History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 67

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A sustentation fund, to aid young men preparing for the ministry, has been raised and administered by Rev. R. A. Young, D.D., who is the secretary of the board of trust and financial agent. The board of trust is composed of two ministers and two laymen from each of the seven An- nual Conferences that have the oversight and control of the university. This board meets annually, business in the interval being intrusted to an executive committee of five, which for several years was composed of the following persons: Bishop H. N. McTyeire, R. A. Young, D.D., D. C. Kelley, D.D., E. H. East, D. T. Reynolds.

FISK UNIVERSITY.

Fisk University is the leading institution in the great Southwest for the education of colored people. It em- anated from a school for colored people, begun in October, 1865, near the Chattanooga depot, under the auspices of the American Missionary Association of New York and the Western Frecdmen's Aid Commission of Cincinnati, Ohio. It first occupied the large hospital-buildings do- nated by the United States government, and known in war- times as "The Railroad Hospital." There were afterwards added a chapel and a dormitory. The school, and after it the university, was given its name in honor of Gen. Clin- ton B. Fisk, who was commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, in command at Nashville when the school was opened, and entered heartily into the enterprise.

Under the management of Professor John Ogden the school at once became prosperous. During the first two years upwards of twelve hundred pupils were in attendance.

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

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The university was formally opened and the faculties in- stalled Oct. 3 and 4, 1875. Such rapid and solid work was never known before in the history of colleges and uni- versities. The halls were well filled with students from the beginning. The register for 1880 shows four hundred and eighty-five on the roll.

The 27th of May-the birthday of the founder of the university-is marked in the calendar for suitable celebra- tion every year. On that day the portrait (life size) of the commodore is wreathed in flowers and evergreens; the Founder's medal for oratory is contested for by students representing the two literary societies ; and music and bell-ringing wake the morning hours.

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Fisk University is the leading institution it Southwest for the education of colored people. It -- anated from a school for colored people, begun in October, 1865, near the Chattanooga depot, under the auspices of the American Missionary Association of New York and the Western Freedmen's Aid Commission of Cincinnati, Ohio. It first occupied the large hospital-buildings do- nated by the United States government, and known in war- times as "The Railroad Hospital." There were afterwards added a chapel and a dormitory. The school, and after it the university, was given its name in honor of Gen. Clin- ton B. Fisk, who was commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, in command at Nashville when the school was opened, and entered heartily into the enterprise.

Under the management of Professor John Ogden the school at once became prosperous. During the first two years upwards of twelve hundred pupils were in attendance.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

Gen. O. O. Howard, of the Freedmen's Bureau, donated from the Bureau funds seven thousand dollars to the school for educational purposes. It was then decided to incor- porate the institution for the higher education of youth of, both sexes. It was accordingly chartered under the name of Fisk University, Aug. 22, 1867, with a board of nine trustees, three of whom were to be chosen each year, and were empowered "to fill vacancies, prescribe courses of study, and confer all such degrees and honors as are con- ferred by universities in the United States." George L. White became teacher of music in the institution during the first months of its existence, and was for several years its treasurer. His rare skill in training voices produced marked results in the musical department. Several con- certs were given, and received with marked attention by the public. As Mr. White progressed he selected the best voices and organized them into the choir of the university.

About the year 1870 it began to be felt that the univer- sity buildings as well as the location were inadequate for its increasing patronage and popularity. A crisis had come. Mr. White conceived the idea of raising money for the per- manent establishment of Fisk University by taking his little company of student-singers into the North to sing the simple songs of their race, which had come into being -no one knew how-during the days of their slavery, and then existed only in the memories and hearts of the people. After several months of the most crushing difficulty, the tide turned in favor of the little troupe, and by May, 1872, they had netted twenty thousand dollars. They were re- ceived with the greatest enthusiasm by highly-cultured audiences, who were moved to tears by the power and pathos of their quaint slave-songs. Another campaign over the same ground was again rewarded with twenty thousand dollars.

