USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. I > Part 3
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PLAN OF GROUNDS.
shared more largely in the beauteous bounties of nature and of art than "The Forks of the Dela- ware." "And no one point could be selected in the whole vast assemblage of enchanting scenery, whence the eye of delicate sensibility could drink so largely of the streams of delightful vision as from out Mons Scientia. Strangers and even frequent visitors, as they ascend the hill, are seen to stop and look back, and again to start; and again, when the brow is gained, to pause long and look down and all around the amphitheatre, as if reluctant to turn the eye away from these bold lines of nature and delicate pencillings of art," as Margaret Junkin well said.
EASTON EDUCATIONAL ENTERPRISE .- It is by no means strange that such beauties
of nature should from the first have made the "Forks of the Delaware" attractive to thoughtful people, not a few of whom were to select this spot for their own home. In 1811 the Easton Library was started on the suggestion of Hon. Samuel Sitgreaves. On the conclusion of the war with England, other efforts at edu- cational progress originated. More attention was given to the public schools. The Minerva Sem- inary opened its doors, and soon attained dis- tinction under the care of its able principal, Rev. John Vanderveer, D. D., whose unique customs and strong administration are well remembered throughout this valley. In 1824 the higher education in Pennsyl- vania, was represented by but five chartered colleges. These were Dick- inson College, at Carlisle, and the University of Pennsylvania, at Phil- adelphia, and three smaller colleges more than three hundred and fifty miles away on the extreme western 718. border of the state. Of the latter, Washington and Jefferson were under Presbyterian control; but, though doing a very useful work, they were smaller. Separated from us by the Alleghanies, they be- longed to the valley of the Ohio rather than the Atlantic coast.
THE PLAN TO ESTABLISH A COLLEGE .- The enterprising spirit of the people of Easton readily accepted the suggestion made by the Hon. James Madison Porter, a rising at- torney, who called a meeting of the citizens, which was held at White's Hotel, Centre Square (now the postoffice), on Monday, December 27, 1824. It was resolved to start a college in which the ancient and modern languages, together with mathematics, the natural sciences, civil engineer- ing and military tactics should be taught. Vari- ous names were proposed for the institution. On the suggestion of Josiah Davis, who became known in later years as the veteran teacher of the town, it was voted to give the institution the name of Lafayette College, in grateful remem- brance of the services of the distinguished French
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
patriot, whose last triumphal visit to our shores had just closed. The meeting appointed a board of trustees consisting of the governor, the speak- ers of the senate and of the house of representa- tives, and the adjutant-general of the state; and General Robert Patterson, Colonels John Hare Powell, Peter A. Browne, Andrew A. Pre- vost, of Philadelphia, and other prominent citi- zens of the state, being thirty-five members in all.
A memorial to the legislature asking for incor- poration was drafted by a committee of three, viz : Hon. James Madison Porter, LL. D., who was in later years secretary of war under Presi- dent Tyler; Joel Jones, LL. D., who was later called to
become the first president of Girard College, and Jacob Wagener, Esq., an en- ergetic business man who became eminent for his studies in mineralogy and botany, and whose valuable collection in this department of study ultimately enriched the scientific collections of the college.
A GOOD PRESIDENT FOUND .- The charter was granted in 1826, but sev- eral years passed in which a search was made for a suitable person to place at the head of the infant institution. When the thought of establishing a school in many respects similar to West Point was abandoned, Rev. George Junkin was per- suaded to accept the presidency. On May 9, 1832, he organized the institution, bringing to it a group of some thirty of the stu- dents he had had under his in- struction for several years in the Manual Labor Academy of Germantown.
Dr. Junkin was a native of Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry. He early entered the ministry, and, while pastor of churches in Milton and vicinity, con- ducted a private school. While so engaged he resolved to devote himself to the cause of edu- cation, with the special thought of educating
students for the gospel ministry. His presidency of Lafayette was continued until 1841, when for three years he was president of Miami Uni- versity, Ohio, when he again returned to Lafay- ette, but in 1848 again resigned. He was presi- dent of the institution in Lexington, Virginia, now known as Washington and Lee University, from 1848 to 1861. From that date, with force unabated, he filled up his remaining days with an activity almost past belief. Among the sol- diers, in camp, field, or hospital ; as a colporteur, a preacher and a writer, he worked on with a marvelous zeal and vigor. He died in Philadel- phia, May 20, 1868.
