USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Early Philadelphia; its people, life and progress > Part 11
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James Logan, Esquire
Thomas Lawrence, Esquire
William Allen, Esquire
John Inglis, Merchant
Tench Francis, Esquire
William Masters, Esquire
Lloyd Zachary, Practitioner in Physic
Samuel McCall, Jr., Merchant
Joseph Turner, Esquire
Benjamin Franklin, Printer
Thomas Leech, Merchant
William Shippen, Practitioner in Physic
Robert Strettell, Esquire
Philip Syng, Silversmith
Charles Willing, Esquire
Phineas Bond, Practitioner in Physic
Thomas Hopkinson, Esquire
William Plumsted, Esquire
Joshua Maddox, Esquire Thomas White, Esquire
William Coleman, Merchant
Abram Taylor, Esquire
Richard Peters, Esquire
Thomas Bond, Practitioner in Physic
Thus they are named and described in the deed of conveyance of the property on Fourth Street and in their first Minutes.
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In taking over the "New Building," as it was called when erected for Whitefield, the conveyors dictated a continuance of their original purpose and in each of the Charters granted to the institution this has been continued, forming an unbroken connection back to 1740. The origi- nal Trustees, besides, contributed a considerable amount of the money for the Academy of 1749 at the time of the transfer of their property.
The first meeting of the new subscribers was held at Robert's Coffee House February 1, 1750, when Messrs. Benezet, Hazard, Eastburn, Read and Evans directed their associates, Edmund Wooley and John Coats, to make the deed conveying the property on Fourth Street near Arch to the new Trustees.
Franklin wanted the Rev. Samuel Johnson, of Strat- ford, Connecticut, to head the Academy and journeyed thence to persuade him, but in vain, and David Martin, M.A., was chosen Rector to start the undertaking. He died in 1751 and Francis Allison was chosen in his place " upon Trial."
David James Dove, the English Master at this time, deserves mention, for he was one of the characters of the time. Graydon, who was a pupil under him, tells us that he was much celebrated as a teacher both at his own school, kept in Videll's Alley, and in the Academy. It was his practice to substitute disgrace for corporal punishment and he rarely used his birch in the usual way. It was, how- ever, stuck into the back part of the collar of the culprit who was compelled to stand at the top of the form with this badge of disgrace towering from his nape. When his scholars were late he would send a committee of boys for them with a lighted lantern and bell to escort them through the streets to their class-room. He was fair about it and
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one day when late himself subjected himself good- humoredly to the same treatment on the part of his watch- ful pupils. He tried to conduct a girls' school of his own in addition to his duties at the Academy and so lost his position, for the Trustees were not lenient then as to a division of allegiance in the faculty.
The only reference to the doings of the boys of those days is in the formal minutes of the Trustees in the entry of 15th of November, 1752, " Agreed that a small Ladder be bought, to be always at hand for the Conveniency of mending the Windows," but Graydon gives some account of their pranks while he was a student:
He tells in his memoirs of his entry into the College and how he was compelled at the outset to reluctantly fight a battle with one John Appowen in order to establish his claim to the honour of being an Academy boy. He was defeated, but was acknowledged to have behaved well and not unworthily, so that he had no more battles imposed upon him.
John Beveridge, a native of Scotland, was the Latin master at this time and made a free use of the rattan and ferule. The boys imposed upon him and one actually twitched off his wig under the pretense of brushing a spider from it. The poor man could only exclaim, " Hoot mon!" The worst, however, that Graydon relates is the sudden darkening of the room by boys on the outside, closing the shutters soon after the master had entered and before he reached his place. From the utter darkness came "the most hideous yells that can be conceived " and all the books available were hurled at the head of the astonished pre- ceptor. He groped and crawled to the door, attained light and returned to a death-like silence. Every boy was at his lesson. After several days of this Graydon says the
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faculty interfered and decreed most exemplary punishment for those who were caught. He tells, in striking contrast, of the sterling qualities and dignity and the respect in which the students held Patrick Alison, later chaplain to the Continental Congress; James Wilson, professor of English, founder of the Law School and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in after years, and John Andrews, later Provost. Boys were boys in those days, too, it seems, although their appearance and stilted writings have often caused us to regard them as more serious and dignified than our present Freshmen.
