USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 45
USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 1 > Part 45
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Allentown Academy .- Although it did not. come into actual existence until 1819, the Allentown Academy was chartered by act of the Legislature in March, 1814. The important parts of this act were as follows :
SECTION 1. Br it erected, That there shall be and hereby is established in The borough of Northampton (Allentown), in Lehigh County, an academy or public school for The education of youth in the English and other languages, in the useful arts, sciences, and literature, by the name, style, and title of the Allentown Academy, under The care, direc- tion, and government of six trustees, lo wit : Peter Rhoads, John Horn, John Miller, - Taylor, James Wilson, George Keck, Adam Reep, and Jucob Martin, which said trustees and successors to be elected, as hereinafter mentioned, shall be and hereby are declared to be one body politic and corporate in deed and in law, by the name, style, and title of " the Irislees of the Allentown Academy," etc.
Sec. 5. That the sum of $2000 be and the same is hereby granted out of any nuappropriated money in the Treasury of this common wealth, to be paid to The Treasurer of the institution, etc., to be apjdied : $1000 thereof in the erection of a building or buildings, ete , and the pui- chasing of books, mathematical instruments, and the necessary philo- sophienl apparatus, and the remaining $1000 shall be placed in some safe and productive fund or funds, and the income thereof shall be liy- ever applied in aid of other measures to compensate a teacher or tench- ers in said Academy.
" Sne. 6. That There shall be admitted into said academy, in couse- quence of said appropriation, any number of poor children of said county that may at any time be offered, in order to be provided with books and stationery and taught gratis : provided that the number so admitted and taught shall at no time be greater than four, and that none of said children so admitted shall continue in said academy lo les laught gratis, should others apply, longer than two years; and be it further provided that before any part of the appropriation shall be paid on the order or orders id' snid Irnslees, they, or a majority of them, shall duly certify That subscriptions to the amount of $1000 have been oblained and speared, to be paid for the use of said Academy, ami that tho trustees havo proceeded lo erect the building aforesaid."
The last clause deferred the erection of the academy for several years, and the original trustees appear to have done nothing to bring the school into exist- enee even at such time as they were empowered to, and bence in 1819 the act, which had passed out of force, was renewed. The trustees then appointed were James Wilson, Dr .. Jacob Martin, John J. 1
Grammar, First Year .- Fifth reader, orthography, ; Krause, John Romig, John Fogel, John Siegel, and geography, penmanship, drawing and arithmetic. Philip Kleckner. They immediately addressed them-
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IHISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
selves to the work. In an address which they pub- lished in the newspapers, after reminding the public of the act of incorporation and the appropriation of two thousand dollars by the State on condition that one thousand dollars should be subscribed by the citi- zens, they say, "and yet, notwithstanding the above act has been passed now upwards of seven years, said condition has never been fufilled. Surely this condi- tion of things may continue no longer. In ahnost ever county of the State there are one or more acade- mies in which the children of the citizens can be edu- cated to moral excellence, and shall Lehigh stand alone as a pillar of darkness in the midst of the ra- diance of the surrounding light and intellectual re- finement? We hope not, and therefore earnestly expect that all benevolent enterprising citizens in town or county will early avail themselves of the op- portunity to call on Dr. Jacob Martin or Jolin J. Krause, Esq., and contribute their share towards the attainment of an object so extraordinarily desirable and so easily to be accomplished."
The object for which they labored was not realized until four years had passed, when in 1823 the trustees made the following announcement, "Since the re- quired amount for the erection of the Allentown Academy is now subscribed and the undersigned de- sire to make preparations this summer yet for its erection, the trustees are earnestly requested to meet for this purpose at the house of George Haberacker, in the borough of Northampton, on Saturday, July 30. The trustees are Peter Newhard, of Northamp- ton ; Daniel Saeger, of North Whitehall; Daniel Eberhard, of Upper Milford ; John Guth, of South Whitehall ; H. W. Knipe, of Upper Saucon ; Henry Ritter, of Salisbury; and Philip Wint, of Upper Saucon."
