History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 87

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 > Part 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

During the years preceding the erection of the society's hall a great mass of material had been col- lected, chiefly the result of gifts of individuals and various ecclesiastical, semi-ecclesiastical, and secular organizations. This matter, however, had never been arranged in systematic order, nor catalogned, until the society's removal to its own building.

At the present time the library comprises about twenty thousand bound volumes, fifty thousand pamphlets, and a great mass of mannscript material. In the fire-proof building adjoining the main build- ing on the east is placed the more valuable part of the library, including all books classed as collected works, Bible text and study, apologetics, doctrinal theology, ecclesiastical theology, ethics, secular history, church history, and biography.

In addition to works of the character indicated, it is the aim of the society, being in the line of its fun- damental objects and purposes, to gather a variety of matter bearing upon Presbyterian history and effort, such, for instance, as pamphlets, magazines, periodi-

cals, reviews, sermons, single and collected ; histories and discourses concerning churches, persons, and localities; minutes and proceedings of Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assemblies; manuals and char- ters of churches ; letters, autographs, and manuscript religious and benevolent societies; catalogues of col- leges, seminaries, and schools ; biographies, portraits, and photographs of ministers and prominent laymen ; views of churches; pictures and engravings, and whatever else can illustrate or add interest to the facts concerning Presbyterianism.

Any person connected with any branch of the Pres- byterian Church may become a member of the society by the payment of five dollars annually, one-half of which is applied to the current expense fund, and the other half to the library fund. The payment of fifty dollars constitutes a member for life, the whole of which is placed in the endowment fund, and the income only used for the library fund. There are four funds kept separate on the books of the treas- urer, viz., current expense fund, library fund, endow- ment fund, and publication fund. The yearly meet- ing of the society is held on the first Tuesday in May.

The American Baptist Historical Society was first organized as a department of the American Baptist Publication Society at its annual meeting in 1853. The subject was brought before the society in the following suggestion of the board :

" The board would also suggest the importance of organizing a His- torical Department for the special purpose of collecting and preserving all documents elucidating our denominational history, and for pub- lishing such papers and volumes as may shed light upon the rise and growth of Baptist churches, and the progress of Baptist principles throughout the Union."

After the reading of the suggestion, Dr. J. M. Peck moved the following resolutions :

" Resolved, That the interests of the Baptist denomination require the organization of a Historical Department in connection with the Amer- ican Baptist Publication Society.

" Resolved, That this society hold a meeting to-morrow evening for the purpose of organizing such a department."

On the following evening the meeting was held and the Historical Department organized. The first officers were: President, William R. Williams, D.D .; Vice-Presidents, John M. Peck, D. D., William Hague, D.D., Baron Stow, DD., and R. B. C. Howell, D.D .; Secretary, Horatio G. Jones ; Treasurer, Rev. B. R. Loxley; and Curators, Joseph Belchior, D.D., John Dowling, D.D., J. Lansing Burrows, D.D., and John Hanna.

In 1860, Howard Malcom, D.D., LL.D., was elected president, and from that time the society entered upon a new life, and was favored with remarkable pros- perity: In 1861 a charter was secured, and the de- partment became the American Baptist Historical Society, with all the powers of an independent body. The second article of the constitution of the newly- chartered institution says, "The sole object of this society shall be to establish and maintain in the

1225

LIBRARIES AND HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

city of Philadelphia a library or depository of books, pamphlets, periodicals, manuscripts, portraits, views, etc., pertaining to the history and present condition of Christianity, and of the Baptist denomination in particular, to cause to be prepared and published from time to time works which elucidate such history ; and to collect and preserve all books written by Baptists, or against Baptist faith and practice."

The society is located at 1420 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. It has in its library over seven thou- sand volumes, many of which are rare and of great value. It has about one thousand volumes on church history alone, embracing the ecclesiastical records of all lands, ages, and communities ; some of these are in the original Greek, Latin, and French. Many of the works of the Fathers and of the writers of the Middle Ages are on the shelves of the library. Its collection of minutes of Associations and Conventions, of denomi- national periodicals, and of pamphlets is preserved in twelve hundred bound volumes, and in one im- mense list of assorted and labeled packages. It has hundreds of manuscripts written by Baptists, chiefly upon historical subjects.

