USA > Virginia > City of Lexington > City of Lexington > Catalogue of the officers and alumni of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, 1749-1888 > Part 2
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In June, 1864, General David Hunter, on his campaign in the Valley of Virginia, occupied Lexington, and the College that bore the name and was hallowed with the memory of Washington did not escape the fate of war, but was sacked ; its chemical and phil- osophical apparatus destroyed, and its libraries to a great extent scattered and ruined.
At the close of the war the endowment, amounting to about $90,000, chiefly in Virginia State Securities, was wholly unpro- ductive. The other property of the College was estimated at $63,000. The Board of Trustees met on the 21st day of June, 1865, and, notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances sur- rounding them, determined to re-open the Institution. After filling some vacancies in their own body and appointing committees to report upon the losses sustained by the depredations of the Federal Army, and the condition of the finances, they adjourned to meet on the 3rd day of August to elect a President.
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At the August meeting General Robert E. Lee was elected President.
At the same meeting the Board instructed its Finance Com- mittee to borrow $7,600 to repair the buildings, procure necessary apparatus and books and pay arrearages of salaries. The College being without income or credit, the money was borrowed on the private credit of members of the Board of Trustees. The necessary books and apparatus were provided, and the buildings fitted for occupancy at the coming session.
Hon. John W. Brockenbrough, the Rector of the Board, visited General Lee at his temporary residence in Powhatan County, and informed him of his election. After carefully con- sidering the subject, General Lee accepted in the following letter, viz. :
" POWHATAN COUNTY, August 24, 1865.
"Gentlemen : I have delayed for some days replying to your letter of the 5th inst., informing me of my election, by the Board of Trustees, ยท to the presidency of Washington College, from a desire to give the subject due consideration. Fully impressed with the responsibilities of the office, I have feared that I should be unable to discharge its duties to the satisfaction of the Trustees, or to the benefit of the country.
" The proper education of youth requires not only great ability, but, I fear, more strength than I now possess, for I do not feel able to undergo the labor of conducting classes in regular courses of instruc- tion ; I could not therefore undertake more than the general adminis- tration and supervision of the institution. There is another subject which has caused me serious reflection, and is, I think, worthy of the consideration of the Board. Being excluded from the terms of amnesty in the proclamation of the President of the United States, of the 29th of May last, and an object of censure to a portion of the country, I have thought it probable that my occupation of the position of presi- dent might draw upon the College a feeling of hostility, and I should therefore cause injury to an institution which it would be my highest desire to advance. I think it the duty of every citizen, in the present condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony, and in no way to oppose the policy of the State or General Government directed to that object. It is particularly incumbent on those charged with the instruction of the young to set them an example of submission to authority, and I could not consent to be the cause of animadversion upon the College.
.
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" Should you, however, take a different view, and think that my services in the position tendered to me by the Board will be advan- tageous to the College and country, I will yield to your judgment and accept it ; otherwise I must most respectfully decline the office.
" Begging you to express to the Trustees of the College my heartfelt gratitude for the honor conferred upon me, and requesting you to accept my cordial thanks for the kind manner in which you have communicated their decision, I am, gentlemen, with great respect,
" Your most obedient servant,
" R. E. LEE.
" Messrs. JOHN W. BROCKENBROUGH, Rector, S. McD. REID, ALFRED LEYBURN, HORATIO THOMPSON, D. D., BOLIVAR CHRISTIAN, T. J. KIRKPATRICK."
The Board met on the 31st day of August, and in response to the suggestions made by General Lee in his letter, adopted the following resolutions, viz. (v. Min., pp. 381-2) :
"1. That the Board of Trustees accede to the conditions expressed by General R. E. Lee, upon which he will accept the Presidency of Washington College, as contained in his letter of the 24th inst.
" 2. That General Lee's being 'excluded from the terms of amnesty in the proclamation of the President of the United States of the 29th of May last' will not, in the view of this Board, tend to ' draw upon the College a feeling of hostility ;' but, on the other hand, his connec- tion with the institution will greatly promote its prosperity and advance the general interests of education.