Graydon's account of early athletics is so interesting that it should be quoted:
" My course was much shortened by the removal to my mother's, who had taken a house in Arch Street, facing the Friends' burying ground. The first lads that were placed with her were two brothers, the sons of a Colonel Lewis, of Virginia. The younger, named Samuel, . . . had the attractions of a pleasing countenance and great gentleness of manners. . . . There was not a boy in the school in whose welfare and competitions I took so decided an inter- est; the ardor of which was in almost perpetual requisition, from the circumstance of his being a champion in the gymnastic exer- cise of running, which was then the rage. The enthusiasm of the turf had pervaded the Academy, and the most extravagant transports of that theatre on the triumph of a favorite horse were not more zealous and impassioned than were the acclamations which followed the victor in a foot-race around a square. Stripped to the shirt, and accoutred for the heat by a handkerchief bound round the head, another round the middle, with loosened knee-bands, without shoes, or with moccasins instead of them, the racers were started ; and turning to the left round the corner of Arch Street, they encompassed the square in which the Academy stands, while the most eager spectators, in imitation of those who scour across the course at a horse race, scampered over the church burying ground to Fifth Street, in order to see the state of the runners as they passed, and to ascertain which was likely to be foremost,
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on turning Market Street corner. The four sides of this square cannot be much less than three-quarters of a mile; wherefore, bottom in the coursers was no less essential than swiftness, and in both Lewis bore away the palm from every one that dared enter against him. After having, in a great number of matches, com- pletely triumphed over the Academy, other schools were resorted to for racers; but all in vain-Lewis was the Eclipse that dis- tanced every competitor, the swift-footed Achilles, against the vigorous agility of whose straight and well-proportioned form the long-legged stride of the overgrown and the nimble step of the dapper were equally unavailing."
A notable addition to the faculty upon Mr. Dove's re- tirement in 1753 was that of Ebenezer Kinnersley, who was chosen "Professor of the English Tongue and of Oratory." It was, however, for his proficiency in elec- tricity that he became best known, and much of Franklin's reputation for his discoveries in the new wonder is attrib- uted to him.
In 1753 Governor Penn gave the institution a Charter under the name of " The Trustees of the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania " and there was much rejoicing among both Trustees and Pupils, the latter delivering several declamations in Latin to cele- brate the event.
The Academy was growing and soon the necessity of enlarging its sphere was apparent.
The publication of a scheme for an ideal " College of Mirania " by William Smith, who had been educated at the University of Aberdeen, attracted much attention in 1752 and in enclosing a copy to Franklin the author inquired about the placing of his pupils in the Philadelphia Acad- emy. The correspondence led to a visit and finally to the choice of William Smith as Provost of the College in 1755. The career of this remarkable man was long and
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distinguished. It is to his skillful management that the rise and success of the University must be attributed. The plan of his ideal " College of Mirania " which he endea- voured to put into practice, was a step in advance in educa- tion and the courses of study which he first inculcated have formed the bases for nearly all American Colleges. These advanced ideas were in harmony with those of Franklin and his associates, so that the modern theory of American education had its beginnings at Philadelphia nearly a hundred years before it was established in any other community in the country. Dr. Smith was eloquent, forcible and courageous. Dr. Rush said he was not de- pendable and a blasphemer, and Franklin called him a drunkard, but he made Franklin retract. He drew up the new Charter of 1755 incorporating the College, which name was added to the title, still including the " Charitable School " of 1740.
In the agitated times that followed, during the wars with the French, the Provost, Dr. Smith, opposed so vehemently the non-resistance policy of the Legislature of Pennsylvania that by an arbitrary stretch of power he was thrown into prison. In faithfulness to his duties as Pro- vost, however, he received his classes at the windows of his gaol, and continued his instructions to them there while still a prisoner. Finally he was set at liberty, for the purpose of going to England to make a personal appeal to the king, and his kindly reception there was not lessened by the strain to which his loyalty at home had been put. Oxford con- ferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. On his return home so highly did his fellow-citizens rate his influ- ence abroad that, when in 1761 the Trustees were hard beset, they sent him back to England to raise funds for an endowment. It happened that King's College (now Colum-
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bia) in New York was in similar straits, and had resolved on similar efforts. The two commissioners met in England and amicably resolved to " divide the land between them " and share the proceeds. Through the influence of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury they received a circular letter from the king to all the churches, and succeeded in raising a very considerable endowment for each college. David Garrick gave a benefit in Drury Lane which netted a good sum and altogether Dr. Smith raised at home and abroad £14,000 for his College.