In the library, in pamphlets and volumes, there are the writings of about three thousand Baptist authors. The works of Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, German and Dutch Reformed, Mennonites, Seventh-Day Baptists, Free-Will Bap- tists, Friends, Dunkards, Disciples, Adventists, New Church (Swedenborgian), Unitarians, Universalists, and Shakers belong to the society. It has nearly seven hundred autograph letters of distinguished Baptists, including one written by the illustrious founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams. It has also some eight hundred portraits of Baptist worthies.

In its library the society has the Isaac Davis alcove, supplied with works by the income of an endowment gift made by the Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester, Mass., and the Francis Jennings alcove, containing six hundred volumes, the gift of Mr. Jennings. This . alcove is chiefly filled with works containing the hymns, poems, and other productions of the authors of sacred songs. The hymnologist finds in it an un- usual and invaluable treasure.

The use of the library is without charge. The right to borrow books belongs to members only. The privilege of consulting its works is fully accorded to proper persons by the officers.

The collection of the society is constantly increasing by purchases in Europe and America, and by the gifts of friends, and it is hoped that at no distant day a fire-proof building will protect its sacred riches from the ever-threatening calamity of a city confla- gration.

The Rev. William Cathcart, D.D., is president of the society ; Rev. I. Newton Ritner, secretary ; and H. E. Lincoln, librarian.

The Wagner Free Institute of Science was founded in 1855, by Professor William Wagner.

Professor Wagner, during his many tours, which ex- tended over the four great continents, made large col- lections of minerals, shells, plants, etc., aggregating millions of specimens. The cabinets containing these various specimens, carefully classified, had been placed in a building erected for that purpose on his own prem- ises, near the site of the present buildings belonging to the institute. Having thrown open to the public the hall containing this collection, Professor Wagner delivered for a number of years a course of lectures upon various phases of natural history, using his specimens as illustrations. The enterprise having met with gratifying success, he determined to enlarge its scope by establishing a free school for the study of practical scientific subjects. Acting upon this idea, application was made to the Legislature for a charter, which was granted March 9, 1855, whereby was incorporated "The Wagner Free Institute of Science." To this institution Professor Wagner do- nated his admirable cabinet collection, together with a large scientific library. Added to these liberal donations was a munificent monetary endowment from the founder.

In the infancy of this institution the Councils of Philadelphia, foreseeing the advantages that must accrue to the cause of public education from the en- terprise, granted the use of a hall and anterooms in the building at the corner of Thirteenth and Spring Garden Streets, known as Spring Garden Hall. Here the public inauguration of the Wagner Free Insti- tute of Science took place on the 21st of May, 1855.

On this occasion addresses were delivered by James Pollock, then Governor of Pennsylvania; by Robert T. Conrad, then mayor of Philadelphia ; by the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, D.D., bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania; by William H. Allen, LL.D., presi- dent of Girard College, and others.

A faculty, consisting of well-known scientific gen- tlemen, was organized, and the first regular term of the institute began on the first Monday of October, 1855, and continued, with a vacation of two weeks, until the 13th of June, 1856. The first anniversary was commemorated on the 21st of May in the latter year.

During the succeeding sessions of 1856-58, and up to March 26, 1859, the lectures were continued, with only brief intervals of vacation, at the Spring Garden Hall. The building was usually filled to overflowing, and the lectures were highly appreciated. They em- braced in their scope mineralogy, geology, anatomy, physiology, palæontology, ethnology, agricultural chemistry, civil engineering, natural philosophy, botany, etc. During most of this time twelve lectures were delivered each weck, " without money and with- out price," to the multitudes that assembled to avail themselves of their enlightening influences. Large additions were also made to the cabinets and library of the institution.