"3. That this Board heartily concurs in and fully endorses the sentiments, so well expressed by General Lee, in his letter of accept- ance of the Presidency of Washington College,-that it is ' the duty of every citizen, in the present condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony, and in no way to oppose the policy of the State or General Government directed to that object' and that 'it is particularly incumbent on those charged with the instruction of the young to set an example of submission to authority:' sentiments, that cannot fail to commend themselves to the approval of the President of the United States and to the unqualified assent of all sensible and virtuous citizens.
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" 4. That the Rector be requested forthwith to transmit a copy of these resolutions to General R. E. Lee and to solicit him to enter upon the duties of the Presidency of the College at his earliest convenience."
General Lee arrived in Lexington on the 18th of September, and he was formally inaugurated and the session opened on the 2d day of October, 1865. Students flocked to the institution from all sections of the country, and in a few months its halls were crowded with ingenuous youth, whose zeal and devotion in search of knowl- edge and whose gentility of deportment won the special commen- dation of the community and the college authorities. The course of instruction was greatly enlarged, new professorships added, and the College placed in the front rank of Southern institutions of learning.
A handsome Chapel and a residence for the President were erected and great improvements made to the buildings, grounds, library, apparatus and appliances of instruction.
The Trustees determined also to press the endowment of the College, and agents were sent out to solicit contributions. Rev. Samuel D. Stuart visited Baltimore and New York and was especially successful in securing contributions, his efforts realizing about $25,000. Among his contributors was Mr. Warren New- comb, of New York City, who, as a patron of education, made the liberal donation of $10,000, which has been set apart as a "Library Fund" for the care and increase of the library.
CYRUS H. MCCORMICK, Esq., a Virginian, born and reared in the vicinity of Washington College, bestowed the generous gift of $10,000, to which he subsequently added $10,000; and since his death, in 1884, the trustees under his will have added $20,000, making $40,000. Upon this foundation the Trustees have estab- lished " The McCormick Professorship of Natural Philosophy," as a memorial of one who contributed so much to the advancement of the useful arts.
Mr. McCormick died on the 13th day of May, 1884. At the meeting of the Board of Trustees on the 24th day of June, 1884, the following minute was adopted, viz. :
" The Trustees of Washington and Lee University place on record this memorial of Hon. Cyrus Hall McCormick :
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" This eminent Christian Philanthropist was born of a pious Scotch- Irish Ancestry in Rockbridge County, Va., near the village of Midway, February 15, 1809. He became a communicant in New Providence Church in 1834 and ever continued a consistent professor of the Chris- tian Faith. Having served his generation by a life abounding in good works, he closed his career, full of years and of honours, and fell asleep in Jesus, May 13, 1884.
"He grew up to adult age on a farm, and notwithstanding the limited advantages generally incident to such a position, by the vigor of a natural intellect of extraordinary endowment he obtained in a good school a sound and thorough education. He also learned the lessons of a high moral culture and of industrious habits, constituting the basis of integrity and fidelity to duty which marked his memorable career.
"The great invention of the reaper which bears his name was the result of successful study and careful experiments, and was put on the market in 1839. During forty-five years since, by his eminently judi- cious management, this invention has spread incalculable blessings over the civilized world.
"In Mr. McCormick's character as developed in his various rela- tions, there have been ever presented true modesty, unflinching moral courage, persistent prosecution of purpose, unwearied industry, indomi- table energy and unblemished integrity. He furnishes a brilliant example for the imitation of young men in every walk of life.
"Mr. McCormick's success in life was accompanied by a generous course in behalf of the interests of collegiate and theological educa- tion. In the dark and distressing period of the history of this Insti- tution, immediately after the war, he came to its aid with a generous donation of $10,000-since increased to $20,000. He also endowed a professorship in Union Theological Seminary by a donation, in 1866, of $30,000. Having by his great invention contributed so fully to the material prosperity of the Northwestern States, with a wise discrimina- tion and enlarged pious purposes, he determined in 1859 to increase the ability of a theological seminary theretofore situated in South Hano- ver, Indiana, by effecting its removal to Chicago and adding largely to its endowments.
