USA > Oregon > Marion County > Salem > Oregon and its institutions; comprising a full history of the Willamette University, the first established on the Pacific Coast > Part 12
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Know all men by these presents, that I, -- , am held and firmly bound unto the Willamette Uni- versity in the penal sum of - dollars, to the pay- ment of which sum I bind myself, my heirs, ex- ecutors, and administrators. Sealed with my seal, and dated this day of -, 18 -.
The condition of the above obligation is such, tliat if the above named - shall convey, by good and sufficient deed, within -, from the date hereof, the following described lands, to wit, -, as a do- nation to said university, then this obligation to be null, otherwise of force.
The agents were further instructed to make the securities for ten years' scholarships in the Pre- paratory Department payable, the interest annually,
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and principal in two years ; and those for ten years' scholarships in the Preparatory or Collegiate Depart- ment, or both, payable, interest annually and prin- cipal in three years; and the securities for perpetual scholarships, interest payable annually and principal in five years ; the rate of interest to be not less than the legal rates, and both interest and principal pay- able to any authorized agent of the Board, or to the treasurer of the same.
The securities which the agents were authorized to receive were to consist of promissory notes, with one or more sureties, or mortgages upon real estate ; and the seal which was adopted by the university was the eagle side of a United States ten dollar gold coin. With this financial system of operations thus far introduced, and with such an array of talent in the corps of agents to carry out the plan to practical effect in the sale of scholarships and in the use of other measures to establish an endowment fund, we will leave them for the time being to the accomplish- ment of the important work committed to them, and for a while attend to some other matters of historical interest connected with the Oregon Institute and Willamette University.
In the regular course of our history we now approach an important matter of financial interest to the university, with which stands connected a name, the mention of which will excite emotions of deep interest in the minds of all that were favored with his acquaintance, and especially of all the early Oregonians. The name is that of Alanson Beers,
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and the interest referred to is that which was con- nected with what was called the Beers House. The name of Alanson Beers ceased to appear in connection with the acts of the Board in the spring of 1853, simply because he was no longer an inhabitant of earth. After a very severe illness of a few days only, he passed at that time from the scenes of earth to the rewards of eternity. Alanson Beers came to Oregon as a lay member of the Oregon Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He sailed with his family, in connection with a number of other persons, from Boston in July, 1836, and entered the mouth of the Columbia River in May, 1837. Though he was connected with the mission as a blacksmith, yet the superintendent placed him in charge of the mission farm near Matheny's Ferry. He entered at once into all the moral and religious reforms of the day which promised good to the people, and he was especially active and efficient in the formation of the provisional government. He was a member of the first legislative committee of the territory, and also of the executive committee of three who acted as a kind of triune governor of Oregon. He was efficient, reliable, and honest in all these relations, winning the favor and the confidence of all with whom he had intercourse. In February, 1842, he was present at a public meeting where the Oregon Institute re- ceived its birth, and was elected one of the members of the original Board of Trustees. At an annual meeting he was elected treasurer of the Board, and served a few years in that capacity, always showing
13
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that he had the interests of the institution deeply at heart.
He conceived the idea that a boarding house connected with the institution, properly conducted, would do much to promote its interests, and he applied to the Board for the privilege of erecting a suitable house for that purpose on the northwest corner of what is known as the sixty acre reserve. The Board consented to the erection of such a house, but did not either sell or lease Mr. Beers the land upon which the house was located. The house was therefore the property of Mr. Beers before his death, and was recognized by the Board as belonging to his estate. Consequently, on November 1, 1854, the question was brought before the Board, " What dis- position can be made of the property belonging to the estate of Alanson Beers situated on the lands of the university ? " Rev. J. L. Parrish was the ad- ministrator of the estate, and having made various statements in relation to the circumstances under which the building was crected, the Board proceeded to adopt the following preamble and resolution :
Whereas Mr. Alanson Beers, in pursuance of an arrangement made with the Oregon Institute, did erect on the premises of said institute a house to be permanently occupied as a boarding house for the accommodation of the institute; and whereas said Alanson Beers has subsequently deceased, and, there- fore, cannot carry out the contract made with the institute ; and whereas the power of controlling the interests of the Oregon Institute is now vested in the
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trustees of the Willamette University, therefore, Resolved, that we proceed to elect a committee to take into consideration the subject of the interests of the Institute in the premises above-mentioned, and report at an adjourned meeting of the Board a plan for the settlement of the questions involved.
