USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > Rock County, Wisconsin; a new history of its cities, villages, towns, citizens and varied interests, from the earliest times, up to date, Vol. I > Part 29
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The formal organization completed, the college was ready to take on the material and personal equipment for its work of instruction. The lots comprising the most beautiful part of the campus were deeded to the board, and the visitor to the village in October, 1846, was shown, amid the brush, the stakes that marked the ground-plan of Middle College. At the laying of the cornerstone, June 24, 1847, Mr. Peet announced the gift from Hon. T. W. Williams, of New London, Conn., of ten thousand dollars in western lands to endow a professorship.
The organization of classes could not wait for the completion of the building nor the engagement of the professors, about whom much correspondence had already been carried on.
The famous "Old Stone Church," which had sheltered the conventions, offered its hospitable basement. The Beloit Semi- nary, established 1844, had candidates ready for the freshman class, and its accomplished principal, Mr. S. T. Merrill, was ready to carry them along with their college studies. Accordingly, November 4, 1847, a class of four (within a week increased to five) was admitted, after examination by Mr. Merrill and the trustees, to entrance upon a course of study drawn up exactly on the Yale plan.
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The founders of the college had realized from the first that their reliance for the accomplishment of their high purposes must be not upon buildings nor endowments but upon men. And they chose well the men to whom they entrusted the life of the new- born college. After Professor Emerson's survey it is not neces- sary for me to do more than to note the dates in 1848, when he and Professor Bushnell entered upon their life-work for the col- lege, the latter arriving April 27, the former May 24. The first president, Rev. A. L. Chapin, was called from Milwaukee, Novem- ber 21, 1849, and inaugurated July 24, 1850. Professor Porter came in 1852 and Professor Blaisdell in 1859. The harmonious continuity already alluded to is due in large measure to the co- operation, for so long a period, of these men of diverse gifts but kindred spirit.
The limits assigned me do not permit the tracing in detail of the events of this pioneer epoch, now fairly inaugurated. They were the days of the picturesque, of the heroic. Knowledge was Greek, Latin and mathematics. Prayers began at six a. m. The president's chair embraced such duties as the revision of fresh- man essays and the hearing of preparatory Cæsar. The Archæan Debating Society and the Missionary Society, both organized before the first class had gone very far, were the chief voluntary organizations. These were the days of beginnings, and the begin- nings were sometimes small, but they were days of high endeavor, of patient continuance, of faith and prayer.
By works, too, the friends of the college gave proof of their faith. At the end of the first ten years the trustees were able to report gifts amounting to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, of which twenty-nine thousand had been given by citi- zens of Beloit, and thirty-one thousand five hundred by other donors at the West, including the ten thousand dollars which Stephen Peet had solicited from home missionaries and their parishioners. From the East had come sixty-four thousand five hundred dollars, the largest single gift being that of Mrs. Hale of Newburyport, who gave lands which eventually were sold for thirty-five thousand dollars.
The life of this period is reflected in its buildings; in Middle College, our Plymouth Rock; in North College, a younger sister of Yale's South Middle; in the Old Chapel, where, though the interior might be severely plain, the tossing tree-tops outside
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seemed to waft the prayers a little nearer heaven. Plain living and high thinking are written upon every wall of the trio-writ- ten as well upon the forms and character of those men whose presence was a living power within the inert walls.
The work to which the early graduates addressed themselves was predominantly that of the Christian ministry. The need of the world and of the newly settled country, threatened with the tendencies of immigration to barbarism, impressed strongly upon these men the demand for the message of the Gospel.
Meanwhile the nation had entered upon that struggle in which the Northwest was to turn the tide of battle in favor of freedom and union. The college felt the thrill of the conflict. Faith was now faith in country, God-given and God-guided; knowledge was the discerning of the hour; training was the teaching of the manual of arms. The campus was filled at the recreation hour, not with contending ball players, but with drilling squads of recruits.