" Having succeeded in this plan he continued his contributions, till they have reached at least $200,000. He lived to see the number of students reach fifty-nine,-treble the former attendance. By these efforts he conferred on that region of the country the highest and
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most durable benefits. 'He now rests from his labors, and his works follow him.'
" Thankful to a kind Providence for rearing up such a man, this Board humbly bows to the ordering of the same wise and holy Provi- dence, which has removed him from the number of its members, as well as from that of the valued friends of the university."
MR. RATHMELL WILSON of Philadelphia, desiring to repair the damage done the College library, contributed a large number of rare, costly and most valuable books belonging to the library of his brother, the late Thomas B. Wilson, whose name is conspicu- ously associated with the " Academy of Natural Sciences and the Entomological Society of Philadelphia."
At the session of 1865-66, the General Assembly of Virginia, in response to a memorial from President Lee, notwithstanding the depression of the times and the financial embarrassment of the Commonwealth, generously provided for the payment of interest on the bonds held by the colleges of the State, and has continued this provision to the present time.
GEORGE PEABODY of London, the great philanthropist, in Sep- tember, 1869, gave to the College a claim on the State of Virginia for $145,000 of coupon bonds, lost in the wreck of the steamer " Arctic " in September, 1854.
His deed is as follows, viz. :
" I, George Peabody of London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, do hereby assign, give, grant and transfer unto the President and Trustees of Washington College, at Lexington, in the State of Vir- ginia, of which College General Robert E. Lee is now President, all my claim and right, at law or in equity or otherwise, upon and against the State of Virginia, or the Treasurer, or other officers of said State, for and on account of certain bonds of said State of Virginia, which were lost in the Collins steamer 'Arctic' at sea, amounting to $145,000, which were pledged to me as collateral security, for a claim which has repeatedly been presented to the State of Virginia, the last time being about the month of January, 1861, by a Memorial which was at that time presented to the Legislature of the State, and which is probably on file in the Auditor's Office, or elsewhere in Richmond, to which Memorial reference is hereby made for a more particular explanation and description of said claim. Also, about $100,000 of overdue coupons belonging to the same. And I do hereby assign and set over to said
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President and Trustees all my right and interest in said claim presented in said Memorial, and I direct that the proceeds they may obtain there- from shall be by them and their successors applied, as they shall think proper, for the best interests of said Washington College, and the cause of education therein.
" In witness whereof I have hereto set my hand and seal this 28th day of September, A. D. 1869, at the City of New York.
" GEORGE PEABODY. [L. s.]
" Executed in presence of
GEO. PEABODY RUSSEL."
The Professorship of Latin has been placed on this foun- dation.
In 1872 the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act, with liberal provisions as to evidence, allowing suit to be brought against the Commonwealth for the adjudication of this claim. Suit was accordingly instituted and after a thorough investigation and exhaustive examination, first, by a Master in Chancery, and then, by the Court, Judge Wellford on the 16th day of December, 1881, rendered a decree for the whole amount of the claim, viz., $145,000, with interest thereon from the 1st day of July, 1854. The General Assembly promptly provided for the payment of the interest accruing on these bonds, as well as the interest on the other securities held by the College and other institutions of learning, and has since provided for the payment of the arrearages of in- terest in installments, all of which have been paid. After the payment of all expenses and costs of litigation, the donation has netted the handsome sum of $250,000-and stands as a lasting monument of its generous donor.
In October, 1870, the College and the whole country were called to mourn the death of General Robert E. Lee, under whose presidency the College had grown and prospered so much. The Board of Trustees met on the 28th of October, 1870, and called to the presidency his son, Gen. G. W. Custis Lee, who accepted the position and entered upon its duties on the 1st day of February, 1871. Upon his election the Board adopted the following minute, viz. (v. Min., vol. iv., p. 36) :
"Gen. George Washington Custis Lee having been elected President of Washington College, he is hereby cordially and unanimously invited
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to accept this office and is most fully assured by the Board and every member of it present at this meeting of their determination to sustain him in the proper exercise of his authority and the performance of the duties of the office-especially in the prosecution of the work of his Honored Father in enlarging and increasing the facilities of education provided by this Institution."