In the spring of 1874 they went to. England and re- mained a year. They were received with the greatest con- sideration by the queen, the premier, Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, and other dignitaries of Church and State. While in Eng- land they cleared fifty thousand dollars. They again visited England, Ireland, Scotland, and made tours through Hol- land, Germany, and Switzerland. Everywhere their songs touched the hearts of the people, and called forth the deepest sympathy for the cause of education among the people of the emancipated race. Their travels have netted to the treasury of the institution about one hundred and fifty- five thousand dollars, including several thousand dollars in valuable presents of books and apparatus.

With the funds thus earned by the " Jubilee Singers" twenty-five acres of land were purchased on an eminence a mile northwest of the State Capitol. This site is, with the exception of " Capitol Hill," the most commanding and beautiful about Nashville. The view is unobstructed in every direction, and presents to the eye the most pleasing variety of hill and valley, forest and city.

Ground was first broken for the university building Jan. 1, and the corner-stone laid Oct. 1, 1873. The building was named Jubilee Hall, in honor of the noble band of singers through whose exertions the means for its erection was procured.

`Jubilee Hall was dedicated Jan. 1, 1876, in the presence

of a vast audience of both races. The speakers' stand, draped with the flags of the United States and of England, was occupied by many eminent statesmen and educators, representing the various sections and local sentiments of our country. Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, president of the board of trustees, read congratulatory dispatches from friends of the enterprise in England. The United States government was represented by the Sixteenth Infantry Band. Ad- dresses were delivered by Gen. Fisk, Rev. Dr. McFerrin, Rev. Dr. Strieby, Rev. G. D. Pike, Rev. E. P. Smith, and others.

The building is of pressed brick, in the form of an " L," with an east front of one hundred and forty-five feet, and a south front of one hundred and twenty-cight feet. It is six stories in height, including the basement, and contains one hundred and twenty rooms, supplied with all the modern conveniences of gas, water, steam, and sanitary fix- tures. Over the main entrance, on the south front, a bust of President Lincoln is designed to occupy the stone bal- cony. The style of the building is modern English, with trimmings of native limestone.

The grounds are named Victoria Square, in grateful ac- knowledgment of kindness shown the singers and friends of the enterprise in Great Britain.

The building is finely furnished, and supplied with ap- paratus for scientific research.

Apparatus .- This includes a few of the common instru- ments for the illustration of physics, such as air-pump, con- denser, electrical machine, galvanic battery of ten Bunsen cells, Ruhmkorf cuil, Geisler tubes, spectroscope of two prisms, and barometer. In astronomy there are a planet- arium, orreries, and an astronomical telescope of three and a half inches aperture; and in chemistry, apparatus for illustrating the principles of the science in the class-room, and a small laboratory for those wishing to become practi- cally acquainted with the processes of chemical analysis, both qualitative and quantitative. There is a magic-lanteru for lecture use, as also a fine microscope, made by Beck, of London. In applied mathematics there are a theodolite, a compass, and a plane-table.

Museum .- In natural history, geology, mineralogy, and ethnology, there is a collection of over three thousand speci- mens. These are well arranged and labeled, the whole covering six hundred and fifty square feet of shelf-room.

The Library numbers seventeen hundred volumes, in- cluding many valuable works of reference adapted to the wants of the different departments of the university. Ad- ditions are made annually from the interest of the Dicker- son Library Fund, a fund contributed by Sabbath-schools in Great Britain, and from other sources.

In connection with the library is a reading-room, in which the students have access to various newspapers and period- icals.

The Union Literary Society is managed by the students, subject to the general authority of the institution, for their improvement in public speaking, writing, and parliamentary usage. It has a valuable library, to which additions are made as the funds of the society permit.

A course of lectures, two each month, forms an impor- tant part of the educational privileges of the institution.

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

In the spring of 1868 a Congregational Church was organized upon the most liberal basis, for the benefit of teachers and pupils. Regular preaching has since been held in the halls of the institution from the beginning, under the pastoral charge of Rev. H. S. Bennett. There are now one hundred and fifty-seven members on the roll.