Beloit sent her four hundred heroes, her forty-six martyrs, to the front, and the hero spirit pervaded those who stayed by the stuff at home, so that the daily routine was performed with a new energy and fidelity. The impulse of this spirit carried the college along for a dozen years from 1860, until the last of her soldier sons-lieutenants, captains, colonels of regiments-had finished their academic preparation for the works of peace. How the soldier spirit carried them out into the posts of danger to "follow the flag over the breastworks" of the enemy of souls in Turkey and China and Japan, I need not, in this presence, attempt to relate.
But how the college flourished in the years succeeding the war may be seen in the catalogues with their lengthening enroll- ment of students, and the names of those whose presence added strength to the faculty. In 1864 Professor Blaisdell was trans- ferred from the chair of rhetoric to that of philosophy, and the college, after the faithful solicitation of President Chapin had brought in fifty thousand dollars from generous givers East and West, to increase its endowment, declared its independence of the Education Society.
The same impulse was felt in undergraduate activities. The Olympian Baseball Club won the state championship in 1867. A students' annual, called "The Palladium" at first, later "The
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Register," was published from 1862 to 1871. The daily prayer- meeting, which lived for twenty years, was started in 1865 among those who had prayed together in the camp. A reminiscence of the barracks was suggested by the architecture of South College, built in 1868 to shelter the increasing numbers.
A fitting crown of this period was the dedication in 1869 of Memorial Hall, erected by the gifts of many donors in response to an appeal for one hundred dollars for each man who had enlisted from the college. The soldiery in uniform, Old Abe, Wisconsin's war eagle, the martial music, the glowing oratory of Senator Carpenter, the classic eloquence of Professor Emerson, the booming of the minute-guns, fired by student veterans in honor of the dead-all bespoke what the college had learned and suffered, given and gained, through the war. As we survey the record of the college, we do not wonder that President Lincoln, shortly before the surrender of Lee, testified to a friend that it was the home missionaries and the college presidents who had saved the Northwest to the Union and thereby saved the Union itself.
Succeeding the war period came the years from 1873 to the close of President Chapin's administration, in 1886, years charac- terized rather by the gradual strengthening of the college than by sudden changes or dramatic incidents-the period of intensive growth.
Three important tendencies appear in this epoch. The first is the strengthening of the college by its own alumni, now a body strong in numbers as well as in character. They entrust their own sons to the care of alma mater, the first of these being grad- uated in 1881. They contribute a fund to endow an alumni pro- fessorship, and have begun to take their places on the boards of trust and instruction. Professor Hendrickson, appointed 1871, was the first of eleven graduates whom Beloit has called to full professorships; Dr. J. Collie, elected in 1869, was the first alumni trustee.
A second line of development shows the influence of causes that were felt in all the educational institutions of the country, tending to the introduction of more of natural science and mod- ern language at the expense of the classics which had formed the mainstay of the course of study. The standard of admission was raised from time to time to correspond to the rise of standards
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at the East. Here a term of Greek, there one of Latin, had already made way for geology or history, and finally, in 1873, a philosophical eourse was laid out for those who knew not the sound of the limpid Greek. Though containing less philosophy than the other course, its name was justified by its originator on the ground that it was arranged on philosophical principles. Few chose it in those years, but it furnished its full share of men of mark in college and in after life. The new chairs established during this period were those of geology, astronomy and modern languages, and the scientific equipment of the college was in- creased in many ways, especially by the gift of the Smith Observ- atory, dedicated in 1883. This building, the first to bear a name suggested by the donor, were erected as a memorial to Mr. J. F. Smith by his sister, Mrs. J. S. Herrick.
We notice in the third place, as in other institutions at this time, the diversification of undergraduate activities, and it is interesting to observe how many of the features of college life that have since become so prominent had their beginnings at Beloit in the thirteen years that we are now considering. In 1875 the "College Monthly," established in 1853, expands into the semi-monthly "Round Table," and in the same year Beloit wins second place in the first interstate oratorical contest. The first fraternity was given recognition in 1880. The first Greek play to be performed, the Antigone, was given in 1885, in what is now the reading-room.