This committee, after a full investigation of the subject, recommended that, in adjusting the interests of the institution in the Beers House, the original intention of the parties in the erection of the house should be strictly observed ; and if it were necessary in carrying out this design to lease the land for a term of years, it should be so leased, and the Board at first adopted this recommendation. Subsequently, however, the Board reconsidered this action, and provided an agent to be present at the adminis- trator's sale of said house, with discretionary authority to purchase it, which he did by bidding it off at three thousand dollars. But it is not necessary to trace all the action of the Board from time to time in relation to the Beers House. It will be sufficient to say that after a number of trials to use it for the purposes for which it was constructed, it was finally decided that the time had probably not yet come when a boarding house could be sustained in connection with the Willamette University. Accordingly, the whole property was sold to Mr. John Ford, and by him conveyed to its present occupant, General John F. Miller. Thus the object contemplated by the builder of this house, Mr. Alan- son Beers, was, in part at least, defeated ; and yet
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it is quite probable that if the originator had sur- vived it would have been a great blessing to the institution. But he fell ; just as he was preparing to move into the building, all finished, and its capacious rooms waiting occupancy, he fell ; and when he fell society lost a most valuable member, the young and rising territory one of its most useful and cherished citizens, and the Willamette University one of its warmest and most faithful friends. As has been stated, he was one of the original nine who con- stituted the first Board of Trustees for the Oregon Institute, and he remained a member of the Board by re-election from time to time until his death.
At a meeting of the Board, held November 1, 1854, Rev. William Roberts, who had at a previous annual meeting been elected secretary, resigned his position in consequence of his having been appointed presid- ing elder in Washington Territory, and at an ad- journed meeting the Board elected Gustavus Hines to fill his place until the close of the year.
The second annual meeting under the charter was held in the chapel of the institute March 7, 1855, and the following persons were elected officers of the Board for the ensuing year :
Rev. DAVID LESLIE, President ; Rev. J. D. BOON, Vice-President ; Rev. GUSTAVUS HINES, Secretary ; Mr. ELISHA STRONG, Treasurer.
Rev. A. F. Waller, Rev. J. D. Boon, Hon. G. H. Williams, Hon. E. N. Cook, and William H. Wil- son, were elected members of the executive com- mittee.
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At this meeting President Hoyt presented his res- ignation to the Board, desiring it to take effect at the close of the summer term. The resignation was re- ferred to a select committee. At an adjourned meet- ing the constitution was so amended as to require seven to be on the executive committee, and Gusta- vus Hines and F. S. Hoyt were elected to fill up that committee, and the following persons were nomin- ated and recommended to the Oregon Annual Confer- ence for election to fill the class in the Board whose term of service had expired : L. F. Grover, W. H. Wilson, A. M. Belt, C. Bennet, William Roberts, A. C. Gibbs, J. G. Wilson, D. Smith, John C. Peebles, George H. Jones, C. A. Reed.
The executive committee during the year had made some repairs in the foundation and chimneys of the institute building, and recommended that measures be taken for further improvement in both the build- ing and grounds the ensuing year.
The Board also resolved to appoint seven agents to solicit scholarships and donations for the institution during the coming year, and the following persons were elected said agents : T. H. Pearne, F. S. Hoyt, A. F. Waller, L. F. Grover, Samuel Parker, T. F. Royal, and E. M. Barnum; and the executive com- mittee was instructed to procure printed certificates of scholarships, to be given to those who purchase the same, and action was taken to change the certifi- cates so as to agree with the present arrangements of the Board.