The use of Spring Garden Hall was recalled, how-

1226

HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

ever, by the City Conncils in March, 1859, the build- ing being desired for municipal offices. The closing exercises in that building were held March 26, 1859, at which time a vote of thanks was presented to the City Councils for the use of the hall for so long a period. On the 28th of March, Professor Wagner, with his assistants, commenced removing the collec- tions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science to a room previously rented by him for their reception.

During the autumn of 1859, Professor Wagner, not succeeding in an effort to purchase the Spring Garden Hall as a permanent location for the institute, con- cluded to erect a suitable building on a part of his own premises, selecting the present site, on the south- west corner of Seventeenth Street and Montgomery Avenue, as the most suitable. The lot appropriated is two hundred and sixty-six by one hundred and seventy-seven feet ten inches, and being his own architect, he adopted the plan of the present edifice, it being one hundred and fifty feet long and sixty feet wide, and of a height admirably proportioned.

The ceremony of laying the corner-stone took place June 2d, and was conducted by Professor Wagner, assisted by Professors Henry T. Child, M.D., J. W. Burns, Charles A. Leech, M.D., H. R. Warriner, William Ashman, and Judge William D. Kelley. It consisted in the laying on of their hands, and dedi- cating the institution to the pursuits and advance- ment of science for the benefit of citizens of Phila- delphia forever ; this college to be called the Wagner Free Institute of Science.

The work of constructing the new building pro- gressed steadily, although somewhat retarded by the civil war, until its completion in 1864, when the museum and library collections of every variety and description, then or subsequently properly labeled, were tastefully arranged in the capacions apartments that had been prepared for them with so much per- severance and care.

The building as completed is a handsome, as well as a substantial, one. The lecture-room, which enjoys excellent acoustic properties, accommodates about thirteen hundred people. Adjoining the latter is the laboratory, amply supplied with all modern appli- ances suitable for scientific investigation. The eight professors' apartments and recitation-rooms are large and convenient. The museum is capacions and ad- mirably fitted for displaying the cabinets which it contains. The building cost about forty-one thousand dollars, the lot sixty thousand dollars, the cabinets, collections of natural history, and philosophical instru- ments are estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, making the aggregate value of the college building and contents three hundred and fifty-one thousand dollars.

From July, 1864, at which time the building had assumed a sufficient degree of forwardness to admit of its being used, as it was not deemed best to com- mence its operations as a comprehensive technological

college at that time on account of the great number of young men then absent in the army, Professor Wagner, desirous of rendering the building as ser- viceable as possible, threw open its lecture-room for the use of the various religious denominations of the city, on Sundays, up to May, 1865.

Prior to the date of the formal opening of the new building, application was made to the Legislature for an amendment to the act of incorporation passed in 1855. Under date of March 30, 1864, a supplementary act was passed by the Legislature making certain changes in the charter of the institute, whereby its scope was greatly enlarged. Indeed, the last-named enactment may be said to have constituted an entirely new charter for the institution. Under this new charter the institute is empowered to assume and exercise the powers of a university.

The inauguration or opening of the Wagner Free Institute of Science, in the new building, took place May 11, 1865, at 3.30 P.M. Col. W. B. Thomas was chairman, and Dr. Charles Gaunt secretary of the meeting. After prayer by the Rev. Dr. Adams, Col. Thomas explained the object of the meeting. Pro- fessor Wagner then made a few appropriate remarks, tendering the deed of the institute and lot to the board of trustees, then acting under the supplementary act of incorporation, approved March 4, 1864. The trustees consisted of Robert Cornelius, D. Rodney King, J. Vaughan Merrick, Charles J. Stille, Samuel Wagner, Jr., Henry Coppee, and William Wagner. The deed conveyed the lot in trust to these gentlemen, together with the buildings, cabinets of natural history, philo- sophical instruments, specimens of geology, mineral- ogy, botany, and anatomy, chemical apparatus, the palæontological specimens, drawings, paintings, en- gravings, maps, diagrams, library, and statnary, on condition that they should be forever used for the instruction and improvement of the citizens of the United States in practical science.