The first field-day was held in 1880; Beloit entered the West- ern College Baseball League in 1883; lawn tennis appeared in 1884. The Delian Band foreshadowed the merry tinkle of the Mandolin Club, as did the Phi Beta Sigma Quartette the Glee Club. The college yell was born May 2, 1884, on the eve of a tie game of baseball with the University of Wisconsin, and though of much less formidable dimensions than at present, its seven syllables formed the basis of the chorus of today.
The enthusiasm of war times found a parallel in the heartiness with which the students took up the building of a gymnasium. The project was launched by the salutatorian of '73, whose Latin speech was received with unwonted thunders of applause as he closed with the words, which for more than a year had been upon his lips, "gymnasium ædificandum est." The contributions were, like those for Middle College, partly in days' works, and
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the Wednesday and Saturday half-holidays saw groups of busy students wheeling gravel or laying shingles.
The citizens of Beloit attested their loyalty to the college by rallying once more and raising a subscription for the remodeling of Middle College, which in 1880 was adorned with its mansard roof and colonnaded front. Less conspicuous but not less impor- tant were the additions made from time to time to the endow- ment funds, which by the close of President Chapin's adminis- tration amounted to nearly two hundred thousand dollars. The largest gift of this period was that of twenty thousand dollars from Mrs. Stone, of Malden, Mass.
We cannot but ask, as we see how new departments of knowl- edg have taken their place beside the older discipline, and how the training of the student by his fellows takes on a correspond- ing diversity of forms, whether our good ship has drifted away from the ideals of faith toward which her framers set her course ? The college generation that followed the outgoing veterans of the war underwent a certain reaction from the intensity of that mighty uplift of feeling, but this was only a temporary reaction, and a recovery soon ensued. The effect of social and intellectual movements in the world outside is reflected in the apportion- ment of the graduates among the various callings. Of the alumni who were graduated before 1876, forty-two per cent entered the ministry ; of those graduated since that date, twenty-two per cent. On the other hand, the teacher's profession shows an increase from eleven to twenty-four per cent, and the various forms of business activity attracted fifteen per cent of the earlier grad- uates, twenty-three per cent of the later; while law (fifteen per cent), medicine (seven per cent), and journalism (four per cent) show almost the same proportion in the two periods.
These figures mean not that the ideals which the college has held up have been lowered, but that she has shown her sons how to apply them over the wider fields that the increasing specializa- tion of knowledge and the new application of science to industry are opening up to men of trained minds and devoted hearts. Surely, of all her sons, none have proved themselves more loyal to the "Beloit idea," to the "faith that makes faithful," than those in business and the institutions of learning.
In 1886 Dr. Chapin, after thirty-six years of service in the president's chair, resigned, and his mantle fell upon his chosen
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successor, Rev. Edward Dwight Eaton. Under his leadership the college entered upon its fourth epoch, that era of rapid expan- sion in which we all rejoice. The historian of the centennial year will be better able than we to trace the continuity of devel- opment, but I am sure that he will find that the changes of this period have been only an enlarged expression of the purpose of the founders. Elective courses, laboratory methods in all depart- ments, the array of modern buildings, substantial, convenient, beautiful; the culture afforded by contact with art and music- these are not incompatible with a liberal Christian education, but are the long-looked-for aids in its better attainment.
It was because this expansion meant the magnifying of the old ideas that every one connected with the college-trustees, alumni, students, friends-rallied so heartily in response to the challenge of Dr. D. K. Pearsons in 1889. As Professor Blaisdell heard at his gate the cheers that came from the old chapel as the students pledged the money that many of them would have to earn themselves, he recognized the spirit of the boys of the war times. The zeal of others was kindled by the enthusiasm of the students, and to the one hundred thousand dollars which Dr. Pearsons had offered was added more than an equal sum, includ- ing the gift from Mr. J. W. Scoville of twenty-five thousand dollars for the comely academy building that bears his name, and ten thousand dollars for its endowment from the citzens of Beloit.