The General Assembly of Virginia in 1871 changed the name of the institution to " Washington and Lee University," blending * the names of the great benefactor who had first placed the insti- tution on a solid basis, and the President who had resuscitated it after the ravages of war.
The institution continued to receive contributions from the friends of education all over the country. Of these, only the larger can be noticed.
In 1872, WILLIAM W. CORCORAN, Esq., of Washington City, in addition to many other benefactions to institutions and indi- viduals in the State, made a donation of $20,000. He had pre- viously given $1,000 to the erection of the President's house and had purchased at a cost of $3,500 and presented to the University the choice classical library of N. P. Howard, Esq., of Richmond. In 1876, he added $5,000 to his contribution. He also gave $2,000 to the Lee Memorial Association, whose work was entrusted to this University ; making his benefactions amount to $31,500. As a memorial of this eminent philanthropist, the Board of Trus- tees have placed the Professorship of Greek on this foundation, and it will hereafter be known as the "Corcoran Professorship of Greek Language and Literature."
The following letter accompanied the donation of the Howard library, viz. :
"CANNES, March 19th, 1872.
" General G. W. C. LEE.
" Pres. of the Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Va.
" Dear Sir: Only a few days before my departure from Washington City, my attention was called to the contemplated sale of the 'Howard Library.' I had, consequently, no opportunity of a personal inspection of it; but, from the representations of gentlemen whose scholastic attainments give weight to their opinions, I became impressed with the
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belief, that it would prove a valuable acquisition to your College. In making this collection, the late proprietor, who had acquired unusual celebrity as a linguist, spent many years.
" Having completed the necessary arrangements for the purchase of the library, I ask, my dear sir, your acceptance of it. It is presented as an evidence of my interest in the success of the Institution, bearing now, in addition to its original designation, the name of one endeared to me by indubitable proofs of his friendship and by that nobility of soul which pre-eminently distinguished him.
" With assurances of high regard, I remain,
"Yours truly, "W. W. CORCORAN."
ROBERT H. BAYLY, Esq., a prominent citizen of New Orleans, died in 1872, and by his will left $70,000 to the University. In consequence of bad government, shrinkage in values and other causes, the whole of this legacy has not been realized; but $42,600 has already been received and it is expected that $10,000 more will be. Upon this foundation the " Bayly Professorship of General and Applied Chemistry " has been established. The following is the provision in Mr. Bayly's will, viz. :
"I give to the Washington Robert E. Lee College at Lexington, Va., seventy thousand dollars in cash (say $70,000) to establish a pro- fessorship, to be called by my name. The President and Trustees of the said College shall designate the most useful one for the Institution. The am't say $70,000 shall be kept as a permanent fund, the am't never to be made less. The interest on same to be paid in support of said Pro- fessorship." (v. Min., vol. iv., p. 526.)
Mr. LEWIS BROOKS of Rochester, New York, established a Museum of Natural History, and gave other sums, the whole aggre- gating $25,000.
Dr. WILLIAM N. MERCER of New Orleans, La., by his will gave one thousand volumes of valuable books and several oil paintings of great historical interest.
To Mrs. M. J. YOUNG and other ladies of Texas the University is indebted for a large and costly organ for the chapel.
In 1876 Colonel THOMAS A. SCOTT, of Philadelphia, gave $10,000, and in 1881 added $50,000, making $60,000, upon
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which has been established the " Thomas A. Scott Professorship of Applied Mathematics." Colonel Scott died soon after making his last donation, and the Board of Trustees in stated meeting, June, 1881, adopted the following minute, viz. :
" While fully estimating the character of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, this Board feels that its humble tribute to his memory can prove but a feeble addition to the numerous excellent testimonials which have been given by others.
" Colonel Scott had not only attained to a most eminent distinction in that line of duty to which he was specially called, but his work and his fame had become matters of national interest and extent. His eminent abilities as the distinguished Executive Officer of a prominent railroad corporation were fully equalled, if not exceeded, by his cordial and generous interest in the welfare of literary and benevolent. institutions, as evinced by his munificent donations.
