds the valuation, no bidder appearing against him. It was transferred by him, on the same terms, to five provisional trustees; and by them, April 22, 1859, to the trustees of the new corporation, known as "Antioch College, of Yellow Springs, Greene County, Ohio."
The men comprising this body and raising funds for it, resolved that none of the debts of the old corporation should remain unpaid. The scholarship fund, the paid-up stock of the old corporation, which had been expended, was not deemed a debt. Thus about eighty thousand dollars was really paid for property, though it was bid off at about half that sum. This money was raised in the Christian and Unitarian denominations; about equal proportions from each.
The new charter avowed the sympathy of the corporators "in the liberal and unsectarian spirit in which the college originated, and in the generous ideas which prevailed in its educational plans," and expressed their desire that the new organization should "per- petuate its general educational policy, and be managed and con- ducted upon its liberal principles." The rights and powers were " vested in a board of trustees, composed of twenty persons, twelve of whom shall always be members of the religious denomination of 'Christians,' as that denomination is hereinbefore described, and eight of whom shall always be members of the Unitarian denomi- nation of Christians." The trustees, as named in the charter, were : "Horace Mann, Eli Fay, J. B. Weston, E. M. Birch, and T. M. Me Whinney, of Yellow Springs, Ohio; John Phillips, E. W. Devore, and John Kebler, of Ohio; Thomas Harless and Artemus Carter, of Chicago; George Partridge, of St. Louis; Albert Fear- ing and Edward Edmunds, of Boston; Moses Cummings, of New Jersey; Henderson Gaylord and E. W. Clarke, of Pennsylvania ; Henry W. Bellows, Charles Butler, G. W. Hosmer, and Amasa Stanton, of New York.
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