At. this time the select committee to whom was
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.
referred the matter of the resignation of President Hoyt reported adversely to the acceptance of the resignation, and recommended to the Board the elec- tion of a professor of mathematics, and appointed a committee of correspondence on the subject. The report was adopted; but at a subsequent meeting of the Board so much of it as related to the election of a professor of mathematics was reconsidered, and finally amended so as to provide for the election of a professor to take his place in the institution at the commencement of the fall term.
It is in connection with the operations of the school during the present year that the name of Mrs. Thurs- ton appears upon the records. She had been asso- ciated with the school as one of the faculty for some time previously, and the Board, placing a high esti- mate upon her services, and receiving an intimation that she would probably retire from the school, passed a resolution respectfully inviting her to remain in connection with the institute as preceptress.
The Board received a communication at this time from Rev. T. H. Pearne, Financial Agent of the Mis- sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, requesting payment of whatever sum might be due on the four thousand four hundred and thirty-seven dollars and eighty-three cents, ($4,437 83,) secured by bond executed by W. H. Wilson and others to said Missionary Society. This communication was referred to a committee, which was instructed to correspond with the Board of Managers of said soci- ety, and secure the formal relinquishment to this
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Board of Trustees of the claim and bond above re- ferred to.
Questions from time to time had arisen since the incorporation of the institution and the adoption of the name of Willamette University, and the schol- arship system under the charter, in regard to the rights of the original subscribers to the funds of the Oregon Institute in relation to scholarships ; whether they were entitled to scholarships by virtue of their former subscriptions, or whether those subscriptions were to be ignored in the sale of scholarships, and the old subscribers be required to pay the same as others who had never subscribed in aid of the institu- tion. To ascertain the facts in relation to the matter, so that the Board could come to a just conclusion in the premises, a committee was appointed to procure and take into consideration certain papers relating to the origin and early history of the institution. This committee consisted of Rev. Gustavus Hines, Rev. J. L. Parrish, Rev. A. F. Waller, and Hon. L. F. Grover. This committee obtained the original papers of the Oregon Institute, and upon them made their report. In their report they gave the history of the institution from its incipiency up to that time, and on the facts presented the committee found, 1. That in the establishment of the Oregon Institute in 1842 on Wallace's Prairie the institution was in- tended as a progressive one, with an express intent of advancing the same to our present organization ; that at no time since has the object of the institution been abandoned, however embarrassed its condition
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or informal its proceedings; and, 2. That the early patrons of the Oregon Institute, who entitled them- selves to scholarships in the same, were equitably as well as legally entitled to scholarships in the Willa- mette University in value equal to the amounts paid by them into the treasury of said institution. This proved to be acceptable to the Board, and was conse- quently adopted ; and a meeting, held August 15, 1855, in carrying out the principles of the report of the Board, took action, granting Rev. David Leslie, Rev. L. H. Judson, and Rev. Jason Lee (deceased) perpetual scholarships for having paid five hundred dollars each to build up the Oregon Institute. And it was furthermore decreed that all who had hereto- fore entitled themselves to scholarships in full, or in part, be entitled to avail themselves of the benefit of such scholarships from the date of the certificates of said scholarship issued or to be issued by virtue of the late action of the Board in the premises. In the case of Rev. Jason Lee, deceased, the action of the Board at this time was eminently just and proper It was as follows :
Whereas the Rev. Jason Lee by his last will do- nated to this institution the sum of one hundred dollars over and above the amount of five hundred dollars ($500) personally donated by him in his life- time ; therefore,
Resolved, That a perpetual scholarship be issued to the estate of said Jason Lee, and that all tuition heretofore accrued due from said estate be remitted in consideration of said bequest of one hundred dol-
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lars. And further, in acting upon this principle, it was determined that, in view of the deep interest which Alanson Beers took in the establishment and maintenance of the institution, each of his children be presented with a ten years' scholarship, not to be transferred.