Other buildings followed. Chapin Hall, built and christened by Dr. Pearsons, was completed in 1891. The beautiful new chapel, costing thirty-five thousand dollars, given by Mrs. M. R. Doyon and others, was dedicated in 1892, and the tones of the pipe-organ which Mrs. H. Story placed within it called into being the musical department of the college. The vacating of the old chapel building left quarters there for another new department, art, which has been enriched by numerous gifts, including the casts sent by the Greek government to the World's Fair in 1893, presented by L. G. Fisher, Jr., and an endowment of ten thousand dollars from Mrs. Azariah Eldridge.
Meanwhile the urgent need of the college for an enlarged equipment for the teaching of the natural sciences had been appreciated, and Dr. Pearsons gave sixty-thousand dollars for the erection of a Hall of Science, and Mr. William E. Hale an equal sum, fifty thousand dollars being for endowment. The
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building, named for the donor, was ready for use in 1893, and in that year Mr. F. G. Logan equipped its muscum with the valuable Rust archæological collection. Hon. Wait Talcott had previously provided a fund for the purchase of scientific books. The chairs of astronomy and botany were endowed in honor, respectively, of Edward Ely, Esq., and of Mrs. Cornelia Bailey Williams.
Along with science and art, other departments have not been overlooked by the generous friends of this later period. The endowment of the chair of oratory by Hon. J. H. Knapp was com- pleted. Mrs. S. D. Warren, a lifelong friend of Professor Blais- dell, made a large addition to the endowment of his chair of philosophy. E. P. Bacon, Esq., has provided a scholarship fund of twenty thousand dollars, and a generous legacy for the same purpose was received from the estate of Rev. Joseph Emerson, of Andover, Mass., while the gift of Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Stowell opened the way for the admission of women to the privileges of the institution.
This increase of Beloit's material equipment was accompanied by a great enlargement of the opportunities which she was able to place within reach of her students. The course of study was enriched. Occasional options had been offered before 1886, but in that year the courses were reorganized with the introduction of a large number of electives in the later years of study. In- structors in art and music were in 1893 added to the faculty, whose number had in ten years increased from fourteen to twenty-four.
With the completion of Pearsons Hall in 1893 it was possible to open a science course, incorporating not only results but also methods of investigation, and to carry yet further Beloit's standards of character and scholarship in the fields where they had been so conspicuously exhibited already under less favorable auspices.
To enjoy the enlarged advantages now offered by the college, an increasing throng of students sought her doors, as her ranks were recruited from affiliated academies and accredited high schools. With the growth of the Beloit Academy to the full capacity of Scoville Hall, the policy of developing preparatory schools in the vicinity into feeders of the college was begun, with encouraging success, while, on the other hand, provision was made for recognizing the fact that the best high schools of the
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region now do full preparatory work. In 1895 women were ad- mitted to the college classes, and Stowell cottage was opened for their accommodation. When President Eaton's administration began there were 58 students in the college proper; in 1889 there were 97; in 1897, 196.
The diversifieation of student life, already begun, is carried further with the increase of attendance. Class-day becomes an established institution from 1886. The Glee Club makes its first concert tour in 1889. A new series of oratorical victories encour- ages the wearers of the gold. The Greek play attains the dignity of an annual public performance. A "College Annual" appears again in 1889, after the battles over the "Register" have been forgotten. The fraternity houses add their charms to the social life of the students. A regular instructor in athletics is added to the faculty in 1894 by the efforts of the students, and a place on the team now means not a little desultory practice, but per- sistent hard work. Yet amid all these distractions, the worth of honest manhood never found readier recognition, the proportion of students dependent on their own exertions was never greater.
Numbers have increased, courses have been multiplied, facili- ties have been amplified. Has the growth in knowledge been at the cost of faith ? Time alone can tell. We rejoice to believe that the college is not to erase but to magnify the larger half of her motto.