The following is a schedule of the property donated to the institute by Professor Wagner :

The hall of the institute and lot of ground on which it is situated, one hundred and seventy-seven feet ten inches front by two hundred and sixty-six feet deep, at the southwest corner of Seventeenth Street and Montgomery Avenue, now worth one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars.

A lot of ground on the northeast corner of Seven- teenth Street and Montgomery Avenue, one hundred and seventy-seven feet ten inches by two hundred and one feet, worth thirty-five thousand dollars.

Five hundred and fifty thousand specimens of minerals, collected from all parts of the inhabitable earth. This collection covers the whole field of min- eralogy, and is one of the most valuable in the United States.

Five linndred and fifty thousand specimens of geologic and organic remains, of rare value to the student, illustrating as they do the various races

1227

LIBRARIES AND HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

which are known to have flourished in the earlier geological periods.

Four hundred thousand specimens of recent shells, for the purpose of comparison with their extinct genera, found in the various strata of the earth's crust.

Two hundred and twenty-five thousand specimens of dried plants, constituting an extensive and valuable herbarium for botanical illustration.

A large and well-arranged series of diagrams, illus- trative of various topics in natural history, and of geological phenomena.

Professor Wagner's library, philosophical appa- ratus, maps, and cabinet cases.

Four houses and lots of ground in Eleventh Street below Chestnut, worth thirty-five thousand dollars.

The cabinets, collection of natural history, philo- sophical apparatus, etc., worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

On May 15, 1865, at five P.M., the first course of free lectures commenced in the new building, and em- braced chemistry, anatomy, geology, natural philoso- phy, physiology, mineralogy, and mining. In the fol- lowing September an effort was made to commence a regular collegiate course, embracing geology, min- eralogy, mining, civil engineering, mathematics, draw- ing, chemistry, and natural philosophy. Owing, how- ever, to the unsettled state of the country because of the Rebellion, the enterprise was abandoned for the time, and will only be renewed when the plans, now fast approaching completion, are fully matured.

The course of free lectures commenced again Oct. 2, 1865, and continued until late in December.

Since Jan. 1, 1866, two courses of free lectures have been delivered each year, embracing most or all of the branches of natural science. The spring courses have commenced about the 1st of March, and have usually terminated the latter part of June ; the autumn courses about the 1st of October, closing the last of December. The hour has been changed from five to eight P.M. Six lectures have generally been given each week.

The institute owns an excellent library, largely composed of scientific works. At the present time the number of volumes comprising this collection approximates eighteen thousand.

The Numismatic and Antiquarian Society was organized on the 27th of December, 1857, by seven gentlemen, who saw that there existed no society in America distinctively devoted to numismatic investi- gation. With this object in view these men resolved to fill the void by the establishment of an association. A committee was appointed to frame a constitution and by-laws, which reported at a special meeting, held Jan. 1, 1858, and the Numismatic Society came into being. On February 19thi of the same year the General Assembly granted a charter to the society, not, however, without considerable opposition. On March 23, 1865, the name was changed to that which it at present bears.

The society has had but two presidents from the date of its foundation, Joseph J. Mickley, until 1867, and since that time Eli K. Price. To the enlightened zeal of the latter is due largely much of the present high standing of the association. Its rauks have been filled with the most illustrious men of America and Europe, and its contributions to antiquarian research have been frequent and worthy of note. The most important of its actions was the adoption, in Septem- ber, 1858, of a new scale of measurement for coins and medals in place of that of Mionnet, which is the one in general use throughout Europe. This scale, proposed by Alfred B. Taylor, has been, after its re- ception by the society, generally adopted throughout the United States, and is known as the " American scale."

In April, 1866, the society petitioned Congress to render the national coinage of more interest and permanent value than a mere succession of insignifi- cant pieces of metal. The petition was presented by Senator Reverdy Johnson, honorary vice-president for the State of Maryland, but as yet no step in the desired direction has resulted from the society's action.