The school and university were under the management of Prof. John Ogden from the opening until 1870. Prof. A. K. Spence was principal from 1870 until the summer of 1875, when Rev. E. M. Cravath was elected president, which position he still holds. Rev. H. S. Bennett began the work of theological instruction in 1869, and has since made the preparation of young men for the ministry an im- portant feature. The classes have ranged from three to fourteen members each year.

The training of teachers for the common schools of Ten- nessee became a leading feature under the management of Prof. Ogden in 1868. Since then, from thirty to one hun- dred and fifty pupils have engaged in the work of teaching annually.

The college curriculum has been marked out, and classes are now pursuing the classical, mathematical, and scientific studies usually taught in American colleges. Departments of law and medicine are to be added.

The commencement exercises, in May, 1875, were marked by the graduation of the first class from the College Depart- ment. This class consisted of Messrs. James D. Burrus and John H. Burrus, and Misses America W. Robinson and Virginia E. Walker, upon all of whom the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred. In 1877, Miss Laura S. Cary was made Bachelor of Arts, and Mr. Young A. Wal. lace, Bachelor of Science. In 1878, Messrs. Henry S. Merry and Albert P. Miller were graduated as Bachelors of Arts .*

LIVINGSTONE HALL.

While in England the movement was undertaken by the Jubilee Singers to erect an additional building, to be called Livingstone Hall, which should be a monument to the memory of the great African explorer, and also an ex- pression of the great work of the university in training men and women for the evangelization of Africa. Already Fisk University has five pupils at work in Africa, which is but a foretaste of what these institutions are to do in that direction.

Owing to the commercial depression in England and on the Continent, the efforts of the Jubilee Singers were but partially successful. The speedy erection of the building has been, however, since secured by the pledge upon the

part of Mrs. Daniel P. Stone, of Malden, Mass., of sixty thousand dollars to carry on the work. Ground has al- ready been broken in Netherland Square, on the university grounds, and Livingstone Hall, a handsome building, will soon be built.

Other donations have been received, chiefly that of twenty thousand dollars from the executors of the estate of Mr. R. R. Graves, of Morristown, N. J. Work has already been commenced on the grounds for this building.

Fisk University is emphatically a missionary institution. The people in whose interests it was formed were sixteen years ago slaves. The most of the students are depend- ent on themselves, and must carn their own support while securing their education. The current expenses have thus far been principally met by the American Missionary As- sociation, with the hope and expectation that the success of the work would create for the institution friends who would gladly endow it.

In March, 1879, the General Assembly of Tennessee passed a joint resolution highly commendatory to the Fisk University, as " one of high aim, thorough in its work, and ennobling in its influences."

BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

John J. Cary, Esq., Nashville, Tenn .; Rev. H. S. Ben- nett, Nashville, Tenn. ; Rev. G. D. Pike, Brooklyn, N. Y., -term of office expires 1879.

Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, New York, N. Y .; Rev. E. M. Cravath, Nashville, Tenn .; Charles L. Mead, Esq., New York, N. Y.,-term of office expires 1880.

Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D., New York, N. Y .; A. S. Barnes, Esq., New York, N. Y .; Rev. G. B. Wilcox, D.D., Stamford, Conn.,-term of office expires 1881.

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD.

Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, President; Rev. G. D. Pike, Sec- retary ; Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D., Treasurer; E. P. Gil- bert, Esq., Assistant Treasurer.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

President E. M. Cravath, Professor A. K. Spence, Pro- fessor H. S. Bennett, Professor F. A. Chase, Professor Helen C. Morgan, E. P. Gilbert, Esq., Professor C. C. Painter.

OFFICERS AND INSTRUCTORS.