Dr. Junkin was a man of acknowledged abil- ity, and profoundly learned, especially in the- ology and metaphysics. These were his favorite pursuits, in which he excelled both as a student and as a teacher. Men of eminence in church and state, who sat at his feet during their edu- cational career, gave their cheerful testimony to his magnetic power over his students, and to his
THE GAYLEY LABORATORY OF CHEMISTRY AND METALLURGY.
enthusiasm as well as his profound learning in the subjects which he taught. Of his powers, however, I cannot more fitly speak than in the words of Dr. William P. Breed, an eminent min- ister of Philadelphia: "The mind of Dr. Junkin well harmonized with the material home in which
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
it lodged-massive, compact, and strong. To say that he was a man of talents-of talents of a very high order-is to say the truth, but only a part of the truth. He was a man of genius, with all the force, fire and originality of true genius." Of his qualities of heart one of his successors to the presidency, Rev. James H. Mason Knox, D. D. LL. D., with equal truth said: "A man of greater magnanmity, of truer, deeper, tenderer affections, I do not believe ever lived."
AN ENERGETIC BOARD OF TRUSTEES .- In the early days of the college, President Junkin received much encouragement from some earnest members of the board of trustees, among whom were Judge William Long, of Bucks county, two of whose sons were early enrolled in the list of students. Of these, James W. Long became an efficient and helpful trustee of the college for a considerable period before his death in 1903. Hon. George Hess, an associate judge of Northampton county, was another ; his son, Owen W. Hess, a lawyer of Easton, and his grandson, Henry M. Riegel, of the class of 1884, are recorded in the college rolls. Another trus- tee whose name stands high in the annals of the state was Hon. George Wolf, a member of con- gress from 1824 to 1829, and governor of the com- monwealth from 1830 to 1836. He was the pro- poser and one of the founders of the public school system of our state. A beautiful monument in the form of a stone arch way, was erected to his memory in 1884. It forms a graceful entrance to the campus of the Easton high school. Peter A. Browne, LL. D., was not only a trustee, but also for ten years a professor of mineralogy and geology. Hon. James Madison Porter LL. D., con- tinued for more than a quarter of a century as the head of the board of trustees, a man of energy and rare enthusiasm. To him more than to any other person Lafayette College owes its origin. He assiduously devoted himself to the interests of the College. His reputation as a man of great learning and eminent legal ability drew many young men whose names appear in the cata- logues of that period as students of law.
For twenty-five years the office of treasurer was well filled by Colonel Thomas McKeen. He
was successively the cashier and president of the Easton Bank from 1815 until 1851, eminent in business circles, a man of large heart and kindly disposition. He was one of the most liberal of the supporters of the College. He died in 1858, in his ninety-sixth year.
Dr. Junkins' ideals were high. Himself "dili- gent in business, fervent in spirit, and serving the Lord," he set before his students a high stand- ard of excellence in study as their imperative goal. He had no toleration for the youth who was willing to lag behind. He had that rare en- thusiasm that led every student to seek to do his. best, and to be ashamed to fall below his highest possible attainments.
EMINENCE OF THE EARLY STUDENTS .- In the first years of the College its faith- ful students frequently completed their courses and received their diplomas in other longer established institutions. Among such were Rev. Samuel M. Hamill, D. D., who for fifty. years was principal of the Lawrenceville school in New Jersey ; Charles W. Harvey, M. D., of Buffalo, New York, a patron of art, and one of the founders (last surviving) of the Psi Upsilon fraternity in Union College; Rev. Levi Janvier, D. D., a distinguished missionary in India, where he was slain by a fanatic Akali. His labors as a missionary were remarkably successful. He was the author of a grammar and dictionary of the Punjabi language. Rev. Joshua Phelps, D. D., president of the Alexander College, Wiscon- sin ; Judge Samuel Sherred, of New Jersey, who constructed the first coal breaker in Scranton ; Professor William Chauvenet, LL. D., of Yale, distinguished as a mathematical author, and a. few others. Because of this fact, President Jun- kin soon saw the necessity of adopting a full col- lege organization.