Two graduates of the first class became more than usually distinguished. Francis Hopkinson was one of the most prominent patriots of the Revolutionary War, was a member of Congress and Assembly, a Judge and Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a musician and writer of ability, in fact the most prolific writer of both prose and verse who ever graduated from the College. He became a Trustee in 1778 and his family have been prominently identified with the institution to the present day. Jacob Duché became Rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's and was the first chaplain of the Continental Congress. John Adams, writing of the open- ing of the Congress, says that Duché " struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present." But when the British entered Philadelphia in 1777 his patriotism left him and he begged Washington to conclude a peace. He was the first alumnus to become a Trustee, which he did in 1761, and ably seconded the plans of the Provost.
John Morgan, of the class of 1757, has shed great glory upon his Alma Mater. Beginning his medical studies under Dr. Redman, he served as a surgeon of the Pro- vincial Troops against the French and Indians until 1760,
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when he went to Europe to complete his medical education at Edinburgh, London and Paris. Returning to Philadel- phia in 1765 he laid before the Trustees of the College at a special meeting on the 3rd of May, a recommendation of his plans for a Medical Department from Governor Thomas Penn and similar letters from James Hamilton and Rev. Mr. Richard Peters, two Trustees then in Eng- land. The Trustees immediately entered into the project with enthusiasm and appointed Dr. Morgan Professor of Theory and Practice of Physick. Thus was begun the first Medical School in America, which, as Thomas Penn said, gave " Reputation and Strength to the Institution " and made it the first University on the Continent, a fact which was strengthened by the first Law Department in 1790. It was this great achievement of the old College which has maintained Philadelphia as the centre of medi- cine in this country, an achievement rendered permanent by the recent merger of other medical schools with the pioneer.
In the Revolutionary War Dr. Morgan was made Director General and Physician in Chief of the army. Again the Trustees' Minutes tell us of their trouble with youthful spirits, for on the 2nd of February, 1773, they say " several Things are wanting " and begin by naming the playing of Truant and going about the streets in im- proper Company. Then they say "The Bell, morning and afternoon, rings a Quarter of an Hour, or Twenty minutes; during which Time, the Boys are running over the Benches in the Schools, and up and down the Stairs in a very rude manner; none of the Masters or Ushers coming into the Schools, till after the Ringing of the Bell is finished."
On account of the presence of the Continental Con-
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gress, the Commencement of 1775 was a notable one. Many of the delegates were at home in the College Hall for they had been a part of the institution, and two of them, Franklin and Mifflin, Trustees, were appointed a committee of reception. Allen, Mifflin, John and Lambert Cadwalader, Peters, Bingham and Smith, of Pennsyl- vania; Hopkinson, Neilson and Sergeant, of New Jersey ; Paca, Seney and Hindman, of Maryland; Williamson and Hill, of North Carolina; Dickinson, of Delaware; Marchant, of Rhode Island; Grayson, of Virginia, and Ramsay, of South Carolina, all knew the place and it was dear to them. We can imagine their reminiscences and the pranks they recounted to their distinguished colleagues as the assemblage gathered. Some perhaps had appeared in the "Masque of Alfred," performed by the students in January of 1757 in honour of Lord Loudoun and the Governors of several of the Colonies, who were in Phila- delphia consulting upon plans for common resistance to the Indians. Some grew enthusiastic, no doubt, as they pointed out the course, about the square, taken by young Samuel Lewis, of Virginia, in 1770, when he won the championship at foot-racing. There may have been some in the company who had led the assault with apples upon the windows and new street lamps in 1752, which caused a formal entry upon the Minutes of the Trustees " that a small Ladder be bought, to be always at hand for the Con- veniency of mending the windows."