On New Year's day, 1879, the society celebrated its twenty-first anniversary. Certain members of the society desired to mark this epoch, and accordingly caused to be struck a commemorative medal, which, while it should chronicle this event, should also be made to testify the respect and regard entertained for the society's president, Eli K. Price. When the medal was prepared, a special meeting of the society was held on the 20th of March, 1879, and an impression in silver, the only one struck in that metal, was formally presented to him. A number of the medals were sent, in the name of the society, to kindred associations in this country and in Europe.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the society occurred on Jan. 1, 1883, but as that day was a legal holiday it was deemed advisable to defer the formal celebration of the event, which had been pre- viously agreed upon, until the next regular meeting on the first Thursday in January. Accordingly, on Thursday, January 4th, the society assembled at its hall, at the south west corner of Eighteenth and Chest- nut Streets, for the purpose of commemorating its institution. Two very admirable papers were read, one by Daniel G. Brinton, M.D., and the other by Rev. John P. Lundy.

The meeting was largely attended by the members of the society and by a number of visitors.

The society has done much good work in its quarter of a century of effort and investigation. Subjects pre- viously shrouded in darkness have been illumined with the light shed upon them by the careful investi- gators belonging to the association, while much useful and instructive information has been imparted.

The purposes of the association are fully set forth in a circular recently addressed to kindred societies,

1228

HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

United States consuls, Indian agents, missionaries, and scientific men in fields favorable for archæolog- ical researches, soliciting their aid in gathering in- formation concerning the latest discoveries of coins, antiquities, ancient manuscripts, and aboriginal re- mains of scientific interest, in which it is said,-

"The society desires to collect data relative to ab- original peoples in any locality, concerning their habits, customs, and ceremonies ; their myths, tradi- tions, and religions ; their dances, music, and musical instruments ; and the society would be glad to receive for its museum contributions of antiquities or objects of ethnological interest, which, when received, will be fully credited to the donor and conspicuously ex- hibited."

The coins of the society are on exhibition at Me- morial Hall, Fairmount Park, in the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. The transfer took place in 1878. The collection here constitutes the only public exhibition of coins in the United States, outside of the United States Mint in this city.

Among the deposits which have been placed in Memorial Hall is the entire cabinet of coins and medals belonging to the American Philosophical So- ciety. For nearly a century this collection had been in process of formation, and many interesting and valuable coins had been donated to it by prominent persons from time to time, until, in 1878, it became so cumbersome that the society transferred it to the custodianship of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society.

The society's library contains something over three thousand books and pamphlets, chiefly devoted to numismatic and antiquarian subjects. Access to it is denied to all save members, the number being limited to one hundred and fifty. Its cabinet of coins and medals, including many very ancient ones, numbers about eight thousand, while its cabinet of antiquities contains over five hundred relics. It has also collec- tions of engravings, autographs, maps, and miscella- neous objects of value and interest.

The Friends' Free Library and Reading-Room (Germantown) was thrown open to the public in 1869. The nucleus of this library came from the venerable meeting of Friends, which has so long been established at Germantown. Since the date of organization, partly through purchase and partly from donations, the library has been enlarged from about two thousand seven hundred volumes until, at the present time, it contains about ten thousand vol- umes. The library has been the recipient of many gencrous money contributions during its brief his- tory. Among its chief patrons has been Alfred Cope. It was mainly owing to his liberality that the managers of the library were enabled, in 1874, to erect on the meeting-house property a fine hall, at a cost of about seventeen thousand dollars.

In accordance with the usual custom prevailing in libraries under the direction of Friends, this one

contains no works of fiction. Moreover, great care is exercised to prevent the introduction of any books whose moral tone is not of the most unexception- able character. About six hundred persons use the library, there being a weekly average of about three hundred visitors.

In addition to many valuable books of travel, the library chiefly consists of historical and biographical works.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 87

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992