COLLEGE CLASSES ORGANIZED-1834 .- Such examples and others like these showed Dr. Junkins' remarkable success in inspiring his students, and indicated plainly the neces- sity of conducting the plans of the study with which the College has begun. Accordingly, in 1834, four full college classes were established. The first graduating class was that of 1836, con-
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
sisting of four members, each one of whom made such a record in life as to indicate that the class of '36 was a constellation of the first magnitude ; for of its members, George W. Kidd became not- able in New Orleans and Texas as one of the most prominent merchants of the southwest, and an orator of remarkable gifts; David Moore was early appointed to the office of deputy superin- tendent of the schools of Pennsylvania; and the Rev. James B. Ramsey, D. D., of whom it was said when he finished his studies at the Theolo- gical Seminary that he was "competent to instruct any of the classes in Princeton." The Hon. Na- thaniel Barrett Smithers, LL. D., of Delaware,
read, and after continuing through fifteen pages of translation, was asked by his instructor Pro- fessor James I. Kuhn, LL. D., (from whose lips this story was received by the writer) "How far can you go?" The reply was, "I do not know; I am reading this on sight for the first time." And each of the four were distinguished for their linguistic attainments.
EMINENT PROFESSORS CHOSEN. - In the original staff of instructors were also Charles Francis McCay, LL. D., who became a mathematician of renown during a long life in Georgia, and later in Maryland. Rev. David X. Junkin, D. D., a younger brother of the presi-
BRAINERD HALL.
was eminent as a lawyer and congressman, and had the distinction in political life of being the chairman of the national Republican committee in the campaign that closed with the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860. How truly did this class accomplish its ideals! The story comes down to us that one day in the Latin recitation, Mr. Smithers was called on to
dent, was for five years Professor of Belles Lettres. Rev. Alfred Ryors, D. D., became in- structor in Greek. A talented member of this group was Washington McCartney, LL. D., who continued with the institution for many years, and filled several chairs with eminent success. A tower of intellectual strength, clear in defini- tion, accurate in expression, he led the students
12
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
through labyrinths of thought and intricate mental processes. He later established the Easton Law School, and held the office of judge of the courts of Northampton county from 1851 until his death in 1856. A writer of ability his monu- ment bears the fit inscription, "Scholar, Jurist, Christian."
Dr. Junkin and his colleagues so far named were all of them graduates of Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, an institution that early obtained great fame for the sturdy pioneer- ing spirit of its graduates, who filled many pul- pits in the valley of the Ohio, and furnished legal lights of prominence in the west. Samuel D. Gross, M. D., LL. D., who was decorated by the University of Oxford with the degree of Doctor of Civil Law, was the first Professor of Chemistry. He was born near Easton in 1805, and was later known through both continents for the sixteen volumes that he produced on surgery and other medical topics.
President Junkin was thorough in all that he did. Full of zeal and enthusiasm, he could still abide by the old motto "festina lente," accordingly the graduating classes all consisted of picked men, not many in number, but well equipped in intellectual power, and able to accept their di- plomas without doing discredit to their alma mater. The smallest class on the College rolls is that of 1838, which consisted of but two mem- bers. The valedictory on that occasion was pro- nounced by David Coulter, D. D., who became a leading light in the Presbyterian church in Mis- souri. Among the audience who listened to his able valedictory address (which is still preserved in the College archives) was an Easton lad thir- teen years old, who in his maturity was known as Rev. George C. Heckman, D. D., LL. D., of Reading, Pennsylvania. The address so affected him that he resolved to seek a college education. He did this with success, and in due season gradu- ated, and through a long life interested many audiences by his eloquence and elegance of dic- tion. He occupied many prominent pulpits. He was a grandson of the first chief burgess of Easton.