As a member of the Congress came Colonel George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, who was to be called within a month to the command of his country's army. He lodged at Dr. Shippen's and was entertained at Andrew and James Allen's, James Tilghman's, Thomas Mifflin's, William Hamilton's. John Dickinson's, Benjamin
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Chew's, Thomas Willing's, Dr. Cadwalader's, General Cadwalader's, Thomas Wharton's, Dr. Rush's, and at other homes of University men. He wore his uniform because it was the best suit he had, and it consisted of a blue coat, scarlet waistcoat and breeches. And so Wash- ington first appeared at the University in the colours it now holds so dear.
On Monday, May 15, 1775, the following advertise- ment appeared in the " Pennsylvania Packet ":
The Commencement for degrees in the Arts will begin at the College, on Wednesday next at nine o'clock; and the busi- ness will be finished in the forenoon. That there may be the more room for strangers in the Hall, the worthy inhabitants of the City are requested to accommodate themselves (as far as they con- veniently can) in the Galleries; the doors of which will be opened at half an hour Past Eight o'clock."
The account of the Commencement is given in the " Pennsylvania Packet " of May 22, 1775:
" College of Philadelphia, May 17, 1775.
This day the public Commencement for Graduation in the Arts was held here, in the presence of the most illustrious assembly this Seminary ever beheld.
About half an hour after nine o'clock, agreeable to an invita- tion previously given to them, the Honorable members of the Con- tinental Congress were pleased to proceed in a body from the State House to the College, where they were received at the gate by the Provost and conducted to places prepared for their reception in the Hall. As soon as they were seated, the Trustees, with the Gov- ernor as President at their head, followed by the Provost, Vice- Provost, Professors, Graduates and other students, in their proper habits, entered the Hall, took their places ; the Galleries and other parts of the house being filled with as many of the respectable inhabitants of the City as could find room. The business then proceeded in the following order, viz. :
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1. Part of the Church Service, with an occasional Prayer, by the Provost.
2. An Anthem, accompanied with the organ and other instru- mental music.
3. Latin Salutatory Oration, de Amicitia, by Henry Ridgley.
4. On the Education of Young Ladies, by Francis Brown Sappington.
5. Latin Syllogistic Dispute, Utrum detur Sensus Moralis? Respondent, William Moore Smith; Opponents, Benjamin Chew and John Mifflin.
6. On Ancient Eloquence, by Thomas Ennals.
7. On Politeness, by John Mifflin.
8. On the Fall of Empires, by William Moore Smith.
9. The degrees were then conferred as follows, viz .: Bachelor of Arts-Benjamin Chew, *Townsend Eden, *Thomas Ennals, John Farrel, John Mifflin, *Henry Ridgley, *Francis Brown Sappington, and William Moore Smith. (*The young Gentlemen whose names are marked with an asterisk [thus *] are of Mary- land, the others of Philadelphia. ) Samuel Armor, John Park and John Thomas. Honorary Master of Arts, James Ross.
10. A Dialogue and two Odes set to music. The speakers in the Dialogue were John Farrel, F. B. Sappington and W. M. Smith.
11. Valedictory Oration-B. Chew.
12. CHARGE to the Graduates, by the Provost.
13. Concluding Prayer, by the Vice-Provost.
The Condescension of the Gentlemen Delegates, who thought it not unworthy of them, amid their other arduous concerns, to devote a few hours towards the encouragement of youth in literary pursuits, and the great generous applause given by them, as well as the audience in general, to the different speakers and to their exercises, especially such of them as had a reference to the present state of our public affairs, are circumstances which will be long remembered as honorable to the Seminary. At the desire, there- fore, of some very respectable names, and also that the principles constantly propagated in this Seminary may be known to the whole world, all those parts of the exercises which touched on matters of a public nature, are herewith communicated."
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In the next issue of the " Packet," May 29, 1775, the speeches on " Ancient Eloquence," " Fall of Empires," the Valedictory and the Charge of the Provost are given.
" The Fall of Empires," by the son of Dr. Smith, caused the audience to break " forth into one loud and general plaudit" when he cried out, "Liberty is our idol! She is the parent of virtue, the guardian of innocence, and the terror of vice! Equal laws, security of property, true religion, wisdom, magnanimity, arts and sciences are her lovely offspring!" Listening to this oration and to others of like sentiment we can imagine Washington's heart re- sponding warmly to the spirit of the occasion. How enthu- siastic he must have felt for the College that was instilling into its youth the principles he heard so ardently pro- claimed that day in May of 1775 when he was on the threshold of the consecration of his life to the ideals it taught!