A building was erected at the corner of Walnut and Eighth Streets, which is still standing, and in 1827, Silas 11. Hickox, who came from New England, took charge of the school. The academy at once se- cured a place in the front rank of the schools of the town and of the valley, and retained its position for many years, Mr. Hickox resigned in 1829 for the purpose of devoting himself to the legal profession, and was succeeded by W. W. Wertz. After his term of service, and prior to 1853, the principals were Frederick Mancourt, Charles A. Douglass, R. S. Mc- Clenachan, and Robert Chandler. In 1852, Professor I. N. Gregory took charge of the school and remained as its principal until 1865. He was the most success- ful teacher the academy ever had, and during the long period he was at its head the institution enjoyed the utmost popularity. Dr. Murphy was engaged as prin- eipal in 1867, but remained only a short time, and it became apparent that the school had closed its era of usefulness,
Mr. Gregory, under anthority of an act of the Leg- islature, had put a mortgage on the building for the purpose of raising funds for enlarging it, and under
this mortgage the property was sold by the sheriff in 1881. By this sale sixteen hundred dollars was real- ized over and above the amount of the judgment, and this sum was divided equally between Muhlenberg College and the Female Seminary. At a meeting of the trustees-Eli J. Saeger, August Weidner, George P. Weil, R. E. Wright, Henry Gabriel, and Dr. Alfred J. Martin-held July 15, 1881, Messrs. Wright and Martin were appointed a committee to convey the surplus to the two institutions mentioned. This was done on condition that each of them should grant one perpetual scholarship, of which the benefit should be received by such graduates of the public schools as the school controllers and directors should see fit to present for the favor. This measure having been consummated, the trustees of the old Allentown Academy resigned sine die.
Muhlenberg College.1-This institution was or- ganized in the year 1867 to meet a want long felt by many of the pastors and members of the Lutheran Church east of the Susquehanna River. Pennsylva- nia College, at Gettysburg, where the Ministerium of Pennsylvania for many years held two professorships, failed to meet the wants and develop the educational interests of the fifty thousand communicant members then already belonging to that Synod, a number that has since increased to nearly a hundred thousand. The remoteness of Gettysburg from this centre of Lutheran population and wealth had from the begin- ning been considered by many a serious objection to it as a place for the education of their youth, and in reality had the effect of limiting the number of stu- dents from this territory to a proportion of one college student to every two thousand communicants. It was evident that so small an attendance from this region would not develop the educational interests of the Lutherans of Eastern Pennsylvania, as the necessities of the elmirch and the welfare of the community re- quired.
In addition to the disadvantageous location of Penn- sylvania College, and of far more weight in urging the immediate establishment of a Lutheran institution for higher Christian education east of the Susquehanna, were the peculiar state of affairs resulting from the organization of the General Council of the Lutheran Church and the establishment of the Theological Sem- inary in Philadelphia by the Synod of Pennsylvania. The differences already existing between the ruling ele- ments in the institutions at Gettysburg and the Synod of Pennsylvania, in spirit, theological trend, and the degree of importance given to the German language, were increased to such an extent that the Synod was constrained to seek elsewhere the education of her youth and the preparation of a sufficient number of students for the Theological Seminary in Philadel- phia. She could not have recourse to any of the col- leges then existing in Eastern Pennsylvania, for, how-
1 By Rev. Professor Theodore L. Seip, A.M.
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THE CITY OF ALLENTOWN.
ever excellent they may have been, they were not founded to meet the peculiar wants of the Lutheran Church and her population. The Synod was, there- fore, under the necessity of organizing a college adapted to her own wants and those of the people whom she represented. Muhlenberg College was the result.
Before proceeding with the history of the college proper, it will aid to a better understanding of the subject to give a brief sketch of the Allentown Sem- inary, which became the forerunner of Muhlenberg College.
As early as the Ist of May, 1848, the Allentown Seminary was opened in Livingstone mansion, under the principalship of Rev. C. R. Kessler, of the Re- formed Church. He had been induced to engage in the work chiefly by Rev. S. K. Brobst of the Lutheran Church, the originator of the enterprise and its most zealous supporter. The building in which the sem- inary was at first housed was a large two-story stone edifice, now the east wing of Muhlenberg College. This mansion, with the beautiful grounds around it, had at one time belonged to the Livingstones, rela- tives of the Allens, who were the founders of the town. Before the seminary was opened this property had passed into the possession of Messrs. Pretz and Weinsheimer, members of the Lutheran Church, and continued in their ownership until the organization of Muhlenberg College, when it was purchased by that corporation.