THE FIRST DECADE OF THE COLLEGE .- On
the day of Dr. Heckman's graduation, in September, I845, President Junkin pro- nounced his tenth baccalaureate, not a sermon, but an address on education, which was pub- lished under the title "A Plea for Northeastern Pennsylvania." So far, 615 students had been enrolled, of whom sixty-eight graduated, and as many more received diplomas at other colleges. In this excellent address Dr. Junkin answered the capricious critic who might say, "Have you not dropped a great deal of unripe fruit, and aided into professional life many defective schol- ars?" "Be this as it may, we wash our hands of all evils of this immaturity. It is no part of our plan to reduce the standard of education, and none more than we can deplore all the short cuts into the learned professions. If all to whom in our academy, we have taught hic, haec, hoc, had seen their way clear to comply with our wishes and abide a full course, we should never have given occasion to the reproach which these paragraphs are designed to wipe away. As to our present position. The classes are larger than at any former period. The tone of study is vig- orous ; the grade of recitations very respectable ; the pulse of moral discipline, full, regular and healthful. There is no longer a question proble- matic, whether sound scholars, energetic and use- ful professional men can emanate, through the various appropriate channels, from our halls. As to locality and its bearings upon health and intel- lectual development, no institution of the land can put in superior claims." This urgent address was closed by an appeal to the audience to "Fill up the $40,000 subscriptions so auspiciously be- gun last winter. The citizens of Easton have done nobly in this matter ; and I do not propose to press them again." Then came the first effort made to secure assistance from the alumni, as he closed his address by saying "Take then your diplomas, and endorse on each the words-'Sub- scription to the Alumni Professorship of Lafay- ette College.'"
Up to this time all the expenses of the Col- lege had been met by generous private sub- scriptions, chiefly from citizens of Easton and of . Philadelphia. In 1838 the legislature of Penn-
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
sylvania appropriated $12,000 to liquidate the debt caused by the construction of the first build- ing. Its corner stone had been laid with public ceremony on July 4, 1833, and it was completed and first occupied on May 9, 1834, at which time the full organization of the College into four classes had been perfected.
THE PRESENT LOCATION SELECTED .- The initial years of the institution were spent in a large frame building on the south side of the river, 555 feet west of the present passenger sta- tion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. As from Jefferson College had come most of the members of the faculty, so also had come various features of its organization. The two literary societies,
proficient
JENKS BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.
Franklin, and Philo (more accurately Philoma- thean), were early started, although the latter were soon led to drop their classic Greek name for the easier term "Washington." A strong and generous rivalry has always existed between these two societies. For many years none but initiated members were permitted to enter their doors ; their proceedings were secret ; victory in their annual contests was a high incentive to their best endeavors; and the successful essayist, ora- tors and disputants, wore the live garlands of success with pride greater than that which in these
days seems to attend the winning of a medal of gold.
THE EARLY COST OF TUITION .- Student life was extremely simply in those days. The young men rose at 5 o'clock in the morn- ing, summoned by a large horn blown by Aaron O. Hoff, until the present chapel bell took its place. They engaged in required manual toil, and thus earned no small part of their expenses. Three hours a day were usually given to pro- ductive labor. They studied well, and received grades for both work and study. The compen- sation given for labor was from three cents an
hour upward; for some were in trades, and as carpenters,
tailors, and smiths earned more than their less skilled brothers who could handle only the hoe and the plow. The annual re- ward for their labor as stated in the first catalogue ranged all the way from one dollar to eighty-seven dollars, and their grades for study and work ranged from nine to ninety-five on a scale of one hundred. A week's work was twenty hours. The student of to-day who thinks sixteen weeks of vacation none too many, would hardly ac- cept the routine of 1832, when the year was divided into two terms of twenty-four and twen- ty-two weeks. The brief va- cations in March and October allowed them only a few days to help their fathers in home work on the farm. The en- tire charge for the year of forty-six weeks, for tuitition, board, room, and use of tools, was $109, or in the student club, $86. From this it was estimated that an industrious young man might deduct by his labor forty-six dollars, thus leaving for the year's cost of his education forty dollars to sixty-three dollars.
That much excellent work was done is shown in the list of articles manufactured, such as 640 finished trunks, 740 lights of sash, 31 tables and
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
a number of agricultural implements. Over fifty acres were devoted to garden and farm products. A printing office was maintained, from which theological books were printed, and a fortnightly newspaper devoted chiefly to the industrial side of College life was issued under the title of The Educator.
When the craze for silk culture sprang up, about the year 1837, rows of morus multicaulis were planted on the campus, and the silk cocoons were gathered in quantities, in great hopes of largely increasing the funds of the College. But here, as elsewhere, the profit of the experiment lay only in the experience gained by it.