The experiences of each succeeding epoch have demonstrated the value of the ideals of the founders, the strength of the founda- tions that they laid. The prophetic words with which Dr. Chapin closed his account of the "Origin and Early Progress of the Col- lege," delivered fifty years ago at the laying of the cornerstone of Middle College, hold good for us today : "With faith inspired by past experience, in connection with the firm promises of God, we address ourselves to the difficulties before us, with confident hope that He who has thus led us by ways that we knew not, will perfect the work that he has permitted us to begin and make it redound to his glory and the good of men."
Beloit College During the Last Ten Years.
The decade that has elapsed since the semi-centennial of Beloit College was celebrated has seen the continuation of the era of expansion that was then well begun. In external equipment, in
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additions to the teaching force, in enrichment of the courses of study, in the achievements of graduates and undergraduates, the life of the college has moved steadily forward.
Three well-planned buildings have been ereeted since 1897. The women's dormitory, Emerson Hall, the gift of Dr. D. K. Pear- sons, was completed in 1898. The new gymnasium for men, long needed and desired by those who sought the physical well-being of the students, was opened in 1904, and in January of the follow- ing year the Carnegie Library building was dedicated. The attendance of students in the four college classes increased from 196 in 1897 to 341 in 1908. and the number of graduates has risen in the same ten years from 539 to 958. The faculty, likewise, has been enlarged, so that there are now thirty-six instructors in all departments instead of the twenty-two who were on the ground in 1897.
To maintain this enlarging life, added endowments have been needed. In 1898 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was raised for this purpose, one-third being given by Dr. D. K. Pear- sons, and the same benefactor in 1901 gave two hundred thou- sand to match one hundred and fifty thousand dollars which had been contributed by others to meet his challenge. Other addi- tions have been made by generous friends, so that the productive funds, which were four hundred thousand dollars in 1897, have already been more than doubled. The summer of 1908 witnesses the addition of two hundred thousand more dollars, one-fourth coming from the general education board, one-fourth from Mr. Carnegie, and the remainder, general contributions, ten thousand dollars being from Beloit citizens.
Time has wrought changes in the personnel of the faculty. The venerable Professor Emerson passed away in 1900, and in the year following occurred the death of Professor Charles A. Bacon, who had for so many years carried on a heroic struggle with disease. Professor Whitney, after twenty-eight years of service, resigned in 1899. Professor Porter and Professor Pearson retired from active service in 1906, under the provisions of the Carnegie fund. The presidency of the college was laid aside by Dr. Eaton in 1905, but was resumed by him two years later on call of the trustees, and his second inauguration took place March 4, 1908. In the membership of the board of trustees changes have also taken place, and veterans like Dr. Joseph Collie, of the
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first class graduated, and Mr. S. T. Merrill, whose services to the college began with giving instruction to the first freshman class, have passed away.
In the formal work of instruction there has been a marked widening of the scope of the curriculum. New departments have been created by the separation of French from German, history from economics, zoology from botany, physics from mathematics, biblical literature and pedagogy have each been given to the care of one man, and additional instructors have been provided in several departments. Courses such as those in applied mechanics, sanitary chemistry and journalistic writing show a tendency to shape advanced work toward practical ends. Courses extending over three and four years of consecutive work are offered in almost every department, while the requirements for graduation demand of each student a grouping of studies which is designed to counterbalance the aberrations of the elective system.
In the voluntary activities of student life a similar diversifica- tion has accompanied the increase in numbers. Undergraduate organizations have multiplied. The new gymnasium furnishes an attractive center for social gatherings. Track athletics and basket-ball have established themselves alongside of the work of the nine and the eleven. Oratory and debating have taken on a new lease of life. Five times within the last ten years has Beloit won first place in the interstate oratorical contest, and she has more than held her own in the intercollegiate debates that have become an established institution. The Greek play has lost none of its popularity, but it no longer holds the dramatic field alone, for the students have given renderings of the works of Shakespeare and Plautus and modern French and German plays. The Musical Association has achieved brilliant success in its semi- annual concerts. In the honor system, applied to examinations, library property and good order in the dormitories, some of the responsibilities of self-government have been assumed by the students.
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