The object of the institution was set forth by the first principal, Rev. C. R. Kessler, in a letter dated March, 1848, to the Jugendfreund, published by Rev. S. K. Brobst. It reads as follows: "This institution is especially designed for those who desire to prepare themselves for the sphere of the teacher. It is, how- ever, easily seen that those also can attend the insti- tution with advantage who propose studying citlier theology, jurisprudence, or medicine, and wish to pre- pare themselves for one of the higher classes of col- lege, and also those who are seeking important ae- quisitions in knowledge and a higher culture. This institution will offer special advantages to those who desire a thorough and practical knowledge of the German language. The moral culture of the pupils will receive special attention." Bible history, biblical antiquities, and Christian morals were enumerated among the regular studies. The primary object of the school, though of the highest importance, was nevertheless not attained, as it was urged in advance of the times, so that the Allentown Seminary as a normal school, or teachers' seminary, was a failure. The attendance during the first term was bnt eleven, only four of whom had come to prepare for teaching. The institution, though retaining in view all it had set out to accomplish, was soon announced as a class- ical school for boarders and day-scholars. After mueh discouragement and zealous effort on the part of the principal and the friends of education by
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whom he was sustained, the interests of the school began to advance, and the attendanee increased to such an extent that it became necessary to furnish enlarged accommodations. Accordingly, during the summer of 1851 a new building, now the west wing of Muhlenberg College, was erected. In the year 1854 the attendance had risen to two hundred and two,-one hundred and forty-seven males and fifty- five females. The central building, occupying the space between the east and west wings, was then erected during the summer of 1854, and Livingstone mansion was raised to three stories, so that the entire seminary building presented a front of one hundred and thirty feet, and furnished accommodations for one hundred boarders. These were the buildings which, with the spacious grounds around them, sub- sequently passed into the possession of the corpor- ation of Muhlenberg College. While the institution was in the height of its prosperity, its honored prin- eipal and founder was ealled to rest from his labors. He died March 4, 1855.
The institution continued under the name of the Allentown Seminary until the year 1864.
The following gentlemen succeeded Rev. Mr. Kess- ler as principal in the order of their names: Rev. W. M. Reynolds, D.D., of the Lutheran Church, Rev. W. Philips, A.M., and Rev. W. R. Hofford, A.M., both of the Reformed Church.
In March, 1864, the institution was regularly char- tered by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, under "the name, style, and title of the Allentown Collegiate In- stitute and Military Academy." Under this charter it possessed collegiate powers and privileges. Not- withstanding the fact that it had the chartered rights of a college, and was nominally under the control of a board of trustees, it was in reality merely a private school. Rev. M. L. Hofford, of the Presbyterian Church, was the only president of the institution under the above charter. The last year of his ad- ministration brings us to the organization of Muhlen- berg College, whose history we now proceed to give.
From the fact that many of the pastors and laymen of the lutheran Church in Allentown and vicinity were warm friends and patrons of the institution through all the years of its existence, the attention of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, to which they be- longed, was repeatedly directed to it, with a view to securing it for the Synod. Committees, who were charged with the duty of looking after the educational interests of the church in the institution at Allen- town, were appointed by Synod, and reported annually from 1860 to 1867 ; and as early as 1862 the Synod ree- ommended the institution as a preparatory school to young men who desired to prepare for the ministry.
Many public-spirited citizens of Allentown, anxions to secure the benefits of a higher institution of learning for their young city, though some of the most active were not members of the Lutheran Church, co-operated most earnestly and etliciently with the Lutheran pas-
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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
tors and laymen in the effort to enlist the interest of the Ministerium and to establish a college. The need of a training-sehool for the Theological Seminary which the Synod had opened in Philadelphia, Oct. 3, 1864, encouraged and intensified this effort, so that the agi- tation and labors of seven years resulted in the for- mation of a joint-stock company for the purchase of the property and management of the institution by a board of trustees, two-thirds of whom were to be elected by the stockholders and one-third by the Synod from among such of its members as were stockholders.