BUSY BEES IN THEIR EARLY HIVE .- There is no ground to think that the system of manual labor at Lafayette was a failure, although it rarely succeeded elsewhere, but it was aban- doned in 1840, when Dr. Junkin went to Ohio to become the president of the Miami University. Despite the objections to the methods of this first decade, it established a rare record of success in the training of students who in many instances attained high positions in after life. Among many such may be named Colonel William Dor- ris, of Huntingdon, and Hon. David Moore, of Hanover, Indiana, the two oldest surviving graduates who have each held high places of trust in the Keystone State; and the two brothers, Samuel W. and William E. Barber. It was the latter who won the $500 prize offered by the Un- ion League of Philadelphia in 1868 for the best essay on "Political Organization." No less con- spicuous were the late Governor Alexander Ram- sey, of Minnesota, for a long time senator, and a member of President Hayes' cabinet ; Hon. James Morrison Harris, Republican candidate for the governorship of Maryland; Samuei M. Shoe- maker, the originator of the American system of express companies, and Hon. John W. Garrett, of Baltimore, for so many years the successful president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Com- pany.
HIGH STANDARD OF SCHOLARSHIP .- Under the presidency of Rev. John W. Yeomans, D. D., from 1841 to 1844 a high standard of scholarship was maintained. Dr. Yeomans
was the first New Englander who came into the faculty. He was a man of philosophic mould, of whom it was well said by Dr. Heckman at the semi-centennial celebration of the College in 1882: "He was an educator in the true etymological sense of the term. If there was any latent force in a student, he could draw it out. If the preach- ing of Dr. Junkin inspired the students with theocratic faith and consecrated zeal, Dr. Yeo- mans quickened their rational nature to a sense of the nobleness of intellectual exertion and the glory of scholastic triumphs to a degree they had never experienced before."
When Dr. Junkin again returned to his po- sition here, students continued to increase in num- ber, and the excellence of the institution gained new recognition. Beside his constant administra- tion of the College, and his vigorous instruction in philosophy, Dr. Junkin preached in many neighboring pulpits, always carrying his little red covered memorandum book with him, in which he often had the pleasure of recording the names of willing givers to the endowment of the College. These gifts were numerous, but not of large amount. Pennsylvania and New Jersey had not yet learned to give, and Stephen Girard had no imitators. President Junkin addressed large audiences with power and persuasive- ness. Old citizens describe his course of lectures on "Prophecy" on Sunday after- noons in the largest church in the town, which was crowded to the very doors, to listen to his interesting exposition of intricate passages in sacred writ. In 1848 the number of students reached 118. Owing to dissensions in the board of trustees he that year resigned his high office. So great was his popularity that the majority of the students. accompanied him to Washington College, Virginia, and there gradu- ated. Other professors also withdrew, until the continuity of the faculty rested on a single thread. Professor James H. Coffin alone remained. Re- duced to thirteen students, the four classes of the institution were maintained and continued to pur- sue the full course of study under this remark- able teacher, a man fully equal to the emergency. For twenty-seven years the College enjoyed the
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
services of this able and distinguished scholar, whose impress upon the curriculum and form- ulæ of College life is a cherished tradition.
AN ENDOWMENT SOUGHT .- There was no endowment fund. In 1850 the Synod of Philadelphia assumed a certain measure of con- trol of the College, and ap- pointed a new president, Rev. Daniel V. McLean, D. D. With courage and zeal he undertook the task of raising an endow- ment. This occupied four years ; and when, on the evening of De- cember 31, 1853, his own sub- scription of $6,000 completed the sum of $100,000 pledged, a glad new year came to the insti- tution. The windows of the . South College blazed with a brilliant illumination, and the students paraded the town with transparencies telling in stately Latin of their President's. achievement. Edsall Ferrier, a student who afterward became an eminent member of the facul- ty, made an address of congratu- lation. The era of prosperity was dawning. Three commodious residences were built for the older professors. The appearance of the campus was improved, and the approach to it made more attractive. The number of students steadily increased. The courses of study were also advanced; and new vigor was everywhere manifested. Such brilliant instruc- tors were added to the faculty as Professors Wil- liam C. Cattell and Francis A. March.
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