Rev. E. M. Cravath, M.A., President and Professor of Mental and Moral Science; Rev. A. K. Spence, M.A., Dean of the Faculty, and Professor of Greek and French ; Rev. H. S. Bennett, M.A., Professor of Theology and Ger- man, and University Pastor ; Miss Helen C. Morgan, M.A., Professor of Latin ; Rev. F. A. Chase, M.A., Professor of Natural Sciences; Rev. C. C. Painter, Professor of Theol- ogy ; Miss Anna M. Cahill, Instructor in Mathematics and History ; John H. Burrus, B.A., Instructor in Mathe- matics; Miss Henrietta Matson, Instructor in English Grammar and Composition ; Miss Elizabeth M. Barnes, Instructor in Arithmetic; Miss Laura S. Cary, B.A., In- structor in Greek ; Miss Sarah A. Stevens, Instructor in English Branches; Miss Irene E. Gilbert, In Charge of Model School ; Mrs. J. D. Lce, Instructor in Voice Culture

* Mr. James D. Burrus is now instructor in mathematics at Fisk University ; Mr. John H. Burrus is studying law, and will locate in Nashville; Miss Virginia Walker now holds an important position as teacher in the colored public schools of Memphis; Miss America Rob- inson was one of the Jubilee Singers, spent three years traveling with that troupe in Europe, afterwards studied one year at Strasburg, Ger- many, and has just entered upon teaching at Meridian, Miss .; Miss Cary held a position as assistant instructor in Greck at Fisk Univer- sity until her death, in the summer of 1879; Young A. Wallace is in charge of the colored schools at Florence, Ala .; Henry S. Merry is principal of one of the colored schools at Clarksville, Tenn .; Albert Miller is in charge of the Mendi Mission, in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa.

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DANIEL WILLIAM PHILLIPS

was born June 7, 1809, at Crown Miles, Miles' Vale. parish of Kilmaenllwyd, Car- marthenshire, Wales, Great Britain. His parents were in humble circumstances, but more than ordinarily in- telligent. They were both members of the Baptist Church at Rhydwilim before he was born. He cannot re- member the time when he could not read the Welsh Bible with ease. His mother, when he was a very small child, used to take him upon her knees and read Bible stories to him, pointing out the words as she pronounced them. He thus learned to read himself without learn- ing to spell, or even the names of the letters.

He had an aunt Mary, whom Jesus loved, with whom he spent considerable of his early childhood. One rainy day, when he was about four years old, he was alone with her in the house, and she talked to him about Jesus in a way that strongly influenced his understanding and affections. He greatly wondered at the tears that streamed down her face as she related the marvelous story of Jesus and his love. The impressions made then on his heart never faded away, but grew stronger with his years. He has no remembrance of himself when the bent of his mind was not religious. When yet a child he became very familiar with the Bible, especially the historical parts. There was the sharpest contradiction between the longing of his soul and his circum- stances. He had the strongest thirst for knowledge, but his opportunities for learning were of the poorest sort. There were no public schools in the principality at that time. Occasionally some man who had no other means to gain his bread would open a private school, professing to teach English when he did not un- derstand the language himself. He attended several of these and learned a little. When about seventeen years old he united with the Baptist Church, of which his parents were members. His one great desire from early youth was to preach. The few preach- ers whom he knew were men of superior excellence and greatly respected. Though not highly learned, they were skilled ex- pounders of the Bible. He was much in their company, and they delighted to open the Scriptures to his eager mind. He had not much time to spare, for from about his tenth year he had to work for his living. There were a few good schools in the country, but they were beyond his means. He made a strenuous effort to enter the Baptist Academy in Bradford, England, but failed to accom- plish his object. Just then a deacon of the church was leaving for America, and persuaded the young man to accompany him. The sole motive that induced him to go was the hope that somehow he might be able to acquire the English language. His purpose was after a few years to return to his native land and spend his life there. He borrowed money to pay for his passage, and after completing his preparatory studies returned it all with compound interest. When he left his home he had no plan, but a merciful Providence did far better for him than he ever dared to hope. He first went to the province of New Brunswick, where he re- mained about a year and a half, working at his trade part of the time, and attending school the remainder.