The charter was amended to meet the new require- ments, and under this amended charter a meeting of the stockholders was called by the officers of the former organization on Feb. 2, 1867, and under their supervision a new board of trustees was elected, in whom were vested all the rights and privileges of the former board. The new board consisted of eighteen, twelve of whom were elected as the representatives of the stockholders, and the remaining six to serve until the Synod elected its own trustees. The board elected at this meeting of the stockholders were the following : Hon. R. E. Wright, president; Rev. E. J. Koons, secretary ; Jonathan Reichard, treasurer ; Rev. S. K. Brobst, Rev. W. Rath, Rev. J. Yeager, Rev. F. J. F. Schantz, C. W. Cooper, M. H. Horn, W. Saeger, B. F. Trexler, W. H. Blumer, C. Pretz, E. J. Saeger, L. Klump, E. S. Shimer, H. Weinsheimer, Mayor Samuel MeHose.
This board took charge of the institution April 4th of the same year, and unanimously elected Rev. Pro- fessor F. A. Muhlenberg, of Gettysburg, to the presi- dency of the college. The friends of the new enter- prise were exceedingly encouraged by his final accept- ance of the position, after he had at first declined. It gave prominence and standing to the college from the start. His ripe and acenrafe scholarship, his long and successful experience in teaching for twelve years in Franklin College, at Lancaster, and seventeen years in Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, his eminent personal character, exhibiting the various noble quali- ties of an honorable Christian gentleman, his kind but firm disposition, and the fact that he was a worthy son of noble sires, with a name distinguished in the history of our country and church, marked him out as the man for the place, capable not only of occupy - ing, but also of dignifying, the position. At a meeting of the board, held May 21, 1867, the institution was named Muhlenberg College, in honor of Henry Met- choir Muhlenberg, the distinguished pioneer of the Lutheran Church in this country, and the great- grand- father of the president of the college. It is proper to state in this connection that the well-known modesty of President Muhlenberg often led him to express to the writer of this sketch his deep regret that the col- lege had received the name of his family.
The board of trustees of Muhlenberg College, as has been stated, took charge of the institution April
4, 1867, but continued the course of instruction of the Collegiate Institute until the close of the scholastic year in June. In addition to the former teachers of the Institute, the services of the writer, who had just graduated from the Theologbd Seminary in Phila- delphia, and was awaiting his ordination at the meet- ing of the Synod in June, were secured to aid the teaching force in winding up the affairs of the Col- legiate Institute. While engaged in this service, on May 21st, he was elected principal of the academic department, and also provisional professor of German until a regular professor in that department could be secured. At the solicitation of President Muhlenberg, and by the advice of his former teachers in the Theo- logical Seminary, he accepted the position, and has at different times, as circunstances required, taught in all the departments of the college, being the only member of the faculty who has been uninterruptedly connected with it from the beginning.
The Allentown Collegiate Institute and Military Academy was formally and finally closed with appro- priate exercises in St. John's Lutheran Church, on the 27th of June, 1867.
At the meeting of the Synod at Lebanon, June, 1867, the following was reported: "The committee appointed by Synod in 1860, charged with the duty of securing an institution at Allentown for our church, has the pleasure of reporting that, with the help of God, its labors of seven years have resulted in the at- tainment of the chief objects in view in its appoint- ment, viz. : to secure the continuation and advance- ment of the school established nineteen years ago for the promotion of Christian education, to bring this in- stitution under the supervision of our church, and to raise it to the grade of a full college. Muhlenberg College can and will soon be formally opened, with very fair prospects of success." At this meeting of the Synod six members, constituting one-third of the board of trustees, were elected. The first full board of trustees of Muhlenberg College, under the amended charter, consisted of the following persons: Elected by the stockholders, Rev. F. A. Muhlenberg, D. D., pres- ident er officio ; Rev. E. J. Koons, secretary ; Jonathan Reichard, treasurer; Ilon. R. E. Wright, Rev. S. K. Brobst, M. H. Horn, C. W. Cooper, W. Saeger, W. H. Blumer, Rev. W. Rath, Rev. J. Yeager, C. Pretz, Rev. F. J. F. Schantz. Elected by the Synod, Rev. J. A. Seiss, D. D., Rev. W. J. Ever, Rev. G. F. Miller, A. W. Potteiger, L. Klump, B. F. Trexler.
The Synod, at the same meeting, very heartily ap- proved the election of Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg as presi- dent of the college, and earnestly commended the institution to the patronage of the church.
The board of trustees had in the mean time made arrangements for the alteration and enlargement of the west wing of the building as a residence for the presi- dent, and for the erection of a new building, tive stories in height and about one hundred feet in length, to be joined to the central building, with such changes
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THE CITY OF ALLENTOWN.
as were necessary to adapt the whole to the purposes of the college.