" It is especially incumbent on this Board to recognize the interest- ing fact, that one of his last known contributions was made to this Institution. And the Board most fully unites with the wide circle of Colonel Scott's friends and admirers in offering this cordial and affec- tionate testimonial of its high appreciation of one whose name will continue to be associated with the future usefulness and prosperity of Washington and Lee University."
Mr. H. H. HOUSTON, of Philadelphia, has given the sum of $7,000, the interest on which is applied to the support of the " Howard Houston Fellowship."
MR. F. O. FRENCH, of New York, has established a scholarship yielding annually $300 for the benefit of undergraduates.
" Newcomb Hall," furnishing ample accommodations for the library and art gallery and for the reading room and President's and Treasurer's offices, has been erected by Mrs. JOSEPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB of New York, as a tribute of affection and honor to the memory of her husband, the late Warren Newcomb, Esq., who had made the donation heretofore mentioned.
In April, 1883, Col. J. H. MAPLESON gave to the University $3,800, the proceeds of a splendid concert in New York. This sum has been invested and the interest re-invested until the prin- cipal has reached $5,000. Upon this it is the purpose of the Trustees to establish the Mapleson Scholarship for undergraduates. 3
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In 1884, VINCENT L. BRADFORD, LL. D., D. C. L., a distin- guished citizen of Philadelphia, gave by his will to the University his law library, containing more than 1000 volumes, his splendid collection of paintings, and one-half of his large estate, after the pay- ment of certain annuities-all subject to a power of appointment conferred on his widow. The expressed purpose of the gift is the endowment of a chair of "Civil Law and Equity Jurisprudence " to be called by the name of the donor ; and, if the fund prove suffi- cient, the endowment of the "Bradford Chair of Constitutional and International Law." And the will requires that the law library and paintings shall be kept up by the University by the appropria- tion annually of the sums of $400 and $500 respectively.
From this bequest it is expected that more than $100,000 will ultimately be added to the endowment of the University.
For several years previous to his death, Dr. Bradford contrib- uted annually $100 to the law library. This contribution has been continued since his death by his widow, Mrs. Juliet S. Bradford.
The Board of Trustees on the 16th day of June, 1885, adopted the following minute on the death of Dr. Bradford, viz. :
" The Board places on record the following Memorial of the Hon. Vincent L. Bradford-a generous benefactor, both personally and by will, of this Institution-whose death occurred, August 7, 1884, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
" Mr. Bradford was an eminent lawyer and a Christian philan- thropist. He was distinguished for the activity and fertility of his mind, illustrated in essays and discussions by speeches in many depart- ments of knowledge, literary, moral, philosophical, financial, legal and practical.
" He was a man of great benevolence of disposition. Besides his many pecuniary contributions to objects of beneficence, he was the author, during his residence in Michigan, of the Act abolishing Impris- onment for Debt.
" He died at a ripe age in the hopes and joys of an humble disciple of the Saviour.
" To his widow, who after a marriage of over fifty years survives him, the Board tenders their assurance of sincere regard and tender sympathy, invoking for her the sustaining hand of Him who is 'the husband of the widow and father of the fatherless."
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In September, 1887, Mrs. EVELINA H. BIRELY, of Baltimore, died leaving a will in which is the following bequest, viz. :
"I give and bequeath to Washington and Lee University, a cor- poration of the State of Virginia, the sum of $5,000, to be held and invested by the said corporation in trust, and the interest arising there- from to be appropriated to one scholarship in said University, to be known as 'The Luther Seevers Birely Scholarship,' in memorial of my deceased son, Luther Seevers Birely, formerly a student of the Univer- sity, to be confined to such meritorious young men, residents of the States of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, as the Trustees of the University may from time to time select or appoint, preference to be given to young men residents of Frederick County, State of Virginia, and Frederick County, State of Maryland."
So soon as the legacy shall be realized, the Board of Trustees will establish a scholarship in accordance with the terms of the will.
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