The Board of Instruction for the past two years had varied somewhat from time to time, as it was found quite impossible as yet to obtain permanent teachers. It had consisted of Mr. Hoyt, who was both president and principal of the academical de- partment ; Mrs .- Thurston, preceptress ; and Miss Julia Bryant, teacher in the primary department. But changes had taken place, so that at the close of the year ending February, 1856, we find Rev. F. S. Hoyt president and professor, Rev. Charles Hall Professor of Exact Sciences, and Mrs. Hoyt pre- ceptress, and teacher in the primary department.
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CHAPTER IX.
POPULATION, NEW CONSTITUTION, AND ENDOWMENT
WE have now reached the fifteenth year of the his tory of the Oregon Institute, and the fourth of the Willamette University. During that period we have been passing through great changes, civil, political, and religious ; but especially in regard to the population of our country. In 1842, when the Oregon Institute sprang into being, there were not two hundred white persons of American origin, all told, on the Pacific slope of our continent. Indeed at that time, taken as a whole, the country was in a state of comparative barbarism. A more heterogeneous class of humanity, small as it was, could not have been found in any land than had sought an asylum in the wilds of the Pacific coast. Here were the Indian, the legitimate proprietor of the soil, Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irish- men, Americans, Germans, Prussians, Italians, Span- ish, Frenchmen, Danes, Canadians, Hawaiians, Ota- heitans, Africans, and Chinese. From intermarrying with one another, and particularly with the natives of the country ever since white men first visited these shores, an amalgamated population had been introduced, presenting every variety of color, dispo- sition, and character of which the human species is capable. The English, Scotch, French, and some
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others, had been introduced into the country mainly through the Hudson's Bay Company.
Many persons had found their way to Oregon from the numerous vessels which, from the earliest dis- coveries, had touched at various points along this extended coast. Scarcely a ship had visited the Columbia River for years from which two or more had not made their escape, and, secreting themselves until the vessel had left, they would come forth to mingle with the motley inhabitants as citizens of Oregon. Some had deserted their ships on the coast of California, and had fought their way to the valley of the famed "Multnomah" through the hostile tribes that roamed among the Klamath and Umpqua Mount- ains, and some had found their way to the fertile valleys of Oregon from the Rocky Mountains them- selves; men who, in connection with the American companies established for purposes of traffic with the Blackfeet, Nez Perces, and other Indian tribes, had for many years been ranging the mountainous regions of the vast interior, experiencing the most surprising adventures among the Indians, and enduring every variety of hardships which human nature is capable of suffering, and at last had found a peaceful and quiet retreat on the banks of some beautiful river or stream- let meandering through the vales, where they were secure from savage violence and treachery, and where most of them proposed to close their earthly carcer. Some of these mountaineers had Indian wives, and formed an attachment for the mothers of their sons and daughters, and consequently, on leaving the scenes
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of their savage life, they took with them their wives and children, anxious that both might be benefited by mingling with civilized society; and they had heard that civilization was springing up in the midst of the mixed population of the valleys of Oregon. The most fruitful channel, however, for the supply of population for Oregon was the immigration channel from the United States east of the mountains to the Pacific coast. It had long been a problem whether the unknown regions west of the Rocky Mountains would or could ever be populated by immigrations across the continent, direct from the Atlantic States. The problem, however, was about to be solved. Lewis and Clark found their way across. Wilson Price Hunt and company scaled the barriers. Bon- neville and Wyeth passed the stupendous gates, and traced the waters as they flowed westward to the ocean. The intrepid Lee, the pioneer missionary, and his companions, explored the South Pass through the mountains on their passage toward the setting sun. Whitman and Spaulding, with their wives and associates, followed in the train, and found no insu- perable barriers. In 1839-41 parties comparatively small made the transit in safety. In 1842 the immi- gration numbered one hundred and thirty-two per- sons in all. Up to this period the transit had been made either on foot, or on the backs of mules or Indian ponies ; but now another question was to be settled. Can wheeled carriages perform the trip over the mountains, from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean ? The emphatic answer is, They can ;