Publie announcement was made that Muhlenberg College, with its four departments,-college, aca- demic, preparatory, and primary,-would be opened on the 1st of September, 1867, and that the ceremo- nies of the inauguration of the faculty and the laying of the corner-stone of the new building would take place on the 3d and 4th days of the same month.
The first meeting of the faculty preliminary to the opening of the college was held August 30th. Presi- dent Muhlenberg occupied the chair, and the faculty was organized by the election of Professor T. L. Seip as secretary. The president stated that, in order to give the college classes the requisite number of recita- tions, it became necessary to make a change in the ar- rangements, and that accordingly Rev. H. N. Riis had been elected professor of German, and in consequenec of this, Professor Seip had been made assistant pro- fessor of Greek, in addition to the principalship of the academic department. An adjourned meeting of the faculty was held on Monday, September 2d, at which a schedule of hours was adopted, and arrangements were completed for the beginning of recitations after the ceremonies of inauguration.
On Tuesday evening, September Sd, the board of trustees, the faculty-elect, the clergy, the mayor and Couneils of the eity, students, invited guests, and citi- zens formed in procession at St. John's Lutheran Church, headed by the Allentown Cornet Band, and proceeded to the court-house, where the following ex- ercises took place : Music by the band, which per- formed by special arrangement "Old Hundred" and " Ein Feste Burg ;" opening prayer, by Rev. J. W. Wood; the charge to the faenlty, by IIon. R. E. Wright, the retiring president of the board ; the in- augural address, by Rev. F. A. Muhlenberg, D.D., president of the college ; address by Rev. G. F. Krotel, D.D., president of the Synod of Pennsylvania. On the morning of the 4th the procession again formed at St. John's Church, and proceeded to St. Paul's Lutheran Church, where, after music by the band and choir, prayer was offered by Rev. Professor J. F. Wilkin, of Gettysburg, and addresses were delivered by Rev. D. Gans, D.D., of Norristown, and Rev. J. Vogelbach, of Philadelphia. After the exereises in the church the assembly moved in a procession to the college grounds, when the corner-stone of the new building was laid by President Muhlenberg, in the name of the triune God, prayer was offered by Rev. E. Bauer, and the benediction pronounced by Rev. J. Yeager.
Latin; Rev. S. Philips, A.M., professor of Rhetorie, Logic, English Literature, and Political Economy ; Rev. J. F. Fahs, professor of History ; Rev. H. N. Riis, professor of German; T. C. Yeager, M.D., pro- fessor of Chemistry and Botany; Rev. T. L. Seip, A.M., principal of the academie department and assistant professor of Greek.
Recitations in the several departments began Sep- tember 4th, with arrangements for a full number of hours for all the college classes.
A number of students from Pennsylvania. College had followed Dr. Muhlenberg, and applied for ad- mission ad eundem in Muhlenberg College, so that the new college started with the four classes as follows : Seniors, 4; Juniors, 2; Sophomores, 6; Freshnnen, 13. The academie department catalogued 136 during the year. Total, 161.
Several changes in the faculty soon occurred. Be- fore the elose of the first month, September, Rev. W. R. Hofford, professor of Latin, resigned to devote his time to the presideney of the Allentown Female College, which had succeeded to the female depart- ment of the Allentown Collegiate Institute. The duties of the Latin chair were then divided among the other professors. During the next month, Oeto- ber 20th, Rev. S. Philips accepted a call to Baltimore, Md., and resigned the professorship of English, etc. Rev. N. S. Strassburger was elected on the same day to serve in his plaee as professor pro tempore. He oe- cupied the position until March 31, 1868, when he resigned. Rev. G. F. Miller, A.M., of Pottstown, was elected professor of English, ete., Nov. 12, 1867, but in April, 1868, finally deelined the position. Ar- rangements were then made with Rev. M. H. Rich- ards to take six recitations a week during the summer term. He was subsequently, May 12, 1868, elected professor of Latin, and accepted the position June 16th. During this year the study of geology was added to Professor Koons' department, and physiology to that of Dr. Yeager. The tutors who assisted in the aendemic department during the first year were members of the senior class, -Messrs. L. A. Swope, W. Il. Rickert, and E. A. Muhlenberg.
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