Washington soon had further evidence of the patriotic attitude of the University he had visited. On the 23rd of June he attended Christ Church with the members of the Continental Congress, the officers of the Third Battalion of Philadelphia Militia, Colonel John Cadwalader com- manding, and a "vast concourse of people " to hear a sermon by Provost William Smith. It was on the " Pres- ent Situation of American Affairs " and laid down certain moral and political principles, leaving the obvious applica- tion to the distinguished gentlemen in the audience. 'This sermon caused much comment and was considered a patri- otic call to the liberties of America.
The ceremony of the commencement to which Wash- ington listened was the last public one until 1779. The commencement of 1776 was a private one on June 10th. The buildings and yard were filled with militia and the
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classes discontinued. The Trustees did not meet on ac- count of " public alarms." The Faculty complained that their lecture and even bed-rooms were forced open and that there were " hundreds of soldiers quartered in the College at one time."
There were many of the University's men in the Revo- lution. Ten of them had signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence. This is not the place to enumerate them, but it may be well to tell of a few who stood near to Wash- ington, were dear to him, whom he trusted and who helped him win.
For Benjamin Franklin Washington formed an early attachment. Indeed it was Franklin, as one of a committee of three sent by Congress in 1775, who framed the plan, with the Commander-in-Chief, at Cambridge for putting the defense of the country upon a permanent basis. The scheme was a continental army which enabled Washing- ton to carry on a seven years' war, and through Franklin's later efforts in Paris, to carry it to a successful conclusion. Washington wrote to him afar off in Passy in 1781, virtu- ally telling him that it lay with him to save his country if she was to be saved at all. It is Washington's words that are cut in the base of the Franklin Statue in Philadelphia on the site of the one time University buildings:
" Venerated for Benevolence Admired for Talents Esteemed for Patriotism Beloved for Philanthropy."
The splendid figure of Washington which stands in the Capitol at Richmond is due to Franklin's selection of Houdon to execute the commission voted by the State of Virginia.
Anthony Wayne, of the Class of 1765, was the most
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picturesque figure of the Revolution and one of the finest soldiers America has produced. He was also an Assembly- man and sat in the Pennsylvania Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States. Washington's re- liance upon him is indicated by the account of every battle in which he was engaged where " Wayne led the advance." On June 24, 1778, Washington invited his generals to a council at Hopewell, New Jersey, and after explaining to them the conditions of his own force and that of the enemy, asked if it would be advisable to hazard a general action. Sixteen generals were gathered and all answered against such an action with considerable explanation until it came to Anthony Wayne. Washington then said to him, "What would you do, General? " He arose in his place and re- plied with emphasis, " Fight, sir." The Battle of Mon- mouth was the result. He served with distinction in nearly every important engagement from Canada in the North to Georgia in the South and after the war Washington made him Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. In this position he conquered the middle and northwest and se- cured for civilization the territory between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Upon the centre of the outer line at Valley Forge stands a noble equestrian statue of General Wayne. It is where he stood on that hallowed camp- ground and the place he held upon many a field of battle. There is no commonwealth in America but has a county or town bearing his name.
John Cadwalader, of the Class of 1760, after serving as a member of the Provisional Congress, took command of the " Silk Stocking Company " in Philadelphia before which Provost Smith delivered his celebrated address in Christ Church in 1775. He soon rose to be a Brigadier- General, meriting the report of Washington in which he
11
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said, " General Cadwalader is a man of ability, a good disciplinarian, a man of good principles and of intrepid bravery." He was always an enthusiastic supporter of Washington and fought a duel in his behalf with Conway, author of the " Cabal," whose purpose was to substitute General Gates as Commander-in-Chief. Cadwalader badly wounded Conway, who apologized to Washington and left the country. In 1779 he became a Trustee. A brother, Lambert, of the same class, was a member of the Provincial Convention and Continental Congress. He was a Captain and Colonel of Pennsylvania Militia in the Revolution.
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