In the summer of 1831 it became more and more apparent that the object for which he had left all on earth that was dear to him could not be secured in the provinces. He left for the United States with only thirty dollars and a letter of recommendation in his pocket. After a very tempestuous passage of a week's dura-

Daniel W. Phillips

tion, he arrived in Boston on a Saturday in November. By the direction of the gen- tleman to whom the letter was addressed,-Rev. Eb- enezer Thresher, who is still living at Dayton, Ohio,- he entered an academy on the following Monday. He kept steadily at his books two years. For months he and his room-mate, who is now a missionary in Bur- mah, lived on thirty cents a week. By practicing the utmost economy and industry. at the end of his academical course he had within one dol- lar as much as he had at the beginning. In September, 1833, he entered Brown Uni- versity. Students were re- quired to pay the amount of the first quarter's bill in ad- vance. He was able to pay not quite half of it. He was generously trusted. It was the fame of Dr. Wayland that led him to Brown Uni- versity. He saw the re- nowned president for the first time the day before he was ma- triculated, presiding over the annual commencement of the college. The day after, Friday, as he was standing in the college-yard, the president came to him and addressed him by name, though he had never been introduced to him. After inquiring minutely into his circumstances and ex- pectations, he said: " My son, if you should ever be in need of money to meet your necessary expenses, come to me, and I will endeavor to help you." The poor Welshman was so confounded and confused that he failed to utter a word. Though he never had occasion to apply to him, the gracious offer did help the poor friend- less stranger wondrously. By preaching almost every Sabbath during both term-time and vacation, though he received but small pay, he graduated free from debt. From Brown University he went to Newton Theological Institution. In October, 1838, he was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in Medfield, Mass., where he remained twelve and a half years. The church was small, thus affording grand opportunities for study, which were diligently improved. From Medfield he removed to Wakefield, Mass., where he remained the same length of time. Both of these churches grew while he was pastor of them, and were left in a good condition.

From the very commencement of the war it was his strong expectation that the hostilities would end in the entire removal of their cause. As the war progressed the conviction took deeper and deeper hold of his mind that when peace would be established there would be very great work for true patriots- and especially for Christians-to do-among the freedmen to fit them for the many responsibilities of freedom. He felt that the Baptists would be under particular obligations, because such a multitude of the colored people professed to be of their faith. Gradually it came over him that he must give himself to the work.

He came to Tennessee in the summer of 1864. He preached for some months to a white congregation in Nashville. In the mean time he surveyed the field, and taught a class of young colored men at his own house. After forming a plan he went to New England and collected money to begin a school for preachers and teachers. A large wooden building belonging to the govern- ment was bought at auction and moved to a lot near where Jubilee Hall now is. There he taught till the summer of 1876, when the institute was moved to its present location. The school has wonderfully grown and prospered. This prosperity, under God, he ascribes mainly to the very faithful and competent helpers with whom it has been his happiness to be associated.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

and Instrumental and Vocal Music; Edward P. Gilbert, Assistant Treasurer; Miss Sarah M. Wells, In Charge of the Ladies' Hall ; Miss Mary Farrand, Matron.

NASHVILLE NORMAL AND THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.

This school was established and is still supported by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. There are at present eight other schools of a similar character supported by the Baptists in the following places: Washington, D. C., Richmond, Va., Raleigh, N. C., Columbia, S. C., Atlanta, Ga., Selma, Ala., Natchez, Miss., and New Orleans. An agent of the above-named society was commissioned to this State in the summer of 1864. After surveying the field he commenced teaching a class of colored young men in the basement of the First Colored Baptist church. Soon a lot of land was purchased near Fort Gillem, and a wooden building erectedone hundred and twenty by forty feet, two stories high, and a basement under a part of it. In that much hard work was done under many difficulties, but with very encouraging results. The design of the institute was to prepare young men to preach the gospel, and both men and women to teach schools. The object, at the first, was not understood nor appreciated. That a man called by God to preach His gospel needed any other qualification than strong lungs and throat was a new idea among the colored people. There was no demand for educated ministers. Since then a very great change has come over the better endowed of the young people. Now this class see very clearly that the preaching needed is not bawling and retail- ing pretended visions, but a rational expounding of the word of God and enforcing the precepts of Christianity. Considering their antecedents and the little they still have to encourage them, they make very commendable efforts for their own education. During the last scholastic year- 1878-79-the students of this institute paid towards their own expenses not far from six thousand dollars.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013