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for in 1843 the immigration, consisting of over eight hundred persons, performed the trip in wagons drawn by oxen. The gates were now open, the bars were all let down, the problem was fully solved. Oregon and the whole Pacific coast were to be peopled by immigration from the Eastern States. In 1844 an- other eight hundred was added to the population in the same manner. In 1845 three thousand souls sought the "better country," "not an heavenly," fanned by the breezes of the western ocean. In 1846 and 1847 the immigrations were respectable as to numbers; and in 1848 the donation land law was passed, and, but for the wonderful discovery of gold on the Sacramento, in California, doubtless an over- whelming tide of immigration would have set in to Oregon; but as it was, for the time being the stream was turned aside; some thousands, however, annually were added to the population of Oregon. In 1852 twenty thousand men, women, and children found homes and rest in these lovely valleys. In 1853 ten thousand were added to the former. In 1854 and 1855 the number, though respectable, was very much smaller. The aggregate of all these immigrations, diminished by just so many as from dissatisfaction had left the country or had died, had occupied the whole country, sparsely in many places, from Puget's Sound to Siskiu Mountains, and from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific coast.
We have taken this cursory glance at the popula- tion of Oregon at this time for the purpose of show- ing the basis upon which we were operating, the
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causes which impelled us forward, and the increasing importance of the institution which we were laboring to establish. The Oregon Institute had been located in the most delightful and fertile portion of the en- tire country, at a very central point in the unrivaled valley of the Willamette. The population through- out the whole country, and especially in the vicinity of the institution, was continually increasing, and the demands upon the school seemed correspond- ingly to increase. And hence the energy that was thrown into the action of the Board, and hence the conception and vigorous application of the plans for properly endowing the University, so that it would, according to the original design, so far as literature and science were concerned, meet the growing de- mands of the country.
At the annual meeting of the Board, held March 5, 1856, the following persons were elected officers for the ensuing year :
Rev. DAVID LESLIE, President; Hon. G. H. WILLIAMS, Vice-President; Hon. L. F. GROVER, Secretary ; ELISHA STRONG, Treasurer.
An executive committee and an auditing com- mittee were also elected; a committee was also ap- pointed to revise the constitution, and, at a meeting held Sept. 10, 1856, the Board adopted the constitu- tion, as follows :
CONSTITUTION.
To secure a regular and efficient discharge of their duties, the Trustees of the Willamette University
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adopt, and agree to be governed by, the following constitution :
ARTICLE I.
SECTION 1 .- This association shall be called the Board of Trustees of the Willamette University, pur- suant to the provision of the Act of Incorporation granted by the Legislative Assembly of the territory of Oregon, bearing date January 12, 1853.
SECTION 2 .- The recognized duties of this Board of Trustees shall be to secure to the Willamette University the possession and perpetuity of an ade- quate endowment, to manage its fiscal affairs, and to organize and exercise such supervision over its de- partments of instruction as shall best secure its use- fulness as an institution of learning.
ARTICLE II .- OFFICERS.
SECTION 1 .- The officers of the Board of Trustees shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer.
SECTION 2 .- It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all meetings of the Board, to call such special meetings as are hereinafter provided for, to subscribe his name to all acts and proceedings of the Board when necessary and proper to give validity to the same, to visit during each term the several departments of instruction connected with the uni- versity, and to make a written report of their effi- ciency at the next ensuing meeting of the Board
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SECTION 3 .- It shall be the duty of the vice-presi- dent to perform the duties of the president in his absence.
SECTION 4 .- It shall be the duty of the secretary to give due notice of the meetings of the Board, to keep a full record of its proceedings, to attest and affix the seal of the university to all instruments of writing, whenever necessary to give them validity, to receive and file all papers and documents, collect all moneys due the university, and pay the same to the treasurer, taking his receipt therefor, and make re- port to the Board at each annual meeting.
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